《1707年聯合法案》（Acts of Union 1707）
AN ACT FOR AN UNION OF THE TWO KINGDOMS OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND
(6 Annae, cap. 11)
MOST GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN,
Whereas articles of union were agreed on the twenty-second day of July in the fifth year of your Majesty’s reign,1 by the commissioners nominated on behalf of the kingdom of England under your Majesty’s great seal of England,…and the commissioners nominated on the behalf of the kingdom of Scotland under your Majesty’s great seal of Scotland;…and whereas an Act hath passed in the Parliament of Scotland at Edinburgh the sixteenth day of January in the fifth year of your Majesty’s reign,2 wherein it is mentioned that the Estates of Parliament, considering the said articles of union of the two kingdoms, had agreed to and approved of the said articles of union with some additions and explanations, and that your Majesty, with advice and consent of the Estates of Parliament, for establishing the Protestant religion and Presbyterian Church government within the kingdom of Scotland, had passed in the same session of Parliament an Act intituled, Act for securing of the Protestant religion and Presbyterian Church government, which by the tenor thereof was appointed to be inserted in any Act ratifying the treaty, and expressly declared to be a fundamental and essential condition of the said treaty or union in all times coming, the tenor of which articles as ratified and approved of with additions and explanations by the said Act of Parliament of Scotland follows.
Article I
That the two kingdoms of England and Scotland shall upon the first day of May which shall be in the year one thousand seven hundred and seven, and for ever after, be united into one kingdom by the name of Great Britain; and that the ensigns armorial of the said united kingdom be such as her Majesty shall appoint, and the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew be conjoined in such manner as her Majesty shall think fit, and used in all flags, banners, standards and ensigns both at sea and land.
Article II
That the succession to the monarchy of the united kingdom of Great Britain and of the dominions thereto belonging, after her most sacred Majesty and in default of issue of her Majesty, be, remain and continue to the most excellent Princess Sophia, electress and duchess dowager of Hanover, and the heirs of her body being Protestants….3
Article III
That the united kingdom of Great Britain be represented by one and the same Parliament, to be styled the Parliament of Great Britain.
Article IV
That all the subjects of the united kingdom of Great Britain shall from and after the union have full freedom and intercourse of trade and navigation to and from any port or place within the said united kingdom and the dominions and plantations thereunto belonging, and that there be a communication of all other rights, privileges and advantages which do or may belong to the subjects of either kingdom, except where it is otherwise expressly agreed in these articles.
Article V
That all ships or vessels belonging to her Majesty’s subjects of Scotland at the time of ratifying the treaty of union of the two kingdoms in the Parliament of Scotland, though foreign built, be deemed and pass as ships of the built of Great Britain….
Article VI
That all parts of the united kingdom for ever, from and after the union, shall have the same allowances, encouragements and drawbacks, and be under the same prohibitions, restrictions and regulations of trade, and liable to the same Customs and duties on import and export; and that the allowances, encouragements and drawbacks, prohibitions, restrictions and regulations of trade, and the Customs and duties on import and export settled in England when the union commences shall from and after the union take place throughout the whole united kingdom, excepting and reserving the duties upon export and import of such particular commodities from which any persons the subjects of either kingdom are specially liberated and exempted by their private rights, which after the union are to remain safe and entire to them in all respects as before the same; and that from and after the union no Scots cattle carried into England shall be liable to any other duties either on the public or private accompts than those duties to which the cattle of England are or shall be liable within the said kingdom; and seeing by the laws of England there are rewards granted upon the exportation of certain kinds of grain, wherein oats grinded or ungrinded are not expressed, that from and after the union, when oats shall be sold at fifteen shillings sterling per quarter or under, there shall be paid two shillings and sixpence sterling for every quarter of the oatmeal exported in the terms of the law whereby and so long as rewards are granted for exportation of other grains, and that the beer of Scotland have the same rewards as barley; and in respect the importations of victual into Scotland from any place beyond sea would prove a discouragement to tillage, therefore that the prohibition as now in force by the law of Scotland against importation of victuals from Ireland or any other place beyond sea into Scotland do after the union remain in the same force as now it is, until more proper and effectual ways be provided by the Parliament of Great Britain for discouraging the importation of the said victuals from beyond sea.
Article VII
That all parts of the united kingdom be for ever from and after the union liable to the same Excises upon all excisable liquors,…and that the Excise settled in England…when the union commences take place throughout the whole united kingdom.
Article VIII
That from and after the union all foreign salt which shall be imported into Scotland shall be charged at the importation there with the same duties as the like salt is now charged with being imported into England, and to be levied and secured in the same manner; but in regard the duties of great quantities of foreign salt imported may be very heavy upon the merchants importers, that therefore all foreign salt imported into Scotland shall be cellared and locked up under the custody of the merchants importers and the officers employed for levying the duties upon salt, and that the merchant may have what quantity thereof his occasion may require, not under a wey or forty bushels at a time, giving security for the duty of what quantity he receives payable in six months. But Scotland shall for the space of seven years from the said union be exempted from paying in Scotland for salt made there the duty or Excise now payable for salt made in England, but from the expiration of the said seven years shall be subject and liable to the same duties for salt made in Scotland as shall be then payable for salt made in England….
