and taxes on small pensions; by means of which said usage, much secret and dangerous corruption may hereafter be practised, and the before enacted wholesome provision be in some manner evaded: and whereas it hath pleased Almighty God, in his providence, frequently to visit with distresses all orders and conditions of men, and that persons of the greatest worth are oftentimes meanly provided with the goods of fortune, and that it is no disparagement for any person to be relieved by the royal bounty in their distress, or for their desert, but, on the contrary, most honourable to be thought worthy to be so favoured, as appeareth by many of highest place and desert who have been and now are frequently put upon a public list, greatly to their own contentment, and to the furtherance of their estimation: be it therefore enacted, that all persons (except as hereinafter excepted) who now are entitled, during his Majesty's pleasure, to any pension, or any private or secret pension list or lists kept by the first commissioner of the treasury or chancellor of the exchequer, or one or both of the secretaries of the treasury, or private secretary to the chancellor of the exchequer or first commissioner of the treasury, or some clerk of the treasury, or any of them, or any other person or persons, shall be no longer paid privately; but that the names and pensions of the said pensioners, and every of them, as they shall be bona fide certified, upon oath of the keepers and paymasters of the said lists, to have stood entitled on the said lists, on the day of be carried to the pension list in the exchequer, and be there paid, without any fee, deduction, or tax whatsoever, for and during the time of the continuance of the said pension at his Majesty's pleasure, to the present grantees thereof. Provided that nothing herein contained shall restrain, or be construed to restrain, the first commissioner of the treasury, by his Majesty's consent, from taking away, or causing to be taken away, from the private list or lists of such pensions, before the same are entered in the exchequer, according to the directions of this act, the names and pensions of any person or persons which at present are entered on the said private list or lists, or any of them. Provided also, that it shall and may be lawful for the first commissioner of the treasury to return into the exchequer any pension or annuity, without the name of the person to whom the same is to be paid, on taking an oath before the barons of the exchequer, or one baron of the exchequer, or before the cursitor baron, in the form following; viz. "I A. B. do swear, that, according to "the best of my knowledge, belief, "and information, the pension or "pensions, or annuity or annuities, "returned without a name by me "into the exchequer, hath or have "been given for the service of the "state in its foreign affairs, and in "my judgment the divulging thereof 66 may be of detriment to the state in "its foreign transactions; and I 66 swear that the same is or are not, "to my knowledge or belief, directly "or indirectly, for the benefit, use, 66 or behoof of any member of either "House of Parliament, or applica"ble, directly or indirectly, for the "purpose of supporting or procuring "an interest in any place returning "members to parliament. "So help me God." And that on taking the said oath, the pension or pensions, annuity or annuities aforesaid, shall be paid at the exchequer, to the order of the first commissioner of the treasury, and his receipt shall be taken for an acquittance of the same. Provided further, that if the said pension should continue on the said list for more than years, the first commissioner of the treasury, or one of the secretaries, or one of the chief clerks of the treasury, shall make oath, before such pension shall be paid at the exchequer, that they do believe that the person for whose use the said pension or annuity hath been granted is living. And for preventing, as much as may be, all abuses in the disposal of monies issued under the head of secret service money, or money for special service; be it enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that it shall not be lawful to issue or imprest from the exchequer, or order to be paid by a treasury warrant, or under sign manual, or otherwise, to any secretary or secretaries of the treasury, or to any other person or persons whatsoever, for the purpose of secret service within this kingdom, any sum or sums of money which in the whole shall exceed the sum of any one year. in And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that when it shall be deemed expedient by the commissioners of his Majesty's treasury to issue, or in any manner to direct the payment of any sum or sums of money for foreign secret service, the same shall be issued and paid to one of his Majesty's principal secretaries of state, or to the first commissioner of the admiralty, who shall sign a receipt for the same, upon parchment or vellum, and which said receipt shall, within days, be filed at the exchequer; and the said secretary or secretaries of state, or first commissioner of the admiralty, shall, for his discharge at the exchequer, within years from the date of his said receipt, produce the receipt of his Majesty's minister, commissioner, or consul in foreign parts, or of any commander in chief, or other commander of his Majesty's navy or land forces, to whom the said money hath been sent or given, that the same hath been received and applied for the purpose for which the same has been issued; which said receipt shall and is hereby directed to be filed in the exchequer, in order to charge the said minister, commissioner, consul, or commander of his Majesty's land or sea forces, with the same; and the said receipt, on proof of the hand-writing by legal evidence, or by comparison of hands, shall be sufficient to acquit and discharge the said secretary or secretaries, or first commissioner of the admiralty, in their said account at the exchequer. then it shall be sufficient, to acquit and paid to me for foreign secret ser"vice, has been applied to the said "purpose of foreign secret service, " and no other; and that it hath not appeared to me convenient to the "state that the same should be paid "abroad. 