His Majesty shall so think fit, after the union, be used in like man-
ner as before the union, except where it is otherwise provided by
the foregoing articles, within that part of the united kingdom
called Ireland ; and that His Majesty may, so long as he shall
think fit, continue the privy council of Ireland to be his privy
council for that part of the united kingdom called Ireland.
259. Abolition of the Negro Slave Trade
(1807, March 25. 47 George III. c. 36. 47 5. Z. 140.)
WHEREAS the two houses of parliament did, by their reso-
lutions of the tenth and twenty-fourth days of July one
thousand eight hundred and six, severally resolve, upon certain
grounds therein mentioned, that they would, with all practicable
expedition, take effectual measures for the abolition of the Afri-
can slave trade, in such manner, and at such period, as might be
deemed advisable; and whereas it is fit upon all and each of
the grounds mentioned in the said resolutions, that the same
should be forthwith abolished and prohibited, and declared to
be unlawful: 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 assem-
bled, and by the authority of the same, that from and after the
first day of May one thousand eight hundred and seven, the Afri-
can slave trade, and all and all manner of dealing and trading in
the purchase, sale, barter, or transfer of slaves, or of persons
intended to be sold, transferred, used, or dealt with as slaves,
practised or carried on, in, at, to, or from any part of the coast
or countries of Africa, shall be, and the same is hereby utterly
abolished, prohibited, and declared to be unlawful; and also that
all and all manner of dealing, either by way of purchase, sale,
barter, or transfer, or by means of any other contract or agree-
ment whatever, relating to any slaves, or to any persons intended
to be used or dealt with as slaves, for the purpose of such slaves
or persons being removed or transported either immediately or
by transhipment at sea or otherwise, directly or indirectly from
Disfranchisement of Grampound 507
Africa, or from any island, country, territory, or place whatever,
in the West Indies, or in any other part of America, not being in
the dominion, possession, or occupation of His Majesty, to any
other island, country, territory, or place whatever, is hereby in
like manner utterly abolished, prohibited, and declared to be
unlawful; * * *
260. Disfranchisement of Grampound
(1821, June 8. I & 2 George IV. c. 47. 59 S. Z. 103.)
WHEREAS there was the most notorious and general bribery
and corruption previous to the election of burgesses to serve
in the last parliament for the borough of Grampound, in the
county of Cornwall, in order to procure the return of burgesses to
serve in parliament for the said borough, and it should therefore
be excluded from hereafter returning burgesses to serve in parlia-
ment : and whereas it is expedient that two additional knights of
the shire should be returned for the county of York to serve in par-
liament in lieu of two burgesses for the borough of Grampound:
may it therefore please Your Majesty that it may be enacted, and
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 borough of Grampound, in the
county of Cornwall, shall cease to elect and return burgesses to
serve in the high court of parliament.
II. And be it further enacted, that if, during the present par-
liament, the election of the two burgesses now serving therein
for the same borough of Grampound or either of them, shall by
death or otherwise become void, then and in every such case an
additional knight or knights shall be returned to serve in the
high court of parliament for the county of York; and that from
the end of the present parliament, and at all times thereafter, the
said county of York shall return, to serve in the high court of
parliament, four knights of the shire instead of two knights of the
shire, as the said county has heretofore returned; the said
knights respectively to be elected and chosen by virtue of Your
Majesty's writ, to be awarded by the lord chancellor or lord
keeper of the great seal of that part of the united kingdom called
Great Britain for the time being, in that behalf to the sheriff of
508 English Constitutional Documents
the county of York; and the said knights to be elected and re-
turned in the same manner, to all intents and purposes, as knights
have been heretofore returned for the county of York.
261. Repeal of Corporation and Test Acts
(1828, May 9. 9 George IV. c. 17. 65 S. L. 22.)
