Parliament a solemne protestation for himself and the whole Clergie of his Province entered by word the effect whereof was That albeit they might lawfully be present in all Parliaments yet for that in those Parliament matters of treason were to be intreated of whereas by the Canon law they ought not to be present they therefore absented themselves saving their liberties therein otherwise And in the 21. of Richard the 2. for that divers judgements were heretofore undon for that the Clergie were not present the commons prayed the King that the Clergie would appoint some to be their common Proctor with sufficient authority thereunto The Bishops and Clergie therefore being severally examined appointed Sir Thomas Piercy their Proctor to assent as by their Instruments appeareth And the same year upon the devise of Sir Thomas Bussey most of the Bishops and Lords were sworne before the King again upon the Cross of Canterbury to repeal nothing in this year enacted So did sundry the Proctors of the Clergy and most of the Commons by holding up one of their hands affirmed that they the same would do In the judgement of the Duke of Norfolk and Earl of Warwick the same year the name and assent of the Procurator of the Clergy alleadged And in the first of Henry 4. the Bishop of Assaph for Arch-bishop and Bishops the Abbot of Glassenbury for all Religious Persons the Earl of Gloucester for Dukes and Earls the Lord of Barkley for Barons and Barronets Sir Thomas Irpingham Chamberlain for Batchelors and Commons of the South Sir Thomas Gray for Batchelors and Commons of the North Sir William Thirming and John Mekham Justices for the whole Estates came to the Tower to King Richard to whom Sir William Thirming for and in the name of them all pronounced the sentence of deposition and the words or resignation of homage and loyalty And when it was enacted anno 6. Henry 6. by the King Lords Temporal and Commons that no man should contract or marry himself to any Queen of England without the special licence and assent of the King on pain to lose all his Goods and Lands The Bishops and all the Clergie to this Bill assented so far as it was not against the Law of God And thus far for answer to the second part The third Reason Ecclesiastical Lawes enacted in Parliament The last which they granted from Presidents Parliaments since the Conquest they infer out of the Phrase and out of the practise The first by these words Rex Wintoniae celebravit magnum Concilium coram Episcopis Comitibus Baronibus mistaking the word as intending a Provincial Synod whereas it was in those dayes equal and usual for their Parliament that French Phrase never having admission in that sence here untill the time of Henry 2. and then but rarely That great assembly being formerly instiled Magnum Consilium and until of late often enjoyed the same name And this is evident out of the words of Benedictus Abbas in the life he wrote of the 2. 2. Henry Circa festum sancti Pauli venit Dominus Rex usque Northampton magnum ibi celebravit Consilium de Statutis Regni sui coram Episcopis Comitibus Baronibus terrae suae per Consilium Militum hominum suorum Here the intent manifesteth the nature of that assembly and the fuller in that the same Author in the same year saith that Richardus Cantuar. Archiepiscopus and Rogerus Eboracensis cum Sufraganeis suis congregatis apud Westmonasterium in Capella Monachorum infirmiorum tenuerunt Consilium or their convocation which had been needless if in their first they might have done their Church-affaires Here might I enter into a large and just discourse as well of the authority as antiquity of their Convocation or Synod Provincial no less antient as Beda mentioneth then in the year 686. when Austin adjutorio Regis c. assembled in Councel the Brittain Bishops from which unto this day there is successive Record of Councels or Convocations less interrupted then of Parliament Practice Now touching our practise to ordain in Parliaments Lawes Ecclesiastical either meer or mixt although it be by Record evident yet must it admit this difference First that it sprung not from our dispute or desire but solely from the Petitions of the Church as usual is in all the Rolls of Parliament receiving their distinct Title from those of the Commons And this they did to adde Seculare Brachium to their former Cannons too weak to reach to corporal punishments as in the fifth of Richard 2. when to suppress the Schismes the Clergy became in Parliament the Petitioners to the Kings Laity where these words of their assistance are excluding the Commons from any Power of advice Habita prius bona matura deliberatione de communi Consilio ipsius Archiepiscopi Suffraganeorum suorum aliorumque Clericorum super quo idem Archiepiscopus supplicavit ut pro debita castigatione illorum qui conclusiones Schismaticas praedicare voluerint animo obstinato dignaremur apponere