Governments of Europe

Front matter

THE GOVERNMENTS OF EUROPE

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO DALLAS • SAN FRANCISCO

MACMILLAN & CO., Limitbd

Preface

It is a matter of common observation that during the opening years of the twentieth century there has been, in many portions of the civilized world, a substantial quickening of interest in the principles and problems of human government. The United States is happily among those countries in which the phenomenon can be observed, and we have witnessed in recent times not only the organization of societies and the establishment of journals designed to foster research within the field, but also a notable multiplication and strengthening of courses in political science open to students in our colleges and universities, as well as the development of clubs, forums, extension courses, and other facilities for the increasing of political information and the stimulation of political thinking on the part of the people at large. It is the object of this book to promote the intelligent study of government by supplying working descriptions of the governmental systems of the various countries of western and central Europe as they have taken form and as they operate at the present day. Conceived and prepared primarily as a text for use in college courses, it is hoped none the less that the volume may prove of service to persons everywhere whose interest in the subject leads them to seek the sort of information which is here presented.

The content of the book has been determined, in the main, by three considerations. In the first place, it has been deemed desirable to afford a wide opportimity for the comparative study of political institutions, especially by reason of the familiar fact that the governmental system of a minor country may, and frequently does, exhibit elements of novelty and of importance not inferior to those to be observed in the political organization of a greater state. Hence there are included descriptions of the governments of the minor as well as of the major nations of western and central Europe; and the original purpose to attempt some treatment of the governments of the eastern nations has been abandoned, somewhat reluctantly, only because of the demands of space, and because it was felt that this portion of the projected work would perhaps meet no very serious need in the usual college courses. In the second place, it is believed that the intelligent viii PREFACE

study of present-day governments must involve at all stages the taking into careful account of the historical origins and growth of these governments. Hence a considerable amount of space has been devoted to sketches of constitutional history, which, however, are in all instances so arranged that they may readily be omitted if their omission is deemed desirable. In the case of countries whose political system underwent a general reconstitution during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic era it has been thought not feasible to allude, even briefly, to historical developments prior to the later eighteenth century. In the third place, it has been considered desirable to include in the book some treatment of political parties and of the institutions of local administration.

Within a field so expansive it has been possible to undertake but an introduction to a majority of the subjects touched upon. In the foot-notes will be found references to books, documents, and periodical materials of widely varying types, and it is hoped that some of these may serve to guide student and reader to more intensive information.

The preparation of the book has been facilitated by the encouragement and the expert advice accorded me by a number of teachers of government in colleges and universities in various portions of the country. And I have had at all times the patient and discriminating assistance of my wife. For neither the plan nor the details of the work, however, can responsibility be attached to anyone save myself. I can only hope that amidst the multitude of facts, some elusive and many subject to constant change, which I have attempted here to set down, not many seriously vitiating errors may have escaped detection.

Frederic Austin Ogg.

Cambridge, Massachusetis, January lo, 1913.

