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25 H. 8. c. 6.

33 H. 8. c. 12. Part of s. 6. to s. 18.

s. 10. 13. 16. and 22.

4. s. 3.

4 & 5 P. & M.

c. 4.

4 & 5 P. & M.

c. 8.

5 Eliz. c. 4. s. 21.

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the steward, treasurer, and controller of the king's house, shall enquire of offences done within the same;' and an act passed in the twelfth year of the same reign, intituled An act to make some offences petty treason;' and an act passed in the twenty-fourth year of the reign of Henry the Eighth, intituled An act where a man killing a thief shall not forfeit his goods;' and an act passed in the twenty-fifth year of the same reign, intituled An act for the punishment of the vice of buggery;' and so much of an act passed in the thirty-third year of the same reign, intituled An act for murther and 38 H. 8. c. 23. malicious bloodshed within the court,' as relates to the punishment of manslaughter and of malicious striking, by reason whereof blood shall be shed; and an act passed in the same year, intituled ‘An act to proceed by a commission of oyer and determiner against such persons as shall confess treasons, without remanding the same to be tried in the same shire where the offence was committed; and so much of an act passed in the first year of the reign 1 Ed. 6. c. 12. of King Edward the Sixth, intituled An act for the repeal of certain statutes concerning treasons, felonies, etc.,' as relates to petty treason and murder, and to bigamists, but nothing therein now in force relating to foreign pleas or dower; and so much of an act passed in the fifth and sixth years of the same 5 & 6 Ed. 6. c. reign, intituled An act against quarrelling and fighting in churches and churchyards,' as relates to the punishment of persons convicted of striking with any weapon, or drawing any weapon with intent to strike as therein mentioned; and an act passed in the fourth and fifth years of the reign of King Philip and Queen Mary, intituled An act that accessories in murder and divers felonies shall not have the benefit of clergy;' and an act passed in the same years, intituled An act for the punishment of such as shall take away maidens that be inheritors, being within the age of sixteen years, or that marry them without consent of their parents;' and so much of an act passed in the fifth year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, intituled ‘An act touching divers orders for artificers, labourers, servants of husbandry, and apprentices, as relates to the punishment of any servant, workman, or labourer making any assault or affray as therein mentioned; and an act passed in the same year, intituled An act for the punishment of the vice of sodomy;' and an act passed in the eighteenth year of the same reign, intituled "An act to take away clergy from the offenders in rape and burglary, and an order for the delivery of clerks convict without purgation;" and an act passed in the thirty-ninth year of the same reign, intituled "An act for taking away of clergy from offenders against a certain statute made in the third year of the reign of King Henry the Seventh, concerning the taking away of women against their wills unlawfully ;" and an act passed in the first year of the reign of King James the First, intituled " An act to take away the benefit of clergy from some kind of manslaughter;" and an act passed in the same year, intituled "An act to restrain all persons from marriage until their former wives and former husbands be dead;" and an act passed in the twenty-second and twenty-third years of the reign of King Charles the second, intituled "An act to prevent malicious maiming and wounding;" and so much of an act passed in the same years, intituled “An act to prevent the delivery up of merchant ships, and for the increase of good and serviceable shipping," as relates to any mariner laying violent hands on his commander, Vulgo 11 & 12 as therein mentioned; and so much of an act passed in the eleventh year of W.3. c.7.s.18. the reign of King William the Third, intituled "An act for the more effectual suppression of piracy," as relates to any master of a merchant vessel, who shall force any man on shore, or wilfully leave him behind, or refuse to bring home any man as therein mentioned; and so much of an act passed in the ninth year of the reign of Queen Anne, intituled "An act for the better preventing of excessive and deceitful gaming," as relates to the forfeiture and punishment of any person assaulting and beating or challenging or provoking to fight any other person on account of any money won as therein mentioned; and an act passed in the same year, intituled An act to make an attempt on the life of a privy counsellor in the execution of his office to be felony without benefit of 12 G. 1. c. 34. clergy;" and so much of an act passed in the twelfth year of the reign of King

5 Eliz. c. 17.

18 Eliz. C. 7

39 Eliz. c. 9.

Vulgo 2 J. 1. c. 8.

