after which the Chairman firft caufes a Clerk attending the Committee to read the Bill, then takes the Bill himself, and reads it Paragraph by Paragraph, putting every Clause thereof. to the Queftion, filling up the Blanks, and making Amendments according to the Opinion of the Majority of the Committee, of whom there must be eight of the Perfons named, regularly to proceed, tho' five may adjourn: When the Committee have gone through the Bill, the Chairman, by Dire&ions of the Committee, makes his Report at the Side-Bar of the House, reading all the Alterations made by the Committee, and how any of these Amendments have changed the Scope of the Bill, and what connexion they have therewith, the Clerk having at the Committee writ down what Folio and Line of the Bill thofe Amendments are to be found; and if any Claufes have been thought fit to be added by the Committee, they are marked Alphabetically, and read by the Chairman, and deliver'd to the Clerk, who reads all the Amendments and Clauses, the Speaker putting the Question, whether they fball be read a Second time; and if agreed to, reads them himself; and as many of them as the House agrees to, the Question is put, Whether the Bill fo amended fhall be ingrofs'd, that is to fay, written fair in Parchment, and read the Third time fome other Day: And then the Speaker holding the Bill in his Hand; puts the Queftion, whether the Bill fhould pafs: If the Major-part be for it, then it is written on the Bill by the Clerk, Soit Baille aux Seigneurs; or if in the House of Lords, there is writ thereon, ·Soit Baille aux Communes, retaining ftill in this and fome other things about making Laws the Cuftom of our Ancestors, who after the Norman Conqueft, were generally skill'd in the French Tongue. When an Ingroffed Bill is read, and any Claufes offer'd to be added to it, they must be in Parchment ingroffed like the Bill, which are then call'd Riders; and if agreed to, are accordingly added to the Bill.

Petitions are offered after the manner of Bills at the Bar of the House, and brought up by the Member who prefents them, and are deliver'd at the Table.

All Meffages from the Lords, as likewife all Perfons appearing at the Bar of the Houfe, are introduced by the Sergeant attending the Houfe, with his Mace upon his Shoulder.

The Mace, while the Speaker is in the Chair, is always upon the Table, except when fent upon any extraordinary Occafion into Westminster-Hall, and Court of Requests, to fummon the Members to attend; but when the House refolves it felf into a Committee of the whole Houfe, the Mace is laid under the Table, and the Chairman to that Committee takes the Chair where the Clerk of the Houfe ufually fits.

Forty Members are requifite to make a Houfe in the House

of Commons, and Eight a Committee: The Houfe generally begins with reading fome Bill unperfected the Seffions before.

After the Speaker and Members have taken the Oaths, the ftanding Orders of the Houfe are read, and Grand Committees appointed to fit on ufual Days; but of late Years, (tho' they are appointed by every New Parliament,) they have not done fo, except the Committee of Elections and Priviledges, which being no Committee of the whole House, is first called in the Speaker's Chamber, and adjourns into the Houfe, because ufually very numerous, every one of the Houfe having a Vote therein, tho' not nam'd of the Committee, of whom there must be Eight to impower the Committee to act. When any Member in the Houfe or Committee ftands up to speak, he muft be uncover'd.

If a Bill be rejected, it cannot be any more propofed, during the fame Seffions.

A Bill fent by the Commons up to the Lords, is ufually to (fhew their Refpect) attended with a certain number of the Members of the Houfe: As they come up to the Lords Bar, the Member that hath the Bill makes three profound Reverences, faying, The Commons have Passed an Act, intituled, &c. to which they defire your Lordships Concurrence; and delivers it to the Lord Chancellor or Keeper, who for that Purpofe comes down to the Bar.

A Bill fent down by the Lords to the Commons, is ufually fent by fome of the Mafters of Chancery, or other Person whose Place is on the Wool-Sacks, (and by none of the Members of the Houfe; and they coming up to the Speaker, and bowing thrice, delivered to him the Bill, after one of them hath read the Title, and defired it might be there taken into Confideration: If afterwards it Pafs the Houfe, then it is written on the Bill, Les communes ont affentez. All Meffages from the Commons to the Lords, are introduc'd by the Black-Rod. All Messengers from the Lords, are introduc'd by the Sergeant, who with his Mace on his Shoulder going on their Right-hand, they with him make three Bows as they draw near to the Speaker, and then deliver their Meffage; they do the fame as they retreat, without turning their Backs to the Chair. In Meffages of great Importance, the Lords make ufe of one or two of the Judges to go to the House of Commons.

