Greece have
presented against her invaders a strong monarchy which could unite all
her heroes in one common command, her enemies would not so easily have
prevailed against her.

Monarchy, then, in the development of European life seemed merely a
stage of progress not unlike that of feudalism itself--a stage of
progressive government; and it was only when it was carried to a
ridiculous extreme in France and in England--in France under the
Louis's and in England under the Stuarts--that it finally appeared
detrimental to the highest interests of the people. On the other hand,
the weak {345} republicanism of the Middle Ages had not sufficient
unity or sufficient aggressiveness to maintain itself, and gave way to
what was then a form of government better adapted to conditions and
surroundings. But the fires of liberty, having been once lighted, were
to burst forth again in a later period and burn with sufficient heat to
purify the governments of the world.

_Beginning of Constitutional Liberty in England_.--When the Normans
entered England, feudalism was in its infancy and wanted yet the form
of the Roman system. The kings of the English people soon became the
kings of England, and the feudal system spread over the entire island.
But this feudalism was already in the grasp of monarchy which prevailed
much more easily in England than in France. There came a time in
England, as elsewhere, when the people, seeking their liberties, were
to be united with the king to suppress the feudal nobility, and there
sprang up at this time some elements of popular representative
government, most plainly visible in the parliament of Simon de Montfort
(1265) and the "perfect parliament" of 1295, the first under the reign
of Henry III, and the second under Edward I. In one or two instances
prior to this, county representation was summoned in parliament in
order to facilitate the method of assessing and collecting taxes, but
these two parliaments marked the real beginnings of constitutional
liberty in England, so far as local representation is concerned.

Prior to this, in 1215, the nobles and the commons, working together,
had wrested the concession of the great _Magna Charta_ from King John,
and thus had established a precedent of the right of each class of
individuals to have its share in the government of the realm; under its
declaration king, nobility, and commons, each a check upon the other,
each struggling for power, and all dev