in the such certificate, cause notice thereof to be inserted in the to be notified London Gazette, and shall not issue his warrant until Gazette. fourteen days after the insertion of such notice in the Gazette. strictions on warrant. IV. Provided also, That nothing herein contained shall Certain reextend to enable the Speaker of the House of Commons to the Speaker issue his warrant for the purposes aforesaid, unless the relative to return of the writ (by virtue of which such member de- issuing his ceased, or become a peer of Great Britain, was elected) shall have been brought into the office of the clerk of the Crown, fifteen days at the least before the end of the last sitting of the House of Commons immediately preceding the time when such application shall be made to the Speaker of the House of Commons to issue such warrant as aforesaid; nor unless such application shall be made so long before the then next meeting of the House of Commons for the dispatch of business, as that the writ for the election may be issued before the day of such next meeting of the House of Commons; nor in case such application shall be made with respect to any seat in the House of Commons which shall have been vacated in either of the methods before mentioned, by any member of that House against whose election or return to serve in Parliament a petition was depending, at the time of the then last prorogation of Parliament, or adjournment of the House of Commons. authorize a House of V. And whereas the due execution of this act may be prevented or impeded by the death of the Speaker of the House of Commons for the time being, or by his seat in Parliament becoming vacant, or by his absence out of the realm, for which inconveniences it is expedient to provide a remedy; be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for the present Speaker Speaker to of the House of Commons, and he is hereby required, certain num. within a convenient time after the passing of this act, and for ber of meinevery future Speaker of the House of Commons, and he is bers of the hereby required within a convenient time after he shall be Commons, in that office, at the beginning of any Parliament, by any &c. instrument in writing under his hand and seal, to nominate and appoint a certain number of persons, not more than seven, nor less than three, members of the House of Commons at the time being, thereby authorizing them, or any one of them, to execute all and singular the powers given to the Speaker of the House of Commons for the time being, for issuing such warrants as aforesaid, by virtue of this act, subject nevertheless to such regulations and exceptions as In what cases Publisher of to give re ceipts for notices. are herein also contained, which instrument of appointment and authority shall, notwithstanding the death of the Speaker of the House of Commons making and executing the same, or the vacating his seat in Parliament, continue and remain in full force until the dissolution of the Parlia ment in which it shall be made. VI. Provided always, and be it enacted, That whenever and as often as the said number of persons, so to be appointed as aforesaid, shall, by death, or by their seats in Parliament being vacated, happen to be reduced to less than three, it shall and may be lawful for the Speaker of the House of Commons for the time being to make a new appointment in the manner hereinbefore directed. VII. Provided also, That every such appointment shall be entered in the journals of the House of Commons, and be also published once in the London Gazette; and the instru ment of such appointment shall be preserved by the clerk of the House of Commons, and a duplicate thereof shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the Crown in Chancery. VIII. Provided also, That nothing in this act contained shall extend, or be construed to extend, to give any power or authority whatsoever to any person so to be nominated and appointed as aforesaid, except in the case of there being no Speaker of the House of Commons, or of his being absent out of the realm, nor for any longer time than such person, so to be appointed as aforesaid, shall continue a member of the House of Commons; any thing herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding. IX. And be it enacted, That the publisher of the Gazette the Gazette for the time being, when any such notice as aforesaid of the issuing of any such warrant shall be brought to him, signed by any person so appointed as aforesaid, shall give a receipt for the same, specifying the day and hour when the same was received; and in case more than one such notice shall be brought to him, relative to the same election, such publisher shall insert in the Gazette only the notice first received. SCHEDULE. "We whose names are underwritten, being two members of the House of Commons, do hereby certify, That M. P., late a member of the said House, serving as one of the Knights of the Shire for the county of may be] died upon the day of [or as the case [or is become a peer of Great Britain, and that a writ of summons hath been issued, under the great seal of Great Britain, to of the said M. P. "Given under our hands, this day of "To the Speaker of the House of Commons." Note. That in case there shall be no Speaker of the House of Commons, or of his absence out of the realm, such certificate may be addressed to any one of the persons appointed according to the directions of this act. 52 GEO. 3, c. 144. An Act to suspend and finally vacate the Seats of Members of the House of Commons, who shall become Bankrupts, and who shall not pay their Debts in full within a limited Time. [23rd July, 1812.] be vacated Whereas it is highly necessary, for the preservation of the dignity and independence of Parliament, that members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, who become