changed to that of King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. and Ireland. The Act took effect on the first day of the present century.

Two great constitutional changes have taken place since the Union: one occasioned by the Act 10 Geo. IV. c. 7, for removing all the disabilities under which the Roman Catholics laboured, and the other by that for the Reform of the House of Commons.

The former of these statutes enacts that Roman Catholics may vote at elections of members of Parliament for England and Ireland, and for the representative peers of Scotland and Ireland; and may sit in Parliament, if duly qualified in other respects, on taking an oath prescribed by the Act, by which they promise to maintain the succession to the throne as then limited-abjure allegiance to any other person claiming a right to the crown-renounce the doctrine of the Pope's power to depose excommunicated sovereigns, and of his temporal jurisdiction within the British realm. By this oath they also swear that they will defend the settlement of property as established by law, abjure any intention to subvert the present church establishment, and pledge themselves not to exercise any privilege, acquired by the Act, to disturb or weaken the Protestant religion or Protestant government in the United Kingdom. Roman Catholics may hold any civil or military office, except those of guardian and justice, or Regent of the United Kingdom, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain or Ireland, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, or High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, or any office in the established churches of England, Ireland, or Scotland, in any ecclesiastical court, in any cathedral or collegiate foundation, or in any of the universities. No Roman Catholic in holy orders is allowed to sit in Parliament. The Act contains various clauses respecting Roman Catholic ecclesiastics, but not of any constitutional importance. Together with the Act here noticed, another was simultaneously passed, which repealed the Act qualifying forty-shilling electors to vote for members in counties in Ireland, and limited the right of voting to persons having freeholds of not less than 10l. annual value.

The Act for amending the representation of the people of Ireland confers the right of voting in counties on persons holding lands of the clear yearly value of not less than 101. by freehold or any other tenure, for the unexpired residue of any term originally created for not less than sixty years, and of lands of the yearly value of not less than 201. for not less than fourteen years; renewals or new leases at the same rent, and for a term not less than that originally granted, to be deemed a continuance of qualification. The right of voting is also extended to copyholders. The right of voting in cities and towns is vested in freeholders having a beneficial interest of the clear yearly value of 10%., and such lessees and assignees as might vote for the county, and occupiers as tenants or owners of any house or tenement of the value of 101., if duly registered, and having been occupiers at least six months previous to registry, and having discharged all grand jury and municipal cesses above one-half year's amount of such cesses. In boroughs it is vested, as in the English Act, in the occupiers of houses or tenements of not less than 101. yearly value, on the condition of twelve

months' previous occupation, residence within seven miles, and payment of all the assessed taxes. Freemen are permitted to vote only so long as they are resident within seven miles of the usual place of election; honorary freemen are disqualified. New boundary lines are prescribed by a subsequent Act for all boroughs entitled to return members, which right is continued as in the Act of Union, with the exception of the cities of Limerick and Waterford, the borough of Belfast, the town of Galway, and the University of Dublin, each of which is to return one member in addition to the member it returned since the Union. The right of voting in the university, hitherto confined to the provost, twenty-five fellows, and seventy scholars, is extended to all who have taken the degree of master of arts, or any higher degree, and to all who have at any time been fellows or scholars, such new electors being required to have their names entered on the college books for this special purpose, and to pay an annual sum of one pound for retaining them there. This new arrangement has increased the number of electors to upwards of 1,300. The principal alterations in the number of representatives for Ireland, in the Irish and Imperial Parliament, have been :-In the reign of Henry VIII. the House of Commons had 100 members; Philip and Mary, 104; Elizabeth, 146; James I., 232; Charles II., 285; James II., 298; Anne, and thence to the Union, 300; in the Imperial Parliament, from the Union to the Reform Act, 100; and since the Reform Act, 105.