66 "So help me God.” And be it enacted, that whenever any sum or sums of money shall be issued for the purpose of special service, or shall be given of his Majesty's royal bounty, to any secretary or secretaries of the treasury, or others, the said sum or sums of money, together with the special service or services, or as royal bounty, to which the same is or are applied, as also the name of the person or persons to whom the said money is paid, shall be entered in a book to be kept for that purpose in the treasury, and a faithful transcript day of thereof shall, on or before the in every year, be deposited in the exchequer. the And be it enacted, that any foreign miAnd whereas the establishment of an nister, consul, or commander of his Majesty's land or sea forces, who shall stand invariable order in the payment of salaries, charged at the exchequer for or by reason and other charges on the civil list, will of any secret service money by him re-enable those who have the charge thereof, ceived, shall stand discharged and acquit- the better to provide for the several serted thereof, if, within after his vices to which the said civil list money arrival in Great Britain, he shall make ought to be applied, and will be the means oath before the barons of the exchequer, to prevent the incurring of debt; be it or one of them, in the form following: enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after the day of “I A. B. do swear, that I have disposed commissioners of the treasury shall and "of the money entrusted to me for are hereby required to observe the follow"foreign secret service faithfully, acing order in their payments, for which "cording to the intent and purpose warrants are to be sent by them to the "for which it was given, according exchequer; namely, that they shall, in "to my best judgment, for his Ma- the first place, direct the payment of the "jesty's service. salaries of the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, or lord keeper of the great seal, the speaker of the House of Commons, and judges of the courts of king'sbench and common pleas, and barons of the exchequer; secondly, of the foreign ministers; thirdly, of those who by con "So help me GOD." Provided always, that whenever it shall be necessary for the principal secretary or secretaries to make payment of the said money, so issued for foreign secret service, in any place within this kingdom, aforesaid, distinctly and apart; and it is hereby directed, that the result of payments in the said several books contained, shall, in an orderly manner, and according to the usual method in which fair accounts are kept, be entered in a separate book at the end of each year, and the whole being opposed to the receipt of the civil list cash, a balance shall be struck upon the whole; a duplicate of which book and books is hereby directed to be deposited in the exchequer. tract supply the King's houshold, or his master of the robes, or by contract execute any public work, and of the bills and demands of all tradesmen and artificers who are employed in the same, or either of them, though without contract; fourthly, of all menial servants in his Majesty's houshold, and persons in any office, whose salary doth not exceed per annum; fifthly, the pensions and allowances of the royal family, and his Majesty's privy purse, at the present establishment thereof, unless his Majesty shall order the same to be reduced; sixthly, of all persons serving in public offices of business, above per annum; seventhly, the pension list; eighthly, the officers of the court; ninthly and lastly, the salaries and pensions of the lords commissioners of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer. And be it enacted, that if any balance of cash of the said civil list revenue shall remain, after making all payments as aforesaid, the said balance shall be laid up in the exchequer, or shall, at the discretion of the commissioners of the treasury, by his Majesty's order under his sign manual, be placed in some of the public funds, in the name of the first commissioner of the treasury, in trust, that the interest of the said sum or sums of money so laid out to interest, shall be paid into the exchequer, until the said principal money and interest, or either of them, shall, by an order from his Majesty, under his royal sign manual, and warrant of the lords commissioners of the treasury, be appointed and laid out for an establishment, or other provision, for any of his Majesty's royal family, in such times, and such manner and proportion, as to his royal wisdom and pleasure shall seem meet. And it is hereby enacted, that it shall not be lawful for the lords commissioners of the treasury to direct the payment of any salary or pension whatsoever, to be made under sign manual or otherwise, until the salaries and pensions of all those who are entitled, according to the foregoing order, are first discharged, or cash set apart in the exchequer sufficient to answer the whole demand in the preceding classes; and that for every offence contrary to the true intent and meaning hereof, the first commissioner of the treasury shall forfeit, on conviction, the sum of to be recovered