Duplicates of entries of real estates forfeited

shall be transmitted to the clerks of the peace

in the District where such real estates lie.

inade, and the said Commissioners, or the majority of them, shall also transmit to the special Receiver, for the time being, an authentic copy of the said Register or books.

VI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That when any real estate shall be entered in the said Register, the said Commissioners shall, from time to time, within the space of one month after such entry, transmit or cause to be transmitted an authentic copy or duplicate of every such entry to the Clerk of the Peace of the District, within which the said real estate is situated, and every such Clerk of the Peace shall, and is hereby required within seven days after he shall receive such duplicate or copy, to cause the same or a copy thereof to be affixed on the door of the place where the General Quarter Sessions of the Peace are usually held for such District, and to cause the same to be inserted in a book to be provided and Notice to be given of kept by him for that purpose, all which books shall be made open and patent to any persons demanding inspection of the same, upon any lawful day between the hours of ten and two, without fee or reward.

such entries or registers

In what manner claims tear out of the forfeit

to or out

VII. And that no person or persons whomsoever, having any estate, right, title, or interest in Law or equity, into or out of any of the said estates, real or personal, vested or to be vested in the said Commissioners by this Act, may be in any wise prejudiced thereby; Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all and every person and persons whatsoever, bodies politic or corporate, other than and except all such persons forfeiting the same, and the heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, of every of them, and all and every person and persons having or claiming any thing in the premises or any part thereof, to the use of, or in trust for any such persons or their or any of their heirs, executors, administrators, having any estate, right, title, interest, use, trust, possession, reversion, remainder, annuity, rent, debt, benefit, charge, or incumbrance whatsoever, in Law or equity, in, to, or out of, or upon any lands, messauges, tenements, and hereditaments whatsoever, or to any real or personal estate, or any other the premises whatsoever, vested or to be vested in the said Commissioners by this Act, by or under any settlement, conveyance, judgment, statute, recognizance, extent, or other debt, charge, or incumbrance, affecting or which was binding on the persons attainted or to be attainted, or on the persons found or to be found Aliens by any Inquisition taken and returned according to the above recited Act of the Parliament of this Province, passed in the fifty-fourth year of His Majesty's Reign, and which might have affected the same estate, before the respective days and times whereon the same was vested in His Majesty, and also all and every person and persons, bodies politic and corporate, pretending to have right or title to any estate which shall have been vested or shall hereafter be vested in the said Commissioners, and who shall pretend that none of the persons registered in the books of the said Commissioners, as attainted of High Treason, or as found to be Aliens, was seized or possessed of, or interested in or entitled unto such estates, in his, her, or their own right, or to his, her, or their own use, nor any other person in trust for them or any Time of making claim them, as in the Inquisitions concerning the same are respectively returned, or that they have right or title to such estate, shall, within the space of six

of

months,

If claims not made within the terms limit

ed, the estate to be for ever discharged there of

How claims of infants lunatics, femmes co

Claim to be in wri

months, to be reckoned from and after the date of the entry that shall be made in the Registry book of the said Commissioners, of any personal estate, and in case of real estate, within eight months of the entry in the Register to be kept for the District where such estate lies, in manner herein before directed, of the estate or interest in, to, or out of which such claims and demands are to be made respectively, enter all their respective claims and demands before the said Commissioners, in such manner as herein before mentioned, or in default thereof, every such estate, right, title, interest, use, possession, reversion, remainder, annuity, rent, debt, charge, and incumbrance into, or out of, or upon the said premises, or any part thereof, shall be and is hereby declared to be null and void, to all intents and purposes whatsoever, and the estate or estates so, as aforesaid, liable unto or charged therewith, shall from thence be freed, acquitted, and discharged of and from the same; and all and every such claims and demands of infants, shall and vertes, &c to be made. may be made by their fathers or guardians, or any other persons in their behalf, and all claims of femmes covertes, by their husbands or any other persons on their behalf, and all claims of madmen, ideots, or lunatics, by such person or persons under whose care or custody they are or shall be at the time of entering such claims, and that all such claims shall be made and tendered in writing to the said Commissioners, and signed by the party or parties making the same, or such other person or persons on his, her, or their behalf, as aforesaid, or signed by the attornies or agents of the party or parties claiming, and such signing shall be testified by two or more credible witnesses, who shall subscribe their names to attest the same, and every claimant shall therein particularly express what estate, right, title, interest, use, possession, reversion, remainder, annuity, rent, debt, benefit, charge, or incumbrance he or she demand or claim, into, or out of, or upon any part of the premises, and by and under what gift, grant, settlement, conveyance, security, title, or incumbrance, he or she do claim the same, and if such party claiming hath demands, or claims any estate, right, title, or interest, in or to any part of the premises, by virtue of any incumbrance for any debt or sum of money whatsoever, such party shall also in his claim set forth such incumbrance, and the dates and contents thereof, and the witnesses thereto, and if the same be recorded, when and where the same was entered on record, and whether such debt and sum of money was and is really due and remains wholly unpaid and unsatisfied, and what part and how much thereof has been really and truly satisfied, by money paid or by any other ways and means whatsoever, and every such claim shall be transcribed by order of the said Commissioners, or the majority of them, and entered in books to be provided and fairly kept by them for that purpose, and the said Commissioners or the majority of them, are hereby required and empowered to proceed in a are to proceed on such summary way, without abiding the course of any roll, to hear and determine all such claims; and every decree of the said Commissioners, or the majority of them, shall be final and binding upon all parties concerned, in case thirty days shall elapse without any proceedings being had for appealing from the same to a special commission of appeal, to be composed of the Chief Justice and Judges of the Court of King's Bench in this Province, and it shall be lawful for the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Person administering the Government of this Province, to appoint the Chief Justice and the Judges of the Court of King's Bench for the time being, Commissioners of appeal, with 4 G power

