Parliament 423
f
In using these terms for departments of government, it
must be remembered that men in the fourteenth century
knew no such distinctions. It is easy to think that a
struggle for liberty on the part of the people began at this
time, the people for the first time being able to act in an
effective way through a representative Parliament;1 and
in one sense such a struggle did begin. But the partici-
pants were not conscious of it as such. The king was not'
upholding royal prerogative against government by the
people; he was simply resisting something which was tak-
ing away his power, without seeking to justify his action
upon any dogmatic basis. The House of Commons was
conscious of administrative abuses; its constituents were
suffering from them; it sought an extension of power to
remedy these abuses; but uninfluenced by a theory of
government by the people. And there was no limit to the
power it sought; for, being unconscious of any categories
of government, it could know of no propriety in observing
limits beyond which the legislature should not extend its
activities. There was no legislature as such, and no self-
conscious emulation among powers which were ''sepa-
rated.1' So king and Parliament began their long conflict
in the naive, short-sighted, unidealistic fashion in which
nearly all medieval conflicts were fought. However, the
relations between the two in the fourteenth century were
far from continuously hostile; in many instances, they
worked together for common ends with much good feeling.
In the strict sense they were not two: "the king in his
council in his parliament" was as yet the undivided high-
est authority in the realm.
As the first business of Parliament was to grant money,'
a natural extension of its activity was towards ensuring
honesty and accuracy in its collection and in showing an
interest in its expenditure.2 In 1340, parliamentary com-
missioners were appointed to audit the accounts of the
1 Only a few people were represented in the Commons if we think of
representation as conditioned at all upon election.
3 See the closing words of article i in the famous statute of 1340, A. and
S., p. 105; also document 61.