and not easily perswaded to act in a doubtful Case when without doubt they may lawfully abstain and therefore they who are easily perswaded to it upon a Prospect of Preferment may justly be suspected But they who in such Case thrust themselves forward may be concluded to be Men of little Conscience Honesty or Honour And therefore I am of Opinion that they who believe in their Conscience that the late King hath yet a right to Reign and that King William and Queen Mary are only King and Queen de Facto and therefore refuse and oppose a Recognition of them to be rightfull King and Queen cannot in Honour or Honesty act in Council or War in this Case And for the same reason I am also of Opinion that neither can any Prince who acts not as a private Man for his own Interest but as a publick Person for a whole Society of Men and as our present Case is for the common Concern of divers other Princes and People in Prudence or Honour commit any such Employment to any Person of that Opinion For it is plainly to tempt him first to be false to his own Conscience for the sake of the Employment and next to be false to him who employs him for the sake of his Conscience For no Man can long act vigorously and steddily reluctante Conscientia and the Consideration that Right that is what he takes to be so may one day take place will be a continual check upon him for ever doing any considerable Service against it and a continual Motive to hearken to any probable Overtures for it And this Consideration that the King cannot in Honour commit any such Employment to them as things stand at present ought to be another Motive to them to abstain even out of Respect to the King if they have any for him and if they have not he hath the less reason to employ them But otherwise I would not have them abridged of the least benefit of the Revolution that their Hearts can in reason desire These several sorts of Persons are most of them of the Nobility Gentry Clergy or Citizens of some particular Cities or Officers in our Fleet and Armies But of all our Nobility or however of our Gentry Clergy and Citizens of the several Cities of the Nation I hope the greatest part by much and our Yeomanry and the great Body of the People and the Sea-men are beyond all dispute generally all entire for the present Settlement and Right of the present King and Queen And all these are also firm for the Protestant Religion and for the Common Good of the Nation and for the Common Cause of the Confederates And therefore it is all the reason in the World that all these that is the King and Queen the Protestant Religion the Common Good of the Nation and the Common Cause of all the Confederates should have the common and United Assistance of them all Nor can I believe that any will oppose it but such as are in truth in the bottom more hearty for a Party than for the Christian Religion for a Faction than for the common Good of the Nation for King James than for King William or for the Corruptions and Abuses of Popery than for the Purity and Power of the true Religion and for the Usurpations Incroachments and Tyranny of the French Nimrod than for the just and noble Cause of the Confederates And if this be true that I say and I be not greatly mistaken it will hence follow that the King himself is oblig'd in Prudence in Justice and Honour to recommend the Removal of all Impediments by the Statutes of the two last Reigns to the Parliament with all Earnestness and that he being a Protestant Prince hath great reason to resent any Opposition that shall be made to so necessary a Proposition and to take Notice of the Persons and Places which send any of them as such as are still so levened with Faction that they do not discern that the great Heats and Animosities which have long disturbed this Nation were principally occasioned and heightened to serve the Interest of the Papists or a mischievous Faction And since this Parliament was chosen before the Act of Pardon was pass'd and the Elections and Returns in many Corporations where were many Criminals were made with great Heat and Faction by such as were concerned to save themselves and all the Interest they could make as appears in the many Petitions before the Committee of Elections if this Parliament will not agree upon what is necessary for the Common Good it may prove a good Expedient to dissolve them and call another speedily which probably may be chosen more fairly and indifferently And thus much I thought fit to add to what I had mention'd before on the same Subjects because they are matters of so great Concern And now as to the special Qualifications of the Persons to be employed this poor Nation hath been long in a very pitiful Condition in this respect while this which ought principally to be regarded hath apparently been least and last of all sought after King Charles heartily favouring very few who would not either comply with him in his voluptuous Courses and Luxury or serve him either in his Illegal Projects and Designs or in abusing the Nation out of their Money and King James as few who would not one way or other serve the Interest of Popery And while these Princes studyed only to serve themselves and their own Humours it is no wonder if they were served but by few who did not the like that is more regarded their own private Gain and Advancement than the common Good of their Countrey And though we have now a Prince of a quite different Temper who industriously and vigorously prosecutes the Publick Good not only of these Kingdoms but of his Neighbours and Confederates also yet is he plainly under some difficulties by reason of the Persons he found in Imployments and whose Qualifications he could not so well know 'till he had some