the two archbishops sit by themselves on a form. Below them, the bishops of London, Durham, and Winchester, and all the other bishops, according to the priority of their consecration. On the king's left hand, the lord treasurer, the lord president, and lord privy seal, sit upon forms above all dukes, except of the royal blood: then the dukes, marquesses, and earls, according to their creation. Across the room are woolsacks, continued from ancient custom: and the chancellor being of course the speaker of the House of Lords, sits on the first woolsack before the throne, with the great seal or mace lying by him. Below these, are forms for the viscounts and barons. On the other woolsacks are seated the judges, masters in chancery, and king's counsel, who are only to give their advice on points of law. But they all stand up till the king gives them leave to sit. The commons sit promiscuously. Only the speaker has an elevated chair at the upper end of the house; and the clerk and his assistant sit at a table near him.

When a member of the House of Commons speaks, he stands up uncovered, and directs his speech to the speaker only. If what he says be answered by another, he is not allowed to reply the same day, unless personal reflections have been cast upon him. But when the commons, in order to have a greater freedom of debate, have resolved themselves into a committee of the whole house, every member may speak to a question as often as he thinks necessary.

. In the House of Lords they vote beginning at the lowest baron, and so up in order to the highest, every one answering, "Content;" or, "Not content."

In the House of Commons they vote by yeas" " and " nays;" and if it be dubious which possess the greater number, the house divides. If the question relate to the introduction of any thing into the house, then the “ yeas" g go out; but if otherwise, the "nays" go out. In all divisions the speaker appoints four tellers, two of each opinion. In a committee of the whole house they divide by changing sides, the "yeas" taking the right, and the "nays" the left of the chair, and then there are but two tellers.

When parliament is prorogued, or dissolved, it ceases to exist. But its laws still continue to be in force. The king remains charged with the execution of them, and is supplied with the necessary power for that purpose.

COFFEE rooms are attached to the houses of parliament for the exclusive accommodation and refreshment of their respective members.

CHAPTER IV.

SEAT OF THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT.

THE executive government of the British empire is lodged in the king; and the following important prerogatives are attached to his high office.

King's Prerogatives. Situation of the
Prince Regent.

1. THE king is the source of all judicial power, the chief of all legal courts. The judges are only his substitutes, all their transactions being conducted in his name, and all their judgments being executed by his officers. By a fiction of the law, he is the universal proprietor of the kingdom, and is of consequeace directly concerned in all offences, which are therefore prosecuted in the courts of law in his name. But he can pardon offences, and remit the punishment which has been awarded in consequence of his own prosecution.

2. He is the fountain of honour. All the degrees of nobility flow from him; and all the

offices connected with the executive power of the state, whether in the courts of justice or otherwise, are disposed of by his appointment.

He

3. He is the superintendent of commerce. regulates weights and measures, coins money, and can give currency to foreign specie.

4. He is the head of the national church. He appoints the archbishops and bishops to their respective offices; and he alone can convoke the assembly of the clergy. His assent is necessary to the validity of all their acts, or canons; and he can, at pleasure, prorogue, or dissolve their assembly.

5. In right of his crown, he is the generalissimo of all the sea and land forces. He alone can levy troops, equip fleets, build fortresses, and fill all their respective posts.

6. He is the representative of the collective majesty of the nation, in regard to foreign countries. He sends and receives ambassadors, contracts alliances, declares war, and makes peace, on whatever conditions he pleases. He alone, also, can convoke parliament, and alone can prorogue or dissolve it: and, when it is so prorogued or dissolved, it has no existence, though its laws continue in full force, and he himself is charged with their execution.

In fine, it is a fundamental and constitutional maxim, "that the king of England can do no wrong" which, in combination with the prerogatives already stated, appears to raise his power to that of the most absolute monarch.

This,

however, signifies only that he is above the reach of all the courts of law, and that his person is sacred and inviolable.

But in this enumeration of the powers with which the laws of England have intrusted their king, it may be difficult, especially to a foreign visitor, to reconcile them with the idea of a limited monarchy. For, at first sight, it appears that the king not only unites in himself all the branches of the executive power: he not only disposes, without control, of the whole military energy of the state; but he is moreover, it seems, master of the law itself, since he calls up and dismisses, at his will, the legislative body; and, with this apparent and even actual investment of all the most powerful prerogatives that were ever claimed by the most absolute monarchs, it may be difficult to impress an uninstructed mind with a full idea of that liberty, which is justly the boast of Englishmen.

But, from the characteristic qualities of their political constitution, flows the characteristic freedom of Englishmen. It is from the counterpoise of the different powers of the state that those political blessings arise, which constitute the happiness of this country, and which excite the admiration of foreign nations. The representatives of the people hold the purse of the British nation. The king of England, without the grant of his commons, has scarcely any revenue at all; for, trifling indeed, and not worth enumerating, are the remains of the ancient inheritance of the crown. The king has, there