brachium Regiae potestatis â—idem And this aide was in order in the Conquerors time who by edict commanded that every Marshal Episcope Deo faceret rectum secundum Canones Episcopales leges Which if he doth not after excommunication Fortitudo et Justitia Regis adhibeatur And this even in the Primitive Church was thought convenient because as Saint Ambrose saith for the like intent to the Emperor Valentinian Non tantas vires sermo mecus habiturus est pro Trinitate bellum gerens quantum edictum tuum Hence it is that at this day the King's authority is annexed ever to the Convocation as in the antient Church were the like decrees of Kings as those of Eruigius ratifying the twelfth Councel of Toledo Nemo illiciator vel contemptor vigorem his Institutionibus subtrahat sed generaliter per cunctas Regni nostri provincias hoec Canonum instituta nostrae gloriae temporibus acta et autoritatis debitae fastigia praepollebunt irrevocabili judiciorum exercitie prout constituta sunt in omnibus Regni nostri Provinciis celebres habebuntur Si quis autem haec instituta contemnat contemptor se noverit damnari sententia Id est ut juxta voluntatem nostrae gloriae et excommunicatas à nostro caetâ—resiliat in super decimam partem facultatis suaefisci partibus sociandam amittat But that the Church-laws ever moved from the Lay-members I take it as far from President as it is besides nhe nature of their Commission The Bishops and Clergy being onely called in the Writ to that service the word being to come in fide delectione ad declarandum Consilium avisamentum ad consentiendum iis quae tunc de avisamento assensu Cleri nostri and not the Commons cotigerit affirmari But if any shall object unto me that many Laws as that of the Supremacy
Councels in this kind but what we borrow in the Rolls of Summons wherein the form stood various according to the occasions until it grew constant in the form it is now about the entrance of Rich. 2. The Journal Rolls being spoiled by the injury of times or private ends This King in the fifth of his Raign called a Parliament and therein advised with his Lords and Commons for suppressing of Llewellen Prince of Wales and hearing that the French King intended to invade some pieces of his Inheritance in France he summoned a Parliament Ad tractand ordinand faciend cum Praelatis Proceribus aliis Incolis Regni quibuslibet hujusmodi periculis excogitatis malis sit objurand Inserting in the Writ that it was Lex justissima provida circumspectione stablita That Quod omnes tangit ab omnibus approbetur In 34. Super ordinatione stabilimento Regis Scotiae he made the like Convention His Son the second Edward pro solennitate Sponsalium Coronationis consulted with his people in his first year in his sixth year super diversis negotiis statum regni expeditionem Guerrae Scotiae specialiter tangentibus he assembled the State to advise the like he did in the eighth The French King having invaded Gascoin in the thirteenth year the Parliament was called super arduis negotiis statum Gasconiae tangentibus And in 16. To consult ad refraenand Scotorum obstinentiam militiam Before that Edward the 3. in his first year would resolve whether Peace or War with the Scotish King he summoned the Peers and Commons super praemissis tractare consilium impendere The Chancellor in Anno quinto declareth from the King the cause of that Assembly And that it was to consult and resolve whether the King should proceed with France for recovery of his Signiories by alliance of marriage or by war And whether to suppress the disobedience of the Irish he should pass thither in Person or no The year following he re-assembleth his Lords and Commons and requireth their advice whether he should undertake the Holy Expedition with the French King that year or no The Bishops and Proctors of the Clergy would not be present as forbidden by the Canons such Councels the Peers and Commons consult applauding the Religious and Princely forwardness of their Sovereign to this holy enterprize but humbly advise a forbearance this year for urgent occasions The same year though at another Sessions the King demanded the advice of his people Whether he should pass into France to an enterview as was desired for the exepediting the treaty of marriage The Prelates by themselves the Earls and Barons by themselves and the Knights of the Shires by themselves consulted apart for so is the Record and in the end resolved That to prevent some dangers likely to arise from the North it would please the King to forbear his journey and to draw towards those parts where the perils were feared his presence being the best prevention which advice he followed In the following Parliament at York the King sheweth how by their former advice he had drawn himself towards the North parts and now again had assembled them to advise further for his proceedings to which the Lords and Commons