Part I.— Great Britain Chapter Page

I. The Foundations of the Constitution

1. The Importance of Historical Background i

2. Anglo-Saxon Beginnings 2

3. The Norman-Plantagenet Period 6

4. The Rise of Parliament 11

5. Administrative and Judicial Development 16

6. The Tudor Monarchy 18

7. Parliament under the Tudors 21

8. The Stuarts: Crown and Parliament 26

9. The Later Stuarts: the Revolution of 1688-1689 31

II. The Constitution since the Seventeenth Century

1. Crown and Parliament after 1789 34

2. Rise of the Cabinet and of Political Parties 37

3. The Scottish and Irish Unions 39

4. The Nature and Sources of the Constitution 41

5. The Flexibility of the Constitution 44

III. The Crown and the Ministry

1. The Crown: Legal Status and Privileges 48

2. The Powers of the Crown 52

3. The Importance and Strength of the Monarchy 58

4. Privy Council, Ministry, and Cabinet 60

5. The Executive Departments 6i

6. The Cabinet: Composition and Character 64

7. The Cabinet in Action 70

IV. Parliament: The House of Commons

1. The House of Commons prior to 1832 77

2. Parliamentary Reform, 1832-1885 80

rs- The Franchise and the Electoral Questions of To-day 86

/ 4. Electoral Procedure and Regulations 92

ix

X TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

V. Parliament: The House of Lords

1. Composition 97

2. The Reform of the Lords: the Question prior to 1909 loi

( 3. The Question of the Lords, 1909-191 1 106

( 4. The Parliament Act of 191 1 and After 112

VI. Parliament: Organization, Functions, Procedure

1. The Assembling of the Chambers 117

2. Organization of the House of Commons 120

3. Organization of the House of Lords 1 25

4. Privileges of the Houses and of Members 126

/ 5. The Functions of Parliament 128

6. General Aspects of Parliamentary Procedure 132

( 7. The Conduct of Business in the two Houses 138

VII. Political Parties

1. Parliamentarism and the Party System 143

2. Parties in the Later Eighteenth and Earlier Nineteenth Centuries 145

3. The Second Era of Whig [Liberal] Ascendancy, 1830-1874 147

4. The Second Era of Conservative Ascendancy, 1874-1905 150

5. The Liberal Revival 155

6. The Rule of the Liberals, 1906-1912 158

7. The Parties of To-day 162

VIII. Justice and Local Government

1. English Law 167

2. The Inferior Courts 170

3. The Higher Courts 173

4. Local Government to the JNIunicipal Corporations Act, 1835 .... 176

5. Local Government Reform, 1835-1912 179

6. Local and Central Government 181

7. Local Government To-day: Rural 183

8. Local Government To-day: Urban 186

Part Ii.— Germany

IX. The Empire and its Constitution

1. Political Development Prior to 1848 193

2. The Creation of the Empire 198

3. The Constitution: Nature of the Empire 202

4. The Empire and the States 205

X. The Imperial Government: Emperor, Chancellor, and BundesiLath

1. The Emperor 210

2. The Chancellor 213

3. The Bundesrath 217

TABLE OF CONTENTS xi

CHAPTER PAGE

XI. The Imperial GovER^fME^^^: Reichstag, Parties, Judiciary

1. Composition of the Reichstag — Electoral System 223

2. Organization and Powers of the Reichstag 226

3. The Rise of Political Parties 229

4. Party Politics after 1878 233

5. Parties since 1907 236

6. Law and Justice 241

XIL The Constitution of Prussia — ^The Crown and the Ministry

1. The German States and their Governments 245

2. The Rise of Constitutionalism in Prussia 246

XIIL The Prussian Landtag — Local Government

1. Composition of the Landtag 257

2. The Movement for Electoral Reform 260

3. Organization and Functions of the Landtag 263

4. Local Government: Origins and Principles 265

5. Local Government: Areas and Organs 268

XIV. The Minor German States — Alsace-Lorraine

1. The More Important Monarchies 275

2. The Lesser Monarchies and the City Republics 279

3. Alsace-Lorraine 282

Part Iii.— France

XV. Constitutions since 1789

1. A Century of Political Instability 289

2. The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Era 290

3. From the Restoration to the Revolution of 1848 295

4. The Second Republic and the Second Empire 297

5. The Estabhshment of the Third Republic 301

6. The Constitution of To-day 304

XVI. The President, the Ministry, and Parliament

1 . The Pre^dent 308

2. The Ministry 311

3. Parliament: Senate and Chamber of Deputies 315

4. The Problem of Electoral Reform 319

XVII. Parliamentary Procedure — Political Parties

1. Organization and Workings of the Chambers 325

2. Political Parties since 1871 329

XVIII. Justice and Local Government

1. French Law 335

2. The Courts 337

3. Local Government: Development since 1789 341

4. Local Government To-day 346 xii TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PART IV.— ITALY PACE

XIX. Constitutional Development in the Nineteenth Century

1. The Era of Napoleon 353

2. The Restoration and the Revolution of 1848 358

3. The Achievement of Unification 362

4. The Constitution 365

XX. The Italian Governmental System

2. Parliament: the Senate 372

3. The Chamber of Deputies — Parliamentary Procedure 375

4. The Judiciary 381

5. Local Government 383

XXI. State and Church — Political Parties

1. Quirinal and Vatican 387

2. Parties and Ministries, 1861-1896 391

3. The Era of Composite Ministries, 1896-1912 395

4. Phases of Party Politics 398

PART v.— SWITZERLAND

XXII. The Constitutional System— The Cantons

1. The Confederation and Its Constitutions 405

2. The Nation and the States 411

