By the common law an alien is a subject of a foreign state who has not been born within the allegiance of the King: he is counted an alien friend if his sovereign or state is at peace, an alien enemy if his sovereign or state is at war with the King. By the Naturalization Act of 1870 an alien may: (1) take, acquire, hold and dispose of real and personal property of every description in the same manner in all respects as a natural-born British subject; (2) after five years’ residence in the United Kingdom and on giving proof that he intends to reside in the kingdom or serve under the Crown, obtain a certificate of naturalization by which he becomes entitled to all political and other rights, powers and privileges and subject to all obligations to which a natural-born British subject in the United Kingdom is subject, with the qualification that he may not be deemed a British subject within the limits of the country of his original allegiance, if, according to its laws, he has not ceased to be a subject of that state. (This last provision has been abrogated by the new Nationality Act of 1914, which came into operation in January.)