by a County or a Barony are summoned by Writ to come to the Parliament and the King bears their expences of their remaining and aboad and all the other Deanes Arch-Deacons and Persons are summoned to appear by two sufficient Proctors which come with a duplicate of their Procurations whereof one part remaineth with the Clerk of the Parliament and the other with the Proctors 2. The summons of the Laity as Earls Barons and their Peers which hold Lands and rents to the value of a County or of a Barony viz. 20. Knights Fees every Fee being accompted at 20. l. per annum which make 400. l. or 23. Knights Fees and a half which makes 400. Marks per annum and none of the Laity of lesser condition are namely and particularly called by Writ except their presence be necessary for some special and extraordionary cause 3. Next the King sends his VVrits to the Cinque Ports to chuse Barons to answer alleadge and do for their Baronies as if all were present a VVrit under the great Seal for the VVarden for their expences 20. s. 4. Next the King sendeth his VVrits to the Sheriff of every Shire to chuse two Knights of every Shire a Mark for their expences 5. Then the King sends his VVrits to the Cities of London and Yorke or other Cities that are Counties to chuse two grave Citizens and they must also have a Mark for their expences 6. And then the Kings VVrit goeth to the Bailiffs of Boroughs to chuse two Burgesses There must be two principal Clerks of the Parliament and they must sit in the midst of the Justices to enrole all the Pleas and businesses of the Parliament not being Clerks to the Justices for there is no Justice in England hath any power or Jurisdiction in the Parliament but that the King calleth them thither to assist the Lords and to hear and determine petitions for the two Clerks are immediately subject to the King except the King assigne some of the Justices to examine their Rolls These Clerks enrole all the Judgments given in the Parliament and before the end of the Parliament they deliver them over to the Treasurer keeping a Transcript or Counter-roll to themselves their wages a Mark a day Other Clerks were assigned by the King to the Bishops and others to the Proctours of the Clergy another to the Earls and Barons another to the Knights another also to the Citizens and Burgesses these set down all doubts and answers and are present in their Counsels and being at leisure they assist the two principal Clerks to enrole the Acts of Parliament If a matter of difficulty either concerning Peace or War be moved in Parliament the King wil enjoyn all the several degrees or tribes of the Parliament the Bishops the Proctours the Barons c. to go apart into several places and the case is to be delivered to their several Clerks whereupon they are to debate amongst themselves and to advise and if all or the greatest part do not agree then the Lord Steward the Lord Constable and the Lord Marshal are to chuse thirty five out of the number two Bishops three Proctors two Earls three Barons five Knights five Citizens and five Burgesses and these thirty five men may chuse twelve and these may descend to six these six to three and these three to two and these two to one and so one person may determine a cause except the King gainsay it which he may do during the Parliament otherwise nor There be three Degrees of businesses in the Parliament 1. Wars or matters touching the Kings person the Queen and the Kings children 2. The publick businesses of the Commonwealth 3. The private and particular matters yet these are to be handled as the Bills come in by priority The principal Cryer of the Parliament the Chancellour Treasurer and Barons of the Exchequer shall record the defaults of all those that are summoned A Sermon before the Parliament must be provided by the Arch-Bishop in whose diocess it is holden Proclamation must be made in the Hall or Monastery where it is holden and in the City or Town that all men by a certain day bring in their petitions c. The Chancellor or the chief Justice of England is to declare the cause of the Summons of the Parliament The King in state ever to be present in the Parliament if he be not sick if he be sick to send for twelve persons of the house to see his person and to satisfie the house of the cause of his absence For the session the King sits alone The Arch-Bishop of Canterbury on his right hand Yorke on his left hand and so every man in his degree and the Lord Steward is to see that every man sit amongst his Peers The Ushers of the Parliament stand within the door of the house and the Cryer stands without the door and the Kings guard stands a good way without the door to keep tumults and crowds of