Desertion.

if within reasonable Distance, deliver him into Custody at the nearest Military Post, although the Detachment to which such Person is suspected to belong may not be stationed at such Military Post; and such Justice shall in every Case transmit to the Officer commanding in the Colony a descriptive Return in the Form prescribed, to the end that such Person may be removed by the Order of such Officer, and proceeded against according to Law. LIII. And be it enacted, That any Person who, while serving Fraudulent in Her Majesty's Navy, or in any of Her Majesty's Forces, or the Confession of Embodied Militia, or the Forces of the East India Company, shall, to any Officer, or Subordinate, Warrant, Petty, or Noncommissioned Officer, fraudulently confess himself to be a Deserter, shall be liable to be tried by any Court-martial under this Act, and punished according to the Sentence thereof, and any Person who shall voluntarily deliver himself up as and confess himself to be a Deserter from Her Majesty's Royal Marine Forces, 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 Marine, and shall be liable to serve in Her Majesty's Royal Marine Forces, whether such Person shall have been ever actually enlisted as a Marine or 'not; or in case such Person shall not be a Deserter from the Royal Marine Forces, or shall have been discharged therefrom or from any other Corps for any Cause whatever, or shall be incapable of Service, he shall, on Conviction thereof before Two Justices of the Peace at or near the Place where he shall deliver himself up or confess, or where he may at any Time happen to be, 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 shall be deemed guilty of obtaining Money under false Pretences, within the true Intent and Meaning, if in England, of an Act passed in the Session holden in the Seventh and Eighth Years of the Reign of His Majesty King George the Fourth, intituled An 7&8 G. 4. c. 29. Act for consolidating and amending the Laws in England relative 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 con- 9 G. 1. c. 55, solidating and amending the Laws in Ireland relative to Larceny and other Offences connected therewith, or, if in Scotland, shall be deemed guilty 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 Marine 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

Marines not to be taken for Debts under SOL., or for not supporting Family.

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, 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 of the former Offence, purporting to be signed by the Clerk of the Court or other Officer having the Custody of the Record 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 Her Majesty's Royal Marine Forces he shall be deemed to be and shall be dealt with by all Justices and Gaolers as a Deserter.

LVI. And be it enacted, That no Marine shall be liable to be arrested or taken from Her Majesty's Service by reason of the Warrant of any Justice or other Process, for not supporting, or leaving chargeable on any Parish, Township, or Union, any Wife, or any Child or Children, legitimate or illegitimate, or (except in the Case of an Apprentice) on account of any Breach of Contract or Engagement to serve or work for any Employer; and no Marine shall be liable to be taken out of Her Majesty's Service by any Process, Order, or Execution whatsoever, or by the Order or Decree of any Court or of any Judge or Officer thereof, for Contempt, or on any Account whatsoever other than for some Criminal Matter, unless an Affidavit shall be made by the Plaintiff, or some one on his Behalf, for which no Fee shall be taken, before some Judge of the Court out of which such Process, Order, Decree, or Execution shall issue, or before some Person authorized to take Affidavits in such Courts, of which Affidavit a Memorandum shall, without Fee, be endorsed upon the Back of such Process, that the original Debt for which the Action has been brought or Execution sued out amounts to the Value of Thirty Pounds at least over and above all Costs of Suit in the Action or Actions on which the same shall be grounded; and any Judge of such Court may examine into any Complaints made by a Marine or by his Superior Officer, and by Warrant under his Hand discharge such Marine without Fee, he being shown to have been arrested contrary to the Intent of this Act, and shall award reasonable Costs to such Complainant, who shall have for the Recovery thereof the like Remedy as would have been applicable to the Recovery of any Costs which might have been awarded against the Complainant in any Judgment or Execution as aforesaid, or a Writ of Habeas Corpus shall be awarded or issued, and the Discharge of any such Marine out of Custody be ordered thereupon; provided that any Plaintiff, upon Notice of the Cause of Action first given in Writing to any Marine, or left at his last

Quarters,

Quarters, may proceed in any Action or Suit to Judgment, and have Execution other than against the Body.

