The mere narration of the political facts of the reign, although it brings out prominently much of Edward’s greatness, gives no idea of the real constitutional importance of his work. Not only was he the first truly English King, both by his circumstances and political views, but he became, in virtue of his love of order and legal arrangement, the completer of the English Constitution. In the first place, it is to him that we owe the perfection of the Parliamentary system, of the complete representation in Parliament of the three Estates of the realm, the Lords, Commons, and Clergy. For it is plain that it was his intention to combine the three, although the clergy refused to accede to his wish, and preferred to tax themselves separately in Convocation; a body which however, as will be afterwards seen, also owes its representative arrangements to him. The gradual introduction of the representative system of the counties has been mentioned. Again and again, on special occasions, knights, to represent the shire and to give information with regard to their counties, had been summoned. Simon de Montfort had even introduced representation of the boroughs; but this was regarded as wholly exceptional. Nevertheless, Edward was not long in seeing both the justice and advantage of the system. In the first Parliament of his reign, when enacting the first great Statute of Westminster, a healing and restorative measure applicable to the whole country, he said that he made it with the consent of the _commonalty_; there were possibly representatives of the counties present; more probably their consent was arrived at in some other way. At the same time, the high view which he took of his own constitutional position is marked by a change in the ordinary form of enactment. Statutes had hitherto been enacted “by the counsel and consent of Parliament.” The alteration of a few letters changed the meaning of this phrase. The present statute was said to be enacted “by the King by the advice of his Council and the assent of Parliament.” The legislative power was thus made to reside in the King and his Council. It is the power thus claimed which gave rise to the legislative, or rather the ordaining power claimed by the King in Council, which was afterwards frequently complained of by the Parliament. But Edward, in spite of these pretensions, accepted the view that all should be consulted where the interests of all were at stake. This was of course chiefly in the matter of taxation, and the convenience as well as the justice of the method which Simon de Montfort had set on foot soon became evident to his mind. From the beginning of this reign, the method of taxation had been changed. Instead of an aid, raised from the land, it had become a subsidy raised by an assessment on the moveables of the people. Most frequently the proportion granted was a tenth or fifteenth, but in these early times every variety of proportion was granted. As yet, however, these taxes