4 G. 4, c. 55. the poll, or of having wilfully effaced, obliterated, torn, altered, or destroyed the whole or any part of the poll books of the returning officer or officers, or any deputy, whereon any thing relative to the said election shall have been entered, or of having forcibly or fraudulently taken or secreted the same, or any part thereof, or the writ or precept for holding such election, shall be adjudged guilty of felony, and be transported for seven years.

Returning officer acting corruptly, imprisonment

&c.

Polling twice, or personating electors; imprisonment.

Voting from a freehold

not in posses

sion; imprisonment.

75. That every returning officer, who shall be by due course of law convicted of having acted corruptly or partially in the exe cution of his duty as returning officer, at any election of a member or members to serve in parliament, for any county of a city, or county of a town, shall be adjudged guilty of high misdemeanor, and shall be imprisoned for a period not exceeding three years; and such person, so convicted, is hereby declared to be for ever incapable of holding any office or situation, civil or military, under the crown.

82. That every person who shall poll a second time, or offer to poll a second time, at the same election for any county of a city or county of a town, or who shall personate any other person, for the purpose of polling at such election, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor; and upon being thereof convicted, shall be imprisoned for any term not more than two years, at the discretion of the judge or judges who shall try such person.

84. That if any person shall poll at any election, by virtue of a freehold which he had registered, and of which he shall not be in possession at the time of his polling, he shall (if thereof convicted) be imprisoned in the common gaol of the county for the space of six calendar months.

Writ of sum86, (pars.) That it shall be sufficient, in any indictment for mons to par- any offence contrary to this act, to allege the particular offence, liament, need not be alleged and that the defendant is guilty, without mentioning the writ of or proved summons to parliament, or the return thereof and that upon upon the trial. trial of any issue in any such [action, information, or] indict ment, the [plaintiff, informer, or] prosecutor, shall not be obliged to prove the writ of summons to parliament, or the return thereof, or any warrant to the sheriff, grounded upon such writ of sum

Clerk of the

peace, altering registry books, neglecting his duty at elec

tions; imprisonment.

mons.

40 Geo. 3, c. 80, s. 6, (pars.)—If any clerk of the peace shall destroy, or wilfully or negligently permit to be destroyed, or shall maliciously, fraudulently, corruptly, or wilfully make or permit, or suffer to be made, any alteration, erasure, obliteration, or interlineation in any such book of registry, or neglect to attend, by himself or his sufficient deputy, at any election for a member or members to serve in parliament for any county, town, or city, with all and singular the books of the registry of the freeholders therein, and the affidavits on which the same are formed, and to remain there during the whole continuance of such election; he shall, upon being duly convicted thereof, be adjudged guilty of a misdemeanor ; and shall be imprisoned for three years, or suffer such other punishment as the court shall think fit, and shall

be for ever after incapable of holding the office of clerk of the 40 G. 3, c. 80. peace!!

2&3 Will. 4, c. 88,(a) s. 40.—That if any person shall forge or counterfeit the signature of any judge, chairman, barrister, or clerk of the peace, to any order, certificate, or instrument in writing, purporting to be an order or certificate within this act, or the signature of any person to any oath or affirmation within this act; or shall knowingly utter or publish as true and genuine, any such forged or counterfeited order, certificate, instrument, writing, oath, or affirmation; every person so offending shall be deemed guilty of felony; and shall be liable, at the discretion of the court before whom he shall be tried, to be transported beyond the seas for the term of seven years, or to be imprisoned, with or without hard labour, for any term not exceeding three years.

42. That if any person shall, in any oath or affirmation to be taken under this act, wilfully and corruptly swear or affirm falsely; sach person shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and be liable to the same pains, penalties, aad punishments as any person is now liable to, for wilful and corrupt perjury.

Forging certi

ficate of registry.

False swear

ing; perjury.

SECTION 4.

Sedition.

