London
to wit.}

To all Church-Wardens, Overseers of the Poor, [..] Consta-
bles, and other Officers of the several Wards and Parishes
within the said City.

Wm Prior< no role >
[mark]

Jos. Procter< no role >
[mark]

Thos. Isherwood< no role >
[mark]

WE whose Names and Seals are hereunto set, Three of the
Commissioners appointed to put in execution an Act of Par-
liament of the Eighteenth Year of His Present Majesty's
Reign, entitled, An Act for the more easy and better Recruiting of His
Majesty's Land Forces and Marines, Do, by Virtue, and in Pursuance of
the said Act, hereby strictly enjoin and require You, and each and every
of You, upon receipt hereof, diligently to make, or cause to be made,
a general Search within and throughout your respective Wards and
Parishes, for all such Able Bodied, Idle and Disorderly Men, as do not
exercise, and industriously follow some lawful Trade or Employment, or have
some Substance sufficient for their Support: and Maintenance, and to bring
before Us, or such other Commissioners for putting the said Act in Ex-
ecution, as shall meet for that Purpose at the Guildhall of the said City,
on Thursday the 16th Day of July Instant, at Ten of the Clock in the
Forenoon; and so from Time to Time upon Monday and Thursday in
every subsequent Week during the Continuance of the said Act, every
such Person as You shall find, and who is or shall appear to You to be
within the above Description, and of the Age of Seventeen Years or upwards,
not exceeding Forty-five Years, and of the Size of Five Feet Four Inches, or
upwards, without Shoes, and free from Ruptures and every other Distemper,
or Bodily Weakness or Infirmity which may render him unfit to perform the
Duty of a Soldier, to be then and there examined and disposed of accord-
ing to the said Act of Parliament: and all Inhabitants of your respective
Wards or Parishes were any Persons described as aforesaid do abide,
or are to be found, are by the said Act strictly enjoined at the instance
of You, or any of You (not having a lawful or reasonable Excuse to the
contrary) to be aiding and assisting in the furtherance of such His Ma-
jesty's Service. And the respective Officers who shall receive such new
raised Men, are by the said Act directed to pay to the Clerk appointed
by the said Commissioners for the Use of the Officers so employed in raising
such Men, for their Pains and Services therein, Twenty Shillings for every
Man so raised; and also for every such new raised Man who shall have
a Wife or Family, such Sum not exceeding Forty Shillings, nor less
than Ten Shillings, as shall be settled by the said Commissioners, for the
Benefit of the Parish in which such new raised Man shall have gained
a Settlement, and whose Wife or Family may become chargeable
thereto; and also the Sum of Sixpence per Diem for keeping every such
new raised Man who shall be delivered as aforesaid, according to the
Number of Days he shall have been kept in Custody pursuant to the
said Act. And every Person who shall discover and give Information
of any able bodied Man sit to serve His Majesty within the above De-
scription, so that he shall be apprehended and inlisted before Us or the
said other Commissioners, is by the said Act entitled for every Man so
discovered and inlisted to receive from the Officer to whom he shall be
delivered the Sum of Ten Shillings, out of the said Twenty Shillings so
directed to be paid to the Parish Officers. And the said Act directs
that no Bailiff's Follower or Assistant, or Person employed by such as have
the Power of executing any Warrant or Process, shall be deemed thereby
to follow or exercise any Calling or Employment, or to have a sufficient
Support or Maintenance within the Intent and Meaning thereof. But
every Person under the Description of the said Act, although appre-
hended, may (if he pleases) enlist as a Volunteer, and thereby entitle
himself to a Bounty of Three Pounds, and a Discharge at the End of Three
Years, if the Nation shall then be at Peace. We do therefore hereby
strictly enjoin and require you, to Use your utmost Care and Diligence
that His Majesty's Service in making such Levies as aforesaid may not
be disappointed or neglected, as you will answer the contrary at your
Peril. Given under our Hands and Seals at Guildhall , London, the
Second Day of July , in the Eighteenth Year of His Majesty's Reign.
and in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and
Seventy eight.