the provisions of the said Convention and Instructions and Regulations as aforesaid.

V. And be it further enacted, that it shall be lawful for the Governor or Lieutenant-Governor or Principal Magistrate of the Colony or Settlement in which the Commission shall sit, within the Possessions of His Britannic Majesty, to fill up every vacancy which shall arise in such Commission, either of Commissary Judge, Commissioner, or any Officer thereof, appointed by His Majesty as aforesaid, according to the provisions contained in the before recited Regulations annexed to the said Convention as aforesaid, ad interim, until such vacancy or vacancies shall be thereafter filled by some Person or Persons appointed by His Majesty for that purpose.

VI. And be it further enacted, that every Commissary Judge and Commissioner of Arbitration, appointed by His Majesty, shall, before he shall enter upon the execution of any of the duties of such his Office, take an oath, in the presence of the principal Magistrate then residing and acting in the Colony, Settlement, or Place in which the Commission shall be appointed to reside; which oath every such Magistrate in any Colony, Settlement, or Place belonging to His Majesty, in which such Court or Commission shall be appointed, is hereby authorized to administer, in the form following, that is to say,

"I, A. B., do solemnly swear, that I will, according to the best of my skill and knowledge, act in the execution of my Office as faithfully, impartially, fairly, and without preference or favour, either for Claimants or Captors, or any other Persons; and that I will, to the best of my judgment and power, act in pursuance of and according to the Stipulations, Regulations, and Instructions contained in the Convention between His Majesty and His Most Faithful Majesty, signed at London on the 28th day of September, 1817.

"So help me God." And every Secretary or Registrar appointed by His Majesty under the provisions of the Treaty, and Regulations and Instructions, and of this Act, shall, before he enters on the duties of his said Office, take the like oath before the British Commissary Judge as aforesaid, who is hereby empowered to administer the same.

VII. And be it further enacted, that it shall be lawful for the said Commissary Judges, or either of them, or for any such Secretary or Registrar, and they are hereby respectively empowered, to administer oaths to and take the depositions of all Parties, Witnesses, and other Persons who may come or be brought before them to be examined, or for the purpose of deposing, in the course of any proceeding before the said Commissary Judges, or before the said Commissary Judges and the Commissioners of Arbitration, in the Cases in which such Commissioner of Arbitration shall act with the said Commissary Judges, under the said Convention, Instructions, or Regulations, or

this Act: and it shall also be lawful for the said Commissary Judges, or for the said Commissary Judges and Commissioners of Arbitration, in the Cases aforesaid, to summon before them all Persons whom they may deem it necessary or proper to examine, in relation to any Suit, proceeding, or matter or thing under their cognizance, and to send for and issue Precepts for the producing of all such Papers as may relate to the matters in question before them, and to enforce all such summonses, orders, and precepts by such and the like means, powers, and authorities as any Court of Vice-Admiralty may do.

VIII. And be it further enacted, that every Person who shall wilfully and corruptly give false evidence, in any examination or deposition or affidavit had or taken upon or in any proceeding before the said Commissary Judges or Commissioners aforesaid, under the said Treaty, Instructions, or Regulations, or this Act, shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and being thereof convicted, shall be subject and liable to all the punishments, pains, and penalties to which Persons convicted of wilful and corrupt perjury are liable; and every such Person may be tried for any such perjury, either in the Place where the offence was committed, or in any Colony or Settlement of His Majesty near thereto, in which there is a Court of competent jurisdiction to try any such offence, or in His Majesty's Court of King's Bench in England; and that in case of any prosecution for such offence in His Majesty's said Court of King's Bench, the venue may be laid in the County of Middlesex.

