CONSTITUTIONAL DOCUMENTS xxxiii IV. Habeas Corpus Act, 1679. The name of this celebrated statute is derived from its referring to the opening words of the writ: "Habeas Corpus ad subjiciendum." Sir James Mackintosh declares that the essence of the statute is contained in clauses 39, 40 of Magna Carta-which see. The right to Habeas Corpus was conceded by the Petition of Right and also by the Statute of 1640. But in order to better secure the liberty of the subject and for prevention of imprisonments beyond the seas, the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679 was enacted, regulating the issue and return of writs of Habeas Corpus. The principal provisions of the Act are: 1. Jailers (except in cases of commitment for treason or felony) must within three days of the reception of the writ produce the prisoner in court, unless the court is at a distance, when the time may be extended to twenty days at the most. 2. A jailer, refusing to do this, forfeits £100 for the first offense, and £200 for the second. 3. No one set at liberty upon any Habeas Corpus to be recommitted for the same offense except by the court having jurisdiction of the case. 4. The Act not to apply to cases of debt. V. Abstract of the Parliament Act (or Veto Act, § 631), 18th August, 1911. The Preamble states that "it is intended to substitute for the House of Lords, as it at present exists, a Second Chamber constituted on a popular instead of hereditary basis, but such substitution cannot be immediately brought into operation": therefore it is expedient to make such provision as in this Act appears for restricting the existing powers of the House of Lords" (i.e. the power of the Lords to veto bills sent them by the Commons). 1. If a Money Bill- that is, a Public Bill concerning taxation or the appropriation of money or the raising of a loan, etc.- shall be passed by the House of Commons, but shall not be passed by the House of Lords, within one month, then it shall become law without the consent of the Lords. 2. If any Public Bill (other than a Money Bill or a Bill providing for the extension of the maximum duration of Parliament beyond five years) shall be passed by the House of Commons in three successive sessions (whether of the same Parliament or not) and shall be rejected by the House of Lords in each of those sessions," that Bill shall on its rejection for the third time by the House of Lords, unless the House of Commons direct to the contrary, become an Act of Parliament, without the consent of the Lords, provided that two years have elapsed since the Bill was introduced and passed by the House of Commons." 7. Five years shall be substituted for seven years as the time fixed for the maximum duration of Parliament under the Septennial Act of 17151 ($535). See "The Public General Statutes," of Great Britain and Ireland, for 1911; Chapter 13, pp. 38-40. VI. William the Conqueror's Charter to London ($107). "William, the King, greets William the Bishop, and Gosfrith the Port-reeve [or chief officer of the city] and all the burghers [or citizens] within London, French and English, friendly and I do you to wit that I will that ye twain be worthy of all the law that ye were worthy of in King Edward's day. And I will not endure that any man offer any wrong to you. God keep you." Taswell-Langmead's " English Constitutional History," Chapter 1, p. 18. E. A. Freeman, in his "Norman Conquest," IV, 29, says that William signed this charter with a cross (in addition to his seal, which was attached to the document), but Dr. R. R. Sharpe, in his "History of London and the Kingdom," I, 34, note 1, states that "this appears to be a mistake." Dr. Sharpe is the "Records Clerk" of the City, and he shows that there is no trace of any cross on the charter, which is now preserved in the Guildhall Library, London. Note on Magna Carta (see p. xxix). Opinions in regard to its meaning and value differ widely. Speaking of it Bishop Stubbs (in his "Early Plantagenets," p. 150) calls it the most important of all the great enunciations of " English liberty," and he declares that maintenance of the Charter became "the watchword of English freedom." On the other hand Professor G. B. Adams, of Yale