8 VICT. aforesaid to Transportation any Sentence of Death passed by any such Court, the same, together with Her Majesty's Pleasure thereupon, shall be notified in Writing by the Officer commanding in chief Her Majesty's Forces in Great Britain and Ireland, or in the temporary Absence of such Officer by the Adjutant General, or when there shall not be any Commander-in-Chief of Her Majesty's Forces in Great Britain and Ireland, then by the Secretary at War or his Deputy, to any Judge of the Queen's Bench, Common Pleas, or Exchequer in England or Ireland, and thereupon such Judge shall make an Order for the Transportation of such Offender in conformity with such Notification, and shall also do all such other Acts consequent upon the same as such Judge is authorized to do by any Act in force touching the Transportation of other Offenders; and the Person in whose Custody such Offender shall at that Time be, and all other Persons whatsoever whom. the said Order may concern, shall be bound to obey and shall be assistant in the Execution thereof, and shall be liable to the same Punishment for Disobedience, or for interrupting the Execution of the same, as if the Order had been made under the Authority of any such Act as aforesaid; and every Person so ordered to be transported shall be subject to every Provision made by Law and in force concerning Persons convicted of any Crime and under Sentence of Transportation; and from the Time when such Order of Transportation shall be made every Act in force touching the Escape of Felons, or their afterwards returning or their being at large without Leave, shall apply to such Offender, and to all Persons aiding and abetting, contriving or assisting in any Escape or intended Escape or the returning without Leave of any such Offender; and the Judge who shall make any Order of Transportation as aforesaid shall direct the Notification of Her Majesty's Pleasure, and his own Order made thereupon, to be filed and kept of Record in the Office of the Clerk of the Crown of the Court of Queen's Bench; and the said Clerk shall have a Fee of Two Shillings and Sixpence only for filing the same, and shall, on Application, deliver a Certificate in Writing (not taking more than Two Shillings and Sixpence for the same) to such Offender, or to any Person applying in his or Her Majesty's Behalf, showing the Christian and Sur"name of such Offender, his Offence, the Place where the Court was held before whom he was convicted, and the Conditions on which the Order of Transportation was given; which Certificate shall be sufficient Proof of the Conviction and Sentence of such Offender, and also of the Terms on which such Order for his Transportation was given, in any Court and in any Proceeding wherein it may be necessary to inquire into the same."

XIX. And be it enacted, That whenever any Sentence of Transportation heretofore or hereafter passed by any Courtmartial holden in the East Indies, or in any Part of Her Majesty's Foreign Dominions, is to be carried into execution for the Term specified in such Sentence or for any shorter Term, or when Sentence of Death has been or shall as aforesaid be commuted

to

to Transportation, the same shall be notified by the Officer commanding Her Majesty's Forces at the Presidency or Station, or in his Absence by the Adjutant General for the Time being, to some Judge of one of the Supreme Courts of Judicature in the East Indies, or Chief Justice, or some other Judge, as the Case may be, in any Part of Her Majesty's Foreign Dominions, who shall make Order for the Transportation or intermediate Custody of such Offender, in like Manner as for the Transportation or intermediate Custody of any other Convict; and the necessary Proceedings shall be taken, according to such Order, for the Transportation or intermediate Custody of such Offender; and all Acts in force in such Place touching other Offenders to be transported shall in all respects apply as well to the Offender himself so to be transported as to all other Persons whatsoever therein concerned.

XX. And be it enacted, That all Crimes and Offences which Offences have been committed against any former Act for punishing against former Mutiny Acts Mutiny and Desertion, and for the better Payment of the Army may be tried and their Quarters, or against any of the Articles of War made under this and established by virtue of the same, may, during the Continuance of this Act, be inquired of and punished in like Man ner as if they had been committed against this Act; and every Warrant for holding any Court-martial under any former Act shall remain in full Force notwithstanding the Expiration of such Act, and all Proceedings of any Court-martial upon any Trial begun under the Authority of such former Act shall not be discontinued by the Expiration of the same; provided that no Person shall be liable to be tried and punished for any. Offence against any of the said Acts or Articles of War which shall appear to have been committed more than Three Years, before the issuing of the Commission or Warrant for such: Trial, unless the Person accused, by reason of his having ab sented himself, or of some other manifest Impediment, shall not have been amenable to Justice within that Period, in which Case such Person shall be liable to be tried at any Time not exceed-› ing Two Years after the Impediment shall have ceased.