bankrupts, and do not pay their debts in full, shall not retain their seats: Be it therefore enacted, by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that, from and after the passing of this act, whenever Seats of a commission of bankruptcy shall issue and be awarded members to against any person being a member of the House of Com- in certain mons, and he shall be found and declared a bankrupt under cases of the same, such member shall be and shall remain during bankruptcy. twelve calendar months from the time of the issuing thereof, utterly incapable of sitting and voting in the said House of Commons, unless within the said period such commission shall be superseded, or unless within the same period the creditors of such member of the House of Commons proving their debts under the commission of bankruptcy shall be paid or satisfied to the full amount of their debts, under the said commission: Provided always, that such of the debts, if any, as shall be disputed by such bankrupt, if he Speaker to issue writ for election of another member. Proviso. Provisions of 24 Geo. 3, sess. 2, c. 26, act. shall, within the time aforesaid, enter into a bond or bonds, in such sum or sums, with two sufficient sureties to be approved by the commissioners under the said commission of bankruptcy, or the major part of them, to pay such sum or sums of money as shall be recovered in any action, suit, or other proceeding in law or equity, concerning such debt or debts, together with such costs as shall be given in the same, shall be considered for the purposes of this act as paid or satisfied. II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if the said commission shall not within twelve calendar months from the issuing thereof be superseded, nor the debts satisfied in manner aforesaid, then the commissioners, or the major part of them named in such commission, shall and they are hereby required, immediately after the expiration of twelve calendar months from the issuing of the said commission, to certify the same, as the case may be, to the Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, and thereupon the election of such member shall be and is hereby declared to be void; and it shall and may be lawful for the Speaker of the House of Commons for the time being, during any recess of the said House, whether by prorogration or adjournment, and he is hereby required forthwith after receiving such certificate, to cause notice thereof to be inserted in the London Gazette, and upon the expiration of fourteen days after the day of inserting such notice in the Gazette, to issue his warrant to the clerk of the Crown, to make out a new writ for electing another member in the room of such member who shall have so vacated his seat: Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall extend to enable the Speaker of the House of Commons to issue his warrant for the purposes aforesaid, unless such certificate shall have been delivered to him so long before the then next meeting of the House of Com mons for the dispatch of business, as that the writ for the election may be issued before the day of such next meeting of the House of Commons. III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all and every of the powers contained in an act of the extended to twenty-fourth year of the reign of his present Majesty, for repealing so much of two former acts as authorized the Speaker of the House of Commons to issue his warrant to the clerk of the Crown for making out writs for the election of members to serve in Parliament in the manner therein mentioned, and for substituting other provisions for the like purposes, so far as such powers enable the Speaker of the House of Commons to nominate and appoint other persons, being members of the House of Commons, to issue warrants for the making out of new writs during the vacancy of the office of Speaker, or during his absence out of the realm, shall be and they are hereby made to be in force for the purpose of enabling him to make the like nomination and appointment for issuing warrants under the like circumstances and conditions, for the election of members of Parliament in the room of such whose seats shall become vacant under the provisions of this act. 53 GEO. 3, c. 89. An Act for the more regular Conveyance of Writs for the [2nd July, 1813.] For the more expeditious and regular conveyance of writs for the election of members to serve in Parliament, be it enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that when any new Parliament Messenger shall at any time hereafter be summoned or called, as also in of all cases of vacancy during this present or any future Parliament, the messenger or pursuivant of the great seal, or his deputy, shall, after the receipt thereof, forthwith carry such and all other of the said writs as shall be directed to the sheriff's of writs to great seal to carry writs to sherifls of London and Middlesex; general, who London, or sheriff of Middlesex, to the respective officers postmaster of such sheriffs or sheriff; and all such other writs to the hall forward General Post Office in London, and there deliver the same same. to the postmaster or postmasters general for the time being, or to such other person or persons as the said postmaster or postmasters general shall depute to receive the same (and which deputation they are hereby respectively required to make), who on receipt thereof shall give an acknowledgment in writing of such receipt to the said messenger or his deputy, from whom the same shall be received, expressing therein the time of such delivery, and shall keep a duplicate of such acknowledgment, signed by the parties respectively to whom and by whom the same shall be so delivered; and the said postmaster or postmasters general, or such their deputy or deputies, shall despatch all such writs, free from |