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Colonial and State Records of North Carolina
Acts of the North Carolina General Assembly, 1741
North Carolina. General Assembly
March 1741
Volume 23, Pages 158-204

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LAWS OF NORTH CAROLINA, 1741.

At a General Assembly, held at Edenton, the Fourth Day of April, in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty One. Gabriel Johnston, Governor.

CHAPTER I.
An Act Concerning Marriages.

I. For preventing clandestine and Unlawful Marriages, We pray that it may be Enacted, And be it Enacted, by his Excellency Gabriel Johnston, Esq., Governor, by and with the Advice and Consent of his Majesty's Council, and the General Assembly of this Province and it is hereby Enacted by the Authority of the same, That every Clergyman of the Church of England. or for want of such, any lawful Magistrate, within this Government, shall, and they are hereby directed, to join together in the Holy Estate of Matrimony, such Persons who may lawfully enter into such a Relation, and have complied with the Directions hereinafter contained.

II. And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That no Justice of the Peace of any County in this Government, shall join together in Marriage, any Persons whosoever in any Parish where a Minister shall reside, and have a Cure, without Permission first had and obtained from such Minister, under the Penalty of Five Pounds Proclamation Money, to the Use of the Minister.

III. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That no Minister or Ministers, Justice or Justices of the Peace, within any of the Parishes of this Government, shall celebrate the Rites of Matrimony between any Persons, or join them together as Man and Wife, without License first had and obtained for that Purpose, according to the Directions of this Act, or Thrice Publication of the Banns, as prescribed by the Rubrick in the Book of Common-Prayer: And if any Minister or Ministers, Justice or Justices of the Peace, shall, contrary to the true Intent and Meaning of this Act, celebrate the Rites of Matrimony between any Persons, or otherwise join them in Marriage, he or they so offending shall forfeit and pay the Sum of Fifty Pounds Proclamation Money; to be recovered and applied as herein after is directed: And if any Minister shall go out of this Government, and there, contrary to the true Intent and Meaning of this Act, join together in Matrimony any Person or Persons belonging to this Government, without such Licence, or Publication of Banns, as is herein prescribed, every Minister so offending, shall incur the same Penalties and Forfeitures, as if the same had been done in this Government.

IV. Provided always, and be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That where any Parish or Parishes have not a Minister, it shall and may be lawful for the Clerk or Reader which shall be appointed by the Vestry of the said Parish, to publish the Banns between any Persons desiring the same, and if no objection be made, to grant a Certificate thereof; and such Certificate shall be sufficient for any Minister or Justice of the Peace, to solemnize the Rites of Matrimony between the Parties so Published.

V. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any

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Minister, Clerk, or Reader, shall grant a false Certificate, he or they so offending, shall be liable to such Punishment as in Case of Forgery at Common Law; and all such offences shall be prosecuted, tryed and determined, in the General Court of this Province.

VI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all Licences for marriages shall be issued by the Clerk of the Court of that County where the Feme shall have her usual Residence, and by his only, and in such Manner, and under such Rules and Directions, as are herein after provided; that is to say, He shall take Bond, to our Sovereign Lord the King, his Heirs and Successors, with good Securities, in the Penalty of Fifty Pounds, Proclamation Money, under Condition, That there is no lawful Cause to obstruct the Marriage for which the Licence shall be desired; And if either of the Persons intended to be married shall be under the Age of Twenty One Years, and not theretofore married, the Consent of the Parent or Guardian shall be personally given before the said Clerk, or signified under the Hand and Seal of the said Parent or Guardian, and attested by Two Witnesses; all which being done, the Clerk shall write the License and shall certify specially the said Bond: And if the Persons in the Licence, or either of them, be under the age of Twenty One Years, he shall also certify the Consent of the Parent or Guardian of such Person so under Age. and the Manner thereof, to the first Justice of the Commission of the Peace for the County, or to such other Person as shall be thereto Commissioned by the Governor or Commander in Chief for the Time being; which premises being performed, the Justice of the Peace or other Person commissioned as aforesaid, is hereby authorized, impowered, and required, to sign and direct the said Licence; and a Licence so obtained and signed, and no other whatsoever, is declared to be a lawful Licence, according to the true Intent and Meaning of this Act, and if any County Court Clerk shall, in any Manner, issue any Licence or Marriage, or, Contrary to this Act make any Certificate of any Licence or Marriage, and if any Person whatsoever shall sign or direct a Licence in any other Manner than is by this Act permitted and allowed; all and every Person or Persons so offending, shall forfeit and pay the Sum of Fifty Pounds, Proclamation Money: to be recovered and applied as herein after is directed.

VII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Minister or Reader shall willingly publish, or cause or suffer to be published, the Banns of Matrimony between any Servants, or between a free Person and a Servant, or if any Minister or Justice of the Peace shall willingly celebrate the Rites of Matrimony between any such, without a Certificate from the Master or Mistress of every such Servant, that it is done by their Consent; he shall forfeit and pay Five Pounds, Proclamation Money, to the use of the Master or Owner of such Servant; to be recovered by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint, or Information: And every Servant so Married without the Consent of his or her Master or Mistress, shall, for his or her said offence, serve his or her said Master or Mistress, their Executors, Administrators, or Assigns, One whole Year, after the Time of Service by Indenture or Custom is expired.

VIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority of the same, That the Clerk of each County, annually, at or before the Twenty Fifth Day of March, shall send or deliver to the Governor or Commander in Chief for the Time being, an exact account of the Marriage Licences issued by him; and each Clerk failing herein, shall forfeit and pay the Sum of Five Pounds, Proclamation Money, to be levied and applied as herein after is directed.

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IX. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Fees upon the said Marriages, shall be as followeth, that is to say:

To the Governor or Commander in Chief for the Time being, for each Licence of Marriages, Twenty Shillings, Proclamation Money.

To the Clerk of the County Court, for issuing the same, and taking the Bond, Five Shillings of the like Money.

To the Minister, for Marrying, if by Licence, Ten Shillings, if by Banns, Five Shillings, of the like Money.

To the Justice of the Peace, for marrying, Five Shillings.

To the Minister or Reader, for publishing the Banns, and granting Certificate, One Shilling and Six Pence, of the same Money.

X. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Minister or Justice of the Peace, of any County or Parish where a Clergy doth not reside, shall refuse to celebrate the Rites of Matrimony, for the Fees herein set down and allowed, or shall demand or receive, for marrying, either by themselves, or by any other Person for them, any larger Fees than before mentioned to be allowed by the Minister or Justice of the Peace, he shall forfeit and pay, for every such offence, that is to say, if the Marriage was to have been by Licence, Ten Pounds, or if by Banns, Five Pounds, Proclamation Money; One Moiety of all the Fines and Forfeitures in this Act before mentioned and not particularly appropriated, to be paid to the Church wardens of the Parish for the Time being, for the Use of the Parish where the Offence shall be committed, the other Moiety by him or them that will inform or sue for the same; to be recovered, with Costs, by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint, or Information.

XI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if the Minister or Reader of any Parish within this Government, shall refuse to publish and certify the Banns, for the Fees herein set down, and allow him for the same, he shall, for every such Offence, forfeit and pay to the Party grieved, Ten Pounds, Proclamation Money; to be recovered as before mentioned.

XII. Provided always, That the Minister serving the Cure of any Parish, shall have the benefit of the Fee for Marriages in the said Parish, if he do not neglect or refuse to do the Service thereof, altho' any other Person performed the Marriage Ceremony.

XIII. And for Prevention of that abominable Mixture and spurious issue, which hereafter may increase in this Government, by white Men and women intermarrying with Indians, Negroes, Mustees, or Mulattoes, Be it Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any white Man or Woman, being free, shall intermarry with an Indian, Negro, Mustee, or Mulatto Man or Woman, or any Person of Mixed Blood, to the Third Generation, bond or free, he shall, by Judgment of the County Court, forfeit and pay the Sum of Fifty Pounds, Proclamation Money, to the Use of the Parish.

XIV. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That no Minister of the Church of England, or other Minister, or Justice of the Peace, or other Person whatsoever within this Government, shall hereafter presume to marry a white Man with an Indian, Negro, Mustee, or Mulatto Woman, or any Person of Mixed Blood, as aforesaid, knowing them to be so, upon Pain of Forfeiture and paying, for every such Offence, the Sum of Fifty Pounds, Proclamation Money, to be applied as aforesaid.

XV. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the several Fines and Forfeitures in this Act, which exceed the Sum of Twenty-Six Pounds Thirteen Shillings and Four Pence Proclamation Money, shall

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be heard, tryed, and determined, in the General Court of this Province; and all under the aforesaid Sum, shall be heard, tryed, and determined, in the Court of the Colony where the Offence shall be committed.

XVI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all and every Act and Acts, and every Clause and Article thereof, heretofore made, so far as relates to any Matter or Thing whatsoever within the Purview of this Act, is and are hereby repealed and made void, to all Intents and Purposes, as if the same had never been made.

CHAPTER II.
An Act to impower the several Commissioners herein named, to make, mend, and alter the several Highways, Roads and Bridges, and to clear and cleanse Creeks and Water-Courses; and also, to cut such Cuts as they shall think convenient, in the several Counties herein after named. Exp.

(Omitted.)

CHAPTER III.
An Act to give further Time for collecting the Aid granted to his Majesty, For Subsistance of the Forces raised in this Province; and for the better collecting Taxes and Levies, and to direct the Method of accounting for the same, and other Public Monies herein mentioned. Obs.

(Omitted.)

CHAPTER IV.
An Act to make and confirm that part of the main Road leading from Bennett's Creek Bridge, to Virginia, joining to Mr. Henry Baker's in Chowan County, altered for the Conveniency of the Public, by the adjacent Inhabitants, to be the Main and Public Road.

I. Whereas that part of the main Road Joining to Henry Baker's, as formerly laid out and used, is very hilly, bad, troublesome, and inconvenient for Carts and Carriages, and the Inhabitants adjacent to, and obliged to work on that Part of the Road, have agreed together and altered and turned the said Road, and made it much shorter, better, and more convenient for Carriages and Passengers; and the said Inhabitants, by their Petition, having prayed that such Part of the Road so altered and made by them as aforesaid, may be confirmed and deemed the Public Road.

II. We pray that it may be Enacted, And be it Enacted, by his Excellency Gabriel Johnston, Esq., Governor, by and with the Advice and Consent of his Majesty's Council, and General Assembly of this Province, and it is hereby Enacted, by the Authority of the same, That from and after the Ratification of this Act, that Part of the Public Road from Bennett's Creek, in Chowan County, leading by Henry Baker's, so altered and made as aforesaid, be confirmed and deemed Part of the Public Road, and no other; and that the Persons obliged to work on and maintain the old Road, be, and are

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hereby compelled to work on and maintain the Road so altered; any Law, Custom, or Usage, to the contrary, notwithstanding.

CHAPTER V.
An Act to Appoint Constables.

I. To the End that Constables may be regularly appointed, throughout this Government.

II. We pray that it may be Enacted, And be it Enacted, by his Excellency Gabriel Johnston, Esq., Governor, by and with the Advice and Consent of his Majesty's Council, and the General Assembly of this Province, And it is hereby Enacted, by the Authority of the same, That the Courts of the several Counties which now are or hereafter shall be, within this Government, shall, at the Court to be holden for each respective County in this Government, next after the first Day of January, Yearly, and Every Year, nominate and appoint as many Persons of their said Counties as they shall Judge necessary, to be Constables within the same, for the then ensuing Year; which Constables so appointed, shall have the following Oath administered to them; that is to say: You shall swear, you will well and truly serve our Sovereign Lord the King, in the Office of a Constable; you shall see and cause his Majesty's Peace to be well and duly preserved and kept, according to your Power; you shall arrest all such Presons as in your Sight, shall ride or go armed offensively, or shall commit or make any Riot, Affray, or other Breach of his Majesty's Peace; you shall do your best Endeavour, upon Complaint to you made, to apprehend all Felons and Rioters, or Persons riotously assembled; and if any such Offenders shall make Resistance, with Force, you shall make Hue and Cry, and shall pursue them, according to Law you shall faithfully, and without Delay, execute and return all lawful Precepts to you directed; you shall well and duly, according to your Knowledge, Power and Ability, do and execute all other Things belonging to the Office of a Constable, so long as you shall continue in this Office, so help you God.

III. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That each and every Constable, so appointed, nominated, and sworn, is, and they are hereby invested with, and may execute the same Power and Authority, to all Intents and Purposes, as the Constables within the Kingdom of England are by Law invested with and execute.

IV. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Person or Persons, nominated and appointed Constables by the Court of any of the Counties within this Government, shall neglect or refuse to qualify himself, according to the Directions of this Act, within Ten Days after Notice of his Nomination and Appointment as aforesaid, without he can shew sufficient Cause for his Neglect, to be admitted of by the Justices, who shall or may grant their Warrant to recover the Penalties in this Act mentioned, he shall forfeit the Sum of Fifty Shillings, Proclamation Money; to be recovered by Warrant from Two Justices of the Peace in the County where such Person was appointed Constable, and applied to the Use of the County where such Constable is appointed; provided such notice be in Writing, signed by the Clerk of the Court, and served by the Sheriff of the County, or preceding Constable, on such Constable or Constables as shall be appointed, according to the Direction of this Act.

V. Provided always, That no Person in Commission of any Office, Civil

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or Military, or Member of Assembly, for the Time being, nor any one who has served in any such Station, nor any other who has served as Constable, within the Space of Five Years before, nor any Person who is exempt, by the Laws of England, shall be obliged to serve in the Office of Constable; any Law, Usage or Custom, to the contrary, notwithstanding.

VI. And be it further Enacted, That any one Justice of the Peace of the County, shall, and he is hereby impowered, to administer to the several Constables hereafter to be appointed in this County, the Oath directed by this Act for their Qualification.

VII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That upon the Death or Removal of any Constable out of the District for which he was appointed Constable, it shall and may be lawful for the Justices of the County Court, in which such District shall be, or any one of them, to appoint and swear another Person, to be Constable in the Room and Stead of the Constable dead or removing out of his District as aforesaid, who shall Act until the next County Court; the Justices of which Court shall then either continue the Person appointed as aforesaid, or nominate and appoint a new one.

VIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Constable to whom any Precept is directed, by any Justice of the Peace, shall refuse or neglect, to serve such Precept, he shall, for every such Offence, on Complaint of the Party prosecuting, be fined, at the Discretion of the Court of which such Justice is a Member; to be paid to the Complainant.

IX. And for the better executing any Precept or Mandate, in extraordinary Cases; Be it Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful, to and for any Justice of the Peace within this Government, to direct any such Precept or Mandate, in the Absence of, or for want of a Constable, to any Person, not being a Party, who shall be obliged to execute, or endeavour, in the best Manner he can, to execute the same, under the like Penalty any Constable shall be liable to, by Virtue of this Act; to be recovered and applied as aforesaid.

X. And be it Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That every Constable within this Province, appointed and Qualified, as hereinbefore is directed, shall be, and is hereby exempt from all Provincial, County, and Parish Taxes, for himself only, and from working on the Roads, for and during the Year he shall be Constable; any Law, Usage, or Custom, to the contrary, notwithstanding.

XI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all and every other Act and Acts, and every Clause and Article of the same, heretofore made, so far as relates to the appointing of Constables, is and are hereby repealed and made void, to all Intents and Purposes, as if the same had never been made.

CHAPTER VI.
An Act to Improve and amend the Navigation of New River, in Onslow County. Obs.

(Omitted.)

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CHAPTER VII.
An Act to Confirm and erect that part of Province of North Carolina called Edgecomb County, into a County, by the Name of Edgecomb County, and for the Establishing the said County a Parish; and for ascertaining the Boundary Line Between the Northwest and Society Parishes, in Bertie County.

I. Whereas the Inhabitants of Edgecomb County, in this Province, who are very numerous, labour under great Hardships, for want of Representatives in the General Assembly of this Province.

II. We pray that it may be Enacted, And be it Enacted, by his Excellency Gabriel Johnston, Esq., Governor, by and with the Advice and Consent of his Majesty's Council, and General Assembly of this Province, And it is hereby Enacted, by the Authority of the same, That that part of Edgecomb County of this Province now called Edgecomb County, be, and is hereby established a County, by the name of Edgecomb County, the Bounds whereof shall be as follows Beginning on Roanoke River, at Jenkin Henry's Upper Corner Tree, from thence a straight Course to the Mouth of Cheek's Mill Creek, on Tar River; and from the Southside of the said River, opposite to the said Cheek, a straight line unto the Middle grounds, between Tar and Neuse rivers; which shall be the dividing line between Beaufort and Edgecombe, and Craven Counties; and from thence up as nigh as may be, keeping the Middle between the said two Rivers, which shall be the dividing Line between the Counties of Craven and Edgecomb, and Beaufort; and the County Courts of Craven and Edgecomb are hereby impowered, each of them, for their respective Counties, to appoint Two Commissioners to run out the Bounds or dividing line between Craven and Edgecombe which Line so run out as above said, and marked, shall be the dividing Line between the said Counties.

III. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Freeholders of the said County, qualified to vote, as the Law directs, shall, forever, after the Ratification of this Act, send Two Representatives to the General Assembly of this Province; which Representatives shall have as full Power to consult and vote in the General Assembly, as the Representatives of any other County.

IV. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the said County shall have Justices of the Peace, and a County Court, with the like Jurisdiction with the Courts of the other Counties of this Province; and likewise, a Sheriff, a Coroner or Coroners, and all other Officers incident to a County.

V. And whereas divers Disputes have arose, touching the Legality of the Courts heretofore established in the said County, and touching the Validity of the Commission appointing a Sheriff for the said County; which have disquieted the Minds of the Inhabitants of the said County.

VI. Be it therefore Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all Judgments, Executions, Orders, and Proceedings of the said Court, pronounced, issued, and made, agreeable to the Rules of Law, and the Execution of all Writs whatsoever, done according to Law, and all other Acts done by the said Sheriff, by Virtue of his Office aforesaid, be, and are hereby confirmed and declared valid; any Defect in the Order of the Governor and Council, made for the Establishment of the aforesaid County, notwithstanding.

VII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Justices

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of the said County Court, be, and are hereby impowered, to lay a Poll-Tax, on the Inhabitants of the said County, not exceeding the Sum of Five Shillings, Proclamation Money, and to cause the same to be levied, in the Manner other Public Taxes are levied and collected, and with the said Tax, at some convenient Place in the said County, at their Discretion, to erect a Court House, Prison, and Stocks; and likewise, at all Times hereafter, as often as the said Court-house or Prison shall be out of Repair, to lay a Poll-Tax on the said Inhabitants, not exceeding such Sum of Money as shall be necessary, for repairing the said Buildings.

VIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the said County be, and is hereby established a Parish, by the Name of Edgecomb Parish; which Parish shall be distinct from the Parishes of which it was heretofore a Part; any Act of Assembly to the contrary, notwithstanding: And the Freeholders of the said Parish, duly qualified to vote, as in other Parishes, are hereby impowered to chose a Vestry, and the said Vestry to elect Church wardens; which Vestry shall have as full Power and Authority to lay Taxes, and to do all other Matters and Things to a Vestry belonging, as the Vestries of the other Parishes of this Province.

IX. And to the End, the First Vestry of the said Parish be duly Elected, Be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Sheriff of the said County shall summon the Freeholders of the said Parish to meet, at such Place as shall hereafter be appointed for the Courthouse of the said County, who shall then and there Elect Twelve Vestrymen, and the said Vestrymen shall then and there Elect, out of their Number, Two Churchwardens; which Vestry and Church-wardens shall continue in Office until the Time by Law appointed for Election of new Vestries and Church-wardens, in the several Parishes in this Government; and the said Freeholders shall then, and for ever after, elect Vestries and Church-wardens, according to the Method by Law prescribed for the Choice of Vestries and Church Wardens for the several Parishes in this Province.

X. And for ascertaining the Bounds between the Northwest and Society Parishes, in Bertie County, Be it Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Boundary Line of the said Parishes shall run thus to-wit: From the Mouth of Sandy Run, to the Head thereof; and from thence, in straight Line, to Ahoskey Swamp, and from thence, along the old dividing Line between the said Two Parishes; which Line shall, forever, be deemed the Boundary Line of the said Two Parishes; any Law to the Contrary, notwithstanding.

XI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Arrears now due from the Inhabitants of Edgecomb County, to Society and Northwest Parishes, of which it was a Part, shall be paid to the Churchwardens of the said Society and Northwest Parishes, as if this Act had not been.

CHAPTER VIII.
An Act to prevent stealing of Cattle and Hogs, and altering and defacing Marks and Brands, and mismarking and misbranding Horses, Cattle and Hogs, unmarked and unbranded.

I. Whereas many Wicked Men in this Province, being too lazy to get their Living by honest Labour, make it their Business to ride in the Woods and steal Cattle and Hogs, and alter and deface the Marks and Brands of others, and mismark and misbrand Horses, Cattle and Hogs, not marked or branded;

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And whereas the Laws in Force in this Province are, by Experience, found not to be sufficient to remedy those Evils;

II. We pray that it may be Enacted, And be it Enacted by his Excellency Gabriel Johnston, Esq., Governor, by and with the Advice and Consent of his Majesty's Council, and General Assembly of this Province, and it is Enacted, by the Authority of the same, That if any free Person or Persons shall steal any Neat Cattle or Hog, or shall alter or deface the Mark or Brand of any other Person or Persons' Horse, Neat Cattle, or Hog, such Person or Persons, being thereof lawfully convicted, shall, for every Neat Cattle or Hog, he or they shall steal; or for every Horse, Mare, Colt, Neat Cattle, or Hog, whose Mark or Brand he or they shall alter or deface, over and above the Value of such Neat Cattle or Hog so stole, or for every Horse, Mare, Colt, Neat Cattle, or Hog, whose Mark or Brand he or they shall alter or deface, forfeit and pay the Sum of Ten Pounds, Proclamation Money; to be recovered by Action of Debt, in any Court of Record within this Province, (wherein no Essoign, Injunction, Protection or Wager of Law, shall be allowed or admitted of) by the owner of such Horse, Mare, Colt, Neat Cattle, or Hog that shall be stolen, or the Mark or Marks, Brand or Brands, so altered or defaced, provided he prosecute for the same within Six Months after the Discovery of the Fact committed; and after that Time, any Person may, as well as the owner, sue for and recover the same, provided such Prosecution is commenced within one Year after Discovery of the Fact committed; and the Offender shall, over and above the said Fine, receive Forty Lashes on his Bare Back, well laid on, and for the Second Offence, shall pay the Fine above mentioned, and stand in the Pillory Two Hours, and be branded in the left Hand, with a red hot iron, with the letter T: And if any Person or Persons shall mismark or misbrand any unbranded or unmarked Horse, Mare, Colt, Neat Cattle, or Hog, not properly his or their own, he or they shall forfeit and pay the Sum of Ten Pounds, Proclamation Money, over and above the value thereof, for every such Horse, Mare, Colt Neat Cattle, or Hog, so mismarked or misbranded; to be recovered as aforesaid.

III. And to prevent the Concealing such Offences, Be it Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Person or Persons shall see any other Person or Persons committing any of the Crimes aforesaid, and shall not discover the same, in Ten Days, to some Magistrate, then, and in such Case, such Person or Persons, for not discovering the said Crime, shall forfeit the Sum of Five Pounds, Proclamation Money, for every Time he shall forfeit the Sum of Five Pounds, Proclamation Money, for every Time he shall see the said Crime or Crimes, or any of them, committed; to be recovered, by any Person or Persons who will sue for the same, by Action of Debt, in any Court of Record in this Province: wherein no Essoign, Protection, Injunction, or Wager of Law, shall be allowed or admitted of.

IV. And because it is difficult to convict any Person who has seen such such Crimes committed, if he will deny the same; Be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That it shall be sufficient Evidence to convict any Person who has seen any of the aforesaid Crimes committed, if it be proved that he has told any other Person that he did see the said Crimes, or any of them committed.

V. And whereas, by common Custom in this Province of killing of Cattle and Hogs in the Woods, great Opportunities are given to steal the Cattle and Hogs of other People; Be it therefore Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Person hereafter shall kill any one or more Neat Cattle or Hogs in the Woods, he shall, within two Days, show the Head and Ears of

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such Hog or Hogs, and the Hide, with the Ears on, of such Neat Beast or Cattle, to the next Magistrate, or to two substantial Freeholders, under Penalty of Five Pounds, Proclamation Money; to be recovered, by any Person who will sue for the same, by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint, or Information, in any Court of Record in this Province; wherein no Essoign, Protection, Injunction, or Wager of Law, shall be allowed.

VI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That every Person in this Province, who hath any Horses, Cattle, or Hogs, shall have an Ear Mark and Brand, different from the Ear Mark and Brand of all other Persons, which Ear Mark and Brand he shall Record, with the Clerk of the County where his Horses, Cattle or Hogs are, if not already recorded; and that he shall brand all Horses with the said Brand, from Eighteen Months old, and upwards, and Ear Mark all his Hogs, from Six Months old, and upwards, with the said Ear Mark; and Ear Mark or Brand all his Cattle, from Twelve Months old, and upwards, with the said Ear Mark or Brand. And if any Dispute shall arise about any Ear Mark or Brand, the same shall be decided by the Book of the Clerk of the County Court where such Cattle, Horses, or Hogs are.

VII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That when any person shall buy any Neat Cattle from another, or come to the same by gift, will, or other lawful Means, that then, and in such Case, the Person who has gained the same by any of the Ways aforesaid, shall, within Eight Months, brand the aforesaid Neat Cattle with his own proper Brand, in the presence of Two creditable Witnesses, a Certificate of which shall be signed by the said Witnesses.

VIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That this Act shall be Publicly read, by the Clerk of Every County Court in this Province, at least, Twice every Year, Viz, at the First Court after Easter and the First Court after August, in the Morning, on the Second Day of the Court, in open Court, under Penalty of Twenty Shillings, Proclamation Money; to be recovered, by any Person, by a Warrant, under the Hands and Seals of any Two Justices of the Peace of the County, to the Use of the Informer.

IX. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any strange Cattle shall go into the Cowpen of any Person in this Province, the owner of that Cowpen, if he resides there, or the Overseer or Manager, where the Owner does not reside, shall be obliged to give Public Notice thereof, by affixing a note of Flesh Marks, and Ear Marks, and brand of all such strange Cattle as shall be at his Pen, at the Church doors of the Parish where the said Cowpen is, or where there is no Church, at the Court House Door, in one Month after such Cattle shall come to his Pen, under the Penalty of Twelve Shillings, Proclamation Money, for every Beast that he shall neglect to give such Notice of; to be recovered in the same Manner, and to the same Use, as the Fine last mentioned.

X. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Negroe, Indian or Mulatto Slave, shall kill any Horse, Cattle, or Hog, belonging to any Person whatsoever, without the Consent of the Owner or Owners thereof, or shall steal, misbrand, or mismark any Horse, Cattle, or Hog, such Slave or Slaves shall, for the First Offence, suffer both his Ears to be Cut off, and be publickly whipt, at the Discretion of the Justices and Freeholders before whom he shall be tried; and for the Second Offence, shall suffer Death: And the Tryal and Conviction of the said Slave or Slaves, shall be in such Manner as is prescribed by an Act of Assembly, intituled, An Act concerning Servants and Slaves.

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XI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all and every other Act and Acts, and every Clause and Article thereof, heretofore made, so far as relates to the preventing the stealing Horses, Cattle, and Hogs, and altering and defacing the Marks and Brands, and mismarking and Misbranding the same, or to any other Matter or Thing whatsoever, within the Purview of this Act, is and are hereby repealed and made void, to all Intents and Purposes, as if the same had never been made.

CHAPTER IX.
An Act for ascertaining the Boundary Line between Tyrrell and Beaufort Counties, and between Edgecomb County, and Tyrrell and Beaufort Counties.

I. Whereas Disputes daily arise, between the Inhabitants of Tyrrell, Beaufort, and Edgecomb Counties, by Reason the Boundary Line between Tyrrell and Beaufort Counties, and between Tyrrell and Edgecombe Counties, are not sufficiently ascertained and known; by Means of which Uncertainty, the Inhabitants within the Disputed Bounds refuse to pay the Public and Parish levies to any of the Collectors of the said Levies of either of the said Collectors: For Remedy whereof,

II. We pray that it may be Enacted, And be it Enacted by His Excellency Gabriel Johnston, Esq., Governor, by and with the Advice and Consent of his Majesty's Council, and the General Assembly of this Province, and it is hereby Enacted, by the Authority of the same, That each of the County Courts of Tyrrell, Edgecomb and Beaufort shall appoint one person, who shall settle and run the Boundary Line between Tyrrell and Edgecomb Counties, and between Part of Edgecomb and Beaufort Counties, in manner following; that is to say, The said Commissioners shall begin at the upper Corner Tree of Jenkin Henry's Line, on the South Side of Roanoke River, and from thence, run a direct Line to the Mouth of Cheek's Mill Creek, on Tar River; and the said Commissioners, as soon as the said Line is finished, shall, under their Hands return the Courses thereof into each of the Courts of the aforesaid Counties, which shall be recorded by the Clerks of the said several Courts; And the said Line so run, shall, for ever after, be deemed the Boundary Line between Tyrrell and Edgecomb Counties, and between Edgecomb and Beaufort Counties, from Tyrrell County as far as Tar River.

III. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Flat Swamp which, heretofore, was the Boundary of Albemarle and Bath Counties, shall, to the Head of the said Swamp, and from the Head thereof, by a direct Line between Tyrrell and Edgecomb Counties, forever, be the Boundary Line between Tyrrell and Beaufort Counties.

IV. And for defraying the Charge of running the said Line, Be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That each of the County Courts of Beaufort, Tyrrell, and Edgecomb, be, and are hereby impowered, to lay a Poll-Tax not exceeding the Sum of Four Pence, Proclamation Money, per Tithable, upon the Inhabitants of their Respective Counties, and shall cause the same to be Levied in the same Manner the Public Taxes are levied; and shall, out of the Money arising by the said Tax, pay and satisfy their respective Commissioners, for their Trouble and Charges expended, in running the aforesaid Boundary Lines: And after paying and satisfying the Commissioners for their Trouble and Charges, each County Court shall apply the Money remaining, if any be, to the Use of the County where such Tax is collect'd.

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CHAPTER X.
An Act to enlarge the Time for enrolling of Lands in the Auditor's Office, and proving the quiet possession of Lands for Twenty Years past, and upwards. Obs.

(Omitted.)

CHAPTER XI.
An Act for restraining the taking of excessive Usury.

I. Forasmuch as the settling of Interest at a reasonable Rate will greatly tend to the Advancement of Trade, and Improvement of Lands, by good Husbandry, with many other considerable Advantages to this Province; And whereas divers Persons of late have taken great and excessive Sums for the Loan of Money, Goods, and Merchandizes, to the great Discouragement of Industry, in the Husbandry, Trade, and Commerce of this Province:

II. We pray that it may be Enacted, And be it Enacted, by his Excellency Gabriel Johnston, Esq., Governor, by and with the Advice and Consent of his Majesty's Council, and General Assembly of this Province, and it is hereby Enacted, by the Authority of the same, That no Person or Persons whatsoever, from and after the First Day of May, which shall be in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty One, upon any Contract, to be made after the said First Day of May, shall, directly or indirectly, take for Loan of any Monies, Wares, Merchandizes, or Commodities whatsoever, above the Value of Six Pounds, by Way of Discount or Interest, for the Forbearance of One Hundred Pounds, for One Year, and so after that Rate for a greater or lesser Sum, or for a longer or shorter Time; and that all Bonds, Contracts and Assurances whatsoever, made after the Time aforesaid, for the Payment of any Principal or Money to be lent, or covenanted to be performed, upon or for any Usury, whereupon or whereby there shall be reserved or taken above the Rate of Six Pounds in the Hundred, as aforesaid, shall be utterly void: And that all and every Person or Persons whatsoever, which, after the Time aforesaid, upon any Contract to be made, after the said First Day of May, shall take, accept and receive, by Way or Means, of any corrupt Bargain, Loan, Exchange, Shift, or Interest, of any Monies, Wares, Merchandizes, or other Thing or Things whatsoever, or by any Deceitful Way or Means, or by any Discount, Covin, Device, or Deceitful Conveyance, for the forbearing or giving Day of Payment, for One whole Year, of or for their Money or other Thing, above the Sum of Six Pounds for the Forbearing of One Hundred Pounds for a Year, and so after that Rate for a Greater or lesser Sum, or for longer or shorter Time, shall forfeit and lose, for every such Offence, the double Value of the Monies, Wares, Merchandizes and other Things so lent, bargained, exchanged, or shifted; the One Moiety of all which Forfeitures, to be to our Sovereign Lord the King, his Heirs and Successors, for and towards the support of this Government, and the contingent Charges thereof, and the other Moiety to him or them that will sue for the same, by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint, or Information, in any Court of Record within this Province; wherein no Essoign, Protection or Wager of Law, shall be allowed or admitted of.

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CHAPTER XII.
An Act for appointing and laying out a Town on, or near Mittam's Point, on the South Side of New River, in Onslow County, by the Name of Johnston.

I. Whereas the Inhabitants of Onslow County have petitioned for an Act for appointing a Town on Mittam's Point, on the South Side of New River, and that Commissioners may be Appointed to lay out the Lots in the said Town, and to dispose of them in Manner in the said Petition mentioned; and for laying a Levy for building a Court-house and Gaol for the said County.

