Sometimes, towards the end of a session, when there is a great pressure of business, the House sits twice a day, that is, it has what is called a morning sitting, from twelve to four, as well as an evening one, commencing at six. A Motion may have reference to a variety of matters besides the passing a Bill (that is the enacting of a law), as, for instance, a member may move for papers, accounts, statistics-that is, he may propose that the House make an order that certain papers be produced, documents printed, statistics of numerical estimates procured, and the like. Or again, a Motion may be made for the sole purpose of a Committee of Members of the House being nominated to investigate certain facts which are disputed or which are unknown, or upon which it is difficult to get information without examining witnesses. Or again, a Motion may be made in the course of a debate for "adjournment" of the House-that is, for proceeding to no further business that day; or for introducing a clause in the matter to be voted upon by what is called "amendment." This will be spoken of further on in speaking of the passing of a Bill. One important part of the general business of the House is merely asking questions of members of the Government or other Members, as to their intentions to bring forward certain measures, or to proceed with certain business. Notice is given of these questions in the Notice Paper, and sometimes by the Member from his place in the House. The Passing of a Bill. The most important part of the business of the House of Commons is that of "Passing Bills." The whole proceeding of passing a Bill is as follows: The first step is for the Member who proposes to introduce a Bill on any subject to have it prepared, or, as it is called, "drafted"that is, written out in the form he wishes the Act to bear when it is passed, and printed. A Bill must have the names of at least two Members on the back of it as approving it. A Bill can either be brought in by private Members,—that is, Members not connected with the Government, or by Members of the Government as (what is called) a Government measure." The next step is a Motion "for leave to bring in the Bill.” Notice of this motion must of course be given, as of all other motions, in the way above described. If the Motion be agreed to (which is only attended with a debate when the Bill is of a very important character) the Bill is ordered to be brought in, which is generally done the same day. On it being brought in and delivered to the Clerk of the House, the Bill is said to have been "received by the House." A question is then put, “that this Bill be now read the first time." This is seldom objected to, and the short title of the Bill is read aloud by the Clerk. The Bill is then said to have been read the first time. It is to be noted that by "Standing Orders" of the House Bills having reference to (1) Religion, (2) Trade, (3) the Public Revenue, (4) Granting Money to the Crown, cannot be introduced without having been first considered in a Committee of the whole House. A Committee of the whole House is a meeting of the whole House in a rather less formal manner than usual. The Speaker leaves the chair, and some other Member occupies it, and each Member can speak as often as he pleases, instead of only once in each debate, as at other times. When the Bill has been read a first time, the question is put, "That this Bill be read a second time." The second reading is, however, not taken at that time; a future day is named on which the Bill is ordered to be read a second time. When the day arrives, the Member in charge of the Bill moves that it be read a second time. This is the most important stage of the Bill, and is the stage at which Bills wholly disapproved by the House are usually thrown out. On making the motion, the Member at this time generally enters into a full description of the measure, and into a defence of it against all objections. Thereupon follows a close debate, in which each Member may speak once, and as long as he likes, the proposer having the right of reply after all the rest have done. If several Members rise at once, the Speaker chooses which shall be heard, according as one or another has first "caught his eye," as it is said. There is no rule against long speeches, but if a Member is over long or tedious, the House sometimes interrupts him by making a great noise. After the Bill is read a second time, a very important stage has to be passed through. This is called "committing" the Bill. It is ordered that the House resolve itself into a Committee, on some future day, for the purpose of considering the details of the Bill. When the day comes the Speaker leaves the chair, another chairman takes his place, and the Bill is gone through clause by clause, it being open to any Member to propose any alteration he thinks fit, either by omitting clauses, or putting in words, or putting in fresh clauses. When the House cannot agree upon any point a division is taken, and the majority of votes decides which side shall prevail. A "division" is always taken, either by the Members saying "Aye" or "No," according as they do or do not want a proposed change, or by their passing out of the House, and being counted as they go out, as in favour of the change if they pass through one door, or as against it if they pass through another door. When the Committee of the whole House has finally determined on the shape a Bill