8. That election of members of Parliament ought to be free. 9. That the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court out of Parliament.

10. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

11. That jurors ought to be duly impanelled and returned; and jurors who pass judgment upon men in trials for high treason, ought to be freeholders.

12. That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons, before conviction, are illegal and void.

13. That, for redress of all grievances, and for the amending, strengthening, and preserving of the laws, parliaments ought to be held frequently.

And here let me say a few words respecting what now claims to be a species of Fourth Estate or power of the realm, namely, the Press. That this is a power, and a very vast one, cannot for a moment be denied. In former times, and in the early ages of Constitutional history, it had no existence whatever, and in point of fact, it was not until after the Revolution of 1688 that the newspaper press of the kingdom began to make its influence felt in the guidance and formation of public opinion. Even during the eighteenth century it had not reached that point of development and preeminence when it could fairly be called a "power" in the State. It is the present century almost entirely that has witnessed the establishment of the Press in the rank of an "Estate." True, it has no recognised constitutional existence, as an integral portion of the Legislature. It does not muster rank and file in a division. But surely it has a voice, and a very potent one too, in all the debates and deliberations in both Houses of Parliament. It does not go into the lobby in propria persona, but who can deny that it influences and frequently determines the vote of many a man upon questions of the gravest importance? It holds its debates daily in public, and sits the whole year round. It has no "vacation"—no recess." Its eye never slumbers, and its voice is never mute. It speaks to millions thunder-tongued. Amongst its vast auditory are Kings, Princes, Priests and Senators, yet it does not address them with hushed accents or bated breath. It does not tickle their ears with the honeyed poison of flattery; but it tells them truths which in bygone times would never have reached them,wholesome truths in high places which preserve the body politic

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FREEDOM OF THE PRESS.

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from corruption and decay. But not this only. The Fourth Estate has its eyes cast abroad in all the corners of the earth in search of knowledge; its emissaries explore the utmost recesses of civilized and savage life, and accumulate, for the benefit of the present and of the future, the vast treasures of experience and information which are amassed and redistributed day by day in the interests of human progress and enlightenment. In a word, there are none so low that the teaching of the Press does not in some way reach and affect them, and none so high as to be above the lessons of instruction and wisdom which it conveys. And above all, what adds to its power is, its freedom. Our press is now absolutely free; no permission is required for the publication of any news, or any comments upon it. The conduct of the highest in the land may be praised or censured as their merits deserve-care only must be taken that no untrue or malicious statements are made, by means of which public peace and morality, or private character, may suffer; but even when such are put forward, they cannot be suppressed by any arbitrary exercise of authority. Like every other wrong, they must be submitted to a court of law, and by the judgment of a court of law alone can their authors be punished.

"To submit the press," says Blackstone, in his "Commentary upon the Law of England," "to the restrictive power of a licenser, as was formerly done both before and since the Revolution (and is now done in almost every continental State), is to subject all freedom of sentiment to the prejudices of one man, and to make him the arbitrary, infallible judge of all controverted points in learning, religion, and government. But to punish (as the law does at present) any dangerous or offensive writings which, when published, should, on fair and impartial trial, be adjudged of a pernicious tendency, is necessary for the preservation of peace and good order, of government and religion, the only solid foundations of civil liberty."

My reason for introducing this important subject in this Letter may be gathered from the celebrated words of Mr. Canning, who said that, "He who, speculating on the British Constitution, should omit from his enumeration the mighty powers of public opinion embodied in a free press, which pervades and checks, and perhaps in the last resort nearly governs the whole, would give but an imperfect view of the government of England."

LETTER III.

THE QUEEN.

The Three Estates of the Realm-Duties of Government-The Royal Office-Succession to the Throne-The Royal Prerogative-The Ministry-The Revenue-The Civil List-The Royal Family — Royal Marriage Act.

HAVING now laid the foundation of my subject, I shall proceed to show you how this country is governed at the present day.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is governed by its King or Queen and two Houses of Parliament. These are known as the Three Estates of the Realm.

The duties of government are to make, and put in force, the laws of the country for its own people as subjects, and to represent them as a nation in their dealings with foreign powers. The first of these duties-the making of the law— is performed by the three Estates conjointly; the remainder belong to the sovereign alone. I shall devote a Letter to each of the three Estates, and in this will tell you of

THE SOVEREIGN.

There is no difference between the power exercised by a king and a queen in this country. Their office is hereditary, passing upon the death of the sovereign to the next heirmales, in the same degree of relationship, being preferred to females: thus the youngest son of the present sovereign would inherit the throne to the exclusion of her eldest daughter, but any daughter would stand in the order of succession before an uncle, a nephew, or a male cousin.

The succession to the throne of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was regulated in the commencement of the reign of William III. by an Act of Parliament

PREROGATIVE OF THE CROWN.

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called the "Act of Settlement," by which the Roman Catholic branch of the family of the Stuarts was formally excluded from the succession. By this Act, the sovereign power was limited to the heirs of the Princess Sophia of Brunswick (the granddaughter of James I.), being Protestants. Upon the death of Queen Anne, the son of this princess, King George I., became king. He was succeeded by his son, George II. From him the crown descended to his grandson, George III., and from him to his son, George IV.; who, dying without issue surviving, was succeeded by his brother, William IV.; upon whose death, having left no children, the daughter of his next younger brother, the Duke of Kent, her present most gracious Majesty Queen Alexandrina Victoria, ascended the throne.

The crown of these kingdoms can only be worn by a Protestant. Should the king or queen marry a Roman Catholic, it is forfeited from that moment. Nor can any member of the Royal Family, who is married to a Roman Catholic, ascend the throne.

The person of the sovereign is sacred; she is above the law; no act of Parliament can bind her, unless it contain express words to that effect. It is also a maxim of the law that she can do no wrong; she is not responsible for the commission of any act, and no omission upon her part can be taken advantage of; she possesses the power of pardon and of mercy towards criminals; she is the fountain of justice and of honour; from her all titles of nobility and honourable distinctions spring; all military and civil rewards and decorations, such as orders of knighthood, crosses, stars, and medals for meritorious services, are in her gift, and no subject may wear or assume one granted by a foreign prince without her licence. All commissions to officers in the army and navy are granted, although they are not now signed, by her; she has the power of proroguing Parliament-that is, putting an end to its sittings for a time, and of dissolving it and convoking a new one in its place; she is the supreme head of the State, the Church, the Army, and the Navy; she has the power of sending and receiving ambassadors, of declaring war and making peace, of arranging treaties, and coining money for the use of her subjects; she may refuse her assent to laws passed by the two Houses of Parliament, but has no direct voice in discussing them, speaking only through her ministers. These, and other rights, are called the prerogative of the Crown.

Under the British Constitution the sovereign must govern through her ministers, who are responsible to Parliament and the country for her political acts, which are always presumed to be done by their advice. No ministry is able to carry on the business of the country for more than a very short time, unless it can obtain the assent of Parliament to its proceedings. Of late years the great political questions, upon which the formation and existence of ministries have depended, have been discussed and settled in the House of Commons. This Estate of the realm being elected by the people, you will perceive that the ministry, although nominally appointed by the Crown, is virtually chosen by the country. Should the ministry or Parliament attempt to interfere improperly with the royal prerogative, the sovereign can dismiss the one, and dissolve the other. Should a faction in Parliament oppose the ministry in doing what they and the queen consider to be for the welfare and honour of the country, the opinion of all classes can be taken by summoning a new Parliament. Should the Crown and the ministry set themselves against Parliament and the people, the former, by refusing to grant supplies for the public service, could secure the dismissal of the obnoxious advisers. Thus a balance of power is preserved between the Estates of the realm, which prevents any of them from infringing the rights of the others, and makes the people of this country the happiest, the freest, and at the same time the most loyal nation under the sun.

In former times, the taxes which were granted by Parliament were handed over to the king, to be expended by him in maintaining his state, and for keeping up the military and naval services. He had also estates in various parts of the country called the crown lands, the rents and profits of which were paid into his treasury. The revenue, or annual income of the country derived from the taxes imposed by Parliament and the income from these estates (with the exception of the Duchy of Lancaster, which belongs to her Majesty not as Queen of England, but as Duchess of Lancaster), is now collected into one fund called the Consolidated Fund. The first charge upon this fund is the payment of interest upon the national debt called the funds, and upon the unfunded debt. The origin and progress of the national debt is so important and interesting a subject, that I shall devote to it a future Letter.

The next charge upon the Consolidated Fund brings me back to the subject which I have quitted for a moment. It is