3. Cantonal Legislation: the Referendum and the Initiative. . . . 416

4. The Cantonal Executive and Judiciary 421

XXin. The Federal Government

1. The Executive 423

2. Legislation: the Federal Assembly 426

3. Legislation: the Referendum and the Initiative 430

5. The Judiciary 437

Part Vi.— Austria-hungary

XXIV. Austria-Hungary Prior to the Ausgleich

1. Austrian Political Development to 1815 442

2. Hungarian Political Development to 1815 445

3. The Era of Metternich 450

4. The Revolution of 1848 453

5. The Revival of Constitutionalism: the Ausgleich 456

XXV. The Government and Parties of Austria

1 . The Constitution 460

3. The Reichsrath — the Electoral System 465

TABLE OF CONTENTS Xlil

CHAPTER PAGE

XXVI. The Government and Parties of Hungarv

1. The Constitution 489

3. Parliament — the Electoral System 492

XXVn. Austria-Hungary: The Joint Government

1. The Common Organs of Government 510

2. The Territories of Bosnia and Herzegovina 514

Part Vii.— The Low Countries

XXVin. The Government of Holland

1. A Century of Political Development 517

3. The States-General and Political Parties 525

XXIX. The Government of Belgium

1. The Constitution — the Crown and the Ministry 534

2. The Houses of Parliament — the Electoral System 538

3. Parties and Electoral Reform since 1894 — Parliamentary

Procedure 542

PART Vni.— SCANDINAVIA

XXX. The Government of Denmark

1. Development Prior to 1814 553

2. The Rise of Constitutionalism, 1814-1866 556

3. The Crown and the Ministry 55Q

4. The Rigsdag — Political Parties 562

XXXI. The Swedish-Norwegian Union and the Government of Norway

1. Political Development to 1814 570

2. The Swedish-Norwegian Union, 1814-1905 573

3. The Norwegian Constitution — Crown and Ministry 578

4. The Storthing — Political Parties 581

XXXII. The Government or Sweden

1. The Constitution — the Crown and the Ministry 589

2. The Riksdag — the Electoral System 591

3. The Riksdag in Operation — Political Parties 597

XIV TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PART IX.— THE IBERIAN STATES page

XXXIII. The Government of Spain.

1. The Beginnings of Constitutionalism 603

2. Political and Constitutional Development, 1833-1876 606

3. The Present Constitution 611

5. The Cortes 616

XXXIV. The Government of Portugal

1. A Century of Political Development 629

2. The Government of the Kingdom 634

3. The Revolution of 1910 639

4. The Constitution of 191 1 643

Chapter I The Foundations Of The Constitution

I. The Importance of Historical Background

1. Political Pre-eminence of Great Britain. — George III. is reported to have pronounced the English constitution the most perfect of human formations. One need hardly concur unreservedly in this dictum to be impressed with the propriety of beginning a survey of the governmental systems of modern Europe with an examination of the political principles, rules, and practices of contemporary Britain. The history of no other European nation, in the first place, exhibits a development of institutions so prolonged, so continuous, and so orderly. The governmental forms and agencies of no other state have been studied with larger interest or imitated with clearer effect. The pubhc policy of no other organized body of men has been more influential in shaping the progress, social and economic as well as political, of the civilized world. For the American student, furthermore, the approach to the institutions of the European continent is likely to be rendered easier and more inviting if made by way of a body of institutions which lies at the root of much that is both American and continental. There are, it is true, not a few respects in which the governmental system of the United States to-day bears closer resemblance to that of France, Germany, Switzerland, or even Italy than to that of Great Britain. The relation, however, between the British and the American is one, in the main, of historical continuity, while that between the French or German and the American is one which arises largely from mere imitation or from accidental resemblance.

2. The Continuity of Institutional History. — No government can be studied adequately apart from the historical development which has made it what it is; and this ordinarily means the tracing of origins and of changes which stretch through a prolonged period of time. Men have sometimes imagined that they were creating a governmental system de novo, and it occasionally happens, as in France in 1791 and in Portugal in 191 1, that a regime is instituted which has little apparent connection with the past. History demonstrates, however, in the first place, that such a regime is apt to perpetuate more of the old than is at the time supposed and, in the second place, that unless it is connected vitally with the old, the chances of its achieving stability or permanence are inconsiderable. In Germany, for example, if the institutions of the Empire were essentially new in 187 1, the governmental systems of the several federated states, and of the towns and local districts, exhibited numerous elements which in origin were medieval. In France, if central institutions, and even the poHtical arrangements of the department and of the arrondissement, do not antedate the Revolution, the commune, in which the everyday political activity of the average citizen runs its course, stands essentially as it was in the age of Louis XIV.

