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Modern Constitutional Conditions,

469

from a want of the element of antiquity, which lends much of its charm to what is usually known as historical research, and of the dramatic element, which rouses zeal and curiosity in the observer of the incidents of mere political change. Constitutional life is longer than political life, but shorter than historical life. There are many readers who can stand the strain of a lengthened antiquarian investigation, and there are many who can eagerly devour the recent anecdotes of political vicissitude. But it is only a limited class of students who can find mental sustenance and moral stimulus in tracking out the slow, patient, oscillating story of constitutional change. The story is perhaps rather less than more attractive when it is the story of modern life, and therefore implicated in the often repulsive annals of party discord, and in the biographies of persons only too familiarly known in their private capacities. Nevertheless, this detailed and modern history of the Government in relation to the people and the people in relation to the Government, when deeply studied and accurately scrutinised, presents the truest of all aspects of the national life and character. It is not in the individual life, or even in the family or social life, that the last and most precious products of character are elicited or can be exhibited. Nor, again, is it either in the mere sufferance of political wrong, or the noble reaction against such wrong, that the whole temperament and real proclivities of a people can be manifested. The people can be best studied in their attitude towards what may be called the chronic and necessary conditions of national existence. These conditions, which are, in fact, the essential or juridical elements of the Constitution,-are not in themselves

of a kind to attract attention by their singularity, their majesty, or their scenic portentousness. They are, indeed, often commonplace in their nature; and, as civilisation improves, they tend to identity in all nations. But the conduct of the people in view of constitutional requirements, or anticipated constitutional change, may present the utmost diversity from country to country, and from age to age. It is here that supreme and unselfish conscientiousness, in the absence of all mere excitement, is truly tested. It is here that the value placed by a people on liberty, and on the opportunity of a free moral life for all, is put to the proof. It is here, and here alone, that a people can show whether they know what is the worth of that which they have inherited, what are its shortcomings, what is the cost of handing on to their successors the good things they have, and whether they are willing to endure the silent but stern sacrifices which may be required to defray it.

INDEX.

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Appropriation Act, the, 97, 98
Arbitration, International, motion
on, carried against the Govern-
ment in 1873, 180, 181
Army and Navy Administration,
necessity of Parliamentary

vigilance as to, 391, 392
Articles of War, Act enabling the
Crown to publish, 267
Ashburton Treaty, the, 183
ASHLEY, LORD (EARL OF
SHAFTESBURY), motions of, for
educational and factory re-
form, 132, 133

Asia Minor, obligations under-
taken by England with regard
to, 377; 382, 383; 388
Associations, political, 64, 65
AUSTIN, MR. JOHN, paper of, on
Centralisation, 138, note
Australia. See Colonies, Depen-
dencies, Victoria, &c.
Australian Colonies Government
Act, 1850, 160

Authority, the supreme, where
situated and how limited, the
main inquiry with regard to a
Constitution, 2, 3

Mr. Lowe on the supreme, in
England, 26-28

B

BADEN POWELL, MR. G., on the
bi-cameral system in Victoria,
166

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BAGEHOT, MR. WALTER, work of,
on the Constitution, 1

on the consequences of the
Reform Act of 1832, 18

- on the extent of the Royal
Prerogative, 360

Ballot Act of 1872, 37-43
Ballot, views of Mill and Grote
on the, 39; 41, 42

Bank Act of 1833 (Lord Al-
thorpe's Act), 123

Bank Charter Act of 1844, 123-
126

Bank of England, constitution of
the, in its present relation to
the State, 123-125

Banks, legislation with regard to,
126

Bankruptcy and insolvency laws,

reform of, 136; 455
BATH, MARQUIS OF, opposition
of, to the subjection of Crown
private estates to rates and
taxes, 219

BEACONSFIELD, LORD, criticism
of, on the Duke of Wellington's
remark on the House of Lords,
32

