Peers in France had still the King of England under their jurisdiction;

and Philippe le Bel cited Edward I. to appear before him. Edward I. was

the king who ordered his son to boil him down after death, and to carry

his bones to the wars. Under the follies of their kings the Lords felt

the necessity of fortifying Parliament. They divided it into two

chambers, the upper and the lower. The Lords arrogantly kept the

supremacy. "If it happens that any member of the Commons should be so

bold as to speak to the prejudice of the House of Lords, he is called to

the bar of the House to be reprimanded, and, occasionally, to be sent to

the Tower." There is the same distinction in voting. In the House of

Lords they vote one by one, beginning with the junior, called the puisne

baron. Each peer answers "Content," or "Non-content." In the Commons

they vote together, by "Aye," or "No," in a crowd. The Commons accuse,

the peers judge. The peers, in their disdain of figures, delegated to

the Commons, who were to profit by it, the superintendence of the

Exchequer--thus named, according to some, after the table-cover, which

was like a chess-board; and according to others, from the drawers of the

old safe, where was kept, behind an iron grating, the treasure of the

kings of England. The "Year-Book" dates from the end of the thirteenth

century. In the War of the Roses the weight of the Lords was thrown, now

on the side of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, now on the side of

Edmund, Duke of York. Wat Tyler, the Lollards, Warwick the King-maker,

all that anarchy from which freedom is to spring, had for foundation,

avowed or secret, the English feudal system. The Lords were usefully

jealous of the Crown; for to be jealous is to be watchful. They

circumscribed the royal initiative, diminished the category of cases of

high treason, raised up pretended Richards against Henry IV., appointed

797

The Man Who Laughs