If the element of continuity is thus important in the political system of Germany, France, or Switzerland, in that of England it is fundamental. It is not too much to say that the most striking aspect of English constitutional history is the contmual preservation, in the teeth of inevitable changes, of a preponderating proportion of institutions that reach far into the past. " The great difficulty which presses on the student of the English constitution, regarded as a set of legal rules," observes a learned commentator, "is that he can never dissociate himself from history. There is hardly a rule which has not a long past, or which can be understood without some consideration of the circumstances under which it first came into being." ^ It is the purpose of the present volume to describe European governments as they to-day exist and operate. It will be necessary in all cases, however, to accord some consideration to the origins and growth of the political organs and practices which may be described. In respect to Great Britain this can mean nothing less than a survey, brief as may be, of a thousand years of history.

II. Anglo-Saxon Beginnings

The earliest form of the English constitution was that which existed during the centuries prior to the Norman Conquest. Political or-

1 W. R. Anson, The Law and Custom of the Constitution (3d ed., Oxford, 1897), I., 13- ganization among the Germanic invaders of Britain was of the most rudimentary sort, but the circumstances of the conquest and settlement of the island were such as to stimulate a considerable elaboration of governmental machinery and powers. From the point of view of subsequent institutional history the most important features of the Anglo-Saxon governmental system were kingship, the witenagemot, and the units of local administration — shire, hundred, borough, and township.^

3. Elingship. — The origins of Anglo-Saxon kingship are shrouded in obscurity, but it is certain that the king of later days was originally nothing more than the chieftain of a victorious war-band. During the course of the occupation of the conquered island many chieftains attained the dignity of kingship, but with the progress of political consolidation one after another of the royal lines was blotted out, old tribal kingdoms became mere administrative districts of larger kingdoms, and, eventually, in the ninth century, the whole of the occupied portions of the country were brought tmder the control of a single sovereign. Saxon kingship was elective, patriarchal, and, in respect to power, limited. Kings were elected by the important men sitting in council, and while the dignity was hereditary in a family supposedly descended from the gods, an immediate heir was not unlikely to be passed over in favor of a relative who was remoter but abler.^ In both pagan and Christian times the royal office was invested with a pronouncedly sacred character. As early as 690 Ine was king "by God's grace." But the actual authority of the king was such as arose principally from the dignity of his office and from the personal influence of the individual monarch.^ The king was primarily a war-leader. He was a law-giver, but his "dooms" were likely to be framed only in consultation with the wise men, and they pertained to little else than

1 See G. B. Adams, The Origin of the English Constitution (New Haven, 1912)^ Chap. I. That the essentials of the English constitution of modern times, in respect to forms and machinery, are products of the feudalization of England which resulted from the Norman Conquest, and not survivals of Anglo-Saxon governmental arrangements, is the well-sustained thesis of this able study. That many important elements, however, were contributed by Anglo-Saxon statecraft is beyond dispute.

^Thus, in 871, the minor children of Ethelred I. were passed over in favor of Alfred, younger brother of the late king.

' The Anglo-Saxon king was "not the supreme law-giver of Roman ideas, nor the fountain of justice, nor the irresponsible leader, nor the sole and supreme politician, nor the one primary landowner; but the head of the race, the chosen representative of its identity, the successful leader of its enterprises, the guardian of its peace, the president of its assemblies; created by it, and, although empowered with a higher sanction in crowning and anointing, answerable to his people." W. Stubbs, Select Charters Illustrative of English Constitutional History (8th ed., Oxford, 1895), I3.

the preservation of the peace. He was supreme judge, and all crimes and breaches of the peace came to be looked upon as offenses against him; but he held no court and he had in practice little to do with the administration of justice. Over local affairs he had no direct control whatever.

