of the two houses differs, that the speaker of the house of commons cannot give his opinion or argue any question in the house; but the speaker of the house of lords, if a lord of parliament, may. (47) In each house the act of the majority (48) binds the whole; and this majority is declared by votes openly and publicly given: not as at Venice, and many other senatorial assemblies, privately or by ballot. This latter method may be serviceable, to prevent intrigues and unconstitutional combinations: but it is impossible to be practised with us; at least in the house of commons, where every member's conduct is subject to the future censure of his constituents, and therefore should be openly submitted to their inspection.

To bring a bill into the house, if the relief sought by it is of a private nature, it is first necessary to prefer a petition; which must be presented by a member, and usually sets forth the grievance desired to be remedied. (49) This petition (when founded on facts that may be in their nature disputed) is referred to a committee of members, who examine the matter alleged, and accordingly report it to the house; and then (or otherwise, upon the mere petition) leave is given to bring in the bill. In public matters the bill is brought in upon motion made to the house, without any petition at all. Formerly, all bills were drawn in the form of petitions, (50) which were entered upon the parliament rolls with the

29th Nov. 1774, every gentleman who was proposed to fill that honorable office affected great modesty, and, if elected, was almost forced into the chair, and at the same time he requested permission to plead, in another place, his excuses and inability to discharge the office, which he used to do upon being presented to the king. But Sir Fletcher Norton was the first who disregarded this ceremony both in the one house and in the other. His successors, Mr. Cornewall and Mr. Addington, requested to make excuses to the throne, but were refused by the house, though Mr. Addington, in the beginning of the present parliament, 26th Nov. 1790, followed the example of Sir Fletcher Norton, and intimated no wish to be excused. See 1 Woodd. 59. Sir John Cust was the last speaker who addressed the throne in the language of diffidence, of which the following sentence may serve as a specimen: "I can now be an humble suitor to your majesty, that you would give your faithful commons an opportunity of rectifying this the only inadvertent step which they can ever take, and be graciously pleased to direct them to present some other to your majesty, whom they may not hereafter be sorry to have chosen, nor your majesty to have approved." 6 Nov. 1761. The chancellor used to reply in a handsome speech of compliment and encouragement, but now he shortly informs the commons that his majesty approves of their speaker, who claims the ancient privileges of the commons, and then they return to their own house.]

(47) [But when the house resolves itself into a committee, the chairman regularly appointed every new parliament presides at the table, and the speaker may then speak and vote as any one of the other members for the time.]

(48) [In the house of commons the speaker never votes but when there is an equality without his casting vote, which in that case creates a majority; but the speaker of the house of lords has no casting vote, but his vote is counted with the rest of the house; and in the case of an equality, the non-contents or negative voices have the same effect and operation as if they were in fact a majority. Lords' Journ. 25 June, 1661.]

(49) This, although usual in American legislative proceedings, is not a necessity. Any member may introduce a bill, for either a public or private purpose, on leave obtained as a matter of course, or after notice given, in the manner pointed out by the rules of the house.

(50) [The commons for near two centuries continued the style of very humble petitioners. Their petitions frequently began with " your poor commons beg and pray," and concluded with "for God's sake, and as an act of charity:"-Vos poveres communes prient et supplient pur Dieu et en œuvre de charite. Rot. Parl. passim. It appears that, prior to the reign of Hen. V, it had been the practice of the kings to add and enact more than the commons petitioned for. In consequence of this there is a very memorable petition from the commons in 2 Hen. V, which states that it is the liberty and freedom of the commons that there should be no statute without their assent, considering that they have ever been as well assenters as petitioners, and therefore they pray that, for the future, there may be no additions or diminutions to their petitions. And in answer to this, the king granted that from henceforth they should be bound in no instance without their assent, saving his royal prerogative to grant and deny what he pleased of their petitions. Ruff. Pref. xv, Rot. Parl. 2 Hen. V, No. 22. It was long after its creation, or rather separation from the barons, before the house of commons was conscious of its own strength and dignity; and such was their modesty and diffidence, that they used to request the lords to send them some of their members to instruct them in their duty, "on account of the arduousness of their charge, and the feebleness of their own powers and understandings:”—pur l'arduite de lour charge, et le foeblesce de lour poiars et sens. Rot. Parl. 1 R. II, No. 4.]

