promise made to one that proved a traitor. The earl told the King he lied, and, were he not a king, he would make him eat his words."

The Parliament de la Bond.—One of Edward LI.'s Parliaments

(1321) was called “ Parliament de la Bond," from the barons coming to Parliament, armed against the two Spencers, wearing coloured bands upon their sleeves for distinction.-Gurdon.

The Good Parliament.-The Parliament assembled in 1376 (50th Edward III.) has been called by this name, in consequence of its measures against the corruption of the court and government. Several of the ministers were impeached, and the king's mistress, Alice Perrers, was made the subject of a special censure, the Commons passing the following ordinance: "Whereas complaints have been laid before the king that certain women have pursued causes and actions in the king's court by way of maintenance, and for hire and reward, which thing displeases the king, the king forbids that any woman do it for the future, and in particular Alice Perrers, under the penalty of forfeiting all that she, the said Alice, can forfeit, and of being banished out of the realm." The growing activity of the Commons in this Parliament derived much encouragement from the Black Prince, whose death, however, ensued soon after, and John of Gaunt obtained a new Parliament, which undid the work of its predecessor.

The Wonderful, or Merciless Parliament.-The Parliament which was summoned in the eleventh year of Richard II. (Feb. 3rd, 1388) has been called by some historians " the Parliament that wrought wonders;" by others, "the Merciless Parliament." In it articles of high treason were exhibited against the King's ministers, who were, accordingly, sentenced to death or banishment.-Parry's "Parliaments of England."

The Shortest Parliament.-The shortest Parliament ever held was that which met on the 30th of September, 1399, and sat but for a single day, on which it deposed Richard II. "The deposition of Richard (says Hume) dissolved the Parliament; it was necessary to summon a new one; and Henry, in six days after, called together without any new election the same members, and this assembly he denominated a new Parliament."

The Unlearned Parliament.-Speaking of this Parliament, which assembled in 1404, Lord Campbell says, the recklessness of the Commons may have arisen from their not having had a single lawyer among them. Lord Chancellor Beaufort, in framing the writs of summons, illegally inserted a prohibition that any apprentice or other man of the law should be elected. In return for such a slight our law books and historians have branded this Parliament with the name of Parliamentum indoctum, or the "Unlearned Parliament."

The Parliament of Bats.-In the 4th of Henry VI. (1426) a Parliament was summoned to meet at Leicester, and orders were sent to the members that they should not wear swords, so they came to the Parliament, like modern butchers, with long staves, from whence the Parliament got the name of the Parliament of Bats." And when the

bats were prohibited, the members had recourse to stones and leaden plummets.-Gurdon's "History of Parliament."

The Diabolical Parliament.-In the 38th year of Henry VI. (1459) a Parliament was summoned to meet on the 20th November. at Coventry. It was there enacted that all such knights of any county as were returned to the Parliament by virtue of the King's letters, without any other election, should be good, and that no sheriff, for returning them, should incur the pain therefor provided in the Act of the 23rd of Henry VI. The Queen and her party carried all before them in this Parliament, which, from its works, was called Parliamentum diabolicum.-Ibid.

The Addled Parliament. This name was given by the King's party (James I.) to the Parliament which met on the 5th of April, 1614. It had been summoned in the expectation that it would grant supplies, but it insisted on the previous discussion of grievances, and, as it proved obdurate, it was dissolved on the 7th of June, without having passed a single bill. Prior to the meeting of this Parliament, certain of the King's ministers (among them Bacon and Somerset) undertook that they would so manage the Commons as to secure the necessary votes. This promise got wind, and the ministers were freely spoken of as undertakers a circumstance to which the King thus alluded in his opening speech: "For undertakers, he never was so base to call or rely on any."

The Short Parliament.-The fourth Parliament called by Charles I. is known by this name. It met on the 13th of April, 1640-the first Parliament since the dissolution of 1629-and was dissolved after a session of three weeks only, on the 5th of May. Never since the institution of regular Parliaments had there been so long an interval without one, as that which preceded the summoning of this assembly.

