The royal assent. The royal assent may be given in two ways: 1. In person; when the sovereign comes in regal state to the house of peers, and, sending for the commons to the bar, the titles of all the bills that have passed both houses are read; and the king's answer is declared by the clerk of the parliament in Norman-French: a badge, it must be owned (now the only one remaining), of conquest; and which one could wish to see fall into total oblivion, unless it be reserved as a solemn memento to remind us that our liberties are mortal, having once been destroyed by a foreign force. If the king consents to a public bill, the clerk usually declares "le roy (or la reyne) le veut," the king (or queen) wills it so to be; if to a private bill, "soit fait comme il est desiré," be it as it is desired. If the king refuses his assent, it is in the gentle language of "le roy (or la reyne) s'avisera "(n), the king (or queen) will advise upon it. When a bill of supply is passed, it is *carried up and pre- [*216] sented to the sovereign by the speaker of the house of commons(0); and the royal assent is thus expressed, "le roy (or la reyne) remercie ses bons sujets, accepte leur benevolence, et ainsi le veut," the king (or queen) thanks his loyal subjects, accepts their benevolence, and wills it so to be. In case of an act of grace, which originally proceeds from the crown, and has the royal assent in the first stage of it, the clerk of the parliament thus pronounced (p) the gratitude of the subject; "les prelats, seigneurs, et communes, en ce present parlement assemblés au nom de touts vos autres sujets, remercient tres humblement votre majesté, et prient à Dieu vous donner en santé bonne vie et longue;" the prelates, lords, and commons, in this present parliament assembled, in the name of all your other subjects, most humbly thank your majesty, and pray to God to grant you in health and wealth long to live. 2. By the statute 33 Hen. 8, c. 21, the king may give his assent by letters patent under his great seal, signed with his hand, and notified in his absence to both houses assembled together in the upper house. This course is usually adopted when the royal assent is given to a bill during the continuance of the session. When the bill has received the royal assent in either of these ways, it is then, and not before, a statute or act of parliament.(73) And if no other day be specified, comes into operation from (n) This power was last exercised by queen Anne, A. D. 1707, who refused her assent to a bill for settling the militia in Scotland. May, Parl. Pract. 5th ed. 494–5, citing 18 Lords' J. 506. William III. had refused his assent, A.D. 1692, to the bill for triennial parliaments. And on one occasion the prerogative of rejecting bills was exercised by queen Elizabeth at the close of a session, to the extent of rejecting forty-eight bills, while she gave her assent to twenty-four public and nineteen private bills, which had passed both houses of parliament. D'Ewes, 596. 31. (0) Rot. Parl. 9 Hen. 4, in Pryn. 4 Inst. 30, (p) D'Ewes Journ. 35. But as to the modern procedure, see May, Parl. Pract. 5th ed. p. 494. (73) "Every bill which shall have passed the house of representatives and the senate shall, before it become a law, be presented to the president of the United States; if he approve, he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the president within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, the day on which it receives the royal assent, indorsed upon it by the clerk or clerk-assistant of the parliaments(q). [* 217] *This statute or act, consisting since 1849 of the authenticated vellum print, is preserved in the house of lords among the records of the kingdom; there needing no formal promulgation to give it the force of a law, as was necessary by the civil law with regard to the emperor's edicts, because every man in England is, in judgment of law, party to making an act of parliament, being present thereat by his representatives. Formerly, indeed, before the invention of printing, the statute law was published by the sheriff of every county; the king's writ being sent to him at the end of every session, together with a transcript of all the acts made at that session, commanding him, "ut statuta illa, et omnes articulos in eisdem contentos, in singulis locis ubi expedire viderit, publicè proclamari, et firmiter teneri et observari faciat." And the usage was to proclaim them at his county court, and there to keep them, that whoever would might read or take copies thereof; which custom continued till the reign of Henry VII.(r). In lieu of being thus promulgated, the statutes (with the exception of some private acts) are now printed by the Queen's printer. An act of parliament is thus made by an exercise of the highest authority which this kingdom acknowledges upon earth(s). It has power to bind every subject in the land; and the dominions thereunto belonging; nay, even the sovereign, if particularly named therein. And a statute thus made cannot be altered, amended, dispensed with, suspended, or repealed, but in the like forms. and by the like authority of parliament: for it is a maxim in law, that it requires the same strength to dissolve as to create an obligation. It is true it was formerly held that the sovereign might in many cases dispense with penal *statutes(); but now by statute 1 Will. & M. st. 2, c. 2, it is declared, [*218] that the suspending or dispensing with laws by regal authority, without consent of parliament, is illegal(u). VII. There remains only, in the seventh and last place, to add a word or two concerning the manner in which parliament may be adjourned, prorogued, or VII. Modes of adjourning, proroguing, dissolved. An adjournment is no more than a continuance of the session and dissolving from one day to another, as the word itself signifies: and this is parliament. done by the authority of each house separately every day; and sometimes for fortnight or a month together, as at Christmas But the adjournment of one It has also been usual, when Adjournment. or Easter, or upon other particular occasions. house is no adjournment of the other(v).