tryal and experience of them And therefore both the People of this Nation and our Confederates have great reason to bear patiently our Disappointments hitherto in great hopes to see things in a better posture another Year But though this Experience may satisfie him of the Fidelity and good Qualifications of many and of the Unfitness of others to be employed or trusted yet will he stand in need of good Advice and Information concerning others to supply their Places and the more by reason of the great Corruption of the Manners of this People by the last two Reigns which hath tainted them to say nothing here of other Immoralities with Unfaithfulness Greediness of Gain and narrow-soul'd Selfishness under superficial Appearances and plausible Pretences contrary to the true English Genius which is plain honest and trusty and stout hardy and industrious for the good of their Countrey And it is I doubt too true that those who were
as may be The Mischiefs thereby done to this Nation and to the Common Cause are greater already than most Men are well aware of We have promoted nothing are in no better a condition than we were in the Spring last was twelve month Our Condition has been much like that of a bewitched Cart we have whip'd and heav'd and made a great stir and yet are in effect but where we were if Ireland was now wholly reduced For it might certainly have been reduced at first with less difficulty than the taking of Limrick now at last Tyrconnel then wanted only some body to quit it to with some such Force and Power that he might do it honourably It is not to be doubted but there were some Hushat's then about the King who â—â—â—k the Occasion of his being a Stranger to impose upon him with specious dilatory Counsels Misieprosentations of things and ill Recommendations of Persons which was the more easie then to be done when most of our great Men were so intent upon improving the Opportunity for their own peculiar Advantage that they minded little else 'till they had secured what they could for themselves But this is not all besides the Loss of so much Time we have lost a great many Lives more without doing any thing than were necessary to have secured the whole Countrey at first We have lost much of our Trade not only at Sea but at Land also as much as depends upon our Trade at Sea and also lost vastly in what we had out before and was returning home or sent out since and besides lost it to our Enemies which makes it in effect a double loss to us And which by that means falls the heavyer upon the Nation have not done what we have done at last without so great Expence as will make our Supplies come so much the harder And all these are Losses actually sustain'd But in a true and just Estimate of the Mischief the Hazards and Dangers it hath brought us into ought also to be computed the common Hazard of War the great Trouble that a Disappointment at first in that Expedition might have occasioned and the Hazard of his Majesties Person to prevent it And one more which is of very great importance but such as few are so sensible of it as it deserves and that is the Confederacy lest a Dissolution or such Interruption therein as may retard their Proceedings should happen Which all things considered may very easily be and that makes the improvement of the Opportunity the more valuable and â—o much the more aggravates the Miscarriage of those who hinder it And though no such hath yet happened yet are we by this means still in more and more danger of it both by reason of the Charges of the War so long continued and of many unexpected Accidents which may occurr before the next Summer I say nothing here of the great Opportunity and Advantage of proceeding against France then under a great Consternation which was lost because it is not understood or considered nor perhaps will be believed And without that the other Mischiefs and Disappointments we have had and may still expect if the Occasions be not removed are sufficient to make all that have any sense and concern look about them The immediate Occasions of these Disappointments which have all proceeded from the Miscarriages of the Persons imployed were the imploying of such Persons as were not duely qualified And this leads us directly to the Persons who imployed them that is who either by Authority or by Recommendation were the immediate Causes or Occasions that they were imployed It is true they were all imployed by the King in some respect as by his Authority but all or most either immediately by others who were intrusted and Commissioned by him or at least by the Recommendations Perswasions or Advice of others And if any of these did act therein upon any sinister respects they were really and effectually Accessaries to the Disappointments which proceeded from the Miscarriages of the Persons so imployed Now what Sinister Respects might prevail in this matter and might therefore be the Original Occasions of the Employment of such Persons is not hard to be perceived by any Man who considers the present Disposition of a great part of this Nation and especially of those who souffle for Places or are very forward to catch at them There was not any Vice more propagated by the Evil Example of King Charles the Second than Greediness Vnfaithfulness and Knavery The Nation was cheated of their Money by corrupting their Trustees their Representatives in Parliament which was one of the greatest Knaveries that could be practised And this came at last to some of the grossest Shutting up the Exchequer seizing peoples Charity for the Redemption of Slaves and surprizing the Dutch Smyrna Fleet. And by such means were those about him taught to do the like and even to cheat himself which produced such