gives place to the statute; and an old statute gives place to a new one, upon the general principle that, when contradictory, posterior abrogate prior laws. When a decision has once been made on any point it is an invariable rule to determine it in the same way again, unless the precedent can be clearly proved erroneous; judges being sworn to decide not according to their private opinions, but according to the known laws and customs of the realm.

Superior or supplemental to the common and statute law, is EQUITY, whose office is to detect latent frauds and concealments which the process of the ordinary courts cannot reach; to enforce such matters of trust and confidence as are binding in conscience, though not cognizable in a court of common jurisdiction; and to give a specific relief, more adapted to the circumstances of the case, than can always be obtained by the rules and provisions of the positive law.

These functions of courts of equity are limited to cases of property; for the nature of our institutions will not permit that, in criminal matters, which involve the personal security of individuals, a power should be lodged in any judge to construe the laws otherwise than according to the letter and established authority. And it may be further observed, that the jurisdiction of equity has lost much of its original eharacter of arbitrary interference where the law was harsh or silent. From the effects of time and precedent, its rules and decisions have become fixed lies themselves; sometimes supplying, sometimes controlling, as accident or occasion may have directed, the institutes of common and statute law.

Lastly, the countries to which the laws extend require to be noticed. The jurisdiction of the common law, except as provided by statute, is limited to the territory of England, and does not include either Wales, Scotland, Ireland, or any other part of the empire. It is only by a statute of 27 Henry 8 that Wales is made subject to the common law and all the other laws of England. All acts of parliament subsequently made comprebend Wales and Berwick-upon-Tweed, whether specially named therein or not. But Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and the Isle of Man, are not comprehended in a statute, unless specially mentioned. Since the union with Scotland (May 1, 1707), all statutes of a general nature extend to that kingdom; or, if not included, the rule is expressly to declare that the act does not ex tend to Scotland. In like manner, since the union with Ireland (Jan. 1, 1801), all statutes of a general nature extend to that kingdom, unless expressly excepted, or the provisions of the act are such as clearly do not apply to, or cannot be executed in, Ireland.

As to the kingdom of Hanover and other hereditary territories belonging to the ancestors of her present Majesty, they never in any wise appertained to the British crown, and were always, as pro

vided by the Act of Settlement, unconnected with the laws and government of England and this severance is rendered more complete during the present reign, by the German States descending to a male branch of the Brunswick family; and Queen Victoria, by the operation of the Salic law of Hanover, having been precluded from succeeding to the throne of that kingdom.

CHAPTER II.

Constitution and Government of England.

THE supreme power in England is divided into the two branches of the legislative and executive; the former consists of the sovereign, the lords, and commons, in parliament assembled ; the latter consists of the sovereign only.

There is little doubt that parliaments, or general councils of the crown, are coeval with the establishment of the kingdom. But the constitution of parliament, as it now stands, was more clearly defined in the year 1215, by Magna Charta, granted by King John, in which he promises to summon the clergy, nobility, and commons to meet at a certain place, with forty days' notice, to assess aids and scutages, when necessary. The constitution so promulgated has clearly subsisted from the year 1265, 49 Hen. 3, there being still extant writs of that date, to summon knights, citizens, and burgesses to parliament.

The parliament is summoned by the queen's writ, or letter, issued out of chancery, formerly forty, but after the union with Scotland, fifty, days before it begins to sit. But the time required to intervene between the date of the proclamation for assembling parliament, and the day appointed for the meeting thereof, was shortened in 1852 by 15 V. c. 23, enacting that the time for the first meeting of parliament after a dissolution may be any time not less than thirty-five days from the date of such proclamation. It is a branch of the royal prerogative that no new parliament can be convened by its own authority, or by the authority of any except the queen only. But on the demise of the sovereign, if there be no parliament in being, the last revives, and continues for six months, unless sooner prorogued or dissolved by her successor. And in case of the queen's demise on or after the day of assembling a new parliament, such new parliament shall meet and sit, subject in like manner to the will of her successor.

A parliament may be holden at any place the queen may assign; and she may issue her proclamation for the meeting of it in fourteen days from the date, notwithstanding a previous adjournment to a longer period.

The power of proroguing and dissolving, as well as summoning parliament together, is vested in the crown. When it is resolved that parliament shall meet and sit on the day to which it is prorogued, notice is given by proclamation. And the language of the proclamation itself varies, so as to indicate a determination that the session shall then actually commence, the words "then and there to meet for the despatch of business" being included, which are omitted when it is not intended to meet on the day named.

Whether by the statute of 4 E. 3, c. 14, it is meant that parliament should be held once a year, or oftener, if need be, is not decided; nor is it very material now to inquire, because the Mutiny Act, the grant of supplies for the army and navy, and some other bills, being passed annually, it has become necessary for parliament to assemble once at least in every year; and the prorogation at the end of the session is in practice only for a limited time within the year; and, when that period expires, it is prolonged or not according to the exigencies of the public service.

Every parliament must be opened either by the queen in person, or by her commission or representative.