4. The Witenagemot. — Associated with the king in the conduct of public business was the council of wise men, or witenagemot. The composition of this body, being determined in the main by the will of the individual monarch, varied widely from time to time. The persons most likely to be summoned were the members of the royal family, the greater ecclesiastics, the king's gesiths or thegns, the ealdormen who administered the shires, other leading officers of state and of the household, and the principal men who held land directly of the king. There were included no popularly elected representatives. As a rule, the witan was called together three or four times a year. Acting with the king, it made laws, imposed taxes, concluded treaties, appointed ealdormen and bishops, and occasionally heard cases not disposed of in the courts of the shire and hundred. It was the witan, furthermore, that elected the king; and since it could depose him, he was obliged to recognize a certain responsibihty to it. "It has been a marked and important feature in our constitutional history," it is pointed out by Anson, " that the king has never, in theory, acted in matters of state without the counsel and consent of a body of advisers." ^

5. Township, Borough, and Hundred. — By reason of their persistence, and their comparative changelessness from earliest times to the later nineteenth century, the utmost importance attaches to Anglo-Saxon arrangements respecting local government and administration. The smallest governmental unit was the township, comprising normally a village surroimded by arable lands, meadows, and woodland. The town-moot was a primary assembly of the freemen of the village, by which, under the presidency of a reeve, the affairs of the township were administered. A variation of the township was the burgh, or borough, whose population was apt to be larger and whose pohtical independence was greater; but its arrangements for government approximated closely those of the ordinary township. A group of townships comprised a hundred. At the head of the himdred was a hundred-man, ordinarily elected, but not infrequently appointed by a great landowner or prelate to whom the lands of the hundred belonged. Assisting him was a coimcil of twelve or more freemen. In

1 Law and Custom of the Constitution, 11., Pt. I., 7. Cf. W. Stubbs, Constitutional History of England, I., 127.

the hundred-moot was introduced the principle of representation, for to the meetings of that body came regularly the reeve, the parish priest, and four "best men" from each of the townships and boroughs comprised within the hundred. The hundred-moot met as often as once a month, and it had as its principal function the adjudication of disputes and the decision of cases, civil, criminal, and ecclesiastical.

6. The Shire. — Above the hundred was the shire. Originally, as a rule, the shires were regions occupied by small but independent tribes; eventually they became administrative districts of the united kingdom. At the head of the shire was an ealdorman, appointed by the king and witan, generally from the prominent men of the shire. Subordinate to him at first, but in time overshadowing him, was the shire-reeve, or sheriff, who was essentially a representative of the crowTi, sent to assume charge of the royal lands in the shire, to collect the king's revenue, and to receive the king's share of the fines imposed in the courts. Each shire had its moot, and by reason of the fact that the shires and bishoprics were usually co-terminous, the bishop sat with the ealdorman as joint president of this assemblage. In theory, at least, the shire-moot was a gathering of the freemen of the shire. It met, as a rule, twice a year, and to it were entitled to come all freemen, in person or by representation. It was within the competence of those who did not desire to attend to send as spokesmen their reeves or stewards; so that the body was likely to assume the character of a mixed primary and representative assembly. The shire-moot decided disputes pertaining to the ownership of land, tried suits for which a hearing could not be obtained in the court of the hundred, and exercised an incidental ecclesiastical jurisdiction.^

^ The classic description of Anglo-Saxon political institutions is W. Stubbs, Constitutional History of England in its Origin and Development, 3 vols. (6th ed., Oxford, 1897), especially I., 74-182; but recent scholarship has supplemented and modified at many points the facts and views therein set forth. A useful account (though likewise subject to correction) is H. Taylor, The Origins and Growth of the English Constitution, 2 vols, (new ed., Boston, 1900), I., Bk. i., Chaps. 3-5; and a repository of information is J. Ramsay, The Foundations of England, 2 vols. (London, 1898). A valuable sketch is A. B. White, The Making of the English Constitution, 449-1485 (New York, 1908), 16-62. A brilliant book is E. A. Freeman, The Growth of the Enghsh Constitution (4th ed., London, 1884); but by reason of Professor Freeman's over-emphasis of the perpetuation of Anglo-Saxon institutions in later times this work is to be used with caution. Political and institutional history is well set forth in T. Hodgkin, History of England to the Norman Conquest (London, 1906), and C. W. C. Oman, England before the Norman Conquest (London, 1910). A useful manual is H. M. Chadwick, Studies on Anglo- Saxon Institutions (Cambridge, 1905); and an admirable bibliography is C. Gross, The Soiirces and Literature of English History (London, 1900).

