52 General Iffuet Treble Coflsi C. 21. Anno tertio Georgii III. A. D. 1762. III. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforefaid, That if any Action or Suit fhall be commenced againft any Perfon or Perfons for any Thing done in purfuance of this Act, the Defen- dant or Defendants in any fuch Action or Suit, may plead the General IfTue, and give this Act and the Special Matter in Exidence, at any Trial to be had thereupon ; and that the fame was done in purfuance and by the Authority of this Act; and if it fhall appear fo to have been done, the Jury fhall find for the Defendant or Defendants; and if the Plaintiff fhall be nonfuited, or dilcon- tinue his Action, after the Defendant or Defendants fhall have appeared, or if Judgment fhall be given upon any Verdict or Demurrer againft the Plaintiff ; the. Defendant or Defendants fhall .and may recover Treble Cofls, and have the like Remedy for the fame, as any Defendant or De- fendants hath or have in other Cafes by Law. CAP. XXI. An Act for explaining, amending, and rendering more effectual an Aft made in the nineteenth Year of the Reign of King Henry the Seventh, intituled, " Silk Works." Preamble,, recking Claufe inAfl 19 Hen, 7. w Foreign Silk Ribbands, Laces or Girdles import- ed, are forfeitable and may be feized by any Perfon j and the Importer forfeits alfo 100 1. and all Perfons affifting therein, 50 1. each. and the Venders,'Re- tailers, and Perfons con- cealing the fame, forfeit, befides the Lofs of the Goods, 50 1. One Moiety of the faid Penalties to go to the King, and the other to the Profecutor, to be recovered in any of the Courts at Weit- jninfter, ci Exchequer in Scot- land, HEREAS by an Act palled in the nineteenth Year of the Reign of King Henry the Seventh, intituled, " Silk Works," it is, amongft other Things, ordained and enacted, That no Manner of Perfon fhall from thenceforth bring or caufe to be brought into the Realm of ' England, to be fold, any Maiuier of Silk wrought by itfelf, or with any other Stuff, in any ' Place out of the faid Realm, in Ribbands, Laces or Girdles; upon Pain of Forfeiture of all the ' faid Ribbands, Laces and Girdles, and every of them, in whole Hands foever they be found, or e the Values of the fame, the one Moiety to the King, and the other Moiety unto any of the King's s Subjects that would fue for the fame; and whereas notwithftanding the aforefaid Act, and the ' other Laws now in Being, great Quantities of Foreign Manufactures, and particularly Ribbands,. ' Laces and Girdles, are brought into, and fold in this Kingdom, to the great Diminution of the ' Trade and Manufactures of this Kingdom, and to the great Prejudice, Hindrance and impove-
- rifhment of great Numbers of his Majefty's Subjects; an Evil which, if not timely prevented,
€ will affect and greatly leffen the Publick Revenue, and greatly Diftrefs the Silk Trade and Manu- ' factures of this Kingdom :' For Remedy whereof, Be it enacted by the King's molt Excellent Ma- jefty, by and with the Advice and Content of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this prefent Parliament affembled,'and by the Authority of the fame, That if any Perfon or Perfons fhall after the twenty-fourth Day of June one thoufnnd feven hundred and fixty-three, import, bring or convey, or caufe to be imported, brought or conveyed into this Kingdom, any Ribbands, Laces or Girdles, not made and manufactured in Great Britain, whether the fame be wrought of Silk alone, or wrought of Silk mixed with any other Materials ; all fuch Ribbands., Laces and Girdles fhall be, and the fame are hereby declared to be forfeited ; and the fame fhall and may be feized and detained by any Perfon or Perfons whatfoever, in whatever Importers, Venders or Retailers Plands the fame may be found or difcovered ; and fhall be difpofed of as herein after is mentioned ; .and the Perfon or Perfons bringing, conveying or importing luch Ribbands, Laces or Girdles into this Kingdom, or caufing the fame to be fo brought, conveyed or imported, - fhall alfo forfeit, for every Offence, the Sum of one hundred Pounds ; and all and every Per- fon and Perfons who fhall be aiding, abetting or affifting in the bringing and conveying or importing into this Kingdom any fuch Ribbands, Laces or Girdles as aforefaid, fhall feverally forfeit and pay the Sum of fifty Pounds, over and above any Intereft which he, fhe or they may have, or may have had, in any fuch Ribbands, Laces or Girdles. II. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforefaid, That all and every Perfon and Per- fons, being a Vender or Venders, Retailer or Retailers, of any Kind of Ribbands, Laces or Girdles reflectively, in whofe Cuftody or Poffeffion any fuch Ribbands, Laces or Girdles, or any. of them, fhall be found, or who fhall fell or expofe to Sale, any fuch Ribbands, Laces or Girdles as aforefaid, or who fhall conceal any fuch Ribbands, Laces or Girdles, with Intent to prevent the Forfeiture or Seizure of the fame, fhall, over and above the Forfeiture and Lofs of fuch Ribbands, Laces and Girdles, and all Intereft which he, fhe or they may have therein, for every fuch Offence forfeit and pay the Sum of fifty Pounds. III. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforefaid, That all pecuniary Forfeitures- and Penalties incurred under this Act fhall be paid, one Moiety to our Sovereign Lord' the King, his Heirs and Succeffors, and the other Moiety to him or them who will fue or profecute for the fame reflectively ; • fuch of the faid Penalties which fhall arife in that Part of Great Britain called England, to be fued and profecuted for in any of his Majefty's Courts of Re- cord at Wefiminfter, by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint or Information, in which no Effoin, Pro- tection, or Wager of Law, or more than one Imparlance, fhall be allowed; and fuch of them as fhall arife in that Part ai Great Britain called Scotland, to be fued and profecuted for in the Court of Exchequer at Edinburgh, in fuch Manner as any Penalties and Forfeitures for Offences againft the Laws touching the Cuftoms may be fued or profecuted for there refpectively. IV. Provided