having consulted apart pray further time to resolve until a full assembly of the State to which the King granting adjourneth that Sessions At the next meeting they are charged upon their Allegiance and Faith to give the King their best advice the Peers and Commons consulting apart deliver their opinions and so the Parliament ended In the 13. year the Grands and Commons are called to consult and advise how the Domestick quiet may be preserred the Marches of Scotland defended and the Sea secured from forrein Enemies the Peers and Cammons having apart consulted the Commons after their desire not to be charged to counsel in things Des quenx ils mont pas cognizance answer That the Guardians of the Shires assisted by the Knights may effect the first if pardons of Felony be not granted The care of the Marches they humbly leave to the King and his Counsel and for the safeguard of the Seas they wish that the Cinque Ports Marine towns discharged for the most part from the main burthens of the In-land parts may have that left to their charge and care and that such as have lands neer the Coasts be commanded to reside on those possessions The Parliament is the same year reassembled Avisamento Praelatorum procerum necnon communitatis to advise de expeditione guerrae in partibus transmarinis at this Ordinances are made for provision of Ships arraying of men for the Marches and defence of the Isle of Jersey naming such in the Record as they conceive fit for the imployment The next year De la Pool accompteth in Parliament the expences of the wars a new aid is granted and by several Committees in which divers are named that were no Peers of Parliament the safeguard of the seas and defence of the borders are consulted of In the 15 year De assensu Praelatorum Procerum aliorum de consilio the Kings passage into France is resolved of Anno 17. Badlesmere instead of the Councel declareth to the Peers and Commons That whereas by their assents the King had undertaken the wars in France and that by mediation of the Pope a truce was offered which then their Soveraign forbore to entertain without their well allowance the Lords consult apart and so the Commons returning by Sir William Trussel an answer their advice and desire is to compose the Quarrel approve the Truce and the Popes mediation The Popes undertaking proving fruitless and delays to the French advantage who in the mean space allied with Scotland and others practized to root out the English Nation in France This King again assembled the year following in which the Peers and Commons after many days meditation resolve to end it either by Battel or Peace and no more to trust upon the mediation or message of his Holiness In the 21 year the chief Justice Thorpe declaring to the Peers and Commons that the French Wars began by their advice first the True after by their assents accepted and now ended the Kings pleasure was to have their Counsels in the prosecution the Commons being commanded Que ils se deveroyent trait ensemble se quils ensenteroient monstrer au Roy aux gravitur de son consilio Who after four days consulting humbly desire the King to be advised by his Lords and others more experienced then themselves in such affairs To advise the King the best for his French imployments a Parliament was summoned Anno 25. Herein the King for a more quick dispatch willeth the Commons to elect 24. or 30. of their house to consult with the Lords these to relate to their fellows and the conclusion general by
close and foul play entertaineth an overture made by the Duke de Longavil then prisoner in England for a Marriage of Mary his Sister with the French King which effected the two subtile Princes failed of their ends Lewis dead and Francis succeeding he made his first entrance a league with England the recovery of Millane which he did the protection of his neighbours and reduction of the Swisses from the Imperial side for which he imployed to them the bastard of Savoy Maximilian and Ferdinand seeing by this all their new purchases in danger and that they had now no disguised marriage again to entertain the credulity of Henry the eighth they work upon his youth and honour The Emperor will needs to him resign his Emperial Crown as wearied with the weight of Government and distraction of Europe which needed a more active man then his old age to defend the Liberty of Subjects and Majesty of Princes from the Tyranny of France That he had made the way already for him with the Electors that he would send the Cardinall Sedunensis with ample commission into England to conclude the resignation which was done That at Aquisgrave he will meet Henry the eighth and there give up his first Crown from thence accompany him to Rome where he should receive the last right of the Imperiall dignity putting Verona into his protection then assailed by the Venetians and giving him the investiture of Millane