people from about the door All sit except he that speaks who must stand to speak that all may hear None is to go in or out of the house but at one door onely The King never requires aide but for war or to make his Son a Knight or to marry his Daughter and that in full Parliament Two Knights of the Shire are greater then any one Earle or Baron and two Proctours then any one Arch-Bishop or Bishop and the King can hold his Parliament without any Arch-Bishop Bishop Earle or Baron with the Commons alone for there was a Parliament before there was any Barons but if the Commons do not appear there can be no Parliament though all the great Peeres of the Realm were present with the King for the Proctours Knights Citizens and Burgesses of the Realm do represent the whole Commons of the Realm but the great Peers of the Realm are present onely for themselves and for no others The Parliament ought not to be dissolved as long as any Bill remaines undiscussed if it be the King is perjured and publick Proclamation is to be made in the Parliament and in the Palace that if any have any petition he ought to come in and if no answer be made it is to be intended that all men are satisfied Any man that will may have a Transcript or Copie of the Acts before they be printed paying for the same 10. l. 5. s. or 10 l. 08 s. 01 d. And the Parliament may be holden in any place where it shall please the King viz. at Oxford at Kennelworth at Marlborough at Gloucester at Acton-Burnel at Leicester at the Blackfryers c. 14 H. 8. DODDRIDGE Of the Antiquity of the Parliament of England THe Ancient and first Parliament that I have read of is that in Polydore Virgil in the reign of H. 1. in the 16 year which was about the year of our Lord 1116. And this was held at Salisbury as he saith where were assembled with the King all the
Prelates Nobles and Commons to consult for the publick Weale and as he thinketh before that day the King never called the people to consult and make Laws and he deriveth the name from the French word Parler There is an ancient Roll in some mens hands which describeth the whole State and order of the Parliament and the Title of it is De modo tenendi Parliamentum And it is further described Parliamentum Regis Angliae Angles summoneri tenebatur temporibus Regis Edwardi filii Ethelredi qui modus Recitatus fuit Coram Willielmo Duce Normaniae Conquestore Rege Angliae per ipsum approbatum By this it should seem that Parliaments as they are described in that Roll were held in the time of Edward the holy for he was the Son of Etheldred for Edward the elder was the Son of Alphred and this Edward the holy lived about the year 1043. And by this it should also seem that the Conqueror held a Parliament In this it is first set down what Clergy-men were called which were not onely Bishops but Abbots and Priors that held per Baroniam by which I gather that they came not to that place as they were spiritual men but by reason of the temporal honours they enjoy in the Commonwealth for they have a place in the convocation-house in respect of their spiritual function and in that also they are a part in the Court of Parliament We read of a Parliament in 35 E. 1. in which were sixteen Abbots and eight Priors but how many of those were of the higher house I dare not define or rather were of the house ingeneral for I know it is not clear that there was not then a distinction of houses The first Title is De Clericis the second De Laicis the third de Militibus the fourth De Civibus the fifth De Burgensibus all other circumstances of place times orders and such like are recited which I omit to remember particularly because I know it is a thing well know to all and that it differeth from the order of that Court now used The Court of Parliament hath a double power the one to consult by way of deliberation for the good Government of the Common-wealth and so it is Consilium non Curia another power it hath as a Court in Administration of Justice The principal purpose of that Assembly seemeth to be for Consultation for the Writs are ad Consultandum deliberandum but being Assembled they may hold Plea of causes But this difference I find that in criminal causes both the upper house and lower house intermedleth therewith as in Attainders onely and the spiritual Lords do all go out of the house and give their assents by Proxie 10 E. 4.6 But in civil causes as in VVrits of Error sued there out of the Kings Bench the upper house onely medleth as is well described in the case 1 Hen. 7.19 20. in a VVrit of Error sued by one Flowerdue on a Replevin wherein Judgment was given against him in the Kings Bench. But we have an express Authority in the 4 H. 7.18 That in