Foreign Troops in this Country. Militia and Act to extend to certain Islands. Enlisting and swearing of Recruits. His late Majesty King George the Third, to regulate the taking of Securities in all Offices, but that such Bonds and other Securities shall be and remain in full Force and Effect. XXXI. And be it enacted, That all Officers and Soldiers of any Troops, being mustered and in Pay, which shall be raised and serving in any of His Majesty's Dominions abroad, or in Places in Possession of or occupied by His Majesty's Subjects, under the Command of any Officer having any Commission immediately from His Majesty, shall be liable to Martial Law in like Manner as His Majesty's other Forces are; and if such Officers and Soldiers, having been made Prisoners, be sent into England or Ireland, although not allowed to serve therein, all the Provisions of this Act in regard to billetting Soldiers shall apply to such Officers and Soldiers. XXXII. And be it enacted, That nothing in this Act contained shall in anywise be construed to extend to any of the Militia Forces or Yeomanry or Volunteer Corps in Great Britain or Ireland, excepting only in such Cases wherein, by any Act or Acts for regulating any of the said Forces or Corps, the Provisions contained in any Act for punishing Mutiny and Desertion shall be specifically made applicable to the said Corps. XXXIII. And be it enacted, That this Act shall be construed to extend to the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and the Islands thereto belonging, as to the Provisions therein for mustering and paying, and to the Provisions for the Trial and Punishment of Officers and Soldiers who shall be charged with Mutiny and Desertion, or any other of the Offences which are by this Act declared to be punishable by the Sentence of a General, or Garrison, or Detachment, or Regimental Courtmartial, and also to the Provisions which relate to the Punishment of Persons who shall conceal Deserters, or shall knowingly buy, exchange, or otherwise receive any Arms, Clothes, Military Furniture, or Regimental Necessaries from any Soldier or Deserter, or who shall cause the Colour of any such Clothes to be changed, and also as to the Exemption from Arrest for Debts under Thirty Pounds of Soldiers in the said Islands. XXXIV. And be it enacted, That every Person who shall receive Enlisting Money from any Person employed in the Recruiting Service, he being an Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or an attested Soldier, shall be deemed to be enlisted as a Soldier 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 down, in Writing, the Name and Place of Abode of such Recruit; and (if such Recruit shall not reside in or in the Vicinity of the Town or Place where he offered to enlist) the Place also at which he shall declare that he intends to sleep, in order that within Forty-eight but not sooner than Twenty-four Hours, any intervening Sunday not included, after his having received the Enlisting Money, Notice of his having so enlisted be given to the Recruit or left at his usual 12 usual Place of Abode, or at the Place where he stated that it was his Intention to sleep; and when any Person shall be enlisted as a Soldier in His Majesty's Land Service he shall within Four Days, any intervening Sunday not included, 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, or, in Scotland, before any Baillie of a Royal Burgh, residing within 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 Army; 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 Articles 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. XXXV. 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 the Period of his having been enlisted, shall be forthwith discharged and set at liberty 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 and pay such Money as aforesaid, he shall be deemed and taken to be enlisted as if he had give his Assent thereto before the said Justice: Provided also, that it shall 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, if it 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 [No. 3. Price 2d.] C Person Offences connected with Enlistment. 7 W. IV. 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 demanding the same; provided that no Recruit who has been actually, though erroneously, 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 a Certificate thereof, signed with his Hand, to the Recruit, specifying the Cause thereof. XXXVI. 