shall take, it is "reported" to the House, and if amendments have been made it is ordered to be considered at a future day, on which day a motion is made that the Bill be read a third time, and after that a motion is made "that this Bill do pass." If this is agreed to the Bill is held to be passed by the House of Commons, and is sent up to the House of Lords to be passed in a similar way there. It will have been seen that the following are the different stages through which a Bill passes :1. Motion for leave to bring in the Bill. Order to bring it in. 2. Motion to have Bill read a first time. Order that it be read a first time. 3. Motion to have Bill read a second time. Order that it be read a second time. 4. Motion to have the Bill "committed." Order that it 5. Committee on details of Bill. Report of Committee. When the House of Lords has considered the Bill, if it makes no changes in it, nothing remains to be done but to obtain the Royal Assent, that is, the assent of the Monarch. It is now-a-days never refused, and is, in fact, a purely formal proceeding. If the House of Lords makes any changes in the Bill it must go down to the House of Commons again, and the House of Commons must either accept the Lords' amendments or reject them. If it accept them the Bill is ready for the Royal Assent. If it reject them the Bill is lost unless the House of Lords can be induced to give up their amendments. In order to bring this about two practices are resorted to-one that of sending the Bill back to the Lords with the reasons for not accepting the amendments. This is the customary mode. The other practice (which is rare) is that of requesting a Conference between the two Houses, that is, a meeting of certain Members of both Houses for the purpose of ascertaining the points of difference between the Houses and bringing the Houses into harmony. It is to be noticed that the House can never proceed with any business if it appear that there are less than forty members present. At any time, during the discussion of the Bill, a Member may endeavour to get rid of it for the session by moving "That it be read again this day six months, or three months,” choosing the date so as to make it fall during the vacation. A Member may also suspend or arrest a Bill for a time by moving that the matter with which it deals be referred to a "Select Committee," that is, a small body of not more than fifteen Members sitting apart. The attendance of Members in the House of Commons is very variable from day to day. Sometimes (that is, on very important public occasions) as many as 500 are present; at other times less than 100. Members generally attend most when business in which they themselves or their constituencies are concerned, or when great party votes are to be taken. There are Select Committees of the House sitting every day for a variety of purposes. They examine witnesses, inspect documents, and investigate minutely all the details of a question. Upon completing the inquiry, they report to the House upon the desirableness or inexpediency of any legislation proposed. Sometimes a difficult question, full of details, is similarly investigated by what is called a "Royal Commission "—that is, a body of men, generally including Members of the Houses of Lords and Commons specially chosen by the Government. The service on Select Committees, which sit during the day, is some of the most arduous work of the House of Commons, as it is in addition to the attendance on the evening debate. If a Member wishes to absent himself from town for some days for his private affairs, or from illness, he must obtain leave of the House, or he would be liable to be arrested by the Sergeant-atArms. It will be understood that all Bills, with the exception of those affecting taxation, may be proposed first in the House of Lords, though, in fact, comparatively few are. When a Bill has been first. carried in the House of Lords it is sent down to the Commons, and has to pass through all the same stages which it would have to pass if it had been originally proposed there. One important part of the work of both Houses of Parliament is the receipt of Petitions. Any person in the country, and any number of persons jointly, may petition the House—that is, they may signify their wishes with respect to any Bill which is before the House, or about a matter upon which it is expected or feared that a Bill will be presented, and may pray the House to introduce, reject, or alter a Bill. The petitions must be introduced by a Member of the House, and must be signed by each of the sending them. Sometimes petitions have many thousands of names attached, and they are said to have a certain influence on the house. persons POLITICAL PARTIES AND THE FORMATION OF THE GOVERNMENT. For a long time past the members of the House of Commons have been accustomed to range themselves in large parties,—all voting together in certain cases, and each member of the party supporting every other member. The parties have had a variety of names, and have arisen in a variety of ways. The most celebrated and important parties have arisen from the fact that certain persons have been desirous of having as little change in the Constitution of the State as possible. These used to be called "Tories," a word of uncertain origin. Other persons again have wished to introduce any changes in the State or in its Constitution, however revolutionary, which might promote the |