THE Long Parliament REVIVED OR An Act for continuation and the not dissolving the Long Parliament call'd by King Charles the First in the year 1640. but by an Act of Parliament With undeniable Reasons deduced from the said Act to prove that that Parliament is not yet dissolved ALSO Mr. William Prin his five Arguments fully answered whereby he endeavours to prove it to be dissolved by the Kings Death c. By Tho. Phillips Gentleman a sincere Lover of his King and Country LONDON Printed for the Author and are to be sold at the Castle and Lyon in St. Pauls Church-yard MDCLXI Anno 17. Caroli Regis An Act to prevent inconveniencies which may happen by the untimely adjourning proroguing or dissolving of this present Parliament WHereas great Sum of money must of necessitie be speedily advanced and provided for relief of his Majesties Army and people in the Northern parts of this Realm and for preventing the immanent danger this Kingdom is in and for supply of other his Majesties present and urgent occasions which cannot be so â—â—â—ely effected as is 〈◊〉 without Credit for raising the said moneys Which Credit cannot be obtained untill such obstacles be first removed as are occasioned by fears jealousies and apprehensions of divers His Majesties Loyal Subjects that this present Parliament may be adjourned prorogued or dissolved before Justice shall be duly executed upon Delinquents publike grievances redressed a firm Peace between the two Nations of England and Scotland concluded and before sufficient provision be made for the repayment of the said moneys so to be raised All which the Commons in this present Parliament assembled having duely considered do therefore humblie beseech your most excellent Majesty that it may be declared and Enacted And be it Declared and Enacted by the King our Soveraign Lord with the assent of the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament assembled and by the Authority of the same that this present Parliament now assembled shall not be dissolved unless it be by Act of Parliament to be passed for that purpose Nor shall be at any time or times during the continuance thereof prorogued or adjourned unless it be by Act of Parliament to be likewise passed for that purpose And that the House of Peers shall not at any time or times during this present Parliament be adjourned unless it be by themselves or by their own Order And in like manner that the House of Commons shall not at any time or times during this present Parliament be adjourned unless it be by themselves or by their own Order And that all and every thing and things whatsoever done or to be done for the adjournment proroguing or dissolving of this present Parliament contrary to this Act shall be utterly voiâ— and of none effect The Long Parliament revived TO the end the Peace of this Nation may be established upon a firm and lasting Foundation and that after one shipwrack hardly escaped we run not blindfold again upon a more fatal and irrecoverable Rock of confusion The Author of this small Paper out of tender compassion to his native Country and with all humble respects of due allegiance and honour to his Royal Majesty that now is hath thought fit with the premiâ—ed Act of Parliament to offer some few Arguments to the World naturally flowing from the authority and reason of it Which if timously harkened to may yet prove a healing remedy against the sad breaches of this shattered Kingdome and prevent those other mischiefs which the obstinacy of injudicious and self-willed persons will inevitably bring upon themselves and us And if convincing reason may bear the sway in this perverse Age wherein every man would make his petty private designs to be his Law rather than common equity or the establish'd Law of the Nation he doubts not of the desired success he aims at with Gods blessing in this ensuing Discourse That the safety and happiness of this Kingdom lies in Parliaments rightly constituted and in the preservation of their just and lawful Priviledges I suppose there are none of what different judgements soever in other things who are Subjects of this Nation and of sober principles but will reâ—dily grant it And if so the contrary thereunto will then without doubt as easily be concluded Which Maxime being yielded in reference to other Parliaments it must by proportion hold as true in relation to the Long Parliament call'd by the late King Charles the first of blessed memory in the year 1640. Whose being and Legal Authority is still so visibly existent by vertue of the forementioned Act that when the Subjects of this Nation have seriously considered of it they will doubtless see they have no reason to hold themselves safe in their Lives Liberties and Estates till it have made provision in that behalf and it be legally dissolved according to the Tenour of the said Act by Act of Parliament for that purpose And therefore being that so great a dissecurity to the Subjects and the Peace of the Kingdom is incumbent hereupon as who doth not evidently perceive it in case that Parliament is yet in its legal force and being how much doth it concern every Subject of this Nation to be groundedly satisfied in this particular by a solid answering of those objections that seem to militate against the verity of this assertion That mens minds may