about the time of the Reformation, cited in Ellis's edition of Brand's Popular Antiquities, that certain superstitious ceremonies had become connected with these engagements; but Mr. Douce was unable to find in any of the ancient rituals of the church any prescribed form in which this kind of espousals were to be celebrated. The church, however, undertook to punish the violation of the contract. Whoever after betrothment refused to proceed to matrimony, in facie ecclesia, was liable to excommunication till relieved by public penance. This was taken away by act 26 Geo. II. c. 33, and the aggrieved party was left to seek his remedy by an action at common law for breach of promise of marriage. The church also declared that no kind of matrimonial engagement could be entered into by infants under seven years of age; and that from seven to twelve, and in the case of males to fourteen, they might betroth themselves, but not to be contracted in matrimony. Further, if any betrothment at all took place, it was to be done openly, and this the priests were instructed to urge upon the people as of importance.

Bishop Sparrow (Rationale on the Common Prayer, p. 203) regards the marriage service of the Church of England as containing in it both the verba de futuro and the verba de præsenti, or as being in fact both a betrothment and a marriage. The first he finds in the questions," Wilt thou take," &c., and the answers, "I will," attributing to the word will, perhaps erroneously, the sense of intention rather than of resolution. The words of contract which follow are the verba de præsenti.

The northern nations, including the English and the Scotch, called this ceremony by the expressive term hand-fasting, or hand-fastning. In Germany the parties are called respectively "bride" and "bridegroom," "braut" and "bräutigam," from the time of the betrothment (verlobung) until the marriage, when these designations cease.

BIGAMY, in the canon law, signified either a second marriage with a virgin after the death of the first wife, or a marriage with a widow. It incapacitated men for holy orders; and until the 1 Edw. VI. c. 12, § 16, it was a good counterplea

to the claim of benefit of clergy. (Wooddesson's Vinerian Lectures, i. 425.) The word bigamy, which simply signifies "a second marriage," is an irregular compound, formed of the Latin word bi (two), and the Greek yau (gam), “marriage." The genuine Greek word is digámia (dıyaμía).

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Bigamy, by the English law, consists contracting a second marriage during the life of a former husband or wife, and the statute 1 James I. c. 11, enacts that the person so offending shall suffer death, as in cases of felony. (Hale's Pleas of the Crown, i. 692, fol. ed. 1736.) This statute makes certain exceptions, which it is not necessary to refer to, as it has been repealed by 9 George IV. c. 31, § 22, for England, and 10 Geo. IV. c. 34, § 26, for Ireland, and operates only with respect to offences committed on or before the 30th of June, 1828. The statute last cited enacts, "That if any person being married shall marry any other person during the life of the former husband or wife, whether the second marriage shall have taken place in England or elsewhere, such offender and any person aiding him shall be guilty of felony and be punished by transportation for seven years, or by imprisonment (with or without hard labour) for a term not exceeding two years." The statute excepts, first, any second marriage contracted out of England by any other than a subject of his Majesty; second, any person whose husband or wife shall have been continually absent during seven years, and shall not have been known by such person to have been living within that time; third, a person divorced from the bond of the first marriage; fourth, one whose former marriage shall have been declared void by the sentence of any court of competent jurisdiction.

With respect to the third exception, it was determined in a case tried under the stat. 1 James I. c. 11, where a Scotch divorce a vinculo was pleaded, that no sentence of any foreign court can dissolve an English marriage a vinculo, unless for grounds on which it was liable to be so dissolved in England; and that the words "divorced by any sentence in the ecclesiastical court" (the words of the statute

of enacting clauses, the first beginning with the words-" Be it enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commors, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same;"-and each of those that follow with the more simple formula-" And be it further enacted." The advantage of this is, that a bill when made perfect by all its blanks having been filled up, becomes a law at once, without further alteration or remodelling, on receiving the royal assent.

