s. 6.

house is sitting, and the peer whose name shall be first drawn out by such clerk, shall be deemed the peer élected; and this act further provides, s. 6. that in case any Ford spiritual being a temporal peer of the united kingCase of spiritual peer becoming a dom, or being a temporal peer of Ireland, shall be temporal peer. chosen by the lords temporal, the rotation of representation of the spiritual lords shall, during the life of such spiritual peer, proceed to the next spiritual lord, that is to say, if such spiritual lord so chosen a temporal peer shall be an archbishop, then the rotation shall proceed to the archbishop whose see is next in rotation; and so if such spiritual lord shall be a suffragan bishop, then the rotation shall proceed to the next suffragan bishop.

$4.

House of Com

mons.

45 members for Scotland.

5 Ann. c. 8. Eng.

IV. I shall postpone for the present the statutes which respect the privileges of Parliament, till these acts are stated which regard the commons as the third constituent part of parliament:-and first, as to their number.-The 22d article of the treaty for the union of England and Scotland provides that forty-five shall be the number of the representatives of Scotland in the house of commons of the parliament of Great-Britain, to be elected in such manner as by an act of the then present session of the parliament of Scotland was or should be settled. And by the 5 Ann c. 8. Eng. (which incorporates an act passed in the parliament of Scotland, 5th Feb. 1707,) thirty of the said representatives of Scotland in the house of commons, shall be chosen by the shires or stewartries, and fifteen by the royal boroughs, viz.-one for every shire and stewartry, excepting the shires of Bute and Caithness, which shall choose one by turns;-the shires of Nairn and Cromarty, which shall also choose by turns, and in like manner the shires of Clackmannan and Kinross shall choose by turns.--And in case of the death or incapacity of any of the members from the respective shires or stewartries, the shire or stewartry which elected the said member shall elect another in his place.—And the fifteen representatives for the royal boroughs shall be chosen as follows, viz. the town of Edinburgh shall send one member to the parliament of Great-Britain, and each of the other boroughs shall elect a commissioner in

the

་་་

the same manner as they use to elect commissioners to the parliament of Scotland; which commissioners and boroughs being divided in fourteen districts, shall meet and elect one for each district (and the several boroughs are hereby accordingly enumerated and distributed into districts). And where the votes of the commissioners for the boroughs met to choose representatives shall be equal, the president of the meeting shall have a casting vote, according to his vote as a commissioner from the borough, the commissioner from the eldest borough presiding in the first meeting, and the commissioners from the other boroughs by turns, in the order as they are called in the rolls of the parliament of Scotland: and in case any of the fifteen commissioners from boroughs shall decease or become legally incapable, the town of Edinburgh, or the district which chose the said member, shall elect a member in his place. And the 6 Ann. c. 6. s. 5. Eng. provides, that when any parliament shall 6 Ann c. 6. s. 5. Eng., be summoned, the forty-five representatives of Scotland shall be elected by writs under the great seal of GreatBritain, directed to the several sheriffs and stewarts of the respective shires and stewartries; and the said sheriffs and stewarts shall on receipt of such writs forthwith give notice of the time of election for the knights or commissioners for their shires or stewartries, and at such time the freeholders shall meet at the head burghs of their shires and stewartries, and proceed to such election--and the clerks of the said meetings, immediately after the elections, shall return the names of the persons elected to the sheriff or stewart, who shall annex it to his writ and return it into the court out of which the writ issued.—And as to the manner of election of the fifteen representatives of the royal boroughs, the sheriff of the shire of Edinburgh shall, on receipt of the writ directed to him, forthwith direct his precept to the lord provost of Edinburgh, to cause a burgess to be elected. for that city, and on receipt of such precept the city of Edinburgh shall elect their member, and their common clerk shall certify his name to the sheriff of Edinburgh, who shall annex it to his writ and return it; and as to

S. 6.

100 members for Ireland.

Ir.

DS

the other royal boroughs divided into fourteen districts, the sheriffs or stewarts of the several shires and stewartries, on the receipt of their writs, shall direct their precepts to every royal borough, reciting the contents of the writ, and the date thereof, and commanding them forthwith to elect each of them a commissioner, and to order the said commissioners to meet at the presiding borough of their district, (naming the borough) upon the 30th day after the teste of the writ, unless it be Sunday, and then the day after, and then to choose their burgess for the parliament; and the common clerk of the presiding borough shall, immediately after the election, return the name of the person elected to the sheriff or stewart of the shire or stewartry wherein such presiding borough is, who shall immediately annex it to his writ, and return it; and in case a vacancy shall happen in time of parliament by the decease or legal incapacity of any member, a new member shall be elected in his room, conformable to the method herein appointed; and in case such a vacancy be of a representative of any one of the said fourteen districts of royal boroughs, that borough which presided at the election of the deceased or disabled member, shall be the presiding borough at such new election. By s. 6. upon the issuing writs of summons for the election of a new parliament, if any shire or stewartry wherein a royal borough is, hath not then a turn or right to elect a commissioner or knight of the shire for that parliament, it shall be omitted out of the writ directed to such sheriff or stewart, to cause a commissioner for that shire to be elected.