University, does not hesitate to say Political History of England," II, p. 437), "What we consider to-day the great safeguards of Anglo-Saxon liberty are all conspicuously absent" from Magna Carta, nor could the men who framed it understand them in the meaning we now give them. Finally Professor A. F. Pollard, of the University of London, says (in his "History of England," pp. 54-55): "The barons would have cared little for liberties which they had to share with the common herd. To them liberty meant privilege and monopoly; it was not a general right to be enjoyed in common. Now Magna Carta is a charter not of liberty,' but of liberties'; it guaranteed to each section of the coalition [i.e. barons, clergy, and burghers or citizens] those special privileges which Henry II and his sons had threatened or taken away. . . . Legally, the villeins, who were the bulk of the nation, remained after Magna Carta, as before, in the position of a man's ox or horse to-day, except that there was no law for the prevention of cruelty to animals." 1 This date is usually given 1716. EGBERT TO GEORGE V* 1. Egbert (descended from Cerdic, 495), first "King of the English," 828-837 30. Edward I, 1272-1307 31. Edward II, 1307-1327 32. Edward III, 1327-1377, m. Philippa of Hainault *The heavy lines indicate the Saxon or Early English and Norman sovereigns with their successors. † Henry I (No. 24) m Matilda of Scotland, a descendant of Edmund II (Ironside) (No. 16). Henry II m. Eleanor of Aquitaine, the divorced queen of France, thereby acquiring large possessions in Southern France. Henry VII (called Henry of Richmond and Henry of Lancaster): by his marriage with Elizabeth of York, the rival claims. of the houses of Lancaster and York were settled and the house of Tudor began. 54. George 55. Wil- Edward, IV, 1820- liam IV, Duke of 1830 1830-1837 Kent, d. 1820 56. Victoria, 1837-1901 Mary Queen of Scots stood next in order of succession after Mary (No. 43), provided Henry VIII's marriage with Catharine of Aragon (Mary's mother) was held not to have been dissolved. The Pope never recognized Henry's divorce from Catharine, or his marriage with Anne Boleyn, and therefore supported Mary Queen of Scots in her claim to the English crown after Mary's (43) death in 1558. **Richard III (No. 39) married Anne Neville, widow (?) of Edward, Prince of 57. Edward VII, Wales (son of Henry VI), slain at Tewkesbury. tt Commonwealth and Protectorate, 1649-1660. XXXV # See p. 163. 1901-1910 58. Georg A CLASSIFIED LIST OF BOOKS OF ENGLISH HISTORY [The marks contemporary or early history] N.B. A selected list of twenty-eight works, especially adapted to the use of teachers and pupils for reference and collateral reading, is given on this first page. It includes the names of publishers with prices. General Histories Oman, C. History of England (earliest times to the present). 7 vols. Putnam's Sons, N.Y. ($3.00 per vol.). Gardiner, S. R. A Student's History of England, illustrated, 3 vols. Longmans, N.Y. ($3.50); or bound in one very thick volume ($3.00). Tout, T. F. History of England, 1 vol. Gardiner, S. R. English History. Holt, N.Y. Bright, J. F. History of England, 4 vols. Green, J. R. A Short History of the English People, I vol. Harper & Bros., N.Y. ($2.00); the same beautifully illustrated, 4 vols. ($20.00). Brewer, J. S. The Student's Hume, 1 vol. Murray, London (7s 6d). Creighton, M. Epochs of English History, 6 small vols. in one. Longmans, N.Y. ($1.25). Knight, C. The Popular History of England, 9 vols., illustrated. Warne, London (£3 3s.). English Constitutional History Ransome, C. Rise of Constitutional Government in England, 1 vol. Longmans, N.Y. ($2.00). (An excellent short constitutional history.) Taswell-Langmead, T. P. English Constitutional History, new and revised edition, 1 vol. Stevens & Haynes, London ($3.12). (This is the best complete constitutional history of England.) Feilden, H. St. C. A Short Constitutional History of England (revised edition), I vol. Ginn and Company, Boston ($1.25). (This is a reference manual of exceptional value.) General Works of Reference Cannon, H. L. Reading References for English History, 1 vol. Ginn and Company, Boston ($2.50). (This is a work practically