Enlisting and swearing of Recruits.

Dissent and
Relief from
Enlistment.

XXXIII. And be it enacted, That every Person who shall receive Enlisting Money to serve in the Royal Marines, from any Person employed in the Recruiting Service, he being an Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or attested Marine, shall be deemed to be enlisted as a Marine in His Majesty's Service, and while he shall remain with the Recruiting Party shall be entitled to be billetted; and every Person who shall enlist any Recruit shall first ask the Person offering to enlist, whether he does or does not belong to the Militia, and shall cause to be taken downin Writing the Name and Place of Abode of such Recruit; and when any Person shall be enlisted as a Marine, he shall, within Four Days but not sooner than Twenty-four Hours after such Enlisting, appear, together with some Person employed in the Recruiting Service of the Party with which he shall have enlisted, before a Justice residing in the Vicinity of the Place, and acting for the Division or District where such Recruit shall have been enlisted, and not being an Officer in the Marines; and if such Recruit shall declare his having voluntarily enlisted, the said Justice shall put to him the several Questions contained in the Schedule to this Act annexed, and shall record, or cause to be recorded, in Writing, his Answers thereunto; and the said Justice is hereby required forthwith to cause the Answers so recorded in Writing, and the First and Second Article of the Second Section of the Articles of War against Mutiny and Desertion, to be read over, in his own Presence, to such Recruit, and to administer to such Recruit the Oath in the Schedule to this Act annexed, for limited or unlimited Service, or for Service in the Forces of the East India Company, as may be applicable to the Case of the Recruit, and no other Oaths, any Thing in any Acts to the contrary notwithstanding; and the said Justice is hereby required to give, under his Hand, the Certificate in the Schedule to this Act annexed; and if any such Recruit so to be certified shall refuse to take the Oath in the Schedule to this Act annexed, before the said Justice, it shall be lawful for the Officer or Non-commissioned Officer with whom he enlisted to detain and confine such Person until he shall take the said Oath of Fidelity.

XXXIV. And be it enacted, That any Recruit appearing as aforesaid before such Justice shall be at liberty to declare his Dissent to such Enlisting, and upon such Declaration, and returning the Enlisting 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 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 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; and it shall also 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 Four Days 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, provided it

shall

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 paid to any Person belonging to the Recruiting Party entitled thereto and demanding the same: Provided always, that no Recruit who has actually though erroneously been discharged by the Justice before the Expiration of Twenty-four Hours after the Time of his Enlistment shall be liable on that Account to be proceeded against as having deserted from His 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.

after the Ex

XXXV. And be it enacted, That any Person duly bound as an Apprentices enApprentice, who shall enlist into His Majesty's Royal Marine listing to be Forces, and shall state to the Magistrate before whom he shall liable to serve be attested, that he is not an Apprentice, shall be deemed guilty piration of their of obtaining Money by false Pretences, and shall, after the Ex- Apprenticeship. piration of his Apprenticeship, whether he shall have been so convicted and punished or not, be liable to serve as a Marine; and if on the Expiration of his Apprenticeship he shall not deliver himself up to some Officer authorized to receive Recruits, may be taken as a Deserter from His Majesty's Royal Marine Forces.

XXXVI. And be it enacted, That no Apprentice claimed by Punishment of his Master shall be taken from any Division, Detachment, Re- Apprentices encruiting Party, or Ship of His Majesty, except under a Warrant listing. of a Justice residing near and within whose Jurisdiction such Apprentice shall then happen to be, before whom he shall be carried; and such Justice shall inquire into the Matter upon Oath (which Oath he is hereby empowered to administer), and require the Production and Proof of the Indenture, and that Notice of the said Warrant has been given to and a Copy left with the Officer under whose Command the Apprentice shall then be, and that such Person so enlisted declared that he was no Apprentice; and such Justice, if required by such Officer, shall commit the Offender to the Common Gaol of the said Place where the Apprentice shall be apprehended, and shall keep the Indenture to be produced when required, and shall bind over such Person as he may think proper to give Evidence against the Offender, who shall be tried at the next or next succeeding General or Quarter Sessions of the County, Division, or Place, unless the Court shall on just Cause put off the Trial; and the Production of the Indenture, with the Certificate of the Justices that the same was proved, shall be sufficient Evidence of the said Indenture; and every such Offender in Scotland may be tried by the Judge Ordinary in the County or Stewartry, in such and the like Manner as any Person may be tried in Scotland for any Offence not inferring a Capital Punishment; and any Justice not required as aforesaid to commit such Apprentice may deliver him to his Master: Provided always, that every Apprentice who shall enlist into the Royal Marines during the Period of his Apprenticeship shall be deemed guilty of a Misdemeanor, and upon Conviction be liable to the same Punishment as Offenders convicted of obtaining

D 2

Offences connected with Enlistment.

obtaining Money under false Pretences are liable to; and every such Apprentice shall, after the Expiration of his Apprenticeship, whether he shall have been prosecuted or not, be liable to serve in His Majesty's Royal Marine Forces; and if on the Expiration of his Apprenticeship he shall not deliver himself up to some Officer authorized to receive Recruits, he may be apprehended as a Deserter from His Majesty's Marine Forces.

