GOVERNMENT.

The government of England is a constitutional hereditary monarchy, in which the power of the sovereign is controlled by the influence of the aristocracy in the House of Peers, and by that of the democracy in the House of Commons. The executive authority is vested in the King; the legislative, in the King and Parliament. The King has the power of appointing all the great officers of state, and all the executive acts of the government are performed in his name; but his ministers only are responsible for them.

PARLIAMENT.

The Parliament of Great Britain is the great council of the nation, constituting the legislature, which is summoned by the King's authority, to consult on public affairs, and enact and repeal laws. It consists of Lords Spiritual and Temporal, called the Peers, or Upper House; and Knights, Citizens, or Burgesses, who are comprehended under the name of the Commons, or Lower House. The duration of Parliament was formerly for three years; but the Septennial Act, in 1715, extended the duration to seven years, unless dissolved by the King; but it seldom happens that Parliament sits out this period.

The union with Ireland was carried into effect, January 1, 1801, and the Parliament, which met the same month, and which included the members from Ireland, is styled the First Imperial Parliament, or the First Parliament of the United Kingdom. The following Parliaments have since been elected :

HOUSE OF LORDS OR PEERS.

The Lord High Chancellor Brougham, Speaker.

The House of Lords is composed of all the five orders of nobility of England, dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts, and barons, who have attained the age of 21 years, and labor under no disqualification; of 16 representative peers from Scotland; 28 representative peers from Ireland; 2 English archbishops and 24 bishops; and 4 representative Irish bishops: - the number of each, in 1832, being as follows:

For a list of the House of Lords, see the American Almanac for 1831.

The Lords Temporal are Peers of the Realm, and are here litary Counsellors of the Crown: their honors, immunities, and privileges are hereditary. A Peer may vote by proxy: when sitting in judgment he gives his vote not on oath, like a Commoner, but upon his honor. The persons of Peers are for ever sacred and inviolable from arrest and imprisonment for debts, trespasses, &c. They cannot be outlawed in any civil action; nor can any attachment lie against their persons; and they are possessed of various other privileges and immunities.

The number of the Lords Temporal is indefinite, and may be increased at the pleasure of the Crown. The ancient nobility sit in the house by descent; the new-made peers, by creation; the 16 representative peers for Scotland, and the 28 representative peers for Ireland, by election: the former are elected for each parliament; the latter for life.

The prerogative which the King enjoys of increasing the peerage at his pleasure, is, when properly exercised, made use of for the purpose of rewarding such as are eminent for their public services; but there are too many instances on record of its application to purposes of favoritism; and not a few to the unworthy one of insuring votes in the Upper House, for the carrying of an obnoxious and oppressive measure. See "Key to Both Houses of Parliament."

HOUSE OF COMMONS: - REFORM.

The House of Commons consists of knights, citizens, and burgesses, respectively chosen by counties, cities, and boroughs. It is not accurately and satisfactorily ascertained at what precise period the Parliament, as it is now constituted, was formed; that is, when the Commons first began to compose a distinct assembly from the Lords; but the generally received opinion is, that the Parliament was, on the whole, much the same as it now is, so long ago as the 17th year of King John, A. D. 1215. (See "New Edinburgh Encyclopedia," Vol. VIII. p. 616.) The first Speaker certainly known was Petrus de Mountford, chosen in 1260, in the reign of Henry III. See "Key to Both Houses of Parliament."

Since the period when the House of Commons was first constituted, various changes have taken place with respect both to the number of members, and the places represented. In the reign of Henry VI. the number of members was upwards of 300; in the first parliament of Henry VIII, 298; in the time of Sir Edward Coke, 493; and since the union of Ireland with Great Britain, in 1801, 658.

Many of the boroughs which have hitherto sent members to parliament, have become decayed, while many other towns which have not heretofore enjoyed this privilege, have, in modern times, become important for their population, wealth, and trade. There has long existed a numerous party in Great Britain that has been desirous of obtaining a representation better accommodated to the existing state of the country, by disfranchising the rotten or decayed boroughs, by enfranchising large modern towns, and by extending the right of voting, in order to render the elections more free; thus making the House of Commons a body more effectually representing all those classes of the people that have a valuable stake in society. During the last two years the country has been greatly agitated and convulsed on the question of Parliamentary Reform.

