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British Parliament is increased above that of the Soman 

 Senate, by all those legislative, electoral, and judicial powers, 

 which, having been entrusted in Rome to the people at large, 

 have in England been conferred (as a matter of necessity, in a 

 large country not governed by a single city), to the people's 

 representatives. 



But we have only drawn, and very roughly too, the line of 

 demarcation which separates in the Roman and the British 

 Constitutions the middle powers from those below; and we 

 have found, that in this country that line of demarcation takes 

 a large sweep into what was the province of the Roman 

 people. We have now to proceed to examine the relative 

 extension of the Roman and the British Senates towards their 

 respective executives, and when this has been ascertained, we 

 shall be able to form an approximative idea of the relative 

 political importance of the two. 



The position of Parliament with respect to the Government is 

 known to every one ; that of the Roman Senate to the Execu- 

 tive has been, and is still the subject of much doubt and con- 

 troversy. The uncertainty in this matter however is more appa- 

 rent than real. It is quite certain, that in theory the consuls 

 were considered the lawful successors of the kings, and the in- 

 heritors of the whole of the regal power, with those few 

 modifications which the annual change of the executive, and 

 its division between two persons made necessary. In reality 

 however a vast change had been brought about by those two 

 changes just alluded to, particularly by the short duration of 

 office, by which for the first time, a general and legal respon- 

 sibility was imposed on the Roman executive, the consuls being 

 made amenable to law for all their political acts after the ex- 

 piration of their year of office. Thus the practical working 

 of the Roman Constitution underwent a great change, though 

 in theory the Roman, not unlike the English people, adhered 

 to forms, venerable by antiquity, custom, and religion, but of 

 comparatively little practical importance. As we liave here 



