■ ww i mi ii iM i m^' i u i MumwilM'iroBTTm i fn iiinwiiiiiiiTiiiilliwiilfrirt HOW WE ARE GOVERNED; OE, THE CROWN, THE SENATE, AND THE BENCH. THE CONSTITUTION, GOVERNMENT, LAWS, AND POWER OF GREAT BRITAIN. ALBANY DE FONBLANQUK THE THIRTEENTH EDITIOl^, REVISED TO PRESENT DATE AND CONStDERABLY ENLARGED "BY A BARRISTER." LONDON: FEEDEEICK WAENE AND CO. BEDFORD STREET, STRAND. LONDON : EaADEUEY, AQKEW, & CO.,. PHINTEBS. WH1TEF1UAR9. TO THE REV. JAMES IND WELLDON, D.C.L., LATE HEAD MASTER OP TONBEIDGB SCHOOL, THIS BOOK BY HIS OLD PUPIL, THE AUTHOR. The original of tliis bool< is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031205580 PEEFACE THE THIETEENTH EDITION. An interval of seven years has elapsed since the publica- tion of the Twelfth Edition of " How We aee Governed." Important events have happened, and sweeping changes have been effected by the Legislature during that period ; and it has been the anxious task of the present Editor, while preserving as far as possible the original design of the work, to make such alterations and additions as will render it useful and reliable as a source of practical information, and at the same time convey to the student a comprehensive knowledge of the fundamental principles of our system of government. The whole has been carefully revised by reference to the best authorities, and from information derived from reliable sources ; and every effort has been made to maintain the high position in the estimation of the public which " How We are Governed" has hitherto been fortunate enough to enjoy. A BARRISTER. The Temple, May, 1879. PEEFACE TO THE TWELFTH EDITION. — ♦ — Soon after the piiblication of the Second Edition of "How Wb are Governed" the Author accepted a foreign appoint- ment, and was unable for a time to direct the alterations and additions which current legislation rendered necessary for the completeness of his Work. This task was performed first by Mr. Holdsworth, and afterwards by Mr. Ewald, with great skill j and it is only because the Author is now able to resume his natural duty that the services of the latter gentleman in this respect have ceased. Two entirely new chapters — Oub Colonies and Repre- sentatives Abroad — have been added, and no pains or expense wiU be spared to keep the Book up to the time, and merit for it in the Future a continuance of the favour it has met with in the Past. Albany de Fonblanque. New Orleans, 1st July, 1872. CONTENTS. PAGE LETTER I. Introduction — Purpose of ttis Work ...... 1 LETTER II. THE CONSTITUTION. The Origin of the British Constitution — Of Parliamentary Govern- ment — ^The Feudal System — Taxation of the Country — Origin of the Houses of Lords and Commons — Parliament — ^Eights of Englishmen — Habeas Corpus Act — Bill of Bights — The Press . 3 LETTER IIL THE QUEEN. The Three Estates of the Eealm — ^Duties of Grovernmeut — The Eoyal Office — Succession to the Throne — The Koyal Prerogative — The Ministry — Style and Titles of the Queen — The Revenue — The Civil List — The Koyal Family — Koyal Marriage Act . . 11 LETTER IV. TH-B HOUSE OF LORDS. The United Parliament — Composition of tihe House of Lords — Spiritual Peers — Temporal Peers — Kank of Spiritual Peers — Titles and .Rank of Temporal Peers — Creation of Peerages — Voting by the Peers — Privileges of the -Peers — ^The Supreme Court of Appeal ......... 18 LETTER V. THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. The Reform Bills of 1832 and 1867 — Representation of the County before the Reform Bill of 1832 — Rotten Boroughs—Party Spirit — An Election under the Old System — The present Composition of the House — The Parliamentary and Municipal Registration Act, 1878— Qualifications of the Electors— Of the Elected : in Boroughs; In Counties — ^Proceedings at a modem Election — The Issuing of the Writ — The Ballot— The Nomination — Former Proceedings at — The Ballot Act, 1872 — The Returning Officer — The Polling — The Return — Offences at Elections — Rights and Dnties of Members ...... 22 Vlll CONTENTS. PAflE LETTER VI. THE ADVISERS OF THE CROWN. The Privy Council — The Judicial Committee — The Cabinet Council — The Attorney- and Solicitor-General — The Ministry, its Com- position and Policy — The Opposition — ^Pensions of Ministers . 41 LETTER VII. PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT. Opening of Parliament — Election and Duties of Speaker — The Speech from the Throne — The Business of Government — Passing Bills, Public and Private — Divisions of the House— Voting by Peers — by the Commons — ^The Eoyal Assent — The Budget — Committee of "Ways and Means " — of Supply — ^Mutiny Act — Prorogation 4& LETTER VIII. THE NATIONAL DEBT. Its Origin — The Funds — Funding System — Transfer of Stock — Price of the sovereign — Reduction of Debt — Sinking Fund — Amount of Defet at various peri&ds of our History— Eevemie — Exports and Imports — Balance of Trade S LETTER IX. LOCAL GOVERNMENT. Its Principle, Origin, and Objects — High Sheriff and Lord Lieutenant of the County — Local Government Board — ^Public Health Act — Local Sates — The Parish and its Officers — The Constable — Church-wardens — Surveyor of Highways — The Vestry, General and Select — The Poor Law — The Law of Settlement — Operation of the Old Poor Law — The New Poor Law — Municipal Corpora- tions — Town CouucUs — Mayor and Aldermen — Boards of Health — Improvement Commissioners — The Metropolitan Board of Works .......... 61 LETTER X. THE CHUECH. History of the Church of England — Authority of the Pope The Keformation — Puritans — Koman Catholics — Jews, Disabilities of — Constitution and Discipline of the Church — Bishops Dean and. Chapter — Priest — Deacon— Tithes — Ordinations — Church Accommodation — Convocation — Dissenters — Kirk of Scotland — Church in Ireland — National Education ..... 71 CONTENTS. IX PAGE LETTER XI. ODE COLONIES. Hxtent of our Colonies — Crown Colonies — Colonies by Settlement — Power of the Crown — List of Britisli Colonies — Their Grovem- ment — India — Old and New Idea of Colonization . .84 LETTER XII. OUR REPRESENTATIVES ABROAD. The Diplomatic Service — Right to send Ambassadors — Privileges of Ministers — Their Stafif and Duties — The Consular Service — Its Origin — Peculiar Jurisdiction in Turkey — Capitulations— Inter- national or Mixed Tribunals — Consular Courts — Jurisdiction in China and Japan — Duties of Consuls — Their Pay and Emolu- ments — Slave Trade Commissions 101 LETTER XIII. THE ARMY. Origin and History of Standing Armies^The Feudal System — Mer- cenary Soldiers — Ancient Warfare — The Mutiny Act — The Secretary for War — The Staff — Cavalry — Infantry — Quartering of Troops — Camps — Autumn Manoeuvres — Late Purchase Sys- tem — Brevet Rank — Recruiting — Pay System — Dragoon Regi- ments — Names of Regiments — Regimental Colours — The Royal Artillery — The Royal Engineers — Composition of the Army — Precedence of Corps — Courts Martial — Order of the Bath — Victoria Cross — Decorations — Pensions and Rewards — The Reserve Forces— The Militia — The Yeomanry — The Volunteers — Reserve Forces — The Army Reserve. ..... 109 LETTER XIV. THE NAVY. Popularity of the Navy — Early History — Naval Ascendancy — Prizes of War — Size of Men-of-War — Board of Admiralty — Rating of Ships — Iron-clad Fleet — Stations of British Navy — Strength of Navy — ^Recruiting for Navy — Relative Army and Navy Rank — Commissions in the Navy — Pensioners — Coast Guard — Royal Naval Reserve — Royal Marines ... . 130 LETTER XV. THE CIVIL SERVICE. Ifature of the Civil Service — Treasury — Secretaries of State's Offices — Board of Admiralty — Board of Trade — Local Government Board — Inland Revenue — Customs — Post Office — Audit Office — Public Record Office — Paymaster-General's Office — Military Offices — Parliamentary Offices — Board of Works, &c. . . 144 CONTENTS. LETTER XVI. The Common Law — Statute Law — Civil .. Law— Koman Civil Law — Equity-^Conflicts of Law and Equity — ^New Proeedore — ^Inter- pretation of the Law — The Sheriff, his Office and Responsibility in Executing and Enforcing the Law 151 LETTER XVII. THE COURTS OP LAW AND EQUITr, AJv'D THEIR PROOEDtTRE. The Superior Courts — Circuits of the Judges — Their several Commissions — ^District Courts of Eecord — Counsel and Attorney — The Inns of Court — An Action at Law — The Pleadings — The Jury — ^The Trial — The Verdict — Judgment by Default — The Costs — Execution — Judges in Equity . . ....... 155 LETTER XVIII. OF CRIMES AXD OFFENCES. Definition of Crimes — Treasons — Felonies — Misdemeanours — Punish- ments^Costs of Prosecutions — Accessories and Accomplices — Nuisances — Common Law Offences 169 LETTER XIX. OF THE COURTS OF CRIMINAL LAW. The High Court of Parliament — The Court of the Lord High Steward — The Queen's Bench — OfiBce of Coroner — Of Justices of the Peace — The Assize Courts — The Central Criminal- Court — Quarter and Petty Sessions — Jurisdiction of Justices of the Peace and Police Magistrates 17S LETTER XX. OF THE PRACTICE OF THE CRIMINAL LAW. Conduct of Public Prosecutions — Arrest of Prisoners by the Police — Examination before Magistrates — Committal or Discharge of Prisoners — Indictments — Of&ce of the Grand Jury — Trial-^ Challenges of Jurors — Proceedings at Trial — Court of Criminal Appeal — Pardons 181 LETTER XXI. THE LAW OP EVIDENCE. Conditions of Evidence — Parol — Verbal — Direct — Circumstantial — Primary and Secondary Evidence 191 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED. LETTEE I. Introduction — Pui-pose of this Work. Mt dear , It is desirable that you should acquire some knowledge of the institutions under which you have the happiness to live ; of the machinery by which the government of the country is conducted; and of the judicial tribunals by which obedience to the law is enforced. That information I propose to impart to you in a series of Letters. I cannot of course enter very minutely into the details of so large a subject. For those I must refer you to other works ; but I hope to be able to give you such an out- line of our constitutional system as will not only be useful in itself, but will serve as an introduction to the more complete and careful study of this extensive and interesting field of inquiry. I propose to trace the rise and growth of our mixed con- stitution ; to point out the powers now possessed by the different estates of the realm ; and to indicate the manner in which they fulfil their functions. I shall devote a Letter to the National Debt ; and another to the not less important subject of that Local Self-Government, through which so much is done in England that is elsewhere the work of a highly centralized administration. The Church, the Army, and the Navy, will each receive due attention ; and I shall describe, with as much fulness as my space will permit, the different courts of Law and Equity, and the methods of pro- cedure in both civil and criminal cases. You will thus, I trust, be placed in a position to under- stand the various political questions which you may hear ^ INTROBUCTlOl^-. discussed around you, and to'appreciate both the substantial merits and the slight defects of a system, which has been formed by the persevering and patriotic efforts of many- generations of Enghshmen, and under which the British empire has come to be what we see it to-day — ^the envy and admiration of less fortunate nations. Your sincere friend, A. DE F. LETTEE II. THE CONSTITUTION. Tbo Origin of tlie British Constitution — Of Parliamentary Government — The FouJal System — Taxation of the Country — Oi'igin of the Houses of Lords and Commons — Parliament— Rights of Englishmen — Free- dom of the Press. This Letter must be considered as a sort of introduction to those which follow ; and in it I am obliged to depart from the rule of confining myself to treating of our institu- tions as they now exist for reasons which will you very soon perceive. The " constitution " of a country is the established system under which its government is conducted. It is defined by Paley to be " so much of its law as relates to the designation and power of the legislature ; the rights and functions of the several parts of the legislative body; the construction, office, and jurisdiction Of courts of justice." The origin of the British Constitution is hidden amidst the general obscurity which surrounds the early history of our ancestors. Harassed as they were by repeated invasions, and unsettled by consequent changes amongst their rulers, they have left us a very indistinct idea of the manner in which the business of their government was carried on. The principle, however, which guided it is clear ; for from a period long before the union of the states of the Heptarchy under one crown, the sway of their princes was assisted, and in some measure controlled by assemblages of their people, which may be taken to be the origin of the parlia- ments of the present day. These assemblages were known under various names. In Saxon, as the Micel Gem6t or Great Meeting ; the Micel Syn6d, or Gh-eat Council ; and the Witena GemM, or Meeting of Wise Men. After the consolidation of the seven kingdoms B % 4.' THE CONSTITUTION, the united council was called in Latin Commune Concilium liegni, " the Common Council of the Kingdom ; " Magnum Concilium Regis, " the Great Council of the King ; " Curia Magna, "the Great Court;" and in other languages by other similar designations, which I need not enumerate. The Witan chose the king, and the Witan could depose him. The laws were ordained and the taxes imposed by its au- thority. But although the Witan decreed the laws, it was the king who carried out their decrees. No important act of the king was valid without the assent of the Witan, which, together with the king, was thus made the supreme legislature and tribunal of the English kingdom. By an ordinance of Alfred the Great, it was commanded to assemble twice in the year at least, or oftener, according to the state of the country ; and the laws which it passed were prefaced with a declaration that they were such as the king, with the advice of his clergy and wise men, had instituted. It was composed of Lords Spiritual and Temporal — namely, of Barons, who were summoned by virtue of their tenure as holding in capite of the king, and of bishops and heads of re- ligious houses whose tenure was in chief of the crown. You will perceive hereafter how close a resemblance this ancient council bears to the modem parliament. Shortly after the Norman Conquest, the feudal system, at that time in force throughout a great portion of Europe, was introduced into England by William the Norman ; not, as is sometimes said, to enable him to reward his followers out of the spoils of a conquered country, but at the request of the Great Assembly of the Kealm, in order that the king- dom might be put into a state of defence against a threat- ened invasion from Denmark. Once established, however, by the people for their protection against a foreign enemy, it was soon turned against them by those to whom they looked for protection into an engine of the grossest oppression. Under this feudal system (which, in its piu-ity, was admirably adapted to an age in which war and conquest were the chief pursuits of mankind) the entire soil of a country was held to be the absolute property of its sovereign ; and was divided into estates called/eMc^s or feofs, and held of him by Bis chief men, called the barons, vassals, and tenants in capite of the Crown, upon the condition of their doing homage and swear- ing fealty (loyalty) to him, and attending him in his wars at the head of a certain number of armed men. To obtain, THE CONSTITUTION. 5 these they in turn had to distribute land, and also to let out their own estates for cultivation in their absence, whilst performing their services, receiving rent (called iu those days redditus, or a return) in the shape of corn and provisions to support them and their followers upon their campaigns. The relationship thus created was known as that of lord and vassal. Every vassal was bound to defend and obey his immediate lord, according to the terms under which he held his land, but no further. On his part the lord was bound to protect his vassals, and to do justice between them. At first these feuds were held only during the will of the lord ; they could not be transferred or disposed of by those who held them during their lives, nor did they descend to their heirs at their death. Those persons only who were capable of bearing arms, and were chosen by the lord, could succeed to them. Infants, women, and monks were there- fore excluded as a matter of course. Subsequently the heirs of a deceased tenant were permitted to share his lands amongst them upon payment of what was called a Jine, or present of armour, horses, or money to the lord. But the division of authority this occasioned was found to weaken the defences of the coimtry ; and it became the general rule to admit one heir only, in some parts the eldest, in others the youngest son of the deceased, or some other male rela- tive capable of taking upon himself the conditions of the feud. Gradually, as intelligence and wealth began to in- crease, and other arts than those of war to be followed, these feuds became the absolute property of their tenants — no longer vassals liable to be dispossessed at any moment at the mere caprice of the lord, hut freeholders of the soil, possess- ing power to sell or bequeath it as they pleased, subject only to certain rules of law. The changes which in a few lines I have thus narrated to you took many eventful years to accomplish. Our sturdy forefathers grappled manfully with the iron yoke to which they had unwittingly subjected themselves, and slowly, but surely, regained the freedom which had been enjoyed imder their old Saxon rulers. Their kings frequently required, for furthering their ambition or ministering to their pleasure, larger sums and greater services than the feudal system could provide ; and, as it was a mixed principle in this country, in its earliest days and under its most depostic rulers, that no man should be taxed without his own con- b THE CONSTITUTION. sent or that of his representative, the Great Council of the nation — the successors of the Witena Gtmbt — bad to be summoned to grant what was required. Seldom did it do so without obtaining in return the abolition of some abuse, or the restoration of some privilege as the price of its con- cessions. For a considerable time this council consisted of all the- king's harons, or those who held estates immediately of the Crown ; but its constitution was regulated by Magna Charta, which ordained that all archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons should be summoned to Parliament seve- rally by the king's letters. Thus what we now call the House of Lords was established. In times of peace the great barons resided in castles scat- tered throughout the country, in which they held almost regal state and exercised almost royal powers. The lower orders flocked beneath their battlements for protection against robbers and the followers of other lords hostile to their own ; for these barons were a lawless, turbulent race, and often at open war with each other. Thus, in many places, as population increased, towns were formed. There are few old cities and towns in England in the midst of which you will not see the ruins of some castle or fortress frowning from an eminence, or guarding the banks of a river ; and round its crumbling walls are sure to be found the oldest houses in the place. As arts, commerce, and trade began to take root and flourish, the inhabitants of some of these settlements became so enriched as to be able to pur- chase great privileges of their imniediate lords, and of the king, which rendered them independent communities. Soon, therefore, owing to the old principle which I have mentioned, it became necessary to summon some of their members \ o the Great Council, not as barons, but as citizens and burgesses. For similar reasons the freeholders, whose prpgress from a state of servitude I have already sketched, had to be repre- sented by hiiffJifs of the shire, elected from among them- selves, to enable the king to collect revenue from their rich brethren. The exact date at which our Constitution took this shape is the subject of much doubt ; but it is certain that in the reign of Heni-y III., or about the year 1265, Simon de Montford, Earl of Leicester, and the king's minister, issued writs directing the election of two knights for every county, two citizens for every city, and two bur- PROGRESS OF PAELIAMENTAEY GOVEENMEKT. 7 gesses for every borough, to serve in the Grand Council of the kingdom. In the reign of Edward I. was passed the famous statute that no tax should bo levied without the joint consent of Lords and Commons. In that of Edwai-d III. the laws were declared to be made with the consent of the " com- monalty," which by a Eoyal Charter is thus acknowledged as an " estate of the realm ; " and subsequently by a statute passed in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of the same monarch it was declared "that no taleage or aid shall be taken without the goodwill and consent of the archbishops, earls, barons, knights, burgesses, and other freemen of the land." I have quoted this to show from what classes the consent was to be obtained ; the principle which it confirms is, as I have said, of much older date. Thus was the power of the Commons acknowledged as a governing body in the State. It was some time before the Lords and the Commons ■were placed apart in separate chambers, and made distinct councils, each guided by rules, and performing duties, of its own, as we now find them. At first they sat together in one assembly ; and although the laws that they made ap- plied to the kingdom at large, each body taxed itself, and had no voice in fixing what should be paid by the other. The taxation of the country is now entirely managed by the House of Commons. For many years Parliament was made use of by our kings as a mere instrument for taxing the people. It was called together when money was wanted, and dissolved as soon as the requisite supplies were granted. Sometimes it refused to fill the king's purse until some harsh usage was repealed, some old custom restored, or the royal assent given to some new law; but many generations passed away before it began to make and alter the laws as part of its regular duties. I have followed the progress of parliamentary government so far, to account to you for the shape in which we now find it, not to supply a history of its rise. I will now give you a brief summary of the rights and privileges which during the periods that I have passed over, our forefathers won for us, and which we now enjoy. They were won by patient, but persistent opposition to royal despotism, and by the tenacity with which we glung to the Common Lav of the 8 THE CONSTITUTION. land, and the principles of government which prevailed pre- vious to the Norman Conquest. Thus, Magna Charta, which is sometimes spoken of as an act which created rights and liberty, for the most part merely recognized and enforced liberties and rights which had previously existed. The same thing with the Bill of Rights. Every subject of the United Kingdom is born free. He cannot be sold as a slave ; neither can he be put to death, banished, removed, or imprisoned, except by the judgment of a court of justice. He has a right to live in his country wherever he pleases, and to leave it when he chooses. His property cannot be interfered with except by operation of law. He may petition the sovereign, or Parliament. He .may appeal to the law, and its remedies cannot be denied to him. By the famous statute, called the " Habeas Corpus Act," any person who is imprisoned or kept under improper control may obtain a writ which entitles him to be taken into open court, there to learn the reason of his imprison- ment or detention ; and if he can show that he is improperly deprived of his liberty, he is entitled to be discharged from custody. Under the equally famous Bill of Rights (passed shortly after the accession of William and Mary to the throne vacated by James II.), the authority of Parliament and the freedom of the subject is confirmed in the following terms. It is declared — 1. That the pretended power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by regal authority, without consent of Parliament, is illegal. 2. That the pretended power of dispensing with laws, or the execution of laws, by regal authority, as it hath been assumed and exercised of late, is illegal. 3. That the commission for erecting the late Court of Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes (the Court of High Commission, founded by James II.), and all other com- missions or courts of like nature, are illegal and per- nicious. 4. That levying money for, or to the use of the Crown, by pretence of prerogative without grant of Parliament, for longer time or other manner than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal. 5. That it is the right of the subject to petition the king ; and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning arc illegal. BILL OF EIGHTS. 9 6. That the raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom, in the time of peace, unless it be with consent of Parliament, is against law. 7. That subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their defence suitable to their conditions, and as allowed by law. (This section now extends to all denominations of her Majesty's subjects, the oppressive laws relating to the Eoman Catholics having been repealed.) 8. That election of members of Parliament ought to be free. 9. That the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament. 10. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 11. That jurors ought to be duly impannelled and re- turned ; and jurors who pass judgment upon men in trials for high treason, ought to be freeholders. 12. That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons before trial are illegal and void. 13. That, for redress of all grievances, and for the amend- ing, strengthening, and preserving of the laws, parliaments ought to be held frequently. No mention of the freedom of the press is made in this celebrated declaration. Our press is now absolutely free ; no permission is required for the publication of any news, or any comments upon it. The conduct of the highest in the land may be praised or censured as their merits deserve — care only must be taken that no untrue or malicious state- ments are made, by means of which public peace and morality, or private character may suffer ; but even when such are put forward, they cannot be suppressed by any arbitrary exercise of authority. Like every other wrong, they must be submitted to a court of law, and by the judgment of a court of law alone can their authors be punished. " To submit the press," says Blackstone, in his ' Com- mentary upon the Law of England,' " to the restrictive power of a licenser, as was formerly done both before and since the Revolution (and is now done in almost every con- tinental State), is to subject all freedom of sentiment to the prejudices of one man, and to make him the arbitrary, in- fallible judge of all controverted points in learning, religion, 10 THE CONSTITUTION. « and government. But to punish (as the law does at present) any dangerous or offensive ■writings which, when published, should, on fair and impartial trial, be adjudged of a per- nicious tendency, is necessary for the preservation of peace and good order, of government and religion, the only solid foundations of civil liberty." My reason for introducing this important subject in this Letter may be gathered from the celebrated words of Mr. Canning, who said that, " He who, speculating on the British Constitution, should omit from his enumeration the mighty power of public opinion embodied in a free press, which pervades and checks, and perhaps in the last resort nearly governs the whole, would give but an imperfect view of the government of England." LETTEE III. THE QUEEN, The Three Estates of the Eealm — Duties of Government — The Royal Office — Succession to the Throne — The Royal Prerogative — The Ministry — Style and Titles of the Queen — The Revenue — The Civil List — The Royal Family — Royal Marriage Act. Having now laid the foundation of my subjoot, I shall proceed to show you how this country is governed at the present day. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is governed by its King or Queen and two Houses of Parlia- ment. These are commonly known as the " Three Estates of tlie Realm;" but this phrase properly applies to the three classes of which Parliament is composed — viz., the Lords Spiritual, the Lords Temporal, and the Commons. The duties of government are to make, and put in force, the laws of the country for its own people as subjects, and to represent them as a nation in their dealings with foreign powers. The first of these duties — the making of the law — is performed by the three estates conjointly ; the remainder belonging to the sovereign alone. I shall devote a letter to each of the three Estates, and in this will tell you of The Sovereign. There is no difference between the power exercised by a king and a queen in this country. Their office is hereditary, passing upon the death of the sovereign to the next heir — - males, in the same degree of relationship, being preferred to females : thus the youngest son of the present sovereign would inherit the throne to the exclusion of her eldest daughter, but any daughter would stand in the order of suc- cession before an uncle, a nephew, or a male cousin. The succession to the throne of the United Kingdom of 12 THE QUEEN. Great Britain and Ireland was regulated in the commence- ment of the reign of William III. by an Act of Parliament called the " Act of Settlement," by which the Koman Catholic branch of the family of the Stuarts was formally excluded from the succession. By this Act, the sovereign power was limited to the heirs of the Princess Sophia of Brunswick (the granddaughter of James I.), being Protestants. Upon the death of Queen Anne, the son of this princess, King George I., became king. He was succeeded by his son, George II. From him the crown descended to his grandson, George III., and from him to his son, George IV. ; who, dying without issue surviving, was succeeded by his brother, William IV. ; upon whose death, having left no children, the daughter of his next younger brother, the Duke of Kent, her present most gracious Majesty Queen Alexandrina Victoria, ascended the throne. The crown of these kingdoms can only be worn by a Pro- testant. Should the king or queen marry a Roman Catholic, it is forfeited from that moment. Nor can any member of the Royal Family, who is married to a Roman Catholic, ascend the throne. The person of the sovereign is sacred ; she is above the law ; no act of Parliament can bind her, unless it contain express words to that effect. It is also a maxim of the law that she can do no wrong ; she is not responsible for the commission of any act, and no omission on her part can be taken advantage of; she possesses the power of pardon and of mercy towards criminals ; she is the fountain of jus- tice and of honour; from her all titles of nobility and honourable distinctions spring ; all military and civil rewards and decorations, such as orders of knighthood, crosses, stars, and medals for meritorious services, are in her gift, and uo subject may wear or assume one granted by a foreign prince without her licence. All commissions to ofi&cers in the army and navy are granted, although they are not now signed, by her ; she has the power of proroguing Parliament — that is, putting an end to its sittings for a time, and of dissolving it and convoking a new one in its place ; she is the supreme head of the State, the Church, the Army, and the Navy ; she has the power of sending and receiving ambassadors, of declaring war and making peace, of arranging treaties, and coining money for the use of her subjects ; she may refuse her assent to laws passed by the two Houses of Parliament, MINISTERS OP THE CUOWN. 