order as they be here set down in the aforesaid Journal Book to have been returned on Saturday the 4th day of February The Proxies also of Edward Earl of Derby John Earl of Oxford Henry Lord Strange Thomas Viscount Howard of Bindon and Henry Lord Morley by which the said Earl of Bedford was Constituted their sole or joynt Proctor are entred in the same order they are Transcribed in the before mentioned Original Journal Book to have been returned on Saturday the 18th day of March ensuing And lastly the said Earl of Bedford was Constituted the joynt Proctor with Edward Lord Clinton Lord Admiral of Oliver Lord St. John of Bletto whose Letters Procuratory are entred to have been returned on Tuesday the 4th day of April ensuing Edward Lord Clinton Lord Admiral was Constituted the sole Proctor of William Lord Burgh Edward Lord Windsor and William Lord Euers whose Proxies are entred at the beginning of the Original Journal Book of this Parliament to have been returned on this Monday the 23th day of this January He was also Constituted the joynt Proctor of William Lord Grey of Wilton whose Proxie is entred as aforesaid to have been returned on Saturday the 4th day of February ensuing the Proxie also of Francis Earl of Huntington is entred as before to have been returned on Saturday the 18th day of March following by which he Constituted the said Lord Clinton his joynt Proctor with Henry Lord Hastings And for the Proxie of John Lord Darcie of Darcie entred there as before to have been returned on this day likewise he is Constituted his sole Proctor And lastly the said Lord Clinton Lord Admiral was Constituted the sole or joynt Proctor of William Lord Willoughby of Parham Edward Lord Hastings of Louthbury and of Oliver Lord St. John of Blestoe whose Proxies are entred to have been returned on Tuesday the 4th day of April ensuing By these three foregoing Presidents it doth plainly appear as also from all other Presidents of former and latter times that any Member of the Upper House by the ancient usage and Custom of the same is capable of as many Proxies as shall be directed unto him although there were an Order made in the said House to the contrary upon the day of Anno Regis Caroli An. Dom. 1626. That no Lord cr Member whatsoever of the Upper House should for the time to come be capable of above two Proxies at the most which said order was occasioned in respect that George Duke of Bucks both the favorite of the King deceased and of King Charles now Reigning this present year 1630 did to strengthen himself by voices not only procure divers persons to be made Members of that House but also ingrossed to himself near upon 20. several Proxies And now if this doubt or conceipt should arise in any mans mind that therefore the Lords have a greater Priviledge than the Members of the House of Commons because they can appoint others to serve in and supply their places in their absence which the Commons cannot they are much deceived and mistaken for it is plain that the chief end of a Proxie is that the Upper House may have all its Members either in person or by representation and therefore the Lords Spiritual and Temporal who are Summoned thither in their own right have anciently had and still do retain the liberty of Constituting their Procurators whereas every Member of the House of Commons appeareth and doth serve in the right of that County City Burrough and Port for which he is Elected and Chosen which being a Trust and Confidence reposed in them can be no more transferred from him to a third person than can the Proxie of the Lords be from him to whom it is directed if he shall be absent likewise and therefore if any Knight Citizen Burgess or Baron after he is Elected and returned shall before the meeting of the House be disabled by Sickness Attainder or other Cause from serving in the same then presently order is given from the House to the Clerk of the Crown for the sending thither a second Writ for a new Election so that the said House may not remain without any Member that appertains unto it And this I conceive Tantamount unto a Proxie which cannot be granted but when the absence of the Lord that sends it is perpetual during that whole Parliament or Session for which he Constitutes one or more Proctors for if he repair to the Upper House any time after and serve in Person his Proxie is presently void On Wednesday the 25th day of Ian. the Parliament was held according to the last Prorogation thereof on Monday the 23th day of this instant Ianuary foregoing and therefore this day is to be reckoned the first day of the Parliament and it was the error of Seimour Esq at this time Clerk of the House of Commons that in the Original Journal Book of the same House fol. 186. a. he accounteth and setteth down the Parliament to have begun on the aforesaid 23th day of Ianuary when it was only prorogued by which he would make that to be the first day thereof True it is that Anciently if the Parliament had been Prorogued on that day to which the Summons thereof had referred in the beginning of it they were so far from accounting that day the first of the ensuing Parliaments that new Writs of Summons were thereupon sent forth and a new day appointed for the beginning thereof as appears in the Parliament Rolls Anno 23. Edw. 1. die 20. Novemb. An. 60. Edw. 1. die 11. Decembris A. 33. Edw. 1. die 13. Julij A. 11. Edw. 2. die 3. Martij But yet it hath been the constant usage most Anciently and doth doubtless hold at this day also that if the King do come in Person to the Parliament on that day to which the Writs of Summons do refer and there cause it to be referred to another day in his own presence then shall that day be accounted the first day of the Parliament of which there are many Presidents also in the Parliament Rolls still remaining in the Tower of London prout in A. 6. Edw. 3. Octobris Sti ' Hillarij A. 14. Edw. 3. tempore Quadragessimi A. 15. Edw. 3. Quindena Paschae and of divers other Parliaments in his time and in the time of King R. 2. his Successor And thus also the last day of the Parliament or of any particular Session is counted to be that on which the Royal assent is given to one or more Acts of Parliament yet if that Parliament or Sessions be adjourned to another day on which the Sovereign doth again come in Person and cause it to be dissolved or further Prorogued then that latter day is to be accounted the last day thereof of which there is one only President during all the Reign of Queen Eliz ' viz. in the Original Journal Book A. 18. Dictae Reginae on Thursday the 15th day of March. The
Petition by her Commandment and direction it was sent unto the Lords into the Upper House by Sir Robert Cecill then her Majesties Secretary and endorsed on the back side thus in his own hand Her Majesty hath commanded me to signifie unto your Lordships that upon the humble Suit of the Lord de la Ware she is pleased this Petition be considered and determined in the House Robert Cecill Which Petition being this 5 th day of November sent unto the House was there read as followeth To the Queens most Excellent Majesty BEseecheth your most Excellent Majesty your most humble Subject Thomas le Ware K r That whereas Thomas sometimes Lord Le Ware Ancestor and great Grandfather of your said Subject whose Heir Male he is That is to say your Subject is Son and Heir to William who was Son and Heir to George who was Brother and Heir to Thomas who was Son and Heir to the said Thomas your Subject's great Grandfather in the third year of the Reign of King Henry the Eighth your Noble Father by Writ of Summons of Parliament of the said King Henry the Eighth came to the Parliament then holden at Westminster in the said third year and so continually the said Thomas the great Grandfather and his Heirs Males Ancestors of your Suppliant in many other Parliaments holden as well in the time of the said King Henry the Eighth as in the time of your Noble Brother King Edward the Sixth and in the time of your Dear Sister Queen Mary have come in their proper persons by their Writs and Commandment until the Parliament holden at Westminster in the first and second years of King Philip and Queen Mary which was after the Death of the said Thomas your Suppliants great Grandfather and of Thomas his Son that had not any Issue of his Body and of the said George who died in the Life of his Brother Thomas the said William Father of your Suppliant being the Son and Heir of the said George and Heir Male to his said great Grandfather to which Parliament he was not summoned for that he stood by Act of Parliament holden before at Westminster in the third year of the said Edward the Sixth disabled to claim and enjoy the dignity of the Seigniory of the Lord La Ware during his Life and the said William being now dead your said Suppliant is come to this present Parliament in his proper person by your Writ and Commandment May it please your most gracious Majesty to consider the Premisles and thereupon to Grant and Ordain by advice of your most wise Council in this present Parliament Assembled That your said Suppliant may