59 Geo. 8. c. 111.

How court of directors and

veyance as aforesaid by the postmaster general, or his deputies, without receiving or being entitled to receive any remuneration for such conveyance.

Commanders Rule 17. In case any such commander shall refuse to receive on board his refusing to ship any such bag of letters and packets, which shall be so tendered to him for receive, or neglecting to conveyance as aforesaid, or having received on board any such bag, shall wildeliver, 8. fully neglect to deliver the same on his arrival at the place of his destination, then and in either of such cases, such commander shall forfeit a penalty of 2001. Rule 18. It shall be lawful for the court of directors of the said company, or the secret committee appointed by the said court, in pursuance of two acts of 33 and 53 Geo. 3. to receive free from all duty of postage from the several governments in India, or from any agent or other officer of the said company, at any place within the limits of the charter of the said company, any letter or packet relating entirely to the affairs of the said company, and in like manner to send any such letters and packets addressed to such governments, agents, or other officers, free from all duty of postage; provided that all letters so sent be superscribed by the chairman or deputy chairman, or secretary or assistant secretary of the said company.

secret committee may receive and

send letters, &c. § 9.

Letters from company's agents, 10.

Rule 19. It shall be lawful for the said court of directors, secret committee, and secretary or assistant secretary of the said company, to receive from any officer or agent of the said company abroad any letters or packets entirely relating to the affairs of the said company by ships in the service of the said company, in the manner heretofore accustomed, without payment of any postage, and without subjecting any person to any penalty or forfeiture in respect thereof. Rule 20. It shall be lawful for the commissioners for the affairs of India, ers for affairs and for the chairman and deputy chairman of the said East India company for the time being, to send and receive letters and packets to and from Ceylon, the Mauritius, or any place within the limits of the charter of the company, or to and from the Cape of Good Hope, free from all duty of postage; provided that no such letter or packet exceed the weight of three ounces.

Commission

of India,

$11.

Public officers, § 12.

Secretary of

board of controul, § 13.

Letters from

Ceylon, &c. § 14.

Rule 21. Nothing in this act shall extend to prevent such public officers as may now send and receive letters and packets free of postage, from sending and receiving letters and packets free from any postage directed to be paid by this act, in the same manner as they are now authorized by law to send and receive letters and packets free from postage.

Rule 22. It shall be lawful for the secretary to the board of commissioners for the affairs of India for the time being, to send and receive letters and packets by the post free from the duty of postage, in the same manner and under such regulations as the under secretaries to His Majesty's principal secretaries of state are, by any act, or by this act, authorized to send and receive letters and packets free from postage.

Rule 23. Nothing in this or any other act shall extend to charge with the governor of duty of postage any letters or packets addressed by the governors of His Majesty's settlements of Ceylon, the Cape of Good Hope, or the Mauritius, or by the secretaries of such governments respectively, to the agents of those respective governments residing in England, or by such agents to such governors or secretaries provided always, that the contents of such letters and packets relate bona fide to the public service or concerns of such governments, and such governor, secretary, or agent, respectively, superscribe the same. Rule 24. It shall be lawful for the directors of the said company for the

Directors, 、 15.

time being, to receive letters and packets free from sea postage, from any place 59 Gen. 3. within the limits of the charter of the said company, by ships in the service of c. 111. the said company; provided that the letters and packets brought by any one such ship, to be received by any such director, do not collectively exceed the weight of six ounces; and that such persons as shall have been directors may continue to receive such letters and packets free from postage for one year after they respectively shall have ceased to be directors.

Rule 25. It shall be lawful for the owners, charterers, or consignees of ves- Owners of sels, resident in Great Britain, to receive their letters by their own vessels, from Vessels, ý 16. Ceylon, the Mauritius, or any place within the limits of the charter of the said company, or from the Cape of Good Hope, free from sea postage; provided that such owners, charterers, or consignees shall be described as such in the address and superscription of such letters, and that such letters brought by any one vessel to any one owner, charterer, or consignee, shall not collectively exceed the weight of 20 ounces.

Consignees of

goods, 17.

Rule 26. It shall be lawful for the owners or consignees of goods on board Owners or ships arriving from Ceylon, the Mauritius, or any place within the charter of the said company, or from the Cape of Good Hope, to receive letters free from the sea postage by such ships; provided that such owners or consignees shall be described as such in the address and superscription thereof; and provided it shall appear by the ship's manifest, that such persons actually have goods on board such ships; and that the letter or letters brought by any one such ship, for any one such owner or consignee, shall not collectively exceed the weight of

six ounces.

scribing letters, 18.

Rule 27. If any person whatsoever shall falsely superscribe any letter, as Falsely superbeing the owner, charterer, or consignee of the vessel conveying the same, or the owner, shipper, or consignee of the goods shipped in the vessel, every such person so offending shall for every such offence forfeit 107.

&c. may obtain letters,

Rule 28. Such owners, charterers, consignees and shippers, may on the ac- How owners count of such ship obtain such letters as they respectively may be entitled to receive free of sea postage as aforesaid, from the master of such ship, before he § 19. shall make his delivery at the post office in manner hereinafter directed; but nothing in this act shall entitle such owners or consignees to take away any letters whatever not within the limitation of weight and superscription.

