Accolade is the ceremony by which knighthood is conferred. Originally it was an embrace around the neck, today is a gentle blow on the shoulders with the flat of a sword. An accolade is given by a Sovereign or his representative. Research Accolade
Allegiance (from the Latin alligare, to bind), according to Blackstone, is 'the tie or ligamen which binds the subject to the sovereign in return for that protection which the sovereign affords the subject,' or, generally, the obedience which every subject or citizen owes to the government of his country. It used to be the doctrine of the English law that natural-born subjects owe an allegiance which is intrinsic and perpetual, and which cannot be divested by any act of their own; but since at least the end of the 19th century this was no longer the case. Aliens owe a temporary or local allegiance to the government under which they for the time reside. A usurper in undisturbed possession of the crown is entitled to allegiance; and thus treasons against Henry VI were punished in the reign of Edward IV, though the former had, by act of Parliament, been declared a usurper. Research Allegiance
Aristocracy (from the Greek meaning best rule) is a form of government in which the sovereign power is vested in a small number of citizens who are theoretically the best qualified to rule, as opposed to monarchy, in which the supreme authority is vested in one person, and to democracy, in which the ultimate authority is exercised by the entire body of citizens or their representatives. In an aristocracy, although the power of government is wielded by a few, theoretically the administration of government is carried on for the welfare of the many. Whenever the interests of the people as a whole are made subservient to the selfish interests of the rulers, aristocracy becomes a form of government known as oligarchy. Athens, before the period of the Persian wars of the 5th century BC, and Sparta, during practically its entirehistory, were aristocracies. The same was true of Rome during the period of the Republic, lasting from the 6th to the 1st century BC.
During the Middle Ages no true aristocracy existed, for although political power reposed in the hands of a few, each feudallord was sole master in his own domain. In England, the government from the accession of the house of Hanover in 1714 through the 19th century, although parliamentary in form, was in fact an aristocracy, since king and Parliament alike were under the control of a few great Whig families. Research Aristocracy
In Britain, the Civil List was formerly the whole expenses of the government, with the exception of those of the army, navy, and other military departments. It is now limited to the expenses proper to the maintenance of the household of the sovereign. It was once a principle in England, as in other Teutonic nations, that the monarch was to pay all the expenses of government; even including those of the army, from the possessions of the crown, and until the Restoration the whole expenses of the government continued to be defrayed out of the royal revenue. In the reign of William, the Commons adopted the principle of separating the regular and domestic expenses of the king-from the public expenditure, and establishing a systematic and periodical control over the latter. Research Civil List
A colony is a settlement formed in one country by the inhabitants of another. Colonies may either be formed in dependence on the mother country or in independence. In the latter case the name of colony is retained only in a historical sense. Properly, perhaps, the term should be limited to a settlement which carries on a direct cultivation of the soil, as in the former British colonies of Canada and Australia in contrast to the former in Hindustan or Malta which were the mere superposition on the natives of a ruling race which took little or no part in the general industry of the country.
The motives which lead to the formation of colonies, and the manner of their formation, are various. Sometimes the ambition of extending territory and the desire of increasing wealth have been the chief impulses in colonization; but colonies became a necessity for the redundant population of European states in the 19th century.
Among ancient nations the principal promoters of colonization were the Phoenicians, the Greeks, and the Romans; the greatest colonizers in modern times have been the English and the Spaniards, next to whom may be reckoned the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the French. The Germans during the 19th century contributed largely to the tide of emigration, particularly in the direction of America;
but did little directly as colonizers.
The Phoenician colonies were partly caused by political dissensions and redundant population, but were chiefly commercial, serving as entrepots and ports of repair for Phoenician commerce along the coasts of Africa and Spain, in the latter of which they numbered, according to Strabo, more than two hundred. But it was in Africa that the most famous arose, Carthage, the greatest colonizing state of the ancient world.
The Greek colonies, which were widely spread in Asia Minor and the islands of the Mediterranean, the coasts of Macedonia and Thrace, in South Italy and Sicily, were commonly independent, and frequently soon surpassed the mother states in power and importance.
The colonies of Rome were chiefly military, and while the empire lasted were all in strict subordination to the central government. As the Roman power declined the remains of them amalgamated with the peoples among whom they were placed, thus forming in countries where they were sufficiently strong what are known as the Latin races, with languages (Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Italian) which are merely modifications of the old Roman tongue.
Before America and the way by sea to the East Indies were discovered, the only colonies belonging to European states were those of the Genoese, Pisans, and Venetians in the Levant and the Black Sea, flourishing establishments on which the mercantile greatness of Italy in those days was largely built.