Article IX
That whensoever the sum of one million nine hundred ninety-seven thousand seven hundred and sixty-three pounds eight shillings and fourpence halfpenny shall be enacted by the Parliament of Great Britain to be raised in that part of the united kingdom now called England, on land and other things usually charged in Acts of Parliament there for granting an aid to the crown by a land tax, that part of the united kingdom now called Scotland shall be charged by the same Act with a further sum of forty-eight thousand pounds free of all charges as the quota of Scotland to such tax, and so proportionably for any greater or lesser sum raised in England by any tax on land and other things usually charged together with the land, and that such quota for Scotland in the cases aforesaid be raised and collected in the same manner as the Cess now is in Scotland, but subject to such regulations in the manner of collecting as shall be made by the Parliament of Great Britain.
Article X
That during the continuance of the respective duties on stamped paper, vellum and parchment by the several Acts now in force in England, Scotland shall not be charged with the same respective duties.
Article XI
That during the continuance of the duties payable in England on windows and lights, which determine on the first day of August one thousand seven hundred and ten, Scotland shall not be charged with the same duties.
Article XII
That during the continuance of the duties payable in England on coals, culm and cinders, which determine the thirtieth day of September one thousand seven hundred and ten, Scotland shall not be charged therewith for coals, culm and cinders consumed there, but shall be charged with the same duties as in England for all coals, culm and cinders not consumed in Scotland.
Article XIII
That during the continuance of the duty payable in England upon malt, which determines the twenty-fourth day of June one thousand seven hundred and seven, Scotland shall not be charged with that duty.
Article XIV
That the kingdom of Scotland be not charged with any other duties laid on by the Parliament of England before the union except these consented to in this treaty, in regard it is agreed that all necessary provision shall be made by the Parliament of Scotland for the public charge and service of that kingdom for the year one thousand seven hundred and seven; provided nevertheless that if the Parliament of England shall think fit to lay any further impositions by way of Customs, or such Excises with which by virtue of this treaty Scotland is to be charged equally with England, in such case Scotland shall be liable to the same Customs and Excises, and have an equivalent to be settled by the Parliament of Great Britain; with this further provision, that any malt to be made and consumed in that part of the united kingdom now called Scotland shall not be charged with any imposition on malt during this present war….
Article XV
That whereas by the terms of this treaty the subjects of Scotland, for preserving an equality of trade throughout the united kingdom, will be liable to several Customs and Excises now payable in England which will be applicable towards payment of the debts of England contracted before the union, it is agreed that Scotland shall have an equivalent for what the subjects thereof shall be so charged towards payment of the said debts of England, in all particulars whatsoever in manner following, viz., that before the union of the said kingdoms the sum of three hundred ninety-eight thousand and eighty-five pounds ten shillings be granted to her Majesty by the Parliament of England for the uses after mentioned, being the equivalent to be answered to Scotland for such parts of the said Customs and Excises upon all excisable liquors with which that kingdom is to be charged upon the union as will be applicable to the payment of the said debts of England, according to the proportions which the present Customs in Scotland, being thirty thousand pounds per annum, do bear to the Customs in England, computed at one million three hundred forty-one thousand five hundred and fifty-nine pounds per annum, and which the present Excises on excisable liquors in Scotland, being thirty-three thousand and five hundred pounds per annum, do bear to the Excises on excisable liquors in England, computed at nine hundred fortyseven thousand six hundred and two pounds per annum, which sum of three hundred ninety-eight thousand eighty-five pounds ten shillings shall be due and payable from the time of the union. And in regard that after the union, Scotland becoming liable to the same Customs and duties payable on import and export and to the same Excises on all excisable liquors as in England, as well upon that accompt as upon the accompt of the increase of trade and people (which will be the happy consequence of the union) the said revenues will much improve beyond the before-mentioned annual values thereof, of which no present estimate can be made, yet nevertheless for the reasons aforesaid there ought to be a proportionable equivalent answered to Scotland, it is agreed that after the union there shall be an accompt kept of the said duties arising in Scotland, to the end it may appear what ought to be answered in Scotland as an equivalent for such proportion of the said increase as shall be applicable to the payment of the debts of England. And for the further and more effectual answering the several ends hereafter mentioned, it is agreed that from and after the union the whole increase of the revenues of Customs and duties on import and export and Excises upon excisable liquors in Scotland over and above the annual produce of the said respective duties as above stated shall go and be applied for the term of seven years to the uses hereafter mentioned, and that upon the said accompt there shall be answered to Scotland annually from the end of seven years after the union an equivalent in proportion to such part of the said increase as shall be applicable to the