be setled together with the Peace of the Nation upon a sure Foundation of Law and righteousnes and we may not like the waves of the Sea be still fluctuating too and fro in doubts and uncertainties by the divers winds of mens contrary judgements and opinions to the continual hazard of our dearest concernments To evidence the still legal being of that foresaid Parliament the Act speaks sufficiently for it self in plain and express tearms Yet to make it more clear these following Arguments from the Act it self and the Title of it do more apparently evince it 1. To begin with the Title Which is An Act to prevent inconveniencies that may happen by the untimely adjourning proroguing or dissolving of this present Parliament Which inconveniencies are specified in the following preamble of the said Act whereof chiefly one is this Lest Credit should not be obtained for raising of Monies for relief of his Majesties Army and people in the North and for supply of other his Majesties present and urgent occasions through the continued fears of the Subjects lest the Parliament may be adjourned prorogued or dissolved before sufficient provision be made for repayment of the said monies to be raised In which words there are two things principally to be considered in reference to the intent and meaning of this Act why it was made First For the obtaining of Credit in order to the raising of considerable Sums of money for supply of the Kings and Kingdoms great necessities which could never have been done as by the Act it self is supposed had not this Act been made It being the only ground
the Parliament by special Act and Order authorizing and impowring any three persons joyntly to sell Land give Livery and seisin execute any Commission c. and that in case any of them die the two survivers joyntly or severally can do nothing because their authority and trust was joynt and not several c. Applying this to the Parliament which being as he now expresseth it a Corporation compacted joyntly of the King Lords and Commons House and three Estates that therefore the Death of the King necessarily dissolves it notwithstanding this Act. I answer This doth no more prove it than any of his former Arguments For this similitude doth not hold proportion nor come up to our present Case For we have not here to do with one Estate or more that hath absolute power in it self and intends to execute it to constitute other persons for any office or trust as a single person c. that makes a Will or Deed doth constitute three or more persons in trust for the execution of his Will or Deed whose joynt power being exprest in the said Will or Deed it necessarily failes upon the death of any one of them because joyntly and not severally intrusted But with a Parliament Who have voluntarily engaged themselves upon a trust and Credit received from the people for their security with the consent of the King making a Law to preserve their Session and establish their own Authority against all means of their untimely dissolution till they had honourably discharged their trust and given security and satisfaction to those that gave them Credit Which nothing concerns any Power or Authority to be given to others whether three or more persons according to Mr. Prins instance to be executed joyntly wherein a failer may be through any one of their deaths But because there seems something still to be unanswered to this Objection in reference to the conjunctive power of the Parliament consisting of three Estates Therefore this also is fully resolved in the following answer to what Mr. Prin intimates concerning the Kings being a part of the Parliament Who saith That because the King is a part of the Parliament Therefore if the King dies the Parliament must needs be dissolved To which I answer That the King is rather a part of the Parliament in his Politick than in his personal capacity which is alwaies subject to death but his Politick never With this agrees that famous Lawyer Sir Edward Cook see the third part of his Institutes Chapter the first where speaking of the High Court of Parliament and of what persons it consisteth saith in the first place and in express words That it consists of the Kings Majesty sitting there as in his Royal Politick capacity c. And if so then the Parliament dies not in all cases when the King dies and if this holds good in any case then surely in case of an Act to that purpose For though his person be dead yet his Royal Authority lives as is sufficiently evident by the Force and Authority of all our Laws till repealed by Act of Parliament But besides it may thus farther be argued clearly The Members of the two Houses of Parliament though many of them die as oft times it comes to pass and 't is possible they may all die by degrees before the Parliament rise yet the Parliament is not dissolved because they are not now the very same individual persons that were chosen first by the Kings Writs of Summons 'T is sufficient that there have been new Writs issued forth from that House or Estate of Parliament whereof they were Members whereby new Elections c. have been made and so other Members returned to supply the places of the dead ones And if this be good in the case of the two Houses of Parliament c. which no man that understands Law and the usage of Parliaments