35, it is enacted, "that in the case of every felony punishable under the post-office acts, every principal in the second degree, and every accessary before the fact, shall be punishable in the same manner as the principal in the first degree is by the post-office acts punishable; and every accessary after the fact to any felony punishable under the post-office acts (except only a receiver of any property or thing stolen, taken, embezzled, or secreted,) shall, on conviction, be liable to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years; and every person who shall aid, abet, counsel, or procure the commission of any misdemeanor punishable under the postoffice acts shall be liable to be indicted and punished as a principal offender." See also s. 37, post, p. 789.

And by sec. 36, every person who shall solicit or endeavor to procure any other person to commit a felony or misdemeanor punishable by the post-office acts, shall in England and Ireland be guilty of a misdemeanor, and in Scotland of a crime and offence, and being thereof convicted, shall be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years."

Receivers.] By sec. 30,"with regard to receivers of property sent by the post, and stolen therefrom," it is enacted, "that every person who shall receive any post letter or post letter bag, or any chattel, or money, or valuable security, the stealing, or taking, or embezzling, or secreting whereof shall amount to a felony under the post-office acts, knowing the same to have been feloniously stolen, taken, embezzled, or secreted, and to have been sent or to have been intended to be sent by the post, shall in England and Ireland be guilty of felony, and in Scotland of a high crime and offence, and may be indicted and convicted either as an accessary after the fact, or for a substantive felony, and in the latter case, whether the principal felon shall or shall not have been previously con[*739] victed, or *shall or shall not be amenable to justice; and every receiver, howsoever convicted, shall be liable to be transported beyond the seas for life."

Venue.] By sect. 37, "the offence of every offender against the postoffice acts may be dealt with, and indicted. and tried, and punished, and laid and charged to have been committed in England and Ireland, either in the county or place where the offence shall be committed, or in any county or place in which he shall be apprehended or be in custody, as if his offence had been actually committed in that county or place, and if committed in Scotland either in the high court of justiciary at Edinburgh or in the circuit court of justiciary to be holden by the lords commissioners of justiciary within the district where such offence shall be committed, or in any county or place within which such offender shall be apprehended or be in custody, as if his offence had been actually committed there; and where an offence shall be committed in or upon or in respect of a mail, or upon a person engaged in the conveyance or delivery of a post letter bag or post letter, orin respect of a post letter bag or post letter, or a chattel, or money, or valuable security sent by the post, such offence may be dealt with and inquired of, and tried and punished, and laid and charged to have been committed, as well in any county or place in which the offender shall be apprehended or be in custody, as also in any county or place through any part whereof the mail, or the person, or the post letter bag, or

the post letter, or the chattel, or the money, or the valuable security sent by the post in respect of which the offence shall have been committed, shall have passed in due course of conveyance or delivery by the post, in the same manner as if it had been actually committed in such county or place; and in all cases where the side or the centre or other part of a highway, or the side, the bank, the centre, or other part of a river, or canal or navigation, shall constitute the boundary of two counties, such offence may be dealt with and inquired of, and tried and punished, and laid and charged to have been committed in either of the said counties through which or adjoining to which or by the boundary of any part of which the mail or person shall have passed in due course of conveyance or delivery by the post, in the same manner as if it had actually been committed in such county or place; and every accessary before or after the fact to any such offence, if the same be a felony or a high crime, and every person aiding or abetting or counselling or procuring the commission of any such offence, if the same be a misdemeanor, may be dealt with, indicted, tried, and punished as if he were a principal, and his offence laid and charged to have been committed in any county or place in which the principal offender may be tried."

By sect. 39,"where an offence punishable under the post-office acts shall be committed within the jurisdiction of the admiralty the same shall be dealt with and inquired of and tried and determined in the same manner as any other offence committed within that jurisdiction."

*Property may be laid in the postmaster-general, &c.] By [*790 ] sect. 40," in every case where an offence shall be committed in respect of a post letter bag or a post letter, or a chattel, money, or a valuable security, sent by the post, it shall be lawful to lay in the indictment or criminal letters to be preferred against the offender, the property of the post letter bag or of the post letter, or chattel or money or the valuable security sent by the post, in the postmaster-general; and it shall not be necessary in the indictment or criminal letters to allege or to prove upon the trial or otherwise that the post letter bag or any such post letter or valuable security was of any value; and in any indictment or in any criminal letters to be preferred against any person employed under the post-office for any offence committed against the post-office acts, it shall be lawful to state and allege that such offender was employed under the post-office of the United Kingdom at the time of the committing of such offence, without stating further the nature or particulars of his employment."

