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1180.

and his

The sagacious policy of Henry II., during his long and A.D. 1155– eventful reign, did much to prepare the way for these changes in the framework of English government. Though bent upon consolidating the kingly power, Henry II., when The king not absent from the realm, took frequent occasion to con- council. vene the old national assembly, and to ask the counsel of his constitutional advisers upon every possible subject. In fact, many matters were freely discussed at these councils which would be deemed unsuitable for the consideration of Parliament at the present day. But the advice sought for and received, in conformity with ancient usage, did not debar the sovereign from the right to act as his own judgment might dictate upon the particular question."

1215.

From the grant of Magna Charta by King John, con- June 15, firmed and supplemented by similar concessions obtained from later monarchs, may be dated the rise of our repre- Rise of sentative system,' the recognition of the House of Com- our repremons as a separate estate of the realm, and the establish- system. ment upon a sure foundation of our national liberties.

The precise period when the representative system of England originated, and the circumstances that gave it birth, are points which, notwithstanding the laborious investigations of constitutional writers, are still involved in great obscurity. The learned authors of the Report of the Lords' Committee, however, arrived at the following conclusions upon this subject. They are of opinion that from the Conquest until the reign of John, prelates, earls, and barons generally formed, under the king, the legislative power of the realm, for all purposes except the imposition of taxes; although the advice of an inferior class in the community, or of particular individuals not of the privileged orders, would be occasionally asked

• Prof. Stubbs's Pref. to the Chron. of Benedict of Peterborough (Rolls Chron. 1867) vol. ii. pp. cx.-cxix. This learned preface gives an admirable account of the constitutional history of the period.

VOL. II.

C

For interesting particulars of the origin and early history of Political Representation, see Hearn, Govt. of Eng. ch. xvii.; and Forster, Grand Remonstrance, pp. 31-41.

sentative

represen

tation.

Origin of by the king, under exceptional circumstances, as for the purpose of giving validity to the grant of an extraordinary aid to the crown. But it cannot be shown that, at this time, any commoners, elected by the people, or otherwise, were called to the great councils, or Parliaments, as members thereof." That the great council of the realm summoned by John, as appears from the Great Charter, included certain persons who were summoned thereto by virtue of their holding lands in chief of the crown. That some of these individuals gave their personal attendance, others possibly appeared by representation, inasmuch as the lesser barons, being under no peculiar obligation of personal attendance, would naturally incline to select certain of their richest and most influential brethren to represent them. That during the reign of Henry III., important changes probably took place in the constitution of the great council, and most likely, as the result of circumstances, without the intervention of any express law on the subject. That in the 49th year of Henry III., through the instrumentality of Simon de A.D. 1265. Montfort, Earl of Leicester, a great council was convened, which consisted not only of persons who were summoned personally, by special writ, according to the charter of John, but of persons who were required to attend, not merely by general summons, according to the same charter, but in consequence of writs directed to the sheriffs of certain counties, and to certain cities and boroughs, commanding the recipients to cause knights, citizens, and burgesses' to be chosen as representatives of such counties, cities, and boroughs respectively, who should attend the king's council, together with those who had been personally summoned thereto.

"See Parry's Parlts. Introd. pp. xii-xvi. Cox, Antient Parly. Elections, pp. 64-70.

Historians and antiquarians are agreed in referring to the year 1265, the earliest Parliament of lords, knights, citizens, and burgesses. Be

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That the first clear evi

fore that time, indeed, there had been held many great councils of the nation, but none, so far as extant records show, in which the counties and boroughs of England were represented together. (Cox, Antient Parly. Elections, p. 60.)

dence remaining of any subsequent convention of a legislative assembly, under similar circumstances, was in respect to the Parliament summoned in the 23rd year A.D. 1295. of Edward I.; while the constitution of the intervening assemblies is wrapped in uncertainty. That from thence until the 15th year of Edward II., the legislative assemblies A.D. 1322. of England appear to have been generally, but not invariably, composed nearly in the manner in which the assembly in the 23rd of Edward I. was constituted. That the declaratory statute of the 15th of Edward II. gave the sanction of Parliament to the constitution of the legislature as it then stood, under which the legislative power was declared to be in the king, by the assent of the prelates, earls and barons, and commonalty of the realm, according as it had been heretofore accustomed.' And that, after this period, the constitution of the legislative assemblies of England had nearly approached the form which it now presents."

W

1307.

Whilst the appropriate functions of the several orders and estates of the realm were thus being gradually developed and matured, the divers elements of which the nation itself was composed were uniting together. In A.D. 1272the reign of Edward I., the protracted struggle between -Englishmen, of whatever race descended, and the foreigners who had devoured their substance and overthrown their liberties, came to an end. By the efforts of this prudent monarch, the English and the Normans were joined together in a common bond of mutual helpfulness, ancient freedom was revived, and the national institutions began to assume those constitutional forms which, with mere changes of detail, they have preserved uninterruptedly ever since."

It was during the reign of Edward I. that the barons,

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A.D. 1307.

who had hitherto monopolised the ear of the sovereign, and controlled his policy, became conscious of the existence of a new power which it was needful for them to conciliate. The citizens and burgesses, who had accumulated wealth by honest industry, and who were able and willing to contribute to the necessities of the state, were altogether excluded from the national councils. Whether or not this was esteemed a grievance, at this period, it is hard to conjecture: this much at any rate is certain, that they stoutly objected to pay any taxes that were levied upon them without their consent. In 1297, after a fruitless endeavour, on the part of the king, to exact the levy of a rate on the communaute' of the kingdom, which they had not agreed to pay, several of the principal peers interposed on their behalf, and obtained a guarantee from the king that no such illegal taxation should be again attempted. Shortly afterwards, the king convened a parliament, wherein this fundamental principle of English liberty was solemnly ratified, by the statute De Tallagio non concedendo, which provides that 'no talliage or aid shall by us or our heirs be imposed or levied in our kingdom without the will and assent of the archbishops, bishops, barons, milites, burgesses, and the other freemen of our realm."

Once they obtained an entrance into the great council, the lesser orders speedily began to acquire influence and authority. The growth of the power of the commons is distinctly traceable in the records of the legislative assembly under Edward II. In the preceding reign, in conformity with the usages of an earlier period, the functions of the commons were limited to a declaration of the extent of the grants which they were empowered by their constituents to offer to the crown. But in the time of Edward II. the right of the commons to a share in the

y Cox, Ant. Parl. Elections, pp. 71, 77-79; and see ante, vol. i. p. 453.

the com

making of laws was formally acknowledged; and by the Rising latter part of the reign of Edward III., the power of the power of commons had so greatly increased that we find them mons. strenuously resisting attempts to impose inordinate taxation, and boldly remonstrating with the king upon his choice of unworthy advisers."

About this period, there was a further development of the power of the commons, in relation to the mode of granting aids and supplies to the crown. In the reigns of Edward I., II., and III., it had been customary for the lords, the clergy and the commons, severally and separately, to determine the proportion of their respective grants, on the principle that they each represented distinct and independent portions of the community." Nevertheless, it was obviously desirable that there should be a mutual understanding between the several estates on this subject, as neither would choose to be subjected to a higher rate than the other. It was also expedient that this agreement should be arrived at before any communication upon the matter of supply was made by the commons to the crown. This gave rise to the practice of conferences between committees of the lords and commons preliminary to the grant of supply, upon which occasions each estate counted it an advantage to obtain a knowledge of the intentions of the other before disclosing their own."

In the ninth year of Henry IV. the commons com- A.D. 1407. plained to the king of the lords, for having made known

93.

2

Cox, Ant. Parl. Elections, pp. 84,

• Hatsell, Prec. vol. iii. p. 95.-The three estates of the realm (viz. the lords spiritual, the lords temporal, and the commons: see ante, vol. i. p. 246), originally sat together in one chamber. When they first began to sit apart is uncertain. No doubt they often deliberated separately, and

gave separate advice to the king,
long before a formal separation took
place. (See Hearn, Govt. of Eng. pp.
394-407). Their division into two
houses must have been accomplished
at any rate not later than the 17th
year of Edw. III. (May, Parl. Prac.
pp. 23-26.)

Cox, Ant. Parl. Elec. p. 98. Parl.
Hist. vol. i. pp. 110, 140, 163-171.

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