II. We pray that it may be Enacted, And be it Enacted, by his Excellency Gabriel Johnston, Esq., Governor, by and with the Consent and Advice of his Majesty's Council, and General Assembly of this Province, and it is hereby Enacted, by the Authority of the same, That as soon as the Proprietor of the Land on the said Point shall acknowledge his or her Consent and Concurrence, in open Court of the said County, to have such Part of the said Land laid out for a Town as hereinafter is directed, it shall and may be lawful for Samuel Johnston, John Starkey, Jonathan Freemain, Samuel James, and James Foil, Esqrs., who are hereby nominated and appointed Commissioners, with full Power and Authority, to lay out One Hundred Acres of Land at the said Mittam's Point, for a Town, by the name of Johnston, and they, or the major Part of them, are hereby directed and impowered, to lay out One hundred Acres, at and adjoining the said Point, into Lots, of Half an Acre each, with convenient Streets, and a Square for Public Buildings.

III. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That when the Commissioners, or the Major Part of them, have laid out the said Town into Lots and Streets as aforesaid, every Person whatsoever, who is willing to be an Inhabitant of the said Town, shall have Liberty to take up any Lot or Lots so laid out as aforesaid, and not before taken up; which Lot or Lots the Commissioners before appointed, or the Majority of them, are hereby impowered to grant, convey and acknowledge, to the Person or Persons so Taking up the same, and his Heirs and Assigns, forever, in Fee-Simple, upon the Payment of Ten Shillings, Proclamation Money, or the Value thereof in Currency, to the Treasurer hereinafter named.

IV. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That James Foil, Esq., be, and is hereby appointed Treasurer and Receiver of all such Sum and Sums of Money, which shall arise by the Sale of the said Lots, for the Uses hereafter mentioned; and on the Death or Departure out of the Government of the said Treasurer, the said Commissioners, or the major Part of them, shall appoint some other Person Treasurer, in Place of the said Treasurer.

V. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Treasurer herein appointed, and every Treasurer that shall or may be hereafter appointed by the Commissioners, as aforesaid, shall give Security to the County Court, that he shall and will account with, and pay in all the Monies he shall receive by the Sale of all and every Lot and Lots that shall be Sold, Yearly, on the Twenty Fifth Day of March, to Mr. Hope Dexter, or the Proprietor of the said Land.

VI. Provided always, That if any Lot or Lots shall be granted and Conveyed, by the said Commissioners, to any Person or Persons whatsoever, who shall not within two years, build a good substantial, habitable, framed House, not of less Dimensions than Twenty Four Feet in Length, and Sixteen Feet

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wide, besides Sheds or Leantos, or make such Preparation for so doing, as the Commissioners, or the major Part of them, shall, on View, think reasonable, such Grant or Conveyance shall be void, and it is hereby declared void and of none Effect, as if the same had never been made; and the Commissioners may grant and convey such Lot or Lots which shall not be built on within the Time, and in the Manner as is hereinbefore directed, to any other Person or Persons applying for the same, and paying the Money for the said Lot, as in this Act is before directed, for the Use of the said Hope Dexter, or other Proprietors, as aforesaid.

VII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Commissioners, or the major Part of them, shall be, and they are hereby impowered and authorized, to remove all nuisances within the Limits of the said Town.

VIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That no Person, Inhabitant of the said Town, or holding a Lot or Lots therein, shall inclose the same, or keep the same inclosed, under a common Stake Fence; but every Lot therein shall be Paled in, or inclosed with Posts and Rails set up.

IX. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all Persons, Possessors or Owners of Lots in the said Town, shall, within Two Years from the Date of their Grant or Conveyance, clear and keep constantly clear, their Lot or Lots, from all Manner of Wood, Underwood, Brush and Grubs, under the Penalty of One Shilling, Proclamation Money, for every Month such Owner or Owners of any Lot or Lots shall neglect to clear, or keep the same clear, to be recovered by a Warrant from any Justice of the Peace, and applied by the said Commissioners for and towards clearing the Streets in the said Town.

X. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That for the Encouragement of the said Town, after there shall be Two good Public Houses, fit for the accommodation of Travellers, and good Boats provided, viz, one on each side of the said River, for transporting of Travellers, and their Horses, the said Houses and Boats to be approved of by the Justices of the Court of the said County, when the greater Number of the Justices are in Court, that then the Court of the said County, and all General Musters, shall be held in the said Town, and all other the Public Business of the said County shall be transacted in the said Town, and in no other Place or Places whatsoever.

XI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Justices of the said County are hereby impowered and Authorized, to lay a Levy, not exceeding Eight Pence, Proclamation Money, Yearly, to be paid and collected as other Public Taxes are, and applied towards building a Court House and Gaol, and providing a Ferry, at the Charge of the County, for the Convenience of the inhabitants of the said County passing to and from the said Town, to attend the Court, and transact their Public Business.

XII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the said Justices may, and they are hereby impowered and Authorized, to make Use of the old Court-house and Prison, for the use of the said Court house and Gaol, to be built as aforesaid in the said Town, either by pulling the same down, and moving such Part thereof as may be useful in building the said Court-house to be built in the said Town, as aforesaid, or by selling the same, and applying the Money arising by such Sale, towards erecting the said Buildings in the said Town.

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CHAPTER XIII.
An Act to prevent the taking away Boats, Canoes, or Pettiaguas, from Landings, or elsewhere, without Leave.

I. To prevent taking Boats, Canoes and Pettiaguas from Landings, or elsewhere, without Leave.

II. We pray that it may be Enacted, And be it Enacted by his Excellency Gabriel Johnston, Esq., Governor, by and with the Advice and Consent of his Majesty's Council, and General Assembly of this Province, and it is hereby Enacted, by the Authority of the same, That any Person or Persons who, after the Ratification of this Act, shall take away from any Landing or other Place where the same shall be, any Boat, Canoe, or Pettiagua, belonging to or in the Custody of any Person whatsoever, without the Consent and Leave of the Owner or Possessor of such Boat, Canoe or Pettiagua, or shall loose, unmoor, or turn such Boat, Canoe or Pettiagua adrift, such Offender or Offenders shall severally forfeit and pay to the Party who shall own, or in whose Custody and Possession such Boat, Canoe or Pettiagua was, the Sum of Twenty Shillings, Proclamation Money; to be recovered by a Warrant from any Justice of the Peace within the County where the Offence shall be committed, who is hereby impowered and required to hear and determine all such Offences: And if any Offender or Offenders shall, after Conviction, neglect or refuse to pay the said Sum of Twenty Shillings, Proclamation Money, in such Case, it shall and may be lawful for the said Justice, by his Warrant, to commit such Person to the Gaol of the County, where he shall remain until he shall have paid the same, and the accruing Costs.

III. Provided always, That nothing in this Act shall be understood or construed to debar any Person from his or her Action at Common Law, for any Damage sustained by Reason of any Boat, Canoe or Pettiagua, to them belonging, so taken or unloosed, unmoored or turned adrift, from any Landing or other Place where the same was left, against any Person whatsoever, notwithstanding such Person shall have paid the Penalty by this Act inflicted; any Thing herein contained, or any Law, Usage or Custom, to the contrary, notwithstanding.

IV. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any White Servant, Negroe or Slave, shall Offend against this Act, and be thereof convicted, and the Master, Mistress or Owner of such White Slave, Negroe, or Slave, shall refuse to pay the said Sum of Twenty Shillings, Proclamation Money, such Servant or Slave shall suffer Correction by whipping, at the Discretion of the Magistrate, not exceeding Thirty Nine Lashes.

V. Provided always, and be it Enacted, That neither this Act, nor the Penalties thereof, shall be construed to extend to any Person who shall press any Boat, Canoe or Pettiagua, by Public Authority, to any Person who shall seize his own proper Boat, Canoe or Pettiagua, or any other Person or Persons, being lawfully impowered so to do by the Owner, from any Place or Landing, or from any Person in whose Custody he shall find the same, or to any Servant or Slave taking any Boat, Canoe or Pettiagua, from any Landing or other Place, by Order of his or her Master, Mistress or Overseer.

VI. And be it further Enacted, That if any Master, Mistress or Overseer, shall order any Servant or Slave, belonging to them or under the Care of any of them, to take from any Landing or other Place, any Boat, Canoe or Pettiagua, contrary to the Intent and Meaning of this Act, such Master, Mistress or Overseer of such Servant or Slave so offending shall be liable to the Forfeitures and Penalties of this Act, as if they, in their proper Person, had

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done the same; anything herein before contained, to the contrary, notwithstanding.

VII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all and every other Act and Acts, and every Clause and Article thereof, so far as relates to prevent the taking Boats, Canoes or Pettiaguas from Landing or elsewhere, without Leave, is and are hereby repealed and made void, to all Intents and Purposes, as if the same had never been made.

CHAPTER XIV.
An Act for the better Observation and keeping of the Lord's Day, commonly called Sunday; and for the more effectual Suppression of Vice and Immorality.

I. Whereas in well regulated Governments, effectual Care is always taken that the Day set apart for Publick Worship, be observed and kept holy, and to suppress Vice and Immorality: Wherefore,

II. We pray that it may be Enacted, And be it Enacted, by his Excellency Gabriel Johnston, Esq., Governor, by and with the Advice and Consent of his Majesty's Council, and General Assembly of this Province, and it is hereby Enacted, by the Authority of the same, That all and every Person and Persons whatsoever shall, on the Lord's Day, commonly Called Sunday, carefully apply themselves to the Duties of Religion and Piety and that no Tradesman, Artificer, Planter, Labourer, or other Person whatsoever, shall, upon the Land or Water, do or exercise any Labour, Business or Work, of their ordinary Callings (Works of Necessity and Charity only excepted), nor employ themselves either in hunting, fishing or fowling, or Use any Game, Sport, or Play on the Lord's Day aforesaid, or any Part thereof, upon Pain that every so Offending, being of the Age of Fourteen Years and upwards, shall forfeit and pay the Sum of Ten Shillings, Proclamation Money.

III. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Person or Persons shall prophanely swear or Curse, in the Hearing of any Justice of the Peace, or shall be convicted of prophanely swearing and cursing, by the Oath of one or more Witness or Witnesses, or confession of the Party before any Justice or Justices of the Peace, every such Offender shall forfeit ana pay the sum of Two Shillings and Six Pence, of the like Money, for every oath or curse, And if any Person, executing any Public Office, shall prophanely swear or curse, being first convicted, as aforesaid, such Person shall forfeit and pay the Sum of Five Shillings, of the like Money, for each and every Oath or Curse.

IV. And be it further Enacted, That if any Person or Persons shall prophanely swear or curse, in the Presence of any Court of Record in this Government, such Offender or Offenders shall immediately pay the Sum of Ten Shillings, of the like Money, for each and every Oath or Curse; to be deposited in the Hands of the Chairman of the said Court, and by him accounted for and paid, as hereinafter is directed; or to sit in the Stocks, not exceeding three Hours, by order of such Court.

V. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That every Person convicted of Drunkenness, by View of any Justice of the Peace, Confession of the Party, or Oath of one or more Witness or Witnesses, such Person so convicted shall, if such Offence was committed on the Lord's Day, forfeit and pay the Sum of Five Shillings, of the like Money; but if on any

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other Day, the Sum of Two Shillings and Six Pence, for each and every such Offence.

VI. And for the better Execution of all and every of the foregoing Orders, Be it further Enacted, That all and every Justice and Justices of the Peace, within his or their respective County, shall have full Power and Authority to convene before him or them, any Person or Persons who shall Offend in any of the Particulars before mentioned, in his or their Hearing, or on other legal conviction of any such Offence, and to impose the said Fine or Penalty for the same, and to restrain or commit the offender until it is satisfied, or to cause the same to be levied by Distress and Sale of the Offender's Goods, returning the Overplus, if any, to the Owner: And in Case such Offender be unable to satisfy such Fine, to cause him to be put in the Stocks, not exceeding Three Hours.

VII. Provided always, That all Information against the aforesaid Offences shall be made within Ten Days after such Offence or Offences committed, and not after.

VIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all Fines accruing and becoming due by Virtue of this Act, shall be levied as soon as may be after Conviction, One Half to the Informer, the other Half to the Use of the Parish where such Offence shall be committed; and the Chairman and Justices of the several Courts of the several Counties of this Province, are hereby directed to account for, upon Oath, and pay such Fine or Fines as shall or may by them or any of them, be received, by Virtue of this Act, to the Church Wardens of the respective Parishes of this Governmend, at least once a Year, when the same shall be demanded by the Church Wardens; under the Penalty of paying the Sum of Twenty Pounds, Proclamation Money, for every Refusal, to be levied and applied as aforesaid.

IX. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Persons commit Fornication, upon due conviction, each of them shall forfeit and pay Twenty Five Shillings, Proclamation Money, for each and every such Offence; to be recovered and applied to the same Use as the other Fines in this Act.

X. And be it further Enacted, That any two Justices of the Peace, upon their own knowledge, or Information made to them, that any single Woman within this County is big with Child, or delivered of a Child or Children, may cause such Woman to be brought before them, and examine her, upon Oath, concerning the Father; and if she shall refuse to declare the Father, she shall pay the Fines in this Act before mentioned, and give sufficient Security to keep such Child or Children from being chargeable to the Parish, or shall be committed to Prison, until she shall declare the same, or pay the Fine aforesaid, and give Security as aforesaid. But in Case such Woman shall, upon Oath, before the said Justices, accuse any Man of being the Father of a Bastard Child or Children, begotten of her Body, such Person so accused shall be adjudged the reputed Father of such Child or Children, and stand Charged with the Maintenance of the same, as the County Court shall Order, and give Security to the Justices of the said Court to perform the said Order, and to indemnify the Parish where such Child or Children shall be born, free from Charges for his, or her, or their Maintenance, and may be committed to Prison until he find Securities for the same, if such Security is not by the Woman before given.

XI. And be it further Enacted, That the Two said Justices of the Peace, at their Discretion, may bind, to the next County Court, him that is charged on Oath, as aforesaid, to have begotten a Bastard Child, which shall not be then born, and the County Court May continue such Person upon Security

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until the Woman shall be delivered, that he may be forthcoming when the Child is born.

XII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That this Act shall be Publicly read, Two several Times in the Year, in all Parish Churches and Chappels, or for want of such, in the Place where Divine Service is performed in every Parish within this Government, by the Minister, Clerk or Reader of each Parish, immediately after Divine Service; that is to say, on the First or Second Sunday in April, and on the First or Second Sunday in September, under the Penalty of Twenty Shillings, Proclamation Money, for every such Omission or neglect; to be levied by a Warrant from a Justice, and applied to the Use of the Parish where the Offence shall be committed; and the Church Wardens of every Parish are hereby required to provide a Copy of this Act, at the Charge of the Parish.

XIII. Provided always, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to exempt any Clergyman within this Government, who shall be guilty of any of the Crimes hereinbefore mentioned, from such further Punishment as might have been inflicted on him for the same, before the making of this Act; any Thing herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding.

XIV. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all and every other Act and Acts, and every Clause and Article thereof, heretofore made, so far as related to the suppression of Vice, or Restrain and Punishment of wicked and dissolute Persons, or any Matter or Thing, within the Purview of this Act, is and are hereby repealed and made void, to all Intents and Purposes, as if the same had never been made.

CHAPTER XV.
An Act for the Tryal of small and mean Causes.

I. Whereas the Charges, in the General and County Courts of this Province, in many Actions of small Value, do very often surmount the Demand of the Plaintiff; to the very great Damage of the Parties:

II. We pray that it may be Enacted, And be it Enacted by his Excellency Gabriel Johnston, Esq., Governor, by and with the Advice and Consent of his Majesty's Council, and General Assembly of this Province, and it is hereby Enacted, by the Authority of the same, That any Two Justices of the Peace are hereby impowered, by their Warrant, under their Hand and Seals, directed to the Sheriff, Under Sheriff, or Constable, in all Actions of Debt, or other Demand whatsoever, for any Sum or Matter to the Value of Forty Shillings, Proclamation Money, or under, to cause to be apprehended and brought before them, any Person or Persons which have and do refuse or neglect to pay any Creditor complaining of his or their Debt or Debts, or Demands, amounting to the sum aforesaid, and also, to issue their Summon or Summons for such Witness or Witnesses, who shall or may be required, either by Plaintiff, or Defendant, for the better Proof, clearing and opening of the Matter contested between such Parties; and after having heard the Parties, and such Evidence as shall be required or produced by them, and each of them, to adjudge and finally determine all Complaints and Actions of Debts and Demands, as aforesaid, before them brought.

