tended to them; and especially there is no reason to withhold from them the right to give evidence.

The whites are the judges, and by admitting negroes as witnesses, without danger, we increase the means of information and justice. The court are to decide a question of law, not of policy; and the act of assembly does not reach the case of the present witness. It does not appear that he is the issue of a slave, or that if he is that he or his ancestors were freed by any law of this state.

Read, Ch. 7. This witness is a negro, and it has always been the policy of the state to exclude negroes from the rights of citizenship, and from giving evidence where whites are concerned. There are several instances in which the situation and rights of negroes and mulattoes are rendered by the laws of the state different from those of whites.

By the act of assembly contained in the 1st volume of our laws, p. 72. the trial by jury even in capital cases is taken from them. P. 77. fornication between blacks and whites is more severely punished than between persons of the same colour. P. 307. a black cannot be appointed to inflict any corporal punishment upon a white. 4th article of the constitution gives a right to vote only to white freemen. The act of 1787 denies to negroes the privilege of voting at elections, of being chosen or appointed to any office of trust or profit, or giving evidence against any white person. There is no doubt, but this man must be taken to be the issue of a slave, and though he were made free by the laws of Maryland, he is clearly within the spirit of the act of 1787.

It would be absurd to suppose, that the legislature intended to discriminate the capacity of freed black men, according to the place from which they came; and that it would bestow rights on those emancipated by the laws of other states, which it denied to such as were freed by its own.

Robinson. J. of same opinion.

P. Cur. witness is incompetent and must be rejected.

THE MANNER OF EXECUTING DEEDS AND OTHER INSTRUMENTS OF WRITING IN PENNSYLVANIA.

THE chief justice and judges of the Supreme court, the president and associate judges of the court of Common Pleas, and the mayor and recorder of the city of Philadelphia, have power to take the acknowledgment, or probate of deeds, &c. for lands in any part of the state.

The aldermen of the city of Philadelphia, have power to take the acknowledg. ment and probate of deeds, &c. for lands lying within the city or county of Phi. ladelphia.

The justices of the peace of the several counties, have power to take the acknowledgment,'&c. of deeds for land lying within their respective counties.

If the wife of a grantor is a party, the judge or justice, &c. taking the acknowledgment, must examine her separate and apart from her husband, and shall read or otherwise make known to her the full contents of the deed, and on such separate examination, she is required to declare that she did voluntarily of her own free will and accord, seal and as her act and deed, deliver the same, all which must be certified under the hand and seal of the officer.

Two witnesses are usually required to subscribe their names to the execution, and delivery of every deed.

In all cases it is advisable that the grantor should acknowledge the deed, but if he be dead or cannot appear, it may be proved by the oath or affirmation of one or more of the witnesses, who were present at the execution thereof.

If the grantor and witnesses are dead, the hand writing of the latter may be proved by oath or affirmation, but when that proof cannot be had, then the hand writing of the grantor may be proved in like manner.

Deeds made out of the state, may be acknowledged by the grantors, or proved by one or more of the witnesses thereto, before any mayor, chief magistrate, or officer of the city, town, or place where executed, and certified under the common or public seal of such city, town, or place, the officer taking care to certify the private examination of the wife as aforesaid.

Bonds, specialities, letters of attorney, and other instruments of writing, require two or more witnesses, and if executed out of the state, must be proved by them before any mayor, chief magistrate, or officer of the city, town, or place where executed, and certified under the common or public seal of the said city, &e.

Letters of attorney for the sale of lands or other estates must expressly give power to sell and convey, in fee simple or otherwise, according to the nature of the estate intended to be conveyed, and may be acknowledged or proved out of the state, and certified as aforesaid, or acknowledged by the constituent or proved by one of the witnesses, before a judge or justice of this state.

Sale of lands, &c. under power of attorney, must be made while the power is in force, and such power shall be accounted in force until the agent has notice of countermand, revocation or death of the constituent.

If the wife is a party to the power of attorney, she must acknowledge it in the same manner as a deed.

Assignment of bonds, and specialties, must be under hand and seal, and before two or more credible witnesses, who are required to subscribe their names as such.

THE

AMERICAN LAW JOURNAL.

ROYAL EDICT, OR CEDULA,

OF THE 31ST OF MAY, 1789,

For the Good Government and Protection of Slaves in the Spanish Colonies.

COMMUNICATED BY JAMES WORKMAN, ESQ.

IN the Laws of the Partidas, and the other codes of these kingdoms; in the compilation of the laws of the Indies, and in the general ordinances and particular orders communicated to my dominions in America since its discovery, the system of making slaves useful has been established, observed, and constantly followed, and every thing expedient provided for their instruction, treatment and employment, conformably to the principles and rules of religion, humanity and the welfare of the state: nevertheless, as it is not easy for all my subjects in America, who possess slaves, to be sufficiently instructed in all the dispositions of those various laws; and forasmuch as some abuses have been introduced by the owners and managers of slaves, therefore, in order to remedy those abuses, I have resolved that the following instructions shall be observed, until the promulgation of the new code.

CHAPTER I.

Of the Instruction of Slaves.

EVERY one who possesses slaves, of whatever class or condition he may be, shall instruct, or cause them to be instructed, in the principles of the catholic religion, in order that they may be baptized within the first year of their residence in my dominions; taking care to explain to them the christian doctrine every holyday, on which they shall not be obliged, or even permitted to work, either for their masters or for themselves, excepting at the time of collecting the crop. On those days, their owners shall be at the expense of maintaining priests to say mass, and administer the holy sacraments to them; and on every week day, as soon as their work is finished, they shall say the rosary in the presence of the master or his manager, with the greatest humility and devotion.

CHAPTER II.

Of the Food and Clothing of Slaves.

MASTERS of slaves are bound to feed and clothe them, as likewise their wives and children, whether these be of the same condition or free, until they can earn their own subsistence, which it is presumed the females can do at the age of twelve, and the males at that of fourteen: but not being able to give any fixed rule with respect to the quantity and quality of the food and clothing which are to be given them, -on account of the difference of climates, constitution, and other particular causes;—it is ordered, that the judges of the districts in which the estates are situated, with the approbation of the municipal council and the procurator syndic, as the official protector of the slaves, shall determine the quantity and quality of the food and clothing which are to be given to them, according to their ages and sexes; to the

custom of the place; and to what are commonly given there to free labourers. And the determination so made, after having been approved of by the royal audience of the district, shall be affixed upon the doors of the town-house, and the churches; and on those of the oratorios or hermitages of the estates, in order that it may come to the knowledge of all.

CHAPTER III.

Of the Occupations of Slaves.

THE principal occupation of slaves, must be agriculture, and not those employments which require a sedentary life; and in order that their masters and the state may be benefitted by their work, and that they may perform it duly, the judges shall regulate, in the manner and form directed in the preceding chapter, their daily tasks and labour, according to their respective ages and strength. They shall begin their work at sun-rise, and leave off at sun-set; being allowed in the intermediate time two hours each day for themselves. Slaves above the age of sixty, or under the age of seventeen, years shall not be obliged to do task-work; nor shall female slaves be employed in any work unsuitable to their sex, or to work along with the males.

CHAPTER IV.

Of the Diversions of Slaves.

On all the principal holydays, after the slaves have heard mass, and had the christian doctrine explained to them, their masters or managers shall allow them to divert themselves innocently in their presence; but they shall not allow them to be along with the slaves of other estates, nor shall the slaves of the different sexes be permitted to be together. They shall be prevented from excess in drinking; and their diversions must be ended before the hour of evening prayer.