The Portuguese were the first great colonizers among modern states. In 1419 they discovered Madeira, the Azores, and the Cape Verde Islands; the Congo and the Cape of Good Hope followed; and before the century was out Vasco de Gama had landed at Calicut on the Malabar coast of India. The first Portuguese colonies were garrisons along the coasts where they traded: Mozambique and Sofala on the east coast of Africa, Ormuz and Muscat in the Persian Gulf, Goa and Damao on the west coast of India. Colonies were established in Sri Lanka in 1505, in the Moluccas in 1510. Brazil was discovered in 1499, and this magnificent possession fell to Portugal, and was colonized about 1530. Bad government at home and the subjection of the country to Spain caused the loss of most of the Portuguese colonies.
Soon after the Portuguese the Spaniards commenced the work of colonization. In 1492 Columbus, on board of a Spanish vessel, discovered the island of San Salvador. Haiti, or San Domingo, Porto Rico, Jamaica, and Cuba were soon colonized, and before the middle of the 16th century Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, New Granada (Colombia), Peru, and Chili were subdued, and Spain took the first rank amongst the colonizing powers of Europe. But the Spaniards never really attempted to develop the industrial resources of the subject countries. The pursuit of mining for gold or silver occupied the colonists almost exclusively, and the enslaved natives were driven to work themselves to death in the mines. Cities were founded, at first along the coasts, for the sake of commerce and as military posts; afterwards also in the interior, in particular in the vicinity of the mines, as Vera Cruz, Cumana, Porto Bello, Carthagena, Valencia, Caracas; Acapuico and Panama, on the coast of the Pacific; Lima, Goncepcion, and Buenos Aires. The colonial intercourse with Spain was confined to the single port of Seville, afterwards to that of Cadiz, from which two squadrons started annually - the galleons, about twelve in number, for Porto Bello; and the fleet, of fifteen large vessels, for Vera Cruz. When the power of Spain declined, the colonies declared their independence, and thus were formed the republics of Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chili, etc. Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippine Islands passed to the United States in 1898; the Caroline Islands, etc, were sold to Germany in 1899; and by 1900 hardly any colony remained to Spain.
The hate of Philip II, who prohibited Dutch vessels from the port of Lisbon, forced the Dutch to import directly from India or lose the large carrying trade they had acquired. Several companies were soon formed, and in 1602 they were united into one, the Dutch East India Company, with a monopoly of the East Indiatrade and sovereign powers over all conquests and colonies in India. The Dutch now rapidly deprived the Portuguese of nearly all their East Indian territories, settled a colony at the Cape of Good Hope in 1650, established a West India Company, made extensive conquests in Brazil between 1623 and 1660, which were soon lost, and more permanent ones on some of-the smaller West India Islands, as San Eustatia, Curacoa, Saba, etc. The growing power of the British and the loss of Holland's independence during the Napoleonic wars were heavy blows to the colonial power of the nation. But the Dutch still possesed numerous colonies in the East Indies at the start of the 20th century, among which the more important were Java, Sumatra, Dutch Borneo, the Molucca Islands, and part of New Guinea, also several small islands in the West Indies, and Surinam.
No colonizing power of Europe had a career of such uniform prosperity as Great Britain. The English attempts at colonization began nearly at the same time with the Dutch. After many fruitless attempts to find a north-east or north-west passage to the East Indies, English vessels found their way round the Cape of Good Hope to the East Indies in 1591. The East India Company was established in 1600. English commerce with India, however, was not at first important, and they possessed only single factories on the continent up until the beginning of the 18th century. The ruin of the Mogul Empire in India after the death of Aurengzebe in 1707 afforded the opportunity for the growth of British power, as the British and French were compelled to interfere in the contentions of the native princes and governors. The French appeared at first to maintain the superiority; but the British in turn got the upper hand, and the victory of Clive at Plassey in 1756 laid the foundation of an exclusive British sovereignty in India. By the middle of the next century the British territory embraced, with the exception of a few dependent states, nearly the whole of India, and this vast territory was still under the government of the East India Company - a mercantile company, controlled indeed by parliament, but exercising many of the most important functions of an independent sovereignty. On the suppression of the Indian mutiny in 1857-1858 the government of India was transferred to the crown by act of parliament in 1858.
The discoveries of the Cabots, following soon after the voyages of Columbus, gave the English crown a claim to North America, which, though allowed to lie dormant for nearly a century, was never relinquished, and which, in the reign of Elizabeth I, led to colonization on a large scale. Walter Raleigh's settlement on Roanoke Island (North Carolina) in 1585 failed to become permanent, but in 1607 the colonists sent out by the London Company to Chesapeake Bay founded Jamestown, on the James River, in Virginia. The next great settlement was that of the Pilgrim Fathers, who landed on the 21st of December 1620, in Massachusetts Bay. The colonization of New Hampshire, Maine, New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island, soon followed. In the State of New York and the Hudson River Territory the British found the Dutch already in possession; but in 1664 they seized the colony of New Amsterdam by force, changing its name to New York in honour of James, Duke of York. Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn, and colonized with Quakers in 1682; Maryland in 1631 by a party from Virginia; Carolina in 1670 and Georgia in 1732 by colonies from England.
