approval (s. 19). This power is of extreme importance in the case of a parish which has obtained from the County Council the powers of a parish council, and thus put itself in the position of a parish having a parish council; as an executive body which consisted of the whole of the ratepayers of the parish might easily be too large for the efficient administration of the details of parochial work.

It is

Parish Register.-This phrase has two meanings. often used to denote "the register of parochial electors of the parish," defined by sec. 44 of the Local Government Act, 1894, 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73 (see PAROCHIAL ELECTORS, post, p. 336). It more properly means the registers of births, deaths, and marriages which are kept by the rector, vicar, or other officer of the parish. For the history of the present system of parochial registration and the existing law on the subject, see BIRTHS, REGISTRATION OF, Vol. II. p. 270; DEATHS, REGISTRATION OF, Vol. IV. p. 380; and REGISTRAR-GENERAL. A recent enactment, the Notification of Births Act, 1907, 7 Edw. vII. c. 40, may be noticed here. It is an Act which provides for the earlier notification of births, and may be adopted by the Common Council of the City of London, a borough council, including that of a metropolitan borough, an urban district council, and a rural district council. Although all other public books, writings, and papers belonging to the parish are, by the Local Government Act, 1894, placed under the control of the parish council (see Lewis v. Poole, [1898] 1 Q. B. 164), it is expressly provided by sec. 17, subs. 8 of that Act, that the registers of baptisms, marriages and burials, and all other books and documents containing entries wholly or partially relating to the affairs of the church or to ecclesiastical charities, shall remain in the same custody as before the passing of the Act.

Paritor.-See APPARITOR.

Park. Although the word park is now generally used, even in Acts of Parliament, to signify a piece of land on which trees are planted, it has at common law a more restricted meaning. Its proper signification is a "great quantity of ground inclosed, privileged for wild beasts of the chase by prescription, or by the King's grant" (Co. Litt. 233a). It therefore is properly a franchise. The necessary constituents of a park have been held to be vert (which signifies green leaves), venison, and inclosure, and if any one of these be taken away, the park is at an end, or, in other words, it is a total disparking (Sir Charles Howard's Case, 1626, Cro. Cas. 59). While it is clear that no park can exist without vert, venison, and inclosure, it has been urged that in Plantagenet times a park might be constituted without royal licence, if the rights of forest were not in fact infringed, but a park is distinguished from a chase or warren only in that it must not be enclosed, but must lie open. A park also must be distinguished from a forest, as a forest comprehends in itself both "a chase, a park, and a free warren" (see Manwood, Laws of the Forest, chap. i. p. 24). If all the deer in a park are destroyed, it ceases to be a park (Sir Charles Howard's Case, supra). The beasts of park are said to be the buck, the doe, the roe, the fox, and the marten (Co. Litt. 233a). No one can have a park except by grant or prescription (The Queen v. Duchess of Buccleugh, 1705, 6 Mod. 151).

The old law as to hunting in parks (as to which see Viner, Abr.,

"Park") is now obsolete, and poaching offences in a park must be prosecuted under the Game Laws (see article GAME LAWS). As to the office of keeper of a park, and the effects of disparking the same under letters patent, see Sir Charles Howard's Case, supra.

The word park, as used in the Settled Land Acts, does not mean a park in the legal or technical sense, the word being used in its ordinary meaning in common parlance (Pease v. Courtney, [1904] 2 Ch. 503). As to public parks, see article OPEN SPACES.

[Authorities.-Manwood, Treatise on the Law of the Forest; Viner's Abr., sub tit. "Park."]

Park-bote, to be quit of enclosing a park or any part thereof (Cowel, 4 Inst., 308).

Parkhurst Prison, in the Isle of Wight, was erected for the confinement and correction of young offenders, male and female, both for those under sentence of penal servitude and those under sentence of imprisonment. It is now used as a male convict prison (Stat. R. & O., Rev. 1904, tit. "Prisons, England,” p. 120.

Introductory. The word Parliament came into use in the thirteenth century to signify a session of the royal council for judicial administrative and legislative business. In addition to the judges and principal servants of the Crown, a select number of barons and prelates holding by barony were summoned to attend; and, later in the century, representatives of the shires and boroughs were also summoned through the sheriff, and representatives of the lower clergy through the bishops. On these occasions the Crown obtained assent to legislation and taxation, but the main business, as appears from the early Parliament Rolls, was to dispose of, or put in train for settling, the numerous petitions addressed to the King in Council, or the King in Council in Parliament, appealing from the judgments of the Courts below, or seeking new remedies, or asking favours, or complaining of the oppressions of the royal sheriffs, bailiffs, etc., throughout the kingdom. It is now thought probable that the representatives of the shires and boroughs were first summoned, not merely to give assent to taxation, but to assist with their local knowledge in disposing of these petitions. Among the petitions from individuals occur petitions from single counties or boroughs, and these were probably in charge of their representatives. Occasionally, the Commons are found uniting to petition against some general grievance, or the baronage, as in the case of Quia emptores, seeking an alteration of the law in a matter specially affecting their order. The legislative initiative of both Houses may here be traced. In the fourteenth century the King in Council became distinct from the King in Parliament, and Parliament acquired its present meaning of a representative assembly of the three estates

