PARLIAMENT 



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occupied by ministers. Supporters of the govern- 

 ment, sit behind their leaders, members of the 

 opposition on the other side of the House, and 

 independent members on the cross benches in front 

 of the table. Whether it is sitting as a legislative 

 or a judicial body, the House of Lords possesses all 

 privileges necessary to the safe and dignitied con- 

 duct of business. Its members are free from arrest 

 on civil process in coming, going, or returning. 

 They are free to speak their minus without being 

 liable to action or indictment. They have access 

 to the crown to explain their proceedings, and the 

 crown should put the best construction on what 

 they do. It is a breach of privilege to reflect on 

 the honour of the House, or on the parliamentary 

 conduct of .its members. It is technically a breach 

 of privilege to report its proceedings ; but regular 

 arrangements are now made for the admission of 

 reporters. It was formerly doubtful how far the 

 printers of the House were protected, but now, 

 under an Act of 1840, the printers of parliamentary 

 papers, if sued or prosecuted, may obtain a stay of 

 proceedings on producing a certificate that such 

 papi-rs were printed by order. The House of Lords 

 declares its own privileges ; but in doing so it is 

 bound by the law ; it cannot create a new privilege 

 by mere declaration. Persons guilty of breach of 

 privilege may be attached and brought in custody, 

 censured, fined, or imprisoned for a time certain 

 or during pleasure. Hie privilege of the House 

 may be used to protect the House and its com- 

 mittees, and all persons having lawful business 

 before them, together with their counsel, solicitors, 

 and witnesses. 



Officers. The chief officer of the House of Lords 

 is the Chancellor, or Keeper of the Great Seal, 

 who acts as speaker for formal purposes; he does 

 not keep order ; the Lords keep their own order. 

 It is not even necessary that he should be a lord 

 of parliament, and he sits on the woolsack, which 

 ia supposed to be outside the House. Deputy- 

 speakers are appointed when necessary ; and there 

 in a salaried Chairman of Committees who exercises 

 considerable powers, especially in regard to private 

 bills. The Clerk of Parliaments is appointed by 

 the crown ; and the Gentleman Usher of the lilack 

 Kod is one of the Queen's ushers, whom she permits 

 to act as the messenger and executive officer of the 

 Lords. The judges and law-officers rank as assist- 

 ants of the House ; they are summoned to attend 

 in parliament, and they are present on occasions 

 of state ; the judges also come in and sit together 

 on the woolsack when the Lords desire to take 

 their opinions on a point of law. Formal inessages 

 to the Commons are conveyed by the Usher of the 

 Black Kod. Judges and Masters in Chancery 

 were formerly employed for the same purpose, 

 but the Common!! came to treat these ceremonious 

 linkages with levity, and messages now pass from 

 one House to another by the hands of their respec- 

 tive clerks, except on certain important occasions, 

 such as the opening of parliament, &c. Formerly, 

 when the two Houses differed, a formal conference 

 was held in the Painted Chamber, the Lords sitting 

 with their hats on, the Commons standing and 

 uncovered ; but the modern practice of party 

 government renders these conferences unnecessary. 



The Commons. The Commons, or 'conimunitas 

 regni,' included originally three classes of persons. 

 First, the proctors of the lesser clergy, who dis- 

 ap|>eared at an early date. Secondly, the knights 

 of the shire, who were chosen by the lesser barons 

 and the general body of freeholder!. These free 

 tenants held their land by honourable tenures, but 

 they could not bear the expense of attendance in 

 parliament. As early as the time of King John 

 they were represented by delegates ; and Simon 

 de Montfort gave effect to the same principle when 



he ordered two knihts to be sent to parliament 

 from each shire. Thirdly, there were burgesses and 

 citizens, representing the self-governing towns of 

 the kingdom. The burgesses also found it hard 

 to bear the expense of attending parliament ; they 

 usually received an allowance for doing so ; and 

 some legal authorities have held that a member 

 may still recover his ' wages ' if he chooses to sue 

 for them. No member of parliament now receives 

 any pecuniary allowance. Payment of members is 

 often advocated on the ground that the labouring 

 population ought to be represented by men of their 

 own class ; it is resisted on the ground that paid 

 member! would be oHicials or delegates, not free 

 representatives of the general body of citizens. 



Haiipily for the cause of popular government, 

 the knights and burgesses were soon welded 

 together in one body ; there has never been any 

 legal difference between county members and 

 borough members. Early in the history of parlia- 

 ment ( the date cannot be exactly determined ) the 

 Commons retired to consider their own affairs in 

 a separate chamber ; one of their number presided, 

 and acted as Speaker in communicating to the 

 Lords the opinions of the third estate ; and thus 

 the Commons came to be organised as a separate 

 House. The Lords remained in the old parliament 

 chamber, and there the king continued to meet 

 with the three estates ; his throne was set in the 

 House of Lords, and he never went into the 

 House of Commons. Charles I. was therefore 

 acting contrary to usage when he went in person 

 to arrest the seven members. From about 1548 

 the Commons met in a room which had been 

 known as St Stephen's Chapel, and the House is 

 still occasionally spoken of as St Stephen's. 

 Within the House all members are equal ; but the 

 bench immediately to the right of the chair is 

 reserved for privy-councillors, and is now always 

 occupied by ministers having seats in the House : 

 their supporters sit behind them, and the members 

 of the opposition sit to the left of the chair. Like 

 the memners of the other House, the Commons 

 enjoy privilege of parliament ; they are free from 

 arrest on civil process in attending the House, and 

 in coining or returning ; but no person is privileged 

 against arrest for crime or contempt of court. In 

 the days when arrest for debt was common the 

 privilege claimed by members of parliament, and 

 even by their servants, was sometimes used to 

 defeat creditors ; but now an action or a bank- 

 ruptcy petition is in no way impeded by privilege. 

 A member of either House who becomes bankrupt 

 is not permitted to sit or vote. Freedom of speech 

 is enjoyed by the Commons as by the Lords ; and 

 they may claim, as a House, free access to the 

 sovereign. The Commons may deal with offenders 

 against their privileges by directing n prosecution ; 

 they do not claim the right to impose a fine, or 

 to imprison for a time certain, but they may 

 commit a person to prison during pleasure ; persons 

 so imprisoned may not be detained after the end 

 of the session. The House declares its own privi- 

 leges, but it cannot create a new privilege by mere 

 declaration. In tlie famous case of Stockdale v. 

 Hansard the House assumed authority to protect 

 its printer against an action for libel, but the 

 courts disregarded this resolution, and the con- 

 troversy was finally settled by the passing of the 

 Act of 1840 which has already been cited. A 

 question of privilege will be taken up without notice 

 at any moment ; but it should be observed that a 

 memlter has no privilege except when he is per- 

 forming his parliamentary duty. If, for instance, 

 a member is arrested for a crime committed out of 

 doors, no question of privilege arises. We have 

 seen that the Commons claim no genera] judicial 

 authority, but they have claimed to deal judicially 



