toms is hereby i mpowered
to stop any such Ship or Vessel, bound afore-
said, which shall be discovered within Two Leagues of the Shore of any
of
the said British Colonies or Plantations in
America, and to seize and take
from thence all the Goods which shall be found on Board such Ship or
Vessel for which no such Cocket or Cockets shall be produced to him.
And whereas British Vessels arriving from Foreign Parts at
several of
the Out Ports of this Kingdom, fully or in Part laden Abroad with Goods
that are pretended to be destined to some Foreign Plantation, do frequent-
ly take on Board some small Parcels of Goods in this Kingdom
which are
entered outwards for some British Colony or Plantation, and a
Cocket and
Clearance thereupon granted for such Goods, under Cover of which the whole
Cargoes of such Vessels are clandestinely landed in the British
American Do-
minions, contrary to several Acts of Parliament now in Force, to the
great
Prejudice of the Trade and Revenue of the Kingdom; for Remedy
where-
of, be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That from and
after
the First Day of May, One Thousand seven Hundred and sixty four,
no
Ship or Vessel shall, upon any Pretence whatsoever, be cleared outwards
from any Port of this Kingdom, for any Land, Island, Plantation,
Colo-
ny, Territory, or Place, to His
Majesty belonging, or which shall hereafter
belong unto or be in the Possession or under the Dominion of
His Majesty,
His Heirs or Successors, in America, unless the
whole and entire Cargo of
such Ship or Vessel shall be bona fide, and without Fraud, laden
and shipped
in this Kingdom; and any Officer of His Majesty’s Customs is hereby
im-
powered to stop any British Ship or Vessel arriving from
any Part of Europe,
which shall be discovered within Two Leagues of the Shore of any of the
said British Colonies or Plantations in
America, and to seize and take from
thence, as forfeited, any Goods (except as herein after mentioned) for
which
the Master or other Person taking the Charge of such Ship or Vessel shall
not produce a Cocket or Clearance from the Collector or proper Officer of
His Majesty’s Customs, certifying that the said Goods were laden on Board
the said Ship or Vessel in some Port of
Great Britain.
Provided always, That this Act shall not extend, nor be construed to
extend, to forfeit, for want of such Cocket or Clearance, any Salt laden
in
Europe for the Fisheries in
New England,
Newfoundland,
Pennsylvania, New-
York, and
Nova Scotia, or any other Place to which Salt is or
shall be al-
lowed by Law to be carried; Wines laden in the Madearas, of the Growth
thereof; and Wines of the Growth of the
Western Islands, or
Azores, and laden
there; nor any Horses, Victuals, or Linen Cloth, of and from
Ireland, which
may be laden on Board such Ships or Vessels.
And it is hereby further enacted, That if any Person or Persons shall
counterfeit, raise, alter, or falsify, any Affidavit, Certificate,
Sufferance,
Cocket, or Clearance, required or directed by this Act, or shall
knowingly or willingly make use of any Affidavit, Certificate, Sufferance,
Cocket, or Clearance, so counterfeited, raised, altered, or falsified, such
Per-
son or Persons shall for every such offence, forfeit the Sum of Five
hun-
dred Pounds; and such Affidavit, Certificate, Sufferance, Cocket, or
Clearance, shall be invalid and of no Effect.
And whereas by an Act of Parliament, made in the ninth Year of the
Reign of his late Majesty King George the Second,
intituled, An Act for
indemnifying Persons who have been guilty of Offences against the Laws
made
for securing the Revenue of Customs and Excise, and for enforcing those
Laws
for the future, and by other Acts of Parliament since made, which are
now
in Force, in order to prevent the clandestine Landing of Goods in this
Kingdom from Vessels which hover upon the Coasts thereof, several
Goods and Vessels, in those Laws particularly mentioned and described,
are declared to be forfeited, if such Vessels are found at Anchor, or hovering