The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1915-01-20
TODAY WE %cELEsRATE.
England the Birthplace Of ParlIa.
mentary Government,

'EH HHH. p an.HH ~. y .HHArN-An
This year will make the Tooth ami
yersary OF Magma Chartta, the Great
Charter" of the liberties of England.
the document wrested by the barons
Of England from an unwilling mon.
arch and which marked the beginning
of a new political and governmental
era, not only for England but for
the world. One Of its results was
the institution OF parliamentary gov
eminent half a century after the
craven King John yielded to the de.
mands OF the mobiles at Runnymede.
1t was just six and half centur.
les ago today, January 20, 1855, that
the first Of English parliaments, pro-
perly so called. was convened in the
magnificent hall at Westminster. In
June Of 1858 q great national council
had been held at Oxford, to which
the name Of parliament had been
officially applied, but this was an
assemblage Of barons only. It
marked q mighty protest against the
nupreme power and arbitrary govern
ment of royalty, but it was not in the
least democratic in Its nature.
The delegates to this council took
upon themselves powers and rights
which Henry Ill protested. The in.
dignant king appealed to the arbitra-
tion Of Saint Louis, who decided III
his favor. The barons had taken no
part In the arbitration, and they re-
fused to accept the decision. Instead
they again took up arms against the
monarch. with Simon de Montfort,
Earl of Leicester, as their leader. In
1854 the royalists and the rebellious
barons fought a battle at Lewes in
which the former were defeated, and
the king and his son were taken
prisoners.
The Earl of Leicester-the Crom.
well Of the period. although he gov.
erned in the name of the king!he held
as a prisoner-organized the first
complete representation OF the Eng
lish people. By ordinance he pre-.
scribed the election tothis historic
parliament Of two knights for each
county and oftwn citizens for each
city or borough Of each county. This
was the tirstc lear acknowledgment
Of the right Of the commons to repre-.
s~entation in the government.
The representatives OF the Com
mons sat In the same hall with their
noble associates. Like little children,
they may have been warned that they
were "to be seen and mot heard" and,
in any event, they did not manifest
a disposition TO assume control OF
Parliament, and did not Join in the
voting. But they were there-an ad.
mitted power in the state, entitled
to be consulted in the affairs Of gov.
eminent and to have their say in
matters Of taxation.
Soon after the meeting Of the his
toric parliament Leicester and his
associates were overthrow and exc,
cuted; but the Commons retained
their representation in Parliament,
gradually increasing their power, IN.
til now they overshadow the Lords
and threaten the abolition Of the an.
cient House.
Thus England, to its eternal glory,
became the birthplace of modern
parliamentary government. Until the
great revolution, France was a land
of depotism, and the commoners
we're but cattle; until the beginning
Of the nineteenth century, two:thirds
Of all 5Prussians were serfs, bound by
feudalism to the soil they titled, and
similar conditions prevailed through.
out the greater part of Europe. Many
reasons have been suggested for the
political radicalism OF the "sconserva.
tive. English; not the least potent Of
these. perhaps, being the fact that
English kings have never had large
standing armies to keep their sub.
kjects in subsection.
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