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A Commission

to issue for

their Trial.

charged shall be committed for Trial, or admitted to Bail to answer such Charge, a Commission of Oyer and Terminer under the Great Seal shall be directed to such Persons, and into such County or Place as shall be appointed by the Lord Chancellor, or Lord Keeper or Lords Commissioners of the Great Seal, for the speedy Trial of any such Offender; and such Persons shall have full Power to inquire of, hear, and determine all such Offences, within the County or Place limited in their Commission, by such good and lawful Men of the said County or Place as shall be returned before them for that Purpose, in the same Manner as if the Offences had been actually committed in the said County or Place: Provided always, that if any Peers of the Realm, or Persons entitled to the Privilege of Peerage, shall be indicted of any such Offences, by virtue of any Commission to be granted as aforesaid, they shall be tried by their Peers in the Manner heretofore used: Provided also, that nothing herein contained shall prevent any Person from being tried in any Place out of this Kingdom for any Murder or Manslaughter committed out of this Kingdom, in the same Manner as such Person might have been tried before the passing of this Act.

Peers to be

allowed their

usual Privilege.

Death happen

ing in England, caused by Injury inflicted Abroad or at Sea, may

land-also if Death ensues at

VIII. And be it enacted, That where any Person, being feloniously stricken, poisoned, or otherwise hurt upon the Sea, or at any Place out of England, shall die of such Stroke, Poisoning, or Hurt in England, or being feloniously stricken, poisoned, or otherwise hurt at any Place in England, shall die of such Stroke, Poisoning, or Hurt, upon the Sea, or any Place out of England, be tried in Engevery Offence committed in respect of any such case, whether the same shall amount to the Offence of Murder or of Manslaughter, or of being Accessory before the Fact to Murder, or after the Fact to Murder or Manslaughter, may be dealt with, inquired of, tried, determined, and punished in the County or Place in England in which such Death, Stroke, Poisoning, or happen, in the same Manner, in all respects, as if such Offence had been wholly committed in that County or Place.

Sea or Abroad, from Injury

in England.

Hurt shall

IX. And be it enacted, That every Person convicted of Manslaughter. Manslaughter shall be liable, at the Discretion of the Court, to

be transported beyond the Seas for Life, or for any Term not less than Seven Years, or to be imprisoned, with or without hard Labour, in the Common Gaol or House of Correction, for any Term not exceeding Four Years, or to pay such Fine as the Court shall award.

Homicide not

X. Provided always, and be it enacted, That no Punishment or Forfeiture shall be incurred by any Person who shall kill felonious. another by Misfortune or in his own Defence, or in any other Manner without Felony.

Attempts to murder,

Capital.

XI. And be it enacted, That if any Person unlawfully and maliciously shall administer or attempt to administer to any Person, or shall cause to be taken by any Person, any Poison or other destructive Thing, or shall unlawfully and maliciously attempt to drown, suffocate, or strangle any Person, or shall unlawfully and maliciously shoot at any Person, or shall, by drawing a Trigger, or in any other Manner, attempt to discharge any Kind of loaded Arms at any Person, or shall unlawfully

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and

and maliciously stab, cut, or wound any Person, with Intent, in any of the cases aforesaid, to murder such Person, every such Offender, and every Person counselling, aiding, or abetting such Offender, shall be guilty of Felony, and being convicted thereof, shall suffer Death as a Felon.

Aiders and
Abettors, same.

Maliciously wounding or attempting to wound any Person, Capital.

