leon. He died in March 1807 (Gent. Mag. lxxvii. 485. In the Biog. Universelle the date of his death is given as 16 July 1806).
De Lolme's treatise on the English constitution formerly enjoyed a high reputation. It appeared at a favourable moment, when the rise of modern radicalism made constitutional questions of engrossing interest; it flattered the national pride by representing England as the only country where the government was at once strong and free; it was written in an easy style; and, until recently, it kept a secure place through the absence of any good systematic work on the English constitution. It threw little, if any, fresh light on the subject. A foreign critic has truly described it as an elaboration of a single short chapter of Montesquieu (i.e. bk. xi. ch. vi.; Mohl, Staatswissenschaften, ii. 43). Bentham, indeed, comparing him with Blackstone, says: ‘Our author has copied, but Mr. De Lolme has thought;’ and certainly, amidst much exaggeration and distorted judgments, the essay contains many shrewd observations on political affairs. As an enthusiastic statement of the theory that the freedom of the English constitution is the result of the balance of the different parts, the ‘equilibrium between the ruling powers of the state,’ it still deserves study. But as a history and exposition of the constitution it has been superseded.
De Lolme's works are: 1. ‘The Constitution of England; or, an Account of the English Government; in which it is compared both with the republican form of government and the other monarchies in Europe.’ First published in French, Amsterdam, 1771. English editions, 1775, 1781, 1784, 1807 (with biographical preface by Dr. Coote), 1820, 1822, 1834 (notes by Hughes), 1838 (forming vol. ii. of Stephens's ‘Rise and Progress of the English Constitution’), 1838 (with notes by Western), 1853 (Bohn's Standard Library; notes by J. Macgregor, M.P.). There have been, also, several French and German editions. 2. ‘A Parallel between the English Constitution and the former Government of Sweden: containing some observations on the late revolution in that kingdom, and an examination of the causes that secure us against both aristocracy and absolute monarchy,’ 1772. 3. ‘The History of the Flagellants; otherwise of Religious Flagellations among different Nations, and especially among Christians. Being a paraphrase and commentary on the “Historia Flagellantium” of the Abbé Boileau, Doctor of the Sorbonne, &c. By one who is not a Doctor of the Sorbonne,’ 2nd edit. 1783, illustrated (Watt mentions editions of 1777, 1778 (?), and 1784, the last under the title, ‘Memorials of Human Superstition,’ &c.). 4. ‘The British Empire in Europe; part the first containing an account of the connection between the Kingdoms of England and Ireland previous to the year 1780; to which is prefixed an Historical Sketch of the State of Rivalry between the Kingdoms of England and Scotland in former times’ (the second and third parts, containing ‘An Account of the Changes which have since the year 1780 been effected in the Constitution of Ireland,’ &c., are by another hand), 1787. Under the title ‘An Essay containing a few Strictures on the Union of Scotland with England, and on the present Situation of Ireland,’ it was used, with slight changes, as an introduction to the edition of Defoe's ‘History of the Union,’ published in 1787. 5. ‘Observations relative to the Taxes upon Windows or Lights, a Commutation of these Taxes being also suggested, and a Tax assessed from the internal Capaciousness or Tonnage of Houses, pointed out as a more eligible mode of Taxation. To which are added, Observations on the Shop-tax, and the discontent caused by it, short Observations on the late Act relative to Hawkers and Pedlars, a hint for the improvement of the metropolis,’ 1788. The metropolitan improvement is the removal of Smithfield Market to a more convenient situation. 6. ‘The present National Embarrassment considered; containing a Sketch of the Political Situation of the Heir-apparent, and of the Legal Claims of the Parliament now assembled at Westminster,’ &c., 1789 (anon.). A tract on the regency question. An answer by ‘Neptune’ followed in the same year. ‘Among the novelties,’ said ‘Neptune,’ ‘which appear destined to mark the close of the eighteenth century, may be reckoned that of a foreigner, not very respectable in private life, nor of rank and estimation in his own country, pretending to instruct the natives of this in a knowledge of their laws and political institutions.’ 7. ‘General Observations on the Power of Individuals to prescribe by Testamentary Dispositions the particular future Use to be made of their Property; occasioned by the last will of the late Mr. Peter Thellusson of London,’ 1798, 2nd edit. 1800. A man may dispose of his own property, but such a trust as Mr. Thellusson's is an attempt on the rights and properties of other men. Macgregor mentions also an ‘Essay on the Union of Church and State’ (1796); and in Dr. Busby's list appears ‘Examen philosophique et politique des Lois relatives aux Mariage, Répudiation, Divorce et Séparation; par un Citoyen du Monde’ (no date). Macgregor says that the writing of a book called
