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this supply, not for the life of the sovereign, as had been the custom, but for four years (§ 498). A little later this supply was fixed for a single year only. This action gave to the Commons final and complete control of the purse (§§ 498, 588).

Next, Parliament passed the Mutiny Act (1689) (§ 496), which granted the King power to enforce martial law in other words, to maintain a standing army- - for one year at a time, and no longer, save by renewal of the law. This act gave Parliament complete control of the sword, and thus finished the great work; for without the annual meeting and the annual vote of that body, an English sovereign would at the end of a twelvemonth stand penniless and helpless.

26. Reforms in the Courts; the Toleration Act; the Press made Free. The same year (1689) Parliament effected great and sorely needed reforms in the administration of justice (§ 492).

Next, Parliament passed the Toleration Act, 1689 (§ 496). This measure granted liberty of worship to all Protestant Dissenters except those who denied the doctrine of the Trinity.1 The Toleration Act, however, did not abolish the Corporation Act or the Test Act 2 (§§ 472, 477), and it granted no religious freedom to Catholics.3 Still, the Toleration Act was a step forward, and it prepared the way for that absolute liberty of worship and of religious belief which now exists in England.

In finance, the reign of William and Mary was marked by the practical beginning of the permanent National Debt in 1693 and by the establishment in 1694 of the Bank of England (§ 503).

Now, too, 1695, the English press, for the first time in its history, became, in large measure, free (§§ 498, 556), though hampered by a very severe law of libel and by stamp duties. From this period the influence of newspapers continued to increase, until the final abolition of the stamp duty (1855) made it possible to issue penny and even halfpenny papers at a profit. These cheap newspapers sprang at once into an immense circulation among all classes, and thus they became the power for good or evil, according to their character, which they are to-day; so that it would be no exaggeration to say that back of the power of Parliament now stands the greater power of the press.

27. The House of Commons no longer a Representative Body; the First Two Georges and their Ministers. But now that the Revolution of 1688 had done its work, and transferred the power of the Crown to the House of Commons, a new difficulty arose. This was the fact that the Commons did not represent the people, but stood simply as the

1 Freedom of worship was granted to Unitarians in 1812.

2 The Act of Indemnity of 1727, and passed from year to year, suspended the penalties of the Test and the Corporation Acts; they were both repealed in 1828.

3 Later, the fear that James II might be invited to return led to the enactment of very severe laws against the Catholics; and in the next reign (Anne's) the Act of Occasional Conformity and the Schism Act were directed against Protestant Dissenters.

4 Debates in Parliament could not be reported until 1771 (§ 556), and certain Acts (1793, 1799) checked the freedom of the press for a time. See May's "History of England."

representative of a small number of rich Whig landowners.1 In many towns the right to vote was confined to the town officers or to the well-to-do citizens. In other cases, towns which had dwindled in population to a very few inhabitants continued to have the right to send two members to Parliament, while, on the other hand, large and flourishing cities had grown up which had no power to send even a single member (§ 578). "The result of this state of things was that the wealthy Whig families bought up the votes of electors, and so regularly controlled the elections (§ 538).

Under the first two Georges, both of whom were foreigners, the ministers — especially Sir Robert Walpole, who was the first real Prime Minister of England, and who held his place for twenty years (17211742) — naturally stood in the foreground.2 They understood the ins and outs of English politics, while the two German sovereigns, the first of whom never learned to speak English, neither knew nor cared anything about them. When men wanted favors or offices, they went to the ministers for them (§ 538). This made men like Walpole so powerful that George II said bitterly, " In England the ministers are king" (§ 534).

28. George III's Revival of "Personal Monarchy"; the King's Friends." George III was born in England, and prided himself on being an Englishman. He came to the throne fully resolved, as Walpole said, "to make his power shine out,” and to carry out his mother's constant injunction of, "George, be King!" (§ 548). To do this, he set himself to work to trample on the power of the ministers, to take the distribution of offices and honors out of their hands, and furthermore to break down the influence of the great Whig families in Parliament. He had no intention of reforming the House of Commons, or of securing the representation of the people in it; his purpose was to gain the control of the House, and use it for his own ends. In this he was thoroughly conscientious, according to his idea of right, for he believed with all his heart in promoting the welfare of England, — but he thought that welfare depended on the will of the King much more than on that of the nation. His maxim was "everything for, but nothing by," the people." By liberal gifts of money, — he spent £25,000 in a single day (1762) in bribes,3-by gifts of offices and of honors to those who favored him, and by taking away offices, honors, and pensions from those who opposed him, George IIL succeeded in his purpose. He raised up a body of men in Parliament, known by the significant name of the "King's Friends," who stood ready at all times to vote for his measures. In this way he actually revived "personal monarchy 4 for a