XII. And be it further enacted, That if any Person unlawfully and maliciously shall shoot at any Person, or shall, by drawing a Trigger, or in any other Manner, attempt to discharge any Kind of loaded Arms at any Person, or shall unlawfully and maliciously stab, cut, or wound any Person, with Intent, in any of the cases aforesaid, to maim, disfigure, or disable such Person, or to do some other grievous bodily Harm to such Person, or with Intent to resist or prevent the lawful Apprehension or Detainer of the Party so offending, or of any of his Accomplices, for any Offence for which he or they may respectively be liable by Law to be apprehended or detained, every such Offender, and every Person counselling, aiding, or abetting such Offender, shall be guilty of Felony, and being convicted thereof, shall suffer Death as a Felon: Provided always, that in case it shall appear, on the Trial of any Person indicted for any of the Offences above specified, that such Acts of shooting, or of attempting to discharge loaded Arms, or of stabbing, cutting, or wounding as aforesaid, were committed under such Circumstances, that if Death had ensued therefrom, the same would not in Law have amounted to the Crime of Murder, in every such case the Person so indicted shall be acquitted of Felony.

Aiders and
Abettors, same.

Administering
Poison or using
Means to pro-

cure Miscarriage
of a Woman,

Capital, if quick

with Child.

If not quick,
Transportation.

XIII. And be it enacted, That if any Person, with Intent to procure the Miscarriage of any Woman then being quick with Child, unlawfully and maliciously shall administer to her, or cause to be taken by her, any Poison or other noxious Thing, or shall use any Instrument or other Means whatever with the like Intent, every such Offender, and every Person counselling, aiding, or abetting such Offender, shall be guilty of Felony, and being convicted thereof, shall suffer Death as a Felon; and if any Person, with Intent to procure the Miscarriage of any Woman not being, or not being proved to be, then quick with Child, unlawfully and maliciously shall administer to her, or cause to be taken by her, any Medicine or other Thing, or shall use any Instrument or other Means whatever with the like Intent, every such Offender, and every Person counselling, aiding, or abetting such Offender, shall be guilty of Felony, and being convicted thereof, shall be liable, at the Discretion of the Court, to be transported beyond the Seas for any Term not exceeding Fourteen Years nor less than Seven Years, or to be imprisoned, with or without hard Labour, in the Common Gaol or House of Correction, for any Term not exceeding Three Years, and, if a Male, to be once, twice, or thrice publicly or privately whipped (if the Court shall so think fit), in addition to such Imprisonment.

A Woman secreting the deud Body of her Child,

to conceal its

Birth, guilty of

Misdemeanor.

XIV. And be it enacted, That if any Woman shall be de livered of a Child, and shall, by secret burying or otherwise disposing of the dead Body of the said Child, endeavour to conceal the Birth thereof, every such Offender shall be. guilty of a Misdemeanor, and being convicted thereof, shall be liable to be imprisoned, with or without hard Labour, in the Common Gaol

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or

If acquitted of
Murder may be

or House of Correction, for any Term not exceeding Two Years; and it shall not be necessary to prove whether the Child died before, at, or after its Birth: Provided always, that if any Woman tried for the Murder of her Child shall be acquitted thereof, it shall be lawful for the Jury, by whose Verdict she shall be found Guilty of acquitted, to find, in case it shall so appear in Evidence, that she was delivered of a Child, and that she did, by secret burying or otherwise disposing of the dead Body of such Child, endeavour to conceal the Birth thereof, and thereupon the Court may pass such Sentence as if she had been convicted upon an Indictment for the Concealment of the Birth.

XV. And be it enacted, That every Person convicted of the abominable Crime of Buggery, committed either with Mankind or with any Animal, shall suffer Death as a Felon.

XVI. And be it enacted, That every Person convicted of the Crime of Rape shall suffer Death as a Felon.

the Misdemeanor.

Unnatural
Offence.

Rape.

Carnal Know

ledge of a Girl under Ten, Capital; above

Ten and below

XVII. And be it enacted, That if any Person shall unlawfully and carnally know and abuse any Girl under the Age of Ten Years, every such Offender shall be guilty of Felony, and being convicted thereof, shall suffer Death as a Felon; and if any Person shall unlawfully and carnally know and abuse any Girl, being above the Age of Ten Years and under the Age of Twelve Years, every such Offender shall be guilty of a Misdemeanor, and being convicted thereof, shall be liable to be imprisoned, with or without hard Labour, in the Common Gaol or House of Correction, for such Term as the Court shall award.

