A. D. 1762. V. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person or persons whatsoever, at any time or times after the passing this Cheating, how Act, do or shall, by fraud, or shift, cousenage, circumvention, deceit or unto be punished. lawful device or ill practice whatsoever, in playing at and with cards and dice, or any of the games aforesaid, or in bearing a share or part in the stakes, wagers or adventures, or in or by betting on the sides or hands of such as do or shall play as aforesaid, win, obtain or acquire to him or themselves, or to any other or others, any sum or sums of money, or other valuable thing or things whatsoever, that then every person or persons so winning by such ill practices as aforesaid, being convicted thereof, upon an indictment, to be exhibited against him or them for that purpose, shall forfeit five times the value of the sum or sums of money or other thing, so won as aforesaid; and in case of such ill practice as aforesaid shall suffer such corporal punishment as the court before whom the same shall be tried shall think fit to inflict, not extending to the loss of life or member, and such penalty to be recovered by such person or persons as shall sue for the same, by such action as aforesaid. Quarrelling. Keepers of public houses not to permit gaming. VI. And for preventing such quarrels as shall or may happen upon the account of gaming, Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in case any person or persons shall assault and beat, or shall challenge or provoke to fight, any other person or persons, upon account of money won by gaming, playing or betting at any of the games aforesaid, such person or persons so assaulting, beating, challenging or provoking to fight such other person or persons, upon the account aforesaid, shall, being thereof convicted, upon an indictment or information to be exhibited against him or them for that purpose, forfeit to his Majesty, his heirs and successors one hundred pounds proclamation money, and shall also suffer imprisonment, without bail or mainprize, in the common goal in Charlestown, during the term of one year. VII. And whereas, the occupiers of many licenced public houses and other houses wherein liquors are sold, frequently suffer gaming therein, and apprentices, overseers, journeymen, laborers and servants, by means thereof, not only misspend their time, but are often reduced to poverty and distress; Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the first day of July next, if any person or persons licenced to sell any sorts of liquors, or who shall sell or suffer the same to be sold in his or their house or houses, or in any out-houses, ground, or apartments thereto belonging, shall knowingly suffer any gaming with cards, dice, draughts, shuffle-boards, billiard tables, skittles, nine pins, or at or with any other games or implements of gaming, in his, her or their outhouses, ground, or apartments thereto belonging, by any apprentices, overseers, journeymen, labourers or servants, and shall be convicted of the said offence, on their own confession, or on the oath of one or more creditable witness or witnesses, exclusive of the person giving information thereof, before any justice or justices of the peace for the county wherein the offence shall be committed, within twenty days after such offence shall be committed, he, she or they so offending shall, for every such offence, forfeit and pay the sum of forty shillings proclamation money; and for every like offence which he, she or they shall afterwards be convicted of before any such justice or justices of the peace, he, she or they so offending shall forfeit and pay the sum of four pounds proclamation money; all which sums of money, so forfeited, shall be levied by distress and sale of the offender's goods and chattels, by warrant from the justice or justices before whom such offender or offenders shall be convicted, which warrant every such justice or justices is and are hereby required and authorized to grant; and three fourths of all sums which shall be so forfeited shall, on the recovery thereof, be paid to the churchwardens or vestry of the parish in which the offence shall be committed, for the use of the poor of the said parish, and the other fourth thereof to the person or persons on whose information the party or parties offending shall have been convicted; and in default of payment thereof, such offender or offenders shall, by a warrant under the hand of such justice or justices as aforesaid, be committed to the work-house in Charlestown, there to remain and be kept to hard labour for any time not exceeding the space of ten days, or until the money so forfeited shall be paid. A. D. 1762. VIII. And be it likewise enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the first day of July next, if any apprentice, overseer, journeyman, Penalty on aplabourer, or servant, shall game in any house, out-house, ground, or apart-Proprices a prentices and ment thereto belonging, wherein any liquors shall be sold, and shall be gaming. convicted of the said offence, by oath of one or more creditable witness or witnesses, or on his own confession, every such offender shall forfeit and pay the sum of twenty shillings proclamation money, every time he shall so offend and be convicted as aforesaid, to be paid and applied as hereinbefore is directed with regard to persons selling liquors and permitting such gaming, and in default of such payment shall, by warrant under the hand of such justice or justices as aforesaid, be committed to the workhouse in Charlestown, there to remain and be kept to hard labour for any time not exceeding the space of five days, or until the money so forfeited shall be paid. the peace on IX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful to and for any justice or justices of the peace of any Proceedings county, and he and they is and are hereby required, upon complaint on of justices of oath of any offence committed against this Act, to issue his or their war- complaint rant to some constable of the