1 The influence of the Whigs had secured the passage of the Act of Settlement which brought in the Georges; for this reason the Whigs had gained the chief political power. 2 See § 21 of this Summary.

3 Pitt (Lord Chatham) was one of the few public men of that day who would neither give nor take a bribe; Walpole declared with entire truth that the great majority of politicians could be bought, it was only a question of price. The King appears to have economized in his living, in order to get more money to use as a corruption fund. See May's "Constitutional History." 4" Personal monarchy": see § 15 of this Summary.

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time, and by using his "Friends" in the House of Commons and in the Lords as his tools, he made himself quite independent of the checks imposed by the Constitution.

29. The American Revolution. The King's power reached its greatest height between 1770 and 1782. He made most disastrous use of it, not only at home but abroad. He insisted that the English colonists in America should pay taxes, without representation in Parliament, even of that imperfect kind which then existed in Great Britain. This determination brought on the American Revolution called in England the King's War" (§§ 549-552). The war, in spite of its ardent support by the King's Friends," roused a powerful opposition in Parliament. Chatham, Burke, Fox, and other able men protested against the King's arbitrary course. Finally, Dunning moved and carried this resolution (1780) in the Commons: Resolved, that the power of the Crown has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished" (§ 548). This vigorous proposition came too late to affect the conduct of the war, and England lost the most valuable of her colonial possessions. The struggle, which ended successfully for the patriots in America, was in reality part of the̱ same battle fought in England by other patriots in the halls of Parliament. On the western side of the Atlantic it resulted in the establishment of national independence; on the eastern side, in the final overthrow of royal tyranny and the triumph of the constitution. It furthermore laid the foundation of that just and generous policy on the part of England toward Canada and her other colonies which has made her mistress of the largest and most prosperous empire on the globe.1

30. John Wilkes and the Middlesex Elections; Publication of Parliamentary Debates. Meanwhile John Wilkes (§ 556), a member of the House of Commons, had gained the recognition of a most important principle. He was a coarse and violent opponent of the royal policy, and had been expelled from the House on account of his bitter personal attack on the King.2 Several years later (1768) he was reëlected to Parliament, but was again expelled for seditious libel; 3 he was three times reëlected by the people of London and Middlesex, who looked upon him as the champion of their cause; each time the House refused to permit him to take his seat, but at the fourth election he was successful. A few years later (1782) he induced the House to strike out from its journal the resolution there recorded against him. Thus Wilkes, by his indomitable persistency, succeeded in establishing the right of the people to elect the candidate of their choice to Parliament. During the same period the people gained another great victory over Parliament. That body had utterly refused to permit the debates to be reported in

1 The area of the British Empire in 1911 was nearly 12,000,000 square miles.

2 In No. 45 of the North Briton (1763) Wilkes rudely accused the King of having deliberately uttered a falsehood in his speech to Parliament.

3 The libel was contained in a letter written to the newspapers by Wilkes.

4 The resolution was finally stricken out, on the ground that it was "subversive of the rights of the whole body of electors."

a

the newspapers. But the redoubtable Wilkes was determined to obtain and publish such reports; rather than have another prolonged battle with him, Parliament conceded the privilege (1771) (§ 556). The result was that the public then, for the first time, began to know what business Parliament actually transacted, and how it was done. This fact, of course, rendered the members of both Houses far more directly responsible to the will of the people than they had ever been before.1

31. The Reform Bills of 1832, 1867, 1884; Demand for Manhood Suffrage." But notwithstanding this decided political progress, still the greatest reform of all — that of the system of electing members of Parliament — still remained to be accomplished. Cromwell had attempted it (1654), but the Restoration put an end to the work which the Protector had so wisely begun. Lord Chatham felt the necessity so strongly that he had not hesitated to declare (1766) that the system of representation or rather misrepresentation which then existed was the "rotten part of the constitution." "If it does not drop," said he, "it must be amputated." Later (1770), he became so alarmed at the prospect that he declared that "before the end of the century either the Parliament will reform itself from within, or be reformed from without with a vengeance" (§ 578).

