such refusal, or by reason thereof, be subject or liable to any action for damages or other legal proceeding whatsoever. And be it further enacted, that and such other person and persons, as shall from time to time be appointed by His Majesty, his heirs and successors, in manner herein-after mentioned, shall be, and the same persons are hereby appointed commissioners for the purposes of this present act, so far as the same respects Ireland, and that they shall hold their offices during good behaviour, and shall be removable upon an address of either House of Parliament.

And be it further enacted, that if any person hereby appointed a commissioner as aforesaid, or who shall be hereafter appointed a commissioner for this present act, so far as the same respects Ireland, shall depart this life, or shall decline to act in the said commission, or shall go to reside out of the United Kingdom, then and in every such case, it shall and may be lawful for His Majesty, his heirs, and successors, by warrant under the sign manual, to appoint any Irish lay peer, professing the Roman Catholic religion; or if there shall be no such peer of full age, and within the kingdom, then such lay commoner, professing the Roman Catholic religion, who shall be possessed of a freehold estate in land of not less than one thousand pounds a-year in Ireland, as His Majesty, his heirs and successors shall think fit to be a commissioner in the room or stead of the commissioner so dying, or declining to act, or going to reside out of the United Kingdom.

And be it further enacted, that the Irish commissioners hereby appointed, and every Irish commissioner to be hereafter under this act appointed for Great Britain, shall, before they shall respectively take on themselves the execution of any of the powers and authorities hereby vested in them, take and subscribe the oath first herein-before prescribed to be taken by all persons professing the Roman Catholic religion, and the following oath :

"I, A. B., do swear, that I will, without favour or affection, hatred or malice, truly and impartially, and according to the best of my skill and judgment, execute and perform the powers, authorities, and duties of a commissioner, vested in me, under and by virtue of an act made in the fifty-third year of the reign of His Majesty King George the Third, intituled, An act for the further relief of Roman Catholics in Great Britain and Ireland;' and that I will not, directly or indirectly, publish, disclose, or make known to any one, save as by the said act directed, any matter or things whatsoever which shall come to my knowledge by reason or in consequence of my being a commissioner, under the said act, except only such matters or things as all persons taking the oath by the said act first prescribed to be taken, are thereby bound to disclose."

And that the said oath shall and may be taken in any of His Majesty's Courts of Chancery, King's Bench, Common Pleas, or Exchequer, in Dublin, and shall remain of record in the said

court.

And it is hereby further enacted, that the said last mentioned.

commissioners may, from time to time, make such regulations, to be binding on themselves for all purposes incident to the discharge of their office, as they shall think proper; and that, for effecting the purposes aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the said commissioners, or a majority of them, to appoint a secretary to be resident in Dublin; and that for discharging the expence of the said commission, and paying the salary of the secretary of the same, the Lords commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury shall issue, out of the Consolidated Fund of Great Britain, the annual sum of to the secretary of the said commissioners, to be applied for the purposes of the said commission, as the said commissioners shall from time to time direct. And such secretary shall, and he is hereby required, before he acts in the execution of his office, to take and subscribe before two or more of the said commissioners, who are hereby authorized and empowered to administer the same, the oath first herein-before prescribed to be taken, and also the following oath :

"I, A. B., do hereby swear, that according to the best of my skill and knowledge, I will faithfully execute and exercise the office of secretary to the Irish commission, appointed by an act of the fifty-third year of the reign of His present Majesty, intituled, An act for the further relief of the Roman Catholics in Great Britain and Ireland;' and that I will not publish, disclose, or make known to any person or persons whomsoever, save as by the said act directed, any matter or thing whatsoever which shall come to my knowledge by reason of the said office, excepting only such matters or things as all persons taking the oath by the said act first prescribed to be taken, are thereby bound to disclose."

And it is hereby further enacted, that the said secretary shall be removable at the pleasure of the said Irish commissioners, or the major part of them, and that on every appointment of a new secretary, the same shall be notified by the said commissioners to the chief secretary of the Lord-lieutenant of Ireland.