LX. And be it enacted, That any Recruit appearing as aforesaid Dissent and before such Justice shall be at liberty to declare his Dissent to such Relief from Enlisting, and upon such Declaration, and returning the Enlisting Enlistment. Money, and also paying the Sum of Twenty Shillings for the Charges expended upon him, together with the full Amount of Subsistence and Beer Money which shall have been paid to or on account of such Recruit subsequent to his Enlistment, shall be forthwith discharged in the Presence of such Justice; but if such Person shall refuse or neglect, within the Space of Twenty-four Hours after so declaring his Dissent, to return and pay such Money as aforesaid, he shall be deemed and taken to be enlisted as if he had given his Assent thereto before the said Justice: Provided always, that it shall be lawful for any Justice to discharge any Person who shall have hastily enlisted, and who shall apply to him to declare his Dissent within such Ninety-six Hours as aforesaid, upon Payment of the Sum of Money required to be paid by any Recruit declaring his Dissent under this Act, notwithstanding no Person belonging to the Recruiting Party shall be with the Recruit, if it shall appear to such Justice upon Proof to his Satisfaction that the Recruiting Party has left the Place where such Recruit was enlisted, or that the Recruit could not procure any Person belonging to such Party to go with him before the Justice; and the Sum paid by such Recruit upon his Discharge shall be kept by the Justice, and, after deducting One Shilling as the Fee to his Clerk for reporting the Payment to the Secretary of the Admiralty, shall be paid to any Person belonging to the Recruiting Party entitled thereto, and demanding the same : Provided also, that no Recruit who has actually, though erroneously, been discharged by the Justice before the Expiration of Twentyfour Hours after the Time of his Enlistment shall be liable on that Account to be proceeded against as having deserted from Her Majesty's Service; and the Justice who shall discharge any Recruit shall in every Case give to him a Certificate under his Hand specifying the Cause thereof.

Enlistment.

LXI. And be it enacted, That if any Recruit shall receive Offences conthe Enlisting Money from any Person employed in the Recruiting nected with Service (knowing it to be such), and shall abscond or refuse to go before a Justice, or shall absent himself from the Recruiting Party or Person with whom he enlisted, and shall not voluntarily return to go before some Justice within such Period of Ninety-six Hours as aforesaid, such Recruit shall be deemed to be enlisted and a Private in Her Majesty's Royal Marine Forces as fully to all Intents and Purposes as if he had been duly attested, and may be apprehended and punished as a Deserter, or for being absent without Leave, under any Articles of War made for the Punishment of Mutiny and Desertion; and such Recruit shall not be discharged by any Justice of the Peace after the Expiration of such Ninetysix Hours as aforesaid, unless it shall be proved to the Satisfaction of such Justice that the true Name and Residence of the Recruit were disclosed and known to the Recruiting Party, and that no Notice was given to the Recruit, or left at his usual Place of Abode, of his having so enlisted: Provided always, that in every

C 4

Case

Case wherein any Recruit shall have received Enlisting Money, and shall have absconded from the Party, so that it shall not be possible immediately to apprehend and bring him before a Justice, the Officer or Non-commissioned Officer commanding the Party shall produce to the Justice before whom the Recruit ought regularly to have been brought for Attestation a Certificate of the Name and Place of Residence of such Recruit; and the Justice to whom such Certificate shall be produced shall, after satisfying himself that the Recruit who had absconded cannot be found and apprehended, transmit a Duplicate thereof to the Secretary of the Ad miralty, in order that, in the event of such Recruit being afterwards apprehended and reported as a Deserter, the Facts of his having received Enlisting Money, and having absconded after having been enlisted, may be ascertained before he shall be finally adjudged to be a Deserter; and it shall be lawful for any Two Justices acting for the County, Division, District, or Place where any such Recruit shall at any Time happen to be when any such Recruit shall be brought, and shall be proved upon Oath before them to have concealed his belonging or having belonged to the Militia, or any Regiment, or to the Marines, Ordnance, or Navy, or the Forces of the East India Company, and discharged, or to have deserted therefrom, or to have concealed his having been discharged on any prior Enlistment, or to have wilfully concealed any Infirmity, or designedly made any false Representation at or previously to the Time of receiving Enlisting Money or upon being attested, to adjudge such Recruit, if in England, to be a Rogue and Vagabond, and to sentence him to such Punishment as by any Law may be inflicted on Rogues and Vagabonds, and to adjudge such Person, if in Scotland or Ireland, to be imprisoned with hard Labour in any Prison or House of Correction for any Period not exceeding Three Months; and any Recruit who shall designedly make any false Representation of any Particular contained in the Oaths and Certificates in the Schedule to this Act annexed before the Justice at the Time of his Attestation, and shall obtain any Enlisting Money, or any Bounty for entering into Her Majesty's Service, or any other Money, shall be deemed guilty of obtaining Money under false Pretences, within the true Intent and Meaning, if in England, of an Act passed in the Session holden in the Seventh and Eighth Years of His Majesty 7 & 8 G. 4. c. 29. King George the Fourth, intituled An Act for consolidating and amending the Laws in England relative 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, and such Recruit, if in Scotland, shall be deemed guilty of Falschood, Fraud, and wilful Imposition, and any such Recruit shall be tried for any such Offence in any County or Place where he may at any Time happen to be; and the Production of such Certificate, and Proof of the Handwriting of the Justice giving such Certificate, shall be sufficient Evidence of such Party having represented the several Particulars contained in the Oath sworn by him, and specified in the Certificate of the Justice at the Time of his having been attested; and that Proof by the Oath of One