III. And be it further Enacted, That the Plaintiff or Plaintiffs obtaining such Warrant or Precept, shall make Proof of his Debt or Demand before such Justices, in the same Manner and under the same Restrictions as is provided and prescribed by an Act for prescribing the Method of proving

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Book Debts; otherwise his, or her, or their Complaint shall be dismist, with Costs.

IV. And be it further Enacted, That after the Determination of any of the Matters aforesaid by the said Justices, they are hereby impowered and required to issue Execution, to be levied upon the Goods and Chattels of the Defendant or Defendants, to the full Value of the Debt due, and the Costs and Charges hereafter in this Act provided to be paid; and for Want of Goods and Chattels, to commit the Body or Bodies of the Defendant or Defendants to the Common Gaol, until he or they shall pay his or their Debt or Debts aforesaid, together with the Costs; and also, in Case the Plaintiff shall be Cast, to issue Execution, to Levy the Costs for the Defendant, or commit the Plaintiff to Prison till the same is paid, in the same Manner as the Proceedings were to be had against the Defendant, on Judgment being had against him.

V. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all and every Sheriff or Constable, shall cause all Goods and Chattels, taken in Execution by Virtue of this Act, to be kept in safe Custody Ten Days, as if the Owner or Owners of such Goods shall not, within the said Ten Days, satisfy the said Debt, and Costs, the Sheriff or Constable shall sell the same at Public Vandue; and after satisfying the Judgment of the Justices as aforesaid, shall return the Overplus, if any there be, to the Owner.

VI. Provided always, That the Tender of the Commodities hereafter mentioned, at the Plaintiff's Place of Residence in the County, shall discharge any Person or Persons, Body or Goods, in Execution on any Judgment, to be given aforesaid; that is to say, Tobacco, Deer skins, Bees wax, Tallow, or Rice, as rated by the Act for granting an Aid to his Majesty: And if any Dispute shall arise between the Parties, whether such Commodities so tendered be good and merchantable, in such Case the Justice or Justices before whom such Cause was determined, shall appoint two Freeholders, who upon their Oaths, shall inspect the same, and if they shall deem the same not good and merchantable in its Kind, the same shall be forfeited, and sold by the Church Wardens, to the Use of the Parish where such Tender shall be made; and then nothing shall discharge such Judgment and Execution, but Money: And if the said Commodities so tendered be adjudged good and merchantable, the Plaintiff shall be obliged to accept of the same, in Discharge of such Debt, and Costs.

VII. And be it further Enacted, That all original Warrants, granted by Virtue of this Act, shall have inserted and plainly signified, the Name or Names of the Plaintiff or Plaintiffs, the Debt demanded, and whether by Bill, Account, Assumpsit, or otherwise, due.

VIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the said Justices, or their Clerk, shall, for each Warrant, receive One Shilling and Three Pence, proclamation Money, and for every Execution, One Shilling and Three Pence; and every Sheriff and Constable, for every original Warrant executed, shall be allowed One Shilling and Three Pence, Proclamation Money, and for every Subpoena, One Shilling, and for every Execution, One Shilling and Three Pence.

IX. And that all possible Means may be used for the Payment of the Plaintiff or Plaintiffs' Debt, after Execution obtained against the Body of the Defendant or Defendants. It is also Enacted, That the Justices have Power, and they are hereby impowered, in such Cases where they shall judge the Defendant not worth the Debt recovered as aforesaid, then, and not otherwise, by and with the Consent of the Defendant or Defendants, him or them to hire to labour, at so much per Diem, as either the Plaintiff or any indifferent

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Person will allow, until the whole Debt, by the Produce thereof, be paid; which Produce the Justices are hereby required to cause to be employd to no other Use but paying of the Debt or Debts as aforesaid.

X. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, and it is the true Intent and Meaning of this Act, That any Person who remains indebted by any Bond, Bill, Specialty, Account, Contract, Agreement, Assumpsit or otherwise, howsoever, to the Sum of Forty Shillings, Proclamation Money, or under, shall only be sued and tried before Justices of the Peace in Manner and Form aforesaid, and no otherwise.

XI. And be it further Enacted, That every Person that shall bring an Action or Suit in any Court within this Province, for more than Forty Shillings, Proclamation Money, and thereupon shall have a Verdict for less than Forty Shillings, like Money, shall lose his Cost of Suit, except in Actions of Trespass, and Actions of Defamation, and where an Account is unsettled, and the Defendant shall refuse or neglect, upon Notice given by the Plaintiff, to meet and settle the same.

XII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That for the more speedy doing of Justice, where the Debt or Demand shall not exceed Twenty Shillings, Proclamation Money, any one Justice of the Peace shall have full Power and Authority to hear, try and determine all such Causes, in such Manner and Form as is before in this Act Provided for two Justices, where the Debt or Demand shall amount to the Sum of Forty Shillings: And all Sheriffs or Constables to whom either original Warrants, Subpoena for Witnesses, or Execution or Executions, upon Goods and Chattels, or the Body of the Defendant or Defendants as aforesaid, are directed by any one or more Justice or Justices of the Peace, are hereby impowered and commanded to give due Obedience in the execution thereof according to the true Intent and Meaning of this Act.

XIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if either of the Parties shall be dissatisfied with the Judgment given by the Justice or Justices, he may appeal to the next County Court, first giving Security for prosecuting such Appeal with Effect; which Cause shall be tried and finally determined in the same Court, by a Jury, without any further Process, in the same Manner as Causes are there tried brought by original Writ; and Judgment shall thereupon be given, and the Party cast shall pay the Cost of all Proceedings had thereon, to be taxed by the Court.

XIV. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all and every other Act and Acts, and every Clause and Article thereof, heretofore made, so far as relates to the Tryal of small and mean Causes, or any other Matter or Thing whatsoever, within the Purview of this Act, is and are hereby repealed and made void, to all Intents and Purposes, as if the same had never been made.

CHAPTER XVI.
An Act for ascertaining the Damage upon protested Bills of Exchange.

I. For ascertaining the Damage upon protested Bills of Exchange, We pray that it may be Enacted, And be it Enacted, by his Excellency Gabriel Johnston, Esq., Governor, by and with the Advice and Consent of his Majesty's Council, and General Assembly of this Province, and by the Authority of the same, That where any Bill of Exchange is, or shall hereafter be drawn,

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for the Payment of any Sum of Money, in which the Value is or shall be expressed to be received, and such Bill is or shall be protested for Non-acceptance or Non-payment, the same shall carry Interest from the Date thereof, after the Rate of Ten per Cent. per Annum, until the Money therein drawn for, shall be fully satisfied and paid.

II. But lest any Person having any such Bill, for the Sake of Interest, delay negotiating the same, or if, after it shall be protested, shall not demand Payment thereof of the Drawer or Indorser, It is further Enacted and Demanded, That no Person whatsoever shall pay more than Eighteen Months' Interest, from the Date of any such Bill, till it shall be presented protested to the Drawer or Indorser thereof.

III. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That where any Bill, drawn before the making of this Act, or which shall hereafter be drawn, is or shall be protested as aforesaid, there shall be paid unto such Person or Persons as shall have Right to demand the same, for his, her, or their Damage in that Behalf sustained, after the Rate of Fifteen per Cent. for the Sum expressed in the said Bill, together with the Costs and Charges of the Protest and no more.

IV. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for any Person or Persons, having a Right to demand any Sum of Money due upon a protested Bill of Exchange, to commence and prosecute an Action for Principal, Interest, and Charges of Protest, against the Drawer and Indorsers jointly, or against either of them separately, and Judgment shall and may be given for such Principal Draught and Charges and Interest, after the Rate of Ten per Cent. per annum, as aforesaid, to the Time of such Judgment.

V. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all and every other Act and Acts, and every Clause and Article thereof heretofore made, so far as relate to any Matter or Thing whatsoever within the Purview of this Act, is and are hereby repealed and made void, to all Intents and Purposes, as if the same had never been made.

CHAPTER XVII.
An Act for regulating Weights and Measures.

I. Whereas so many Notorious Frauds and Deceits are daily committed by false Weights and Measures: For Prevention whereof,

II. We pray that it may be Enacted, And be it Enacted, by his Excellency Gabriel Johnston, Esq., Governor, by and with the Advice and Consent of his Majesty's Council, and General Assembly of this Province, and it is hereby Enacted, by the Authority of the same, That no Inhabitant or Trader shall buy or sell, or otherwise make Use of in trading, any other Weights and Measures than are made and used according to the Standard in his Majesty's Exchequer, and the Statutes of England in that Case provided.

III. And for Discovery of Abuses, Be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Justices of Each and every County within this Government, shall, within Two Years next after the Ratification of this Act, at the Charge of each County respectively, provide sealed Weights, of Half Hundred, Quarters of Hundreds, Half Quarters of Hundreds, Seven Pounds, Four Pounds, Two Pounds, One Pound, and Half Pound, and Measures, of Ell and Yard, of Brass and Copper, and Measures of Half Bushel, Peck and Gallon, of Dry Measures; and a Gallon, Pottle, Quart and Pint, of Wine Measure (for

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the Payment of which Charge, the said Justices are hereby impowered to levy a Tax on the respective Counties), to be kept by such Person and in such Place, as the Justices of each respective County shall appoint, such Person first giving sufficient Security to the said Justices, in the Sum of Fifty Pounds, Proclamation Money: And the said Justices shall also find and provide for the said Person, a Stamp for Brass, Tinn, Iron, Lead, or Pewter Weights or Measures, and also a Brand for Wooden Measures, of the Letters N. C., upon Pain of forfeiting and paying the Sum of Ten Pounds, Proclamation Money; to be recovered from the said Justices by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint or Information, in the General Court in this Province, and applied to the Use of our Sovereign Lord the King, for and towards the Support of this Government and the Contingent Charges thereof.

IV. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That any Person whatsoever using Weights or Measures, shall bring all their Measures and Weights to the Keeper of the County where such Person shall reside or trade, to be there tried by the Standard and sealed or Stamped: And if any Person or Persons shall buy, sell, or barter by any Weight or Measure which shall not be tried by the Standard, and sealed or Stamped as aforesaid, he, she, or they so offending shall, for every such Offence, forfeit and pay the Sum of Ten Pounds, Proclamation Money, One Half to the Use of the County where such Offence shall be committed, and the other Half to the Party who shall sue for the same; to be recovered in any Court of Record within this Government, wherein no Essoign, Protection, Privilege, Injunction or Wager of Law, shall be allowed.

V. And whereas Steelyards, by Use, are subject to Alteration, be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all and every Person who shall use, buy or sell by Steelyards shall once every year try the same with the Standard, and take a certificate from the Keeper of the Standard for the County wherein such Person shall reside, upon Pain of Twenty Shillings, Proclamation Money; to be recovered and applied as aforesaid.

VI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, that it shall and may be lawful for the Standard Keeper to demand and receive the Sum of Nine Pence, Proclamation Money, for each and every Pair of Steelyards, Weights or Measures, by him stamped or sealed as aforesaid.

VII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Standard Keeper of each and every County, shall, at the next court to be held for the County in which he shall reside, take the following oath, viz:

You shall swear, That you will not stamp, seal, or give any Certificate for any Steelyards, Weights or Measures, but such as shall, as near as possible, agree with the Standard in your Keeping; and that you will, in all Respects, truly and faithfully discharge and execute the Power and Trust by this Act reposed in you, to the best of your Ability and Capacity. So help you God.

VIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Standard Keeper of each and every County in this Government, is hereby impowered and required, with the assistance of a Constable, (who is hereby commanded, upon Notice, to attend him, upon Information made to him or any Person or Persons keeping, or having in his or their House or Custody, any Steelyards, Weights or Measures, which have been altered, lessened, or shortened, since they were tried and sealed by the Standard, or shall be suspected of buying, selling, or bartering by such false Weights, and Measures,) to search the House or other suspected Places of such Offender, for any such Weights or Measures so falsified; and if upon Search, any such false Weights or Measures, shall be found, he shall charge a Constable with

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the Owner of them, or the Person using them, who shall forthwith convey him, her, or them, before any Justice of the Peace, who is hereby directed to bind him, her or them, over to the next Court to be held for the County where the Offence shall be committed; and the said Offence shall be laid before the Grand Jury, by the King's Attorney-General, or his Deputy, and for Want of them, by any Person the County Court shall think fit to appoint, and shall be recognizable by the said Grand Jury, either by Indictment, or Presentment, and if, upon Tryal by a Petit Jury, such Offender or Offenders shall be found guilty, the County Court shall fine each and every Person so convicted, in any Sum not exceeding Twenty-Five Pounds, Proclamation Money; One third Part thereof to the Informer, One Third Part to the Standard Keeper, and One Third Part thereof to be paid to the Justices of the County, to be applied to the use of the County where the Offence shall be committed; and shall commit the Offender to Gaol until the same shall be paid; And further, if it appear to the County Court, by the Verdict of the Petit Jury, that the Offender altered, lessened or shortened, his or her, Steelyards, Weights or Measures, or caused the same to be done, or used such Steelyards, Weights or Measures, knowingly, after they were so altered, lessened, or shortened, with an intent to defraud any Person, in such Case the court shall, besides, and notwithstanding the said Fine, sentence such Offender to stand publickly, during the Sitting of the Court, Two Hours in the Pillory, with his Offence written over his or her Head: Any Law, Custom, or Usage, to the contrary, notwithstanding.

IX. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Naval Officer of each and every Port within this Government, shall affix up, in a Public Part of his Office, and there constantly keep affixed, an Advertisement of this Act, that Traders coming into this Government may have Notice thereof, upon Pain of forfeiting Five Shillings, Proclamation Money, for every Twenty Four Hours the same shall be neglected; to be recovered, by a Warrant from any Justice of the Peace of the County where the Offence shall be committed, by any Person who shall sue for the same, and applied, One Half to the Informer. and the other Half to the Use of the said County.

X. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Justices of every County respectively, shall have Power to take and receive into their Custody, all such Weights and Measures as have been already provided by their respective County or Parish, and shall also demand and receive from all and every Person or Persons whatsoever, all such Sums of Money as have been already raised to purchase such Weights and Measures, and dispose of and apply the same, according to the Directions of this Act.

XI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all and every other Act and Acts, and every Clause and Article thereof, heretofore made, so far as relate to Weights and Measures, or any other Matter or Thing within the Purview of this Act is and are hereby repealed and made void, to all Intents and Purposes, as if the same had never been made.

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CHAPTER XVIII.
An Act, for the building and maintaining Court-houses, Prisons and Stocks, in every County within this Province, and appointing Rules to each County Prison for Debtors.

I. We pray that it may be Enacted, And be it Enacted by his Excellency Gabriel Johnston, Esq., Governor, By and with the Advice and Consent of his Majesty's Council, and General Assembly of this Province, and is hereby Enacted, by the Authority of the same, That the Justices in all and every County or Counties within this Province, where there is not already suitable provision made, shall, and are hereby impowered and required, at the next succeeding Court of their respective Counties, after the Ratification of this Act, to lay a sufficient Levy upon the Inhabitants of the said Counties, not exceeding One Shilling, Proclamation Money per Poll, for Two Years, for the building a Court House, Prison and Stocks, or any such of them as shall be wanting; which Levy shall be paid and collected by the Sheriff of each County, in the same Manner as all other Public and Parish Taxes and levies are paid and collected, and by him shall be accounted for to the Justices of the County Court, upon Oath; and the said Sheriff shall be allowed Three per Cent. for Collecting the same.

II. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Justices of each County shall and may, from Time to Time, and at all Times hereafter, employ Persons to keep and maintain the Court-House, Prison and Stocks, already Built, and such as are to be built, by Virtue of this or any other Act, or to rebuild such as have fallen to Decay and Ruin, and the same be kept in good Repair, by laying a Poll Tax on the Inhabitants of their respective Counties as aforesaid.

III. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Person shall neglect or refuse to pay the aforesaid Levies, in Manner aforesaid, and shall be in Arrear after the last Day of Payment, such Person shall be liable to double Distress; to be levied on his Goods and Chattels by the Sheriff of the County where such Delinquent inhabits And for the Preservation of the Health of such Persons as shall, at any Time hereafter, be committed to the County Prisons, the Court shall have Power to Mark out such Parcel of Land as they shall think fit, not exceeding Six Acres, adjoining to the Prison, for the Rules thereof; and every Prisoner, not committed for Treason or Felony, giving good Security to the Sheriff of the County to keep within the said Rules, shall have Liberty to walk therein out of the Prison, for the Preservation of his or their Health: And every Prisoner giving such Security as aforesaid, and keeping continually within the said Rules, shall be, and is hereby adjudged and declared to be, in Law a true Prisoner; and that every Person therewith concerned may know the true Bounds of the said Rules, the same shall be recorded in the County Records, and the Marks thereof shall, from Time to Time, be renewed, as Occasion shall require.