13 but has no direct voice in discussing them, speaking only through her ministers. These, and other rights, are called the livet'ogatives of the Grown. Under the British Constitution the sovereign must govern thi'ough her ministers, -who are responsible to Parliament and the country for her political acts, which are always presumed to be done by their advice. No ministry is able to carry on the business of the country for more than a very short time, unless it can obtain the assent of Parliament to its proceedings. Of late years the great political questions, upon which the formation and existence of ministries have depended, have been discussed and settled in the House of Commons. This Estate of the realm being elected by the people, you will perceive that the ministry, although nominally appointed by the Crown, is virtually chosen by the country. Should the ministry or Parliament attempt to interfere improperly with the royal prerogative, the sovereign can dismiss the one, and dissolve the other. Should a faction in Parliament oppose the ministry in doing what they and the queen consider to be for the welfaire and honour of the country, the opinion of all classes can be taken by summoning a new Parliament. Should the Crown and the ministry set themselves against Parliament and the people, the former, by refusing to grant supplies for the public service, could secure the dismissal of the obnoxious advisers. Thus a balance of power is preserved between the Estates of the realm, which prevents any of them from infringing the rights of the others, and makes the people of this country the happiest, the freest, and at the same time the most loyal nation under the sun. By an act of Parliament, passed at the time of the union of Great Britain and Ireland ( 1 800), it was provided that after such union the royal style and titles, appertaining to the Imperial Crown of the United Kingdom and its dependencies, should be sudi as the Gvoivn should appoint by Eoyal Pro- clamation. The style and titles of Her Majesty at the com- mencement of her reign were — " Victoria, by the grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith." But in 1876 an act was passed to enable the Queen, in recognition of the transfer of the Government of India to the Crown (1859), to make certain additions to the style and titles appertaining to the Imperial Crown of the United 14) THE QUEEN. Kingdom, and on January 1st, 1877, at a great assembly of the Princes and high dignitaries of India, at Delhi, the Queen was proclaimed " Empress of India.'' In former times, the taxes which were granted by Parlia- ment were handed over to the king, to be expended by him in maintaining his state, and for keeping up the military and naval services. He had also estates in various parts of the country called the erman lands, the rents and profits of which were paid into his treasury. The revenue, or annual income of the country derived from the taxes imposed by Parliament and the ijicome from these estates (with the exception of the Duchy of Lancaster, which belongs to her Majesty, not as Queen of England, but as Duchess of Lancaster), is now col- lected into one fund called the Consolidated Fund. The first charge upon this fund is the payment of interest upon the national debt called the funds, and upon the unfunded debt. The origin and progress of the national debt is so important and interesting a subject, that I shall devote to it a future • Letter. The next charge upon the Consolidated Fund brings me back to the subject which I have quittedJor a moment. It is an allowance called the civil list, apportioned to the Queen for the support of her household and the dignity of her crown. This was fixed by the statute 1st Victoria, cap. 2, at 385,000Z., to be paid annually, and appropriated as follows : Her Majesty's privy purse, 60,000Z. ; salaries of her Majesty's household and retired allowances, 131,260^. ; expenses of her Majesty's household, 172,500Z. ; royal bounty, alms, and special services, 13,200^. ; pensions, 1,200^. ; and unappro- priated monies, 8,040^. On the Consolidated Fund are like- wise charged the following sums, allowed to members of the royal family, namely — 25,000?. a year to the Duke of Edin- burgh ; 25,000?. to the Duke of Cflnnaught; 15,000?. to Prince Leopold ; 8,000?. to Princess Frederick William of Prussia (the Princess Royal of England) ; 6,000?. each to Princess (Helena) Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, Princess Louise, Marchioness of Lome, and the Duchess of Cam- bridge ; 3000?. to her daughter, the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz ; 5000?. to the Princess Mary, Duchess of Teok (formerly Princess Mary of Cambridge), and 12,000?. to the Duke of Cambridge. A dowry of 30,000?. was granted by Parliament to the late Princess Alice on her marriage, also an annuity of 6,000?. for life. The Prince of Wales has THE UOYAL FAMILY. 15 an annuity of 40,000?. payable out of the Consolidated Fund, settled upon him. He has also the revenues of the Duchy of Corn-wall, which now yield a net income of upwards of 65,000?. a year, with every prospect of their increasing. The Princess of Wales has settled upon her by Parliament the annual sum of 10,000?., to be increased to 30,000?. in case of widowhood. The sum for carrying on the civil govern- ment, including the salaries of the ministers of state, judges, ■ and others, is also charged upon the Consolidated Fund, the remainder of which is paid into the Exchequer, for the public service, to defray the expenses of our Army, Navy, Civil Service, &c., &c. The income now granted by Parliament to the Queen and charged on the Consolidated Fund is considerably less than has been enjoyed by Sovereigns of this country, since the time of the Stuarts. Soon after the Kestoration the income of the Crown derived from the excise and customs duties, the revenues of the post-office, of crown lands, and from other sources, amounted to 1,200,000?. Out of this sum, it is true, the king was bound to provide for the defence of the realm in time of peace, as well as for the expenses of govern- ment. But large additional grants were made from time to time by Parliament to meet extraordinary expenses. After the Eevolution of 1688 Parliament, in consideration of the services rendered to the country by William III., granted an annual sum of 700,000?. for the support of the Civil List. The expenditure, however, considerably exceeded this amount, and Geo. IV. enjoyed an income of 900,000?. granted by Parliament in addition to his income derived from other sources, over which Parliament had no control. It was not until the time of William IV. that Parliament obtained control over what are termed the hereditary revenues of the Crown, all of which, together with other sources of income, are now surrendered to the control of Parliament. And, as I have already pointed out, the income of her Majesty, Queen Victoria, is now fixed at 385,000?., and independent annuities are granted by Parliament to children of the Koyal House. The additional allowances thus granted by Parliament to the Prince and Princess of Wales and other members of the Eoyal Family, amount to an annual charge of 156,000?., and when it is remembered that the crown lands alone sur- rendered to Parliament yield an annual income of nearly 16 THE QUEEN. 380,000?.. it will be evident that the charge upon the nation for the support of the dignity of Koyalty is by no means extravagant^ as interested persons would sometimes have us believe, but that on the contrary the nationhas reaped consider- able benefit from the surrender of the hereditary revenues formerly enjoyed by the Crown in exchange for the fixed annual sum now granted by Parliament. All the great officers of state, the bishops, the judges, the ofiicers in the army and navy, are appointed by the queen, or in her name ; but as the ministry is responsible for the fitness of the persons appointed, and for their conduct whilst in the public service, the selection is placed in their hands, and the sovereign approves, almost as a matter of course, of the person recommended. Before I conclude, it would be as well were I to tell you something about the royal family. The royal consort — that is, the wife, or husband of a king or queen — has, as such, no share in the government of the country. They are subjects of the Crown only, and may be appointed to fill any post in the state that a subject can hold. A queen consort has some special privileges and pro- tections. She can sue and be sued in all courts of justice as though she were an unmarried woman ; and for this purpose she has her own attorney and solicitor-general to conduct her law business. She has power to purchase lands and to con- vey — that is, dispose of — them. No other married women can do these things. She has a separate household and officers of state. Her person, like the king's, is sacred. A queen dowager is the widow of a king. The Prince of Wales is the eldest son of the Sovereign, and heir-apparent to the Crown. He is created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester and Dublin, and is born Duke of Corn- wall. He is also High Steward of Scotland, Duke of Eoth- say. Earl of Carriok, Baron of Renfrew, and Lord of the Isles. His person and that of his wife are specially protected by the law. Should the eldest son die, his next brother may be created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, but does not become Duke of Cornwall. The Princess Royal is the eldest daughter of the sovereign. Her person is also specially protected, as, should no son be born or live to succeed to the crown, she would become queen. The other members of the royal family have no special rights conferred bylaw. They rank before all dukes, and are THE ROYAL FAMILY. 17 forbidden by the statute 12 Geo. III. c. 11, called the Royal Marriage Act, to marry without the consent of the sovereign signified under the great seal ; but it is provided that such of the descendants of Geo. II. " as are above the age of twenty- five may, after a twelvemonth's notice given to the King's Privy Council, contract and solemnize marriage without the consent . of the Crown, unless both Houses of Parliament shall, before the expiration of the said year, expressly declare their disapprobation of such intended marriage." Persons assisting, or being present, at a prohibited marriage incur very heavy peualties. The act I have quoted does not aifect the children of princesses married into foreign families. From this general sketch of the prerogatives of the Crown, and the position of the Royal Family, you will understand what is meant by saying that England is under a " limited monarchy." The sovereigns of other countries often assert a " divine right " to govern ; a sovereign of the house of Hanover can put "forth no such pretensions, because be holds his crown under, and by virtue of,, the Act of Settlement, and strictly subject to the conditions which it imposes. But although the direct power of the monarch be small, his in- direct influence is considerable. His personal predilections are not without weight in determining which of the leading statesmen of the predominant political party shall fill the post of first minister ; and, as the head of English society, he can materially influence the tone of manners and morals, and either promote or retard the progress of special im- provement. LETTER IV. THE HOUSE OP LORDS. The United Parliament — Composition of the House of Lords — Spiritual Peers — Temporal Peers— Rank of Spiritual Peers — Titles and lEank of Temporal Peers— Creation of Peerages — Toting by the Peers — PriTileges of the Peers — The Supreme Court of Appeal. The House of Lords or Peers, or, as it is also called, the Upper House of Parliament, ranks next in dignity to the Crown, as the second estate of the realm. Its origin I have already traced in my Introductory Letter. Before their respective union with England, Ireland and Scotland had each a parliament, and consequently a House of Lords of its own. Now, however, there is but one House for the United Kingdom, and only a certain number of peers selected from the nobility of the sister countries have seats in it. The Irish Eepresentative Peers are elected by their fellows for Life — those of Scotland for each Parliament. The members of the peerage of Scotland and Ireland who have not seats in Parliament enjoy every other privilege of their order, and many of them have English titles. Thus the Scotch Duke of Buccleuoh sits in the House of Lords as Earl of Donoaster ; and the Irish Marquis of Meath, as Lord Chaworth. The Sons and Daughters of the higher ranks in the Peerage are called Lords and Ladies by courtesy, but this gives no right to sit in Parliament. Peers of Scotland are no longer created ; but for every three Irish peerages that become extinct — that is, have no one capable of inheriting them — the Queen has the power of creating one new one ; but when the Irish peers are reduced to 100, on the extinc- tion of one peerage, another may be created. There is no limit to the niimber of British peers that she may make. The following is a summary of the members of the House of Lords in the session of 1878 : — PRIVILEGES OF THE PEEES. 19 SPIRITUAL PEERS. 2 Archbishops of England and Wales. 2-t Bishops do do. Total, 26 I Tvill tell you how Bishops are appointed in my Letter upon The Church, TEMPORAL PEERS. 25 Viscounts. 5 Peers of the Blood Royal. 21 Dukes. 19 Marquises. 115 Earls. 248 Barons. 28 Peers of Ireland. 16 Peers of Scotland. 26 Spiritual peers. 477 Temporal peers. There are 7 peeresses in their own right either by creation or descent. The Archbishop of Canterbury takes rank next after the youngest royal duke ; the Archbishop of York next but one, the Lord Chan^llor intervening. The bishops rank as barons at the head of that order, those of London, Durham, and Winchester taking precedence of all other bishops. The Queen may appoint as many bishops as she may be advised, but twenty-six only have seats in Parliament. They are said to sit, not by virtue of their sacred office, but as barons in respect of the temporal estates attached to their sees ; but some difference of opinion is felt by learned persons upon this point. The temporal peers rank in the order in which I have placed them in the above table, those in the same degree of nobility taking precedence according to the date of their creation. The title of Duke is derived from the Latin word dux, a leader. The title of Marquis was conferred upon those who held the command of the Marclies, as the boundaries between England and Wales, and England and Scotland, were called when those countries were hostile to this nation. The title of Earl is derived from the Saxon word lHorl (noble). The Earl formerly had the government of a shire. After the Norman Conquest Earls were called Counts, and from them their shires have taken the name of Counties. c 2 20 THE HOUSE OF LOEDS. The Viscount (Vice Comes) was tlie deputy of the Earl. The title of Baron is the oldest in point of antiquity, al- though the lowest in point of rank, of any order of nobility. He was, as I have already stated, one who held estates im- mediately of the king. Peers are now created by letters-patent from the Crown, Formerly a writ of summons, calling upon the persons in- tended to be ennobled, to take their place in the House of Lords, was issued ; and thus they became peers of Parlia- ment. Writs of summons are aiow issued when it is in- tended to call the eldest son of a peer to the House of Lords in the lifetime of his father. The House of Lords is usually presided over by the Lord Chancellor ; but he does not decide, as does the Speaker of the House of Commons, upon the regularity of its proceed- ings. The House at large does this ; and members whilst delivering their speeches address the assembly and not the Lord Chancellor, or other lord upon the woolsack. Up to within a short time ago Peers could vote either in person — - using the words content or non-content, to signify their ap- proval or rejection of the question before them — or by proxy — a signed paper to the same effect used upon their behalf, in their absence, by some other peer. But this privilege — which was not without its use in former days, when many of their Lordships were engaged in distant parts of the country holding the King's castles, or performing other public services, and when travelling was difficult and dan- gerous — has recently been resigned. Peers may enter a protest in the Journals of the House against any proceeding resolved upon by it against their will. They have the right of audience with the sovereign at all times. All laws relat- ing to- the rights of their order must be originated in the House of Lords ; and they may originate any others, except money hills^i.e., bills affecting the taxation of the country and bills affecting the constitution of the House of Com- mons ; and all disputed claims to titles of nobility are re- ferred by the Crown to it for decision. Peers cannot be arrested for debt. The House of Lords is the proper tribunal far trying persons impeached by the House of Commons : it also has the right . of trying its own members when accused of treason or felony. To assist it in these duties, the judges and law officers of the Crown have writs ad consnlimu'lum (to consult), and are its legal- advisers. Finallyj as the PRIVILEGES OP THE PEERS. 21 supreme court of justice in the kingdom, it is the last tri- bunal of appeal from the judgments of the several Divisions of the Supreme Court of Judicature in England, and the Court of Bankruptcy; but, practically speaking, this juris- diction is not exercised by the House as a body, but by such of its members, as hold, or have held, high judicial offices. A Peer who has become bankrupt cannot sit or vote in the House of Lords until he has satisfied his creditors or annulled his bankruptcy. - LETTER V. THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. The Eefoim Bills of 1S32 and 1867 — ^The Kepresentation of the country before the Reform Bill of 1832 — Kotten Boroughs — Party Spirit — • An Election under the old System — The present Composition of the House— The Parliamentary and Municipal Registration Act, 1878^ Qualifications of the Electors — Of the Elected : in Boroughs ; in Counties — Proceedings at a modem Election — The issuing of the Writ — The Ballot — The Nomination — Former Proceedings at — The Ballot Act, 1872— The Returning Officer— The Polling— The Ketam — Offences at Elections — Rights and Duties of Members. The House of Commons, or Lower House, consists of per- sons chosen by the people to represent them in parliament. I have already told you its origin, and why its members were assembled. The number of places to be represented and of the members that they were entitled to return was originally fixed by the kings ; and as they looked with great jealousy upon the increasing power of Parliament, no addi- tions of any great importance were made as the wealth and population of the country began to expand. A history of the progress of the House of Commons would be, in fact, a history of England, and with that I have no intention to supply you. I need only tell you that the Acts of Union with Scotland and Ireland fixed the number of members to be sent by each part of the United Kingdom, and that many abuses engendered by corruption and neglect were removed by the Eeform Bill passed in the year 1832. Before the passing of this measure an election was a very different affair to what it is now. In the first place, party spirit ran to a height which the better sense of the present day would not tolerate, and can scarcely realize. In many towns, a Whig would not sit down to the same table with a Tory, and their respective wives and families would not show common civility to each other when they were thrown in contact, merely because they happened to differ in politics ! Many large counties, such as Cheshire, Lancashire, Surrey, THE REFORM BILL OF 1867. 23 and Cornwall, which now return four members to Parlia- ment, sent but two ; whilst towns of considerable commer- cial importance, such as Manchester, Halifax, and Birming- ham, were not represented at all. On the other hand, numbers of petty places — belonging to some nobleman or rich country gentleman — of no political or commercial im- portance whatever, and containing not more than a score or so of voters, and often less, returned their one or two members to Parliament. These were called rotten boroughs, and those who owned and supported them horoughmongers. The party in opposition to these were reformers. The pro- prietor of a rotten borough returned whom he pleased ; himself, or his son, or nephew, or, if these were not of suffi- cient age, some obliging friend who would continue its mem- ber until they attained years of discretion, when he would retire in their favour. In counties where some great landowner was supreme, or a combination of landowners holding the same politics pre- vailed, the same thing was done. But in others, where the interests were divided, the fiercest contests took place. The voting began at nine o'clock in the morning and continiicd till four o'clock in the afternoon, and went on day after day, provided that a vote was recorded every hour, until the whole of the electors had polled. Thus you may easily per- ceive that in a constituency of several thousands the con- test might be kept up for months. And so they were ; the question in dispute being not who were the best men to send to Parliament, but which side wovild spend the most money. The most wholesale bribery went on openly, or was admi- nistered under the flimsy pretext of giving employment to ■ electors as agents, messengers, banner bearers, and the like, at wages out of all proportion to their labours. The electors who had voted were entertained, with a view to securing their suff'rages on some future occasion : those who had not were lodged and feasted in order that the other side might not obtain their votes. The more protracted the struggle, the more money would be spent by both parties, and the better would it be for the electors. Bands of prize-fighters and other ruifians were hired by rival candidates to uphold their cause and intimidate the weak and iin^'oteoted. Drunkenness and every species of debauchery reigjned para- mount. Electors were kidnapped by the opposing party for fear they should vote, or locked up by their friends for fear 24 THE HOUSE OE COMMONS. they should be kidnapped. Hundreds and thousands of pounds were spent in carrying out these disgraceful tactics ; and the resources of many a noble family were sadly crippled by the enormous outlay required. It is reported that the costs of a celebrated contested election in Leicestershire re- sulted in a permanent charge of 15,000^. a year upon the estate of the successful candidate ! There was no regularity of franchise (by which is meant the conditions which entitle a man to vote) in cities and boroughs. In some, every one who had a place in. which he could boil a pot (whence he was called a j>otwaller or potwal- lojier) was a voter — in others a mayor and corporation, con- sisting of some fifteen or twenty persons, had the sole right of electing a representative for as many thousands of their fellow-townsmen . The first Reformed Parliament met on January 29, 1833, and although this assembly, when compared with those that had preceded the great Eeform Bill of 1832, undoubtedly exhibited a great advance in the principle of national representation, still many of the abuses of the old system remained, and a pure electoral system was yet far from being attained. Many of the rotten borou:ghs, it is true, were swept away, but many others were suffered to exist. Nevertheless it was a great reform, and the Act, when passed, was looked- upon as a final settlement of the ques- tion ; but in less than five-and-twenty years the cry for Parliamentary Reform again arose, to be silenced perhaps only for a time by the Acts of 1867-8, under which the present House of Commons is constituted. The English Reform Act — the result of a compromise between the two great political jjarties — is of sufficient im- portance to be quoted at some length. I therefore give an abstract of its provisions, retaining the old form of the Act, and showing the amendments as introduced chiefly by the Parliamentary and Municipal Registration Act, 1878, by inserting the amending words within brackets. This latter Act came into operation on the 1st of February, 1879. Part L Occupation Franchise for Voters in Boroughs. — Every man shall, in and after 1868, be entitled to be registered as a voter, and, when registered, to vote for a member or members THE REFORM BILL OE 1867. So to serve in Parliament for a borough, who is qualified as follows : — He must be of full age ; and have on the [fifteenth] day of July in any year, and during the whole of the pre- ceding twelve calendar months, been an inhabitant occupier, as an owner or tenant, of any dwelling house [or part of a house separately occiipied as a dwelling] within the borough; and have during the time of such occupation been rated as an ordinary occupier in respect of the premises so occupied by him within the borough to all rates (if any) made for the relief of the poor in respect of such premises ; and have on or before the twentieth day of July in the same year paid an equal amount in the pound to that payable by other ordi- nary occupiers in respect to all poor rates that have become payable by him in respect of the said premises up to the preceding fifth day of January. [Every man shall be entitled to be registered and to vote under this section, notwith- standing that during a part of the qualifying period, not exceeding four months in the whole, he shall by letting or otherwise have permitted the qualifying premises to be occu- pied as a furnished house by some other person.] No man imder this section to be entitled to be registered as a voter by reason of his being a joint occupier of any dwelling house. [iBut wherean occupier is entitled to the sole and exclusive use of any part of a house, a joint occupation of any other part will not render his occupation otherwise than separate.] Lodger Franchise in Boroughs. — Every man, in and after 1868, shall be entitled to be registered as a voter, and, when registered, to vote for a member or members to serve in Parliament for a borough, who is qualified as follows : — He must be of full age, and, as a lodger, have occupied in the same borough, separately and as sole tenant, for the twelve months preceding the [fifteenth] day of July in any year the same lodgings [or different lodgings of the requisite value in the same house], such lodgings [whether furnished or un- furnished] being part of one and the same dwelling house, and of a clear yearly value, if let unfurnished, often pounds or upwards; and have resided in such lodgings during the twelve months immediately preceding the [fifteenth] day of July, and have claimed to be registered as a voter at the next ensuing registration of voters. Provision for Joint Lodgers. — [Where lodgings are jointly occupied by more than one lodger, and the clear yearly value of the lodgings, if let unfurnished, is of an amount which, 26 THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. ■when divided by the number of lodgers, gives a sum of not less than ten pounds for each lodger, and provided there be not more than two such joint lodgers, each lodger shall be entitled to be registered, and to vote as a lodger.] Property Franchise in Counties. — Every man, in and after 1868, shall be entitled to-be registered as a voter, and, when registered, to vote for a member or members to serve in Parliament for a county, who is qualified as follows : — He must be of full age, and not subject to any legal incapacity; and be seised at law or in equity of any lands or tenements of copyhold, or any other tenure whatever, except freehold, for his own life, or for the life of another, or for any lives whatsoever, or for any larger estate of the clear yearly value of not less than five pounds over and above all rents and charges payable out of or in respect of the same, or who is entitled, either as lessee or assignee, to any lands or tene- ments of freehold, or of any other tenure whatever, for the unexpired residue, whatever it may be, of any term originally created for a period of not less than sixty years, of the clear yearly value of not less than five pounds over and above all rents and charges payable out of or in respect of the same. No person to be registered as a voter under this section unless he shall have complied with the provisions of the twenty-sixth section of the Act of the second year of the reign of His Majesty William the Fourth, chapter forty- five. Occupation Franchise in Counties, and Time for Paying Rates. — Everyman, in and after 1868, shall be entitled to be registered as a voter, and when registered to vote for a mem- ber or members ^o serve in Parliament for a county, who is qualified as follows : — He must be of full age, and have on the [fifteenth] day of July in any year, and during the twelve months immediately preceding, been the occupier, as owner or tenant of lands or tenements within the county, of the rateable value of twelve pounds or upwards ; and have during the time of such occupation been rated in respect to the premises so occupied by him to all rates made for the relief of the poor in respect of the said premises ; and have on or before the twentieth day of July in the same year paid all poor rates that have become payable by him in respect of the said pre- mises up to the preceding fifth day of January. The Occupier to he Mated in Boroughs, and not the Owner. — Where the owner is rated at the time of the passing of this THE REFORM BILL OF 1867. 