will deny then it is much more good in the case of the Kings Majesties Person Whose Royal Estate and Authority is so evident that it is a declared undeniable Maxime in our Laws He never dies So that what new Writs do legally for supply of the places of the dead Members to continue the Estate and Authority of the two Houses of Parliament that and much more eminently the Kings immediate succession to the Crown after his Fathers or Predecessors death doth do by vertue of his Royal birth-right and Title of Inheritance There being this grand difference between Members of Parliament dying and the King They so die that their Authority cannot be revived but by new Electâ—ons or Writs of Summons But the King so dies that his Authority still lives by immediate succession Whence it is that the Royal Seat is never vacant that there should be a failer to make good the Royal Actions of the Predecessor And thus the third Estate in Parliament always Living the joynt power still continues and so there is no necessity the Parliament should dissolve as Mr. Prin affirms due circumstances and actions being weighed and the necessities of the Kingdom well considered Fifthly Therefore by what hath been said already Mr. Prins fifth and last Argument must needs be out of doors which is this That because the end of Parliaments is to enact new Laws and repeal others c. which cannot be done but by the Kings assent And this Parliament being to be dissolved by an Act and an Act being now impossible to be made by that King for the dissolution of it he being dead therefore his Death must needs dissolve the Parliament notwithstanding this Act. I answer in the Negative In no wise For though he be dead as aforesaid in his personal which Mr. Prin seems to answer too weakly in his following objection yet not in his Politick capacity And therefore if the dead King cannot enact Laws by the Parliament yet his Successor can who comes immediately to the Crown after his Fathers death And as hath been shewed 't is no waies inconvenient but may many waies be advantageous to the Publike That should the King chance any waies untimely to be taken away the Parliament should continue after the Kings death Whose death if it should necessarily as Mr. Prin affirms dissolve the Parliament so untimely a dissolution as the case might stand might prove very dangerous and pernicious to the Kingdom Besides The Act doth not limit the Parliaments dissolution as lawful only if it be done by an Act of that King then living when the Act was made But in the general it limits it to an Act of Parliament that it shall not be dissolved but by an Act of Parliament And why the Predecessors authority and consent should not be as binding to his Successor in this case till so dissolved as in case of any other Law made with his consent I would very gladly know a solid reason for it Being that to all intents and purposes an Act for confirmation or dissolution may be as virtual and efficacious
without any prejudice by the consent and authority of the Successor as of the Father And further the Act is also herein express that by no other way or means but by an Act of Parliament it shall be dissolved Which being it cannot be done by the dead King but may be done by the Successor it ought so to be dissolved or else it must and doth by vertue of this Act still remain legally in full being and authority Sixthly As to what may be objected concerning the dissolution of this Parliament by an Act when the secluded Members were lately admitted The Argument is so weak that I thought wholly to have omitted the least mention of it Yet in regard it is objected by some who seem to receive satisfaction by it and there to acquiesce I shall give this answer in brief to it First That at the best that was but an Act so called of the House of Commons and so consequently far short of the authority of an Act of Parliament or any legal pretence of it which only consists of King Lords and Commons And therefore by any such appellative Act this Parliament can no waies be dissolvable And further The utmost authority that the House of Commons hath given them by the foresaid Act for the continuation of this Parliament till they dissolve themselves by an Act is but to adjourn themselves by an Order of their own House as is express in the said Act. By which 't is evident they have no power to dissolve themselves much less by any Act they can do to dissolve the Parliament And here it is worth the observing before I pass over this Act of the House of Commons whereby it was endeavoured to dissolve the Parliament That in their judgements and consciences there was need of an Act to dissolve the Parliament And therefore by this Act of theirs they did implicitly grant that before the passing of the said Act the Parliament was not then dissolved and so consequently did acknowledge it not to be dissolved by the Kings Death which happened many years before and if not dissolved by the Kings Death then much less by the said Act of the House of Commons which carries not the least shadow of legal Authority with it as aforesaid for the dissolution of it and therefore by the judgement of the said House rightly understood 't is still legally in force and being But because some do Object that in regard the Lords spiritual to wit the Bishops were