THE SEARCH FOR A JUST SOCIETY
JOHN HUDDLESTON
GEORGE RONALD 1989
PART 11
Chapter 11: Three Revolutions
Our attention now switches to the West. In the time known as the Age of Enlightenment, the sparks which sporadically have illumined the history of civilization suddenly caused three flames to burn brightly: revolutions in England, in North America and in France. These were to spread across the whole western world and in the 19th century to become a mighty blaze of ideas and movements for the creation of the just society.
The English Revolution
The first of the three revolutions took place in England. Its roots go back to the time of the Anglo-Saxons, if not further, but the first clearly identifiable major event in the story was the Magna Carta (Great Charter). John, King of England from 1199 to 1216,had made a series of attempts to extend his power by increasing his income through taxation of the revenues of his subjects (1207); by tightening up protection of the royal forests from poaching (1207-1209); by special measures of taxation against the Jews(1210); and by exploiting feudal privileges. Opposition to these measures amongst the barons of the kingdom was encouraged when the king’s prestige was weakened in a quarrel with the Pope. After a period of fighting and manœuvring they finally forced the king to sign the Magna Carta on the field of Runnymede on 15 June 1215. The Magna Carta is of special interest, because as a result of the influence of the Church in the person of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton (d.1228), it was broadened beyond the narrow interests of the barons to cover basic issues of liberty and the rule of law, affecting the lives of even the poorest in the land.
- The Charter had a preamble of 36 clauses which put broad limitations on the arbitrary authority of the king and required him to rule in accordance with orderly legal principles.
- King John soon broke his word and civil war was resumed until his death the following year.
- In the reign of Henry III there was the gradual emergence of the concept of constitutional monarchy: the assembling of the first true parliament of England in 1265 and a recognition of the principle that the ‘people’ should be consulted with regard top the governance of the country.
- Edward I, King from 1272 to 1307, took up the idea of parliament and established the practice of holding regular sessions.
- At first Parliament often had an important judicial function, but as the years went by separate courts were established for this purpose and Parliament became specialized as a legislative body and in the voting of financial support (i.e. taxes) for the king.
- Until at least the 19th century, Parliament represented almost exclusively the interest of the nobility, the squirearchy and the rich burghers of the cities.
- Until the 19th century only a minority of nominations for Parliament were contested.
- The narrow representation of interest in Parliament contributed to the frustration of the poorer classes, who finally rose up in the Peasants’ Rebellion of 1381 against the incompetent government of Richard II (King 1377-1399).
- Though the rising made little immediate impact on the conduct of government, there was a subtle long-term influence on the collective memory of the country which was to contribute to the development of the custom of fair play and justice for all people regardless of wealth or influence.
During the period of the Tudor monarchs Henry VIII (King 1509-1547) and Elizabeth I (Queen 1558-1603) and of the English Reformation, the role of Parliament in the governance of the country became significantly more important. In the dangerous game of breaking with Rome and the traditions of centuries, and the taking of wealth from the monasteries, Henry felt a need to have his actions approved by Parliament and most of the major legal changes of the period were in the form of Acts of Parliament rather than the less authoritative ordinances of the King and his appointed advisory council.
- Parliament, during the reign of Elizabeth, though still wary of the massive power of the monarchy, began to show increasing signs of independence.
- The seeds of independence had been sown and were to spring to life during the reigns of the two succeeding Stuart monarchs, James I (King 1603-1625) and Charles I (King 1625-1649).
- These two kings engaged in a bitter struggle with Parliament over whether or not the government could tax the country without reference to Parliament.
- Charles dissolved Parliament and for 12 years struggled to rule the country without its assistance.
- Scotland rebelled against the imposition of bishops on their Church, and Charles was obliged to recall Parliament to raise funds to pay an army to put down the rebellion.
- The Short Parliament, April-May 1640, refused to help the King until he had redressed their grievances.
- The new ‘Long Parliament’ was in a much stronger position because the King’s manœuvres had lost him the trust of the majority of his subjects and had revealed his ultimate dependence on Parliament.
- Parliament demanded that ministers of the crown be approved by Parliament and that reform of the church be undertaken by Parliament in consultation with an assembly of religious experts.
- The King refused, fled to York and organized forces to crush Parliament.
- There followed 7 years of civil war which ended with the King’s defeat and his execution in January 1649.
- During the next 11 years England, for the only time in its history, had a republican form of government: the Commonwealth, headed for most of the period by Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658).
- Though the government ruled with a heavy hand, the flame of liberty shone brightly in these years as various groups developed new ideas about a just form of government.
- Though the monarchy was restored in 1661, the clock could not be turned back entirely. All concessions to Parliament made by Charles I before the Civil War were endorsed by the new King, Charles II, and at first the principle of religious toleration was accepted.
- Within a few years the royalists became the majority in Parliament and pushed through measures to reduce the civil rights of Catholics, nonconformists and Jews.
- The polarization of the country which had occurred in the first half of the 17th century now re-emerged.
- Matters came to explosion point early in the reign of James II, King from 1685 to 1689.
- Parliament invited the Protestant Prince William of Orange to come to England and take the crown, agreeing to limitations on the power of the crown, of which the most significant was the Bill of Rights of 1689.
- These new arrangements formed the basis for freedom from arbitrary government, reduced the aura of ‘divine right’, and eventually created a new form of government – constitutional monarchy.
- Though it was a constitution with a tradition which went back at least as far as the Magna Carta, the 1689 settlement was undoubtedly a major step forward in the development of the idea of just government, and therefore it rightly merits its traditional title of the ‘Glorious Revolution’.
A broad rationale for the ‘revolution’ and the new-style constitutional monarchy was provided by John Locke (1623-1704) who returned to England with William of Orange after being in exile for his liberal views. Like Thomas Hobbs (1586-1679) he saw the state as a social contract between citizens, whereby they gave up the freedom which exists in the state of nature in return for certain services to be provided by the state. Hobbes had concluded, however, that the state should have absolute power if it is to keep the peace and serve the interest of all, because people are naturally unruly and if given freedom fall into anarchy. Locke countered that Hobbes’s ideal state would bring the ‘peace of the dungeon’, and because he had a less pessimistic view of human nature he came to a different conclusion. In Two Treatises on Government, published in 1690, he argued that citizens have a right to the preservation of life and property, to freedom of thought, speech and worship, and what they give up to the state is the right to judge and punish others. In short, the essential function of government is defence of the realm and maintenance of law and order. If a government fails to serve the public good, it forfeits its right to power and authority.