king's answer thereunto subjoined; not in any settled forms of words, but [*182] *as the circumstances of the case required: (ƒ) and, at the end of each parliament, the judges drew them into the form of a statute, which was entered on the statute rolls. In the reign of Henry V, to prevent mistakes and abuses, the statutes were drawn up by the judges before the end of the parliament; and, in the reign of Henry VI, bills in the form of acts, according to the modern customs, were first introduced.

The persons directed to bring in the bill present it in a competent time to the house, drawn out on paper, with a multitude of blanks, or void spaces, where anything occurs that is dubious, or necessary to be settled by the parliament itself; (such, especially, as the precise date of times, the nature and quantity of penalties, or of any sums of money to be raised), being indeed only the skeleton of the bill. In the house of lords, if the bill begins there, it is (when of a private nature) referred to two of the judges, to examine and report the state of the facts alleged, to see that all necessary parties consent, and to settle all points of technical propriety. (51) This is read a first time, and at a convenient distance a second time; and, after each reading, the speaker opens to the house the substance of the bill, and puts the question whether it shall proceed any farther. The introduction of the bill may be originally opposed, as the bill itself may at either of the readings; and, if the opposition succeeds, the bill must be dropped for that session; as it must also if opposed with success in any of the subsequent stages.

After the second reading it is committed, that is, referred to a committee; which is either selected by the house in matters of small importance, or else upon a bill of consequence, the house resolves itself into a committee of the whole house. A committee of the whole house is composed of every member; and, to form it, the speaker quits the chair, (another member being appointed chairman), and may sit and debate as a private member. In these committees the bill is debated clause by clause, amendments made, the blanks filled up, and sometimes the bill entirely new modelled. After it *has gone through [*183] the committee, the chairman reports it to the house, with such amendments as the committee have made; and then the house reconsiders the whole bill again, and the question is repeatedly put upon every clause and amendment. When the house hath agreed or disagreed to the amendments of the committee, and sometimes added new amendments of its own, the bill is then ordered to be engrossed, or written in a strong gross hand, on one or more long rolls (or presses) of parchment sewed together. When this is finished, it is read a third time, and amendments are sometimes then made to it; and if a new clause be added, it is done by tacking a separate piece of parchment on the bill, which is called a rider. (g) The speaker then again opens the contents; and, holding it up in his hands, puts the question whether the bill shall pass. If this is agreed to, the title to it is then settled, which used to be a general one for all the acts passed in the session, till in the first year of Henry VIII, distinct titles were introduced for each chapter. After this, one of the members is directed to carry it to the lords and desire their concurrence; who, attended by several more, carries it to the bar of the house of peers, and there delivers it to their speaker, who comes down from his woolsack to receive it.

It there passes through the same forms as in the other house, (except engrossing, which is already done), and, if rejected, no more notice is taken, but it passes sub silentio, to prevent unbecoming altercations. But, if it is agreed to, the lords send a message, by two masters in chancery, (or, upon matters of high

(ƒ) See, among numberless other instances, the articuli cleri, 9 Edw. II.

(g) Noy. 84.

(51) [A public bill, being founded on reasons of state policy, the house, in agreeing to its second reading, accepts and affirms those reasons; but the expediency of a private bill being mainly founded upon allegations of fact, which have not yet been proved, the house, in agreeing to its second reading, affirms the principle of the bill conditionally, and subject to the proof of such allegations before the committee. May, Parl. Pract. 5th ed. 701.]

