Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/346

 THE BRITISH EMPIRE : — UNITED KINGDOM

House of Stuart. House of Stuart- Orange. James I. ... . 1603 William and Mary . 1689 Charles I. . 1625 William III. . House of Stuart. . 1694
 * ^'vTi Commonicealth.

Anne .... . 1702 Parliamentaiy Executive . 1649 House of Hanover. Protectorate. . 1653 George I.. . 1714 George II. ... . 1727 George III. . 1760 House of Stuart. George IV. . 1820 Charles II. . 1660 William IV. . . 1830 James XL ... . 1685 Victoria . 1837

1. THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. Constitution and Grovernment. I. Imperial and Central. The supreme legislative power of the British Empire is by its Constitution given to Parliament. Parliament is summoned by the writ of the sovereign issued out of Chancery, by advice of the Privy Council, at least thirty-five days previous to its assembling. On a vacancy occurring in the House of Commons whilst Parlia- ment is sitting, a writ for the election of a new member is issued upon motion in the House. If the vacancy occurs during the recess, the writ is issued at the instance of the Speaker. It has become customary of late for Parliaments to meet in annual session extending from the middle of February to about the end of August. Every session must end with a prorogation, and by it all Bills which have not been passed during the session fall to the ground. The royal proclamation which summons Parliament in order to proceed to business must be issued fourteen days before the time of meeting. A dissolution is the civil death of Parliament ; it may occur by the will of the sovereign, or, as is most usual, during the recess, by proclamation, or finally by lapse of time, the statutory limit of the duration of the existence of any Parliament being seven years. Formerly, on the demise of the sovereign Parliament stood dissolved by the fact thereof ; but this was altered in the reign of William III. to the effect of postponing the dissolution till six months after the accession of the new sovereign, while the Reform Act of 1867 settled that the Parliament ' in being at any future demise of the Crown shall not be determined by such demise.' The present form of Parliament, as divided into two Houses