other rights of property in respect of his being consort of her majesty the queen.

The sons or daughters of the said marriage shall be brought up according to the laws of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in that respect, and no children of this marriage shall be allowed to marry without the consent of her majesty the queen, or of the king or queen of the said United Kingdom for the time being.

4. The present treaty shall be ratified by her Britannic majesty on the one part, and by their serene highnesses the reigning duke and the prince Albert Francis Augustus Charles Emmanuel of Saxe Coburg Gotha, on the other; and the ratifications shall be exchanged at London within three weeks from the date hereof.

In witness whereof the respective plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto the seals of their arms.

deep sense your majesty feels of duty to your people, rendered it incumbent upon your majesty to recommend to both houses of parliament to consider contingencies which may hereafter take place, and to make such provision as will, in any event, secure the exercise of royal authority; and that your majesty would be prepared to concur with the two houses of parliament in those measures which may appear best calculated to maintain unimpaired the power and dignity of the crown, and thereby to strengthen the securities which protect the rights and liberties of your people; and whereas, with the most cordial sense of duty and gratitude to your majesty for the tender concern and regard so uniformly and, now more especially demonstrated for the happiness of your people and the security of their rights and liberties, we have taken this most important business into our consideration, and being thoroughly convinced of the wisdom and expediency of what your majesty has thought fit to recommend, we are firmly and zealously determined to contribute every thing in our power to maintain unimpaired the power and dignity of the crown, and to strengthen the securities which protect the rights and liberties of the people. We, therefore, your majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in parliament assembled, do most humbly beseech your majesty that it may be enacted, &c.

Clause 1. That if at the demise of her present majesty (whom God long preserve) there shall be issue of her said majesty who shall become and be king or queen of this realm whilst under the age of

eighteen years, his royal highness prince Albert, the consort of her said majesty, shall be the guardian, and shall have the care, tuition, and education of such issue, until such issue shall attain the age of eighteen years, and shall till such age have the disposition, ordering, and management, of all matters and things relating thereto; and his said royal highness prince Albert shall, until such issue of her said majesty shall attain the age of eighteen years, and no longer, have full power and authority, in the name of such issue, and in his or her stead, and under the style and title of regent of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to exercise and administer, according to the laws and constitution thereof, the royal power and government of this realm, and all the dominions, countries, and territories to the crown thereof belonging, and use and exercise and perform all prerogatives, authorities, and acts of government and administration of government which belong to the king or queen of this realm to use, execute, and perform, according to the laws thereof, but in such manner and subject to such conditions, restrictions, limitations, and regulations, as are hereinafter for that purpose specified, mentioned, and contained.

Clause 2. That all acts of royal power, prerogative, government, and administration of government, of what nature or kind soever, which shall be done or executed during the regency established by this act, otherwise than by and with the consent of and authority of the said regent, in the manner and according to the direction of this act set forth and prescribed, shall be absolutely null and void to all intents and purposes.

Clause 3. That the regent, before he shall act or enter upon his said office of regent, shall take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy in the form prescribed and required by an act passed in the first year of the reign of king William and queen Mary, entitled, "An act for abrogating the oaths of supremacy and allegiance, and appointing other oaths," and shall also take the oath of abjuration in such manner and form as is set down and prescribed in passed in the sixth year of the reign of king George the Third, entitled, "An act for altering the oath of abjuration and the assurance, and for amending so much of an act of the seventh year of her late majesty queen Anne, entitled, "An act for the improvement of the union of the two kingdoms," and after the time therein limited requires the delivery of certain lists and copies therein mentioned to persons indicted of high treason or misprision of treason;" as also the following oaths; that is to say

Oaths-" I do solemnly promise and swear that I will truly and faithfully execute the office of regent of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, according to an act of parliament made in the fourth year of her majesty queen Victoria, entitled, “An act to provide for the administration of the government in case the crown should descend to any issue of her majesty whilst such issue shall be under the age of eighteen years, and for the care and guardianship of such issue ;" and that I will administer the government of this realm, and of all the dominions thereunto belonging, according to the laws, customs, and statutes thereof, and will in all

things, to the utmost of my power and bility consult and maintain the safety, honour, and dignity of his or her (as the case shall require) majesty, and the welfare of his or her (as the case shall require) people. "So help me God."

"I do faithfully promsie and swear that I will inviolably maintain and preserve the settlement of the true Protestant religion, with the government, discipline, rights, and privileges of the church of Scotland, as established by law.

"So help me God."

Which oaths shall be taken before the privy council then in being, who are hereby empowered and required to administer the same, and to enter the same in the council-books.

Clause 4. That it shall not be lawful for the king or queen of this realm, for whom a regent is hereby appointed, to intermarry before his or her age of eighteen years, with any person whomsoever, without the consent, in writing, of the regent, and the assent of both houses of parliament previously obtained; and every marriage without such consent and such assent of the two houses of parliament shall be null and void to all intents and purposes; and every person who shall be acting, aiding, abetting, or concerned in obtaining, procuring, or bringing about any such marriage, and the person who shall be so married to such king or queen under the age of eighteen years, shall be guilty of high treason, and suffer and forfeit as in case of high treason.

Clause 5. That the regent shall

not give or have power to give the royal assent to any bill or bills in parliament for repealing, changing, or in any respect varying from the order and course of succession to the crown of this realm, as the same stands now established by the act of the 12th year of the reign of king William III., entitled, " An act for the further limitation of the crown, and better securing the rights and liberties of the subject," or to any act for repealing or altering the act made in the 13th year of the reign of king Charles II., intituled "An act for the uniformity of public prayers and administration of sacraments, and other rites and ceremonies, and for establishing the form of making, ordaining, and consecrating bishops, priests, and deacons, in the church of England," or an act of the fifth year of the reign of queen Anne, made in Scotland, intituled " An act for securing the Protestant religion and Presbyterian government."

Clause 6. Provided always, and be it further enacted, that if his said royal highness prince Albert shall, at any time after becoming such guardian and regent, marry a person professing the Roman Catholic religion, or shall cease to reside in or absent himself from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, then and in either of such cases his said royal highness shall no longer be guardian and regent, and all the powers and authorities which he may have derived under and by virtue of this act shall henceforth cease and determine.