Originally, the bills passed by the two hoases were introduced in the form of petitions, and retained that form when they came to receive the royal assent. [PETITION.] The whole of those passed in one session were then, after the parliament rose, submitted to the judges, to be by them put into the proper shape of a law. They were then entered on the Statute Rolls. But it was found that in undergoing this process the acts, as passed by the parliament, were frequently both added to and mutilated. Indeed a great deal of the power of making the law was thus left in the hands of the judges, and of the royal authority, in so far as these learned personages might be under its influence. The Commons remonstrated, reminding the king that they had ever been "as well assenters as petitioners." To remedy this usurpation it was arranged in the 2 Henry V., that the statute roll of the session should always be drawn up before the parliament rose, or as the king said, "that henceforth nothing should be enacted to the petitions of the Commons contrary to their asking, whereby they should be bound without their assent." In the following reign, that of Henry VI., the bill came as now to be prepared in the form of an act, and to receive the distinct assent of the king in the form in which both houses had agreed to it. Mr. May however states (Usages, &c. of Parliament) that both Henry VI. and Edward IV. now and then made new provisions in statutes without the sanction of parliament; "but the constitutional form of legislating by bili and statute, agreed to in parliament, undoubtedly had its

origin and its sanction in the reign of Henry VI." (p. 270).

Bills are either public or private. In the introduction of a public bill the first motion made in the House of Lords is that the bill be brought in; but in the House of Commons the member who purposes to introduce the bill must first move that leave be given to bring it in. If that motion is carried, the bill is then either ordered to be brought in by certain members, generally not more than two, of whom the mover is one, or a select committee is appointed for that purpose. When the bill is ready, which it frequently is as soon as the motion for leave to bring it in has been agreed to, it is presented at the bar by one of those members, and afterwards, upon an intimation from the speaker, brought up by him to the table. The next motion is that it be read a first time; and this motion is most frequently made immediately after the bill has been brought up. This being carried, a day is appointed for considering the question that the bill be read a second time. The second reading being carried, it is next moved that the bill be committed, that is, that it be considered clause by clause, either in a committee of the whole house, or, if the matter be of less importance, in a select committee. When the committee have finished their labours, they make their report through their chairman; and the next motion is that the report be received. Besides modifying the original clauses of the bill, it is in the power of the committee, if they think proper, both to omit certain clauses and to add others. Sometimes a bill is ordered to be re-committed, that it may undergo further consideration, or that additional alterations may be made in it. The report of the committee having been received, the next motion is that the bill be read a third time, and when that is carried, there is still a further motion, that the bill do pass. When a bill has passed the House of Lords, it is sent down to the House of Commons by two of the masters in chancery, or if only one is present he is accompanied by the clerk assistant of the parliament; and if the bill concerns the crown or royal family, it is sent down by two of the judges. The

messengers make their obeisances as they advance to the speaker, and, after one of them has read the title of the bill, deliver it to him, desiring that it may be taken into consideration. When an ordinary bill is not sent to the Commons by two of the masters in chancery, the messengers are directed to explain this deviation from the established rules; and in their reply the Commons "trust the same will not be drawn into a precedent for the future." When a bill, on the other hand, is sent up from the Commons to the Lords, it is sent by several members (the Speaker being frequently one), who, having knocked at the door of the Lords' House, are introduced by the usher of the black rod, and then advance to the bar, making three obeisances. The Speaker of the house, who is usually the lord chancellor, then comes down to the bar, and receives the bill, the members who deliver it to him stating its title, and informing him that it is a bill which the Commons have passed, and to which they desire the concurrence of their lordships. A bill thus received by the one house from the other is almost always read a first time; but it does not appear to be a matter of course that it should be so read. It then goes again through the same stages as it has aiready passed through in the other house.

The bill may be debated on any one of the motions which we have mentioned, and it commonly is so debated more than once. It is usual, however, to take the debate upon the principle of the proposed measure either on the motion for leave to bring in the bill, or on that for the second reading: the details are generally discussed in the committee. Amendments upon the bill, going either to its entire rejection, or to its alteration to any extent, may be proposed on any occasion on which it is debated after it has been brought in. Before it is committed also, certain instructions to the committee may be moved, upon which the committee must act.

After the report of the committee has been received, and the amendments which it purposes agreed to, the Speaker puts the question that the bill so amended be ingrossed; that is to say, written in a

distinct and strong hand on parchment. In this shape it remains till it receives the royal assent; it is not ingrossed a second time in the other house. When a bill originates in the Lords, it is ingrossed after the report, and is sent to the Commons in that form; and when it be gins in the Commons, the time for ingrossing the bill before it is sent up to the Lords is also after the report.' (May's Parliament, p. 284.) Whatever clauses are afterwards added are called riders, and must be ingrossed on separate sheets of parchment and attached to it.

