mons is then desired, which accordingly
takes place, the deputation of the Commons standing with uncovered heads,
while the Lords, with hats on, retain their seats. The matter being
amicably arranged, and a disagreeable collision avoided, the bill is
passed through the Lords, where it usually creates a far more orderly and
less passionate debate than it has done in the Commons. The Lords being
assembled in their own House, the Sovereign, or the Commissioners,
seated, and the Commons at the bar, the titles of the several bills which
have passed both Houses are read, and the King or Queen's answer is
declared by the clerk of the Parliaments in Norman-French. To a bill of
supply the assent is given in the following words:--"_Le roy_ (or, _la
reine_) _remercie ses loyal subjects_, _accepte leur benevolence et ainsi
le veut_." To a private bill it is thus declared:--"_Soit fait comme il
est desire_." And to public general bills it is given in these
terms:--"_Le roy_ (or, _la reine_) _le vent_." Should the Sovereign
refuse his assent, it is in the gentle language of "_Le roy_ (or, _la
reine_) _s'aviser_." As acts of grace and amnesty originate with the
Crown, the clerk, expressing the gratitude of the subject, addresses the
throne as follows:--"_Les prelats_, _seigneurs_, _et commons_, _en ce
present Parliament assembles_, _au nom de tout vous autres subjects_,_
remercient tres-humblement votre majeste_, _et prient a Dieu vous donner
en sante bonne vie et longue_." The moment the royal assent has been
given, that which was a bill becomes an Act, and _instantly_ has the
force and effect of law, unless some time for the commencement of its
operation should have been specially appointed. Occasionally a bill is
introduced in the form of a motion, at other times as a resolution, but
generally the bill is the favourite form. Any bill which the Lords can
originate may be introduced and laid on the table by any individual peer,
without the previous permission of the house; but in the Commons, no bill
can be brought in unless a motion for leave be previously agreed to. Mr.
Dodd tells us, "During the progress of a bill the House _may_ divide on
the following questions:--1. Leave to bring it in. 2. When brought in,
whether it shall then be read a first time, and if not, when? 3. On the
first reading. 4. On the second reading. 5. That it be committed. 6.
On the question that the Speaker do leave the chair, for the house to