1. Chapter One: The British Constitution H. T. Dickinson
In chapter one of H.T. Dickenson‘s Companion to Eighteenth-Century -The British
Constitution book, Dickenson distinguished the British constitution from the other late 18th
century constitutions most notably the American Constitution of1787 and a succession of
constitutions in revolutionary France in the 1790s not for its Precedence but that it is
unwritten. For Dickenson to explain the main features of the British constitution we need first
to look at the contemporary debates on four aspects of that constitution: its origins, its
structure, the location of sovereignty and the liberties of the subject. Then take a look at how
the political system operated within these constitutional restraints: looking at the role of the
monarch and his ministers, at the management of parliament and at church–state relations.
I. The Ideological Debate on the Constitution
The origins of the constitution
Three controversy notions of the origins of the constitution arose during the eighteenth
century: divine right, the original contract and the ancient constitution.
A. The Divine right
The advocators of divine right theory believed that monarchs were chosen by god .which
imposed subjects and their properties at the mercy of an absolute king. However, this was no
longer the case for the catholic sovereign during the mid-eighteenth, where a system of
limited monarchy was established by the Glorious Revolution. John Locke, in his celebrated
Two Treatises of Government (1690), had argued that divine right was a slavish doctrine and
that the only legitimate form of government was one established by consent and framed in
order to secure for all men their natural rights to life, liberty and property.
B. the original contract
This theory, originated during the Age of Enlightenment that typically addresses the
questions of the legitimacy of the authority of the state over the individual. Yet, in the later
eighteenth century radicals came to pass Locke consent views by not only reviving the
original contact but probing the way they would ensure that government defended the natural
rights of all men. Among them Thomas Paine in his Rights of Man (1791–2) disputing over
creating a written constitution in which all men had the right to vote.
C. the ancient constitution
It is considered to be the most prevalent notion of the origins of the constitution understood
that this ancient constitution could be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon era before the Norman
Conquest of 1066. It was used by the opponents of royal absolutism who believed in the

2. subjects power that could abolish the ‘Norman yoke' which were proved later on by The
Glorious Revolution.
Dickenson culminated the three notions of the constitution origin by Edmund Burke(an
Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher, who, after moving to
England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of
the Whig party) precise position:
“Edmund Burke maintained that the constitution was prescriptive and had developed
gradually over many centuries without conscious human contrivance or systematic design. It
was the Product of history and experience, not the deliberate result of human reason or will.
Its authority rested not on any original contract or known first principles, but on the evidence
that it had existed time out of mind and had made thousands of adjustments to the needs
created by altered circumstances and the changing habits of the people. “
Mixed government and the balanced constitution
It was believed during the eighteenth century that the British constitution could not ever be
better for that it was a mixed government, a mixture of monarchy, aristocracy, democracy,
and balanced constitution. Since the supreme legislature was composed of the crown, the
House of Lords and the House of Commons.
The sovereignty of parliament
Through-out the eighteenth century most of the political nation believed of the urgency for
a supreme, uncontrolled authority for people and their properties to be safe which were
embodied in check and balance system. Parliament could act as it saw fit and enjoyed free
power, yet there were criticisms of its sovereignty. in the late eighteenth century there was a
resurgence of support for the authority of the king maintained that the law of God, derived
either explicitly from the Bible or indirectly from the law of nature, was superior to that of
any human agency, as well The fundamental principles of the constitution that were superior
to the authority of parliament that bound it and considered most of its acts as unconstitutional.
The liberties of the subject
British people liberty is controversial, between those who believed that government and
parliament were doing as much as possible to preserve the liberties of the subject. While
others believed that they were being denied their liberty by corrupt and reactionary governing
elite. yet, It was accepted by all that every subject had the right to enjoy freedom from
oppression .no subject could be imprisoned without trial; no torture could be used to secure a
confession; and no accused person could be convicted of a serious offence except after a trial
by jury.
From Locke onwards several writers defended the right to freedom of worship, though many
denied that Catholics and atheists could claim the same political rights as Anglican Protestants
Under an essentially Anglican Protestant constitution.

3. The demand for religious toleration generally advanced hand-in-hand with the campaign for
a free press and for the free expression of political views. There was a very flourishing press
in which parliamentary debates were reported, profound political issues could be debated, and
frequent and harsh criticisms of the government were advanced.
II. The Working of the Constitution
For Dickenson it is necessary to look at the authority of the monarch and royal ministers,
the management of parliament, and the relations between church and state to understand how
this system worked in practice.
Crown and executive
After the Glorious Revolution the crown lost some, but not all, of its prerogative powers.
The monarch had to be a Protestant (and after 1701 had to be an Anglican Protestant) and had
to appoint only Anglicans to offices in the state. The monarch ceased to be able to pass or
seriously amend laws without consent of parliament and, because of the constant need for
parliamentary taxation, the monarch had to summon annual sessions of parliament in order to
finance government policies, particularly costly wars.
Despite these reductions the monarch still possessed considerable political influence. The
monarch was the supreme head of the Church of England and could still summon or prorogue
parliament.
The management of parliament
Back there, there was no separation of powers, government business promoted only
through the legislative. The parliament was composed of the House of Lords ad the House of
Commons:
The Lords contained many of the most important men in the country, in terms of wealth and
status. They debated especially on the British constitution foreign affairs, religious issues and
legal questions.
The House of Commons was a larger chamber: 513 MPs prior to the union with Scotland in
1707 and a further forty-five MPs thereafter. The Act of Union with Ireland in 1800 added
another 100 MPs. Most MPs were men of considerable wealth and status they cherished at
least the impression of being independent of the crown and certainly resented being regarded
as servile creatures of the government.
Church and state
The Church of England was the most important institution in the state in the later
seventeenth century .At this time the clergy accepted their role as servants of a personal
monarchy regarding disobedience as a sin. The church as a whole still possessed considerable
wealth and property and it continued to play a major role in providing education, distributing
charity and disseminating news and views.

4. The Act of Union with Scotland in 1707 brought a largely Presbyterian country into the state
and recognized the existence of a different state church in the northern kingdom, the
Presbyterian Church of Scotland. It was therefore legally possible for many British subjects to
choose to attend the services of other denominations than those of the Church of England. All
hopes of religious uniformity in the state vanished. Later on The Glorious Revolution changed
the relationship between church and state taking away most of The Church of England special
privileges.