as a Public Act; and that all Judges and Justices shall take notice of it without special pleading; and all Sheriffs, Bailiffs, and other Officers and Ministers of Justice, concerned in the execution of process, are hereby required to have regard to this Act, as they will answer the contrary at their peril.

(2.)—ACT of the British Parliament, “for regulating the Trade with the British Possessions in India, by the Ships of Nations in amity with His Majesty*."

[37 Geo. 3. Cap. 117.]

[19th July, 1797.] WHEREAS by an Act passed in the 12th year of the Reign of His late Majesty King Charles II [Cap. 18], intituled, "An Act for the encouraging and increasing of Shipping and Navigation," it was enacted, that from and after the 1st day of December, 1660, and from thenceforward, no goods or commodities shall be imported into or exported out of any Lands, Islands, Plantations, or Territories, to His Majesty belonging or in his possession, or which may hereafter belong unto or be in the possession of His Majesty, his Heirs and Successors, in Asia, Africa, and America, in any other Ship or Ships, Vessel or Vessels, than such as do truly and without fraud belong unto the People of England or Ireland, Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, or are the built of and belonging to any of the said Lands, Islands, Plantations, or Territories, as the Proprietors and right owners thereof, and whereof the Master and three-fourths of the Mariners at least are English, under certain penalties and forfeitures therein mentioned: and whereas it is expedient that the Ships and Vessels of Countries and States in amity with His Majesty should be allowed to import goods and commodities unto and to export the same from the British Territories in India, subject to certain restrictions and regulations; 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 from and after the passing of this Act, and during the continuance of the exclusive trade of the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies, and during the term for which the Possessions of the British Territories in India is secured to the said United Company, it shall and may be lawful for the Ships and Vessels of Countries and States in amity with His Majesty to import into and export from the British Possessions in India, such goods and commodities as they shall be permitted to import into and export from the said Possessions by the Directors of the said Company, who are hereby directed to frame such regulations for carrying on the trade to and from the said Possessions, and the Countries and States in amity with His Majesty, as * Cited, as unrepealed, in Act 7 and 8 Geo. 4. Cap. 74.

shall seem to them most conducive to the interest and prosperity of the said British Possessions in India, and of the British Empire; and no Ship or Vessel belonging to any of the Subjects of States or Countries in amity with His Majesty shall be liable to seizure, confiscation, or forfeiture, or other penalty, for exporting from or importing into the said British Possessions in India any goods or commodities, the importation or exportation of which respectively shall be permitted by the said regulation; anything in the said herein-before recited Act of the 12th year of the Reign of King Charles II to the contrary notwithstanding: provided always, that it shall not be lawful for the Directors of the said United Company to frame any regulations for the conduct of the said trade, which shall be inconsistent with any Treaty or Treaties which shall have been or may be entered into by His Majesty, his Heirs and Successors, and any Country or State at amity with His Majesty, or which may be inconsistent with any Act or Acts of Parliament which have been passed for the regulation of the trade and commerce of the said British Territories in India.

II. And be it further enacted, that all such regulations as shall be framed by the said Court of Directors, for carrying on the trade to and from the British Possessions in India, and the Countries and States in amity with His Majesty, shall be and they are hereby directed to be subject to the superintendence, direction, and control of the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India, in the same manner as all acts, operations, and concerns, which anywise relate to or concern the Civil and Military Governments and Revenues of the British Territories and acquisitions in the East Indies, now are.

III. And be it further enacted, that it shall not be lawful for any General Court of Proprietors to alter or change, or to direct or order or authorize the altering or changing, any Resolution of the Court of Directors, or to rescind, revoke, suspend, or vary the same, in so far as the same relates to the intercourse of Foreign Nations in amity with His Majesty and the British Territories in India.

(3.)-ACT of the British Parliament, for carrying into effect the Provisions of a Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation between His Majesty and The Prince Regent of Portugal*. [51 Geo. 3. Cap. 47t.]

[31st May, 1811.] WHEREAS according to an Act passed in the 12th year of the Reign of His Majesty King Charles the IInd [Cap. 18], intituled, “An Act for the encouraging and increasing of Shipping and Navigation," and other Statutes, no goods or commodities whatever, of the growth, production, or manufacture of America, can be imported into this Kingdom or the Islands of Guernsey and Jersey, in any other than *See Page 513. + Cited, as saved, in Act 6 Geo. 4. Cap. 111.

British-built Ships, owned by His Majesty's Subjects, navigated with a Master and 3-fourths of the Mariners British Subjects, and registered according to Law, on forfeiture of all such goods or commodities, and of the Ship or Vessel in which they are imported : And whereas the following goods and commodities; that is to say, masts, timber, boards, salt, pitch, tar, rosin, hemp, flax, raisins, figs, prunes, olive oil, corn or grain, sugar, pot ashes, wine, vinegar, aquavitæ, or brandy, being the growth, production, or manufacture of Europe, are, by the said recited Act of the 12th year of the Reign of His said late Majesty King Charles the IInd, and by subsequent Acts, required to be imported into Great Britain in Ships or Vessels, which before the 1st day of May, 1786, did truly and without fraud wholly belong to His Majesty's Dominions, or which are the built of His Majesty's Dominions, and registered respectively according to Law; or in Ships or Vessels the built of any Countries or places in Europe, belonging to or under the dominion of the Sovereign or State in Europe of which the said goods or commodities so enumerated or described as aforesaid, are the growth, production, or manufacture respectively, or of such Ports where the said goods can only be or are most usually first shipped for transportation, such Ships or Vessels being navigated with a Master and 3-fourths of the Mariners at the least belonging to such Countries or Places or Ports respectively, and in none other Ships or Vessels whatever, under the like penalty of the forfeiture of any such goods or commodities as shall be imported contrary thereto, together with the Ship or Vessel in which the said goods are imported: And whereas it is expedient, in order to carry into effect the provisions of a Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, concluded between His Majesty and His Royal Highness the Prince Regent of Portugal, signed at Rio de Janeiro the 19th day of February, 1810, that so much of the said recited Act passed in the 12th year of the Reign of His said late Majesty King Charles II, and any other Act. or Acts of Parliament as may prohibit goods, wares, and merchandise of the growth, produce, or manufacture of any of the Territories or Dominions belonging to the Crown of Portugal, which are not prohibited by Law to be imported from other Foreign Countries, from being imported from the said Dominions or Territories in Ships or Vessels the built of the said Territories or Dominions, or captured by any Ship or Vessel of War of the Portuguese Government, or by any Ship or Vessel having Letters of Marque and Reprisal from the said Government, and condemned as lawful Prize in any Court of Admiralty of the said Government, such Ship or Vessel being owned by Subjects of the said Government, and navigated with a Master and 3-fourths of the Mariners at the least, belonging to the Territories or Dominions of the said Government, on forfeiture of such goods, and of the Ships or Vessels

