THE GAME LAWS. 



Mutiny Act. 



The annual Mutiny Act carries the appearance of 

 severity against the gentlemen of the sword. Ac- 

 cording to this, if any officer or soldier shall kill any 

 kind of game, poultry, or fish, and be convicted on 

 the oath of one witness, before a justice, an officer* 

 so offending shall forfeit five pounds to the poor of 

 the parish ; but if a soldier be thus convicted, the 

 commander-in-chief of the place shall pay twenty 

 shillings for every such offence ; and if not paid 

 within two days after demand by the constable or 

 overseer of the poor, he shall forfeit his commission. 

 If, however, leave be first obtained of the lord or lady 

 of the manor, under his or her hand and seal, they 

 are not liable to the above penalties. 



Penalties, haw to be recovered in general. 



At first view, this chapter may appear superfluous, 

 as the modes of recovering the penalties have been, 

 in some measure, already shown. But the 8th of 

 Geo. 1. c. 19. provides, that, if any person shall be 

 liable to any pecuniary penalty, upon conviction be- 

 fore any justice of the peace, respecting game, the 

 prosecutor may, if he think proper, sue for the whole 



* This of course is supposing such officer to be an unqua- 

 lified person. 