33 Geo. 3, c. 29, (b) s. 1.-Whereas the election or appointment of assemblies, purporting to represent the people, or any description or number of the people of this realm, under pretence of preparing or presenting petitions, complaints, remonstrances, and declarations, and other addresses to the king, or to both or either houses of parliament, for alteration of matters established by law, or redress of alleged grievances in church and state, may be made use of to serve the ends of factious and seditious persons, to the violation of the public peace, and the great and manifest encouragement of riot, tumult, and disorder; be it declared and enacted by &c., that all assemblies, committees, or other bodies of persons elected, or in any other manner constitated or appointed to represent, or assuming or exercising a right or authority to represent the people of this realm, or any number or description of the people of the same, or the people of

(a) Entitled, "An act to amend the representation of the people of Ireland," and commonly called the REFORM ACT.

(b) Entitled, "An act to prevent the election or appointment of unlawful assemblies, under pretence of preparing or presenting public petitions, or other addresses to his majesty, or the parliament." and commonly called the CONVENTION ACT.

All assemblies, elected

or assuming to represent the people, except the

vocation, are

unlawful as

33 G. 3, c. 29. any province, county, city, town, or other district within the same, under pretence of petitioning for, or in any other manner commons, and procuring an alteration of matters established by law in church houses of con- or state, save and except the knights, citizens, and burgesses elected to serve in the parliament thereof, and save and except semblies; and the houses of convocation duly summoned by the king's writ, are may be disunlawful assemblies; and it shall and may be lawful for any mayor, sheriff, justice of the peace, or other peace officer, and they are hereby respectively authorized and required, within bis and their respective jurisdictions, to disperse all such unlawfu} assemblies, and if resisted, to enter into the same, and to apprekend all persons offending in that behalf.

persed.

Giving notice

of the election of such repre

sentatives, or

attending thereat; misdemeanor.

Not to affect

elections by bodies corporate.

Not to prevent the right to petition his majesty, or parliament.

A charge that A. B. was appointed a re

presentative,

is sustained by proof of his appointment as a delegate.

The pretence, men

tioned in the

act need not be a false pretence.

Sec. 4 of this act does not

2. That if any person shall give or publish, or cause or procure to be given or published, any written or other notice.of election to be holden, or of any manner of appointment of any person or persons to be the representative or representatives, delegate or delegates, or to act by any other name or description whatever, as representative or representatives, delegate or delegates of the inhabitants, or of any description of the inhabitants of any province, county, city, town, or other district within this kingdom, at any such assembly; or if any person shall attend and vote at such election or appointment, or by any other means vote or act in the choice or appointment of such representatives or delegates, or other persons to act as such; every person who shall be guilty of any of the said offences respectively, being thereof convicted by due course of law, shall be deemed guilty of an high misdemeanor.

3. Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall extend or be construed to extend to, or affect elections to be made by bodies corporate, according to the charters and usage of such bodies corporate respectively.

4. Provided also, that nothing herein contained shall be construed in any manner to prevent or impede the undoubted right of his majesty's subjects of this realm to petition his majesty, or both bouses, or either house of parliament, for redress of any public or private grievance(a).

(a) Rex v. Sheridan, K. B. Ire. M. T, 1811. The prisoner was indicted for attending at a certain meeting held in Liffeystreet, in the city of Dublin, on the 31st day of July, 1811, and then and there assisting and voting in the appointment of Thomas Kirwan, to be one of the representatives of the Roman Catholic inhabitants of a district in the city of Dublin, commonly called the parish of Saint Mary, at a general committee to be thereafter held for the purpose, and under the pretence of petitioning parliament for a redress of certain grievances. It was stated in the indictment, and fully made out in evidence, that the committee was intended to be composed of ten persons from each county of Ireland, and five persons from each parish in the city of Dublin, as dele

10 Geo. 4, c. 1,(a) s. 1.—Whereas an association hath for 10 G. 4, c. 1. some time past existed in Ireland, calling itself, or which hath

and that
Counsel

gates of the whole Catholic body. It also appeared that the
Roman Catholic parish of Saint Mary, as registered, differed
from the Protestant parish, and in fact consisted of the Protest
ant parishes of St. Mary, St. Thomas, and St. George;
part of the latter parish was in the county of Dublin.
for the defendant contended that the charges could not be sus-
tained; first, because the committee was stated in the indictment
to be a representative body, while, in point of fact, they were
only delegates, entrusted to speak the sentiments of those who
sent them; secondly, that the " pretence" mentioned in the in-
dictment must be taken to be a "false pretence," while, upon
the evidence, it appeared that the preparing a petition to parlia-
ment was to be the real and only object of the committee. Both
objections were overruled by the court.