When any one in the Commons Houfe will fpeak to a Bill, he ftands up uncover'd, and directs his Speech only to the Speaker; then if what he delivers be confuted by another, yet he is not allowed to answer again the fame Day, (unlef's Perfonally reflected on.) Alfo, if a Bill be debated in the House, no Man may speak to it in one Day above once, unless the whole Houfe be turned into a Committee, and then every Member may reply as cft as he, or the Chairman, judges it expedient.

If any one in either House speaks Words of Offence to the King's Majefty, or to the Houfe, he is call'd to the Bar, where commonly on his Knees he receives a Reprimand from the Speaker; but if the Offence be very great, he is fent to the Tower, and fometimes to other Prifons.

The Speaker is not allowed to perfwade or diffwade in Paffing of a Bill, but only to make a fhort and plain Narrative; nor Vote, except the Houfe be equally divided.

In the Lords House they give their Suffrages, or Votes, begin-ning at the Puifne, or loweft Baron, and fo the reft feriatim, every one answering apart, [Content, or Not Content.] And if the Affirmatives and Negatives are equal, femper prafumitur pro Negante, the Speaker being not allowed a Voice, unless he be a Peer of the Realm.

In the Houfe of Commons they Vote by rea's and No's altoge ther; and if it be doubtful whether is the greater Number, then the Houfe divides; and if the Queftion be to bring any thing into the House, as a Bill, Petition, &c. then the Ay's go out; but if it be upon any thing the Houfe is once poffefs'd of, the No's go out. Upon all Questions where the Houfe divides, the Speaker appoints four Tellers, two of each Opinion, who, after they have told thofe within, place themfelves in the Paffage betwixt the Bar and Door of the Houfe, and tell the others who went out, and who, till then, are not permitted to come in; which being done, the two Tellers that have the Majority take the Right Hand, and placing themselves within the Bar, all four make their Reverences as they advance, three times, and then at the Table deliver the Numbers, faying, The Ay's that went out are fo many; The No's that ftay'd in, fo many, and vice verfâ: Which the Speaker repeats, and declares the Majority.

In a Committee of the whole Houfe, the way of dividing is by changing Sides, the Ay's taking the Right, the No's the Left Hand of the Chair; and then there are but two Tellers.

If a Bill pafs in one Houfe, and being fent to the other House, they demur upon it, then a Conference is demanded in the Painted Chamber, where certain deputed Members of each House meet, the Lord's fitting cover'd at a Table, the Commons ftanding bare, where the Bufinefs is debated: If they then agree not, that Bufinefs is nulled; but if they agree, then it is at laft brought (with all other Bills which have Paffed in both Houses) to the King, who comes again with his Crown on his Head, and cloathed with his Royal Robes, and being feated in his Chair of State, and all the Lords in their Robes, the Clerk of the Crown reads the Title of each Bill, and as he reads, the Clerk of the Parliament, according to his Inftructions from the King, who hath before maturely confider'd each Bill, pronounceth the Royal Af

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fent. If it be a Publick Bill, the Answer is, le Roy le veut, which gives Life and Birth to that Bill that was before but an Embryo. If a Private Bill, the Answer is, Sait fait comme il eft defire.

If it be a Bill which the King likes not, then the Answer is, Le Roy s'avifera. which is taken for an abfolute Denial in a more civil way, and that Bill is wholly nulled.

The King, without his Perfonal Prefence, can, by Commiffion granted to fome of his Nobles, give his Royal Affent to any Bill that requires hafte.

If it be a Bill for Monies given to His Majefty, then the Anfwer is, Le Roy remercie fes loyaux Sujets, accepte leur Benevo lence, & auffi le veut.

