Loan. Three per Cent. created by this to the Joint Terminable created by this and from Eng land and Ireland. 5 G. 4. c. 53. 6 G. 4. c. 79. Sinking Fund. XX. All the Annuities after the Rate of Three Pounds per Centum per Annum to which any Person or Persons shall become entitled by virtue of this Act, in respect of any Sum advanced or contributed towards the said Sum of Sixteen Millions, shall be added to the Joint Stock of Annuities transferable at the Bank of England, into which the several Sums carrying an Interest after the Rate of Three Pounds per Centum per Annum were by several Acts made in the Twenty-fifth, Twenty-eighth, Twenty-ninth, Thirty-second, and Thirty-third Years of the Reign of His late Majesty King George the Second, and by several subsequent Acts consolidated, and shall be deemed Part of the said Joint Stock of Annuities; subject nevertheless to Redemption by Parliament in such Manner and upon such Notice as in the said Act made in the Twenty-fifth Year of His said late Majesty's Reign is directed in respect of the several and respective Annuities redeemable by virtue of the said Act; and all and every Person and Persons and Corporation whatsoever, in proportion to the Money to which he, she, or they shall become entitled as aforesaid by virtue of this Act, shall have and be deemed to have a proportional Interest and Share in the said Joint Stock of Annuities at the Rates aforesaid. XXI. The Terminable Annuities granted under the, Provisions of this Act shall and may be transferred to and from the Books of the Governor and Company of the Bank of England to the Books of the Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland, and vice versâ, for the Purpose of having corresponding Sums in the like Annuities written into the Books of the said respective Banks, in like Manner and under the same Regulations as any other Annuities for Terms of Years or Capital Stock are permitted to be so transferred under and by virtue of an Act passed in the Fifth Year of the Reign of King George the Fourth, intituled An Act to permit the mutual Transfer of Capital in certain Public Stocks or Funds transferable at the Banks of England and Ireland respectively, and an Act of the Sixth Year of the same Reign, intituled An Act to provide for the Assimilation of the Currency and Monies of Account throughout the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. XXII. For the Purpose of the Extinction of a Portion of the Funded Debt of Great Britain and Ireland equal to the Amount to be added to the said Joint Stock as aforesaid, there shall be issued and paid out of the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or out of the growing Produce thereof, to the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt, in the financial Year commencing on the First Day of April which shall first happen Twelve Months after the Ratification of a definitive Treaty of Peace with Russia, and in every subsequent Year until such Portion of the said Funded Debt is extinguished by means of the Monies to be issued to the said Commissioners under this Enactment, the Sum of One million Pounds: Provided that in case, in the last Year in which such Sum would be payable, the Sum necessary for purchasing the remaining Portion of the said Portion of such Funded Debt be less than One million Pounds, then so much only of such Sum as may be necessary for that Purpose shall be issued and paid as aforesaid; and the Sums so to Loan. to be issued and paid to the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt shall be applied by them from Time to Time in the Purchase of such Funded Debt, in the Manner directed by the Acts for the Reduction of the National Debt, until by means of such Sums a Sum of Sixteen million Pounds of such Funded Debt has been extinguished and cancelled, and all such Funded Debt purchased by the said Commissioners under the Authority of this Act shall from Time to Time be forthwith cancelled and extinguished, and all Dividends in respect thereof shall cease to be payable; and for the Purposes of the Acts for the Reduction of the National Debts, the Sums to be issued and paid to the said Commissioners as aforesaid shall be deemed Part of the Expenditure of the United Kingdom. Felony. XXIII. If any Person or Persons shall forge or counterfeit, or Persons councause or procure to be forged or counterfeited, or shall willingly terfeiting React or assist in the forging or counterfeiting, any Receipt or ceipts for ConReceipts for the whole or any Part or Parts of the said Contri- tributions, &c. butions towards the said Sum of Sixteen Millions, either with or guilty of without the Name or Names of any Person or Persons being inserted therein, as the Contributor or Contributors thereto, or Payer or Payers thereof, or of any Part or Parts thereof, or shall alter any Number, Figure, or Word therein, or utter or publish as true any such false, forged, counterfeited, or altered Receipt or Receipts, with Intent to defraud the Governor and Company of the Bank of England, or any Body Politic or Corporate, or any Person or Persons whatsoever, every such Person or Persons so forging or counterfeiting, or causing or procuring to be forged or counterfeited, or willingly acting or assisting in the forging or counterfeiting, or altering, uttering, or publishing as aforesaid, being thereof convicted in due Form of Law, shall be adjudged guilty of Felony, and shall, at the Discretion of the Court, be liable to be transported beyond the Seas for Life or for any Term not less than Fourteen Years, or to be kept in Penal