1072

LAWS OF MARYLAND.— 1831.

lawful
meetings,
liable to be
punished as
slaves.

or who shall in connection with any slave or slaves, as principal
or accessary, be guilty of, and convicted of, any offence for
which slaves are now punishable, before a justice of the peace,
such free negro or mulatto shall be subject to the same punish-
ment, and be liable in every respect to the same treatment and
penalty as slaves thus offending.

Purchasing
from ne-
groes forbid

SEC. 9. And be it enacted. That it shall not be lawful for
any person or persons to purchase of any free negro or mulatto,

Articles
mentioned

or from any slave or slaves, any bacon, pork, beef, mutton, corn,
wheat, tobacco, rye, or oats, unless such free negro or mulatto

Without
certificate.

shall, at the time of such sale, produce a certificate from a justice
of the peace, or three respectable persons residing in the neigh-
bourhood of said negro, of the county in which such negro
resides, that he or they have reason to believe, and does be-
lieve, that such free negro or mulatto came honestly and bona
fide into possession of any such article so offered for sale, or
unless such slave shall produce a written authority from his or
her owner, employer oi^verseer, to sell any such article ; and
any person thus offending against the provisions of this act,

Penalty.

shall be subject to a penalty of five dollars for every such
offence, or a penalty equal in amount to the value of the article
purchased, should the value thereof exceed the sum of five

Recovera-
ble.

dollars; the said penalty to be recovered before a single justice
of the peace, whose duty it shall be to return the proceedings
and judgment thereon to the clerk of the county, to be collected
as is herein before provided, one-half to the use of the informer,
and the balance to be paid to the levy court, or commissioners,
as the case may be, for the use of the county ; it shall be the

Duty of ac-
cused to
retain and
produce
certificate.

duty of the person charged to retain and produce the certificate
of the magistrate, or written authority, in his or her defence, or
account for its loss and contents, either by his own oath or some
competent witness.

Sale to ne-
groes, of
spirituous
liquors,
gunpowder,
&c. forbid.
Without
specific
certificate,
if free.

SEC. 10. And be it enacted, That it shall not be lawful for
any retailer, ordinary keeper, or other person, to sell any ardent
spirits, gunpowder, shot, or lead, to any free negro, mulatto or
slave, without, in the case of a free negro, such free negro shall
produce a certificate in the nature of a license or permit, from a
justice of the peace in the county in which such free negro may
reside, directed to the person so selling the same ; or, hi case of

Or written
order of
master, &c.
of a slave.
Under
penalties.

a slave, unless such slave shall produce a written authority from
his owner, employer or overseer, and any person so offending
shall be subject to the like penalty, to be recovered and applied
in every respect as is provided in the foregoing section of this
bill.

Courts au-
thorized to
withdraw

SEC. 11. And be it enacted, That the judges of the county
courts and Baltimore city court, shall, at their several sessions,
have full power and authority as to the continuing or with-