debts of England, and generally that an equivalent shall be answered to Scotland for such parts of the English duties as Scotland may hereafter become liable to pay by reason of the union, other than such for which appropriations have been made by Parliament in England of the Customs or other duties on export and import, Excises on all excisable liquors, in respect of which debts equivalents are herein before provided. And as for the uses to which the said sum of three hundred ninety-eight thousand eighty-five pounds ten shillings to be granted as aforesaid, and all other moneys which are to be answered or allowed to Scotland as aforesaid, are to be applied, it is agreed that in the first place out of the aforesaid sum what consideration shall be found necessary to be had for any losses which private persons may sustain by reducing the coin of Scotland to the standard and value of the coin of England may be made good; in the next place that the capital stock or fund of the African and Indian Company of Scotland advanced, together with interest for the said capital stock after the rate of five per cent per annum, from the respective times of the payment thereof, shall be paid, upon payment of which capital stock and interest it is agreed the said Company be dissolved and cease;…and as to the overplus of the said sum of three hundred ninety-eight thousand eighty-five pounds ten shillings,…and also the whole increase of the said revenues of Customs, duties and Excises above the present value which shall arise in Scotland during the said term of seven years, together with the equivalent which shall become due upon the improvement thereof in Scotland after the said term, and also as to all other sums which according to the agreements aforesaid may become payable to Scotland by way of equivalent for what that kingdom shall hereafter become liable towards payment of the debts of England, it is agreed that the same be applied in manner following, viz., that all the public debts of the kingdom of Scotland as shall be adjusted by this present Parliament shall be paid, and that two thousand pounds per annum for the space of seven years shall be applied towards encouraging and promoting the manufacture of coarse wool within those shires which produce the wool, and that the first two thousand pounds sterling be paid at Martinmas next, and so yearly at Martinmas during the space aforesaid, and afterwards the same shall be wholly applied towards the encouraging and promoting the fisheries, and such other manufactures and improvements in Scotland as may most conduce to the general good of the united kingdom; and it is agreed that her Majesty be empowered to appoint commissioners who shall be accomptable to the Parliament of Great Britain for disposing the said sum of three hundred ninety-eight thousand and eighty-five pounds ten shillings, and all other moneys which shall arise to Scotland upon the agreements aforesaid, to the purposes before mentioned….
Article XVI
That from and after the union the coin shall be of the same standard and value throughout the united kingdom as now in England….
Article XVII
That from and after the union the same weights and measures shall be used throughout the united kingdom as are now established in England….
Article XVIII
That the laws concerning regulation of trade, Customs, and such Excises to which Scotland is by virtue of this treaty to be liable, be the same in Scotland from and after the union as in England, and that all other laws in use within the kingdom of Scotland do after the union and notwithstanding thereof remain in the same force as before (except such as are contrary to or inconsistent with this treaty), but alterable by the Parliament of Great Britain, with this difference betwixt the laws concerning public right, policy and civil government, and those which concern private right, that the laws which concern public right, policy and civil government may be made the same throughout the whole united kingdom, but that no alteration be made in laws which concern private right except for evident utility of the subjects within Scotland.
Article XIX
That the Court of Session or College of Justice do after the union and notwithstanding thereof remain in all time coming within Scotland as it is now constituted by the laws of that kingdom, and with the same authority and privileges as before the union, subject nevertheless to such regulations for the better administration of justice as shall be made by the Parliament of Great Britain, and that hereafter none shall be named by her Majesty or her royal successors to be ordinary Lords of Session but such who have served in the College of Justice as advocates or principal Clerks of Session for the space of five years, or as writers to the signet for the space often years, with this provision, that no writer to the signet be capable to be admitted a Lord of the Session unless he undergo a private and public trial on the civil law
before the faculty of advocates and be found by them qualified for the said office two years before he be named to be a Lord of the Session, yet so as the qualifications made or to be made for capacitating persons to be named ordinary Lords of Session may be altered by the Parliament of Great Britain. And that the Court of Justiciary do also after the union and notwithstanding thereof remain in all time coming within Scotland as it is now constituted by the laws of that kingdom, and with the same authority and privileges as before the union, subject nevertheless to such regulations as shall be made by the Parliament of Great Britain and without prejudice of other rights of justiciary. And that all Admiralty jurisdictions be under the Lord High Admiral or Commissioners for the Admiralty of Great Britain for the time being; and that the Court of Admiralty now established in Scotland be continued, and that all reviews, reductions or suspensions of the sentences in maritime cases competent to the jurisdiction of that court remain in the same manner after the union as now in Scotland, until the Parliament of Great Britain shall make such regulations and alterations as shall be judged expedient for the whole united kingdom, so as there be always continued in Scotland a Court of Admiralty such as in England for determination of all maritime cases relating to private rights in Scotland competent to the jurisdiction of the Admiralty Court, subject nevertheless to such regulations and alterations as shall be thought proper to be made by the Parliament of Great Britain. And that the heritable rights of Admiralty and Vice-Admiralties in Scotland be reserved to the respective proprietors as rights of property, subject nevertheless as to the manner of exercising such heritable rights to such regulations and alterations as shall be thought proper to be made by the Parliament of Great Britain. And that all other courts now in being within the kingdom of Scotland do remain, but subject to alterations by the Parliament of Great Britain; and that all inferior courts within the said limits do remain subordinate as they are now to the supreme courts of justice within the same in all time coming. And that no causes in Scotland be cognoscible by the Courts of Chancery, Queen’s Bench, Common Pleas or any other court in Westminster Hall; and that the said courts or any other of the like nature after the union shall have no power to cognosce, review or alter the acts or sentences of the judicatures within Scotland, or stop the execution of the same. And that there be a Court of Exchequer in Scotland after the union for deciding questions concerning the revenues of Customs and Excises there, having the same power and authority in such cases as the Court of Exchequer has in England; and that the said Court of Exchequer in Scotland have power of passing signatures, gifts, tutories, and in other things as the Court of Exchequer at present in Scotland hath; and that the Court of Exchequer that now is in Scotland do remain until a new Court of Exchequer be settled by the Parliament of Great Britain in Scotland after the union. And that after the union the Queen’s Majesty and her royal successors may continue a Privy Council in Scotland for preserving of public peace and order until the Parliament of Great Britain shall think fit to alter it or establish any other effectual method for that end.
