COMMONS, the lower house of Par liament, consisting of the representatives of cities, boroughs, and counties, chosen by men possessed of the property or qualifications required by law. This body is called the House of Comma/is; and may be regarded as the basis of the British constitution. The origin of this assembly ought, perhaps, to be attributed to the necessity under which the first Edward perceived himself of counteract ing a powerful aristocracy. The feudal system had erected it band of petty mon archs front whom the crown was in per petual danger. It is to the struggles of these men with regal authority, in the course of which, in order to strengthen their opposition, they were obliged to make common cause with the people, that the existence of English liberty may be attributed. In eword, the House of Commons arose on the ruins of the feu dal fabric, gained ground as that decayed, pressed on its weaker parts, and, finally, levelled it with the dust. Though each member is elected by a distinct body of people, ho is, from the moment of his election, the representative, not of those particular persons only, but of the king dom at large ; and is to consider himself net merely- as the organ through which his constituents may speak, but as no who, having been intrusted with a gene ral charge, is to perform it to the best of his judgment. In performance of this
great function, his liberty of speech is bounded only by those rules of decency of which the house itself is the judge; and while, on the one haul, be is free to propose what laws he pleases, on the other, lie is exposed, as a private man, to the operation of the laws he makes. This a.sseinbly is composed of six hun dred and fifty-eight members; and though many small boroughs were dis franchised by the Reform Bill, the elect ive franchise was given to several places of rising importance. and a variety of alterations took place by adding to the number of representatives of counties, Ate., so thst the total number of mem bers remains the same.