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Chapter
VII.

1

the House of Lords.

In the upper house, under standing order No. 4, "the Places in lords are to sit in the same order as is prescribed by the Act of Parliament, except that the lord chancellor sitteth on the woolsack as Speaker to the house." But this order is not usually observed with any strictness. The bishops. always sit together in the upper part of the house, on the right hand of the throne: but the lords temporal are too much distributed by their offices, by political divisions, and by the part they take in debate, to be able to sit according Precedence to their rank and precedence. The members of the adof lords spiritual in ministration sit on the front bench, on the right hand of the the house, woolsack, adjoining the bishops; and the peers who usually vote with them occupy the other benches on that side of the house. The peers in opposition are ranged on the opposite side of the house; while many who desire to maintain a political neutrality sit upon the cross benches which are placed between the table and the bar.2

see p. 5, n. 7.

baronies.

If the eldest son of a peer be summoned to Parliament by Ancient the style of an ancient barony held by his father, he takes precedence amongst the peers according to the antiquity of his barony; whereas, if he be created by patent a baron, by a new style or title, he ranks as a junior baron.3

in the

In the Commons no place is allotted to any member: but Places by custom the front bench, on the right hand of the chair, Commons. called the Treasury, or privy councillors' bench, is appropriated for the members of the administration. The front bench on the opposite side, though other members occasionally sit there, is reserved for the leading members of the opposition who have served in offices of state. And on the

1 By 31 Hen. VIII. c. 10, the precedence of princes of the blood royal, and of the bishops, peers, and high officers of state, is defined. See also 1 Will. & Mary, c. 21, s. 2; 5 Ann. c. 8; 10 Ann. c. 4. Report from the committee of privileges on the place H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence and Avondale should occupy in the house, and similar report in the case of the Duke of York, 122 L. J.

P.

361; 124 ib. 295.

2 The standing order was enforced, 20th Jan. 1640, 10th Feb. 1640, and 1st Feb. 1771; 25 L. J. 572. 593; 33 ib. 47; see also 69 H. D. 3 s. 1806.

3 Baron Mowbray, eldest son of the Duke of Norfolk, 32 Chas II., was summoned by writ, and sat as premier baron, West, Inq. 49; and Lord Stanley, in 1845, 77 L. J. 18.

N

Secured at prayers.

S. 0.82.83,

VII.

opening of a new Parliament, the members for the city of Chapter
London claim, and generally exercise, the privilege of
sitting on the Treasury, or privy councillors' bench.1 It is
not uncommon for old members, who are constantly in the
habit of attending in one place, to be allowed to occupy it
without disturbance.

Members who enjoy no place by usage or courtesy, except members serving on select committees, must, pursuant to Appendix I. standing orders Nos. 82 and 83, be present at prayers if they desire to secure a seat until the rising of the house; nor may a member's name be affixed to a seat in the house before the hour of prayers.2 Attempts to secure a seat, by placing cards on the seats before prayers, have been prevented by order of the Speaker to the Serjeant.3 A member, however, who remains within the precincts of the house, may leave his hat or a card upon a seat, in order to indicate his intention of acquiring a right to the seat by a subsequent attendance at prayers; and pursuant to resolution, 23rd March, 1888, a member serving on a select committee, whilst in attendance on the committee, may, without being select com- present at prayers, retain a seat in the house by affixing thereto a card, which is delivered to him for that purpose on his application. No seat can be secured by a card, paper, or gloves, placed thereon, except as a matter of courtesy, and not of right.5

Seats of members serving on

mittees.

Service

of Parliament.

Every member of the Parliament is under a constitutional obligation to attend the service of the house to which he belongs. A member of the upper house has the privilege of serving by proxy, by virtue of a royal licence which authorizes him to be personally absent, and to appoint another lord of Parliament as his proxy: but since 1868, the 3 20th April, 1866, 182 H. D. 3 s. 1765.

Members thanked by the house, by courtesy retain their seats, 2 Hatsell, 94.

2 Cards, with the words, "at prayers," printed on them, are upon the table, to receive the names of members seeking to secure their seats, pursuant to the standing orders, by placing the card in the receptacle on the back of the seat.

See 20th June, 1867, 188 ib. 163; 2nd April, 1868, 191 ib. 698; 26th Jan. 1886, 302 ib. 427; 26th Feb. 1895, 30 Parl. Deb. 4 s. 1571; 24th May, 1898, 58 ib. 558; 19th March, 1906, 154 ib. 100.

562 H. D. 3 s. 489; 252 ib. 1200.

VII.

of attend

ance, see p. 182.