In the case of Thomas Kirwan, who was tried upon a similar charge in the court of King's Bench (H. T. 1812,) the above objections were again urged by the defendant's counsel; and also, thirdly, that there was a material variance between the indictment and the evidence; since, in the former, the parish of Saint Mary was laid as in the city of Dublin,while it appeared that a portion of it was in the county of Dublin : fourthly, that the business of petitioning, being the single object of the committee, the legality of that proceeding was secured by the saving in the fourth section, although entered on by a representative body. The Court, in summing up, said, "The character of the assembly or its members is not made to depend on the number of its objects, or the generality or particularity of the trust reposed in them, but on the original constitution of the assembly, if it be elected or appointed to represent any portion of the people, and has for its object the procuring such alteration of the laws as the act mentions, though it holds out to the world, and that truly, no other means or intent of effecting that object but a petition; it is a representative assembly; and its members are representatives, within the meaning of the act; and with respect to the distinction taken between delegates and representatives, the act seems to use these terms as synonymous. It is immaterial by what names they shall designate themselves; if, in fact, they are to act as representatives in a representative assembly, they fall within the act, and may be described as representatives." The jury found the traverser guilty, and, in reply to an inquiry of the court, declared it to be their opinion that the election of delegates in Liffey-street intended to include the Roman Catholic

(a) Entitled, " An act for the suppression of dangerous associations or assemblies in Ireland.”

N

save the right of petitioning parliament, if exercised by a represen. tative body. A statement

that A. B. was representative of a district in D., good, although there M. which is not in D., it appearing

called M. held

be a part of

that A. B. had no au

thority as to

such part.

sociation sup

ressed.

10 G. 4, c. 1. been usually called, "The Catholic Association," the acts and proceedings of which are dangerous to the public tranquillity, and inconsistent with the exercise of regular government; be it Catholic As- therefore enacted &c., that from and after the commencement of this act, the said association shall be, and the same is hereby utterly suppressed and prohibited; and every assembly or meeting thereof, or of any of the members thereof, as such members, is hereby declared to be an unlawful assembly, and the persons present at the same shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.(a)

subjects in French ser. vice, landing

SECTION 5.

Inciting to Mutiny and Foreign Enlistment.

29 Geo. 2, c. 5, s. 1.—Whereas many of his majesty's subjects have been induced, contrary to their natural duty and allegiance, to serve as officers, soldiers, and mariners, under the French king; and have of late, in open defiance of the laws, resorted to this kingdom, with an intent to seduce others of his majesty's subjects into that service; which practice is highly prejudicial to the safety and welfare of this kingdom; for remedy Natural born whereof, be it &c., that every person, being a natural born subjeet of this kingdom, who now is, or hereafter shall be an officer, soldier, or mariner, in the service of the French king, who shall land, or attempt to land, or shall be found in Ireland, or shall be found on board any ship, vessel, or boat, being so on board with intent to land in this kingdom; and every person and persons, who shall, within this kingdom, knowingly aid, abet, conceal, comfort, or succour any such officer, soldier, or mariner returning into this kingdom, shall stand and be adjudged guilty of felony without benefit of the clergy; and shall suffer and forfeit, as persons attainted of felony by the laws of the land ought to suffer and forfeit.

in this kingdom &c.; fe lony, death.

Offences, where tried.

2. That any offence against this act may be tried, and the venue laid in any county in this kingdom.

37 Geo. 3, c. 40, (b) s. 1.-Whereas divers wicked and evildisposed persons, by the publication of written or printed papers,

inhabitants of the Catholic parish of Saint Mary, in the city of Dublin only. The objection made on the part of the traverser, together with this finding of the jury, was afterwards laid before the judges, eleven of whom (MAYNE, J.,absent) were of opinion that it was of no force.

(a) For the other enactments on the subject of "Sedition," vide post, "Libel."

(b) This act, which was at first temporary, and had expired, has been revived and perpetuated by the 57 Geo. 3, c. 7.