And be it further enacted, that from and after the passing of this act, every person in holy orders, professing the Roman Catholic religion, who shall at any time be nominated, elected, or appointed, according to the usages of the Roman Catholic church, to exercise or discharge any episcopal duties or functions in Ireland, shall, before he assumes the exercise of any such episcopal duties or functions, make known such his nomination, election, or appointment, by writing under his hand, to the secretary of the said Irish commissioners, who shall immediately give information thereof to the said Irish commissioners; and the said Irish commissioners shall, within six weeks after receiving such information, transmit the same by writing, under their respective hands and seals, to the principal secretary of the Lord-lieutenant of Ireland, and shall at the same time certify in form and manner following: "We do hereby certify and declare, that we do not know or believe any thing which tends to impeach the loyalty or peaceable conduct of ," unless the said commissioners, or the major part of them, shall deem the person of whose nomi

nation, election, or appointment they shall have been so informed as aforesaid, to be a person disloyal and disaffected to His Majesty, his heirs and successors, or not of a peaceable conduct; in which case, they shall refuse to grant the said certificate; and any person, in whose favour they shall so refuse to certify, shall be incapable of exercising any episcopal duty or function within the United Kingdom.

And be it further enacted, that if any person in whose favour the said Irish commissioners shall so have refused to certify, in manner and form aforesaid, shall nevertheless assume and exercise any episcopal duties or functions within the United Kingdom, such person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be sent out of the kingdom in manner as hereinbefore directed.

Provided always, and it is hereby further enacted, that the said commissioners so refusing to certify in favour of any person as aforesaid, shall not, nor shall any one of them, on account of such refusal or by reason thereof, be subject or liable to any action of damages, or any other legal proceeding whatsoever. (C.) Provisions respecting the obtaining of Papal Bulls and Briefs.

And whereas it is fit and reasonable that His Majesty should be satisfied that no intercourse takes place between any of his subjects and a foreign prince, which can in any degree tend to withdraw any of His Majesty's subjects from the allegiance which they owe to His Majesty's sacred person and government, or to interfere with the temporal or civil rights or duties of His Majesty's subjects.

And whereas the laws made in former times, prohibiting all intercourse between the subjects of this realm and the See of Rome, are of extreme and undistinguishing rigour and severity.

Be it therefore enacted, that the commissioners appointed, and to be appointed, at any time hereafter, under this Act, as hereinbefore specified, with the addition in the said commission in Great Britain of the Lord High Chancellor, or Lord Keeper, or First Commissioner of the Great Seal for the time being, and of one of His Majesty's principal Secretaries of State (being a Protestant), or of such one other member of His Majesty's most honourable privy council in Great Britain, being a Protestant, as His Majesty, his heirs and successors, shall think fit from time to time to appoint, and with the addition, in the said commission in Ireland, of the Lord High Chancellor, Lord Keeper, or First Commissioner of the Great Seal of Ireland for the time being, and of the chief Secretary to the Lord-lieutenant (being a Protestant), or of such one other member of the privy council of Ireland, being a Protestant, as the Lord-lieutenant may think fit from time to time to appoint; and with the further addition in the commission, in Great Britain, of such person in holy orders, professing the Roman Catholic religion, as shall exercise episcopal functions among Roman Catholics in London; and with the further addition, in the said commission in Ireland, of the titular Roman Catholic

Archbishops of Armagh and Dublin, for the time being, shall be commissioners under this act, for the purpose herein-after expressed.

And it is hereby further enacted, that the said person so exercising episcopal functions among Roman Catholics in London, and the said titular Archbishops, shall take before two or more of the commissioners, already herein-before appointed (who are hereby authorised and empowered to administer the same), the following oath :

"I, A. B., do swear, that I will not, directly or indirectly, publish, disclose, or make known to any one, any matter or thing whatsoever, which shall come to my knowledge, by reason or in consequence of my being a commissioner, under and by virtue of an act of the 53d year of His Majesty King George III. intituled, An act for the further relief of Roman Catholics in Great Britain and Ireland,' excepting every such matters or things, as all persons taking the oath by the said act first prescribed to be taken, are thereby bound to disclose."