a criminal cause the Commons must assent for there the King and Lords did attaint one and nothing was said of the Commons therefore by the Opinion of the Justices the Act was held void and the party restored The Peeres of Scotland were wont to come to our Parliament for in 39 E. 3.35 in a VVrit of ravishment de Garde against Gilbert Umfrevil he demanded Judgment of the VVrit because he was Earle of Anguish and not so named in the VVrit Anguish saith the Plaintiff is out of the Realm I but said the Defendant I am summoned to Parliament by that name and the VVrit was abated this proveth that the Peeres of Scotland came to our Parliament for Justice but Littleton saith 20 E. 4.6 that we shall implead an Earle or Duke of France by the name of Knight onely I need not dilate of the nature of the Parliament that it is a body politique or of what parts and members it consisteth for that is very well understood of all learned men neither of the order of it at this day for most know that of their own experience the priviledges of it are great and may more safely be discussed what they are without the house in regard of others then what they are in the house for their liberties there Of the Antiquity of Parliament THat which we in English call Parliament I suppose and know to have taken the name from the French or Norman tongue sounding upon the word Parle or Parler to speak or discourse In Latine I find that it was called before the Conquest by two names the one called Synodus taken from the Greek which is used most for the Assembly of spiritual men to treat of Divine causes and so was practised when Augustine came to Canterbury where the King of Kent called Ethelbert gathered his Nobles and people to understand the message and preaching of Augustine and again it is termed Consiliatio as hereafter I shall set down and hereafter in that sence in Anno Dom. 833. Withlasias Dux Wiviorum a great Lord or Peer amongst those of the Frennes called Girrii or Girrogii in his Chapter for the foundation of the Abbey of Ramsey in which he termeth Egberte King and Ahelwolf his son to be Dominos suos he dateth his said Charter thus Datum apud Londini Civitatem ubi omnes Congregati sumus pro Consilio Capiendo Contra Danicos piratos littora Angliae assidue infestantes This mentioneth Ingulphus so as it appeareth when any imminent peril drew neer for the hurt of the Commonwealth that then there were called the Nobility and wisemen called in the History of Eli Duces Principes Satrapae Rhetores Causidici also Convenerunt Agelinum Aldermanum Episcopos Oswynum omnes meliores Concionatores de Com. c. And the same Author sheweth that Brithmothus a most Noble Duke of Northumberland was called Alderman idest senior vel Dux qui synodo magna Constantia restituit Regem Edgarem alios Monachos dicens nequaquam se ferre posse ut Monachi ejicerentur de Regno qui omnem Religionem tenuerunt coluerunt in Regno King Offa in his Charter granted to the Abbey of Chertsey hath these words Hanc libertatem omnia praedicta praefatum Monasterium pertinentia in synodali conventu in loco qui nominatur Aeccleate testes consistentes concensi subscripsi c. in historia Chertsey penes me remanen Canutus the Dane beginning his Laws sheweth plain that he made the same by the Advice and Councel of a Parliament and beginning thus Haec est Consiliatio quam Canutus Rex meditatione vel decreto suarum sapientum consiliatus est cum suis sapientibus apud Wintoniam c. When I observe an old written Copie with a Comment thereupon they are expounded thus Consiliatio id est Institutio multorum facta Consilio
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
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
admitting the former general Assemblies of the States but permitting onely Provincial-Synods of the Clergy for compounding of the Ecclesiastical causes where nevertheless they sate as Presidents and the Conquerour himself did not challenge to himself so absolute a conquest but the Laws that he made have this Title Hic Intimatur quod Gulielmus Rex cum principibus suit Constitutam And in giving Laws to this Nation fecit summoniri per universos Consultatus Angliae Anglos nobiles sapientes sua lege eruditos ut eorum jura Consuetudines ab ipsis Archiepiscopis Episcopis audiret And often doth he and his Son William call together Archiepiscopos Episcopos Abbates Comites Barones Vicecomites cum suis Militibus ad Consulendum And likewise oftentimes afterwards until the time of Henry first we find that there was Conventus Episcoporum Abbatum Procerum Regni Londini in Palatio Regis VVherefore Polydore Virgil and Paladine are much deceived if they thought that Henry the first held the