Captor use of this privilege has been discontinued (see p. 371). In the House of Commons, the personal service of every member Obligation is required. By the 5 Rich. II. c. 4, "if any person summoned to Parliament do absent himself, and come not at the said summons (except he may reasonably and honestly excuse himself to our lord the king), he shall be amerced, or otherwise punished according as of old times hath been used to be done within the same realm, in the said case." And by an Act, 6 Hen. VIII. c. 16, it was declared that no member should absent himself "without the licence of the Speaker and Commons, which licence was ordered to be entered of record in the book of the Clerk of the Parliaments appointed for the Commons' house." The penalty upon a member for absence was the forfeiture of his wages; and although that penalty is no longer applicable, the legislative declaration of the duty of a member remains upon the statute-book. In 1554, informations were filed in the Court of Queen's Bench against several members who had seceded from Parliament, of whom six submitted to fines. And numerous orders are to be found in the journals, for summoning absent members to attend the service of the house.1

of mem

summoned.

On ordinary occasions, however, the attendance of Attendance members upon their service in Parliament is not enforced bers. by the house: but when any special business is about to be undertaken, means have been taken to secure their presence. In the upper house, a method formerly in use for Lords obtaining a larger attendance than usual, was to order the lords to be summoned; upon which a notice is sent to each lord who is known to be in town, to acquaint him "that all the lords are summoned to attend the service of the house" on a particular day. No notice is taken of the absence of lords who do not appear: but the name of every lord who is present during the sitting of the house, is taken down each day by the Clerk of the house, and entered in the journal.

11 Parl. Hist. 625; 15th Aug. 1643, 3 C. J. 206; 6th Feb. 1688, 10 ib. 20; 15th March, 1715, 18 ib.

401; 17th Dec. 1783, 39 ib. 841;
18th April, 1785, &c.

Call of the
House of

Lords.

Order in

which the peers are called.

Call of the

House of

Commons.

2

VII.

When any urgent business was deemed to require the Chapter attendance of the lords, under a usage now in abeyance, an order was made that the house be called over; and this order has been enforced by fines and imprisonment upon absent lords. On some occasions the lord chancellor has addressed letters to all the peers, desiring their attendance, as on the illness of George the Third, 1st November, 1810.1 The most important occasion on which the house was called over in modern times, was in 1820, when the bill for the degradation of Queen Caroline was pending; and by a resolution of the house, fines and imprisonment were imposed on such lords as should not attend the sittings of the house. The lords were accordingly called over by the Clerk on each day during the pendency of that bill, beginning, according to ancient custom, with the junior baron. The custom of beginning with the junior baron applies to every occasion upon which the whole house is called over for any purpose, within the house, or for the purpose of proceeding to Westminster Hall, or upon any public solemnity. But when the house appoints a select committee, the lords appointed to serve upon it are named in the order of their rank, beginning with the highest; and in the same manner, when a committee is sent to a conference with the Commons, the lord highest in rank is called first, and the other lords follow in the order of their rank. When the House of Commons is ordered to be called over, it is usual to name a day which will enable the members to attend from all parts of the country, the interval between the order and the call varying from one day to six weeks.3 If it be intended to enforce the call, not less than a week or ten days should intervene between the order and the day named for the call. The order for the house to be called over is accompanied by a resolution, "that such members as

116 L. J. 16. 26. 31. 40, &c. All the cases in which this order has been enforced, and the various modes of enforcement, are collected in the 53rd volume of the Lords' Journals, p. 356, et seq.; 18 H. D. 1.

253 L. J. 364. The house was last called over on the occasion of the trial of Earl Russell, 18th July, 1901, 133 L. J. 287.

3 77 C. J. 101; 87 ib. 311.

VII.

which

called.

Chapter shall not then attend, be sent for, in custody of the Serjeantat-arms." On the day appointed for the call, the order of the day is read and is dealt with at the pleasure of the house. If proceeded with, the names are called over from Order in the Return Book, according to the counties, which are names are arranged alphabetically. The members for a county are called first, and then the members for every city or borough within that county. The counties in England and Wales are called first, and those of Scotland and Ireland in their order. This point is mentioned, because it makes a material difference in the time at which a member is required to be in his place.

2

members

The names of members who do not answer when called, When are taken down by the Clerk of the house, and are after- are absent. wards called over again. If they appear in their places at this time, or in the course of the evening, it is usual to excuse them for their previous default; but otherwise, no excuse being offered, they are ordered to attend on a future day. It is also customary to excuse them if they attend on that day, or if a reasonable excuse be then offered. Non-attendance, no excuse being offered, may be punished by committal to the custody of the Serjeant, and to payment of his fees. But, instead of committing the defaulters, the house sometimes names another day for their attendance, or orders their names to be taken down. The attendance of members is generally ample; and a call is

1 12 C. J. 552; 16 ib. 565; 17 ib. 184, &c. It was formerly the custom to desire Mr. Speaker to write to the sheriffs, to summon the members to attend.

2 Who is senior member for a place? He who has sat longest in the house, or he who was returned at the head of the poll? This question arose in 1866, between the lord advocate (Mr. Moncrieff) and Mr. M'Laren, members for Edinburgh; and also between Mr. Hastings Russell and Colonel Gilpin, members for Bedfordshire. In each case the junior member, in point of service,

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