244 HARVARD LAW REVIEW. proposition that no bounds can be assigned in point of law to the legislative power exercised with that authority. The earliest definite statement of the modern doctrine appears to be Sir Thomas Smith's in his " Commonwealth of England," written, as the book itself states,^ in 1565, and intended mainly for the use of Continental readers.^ The book was, however, first pub- lished in 1583. " The most high and absolute power of the Realm of England consist- eth in the Parliament. . . . That which is done by this consent is called firm, stable, and sanctum, and is taken for law. The Parliament abrogateth old laws, maketh new, giveth order for things past and for things hereafter to be followed, changeth right and possessions of private men, legitimateth bastards, establisheth forms of religion, altereth weights and measures, giv- eth form of succession to the Crown, defineth of doubtful rights whereof is no law already made, appointeth subsidies, tailes, taxes, and impositions, giveth most free pardons and absolutions, restoreth in blood and name, as the highest court condemneth or absolveth them whom the prince will put to trial. And to be short, all that ever the people of Rome might do either Centiiriatis Comitis or Tributis, the same may be done by the Parliament of England, which representeth and hath the power of the whole Realm, both the head and body. For every Englishman is intended to be there present either in person or by procuration and attorney, of what pre-emi- nence, state, dignity, or quality soever he be, from the Prince (be he King or Queen) to the lowest person of England. And tfie consent of the Par- liament is taken to be every man's consent. " ' Here we have the first exposition by any English writer, if not by any European one, of the notion of sovereignty in its modern amplitude. Almost simultaneously Bodin, writing in France, de- fined " majestas " to the same effect, and argued, as Hobbes did afterwards, that in England sovereignty belonged to the King alone. It may well be supposed that Sir Thomas Smith, while he was employed as Ambassador to the French Court, had Bodin's work in some way communicated to him, although it was not actu- ally published before 1577, in which year Smith died. Apparently Sir Thomas Smith was anxious both to make it clear to French- 1 Ad fin. 2 Learned persons resorting to England seem to have used it as a kind of guide, book. See the Elzevir edition of the Latin text, 1641, furnished with an itinerary and other matter to the same purpose.
- T. Smith, Commonwealth of England, Book 2, ch. 2.