a general Corruption in that respect that Cheating and Knavery came into Fashion and was affected so it could be done neatly as a recommendation of Wit and Parts and Honesty and Plain-dealing was despised as Ignorance of the World and Folly And so notorious were the Frauds and Cheats practised in his Reign as had never been known in this Nation before But this was not all it had this other pernicious Influence that many even of those who were not corrupted by it so far as to plain Knavery were yet plainly thereby infected with insatiable Avarice and Over-valuation of the things of the World and those generous and heroick Virtues of Piety and Charity and Faith which overcomes the World which make Men more active for the Service of God and their Countrey than for the Advancement of themselves or their Families in Estates or Honour among Men were either totally extinguished and suppressed or at least despised and reproach'd if they dared to appear with any confidence of their Innocence and Sincerity as Folly Madness Enthusiasm Fanaticism Precipitant Zeal Indiscretion Melancholly and whatever the selfish temporizing Genius of the times could imagine And the only Wisdom then in Fashion was Self-preservation and Self-seeking Pretences of Loyalty and Zeal for the Government and Self-Interest passed current as an excusable if not commendable End of all Mens Actions But the improvement of all Advantages and making the best of ones own was unquestionable And such in particular was the Selling of Places receiving of Gratifications for them or conferring them by way of Gratification or for Affection to Relations or Friends without much regard to the Service of the Publick This had so far prevailed then and excited such Emulation and Appetite in most Spectators and many who were then kept off at a distance that it is not credible that it should have ceased of it self since the late Revolution which brought many new Incentives with it but hath not yet produced any such Charms as were like to lay it This therefore
Temptation and mislead into it though I doubt the fault here in this will be as little understood as was that in the Order of the Parliament for the Thanksgiving by the Vindicator For when Mens Minds are much intended to the things of the World and bigg with the acquest of them they are usually thereby too much diverted and clouded to discern and be of quick Understanding in such matters be the importance thereof what it will But for the Error in Policy since we feel so much of it I think it greatly concerns the King and Kingdom that it be well underderstood and speedily redressed By that one Condescention which I mention'd before was much of that great Authority and true Majesty which the special Providence of God had conferr'd upon his Instrument and was really a Talent to be wisely used unhappily lost and subjected to a Party not entire for his Interest For thereby was the whole Party whereof many were doubtful before greatly confirmed and animated and raised above their Expectations and themselves Nor was this all for this made others who were not otherwise of the Party seeing the Stream run so strong that way presently fall in with them So that their numbers were thereby encreased by the concurrence of many who regarding only which side was most prevalent would as readily have joyned with those who being fully satisfied with the Justice of the Cause and of the Proceedings were cordial and entire Friends to it had they appeared as powerful in Favour at the Court. And this as it made them appear more considerable to others so that when they observ'd it made them still more confident to promote such Persons and Things as if throughly examined will be found to have been more for the Service of the late King James and the French King than of the present King and the Confederates Not only such as were heretofore Creatures of the late King but such as few thought well affected to this and are believed to have really done no little Service to the former and Disservice to this by unfaithful Management have been first recommended and afterward secured even from the effectual Proceedings of the Parliament it self And this again hath produced another mischievous Consequence that generally such as depend upon their Employments observing how all Miscarriages are covered and either wholly vindicated or greatly extenuated and the Agents protected and secured they dare not speak out what they know for fear of disobliging not only this powerful Party but even the Criminals themselves And as foul and gross a Miscarriage as this hath been of the late Admiral at Sea it is generally believed by such as converse much with Seamen that many are afraid to disoblige him if they should speak out In these Observations I might proceed one step further but I think fit to stop here this being sufficient to demonstrate to any man of sense in how dangerous a Condition the King and Queen are of being delivered up as an Expiatory Sacrifice to their Enemies and these Nations of being involved in Blood and Confusion and from whence all this Danger comes And though other Instances might be given of such Counsels and Proceedings as were of dangerous Consequence and mischievous to the King and his Interest yet I desire not to exasperate or aggravate things unnecessarily this which I have said being alone sufficient to evince the Error of that Policy from which all hath proceeded It makes me many times think of the Subtile Policies of King James the First who thought by his King-craft to have out-done all the World but was in most matters of moment over-reached himself Just such hath proved this daubing Policy of some conceited Politicians impatient of delay