gree inefficient, he devised a method of obtaining by their own consent what had formerly been wrested by the arbitrary mandate of the king. With this view, the sheriffs of the different counties were commanded to invite the towns and boroughs to send deputies to parliament, to provide for his pecuniary wants, and to ratify the resolutions made by himself and the house of lords. He likewise annexed an important article to magna charta, by which he bound himself and his successors not to raise any subsidies whatever, without the approbation of both lords and commons. Several excellent laws for the ease and benefit of all ranks of his subjects were passed in this "general parliament," which gave infinite satisfaction to the whole body of the nation, and gained Edward the entire affections of his people. A. D. 1275. Carte, vol. ii, p. 182,

From the praise which many writers give to this great monarch, some share must be deducted on account of the necessities, to which he exposed himself by his frequent wars. The provisions of magna charta had doubtless been very conducive to the extent of freedom: but we find, that with whatever veneration the people might regard them, they had been constantly violated, whenever the immediate predecessors of Edward the first were powerful enough to break their promises. A house composed of the representatives of the people was the only bulwark of sufficient strength to check the torrent of despotism : and the importunity of the commons for more liberty, and of the king for pecuniary aid, failed not to produce such gradual concessions from both parties, as contributed to fix in succeeding times an equal balance of power.

The character of Edward the first was marked not only by the bravery of a warrior, but the more useful and profound talents of a legislator. He ratified both the charters, and observed their conditions with a scrupulous exactness, which formed the distinguished glory of his reign. He afforded a free and extensive scope to the exercise of the statutes of the realm, surrendered a part of his right of sending mandates to arrest the progress of justice; and, as a decisive proof of his respect for the laws, and his alacrity to promote their impartial administration, he caused his son, the prince of Wales, to be publicly apprehended and imprisoned, for breaking down the fences and killing the deer of Walter de Langton, bishop of Litchfield and Coventry. A. D. 1305. Rapin, vol. i, p. 383. fol.

It is natural enough to conclude, that as at this period the members of both houses of parliament held their deliberations under the authority of a wise and moderate sovereign, they would make the greatest interest of the nation at large the subjects of their debates, and thus improve the science of legislation. Accordingly we find that they gave their attention to many plans of great public utility; they passed laws for establishing manufactures in various parts of England, for supporting the parochial clergy by the endowment of vicarages, and for restraining the encroachments and the rapacity of the see of Rome. Every succeeding generation has expressed its applause of this illustrious reign, and felt the benefits of its wise and salutary institutions. By Edward the first the laws were carried so far towards perfection, that he has been styled the English Justinian. Sir Matthew Hale did not scruple to affirm, that more was done in the first thirteen years of his government, to settle and

establish the distributive justice of the kingdom, than in all the ages down to his own time. Blackstone's Comment. vol. iv, p. 424.

To trace the progress of the increasing privileges of the house of commons, we must have recourse to particular facts. In a tone of bold and just complaint the two houses of parliament called upon the weak and unfortunate Edward the second to banish Gaveston, his insinuating but licentious favourite, from his court. This was the first exercise of that important privilege, which consisted in the impeachment of the suspected ministers of the crown. By the petition annexed to their bills for granting subsidies to Edward the third and Henry the fourth, the house of commons claimed a proportionable share of the legislation with the king and the house of lords, by making bills for pecuniary supplies originate with themselves.

In the martial reign of EDWARD THE THIRD, the parliament is supposed to have assumed its present form by a separation of the commons from the lords. The celebrated statute for defining treasons was one of the first productions of this newly modelled assembly. Many laws were passed for depressing the civil power of the pope, the security of personal property, and the interests of trade and commerce. Du ́ring this reign magna charta was ten times confirmed; and this repeated ratification conferred more glory the king, than all his victories obtained in France or Wales.

upon

The glorious victories of CRESSY, POICTIERS, and AGINCOURT, cannot fail to engage our attention, and fill the mind of an Englishman with the highest and most favourable opinion of the valour of his ancestors.

The laurels reaped by an Edward and a Henry are still fresh and unfading; and the voice of fame will proclaim their exploits to the remotest posterity. Scenes of intestine commotion succeeded: and the houses of York and Lancaster combated with the malice of demons, and the fierceness of barbarians, for the crown of the meek and pious Henry the sixth. A. D. 1400, &c. The country was abandoned to the desolation of war, the blood of the noblest families was shed in the fatal battles of St. Alban's, Wakefield, Towton, and Tewkesbury; but no advantage accrued from such inhuman contests to the general good of the people. The voice of law and humanity was drowned by the rude clash of arms; and the incredible slaughter that was made by the contending factions was a melancholy proof of the prevalence of the feudal system, and of the alacrity with which the people flew to arms, whenever the standard of war was raised by the imperious barons.

While we remark the exorbitant influence of a martial aristocracy, and the indiscretion and violence of some of the kings, whose measures they controlled more frequently from motives of self-aggrandizement, than ardour for the public good, let us not forget to pay the tribute of justice to unfortunate monarchs. The castles of Berkley and Pomfret, and in a later age, the tower of London, witnessed the sufferings of Edward the second, Richard the second, and Henry the sixth, and were stained with their foul and nefarious murders. The temporising members of the parliaments, who had deposed them, denied them even the privilege of a common subject, and refused to hear them in their own defence. The act of deposition was virtually an order for their execu

tion; since the experience of ages proves, that to a prince, when the allegiance of his subjects is withdrawn, the passage is short from the throne to the grave. Although neither Edward nor Richard were much beloved in their prosperity; yet, by a revolution of opinions, natural to mankind, their sufferings, aggravated by an untimely and cruel death, excited the pity, and even the veneration of their subjects. The proceedings of the houses of parliament upon these trying occasions proved the wretched defects of the laws, and the uncontrolled power of the vindictive sword. The fortunate pretender to the crown, however black his perjury, or flagrant his rebellion, was allowed and even encouraged to trample upon the rights of humanity and justice, and wrest the sceptre from his lawful sovereign. Yet after these severe conflicts, the royal prerogative regained its ascendancy the general liberties of the country were disregarded, and all orders of the state united with equal servility to prostrate themselves before the throne, and to present their swords and their estates to the disposal of the conqueror. A. D. 1485.

The succession of the Tudor family to the crown produced some important acquisitions to the cause of freedom. Henry VII. whose conduct was influenced by oppressive avarice as well as consummate policy, weakened the power of his nobles, by permitting them to alienate their lands. This privilege, as we have remarked in our survey of the feudal system, gave a deep and incurable wound to that institution, and raised the respectability of the lower orders of the community, who were enabled, by the increasing supplies of trade and commerce, to become the purchasers of estates. By dividing the lands among