Rule 29. In case any officer of customs shall find any letter superscribed Owners' letas the letters of such owners, charterers, consignees, or shippers, exceeding the ters exceed ing weight, weight limited by this act, then it shall be lawful for such officer to seize so 20. many of the letters as shall reduce the remainder within the proper weight, and he shall take the same to the nearest post office; and the post master of the place shall pay to the officer delivering the same at the rate of 6d. for each letter or packet so seized.

vessels on arrival to col

Rule 30. On the arrival of any vessel off the coast of Great Britain, the Masters of master shall cause all letters on board his ship (except such letters as may be obtained by such owners, charterers, consignees; and shippers, and except letters lect, &c. letand packets exceeding the weight of three ounces) to be collected, and enclosed ters, ý 21. in some bag, box, or other envelope, to be sealed with his seal, and to be addressed to any of His Majesty's deputy postmasters in Great Britain, to be in readiness to send on shore by his own boat or by the pilot boat, or any other safe and convenient opportunity, in order that the same may be delivered at the

first regular post office which can be communicated with, and be distributed c. 111. § 21. thence by the earliest inland posts; and shall likewise cause all letters and

49 Geo. 3.

Declaration.

Refusing to make declara

tion, 22.

Officers per

mitting vessels prema.

packets exceeding the weight of three ounces (except such as may be obtained by owners, charterers, consignees, and shippers as aforesaid), to be collected and enclosed in some bag, box, or other envelope, to be sealed and addressed as aforesaid, and shall deliver the same at the regular place where the vessel shall report, and shall at such place sign a declaration in the presence of the person authorized by the postmaster general at such place, who shall also sigu the same; which declaration shall be in the form or to the effect following; that is to say,

"I A. B. commander of the [state the name of the ship or vessel] arrived from “[state the place] do, as required by law, solemnly declare, that I have, to the "best of my knowledge and belief, delivered, or caused to be delivered to the "post office, every letter, bag, package, or parcel of letters that were on board "the [state the name of the ship], except such letters as are exempted by law." And that until such declaration shall be made and produced to the controller or principal officer of customs, he shall not permit such vessel to report.

Rule 31. If any master of any vessel shall willingly refuse or neglect to make or produce the said declaration, he shall forfeit for every such offence, 50%.

Rule 32. If any collector, controller, or principal officer, hereby required to prohibit any vessel reporting until the requisites of this act be complied with, turely to re- shall permit such vessel to report, such collector, controller, or officer, for permitting such vessel to report, shall forfeit 501.

port, 23.

Persons hav

ing letters on

Rule 33. If, after the master of any vessel shall have sent his letters to the board, 24. post office of any port at which he may touch, prior to his arriving at that port where the vessel is to report, any letter or packet not exempted by this act shall be found on board his vessel, in his possession, or in the possession of any of his crew, or any passenger on board, every such person knowingly having such letter or packet in his possession or in his baggage, shall forfeit for every letter 51.

Officers to search pack. ages,

Breaking

25.

seals of pack. ages of letters, § 26.

Letters brought by

Rule 34. It shall be lawful for such collector, controller, or other officer, at any place whatsoever, who in the due execution of his duty as a revenue officer shall discover any letters or packets on board any vessel, in any place whatsoever, contrary to the provisions of this act, to seize all such letters and packets, and to forward the same to the postmaster general or his deputy at the place; and that the officer seizing and sending the same shall be entitled to one moiety of the penalty which may be recovered for any such offence.

Rule 35. If any person to whom any letters may be entrusted by the master of any vessel, sealed up in the manner required by this act, shall break the seal, or in any manner open the same, or shall not duly deliver the same without wilful or unavoidable delay, every person so offending shall forfeit for every such offence 201.

Rule 36. In case any bags, packages, or parcels of letters shall be brought ships of war, by any ship of war, the commander thereof shall cause the same, and all let§ 27. ters which may be on board (except the public dispatches of government), to be immediately sent to the post office at the first port where he shall arrive;

and such commander shall, for all such letters, be entitled to receive the same 59 Geo. 3. allowances as are payable to the masters of other vessels.

c. 111.

Rule 37. In case it shall happen from any unforeseen circumstances, that Money due the master of any vessel, or the commander of any ship of war, shall upon de- to masters of livering his bags, packages, or parcels of letters, be prevented from receiving vessels, 25. the money to which he shall be entitled, such master or commander shall nevertheless be paid the same, by the order of the postmaster general, at such other places as may be most convenient.

Rule 38. One moiety of the several pecuniary penalties hereby imposed How penalshall be payable to the use of His Majesty, and the other moiety to any person ties to be rewho shall inform and sue for the same, to be recovered with full costs of suit, covered and by action of debt, bill, plaint, or information, in any of His Majesty's courts of applied, § 29. record in Great Britain, wherein no essoign, protection, or privilege, or wager

of law, shall be admitted.