The Bill for the King's General Pardon, hath but one Reading in either House, for this Reason, because they must take it as the King will pleafe to give it. When the Bill for the General Pardon is paffed by the King, the Anfwer is thus, Les Prelats Seigneurs & Communes en ce Parlement assemblez au nom de tous vos autres Sujets remercient tres humblement votre Majefte & prient Dieu vous donner en fante bonne vie & longe.

All Acts of Parliament before the Reign of Henry VII. were Paffed and Enrolled in Latin, or French, now in English only.

The Adjournments are ufually made in the Lord's House by the Lord Chancellor, or Keeper, in the King's Name, to what other Day the King pléafeth, and alfo to what other Place, if he think fit to remove them, as fometimes hath been done, and then all things already debated and read, in one or both Houses, continue to the next Meeting, in the fame ftate they were in be'fore the Adjournment, and fo may be refumed. Note, That this is to be understood only of fuch Adjournments as are in order to a Recefs for fome time; for in all other Cafes 'tis the undoubted Priviledge of each Houfe to adjourn themselves, &c.,

In like manner the Parliament is Prorogued; but by a Prorogation there is a Seffion ended; and then the Bills that were almoft ready in both Houses for the Royal Affent, not having it, muft, at the Re-affembling of the Parliament, begin a-new.

When the King's Pleasure is to Prorogue or Diffolve the Parliament, His Majefty commonly comes in Perfon, with his Crown on his Head, fends the Black-Rod for all the House of Commons to come to the Bar of the Lords Houfe; and then the Lord Chancellor, by the fpecial Command of the King, pronounces the Parliament Prorogued or Diffolved.

The King being Head of the Parliament, if his Death happen'd during the Sitting of the Parliament, it was formerly, ipfo facto, Diffolved. But to prevent Tumults and Confufions, it has been of late exprefly provided by a folemn Act, That a Parliament Sitting, or in Being, at the Demife of the King, fhall continue; and

if not fitting, shall meet exprefly, for keeping the Peace of the Realm, and preferving the Succeffion.

Anciently, after every Seffion of Parliament, the King commanded every Sheriff to proclaim the feveral Acts, and to cause them to be duly obferved; yet without that Proclamation, the Law intended that every one have Notice by his Reprefenta tive, of what is tranfacted in Parliament: Of later Times, fince Printing became common, that Custom hath been laid afide.

CHA P. XIV.

Of particular Governments; and firft, of the Ecclefiaftical, Civil and Military Government of the King's Houfbold.

FOR the Ecclefiaftical Government of the King's Court,

there is first a Dean of the Chapel Royal, who is ufually fome Grave, Learned Prelate, chofen by the King, and who, as Dean, acknowledgeth no Superior but the King; for as the King's Palace is exempt from all inferior Temporal Jurifdiction, fo is his Chapel from all Spiritual: It is call'd Capella Dominica, the Domain Chapel; is not within the Jurifdiction or Diocese of any Bithop, but as a Regal Peculiar, exempt and referved to the Vifitation and immediate Government of the King, who is Supreme Ordinary, as it were, over all England.

By the Dean are chofen all other Officers of the Chapel, namely a Sub-Dean, or Precentor Capelle; thirty two Gentlemen of the Chapel, whereof twelve are Priefts, and one of them is Confeffor to the King's Houfhold, whofe Office is to read Prayers every Morning to the Family, to vifit the Sick, to examine and prepare Communicants, to inform fuch as defire Advice in any Cafe of Confcience, or Point of Religion, &c.

The other twenty Gentlemen, commonly call'd Clerks of the Chapel, are with the aforesaid Priefts, to perform in the Chapel the Office of Divine Service, in Praying, Singing, &c. One of these being well skill'd in Mufick, is chofen Master of the Children, whereof there are twelve in Ordinary, to inftruct them in the Rules and Art of Mufick, for the Service of the Chapel. Three other of the faid Clerks are chosen to be Organists.

There are moreover four Officers, a Sergeant, two Yeomen, and a Groom of the Chapel.

In the King's Chapel, thrice every Day Prayers are read, and God's Service and Worship perform'd with great Decency,

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