contrary notwithstanding.
257. Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus
(1794. 34 George III. c. 54. 39 S. L. 556.)
WHEREAS a traitorous and detestable conspiracy has been
formed for subverting the existing laws and constitution,
and for introducing the system of anarchy and confusion which
has so fatally prevailed in France : therefore, for the better pres-
ervation of His Majesty's sacred person, and for securing the
peace and the laws and liberties of this kingdom; be it 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 every person or persons that are or shall be in prison
within the kingdom of Great Britain at or upon the day on which
this act shall receive His Majesty's royal assent, or after, by
warrant of His said Majesty's most honourable privy coun-
cil, signed by six of the said privy council, for high treason,
suspicion of high treason, or treasonable practices, or by warrant,
signed by any of His Majesty's secretaries of state, for such
causes as aforesaid, may be detained in safe custody, without
bail or mainprize, until the first day of February one thousand
seven hundred and ninety-five; and that no judge or justice of
the peace shall bail or try any such person or persons so com-
mitted, without order from His said Majesty's privy council,
signed by six of the said privy council, till the said first day of
February one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five; any law
or statute to the contrary notwithstanding.
II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that
Act of Union with Ireland 497
the act made in Scotland in the year of our Lord one thousand
seven hundred and one, (entitled, An Act for preventing wrong-
ful Imprisonment, and against undue Delays in Trials), in so
far as the same may be construed to relate to cases of treason and
suspicion of treason, be suspended until the first day of Feb-
ruary one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, and that until
the said day no judge, justice of peace, or other officer of the
law in Scotland, shall liberate, try, or admit to bail, any person
or persons that is, are, or shall be, in prison within Scotland,
for such causes as aforesaid, without order from His said Majesty's
privy council, signed by six of the said privy council : provided
always, that, from and after the said first day of February one
thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, the said persons so
committed shall have the benefit and advantage of all laws and
statutes in any way relating to or providing for the liberty of the
subjects of this realm, and that this present act shall continue
until the said first day of February one thousand seven hundred
and ninety-five, and no longer.
III. Provided always, and be it enacted, that nothing in this
act shall be construed to extend to invalidate the ancient rights
and privileges of parliament, or to the imprisonment or detain-
ing of any member of either house of parliament during the sit-
ting of such parliament, until the matter of which he stands
suspected be first communicated to the house of which he is a
member, and the consent of the said house obtained for his
commitment or detaining.
258. Act of Union with Ireland
(1800 July 21. 40 George IIL c. 67. 42 S. JL 648.)
WHEREAS in pursuance of His Majesty's most gracious rec-
ommendation to the two houses of parliament in Great Brit-
ain and Ireland respectively to consider of such measures as might
best tend to strengthen and consolidate the connection between the
two kingdoms, the two houses of the parliament of Great Britain
and the two houses of the parliament of Ireland have severally
agreed and resolved, that, in order to promote and secure the
essential interests of Great Britain and Ireland, and to consoli-
date the strength, power, and resources of the British Empire, it
will be advisable to concur in such measures as may best tend to
498 English Constitutional Documents
unite the two kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland into one
kingdom, in such manner and on such terms and conditions, as
may be established by the acts of the respective parliaments of
Great Britain and Ireland.
And whereas, in furtherance of the said resolution, both houses
of the said two parliaments respectively have likewise agreed
upon certain articles for effectuating and establishing the said
purposes, in the tenor following :
ARTICLE I
That it be the first article of the union of the kingdoms of
Great Britain and Ireland, that the said kingdoms of Great
Britain and Ireland shall, upon the first day of January which
shall be in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
one, and forever after, be united into one kingdom, by the name
of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; and that
the royal title and titles appertaining to the imperial crown of
the said united kingdom and its dependencies, and also the
ensigns, armorial flags and banners thereof, shall be such as His
Majesty, by his royal proclamation under the great seal of the
united kingdom, shall be pleased to appoint.
ARTICLE II
That it be the second article of union, that the succession to
the imperial crown of the said united kingdom, and of the
dominions thereunto belonging, shall continue limited and settled
in the same manner as the succession to the imperial crown of
the said kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland now stands lim-
ited and settled, according to the existing laws, and to the terms
of union between England and Scotland.
ARTICLE III
That it be the third article of union, that the said united king-
dom be represented in one and the same parliament, to be styled
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland.