27 Act to the poor rate in respect of a dwelling house or other tenement situate in a parish wholly or partly in a borough, instead of the occupier, his liability to be rated in any future poor rate shall cease, and the following enactments shall take effect with respect to rating in all boroughs : — No owner of any dwelling house or other tenement situate in a parish either wholly or partly within a borough, to be rated to the poor rate instead of the occupier except as herein- after mentioned : The full rateable value of every dwelling house or other separate tenement, and the full rate in the pound payable ' by the occupier, and the name of the occu- pier to be entered in the rate-book : Where the dwelling house or tenement shall be wholly let out in apartments or lodgings not separately rated, the owner of such dwelling house or tenement to be rated in respect thiercof to the poor rate. Composition. — Nothing in this Act shall affect any com- position existing at the time of the passing of this Act, and no such composition shall remain in force beyond the twenty- ninth day of September next : nothing herein contained shall affect any rate made previously to the passing of this Act, and the powers conferred by any subsisting Act for the purpose of collecting and recovering a poor rate shall re- main and continue in force for the collection and recovery of any such rate or composition. Bates to be deducted from Bent. — When the occupier under a tenancy subsisting at the time of the passing of this Act of any dwelling house or other tenement which has been let to him free from rates is rated and has paid rates in pursuance of this Act, he may deduct from any rent due from him in respect of the said dwelling house or other tenement any amount paid by him on account of the rates to which he may be rendered liable by this Act. Inspection of Bate Books. — [In every parish the books con- taining the poor rates made for the parish within the previous two years shall, at all reasonable times, be open free of charge to the inspection of any registered voter, who may take any copy or extract therefrom.] First Begistration of Occupiers. — Where any occupier of a dwelling house or other tenement would be entitled to be registered as an occupier in pursuance of this Act at the first registration of Parliamentary voters to be made after the year 1867, if he had been rated to the poor rate for the 28 THE HOUSE OP COMMONS. whole of the required period, such occupier shall, notwith- standing he may not have been rated prior to the 39th Sept., 1867, as an ordinary occupier, be entitled to be regis- tered, subject to the following conditions : — Having been duly rated as an ordinary occupier to all poor rates ip. respect of the premises after the liability of the owner to be rated to the poor rate has ceased, under the provisions of this Act : That he has on or before the twentieth day of July, 1868, paid all poor rates which have become payable by him as an ordinary occupier up to the preceding fifth day of January. At a contested election for any county or borough repre- sented by three members, no person can vote for more than two candidates, or for the city of London (which has four members), for more than three candidates. This pro- vision gives the minority a chance of having a representa- tive. No Elector wlio has been employed for reward at any Elec- tion to he entitled to vote. — No elector who within six months before or during any election for any county or borough shall have retained or employed for all or any of the purposes of the election for reward by and on behalf of any candidate at such election as agent, (fee, or in other like employment, to be entitled to vote at such election, and if he shall so vote to be guilty of a misdemeanour. Part II. deals with the distribution of seats. Thirty-eight boroughs which had a less population than ten thousand at the census of 1861, send one member to Parliament instead of two j and the following new boroughs are created : — Chelsea— Two members. Darlington, Gravesend, Wednesbury, Hartlepool, Burnley, Middlesborough, Stockton, Staleybridge, Dewsbury, One member each. Merthyr Tydfil and Salford, which previously had but one member, are granted two. The city of Manchester and the boroughs of Liverpool, Birmingham, and Leeds are each granted three representa- tives to serve in Parliament. The University of London is granted a representative ; and every man whose name is for the time being ou the THE EEFOEM BILL OF 1867. 29 register of graduates constituting the convocation of the University, if of full age, and not subject to legal incapacity, may vote at his election. The borough of the Tower Hamlets is divided into two ; and thus is formed the new borough of Hackney. The following counties are also divided : — County to be Divided. Division. County to be Divided. Division. Cheshire North Cheshire. S. Lancashire S. E. Lancashire. Mid Cheshire. S. W. Lancashire. South Cheshire. Lincoln North Lincolnshire. Debyshire North Derbyshire. Mid Lincolnshire. South Derbyshire. South Lincolnshire. East Derbyshire. Norfolk West Norfolk. North East Norfolk. Devonshiro North Devonshire. East Devonshire. South East Norfolk. South Devonshire. Somersetshire East Somerset. Mid Somerset. West Somerset. Essex North West Essex. North East Essex. Staifordshire North Staffordshire. South Essex. West Staffordshire. East Staffordshire. West Kent West Kent. East SuiTey East Surrey. Mid Kent. Mid Surrey. Yorkshire (West Northern Division. N. Lancashire North Lancashire. Riding) Mid Division. N. E. Lancashire. Southern Division. Part III. contains the following important provisions : — Successive Occupation. — Different premises occupied in im- mediate succession by any person as owner or tenant during the twelve calendar months next previous to the last day of July in any year shall, unless as herqin is otherwise provided, have the same effect in qualifying such person to vote for a county or Jaorough as a continued occupation of the same premises in the manner hereinafter provided. Joint OcciqMtion in Counties. — In a county where pi'emises are in the joint occupation of several persons as owners or 30 THE HOUSE OP COMMONS. tenants, and the rateable value of such premises is such as ■would, if divided amongst the several occupiers, so far as the value is concerned, confer on each of them a vote, then each of such joint occupier shall, if otherwise qualified, and subject to the conditions of this Act, be entitled to be regis- tered as a voter, and when registered to vote at an election for the county ; but that not more than two persons being such joint occupiers shall be entitled to be registered in respect of such premises, unless they shall have derived the same by descent, succession, marriage, marriage settlements, or devise, or unless they shall be bond fide engaged as partners carrying on trade or business thereon. Notice of Rate in Arrear to he given to Voters. — ^Where any poor rate due on the 5th day of January from an occupier in respect of premises capable of conferring the franchise for a borough remains unpaid on the 1st day of June following, the overseers shall give notice, on or before the 20th of the same month of June, imless such rate has previously been paid or has been duly demanded by a demand note. The notice shall be deemed to be duly given if delivered to the occupier or left at his last or usual place of abode, or with some person on the premises in respect of which the rate is payable. [In case no such person can be found, then the notice shall be deemed to be duly given if affixed to some conspicuous part of the premises.] Any overseer who shall wilfully withhold such notice with intent to keep such occu- pier off the list of voters, shall be deemed guilty of a breach of duty in the execution of the Registration Acts. Overseers to make out a List of Persons in arrear of Rates. — Overseers of every parish shall, on or before the 22nd day of July in every year make out a list containing the name and place of abode of every person who shall not have paid, on or before the 20th day of the same month, all poor rates which shall have become payable from him in respect of any premises within the said parish, before the 5 th day of January then last past, and the overseer shall keep the said list, to be perused by any person, without payment of any fee, at any time between the hours of ten in the forenoon and four in the afternoon of any day, except Sunday, during the first fourteen days after the 22nd day of July ; any over- seer wilfully neglecting to make out such list, or to allow the same to be perused, shall be deemed guilty of a breach of duty in the execution of the Eegistration Acts. THE REFORM BILL OF 1867. 31 Begidration of Voters. — The overseers of every parish or township shall cause to be made out lists of all persons who are entitled to vote for a county in respect of the occupation of premises of a clear yearly value of not less than ten pounds. The claim of every person desirous of being regis- tered as a voter for a member or members to serve for any borough in respect of the occupation of lodgings, shall be in a form provided by the overseer, and every such claim shall, after the last day of July, and on or before the 25th day of August, be delivered to the overseers of the parish in which such lodgings shall be situate, and the particulars of such claim shall be published by such overseers on or before the 1st day of September next ensuing in a separate list. So much of section eighteen of the Act of the session of the sixth year of the reign of Her present Majesty, chapter eighteen, as relates to the manner of publishing lists of claimants, and with respect to the proofs of the claims of persons omitted from the list of voters and objections thereto, shall be as heretofore. Publication of Lists in Borouglis. — [In every borough any list which is by the Parliamentary Eegistration Acts or this Act (1878) directed to be published by overseers shall be published by them not only in the manner directed by those Acts, but also by being affixed and kept in some public and conspicuous position in or near every post office, and in or near every public municipal or parochial office within the parish to which the list relates.] Provision as to Glerhs of Peace in Parts of Lincolnshire. — As several of the hundreds now assigned to Mid-Lincolnshire are situate in the parts of Lindsey, and others are situate in the parts of Kesteven, and the liberty of Lincoln consisting of the city and the county of the City of Lincoln is situate partly in the parts of Lindsey and partly in the parts of Kesteven, in forming the register for the said division of Mid- Lincolnshire the clerk of the peace of the parts of Lindsey shall do and perform all such duties as are by law required -to be done by clerks of the peace in regard to such of the hundreds assigned to Mid-Lincolnshire as are situate within the said parts of Lindsey, and in regard to so much of the liberty of Lincoln as is situate within the said parts of Lind- sey ; the clerk of the peace of the parts of Kesteven shall do and perform all such duties as are by law required to be done by clerks of the peace in regard to such of the ■Si THE HOUSE or COMMO-VS. said hundreds assigned to Mid-Lincolnshire as are situate ■within the said parts of Kesteven, and to so much of the liberty of Lincoln aforesaid as is situate within the said parts of Kesteven. Polling Places. — In every county the justices of the peace having jurisdiction therein or in the larger part thereof, as- sembled at some court of general or quarter sessions, or at some adjournment thereof, may, if they think convenience requires it, divide such county into polling districts, and assign to each district a polling place, in such manner as to enable each voter, so far as practicable, to have a polling place within a convenient distance of his residence. Where any parish in a borough is divided into or forms part of more than one polling district, the overseers shall make out the lists of voters in such manner as to divide the names in con- formity with each polling district. The town clerk shall cause the list of voters for each borough to be copied, printed, arranged, and signed and delivered in the manner directed by the Act, so as to correspond with the division of the borough into polling districts. A description of the polling districts made or altered irt pursuance. of this Act shall be advertised by the local authority in such manner as they think fit. The local authority may, from time to time, alter any districts made by them under this Act. When polling places or polling districts are altered, or additional polling places or districts are created, the same shall be advertised by the justices in such manner as they shall think fit, and when so advertised shall have the same force and effect as if the same had been published in the London Gazette. Hours of Polling in the Metropolis. — [By a short Act of Par- liament passed in the year 1878, the time for polling was extended to include the hours between 8 a.m. and 8 p m. in the following boroughs : — London, Hackney, Westminster, -Lambeth, Chelsea, Marylebone, Finsbury, Southwark, Greenwich, Tower Hamlets.] Payment of Expenses Illegal. — It is enacted that it shall not be lawful for any candidate, or any one on his belialf at any election for any borough, except the several boroughs of THE REfOllM BIlL OF 1867. S3 East Retford, Shoreham, Cricklade, MucLi Wenlock, and Aylesbury, to pay any money for the conveyance of any voter to the poll, but such payment shall be deemed to be an illegal payment -within the meaning of " The Con-upt Prac- tices Prevention Act, 1854." Rooms for taMng the Poll. — At every contested election, the Returning Officer shall, whenever it is practicable so to do, instead of erecting a booth, hire a building or room for the purpose of taking the poll. The time for delivery of lists of voters shall be December instead of November as heretofore. Receipt of Parochial Relief. — It is enacted that overseers of every parish shall omit from the lists made out by them of persons entitled to vote for the borough and county in which such parish is situate the names of all persons who have received parochial relief within twelve calendar months next previous to the [fifteenth] day of July in the year in which the list is made out. Further Provisions. — [The overseers of every parish shall ascertain from the relieving officer acting for that parish the names of all persons who are disqualified from being inserted in the list of voters by reason of having received parochial relief, and the relieving officer upon application from the overseers shall produce the books containing the names of those persons.] Election in the University of London. — The Vice-Chancellor of the University of London to be the retm-ning officer. Elec- tions for the University of London to be within six days after receipt of writ, three clear days' notice being given. At every contested election of a member or members to serve in Parliament for the University of London, the polling shall commence at eight o'clock in the morning of the day next fol- lowing the day fixed for the election, and may continue for not more than five days (Sunday, Christmas day. Ascension day, and Good Friday being excluded), but no poll shall be kept open later than four o'clock in the afternoon. At every election of a member to serve in Parliament for the University of London the Vice Chancellor shall appoint the polling place, and shall have power to appoint two or more Pro-Vice-Chancellors, any one of whom may receive the votes and decide upon all questions during the absence of such Vice-ChanceUor ; and such Vice-Chancellor shall have power to appoint poll clerks and other officers, by one or more of whom the votes may be entered in the poll book, or such number of poll books aa s 31 THE HOUSE OP COMMONS. may be necessary ; and such Vice-Chan cellor shall, not latei' than two o'clock in the afternoon of the day next following the close of the poll, openly declare the state of the poll and make proclamation of the member chosen. It is enacted that no person shall be registered as an elector for the city of London unless he shall have resided for six calendar months next previous to the last day of July in any year, nor be en- titled to vote at any election for the said city unless he shall have ever since the last day of July in the year in which his name was inserted in the register then in force have resided, and at the time of voting shall have continued to reside within the said city, or within twenty-five miles thereof or any part thereof. Bribery. — Any person, either directly or indirectly, cor- ruptly paying any rate on behalf of any ratepayer for the purpose of enabling him to be registered as a voter, thereby to influence his vote at any future election ; and any candi- date or other person paying any rate on behalf of any voter for the purpose of inducing him to vote or refrain from voting, shall be guilty of bribery ; and any person on whose behalf any such payment is made shall also be guilty of bribery, and punishable accordingly. Clause L. — The returning ofiicer, his deputy, the partner or clerk or either of them acting as agent, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour. Clause LI. — Demise of the crown not to dissolve Parlia- ment. Members holding offices of profit from the crown not required to vacate their seats on acceptance of another office. Copy of reports of commissioners to be evidence in cases of corrupt practices. Clause 54 provides for separate registers where boroughs and counties have been divided by this Act. Clause 55 provides for the formation of new boroughs. The revising barrister to write the word " borough " opposite the name of each voter, if not entitled to vote for the county. The franchises conferred by this Act shall be in addition to existing franchises, but no person shall be entitled to vote for the same place in respect of more than one qualification. It is enacted that the County Palatine of Lancaster shall cease to be a County Palatine in so far as respects the issue of writs for the election of members to serve in parlia- ment. The Parliamentary and Municipal Eegistration Act, 1878, Qontains elaborate provisions as to the arrangement of lists of BOROUGHS DISFRANCHISED. 35 voters, the duties and powers of revising barristers, the mode of objecting to registration of a voter, together with a sche- dule of forms, but the main provisions of the Act of 1867 are unaltered, except in the few instances I have indicated. Scotland and Ireland have special Eeform Acts, which were passed in the year 1868. In Scotland the franchise for burghs is fixed at the same rate and on the same conditions as in England, with the distinction that a voter may be exempted from payment of poor rates on the ground of inability to pay, and still retain his qualification. An occupation tenure of 14^. value gives a vote in counties : all the other provisions of the English Act are in force, modified so as to be applied according to the peculiar legal process of the country. Additional seats were given : one to the Universities of St. Andrews and Edin- burgh j one to those of Glasgow and Aberdeen ; one to Glasgow city. The counties of Lanark, Ayr, and Aberdeen were divided, each division to return one member, and Dundee to return two ; the counties of Selkirk and Peebles were united, losing a member, which was given to the grouped burghs of Selkirk, Hawick, and Galashiels. Aberdeenshire was divided into East and West. Ayrshire was divided into North and South. Lanarkshire was also divided North and South. To make room for these addi- tions the English boroughs of Arundel, Ashburton, Dart- mouth, Honiton, Lyme Regis, Thetford, and Wells were wholly disfranchised. Penalties or punishments for infractions of the regulations of the Act were imposed, as in the English Act, and may be recovered or inflicted by the usual process. In Ireland the franchise for householders in towns was reduced from 8^. to 4i., and for lodgers was fixed at the value of lOZ. a year, unfurnished. No redistribution of seats was made. The House of Commons consists at present (1878) of 650 members, returned as follows by the three divisions of the United Kingdom : — ENGLAND AND WALES. MEMBERS. 52 Counties and Isle of Wight . . .187 200 Cities and boroughs . . . . 293 3 Universities 5 Total of England and Wales . . 485 s a 36 THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. SCOTLAND. MEMBERS. 33 Counties 32 22 Cities and burgh districts . . , . 26 4 Universities ...... 2 Total of Scotland ... 60 IRELAND. 32 Counties ...... 64 33 Cities and boroughs 39 1 University . . . . ". . 2 Total of Ireland Total of United Kingdom The degree of Master of Arts, without any property quali- fication , confers a vote in the Universities, and its possessor may vote by filling up a voting paper and sending it through the post. His signature must be attested by a justice of the peace, and the person using the voting paper must make the following declaration : — " I solemnly declare that I verily believe that this is the paper by which A. B. [the voter] intends to vote, pursuant to the provisions of the University Election Act, 1861 and 1868." All other voters must vote in person. The following are disqualified from voting. No person can vote who. 1. Is an alien or foreigner, 2. Has not arrived at the age of 21 years. 3. Has been convicted of perjury in a court of law. 4. Has been in receipt of parochial relief during the year. 5. Is concerned or employed in collecting the house duty. 6. Who is employed under the Commissioners of Stamps, or is such, commissioner. 7. Who is employed in any way connected with the Gene- ral Post Office, or is a police constable. 8. Who is a peer of the realm ; and MODE OF ELECTING MEMBERS. 87 9. Who has been convicted of bribery, treating, or using undue influence at an election. In every county, city, and borough a register of qualified voters is kept. This list is revised once every year by bar- risters appointed for that purpose, when the names of per- sons who have become entitled to vote are entered, and the names of those who have died or become disqualified are struck out. Until the year 1858 members of the House of Commons were required to possess a property of a certain value ; but in that year this qiialification was abolished. The following, however, are disqualified by law : — 1. Aliens. 2. The Judges of the Supreme ■ Court of Judicature, magistrates, and revising barristers. 3. Persons under the age of 21 years. 4. Clergymen — Protestant and Roman Catholic. 5. Outlaws in criminal cases, and persons convicted of treason and felony. 6. Candidates reported guilty of bribery or treating at an election (disqualified only for the existing parliament). 7. The returning ofiicer of the county, city, or borough of which he is such officer. 8. Persons concerned in the management of taxes created since 1692, or holding places of profit under the Crown created since 1718. 9. Pensioners of the Crown. And lastly, 10. Army agents, government contractors, and sheriffs' officers. Seven years is the limit fixed by law for the duration of any parliament ; at the end of that period it becomes dis- solved as a matter of course. It is also dissolved six months after the death of the Sovereign, and may, as has already been said, be put an end to at any moment by the exercise of the royal' authority. When a new Parliament has to be called together, a royal warrant is directed to the Lord Chancellor, ordering him to cause the writs authorizing the elections to be made out and issued. In every place entitled to be represented in Parlia- ment is a person called " the Returning-Officer," whose duty is to manage the election. In counties the sheriff, and in cities and boroughs the mayor, bailiff^, or some other person 38 THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. duly appointed, is the returning-ofiicer. The writs are de- spatched to these returuing-officers, commanding them to elect their members, which they must do in boroughs within six days after the receipt of the writ ; while in counties twelve days are allowed, but the election must not be held sooner than the sixth day. A great and salutary reform was effected in the year 1872 in the mode of conducting parliamentary elections. In con- sequence of the rioting which sometimes disgraced the public nomination of candidates, the disturbance of ordinary busi- ness which nearly always prevailed, and the expense of erect- ing hustings, it has been determined that this proceeding shall be taken in a more private manner, and that the voting shall be by ballot, in the hope that by enabling an elector to record his vote in secret, it will be useless to bribe and impossible to intimidate him. This Act has now been in operation for six years, and will continue in force until the 31st December, 1880, when Parliament will be called upon, by the light of the experience thus gained, to determine whether the system of voting by ballot has maintained its claims to be considered a useful electoral reform. Previous to the year 1872 candidates for election were nominated in public and upon a day fixed, called the nomirM- tion day, if no suitable room could be had, a covered platform called the hustings, was erected in the principal town in counties, and in some convenient locality in other places, upon which the candidates for election and their friends assembled. The candidates were proposed by one supporter, and seconded by another. They then addressed the electors, stating their political opinions and their claims to represent them. If the number of persons proposed did not exceed that which the electors were entitled to send to Parlia- ment, they were elected then and there ; if more were put in nomination, the returning-officer called for " a show of hands," and declared which candidate had the greatest num- ber held up for him, but as there was no way of discovering whether all who thus gave their vote were entitled to one, any candidate unwilling to abide by this decision, might demand a poll. But it was provided by the Ballot Act of 1872, to which I have already referred, that, during the operation of that Act, candidates should be nominated in writing, subscribed by two registered electors as proposer and seconder, and by eight other registered electors as assenting to the nomina- MODE OP ELECTING MEMBEES. 89 tion. The nomination paper thus signed must be delivered to the returning-officer during the time appointed for the election by the candidate himself, or by his proposer or seconder. If at the expiration of one hour after the time appointed for the election no more candidates shall be nominated than there are vacancies to be filled up, the returning-officer shall forthwith declare the candidates who may stand nominated to be elected. No one except the candidate, his proposer and seconder, and one other person selected by him, shall bo entitled to attend the proceedings. It is now unnecessary for a candidate to demand a poll. If the election is contested, the returning-officer must, after adjourning the election, give notice of the day fixed for the poll. The'poU is opened by the returning-officer, who must first make a declaration of secrecy in the manner prescribed in the Act. The votes are given by ballot. Each voter is supplied with a ballot paper showing the names and descriptions of the candidates. The voter secretly marks his vote on the paper, and after folding it up so as to conceal his vote, places it in a closed box in the presence of the presiding officer. After the close of the poll the ballot boxes are sealed up and delivered into the charge of the returning-officer, who opens the boxes, and after ascertaining the result of the poll by counting the votes, declares to be elected the candi- date or candidates for whom the majority of votes have been given. In case of an equality of votes the returning-officer, if a registered elector, has a casting vote. The forging, defacing, counterfeiting, &c., of ballot papers, or wrongfully interfering with ballot papers or ballot boxes, is made a misdemeanor by the Act, punishable by imprison- ment, with or without hard labour, for any term not'exceed- ing six months. If the offender is the retm-ning-officer, or an ofi&cer or clerk in attendance at the polling station, he is liable to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years with or without hard labour. And all officers, clerks or agents in attendance at a polling station, are bound to maintain secrecy under a penalty of imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, with or without hard labour. The Member of Parliament when elected may be deprived of his seat, if it can be proved that he, or his agents with 40 THE HOUSE OP COMMONS. his knowledge, have been guilty of bribery, corruption, or undue influence in obtaining votes ; or if it be found that persons had voted for him who had no right to do so, and that when their votes were deducted, his opponent had a majority of duly-qualified electors. In former times, the House of Commons, as a body, decided as to the validity of elections. Later on this duty was confided to a Select Committee ; and now it is performed by the Judges of the Supreme Court of Judicature. Election petitions are tried in the county or borough in which the election sought to bo invalidated has taken place. Should a vacancy occur during the sitting of Parliament, the Speaker, by order of the House, issues his warrant to the clerk of the Crown, and the writ is sent down, as I have narrated. If it happens during the recess, if the Speaker is informed of it in writing, signed by two members of Parliament, the writ is issued without an- order of the House. A member properly returned may be expelled the House for misconduct, and his seat will become vacated if he be made bankrupt, and does not satisfy his creditors within a year, or if he accepts an office under the Crown ; he may, however, be re-elected, and afterwards fill it. If he merely chanc/e the office he holds — for example, if the Solicitor- General become, by promotion, Attorney-General — he need not submit himself for re-election. A member may not resign the trust confided to him ; but by his acceptance of the stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds, or of' the Manor of Northstead (sinecure offices under the Crown preserved for the purpose), his seat will be vacated and he pan thus retire from Parliament. He cannot be made liable for any- thing that he may say in debate. The power is granted by statute to the House of Commons to administer the oath to witnesses examined at the bar of the House, and to any committee of the House to administer the oath to witnesses examined before such committee. The Lower House has tlie right to originate all bills relating to, or affecting the revenue and the taxation of the kingdom, and to vote the supplies ; nor can any bills dealing with the taxation of the country be altered or amended by the House of Lords. That Hoiise can only reject them, or pass them in the form in which they come up from the Commons, LETTEK VI. THE ADVISEES OF THE CEOWN. The Privy Council — The Judicial Committee — The Cahinet Council — The Attorney- and Solicitor-General — The Ministiy, its Composition and Policy— The Opposition — Pensions of Ministers. I HAVE told you that the advisers of the sovereign are responsible for his political acts ; I must now tell you who these are. The principal council of the crown is the Privy Council. Its members (whose number is now unlimited) are appointed by the sovereign, and can be removed at her pleasure. The oath taken by a privy councillor upon entering office is as foUews : 1. To advise the queen according to the best of his cun- ning and discretion. 2. To advise for the queen's honour and good of the public without partiality through affection, love, meed, doubt, or dread. 