III. The Norman-Plantagenet Period

At the coming of William the Conqueror, in 1066, two fundamental principles may be said to have been firmly fixed in the English political system. The first was that of thoroughgoing local self-government. The second was that of the obligation of the king, in all matters of first-rate importance, such as the laying of taxes and the making of laws, to seek the counsel and consent of some portion of his subjects. In the period which was inaugurated by the Conquest neither of these principles was entirely subverted, yet the Norman era stands out distinctly as one in which the powers of government were gathered in the hands of the king and of his immediate agents in a measure unknown at any earlier time. Building in so far as was possible upon foundations already laid, William was able so to manceuver the consequences of the Conquest as to throw the advantages all but wholly upon the side of the crown. Feudalism, land-tenure, military service, taxation, the church — to all was imparted, by force or by craft, such a bent that the will of the sovereign acquired the practical effect of law, and monarchy in England, traditionally weak, was brought to the verge of sheer absolutism.

7. Extension of Centralized Control. — In respect to the actual mechanism of government the principal achievement of the Norman- Plantagenet period was the overhauling and consolidation of the agencies of administration. Despite the fact that local institutions of Saxon origin were largely respected, so that they have continued to this day the most substantial Anglo-Saxon contribution to English polity, there was a notable linking-up of these hitherto largely disassociated institutions with the institutions of the central government. This was accomplished in part by the dissolution of the earldoms by which the monarchy had been menaced in later Saxon days, and in part by a tremendous increase of the power and importance of the sheriffs. It was accomplished still more largely, however, by the organization of two great departments of government — those of justice and finance — presided over by dignitaries of the royal household and manned by permanent staffs of expert ofl5cials. The department of justice comprised the Curia; that of finance, the Exchequer. At the head of the one was the Chancellor; at the head of the other, the Treasurer. The principal oflScials within the two comprised a single body of men, sitting now as justitiarii, or justices, and now as barones of the Exchequer. The profits and costs of asserting and administering justice and the incomings and outgoings of the Exchequer were but different aspects of the same fundamental concerns of state.^ The justices of the Curia who held court on circuit throughout the realm and the sheriffs who came up twice a year to render to the barons of the Exchequer an account of the sums due from the shires served as the real and tangible agencies through which the central and local governments were knit together. As will appear, it was from the Norman Curia that, in the course of time, there sprang immediately those diversified departments of administration whose heads comprise the actual executive of the British nation to-day.

8. King and Great Council. — Untrammelled by constitutional restrictions, the Conqueror and his earlier successors recognized such limitations only upon the royal authority as were imposed by powerful and turbulent subjects. Associated with the king, however, was from the first a body known as the Commune Concilium, the Common, or Great, Council. "Thrice a year," the Saxon Chronicle tells us, " King William wore his crown every year he was in England ; at Easter he wore it at Winchester; at Pentecost, at Westminster; and at Christmas, at Gloucester; and at these times all the men of England were with him— archbishops, bishops and abbots, earls, thegns and knights." By the phrase ''all the men of England" is to be understood only the great ecclesiastics, the principal officers of state, and the king's tenants-in-chief— in truth, only such of the more important of these as were summoned individually to the sovereign's presence. At least in theory, however, the Norman kings were accustomed to consult this gathering of magnates, very much as their predecessors had been accustomed to consult the witenagemot, upon all important questions of legislation, finance, and public policy. It may, indeed, be said that it is the development of this Council that comprises the central subject of English constitutional history; for, "out of it, directly or indirectly, by one process or another, have been evolved Parliament, the Cabinet, and the courts of law." ^

9. The Plantagenet Monarchy.— During the century and a half following the death of the Conqueror the vigor of the monarchy varied enormously, but not until the days of King John can there be said to have been any loss of power or independence which amounted to more than a passing circumstance. In a charter granted at the beginning of his reign, in iioo, Henry I. confirmed the liberties of his subjects and promised to respect the laws of Edward the Confessor; but the new sovereign did not propose, and no one imagined that he intended to propose, to relax any of the essential and legitimate power which had