No certiorari, &c. Convictions to be returned Sessions. How far evidence in future cases. conviction, for the county, riding, or division wherein the cause of complaint shall have arisen; provided that such person shall give to the complainant a notice in writing of such appeal, and of the cause and matter thereof, within three days after such conviction, and seven clear days at the least before such sessions, and shall also either remain in custody until the sessions, or enter into a recognizance with two sufficient sureties before a justice of the peace, conditioned personally to appear at the said sessions and to try such appeal, and to abide the judgment of the Court thereupon, and to pay such costs as shall be by the Court awarded; and upon such notice being given, and such recognizance being entered into, the justice before whom the same shall be entered into shall liberate such person if in custody; and the Court at such sessions shall hear and determine the matter of the appeal, and shall make such order therein, with or without costs to either party, as to the Court shall seem meet; and in case of the dismissal of the appeal, or the affirmance of the conviction, shall order and adjudge the offender to be punished according to the conviction, and to pay such costs as shall be awarded, and shall, if necessary, issue process for enforcing such judgment. XXXIX. And be it enacted, That no such conviction, or adjudication made on appeal therefrom, shall be quashed for want of form, or be removed by certiorari or otherwise into any of his Majesty's superior courts of record; and no warrant of commitment shall be held void by reason of any defect therein, provided it be therein alleged that the party has been convicted, and there be a good and valid conviction to sustain the same. XL. And be it enacted, That every justice of the peace, before whom any person shall be convicted of any offence against this act, shall transmit the conto the Quarter viction to the next Court of General or Quarter Sessions which shall be holden for the county or place wherein the offence shall have been committed, there to be kept by the proper officer among the records of the court; and upon any indictment or information against any person for a subsequent offence, a copy of such conviction, certified by the proper officer of the court, or proved to be a true copy, shall be sufficient evidence to prove a conviction for the former offence, and the conviction shall be presumed to have been unappealed against until the contrary be shewn. Venue, in proceedings against persons acting under this act. Notice of action. General issue, &c. Not to extend to Scotland or Ireland. To extend to offences committed at sea. XLI. And, for the protection of persons acting in the execution of this act, be it enacted, that all actions and prosecutions to be commenced against any person for any thing done in pursuance of this act shall be laid and tried in the county where the fact was committed, and shall be commenced within six calendar months after the fact committed, and not otherwise; and notice in writing of such action, and of the cause thereof, shall be given to the defendant one calendar month at least before the commencement of the action; and in any such action the defendant may plead the general issue, and give this act and the special matter in evidence at any trial to be had thereupon; and no plaintiff shall recover in any such action if tender of sufficient amends shall have been made before such action brought, or if a sufficient sum of money shall have been paid into Court, after such action brought, by or on behalf of the defendant; and if a verdict shall pass for the defendant, or the plaintiff shall become nonsuit, or discontinue any such action after issue joined, or if, upon demurrer or otherwise, judgment shall be given against the plaintiff, the defendant shall recover his full costs as between attorney and client, and have the like remedy for the same as any defendant hath by law in other cases; and though a verdict shall be given for the plaintiff in any such action, such plaintiff shall not have costs against the defendant, unless the judge before whom the trial shall be shall certify his approbation of the action, and of the verdict obtained thereupon. XLII. Provided always, and be it enacted, that nothing in this act contained shall extend to Scotland or Ireland. XLIII. And be it enacted, that where any felony or misdemeanor punishable under this act shall be committed within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty of England, the same shall be dealt with, inquired of, tried, and determined in the same manner as any other felony or misdemeanor committed within that jurisdiction. CAP. XXXI. An Act for consolidating and amending the Laws in England relative WHEREAS it is expedient that the several statutes now in force in that part of the United Kingdom called England, relative to remedies against the hundred for the damage occasioned by persons riotously and tumultuously assembled, should be amended, and consolidated into one act: and with that view the said statutes are, by an act of the present session of parliament, repealed, from and after the last day of June in the present year, except as to offences and other matters committed or done before or upon that day be it therefore enacted by the King'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 this act shall Commencecommence on the first day of July in the present year. ment of act. tion for the damage done by rioters in certain cases. II. And be it enacted, that if any church or chapel, or any chapel for the The hundred religious worship of persons dissenting from the United Church of England shall make and Ireland, duly registered or recorded, or any house, stable, coach-house, full compensaouthouse, warehouse, office, shop, mill, malt-house, hop