But the excitement caused by the French Revolution and the wars with Napoleon not only prevented any general movement of reform, but made it possible to enact the Six Acts and other stringent laws against, agitation in that direction (§ 571). Finally, however, the unrepresented classes rose in their might (§§ 580-582), and by terrible riots made it evident that it would be dangerous for Parliament to postpone action on their demands. The Reform Bill - the "Great Charter of 1832 swept away the rotten boroughs," which had disgraced the country. It granted the right of election to many large towns which had hitherto been unable to send members to Parliament, and it placed representation on a broader, healthier, and more equitable basis than had ever existed before (§ 582). It was a significant fact that when, the first reformed Parliament met, composed largely of Liberals, it showed its true spirit by abolishing slavery in the West Indies. It was followed by the Municipal Reform Act of 1835 (§ 599). Later (1848), the Chartists advocated further reforms (§ 591), most of which have since been adopted.

In 1867 an act (§ 599), scarcely less important than that of 1832, broadened representation still further; and in 1884 the franchise was again extended (§ 599). A little later (1888) the County Council Act reconstructed the local self-government of the country in great measure.2 It was supplemented in 1894 by the Parish Council Act (§ 600). The

1 The publication of Division Lists (equivalent to Yeas and Nays) by the House of Commons in 1836 and by the Lords in 1857 completed this work. Since then the public have known how each member of Parliament votes on every important question.

2 The "Local Government" Act: this gives to counties the management of their local affairs and secures uniformity of method and of administration.

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cry is now for unrestricted "manhood suffrage," on the principle of one man one vote"; woman suffrage in a limited degree has existed since 1869 (§ 599).

32. Extension of Religious Liberty; Admission of Catholics and Jews to Parliament; Free Trade. Meanwhile immense progress was made in extending the principles of religious liberty to all bodies of believers. After nearly three hundred years (or since the Second Act of Supremacy, 1559), Catholics were admitted in 1829 to the House of Commons (§ 573); and in the next generation, 1858, Jews were likewise admitted (§ 599). The Oaths Act of 1888 makes it impossible to exclude any one on account of his religious belief or unbelief (§ 599).

Commercially the nation has made equal progress. The barbarous Corn Laws (§§ 592, 594) were repealed in 1848, the narrow protective policy of centuries abandoned; and since that period England has practically taken its stand on unlimited free trade with all countries.

33. Condition of Ireland; Reform in the Land and the Church Laws; Civil-Service Reform; Education. In one direction, however, there had been no advance. Following the example of Scotland (§ 513), Ireland was politically united to Great Britain (§ 562); at the beginning of the century when the first Imperial Parliament met (1801), but long after the Irish Catholics had obtained the right of representation in Parliament, they were compelled to submit to unjust land laws, and also to contribute to the support of the Established (Protestant) Church in Ireland. Finally, through the efforts of Mr. Gladstone and others, this branch of the Church was disestablished (1869) (§ 601); later (1870, 1881, 1903), important reforms were effected in the Irish land laws (§§ 603, 605, 620). Irish Home Rule came in 1914 (§ 633).

To supplement the great electoral reforms which had so widely extended the power of the popular vote, two other measures were now carried. One was that of Civil-Service Reform, 1870, which opened all clerkships and similar positions in the gift of the government to the free competition of candidates, without regard to their political opinions (§ 609). This did away with most of that demoralizing system of favoritism which makes government offices the spoils by which successful political parties reward "little men for little services." The " secret ballot," another measure of great importance, followed (1872) (§ 609).

The same year, 1870, England, chiefly through Mr. Forster's efforts, took up the second measure, the question of national education. The conviction gained ground that if the working classes are to vote, then they must not be allowed to remain in ignorance; the nation declared we must educate our future masters." In this spirit a system of elementary government schools was established, which gives instruction to tens of thousands of children who hitherto were forced to grow up

1 That is, the abolition of certain franchise privileges springing from the possession of landed property in different counties or parliamentary districts by which the owner of such property is entitled to cast more than one vote for a candidate for Parliament.