Treaty of Marriage between her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte Augusta and his Serene Highness Leopold George Frederick, Duke of Saxe, Margrave of Meissen, Landgrave of Thuringuen, Prince of Coburg of Saalfeld, &c. &c. &c.Signed at London, March 13, 1816.

In the name of Almighty God,

Be it known unto all men, by these presents, that whereas his Royal High. ness the Prince Regent, acting in the name and on the behalf of his most sacred Majesty George the Third, by the grace of God King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, has judged it proper that an alliance should be contracted between the family of his Majesty and that of his Serene Highness Leopold George Frederick, Duke of Saxe, Margrave of Meissen, Landgrave of Thurin guen, Prince of Coburg of Saalfeld, &c. &c. &c. and has therefore, in the name and on the behalf of his Majesty, consented, with the full agree ment of the parties interested, that a marriage shall be celebrated between the most high and illustrious Princess Charlotte Augusta, daughter of his

Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, Regent of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and his Serene Highness Leopold George Frederick, Duke of Saxe, Margrave of Meissen, Landgrave of Thuringuen, Prince of Cobourg of Saalfeld, &c.

In order, therefore, to attain so desirable an end, and to treat, conclude, and confirm the articles of the said marriage, his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, in the name and on the behalf of his Majesty, as well as his Serene Highness Leopold George Frederick, Duke of Saxe, Margrave of Meissen, Landgrave of Thuringuen, Prince of Cobourg of Saalfeld, &c. have named and authorised mutually, viz.

His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, in the name and on the be half of his Majesty, the most reverend father in God, his right trusty and right entirely beloved councillor Charles Manners Sutton, Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England, and Metropolitan; his right trusty and well-beloved John Lord Eldon, Chancellor of Great Britain; his right trusty and well-beloved cou

sin and councillor Dudley, Earl of Harrowby, President of his Majesty's Council; his right trusty and wellbeloved cousin and councillor Henry Earl Bathurst, one of his Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State; his right trusty and well-beloved cousin and councillor Robert Banks, Earl of Liverpool, first commissioner of his Majesty's Treasury; his right trusty and well-beloved councillor Robert Stewart, commonly called Viscount Castlereagh, one other of his Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State; his right trusty and well-beloved councillor Henry Viscount Sidmouth, one other of his Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State; and his right trusty and well-beloved councillor Nicholas Vansittart, Chancellor and Under Treasurer of his Majesty's Exchequer.

And his said Serene Highness Leopold George Frederick, Duke of Saxe, Margrave of Meissen, Landgrave of Thuringuen, Prince of Coburg of Saalfeld, &c. &c. &c. William Augustus Baron de Just, Privy Councillor of his Majesty the King of Saxony, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to his Britannic Majesty, King of Hanover, and Commander of the order of Civil Merit of Saxony; who, by virtue of their respective full powers, which they have mutually communicated and exchanged, have concluded and agreed upon the following articles,

VIZ.

Art. I. It is concluded and agreed that the marriage between her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte Augusta and his Serene Highness Leopold George Frederick, Duke of Saxe, Margrave of Meissen, Landgrave of Thuringuen, Prince of Coburg of Saalfeld, &c. &c. &c. shall be solemnized in that part of the United King dom of Great Britain and Ireland, called Great Britain, both being pre

sent, according to the due tenour of the laws of England, and the rights and ceremonies of the church of the United Kingdom, as soon as the same may conveniently be done.

II. His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, acting in the name and on the behalf of his Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, promises to secure to her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte Augusta, and to his Serene Highness Leopold George Frederick, Duke of Saxe, Margrave of Meissen, Landgrave of Thuringuen, Prince of Coburg of Saalfeld, &c. &c. &c. during their joint lives, and to the survivor of them, the annual sums herein after mentioned';-that is to say, during their joint lives, the annual sum of 60,000l., to be paid quarterly; 10,0001. of which annual sum, also to be paid quarterly, shall be granted unto commissioners, named for that purpose by his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, acting as aforesaid, to be by them received for the sole and separate use of the said Princess, notwithstanding her marriage state, and without his Serene Highness Leopold George Frederick, Duke of Saxe, Margrave of Meissen, Landgrave of Thuringuen, Prince of Coburg of Saalfeld, &c. &c. &c. having any power over the same, and which annual sum of 10,000l. so payable quar terly, the said Princess shall not have power, either separately or conjointly with his Serene Highness Leopold George Frederick, Duke of Saxe, Margrave of Meissen, Landgrave of Thuringuen, Prince of Coburg of Saalfeld, &c. &c. &c. to alienate, mortgage, or receive or direct to be paid by way of anticipation; but the same shall, from time to time as the same shall become duc, be paid and payable into the proper hands of the said Princess alone, upon her own sole receipt, or to such person or

persons to whom she shall by writing, signed by herself alone, from time to time, as the same shall become due, direct and order the same to be paid, or otherwise to receive the same on her sole behalf.

III. His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, acting as aforesaid, engages to secure to her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte Augusta the annual sum of 60,000l. to be paid to her during her life, in case her Royal Highness shall survive his Serene Highness Leopold George Frederick, Duke of Saxe, Margrave of Meissen, Landgrave of Thuringuen, Prince of Coburg of Saalfeld, &c. &c. &c,; such annual sum to commence in payment from the death of his Serene Highness Leopold George Frederick, Duke of Saxe, Margrave of Meissen, Landgrave of Thuringuen, Prince of Coburg of Saalfeld, &c. &c. &c. in the lifetime of her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte Augusta, and to be paid quarterly; and the first quarterly payment is to be made at the end of three calendar months after such his decease, when the said annuity, payable during their joint lives, is to determine.

