A Short Constitutional History of England. By Henry St. Clair
Feilden, B.A. (B. H. Blackwell, Oxford.)—"A Short History of the Constitution " would have been a better title for this book. It does not, as one might expect, give a continuous history of the country regarded from the point of view of the student of the Constitution, but takes in order its various political institutions, and traces their growth. There are ten chapters, dealing with such subjects as "The Crown," " The Central Assembly," " The People," " The Towns," "The Church," and " The Defences of the Realm." It is a good plan, and, on the whole, well worked out, though we notice some strange omissions. Here, for instance, is the account of the Reform Bill of 1867:—" In 1867, Lord Derby's Reform Bill was passed. By it thirty-three seats were redistributed, the county franchise was re- duced to £12, and a lodger franchise was added." There is nothing here about the household franchise, for which we have to refer back (not that any reference is given) to p. 134. A careless reader would certainly suppose that a "lodger franchise was added" to the 210 borough franchise of 1832, mentioned in a preceding paragraph.
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