Philosophical examination of the electoral system in England in the fourteenth century.-The system was the natural result of Subject of the lecture.-Continuation of the philosophical exami- nation of the electoral system in England in the fourteenth century.-Characteristics of the elections.-Examination of the Origin of the division of the English Parliament into two Houses. -Its original constitution.-Reproduction of the classifications of society in the Parliament.—Causes which led the representa- tives of counties to separate from the barons, and coalesce with the representatives of boroughs.-Effects of this coalition.- Division of the Parliament into two Houses in the fourteenth Examination of the division of the legislative power into two Houses.-Diversity of ideas on this subject.-Fundamental prin. ciple of the philosophic school.-Source of its errors.-Charac- teristics of the historic school. Cause of the division of the British Parliament into two Houses.-Derivation of this division from the fundamental principle of representative government. Power and attributes of the British Parliament in the fourteenth century. At its origin, and subsequent to its complete develop- ment, the Parliament retained the name of the Great Council of the kingdom.-Difference between its attributes and its actual power at these two epochs.-Absorption of almost the the barons against the favourites.-Aristocratic factions.-Peti- Of petitions during the early times of representative government. -Regulations on the subject.-Transformation of the right of petition possessed by the Houses of Parliament into the right of proposition and initiative.-Petitions ceased to be addressed to the king, and are presented to Parliament.-Origin of the right of inquiry.-Necessity for representative government to be complete.-Artifices and abuses engendered by the right of Condition of the Parliament under Edward III.-Progress of the power of the Commons. Their resistance to the king.-Regu- larity of the convocation of Parliament.-Measures taken for the security of its deliberations.-Division of the Parliament into two Houses.-Speaker of the House of Commons.- Firm- ness of the House of Commons in maintaining its right to grant taxes.-Accounts given by the government of the collection of the taxes.-Appropriation of the funds granted by Parliament. Parliamentary legislation. - Difference between statutes and Continuation of the history of the progress of the Commons House of Parliament during the reign of Edward III.-Their inter- ference in questions of peace and war; and on the internal peace of the kingdom.-Their resistance of the influence of the Pope, and of the national clergy, in temporal affairs. First efforts of the Commons to repress abuses at elections.-First traces of function of Committees of both Houses to investigate State of the Parliament under Richard II. Struggle between absolute royalty and parliamentary government.-Origin of the Civil List.-Progress of the responsibility of ministers.-Pro- gress of the returns of the employment of the public revenue. -The Commons encroach upon the government. - Reactiou against the sway of the Commons.-Violence and fall of Richard II.-Progress of the essential maxims and practices of repre- ΧΙ CONTENTS. Page Summary of the history of the Parliament from the death of Richard II. to the accession of the House of Stuart.-Progress of the forms of procedure, and of the privileges of Parliament. -Liberty of speech in both Houses.-Inviolability of members of Parliament.-Judicial power of the House of Lords.-Deca- dence of the Parliament during the wars of the Roses, and under the Tudor dynasty.-Causes of this decadence and of the pro- HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT IN EUROPE. PART I. REPRESENTATIVE INSTITUTIONS IN ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND SPAIN, FROM THE FIFTH TO THE ELEVENTH CENTURY. LECTURE I. Simultaneous development of history and civilization.-Two errors in our method of considering the past; proud disdain, or superstitious admiration.-Historic impartiality the vocation of the present age.-Divisions of the history of the political institutions of Europe into four great epochs.-Representative government was the general and natural aim of these institutions.-Object of the course; inquiry into the origin of representative government in France, Spain, and England.-State of mind appropriate to this inquiry. GENTLEMEN,-Such is the immensity of human affairs, that, so far from exhibiting superannuation and decay with the progress of time, they seem to gain new youth, and to gird themselves afresh at frequent intervals, in order to appear under aspects hitherto unknown. Not only does each age receive a vocation to devote itself especially to a particular region of inquiry; but the same studies are to each age as a mine but little explored, or as an unknown territory where objects for discovery present themselves at every step. In the study of history this truth is especially apparent. The facts about which history concerns itself neither gain nor lose anything by being handed down from age to age; whatever we have seen in these facts, and whatever we can see, B 2 VIEWS OF HISTORY. has been contained in them ever since they were originally accomplished; but they never allow themselves to be fully apprehended, nor permit all their meaning to be thoroughly investigated; they have, so to speak, innumerable secrets, which slowly utter themselves after man has become prepared to recognise them. And as everything in man and around him changes, as the point of view from which he considers the facts of history, and the state of mind which he brings to the survey, continually vary, we may speak of the past as changing with the present; unperceived facts reveal themselves in ancient facts; other ideas, other feelings, are called up by the same names and the same narratives; and man thus learns that in the infinitude of space opened to his knowledge, everything remains constantly fresh and inexhaustible, in regard to his ever-active and ever-limited intelligence. This combined view of the greatness of events and the feebleness of the human mind, never appears so startlingly distinct as upon the occurrence of those extraordinary crises, which, so to speak, entirely delocalize man, and transport him to a different sphere. Such revolutions, it is true, do not unfold themselves in an abrupt and sudden manner. They are conceived and nurtured in the womb of society long before they emerge to the light of day. But the moment arrives beyond which their full accomplishment cannot be delayed, and they then take possession of all that exists in society, transform it, and place everything in an entirely new position; so that if, after such a shock, man looks back upon the history of the past, he can scarcely recognise it. That which he sees, he had never seen before; what he saw once, no longer exists as he saw it; facts rise up before him with unknown faces, and speak to him in a strange language. He sets himself to the examination of them under the guidance of other principles of observation and appreciation. Whether he considers their causes, their nature, or their consequences, unknown prospects open before him on all sides. The actual spectacle remains the same, but it is viewed by another spectator occupying a different place;-to his eyes all is changed. What marvel is it, gentlemen, if, in this new state of things and of himself, man adopts, as the special objects of his study, questions and facts which connect themselves |