History of the British Parliament

The Commons formed a more numerous body. In the reign of Edward I. there were about 275 members, in that of Edward III. 25o, and in that of Henry VI. 300. In the reign of Henry VIII. parliament added 27 members for Wales and four for the Viii. parliament added 27 members for Wales and four for the county and city of Chester, and in the reign of Charles II. four for the county and city of Durham. Between the reigns of Henry VIII. and Charles II. 13o members were also added by royal charter.

Parliament Under the Tudors.

To resume the history of parliament at a later period, let us glance at the reign of Henry VIII. Never had the power of the Crown been greater thanViii. Never had the power of the Crown been greater than when this king succeeded to the throne, and never had a more imperious will been displayed by any king of England. Parlia ment was at his feet to do his bidding, and the Reformation enormously increased his power. He had become a pope to the bishops; the old nobles who had resisted his will had perished in the field or on the scaffold; the new nobles were his creatures; and he had the vast wealth of the church in his hands as largesses to his adherents. Such was the dependence of parliament upon the Crown and its advisers during the Reformation period that in less than 3o years four vital changes were decreed in the national faith. Each of the successive reigns inaugurated a new religion.

With the reign of Elizabeth commenced a new era in the life of parliament. She had received the royal prerogatives unimpaired, and her hand was strong enough to wield them. But in the long interval since Edward IV. the entire framework of English society had been changed; it was a new England that the queen was called upon to govern. The coarse barons of feudal times had been succeeded by English country gentlemen, beyond the influence of the court, and identified with all the interests and sympathies of their country neighbours. From this class were chosen nearly all the knights of the shire, and a considerable proportion of the mem bers for cities and boroughs. They were generally distinguished by a manly independence, and were prepared to uphold the rights and privileges of parliament and the interests of their constituents. In the country the yeomen and farmers were far superior to the cultivators of the soil in feudal times; and the towns and seaports had become important centres of commerce and manufactures.

The parliaments of Elizabeth, though rarely summoned, dis played an unaccustomed spirit. They discussed the succession

to the Crown, the marriage of the queen, and ecclesiastical abuses; they upheld the privileges of the Commons and their right to advise the Crown upon all matters of State ; and they condemned the grant of monopolies. The bold words of the Wentworths and Yelvertons were such as had not been heard before in parliament. The conflicts between Elizabeth and the Commons marked the re vival of the independence of parliament, and foreshadowed graver troubles at no distant period.

The Stuart Kings.

James I., with short-sighted pedantry, provoked a succession of conflicts with the Commons, in which abuses of prerogative were stoutly resisted and the rights and privileges of parliament resolutely asserted. The "remonstrance" of 1610 and the "protestation" of 1621 would have taught a politic ruler that the Commons could no longer be trifled with ; but those lessons were lost upon James and upon his ill-fated son.

The momentous struggles between Charles I. and his parlia ments cannot be followed in this place. The earlier parliaments of this reign fairly represented the earnest and temperate judgment of the country. They were determined to obtain the redress of grievances and to restrain undue prerogatives ; but there was no taint of disloyalty to the Crown ; there were no dreams of revolu tion. But the contest at length became embittered, until there was no issue but the arbitrament of the sword. The period of the Great Rebellion and the Commonwealth proved the supreme power of the Commons, when supported by popular forces. Everything gave way before them. They raised victorious armies in the field, they overthrew the church and the House of Lords, and they brought the king himself to the scaffold.

It is to this time of fierce political passions that we trace the origin of political agitation as an organized method of influencing the deliberations of parliament. The whole country was then aroused by passionate exhortations from the pulpit and in the press. No less than 30,00o political tracts and newspapers during this period have been preserved. Petitions to parliament were multiplied in order to strengthen the hands of the popular leaders. Clamorous meetings were held to stimulate or overawe parliament. Such methods, restrained after the Restoration, have been revived in later times, and now form part of the acknowledged system of parliamentary government.