have his place in this present Parliament in your presence as his Ancestors Lords La Ware have had in the said Parliament before this time This Petition being read it was referr'd to these Committees following viz. The Lord Treasurer the Earl of Nottingham Lord Admiral the Earl of Shrewsbury the Lord Bishop of London the Lord Bishop of Winton the Lord Zouch the Lord Stafford the Lord Windsor the Lord Shefsield the Lord North the Lord S t John of Bletso the Lord Buckhurst Sir Edmund Anderson Knight Lord Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas Sir William Perriam Lord Chief Baron and Edward Coke the Queens Attorney who were appointed to meet at the Council-Chamber in Whitehall on Sunday the 6 th day of November at two of the Clock in the Afternoon Where what they did and what Judgment the Lords and the whole House gave in this Case followeth afterwards on Thursday the 10 th of this instant November and on Monday the 14 th day of the same On Monday the 7 th day of November to which day the Parliament had been last continued the Bill for the speedy satisfaction of her Majesty against Accomptants was read secundâ vice and committed unto the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury the Lord Treasurer the Lord Admiral the Earl of Northumberland the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Earl of Worcester the Bishop of London the Bishop of Winchester and the Bishop of Norwich the Lord Zouch the Lord North and the Lord Buckhurst the Lord Chief Justice of England M r Baron Evans and M r Attorney General to attend the Lords appointed to meet at the Little Council-Chamber at Whitehall to Morrow being the 8 th day of November at four of the Clock in the Afternoon See more of this on Monday the 14 th of November following Nota That here upon the Commitment of an ordinary Bill the Judges are said to be appointed to attend the Committee of the Lords and are not nominated as Joint-Committees with them which is usually to be seen in every former Parliament almost of her Majesties Reign and therefore it should seem that either the Lords of the Upper House themselves did alter and abolish the said ancient Priviledges which the Judges had of being constituted Joint-Committees with them in respect that they were no Members of but only Assistants unto the said Upper House or else that Thomas Smith Esquire now Clerk of the said House was more careful and diligent in the distinct and exact setting down that the said Judges were not nominated as Joint-Committees but only to attend such Lords Committees as were appointed by the said House which Anthony Mason Esquire his Predecessor in the said place had for the most part neglected to distinguish And yet the said M r Mason may in some sort be justly excused of any universal or continual carelessness in this kind in respect that where the Lords Committees were appointed either to treat with the Committees of the House of Commons or by themselves about any matter of weight there the Judges and her Majesties Learned Councel are always set down as appointed to attend the said Lords Committees But when an ordinary Bill only was committed upon the second reading and especially if it concerned matter of Law there the Judges for the most part and sometimes also the Queens Learned Councel were nominated as Joint-Committees with them But whatsoever the usage hath been in former times most certain it is that not only in this present Parliament but in all that have been since unto this present year 1629. the said Judges being Assistants unto and the King 's Learned Councel being Attendants upon the said Upper House have never been nominated as Joint-Committees with their Lordships but have always been appointed to attend them And which may make it seem the more strange Whereas the Judges have liberty in the said Upper House it self upon leave given them by the Lord Keeper or the Lord Chancellor for the time being to cover their heads at a Committee they are now always accustomed to sit bare and uncovered which said course finally was constantly observed during all the continuance of this present Parliament as may appear not only by the instance foregoing but by those many other Committees which followed on Thursday the 24 th day of this instant November on
Raleigh blusht Dice Starch and the like they are because Monopolies I must confess very burtful though not all alike hurtful I know there is a great difference in them And I think if the abuses in this Monopoly of Salt were particularized this would walk in the fore rank Now seeing we are come to the means of redress let us see that it be so mannerly and handsomely handled that after a Commitment it may have good passage M r Lawrence Hide I confess M r Speaker that I owe duty to God and Loyalty to my Prince And for the Bill it self I made it and I think I understand it And far be it from this heart of mine to think this tongue to speak or this hand to write any thing either in prejudice or derogation of her Majesties Prerogative Royal and the State But because you shall know that this course is no new Invention but long since digested in the Age of our Fore-fathers above three hundred Years ago I will offer to your considerations one Precedent 10 Ed. 3. At what time one John Peach was Arraigned at this Bar in Parliament for that he had obtained of the King a Monopoly for Sweet Wines The Patent after great advice and dispute adjudged void and before his face in open Parliament Cancelled because he had exacted three shillings and four pence for every Tun of Wine himself adjudged to Prison until he had made restitution of all that ever he had recovered and not to be delivered till after a Fine of five hundred pounds paid to the King This is a Precedent worthy of observation but I dare not presume to say worthy the following And M r Speaker as I think it is no derogation to the Omnipotence of God to say he can do all but evil So I think it is no derogation to the Majesty or Person of the Queen to say the like in some proportion Yet M r Speaker because two Eyes may see more than one I humbly pray that there might be a Commitment had of this Bill lest something may be therein which may prove the bane and overthrow thereof at the time of the passing M r Speaker quoth Serjeant Harris for ought I see the House moveth to have this Bill in the nature of a Petition It must then begin with more humiliation And truly Sir the Bill is good of it self but the penning of it is somewhat out of course M r Mountague said The matter is good and honest and I like this manner of proceeding by Bill well enough in this matter The grievances are great and I would note only unto you thus much that the last Parliament we proceeded by way of Petition which had no successful effect M r Francis Moore said M r Speaker I know the Queens Prerogative is a thing curious to be dealt withal yet all grievances are not comparable I cannot utter with my tongue or conceive with my heart the great grievances that the Town and Country for which I serve suffereth by some of these Monopolies It bringeth the general profit into a private hand and the end of all is Beggery and Bondage to the Subjects We have a Law for the true and faithful currying of Leather There is a Patent sets all at liberty notwithstanding that Statute And to what purpose is it to do any thing by Act of Parliament when the Queen will undo the same by her Prerogative Out of the spirit of humiliation M r Speaker I do speak it there is no Act of hers that hath been or is more derogatory to her own Majesty more odious to the Subject more dangerous to the Common-Wealth than the granting of these Monopolies M r Martin said I do Speak for a Town that grieves and pines for a Countrey that groaneth and languisheth under the burthen of monstrous and unconscionable Substitutes to the Monopolitans of Starch Tinn Fish Cloth Oyl Vinegar Salt and I know not what nay what not The principallest commodities both of my Town and Country are ingrossed into the hand of those blood-suckers of the Common-Wealth If a body M r Speaker being let blood be left still languishing without any remedy how can the good estate of that body long remain Such is the State of my Town and Country the Traffick is taken away the inward and private Commodities are taken away and dare not be used without the Licence of these Monopolitans If these blood-suckers be still let alone to suck up the best and principallest commodities which the earth there hath given us what shall become of us from whom the fruits of our own Soil and the commodities of our own labour which with the sweat of our brows even up to the knees in Mire and Dirt we have laboured for shall be taken by Warrant of Supream Authority which the poor Subjects dare not gainsay M r George Moore said I make no question but that this bill offereth good matter And I do wish that the matter may in some sort be prosecuted and the Bill rejected Many grievances have been laid open touching the Monopolics of Salt but if we add thereunto peter then we had hit the grief aright with which my Country is