On the 1st of March, 1831, the first Bill containing the plan of Reform of Earl Grey and his ministry, was introduced into the Commons by Lord John Russell, which passed to a second reading on the 22d of March by a vote of 302 to 301; but afterwards, on a question relating to the Bill, the ministry were left in the minority, 291 voting with them, 299 against them; and on the 22d of April, the Parliament was dissolved by the King, who had recourse to the measure," to use the language of his speech, "for the purpose of ascertaining the sense of his people on the expediency of a Reform in the Representation."

The following statements respecting the House of Commons that was dissolved April 22, 1831, and also of the succeeding one that assembled on the 14th of the following June, are taken from the " Key to Both Houses of Parliament."

Classification of the Members of the House of Commons, dissolved April 22, 1831.

Members returned by Peers,

354

Do.

by Commoners who return themselves or their Friends, 111

Comparison of the Members for and against Reform according to the pledges given at the election of the Parliament which assembled June 14, 1832.

Balance in favor of Reform: -127 members; 13 millions of people; and upward of £44 millions of property.

Comparative number of Members according to Population.

England, 489 members, 11 millions; -1 member for 23,517 persons

Wales,

24 do.

Note. The population in the preceding statements is given according to the census of 1821. 66

Key to Both Houses of Parliament."

The new parliament, of which a large majority were pledged to support Reform, assembled on the 14th of June, 1831, and was opened on the 21st of the same month by a speech from the King, who "recommended the question of a Reform in the Representation to their earliest and most at tentive consideration"; and on the 24th, Lord John Russell obtained leave again to bring in the Reform Bill, which passed in the House of Commons to a 2d reading, on the 6th of July, by a vote of 367 to 235, and to a 3d reading, on the 22d of Sept., by a vote of 349 to 236; but on the 8th of Oct., it was rejected in the House of Lords by a vote of 199 to 158; and on the 20th of the same month, the Parliament was prorogued.

On the 6th of December the Parliament was again opened by a speech from the King; and on the 12th, Lord John Russell introduced a new Reform Bill resembling the former in its general features, and declared to be" equally efficient." On the 18th, it passed in the House of Commons to a second reading by a vote of 324 to 162; and on the 23d of March 1832, to a 3d reading by a vote of 355 to 239. On the 13th of April, it passed to a 2d reading in the House of Lords by a vote of 184 to 175; but on the 7th of May, an Amendment was introduced by Lord Lyndhurst, which passed by a vote of 151 to 116, leaving the ministry in a minority. Lord Grey then advised the King to create such a number of peers as was necessary to insure the success of the Bill, tendering his resignation as the alternative, which latter was accepted: but after an ineffectual attempt by the Duke of Wellington to form a ministry, it was announced on the 18th of May, in both houses of Parliament, that Lord Grey and his colleagues had been reinstated in office, with the assurance of having the necessary means of carrying the measure in question. On the 4th of June the Eill passed to a 3d reading in the House of Lords by a vote of 106 to 22; and on the 7th of the same month the royal assent was given to it by commission.

By this Reform Act, which is deemed of great importance both by its friends and its enemies, 56 of the rotten or decayed boroughs have been wholly disfranchised, 30 other boroughs which formerly returned 2 members each, are hereafter to return 1 only; the united borough of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis, which formerly sent 4 members, is hereafter to send but 2; 22 new boroughs in England are to send two members each; 19 new boroughs in England, one member each; 62 representatives are added to the English county members; 3 to the county members and 2 to the borough members of Wales; 5 to the members from Scotland; and 5 to those from Ireland. A view of the disfranchised and the enfranchised boroughs, and also of the old cities and boroughs which still retain the right of returning members, is exhibited in the following pages.

The Reform Act extends the right of voting in the election of members for cities and boroughs, to every male person of full age, and not subject