Twelve, a Mis

demeanor.

What shall be sufficient Proof

of carnal Knowledge in the

Four preceding

XVIII. And whereas upon Trials for the Crimes of Buggery and of Rape, and of carnally abusing Girls under the respective Ages herein-before mentioned, Offenders frequently escape by reason of the Difficulty of the Proof which has been required of the Completion of those several Crimes; for Remedy thereof be it enacted, That it shall not be necessary, in any of those Cases, to prove the actual Emission of Seed in order to constitute a carnal Knowledge, but that the carnal Knowledge shall be deemed complete upon Proof of Penetration only.

Cases.

Forcible Abduction of a Woman on account

of her Fortune, Felony, Transportation.

XIX. And be it enacted, That where any Woman shall have any Interest, whether legal or equitable, present or future, absolute, conditional, or contingent, in any Real or Personal "Estate, or shall be an Heiress presumptive or next of Kin to any one having such Interest, if any Person shall, from Motives of Lucre, take away or detain such Woman against her Will, with Intent to marry or defile her, or to cause her to be married or defiled by any other Person, every such Offender, and every Person counseling, aiding, or abetting such Offender, shall be guilty of Felony, and being convicted thereof, shall be liable to be transported beyond the Seas for Life, or for any Terin not less than Seven Years, or to be imprisoned, with or without hard Labour, in the Common Gaol or House of Correction, for any Term not exceeding Four Years.

XX. And

Abduction of a Girl under Sixteen, a Misde

meanor.

XX. And be it enacted, That if any Person shall unlawfully, take, or cause to be taken, any unmarried Girl, being under the Age of Sixteen Years, out of the Possession and against the Will of her Father or Mother, or of any other Person having the lawful Care or Charge of her, every such Offender shall be guilty of a Misdemeanor, and being convicted thereof, shall be liable to suffer such Punishment, by Fine or Imprisonment, or by both, as the Court shall award.

Decoying, tak

ing away, or detaining a Child under Ten Years of Age, Felony, Transportation.

Receiving and harbouring such Child, same.

XXI. And be it enacted, That if any Person shall maliciously, either by Force or Fraud, lead or take away, or decoy or entice away, or detain, any Child under the Age of Ten Years, with Intent to deprive the Parent or Parents, or any other Person having the lawful Care or Charge of such Child, of the Possession of such Child, or with Intent to steal any Article upon or about the Person of such Child, to whomsoever such Article may belong; or if any Person shall, with any such Intent as aforesaid, receive or harbour any such Child, knowing the same to have been, by Force or Fraud, led, taken, decoyed, enticed away, or detained as herein-before mentioned; every such Of Aiders and abet- fender, and every Person counselling, aiding, or abetting such Offender, shall be guilty of Felony, and being convicted thereof, shall be liable to be transported beyond the Seas for the Term of Seven Years, or to be imprisoned, with or without hard Labour, in the Common Gaol or House of Correction, for any Term not exceeding Two Years, aud, if a Male, to be once, twice, or thrice publicly or privately whipped (if the Court shall so think fit), in addition to such Imprisonment: Provided always, that no Person who shall have claimed to be the Father of an illegitimate Child, or to have any Right to the Possession of such Child, shall be liable to be prosecuted by virtue hereof, on account of his getting Possession of such Child, or taking such Child out of the Possession of the Mother, or any other Person having the lawful Charge thereof.

tors, same.

Not to extend to Futhers taking their illegitimate

Children.