perplexed There be three persons her Majesty the Patentee and the Subject her Majesty the head the Patentee the hand and the Subject the soot Now here 's our Case the head gives power to the hands the hand oppresseth the foot the foot riseth against the head We know the power of her Majesty cannot be restrained by any Act why therefore should we thus talk Admit we should make this Statute with a Non objtante yet the Queen may grant a Patent with a Non objtante to cross this Non obstante I think therfore it agreeth more with the gravity and wisdom of this House to proceed with all humbleness by Petition than Bill M r Wingfield said I would but put the House in mind of the proceeding we had in this matter the last Parliament in the end whereof our Speaker moved her Majesty by way of Petition that the griefs touching these Monopolies might be respected and the grievances coming of them might be redressed Her Majesty answered by the Lord Keeper that she would take care of these Monopolies and our griefs should be redressed if not she would give us free liberty to proceed in making a Law the next Parliament The grief M r Speaker is still bleeding and we green under the sore and are still without remedy It was my hap the last Parliament to encounter with the word Prerogative but as then so now I do it with all humility and wish all happiness both unto it and to her Majesty I am indifferent touching our proceeding either by Bill or Petition so that therein our grievances may follow whereby her Majesty may specially understand them Sir Walter Raleigh said I am urged to speak in two respects the one because I find my self touched in particular the other in that I take
Winchester to the Patentees of King Edw. VI. was read the second time and thereupon Ordered to be ingrossed The new Provisoes from the Lords in the Bill for the First-fruits were read the first time and the Proviso from the Lords in the Bill of Treasons was read the third time and passed the House The Bill for allowance of Sheriffs for the Justices Diets and the Bill for the Restitution in Blood of Robert Rudston were each of them read the third time and passed the House The Bill for thicking of Caps in Mills was read the third time and upon the question was dashed The Bill lastly for renewing one of the Fairs at Linn Regis and the Bill for the new Parish Church of Abernant in Wales were each of them read the third time and passed the House Robert Buxton Burgess of Brembre in Sussex was Licensed to be absent for the Duke of Norfolks Affairs On Friday the 17 th day of March the Bill for the Shipping of Woollen Cloaths of 5 l 10 s over the Sea The Bill for Artificers in Kent and Sussex And the Bill against carrying over Sea of Leather Hides or Tallow to be Felony were each of them read the second time and Ordered to be ingrossed The Bill that no persons shall be punished for using the Religion used in King Edwards last Year was read the first and second time and Ordered to be ingrossed And the Bill that Licenses shall be good but during the Princes Reign was read the second time and Ordered likewise to be ingrossed The Bill for true Answering of Customs and unlading of Goods in the day time was read the first time and as it should seem referr'd to M r Chancellor to be considered Three Bills lastly of no great moment had each of them one reading of which one being the Bill for the Jointure of the Dutchess of Norfolk and another against seditious words and rumours against the Queen had each of them their third reading and passed the House On Saturday the 18 th day of March the Bill against buying of Horses to sell shortly again And the Bill for the Assizes to be kept in the Town of Stafford were each of them read the second time and thereupon Ordered to be ingrossed Two Bills of no great moment had each of them one reading of which one being the Bill against unlawful Assemblies was read the first time and as it should seem committed to M r Smith to consider of it Three Bills lastly had each of them their third reading of which one being the Bill for Assurance of divers Mannors late parcel of the Bishoprick of Winchester to King Edward the Sixths Patentees was upon the Question passed the House The Bill for the Supremacy was brought from the Lords by M r Attorney to be reformed Vid. concerning this Bill on Thursday the 27 th of April ensuing John Malock Burgess for Linne and Robert Moone Burgess for Britport for their several Affairs have Licence to be absent On Monday the 20 th day of March two Bills of no great moment had each of them one reading of which the second being the Bill touching the Assizes and Gaol-Delivery was read the third time and passed the House and was presently sent up to the Lords with divers others by M r Vice-Chamberlain The Bill that the Queen shall make Rules for Colledges and Schools was read the second time and ordered to be ingrossed And the Bill for continuance of the last Act for Rebellions was read the first time The Proviso sent from the Lords with the Bill of First-Fruits was read the second time And the Proviso and Reformation in the Bill of Supremacy was read the first time de qua vide on Thursday the 27 th of April ensuing On Tuesday the 21 th day of March two Bills of no great moment had each of them one reading of which the second being the Bill for Tanning and selling of Tann'd Leather was read the first time The Bill against unlawful Assemblies was read the second time and ordered to be ingrossed And the Proviso and Reformation in the Bill touching Supremacy was read the second time Two Bills also had each of them one reading of which one being the Bill that the Queens Majesty shall make Orders in Collegiate Churches was read the third time and passed the House and was sent up to the Lords by M r Vice-Chamberlain and others The new Bill against Cancelling of Records by Warrant or otherwise was read the first time Two Bills also had each of them their second reading of which one was the Bill to make lawful the Deprivations of the Bishops of London Winchester Worcester and Chichester in the time of King Edward the VI. The Bill that the Queens Highness shall Collate or appoint Bishops in Bishopricks being Vacant was read the first and second time and thereupon Ordered to be ingrossed On Wednesday the 22 th day of March the Bill to continue the Act for Rebellious Assemblies The Bill for Collating of Bishops by the Queens Highness and without Rites and Ceremonies And the Bill for Tanners and selling of Tann'd Leather were each of them read the third time and passed the House and were sent up to the Lords by M r Comptroller The Provisoes and Additions by the Lords in the Bill of Supremacy and the Provisoes from the Lords in the Bill of First-Fruits were read the third time and passed the House Four other Bills lastly of no great moment had each of them one reading of which the last was the Bill to revive the Act against Carriage of Horses into Scotland and was read the third time and passed and was with three others sent up to the Lords by M r Chancellor of the Dutchy On Thursday the 23 th day of March it was reported to this House by ..... one of the Burgesses that Mr. Story had not well used himself being a Member of this House to go before the Lords and be of Counsel with the Bishop of Winchester against the Patentees which by the House was taken to be a fault Whereupon M r Story excused himself by ignorance of any such Order And nevertheless had since considered of it and doth acknowledge it not to be well done and therefore required the House to remit it which willingly by the House was remitted Vide touching this business on Wednesday the first day Friday the third Saturday the fourth and on Monday the Sixth day of this instant March foregoing On Friday the 24 day of March for weighty Affairs to be done in this Parliament according to the Example of the Upper House this Court of the House of Commons is according to former Presidents Adjourned until Monday the third day of April next coming But upon what occasion the House of Commons was this day Adjourned doth not at all appear in the Original Journal-Book of the same House but most probable it is that it was by reason of a disputation had and agitated this
