628 C* 4 Antto decimo tertio GEdkGii Regis. D. 1-26. and Quartcr- Sellions in other Places. Searchers may filter Dyers Houfes to exa- mine Cloth's, Penalties how to be retovered. and how to be diftributed. diftrefs fof Non-payment. Piofccutions to commence with- in 40 Days. Appeal to Quar. ter-Sefiions. General IrTuc. fe ; evived by ^ Geo. i. c. s8. ' and continued fcy 20 Gee. 2. c. 47. to I June 1754, &c. And farther con- tinued by a7 Geo* fi. c. l'S. and %-^Get, 1, c, 16. fhall or may be lawful for the Juftices of the Peace at their General or Quarter-Seffions of the Peace for any County, City, Town or Place, to appoint fuch Searchers ; and it fhall or may be lawful for all or any inch Searchers fo to be appointed by the faid Company of Dyers, or by the Juftices of the Peace as aforefaid, taking to his or their Affiftance a Conftable or other Peace-Officer of the Place (who is and are hereby re- quired to be aiding and affifting in the Ptemifles) at all feafonable and convenient Times in the Day-time, to enter into the Shop, Warehoufe or Workhoufe of any Perfon or Perfons, or Company or Corporation whatfoever, ufing or exercifmg the Trade, Art or Myftery of Dying, or into the Shop, Warehoufe or Workhoufe of any other Perfon concerned in the dying of any fuch Woollen Goods as aforefaid, or in the making or fixing fuch Marks to the fame as aforefaid, to feaich and examine all or any Cloths, Bays, Stuffs and other Woollen Goods dyed or to be dyed black or blue ; and if any Perfon or Perfons fhall op- pofe, hinder or refufe fuch Search, every fuch Offender fhall, for every fuch Offence, forfeit and pay ten Pounds. V. And be it enacted by the Authority aforefaid, That all Offences againfl this Act, where the Penalties or Forfeitures fhall exceed the Sum of five Pounds, fhall or may be recovered by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint or Information, in any of his Majefty's Courts of Record at TVeJlminJier, wherein no Effoin, Privi- lege, Protection, or Wager of Law fhall be granted or allowed, nor any more than one Imparlance; and in Cafes where the Penalties and Forfeitures fhall not exceed the Sum of five Pounds, the Matter of the Offence fhall or may be examined, heard and determined by two or more Juftices of the Peace for the Coun- ty, City, Town or Place where the Offence fhall be committed (fuch Juftices not being concerned in the Matter of the faid Complaint) which Examination fhall be upon Oath of one or more credible Witnefs or Witneffes, which Oath fuch Juftices are hereby impowered and required to adminifter ; and all Penalties and Forfeitures which fhall happen by Virtue of this Act, fhall, within the City of London and Suburbs thereof, and within ten Miles Diftance of the fame, go and be, the one Moiety to the Informer or In- formers, and the other Moiety to the faid Company of Dyers ; and beyond fuch Compafs, the whole of fuch Penalties and Forfeitures fhall go and be to the Informer or Informers, and Profecutor or Profecutors ; and in cafe any Offender fhall neglect or refufe to pay any of the faid Penalties or Forfeitures, where the fame fhall not exceed the Sum of five Pounds, by the Space of twenty Days after the Conviction of fuch Offender, that then it fhall and may be lawful to and for the Juftices of the Peace, before whom fuch Con- viction was had, and fuch Juftices are hereby required to iffue their Warrant or Warrants under their Hands and Seals to the Conftable or Conftables of the Ward, Precinct, Parifh, Town or Place where fuch Offenders fhall inhabit, or can be found (within the Limits of his or their Jurifdiction) to levy the fame by Diftrefs and Sale of the Offender's Goods, returning the Overplus (if any be) to the Owner or Owners ; and where no fufficient Diftrefs can be found, to commit the Offender and Offenders to the Houfe of Cor- rection, there to be kept to hard Labour for fuch Time as the Juftices of the Peace, before whom fuch Conviction fhall be had, fhall think fit, not exceeding three Months. VI. Provided, That all Profecutions for Offences againft this Act fhall be commenced within forty Days next after the Offence committed or difcovered, and fhall be profecuted with Effect, and without wilful Delay ; and if any Perfon or Perfons fhall find him or themfelves aggrieved by the Judgment or Order of any of the faid Juftices of the Peace, fuch Perfon or Perfons may appeal to the Juftices of the Peace at the next General Quarter-Seffions to be held for the County, City, Town or Place where the Offence fhall be committed, giving reafonable and fufficient Notice of fuch Appeal, and the Judgment and Determina- tion of the Juftices at fuch General Quarter-Seffions fhall be final; and they have hereby Power, upon fuch Appeal, to allow fuch reafonable Cofts and Charges to either Party as they fhall think juft, to be levied and paid in fuch Manner, as is ufual in other Cafes of Appeal from Orders of Juftices of the Peace to the General Quarter-Seffions. VII. And be it enacted by the Authority aforefaid, That if any Action or Suit fhall be commenced pr profecuted againft any Perfon or Perfons for any Thing he or they fhall do in Purfuance of this Act, or in the Execution of any of the Powers thereby granted, all and every Perfon and Perfons fo fued may plead the General Iffue, and give this Act and the Special Matter in Evidence ; and if the Plaintiffs or Profecu- tors fhall become nonfuited, or forbear Profecution, or fuffer Difcontinuance, or a Verdict fhall be given againft him or them, or Judgment upon Demurrer, the Defendant or Defendants fhall recover his and their treble Cofts, for which he and they fhall have like Remedy as in Cafes where Cofts by Law are given to Defendants ; and this Act fhall be taken and allowed as a publick Act in all Courts and Places within this Kingdom, and all Judges, Juftices and others, are hereby required to take Notice thereof as fuch, without fpecial Pleading of the fame. CAP. XXV. An Act for the Free Importation of Cochineal, during the Time therein limited. /HERE AS Cochineal of the Growth of the Spanijh Weft-Indies, is of principal Ufe in dying Cloth, / and other the Woollen Manufactures of this Kingdom, of Scarlet, Purple and other Colours, called Grain Colours, to the great Improvement thereof, by which great Numbers of his Majefty's Subjects are employed in finifhing and perfecting fuch Woollen Manufactures ; and whereas fuch Cochineal, by the Laws in Being, cannot be imported but from Spain, or the Places of its Growth, and Britiflj Ships are not at prefent admitted into the Ports of Spain, and the Territories thereunto belonging, fo that this King- dom is not likely to be furnifhed with a fufficient Quantity of Cochineal for the neceiTary Service thereof, unlets fome Provifion be made for the free importing of the fame, during the Interruption of the Com- merce with Spain, whereby great Quantities of Cloths, and other Woollen Manufactures of this King- dom, are like to remain white in the Makers and Merchants Hands, for want of Cochineal to dye the fame into Grain Colours for Exportation ; and whereas in feveral Parts of Europe Cochineal is now fold at much cheaper Rates than in this Kingdom, and it is now ufed abroad in dying foreign Manufactures, 3 * at
