4-1 THE THEATY OF WASHINGTON. * 



Great Britain. I tliiiik tlic absolute reverse of nil 

 this is the truth. 



lu (ircat ])ritaiu the political institutioiiM of tlio 

 couutiy aru iiulefMuto, iiirvritten, unfixctl, without a 

 ])ositlve 8tand-j)oint any where, shifting from day to 

 (lay; eonsiistlng, in foi'in, of Kings, Loixls, and Com- 

 mons, with(.)ut any visible lines of limitation between 

 them, and resolved to-day into an omnipotent Tarlia* 

 ment, one branch of which, the House of Commons, 

 arrogates to itself the character of u constituent na- 

 tional convention to im])ose on King and Lords any 

 change in the national institutions it sees fit, and as- 

 suming to itself the function, l)y means of a quasi 

 conwnittee of its body, to control absolutely the ad- 

 ministration, both foreign and domestic, of Great 

 Britain. 



This qu((s} committee of the House of Commons, 

 to be sure, has associated with it another quasi com- 

 mittee of the House of Lords: which, all together, 

 formerly called ^Ilnisters of the Crown, now take to 

 themselves, in the very text of treaties as "well as in 

 domestic aflairs, the revolutionary title of the " Brit- 

 ish Government." 



But, while the theoretical power of the Crown is 

 nominally exercised by a joint committee of both 

 Houses of Parliament, it is vested, in fact, in the com- 

 mittee of the House of Commons, which, upon all oc- 

 casions, whether of ordinary administrative matters 

 or of the frequently recurring radical changes in the 

 political institutions of the country, constantly and 

 loudly defies and overbears the House of Lords. 



