necessity! If any owner of slaves cruelly whipped or imprisoned a slave without sufficient support, they were liable to imprisonment, or to be fined at the discretion of the justices before whom the case was tried; and if they deemed it necessary for the further protection of the slave, they could cause such slave to be sold at public auction. If any owner of slaves used unnecessary severities towards them, or put upon them iron collars, chains, or weights, such owner was liable to a fine not exceeding 100l. When any slave was attacked by illness, medical assistance was to be procured without loss of time; and whatever nourishment the doctor ordered, such as wine, &c., was to be given, under penalty of 50l. In cases of sudden death among the slaves, (when they had not been visited by a medical man forty-eight hours before,) notice was to be sent to the coroner or justice, when an inquest, of not less than three persons, was to be held on the body; should the owner neglect to do this, another fine of 100l. was imposed. With regard to the “marriage rites” of slaves, if their union can be called so, which was only nominal, owners were to encourage them to have only one husband or wife; and if faithful to each other, the woman was to receive four dollars for her first child, (provided it was alive six weeks after its birth,) and five dollars for each succeeding child under the same circumstances, and the slave and his wife to receive one dollar each at the end of the year. Should their master fail to do this, it was punished by a fine of 50l.; while the female who, in this state of conjugal fidelity, had borne six children, was exempt from any but light work upon her youngest child having obtained its seventh year. Religion appears also to have been encouraged among them; for no owner or manager of negroes was to restrain them from attending a place of worship on a Sunday, under a penalty of 5l.; and if any clergyman refused to baptize a slave which was supposed to be sufficiently informed, such clergyman was to forfeit 30s. To insure further their comforts, it was ordered that no estate was to be without a commodious sick-house, furnished with proper conveniences for the use of the sick, and a sufficient number of attendants, under direction of a white person, to minister to their wants. In omitting to do this, the owner of such estate was liable to a penalty of 100l. for the first offence; and 20s. for the latter. They were also obliged to return an annual account of the births and deaths of their slaves, and how the sick were treated, under fine of 100l.