WHEREAS an act was passed in the thirteenth year of the
reign of King Charles the Second, entitled, An Act for the
well governing and regulating of Corporations: and whereas
another act was passed in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of
King Charles the Second, entitled, An Act for preventing Dangers
which may happen from Popish Recusants : and whereas another
act was passed in the sixteenth year of the reign of King George
the Second, entitled, An Act to indemnify Persons who have
omitted to qualify themselves for Offices and Employments within
the Time limited by Law, and for allowing further Time for that
Purpose, and also for amending so much of an Act made in the
twenty-fifth Year of the Reign of King Charles the Second,
entitled, An Act for preventing Dangers which may happen from
Popish Recusants, as related to the Time for receiving the Sac-
rament of the Lord's Supper now limited by the said Act: and
whereas it is expedient that so much of the said several acts of
parliament as imposes the necessity of taking the sacrament of
the Lord's Supper according to the rites or usage of the Church
of England, for the purposes therein respectively mentioned,
should be repealed; 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 so much and
such parts of the said several acts passed in the thirteenth and
twenty-fifth years of the reign of King Charles the Second, and of
the said act passed in the sixteenth year of the reign of King
George the Second, as require the person or persons in the said
acts respectively described to take or receive the sacrament of
the Lord's Supper according to the rites or usage of the Church
of England, for the several purposes therein expressed, or to
Repeal of Corporation and Test Acts 509
deliver a certificate or to make proof of the truth of such his or
their receiving the said sacrament in manner aforesaid, or as
impose upon any such person or persons any penalty, forfeiture,
incapacity, or disability whatsoever for or by reason of any
neglect or omission to take or receive the said sacrament, within
the respective periods and in the manner in the said acts respec-
tively provided in that behalf, shall, from and immediately after
the passing of this act, be and the same are hereby repealed.
II. And whereas the Protestant episcopal Church of England
and Ireland, and the doctrine, discipline, and government
thereof, and the Protestant presbyterian Church of Scptland, and
the doctrine, discipline, and government thereof, are by the laws
of this realm severally established, permanently and inviolably :
and whereas it is just and fitting, that on the repeal of such
parts of the said acts as impose the necessity of taking the sac-
rament of the Lord's Supper according to the rites or usage of the
Church of England as a qualification for office, a declaration to
the following effect should be substituted in lieu thereof; be it
therefore enacted, that every person who shall hereafter be placed,
elected, or chosen in or to the office of mayor, alderman, recorder,
bailiff, town clerk or common councilman, or in or to any office
of magistracy, or place, trust, or employment relating to the gov-
ernment of any city, corporation, borough, or cinque port within
England and Wales, or the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, shall,
within one calendar month next before or upon his admission
into any of the aforesaid offices or trusts, make and subscribe the
declaration following:
' I, A. B., do solemnly and sincerely, in the presence of God,
profess, testify, and declare, upon the true faith of a Christian,
that I will never exercise any power, authority, or influence which
I may possess by virtue of the office of to injure or weaken
the Protestant church as it is by law established in England, or
to disturb the said church, or the bishops and clergy of the said
church, in the possession of any rights or privileges to which such
church, or the said bishops and clergy, are or may be by law
entitled.'
510 English Constitutional Documents
262. Catholic Emancipation Act
(1829, April 13. 10 George IV. c. 7. 65 S. L. pt. 2, p. 49.)
WHEREAS by various acts of parliament certain restraints
and disabilities are imposed on the Roman Catholic sub-
jects of His Majesty, to which other subjects of His Majesty are
not liable : and whereas it is expedient that such restraints and
disabilities shall be from henceforth discontinued : and whereas
by various acts certain oaths and certain declarations, commonly
called the declaration against transubstantiation, and the declara-
tion against transubstantiation and the invocation of saints and
the sacrifice of the mass, as practised in the Church of Rome,
are or may be required to be taken, made, and subscribed by the
subjects of His Majesty, as qualifications for sitting and voting
in parliament, and for the enjoyment of certain offices, fran-
chises, and civil rights: be it enacted by the king's most excel-
lent 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 commencement of this act all such parts of the said acts as
require the said declarations, or either of them, to be made or
subscribed by any of His Majesty's subjects, as a qualification for
sitting and voting in parliament, or for the exercise or enjoyment
of any office, franchise, or civil right, be and the same are (save
as hereinafter provided and excepted) hereby repealed.
