No. LVII. 39 & 40 Geo. 3. c. 93. In cases of High Treason, and Misprision of Treason, where the Overt Act alleged in the Indictment shall be assassination of the King, or any direct attempt against his life, &c. the of fender shall be tried in the same manner as if charged with murder, but punishable as in cases of High Treason (notwithstanding 7 Gul. 3. c. 3. or7 Annæ, c. 21.). No. LX. 51 Geo. III. c. 65. 39 G. 3. c. 79. $27.35. 'Treason, where the Overt Act or Overt Acts of such Treason alleged in the [No. LVIII.] 39 and 40 George III. c. 95.-An Act to indemnify all Persons who have printed, published, or dispersed, or who shall publish or disperse, any Papers printed under the Authority of the Commissioners or Head Officers of any Public Boards from all Penalties incurred by Reason of the Name and Place of Abode of the Printer of such Papers not being printed thereon.[28th July 1800.] [No. LIX. ] 41 George III. (U. K.) c. 80.-An Act to indemnify all Persons who have printed, published, or dispersed, or who shall publish or disperse any Papers printed under the Authority of any Head Officer of State, or of Publick Boards, or other Publick Authorities, from all Penalties incurred by the Reason of the Name and Place of Abode of the Printer of such Papers not being printed thereon.-[27th June 1801.] [No. LX. ] 51 George III. c. 65.—An Act to explain and WHEREAS an Act was passed in the thirty-ninth year of his present No. LX. of Societies established for seditious and treasonable Purposes, and for better preventing treasonable and seditious Practices: And whereas, in and by 51 Geo. III. 'the twenty-seventh and thirty-fifth sections of the said Act, certain pro'visions were made, that every person who should print any paper or book, 6 c. 65. or publish or disperse, or assist in publishing or dispersing, any printed paper or book, without the name and place of abode of the printer being printed on such paper or book, in such manner as by the said Act is specified, should forfeit and pay the sum of twenty pounds for every copy of such paper so published or dispersed by him; to be recovered before any 'justice or justices of the peace, for the county, stewartry, riding, city, town or place, in which such penalty should be incurred: And whereas there is not in the said Act any provision authorizing such justice or jus⚫tices to mitigate the penalties thereby incurred, or enabling the party to appeal from any conviction by or judgment of such justice or justices: ' And whereas divers books and papers have since been printed by several persons, who, through inadvertency or mistake, have neglected to comply with the provisions of the said Act, and such persons have thereby 'become liable to be sued and prosecuted for penalties to a vast amount, although such books and papers were not of an evil or seditious tendency: And whereas it is expedient to limit the amount of penalties imposed by the said Act; and to enable magistrates to mitigate the penalties in such ' cases as shall appear to them expedient; and also to give the party, who may be aggrieved by a conviction under such Act, a power of appealing 'from the same;' Be it therefore enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Printing paTemporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by pers or books the authority of the same, That nothing in the twenty-seventh section of contrary to the said Act contained shall extend to make any person or persons offend- recited Act. ing against the same, liable to more than twenty-five forfeitures or penal- Penalties. ties for printing or publishing, or dispersing, or assisting in publishing or dispersing, any number of copies of one and the same paper or book, contrary to the said section of the said Act. II. And be it further enacted, That if any justice or other magis- Justices may trate before whom any person shall be convicted of any offence or offences mitigate penalagainst the provisions of the before-mentioned Act, shall see cause to miti- ties. gate such penalty or penalties, it shall be lawful for such justice or other magistrate to mitigate or lessen the same to any sum not less than five pounds over and above all reasonable costs and charges expended or incurred in the prosecution. III. And whereas doubts have arisen whether the provisions contained in 'the said Act may not be considered as extending to notes and post bills of ⚫ the governor and company of the bank of England, and to bills of exchange, promissory notes, bonds and other securities for payment of money, bills of lading, policies of insurance, letters of attorney, trans'fers or assignments of public stocks, funds and other securities, and to 'dividend warrants, receipts for money or goods, deeds or other instruments, proceedings in the courts of Law and Equity, and other inferior 'courts, warrants, orders and other papers, printed by the authority of any public board or public officer in the execution of the duties of their respective offices, many of which securities, instruments, proceedings and other matters aforesaid, are usually wholly or in part printed;' Be it Name and retherefore hereby declared and enacted, That nothing in the said recited sidence of prinAct or in this Act contained shall extend or be construed to extend to ters not requirequire the name and residence of the printer to be printed upon any such red to be put to bank note, bank post bill, bill of exchange or promissory note, or upon bank notes, any bond or other security for payment of money, or upon any bill of bills, &c. or to lading, policy of insurance, letter of attorney, deed or agreement, or upon any paper any transfer or assignment of any public stocks, funds or other securities, printed by auor upon any transfer or assignment of the stocks of any public corporation thority of any or company, authorized or sanctioned by Act of Parliament, or upon any or public office. public board dividend warrant, of or for any such public or other stocks, funds or securities, or upon any receipt for money or goods, or upon any proceeding in any court of Law or Equity, or in any inferior court, warrant, order or No. LX. 51 Geo. III. c. 65. Appeal. Commencement. No. LXI. 52 Geo. III. c. 104. other papers printed by the authority of any public board or public officer in the