ARTICLE IV
That it be the fourth article of union, that four lords spiritual
of Ireland by rotation of sessions, and twenty-eight lords tem-
poral of Ireland elected for life by the peers of Ireland, shall be
Act of Union with Ireland 499
the number to sit and vote on the part of Ireland in the house of
lords of the parliament of the united kingdom; and one hundred
commoners (two for each county of Ireland, two for the city of
Dublin, two for the city of Cork, one for the university of Trinity
College, and one for each of the thirty-one most considerable
cities, towns, and boroughs), be the number to sit and vote on
the part of Ireland in the house of commons of the parliament of
the united kingdom :
That such act as shall be passed in the parliament of Ireland
previous to the union, to regulate the mode by which the lords
spiritual and temporal, and the commons, to serve in the parlia-
ment of the united kingdom on the part of Ireland, shall be sum-
moned and returned to the said parliament, shall be considered
as forming part of the treaty of union, and shall be incorporated
in the acts of the respective parliaments by which the said union
shall be ratified and established :
That all questions touching the rotation or election of lords
spiritual or temporal of Ireland to sit in the parliament of the
united kingdom shall be decided by the house of lords thereof;
and wherever, by reason of an equality of votes, in the election
of any such lords temporal, a complete election shall not be made
according to the true intent of this article, the names of those
peers for whom such equality of votes shall be so given, shall be
written on pieces of paper of a similar form, and shall be put
into a glass, by the clerk of the parliaments at the table of the
house of lords whilst the house is sitting; and the peer or peers
whose name or names shall be first drawn out by the clerk of the
parliaments, shall be deemed the peer or peers elected, as the
case may be :
That any person holding any peerage of Ireland now subsisting,
or hereafter to be created, shall not thereby be disqualified from
being elected to serve if he shall so think fit, or from serving or
continuing to serve, if he shall so think fit, for any county, city,
or borough of Great Britain, in the house of commons of the
united kingdom, unless he shall have been previously elected, as
above, to sit in the house of lords of the united kingdom; but
that so long as such peer of Ireland shall so continue to be a
member of the house of commons, he shall not be entitled to the
privilege of peerage, nor be capable of being elected to serve as
a peer on the part of Ireland, or of voting at any such election;
and that he shall be liable to be sued, indicted, proceeded against,
and tried as a commoner, for any offence with which he may
be charged.
500 English Constitutional Documents
That it shall be lawful for His Majesty, his heirs and successors,
to create peers of that part of the united kingdom called Ireland,
and to make promotions in the peerage thereof, after the union;
provided that no new creation of any such peers shall take place
after the union until three of the peerages of Ireland, which shall
have been existing at the time of the union, shall have become
extinct; and upon such extinction of three peerages, that it shall
be lawful for His Majesty, his heirs and successors, to create
one peer of that part of the united kingdom called Ireland; and
in like manner so often as three peerages of that part of the
united kingdom called Ireland shall become extinct, it shall be
lawful for His Majesty, his heirs and successors, to create one
other peer of the said part of the united kingdom; and if it shall
happen that the peers of that part of the united kingdom called
Ireland, shall, by extinction of peerages or otherwise, be reduced
to the number of one hundred, exclusive of all such peers of that
part of the united kingdom called Ireland, as shall hold any
peerage of Great Britain subsisting at the time of the union, or
of the united kingdom created since the union, by which such
peers shall be entitled to an hereditary seat in the house of lords
of the united kingdom, then and in that case it shall and may be
lawful for His Majesty, his heirs and successors, to create one
peer of that part of the united kingdom called Ireland as often
as any one of such one hundred peerages shall fail by extinction,
or as often as any one peer of that part of the united kingdom
called Ireland shall become entitled, by descent or creation, to an
hereditary seat in the house of lords of the united kingdom; it
being the true intent and meaning of this article, that at all
times after the union it shall and may be lawful for His Majesty,
.his heirs and successors, to keep up the peerage of that part of
the united kingdom called Ireland to the number of one hun-
dred, over and above the number of such of the. said peers as
shall be entitled, by descent or creation, to an hereditary seat in
the house of lords of the united kingdom :
That if any peerage shall at any time be in abeyance, such
peerage shall be deemed and taken as an existing peerage; and
no peerage shall be deemed extinct, unless on default of claim-
ants to the inheritance of such peerage for the space of one year
from the death of the person who shall have been last possessed
thereof; and if no claims shall be made to the inheritance of
such peerage, in such form and manner as may from time to
time be prescribed by the house of lords of the united kingdom,
before the expiration of the said period of a year, then and in
Act of Union with Ireland 501
that case such peerage shall be deemed extinct; provided that
nothing herein shall exclude any person from afterwards putting
in a claim to the peerage so deemed extinct; and if such claim
shall be allowed as valid, by judgment of the house of lords of
the united kingdom, reported to His Majesty, such peerage shall
be considered as revived; and in case any new creation of a peer-
age of that part of the united kingdom called Ireland, shall have
taken place in the interval, in consequence of the supposed
extinction of such peerage, then no new right of creation shall
accrue to His Majesty, his heirs or successors, in consequence of
the next extinction which shall take place of any peerage of that
part of the united kingdom called Ireland :
That all questions touching the election of members to sit on
the part of Ireland in the house of commons of the united king-
dom shall be heard and decided in the same manner as questions
touching such elections in Great Britain now are, or at any time
hereafter shall by law be heard and decided; subject neverthe-
less to such particular regulations in respect of Ireland as, from
local circumstances, the parliament of the united kingdom may
