Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1871.djvu/233

 CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT.

I 97

poning the dissolution till six months after the accession of the new- sovereign, while the Reform Act of 1867 settled that the Parlia- ment ' in being at any future demise of the Crown shall not be determined by such demise, but shall continue as long as it would otherwise have continued unless dissolved by the Crown.' Other statutes enact that if, at the time of the demise, the Parliament be adjourned or prorogued, it shall immediately assemble ; and that, in the case of the demise of the sovereign between the dissolution of a Parliament and the day appointed by the writs of summons for the meeting of a new one T the last preceding Parliament shall immediately convene for six months, unless sooner prorogued or dissolved by the successor.

The present form of Parliament, as divided into two Houses of legislature, the Lords and the Commons, dates from the time of Edward II. , and it has been, except during the period of the Com- monwealth, a fundamental principle of the constitution, that every lawful Parliament shall consist of an Upper and a Lower House of legislature.

The Upper House consists of peers who hold their seats —

1st, By virtue of hereditary right; 2nd. By creation of the Sovereign ; 3rd. By virtue of office — English bishops ; 4th. By election for life — Irish peers;

5th. By election for the duration of a Parliament — Scottish peers.

In early times the summons of peers to attend Parliament de- pended in a great measure, if not entirely, on the royal will; and according to Camden, after the battle of Evesham every baron was expressly forbidden to appear in Parliament Avithout special writ. However, it has long since been held that every hereditary peerage confers the right of a seat in the Upper House. Any person giving proof that his ancestor was called by ' writ of sum- mons ' may claim to sit as hereditary peer. New peerages are created by royal patent, the peer being summoned by the writ issued in pursuance thereof ' ad con.sulendum et defendendum regem ; ' and the peerage rights are acquired whether the individual summoned takes his seat in the Upper House or not. Should a question arise as to the legal capacity of a peer to be admitted to the sittings of the Upper House, the sovereign is prayed for a writ through a secretary of state ; the attorney-general supports the petition, and, if willing to allow it, it is ordinarily complied with. If the matter is doubtful, he recommends it to be referred to the Upper House, which resolves itself into a committee of privilege.