6 No. XI. 17 Geo. III. c. 56. Part of 23 G. 2. repealed. ately pay the sum which he or she shall have been adjudged to forfeit, together with such costs as the justices in the said sessions shall award to be paid by him or her, for defraying the expences sustained by the defendant or defendants in such appeal; or, in default of making such payment, shall be committed to the common gaol, or house of correction, in the same manner, and for the same time, to be computed from the affirmance of such conviction, as shall be directed by the original judgment of conviction, unless the person or persons so convicted shall have been imprisoned under the original conviction, in which case the time for which such person or persons shall have been so confined shall be included in the order of confirmation. XXI. And whereas an Act, passed in the twenty-third year of the reign of his late Majesty King George the Second, intituled, An Act for the more effectually punishing of Persons convicted of seducing Artificers in the Manufactures of Great Britain or Ireland, out of the Dominions of the Crown of Great Britain; and to prevent the Exportation of Utensils made use of in the Woollen and Silk Manufactures, from Great Britain or Ireland into Foreign Parts; and for the more easy and speedy Determination of Appeals, allowed in certain Cases by an Act made in the last Ses'sion of Parliament, relating to Persons employed in the several Manufac"tures therein mentioned; prescribes a form for conviction of the several ' offences mentioned in the said recited Act of the twenty-second of George 'the Second; but such form is not adapted to the said last-mentioned Act, as altered by this Act; and it may be useful to have one general form for the said recited Act of the twenty-second of George the Second, and this How justices Act;' Be it therefore further enacted, That in respect to all offences to proceed for which, from and after the said first day of July one thousand seven hun- conviction of dred and seventy-seven, shall be committed against the said recited Act offenders of the twenty-second of George the Second, so much of the said Act of against the the twenty-third of George the Second as prescribes a form of conviction said Act of 22 for offences, against the said Act of the twenty-second of George the second, Geo. 2 of this shall be repealed; and that, from and after the said first day of July one thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven, the justices before whom any offender shall be convicted of any offence, either against the said Act of the twenty-second of George the Second, or varied by this Act, or against this Act, shall cause the conviction to be certified to the next general or general quarter-session of the peace to be held in and for the county, riding, division, city, liberty, town, or place, where such conviction was made, to be filed with the records of such sessions; and such conviction shall and may be drawn up and written on parchment, and certified in the following form of words, as far as the name of the person and the nature of the case will admit of (that is to say); BE it remembered, That on the day of in the year of our Lord 'A. B. was convicted before us Middlesex (or any other place, be) to wit. as the case shall < county of of his Majesty's justices of the peace in and for the said for the city, liberty, town, or place, aforesaid, in the said county (as the case shall be) of 'where the same was committed]. or, [Here specify the offence, and when and 'Given under our hands and seals, the day and year first above ' written.' (1) (1) It will not be sufficient merely to follow this form of conviction, there being a discretionary punishment as to some of the offences included in the Act, and I have known many convictions quashed for want of sufficient certainty in the adjudication. Where there is a discretion as to the duration of imprisonment to be suffered for want of distress, as in cases depending upon section 4, the general practice of the sessions has been to require such imprisonment to appear on the face of the conviction, and it seems to be necessary that it should so appear. Upon a conviction under that section, it may be proper after stating the offence, to proceed as follows:-" And we do adjudge, that for the said offence, being his first offence, the said John Smith hath forfeited the sum of 40%. which we direct shall be applied as follows; that is to say, Act. Form of conviction. No. XI. 17 Geo. III. c. 56. Proceedings not to be quashed, &e. XXII. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That no order made touching or concerning any of the matters in this Act contained, or any proceedings to be had touching the conviction of any offender or offenders against the said Act of the twenty-second of George the Second, or this Act, shall be quashed for want of form, or be removed or removeable by certiorari, into his Majesty's Court of King's Bench; and the justices before whom such convictions shall be had, shall cause the same, drawn up in the form aforesaid, to be fairly written upon parchment, and transmitted to the next general or general quarter-sessions of the peace to be held for the county, riding, division, city, liberty, town, or place wherein such conviction was had, to be filed and kept amongst the records of the said general or general quarter-sessions; and in case the person or persons that, in the first place, the sum of 51. being the expense of the prose nalty shall be sooner paid." It is to be observed that section 20, which gives the appeal, directs, that in default of payment of the penalty, on affirmance of the conviction, the party