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allcji;e, that the Cipvcffions, employed by all ancient liido- 

 riai'S, in miiitloninj; this nacional council, i'eem tocontvndiil 

 tlic former fuppolition. The members, it is faid, are almoft 

 always called i\n<: principes, falrapie, optl>ih:tes, lULignaUs, pro- 

 cfres ; terms which feem to fiippofe nii arillocracy, and to ex- 

 clude the commons. The boroughs alfo, from the low ftatc 

 of commerce, were fo fmall and fo poor, and the inhabitants 

 lived in fuch dependence on the grtat men, that it does not 

 feem probable tiiey would be admitted as a part of the na- 

 tional councils. It appears from Domefday tlu.t the {rreatelt 

 boroughs were, at the time of the conqncll, fcarcely more 

 than country villages ; and that the inhabitants were of a 

 ftation little better than fcrvile. If it be unreafonable to 

 think that the vaflals of a baronv, though their tcnute was 

 military, and noble, and honourable, were ever fummoned 

 to give their opinion in national c. uncils, much lefscan it be 

 fuppoftd, that the tradefmen or inhabitants of boroughs, 

 whofe condition was fo much inferior, would be admitted to 

 that privilege. Thefe boroughs were not then fo much as 

 incorporated ; they formed no community ; they were not 

 regarded as a body politic ; and being merely formed of a 

 number of low dependent tradefmen, living without any 

 particular civil tie, in neighbourhood together, they were 

 incapable of being reprefented in the dates of the kingdom. 

 The commons are well known to have had no (hare in the 

 governments ellablifhcd by the Franks, Burgundians, and 

 other northern nations ; and as the Saxons remained longer 

 barbarous and uncivilized than thefe tribes, they could never 

 think of conferring fuch an honourable privilege on trade 

 and induftry. The military profefPion alone was honourable 

 among all thofe conquerors; the warriors fubfifted by tlieir 

 pofTeflions in land ; they became confiderable by their inllu- 

 ence over their vaffals, retainers, tenants, and flaves ; and it 

 requires ftrong proof to convince us, that they would admit 

 any of a rank fo much inferior as the burghers, to (hare with 

 them in the legiOative authority. The fiill corporation, even 

 in France, which made more early advances 'v.\ arts and civi- 

 lity than England, is (Ixty years pofterior to the conqueH un- 

 der the duke of Normandy ; and in Normandy, the conftitu- 

 tion of which was moll; likely to be William's model in 

 raifmg his new fabric of Englifli government, the flates 

 were entirely compofcd of the clergy and nobility ; and the 

 fird incorporated boroughs, or communities, of that duchy, 

 were Roiien and Falaile, which enjoyed their privileges by 

 a grant of Philip Auguftus, in the year 1207. All the an- 

 cient Englifh hillorians, when they mention the great coun- 

 cil of the nation, call it an alTcmbly of the baronage, nobi- 

 lity, or great men ; and none of their exprclTions, fays Mr. 

 Hume, [iili infra,') though feveral hundred palTages might 

 be produced, can, without the utmoft violence, be tortured 

 to a meaning, which will admit the con^raons to be conlli- 

 tuent members of that body. When hiltorians mention the 

 people, poptilus, as a part of the parliament, they always 

 mean the laity, in oppofition to the clergy : and though the 

 ■word communitas fon.ctimes occurs, Dr. Brady maintains, 

 that it always means communitas laro7iagn. If, therefore, in 

 the long period of 200 years, which elapfed between the 

 conquell and the latter end of Henry III., and which 

 abounded in faftions, revolutions, and convulfions of all 

 kinds, the houfe of commons never performed one fingle 

 legiflative aft, fo coiUiderable as to be once m.cntioned by 

 any of the numerous hilloriang of that age, they nuift have 

 been totally infignificant ; and in that cafe, wh:a rcafon can 

 be affigned for their ever being affemblcd ? can it be fup- 

 pofcd, that men of fo little weight or importance pofTeffed 

 a negative voice againft the king and the barons ? Every page 

 of the fubfequent hiftories difcovers their exillence ; though 



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thefe liidories arc not written witli greater accuracy than the 