Bills of all kinds may originate in either house, except what are called money bills, that is, bills for raising money by any species of taxation, which must always be brought first into the House of Commons. The Commons also will reject any amendment made upon a money bill by the Lords. And the Lords have a standing order (the XC., dated 2nd of March, 1664) against proceeding with any bill for restitution in blood which shall not have originated in their own house: all such acts, and all others of royal grace and favour to individuals, are signed by the king before being laid before parliament, where they are only read once in each house, and cannot be amended, although they may be rejected. [ASSENT, ROYAL.]

When a bill has passed the Commons and is to be sent up to the Lords, the clerk of the Commons writes upon it Soit baille aux Seigneurs; and upon one which has passed the Lords and is to be sent down to the Commons, the clerk of the Lords writes Soit baille aux Communs. If it is afterwards passed by the Commons, the clerk writes upon it Les Comuns ont assentez. All bills of supply, after being passed by the Lords, are returned to the House of Commons, in which they had originated, and there remain till they are brought to the House of Lords by the Speaker to receive the royal assent: all other bills are deposited with the clerk of the enrolments in the House of Lords till the royal assent is given to them.

A bill, after it has been introduced, may be lost either by the royal assent being refused (of which, however, there

is no instance in recent times), or by a motion for its rejection being carried in any of its stages in its passage through either house, or by any of the motions necessary to advance it on its progress being dropped or withdrawn. The rejection of the bill may be effected by the motion in its favour being simply negatived, or by a counter-motion being carried to the effect that the next reading be deferred till a day by which it is known that parliament will have been prorogued (generally till that day six months, or that day three months), or by the carrying of an amendment entirely opposed to the measure. The motion for carrying it forward on any of its stages may be dropped either by the house not assembling on the day for which the order made respecting that motion stands, or simply by no member appearing to make the motion. When a motion has once been made, it can only be withdrawn by consent of the house.

If a bill has been lost in any of these ways, the rule is that the same measure cannot be again brought forward the same session. There are, however, several remarkable examples of the regulation being entirely disregarded; and sometimes a short prorogation has been made merely to allow a bill which had been defeated to be again introduced.

When a bill which has passed one house has been amended in the other, it must be returned, with the amendments, to be again considered in the house from which it had come; and it cannot be submitted for the royal assent until the amendments have been agreed to by that house. In case of a difference of opinion between the two houses, the rules of proceeding between the two houses, according to Mr. May (Usage, &c. of Parliament, p. 255), are as follows:-"Let it be supposed that a bill sent up from the Commons has been amended by the Lords and returned; that the Commons disagree to their amendments, draw up reasons, and desire a conference; that the conference is held, and the bill and reasons are in possession of the House of Lords. If the Lords should be satisfied with the reasons offered, they do not desire another conference, but send a messenger to acquaint the Com

mons that they do not insist upon their amendments. But if they insist upon the whole or part of their amendments, they desire another conference, and communicate the reasons of their perseverance." The usage of parliament precludes a third conference, and to proceed further a free conference is requisite. Here, instead of a formal communication of reasons, the proceedings partake of the nature of a debate: if neither Lords nor Commons give way at this conference, there is little prospect of terminating the disagreement; but a second free conference may be held if the house in possession of the bill resolves upon making concessions. It may be added that the almost uniform practice in both houses, when it is intended not to insist upon the amendments, has been to move affirmatively "to insist," and then to negative that question. (Hatsell, Precedents; May, Usage, &c. of Parliament.)

According to the standing orders of the House of Lords (see Order CXCVIII. of 7th of July, 1819), no bill regulating the conduct of any trade, altering the laws of apprenticeship, prohibiting any manufacture, or extending any patent, can be read a second time until a select committee shall have inquired into and reported upon the expediency of the proposed regulations. By the standing orders of the Commons no bill relating to religion or trade can be brought into the house until the proposition shall have been first considered and agreed to in a committee of the whole house; and the house will not proceed upon any bill for granting any money, or for releasing or compounding any sum of money owing to the crown, but in a committee of the whole house. No bill also can pass the house affecting the property of the crown or the royal prerogative without his Majesty's consent having been first signified.

Private bills are such as directly relate only to the concerns of private individuals or bodies of individuals, and not to matters of state or to the community in general. In determining on their merits Parliament exercises judicial as well as legislative functions. In some cases it might be doubtful whether an act ought to be considered a public or a private one; and in these cases a clause is