commercial classes, and the advantage of giving them a voice in choosing their representatives. He thus made them to some extent responsible for the measures which were taken to find money for the King.

I have now traced the origin of our present Houses of Lords and Commons, but I must say a little more about their forming two separate Houses.

of Parlia

Lords and

Commons,

import

ance.

It is difficult, as I have said, to find out exactly when the House of Commons was formally separated from the House of Lords; but the fact that they were thus separated is of great importance. There can be Separation no doubt that the necessity for all measures, except ment into the levying of taxes, being debated in both Houses, House of ensures a fuller consideration of all that is brought House of before them. It also prevents the rise of a despotic power, which would be sure to spring up from the uncontrolled authority of a single chamber. It is of of great importance too that there are only two Houses of deliberation. There might have been three Houses. It would not have been an unnatural proposal that the lords should sit in one House, the county members in another, and the representatives of towns in a third. But had this been the case, class would have been set against class, and endless contests would have been the result. There is, lastly, one more peculiarity of our Parliamentary System, and it is this, viz., That although we have an hereditary aristocracy it is not entirely separated from the people. The sons of peers are only commoners, and they can be and frequently are elected as members of the House of Commons. As, in ancient times, a ceorl or churl could become a thane, so, in modern. times, commoners are often made peers: and thus

I

History of the laws of

England.

the Peerage is constantly recruited from the commoners of the realm.

In ancient times Parliaments used to be held at various places throughout the kingdom. This custom probably arose from the King making journeys throughout the kingdom to his various vills and manors, where he held Courts; but for several centuries Parliament has met in Westminster only.

Administration of Justice or putting the Laws
in force.

You of course know that it is Parliament which makes our laws, and I shall now proceed to tell you how the laws were in the earliest times put in force; how the system of enforcing the laws was gradually changed; and in subsequent lectures I shall endeavour to trace the system to its present state.

It will be curious to trace out the history of our different Courts of Law, and what were the especial functions or duties of each; to know when and how the Court of Chancery sprang into existence; what was the beginning of the Court of King's Bench, and of the Ecclesiastical Courts; and what was the meaning of a Court of Exchequer, and of a Court of Common Pleas. I am sure you will also wish to know when and how it was that the Lord Chancellor began to advise the King and be the keeper of the King's conscience, as he is called even now; and when it was that the Judges were first appointed. It will interest you to know how a man, who was charged with murder, robbery, or any other crime, was found to be guilty or innocent of the charge; and how a man was dealt with who broke his oath, who

agreed to do a thing and did not do it. It is useful for every man to know something about these matters now, but it is very interesting to find out what was the beginning of them.

Origin of the Laws of England.

justice.

Now, I must begin by telling you that there is no The King maxim of early law, so often repeated, as that "The tain of all King is the fountain of all law and of all justice." law and Bracton, a learned lawyer of the time of Henry the Third, whose reign I mean to tell you about in my next lecture, says, "The King would have been bound, by his coronation oath, himself to deal out justice to his people, if such a task could have been performed by him; but, as he could not do this, it was his duty to appoint able men as justices, sheriffs, and ministers to do it for him." 31

English

The earliest code or body of laws of which we The earliest hear in our history, was that of Ethelbert, King of code of Kent, about the year A.D. 600.103 In imitation of the laws. Romans, on whose laws most of our early laws were founded, he issued his decrees, and his Gewitenagemote or council of wise men, of which I have told you, gave him its advice on them. It thus appears that it was the King who brought matters before the wise men, and that they only gave their advice on such matters as he brought before them. Indeed, so far was the maxim carried, "That the King was the fountain of all law," that it was even admitted that, "Whatsoever pleased the King had all the force of law." In this code of Ethelbert, almost every kind of injury might be compounded for by a payment in money.3 A certain sum of money was to be

At first all paid for the murder of a thrall or peasant, and a

crimes might be atoned for by money

payment.

Laws of
Canute,

Edward the

and Wil

liam the

Conqueror.

certain larger sum for the murder of a ceorl or churl. This seems to have been the first substitute for private revenge in cases of injury with violence. After a time such crimes were subject to other punishments, and after a further time they were again atoned for by a payment in money.32

After Ethelbert's code of laws the most important Was that of Canute. In this were embodied the laws of Confessor, Ine King of Wessex, in A.D. 688, of Alfred, Edgar, and Canute's other predecessors. "The laws of Edward the Confessor" are constantly referred to in the disputes between the King and his subjects; but this does not mean new laws, made by Edward, but laws which were in use in his time. The laws of William the Conqueror were founded on those of Canute.

Shire

motes, or county courts; burg

motes, or town

courts; and hundredcourts,

presided over by the Eorl,

8

How the Laws were enforced.

These codes consisted of the unwritten or common law and custom of the kingdom, collected together in one body for use. I must now tell you how, from the earliest Anglo-Saxon times, the laws were put in force. I have already told you that, in Alfred's time, England was divided into counties or shires, and these were again divided into hundreds and tithings. Well, there were, at that time, shiremotes or county courts, held twice a-year; burgmotes, or town courts, held twice or three times a-year; and hundred-courts, held every month.13 104 At these courts, all the thanes, or free owners of land, of the neighbourhood, were bound to attend, and they acted both as judge and jury.15 The Eorl, or Count of the shire, always acted as their president or