If, however, there is any right belonging to the inhabitants of the said kingdom, which they possess by virtue of previous letters and concessions so made by thee, we mean not to withdraw these from them.
It shall not be allowed to any one absolutely to violate in any particular, or only to contradict the present act of abrogation, revocation, annulment, and abolition.
If any one dare to allow this in himself let him know that he incurs the indignation of the Almighty, and of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul. (Rymer, Acta Publica, vol. ii., p. 372.)
Lecture X.
Necessity of inquiring into the political sense of the word representation at the time when a representative government began to be formed.
Mistaken theories on this subject.
Rousseau's theory, which denies representation and insists on individual sovereignty.
Theories of writers who attempt to reconcile the principle of representation with that of individual sovereignty.
Erroneousness of the idea that the sovereignty belongs to the majority.
True idea of representation.
Meaning Of Representation.
We have studied the primitive institutions of the Anglo-Norman government; we have traced the successive steps in the history of the charters, and of the struggle which was carried on by the barons to secure their confirmation by the royal power; but up to this point we have not seen anything of a representative government. We have, however, now arrived at the point when this government began to appear. Our attention is now to be called to the creation of a Parliament, that is to say, to the birth of a representative system.
As we approach this great historical question, a question in political philosophy presents itself before us:—what is the true and legitimate sense of this word representation as applied to the government of a community? It is not for us to pass over this question without noticing it: the history of political institutions is now no longer a bare recital of facts, —it must rest on principles;—it neither deserves the name nor possesses the authority of science, till it has sounded and placed in clear light the primary foundation in reason, from which the facts which it collects trace their origin. Political history cannot now be otherwise than philosophical; this is demanded by the stage of human culture which the mind of society has reached.