PARLIAMENT. 



not be altered, amended, dispensed with, 

 suspended, or repealed, but in the same 

 forms, and by the same authority of Par- 

 liament. 



Adjournment is no more than a conti- 

 nuance 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 clay, or for a 

 longer period ; but the adjournment of 

 one house, is no adjournment of the 

 other. 



Prorogation is the continuance of the 

 Parliament from one session to another, 

 as an adjournment is a continuation of the 

 session from day to day. And 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 pro- 

 clamation ; and by this, both houses are 

 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 dissolution is the civil death of the 

 Parliament; and this may be effected 

 three ways; 1. by the King's will, ex- 

 pressed either in person or representa- 

 tion ; 2. by the demise of the crown ; 3. 

 by length of time. By the King's will ; 

 for as the King hath the sole right of 

 convening the Parliament, 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 pe- 

 riod to its existence. 



By the demise of the crown ; a disso- 

 lution formerly happened immediately 

 upon the death of the reigning sove- 

 reign ; but the 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 dis- 

 puted succession, it was exacted, by sta- 

 tutes 7 and 8 Will. III. c. 15, and 6 Anne, 

 c. 7, that the Parliament in being shall 

 continue for six months after the death 

 of any King or Queen, unless sooner pro- 

 rogued or dissolved by the successor. 

 That if the Parliament be, at the time of 

 the King's death, separated by adjourn- 

 ment or prorogation, it shall notwith- 

 standing assemble immediately ; and that 

 if no Parliament is then in being, the 

 members of the last Parliament shall as- 

 semble and be again in Parliament. 



Lastly, a Parliament may be dissolved of 

 expire by length of time. 



The utmost extent of time that the 

 same Parliament was allowed to sit by the 

 statute of 6 William, c. 3, was three years ; 

 after the expiration of which, reckoning 

 from the return of the first summons, the 

 Parliament was to have no longer conti- 

 nuance. But by statute 1 George I. c. 

 38, in order, as it was alleged, to prevent 

 the great and continued expences of fre- 

 quent elections, and the violent heats and 

 animosities consequent thereupon, and 

 for the peace and security of the govern- 

 ment just then recovering from the last 

 rebellion, this term was prolonged to se- 

 ven years. So that as our constitution 

 now stands, the Parliament must expire, 

 or die a natural death, at the end of every 

 seventh year, if not sooner dissolved by 

 the royal prerogative. In favour of li- 

 berty, however, it were much to be wish- 

 ed that this statute had never been pass- 

 ed. The pretexts which it assigns, as 

 the grounds upon which it was passed, 

 are all fallacious. 



PARLIAMENT, the High Court of, is the 

 supreme court of the kingdom, not only 

 for the making, but also for the execu- 

 tion of laws, by the trial of great and enor- 

 mous offenders, whether lords or com- 

 moners, in the method of parliamentary 

 impeachment. An impeachment before 

 the Lords, by the Commons of Great Bri- 

 tain in Parliament, is a prosecution of the 

 already known and established law, and 

 has been frequently put in practice ; be- 

 ing a presentment to the most high and 

 supreme court of criminal jurisdiction, 

 by the most solemn grand inquest of the 

 whole kingdom. A commoner cannot, 

 however, be impeached before the Lords 

 for any capital offence, but only for high 

 misdemeanors ; a peer may be impeached 

 for any crime. And they usually, in case 

 of an impeachment of a peer for treason, 

 address the crown to appoint a lord high 

 steward, for the greater dignity and regu- 

 larity of their proceedings ; which high 

 steward was formerly elected by the 

 peers themselves, though he was gene- 

 rally commissioned by the king ; but it 

 has of late years been strenuously main- 

 tained, that the appointment of a high 

 steward in such cases is not indispensa- 

 bly necessary ; but the house may pro- 

 ceed without one. The articles of im- 

 peachment are a kind of bills of indict- 

 ment, found by the House of Com- 

 mons, and afterwards tried by the 

 Lords; who are in cases of misdemeanor* 