by action of debt, And whereas there have been hitherto bill, plaint, or information, in any of his great delays in passing the accounts of the Majesty's courts of record at Westminster, paymaster general and treasurer of the in which no essoign, protection, privilege, navy, and other accountants, to the deor wager of law, or more than one impar-triment of the public, and frequently to lance, shall be allowed, half to the informer, and half to St. George's hospital, in the county of Middlesex, and shall be rendered incapable of holding any office under the crown for the space of the vexation and disturbance of the accountable officers and their families; be it hereby enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after the day of it shall not be lawful to imprest or issue to And be it enacted by the authority the paymaster general of his Majesty's aforesaid, that if any salary, fee, or pen- land forces, or treasurer of the navy, any sion, or any part thereof, shall remain in sum or sums of money, for or on account arrear at the usual time of payment at the of the payment of his Majesty's sea or end of the year, from want of cash belong-land forces, or any other payment usualing to the civil list revenue to pay and ly made, or hereafter to be made, by discharge the same, the said arrear of sa- them, or any of them, except a sum lary, fee, or pension, shall not be carried of annually to the cashier of as a debt to the account of the year follow- each office, in order to discharge small ing, but shall be wholly lapsed and ex-demands; for which sum the cashier tinguished, as if the same had not been or cashiers aforesaid shall stand charged payable. at the exchequer, and shall make up an account of the same every year, and shall either repay the balance (if any) which shall appear to remain, or shall have a sum equal to the same deducted from the imprest of the year following. And be it enacted, that the commissioners of the treasury shall cause a regular book or books to be kept for the charges of each of the classes and articles And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the sums of money which, according to former usage, have been imprested or issued to the said paymaster general and treasurer of the navy, shall be in future imprested or issued in the like manner to the directors and company of the bank of England; and that the said paymaster general and treasurer of the navy may and shall draw upon the said bank for such sums of money as shall be necessary, according to the usage of the said office, to pay over to deputy paymasters, or other agents of regiments, or for such other purposes as money was formerly payable for at the said offices, and at the time and manner in which such advances or issues were formerly made, and not otherwise; and the directors and company of the bank of England are by this act authorized and required to pay to the amount of the cash in their hands for the purposes aforesaid; in which drafts, the paymaster or his deputy shall express the service for which the said draft was made. any paymaster, or treasurer of the navy, for such sum or sums of money as have been imprested to them, or any of them, from the exchequer, to the present time, in which accounts credit shall be given to them for all sums of money which they shall prove, bona fide, to have issued and paid to the deputy paymasters and others. And it is hereby further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the said paymaster, and treasurer of the navy, shall deliver in an account of such payments, and shall also make a state of what remains unaccounted for by the said deputy paymasters, agents, and others, as also of all demands outstanding upon them; and that when they have received credit for the same, they shall then be charged with such sum or sums of money only as remain unaccounted for after the credit given as aforesaid; and shall stand discharged and acquitted of all other demands whatsoever for or on account of the said imprests. And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the auditor or auditors of the exchequer shall not stay the settlement of the said accounts, or any of them, because accountants prior in time have not settled with the exchequer, or that any other accountants, who have begun their accounts, have not concluded the same; any law, statute, or usage, to the contrary notwithstanding. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the directors of the bank of England shall every year, that is, on the day of make up an account with the exchequer, stating in such account the sums of money imprested to them, and the payments made in consequence of drafts from the said pay offices, together with the balance (if any) in their hands; and it shall not be lawful for the And be it hereby enacted by the autho treasurer, chancellor, or barons of the ex-rity aforesaid, that no auditor of the exchequer, so long as the said account shall chequer, or any other officer of the exbe clearly and satisfactorily made up as chequer, before whom accountants ought aforesaid, to order any issues, or other to account, shall stay the account of any exchequer process, against the governor person or persons, or the process against, and company of the said bank, but that or the acquittance of them or any of them, the surplus money (if any) shall remain for or on account of defect of vouchers, in the said bank, and shall be considered if on reference to his Majesty's attorney as money in the exchequer disposable by and solicitor general, and one master in parliament. chancery (which reference they are hereby And be it further enacted by the autho-authorised to make according to the case) rity aforesaid, that the said paymaster