parish wherein the offence shall be charged being made of to have been committed, or where the offender shall reside, for bringing gaming. before him or them, or some other justice of the same county, the person or persons charged with such offence, and he and they is and are hereby authorized and required to hear and finally to determine the matter of such complaint, and to proceed to judgment and conviction thereupon, without any appeal therefrom; and if it shall appear, by oath of any Witnesses to creditable person, that any persons within the said justice's jurisdiction be summoned. can give material evidence against any offender against this Act, or on behalf of the person accused, and who will not voluntarily appear to be examined, such justice or justices may and shall issue his or their summons to convene every such person before him or them, to be examined on oath concerning the premises; and in case of refusal to be examined Penalty on as aforesaid, without just cause for such refusal, it shall be lawful for such refusing to justice or justices to fine such person or persons a sum not exceeding four appear. pounds proclamation money, and in default of payment thereof in three days, then to commit every such person or persons, by warrant under his or their hand and seal, to any public prison, for any time not exceeding ten days; and the expense attending such several commitments shall be borne and paid by the parties offending against this Act, if of ability to pay the same, which shall be levied by warrant as aforesaid, and if not, the same shall be paid by the public, in like manner as is done for conveying criminals to gaol. X. Provided always, and be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in all proceedings in pursuance of this Act, any inhabitant of the parish Any inhabitant in which such offence shall be committed, contrary to the true intent to be a compethereof, shall be admitted to give evidence, and shall be deemed a compe VOL. IV.-21. tent witness. A. D. 1762. Justices of tent witness, notwithstanding his, her or their being an inhabitant or inhabitants of such parish. XI. And in order the more effectually to suppress so great an evil, Be it also further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for any justice or peace and con- justices of the peace, or constable, and he and they is and are hereby austables impo-thorized and required, upon his or their receiving information from any gaming houses credible person, or who shall himself know, or have reasonable and just and arrest the cause to suspect, that there are any such persons as aforesaid gaming in any ered to inmates. A public Act. years. licensed public houses, or other house selling liquors, contrary to the intention of this Act, taking with him two other creditable persons, to enter into the same, demand being first made for so doing; and in case of refusal, to break open the doors of such houses, and search for and seize, and apprehend any person or persons as aforesaid, in order to his, her or their being prosecuted for such offence according to law. XII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That this Act shall be deemed a public Act, and be taken as such by all judges, justices and magistrates, and in all courts within this Province, without special pleading, and shall continue in force for the space of seven years, and from thence to the end of the next session of the General Assembly, and no longer. B. SMITH, Speaker. In the Council Chamber, the 19th day of May, 1762. Assented to: THOMAS BOONE. No. 912. Preamble. A parish church to be built for St. Stephen. AN ACT FOR ERECTING A NEW CHURCH IN THE PARISH OF SAINT WHEREAS, many of the inhabitants of the parish of Saint Stephen, by their humble petition to the General Assembly, setting forth that the present parish church of St. Stephen is an old, decayed wooden building, and too small for the number of parishioners, which has greatly increased since the said church was first erected as a chapel of ease to the parish of St. James Santee, before the division of that parish from the said parish of St. Stephen, have prayed that a new parish church may be erected in the said parish of St. Stephen; we therefore humbly pray his most sacred Majesty that it may be enacted, I. And be it enacted, by his Excellency Thomas Boone, Esq., Captain General, Governor and Commander-in-chief in and over the Province of South Carolina, by and with the advice and consent of his Majesty's Council and the Commons House of Assembly of the said Province, and by the authority of the same, That a church shall be built by the commissioners hereinafter named, on any part of the land in the said parish of St. Stephen now used for a church-yard to the present parish church thereof; and that the church so to be built thereon shall, when finished, be, and it is hereby declared to be, the parish church of the said parish of St. Stephen; any law, usage or custom to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding. A. D. 1762. appointed. II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That John Pamor, Charles Cantey and Philip Porcher, Esquires, Mr. Joseph Pamor, Commissioners Mr. Peter Sinkler, Mr. Peter Porcher, Mr. Thomas Cooper, Mr. Rene Peyre and Mr. Samuel Cordes, or a majority of them, be, and they are hereby appointed, commissioners for building the said church and setting up pews therein; and they and every of them are and is hereby authorized and impowered to take and sue for subscriptions to and for the same, and to receive, gather and collect all such sum and sums of money as any pious and well disposed persons shall give and contribute for the purposes aforesaid; and in case of the death, absence or refusal to act of any of the said commissioners, the remaining commissioners, or any five of them, Vacancies. shall and may, and they are hereby fully authorized and impowered to, nominate and appoint another person or persons to be commissioners in the room and place of such person or persons so dying, absenting or refusing