446 LEGAL HISTORY 1718 It was therefore enacted that where any persons had been con- victed of any offence within the benefit of clergy, and were " liable to be whipt or burnt in the hand*"; and also where any persons might thereafter be convicted of fraud or petit larceny, <&c., and would be entitled to the benefit of clergy, and '* liable only to the Transport- penalties of burning in the hand or whipping" (except receivers tuted for and buyers of stolen goods), the Court before whom they were an? ^ convicted might, instead of ordering them to be burnt in the hand ^ ppng- ^j. -^iiiptj order that they should " be sent, as soon as conveniently might be, to some of his Majesty's colonies and plantations in America for the space of seven years : " And the Court should have power to "convey, transfer, and Transfer to make over such offenders to the use of any persons contracting for contractors ^^^-^^ transportation to them and their assigns for the term of seven years : " It was further provided that where any persons had been con- victed of offences for which death ought by law to be inflicted, Transport- Or where any persons should thereafter be convicted of any crimes stitutod tor ^or which they would by law be excluded the benefit of clergy, hanginif. ^^^ j^jg ]yfajesty should be pleased to extend royal mercy to them,
- upon the condition of transportation to any part of America,"
the Court might allow such offenders the benefit of a pardon under the Great Seal, and order the like transfer and conveyance of such offendera, and also of receivers and buyers of stolen goods, to any persons who should contract for the due performance of the trans- portation and their assigns, for the term of fourteen years, " in case such conditions of transportation were general, or else for
- Buiiiing in the hand was one of the last remnants of the old practice of
mutilation which used, in times preceding the Norman Conquest, to be inflicted for all kinds of petty offences. Branding on the forehead, catting off the hands or feet, the nose, ears, or upper lip, catting out the tongae, plucking out the eyes, tearing away the scalp, and sometimes flaying or burning alive, were among the punishments sanctioned by the Saxon laws, and subsequently adopted by the Norman. By the statute of Vagabonds, passed in the time of Edward VI, a runaway servant was to be branded on the breast with the letter V; and if he absented himself for fourteen days he was to be branded on the forehead or cheek with the letter S, and adjudged to be the slave of his master for ever. One of Elizabeth's statutes enacted that a vagabond above fourteen years of a^ was to be grievously whipped, and burned ** through the grissie of the right ear with a hot iron of the compass of an inch," unless some responsible person should take him into service for a year. Branding in the hand was subsequently substituted for ecclesiastical compurgation. The practice was not discontinued until the time of George III. Digitized byCjOOQlC