oured the House of Peers before the passing this Act for continuation of the Parliament whereby their Votes and Consents were never had in the Case that therefore it was an illegal Act and so fell void in it seâ—f I answer briefly That the Abbots and Priors 29. in number who were formerly Lords of Parliament and held per Baroniam from the King and had their Seats and Votes in the House of Peers as well as the Temporal Lords were dissolved in the Reign of King Henry the 8th And yet all Parliaments since with all their Acts have been held for Legal and Authentick without the least question or contradiction of their Authority and therefore is as little to be scrupled here in our present Case which is the same The Bishops Priviledge and right to sit in Parliament being also null and made void as well as theirs by Act of Parliament Whereunto much more might here be said to this purpose but that I would not be tedious Seventhly I have but one word more which answers most fully and unquestionably all Mr. Prins Objections at once or what else may be said for the dissolution of this Parliament by the Kings Death And that is taken from the supream legislative authority under God that the three Estates viz. King Lords and Commons legally called have over all persons and Causes in the whole Nation By vertue whereof they have power to do the highest actions the Nation is capable of though it be even to the dismembring of the Parliament it self and dissolving a considerable part of it or altering any other Fundamental Constitutions they please so they see it necessary for the publike good as particularly in the Case of the Bishops call'd the spiritual Lords and by some affirmed to be the third Estate in Parliament who nevertheless have been excluded by an Act of the King Lords and Commons from their ancient right of sitting and voting in Parliament when in their wisdoms their Session there appeared hurtful to Church and State For who may question or controul the Actions of a lawful Parliament while none in the Kingdom can so much as pretend to be above them And if their authority be of so large an extent even in matters of greatest weight and moment then much more in things of far inferiour and much less concernment as is the confirmation of a Parliament to continue after the Kings death who call'd it if the three Estates shall see good to pass an Act as now they have done to that purpose implicitely though not in express terms the King hapning to die before it hath been dissolved by an Act of Parliament as by the three Estates hath been firmly enacted it should be so dissolved and no otherwise By this time it may be hoped the legal being and Authority of the Long Parliament is sufficiently evident The truth whereof being so clearly proved both by Law and Reason how much doth it unfold to us the sad and dangerous estate of the Kingdom whilest under the Constitution of such powers as neither in Estate Liberty or Life though otherwise of good Inclinations to the Publick can give the Nation any legal security For though many excellent things have been done by the singular wisdome of this present Parliament now sitting that are of special tendency in themselves for the good and safety of the Nation through his Majesties most gracious condiscention for which we have infinite cause to bless God Yet herein the great unhappiness That whilest their Authority is not legally founded the Nation can promise themselves no assurance for the lasting enjoyment of those benefits and securities they have given it being 't is to be feared and too justly they fall void of themselves by vertue of the said Parliaments illegal Policy and Constitution Therefore how much were it to be wished that the Supream Legislative Authority of the Nation might again revert into that Channel by which the Peace and Settlement of the Nation through His Majesties most Gracious Influence might durably and without question be provided for and preserved In reference to which I shall humbly take the boldness to offer it as a weighty and serious consideration to this present Parliament now sitting whether they should not do well for their own safety as well as the Nations to advise his Majesty in this particular They only having the priviledge and opportunity now effectually to do it their case in point of safety or danger being the
same with the rest of the peoples when once they shall come to be dissolved But now here because the fears and scruples which at first apprehension are apt to arise in the hearts of the Generality of the Kingdom may seem a great Obstruction in Prudence against the return of that Parliament to sit again in reference to the danger of perpetuating of it Who therefore may be ready to say By so doing me may inslave King and Kingdom to such a yoak of Bondage as we may never be able to break off our own necks or the necks of our Posterity any more I shall give hereunto this closing answer That the scruple is very rational and though such a thing there is a possibility they might do or attempt though very improbably effect if they should so wickedly abuse their trust yet those fears will soon be removed from wise and discreet persons if we do but seriously consider That the far greater number of the Members surviving are of the secluded Party who were thrust