each party so naturalized must depend on the tenor of the individual enactment by which he obtained his naturalization (1). The general rules are, that if an alien be naturalized he shall inherit as if he had been born within the king's legiance; for naturalization cancels all defects, and is allowed to have a retrospective energy, which simple denization has not (2); and if a man take an alien to wife, and afterwards sell his land, and his wife be naturalized, she shall be endowed of the lands sold before her naturalization (3); and if a man be naturalized, his brother or his son born before shall inherit (4). Naturalization is not, as denization may be, merely for a time, but is absolutely for ever, and not for life only, or to him and the heirs of his body, or upon condition. (5)

The second class of naturalized persons consists of those foreigners who become naturalized ipso facto on complying with the conditions pointed out in certain general statutes. Their privileges obviously rest on more public foundations, and consequently require to be traced with somewhat more of specific explanation. Many arguments have been urged, that in favour of trade, and to encourage foreign merchants and traders to settle in this kingdom, a general naturalization act for all protestants should be enacted (6): and such an attempt was once carried into execution by 7 Ann. c. 5.; but that statute, after three years experience of it, was repealed by 10 Ann. c. 5., except the beforementioned clause for naturalizing the children of English parents born abroad. The first act of parliament now in force, is the 15 Car. 2. c. 15., which, after making several provisions for enabling aliens to exercise the trade, occupation, or mystery of breaking, hickling, or dressing of hemp or flax; as also for making and whitening of thread; as also of spinning, weaving, making, whitening, or bleaching of any sort of cloth whatsoever made of hemp or flax only; as also the trade, occupation, or mystery of making twine or nets for fishing, or of stowing of cordage; as also the trade, occupation, or mystery of making any. sort of tapestry hangings; enacts, that all foreigners that shall really

(1) See general form, post, last vol. (2) Co. Lit. 129 a. 2 Bla. Com. 250.

(3) Co. Lit. 33 a.

Co. Lit.

(5) Cro. Jac. 539. 129 a. 2 Rol. Rep. 95. Bac. Ab. Aliens, B.

(6) Tucker's Essay on Trade,

(4) Co. Lit. 129 a. 1 Vent. 84, &c. and Tucker's History of

419.

2 Rol. 93.

the Naturalization Bill, &c.

and bona fide set up and use any of the trades and manufactures aforesaid, by the space of three years in England, Wales, or Berwick-upon-Tweed, shall from thenceforth, upon taking the usual oaths, enjoy all privileges whatsoever as the natural-born subjects of this kingdom. Next in the order of time is the act of 13 Geo. 2. c. 3., which by the preamble appears to have been passed for the better encouraging of foreign mariners and seamen to come and serve on board ships belonging to this kingdom, and by which foreign seamen serving for two years during war on board English men of war or merchant ships, are naturalized ipso facto. But it is provided, that such naturalization shall not enable the party to be of the privy-council, or a member of either house of parliament, or to take any office or place of trust, either civil or military, or to have any grant of lands, tenements, or hereditaments from the crown to himself, or any other person in trust for him. Then follows the statute 13 Geo. 2. c. 7. (1), by which all foreigners who have resided seven years in any of his Majesty's colonies in America, without having been absent longer than two months at any one time, are naturalized on taking the oaths, making the declaration, and receiving the sacrament, as therein prescribed; subject nevertheless to the same proviso as the lastmentioned statute. The statute 20 Geo. 2. c. 44. extended the benefit of the last-mentioned act to the Moravian brethren, and to all foreign protestants conscientiously scrupulous of taking an oath. By the statute of 22 Geo. 2. c. 45., foreign protestants are naturalized upon serving three years on board any ship fitted out as therein mentioned, and employed in the whale fishery; but they lose this benefit if they go out of the king's dominions in England, Ireland, or the American plantations, for more than twelve months at any one time. The 26 Geo. 3. c. 50. s.24. 27, 28., and 28 Geo. 3. c. 20. s. 15., provide that every foreigner who has established himself and his family in Great Britain, and carried on the southern whale fishery, and imported the produce thereof for the space of five years successively, shall be entitled to all the privileges of a natural-born subject. And the stat. 2 Geo. 3. c. 25. naturalized foreign protestants serving two years in the Royal American regiment, or as engineers in America. None of these acts, however, extend to naturalize any persons whom the before-mentioned statute of 4 Geo. 2. c. 21. excludes from the benefits of its provisions, as being the children

of any father who at the time of their birth was liable, in case of his return, to the penalties of treason or felony, or was in actual service of any foreign prince then in enmity with the crown of England. The stat. of 7 Jas. 1. c. 2.. 13 Geo. 2. c. 7., 20 Geo. 2. c. 44. and 22 Geo. 2. c. 45. prescribe the forms of oaths, declarations, and other ceremonies to be taken and observed by persons claiming to be naturalized by virtue of the provisions which we have considered.