attempt the destruction of your Majesty and us all that live by you We fear a Faction of Hereticks in your Realm Contentious and malicious Papists lest they most unnaturally against their Country most madly against their own Safety and most treacherously against your Highness not only hope for the woful day of your Death but also lay in wait to advance some Title under which they may revive their late unspeakable Cruelty to the destruction of Goods Possessions and Bodies and thraldom of the Souls and Consciences of your faithful and Christian Subjects We see nothing to withstand their desire but your only Life their Unkindness and Cruelty we have tasted we fear much to what attempt the hope of such opportunity nothing withstanding them but your Life will move them We find how necessary it is for your preservation that there be more set and known between your Majesties Life and their desire We see on the other side how there can be no such danger to your Majesty by ambition of any Apparent Heir established by your benefit and advancement for want of Issue of your Majesties Royal Body as you are now subject unto by reason of their desire and hope We know not how many pretend Titles and Trust to succeed you whose secret desire we so much more fear because neither their number force nor likelihood of disposition is known unto us and so we can the less beware of them for your preservation We find also by good proof that the certain limitation of the Crown of France hath in that Realm procured so great quiet as neither the person of the Prince in Possession hath been indangered by secret or open practice nor the Common-Weal molested by civil dissention through any quarrel attempted for the Title of that Crown And somewhat near home we have remembred the miserable estate of Scotland after the Death of King Alexander without any certain Heir or limitation to whom the Crown of Scotland should remain by reason whereof the whole estate of that Realm was left open to the ambition of many Competitors and most grievous desolation and spoil that grew upon such division which afterwards gave occasion to King James the Fifth to limit the Crown of Scotland to certain Noble Families of that Realm whereby they at this present enjoy that quiet surety which we want And all your Majesties most Noble Progenitors Kings of this Realm have been in this behalf so careful that from the Conquest till this present day the Realm was never left as it is now without a certain Heir living and known to whom the Crown after the Death of the Prince should appertain So as your Majesty of your singular Care for us and our Posterity hath at this time Assembled us for establishing of this great and only stay of our Safeties We again Most Gracious Sovereign Lady acknowledge our selves and all that we have to depend upon your Preservation being according to our bounden Duty most careful of the same are in most humble manner come to your Majesties presence And I the Mouth appointed for them together with and in the name of all your most loving natural and obedient Subjects do present unto you our most lowly Suit and Petition That for asmuch as of your Majesties Person would come the most redoubted and best Heirs of your Crown such as in time to come we would most Comfortably see and our Posterity most Joyfully Obey It may please your Most Excellent Majesty for our sakes for our preservation and comforts and at our most humble Suit to take to your self some Honourable Husband whom it shall please you to join unto in Mariage whom whatsoever he be that your Majesty shall choose we protest and promise with all humility and reverence to Honour Love and Serve as to our most bounden duty shall appertain And where by the Statute which your most noble Father Assented unto of his most Princely and Fatherly Zeal for his most loving Subjects for the limitation of the Succession of the Emperial Crown of this Realm Your Majesty is the last expresly named within the body of the same Act and for that your Subjects cannot judge nor do know any thing of the form or validity of any further limitations set in certain for want of Heirs of your Body whereby some great dangerous doubt remaineth in their Hearts to their great grief peril and unquietness It may also please your Majesty by Proclamation of certainty already provided if any such be or else by limitations of certainty if none be to provide a most gracious remedy in this great necessity which by your most Honourable and Motherly Carefulness for them hath occasioned this Assembly That in this convenient time of Parliament upon your late danger most graciously called by you for that cause your Grace may now extend to us that great benefit which otherwise or at other times perhaps shall never be able to be done again so not only we but all ours hereafter and for ever shall owe no less to your Majesties propagation of Succession than we do already owe to your most Famous Grandfather King Henry the Seventh his uniting of Division And your Subjects on their behalfs for your Majesties further Assurance whereupon their own preservation wholly dependeth shall imploy their whole endeavours and Wits and Power to renew devise and establish the most strong and beneficial Acts and Laws of Preservation and Surety of your Majesty and of your Issue in the Emperial Crown of this Realm and the most penal sharp and terrible Statutes to all that shall but once practise and attempt or conceive against your Safety that by any possible means they may invent or establish with such limitations of conditions and restraints to all in Remainders such grievous pains and narrow Animadversions to all that shall enterprize or imagine any thing in prejudice of your Highness and your Issue as your Majesty shall not have any cause of suspicion but most assured ground of Confidence in all your faithful Subjects continually Watching and Warding for your Preservation which God long continue that you may see your Childrens Children to his Honour and our Comfort and encline your Gracious Ear to our most humble Petitions This Petition of the House of Commons delivered by Thomas Williams Esq their Speaker to her Majesty this Afternoon as aforesaid to which see her Majesties further Answer sent to the said House on Tuesday the 16 th day of February ensuing now follows the residue of the passages of this Journal out of the Original Journal-Book of the same House On Friday the 29 th day of January Seven Bills of no great moment had each of them one reading of which the sixth being the Bill for Fines to be levyed in the County Palatine of Durham was read the third time and passed the House For that John Hippesley Esq is returned a Burgess for Wotten-Basset in Wiltshire and also for Wells in Somersetshire and doth appear for
be not very usual yet there want not Presidents of the same nature as I was assured by Henry Elsing Esq at this time Clerk of the Upper House upon Friday the 16 th day of April 1630. and that especially in former times as of King Edward the third and others the Lord Keepers place was during his absence for the most part supplied by vertue of the Kings verbal Command and seldom by Commission October the 6 th Sunday On Monday the 7 th day of October An Act to make void fraudulent Gifts Bargains and Alienations made for the deceiving of Creditors was read primâ vice and committed to Justice Dyer Quod nota The Lord Treasurer continued the Parliament until the next day at nine of the Clock On Tuesday the 8 th day of October the Bill that no man killing any person by misfortune at twelve score or longer mark shall therefore forfeit his Lands Tenements or Goods was read primâ vice Dominus Thesaurarius continuavit praesens Parliament usque in diem Jovis prox horâ nonâ On Thursday the 10 th day of October Three Bills of no great moment had each of them one reading of which the last being the Bill that no man killing any person at twelvescore prick or longer mark shall forfeit his Goods or Chattels in which Bill for that it toucheth the Queens Prerogative it was thought not convenient to proceed further without her Highness pleasure first known in the same Dominus Thesaurarius continuavit praesens Parliamentum usque in diem Sabbati prox hora nona and so every sitting day until Friday the 25 th day of October exclusivè the Parliament was continued in this Form by the Lord Treasurer except Monday the 21 th day and Tuesday the 22 th day of October on both which days the House did sit and Bills were read but in the Original Journal-Book is no mention of continuing the Court by any person which seemeth to have happened by negligence of the Clerk and after the said 25 th day of October on which Sir Robert Catlin Knight Lord Chief Justice of the Kings Bench was appointed by her Majesties Commission to supply the place of the Lord Keeper during his Sickness it was continued until Saturday the 9 th day of November ensuing when Sir Nicholas Bacon Lord Keeper of the Great Seal repaired again to the Upper House and there continued his place till the Dissolution of this present Session of Parliament On Saturday the 12 th day of October Two Bills of no great moment had each of them one reading of which the first being the Bill against fraudulent Gifts of Goods and Chattels and also a remedy for Creditors against Bankrupts was Committed to the Lord Chief Justice Dyer and Justice Southcote to be by them considered against the next meeting Quod nota October the 13 th Sunday On Monday the 14 th day of October to which day the Parliament had been last continued by the Lord Treasurer Two Bills had each of them one reading of which the first being the Bill for the taking away of Clergy from Pick-Purses and Cut-Purses was read secundâ vice commissa ad ingrossand On Tuesday the 15 th day of October to which day the Parliament had been last continued by the Lord Treasurer Three Bills had each of them one reading of which the two first the one being the Bill