3. To keep the queen's counsel secret. 4. . To avoid corruption. 6. To help and strengthen the execution of what shall be there resolved. 6. To withstand all persons who would attempt the con- trary. And lastly, 7. To observe, keep, and do all that a good and true counsellor ought to do to his sovereign lord. The power of this Council as a body has of late years been very much diminished. Its judicial business (which mainly consists of hearing appeals from the courts in our plantations or colonies, from India, and from the Admiralty and Ecclesiastical Courts) is transacted by a committee, called the " Judicial Committee of the Privy Council," and consisting of judges and other eminent lawyers made mem- 42 THE ADVISEES OP TBE CROWN. bers for the purpose. Every archbishop or bishop in the Privy Council is also a member of the Judicial Committee, for the purpose of hearing ecclesiastical appeals, when at least one archbishop must be present. An Act of Parlia- ment, passed in 1871, regulates the appointment of addi- tional salaried members to facilitate the despatch of business. Its duties of advising the Crown and conducting the government of the country are almost exclusively per- formed by the principal ministers of State, who are members of the Cabinet Council. This is so termed on account of its being originally composed of such members of the Privy Council as the king placed most trust in, and conferred with apart from the others in his cabinet or private room. Curiously enough, although it is a body of the highest im- portance — being in fact the government of the country — it is not recognized in any way by the constitution. It is not, even in any strict or formal sense, a Committee of the Privy Council, to' which, however, its members always belong. On this subject Macaulay writes, " Few things in our history are more curious than the origin and growth of the power now possessed by the Cabinet. From an early period the Kings of England had been assisted by a Privy Council to which the law assigned many important functions and duties. During several centuries this body deliberated on the gravest and most delicate aifairs. But by degrees its character changed. It became too large for despatch and secrecy. The rank of Privy Councillor was often bestowed as an honorary distinction on persons to whom nothing was con- fided, and whose opinion was never asked. The sovereign, on the most important occasions, resorted for advice to a small knot of leading ministers. The advantages and dis- advantages of this course were early pointed out by Bacon, with his usual judgment and sagacity ; but it was not till after the Eestoration that the interior council began to attract general notice. During many years old-fashioned politicians continued to regard the Cabinet as an unconsti- tutional and dangerous board. Nevertheless, it constantly became more and more important. . It at length drew to itself the chief executive power, and has now been regarded, during several generations, as an essential, part of our polity. Yet, strange to say, it still continues to be altogether un- known to the law. The names of the noblemen and gentle- men who compose it are never officially announced to the THE CABINET COUNCIL. 43 public. No record is kept of its meetings and resolutions ; nor has its existence ever been recognized by any Act of Parliament." The criminal jurisdiction of the Privy Council, that in the days of the Star Chamber (which was composed of its mem- bers), was stretched to so dangerous a length, is now no greater than that exercised by justices of the peace. Her Majesty is freqiiently empowered by Act of Parliament to make proclamations and orders upon given subjects, "by and with the advice of her Privy Council," but only such members as are specially summoned attend upon each occasion. Privy councillors are distinguished by having the words " riglvt honourable " prefixed to their christian names or initials. All Peers are Privy Councillors. The Sovereign may appoint her own ministry, or may order any person to form one ; but as a majority in parliament is indispensable for the carrying on of government, it follows that, in practice, the ministry is composed of the leader of the political party in power, assisted by his friends and sup- porters. The Cabinet Council, shortly termed the Cabinet, forms only part of the ministry or administration. The constitution and number of the Cabinet depend upon the recommendation of the First Lord of the Treasury, who is the chief of the ministry, and who appoints his colleagues or " forms the ministry," usually selecting those of his sup- porters who have rendered conspicuous political services to his party, or whose administrative capabilities, rank, talent, or powers of oratory are likely to aid him in the task of carrying on our intricate system of " party government." The Cabinet usually consists of at least nine, and at the present time of thirteen, of the following great officers of state : — The First Lord of the Treasure/. This office is now gene- rally held by the Premier, or first minister, but he may hold any other. The Lord High Chancellor — the law adviser of the ministry, and keeper of the great seal. The Lord President of the Council. The Lord Privy Seal. The Chancellor of the Exchequer — who arranges and accounts to parliament for the public revenue and expenditure. 44 THE ADVISERS OF THE CROWN", The Secretary of State for the Home Department — who manages the internal affairs of the kingdom. The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs — who conducts our intercourse with foreign nations. The Secretary of State for the Colonies. The Seoretary of State for the War Department. Tlie Seoretary of State for India. The Postmaster-General. The First Lord of the Admiralty — who presides over the affairs of the Royal Navy. The President of tlie Board of Trade — who attends to matters relating to trade and commerce. Tlie President of the Local Government Board — for the supervision of the laws relating to the public health, the relief of the poor, and local government generally. The Vice-President of the Council mi Education — ^who pre- sides over the committee of the Privy Council charged with the administration of the education department. Distinguished statesmen who hold no office under govern- ment are sometimes made members of the Cabinet. In order to facilitate the despatch of business in Parlia- ment, it is generally arranged so that the chiefs of Depart- ments who are Peers, have their Under-Secretaries in the House of Commons — and vice versd. Many other political offices subordinate to those I have mentioned, and a number of places in her Majesty's house- hold are filled by members of the party in power, who resign them when their friends go out of office. The chief legal adviser of the Crown is the Lord Chan- cellor ; its law officers are the Attorney- and Solicitor-General. The latter is selected from amongst the most distinguished Queen's Counsel (a grade in the legal profession which I will explain in due course). They have to investigate the claims of inventors to letters patent, by which the sole right to use or permit the use of the invention is secured to its owner for a term of years. They represent the Crown in the courts of law and equity. In cases of high treason both these officers invariably appear. A Ministry usually belongs to a distinct political party, and accepts office pledged to carry out some particular plan or policy of government. The party in Parliament that is opposed to this is called the Opposition. The Ministerial members — those who generally support the Ministry— sit on THE CABINET COUNCIL. 45 the right hand side of the Speaker's chair in the House of Commons, and those of the Opposition on the left. In the House of Lords — substituting the throne for the Speaker's chair — the same rule is generally observed, except upon high state occasions, when the Lords take their seats upon separate benches, according to the rank that they hold in the peerage, irrespective of their political opinions. When the Ministry is defeated — that is, placed in a minority upon some question intimately connected with the policy under which they took ofi&ce ; or if a vote of want of confidence is passed against them, they should resign, and, constitu- tionally speaking, the Opposition ought to be able to take their place. When ministers have served for a period of three years they are each entitled to a pension of 2000Z. for life on retirement, in computing which period it is usual to reckon the aggregate tenure of office, if it should happen that any of them have served more than once. The pension is not granted as a matter of course, but on application, and only when the circumstances of the applicant render it necessary. LETTEE VII. PROCEEDINGS IN PAKLIAMENT. Opening of Parliament — Election and Duties of Speaker — The Speech from the Throne — The Business of Government — Passing Bills, public and private — Divisions of the House— Voting by Peers, — by the Commdns — ^The Royal Assent— The Budget — Committee of "Ways and Means " — Of Supply — ^Mutiny Act — ^Prorogation. On the day fixed for the meeting of a new Parliament the members of both houses assemble and take the oaths prescribed by law. The Commons then, tinder an order from the Crown, proceed to elect their Speaker. This important officer of the Crown is chosen by the House of Commons from amongst its own members, subject to the approval of the Sovereign, and holds his office till the disso- lution of the Parliament in which he was elected. His duties are, to read to the Sovereign petitions or addresses from the Commons, and to deliver in the royal presence such speeches as are usually made on behalf of the Commons ; to manage, in the name of the House, where counsel, witnesses, or pri- soners are at the bar ; to reprimand persons who have in- curred the displeasure of the House ; to issue warrants of committal or release for breaches of privilege ; to communi- cate in writing with any parties, when so instructed by the House; to exercise vigilance in reference to private bills, especially with a view to protect property in general, or the rights of individuals from undue encroachment or injury ; to express the thanks or approbation of the Commons to distin- guished personages ; to control and regulate the subordinate officers of the House ; to adjourn the House at four o'clock if forty members be not present ; to appoint tellers on divi- sions. The Speaker, as such, must abstain from debating. In committee of the whole House, when the Chairman is in the chair, he can join in the discussions like any private THE queen's speech. 47 member. As Speaker of the House, his duties are the same as those of any other president of a deliberative assembly. Should a member persevere in breaches of order, the Speaker may " name " him, as it is called, a course uniformly followed by the censure of the House. In extreme cases the Speaker may order mejmbers or persons who have committed breaches of privilege of the House into custody, until the pleasure of the House be signified. On divisions when the numbers are equal, he gives the casting vote. At the end of his official labours he is generally rewarded by a peerage, and a pension of 4000Z. for two lives. He is a member of the Privy Council. When her Majesty opens Parliament, she goes in State to the House of Lords, and takes her seat upon the throne. The Commons are then summoned, and such members as please attend, with their Speaker, at the bar. The royal speech, prepared beforehand by the Ministry, and in which the present condition of public affairs is briefly set forth, and the new measures to be submitted to the Legislature adverted to, is handed to the Queen by the Lord Chancellor and read by her ; after which, her Majesty retiring, the business of the session commences. The Commons return to their own chamber, and, by way of form, read some bill to keep up their privilege of not giving priority to the royal speech. Two members appointed by Government then move and second the "address" in either House, thanking her Majesty for her gracious speech, and each House appoints a deputation to present it. In former days the debate upon the address was often very vehemently contested, and " amendments " or alte- rations, implying a refusal to accept the intended policy of the Ministry, were frequently proposed; but of late, al- though the leaders of the Opposition in each House usually criticize closely the topics contained in, or omitted from, the speech, the address is generally passed without further opposition. When Parliament is opened by Commission, the royal speech is read by one of the Commissioners, and the address passed as I have stated. The business of making and altering the laws is carried on by each House of Parliament independently of the other. No proceeding which has taken place in the one may properly be alluded to in the other, nor may any past debate of the same session be mentioned. Their deliberations are supposed 48 PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT. to be secret, and although the public is admitted to hear the debates, and reporters from the newspapers attend regularly to publish them, this is only practically permitted by a foolish fiction under which their presence is ignored. Should any member draw the attention of the Speaker to the fact, that there are strangers in the House, he had formerly no alter- native but to order them to withdraw. Owing to the abuse of this privilege on the part of certain members of the House it was found necessary to modify the rule, and proposals to exclude strangers must now be formally made, and are put to the vote without a debate. The Speaker still retain- ing the power of clearing the House when he should think necessary. There are parts of the House to which strangers may be admitted when no objection is made, but any attempt to trespass upon the portion set apart for members of Parliament would be treated as a serious con- tempt. By a curious fiction, the space immediately around the Throne and the Woolsack, in the House of Lords, is deemed not to bg a part of that House. So that when the Lord Chancellor wishes to speak, he moves from the Woolsack to the front of the head of the ducal bench, and from thence addresses the peers. The only official report of proceedings in Parliament is printed by the Queen's printer. I have already stated the measures which it is the privilege of the Lords or Commons to originate. There is one bill only which the Crown has a right of initiating — an Act of General Pardon. This is originated by the Sovereign, and read once in each House of Parliament. All others may be introduced in either House, and by any member ; only such as are of great public importance are generally taken charge of by the Grovernment, who having certain days of the week exclusively devoted to the discussion of the bills they bring in, have better opportunities of passing them. Government bills are entrusted to the head of the department which con- ducts that branch of the administration which the proposed new law will affect. Thus, bills relating to the colonies are brought in by the Colonial Secretary j to police, prisons, &c., by the Home Secretary ; to taxes, by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, &c. &o. Bills are either (1) public, afifeoting the general interests of the State ; or (2) private, enabling private individuals, asso- ciated together, to undertake works of public utility at their BILLS, PUBLIC AND PEIVATE. 49 own risk, and, in a degree, for tteir own benefit j and also relating to naturalization, change of name, or for perfecting titles to estates, &c. Public bills may originate in either House, unless they be for granting supplies of any kind, or unless they involve directly or indirectly the levying or ap- propriation or removal of any tax or fine, for then they must be initiated in the Commons j so must all private bills which authorize the levying of local tolls or rates. Estate, peerage, and naturalization bills are commenced in the Lords. The House of Lords meets at five o'clock in the afternoon, the House of Commons at four o'clock, except on Wednes- day, when it sits at noon. In both Houses, however, morn- ing sittings are sometimes specially appointed. Before the commencement of business in either prayers are read ; in the Lords by one of the bishops, and in the Commons by the Speaker's chaplain. Three members must be present in the former, and forty in the latter, or there is what is called " no house," and business is adjourned until the next day. In the House of Lords a peer merely gives notice of his intention to bring in the bill, but a member of the Lower House must obtain its leave to do so before he can introduce it. If permission be given, the bill, in manuscript, with blank spaces for dates, numbers, and other particulars likely to be altered, is brought in, and the introducer moves that it be read a first time. Every motion made in the Lower House must be seconded. In the House of Lords no seconder is required. When leave is given the bill is read a first time, and ordered to be printed ; copies of it are distributed amongst the members, and upon the day fixed it is read a second time, and its principle then fully discussed, matters of detail being reserved for arrangement in the next stage, when the House goes into " committee " upon it. When this takes place, the Speaker quits the chair, and another parliamentary officer, the chairman of committees, presides. Each clause is read over in order, and altered, added to, improved, or striick out, as the majority decide, and sometimes the bill is entirely remodelled. At this stage a member may speak several times upon the same motion ; at other times he may only speak once. When the bill has been gone through to the end in this manner, the Speaker resumes his place, and the chairman brings up the report of the committee, which is, in effect, the bill itself with its amendments. The House may then add improvements of its own, and accept or reject 50 PROCEEDINGS IN PAULIAMENT. those made in committee. The bill is then engrossed upon parchment, and read a third time, and if agreed to, the question is put, "that the bill do pass," when it maybe further altered. If this motion be carried, the bill is sent to the other House of Parliament, where it has to go through the same process over again. If it be amended there, it is sent back with the alterations made, to which, if the House which originated it agree, a message is sent to say so ; if not, a conference between the two Houses takes place, and the difference between them is generally settled ; but if this can- not be done, the bill is abandoned. On a bill passed by the Commons being sent up to the Lords, the clerk of the former endorses on it " Sm halli aux Seigneurs ; " and the same form is observed by the clerk of the Lords on a bill being sent to the Commons, the endorsement being " Soi halle aux Com- munes." When the bill has passed through both Houses in this manner, it is ready to receive the royal assent, which is given either by her Majesty in person or by commission. When her Majesty gives her consent in person, her concurrence is previously communicated to the clerk-assistant, who reads the titles of the bills, on which the royal assent is signified by a gentle inclination. If it be a bill of supply, the clerk pronounces loudly, " La reigne remercie ses hons 'sujeis, accepts leur benevolence et and le veult." " The Queen thanks her good subjects,, accepts their benevolence, and answers, ' Be it so.' " To other public bills the form of assent is " La, reigne le veult," — " The Queen wills it so." To private bills, " Soifait comme il est desiri," " Be it as it is prayed." When the royal assent is refused, the clerk says, "La reigne s'avisera," " The Queen will consider of it;" but these words are never now pronounced, and have not been heard since Queen Anne refused to sanction the Scotch Militia Bill in the year 1707. A bill may be opposed at any, or all, of its stages. When it is intended to do so, after a sufficient discussion has taken place, the " question " is " put " by the Speaker, and the House is divided. Those members who vote for the bill, or amendment in it, go into one lobby of the House, and those who vote against it into another. Tellers, or counters of the voters on either side (generally the mover and seconder of the bill and two of its principal opponents), are appointed to ascertain the numbers in each. The result is written THE BUDGET. 51 down upon a slip of paper, which is Landed to the teller of the side that has a majority, who reads the figures aloud. He then hands the slip to the Speaker, who again formally reads the figures, and declares the result of the division. If an error in counting the votes or any breach of order during the division has occurred, the member affected sitting in his usual place and with his hat on must call the atten- tion of the Speaker thereto before the announcement of the numbers. The Speaker does not vote except when the House is equally divided, he then may give a casting vote. In " committee " he is entitled to speak and vote like any other member. In the House of Lords, peers vote by the words " content " and " non-content." la the Commons, members signify their wish by saying "aye" or "no." Bills must pass through all their stages in one session. So a formal method of throwing one out, is to move that it be read a second time "that day six months," or "to-day three months," when it is certain that Parliament will not be sitting. Bills are also sometimes referred to select committees chosen by the House in which they are introduced. These Committees deliberate and examine witnesses, to ascertain whether the proposed measure is essential or otherwise, in apartments provided for the purpose, and report the result of their in- vestigations to the House. Private and personal bills are based upon petitions, and if they propose to interfere with the land or property of any one, their purport must be advertised in the public papers. They are referred to a committee charged to investigate their provisions, before which persons interested in or affected by them may appear by counsel. The committee makes its report to the House, and the bills are passed or rejected in the same manner as public bills. Early in the session the Chancellor of the Exchequer lays his Budget (from the French word hougette, a bundle) before Parliament. This contains an estimate of the sum required for the service of the State, for the Army, Navy, Civil Ser- vice, &c. (fee, and the means proposed for raising it by taxa- tion, or otherwise. The duration of a Ministry very often depends upon the correctness and sound financial policy of its Chancellor of the Exchequer. The sum required is voted, or refused, in Oommittee of Ways and Means, and if granted, the manner in which it is to be applied is discussed, item by E 2 5 a PROCEEDINGS IX PARLIAMENT. item, in Committee of Supply , in whicli members are at liberty to ask questions as to its application, ■which are answered by the Minister to whose department they refer. The reso- lutions in Committee of Supply are embodied into what is called the Appropriation Bill, which is sent up for approval to the House of Lords. This House may reject, but cannot alter it. The passing of this bill is usually the last business of the session. To pass the Mutiny Act is also the annual business of Parliament. In former days the monarch often used the army to control the liberties of the subject. To remedy any abuse of power in this respect, it has for many years been the custom to pass the laws relating to the discipline and regulation of the army for one year only, to be renewed the next. If anything happened to prevent the Mutiny. Act being passed in proper time, the whole of our army would be in fact disbanded. The Mutiny Act is now under re- vision. When the business of the session is concluded. Parliament is prorogued, or, if necessary, dissolved, by the sovereign in person, or by commission, when a royal speech is delivered commenting upon the proceedings of the session, the state of public affairs, and thanking the Commons for voting the supplies. LETTER VIII. THE NATIONAL DEBT. It? Origin— The Funds— Faaiittg System — Transfer of Stook — Price of Monsy — Reduction of Debt — Sinking Fund — Amount of Debt at various periods of our History — Revenue — Exports and Imports — B;ilance of Trade. The National Debt consists of sums borrowed by Govern- ment to make up defioiences of revenue. Charles II. was the first king of Great Britain who borrowed money on the national credit ; this began in 1660. At the abdication of James II., in 1688, the amount of the debt was upwards of 660,000^. But it was his successor who established the system. The Revolution, and the consequent banishment of the house of Stuart, involved us in a long and costly war with Louis XIV. of France, who espoused the cause of our exiled king. The seat of his son-in-law, William III., upon the vacated throne, was by no means secure. A large and powerful party of Englishmen still remained true to James II. as king de jure (of right), and many others only just tole- rated the sway of the de facto sovereign. Money, far beyond what the ordinary revenue of the country would provide, was required to defray the heavy expenses of the struggle which we were compelled to wage in defence of our religion and liberties ; and it was felt that it would be dangerous in the extreme to impose new taxes sufficient to meet the demand. The cause of Louis was the cause of James, and it was not to be expected that the adherents of the latter would quietly submit to heavy imposts designed to furnish means for destroying their fondest hopes. It was therefore deter- mined to borrow money upon interest, and to repay it when the resources of the country were in a more flourishing con- 54 THE NATIONAL DEBT. dilion. But the exigencies of the public service owing to wars went on increasing, and loan after loan was contracted, not only in succeeding years but in succeeding reigns. But much to the credit of our country, it has to be noticed that at almost every interval of peace some serious attempt was made at reducing the public indebtedness. Throughout the history of the National Debt of the British Empire during this early period this was a feature which stood out in singular contrast to the financial policy of all other nations. And it was this that mainly supported our credit through- out the wars with the first Napoleon, to which the bulk of our indebtedness has to be attributed. In the period of twenty-two years comprised between 1793 and 1815, the augmentation in the National Debt was over six hundred millions. Since the Battle of Waterloo it may be substan- tially said that England has paid out of revenues for every war she has waged, and has in addition diminished her debt some eighty millions. In 1875 an Act of Parliament was passed with the object of providing for the gradual reduction of the National Debt, by means of a new permanent Sinking Fund, to maintain which the Legislature annually votes a proportion of the national re- venue, which is now fixed at twenty-eight millions annually. At the conclusion of the financial year, 1878, the total Na- tional Debt, funded and unfunded, amounted to 777,781, 596Z. The term fund applied originally to the taxes or funds set apart, as security, for repayment of the principal sums ad- vanced and the interest upon them ; but when money was no longer borrowed to be repaid at any given time, it began to mean the principal sum itself. In the year 1751, Govern- ment began to unite the various loans into one fund, called the Consolidated fund (which you must not confuse with that of the same name into which part of the revenue is collected), and sums due in this are now shortly termed consols. These come under the general denomination of stocks. The interest paid upon loans during the reigns of Wil- liam III. and Anne was various; but latterly, instead of varying the interest upon the loan, according to the state of the money-market' at the time, it was fixed at three per cent., the necessary addition being made in the prin- cipal funded. Thus, suppose that Government could not borrow money under four-and-a-half per cent., they would give the lender 150?. three per cent, stock for every 100?. he THE FUNDS. 55 advanced, and the country -would be bound to pay him 41. 10s. a-year as interest until the debt was extinguished by a payment of 150^. This was eventually found to bo a very bad plan, and it was calculated, when it was discontinued, that owing to its adoption, the debt then existing amounted to nearly two-fifths more than the sum actually advanced, and that we were paying from 6,000,000^. to 7,000,000;. a- year in interest more than would have been due had the money been borrowed at the market rate of the day, and funded without increase of capital. For the market rate of interest might fall the week after the loan was con- tracted, whereas the additional capital funded remained undiminished. A portion of the revenue is set apart every year to pay the interest vipon the National Debt to such persons as have themselves lent money, and to those by whom the claims of others have been inherited, or to whom they have been trans- ferred. The person to whom stock is transferred need not receive any certificate of the transfer, but his nama is regis- tered in the National Debt books. If he disposes of the whole or any part of it, it is again transferred from his name to that of its new proprietor. The registry books are ar- ranged alphabetically in the Bank of England, and distri- buted in several apartments, marked with the initial letter and syllables of the book they contain. Thus everybody is able to find the exact place where his account is kept. The business of buying and selling stock, however, is almost en- tirely in the hands of the stochhrolcers, who become agents for the parties who wish to procure or part with it, and -transact all the necessary operations upon their behalf. The Bank of England manages the payment of interest upon the funds for Government. The value of a nominal IQQl. of stock fluctuates according to the abundance or scarcity of money in circulation. During the last hundred years the market price of 100^. in the 3 per cent, consols has been as low as 47f, and as high as 102|-. Anything that tends to endanger or lessen the national pros- perity causes the Funds to sink, and vice vend. Foreign nations have attempted to keep up the price of their stocks by force of law, but have failed signally. Money, like water, will find its own level, and no legislative enactments will cause any permanent increase, or the contrary, in ita value. .56 THE NATIONAL DEBT. I saw that you were much puzzled once when your uncle and I were talking of the value of the sovereign. You thought, no doubt, that sovereigns and shillings were of a fixed and un- alterable value ; and as far as regards their shape and weight they are so. But really and practically they are no more than pieces of gold and silver, worth just as much as you can get in exchange for them, and no more. A sovereign repre- sents so much land or so many legs of mutton, or pieces of ribbon, or cricket bats, or anything else that we may require. If there are only a very few legs of mutton in the market, and plenty of sovereigns to buy them with, the holders of money must {practically) compete with all other persons re- quiring meat, and give as much for it as any of them will pay. If, on the other hand, legs of mutton are numerous, and there are very few sovereigns in circulation, the tables are turned — the butcher must compete (in the same way as before) for the money, and give as much meat as others will in return for the gold. Therefore, when you say that certain things are cheap or dear, you mean, in other words, that they are relatively plentiful or the reverse. You were also no doubt puzzled to hear us talking of the j^rice of money. The price of money is the price or rate of interest at which you can borrow money. As in the instances I have just given you you will see that when money is plentiful a person in good credit can obtain it at a lower rate of interest than when it is scarce. For the gradual reduction of the principal of the National Debt, sinking funds were established ; the first by Sir Robert Walpole in the year 1716, the second by Mr. Pitt in 1786. By the latter an estimated surplus of 900,000^. in the revenue was augmented by taxes, so as to make up a sum of one million ; and this was to be applied every year towards paying oif the public creditors. As long as this, or any sur- plus remained over expenditure, it might be properly and successfully applied to this purpose; the time came, how- ever, when there was no such thing, but the sinking fund did not disappear with it. We were soon at war again, and obliged to make new loans to supply a deficiency, but the 900,000?. were still applied as before, and the fund still deserved (iu one sense) the term by which it was known, for it was sinking the nation deeper and deeper in debt. We were discharging liabilities iipon which a small amount of interest was due with one hand, and contracting fresh ones SINKING FUNDS. 