of the general assembly in that case made and provided. These are therefore to require you to apprehend the said slave, and bring him before me, or some other justice of the peace for the county of to be dealt with according to law. Given, &c. Το (A a) Commitment, on the same section, county, to wit. constable, and to the keeper of the jail of the said county. Whereas a certain negro man slave, named BO, of belonging to hath been apprehended and brought before me, JP, on a charge of having without the limits of this a justice of the peace for the county of been brought into this state from commonwealth, contrary to law, and it appearing to me from satisfactory evidence, that the said slave comes within the purview of the act of the general assembly in that case made and provided. These are therefore to require you, the said constable, to convey the said slave to the jail of the county of aforesaid, and deliver him to the keeper thereof; and you the said keeper are required to receive the said slave in your jail and custody, and him safely keep, till discharged by due authority of law. Given under my hand and seal, &c. (Bb) Warrant to apprehend a free negro or mulatto, removing into another county, on 1 Rev. Code, ch. 283, sect. 6, p. 413. county, to wit. Whereas information hath been given to me, by A I, that B, a free negro (or mulatto) hath lately removed into this county, and hath no honest employment by which to maintain himself (or herself) These are therefore to require you to apprehend the said B, and bring him (or her) before me, or some other magistrate for this county, to be dealt with according to law. Given, &c. Free negroes or mulattoes, answering the above description, are to be treated as vagrants; for which, see title VAGRANTS. (Cc) Warrant against the skipper of a vessel, for permitting a slave to come on board, or dealing with him, on 1 Rev. Code, ch. 305, sect. 1, p. 432. to wit. Whereas information hath been given to me, by A I, that C S, master of the (describe the vessel) did, on the day of last past, permit B, a negro man slave, belonging to H M, of to come on board the said vessel (or, bought of the said B, certain Sc. or. sold to the said B, certain c. according to the fact) without the leave or consent of the said H M, given in writing for that purpose, 567 contrary to the acts of assembly in that case made. These are therefore to require you to apprehend the said C S, and him safely in your custody to detain, so that you have him before me, or some other magistrate of the county of answer the premises, and further to be dealt with according to law. day of Given, &c. Το to execute. on the to The penalty is twenty dollars, in addition to former penalties; which were four times the value of the article bought or sold, and twenty dollars. See 1 Rev. Code, ch. 103, sect. 16, p. 188. Το (Dd) Commitment, on failure to pay the penalties. to wit. constable, and to the keeper of the jail of the said county. Whereas C S, master of the duly convicted before me, of having permitted B, a negro man slave, (describe the vessel) hath been belonging to H M, of selling to, B, a negro man slave, belonging to HM, certain &c. describe (or, of buying from, receiving of, or the articles, according to the fact) without the leave or consent of the said H M, granted in writing for that purpose, or of any other person lawfully authorised, contrary to the acts of the general assembly in that case made and provided; and the said C S having now before me failed to pay the penalties imposed by law in such cases, amounting to the sum of These are therefore to require you, the said constable, to convey the said C S to the jail of this county of and deliver him to the keeper thereof; and you the said keeper are required to receive him in your jail and custody, and him safely keep, till he pays the said sum of course of law. Given under my hand and seal, as a justice of the or be otherwise discharged by due peace for the county of the day of &c. (Ee) Warrant for dealing with a slave on a Sunday, on 1 Rev. Code, ch. 305, sect. 3, p. 432. to wit. Whereas information hath been given to me, JP, a justice of the peace for the county aforesaid, by AI, that B O, on the day of last past, being on a Sunday, did buy of (or sell to, receive from, e. as the case may be, B, a negro man slavé, the property of C M, a certain (describe the property) without the leave or consent of the said CM, granted in writing (or, did buy, &c. of a free negro or mulatto, certain &c. describe the property.) These are therefore to require you to summon the said B (), to appear before me, or some other justice of the peace for the county aforesaid, to shew cause why the penalties of the acts of the general assembly, in that case made and provided, should not be imposed upon him. Given, &c. The penalty is ten dollars, in addition to the other penalties; which are four times the value of the articles, and twenty dollars. See 1 Rev. Code, ch. 103, sect. 16, p. 188. . (Ff) Warrant to suppress an unlawful meeting of slaves, on 2 Rev. Code, ch. 35, sect. 1, p. 39. to wit. To any sworn officer or officers of the said county (or corporation.) Whereas information hath been given to me, by A I, that there is at this time an unlawful meeting or assemblage of slaves, at the house of. in the said county (or, at the meeting-house at ) it being in the night time, under the pretext of religious worship, such worship not being conducted by a regularly ordained or licensed white minister. These are therefore to authorise and require you, with proper assistants, to enter the said house, and disperse the said slaves so assembled, or to apprehend them and bring them before me, or some other justice of the peace for the county of further to be dealt with according to law. Given, &c. (Gg) Warrant against a person refusing to assist an officer, in suppressing an unlawful meeting of slaves, on sect. 2, of 2 Rev. Code, ch. 35, p. 39. to wit. Whereas A S, sheriff (or constable) of the said county, hath this day given information to me, JP, a justice of the peace for the county aforesaid, that on the night of the day of last past, he did, by virtue of the powers in him vested, by the act of