The Statutes at Large of South Carolina: Acts, 1753-1786

the court to have the copy of the said will attested and approved as afore- A. D. 1759. said, or returned, under a commission for that purpose, entered as of record amongst the proceedings of the said court.

III. And whereas, by an Act passed the ninth day of April, one thousand seven hundred and thirty-four, entitled "An Act for making more effectual last wills and testaments," all persons having any estate in fee simple, or any such estate in coparcenary, jointenancy, or tenancy in common, in any lands, tenements, rents, services, or other hereditaments in possession or reversion, may give, dispose, will or devise to any person or persons, (except bodies politic or corporate) by last will and testament, in writing, executed according to the twenty-ninth of Charles the Second, for preventing frauds and perjuries, at their own free will and pleasure; and whereas, it will tend to encourage a lewd and vicious course of life to permit such devises to be made in favour of illegitimate children, to the prejudice and disinherison of lawful issue; Be it therefore further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That so much of the second clause in the said Act as contradicts or repeals the ninth clause of the Act against Bastardy, passed the seventeenth day of September, one thousand seven hundred and three, be from henceforth repealed and made void.

BENJAMIN SMITH, Speaker.

In the Council Chamber, the 7th day of April, 1759.

AN ACT to allow a further time to the Assessors and Collectors for the No. 887. Parishes of St. Philip and St. Michael, for carrying into execution an Act of the General Assembly of this Province entitled "An Act for raising and granting to his Majesty the sum of £166,438 14 74, and applying £8,069 3 6, being the surplus of taxes, and balance of a fund in the public treasury, making together £174,507 18 14, to defray the charges of this Government, from the 25th day of March, 1757, to the 24th day of March, 1758, and for other services therein mentioned.

(Passed April 7, 1759. See last volume.)

AN ACT for raising and granting to his Majesty the sum of ninety-seven No. 888. thousand three hundred and sixty pounds fourteen shillings and four pence half penny, and applying eighteen thousand one hundred and nine pounds twelve shillings and five pence, being the surplus of taxes and balance of several funds in the public treasury, making together one hundred and fifteen thousand four hundred and seventy pounds six shillings and nine pence half-penny, to defray the charges of this Government from the twenty-fifth day of March, one thousand seven hundred and fifty-eight, to the thirty-first day of December, one thousand seven hundred and fifty-eight, inclusive, and for other services therein mentioned.

(Passed April 7, 1759. Omitted.)

A. D. 1760.

No. 889. AN ORDINANCE to authorize the impressing, regulating the hire, and ascertaining the value of waggons, carts, horses, and drivers, to be employed in his Majesty's service.

(Passed April 19, 1760. The original not now to be found.)

No. 890. AN ORDINANCE TO APPOINT JAMES REID, Esq. POWDER RECEIVER OF THIS PROVINCE.

WHEREAS, Robert Brewton, Esq., late Powder Receiver of this Province, is dead, and it is necessary that some proper person should be appointed to the said office, in his room,

I. Be it therefore ordained, by the Honorable William Bull, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor, by and with the advice and consent of his Majesty's Council, and the Commons House of Assembly of this Province, and by the authority of the same, That James Reid, Esq., be, and he is hereby appointed and declared, Powder Receiver of the said Province, to all intents and purposes whatsoever.

B. SMITH, Speaker.

In the Council Chamber, the 16th day of May, 1760.

Assented to:

WILLIAM BULL.

No. 891. AN ACT TO ENFORCE A DUE SUBORDINATION AND OBSERVANCE OF MILDISCIPLINE AMONG THE FORCES EMPLOYED IN THE SERVICE OF THIS PROVINCE.

Preamble.

ITARY

WHEREAS, this Province has raised, and provided for the raising and paying, a number of forces to act against the Cherokee Indians, who have committed various murders upon his Majesty's subjects of this and the neighbouring Provinces; and whereas, the not preserving a due subordination and regular discipline among the said forces, would disappoint and be destructive of the service for which they are intended; and forasmuch as all officers and soldiers mustered and in pay in America, are, by an Act of Parliament passed in Great Britain, at all times and in all places when joined or acting in conjunction with his Majesty's British forces, already made liable to martial law and discipline, in like manner as the British forces are, but no provision is as yet made or any rule established by which the forces raised or to be raised in this Province shall be regulated and governed when they act independently or detached, and not in conjunction with his Majesty's British forces: Therefore, to prevent the inconveniencies which may arise from not observing an exact discipline, and to prevent any mutiny and sedition in, or desertion from, the said service, and that speedy punishment may be inflicted, which the usual forms of law will not allow,