CHAPTER XIX.
An Act, the better to enable the Commissioners appointed for building a Church at New Bern, to erect the same, and to impower them to demand and receive, of any Person or Persons, all Parish Levies already laid and not appropriated; and for other Purposes therein mentioned.

I. Whereas by an Act of Assembly of this Province, passed the last Session, enabling the Commissioners therein appointed to erect and build a

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Church in New Bern, and the better to enable them to carry on and finish the same, they were impowered to levy a Tax of One Shilling and Six Pence, for the Two then ensuing Years, on each Tythable in the said Parish; and the said Tax being found insufficient to finish the said Church: And whereas there was laid, by the late Vestry, on the Inhabitants of the said Parish, a Tax of Fifteen Shillings per Poll, on each Tythable, for paying a Minister for the ensuing Year, and the succeeding Vestry not thinking fit to employ a Minister, the said Tax thereby remains, as yet, unappropriated to and for any Parish Use.

II. We therefore pray that it may be Enacted, And be it Enacted, by his Excellency Gabriel Johnston, Esq., Governor, by and with the Advice and Consent of his Majesty's Council, and General Assembly of this Province, and by the Authority of the same, That the said Tax of Fifteen Shillings, shall be appropriated to and for the building and finishing the said Church.

III. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Churchwardens of the said Parish shall, on or before the First Day of May next, after the Ratification of this Act, account for and pay to the Commissioners appointed by the before recited Act, all such Sum or Sums of Money as they shall have received on Account of the aforesaid Tax or Levy of Fifteen Shillings, under the Penalty of One Hundred Pounds, Proclamation Money; to be sued for and recovered, in the General Court of this Province, by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint or Information (wherein no Essoign, Injunction, or Wager of Law, shall be allowed or admitted of) by any Person who will sue for the same, to be applied to the Use of the said Church; And all Persons who have not paid the aforesaid Tax or Levy, to the Church-wardens as aforesaid, shall, on or before the last Day of May next, after the Ratification of this Act, pay the same to the said Commissioners, or to such Person to whom the Majority of them shall appoint to receive the same, under the Penalty of Double Distress; to be levied by a Warrant from one Justice of the Peace for the said County, and to be applied as aforesaid.

IV. And whereas the said Commissioners have made One Hundred Thousand Brick, towards building the said Church, and some of the said Brick being deemed sufficient for the said Work; Be it therefore Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the said Commissioners, or the Majority of them, may sell or dispose of any such Brick as the said Commissioners shall judge not fitting or sufficient for the building of the said Church, and apply the Money arising by such Sale, to the Uses aforementioned.

CHAPTER XX.
An Act, for regulating Ordinaries, and for Restraint of Tippling houses.

I. Whereas the Laws at present in Force in this Province, have by Experience, been found ineffectual for the due Regulation of Ordinaries, and other Houses of Entertainment.

II. We pray that it may be Enacted, And be it Enacted, by his Excellency Gabriel Johnston, Esq., Governor, by and with the Advice and Consent of his Majesty's Council, and General Assembly of this Province, and it is hereby Enacted, by the Authority of the same, That all Persons whatsoever, retailing Liquors after the First Day of August next, shall sell the same by sealed Measures, according to an Act, intituled, an Act, for regulating Weights and Measures.

III. Provided always, That it shall and may be lawful for any Person,

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retailing Liquors by Licence in any Public House or Houses, to sell the same in Bottles, Bowls or Mugs, the said Bottles, Bowls and Mugs, being sold for no more than they can hold or contain.

IV. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after the First Court in each County, after the First Day of May next, whoever shall retail Liquors in any House, Booth, Arbour, Stall or Other Place, without Licence First had and obtained, according to the directions of this Act, shall forfeit and pay Five Pounds Proclamation Money; One Half to the Governor or Commander in Chief for the Time being, and the other Half to the Informer; to be recovered as herein after is directed: And that the Method of obtaining such Licence shall be as follows: Whosoever intends to set up an Ordinary, or House of Public Entertainment, shall petition the County Court, and they, at their Discretion, shall judge whether it is convenient to suffer such a House to be there set up, whether the Petitioner be of Ability sufficient to comply with the Intent of the Law, and the Condition of the Bond hereafter mentioned, and whether the Surety, who is to join in the Bond, be responsible, and thereupon to grant or reject the Prayer of the Petitioner accordingly; and in Case the said Petitioner shall be approved of, the Court shall then take Bond, of the Party Petitioning, with good and sufficient Surety, with the Penalty and Condition as followeth, viz.:

Know all Men by these Presents, That we, A. B. and C. D. are held and firmly bound unto our Sovereign Lord George the Second, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c., in the Sum of Thirty Pounds, Proclamation Money; to be paid to our said Sovereign Lord the King, his Heirs and Successors, for the Use of this Province: To which Payment well and truly to be made, we bind ourselves, and every of us, our, and every of our Heirs, Executors, and Administrators, jointly and severally, firmly, by these Presents.

Sealed with our Seals, and dated this —— Day of —— The Condition of this Obligation is such, That whereas the above bounden A. B. hath obtained a Licence to keep an Ordinary at —— if therefore the said A. B. doth constantly find and provide, in his said Ordinary, good Wholesome, and cleanly Lodging and Dyet for Travellers and Stable, Fodder, and Corn, or Pasturage and Corn, as the Season shall require, for their Horses, for and during the Term of One Year, from the —— Day of —— and shall not suffer or permit any unlawful Gaming in his House, nor, on the Sabbath Day, suffer any Person to Tipple and drink more than is necessary; then this Obligation to be null and void: Otherwise to be and remain in Force.

The Bond being taken, the Court shall grant their Order, and the Clerk shall thereupon prepare a Licence, and sign the same, and that Licence shall continue and be of Force for One Year only, from the Date of the said Order, and no longer.

V. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That there be paid, by the Party obtaining such Licence, to the Governor or Commander in Chief of this Province for the Time being, for his Licence, the Sum of Twenty Shillings, Proclamation Money, and to the Clerk of the Court, for writing the Bond and Licence, the Sum of Five Shillings, Proclamation Money.

VI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Ordinary keeper shall permit in his House unlawful Gaming, or shall suffer any Person or Persons, on the Lord's Day, to tipple in his House, or drink more than is necessary, or shall (without Licence from their respective

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Masters) Harbour any Seaman, Servant, or Slave, contrary to the Intent and Meaning of this Act, it shall be lawful for any Two Justices of the Peace, upon their own View or Knowledge, or upon Proof made to them, by the Oath of one credible Witness, to suppress the said Ordinary, until the next succeeding Court; and upon Certificate made by the said Two Justices of the said Offence, and further enquiry into the same, the said County Court shall disable the Offender from keeping Ordinary thereafter, until they shall think fit to grant him a new Licence, or to restore him to keep Ordinary upon the former Licence, as they shall see Cause: and if any Ordinary-keeper shall sell or retail any Liquor, after he hath been so discharged, by the aforesaid Two Justices, and before he shall be restored by the Court, he shall be liable to all the Penalties and Forfeitures, as if he had never obtained a Licence.

VII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Justices of each county shall, Annually, at the next Court held after the First Day of May, set and rate the prices that Ordinaries shall entertain and sell at; that is, of Liquors, according to the Measures before mentioned, and of Diet, Lodging, Fodder or Provender, or Corn and Pasturage.

VIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Ordinary-keeper shall ask, demand, or receive, a greater Price for any Drink, Dyet, Lodging, Fodder, Provender, Corn, or Pasturage, than shall be set down and rated by the Justices of the County, according to this Act, he or she shall, for every such Offence, forfeit and pay Ten Shillings, Proclamation Money, to the Informer; to be recovered, with Costs, by the Warrant of any Justice of the Peace of the County where such Offence shall be committed.

IX. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That every Ordinary-keeper shall, within One Month after the Rates shall be set by the County Court where the Licence was granted, obtain of the Clerk a fair Table of the Rates and Prices set by the Court, for which the Clerk may ask and receive Two Shillings and Six Pence, Proclamation Money, and no more; which Table shall be openly set up in the Common entertaining Room of the said Ordinary, and there constantly kept during One whole Year, or until the Rates shall be again set by the Court: And every Ordinary-keeper failing herein, shall forfeit and pay the Sum of Five Pounds, Proclamation Money.

X. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Person, contrary to the true Intent and Meaning of this Act, shall keep a Tippling House, or retail Liquor as aforesaid, without Licence, and being thereof lawfully Convicted, shall not pay down the said Fine of Five Pounds, Proclamation Money, or forthwith give Security to pay the same, within one Month next after such Conviction, he or she so offending, shall immediately, by Order of the Court before whom such Conviction shall be, receive, at the Public Whipping Post, on his or her bare Back, Thirty lashes, well laid on, for the First Offence, in Lieu of the said Fine; and for the Second, and every future Offence, upon the refusing to pay or give the said Security for the said Fine as aforesaid, he or she shall, by Order aforesaid, receive Thirty Nine Lashes as aforesaid, and shall be committed to Prison for the Space of One Month, without Bail or Mainprize: And where the Offender is not able to pay the Fine, in that Case the Informer shall not be chargeable with any Fees accrued by reason of such Information.

XI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That no Ordinary-keeper or Master of a Tippling House, or any Person whatsoever, shall after the Ratification of this Act, trust or sell Drink to any common Sailor,

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in actual pay on board any Ship or Vessel within this Province, without leave of the Master of such Ship or Vessel, for any Value whatsoever upon Credit, under the Penalty of losing all the Money trusted to such Sailor as aforesaid, nor shall sell Drink, upon Trust, to any Person whatsoever, to a greater value than Ten Shillings, Proclamation Money, unless the Person so Trusted shall sign a Book, in Acknowledgment of the said Debt; under the Penalty of losing all the Money so trusted, over and above the said Sum of Ten Shillings, Proclamation Money; and the Person so trusted, shall not be liable to pay the same.

XII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all Penalties, Fines, and Forfeitures, in this Act, the Method of recovering or applying whereof are not herein particularly directed, shall be, One Half to the Church Wardens and Vestry of the Parish where such Fine is incurred, for and towards the contingent Charges of the Parish, and the other Half to him or them that shall sue for the same; to be recovered, with Costs, by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint, or Information, in any Court of Record within this Province, wherein no Essoign, Protection, or Wager of Law, shall be allowed.

XIII. Provided always, That nothing herein contained, shall be construed, deemed, or taken, to prohibit or restrain any Merchant or other Person, to sell, by Retail, Wine, Brandy, Rum or Spirits, in any Quantity not less than a Quart, or Ale, Beer, or Cyder, in any Quantity not less than a Gallon, if none of the said liquors are allowed to be tippled or drank out at the Houses, Stores, or Plantations, where the same are sold.

XIV. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all and every Act and Acts, and every Clause and Article thereof heretofore made, so far as relate to regulating Ordinaries, and Restraint of Tippling-Houses, or to any other Matter or Thing whatsoever within the Purview of this Act, is and are hereby repealed and made void, to all Intents and Purposes, as if the same had never been made.

CHAPTER XXI.
An Act for the relief of such Persons as have suffered or may suffer, by the Registers of the several Counties within this Province neglecting to Register their Deeds or Mesne Conveyances; or who, through Ignorance or Neglect, have not had the same acknowledged, proved, and registered.

I. Whereas by an Act of the General Assembly of this Province, intituled, An Act, to appoint Public Registers, and to direct the Method to be observed in conveying Lands, Goods and Chattels, and to prevent fraudulent Deeds and Mortgages, amongst other Things it is Enacted: That no Conveyance or Bill of Sale for Land, (other than Mortgage) in what Manner or Form soever drawn, should be good and available in Law, unless the same was acknowledged by the Vender, or proved, by one or more Evidences, upon Oath, either before the Chief Justice for the Time being, or in the Court of the Precinct where the Land lay, within Twelve Months after the Date of the same Deed: And whereas several of the Public Registers of the several Counties of this Province, have neglected to register several Deeds or mesne Conveyances, pursuant to the before recited Act, and several Persons, through Ignorance or Neglect, have failed to prove, acknowledge, and register their Deeds or mesne Conveyances, and also several persons have recorded their mesne Conveyances in the Clerk's

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Office of the several Precincts or Counties in which such Lands lie, believing the same as effectual as if the said Deed or mesne Conveyance had been registered in the Register's Office as aforesaid; whereby several Persons' Titles to their Lands and Tenements are become precarious, to the great Prejudice of such Persons: To the End therefore that all possible Relief may be given to the Persons whose Estates, Titles, and Interest, may be affected thereby.

II. We pray that it may be Enacted, And be it Enacted by his Excellency Gabriel Johnston, Esq., Governor, by and with the Advice and Consent of his Majesty's Council, and General Assembly of this Province, and it is hereby Enacted by the Authority of the same, That all Deeds and mesne Conveyances of Lands, Tenements and Hereditaments, not already acknowledged, proved and registered, by any neglect as aforesaid, the Public Register of every County where such neglect hath happened, shall register such Deed or mesne Conveyance, within Twelve Monthe after the Ratification of this Act; provided such Deed or mesne Conveyances, be delivered to the Register of each County where the Land lyeth, within Ten Months after the Ratification of the same.

III. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all Deeds or mesne Conveyances, which have been recorded by the Clerk of any Precinct or County Court within this Province where such Land lie, or have been heretofore registered by the Public Register of any of the said Precincts or Counties within this Province where such Lands lie, though not within One Year after the Date of such conveyance, shall be good and valid in Law; and all Deeds and mesne Conveyances, hereafter to be proved, acknowledged, and registered, in the Manner as is by this Act directed, that shall be good and valid, to all Intents and Purposes as if the said Deeds and mesne Conveyances had been registered Pursuant to the before recited Act: And such Registry of all and every Deed or mesne Conveyance, already registered, or that hereafter shall be registered, by Virtue of this or the before recited Act, or a copy thereof properly attested by the Register shall and may (where such original Deed or Mesne Conveyance is lost), be given in Evidence in any Court within this Province, in such Suit or Suits wherein there may be Occasion to give such registered Deed or mesne Conveyance in Evidence; any Law, Usage, or Custom, to the contrary, notwithstanding.

IV. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That every Register that shall neglect, refuse, or delay to register any Deeds, mesne Conveyances, or any other Instrument of Writing, within Two Months after delivered to him, such Register or Registers, for each and every Two Months so neglecting, refusing, or delaying, shall forfeit and pay the Sum of Twenty Pounds, Proclamation Money, One Half to the Use of the Parish, and the other half to him or them that shall sue for the same, to be recovered, by Action of Debt, Bill Plaint, or Information, in any Court of Record in this Government, wherein no Essoign, Injunction, or Wager of Law, shall be allowed or admitted of.

CHAPTER XXII.
An Act for Punishment of Deserters. Obs.

(Omitted.)

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CHAPTER XXIII.
An Act for Establishing the Church, for appointing Parishes, and the Method of Electing Vestries; and for directing the Settlement of Parish Accompts throughout this Government.

I. Be it Enacted by his Excellency Gabriel Johnston, Esq., Governor, by and with the Advice and Consent of his Majesty's Council, and General Assembly of this Province, and it is hereby Enacted, by the Authority of the same, That this Government be and it is hereby divided in distinct Parishes, in the Manner following: That is to say, St. Paul's Parish, in Chowan County, Berkely Parish, in Perquimons County, St. John's Parish, on the Southwest side of Pasquotank River, and St. Peter's Parish on the Northwest Side of Pasquotank River, in Pasquotank County, Currituck Parish in Currituck County, Northwest Parish, and Society Parish, in Bertie County, St. Andrews Parish in Tyrrell County, St. Thomas Parish in Beaufort county, St. George's Parish, in Hyde County, Christ-Church Parish, in Craven County, St. John's Parish in Onslow County, St. James Parish, on the East side of Cape Fear River, in New Hanover County, and St. Phillip's Parish on the West side of Cape Fear River, in New Hanover County, from the Mouth of the said River, running up the Northwest River to the Bounds of the County, inclusive of the Island at the Mouth of the Northwest and Northeast rivers, in the said County, commonly called Eagle's Island, lying to the South of the Thoroughfare, St. Martin's Parish, in Bladen County, and Edgecomb Parish, in Edgecomb County.

II. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Inhabitants of every Parish aforesaid, being Freeholders, shall, and they are hereby directed and impowered, to meet together on the First Monday next after the Ratification of this Act, and on every Easter Monday every Two Years thence, after, at the Court-house, or where there is no Court-house, at the most usual Place of Public Worship, in every Parish, then and there to choose and elect Twelve Freeholders, to serve as Vestrymen for the Two next ensuing Years: Which Vestrymen so chosen, shall, by the Constable or Constables, be summoned to meet at the Church, and where there is no Church, then at the Court-house, or where there is no Court-house, at the most usual Place of Public Worship as aforesaid, in each respective Parish, within Forty Days next after such Choice, and then and there to Qualify themselves according to the Directions, and under the Penalty hereafter mentioned; and if the said Constable or Constables, or any of them, shall neglect or refuse to summon the Vestry as aforesaid, he or they so Offending, shall forfeit and pay the Sum of twenty shillings Proclamation Money, for each and every Vestryman not summoned as aforesaid who shall reside within the District of such Constable; to be levied and applied as herein after is directed.

III. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That no Person shall be admitted to be of any Vestry within this Government, that doth not take the Oaths by Law appointed to be taken, for the Qualification of Public Officers, and subscribe the following Declaration, viz.:

I, A. B. do declare, that I will not oppose the Liturgy of the Church of England, as it is by law established: And all and every Vestryman who shall neglect or refuse to do the same, shall (if he be not a known Dissenter from the Church of England), forfeit and pay the Sum of Three Pounds, Proclamation Money) to be levied and applied as herein after is directed: And if any Person or Persons, chosen as a Vestryman or Vestrymen, shall neglect or refuse to take and subscribe the said Declaration, the Vestry of which

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such Person or Persons was or were elected a member or the major Part of them, are impowered and required to elect and choose another or other Freeholder or Freeholders, to be Vestryman or Vestrymen in the Room and stead of the Person or Persons neglecting or refusing as aforesaid: And if it shall happen that the Vestry of any Parish within this Government, shall not elect and make choice of another or others in the Room and Stead of such Vestryman or Vestrymen neglecting or refusing to qualify as aforesaid, within One Month next after such Neglect or Refusal, that then and in such Case it shall and may be lawful for the Minister of such Parish, or for want of such, the Governor or Commander in Chief for the Time being, under his Hand and Seal, to appoint some Freeholder or Freeholders to supply such vacant Place or Places in such Vestry.

IV. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the several Vestries of this Government shall, within Forty Days after Easter Monday, Yearly, and every year, elect and choose out of the said Vestry, Two Persons, to execute the Office of Church Wardens in each and every respective Parish; and if the Persons elected and chosen Church Wardens as aforesaid, or either of them, shall refuse to execute the said Office, he or they so refusing, shall pay and forfeit Forty Shillings, Proclamation Money; to be levied and applied as hereinafter is directed, and the Vestry shall immediately proceed to elect and choose another Church Warden or Church Wardens out of the Vestrymen, in the Room of him or them so refusing to Act.

V. Provided always, That no Person whatsoever, shall be obliged to serve as Church Wardens in any Parish within this Government, for more than One Year, unless he consent thereto.

VI. And be it further Enacted, That the Church Wardens, or in Case they refuse or neglect, any Three or more of the Vestry in each and every Parish in this Government, shall have full Power and Authority to call the Vestry together, at the Places as are in this Act heretofore directed, at any Time, and upon any occasion, they shall judge necessary, by Warrant or Warrants under their Hands, directed to the several Constables of the respective Districts and Parishes, who shall be obliged to execute the same according to the Tenour thereof, under the Penalty of Ten Shillings Proclamation Money. for each and every Vestryman in such Warrant mentioned, who shall not be summoned; to be levied as hereinafter is directed: And every Vestryman who shall refuse or neglect to attend the Vestry agreeable to such Summons, shall forfeit and pay the Sum of Ten Shillings, Proclamation Money, for such offence, unless he can show sufficient Cause for his so doing, to be admitted of by the Vestry, or the Major Part of them, at their next Meeting; to be levied and applied as herein after is directed.

VII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Vestries of the several Parishes of this Government, shall have full power and authority, upon the Death or removal out of their respective Parishes of any Church Warden or Church Wardens, before the Time limited for the executing of the said Office be expired, to elect and choose out of the Vestry, another Church Warden or Church Wardens, in the Room and stead of the Person or Persons dead, or removing out of the Parish as aforesaid; which Church Warden or Church Wardens, so elected or Chosen, shall serve until the Time appointed by this Act for the Election and Choice of Church Wardens, Anything herein contained to the Contrary Notwithstanding.

VIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Vestries of each respective Parish within this Government, shall have full Power and Authority, and they are hereby directed and required, within

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Forty days next after Easter Monday, Yearly, and every Year, to appoint and order such Sum of Money as they shall judge necessary, to pay and satisfy the Expence and Charge of their respective Parish, for the then Current Year, to be raised by the Poll, and collected in the same Manner by the Sheriff as other Taxes.

IX. And be it Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Church Wardens of each and every respective Parish in this Government, shall deduct, out of the money arising from all Parish Taxes by them received, the Sum of Three Per Cent. as a Reward for their Trouble, and no more.

X. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Church Wardens of each and every respective Parish in this Government, shall, the first Vestry to be held in each Parish after every Easter Monday, Yearly, and every Year, on Oath, account with their respective Vestries for all Parish Monies in their Hands, of what Kind or Denomination soever, that now are or hereafter shall become due, by Virtue of any Law for that Purpose, or otherwise, and shall pay the same to the Vestry, or their Order. And if any Church Warden or Church Wardens which now is or are, or that hereafter shall be, in any of the respective Parishes in this Government, shall neglect or refuse to account for and pay to the respective Vestries, or their Order, the Money in his or their Hands belonging to the Parish for which he or they are Church Wardens, within Twenty days after Notice, in Writing, given to him or them, to account for and pay the Parish Money aforesaid; he or they so offending, shall severally forfeit and pay Twenty Five Pounds, Proclamation Money; to be recovered by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint, or Information, in the Name of the Church Wardens, in any Court of Record within this Province, wherein no Essoign, Injunction, Protection, or Wager of Law, shall be allowed or admitted of; to be applied by the Vestry to the Use of the Parish.

XI. Provided always, That nothing in this Act shall be construed to repeal any Clause, Matter, or Thing, in Two several Acts, passed last Session, at Edenton, for the finishing a Church at Edenton, and for erecting and building, and finishing a Church at New Bern.

XII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Vestry and Church Wardens of each and every Parish within this Government shall have full Power and Authority to call any Justice of the Peace or other Person or Persons whatsoever, to account, upon Oath, for the Monies in the Hands of them or any of Them belonging to their respective Parishes, or accruing and becoming due to the same, by Virtue of any of the Laws of this Government: And if any Justice or Justices or other Person or Persons shall refuse to appear and account as aforesaid, such Justice or Justices, or any other Person or Persons so refusing or neglecting, shall forfeit and pay the Sum of Twenty Pounds, Proclamation Money; to be recovered by the Church Wardens of the Parish where such Monies become due, or where payable, by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint, or Information, in any Court Record within this Government, wherein no Essoign, Protection, Injunction or Wager of Law, shall be allowed or admitted of; and to be applied to the Use of the Parish.

XIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Vestry of each and every Parish in this Government, shall have full Power to raise Money, by the Poll, for building a Church, Chappel, or Chappels, to purchase lands for a Glebe, to erect Convenient buildings thereon, and to keep the aforesaid Edifices in repair, as Need shall be, from Time to Time, to buy Books and Ornaments for the Church and Public Worship, and for the Care and Support of the Poor, and all other Parish Charges as they shall

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judge necesary for the respective Parishes; which said Poll-Tax shall be collected and levied as in this Act before is directed, and shall not exceed Five Shillings, Proclamation Money, per head in any one Year, for all the Purposes in this Act before mentioned.

XIV. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the several Church Wardens and Vestries of the several and respective Parishes of this Government, or the greatest part of them, shall use their best and utmost Endeavours to procure an able and Godly Minister, qualified according to the Ecclesiastical Laws of England, and a Person of a sober Life and Conversation, to be Clerk; and may raise him or them such Stipends Yearly as they shall think convenient, so as such Stipend for the Minister be no less than Fifty Pounds proclamation Money Yearly.

XV. Provided always, That such Minister for whom such Monies are to be so raised be constantly resident in the Parish, and doth not omit officiating at the Church or Chappels within the Parish, unless permitted by the Church Wardens and Vestry to officiate in such neighbouring Parish which may be vacant, or disabled by sickness, or other unavoidable Accident.

XVI. And be it further Enacted, That if any Minister who shall have a Cure in any Parish by Virtue of this Act, shall be notoriously Guilty of any scandalous Immorality, it shall and may be lawful for any number of the Vestry not less than Nine, agreeing thereto, to withdraw the Stipend by this Act allowed to such Minister.

XVII. Provided always, That after such withdrawing of the Stipend, such Minister shall be at Liberty to bring suit, in the General Court of this Province, against the Church Wardens of his Parish, for the recovery of his Stipend; in which suit the Church Wardens may, in Bar of the Action, plead the Order of the Vestry, and shall set forth the particular facts for which the Vestry withdrew the Stipend of such Minister, And in Case the Jury shall find for the Minister, then he shall recover his Stipend, with Costs of Suit, and enjoy his Benefice; but in Case the Jury find for the Church Wardens, then, and in such Case the Vestry of the Parish are hereby impowered to elect another Minister in his Room and Stead.

XVIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That every Minister within this Government, shall during his Incumbency, keep and maintain the Mansion-house, and all other the Out-houses and conveniences that shall be erected on his Glebe, in tenantable Repair, and shall so leave the same at his Death, or Removal out from the said Parish (the Accidents of Fire and Tempest only excepted), and shall not suffer any Waste, by cutting down of Timber, or otherwise, to be committed on his said Glebe, except for necessary Repairs, Fences or other Improvements, and Fire-wood, to be used thereon: And in Case any Minister shall fail to keep his said Glebe and the Buildings thereon in tenantable Repair, or shall suffer any Waste to be committed thereon as aforesaid, such Minister, his Executors and Administrators, shall be liable to the Action of the Church Wardens of the Parish for the Time being, whereby the Value of such Repair or Waste shall be recovered, in Damages, with Costs of Suit; and the Damage so recovered shall be laid out according to the Directions of the Vestry and Church Wardens, in making necessary Repairs upon the Glebe.

XIX. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the several Sums of Money, arising and becoming due by Reason of the Forfeitures by this Act inflicted, and for which no Method of Recovery or Application is directed before in this Act, shall be levied, within One Week next after they shall become due, by Warrant of Distress, and Sale of Offenders'

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Goods, from one or more of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace within the County where the Default shall be made (Regard being had to the Jurisdiction of the said Justice or Justices, returning the Overplus, if any, to the Owner), and paid to the Church Wardens for the Use of the Parish, and by them to be accounted for and paid as herein before is directed.

XX. And whereas a Vestry and Church Wardens will be wanting, for the Parish of St. Philip's, in New Hanover County, before the Time limited by this Act, for the Election of Vestrymen for the several Parishes within this Province; Be it Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That Nathaniel Rice, Eleazer Allen, Matthew Rowan, Roger Moore, William Forbes, James Hasel, Richard Eagles, John Davis, Archibald Hamilton, George Ronald, Cornelius Harnet, and George Moore be, and are hereby appointed Vestrymen for the said Parish of St. Philip's, until the next Election of Vestrymen, as by this Act directed: Which said Vestrymen shall have full Power to choose Church Wardens, and to do and perform every other Matter and Thing which other Vestrymen may do by Virtue of this Act, and shall be liable to the same Penalties and Forfeitures as in this Act is before mentioned; any Law, Custom, or Usage, to the contrary, notwithstanding.

XXI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all and every other Act and Acts, and every Clause and Article thereof (except as before excepted) heretofore made, so far as relates to the establishing the Church, appointing Parishes and select Vestries, and for directing the Settlement of Parish Accounts, is and are hereby repealed and made void, to all Intents and Purposes as if the same had never been made.

CHAPTER XXIV.
An Act Concerning Servants and Slaves.

I. Be it Enacted, by his Excellency Gabriel Johnston, Esq., Governor, by and with the Advice and Consent of his Majesty's Council, and General Assembly of this Province, and it is hereby Enacted, by the Authority of the same, That no Person whatsoever, being a Christian, or of Christian Parentage, who, from and after the Ratification of this Act, shall be imported or brought into this Province, shall be deemed a Servant for any Term of Years, unless the Person importing him or her shall produce an Indenture, or some Specialty or Agreement, signifying that the Person so imported did contract to serve such Importer, or his Assigns, any Number of Years, in Consideration of his or her Passage, or some other Consideration therein expressed; and upon any Contest arising between the Master of any Vessel, or other Person importing any Servant or Servants, without Indenture, upon any Bargain or Specialty as aforesaid, the same shall be determined at the next County Court to be held for the County where the said Servant or Servants shall be imported, the Justices of which Court are hereby Impowered to hear and determine the same, in a summary way; and such Determination or Judgment shall be conclusive and binding on the Importer of Servant or Servants, either for the Discharge of the said Servant or Servants, or to oblige him, her, or them, to serve the Importer, or his Assigns, as the Matter shall appear.

II. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Christian Servant, whether he or she be a Servant by Importation or otherwise, shall at any Time or Times absent him or herself from the service of his or her Master or Mistress, without Licence first had, he or she shall

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satisfy and make good such Loss of Time by serving after their Time of Service by Indenture or otherwise is expired, double the Time of Service lost or neglected by such Absence; and also such longer Time as the County Court shall think fit to adjudge, in Consideration of any further Charge or Damage the Master or Mistress of such Servant may have sustained, by Reason of his or her Absence as aforesaid.

III. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Christian Servant shall lay violent Hands on his or her Master or Mistress, or Overseer, or shall obstinately refuse to obey the lawful Commands of any of them, upon Proof thereof by one or more Evidences before any Justice of the Peace, he or she shall, for every such Offence, suffer such Corporal Punishment as the said Judge shall think fit to adjudge, not exceeding Twenty One Lashes.

IV. And as an Encouragement for Christian Servants to perform their Service with Fidelity and Cheerfulness; Be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all Masters and Owners of any Servant or Servants shall find and provide for their Servant or Servants wholesome and competent Diet, Clothing and Lodging, at the Discretion of the County Court, and shall not, at any Time, give immoderate Correction, neither shall at any Time whip a Christian Servant naked, without an Order from the Justice of the Peace: And if any Person shall presume to whip a Christian Servant naked, without such Order, the Person so offending shall forfeit and pay the Sum of Forty Shillings, Proclamation Money, to the Party injured; to be recovered, with Costs, upon Petition to the County Court (without the formal Process of an Action), as in and by this Act is provided for Servants' complaints to be heard and determined; provided Complaint be made Six Months after such whipping.

V. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all Servants by Indenture or otherwise as aforesaid, shall have their Complaints received by a Justice of the Peace, who, if he find Cause, shall bind the Master, Mistress, or Overseer over, to answer the Complaint at the next County Court; and it shall be there determined: And all Complaints of any Servant or Servants shall and may, either immediately or as aforesaid by Virtue hereof, be received at any Time, upon Petition or Information in the Court of the County wherein they reside, without the formal Process of an Action; and also, full Power and Authority is hereby given to the said Court, at their Discretion (having first summoned the Master, Mistress or Overseer, to justify themselves, if they think fit), to adjudge, order and appoint what shall be necessary as to Diet, Lodging, Clothing, or Correction, and if any Master, Mistress or Overseer shall not thereupon comply with the Order of the said Court, the said Court is hereby authorized and impowered, upon a second just Complaint, to order such Servant or Servants to be immediately sold, at Public Vandue, by the Sheriff; and after the Charges are deducted the remainder of what the said Servant or Servants shall be sold for, to be paid to the Owner.

VI. Provided always, That if such Servant or Servants shall be sick or lame, or otherwise rendered so incapable that he, she, or they cannot be sold for such Value at least as shall satisfy the Fees, and other incident Charges accrued, the said Court shall then order such Servant or Servants into the Care of the Church Wardens of the Parish; and the Master, Mistress or Owner shall provide the said Servant or Servants with such convenient Necessaries as they shall direct and judge sufficient for his, her or their Support, until the Time due by Law from such Servant or Servants to their Master, Mistress or Owner, shall be expired, or until such Servant or Servants

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shall be recovered so as to be sold, for defraying the said Fees and Charges.

VII. And be it further Enacted, That the said Court, from Time to Time, shall order the Charges of keeping such Servant or Servants, to be levied upon the Goods and Chattels of the Master or Owner of such Servant or Servants in Case they should neglect or refuse to provide for the same.

VIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all Servants aforesaid, whether by Indenture or otherwise, as well Feme Coverts as others, shall in the like manner (as is provided upon Complaints of Mis usage) have their Petitions received in the said County Court for their Wages, Freedom and Freedom Dues (in this Act hereafter expressed), without the formal Process of an Action; and Proceedings and Judgment shall, in like manner, be had thereupon.

