248
Constitutional History.
[chap.
preservation of the laws of his subjects, of their persons and
goods, he is set up, and for this purpose he has power derived
from the people, so that he may not govern his people by any
other power1 : ’ he cannot change the laws or impose taxes ∙
without the consent of the whole nation given in parliament,
govern That parliament, including a senate of more than three hundred
ment. chosen counsellors, represents the three estates of the realm2.
Such a government deserves in the highest sense the title of
‘ politic,’ because it is regulated by administration of many ;
and the title of ‘ royal ’ because the authority of the sovereign is
required for the making of new laws, and the right of hereditary
succession is conserved3. The righteous king maintains his
sway not from the desire of power, but because it is his duty
to take care of others4. But the politic king has a right to use
exceptional means to repress rebellion or to resist invasion5;
he has likewise prerogative powers which are not shared with
his people, the right, for instance, of pardon and the whole
domain of equityδ. The judgments of the courts of justice are
his, but he does not sit personally in judgment7. The limita-
tions of his power are a glory rather than a humiliation to him,
for there is no degradation deeper than that of wrongdoing8.
statements Although the origin of politic kingship is in the will of the
as to the people, and its conservation is secured by hereditary succession,
the English righteous judgment is its true sustaining power and justifica-
system. flf,1∣. t ɪf justicc be banished,’ says S. Augustine, ‘ what are
kingdoms but great robberies or nests of robbers i ’ Yet king-
doms acquired by conquest may be established by four things,
1 De Laudibus, c. 13, p. 347 : ‘ Ad tutelam namque Iegis Subditorum ac
eorum Corporum et bonorum rex Ixujusmodi erectus est, et Ixaixc potestatem
a populo effluxam ipse Iiabetj quo ei non licet potestate alia suo populo
dominari.’
2 De Nat. Leg. Nat. i. c. 16, p. 77 ; De Laudibus, c. 18, Opp. p. 350.
s De Nat. Leg. Nat. i. c. 16, p. 77-
4 lb. i. c. 34, p. 97, quoting Aug. de Civitate Dei, xix. c. 14.
5 De Nat. Leg. Nat. i. 25, p. 86.
c lb. i. c. 24, p. 85.
7 De Laudibus, c. 8, p. 344.
8 De Nat. Leg. Nat. i. c. 26, p. 88. ‘ Non jugum sed Iibertas est politice
regere populum, Securitas quoque maxima 11edum plebis sed et ipsi régi,
allevatio etiam non minima Solicitudinis suae ; ’ De Laudibus, c. 34, p.
363∙
XVIII.]
Iingland and France compared.
249
‘ acceptation of God, approving of the church, long continuance
of possession, and the assent of the people 1.' The proof of the Comparison
excellence of politic royalty is seen in the comparison of England with France,
with France, where, although kings like S. Lewis could make
good laws and administer sound justice by God's special grace,
bad government under absolute sovereignty had produced
general impoverishment, oppression, and degradation2. Not
only were the laws of England better than the laws of France,
as was shown by the absence of any legal system of torture3,
by the institution of trial by jury4, by the careful provisions
for provincial administration of justice5, and other points in
which the English law excels the civil ; but the financial
system of government was better. There were no such oppres-
sions of the nature of purveyance, forced impressments, taxes on
salt, octroi on wine, levies of money for wages and for a force of
archers at the king’s willβ : the administration of justice was
better, there were no secret executions done without form of
law, nor any like abuses by which the rich were crushed and the
poor trampled on7. And still more distinct was the result in The excel-
_ .. <∣'i Ientresiilts.
the happiness of the English, as a nation in which property was
not concentrated in a few hands, but the commons as well as
the baronage were rich, and had a great stake in public
welfare8. Nothing was so great security to England as the Spirit of the
1,1 , ,1 b .f ,ɪ . . , ? , . commons,
wealth ot the commons ; it they were impoverished, they would
at once lay the blame on the government and rise in revolt.
But their very boldness in rising was a point of superiority ;
for the French had lost the spirit to rise : in England there
were it was true many robbers, in France many thieves ; but
1 Of the Title of the House of York, Opp. i. 501. S. Augustine’s words
are, ζ Remota itaque justitia quid sunt régna nisi ɪnagna Iatrocinia ? ’ ɪ)e
Civitate Dei, iv. c. 4.
2 On the Monarchy of England, c. 3 ; Opp. i. 451 ; ed. Plummer, p. ɪɪʒ.
s De Laudibus, c. 22, p. 352.
4 lb. c. 20, p. 350; cc. 29-32, pp. 359-363.
5 lb. cc. 24 sq., pp. 354 s<l∙ 6 lb. c. 35, p. 364.
7 lb. c. 29, p. 359; c. 35,pp. 364, 365 ; Monarchy, c.3,p. 452; ed. Pl.p.ιi4.
8 De Laudibus, c. 29, p. 359: ‘In ea (sc. Anglia) villula tarn parva
reperiri non potent in qua non est miles armiger vel paterfamilias qualis
ibidem Jfrankelayn Vulgariter nuncupatur, magnis dilatus possessɪonibus,
nec non Iibere tenentes alii et valecti plurimi suis patrimoniis SuflIcientes
ad faciendum Juratam.’ Cf. Monarchy, c. 12, p. 465.