in some expected Preferments who unhappily mislead the King at his first coming into so dangerous and unsafe a Tract and being better skilled in the Theory of vulgar Policy than in the Practice of that which is solid and substantial by over-doing have undone all and built upon so false and sandy a Foundation as will bring all into Confusion unless it be speedily prevented by some very good and effectual Means For otherwise as we have been betrayed all along we are like still so to be till both King and Kingdom be surpriz'd and involv'd in some such Mischiefs as aforesaid This it is plain to all who have Wit enough to perceive it and Honesty enough to confess it was very near to have been our Case this Summer had not the special Providence of God interpos'd and prevented it by preserving both the Kings Person and our Fleet from the nearest approaches of Destruction that could be A Deliverance perhaps if well understood and considered in all its Circumstances not inferiour to those of the Spanish Invasion and Gun-Powder Treason And I wish we may be wise strengthen our selves indeed and mark and see what we do for at the Return of the Year those Syrians if they find still such Encouragement from home will certainly again come up against us But what are these Good and Effectual Means by which all this Mischief may be prevented Why that also I will endeavour by the Grace of God to declare plainly And the plain truth is it is meer Brutishness and Stupidity not to look further than all this and perceive a Precedent effectual Cause to which a proper application must be made before any Relief or Amendment can be had and which till that be done will rankle fester and produce still worse symptoms upon the use of whatever other Means we can think of For all this is of God who hath the Hearts of all Men in his Hand and hath done admirably in all these things hath corrected us but in mercy and given us fair warning He preserved our Fleet from surprize and sudden Destruction when at anchor in St. Hellens Bay the French were so near as Fresh-water Bay before they knew it And he preserved the King's Person when he yet suffered a Cannon Bullet to come so very near as to touch him He gave him a very Glorious Victory at Land and yet again so ordered it that he should suffer a great Diminution of all that Glory by a baffle of his Fleet at Sea and of his Army at Land against Lymerick whereas he could easily have prevented both if he had pleased I wish both King and People may lay these things to Heart and consider wisely what is fit to be done least the next Buliet may be permitted instead of the Skin to take the Heart and the next Engagement instead of Baffles bring Confusion upon the Nation It is dangerous dallying in this Case and dangerous trifling in Sacred Things I will not repeat what I have said before in my Reflections upon the Occurrences of the last Year indeed I need not for I have too much new Matter to mention Nor does it belong to me to enquire what hath been done in pursuance of the King 's Pious and
and Disturbers of the Peace of his Country so that the Person who conceals what he knows of that nature becomes accessary even after his Death to all the Evils which are afterward committed and might have been prevented by his Discovery Bendes an obstinate and wilful Concealment even to the Death is not only a Confirmation of that particular wicked Confederacy wherein the Person is engaged or any way concerned or acquainted but tends mightily to harden others and so to support all such wicked Confederacies in general Whereas did such Persons at least when apprehended in their Affliction become serious and not suffer themselves to be longer abused and imposed upon by such a vulgar Error and Diabolical Delusion but consider well judge rightly and act accordingly such wicked Confederacies could not subsist for want of mutual Confidence Nor is such Concealment only injurious to divers other particular Persons and a Violation of that Faith and Love which all Men owe to their Country but very pernicious and of evil consequence to the Partners and all other such Criminals because it encourageth them to venture upon and persist in such Courses as involve them more and more in Sin whereby they treasure up Wrath against the Day of Wrath and expose them to all those temporal Evils which usually first or last over-take them Whereas by such a Discovery as I have recommended the Persons discovered might possibly be reclaimed and brought to Repentance at least might be hindered from so much increasing their Score which were better for them though by an unnatural and otherwise untimely Death than that they should longer protract a miserable Life here to the increase of their Misery hereafter Nor is it less pernicious to the Malefactor himself For as without true Repentance no Pardon can be expected with God So whoever doth not all he can to make Restitution and repair all the Evil and Damage he hath done and to prevent all he can for the future can be no true Penitent holding still an implicit Confederacy at least with wickedness And as he can expect no Favour from God so is he to be looked upon by Men not as a Man of Honor in any respect but as a reprobate deluded and hardned Wretch an Enemy to Man-kind and a Confederate with Death and Hell and the Kingdom of Darkness an odious and detestable Creature insted of being in the least honourable as he vainly fancied That which only is Honourable or Commendable in such Case and the only true Wisdom is 1. To consider seriously the unreasonableness and wickedness of the Crime till such consideration hath produced a just Indignation and Abhorrence of it 2. To acknowledge ingenuously his own Folly and