in feodo more Imperiali then in possession of the French to tye his aid the faster against these States Hereupon Henry the eighth concluded a defensive league with the Bishop of Mesa and Count Daciana authorised Commissioners from the Emperor Arragon Castile and sendeth his Secretary Master Pace with money for Maximilian had already borrowed and broken to entertain the Swissers into pay and confederacy against France Charles the Grandchild must feign a difficulty to sway his League untill the Emperor at Henry the eighths cost was fetched from Germany to the Netherlands to work his Nephew to it who in the interim had closely contracted a peace by the Grandfathers consent with France No sooner had Maximilian received ten thousand Florins of the English King to bear his charge but the Treaty of Noyon was closely between him Arragon and Castile concluded whereby the ten thousand Crowns for recognition of Naples was passd from France to the Emperor and Charles himself affianced to Loysia the French Kings daughter and also darkly carried that when Master Pace at Agno came down from the Emperor with his Signature of the confederacy the French Kings Ambassador went up the back Stairs with six thousand Florins and the transaction of the Pension of Naples to Maximilian and there received his confirmation of the Treaty at Novon notwithstanding the same day the Emperor looking upon his George and Garter wished to Wingfield Henry the eighths Ambassador that the thoughts of his heart were transparent to his Master So displeasing was this foul play to the Cardinall Sedunensis the Emperors chief Counsellor that he writ contra perfidiam Principum against the falshood of his own Lord a bitter Letter to the English King who finding again how his youth and facility was overwrought by these two old and subtill Princes his vast expences lost his hopes of France lesned and that of the Emperor vanished for Maximilian is now conferring the Title of Rex Romanorum to one of his Nephues concludeth by mediation of the Admiral of France a peace with that King a marriage for the Dolphin Francis with the Lady Mary and the re-delivery of Tournay for a large Summe of Money Not long after Maximilian dieth leaving the Imperial Crown in Competition of France and Castile Charles whose desire was as his Ancestors to weave that vvreath for ever into the Austrian Family began to fear the power of his corrivall vvith vvhom the Pope then sided and the English King stood assured by the late marriage of their two Children To draw off the Pope he knew it vvas impossible he vvas all French To vvork in Henry the eighth he found the inconstancy of his predecessors and the new match to lie in the vvay To clear the one he is fain in his Letters into England to load his two Grandfathers vvith all the former aspertions his years and duty then tying him more to obedience then truth but that he vvas a man and himself now that mutuall danger vvould give assurance vvhere otherwise single faith might be mistrusted France vvas in it self by addition of Britany more potent than ever this man had rejoyned to it some important pieces in Italy and should his greatness grow larger up by accession of the Imperiall Crown how easie vvere it to effect indeed what he had fashioned in Fancy the Monarchy of Europe As for the young Lady who was like to lose her husband if Henry the eighth incline to this Counsell and assist Castile in pursute of the Emperor he was contented for Loisia of France espoused to him by the Treaty at Noyon was now dead to make up the loss of the Lady Mary by his own Marriage with her a match fitter in years for the Dolphin was an infant as great in dignity for he was a King and might by the assistance of her father be greater in being Emperor Thus was Henry the eighth by fears and hopes turned about again and Pacy forthwith sent to the Electors with instructions money who so wrought that Charles was in July chosen Emperor and that it was by the sole work of Henry the eighth himself by Letters under his hand acknowledged From Aquisgrave he commeth Crowned the next year for England weddeth at Winsor the Lady Mary concludeth by league the invasion of France and to divide it with Henry the eighth by the River of Rodon making oath at the high Altar at Pauls for performance of both those Treaties Hereupon France is entred by the Engâ—ish army and Burbon wrought from his Allegiance by a disguised promise of this Emperor of Elianor his Sister for wife to raise forces against his Master which he did but was paid by the English King The French King to carry the wars from his own doors maketh towards Milan whereby Burbon and his forces were drawn out of Province to guard the Imperialls in Italy At Pavie they met and the French King was taken prisoner and forthwith transported into Spain where at Madrid the Emperor forced his consent to that Treaty whereby he gained Burgundy and many portions in the Netherlands leaving Henry the eighth who had born the greatest charge of all that Warre not only there unsaved but calling a Parliament at Toledo taketh by assignment of his States Isabella of Portugall to wife procuring from Pope Clement a Bull to absolve him of his former oaths and Marriage working not long after by Ferdinandus his Chaplain the Earl of Desmond to Rebell in Ireland and James the fifth of
