briefs or bills, keeping order, reprimanding the refrac tory, adjourning the house, &c. The first thing done by the commons upon the first meeting of parliament, is to choose a speaker, who is to be approved of by the king; and who upon his admission, begs his majesty that the commons, during their sitting, may have free access to his majesty, freedom of speech in their own house, and security from arrests. The speaker is not allowed to persuade or dissuade, in passing of a bill, but only to make a short and plain narrative; nor to vote, unless the house be equally divided.

MARSHAL, or MARESCHAL; primarily denotes an officer who has the care or command of horses.

Earl Marshal of England; one of the great officers of the crown, who takes cognizance of all matters touching honour and arms, determines contracts relat. ing to deeds of arms out of the realm upon land, and matters concerning war within the realm, which cannot be determined by common law, in which he usually proceeds according to the civil law. This office is hereditary, having been for many ages in the house of Norfolk.

PARLIAMENTS; a grand assembly or convention of the three estates of the kingdom, viz. lords spiritual, lords temporal, and commons, summoned to meet the king, to consult of matters relating to the commonweal; and particularly to enact and repeal laws. The two houses of parliament are the king's grand council. Till the Conquest, the great council, consisting only of the great men of the kingdom, was called magnatum conventus, and prælatorum procerumque concilium. The Saxons, in their own tongue, called it wittenagemote, i. e. assembly of the wise. After the Conquest, about the beginning of the reign of King Edward I. some say in the time of Henry I. it was first called parlamentum, i. e. speechment, from the French, parter, to speak; though it still only consisted of the barons, or great men of the nation; till in the reign of Henry III. according to some, the commons were also called to sit in parlia ment, the first writs sent out to summon them bearing date 49 Henry III, anno 1217, though Sir Walter Raleigh, in his Prerogative of Parliaments, thinks the

commons were first called in the 17th of Henry I. and Dr. Heylin fixes the time of their first admission to the reign of Henry II. Indeed Sir Edward Coke, Dodde. ridge, Prynn, and others, have shewn that the Com. mons of England had ever a share in the legislature, and a place in great assemblies; though not on the pre sent footing, as making a distinct house. Parliaments are to be summoned, prorogued, and dissolved by the king alone; nor can a parliament begin without the king's presence, or that of his commissioners. A parliament is called by the king's writ, or letter, directed to the sheriffs of each county, to summon the people to elect two knights for each county, and one or two burgesses for each borough, &c. Anciently all the people had votes in the elections; till it was enacted by Henry VI, that none but freeholders residing in the county, and who had a yearly revenue of 40s. should be ad mitted to vote; nor were any to be elected, that were under 21 years of age. At first new parliaments were called every year: by degrees their term grew longer. In the time of king Charles II. they were held a long time with great interruptions. Both these methods were attended with such bad consequences, that in the be ginning of the reign of king William, an act was passed whereby the term of all parliaments was restrained to three sessions, or three years; hence called the triennial Since that time, from other views, the period of parliaments has been lengthened to seven years. The place where the parliament meets, is at the pleasure of the king; of late it has been in the palace of Westminster; the lords and commons each in a distinct apartment. In the lords' house, the princes of the blood are placed in distinct seats; the great officers of state, dukes, marquises, and bishops on benches; and the viscounts and barons on others across the house; all according to their order of creation, place, &c. The commons sit promiscuously; only the speaker has a chair at the upper, end, and the clerk and his assistant at a table near him. Before any matters are done, all the members of the House of Commons take the oaths, and subscribe the opinions against transubstantiation, &c. which test, the lords too, though they do not take the

act.

oaths, are obliged to take. The House of Lords is the sove reign court of justice of the realm,and the dernier resort'; the House of Commons is the grand inquest of the nation.

As to the manner of debating, and passing bills in Parliament.-Any member may move to have a bill brought in for any thing, which, upon a question put, being agreed to by the majority, that person with others, are ordered to prepare and bring in the same. When ready, a time is appointed for reading: after reading it by the clerk, the speaker reads the abstract thereof, and puts the question, whether or no it shall have a second reading? after a second reading, the question is, whether or no it shall be committed; which is either to a committee of the whole house, if it be of importance, or to a private committee, any member naming the persons. The committee being appointed, and a chairman chosen, the chairman reads the bill, pa ragraph by paragraph, puts every clause to the question, fills up blanks, and makes amendments, according to the opinion of the majority. The bill thus gone through, the chairman makes his report at the side-bar of the house, reads all the additions and amendments, &c. and moves for leave to bring up the report to the table, which granted, he delivers it to the clerk, who reads the amendments. The speaker then puts the question, whether they shall be read a second time ? and if agreed to, reads them himself. To so many as the house acquiesces in, the question is now put, whether the bill, thus amended, shall be engrossed and wrote fair on parchment, and read a third time? The bill engrossed, the speaker holds it in his hand, and asks if it shall pass? if the majority be for it, the clerk writes on it, soit baillé aux seigneurs, (let it be delivered to the lords.) Or in the House of Lords, soit baillé aux communes, (let it be delivered to the commons.) If a bill be rejected, it cannot be any more proposed during that session.