Rule 39. If any action or suit be commenced against any person for any Limitation of thing done in pursuance of this act, the same shall be commenced within actions. twelve months after the fact committed, and not afterwards.

Rule 40. Nothing in this act shall extend to any letters or packets to or China, § 33. from China, but they may be sent and carried as heretofore has been used.

TITLE XXIII.-MEDITERRANEAN PASSES.

[THE nature of a Mediterranean Pass is this: in the treaties that have, from time to time, been made with the different Barbary States, it has been agreed, that the subjects of the King of Great Britain should pass the seas unmolested by the cruizers of those states; and for better ascertaining what ships and vessels belong to British subjects, it is provided, that they shall produce A Pass, under the hand and seal of the lord high admiral, or the lords commissioners of the admiralty.

In pursuance of these treaties, passes are made out at the admiralty, containing a very few words, written on parchment, with ornaments at the top, through which a scollopped indenture is made; the scollopped tops are sent to Barbary, and being put in the possession of their cruizers, the commanders are instructed to suffer all persons to pass who have passes that will fit these scollopped tops. The protection afforded by these passes is such that no ships which traverse the seas frequented by these rovers ever fail to furnish themselves with them; whether in the trade to the East Indies, Africa, or the Levant, or in the trade to Spain, Italy, or any part of the Mediterranean; and from the more particular need of them in the latter, they, no doubt, obtained the name of Mediterranean Passes. For the accommodation of merchants in distant parts, blank passes, signed by the lords of the admiralty, are lodged with the governors abroad, and with the British consuls, to be granted to those who comply with the requisites necessary for obtaining them.

As this piece of security is derived wholly from the stipulations made by the crown with a foreign power, the entire regulation and management of it have been under the direction of His Majesty, who, with the advice of his privy council, has prescribed the terms and conditions upon which those passes shall be granted.

Among others are the following: they are to be granted for none but British-built ships, or ships made free, navigated with a master and three fourths of the mariners British subjects, or foreign protestants made denizens. Bond is to be given in the

4 Geo. 2.
c. 18. § 1.
Counterfeit-

ing Mediter

ranean

Passes.

Death.

How crimes

sum of 3001. if the vessel is under one hundred tons, and in 500l. if it is of that or more, for delivering up the pass within 12 months, unless in the case of ships trading from one foreign port to another; and such passes need not be returned in less than three years.-REEVES, 2d Edit. p. 406.]

Rule 1. Ir any person shall, within Great Britain or Ireland, or any other His Majesty's dominions, or without, falsely make, forge, or counterfeit, or cause or procure to be falsely made, &c. or knowingly act or assist in the false making, &c. any pass for any ship whatsoever, commonly called A Mediterranean Pass, or shall counterfeit the seal, or the hand or hands of the lord highadmiral of Great Britain and Ireland for the time being, or of any commissioner or commissioners for executing the said office for the time being, to any such pass, or shall alter or erase any true and authentic pass issued or made out by the said lord high-admiral or commissioners, or shall knowingly utter or publish as true any such false or erased pass, every such person being in due form of law convicted of any of the offences aforesaid in any proper court of Great Britain, Ireland, or any of His Majesty's plantations beyond the seas, where such offence shall be committed respectively, shall be adjudged guilty of felony, (a) and shall suffer death as in case of felony, without benefit of clergy.

Rule 2. All the crimes and offences before mentioned, which shall be commay be tried, mitted in any country or place out of Great Britain, either within the domi nions of His Majesty, or without, shall be heard and adjudged in any shire or county of Great Britain, by virtue of the King's commission of over and terminer and gaol-delivery, or before any court of justiciary in Scotland, respectively, in the same manner as if such offence was committed within the same county or shire where such offender shall be tried.

West Indies. 7 & 8 Will.

3. c. 34. 1. Quakers' affir

mation.

Force, § 2.

False affirmation, § 3.

Restrictions, § 6.

TITLE XXIV.-OATHS.

[THE following laws, which relate to oaths of a general nature, it is judged proper to insert under a separate title here; but numerous other oaths are required to be taken touching specific articles or places, the particulars of which will be found under the distinct titles of such articles or places, as pointed out in the General Index under the word "Oaths."]

[As to Oaths concerning the British West Indies, see TITLE 120.] Rule 1. EVERY Quaker within England, who shall be required upon any lawful occasion to take an oath, in any case where by law an oath is required, shall, instead of the usual form, be permitted to make his solemn affirmation or declaration in these words following. (b)

Rule 2. Which affirmation or declaration shall be of the same force and effect, in all courts of justice and other places where by law an oath is required within England, as if such Quaker had taken an oath in the usual

form.

Rule 3. If any Quaker, making such solemn affirmation or declaration, shall be lawfully convicted, wilfully, falsely, and corruptly to have affirmed or declared any thing, which, if the same had been in the usual form, would have amounted to wilful and corrupt perjury; every such Quaker so offending shall incur the same penalties and forfeitures as by the laws of this realm are enacted against persons convicted of wilful and corrupt perjury.

Rule 4. No Quaker or reputed Quaker shall by virtue of this act be qualified

(a) See TITLE 25.

(b) See Rule 7 of this title.