EXTRACT from the Definitive Treaty of Peace and Friendship, between His Britannic Majesty, and the Most Christian King; signed at Versailles the 3rd of September, 1783. ART. VII. THE King of Great Britain restores to France the Island of St. Lucia, in the condition it was in when it was conquered by the British Arms: and His Britannic Majesty cedes and guarantees to His Most Christian Majesty the Island of Tobago. The Protestant Inhabitants of the said Islands, as well as those of the same Religion who shall have settled at St. Lucia, whilst that Island was occupied by the British Arms, shall not be molested in the Exercise of their worship: and the British Inhabitants, or others who may have been Subjects of the King of Great Britain in the aforesaid Islands, shall retain their Possessions upon the same Titles and Conditions by which they have acquired them; or else they may retire in full security and liberty, where they shall think fit, and shall have the power of selling their Estates, provided it be to Subjects of His Most Christian Majesty, and of removing their Effects, as well as their Persons, without being restrained in their Emigration under any pretence whatsoever, except on account of Debts, or of Criminal Prosecutions. The Term limited for this Emigration is fixed to the Space of Eighteen Months, to be computed from the Day of the Exchange of the Ratifications of the present Treaty. And for the better Securing the Possessions of the Inhabitants of the aforesaid Island of Tobago, the Most Christian King shall issue Letters Patent, containing an Abolition of the Droit d'Aubaine in the said Island. ART. VIII. THE Most Christian King restores to Great Britain the Islands of Grenada, and the Grenadines, St. Vincent's, Dominica, St. Christopher's, Nevis, and Montserrat; and the Fortresses of these Islands shall be delivered up in the condition they were in when the Conquest of them was made. The same Stipulations inserted in the preceding Article shall take Place in favour of the French Subjects, with respect to the Islands enumerated in the present Article. ART. XXII. FOR preventing the revival of the Law-suits which have been ended in the Islands conquered by either of the High Contracting Parties, it is agreed, that the Judgments pronounced in the last resort, and which have acquired the force of matters determined, shall be confirmed and executed according to their form and tenor. ART. XXIII. THEIR Britannic and Most Christian Majesties promise to observe sincerely, and bond fide, all the Articles contained and established in the present Treaty; and they will not suffer the same to be infringed, directly or indirectly, by their respective Subjects: and the said High Contracting Parties guarantee to each other, generally and reciprocally, all the Stipulations of the present Treaty. THE LAWS OF GRENADA, &c. &c. No. I. An Act to ascertain the Rate of Interest, and for settling the And whereas the Rate of Interest established in Great Britain, may not be thought sufficient to induce Merchants or other Persons to lend and advance such Sums of Money as the Inhabitants of this Colony may require, for the more speedy and effectual improvement of their Estates. To the end, therefore, that Persons possessed of Money, may be encouraged to lend, and the Colony in general be more speedily and effectually improved by the use thereof; terest. Be it enacted and ordained, by Your Majesty's most dutiful, loyal, and Clause I. obedient Subjects, the Governor in Chief of Your Majesty's Southern £6. per Cent. InCharibbee Islands of Grenada, the Grenadines, Dominica, St. Vincent, and Tobago, the General Council thereof, and the Assembly of these Your Majesty's Islands of Grenada, and the Grenadines; And it is hereby enacted and ordained by the Authority of the same, That it shall and may be lawful, to and for all and every Person or Persons, one month after the Publication of this Act, to take, accept, and receive upon any Contract which shall be made one month after the Publication of this Act, for Loan of any Money, Wares, Merchandizes, or other Commodities whatsoever, the value of Six Pounds 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 be it further enacted, and ordained by the Authority aforesaid, Clause II. That no Person or Persons whatsoever, one month after the Publication of this Act, upon any Contract which shall be made one month after the Contracts for above Publication of this Act, [take] directly or indirectly, for Loan of any £6. per Cent. void. Money, Wares, Merchandizes, or other Commodities whatsoever, above the value of Six Pounds for the forbearance of One Hundred Pounds, *See No. 24, Clause XLIII. by which £5. per Cent. is allowed on Monies lent by persons in England, &c. Forfeiture. Clause III. Cent. 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 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 shall, after the time aforesaid, upon any Contract to be made, one month after the Publication of this Act, take, accept, and receive by way or means of any corrupt Bargain, Loan, Exchange, Chevezance, Shift, or Interest of any Wares, Merchandizes, or other thing or things whatsoever, or by any deceitful way or means, or by any covin, engine, or deceitful conveyance for the forbearance or giving day of payment, for one whole year, of and for their Money, or other Things, above the Sum of Six Pounds for the forbearance of One Hundred Pounds, for a year, and so after that rate, for a greater or lesser Sum, or for a longer or shorter time, shall forfeit and lose, for every such offence, the treble value of the Monies, Wares, Merchandizes, and other Things so lent, bargained, exchanged, or shifted. And be it further enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all and every Scriviner and Scriviners, Broker and Brokers, Solicitor and Solicitors, Driver and Drivers of Bargains for Contracts, who shall one month after the