IX. And be it further enacted, that the pendency of any suit or proceeding instituted before the said Commissioners for the condemnation or restitution of any Ship or Cargo or Slaves taken, seized, or detained by virtue of the said Convention, or Instructions or Regulations thereto annexed, or the final adjudication, condemnation, or judgment or determination thereupon, may be pleaded in bar, or given in evidence under the general issue, and shall be and be deemed and adjudged in any Court whatever to be a good and complete bar in any action, suit, or proceeding, whether brought or instituted by any Person or Persons for the recovery of any such Ship, Vessel, or Cargo, or of any damage or for any injury sustained thereby, or by the Persons on board the same, in consequence of any capture, seizure, or detention, or act, matter, or thing done under the authority or in pursuance of the provisions of the said Convention, or of the Instructions or Regulations thereto annexed; any thing in any Act or Acts of Parliament, or Law or Laws to the contrary notwithstanding.

X. Provided always, and be it further enacted, that it shall be lawful for the Lords Commissioners of Appeal in Prize Causes, and for the High Court of Admiralty, in all Cases and Questions arising out of the said Captures that may be depending before them, or that may be brought before them on appeal from any Vice-Admiralty

Court, according to their respective jurisdictions, to proceed therein, and to hear and determine all questions respecting any right or interest in or to the same, to which His Majesty, or the Captors or Seizors of such Ships, Vessels, or Cargoes, may claim to be entitled, by reason of the capture or seizure thereof and the Laws relating thereto, and to enforce their Judgments and Orders therein by the usual process of the said Courts; any thing in this Act to the contrary notwithstanding.

XI. Provided also, and be it further enacted, that in all such Cases as aforesaid in which the Captors or Seizors shall not establish any right or interest on their behalf, by reason of the capture thereof and the Laws relating thereto, it shall be lawful for the said Courts respectively to order and adjudge the Ships, Vessels, and Cargoes, or the proceeds thereof, and all and every part thereof, into or to or which the Captors shall not establish any right or interest as aforesaid, to be delivered or paid, for the use of His Majesty, to such Person or Persons as the said Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury for the time being shall appoint to receive the same, and to enforce the delivery or the payment thereof by the usual process as is used and established by Law in Cases of Prize; any thing in this Act to the contrary notwithstanding.

XII. And be it further enacted, that nothing in this Act contained shall extend or be deemed or construed in anywise to alter, suspend, affect, relax, or repeal any of the clauses, penalties, forfeitures, or punishments contained and enacted in any Act or Acts of Parliament made for the suppression or prevention of the Slave-trade; but that all such Acts of Parliament, and all clauses, regulations, penalties, forfeitures, and punishments therein respectively contained, shall remain in full force and virtue; any thing in this Act contained to the contrary notwithstanding.

XIII. And be it further enacted, that if any Action or Suit shall be commenced, either in Great Britain or elsewhere, or against any Person or Persons, for any thing done in pursuance of the said Treaty, or Instructions or Regulations thereto annexed, or of this Act, the Defendant or Defendants in such Action or Suit may plead the general issue, and give this Act as herein recited, and the special matter, in evidence at any Trial to be had thereupon, and that the same was done in pursuance and by the authority of the said Convention, Instructions, or Regulations, or of this Act; and if it shall appear so to have been done, the Jury shall find for the Defendant or Defendants; and if the Plaintiff shall be nonsuited, or discontinue his Action after the Defendant or Defendants shall have appeared, or if Judgment shall be given, upon any verdict or demurrer, against the Plaintiff, the Defendant or Defendants shall recover treble costs, and have the like remedy for the same as Defendants have in other Cases by Law.

CONSTITUTION of the Grand Duchy of Baden.Griesbach, 22nd August, 1818. (Translation.)

CHARLES, by the Grace of God, Grand Duke of Baden, Duke of Zähringen, Landgrave of Nellenburg, Count of Hanau, &c.

In the year 1816, when we once more announced to our Subjects our intention to give a Representative Constitution to our Grand Duchy, we cherished the wish and the hope, that all the Members of the Confederation would agree upon a substantial and invariable basis for that Institution, which had been promised to all the Nations of Germany, and that each single State, having regard to existing relations, would attend to its own peculiar necessities only in the development of the principles pointed out by the Diet.