II. And be it enacted, that from and after the commencement
of this act it shall be lawful for any person professing the Roman
Catholic religion, being a peer, or who shall after the commence-
ment of this act be returned as a member of the house of com-
mons, to sit and vote in either house of parliament respectively,
being in all other respects duly qualified to sit and vote therein,
upon taking and subscribing the following oath, instead of the
oaths of allegiance, supremacy, and abjuration:
' I, A. B., do sincerely promise and swear, that I will be faithful
and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King George the Fourth,
and will defend him to the utmost of my power against all con-
spiracies and attempts whatever, which shall be made against his
person, crown, or dignity; and I will do my utmost endeavour to
disclose and make known to His Majesty, his heirs and succes-
sors, all treasons and traitorous conspiracies which may be formed
against him or them: and I do faithfully promise to maintain,
Catholic Emancipation Act 511
support, and defend, to the utmost of my power, the succession
of the crown, which succession, by an act, entitled, An Act for
the further Limitation of the Crown, and better securing the Rights
and Liberties of the Subject, is and stands limited to the princess
Sophia, electress of Hanover, and the heirs of her body, being
Protestants; hereby utterly renouncing and abjuring any obedi-
ence or allegiance unto any other person claiming or pretending
a right to the crown of this realm : and I do further declare, that
it is not an article of my faith, and that I do renounce, reject,
and abjure the opinion, that princes excommunicated or deprived
by the pope, or any other authority of the see of Rome, may be
deposed or murdered by their subjects, or by any person what-
soever : and I do declare, that I do not believe that the pope of
Rome, or any other foreign prince, prelate, person, state, or
potentate, hath or ought to have any temporal or civil jurisdic-
tion, power, superiority, or preeminence, directly or indirectly,
within this realm. I do swear, that I will defend to the utmost
of my power the settlement of property within this realm, as
established by the laws : and I do hereby disclaim, disavow, and
solemnly abjure any intention to subvert the present church estab-
lishment, as settled by law within this realm : and I do solemnly
swear, that I will never exercise any privilege to which I am or
may become entitled, to disturb or weaken the Protestant religion
or Protestant government in the united kingdom : and I do sol-
emnly, in the presence of God, profess, testify, and declare, that
I do make this declaration, and every part thereof, in the plain
and ordinary sense of the words of this oath, without any evasion,
equivocation, or mental reservation whatsoever.
So help me God.'
III. And be it further enacted, that wherever, in the oath here
appointed and set forth, the name of His present Majesty is
expressed or referred to, the name of the sovereign of this king-
dom for the time being, by virtue of the act for the further lim-
itation of the crown and better securing the right and liberties
of the subject, shall be substituted from time to time, with
proper words of reference thereto.
IV. Provided always, and be it further enacted, that no peer
professing the Roman Catholic religion, and no person professing
the Roman Catholic religion, who shall be returned a member
of the house of commons after the commencement of this act,
shall be capable of sitting or voting in either house of parlia-
ment respectively, unless he shall first take and subscribe the oath
hereinbefore appointed and set forth, before the same persons, at
512 English Constitutional Documents
the same times and places, and in the same manner as the oaths
and the declaration now required by law are respectively directed
to be taken, made, and subscribed; and that any such person
professing the Roman Catholic religion, who shall sit or vote in
either house of parliament, without having first taken and sub-
scribed, in the manner aforesaid, the oath in this act appointed
and set forth, shall be subject to the same penalties, forfeitures,
and disabilities, and the offence of so sitting or voting shall be
followed and attended by and with the same consequences, as
are by law enacted and provided in the case of persons sitting
or voting in either house of parliament respectively, without the
taking, making, and subscribing the oaths and the declaration
now required by law.
