Constitution de l'Angleterre, ou état du gouvernement anglois, comparé avec la forme républicaine & avec les autres monarchies de l'Europe. Par M. de Lolme
Contributions
- Jean-Louis de Lolme
- author
- Evert van Harrevelt
- publisher
Related resources
- has translation
- The Constitution of England, or an account of the English government, in which it is compared with the republican form. And occasionally with the other monarchies in Europe. By J.L. de Lolme translation has other edition
Notes
De Lolme came to prominence in Geneva as a member of the représentant movement, which believed that France was treating Geneva as a protectorate, and that the city's magistrates had become agents of French government policy. By the mid-1760s, the représentants were demanding constitutional and legal reform and on 15 December 1767 de Lolme published 'Purification des trois points de droit souillés', a combative attack on the city's ruling magistracy, followed in January 1767 by an account of Genevan sovereignty that was also critical of the magistrates. After the 'Purification' was condemned by the authorities, de Lolme was expelled from the city and moved to Britain, allegedly with funds from his fellow représentant, Etienne Clavière.
De Lolme now began a lifetime's study of the British government, his interest in the subject being stimulated, he later claimed, by the peculiarity of the system and by his earlier political experiences, which had given him "insight into the first real principles of governments". Heavily influenced by Montesquieu, he began work on a major study of the British constitution in 1769 that aimed to show the benefits of a balanced constitution, and claimed to have identified in British government the practical means by which freedom could be reconciled with political stability. He praised the jury system in particular, and admired the way in which monarchical authority had been beneficially limited by the settlement of 1688.
De Lolme's work was translated into several European languages, including English, and used during the French Revolution as a basis for discussions around possible constitutional arrangements. It was reissued in 1786 by Buisson, see https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k97879037/f3.item.
For further information, see the entry on John Louis de Lolme by G.P. Macdonell (2004), revised by Adam I.P. Smith (2009) in the ONDB (online).