plaint made under the hand of one or more of the overseers of the poor of the town where such unmarried woman shall reside or belong, that she is with child, it shall be lawful for any justice of the peace of such town to issue a warrant or summons against the person whom she shall charge with being the father of said child; which warrant or summons, in case the person so charged shall be in any town in the county in which such unmarried woman shall reside, shall be directed to the sheriff of said county, his deputy, or to any town sergeant or constable of said county; and when the party accused shall appear before any such justice of the peace, if he can offer no satisfactory reason that he is innocent, he shall enter into a recognizance with one or more sureties, at the discretion of such justice of the peace, to appear before said justice or some other justice of the peace of said town, at the town clerk's office of said town, at some future day, which said justice of the peace issuing said summons or warrant may think proper, and to abide the order of said justice's court thereon; and if the accused person shall refuse to enter into such recognizance, the said justice of the peace shall cause him to be committed to the jail in said county, there to remain until he shall be by due course of law discharged therefrom. SEC. 2. When the accused person shall enter into a recognizance as aforesaid, to the satisfaction of said justice of the peace, said justice shall certify said recognizance to the town clerk of said town, and said clerk shall file the same with the papers of his said office; and shall procure some justice of the peace of said town to attend at his said office at the time appointed in said recognizance for the appearance of the person accused, to take jurisdiction of said recognizance; and if the woman be not then delivered, said justice of the peace may order a continuance of the recognizance to some further reasonable time, and so on from time to time, until the woman shall be delivered, to the end that an order may be made. SEC. 3. After any bastard child shall be born, whether such child be born alive or still-born, or being born alive shall die before an order be made, and no examination had before the birth of such child, it shall be the duty of any two or more justices of the peace of the town where such child shall be born, or of the town which shall be liable to support such bastard child, upon the complaint of any overseer of the poor of either of such towns, and upon the examination of the woman by them taken on oath, to issue a warrant against the person whom the mother of the child shall charge on oath with begetting such child; or in case the mother before the birth of such child shall have charged any person upon oath, as provided in the first section of this act with begetting the same, then upon the birth of such child, a warrant shall be issued in like manner against the person so accused, which warrant shall be directed and served as is herein before directed. SEC. 4. When the accused person shall appear before the justices' court, if the woman, on being examined anew on oath, shall continue constant in her accusation, and no plea or proof be produced to satisfy the justices of the peace who shall have taken cognizance of the case that he is innocent, they shall judge him to be the putative or reputed father of the child, and make an order for its maintenance, if living, or if dead, for payment of the expenses incurred before and at its death and interment. SEC. 5. If the person accused shall be dissatisfied with the order, he may appeal therefrom to the court of common pleas at the term thereof next to be holden in the county in which such child shall have been born, upon paying down the costs which shall have accrued, and entering into a recognizance with one or more sureties, at the discretion of such justices of the peace, for his appearance before the court appealed to, and abiding by such order as shall be made by said court in the premises; and in default of such order to be then made and taken by said court of common pleas, to perform the order already made. But if he shall not crave an appeal, the justices who shall have issued the warrant are empowered and directed to cause him to be committed to the jail in their county, there to remain until released by due order of law, if he shall neglect or refuse to give bond with surety or sureties to their satisfaction to perform their order; and the woman mentioned in the complaint of the overseer or overseers of the poor as aforesaid shall be a competent witness in the trial of the cause, either before the justices' court or before the court of common pleas, unless otherwise disqualified as a witness. SEC. 6. The trial of the cause in the court of common pleas shall be by jury; and the issue to the jury shall be whether the defendant or person accused be guilty or not guilty. The verdict of the jury and the judgment and order of the court thereon shall be final and conclusive. But the supreme court, on the application of the overseer or overseers of the poor of the town in which such complaint originated, or of the person accused, may grant a new trial in such case for such causes and under such rules as new trials are granted in civil cases; and written depositions taken according to the law regulating the taking of depositions in civil cases, may be used in the trial of any such case before the justices' court or before the court of common pleas. SEC. 7. If on the trial in the court of common pleas the jury shall find the defendant guilty, or if he before said court shall admit the complaint to be true, said court of common pleas may confirm the order made by the justices of the peace, or may alter or amend the same as they may think just; but shall not quash or reverse it for any defect or want of form. But if the defendant be found not guilty by verdict of the jury or the judgment of the justices' court, he shall be discharged, and recover his costs against the overseer of the poor of the town in which such complaint originated; unless the overseer of the poor of such town shall crave an appeal from the judgment of said justices' court to the next term of the court of common pleas in said county; in which case said overseer shall be entitled to said appeal on filing reasons of appeal as in civil cases; but no further appeal shall be had. SEC. 8. If