oast, barn, or granary, or any building or erection used in carrying on any trade or manufacture, or branch thereof, or any machinery, whether fixed or moveable, prepared for or employed in any manufacture, or in any branch thereof, or any steam engine or other engine for sinking, draining, or working any mine, or any staith, building, or erection used in conducting the business of any mine, or any bridge, waggonway, or trunk for conveying minerals from any mine, shall be feloniously demolished, pulled down, or destroyed, wholly or in part, by any persons riotously and tumultuously assembled together, in every such case the inhabitants of the hundred, wapentake, ward, or other district in the nature of a hundred, by whatever name it shall be denominated, in which any of the said offences shall be committed, shall be liable to yield full compensation to the person or persons damnified by the offence, not only for the damage so done to any of the subjects hereinbefore enumerated but also for any damage which may at the same time be done by any such offenders to any fixture, furniture, or goods whatever, in any such church, chapel, house, or other of the buildings or erections aforesaid. III. Provided always, and be it enacted, that no action or summary proceed- Party damniing, as hereinafter mentioned, shall be maintainable by virtue of this act, for fied to comply the damage caused by any of the said offences, unless the person or persons with certain damnified, or such of them as shall have knowledge of the circumstances of conditions. the offence, or the servant or servants who had the care of the property damaged, shall within seven days after the commission of the offence go before some justice of the peace residing near and having jurisdiction over the place where the offence shall have been committed, and shall state upon oath before such justice the names of the offenders if known, and shall submit to the examination of such justice touching the circumstances of the offence, and become bound by recognizance before him to prosecute the offenders when apprehended: provided also, that no person shall be enabled to bring any such action, unless he shall commence the same within three calendar months after the commission of the offence. IV. And be it enacted, that no process for appearance in any action to be brought by virtue of this act against any hundred or other like district shall be served on any inhabitant thereof, except on the high constable or some one of the high constables (if there be more than one,) who shall within seven days after such service give notice thereof to two justices of the peace of the county, riding, or division in which such hundred or district shall be situate, Limitation of time for ac tions. Process in the action against the hundred to be served on the high constable, who may defend, or let judg ment go by default, as ad vised. Inhabitants of the hundred competent witnesses. If plaintiff recovers, the sheriff, on receipt of the writ of execution, shall make out a warrant directing the treasurer of the county to pay the amount. Mode of reimbursing the high constable for his expences in defending the action, &c. Reimbursing the county treasurer. Mode of proceeding in cases where the damage does not exceed 301. residing in or acting for the hundred or district; and such high constable is hereby empowered to cause to be entered an appearance in the said action, and also to defend the same on behalf of the inhabitants of the hundred or district, as he shall be advised; or, instead of defending the same, it shall be lawful for him, with the consent and approbation of such justices, to suffer judgment to go by default; and the person upon whom, as high constable, the process in the action shall be served, shall, notwithstanding the expiration of his office, continue to act for all the purposes of this act until the termination of all proceedings in and consequent upon such action; but if such person shall die before such termination, the succeeding high constable shall act in his stead. V. And be it enacted, that in any action to be brought by virtue of this act against the inhabitants of any hundred or other like district, or against the inhabitants of any county of a city or town, or of any such liberty, franchise, city, town, or place, as is hereinafter mentioned, no inhabitant shall, by reason of any interest arising from such inhabitancy, be exempted or precluded from giving evidence either for the plaintiff or for the defendants. VI. And be it enacted, That wherever the plaintiff in any such action shall recover judgment, whether after verdict or by default or otherwise, no writ of execution shall be executed on any inhabitant of the hundred or other like district, nor on such high constable; but the sheriff, upon the receipt of the writ of execution, shall (on payment of the fee of five shillings and no more) make his warrant to the treasurer of the county, riding, or division in which such hundred or other like district shall be situate, commanding him to pay to the plaintiff the sum by the said writ directed to be levied, and such treasurer is hereby required to pay the same, as also any other sum ordered to be paid by him by virtue of this act, out of any public money which shall then be in his hands, or shall come into his hands before the next general or quarter sessions of the peace for the said county, riding, or division; and if there be not sufficient money for that purpose before such sessions, he shall give notice thereof to the justices of the peace at such sessions, who shall proceed in the manner hereinafter mentioned. VII. And, for the purpose of indemnifying the high constable and the county treasurer, be it enacted, That if such high constable of the hundred or other district sued shall produce and prove before any two justices of the peace of the