from time to time deem expedient :
That the qualifications in respect of property of the members
elected on the part of Ireland to sit in the house of commons of
the united kingdom, shall be respectively the same as are now
provided by law in the cases of elections for counties and cities
and boroughs respectively in that part of Great Britain called
England, unless any other provision shall hereafter be made in
that respect by act of parliament of the united kingdom :
That when His Majesty, his heirs or successors, shall declare
his, her, or their pleasure for holding the first or any subsequent
parliament of the united kingdom, a proclamation shall issue,
under the great seal of the united kingdom, to cause the lords
spiritual and temporal, and commons, who are to serve in the
parliament thereof on the part of Ireland, to be returned in such
manner as by any act of this present session of the parliament of
Ireland shall be provided; and that the lords spiritual and tem-
poral and commons of Great Britain shall, together with the
lords spiritual and temporal and commons so returned as afore-
said on the part of Ireland, constitute the two houses of the
parliament of the united kingdom :
That if His Majesty, on or before the first day of January one
thousand eight hundred and one, on which day the union is to
take place, shall declare, under the great seal of Great Britain,
that it is expedient that the lords and commons of the present
502 English Constitutional Documents
parliament of Great Britain should be the members of the re-
spective houses of the first parliament of the united kingdom
on the part of Great Britain, then the said lords and commons
of the present parliament of Great Britain shall accordingly be
the members of the respective houses of the first parliament of
the united kingdom on the part of Great Britain; and they,
together with the lords spiritual and temporal and commons, so
summoned and returned as above on the part of Ireland, shall be
the lords spiritual and temporal and commons of the first parlia-
ment of the united kingdom; and such first parliament may (in
that case) if not sooner dissolved, continue to sit so long as the
present parliament of Great Britain may now by law continue to
sit, if not sooner dissolved: provided always, that until an act
shall have passed in the parliament of the united kingdom, pro-
viding in what cases persons holding offices or places of profit
under the crown in Ireland shall be incapable of being members
of the house of commons of the parliament of the united king-
dom, no greater number of members than twenty, holding such
offices or places, as aforesaid, shall be capable of sitting in the
said house of commons of the parliament of the united kingdom;
and if such a number of members shall be returned to serve in
the said house as to make the whole number of members of the
said house holding such office or place as aforesaid more than
twenty, then and in such case the seats or places of such mem-
bers as shall have last accepted such offices or places shall be
vacated, at the option of such members, so as to reduce the
number of members holding such offices or places to the number
of twenty; and no person holding any such office or place shall
be capable of being elected or of sitting in the said house,
"while there are twenty persons holding such offices or places sit-
ting in the said house; and that every one of the lords of parlia-
ment of the united kingdom, and every member of the house of
commons of the united kingdom, in the first and all succeeding
parliaments, shall, until the parliament of the united kingdom
shall otherwise provide, take the oaths, and make and subscribe
the declaration, and take and subscribe the oath now by law
enjoined to be taken, made, and subscribed by the lords and
commons of the parliament of Great Britain :
That the lords of parliament on the part of Ireland, in the
house of lords of the united kingdom, shall at all times have the
same privileges of parliament which shall belong to the lords of
parliament on the part of Great Britain; and the lords spiritual
and temporal respectively on the part of Ireland shall at all times
Act of Union with Ireland 503
have the same rights in respect of their sitting and voting upon
the trial of peers, as the lords spiritual and temporal respectively
on the part of Great Britain ; and that all lords spiritual of Ireland
shall have rank and precedency next and immediately after the
lords spiritual of the same rank and degree of Great Britain, and
shall enjoy all privileges as fully as the lords spiritual of Great
Britain do now or may hereafter enjoy the same (the right and
privilege of sitting in the house of lords, and the privileges de-
pending thereon, and particularly the right of sitting on the trial
of peers, excepted) ; and that the persons holding any temporal
peerages of Ireland, existing at the time of the union, shall,
from and after the union, have rank and precedency next and
immediately after all the persons holding peerages of the like
orders and degrees in Great Britain, subsisting at the time of the
union; and that all peerages of Ireland created after the union
shall have rank and precedency with the peerages of the united
kingdom, so created, according to the dates of their creations;
and that all peerages both of Great Britain and Ireland, now sub-
sisting or hereafter to be created, shall in all other respects, from
the date of the union, be considered as peerages of the united
kingdom; and that the peers of Ireland shall, as peers of the
united kingdom, be sued and tried as peers, except as aforesaid,
and shall enjoy all privileges of peers as fully as the peers of
Great Britain; the right and privilege of sitting in the house
of lords, and the privileges depending thereon, and the right of
sitting on the trial of peers, only excepted :
ARTICLE V
That it be the fifth article of union, that the churches of Eng-
land and Ireland, as now by law established, be united into one
protestant episcopal church, to be called, The United Church of
England and Ireland; and that the doctrine, worship, discipline,
and government of the said united church shall be, and shall
remain in full force forever, as the same are now by law estab-
lished for the church of England; and that the continuance and
preservation of the said united church, as the established church
of England and Ireland, shall be deemed and taken to be an
essential and fundamental part of the union; and that in like
manner the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government of the
church of Scotland shall remain and be preserved as the same
are now established by law, and by the act for the union of the
two kingdoms of England and Scotland.
504 English Constitutional Documents
ARTICLE VI
That it be the sixth article of union, that His Majesty's sub-
jects of Great Britain and Ireland shall, from and after the first
day of January one thousand eight hundred and one, be entitled
to the same privileges, and be on the same footing, as to encour-
agements and bounties on the like articles being the growth,
produce, or manufacture of either country respectively, and gen-
erally in respect of trade and navigation in all ports and places in
the united kingdom and its dependencies; and that in all treaties
made by His Majesty, his heirs and successors, with any foreign
power, His Majesty's subjects of Ireland shall have the same
privileges, and be on the same footing, as His Majesty's subjects
of Great Britain :
That, from the first day of January one thousand eight hundred
and one, all prohibitions and bounties on the export of articles,
the growth, produce, or manufacture of either country, to the
other, shall cease and determine; and that the said articles shall
thenceforth be exported from one country to the other, without
duty or bounty on such export :
That all articles, the growth, produce, or manufacture of either
country, (not hereinafter enumerated as subject to specific
duties,) shall from thenceforth be imported into each country
from the other, free from duty, other than such countervailing
duties on the several articles enumerated in the schedule number
one A. and B. hereunto annexed, as are therein specified, or to
such other countervailing duties as shall hereafter be imposed by
the parliament of the united kingdom, in the manner hereinafter
provided; and that, for the period of twenty years from the
union, the articles enumerated in the schedule number two here-
unto annexed, shall be subject, on importation into each country
from the other, to the duties specified in the said schedule num-
ber two; and the woollen manufactures, known by the names of
old and new drapery, shall pay, on importation into each country
from the other, the duties now payable on importation into Ire-
land; salt and hops, on importation into Ireland from Great
Britain, duties not exceeding those which are now paid on impor-
tation into Ireland; and coals, on importation into Ireland from
Great Britain, shall be subject to burdens not exceeding those to
which they are now subject: * * *
Act of Union with Ireland 505
AKTICLE vm
That it be the eighth article of onion, that all laws in force at
the time of the union, and all the courts of civil and ecclesiastical
jurisdiction within the respective kingdoms, shall remain as now
by law established within the same, subject only to such altera-
tions and regulations from time to time as circumstances may
appear to the parliament of the united kingdom to require; pro-
vided that all writs of error and appeals, depending at the time
of the union or hereafter to be brought, and which might now be
finally decided by the house of lords of either kingdom, shall,
from and after the union, be finally decided by the house of
lords of the united kingdom; and provided that, from and after
the union, there shall remain in Ireland an instance court of
admiralty, for the determination of causes, civil and maritime
only, and that the appeal from sentences of the said court shall
be to His Majesty's delegates in his court of chancery in that
part of the united kingdom called Ireland; and that all laws at
present in force in either kingdom, which shall be contrary to
any of the provisions which may be enacted by any act for carry-
ing these articles into effect, be from and after the union repealed.
And whereas the said articles having, by address of the respec-
tive houses of parliament in Great Britain and Ireland, been hum-
bly laid before His Majesty, His Majesty has been graciously
pleased to approve the same ; and to recommend it to his two
houses of parliament in Great Britain and Ireland to consider of
such measures as may be necessary for giving effect to the said
articles : in order, therefore, to give full effect and validity to the
same, be it 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 the said foregoing recited articles, each
and every of them, according to the true import and tenor thereof,
be ratified, confirmed, and approved, and be and they are hereby
declared to be the articles of the Union of Great Britain and Ire-
land, and the same shall be in force and have effect for ever, from
the first day of January which shall be in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and one ; provided that before that period
an act shall have been passed by the parliament of Ireland, for
carrying into effect, in the like manner, the said foregoing recited
articles.
506 English Constitutional Documents
II. [Clause regulating the election of representative peers
and members of the house of commons for Ireland.]
III. And be it enacted, that the great seal of Ireland may, if