in Henry 8. time had first the ground in Parliament it is manifested by the dates of their Acts in convocations that they all had properly in that place the first original And that this was the use of old nothing will leave it so clear as to observe the fruitless success of the Laity in all their endeavours to establish Ecclesiastical Laws And this I will manifest by the Kings answer out of Record so far as the Rolls of Parliament will admit me successively Until the 11. of Edward the first there is no Record extant but in that the Commons petition to the King that a Law may be made against Usurers The King gave answer that it must be remedyed coram Ordinariis And when they desired remedy de multimodis injustis vexationibus eis factis per Officiales alios ministros Ecclesiae The King replyed Cancellarius emendat in temporalibus Archiepiscopus faciâ—t in spiritualibus From hence there is a lack of Record near to the 8. of Edward 3. In which Parliament the Commons desire an Act to restrain the Clergie in their trivial citations whereunto they received from the King but this answer onely That the King will charge the Bishops to see it remedyed And the first of Richard the 2. preferring the like petition against corruption of Ordinaries to do according to the Lawes of Holy Church And in the fifth of the same King they complain against abuses in Ecclesiastical Courts Respons The King will charge the Clergy to amend the same And in the 15. year when they required an Act to declare the age of the titheable Wood they had for answer The King would move the Bishops for order between this and the next Parliament And in the 17 of Richard 2. when they petiotioned for a residing learned Ministry so as the Flock for want might not perish they had replyed That the King willeth the Bishops to whom that Office belongeth to do their duties Henry the 4. in his second year desired by the Lords and Commons to pacify the Schisme of the Church Answereth he will charge the Bishops to consider the same And in his fourth year being importuned for an Act for residency of Ministers replyed Le Roy command an Prelats et perentrecy ils empurvoient de remedie And in the eleventh of the same King to the like petition Respons Ceste matiere appartient a St. Eglise et remede en la darraine Convocation In Parliament under the 5. Henry and his first year the King answereth the Commons petition against oppressing Ordinaries If the Bishops do not redtess the same the King will And in Anno 3. Henry 6. to a Petition that Non-Residents should forfeit the profit of their living gave answer that he had delivered the Bill to my Lord of Canterbury and semblably to my Lord of York charging them to purvey meanes of remedy And in the year following to a petition that Patrons may present upon Non-Residencie Respons There is remedy sufficient in the Law spiritual Since then it is plain by these rehearsed answers that from the Conquest they have received but weak admittance And by the edict of the first King William in these words a sharp restraint Defendo et mea authoritate interdico ne ullus laicus homo de legibus quae ad Episcopum pertinent se intromittat And that the Saxon Synodals are rather Canon-Laws then Lay-mens Acts. And the practise of the primitive Church if well understood but a weak prop to their desire It may not seem distastful from the King walking in the Steps of his Ancestors Kings of this Land to return as formerly the Commons desires to their proper place the Church-mans care And to conclude this point in all Parliaments as Martian the Emperor did the Chalcedon Councel Cessat jam profana contentio nam vere impius sacrilegus est qui posttot sacerdotum sententiam opinionisuae aliquid tractandum reliquit And with the Letter of Gods Law Qui superbicrit nolens obedire sacerdotis imperio ex decreto Judicis morietur hono THE ARGUMENT Made by the COMMAND Of the House of COMMONS Out of the Acts of Parliament and Authority of Law expounding the same at a CONFERENCE with the LORDS CONCERNING THE LIBERTIE of the person of every FREEMAN Written by Sir ROB. COTTON Knight and Barronet LONDON Printed in the Year 1672. THE ARGUMENT Made by the COMMAND Of the House of COMMONS Out of the Acts of Parliament and Authority of Law expounding the same at a Conference with the LORDS Concerning the Liberty of the person of every FREEMAN My LORDS VPon the occasions delivered by the Gentlemen your Lordships