Servitude for Life or for any Term not less than Four Years, or to be imprisoned, with or without Hard Labour, for any Term not exceeding Four Years nor less than Two Years. tinue a Corporation till the Annuities hereby granted shall shall cease. be redeemed or XXIV. The said Governor and Company of the Bank of Bank to conEngland, and their Successors, notwithstanding the Redemption of all or any of their own Funds, in pursuance of the Acts for establishing the same or any of them, shall continue a Corporation for the Purposes of this Act until the Consolidated Three Pounds per Centum Annuities by this Act granted shall be redeemed by Parliament as aforesaid, and the Terminable Annuities by this Act granted shall cease; and the said Governor and Company of the Bank of England, or any Member thereof, shall not incur any Disability for or by reason of their doing any Matter or Thing in pursuance of this Act. XXV. No Fee, Reward, or Gratuity whatsoever shall be demanded or taken of any of Her Majesty's Subjects for receiving or paying the said Subscription or Contribution Monies or any of them, or for any Receipt concerning the same, or for paying the said Annuities or any of them, or for any Transfer of any Sum, great No Fee to be taken for receiving Contri butions or paying or transferring Annuities Loan. on Penalty of 201. Persons sued General Issue. Militia (Ireland). great or small, to be made in pursuance of this Act, upon pain that any Officer or Person offending by taking or demanding any such Fee, Reward, or Gratuity shall for every such Offence forfeit the Sum of Twenty Pounds to the Party aggrieved, with full Costs of Suit, to be recovered in any of Her Majesty's Superior Courts of Law at Westminster. XXVI. If any Person or Persons shall be sued, molested, or may plead the prosecuted for anything done by virtue or in pursuance of this Act, such Person or Persons shall and may plead the General Issue, and give this Act and the special Matter in Evidence, in his, her, or their Defence or Defences; and if afterwards a Verdict shall pass for the Defendant or Defendants, or Plaintiff or Plaintiffs shall discontinue his, her, or their Action or Prosecution, or be nonsuited, or Judgment shall be given against him, her, or them, upon Demurrer or otherwise, then such Defendant or Defendants shall have full Costs awarded to him, her, or them, against any such Plaintiff or Plaintiffs. CA P. XIX. An Act to remove Doubts as to the Commissions of Officers of Militia in Ireland who have omitted to deliver unto the Clerk of the Peace Descriptions of their Qualifications, and to indemnify them against the Consequences of such Omission, and to amend the Law relating to the Militia in Ireland. [25th May 1855.] 49 G. 3. c. 120. WHEREAS by an Act of the Forty-ninth Year of King George the Third, Chapter One hundred and twenty, it was enacted, that no Person should thereafter be appointed to any Commission in the Militia of Ireland who should require a Qualification in respect of Property by virtue of the said Act ' until he should have delivered unto the Clerk of the Peace of the County or City for which he should be appointed, or, in the Absence of such Clerk of the Peace, to his Deputy, a specific Description in Writing signed by himself of his Qualification, stating the Particulars of such Qualification; and that no Com'mission to be granted by virtue of the said Act should be valid unless it was declared in such Commission that the Officer to whom such Commission was given had delivered in his Qualifi'cation as directed: And whereas Persons have in many Instances 'been appointed to and have acted under Commissions in the Militia in Ireland requiring Qualifications in respect of Pro'perty, without having previously delivered the Particulars of 'their Qualifications, as required by the said Act: And whereas Doubts have been raised as to the Validity of such Commissions, and of the Acts done by the Persons thereby appointed:' Be it enacted by the Queen'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, as follows: Officers of Mi 6 I. Every Person who before the passing of this Act hath been litia acting un- appointed an Officer in the Militia of Ireland by any such Com der certain mission, Militia (Ireland). mission, and who was at the Time of the issuing of such Commis- Commissions sion seised or possessed of the necessary Qualification, or who has indemnified, on since acquired and now is seised or possessed of the necessary depositing their Qualification, and has since the issuing of such Commission deli- within Three Qualifications vered or shall within Three Months after the passing of this Act Months. deliver to such Clerk of the Peace or his Deputy of such County or City the specific Description of his Qualification which he possessed when such Commission was issued, or which he may now possess, shall be indemnified, freed, and discharged from and against all Penalties and Forfeitures incurred or to be incurred for or by reason of previous Neglect or Omission to deliver in such Qualification at the Time required by Law, or for or by reason of his having executed any of the Powers by the said Act directed to be exercised by Colonels, Lieutenant Colonels, Majors, Captains, Lieutenants, or Ensigns without being qualified as required by the said recited Act, or without having delivered in such specific Description of his Qualification; and every such Person is and shall be deemed and adjudged to be and to have been duly qualified to hold such Commission according to the said Act of the Fortyninth of George