Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/168

152 is like wie true, that at the time of the revolution, A. D. 1688, the lords and commons by their own authority, and upon the ummons of the prince of Orange, (afterwards king William) met in a convention and therein dipoed of the crown and kingdom. But it mut be remembered, that this aembling was upon a like principle of neceity as at the restoration; that is, upon a full conviction that king James the econd had abdicated the government, and that the throne was thereby vacant: which uppoition of the individual members was confirmed by their concurrent reolution, when they actually came together. And in uch a cae as the palpable vacancy of a throne, it follows , that the form of the royal writs mut be laid aide, otherwie no parliament can ever meet again. For, let us put another poible cae, and uppoe, for the ake of argument, that the whole royal line hould at any time fail, and become extinct, which would indiputably vacate the throne: in this ituation it eems reaonable to preume, that the body of the nation, coniting of lords and commons, would have a right to meet and ettle the government; otherwie there mut be no government at all. And upon this and no other principle did the convention in 1688 aemble. The vacancy of the throne was precedent to their meeting without any royal ummons, not a conequence of it. They did not aemble without writ, and then make the throne vacant; but the throne being previouly vacant by the king’s abdication, they aembled without writ, as they mut do if they aembled at all. Had the throne been full, their meeting would not have been regular; but, as it was really empty, uch meeting became abolutely neceary. And accordingly it is declared by tatute 1 W. & M. t. 1. c. 1. that this convention was really the two houes of parliament, notwithtanding the want of writs or other defects of form. So that, notwithtanding thee two capital exceptions, which were jutifiable only on a principle of neceity, (and each of which, by the way, induced a revolution in the government) the rule laid down is in general certain, that the king, only, can convoke a parliament.