the general assembly in that case made and provided, summon a certain B O, &c. to assist him the said A S, in suppressing an unlawful assembly of slaves, at pursuant to a warrant for that purpose to him directed, by JP, a justice of the peace for the county aforesaid; and that the said BO, &c. did absolutely refuse to afford any assistance to the said A S. These are therefore to require you to summon the said B O, &c. to appear before me, to shew cause why the penalty of ten dollars, each, should not be inflicted on them for the said offence. Given, &c. Το to execute. (Hh) Warrant to apprehend a slave, brought into this state contrary to law, on 2 Rev. Code, ch. 69, sect. 2, p. 96. to wit. Whereas complaint hath been made to me, by O P, one of the overseers of the poor of the county aforesaid, that a certain negro man slave, named S, hath been brought into this state contrary to law, and hath remained therein one whole year, whereby the right to the said slave is forfeited, and vested in the overseers of the poor of the county aforesaid, and that the said slave is now in possession of A M, of the said county. These are therefore to require you to apprehend the said S, and forthwith to bring him before me, or some other justice of the peace for the county aforesaid, to be dealt with according to law: and you are also required to summon the said A M, to appear at the time and place appointed by you for the production of said slave, to answer the said complaint. Given under my hand and seal, &c. This warrant may be directed to any sworn officer. (Ii) Recognizance to be entered into by the owner or holder, on sect.'3. Be it remembered, that on this A M, of B S, of day of in the year personally appeared before me, JP, one of the justices of the peace for the county of aforesaid, and acknowledged to owe and be indebted to J T, governor or chief magistrate of this commonwealth, and his successors in office, that is to say, the said A M in the sum of and the said BS and C S, each, the sum of separately, of good and lawful money of this commonwealth, to be made and ⚫ levied of their goods and chattels, lands and tenements, respectively, to the use of the commonwealth, if the said A M shall make default in the condition here underwritten. The condition of the above recognizance is such, that if the above bound A M shall personally appear at the next court to be held for the said county of then and there to answer a complaint made against him by O P, one of the overseers of the poor for the county aforesaid, for having brought into this state from contrary to law, a certain negro man slave, named S, and having kept the said slave within this commonwealth one whole year and upwards; and shall then and there abide by and perform the order of the said court, in the premises, then the above obligation to be void, else to remain in full force. Acknowledged before me. If the proceedings be against a person who is not the owner, but a mere possessor, or who did not actually bring the slave into the state, the precedents must be varied to suit the case. (Jj) Commitment of the slave to the sheriff, on sect. 4. to wit. To the sheriff of the said county. Whereas S, a negro man slave, owned by A M, of the county aforesaid, hath been brought before me, on the complaint of O P, one of the overseers of the poor for the said county, that the said slave had been brought into this state from contrary to law, and remained in the said state more than one whole year, whereby the right of the said slave was forfeited and vested in the overseers of the poor for the said county; and the said A M (not being in this county, or failing to appear and answer the said complaint, being duly summoned, or being unable, or refusing to give security for his appearance at the next court, to be held for the said county of as the case may be.) These are therefore to require you to receive the said slave S in your custody, and him safely keep, so that you have him before the next court to be held for this county, then and there to be dealt with according to law. SODOMY. See BUGGERY. STOLEN GOODS. See SEARCH WARRANT (Restitution.) SUMMONS. IT being a principle of justice that no person shall be condemned unheard; whenever a complaint is lodged against an offender, the magistrate should cause him to be brought before him, either by warrant or summons. Where a statute directs a particular mode of convening the party, that mode should be strictly pursued. But where it is left discretionary with the magistrate, a summons seems the most proper process. Yet in cases of surety for the peace, petty larcenies, and other felonies, and generally where the commonwealth is party, and also in cases between party and party, where the body of the offender is liable, a warrant is the regular process, and not a summons, Burn's Just. tit. SUMMONS. In a summons it is usual, and upon many accounts convenient, to fix not only a day, but a particular time of the day, for the party's appearing, but if he shall appear at the time, and the justice shall not attend, he is not to go away, but must wait the remaining part of the day, for many things may happen to prevent the justice's immediate attendance. (Ibid.) So in the case of the execution of a writ of inquiry, where the plaintiff having attended at the hour appointed, and the sheriff not then attending, went away, and the writ was executed afterwards on the same day, in his absence, the court held that the execution was regular, and he ought to have waited; for the sheriff might have prior business to attend, which may last beyond the hour. And it is never understood that the time on these occasions is to be scrupu lously adhered to. Doug. 188. the General form of a summons. county, to wit. day of Whereas information and complaint hath been made before me, JP. one of the commonwealth's justices of the peace for the county aforesaid, that A O, of in the county aforesaid, labourer, on now last past, at in the county aforesaid, did (here recite the offence.) These are therefore to require you forthwith to summon the said AO to appear before me, at in the said county, on in the the day of at the hour of noon of the same day, to answer the said infor |