And his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, so acting as aforesaid, further engages to secure to his Serene Highness Leopold George Frederick, Duke of Saxe, Margrave of Meissen, Landgrave of Thuringuen, Prince of Coburg of Saalfeld, &c. the annual sum of 50,000l., to be paid to him during his life, in case he shall survive her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte Augusta; such annual sum to commence in payment from the death of her Royal Highness, in the lifetime of his Serene Highness, and to be paid quarterly; and the first quarterly payment to be made at the end of three calendar months after such her decease, when the said an

nuity, payable during their joint lives, is to determine.

IV. The son or daughter, or descendant of the said marriage for the time being, next in succession to the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Princess Charlotte Augusta, shall be brought up in such a manner as his Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or his successors, may be pleased to direct; and no children of this marriage shall be allowed to marry without the consent of his Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or his successors for the time being.

V. It is understood and agreed, that her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte Augusta shall not, at any time, leave the United Kingdom without permission, in writing, of his Majesty, or of the Prince Regent, acting in the name and on the behalf of his Majesty, and without her Royal Highness's own consent.

And in the event of her Royal Highness being absent from this country, in consequence of the permission of his Majesty, or of the Prince Regent, and of her own consent, such residence abroad shall in no case be protracted beyond the term approved by his Majesty, or the Prince Regent, and consented to by her Royal Highness. And it shall be competent for her Royal Highness to return to this country before the expiration of such term, either in consequence of directions for that purpose, in writing from his Majesty, or from the Prince Regent, or at her own pleasure.

VI. This treaty shall be ratified by his Royal Highness the Prince Regent on the behalf of his Majesty, and by his said Serene Highness, and the ratification shall be exchanged in ten days, or sooner, if possible.

lation of the Roman Catholics, in the several States of Europe, and the Colonies, which have laid before this House, in the present parliament, were referred, and who have been directed to report the nature and substance of the laws and ordinances existing in foreign States, respecting the regulation of their Roman Catholic subjects, in ecclesiastical matters, and their intercourse with the See of Rome, or any other foreign ecclesiastical jurisdiction; and who were empowered to report, from time to time, to the House, together with the minutes of the evidence taken before them;

Having examined the various documents referred to them, and such other evidence as they were competent to procure, now proceed to state the progress, and result, of their inquiry.

In doing this, it appears to your Committee advisable, in the first place, to state the nature and authority of the various documents referred to them.

From the evidence of Lord Viscount Castlereagh, one of his Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, and a member of this Committee, it appears, that, in the year 1812, his Lordship gave instructions to several of his Majesty's ministers accredited to foreign courts, to obtain the requisite information on the subject which is now referred to the examination of this Committee.

It also appears, that, upon the conclusion of the general peace, further instructions from the foreign office were forwarded to the said ministers; in consequence of which a great mass of information has been obtained; which, having been transmitted to your Committee, constitutes a great part of the matter of their Report.

The official dispatches, which accompanied the several documents, will best explain the particular authority by which they are supported; and with that view your Committee have considered it advisable, that copies, or extracts from them, should have a place in the Appendix to their Report.

And as some of the communications which have been laid before the Committee, though proceeding from his Majesty's ministers at foreign courts, have not the ostensible character of being properly official, being addressed to Sir John Hippisley, a member of this Committee, it is necessary to state, that the authority under which those communications were made, is that of a letter (circu. lar) to his Majesty's ministers at foreign courts, dated " Foreign Office, 12th August, 1812," from his Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, requesting such ministers "to pay every possible attention to the points of this subject, upon which Sir John Hippisley should ask for information, and to transmit to him, through this office, the result of their inquiries."

Such references as are made in those dispatches to the works of juridical writers, in confirmation of the particular regulations of the several States, your Committee have also considered it their duty to examine, and to report to the House the result of their examination; without making any further observation on the works in question, or the passages quoted from them, than appeared necessary to answer the purpose for which they were referred to in the dispatches, in connection with the points to which the Committee were required to direct their attention.

And in fulfilling this duty, your Committee have also refrained from adverting to any question of theolo

gical controversy, however it might appear to be mixed with points of disciplinary regulation; their object having been strictly to investigate and report facts, as they appeared to be substantiated by documents, or other admissible testimony, in order to present to the House, as distinctly as their materials would allow, a view of that system of polity, which, under different shades of variation, appears to obtain in the various States of Europe, with respect to ecclesiastical regulation, as it refers to their subjects of the Roman Catholic communion, and their intercourse with the See of Rome.

The several documents, or such extracts from them as appeared adequate to the attainment of this object, the Committee have also annexed to their Report.

The same course has been pursued with respect to passages from juridical or other writers, whose works are referred to in the several dispatches of his Majesty's ministers accredited to foreign courts. Examinations of individuals, to whom it appeared expedient to your Committee to have recourse, for the purpose of verifying the several documents or other communications, are also stated in the Appendix.

And although the instruction to your Committee was confined to the regulations obtaining in foreign states, yet, as the first class of official papers, which have been laid before parliament, and subsequently referred to your Committee, comprehends many regulations prevailing in the British colonies, which, before their conquest, or cession, were under the dominion of one or other of the continental States, and which still retain, at least, a mixture of their original laws; your Committee have thought it expedient to comprehend them in their Inquiry and Report.