Article XX
That all heritable offices, superiorities, heritable jurisdictions, offices for life and jurisdictions for life be reserved to the owners thereof as rights of property, in the same manner as they are now enjoyed by the laws of Scotland, notwithstanding this treaty.
Article XXI
That the rights and privileges of the royal burghs in Scotland as they now are do remain entire after the union and notwithstanding thereof.
Article XXII
That by virtue of this treaty, of the peers of Scotland at the time of the union sixteen shall be the number to sit and vote in the House of Lords, and forty-five the number of the representatives of Scotland in the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain; and that when her Majesty, her heirs or successors shall declare her or their pleasure for holding the first or any subsequent Parliament of Great Britain, until the Parliament of Great Britain shall make further provision therein, a writ do issue under the great seal of the united kingdom, directed to the Privy Council of Scotland, commanding them to cause sixteen peers who are to sit in the House of Lords to be summoned to Parliament, and forty-five members to be elected to sit in the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain according to the agreement in this treaty, in such manner as by an Act of this present session of the Parliament of Scotland is or shall be settled, which Act is hereby declared to be as valid as if it were a part of and engrossed in this treaty; and that the names of the persons so summoned and elected shall be returned by the Privy Council of Scotland into the court from whence the said writ did issue; and that if her Majesty, on or before the first day of May next, on which day the union is to take place, shall declare under the great seal of England that it is expedient that the Lords of Parliament of England and Commons of the present Parliament of England should be the members of the respective Houses of the first Parliament
of Great Britain for and on the part of England, then the said Lords of Parliament of England and Commons of the present Parliament of England shall be the members of the respective Houses of the first Parliament of Great Britain for and on the part of England; and her Majesty may by her royal proclamation under the great seal of Great Britain appoint the said first Parliament of Great Britain to meet at such time and place as her Majesty shall think fit, which time shall not be less than fifty days after the date of such proclamation; and the time and place of the meeting of such Parliament being so appointed, a writ shall be immediately issued under the great seal of Great Britain directed to the Privy Council of Scotland for the summoning the sixteen peers and for electing forty-five members by whom Scotland is to be represented in the Parliament of Great Britain; and the Lords of Parliament of England and the sixteen peers of Scotland, such sixteen peers being summoned and returned in the manner agreed in this treaty, and the members of the House of Commons of the said Parliament of England and the forty-five members for Scotland, such forty-five members being elected and returned in the manner agreed in this treaty, shall assemble and meet respectively in the respective Houses of the Parliament of Great Britain at such time and place as shall be so appointed by her Majesty, and shall be the two Houses of the first Parliament of Great Britain, and that Parliament may continue for such time only as the present Parliament of England might have continued if the union of the two kingdoms had not been made, unless sooner dissolved by her Majesty. And that every one of the Lords of Parliament of Great Britain and every member of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain in the first and all succeeding Parliaments of Great Britain, until the Parliament of Great Britain shall otherwise direct, shall take the respective oaths appointed to be taken instead of the oaths of allegiance and supremacy by an Act of Parliament made in England in the first year of the reign of the late King William and Queen Mary intituled, An Act for the abrogating of the oaths of supremacy and allegiance and appointing other oaths, 4 and make, subscribe and audibly repeat the declaration mentioned in an Act of Parliament made in England in the thirtieth year of the reign of King Charles the Second intituled, An Act for the more effectual preserving the king’s person and government by disabling papists from sitting in either House of Parliament ,5 and shall take and subscribe the oath mentioned in an Act of Parliament made in England in the first year of her Majesty’s reign intituled, An Act to declare the alterations in the oath appointed to be taken by the Act intituled, An Act for the further security of his Majesty’s person and the succession of the crown in the Protestant line, and for extinguishing the hopes of the pretended prince of Wales and all other pretenders and their open and secret abetters, and for declaring the Association to be determined, 6 at such time and in such manner as the members of both Houses of Parliament of England are by the said respective Acts directed to take, make and subscribe the same, upon the penalties and disabilities in the said respective Acts contained. And it is declared and agreed that these words, “This realm”, “The crown of this realm”, and “The queen of this realm”, mentioned in the oaths and declaration contained in the aforesaid Acts, which were intended to signify the crown and realm of England, shall be understood of the crown and realm of Great Britain, and that in that sense the said oaths and declaration be taken and subscribed by the members of both Houses of the Parliament of Great Britain.