The Long Parliament.-The Long Parliament, or the fifth of Charles I., assembled November 3, 1640-" a Parliament which many, before that time, thought would never have had a beginning, and afterwards that it would never have had an end." It was, however, abruptly and violently dispersed by Cromwell, April 20th, 1653. (See "Personal" section, under "Cromwell.") After many vicissitudes, in which fragments of this Parliament were called together again and again for special purposes, the appearance of legal dissolution was given by a bill for "Dissolving the Parliament begun and holden at Westminster 3rd of November, 1640, and that the day of dissolution shall be from this day, March 16th, 1659."* Macaulay describes it as "that renowned Parliament which, in spite of many errors and disasters, is justly entitled to the reverence and gratitude of all who, in any part of the world, enjoy the blessings of constitutional government." On the other hand, Cobbett, in his "Parliamentary History," observes, "Thus ended the Long Parliament, which, with innumerable alterations and several intermissions, had continued the scourge of the nation for nearly twenty years."

Pride's Purge.-When the Commons were to meet on Dec. 6th,

*1660, according to modern reckoning, the year formerly commencing on the 25th of March.

1648, Hume says, Colonel Pride, formerly a drayman, environed the House with two regiments, and, directed by Lord Grey of Groby, he seized in the passage forty-one members of the Presbyterian party, and sent them to a low room, which passed by the appellation of “hell,” whence they were afterwards carried to several inns. Above 160 members more were excluded, and none were allowed to enter but the most furious and the most determined of the Independents; and these exceeded not the number of fifty or sixty. This invasion of the Parliament commonly passed under the name of "Colonel Pride's Purge," so much was the nation disposed to make merry with the dethroning of those members who had violently arrogated the whole authority of government, and deprived the King of his legal prerogatives. The remains of the Parliament were called the "Rump."

The Rump.-"The nickname originated," says Isaac D'Israeli, “in derision on the expulsion of the majority of the Long Parliament by the usurping minority. The collector of The Rump Songs' tells us, 'If you ask who named it Rump, know 'twas so styled in an honest sheet of prayer called the Bloody Rump, written before the trial of our late sovereign; but the word obtained not universal notice till it flew from the mouth of Major-General Brown, at a public assembly in the days of Richard Cromwell.'

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The Little, or Barebone's Parliament.-The Parliament to which these names have been given was summoned by Cromwell, and met for the first time July 4th, 1653. A hundred and forty summonses to it were issued, and of the parties summoned only two did not attend. Hume says, Among the fanatics of the House there was an active member much noted for his long prayers, sermons, and harangues. He was a leather-seller in London, his name Praise-God Barebone. This ridiculous name, which seems to have been chosen by some poet or allegorist to suit so ridiculous a personage, struck the fancy of the people, and they commonly affixed to the assembly the appellation of 'Barebone's Parliament.' This assembly sat until the 12th of December, 1653, when it resigned its powers into the hands of Cromwell.

The Healing Parliament.-This name was applied to the Parlia ment which met on the 25th of April, 1660, and, a few days after, restored Charles II.—a measure which, it was hoped, would “heal" all remaining wounds and differences existing in the nation.

The Drunken Parliament. The first Parliament which met in Scotland after the Restoration of Charles II. acquired this name. Sir Walter Scott, in his "Tales of a Grandfather," says, "When the Scottish Parliament met, the members were, in many instances, under the influence of wine, and they were more than once obliged to adjourn, because the royal commissioner (Middleton) was too intoxicated to behave properly in the chair."

The Longest, or Pensionary Parliament.-This Parliament --sometimes called "the Long Parliament," until that name became more distinctly appropriated to the assembly of 1640-was summoned to meet at Westminster on the 8th of May, 1661, and was not dissolved until

the 24th of January, 1679. It thus existed for nearly eighteen years. It derived its name of "pensionary" from the fact that many of its members were in the habit of receiving bribes from the King and the Ministers; and it has also been discovered that some of them were in the pay of the Court of France.

Parliamentary Hostages.-Oldfield records that in the sixth year of King John (1205) a Parliament was held, at which the children of the barons were required as hostages for their allegiance.

An Unwise Counsellor.-Henry III., being straitened for money, issued a warrant ordering the nobles to meet him in London. Accordingly, on the day of St. Hilary, 1237, a countless multitude proceeded to the palace at Westminster to hear the King's pleasure. Having heard with consternation the royal demand for a thirtieth of all movable property, they were about to retire for the purpose of consultation, when Gilbert Bassett said to Henry, in the hearing of all, "My lord King, send some one of your friends to be present at the conference of your barons." In reply to his speech, Richard Percy said, "What is it, friend Gilbert, that you said? Are we, too, foreigners; and are we not among the number of the King's friends ?" And Gilbert felt himself rebuked for his unpleasant speech.-Matthew Paris.