Impotence to yield to and be overcome by such a Temptation what-ever it was which induced him to it and not rather more manly to have born any hardships of a transitory human Life than so basely to have violated the Order of the Divine Providence which assigned those hardships for his Exercise and the Laws of his Country 3. To give Glory to God acknowledging the Justice of his Punishment and the special Providence of God who hath brought him to it not only in Justice but in Mercy too to cut off his Sin for Correction of his Miscarriages and that he may not be condemned with the World if he truly and effectually repent as is before directed 4. To endeavour as far as possible he can to break all such Confederacies and prevent all the Mischief which might otherwise be committed by a plain Discovery of all he knoweth This indeed would be an Evidence of such a Change and Disposition of Mind as is really valuable in the Judgment of all Good and Wise Men and acceptable in the sight of Almighty God and therefore truly Honourable with others and the truest wisdom for himself What I have here said to Criminals is fit to be considered by all who have any knowledge of any such Crimes That which they may fancy to be Faithfulness or Charity or Pity to Criminals is a great Mistake and Delusion and in truth Unfaithfulness and want of due regard to their Country That Malefactors be brought to condign Punishment both Justice and Charity to our Country require which is to be preferred before the Consideration of any particular Person And therefore to hinder or resuse ones Assistance to it is to prefer a Malefactor and desert the Duty he ows his Country But in other respects Chatity and Humanity requires more to be done for them than usually is with us THE END AN ACT FOR The more effectual Restraining and Suppressing of divers notorious Sins and Reformation of the Manners of the People of this Nation WHereas the Advancement of the Honour and Service of Almighty God and of the Protestant Religion which by his wonderful Providence hath been Established and Preserved in these Nations ought at all times to be the Chief Part of the Care as well of the Legistative as Executive Power of this Kingdom but more especially at this time after so admirable a Deliverance from so great and apparent Danger as lately threatned us And for that End a General Reformation of the Lives and Manners of all degrees of People of this Nation is earnestly desired by all good men and by all Means to be endeavoured as that which must Establish both the Church and State and secure to all their Religion Happiness and Peace All which seem to be in great Danger at this time by reason of the Overflowing of Vice which is too notorious in this as well as other neighbouring Nations and more particularly the Sins of Blasphemy Prophane Swearing and Cursing Perjury Prophanation of the Lords Day Adultery Fornication and Drunkenness Therefore for the better carrying on of so good a Work and for the more effectual preventing correcting and suppressing of the Horrid and Hellish sins of BLASPHEMIE and prophane Swearing and Cursing Be it Enacted by the King and Queens Majesty the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in this present Parliament assembled and by the Authority of the same That if any Person not disturbed in Brain by Sickness or otherwise shall at any time hereafter presume in word or writing to Blaspheme or speak or write contemptuously or scoffingly of God blessed for ever his Providence our Blessed Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus the Holy Spirit the Sacred Scriptures the Christian Religion or any of them the Person and persons in whose presence or hearing such Offence shall be committed shall and are hereby required presently to set down the Words expressing the said â—â—sence or so much thereof as he or they can remember and the manner thereof in writing and to give notice and testifie his and their Knowledge thereof upon Oath within the space of ten dayes unto some Justice of the Peace of the County or Place where the same shall be committed who is hereby authorized and required to administer the said Oath and to
suit of such Person as will prosecute for the same to and for his or their own use in which no Essoyn Protection or Wager of Law shall be allowed And in default of such prosecution within six Months after each several Offence shall forfeit the like summ and summs being thereof Convicted by Presentment or Indictment before the Justices of the Peace at the Quarter Sessions to be held for such County Division or Place where any such Offence shall happen to be committed as aforesaid One moiâ—ty to the King and the other to the Poor of the Parish where the Offence shall be committed And moreover for such second Offence shall be set in the Pillory in the next Market-Town or open Place And for the third Offence upon Conviction shall abjure the Realm And be it further enacted for the end and purpose aforesaid that no Person whatsoever keeping or that keep any publick Tavern Ale-house Tipling-house or other House of common Entertainment within the Cities of London or Westminster or Burrough of Southwark or places adjacent shall keep any Organ or other Instrument or Instruments of Musick for the Entertainment of Guests on pain of forfeiting the summe of 20 l. being thereof lawfully convicted upon Presentment or Indictment at the Quarter-sessions of the Peace and upon the further penalty of being disabled to sell Ale Wine or other Liquors by Retail for the space of a twelve Month after such Conviction And every person so convicted and yet selling any such liquors contrary to this Act shall be punished as selling the same without