Bell

BELL in parliament, a paper containing propositions offered to the Houses to be passed by them, and then presented to the King to pass into a law. To bring a bill into the House, if the relief sought by it is of a private nature, it is first neces sary to prefer a petition ; which must be presented by a member, and usually sets forth the grievance desired to be reme died. This petition (when founded on facts that may be in their nature disputed) is referred to a committee of members who examine the matter alleged, and ac cordingly report it to the House, and then (or, otherwise, upon the mere peti tion) leave is given to bring in the bill. In public matters, the bill is brought in upon motion made to the House, without any petition at all. The persons directed to bring in the bill present it in a compe tent time to the House, drawn out on pa per, with a multitude of blanks or void spaces, where any thing occurs that is dubious, or necessary to be settled by the Parliament itself; (such, especially, as the precise date of times, the nature and quantity of penalties, or of any sums of money to be raised,) being, indeed, only the skeleton of the bill. In the House of Lords, if the bill begins there, it is, (when of a private nature) referred to two of the judges, who examine and report the state of the facts alledged, to see that all neces sary parties consent,and to settle all points of technical propriety. This is read a first time, and, at a convenient distance, a se cond time ; and, after each reading, the Speaker opens to the House the substance of the bill, and puts the question, whe ther it shall proceed any farther? The in troduction of the bill may be originally opposed, as the bill itself may, at either of the readings ; and if the opposition succeeds, the bill must be dropped for that session ; as it must also, if opposed with success in any of the subsequent stages. After the second reading, it is committed ; that is, referred to a commit tee: which is either selected by the House, in matters of small importance, or else, upon a bill of consequence, the House resolves itself into a committee of the whole House. A committee of the whole House is composed of every member; and, to form it, the Speaker quits the chair, (another member being appointed chairman,) and may sit and debate as a private member. In these committees, the bill is debated, clause by clause, amendments made, the blanks filled up, and sometimes the bill entirely new 'no- , defied. After it has gone through the committee, the chairman reports it to the House, with such amendments as the com mittee have made ; and then the House considers the whole bill again, and the question is repeatedly put upon every clause and amendment. When the House has agreed, or disagreed to the amend ments of the committee, and sometimes added new amendments of its own, the bill is then ordered to he engrossed, or written in a strong gross hand on one or more long rolls (or presses) ofparch ment sewed together. When this is fi nished, it is read a third time, and amend ments are sometimes then made to it ; and if a new clause be added, it is done by tacking a separate piece of parchment on the bill, which is called a ryder. The Speaker then again opens the contents ; and in holding it up in his hands puts the question,'whether the bill shall pass? If this is agreed to, the title to it is then set tled ; which used to be a general one for all the acts passed in the session, till in the fifth year of Henry VIII. distinct ti- ' ties were introduced for each chapter. After this, one of the members is directed, to carry it to the Lords, and desire their concurrence ; who, attended by several more, carries it to the bar of the House of Peers, and there delivers it to their Speaker, who comes down from the woolsack to receive it. It there passes through the same forms as in the other House (except engrossing, which is al ready done :) and, if rejected, no more notice is taken, but it passes sub ailenti o, to prevent unbecoming altercations ; but if it is agreed to, the Lords send a mes sage by two masters in chancery, (or sometimes two athe judges,) that they have agreed to the same, and the bill re mains with the Lords, if they have made no amendments to it ; but if any amend ments are made, such amendments are sent down with the bill, to receive the con currence of the Commons. If the Com mons disagree to the amendments, a con ference usuallyfollows between members deputed from each House ; who, for the most part, settle and adjust the difference; but if both Houses remain inflexible, the bill is dropped. If the Commons agree to the amendments, the bill is sent back to the Lords by one of the members, with a y message to acquaint them therewith. The _

same forms are observed, mutatis inittan dig, when the bill begins in the House of Lords. But when an act of grace, or par don, is passed, it is first signed by his Ma jesty, and then read once only in each of the Houses, without any new engrossing or amendment. And when both Houses have done with any bill, it always is de posited in the House of Peers, to wait the royal assent ; except in the case of a bill of supply, which, after receiving the con currence of the Lords, is sent back to the House of Commons. The royal assent may be given two ways : 1. In person ; when the King comes to the House of Peers, in his crown and royal robes, and sending for the Commons to the bar, the titles of all the bills that have passed both Houses are read, and the King's answer is declared by the clerk of the parliament in Norman French : a badge, it must be owned (now the only one remaining) of conquest ; and which one could wish to see fall into total oblivion ; unless it be reserved as a solemn memento, to remind us that our liberties are mortal, having been once destroyed by a foreign force. If the King consents to a public bill, the clerk usually declares, "Le roy he vent." " The King wills it so to be;" if to a pri vate bill, " Solt fait comme it est desire;" "Be it as it is desired." If the king re fuses his assent, it is in the gentle lan guage of " Le roy s'avisera :" " The King will advise upon it." When a bill of supply is passed, it is carried up and pre sented to the King by the Speaker of the House of Commons, and the royal assent is thus expressed;" Le roy remercie ses loyal subjects, accepte leur benevolence, et aussi he vent ;" " The King thanks his loyal subjects, accepts theirbenevolence, and wills it so to be." In case of an act of grace, which originally proceeds from the crown, and has the royal assent in the first stage of it, the clerk of the parlia ment thus pronounces the gratitude of the subject : " Les Prclats, Seigneurs, et Commons, en ce present parliament as semblees, an nom de touts vows stares subjects,remercient tres humblement vo tre Majeste, et prient a Dieu vows donner en sante bone vie et longue;" " The Pre lates, Lords, and Commons, in this pre sent Parliament assembled, in the name of all your other subjects, most humbly thank your Majesty, and pray to God to grant you in health long to live." 2. By the scat. 33. Hen. III. c. 21, the King may give his assent by letters pa tent under his great seal, signed with his hand, and notified in his absence to both Houses assembled together in the High 'House. And when the bill has received the royal assent in either of these ways, it is then, and not before, a statute or act of parliament. This statute or act is plac ed among the records of the kingdom ; there needing no formal promulgation to give it the force of a law, as was necessa ry by the civil law with regard to the emperor's edicts ; because every man in Britain is in judgment °flaw, party to the making of an edict of parliament, being present thereat by his representatives. However, a copy thereof is usually print ed at the King's'press, for the information of the whole land. And formerly, before the invention of printing, it was used to be published by the sheriff of every coun ty : the King's writ being sent to him at the end of every session, together with a transcript of all the acts made at that ses sion, commanding him, 4. ut statuta ills, et omnes articulos in eisdem contentos, in singulis locis ubi expedire viderit, pub lice proclamari, et firmiter teneri At ob servari faciat." And the usage was, to proclaim them at his county court, and there to keep them, that whoever would might read or take copies thereof; which custom continued till the reign of Henry VII. An act of parliament thus made is the exercise of the highest authority that this kingdom acknowledges upon earth. It bath powerto bind every subject in the land, and the dominions thereunto be longing ; nay, even the King himself, if particularly named therein. And it can not be altered, amended, dispensed with, suspended, or repealed, but in the same forms, and by the same authority of par liament : for it is a maxim in law, that it requires the same strength to dissolve as to create an obligation. It is true, it was formerly held that the King might in ma ny cases dispense with penal statutes ; but now, by statute 1 Wil. and M. st. 2, c. 2, it is declared, that the suspending or dispensing with laws by regal authority, without consent of parliament, is illegal.

See ACTS.