first Parliament within this Realm Neither do they seem to be of that Opinion their words being that Regis ante tempora Henrici primi non Consue verunt populi conventum Consultandi causa nisi pro raro facere Therefore they might hold some though not so often as did their successors or agreeing with the Manuscript of Canterbury that the first Parliament wherein the Commons were called aswel as the Peeres and Nobles was 16 H. 1. For it is true that after the Conquest until this time the Commons were not called and so at this time they will have it first called by the name of a Parliament Indeed if the policy of the time be noted that may yeeld some difference The Conqueror and his Son William being strangers had no way to make permanent their victory but by adding other Laws and plucking up the old Roots of Families they found and to plant them in themselves as in new grounds So for that age it was their Wisdome to Rule and not to advise with the people But Henry the first a new bud of the old stock being a natural Englishman himself born at Selly in Lincolnshire in love of the English Nation by whom he sought his strength The Normans at that time standing at terms of revolt from him in savour of his Brother Robert Duke of Normandy he well understanding the love of his people called them to those great Counsels and setling the Authority of his Court of Parliament so established his Throne that neither Britaine Dane nor Saxon could ever after till this day disturbe either him or his posterity from the possession of this Land The making of his Laws were by Act of Parliament The Marriage of his Daughter Mawde and the entayling of the Crown to her were done by Act of Parliament The accord between Stephen and him was made by Parliament And consequently all the succeeding Kings since have ever concluded grandia Regni onely in the Parliament Yet all the times since have not kept the said Form of the Assembling of the three Estates for sometimes the Principal of the Nobility were onely called and they at the end of the Parliament were to impart to the other Barons and their Country what was done in the Parliament Afterwards King John ordained that all the Barons of England should come in their proper persons to the Parliament being Summoned 20 Knights Fees after 20 l. a Fee going to the value of an entire County 15 Knights Fees making an entire Baron by which they sate But King H. 3. after that he had smarted by the tumultuation of the Barons their multitudes bringing confusion ordained that those Earles and Barons onely to whom he directed his Writs should come unto the Parliament and none else And this which Hen. 3. began his son Edw. 1. the Founder of our civil estate calling the Barons and appointing the Knights and Burgesses to be elected and of the Barons selected the wisest and such as pleased him and did omit them and their children which did not equal them and their parents in wisdom and vertue so held it on until the time of Edward the Third there being a Writ then in use de Admittendo fide dignas ad Colloquium Some also at that time being called as William Earl of Nottingham to attend upon the King with one hundred and twenty men at armes Lawrence de Hastings Earl of Pembrook with fifty men at armes and William Clinton Earl of Huntington with sixty men at armes and so divers others The calling was with distinction The Bishops and Barons de Negotiis tractaturum Consilium impensuri The Knights and Burgesses ad faciendum Consentiendum Those times had certain Ordinances besides Estatutes for whatsoever the Lords and Commons agreed upon was presently an Ordinance and whatsoever the King gave his Royal Assent unto it then became an Estatute But if after the Parliament the King did Assent unto any Ordinance it then became an Estatute for the Kings answer is no more but le Roy le veult ou le Roy se avisera And before the Printing of Acts was used they were always engrossed and sealed with the great Seal of England and proclaimed in every Shire which use was continued from the time of H. 3. until H. 7. his days and the form was thus The King by the advice of his Lords Spiritual and Temporal at the special instance of the Commons Assembled in Parliament hath made and established these Ordinances and Statutes to the honor of God the good of the King and Realm In which words you may observe a summary of this great Counsel First the Persons the three Estates Secondly the Ends for which the Parliament was called viz. for the honour of God c. Thirdly the Means by Counsel and consent Each duty of the three degrees is insinuated in these three things viz. Request of the Commons Advise of the Lords and Establishment of the