IX. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That no Master or Mistress of any Servant or Servants, who shall happen to be sick or diseased during the Time of their Servitude, and unable to perform their daily Labour, shall, upon any Pretext whatsoever, remit to such Servant or Servants, any Part of his, her or their Time, to be cleared of them, whereby the said Servant or Servants may perish, or become a Charge to the Parish: And whosoever shall hereafter offend herein, or shall not use and endeavour all Lawful Means for Recovery of such their Servant or Servants as shall happen to be sick or diseased, during the Time of his, her or their Servitude, shall forfeit, for each and every Servant so turned off or neglected, Five Pounds, Proclamation Money, to be levied by an Order from the County Court before whom the Fact shall be proved, by the Oath of one or more Witness or Witnesses, and to be paid into the Hands of the Church Wardens of that Parish where the Offence shall be committed, and disposed of towards the Support and Maintenance of such Servant or Servants so turned off or neglected, for the recovery of his, her or their Health and Strength; and such Servant or Servants shall be, by the County Court or any Two Justices, during the Time of their Infirmity, ordered into the Hands and Care of the Church Wardens of the Parish in which his, her or their Master or Owner shall dwell, but in case such sick or diseased Servant or Servants respectively shall not live to the expending the said whole Sum of Five Pounds, Proclamation Money, then the Remainder to be disposed of to the Use of that Parish; or in Case the said Sum of Five Pounds should not be sufficient to support each Servant during his Servitude, or until his Recovery, in such Case the County Court is hereby authorized and impowered to order a Sufficiency to be levied (from Time to Time, as the same shall become due) upon the Goods and Chattels of the Master or Owner of such Servant or Servants, if they shall neglect or refuse to provide the same, agreeable to the Orders of the said Court; and such Servant or Servants so neglected or turned off, shall, upon their Recovery, be set free from their Master or Owner.

X. Provided always, and be it further Enacted, That if any Servant or Servants in this Government shall, thro' his, her or their own wilful Misbehaviour, happen to have any Disease or any broken Bones, Bruises or other Impediments whereby they may be disabled to perform their Labour as they ought to do, and become chargeable to their Master or Owner, such Servant or Servants shall serve his, her or their Master or Owner, after the Time of his, her or their Service by Indenture or otherwise is expired, such Time as shall by the County Court be adjudged sufficient to satisfy the Charges expended on him, her or them for his, her or their Recovery; and shall also

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serve over so much Time as he, she or they by any such Means were disabled to serve: Anything herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding.

XI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Servant or Servants shall unjustly vex and trouble his, her or their Master or Owner with Groundless Complaints against them to the County Court, or any Justice or Justices of the Peace, such Servant or Servants shall, by the County Court, be ordered to serve his, her or their Master or Owner so injured by such unjust and groundless Vexation, after the Expiration of the Time he, she or they have then to serve, the double Term and Space of that Time he, she or they neglected and lost in Prosecution of such Complaints.

XII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That every Servant who shall be in Gaol for his, her or their own Offence, shall serve his, her or their Master or Owner double the Time he, she or they shall there remain, after the Expiration of the Time he, she or they have to serve by Indenture or otherwise; and further, serve his, her or their said Master or Owner such Time as shall be ordered by the County Court as a satisfaction for the Fees and other Charges his, her or their Master or Owner hath expended for such Servant or Servants.

XIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That in all Cases of Penal Laws, whereby Persons free are punishable by Fine, Servants shall be punished by whipping, at the Discretion of any Court or Justice or Justices before whom such Fine or Fines are recoverable, not exceeding Thirty Nine Lashes; unless the Servant so culpable can and will procure some Person or Persons to pay the Fine.

XIV. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That no free Man or Trader whatsoever, shall buy, sell, trade, barter or borrow any Commodities whatsoever, with, to or from any Apprentice or Servant, whether so by Indenture or otherwise, or with any Slave within this Government, without the Consent of the Master, Mistress or Owner of such Apprentice, Servant or Slave, upon Pain of forfeiting treble the Value of the Commodity or Commodities so traded for, bartered or sold, and also shall pay the Sum of Six Pounds, Proclamation Money, to the Use of the said Master, Mistress or Owner; to be recovered, in the Court of the County where the Offence shall be committed, by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint or Information, wherein no Essoign, Protection, Injunction or Wager of Law shall be allowed or admitted of: And if it shall so happen that the Person so offending shall not be able to pay treble the Value of the Commodities so traded for, sold or bartered, and the Sum of Six Pounds, such Person shall then be adjudged by the County Court to be sold as a Servant for the same.

XV. Provided always, That if the Master, Mistress or Owner of such Apprentice, Servant or Slave shall not, within Six Months after he or she shall have Information or Knowledge of such Offence, Prosecute the Offender or Offenders for the same, that then it shall and may be lawful for any other Person so to do, and to have and receive every Advantage and Benefit arising from such Prosecution.

XVI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That every Servant, by Indenture or otherwise, who shall imbezzel, purloin, wilfully waste or shall trade, sell or barter, or otherwise make away any of his or her Master or Mistress' Corn, Cattle, Sheep, Hogs, Stock, or other Goods or Provisions, or Commodities whatsoever, shall, upon Conviction of every such Offence, by one or more Testimonies, upon Oath, or Confession of the Party, before any County Court within this Government, be adjudged by the said Court, to serve his or her said Master or Mistress such Time as the

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said Court shall think reasonable, for the said Offence, after the said Time by Indenture or otherwise, as aforesaid, is expired.

XVII. And whereas many Women Servants are begotten with Child by free Men, or Servants, to the great Prejudice of their Master or Mistress, whom they serve, Be it therefore further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Woman Servant shall hereafter be with Child, and bring forth the same during the Time of her Servitude, she shall for such Offence be adjudged by the County Court to serve her Master or Mistress one Year after her Term of Service by Indenture or otherwise is expired.

XVIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Woman Servant shall hereafter be delivered of a child, begotten by her Master, such Servant shall immediately after Delivery be sold by the Church Wardens of the Parish where the Offence is committed for One Year, after the Time of Service by Indenture or otherwise is expired, and the Money arising by such Sale shall be for the use of the Parish: And if any White Servant Woman shall, during the Time of her Servitude, be delivered of a Child begotten by any Negro, Mulatto or Indian, such Servant, over and above the Time she is by this Act to serve her Master or Owner for such Offence, shall be sold by the Church Wardens of the Parish, for Two Years, after the Time by Indenture or otherwise is expired: and the Money arising thereby applied to the Use of the said Parish; and such Mulatto Child or Children of such Servant, to be bound by the County Court until he or she arrive at the age of Thirty One Years.

XIX. And whereas many abuses have and may be committed by Persons who, under Pretence of understanding several Trades and Misteries, have procured, and may hereafter procure, large Sums of Money to be advanced to them, and have entered, and may hereafter enter, into Covenants with Merchants and others in Great Britain, or elsewhere, for the Payment of large Wages, Yearly, though they were, or may be, totally ignorant of and unable to perform such Trade and Mistery: For Remedy whereof,

XX. Be it Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all and every Person or Persons already imported, or who shall be hereafter imported, into this Government as a Tradesman or Workman on Wages, and shall be found not to understand such Trade or Employment, the Master or Owner of such Servant may bring him or her to any County Court of this Government; which Court, upon Complaint made to them of such Deceit, are hereby impowered and directed to enquire into the same, and upon finding any such Fraud, may judge and direct such Satisfaction to be made to the Master or Owner of such Servant, either by Defalcation of the Wages or Part thereof, as to them shall seem just.

XXI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Person, who is or shall hereafter be imported or brought into this Government, as a Tradesman or other Workman on Wages, shall refuse or neglect to perform his Duty, or shall absent himself from his Master or Owner's Service without Leave, in every such Case it shall and may be lawful for the Justices of the County Court wherein such Master or Owner resides, upon Complaint and Proof to them made, to order such Satisfaction and Reparation to the Master or Owner of such Servant for the Damages sustained by him for such Refusal or Neglect, as to them shall seem just; and for every Day such Servant shall absent himself from his Master or Owner's Service as aforesaid, to order and direct such Servant to serve his or her said Master or Owner, two days for every Day's Absence, after his Time by Indenture or otherwise is expired, and that without any Wages to be paid for such Service.

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XXII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That there shall be allowed to every Servant, whether by Indenture or Otherwise, not having Yearly Wages, at the Expiration of his or her Service, Three Pounds, Proclamation Money, besides one sufficient Suit of wearing Clothes for such Servant or Servants.

XXIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Person or Persons already have, or shall hereafter, import into this Government, and here sell or retain for his own Use as a Slave, any Person or Persons that shall have been free in any Christian Country, Island or Plantation, or Turk or Moor, in Amity with his Majesty, such Importer or Seller as aforesaid shall forfeit and pay to the Party, from whom the said free Person shall recover his or her Freedom double the Sum for which such free Person was sold; to be recovered in any Court of Record within this Government, according to the Course of Common Law, wherein the Defendant shall not be admitted to plead in Bar any Act or Statute for Limitations of Actions: And moreover, such Importer or Seller of any such free Person as aforesaid shall be committed until he enter into Bond before the said Court, with Two good and sufficient Sureties, in the Sum of Five Hundred Pounds, Sterling Money of Great Britain, payable to our Sovereign Lord the King, his Heirs and Successors with Condition, That he shall and do, within One Year next ensuing, transport and Land (Dangers of the Seas and Life only excepted) such free Person sold by him as a Slave as aforesaid (if he or she shall so require), in the Country, Island or Plantation from whence he or she was directly brought as aforesaid; and shall produce an authentic Certificate of his Performance thereof to the said Court.

XXIV. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That each and every Justice of the Peace for the several Counties within this Government, are hereby impowered and directed, upon the Complaint of any Person who now is, or hereafter shall be, imported into this Government, and who was free in any Christian Country, Island or Plantation before his or her transportation hither, who is kept or sold as a Slave, to cause the pretended Owner of such Person Complaining, to appear before him, together with such Evidence or Evidences as be material; and after Examination taken in Writing, shall bind them over to appear at the next County Court of which he is a Member, where the said Complaint shall be heard and determined without any formal Process of Law.

XXV. And it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Person or Persons whatsoever, shall, directly or indirectly, at any Time after the Ratification of this Act, tempt or persuade any Apprentice or other Servant, during the Time of his or her Service due by Indenture or otherwise, or any Negro or other Slave, to leave their Master or Mistress' Service to whom he or they are Apprenticed Servant, or Slave, or shall knowingly give Encouragement to relieve, assist, harbour or entertain any such, or shall knowingly encourage, relieve, assist, harbour, entertain, for any Space of Time whatsoever, any Apprentice, Servant or Slave, who shall wilfully absent him or herself from the Service of his or her Master or Mistress, such Person or Persons so Offending shall forfeit and pay for each and every such Apprentice or other Servant, and for each and every Negro or other Slave, the sum of Forty Shillings, Proclamation Money, and for each Twelve Hours such Apprentice or other Servant, Negro or Slave be afterwards absent from his Master or Mistress' Service, the Sum of Five Shillings, Proclamation Money; to be recovered by the Master or Owner of such Apprentice, Servant or Slave, by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint or Information, in the General or County Court, wherein no Essoign, Protection or Injunction shall

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be allowed or admitted of; And if it should so happen that any Person or Persons, convicted Offenders herein, should not be able or refuse to pay the Fines by this Act inflicted, in such Case the Offender shall be, by Order of the General or County Court, sold as a Servant for such Time as the said Court shall think sufficient to pay the same; and shall be, during such Servitude, liable to the Penalties and Forfeitures inflicted for Breaches of this Act.

XXVI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Person shall hire or contract himself to serve as an Overseer, either upon Wages or Share of the Produce, with any Person or Planter whatsoever within this Government, and shall absent himself or depart from the service of his Master or Mistress before the Time mentioned in his Agreement or Contract be expired he shall for such Offence forfeit his Right and Title to his Wages, or share of the Produce.

XXVII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Person or Persons whatsoever shall directly or indirectly, at any Time after the Ratification of this Act, tempt or persuade any Negro or Negroes, or other Slave or Slaves, to leave his, her or their Master or Mistress' Service, out of an Intent and Design to carry or convey away him, her or them out of this Government, or shall harbour or conceal him, her of them for that Intent and Purpose, and be thereof Convicted by his, her or their own Confession, or the Oath of One credible Witness, such Person or Persons shall, by the Two next Justices of the Peace, be committed to Gaol or bound over to the next Court to be held for the County where the Offence shall be committed, and shall be prosecuted by Indictment for the said Offence; and being thereof lawfully convicted, shall, by the said Court, be adjudged to pay to the Master or Mistress for each Negro or other Slave so enticed or persuaded for the Purpose aforesaid, the Sum of Twenty Five Pounds, Proclamation Money, or the Value thereof; to be levied by order of the said Court: But in Case the Party offending shall not be found worth Lands, Goods or Chattels to the Value aforesaid, then the said Court shall adjudge him, her or them to serve the Owner of such Slave or Slaves, or his Assigns, Five Years; and so deliver him, her or them over to the Master, Mistress or Owner of such Slave or Slaves, so tempted or persuaded as aforesaid, and make Record thereof: But if any Person or Persons shall so tempt and practice with any Negro or Negroes, or other Slave or Slaves, and him, her or them so tempted shall actually convey away, or send out of this Government, and be afterwards apprehended and convicted thereof, he, she or they shall, by the said Court, be severally adjudged and condemned as guilty of Felony, and shall suffer accordingly.

XXVIII. And for Encouragement of all Persons to take up Runaways, Be it enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That for the taking up Servants or Slaves, if Ten Miles or under from the House or Quarter where such Servant or Slave was kept there shall be allowed by the Master, if known and residing in the County; if not, by the Public, as a Reward to the Taker-up, Seven Shillings and Six Pence, Proclamation Money, and for every Mile above Ten, Three Pence over and above the said Sum; which said several Rewards shall be paid by the Church Wardens of the Parish where such Taker-up shall reside, or where he shall bring such Runaway before a Justice of the Peace; and shall be levied again by the Church Wardens of the Parish, upon the said Master or Owner of such Runaway, for Reimbursement of the same to the Parish; and for the greater Certainty in paying the said Rewards and reimbursing the Parish, every Justice of the Peace before whom such Runaway shall be brought, upon the taking up, shall grant a

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Certificate thereof, in which he shall mention the proper Name and Surname of the Taker-up, and the County of his or her Residence, together with the Time and Place of taking up said Runaway, and shall also mention the Name of the said Runaway, and the proper Name and Surname of the Master or Owner of such Runaway, and the County of his or her Residence, together with the Distance of Miles, in the said Justice's Judgment, from the Place of taking up the said Runaway to the House or Quarter where such Runaway was kept; upon producing which Certificate to the Church Wardens of the Parish where the same was granted, they shall pay to the Taker-up of such Runaway, or his Assigns, the Reward aforesaid; and shall levy the same again as aforesaid: But if it should happen That the Master or Owner of such Runaway should not reside or have Effects in the County where the said Certificate shall be granted by the Justice as aforesaid, the said Church Wardens shall transmit the said Certificate to the Sheriff of the County where the Owner of such Runaway resides, or hath Effects, who shall, upon Receipt thereof, immediately levy the same upon the Goods and Chattels of the Master or Owner of such Runaway, and return the same to the Church Wardens aforesaid, or their Order; any Law, Usage or Custom to the contrary notwithstanding.

XXIX. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Negro or other Person, who shall be taken up as a Runaway and brought before any Justice of the Peace, and cannot speak English, or through Obstinacy, will not declare the name of his or her Owner, such Justice shall in such Case, and he is hereby required, by a Warrant under his Hand, to commit the said Negro, Slave or Runaway to the Gaol of the County wherein he or she shall be taken up; and the Sheriff or Under-Sheriff of the County into whose Custody the said Runaway shall be committed, shall forthwith cause Notice, in Writing, of such Commitment to be set up on the Court-house Door of the said County, and there continued during the Space of Two Months; in which Notice a full description of the said Runaway and his Clothing shall be particularly set down; and shall cause a Copy of such Notice to be sent to the Clerk or Reader of each Church or Chappel within his County, who are hereby required to make Publication thereof, by setting up the same in some open and convenient Place, near the said Church or Chappel, on every Lord's Day for the Space of Two Months from the date thereof: And every Sheriff failing to give such Notice as is herein directed shall forfeit and pay Five Pounds, Proclamation Money; which said Forfeiture shall and may be recovered with costs in any Court of Record in this Government by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint or Information, wherein no Essoign, Privilege, Protection, Injunction or Wager of Law shall be allowed: The One Moiety whereof shall be to the Church Wardens, for the Use of the Parish, as well as towards the defraying of the Charges that shall arise and become due by Virtue of this Act, and the other Moiety to the Person who shall sue for the same.

XXX. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if within the Space of Two Months the Owner of any such Negro, Slave or Runaway cannot be known, or doth not claim the same, that the Sheriff of the said County to whose Custody such Runaway shall be committed, shall cause the said Runaway to be delivered to the next Constable, to be by him delivered to the next Constable, and so from Constable to , to the Public Gaol of this Government, after such Manner and to receive such Punishment as in this Act is mentioned and directed.

