The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1880-09-01

should est be done with perittplS 10 tne hAtS'
Tuz rssrest outline Of the history Of the Rise
and Progress Of CoSsrrrvrIuSsL GOvEzsnxSr
would occupy the ahlssi writer for years. and I'll
scores OF shelves with volumes We therefore
propose 10 present sketch only OF what CoSsri-
rUrroNA1 GovrxSmrNr is, ard how it became what
it is The term itself means Government con
ductsd strictly for the benefit Of the governed and
administered according to certain definite, ascsr-
tainable laws, precedsnts. and Judgments arising
fru-n time 10 time TO meet TIE emergencies OF
Constantly progressing community. These laws
p-ecedents. &c. may or may not be embodied IN
any one document calleda Constitution but never
theless form Constitution from which no rulers
dAre depart bu. with the certainty, more or less
remote. may BE Of humiliation and disaster.
Passing by them such ancient institutions as
the Areopagite Courts Of Athens, the rribunes of
the People in Rome. each Of which, however, was
s decided. though imperfect, advance towards
Constitutional Govsrument-a Government that
is y rks peopls. for tss people. and By tAs people,
We come at once 10 ths rsign OF Alfred the Great.
In his tiue the Crown Of England was II great
measure elective. The laws. or what was the same
thing the custom, then bore singular analogy to
the law on the same subject now in force in these
Islands.
On The death Of King, the . Great Council or
wi,an Of Elders, or EarldorTnsn selected the sue
eessor from the younger members of the Royal
family. woman or infant would be probably
pu. aside, and the rzost able young man elected.
Alfred was 8 conspicuous example. He built up
his laws mostly on old Saxon Antecedents, eodiaed
and consolidated them and what IS more, he
vigorously enforced ihsm- No fayurites or adyen-
tu-srs dared 70 uttsr about Alfred. He instituted
TriaI 5y Jzry. which indeed is the condensed e1-
p-sssio1 OF the maxim which lies AZ the root Of all
civilised or ConstitutionAlly governed eommuni-
ties, VIZ, that every individual member of the
community is responsible TO the whole common
wealth, who, by representatives, in the iury-roou,
decide as 70 guilt or innocence, in Legislative
halls Determine the degree of guilt and the suit
able penalty. Here then is the germ containing
the whole theory Of Constitutional Government
Mataal Responsibility.
How rapidly this understanding grew and
ripensd we shall see. Henry 1. signed valuable
charters Henry II. confirmed them. and enlarged
their field OF action and on June 18Th 1215, john,
under pressure Of the censure Of his subjects,
signed the GRzAr CzAxrEs which, though by no
means an original idea, bat rather reassertion Of
old-es-1bIiShsd rights, may be justly deemed one
of the great toundation-stones Of all subsequent
Charters and Constitutions
Henry III. and subsequent Sovereisns repeatedly
endorsed the Magma Charta and 50 the liberties of
the people and the powers of their representatives.
steadily advanced. Passing over long period we
come to Charles /, who, attempting to raise
supplies without authority from the Legislature,
was met by Pstis0H of Rights. Perseyering in
his unconstitutional course the Parliament passed
this time BiH Of Rights and We all know what
cams Of the struggle between the people for and
the King against their rights Had Cromwell ruled
CoRsstutionalIy, the British might, says Mscaulay,
be now living under the Proteetorste of Oliver
Y or NJ.
In Charles us time was passed the greatest,
u,ost widely known, and most h4bitualIy used Act
for the protection Of subjects or citizens from any
possibility Of oppression. The famous Habeas
Corpus Act, As familiar nov IN the Western as
IN the Eastern hemisphere, provides thaS any
person imprisoned by order of any Court, or by
the Crown, may, by VIII of Habeas Corpus, be
brought up ~ Usrs0H before Bench of judges.
who are 70 decide whether the said Imprisonment
be iuStifable or not. So important has the Act
become that to-day, both in America and in
Great Britain the action Of the whole Legislative
power Is required TO accomplish its temporary or
local suspension. In Great Britain the Act has
been temporarily suspended on account of the
Jaeobite troubles IN us and I745 and in Ireland
during the Fenian and other couspiraciss, and in
the States during some part Of the cuntest with
the Confederacy. But IN every case the sTlspen-
sion was removed, and the law allowed TO resume
It's course the moment that the responsible rulers
Of the country felt It safe TO do so.
James II, IN treating a respectful petition as
libel IN the case Of the Seven Bishops ensured his
deposition. When the Estates of the Realm
offered the Crown Of Great Britain TO William OF
Orange, they presented for his signature not a
petition, nor . bill, but 4 DECLARATION OF RIG5Ts
that Is TO say that Two centuries ago the people OF
England. in installing new King. simply declared
what their rights we're, and what power rzET were
wiling to entrust to the hing as their Chief
Executive Administrator