How commissioners

claims.

Commissioners' de

cree to be final unless appealed from within

30 days. Commissioners

appeal.

of

--

Examination of claims by commissioners.

power to hear and determine all appeals from the decisions, judgments, and decrees of the Commissioners first above referred to.

VIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said Commissioners, or the majority of them, shall, and they are hereby empowered and required, in a summary way, without the formality of proceedings in the Courts of Law or Equity, to proceed by and upon the testimony of witnesses upon oath, examination of persons claiming, or otherwise interested, upon their oaths, inspection, and examination of deeds of writings and records, or by all or any of the said ways and means or otherwise, or according to the circumstances of the case, as soon as conveniently may be, to hear and determine, and adjudge all and every claim and claims which shall be entered within the times aforesaid, and that every Evidence to be pro- party claiming shall, if required by the said Commissioners, or by or on behalf of His Majesty's Attorney or Solicitor General of this Province, upon oath, answer to the truth of his or her claim, and to such proper interrogatories as the Commissioners shall think fitting for the clearing thereof, and upon oath produce before the said Court, at the hearing of such claim, all such deeds, writings, and evidences, as are in his custody or power, any ways concerning the said claim or the subject matter thereof.

duced.
Oath of claimants.

His Majesty's Attor

ney and Solicitor Gen. to defend on behalf of

His Majesty.

sums decreed to claim

ants shall be paid.

IX. And to the end that due care may be taken of the interest of His Majesty in respect of such claims as shall be offered, as aforesaid, It is hereby enacted by the authority aforesaid, That His Majesty's Attorney General of this Province, or in his absence, the Solicitor General, shall and they are hereby empowered and required to provide for making proper answers and defence on behalf of His Majesty, to all such claims as shall be offered as aforesaid, and for reversing, affirming, and amending the decrees that shall be passed upon such claims, as they shall see cause.

X. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That where the In what manner the claim so to be determined, as aforesaid, to be just and lawful, shall contain a demand of any sum or sums of money, any wise affecting any of the said estates, real or personal, then and in such case, the said Commissioners or the majority of them, shall, and are hereby expressly empowered and required to issue out debentures or certificates to claimants for the respective sum or sums which shall be determined to be due and payable to them severally, by the decrees of the said Commissioners, which debentures or certificates, with legal interest, shall be paid without any deduction, fee or reward, by the aforesaid special Receiver, out of such rents, profits, and proceeds, as shall be paid into his hands from the respective estates, upon which the said claims are allowed, so that such claims shall in no case exceed the rents, profits, and proceeds, received by the said special Receiver from and on account of the estate, in respect of which, the said claim is made.

Sheriff to put claim

XI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That when the said ants in possession of claim shall contain a demand of any lands, tenements, or other real estate real estates decreed to whatsoever, or any interest therein, and shall be adjudged and decreed by

them.

the

the said Commissioners to be just and legal, then and in that case, the said Commissioners or the majority of them, are hereby authorised to order the Sheriff of the District where the same shall lie, to cause possession to be delivered to such claimant or claimants, his, her or their heirs, executors, administrators or successors, or to whom they or any of them shall appoint, and all and every such claimant or claimants, his, her or their heirs, executors, administrators or successors, shall hold and enjoy the same or such estate and interest therein, respectively, as shall be adjudged, determined or decreed as aforesaid.

Estates when to be

sioners.

