the Certificate to make Oath of the Truth thereof. Certificates to be produced by Seamen disabled by Sickness, and by Widows and Children of Seamen. Master, Mate, Boatswain, and Surgeon, or so many of them as were in the Ship or Vessel to which such Seaman belonged at the Time of his receiving such Hurt or Damage, or of the Master and Two of the Seamen if there be no other Officer, or in case the Master shall die, or be killed or drowned, then of the Person who shall take upon him the Care of the Ship or Vessel, and Two of the Seamen on board the same, under their Hands and Seals, thereby signifying how and in what Manner such Seaman received such Hurt or Damage, whether in fighting, defending, working, loading, or unloading the said Ship or Vessel, where and when Parties signing he entered, and how long he had served on board the same; and the Parties so signing and sealing such Certificate shall and are hereby required to make Oath of the Truth of the Contents thereof before some One of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace, if given in Great Britain or Ireland or other His Majesty's Dominions, or the Chief Officer of the Customs of the Port or Place where there is no Justice of the Peace, or before the British Consul or Resident in any Foreign Country where such Certificate is executed (who are hereby respectively authorized and required to administer the same without Fee or Reward); and in case of Sickness, whereby such Seaman shall be rendered incapable of Service, a Certificate signed, sealed, and authenticated in like Manner, signifying that he was healthy when he entered on board such Ship or Vessel, and that such Sickness was contracted on board the same, or on shore in doing his Duty in the Service of the Ship, and not otherwise, and expressing the Time and Place he entered on board such Ship or Vessel, and how long he had served therein; and that no Widow, Child, or Children of any Seaman killed, slain, or drowned in the said Service, shall be relieved or entitled to any Allowance by virtue of this Act unless she or they, or some Person on her or their Behalf, shall produce a Certificate, signed, sealed, and authenticated in like Manner, signifying how and in what Manner such Seaman lost his Life in the Service of the said Ship or Vessel, the Time and Place he entered on board, and how long he had served therein; and that no Widow, Child, or Children of any Seaman in the said Service shall be entitled to any Relief by virtue of this Act unless she or they shall produce or cause to be produced a Certificate under the Hands and Seals of the Minister and Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor of the Parish, Township, or Place, or any Two of them, or under the Hands and Seals of the Minister and Overseers of the Poor of the Parish, Township, or Place, or any Two of them, where there are no Churchwardens, or if in Scotland by the Minister and Elders, or if in Ireland by a Justice of the Peace for the Parish, Township, or Place where such Widow, Child, or Children shall at the Time reside, and if such Widow, Child, or Children are some of the People called Quakers, then by any Two reputable Persons of that Persuasion of the Parish, Township, or Place where such Widow, Child, or Children have a legal Settlement, or do inhabit and reside, to be attested by Two or more credible Witnesses, that such Widow was the lawful Wife and real Widow, and that such Child or Children was or were the lawful Child or Children of such deceased Seaman as aforesaid, and that such Child or 13 Children Decrepit Seamen not entitled to the Children is and are under the Age of Fourteen Years, or if of that Age or upwards, not capable of getting a Livelihood by reason of Lameness, Blindness, or other Infirmities, and is or are proper Objects of Charity; and that no Seaman shall be provided for by a Pension or otherwise, as decrepit or worn out, unless such Seaman shall have served in the Merchant Service for the Space of Five Years, and shall have during that Time contributed Act unless they and paid the Monthly Duty out of his Wages, in and by the Act have served of the Twentieth Year of the Reign of King George the Second Five Years, and herein-before recited, or in and by this Act, required to be contributed henceforward paid and deducted as the Case may happen, for the monthly. Uses and Purposes in and by this Act provided. Benefit of this punished. III. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That if any Persons forgPerson shall forge, counterfeit, erase, or alter, or shall procure ing, &c. Certo be forged, counterfeited, erased, or altered, or shall unfairly tificates to be or unduly obtain, any Certificate in order to entitle him or her to any of the Pensions, Allowances, or Benefits of this Act, and shall produce or cause such Certificate to be produced for that Purpose, such Certificate shall, upon Discovery thereof, be null and void, and such Person so applying for Relief or Provision shall be for ever incapable of receiving any of the Benefits of this Act, and shall be subject and liable to the like Punishment as an incorrigible Rogue is subject and liable to, and shall be punished accordingly as such. President and Five Assistants to make a Court, who are to meet weekly. The Court Officers and IV. And be it further enacted, That the said President, with any Five or more of the said Assistants or Committees for the Time being, shall make a full Court of Assistants or Committees, and shall meet from Time to Time upon Wednesdays weekly in or near the City of London, or at such other Time or Place as they shall think fit to appoint; and such Court shall have Power, when assembled as aforesaid, in the Name of the said Corporation and on their Account, to apply the Monies arising and to be received by virtue of this Act, or otherwise belonging to and vested in the said Corporation, for the Relief and Support of such Seamen, their Widows and