master to discover the place to which he had fled, and to capture and lead him back. If the act of running away under consideration was the first offence of that nature on his part, he was punished to the extent of being required to remain in the employment of his master double the time for which he was bound by his indenture, or by the custom of the country in the absence of a written agreement between them; and if his flight had been marked by aggravated circumstances, or was taken at the season of the year when the crops needed special attention, it lay in the power of the commissioners of the county to enlarge still further the term for which he had become liable by way of penalty for his violation of his covenants. If the offence was committed a second time, the servant was also branded in the cheek and shoulder.1

In some cases, the servant was not only required to remain with his master double the time agreed upon at first, but also to pay the amount which had been spent in capturing him. The punishment occasionally extended to the infliction of stripes. In 1640, Hugh Gwyn followed two absconding white laborers and a negro slave into Maryland, in which Colony they had taken refuge, seized them and brought them back. By order of court, they were whipped on their bare backs until they had received thirty lashes. The two white men, a Dutchman and a Scotchman, were forced to remain with their master twelve months beyond the terms for which they were bound in their indentures, and at the end of that interval they were required to serve on the public works for three years. The negro was delivered over to his master to continue a slave during the rest of his life.2

1 Hening's Statutes, vol. I, pp. 254, 440; vol. II, p. 117.

2 General Court Orders, June 4, July 9, 1640, Robinson Transcripts, pp. 9, 10.

In the same year, several servants planned to make their escape to the Dutch provinces in the North, the ringleader in the conspiracy being a Dutchman, and one of the participants a negro. They were captured when they had gotten only as far as Elizabeth River. The punishment in this case was severer than in that previously mentioned. The Dutchman was sentenced to receive thirty lashes, to have the letter "R" branded in his cheek, and to carry a shackle upon one leg as he worked. When his term of service expired, he was to be delivered to the authorities, to remain in the public employment for seven years. One of his accomplices, after receiving thirty lashes, and being branded in the cheek, was upon the close of the period covered by his indenture to become the servant of the Colony, and to continue so for the space of three years. A second accomplice was to be bound over to the public for two years after the expiration of his term. The negro was to be burnt in the face with the letter "R" and to be whipped severely.1

In 1660-61, it was provided that if a white man bound by indenture or the custom, fled in company with negroes, who, being the property of their owner for life, could not be punished by an extension of their terms, he was to be compelled, when brought back, to remain in the employment of his master double his own time, and of the slaves' master, during a set period for every slave who had gone off with him; and if more than one white person was in the party of runaways, the whole number of white men were to be proportionately liable for the time for which the negroes, if they had been English laborers, would have been compelled to serve, in addition to those terms for which they were already bound.2

1 General Court Orders, July 22, 1640, Robinson Transcripts, p. 11. 2 Hening's Statutes, vol. II, p. 117.

In the session of 1655-56, the penalty of twenty pounds of tobacco for each night, imposed upon any person who gave entertainment or employment to an absconding servant, was increased to sixty pounds for every twenty-four hours. The letter "R" deeply burnt into the cheek, forehead, or shoulder not being found a sufficient mark of degradation, the right was granted to the master to keep the hair of the runaway cropped close to his ears, which would lead to his detection as soon as he escaped from the plantation to which he belonged.1

The pursuit of a runaway seems to have been generally made by hue and cry. It was required that this should be passed from the house of one county commissioner to that of another, under a heavy penalty for neglect.2 This method proving unsatisfactory, an additional regulation was adopted in 1663, by the terms of which, at the request of a master whose servant had fled, the justices of the peace were commanded to issue their warrants directing the impressment of men and boats to take part in the pursuit, and the cost thus entailed was to be included in the regular county levies. The enactment of such a law indicates that the public sentiment of the Colony regarded the loss of a laborer by flight as common to the whole community, and therefore to be made good out of the public funds.

As numerous runaways were able to escape from the country by means of ships engaged in carrying freight to the Dutch Colony, provision was made for their return by a standing request to the Governor of that Colony to send all absconding servants back by the first vessel which might sail to the part of Virginia from which they had fled. When a person was returned under these circum

1 Hening's Statutes, vol. I, pp. 517, 518. 2 Ibid., p. 483.

3 Ibid., vol. II, p. 187.

4

Ibid., vol. II, p. 188.

stances, he was received by the collector of the district in which the ship came to anchor, and a certificate was given to the master of the vessel, containing a statement of the expenses which he had incurred in the transportation of the runaway, and this amount was discharged by the General Assembly upon the presentation of the document to that body. In the meanwhile, the collector had notified the master of the arrival of his servant. If he was willing to take the servant into his employment again, he was required first to pay all the charges that had fallen upon the public, but if unwilling, then the servant was either sold or hired out until the public had been reimbursed for the outlay entailed; and if any part of his term remained unexpired, after this was accomplished, he was returned to his master.1 If, instead of attempting to escape in a ship that was about to set sail for the Northern Colonies, the runaway fled to the nearest Indian village, its chief was commanded to produce him before a justice of the peace. The latter, on receiving him, was required to pay to the Indians who had apprehended him, twenty arms' length of roanoke, or its value in such goods as the captors might prefer. The justice then forwarded the servant to his master. This law was passed to continue in force only for a very short time.2

Experience showed that the neglect of constables in making search as directed by their warrants, which empowered them to enter dwelling-houses, was the most frequent cause of a permanent evasion of capture on the part of absconding servants. To counteract the secret influence brought to bear upon these officers, a master, in case his runaway was apprehended, was ordered to pay the constable who was the agent in the capture, two

1 This act was modified in 1686. See Hening's Statutes, vol. III, p. 28. 2 Hening's Statutes, vol. II, p. 299.

hundred pounds of tobacco. This was also a means of stimulating him to greater energy in a subsequent instance of a like nature.

In 1669, it was provided that a reward of one thousand pounds of tobacco should be allowed to every person who apprehended a servant absenting himself from the plantation to which he belonged without a passport from the authorities of the place where he resided, or a note from his master, granting him permission. This reward was to be paid not by the master, but by the public at large, the amount thus expended to be returned to the public funds by the sale of the runaway for a term of years as soon as his present employment came to an end. This law was enacted for the benefit of the class of landowners who were in possession of so few laborers that they were unable to follow fugitives at certain seasons of the year without abandoning their crops in the ground to ruin. When a servant was captured after the passage of the Act of 1669, he was at once carried to the office of the nearest justice of the peace. A certificate of the term for which the runaway was bound to his master was then drawn up and transmitted to the next General Assembly. In the meanwhile, the runaway was delivered to the constable of the parish in which he had been seized, by whom he was conveyed to the constable of the adjacent parish, and so in turn until he was finally delivered to his owner. In case he was suffered to escape by the neglect of one of these officers, a penalty of one thousand pounds of tobacco was imposed upon the delinquent for the offence.1

The allowance of one thousand pounds for the apprehension of an absconding servant was found to be not only burdensome to the public revenues but also promotive of a spirit of collusion, defeating the object which

1 Hening's Statutes, vol. II, pp. 273, 274.