ment, in the conduct of public business in Parliament, will be briefly described. In treating upon the various and important questions contained in this work, regard will be had to the recorded opinions of eminent statesmen who have spent their lives in the practical exposition of our parliamentary system; and numerous precedents will be adduced, at every stage of the enquiry, not merely to corroborate the doctrine advanced in the text, but to illustrate the manner in which the principles and practices of parliamentary government have been gradually developed, and become incorporated as recognised parts of the British constitution. CHAPTER II. THE COUNCILS OF THE CROWN, UNDER PREROGATIVE of our THE origin of the political institutions of modern Eng- Origin land must be sought for in the governmental system of national our Anglo-Saxon progenitors. Meagre and imperfect polity. as is our information on this subject, enough is known of the leading principles of Anglo-Saxon government to show that in them were to be found the rudiments of the institutions which we now enjoy. a The precise features of the polity of England before the Norman Conquest, although they have given rise to much learned enquiry, are still, to a considerable extent, conjectural. But the researches of Sir Francis Palgrave and of Mr. Kemble," supplemented and corrected by the more recent investigations of Mr. E. A. Freeman° and Professor Stubbs, have been of inestimable service in elucidating much that was previously obscure in this branch of historical enquiry. The student of political history will find in their works ample materials to aid him in forming an intelligent idea of the fundamental laws and established institutions of this country in the earliest days of our national life. And these writers are all agreed in testifying that, however striking may be the contrast, in many points of detail, between the Rise and Progress of the Eng. Commonwealth, 2 vols. 4to. 1832. The Saxons in England; a His tory of the Eng. Commonwealth till the period of the Norm. Conq. VOL. 1. 2 vols. 8vo. 1849. с History of the Norm. Conq. v. 1. Preliminary History to the Election of Edward the Confessor (1867). 4 Const. Hist. of Eng. (1874). E AngloSaxon government. The king. The nobles. primitive form of government in the time of our AngloSaxon forefathers and that which now prevails, the germs alike of the monarchic, the aristocratic, and the democratic branches of our constitution will be found as far back as history or tradition throws any light on the institutions of our race.'e In common with other tribes of similar Teutonic origin, the Saxons in England, from a very early period, were ruled over by kings, whose power was not arbitrary and despotic, but was subjected to certain welldefined limitations, by the supreme controlling authority of the law. The dignity, authority, and power of the chief ruler in England were gradually developed from that of an ealdorman (who combined in his own person the functions of a civil ruler and of a military chieftain) into that of a king-a change that is not peculiar to our own land, but which marked the progress of political society elsewhere, in countries inhabited by the Teutons and other kindred peoples. The transition from ealdorman to king brought with it an accession of power to the ruler. As the territory over which his headship was recognised expanded, his royal dignity and importance increased. The early Teutonic constitution, when transplanted into English soil, was, like that of many of the small states of the Old World, essentially free. It consisted of a supreme leader, with or without royal title, an aristocratic council composed of men of noble birth, and a general assembly of freemen, in whom the ultimate sovereignty resided. By degrees, however, the primitive democracy of the ancient Teutonic communities gave place to the rising influence of the comitatus, or personal following of the chiefs. And in proportion as the kings of England advanced in strength and dominion they naturally acquired a more complete supremacy over their comitatus. The thanes, or bodyservants of the king, were gradually invested with rank and power in the kingdom. Thus there arose a new kind of nobility, virtute officii, which at length obtained precedence over the elder hereditary nobles." Other elements combined to magnify the authority of the chief ruler: such as the growth of feudalism— under which lands were held by the tenure of military service due from the vassal to his lord-and the control assumed by the king over the lands of the nation. At first the folkland' could only be alienated by the king, with the consent of his Witan. But after the Norman Conquest, the folkland was called the terra regis, or king's land, when the king claimed the right of granting it at his own pleasure, and without the sanction of Parliament.i mot. But the power of the crown was, from the first, The subjected to the control of the Witenagemot, or Meet- Witenageing of the Wise Men,' which appears to have formed part of the national polity of the Teutons, from their earliest appearance in history, and was introduced by them into the Saxon commonwealth. Originally a democratic assembly, Freeman describes the process by which this popular council, without the formal exclusion of any class of its members, gradually assumed an aristocratic aspect, without losing any of its essential powers. Under the Heptarchy, every separate king in England had his own Witenagemot; but after the other kingdoms were merged into that of Wessex, their respective Witans became entitled to seats in the Gémot of Wessex, as being the common Gémot of the realm. Our knowledge as to the constitution of these great The councils, in any English kingdom, is extremely vague Freeman, pp. 91-97. Kemble, v. 2, pp. 185–195. * Freeman, v. 1, pp. 106-110. And see his Paper on the origin of Parl. representation, in Int. Rev. v. 3, p. 728. Witans. and scanty. But we have proof that the great officers of the court and of the kingdom were invariably present in the Witenagemot, together with ealdormen, bishops, abbots, and many other of the king's thanes. There was also an infusion of the popular element, by the attendance of certain classes of freemen, though to what extent and in what manner this took place cannot be positively determined.' In the First Report of the Lords' Committee appointed to search the Journals of the House of Lords, Rolls of Parliament, &c., will be found all matters touching the Dignity of a Peer of the Realm (p. 17). Learned and elaborate reports were presented to the House by this Committee in the years 1819 to 1825, which were reprinted in 1829. The First Report, from which alone our citations are made, treats of the constitution of the legislative assemblies of England, from the Conquest to the legislative unions with Scotland and Ireland.m But, howsoever composed, it is undoubtedly true that the Witenagemot was an institution which afforded to the English nation a remarkable amount of liberty and protection. The powers of the Witenagemot have been defined, by Kemble, as follows:- 1. First, and in general, they possessed a consultative voice, and right to consider every public act which could be authorised by the king. 2. They deliberated upon the making of new laws which were to be added to the existing folcriht, and which were then promulgated by their own and the king's authority. 3. They had the power of making alliances and treaties of peace, and of settling their terms. 4. They had the power (subject to the restriction hereinafter mentioned) of electing their king. 5. They had the power to depose the king, if his government was not conducted for the benefit of the people. 6. They had the power, conjointly with the king, of 1 Kemble, v. 2, p. 237. Stubbs, c. vi. m Lords' Pap., 1829, v. 10. |