The executive is vested in the Lord Lieutenant, who holds office during pleasure, but is generally continued for five years. The extraordinary powers, trenching on the prerogative of royalty, which he formerly exercised, have been gradually lopped off, so that he is now little more than the organ for executing the ordinances of the British cabinet. He still, however, has an establishment of regal character, holds a court, is attended by officers of the household, for the support of which he receives a fixed annual salary of 20,000l., two splendid residences, and several minor emoluments, among which the payment of his household by the Crown is by no means trifling. He is aided in the discharge of his official duties by a privy council, composed of all the great judicial functionaries, and other noblemen and gentlemen, nominated by the Crown. The approbation of this body is essential to give validity to many of the Lord Lieutenant's acts. During his absence, or on his demise, his place is filled by three Lords Justices, who are generally the Lord Chancellor, the Archbishop of Armagh, and the Commander of the Forces. But the powers of government are in reality exercised by the Lord Lieutenant's chief secretary, who is usually a member of the cabinet, and has an establishment of under-secretaries and clerks, in London and Dublin, to execute the details of his office. The charge of each county is given to a lord-lieutenant, aided by a number of deputy lieutenants, all named by the chief governor, and acting gratuitously. Their recommendation has much weight in the appointment of the county magistracy, though their actual nomination be vested in the Lord Chancellor, by whom also they may be superseded. They act without salary. Latterly, a class of stipendiary magistrates has been established, appointed ostensibly to aid the other class, but who, in

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reality, perform the greater part of the executive duties, and are looked to by the government as more especially responsible for the preservation of the public peace. Their orders are carried into execution by a well-organised and powerful constabulary force of about ten thousand men, classed under the divisions of inspectors, high constables, constables, and sub-constables.

SECT. 3.-Courts of Justice.

The system of judicature in Ireland rests on the same principles as that of England, whence it was introduced by King John when Lord of Ireland. He established the Courts of Chancery, King's Bench, and Exchequer, and instituted circuits by justices itinerant through such parts of the island as acknowledged the authority of the King of England.

The Court of Chancery has the same jurisdiction and power as that of England; the Lord Chancellor ranks next to the Lord Lieutenant, except within the city of Dublin, where the Lord Mayor takes precedence. He is assisted in the discharge of his judicial functions by the Master of the Rolls. This latter office was for a long period nearly a sinecure, the only duty attached to it being the custody of the principal records of the Court, which was executed by deputy; but at the Union, the presence of the Irish Chancellor in the Imperial Parliament being deemed necessary, the Master of the Rolls was vested with judicial powers, subordinate to those of the Chancellor. The salary of the former of these functionaries was fixed at 10,0001., but has been since reduced to 80007.; that of the latter continues at The Chancellor holds the rate fixed in 1815, 4,500l. per annum. office during pleasure; the Master of the Rolls during good behaviour. The other principal subordinate officers of the Court are, the Chancellor's secretary; four masters, who investigate the details of judicial proceedings and report thereon; and six clerks, through whom all suits In 1815, an Act was passed emmust be brought before the court. powering the Lord Chancellor to appoint extraordinary commissioners to examine witnesses, and take answers and affidavits in England and Scotland respecting suits in the Irish Chancery; the like powers were vested by the same Act in the Exchequer as to suits in equity there. The proceedings in each court have been considerably facilitated by this arrangement. Previously to the Union, the Irish House of Lords was the court of final appellate jurisdiction from the Court of Chancery and the Court of Equity in the Exchequer. This right, after having been claimed by the British House of Lords, was vested ultimately in that of Ireland by acts of both parliaments. At the Union, the right of final appeal was transferred to the House of Lords in the Imperial Parliament.

The Courts of King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer, are regulated, both in principle and in practice, as in England. Each is under the direction of a chief justice and three inferior or puisne judges. All of them hold their offices during good behaviour, are removable only by an address to the King from parliament, and on resigning in consequence of age or infirmity are entitled to liberal salaries during life. For trial of law records and criminal cases the

country is divided into six circuits, through each of which two of the judges of the law courts proceed twice a year, during Lent and at Midsummer. In cases of illness or of unavoidable absence, their places are supplied on circuit by one of the King's law officers, the attorney-general, the solicitor-general, and three serjeants.

The Lord Lieutenant and privy council used formerly to sit as a court of justice in extraordinary cases. From having been held in the Castle, Dublin, this court took the name of the Court of the Castle Chamber; but it was also frequently called the Court of the Star Chamber, from the identity of its objects, principles, and forms, with the English court of that name. It was abolished at the Restoration; but the privy council still sits as a court of appeal, chiefly in ecclesiastical affairs: the Lord Lieutenant nominally, and sometimes personally, presides in it; but the judiciary powers are virtually exercised by the Chancellor, the Master of the Rolls, the heads of the other courts of justice, and such of the King's law officers as are privy councillors. At present, the court consists of what is called the law committee of the council, which, after hearing the case, pronounces judgment in the form of a report to the body at large, which report is always adopted, and thus becomes law.