dignity or importance, by two of the judges), that they have agreed to the same; and the bill remains with the lords, if they have made no amendment to it. But, if any amendments are made, such amendments are sent down with the bill to receive the concurrence of the commons. If the commons disagree to the amendments, a conference usually follows between members deputed from each house, who, for the most part, settle and adjust the difference; but if both houses remain inflexible, the bill is dropped. If the commons agree to the amendments, the bill is sent back to the lords by one of the members, *with a message to acquaint them therewith. The same forms are observed, mutatis mutandis, when the bill begins in the house of lords. [*184] But, when an act of grace or pardon is passed, it is first signed by his majesty, and then read once only in each of the houses, without any new engrossing or amendment. (h) And when both houses have done with any bill, always it is deposited in the house of peers, to wait the royal assent; except in the case of a bill of supply, which, after receiving the concurrence of the lords, is sent back to the house of commons. (i)

The royal assent may be given two ways: 1. In person; when the king comes to the house of peers, in his crown and royal robes, 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: (52) 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 le veut, the king wills it so to be:" if to a private bill," soit fait comme il est desire, be it as it is desired." If the king refuses his assent, it is in the gentle language of "le roy s'avisera, (53) the king will advise upon it." When a bill of supply is passed, it is carried up and presented to the king by the speaker of the house of commons; (k) and the royal assent is thus expressed, "le roy remercie ses loyal subjects, accept leur benevolence, et ausi le veut, the king 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 pronounces the gratitude of the subject: "les prelats, seigneurs, et commons, ence present parliament assemblees, au nom de touts vous autres subjects, remercient tres humblement votre majeste, et prient a Dieu vous donner en sante bone vie et longue; the prelates, lords, and commons, in [*185] 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. VIII, c. 21, the king may give his

(h) D'Ewes' Journ. 20, 73. Com. Journ. 17 June, 1747. (k) Rot. Parl. 9 Hen. IV, in Pryn. 4 Inst. 30, 31.

(i) Com. Journ, 24 Jul. 1660. (1) D'Ewes' Journ. 35.

(52) [Until the reign of Richard III, all the statutes are either in French or Latin, but generally in French.]

(53) [The words el roi s'avisera correspond to the phrase formerly used by courts of justice, when they required time to consider of their judgment, viz.: curia advisare vult. And there can be little doubt but originally these words implied a serious intent to take the subject under consideration, and they only became in effect a negative when the bill or petition was annulled by a dissolution, before the king communicated the result of his deliberation; for, in the rolls of parliament, the king sometimes answers. that the petition is unreasonable, and cannot be granted sometimes he answers, that he and his council will consider of it; as in 37 Edw. III, No. 33 Quant au ceste article, il demande grand avisement, et partant, roi se ent avisera par son conseil.]

This prerogative of rejecting bills was last exercised by Queen Anne, A. D., 1707, who refused her assent to a bill for settling the militia in Scotland. May, Parl. Prac. 5th ed. 494-5, citing 18 Lord's 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 assent to twenty-four public and nineteen private bills, which had passed both houses of parliament. D'Ewes, 596.

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assent by letters patent under his great seal, signed with his hand, and notified in his absence, to both houses assembled together in the high house. And, 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. (54)

This statute or act is placed 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 the making of an act of parliament, being present thereat by his representatives. However, a copy thereof is usually printed at the king's press, for the information of the whole land. And formerly, before the invention of printing, it was used to be 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 ubi locis expedire viderit, publice 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 the Seventh. (m) (55)

An act of parliament, thus made, is the exercise of the highest authority that this kingdom acknowledges upon earth. It hath power to bind every subject in the land, and the dominions thereunto belonging; nay, even the king himself, if particularly named therein. And it cannot be altered, *amended, dis[*186] pensed with, suspended, or repealed, but in the same forms, and by the same 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 king might, in many cases, dispense with penal statutes: (n) but now, by statute 1 W. and M. st. 2, c. 2, it is declared that the suspending or dispensing with laws by regal authority, without consent of parliament, is illegal.

VII. There remains only, in the seventh and last place, to add a word or two concerning the manner in which parliaments may be adjourned, prorogued, or dissolved.

An adjournment is no more than a continuance of the session from one day to another, as the word itself signifies: and this is done by the authority of each house separately every day; and sometimes for a fortnight or a month. together, as at Christmas or Easter, or upon other particular occasions. But the adjournment of one house is no adjournment of the other. (o) (56) It hath

(m) 3 Inst. 41. 4 Inst. 26.