and forced out of the House for their Loyalty to the King Or of those that withdrew themselves upon the offence given by occasion of the Armies violence against King Parliament and have been the chief Instruments of his present Majesties happy restoration And therefore being persons so qualified we may easily believe they will not be very willing to draw such an Odium upon their unstained Credits as will inevitably follow besides the further mischiefs will be apt to ensue to themselves and the Nation by renewed discontents should they go about to ingross the Authority of the Nation any longer in their own hands than will be necessary for publick safety with his present Majesties Approbation Who for further security against those fears may easily summon them together by his Proclamation to Whitehall or where else he pleaseth before their Session again in Parliament and there receive their personal promise and ingagement to confirm the Acts of this present Parliament and to prepare a Bill the first thing they do at a certain time to be agreed on betwixt his Majesty and them to dissolve themselves and for his Majesties issuing out Writs for the summoning of a new Parliament that so things may sweetly return again without violence or injury done either to his Majesties Prerogative or his Peoples Liberties into a regular and legal way of proceeding to the general security and satisfaction of the whole POSTSCRIPT BEcause there are great and general dissatisfactions concerning this present Parliament so call'd now sitting in question of its legal right and authority being the Authors design is nothing else but the peace and security of his native Country and a thorow healing of our wounds and breaches he humbly desires further to offer these few following particulars to the grave and serious consideration of those that are more learned in the Laws in hopes that some eminent person of that profession will give a solid and judicious resolution to them First Sir Edward Cook in the third Part of his Institutes writing of the High Court of Parliament and of what persons that Court consists speaking of the Temporal Lords as Dukes Marquesses Earls Viscounts and Barons who sit there by reason of their dignities which they hold by descent or Creation saith that every one of these being of full Age ought to have a Writ of Summons ex debito Iustitia Where note two things are required to the legality of their Session in Parliament First That they be of full Age. And if that be a quallification legâ—lly required of Peers for it will easily be granted to be most absurd and unjust that they that have not power by Law as all Infants under age have not o dispose of any part of their own Estates or to make one legal act to that purpose that such should have a share in the supream power to judge vote and dispose of the Estate Authority of the whole Kingdom I say then by rule of proportion that it is a qualification as necessarily required of the Commons upon the said consideration And it were happy for this Nation therefore that it were better looked after for the future that so those mischiefs may be prevented which too often ensue to the Publick by bringing such green heads into so wise and grave a Councel Secondly 'T is required to their legal Session in Parliament that the said Lords have Writs of Summons which these now sitting in this present Parliament never had Next The said Sir Edward Cook in the forecited place saith that the Commons which he calls there the third Estate of the Realm consisting of Knights of Shires for Counties Citizens of Cities and Burgesses of Burroughs they all are respectively to be elected by the Shires or Counties Cities and Burroughs by force of the Kings Writ ex debito Iustitia But the Commons of this present Parliament were not so chosen but by force of a Writ in the name of the Keepers of the Liberties of England Thirdly He saith that at the return of the Writs the Parliament cannot begin but by the Royal presence of the King eiâ—her in person or by representation By representation two waies Either by a Guardian of England by Letters Patents under the Great Seal when the King is in remote parts out of the Realm Or by Commission under the Great Seal of England to certain Lords of Parliament representing the Person of the King he being within the Realm in respect of some infirmity See Sir Edward Cook in his third Part of Institutes of the High Court of Parliament concerning the beginnings of Parliaments Page 6. But this Parliament began without the Royal presence of the King either in Person or by Representation Fourthly That the substance of the Writs of Summons must continue in their original Essence without any alteration or addition unless it be by Act of Parliament See the same Sir Edward Cook in his third Part of Institutes of the High Court of Parliament concerning Writs of Summons of Parliament Page 10. But how great an alteration and addition to the substance of the Writs of Summons is this to issue them forth in the name of the Keepers of the Liberties of England without the least authority of Parliament which by the express Statute ought only to be issued forth in the name of the King And therefore if there be any weight in Mr. Prins foresaid Argument to null a Parliament because of the Kings Death who call'd it in regard the Writs of Summons were issued forth in the name of that King deceased with whom by name the Members of Parliament were call'd to consult and advise but now cannot It will I conceive be no hard question to resolve and it were good Mr. Prin would undertake it without partiality or affection Whether the Parliament doth not ipso facto fall void and all the Acts of it further than they shall be confirmed by a lawful Parliament which
