But his rule, freed from those parts for which, as yet, the gentry at all events were unprepared, established, definitely and for ever, the necessity of recurring sooner or later to the constitutional principles of the fourteenth century. In the Revolution of 1688 those principles triumphed. But they triumphed in the hands no longer of a great enthusiastic leader, but of a party, which found its chief supporters in a limited number of noble houses, whose aristocratic pride was injured by the arbitrary power of the sovereign, and whose influence in the formation of Parliament promised them political superiority under the establishment of parliamentary government. From that time till the present the scene of the contest has been changed. A party struggle of some thirty years gave place to the unchecked predominance of parliamentary rule. And the last period of our history has been occupied by the efforts of the excluded nation to make their voice heard above that of a nominal representation, consisting in reality of the representatives of a dominant class, under the influence either of the great Whig families or of the Crown. GENEALOGIES OF THE LEADING FAMILIES (_The founder of the family a kinsman of William I._) DE BOHUNS (HEREFORD, ESSEX, NORTHAMPTON). Henry de Bohun = Maud, daughter of Geoffrey | Fitz-Peter, Earl of Essex. 1st Earl of Hereford. | Hereditary Constable of England. | One of the Guardians of the | Charter. Taken prisoner at | battle of Lincoln. Died 1220. | | +---------------+ | Humphrey, 2nd Earl of = Maud, daughter of Earl of Ewe. Hereford. Made also | Earl of Essex by Henry | III. Godfather to Prince | Edward. On Barons’ | side. Taken prisoner | at Evesham. Restored | to favour. | Humphrey = Eleanor, daughter of Commanded on | Eve and William de Braose. Barons’ side | at Lewes. | Taken prisoner | at Evesham. | Died 1266. | | Humphrey, 3rd Earl of Hereford = Maud, daughter of and Essex. Restored to favour | Ingelram de Fines. by Edward I. Fought in Scotland. | Refused to fight for | Edward I. Compelled him to | ratify the Charter. Died 1298. | | Humphrey, 4th Earl of Hereford = Elizabeth, daughter and Essex. Fought for | of Edward I.