the person accused doth not live in the county where complaint shall be made, before or after the birth of said bastard child as aforesaid, or is not there to be found, it shall be lawful for any two justices of the peace of the town where complaint shall be made as aforesaid, having first examined the mother of such child upon oath, to issue a warrant directed to the sheriff or his deputy, or to any town sergeant or constable of the county, in which the accused person resides or may be found, to apprehend the said person and him bring to the town where such complaint shall be made. And when he appears, the justices who shall have granted the warrant as aforesaid shall order him into the custody of the sheriff or his deputy of said county, or any town sergeant or constable of said town. And said justices are hereby fully empowered to take cognizance of the cause, and proceed therein in the manner directed in this act, in case the accused person resides in the county in which the complaint was made; with the same powers and forms, whether on complaint that any unmarried woman shall be with child of a bastard child, or such child be born alive or be still-born, or being born alive shall die before an order be made, and no examination be had before the birth of such child. SEC. 9. If the accused person shall neglect to appear in pursuance of his recognizance given before the justice of the peace before the birth of the child, the justice of the peace who shall take cognizance of the recognizance after the birth of said child shall default his recognizance and proceed to make an order against him, in conjunction with some other justice of the peace of said town, with the same effect and in the same manner as though a trial had been had before them and he had been adjudged by them to be the putative or reputed father of said child: and the surety or sureties on such recognizance after such default, as well as the principal, shall be holden to the performance of such order to the amount of such recognizance. And the said justices of the peace shall certify said recognizance and order, with all the other papers in the case, to the next term of the court of common pleas for the county in which such complaint was made; and the court in such case may from time to time issue execution thereon against the principal and his surety or sureties for any sums due on such order, for which they may be liable as aforesaid. SEC. 10. The order to be made for the maintenance of a bastard child shall be in substance of the following form, to wit: of Whereas due proof has been made before us upon the oath of of day of bastard child, born the said, that of and in the county mother of a in the town afore did beget the said bastard child, which child is likely to become chargeable to the said town of We the said upon examination of the said and the cause and circumstances of the premises, do adjudge the said to be the putative father of said bastard child; and thereupon do order, as well for the relief of said town of as for keeping and maintaining of said child, that the said shall forthwith, upon sight of this our order, pay or cause to be paid to the overseers of the poor of the said town for the time being, the sum of for the first four weeks from the birth of said child, for defraying the charge of the lying in of the said ; and after the expirashall likewise pay tion of the said four weeks the said or cause to be paid to the overseers of the poor of the town aforesaid, weekly and every week, the sum of for and towards the maintenance of said bastard child, for so long time as the said child shall be chargeable to the said town; and further, we do hereby order, that the said shall, every week, for so long time as the said child shall be chargeable as aforesaid, she not keeping the same, pay or cause to be paid unto the overseers of the poor of the town of aforesaid for the time being, the sum of for and towards the maintenance of said child; lastly, we order that the said do upon notice of this our order give sufficient security to the overseers of the poor of the town of aforesaid, for the performance of this our order. In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and seals this day of And whereas it sometimes happens that the persons charged as the reputed or putative fathers of bastard children with the maintenance thereof are of little or no estate, and are committed to jail for non-performance of orders made against them, or for not giving security to perform the same, and make the towns liable with their support in jail; therefore, SEC. 11. When and so often as any man shall stand committed to jail for the non-performance of any final adjudication and order in bastardy made up against him, the town council for the time being, wherein such order originated, shall and may bind out and give and take indentures of servitude of such prisoner, for such length of time and for such wages or sum as the town council shall think convenient and requisite; which indenture shall be signed and sealed by the town clerk in behalf of the council; and so much of the wages or money arising from such service as shall be necessary to fulfil the order and all incidental charges shall be so applied, and the residue, if any there be, shall remain to and for the use of the person so charged. SEC. 12. In case such bastard child shall die or cease to be chargeable to the town in which such child belongs, the justices or other authority empowered by this act shall make a just estimate of all reasonable expenses that ought to be paid by the person bound, and are fully empowered to issue a warrant for collecting the same; but in case the person against whom such order shall be made shall be dissatisfied with such estimate, he may appeal to the court of common pleas next to be holden in the county wherein such town lies; which court is empowered to hear and finally determine between the parties. SEC. 13. In all cases where complaint has been made and substantiated to the authority aforesaid, after the birth of a bastard still-born child as aforesaid, the words in the form of the order prescribed by this act shall be varied as follows, to wit: after the words "and thereupon do order, as well for the relief of the said town of " the following words shall be inserted, instead of these "as for keeping and maintaining of said child," to wit: "as for paying the necessary charges |