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 aforesaid, such Recruit shall be deemed to be enlisted and a Soldier in His Majesty's Service, 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 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 His Majesty's Secretary at War, in order that, in the event of such Recruit being afterwards apprehended and reported as a Deserter, the Facts 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 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, may be transferred into any Garrison or Veteran or Invalid Battalion or Company, or into His Majesty's Marine Forces, notwithstanding he shall have enlisted for any particular Regiment, and shall be entitled to receive such Proportion or Residue of Bounty only as His 13 Majesty Majesty may allow in that Behalf, instead of the Bounty upon which such Man shall have been enlisted, any thing in any Act or Acts, or any Rules and Regulations relating to Soldiers, 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 concealed his having been a Soldier and discharged, or to have concealed his having been discharged upon any prior Enlistment, or to have wilfully concealed any such Infirmity upon being attested, or to have 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 upon Rogues and Vagabonds and Vagrants and incorrigible Rogues; and any Recruit who shall designedly make any false Representation 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 obtain any Enlisting Money or 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 7&8 G. 4. c. 29. and amending 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 late Majesty, intituled An Act for consolidating and amending the Laws in Ireland relative 9 G. 4, c. 55. to Larceny and other Offences connected therewith; 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 being attested; and that Proof by the Oath of One or more credible Witnesses, that the Person so prosecuted hath voluntarily acknowledged 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 Production of any Roll or other Document to prove the same; and any Man having been enrolled to serve in the Militia at the Time of offering to enlist who shall deny that he is a Militia Man then actually enrolled and engaged to serve, or shall deny to the Justice before whom he shall be attested that he belongs to the Militia, shall, on Conviction thereof before any One Justice in the United Kingdom, either upon Oath of One Witness or upon his own Confession, or upon the Production of the Attestation, and the before-mentioned Acknowledgment of such Person, certified by the Secretary at War or Deputy Secretary at War, 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 offending may be otherwise liable, and shall from the Day on which his Engagement to serve in the Militia shall Penalty on Officers offending against Laws listment. end, and not sooner, belong as a Soldier to the Corps of His Majesty's Regular Forces, or of the East India Company's Forces, into which he shall have so enlisted; provided that every such Person shall be liable to serve, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in any Regiment, Battalion, or Corps of His Majesty's Regular Forces, or of the East India Company's 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 liable to be apprehended and dealt with and punished as a Deserter from the Corps in which he shall have so enlisted, if he shall neglect or refuse to join and serve in such Corps as aforesaid. XXXVII. And be it enacted, That every Military Officer, who shall act contrary to the Provisions of this Act in any regarding En- 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, which is hereby authorized to administer such Oath, be cashiered and disabled to hold any Civil or Military Office or Employment in His Majesty's Service. Enlistment and Re-enlistment abroad. Enlistment of XXXVIII. And whereas it is expedient that Provision 'should be made for the enlisting and attesting of Soldiers de'sirous of re-enlisting, and others desirous of enlisting, abroad;' be it therefore enacted, That it shall be lawful for any Person duly appointed by His Majesty by any Warrant signed by the Secretary at War in that Behalf, and not being a General Officer nor holding any Regimental Commission, to enlist and attest, out of Great Britain or Ireland, any Soldiers or Persons desirous of enlisting or re-enlisting into His Majesty's Service; and any Person so appointed shall have the same Powers in that Behalf as are given to Justices in the United Kingdom for all such Purposes of Enlistment and Attestation; and any Person so enlisted or re-enlisted shall be deemed to be an attested Soldier; and as often as any Corps shall be relieved or disbanded at any Station beyond the Seas, it shall be lawful for any Officers thereunto authorized by the Officer commanding in chief at such Station to enlist as many of the Soldiers belonging to the Corps leaving the Station as shall be willing and fit for Service for any Corps appointed to remain; and every Soldier so enlisted is hereby deemed to be discharged from his former Corps; and an attested Certificate of Transfer shall be delivered to the Soldier. XXXIX. And be it enacted, That all Negroes purchased by or on account of His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, and serving in any of His Majesty's Forces, shall be deemed and taken to be free in every respect as if born free in any Part of His Majesty's Dominions, and shall be considered as Soldiers having voluntarily enlisted in His Majesty's Service; provided that nothing contained in this Act as to enlisting for limited Periods of Service, or in any other Act as to any Rules or Regulations |