to take away the benefit of the Clergy from certain Offenders for some Felonies for which by the Common Law they could not be denied it was read tertiâ vice communi omnium Procerum assensu conclusa And the other being a Bill for the Confirmation of Fines and Recoveries notwithstanding the fault of the Original Writ majore Procerum numero assentientium conclusa est And the said two Bills so concluded were committed unto the Queens Attorney and M r Martin to be carried down to the House of Commons On Wednesday the 16. day of October the Lords did meet in the Parliament Chamber and nothing done but the Parliament continued by the Lord Treasurer in usual Form until Thursday the 17. day of October On Thursday the 17. day of October Three Bills of no great moment had each of them one reading of which the first being the Bill to Naturalize John Stafford born beyond the Seas was primâ vice lect and the third being against fraudulent Gifts of Goods and Chattels and also a remedy against Bankrupts was by the consent of all the Lords concluded On Saturday the 19. day of October to which day the Parliament had been last continued on Thursday foregoing by the Lord Treasurer the Bill for the punishment of the negligence and false return of Writs by under-Sheriffs and Bayliffs was by common consent of the Lords concluded and with two other Bills before concluded was sent to the House of Commons by Serjeant Carus and the Attorney General On Monday the 21. day of October the Bill for annexing of Hexhamshire to the County of Northumberland was read primâ vice Two Bills were brought up to the Lords from the House of Commons viz. One to take the benefit of Clergy from certain Offendors returned exped And another to repeal a branch of a Statute made Anno 23 Hen. 8. touching prices of Barrells and Kilderkins On Tuesday the 22. day of October to which day the Parliament had been last continued two Bills of no great moment had each of them one reading of which the second being the Bill for the annexing of Hexhamshire to the County of Northumberland was read secundâ vice and committed to the Archbishop of York the Earl of Northumberland the Earls of Westmoreland and Bedford the Bishop of Durham the Bishop of Carlisle the Lord Evers the Lord Rich and the Lord North and to Justice Welsh and Serjeant Carus Nota That here a Judge being but an Assistant and a Serjeant being but an Attendant upon the Upper House are made Joint-Committees with the Lords Ut vide plus on Thursday the third day of this instant October foregoing Nota also That an Extraordinary Proxy is Entered in the beginning of the Original Journal-Book of the Upper House to have been introduced this day being as followeth viz. 22 die Octobris introductae sunt literae Procuratoriae Cuthberti Domini Ogle in quibus Procuratores constituit Franciscum Comitem Bedford Johannem Dominum Lumley This I call an Extraordinary Proxy in respect that a Temporal Lord did Constitute two Proctors whereas usually they nominate but one and the Spiritual Lords for the most part two and this Proxy of the Lord Ogle's may the rather seem unusual in respect that of sixteen Temporal Lords who were absent by her Majesties Licence from this Session of Parliament there was but one more viz. Francis Earl of Bedford ut vide on Saturday the 9. day of November following who Constituted above one Proxy It is also worth the noting that Robert Earl of Leicester being at this time a Favorite was
but rather superior and more indifferent than any other Law For by our Common Law although there be for the Prince provided many Princely Prerogatives and Royalties yet it is not such as the Prince can take money or other things or do as he will at his own pleasure without order but quietly to suffer his Subjects to enjoy their own without wrongful oppression wherein other Princes by their Liberty do take as pleaseth them Aristotle saith That the Life of the Prince is the Maintenance of the Laws and that it is better to be governed by a good Prince than by good Laws and so your Majesty as a good Prince is not given to Tyranny contrary to your Laws but have and do pardon divers of your Subjects offending against the Laws As now for Example of your special Grace you have granted a general Pardon either without our seeking or looking for whereby it is the better welcom Again your Majesty hath not attempted to make Laws contrary to Order but orderly have called this Parliament who perceived certain wants and thereunto have put their helping hand and for help of evil manners good Laws are brought forth of the which we beseech your Excellent Majesty so many as you shall allow to inspire with the breath of your Majesties Power whereby they may be quickned which now want Life and so be made Laws Furthermore concerning Payments to be made to the Prince it is as to deliver the same to Gods Ministers who are appointed always for our defence wherefore your humble Subjects do offer a Subsidy to be put into your Majesties Treasure which although it be but as a Mite or a Farthing yet is the good will of them to be reputed as the poor Widows was in the Gospel wherein I must not omit to do that which never Speaker did before viz. to desire your Majesty not to regard this simple offer of ours but therein to accept our good will wherein your Highness hath prevented me in taking in the best part our good will and required us to retain in our hands part of our gift and accounting it to be in our Purses as in your own and so is our Duty besides the Policy thereof it being for our own Defence and also honesty for that we have received many benefits by your Majesty for he that doth a good turn deserveth the praise and not he which afterwards goeth about to reward or doth reward the same Also giving most hearty thanks to God for that your Highness hath signified your pleasure of your inclination to Marriage which afore you were not given unto which is done for our safeguard that when God shall call you you shall leave of your own Body to succeed you which was the greatest promise that God made to David and the greatest request that Abraham desired of God when God promised him exceeding great reward Who said Lord what wilt thou give me when I go Childless and he that is the Steward of mine House is mine Heir Therefore God grant us that as your Majesty hath defended the Faith of Abraham you may have the like desire of Issue with you And for that purpose that you would shortly imbrace the holy State of Matrimony to have one when and with whom God shall appoint and best like your Majesty and so the Issue of your own Body by your Example Rule over our Posterity and that we may obtain this let us give our most humble thanks to God for his manifold benefits bestowed upon us and pray for the Reign of your Majesties Issue after your long desired Government and so ended and did his Obeysance Then the Lord Keeper after the Queen had called him and told him her mind Answered to M r Speaker and said M r Speaker The Queen hath heard and understood your Wise and Eloquent Oration whereby principally I gather four things First Disabling your self Secondly Concerning Governance The third touching the Subsidy And lastly In giving thanks which also was intermingled very wisely in all parts of your Oration And for the first In disabling your self you have therein contrarily bewrayed your own ableness For the second Concerning Governance as well by Succession as Election of Religion and Policy in which Discourse you have dealt well I therefore leave it and mean to speak only a few words as to your last word Policy Politick Orders be Rules of all good Acts and touching those that you have made to the over-throwing of good Laws they deserve reproof as well as the others deserve praise in which like case you err in bringing her Majesties Prerogative in Question and for that thing wherein she meant not to hurt any of your Liberties And again the grant of her Letters Patents in Question is not a little marvail for that therein you find fault which is now no new devised thing but such as afore this time hath been used and put in practice howbeit her Majesties nature is mild and full of Clemency so that she is loth herein to be austere and therefore though at this time she suffer you all to depart quietly unto your Countries for your Amendment yet as it is needful so she hopeth that the Offenders will hereafter use themselves well Again touching the good Laws which you have taken great pains in making if they be not Executed they be not only as Rods without Hands to execute them or as Torches without Light but also breed great contempt therefore look well to the Execution for if it be not done the fault is in some of us which she putteth orderly in trust to see it done For the third point concerning the presentment of the Subsidy her Majesty biddeth me say that when the Lords Spiritual and Temporal granted it unto her so she trusteth you will be as careful in gathering of it which I and others be witness how very unwilling and loth she was to take but to avoid further inconvenience And lastly Concerning knowledge of benefits and giving of thanks which you have well declared be many yet one in comparison above all yea a fruit above all other and whereby you may enjoy all the other which is her Marriage whereof she hath put you in good hope Further I have to put you in remembrance of three things the first is that where now you acknowledge benefits and as you have cause to give thanks so secondly that you be not unmindful hereafter to do the like And thirdly that in all your doings hereafter you show your selves that all these benefits be had in remembrance and not forgotten for that it should be a thing against reason in humane Creatures specially therefore now it behoveth you all as you have acknowledged benefits and for them given thanks in the first point so that you see the other two observed And then her Majesty will not fail likewise thankfully to accept the same and so ended Thus far out of the before-mentioned Memorial touching the Passages and
