The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-12-17

| V.
| What was the position 81 Parliament al the close
81 the civil war that followed the Accession Il tho
! House Of Lancaster which claimed the throne
! II will be remembered not by right Of birth but
| by a parliamentary title The purport ,f
the three chapters devoted 10 this subject will
be found summed up on pages 275.27s Of the first
! voluma II was something that throughout all
tho commissions Of the fifteenth century tho Par
Namen' had lived. Ithnd been packed. II course
by the victors ~ tho hour sometimes shnmelesslv
and used as the instrument Of party policy Of
party murders and connscations In the Ru!se Of
Acts OF Attainder. 81 party settlements and re-
settlements Of the Crown. Still II had lived and
held Its place in the constitution Neither marty
had dared o. lcgiSate or attaint without H. II
hhd even shown spark Of independence when
YORK. after his FIRST succesSes laid his hand upon
tho throne Free election TO Il had been popular
demand put forward in the manifesto Of the in
surgents under Cade by an act Of Henry VI
tho qualification Tor the electors Of the knights
Of the shire hol been regulated and fixed nj IN,
4Oshilling freehold, al which II was kept by
English Conservatism down 10 the ref of 1882
Al The powers which Parliament now possesses
and. In some respects moro than Il legally and
theoretically now Possesses. II had acquired
chiefly by taking advantage II the Kings linon.
cin necessities: legislation. taxation. ammonia
tion Of supplies, auditing Of accounts inouirv
into expenditure, Impeachment q Ministers
t"gcther with tho necessary privilege Of freed, IN
OF members from arrest II had, besides bccp
formally taken into counsel by the Crown a.,
questions 81 war and peace which, al present
are bcyr nj Its formal competence, and IL had inter
fered directly with the composition Of the royal
council over which II has, at present only an in
direct control II had disposed Of the regency
IL had settled tho success ion TO the crown The
Commons had established as against the Iorda
their right to the sole Orignation Of money grerts
with the power attendant IN that right. England
was commonwealth, and a commonwealth in
form and principle II remained. though, through
the temporary failure Of the forces by which Par.
lament had been created and sustained peri
cd Of practical autocracy was at hand"
But while, under the LancaStrians Parliament
acquired powers greater even than those which
II now exercises, and provided an inexhaustible
storohouSc Of presidents for reiormers. il used
those powers for the benefit Of the land. owning
oliKarchy rather than OF the PEOPLE atlarre THAT
tho House OF Commons was far from democratic
Is shown by the enactment Of reiterated St.tu,.s
Of LAborers To keep down wages and Warrant
acts to bind tie lHborcr to the manor The 40
shilling freehold was qualification which
allowing for the difference in tho value of money.
would he high al tho present day OF the borough
elections most would be In the h ands OF municinsI
oligarchieS Besides, there were the irregular
influences OF the Crown through It's sherifTs
ana those oil local magnates Annual Parlia.
mehts' which had been ordained under Edward
H. ana payment oil members, wero different
'hings In tSoso days from what they would DO
now So was membership Of the House Of Com.