It has been surmised that the clergy and the burgesses acted with the Crown, in opposition to the nobles; but to state such a formula is to read English ideas into Scottish history. The historian can point to scarcely an instance where the nobles were definitely ranged in a body against the king. If nobles were the most prominent opponents of the Crown, nobles were also its most prominent supporters, although the _personnel_ of both parties constantly varied. The bishops, as we have seen, were often dependent upon the great lords. As to the burgesses, it seems to be clear that the three or four of them who were included among the Lords of the Articles acted with the party in power. Only thus can we explain the fact that alike when the Douglases and the Boyds and the Hamiltons ruled the land the administrative enactments of Parliament progressed without any difficulty. These acts were frequently passed "by request of the burgesses," and they were obeyed only in the towns. The people of the towns had small reason to oppose either noble or king. The hand of the great lord lay heavy on the inhabitants of the country, but the burghs knew no such pressure. 4. Scarcely less important than the membership of a parliamentary body is the method of its deliberation. In this respect the Scottish Parliament was widely different from that which sat at Westminster. The three Estates met in one chamber. In the centre was the seat occupied by the sovereign, when he was present in person; in later times, by his commissioner. On the left hand sat the noblemen and barons; on the right, the prelates and the representatives of burghs. The Estates voted together. The president was, in general, the lord chancellor. He was, at the first, nominated by the king for the purpose, but he gradually came to hold the position _ex officio_. The absence of a speaker for the Commons deprived them of much of the power possessed by the third Estate in England. The Act of 1427, to which we have already referred, included among its provisions the creation of this office; but, like the rest of the act, this clause was not enforced, and it was never resuscitated. The theory of the three Estates was practically complete by the year 1400, although we have occasional instances of legislation without this formality. A parliament of James II, for example, made a statute regarding merchants "with consent of the clergy and barons alone," and in 1449, on a question of heirship, the prelates and burgesses were "removed" before the decision was made.