XXI. And be it enacted, That every Soldier shall be liable to be tried and punished for Desertion from any Corps into which he may have enlisted, or from Her Majesty's Service, although he may of right belong to the Corps from which he shall have originally deserted; and if such Person shall be claimed as a Deserter by the Corps to which he originally belonged, and be tried as a Deserter therefrom, or shall be tried as a Deserter from any Corps into which he may have enlisted, or if he shall be tried while actually serving in some Corps for Desertion from any other Corps, every Desertion previous or subsequent to that for which he shall be under Trial, as well as every previous Conviction for any other Offence, may be given in Evidence against him; and in like Manner in the Case of any Soldier tried for any Offence whatever, any previous Convictions may be given in Evidence against him; and every Certificate which shall purport to contain a Copy of the Charges,

Finding,

Subsequent En-
Protection from
Punishment for
Desertion.

listment no

Apprehension of Deserters.

8 VICT. Finding, and Sentence of a Court-martial, and of the Minute of Confirmation of such Finding and Sentence made from the Entries thereof in the original Minutes of such Court-martial or in the Court-martial Book, and which shall further purport to be signed by the Judge Advocate General or by his Deputy, or by the Officer confirming the Proceedings, or by his Adjutant General, Brigade Major, or other like Officer in case such Copy be taken from the original Minutes, or by the Commanding Officer, Adjutant, or other Officer having the Custody of the Court-martial Book in case such Copy be taken from the said Book, shall be sufficient Evidence before a Court-martial of a Conviction by a Court-martial, and it shall not be necessary to prove the Signature or official Character of the Person appearing to have signed the Certificate, nor, if the Court be satisfied from all the Circumstances of the Case that the Prisoner under Trial is the Person mentioned in any such Certificate, shall it be necessary to give other Proofs of the Identity of the Person of the Offender; provided that no such Evidence shall in any Case be received until after the Prisoner shall have been found guilty of such Offence, and then only for the Purpose of affixing Punishment; and provided also, that after he shall so have been found guilty, and before such Evidence shall be received, it shall be proved to the Satisfaction of the Court that he had previously to his Trial received Notice of the Intention to produce such Evidence on the same; and provided further, that the Court shall in no Case award to him any greater or other Punishment or Punishments than may by this Act and by the Articles of War be awarded for the Öffence of which he shall have been so found guilty.

XXII. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Constable of any Place where any Person reasonably suspected to be a Deserter shall be found, or of any adjoining Place, and if no such Constable can be immediately met with, then for any Officer or Soldier in Her Majesty's Service, to apprehend or cause such suspected Person to be apprehended, and to cause him to be brought before any Justice living in or near such Place, and acting for the same or any adjoining County, who hath hereby Power to examine such suspected Person; and if by his Confession, or the Testimony of One or more Witnesses upon Oath, or by the Knowledge of such Justice, it shall appear that such suspected Person is a Soldier, and ought to be with the Corps to which he belongs, such Justice shall forthwith cause him to be conveyed to some public Prison in such Place, or if there be no public Prison in such Place, then, at the Discretion of such Justice of the Peace, to the nearest or most convenient public Prison in the same or any next adjoining County, or, in case such Deserter shall be apprehended within the Vicinity of any Military Prison appointed under the Authority of this Act, to the Governor or Provost Marshal of such Prison; or if such Deserter shall be apprehended by any Party of Soldiers of his own Regiment, or shall be apprehended in the Vicinity of the Head Quarters or of any Depôt of the Regiment to which he

shall

shall belong, then such Justice may deliver such Deserter to the Party of his Regiment, or may order such Deserter to be taken to the Head Quarters or Depôt of the Regiment to which he shall belong, instead of committing him to Prison; and such Justice shall transmit an Account thereof, in the Form' prescribed in the Schedule annexed to this Act, to the Secretary at War, specifying at the Foot thereof the Commitment to Prison or Delvery of such Deserter to the Party of his Regiment in order for his being taken to the Head Quarters or Depot of his Regiment, as the Case may be, to the end that such Person may be removed by an Order from the Office of the said Secretary at War, and proceeded against according to Law; and such Justice shall also send to the Secretary at War a Report, stating the Names of the Persons by whom the Deserter was apprehended and secured; and the Secretary at War shall transmit to such Justice an Order for the Payment to such Persons of such Sum, not exceeding Forty Shillings, as the Secretary at War shall be satisfied they are entitled to, according to the true Intent and Meaning of this Act; and for such Infor>mation, Commitment, and Report as aforesaid the Clerk of the said Justice shall be entitled to a Fee of Two Shillings and no more; and every Gaoler or other Person into whose Custody any Person charged with Desertion is committed shall immediately upon the Receipt of the Person so charged Jinto his Custody notify the Fact to the Secretary at War, and transmit also to the Secretary at War a Copy of the Commitment. ad vi im DAR

Desertion....