(74) (q) 33 Geo. 3, c. 13. By 48 Geo. 3, c. 106, when a bill for continuing expiring acts shall not have passed before such acts expire, the bill, when passed into a law, shall have effect from the date of the expiration of the act intended to be continued. (r) 3 Inst. 41; 4 Inst. 26. (t) Finch. L. 81, 234; Bacon. Elem. c. 19. in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the congress, by their adjournment, prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law." U. S. Const., art. 1, § 7 (5). This principle of allowing a negative upon state legislation by the governor is one very generally adopted by the several states. (74) "Neither house, during the session of congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two houses the sovereign's pleasure has been signified, that both or either of the houses should adjourn to a certain day, to obey the royal pleasure so signified, and to adjourn accordingly(x). Otherwise, besides the indecorum of a refusal, a prorogation would assuredly follow: which would often be very inconvenient to both public and private business. For prorogation puts an end to the session; and then such bills as are only begun and not perfected, must be resumed de novo (if at all) in a subsequent session; whereas, after an adjournment, all things continue in the same state as at the time of the adjournment made, and may be proceeded on without any fresh commencement. It has been enacted (y) that when both houses of parliament stand adjourned for more than fourteen days, a proclamation may issue from the crown *for the meeting of [ *219] parliament on a day not less than fourteen days from the date of the proclamation. Prorogation. A prorogation is the continuance of the parliament from one session to another, as an adjournment is the continuation of the session from day to day. This is done by the royal authority, expressed either by the lord chancellor in the royal presence, or by writ under the great seal(2), or by commission from the crown. Both houses are necessarily prorogued at the same time; it not being a prorogation of the house of lords, or commons, but of the parliament. The session is never understood to be at an end until a prorogation; though, unless some act be passed or some judgment given in parliament, it is in truth no session at all (a). And formerly the usage was, for the king to give the royal assent to all such bills as he approved, at the end of every session, and then to prorogue the parliament; though sometimes only for a day or two(b); after which all business then depending in the houses was to be begun again. Which custom obtained so strongly, that it once became a question(c), whether giving the royal assent to a single bill did not of course put an end to the session. And, though it was then resolved in the negative, yet the notion was so deeply rooted, that the statute 1 Car. 1, c. 7, was passed to declare, that the king's assent to that and some other acts should not put an end to the session; and, even *so late as the reign of Charles [ *220] II., we find a proviso frequently tacked to a bill(d), that his majesty's assent thereto should not determine the session of parliament. But it now seems to be allowed, that a prorogation must be expressly made, in order to (a) Com. Journ. passim, e.g., 11 Jun. 1572; 5 Apr. 1604; 4 Jun., 14 Nov., 18 Dec. 1621; 11 July, 1625; 13 Sept. 1660; 25 July, 1667; 4 Aug. 1685; 24 Feb. 1691; 21 Jun. 1712; 16 Apr. 1717; 3 Feb. 1741; 10 Dec. 1745; 21 May, 1768. (y) 39 & 40 Geo. 3, c. 14. (2) When it is intended that parliament about to assemble shall meet for the dispatch of business on the day to which it is prorogued, notice of such intention is given by . proclamation. But when it is intended that a parliament shall not meet for the dispatch of business, it is prorogued to another day by a writ of prorogation. Nevertheless, upon the day on which the writs of summons are returnable, the members of the House of Commons who attend assemble (without entering their own house, or waiting for a message) in the House of Lords, when the lord chancellor reads the writ of prorogation, and declares parliament to be prorogued accordingly. Com. Dig. Parl. p. 2; Com. Journ. 26 Nov. 1790; Ibid, 3 Nov. 1761; 2 Hats. 239. (a) 4 Inst. 28; Hale of Parl. 38; Hut. 61. The form of proroguing parliament has been simplified by 30 & 31 Vict. c. 81. (b) Com. Journ. 21 Oct. 1553. (c) Ibid, 21 Nov. 1554. (d) Stat. 12 Car. 2, c. 1; 22 & 23 Car. 2, c. 1. shall be sitting." U. S. Const., art. 1, § 5 (3). In case of a disagreement between the two houses as to the time of adjournment, the president may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper. U. S. Const., art. 2, § 3. determine the session. And, by 37 Geo. 3, c. 127, and 39 & 40 Geo. 3, c. 14, the sovereign can summon a prorogued parliament to meet for the dispatch of business on any day not less than fourteen days from the date of the proclamation, notwithstanding any previous prorogation to a more distant day. A dissolution is the civil death of the parliament; and this may be effected in three ways: 1. By the sovereign's will, expressed either in person or by proclamation. For, as the sovereign has the sole right of convening parliament, Dissolution. so also it is a branch of the royal prerogative, that he may (whenever he pleases) prorogue