lations which are to be observed and enforced, and the same shall accordingly be observed and enforced within such Prison; and every Inspector, Visitor, and Governor of any such Military Prison respectively shall, subject to such Rules and Regulations as may from Time to Time be made by the Secretary at War, have and exercise in respect of such Prison, and of the Governors, Officers, and Servants thereof, and of the Prisoners confined therein, all the Powers and Authorities, as well in respect of administering Oaths as otherwise, which any Inspector, Visiting Justice, or Governor of a County Gaol or House of Correction may respectively exercise as such. Custody of Prisoners under XL. And be it enacted, That every Governor, Provost Marshal, Gaoler, or Keeper of any public Prison or of any Gaol or House of Correction in any Part of Her Majesty's Dominions tence in Comshall receive into his Custody any Military Offender under mon Gaols. Sentence of Imprisonment by a General or other Court-martial, upon Delivery to him of an Order in Writing in that Behalf from the Officer commanding the Regiment or Corps to which the Offender belongs or is attached, which Order shall specify the Period of Imprisonment which the Offender is to undergo, and the Day and Hour of the Day on which he is to be released; and such Governor, Provost Marshal, Gaoler, or Keeper shall keep such Offender in a proper Place of Confinement, with or without hard Labour, and with or without solitary Confinement, according to the Sentence of the Court and during the Time specified in the said Order, or until he be discharged or delivered over to Military Custody before the Expiration of that Time under an Order duly made for that Purpose; and whenever Troops are called out in aid of the Civil Power, or are stationed in Billets, or are on the Line of March, every Governor, Provost Marshal, Gaoler or Keeper of any public Prison, Gaol, House of Correction, Lock-up House, or other Place of Confinement, shall receive into his Custody any Soldier, for a Period not exceeding Seven Days, upon Delivery to him of an Order in Writing on that Behalf from the Officer commanding such Troops. Prisoners. XLI. And be it enacted, That in the Case of a Prisoner Proviso for undergoing Imprisonment under the Sentence of a Court-martial Removal of in any public Prison other than the Military Prisons set apart by the Authority of this Act, or in any Gaol or House of Correction in any Part of Her Majesty's Dominions, it shall be lawful for the Officer who confirmed the Proceedings of the Court, or for the Officer commanding the District, Garrison, Island, or Colony, to give, as often as Occasion may arise, an Order in Writing directing that the Prisoner be discharged, or be delivered over to Military Custody, whether for the Purpose of being removed to some other Prison or Place, there to undergo the Remainder or any Part of his Sentence, or for the Purpose of being brought before a Court-martial either as a Witness or for Trial; and such Prisoner shall accordingly, on the Production of such Order, be discharged or be delivered over, as the Case may be; provided also, that the Time during Their Subsistence in Common Gaols. Expiration of Imprisonment in Common Gaols. Musters and Punishment for false Musters. Trials for Desertion after which any Prisoner under Sentence of Imprisonment by a Court-martial shall be detained in Military Custody shall be reckoned as Imprisonment under the Sentence, for whatever Purpose such Detention shall take place. XLII. And be it enacted, That the Gaoler or Person having the immediate Inspection of any public Prison, Gaol, House of Correction, Lock-up House, or other Place of Confinement in any Part of Her Majesty's Dominions, shall diet and supply every Soldier imprisoned by the Sentence of a Court-martial or as a Deserter with Fuel and other Necessaries according to the Regulations of such Place of Confinement, and shall receive on account of every Soldier, during the Period of his Imprisonment, Sixpence per Diem, which the Secretary at War shall cause to be issued out of the Subsistence of such Soldier, upon Application in Writing signed by any Justice within whose Jurisdiction such Place of Confinement shall be locally situated, together with a Copy of the Order of Commitment, and which Sum of Sixpence per Diem shall be carried to the Credit of the Fund from which the Expense of such Place of Confinement is defrayed. XLIII. And be it enacted, That every Gaoler, or Person having the immediate Inspection of any public Prison, Gaol, House of Correction, or other Place of Confinement, to whom any Notice shall have been given, or who shall have Reason to believe or to know, that any Person in his Custody for any Offence, Civil or Military, is a Soldier liable to serve Her Majesty on the Expiration of his Imprisonment, shall give, if in Great Britain, to the Secretary at War, and if in Ireland to the General commanding Her Majesty's Forces in Ireland, One Month's Notice of the Period of such Expiration of Imprisonment, or if there shall not be sufficient Time for a Month's Notice then the longest practicable Notice thereof. XLIV. And be it enacted, That Musters shall be taken of every Regiment, Troop, or Company in Her Majesty's Service, twice at least in every