Forty members constitute a House of Commons, and eight a committee. A member of the commons, to speak, 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 personally reflected on, or by way of explanation. In

the House of Lords they vote, beginning at the puisne or lowest baron, and so up orderly to the highest, every one answering apart, content, or not content. In the House of Commons, they vote by yeas, and nays; and and if it be dubious which is the greater number, the house divides. If the question be about bringing any thing into the house, the ayes go out; if it be about any thing the house already has, the noes 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 ayes taking the right, and the noes the left of the chair, and then there are but two tellers. If a bill pass one house, and the other demur to it, a conference may be demanded in the painted chamber, where certain members are deputed from each house; and here the lords sitting covered, the commons standing bare, the case is debated. If they disagree, the affair is null; if they agree, this, with the other bills that have passed both houses, is taken to the house of lords. The royal assent may be given either in person, when the king comes to the house of lords, clothed in the royal robes, and with the crown on, before whom the clerk of the parliament reads the title of each bill, and-as he reads, the clerk of the crown pronounces the royal assent or dissent; or it may be done by Lords Commissioners, nominated in a special commission, to signify his Majesty's pleasure. If it be a public bill, the royal assent is given by these words, le roy le veut (the king wills it to be so.) If a private one, by soit fait comme il est desiré, (be it as it is desired.) If the king refuse the bill, the answer is, le roy s' avisera, (the king will advise upon it.) If it be a money bill, the answer is, le roy remercie ses loyaux sujets, accepte leur bienveillance & aussi le veut, (the king thanks his loyal subjects; accepts their benevolence, and also wills it so to be.) The bill for the king's general pardon, has but one reading.

The members of the House of Commons, are gentle. men of property chosen by the people, to represent them; as the people themselves are too numerous to assemble to do business, certain counties, districts, cities, boroughs, towns, &c. choose one, two or more to vote for them. These gentlemen consist of such as

do not sit in the house of lords; but they must possess an estate of not less than five hundred pounds a year.

The House of Lords consists of the spiritual and temporal lords of the realm. The spiritual lords are two archbishops and twenty-four bishops for Great Britain; and four bishops for Ireland. The temporal lords are dukes, marquisses, earls, viscounts, and barons, the numbers of which may be increased at the will of the king.

Acts of Parliament must have the concurrence of king, lords, and commons; otherwise they are no law. COURT OF CHANCERY.-This is the grand court of equity, and conscience, instituted to moderate the rigour of the other courts that are tied to the strict letter of the law. This court is either ordinary, like other courts, according to the laws, statutes, and customs of the nation, by granting out writs, &c. Or extraordinary, according to equity and conscience, by bills, answers and decrees, to examine frauds, combinations, trusts, secret uses, &c. to soften the severity of common law, and rescue men from oppression; to relieve them against cheats, unfortunate accidents, breaches of trust, &c. Out of the court of chancery, are issued writs or summonses for parliaments and convocations, edicts, proclamations, charters, protections, patents, safe conducts, &c. Here are also sealed and enrolled letters patent, treaties and leagues, deeds, writs, commissions, &c. The officers of this court, beside the lord chancellor, who is supreme judge, are, the master of the rolls, who, in the chancellor's absence, hears causes and gives decrees; and twelve masters in chancery, who are assistants, and sit by turns on the bench.

KING'S BENCH is the supreme court of common law in the kingdom. Belonging to this court are four judges, a chief justice, and three puisne ones.-The king used to sit, in person, in this court, though he determined no cause, but by the mouth of his judges. This court has great authority; it has the superintendence of all civil corporations, it protects the people and their liberties, and obliges magistrates to the discharge of their duty. It hears and determines both in criminal and civil causes, and we may appeal to this court against all determinations of the court of common pleas, and other inferior courts.