to act, and the person and persons so nominated and appointed shall have the same power and authority for putting this Act in execution, to all intents and purposes, as the commissioners herein named. pews. III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said commissioners, or any five of them, with the monies to be collected To build the by the contributions aforesaid, shall have power, and they are hereby church and authorized and required, as soon as conveniently may be, to build the said dispose of the church, and to set up pews in the same, in such manner as they in their discretion shall think fit, which pews shall be made as equal in size as can be, and shall be disposed of in manner following; that is to say, the person who shall have contributed most towards the building the said church, shall be entitled to have the first choice of the pews in the same; and if it shall happen that several persons have contributed equally, such persons shall draw lots for the choice; and the said commissioners, or any five of them, are hereby impowered and required to convey the said pews to such persons, their heirs and assigns, for ever, by any instrument in writing, under their hands and seals, for that purpose. IV. And whereas, Rene Peyre, by his humble petition to the General Assembly, representing that the road leading from Palmer's ferry to Watboo bridge runs through the middle of his plantation, and is of very great detriment to him; that he hath, therefore, laid out a new road, with the leave of all persons concerned or interested therein, shorter than the old, prays that the said new road may be established by law, instead of part of the old road; Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the new road in the parish of St. Stephen, lately laid out by the said Rene Peyre, which crosses the swamp on the line between his and Mr. Edward Thomas's plantation, shall, when finished and completed by him so as to be approved by the commissioners for the high roads of the said parish of St. Stephen, or a majority of them, be, and it is hereby established, a private road; and that the persons subject or liable by any Act or Acts of Assembly of this Province to repair or work on that part of the road leading from Palmer's ferry to Watboo bridge, which will be divided from the remainder thereof by the said new road, shall, when the said new road be so compleated and finished as aforesaid by the said Rene Peyre, be obliged to repair and work on the said new road, and that they shall not thereafter be liable to repair and work on the aforesaid part of the said old road, nor shall the same be any longer deemed, taken or used as a private road; any law, usage or custom to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding. A road changed. A. D. 1762. V. Whereas, by an Act passed the 11th May, 1754, entitled "An Act for dividing the parish of St. James Santee," certain commissioners were Commissioners appointed for building a chapel of ease near Wambaw bridge; and whereappointed to as, the building of said chapel has hitherto been neglected to be carried build a chapel of ease near into execution, to the great disadvantage of the inhabitants of the lower Wambaw part of the said parish, one of the commissioners being dead, and another bridge. having left the parish, Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That Thomas Lynch, John Mayrant, Isaac Mazyck, Jr., Peter Mauzon and Jacob Motte, Jr., Esquires, or any three of them, shall be, and they are hereby appointed, commissioners for erecting and building a chapel of ease near Wambaw bridge; and they shall and are hereby invested with the same power and authority as the commissioners named in the said Act were invested with for erecting and building the said chapel; any thing to the contrary contained in the said Act notwithstanding. BENJAMIN SMITH, Speaker. In the Council Chamber, the 19th day of May, 1762. No. 913. AN ACT APPOINTTING CHARLES GARTH, ESQ., AGENT TO SOLICIT AND WHEREAS, many important matters, in which the interest and welfare of this Province are essentially concerned, are now depending, and other things relative thereto may hereafter become necessary to be represented to his most gracious Maejsty, to both or either house ef Parliament, and to the several boards in Great Britain, and to be transacted in some of the offices there, which cannot be so expeditiously or effectually done without the appointment of an Agent for those purposes; I. Be it therefore enacted, by his Excelleney Thomas Boone, Esquire, Captain General, Governor and Commander-in-chief in and over his Majesty's Province of South Carolina, by and with the advice and consent of his Majesty's Council, and the Commons House of Assembly of the said Province, and by the authority of the same, That Charles Garth, Esq., be, and he is hereby nominated and declared to be, Agent to represent, solicit and transact the affairs of this Province in Great Britain; and the said Charles Garth, Esq., is hereby accordingly fully authorized, impowered and directed to prosecute, and with diligence and application to endeavour to carry into execution, such instructions as he shall from time to time receive from the General Assembly of this Province, or from the committee hereinafter appointed to correspond with him. II. And be it also enacted by the authority aforesaid, That any four of the members of his Majesty's honorable Council, the Honorable the Speaker of the Commons House of Assembly for the time being, and such other members of the said house as shall be by them appointed for that purpose, shall be, and they, or any nine of them, are hereby constituted a committee to correspond with the said Charles Garth, Esq., and to give him such orders and instructions as shall be by them thought necessary for the service of the said Province. III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That a sum of two hundred pounds sterling money of Great Britain, per annum, shall be allowed and paid to the said Charles Garth, Esq., for the services afore |