Year, at such Times as shall be appointed; and no Soldier shall be absent from such Musters unless properly certified to be employed on some other Duty of the Regiment, or to be sick, or in Prison, or on Furlough; and every Officer who shall make any false or untrue Muster of Man or Horse, or shall wittingly or willingly allow or sign the Muster Roll wherein such false Muster is contained, or any Duplicate thereof, or who shall directly or indirectly take or cause to be taken any Money or Gratuity for mustering any Soldiers, or for signing any Muster Rolls or Duplicates thereof, or shall knowingly muster any Person by a wrong Name, upon Proof thereof upon Oath made by Two Witnesses before a General Courtmartial, shall for such Offence be forthwith cashiered, and shall be thereby utterly disabled to have or hold any Civil or Military Office or Employment within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or in Her Majesty's Service. XLV. And be it enacted, That every Soldier shall be liable to be tried and punished for Desertion from any Corps into which he may have enlisted, or from Her Majesty's Service, subsequent Realthough he may of right belong to the Corps from which he enlistment. shall have originally deserted; and whether such Soldier shall be tried for deserting from the Corps into which he originally enlisted, or for deserting from the same Corps into which he may have subsequently enlisted, or for any other Desertion, every Desertion previous or subsequent to that for which he may be so tried may, if duly stated in the Charges, be given in Evidence against him on such Trial. the United XLVI. And be it enacted, That upon reasonable Suspicion Apprehension that a Person is a Deserter it shall be lawful for any Constable, of Deserters in or if no Constable can be immediately met with then it shall be Kingdom. lawful for any Officer or Soldier in Her Majesty's Service, to apprehend or cause such suspected Person to be apprehended, and to bring or cause him to be brought before any Justice living in or near such Place, and acting for the County or Borough wherein such Place is situate, or for the County adjoining such first-mentioned County or such Borough; and such Justice is hereby authorized and required to inquire whether such suspected Person is a Deserter, and if it shall appear by the Testimony of One or more Witnesses, taken upon Oath, or by the Confession of such suspected Person, or by the Knowledge of such Justice, or by Evidence sufficient to satisfy such Justice that there are reasonable Grounds for believing that such suspected Person is a Deserter, such Justice shall forthwith cause him to be conveyed in Civil Custody to the Head Quarters or Depôt of the Regiment to which he belongs, if stationed within Five Miles of the Place of Apprehension, or if such Head Quarters or Depôt shall not be stationed within Five Miles, then to the nearest or most convenient public Prison (other than a Military Prison set apart under the Authority of this Act), whether such Prison be in the County or Borough in which such suspected Person was apprehended or in which he was committed or not; or if the Deserter shall have been apprehended by a Party of Soldiers of his own Regiment in charge of a Commissioned Officer, such Justice may deliver him up to such Party, unless the Officer shall deem it necessary to have the Deserter committed to Prison for safe Custody; and such Justice shall transmit an Account thereof, in the Form prescribed in the Schedule annexed to this Act, to the Secretary at War, specifying therein whether such Deserter was delivered to his Regiment or to the Party of his Regiment in order for his being taken to the Head Quarters or Depôt of his Regiment, or whether such Deserter was committed to Prison, to the end that the Person so committed may be removed by an Order from the Office of the said Secretary at War, and proceeded against according to Law; and such Justice shall also send to the Secretary at War a Report, stating the Names of the Persons by whom the Deserter was apprehended and secured; and the Secretary at War shall transmit to such Justice an Order for the Payment to such Persons of such Sum not exceeding Forty Shillings as the Secretary at War shall be satisfied they are entitled entitled to, according to the true Intent and Meaning of this Act; and for such Information, Commitment, and Report as aforesaid the Clerk of the said Justice shall be entitled to a Fee of Two Shillings and no more; and every Gaoler and other Person into whose Custody any Person charged with Desertion is committed shall immediately upon the Receipt of the Person so charged into his Custody pay such Fee of Two Shillings, and also upon the Production of a Receipt from the Medical Practitioner who may have been required to examine such suspected Person a Fee of Two Shillings and Sixpence, and shall notify the Fact to the Secretary at War, and transmit also to the Secretary at War a Copy of the Commitment, to the end that In the Colonies. such Secretary at War may order Repayment of the same; and that when any Person shall be apprehended and committed as a Deserter in any of Her Majesty's Colonies the Justice shall forthwith cause him to be conveyed to some public Prison, if the Regiment to which he is suspected to