Selection of Partial Parliaments.-In ancient times it was ordinary for kings to make a show of summoning Parliaments, whenas properly they were but parliamentary meetings of some such lords, clergy, and others as the King saw most convenient to drive on his own designs; and therefore we find that Henry III., about the latter part of his reign, when his government drew towards the dregs, he having in the kingdom two hundred and fifty baronies, he summoned unto one of these parliamentary meetings but five-and-twenty barons and one hundred and fifty of his clergy.-Nathaniel Bacon's "Discourse on the Government of England."

Neglect of the King's Summons to Parliament.-Edward III., being troubled with a quarrel between the two Archbishops of Canterbury and York concerning superiority in bearing the cross, and the important affairs of Scotland so urging, summoned a Parliament at York, which was fain to be delayed and adjourned for want of appearance, and more effectual summons issued forth; but at the day of adjournment none of the clergy of the province of Canterbury would be there; and upon this occasion the Parliament was not only interrupted in their proceedings, but an ill precedent was made for men to be bold with the King's summons in such cases as liked not them; and thereupon a statute was made to enforce obedience upon citizens and burgesses, and such ecclesiastics as held per baroniam. Nor did Edward III. ever after hold the presence of the prelates at so high repute at such meetings; and therefore summoned them, or so many of them as he thought meet for the occasion-sometimes more, sometimes fewer; and at a Parliament in his forty-and-seventh year he summoned only four bishops and five abbots.

Albeit the clergy still made their claim of vote, and desired the same to be entered upon record.-1bid.

Representation an Expensive Luxury.—A correspondent of Notes and Queries writes:-"Whatever estimate the people of the present day may put upon the elective franchise, it would seem that our ancestors held the privilege very lightly; for, although the wages to be received by members of Parliament were fixed by the 16th of Edward II. at the low rate of 4s. a day for a knight of the shire, and 28. for a citizen or burgess, yet we are told by Prynne that many boroughs petitioned to be excused from sending members to Parliament, on account of the expense; and in a note to 'Blackstone' we learn that from the 33rd Edward III., uniformly through the five succeeding reigns, the sheriff of Lancashire returned that there were no cities or boroughs in his county that ought or were used, or could, on account of their poverty, send any citizens or burgesses to Parliament. There were some instances where even a less sum than that established by statute was allowed; and it is on record that in 1463 Sir John Strange, the member for Dunwich, agreed to take a cade and half a barrel of herrings as a composition for his wages."

A Member Suing for his Wages.-Hatsell records that Mr. Hall, member for Grantham, having published a book in 1580, which gave offence to the House, was ordered to be expelled, fined, and imprisoned. On the 21st of November, 1586, Mr. Markham, then member for Grantham, informed the House, on the part of the inhabitants of that borough, that Mr. Arthur Hall, at one time their member, had brought a writ for his wages (amongst other times) for his attendance at the late session of Parliament, holden at Westminster in the twenty-seventh year of Queen Elizabeth, during which time he did not serve in the House. A committee appointed by the House desired him to remit the said wages, which he did "freely and frankly."*

Safety and Quietude for Members.-A Parliament was summoned by Edward III. to meet at Westminster, March 12th, 1332, the summons reciting the King's reasons for calling them. Where-that we may see (says Joshua Barnes) what prudent care was then taken by these august assemblies that their debates should not be awed by fear or disturbed by tumults-it was first by the King's order proclaimed, “That no man, upon pain of forfeiting all his substance, should presume to use or wear any coat of metal, or other weapon, offensive or defensive, in London, Westminster, or the suburbs of the same. And also that during the time of this session no games or other plays of men, women, or children should be used in Westminster, to the disturbance of the Parliament." A Parliament met at York in the following year. On the first day of their sitting commandment was given to the Mayor of York, in presence of the King and all his Parliament, to see the King's peace kept in the said city and suburbs thereof, and to arrest all that offended against it. Also, proclamation to be made against weapons and plays, by the steward and

* See "Parliamentary Usages-Payment of Members."