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Indiana University Studies 
were instituted, but an elaborate attempt to reform legal pro- 
cedure finally fizzled out, and the people laid aside their plans 
and returned to the institutions of their fathers. However, 
what was done was so good that the Stuart period has been 
called one of “good legislation and bad government”. Another 
important date in the history of legislative reform is that of 
the Revolution of 1688. The Stuarts had claimed the divine 
right of kings to rule and that the people obtained their lib- 
erties from the king. The Commons fought this claim and on 
the Restoration forced a second grand charter from Charles 
II. The Revolution subordinated the Crown to Parliament 
and made the sovereign and his ministers anxious to comply 
with the wishes of the nation. In choosing William and Mary 
the people revived the Anglo-Saxon custom of choosing the 
king, and gave a death blow to the notion of a “personal mon- 
archy”, altho George III revived it for a time. They got a 
third great charter, and the Commons got control of the 
purse and the sword. The right to reject bills has never 
been exercised in England since Anne, who refused to assent 
to the Scotch Militia Bill in 1707. Direct legislation then 
became a normal means of altering the law. 
Great Lawyers. Altho most of the common law lawyers 
had the same attitude in this period which they had had in 
the Strict Period, there were a few notable exceptions of men 
who were imbued with the spirit of equity and who struck 
some great strokes for reform. Sir Matthew Hale laid the 
foundations for the law of public callings. Lord Holt sub- 
stituted the Roman law of bailments for the English law of 
bailments. Erskine introduced some reforms into criminal 
law. Jeremy Bentham, the father of the legislative reform 
movement, began his great work in this period. Lord Mans- 
field alone worked great changes in the law of practice, com- 
mercial law, and contracts. 
Triumph of Equity. The reign of James I marks an era in 
the history of the Chancery Court. From Edward III to 
Henry VII all the chancellors had been ecclesiastics. Henry 
VIII appointed a lawyer, Sir Thomas More, who made a great 
reputation in the office. Following More came churchmen, 
politicians, and lawyers promiscuously, until Ellesmere, since 
when all the chancellors have been lawyers, including such 
great men as Cowper, Harcourt, King, Talbot, Hardwicke, 
Nottingham, Campen, Thurlow, and Loughborough. Elies- 
