and in case no tender shall have been made, it shall be lawful for the defendant in any action, by leave of the Court in which such action shall depend, at any time before issue joined, to pay into Court such sum of money as they or he shall think fit, whereupon such proceed5 ings, order and adjudication shall be had and given in and by such Court as in actions where the defendant is allowed to pay inoney into the Court. And be it Enacted, That if any action shall be brought against any person or persons as aforesaid for any act, matter or thing done by 10 virtue of this Act, such person or persons may plead the general issue, and give the special matter in evidence. And be it Enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Commissioners, from time to time, to adjourn any of the meetings to be held by them under this Act, to such time and place as they may think 15 proper. And be it Enacted, That it shall be lawful for the said Commissioners, upon any inquiry or proceeding to be had before them under any of the provisions of this Act, to summon or examine upon oath or affirmation (which oath or affirmation the Commissioners are 20 hereby empowered to administer) any person whomsoever; and if any person, having been so summoned before the said Commissioners to give evidence touching any matter to be inquired into under this Act, and having been paid or tendered a sufficient sum of money, to be ascertained by the said Commissioners, to defray the 25 charges of his attendance, shall not appear before the said Commissioners, pursuant to such summons, without assigning some reasonable excuse for not appearing, or shall refuse to be sworn or to be examined and give evidence touching the premises, the said Commissioners, upon proof thereof upon oath, shall, and they are hereby 30 authorized, by warrant under their hands and seals, to direct any per son whomsoever to cause any sum of money, not exceeding Five Pounds, to be levied by distress and sale of the goods and chattels of the person so neglecting or refusing to appear or to be sworn and give evidence, rendering the overplus (if any), upon demand, to the 35 person whose goods and chattels shall have been so distrained and sold, after deducting the costs and charges attending such distress and sale; and the monies so to be levied as aforesaid shall be considered as part of the monies directed to be raised for carrying this Act into execution, and shall be applied accordingly; and all persons who shall wilfully give false evidence, or otherwise forswear themselves in any such examination, may be prosecuted for same, and upon conviction thereof shall be liable to the same pains and penalties as persons guilty of wilful and corrupt perjury are now liable to by law. 40 15. F And neous. 85. Accounts to 86. Definition of terms in this Act. 87. Act may be 5 And be it Enacted, That the said Commissioners shall cause detailed accounts in writing of their proceedings under this Act, and of the several sums received by them as such Commissioners, and of the sums expended by them, and the mode of such expenditure, and of the several works made or in progress under this Act, to be made up to the Thirty-first day of December in each year; and such account shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament within Thirty Days thereafter if Parliament be then sitting, or within Thirty Days after the first meeting of Parliament subsequent to the Thirty-first day of December; and the said Commissioners shall, as often as they shall be required 10 so to do by the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, transmit to the said Commissioners of the Treasury like accounts made up to such period as the said Commissioners of the Treasury shall direct. And be it Enacted, That in the construction of this Act (except where the nature of the provision or the context of the Act shall ex- 15 clude such construction), the word "land" shall extend to all arable, pasture, or otherwise profitable, and to all waste uncultivated land, whether bog land, or land covered with water, and shall also extend to messuages, tenements and other hereditaments, corporeal or incorporeal, and any estate or interest therein, and any undivided part 20 thereof, and any charge or incumbrance thereon; and the words "sea" or "sea coast" shall extend to all places where the tide ebbs and flows; and the expression "Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury," or "Commissioners of the Treasury," shall mean the said last-mentioned Commissioners, or any Three or more of them; and the 25 expression the " said Commissioners" shall mean the Commissioners for the execution of this Act, or any Two or more of them (except where otherwise provided); and the word "works" shall extend to or include all or any of the works by this Act authorized to be executed; and the words "person or persons," and the words "proprietor or 30 proprietors" shall extend to all bodies politic, corporate or collegiate, and also all bishops, parsons and other ecclesiastical persons, as to lands held by them in those respective characters, and to any number of persons associated together as a company or partnership; and the word "county" shall extend and be applied to all counties, counties of 35 cities, and counties of towns; and every word importing the singular number only shall extend and be applied to several persons or things, as well as one person or thing; and every word importing the plural number shall extend and be applied to one person or thing, as well as several persons or things; and every word importing the masculine 40 gender only shall extend and be applied to a female as well as a male. And be it Enacted, That this Act may be amended or repealed by any Act to be passed in the present Session of Parliament. A BILL To amend an Act of the Fourth and Fifth Year of his late c. 40. HEREAS it is in and by an Act passed in the fourth Preamble: and fifth year of the reign of his late Majesty King WILLIAM the Fourth, intituled, "An Act to amend an Act of the Tenth 4 & 5 W. 4, Year of his late Majesty King GEORGE the Fourth, to consolidate and 5 amend the Laws relating to Friendly Societies," enacted, that it shall and may be lawful for any number of Persons in Great Britain and Ireland to form themselves into and to establish a Society, under the provisions of the said recited Acts, for the mutual relief and maintenance of all and every the members thereof, their wives, 10 children, relations or nominees, in sickness, infancy, advanced age, widowhood, or any other natural state or contingency, whereof the occurrence is susceptible of calculation by way of average, or for any other purpose which is not illegal: And whereas it is expedient to extend the objects or purposes for which a Society may be established, 15 under the provisions of the said recited Acts; BE it therefore Enacted, by The QUEEN'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 a Society may be established, under the provisions of the 20 said recited Acts, for the mutual relief and maintenance of all and every the members thereof, their wives, children, relations or nominees, in sickness, infancy, advanced age, widowhood, or any other natural state or contingency, whereof the occurrence is susceptible of calculation by way of average, or for any purpose whatsoever which is not illegal, whether of the same description as is 62. hereinbefore 1. Purposes for ties may be which Socie formed under 10 G. 4, c. 56. |