The 4th article of the act for the union of GreatBritain and Ireland, 40 Geo. 3. c. 38. Ir. & 40 Geo. 3. 40 Geo. 3, c. 38. c. 67. Eng. enacts, that one hundred commons (two for 40 Gco. 3. 67. each county of Ireland, two for each of the cities of Eng. Dublin and Cork, one for the university of Dublin, and one for each of the thirty-one most considerable cities, towns, and boroughs (which are particularly specified in the eighth article, and in the representation act, 40 Geo. 3. c. 29. Ir. which preceded the act of union) shall be the number to sit and vote on the part of Ireland in the house of commons of the parliament of the united king

40 Geo.3.c.29. it',

dom.

dom. And by the 8th article of the act of union above

referred to, and 40 Geo. 3. c. 29. s. 7. Ir. it is provided, 40 Geo. 3. c.29. that whenever the king shall by proclamation under the s. 7. 4. great seal of the united kingdom summon a new parliament, the chancellor of Ireland shall cause writs to be issued to the several counties, cities, the university of Dublin, and the boroughs of Ireland, as specified in these acts respectively, for the election of the one hun'dred members; and whenever any vacancy of a seat for any of said counties, &c. shall arise by death or otherwise, the chancellor upon such vacancy being certified to him by the proper warrant, shall forthwith cause a writ to issue for the election of a person to fill up such vacancy; and such writs, and the returns thereon, being returned into the crown office in Ireland, shall be transmitted from thence to the crown office in England, and certified to the house of commons, in the same manner as such returns have been usually or shall be hereafter certified and copies of such writs and returns attested by the chancellor of Ireland for the time being, shall be evidence of such writs and returns in case the originals shall be lost.

for electors.

E. & I.

V. As to the laws respecting the elections of members $ 5. to serve in parliament, those which relate to the qua- Qualifications lifications of the electors are first for consideration. The 8 Hen. 6. c. 7. E. & I. as amended by the 10 Hen. 6. 8Hen. 6. c. 7. c. 2. E. & I. has provided that the knights of all coun- 10 Hen. 6, c. 2, ties, within the realm, shall be chosen by the people, E. & I. whereof every man shall have freehold to the value of 40s. at least by the year above all charges, within the proper counties; but so much of these acts as related to the residence of persons to be elected members to serve in parliament, or of the persons by whom they are to be chosen, was repealed by the 14 Geo. 3. 14 Geo. 3. c.58 c. 58. Eng. which statute also repeals the 1 Hen, 5, c. 1.

E, & I.

*Of the 513 members for England and Wales, 35 have been added by allthority of parliament, viz. 27 for Wales, by 27 Hen. 8. c. 26. Eng. 4 for the County and city of Chester, by 34 Hen. 8. c. 13. Eng, and 4 for the county and city of Durham, by 25 Car. 2. c. 9. Ens,

Eng.

1 Hen. 5. c. 1,

E & I.

c. 1. Ir.

Residence.

E. & I. which had previously required the residence of knights, citizens, and burgesses, within their respective shires, cities, and boroughs, as a qualification for their election. These statutes of Henry V. and Henry VI. became in force in Ireland by virtue of the 10 Hen. 7. c. 22. 33 Hen 8. st. 2. Ir. and the 33 Hen. 8. st. 2. c. 1. Ir. contains also the same provision in respect to requiring the knights, citizens, and burgesses for every parliament in Ireland to be resident and dwelling within the respective counties, &c. and to be chosen and elected by the greater number of the inhabitants of said counties, &c. and that every elector of said knights shall dispend and have land and tenements of estate and freehold in their said counties, to the yearly value of 40s, at the least, over and above all charges; and any inhabitants electing a representative in any other manner than as aforesaid, thereby incurs a forfeiture of 100s. and a penalty of £.100 is imposed upon any sheriff or other officer who shall return any knight, &c. as well as upon any knight, &c. who shall take upon himself to be knight, &c. contrary to the above provisions of this act, one moiety to the king, and the other to the informer, &c. to be recovered in any court of record by action of debt, &c.-No Irish act has directly repealed the provisions of this act of Henry VIII. or of those of Henry V. or Henry VI. which made residence a necessary qualification for electors.

Quantum of

estute.

s. 5. Eng.

3. 6.

In respect to the quantum of estate necessary to qua18 Geo. 2. c. 18. lify electors to vote for knights of the shires in England and Wales, the 18 Geo. 2. c. 18. s. 5. Eng. also provides, in like manner as the statutes of Henry VI. above mentioned, that no person shall vote in any such election without having a freehold estate in the county for which he votes, of the clear yearly value of 40s. above all charges No public tar to payable out of the same: but by s. 6. no public or parliabe deemed a mentary tax, county, church, or parish, rate or duty, or any other tax, rate, or assessment, to be assessed or levied on any county, &c. shall be deemed a charge within the meaning of this act. The election law of Ireland distributes freehold into three classes, viz. of 40s., £.20, or £.50 yearly value, and contains distinct provisions in respect to each.

charge.

to

By