Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 5.djvu/144

124 without inquiry, and inquiry could only be faced before interested or otherwise favourable judges, the best security was to fill the Lower House with men who could be depended upon. It has been maintained or assumed, by some writers, that the election of members of Parliament under the Tudor princes had but the form of freedom; that the constituencies were treated with no more respect than if they had been deans and chapters of cathedrals, who, though permitted to pray to Heaven to be guided in the selection of their bishop, must nevertheless receive that guidance through the nomination of the Crown. The account of the election of 1552–3 will enable us to form a more discriminating judgment. Northumberland's House of Commons was, in fact, chosen, like the bishops, by a congé d'élire; it was a 'convention of notables,' such as Northumberland was pleased to direct to be elected; but such a mode of election is expressly stated to have been introduced on this occasion, and if freshly introduced, did not exist before. How the voting was conducted does not appear; and it is plain that the constituencies possessed no recognized means of enforcing their own choice; but it is plain, also, that the experiment of nomination was tried