King The first expressing the suitours for the Royal Assent is never prayed by the Lords but by the Speaker the Mouth of the Commons The second distinguishing the house The King hearing the causes debated onely by the Lords The third intimating that no Bill receiveth life until the Royal Assent be given So by looking back it is easie to see the great Antiquity of this high Court delivered as you see from before the Romans but never so dignified as since Queen Elizabeths time Now for the Nature of a Parliament it is Consilium and it is Curia the power of it in matters hereditary and personal the proceedings of it in causes criminal and civil the priviledges of it sedentibus servientibus The Offices Officers and Order we leave to a further discourse thus much onely touching the Antiquity of Parliaments in England Temps Edw. le Confessor le sommons doit estre 40. Jours devant le session THe Summons of the Clergy Arch-Bishops Bishops Abbots and Priours that hold
causes debated with them only the Commons being separated from consultation what were fit to propose in some other place Whatsoever the Lords and the Commons agree upon is an Ordinance presently though it be never engrossed and sealed with the great Seal and proclaimed in the counties as the common course was but it took not effect as a Statute till the King declared his Royal Assent which he might very well do by Writ after the Parliament aswel as during the Parliament per. 29. E. 3. f. 4. b. 39 E. 3 f. 7. For the Kings answer is no more but that he will be advised whether he will assent or no and if he assent not till after it is some doubt whether it be an Act of Parliament from the first day of the Parliament or but from the time of the Royal Assent given The general Assent of the Realm to make Ordinances and Laws the ancient writers called Consilium Commune Consilium Magnum Consilium Placitumgenerale Curia altissima Parliamentum generale seu altissimum The Saxons called it Genote Pirena cor Pirena Gemore Ealpa Zemots Synodus I find not the word Parliament before the beginning of E. 1. fully in use amongst us But the Assembly of the three Estates to consult for the affairs of the Commonwealth is as ancient as the Britains and continued here in the time of the Saxons Danes and Normans I ground my opinion for the Britains from no express authority but by inference out of divers 1 E. 1. Caes Com. lib. 5. cap. 5. saith Summa Imperii Bellique administrandi Communi Consilio Comissa est Cassibulano So that here we have the name and if you think that the Commons were not called to this consultation hear what Sothilius saith of the Britains Apud hos Populus Magna ex parte primatum tenet exclude them of these general counsels and you deprive them of this right Vitus in histororum Britanorum lib. 8. fol. 11. saith that Arthurus victor cum Regio splendore Londinum ingreditur eaque urbe Convocatis Clericis Principibusque suae quidem potestatis omnibus Consilium quid optime factu opus sit capit Beda lib. 2. cap. 2. saith the Britains told Augustine se non posse absque suorum Concensu licentia priscis abdicare Moribus Beda lib. 2. cap. 13. Rex Edwinus antequam fidem Christianum susciperit dixit se cum amicis Principibus Consiliariis suis Collaturum habito cum sapientibuâ— Consilio c. The story of the Saxons and their Laws make evident proof that they were still of the same mind transplanted hither as Tacitus saith the Germans were Nec Regibus infinita potestas De Minoribus Rebus Principes Consultant de Majoribus vero omnes Historia Eliensis lib. 2. de Dunelme mortuo Rege Edgaro Lessius vel lepsius a Deo ac sancto Petro abstulit cum Rapina Burch vendales Cateringas postea antea Elicibatur generale placitum apud Londinum ad quod dum Duces Principes Satrapae Rectores Causidici ex omni parte confluxerunt beatus Ethelwaldus Lessium in Jus protraxit coram cunctis Injuriam patefecit bene aperta discussa ea omnes Ethelwaldo per Judicium rediderunt Burch vendales Katheringas Abendon Lanboke fol. 91. in Charta Regis Etheldredi Affricum cognomento puer Pronbroche Willemetrantum Syrene a quadam vidua Eadfield appellata violenter abstraxit quia cum Ducatusico contra Regem Etheldredum reus extitit omnes possessiones ejus Regis dictioni subastae sunt quod ad Synodale consilium ad Cirencester universi Optimates mei simul in unum convenerint ad eundem Affricum Majestatis reum de hac patria profugum expulerunt Ingulphus hath many places to the like purpose but I will use but one Infesto Nativitatis beatae Mariae cum universi Magnates Regni per Regium edictum summoniti tam Archiepiscopi Episcopi Abbates quam caeteri totius Regni proceres optimates Londini Convenerunt ad tractandum de