V. And be it further enacted, that it shall be lawful for per-
sons professing the Roman Catholic religion to vote at elections
of members to serve in parliament for England and for Ireland,
and also to vote at the elections of representative peers of Scot-
land and of Ireland, and to be elected such representative peers,
being in all other respects duly qualified, upon taking and sub-
scribing the oath hereinbefore appointed and set forth, instead
of the oaths of allegiance, supremacy, and abjuration, and
instead of the declaration now by law required, and instead also
of such other oath or oaths as are now by law required to be
taken by any of His Majesty's subjects professing the Roman
Catholic religion, and upon taking also such other oath or oaths
as may now be lawfully tendered to any persons offering to vote
at such elections.
VI, VII. [The administration of the oath.]
VIII. [Allowing Roman Catholics to vote and be elected in
Scotland.]
IX. And be it further enacted, that no person in holy orders
in the Church of Rome shall be capable of being elected to serve
in parliament as a member of the house of commons; and if any
such person shall be elected to serve in parliament as aforesaid,
such election shall be void; and if any person, being elected to
serve in parliament as a member of the house of commons, shall,
after his election, take or receive holy orders in the Church of
Rome, the seat of such person shall immediately become void;
and if any such person shall, in any of the cases aforesaid, pre-
sume to sit or vote as a member of the house of commons, he
shall be subject to the same penalties, forfeitures, and disabili-
Catholic Emancipation Act 513
ties as are enacted by an act passed in the forty-first year of the
reign of King George the Third, entitled An Act to remove Doubts
respecting the Eligibility of Persons in Holy Orders to sit in the
House of Commons; and proof of the celebration of any religious
service by such person, according to the rites of the Church of
Rome, shall be deemed and taken to be primd facie evidence of
the fact of such person being in holy orders, within the intent
and meaning of this act.
X. And be it enacted, that it shall be lawful for any of His
Majesty's subjects professing the Roman Catholic religion to
hold, exercise, and enjoy all civil and military offices and places
of trust or profit under His Majesty, his heirs or successors, and
to exercise any other franchise or civil right, except as herein-
after excepted, upon taking and subscribing, at the times and in
the manner hereinafter mentioned, the oath hereinbefore ap-
pointed and set forth, instead of the oaths of allegiance, suprem-
acy, and abjuration, and instead of such oath or oaths as are
or may be now by law required to be taken for the purpose afore-
said by any of His Majesty's subjects professing the Roman
Catholic religion.
XI. Provided always, and be it enacted, that nothing herein
contained shall be construed to exempt any person professing the
Roman Catholic religion from the necessity of taking any oath
or oaths, or making any declaration, not hereinbefore mentioned,
which are or may be by law required to be taken or subscribed
by any person on his admission into any such office or place of
trust or profit as aforesaid.
XII. Provided also, and be it further enacted, that nothing
herein contained shall extend or be construed to extend to enable
any person or persons professing the Roman Catholic religion to
hold or exercise the office of guardians and justices of the united
kingdom, or of regent of the united kingdom, under whatever
name, style, or title such office may be constituted ; nor to enable
any person, otherwise than as he is now by law enabled, to hold
or enjoy the office of lord high chancellor, lord keeper or lord
commissioner of the great seal of Great Britain or Ireland; or
the office of lord lieutenant, or lord deputy, or other chief gov-
ernor or governors of Ireland; or His Majesty's high commis-
sioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
514 English Constitutional Documents
263. Reform Act of 1832
(1832, June 7. 2 William IV, c. 45.)
WHEREAS it is expedient to take effectual measures for cor-
recting divers abuses that have long prevailed in the choice
of members to serve in the commons house of parliament, to
deprive many inconsiderable places of the right of returning mem-
bers, to grant such privilege to large, populous, and wealthy towns,
to increase the number of knights of the shire, to extend the elec-
tive franchise to many of His Majesty's subjects who have not
heretofore enjoyed the same, and to diminish the expense of
elections: Be it therefore enacted by the king's most excellent
Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spir-
itual and temporal, and commons, in this present parliament
assembled, and by the authority of the same, that each of the
boroughs enumerated in the Schedule marked A (56 in all) shall
from and after the end of this present parliament cease to return
any member or members to serve in parliament.