57 upon which we had to pay a large interest with the other. We were, in fact, following the example of the Irishman in the story, who, finding that his blanket was not long enough to cover the upper part of his bed, cut a piece off its other end to supply the deficiency ! The financiers of the day were deluded by a fascinating theory that the sinking fund accumulating upon compound interest (that is, interest upon interest) would in time equal the debt. Dr. Price, at whose instigation the second sinking fund was established, attempted to prove this by various calculations. Biit to secure the marvellous increase effected in time by compound interest, all the proceeds must be re-invested and added to the capital, not expended as income ; and this was never actually done. One of the methods successfully adopted for decreasing the amount of interest paid upon the funds, was for Govern- ment to offer — when it had a surplus in hand — to redeem sums of stock unless the holders agreed to accept a lower rate upon them ; and as this was proposed at the market price of the day, they were generally willing to do so. Another attempt, however, is now being made to reduce the National Debt by establishing a sinking fund. By the Act of 1875, which I have already mentioned, called the '■■ Sinking Fund Act," an annual sum of 28,000,000?. is charged upon the consolidated fund, and after paying inte- rest on exchequer bonds and certain specified annual chajrges, the National Debt Commissioners are directed to apply the surplus, which is to be called the New Sinking Fund, to pay off and redeem certain portions of the National Debt. The amount of debt paid off by the New Sinking Fund in each of the under-mentioned financial years was as follows : — 1875-6 £297,241 18 5 1876-7 297,253 17 9 1877-8 1,165,976 12 11* Total amount paid off . . 1,760,472 9 1 Totalamouutof National Debt at 1st April, 1875 . £775,348,686 „ „ 31st March, 1878 . . 777,781,596 Increase of total amount of National Debt between above dates £2,432,910 *£356,685 lOs. Sd. of this was paid off with money proper to the year 1876-7. 58 THE NATIONAL DEBT. Actual amount of Debt paid off by the New Siniing ) ace-, ro, n « Fimcl in 1878-9 . . . . . . \ *661,633 3 3 Estimated Net Increase of the Total Amount of the I National Debt in 1878-9 .... £267,750 * Most other nations have contracted public debts, but the National Debt of England exceeds the heaviest known, with the exception of that of France since the German war ; and this fact is often thrown in our teeth, when the greatness of our country is the subject of discussion. But such is the vastness of our trade and the elasticity of our resources, that the impost is by no means insupportable. Indeed some maintain that we are better off with it, than we should be without it. I do not go so far as this. The debt, however, is the price we pay for the position (out of all proportion to their geographical limits) which these little islands have won. Some of the wars for carrying on which it was incurred, might have been averted probably, or brought to speedier termination; but others were most necessary, and, taking the rough with the smooth, it is very fair that posterity should bear a portion of the burden, as they participate in the experiences and benefits it secured. The following table will show you the amount of the National Debt (both funded and unfunded) at various periods of our history down to the year 1878 : — Year. 1688. 1702. 1714. 1749. 1763. 1786. 1798. 1802. 1814. 1817. 1850. 1856. 1860. 1864. Occasum, On the accession of 'William III. . On the accession of Queen Anne On the accession of George I. At the end of the Spanish war At the end of the Seven Years' war Three years after the American war . After the Irish rebellion and foreign war Close of the French revolutionary war Close of the war against Buonaparte When the English and Irish Exchequers were con- solidated ...... Conclusion of the war with Russia Amount. £664,263 16,500,000 54,000,000 78,000,000 139,000,000 268,000,000 462,000,000 571,000,000 865,000,000 840,850,491 790,927,016 803,913,694 804,285,240 811,290,829 * The net increase of Unfunded Debt in the year 1 87S^9 was £5, 267, 1 00, made up as follows : — Net amount raised for local loans, £2,730,000; ditto for supply, £2,600,000; Suez Bonds paid off, £62,900; total, £5,267,100. NATIONAL REVENUE. 59 Yen): 1866. 1869. 1870. 1871. 1872. 1873. 1874. 1875. 1876. 1877. 1878. Occasion, Amount. £807,563,924 805,480,164 801,406,561 796,104,155 792,661,132 785,761,762 779,283,245 775,348,386 776,970,544 775,873,713 777,781,696 Our average revenue during the reign of William III. was about 4,000,000^. ; in that of George I. it was 6,000,000/. ; in that of George IL, 8,000,000?. ; in the year 1788, it had risen to 15,572,97H. In 1820 the sum raised by taxes in the United Kingdom was 65,599,570/. ; in 1825 it fell to 62,871,300/. ; in 1830 it was 55,431,817/. ; in 1835 50,494,732/. ; in 1845, 51,067,856/. ; in IS.IO, 52,951,478/. in 1855, during the Russian war, 84,505,788/. ; in 1864 70,313,000/. ; in 1869, 72,591,991/. ; in 1870, 75,434,252/. in 1871, 69,945,220/.; in 1872, 74,708,314/.; in 1873 76,608,770/. ; in 1874, 77,335,657/. ; in 1875, 74,921,873/. in 1876, 77,131,693/. ; in 1877, 78,565,036/. ; in 1878, 79,76.3,299/. With regard to the disparity in value which exists be- tween our exports and our imports, I may observe that it iised to be urged that it showed an unsound state of com- merce. The balance of trade, it was said, was against us, as we took more from foreign nations than we gave. You will see the fallacy of this argument at once if you bear in mind that England is a large owner of property in almost every quarter of the globe, and that much that she imports is her own, and consequently has not to be paid for at all. If a merchant in England owns coffee estates in Ceylon or Brazil, and imports the produce into England, it is clear that he need export nothing in return, as he is simply bringing home what is his own. The fact, then, that our imports greatly exceed our exports is, ifanything, a sign of pros- perity and wealth, and certainly not of decadence and bankruptcy. The wealth of British capitalists abroad has during the last fifty years increased to an enormous extent, and may be said to amount to several thousands of millions of pounds. 60 THE NATIONAL DEBT. To show you the wealth of our country, the declared value of British Exports and Imports, during ten years, is as follows : — Year. ImiJorts. ■ Exports. 1868. £234,693,608 £179,677,812 1869. 295,460,241 189,953,957 1870. 303,257,493 199,586,822 1871. 331,015,380 223,066,162 1872. 354,693,624 256,257,347 1873. 371,287,372 255,164,603 1874. 370,082,701 239,558,121 1875. 373,939,577* 223,465,963 1876. 375,154,703 200,639,204 1877. 3»4,419,682 198,893,065 The total annual income of this country (not the national revenue) has been estimated by some eminent authorities at eight hundred millions aterlins?. LETTER IX. LOCAL GOVERNMENT. Its Principle, Origin, and Objects — High Sheriff and Lord Lieutenant o£ the County — Local Government Board, Public Health Act^Local Bates — The Parish and its Officers — The Constable — Churchwardens — Surveyor of Highways— The Vestry, General and Select — The Poor Law— The Law of Settlement — Operation of the Old Poor law — The New Poor Law — Municipal Corporations — Town Councils — Mayor and Aldermen — Boards of Health — Improvement Commissioners — The Metropolitan Board of Works. You now know how the general government of the king- dom is carried on. I purpose, in this Letter, to show you how the affairs of the counties, cities, boroughs, and parishes of which it is composed are regulated. It is a fundamental principle of the British Constitution, that all persons and communities shall be allowed to manage their own affairs as long as they do so regularly and accord- ing to law. For it is only natural to conclude that those whose comfort and welfare are to be considered, who will be the first and principal sufferers by neglectful or bad govern- ment, are much more likely to know what ought to be done than strangers, however well intentioned they may be, who have not the same knowledge and experience. The powers of local governments are fixed by the common law, by charter from the Crown, and by Act of Parliament. The most ancient division of the country for the purpose of self-government was into shires, hundreds, and ti things. At present the usual divisions are counties, hundreds, boroughs, and parishes. The ministerial and judicial business of the county is transacted by the High Sheriff, the Coroner, and the Justices of the Peace, and is enforced in it by the former and his officers. The Lord Lieutenant of a county had formerly power to call out the Militia of his county, which he commanded, and the officers' commissions in which he signed. But by an Order in Council, dated March 30th, 61 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 1872, the Queen has re-iuvested in the Crown the jurisdic- tion of Lieutenants of Counties with respect to the Militia ; and now all commissions in that auxiliary force will be prepared, authenticated, and signed in the same manner as the commissions of officers in her Majesty's regular forces. But the Lord Lieutenant will recommend for the considera- tion of the Secretary of State, for submission to her Majesty, the names of candidates for first appointments to the rank of subaltern. A. vacancy in the rank of subaltern will be notified to the Lord Lieutenant by the Secretary for ■War. The Lord Lieutenant is also frequently the custos rotit- lorum, or keeper of the records of the county, and attends the Sovereign when he passes through it. The post of Lord Lieutenant in counties was instituted in England by Edward IIL, in the year 1349, and extended to Ireland in 183L The appointment, which is a purely honorary one, is made by the Crown, and is for life. The office of Sheriff is of much greater antiquity. His office is of Saxon origin, and its name is derived from the words shire gerefa, or shire reeve. He was inferior to the Earl only when that was the title of the county's military governor, and is now the chief man in it as his successor. Sheriffs, by virtue of several old statutes, are to continue in their office no longer than one year, but a sheriff may be appointed durante bene pladto, and so is the form of the royal writ. Therefore until a new sheriff be named, his office cannot be determined. On expiration of his office, he must deliver to his successor a correct list of all prisoners in his custody, and of all unexecuted process. No man who has served the office of sheriff for one year can be compelled to serve again within three years after, if there be other suffi- cient person within the county. The discharge of this office is in general compulsory upon the party chosen ; and if he refuse to serve, having no legal exemption, he is liable to indictment or information. Certain persons, such as militia officers, practising barristers, attorneys, and prisoners for deht are not liable to serve ; nor are persons under dis- ability by judgment of law (as in the case of outlawry) to be appointed. No person can be assigned for sheriff unless he have sufficient lands within the same to answer the Crown and people. And this is the only qualification re- quired for the office. SHERIFFS. C3 His powers and duties are various : — Judicially, he superintends the election of knights of the shire, coroners, and verderers, and proclaims outlawries and the like. As keeper of the Queen's peace, both by common law and special commission, he is the first man in the county, and superior in rank to any nobleman in it during his office. Ministerially, he is bound to execute all civil and criminal process issuing out of the superior courts, and in this respect is considered an officer of these courts. He is also the returning officer for his county, and he opens the elections for members of Parliament, and has various duties to discharge in reference to such elections. As the Queen's bailiff, it is his business to preserve her rights within his bailiwick — i. e., county. He has under him several inferior officers, as an under- sheriff, bailiffs, gaolers, &c., to assist him in the execution of his several offices. The manner in which sheriffs are appointed is as follows : — The Lord Lieutenant prepares a list of persons qualified to serve, and returns three names, which are read out in the Court of Exchequer upon the morrow of All Souls' Day, •when the excuses of such as do not wish to serve are heard, and if deemed sufficient, the objector is discharged. The list is then sent to the Sovereign, who, without looking at it, strikes a bodkin amongst the names, and he whose name is pierced is elected. This is called "priching for sheriffs." The affairs of the boroughs are administered by the muni- cipal corporations, and of the parishes by tlie Church- wardens, the Vestry, or the Local Board, as the case may be. Local Government was, until very recently, carried on by a variety of separately constituted bodies, owning no cen- tral authority, and frequently conflicting with each other in their piiblio functions. The authority of these bodies was in some cases of very ancient origin, whilst in other cases it was derived from special Acts -of Parliament, passed to meet the necessities of more modem times. Poor Law Boards, Public Health Boards, Highway Boards, and other distinct local authorities were successively created to sup- plement existing methods of administering the law. To each was allotted a district, and each had a separate or- ganisation, and in many instances discharged similar func- tions to some other and independent authority. 64 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. No serious attempt was made to remedy this state of affairs until 1871, when an Act was passed constituting the " Local Government Board," and concentrating in one de- partment of the Government the supervision of the laws relating to the public health, the relief of the poor, and local government. The Local Government Board consists of a president, appointed by the Queen, and the following ex officio mem- bers : — The Lord President -of the Council, the Lord Privy Seal, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the five principal Secretaries of State. The Board, it will be seen, is a political body, and changes with the Government. The country is divided for the purposes of local govern- ment into counties, which are in turn divided into parishes and into districts, which are created by special Acts of Par- liament. Several parishes are sometimes joined together to form one district ; and, on the other hand, a large parish is fre- quently divided into a number of districts. In 1875 the Public Health Act was passed, for consoli- dating and amending existing law, and England was divided for the purposes of that Act into — 1. Urban sanitary dis- tricts, and 2. Rural sanitary districts ; and these districts are respectively made subject to the jurisdiction of the local authority, such as the " Town Council," " Local Board," or " Board of Guardians," who are invested with the powers of administering the provisions of the Act. The metropolis is excepted, and I shall hereafter point out how the provisions of this Act have been extended by subsequent legislation, and to how great an extent the ma- chinery of this Act has been utilized for the various purposes of local government. The principal objects of local government are the preser- vation of peace and order ; the education of the people ; the relief of the poor ; the erection and maintenance of public buildings, lunatic asylums, halls, and libraries ; the making, paving, and lighting of roads and streets ; the re- pairing of bridges ; the regulation of markets, hackney coaches, and public carriages ; the laying down of rules for preserving the public health and convenience, &c. The money required for these purposes is raised by levying rates. Every person who is not exempted by extreme poverty, or CONSTABLES. 65 some privileges, whict I need not particularize, is rated according to the value of the premises which he occupies. The sum required for the rate is estimated, and each liable person is called upon to pay his portion ; when you hear, therefore, of a poor, or any other rate of one shilling in the pound, it means that for every pound at which a person is rated, according to the value of his house or property, he has to pay that sum. I shall tell you hereafter how justices of the peace are appointed. They levy the county rates for maintaining the police, &c., &c. The Lord Lieutenant and his deputies regu- late the country militia. The constitution of parishes and municipal co7'porations must now be considered. The constable* was formerly the chief man in the parish, for then the parish was responsible for all robberies com- mitted within its limits if the thieves were not apprehended. It was, therefore, the interest of the community to elect to this office the person who was most competent to prevent the commission of crime. But this state of things has long passed away ; the parish may no longer be called upon to restore the value of stolen goods ; and although constables are in some few instances still appointed, their duties are almost entirely performed by the county police. And it was provided by an Act of 1872 thatforthe future no parish constable should be appointed unless the County Quarter Session or the Vestry should determine it to be necessary. When the religion of this country was Roman Catholic, costly ornaments, and very often large sums of money, were kept in the parish churches, and men of character were there- * "The next officer mentioned after the sheriff in Magna Charta (c. 24), is comtabvlarius or constable, which is sometimes derived from the Saxon, but other authorities have considered it more truly to come from the Latin comes stahuli, a superintendent of the imperial stables, or master of the horse. This title, however, began in the course of time to signify a commander, in which sense it was introduced into England. In the clause of Magna Charta referred to, the word is put for the constable or keeper of a castle, frequently called a castellan : indeed the term is still used occasionally in this sense in England, the governor of the Tower of London being styled Constable of the Tower. They were possessed of such considerable power within their own precincts, that previously to the ^ct of Magna Charta, they held trials of crimes, properly the cognizance of the Crown, as the sheriffs did within their respective bailiwicl^s ; and sealed with their own effigies on horseback." — Creasy's Mise and Progreet of the English Constitution, 66 LOCAL GOVERKMENT. fore required to take charge of them, and to stand betweeil .the ignorant country people and their clergy, who monopo- lized all the learning of that time, and often sought to en- croach upon the rights of their fellow-subjects. Ghurcli- wardens were therefore appointed by the Synod of London in the year 1127, and continue to this day to be elected, to see that the parson does his duty, and to exercise authority over the building of the church, and the performance of its services. Two churchwardens are generally appointed annually, the one by the rector, vicar, or incumbent, the other by the parishioners. The following description of persons are exempt from serving the ofi5ce of churchwarden, 'fiz- : — Aldermen, apothecaries, or members of the apothe- caries' company by charter, attorneys and solicitors, bar- risters, clergymen, clerks in court, dissenting teachers, militiamen, members of parliament, peers, physicians, pro- secutors of felons, surgeons, magistrates, revenue officers, officers of the courts of law, captains of the guards, persons attendant on the Queen, officers in the army, navy, or marines, whether on full or half pay ; and no person living out of the parish, although he has or occupies property within it, can lawfully be chosen churchwarden. The parish is bound to maintain the highways which pass ■through it in good order, and for this purpose surveyors of highways, or, as they were anciently called, waywardens, were formerly elected by the parishioners and held office for one year. Subsequently, Highway Boards were established and highway districts formed, but by an Act passed in 1878, highway districts may be made coincident in area with rural sanitary districts. The waywardens may be discharged, and a district surveyor of highways appointed in their stead, whilst the functions of the Highway Boards are to be dis- charged by the rural sanitary authorities. This Act, how- ever, is not compulsory in its application, and the county authority may, if they think fit, refuse to allow its provisions to be enforced, and in such case the Highway Board will retain its powers. A vestry is a body of the ratepayers of a parish elected to conduct and regulate its business, including the appointment of its officers. When it is elected by the ratepayers at large it is called a general vestry ; if (as is more frequently the case), its members select their own companions and suc- cessors, it is called a select vestry. RELIEF OP THE POOR. 67 The maintenance of its poor is the most important duty of the parish, and as this is a subject upon which you ought to be informed, I will give you a brief sketch of the origin and progress of the laws relating to it. Previously to the dissolution of the monasteries, the main- tenance and relief of the poor were secured by the great religious houses : their endowments being required, in most cases, by the charters of foundation, and in all, by the statute of Carlisle (Ed. I. a.d. 1306), to be expended to the honour of God and in support of His poor. When these institutions were suppressed, and their property distributed among the monarch's courtiers, the helpless and indigent, the aged and the young, were at once deprived of all provision. The greedy rapacity of the king's attendants, and the absorbing controversies of religion, were not favourable to the discovery or the adoption of any substitute for the funds so disposed of. All that the authorities of that time devised were severe and stringent measures directed against the numerous men- dicants by whom the country began to be infested. Vagrancy and begging were made punishable by whipping, the stocks, the pillory, imprisonment, and death ; and the executions oif " sturdy beggars," as they were termed, increased year by year, until, in the last years of Henry VIII.'s reign, no fewer than 38,000 persons were put to death for this species of offence ! The same repressive system followed under the subsequent sovereigns, until the power of Queen Elizabeth having been firmly established towards the latter part of her reign, the foundations of a new system were laid. This was done by an Act passed in the 43rd year of that queen. Its principal provisions were, that a fund or stock should be raised in each parish, out of which such poor persons as were able to labour should be set to work, and the feeble should be helped and maintained. The churchwardens were ap- pointed, together with three or four more persons of sub- stance, overseers of the poor. The operation of the statute was found beneficial ; and the lawlessness and violence, which had not been suppressed by barbarous enactments, disap- peared by degrees. Gradually an entirely new code of legis- lation arose, as experience developed the benefits and the disadvantages of the system ; and its ramifications embraced, as well the support of the indigent, as the adjustment of the liabilities of the contributors. Thus, in the time of Charles II. the parish, which had enioved the benefit of a 68 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. man's residence as a contributor to the parish rates, or as a labourer when he was able to support himself, was bound to maintain him when in distress, in preference to that where he might become in want. Hence arose what is called the law of settlement. The contribution itself was called the poor-rate, and the contributors ratepayers. The ratepayers had not the power of electing the overseers of the poor directly, these officers being nominated by justices of the peace. In many parishes the overseers of the poor were assisted, and sometimes controlled, by a select vestry. In the course of nearly three centuries some abuses of greater or less magnitude could not but be expected to grow around the system. The chief source of these was alleged to arise from the administrators of the rate being appointed by others than the ratepayers, and the great evil apprehended. was that a class of persons receiving relief, habitually and as the ordinary rule, were growing up under this system, and that to be a pauper (as the receivers of relief are called), was becoming a recognized and actual condition, or state, in the ranks of social life. This general feeling, assisted by many matters of minor character, led to the enactment in the 5th and 6th years of William IV., of what is called a test for pauperism (a some- what different thing from poverty, but which may be described as that state of destitution requiring to be relieved out of the poor-rate), by requiring that no relief should be given to any person whatever, except in the workhouse ; but as many of the parishes in this country are so small as not to need or possess a workhouse, in order to apply this test several parishes were by the act joined together for the pur- pose of supporting such an establishment in common. These parishes thus joined together were called Unions, and for their government, and for the performance of a great number, but not all, of the powers of the overseers of the poor, a number of persons called Guardians of the Poor, were con- stituted a Board. These are elected by the ratepayers annually in each parish of the Union. In addition to the Guardians there are in each parish Overseers appointed by the justices, who are empowered to grant prompt relief in cases of pressing emergency, and whose duty it is to make and collect the rates. Neither the guardians nor tlte overseers are paid, but a paid assistant over- seer may be appoic*.^^ '" ""-+'''> '>ooooi Ktt +_hA c»nciv •* ■*0 00 00-* ■* O t- Oi-t O 00 i^ 00 00 (MOtMOCQOI-IMiOINOOQOiOO 02 H- ( o O O M 02 P3 w I Si 3 OOOO ■3 -H ^ ■ a iss sags i.l E g a ,2 S .S 5a S.s,a' 9< 125 -00i-(O«O00 88 OUE COLONIES; I will now state shortly how these are governed.* Aden. — ^A seaport town on the south-coast of Arabia and on the Red Sea, is an important military and coaling station. It is strongly fortified, and is under the administration of the Government of Bombay. Ascension. — Crown Colony, governed by the Naval Officer in charge of the station. Australia, South. — -The constitution of this colony was remodelled in 1856, and the Government is now administered by the Governor and an Executive Council of five members, who constitute the responsible Ministry, and are required to be Members of Parliament — viz.. Chief Secretary, Attorney- General, Treasurer, Commissioner of Crown Lands, and Com- missioner of Public Works. The Parliament consists of a Legislative Council and an Assembly. The Legislative Council consists of twenty-two members, elected by the in- habitants of the colony legally qualified to vote ; one-third retiring by rotation every four years, and six new members being elected to the vacancies so created. The qualification consists in being thirty years of age, and a natural born or naturalized subject of her Majesty, and having resided in the colony for upwards of three years. The qualification of electors is full age and the being a natural born or natural- ized subject of Her Majesty, possession of a freehold estate of 501. annual value, or a leasehold estate of the clear annual value of. 201. having three years to run, or occupation of a dwelling-house of 251. annual value. The House of Assembly consists of forty-six members, elected by the inhabitants of the several districts of the colony for three years. (Vide Act No. 20 of 1861.) Any person qualified to vote in or for any electoral district is qualified and entitled to be elected a Member of Assembly. Aliens are not eligible until after a residence of five years. Every natural bom or naturalized subject of full age who has been registered upon the electoral roll of any district shall be qualified to vote in the election of Members of Assembly. There are 35,389 registered electors. One-third of the members is sufficient to constitute a meeting of the Assembly. Australia, West.— The Government is administered by a Governor appointed in the usual manner by the Crown, who is assisted by an Executive Council composed of the * I am much indebted to the admirable summary contained in the Colonial Office List for many of these particulars. CANADA. 