CH. I.]

TO PROROGUE AND DISSOLVE IT.

441

The kings of England never appear more in the full splendour of their sovereignty than when, on the throne in the house of lords, with the peers around them, and the Speaker and the commons below the bar, and the galleries filled with the ladies of the nobility and their friends, they open parliament with a speech, in an assembly unrivalled in the world for dignity, statesmanship, freedom, and wealth. Until the king has opened parliament, and declared the purposes for which it has been called together, neither house can proceed to business; but the speech need not be delivered by the king in person; he may appoint peers to open parliament by a royal commission, and the king's speech is then usually read by the lord-chancellor. Parliament is prorogued by a similar assembly, and a speech from the king or his commissioners. Of the prerogative of proroguing or dissolving parliament, Mr. Burke has said "that it is, of all trusts vested in the king, the most critical and delicate; and that on which the house of commons has the most reason to require not only the good faith, but the favour of the crown. The sovereign is represented in both houses by his ministers, and he is never present, except for the purposes of opening or proroguing the parliament. He communicates with the houses by messages under his royal sign manual delivered by his ministers, which are answered by addresses. Nor can the king, except through his ministers, originate laws; and those originated by the ministers have no special facilities, but must be put forward, and carried through parliament according its ordinary forms. But to this rule there is one exception, that the king may in his own name introduce an act of grace or pardon for political offences. This is equivalent to an act of indemnity passed by both houses, according to the ordinary forms; but the act of grace " is received with peculiar marks of respect, is read over once by the lords, and once by the commons, and must be either rejected altogether, or accepted as

1 Burke's Works; Motion relative to the Speech from the Throne.

it stands." It is a standing order of each house that the sovereign must not be named in any debate. His prerogative further entitles the king to assent, or refuse his assent at pleasure, and without stating any reason, to any bill presented to him for that purpose, by the concurrence of both houses; and without his assent no bill can pass into a law.

The royal assent may be given by the sovereign in person, or by commissioners appointed by letters-patent under the great seal. In either case the commons, headed by their Speaker, appear at the bar of the house of lords; and the title of the bills being read, after each reading the king's answer is declared by the clerk of the parliament, in French. If it be a public bill, the clerk declares “Le roy le veut,”

"The king wills it so to be;" if a private bill, "Soit fait comme il est désiré,"-" Be it as it is desired." If the king refuses his assent, it is graciously said that “Le roy s'avisera," “The king will advise upon it." When it is a bill of supply, it is carried up and presented to the king by the Speaker of the house of commons, and the royal assent is thus expressed: "Le roy remercie ses loyal sujets, accepte leur bénévolence, et aussi le veut,"—"The king thanks his loyal subjects, accepts their benevolence, and wills it so to be." If it be an act of grace, as it originally proceeds from the crown, and the royal assent is implied, the clerk pronounces the gratitude of the parliament on behalf of the nation. "Les prélats, seigneurs, et commons en ce présent parliament assemblés, au nom de tout vos autres sujets, remercient très-humblement votre majesté, et prient à Dieu vous donner en santé bonne vie et longue,'

"The prelates, lords, and commons in 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."3

The sovereign, in case of actual invasion, or imminent 1 Macaulay's History, vol. iii. p. 575.

2 By virtue of 33 Henry VIII., cap. 21.

3 Blackstone's Commentaries, vol. i. book 1, cap. 2.

CH. I.]

NOW NEVER REFUSED.

443

men;

danger thereof, is empowered to raise the militia to 120,000 but if the parliament be not sitting, or its adjournment or prorogation shall not expire within fourteen days, the sovereign must issue a proclamation for the meeting of parliament within fourteen days.'

By the prerogative of rejecting bills the king exercises a check on the legislative houses if they should seek to violate his rights and prerogatives as supreme executive magistrate, or to take the executive power out of his hands. No such extreme attempt has of late years called for the exercise of that prerogative, and it may now be said never to be exercised. The crown would not now put itself into such opposition to both houses of parliament. Queen Elizabeth had, however, no such scruples. At the close of one session she rejected forty-eight bills. But there was not, at that time, that close relation between the crown and the parliament which now exists, through the ministers of the crown. Now, all bills introduced into parliament receive the consideration of the ministers before they reach the stage in which they are ripe for the royal decision; any bills that were distasteful to the crown would be opposed in their way through parliament; and if the opposition were unsuccessful, the ministers would resign, and make way for other ministers with more influence; or the crown would get rid of the obnoxious measure, for a time at least, and perhaps altogether, by dissolving parliament. William III. was the last king who refused the royal assent.2

The king is entitled to the allegiance of all the people; and those who accept office or employment under the crown, or who become members of either house of parliament, or

1 15 & 16 Vict., cap. 50, ss. 30, 31, A.D. 1852.