Article XXIII
That the aforesaid sixteen peers of Scotland mentioned in the last preceding article to sit in the House of Lords of the Parliament of Great Britain shall have all privileges of Parliament which the peers of England now have, and which they or any peers of Great Britain shall have after the union, and particularly the right of sitting upon the trials of peers;…and that in case any trials of peers shall hereafter happen when there is no Parliament in being, the sixteen peers of Scotland who sat at the last preceding Parliament shall be summoned in the same manner, and have the same powers and privileges at such trials, as any other peers of Great Britain; and that all peers of Scotland and their successors to their honours and dignities shall from and after the union be peers of Great Britain, and have rank and precedency next and immediately after the peers of the like orders and degrees in England at the time of the union, and before all peers of Great Britain of the like orders and degrees who may be created after the union, and shall be tried as peers of Great Britain, and shall enjoy all privileges of peers as fully as the peers of England do now, or as they or any other peers of Great Britain may hereafter enjoy the same, except the right and privilege of sitting in the House of Lords and the privileges depending thereon, and particularly the right of sitting upon the trials of peers.
Article XXIV
That from and after the union there be one great seal for the united kingdom of Great Britain, which shall be different from the great seal now used in either kingdom, and that the quartering the arms and the rank and precedency of the Lyon King of Arms of the kingdom of Scotland as may best suit the union be left to her Majesty; …and that a seal in Scotland after the union be always kept and made use of in all things relating to private rights or grants which have usually passed the great seal of Scotland, and which only concern offices, grants, commissions and private rights within that kingdom;… and that the crown, sceptre and sword of state, the records of Parliament and all other records, rolls and registers
whatsoever, both public and private, general and particular and warrants thereof, continue to be kept as they are within that part of the united kingdom now called Scotland, and that they shall so remain in all time coming notwithstanding the union.
Article XXV
That all laws and statutes in either kingdom, so far as they are contrary to or inconsistent with the terms of these articles or any of them, shall from and after the union cease and become void, and shall be so declared to be by the respective Parliaments of the said kingdoms.
As by the said articles of union, ratified and approved by the said Act of Parliament of Scotland, relation being thereunto had, may appear.
II. And the tenor of the aforesaid Act for securing the Protestant religion and Presbyterian church government within the kingdom of Scotland is as follows.
Our sovereign lady and the Estates of Parliament considering that by the late Act of Parliament for a treaty with England for an union of both kingdoms it is provided that the commissioners for that treaty should not treat of or concerning any alteration of the worship, discipline and government of the Church of this kingdom as now by law established, which treaty being now reported to the Parliament, and it being reasonable and necessary that the true Protestant religion as presently professed within this kingdom, with the worship, discipline and government of this Church, should be effectually and unalterably secured, therefore her Majesty, with advice and consent of the said Estates of Parliament, doth hereby establish and confirm the said true Protestant religion and the worship, discipline and government of this Church to continue without any alteration to the people of this land in all succeeding generations; and more especially her Majesty, with advice and consent aforesaid, ratifies, approves and for ever confirms the fifth Act of the first Parliament of King William and Queen Mary intituled, Act ratifying the Confession of Faith and settling Presbyterian Church government, 7 with all other Acts of Parliament relating thereto, in prosecution of the declaration of the Estates of this kingdom containing the Claim of Right8 bearing date the eleventh of April one thousand six hundred and eighty-nine; and her Majesty, with advice and consent aforesaid, expressly provides and declares that the foresaid true Protestant religion contained in the above-mentioned Confession of Faith, with the form and purity of worship presently in use within this Church, and its Presbyterian Church government and discipline, that is to say the government of the Church by kirk sessions, presbyteries, provincial synods and general assemblies, all established by the foresaid Acts of Parliament pursuant to the Claim of Right, shall remain and continue unalterable, and that the said Presbyterian government shall be the only government of the Church within the kingdom of Scotland.
And further, for the greater security of the foresaid Protestant religion and of the worship, discipline and government of this Church as above established, her Majesty, with advice and consent foresaid, statutes and ordains that the Universities and Colleges of St. Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh as now established by law shall continue within this kingdom for ever, and that in all time coming no professors, principals, regents, masters or others bearing office in any university, college or school within this kingdom be capable or be admitted or allowed to continue in the exercise of their said functions but such as shall own and acknowledge the civil government in manner prescribed or to be prescribed by the Acts of Parliament, as also that before or at their admissions they do and shall acknowledge and profess and shall subscribe to the foresaid Confession of Faith as the confession of their faith, and that they will practise and conform themselves to the worship presently in use in this Church, and submit themselves to the government and discipline thereof, and never endeavour, directly or indirectly, the prejudice or subversion of the same, and that before the respective presbyteries of their bounds, by whatsoever gift, presentation or provision they may be thereto provided.
And further, her Majesty with advice aforesaid expressly declares and statutes that none of the subjects of this kingdom shall be liable to, but all and every one of them for ever free of, any oath, test or subscription within this kingdom contrary to or inconsistent with the foresaid true Protestant religion and Presbyterian Church government, worship and discipline as above established, and that the same within the bounds of this Church and kingdom shall never be imposed upon or required of them in any sort; and lastly that after the decease of her present Majesty (whom God long preserve) the sovereign succeeding to her in the royal government of the kingdom of Great Britain shall in all time coming, at his or her accession to the crown, swear and subscribe that they shall inviolably maintain and preserve the foresaid settlement of the true Protestant religion, with the government, worship, discipline, right and privileges of this Church as above established by the laws of this kingdom in prosecution of the Claim of Right.
And it is hereby statute and ordained that this Act of Parliament, with the establishment therein contained, shall be held and observed in all time coming as a fundamental and essential condition of any treaty or union to be concluded betwixt the two kingdoms, without any alteration thereof or derogation thereto in any sort for ever; as also that this Act of Parliament and settlement therein contained shall be insert and repeated in any Act of Parliament that shall pass for agreeing and concluding the foresaid treaty or union betwixt the two kingdoms, and that the same shall be therein expressly declared to be a fundamental and essential condition of the said treaty or union in all time coming, which articles of union and Act immediately above written her Majesty, with advice and consent aforesaid, statutes, enacts and ordains to be and continue in all time coming the sure and perpetual foundation of a complete and entire union of the two kingdoms of Scotland and England, under the express condition and provision that this approbation and ratification of the foresaid articles and Act shall be no ways binding on this kingdom until the said articles and Act be ratified, approved and confirmed by her Majesty with and by the authority of the Parliament of England as they are now agreed to, approved and confirmed by her Majesty with and by the authority of the Parliament of Scotland, declaring nevertheless that the Parliament of England may provide for the security of the Church of England as they think expedient, to take place within the bounds of the said kingdom of England, and not derogating from the security above provided for establishing of the Church of Scotland within the bounds of this kingdom; as also the said Parliament of England may extend the additions and other provisions contained in the articles of union as above insert in favour of the subjects of Scotland to and in favour of the subjects of England, which shall not suspend or derogate from the force and effect of this present ratification, but shall be understood as herein included without the necessity of any new ratification in the Parliament of Scotland.
And lastly her Majesty enacts and declares that all laws and statutes in this kingdom, so far as they are contrary to or inconsistent with the terms of these articles as above mentioned, shall from and after the union cease and become void.
III. And whereas an Act hath passed in this present session of Parliament intituled, An Act for securing the Church of England as by law established,9 the tenor whereof follows.
Whereas by an Act made in the session of Parliament held in the third and fourth year of her Majesty’s reign, whereby her Majesty was empowered to appoint commissioners under the great seal of England to treat with commissioners to be authorized by the Parliament of Scotland concerning an union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland, it is provided and enacted that the commissioners to be named in pursuance of the said Act should not treat of or concerning any alteration of the liturgy, rites, ceremonies, discipline or government of the Church as by law established within this realm,…and whereas it is reasonable and necessary that the true Protestant religion professed and established by law in the Church of England and the doctrine, worship discipline and government thereof should be effectually and unalterably secured, be it enacted…that an Act made in the thirteenth year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth of famous memory intituled, An Act for the ministers of the Church to be of sound religion, 10 and also another Act made in the thirteenth year of the reign of the late King Charles the Second intituled, An Act for the uniformity of the 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 11 (other than such clauses in the said Acts or either of them as have been repealed or altered by any subsequent Act or Acts of Parliament), and all and singular other Acts of Parliament now in force for the establishment and preservation of the Church of England and the doctrine, worship, discipline and government thereof shall remain and be in full force for ever.