(n) Finch. L. 81, 234. Bacon, Elem. c. 19.

(0) 4 Inst. 28.

(54) [The 33 Geo. III, c. 13, directs the clerk of parliament to indorse on every act the time it receives the royal assent, from which day it becomes operative, if no other is specified. And by 48 Geo. III, 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.]

(55) In 1809 provision was made by law for the general distribution of the published statutes of Great Britain.

The constitution of the United States, art. 1, § 7, provides as follows: "Every bill which shall have passed the house of representatives and the senate, shall, before it becomes 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 in like manner as if he had signed it; unless congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law."

The governors of nearly all the states have a similar negative upon state legislation. (56) By the constitution of the United States, neither house of congress can, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that at which the two houses may be sitting. Art. 1, § 3. The president has power, in case of disa

also been usual, when his majesty hath signified his pleasure that both or either of the houses should adjourn themselves to a certain day, to obey the king's pleasure so signified, and to adjourn accordingly. (p) 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. (57) A prorogation is the continuance of the parliament from one session to another, as an adjournment is a *continuation of the session from day [*187] to day. This is done by the royal authority, expressed either by the lord chancellor in his majesty's presence, or by commission from the crown, or frequently by proclamation. (58) 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. (4) 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; (r) 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, (s) 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. I, 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 II, we find a proviso frequently tacked to a bill, (t) 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 determine the session. And, if at the time of an actual rebellion, or imminent danger of invasion, the parliament shall be separated by adjournment or prorogation, the king is empowered (u) to call them together by proclamation, with fourteen day's notice of the time appointed for their re-assembling. (59)

(p) Com. Journ. passim ; e. g. 11 June, 1572: 5 Apr. 1604; 4 June, 14 Nov. 18 Dec. 1621; 11 Jul. 1625; 13 Sept. 1660; 25 Jul. 1667; 4 Ang. 1685; 24 Feb. 1691; 21 June, 1712; 16 Apr. 1717; 3 Feb. 1741; 10 Dec. 1745; 21 May, 1768. (g) 4 Inst. 28. Hale of Parl. 38. Hat. 61. (r) Com. Jour. 21 Oct. 1553. (8) Ibid. 21 Nov. 1554. (t) Stat. 12 Car. II, c. 1. 22 and 23 Car. II, c. 1. (u) Stat. 30 Geo. II, c. 25.

greement between the two houses with respect to the time of adjournment, to adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper. Art. 2, § 3. For a decision under a similar provision, see People v. Hatch, 33 Ill. 9.

(57) [Orders of parliament also determine by prorogation, consequently all persons taken into custody under such orders may, after prorogation of parliament, as well as after dissolution, be discharged on a habeas corpus; generally, however, that form is not observed, as the power of either house to hold in imprisonment expires, and the party may at once walk forth on the prorogation or dissolution of the parliament. Com. Dig. Parliament, O. 1. The state of an impeachment is not affected by the session terminating either one way or the other: Raym. 120; 1 Lev. 384; and appeals and writs of error remain, and are to be proceeded in, as they stood at the last session. 2 Lev. 93; Com. Dig. Parliament, O. 1.]

(58) [At the beginning of a new parliament, when it is not intended that the parliament should meet at the return of the writ of summons for the dispatch of business, the practice is to prorogue it by a writ of prorogation, as the parliament in 1790 was prorogued twice by writ: Com. Journ. 26th Nov. 1790; and the first parliament in this reign was prorogued by four writs. Id. 3 Nov. 1761. On the day upon which the writ of summons is returnable, the members of the house of commons who attend do not enter their own house, or wait for a message from the lords, but go immediately up to the house of lords, where the chancellor reads the writ of prorogation. Ib. And when it is intended that they should meet upon the day to which the parliament is prorogued for dispatch of business, notice is given by a proclamation.]

(59) [By statutes 37 Geo. III, c. 127, and 39 and 40 Geo. III, c. 14, the king may at any time by proclamation, appoint parliament to meet at the expiration of fourteen days from the date of the proclamation; and this without regard to the period to which parliament may stand prorogued or adjourned.]