SECT. 1. Establishment of the Courts of Com- ibid. SECT. 2. Of the Petty and the Grand Jury. 288 SECT. 3. Circumstances which prevented the Civil Law from being so much incorporated in the System of English Jurisprudence, as in that of other European Countries. SECT. 4. The Rise of the Court of Chancery. 340 CHAP. VIII. Of the Circumstances which pro- moted Commerce, Manufactures, and the Arts, in modern Europe,and particularly in England. 364 CHAP. IX. Of Henry the Seventh.---Circum- stances which, in his Reign, contributed to the Exaltation of the Crown.---Review of the Go- CHAP. X. Of Henry the Eighth.---The Refor- mation.---Its Causes.---The Effects of it upon CHAP. XI. Of Edward VI.---Mary and Eli- zabeth.---General Review of the Govern- ment.--Conclusion of the Period from the Nor- AN HISTORICAL VIEW OF THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT. BOOK II. OF THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT, FROM THE REIGN OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR, TO THE ACCESSION OF THE HOUSE OF STEWART. THE political history of this extensive period may be subdivided into three parts; the first extending from the Norman conquest to the end of the reign of Henry the third; the second, from the beginning of the reign of Edward the first, to the accession of Henry the seventh; and the third, comprehending the reigns of the Tudor family. In each of these parts we shall meet with progressive changes in the English constitution, which appear to demand a separate examination, and which, being analogous to such as were introduced, about the same time, in the other European governments, may be regarded as the natural growth and development of the original system, produced by the peculiar circumstances of modern Europe. (3) CHAP. I. The Norman Conquest.-Progress of the feudal System.-View of the several Reigns before that of Edward I.-The great Charter, and Charter of the Forest. WILLIAM the Conqueror ascended the throne of England, partly by force of arms, and partly by the voluntary submission of the people. The great landed estates, acquired by a few individuals, towards the end of the Saxon government, had exalted particular nobles to such power and splendour, as rendered them, in some degree, rivals to the sovereign, and even encouraged them, upon any favourable emergency, to aspire to the crown. Among these, under the feeble reign of Edward the Confessor, we may distinguish Godwin earl of Wessex, who had become formidable to the monarch; and, after the death of that earl, his son Harold, who, at the same time that his possessions were not less extensive than those of his father, being endowed with superior abilities, and much more amiable dispositions, appears to have attained a degree of influence and authority which no English subject had ever enjoyed. He became, of course, an object of jealousy to Edward; who, in the decline of life, and having no children, was anxious to exclude this nobleman from the throne, by securing the succession to one of his own kindred. Edward himself was properly an usurper, having seized the crown to the prejudice of his elder brother's son, the undoubted lineal heir. This prince being now dead, the right of inheritance devolved upon his son, Edgar Atheling, whose tender age, and slender abilities, appeared to disqualify him, in such a critical conjuncture, for wielding the sceptre over a fierce and turbulent people. In those disorderly times, the line of hereditary succession, though not entirely disregarded, was frequently broken from particular accidents; persons incapable of defending the sovereignty, were commonly deemed unworthy to obtain it; and the recommendation, or will, of the reigning prince was always |