either House of Parliament." XI. The King and Queen assent to all the
articles of the Bill of Rights. XII. The Dispensing Power (S488,
note 1) abolished. XIII. Exception made in favor of charters, grants,
and pardons made before October 23, 1689.

The Act of Settlement, 1700-1701.[2]

Excludes Roman Catholics from succession to the Crown; and declares
that if a Roman Catholic obtains th eCrown, "the people of these
realms shall be and are thereby absolved of their allegiance." Settles
the Crown on the Electress Sophia,[3] and "the heirs of her body being
Protestants." Requires the sovereign to join in communion with the
Church of England. No war to be undertaken in defence of any
territories not belonging to the English Crown except with the consent
of Parliament. Judges to hold their office during good behavior. No
pardon by the Crown to be pleadable against an impeachment by the
House of Commons (S488).

[2] This act, says Taswell-Langmead, is "the Title Deed of the
reigning Dynasty, and a veritable original contract between the Crown
and the People."
[3] The Electress Sophia was the granddaughter of James I: she married
the Elector of Hanover, and became mother of George I. See
genealogical table of Descent of the English Sovereigns in the
Appendix.

MISCELLANEOUS ACTS AND LAWS

I. The Constitutions of Clarendon, 1164.

These measures (S165), says Bishop Stubbs, were "really a part of a
great scheme of administrative reform." They were drawn up by a
committee of bishops and barons, with the Justiciar or Chief Minister
at the head. The object of the Constitutions was "to assert the
supremacy of the State over clergy and laity alike." They limited the
jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts; they established a more
uniform system of justice; and, in certain cases, they provided for a
kind of jury trial (see Stubb's "Constitutional History," I, 525; or,
for a brief abstract of the Constitutions, see Acland and Ransome's
"Political History," p. 24).

II. Bill of Attainder, 1321.

This was a bill (first used apparently in 1321) passed by Parliament,
which might in itself decree sentence of death (SS351, 356).
Originally, the blood of a person held to be convicted of treason or
felony was declared to be *attainted* or corrupted so that his power
to inherit, transmit, or hold property was destroyed. After
Henry VIII's reign the law was modified so as not to work "corruption
of blood" i