And be it further enacted … that after the demise of her Majesty (whom God long preserve) the sovereign next succeeding to her Majesty in the royal government of the kingdom of Great Britain, and so for ever hereafter every king or queen succeeding and coming to the royal government of the kingdom of Great Britain, at his or her coronation shall in the presence of all persons who shall be attending, assisting or otherwise then and there present, take and subscribe an oath to maintain and preserve inviolably the said settlement of the Church of England and the doctrine, worship, discipline and government thereof as by law established within the kingdoms of England and Ireland, the dominion of Wales and town of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the territories thereunto belonging.
And be it further enacted … that this Act and all and every the matters and things therein contained be and shall for ever be holden and adjudged to be a fundamental and essential part of any treaty of union to be concluded between the said two kingdoms, and also that this Act shall be inserted in express terms in any Act of Parliament which shall be made for settling and ratifying any such treaty of union, and shall be therein declared to be an essential and fundamental part thereof.
IV. May it therefore please your most excellent Majesty that it may be enacted, and be it enacted, … that all and every the said articles of union, as ratified and approved by the said Act of Parliament of Scotland as aforesaid and herein before particularly mentioned and inserted, and also the said Act of Parliament of Scotland for establishing the Protestant religion and Presbyterian Church government within that kingdom intituled, Act for securing the Protestant religion and Presbyterian Church government, and every clause, matter and thing in the said articles and Act contained shall be, and the said articles and Act are hereby, for ever ratified, approved and confirmed.
V. And it is hereby further enacted, … that the said Act passed in this present session of Parliament intituled, An Act for securing the Church of England as by law established, and all and every the matters and things therein contained, and also the said Act of Parliament of Scotland intituled, Act for securing the Protestant religion and Presbyterian Church government, with the establishment in the said Act contained, be and shall for ever be held and adjudged to be and observed as fundamental and essential conditions of the said union, and shall in all times coming be taken to be, and are hereby declared to be, essential and fundamental parts of the said articles and union, and the said articles of union so as aforesaid ratified, approved and confirmed by Act of Parliament of Scotland and by this present Act, and the said Act passed in this present session of Parliament intituled, An Act for securing the Church of England as by law established, and also the said Act passed in the Parliament of Scotland intituled, Act for securing the Protestant religion and Presbyterian Church government, are hereby enacted and ordained to be and continue in all times coming the complete and entire union of the two kingdoms of England and Scotland.
VI. And whereas since the passing the said Act in the Parliament of Scotland for ratifying the said articles of union one other Act intituled, Act settling the manner of electing the sixteen peers and forty-five members to represent Scotland in the Parliament of Great Britain, hath likewise passed in the said Parliament of Scotland at Edinburgh the fifth day of February one thousand seven hundred and seven, the tenor whereof follows.
Our sovereign lady considering that by the twenty-second article of the treaty of union…it is provided that…of the peers of Scotland at the time of the union sixteen shall be the number to sit and vote in the House of Lords, and forty-five the number of the representatives of Scotland in the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain,…therefore her Majesty, with advice and consent of the Estates of Parliament, statutes, enacts and ordains that the said sixteen peers who shall have right to sit in the House of Peers in the Parliament of Great Britain on the part of Scotland by virtue of this treaty shall be named by the said peers of Scotland whom they represent, their heirs or successors to their dignities and honours, out of their own number, and that by open election and plurality of voices of the peers present and of the proxies for such as shall be absent,…declaring also that such peers as are absent…may send to all such meetings lists of the peers whom they judge fittest, validly signed by the said absent peers, which shall be reckoned in the same manner as if the parties had been present and given in the said list; and in case of the death or legal incapacity of any of the said sixteen peers, that the aforesaid peers of Scotland shall nominate another of their own number in place of the said peer or peers in manner before and after mentioned. And that of the said forty-five representatives of Scotland in the House of Commons in the Parliament of Great Britain thirty shall be chosen by the shires or stewartries and fifteen by the royal burghs as follows, viz., one for every shire and stewartry excepting the shires of Bute and Caithness, which shall choose one by turns, Bute having the first election; the shires of Nairn and Cromarty, which shall also choose by turns, Nairn having the first election; and in like manner the shires of Clackmannan and Kinross shall choose by turns, Clackmannan having the first election….And that the said fifteen representatives for the royal burghs be chosen as follows, viz., that the town of Edinburgh