Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1853-09-24

years the laws siIenced by the din of arms. Th
Tudor dynasty which succeeded reinstated the rule
arbitrary prerogatve, and in the person and reign
Henry VIII English despotism reached its cuiminatin
point" But before the end Of Queen Eizabeth's reig
the Commons re-asserted their legislative authority til
Puritans arose and Hume admits that the spark
Of liberty mad been knded and preserved by the Puritan
alone to this Sect whose principles frivolous am
habits ridiculous the English the whole freedom
| OF their Constitution"
The Stuarts swayei the destines of England Thu
pretensons of James and his assertion Of the divine
right of Kings awaked spirit Of rebellion which wa
rpened into actual revolt and civil war by the insncer
ties and ergiYersations of Charles The Petition q
Right passed by the Parliament Of 1870 being drawn
up by Sir Edward Coke, then octogenarian and who
had he lived in f'young America" would have been de-
cared by the wise Constitutions of some Of our States
incapacated for Judicial functions by reason of age
When finally the royal power was annihilated by the de-
saptaon Of Charles the strong hand of Cromwell
the reins Of government There was it is true at this
period an inerregnum in the English monarchy but the
sefgoyernment of the people, Mr. Macgregor well OBJ
serves, existed then now Then rs now the people
were equally disposed obey the laws to cherish the
maintenance Of order observe high reverence for
morality and religion. Cromwell dying no one of his
family or party found able take his place Charles
H. accordingly recalled from exile and the first gash
OF the popular enthusiasm and loyalty the Parliament
neglected to make any provisions against his abuse of the
royal power But this tacit acquescence Of short
duration Tciennial Parliaments demanded
and obtained, and the Habeas Corpus Act was carried
The deposition of James IL and the election of William
and Mary the throne in 1859 placed last the lber
ties of England foundation The Bill of Rights
passed and the liberty Of the press secured Since
this period the ameoraons in the English Constitution
have been procured by the normal and legitimate
else of its funconay powers and De Lome observes
while it is not true that the English Government free
from abuses that all possible good laws enacted
yet there is constant tendency it both to correct the
one and improve the other"
We have reverted to these great s'h5ertstautes" in
the history of England not much for the sake Of anayz
ing the elements of freedom which they severa contain
in order to illustrate the slow but steady genesis of
the English Constitution.
s.There is nothing in history says late writer
finer than the tale these statutes tell of the popular
soul-traya that brought them by the birth
progeny of public virtue such in constancy and perse
yerance, at least exhibited by any other
people under corresponding trials Reaction against bad
government may happen any where and any number of
times but such movements apt to be tumutuary and
without definite alma sort of volcanic breaking up of
old institutions in utter houghtessness of what is 70 fol-
low that it viii be change The struggles OF Eng.
fish freedom have been widely different They have had
natnS in them mean thinking well as feeling prin-
cpleand this mind being intellectual and moral III due
proportion Of parts and having thus the elements Of
spiritual health, has seemed to be immortal in purpose
and energy"
There is Latin adage often quoted by demagogues,
!" to tickle the Of the groundlngs which declares
that the voice Of the people is the voice of God "a
tment untrue in politics is blasphemous in the
ology But so far any thing human, and therefore
errng can lay claim to nfalbiity, we suppose the COM
of he MAJ mi If in thn
channels for many ages may plausbly It's
claim any thing else under the Now, in the Eng
ish constitution and in the English law have
the aggregated results political and judicial Of this
sense exercised in government and law in contnu
ygor and activity FROM age TO successive age and
has is that demagogy rash counsels hasy decisions
conflicting precedent have been almost wholly emin-
mated from the English state and the English jurispru-
dence. Time oyerthrows the illusions Of opinion but
establishes the decisions of nature.
They manage these matters otherwise in France There
revolutions in the code political civil are originated
Hovo ami sprung upon the nation per saam, The eau
think the founding Of States and Empires to b,
Of the sciences and your Able Seyes and poet
cal Lamartines mprovise at FIVE minutes notice
constitution which sounds grandoquenty and possesses
every requisite Of perfect Government one-that il
viii not work except paper When the amisble
last mentioned proclaimed universal suffrage or as
he phrased it, Pqgsnsmen des masses az dro poliqa
he deemed himself to have made nation of freemen but
alas for his patriotic hopes they only used the liberty
he gave them forge still stronger letters whcrewith
enthra themselves When the people do not wish to be
free the institutions Of freedom likely be highly
priced wisely administered. If may judge from the
solemn and deliberate passed upon themselves
by the French they do wish TO be free they wish tC
feel the strong hand Of government resting the body
polite for since civil rights and law and order are ore
vital to the general welfare than any mere theory of sys
tematc politics the French always glad to secure tn,
former by bnrtering away tumutuous republic for {
stable despotsm The contrast between the English anC
French Governments sufficiently eyuces which Of the two
nations has chosen the wiser and safer line Of potica
action.
In observations which We took occasion IL
offer q German work by GERvSus entitled An Intro
dgetioa 10 the History Of The Niaetecnh Centry" We made
passing ausOn to his dsquison the English Constitu
ton and partly promised to translate for our readers
In redeeming engagement to-day We have only I,
commend it to their attention specimen OF phoso
phca condensation in style and sentiment which we hay
rarely exceeded and with we close our remark
on the present topic:
Among modern nations the British people presen
the greatest example OF those mixed Constitutions who's
chief value has been sought by their eminent
in the fact that they combine all the advantages
Monarchy, Arstocracy, and Democracy, without thei
evils The structure Of the English Constitution has
been uniformly prosecuted according any one orgiua
PLAN but its latest perfccters have known how to brn
its pre-exstng portions into admirable and harmonou
accommodation with their last additions Centuries hav
labored on it, but the material and the workmanship hav
always been the best. No modern State has passe,
through history normal that Of England and In