The County
Justices shall
appoint Constables
in
each Hundred,
at their
first County
Court after
Michaelmas,
who shall
take the
Oaths to the
Government,
and also
the Oath of a
Constable.
Persons so appointed,
refusing
to take
the aforesaid
Oaths, &c.
shall be fined
500 lb Tobacco.
Constables to
repair in Person,
to every |
BE it Enacted, by the King's
most excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice
and Consent of his Majesty's Governor, Council, and Assembly of
this
Province, and the Authority of the same, That the Justices of
Peace,
in every respective County of this Province, at the first County Court
held
after Michaelmas, shall * appoint Constables in each Hundred of their
several
and respective Counties; and the said Constables, so appointed, shall,
before
they enter into that Office, take the several oaths appointed to be
taken by
all Officers by the Acts of Assembly of this Province, and the Oath
of a Constable,
in Form following, (That is to say,)
" You A.B. shall well and truly serve out Sovereign Lord
the King, in the Office
" of a Constable. You shall see and cause that his Majesty's
Peace be well and
" duly kept, according to your Power. You shall arrest all
such persons as in
" your Presence shall commit any Riot, Fray, or other Breach of
his Majesty's
" Peace. You shall do your best Endeavour, upon Complaint
to you made, to
" seize all Felons, Barretors, Rioters, or Persons riotously assembled;
and if any
" such Offender shall make any Resistance with Force, you shall
levy Hue and Cry, and
" cause them to be pursued so as they may be taken. You shall
do your best Endeavour
" that Hue and Cry be duly raised and pursued against Murderers,
Thieves,
" and other Felons, and fugitive Servants. And the Laws and
orders against
" Vagabonds, and such other idle Persons, coming within your Limits,
be duly put
" in Execution at your County Courts coming. You shall, so
far as in you lies,
" put in Execution the Act of Assembly against profane Cursing,
Swearing and
" Drunkenness; and also true Presentment make of all Blood-sheds,
Affrays, Outcries,
" Rescues, and other Offences committed against his Majesty's Peace,
within
" your Limits. You shall well and truly execute all Precepts
and Warrants to you
" directed from the Justices of the Peace of this County, or higher
Officers. And
" you shall well and truly, according to your Power, Knowledge and
Ability, do
" continue in this Office. So help you GOD."
* By the Act of 1752, ch. 7,
§. 2, the County Clerk shall signify such Appointment within
5 Days, to the Sheriff and the Sheriff to the Person
appointed, within 10 Days, on Penalty of
20 Shillings Currency.
II. And if
the Person or Persons so appointed, shall, before any Justice of
the Peace, refuse to † take the several Oaths aforesaid, or shall refuse
to provide
a sufficient Person to supply his Place, by serving in the said Office,
and
taking the Oaths aforesaid, that then such person, so refusing, shall be
fined
to his Majesty, his Heirs and Successors, in the Sum of Five Hundred Pounds
of Tobacco, towards the defraying the Public Charge of that County, and
that such Justice of the Peace before whom such Refusal shall be made,
shall issue
his Warrant to the Sheriff, to levy the said Fine by Distress and Sale
of the
Goods and Chattels of such Person so fined as aforesaid, returning to him
the
Overplus; which said Sheriff is hereby impowered and required to levy the
same accordingly, and render an Account thereof to the Justices of Peace
of
that County at the Time of laying the County Levy.
† By the Act of 1752, ch. 7, §.
2, Persons so appointed shall qualify themselves by taking the
said Oaths within 5 Days after Notice given by the Sheriff of such Appointment,
under the Penalty
in this Clause mentioned.
III. And be it
Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, by and with the Advice
and Consent aforesaid, That every Constable, shall, on or before
the Twentieth
Day of June, in every Year respectively, repair in Person to every
House or |
