time the barons, who had more than once attempted to establish the same virtual independence as was enjoyed by their fellows abroad, were taught to recognize the power of the Crown. The legislation of Henry I. and Henry II., and the establishment under the latter of a new nobility dependent for their status upon their ministerial services, coupled with the incorporation of the national system of justice with the feudal system of the conquerors, united all classes of Englishmen and consolidated the nation, but in so doing raised to an alarming degree the power of the Crown. The miserable reign of John, and the tyrannical use he made of the power thus placed in his hands, called attention to the dangers which beset the administrative arrangements of his father. The total severance of England from France, which took place in his reign, and his rash quarrel with the Church, completed the work of national consolidation, but placed the united nation in antagonism to the throne. The nobility, which in other countries were the natural enemies of all classes below them, were thus forced to assume the lead of all who desired a reasonable amount of national freedom. The struggle to harmonize the relations which should exist between the Crown and the subject occupies the second period of our history. It assumes several forms; sometimes the dislike of foreigners, sometimes a desire for self-taxation, sometimes it seems little more than an outbreak of an over-strong nobility. But whatever its form, the fruits of the struggle were lasting. The rival claims of King and nation, acknowledged and regulated by the wisdom of Edward I., gave rise to that balanced constitution which in its latest development still exists among us. But it would seem that this great advance in government had been somewhat premature. In other nations institutions resembling our Parliament sprang into existence, and faded away before the power of the Crown, an effect which can be traced chiefly to the strong line of division separating the commonalty from the nobles. Without support from the nobility, and in all its interests in direct antagonism to it, the commonalty, after supporting the Crown in the destruction of the baronage, found itself in presence of a power to which it was unable to offer any resistance. Several causes already mentioned had in England weakened the sharp definition of classes, but there was a great risk even there of a similar failure of constitutional monarchy. It was as the leader of the nobility that Henry IV. first rose into importance in the reign of Richard II., and subsequently obtained the crown. The limitation of the franchise in the reign of Henry VI., and the consequent subserviency of Parliament, were steps towards the elevation of an aristocratical influence, which, had it grown till its suppression by the Crown was rendered necessary, would have reproduced in England the historical phenomena visible in France. Fortunately the nobility were not at