Negotiis publicis totius Regni Consummatis omnibus coram universis Domino Turketillo Abbati Monacisque suis accersitis Rex Eldredus dedit Monasterium de Croyland c. Polydore Virgil and Paladine are therefore much deceived if they thought that H. 1. was the first that held any Parliament within this Realm neither do they seem to be of that Opinion their words are these Regis ante tempora H. 1. non Consueverunt Populi Conventum consultandi causa nisi pro raro facere Yet I think their successors held Parliaments oftner then they did yet nevertheless they held some and William the Conqueror chalenged not so absolute a Conquest of this Land but the Laws he made have this Title Hic intimatur quid Gulielmus Rex cum principibus suis constituit c. And I think all Kings may yeeld to consult with their people for that reason which Alphred used in the preface to his Laws Temeritatis videatur ex suis ipsius decretis quanquam plura literarum Monamenta consignari cum in certum sit qualem habet apud posteros vel habitura sint fidem quae nos Magni facimus I have not seen Arthur Halls Book whereby he disalloweth the Commons to have any voice in Parliament and for which he is disabled to be of the same house for ever but I think he mistaketh some writers meaning which spake onely of Barons or Magnates but words are not much to be regarded insomuch as whatsoever the Parliament alloweth it bindeth as a Law though it be set forth onely in the Kings name as the Statute of Glouc ' and Magna Charta or in the name of the Commons onely In the Kings Oath the word Populus extendeth to the greatest subjects and so doth it also in the Recognizance of the peace or good behaviour quod bene se gerat erga Populum cunctum If therefore he strike or misdemean himself towards a Baron the Recognizance is forfeited There is an express Authority that proveth that the word Magnates comprehendeth the people Hoveden saith Anno 1170. Rex celebrabat Magnum Consilium Londini cum Principibus Magnatibus terrae de Coronatione A. filii sui D. in sequent ' Clerico populis Consentientibus fecit ipse filium suum coronari FRANCIS TATE Of the Antiquity of Parliaments THat there were such like Assemblies as Parliaments now are before the Romans arrival here some gather by the words of Caesar lib. 5. de Bello Gallico summa imperii Bellique administrandi communi Consilio permissae est Cassibulano And for not such due holding of such common Counsels Tacitus seemeth to refer the the happy proceedings of the Romans against the Britains Quod in Communi non Consuluerunt These two Parliament-like Assemblies the Britains do call Kifrithin because Laws therein were enacted The English Saxons as soon as they had setled themselves held also the like Assemblies
which they called in their ancient English tongue Gereduysis or a Counsel sometimes Wittena Mota as a meeting of wise men and sometimes by the Greek word Synoth The Latine Authors of that age did call it Consilium Magnatum Conventus and Praesentia Regis Praelatorum Procerumque Collectorum as appeareth by the Charter of King Edgar to the Abbey of Crowland in the year 961. At which time it seemeth by the subsigning that Abbesses had their voices there and consents aswel as the Prelates and Nobles of the Land After the Norman Conquest the two first Kings reigned with their swords in their hands absolutely of themselves viz. the Conqueror and William Rufus his Son not admitting of themselves any general Assemblies of the States of the Realm but permitting onely provincial Synodes of the Clergy for the composing of Ecclesiastical controversies as some write wherein they themselves sate nevertheless as Presidents yet in their meetings as it is in Hovedon where he setteth down the Lands of William the Conqueror he did set them down And by the Counsels of the Barons fecit summoniri per universos Consultatus Angliae Anglos nobiles sapientes sua lege eruditos ut eorum jura Consuetudines ab ipsis audiret Electi igitur de singulis totius Patriae Comitatibus viri Duodecem Jurejurando Confirmaverunt primo ut quoad possint recto tramite neque ad dextram neque ad sinistram partem divertentes legem suarum Consuetudinem sanctitatem patefecerint nil praetermittentes nil addentes nil praevaricando Mutantes And oftentimes he and his son William called together the Arch-Bishops Bishops Abbots Archiepiscopos Episcopos Abbates Comites Barones Vicecomites cum suis militibus and in the time following we find that there was conventum omnium Episcoporum Abbatum Florentius Vigorniensis procerum Regni Londini in palatio Regis But an old Manuscript Book saith That the first Parliament wherein the Commons were called aswel as the Prelates and Nobles