200 ENGLAND [GOVERNMENT. The House Length of ses sions of the House of Com mons. it in actual power and authority. It is a power constantly on the increase, and tending to absorb all others, having proved the most auspicious for Government. "Whatever may have been the circumstances," saysDr Hearn, of Melbourne, in his elaborate work on the government of England, "which led to the gradual formation of parliamentary government, the cause of its continuance is clear. In practical politics, as in every other art, the great test of excellence is success. But in at least British communities, the success of parliamentary government does not admit of doubt. As Edward I. found the supplies voted by the representatives of his burgesses more profitable than the tollages at which he assessed their constituents, so experience has shown to later sovereigns the great advantage to their govern ment of our modern system. Where in former times the only remedy for misgovernment, real or supposed, was a change of dynasty, the evil is now corrected at no greater cost than that of a ministerial crisis. Where in former times serious evils were endured because the remedy was worse than the disease, even trivial incon veniences now excite universal complaints, and meet with speedy remedy." Although politically omnipotent, the House of Commons cannot prolong its own existence beyond seven years. The average duration of parliaments in the present century has been three years and eight months, a term almost exactly coinciding with the average duration of Cabinets within the period. The following table gives the dates at which the parliaments of the United Kingdom dating from the union of Great Britain with Ireland, which took effect on the 1st of January 1800 met and were dissolved : Consti tution of the House of Com mons. Reign. Parliament. Met. Was dissolved. George III. 1st 27 Sept 1796 29 Jan 1802 2nd 31 Auc. 1802 24 Oct. 1806
3rd 15 Dec. 1806 29 Apr. 1807
4th 22 June 1807 24 Sept. 1812 5th 24 Nov. 1812 10 June 1818 6th 4 Ail". 1818 29 Feb. 1820 George IV 7th 23 Apr. 1820 2 June 1826 8th 14 Nov. 1826 24 July 1830 William IV 9th 26 Oct. 1830 22 Apr. 1831 10th 14 June 1831 3 Dec. 1832 . llth 29 Jan. 1833 30 Dec. 1834 Victoria 12th 13th 19 Feb. 1835 14 Nov. 1837 18 July 1837 23 June 1841 14th 11 Ail". 1841 23 July 1847 " 15th 21 Sept. 1847 1 July 1852 16th 4 Nov. 1852 20 Mar. 1857
17th 30 Apr. 1857 23 Apr. 1859 18th 19th 31 May 1859 6 Feb. 1866 6 July 1865 31 July 1868 " 20th 10 Dec 1868 24 Jan 1874 21st 5 Mar 1874
The shortest-lived House of Commons was the third of the United Kingdom, which existed only for four months and fifteen days, while the longest was the seventh, which sat six years one month and nine days, thus reaching nearly the extreme limit of age set to parliament by the consti tution of the realm. The constitution of the House of Commons, in its present state, as framed by the Reform Bills of 1832 and 1867-68, is that of a body elected by nearly universal suffrage, but in very unequal electoral divisions. Under the English Heform Act of 1867, extended, with Blight changes, to Scotland and Ireland in 1868, the franchise was given to all householders in boroughs, and occupiers of lands or houses rated at no less than 12 in counties, thus admit ting to the right of electing members of parliament the majority of the adult male population, with the sole excep tion of the class of agricultural labourers. The elections, under an Act passed in 1872, take place by secret vote and ballot. It appears from aii annual return made by order of the House of Commons that, at the end of June 1877, the total number of its constituents in England and Wales amounted to 2,377,761, while in Scotland at the same date the number was 302,313, and in Ireland 231,265. The number of members returned, respectively, for the counties, boroughs, and universities of each of the three divisions of the United Kingdom, with the number of electors on the register, was as follows at the end of June 1877 : Divisions. Members of Parliament. Electors on register. ENGLAND AND WALES. 52 counties 187 850,587 200 cities and boroughs 293 1,514,716 3 universities 5 12,453 Total, England and Wales.... SCOTLAND. 33 counties 485 32 2,377,761 88,594 22 cities and burgh districts 26 202,852 4 universities 2 10,867 Total, Scotland CO 302,313 IRELAND. 32 counties.. 64 173,919 33 cities and Boroughs. 39 53,953 1 university. . . 2 3,393 Total, Ireland 105 231,265 United Kingdom 650 2,911,339 It is stated in a recent parliamentary return that, if the allotment of members of parliament to each of the three divisions of the United Kingdom were regulated solely by population, on the basis of the last census, England and Wales should have 493, Scotland GO, and Ireland 97 repre sentatives ; while if the allotment were made according to contributions to the public revenue, England and Wales should have 514, Scotland 79, and Ireland 57 members. It has become the most important function of the Hou.se The of Commons in modern times to appoint the Government Cabin for the time being, and, more immediately, those leading members of the Government, headed by the prime minister, known as the Cabinet. Far reaching as is the legislative authority of the elected representatives of the nation, it naturally must stand in the background of this higher power of choosing the rulers of the country, since the latter, besides guiding the executive, likewise are the more im mediate framers of all the laws that are passed. u The legislature," says Mr Bagehot, in his already quoted work, " chosen, in name, to make laws, in fact finds its principal business in making and in keeping an executive." It has come to be tacitly understood that the leading statesman of the political party possessing a majority in the House of Commons must fill the place of prime minister, officially styled first lord of the treasury, while the other chief men of the party have a claim to become members of the Cabinet. "The leading minister selected," says Mr Bagehot, "has to choose his associates, but he only chooses among a charmed circle. The position of most men in parliament forbids their being invited to the Cabinet ; the position of a few men ensures their being in vited. Between the compulsory list whom he must take, and the impossible list whom he cannot take,, a prime minister s independent choice in the formation of a cabinet is not very large; it extends rather to the division of cabinet offices than to the choice of cabinet ministers. Parliament and the nation have pretty well settled who shall have the first places; but they have not discriminated with the same accuracy which men shall have which place. The highest patronage of a prime minister is, of course, a*considerable power, though it is exercised under close and imperative restrictions, and it is far less than it seems to be when stated in theory, or looked at from a distance. The Cabinet, in a word, is a board of control chosen by the legislature, out of persons whom it trusts and knows, to rule the nation." There is no fixed number of members for the Cabinet, any more than of regular meetings of the members admitted to it. In recent years the number of members varied from
eleven to sixteen, the former, the lowest ever attained,