Preface
Of the three following essays two have been published separately, the one in 1878, the other in 1884. In the first I have attempted to make a critical survey of the English Constitution, combined with as complete a classification as possible, of its sources. I trust that I have not omitted anything essential. I do not examine into the institutions themselves, nor do I attempt to describe them; such a subject cannot be dealt with in a hundred pages. I am satisfied, first, to distinguish different parts of the political compact; next to note the special characteristics of each according to its origin, and lastly, to define the general spirit of the Constitution in which these parts are merged.
The second essay, à propos of a question of method, opens a number of vistas and, so to say, side-views of the Constitution of the United States. These views are tolerably numerous; they throw light over a considerable surface, so that the reader can form a fairly complete picture of the whole Constitution. A good
