Relief Bill in 1829 that the disabilities were finally removed and the following oath substituted :

"I, A.B., do declare that it is not an article of my faith, and that I do reject, renounce, and abjure the opinion, that princes excommunicated or deprived by the pope, or any other authority of the See of Rome, may be deposed or murdered by their subjects, or by any person whatsoever and I do declare that I do not believe that the Pope of Rome or any other foreign prince, prelate, person, state or potentate hath, or ought to have, any temporal or civil jurisdiction, power, superiority, or pre-eminence, directly or indirectly, within this realm."

The Struggle between Privilege and Prerogative convulsed the nation under the sway of the Stuarts. James I. foolishly made an ostentatious display of what his predecessors had been contented to enjoy. He was incessantly asserting, that the authority of kings was not to be controlled any more than that of God Himself. Like Him, they were omnipotent, and those privileges to which the people so clamorously laid claim as their inheritance and birthright, were no more than an effect of the grace and toleration of his royal ancestors. This claim became known by the name of the Divine Right of Kings.

These principles, hitherto only silently adopted in the cabinet and in the courts of justice, had maintained their ground in consequence of this very obscurity. But being now publicly announced from the throne, and resounded from the pulpit, they spread an universal alarm and created such a spirit of opposition as the English monarchs had not for a long time past been accustomed to.

It was owing to the disastrous effects of the Wars of the Roses that Henry VII., and after him the whole house of Tudor possessed so much authority, for those nobles who had been interested in preserving the principles of the Magna Charta were slain, and the king found no resistance sufficient to restrain his exercise of unlimited power, but the remembrance of their ancient laws, of that great charter so often, and so solemnly confirmed, was too deeply impressed on the minds of the English, to be effaced by transitory evils, and they only required a proper opportunity to manifest their determination to preserve undiminished their inalienable right of freedom.

The storm which was only gathering in clouds during the reign of James I. burst forth under Charles I., and in its mighty torrent for a while annihilated the royal power.

By the Petition of Right the compulsory loans and taxes disguised under the name of benevolences were declared to be contrary to law; arbitrary imprisonments, and the exercise of martial law were abolished, and the practice of billeting soldiers on private houses was forbidden. (Charles I.)

The Commons called it a Petition of Right, as implying that it contained merely a corroboration or explanation of the ancient constitution, granted by Edward III., not any infringement of the royal prerogative, or acquisition of new liberties.

It passed the Commons and the Upper House in 1628, and instead of appending the usual form of assent or dissent, the king created great dissatisfaction_by_causing the following sentence to be written under the Petition:-" The king willeth that right be done according to the laws and customs of the realm, and the statutes be put in due execution; that his subjects may have no cause to complain of any wrong or oppression contrary to their just rights and liberties, to the preservation whereof he holds himself as well obliged as of his prerogative." So great an opposition was created that the king was forced to yield, and the bill eventually received the royal assent.

The duty of Tonnage and Poundage in more ancient times, had been commonly a temporary grant of Parliament; but it had been conferred on Henry V. and all the succeeding princes during life, in order to enable them to maintain a naval force for the defence of the kingdom. The necessity of levying this duty had been so apparent, that each king had ever claimed it from the moment of his accession; and the first parliament of each reign had usually, by vote, conferred on the prince what they found him already in possession of. It frequently happened, however, that through neglect the vote was not passed for some years after the king's accession, as e. g. in the case of Henry VIII. The Parliament did not grant this duty till the sixth year of his reign; yet He continued during that whole time to levy the imposition. But in Charles I's. reign, the Commons instead of granting this supply during the king's lifetime,

voted it only for a year, and steps were taken towards declaring it illegal to levy tonnage and poundage without the consent of Parliament.

Ship Money was an impost levied upon all seaports, without distinction, for the equipment of a fleet. Its origin may probably be ascribed to Alfred's attempt to raise a fleet against the Danes in A. D. 875. The Tudors availed themselves of this means of raising a revenue, but it was only in Charles I.'s reign that the attempt was made to levy it upon inland towns (A. D. 1634) and though the Judges had given an opinion in favour of the legality of such an impost, John Hampden refused to pay it. Proceedings were taken against him in the Court of Exchequer, A. D. 1637, and after a long and anxious trial, sentence was given against him by seven out of the twelve Judges. His object however was gained, as it drew the eyes of the nation to the importance of the question.