have heard the Commons have taken into their serious consideration the matter of the personal liberty and after long debate thereof of on divers dayes aswell by solemn Arguments as single proportions of doubts and answers to the end no scruples might remain in any mans breast unsatisfyed They have upon a full search and clear understanding of all things pertinent to the question unanimously declared That no Freeman ought to be committed or detained in Prison or otherwise restrained by the command of the King or the Privy Councel or any other unless some cause of the commitment deteinor or restraint be expressed for which by Law he ought to be committed detained or restrained And they have sent me with other of their Members to represent unto your Lordships the true grounds of such their resolution and have charged me particularly leaving the reasons of Law and Presidents for others to give your Lordships satisfaction that this Liberty is established and confirmed by the whole State the King the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons by several Acts of Parliament the authority whereof is so great that it can receive no answer save by interpretation or repeal by future Statutes And those that I shall mind your Lordships of are so direct to the point that they can bear no other exposition at all and sure I am they are still in force The first of them is the grand Charter of the Liberties of England first granted 17. Johannis Regis and revived 9. Hen. 3 and since confirmed in Parliament above 30. times The words are these cap. 29. Nullus liber homo capiatur vel imprisonetur aut disseisetur de libero tenemento suo vel Libertatibus vel liberis consuetudinibus suis aut ut lagetur aut exuletur aut aliquo modo dâ—struatur nec super eum ibimus nec super eum mittemus nisi per leg ale â—udiciuâ— parium suorum vel per legem terrae These words Nullus liber homo c. are express enough Yet it is remarkable that Mathew Paris an Author of especial credit doth observe fol. 432 that the Charter 9. Henry 3. was the very same as that of the 17. of King John in nullo
prices of what shall be bought for his Maâ—esties service must in like proportion be inhaunced on him And as his Majesty hath the greatest of Receipts and Issues so must he of necessity taste the most of loss by this device It will discourage a great proportion of the Trade in England and so impair his Majesty's Customs For that part being not the least that payeth upon trust and credit will be overthrown for all men being doubtful of diminution hereby of their personal Estates will call their moneys already out and no man will part with that which is by him upon such apparent loss as this must bring What danger may befall the State by such a suddain stand of Trade I cannot guess The monies of Gold and Silver formerly coyned and abroad being richer then these intended will be made for the me part hereby Bullion and so transported which I conceive to be none of the least inducements that hath drawn so many Gold-Smiths to side this Project that they may be thereby Factors for the strangers who by the lowness of minting being but 2 s. Silver the pound weight and 4s for Gold whereas with us the one is 4. and the other 5 s. may make that profit beyond-sea they cannot here and so his Majesty's mint unset on work And as his Majesty shall lose apparently in the alteration of monies a 14. in all the Silver and a 25. part in all the Gold he after shall receive so shall the Nobility Gentry and all other in all their former setled Rents Annuities Pensions and loanes of money The like will fall upon the Labourers and workmen in their Sâ—â—tute-wages and as their receipts are lessened hereby so are their Issiues increased either by improving all prices or disfurnishing the Market which must necessarily follow For if in 5. Edwardi 6. 3. Mariae and 4. Elizabethae it appeareth by the Proclamations that a rumor only of an alteration caused these Effects punishing the Author of such reports with imprisonment and pillory it cannot be doubted but the projecting a change must be of far more consequence and danger to the State and would be wished that the Actors and Authors of such disturbances in the Common-Wealth at all times hereafter might undergo a punishment proportionable It cannot beheld I presume an advice of best judgment that layeth the loss upon our selves and the gain upon our enemies for who is like to be in this the greater Thriver Is it not usual that the Stranger that transporteth over monies for Bullion our own Gold-Smiths that are their Brokers and the Forreign Hedgeminters of the Netherlands which terms them well have a resh and full Trade by this abatement And we cannot do the Spanish King our greatest enemie so great a favour as by this who being the Lord of this Commodity by his Wâ—st Indies we shall so advance them to our impoverishing for