and singular rectors, curates, chaplains, ministers, and all other our subjects within our said possessions of Gibraltar and Malta, that they and every of them be, in and by all lawful ways and means, aiding and assisting to the said bishop and his successors, and to the said archdeacons, and to the vicargeneral, and other officer or officers aforesaid in the execution of the premises in all things. Nevertheless, We will and do by these presents declare and ordain, that in all grave matters of correction which are accustomed according to the practice of the ecclesiastical law of Our realm of England to be judicially examined, the same shall in like manner be judicially examined and proceeded in, before the said bishop of Gibraltar and his successors, or the said archdeacons, or the said vicar-general, or other officer or officers aforesaid. And all such causes shall be proceeded in to final sentence in due form of law. And further, We will and do by these presents declare and ordain, that it shall be lawful for any party against whom any judgment, decree, or sentence, shall be pronounced by any of the said archdeacons, or by the vicargeneral, or other officer or officers of the said bishop, or his successors, to demand a re-examination and review of such judgment, decree, or sentence, before the bishop or his successors in person, who, upon such demand made, shall take cognizance thereof, and shall have full power and authority to affirm, reverse, or alter the said judgment, sentence, or decree. And if any party shall conceive himself aggrieved by any judgment, decree, or sentence pronounced by the said Bishop of Gibraltar, or his successors, either in case of such review, or in any cause originally instituted before the said bishop or his successors, it shall be lawful for the said party to appeal to the said Archbishop of Canterbury, or his successors, who shall finally decide and determine the said appeal. Provided always that, in any such case of appeal, or review, notice of the intention of the party to make such appeal, or demand such review, shall be given to the bishop, or subordinate judge by whom the sentence appealed from or to be reviewed shall have been pronounced, within fifteen days from the promulgation thereof. And We do further will, and by these presents ordain, that in

all cases in which an appeal shall be made, or review demanded, as aforesaid, a copy of the judgment or sentence in such case promulgated or given, setting forth the causes thereof, together with a copy of the evidence on which the same was founded, shall without delay be certified and transmitted by such subordinate judge to the said bishop, or his successor; or by the said bishop or his successor, to the said Archbishop of Canterbury, as the case may require. And such judgments, sentences, and decrees shall respectively remain in force until the same shall have been reversed or altered by the said bishop, or the said archbishop. And We further will and ordain, that the supreme courts of justice exercising jurisdiction within our said possessions of Gibraltar and Malta respectively shall have such and the like jurisdiction and power of interfering, by writ of prohibition or mandamus, subject to the same laws, restrictions, and rules of practice as is or may be exercised by Our Court of Queen's Bench at Westminster, in regard to proceedings in the Ecclesiastical Courts of England; regard being had, nevertheless, to any special provisions or exceptions contained in these our Letters Patent, and to any other laws and regulations specially applicable to or concerning our said possessions,. or either of them. Moreover it is Our will and pleasure, and We do hereby declare and ordain, that nothing in these presents contained shall extend, or be construed to extend, to repeal, vary, or alter the provisions of any charter whereby ecclesiastical jurisdiction has been given to any courts of judicature within Our said possessions, or either of them, so far as the same do not appertain to the correction of clerks in Holy Orders of the United Church of England and Ireland, or to matters and causes merely spiritual, and relating to the communion of the said United Church; or to give to the said Bishop of Gibraltar, or his successors, any authority or jurisdiction whatever in matters now depending in the said courts, except as herein excepted. And for removing doubts with respect to the validity of the resignation of the said office and dignity of Bishop of Gibraltar, it is Our further will that, if the said bishop or any of his successors shall, by instrument under his hand and seal delivered and sent to the

Archbishop of Canterbury for the time being, and by him accepted and régistered in the office of Faculties of the said archbishop, resign the office and dignity of Bishop of Gibraltar, such bishop shall forthwith cease to be Bishop of Gibraltar to all intents and purposes; but without prejudice to any responsibility to which he may be liable in law or equity, in respect of his conduct in his said office. And, lastly, to the end that all things aforesaid may be firmly holden and done, We will and grant to the aforesaid George Tomlinson that he shall have our Letters Patent, under Our great seal of Our said United Kingdom duly made and sealed. In witness whereof We have caused these our Letters to be made patent. Witness Ourself at Westminster the twenty-first day of August, in the sixth year of Our reign,

(No. 4.)