I. Be it enacted, by the Honorable William Bull, Esq., Lieutenant Governor, by and with the advice and consent of his Majesty's Council,

conduct.

and the Commons House of Assembly of this Province, and by the A. D. 1760. authority of the same, That from the time of passing this Act, and during the continuance thereof, if any person, being commissioned, enlisted, mus- Punishment for tered and in pay, or who shall hereafter voluntarily enter into the service soldierly misand pay of this Province, as an officer or soldier, shall begin, excite, cause or join in any mutiny or sedition, in the regiment or company to which he belongs, by striking his superior officer, or by drawing or lifting up any weapon, or offering any violence against him, being in the execution of his office, or shall disobey any lawful command of his superior officer, or shall be found sleeping upon his post, or shall leave it before relieved, or shall get drunk, or shall use any scurrilous or abusive language to his superior officer, or shall, withont leave of his commanding officer, absent himself from his company or from any detachment upon which he shall be commanded, or shall be convicted of having advised or persuaded any other officer or soldier to desert the said service, shall suffer such punishment, not exceeding thirty-nine stripes, with a cat-of-nine-tails, upon the bare back, and mulcting him of his pay, as shall, according to the nature of his offence, be inflicted upon him by the sentence of a court martial.

martial.

upon oath.

II. And be it also enacted, That the offences hereinbefore specified and enumerated shall be tried and adjudged by a court martial, to be appointed To be adjudged in the manner hereinafter directed, according to the form and method pre- by a court scribed in and by an Act of Parliament passed in the thirty-second year of his present Majesty, for the trial of offences committed against the said Act. III. And be it further enacted, That all muster rolls of the forces in the pay of this Province shall be returned upon oath, and every person making any false or untrue muster of men, or shall allow or sign any false All muster rolls muster roll, shall, upon proof thereof, upon oath made by two witnesses to be returned before the treasurer of this Province, calling to his assistance two other justices of the peace, (who are hereby authorized and required to administer such oath,) for such offence be mulcted such pay as he would have been entitled to, and further rendered incapable of holding any civil or military employment derived from any authority in this Province, and also hable to the pains and penalties inflicted on wilful and corrupt perjury. IV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That every soldier who shall enlist himself in the said service shall, previous to such enlistment, have this Act read to him, and also a certificate from under the hand of the officers with whom he enlists, setting forth the day of such soldier. enlistment and the time when his service is to expire, without which no person shall be deemed fairly enlisted, nor liable to be tried by any court martial.

V. And be it further enacted, That if any inferior officer or private soldier shall think himself wronged by his captain or other officer, it shall and may be lawful, upon complaint to the commanding officer of the said forces, to cause a court martial to sit for hearing and determining upon such complaint, to do justice to the party aggrieved; but if it shall appear, upon a fair hearing, to be vexatious and groundless, the party complaining shall be punished at the discretion of the court martial, in manner as hereinbefore directed.

VI. And whereas, there is not at present any power to hold general courts martial within this Province, for the purposes and upon the occasions aforesaid, Be it further enacted, That the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Commander-in-chief of this Province for the time being, may, and he is hereby authorized and impowered to, grant commissions under the great seal of this Province, to any commissioned officers of the said Provincial forces, for the holding general courts martial, which shall VOL. IV.-14.

This Act to be read to every

A. D. 1760. consist of not less than five, who shall proceed in the same manner as in the aforesaid Act of Parliament is directed and prescribed.

VII. And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That this Act Continuance of shall be and continue in force until the first day of August next, and no longer.

this Act.

B. SMITH, Speaker.

In the Council Chamber, the 16th day of May,

1760.

Assented to:

WILLIAM BULL.

No. 892. AN ACT FOR PREVENTING (AS MUCH AS MAY BE) THE CONTINUANCE OF THE SMALL POX IN CHARLESTOWN, AND THE FURTHER SPREADING OF THAT DISTEMPER IN THIS PROVINCE.

Preamble.

Inoculation prohibited within certain limits.