Punishment.] By sect. 41, "every person convicted of any offence for which the punishment of transportation for life is herein awarded, shall be liable to be transported beyond the seas for life or for any term not less than seven years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding four years; and every person convicted of any offence punishable according to the post-office acts by transportation for fourteen years shall be liable to be transported for any term not exceeding fourteen years nor less than seven years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding three years." By sect. 42, "where a person shall be convicted of an offence punishable under the post-office acts for which imprisonment may be awarded, the court may sentence the offender to be imprisoned, with or without hard labor, in the common gaol or house of correction, and may also direct that

he shall be kept in solitary confinement for the whole or any portion of such imprisonment, as to the court shall seem meet."

Interpretation clause.] By sect. 47, "for the interpretation of the postoffice laws" it is enacted, "that the following terms and expressions shall have the several interpretations hereinafter respectively set forth, unless such interpretations are repugnant to the subject or inconsistent with the context of the provisions in which they may be found; (that is to say,) the term "British letter" shall mean a letter transmitted within the United Kingdom; and the term "British newspapers" shall mean newspapers printed and published in the United Kingdom liable to the stamp duty and duly stamped; and the term "British postage" shall mean the duty chargeable on letters transmitted by post from place to place within the United Kingdom, or if transmitted to or from the United Kingdom, chargeable for the distance which they shall be transmitted within the United Kingdom, and including also the packet postage, if any; and the terin "colonial letter" shall mean a letter transmitted between any of her [*791] Majesty's colonics and the United Kingdom; *and the term "colonial newspapers" shall mean newspapers printed and published in any of her Majesty's dominions out of the United Kingdom; and the term "convention posts" shall mean posts established by the postmastergeneral under agreements with the inhabitants of any places; and the term "double letter" shall mean a letter having one inclosure; and the term "double postage" shall mean twice the amount of single postage; and the term "East Indies" shall mean every port and place within the territorial acquisitions now vested in the East India Company in trust for her Majesty, and every other port or place within the limits of the charter of the said company (China excepted), and shall also include the Cape of Good Hope; and the term "express" shall mean every kind of conveyance employed to carry letters on behalf of the post-office other than the usual mail; and the term "foreign country" shall mean any country, state, or kingdom not included in the dominions of her Majesty; and the term "foreign letter" shall mean a letter transmitted to or from a foreign country; and the term "foreign newspapers" shall mean newspapers printed and published in a foreign country in the language of that country; and the term "foreign postage" shall mean the duty charged for the conveyance of letters within such foreign country; and the term "franking officer" shall mean the person appointed to frank the official correspondence of offices to which the privilege of franking is granted; and the term "her Majesty" shall mean "her Majesty, her heirs, and successors;" and the term "her Majesty's colonies" shall include every port and place within the territorial acquisitions now vested in the East India Company in trust for her Majesty, the Cape of Good Hope, the Islands of Saint Helena, Guernsey, Jersey, and Isle of Man, (unless any such places be expressly excepted), as well as her Majesty's other colonies and possessions beyond seas; and the term "inland postage" shall mean the duty charged for the transmission of post letters within the limits of the United Kingdom or within the limits of any colony; and the term "letter" shall include packet, and the term "packet" shall include letter; and the expression "lo rdlieutenant of Ireland" shall mean the chief governor or governors of Ireland for the time being; and the expression "lords of the treasury" shall mean the lord high treasurer of the United Kingdom of

