I.  Europa.  601  35.  Großbritannien  und  Irland.

HOUSE  OF  HANOVER.
George  I.  (Son  of  Elector  of  Hanover,  by  Sophia,  dau.  of  Elizabeth,  dau.  0fJ.I)  .  1714  1727

George  II.  (Only  son  of  G.  IL).  .  .  2:  2  2  2  m  Er  er  rn.  1727  1760
George  III.  (Grandson  of  G.  II).  .  .  2.  2  2  2  2  er  m  En  Er  re  er  rn.  1760  1820
George  IV.  (Eldest  son  of  G.  III.)  .  .  .  :  2  2  2  2  m  nr  2  nr  2  rer  nn.  1820  1830
William  IV.  (3rd.  son  of  G.  III)  .  ..  2  2  2  0  nr  En  nr  ren.  1830  1837
Victoria  (Daughter  of  Edward,  4th  son  of  G.  II.).  .  -  -  :  2:  2  ee  0.  .  1837  1901
HOUSE  OF  SAXE-COBURG.

Edward  VII  (Eldest  son  of  Queen  Victoria).  -  -  »  2  2  2  2  2er  ee.  1901  Whom

God  Preserve

The  Constitution.  Introducetory  BRemarks.

England  the  classic  home  of  the  ideal  and  modern  Constitution,  offers  the  greatest  difficulties
  to  those  who  would  study  her  constitution,  for  it  is  to  a  large  extent  unwritten.  Its  rules
can  be  found  in  no  written  document;  it  is  built  upon  old  laws  and  precedents  reaching  back
into  ‘grey  antiquity‘.  Its  institutions  are  so  vast,  so  apparently  disconnected,  illogical,  confusing.
and  contradictory,  that  the  student  stands  before  it,  much  as  a  solitary  woodman  stands  alone,
axe  in  hand  to  clear  a  densly  wooded  continent;  he  does  not  know  where  to  begin.

It  is  said  of  Tocqueville  that  he  made  the  remark  about  the  English  constitution:  elle
n’existe  point!.  *Other  constitutions  have  been  built;  that  of  England  has  been  allowed  to  grow,
and  so  the  organism  has  gradually  adapted  itself  to  ite  environment.  Its  development  has  been
biological  rather  than  mechanical;  and  for  this  reason  it  is  still  instinct  with  vitality,  while  some
of  its  much  later  imitators  show  signs  of  stiffness  and  desiccation‘?,  To  speak  with  Anson:  “Our
constitution  is  a  somewhat  rambling  structure,  and  like  a  house  which  many  successive  owners
have  eltered  just  so  far  as  suited  their  wants  at  the  time  of  their  possession,  it  bears  the  marks
of  many  hands,  and  is  convenient  rather  then  symmetrical‘“?.  f

It  is  clear  that  any  attempt  to  offer  even  a  description  in  outline  of  that  ponderous  machine
the  British  Constitution  in  an  article  of  this  scope  is  futile.  But  the  author*  will  feel  that  he  has
not  failed  in  his  object  if  he  has  given  the  earnest  inquirer  a  few  hints  and  directions  as  to  which
paths  he  is  to  traverse,  and  to  where  he  is  to  turn  for  information.

Ancient  political  writers  recognised  three  forms  of  government,  that  of  democracy,  of
aristocracy  and  of  monarchy.  And  they  allrecognise,  whatever  the  form,  there  must  be  an  authority
in  which  the  jure  summa  imperii  reside®.  Modern  writers  speak  of  “sbsolute‘,  ““pure‘‘  or  ““mixed“
forms  of  government.  The  English  Constitution  is  a  “Mixed  Constitution“.  England  is  a  Limited
Monarchy.

6  1.  The  Monarch.

The  present  King  of  England  is  described  as:

Edward,  by  the  Grace  of  God  of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  and
of  the  British  Dominions  beyond  the  Seas  King.  Defender  of  the  Faith‘.  Emperor  of
India’,

:  Also  quoted  by  Sidney  Low  in  “The  Governance  of  England”  (Lond.  1906).
em  p.  6.

®  «Law  and  Custom  of  the  Constitution”  (1892  ed),  V.  I,  p.  31.

4  Compiler  would  be  the  fitter  appellation;  for  we  must  all  go  to  Hallam,  Stubbs,
Todd,  Erskine  May,  Dicey,  Änson  and  Gneist.

8  Ci.  Blackstone,  “Commentaries  of  the  Laws  of  England”  (1880  ed)  vol  I.,  p.  50;
De  Lome  On  the  Constitution;  Hallem,  Middle  Ages  p.  153,  and  Constitutional  History.

®  Defensor  Fidei  was  the  title  conferred  by  Pope  Leo  X.  on  Henry  VIII.  as  a  reward  for
writing  against  Martin  Luther!  It  dates  quinto  Idus  Octob.  1521.  On  King  Henry’s  supproseing
the  houses  of  religion  the  Pope  took  the  title  away;  but  the  title  was  confirmed  in  the  25th  year
of  his  reign,  and  has  been  adopted  by  all  succeeding  sovereigns.

’  The  title  Empress  of  India  was  assumed  by  Queen  Viotoria  in  1858.

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