Continued enactments Section 1 of the act made the
Destruction of Turnpikes, etc. Act 1731 (
5 Geo. 2. c. 33) and the
Destruction of Turnpikes, etc. Act 1734 (
8 Geo. 2. c. 20), as continued by the
Starr and Bent Act 1741 (
15 & 16 Geo. 2. c. 33) and revived and continued by the
Continuance of Laws Act 1746 (
20 Geo. 2. c. 47), perpetual. Section 2 of the act provided that from 1 January 1755, all acts of parliament for erecting
courts of conscience for recovery of small debts would be deemed
public acts. Section 3 of the act provided that certain persons would serve as trustees or visitors for the
British Museum (collection of
Sir Hans Sloane) and
Cottonian Library, naming the
Archbishop of Canterbury, the
Lord Chancellor/
Lord Keeper, and the
Speaker of the House of Commons as official trustees, establishing procedures for filling vacancies, and stipulating that these three principal trustees must be present at general meetings to authorize decisions, which would then have full force and effect regardless of any contrary law. Section 4 of the act provided that tables of fees to be taken by clerks to justices of the peace in
Middlesex would be laid before the
lord chief justice of the King's Bench, the
lord chief justice of Common Pleas, and the
lord chief baron of the Exchequer (or any two of them) for approval, and required justices of the peace for Middlesex to create such fee tables at their general quarter sessions to be held after 24 May 1754, with provisions for approving these and subsequent fee tables at future quarter sessions. Section 5 of the act provided that persons who had neglected to pay stamp duties on indentures or agreements for clerks, apprentices, or servants could receive relief by paying the rates and duties upon monies given or agreed, with such indentures to be stamped before 29 September 1754 (after public notice in the
London Gazette), whereupon the documents would become valid in law or equity and the clerks, apprentices, or servants named could follow their intended trades or employment as if the duties had been properly paid originally, with all penalties incurred by such omissions discharged. Section 6 of the act provided that persons who had failed to file required affidavits for contracts of clerks to attorneys could receive relief by filing them before
Michaelmas term 1754, thereby avoiding all penalties and maintaining the legal effectiveness of such documents. Section 7 of the act provided that drivers of carts, cars, drays, or wagons who rode without someone on foot or horseback to guide them (with certain exceptions) or who caused damage through negligence would forfeit up to ten shillings or face imprisonment up to one month, and could be apprehended without warrant by any witness. == Subsequent developments ==