Colonies were early established in the West India Islands, including Barbados, half of St. Christopher's in 1625, and soon after many smaller islands. Newfoundland was taken possession of in 1583, colonized in 1621 and 1633. Canada was surrendered to Britain at the Peace of Paris in 1763. In 1764 began the disputes between Britain and its North American colonies, which terminated with the acknowledgment of the independence of the United States, Canada remaining a British dependency.
Australia was discovered in the beginning of the 17th century. The first Australasian settlements of Britain were penal colonies. New South Wales, discovered in 1770, was established as a penal colony in 1788; Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land), discovered by Tasman in 1642, followed in 1803; West Australia, also first used as a penal settlement, became a free colony in 1829; Victoria was colonized in 1835, and made an independent colony in 1851; South Australia was settled in 1836. In 1851 the discovery of gold in Victoria gave a great impetus to the Australian Colonies. Queensland was made a separate colony from N.ew South Wales in 1859. New Zealand, discovered by Tasman in 1642, began to be used for whale-fishery about 1790, was settled in 1839, and made a colony in 1840. In 1874 the Fiji Islands, and in 1884 part of New Guinea, were annexed as crown colonies. In South AfricaCape Colony, first settled by the Dutch in 1652, finally became a British colony in 1815. Natal followed in 1843. Later annexations were Bechuanaland in 1885, Zululand in 1887, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1888-89, and the Orange River Colony and Transvaal in 1900. In Western Africa were the colonies of the Gold Coast, Gambia, and SierraLeone - ancient possessions of the British crown; with Lagos and Nigeria acquired in 1885 and after. Other possessions were British East Africa (Kenya), with Uganda and Somaliland. Gibraltar was acquired in 1704, Malta in 1800.
According to their government relations with the crown the colonies were arranged under three heads: (1.) Crown colonies, in which the crown had the entire control of legislation, while the administration was carried on by public officers under the control of the home government. (2.) Colonies possessing representative institutions but not responsible government, in which the crown had no more than a veto on legislation, but the home government retained the control of public officers. (3.) Colonies possessing representative institutions and responsible government, in which the crown had only a veto on legislation, and the home government had no control over any officer except the governor. All colonies were, however, disabled from such acts of independent sovereignty as the initiative in war, alliances, and diplomacy generally.
France was somewhat late in establishing colonies. Between 1627 and 1636 the West Indian islands of St Christopher's, Guadeloupe, and Martinique were colonized by private persons. Champlain was the pioneer of the French in the exploration of the North American continent, and founded Quebec in 1608. Colbert purchased several West India islands, as Martinique, Guadeloupe, St Lucia, etc, and sent out colonists in 1664 to Cayenne. In 1670 the East India Company formed by Colbert founded Pondicherry, which became the capital of extensive possessions in the East Indies. At the beginning of the 18th century France had extensive settlements in Canada, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, the most flourishing of the West India islands, and she seemed to have a prosperous career before her in India. Ere long, however, the rival interests of British and French colonists brought about a conflict which terminated in the loss of Canada and other North American possessions, as well as many of the West India Islands, while the dominion of India passed into the hands of the British.
During the 19th century Germany made an effort to take rank as a colonial power, and acquired in Africa the territories of Damaraland, Great Nama Land, etc, on the south-west coast, north of Cape Colony; the Cameroons District; a large portion of territory formerly claimed by the Sultan of Zanzibar, extending inland to Victoria Nyanza, etc; also in the Pacific a portion of New Guinea, then subsequently called Kaiser Wilhelm's Land, the BismarckArchipelago, Marshall Islands, etc.
A constitution is the fundamental law of a state, whether it be a written instrument of a certain date, as that of the United States of America, or an aggregate of laws and usages which have been formed in the course of ages, like the English constitution. The ideal constitution is that established by a free sovereign people for their own regulation, though the expediency of other forms at various stages of national development cannot but be recognized. The chief of these are: 1. Constitutions granted by the plenary power of absolute monarchs, or constitutions octroyees; such as Louis XVIII's Charte. 2. Those formed by contract between a ruler and his people, the contract being mutually binding - a class under which, in a great degree, the British constitution must be placed. 3. Those formed by a compact between different sovereign powers, such as the constitutions of the German Empire, of the United Provinces of Holland, and of the Swiss Confederation.
