THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.

"But here blest Freedom's equal throne
To all her valiant sons is known,

And all are conscious of her cares,

And each the power that rules him shares."

AKENSIDE.

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Q. What is the meaning of "The Legislative Power"
A. The power of making laws which bind the people.
Q. In whom is this power vested in England?
A. In the Imperial Parliament.

Q. What is the Imperial Parliament ?

A. The great council of the nation, in which all matters of public interest are discussed.

Q. Of whom does the Parliament consist?

A. Of the three Estates, or, in other words, of the Sovereign of the land; the Peers or Lords, who represent the aristocracy; and the Commons, who represent the people at large.

Q. How is the Parliament assembled ?

A. It is usually and regularly summoned by the Sovereign, who sends each of the members a writ or notice to be present at the assembling at least forty days before the Parliament is to begin business.

Q. Cannot the Sovereign assemble the Parliament in less time?

A. Yes, if necessary, she can issue her royal proclama

tion for the meeting of Parliament in not less than fourteen days from the time the proclamation is issued.

Q. Can the Parliament assemble of its own accord ? A. No, it is one of the branches of the Sovereign's royal right or prerogative to assemble the Parliament; besides, it would propably be an unusual thing that all the Lords and Commons should agree among themselves as to the time of assembling, whereas the will of the Sovereign, who is only a single person, may be uniform and steady.

“The legislative body should not assemble of itself; for a body is supposed to have no will until it is assembled."Montesquieu.

Q. Does the Sovereign sit in Parliament ?

A. She always meets the two Houses on their coming together, either in person or by Commissioners appointed to represent her, and unless she meets them there can be no beginning of Parliament.

Q. What power has she over the Parliament?

A. She can prorogue it or put it off, or she can dissolve it or dismiss it altogether.

Q. Of what two branches does the House of Lords consist?

A. The Lords Spiritual and Temporal.

Q. Who compose these bodies?

A. The Lords Spiritual are the two archbishops and twenty-four bishops of England, who sit for life. The Lords Temporal are the peers of the realm, consisting of about four hundred English peers, sixteen Scottish, and twenty-eight Irish peers.

Q. Can the Sovereign increase the number of the peers of the realm ?

A. Yes; when persons distinguish themselves in any capacity of life the Sovereign can crown their labours with a peerage.

Q. How are the Scottish and Irish peers elected to sit in the House of Lords?

A. The Scottish peers are elected at the commencement of every new Parliament, and the Irish peers are elected for life.

Q. Are the English peers elected ?

A. No, they have all a right to sit in the House of Lords by virtue of their peerage.

Q. What is the use and duty of the House of Lords? A. It is the principal constitutional support both of the crown and the people; for, whilst it forms a barrier to withstand the encroachments of either, it also creates and preserves that gradual scale of dignity which proceeds from the Sovereign to the peasant.

Q. Of how many members does the House of Commons consist?

A. It consists of six hundred and fifty-eight members, England and Wales returning four hundred and ninetythree members, Scotland sixty, and Ireland one hundred and five.

Q. State the chief advantage resulting from the existence of the House of Commons.

A. It enables every member of the community to be in some measure his own governor, and to have a voice in Parliament, by means of the person he has sent there to represent him.

"The House of Commons," said Mr. Pitt, "should be an assembly united to the people by the closest sympathies."

Q. Are all classes of society protected and attended to by members of Parliament ?

A. Yes; landed property is attended to by the knights of the shire or county members; the mercantile interest by the citizens and burgesses who are returned for the different cities and privileged boroughs; and, as many members are military and naval characters, these protect the interests of their professions; while the welfare of literature is advanced by the members for the Universities.

Q. Must a member of Parliament devote himself exclusively to the views and interest of the county, town, or university, that sends him to Parliament ?

A. No; these have a right to his attention, but not to his exclusive attention; he is returned to serve the whole realm as a representative of the public generally, and the public generally deserve and demand his services.

Q. Have the Commons the power of making laws without the consent of the Sovereign and the House of Lords?

A. No, they have not; nor have the Sovereign and the House of Lords the power of making laws without the consent of the Commons. There must be a mutual agreement of Queen, Lords, and Commons, in order to make laws which bind the people.

Q. Does this rule apply to laws of a special nature which relate to the Houses of Parliament only?

A. No, it does not; for each House of Parliament has

the power of making laws to bind its own respective members in matters relating to its own privileges alone.

Q. Do not the Sovereign, the Lords, and the Commons, possess very great power when united?

A. Yes; they may be said to possess absolute power. Q. What is this power sometimes called?

A. The Omnipotence of Parliament.

Q. Give some instances of their authority.

A. They can make, confirm, enlarge, restrain, repeal, revive, and expound laws of all descriptions, whether ecclesiastical or temporal, civil, military, maritime, or criminal they can regulate and new-model the succession to the Crown, alter or establish the religion of the country, and even change the constitution of the realm and of Parliament itself.

In exemplification of the last three instances it may be laid down that the succession to the Crown was regulated and newmodelled in the reigns of Henry VIII. and William III.; the established religion of the land was altered many times in the reigns of Henry VIII. and his three children; and the constitution of the kingdom, and of the Parliament itself, was changed or created afresh in the Act of Union, and the various statutes of triennial and septennial elections.

Q. Does the constitution take any precautions as to the fitness of the members of its legislature ?

A. Yes; it has made some provisions in this respect, for no one under the age of twenty-one years can sit or vote in either House of Parliament; and if a member of either House be convicted of any crime, that House has power to adjudge him incapable of holding his seat any longer.

Q. Can a foreigner sit in Parliament ?