FORMS OP PROCEDURE.
Meeting of Parliament : Preliminary Proceedings.—On the meeting of a new parliament it is the practice for the lord chancellor, with other peers appointed by commission under the great seal for that purpose, to open the parliament by stating "that her Majesty will, as soon as the members of both houses shall be sworn, declare the causes of her calling this parliament ; and it being necessary a Speaker of the House of Commons should he first chosen, that you, gentlemen of the House of Commons, repair to the place where you are to sit, and proceed to the appointment of some proper person to be your Speaker; and that you present such person whom you shall so choose hero to-morrow (at an hour stated) for her Majesty's royal approbation." The commons then proceed at once to the election of their Speaker. If any debate arises, the clerk at the table acts as Speaker, and standing up, points to the members as they rise. He also puts the question. When the Speaker is chosen, his proposer and seconder conduct him to the chair, where, standing on the upper step, he thanks the house and takes his seat. It ie usual for some members to congratulate bim when he has taken the chair. As yet he is only Speaker elect, and as such presents himself on the following day, in the House of Lords, and acquaints the lords commissioners that the choice of the commons has "fallen upon him," that he feels the difficulties of his high and arduous office, and that, "if it should be her Majesty's pleasure to disapprove of this choice, her Majesty's faithful commons will at once select some other member of their house better qualified to fill the station than himself." It is stated by Hatsell, that there have been only two in stances "in which neither this form, of having the royal permission to proceed to the election of a Speaker, nor the other, of the king's appro bation of the person elected, have been observed. The first is the election of Sir Harbottle Grimstone, on the 25th of April, 1860, to be Speaker of the Convention Parliament which met at the Restoration ; the other, is the election of Mr. Powle, 22nd January, 1688-9, in the Convention Parliament at the Revolution." The only instance of the royal approbation being refused is in the case of Sir Edward Seymour, in 1678. Sir John Topham indeed was chosen Speaker in 1450, but his excuse was admitted by the king, and another was chosen by the commons in his place. In order to avoid a similar proceeding on the part of the king, Sir Edward Seymour, who knew that it had been determined to accept his excuse, omitted the usual form.
When the Speaker has been approved, he lays claim on behalf of the commons, " by humble petition, to all their ancient and undoubted rights and privileges," which being confirmed, the Speaker with the commons retires from the bar of the House of Lords.
Both houses then proceed to take the oaths required by law. In the commons the Speaker takes them before any other member. Three or four days are usually occupied in this duty before the sovereign declare's to both houses, in person or by commission, the causes of calling the parliament. From this time business proceeds regularly. The first thing usually done in both houses is to vote an address in answer to the speech from the throne.
Before any business is undertaken, prayers are read ; in the House of Lords by a bishop, and in the Commons by their chaplain.
Conduct of Business, Dirisions, &c.—In the House of Lords business may proceed when three peers are present. In the House of Commons
forty members are required to assist in the deliberations. If that number be not present at. four o'clock in the afternoon, or if notice be taken, or if it appear on a division that less than that number are present, the Speaker adjourns the house until the next sitting day ; but at the morning sittings, which are held on Wednesday for private business, petitions, &c., twenty members are sufficient, and they sit from twelve at noon till six, unless previously adjourned. Towards the end of a session morning sittings are held on other days. The house then meets at twelve, and precisely at six the Speaker adjourns the house, without putting the question, and the business in hand stands as orders of the day for the next sitting. Except on Wednesday or Saturday, on which days there is generally no evening sitting, after the adjournment the house resumes at six o'clock. In both houses all questions are decided by a majority, and pone may vote but those pre sent in the house when the question is put, though in the lords proxies are counted if held by a lord who is present. When any question arises upon which a difference of opinion is expressed, it becomes necessary to ascertain the numbers on each side. In the lords, the party in favour of the question are called " content," and that opposed to it, " non-content." In the commons these parties are described as the " ayes " and "noes." When the Speaker cannot decide by the voices which party has the majority, or when his decision is disputed, a division takes place. This is effected now (since 1836 in the commons and 1857 in the lords) by one party being sent to each of the two lobbies attached to either house. All within the house when the question is put must vote. Two clerks are stationed at each of the entrances to the house, holding lists of the members in alphabetical order printed upon large sheets of thick pasteboard so as to avoid the trouble and delay of turning over pages. While the members aro passing into the house again, the clerks place a mark against each of their names, and the tellers count the number. This plan has been quite successful; the names are taken down with great accuracy, and very little delay is occasioned by the process.
In committees of the whole house, divisions are taken by the members of each party crossing over to the opposite side of the house, unless five members require that the names shall be noted in the usual manner.
In addition to the power of expressing assent or dissent by a vote, peers may record their opinion and the grounds of it by a " protest," which is entered in the Journals, together with the names of all the peers who concur in it.
When matters of great interest are to be debated in the upper house, the lords are summoned; " and in the House of Commons an order is occasionally made that the house bo called over, and members not attending when their names are called, are reported as defaulters, and ordered to attend on another day, when, if they are still absent and no excuse be offered, they are sometimes committed to the custody of the aerjeant-st-arms.
The business which occuries nearly the whole attention of both houses (if we except the hearing of appeals by the lords and the trial of controverted eleotions by the commons) is the passing of hills ; and the mewls of proceeding with respect to them may be briefly described in the first place,