is not call'd by any Writs of the Kings at all But only by Writs as aforesaid in the name of the Keepers of the Liberties of England and by those Writs none but the Commons with whom they are summoned to consult too about the businesses of a Common-wealth which these times have sufficiently taught us the meaning of and not with the King about the arduous businesses of His Kingdom These premised illegalities considered in reference to this present Parliament the legal being and capacity as premised of the Long Parliament being supposed to be here totally waved Whether is this a lawful Parliament and capable to make legal and binding Acts Or having been declared a lawful Parliament by an Act by themselves made since their Session with the Kings consent Whether can the Kings consent make them such though otherwise unlawful in their Call Principle and Foundation For I would put the case the King should have come in while Oliver or Richards Parliaments had been sitting to which the Lords as now should have presented themselves without Writs of Summons and his Majesty under that constitution should have consented to a Bill to grant them a lawful Parliament Would that at all have made them so under such a Constitution Can that which is unlawful in it self and contrary to the Fundamental Constitutions of the Nation be made lawful barely by the Kings Consent Which if it shall be pleaded in the affirmative though I very much question whether any understanding Lawyer will venture his reputation on it I shall desire then to be instructed in a better Argument to make good the lawful being and authority of the Long Parliament For surely if a Parliament be lawful meerly because of the Kings consent passing an Act to that purpose though otherwise utterly unlawful in its Call and Foundation Then doubtless that Parliament is much more lawful and in its legal being that was founded upon a lawful Call and had the Kings consent to an Act to authorize it to continue till they dissolve themselves by an Act. And if that be still a lawful Parliament then I am sure upon that account this can be none nor no other till that be legally dissolved To which there is this further to be added concerning the intentions generally of the whole Nation in reference to this Parl. by the best information I can gather That it was never in the least meant that these should sit to pass Acts as a lawful Parl. w ch was only like to prove a snare to the people as other Parl. of the like nature so call'd have done through the disputableness unwarrantableness of their Authority But only that for the present necessity they might bear the face of Parliamentary Authority for preserving the Peace of the Nation till his Royal Majesty that now is might be happily restored the Kingdom panting after him as their only means of settlement and so soon as that was effected then to dissolve in order to the sending forth his Majesties Royal Writs of Summons for calling a Parliament according to the ancient Custome and Fundamental Constitution the old Parliament being first legally dissolved that so all things might return again into a legal and uncontrovertible way of proceedings to the quiet of all mens minds and satisfaction of the whole Kingdom who are sufficiently weary of the mischiefs of irregular actings by illegal Authorities Conclusion IF the power of the Sword or other arbitrary proceedings do not interpose to interrupt free debates and the course of Law and Justice which the Author hopes there is now no cause to fear as formerly all Estates and Degrees in the Nation having sufficiently seen the inconvenience and tasted the smart of such unrighteous actings he doubts not upon a serious consideration of the foregoing Arguments if men will lay aside passion and self Interest but that right foundations will shortly again be restored that knowing our ground-work to be sure and unquestionable the Subjects of all sorts in the Kingdom may with all safety and cheerfulness submit too and act under the lawful powers in being every one sitting in Peace under his own Vine and Fig-tree blessing the God of his Salvation Which is daily the Authors earnest and most hearty prayer FINIS See his true and perfect narrative of what was done and spoken by and between Mr. Prin and the old and newly forcibly secluded members beginning fol. 24. and so forwards Printed in the year 1659. See Sir Edw. Cook in his third part of Instit of the High Court of Parliament how the Lords give their Voyces Pa 35. See Sir Edw. Cook the third part of his Institutes of the Hâ—gh Court of Parl. of the power and Jurisdict of the Parl. fol. 36. who saith That the Power and jurisdiction of the Parl. for making of Laws in proceeding by Bill is so transcendent and absolute as it cannot be confined either for causes or persons within any bounds c. Vide Postscript