IV. THE COMPOSITION OF THE LOWER HOUSE: A. ELECTORAL SYSTEM BEFORE THE REFORM BILL. B. ELECTORAL SYSTEM SINCE THE REFORM BILL V. ર THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTION. INTRODUCTION. First Part. CHARACTER OF ENGLISH CONSTITUTIONAL LAW. CHAPTER I. No Constitutional Records Extant.-Common-Law Origin of the Constitution.-Its Antiquity.-Saxon Constitution.-Despotism of William I.-Treatment of the Saxons.-Feudal System.-Doomsday Book.-Leges Edwardi Confessoris.-The French Feudal System.-Magna Charta.-Power of Legislation in the Parliament.-The Lower House.-Office of Justice of the Peace.-Fortescue on the English Constitution.-Froissart on Englishmen.-Decline of the Aristocracy through the Wars of the Roses.-The Tudors not Unlimited in their Rule.New-blown Aristocracy.-French Contrasts.-The Stuarts.-Divine Right.— Passive Obedience.-Petition of Right.-Charles I. and his Parliament.-Progress of Parliament during the Reign of Charles II.-James II.-Principles of the Revolution.-William III. and the "Parties."-Power of Parliament in the 18th Century. Power of the Aristocracy.—Corrupt House of Commons.-Liberty of England.-French Judgments.-Decline of Self-Government.-Result of Parliamentary Government.-Increasing Power in the Towns.-The Reform Bill.Present State of Constitutional Law.-Guarantees of Liberty.-Obsolete Statutes. -Decay of the Prerogative and Royal Power.-Constitutional Experiments on the Continent.-Bunsen on Local Government. THE English Constitution is not the result of conquest achieved by a people in revolt, nor is it derived from any "act of grace" of a liberal prince. Not by special charter, set forth in titles and paragraphs, does it assert its claim, nor by any contract between prince and people formally drawn up. It is something more than a Constitution in the ordinary acceptation-than a mere funda mental state-law ratified by document and solemnly sealed. It is not, withal, a mere array of particular charters and statutes; for the principal acts affecting political and legislative relations, from Magna Charta itself down to the Local Government Acts of 1858, comprise but a small portion of the public law of England. The public law of England is itself but a part only of recognized English customary law in action-a part, consequently, of the "Common Law;" the charters and statutes being but the confirmation of certain fundamental principles thereof *—an assurance that it will be effectually carried out; nay, occasionally, they are even, admittedly, an infringement upon the common law itself. The high antiquity of the latter, its uninterrupted practice through the lapse of many centuries, coupled with its ever-accumulating throng of legal precedents, place Englishmen in a position to illustrate, in a manner altogether exceptional, and from original sources, the law as it actually obtains. It is, then, generally speaking, mere weakness and affectation on the part of any English student of political law, who would elucidate the English constitutional system by examples drawn from Athens and Rome,† inasmuch as the constitution of his country-in other words, the native public law-is abundantly revealed in the history and legal records of his own land. If we would, then, characterize the public law of England aright, we must wend upward to these two sources. The Constitution of England, like that of most countries of Europe, has grown out of occasion and emergency; from the fluctuating policy of different ages; from the contentions, successes, interests, and opportunities of different orders and parties of men in the community. It resembles one of those old mansions which, instead of being built all at once after a regular plan, and according to the rules of architecture at present established, has been reared in different ages of the art, has been altered from time to time, and has been continually receiving additions and repairs suited to the taste, fortune, or conveniency of its successive proprietors. In such a building we look in vain for the elegance and proportion, for the just order and correspondence of Also, by the old custom of the realm, no man shall be taken, imprisoned, disseized, nor otherwise destroyed, but he be put to answer by the law of the land. And this custom is confirmed by the statute of Magna Charta, cap. 26." -Doctor and Student, chap. vii. + Palgrave, An Essay upon the Original Authority of the King's Council, p. 9. |