shall have right to elect and send one member to the Parliament of Great Britain, and that each of the other burghs shall elect a commissioner in the same manner as they are now in use to elect commissioners to the Parliament of Scotland, which commissioners and burghs (Edinburgh excepted) being divided in fourteen classes or districts shall meet at such time and burghs within their respective districts as her Majesty, her heirs or successors shall appoint, and elect one for each district, viz., the burghs of Kirkwall, Wick, Dornoch, Dingwall and Tain, one; the burghs of Fortrose, Inverness, Nairn and Forres, one; the burghs of Elgin, Cullen, Banff, Inverurie and Kintore, one; the burghs of Aberdeen, Inverbervie, Montrose, Aberbrothock and Brechin, one; the burghs of Forfar, Perth, Dundee, Cupar and St. Andrews, one; the burghs of Crail, Kilrenny, Anstruther Easter, Anstruther Wester and Pittenweem, one; the burghs of Dysart, Kirkcaldy, Kinghorn and Burntisland, one; the burghs of Inverkeithing, Dunfermline, Queensferry, Culross and Stirling, one; the burghs of Glasgow, Renfrew, Rutherglen and Dumbarton, one; the burghs of Haddington, Dunbar, North Berwick, Lauder and Jedburgh, one; the burghs of Selkirk, Peebles, Linlithgow and Lanark, one; the burghs of Dumfries, Sanquhar, Annan, Lochmaben and Kirkcudbright, one; the burghs of Wigtown, New Galloway, Stranraer and Whithorn, one; and the burghs of Ayr, Irvine, Rothesay, Campbeltown and Inveraray, one. And it is hereby declared and ordained that where the votes of the commissioners for the said burghs met to choose representatives from their several districts to the Parliament of Great Britain shall be equal, in that case the president of the meeting shall have a casting or decisive
vote, and that by and according to his vote as a commissioner from the burgh from which he is sent, the commissioner from the eldest burgh presiding in the first meeting, and the commissioners from the other burghs in their respective districts presiding afterwards by turns in the order as the said burghs are now called in the rolls of the Parliament of Scotland….It is always hereby expressly provided and declared that none shall be capable to elect or be elected for any of the said estates but such as are twenty-one years of age complete and Protestant, excluding all papists or such who being suspect of popery and required refuse to swear and subscribe the formula contained in the third Act made in the eighth and ninth sessions of King William’s Parliament intituled, Act for preventing the growth of popery ; and also declaring that none shall be capable to elect or be elected to represent a shire or burgh in the Parliament of Great Britain for this part of the united kingdom except such as are now capable by the laws of this kingdom to elect or be elected as commissioners for shires or burghs to the Parliament of Scotland…. And whereas by the said twenty-second article it is agreed that if her Majesty shall on or before the first day of May next declare that it is expedient the Lords and Commons of the present Parliament of England should be the members of the respective Houses of the first Parliament of Great Britain for and on the part of England, they shall accordingly be the members of the said respective Houses for and on the part of England, her Majesty, with advice and consent aforesaid, in that case only doth hereby statute and ordain that the sixteen peers and forty-five commissioners for shires and burghs who shall be chosen by the peers, barons and burghs respectively in this present session of Parliament and out of the members thereof, in the same manner as committees of Parliament are usually now chosen, shall be the members of the respective Houses of the said first Parliament of Great Britain for and on the part of Scotland….
VII. As by the said Act passed in Scotland for settling the manner of electing the sixteen peers and forty-five members to represent Scotland in the Parliament of Great Britain may appear, be it therefore further enacted…that the said last-mentioned Act passed in Scotland for settling the manner of electing the sixteen peers and forty-five members to represent Scotland in the Parliament of Great Britain as aforesaid shall be, and the same is hereby declared to be, as valid as if the same had been part of and engrossed in the said articles of union, ratified and approved by the said Act of Parliament of Scotland and by this Act as aforesaid.
Notes 1 22 July 1706. (Back to document) 2 16 January 1707. (Back to document) 3 In accordance with the provisions already made for the succession to the throne of England by the Bill of Rights [volume 6, document 040] and the Act of Settlement [volume 6, document 043]. (Back to document) 4 1 Gul. & Mar., cap. 8. (Back to document) 5 Volume 6, document 144. (Back to document) 6 I Annae, cap. 16. (Back to document) 7 Volume 6, document 251. (Back to document) 8 Volume 6, document 248. (Back to document) 9 6 Annae, cap. 8. (Back to document) 10 13 Eliz., cap. 12. (Back to document) 11 Volume 6, document 137. (Back to document)
Notes
1 22 July 1706. (Back to document)
2 16 January 1707. (Back to document)
3 In accordance with the provisions already made for the succession to the throne of England by the Bill of Rights [volume 6, document 040] and the Act of Settlement [volume 6, document 043]. (Back to document)
4 1 Gul. & Mar., cap. 8. (Back to document)
5 Volume 6, document 144. (Back to document)
6 I Annae, cap. 16. (Back to document)
7 Volume 6, document 251. (Back to document)
8 Volume 6, document 248. (Back to document)
9 6 Annae, cap. 8. (Back to document)
10 13 Eliz., cap. 12. (Back to document)
11 Volume 6, document 137. (Back to document)