is to be committed for the same time as shall be directed upon the original judgment of conviction. to wit. Upon a proceeding under sections 10 and 12, the following form seems to be proper: Lancashire BE it remembered, That on the 1st day of June, in the year of our Lord 18 John Smith of Manchester, in the said county, weaver, was convicted before us, two of his Majesty's justices of the peace in and of the said county, of a misdemeanor: for that on the 1st. day of May, in the year aforesaid, T. Y. and M. N. esquires, two of his Majesty's justices of the peace for the said county, upon complaint made to them, upon oath, by one X. Z. being a credible person, that there was cause to suspect that certain purloined and embezzled materials of cotton were concealed in the dwelling-house of the said John Smith, at Manchester aforesaid, by virtue of a warrant under their hands and seals, pursuant to the statute in such case made and provided, did cause the said dwellinghouse to be searched in the day-time, and that upon such search certain materials, used in the manufacture of cotton, to wit, 50 lbs. weight of cotton wool, suspected to be purloined or embezzled, were found in the same dwel ling-house (a), and the said materials so found as aforesaid, and the said John Smith, were thereupon, to wit, on the said first day of May, brought before us the said justices first above named; and the said John Smith being so brought before us, the said last-mentioned justices, did request of us to appoint a reasonable time to produce one I. D. whom he alleged to be the person duly intitled to sell or dispose of the said materials, from whom he bought the same, and also one R. R. a credible witness, to prove the sale and delivery thereof, and we did therefore appoint the said first day of June, being a reasonable time for the purpose aforesaid, and we did issue our summons to the constable of the township of Salford, in the said county, where the said I. D. and R. R. did reside, desiring him to summon the said I. D. and R. R. to appear before us on the said first day of June, to be examined and give evidence on oath of the matter aforesaid, on which said first day of June, the said I. D. and R. R. did appear before us, and being sworn and examined, did severally depose, that they had not any knowledge of the said ma terials so found in the said dwelling-house of the said John Smith as afore said, and the said John Smith did not give any account to the satisfaction of us, the same justices, how he came by the said materials, contrary to the statute in that case made and provided, whereby the said John Smith hath forfeited the sum of 201. being his first offence; one moiety thereof is to be paid to the said X. Z. being the informer in this behalf, and we adjudge the other moiety thereof to be paid to the treasurer of the infirmary, at Manchester aforesaid, being a public charity, for the use of the said charity (6) No. XI. so convicted shall appeal from the judgment of the said justices to the said general or general quarter-sessions, the justices on such general or general 17 Geo. III. quarter-sessions are hereby required, upon receiving the said conviction drawn up in the form aforesaid, to proceed to the hearing and determination of the matter of the said appeal, according to the direction of the said Act; any law or usage to the contrary notwithstanding. XXIII. Provided also, and be it further enacted, That nothing herein contained shall extend or be construed to extend, to repeal any former law or laws now in being, for the punishment of any of the offences herein above specified, except so far as is particularly expressed by this Act; and no offender who shall have been proceeded against, upon or by virtue of this Act, for any of the offences herein specified, shall for the same offence be afterwards proceeded against, upon or by virtue of any such former law or laws. XXIV. Provided also, and be it further enacted, That nothing contained in this Act shall extend to, or affect, any person or persons for any offence committed or to be committed against the said recited Act of the twenty-second year of the reign of his late Majesty King George the Second, before the said first day of July one thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven; but all and every such offender and offenders shall and may be prosecuted and punished in the same manner as if this Act had not been made. (a) [In all the editions of Burn, instead of following the provisions of the statute, sec. 8, imposing a penalty on the person in whose house, outhouse, yard, garden, or other place, the materials shall be found, the word possession is substituted. I have many years ago known a case determined upon reference by the sessions to the present Chief Justice of the King's Bench, then at the bar, which turned entirely upon that difference, the materials having been found in the possession of a married woman, (in a box in her peculiar custody) to which the husband was not supposed to be privy, and the conviction of the wife could not be supported, which it was held that it might have been, if the expression in Burn had been that of the Act.] (b) [As the duration of imprisonment for non-payment of the penalty is in this case limited, it does not seem necessary that it should be expressed in the conviction, I have seen a form of conviction, in which directions were contained for advertising and disposing of the property pursuant to section 13; but I conceive it is not necessary or usual that such directions shall form a part of the conviction, and that it would be preferable that they should be given by a separate order in writing.] See