But it must not be understood that the persons naturalized by these statutes are placed on the same footing with English subjects to all intents and purposes (1). They are all by the statutes that confer the privilege, as well as by the stat. of 12 & 13 W. 3. c.2. prohibited from being members of the privy-council, or of either house of parliament, and from enjoying any office or place, civil or military, or any grant from the king of lands within the kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In general, therefore, a person naturalized is not eligible to the office even of constable (2). The stat. 1 Geo. 1. st. 2. c. 4. §2. goes still further; for it enacts, that no bill of naturalization shall be received without a clause to this effect; and therefore when any foreigner distinguished by eminence of rank or services is naturalized, it is usual first to pass an act for the repeal of these statutes in his favour, and then to pass an act of naturalization without any exception (3).

From the construction the stat. 13 Geo. 3. c. 25. has put upon the statutes for naturalizing persons resident in the colonies or serving in America, it should appear that persons naturalized by any of the preceding acts, except that of 13 Geo. 2. c. 3., may enjoy any offices, places, or grants of lands not in Great Britain or Ireland. The power to hold offices, places, and grants in any place out of Great Britain and Ireland, rests however only on the express mention of Great Britain and Ireland in the respective statutes in which they are contained: for the words of the act 12 & 13 W. 3. c. 2., and of the act 1 Geo. 1. stat. 2. c. 4. which confirms it, are absolutely general, and prohibit the holding of any offices, places, or grants of lands, without any reservation as to territories out of Great Britain or Ireland; therefore, as

(1) Co. Lit. 129 a. note I. (2) 5 Burr. 2788.

(3) Co. Lit. 129 a. n. 1. form of such act, post, last vol.

See

the words Great Britain and Ireland are not inserted in the statute of 13 Geo. 2. c. 3. for naturalizing foreign seamen serving two years during war in English ships, we may conclude that such seamen are incapable of holding offices, places, or grants either in or out of Great Britain or Ireland. The disabilities which these two acts of 12 & 13 Will. 3. and 1 Geo. 1. have enforced as the conditions of naturalization, may be traced to the same source as the disabilities annexed to denization, namely, to the jealousy of King William's partiality for foreigners, which we have just noticed; perhaps such jealousy will appear more necessary in the instance of denizens than in that of naturalized persons, because no one can be naturalized by the mere act of the king; but when we consider the superior nature of the privileges which are vested by an act of naturalization, we shall see no reason to regret that the provisions extending to one class of foreigners have been made to embrace the other also.

These are not the only restrictions, for by 14 Geo. 3. c. 84. (1) it was enacted, "that no bill of naturalization shall be received without a clause or proviso to declare that the person to be naturalized shall not thereby obtain, or become entitled to claim, within any foreign country, any of the immunities or indulgencies in trade which are or may be enjoyed or claimed therein by natural-born British subjects, by virtue of any treaty or otherwise, unless such person shall have inhabited and resided within Great Britain, or the dominions thereunto belonging, for the space of seven years subsequent to the first day of the session of parliament in which the said bill of naturalization shall have passed, and shall not have been absent out of the same for a longer space than two months at any one time during the said seven years: and that no bill of naturalization shall hereafter be received in either house of parliament, unless such clause or proviso be first inserted or contained therein." It may not be uninteresting to commercial men to know the reason which induced the legislature to make this enactment: it had been found, as the preamble of the act itself declares, that many persons born out of the allegiance of the crown of Great Britain obtained bills of naturalization for the purpose of availing themselves in foreign countries of the immunities and indulgencies belonging to his Majesty's trading subjects, by treaties or otherwise; and in order

to apply the said immunities and indulgencies to promote the trade of the country to which the persons so naturalized originally belonged, and not with any design of fixing their residence. in Great Britain, or of becoming useful subjects thereof. The parliament considered that it was neither just nor expedient to permit these abuses; and the requisition of residence for seven years accordingly passed into a law. (1) In all respects, except as to the disabilities which we have specified, a person naturalized stands on the same footing with a natural-born subject.

There is but one mode in which foreigners can be naturalized, either individually or generally, and that mode is an act of parliament (2). It will be readily perceived that persons naturalized by these acts are placed on a very different footing from persons declared to be natural-born subjects by the acts which we have enumerated in considering the characteristics of a natural-born subject; the acts which we then enumerated were framed but to revive a natural right which absence had annulled; the acts which we have last recapitulated are meant to confer a favor entirely new. The former acts restored the natural subjects of the king; the latter acts introduced the subjects of foreign states; and accordingly the statute 12 & 13 W. 3. c. 2. exempts children born abroad of English parents, from the disabilities imposed upon persons naturalized by the last-recited acts. It is hardly necessary to repeat, that all who are not natural-born subjects, nor denizens, nor naturalized persons, are necessarily aliens.

The practice of thus incorporating foreigners into a community by denization or naturalization, is not peculiar to the English constitution: and though the stranger thus adopted becomes a subject of the state which welcomes him, yet he does not release himself from his natural allegiance to the government under which he was born. "Our laws," (said Eyre C. J. in delivering judgment on a writ of error in the Exchequer Chamber in the case of Marryatt and Wilson (3),)" pronounce, that if there

(1) See Debrett's Deb. vol. 3. p. 124. Bac. Ab. Aliens, B. 1 Bla. Com. 316.

(2) Co. Lit. 129 a. 1 Vent.

(3) 1 Bos. & Pul. 443; and see 1 Bla. Com. 370. Bac. Ab. Aliens, A. 1 Woodeson, 382.