127. GEORGE IV: STATUTES
(A) Repeal of the Combination Acts (1825)
An act to repeal the laws relating to the combination of workmen and to make other provisions in lieu thereof....[1]
And be it further enacted that, from and after the passing of this act, if any person shall, by violence to the person or property, or by threats or intimidation, or by molesting or in any way obstructing another, force or endeavour to force any journeyman, manufacturer, workman, or other person hired or employed in any manufacture, trade, or business to depart from his hiring, employment, or work or to return his work before the same shall be finished, or prevent or endeavour to prevent any journeyman, manufacturer, workman, or other person not being hired or employed from hiring himself to or from accepting work or employment from any person or persons; or if any person shall use or employ violence to the person or property of another, or threats or intimidation, or shall molest or in any way obstruct another for the purpose of forcing or inducing such person to belong to any club or association, or to contribute to any common fund, or to pay any fine or penalty ...; or if any person shall by violence to the person or property of another, or by threats or intimidation, or by molesting or in any way obstructing another, force or endeavour to force any manufacturer or person carrying on any trade or business to make an alteration in his mode of regulating, managing, conducting, or carrying on such manufacture, trade, or business, or to limit the number of his apprentices, or the number or description of his journeymen, workmen, or servants; every person so offending, or aiding, abetting, or assisting therein, being convicted thereof in manner hereinafter mentioned, shall be imprisoned only, or shall and may be imprisoned and kept to hard labour, for any time not exceeding three calendar months.
Provided always, and be it enacted, that this act shall not extend to subject any persons to punishment who shall meet together for the sole purpose of consulting upon and determining the rate of wages or prices which the persons present at such meeting, or any of them, shall require or demand for his or their work, or the hours or time for which he or they will work in any manufacture, trade, or business....
Ibid., LXIII, 1073 f.: 6 George IV, c. 129.
(B) Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts (1828)
An act for repealing so much of several acts as imposes the necessity of receiving the sacrament of the Lord's Supper as a qualification for certain offices and employments.... Be it ... enacted ... that so much and such parts of the ... several acts passed in the thirteenth and twenty-fifth years of the reign of King Charles II ...[2] as require the person or persons in the said acts respectively described to take or receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper according to the rites or usage of the Church of England ... , or as impose upon any such person or persons any penalty, forfeiture, incapacity, or disability whatsoever for or by reason of any neglect or omission to take or receive the said sacrament ... , be ... hereby repealed.
And whereas ... it is just and fitting that, on the repeal of such parts of the said acts ... , a declaration ... should be substituted in lieu thereof; be it therefore enacted that every person who shall hereafter be placed, elected, or chosen ... in or to any office ... relating to the government of any city, corporation, borough, or Cinque Port within England and Wales ... shall, within one calendar month next before or upon his admission into any of the aforesaid offices or trusts, make and subscribe the declaration following: "I, A.B., do solemnly and sincerely, in the presence of God, profess, testify, and declare upon the true faith of a Christian that I will never exercise any power, authority, or influence which I may possess by virtue of the office of ——— to injure or weaken the Protestant Church as it is by law established in England, or to disturb the said Church or the bishops and clergy of the said Church in the possession of any rights or privileges to which such Church or the said bishops and clergy are or may be by law entitled" ...[3]
Ibid., LXV, 22 f.: 9 George IV, c. 17.
(C) Roman Catholic Emancipation Act (1829)
An act for the relief of his majesty's Roman Catholic subjects. Whereas by various acts of parliament certain restraints and disabilities are imposed on the Roman Catholic subjects of his majesty to which other subjects of his majesty are not liable ...; and whereas by various acts certain oaths and certain declarations ... are or may be required to be taken, made, and subscribed by the subjects of his majesty, as qualifications for sitting and voting in parliament, and for the enjoyment of certain offices, franchises, and civil rights: be it enacted ... that, from and after the commencement of this act, all such parts of the said acts as require the said declarations ... as a qualification for sitting and voting in parliament, or for the exercise or enjoyment of any office, franchise, or civil right, be and the same are (save as hereinafter provided and excepted) hereby repealed.
And be it enacted that, from and after the commencement of this act, it shall be lawful for any person professing the Roman Catholic religion, being a peer or who shall after the commencement of this act be returned as a member of the house of commons, to sit and vote in either house of parliament respectively, being in all other respects duly qualified to sit and vote therein, upon taking and subscribing the following oath, instead of the oaths of allegiance, supremacy, and abjuration: "I, A.B., do sincerely promise and swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to his majesty King George IV and will defend him to the utmost of my power against all conspiracies and attempts whatever which shall be made against his person, crown, or dignity.... And I do faithfullly promise to maintain, support, and defend to the utmost of my power the succession of the crown, which ... stands limited to the princess Sophia, electress of Hanover, and the heirs of her body being Protestants, hereby utterly renouncing and abjuring any obedience or allegiance unto any other person claiming or pretending a right to the crown of this realm. And I do further declare that it is not an article of my faith, and that I do denounce, reject, and abjure the opinion, that princes excommunicated or deprived by the pope, or any other authority of the see of Rome, may be deposed or murdered by their subjects or by any person whatsoever. And I do declare that I do not believe that the pope of Rome or any other foreign prince, prelate, person, state, or potentate hath or ought to have any temporal or civil jurisdiction, power, superiority, or preeminence, directly or indirectly, within this realm. I do swear that I will defend to the utmost of my power the settlement of property within this realm as established by the laws. And I do hereby disclaim, disavow, and solemnly abjure any intention to subvert the present church establishment as settled by law within this realm. And I do solemnly swear that I will never exercise any privilege to which I am or may become entitled, to disturb or weaken the Protestant religion or Protestant government in the united kingdom.... So help me God."
And be it further enacted that it shall be lawful for persons professing the Roman Catholic religion to vote at elections of members to serve in parliament for England and for Ireland, and also to vote at the elections of representative peers of Scotland and of Ireland, and to be elected such representative peers, being in all other respects, duly qualified, upon taking and subscribing the oath herein before appointed....
Ibid., LXV, pt. ii, 49 f.: 10 George IV, c. 7.
[1] The first three articles repeal all existing laws with regard to combinations of labourers (e.g., no. 126p).
[2] No. 114J, R.
[3] Later articles indemnify all persons holding office under the crown for failure to take the earlier tests, substituting for the latter the declaration already quoted.