marschal, before the house where the Parliament sat, and by the mayor and bailiffs in the city.

An Early Speaker's Address on Election.-The House of Commons which met in 1376 chose Sir Peter de la Mare, knight of the shire for Herefordshire, as their Speaker, and he is sometimes mentioned as the first who bore the title. Sir Peter on this occasion (says the "Parliamentary History ") made a protestation and said, "That what he had to declare was from their whole body; and therefore required that if he should happen to speak anything without their consents, that it ought to be amended before his departure from the said place. He commended the feats of chivalry heretofore practised, for which this nation was so renowned; and said that by the decay of the same, the honour of the realm did and would daily decrease."

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A Faithful Speaker Punished.-Sir Peter de la Mare, elected prolocutor or speaker of the Good Parliament " (p. 5), suffered for his boldness on behalf of that body, which had so severely handled court abuses. The death of the Black Prince, who had countenanced its proceedings, left power in the hands of John of Gaunt, against whom and his friends they had been directed. The Parliament was dismissed, and proclaimed to have been no Parliament at all; steps taken in consequence of its petitions were cancelled; and Peter de la Mare was summoned before the King's court and imprisoned. A new Parliament met in January, 1377, no pains having being spared to "pack" it; and this (says Professor Stubbs) is the first occasion on which any definite signs are traceable of an attempt to influence the elections for a political purpose. Sir Thomas Hungerford, the Duke of Lancaster's steward, and one of the knights of the shire for Wilts, was chosen speaker. A strong minority vainly endeavoured to procure the release of Sir Peter de la Mare, and the Londoners insisted that he should have a fair trial; but he was detained in prison some months, until the occurrence of the jubilee of the old King, Edward III.

A Royal Absentee.-Oldfield relates that in the tenth year of Richard II. (1387) the Commons sent a message to the King, in which they stated that if the King shall wilfully estrange himself from his Parliament, and be absent from them for the space of forty days, it shall be lawful for all and every of them, without any damage from the King, to go home and return into their own countries. "And now you," continue the remonstrants, "for a longer time have absented yourself, and have refused to come among them."

An Earl's Apology.-In a Parliament of Richard II., held at Westminster, 1394, the Earl of Arundel exhibited a complaint against the Duke of Lancaster, consisting of four distinct charges. To the accusation the King himself answered and affirmed that what the Duke of Lancaster had done was all right and good. And his Majesty, with the assent of the Lords, awarded that the said earl should ask the duke's pardon, in full Parliament, and in the very words following, which he spoke accordingly: "Sir, Sith that it seemeth to the King and other lords, and eke that each here hath been so mickle grieved and displeased

by my words; it forethinketh, and I beseech you of your grace and lordship to quit me your man-tallant."-Parliamentary History.

The House of Commons making a Scapegoat.-While, in the early Parliaments, the House of Commons occasionally spoke out with boldness, it was often ready at the next moment to meet the King and his council with great subserviency. The following instance is given in the "Parliamentary History:" In 1397 the House of Commons required of the King (Richard II.), amongst other demands, an avoidance of the extravagant expenses of the King's household, and that bishops and ladies, who had no particular business there, should be forbidden to frequent the court. The King, hearing of this, was highly incensed, and charged the Speaker, Sir John Bussy, upon his allegiance to inform him who it was that had brought the matter into Parliament. The Commons, on being told the King's mind in a conference with the Lords, made a most submissive and even abject apology for their presumption; gave up the name of the person who had brought it into their House-one Thomas Haxey, clerk; and furthermore, proceeded to try poor Thomas Haxey, clerk, and condemned him to die the death of a traitor. The King then informed the Commons that he, out of his royal benignity and gracious seigniory, freely excused them. The scapegoat also came in for a share in the royal clemency, his life being spared on the petition of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the other prelates; but this was chiefly on account of his clerical capacity.