ingrossing thereof and so the Bill upon the question and division of the House was passed by the yielding of the negative Voices without going through with telling of the whole numbers on both sides and was sent presently up to the Lords by Sir John Parrot and a little after two other Bills the one to avoid Horse-stealing and the other touching forcible Entries were likewise sent up to the Lords by Mr. Treasurer and others The Bill against such as steal and imbezel the Goods Chattels or Treasure of her Majesty being put in trust with the same was read the first time The Bill that Aliens Children shall pay Strangers Customs was read the third time and a Proviso added unto it thrice read the Bill and Proviso upon the question and division of the House dashed with the Yea sixty four and with the No seventy four Mr. Doctor Cary and Mr. Powle do bring from the Lords the Bill for relief of the City of Lincoln with an Addition of this word yearly added to their former Amendments for the explaining of the same Amendments All which Amendments being thrice read were upon the question assented unto by this House Nota That this Bill was brought down from the Lords to the House yesterday and therefore it should seem upon some doubts the House made touching their Lordships Amendments it was carried back again and those Amendments explained by the word above-mentioned and so being brought down again this day the said Amendments were thrice read and passed the House On Saturday the 29 th day of March Mr. Doctor Stanhop and Mr. Powle do bring from the Lords the Bill lately passed this House for continuation and perfecting of certain Statutes with a Schedule unto the same added and annexed by their Lordships and the same Schedule being thrice read passed upon the Question The Bill for the relief of the City of Lincoln being perfected according to the Amendments of the Lords and the Bill also for continuance of Statutes with the Schedule to the same were sent up to the Lords by the Master of the Wardrobe and others The Amendments of the Committees of this House to the Bill against excess of Apparel was denied upon the Question to be opened unto the House The Bill against such as steal or imbezel the Goods Chattels or Treasure of her Majesty was brought in again by Mr. Harris one of the Committees in the same as not to be sufficiently considered of for lack of time the same Bill consisting of many parts Mr. Serjeant Puckering and Mr. Serjeant Shuttleworth did bring word from the Lords that their Lordships do pray present Conference with some twenty or more of this House to meet with their Lordships in the nether room of the Upper House and the rest not to depart until the return of the same Committees Whereupon were appointed for that purpose all the Privy Council of this House Sir William Hatton Mr. Wroth Mr. North Mr. Lieutenant of the Tower Mr. Wade Mr. Mills Mr. Juers Mr. Henry Grey Sir Edward Dymock Mr. Robert Bowes Mr. Harris Mr. Heydon Mr. Francis Moore Sir George Barne Mr. Robert Cecill Mr. Shirley Mr. Dyer Mr. Hare Mr. Ralph Bowes Sir Francis Hinde Mr. Preston Mr. White Mr. Hill Mr. Henry Brooke and the Master of the Jewel-House Mr. Treasurer in the name of the rest of the Committees did bring word from the Lords that their Lordships have had Conference amongst themselves of the great practices and Treasons heretofore intended against her Majesties Person State and Kingdom And therefore ..... What should here follow is wholly omitted by the great negligence of Mr. Fulk Onslow at this time Clerk of the House of Commons as also the Speeches of Mr. Vice-Chamberlain of Mr. Secretary Wolley of Sir John Parrot Mr. Comptroller and of Mr. Fortescue for the inserting of which said Speeches there is left a blank of near upon two whole Pages and yet it may be probably gathered what the scope and end of all the said several and respective Speeches were out of a question following which Mr. Speaker propounded at the end of them viz. That seeing most of all those Treasons which had been practised against her Majesty had been either Plotted in Spain or procured by Spain and all the Rebellions during her Highness Reign raised either in England or Ireland had been countenanced from thence to which as the upshot of all that his late intended ambitious and blood-thirsty Conquest yet fresh in memory may be added That therefore her Majesty would be pleased to denounce open War against him the said King of Spain as against a most dangerous Enemy of her Majesty and her Realms Upon the said Speeches Mr. Speaker maketh the question and thereupon it was resolved by the whole House for joining with their Lordships in request to her Majesty to be delivered by the Mouth of Mr. Speaker for concurring with their Lordships for denouncing of War against the King of Spain at the time of his going up with the Subsidy and after the offer and delivery of the same Subsidy Mr. Doctor Cary and Mr. Doctor Stanhop did bring from the Lords two Bills viz. The Act of the Queens Majesties most gracious and free Pardon and also the Act of four Fifteenths and Tenths and two Subsidies which had before passed this House The Bill of the Queens Majesties most general and free Pardon being once read passed thereupon Which said Bill so passed was presently sent up to the Lords by M r Fortescue and others Nota That this is all which is found in the Original Journal-Book of the House of Commons and therefore the Conclusion and Dissolution of this Parliament next ensuing are supplied out of that of the Upper House Her Majesty being as it should seem this very Forenoon come unto the Upper House and there set the House of Commons having notice thereof with Serjeant Snagg their Speaker repaired thither who after his delivery of the Bill of Subsidy did move her Majesty as may be very probably conjectured according to the former resolution had this day in the said House as aforesaid that her Majesty would be pleased to denounce open War against the Spanish King who had so lately threatned destruction to her Majesty and her Realms by that his not long since open and Hostile Invasion After which her Majesty having given her Royal Assent unto the passing of sixteen publick Acts and eight private Acts being all the Statutes that passed this Parliament Sir Christopher Hatton Knight Lord Chancellor by her Majesties Commandment Dissolved the same THE JOURNAL OF THE House of LORDS An Exact and perfect Journal of the Passages of the House of Lords in the Parliament holden at Westminster Anno 35 Reginae Eliz. Anno Domini 1592. which began there on Monday the 19 th Day of February and then and there continued until the Dissolution thereof on Tuesday the 10 th Day of April Anno Domini 1593. THERE is little extraordinary in
Bacon M r Francis Moore M r Serjeant Harris and others who were appointed to meet upon Monday next in the House at two of the Clock in the Afternoon after a question first had whether it should be sitten upon in Committee this Afternoon and was upon the division of the House upon the difference of forty six persons viz. with the Yea for this day ninety five and with the No for Monday a hundred sixty one Ordered to be sitten in Committee on Monday next as aforesaid Thus far out of the Original Journal-Book of the House of Commons the residue which fell out in the Afternoon at the Committee for Monopolies or Patents of Priviledge whose names see before on Yesterday foregoing is supplied out of the private Journal Sir Edward Hobbie informed the House of the great abuse of the Patentee for Salt in his Country That betwixt Michaelmas and S t Andrews Tide where Salt before the Patent was wont to be sold for sixteen pence a Bushel it is now sold for fourteen or fifteen shillings a Bushel But after the Lord President had understanding thereof he committed the Patentee and caused it to be sold for sixteen pence as before This Patent was granted to Sir Thomas Wilkes and after to one Smith To Lyme there is brought every Year above three thousand Wey of Salt and every Wey of Salt is since the Patent enhaunced to twenty shillings and where the Bushel was wont to be eight pence