As, however, according to the last Votes passed upon this subject in the Diet, the period cannot be precisely foreseen when the form of the Representative Constitutions may become the subject of common deliberation, we consider ourselves bound now to carry into effect the assurance given by us to our Subjects, in the way and manner corresponding with our firm, free, and deep conviction.

Penetrated by the most sincere desire of drawing still closer the bonds of confidence subsisting between us and our People, and of bringing, in the way pointed out in these presents, all our political Institutions to a higher degree of perfection, we have granted the following Constitutional Act, and hereby solemnly promise, in our own Name and in that of our Successors, to maintain it, and cause it to be maintained, faithfully and religiously :—

CHAPTER I.-Cf the Grand Duchy, and the Government in general. ART. I. The Grand Duchy forms a constituent part of the Germanic Confederation.

II. All organic Decrees of the Germanic Diet, which relate to the Constitutional relations of Germany, or to the relations of German Citizens in general, form a part of the Public Law of Baden, and shall be binding on all Classes after the same shall have been promulgated by the head of the Government.

III. The Grand Duchy is indivisible and inalienable in all its parts. IV. The Supreme Government is hereditary in the Grand Ducal Family, according to the dispositions of the Declaration of the 4th of October, 1817; which Declaration, as the basis of the domestic Code, forms an essential constituent part of the Constitution, and is to be considered as verbally adopted in the present Act.

V. The Grand Duke unites in himself all the prerogatives of Supreme Authority, and exercises them under the provisions contained in the present Constitutional Decree.

His Person is sacred and inviolable.

VI. The Grand Duchy has a Representative Constitution. [1817-18.]

M

CHAPTER II.-Civil and Political Rights of the People of Baden; and particular Securities.

VII. The Civil Rights of the People of Baden are equal in every respect, wherein the Constitution does not particularly and expressly make a distinction.

The Grand Ducal Ministers of State, and all the Servants of the Government, are responsible for their strict observance of the Constitution. VIII. All Badenese contribute, without distinction, to all Public Charges. All exemptions from direct or indirect Taxes are repealed.

IX. All Citizens of the 3 Christian Confessions have equal claims to all Civil and Military Appointments, and all Ecclesiastical Offices. All Foreigners on whom we confer an Office of State, obtain thereby immediate Naturalization.

X. Difference in birth and religion shall not establish any exemption from Military Service, except in favour of those mediatised Noble Families which are exempted by the Act of Confederation.

XI. A regular inode of purchase shall be fixed by Law, for the redemption of those services and charges upon land, already declared redeemable, and of all Duties arising out of the repeal of personal bondage.

XII. The Law of the 14th of August, 1817, respecting the removal of property, shall be considered as an essential part of the Constitution. XIII. With respect to personal liberty and property, all Badenese are placed on an equal footing, under the protection of the Constitution. XIV. The Tribunals are independent, within the limits of their jurisdiction.

All verdicts in Civil Causes must proceed from the ordinary Tribunals. The Fiscal Officer of the Grand Duke proceeds at Law before the Tribunals of the Country, in all disputes arising out of matters involving private right.

No one can be compelled to surrender up his Property for public purposes, except after the deliberation and decision of the Ministry of State, and the receipt of an indemnity.

XV. In criminal affairs no man can be withdrawn from his regular Judges. No one can be arrested otherwise than according to the legal forms, nor detained more than 48 hours in prison, without a hearing upon the grounds of his arrest.

The Grand Duke can mitigate or entirely remit punishments, but cannot render them more severe.

XVI. All confiscations of property are abolished.

XVII. The liberty of the press shall be exercised according to the future regulations of the Germanic Diet.

XVIII. Every Inhabitant enjoys undisturbed freedom of conscience, and equal protection with respect to his religious worship.

XIX. The political rights of the 3 denominations of Christians are equal.

XX. Ecclesiastical property, and the particular property and reve