belong shall not be in the Colony, or, if the Regiment be in the Colony, the Justice may, if within reasonable Distance, deliver him into Custody at the nearest Military Post, although the Regiment to which such Person is suspected to belong may not be stationed at such Military Post; and such Justice shall in every Case transmit to the General or other Officer commanding in the Colony a Description Return in the Form prescribed, to the end that such Person may be removed by Order of such Officer, and proceeded against according to Law. Temporary Desertion of XLVII. And be it enacted, That every Gaoler, or Person having the immediate Inspection of any public Prison, Gaol, House of Correction, Lock-up House, or other Place of Confinement in any Part of Her Majesty's Dominions, is hereby required to receive and confine every Deserter who shall be delivered into his Custody by any Soldier conveying such Deserter under lawful Authority on Production of the Warrant of the Justice of the Peace on which such Deserter shall have been taken, or some Order from the Office of the Secretary at War, which Order shall continue in force until the Deserter shall have arrived at his Destination; and such Gaoler or Person shall be entitled to One Shilling for the safe Custody of the said Deserter while halted on the March, and to such Subsistence for his Maintenance as shall be directed by Her Majesty's Regulations. XLVIII. And be it enacted, That any Recruit who shall desert prior to joining the Regiment for which he has enlisted shall, on being apprehended, and committed for such Desertion by any Justice of the Peace upon the Testimony of One or more Witnesses upon Oath, or upon his own Confession, be liable to be transferred to any Regiment or Depôt nearest to the Place where he shall have been apprehended, or to any other Regiment to which Her Majesty may deem it more desirable that he should be transferred: Provided always, that all Cavalry Recruits so committed for Desertion shall be transferred to Cavalry Regiments, and Infantry Recruits to Infantry Regiments; and that that such Deserters thus transferred shall not be liable to other Punishment for the Offence, or to any other Penalty, except the Forfeiture of their personal Bounty, reserving only for them that Part of the Bounty which is applicable to and required for the Provision of Necessaries. Confession of XLIX. And be it enacted, That any Person who shall Fraudulent voluntarily deliver himself up and confess himself to be a De- Desertion. serter from Her Majesty's Forces, or the embodied Militia, or the Forces of the East India Company, or who, while serving in any of Her Majesty Forces, or the embodied Militia, or the Forces of the East India Company, shall to any Officer or Non-commissioned Officer thereof confess himself to be a Deserter as aforesaid, or who, upon being apprehended for any Offence, shall, in the Presence of the Justice, confess himself to be a Deserter as aforesaid, shall be deemed to have duly enlisted, and to be a Soldier, and shall be liable to serve in any of Her Majesty's Forces, as Her Majesty shall think fit to appoint, whether such Person shall have been actually enlisted as a Soldier or not; or in case such Person shall not be a Deserter as aforesaid, he shall be liable to be taken before Two Justices of the Peace, and on Proof that any such Confession as aforesaid was false, shall by them be adjudged to be punished, if in England, as a Rogue and Vagabond, and if in Scotland or Ireland by Commitment to some Prison or House of Correction, there to be kept to hard Labour for any Time not exceeding Three Months, or be deemed guilty of obtaining Money under false Pretences within the true Intent and Meaning, if in England, of an Act passed in the Seventh and Eighth Years of His Majesty King George the Fourth, intituled An Act for amending 7&8 G. 4. c. 29. and consolidating the Laws in England relative to Larceny and other Offences connected therewith, and if in Ireland, of an Act passed in the Ninth Year of the Reign of His Majesty King George the Fourth, intituled An Act for consolidating and amend- 9 G. 4. c. 55. ing the Laws in Ireland relative to Larceny and other Offences connected therewith, or shall be deemed guilty, if in Scotland, of Falsehood, Fraud, and wilful Imposition; and every Person so deemed to be guilty of obtaining Money under false Pretences, or of Falsehood, Fraud, and wilful Imposition, as the Case may be, shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly; and the Confession and receiving Subsistence as a Soldier by such Person shall be Evidence of the false Pretence, or of the Falsehood, Fraud, and Imposition, as the Case may be, and of the obtaining Money to the Amount of the Value of such Subsistence, and the Value of such Subsistence so obtained may be charged in the Indictment as so much Money received by such Person; and in case such Person shall have been previously convicted of the like Offence, or shall have been summarily convicted and punished, in England as a Rogue and Vagabond, or in Scotland or Ireland by Commitment, for making a fraudulent Confession of Desertion, such former Conviction may be alleged in the Indictment, and may be proved upon the Trial of such Person; and in such Indictment for a Second Offence |