a form of conviction for embezzlement under sec. 3, Paley on Convictions, Appx. [79.] It may here not be irrevelant to observe, with respect to convictions generally, that it has been customary in the practice of quarter-sessions, if any objection appeared on the face of the conviction, to take it at the outset of the hearing, and if the judgment of the court was in favour of the objection, any examination of the merits has been considered unnecessary: but this course cannot safely be pursued, since the case of the King v. Allen, 15 E. 333, in which the sessions having quashed a conviction upon grounds which appeared to the Court of King's Bench insufficient, the court refused to send the case down again to be heard on its merits, and said, that as the defendant had chosen to stand upon the objection which he then took, he had waved entering into the merits of the case upon the appeal. This certainly seems to have been rather a hard measure; as it has always been considered as the duty of counsel to take such objections as appeared to them to be tenable, or attended with a reasonable probability of success in point of form, however strong an opinion they might entertain in favour of their client upon the merits; and there is no reason which requires that if there are several points in a case, the insisting upon some shall be regarded as a waver of others. If the objection had been overruled by the sessions, it would have been quite contrary to all practice to have considered the taking it as a ground for refusing to proceed with the hearing upon the merits; and the case has not gone so far as to preclude the appellant's coun. sel from urging the objections on the face of the proceedings, and going, at the same time, into a case upon the facts. It will be recollected that the clause for taking away a Certiorari does not extend to the prosecutor, unless particularly expressed. c. 56. No. XI. 17 Geo. III. c. 56. Limitation of actions. XXV. And be it further enacted, That if any suit or action shall be commenced or prosecuted against any person or persons, for any thing done or to be done in pursuance of this Act, every such suit or action shall be severally brought, laid, and tried, in the county or place where the fact was committed, and not elsewhere; and the defendant or defendants in every such action or suit shall and may plead the general issue, and give General issue. this Act and the special matter in evidence at any trial to be had there upon, and that the same was done in pursuance of and by the authority of this Act: And if it shall appear to be so done, or if any such suit or action shall be brought in any other county or place than where the fact was committed, then the jury shall find for the defendant or defendants; and upon such verdict, or if the plaintiff or plaintiffs shall become nonsuit, or discontinue his, her, or their action after the defendant or defendants shall have appeared or if, upon demurrer, judgment shall be given against the plaintiff or plaintiffs, the defendant or defendants shall and may recover treble costs, and have the like remedy for the same as any defendant or defendants hath or have for costs in other cases at law. Treble costs. No. XII. 'c. 56. Preamble. [No. XII.] 32 George III. c. 56.-An Act for preventing the counterfeiting of Certificates of the Characters of Ser vants. WHEREAS many false and counterfeit characters of servants have either been given personally, or in writing, by evil-disposed persons 32 Geo. III. being, or pretending to be, the master, mistress, retainer, or superinten'dant of such servants, or by persons who have actually retained such 'servants in their respective service, contrary to truth and justice, and to the peace and security of his Majesty's subjects: And whereas the evil 'herein complained of is not only difficult to be guarded against, but is also of great magnitude, and continually increasing, and no sufficient remedy has hitherto been applied;' 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, from and after the first day of July one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two, if any person or persons shall falsely personate any master or mistress, or the executor, administrator, wife, relation, housekeeper, steward, agent, or servant of any such master or mistress, and shall either personally, or in writing, give any false, forged or counterfeited character to any person offering him or herself to be hired as a servant into the service of any person or persons, then, and in such case, every such person or persons so offending shall forfeit and undergo the penalty or punishment herein-after mentioned and in that behalf provided. Any person or asserting that a servant has been hired for a period of time, or in a station; or was dis charged at any other time, or had not been hired in any previous service, contrary to the fact; II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That, from and after the said first day of July one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two, if any person or persons shall knowingly and wilfully pretend, or falsely assert in writing, that any servant has been hired or retained for any period of time whatsoever, or in any station or capacity whatsoever, other than that for which or in which he, she, or they shall have hired or retained such servant in his, her, or their service or employment, or for the service of any other person or persons, that then, and in either of the said cases, such person or persons, so offending as aforesaid, shall forfeit and undergo the penalty or punishment herein-after mentioned and in that behalf