STATUTES, PROCLAMATIONS, RULES, ORDERS, ETC. 383 



commenced; and if a Question shall arise whether any Person is an 

 Officer of the Customs or Na-vy, or such other Person as aforesaid, 

 viva voce Evidence may be given of such Fact, and shall be deemed 

 legal and sufficient Evidence. 



LX. And be it further enacted, That if any Goods shall be seized 

 for Nonpayment of Duties or any other Cause of Forfeiture, and any 

 Dispute shall arise whether the Duties have been paid for the same, 

 or the same have been lawfully imported, or lawfully laden or ex- 

 ported, the Proof thereof shall lie on the Owner or Claimer of such 

 Goods, and not on the Officer who shall seize and stop the same. 



LXI. And be it further enacted, That no Claim to any Thing 

 seized under this Act, and returned into any of His Majesty s Courts 

 for Adjudication, shall be admitted, unless such Claim be entered in 

 the Name of the Owner, with his Residence and Occupation, nor un- 

 less Oath to the Property in such Thing be made by the Owner, or 

 by his Attorney or Agent by whom such Claim shall be entered, to 

 the best of his Knowledge and Belief; and every Person making a 

 false Oath thereto shall be deemed guilty of a Misdemeanor, and shall 

 be liable to the Pains and Penalties to which Persons are liable for 

 a Misdemeanor. 



LXII. And be it further enacted, That no Person shall be admitted 

 to enter a Claim to any Thing seized in pursuance of this Act, and 

 prosecuted in any of the British Possessions in America, until suffi- 

 cient Security shall have been given, in the Court where such Seizure 

 is prosecuted, in a Penalty not exceeding Sixty Pounds, to answer 

 and pay the Costs occasioned by such Claim ; and in default of giving 

 such Security, such Things shall be adjudged to be forfeited, and 

 shall be condemned. 



LXIII. And be it further enacted, That no Writ shall be sued out 

 agaiii^. nor a Copy of any Process served upon any Officer of the 

 Customs or Navy, or other Person as aforesaid, for any Thing done 

 in the Exercise of his Office, until One Calendar Month after Notice 

 in Writing shall have been delivered to him, or left at his usual Place 

 of Abode, by the Attorney or Agent to the Party who intends to sue 

 out such Writ or Process; in which Notice shall be clearly and ex- 

 plicitly contained the Cause of the Action, the name and^Place of 

 Abode of the Person who is to bring such Action, and the Name and 

 Place of Abode of the Attorney or Agent; and no Evidence of the 

 Cause of such Action shall be produced, except of such as shall be 

 contained in such Notice, and no Verdict shall be given for the Plain- 

 tiff, unless he shall prove on the Trial that such Notice was given; 

 and in default of such Proof, the Defendant shall receive in such 

 Action a Verdict and Costs. 



LXIV. And be it further enacted, That every such Action shall 

 be brought within Three Calendar Months after the Cause thereof, 

 and shall be laid and tried in the Place or District where the Facts 

 were committed, and the Defendant may plead the General Issue, and 

 give the Special Matter in Evidence; and if the Plaintiff shall be- 

 come nonsuited, or shall discontinue the Action, or if upon a Verdict 

 or Demurrer, Judgment shall be given against the Plaintiff, 

 230 the Defendant shall receive Treble Costs, and have such Rem- 

 edy for the same as any Defendant can have in other Cases 

 where Costs are given by Law. 