89 Colonial Secretary, the Attorney-General, the Senior Officer commanding the troops, and the Surveyor-General. There is a Legislative Conncil of twenty-one members, three official, seven nominated, and fourteen elected members ; the official members are the Colonial Secretary, the Surveyor-General, and the Attorney-General. The unofficial members are elected by the people for three years, and are eligible for re- election at the end of that period. The colony is divided for that purpose into ten electoral districts. Bahama Islands. — Legislature composed of the Governor, a Legislative Council of nine members, and a House of Assembly of twenty-eight members. The Governor is assisted by an Executive Council of nine members. Babbados. — Legislature composed of the Governor (who is also Governor-in-Chief of St. Vincent, Grenada, Tobago, and St. Lucia). TJie Windward Islands (including Barbados, St. Vincent, Grenada, Tobago, St. Lucia) have an Executive Council consisting of the Governor, Major-General, Colonial Secretary, and Attorney-General, a Legislative Council in which the senior officer commanding the troops, the Colonial Secretary, and the Attorney-General sit esc officio, and a House of Assembly of twenty-four members, elected annually by franchise. Bermuda. — Legislature composed of the Governor and Privy Council of nine members appointed by the Crown, and a House of Assembly of thirty-six members. British Guiana (consisting ■ of the United Colonies of Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice). — Government : A Go- vernor ; a Court of Policy, of five official and five elective members; and for levying the taxes, a combined Court, consisting of the Governor, the six Members of the Court of Policy, and the Financial Kepresentatives. Canada, The Dominion op, (comprising the Provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, Mani- toba, and British Columbia (including Vancouver's Island), Prince Edward's Island, and the North-West Territories.) — The Executive Government is vested in the Queen, who appoints the Governor-General, to carry on the Government of Canada in the name of the Crown. The Governor- General is assisted- by a Council, the members of which are sworn in as Privy Councillors. The Legislative power is vested in a Parliament, consisting of the Governor-General, an Upper House, called the Senate, consisting of seventy- 90 OTJR COLONIES. eight members, appointed by the Crown for life, and a House of Commons of two hundred and two members. A Lieutenant-Governor is appointed by the Crown for each province. Ontario has also an Executive Council, appointed by the Crown, and a Legislature, consisting of the Lieutenant- Governor and a Legislative Assembly, composed of eighty- two elected members. Quebec has an Executive Council and a Legislative Council, appointed by the Crown, and a Legislative Assembly of sixty-five members. Nova Scotia has an Executive Council, a Legislative Council, and a Legislative Assembly. New Brunsviich. — A Legislative Council and an Elective Assembly. Manitoba, — An Executive Council and a Legislative Assembly. British Columbia. — ^An Executive Council and a Legisla- tive Assembly. Prince Edward's Island and the North-West Territories have each an Executive Council. Cape of Good Hope (including large tracts of Native Kafiraria, Basutoland, Fingoland, and Griqualand East). Go- vernment administered by a Parliament composed of the Governor, Legislative Council of twenty-one members, and House of Assembly of sixty-eight members. Ceylon. — Legislature composed of the Governor and an Executive Council of five members, consisting of the Com- mander of the Forces, Colonial Secretary, Queen's Advocate, Treasurer, Auditor-General. Legislative Council : The Gover- nor, Commander of the Forces, Colonial Secretary, Queen's Advocate, Auditor-General, Treasurer, Government Agent, Western Province ; Government Agent, Central Province ; Surveyor-General, Principal Collector of Customs, and six unofficial members. Cypeus. — This island has been recently occupied, and is now administered by Great Britain under the provisions of the Anglo-Turkish Convention of June, 1878, the object being to establish there a strong military and naval station to guard the interests of Great Britain in the East of the Mediterranean, and as a guarantee against further Russian aggression in Asia Minor. The island is administered by a High Commissioner, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of HONa KONG. 91 the Forces, and an Executive and Legislative Council. The Executive Council is presided over by the High Commis- sioner, and includes the officer coinmanding the regular troops, the Chief Secretary, the highest Judicial Officer, and the Financial Secretary. The Legislative Council con- sists of the High Commissioner as President, and of not less than four and not more than eight members appointed by him, of whom one-half are official members, and the other half unofficial and inhabitants of the Island. Demeraea (see British Guiana). Dominica {see Leeward Islands). Falkland Islands. — Governed by Governor and Legis- lative and Executive Council, appointed by the Crown. Fiji Islands. — These Islands were ceded to Great Britain on October 10th, 1874. A charter was issued erecting the islands into a separate colony. The Governor and Commander- in-Chief is also her Majesty's High Commissioner and Consul- General for the Western Pacific Ocean. He is assisted by an Executive Council and a Legislative Council, the latter to consist of not less than two persons nominated by the Crown. Gambia (see West African Settlements). GiBRALTAE. — Crown colony. Gold Coast Colony (comprising British settlements on the Gold Coast, and at Lagos). — Governor-in-Chief with an administrator at Lagos. One Executive, and one Legislative Council for the two settlements. Geenada. — The same as St. Vincent. Geiqualand West. — An Administrator (in the absence of the Governor of Cape Colony) assisted by an Executive Council, and a Legislative Council composed of four nomi- nated and four elective members. Heligoland. — Governor appointed by the Crown, aided by an Executive Council. Hondueas. — Lieut.-Govemor (subordinate to the Gover- nor of Jamaica) and Legislative Council of five official and not less than four unofficial members, appointed by the Crown, or provisionally by Lieut. -Governor, subject to Her Majesty's approval. There is also a Privy Council of five officials. Hong-Kong. — Governor and Executive Council composed of Colonial Secretary, Officer commanding the troops, the Attorney-General, and two others. Legislative Council com- posed of Governor (as President), Chief Justice, Colonial 9Z OUR COLONIES. Secretary, Attorney-General, Treasurer, and four unofficial members appointed by tbe Crown. India, The Empire of. — The Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, in 1877, assumed by Eoyal proclamation the title of Empress of India. The Executive authority is vested in a Governor-General or Viceroy appointed by Her Majesty and controlled by the Secretary of State for India in London. The Governor-General, acting in Council, has power to make laws for all persons within Indian territories. The Secretary of State for India is aided by a council of fifteen members appointed by the Secretary of State for India, who hold office for ten years, but may be removed upon an address from both Houses of Parliament. This Council is divided into committees, and under the superintendence of the Secretary of State directs the Government of India in such matters as are transacted in this country. The Council of the Governor- General in India consists of five ordinary members appointed by the Crown and one extraordinary member, who is the Commander-in-Chief. For the purpose of administration India is divided into provinces or presidencies, and these into executive districts. Bombay and Madi-as have their Governors. There are Lieutenant-Governors of Bengal, the North-West Provinces, and the Punjaub, Chief Commis- sioners of Oudh, Central Provinces, British Burmah, and Assam. Besides the provinces directly under British ad- ministration there are more than 400 native States with a population exceeding fifty millions, all in a greater or less degree under the control of the Indian Government. Jamaica (including Turks and Caicos Islands). — A Legis- lative Council was, by Order in Council of the 11th June, 1866, established, consisting of official and unofficial mem- bers. The official members to be the Senior Military Officer, the Colonial Secretary, the Attorney-General, Financial Se- cretary, Director of Eoads, and Collector of Customs ; toge- ther with certain unofficial, not exceeding six in number. There is also established a Privy Council. The members of the Privy Council are the Lieutenant-Governor, or Senior Military Officer in command, the Colonial Secretary, the Attorney-General, the Financial Secretary, the Director of Eoads, the Collector of Customs, and such other persons, not to exceed eight in number, who may be named by the Queen, or provisionally appointed by the Governor, subject to the approval of Her Majesty. The Governor, or LEEWAED ISLANDS. 93 in his absence, the senior Councillor present, is to preside at each meeting when duly summoned, and the Governor and two members are to form a quorum. The Governor is to consult in all cases with the Councillors, excepting only when the matter to be decided would in his judgment sustain material prejudice by consultation, or be too unimportant to require their advice : and he is to propose all questions on winch they are to advise and decide j but any member may apply in writing for permission to propose a question, and a written answer, granting or refusing the request, is to be returned. The Governor is authorized to act in opposition to the advice and decision of the Privy Council, " if in any case it shall appear right so to do," and to report to the Secretary of State for the Colonies "the grounds and reasons " of his opposition, and any member may record on the Minutes the nature of the advice or opinion offered and rejected. Labuan. — Legislative Council composed of the Governor, as President, and nominated Legislative Council Lagos {see Gold Coast Colony). Lebwaed Islands, comprising Antigua, Montserrat, Anguilla, St. Kitts, or St. Christopher, Nevis, Dominica, and the Virgin Islands, were constituted a single Federal Colony by an Act passed in the Imperial Parliament in the session of 1871, 34 and 35 Vict., cap. 71. By this Act the colony of six presidencies is under one General Govern- ment.* With an Island Government for the separate pre- sidencies there is an Executive Council appointed by the Queen, and a General Legislative Council composed of ten elective and ten non-elective members. Of the elective members four are taken from the Island Council of An- tigua, three from that of St. Kitts, two from that of Dominica, and one from that of Nevis. They are chosen by the elective members of the Island Council from which they are taken. Any laws made by the Council and as- sented to by the Governor must be submitted for approval to the Queen, and it is lawful for Her Majesty at any time, within eighteen months after a copy of such law has been received by one of her Secretaries of State, to disallow it if she pleases. * It may fee here observed that the Leeward Islands possessed a common legislature as far back as the reign of William and Mary. The general legislature met for the last time in 1798. The Act of 1871 is a retuxn to the original constitution of the islands. 91 OUR COLONIES. Antigua. — The Governor appoints the President and Vice- President of the Legislative Council, who, in case of an equality of votes, have a second or casting vote. The dura- tion of the Council is for five years. The elected members of the Legislative Council of Antigua, send four elected mem- bers to the General Legislature. Montserrai. — The Government is administered by a Pre- sident (subordinate to the Governor-General), aided by an Executive and Legislative Council appointed by the Crown. St. Kitts, Nevis, and Anguilla. — A local governor and a single Chamber or Assembly, composed of three officers of the Crown, who sit ex officio, seven nominees of the Crown, and ten elected members. The Assembly lasts five years, at the end of which time all the members vacate their seats except the ex officio ones, but may be re-elected. Three paid officers are chief advisers to the Government : the Attorney-General, Secretary to the Government, and the Auditor. The elected members of the 'St. Kitts Assembly send three members to the General Legislature. Nevis. — Same as St. Kitts. — Nevis sends one member to the General Legislature. Anguilla. — Stipendiary Magistrate and Vestry of six Sti- pendiary Magistrates. Virgin Islands. — Local Government, by a Legislative Council, Executive Council, and Administrator of the Go- vernment, who is called a President. Dominica. — Local Government, by a Lieutenant-Governor, Executive Council of seven members, and Legislative As- sembly of seven nominated and seven elected members. The elected members of Dominica send two members to the General Assembly of the Leeward Islands. Malta. — ^The Government is administered by a Governor, who is assisted by a Council of Government, constituted by Letters Patent of 11th May, 1849, consisting of eighteen members — ten official, and eight elected, who are returned by about 2700 electors. The Governor is President. An income of SI. from immovable property, or payment of a rent of 4i. per annum, qualifies a person to vote. Maueitius. — The Government of the island is vested in a Governor, aided by an Executive Council, of which the Colonial Secretary, Prooureur and Advocate-General, and the Officer in command of Her Majesty's Troops, are ex officio members. There is also a Legislative Council, consisting of NEWFOUNDLAND. 95 seven official and ten non-official members ; the former com- prising the three executive members above spoken of; and the Collector of Customs, Auditor-General, Treasurer, and Collector of Internal Eevenues ; the latter ten non-official members are chosen from the landed proprietors of the island, and submitted to Her Majesty in Council for approval and confirmation. MoNTsisRRAT {see Leeward Islands). Natal. — Governed by a Lieutenant-Governor, assisted by an Executive Council, composed of the Chief Justice, the Senior Officer in Command of the Troops, the Colonial Secretary, the Treasurer, the Attorney-General, and the Secretary for Native Affairs ; and a Legislative Council com- posed of five official members — viz., the Colonial Secretary, the Treasurer, the Attorney-General, and the Secretary for Native Affairs, and fifteen members elected by the counties and boroughs. By Act No. 3 of 1875 the number of nominated members was increased to thirteen, including the five official members, so that in fact only seven mem- bers are now elected. The elected members of the Council hold their seats for four years from date of election, unless the Council is dissolved by the Governor. There are eight electoral districts, and possession of property to the value of 501., or rents from property of an annual value of 10^., entitles a man to a vote ; the usual provisions respecting the disqualification of aliens and others hold good. No person can be elected a member of the Council unless he is a duly qualified and registered elector, nor unless he shall have been invited to become a candidate for election by at least ten electors of the county or borough which it is proposed he shall represent ; nor unless such requisition shall have been transmitted to the Resident Magistrate, at least fourteen days before the election. The Constitution of Natal is regulated by the Charter of 1856 and the Sup- plementary Charter of 1869, the provisions of which have been modified by Law No. 1 of 1 873, and by Act No. 3 of 1875. Nevis {see Leeward Islands). New Brunswick {see Canada). Newfoundland. — The Government is at present adminis- tered by a Governor, aided by a responsible Executive Council not to exceed seven members, a Legislative Council not to exceed fifteen members, and a House of Assembly of thirty members, elected by householders who have occupied 96 OUE COLONIES. a dwelling house as owner or tenant for two years imme- diately preceding the day of election. There are 17,451 electors registered on the electoral roll, and fifteen districts, or subdivisions of districts, of which five return three mem- bers, five return two members, and five return one. There is a property qualification for the elected — viz., property exceeding 5001. in amount or value, or a net annual income of lOOl. New South Wales. — In New South Wales " responsible Government" was established by the Constitution Act, 18 and 19 Vict., cap. 54. The Governor is appointed by the Crown J so also is the Legislative Council, which is to con- sist of not fewer than twenty-one persons, of whom not less than four-fifths shaU consist of persons not holding office under the Crown, except officers in H.M.'s sea or land forces on full or half pay. The members of the first Legislative Council of the colony were appointed for five years, but all future members after the expiration of that term were ap- pointed for life, subject to certain provisions contained in the Act. The Council now consists of thirty-eight mem- bers. The Legislative Assembly, under the Electoral Law, No. 20, 22 Vict., " consists of eighty members, or so soon as the University of Sydney shall be entitled to return a mem- ber to the Assembly, of eighty-one members." Since the separation of Queensland from New South Wales, the Colony is divided into sixty electorates, returning seventy-two members. There are now seventy-three members, including the member for the University, first elected in September, 1876. Every male subject of the fuU age of twenty-one, being natural born, or who, being a naturalized subject, shall have resided in the colony for three years, shall be entitled to vote in respect of the following qualifications : — Firstly, Resident Electors. — Every such subject who at the time of making out the electoral list in any such district shall reside, and during the six months then next preceding shall have resided, in that district. Secondly, Non-resident Electors. — Every such subject who shall have had within the district for the six months then next preceding the time of making out the electoral list, a freehold or leasehold estate, or have been in receipt of rents or profits thereof amounting to 1001,, or to an annual sum of 101. ; or shall occupy a house, shop, or office, of the annual value of 10^. Any per- son properly qualified and registered as a voter shall be I'EINCE EDWAED ISLAND. 97 qualified to be elected a member of Assembly. No member of Council can be a member of Assembly. New Zealand. — Tbe colony of New Zealand consists of tbree principal islands, called respectively the North, the Middle, and the South or Stewart's Island. The present form of Government for New Zealand was established by Statute 15 & 16 Vict., cap. 72. By that Act the colony was divided into six provinces, since increased to nine — viz., Auckland, Taranaki, Wellington, Otago, Hawkes Bay, Marl- borough, Nelson, Canterbury, and Westland — each governed by an elected Superintendent and Provincial Council. These members of Council are chosen by the votes of the inhabit- ants of the different provinces, and the qualification for members and electors is possession in the district for which the vote is given of a freehold estate of the value of 501., or a leasehold estate of the annual value of lOZ., held upon a lease which at . the time of registration has not less than three years to run ;, or being a householder within the district of the clear annual value of 10^., or within the limits of a town of the clear annual value of 51. Aliens are disqualified. By an Act of the General Assembly passed in 1875, the Provincial System of Government was abolished, and in 1876 provision was made for the division of the coun- try into Counties, and the necessary machinery for their self- ■ government was provided. A General Assembly, consisting of the Governor, a Legislative Council, and a House of Ee- presentatives, is also established by Act 15 lated Others -. . 9 13 9 11 13 2S 113 S 1 Total. 120 Total fleet, including tenders The above is exclusive of Indian troop ships. It will be interesting to study the following statement of the comparative strength of the ironclad vessels of the first class in the British Navy, and those of other European nations in the year 1876. If the total strength of the Inflexible should be taken to be 100, the Duilio (Italian) is estimated at 92 ; the Ajax at 75 : Foiidroyant (2) (French), 92 ; Dreadnought, 72; Peter the Great, 71; Redovhtahle (French), 65; Thuri- derer, 63; Tegetlwff (Austrian), 61; Alexandra, 56; Kaiser (German), 48 ; Colbert (French), 46 ; Sultan (English), 43 ; Nelson, 42 ; Ockm (French), 40 : Monarch, 38 ; Sluinnon, 35 ; Iron Dulce (Englisb), 29 ; Tonnerre (French), 45 ; Rupert 138 THE NAVy. (English), 33 ; Hotspur, 29 ; Glatton, 28 ; JBelier (French), 24 ; Fopofs (Eussian), 25 ; Gydo-ps (English), 17.* The result of the estimate, which is founded upon a care- ful analysis of the various elements which make up the sum of the actual value and power of the vessels, is as foUows : — England . 1,112 Turkey . 215 France . 852 Russia . 153 Germany . 372 Austria . 134 Italy . 284 This proportion has been considerably augmented by the recent large additions to the strength of the Navy. It will thus be seen that we still retain a vast naval superiority over other nations of the world, a supremacy which our for- tified strategic and naval stations in all parts of the world would enable us to utilize most effectively in any contest in which the country may be engaged. . List of Ships BoiLDiifa and Completino foe Sea, 1879 — 1880. Names. No. of 11 IS, guns. it- "1 /Majestic . 4 8,492 6,000 Armour-plated tiu-ret sliip. Colossus . 4 8,492 6,000 Ditto. Agamemnon 4 8,492 6,000 Ditto. Ajax . 4 8,492 6,000 Ditto. Superb , . 16 8,760 7,430 Broadside ship (purchased from the Sultan of Turltey). i) Contiueror . 2 — 4,600 Armour-plated turret ship. Neptune . 4 9,000 6,000 Ditto (purchased from the Brazilian Government). Annour-plated corvette (purchased Orion . 4 4,720 3,900 from the Sultan). ^"olyphemus none 2,640 6,500 Iron-plated torpedo ram. In addition to the above there are now building in her Majesty's dockyards and in private yards — 8 coi-vettes , t Constructed of iron or steel, or steel and ( iron wood-sheathed. ■ 1 despatch vessel . . Armoured. 6 composite sloops. 3 composite gun boats ' 2 steel gunboats . . \ For coast defence. 4 iron gunboats 4 other vessels. A grand total of 37 vessels, 12,151 tons, to be built in the year 1879—80. NOMINAL LIST OF IRONCLADS. 139 A considerable number of swift steam launches, capable of steaming from 16 to 20 knots, are also being constructed in private yards, with the object of largely increasing the strength of the Torpedo Flotilla, a precaution rendered ne- cessary by the recent rapid development of this species of naval warfare. NoMiNAi, List of all Iuonoiads in thk Ekitish NAvr. Names. Xo. of Tonnage or Indicated guns. Disxilacement. horse-power. Bkoadside Ships Agincourt . 17 10,627 6,867 Mmotaiir . . 17 10,627 6,702 Northumberland. 28 - 10,684 6,568 AchiUes . le 9,69-1 6,722 Alexandra . . 12 9,492 8,000 Twin screw. Sultan . 12 9,286 8,629 WaiTior . 32 9,137 6,469 Black Prince 28 9,137 5,772 Hercules 14 8,677 8,629 Teraeraire . . 8 8.412 7,000 Ditto. Lord Warden 18 7,842 6,706 Bellerophou 16 7,551 6,621 Nelson 12 7,823 6,000 Northampton 12 7,323 6,000 Hector . . . 18 6,713 3,256 Valiant 18 6,713 3,560 Swiftsure . . 14 6,660 4,913 Triumph . 14 6,660 4,892 Repulse ; - . . 12 6,190 3,347 Defence 16 6,070 2,537 Besistance . . 16 6,070 2,428 Audacious . 14 6,034 4,832 Ditto. Invincible 14 6,034 4,021 Ditto Iron Duke 14 6,034 4,268 Ditto. Shannon . . 9 6,103 3,500 Penelope . 11 4,394 4,703 Ditto. PaUas . . . 8 3,787 3,581 Research . 4 1,741 1,042 Sloop. Watenvitch 4 1,279 777 Hydraulic. Vixen . 4 1,228 740 Gunboat. Twin screw. Viper . 4 1,228 696 Ditto Ditto. RAM- Hotspur . . . 3 4,010 3,437 Twin screw. TuEKET Ships— Inflexible 4 11,406 8,000 Twin screw (nearly com plete). Dreadnought 4 10,886 8,000 Twiji screw. Thunderer . . 4 9,387 6,270 Ditto. Devastation 4 9,190 6,652 Ditto. Monarch . . 7 8,322 7,842 Rupert 4 6,444 4,636 Ditto_and Bam. Belleisle . . . 4 4,720 3,955 " Glatton 2 4,912 2,868 T^vin screw. Prince Albert . 4 3,905 2,128 Cyclops 4 3,430 1,660 Ditto. Hecate . . . 4 3,430 1,755 Ditto. Gorgon 4 3,430 1,670 Ditto. Hydra . . . 4 3,430 1,472 Ditto. Wivem 1 4 2,761 1.440 Scorpion . . 4 2,761 1.455 uo THE NAVY. The seamen of the fleet are recruited by voluntary enlist- ment. They are divided into two classes — those who enter for ten years, which is called "continuous service," and those who volunteer for shorter periods. The "continuous service" men receive a higher rate of pay. Any man may enter the navy as a seaman if he chooses to apply to the commander of a ship whose complement of crew is not made up and the examining surgeon approves of him ; but he cannot re-enter if he has been " discharged from the service with disgrace " previously. The following are the gradations of rank in the Royal Navy compared with the relative rank in the Army : — Army. 1. Field-Marslials. 2. Generals. 3. Lieut. -Generals. 4. Major-Generals. 5. Brigadier-Generals. G. Colonels. 7. Lieut. -Colonels. P. Majora. 9. Captains. Navy. Admirals of the Fleet. Admirals. Vice-Admirals. Rear-Admirals, Captains of the Fleet. Commodores of the First and Second Class. . Captains after" tliree years' service. Captains under three yeare' service. Commanders (but junior of that rank). , Lieutenants of eight years' stanclins. Lieutenants under eight years' stand- Inspectors General of Hospitals and Fleets after three years' service on full pay as such. Inspeotors-Geuerdl of Hospitals and Fleets under three years' service. 0. Deputy Inspectors-General of Hos- pitals and Fleets after Ave years' service on full pay as such. Secretaries to Admirals of the Fleet. Paymasters-in-Chief. 7. Stalf Captains. Deputy Inspectors-General of Hos- pitals and Fleets under five yeai-s' service. Secretaiies to Commandei-s-in-Chief of five years' service as such. Staff-Commanders Staff-Surgeons Secretaries to Com- manders-in-Chief un- but junior der five years' service. of that PajTuasters, Chief En- rank, gineers, and Naval In- structors, of fifteen years' seniority } 8. Masters of eight yeai's' standing. Surgeons. Secretaries to Junior Flag Officers. Paymasters ^ of eight Chief Engineers V years' Naval Instructors J seniority. 9. Masters under eight yeara' standing. Assistant-Surgeons alter six years' service. Secretaries to Commodores, 2nd Class. Paymasters ) xuider eight Cliief Engineers J years' RELATIVE BANK OE ARMY AND NAVY. ]4l Army, Navy. 10. Lieutenants. 10. Sub-Lieuten- 10. Second Masters. ants. Assistaut->Surgeons nucler 6 years. Assistan t-Payraasters. Engineers. Chief Gunner ,) butjimior „ Boatswain S of that „ Cai-penter ) rank. 11. Sub-Lieutenants. 11. Mitlsliipiucn. 11. Master's Assistants above seventeen Second Lieu- years of age and of two yeai-s' ser- tenants. vice at sea in Navy or Mercliant service. Assistant-Engineers' Clerks. There are also warrant and petty officers in the Navy. The warrant officers are the gunner, boatswain, and car- penter. The petty officers are the gunner's and boatswain's mates, (fee, &c. The seamen are able-bodied — A. B.'s — and ordinary sea- men. Last follow the boys. Officers enter the naval service as lads of twelve or thirteen. They must first obtain nomination by a lord of the Admiralty. They then pass an examination before the head of the medi- cal department, and next before-the head of the educational department. When they have passed both examinations successfully they are sent on board the Britannia training- ship to be educated for their profession as cadets; from thence they pass into the Navy. Eveiy step upwards in rank (as well as passing the threshold of the service) is preceded by an examination, up to the rank of captain. The lieutenants study gunnery — in order to be Gunnery Lieutenants — on board the Excellent. There are also Navi- gating Lieutenants and Commanders, but these are matters of detail. Pensions are granted to all disabled seamen, and pensions are also given to seamen for good conduct, good service, or long service. It is in the discretion of the Admiralty to award pensions under any circumstances. Pensioners were formerly divided into two classes, in and out pensioners of Greenwich Hospital. This magnificent building, once a royal palace, was appropriated in the reign of William III. as an asylum for seamen, who by wounds, age, or accident, have become unfit for further active service. 14.