DECREE of the Conseil du Cap, which, without setting a precedent, acquits a nègre taken in marronage

Having seen by the Conseil the Criminal Trial extraordinarily conducted at the request of the Substitut of the Procureur-Général du Roi against the nègre Songo, enslaved by M. le Febvre, prisoner held in the prisons of the Cap for the offense of marronage, together with the Sentence rendered against the said nègre, and the written conclusions of the said Procureur-Général du Roi; all of which having been seen and maturely considered, THE CONSEIL has set aside the Sentence under appeal, and for particular reasons has acquitted the said nègre, without however this present Decree being able to set a precedent. The Conseil nevertheless makes express prohibitions to the said nègre against repeating the offense, under the penalties set out in the Ordinance.

The unjust treatment by enslavers has sometimes made similar Decrees necessary.