Bigamy,

XXII. And be it enacted, That if any Person, being marFelony-Trans- ried, shall marry any other Person during the Life of the former portation. Husband or Wife, whether the Second Marriage shall have taken place in England or elsewhere, every such Offender, and every Aiders, &c. same. Person counselling, aiding, or abetting such Offender, shall be guilty of Felony, and being convicted thereof, shall be liable to be transported beyond the Seas for the Term of Seven Years, or to be imprisoned, with or without hard Labour, in the Common Gaol or House of Correction, for any Term not exceeding Two Years; and any such Offence may be dealt with, inquired of, tried, determined, and punished in the County where the Offender shall be apprehended or be in Custody, as if the Offence had been actually committed in that County: Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall extend to any Second Marriage contracted out of England by any other than a Subject of His Majesty, or to any Person marrying a Second Time, whose Absence of Seven Husband or Wife shall have been continually absent from such Years an Excep- Person for the space of Seven Years then last past, and shall not have been known by such Person to be living within that Time, or shall extend to any Person who at the Time of such Second Marriage

Place of Trial.

tion.

Marriage shall have been divorced from the Bond of the First
Marriage, or to any Person whose former Marriage shall have
been declared void by the Sentence of any Court of competent
Jurisdiction.

XXIII. And be it enacted, That if any Person shall arrest any Clergyman upon any Civil Process, while he shall be performing Divine Service, or shall, with the Knowledge of such Person, be going to perform the same, or returning from the Performance thereof, every such Offender shall be guilty of a Misdemeanor, and being convicted thereof, shall suffer such Punishment, by Fine or Imprisonment, or by both, as the Court

shall award.

Also Divorce,

or Marriage de clared void.

Arresting a
Clergyman on
Civil Process

during Divine
Service, a Mis-
demeanor.

Punishment for
Assaults on Of-

ficers, &c. en-
deavouring to

save Ships or ship-wrecked

XXIV. And be it enacted, That if any Person shall assault and strike or wound any Magistrate, Officer, or other Person whatsoever lawfully authorized, on account of the Exercise of his Duty in or concerning the Preservation of any Vessel in Distress, or of any Vessel, Goods, or Effects wrecked, stranded, or cast on Shore, or lying under Water, every such Offender, being convicted thereof, shall be liable to be transported beyond the Seas for the Term of Seven Years, or to be imprisoned, with or without hard Labour, in the Common Gaol or House of Correction, for such Term as the Court shall award.

Property.

Punishments

for various Misdemeanors.

XXV. And be it enacted, That where any Person shall be charged with and convicted of any of the following Offences as Misdemeanors; that is to say, of any Assault with Intent to commit Felony; of any Assault upon any Peace Officer or Revenue Officer in the due Execution of his Duty, or upon any Person acting in aid of such Officer; of any Assault upon any Person with Intent to resist or prevent the lawful Apprehension or Detainer of the Party so assaulting, or of any other Person for any Offence for which he or they may be liable by Law to be apprehended or detained; or of any Assault committed in pursuance of any Conspiracy to raise the Rate of Wages; in any such case the Court may sentence the Offender to be imprisoned, with or without hard Labour, in the Common Gaol or House of Correction, for any Term not exceeding Two Years, and may also (if it shall so think fit) fine the Offender, and require him to find Sureties for keeping the Peace.

Assault on Seamen, &c. Assaults with Intent to obstruct the buying or selling of Grain, punishable summarily with Imprisonment.

XXVI. And be it enacted, That if any Person shall unlawfully and with Force hinder any Seaman, Keelman, or Caster from working at or exercising his lawful Trade, Business, or Occupation, or shall beat, wound, or use any other Violence to him, with Intent to deter or hinder him from working at or exercising the same; or if any Person shall beat, wound, or use any other Violence to any Person, with Intent to deter or hinder him from selling or buying any Wheat or other Grain, Flour, Meal, or Malt, in any Market or other Place, or shall beat, wound, or use any other Violence to any Person having the Care or Charge of any Wheat or other Grain, Flour, Meal, or Malt, whilst on its Way to or from any City, Market Town, or other Place, with Intent to stop the Conveyance of the same, every such Offender may be convicted thereof before Two

Justices

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