The Establishment of the Commonwealth was the most important change ever introduced into the constitution of the country. After the execution of King Charles I., the Commons abolished the House of Lords and denounced Monarchy as illegal. A new great seal was formed, on which was engraved this legend:-"The first year of freedom, by GOD's blessing restored 1648." This was given to three commissioners, styled "Keepers of the Liberty of England." The chief power continued nominally in their hands until 1653, when the Instrument of Government was drawn up which conferred upon Cromwell the office of Lord Protector for life, and by which he was invested with the power of peace and war. It bound him to summon a parliament once in three years, which he should not dissolve under five months. The Parliament afterwards (1657) by an Act entitled Humble Petition and Advice gave him the title of Highness, and the right of appointing his successor, and he was the second time solemnly invested by the Speaker with the ensigns of his office-a velvet mantle of purple colour, symbolical of justice and mercy, the Bible, the staff, and the sword.

The Convention Parliament of 1660, so called because it was not summoned by royal authority, voted that the government was and ought to be, in king, lords, and commons; and that Charles II. should be invited home.

The Convention of 1689, declared that James II. "having endeavoured to subvert the constitution by breaking the original compact between him and the people; and having violated the fundamental laws, and withdrawn himself out of the kingdom, had abdicated the government, and that the throne was thereby vacant." They accordingly invited William, Prince of Orange, to exercise the royal authority.

The Act of Indemnity was passed as soon as Charles II. ascended the throne, in which he assured his subjects of a general pardon for past offences. Few were excepted, six only of those who had signed the warrant for the late king's death, with four of the principal agents in conducting the trial, were brought to the scaffold, but the dead bodies of Cromwell, Ireton, and Bradshaw, were taken up and senselessly exposed on a gibbet. All sales of private lands and judicial acts which had taken place under the Commonwealth were wisely confirmed.

The Corporation and Test Acts. The Corporation Act passed in 1661, prevented any person being legally elected to any office belonging to the government of any city, or corporation in England, unless he had, within the twelvemonth preceding received the Sacrament of the LORD's Supper, according to the rites of the Church of England: and enjoined him to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy when he took the oath of office. The Test Act, 1673, required all officers, civil and military, to take the oaths, and make the declaration against transubstantiation, in the Court of King's Bench or Chancery, within six months after their admission; and also, within the same time, to receive the Sacrament of the LORD's Supper, according to the usage of the Church of England, in some public church. The Corporation Act was principally directed against Protestant Nonconformists; the Test Act against Roman Catholics. In the year 1828 they were both abolished.

The Act of Uniformity, May, 1662, required that every clergyman should be episcopally ordained, declare his assent to every thing contained in the Book of Common Prayer; take the oath of canonical obedience; abjure the solemn league and covenant, and renounce the principle of taking up arms against the king. No fewer than 10,000 divines are said to have resigned their benefices rather than disown their principles.

The Conventicle Act, 1664, prevented any dissenting teacher, who would not take the oath of conformity to approach within five miles of any corporation, or of any place where he had preached after the act of oblivion. Other acts of a similar nature were passed; but on the accession of William III. these penalties and disabilities were removed by the Toleration Act. Some of these oppressive provisions were revived during the reign of Queen Anne, but were finally repealed in 1718. The name Nonconformists, in consequence of this change of circumstances gave way to that of Dissenters.

The oppression of an obscure individual, says judge Blackstone, gave rise to the famous Habeas Corpus Act. This individual was one Francis Jenks, who having made a motion at Guildhall, in the year 1676, to petition the king for a new parliament, was examined before the privycouncil, and afterwards committed to the Gate-house, where he was kept about two months, through the delays made by the several judges to whom he applied, in granting him a Habeas Corpus.

The principal articles of this Act are:

(1.) That no inhabitant of England (except persons contracting, or convicts praying to be transported) shall be sent to prison beyond the seas;

(2.) The judges are forbidden under severe penalties, to refuse any person this writ, by which the gaoler of the place where the prisoner is, must bring him into court, and declare the reason of his imprisonment;

(3.) The officer or keeper must under heavy penalties deliver to the prisoner or his agent, within six hours after demand, a copy of the warrant of commitment;

(4.) Every prisoner must be indicted the first term, after he is committed and brought to his trial in the next;

(5.) No one after having been once delivered can be committed again for the same offence.

This act is not always in force;-the Parliament has often thought proper to suspend it.