provided. III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That, from and after the said first day of July one thousand seven hundred and ninetytwo, if any person or persons shall knowingly and wilfully pretend, or falsely assert, in writing, that any servant was discharged, or left his, her, or their service at any other time than that at which he or she was discharged or actually left such service, or that any such servant had not been hired or employed in any previous service, contrary to truth, that then, and in either of the said cases, such person or persons shall forfeit and undergo the penalty or punishment herein-after mentioned and in that behalf provided. No. XII. c. 56. or any person himself as a IV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the said first day of July one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two, 82 Geo. III. if any person shall offer himself or herself as a servant, asserting or pretending that he or she hath served in any service in which such servant shall not actually have served (1), or with a false, forged, or counterfeit certificate of his or her character, or shall in anywise add to or alter, efface or erase any word, date, matter, or thing contained in or referred offering to in any certificate given to him or her by his or her last or former actual servant, master or mistress, or by any other person or persons duly authorised by pretending to such master or mistress to give the same, that then, and in either of the have served said cases, such person or persons shall forfeit and undergo the penalty or punishment herein-after mentioned and in that behalf provided. V. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the said first day of July one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two, if any person or persons having before been in service, shall, when offering to hire himself, herself, or themselves as a servant or servants in any service whatsoever, falsely and wilfully pretend not to have been hired or retained in any previous service as a servant, that then and in such case such person or persons shall forfeit and undergo the penalty or punishment herein-after mentioned and in that behalf provided. where he has not served, or with a false certificate, or who shall alter any certificate; or who having been before in service shall pretend not to have been in such service; shall, on conviction, forfeit 201. VI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the said first day of July one thousand seven hundred and ninetytwo, if any person or persons shall be convicted of any or either of the offence or offences aforesaid, by his, her, or their confession, or by the oath of one or more credible witness or witnesses, before two or more justices of the peace for the county, riding, division, city, liberty, town, or place, where the offence or offences shall have been committed, (which oath such justices are hereby empowered and required to administer,) every such offender or offenders shall forfeit the sum of twenty pounds, one moiety Application of whereof shall be paid to the person or persons on whose information the forfeiture. party or parties offending shall have been convicted, and the other moiety thereof shall go and be applied for the use of the poor of the parish wherein the offence shall have been committed; and if the party who shall have been so convicted shall not immediately pay the said sum of twenty pounds so forfeited, together with the sum of ten shillings for the costs and charges attending such conviction, or shall not give notice of appeal, and enter into recognizance in the manner herein-after mentioned and in that behalf giving notice of appeal, &c. provided, such justices shall and may commit every such offender to the house of correction, or some other prison of the county, riding, division, committed. may be city, liberty, town, or place, in which he or she shall have been convicted, there to remain, and be kept to hard labour, without bail or mainprize, for any time not exceeding three months, nor less than one month, until he or she pay the said sum so forfeited, together with such costs and charges as aforesaid. VII. And whereas it most frequently happens, that no person is present at or privy to the giving of the character of a servant, except the persons by and to whom the same is given: Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the informer, in any of the cases aforesaid, shall be, and shall be deemed and taken to be a good and competent witness in law, notwithstanding he shall be entitled to a part of the said penalty where the same shall be levied as aforesaid. Persons not paying the penalty with costs for not Informer, to a part of the though entitled penalty, a competent witness. VIII. Provided always, and be it further enacted by the authority Offenders aforesaid, That if any servant or servants, who shall have been guilty of discovering any of the offences aforesaid, shall, before any information has been given accomplices or lodged against him, her, or them, for such offence, discover and inform against any person or persons concerned with him, her, or then, in any indemnified. offence against this Act, so as such offender or offenders be convicted such offence in manner aforesaid, every such servant or servants, so discovering and informing, shall thereupon be discharged and indemnified of, (1) A case which I have lately known to occur is not within the provisions of this Act, although attended with all the mischiefs intended to be provided against by it; viz., that before information, of assuming the name of another person who has been a servant in the same place with the offender. |