the Third, Chapter One hundred and twenty, or any Act now in force relating to such Qualification; and all Acts done or to be done by any such Person, or by Authority derived from him, under such Commission, are and shall be of the same Force and Validity as the same or any of them would have been if such specific Description of such Qualification in respect of Property had been duly delivered as directed by the said Act, and all the Provisions relating thereto had been complied with. II. Provided always, That it shall not be necessary for any Officer now holding a Commission in any Regiment of Militia in Ireland under the Rank of Captain to deliver in such Qualification to the Clerk of the Peace, although his Commission may have been issued when the Law required him to be qualified in respect of Property; and notwithstanding any such Neglect as aforesaid on the Part of such Officer under the Rank of Captain to deliver in such Qualification at or previous to the Time of issuing such Commission, his Commission shall to all Intents and Purposes be and be deemed to have been as valid, and all Acts done thereunder of the same Force and Effect, and such Officer shall be freed from all Penalties and Forfeitures, as fully as if no such Neglect or Omission had happened. Proviso for Offi cers below the Rank of Captain commissioned when Property Qualification was required. III. Provided always, That this Act shall not extend to indem- Not to indemnify any Person against whom final Judgment shall have been nify Persons given for any Penalty before the passing of this Act, or to exempt against whom any Person holding a Commission of Captain or any higher Rank final Judgment in the said Militia from the Penalties to which he shall or may be subject for acting as such Captain or Officer of higher Rank in the said Militia, without being possessed of the Property Qualification required by Law. has been obtained, &c. IV. Every Lieutenant of a County in Ireland or Colonel com- Lieutenants of manding a Battalion of Militia in Ireland, as the Case may be, who Counties and after the passing of this Act appoints any Person to be an Officer Colonels to send 18 & 19 VICT. F of with the Certi Militia (Ireland). ficates of Appointments of Officers the Description of their Qualifications. In Actions under 49 G. 3. c. 120. s. 19. Security for Costs to be given. Her Majesty or Lord Lieutenant of Ire land may direct Lieutenants of Counties to dis place Officers of Militia. of the Militia of any Rank whereunto a Qualification in respect of Property is now required, shall, before transmitting the Name of such Officer to the Lord Lieutenant for Approval, require from the Clerk of the Peace or his Deputy a Certificate that the necessary Description in Writing of Qualification has been lodged with him by such Officer, and when he transmits for Approval to the Lord Lieutenant or other Chief Governor or Governors of Ireland for the Time being the Name and Rank of the Officer so to be appointed shall state to the Lord Lieutenant or other Chief Governor or Governors of Ireland for the Time being that he has received from the Clerk of the Peace or his Deputy such Certificate. V. In case any Action, Suit, or other Proceeding shall be instituted to recover any Penalty imposed by the Nineteenth Section of the said recited Act, the Defendant in such Action, Suit, or other Proceeding shall be entitled, at any Time before pleading or filing his Defence, to require the Plaintiff to give Security for Costs, and to have the Proceedings stayed until such Security for Costs shall have been given. 6 6 6 VI. And whereas by the said Act of the Forty-ninth of George the Third, Chapter One hundred and twenty, it is enacted, that ' it shall and may be lawful for His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, from Time to Time, as He or they shall think fit, to signify His or their Pleasure to the Colonel or other Commanding Officer of any such Regiment or Battalion of Militia to displace all or any Officers or Officer of Militia serving under ' him in such Regiment or Battalion: And whereas under the 'said Act the Colonels of Militia in Ireland were appointed by 'the Lord Lieutenant or other Chief Governor or Governors of 'Ireland, and the Power of Removal was vested in such Lord 'Lieutenant or other Chief Governor or Governors: And whereas by an Act of the Session holden in the First and Second Years ' of King William the Fourth, Chapter Seventeen, the Power of appointing the Colonels of Militia was transferred from the Lord 'Lieutenant or other Chief Governor or Governors to the Lieu' tenants of Counties, and the Power of appointing inferior Officers · was transferred from the Colonels to such Lieutenants of Counties, subject to a Proviso, saving to Colonels of Militia acting ' under Commissions granted before the passing of the said Act ' of their Power to appoint Lieutenant Colonels and other Officers ' of their Regiments and Battalions; but no Provision was made as to the displacing of the Officers of the Militia corresponding 'with the Alteration in the Powers of appointing them:' It shall be lawful for Her Majesty, Her Heirs or Successors, or the Lord Lieutenant or other Chief Governor or Governors of Ireland for the Time being, from Time to Time as they respectively may think fit, to signify Her, their, or his Pleasure to the Lieutenant of any County or Place to displace all or any of the Officers in the Militia of such County or Place, and thereupon such Officers shall be displaced, and others shall be appointed in their Stead. VII. The |