Excerpt from A Short History of Parliament

The idea of writing a short history of Parliament was first suggested to me by Mr. F. S. Pulling, of Exeter, who at one time I thought would have shared in the work. Circumstances, however, prevented this, and the book ultimately assumed a somewhat different form from that projected at first. The object with which it was written was the hope of imparting a certain amount of life to the dry bones which are strewn in the way of the constitutional student, and of combining instruction with a certain amount of amusement. Whether the effort has been successful or not the reader must judge for himself.

I must here take the opportunity to render my acknowledgments to Mr. F. York Powell, Mr. C. H. Carmichael, and Mr. A. B. Beaven for the kind assistance which they have rendered me - especially the latter, who undertook the laborious task of revising the whole of the MS. dealing with the period after 1660.

I am indebted to the kindness of Sir George Sitwell for a very early illustration of parliamentary corruption - an isolated evidence but sufficiently pregnant of meaning.

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