Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1853-09-24
NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER.
NOTES ON NEW BOOKS.


Eaaglish Government in which it is compared DO,
With the Republican form of Government and the oths
sf.snarches Of Europe BY j. L. De LoLNE ne
od5tion with Life and Notes, by JOHN MAcanEaor
DIP. London: Henry G. Benin, 1853
Ills fact not unworthy of consideration tina
the English Constitution and the English Govern
rnent have found among Frenchmen such able ex
ussifors as Montesquieu, De Lolme, and /
Ggixot. The book before US, and of which new
ssiitioa is here offered to the public, first written
In French, and published in Holland in the year
Tg7u The work did not appear in an English
firm, as Mr. Macgregor informs us until the year
E11s and did not prove successful in pecuniary
wa7zt of view, although published by subscription
ne fsclme, indeed seems, from the account we have
before US Of his life and character have inherited
zdHg sith genius all its besetting sins and infrm-
ass improvdent and extravagant in the highest
5l-gsree, lie speedily squandered the large sums
Eih occasionally fell into his hands from success
s1l gambling or specuations in the funds. He
arargg,naded Pail Mall arrayed in the last extreme
az Fashion, and equipped with sword and bag-wig
as4Ity only to Undue the tattered garments of
sssFenly vagabond tomorrow
Eat whatever may have been the eccentricites
and irregularities Of De Lome, he must be admitted
sa aaye given in the present work an admirable ex-
position Of the English constitution in theory and
az the English Government in its practical work
mgs; and il is no small tribute to the sagacty of
ITS aEthor that he has more truly written an ac-
Suzsit Of the British Government and institutions
AZ they at the present day than when he wrote.
Efte principles which he here enunciates lying at
sfe basis of English law, order, and liberty had
mt IN his day reached their present development;
dnf the bud and blossom do not more surely give
pUsage Of the fruit III its season than do abstract
Hzaacipies, when firmly rooted in the polty of
1atlca ensure the concrete results which transform
Hr64ic opinion into organic law The constitution
aud la@s u Great Britain are now so nearly SINH
lar e tLase delineated by NJ. De Lolme that new
ssils2ou q his admirable work, with appropriate
untes and illustrations, seems to Mr.. Macgregor
= Rel adapted to the present time"
The civil history of England is history of the
rradua formation of her present constitution. The
principles which lie at its basis, and which give it
6x7z and structure, have been the slowly-evolved
grcsta OF centuries, IN so much that it more than
zzus IN stability what it lacks in symmetry. IRE
aar IN outline, il is immovabe In foundation as is
the island home, rock ribbed and sea-grt," over
(Which it spreads protecting shield. 1t is difficult
10 ascertain and fix the origin of those distinctive
Hrl7riples which have resulted in the formation of
Sbs English constitution. 1t is difficult to say how
c1tIA q that stream which flowed on, acquiring
N7sa1h and strength during the regns of Alfred and
the old Saxon and scandinavian elements which have
seTcd into the national character Of the great British
rAss Certain it Is, however, that the common law
Aazsers" Of Magma Charta itself are founded on the
Erc-cxlsting Anglo-Saxon laws of Ina Alfred, and of
aNsTd the Confessor; for, Algernon Sydney argues
zee Magma Chara was made to assert the native and
sIaal liberties of the nation By confession of the
@ then being that neither he nor his should
AzE SGy encroach upon them"
EnR era Of the conquest Of England by William the
ssHueror certainly opens new period in English his
@ or az speman states it, selora ngsciter oydo:
s YET imagine that the changes introduced by the
sszssOn Of William have by historians been great
u rasSonceived, and by others greatly exaggerated sim
EE from forgefulness Of the characteristics whic
aRa<d the age in which it occurred The great adyan
tag resulting from the conquest Of England by WilaI
u a. be sought IN the fact that il instituted strong
zaal government, underived from and to some exter
Eascnstie to the local governments of the 1.-THE, til
lszaared, and the County BY it the system Of mutui
cz1sris and balances once partially established
nal though for time the feudal and monarchcal powe
than countervailed that Of the people yet in tn
$sDa state Of equilibrium attained aud rendere
xc<c sabe by the action and reaction which for tim
Esc.-uped it. The regal power by its prctensions an
axsions reused and fostered in the subordinate ant
zcipal governments Of thep people spirit Of resstane
ssaSh kept the political life from dying out at the ex
S-ziGes In France the royal power arose differently
ord led Of 10 different results The King froI
Swing the puppet Of LIS iege lords and grandees
Gu,c at last the sole power in the State until he cou,
Gzsh truth exclam, in the person Of Louis Quatorz
zOz moi The several provinces into which Franc
OF first divided in process Of time to be reun
b. Che domain Of the monarch by conquest, By eschea
treaty And further consequence Of the difference
rsssn the times Of these reunions, the French la
rras them, that the several parts Of the realm
~asee governmental unity without any national sense
rzESon. As province after province was in this ws
NdSy absorbed by the central power an overshadoWir
sasEstsm formed, beneath which tie tender plal
al liberty dwinded and lied. To this day Franc
IA sui reapng the which the Capes sowed in IL
ugst Of the dark ages. Possessing government
6tzt a. Paris she is just the land in which governmcr
~ the most needed and yet the most preearious whei
dhe government should b. the most Stable but Is actual
ss most unstable In England the over Of the monarc
ess consolidated at once, and in way which eventual
rssed the barons Of the realm in resistance against
sE5ressions In France the power OF the monarch v,
consolidated gradually and in way which DESTROYED
ssrt Of action the part Of the subjected province
IN England the Of the sovereign power conduc,
Freedom by provoking to revolt In France il promot
civil seryitude By crushing oil combinations for tie eau
Br the people
Bxring the reign Of Henry l. about forty years aft
nz conquest, the rgor Of the feuda laws mitigat
y king favor Of the lords and what more on
zdion that the lords should grant similar concessio
IN shor yassals. Under Henry H. the ancient trial BIZ u
rAE res,ored--not instituted, have asserted
s year 1915 the sturdy barons extorted from King 10