In regard to political principles, constitutions are; 1. Democratic, when the fundamental law guarantees to every citizen equal rights, protection, and participation, direct or indirect, in the government, such as the constitutions of the United States and of some cantons of Switzerland. 2. Aristocratic, when the constitution recognizes privileged classes, as the nobility and clergy, and intrusts the government entirely to them, or allows them a very disproportionate share in it. Such a constitution was that of Venice, and such at one time those of some Swiss cantons, for instance, Bern. 3. Of a mixed character. To this, latter division belong some monarchical constitutions, which recognize the existence of a king whose power is modified by other branches of government of a more or less popular cast. The British constitution belongs to this division. Research Constitution
A coronation is the placing of the crown on a monarch's head with solemn rites and ceremonies. Part of the ceremony usually consists in the oath which the monarch takes, that he will govern justly, will always consult the real welfare of his people, and will conscientiously observe the fundamental laws of the state. In England kings and queens have been anointed and crowned in WestminsterAbbey, even to the latest times, with great splendour. The form of the coronation oath is that settled after the revolution of 1688. The Archbishop of Canterbury puts it to the sovereign, who swears to govern according to the statutes of parliament, to cause law and justice in mercy to be executed, and to maintain the Protestant religion. Research Coronation
Court is the suite of the sovereign, or the place where the sovereign sojourns with his suite. A court is also a place where the sovereign administers justice through his judges. Research Court
Criminal law is the law relating to crimes. The general theory of the common law is, that all wrongs are divisible into two species: first, civil or private wrongs or torts; secondly, criminal or public wrongs. The former are to be redressed by private suits or remedies instituted by the parties injured. The latter are redressed by the state acting in its sovereign capacity.
The general description of the private wrongs is, that they comprehend those injuries which affect the rights and property of the individual, and terminate there; that of public wrongs or offences being, that they comprehend such acts as injure, not merely individuals, but the community at large, by endangering the peace, the comfort, the good order, the policy, and even the existence of society. In the first, therefore, so far as the law is concerned, the compensation of the individual whose rights have been infringed is held to be a sufficient atonement; but in the second class of offences it is demanded that the offender make satisfaction to the community as acting prejudicially to its welfare. The exact boundaries between these classes are not, however, always easy to be discerned, even in theory; for there are few private wrongs which do not exert an influence beyond the individual whom they directly injure. The divisions, torts and crimes, are thus not necessarily mutually exclusive, cases sometimes occurring in which the person injured obtains damages, while at the same time the criminal is subjected to punishment, not as against the individual, but as against the state. It is, moreover, obvious that legal criminality is not in any strict sense the measure of the morality of actions, though the legal enactment tends to enforce itself as a moral law. In large part it is only an approximate expression of the current sense of justice, this expression being both aided and hindered by the historical and constantly reflexive character of legal method.
The basis of the criminal law of Great Britain is to be found in a series of loose definitions and descriptions, of which many, and those among the more important, date from the 13th century. The irregular superstructure reared upon these consists mainly of parliamentary enactments which originated in the 18th century, but have been twice re-enacted in the 19th century - the first time between 1826 and 1832, and the second time in 1861, with an intermediary attempt at amendment in 1837. The laws as formulated, however, by no means always represent the law as interpreted, the whole system being further complicated by a mass of judicial comments and particular constructions. Thus while there is a statutory division of crimes into treasons, felonies, and misdemeanours, the distinctions between them are so uncertain that it is possible to regard the first head as merely the isolation of a sub-case of felony; while in respect of the second and third classes, the distinction can only be clearly marked by an enumeration of the crimes arbitrarily assigned to each in the common law and judges' decisions.
Even in severity of punishment a misdemeanour may rank as high as a felony. The Criminal Statutes Consolidation Acts - the result of a series of commissions extending over thirty years - accomplished little more in the way of systematization than the introduction of greater exactitude into the definition of certain individual offences and the gradation of penalties. The aim of criminal law as at present constituted, and since the end of the 19th century, is both retributive and preventive - in its former aspect being based upon the primitive passion of retaliation, in the latter primarily upon the fundamental instinct of self-preservation. The prevention of crime may, however, be effected in a threefold manner: by imposing a penalty which shall operate by fear to deter people from committing crimes, or by rendering it physically impossible for a person of known criminal tendency to repeat an offence, or by the reformation of the criminal. With the higher evolution of society the principle of retaliation has fallen into theoretic disrepute, though still a practical legal factor; and the problems of penology are made to turn almost exclusively upon the principle of prevention in these three aspects, and especially on the two last. The discovery in the 19th century that fear of a penalty only operated up to a certain point, beyond which an excessive punishment exercised a brutalizing tendency, led to a large mitigation of penal severity accompanied by a wide desire for the abolition of capital punishment, though this took almost one hundred years to be realised in Great Britain; while, on the other hand, various schemes have been devised for making punishment reformatory. These original changes in criminal law date in a large measure from the publication of Beccaria's Dei Delitti e delle Pene (On Offences and Penalties) in 1764. Research Criminal Law
Abbreviations
Research Accolade
