The Constitution of England; Or, An Account of the English Government (Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics)

"The Constitution of England" is one of the most distinguished 18th-century treatises on English political liberty. In the vein of Charles Louis Montesquieu's "Spirit of the Laws" (1748) and William Blackstone's "Commentaries on the Laws of England" (1765-1769), Jean Louis De Lolme's account of the English system of government exercised an extensive influence on political debate in Britain, on constitutional design in the US during the Founding era, and on the growth of liberal political thought throughout the 19th century. Originally published in French in Amsterdam in 1771, "The Constitution of England" was the first book-length analysis of the 'separation of powers' proposed in Book XI of Montesquieu's "Spirit of the Laws", which sketched an institutional distinction between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government. De Lolme was concerned to show the manner in which the English political system provided an alternative to the republican form of government, one which supplied both a more stable and a more extensive system of political freedom than that enjoyed in republican states. In addition, and as part of this critique, De Lolme examined the political teaching of his fellow Genevan, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and repudiated Rousseau's republican attack on England's form of representative government. This edition takes advantage of the work of nineteenth-century editors of De Lolme's text but provides new annotations to elucidate his numerous references to classical, medieval, and early-modern political practices, along with translations of De Lolme's citations from sources in Latin and French. "Jean Louis De Lolme's The Constitution of England ranks among the most influential and celebrated treatments of English political liberty produced in the eighteenth century. The work was praised by John Adams as the "best defence of the political balance of three powers that ever was written."" "This Liberty Fund edition is based on the fourth edition of 1784, which contains De Lolme's final revisions and which has long been out of print. New annotations elucidate De Lolme's numerous references to classical, medieval, and early modern political practices and collate Important changes to the text made by De Lolme to the four editions published. in his own lifetime. Translations of Latin and French quotations are provided."--Jacket. In the vein of Charles Louis Montesquieus Spirit of the Laws (1748) and William Blackstones Commentaries on the Laws of England (17651769), De Lolmes account of the English system of government exercised an extensive influence on political debate in Britain, on constitutional design in the United States during the Founding era, and on the growth of liberal political thought throughout the nineteenth century. David Lieberman is Jefferson E. Peyser Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. Please note: This title is available as an ebook for purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iTunes. THE spirit of philosophy which peculiarly distinguishes the present age, after having corrected a number of errors fatal to society, seems now to be directed towards the principles of society itself; and we see prejudices vanish which are difficult to overcome, in proportion as it is dangerous to attack them.