(681) No pause the weaker sink, Is dotted with their dead,2 And the shy foxes play About each sleeping head. 3. Unharmed the wild deer run But for the pangs they feel. 4. The river of their hope5 At length is drawing nigh; 5. Not under snow-clouds white, Its shuddering way to heaven; With comforts at his side And hope upon his lip, The gallant Franklin died. 6. His heart ne'er ached to see 16 His sailors' pangs were free They are together now ;- Bright, each devoted brow! Punch. com-forts, things to make him com- | en-dür-ing, patient. 1 A band of gallant hearts.-The survivors of the crews of Franklin's two ships-the Erebus and the Terrorthen numbering 105, prepared to take their "long march" overland. 2 Dotted with their dead.-The route they had taken was dotted, as far as they had advanced in it, with the skeletons of those who had died, and with the implements they had thrown aside. gal-lant, courageous. rem-nant, residue. shud-der-ing, trembling. were in some cases found lying beside the skeletons. 4 Wotting.-Knowing. 5 The river of their hope.-The Great Fish River, towards which they were marching. 6 His heart ne'er ached....pain. -The meaning is, Franklin was mercifully spared the agony of witnessing the hardships his men had to undergo; and they were spared the pain of seeing 3 The loaded gun.-Loaded guns him share those hardships. 73. THE BRITISH CONSTITUTION. 1. The constituent parts of the Government1 are the Sovereign, the Lords, and the Commons. Thus the Constitution is not either pure monarchy, or pure aristocracy, or pure democracy, but a compound of all three; and in this chiefly lies its strength. 2. The office of Sovereign is hereditary, and a woman is permitted to reign. The checks upon the power of the Sovereign lie in the laws of the land, and in the advice of Ministers who are 'responsible to Parliament. 3. The Sovereign alone can make war or peace; can pardon a convicted criminal; can summon, 'prorogue, or 'dissolve the Parliament; can coin money; can confer nobility. The assent of the Sovereign is necessary to the passing of a Bill. He (or she) must be a Protestant of the Church of England, but must maintain Presbyterianism in Scotland. 4. The Lords are of two kinds-Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal, classified as follows: 5. The Temporal Peers are of six ranks :— Royal Princes, Dukes, Marquises, Earls, Viscounts, and Barons. The Scottish Representative Peers are elected by their own body for every new Parliament; the Irish hold their seats for life. The Lord Chancellor, sitting on the woolsack, acts as Speaker or chairman of the Lords. Any Bill, except a Money Bill, may 'originate in the Upper House. 6. The House of Commons, which is elected by the people, possesses the sole right of levying taxes and of voting money for the public service. Commanding all the sources of supply, it can thus 'effectually control the Sovereign. In 1801 there were 658 representatives:-45 for Scotland, 100 for Ireland, and 513 for England and Wales. The Reform Bills of 1867-8 arranged the numbers thus : 7. The Parliament is dissolved (1) by the will of the Sovereign, acting on the advice of the Ministers for the time being; (2) after seven years of existThe necessity of voting supplies to carry on the Government secures its meeting annually. ence. 8. No member of Parliament can resign; but a law of Queen Anne provides that a member who takes office under the Crown vacates his seat. It has accordingly come to be the custom for members wishing to resign to apply to the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds. This office, accepted one day, is resigned the next; and so the member is free. When a new Parliament meets, the first thing the Commons do is to elect a chairman, who is called the Speaker. 9. The process by which a Bill becomes an Act of Parliament is as follows:-After notice of motion has been duly given, leave is granted to bring in the Bill. It is then read for the first time. Thereafter, a day is fixed for the second reading, before the arrival of which the Bill is printed and 'circulated. The first debate and voting usually take place on the second reading. The members vote by going into different lobbies; and they are counted by tellers. The House then forms itself into a Committee, to discuss and amend the details of the measure. After a third reading, the Bill is sent up to the Lords. 10. In the Upper House it undergoes a similar process. But if altered there, it is sent back to the Commons, who either agree to the alterations or demand a 'conference with the Lords. 11. The royal assent is then required, in order that the Bill may become an Act. This is given either personally or by commission. The Sovereign, though constitutionally possessed of a veto on every measure passed by the Houses, never exercises the prerogative. The last instance of refusal occurred when Queen Anne, in 1707, declined to 'sanction a Scottish Militia Bill. 12. The 'maxim, that "the Sovereign can do no wrong," implies that he (or she) acts by the advice of Ministers who are responsible to Parliament. When the Ministry is 'overthrown by a defeat on any important Bill which they have brought in, or by a vote of want of confidence, the Sovereign sends for the principal statesman of opposite politics and intrusts him with the task of forming a new Government. çir-cu-lat-ed, distributed. dis-solve', dismiss; bring to an end. max-im, rule; saying. o-ver-thrown', put out of office. re-spon-si-ble, answerable. from sanc-tion, approve. un-der-goes', passes through. and the Commons. On account of its great influence, the Press is called the Fourth Estate. 1 Parts of the Government.-The Lords Spiritual, the Lords Temporal, three parts of the Government here, mentioned are sometimes called the 66 three estates of the realm;" but this is a mistake. The Sovereign is not an $6 estate." The three estates are the 2 Veto (Lat.).-"I forbid;" hence, a prohibition. |