Children, as are herein-before described, and in case there shall be any Surplus thereof, or any Sum or Sums of Money shall be contributed and given for the Purpose of this Act by any well-disposed Persons, to lay out the same in Parliamentary Securities, or to dispose of the same in the Purchase of such Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments as are allowed to be purchased and held by the said Corporation by the said recited Act of the Twentieth Year of the Reign of His said late Majesty George the Second, and with and under their Common Seal to enter into any Covenants or Contracts for the Purposes aforesaid, as they shall think fit for the better promoting and carrying into effect the Provisions of this Act; and to appoint and choose, and at their Pleasure to remove, displace, and supply, any Officers, Servants, and other Person and Persons to be employed for the Purposes herein mentioned and intended, or other the Affairs of the said Corporation (other Exception; than and except such Officers and Persons as by the said Act of the Twentieth Year of the Reign of His said late Majesty King George the Second are directed to be chosen and appointed at a General Court or Assembly of the said Corporation) and to M 4 direct and do all other Matters and Things necessary. All Masters and Owners of or Vessels, &c. to pay 28. per Month. direct and appoint such Salaries, Perquisites, and other Rewards for their Labour and Service therein as they shall approve and think proper, and to do, manage, transact, and determine all such Matters and Things as to them or the greater Part of them shall appear necessary and convenient for the effecting and carrying on the Purposes hereby intended. V. And be it further enacted, for effecting the Ends and Purposes aforesaid, That every Master of any Merchant Ship or Merchant Ships Vessel belonging or to belong to any of the Subjects of His Majesty, His Heirs or Successors, and every Owner being a British Subject navigating or working his own Ship or Vessel, whether the said Ship or Vessel shall be employed on the High Sea, or Coasts of Great Britain or Ireland, or in any Port, Bay, or Creek of the same, shall, from and after the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, pay, and there shall be allowed and paid by every such Master or Owner, Two Shillings per Month of lawful Money of Great Britain, and proportionably for a lesser Time, during the Time he or they shall be employed in or navigate or work such Merohant Ship or Vessel, for the Uses and Purposes aforesaid: Provided always, that such Masters or Owners of such Ships or Vessels, or their Widows and Children under Fourteen Years of Age, or being Objects of Charity as aforesaid, shall have and be entitled to have a proportionate Incrcase of the Pension or other Allowance, as in and by this Act is provided, according to the Difference between the Amount of the Monthly Duty hereby required to be paid by other Seamen, Mariners, and Pilots, in case such Master or Owner shall have paid the said Sum of Two Shillings per Month for a Period of Five Years or Sixty Months before any Application to the said President and Governors for Relief under this Act or the Provisions thereof, or any of them; but in case any such Master or Owner shall be killed or drowned, or become decrepit and maimed or disabled, before he or they shall have paid such increased Rate of Two Shillings per Month for the full Period of Five Years or Sixty Months as aforesaid, then such Masters or Owners, or their Widows and Children, shall have and be entitled to have and receive such smaller Pension or Allowance as the said President and Governors, or the Trustees to be appointed as herein-after mentioned, shall think fit. All Seamen or other Persons serving on board such Ships or Ves sels to pay 1s. per Month. VI. And be it further enacted, That every Seaman or other Person whatsoever who shall serve or be employed by any Person or Persons whatsoever in any Merchant Ship, or other private Ship or Vessel, belonging or to belong to any of the Subjects of His Majesty, His Heirs or Successors, whether the said Ship or Vessel shall be employed on the High Sea or Coasts of Great Britain or Ireland, or in any Port, Bay, or Creek of the same, and every Pilot employed on board any such Ship or Vessel, shall, from and after the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, pay, and there shall be allowed and paid by every such Seaman, Pilot, or other Person employed or that shall be employed, One Shilling per Month of lawful Money of Great Britain, and proportionably for a lesser Time, during the Time he or they shall be employed in or belong to the the said Ship or Vessel, for the Uses and Purposes aforesaid: Provided always, that this Act shall not extend or be construed to extend to any Person or Persons who shall be employed in any Boat upon any of the Coasts of Great Britain or Ireland, or the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, in taking Fish, nor to any Person or Persons employed in Boats or Vessels that trade only from Place to Place within any River of Great Britain or Ireland. Masters of Ships to keep in their Hands 1s. per Month out of Seamen's VII. And be it further enacted, That the Master, Owner, or Commander of every such Merchant or private Ship or Vessel is hereby empowered and required to deduct and detain out of the Wages, Shares, or other Profits payable or accruing to such Seaman or other Person employed on board such Ship or Vessel Pay, and pay (other than such Persons as are hereby excepted), the said over the same Monthly Duty, and shall pay the same, together with the Amount to the Receiver of the Duty due and owing from himself, to such Officer or of the Duties. Officers as shall on that Behalf be appointed by the said President and Governors, or the Trustees to be appointed at any of the Out-ports in manner herein-after provided, and their Successors, for the collecting, recovering, and receiving the said Duty of One Shilling per Month, if such Seaman or other Person shall have or be entitled to any such Wages, Shares, or Profits. VIII. