meantime the country exhibited signs of great agitation, one remarkable indication of which was a run (as it was termed) upon the Bank of England, from which, in the course of two or three days, money was drawn to the amount of above a million sterling. At length, under these alarming circumstances, the ministers were prevailed upon to resume their places, and those peers who had hitherto resisted the Bill, withdrew their opposition. It then passed the House of Lords without further impediment, and on the 7th of June, 1832, received the royal assent, and became the law of the land.

Acts of Parliament were also passed for the total abolition of negro slavery in all the British dominions abroad; a measure that was hailed with the greatest satisfaction by all classes of society, and for the governnent of British India. These were followed by an act for the reform of the municipal corporations in England and Scotland; and another, which affected an entire change in the administration of the English poor laws.

In the beginning of 1837, the king's health began to decline, and a general debility was followed by dropsy. He lingered for several months, enduring his sufferings with great firmness and Christian resignation; and at length expired on the morning of the 20th of June, 1837. He was interred in the Chapel Royal Windsor.

XXXV.

QUEEN VICTORIA.

THIS amiable and illustrious princess is descended from a race of kings the most ancient of any in Europe. Her Majesty was the only child of Edward, Duke of Kent, (fourth son of King George the Third,) and the Princess of Saxe Cobourg Gotha. She was born at Kensington Palace, on the 24th of May, 1819, and ascended the throne of Great Britain on the 20th of June, 1837.

Her Majesty's coronation took place on the 28th of June, 1838; and her marriage with His Royal Highness Prince Albert, on the 10th of February, 1840.

May they continue to enjoy many years of uninterrupted happiness and felicity; and may their reign prove prosperous and glorious to the great nation over which it has pleased Providence to place them.

Regal Government of the Kingdom, Parliament, and Courts of Justice.

THE SOVEREIGN.

THE Sovereign, in his or her legislative and executive capacity, possesses great power. All the ministers of state, the judges, the dignitaries of the church, and the officers of the army and navy, are appointed by him ; and through them he enforces the execution of the laws. He is "the fountain of honour and the source of mercy." He only can raise to the peerage, and he alone can pardon a delinquent. Yet he cannot assign any pension to support the dignity he has conferred, without the assent of the House of Commons. The Sovereign alone can convoke, prorogue, or dissolve the parliament, proclaim war, and raise an army or navy; but, without the assent of the House of Commons, he cannot raise a single shilling to defray the expenditure of such proceedings. This check is provided by the constitution, against monarchical ambition and extravagance. Next to the solemnity of a coronation, the principal display of the magnificence of the Court takes place at the Sovereign's drawingrooms and levees, due notice of the holding of which is always given in the London Gazette, the only newspaper published by authority of the Government. On those occasions, the respects of the nobility, persons holding official situations, distinguished members of the bar or the pulpit, and officers of the army and navy, are profferred to the monarch.

On these days, also, it is usual to witness the introduction of several of the younger branches of distinguished families to the Sovereign, which, for females of high rank, is deemed a preliminary to their future visits and communication with the fashionable world. On the first presentation of the daughters of dukes, marquises, and earls, it was customary, till lately, for the queen consort, if there happened to be one, slightly to kiss their cheeks. The king formerly did the same After this the queen presented her hand to be kissed. The custom now is, for the person presented to kneel, and slightly kiss her Majesty's hand. It is usual for ladies to send cards to the ladies in waiting, who, in that case, present the persons sending them. It is essential at all drawing-rooms and levees that the visitors be full dressed; that is, the gentlemen in the full costume appropriate to their various ranks, professions, and offices, or otherwise to wear the court-dress.

PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS.-The parliament is composed of the two Houses of Lords and Commons. The House of Lords consists of the lords spiritual and the lords temporal. The spiritual lords are the archbishops and bishops of England and Wales, and the archbishops and bishops of Ireland. The temporal lords are indefinite in their number, but consist of all the peers of Great Britain, in their several degrees of duke, marquis, earl, viscount, and baron; of the sixteen elective peers of Scotland; and of the twenty-eight elective peers of Ireland. No money bill, nor any other imposing taxes or <nalties can originate in the House of Lords, and when

such is sent up from the Commons, the Lords must agree to or reject it altogether, as the least alteration generally proves fatal to the bill.

In giving their votes the peers say "content," or "not content," beginning with the lowest and ascending to the highest rank. When both Houses have agreed to pass a bill, it cannot become law till it has received the royal assent, and that is always given in the House of Lords, either by the Sovereign himself or herself in person, or in commission by some of the peers; the latter is the most frequent practice. When the royal assent is given to a public bill of a general nature, the clerk says, "Le roi le veut," but if it has subsidies for its objects, the words are "Le roi remercie ses loyaux sujets, accepte leur bénévolence et aussi le veut." If the bill is a private one, he says, "Soit fait, comme il est désiré." Should the Sovereign decline giving his or her assent, the clerk says, "Le roi s'avisera." Besides the share which this high assembly possesses in making laws, it is also a court of appeal from the judgment of all other courts of law, and its decision is final. It is likewise the supreme or highest court of criminal jurisprudence; and peers, for capital offences, or when impeached by the House of Commons, as well as commoners for high misdemeanours, may be tried in it.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.-The Lower House, or House of Commons, consists of six hundred and fifty-eight members, or representatives, of the counties, cities, universities, and principal towns of Great Britain and Ireland. In the Saxon times, the affairs of the kingdom were regulated in national councils called Wittenagemots, or assemblies of wise men, and such councils were by law to be held twice in every year; but the Commons of