Catalogue reference: CO 137/192/46 folio 197. Crown Copyright.
1724 Jamaica
HON I SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE
DIEU ET MON DROIT
TO THE NEGRO POPULATION THROUGHOUT THE
ISLAND OF JAMAICA.
You will, on the first of August next, no longer be slaves, but from that day you will be APPRENTICED to your former owners for a few years, in order to fit you all for freedom. It will therefore depend entirely upon your own conduct whether your APPRENTICESHIP be short or long, for should you runaway you will be brought back by the Maroons and Police, and have to remain in APPRENTICESHIP longer than those who behave well.