Great Britain and Ireland, or the lords commissioners of her Majesty's treasury of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or any three or more of them; and the term "mail" shall include every conveyance by which post letters are carried, whether it be a coach or cart or horse, or any other conveyance, and also a person employed in conveying or delivering post letters, and also every vessel which is included in the term packet boat; and the term "mail bag" shall mean a mail of letters, or a box, or a parcel, or any other envelope in which post letters are conveyed, whether it does or does not contain post letters; and the term "master of a vessel" shall include any person in charge of a vessel, whether commander, mate, or other person, and whether the vessel be a ship of war or other vessel; and the expression "officer of the post- [ *792] office" shall include the postmaster-general, and every deputy postmaster, agent, officer, clerk, letter carrier, guard, post-boy, rider, or any other person employed in any business of the post-office, whether employed by the postmaster-general, or by any person under him or on behalf of the postoffice; and the term "packet postage" shall mean the postage chargeable for the transmission of letters by packet boats between Great Britain and Ireland, or between the United Kingdom and any of her Majesty's colonies, or between the United Kingdom and foreign countries; and the term "packet letter" shall mean a letter transmitted by a packet boat; and the term "penalty" shall include every pecuniary penalty or forfeiture; and the expression "persons employed by or under the post-office" shall include every person employed in any business of the post-office, according to the interpretation given to officer of the post-office; and the terms "packet boats" and "post-office packets" shall include vessels employed by or under the post-office or the admiralty for the transmission of post letters, and also ships or vessels (though not regularly employed as packet boats) for the conveyance of post letters under contract, and also a ship of war or other vessel in the service of her Majesty, in respect of letters conveyed by it; and the term "postage" shall mean the duty chargeable for the transmission of post letters; and the term "post town" shall mean a town where a post-office is established (not being a penny or twopenny or convention post-office); and the term "post letter bag" shall include a mail bag or box, or packet or parcel, or other envelope or covering in which post letters are conveyed, whether it does or does not contain post letters; and the term "post letter" shall mean any létter or packet transmitted by the post under the authority of the postmaster-general, and a letter shall be deemed a post letter from the time of its being delivered to a post-office to the time of its being delivered to the person to whom it is addressed; and the delivery to a letter carrier or other person authorized to receive letters for the post shall be a delivery to the post-office; and a delivery at the house or office of the person to whom the letter is addressed, or to him, or to his servant or agent or other person considered to be authorized to receive the letter according to the usual manner of delivering that person's letters, shall be a delivery to the person addressed; and the term "post-office" shall mean any house, building, room, or place where post-letters are received or delivered, or in which they are sorted, made up, or despatched; and the term "postmaster-general" shall mean any person or body of persons executing the office of postmaster-general for the time being, having been duly appointed to the office by her Majesty; and the terms "postoffice acts" and "post-office laws" shall mean all acts relating to the man

agement of the post, or to the establishment of the post-office, or to postage duties from time to time in force; and the term "ships" shall include vessels other than packet boats; and the term "single postage" shall mean the postage chargeable for a single letter; and the term "single letter" shall mean a letter consisting of one sheet or piece of paper, and under the weight of an [793] *ounce; and the term " sea postage" shall mean the duty chargeable for the conveyance of letters by sea by vessels not packet boats; and the term "ship letter" shall mean a letter transmitted inwards or outwards over seas by a vessel not being a packet boat; and the term "treble letter" shall mean a letter consisting of more than two sheets or pieces of paper, whatever the number, under the weight of an ounce; and the term "treble postage" shall mean three times the amount of single postage; and the term "treble the duty of postage" shall mean three times the amount of the postage to which the letter to be charged would otherwise have been liable according to the rates of postage chargeable on letters; and the term "United Kingdom" shall mean the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; and the term "valuable security" shall include the whole or any part of any tally, order, or other security whatsoever, entitling, or evidencing the title of any person or body corporate to any share or interest in any public stock or fund, whether of this kingdom or of Great Britain or of Ireland, or of any foreign state, or in any fund of any body corporate, company, or society, or to any deposit in any savings bank, or the whole or any part of any debenture, deed, bond, bill, note, warrant, or order or other security whatsoever for money or for payment of money, whether of this kingdom or of any foreign state, or of any warrant or order for the delivery or transfer of any goods or valuable thing; and the term "vessel" shall include any ship or other vessel not a postoffice packet; and whenever the term "between" is used in reference to the transmission of letters, newspapers, parliamentary proceedings, or other things between one place and another it shall apply equally to the transmission from either place to the other; and every officer mentioned shall mean the person for the time being executing the functions of that officer; and whenever in this act or the schedules thereto, with reference to any person or matter or thing, or to any persons, matters, or things, the singular or plural number or the masculine gender only is expressed, such expression shall be understood to include several persons or matters or things as well as one person or matter or thing, and one person, matter, or thing, as well as several persons or matters or things, females as well as males, bodies politic or corporate as well as individuals, unless it be otherwise specially provided, or the subject or context be repugnant to such construction."

By sect. 48," this act shall extend to and be in force in the Islands of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, Serk, and Alderney, and in all her Majesty's colonies and dominions where any post or post communication is established by or under the postmaster-general of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland."