It was in the autumn of 1295 that he performed his most memorable act, the last formal step which established fully the representation of the Commons. The form of summons addressed to the prelates is most interesting, beginning with that quotation from the code of Justinian transmuted by Edward from a mere legal maxim into a great political and constitutional principle: "As the most righteous law, established by the provident circumspection of the sacred princes, exhorts and ordains that that which touches all shall be approved by all, it is very evident that the common dangers must be met by measures concerted in common. The writs issued to Barons and sheriffs, though more brief, are in similar strain. Each sheriff is to cause two knights of his shire, two citizens of every city, and two burgesses of every borough, to be elected and returned, the representatives of the Commons to bring full power from their several constituencies for doing what shall be ordained by common counsel.2 " 1 The reign of Edward was ushered in by a careful observance of the forms of election and acceptance, forms indeed never omitted, though sometimes they seemed mere idle ceremony. The times were full of tumult, wars without and dissensions within. He was the ruthless King who flung the Jews out of England; the bards of Wales prayed that ruin might seize him, that confusion might wait upon his banners; - he won the victory of Falkirk, where so many Scots bled with Wallace. He was not, indeed, above being tempted to ambition, vindictiveness, and impatient 1 Taswell-Langmead: English Constitutional History, p. 245. violence. But the forward steps which the nation took, sometimes, to be sure, in spite of him, but sometimes under his guidance, were most momentous. The Great Charter was again and again confirmed, until it became as fixed as the hills, in the national life; the doctrine that grievances must be redressed by those in power before supplies can be granted was plainly admitted. In 1297, it was clearly established that there can be no taxation without representation, -the principle upon which, five hundred years later, stood the Americans of '76, when they fought out their freedom: Parliament, too, stood forth, a welldefined and organized expositor of the national will. As one wanders among the graves of the great in Westminster Abbey, there is no tomb before which a more reverential pause may be made than the massive, unornamented sepulchre, built in a rude age, for the tall, stalwart monarch, the "Longshanks" of popular tradition, who bestrode to such purpose the realm to which he was born, - Edward I, strong in arm, brain, and soul. CHAPTER V. THE COMING UP OF THE SERFS. Edward II, 1307. Edward III, 1327. Richard II, 1377. Condition of freedom in Europe in the It was not only in England, in the thirteenth century, that national assemblies were coming into being. In Castile and Arragon, town representatives were appearing in the cortes. In 13th century. Sicily, Frederick II was instituting something very similar to the English shire-moots. In Germany, the cities appeared by deputies in the imperial diet. In France, the States-General were first summoned in 1302. These national councils were scarcely less proud and powerful than the one at Westminster.1 All, however, were destroyed or sank into insignificance. Only the English Parliament stood firmly on the constitutional right to give and withhold money, and maintained itself. In France and Spain, the outcome was royal absolutism. With the passing away of the Hohenstaufen, went Frederick II's institution in Italy. In Germany, there was utter disintegration, the life of the nation being diverted into hundreds of pretty provincial channels, while the people were smitten into dumbness. Meantime the Scandinavian kingdoms had scarcely emerged into the light of history, and in Russia pop1 Macaulay: History of England, I, p. 33. ular liberty underwent a curious hemming in, from which it has never recovered. In early times the moot in the mir or Slavic village was as distinctly marked and important as among the Saxons themselves. There was no development, however, of moots above, corresponding to those of the hundred and shire, and no use of the expedient of representation. The brilliant, ubiquitous Normans appeared to the east of the Baltic, as they did in France, England, Italy, and the Orient, assuming leadership here as everywhere, and imposing a feudalism which has endured until now. The popular life has persisted in the mir, but has never been able to rise into national significance. Constitution Parliaments. In England, then, the ancient freedom revived, but in England alone. Can it be said that government of, by, and for the people had been thoroughly restored? By no means. The folk- of the early moot had possessed all the power once. It disappeared as regards central government, living on under the surface, as we have seen, in the various moots for local self-government. The witenagemote, indeed, may have arisen from the national assembly, but it had become so changed in character, through the absence of all but a few rich and powerful personages, that it must be regarded as a different thing. In the court of the Conqueror and his sons, the witenagemote had not disappeared; under Henry II, it became a complete feudal council consisting only of the King's tenants. At last, under Earl Simon and Edward, this grew into a full national assembly; the three estates, Clergy, Lords, and Commons, made it up, — the first and last by representation, the second directly, for each Lord had a seat by right. The great mark left by the thirteenth century on the constitution was the representation of the Commons. They are recognized in Magna Charta as creatures possessed of rights entitled to respect; under Earl Simon they were admitted to a voice in the government; under Edward, what Earl Simon had introduced was thoroughly established and systematized. The Parliament of 1295 is a precedent for all time to come. As regards form, the model of Edward has not been departed from in England, down to the present day, and is distinctly reflected, as will be hereafter seen, in the constitution of America. A quite different spirit, however, animates the ancient framework. In Edward's time, the voice in affairs which the people had gained was only faint. The monarch, though not autocratic, was immensely powerful; the privileged class of nobles, the clergy, too, possessed a might far outweighing that of the undistinguished mass. At present, in England, the plain people are nearly all-powerful; they are all-powerful in America and in the British dependencies. Many centuries were destined to pass before this thorough reinstatement of Anglo-Saxon freedom. Importance of the-shire. In the time of Edward I, one hundred and sixtysix cities and boroughs, and thirty-seven counties were represented in Parliament, and the the knights-of- maximum number of representatives present was four hundred and six. It was the knights-of-the-shire, seventy-four of them, two from each of the thirty-seven counties, who were at first the champions of the Commons. The divisions which had sent them to Westminster were coeval with the |