Publication of this Act, take or receive, directly or indirectly, any Sum or Sums of Money, or Reward, or Things for Brokerage, soliciting, driving, or procuring the Loan, or Forbearing of any Sum or Sums of Money, Procurage 58. per over and above the rate or value of Five Shillings, for the Loan, or Forbearing of One Hundred Pounds for a year, and so ratably, or above Three Shillings Current Money of this Island, for making or renewing of the Bond or Bill, for Loan or Forbearing thereof, or for any Counter Bond or Bill, concerning the same, shall forfeit for every offence, Thirty Pounds Current Money of this Island, with Costs of Suit, and suffer Imprisonment for half a year; and one moiety of all the aforesaid Forfeitures to be to the Prosecutor, the other to the King's Most Excellent Majesty, his Heirs and Successors, to be paid into the hands of the Treasurer of these Islands, for the time being, for the Public Uses thereof, to be recovered in the Courts of King's-Bench and Common Pleas, or Exchequer, to be held for these Islands; or before Justices of the Peace in their Sessions, or before Justices of Oyer and Terminer, or Justices of Gaol Delivery, within these Islands, by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint, or Information, in which no Essoin, Wager of Law, or Protection, shall be allowed. Forfeitures. Clause IV. returned with Pro able. And be it further enacted and ordained, by the Authority aforesaid, Bills of Exchange that when any Bill or Bills of Exchange hath been, or shall be returned, test, how recover- legally protested in Great-Britain or elsewhere in Europe, to the prejudice of any Merchant, Trader, or other Person whatsoever, it shall and may be lawful, to and for any person so aggrieved or damaged thereby, to commence any action upon the case against the Drawer or Indorser of such £6. per Cent. In- Bill or Bills of Exchange, and shall recover upon any such action, Interest, after the rate already limited and expressed in this Act, and also damages, £10. per Cent. da- after the rate of Ten pounds for every Hundred pounds; the Interest to be computed from the day of the protest of the said Bill, until the same shall be recovered or satisfied. terest. mages. No. II. Amended by Act An Act for establishing and regulating a Register's Office. [April 20, 1767] No. 7. Preamble. WHEREAS the Purchasers of Plantations in these Islands have had occasion to borrow large Sums of Money for the Improvement thereof: And whereas Lands and Tenements may be so secretly transferred from one to another, that such as are ill-disposed may commit Frauds, by which Persons who have generously lent and advanced their Money on such Security of such Estates, may be utterly ruined by prior and secret Conveyances and fraudulent Incumbrances; for prevention thereof, Be it enacted, By your Clause I. Majesty's most dutiful, loyal, and obedient Subjects, the Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of the Southern Charibbee Islands of Grenada and the Grenadines, Dominica, St. Vincent and Tobago, the Honorable the Members of his Majesty's Council, and the General Assembly of these your Deeds,Conveyances, Majesty's Islands of Grenada and the Grenadines, That from and immediately &c. to be recorded after the Publication of this Act, all Deeds, Conveyances, and other Instru- within One Month ments of Writing, of and relating to, and whereby any Lands or Tenements in same. the said Island of Grenada and the Grenadines, may be any ways affected, Vide Act, No. 13. either in Law or Equity, shall be duly entered and recorded in the Register's Office of the said Island of Grenada within One Month after the making and after executing the void and not plead in other Islands, &c. executing the same : And all such Deeds so passed and not recorded in the Otherwise shall be time aforesaid, shall be utterly void to all Intents, Constructions, and Purposes, able, &c. and not pleadable in any Court or Courts of Law or Equity, in this Island or elsewhere: Provided, such Deed or Conveyance be made in the said Island of Proviso. Grenada or the Grenadines; but if such Deed or Conveyance shall be made Deed, &c. executed and executed in any of the neighbouring Islands, other than the Islands afore- in what time to be said, then the same shall be recorded in Three Months, and if in North America recorded. within Six Months, and if in the Island of Jamaica, or any part of Europe, within Twelve Months after the making and executing thereof; and if not recorded in the Times aforesaid respectively, shall be utterly void, to all Intents Constructions, and Purposes whatsoever, and not pleadable in any Court or Courts of Law or Equity in these Islands, or elsewhere; unless such Deed or Exception. Conveyance made in the neighbouring Islands, North America, Jamaica, or Europe, be lost at Sea, or otherwise intercepted within the said Term, and that such Interception or Loss, be made out by sufficient Authority, Certificates, or Evidences. Deeds, Conveyances, executed, &c. Provided always, That such Deed, Conveyance, or other Instrument of Proviso. Writing, if made in the said Islands of Grenada or the Grenadines, shall be &c. made in these executed in the presence of, at least, Two credible Witnesses, and Islands, how to be acknowledged before any Judge of the Courts of King's-Bench or CommonPleas, or before any Baron of the Court of Exchequer of the said Islands, or before the Register of Deeds for the said Islands, by the party or parties thereto, to be his, her, or their free and voluntary Act and Deed, or proved How proved. by the Oath of One of the subscribing Witnesses to the said Instrument of Writing, before any of the said Judges or Barons aforesaid, and indorsed on the said Deed, that the party or parties thereto did seal and deliver the same as his, her, or their free and voluntary Act and Deed, in the presence of himself and the other Witness or Witnesses