county, riding, or division, residing in or acting for such hundred or district, an account of the just and necessary expences which he shall have incurred in consequence of any such action as aforesaid, such justices shall make an order for the payment thereof upon the treasurer of the county, riding, or division in which such hundred or district shall be situate; and if in any such action judgment shall be given against the plaintiff, the high constable shall in like manner be reimbursed for the just and necessary expences by him incurred in consequence of such action, over and above the taxed costs to be paid by the plaintiff in such case; and if it shall be proved to any two such justices, that the plaintiff in the action is insolvent, so that the high constable can have no relief as to such taxed costs, such justices shall make an order upon the treasurer of the county, riding, or division as aforesaid, for the payment of the amount of such taxed costs; and the justices of the peace at the next general or quarter sessions of the peace to be holden for any such county, riding, or division, or any adjourn ment thereof, shall direct such sum or sums of money as shall have been paid or ordered to be paid by the treasurer by virtue of any such warrant or order as hereinbefore mentioned, to be raised on the hundred or other like district against the inhabitants of which any such action shall have been brought, over and above the general rate to be paid by such hundred or district in common with the rest of the county, riding, or division, under the acts relating to county rates; and such sum or sums shall be raised in the manner directed by those acts, and shall be forthwith paid over to the treasurer. VIII. And whereas it is expedient to provide a summary mode of proceeding where the damage is of small amount: be it therefore enacted, That it shall not be lawful for any person to commence any action against the inhabitants of any hundred or other like district, where the damage alleged to have been sustained by reason of any of the offences in this act mentioned shall not exceed the sum of thirty pounds, but the party damnified shall, within seven days after the commission of the offence, give a notice in writ impassable, every 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 life, or for any term not less than seven years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding four 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 person shall unlawfully and maliciously Destroying a thrown down, level, or otherwise destroy, in whole or in part, any turnpike- turnpike gate, gate, or any wall, chain, rail, post, bar, or other fence belonging to any turn- toll house, &c. pike gate, or set up or erected to prevent passengers passing by without paying any toll directed to be paid by any act or acts of parliament relating thereto, or any house, building, or weighing engine erected for the better col-lection, ascertainment, or security of any such toll, every such offender shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, being convicted thereof, shall be punished accordingly. XV. And be it enacted, that if any person shall unlawfully and maliciously Breaking break down or otherwise destroy the dam of any fishpond, or of any water down the dam which shall be private property, or in which there shall be any private right of a fishery, of fishery, with intent thereby to take or destroy any of the fish in such pond &c. or mill. or water, or so as thereby to cause the loss or destruction of any of the fish, or shall unlawfully and maliciously put any lime or other noxious material in any such pond or water, with intent thereby to destroy any of the fish therein, or shall unlawfully and maliciously break down or otherwise destroy the dam of any millpond, every such offender shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, being convicted thereof, shall be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to be transported beyond the seas for the term of seven years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two 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. XVI. And be it enacted, that if any person shall unlawfully and maliciously Killing or kill, maim, or wound any cattle, every such offender shall be guilty of felony, maiming catand, being convicted thereof, shall be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to tle. be transported beyond the scas for life, or for any term not less than seven years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding four 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. Setting fire to &c. The like XVII. And be it enacted, that if any person shall unlawfully and maliciously set fire to any stack of corn, grain, pulse, straw, hay, or wood, every such of fender shall be guilty of felony, and, being convicted thereof, shall suffer death as a felon; and if any person shall unlawfully and maliciously set fire to any crop of corn, grain, or pulse, whether standing or cut down, or to any part of a wood, coppice, or plantation of trees, or to any heath, gorze, furze, or fern, wheresoever the same may be growing, every such offender shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof, shall be liable, at the discretion heath. of the Court, to be transported beyond the seas for the term of seven years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two 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. crops, plantations, and XVIII. And be it enacted, that if any person shall unlawfully and mali- Destroying ciously cut or otherwise destroy any hopbinds growing on poles in any planta- hopbinds. tion of hops, every 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 life, or for any term not less than seven years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding four 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 