the offence laid to his charge, that has derived any advantage from his not being tried by a jury of commoners."

the infolence

and oppreffions of the nobility.

Before I enter upon the third branch of Security against the legislature, I beg leave to fubmit to my readers one obvious reflection upon the excellent conftitution of the aristocratical power or eftate in our government, which besides all the active and paffive checks, which it commands upon the two other branches of the legiflature, provides alfo a natural and intrinfic fecurity to the people against incroachments, infolence, and oppreflions, but too frequently the fatal effects of fuperiority and pre-eminence of rank in other countries. By whatever privileges or prerogatives the peers are still diftinguished from or elevated above the people or commoners in this country, they are enjoyed folely and perfonally by the peers themselves, but do not, unless in fome very flight inftances, affect any part of their families, who, though commonly called noble, yet in reality remain commoners, and are reprefented in parliament. by the third estate of the kingdom. So the

• Such are the right of peereffes to be tried by the peers; fome honourable appellations and diftinctions of their immediate children in rank and precedency, &c.

lords

lords spiritual, whofe dignities are not hereditary, can have no temptation nor inducement to opprefs, vilify, or injure that estate, of which their own family is and must for ever remain a part. The temporal lords, who in the ordinary course of nature have generally spent the most active, spirited, and ambitious part of their lives as commoners, and moft frequently as members of the house of commons, and who at most times have more than one of their family in the house of commons, whilft they enjoy their hereditary feats in the house of peers, are for thefe, as well as the more generous and ele vated motives of patriotifm, fo congenial with their noble breasts, emphatically withholden from attempting any encroachments or oppreflions, or even feeling a fense of contempt, and much lefs of oppreffive infolence, towards the third and moft numerous eftate of the community.

CHAP.

CHAP. XIV.

OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

"THE

"HE third eftate, of which we fhall herein principally treat, is on all hands confeffed to confift of the knights, citi

zens, and burgefes, with the barons of the cinque-ports; all which being at this day elected by the free votes of the freemen of Great-Britain, are properly esteemed the representative body of the people, and constitute that part of the parliament, ufually called the house of commons. (N. B.) The ancient modus tenendi parl. reckons up fix degrees or orders of parliament, but that divifion cannot be denominated fix eftates."

"The numbers of the commons I find to have been formerly variant, according as the fheriffs of counties (from what motives is uncertain) were pleafed to direct their precepts to the several cities or boroughs within their respective counties, or as the fame fheriffs made their returns thereupon; but indeed another cause of this variation was, that it was usual for the prince, on his acceffion to

*Lex Parliamentaria, p. 4, 5, 6, 7.

the

Knights, citi

zens, and bur

gefies the rethe people. prefentatives of

Their numbers formerly varied according to the sheriffs.

difcretion of the

at their accef

fion granted charters to

towns to fend

representatives

Kings formerly the throne, to grant charters to ancient de. mefne vills, and other popular towns, thereby erecting them into free boroughs, and this confequently gave them a right to be reprefented in parliament; and by this artifice, among others, the crown advanced its interests in the house of commons.

to parliament,

By whom the

elections were

formerly made.

"For it must be confeffed, that by the an. cient conflitution, there were no reprefentatives of the commons, as commons in parlia ment, befides the knights for the fhires, the barons for the cinque-ports *, the citizens for the cities, and the burgeffes for the ancient boroughs only; and that the elections for all thofe were to be made by such persons only, as were poffeffed of lands or tenements, held by them as freeholds or free burgage tenures, which confequently excluded all villeins and copyholders †, as alfo tenants in ancient demefne (which were but the king's villeins) and the tenants and dependants of other lords, from being either the electors, or elected of the houfe of commons. Indeed, the practice of encreafing the number of the reprefentatives

Crompt of Courts, f. 2, 3, &c. Stat. 23 H. VI.

C. II.

Stat. 12 R. II. c. 12. Crom. 2, 3, 4, 5. Bro. Ant. Dem. 431.

Parl. 96. Reg. 261. Nat. Bre. 14.

of

granted char

of the commons, began very early, viz. temp. Johan. (if not before) for I find it a practice King John of that prince * to grant, ufually in confide- ters for money. ration of money, &c. charters to ancient demefne towns (as generally all fea port towns were) thereby erecting them into free boroughs †, and hence it was, as I conceive, that Bridport, Dorchefter, Harwich, Helftone, Kingston upon Hull, and divers other ancient demefne towns came to be erected into free boroughs, which originally had no right of being reprefented in parliament.

But whatever methods were then taken to increase the number of the house of commons, I find their number to be much the fame from the end of Henry the Sixth's reign, to the beginning of that of Henry the Eighth, viz. about three hundred.

|| "That H. VIII. added to their

number

King Ed. VI.

38

44

The former and prefent numbers of reprefentatives.

* See Bohun's Col. per. tot.

+ The Representative of London and Weftminster,

p. 14. to p. 21. Spelm. in voce Major.