it is now sixteen pence And I dare boldly say it if this Patent were called in there might well three thousand pound a year be saved in the Ports of Lyme Boston and Hull I speak of white Salt M r Francis Bacon said The Bill is very injurious and ridiculous injurious in that it taketh or rather sweepeth away her Majesties Prerogative and ridiculous in that there is a Proviso that this Statute shall not extend to Grants made to Corporations that is a Gull to sweeten the Bill withal it is only to make Fools fain All men of the Law know that a Bill which is only expository to expound the Common Law doth enact nothing neither is any promise of good therein And therefore the Proviso in the Statute of 34 Hen. 8. of Wills which is but a Statute expository of the Statute of 32 Hen. 8. of Wills touching Sir John Gainsfords Will was adjudged void Therefore I think the Bill very unfit and our Proceedings to be by Petition M r Sollicitor Flemming said I will briefly give account of all things touching these Monopolies Her Majesty in her Provident Care gave Charge unto M r Attorney and my Self that speedy and special Order may be taken for these Patents this was in the beginning of Hillary Term last but you all know the danger of that time and what great affairs of importance happened to prevent these businesses and since that time nothing could be done for want of leisure Sir Robert Wroth said I would but note M r Sollicitor that you were charged to take Order in Hillary Term last why not before there was time enough ever since the last Parliament I speak it and I speak it boldly these Patentees are worse than ever they were And I have heard a Gentleman affirm in this House that there is a Clause of Revocation in these Patents if so what needed this stir of Scire facias Quo Warranto and I know not what when it is but only to send for the Patentees and cause a redelivery There have been divers Patents granted since the last Parliament these are now in being viz. The Patents for Currants Iron Powder Cards Ox-shin Bones Train Oyl Transportation of Leather Lists of Cloth Ashes Anniseeds Vinegar Sea-Coals Steel Aquavitae Brushes Pots Salt-Peter Lead Accidences Oyl Calamint Stone Oyl of Blubber Fumathoes or dryed Piltchers in the Smoak and divers others Upon the reading of the Patents aforesaid M r Hackwell of Lincolns-Inn stood up and asked thus Is not Bread there Bread quoth one Bread quoth another this Voice seems strange quoth another this Voice seems strange quoth a third No quoth M r Hackwell if Order be not taken for these Bread will be there before the next Parliament M r Heyward Townesend of Lincoln's-Inn said I seeing the disagreement of the Committee and that they would agree upon nothing made a Motion to this effect first to put them in mind of a Petition made the last Parliament which though it took no effect yet we should much wrong her Majesty and forget our selves if we should think to speed no better now in the like Case because then there was a Commitment for this purpose and the Committees drew a Speech which was delivered by the Speaker word for word at the end of the Parliament but now we might help that by sending our Speaker presently after such a Committee and Speech made with humble Suit not only to repeal all Monopolies grievous to the Subject but also that it would please her Majesty to give us leave to make an Act that they might be of no more force validity or effect than they are at the Common Law without the strength of her Prerogative Which though we might now do and the Act being so reasonable we might assure our selves her Majesty would not delay the passing thereof yet we her loving Subjects c. would not offer without her privity or consent the Cause so nearly touching her Prerogative or go about to do any such Act. And also that at the Committee which should make this Speech every Member of this House which either found himself his Town or Country grieved might put in in fair writing such Exceptions against Monopolies as he would justifie to be true And that the Speaker might deliver them with his own hands because many obstacles and hindrances might happen M r Francis Bacon after a long Speech concluded thus in the end Why you have the readiest course that possibly can be devised I would wish no further Order be taken but to prefer the wise and discreet Speech made by the Young Gentleman even the Youngest in this Assembly that last spake I will tell you that even ex ore Infantium lactantium the true and most certain course is propounded unto us So the House as it should seem agreed thereunto and appointed to meet on Monday next post Meridiem at which time all the aforesaid matters past On Monday the 23 th day of November Three Bills had each of them one reading of which the first being the Bill for Confirmation of the Grant of the Hospitals of Christ Bridewell and S t Thomas the Apostle was read the second time and committed to the former Committees who were appointed on Tuesday the 17 th day of this instant November foregoing and Sir George Moore M r Paule M r Edward Moore and M r Barnham were added to the former Committees who were appointed to meet upon Wednesday next in the Exchequer Chamber at two of
the Clock in the Afternoon M r Symnell one of the Committees in the Bill touching M r Markham shewed the mind of the Committees to be and also delivered sundry reasons that it is a Bill fit to rest and not to be any further dealt in by this House The Bill that Sir Anthony Mayney Knight and Anthony Mayney his Son may be enabled to dispose of his Lands c. was upon the second reading committed unto Sir Robert Wroth Sir Edward Hobbie Sir George Moore Sir William Wray Sir Moyle Finch Sir Michaell Sandes and others who were appointed to meet to Morrow in the Afternoon in the Middle-Temple Hall at two of the Clock The Bill to reform the abuse of Taintering Cloth was read the second time and upon the question Ordered not to be committed and upon another question rejected The Bill of Monopolies was read to which M r Spicer spake and said M r Speaker I think it were good this Bill were committed I am no Apostate but I stick to the former faith and opinion that I was of that by way of Petition will be our safest course for it is to no purpose to offer to tie her hands by Act of Parliament when she may loosen her self at her pleasure I think it were a Course nec gratum nec tutum And therefore the best way is to have a Committee to consider what course shall be proceeded in for I doubt not but we be all agreed of the reformation though not of the manner M r Davies said God hath given that power to absolute Princes which he attributeth to himself Dixi quod Dii estis And as Attributes unto them he hath given Majesty Justice and Mercy Majesty in respect of the Honour that the Subject sheweth to his Prince Justice in respect he can do no wrong therefore the Law is 1 Hen. 7. that the King cannot commit a disseizin Mercy in respect he giveth leave to Subjects to right themselves by Law And therefore in 43 Assis. an Indictment was brought against Bakers and Brewers for that by colour of Licence they had broken the Assize wherefore according to that Precedent I think it most fit to proceed by Bill not by Petition M r Secretary Cecill said if there had not been some mistaking or some confusion in the Committee I would not now have spoken The question was of the most convenient way to reform these grievances of Monopoly But after disputation of the labour we have not received the expected fruit If every man shall take leave to speak for the common Subject I am afraid in these vast powers of our mind we shall dispute the project and reformation quite out of doors This dispute draws two great things in question First the Princes power Secondly the freedom of Englishmen I am born an Englishman and am a Fellow-Member of this House I would desire to live no day in which I should detract from either I am servant unto the Queen and before I would speak or give consent to a Case that should debase her Prerogative or abridge it I would wish my tongue cut out of my head I am sure there were Law-makers before there were Laws One Gentleman went about to possess us with the Execution of the Law in an Antient Record of 5 o or 7 o Edwardi 3. Likely enough to be true in that time when the King was afraid of the Subject Though this Precedent be a substance yet it is not the whole substance of the Parliament For in former times all sate together as well King as Subject and then it was no prejudice to his Prerogative to have such a Monopoly examined If you stand upon Law and dispute of the Prerogative heark ye what Bracton saith Praerogativam Nostram nemo audeat disputare And for my own part I like not these courses should be taken And you M r Speaker should perform the charge her Majesty gave unto you in the beginning of this Parliament not to receive Bills of this nature for her Majesties ears be open to all grievances and her hand stretcht out to every mans Petitions For the matter of access I like it well so it be first moved and the way prepared I had rather all