indispensable to both teachers and students. See further, p. xl.) Low and Pulling. Dictionary of English History (revised edition), 1 vol. Cassell, N.Y. ($3.50). Gardiner, S. R. A School Atlas of English History, I vol. Longmans, N.Y. ($1.50). Lee, G. C. Source-Book of English History (giving leading documents, etc.), 1 vol. Holt & Co., N.Y. ($2.00). Cheyney, E. P. Readings in English History, vol. Ginn and Company, Boston ($1.80). Kendall, E. K. Source-Book of English History, vol. The Macmillan Company, N.Y. (80 cents). Acland and Ransome. English Political History in Outline. Longmans, N.Y. ($1.25). (Excellent for reference.) Powell, J. York. English History from Contemporary Writers, 16 vols. Nutt & Co., London (Is. per vol.) (A series of great value.) Cheyney, E. P. Industrial and Social History of England, 1 vol. The Macmillan Company, N.Y. ($1.40). Gibbins, H. de B. An Industrial History of England, 1 vol. Scribner's, N.Y. ($1.20). Cunningham and MacArthur. Outlines of English Industrial History. The Macmillan Company, N.Y. ($1.50). Church, A. J. Early Britain. (Story of the Nations Series.) Putnams, N.Y. ($1.50). Story, A. T. The Building of the British Empire, 2 vols. Putnams, N. Y. ($3.00). McCarthy, J. The Story of the People of England in the XIXth Century, 2 vols. Putnams, N.Y. ($3.00). BOOKS OF ENGLISH HISTORY Works of Reference to be found in Libraries Hunt, W., and Poole, R. L. Political History of England (earliest times to the present). 12 vols. Traill, H. D. Social England, 6 vols. The International Encyclopædia, 17 vols. Adams's Manual of Historical Literature. Henderson's Side Lights on English History. Poole's Index to Reviews. I. THE PREHISTORIC PERIOD Dawkins's Early Man in Britain. Elton's Origins of English History. Geoffrey of Monmouth's Chronicle (legendary). Geike's Influence of Geology on English History, in Macmillan's Magazine, 1882. II. THE ROMAN PERIOD, 55, 54 B.C.; A.D. 43-410 *Cæsar's Commentaries on the Gallic War (Books IV and V, chiefly 55, 54 B.C.). *Tacitus' Agricola and Annals (chiefly from 78-84). *Gildas' History of Britain (whole period). *Bede's Ecclesiastical History of Britain (whole period). Wright's The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon. Elton's Origins of English History. Pearson's England during the Early and Middle Ages. Scarth's Roman Britain.1 III. THE SAXON OR EARLY ENGLISH PERIOD, 449-1066 *The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (whole period). *Gildas' History of Britain (Roman Conquest to 560). *Bede's Ecclesiastical History of Britain (earliest times to 731). *Nennius' History of Britain (earliest times to 642). xxxvii *Geoffrey of Monmouth's Chronicle (legendary) (earliest times to 689). Asser's Life of Alfred the Great. Green's Making of England. Freeman's Norman Conquest, Vols. I-II. Freeman's Origin of the English Nation. Stubbs's Constitutional History of England. Taine's History of English Literature. Church's Beginning of the Middle Ages. Armitage's Childhood of the English Nation.2 Freeman's Early English History." IV. THE NORMAN PERIOD 1066-1154 *The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Peterborough continuation) (whole period). *Ordericus Vitalis' Ecclesiastical History (to 1141). *Wace's Roman de Rou (Taylor's translation) (to 1106). *Bruce's Bayeux Tapestry Elucidated (with plates). *William of Malmesbury's Chronicle (to 1142). *Roger of Hoveden's Chronicle (whole period). Freeman's Norman Conquest. Taine's History of English Literature. Armitage's Childhood of the English Na tion.3 Johnson's Normans in Europe.3 Creighton's England a Continental Power,3 V. THE ANGEVIN PERIOD, 1154-1399 *Matthew Paris's Chronicle (1067-1253). *Richard of Devizes's Chronicle (1189-1192). *Froissart's Chronicles (1325-1400). *Jocelin of Brakelonde's Chronicle (11731102) (see Carlyle's Past and Present, Book II). Norgate's Angevin Kings. Taine's History of English Literature. Pearson's England in the Early and Middle Maurice's Stephen Langton. Creighton's Life of Simon de Montfort. Seebohm's Essay on the Black Death, in Maurice's Wat Tyler, Ball, and Oldcastle. 1 The best short history. 2 The two best short histories. 3 The four best short histories. |