Vulgo 2 J. 1. c. 11.

22 & 23 C. 2. c.1.

22 & 23 C. 2. c. 1 1. s. 9.

9 Ann. c. 14. s. 8.

9 Ann. c. 16.

s. 6.

2 G. 2. c. 21.

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George the First, intituled "An act to prevent unlawful combinations of workmen employed in the woollen manufactures, and for better payment of their wages," as creates any felony; and an act passed in the second year of the reign of King George the Second, intituled "An act for the trial of mur-› ders in cases where either the stroke or death only happens within that part of Great Britain called England; and so much of an act passed in the eleventh

25 G. 2. c. 37. except s. 9. and 10.

26 G. 2. c. 19.

s. 11.

30 G. 3. c. 48.

s. 2.

year of the same reign, intituled "An act for punishing such persons as shall 11 G. 2. c. 22. do injuries and violences to the persons or properties of his Majesty's sub- Part of s. 1 jects, with intent to hinder the exportation of corn, as relates to any person and 2. who shall beat, wound, or use any other violence to any person or driver, and so much thereof as makes any second offence felony; and so much of an act passed in the twenty-second year of the same reign, intituled An act for the 22 G. 2. c. 27. more effectual preventing of frauds and abuses committed by persons em- Part of s. 12. ployed in the manufacture of hats, and in the woollen, linen, fustian, cotton, iron, leather, fur, hemp, flax, mohair, and silk manufactures; and for preventing unlawful combinations of journeymen dyers and journeymen hotpressers, and of all persons employed in the said several manufactures, and for the better payment of their wages, as extends to the persons therein mentioned that part of the act of the twelfth year of king George the First which is hereinbefore referred to; and the whole of an act passed in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of king George the Second, intituled, An act for better preventing the horrid crime of murder,' except so far as relates to rescues and attempts to rescue; and so much of an act passsed in the twenty-sixth year of the same reign, intituled An act for enforcing the laws against persons who steal or detain shipwrecked goods, and for the relief of persons suffering loss thereby,' as relates to any person who shall be assaulted, beaten, and wounded for the exercise of his duty in the salvage of any vessel, goods, or effects, as therein mentioned; and so much of an act passed in the thirtieth year of the reign of king George the Third, intituled An act for discontinuing the judgment which has been required by law to be given against women convicted of certain crimes, and substituting another judgment in lieu thereof,' as relates to petit treason; and so much of an act passed in the thirty-third year of the 33 G. 3. c. 67. same reign, intituled An act for better preventing offences in obstructing, destroying, or damaging ships or other vessels, and in obstructing seamen, keelmen, casters, and ship carpenters from pursuing their lawful occupations,' as relates to any seaman, keelman, caster, ship carpenter, or other person, who shall prevent, hinder, or obstruct, or assault, beat, wound, or do any bodily violence or hurt to any seaman, keelman, caster or ship carpenter, as therein particularly mentioned; and an act passed in the thirty-fifth year of the same 35 G. 3. c. 67. reign, intituled An act for rendering more effectual an act passed in the first year of the reign of king James the First, intituled "An act to restrain all persons from marriage until their former wives and former husbands be dead;" and so much of an act passed in the thirty-sixth year of the same 36 G. 3. c. 9. reign, intituled An act to prevent obstructions to the free passage of grain Part of s. 1. within the kingdom, as relates to any person who shall beat, wound, or use and 2. any other violence to any person or driver, and so much thereof as makes any second offence felony; and an act passed in the forty-third year of the same reign, intituled An act for the further prevention of malicious shooting, and attempting to discharge loaded fire arins, stabbing, cutting, wounding, poisoning, and the malicious using of means to procure the miscarriage of women, and also the malicious setting fire to buildings: and also for repealing a certain act made in England in the twenty-first year of the late king James the First, intituled “An act to prevent the destroying and murthering of bastard children," and also an act made in Ireland in the sixth year of the reign of the late queen Anne, also intituled "An act to prevent the destroying and murthering of bastard children," and for making other provisions in lieu thereof;' and an act passed in the same forty-third year, inti- 43 G. 3. c. 113. tuled An act for the more effectually providing for the punishment of offences in wilfully casting away, burning, or destroying ships and vessels, and for the more convenient trial of accessories in felonies, and for extending the powers of an act made in the thirty-third year of the the reign of king Henry the Eighth, as far as relates to murders, to accessories to murders, and to manslaughters; and an act passed in the fifty-fourth year of the reign of king George the Third, intituled "An act for the more effectual prevention of child-stealing; and so much of an act passed in the fifty-eighth year of the same reign, intituled 'An act to extend and render more effectual the present regulations s. 1. for the relief of seafaring men and boys, subjects of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in foreign parts,' as relates to the trial of offences against the act of king William the Third, hereinbefore mentioned; and so much of an act passed in the first year of the reign of his present Majesty, 1 G. 4. c. 90, intituled 'An act to remove doubts and to remedy defects in the law, with C