II. [Boroughs enumerated in Schedule B (30 in all) to return
one member only.]
III. [Places named in Schedule C (22 in all) made boroughs
to return two members to parliament.]
IV. [Places named in Schedule D (20 in all) made boroughs
to return one member to parliament.]
V. [Four boroughs to include adjacent districts.]
VI. [Weymouth and Melcombe Regis to return two members
instead of four; Penryn to include Falmouth, and Sandwich to
include Deal and Walmer.]
VII. Boundaries to be fixed.]
VIII. IX, X. [Dealing with Wales.]
XI. [Returning officers.]
XII. [Yorkshire to return six members.]
XIII. [Lincolnshire to return four members.]
XIV. [Counties enumerated in Schedule F (25 in all) to return
four members.]
XV. [Counties enumerated in Schedule F 2 (7 in all) to return
three members, and two members instead of one to be returned
by three of the counties in Wales.]
XVI. [Isle of Wight to return one member, apart from Hamp-
shire.]
Reform Act of 1832 515
XVII. [Towns, which are counties of themselves, to be included
in adjoining counties.]
XVIII. That no person shall be entitled to vote in the election
of a knight or knights of the shire to serve in any future parlia-
ment, or in the election of a member or members to serve in any
future parliament for any city or town being a county of itself,
in respect of any freehold lands or tenements whereof such per-
son may be seised for his own life, or for the life of another, or
for any lives whatsoever, except such person shall be in the actual
and bona fide occupation of such lands or tenements, or except
the same shall have come to such person by marriage, marriage
settlement, devise, or promotion to any benefice or to any office,
or except the same shall be of the clear yearly value of not less
than 10 above all rents and charges payable out of or in respect
of the same; any statute or usage to the contrary notwithstand-
ing: provided always, that nothing in this act contained shall
prevent any person now seised for his own life, or for the life of
another, or for any lives whatsoever, of any freehold lands or
tenements in respect of which he now has, or but for the passing
of this act might acquire, the right of voting in such respective
elections, from retaining or acquiring, so long as he shall be so
seised of the same lands or tenements, such right of voting in
respect thereof, if duly registered according to the respective
provisions hereinafter contained.
XIX. That every male person of full age, and not subject to
any legal incapacity, who shall be seised at law or in equity of
any land or tenements of copyhold or any other tenure whatever
except freehold, for his own life, or for the life of another, or
for any lives whatsoever, or for any larger estate, of the clear
yearly value of not less than 10 over and above all rents and
charges payable out of or in respect of the same, shall be entitled
to vote in the election of a knight or knights of the shire to serve
in any future parliament for the county, or for the riding, parts,
or division of the county, in which such lands or tenements shall
be respectively situate.
XX. That every male person of full age, and not subject to
any legal incapacity, who shall be entitled, either as lessee or
assignee, to any lands or tenements, whether of freehold or of
any other tenure whatever, for the unexpired residue, whatever
it may be, of any term originally created for a period of not less
than sixty years, (whether determinable on a life or lives, or
not,) of the clear yearly value of not less than 10 over and
above all rents and charges payable out of or in respect of the
516 English Constitutional Documents
same, or for the unexpired residue, whatever it may be, of anf
term originally created for a period of not less than twenty years,
(whether determinable on a life or lives, or not,) of the clear
yearly value of not less than 50 over and above all rents and
charges payable out of or in respect of the same, or who shall
occupy as tenant any lands or tenements for which he shall be
bona fide liable to a yearly rent of not less than 50 , shall be
entitled to vote in the election of a knight or knights of the shire
to serve in any future parliament for the county, or for the riding,
parts, or division of the county, in which such lands or tene-
ments shall be respectively situate : provided always, that no per-