the parliament for a time, or put a final period to its existence. If no power could prorogue or dissolve a parliament but itself, it might happen to become perpetual. And this would be extremely dangerous, if at any time it should attempt to encroach upon the executive: as was fatally experienced by king Charles I.; who, having unadvisedly passed an act to continue the parliament then in being till such time as it should please to dissolve itself, at last fell a sacrifice to that inordinate power, which he himself had consented to give them. It is therefore extremely necessary that the crown should be empowered to regulate the duration of these assemblies, under the limitations which the English constitution has prescribed: so that, on the one hand they may frequently and regularly, come together for the dispatch of business, and redress of grievances; and may not, on the other, even with the consent of the crown, be continued to an inconvenient or unconstitutional length. *2. A parliament may be dissolved by the demise of the crown. [*221] This dissolution formerly happened immediately upon the death of the reigning sovereign: for he being considered in law as the head of the parliament (caput, principium, et finis), that failing, the whole body was held to be extinct. But calling a new parliament immediately on the inauguration of the successor being found inconvenient, and dangers being apprehended from having no parliament in being in case of a disputed succession, it was enacted by the statutes 7 & 8 Will. 3, c. 15, and 6 Ann. c. 7, that the parliament in being should continue for six months after the death of any king or queen, unless sooner prorogued or dissolved by the successor: that if the parliament be, at the time of the sovereign's death, separated by adjournment or prorogation, it should notwithstanding assemble immediately: and that, if no parliament be then in being, the members of the last parliament should assemble, and be again a parliament. This last clause, however, was repealed by statute 37 Geo. 3, c. 127, which in lieu of it enacted that in case of the demise of the crown between the dissolution of parliament and the day appointed by the writs of summons previously issued, for assembling a new parliament, the last preceding parliament shall immediately convene and sit and continue for six months unless sooner prorogued or dissolved by the successor; and that in case of the demise of the crown on or after the day appointed as aforesaid for the assembling a new parliament, but before it has actually met and set, then such new parliament shall immediately convene and sit and may continue sitting for six months unless sooner prorogued or dissolved by the successor. 3. Lastly, a parliament may be dissolved or expire by efflux of time. For if either the legislative body were perpetual; or might last for the life of the sovereign who convened them, as formerly; and were so to be supplied, by occasionally filling the vacancies with new *representatives; in these cases, if it were once corrupted, the evil would be past all remedy: but [*222] when different bodies succeed each other, if the people see cause to disapprove of the present, they may rectify its faults in the next. A legislative assembly also, which is sure to be separated again (whereby its members will themselves become private men, and subject to the full extent of the laws which they have enacted for others), will think themselves bound, in interest as well as duty, to make only such laws as are good. The utmost extent of time that the same parliament was allowed to sit by statute 6 Will. & M. c. 2, was three years; after the expiration of which, reckoning from the return of the first summons, the parliament was to have no longer continuance. But by the statute 1 Geo. 1, st. 2, c. 38, (in order, professedly, to prevent the great and continued. expenses of frequent elections, and the violent heats and animosities consequent thereupon, and for the peace and security of the government then just recovering from the late rebellion) this term was prolonged to seven years: and, what alone is an instance of the vast authority of parliament, the very same house, that was chosen for three years, enacted its own continuance for seven. So that, as our constitution now stands, the parliament must expire, or die a natural death, at the end of every seventh year from the day of meeting; if not sooner dissolved, as usually happens, by the royal prerogative. THE supreme executive power of this kingdom is vested by our laws in a single person, the king or queen; for it matters not to which sex the crown descends: the person entitled to it, whether male or female, is sovereign's title. immediately invested with all the ensigns, rights, and prerogatives of sovereign power; as is declared by statute 1 Mar. st. 3, c. 1.(75) Nature of the (75) ARTICLE II. SECTION 1. (1) The executive power shall be vested in a president of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and together with the vice-president, chosen for the same term, be elected, as follows: (3) Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of senators and representatives to which the state may be entitled in the congress; but no senator or representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector. [The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the president of the senate. The president of the senate shall, in the presence of the senate and house of representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the president, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then This clause within brackets has been superseded and annulled by the twelfth amendment, hereafter given on page 153 as Article XII. |