Commons have occupied separate chambers; the precise date, however, of their separation has not been determined by historical writers. But from that period downwards the power and influence of the Lower House of Parliament have continued to increase, until it may fairly be said now to have become predominant in all State affairs. This must be undoubtedly attributed to financial considerations in the first place, and secondly to the growth of a wealthy and enlightened middle class, who by their intelligence, commercial enterprise and industry have been the chief means of raising this country-so far, at least, as its vast material and pecuniary resources are concerned to that degree of preeminence which it now holds amongst the kingdoms and empires of the whole civilised world. To the Commons belonged, moreover, the exclusive right of initiating all money bills, of granting subsidies, bath ordinary and extraordinary, and of imposing taxes. Hence it was, as we have said, that they acquired so much influence almost from the outset, and that they soon grew weary of the barren privilege of taxing themselves and their constituents. No doubt they felt a noble ambition stirring within them, and urging them on to higher deeds than any they had yet achieved in a senatorial point of view. Mute and inglorious had been their functions during the reign of the First Edward,—for we are told that they "had not even the right of remonstrating" against any law; but so much did a sense of their own dignity and importance, and of their fitness for better things, grow upon them in the space of a few years, that under Edward II. they granted the King the twenty-fifth penny of their goods, upon condition that the King should take advice and grant redress upon certain matters wherein they were aggrieved." Amongst other grievances, they complained of not being governed according to the Articles of the Great Charter, and then proceeded to give a catalogue of their troubles, which the King promised to remedy.

During the reign of Edward III. three essential principles of the Constitution were established on a firm footing, namely, "the illegality of raising money without the consent of Parliament, the necessity for the concurrence of the Lords and Commons in any alteration of the law, and the right of the Commons to inquire into public abuses and to impeach the ministers of the Crown." These measures are indeed the great safeguard of the Constitution, and their importance cannot be overrated. Such rapid strides seem almost incredible; but it was during this and the two subsequent reigns that the great and distinguishing features of our Constitution, as it approached its more complete and mature form, were chiefly consolidated.

Subsequently to the Parliament of 14 Edward III., a certain number of Prelates, Barons, and Counsellors, together with twelve Knights and six Burgesses, were appointed to sit from day to day, in order to convert petitions granted into statutes; and the laws were declared to be made by the King, at the request of the Commons, and by the assent of the Lords and Prelates. In the fifteenth year of the same reign petitions were presented, praying that commissioners be assigned to examine the accounts of those who had received public moneys; that the Judges and Ministers be sworn to obey the Great Charter and other laws, and that they be appointed in Parliament. The King, though unwillingly, complied with this request, but the latter clause was soon after repealed-the Chancellor, Treasurer, and Judges having entered a protest against it.

Owing to the minority of Richard II., on his accession to the throne the Commons acquired additional powers and privileges; for the King was compelled to consent that during his minority the Chancellor, Treasurer, Judges, and other chief officers of State should be appointed in Parliament. Upon attaining his majority the Commons petitioned the King, "to ordain in Parliament certain chief officers of his household and

other lords of his council, with power to reform those abuses by which the crown was so much blemished, the laws violated, and the revenues dilapidated." This petition was granted, and a Commission, consisting of fourteen persons of "the highest eminence for rank and general estimation, was established, and heavy penalties imposed upon any one who publicly or privately should oppose what they might advise." This Commission, which in modern times would have a most unconstitutional character, but which had been rendered necessary from the various abuses that appear to have prevailed in the executive at that time, lasted but a twelvemonth and if we refer to it here, it is only to show the expedients to which the Commons were forced to have recourse in order to purge the abuses that had crept into the administration of public affairs. Although towards the latter part of this reign the Parliament would seem to have been too forgetful of its duties, and of its dignity, and too submissively compliant with the wishes of the King, who, it is said, had become as truly absolute as his ambition could desire, yet we find that it was during this reign—that of Richard II.-that the Commons acquired the important right of appropriating the public revenues to special purposes, and of inquiring into the mode of their expenditure.

During the reign of Henry IV. constitutional principles acquired new developments, and measures were taken for restraining the royal prerogatives, which had been unduly exercised in the previous reign. A request, however, made by the Commons, that an answer should be given to their petitions before making their grant of subsidy, was refused on the ground that it was a practice unknown to the King's ancestors, and contrary to the good customs and usages of ancient times. Notwithstanding this refusal, the Commons renewed their complaints in the eighth year of the same reign, and presented thirty-one Articles, none of which the King ventured to refuse, although encroaching upon his prerogatives. Amongst other important

matters, the King was to name sixteen Counsellors by whose advice he was solely to be guided, and none of whom should be dismissed unless guilty of misdemeanour. He was likewise to assign two days in each week to receive petitions-it being both "honourable and necessary that his lieges who desire to petition him should be heard." The Council and Officers of State were

sworn to observe the common and statute law, and were not, without the consent of the Judges, to determine any cause cognisable at Common Law. These, with some other provisions, furnished additional guarantees for the liberty of the subject, and formed new links in the chain of constitutional development -links which received increase of strength from the way in which the doctrine of ministerial responsibility was at the same time laid down. It was in the reign of Henry IV., too, that the Commons obtained the privilege of freedom from arrest during the Session; as it was likewise in the same reign (9 Hen. IV.) that the famous maxims were established, "That the Commons possess an exclusive right of originating all Money Bills," and that "the King ought not to take cognisance of any matter pending in Parliament."

It

The brief but memorable reign of Henry V., which shed an unfading lustre on English history, and to which we must ever look back with pride as the most brilliant period in our annals, was not productive of any peculiar results in a constitutional point of view. The national mind was too much engrossed by military affairs, and by the contemplation of those glorious exploits which our arms had achieved on the Continent. may, however, be mentioned, that owing to the great expenses incurred by Henry V. in the French wars, and the more readily to obtain supplies, he submitted his accounts to Parliament"A circumstance which contributed in no slight degree to establish a regular correspondence between redress and supply, which for several centuries proved the balance-spring of the Constitution."

We have now arrived at the period of the civil wars between the rival houses of York and Lancaster, when for more than half a century the kingdom became a prey to intestine strife, and when the best and bravest of England's sons, pitted against each other in a bitter contest, were swept as by a plague from off the face of the land. Here we cannot fail to perceive that the Parliaments betrayed a want of firmness and dignity ill-suited to the circumstances in which they were placed,— now veering and shifting according as either party became dominant siding with the strong and abandoning the weak, while they did and undid by turns, and became "all things to all men." Owing to this vacillation, the Commons continued henceforward to lose much of their moral weight and influence in the direction of public affairs; they acquired a lower tone and character, and became altogether more subservient to the Crown, which found in them the ready and pliant instruments of its will-more especially during the period of the Tudor dynasty. Hence, by degrees, the Constitution suffered from the inroads of arbitrary power-of which the establishment of the Court of Star Chamber, in the reign of Henry VII., furnishes a striking example. This Court was certainly of the most unconstitutional character, as it was in no wise subject to the rules of procedure of the ordinary courts of law -civil or criminal. It was a species of Privy Council-resembling, perhaps, in some measure the "Aula Regis" of the Norman period—which, while virtually ignoring the Statute and Common Law of the realm, arrogated to itself the functions and authority of a regularly constituted Court, and decided, if not upon the lives, at least upon the liberty and property of individuals, and this without the aid or intercession of a jury. In fact the officers of this Court themselves performed the functions of judge, jury, and prosecutor without appeal to any higher authority. Thus it became a scourge in the hands of the Sovereign to chastise and overawe his rebellious or disaffected