 preceding ones, and indeed fcarceiy equal them in that par- 

 ticular. The migiia charts of king John provides, that no 

 fcutage or aid fliould be impofed, either on the land or 

 towns, but by confent of the great council ; and for more 

 fecnrity, it enumerates the perfons entitled to a feat in that 

 affemhly, the prelates and immediate tenants of the crown, 

 without any mention of the commons: " An authority (fays 

 Mr. Hume) fo full, certain, and explicit, that nothing but 

 the zeal of party could ever have procured credit to any con- 

 trary hypothecs." The fame writer add?, that it was pro- 

 bably the example of the French barons, \\'hich firll eni- 

 bohlened the Englilh to require greater independence from * 

 their fovercign ; and it is alfo probable, that the boroughs 

 and corporations of England were eftablifhed in imitation of 

 thofe of France. 



In ancient times, men were not very folicitousto obtain a 

 place ift the legiilative aflemblies ; and rather regarded their 

 attendance as a burden, which was not compenfated by any 

 return of profit or honour, proportionate to the trouble and 

 expence. The only reafun for inltituting thefe public 

 councils was, on the part of tlie fnbjeft, that they defired 

 fome fecurity from the attempts of arbitrary power ; and on 

 the part of the fovereign, that he defpaircd of governing men 

 of fuch independent fpirits without their own confent and 

 concurrence. But the commons, or the inhabitants of 

 boroughs, had not yet reached fuch a degree of confideration 

 as to deiireyfcaW/j)! againd their prince ; or to imagine, that 

 even if they were alTemblcd in a reprcfentative body, they 

 had power or rank fufficient to enforce it. For proteftion 

 againil the violence and injuftice of their fellow citizens, to 

 which alone they afpired, they direfled their views to the 

 courts of juftice, or to fome great lord, to whom, either by 

 law or by choice, they were attached. On the other hand, 

 the fovereign was fufficiently alfured of obedience in the 

 whole community, if he procured the concurrence of the 

 nobles. The military fub-vaffals could entertain no idea of 

 oppofmg both their pi ince and their fuperiors ; and much k fs 

 could the burgefTes and tradefmen afpire to fuch a tiiought. 

 Thus, if hillory were hlent on the head, there is reafon to 

 conclude, from the known fituation of fociety dudng thofe 

 ages, that the commons were never admitted as members of 

 the legiflative body. 



The hrft time in which, according to the opinion of 

 thofe who admit the conclulivenefs of the above reafoning, 

 hiftorians ("peak of any rcprefentatives fent to parliament by 

 the boroughs, was the year 1265, during the reign of 

 Henry III.; when the carl of Leiceller ufurped the royal 

 power, and iummoned a new parliament to London, where 

 he knew his power was uncontrolablc. Befides the barons 

 of his own party, and feveral ecclefialHcs, who were not im- 

 mediate tenants of the crown, he ordered returns to be 

 made of two knights from each (hire, and alfo of deputies 

 from the boroughs ; an order of men, it is faid, which, in 

 formei* ages, had always been regarded as too mean to enjoy 

 a place in the national councils. Accordingly, this period 

 is commonly eilecmed the epoch of the houfe of commons in 

 England. But though that houfe derived its cxiftence from 

 fo precarious, and even fo invidious an origin, as Leiceflcr'x 

 ufurpation, it foon proved, Avhen fummoned by the legal 

 princes, one of the molt ufeful, and, in procefs of time, one 

 of the moft powerful members of the national conditution ; 

 and gradually refcued the kingdom from ariftocratioal as well 

 as from regal tyranny. But l-eiceller's policy, if we afcribe 

 to him fo great a bhding, only forwarded by fome years an 

 inrtitution, for which the general (late of things had already 

 prepared the nation. It was not, however, till the 23d 

 I 2 year 