XXXVII. And be it enacted, That if any Recruit shall receive the Enlisting Money from any Person employed in the Recruiting Service (knowing it to be such), and shall abscond or refuse to go before such Justice, or shall thereafter 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 Four Days as aforesaid, such Recruit shall be deemed to be enlisted and a Private in His 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 Four Days as aforesaid, unless it shall be proved to the Satisfaction of such Justice that the true Name and Residence of the Recruit was 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 that in every 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 Admiralty, in order that, in the Event of such Recruit being afterwards apprehended and reported as a Deserter, the Fact of his having received Enlisting Money, and having absconded after having been enlisted, may be ascertained before he be finally adjudged to be a Deserter; and any Recruit who shall enlist into His Majesty's Royal Marine Forces, and who shall be discovered to be incapable of active Service by reason of any Infirmity concealed or not declared by such Recruit before the Justice at the Time of his Attestation, and mentioned therein, may be transferred into a Garrison or Veteran or Invalid Battalion, and shall be entitled to receive such Proportion or Residue of Bounty only as the Lord High Admiral, or the Commissioners for executing the Office of Lord High Admiral, may allow in that Behalf, instead of the Bounty upon which such Man shall have been enlisted, any Act or any Rules and Regulations to the contrary notwithstanding; and it shall be lawful for any Two Justices before whom such Recruit shall be brought, and who shall be proved, upon Oath before them, to have wilfully concealed his having been a Marine or Soldier and discharged, or to have con

cealed

cealed his having been discharged on any prior Enlistment, or to
have wilfully concealed any Infirmity upon being attested, or
designedly made any false Representation as aforesaid, to adjudge
such Person to be a Rogue and Vagabond, and to sentence him
to such Punishment as by any Law now in force may be inflicted
on Rogues and Vagabonds and Vagrants and incorrigible Rogues;
and any Recruit who shall designedly make any false Repre-
sentation 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 thereby obtain any Enlisting
Money, or any Bounty for entering into His 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, intituled An Act for consolidating and amend- 7 & 8 G.4.
ing the Laws in England relative to Larceny and other Offences c.29.
connected therewith; and if in Ireland, of an Act passed in the
Ninth Year of the Reign of His late Majesty King George the

Fourth, intituled An Act for consolidating and amending the Laws 9 G. 4. c.55.
in Ireland relative to Larceny and other Offences connected there-
with; 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 or more credible
Witnesses, that the Person so prosecuted hath voluntarily acknow.
ledged that at the Time of his Enlistment he belonged to the
Militia, or to any Regiment in His Majesty's Service, or to His
Majesty's Navy or Marines, shall be deemed and taken as
Evidence of the Fact so by him acknowledged, without Produc-
tion of any Roll or other Document to prove the same; and any
Man who, having been enrolled to serve in the Militia, and who
at the Time of offering to enlist into the Marines shall deny that
he is a Militia Man, or shall deny to the Justice before whom he
shall be attested that he belongs to the Militia, shall, on Convic-
tion thereof before any One Justice in the United Kingdom,
either upon the Oath of One Witness or upon his own Confes-
sion, or upon the Production of the Attestation and the before-
mentioned Declaration 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 Soldier to the Division of His Majesty's Royal
Marine Forces into which he has so enlisted; provided also, that
every such Person shall be liable to serve in His 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

D 3

Yearly Servants enlisting to be entitled to

a Proportion of

their Wages.

Penalty on

Officers offending as to Enlistment.

Claims of

Masters to
Apprentices.

Deserter from the Marines if he shall neglect or refuse to join and serve therein.

XXXVIII. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Justice before whom any Recruit (being a hired Servant) shall be attested, before the Expiration of the Term of Service for which he shall have been hired, to adjudge to such Recruit a reasonable Proportion of his Wages for the Time he shall have actually served, to be forthwith paid by the Master, upon whom the said Justice shall make an Order accordingly, and if the same be not paid within Four Days shall enforce the Payment thereof by the same Means as pecuniary Penalties may under this Act be recovered before a Justice.

XXXIX. And be it enacted, That every Marine Officer who shall designedly act contrary to the Provisions of this Act, in any respect regarding the enlisting and attesting of Recruits for His Majesty's Service, shall, upon Proof thereof upon Oath by Two Witnesses before a General Court-martial, be cashiered, and disabled to hold any Civil or Military Office or Employment in His Majesty's Service.

XL. And be it enacted, That no Master shall be entitled to claim an Apprentice who shall enlist as a Marine in His Majesty's Service, unless such Master shall, within One Calendar Month next after such Apprentice shall have left his Service, go before some Justice, and take and subscribe the Oath mentioned in the Schedule to this Act annexed, and at the Time of making his Claim produce to the Officer under whose Command the Recruit shall be the Certificate of such Justice of his having taken such Oath, which Certificate such Justice is required to give in the Form in the Schedule to this Act annexed; nor unless such Apprentice shall have been bound, if in England, for the full Term of Seven Years (not having been above the Age of Fourteen when so bound), and, if in Ireland or in the British Isles, for the full Term of Five Years at the least (not having been above the Age of Sixteen when so bound), and, if in Scotland, for the full Term at least of Four Years, by a regular Contract of Indenture of Apprenticeship, duly extended, signed, and tested, and binding on both Parties by the Law of Scotland, prior to the Period of Enlistment, and unless such Contract or Indenture so duly executed shall, within Three Months after the Commencement of the Apprenticeship and before the Period of Enlistment, have been produced to a Justice of the Peace of the County wherein the Parties reside, and there shall have been indorsed thereon by such Justice a Certificate or Declaration signed by him, specifying the Date when and the Person by whom such Contract or Indenture shall have been so produced, which Certificate or Declaration such Justice of the Peace is hereby required to indorse and sign; nor unless any such Apprentice shall, when claimed by such Master, be under Twenty-one Years of Age; provided that any Master of an Apprentice indentured for the Sea Service shall be entitled to claim and recover him in the Form and Manner above directed, notwithstanding such Apprentice may have been bound for a less Term than Seven, Five, or Four Years as aforesaid; and any such Master who shall give up the Indentures of Apprenticeship within One Month after the enlisting

of