The representation of the
people in the British House of Commons was, however, originally very
unequal, and is yet not equal. Indeed, it may be doubted whether the
appearance of knights and burgesses, assembling on the summons of the
crown, was not intended at first as an assistance and support to the
royal prerogative, in matters of revenue and taxation, rather than as a
mode of ascertaining popular opinion. Nevertheless, representation had a
popular origin, and savored more and more of the character of that
origin, as it acquired, by slow degrees, greater and greater strength,
in the actual government of the country. The constitution of the House
of Commons was certainly a form of representation, however unequal;
numbers were counted, and majorities prevailed; and when our ancestors,
acting upon this example, introduced more equality of representation,
the idea assumed a more rational and distinct shape. At any rate, this
manner of exercising popular power was familiar to our fathers when they
settled on this continent. They adopted it, and generation has risen up
after generation, all acknowledging it, and all learning its practice
and its forms.
The next fundamental principle in our system is, that the will of the
majority, fairly expressed through the means of representation, shall
have the force of law; and it is quite evident that, in a country
without thrones or aristocracies or privileged castes or classes, there
can be no other foundation for law to stand upon.
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