imprsionment. Destroying or XIX. And be it enacted, That if any person shall unlawfully and maliciously cut, break, bark, root up, or otherwise destroy or damage the whole or any part of any tree, sapling, or shrub, or any underwood, respectively grow ing in any park, pleasure ground, garden, orchard, or avenue, or in any ground adjoining or belonging to any dwelling-house, every such offender in case the amount of the injury done shall exceed the sum of one pound) felony, if the shall be guilty of felony, and, being convicted thereof, shall be liable, at the value exceeds discretion of the Court, to be transported beyond the seas for the term of 17. seven years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years; and, The like to trees, shrubs, &c. growing elsewhere, shall be felony, if the value exceeds 51. Destroying or damaging trees, shrubs, &c. whereso ever growing, and of any value above 1s., punishable on 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; and if any person shall unlawfully and maliciously cut, break, bark, root up, or otherwise destroy or damage the whole or any part of any tree, sapling, or shrub, or any underwood, respectively growing elsewhere than in any of the situations hereinbefore mentioned, every such offender (in case the amount of the injury done shall exceed the sum of five pounds) shall be guilty of felony, and, being convicted thereof, shall be liable to any of the punishments which the Court may award for the felony hereinbefore last mentioned. XX. And be it enacted, That if any person shall unlawfully and maliciously cut, break, bark, root up, or otherwise destroy or damage the whole or any part of any tree, sapling, or shrub, or any underwood, wheresoever the same may be respectively growing, the injury done being to the amount of one shilling at the least, every such offender, being convicted before a justice of the peace, shall for the first offence forfeit and pay, over and above the amount of the injury done, such sum of money, not exceeding five pounds, as to the justice shall seem meet; and if any person so convicted shall afterwards be guilty of any of the said offences, and shall be convicted thereof in like manner, every such offender shall for such second offence be committed to the common gaol or house of correction, there to be kept to hard labour for such term, not exceeding twelve calendar months, as the convicting jus tice shall think fit; and if such second conviction shall take place before two See post. s. 32 justices, they may further order the offender, if a male, to be once or twice & 33. publicly or privately whipped, after the expiration of four days from the time of such conviction; and if any person so twice convicted shall afterwards commit any of the said offences, such offender shall be deemed guilty of felony, and, being convicted thereof, shall be liable to any of the punishments which the Court may award for the felony hereinbefore last mentioned. summary conviction for first and second offence; third offence, felony. Destroying, XXI. And be it enacted, That if any person shall unlawfully and maliciously destroy, or damage with intent to destroy, any plant, root, fruit, or vegetable production, growing in any garden, orchard, nursery ground, hothouse, greenhouse, or conservatory, every such offender, being convicted thereof before a justice of the peace, shall, at the discretion of the justice, either be committed to the common gaol or house of correction, there to be imprisoned only, or to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour, for any term viction for not exceeding six calendar months, or else shall forfeit and pay, over and first offence; above the amount of the injury done, such sum of money, not exceeding second offence felony. twenty pounds, as to the justice shall seem meet; and if any person so conSee post. s. 32 victed shall afterwards commit any of the said offences, such offender shall be deemed guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof, shall be liable to any of the punishments which the Court may award for the felony hereinbefore last mentioned. & 33. Destroying, XXII. And be it enacted, That if any person shall unlawfully and maliciously destroy, or damage with intent to destroy, any cultivated root or plant used for the food of man or beast, or for medicine, or for distilling, or for dyeing, or for or in the course of any manufacture, and growing in any land, open or inclosed, not being a garden, orchard, or nursery ground, every such offender, being convicted thereof before a justice of the peace, shall, at the discretion of the justice, either be committed to the common gaol or house of correction, there to be imprisoned only, or to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour, for any term not exceeding one calendar month, or else shall forfeit and pay, over and above the amount of the injury done, such sum of money, not exceeding twenty shillings, as to the justice shall seem meet, and in default of payment thereof, together with the costs, if ordered, shall be committed as aforesaid for any term not exceeding one calenSee post. s. 32 dar month, unless payment be sooner made; and if any persou so convicted & 33. Destroying, shall afterwards be guilty of any of the said offences, and shall be convicted thereof in like manner, every such offender shall be committed to the com mitted to the common gaol or house of correction, there to be kept to hard labour for such term, not exceeding six calendar months, as the convicting justice shall think fit; and if such subsequent conviction shall take place before two justices, they may further order the offender, if a male, to be once or twice publicly or privately whipped, after the expiration of four days from the time of such conviction. XXIII. And be it enacted, That if any person shall unlawfully and ma |