XII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all and every the estate and interests, which shall be entered in the Register to be vested in the commiskept by the said Commissioners, according to the directions of this Act, to or upon which no claim shall be entered within the time and in the manner hereinafter prescribed, shall be deemed and taken, against all persons and to all intents and purposes, to be vested in the said Commissioners in virtue of this Act, and such estates and interests as shall be so entered in the said Register, and to or upon which claims shall be entered, shall in like manner be deemed and taken to be vested in the said Commissioners, subject only to such burthen, diminution or eviction, as shall arise from the determination of the claims that shall be so entered, and no otherwise.

XIII. And to the intent that the said real and personal estates may be disposed of, and the value thereof applied as herein is directed, Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said Commissioners shall, as soon as convenient, use their utmost endeavours to secure all such goods and personal chattels as appear by the said extracts, or otherwise, to be vested in His Majesty, in such places, and in the custody of such persons as shall be thought most proper by the said Commissioners, for preventing. the perishing, or any loss or embezzlement thereof; and the said Commissioners or the majority of them, are hereby authorised and required to sell all and singular the real estate, and also the goods and chattels, vested or to be vested in them by this Act, according to the best of their skill and judgment, and for that purpose, having caused public notice to be given for the space of ninety days at least, of the time and where they intend to begin to expose to sale any part or parcel thereof, and of the several particulars then and there to be sold, they shall sell the same by public auction, to such person or persons as shall bid most for the same, and immediately upon every such sale or contract, shall cause an entry to be made in their book of all and every the real and personal estate so sold, and of the buyer's names and places of abode, and the prices paid for the same respectively, and upon payment of the purchase money to the said Commissioners, or as soon after as conveniently may be, the said Commissioners shall deliver to the respective purchasers, the goods and chattels, and execute deeds of bargain and sale, for such real estates as shall be sold in manner aforesaid, to the respective purchasers thereof, which said deeds of bargain and sale, are hereby required to be registered, as other conveyances by deed of bargain and sale of lands in this Province, and in case any person or persons, being the highest bidder at any such auction, shall make default in payment

of

Commissioners to sell. forfeited estates by

auction.

Days of meeting of

papers, &c.

of the monies, according to the terms mentioned at the said auction, he, she or they shall forfeit one third of the sums for which the said real estates or goods and chattels, respectively, were sold, to be levied under a warrant, under the hands and seals of the majority of the said Commissioners, and the said Commissioners, or the majority of them, may and shall proceed to a new sale of all and every such real estate, or goods and chattels, for which such default shall be made, unto any other person or persons, a9 if no sale thereof had been before made.

XIV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all and every person and persons, who, since the committing of any act by reason of which any estate has become or may hereafter become vested in His Majesty, either by attainder, or any High Treason committed during the late war between His Majesty and the United States of America, or under the provisions of the herein before recited Act of the Parliament of this Province, passed in the fifty-fourth year of His Majesty's Reign, have entered into or upon the said estate or any part thereof, and held and enjoyed the same without any lawful title thereunto, shall be responsible for all and every the profits of the same premises, during the time of his, her, or their occupation thereof, and shall answer and pay the value thereof, to be decreed upon evidence by the said Commissioners, or the majority of them, to the said special Receiver, at such days or times as shall be appointed by the said Commissioners, or the majority of them, or in default thereof, shall forfeit double the value of the same profits by him or them received, to be levied by the said Commissioners or the majority of them, by warrant under their hands and seals, and paid into the hands of the special Receiver, to be applied as the other monies to be paid to him in pursuance of this Act.

XV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said commissioners, who Commissioners, or the majority of them, shall and may meet on the first and may send for persons, third Mondays of every month, and may meet, act, and proceed at such' other days and times as they may think proper, with or without adjournment, and shall and may send their precept or precepts for any person whatsoever to appear before them, and for all such books, papers, and writings, as they shall think necessary for their information in any matter or thing relating to this Act, under the same penalties and conditions as witnesses subpoenied in civil causes, in the Court of King's Bench, and shall and may detain in their custody such books, papers, and writings, so long as they shall have occasion for the same, and then return such books, papers, and writings to the persons to whom they respectively belong, and shall and may administer oaths for the better discovery of the truth of the inquiries by them to be made, to any person or persons therein concerned, or to any other person or persons whatsoever, and all Sheriffs, Bailiffs, Constables, and other officers whatsoever, are hereby required to obey and execute such orders and precepts as shall be sent to them or any of them, by the said Commissioners, or the majority of them, as they will answer the contrary at their utmost perils; and if any officer or officers shall neglect or refuse to give obedience to the precepts and orders of the said Commismissioners,

administer oaths.

Penalty on Sheriffs or other officers not o

beying the precepts of the Commissioners.