FOREIGN LAW.

APPENDIX J.

Extract from the Institutes of Public and Private Ecclesiastical Law, adapted to the modern Usages of the German Universities, by Father Dominick Schram, a Benedictine Monk at Bantz, formerly Professor of Divinity and the holy Canons. In 3 vols. Augsburg, 1774, with the permission and approbation of Superiors.

WHAT THE ROYAL PLACET IS, AND THE JUSTICE OF IT.

One of the prerogatives of the Gallican Church is the Royal Placet, or letters patent, by which the secular Sovereign allows and approves the publication and execution of Ecclesiastical Bulls and Rescripts, concerning the discipline and external policy of the Church, sent to his Dominions; it is also called Pareatis or Exequatur. The use of such a Placet has been adopted not only in France, Spain, Portugal, Savoy, in the kingdom of Naples and Sicily, in the Netherlands, and formerly in England; but its necessity in Germany and Bohemia appears also to be proved by the Rescript of Rudolphus II. emperor and king of Bohemia, of the year 1586, on the subject of the Bull in Coena Domini, in which the Emperor enacted in general, that in future no Papal Bulls should be published and executed without his knowledge and assent. The Emperor moreover promises in his capitulation on his accession to the Holy Roman Empire of Germany, that he will intercede in the best possible manner with the Holy Father, and the See of Rome, that nothing be obtained by improper graces, rescripts, &c. against the concordats of princes, and the treaties entered into between the Papal See and the nation, nor against the special privileges, statutes,

usages and customs of Churches and Chapters. This Royal Placet is not required in Dogmatical Bulls, in which the Church has the perpetual assistance of the Holy Ghost, and is infallible. Dogmatical matters, besides, do not affect the state, or the rights and privileges of citizens, like points of discipline; the royal Placet is therefore justly excluded from Dogmatical Bulls as such, according to the most orthodox opinion, because it would be repugnant to the jurisdiction, infallibility, and unity of the Church. The Doctrine of Van Espen, in his Tract. de Promulg. Leg. Eccl. part v. c. 2. § 10. is not to be unconditionally received, when he admits the authority and use of the Royal Placet in the publication and external propounding of Dogmatical Laws and in public Articles of Faith, to prevent the solemn publication of new tenets, and to insist upon the continuance of the ancient articles of Faith. But the ecclesiastical jurisdiction ought to be allowed this prerogative in dogmatical points, in order that the decisions of the Church, in continuing unchanged the Discipline of the Altar, and enacting and publishing Dogmatical Laws, may be revered as independent and peremptory, and that the Royal Guardianship of the Church may serve to promote, and not to impede, the publication of the Dogmatical Laws of the Church, for the sole purpose of having a uniform profession of Faith amongst the faithful, in the exterior symbols of that Faith. The author just quoted, loco citato, § 2. and 4. has however very properly protected both the ecclesiastical jurisdiction and the royal authority, when he approves the Royal Placet, with regard to clauses inserted in Dogmatical Decrees, strongly affecting the rights of sovereigns and kingdoms, such as those establishing new tribunals, summoning subjects out of the country, introducing the Inquisition, or the execution of either secular or clerical punishments. The Royal Placet may likewise be admitted in Dogmatical Bulls, as far as they may contain articles of external discipline, prejudicial alike to the policy of the state and to public tranquillity. But with respect to the laws of the Church, which concern its discipline and external policy, the Royal Placet is perfectly consonant with justice. 1. By the right of supreme superintendence over the