It did not necessarily transfer the source of political authority from the crown to the people.

It did not necessarily bring with it, as in France, the overthrow of those political and social institutions which constituted the traditional structure of the national life.

But it did imply that the government should make itself expressly responsible to public opinion, and should consult public opinion about all important questions of public policy.

A certain amount of political freedom was shown to be indispensable to the making of a nation, and the granting of this amount of political freedom was no more than a fulfillment of the historical process in which the nations of Europe had originated.
The people of Europe had drifted into groups, the members of which, for one reason or another, were capable of effective political association.
This association was not based at bottom on physical conditions.

It was not dependent on a blood bond, because as a matter of fact the racial composition of the European peoples is exceedingly mixed.