^ THte NAV^. When, after the famous battle of La Hague, crowds of maimed and suffering sailors were cast upon their country, Queen Mary, the good and gentle wife of that monarch, showed great solicitude for their welfare, and wished to found an institution to relieve and maintain them. Upon her death, which took place soon afterwards, her sorrowing husband set apart the palace of Greenwich for that purpose. It has been greatly improved and enlarged since then, and it stands a national memorial of one of our greatest naval victories, and a monument to the memory of her who, amidst the exultations that followed the triumph, did not forget those whose blood had been shed to gain it. It became felt, however, that our veterans might be happier in their own native places, amongst their families and friends, than in Greenwich Hospital, and consequently all are now made oict pensioners, and the fine hospital has been converted into a Naval College. The rules and provisions for the enforcement of discipline and good order in the Navy are embodied in an Act of Par- liament passed in the 19th year of George III., and offenders against them are tried by courts-martial, nearly in the same way as in the Army, except that the court must be held in a ship afloat, and that its decision does not require confirma- tion, and is made public directly it is delivered. The Coast Guard until lately was partly under the control of the Admiralty and partly under that of the Excise. It was manned in a great measure, and commanded, by men and officers from the Navy, but was a separate service. It is now incorporated with and forms part of the Naval Ser- vice. Its duties are to capture smugglers and to prevent the landing of contraband goods. To carry out these, small fast-sailing vessels, ranging from one hundred and fifty down to twenty-three tons, carrying from five to thirty-two men, and commanded by lieutenants in the Navy or by civilians in the merchant service, cruise about our coasts. Stations also are formed on shore from which patrols are sent out, and where watch is kept day and night. In order to keep up the efficiency and nautical training of the men serving ashore, they are drafted annually on board of the various guard-ships stationed round the coast, and taken for a month's or six weeks' cruise with the Channel Fleet. The total number of officers and men employed in the coast- guard service is 4,300. ROYAL NAVAL RESERVE — ROYAL MARINES. U3 A corps of Naval Artillery Volunteers has been formed ■within the last few years, and consists at present of three brigades — the headquarters being at London, Liverpool, and Bristol, respectively. The Royal Naval Reserve consists of volunteers from the mercantile service, who imdergo a certain amount of training annually in time of peace, and hold themselves at the dis- posal of the country in time of war. Merchant vessels, whose crews comprise a certain proportion of naval reserve men, have a right to carry the Blue ensign, ordinary mer- chantmen being restricted to the use of the Ked ensign ; while men-of-war bear the White ensign. The Royal Naval Reserve numbers 20,000. The corps of Royal Marines is under the control of the Board of Admiralty, and forms part of the establishment of the Navy. It serves on board our ships and garrisons the royal dockyards. It numbers 14,000 officers, non-commis- sioned officers, and men, and of that number about one-half is generally serving afloat. The date of the formation of this force has not been exactly ascertained : we first hear of it in the year 1681. It is now separated into two sections — the Marine Light Infantry and the Royal Marine Artillery; the former consists of three divisions, which are stationed respectively at Chatham, Portsmouth, and Plymouth, and niimber more than one hundred companies. There are thirteen companies of Marine Artillery, the headquarters of which are at Portsmouth. Gentlemen enter this service as cadets, and are instructed in their profession on board the Excellent gunnery ship, at Portsmouth. The most proficient are chosen for the Marine Artillery, the junior officers of which force are selected from the most capable of their rank in the general body of the Royal Marines. The system of purchase never existed in this corps, and promotion goes entirely by seniority. All the rewards for long and distinguished services and bravery that I mentioned in my letter upon the Army are open to officers in the Navy and Marines. LETTEE XV. THE CIVIL SERVICE. Nature o£ the Civil Service — Treasury— Secretaries of State's Offices — Board of Admiralty — ^Board of Trade — Inland Kevenue — Customs^ Post Office — Poor Law Board — Audit Office — Public Eecord Office — Paymaster-General's Office — Military Offices — Parliamentary Offices — Board of Works, &c. I NOW come to that brancli of Her Majesty's services whioh is so intimately connected witli " How we are Governed " — the Civil Service. The Civil Service is the name now used collectively for all the civil ofiices under the Crown. Every- one holding a post under the Government that is not a legal, naval, or military post, is called a Civil Servant, from the Prime Minister down to a penny postman. The influence of the Civil Service is very great. It has the entire control over all the affairs of the country, including all civil matters con- nected with the Army and Navy. It superintends the customs and revenues . and collects all taxes. It accounts for the national expenditure. It builds ships for the Navy, and regulates the clothing, ammunition, and transport of the Army. It controls the governments of our various colonies. In fact, the Civil Service is, in other words, the machinery which carries on the government of the country. This machinery is divided into departments, and at the head of each department is a Minister of the Crown, or some great political or financial functionary, who is aided by a staiF of clerks to assist him in the discharge of his duties. These clerkships have since 1855 been open to a species of limited competition, and are much coveted. They are, how- ever, not open to the public, as every candidate, before com- petition, has to obtain a nomination from some member of the Government, allowing him to go up for his examination — a very difiBcult thing to get now-a-days. The following list of the chief Government departments, together with a short account of their different duties, will HOME OFFICE. 145 give you perhaps the best idea of what the Civil Service really is : — First of all is the Treasury. — The office of Lord High Treasurer was first put into commission in 1612. The Lords of the Treasury are five in number, including the First Lord and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. All these, as well as the two Parliamentary Secretaryships, are political appoint- ments, and are vacated on a change of Ministry. The First Lord of the Treasury has the power of controlling all the appointments made by other members of the Ministry ; he appoints archbishops and bishops, and such Crown livings as are not vested in the Lord Chancellor are at his disposal. He is generally, but not necessarily, the Prime Minister, The Chancellor of the Exchequer now performs many of the duties in connection with the Exchequer which in former times devolved upon the Lord High Treasurer. He has the entire control of the public moneys, and of all matters relat- ing to its receipt or expenditure. The three Junior Lords of the Treasury are members of Parliament. They are ex- pected to be in attendance on the various committees, and arrangements are made that some of them shall be in the House whenever it may sit. There are two Political Se- cretaries — one attending to financial, and the other to parlia- mentary business. The permanent Under-Secretary is the official head of the department. The Treasury is the highest branch of the Executive, and exercises its supervision over all the revenue offices, and, so far as receipt and expenditure are concerned, over every department of the Civil Service. The earliest mention of a secretary to the sovereign occurs in 1253, a second was added in 1539, and a third in 1708 for Scotch affairs. The Ilome Office. — The present organization of the Home Office took place in 1801 ; before that year it had been united with the Foreign and Colonial Departments. The Secretary of State for the Home Department has direct con- trol over all matters relating to the internal afiairs of Great Britain. He controls the administration of criminal justice, the internal regulation of prisons and reformatories, and the whole police force as well as the covmty constabulary. Acting under his control are Inspectors of Factories, of ex- plosives, of mines, and the Salmon Fisheries of England and Wales. All official communications from the Cabinet to the Viceregal Court of Ireland are made through this department. 143 THE CIVIL SERVICE. and the Home Secretary is consulted by the Lord Ijieiiteuant on all matters of moment. He is assisted in the discharge of his duties by two under-secretaries, an assistant under- secretary, and a staff of clerks. The Foreign Office. — Previous to the year 1782 the two principal secretaries were known as Secretaries of State for the Northern and Southern Departments respectively. In this year, however, a re-division of the duties was made, under which arrangement the Northern became the Foreign, and the Southern the Home Department. The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs is the official channel of com- munication between Great Britain and other countries ; all treaties and alliances are made through him, and it is part of his duty to extend his protection to English subjects residing abroad. All ambassadors and consuls are Tinder his control. The Foreign Secretary is assisted in the dis- charge of his duties by two under-secretaries, two assistant under-secretaries, and a staff of clerks. The Colonial Ofice. — The first Secretary of State for the Colonies was appointed in 1768. The duties of this office are entirely confined to colonial matters, and consist in ex- ercising a watchful supervision of the interests of our colo- nies, in administering their laws and customs, in appointing their governors, and in directing their government. The Secretary of State for the Colonies is assisted in the dis- charge of his duties by an vmder-secretary, three assistant under-secretaries, and a staff of clerks. Tlie War Office. — The present organization of the War Office dates only from 1854-5, when the extensive Ordnance departments, the Commissariat, and the Secretary at War were abolished, and the duties transferred to the Secretary of State for War. By this consolidation of offices an esta- blishment was formed, having the administration of all war matters and the entire supervision of the Army at home and abroad. The Secretary of State for War is assisted in the discharge of his duties by a parliamentary under-secretary, a financial secretary, a permanent under-secretary, an as- sistant under-secretary, a legal secretary, and a large staff of military and civil officials. The India Office.— In 1858, by 21 & 22 Vict. c. 106, the Government, in the place of the East India Company, as- sumed the entire administration of the British Empire in India. By this Ast the Secretary of State for India has all BOARD OF ADMIRALTY — BOARD OP TRADE. M-7 the powers hitherto exercised by the Company and the Board of Control. He is assisted in the discharge of his duties by two under-sccretaries, an assistant under-secretary, and the Council of India, together with a large staff of clerks. The Council of India consists of fifteen members, eight of whom were formerly appointed by the Queen and seven by the Directors of the East India Company, but in 1869 an Act was passed providing that for the futui-e vacancies in the Council should be fiUed up by the Secre- tary of State. Each member is now appointed for a term of ten years only, but may be re-appointed for a further period of five years for special reasons, to be approved of by both Houses of Parliament. • The major part of the Council must be persons who have served or resided in India for ten years, or who have not left India more than ten years next preceding the date of their appointment, and no person not so qualified shall be appointed, unless at least nine of the nominating members of the Council be persons so qualified. Members receive an annual salary of 1000/., retain their office during good behaviour, and are not pSI-mitted to sit in Parliament. Board of Admiralty. — This office is the representative of the Lord High Admiral of Great Britain and Ireland, and is now put into commission. The Commissioners are generally members of the House of Commons, and are composed of naval officers and civilians, all of whom are styled Lords of the Admiralty, and who, together with the First Secre- tary, quit office on a change of Government. The other officers have permanent appointments. These Lords Com- missioners exercise their supervision over all naval matters, and exclusively control the expenditure of [the sums an- nually voted by Parliament for the naval service. They are assisted in the discharge of their duties by a large staff of officials. Board of Trade. — The Board, as it now stands, was ap- pointed in 1786. Properly speaking, the Board of Trade is a committee of the Privy Council. At its head is a Presi- dent (who changes with the Government), a Parliamentary secretary, and an under-secretary. This office is divided into the Harbour, the Eailway, the Marine, and the Statis- tical Departments. It exercises its supervision over such as the negociation of commercial treaties, the working of rail- ways, and all matters of public interest connected with the commercial enterprise of the United Kingdom. L 2 148 THE CIVIL SERVICE. The Local Government Board. — In 1871 the supervision of the laws relating to the Public Health, the Eelief of the Poor, and Local Government, was concentrated in one de- partment of the Government, called the Local Government Board. This department consists, in addition to the Lord Privy Seal, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the five principal Secretaries of State, who are ex officio members, of a President, a Permanent Secretary, and a Parliamentary Secretary, with a large staff of clerks, of&cers, and inspectors. The Board is now charged with the supervision of the local agencies for the relief of the poor, the making and repairing of highways and bridges, and the prevention of nuisances, and the general administfation of the laws relating to the public health. Board of Inland Revenue. — The Inland Kevenue Depart- ment comprises Excise, Stamps, and Taxes. Excise applies chiefly to duties levied upon articles of consumption of home production. The duties on certain foreign articles formerly part of the Excise duties, are now transferred to the Customs. Excise duties were first levied in 1626. The Stamp duty was imposed in the reign of William and Mary, in 1694. The Income-tax was introduced in 1799 by Pitt. Formerly each of the departments was under a separate Board of Commissioners; in 1834 the Board of Stamps was united with the Board of Taxes ; and in 1848 the Board of Stamps and Taxes was consolidated with that of the Excise. The Board of Inland Eeveuue, under a chairman, deputy- chairman, and three commissioners, with their staff of officials, now controls the whole duties of Stamps, Taxes, and Excise. Board of Customs. — Customs are duties charged on com- modities, export or import. The Customs are regulated by various Acts, in which specific directions are given for the entry, discharging, and shipping of all goods, inwards and outwards, with certain prohibitions and restrictions as to the import and export of certain goods ; also for regulating the coasting trade, which term designates all trade by sea from any one part of the United Kingdom to any other part thereof. In 1853 the several Acts then in force for the management of the Custonds were consolidated-. For the collection of their duties custom-hoiises are appointed. In these houses exports and imports are entered ; the duties, drawbacks, and bounties payable or receivable, are settled ; POST OFFICE, ETO., ETC. 149 and ships are, as it is termed, cleared out. The principal office is in Thames Street, near the Tower, London. The Board of Customs consists of a chairman, a deputy-chair- man, and two commissioners, and a large working staff of clerks. Fost Office and Telegraphy DepaHment. — The Post Office is now charged with the administration of the Inland Tele- graph system, and all contracts for the conveyance of letters are made in the name of the Postmaster-General, who is the head of this department of the Government. An important part of the duties of this department relates to the money order system. Savings Banks and Government Annuity systems are also connected with the Post Office. The Post- master-General is a member of the Government. He is assisted by two secretaries, two assistant secretaries, and a large staff of subordinates. In addition to the above-named offices there are an Office of the Registrar of Friendly Societies ; the Avdit and Ex- chequer Office, which inspects the whole of the public accounts and investigates all advances of money on behalf of the public service ; the PuUic Record Office, which contains all our valuable national archives ; the Raymaster-GeneraUs Ofice, which superintends the payment of the Naval, Mili- tary, and Civil Services ; the Military Offices, which are those of the Commander-in-Chief, Adjutant-General, Quarter- master-General, and Judge Advocate-General, are all under the immediate control of the Commander-in-Chief, and under his direction govern all movements of troops, grant commissions, and make the necessary staff and other ap- pointments — in all matters relating to pay and allowances these departments are controlled by the Secretary of State for War ; the Parliament Offices, which have special duties in connection with the House of Lords and the House of Commons ; the Copyhold, Inclosure, and Tithe Commission Office, which facilitates the enclosure of all waste lands not within a prescribed distance of any city or town ; the Ecclesias- tical Commission Office, which was established in 1834 for the purpose of equalizing the incomes derived from bishoprics. Church livings, and clerical offices, for the general manage- ment of Church property, and to organize a proper distribu- tion of the Church funds ; the National Debt Office; the Woods, Forests, and Land Revenues Office, which has the entire manage- ment of the royal forests and woodlands, and the manors and 150 THE CIVIL SERVICE. lands of the Crown in Great Britain and Ireland — all sales, purchases, and exchanges of Crown or public property, are made through this department, subject to the sanction of the Treasury ; the Board of Woi-ls, which controls all ex- penditure connected with the maintenance or repair of the Royal Palaces and the erection and furnishing of the chief puljlic buildings and offices : it regulates all the gi'cat metro- politan improvements and submits to the Treasury all esti- mates of the cost of public works. There are various other offices connected with the Civil Service which would take up too much space to enumerate, such as the offices in Scotland and Ireland, special offices at home with technical duties, &c., &c. I have, however, given you an account in this chapter of the influential offices in the Civil Service — those offices that bear directly on our system of government and show how we are governed. LETTEE XVI. THE LAW. The Common Law — Statute Liiw— Civil Law — Koman Civil Law — Equity — Conflicts of Law and Equity — New Procedure — Interpretation, of the Law — The SherifT, his Office and Responsibility in Executing and Enforcing the Law. I SHALL now proceed to the second division of my subject, the " PRACTICE OF THE LAW OF ENGLAND." Our law is of two kinds, the unwritten, or Common Law, made up of aiicient customs,* either general, aifecting the whole kingdom, or special, having- force only in particular places ; and the written, or Statute Law, made and altered from time to time in Parliament, as I have described in a former Letter. The Comm^on and the Statute Law are de- clared and interpreted by the decisions of the judges con- tained in the law reports. The law thus composed may again be divided under two heads : the Civil Law, which relates to the rights of the people amongst themselves, giving remedies by action, in which the person aggrieved is called the plaintiff, and he against whom the proceedings are taken the defendant ; and the Criminal Law, which is put in operation by jirosecittion, in the name of the Sovereign, against evil-doers. A particular code of Civil Law derived from the Eoman Civil Law, and some portions of the Eoman Canon Law, is adopted in the Ecclesiastical and Admiralty Courts, and the Courts of Probate and Matrimonial Causes, which severally decide cases relating to the discipline of the clergy, and the regiilation of divine service in churches ; questions of prizes during war, and claims that arise out of accidents and ship- j * A " custom," to be good in point of law, must have existed from time immemorial. ISa THE LA.-W. ■wrecks at sea; adjudicate upon disputes relating to the form and validity of wills ; and grant separations and divorces to married people. Equity is a principle acting in conjunction with, the law to soften and correct its operation in certain cases, by taking cognizance of those trusts and confidences which, although binding upon the conscience, a Court of Common Law is unable to enforce. For a long time after its introduction, Equity was a principle separate, and sometimes antagonistic, to the law, and was administered in courts of its own, pre- sided over by judges trained to its practice, assisted by advocates who made it a distinct profession. You can imagine, I dare say, without much difficulty, how questions both of Law and Equity might be mixed up in one dispute, but it could not be decided by the tribunals of either acting separately. Thus, under the old system, if an estate were given to me on trust, to pay the rent and profits of it to your uncle, and to allow him quiet enjoyment of it, I should be considered, in the Common Law Courts on one side of Westminster Hall, the sole owner of the land, and might bring an action against him if he trespassed upon it ; but in the Courts of Chancery, on the other side, he would be the real beneficiary owner, and I should be treated merely as the channel throvigh which his property came. Again, if I had a patent invention which you unlawfully used, I could have obtained from an Equity judge an in- junction commanding you to cease from using it without my permission ; but I should have had to bring an action at Common Law before I could recover damages against you for infringing my rights. So in the case which I first put, your uncle could not have pleaded in a Court of Law that I was merely a trustee for him, but as such. Equity would have resti'ained me from proceeding further in my action. Thus an appeal to two tribunals was frequently requisite to obtain redress for a single wrong, or to settle one and the same dispute. Proceedings in Chancery were protracted and expensive in the extreme. A suit sometimes lasted for twenty years, or longer still, and costs more than the value of the subject- matter of dispute were frequently incurred. Every person interested to the most remote degree, whether in Law or Equity, was made a plaintiff or defendant as the case might be, and if any of them died, or, being a female, married, the SHERIFF OF A COUNTY. 153 suit abated, or ceased, and the proceedings had to be begun all over again. These anomalies and stumbling-blocks in the path of jus- tice no longer exist to the same extent as formerly. The principles of Equity are now generally acknowledged, and acted upon in Courts of Common Law, and Common Law relief and compensation is in like manner granted by Courts of Chancery. The practice of Equity has been rendered much more rapid and inexpensive, and suits do not abate as long as the parties or their representatives are qualified and willing to caiTy them on. The important changes that have been recently effected by the Judicature Acts will contribute largely to produce a complete fusion of the formerly con- flicting systems of Law and Equity. The Courts of Common Law and the Courts of Chancery, with their distinct juris- dictions, are now consolidated into one Supreme Court of Judicature ; the systems of Law and Equity as administered respectively in each have been harmonised and the proce- dure simplified, so as to render it cheap, speedy, and con- venient in its action. The laws are interpreted and administered by the Judges in the courts I shall mention by-and-by, and their decisions are executed or enforced, in the name of the Sovereign, by the sheriflFs of the various counties into which the kingdom is divided. The office of the sheriff — sJdre reeve, or sJiire yereffa — is of great antiquity ; it is held for one year only, at the nomination of the Crown. All arrests for debt are made by the officers of the sheriff, who is responsible for the safe custody of the debtor. He has also to summon juries to serve upon trials, and to carry out the extreme sentence of the criminal law. The powers which he exercises in the election of members of Parliament I have already sketched, and I will briefly notice those judicial functions which he has to perform, when I write to you about the proceedings in an action at law. As keeper of the Queen's peace in his county, the sheriff is the first man in it, not excepting the lord-lieutenant, who, as the successor of the earl, as I have told you already, was once its chief military governor. By virtue of his office the sheriff possesses the powers of a justice ; but being the executor of the law, he may not act as an ordinary magistrate in administering it. He is bound to defend his county against all the Queen's enemies, and must take into custody all traitors and felons ; and to enable 154 THE LAW. him to do so, may summon to his assistance all the people in the county under the rank of a peer. This is called the posse comitaius, or power of the county. Such are the duties and powers of the sheriff as deiined by laws now in full force, but in 2}ractice he is hardly ever called upon to perform them. His deputy, the under-sheriff, trans- acts all the legal, judicial, and formal duties of the office ; the police relieve him from the trouble of looking after crimi- nals ; and the time has passed in which our national defences could safely be trusted in his hands, however brave or loyal he may be. It is still a distinction to hold this post of high sheriff, as none but gentlemen of character and sufficient property are usually nominated to fill it. They have to accompany, and entertain the judges of assize through their county, and to provide a sufficient escort of javelin men for their protection. They sit on the right hand of the presiding judge at criminal trials, girt with a sword; and when there is a "maiden assize," that is, one at which there are no prisoners to be tried, they present him with a pair of white gloves. When they have done this, and presided at any election that may take place during their year of office, they have done all that is required of them. So that when in future Letters I tell you that the sheriff has to do this or that, you will understand that his deputy, the under-sheriff, has to do it for him. LETTEE XVll. THE COURTS OF LAW AND EQUITY, AND THEIR PROCEDURE. The Superior Courts — Circnits of the Judges — Their several Commissions — District Courts of Record — Counsel and Attorney — The Inns of Court —An Action at Law— The Pleadings— The Jury— The Trial— The Terdict — Judgment by Default — The Costs — Execution — Judges in Equity. A " COURT " is defined to be a place wherein justice is judi- cially administered. As the power of executing the laws is vested by our constitution in the Sovereign, it follows that all courts of justice derive their power from the Crown. The whole of the courts were reconstituted in 1873 by the Judicature Act, and in order that I may clearly point out the nature and extent of the changes effected by, that Act and by others that have been passed since 1873, and explain our present judicial organisation, it will be necessary for me to describe shortly the constitution of the courts previously to the year 1875, which was as follows. The Court of Chancery was presided over by the Lord Chancellor, two Lords Justices of Appeal, the Master of the KoUs, and three Vice-Chancellors. The principal courts of Common Law, holding their sittings in Westminster Hall, were three in number — the Court of Queen's Bench, the Court of Common Pleas, and the Court of Exchequer. The judges of the two former were called Justices of their respective courts, those of the latter Barons. The Lord Chief Justice of England and five justices presided in the Court of Queen's Bench ; the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and the same number of justices sitting in that court ; and the Lord Chief Baron and five barons in the Court of Exchequer. The whole of these courts, together with the High Court of Admiralty and the Court of Probate and Divorce, are now consolidated into one Supreme Court of Judicature, which consists of two divisions ] 156 THE COURTS OP LAW AND EQUITY. one of which is termed " Her Majesty's High Court of Jus- tice," and the other " Her Majesty's High Court of Appeal." " The High Court of Justice " consists of five divisions, which are called respectively, the Chancery Division, the Queen's Bench Division, the Common Pleas Division, the Exchequer Division, and the Probate, Divorce, and Admi- ralty Division. " The High Court of Appeal " consists of the following ex officio judges — the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice of England, the Master of the Rolls, the Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and the Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer ; and as many ordinary judges as the Qiieen shall from time to time appoint, of whom the first are to be the existing Lord Justices of Appeal in Chancery and the salaried judges of the Privy Council, and three others appointed by the Queen. An appeal lies to the House of Lords from the orders or judgments of this court. The names of the old courts and their general character have been as far' as possible retained, and many of the out- ward changes in the style and constitution of the courts have been merely formal. It is in the procedure and iu the rules of court framed by the judges under the authority of the Judicature Acts, that the vast improvement effected by the recent legislation will become apparent, and to this improved procedure I shall shortly direct your attention. Formerly 'each of these courts, which are now constituted divisions of the High Court of Justice, had a separate juris- diction : the King's Bench only heard criminal' causes, and such as related to the controlling of inferior tribunals ; the Common Pleas was for trials between subject and subject; and the Exchequer decided only such causes as related to the collection of the revenue. Th«se distinctions, however, long since evaded by legal fictions, are done away with by statute, and a private person may bring his action in any one of these courts. But the Queen's "Bench even now retains special jurisdiction m certain particulars. It is the highest criminal court in the kingdom ; it keeps all inferior courts within the bounds of their authority, and may either order their proceedings to be removed for its own considera- tion by what is termed a writ of certiorari, or may prohibit their progress altogether by a writ of prohibition. It con- trols all civil corporations, and it commands magistrates by mandamus and others to do what the law requires in every case where there is no other course prescribed. CTECDITS OP THE JUDGES. 157 England and Wales are divided into eight circuits, as follows : — South Eastern Circuit : — County. Assize Tovm. Herts ..... Hertford. Essex ..... Chelmsford. Sussex ..... Lewes. Kent Maidstone. The Winter Assize of the above five counties and of Berks is held in London. Huntingdonshire . . . Huntingdon. Cambridgeshire , . . . Cambridge. ^''^°^ \ '.'.'.'. LCTst Edmunds. Norfolk Korwich. Midland Circuit : — ■ Beds Bedford. Bucks Aylesbury. Derbyshire . . . . Derby. Leicestershire Leicester. Lincolnshire , . . . Lincoln. Nortihants . . . . Northampton Notts Nottingham. Rutlandshire Oakham. ■Warsrickshire . . . , Warwick, NoRTHEEN Circuit : — Cumberland . . . . Carlisle. Westmoreland . Appleby. Lancashire — Northern Division . Lancaster. Salford Division , . . Manchester. West Derby Division Liverpool. North Eastern Circuit : — Northumberland Newcastle. Durham Durham. Yorkshire — N. E. Hiding and city of York York. W. Eiding . , Leeds. Oxford Circuit : — Berks . . . , Reading. Oxfordshire . Oxford. Worcestershire . Worcester. Staffordshire . Stafford. Salop ■. . . . Shrewsbury. Herefordshire Hereford. Monmouthshire . Monmouth. Gloucestershire (Jlou'oester. 158 THE COURTS OP LAW AND EQUITY. Western Circuit : — County. Assize Town. _ Hants . . Winchester. Wilts . . . . . Devizes. Dorsetshire . . Dorchester. Devonshire j ' . Exeter. . . City of Exeter, Cornwall Bodmin. Somerset \ . . Taunton. . . Bristol. North Wales Circuit : — Montgomeryshire . . . WeUhpool. Merionethshire . DolgeUy. Carnarvonshire , . . Carnarvon. Anglesey . Beaumaris. Denbighsliire . . Ruthin. Flintshire . Mold. Cheshire . . . Chester. South Wales Circuit : — Pembrokeshire . Haverfordwest Cardiganshire . . Cardigan. Carmarthenshire . . Carmarthen, Glamorganshire . . Swansea. . Cardiff. Brecon . . Brecon. Eadnorshire . . Presteign. All judges of the High Court of Justice appointed since the Act of 1873 are now under the obligation to go circuit, and every additional ordinary judge of the High Court of Appeal appointed since 1876. The regulation of circuits is governed by orders in Council issued from time to time. Two judges generally go on each of these circuits, except the last two, who in turn transact the civil and criminal business in its towns, except in the county palatine of Lan- caster, in which the senior judge always presides in the criminal or Crown court. The county of Surrey is not included in any circuit, but commissions are issued not less often than twice a year for the discharge of the civil and criminal business. Assizes are held in spring, summer, autumn, and winter for the transaction of civil and criminal business, but the ordi- nary circuits take place twice a year, in Spring and Summer. In the more popiilous counties Winter and Autumn Assizes are held, for the trial of prisoners, and in a few instances the judges also take civil business at the same time ; but for the purpose of the more speedy transaction THE JDDGES— BAKRISTERS. 