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for the said President and Governors, and their Successors, at a full Court of Assistants or Committees, to appoint such Person or Persons as they shall think fit to be Receiver or Receivers of the said Duties of Two Shillings and One Shilling per Month at the Port of London, and also depute and appoint the Collectors or other Officers of the Customs of His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, in the several Out-ports of Great Britain and Ireland, with the Concurrence of the Commissioners of the said Customs, or such other Persons as they shall think fit, to collect and receive the same (except in such Out-ports and where separate Trustees shall have been appointed by virtue of this Act); which said Receivers, as also the Collectors and Officers of the Customs, are hereby empowered and required to collect, receive, and pay over the said Duties according to such Instructions and Directions as shall be from Time to Time sent to them in Writing by the said President and Governors and their Successors; and for the Care and Pains therein of the said Collectors and other Officers of the Customs to be appointed to collect, recover, and receive the said Duty, it shall and may be lawful for the said President and Governors and their Successors, at such Court of Assistants or Committees as aforesaid, to make such Allowance to them out of the said Duties as they shall judge reasonable, so that the same do not exceed the Sum of Five Pounds per Centum on the gross Amount thereof. IX. And be it further enacted, That every Master, Commander, or Owner of any Merchant Ship or other private Ship or Vessel navigating the same, or such other Person as shall have the Care thereof, shall keep a Book by way of Muster Roll or Account of the Ship's Company, signed by himself, in which shall be entered his own Christian and Surname, and the Christian and Surnames of all the Officers, Seamen, and other Persons em ployed Receivers to be appointed for the Port of London and the Out-ports, who are to collect and pay over the Duties according to Instructions. Masters to keep Muster Roll, and deliver Duplicates thereof to the Collectors. Receivers to transmit Duplicates of Vessels not belonging to their Port. Penalty for Neglect by Masters, &c. Masters of Vessels to deduct Penalties from Wages of Seamen, and deliver a verified to Officers of ployed in such Ship or Vessel, and over against each Name the Age, Place of Birth, and Quality of such Seaman or other Person, and the Time and Place when he entered into the Service of such Ship or Vessel; and such Master, Commander, or Owner, or other Person having the Care of such Ship or Vessel shall continue to keep such Book by way of Muster Roll during the whole Course of the Voyage, and shall from Time to Time enter therein when and where any such Master, Officer, Seaman, or other Person shall be discharged from or shall leave or desert such Ship or Vessel, anp when and where any other Officers and Men shall be shipped on board, describing them in like Manner as the Persons who first entered on board are directed to be described, and when and where any of them received any Hurt or Damage, or were killed, slain, or drowned, or otherwise happened to die, in case there should be any such, together with a Statement of the Amount of Wages due to them at the Time of Death or Desertion, and of what Clothes or other Effects such deceased Man shall have left on board; which said Account shall be in the Form, and shall contain a true and correct Return under their respective Heads of the several Particulars expressed in the Schedule marked (A.) and to this Act annexed; a Duplicate of which Account shall, if required, be signed by the said Master, Commander, or other Person having the Care of the Ship or Vessel as aforesaid, and shall be delivered to the Collectors or Receivers of the said Duties so appointed as aforesaid, at whatever Port in Great Britain or Ireland any such Ship or Vessel shall report or discharge her Cargo; and every such Duplicates for Vessels not belonging to such Port of Discharge shall be forwarded by such Receiver to the said President and Governors, to be by them transmitted to the Trustees of the Port to which the Vessel shall belong; and in case any such Master, Commander, or other Person shall neglect to keep such Muster Roll or Account, or shall neglect or refuse to deliver such Duplicate as aforesaid, and in case such Receiver or Collectors shall neglect or refuse to transmit the Duplicates which shall be delivered to them as aforesaid to the said President and Governors, every such Person so offending shall forfeit and pay for every such Refusal or Omission the Sum of Five Pounds of lawful Money of Great Britain. X. And be it further enacted, That the Master for the Time being of every Ship coming within the Provisions of this Act shall have Authority to deduct out of the Wages of the Seamen thereof the Amount of all Forfeitures to be incurred by any such Seamen, and every such Master is hereby required corAccount thereof rectly and truly to enter the same in a Book to be by him kept for that Purpose, which shall be signed by the Master and the Person next to him in the Command of the Ship, both of whom shall therein certify that it contains all the Forfeitures which have been incurred by the Seamen of the Ship during the Voyage, to the Truth whereof the Master shall make Oath when required by the Officer of the said President and Governors in London, or of the Trustees at any of the Out-ports, if any, and if not, to the respective Receivers or Collectors of the said President and Governors at such Out-ports appointed to receive the Monies President and Governors, under Penalty of 201. payable |