-

on the finality of decisions of
Election Judges, 44, 45

on the Committee of Foreign
Loans libel publication case,
80

on the pre-eminent importance
of Foreign Affairs, 179, 1 0
- speech of, on Lord Palmer-
ston's Conspiracy Bill, 186

speech of, on the Royal Titles
Bill, 214, 215; 375

view of the Bedchamber ques-
tion presented by, in 'Co-
ningsby,' 234

criticism of, on the Prince
Consort's presence at a Corn
Law debate, 251, 252

- motion of, in May 1855, in
favour of carrying on the war,
256

correspondence of, with Lord
Carnarvon, relative to the re-

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BEACONSFIELD, LORD, comments
of, on the conduct of Sir R.
Peel and the Duke of Welling-
ton, with regard to Corn Law
repeal, 348-350

on the dependence of Parlia-
ment on the Prerogative, 354,355
- conduct of, in 1868, in leaving
the Queen to determine whether
the Ministry should resign or
not, 355-357.

- novel relations between the
Executive and Parliament, es-
tablished during the Govern-
ment of, 468

Bedchamber Question, the, 233,
234; 235-238

Belligerents, shipbuilding for, 207,
208

BENTHAM, influence of, on Crim-
inal Code reform, 436
BENTINCK, LORD GEORGE, com-
ments of, on the Prince Consort's
presence at a Corn Law debate,
251
Berlin, Congress of, 377, 378
Berlin, Treaty of, 290; 383; 388
BERRY, MR. GRAHAM, on the
differences between the two
Houses in Victoria, 163, 164
BETHELL, SIR R. (LORD WEST-
BURY), opinion of, on the law
and practice of Parliament
as not applicable to Colonial
Legislatures, 176

- opposition of, to the Russian
Securities Bill, 205

opinion of, on the testamentary
rights of the Crown, 220
Bill of Rights, relation of the
Sovereign to the country as
determined by the, 325

- provisions of, with regard to a
standing army, 385-387

- popular reference to, as a
bulwark of liberty, 422

Bills. See Money Bills, Private
Bills, &c.

-

Index.

BIRKBECK, PROF., on the Russian
Securities Act, 206, note
BLACKBURN, MR. JUSTICE, opi-
nion of, on the imposition of
Colonial taxes by the Imperial
Legislature, 158

BOUVERIE, MR., comment of, on
Mr. Disraeli's attempt to make
the Queen responsible for a
dissolution, 357

BOWEN, SIR G. F., on the Victorian
Constitution, 165

BRAND, MR., Speaker of the House
under Liberal and Conservative
Governments, 358

BRIGHT, MR., part taken by, in
debate on the Russian war, in
1855, 258

British Columbia Government Act,
1858, 404

BROUGHAM, LORD, dispute of,
with Lord Melbourne, on the
designation of the Duchess of
Kent, 225, 226

opposition of, to the settlement
of the Prince Consort's pre-
cedence by Royal Prerogative,

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473

Ministry,

- the, an outgrowth of the Privy
Council, 267-270; 271-274
- relation of the, to Parliament
and the Crown, 267-268

- Council, origin of the term,
269, 270

--

-

the first Whig, 270, 271

Sir G. C. Lewis on the legal
theory of the, 275, 276

Sir G. C. Lewis on the unity
of the, 276-278

- Mr. Gladstone on the internal
relations of the, 278-281

Earl Grey on the internal
relations of the, 281-283
illustrations of the internal
relations of the, 283-295

- secresy of Members of the, as
Privy Councillors, 295-298

relation of the Sovereign to the,
299-328

relations of the, with Parlia-
ment, 336-421

- possible influences at work in
a, 371-373

- doctrine of the omnipotence of
a, supported by Parliament,
468
CAIRNS, LORD CHANCELLOR, on
the Chancellorship as the
Speakership of the House of
Lords, 101, note

- letter of the Lord Chief Baron
to, on the secresy of the Privy
Council, 295-298
Campbell v. Hall, 156
Canada, constitution and con-
federation of, 152-154

admission of Hudson's Bay into
the Dominion of, 172, 404
- differences between Lord Lorne
and the Parliament of, 419
Canadian Confederation Act of
1867, 152-154

CANNING, definition of a patriot,
by, 412

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