43 G. 3. c. 58.

54 G. 3. c. 101.

58 G. 3. c. 38.

s. 2.

1 & 2 G. 4. c. 88.

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respect to certain offences committed upon the sea or within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty,' as refers to the act of the forty-third year of the reign of king George the Third, hereinbefore first mentioned; and an act passed in 1 G. 4. c. 115. the same first year, intituled An act to repeal so much of the several acts passed in the thirty-ninth year of the reign of Elizabeth, the fourth of George the First, the fifth and eighth of George the Second, as inflicts capital punishment on certain offences therein specified, and to provide more suitable and effectual punishment for such offences;' and so much of an act passed in the first and second years of the present reign, intituted An act for the amendment of the law of rescue, as relates to the offences of assaulting, beating, 3 G. 4. c. 38. and wounding therein mentioned; and an act passed in the third year of the present reign, intituled An act for the further and adequate punishment of persons convicted of manslaughter, and of servants convicted of robbing their masters, and of accessories before the fact to grand larceny, and certain other 3 G. 4. c. 114. felonies; and so much of an act passed in the same year, intituled An act to provide for the more effectual punishment of certain offences by imprisonment with hard labour,' as relates to any of the assults therein mentioned; shall continue in force until and throughout the last day of June in the present year, and shall from and after that day, as to that part of the United Kingdom called England, and as to offences committed within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty of England, be repealed, except so far as any of the said acts may repeal the whole or any part of any other acts, and except as to offences committed before or upon the said last day of June, which shall be dealt with and punished as if this act had not been passed; and this act shall commence and take effect (except as is hereinbefore excepted) on the first day of July in the present year.

Commencement of this Act.

Petit Treason to be treated in all respects

as Murder.

Punishment of

Frinc pals and
Accessories in

Murder.

Period of Execution and Marks of Infamy.

Sentence to be pronounced immediately.

power to respite.

As to the Dis-
section of the

Bodies of
Murderers.

Prison Regu

lations as to Murderers under sentence.

II. And be it enacted, That every offence, which before the commencement of this act would have amounted to petit treason, shall be deemed to be murder only, and no greater offence; and all persons guilty in respect thereof, whether as principals or as accessories, shall be dealt with, indicted, tried, and punished as principals and accessories in murder.

III. And be it enacted, That every person convicted of murder, or of being an accessory before the fact to murder, shall suffer death as a felon; and every accessory after the fact to murder shall be liable, at the discretion of the court, to be transported beyond the seas for life, or to be imprisoned, with or without hard labour, in the common gaol or house of correction, for any term not exceeding four years.

IV. And be it enacted, That every person convicted of murder shall be executed according to law on the day next but one after that on which the sentence shall be passed, unless the same shall happen to be Sunday, and in that case on the Monday following; and the body of every murderer shall after execution, either be dissected or hung in chains, as to the court shall seem meet; and sentence shall be pronounced immediately after the conviction of every murderer, unless the court shall sce reasonable cause for postponing the same; and such sentence shall express not only the usual judgment of death, but also the time hereby appointed for the execution thereof, and that the body of the offender shall be dissected or hung in chains, whichsoever of the two the court shall order: provided always, that after such sentence shall have been pronounced, it shall be lawful for the court or judge to stay the execution thereof, if such court or judge shall so think fit.

