An obvious parallel may be drawn between the Scottish Parliament, as we have described it, and the English Parliament under the Houses of York and Tudor. Historians of English constitutional history have frequently pointed out that these sovereigns were, by their use of Parliament, establishing, not their own power, but that of the institution which they regarded as a passive instrument in their hands; that Edward IV and Henry VIII were preparing difficulties for James I and Charles I. The force of this argument, as applied to Scotland, is greatly lessened by the fact that the rulers of Scotland did not regard as essential the consent even of a subservient body of Estates. Parliamentary ratification was, at best, a convenient method of declaring and recording what had been done. But it was no obstacle to an act of the executive that it had not been thus sanctioned. This want of the continuous and normal employment of parliamentary procedure combined with political causes to prevent the appearance of the effect produced in England. The view that we have stated can, of course, be pressed too far. The mere existence of parliamentary institutions, whatever be their condition at any given time, is in itself a menace to any government not founded on the will of the people. They represent what physicists call "potential energy." It is, moreover, impossible for such institutions not to affect, in some way, the life of the people, and to influence the civilization of the country. There were various times when the Scottish Parliament gave an earnest of what power lay underneath its acquiescence. There were occasions when the rise of a constitutional opposition was even probable; and there are places of which we can definitely say that here or there occurred an event in constitutional progress. But an investigation in the light of political history will, we think, go to establish the general truth of the theory we have adopted. It might be objected, _a priori_, that such a theory does not afford sufficient reason for the continuous existence of the Estates. But in the troubled story of mediæval Scotland we find, readily enough, the explanation at once of the continuous existence of Parliament and of the place that it occupied. It was a strictly feudal society, but it lacked the redeeming features of feudal government. Feudalism as a system of land tenure was complete, and it still remains the basis of Scots law. As a system of government founded upon land tenure, Scottish feudalism was, from one point of view, equally efficient, while, in another aspect, it could scarcely be said to exist. The Scottish baron was also the Scottish chief, and to the power of the oath of allegiance was added the mighty influence of clan loyalty. But outside this feudal hierarchy stood the king. Every land-owner in Scotland held from him, and none regarded him as deserving of more than tolerance. The royal domains were not large enough to enable the Crown to cope with