annual salary of 150 ounces. The President of the Chamber of Peers shall also appoint a similar Officer, conformably to the Constitution of England; who shall enjoy the same salary.

[Placet Regiæ Majestati; as regards the Appointments; but they must be made by the King, at the nomination of the Prothonotary, until an Office analogous to that of Lord Great Chamberlain shall be established by His Majesty.]

VII. The messages from one Chamber to the other shall be conveyed by 3 or more Members, as may be determined by the Chambers, respectively.

VIII. It shall be the duty of the Ushers to preserve cleanliness in the Chambers, to attend at the doors of the same during the sittings, in order to exclude all Persons who have not a right to enter, and to perform such other services as occasion may require.

IX. None of the above-named Officers can be dismissed, except in consequence of a dereliction of duty, or for other misconduct.

X. There shall be a Printing Office under the authority of the Parliament, and within the walls of the Building. The Expences of this Establishment shall be added to those above-mentioned.

[Vetal Regia Majestas.]

XI. The direction of the same shall depend immediately and exclusively upon the Presidents of the 2 Chambers, who shall alone give orders for the Resolutions and Acts which are to be printed, according to the determination of the respective Chambers.

[Vetat Regia Majestas.]

XII. Accommodation shall be afforded in the Chambers for Persons who are not Members thereof.

XIII. Such Persons shall be admitted by Tickets, signed by a Member, or by the President of the respective Chamber.

XIV. A Member can issue only 1 Ticket, and the President only 2. XV. All Persons who shall be admitted are forbidden to carry arms or sticks, to clap their hauds, to speak aloud, or to commit any other act of indecorum, upon pain, not only of being expelled from the Chamber, but also of being taken into custody; and when the Chamber shall resolve itself into a Secret Committee, no Strangers shall be permitted to remain.

CHAPTER XVIII.

ART. I. It is competent for a Member of either of the Chambers to propose in the Chamber to which he belongs, any Proposition that he may think proper.

II. Projects of Law, which shall be presented to the Chambers in writing, shall be read and discussed in 3 different sittings, previously to their being finally considered and decided upon. The respective Chamber, in order maturely to examine such Projects, shall appoint a

Committee, which shall make its Report, containing its opinions upon the Project, to the Chamber itself: the Members of the Chief Tribunal of the Kingdom may also be present during the proceedings in the Chamber of Peers, but must sit in a place apart from its Members, and behind the President: they shall not speak upon any other subject than that upon which their opinion is desired, and shall only have a consultive voice, agreeably to the Constitution of England. [Placet Regiæ Majestati; but subject to the understanding that, agreeably to what has been declared in Chapter XII, Article III, the Members of the Chief Magistracy shall be summoned to every new Parliament, in order that they may attend the Sittings of the Chamber of Peers, and give a consultive voice on purely Judicial Questions.]

III. The whole Chamber, for the same object, may resolve itself into a Secret Committee, and introduce into the Project those corrections and amendments which it may think requisite, without the usual formalities.

IV. Either of the Chambers may adjourn its sittings, discussions, and decisions, at pleasure.

V. No Measure which has been rejected in either of the Chambers, can be again proposed until the Session of the following Year.

CHAPTER XIX.

ART. I. Every Proposition relating to the Supplies and Taxes must be originated in the Chamber of Commons.

II. The Chamber of Peers shall only have the right to assent to, or dissent from, the Proposition, and shall not alter or modify it in any manner whatever.

III. All Propositions which may, in their consequences, affect the rights of the Peerage, must be originated in the Chamber of Peers, and can receive no modification in the Chamber of Commons, which shall only have the right to assent to, or dissent from, the same.

IV. His Majesty cannot interpose in, nor take cognizance of, any Propositions pending in the Chambers of Parliament; and they cannot, until they have been adopted by both Chambers, be presented to His Majesty, in order to receive his absolute Placet or Veto.

V. His Majesty shall give his Placet or Veto, with the advice of his Privy Council, either by Royal Rescript, or vivâ voce in the Chamber of Peers, where the Members of the Chamber of Commons shall also assemble, as above described.

VI. Whenever His Majesty shall give his Royal Sanction verbally, and shall repair to the Chamber of Peers for that purpose, the Members of the Chamber of Commons shall also be in attendance, and stand below the Bar, whilst the Prothonotary reads, with an audible

voice, the Articles decided upon by the Parliament; and the Chancellor of the Chamber of Peers shall pronounce the Placet or Veto, as shall be decreed by the King.

VII. The Chancellor shall inscribe the Placet or Veto at the end of every Article, in order that, after having been rendered obligatory by the signature of the Prothonotary of the Kingdom, and by the Royal Seal affixed to them, the Originals may be preserved among the Archives of the Parliament, and of the Prothonotary, respectively.

VIII. Neither Chamber can interfere in, nor take cognizance of, any Propositions whilst under discussion, or pending in the other.

IX. But in case the 2 Chambers shall agree upon some, and differ upon other, points of the same Proposition, each of them may depute a certain number of its Members, who may appoint a Conference with those of the other, and thereby endeavour to reconcile their opinions, and bring the Chambers to an agreement, and to a conformity of

votes.

CHAPTER XX.

In the Chamber of Peers, at least 30 Members are required to be present to form a Chamber; and in the Chamber of Commons, at least 60: when the President of either Chamber shall perceive that less than the respective number of Members is present, he shall adjourn the Sitting until the next day, or to any other day that may have been previously appointed.