general, and the treasurer of the navy, shall severally make up a yearly account of all the drafts made by them on the bank, setting forth to whom, and when, and for what purpose, the same were made, and what paymasters and agents have made up their accounts, and how far, and what balance remains unaccounted for by each. And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that it shall and may be lawful, and it is hereby directed, that the auditor or auditors of the exchequer, to whom such audits do belong, shall account with it shall appear to be their joint opinion, that the article in the account objected to for want of sufficient voucher, is vouched and attested in such a manner as would be allowed in accounts ordered by the court of chancery, or in civil cases, between party and party, at common law; any usage in the said office, or court of exchequer, to the contrary notwithstanding. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that an acquittance from the exchequer, in such form as shall be then settled, shall be given to all accountants, for what they have accounted for account. or paid, although the whole account is not | several accountants against whom balances concluded; and that all issues nomine are returned, or may be returned (expœnæ, levied and brought in the exche- cepting always those who are accountable quer, shall be repaid to all and every ac by reason of any contract for the supply countant and accountants, when their said of stores, provisions, ships, or goods of accounts shall be concluded, or credit any kind, for his Majesty's service, since given for the amount of the same in their the year inclusive) fully to examine and audit their accounts severally; and they, or any of them, shall have power and authority, on examination of the case, to order payment of the balances which shall appear due, in such order or manner, and at such periods, and in such proportions, as to them shall seem reasonable and expedient; and the said commissioners, or any of them, are hereby authorized and required to return the said balances, and the said time of payment, into the exchequer; the proper officers of which are hereby directed to order process against the said accountants, according to the order of the said commissioners, and the times of payment appointed; which process it shall not be lawful for the barons of the exchequer, by themselves, or by order of the commissioners of the treasury, to respite. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that in future, and after the accounts shall be so stated and settled, as aforesaid, the said paymaster general, and paymaster of the navy, shall not be considered as debtors in the exchequer, but shall be solely responsible, for fraud, malversation, irregularity, or neglect in their said offices, as other men in office are by law responsible for personal delinquency, and not otherwise, it not being reasonable that those should be charged in a money account who have never had the charge or custody of money committed to them: provided, that nothing in this act contained shall be construed to exempt the cashier, deputy paymasters, army agents, or others, who shall have hereafter money actually paid to them by the bank as aforesaid, or any former accountants, from such process as the treasurer and barons of the exchequer shall direct, for compelling an account of such balances as the paymaster or treasurer of the navy shall report to be due, and unaccounted for, in their hands; for which balances the said barons are directed to issue speedy process, except as is herein excepted, and in such case where the commissioners of the treasury, on examination of the circumstances, shall direct a stay of the said process. And, in order that no reformation by this act intended to be made should operate as a retrospective penalty for any failures arising from the former insufficiency or ill order in the law, or in office; and whereas it is good and expedient for the commonwealth, that there should be some end of suits, as well between the public and private persons, as between private persons among one another; therefore, for the final settlement of all such claims as may be vexatious, and sometimes ruinous, to the subject, without any adequate benefit to the state, be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that a commission be forthwith issued by his Majesty, authorizing the commissioners of the treasury, the chief baron of the exchequer, together with to have power, in a summary manner, to call before them the And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the said commissioners shall have, and are hereby declared to have, full power and authority, on mature examination of the case, and the circumstances of all parties accountants (except as herein before excepted) according to the principles of equity, conscience, and sound discretion, to compound, or totally to discharge and acquit the said debtors and accountants, or any of them; which said composition or acquittance, being certified into the exchequer, shall admit the party or parties accountant there to stand charged with the said sum so compounded, or to be acquitted in the said exchequer on the said acquittance. And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the said commissioners, and every of them, before they enter on their commission as aforesaid, shall take an oath in the words following, in the presence of the barons of the exchequer, or one of them; viz. "I. A. B. do swear, that I will act in "the execution of the commission "appointed by his Majesty for regu"lating the payments and times of "payments, the compositions and ac"quittances of public accountants, "according to an Act, intituled |