LETTER of the Minister to the Administrators on the transport of nègres from one Island to another

You know, Gentlemen, that the Ordinance of 12 October 1739 forbids all transport of nègres between the Windward and Leeward Islands, and that this prohibition was intended to prevent the contraband to which this coasting trade gave rise, by providing the means of going to take on cargoes of Black people at Foreign Islands. As I have reason to presume that attempts may be made to undermine the provisions of this Ordinance, I urge you to see strictly to its execution, and not to permit any transport of nègres from one Colony to another without a permission of His Majesty, which will be granted only for reasons of a kind to justify an exception.