9 G. 4. c. 55.

ΟΙ

or more credible Witnesses that the Person so prosecuted hath voluntarily acknowledged that at the Time of his Enlistment he belonged to the Militia, or to any Regiment in Her Majesty's Service, or to Her Majesty's Navy or Marine or Ordnance, or that he designedly made any false Representation of any Particular contained in the said Ŏaths and Certificates or either of them before the Justice at the Time of the Attestation of the Person being prosecuted, shall be deemed and taken as Evidence of the Fact so by him acknowledged, without Production of any Roll or other Document to prove the same; and such Proof of such Acknowledgment shall be certified to the Secretary of the Admiralty by the Justice before whom such Proof shall have been given; and any Man having been enrolled to serve in the Militia at the Time of offering to enlist into the Marines who shall deny that he is a Militia Man then actually enrolled and engaged to serve, or shall deny to the Justice before whom he shall be attested that he belongs to the Militia, shall, on Conviction thereof before any One Justice in the United Kingdom, either upon the Oath of One Witness or upon his own Confession, or upon the Production of the Attestation and the before-mentioned Acknowledgment of such Person, certified by the Secretary of the Admiralty, be committed to the Common Gaol or House of Correction, there to remain without Bail or Mainprize for and during any Time not exceeding Six Calendar Months, over and above any Penalty or Punishment to which such Person so offend. ing may be otherwise liable, and shall from the Day on which his Engagement to serve in the Militia shall end, and not sooner, belong as a Marine to the Division of Her Majesty's Royal Marine Forces into which he has so enlisted: Provided also, that every such Person shall be liable to serve in Her Majesty's Royal Marine Forces in which he has so enlisted during all the Time the Militia to which he shall belong shall remain disembodied, or shall not be called out for Training or Exercise, and shall during all such Time be subject to all the Provisions of this Act, and be liable to be apprehended and dealt with and punished as a Deserter from the Marines if he shall neglect or refuse to join and serve therein.

LXXXV. And be it enacted, That if any Action shall be Limitation of brought against any Member or Members of a Court-martial to Actions. be assembled under the Authority of this Act, or of any Act heretofore passed for the Regulation of Her Majesty's Royal Marine Forces while on shore, in respect of the Proceedings or the Sentence thereof, or against any other Person, for anything done in pursuance or under the Authority of this Act, or of any Act heretofore passed for the Regulation of Her Majesty's Royal Marine Forces while on shore, the same shall be brought in some one of the Courts of Record at Westminster or Dublin, or in the Court of Session in Scotland, and shall be commenced within Six Months next after the Cause of Action shall arise, and that it shall be lawful for the Defendant or Defendants therein, or in any such Action now pending, to plead thereto the General Issue, and to give all special Matter in Evidence, on the Trial; and if the Verdict shall be for the Defendant in any such Action, or if the Plaintiff shall become nonsuit or suffer any Discontinuance thereof, or if, in Scotland, the Court shall see fit to assoilzie the

Defendant