A Suicidal Parliament and a Suicidal King.-A Parliament, elected (writes Professor Stubbs) under the undisguised influence of Richard II., met at Westminster on the 17th of September, 1397. The King's agents in the House of Commons were Sir John Bussy, the Speaker, Sir Henry Green, and Sir William Bagot. The Chancellor declared in his opening speech that the cause of summons was to establish the King in his rights, and to consult on the revocation of all measures by which those rights were diminished. The whole of the acts of the Parliament of February, 1388, were, at the prayer of the Commons, declared null, and the persons prejudiced by those acts were restored to all their rights. Large subsidies were granted, some of them for the term of the King's life. "The last Act (says Stubbs) of this suicidal Parliament was to delegate their authority to eighteen members chosen from the whole body ten lords temporal, of whom six were to be a quorum, two earls as proctors for the clergy, and six members of the House of Commons, three or four to be a quorum. All these were men whom the King believed to be devoted to his interests, and whom he had spared no means to attach to himself. He held, therefore, his Parliament in his own hand. It was a resolute attempt not to evade, but to destroy, the limitations which for nearly two centuries the nation, first through the baronage alone, and latterly through the united Parliament, had been labouring to impose upon the King." These acts laid a foundation for the downfall of Richard in 1399. In the articles of accusation on which his deposition was grounded, the delegation of the powers of Parliament to a committee of estates, and the fraudulent use of that delegation

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to engross the entire authority in his own hands, were prominent features.

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A Pious Subsidy.-Henry IV. called a Parliament which met October 6th, 1404. The Chancellor," says Lord Campbell, " in a speech from the text Rex vocavit seniores terræ,' having pressed most urgently for supplies, the Commons came in a body, and, the King being on the throne, proposed that without burdening his people he might supply his occasions by seizing on the revenues of the clergy. Archbishop Arundel replied that the stripping the clergy of their estates would put a stop to their prayers night and day for the welfare of the State. The Speaker of the Commons, standing at the bar, smiled and said openly that he thought the prayers of the Church a very slender supply."

Royal Rewards to the Speaker.-Of the Parliament which assembled at Westminster March 1st, 1406, Sir John Tibetot was chosen Speaker. Sir John excused himself on account of his youth and other causes; nevertheless, the King confirmed his election. This youthful Speaker appears to have discharged his functions to the satisfaction of the Court at least; for at the close of the Parliament the King, to show his generosity and gratitude to Sir John, granted to him, in fee, all the lands and hereditaments of Richard ap Griffith ap Voethus, in the counties of Carmarthen and Cardigan, and elsewhere in the principality of South Wales, forfeited to the King by his being an adherent to Owen Glendower, rebel and traitor; and also the office of keeper of the forests of Weybridge and Sapley, in the county of Huntingdon, without any fee or out payments; and further, the goods and chattels of Peter Priswick, carpenter, a felon, amounting to £150. He was afterwards made Earl of Worcester.-Parliamentary History.

The Lords and the Privilege of the Commons. From the case of Speaker Thorpe it is quite evident (writes Mr. James Gairdner) that in the days of Henry VI. the privileges of the lower chamber were entirely in the keeping of the House of Peers. Speaker Thorpe had been arrested in 1453, during the parliamentary recess, at the suit of Richard, Duke of York. The action was for trespass; Thorpe was cast in damages of £1000, and he still lay in prison in the following February when Parliament reassembled. The Commons at once petitioned for the liberation of their Speaker, as without him they could not proceed, and also of another member who was incarcerated at the same time. The Duke of York's counsel, in the Lords, opposed the application, explaining the circumstances of the case. The Lords, being anxious to preserve the liberties and privileges of the lower house, asked the opinion of the judges, and the judges made a very careful reply. They declared "that they ought not to answer to that question, for it hath not been used aforetime that the justices should in any wise determine the privilege of this High Court of Parliament; for it is so high and so mighty in its nature that it may make law, and that that is law it may make no law, and the determination and knowledge of that privilege belongeth to the Lords of the Parliament, and not to the justices." They only added that there was no existing form of procedure to quash all processes against privileged

members; otherwise privilege in such cases as treason, felony, and other serious offences would be a manifest interference with justice; but that in minor cases a member arrested was allowed to make his attorney and attend in Parliament. On this opinion the Lords determined that Thorpe should remain in prison, and the Commons were commanded to elect another Speaker.

