136 
Proceedings of the Royal Society 
Monday , 7 th March 1881. 
The Right Hon. Lord Moncreiff of Tulliebole, LL.D., 
President of the Society, occupied the Chair, and read the 
second part of the following Address, the first part having 
been read on 6th December 1880 : — 
I. 
The subject of the address with which I am to open the present 
session of the Royal Society has been announced in your notices 
as the " Dawn of the Constitutional Principle.” Such, indeed, was 
the general tenor or complexion of the thoughts which led me into 
the field of inquiry on which I intend to dwell to-night, and such 
the topic round which I propose to weave a very fragmentary and 
imperfect excursus or dissertation. I had long thought that the 
rise and growth of the constitutional principle in this island,— a 
plant nurtured in many storms and watered by the best blood of 
the land, — might be worth tracing in these more stable and peace- 
ful times. It might also be interesting to recall the gradual pro- 
gress and direction of opinion in the two ends of the island, and of 
the conflict or concord out of which so powerful and thorough a 
fabric has been consolidated. But my theme to-night is necessarily 
less ambitious than its title indicates. I am limited both by the 
place in which and the audience to which I speak, and also by the 
time which it would be reasonable for me to occupy. 
At present I mean only to say some things about some famous 
but forgotten political treatises and their authors, not indeed with 
the intention (as you may well suppose) of entering into any 
political disquisition on my own part, or of indicating any opinion 
upon the subjects with which these authors deal. I. mean merely 
to describe the writings and their authors, and draw together as well 
as I can some particulars respecting both, which, as not being 
familiar, may prove not uninteresting. Addressing, as I presume I 
do, men of all shades of political opinion, I shall say nothing that 
can touch the susceptibilities of any. Tros Tyriusve, Roundhead or 
Cavalier, Passive Obedience or Fifth Monarchy men, if there are 
any such among my audience, shall have nothing to complain of, 