V. And be it enacted, That whenever dissection shall be ordered by such sentence, the body of the murderer, if executed in the county of Middlesex or city of London, shall be immediately conveyed by the sheriff'or sheriffs, or his or their officers, to the hall of the Surgeon's Company, or to such other place as the said company shall appoint, and shall be delivered to such person as the said company shall appoint, for the purpose of being dissected; and the body of the murderer, if executed elsewhere, shall in like manner be delivered to such surgeon as the court or judge shall direct, for the same purpose.

VI. And be it enacted, that every person convicted of murder shall, after judgment, be confined in some place within the prison, apart from all other prisoners, and shall be fed with bread and water only, and with no other food or liquor, except in case of receiving the sacrament, or in case of any sickness or wound, in which case the surgeon of the prison may order other necessaries to be administered; and no person but the gaoler and his servants,

and the chaplain and surgeon of the prison, shall have access to any such convict, without the permission in writing of the court or judge before whom such convict shall have been tried, or of the sheriff or his deputy: provided always, that in case the court or judge shall think fit to respite the execution of such convict, such court or judge may, by a licence in writing, relax, during the period of the respite, all or any of the restraints or regulations hereinbefore di

rected to be observed.

British subjects may be tried in England for mur

abroad.

VII. And be it enacted, That if any of his Majesty's subjects shall be charged in England with any murder or manslaughter, or with being accessory before the fact to any murder, or after the fact to any murder or manslaughter, the same being respectively committed on land out of the United Kingdom, whether within the King's dominions or without, it shall be lawful der or manslaughter for any justice of the peace of the county or place where the person so charged committed shall be, to take cognizance of the offence so charged, and to proceed therein as if the same had been committed within the limits of his ordinary jurisdiction; and if any person so 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 enquire of, hear, and determine all such of fences, 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 Proviso. 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.

where the

cause of death

VIII. And be it enacted, That where any person being feloniously stricken, Provision for poisoned, or otherwise hurt upon the sea, or at any place out of England, the trial of shall die of such stroke, poisoning, or hurt in England, or being feloniously murder and stricken, poisoned, or otherwise hurt at any place in England, shall die of manslaughter, such stroke, poisoning, or hurt, upon the sea, or at any place out of England, death, or the every 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, enquired of, tried, determined and punished in the county or place in England in which such death, stroke, poisoning, or hurt shall happen, in the same manner, in all respects, as if such offence had been wholly committed in that county or place.

only, bappens in England.

IX. And be it enacted, That every person convicted of manslaughter shall Punishment of be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to be transported beyond the seas for manslaughter. 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.

X. Provided always, and be it enacted, That no punishment or forfeiture shall be incurred by any person who shall kill another by misfortune or in his own defence, or in any other manner without felony. 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 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, 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

As to homicide not fclo

nious.

Attempts to murder, when evidenced by certain acts, shall be capital.

Shooting at,

or stabbing, cutting, or

wounding any
person, with
intent to
maim, &c.

shall be capi-
tal, provided,

the case would have been murder if death had ensued.

Administering poison or using any means to

procure the

miscarriage of

a woman

quick with child.

The like as to

a woman not

quick with child.

A woman secreting the

dead body of her child, to conceal the fact of its

birth, guilty of misde

meanor.

Proviso.

Sodomy.

Rape.

Carnal know

ledge of a girl under ten, the like of a girl above ten and below twelve.

What shall be

sufficient proof

of carnal

knowledge in the four preceding cases.

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.

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.

XIV. And be it enacted, That if any woman shall be delivered 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 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 chall be lawful for the jury, by whose verdict she shall be 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.

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 of fender 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.

XVIII. And whereas upon trials for the crimes of buggery and of rape, and of carnally abusing girls under the respective ages hereinbefore 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

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