same language in which Spenser and Shakespeare had written seemed a sufficient plea to rescue the commons of England from the appellation of brutes, with which Henry VIII. had addressed them.  Among the more particular effects of this general improvement the most material and worthy to be considered appear to me to have been the frequency of debate in the House of Commons, and the additional value that came to be set on a seat in that assembly.

From these circumstances a sagacious observer may be led to expect the most important revolutions; and from the latter he may be enabled to foresee that the House of Commons will be the principal instrument in bringing them to pass.  But in what manner will that house conduct itself?  Will it content itself with its regular share of legislative power, and with the influence which it cannot fail to possess whenever it exerts itself upon the other branches of the legislative, and on the executive power; or will it boldly (perhaps rashly) pretend to a power commensurate with the natural rights of the representative of the people?  If it should, will it not be obliged to support its claims by military force?  And how long will such a force be under its control?  How long before it follows the usual course of all armies, and ranges itself under a single master?  If such a master should arise, will he establish an hereditary or an elective government?  If the first, what will be gained but a change of dynasty?  If the second, will not the military force, as it chose the first king or protector (the name is of no importance), choose in effect all his successors?  Or will he fail, and shall we have a restoration, usually the most dangerous and worst of all revolutions?  To some of these questions the answers may, from the experience of past ages, be easy, but to many of them far otherwise.  And he will read history with most profit who the most canvasses questions of this nature, especially if he can divest his mind for the time of the recollection of the event as it in fact succeeded.

The next period, as it is that which immediately precedes the commencement of this history, requires a more detailed examination; nor is there any more fertile of matter, whether for reflection or speculation.  Between the year 1640 and the death of Charles II. we have the opportunity of contemplating the state in almost every variety of circumstance.  Religious dispute, political contest in all its forms and degrees, from the honest exertions of party and the corrupt intrigues of faction to violence and civil war; despotism, first, in the person of a usurper, and afterwards in that of an hereditary king; the most memorable and salutary improvements in the laws, the most abandoned administration of them; in fine, whatever can happen to a nation, whether of glorious of calamitous, makes a part of this astonishing and instructive picture.