Liber Cantuarmu was in the sixteenth year of H. 1. and then was first called by the name of Parliament as some say from the Peeres a potiore parte quasi parium Conventus some derive it from the Peeres ridiculously quast Parium lamentum others more probably derive it from the French word Parler as that of the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to treat and to confer together Some of the French Historians write that this name in this sence began at an Assembly of the Peeres of France about the yeer of Christ 1200. But I find the word to have bin in use with us in this Realm long before for Ingulphus who died in the year 1109. used the word for the meeting or Chapter of the Abbot and Covent writing thus Concessimus etiam tunc seriantiam nostrae Ecclesiae semiano de Leke qui veniens coram conventu in publico Parliamento nostra similiter Juramentum praestitit quod fidus fidelis nobis existerit Neither do I doubt but that the word was brought into this Realm by the French Monks and first used by the Statists in the time of H. 1. and since that time the authority of this Court hath stood setled and the Communalty hath had their voice which the said H. 1. granted unto them being a natural Englishman himself and in love of the English Nation when at that time the Normans were on the terms of revolt from him in favour of Robert his Brother Duke of Normandy Now for the form of Assembling of these three sorts of Estates in this high Court I find no certainty till the time of King John It is apparent by a Petition exhibited by the Lord Fitz-Hugh in a Parliament holden at Leicester 2 H. 1. that the principal Nobility were onely called and they after the end of the Parliament to impart unto the Barons and their country what was done in the Parliament Afterwards King John ordained that all the Barons of England should come in their proper persons to the Parliament whensoever they were summoned The form I will deliver out of the words of the petition Ipse Dominus Rex generalis summonitiones vicecomitibus cujuslibet Comitatus diligeret ipsos injungendo quod omnes Comites Barones quorum nomina infra scripta fuerunt infra suas balivas residentes ipsi summonirent ad veniendum ad Parliamentum Regis hoc non omittatur quacunque ex causa sub paend Magni Contemptus at which time as it is in the Book intituled Modus tenendi Parliamentum all Earls which have Lands Tenements and Revenues to the value of an entire County at twenty Knights Fees after twenty pound a Fee or the value of an entire Barony which is fifteen Knights Fees and a half came to the Parliament but when so great a multitude coul not but breed tumultuous confusion King Henry the third after he had smarted by these confused multitudes of Barons ordained that those Earls and Barons unto whom he directed his Writs should onely come to the Parliament so in the ancientest Summons that I have seen which were in 49 H. 3. there were called besides the Earls onely 17 Barons This which King H. 3. began was fully perfected by King Edward the first his Son who elected the wisest and such as pleased him and likewise omitted them and their children in their summons if they did not equal their Parents in wisdom and other good parts and offices of valour and government so we see in that time Hilton Corbet Point Leyburne Vavasour c. and such other like were summoned once or twice in Parliaments and their posterity wholly omitted afterwards The Barons and Bishops were called De Negotiis tractaturi Consilium impensuri The Knights and Burgesses ad faciendum consentiendum iis quae ibidem de communi Consilio dicti Regni nostri favente Deo contigerit ordinari super Negotiis antedictis And in the same words were the Clergy called ad faciendum consentiendum so as it seemeth they had asmuch to do in Parliament then as Knights of Shires and Burgesses WILLIAM CAMDEN Of the Antiquity of Parliaments in England I Find in many ancient Histories that the Kings of this Land did use to call together the Nobility and Estates of the Realm to confer with them especially about matters of War when any necessary occasion did move them thereunto But it is thought by Holinshead in his Chronicle that the first use of the Parliament did begin in the 17 year of H. 1. which since that time hath remained in force and is frequented unto our times insomuch as when any thing is to be decreed appertaining to the State of the Commonwealth it shall not be received as a Law until by the Authority of that Assembly it shall be established And because the house of Parliament should not be overcharged with multitudes E. 1. did order that none of his Barons and
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