Page:A School History of England (1911).djvu/92

 been signed the idea that the nation ought in some way to control the King was in the air; and the question was what shape this control should take. As you know, Parliament to-day consists of two Houses, Lords and Commons. The House of Lords is a direct descendant of the barons of the thirteenth century. The eldest son of a baron, earl, marquis or duke inherits the right to receive from the King a letter calling him by name to Parliament whenever it meets. The King can ‘create’ a man a baron, and the creation carries with it this right to receive the letter of summons. Perhaps there were nearly two hundred great barons in Henry II’s reign; there are now over six hundred. The bishops always received a similar letter of summons, and, until the Reformation, so did the leading abbots. It was in the reign of Henry III that this Great Council began to take its shape. The King no doubt disliked it, for he disliked all control, and its business certainly was to control him. But he found that he could not do without it.

The origin of the House of Commons is quite different. It, to-day, also has over six hundred members, chosen from different towns and districts of the United Kingdom, by all persons who have the right to vote. Now, before the end of the reign of Henry Il, as I told you, the King had been in the habit of sending officials into each county and town to consult with the chief landowners and citizens, and to discover what amount of taxes that county or city could bear. These people met in the old Saxon court of justice, called the ‘County Court’, to which all free landowners ought to come; and they elected ‘knights’ or gentlemen to speak for them. In Henry III’s reign the brilliant idea