68 XXIII.! And be it enacted, That any Person who shall Fraudulent voluntarily deliver himself up and confess himself to be a De- Confession of serter from Her Majesty's Forces, or the embodied Militia, or the Forces of the East India Company, or who, while serving in any of Her Majesty's Forces, or the embodied Militia, or the Forces of the East India Company, shall to any Officer or Non-commissioned Officer thereof confess himself to be a Deserter as aforesaid, or who, upon being apprehended for any Offence, shall, in the Presence of the Justice, confess himself to be a Deserter as aforesaid, shall be deemed to have been duly enlisted and to be a Soldier, and shall be liable to serve in any of Her Majesty's Forces, as Her Majesty shall think fit to appoint, whether such Person shall have been ever actually senlisted as a Soldier or not; or in case such Person shall not be a Deserter as aforesaid, he shall be liable to be taken before Two Justices of the Peace, and, on Proof that any such Confession as aforesaid was false, shall by them be adjudged to be punished, if in England, as a Rogue and Vagabond, and if in Scotland or Ireland by Commitment to some Prison or House of Correction, there to be kept to hard Labour for any Time not exceeding Three Months, or be deemed guilty of obtaining Money under false Pretences within the true Intent and Meaning, if in England, of an Act passed in the Seventh and Eighth Years of His Majesty King George the Fourth, intituled An 7 & 8 G. 4. c. 29. Act for consolidating and amending the Laws in England rela

[No. 3. Price 2d.]

C

tive

9 G. 4. c. 55.

Recruits de. serting liable

to be trans

ferred to the nearest Re

pôt.

tive to Larceny and other Offences connected therewith, and, if in Ireland, of an Act passed in the Ninth Year of the Reign of His Majesty King George the Fourth, intituled An Act for consolidating and amending the Laws in Ireland relative to Larceny and other Offences connected therewith; or shall be deemed guilty, if in Scotland, of Falsehood, Fraud, and wilful Imposition; and every Person so deemed to be guilty of obtaining Money under false Pretences, or of Falsehood, Fraud, and wilful Imposition, as the Case may be, shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly; and the Confession and receiving Subsistence as a Soldier by such Person shall be Evidence of the false Pretence, or of the Falsehood, Fraud, and Imposition, as the Case may be, and of the obtaining Money to the Amount of the Value of such Subsistence, and the Value of such Subsistence so obtained may be charged in the Indictment as so much Money received by such Person; and in case such Person shall have been previously convicted of the like Offence, or shall have been summarily convicted and punished in England as a Rogue and Vagabond, or in Scotland or Ireland by Commitment, for making a fraudulent Confession of Desertion, such former Conviction may be alleged in the Indictment, and may be proved upon the Trial of such Person; and in such Indictment for a Second Offence it shall be sufficient to state that the Offender was at a certain Time and Place convicted of obtaining Money under false Pretences as a Deserter, or for making a fraudulent Confession of Desertion, without otherwise describing the said Offence; and a Certificate containing the Substance and Effect only (omitting the formal Part) of the Indictment and Conviction for the former Offence, purporting to be signed by the Clerk of the Court or other Officer having the Custody of the Records of the Court where the Offender was first convicted, or by the Deputy of such Clerk, or by the Clerk of the convicting Magistrates, shall, upon Proof of the Identity of the Person of the Offender, be sufficient Evidence of the First Conviction, without Proof of the Signature or official Character of the Person appearing to have signed the same; and if the Person so confessing himself to be a Deserter shall be serving at the Time in any of Her Majesty's Forces, he shall be deemed to be and shall be dealt with by all Justices and Gaolers as a Deserter.

XXIV. And be it enacted, That any Recruit who shall desert prior to joining the Regiment for which he has enlisted shall, on being apprehended, and committed for such Desertion by any Justice of the Peace upon the Testimony of giment or De. One or more Witnesses upon Oath, or upon his own Confession, be liable to be transferred to any Regiment or Depôt nearest to the Place where he shall have been apprehended, or to any other Regiment to which Her Majesty may deem it more desirable that he should be transferred: Provided always, that all Cavalry Recruits so committed for Desertion shall be transferred to Cavalry Regiments, and Infantry Recruits to Infantry Regiments;

9