159 of business, both civil and criminal, several counties may be united, and a convenient town fixed for holding the Assizes. This is done by orders in Council published in the London Gazette from time to time. The judges transact the business upon circuit by virtue of five separate authorities, only two of which I need mention here, in treating of civil procedure, namely, the commission of assize, authorising them to hear and determine disputes relating to land, and the commission of nisi iirius, which empowers them to try all actions pending in the superior courts that are ripe to be heard. These causes are appointed to be tried at Westminster, before a jury of the county out of which the dispute arose, nisi prim {unless before) the day fixed the judges come into that county to hear and decide it. There are also distinct Courts of Eecord, such as the Courts of Common Pleas of the counties of Durham and Lancaster, the Passage Court of Liverpool, and the Court of Record of Manchester, having almost the same procedure as the superior courts, and an unlimited, or limited jurisdiction, as to the amount they can award, according to their constitution. Any person may bring, and defend, his own action in person, but almost all the business of our courts of law is carried on by counsel and solicitors, selected by the parties to act for them. The former were originally of two classes, ferjeants-al-law, a degree which will not be conferred for the future, for the reason stated below, and barristers. Some of the latter are appointed Queen's counsel by patent from the Crown — all these fall under the general name of Counsel. From the most eminent of these the judges are selected. The Chief Justices and Chief Baron are appointed by the Prime Minister ; the lesser, or puisne judges, by the Lord Chancellor. It was formerly necessary, in order to be qualified for the position of a Common Law judge, that a man should take the legal degree of serjeant-at-law, but it was provided by the Act of 1873 that no person appointed a judge of the High Court should for the future be required to take the degree of serjeant-at-law. The degree has now therefore ceased to have any meaning. The corporation of Serjeants' Inn has been dissolved, and its surviving members are the last representatives of this ancient order. The privilege of calling persons to the bar in England is exclusively held by four ancient societies— viz., that of the Inner Temple, the Middle Temple, Lincohi's Inn, and Gray's 160 THE COUNTS OF LAW AND EQUITY, Inn, which now act as a corporation. Until recently students had only to pay some fees and to eat a certain number of dinners in the halls of these societies to entitle them to bo called to the bar; but, with the exception of members of the Universities, they have now to undergo a preliminary examination in general knowledge before they are admitted as students, and all must also pass examina- tions in law before they are granted the degree of bar- rister-at-law, which confers the liberty of practising in all English courts, and gives a legal right to the title of esquire. An attorney is one who is put in the place or tur7i of another to manage his affairs. Attorneys were formerly distinguished from solicitors who were attached to the Court of Chancery and from proctors who practised in the eccle- siastical courts, but now this distinction has been abolished, and all attorneys, proctors, or solicitors are termed solicitors of the Supreme Court, and may practise in any branch of the Supreme Court, after being admitted. Solicitors are now formed into a regular society called the Incorporated Law Society, to which, in conjunction with some officials named by Act of Parliament, the examination of persons desiring to become members of this profession, and the charge of the rolls or lists of persons duly entitled to practise in it, is con- fided. Persons are admitted by the superior courts after they have served for a certain time as clerks in the ofiice of a solicitor, under a legal instrument called articles of cleric- ship, and have passed, examinations in law. They are then considered to be officers of the Supreme Court. The judges exercise strict supervision over their conduct, and may strike their names off the rolls, should it be proved to their satis- faction that they have been guilty of conduct deserving such a punishment. Solicitors have to take out a certificate every year, upon which they have to pay a fee for leave to' pursue their vocation. The actions most commonly brought in the Qommon Law Divisions of the High Court of Justice are to recover dis- puted debts or demands, the possession of land, or a compen- sation in money called damages, for acts committed or neglected to be done, whereby the plaintiff suffers an injury to his person, property, or reputation. When an action is to be brought, the plaintiff lays his case before a solicitor, who issues a writ summoning the defendant to appear to answer the complaint of the plaintiff. This PROCEDURE. 161 " appearance " is made by his lodging with the proper officer of the court a writing stating his place of business and his address for service, which must be within three miles of Temple Bar if the appearance is entered in London, or within the district if appearance is entered in the country or district registry as it is termed, where notices and further proceed- ings may be served upon him. Where the plaintiff seeks merely to recover an ordinary debt or an ascertained sum of money, as for instance on a check or a promissory note, he may state on the back of his writ the particulars of the amount he seeks to recover. The writ is then specially indorsed, and after the defendant has appeared the plaintiff or any other person who can swear positively to the debt or cause of action may make an affidavit verifying the cause of action and stating that in his belief there is no defence to the action. On which affidavit the plaintiff may at once call upon the defendant to show cause why judgment should not be signed unless he shall disclose a good defence on the merits. The defendant is thus prevented from setting up a frivolous defence for the purpose of delay. The judge may then order judgment to be signed, or if he see fit give the defendant leave to defend. If the defendant obtains leave to defend, the action proceeds. The next step is the delivery by the plaintiff of a statement of claim, which is either written or printed, and must be delivered within six weeks after appearance has been entered. The defendant may, however, if he wish to save costs and shorten proceedings, dispense with a statement of claim, and he must then deliver his defence (formerly his plea) within eight days from appearance. The plaintiff may also, where the writ is specially indorsed, give notice to the plaintiff that the particulars of his claim appear by the indorsement on the writ of summons, and thus save himself the additional expense of a more formal and lengthy statement of the facts of his case. When a statement of claim is delivered the defendant must deliver his defence within eight days from the delivery of the statement of claim. The defence contains a short statement of the facts upon which the defendant relies to rebut the plaintiff's claim, or he may set up facts by way of set-off or counter-claim, in which latter case the defendant becomes the real plaintiff with regard to the counter-claim, as I shall proceed to show. Formerly the defendant in such a case, if he had a claim against a plaintiff who had sued him, must have brought a 16:2 THE COtrRTS OF LA.W AND EQUITY. separate action called a cross action. But the modem pro- cedure is framed with the object of enabling litigants to settle all questions in dispute between themselves in the same action, and for this purpose to join third parties who may be partly interested on one side or the other, for the pur- pose of adjusting mutual differences. If however the subject- matter of the counter-claim, cannot be conveniently disposed of at the same time as the original claim in the plaintiff's action, the judge will order the actions to be tried separately. A defendant may also demur, that is, he may deny that certain facts alleged by the plaintiff are sufficient in law to entitle him to recover even if they should be true, which he may deny under certain circumstances. The defendant is then said to plead and demur. The demurrer or question of law is then argued before the judges sitting in Banco as it is termed, or on the Bench of their respective courts. If the court should decide that the facts alleged by the plaintiff would be sufficient in law if proved to entitle him to recover, the demurrer is dismissed, and the action is then decided upon the facts at the trial, which generally takes place before a jury; jout the pleadings must first be closed and issue joined between the parties. I will then suppose that the defendant denies the facts upon which the plaintiff relies, and sets up other facts by way of set-off or counter-claim in his defence. The plaintiff must within three weeks after delivery of .the difence deliver his reply, in which he may join issue on the defence, and in the same pleading allege the facts upon which he relies in answer to the counter-claim of the defend- ant. The defendant then delivers his rejoinder, in which he may in his turn join issue upon the facts alleged by the plaintiff in answer to his counter-claim. Either party may demur to any pleading of the opposit e party, but when issue is joined on the facts alleged on either side, the pleadings are closed and the action is then ready for trial. All natural born subjects between the ages of twenty-one and sixty, who have an income of 10^. from land or tenements of freehold, or 201. from leaseholds, or, being householders, are rated to the poor at 301., are qualified to be jurors. In Wales the qualification is one-fifth less than the above ; but in the City of London no man can serve upon a jury who is not a householder or occupier of a shop or counting-house, and worth 1001. a year. A book called the Jurors' Book ia JURY — TRIAL, ETC. 163 kept by the sheriff, in which is entered the names of all qualified persons, and from this he selects the panel, or list, which, in obedience to the writ venire facias juratores, he sends to the sittings, or assizes, and summons those per- sons included in it to attend there under pain of a penalty of not less than forty shillings. Thus is formed the commonjury. If either plaintiff or defendant wish to have their case tried before a higher class than this, they may demand a special jury. The special jury list, kept as before by the sheriff, contains the names of more wealthy persons than the common jury. Formerly only special jurors were paid for their services, at the rate of a guinea a case. They now receive a guinea a day and common jurors half a guinea. The following persons are exempted from serving on juries: — Peers, judges, clergymen of all denominations acknow- ledged by law, doctors of laws, advocates, barristers, and solicitors in practice, oificers of the army and navy, of courts of law and equity, and of the customs and excise, physicians and surgeons, pilots, persons engaged in laying down buoys for the Trinity House, the household of the Sovereign, sheriffs' ofi&cers, parish clerks, and all persons above sixty years of age. When a cause is ripe for trial, the solicitors for either party make out statements of the facts and circumstances of their cases in writing, which are called briefs. They then generally select a queen's counsel or Serjeant to conduct the case, and one or more barristers to assist them as Juniors, giving each a brief, upon which is marked the fee by which they propose to reward these services. A Junior may however conduct a case without a Queen's Counsel or Leader, or one junior may lead another, but as a general rule a Queen's Counsel cannot appear without a junior for a plaintiff, although he may for a defendant. The fee of a barrister and a physician is considered in the light of a free gift, or Iwnorarium, which cannot be demanded or re- covered at law. A jury of twelve is then empanelled as follows : The names of all the jurors summoned are written each upon a separate piece of paper and put into a box ; the officer of the court selects twelve at random, and these form the jury. The judge having taken his seat, and the jury sworn to give a true verdict between the parties, the trial commences. The junior coimsel for the plaintiff o/jens the pleadings, stating M 2 164 THE COITRTS OF LAW AND EQUITY. the issue to be tried j the leading or senior counsel then states the facts of the case to the jury, after which the witnesses, by whose testimony it is to be supported,' are examined by the counsel for the plaintiff, generally in turn — -this is called the examination in chief. The defendant's counsel may then cross-examine the witnesses as they are called forward, to test the truth of their story, and require them to answer as to such other circumstances as may favour the defendant's case, and explain what they have already stated. Afterwards the plaintiff's counsel may re-examine them upon any new facts that may be thus brought out. When all bis witnesses have been called (if none are to be examined for the defendant), the plaintiff's counsel sums up their evidence to the jury — that is to say, points out the leading facts, and comments upon them. The defendant's counsel then replies upon the case, and shows, if he can, that it has failed. If the defendant calls witnesses, they are examined in the same manner as those for the plaintiff have been, his counsel having now the right of cross-examination. Counsel for the defendant then sums up, and the plaintiff's counsel replies upon the whole case. The judge now reads over the evidence on both sides to the jury, and makes such observations upon it as he deems proper, and at the same time he directs the jury as to the law bearing upon the facts of the case. The jury are then desired to consider their verdict, which they return either for the plaintiff or defendant ; if for the former (supposing that the action is brought to recover compensation for a wrong), stating the amount of damages to which he is, in their judgment, entitled. If the defendant has set up a counter-claim the jury may either dismiss it by finding a verdict for the plaintiff on the counter-claim, or they may give a verdict for the defendant on the counter- claim and dismiss the original claim of the plaintiff, or they may find for the plaintiff on his original claim, and for the defendant on his counter-claim, and set off the amounts respectively, the one against the other. If the jury cannot agree in court upon their verdict — and they must be unani- mous in returning it — they reth-e to a chamber apart to consult, and if after the lapse of a sufficient time it appears impossible to agree, they may be discharged by the judge, and the trial has to be begun over again, if the parties cannot contrive to settle their dispute in the meantime. If either plaintiff or defendant be dissatisfied with the DAMAGES — COSTS, ETC. 165 directions given by the judge to the jury, in point of law, or thinks that their verdict has been given contrary to the weight of evidence, he may apply to the divisional court in which the action was brought, to grant him a new trial ; or if the case is decided against him by the judge who tried it, or by the court, upon a point of law, he may apply to the High Court of Appeal to reverse the decision, and from them he may appeal to the House of Lords. Hitherto I have supposed that the defendant chooses to appear to the writ ; if he does not do so the plaintiff may, by leave of a judge, go on with the action as though he had done so, if he can show that the writ has come to his knowr ledge ; and if the defendant does not deliver his Statement of Defence within a given time, he will be held to admit the claim made against him, and judgment may be signed hy default. If the amount sued for be ascertained — a debt for example — his goods may be seized to satisfy it ; but if what are called unliquidated damages, or damages the extent of which have yet to be ascertained, are sought, the plaintiff has to call upon the sherifi" to assess the damages. The sheriff summons a jury, and holds his court (which is generally presided over by his deputy) ; the plaintiff proves the amount of damages he has sustained, and the defendant may be heard in reduction of damages. The jury fix what sum is to be paid, and it is recovered according to law. If the defendant refuses or neglects to pay in this, as in any other case in which a verdict or judgment is given against him, his property may be seized by the sheriff under a writ from the court, and sold to raise the required sum, or he may be arrested and imprisoned until he shall have satisfied it, if he has the means of so doing, and neglects or refuses to do so. The parties may agree to accept the opinion of a judge upon the law and the facts of their case, and when his de- cision is given, it has all the force of a verdict by a jury. Actions involving mere questions of account, are often re- ferred to some competent person, whose award is made a rule of court, and enforced by it. The costs of the proceedings in an action are in the dis- cretion of the Court, but in actions tried before a jury the costs are generally paid by the party against whom a deci- sion or verdict is ultimately given, but if an action which might have been brought in a county court is brought in 166 THE COURTS OF LAW AND EQUITY. the superior courts for a debt under 201., the plaintiff will not get his costs unless the judge certifies that it was a proper case to be brought there for trial, or if the judge, for any good cause that shall be shown to him, shall think fit to deprive a successful party of his costs he may do so upon application made at the trial of the action. If the action is brought to recover compensation for a wrong — in legal lan- guage a tort — he must obtain a verdict for lOZ. to entitle him to costs. Without a certificate or order of the judge if he recovers less than 40s. in such an action he is deprived of his costs unless the judge certifies that the wrong was mlful and malicious, or that the action was brought to try a right. In addition to the sittings held in Westminster Hall, in the district Courts of Eecord, and at the Assizes for the trial of actions, there are the County Courts, which, with a very simple procedure, decide cases in which the sum in dispute does not exceed 50Z. ; but, with the consent of the suitors, an action to any amount, but not of any character, may be tried there. The judge usually decides both upon the law and the facts of the case, unless either of the parties desire to have it tried before a jury, which in these courts consists of five persons. Such is the %aZ jurisdiction of the County Courts ; and by an Act passed in the year 1865, an equitable jurisdiction has also been conferred upon them. That jurisdiction is given ■ in all suits by creditors, legatees, devisees, heirs-at-law, or next-of-kin, against or for an account of administration of property not exceeding 500Z. in value ; in suits for the exe- cution of trusts, the property not exceeding 500Z. ; in suits for foreclosiu'e or redemption or enforcing a charge, in pro- perty not exceeding 5QQL ; in suits for the dissolution or winding up of partnership, the partnership assets not ex- ceeding 5QQI. ; and in some other cases with a like restric- tion as to the amount. They have also jurisdiction in bank- ruptcy. A Vice-Chancellor sitting at chambers has, however, the power to make an order transferring the suit to the Court of Chancery. The judges of the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice are the Loy d Chancellor, who is president, the Master of the Rolls, and the three Vioe-Chancellors. Appeals from the decisions of the four latter are heard, first, before the High Court of Appeal, and then before the House of Lords. The THE LORD CHANCELLOS. 167 Lord Chancellor is the highest judicial functionary in the kingdom, and superior, in point of precedence, to every temporal lord. It -was as the King's Head Secretary or Chancellor that he interfered to correct the hardships or supply the defects of law as administered in the courts of law, and thus founded the system of Equity, as distinguished from law, a system which may now be said to have absorbed the law, since the law is now subordinated entirely to prin- ciples of Equity, and assimilated to it in procedure. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the delivery of the Queen's great seal into his custody. He is a cabinet minister, a privy councillor, and prolocutor of the House of Lords by prescription, and vacates his office with the ministiy by which he was appointed. When royal commissions are issued for opening the Session, for giving the royal assent to bills, or for proroguing Parliament, the Lord Chancellor is always one of the commissioners, and reads the royal speech upon the occasion. When the Sovereign opens or closes the Session in person, the Lord Chancellor stands on the right of the throne, and hands to him the royal speech opening or terminating the annual labours of the Legislature. To him belongs the appointment of all justices of the peace and county court judges throughout the kingdom. Being, in the earlier periods of our history, usually an ecclesiastic (for none else were then capable of an office so conversant in writings), and presiding over the royal chapel, he became keeper of the Sovereign's conscience, visitor, in right of the Crown, of the hospitals and colleges of royal foundation, and patron of all the Crown livings under the value of twenty marks per annum in the King's books. He is the general guardian of all infants, idiots, and lunatics, and has the general superintendence of all charitable uses. And all this, over and above the vast and extensive jurisdiction which he exercises in his judicial capacity in the Supreme Court of Judicature. The procedure of the old Courts of Chancery has formed in many respects the model upon which the present system has been based, but the process of the Bill or Petition in Equity was cumbrous and expensive. All suits or proceed- ings whatsoever are now termed Actions, and the procedure in what is now the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice is the same as that I have already described when writing of the other division. Evidence, however, in the 16S THE COURTS OP LAW AND EQUITY. Chancery Division is more frequently taken by affidavit than i>iv& voce, as it is frequently more convenient in that form, but witnesses may be cross-examined vivA voce in the Chancery Division, and a jury may be summoned if the nature of the facts in dispute should render such a course desirable. Certain business is expressly assigned to the Chancery Division, of which the following causes are the most im- portant : — The administration of estates of deceased persons, the dissolution of partnerships, and the taking of accounts, the redemption of mortgages, the execution of trusts, the rectification or setting aside of deeds ; the speciiic perform- ance of contracts relating to real property, and the sale and partition of the same, the wardship and care of infants and their estates. The judges in bankruptcy administer the law for the pro- tection of unfortunate traders and other persons unable to pay their debts, and for securing to their creditors an equal distribution of their possessions, called their estate. It is now considered worse than useless to lock up an insolvent debtor in prison (unless it be by way of punishment for dishonest dealing), when, if free, he might be earning money to pay his liabilities. The Court of Bankruptcy is not included in the Supreme Court of Judicature, but possesses a separate juris- diction, although presided over by a Vice-Chancellor who is chief judge, and from whose decisions an appeal lies to the High Court of Appeal. The chief judge is assisted in his duties by registrars of the Court of Bankruptcy. In the country districts the County Court judges and the registrars have jurisdiction in bankruptcy, but an appeal lies from their decision to the chief judge sitting in London. Im- portant changes in the law affecting the administration of the estates of bankrupt traders are now in contemplation. No judge of the High Court of Justice or of the High Court of Appeal is capable of being elected or of sitting in the House of Commons. LETTER XVIII. OF CRIMES AND OFFENCES. Definition of Crimes— Treasons — Felonies — ^Misdemeanours— Punisliments — Costs of Prosecutions — Accessaries and Accomplices — Nuisances — Common law Offences. Before I enumerate to you the courts of criminal law and describe their procedure, I will briefly state over what sort of cases they have jurisdiction. Crimes and offences are acts done, or omitted, in violation of some public law. It is the duty of the head of a State to prevent their commission as far as possible, and to inflict suitable punishment upon those who are proved to have taken part in them ; not from a feeling of revenge against the evU-doers, but to make of them examples to deter others from similarly ofiending. Offences against the criminal law are divided under three heads : treasons, felonies, and misdemeanours. The two latter together represent again two divisions of offences — 1st, those acts evil in themselves (mala in se), forbidden from the first by the revealed law of God, such as murder, theft, and other crimes ; and 2nd, those which the spread of civilization has required mankind to provide against (mala prohihita), such as coining false money, frauds on the revenue, tampering with signals on railways, &c. The principal crimes known to the laws, into which it is fit that we should inquire, are as follow : — High Treason. — This crime now comprises the " compass- ing, contriving, inventing, or intending death or destruction, or any bodily harm tending to death or destruction; or wounding, imprisonment, or restraint of the heirs and suc- cessors of his Majesty King George the Third, the wife of the King regnant, the Heir Apparent ;" in " levying war against the Sovereign within the realm," and in " adhering to her enemies, giving them aid or comfort in the realm or 170 CRIMES AND OFFENCES. elsewhere." All the other offences made high treason by ancient statutes, such as imitating the Koyal Sign Manual or the Great Seal, coining false money, &c., now rank as felonies, punishable by imprisonment and penal servitude. Every person who aids or assists in the case of treason is a prin- cipal traitor. The punishment for high treason is death ; the law enacts that the person convicted " shall be drawn on a hurdle to the place of execution, and be then hanged by the neck until such person be dead, and that afterwards the head shall be severed from the body of such person, and the body, divided into four quarters, shall be disposed of as his Majesty King George the Third and his successors shall think fit." The Sovereign, " by warrant under the sign manual, countersigned by a secretary of state, may direct that the offender shall not be drawn, but shall be taken in such a manner as in the warrant shall be expressed, to the place of execution, and that he shall not be there hanged by the neck, but that in- stead thereof the head shall be there severed from the body whilst alive, and in such warrant direction may be given as to, and in what manner the body, head, and quarters shall be disposed of." Barbarous and disgusting as these details appear, the ancient punishment for high treason was more revolting still. Treason Felony. — An offence recently created by Act of Parliament, under which rebellion of a character not suffi- ciently grave to be treated as high treason is punished by penal servitude. Murder is the taking away of the life of a fellow- creature intentionally, and with malice. The punishment for murder is death by hanging. Manslaughter is the taking away of the life of a fellow- creature Mmintentionally, by accident, in sudden anger, mi/t- out malice, or whilst performing some unlawful act less than a felony — such, for example, as driving furiously. Slaying a person in self-defence is not a crime. As the offence of nian- slaughter ranges from something very nearly akin to murder, down to mere mischance, to which hardly any blame at- taches, so the punishment for it varies from penal servitude for life, down to a nominal imprisonment, according to the circumstances of the case. Attempting to murder by shooting, poisoning, stabbing, &c. These crimes were formerly capital, that is, they were punish- FELONIES. 171 able with death ; but under the Criminal Statutes Consoli- dation Acts of 1861, the punishment was reduced to penal servitude, which may, however, extend to the period of the culprit's natural life. Stabling, shooting, or throwing explosive or corrosive sub- stances upon any person, with intent to disable, maim, or disfigure, or do some grievous bodily harm. Punishment — • penal servitude, or imprisonment with hard labour. Robbery — Stealing from the person with violence, or threats of violence. It is punishable by penal servitude or imprison- ment. Burglary — Breaking into a dwelling-house between the hours of nine at night and six in the morning, with intent to steal therein ; or {liaving committed a felony, or being in a house with the intention of committing one) breaking out of it between the same hours. It is not necessary that the pre- mises should be actually damaged to constitute this offence. Opening a door or a window that has been closed, is a con- structive "breaking" in the eyes of the law. Punishment — penal servitude or imprisonment with hard labour. Hoiisebreahing — The same offence committed in the day- time. Punishment — penal servitude, or imprisonment with hard labour. Forgei-y — Making false bank notes, cheques, signatures, wills, &c., or altering part of a genuine instrument with intent to defraud. Punishment as above. Uttering the above — that is, attempting to pass them off as genuine, knowing them to be false and counterfeit. Punish- ment as above. Bigamy — Marrying again in the lifetime of a wife or hus- band. Punishment as above. Piracy — Seizing and stealing from ships at sea ; punish- able by penal servitude and imprisonment with hard labour. Arson — Setting fire to hotises, buildings, stacks, ships,