CHAPTER XXI.

The 2 Chambers of Parliament may fix different days for their Sittings; it not being necessary that both Chambers should sit upon the same day.

CHAPTER XXII.

Every Sicilian Citizen, who is not a Member of Parliament, can present a Petition, Complaint, or Project of Law, to Parliament, for himself or on behalf of the Public, through one of its Members: if such Petition, Complaint, or Project, relate to a Public object, the Member of either of the Chambers, who shall be entrusted with the same, shall not be prevented from reading it aloud to the Chamber: if it relate to a Private object, it must be referred to a Committee, which shall decide whether it shall be received or rejected.

[Vetat Regia Majestas.]

CHAPTER XXIII.

Every Peer shall have the right to enter upon the Journal of the Chamber his Protest, and the reasons upon which it is founded, whenever the Chamber may have come to a Resolution contrary to his sentiments.

CHAPTER XXIV.

ART. 1. Any Member of either of the Chambers who

may be

accused must quit the same immediately, and cannot enter it again until he is summoned to the Bar, or the Accusation be cancelled. [Placet Regiæ Majestati; whenever the Accusation shall be made

through the Report of a Committee, and not merely by a Motion.] II. The Injunctions of the Chambers shall be executed by means of the Ushers.

III. The Chamber of Commons after having determined to enquire into the Accusation, shall proceed to obtain the proofs and documents necessary for the Process; and shall transmit the Accusation, accompanied by such proofs and documents, to the Chamber of Peers, which shall thereupon proceed to the trial (compilare il Processo), and afterwards to the sentence or condemnation of the Accused. [Placet Regiæ Majestati; as regards ordinary offences only; but in cases of Malversation, the Chamber of Commons shall only make the Accusation, and all subsequent Proceedings must be taken by the Peers.]

IV. Either of the Chambers shall have the right of ordering any Person to be taken into custody, who may have been guilty of any insult or outrage towards it; but if the investigation should not be completed before the Parliament closes, it must be referred to the Ordinary Tribunals.

[Placet Regiæ Majestati; to the effect that, after the Arrest has taken place, the Complaint shall be referred to the Ordinary Tribunal, (whenever a Trial may be necessary), in order that it may enter upon the same, and pronounce its final Sentence thereon; subject however to the understanding, that those Persons who may have been arrested, and not given over to the Ordinary Tribunals, shall, upon the Dissolution or Prorogation of Parliament, be immediately liberated.]

CHAPTER XXV.

ART. I. All the Peers are equal in right; they are the Hereditary Counsellors of the Crown.

II. The Peers, their Wives and Widows, unless they shall contract a 2nd Marriage, as well as the Heirs to Peerages, shall, in Criminal Matters, be tried by the Chamber of Peers, according to the Forms which will hereafter be established.

[Placet Regiae Majestati; His Majesty reserving to himself the declaration of his Royal Opinion upon the Forms to be established.] III. The Peerage is limited solely to the Heads of Families. IV. The Peers shall give their testimony upon honour, and not upon Oath like the Commons.

[Placet Regiæ Majestati; as to Judgments pronounced by the Peers; but when they give Evidence as Witnesses, or are criminally prosecuted, they shall be put upon Oath, both in Civil and in Criminal Causes.]

Here follow:

(1.) STATUTE concerning Civic Councils, and Municipal Magistracies.

(2.) STATUTE concerning the Fund for the purchase of Grain (Colonna Annonaria) at Palermo.

(3.) INSTRUCTIONS relating to Chapter IX. of the Legis lative Power, for the forms of Election of Representatives of the Chamber of Commons.

And in order that these new Laws, established by the Parliament and sanctioned by Us, may be inviolably and faithfully executed, in all their parts, in this Kingdom, We will and declare that, pursuant to the present Diploma, signed with our own Hand, and countersigned by our Secretary of State and Domestic Relations they be transmitted to the Prothonotary of the Kingdom, that he cause the same to be published in the usual and customary forms, for the purpose of making them known to every one, and that he see that they be entered in the Registers of the Kingdom; and that he transmit a Printed Copy of the same to the Offices of the Royal Secretary of State and of Domestic Relations, in order that the Undersigned, our Secretary of State, may transmit a Copy thereof to the other Secretaries of State, and to all the Magistrates and Public Functionaries, for its fulfilment; and the said Prothonotary shall, thereupon, send through his own Office correspondding Circulars to all the Capitani Giustizieri of the Kingdom, accompanied by a Printed Copy, with a view to their publication and

execution.

Given at Palermo, the 9th of February, 1813. CARLO COTTONE.

FRANCESCO, Vicar-General.

CIRCULAR of the Secretary of the Treasury to the Collectors of the Customs, respecting the Operation of the Act of Congress "concerning the Navigation of The United States."*-29th September, 1817.

SIR,

"con.

Treasury Department, 29th September, 1817. INCLOSED you will receive a Copy of the Act of Congress cerning the Navigation of The United States," passed the 1st day of March last, which is to take effect on the Ist day of October next.

The 1st Section of the Act makes an important change in the commerce of such Foreign Nations with The United States, as have in force Regulations of a similar nature.

To secure uniformity in the execution of this measure, and to render the change imposed by it as convenient to those whose interests are to

* See Page 758.