The power and jurisdiction of this body are so great as to have been styled omnipotent. Its authority extends over the whole of the United Kingdom, and all its colonies and foreign possessions. It has sovereign and uncontrollable authority in the making of laws. It can regulate and new-model the succession to the crown, as was done in the reigns of Henry VIII. and William III.; it ean alter the established religion, as was done in the reigns of Henry VIII. and his children; it can change even the constitution of the empire, and of parliament itself, as was done in the acts of union with Scotland and Ireland, and the several statutes for triennial and septennial elections, and for the reform of the representation of the people, under William IV.

No one can sit and vote in parliament unless he be twenty-one years of age. Nor is an alien, though naturalized, capable of being a member of parliament. But by 3 V. c. 1, the late consort of the queen, Prince Albert, was relieved of alien disqualifications, and in all respects made a natural-born subject.

PRIVILEGES OF PARLIAMENT.

The privileges of parliament were principally intended to protect its members, not only from being molested in the discharge of their legislative duties by their fellow subjects, but more especially from being oppressed by the power of the crown.

By the 1 W. & M. st. 2, c. 2, it is declared, that "freedom of speech, debate, or proceedings in parliament, ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of parliament." But this extends only to speeches in parliament; for if a peer or member of the House of Commons publish a speech, he becomes an

author, and, if it contains libellous matter, liable to be sued or indicted.

The privilege from arrest in civil causes is, in a peer, perpetual; and, in a commoner, during the sitting of parliament, and for forty days after its prorogation, and for forty days before the next appointed meeting; which is, in effect, as long as the parliament subsists, it seldom being prorogued for more than eighty days at a time.

But the privilege of parliament does not extend to treason, felony, breach of the peace, or any indictable offence; and in civil suits the law only protects the persons of members from arrest, not their property from sale or execution. They are, also, if in trade, subject to the bankrupt laws; and any trader, having privilege of parliament, committing an act of bankruptcy, a petition may issue against him, and persons acting under it proceed thereon in like manner as against any other bankrupt.

Thus much for the parliament in its aggregate legislative capacity; it will next be proper to speak more particularly of its constituent parts-namely, the queen, lords, and commons.

CHAPTER III.

The Sovereign.

The supreme executive power is vested in a single person, either king or queen; and the person entitled to it, whether male or female, is invested with all the ensigns and prerogatives of sovereignty.

The right of succession is, by custom, hereditary, but this right of inheritance may be changed or limited by the parliament; under which limitation the crown still continues hereditary-that is, descendible to the next heir, being Protestant, male or female. Hence it is that the king is said never to die; but on the death of one sovereign the kingship survives in his successor.

SOVEREIGN'S COUNCILS.

These consist of the high court of parliament, the peers of the realm, the judges, and the privy council.

The peers are, by their birth, hereditary counsellors of the crown, and may be summoned to impart their advice in all matters of importance to the kingdom; or, they may individually demand an audience of the queen, and respectfully lay before her Majesty such matters as they judge important to the public welfare.

The judges are the queen's counsellors in matters of law, and may be required to advise the crown in all affairs of legal difficulty;

this office is now usually discharged by the attorney and solicitor general of her Majesty.

Until the rise of the cabinet, the most responsible and influential advisers of the crown in state affairs were the privy council. The number of its members is indefinite, and at the pleasure of the queen; but they must be natural-born subjects. By 6 Anne, c. 7, they sit during the life of the queen, who nominates them, subject to removal at the royal discretion. On the demise of the crown, they continue for six months, unless sooner determined by the

successor.

Formerly, a privy councillor enjoyed privileges in respect of personal security, but these were abolished by 9 G. 4, c. 31; and any offence against a privy councillor stands on the same footing as offences against any other individual. By his oath he is bound to advise the queen without partiality, affection, or dread; to keep her counsel secret, to avoid corruption, and to assist in the execution of what is there resolved. The council has power to inquire into all offences against government, and commit the offenders to take their trial in some court of law. In matters of property belonging to subjects, in this kingdom, the privy council cannot take cognizance; but in colonial and maritime causes arising out of the kingdom, and in cases of lunacy and idiocy, though they involve questions of property, the privy council may take cognizance, being the court of appeal. In the exercise of its appellative functions, the council is assisted by a recent institution, called the judicial committee of the privy council, of which notice will be hereafter taken, and which comprises the chief legal functionaries of the kingdom.

By 19 & 20 V. c. 116, the queen, by warrant under the royal sign-manual, may appoint any member of the privy council to be, during pleasure, vice-president of the committee of council on education, with a salary not exceeding £2,000.

That portion of the privy council denominated the CABINET does not form a recognized part of the ancient constitution of England. In practice, however, it is the most important branch of the government, comprising the ministers of state and great public officers, who constitute the really efficient and responsible servants and advisers of the crown. They are, in fact, the executive government of the kingdom, pending the time they hold office, which is usually so long as they can command a majority of the House of Commons.

The number and selection of the cabinet council depend on the queen's pleasure, under the advice of the prime minister whom she may have chosen to form an administration; and each member receives a summons or message for each attendance. In like manner, no privy councillor attends, unless individually summoned for the particular occasion on which his assistance in council is required.