in which the same may be imported, should be repealed; and that such goods, wares, and merchandises, and the Vessels so importing the same, should not be subject to forfeiture on account of such importation: 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, from and after the passing of this Act, so much of the said recited Act passed in the 12th year of the Reign of His late Majesty King Charles II and any other Act or Acts of Parliament in force on and immediately before the passing of this Act, as may prohibit any goods, wares, or merchandise of the growth, produce or manufacture of any of the Territories or Dominions of the Crown of Portugal which are not prohibited by Law to be imported from other Foreign Countries, to be imported into this Kingdom, or the Islands of Guernsey or Jersey, in Ships or Vessels the built of the said Territories or Dominions of the Crown of Portugal, or taken by any Ship or Vessel of War belonging to the Portuguese Government, or by any Ship or Vessel belonging to any of the Inhabitants of any of the Territories or Dominions aforesaid, and registered according to Law, having Commissions or Letters of Marque and Reprisal from the Portuguese Government, and condemned as lawful Prize in any Court of Admiralty of the said Government, such Ship or Vessel so importing being owned by Subjects of the said Government, and navigated with a Master and 3-fourths of the Mariners at the least, Subjects of the said Government, on forfeiture of the said goods, wares, and merchandise, and also of the Ship or Vessel in which the same may be imported; shall be, and the same are hereby repealed.

II. And be it further enacted, that from and after the passing of this Act, any goods, wares, and merchandise, being of the growth, produce, or manufacture of any of the Territories or Dominions of the Crown of Portugal, which are not prohibited by Law to be imported into this Kingdom, or the Islands of Jersey and Guernsey, from other Foreign Countries, shall and may be imported into this Kingdom, and the Islands of Guernsey and Jersey, direct from any such Territories or Dominions, in any Ship or Vessel built in any of the said Territories or Dominions of the Crown of Portugal, or taken by any Ship or Vessel of War belonging to the Portuguese Government, or by any Ship or Vessel belonging to any of the Subjects of the Territories or Dominions aforesaid, or having Commissions or Letters of Marque and Reprisal from the said Government, and condemned as lawful Prize in any Court of Admiralty of the said Government, and owned by the Subjects of such Government, or any of them, and whereof the Master and 3-fourths of the Mariners at least are Subjects of such Government, and such goods, wares, and merchandise shall and may be entered and landed upon payment of

the Duties, and subject to the conditions and regulations herein-after mentioned; any Law, custom, or usage to the contrary in anywise notwithstanding.

III. And be it further enacted, that all such goods, wares, and merchandises so imported directly into this Kingdom from any of the said Territories or Dominions of the Crown of Portugal in such Portuguese Ships or Vessels, so owned and navigated as are hereinbefore particularly mentioned and described, shall and may be entered and landed on payment of such Duties of Customs and Excise, and no higher, as are payable on goods, wares, and merchandise of the like denomination or description upon their importation into this Kingdom from any other Foreign Country in British-built Ships or Vessels, owned, navigated, and registered according to Law; and in cases where different Duties are imposed upon any goods, wares, or merchandise of the like denomination or description so imported from different Foreign Countries, then upon payment of the lowest Duties which by Law are required to be paid on the importation in Britishbuilt Ships or Vessels of any such goods, wares, or merchandise from any Foreign Country.

IV. And whereas it is expedient to permit the importation of elephants' teeth and ivory into this Kingdom from any of the Dominions of the Crown of Portugal; be it therefore enacted, that it shall and may be lawful for any Person or Persons to import into this Kingdom elephants' teeth and ivory from any of the said Dominions, either in British-built Ships or Vessels, owned, navigated, and registered according to Law, or in such Portuguese Ships or Vessels as are in this Act before-mentioned and described, and owned and navi. gated in the manner herein-before also mentioned and described, notwithstanding such elephants' teeth or ivory may not be of the produce of any of the Dominions of the Crown of Portugal; and such elephants' teeth or ivory so imported may be entered and landed on payment of such Duties only as are due and payable on such articles when imported in a British-built Ship or Vessel, owned, navigated, and registered according to Law; anything contained in an Act passed in the 12th year of King Charles II, intituled, "An Act for the encouraging and increasing of Shipping and Navigation," or in any other Act or Acts of Parliament to the contrary notwithstanding.

V. And be it further enacted, that so much of an Act passed in the 31st year of the Reign of His present Majesty, [Cap. 38,] intituled, "An Act to amend an Act made in the 28th year of His present Majesty's Reign, for regulating the trade between the Subjects of His Majesty's Colonies and Plantations in North America, and in the West India Islands, and the Countries belonging to the United States of America, and between His Majesty's said Subjects and the Foreign