it is not in the power of any State to raise the price of their own but the value that their Neighbour Princes acceptance sets upon them Experience hath taught us that the enfeebling of coyn is but a shift for a while as drink to one in a dropsy to make him swell the more But the State was never throughly cured as we saw by Henry the eighths time and the late Queens untill the coyn was made up again I cannot but then conclude my honourable Lords that if the proportion of Gold and Silver to each other be wrought to that parity by the advice of Artists that neither may be too rich for the other that the mintage may be reduced to some proportion of Neighbour parts and that the Issue of our Native Commodities may be brought to overburthen the entrance of the Forreign we need not seek any way of shift but shall again see our Trade to flourish the Mint as the pulse of the Common-Wealth again to beat and our Materials by Industry to be a mine of Gold and Silver to us and the Honour Justice and Profit of his Majestie which we all wish and work for supported The Answer of the Committees appointed by your Lordships to the Proportion delivesed by some Officers of the Mint for inhauncing his Majestie 's monies of Gold and Silver 2. September 1626. The first part The Preamble VVE conceive that the Officers of the Mint are bound by Oath to discharge their several duties in their several places respectively But we cannot conceive how they should stand tyed by oath to account to his Majesty and your Honors of the Intrinsick value of all Forreign coyns and how they agree with the Standard of the State before they come to the Mint for it is impossible and needless In the one for that all Forreign States do for the most part differ from us and our money infinitely amongst themselves In the other it being the proper care of the Merchants who are presumed not to purchase that at a dearer rate then they may be allowed for the same in fine Gold and Silver in the coyn of England within the charge of coynage And therefore needless To induce the necessity of the Proposition they produce two instances or examples The one from the Rex Doller and the other from the Royal of Eight wherein they have untruely informed your Honours of the price and value in our monies and our Trade of both of them For whereas they say that the Rex Doller weigheth 18. penny weight and 12. grains and to be of the finest at the pound weight 10. ounces 10 pence weight doth produce in exchange 5. s. 2. d. farthing of sterling monies We do affirm that the same Dollar is 18. d. weight 18. grains and in fineness 10. ounces 12. d weight equal to 4. s. 5 d.ob of sterling monies and is at this time in London at no higher price which is short thereof by 13. grains and a half fine Silver upon every Dollar being 2. d. sterling or thereabout being the charge of coynage with a small recompence to the Goldâ— Smith or Exchanger to the profit of England 3. s. 6. d. per Centum Whereas they do in their circumstance averr unto your Honours that this Dollar runs in account of Trade amongst the Merchants as 5. s. 2. d. ob English money It is most false For the Merchants and best experienced men protest the contrary and that it pasâ—eth in exchange according to the Intâ—insick value onely 4 s. 5. d. ob of the sterling money or neer thereabouts and not otherwise The second instance is in the Royall of Eight affirming that it weigheth 17. penny weight 12. grains and being but of the fineness of 11. ounces at the pound weight doth pass in Exchange at 5 s. of our sterling moneys whereby we lose 6 s 7 d. in every pound weight But having examined it by the best Artists we find it to be 11. ounces 2. d. weight fine and in weight 17. penny weight 12. grains which doth equal 4. s. 4. d. ob
entaile of the Crown by King Henry 4. in the 8. year of his Reign for all the Commons The Banishment of the two Spencers in 15. E. 2. Praelati Comites Barones les autres Peeres de la terre Commons de Roialme give Consent and Sentence to the Revocation and Reversement of the former Sentence the Lords and Commons accord and so it is expressed in the Roll. In the first of Edward the third when Elizabeth the Widdow of Sir John de Burgo Complained in Parliament that Hugh Spencer the younger Robert Baldock and William Cliffe his Instruments had by duress forced her to make a writing to the King whereby she was dispoiled of all her inheritance Sentence was given for her in these words Pur ceo que avis est al Evesques Counts Barones autres Grandes a tout Cominalte de la terre que le dit escript est fait contre ley tout manere de raison si fuist le dit escript per agard delparliam dampue elloques al livre ala dit Eliz. In the 4th of Edward 3. it appears by a Letter to the Pope that to the Sentence given against the Earl of Kent the Commons were parties as well as the Lords and Peers for the King directed