XXXI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That when any Negro or Runaway, as aforesaid, shall be delivered to the Keeper of the

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Public Gaol of this Government by Virtue of this Act, and his or her Master or Owner cannot be known, it shall and may be lawful for the Keeper of the said Gaol, upon his application to the General Court, or the nearest County Court to the said Gaol, or to any Two Justices, out of the Court, with the Consent of either of the said Courts, or Two Justices, as aforesaid, to let the said Negro or Runaway to Hire, to any Person or Persons whom they shall approve of, for such Sum or Sums of Money, or Quantity of Commodities, and for such Term or Time, as they shall direct; and that out of the money or Commodities arising by such Hire, all Fees relating to the taking up, Imprisonment and conveying to Gaol and Charges of maintaining such Negro or Runaway, shall be first paid and discharged, and the Overplus, if any, disposed of as such Court who shall order the said Negro or Runaawy to let out to Hire shall direct.

XXXII. Provided always, That when the Owner of such Negro or Runaway shall demand the same, the Person to whom such Negro or Runaway shall be let out to Hire shall forwith deliver him or her into the Custody of the Keeper of the Public Gaol, and shall then also pay the Hire, in Proportion to the Time the said Runaway hath served; and the Keeper of the said Gaol shall deliver the said Runaway to his Master or Owner, he or she paying down all Fees and Charges of taking up, Imprisonment, conveying to Gaol, and maintaining such Runaway, in Case the Hire of the said Runaway be not sufficient to satisfy the same.

XXXIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That when the Keeper of the said Public Gaol shall, by Direction of such Court as aforesaid, let out any Negro or Runaway to Hire to any Person or Persons whomsoever, the said Keeper shall, at the Time of his Delivery, cause an iron Collar to be put on the Neck of such Negro or Runaway with the Letters P. G. stamped thereon; and that thereafter the said Keeper shall not be answerable for the Escape of the said Negro or Runaway.

XXXIV. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That when any Runaway Servant or Slave shall be brought before any Justice of the Peace within this Government such Justice shall, by his Warrant, Commit the said Runaway to the next Constable, and therein also order him to give the said Runaway so many lashes as the said Justice shall think fit, not exceeding the Number of Thirty Nine, well laid on, on the Bare back of such Runaway; and then to be conveyed from Constable to Constable, until the said Runaway shall be carried home, or to the Public Gaol, as aforesaid.

XXXV. And be it further Enacted, That every Constable shall, on his Receipt of such Runaway, give a Receipt for him or her; that every Constable failing to execute such Warrant, according to the Tenor thereof or refusing to give such Receipt, shall forfeit and pay Twenty Shillings, Proclamation Money, or the Value thereof in Bills, to the Church Wardens, for the Use of the Parish wherein such Failure shall be; to be recovered by a Warrant under the Hands of any Two Justices within the County where such Constable shall reside: And such Corporal Punishment shall not deprive the Master or Owner of any Runaway Servant of the other Satisfaction herein by this Act appointed to be had of such Servant, for his or her running away.

XXXVI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Sheriff, under-Sheriff, or Constable shall set to work, employ or let out to Hire, without Order of Court as aforesaid, any Runaway Servant or Slave committed to the Custody of any of them, or shall detain such Runaway longer in his or their Custody than by this Act is directed, he or they so offending shall forfeit and pay Five Pounds, Proclamation Money; to be

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recovered in any Court of Record in this Government by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint or Information, wherein no Essoign, Protection, Privilege, or Wager of Law shall be allowed: One Moiety whereof, to be paid to the Church Wardens, for the Use of the Parish where the Offence shall be committed, and the other to him or them who shall sue for the same: And if any Sheriff, or his Under-Sheriff, or any Constable into whose Hands any Runaway Servant or Slave shall be committed by Virtue of this Act, shall negligently or wilfully suffer such Runaway to escape the said Sheriff, Under-Sheriff, or Constable, he or they shall be liable to the Action of the Party grieved for Recovery of his Damages at the Common Law with Costs.

XXXVII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all and every the Constables within this Government, for their Encouragement to perform their Duty be, and they are hereby, for the future, exempted from the Payment of all Public, County and Parish Levies, for their own Persons, during their Continuance in Office; and that the Keepers of Ferries within this Government shall give immediate Passage to all Constables and their Assistants charged with conducting any Runaway or Runaways, either to the Public Gaol or to such Runaway or Runaways' Master or Owner, without charging such Constable or their Assistants for the Ferriage, either going or returning: But all such Ferriages of Constables and their Assistants shall be paid by the Church Wardens of the Parish where such Ferry-keepers respectively live, and levied, as aforesaid, upon the respective Masters or Owners of such Runaways.

XXXVIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after the Publication of this Act, the Fees and Allowances of the said Sheriffs and Gaolers be as followeth; That is to say, For the Commitment of every such Runaway or Negro to any County Gaol, the Sheriff shall be paid, for his Fee, the Sum of Two Shillings and Six Pence, Proclamation Money, and for the Keeping and maintaining him or her in Gaol for every Twenty Four Hours, the Sum of Six Pence, and for his or her Releasment, the Sum of Two Shillings and Six Pence; and that the keeper of the Public Gaol of this Government, for the Commitment of every such negro or Runaway, shall be paid the Sum of Two Shillings and Six Pence, Proclamation Money, and for his or her keeping in Gaol, every Twenty Four Hours, the Sum of Six Pence, Proclamation Money, and for his or her Releasement, the Sum of Two Shillings and Six Pence, Proclamation Money, and no more. And if any Sheriff, in any County in this Government, or Keeper of the Public Gaol, shall demand or take any greater Fee or Allowance than is hereby before appointed and allowed for the Service and Maintenance aforesaid, or any of them, he or they so offending shall, for every Offence, forfeit and pay to the Party grieved, the sum of Twenty Shillings, Proclamation Money, and shall also refund and pay back to the Parties, such Sum of Money which such Sheriff or Gaoler shall receive and take, over and above the Fees and Allowances hereinbefore appointed; which aforesaid Forfeiture of Twenty Shillings shall and may be recovered by a Warrant from any Justice of the Peace of the County where such Offence shall be committed.

XXXIX. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That when any Negro or other Runaway whose Owner is supposed to be resident in any other Province, shall be committed to any Public Gaol of This Government, The Keeper of the said Gaol shall, by the first Opportunity after such Commitment, send such Description of such Negro or Runaway, together with the Account of the Time of the Commitment and the County where such Runaway is committed, to the Press, to be advertised in the Virginia or

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South Carolina Gazette; for which he shall be reimbursed by the Owner of the said Slave or Runaway.

XL. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That no Slave shall go armed with Gun, Sword, Club or other Weapon, or shall keep any such Weapon, or shall Hunt or Range in the Woods, upon any pretence whatsoever (except such Slave or Slaves who shall have a Certificate, as is hereinafter provided), and if any Slave shall be found offending herein, it shall and may be lawful for any Person or Persons to seize and take, to his own Use, such Gun, Sword or other Weapon, and to apprehend and to deliver such Slave to the next Constable, who is enjoined and required, without further Order or Warrant, to give such Slave Twenty Lashes on his or her bare Back, and to send him or her home, and the Master or Owner of such Slave shall pay the taker-up of such armed Slave the same Reward as by this Act is allowed for taking up of Runaways.

XLI. Provided always, That nothing in this Act shall be construed or extended, to prohibit or debar any Master or Owner of any Slave or Slaves within this Government from employing any one Slave in each and every district Plantation, from hunting in the Woods on their Master's Lands with a Gun, to preserve his or her Stock, or to kill Game for his or her Family.

XLII. Provided Also, That such Master or Owner shall first deliver into the County Court an Account in Writing of the name of any such Slave to be employed as aforesaid, and the Chairman of the Court shall sign a Certificate that such Slave is allowed to carry a Gun, and hunt in the woods on his Master's or Mistress Lands: And the Master, Mistress or Overseer of such Slave shall give him the said Certificate, which such Slave shall always carry about him, on Pain of being apprehended and punished as aforesaid: Anything hereinbefore contained to the contrary notwithstanding.

XLIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That no Slave shall go from off the Plantation or Seat of Land where such Slave shall be appointed to live, without a Certificate of leave, in Writing for so doing, from his or her Master or Overseer (negroes wearing Liveries always excepted).

XLIV. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That no slave shall be permited, on any Pretence whatsoever, to raise any Horses, Cattle or Hogs; and all Horses, Cattle and Hogs that Six Months from the Date thereof, shall belong to any Slave, or of any Slave's Mark in this Government, shall be seized and sold by the Church Wardens of the Parish where such Horses, Cattle or Hogs shall be, and the Profit thereof be applied, One Half to the Use of the said Parish, and the other Half to the Informer.

XLV. And whereas many Times Slaves run away and lie out hid and lurking in the Swamps, Woods and other Obscure Places, killing Cattle and Hogs, and committing other Injuries to the Inhabitants in this Government: Be it therefore Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That in all such Cases, upon Intelligence of any Slave or Slaves lying out as aforesaid, any Two Justices of the Peace for the County wherein such Slave or Slaves is or are supposed to lurk to do Mischief, shall, and they are hereby impowered and required, to issue Proclamation against such Slave or Slaves (reciting his or their Name or Names, and the Name or Names of the Owner or Owners, if known), thereby requiring him or them, and every of them, forthwith to surrender him or themselves; and also, to impower and require the Sheriff of the said County to take such Power with him as he shall think fit and necessary for going in search and pursuit of and effectual apprehending such outlying Slave or Slaves; which Proclamation shall be published on a Sabbath

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Day, at the Door of every Church or Chappel, or for want of such, at the Place where Divine Service shall be performed in the said County, by the Parish Clerk or Reader, immediately after Divine Service: And if any Slave or Slaves against whom Proclamation hath been thus issued, stay out and do not immediately return home, it shall be lawful for any Person or Persons whatsoever to kill and destroy such Slave or Slaves by such Ways and Means as he or she shall think fit, without Accusation or Impeachment of any Crime for the same.

XLVI. Provided always, and it is further Enacted, That for every Slave killed in Pursuance of this Act, or put to Death by Law, the Master or Owner of such Slave shall be paid by the Public; and all Tryals of Slaves for Capital or other Crimes, shall be in the Manner and according as hereinafter is directed.

XLVII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Number of Negroes or other Slaves, that is to say, Three or more, shall at any Time hereafter, consult, advise or conspire to rebell, or make insurrection, or shall plot or conspire the Murther of any Person or Persons whatsoever, every such consulting, plotting, or conspiring, shall be adjudged and deemed Felony; And the Slave or Slaves convicted thereof, in Manner hereafter directed, shall suffer Death.

XLVIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That every Slave committing such Offence, or any other Crime or Misdemeanor, shall forthwith be committed, by any Justice of the Peace, to the Common Gaol of the County within which the said Offence shall be committed, there to be safely kept; and that the Sheriff of such County, upon such Commitment, shall forthwith Certify the same to any Justice in the Commission for the said Court, for the Time being, resident in the County, who is thereupon required and directed to issue a Summons for Two or more Justices of the said Court, and Four Freeholders, such as shall have Slaves in the said County; which said Three Justices, and Four Freeholder Owners of Slaves, are hereby impowered and required, upon Oath, to try all Manner of Crimes and Offences that shall be committed by any Slave or Slaves, at the Court-house of the County, and to take for Evidence the Confession of the Offender, the Oath of one or more credible Witnesses, or such Testimony of Negroes, Mulattoes or Indians, bond or free, with pregnant Circumstances, as to them shall seem convincing without the Solemnity of a Jury; and the Offender being then found guilty, to pass such Judgment upon such Offender, according to their Discretion, as the Nature of the Crime or Offence shall require; and on such Judgment, to award Execution.

XLIX. Provided always, and be it Enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for each and every Justice, being in the Commission of the Peace for the County where any Slave or Slaves shall be tried, by Virtue of this Act (who is Owner or Slaves), to set up such Tryal, and act as a Member of such Court, tho' he or they be not summoned thereto: Anything before herein contained to the Contrary, in any wise, notwithstanding.

L. And to the End such Negro, Mulatto or Indian, bond or free, not being Christians, as shall hereafter be produced as an Evidence on the Tryal of any Slave or Slaves for Capital or other Crimes, may be under the greater Obligation to declare the Truth; Be it further Enacted, That where any such Negro, Mulatto or Indian, bond or free, shall, upon due Proof made, or pregnant Circumstances, appearing before any County Court within this Government, be found to have given a False Testimony, every such Offender shall, without further Tryal, be ordered by the said Court to have one Ear nailed to the Pillory, and there stand for the Space of One Hour, and the said

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Ear to be cut off, and thereafter the other Ear nailed in like manner, and cut off, at the Expiration of one other Hour; and moreover, to order every such Offender Thirty Nine Lashes well laid on, on his or her bare Back, at the common whipping Post.

LI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That at every such Tryal of Slaves committing Capital or other Offences, the first Person in Commission setting on such Tryal shall, before the Examination of every Negro, Mulatto, or Indian, not being a Christian, charge such to declare the Truth.

LII. Provided always, and it is hereby intended, That the Master, Owner or Overseer of any Slave, to be arraigned and tryed by Virtue of this Act, may appear at the Tryal and make what just Defence he can for such Slave or Slaves; so that such Defence do not relate to any Formality in the Proceeding on the Tryal.

LIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That when any Slave shall be convicted Capitally by Virtue of this Act, the Justices and Freeholders that shall sit on such Tryals, shall put a Valuation, in Proclamation Money, upon such Slave so convicted, and certify under their Hands and Seals, such Valuation to the next Assembly; that the said Assembly may make suitable Allowance thereupon, to the Master or Owner of such Slave.

LIV. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That if in the dispersing any unlawful Assemblies of rebel Slaves or Conspirators, or seizing the Arms and Ammunition of such as are prohibited by this Act to keep the same, or in apprehending Runaways, or in Correction by Order of the County Court, any Slave shall happen to be killed or destroyed, the Court of the County where such Slave shall be killed, upon Application of the Owner of such Slave, and due Proof thereof made, shall put a Valuation, in Proclamation Money, upon such Slave so killed, and certify such Valuation to the next Session of Assembly; that the said Assembly may make suitable Allowance thereupon, to the Master or Owner of such Slave.

LV. Provided always, and be it further Enacted, That nothing herein contained, shall be construed, deemed or taken, to defeat or bar the Action of any Person or Persons, whose Slave or Slaves shall happen to be killed by any other Person whosoever, contrary to the Directions and true Intent and Meaning of this Act; but that all and every Owner or Owners of such Slave or Slaves, shall and may bring his, her or their Action for Recovery of Damages for such Slave or Slaves so killed.

LVI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That no Negro or Mulatto Slaves shall be set free, upon any Pretence whatsoever, except for meritorious Services, to be adjudged and allowed of by the County Court, and Licence thereupon first had and obtained; And that where any Slave shall be set free by his or her Master or Owner, otherwise than is hereinbefore directed, it shall and may be lawful for the Church Wardens of the Parish wherein such Negro, Mulatto or Indian shall be found, at the Expiration of Six Months, next after his or her being set free, and they are hereby authorized and required, to take up and sell the said Negro, Mulatto or Indian as a Slave, at the next Court to be held for the said County at Public Vendue; and the Monies arising by such Sale, shall be applied to the Use of the Parish, by the Vestry thereof: And if any Negro, Mulatto or Indian Slave, set free otherwise than is herein directed, shall depart this Province within Six Months next after his or her Freedom, and shall afterwards return into this Government, it shall and may be lawful for the Church Wardens of the Parish where such Negro or Mulatto shall be found, at the Expiration of one

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Month, next after his or her return into this Government, to take up such Negro or Mulatto, and sell him or them, as Slaves, at the next Court to be held for the County, at Public Vendue; and the Monies arising thereby, to be applied, by the Vestry, to the Use of the Parish, as aforesaid.

LVII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That until this Act shall be printed, it shall be publicly read, Yearly, and every Year, Two several Times in the year, in every County within this Government, by the Clerk of each County, in open Court, that is to say, at the Courts in or next to the Months of April and September; under the Penalty of Twenty Shillings, Proclamation Money, for every such Omission and Neglect; to be levied by a Warrant from any Justice of the Peace, and applied to the Use of the Parish where the Offence shall be committed: And the Church Wardens of every Parish are hereby required to provide a Copy of this Act, at the Charge of the Parish.

LVIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all and every other Act and Acts, and every Clause and Article thereof heretofore made, so far as relates to Servants and Slaves, or to any other Matter or Thing whatsoever, within the Purview of this Act, is and are hereby repealed and made void, to all Intents and Purposes, as if the same had never been made.

Signed by
GABRIEL JOHNSTON, ESQ., Governor.
William Smith, President.
JOHN HODGSON, Speaker.