91 



alliance of the communities of the shires with the communities of 

 the towns, and was the result of many causes, amonfc which we may 

 distinguish the appreciations of common dangers, the inducements 

 of royal policy, and the similarity of the processes employed in 

 the exercise of political rights. 



8tarting from the established fact that the mediaeval Parlia- 

 ment was an assemblage of estates, we have yet to enquire the 

 character of the constituencies of the third estate. Were they, 

 too, organic ? I confess I see no answer to this question but the 

 affirmative. The representatives of the Commons were the deputies 

 of the shires and the towns. Each shire was a unit of the nation, 

 bo and together by its common court, its common judicial and 

 administrative organisation. The County was an organised body 

 of men — a communitas — almost a kingdom in minature ! If we 

 turn to the towns of the middle ages, despite the infinite variety 

 of their customs, the reality of their organic character seems 

 indisputable. Nor should we be altogether unprepared for this 

 conclusion. When we remember that they were compelled to 

 struggle for their charters, their liberties, and often for their 

 existence, against the attacks of neighboring barons and the 

 tyranny of a ubiquitous monarch ; that, as yet, the centralising 

 influences of the .Railway and the Press were unknown ; that, as 

 yet, geographical constituencies were not divided ioto hostile 

 camps by the contests of national parties - when we remember 

 these facts, we are prepared to find in the town of the middle ages, 

 a community of life, thought, and feeling, unattainable under the 

 complex conditions of modern society. Nor are we disappointed. 

 The superiority of the old over the tew in this respect, is well 

 expressed in the 'writings of a brilliant essayist. Each town, 

 writes Frederick Harrison, had its own patron saint, its own special 

 church, and its own feudal patron, its corporate life, its own 

 privileges, traditions, and emblems. On the other hand, the 

 modern city is almost bereft of any religious, patriotic, or artistic 

 character as a whole. There is much public spirit — in certain parts, 

 a love of beauty, taste, and cultivation of a special kind. But it 

 is not embodied in the city; it is not associated with the city; it 

 does not radiate from the city. A typical industrial city of modern 

 times has no founder, no traditional heroes, no patrons Or saints, 

 no emblem, no history, no definite circuit. It is ever changing, 

 loose in organisation, casual in form* 



If we attach any importance to the foregoing facts, it must 

 affect our attitude towards the reproach of innovation. Our 

 methods may be new, but the principle is ancient. It is no longer 

 possible to combine the organic element with the geographical 

 constituency. Which are we to retain ? Ordinary usage answers 

 this question in one way, and Mr Hare in another. I believe there 

 are a few more important questions of to-day than this, and that 

 few deserve a more immediate attention on the part of statesmen 

 and thinkers. 



* "The Meaning of History," pp. 250. In the Model Parliament of 1295, 

 there were 74 Knights representing the Shires and 232 Citizens and 

 Burgesses representing the Towns. 