WHEREAS, the inhabitants of Charlestown have suffered greatly not only in their trade and commerce, but from a scarcity of provisions, by the raging of the disease or distemper commonly called the small pox in the said town; and whereas, the most probable means of preventing the said distemper being continued in the said town, as likewise the further spreading of the same in other parts of this Province, will be to inhibit all persons whosoever being inoculated or ingrafted therewith in or near the said town, or going or being carried thither after being so inoculated or ingrafted, and also all persons whosoever infected with that disease in any other manner being carried to or near the said town, as hath lately been frequently practiced; we therefore humbly pray your most sacred Majesty that it may be enacted,

I. And be it enacted, by the Honorable William Bull, Esq., Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-chief, by and with the advice and consent of his Majesty's Council and the Commons House of Assembly of this Province, now met in General Assembly, and by the authority of the same, That from and after the fifteenth day of June, in this present year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and sixty, it shall not be lawful to or for any person or persons whosoever, within the limits of Charlestown, or within two miles of the said limits, to inoculate or ingraft, or to cause or procure to be inoculated or ingrafted, the disease or distemper commonly called the small pox, in or upon him, her or themselves, or in or upon any other person or persons whosoever, nor wilfully and knowingly to inflict or cause to be inflicted the said disease or distemper, nor to use any art, device or contrivance, or cause or procure to be used any art, device or contrivance whatsoever, or wilfully and knowingly to do any act, matter or thing by which or by reason whereof the said disease or distemper of the small pox may be inflicted upon, given to or received by him, her or themselves, or any other person or persons whosoever within the limits aforesaid, or by which or by reason whereof the infection of the said disease may be spread or communicated to any person or persons whosoever Fine of £100. within the limits aforesaid, under pain of forfeiting the sum of one hundred pounds proclamation money for every such offence, to be recovered and disposed of in the manner hereinafter directed and appointed.

II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person or persons who shall, after the aforesaid fifteenth day of June, receive the aforesaid disease or distemper by inoculation or ingraftment,

infected

or on whom the said disease or distemper shall be voluntarily inflicted by A.D. 1760. any of the means aforesaid, shall be in any house, outhouse or place within the limits aforesaid, it shall and may be lawful for the commis- Commissioners sioners hereinafter named, or any one or more of them, or for any justice may remove an of the peace, having due information thereof upon oath, (which oath the person, said commissioners and each and every of them are hereby impowered to administer) to command such person and persons as they or he shall think fit, to their or his aid and assistance, and to place a guard at the house wherein such infected person or persons shall be, to prevent any communication with the infected person other than such as the said commissioners, or any one or more of them, or the said justice of the peace as aforesaid, shall think reasonable, at the expence of the offender or offenders, to be recovered by warrant under the hand and seal of any justice of peace, in the same way and manner as debts are recoverable by the Act for tryal of small and mean causes.

the

III. And be it enacted, That in case any person, after the said fifteenth day of June, who shall be inoculated or visibly or knowingly or known Penalty for to be infected with the said disease or distemper, shall come, be brought conveying an infected person or sent within the limits aforesaid, every such infected person, and all and within the every person and persons who shall direct and procure or assist in bringing, limits. sending or conveying such infected person within the limits aforesaid, shall forfeit severally and respectively, for every such offence, the sum of one hundred pounds proclamation money, to be recovered and applied as hereinafter is directed.

to meet and

IV. And that it may be more certainly known when the said town and parts adjacent are clear of the said distemper, and the inhabitants of the other parts of this Province may resort thereto, without danger of being infected, Be it enacted, That the said commissioners shall be, and they are hereby obliged, enjoined and required to meet on the first Monday in Commissioners August next, and on the first Monday in every month, from nine to twelve receive lists of of the clock, in the forenoon, at the State House, in Charlestown, as long infected as the said distemper shall continue within the limits aforesaid, to receive persons, from the inhabitants within the said limits a true list of the number of persons who shall be infected with the said distemper; and all and every master or mistress of families in the said limits, or other person having charge or care of such families, shall, and they are hereby obliged and required, on the first Monday in August next and on every first Monday aforesaid, to send in and return upon oath to the said commissioners or any one of them, (which oath the said commissioners or any of them are hereby impowered to administer,) a true and faithful list of all and every person and persons who are infected with the said disease in their respective families at the time when such lists shall be returned, according to the best of his or her knowledge, under pain of forfeiting the sum of ten pounds proclamation money; and the said commissioners shall from time to time as such lists shall be returned to them, publish in one of the Gazettes the number of the sick with the said distemper within the limits aforesaid, and in what parts of Charlestown such sick persons are.

كتب