execution of the duties of their respective offices, notwithstanding the whole or any part of the said several securities, instruments, proceedings, matters and things aforesaid, shall have been or shall be printed; any thing herein or in the said recited Act contained to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding. IV. And be it further enacted, That if any person or persons shall think himself, herself or themselves aggrieved, by any conviction, judgment or determination, of any Justice or Justices, relating to any matter or thing in the before-mentioned Act contained, then and in that case he, she or they may appeal to the Justices of the Peace at the General Quarter-Sessions to be holden in and for the county, city or place where such conviction, judgment or determination shall have been made, next after the expiration of twenty days from the making thereof, first giving six days' notice of such appeal to the person or persons prosecuting for such penalty or penalties; and the said Justices shall hear and determine the said appeal at such General Quarter-Sessions, or, if they think proper, adjourn the hearing thereof until the next General Quarter-Sessions to be holden for such county, town, or place; and the said Justices may, in like manner, if they see cause, mitigate any penalty or penalties, and may order any money to be returned which shall have been paid or levied under any conviction as aforesaid, and may also order and award such costs to be paid by either party to the other, as they shall think and judge reasonable. V. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect from the first day of March one thousand eight hundred and eleven. [No. LXI.] 52 George III. c. 104.-An Act to render more effectual an Act, passed in the thirty-seventh Year of his present Majesty, for preventing the administering or taking Unlawful Oaths.--[9th July 1812.] WHEREAS an Act passed in the thirty-seventh year of the reign of his present Majesty, intituled, An Act for more effectually preventing the administering or taking of unlawful Oaths: And whereas it is expedi 'ent that more effectual Provisions should be made as to certain Oaths;' Be it therefore enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with 37 G. 3. c. 123. the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the Administering same, That every person who shall in any manner or form whatsoever, and taking of administer or cause to be administered, or be aiding or assisting at the adUnlawful ministering of any oath or engagement, purporting or intending to bind Oaths. the person taking the same to commit any Treason or Murder, or any Felony punishable by Law with death, shall, on conviction thereof by due course of Law, be adjudged guilty of Felony, and suffer death as a Felon without benefit of Clergy; and every person who shall take any such oath or engagement, not being compelled thereto, shall, on conviction thereof by due course of Law, be adjudged guilty of Felony, and shall be transported as a Felon for the term of his natural life, or for such term of years as the Court before which the said Offender or Offenders shall be tried shall adjudge. Persons com pelled to take oaths, not justified, unless they declare same within 14 days. II. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That compulsion shall not justify or excuse any person taking such oath or engagement, unless he or she shall, within fourteen days after the taking thereof, if not prevented by actual force or sickness, and then within fourteen days after the hindrance produced by such force or sickness shall cease, declare the same, together with the whole of what he or she shall know touching the same, and the person or persons by whom, and in whose presence, and when and where such oath or engagement was administered or taken, by informa tion on oath, before one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace, or one of his Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, or his Majesty's Privy Council; or in case the person taking such oath or engagement shall be in actual service in his Majesty's forces by sea or land, then by such in formation on oath as aforesaid, or by information to his commanding No. LXI. officer. c. 104. III. Provided also, and be it further enacted, That every person who 52 Geo. III. before he shall be charged with any offence under the said recited Act or this Act, or taking any oath or engagement described in the said recited Act or this Act, shall, within three months, after the passing of this Act, Persons conappear before some Justice of the Peace or Magistrate, and declare the fessing, before same, and the oath or engagement so taken, and when and where the being charged, same was taken, and in what manner, and who shall at the same time take before such Justice of the Peace or Magistrate, the Oath of Allegiance to his Majesty, shall be and is hereby indemnified against any prosecution for any offence under the said recited Act or this Act; and no confession so made by any such person shall be given in evidence against the person making the same in any Court or in any case whatever. indemnified. IV. And be it further enacted, That persons aiding and assisting at the Persons aidadministering of any such oath or engagement as aforesaid, and persons ing, &c. deemcausing any such oath or engagement to be administered, though not preed principals. sent at the administering thereof, shall be deemed principal offenders, and shall be tried as such, and on conviction thereof by due course of Law, shall be adjudged guilty of Felony, and shall suffer death as Felons, without benefit of Clergy, although the persons or person who actually administered such oath or engagement, if any such there shall be, shall not have been tried or convicted. V. And be it further enacted, That it shall not be necessary in any in- In Indictments dictment against any person or persons administering or causing to be sufficient to administered or taken, or taking any such oath or engagement as afore- set forth pursaid, or aiding or assisting at, or present at and consenting to the adminis- port of such tering or taking thereof, to set forth the words of such oath or engagement, and that it shall be sufficient to set forth the purport of such oath or engagement, or some material part thereof. oaths. VI. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That any engagement Engagement or obligation whatsoever, in the nature of an oath, purporting or intend- in nature of ing to bind the person taking the same to commit any Treason or Murder, oath deemed or any Felony punishable by Law with death, shall be deemed an oath one, &c. within the intent and meaning of this Act, in whatever form or manner the same shall be administered or taken, and whether the same shall be actually administered by any person or persons to any other person or persons, or taken by any other person or persons without any administration thereof by any other person or persons. VII. Provided also, and be it further enacted, That any offence com- Where ofmitted against this Act, on the High Seas or out of this realm, or within fences prosethat part of Great Britain called England, shall and may be prosecuted, cuted. tried and determined before any Court of Oyer and Terminer or Gaol Delivery, for any county, in that part of Great Britain called England, in such manner and form as if such offence had been therein committed; and if committed in that part of Great Britain called Scotland, shall and may be prosecuted, tried and determined, either before the Justiciary Court at Edinburgh, or in any of the Circuit Courts in that part of the United Kingdom. VIII. Provided also, and it is hereby declared, That any person who Persons tried shall be tried and acquitted or convicted of any offence against this Act, under Act not shall not be liable to be indicted, prosecuted or tried again for the same tried again for offence or fact, as High Treason or Misprision of High Treason; and that same offence, but tried as nothing in this Act contained shall be construed to extend to prohibit any for High Treaperson guilty of any offence against this Act, and who shall not be tried for the same as an offence against this Act, from being tried for the same as High Treason or Misprision of High Treason, in such manner as if this Act had not been made. [No. LXI. a.] 52 Geo. III. c. 156.-An Act for the more effectual Punishment of Persons aiding Prisoners of son, &c. No. LXI. a. 52 Geo. III. c. 156. [29th War to escape from his Majesty's Dominions. July 1812.] WHEREAS many Prisoners of War confined and on parole in different parts of his Majesty's dominions have of late escaped by the aid and assistance of many of his Majesty's subjects and others; and it is necessary to repress such practices and violations of the allegiance due to his Majesty and of the Law by more effectual punishment; be it therefore enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That every Punishment of Person who shall, from and after the passing of this Act, knowingly and Persons aiding wilfully aid or assist any alien enemy of his Majesty, being a Prisoner of Prisoners of War in his Majesty's dominions, whether such prisoner shall be confined as War to escape. a Prisoner of War in any prison or other place of confinement, or shall be suffered to be at large in his Majesty's dominions or any part thereof on his parole, to escape from such prison or other place of confinment, or from his Majesty's dominions, if at large upon parole, shall upon being convicted thereof be adjudged guilty of Felony, and be liable to be transported as a Felon for life, or for such term of fourteen or seven years as the Court before whom such person shall be convicted shall adjudge. Persons guilty of aiding though they do not assist the prisoner in quitting the coast. Punishment of persons assisting on the High Seas prisoners to escape. Offences may be tried other wise than under the provi sions of this Act. No. LXII. 53 Geo. III. c. 99. II. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That every person who shall knowingly and wilfully aid or assist any such prisoner at large on parole in quitting any part of his Majesty's dominions where he may be on his parole, although he shall not aid or assist such person in quitting the coast of any part of his Majesty's dominions, shall be deemed guilty of aiding the escape of such person under the Provisions of this Act. III. And be it further enacted, That if any person or persons owing allegiance to his Majesty, after any such prisoner as aforesaid hath quitted the coast of any part of his Majesty's dominions in such his escape as aforesaid, shall knowingly and wilfully upon the High Seas aid or assist such prisoner in his escape to or towards any other dominions or place, such person shall also be adjudged guilty of Felony, and be liable to be transported as aforesaid; and such offences committed upon the High Seas and not within the body of any county, shall and may be enquired of, tried, heard, determined, and adjudged in any county within the realm, in like manner as if such offences had been committed within such county. IV. And be it also enacted, That this Act shall not be deemed or taken to prevent any person committing any offence mentioned in this Act from being prosecuted, in such manner as he might by Law have been prosecuted if this Act had not passed; but nevertheless no person prosecuted otherwise than under the provisions of this Act, shall be liable to be prosecuted for the same offence under the provisions hereof; and no person prosecuted under the provisions of this Act shall for the same offence be liable to be otherwise prosecuted, [No. LXII.] 53 George III. c. 99.-An Act for the more speedy and effectual Trial and Punishment of Offences committed by Soldiers, detached in Places beyond the Seas, out of his Majesty's Dominions.-[7th July 1813.] WHEREAS by an Act passed in the present Session of Parliament, inti tuled, An Act for punishing Mutiny and Desertion; and for the better Payment of the Army and their Quarters, it is enacted, that General 'Courts Martial to be held in places beyond the seas out of his Majesty's 'dominions, may consist of any number not less than seven: And whereas 53 G. 3. c. 117. it is expedient to amend the said Act, and to provide that such General $20. Commanding officers may assemble 'Courts Martial may consist of a less number than seven, in the cases hereinafter specified;' Be it therefore enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the |