e
king's hands, that at the death of one monarch and the accession of
another, the functions of all officers holding their places under the
authority of the former would cease. This was actually the case. And
it shows how entirely the Parliament was considered as the instrument
and creation of the king, that on the death of a king, the Parliament
immediately expired. The new monarch must make a new Parliament, if he
wished one, to help him carry out his own plans. In the same manner
almost all other offices expired. As it would be extremely
inconvenient or impossible to appoint anew all the officers of such a
realm on a sudden emergency, it is usual for the king to issue a
decree renewing the appointments of the existing incumbents of these
offices. Thus King Charles, two days after his father's death, made it
his first act to renew the appointments of the members of his father's
privy council, of the foreign embassadors, and of the judges of the
courts, in order that the affairs of the empire might go on without
interruption. He also issued summonses for calling a Parliament, and
then made arrangements for the solemnization of his father's funeral.

[Illustration: ST. STEPHEN'S.]

The scene of these transactions was what was, in those days, called
Westminster. Minster means cathedral. A cathedral church had been
built, and an abbey founded, at a short distance west from London,
near the mouth of the Thames. The church was called the West
_minster_, and the abbey, Westminster Abbey. The town afterward took
the same name. The street leading to the city of London from
Westminster was called the Strand; it lay along the shore of the
river. The gate by which the city of London was entered on this side
was called Temple Bar, on account of a building just within the walls,
at that point, which was called the Temple. In process of time, London
expanded beyond its bounds and spread westward. The Strand became a
magnificent street of shops and stores. Westminster was filled with
palaces and houses of the nobility, the whole region being entirely
covered with streets and edifices of the greatest magnificence and
splendor. Westminster is now called the West End of London, though the
jurisdiction of the city still ends at Temple Bar.

Parliament held its sessions in a building near the shore, called St.
Stephen's. The king's palace, called St. James's Palace, was near.
The old church became a place of sepulture for the English k