n the new parliament,
which was regularly opened by Henry's commissioner as if they had been
duly elected.[180] In this contrivance, more than in all the rest, we
may trace the hand of lawyers.

[Sidenote: Retrospect of the progress of the constitution under Richard
II.]

[Sidenote: Its advances under the house of Lancaster.]

If we look back from the accession of Henry IV. to that of his
predecessor, the constitutional authority of the house of commons will
be perceived to have made surprising progress during the course of
twenty-two years. Of the three capital points in contest while Edward
reigned, that money could not be levied, or laws enacted, without the
commons' consent, and that the administration of government was subject
to their inspection and control, the first was absolutely decided in
their favour, the second was at least perfectly admitted in principle,
and the last was confirmed by frequent exercise. The commons had
acquired two additional engines of immense efficiency; one, the right of
directing the application of subsidies, and calling accountants before
them; the other, that of impeaching the king's ministers for misconduct.
All these vigorous shoots of liberty throve more and more under the
three kings of the house of Lancaster, and drew such strength and
nourishment from the generous heart of England, that in after-times, and
in a less prosperous season, though checked and obstructed in their
growth, neither the blasts of arbitrary power could break them off, nor
the mildew of servile opinion cause them to wither. I shall trace the
progress of parliament till the civil wars of York and Lancaster: 1. in
maintaining the exclusive right of taxation; 2. in directing and
checking the public expenditure; 3. in making supplies depend on the
redress of grievances; 4. in securing the people against illegal
ordinances and interpolations of the statutes; 5. in controlling the
royal administration; 6. in punishing bad ministers; and lastly, in
establishing their own immunities and privileges.

1. The pretence of levying money without consent of parliament expired
with Edward III., who had asserted it, as we have seen, in the very last
year of his reign. A great council of lords and prelates, summoned in
the second year of his successor, declared that they could advise no
remedy for the king's necessities without laying taxes on the people,
which could only be granted in parliament.[181] Nor was Richard ev