Petition against a Judge.-In 1434 (13 Henry VI.) a petition was presented to the Commons of England against Sir William Paston, knight, a judge of the Court of Common Pleas, by William Dalling. The fact that the Commons were appealed to on such a matter, at this early era in our records, is worth notice. The petition is thus given in Sir John Fenn's "Paston Letters":"Please it to the right sage and wise Commons of this present Parliament, that where (as) every justice of the King is sworn that he should not take no fees or rewards for to be of counsel with no man, but only with our sovereign lord the King, and thereto they be sworn. Please it to (the) Commons of the present Parliament that William Paston, one of the justices of our sovereign lord (the) King, taketh divers fees and rewards of divers persons within the shires of Norfolk and Suffolk, and is withhold with every matter in the said counties; that is to say-Of the town of Yarmouth, 1s. yearly; of the Abbot of St. Benet's, 26s. 8d. [several more are here instanced]; and of Katherine Shelton, 10 marks (£6 13s. 4d.), against the King, for to be of her counsel for to destroy the right of the King and of his ward—that is for to say, Ralph, son and heir of John Shelton." In a note prefixed to this petition, it is mentioned that Sir William Paston was born in 1378, became a judge of the Common Pleas in 1430, and from the propriety of his conduct was called "the Good Judge."

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Henry VIII.'s Method with the Commons.-The Ministers of Henry VIII., says Oldfield, moved in 1536 that a bill be brought in to dissolve such monasteries as had not above £200 per annum in land. The bill remained so long in the House that the King, who was impatient to have it passed, took upon himself to expedite its progress. He sent for the members to attend him in his gallery, when, having kept them waiting for a considerable time, he told them fiercely that if the bill did not pass it would cost many of them their heads." It is also related that while the opposition of the Commons to the imposition lasted, Henry sent for a Mr. Edward Montague, who had considerable influence in the House, and said, "Ho, man! will they not suffer my bill to pass ? and, laying his hand on Montague's head, who was then on his knees before him, "Get my bill passed by to-morrow, or else to-morrow this head of yours will be off." The bill was passed, and Mr. Montague's head was permitted to remain upon his shoulders.

Oriental Adulation.-In 1537 an insult was put upon the House of Commons, which shows (says Lord Campbell) the degraded state to which Parliament was reduced in the reign of Henry VIII. On the recommendation of the Court, Rich, whose bad character was notorious, and who was hardly free from any vice except hypocrisy, was elected Speaker. He repaid this promotion by comparing the King, on the first day of the

session, for prudence to Solomon, for strength to Samson, and for beauty to Absalom; and on the last to the sun, that warms, enlightens, and invigorates the universe.

"Render unto Cæsar," &c.-Speaker Crooke told Queen Elizabeth (when he was presented to her in the House of Lords, on the occasion of his election to the chair) that England had been defended against the Spanish Armada by her mighty arm; to which she answered from the throne, "No; but by the mighty hand of God, Mr. Speaker."D'Ewes' Journal.

Bribing Members with Foreign Money.-In 1544 (writes Gurdon), the Londoners not liking the intended marriage of Mary with the Prince of Spain, the Parliament was summoned to meet at Oxford. Against the calling a new Parliament great sums of money were remitted by the Emperor (Charles V.) to Gardiner, to soften the leading nobility, and carry elections for commoners that would comply with the designs of the Court. Lord Chancellor Gardiner having granted pensions to many of the leading members of the House of Commons, thereby softened them. Commencement of the Journals of the Commons. A Parliament was called to meet at Westminster on the 4th of November, 1547, in the first year of the reign of Edward VI. The "Parliamentary History" says, We are now come to a period from which the Journals of the House of Commons are extant. The first volume, which begins with the reign, contains little more than a diurnal succinct account of proceedings in reading bills, &c. The Journals of the Lords are more explicit in the reign before us than those of the Commons."

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Secession of Members from the Commons. In the Parlia ment which assembled 11th November, 1554, the first of Philip and Mary, the legislative enactments of the three previous reigns against Roman Catholicism were repealed. "A circumstance occurred of a very extraordinary nature in this Parliament" (says the "Parliamentary History"), "and the like of which we have not before met with.* This was a voluntary secession of some members of the Commons, who actually left the House when they saw the majority inclined to sacrifice everything to the ministry. Lord Coke, who, in order to do honour to their memories, has preserved their names in his Institutes,' states that the Court resented this separation of the members, and ordered the Queen's Attorney-General to indict them in the Court of Queen's Bench. Six of them were so timorous as to submit to the mercy of the Court, and paid their fines. All the rest, amongst whom was that famous lawyer Plowden, traversed; but judgment against them was prevented by the Queen's death."

The Commons and the Suppressed Monasteries.-In 1557 it was stated (writes Oldfield) that Queen Mary intended to rebuild the monasteries and restore the lands which had been alienated. The knowledge of this intention created such warmth of debate in the Commons

* For later instances see "Parliamentary Secession," in the Miscellaneous section.