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Persons making signals by Fire, &c. by Night on or within Six Miles of the Coast of Great Britain to Smugglers, declared guilty if a Misdemea-meanor, and may be carried before Justice of the Peace, who may commit them till the Assizes, &c.
Penalty on Conviction 100 l. of One Year’s Imprisonment.
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XXXIV. And be it further enacted, That from and after the passing of this Act, no Person or Persons shall after Sun-set and before Sun-rise, between the Twenty-first Day of September and the First Day of April, or after the Hour of Eight in the Evening and before the Hour of Six in the Morning, between the last Day of March and the Twenty-second Day of September, make, or aid or assist in the making, or be present for the Purpose of aiding or assisting in the making any Light, Fire, Flash, or Blaze, or any Signal by Smoke, or by any Rocket, Fireworks, Flags, firing of any Gun or other Fire Arms, or any other Contrivance or Device in or on board, or from any Ship, Vessel, or Boat, or on or from any Part of the Coast or Shores of Great Britain, or within Six Miles of any Part of such Coast or Shores, for the Purpose of making or giving any Signal to any Person or Persons on board any Smuggling Ship, Vessel, or Boat, whether such Person or Persons so on board of such Ship, Vessel, or Boat, be or be not within Sight or Distance, to see or hear any such Light, Fire, Flash, Blaze, or Signal; and if any Person or Persons shall, contrary to the true Intent and Meaning of this Act, make or cause to be made or aid or assist in the making, or be present for the Purpose of aiding or assisting in making any such Light, Fire, Flash, Blaze, or Signal, such Person or Persons so offending shall be guilty of a Misdemeanor; and it shall be lawful for any Officer or Officers of the Customs or Excise, or any other Person or Persons, to stop, arrest, and detain the Person or Persons, who shall so make or aid, or assist in the making, or who shall be present for the Purpose of aiding or assisting in making any such Light, Fire, Flash, Blaze, or Signal, and to carry and convey such Person or Persons so offending as aforesaid before any One or more of His Majesty’s Justices of the Peace, residing near to the Place where such Offence shall be committed, who, if he or they see Cause, shall commit the Offender or Offenders to the next County Gaol, there to remain until the next Court of Oyer and Terminer, Great Session or Gaol Delivery, or until such Person or Persons shall be delivered by due Course of Law; and in case an Indictment shall be found or Information filed against him or them, he or they shall forthwith plead thereto, and shall be tried thereon, without having Time to traverse the same, as is usual in Cases of Misdemeanors; and it shall not be necessary to prove in any such Indictment or Information, that any Ship, Vessel, or Boat was actually hovering or off the Coast or Shore, or found or discovered to have been within any Limits or Distances mentioned in this Act, or any Act or Acts passed for the Prevention of Smuggling; and the Offender or Offenders being duly convicted thereof, shall, by Order of the Court before whom such Offender or Offenders than he convicted, either forfeit and pay the Penalty or Forfeiture of One hundred Pounds, or, at the Discretion of such Court, be sentenced to or committed to the Common Gaol or House of Correction, there to be kept to hard Labour for any Term not exceeding One Year.
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