2 "The President of the United States gives his assent by signing the bill, which is sent to him for his approval and signature. But he cannot reject absolutely. If he disapprove, he must refer the bill back to the house in which it originated, with his objections. Then, if two-thirds of both houses, after consideration of the objections, agree to pass the bill, it becomes law." (Constitution, art. i. s. 7.)

officers or practitioners in the courts of justice, are required to express their allegiance by an oath, of which there are forms for Protestants, Roman Catholics, Quakers, and Jews respectively. The oath now in use for protestants was substituted for the old oaths of allegiance, supremacy and abjuration, by a recent statute.' The Roman

cr

1 21 & 22 Vict., (1848,) cap. 41, “ An Act to substitute one Oath for the Oaths of Allegiance, Supremacy, and Abjuration; and for the Relief of her Majesty's subjects professing the Jewish Religion."

The Protestant Oath of Allegiance.

"I A. B. do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to her majesty Queen Victoria, (or the name of the sovereign for the time being,) and will defend her to the utmost of my power, against all conspiracies and attempts whatever, which shall be made against her person, crown, and dignity; and I will do my utmost endeavour to disclose and make known to her majesty, her heirs and successors, all treasons and traitorous conspiracies, which may be formed against her or them; and I do faithfully promise to maintain, support, and defend, to the utmost of my power, the succession of the crown; which succession, by an act intituled 'An Act for the further limitation of the Crown, and better securing the Rights and Liberties of the Subject,' is and stands limited to the Princess Sophia, Electress of Hanover, and the heirs of her body, being protestants; hereby utterly renouncing and abjuring any obedience or allegiance unto any other person claiming or pretending a right to the crown of this realm." And I do declare that no foreign prince, person, prelate, state, or potentate hath or ought to have any jurisdiction, power, superiority, pre-eminence, or authority, ecclesiastical or spiritual, within this realm. And I make this declaration upon the true faith of a Christian, so help me God."

The Jews' oath is similar to the Protestants', omitting the last sentence. The Quaker's affirmation is substantially the same as the preceding oath. They sincerely and truly declare and affirm to bear true allegiance to Queen Victoria, and to disclose all conspiracies, but omitting the words "to defend her to the utmost of my power," and the concluding words, "And I make this declaration," etc.: 22 Victoria, cap. 19 (1859).

Roman Catholic Oath of Allegiance.

"I A. B. do sincerely promise and swear, that I will be faithful" (using the same words as the protestant oath, down to 'the crown of this realm'). "And I do further declare that it is not an article of my faith, and

To this point the Protestant and Roman Catholic oaths are alike.

CH. 1.]

THE CIVIL LIST.

445

Catholic oath now in use was introduced by the Roman Catholic Relief Act.1

To enable the sovereign to maintain the state and dignity of the ancient monarchy, the parliament settles on him an annual income. This is called the Civil List, a name it acquired when the salaries of the civil officers of the government were paid by the sovereign, and the money for the purpose was voted as part of the royal expenses, according to a list laid before the house of commons. By a succession of constitutional compacts between the sovereign and the parliament, the hereditary revenues of the ancient kings, which descended with the crown, have been surrendered to the nation; which, at the same time, through parliament, engaged to make an adequate provision for the dignity and `honour of the crown, and for the maintenance of the royal family for the time being. During the last century the surrender of the old revenues was not complete; but since the reign of King William IV. the surrender has been entire. It was deemed a matter of policy, to which our patriotic sovereigns willingly consented, to remove from them all hereditary property, and to render each sovereign in his life entirely dependent on parliament. The income settled on

ever.

I do renounce, reject, and abjure the opinion, that princes excommunicated or deprived by the pope, or any other authority of the see of Rome, may be deposed or murdered by their subjects, or by any person whatsoAnd I do declare, that I do not believe that the pope of Rome, or any other foreign prince, person, state, or potentate, hath or ought to have any temporal or civil jurisdiction, power, superiority, or pre-eminence, directly or indirectly, within this realm. I do swear that I will defend to the utmost of my power the settlement of property within this realm, as established by the laws. And I do solemnly swear, that I will never exercise any privilege, to which I am or may become entitled, to disturb or weaken the protestant religion or protestant government in the United Kingdom. And I do solemnly, in the presence of God, profess, testify, and declare, that I do make this declaration, and every part thereof, in the plain and ordinary sense of the words of this oath, without any evasion, equivocation, or mental reservation whatsoever, so help me God."

1 10 Geo. IV., cap. 7 (1829): An Act for the Relief of his Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects.