THE ANTIQUITY AND POWER OF Parliaments in ENGLAND Written by Mr. Justice Doddridge and several other Learned Antiquaries LONDON Printed for William Leake and John Leake at the Crown in Fleetstreet between the two Temple-Gates 1679. The PREFACE Courteous Reader I Here present thee with a few Sheets of the Discourses of very grave reverend and learned Men in their times one of them being a most honoured relation of my own they fell into my hands very lately upon the death of a worthy Friend and upon perusal I judged them fit for publick view they are indeed Magnum in parvo short but full of weighty matter and treat of the Antiquity and just Power of our ancient and free Parliaments of England Give me leave to discourse a little of the honour and priviledges of this most high Court a learned Lawyer of our own saith of the Parliament that it is a Court of very great honor and justice whereof none ought to imagine any thing that is dishonorable and that the makers of Laws that is Parliament-men do always intend justice and verity such was the high Opinion and esteeme of this great and eminent Court in former times and it hath been the Opinion of our Ancestors Exact Collection pag. 655 723 724. that to a Parliament rightly constituted there ought to be a lawful Summons a free Election a true Return liberty of Admission into the House and a quiet Session there with a just freedome of speech and debate without fear or disturbance these they accounted as the Essentials of a Parliament if there be an errour in any of these it soon declines and loseth its true vigour and authority As for priviledges of Parliament they esteemed them to be of that absolute necessity that if they were denyed or interrupted it cannot act properly as a Parliament no more then the Body without the Soul Priviledge of Parliament being indeed the very forma quae dat esse the Life and Soul of it Sometimes this most honorable Court is called by Bracton Co. lib. 8. f. 20. lib. 9. in epist f. 5. Communis reipublicae sponsio as in the entrance of his Book where he writeth in this manner Lex vigorem habet quicquid de consilio de consensu magnatum reipublicae communi sponsione authoritate Regis sive principis precedente juste fuerit definitum approbatum sometimes he calleth it Magna curia as in the second Chapter of his first Book where thus of new cases whereof at this present there is no Law extant be saith Si autem talia nunquam evenerint obscurum deficile sit eorum judicium tunc ponantur judicia in respectu usque ad magnam curiam ut ibi per consilium curiae terminentur In the Register in the form of all such writs as are grounded upon Statutes N. â— 55. d. 208. H. it is called commune consilium regni as in the writs of wast cessavit It is said to be likewise the most high Court the King hath Henry Huntington seemeth to call it Magnum placitum for thus he writeth Fuit in nativitate sanctae Mariae magnum placitum apud Northampton in quo congregatis omnibus principibus Angliae deliberatum est quod filia sua rediretur viro suo comiti Andegaviae In the Books of Law there is no Original mention made of the first Ordinance or Erection of the Parliament 33 H. 6.18 7 H. 7.16 a 19. H. 6.63 but the Laws of this Land esteeme it as a thing most ancient and do refer the Original thereof to time before any memory or certainty known and hence is it that they say in 35 H. 6.26 a. that a custome may have his Original by act of Parliament of which saying ensueth That for as much as customes are to have their Commencements time out of mind so likewise Parliaments in this Land have been before any memory thereof extant when they first began The personal attendance of such as are Members of the Parliament is so necessary that they ought not for any business be absent and no one may be well missed because he is a necessary Member and for that reason 26 H 8.60 a. Pl. 19. Dyer Trewinnards case if one dye during the Parliament another shall be chosen in his room so that the whole number ought not to fail whereof it ensueth that the person of every such Member ought to be priviledged of Arrest at the suit of any private person during the time that he is imployed about the affairs of the Realm and such priviledge hath been always granted by the King to the Commons at the request of the Speaker the first day of the Parliament And as this priviledge is that they shall not be arrested 38 H. 8.60 a. Pl. 19. Dyer 2 E. 4.8 a. so likewise shall they which are already arrested before the Parliament have a writ of priviledge to the Sheriff to set them at liberty yea although they are imprisoned upon an Execution and the said Execution shall be suspended during the continuance of the Parliament and then after they shall be taken again and imprisoned as before and if the said Sheriff do disobey such writ or messenger as a Serjeant at armes sent for such prisoner he is in danger of perjury and also of imprisonment of his body and ransome at the will of the King and this was in ure in the Parliament holden 35 H. 8. against Rowland Hill and Stukely Sheriffs of London who were committed to the Tower for their contempt for that they would not suffer to be at large George Ferrers when the Serjeant at armes came for him which Ferrers was imprisoned upon an Execution This priviledge is notified diversly sometime by their publick Minister and Serjeant at arms sometimes by writ where if the Parliament be clear that the priviledge lyeth they send their writ of priviledge for otherwise the writ shall be a Habeas corpus cum causa which writ is often granted before the Justices be agreed whether the priviledge do lye in the case or no and if they find it is not grantable in the case then they remand the matter with a Procedendo In the Parliament holden the 28 Eliz. which began 27. one Mr. Martin a Burgesse of the house of Commons was arrested in London twenty days before the said Session began whereupon these questions were there debated 1. Whether he should have the priviledge 2. If so then whether he should be absolutely freed of the arrest on after that Session ended whether he should be under arrest gain 3. Whether he that did arrest him were punishable or not For the time how long before the Parliament and how long after persons attendant should have their priviledges it was thought by the whole house that it should be referred to the discretion of the house for to put certainty therein would breed inconvenience for said Egerton Sollicitor If a Burgesse coming to the
obeyed not those general designes Before the Romans arrived in this Island Causibulan who before Communi Consilio Chieftain of the Britaines forces Summa enim imperii Bellique Administrandi Communi Consilio permissa est Causibulano The Ancient Laws of the Britaines which to the honor of our common Laws have their use to this day were composed in their common Counsels the multitude at that time as possessed of nothing had neither voice nor place Usury Tribute and greatness having made them servile to their betters And thus stood the State till by conquest it was made a Province So before our Britaines learned the Laws of their Victours they held their common Counsels Tacitus seemeth to ascribe much to the prosperous proceedings of the Romans against the Britaines quod non in Communi Consuluerunt After the entry of the Romans who with their people brought their Laws their Counsels were Comitia as Parliaments compounded of the three degrees Senatores Equestres Plebei and termed either Curiata Centuriata or Tributa so called for that the people were divided per Curias in which Assembly Populus Suffragia tenebat distinguished by Seats summoned by the Lictour held in the City had power to consult of Peace and War and to dispose of lesser publique Offices Romulus was founder hereof and called it lex Curiata and Centuriata for the nobler people were divided per Centurias for this the Counsel fore-sent by Edict Quis Dies Comitiis Centuriatis futurus est summoned per Corniciem Assembled in Campo Martio because all in Armes In this were disposed the greater Magistracies and affairs of that Hostilius was the institutor Tully gloried in that he was called lege Centuriata Tributa For in this the people Assembled by their Tribunes much ageeing with that of Curiata And the leges peculiares were general Jussu populi regnante Magistratu but not in force as Laws until their Promulgation for which cause the Country-Tribunes repaired to certain Faires where Proclamation was made of their new Laws and holding it aequum ut quisquam non obligaretur ad id quod sine culpa sua ignorat But these freedoms of the people expited and vanished as the Empire grew obsolete And when the State declined we as other enfranchised Countries began to give Laws unto our selves Therefore the Britains told Augustine Se non posse absque suorum Consensu licentia priscis abdicare moribus And thus it stood in Britaine until the coming in of the Saxons Now that substance and forme of Parliamentary Assemblies went all along the Saxon age held during the Incursion of the Danes and was continued by the Conquerour in part and when the Assembly of the three Estates formed the Parliament as now we keep it it shall by clear proof and presidents appear The story of the Saxons and their Laws do shew that they were of the same minde transplanted hither as Tacitus saith the Germanes were Nec Regibus infinita potestas de Minoribus Rebus principes consultant de majoribus omnes Rex Edwinus saith Beda lib. 2. cap. 13. quod antequam fidem susciperit dixit secum amicis principibus Consiliariis suis collaturum In a Charter of king Etheldred it appeareth Hist Esiensis Lib. 2. quod ad synodale Consilium apud Cirenchester universi Optimates simul convenerunt Affricum Majestatem rerum affectantem de hac patria profugum expulerunt Bertulphius held a Councel at Knisbury pro Regni Negotiis Congregat ' to the which the west-Saxon King and people sent their Legat. Ingulphus hath many places of clear proof but I will move but one In festo nativitatis beatae Mariae cum universi Magnates Regni per Regium edictum summoniti tam Archiepiscopi Episcopi Abbates Clerici quam totius Regni Proceres Optimates London convenerunt ad tractandum de negotiis publicis totius Regni consummatis omnibus Rex Eldredus coram Universis Domino Turketillo Abbati Monachisque suis Accersitis dedit Monasterium de Crowland c. Here you may see the sampler of our Parliament But to come nearer when King Jua establish'd his Lawes he saith I Jua King of the West-Saxons have called all my Fatherhood Aldermen and my wisest Commons with the godly men of my Kingdom to consult of great and weighty Matters Here is represented in King Jua the Kings Royal person The Fatherhood in those ancient dayes were those whom we call Bishops and therefore were termed Reverend Fathers By Aldermen the Nobility is meant so honorable was the word Alderman of old times that onely Noble Men were called Aldermen By the Wisest Commons is signified the Knights and Burgesses and so is the Kings Writ at this day De discretioribus majus sufficientibus By godly Men is meant the Convocation-house for that it onely eonsisteth of Religious men To consult of great and weighty Matters so is the Kings Writ at this day Pro quibusdam arduis urgentibus negotiis nos Statum defensionem Regni nostri Angliae Ecclesiae Anglicanae Concernentibus The like was in King Alphreds dayes where the King sancta Episcopi sapientes laici Statuerunt leges Calling the statute-Statute-books libri synodales All their Lawes going by way of Suffrage general according to the Right of our Parliament Wherefore King Offa having gathered Consilia sapientum and viewing the best Lawes of Jua Alured and Etheldred would not publish them until such time as the Text saith ostendenda haec omnibus sapientibus nostris dixerunt omnes placet Custodire ea But howsoever the government was by sundry Kings and they continually attent to warre The Saxon time held hardly one Forme of this great Assembly or Councel yet in Canutus his dayes he having Conquered all and reduced that Heptarchie into a Monarchie so that he could say Sub Uno Rege sub Unae lege Universum Angliae Regnum regeretur It is plain that he held a Parliament though not then so stiled yet truly so to be accompted and since that it hath all parts of our Parliament we might rightly call it so In the Preamble to his Lawes thus he saith Convocato Itaque Communi procerum comitatu Episcoporum Abbatum ceterorum Nobilium Nec non ceterae Nobilitatis sapientiaeque totius Angliae concilio satagebat communia decreta ut in quantum humana ratio Voluit stabiliret After this Pious King Edward the Confessor in a Charter made to Westminster Abbey sealed and signed the same at a Parliament for thus he saith Hanc Igitur Chartam Donationis libertatis in Dedicatione predictae Ecclesiae recitare jussi Coram Episcopis Abbatibus Comitibus omnibus Optimatibus Angliae omnique populo audiente vidente But now to come to the Normans time after the Conquest The two first Kings the Conquerour and his son William Rufus reigned with their swords in their hands absolutely of themselves not
Parliament or in the Parliament time be arrested and by priviledge be discharged after the Session endeth then he is again arrested and presently cometh another Session then must he be discharged again and so continue perhaps eight or ten years and the debtor cannot come by his debt what course should be taken for the debtors presence is still of Record in the said house and in the former case the said Martin was discharged In the Parliament Anno 27. Eliz. one Kerle was brought into the house of Commons for serving a Sub-poena out of the Star-chamber upon a Burgesse he was awarded to pay five Marks for his charges and he absolutely dismissed Sir Robert Brandling made an assault in the North upon one Witherington of the house of Commons in the Country before his coming to the Parliament Sir Robert was sent for up by the house and committed to the Tower One Gardiner a Burgesse of the Parliament committed to the Fleet by my Lord Keeper was delivered putting in bond that he should after the Parliament apper A Bargesse of Parliament a little before the end of the Parliament fell sick 28 Eliz. and six weeks after the Parliament ended when he was recovered and to go into his Country he was arrested and yet notwithstanding he had his priviledge Quaere That not onely the Burgesses and Knights shall have priviledge but also their attendant Servants 28 Eliz. One Mr. Hall a Burgesse had his man in Execution for debt and was delivered The said liberty for Servants is mentioned in the Statute of 8 H. 6. chap. 1. where it is ordained 34 H. 6.26 a. that such as shall be called to the Convocation by the Kings Writ and their Servants and Familiars shall for ever hereafter fully use and enjoy such liberty or defence in coming tarrying and going as the great Men and Commonalty of the Realm of England called or to be called to the Kings Parliament One Richard Chedder Esquire which came to the Parliament with Sir Thomas Brook one of the Knights of the Parliament for Somerset 8 H. 4.13.20 9 H. 4.1 Parliament 5 H. 4. and the said Thomas his menial Servant was wounded and beaten by one John Savage this being done in the Parliament time he made a Fine and Ransome to the Kings will Touching the choice place and votes of Members of Parliament I shall give you a brief account out of our Books of Law Place is given to Knights in Parliaments because they do import the presence of all the Freeholders of the several Shires for which they are chosen and hereof see the Book in 2 R. 3.12 a. Ireland is not bound touching Land by the Statutes of England Quia non hic habent milites in Parliamento Farther by Martin the reason why ancient demesne is not bound and made privy to divers Statutes is because they are not contributary to the expences of Knights and Burgesses 7 H. 6.35 Fitz. Jurisdict 4. And further by Nele it is plainly expressed that the cause why Acts of Parliament are publick is 21 E. 4.59 a. for that every Man hath his Attorney in Parliament to wit the Knights of the Shire for the Country and the Burgesses for the Cities and Borroughs It seemes that in ancient time there was but one Knight for a Shire for the Statute of Staple made 27 E. 3. Staple 9. hath these words Whereas good deliberation had with the Prelates Dukes Earles Barons and great Men of the Counties that is to say of every County one for all the Counties and of the Commons of Cities and Borroughs None shall be chosen Knights of the Parliament unless they be resiant within the Shire where they shall be chosen the day of the date of the writ of the Summons of the Parliament and that the Knights and Esquires 1 H. 5. cap. 1. and others which shall be chusers of the Knights of the Shires be also resiant within the same Shires in manner and form as is aforesaid and by the same Statute it is ordained and established that the Citizens and Burgesses of the Cities and Borroughts be chosen men Citizens and Burgesses resiant abiding and free in the same Cities and Boroughs and none other in any wise The manner of Election of the Knights of the Parliament is declared by Authority of Parliament as followeth that is to say at the next County to be holden after the delivery of the writ of the Parliament proclamation shall be made in the full County of the day and the place of the Parliament and that all they that be then present as well Suitors duly summoned for the same cause as others shall attend to the Election of their Knights for the Parliament and then in the full County they shall proceed to the Election freely and indifferently notwithstanding any Prayer or Commandment to the contrary and after that they be chosen the names of the Persons so chosen be they present or absent 7 H. 4. cap. 15. shall be written in an Indenture under the seals of all them that did chuse them and tacked to the said writ of the Parliament which Indenture so sealed and tacked shall be holden for the Sheriffs return of the said Writ touching the Knights of the Shires 7 H. 4. cap. 15. 7 H. 4. cap. 15. And the Election shall be in every County of the Realm of England by people dwelling and resiant in the same Counties whereof every one shall have free Land or Tenements to the value of forty shillings by the year at the least above all charges and that they that shall be so chosen shall be abiding and resiant within the same Counties and such as have the greatest number of them that may expend forty shillings by the year and above as aforesaid shall be returned by the Sheriff of every County Knights for the Parliament by Indentures sealed betwixt the said Sheriffs and the said Chusers so to be made and every Sheriff of the Realm of England shall have power by the said authority to examine upon the Evangelist every such Chuser how much he may expend by the year 8 H. 6. cap. 7. c. Provided always that he that may not expend forty shillings by the year as aforesaid shall in no wise be Chuser of the Knights for the Parliament 8 H. 6. cap. 7. 8 H 6. cap. 7. Which Act of Parliament was afterwards expounded that the Knights of all the Counties within the Realm of England to be chosen to come to the Parliament hereafter to be holden shall be chosen in every County by people dwelling and resiant in the same whereof every man shall have Freehold to the value of forty shillings by the year at the least above all charges within the same County where any such Chuser will meddle with any such Election 10. H. 6. cap. 2. Against the Parliament holden Anno 27. and 28 Eliz. a Writ issued to the Sheriff of Norfolk
Idem Constitutionem pro Institutione ponit ut inuit haec non instituta fuisse suo proprio Arbitrio sed multorum Consilio And the said King Canutus in the Preamble of his said Laws sheweth that he decreed his said Laws in this manner Convocato itaque Comitum Procerumque Conventu ut Episcoporum Abbatum caeterorum Nobilium nec non caeteris nobilitatis sapientiaeque totius Angliae Consilio satagebat communi decreto ut in quantum humana ratio valuit ea quae justa fuerant stabiliret c. And in the said Preamble is set down that before his time Synodes or Assemblies for the Commonwealth were very rare saving Ecclesiasticae institutiones synodorumque conventus apud Anglos Inusitati adhuc fuerunt And the reason I suppose was that before Canutus the Realm was governed by sundry Kings but he having conquered them all and reduced them into one Monarchie alleadgeth in his Preamble Sicut sub uno Rege ita una lege Universum Angliae Regnum regeretur so as I conclude in this point that before Canutus there were no Parliaments in England the reason I have shewed before which was the diversity and continual interwar between the Heptarchy by him reduced to a Monarchy Since his time I find that Edward the Confessor in his Charter made to Westminster-Abbey did seal and signe the same at a Parliament for thus he saith Hant Igitur donationis libertatis chartam in Die dedicationis praedictae Ecclesiae recitari jussi Coram Episcopis Abbatibus Comitibus omnibus optimatibus Angliae omni populo audiente vidente where note these words Omnibus optimatibus Angliae and omni populi audiente vidente which cannot be but in a general Assembly by Summons and that is proved by the number and diversity of the witnesses being Bishops Abbots Knights Chancellors Kings Chaplains Dukes Earles Ministri Milites c. And William the Conqueror in his Charter of the Ratification of the liberties of that Church after he hath subscribed the cross with his name and besides him a great number of others of the Clergy and Nobility in stead of Cummultis aliis hath these words Multis praeterea illustrissimis virorum personis Regum principibus diversi ordinis omissis qui similiter huic Confirmationi piissimo affectuâ— testes fautores fuerunt Hii etiam illo tempore a Regia potestate e diversis provinciis urbibus ad Universalem Synodum pro causis Cujuslibet Sanctae Ecclesiae audiendis tractandis ad praescriptum celiberrimum Caenobium quod Westmonasterium dicitur Convocati c. And in another Charter of his to the said Abbey are these words Anno Incarnationis Dom. 1081. regni etiam praenonominati gloriosi Regis Willielmi iv Convenientibus in unum cunctis primis primatibus in nativitate D.N. I. C. I read not in Rufus time of any Parliament But it appeareth in the Red Book of the Exchequet that H. 1. before the Constitution or making of his Laws setteth down Quae Communi Consilio assensu Baronum Regni Angliae c. And then proceedeth Omnes malas consuetudines quibus Regnum Angliae opprimebatur inde aufero quas ex parte suppono Testibus Archiepiscopis Episcopis Baronibus Comitibus Vicecomitibus optimatibus Regni Angliae apud Westimonaster ' quando Coronatus fui The marriage of his daugter Mawde and the entayling of the Crown to her and her heirs was done by Parliament the Accord also between him and Stephen was done by Parliament and so consequently all matters of Importance were done and concluded in Parliament and of such force is an Act of Parliament here in the governance of the State of the Realm as it is deemed as an Oracle from Heaven and resteth onely in the Kings and Queens power to qualifie and mitigate the severity thereof And thus much of the Antiquity I leave to others to discourse of the manner how they that are to treat therein are to be called and of their priviledges and so I end AGAR Of the Antiquity of Parliaments THe diligent observers of the Antiquities of this Realm do very well know that Acts of Parliament are of so high a nature that they do not onely tie the Inheritance of every man but what is there ordained every subject of the Land is bound to take notice of at his peril and because no man that should desire to inform himself therein should be ignorant what was done in Parliament as now we use printing of the Acts so before printing all the Ordinances affirmed by royal assent were recorded and then published under the great Seal of England with a general preface and proclaimed in every Shire this you may see continued from the time of H. 3. till about H. 7. his days and ordinarily the form was thus The King such a day and such a place as at Westminster the 20 day of April in the second year of the raign of King H. 6. by the advice of his Lords spiritual and temporal and at the special instance and request of the Commons Assembled in Parliament hath made and established these Ordinances Acts and Statutes to the honour of God the good of the King and Realm in form following and then sets forth every Act in particular Chapters Here you may see the persons assembled the end of their meeting and the means to make it effectual the persons which meet at the Parliament are the three Estates of the Realm first the King Secondly the Nobles spiritual and temporal Thirdly the Commons of the Land The end of the meeting is to do something to Gods glory the Kings good and the benefit of the whole Land and the means to effect the same is by consultation and consent The particular duty of each of these three seems to be insinuated in these words first the request of Commons secondly the advice of the Lords thirdly the establishment of the King the Commons being most in number and such as live in all the parts and places of the Land are like to have most and best notice of such things as are most likely and meet to be provided for and being weak in power and most subject to feel such inconveniences as greatness may lay upon them and therefore are fittest either first to lay open their griefs and pray Reformation or though they be not able at the first with Judgment to foresee ensuing dangers yet the same being once proposed and instantly apprehended they may with instance importune allowance of such Laws as may turn to their good and our own experience teacheth us that the Royal Assent is never prayed by the Lords but by the Speaker who is the mouth of the Commons In the presence of a prince a common person will scarce have the audacity to speak but when necessity maketh him crave help and therefore 't is properly said That the King advised with the Lords because he heareth the
Nobility should come unto this Assembly but such as it should please the King to call by his Writ and the rest to be chosen by voice of the Burgesses and Freeholders of the Shire where they did dwell as Mr. Camden Clarencieulx in his Britannia hath very well remembred It is recorded amongst the Summons of Parliament 35 E. 3. that there is no Writ de admittendo fide dignos ad Colloquium and amongst the Earls and Barons there is returned Mary Countesse de Norff. Alienor Countesse de Ormond Phillippa Countesse de March Agnes Countesse de Pembrook and Katherine Countesse of Athel Upon the Parliament-Roll Anno 14. or 15. E. 3. there are divers Writs directed to sundry Earls and Barons de veniendo ad Regem whereof the first is directed to William Earl of Southamton to attend the King with 120 men at armes William de Clinton Earle of Huntington with 60 men at armes Lawrence de Hastinges Earle of Pembrook with 50 men at armes and so likewise there were divers directed to others and these several kinds of Summons because I find them recorded amongst the Parliament-Rolls I thought good to remember them to you I will conclude upon the Etymologie of the word which is Parliament which is to speak and deliver a mans mind freely in that Assembly whereof the boldest speech that ever I did read of to be spoken in the Kings presence was spoken by Roger Bigod Earle Marshal of England unto King Edward the first in the Parliament-house at Salisbury where the King would have had him to go into Gascoyne for him with an Army but when the Earle excused himself saying He would be be ready to go if the King went himself the King then in a chafe said By God Sr. Earle thou shalt either go or hang and I said the Earle swear the same Oath that I will neither go not hang and so departed from the King without taking leave JOSEPH HOLLAND The Antiqutty of Parliament The two Synewes of the Common-wealth are Punishment and Reward AS touching the nature of the high Court of Parliament it is nothing else but the Kings great Counsel which he doth Assemble together upon occasion of interpretings or abrogating old Laws and making of new as ill manners shall deserve or for the punishment of evil doers or the reward of the vertuous wherein these four things are to be considered 1. VVhereof this Court is composed 2. VVhat matters are proper for it 3. To what end it is ordained 1. As for the thing it self it is composed of an Head and a Body The Head is the King the Body are the Members of the Parliament This Body again is subdivided into two parts the upper house is divided partly of the Nobility Temporal who are hereditary Councellors to the high Court of Parliament by the honour of their Creation and Lands and partly of the Bishops spiritual men who are likewise by vertue of their dignity ad vitam of this Court. The other house is composed of Knights of the Shire and Burgesses for the Towns but because the number would be infinite for all Knights Gentlemen and Burgesses to be present at every Parliament therefore a certain number is selected out of that great Body serving for that great Parliament where their persons are the representations of that Body 2. For the matters they ought to treat of they ought therefore to be general and rather of such matters as cannot well be performed without the Assembly of that general Body and no more of the generals neither then necessity shall require for as in Corruptissima Republica plurimae sunt leges so doth the life and strength of the Law consist not in heaping of infinite and confused numbers of Laws but in the right interpretation and due execution of good and wholesome Laws 3. The end for which the Parliament is ordained being onely for the advancement of Gods glory and establishment of the VVeale of the King and his people it is no place for particular men to utter their private conceits for satisfaction of their curiosities or to make shew of their Eloquence by spending the time with long studied and Eloquent Orations for the reverence of God their King and their Country being well setled in their hearts will make them ashamed of such toyes and remember that they are there as sworn Counsellors to their King to give their best advice for the furtherance of his service and flourishing Weale of this Sate 4. And lastly to consider the means how to bring all your labours to a good end you must remember that you are Assembled by your lawful King to give him your best advice in matters proposed by him unto you being of so high a nature as beforesaid wherein you are gravely to deliberate and upon your consciences plainly to determine how far those things propounded do agree with the Weale both of your King and the Country whose VVeals cannot be separated FINIS There is lately come forth an exact Abridgment of the Records in the Tower of London from the reign of King Edward the Second unto King Richard the Third of all the Parliaments holden in each Kings reign and the several Acts in every Parliament Together with the names titles of all the Dukes Marquesses Earles Viscounts Barons summoned to every of the said Parliaments Collected by Sr. Robert Cotton Knight and Baronet And are to be sold by William Leake at the Crown in Fleetstreet between the two Temple-Gates Books printed or sold by William Leak at the signe of the Crown in Fleet-street between the two Temple-Gates YOrks Heraldry fol. A Bible of a very fair large Roman Letter 4. Orlando Furioso fol. Perkins on the Laws of England 8. Wilkinsons Office of Sheriffs 8. Persons Law 8. Mirrour of Justice 8. Topicks in the Laws of England 8. Delamains use of the Horizontal Quadrant Wilby's second set of Musique three four five and six parts 4. Malthus Artificial Fire-works Corderias in english 8. Dr. Fulks Meteors with Observations 8. Nyes Gunnery and Fire-works Cato Major with Annotations Mel. Heliconium by Alexander Rosse 8. Nosce teipsum by Sir John Davis 8. Animadversions on Lillies Grammar 8. The History of Vienna and Paris 4. The posing of the Accidence The History of Lazarillo de Tormes the witty Spaniard Hero and Leander by George Chapman and Christopher Marlow Guillims Heraldry fol. Herberts Travels fol. Man become guilty by John Francis Senault and englished by Henry Earle of Monmouth Aula Lucis or the house of Light Christs Passion a Tragedy by the most learned Hugo Grotius Mathematical Recreations with the Horizontal dyal by William Oughtred 8. The Garden of Eden or an accurate description of Flowers and Fruits by Sir Hugh Plat. 8. Solitary Divotions with man in Glory by the Archbishop of Canterbury 12. The Idiot in four Books The Life and Reign of Henry the eighth by the Lord Herbert fol. Sken de Significatione verborum 4. The Fort Royal of holy Scriptures by J. H. the third Edition 8. Callis learned readings on the Stat. 21. of Henry 8. chap. 5. of Sewers France painted to the life in four Books the second Edition Willet on Genesis and Exodus Adams on Peter fol. Book of Martyrs fol. The Rights of the people concerning Impositions stated in a learned Argument by a late eminent Judge of this Nation Plaies Maids Tragedy Phylaster King and no King Othello the Moor of Venice The grateful Servant The Weding The Hollander The Merchant of Venice The Strange discovery