organised in two Houses. The official element, however, continued to be present in the person of the judges and others summoned in the inferior. capacity of assistants to the House of Lords; and that House also retained a power of judicature. The Parliament Rolls of this period are almost entirely taken up with the petitions of the Lords and Commons and the King's answers, and such petitions of individuals as they had adopted (the origin of Private Bill Legislation, q.v.); but petitions of individuals continued to be dealt with in Parliament, though many of them were presented to the Council, or the Chancellor. Answers to public petitions involving a permanent alteration in, or addition to, the law were afterwards embodied in statutes, and entered on the Statute Roll. The Parliament Rolls contain a record of parliamentary proceedings from 1278 to 1503. The Lords' Journals commenced in 1509, and the Commons' Journals in 1547. It is not possible to deal with the further growth of Parliament, the introduction of legislation by bill, the assertion of parliamentary privileges, the eventually successful resistance to unparliamentary legislation and taxation, or the stages by which the House of Commons established its control over the executive. This article must be confined to the present constitution and powers of Parliament, so far as they have not been already dealt with under other heads.

Constitution. The Parliaments of England and of Scotland were merged in the Parliament of Great Britain, and the Parliaments of Great Britain and of Ireland were merged in the Parliament of the United Kingdom by the Acts of Union with Scotland and Ireland. The constituent parts of Parliament are the King, the HOUSE OF LORDS (q.v.), and the HOUSE OF COMMONS (q.v.).

Summons. The prerogative of summoning Parliament is in the Crown. It is subject to the statutory restriction in the Triennial Act, 6 & 7 Will. & Mary, c. 2, that a new Parliament must be summoned within three years of a dissolution; but it is practically necessary for Parliament to meet every year for the purpose of passing the annual Army Act and voting the annual taxes; and it is now customary to call a new Parliament in the proclamation dissolving the old one. The royal proclamation ordering the Chancellors of Great Britain and Ireland to issue writs is made by the advice of the Privy Council and passed under the Great Seal. Under 15 Vict. c. 25, the writs are now made returnable within not less than thirty-five days. Special writs are sent to the persons entitled to summons to the House of Lords (q.v.), with the exception of Scotch representative peers. Under 6 Anne, c. 78, and 14 & 15 Vict. c. 100, the peers of Scotland are summoned by proclamation in all the county towns of Scotland to meet within ten days, and proceed to the election of sixteen representative peers for the new Parliament. Pursuant to 10 & 11 Vict. c. 52, peerages in respect of which no vote had been given since 1800, were struck off the roll of the Peers of Scotland, and no vote can be given in respect of them unless they have been restored by order of the House of Lords. Any two Scotch peers may enter a protest against the right of anyone claiming to vote, leaving the decision to the Committee for Privileges. When a claim to vote has been allowed, no one else may claim to vote in respect of the same peerage during the successful claimant's life. A list of the elected Scotch peers is signed and sealed by the Lord Clerk Register in presence of the assembled Scotch peers, and returned to the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery.

The proceedings on the issue of writs for the election of members of the House of Commons are dealt with under ELECTIONS, and the right to vote at such elections under FRANCHISE (ELECTORAL).

