The sheriff had a considerable licence in sending writs to boroughs, that is, he could in part pick its constituencies; and in each borough there was a rush and scramble for the franchise, so that the strongest local party got it whether few or many.

But in England at that time there was a great and distinct desire to know the opinion of the nation, because there was a real and close necessity.

The nation was wanted to do something--to assist the sovereign in some war, to pay some old debt, to contribute its force and aid in the critical juncture of the time.

It would not have suited the ante-Tudor kings to have had a fictitious assembly; they would have lost their sole _feeler_, their only instrument for discovering national opinion.

Nor could they have manufactured such an assembly if they wished.