the encouraging and increasing of Shipping and Navigation;" and by several subsequent Acts of Parliament which are now in force, it is, amongst other things, enacted, that for every Ship or Vessel which shall load any commodities, in those Acts particularly enumerated, at any British Plantation, being the Growth, Product, or Manufacture thereof, Bonds shall be given, with one surety, to the value of one thousand Pounds, if the Ship be of less burthen than one hundred tons, and of the sum of two thousand Pounds, if the Ship be of greater burthen, that the same commodities shall be brought by such Ship or Vessel to some other British Plantation, or to some Port in Great Britain: And whereas, by several other Acts of Parliament, which are now in force, no Commodities of the Growth, Product, or Manufacture of Europe, (except Salt for the Fisheries, Wines, of the Madeiras and Azores, and Western Islands, and Victual and Linen Cloth from Ireland, under the restrictions in such Acts particularly mentioned,) can be imported into any Plantation, Colony, Territory, or place belonging to his Majesty, in Asia, Africa, or America, but what shall be bona fide and without fraud, laden and shipped in Great Britain, and carried directly from thence: And whereas, during the continuance of the Combinations and Disorders which at this time prevail within the Colonies of New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina, to the obstruction of the Commerce of these Kingdoms, and other his Majesty's Dominions, and in breach and violation of the laws of this Realm, it is highly unfit that the inhabitants of the said Colonies should enjoy the same privileges of Trade, and the same benefits and advantages to which his Majesty's faithful and obedient subjects are entitled; Be it therefore enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That from and after the twentieth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, and during the continuance of this Act, no Goods, Wares, or Merchandises, which are particularly enumerated in, and by the said Act made in the twelfth year of King Charles the Second, or any other Act, being the Growth, Product, or Manufacture of the Colonies of New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina, in North America, or any or either of them, are to be brought to some other British Colony, or to Great Britain; or any such enumerated Goods, Wares, or Merchandises, which shall at any time or times have been imported or brought into the said Colonies, or any or either of them, shall be shipped, carried, conveyed, or transported, from any of the said Colonies respectively, to any Land, Island, Territory, Dominion, Port, or place whatsoever, other than to Great Britain, or some of the British Islands in the West Indies, to be laid on shore there; and that no other Goods, Wares, or Merchandises whatsoever, of the Growth, Product, or Manufacture of the Colonies hereinbefore mentioned, or which shall at any time or times have been imported or brought into the Same, shall, from and after the said twentieth day of July, and during the continuance of this Act, be shipped, carried, conveyed, or transported, from any of the said Colonies respectively, to any other Land, Island, Territory, Dominion, Port, or place whatsoever, except to the Kingdoms of Great Britain or Ireland, or to some of the British Islands in the West Indies, to be laid on shore there; any law, custom, or usage, to the contrary notwithstanding.

II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the said twentieth day of July, before any Ship or Vessel shall lade or take on board any Goods as aforesaid, in any or either of the Colonies before mentioned, sufficient Bond, with one surety, besides the Master of such Ship or Vessel, shall be given to the Collector or other principal Officer of the Customs at the Port or place where such Goods are intended to be laden or taken on board, in the penalty of one thousand Pounds, if the Ship be of less burthen than one hundred tons, and of the sum of two thousand Pounds, if the Ship shall be of that or any greater burthen; with condition that such enumerated Goods shall not be landed or put on shore at or upon any other Land, Island, Territory, Dominion, Port or place whatsoever, except some Port or place within the Kingdom of Great Britain, or some of the British Islands in the West Indies; and that all other Goods, Wares, or Merchandises so intended to be laden as aforesaid, shall not be landed or put on shore at or upon any Land, Island, Territory, Dominion, Port or place whatsoever, other than and except some Port or place within the Kingdoms of Great Britain or Ireland, or some of the British Islands in the West Indies; and with further condition to bring a Certificate in discharge thereof, within eighteen months from the date of such bond, for such of the said Goods as shall be entered for or landed in Great Britain or Ireland, respectively; and within six months for such of the said Goods as shall be entered for or landed in any of the British Islands in the West Indies; which respective Certificates shall be under the hands and seals of office of the Collector and Comptroller, or other principal Officer of the Customs, resident at the Port or place where such Goods shall be landed, testifying the landing thereof; or such Bond or Bonds shall and may be discharged by proof upon oath, made by credible persons, that the said Goods were taken by enemies, or perished in the Seas.

III. And it is hereby further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That where any such Bond or Bonds shall be given as aforesaid, in pursuance of this Act, the Collector or other principal Officer of the Customs, to whom such Bond or Bonds shall have been given, shall deliver, under his hand and seal of office, without fee or reward, to the Master of the Ship or Vessel taking in such Goods, for the security of her navigation, a Certificate that such Bond or Bonds hath or have been given, expressing therein the quantity and species of the Goods, with the marks and numbers of the packages, and the Port or place for which they were entered; and if any such Goods shall be laden on board any such Ship or Vessel, in any of the Colonies in this Act before mentioned, before such Bond or Bonds shall be given, or shall be found on board any Ship or Vessel without the Certificate hereinbefore directed, that such Bond or Bonds hath or have been given, the Goods so laden, together with the Ship or Vessel, with her Guns, Ammunition, Tackle, Apparel, and Furniture, shall be forfeited; and if any Goods so laden as aforesaid, shall be landed or discharged at any Port or place contrary to the intent and meaning of this Act, over and above the penalty of the Bond or Bonds, the Shipper and Owner of such Goods, and the Master or person taking charge of the Vessel on board which they were laden, shall respectively forfeit the full value of the Goods so landed or discharged, to be estimated according to the highest price or value which such sort of Goods bear in the Colony where, and at the time when they were shipped and laden; which Ship and Goods may be seized and prosecuted, or the value of such Goods prosecuted for, by any Admiral, Chief Commander, or Commissioned Officer of his Majesty's Fleet or Ships-of-War, or by any Officer of his Majesty's Customs, in the manner hereinafter directed.

IV. And it is hereby further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the first day of September, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, and during the continuance of this Act, no sort of Wines, Salt, or any Goods or Commodities whatsoever, (except Horses, Victual, and Linen Cloth, the Produce and Manufacture of Ireland, imported directly from thence) shall be imported into any of the said Colonies hereinbefore respectively mentioned, upon any pretence whatsoever, unless such Goods shall be bona fide, and without fraud, laden and shipped in Great Britain, and carried directly from thence, upon forfeiture thereof, and of the Ship or Vessel on board which such Goods shall be laden; and it shall be lawful for any Admiral, Chief Commander, or Commissioned Officer of his Majesty's Fleet or Ships-of-War, or any Officer of his Majesty's Customs, to seize any Ship or Vessel arriving at any of the said Colonies before mentioned, or which shall be discovered within two leagues of any shore thereof, having such Goods on board, and the Goods laden thereon, (except as before mentioned) for which the Master or other person taking charge of such Ship or Vessel, shall not produce a Cocket or Clearance from the Collector, or proper Officer of his Majesty's Customs, certifying that the said Goods were laden on board the said Ship or Vessel in some Port of Great Britain, any law, custom, or usage, to the contrary notwithstanding.

V. Provided always, and it is hereby further enacted