Disqualifications for Sitting and Voting.-Some disqualifications for sitting and voting in Parliament apply both to the House of Lords (q.v.) and to the House of Commons. Some are peculiar to the House of Commons. The principal disqualifications for sitting and voting in the House of Commons are the following (for fuller information, see Rogers on Elections, 18th ed., vol. ii. chap. 1):—(1) Aliens, disqualified at common law, and under the Act of Settlement; but if naturalised, they are now treated as entitled to sit under sec. 7 of the Naturalisation Act, 1870. (2) Infants, now expressly by 7 & 8 Will. III. c. 25, s. 7, and by other statutes as regards Scotland and Ireland. (3) Lunatics; the House of Commons would not vacate a seat for lunacy unless it were incurable; but now, by 49 Vict. c. 16, notification must be given to the Speaker if a member is confined as a lunatic, and unless he recover within six months, the seat is vacated. (4) Women. (5) Peers; but, under the Act of Union, Irish peers, not being representative peers, may sit for British constituencies, their privileges of peerage being suspended for the time being. If a member of the House of Commons, on succeeding to a peerage, delay to apply for his writ of summons to the House of Lords, the House of Commons may ascertain the fact of his succession for itself, and order a new writ to issue (see Lord Selborne's Case (Rogers, 437, 438)). (6) Clergy. Under 41 Geo. III. c. 63, persons ordained priests or deacons, and ministers of the Church of Scotland; under 10 Geo. IV. c. 7, s. 9, persons in holy orders in the Church of Rome; but under 33 & 34 Vict. c. 91, clergymen of the Church of England may renounce their clerical character and escape this disability. A clergyman of the Church of Scotland may also demit his clerical office, and thereupon he becomes eligible for election as a member of the House of Commons. Mr. Robert Wallace, who sat for East Edinburgh from 1886 to 1899, demitted his orders and functions as a minister of the Church of Scotland in 1876 (see Green's Encyclopædia of Scots Law, article "Demission"). (7) Returning officers at parliamentary elections for the constituencies in which they act as such. (8) Holders of new offices under the Crown created since October 25, 1705, are incapable of being elected or of sitting and voting (6 Anne, c. 4, s. 24), unless a statutory exception has been made in favour of such new office. By sec. 25, members of the House of Commons accepting from the Crown old offices, that is to say, offices created before 1705, vacate their seats, but may be re-elected. Sec. 27 contains an exception in favour of officers in the army and navy accepting a new commission. Now by 30 & 31 Vict. c. 102, where a member has been returned after accepting of any of the offices compatible with sitting, he does not vacate his seat by accepting another of these offices in substitution. Whether the acceptance by a minister of a second office thereby vacates his seat was much discussed in 1873, when Mr. Gladstone, then First Lord of the Treasury, took besides the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer; but the point was never definitely settled (see Morley's Life of Gladstone, bk. vi. chap. xiii.). Offices which are not accepted from the Crown, such as the Under-Secretaryships of State, do not necessitate re-election, and this also applies to a few other offices by statute. Under 27 & 28 Vict. c. 34, not more than four Under-Secretaries of State may sit in the House of Commons at the same time. If five are returned at once, none

can sit until their number is reduced to four. As to offices under the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, see 41 Geo. III. c. 52. (9) Pensioners from the Crown, during pleasure, are also disqualified by 6 Anne, c. 41, s. 24; but this does not apply to Civil Service or diplomatic pensions under 32 & 33 Vict. cc. 15, 43. (10) The judges of the Supreme Court of Judicature in England and Ireland, by 38 & 39 Vict. c. 77, s. 5; 40 & 41 Vict. c. 57, s. 13; Scotch judges by 7 Geo. II. c. 16, s. 4. (11) Contractors on account of the public service, 22 Geo. III. c. 45, s. 1; 47 & 48 Vict. c. 16. (12) Bankruptcy. By 46 & 47 Vict. c. 52, s. 32, a debtor adjudged bankrupt in England or Scotland is disqualified to be elected or sit and vote in Parliament, and his seat in the House of Commons is vacated unless the bankruptcy is annulled within six months, or he obtains a certificate that it was caused by misfortune without any misconduct on his part. By 53 & 54 Vict. c. 71, s. 9, the period of disqualification is not to exceed five years from the date of discharge. A person adjudged bankrupt in Ireland is capable of election; if a member, he vacates his seat, unless within one year from adjudication the bankruptcy is annulled or the creditors satisfied (35 & 36 Vict. c. 58). (13) Persons convicted in England and Ireland of treason or of felony, followed by a sentence with hard labour, or exceeding twelve months, are incapable of being elected or of sitting and voting (33 & 34 Vict. c. 23, s. 2) until they have served their sentences. Convictions for misdemeanor do not disqualify, but if of a disgraceful nature may be visited with expulsion, as in some recent cases. (14) Persons found guilty of CORRUPT PRACTICES (q.v.) are disqualified by 46 & 47 Vict. c. 51, for ever in respect of the constituency where the offence was committed, and for seven years in regard to other constituencies.

Vacating of Seats.-A member of the House of Commons may vacate his seat by becoming subject to any of the above disqualifications, or by sitting and voting without taking the oath, or by a resolution of the House declaring the seat vacant. At common law, a member returned to Parliament is bound to serve, and cannot resign, but may do so in practice by accepting the CHILTERN HUNDREDS (q.v.). As to the issue of new writs to supply such vacancies, see ELECTIONS.

Privileges of Parliament.-See HOUSE OF COMMONS; HOUSE OF LORDS; in which articles the subject of contempt of Parliament is also dealt with.

Procedure.-Parliament is opened by the Sovereign in person, or by commission under the Great Seal. The election of the Speaker by the House of Commons is then proceeded with (see HOUSE OF COMMONS), and members of both Houses must take the oath or declaration of allegiance (see OATH OF ALLEGIANCE; OATHS). The Commons are summoned to hear the King's speech. The speech is afterwards taken into consideration in either House, and an address in answer voted, but a bill is first read pro formá to assert the control of the House over its own business. The Crown may also communicate with both Houses by message during session. The subject of parliamentary procedure, which is similar in both Houses, has already been dealt with under HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Legislative Power of Parliament.-The legislative power of Parliament is in the King in Parliament. Bills must pass the two Houses and receive the royal assent (see ASSENT, ROYAL). Communications between the two Houses are carried on by messages. In case one House refuses. to accept the amendments introduced into a Bill by the other, the Bill