Leave of absence. Obligation to attend committees. VII. of little avail in taking the sense of the house, as there is Chapter Parlia On the 3rd March, 1801, when a call of the house was deferred for a fortnight, it was ordered "that no member do presume to go out of town without leave of the house." + And, in the absence of any specific orders to that effect, members are presumed to be in attendance upon their ser- Service in vice in Parliament. When they desire to remain in the ment, see country, they should apply to the house for "leave of p. 178. absence;" for which sufficient reasons must be given, such as urgent business, ill health, illness in their families, or Time for domestic affliction. Upon these and other grounds, leave making of absence is given, though it has been refused.5 A member motions, see forfeits his leave of absence if he should attend the service of the house before its expiration. Attendance upon the service of Parliament includes the obligation to fulfil the duties imposed upon members by the orders and regulations of the house. And unless leave of absence has been obtained, a member cannot excuse himself from attending on a committee, when his attendance, as in the case of a private bill committee, is made compulsory by standing or other orders. 1 See 19th and 22nd Nov. 1852, 123 H. D. 3 s. 266. 302. 2 Mr. Whittle Harvey's motion on the Pension List, 19th April, 1836, 91 C. J. 265. 3 Motions discharged: 22nd Feb. 1838, 93 C. J. 300; Repeal of the Corn Laws, 15th March, 1839, 94 ib. 121; National Education, 4th June, 1839, 94 ib. 302; 24th March, 1840, 95 ib. 207; Repeal of the Corn Laws, 19th Nov. 1852, 108 ib. 53. Motions 6 negatived: 110 ib. 367; 205 H. D. 3 s. 746; 137 C. J. 117. 5 75 ib. 338; 82 ib. 376; 86 ib. • Commons' standing order, private business, No. 119. See debates on the absence of Lord Gardner from a private bill committee in the House of Lords, 24th and 26th June, 1845, 81 H. D. 3 s. 1104. 1190. such p. 238. Chapter tions in the orders, To facilitate the attendance of members without interrup- Obstruc- Presen- With the same object, it is enacted that not more than ten Saturday sittings, see p. 265. "Pairs" ous assem The hours and regulations of the meeting of both houses on Extraordi nary sitordinary occasions, are dealt with on pp. 209, 213. day not being an ordinary day of meeting in the 131 L. J. 206. 209. 213; 32 ib. 147. 187; 36 ib. 142; 11 C. J. 667; 13 ib. 230; 17 ib. 661; 33 ib. 285; 37 ib. 901. 2 13 Car. II. stat. 1, c. 5; 57 Geo. III. c. 19, s. 23. The history of the House of Commons, more especially during recent years, contains examples of sittings rendered extraordinary by during pro- their excessive length. On Tuesday, tracted 31st July, 1877, the house, having met sittings, see p. 371. at a quarter before four, continued sitting until Wednesday afternoon at a quarter-past six-a period of twenty-six and a half hours, and the longest sitting in the previous history of Parliament. This long sitting was held to overcome an obstructive opposition to the South Satur- tings. Africa Bill. As there was no ad- Sittings on Satur. day. S. O. 24, Sittings on VII. of Commons, it was usual, until 1861, at an early hour on Chapter It need scarcely be stated that the meeting of either before four on Wednesday afternoon. 5 18th Aug. 1641, to stay the king's journey into Scotland, 2 C. J. 245; 6th and 13th June, 1647 (chiefly for prayer), 5 ib. 200. 209; 1st Aug. 1647, for secular affairs, 5 ib. 263; 8th May, 1659, for prayers and a sermon, 7 ib. 646. 2 23rd April, 1641, 2 C. J. 126. 325th Dec. 1656, 1 Burton's 1st Dec. 1678, the House of 5 49 C. J. 613. VII. Chapter Bill was read a second time by the Commons on Sunday morning, the 18th December, 1831. The royal assent was signified to the Habeas Corpus Suspension (Ireland) Act at a quarter before one o'clock on Sunday morning, the 18th February, 1866; 2 and on some later occasions, the house has continued its sitting until Sunday morning. 3 Sunday, the 4th May, 1856, having been appointed a day of thanksgiving, in respect of the treaty of peace with Russia, the House of Lords met and proceeded to Westminster Abbey; and the Speaker and the members of the House of Commons met at the house, and thence proceeded to St. Margaret's Church, to attend divine service but in the mean time the house had adjourned from Friday till the Monday following; and this precedent was followed when the Commons attended at St. Margaret's Church, on the 22nd May, 1887, and the 20th June, 1897, in celebration of the fiftieth and sixtieth years of Queen Victoria's reign.5 thanks Whenever a day of thanksgiving, or of fast and humilia- Days of tion, is appointed during the sitting of Parliament, it is giving or customary for both houses to attend divine service: the fast. Lords at Westminster Abbey, and the Commons at St. Margaret's Church. Each house appoints a preacher: the Lords appoint a bishop, the Commons a dean, a doctor of divinity, or the Speaker's chaplain. On the 31st January, 1699, the house resolved "that for the future no person be recommended to preach before this house, who is under the dignity of a dean in the Church, or hath not taken his degree of doctor of divinity." 9 On the 4th June, 1762, this resolution was repeated, making an exception, however, Houses of Parliament go to St. Paul's. Queen Victoria's jubilee. Attendance at corona VII. in favour of the chaplain of the house: but a bachelor of Chapter On some occasions of special solemnity, the king and If Parliament be sitting at the time of a coronation, it tions. has been customary for both houses to attend the ceremony in Westminster Abbey; and to make orders concerning such attendance.4 Adjourn. ments as a mark of respect to deceased ment, royal see note t. Sometimes an adjournment is agreed to as a mark of Adjourn respect to a deceased member. On the 15th September, marriages, 1646, both houses adjourned to mark their sense of the loss members. of the Earl of Essex. On the 3rd July, 1850, an adjournment was agreed to by the Commons, nem. con., as a suitable mode of expressing the grief of the house on hearing of the 1 24 C. J. 272; Rev. H. Melvill, B.D., 13th March, 1855, 110 ib. 121. 2 88 L. J. 124; 98 C. J. 339; 142 ib. 262; 152 ib. 322. 3 23rd April, 1789; 38 L. J. 397; William & Mary, 1689, 10 C. J. |