ower,
continue to be maintained;--rich Commoners and Royal Favourites being
introduced to supply the places of extinguished Families, or those whose
wealth had fallen into decay. This prerogative grew without immoderate
exercise till the close of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. The first of
the Stuarts employed it lavishly, not considering the changes that had
taken place. His predecessors of the House of Tudor, by breaking down
the feudal strength of the Lords, and by transfer (through the
Reformation) of the Spiritual supremacy to themselves as temporal
Sovereigns, had come into possession of a superfluity of power which
enabled the Crown to supply what was wanted in the Peers for their own
support. But through remote operation of the same causes, the Commons
were rising fast into consequence, with a puritanical spirit of
republicanism spreading rapidly amongst them. Hence the augmentation of
the number of Peers, made by James the First, notwithstanding the
addition of property carried by it to the Upper House, did not add
sufficient strength to that body to compensate for the distastefulness
of the measure to the people; and, as far as the property of the New
Peers was but the creature of prodigal grants from the Crown, the
conjoint strength of the two Estates received no increase. In the
meanwhile surrenders were made of the power of the Crown with infatuated
facility; till the Commons became so strong that the right of creating
Boroughs, being openly disputed, was almost abandoned; and the speedy
consequence of the whole was that the two parliamentary Estates of King
and Lords fell before the intemperance of the third. After the
restoration, the disputes about the bounds of Liberty and Prerogative
were revived; but Prerogative was gradually abandoned for the less
obnoxious and less obvious operations of influence. The numerous
creations of Peers were complained of; but, whatever motive might have
governed those creations, they were justified by the necessity of
things. Large as were the additions made to the number of Peers they
were insufficient to give the House its due weight as a separate Estate
in the Legislature. Through the reigns of Charles, William, and Anne,
whether the Crown was disposed to tyranny, or the Commons were venal,
factious, or arbitrary, we see too many proofs of the Lords wanting
natural strength to maintain their rights, and carry their patriotic
wishes into effect, even when they were support