their proceedings in these words Comitibus Magnatibus Baronibus aliis de Communitate dicti Regni as Parliamentum illud congregates iuâ—unximus ut super his discernerent judicarent quod ratione justitiae conveniret habere prae oculis solum Deum qui cum concordi unaenimi sementia tanquam reum criminis laesoe majestatis morti abjudicarent ejus sententia c. When in the 50th of E. 3. the Lords had pronounced the Sentence against Richard Lyons otherwise than the Commons agreed they appealed to the King and had redress and the Sentence entred to their desires When in the first year of R. 2. William Weston and John Jennings were arraigned in Parliament for surrendring certain Forts of the Kings the Commons were parties to the Sentence against them given as appeareth by a Memorandum annexed to that Record In I H. 4. although the Commons refer by protestation the pronouncing the sentence of deposition against King Richard the Second unto the Lords yet are they equally interessed in it as appeareth by the Record for there are made Proctors or Commissioners for the whole Parliament one Bishop one Earl one Abbot one Barronet and Two Knights Gray and Erpingham for the Commons and to infer that because the Lords pronounced the sentence the point of Judgment should be only theirs were as absurd as to conclude that no authority was left in any other Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer than in the person of that man solely that speaketh the Sentence In the Second of Hen. the 5th the Petitions of the Commons importeth no less than a Right they had to act and assent to all things in Parliament and so it is Answered by the King And had not the Journal Roll of the Higher House been left to the sole entry of the Clerk of the upper house who either out of neglect to observe due form or out of purpose to obscure the Commons right and to flatter the power of those he immediately served there would have bin frequent examples of all times to clear this doubt and to preserve a just Interest to the Commonwealth And how conveniently it suits with Monarchy to maintain this form lest others of that well-framed body knit tinder one head should swell too great and monstrous it may be easily thought For Monarchy again may sooner groan under the weight of an Aristocracy as it once did then under a Democracy which it never yet either felt or feared R C B. FINIS Titus Livius 2. doc Livius Acta Triden Concil August de legibus Antiq. Roman Benedict in vita Hen. 2. Record in Scaccar Wâ—st Claus Edw. â— Lewes in the Paper Chart. 1523 William the Conqueror Malmsbury Ex lib. feod in Scacc. Hen. 1. Ex lib. pub in Scacc. Chron. de Dunstable Mat. Paris Benedictus Monachus in vita Hen. 2. Gervas Dorch Roger Wendâ—ver King John Claus 6 Iob. in 3. Dorso Petit. 18. Hen. 3. Claus 49. Hen. 3. in 11. Dors Edw. 1. Ex Rot. Parl. in Archivis London Claus 9. Edw. 1 in 12. Rot. Parl. Anno 7 Edw. 1. Claus 7 Edw. 1. in 3. Dors Claus 34. Ed. 1. in dors Edw. 2. Claus 1 Edw. 2. in 19. in dors Claus 6 Ed. 2. in 3. in dors Claus 8. in 3. in dors Claus 13 E. 2. in 13. in dors Claus 16. E. 2. in 27. in dors Ddw 3. Claus 1 Ed. 3. in dors Rot. Parl. 5 Edw. 3. Parl. 6 Ed. 3. Rot. Parl. 6 Ed. 3. Saff 2. in 6. Rot. Parl. 7 Ed. 3. Rot. Parl. 7 E. 3. Sess 2. Parl. 7 E. 3. in 6. Rot. Parl. 13 E. 3. Rot. Parl. 13 E. 3. Sess 2. Parl. 14. E. 3. Rot. Parl. 18 E. 3. Ro. Parl. 21 E. 3. Parl. 25 E. 3. Parl. 27 E. 3. Parl. 27 E. 3. Parl. 29 E. 3. Paâ—l 36 E. 3. Parl. 40 E. 3. King John Parl. 43 E. 3. Parl. 45 E. 3. Parl. 46 E. 3. Par. 50 Ed. 3. Rich. 2. Par. 1 Rich. 2. in 5 6. Parl. 1 Rich. 2 in 7. Parl. 3 Rich. 2. in 4. 5. Par. 4 Rich. 2. n 2 3. Parl. 5 Rich. 2. in 3. Parl. 5. Sess 2. Parl. 6. Rich. 2. Parl. 6 Sess 2. Par. 7 Rich. 2. Parl. 7 Sess 2. Par. 8 Rich. 2. Claus 9 Rie 2. Par. 10 Rich. 2. Parl. 13 Ric. 2. Rot. Claus 13. Ric. 2. Far. 14 Ric. 2. Parl. 17 Ri. 2. Henry 4. Parl. 5. Hen. 4. Parl. 6. Hen. 4. Parl. 7. 8. Hen. 4. in 19 20. Claus 7 H. 4. ln 33. In 57. In 59. Hen. 5. Parl. 1 Hen. 5. In 2. In 4. Parl. 2 Hen. 5. Parl. 3 Hen. 5. Parl. 4 5. Hen. 5. Parl. 5 Hen. 5. Parl. 7 Hen. 5. Hen. 6. Rot. Parl. 2 Hen. 6. Rot. Pa 3 H. 6. Rot. Pa. 9 H. 6. Rot. Parl. 14 Hon. 6. Rot. Parl. 15 Hen. 6. Parl. 20 H. 6. Parl. 23 H. 6. Rot. Parl. 25 Hen. 6. in 3. N. 6. Parl. 27 H. 6. Parl. 29 H. 6. Parl. 33 H. 6. Edward 4. Parl. 7. E. 4. Parl. 12 E. 4. Henry 7. Rot. Parl. 1 Hen. 7. Henry 8. Parl. 3 H 8. Rot. Parl 32. Hen. 8. Ex iustrumen Orig. Tractat. matrimonial 1510. Ex literis orig legator Ex tract Hen. 8. Maximilian 1511. Ex tract orig Ex tract orig Ex liiteris Ric. Pace Legat. Reg. Anglia Ex literis Car. Sedunensis Ex literis Carol Reg. Hisp Ex literis Car. Imperat. original Extract Wind. 1522. Ex instru orig jurament Ex literis Richardi â—ace lohannis Russel Ex tract Madristensi 526. Ex Rot. Com. Russel Pace Ex iustru orig Carol. 5. Ex instru H. 8. Bryano Gardinen Ex