License And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that if any Women or Woman shall at any time after Sun-set and before Sun-rising be entertain'd or received into any Tavern Ale-house or other publick House of Entertainment as Guest or Guests except in Case of Travellers received into their Inns then the Master Mistriss or Dame of such Tavern or House upon proof thereof made before one or more Justice or Justices of the Peace shall forfeit 40 s. Vnless the said Master Mistriss or Dame shall prove by good and sufficient Testimony that such Woman and Women are of good Behaviour and Reputation And if afterwards the said Master Mistress or Dame shall permit the like Offence the said Tavern or House shall be taken and deem'd a Bawdy-house and the said Master Mistriss and Dame shall be punished as Keeper thereof And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that if any Offender within this Act shall not be Convicted and Punished by the Justice of Peace nor prosecuted at the Suit of any Party as is by this Act directed within the space of Months after the Offence committed that then the said Offender shall and may be Prosecuted at the Quarter-Sessions of the Peace or at the Assizes holden for the County where the Offence is committed by Indictment or Information within one Year after the Offence committed And be it also Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that when and as often as any Person shall be Convicted upon Indictment for any Offence contrary to this Act the Judge Justice and Justices before whom the Conviction shall be shall immediately thereupon signifie the same to the Bishop of the Diocess where the Offence shall be committed to the end that he may thereupon proceed to EXCOMMUNICATION of the Offender who shall not be absolved but by special Order of the Bishop upon Certificate by the Parson or Vicar and Church-Wardens of the Parish where the Offender shall inhabit that the said Offender shall on some Lords-Day in the Morning immediately after the Creed appointed for the Communion Service in the body or greatest Ile of the said Parish Church have publickly confessed his or her Offence and solemnly declared his or her unfeigned Sorrow and Repentance for the same And be it also Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that no Person Excommunicated or bound to be of Good Behaviour or Convicted of any Crime or Offence by Virtue or in pursuance of this Act shall be admitted to Vote or sit in Parliament or be capable to be Elected to serve in Parliament or to Act as Judge Justice of the Peace or Minister of Justice or to perform any publick Ecclesiastical Office within the Kingdom of England or Dominion of Wales or to maintain any Action of the Case for Scandalous Words or upon the Statute de Scandalis Magnatum until he shall be duely discharged of his Scourity for the good Behaviour and be absolved from his Excommunication as aforesaid and shall have paid and performed all Forfeitures Pains Penalties Costs and Charges incurred forfeited taxed or imposed by Virtue of this Act any Priviledge of Parliament or other whatever in any wise notwithstanding Provided that no Person excommunicate by Vertue or in pursuance of this Act shall by reason of any such Excommunication incurr or suffer any other temporal Punishment Disability or Incommodity than is by this Act appointed or Ordained any Law Statute Canon Vsage or Custom to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding And because the Effect of all Laws and the Honour of the Government in that respect doth depend upon the due Execution thereof to the end that this Act may be the more effectually put in Execution be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that the same shall be publickly read in all Cathedral Collegiate and Parish Churches and in all Chappels where the Common Prayers usually are or ought to be read immediately after the Creed appointed for the Communion Service on some Lords-Day before the 24th day of June next and afterwards once every Year upon the second Lords-Day in March and that for that purpose it shall be provided by the Church-Wardens of every Parish at the charge of their respective Parishes And that all Constables Tything-men Headboroughs and Church-wardens shall at the time of their Entrance upon their respective Offices be Sworn to put this Act in due Execution and to give Information of all Offences committed in their respective Parishes or by any person of the same Parish contrary to this Act or to the Statutes against Drunkenness unto some Justice of the Peace of the same County or Place within ten Dayes after the same shall come to their knowledge according to their best Skill and Vnderstanding And also that this Act shall be given in Charge to the Grand Jury by the Judges and Justices at their several Assizes and Quarter-Sessions to enquire and present the several Offences aforesaid and all Neglects of Justices Constables Church-Wardens and other Officers and Persons in the due Execution thereof And be it also Enacted that the Judge Justice and Justices before whom any Person shall be Convicted of any Offence by Vertue of this Act shall Order and cause to be paid unto such Prosecutor and Prosecutors as shall otherwise receive no benefit by this Act and to the several Witnesses such reasonable Costs and Charges and in such manner as he or they shall think fit And that in any Action brought against any Justice Constable or other Officer or Person for any thing done by Vertue or in pursuance of this Act the Defendant may Plead the General Issue and give the special matter in Evidence and upon Verdict for him or Non-suit of the Plaintiff shall recover his treble Costs The END