The other courts sitting in Dublin are, the Prerogative Court, for the trial of ecclesiastical causes; the Court of Admiralty, for offences and suits of debt and damage on the high seas; the Court of Bankruptcy, which is held by commissioners appointed by the Lord Lieutenant; and the Court for the relief of Insolvent Debtors, instituted in 1821. It is presided over by two commissioners, who, besides their fixed court in Dublin, make circuits through the several counties, one commissioner visiting those in the northern provinces, and the other those in the southern. They are appointed by the Lord Lieutenant.

To diminish the expenses and delays attendant on the usual modes of proceeding in the superior courts of law, an Act was passed in the reign of William III., for deciding cases of small debts by a summary process, called civil bill. The Act, at first, was so inoperative as to be declared obsolete in the beginning of the reign of Anne, when it was revived; and it was further regulated by an Act of 2 Geo. I. But the most important step towards removing the impediments to the attainment of justice by the great body of the people, both in criminal and civil cases, was the appointment of county courts of general session, for which purpose every county is divided into two districts, in each of which general sessions of the peace are held four times a year by the resident magistrates, who are aided in their deliberations by an assistant barrister. The qualifications for this latter officer are, that he must be a practising barrister, and of six years' standing. He is ineligible to sit in parliament, and is prohibited from practising in the county in which he acts in a judicial capacity. By another arrangement, magistrates are required to hold courts of petty sessions for the investigation of minor criminal offences, which they had previously been in the habit of deciding in private. The effects of both these changes have been satisfactory.

Courts of quarter and petty sessions are held in the different boroughs; and in the larger towns, which have recorders, these functionaries hold courts for the trial of civil causes and the lighter class

of criminal offences. But all processes of a graver nature are referred to the judges during circuit.

Every manor, of which the number is very considerable, is entitled to hold courts of record, as in cities and towns, but generally to a very limited extent. The presiding officer is the seneschal, appointed by the lord of the manor. The manor of St. Sepulchre's, of which the Archbishop of Dublin is lord, claims the right to inflict capital punishment; but this right has not been exercised, at least in modern times.

CHAPTER VIII.-RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

SECT. 1. Constitution and Government of the Church of England. THE Established Church of England is Protestant Episcopal. Its fundamental doctrines and tenets are embodied in the Thirty-Nine Articles, agreed upon in convocation in 1562, and revised and finally settled in 1571. These articles are said to have been chiefly compiled from others drawn up shortly after the Reformation in 1552, in the reign of Edward VI., and which had been repealed under Mary. But though this be the state religion, all others are tolerated under certain restrictions; and civil disabilities can hardly now be said to attach to any class of Her Majesty's Christian subjects. The oaths, however, that must be taken before persons are qualified to hold the higher civil and military offices, exclude from them Jews and infidels. The oaths in question are those of allegiance and supremacy, imposed by the 1st Geo. II. c. 13, and of abjuration, imposed by the 6th Geo. III. c. 53. In the case of Quakers and Moravians, declarations to the same effect are substituted. It was formerly necessary for all persons elected to any office, to take, within a specified time, the sacrament according to the forms prescribed by the Church of England; but this obligation was rendered unnecessary by the 9th Geo. IV. c. 17, and a declaration," upon the true faith of a Christian," substituted in its stead.

The Roman Catholic Relief Act, 10 Geo. IV. c. 7, abolished the declaration against transubstantiation, the invocation of saints, and the sacrifice of the mass, as practised by the Church of Rome; enacting that Roman Catholics, on taking an oath, the form of which is prescribed in the Act, in lieu of the oaths of allegiance, supremacy, and abjuration, may sit in parliament, and be admitted to all offices, civil as well as military, excepting those of Regent of the United Kingdom, Lord Chancellor, Lord Keeper, Lord Commissioner of the Great Seal, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and his Majesty's High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Roman Catholics are not, however, allowed to hold any church office, nor, if members of a corporation, to vote in church appointments. They are prohibited also from advising the Crown in the disposal of church prefer. ment; and the livings in their possession are disposed of by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Universities. The only class of Christians at present proscribed on account of religious opinions are the Jesuits, and members of religious orders bound by monastic or religious vows.