The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1822-12-16 00:00:00

' •

; like every other precious commodity, is only to be
'obtained by lilboriOes exertion; I am 'rears? that the
muiertakjitg have propaied to ii,/elf will
have to e;teollater Medoff apathy of lazineii, *td the
sullen resiatante 'of obililiaisy. I invite &libel:nit
' the candid tunidisrtassiniiatelo peruse these reit:nibs ;
they byatlta inftirences eraiiiti from anthe'nticateditis.
toricttifaCts, and their 'lithe object is an 'attempt to
• ,
conger* a plain and intelligible account, of the pro-
greatitit alterations in the Constitutla, 'aiitin the
statiorthe Legislative Assemblies. •
Before we can form an accurate idea or
the fnfie-
tions with tihich the " commune concilitirn was.
invesied, er of the qualifications of its ineriiVrs, ire
must rettleFt thOt *aeon. bles dffereatly
were convened by tbe'Concpteror and his suete;'r:Eirs.
Whenever in ancient documents we find the piniple
word " coarilient" employed, we may rationallypre-
acme that the meeting indicated by that ieroc6n-
ait the more intimate frietidseand'cOnstifutional
adviseriver the Crown, and perhaps chitreapoilfra;..in
some degree; with. the Priv., Council of taodern gore-
Aeigtis. the King Wll5 frequently obliged io to
Normandy, and it is probable that wsneter h 6 ii -
sited his continental dominions, he aplitiiritkr this
coati/erne" to direct the affairi of Go4grniatit (hir-
ing his absence. ''The members forined a sot's af
ila-
gency.

Widi respect to. the expressions " inirgSrriet
roaei-
hum" and " commune coneilim," employed by Old
chroniclers to designate the more numerous assem-
blies, it appears impoikkle by any'exectihn 61:inge-
nuity to separate their jurisdiction. 11;4 Who are
'flind,of curious liptLculationiiiiay fancy ilkir perceive
a diversity, but their theory, when minutely etafnined,
mil:turnout to'he a ilkftinCtiOnWithout a diEferencsk.
I have already remarked that the irritiviiune owed-
hunt reyni, the great naiional Legislative Assembly
consisted of those Barons who held immediately of
the,Crowu. I will now state the reasons Which hale
induced tie to adopt thii opinion. •
,In all states et society and under every form of
tVwelittnent, the acqaisition of wealth bestows on the
possessor politiral .sank and power. In okt ant civi-
heed countries, subh.ea Great Brksin, them are three
,principal sources kit• revenue.; agriculture; commerce,
;and Manufactures: Nordtan Conqrirs't, the Iwo
last were almost whoq adtiprodactive. Land Wr.s
Alioproperiy fseeniwkith riches, and consegnertly po-
-414jc.al power, could be derived. That species elf pri3..
party which, in modem times, is 'called ykkkiliett, in
contradistinction, to real, was, comPartkii+-epeek-
ing:, unknown. It appears, thee, that -114-1114.
landed proprietors wertthe only persons who possessed
a fond from wb'eb w4rillth could be olkainik Ninv if
it be admittert that wealth is power, and that' landed
liktikkity'tvai'dieihtfy'sonc'ee'frind which wealth could
ltsekthtiliked-,• ttlltowsinevliably, tfiet"ihli
+Artier iftlierdt4 trait' composed' of tfif7st
nere•tife immediate tenitlits 41tite
loreoghlyi,J.! 'rof . . 'J . a,.:
• Aftettiikdfir iittlitiltY. of Doomsday Boot:it:44s
thitti'the ititirritts be. nitrite amounted to sirthiiiitrced
and•five,lif ''whiehlittitlller one hundred and•fbit'ktiere
Bcchelsiisties. Thd *hole landed property•rtirltet-
land, with the exeoptiew of the three nortligni Coun-
ties, was eitenyed 'by, this. /body, and d.vidA into
IC 4215 ihright's fees ; 28,0150 f which were possessed
by the Clergy. he King. held lands in every county
of Englund. except Shropshire, the whole of which
Ivetrallgett to Count Roger; the Abbot of WeirttliMster
held in foiirteen,dlie -Bishop of Lincoln in eine; and
settee Otte lay liarons'in twenty: ' '
I apprehend•shat the qualification reeinitrilh.lto
stitute any onc:llitifitteriorthe Great Council was
the holding of fiend linnedialely •of The King ; and I
thlul I I beli-vt,Ost

tisvftipt the of the Church, and the
'mitred A Woo and Priors, eat in the i.egislative Asytem-

qu account of their lay Baronies, Ind not
kgain any privilege attached to their professiere. •
view of the question completely. reilitges
against the admissibility el Burgesses end Kinglet; pf
the Shires ; and I feel confident that the impartial and
unprejudiced reader *ill admit, when he reflects on
the poverty and ineignificance of that class of the eOre-
munity from wind' these members must have,berna
chosen, that they could not have had any pretensions
to a seat in the great Council. Indeed, it is quite ab-
surd to imagine that the powerful and haughty li'r'as
rvo old , have condescended to legislate on equal trine
with men, whose obscurity and pacific pursuits tee-
derail them objects of contempt and scorn. In sup-
port of my opinion I shall subjoin the follownagjuilittioes
remarks from the great Historian of Eugland
•• If," says Mr. Hume, "hi the long peeiod
of two hundred years which elapsed betwetei
the Conquest and the latter end of Henry the
and which abounded iii factions. revolutions', and Con-
vulsions of vii kinds, the House of Comment' 'ever
performed one sii,gle legislative act so considtesbie 31$
to be once mentiuned by any of the nnmeroas
hiitC-
rians.of that are, they must haeobeeittntally irastg-
niticant; arid, in that case, winki reason eata be:wiped
for their ever being; assembled ? Can be 'emanated
;that men el little weight and importance pesstsbeit a
'negative voice against the King and the iteeeste,'
Every page of the subsequent histories' .Lliseciveig
their existence, though their histories are cot written
with greater accuracy than the preceding, ends, aisle
indeed scarcely equal them in that pac.ieular."
• finishes this stroll of argument by 5aying..,:::10:3,c00:47
thing but the iteal vf party could everitiesiprocorni
srittlit to any other hypothesis."
i• _ .

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