the Patents were destroyed than her Majesty should lose the hearts of so many Subjects as is pretended I will tell you what I think of these Monopolies I take them to be of three natures some of a free nature and good some void of themselves some both good and void For the first when the Prince dispenses with a penal Law that is left to the alteration of Sovereignty I think it powerful and irrevocable For the second as to grant that which taketh from the Subject his Birthright such men as desire these kind of Patents I account them misdoers and wilful and wicked offenders Of the third sort is the Licence for the matter of Cards c. And therefore I think it were fit to have a new Commitment to consider what her Majesty may grant what not what course we shall take and upon what points M r Doctor Stanhop and D r Hone were sent from the Lords with a Bill intituled An Act for the Uniting of Eye and Dunsden to the Mannor of Sunning M r Mountague said I am loth to speak what I know lest perhaps I should displease The Prerogative Royal is that which is now in question and which the Laws of the Land have ever allowed and maintained Then my motion shall be but this That we may be Suitors unto her Majesty that the Patentees shall have no other remedies than by the Laws of the Realm they may have and that our Act may be accordingly M r Martin said I think the Common grievance and the Queens Prerogative have inspired this Gentleman that last spake whom for reverence sake I must needs name M r Mountague to make that motion which he hath done And because the House seems greatly to applaud it may it please you M r Speaker to put it to the question whether that shall be determined of at the Committee Now the Committees were all the Privy Council being Members of this House and the Queens Learned Councel Members likewise of this House all the Knights of the Shires Sir George Moore M r D r Bennet M r Hide M r Winch Sir Charles Cavendish Sir Percival Hart M r Thinn Mr. Downhalt Mr. Martm and divers others together with the Knights and Citizens for London the Barons of the Ports M r Lieutenant of the Tower and M r Doctor Caesar who were appointed to meet this Afternoon in this House at two of the Clock to have Conference and to agree upon some course to be taken touching Patents of Priviledges and to report unto this House of their resolutions therein accordingly The Bill against Pluralities of Benefices had its first reading All the Bills committed touching Cloths are appointed to be dealt in to Morrow in the Afternoon in the Middle-Temple Hall M
Repeal of Statutes Upon a Motion made by M r Sollicitor for a Conference to be had with the Lords in the Bill that passed with their Lordships and hath been twice read in this House Intituled An Act for the reuniting of Eye and Dunsden to the Mannor of Sunning It is appointed that M r Comptroller of the Exchequer M r Sollicitor and others do meet to Morrow with the Lords at eight of the Clock in the Morning touching the same Conference On Tuesday the 8 th day of December the Bill touching Watermen on the River of Thames was read the second time and committed unto the Knights and Citizens for London Sir George Moore Sir John Lewson and others who were appointed to meet this Afternoon in the Exchequer Court at two of the Clock M r Moore one of the Committees in the Bill touching S t Thomas's Hospital made Report of the travel of the same Committees and certifieth in the Bill with some Amendments The Amendments in the Bill touching S t Bartholomews Hospital was twice read and with the Bill Ordered to be ingrossed The Bill touching Glass-Houses was read the first time and rejected upon the Question M r Winch one of the Committees in the Bill touching Theophilus Adams who were appointed on Saturday the 5 th day of this instant December foregoing brought in the Bill amended in some parts by the Committees The Amendments in the Bill for Theophilus Adams were twice read and the Bill Ordered to be ingrossed M r John Harris made Report of the meeting of the Committees in the Bill touching abuses in Sheriffs and other Officers in not executing Proclamations who were appointed on Friday the 4 th day of this instant December foregoing and delivered in the Bill not altered or amended in any point The Bill touching abuses in Sheriffs c. was Ordered to be ingrossed M r Simnell moved this House for some speedy consideration to be had to restrain the transportation of Iron Ordnance Whereupon the Bill Intituled An Act prohibiting transportation of Iron Ordnance beyond the Seas was read the second time but before it was committed there passed many Speeches and Arguments touching it in the House being of very great moment Sir Edward Hobbie said I may resemble this to a saying of a Gentleman who told a story of a skilful Painter that painted a Tree in the Sea so lively c. And the Judgment was O valde bene sed hic non erat locus So I say this Bill is an Excellent Bill the matter foul the request and remedy good and honest but this is not our mean of redress Her Majesty in the late Proclamation took notice thereof and no doubt she will redress it And for us now to enter again on bringing or allowing Acts against Monopolies is to refuse her Majesties gracious favour and cleave to our own affections I think therefore if we deal therein Petition will be our only course This is a matter of Prerogative and this is no place M r Fettiplace said I know her Majesty receiveth Yearly by Custom for the transportation of these Ordnance three thousand pound There be four kinds of these Ordnance now usually transported The first a Falkon of the least weight and bore the second a Minion a little heavier and bigger the third a Sacre somewhat greater the fourth a Demi-Culverin being the greatest Now M r Speaker they which transport Ordnance do transport in this manner If it be a Falkon she shall have the weight of a Minion and so if a Sacre the weight of a Demi-Culverin the reason hereof is because when they are brought beyond the Seas they will new bore them to a greater size as the Sacre to the Demi-Culverin bore Besides M r Speaker eight Tun of Iron Ordnance will make five Tun of good Iron And it is now grown so common that if you would send Merchandize beyond the Seas in Strangers Bottoms they will not carry it unless you will ballast their Ships and load them with some Ordnance The Ordnance be carried to Callais Embden Lubeck Rochell Brest S t John de Luce and other places and these be Confederates with Spain and Friends with Dunkirk so that in helping them we do not only help our Friends but succour the Spaniards their Friends and our Enemies If the Queen would forbid the transportation of Ordnance but for seven Years it would breed such a scarcity to the Spaniard that we might have him even where we would Some no doubt the Sea would devour some would be taken and the store which he now hath scattered and thereby his Force weakened They have so much Iron in Spain out of England that they do ordinarily sell a hundred weight of Iron Ordnance for seven Duckets and a half Spanish And if the Spaniard do make it a Capital matter but to transport a Horse or a Gennet much more ought we to have a special care herein when we shall Arm even our own Enemies against our selves I think therefore to proceed by way of a Bill would savour of curbing her Majesties Prerogative But to proceed by way of Petition it is a safe course and pleasing and we ought the rather to be induced thereto because already we have found it successful M r Brown said There is a Law already in the point and that is in the thirty third Year of Henry the Eighth Cap. 7. and in the second of Edward the Sixth Cap. 37. which prohibits the transportation of Gun-Metal And although Guns were not then made of Iron yet now they are and therefore perhaps you will say it is out of the Statute But it was lately adjudged in Worlingtons and Simpsons Case to be clearly within the very Letter of that Law And I am sure Guns be made of Gun-Metal and whosoever transporteth Guns transporteth Gun-Metal and it is within the danger of that Law But that which I would move is only this that we might be Petitioners to her Majesty to revoke that Patent and then Currat Lex c. Sir Walter Raleigh said I am sure heretofore one Ship of her Majesties was able to beat ten Spaniards but now by reason of our own Ordnance we are hardly matcht one to one And if the Low-Countries should either be subdued by the Spaniard or yield unto him upon a Conditional Peace or shall join in Amity with the French as we see them daily inclining I say there is nothing doth so much threaten the conquest of the Kingdom as the transportation of Ordnance And therefore I think it a good and speedy course to proceed by way of Petition lest we be cut off from our desires either by the Upper House or before by the shortness and sudden ending of the Parliament M r Carey said We take it for an use in the House that when any great or weighty matter or Bill is here handled we streight say it toucheth the Prerogative and must not be medled withal And so we that come