On Parliamentary Government in England

mere local or temporary significance, but capable of general application, led me to think that, if the result were embodied in the form of a treatise on parliamentary government as administered in Great Britain, it might prove of practical value both in England and her colonies; and that in the constitutional states of continental Europe it might serve to make more clearly known the peculiar features of that form of government, which has been so often admired, but never successfully imitated. I therefore determined to avail myself of the resources of the well-stored library under my charge, and attempt the compilation of a work which, while trenching as little as possible on ground already worthily occupied by former writers, should aim at supplying information upon branches of constitutional knowledge hitherto overlooked.

I proposed at first to prepare, more especially for colonial use, a manual which should include a dissertation upon the peculiar features of 'Responsible Government' in the colonies. But I decided, after much reflection on the subject, to change my plan, and to confine myself to the exposition of parliamentary government in England. I arrived at this conclusion, firstly, from a conviction that the safest guide to the colonies, whose institutions are professedly modelled upon those of the mother country, will be found in a detailed account of the system which prevails in the parent state; and, secondly, because parliamentary government in our colonies is still in its infancy, and its success is as yet but problematical. The well-understood wishes of the people, as expressed through their representatives,' has indeed been the acknowledged maxim of colonial rule;

and, so far as they are applicable to colonial society, the principles of the British Constitution have, in the main, been faithfully carried out. But it is easy to foresee that some considerable modifications must at no distant day be introduced into the fabric of colonial government, to enable it to resist the encroachments of the tide of democratic ascendancy, which is everywhere uprising, and threatening to overwhelm the powers that be.' Most of the British colonies still enjoy the advantage of an immense extent of unoccupied territory, affording to industrious men of the humblest class the opportunity of becoming landowners, and of achieving a degree of comfort and independence which naturally inclines them to be supporters of law and order. Nevertheless, from an observation of the working of our municipal institutions in Canada, and of the characteristics and results of responsible government in the British dependencies generally, it is evident that the democratic element is everywhere gaining the mastery, and is seeking the overthrow of all institutions that are intended to be a check upon the popular will.

The great and increasing defect in all parliamentary governments, whether provincial or imperial, is the weakness of executive authority. It may be difficult to concede to the governor of a colony the same amount of deference and respect which is accorded to an English sovereign. But any political system which is based upon the monarchical principle must concede to the chief ruler something more than mere ceremonial functions. It is the tendency of the age in which we live to relax. the bonds of all authority, and to deprive all rank and station, not directly derived from the people, of

the influence which it has heretofore possessed. The hereditary dignity of the British Crown itself has, within the last half century, sustained considerable loss. In popular estimation in our own day the prerogatives of royalty are accounted as well-nigh obsolete; and whatever may be the degree of affection expressed towards the occupant of the throne, the sovereign of England is too often regarded as but little more than an ornamental appendage to the state, and her rightful authority either derided or ignored. These erroneous ideas, it need scarcely be said, are not shared by any who have participated in the direction of state affairs. But they are widely diffused, even amongst educated men. The true position of the sovereign in a parliamentary government may not appear to be capable of exact definition, because much will always depend upon the personal character of the reigning monarch. But in the treatment of this difficult question, I have endeavoured to reflect faithfully the views of the most experienced statesmen of the present day; and while I have elsewhere claimed for the popular element in our constitution its legitimate weight and influence, I have here sought to vindicate for the monarchical element its appropriate sphere; being convinced that the functions of the crown are the more apt to be unappreciated because their most. beneficial operations are those which, whilst strictly constitutional, are hidden from the public eye.

In attempting to define the limits between the authority of the crown and that of the legislature under parliamentary government, I have never relied upon my own interpretations, but have always illustrated the matter in hand by reference to the best opinions recorded in the

debates of Parliament, or in evidence before select committees of either House. Such testimony, for the most part from the lips of eminent administrators and politicians now living, or but recently deceased, is of the highest value, especially when it embodies information upon the usages of the constitution which had not previously appeared in print. It is in the abundant use of such valuable material, never before incorporated in any similar treatise, that the chief claim of my work to public attention must consist.

Notwithstanding these obvious advantages, I am deeply conscious of its many defects and shortcomings; and in submitting it to the favourable consideration of those to whom it is addressed, I can only plead, as an excuse for its deficiencies, an honest endeavour to supply a want which must have been often experienced, by men engaged in public life, both at home and abroad.

LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT, OTTAWA, CANADA:

ALPHEUS TODD.

December 1866.

CONTENTS

THE FIRST

VOLUME.

PAGE