thereto; And if the said Deeds, &c. made and Deed, Conveyance, or other Instrument of Writing, shall be made and these Islands, how executed in Great-Britain, Ireland, or any other of his Majesty's Dominions, Vide Act, No 24. the same shall be in like manner acknowledged, or proved before the Chief Clause 38. Magistrate of any City or Town Corporate in the Kingdom of Great Britain or Ireland, or before any resident Governor, or Commander-in-Chief of any of his Majesty's Colonies or Plantations, and transmitted to this Island under the Seal of the said Corporation, or under the Great Seal of the said Colony or Plantation respectively. executed out to be proved, &c. Party, how of exa And Provided also, That if any Feme Covert be a party to any such Proviso. Deed, Conveyance, or other Instrument of Writing, she shall be first Feme covert when privately examined before One of the said Judges, or Barons, or before mined. such Chief Magistrate or resident Governor, or Commander-in-Chief, who Vide Act, No. 13. is hereby required and requested to explain to her what she is to convey by the said Writing, and for what Estate, and doth, on such private Examination, acknowledge and confess, that she makes and executes the same without any Threats, Compulsion, Dread, or Fear of her Husband, but of her Clause II. Will no Evidence corded. own free and voluntary Will: And such private Examination shall, in like Manner, be indorsed on the said Deed, and attested by such Judge or Baron, Chief Magistrate, or resident Governor, or Commander-in-Chief: And the said Deed, Conveyance, or other Instrument of Writing, being recorded in the said Register's-Office, shall be as good and effectual in Law as if the same was passed by way of Fine and Recovery, before any Judge or Judges in Westminster-Hall, or otherwise, and shall be sufficient to bar such FemeCovert ; and all persons claiming, or to claim under her, of and from all Estate, Right, Title, Claim, or Interest, whatsoever, either in Law or Equity, saving and excepting only such Claim or Interest as in and by the said Deed or Conveyance shall or may be reserved on the part and for the use and benefit of such Feme Covert. And be it further enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That no Will till proved and re- wherein or whereby any Estate in, or of Lands and Tenements, shall hereVide Act, No. 24. after be devised, shall be allowed to be pleaded or admitted as or for Evidence in any Court of Law or Equity, until the same be duly proved before the Governor in Chief, or other Person having power to take probate of Wills, and recorded in the Register's-Office. Clause 40. Clause III. Probates of Wills And to prevent Disputes concerning the taking the probate of Wills heretofore made and proved which may be of great Prejudice to the Inhabitants, many of whom derive their Estates under the said Wills, Be it therefore enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all Probates of Wills heretofore made be- heretofore made and taken before the Lieutenant-General, in the Absence neral or President of the Governor-in-Chief, or President of the Council in the Absence of in the absence of the said Governor and Lieutenant-General, or before either of them, shall Chief, deemed valid. be held, esteemed, reputed, deemed, and taken to be good and valid, to all fore Lieutenant-Ge the Governor-in Clause IV. attested by Regis Intents and Purposes whatsoever, as if the same had been proved before the Governor in Chief, or as if the said Wills, or any of them, had been made in England, and proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. And be it further enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That Copies of Copies of Wills, &c. all such Wills, Deeds, Conveyances, or other Instruments of Writing, that ter, good evidence, shall be so entered and recorded in the Register's-Office, and duly attested Vide Act, No. 24, by the Register, or his lawful Deputy for the Time being, shall be allowed and permitted to be pleaded, and be as good Evidence as if the Original was then and there exhibited. Clause 40. Clause V. &c. And whereas several Persons, from motives of Prudence and Justice, have already recorded Wills, Deeds, Conveyances, Mortgages, and other instruments of Writing, in the hope, that the Legislature would make the Wills, Deeds, &c. same effectual, Be it enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all Wills, already recorded, Deeds, Conveyances, Mortgages, and other Instruments of Writing, which have been already recorded in the Register's-Office, provided the same have been first duly acknowledged or proved; and the Feme Coverts, where any have been Parties to the said Instruments of Writing, privately examined in the Manner appointed to be done by this Act, the same shall Deemed sufficiently be held, esteemed, reputed, deemed, and taken to be well and sufficiently recorded within the Intent and Meaning of this Act, and the Registries thereof are hereby declared public Records, and Copies of all such Wills, Copies of the same Deeds, Conveyances, Mortgages, and other Instruments of Writing, which gister, good Evi- have been so entered and recorded, as last mentioned, duly attested by the Register, or his lawful Deputy for the Time being, shall be allowed and permitted to be pleaded, and be as good Evidence as if the Original was then and there produced. recorded. attested by the Re dence. Clause VI. And, to prevent all Disputes about the priority of the said Deeds, ConDisputes about the Priority of Deeds, veyances, or other Instruments of Writing; Be it enacted, by the Authority &c. how prevented. aforesaid, that the Register, or his lawful Deputy for the Time being, shall, immediately after the bringing the same into his Office, indorse on the back, or some other part of the said Deeds, Conveyances, or other Instruments of Writing, the Time of the Entry thereof, which shall also be |