And that the said Protestant commissioners shall take in like manner, before any two of the said commissioners already hereinbefore appointed, who are hereby authorised and empowered to administer to the same the following oath :

"I, A. B., do swear, that I will not, directly or indirectly, publish, disclose, or make known to any one, any matter or thing whatever, which shall come to my knowledge by reason or in consequence of my being a commissioner, under and by virtue of an act of the 53d year of His Majesty King George III. intituled, An act for the further relief of Roman Catholics in Great Britain and Ireland,' excepting only such matters or things, as by my oath and duty of a privy councillor I am bound to disclose."

And it is hereby further enacted, that the secretaries repectively appointed by the commissioners first herein-before appointed, shall likewise be the secretaries of the two last-mentioned commissions respectively.

And it is hereby further enacted, that three of the commissioners of each of the said last-mentioned commissions respectively, shall form a quorum of such commissioners, and shall be competent to transact all the business of the said commission.

Provided always, that one of the Protestant members of each of the said commission shall be one of each of the said quorums, and that due notice of a meeting shall have been given by each secretary, to each and every member of each the said commissions respectively.

And it is hereby further enacted, that so often as any subject or subjects of His Majesty, his heirs or successors, shall, at any time after the passing of this act, receive any bull, rescript, or other instrument from the See of Rome, or from any foreign spiritual person or body whatsoever, under the authority of the said See, the person or persons so receiving the same, shall, if he or they be resident in Great Britain, within

after his or their receiving the same, deliver or cause to be delivered to the

after

secretary of the said commissioners in Great Britain, to be by him, without delay, transmitted or communicated to the said commissioners, a full and perfect copy of the said instrument, signed with his name, in his own hand-writing; and if resident in Ireland, shall, within the like space of receiving such bull, rescript, or other instrument as aforesaid, deliver or cause to be delivered, a full and perfect copy thereof, signed with his name, in his own hand-writing, to the secretary of the said commissioners in Ireland, to be by him, without delay, transmitted or communicated to the said commissioners.

Provided always, and it is hereby further enacted, that if the person or persons so receiving the said bull, rescript, or other instrument as aforesaid, shall deliver or cause to be delivered to the secretary of the said commission, within the time herein-before prescribed, a writing, under his hand, certifying the fact of his having received such bull, rescript, or other instrument as aforesaid, and shall accompany the said certificate with the following oath :

“I, A. B., do swear, that the bull, rescript, or instrument (as the case may be), which I hereby acknowledge to have received from the See of Rome, or from such or such body or person (as the case may be), under the authority of the same, does relate wholly and exclusively to spiritual concerns; and, that it does not contain, or refer to any matter or thing, which does or can, directly or indirectly, affect or interfere with the duty or allegiance which I owe to His Majesty's sacred person and government, or with the temporal, civil, or social rights, properties, or duties, of any other of His Majesty's subjects. So help me God."

(Which oath it shall and may be lawful for the said person to take and subscribe, either before the said commissioners, or before such quorum thereof as aforesaid, who are hereby authorised to administer the same, or in any of the courts herein-before mentioned.) Then and in that case, it shall be lawful for the said commissioners, or such quorum thereof as aforesaid, to admit and receive the said certificate, accompanied with said oath, in lieu and stead of the full and perfect copy of the bull, rescript, or other instrument hereby required.

And it is further enacted, that any person or persons, who, after passing of this act, shall receive any bull, rescript, or instrument as aforesaid; and who shall duly deliver or cause to be delivered, a full and perfect copy thereof, as herein-before prescribed; or who shall deliver or cause to be delivered, such certificate of the receipt thereof, accompanied by such oath as aforesaid, and whose said certificate and oath shall be admitted and received by the said commissioners, in lieu and stead of such perfect copy as aforesaid, shall be free and exempt from all pains and penalties whatsoever, to which he or they would, upon conviction, be liable by any laws now in force, in Great Britain or Ireland respectively, against the receiving bulls, or other instruments from the See of Rome, or from any authority or pretended authority under the same. But that any person so receiving such