Read The History of England - Vols. 1 to 6 Online
Authors: David Hume
[x]Parl. Hist. vol. vi. p. 444.
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[y]Id. ibid. p. 451. Rushworth, vol. i. p. 225. Franklyn, p. 118.
[z]Rushworth, vol. i. p. 359. Whitlocke, p. 6.
[b]Id. ibid. p. 358, 361. Franklyn, p. 180.
[c]Rushworth, vol. i. p. 363, 364, &c. Franklyn, p. 181.
[d]Franklyn, p. 195. Rushworth.
[e]See the list in Franklyn and Rushworth.
[g]Rushworth, vol. i. p. 400. Franklyn, p. 199.
[k]Sanderson’s Life of Charles I. p. 58.
[l]Franklyn, p. 203, &c. Parl. Hist. vol. vii. p. 300.
[m]Rushworth, vol. i. p. 413. Whitlocke, p. 7.
[n]Rushworth, vol. i. p. 415. Franklyn, p. 206.
[q]Ibid. p. 418. Whitlocke, p. 8.
[r]Rushworth, vol. i. p. 419. Franklyn, p. 207.
[s]Rushworth, vol. i. p. 422. Franklyn, p. 208.
[u]Rushworth, vol. i. p. 429. Franklyn, p. 210.
[w]Rushworth, vol. i. p. 458. Franklyn, p. 224. Whitlocke, p. 8.
[x]25 Edw. III. cap. 4. 28 Edw. III. cap. 3. 37 Edw. III. cap. 18. 38 Edw. III. cap. 9. 42
Edw. III. cap. 3. 1 Richard II. cap. 12.
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[a]State Trials, vol. vii. p. 147.
[b]State Trials, ibid. p. 161.
[g]Parl. Hist. vol. vii. p. 310.
[h]Rushworth, vol. i. p. 419. Whitlocke, p. 7.
[k]Memoirs de Mad. de Motteville.
[m]Rushworth, vol. i. p. 423, 424.
[o]Whitlocke, p. 8. Sir Philip Warwick, p. 25.
[q]Sanderson, p. 106. Walker, p. 339.
[r]Rushworth, vol. i. p. 477. Franklyn, p. 233.
[s]Rushworth, vol. i. p. 479. Franklyn, p. 234.
[t]Franklyn, p. 243. Rushworth, vol. i. p. 499.
[u]Franklyn, p. 245. Parl. Hist. vol. vii. p. 363. Rushworth, vol. i. p. 502.
[w]Franklyn, p. 243. Rushworth, vol. i. p. 500.
[x]Franklyn, p. 251. Rushworth, vol. i. p. 513. Whitlocke, p. 9.
[y]Rushworth, vol. i. p. 526. Whitlocke, p. 9.
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[a]State Trials, vol. vii. p. 187. Rushworth, vol. i. p. 546.
[b]State Trials, vol. vii. p. 193.
[c]State Trials, vol. vii. p. 196. Rushworth, vol. i. p. 556.
[d]State Trials, vol. vii. p. 198. Rushworth, vol. i. p. 560. Parl. Hist. vol. viii. p. 111.
[e]State Trials, vol. vii. p. 199. Rushworth, vol. i. p. 561. Parl. Hist. vol. viii. p. 116.
Whitlocke, p. 10.
[NOTE [T]]
This petition is of so great importance, that we shall here give it at length.
Humbly shew unto our sovereign lord the king, the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in parliament assembled. That, whereas it is declared and enacted, by a statute made in the time of the reign of king Edward I. commonly called
Statutum de
tallagio non concedendo,
that no tallage or aid shall be levied by the king or his heirs in this realm, without the good will and assent of the archbishops, bishops, earls, barons, knights, burgesses, and other the freemen of the commonalty of this realm: And, by authority of parliament holden in the five and twentieth year of the reign of king Edward III. it is declared and enacted, That, from thenceforth, no person shall be compelled to make any loans to the king against his will, because such loans were against reason, and the franchise of the land: And, by other laws of this realm, it is provided, that none should be charged by any charge or imposition called a benevolence, or by such like charge: By which the statutes before mentioned, and other the good laws and statutes of this realm, your subjects have inherited this freedom, that they should not be compelled to contribute to any tax, tallage, aid, or other like charge, not set by common consent in parliament.
II. Yet nevertheless, of late divers commissions directed to sundry commissioners in several counties, with instructions, have issued; by means whereof your people have been in divers places assembled, and required to lend certain sums of money unto your majesty, and many of them, upon their refusal so to do, have had an oath administered unto them not warrantable by the laws or statutes of this realm, and have been constrained to become bound to make appearance and give attendance before your privy council, and in other places, and others of them, have been therefore imprisoned, confined, and sundry other ways molested and disquieted: And divers other charges have been laid and levied upon your people, in several counties, by lord-lieutenants, deputy-lieutenants, commissioners for musters, justices of peace, and others, by command or direction from your majesty, or your privy council, against the laws and free customs of this realm.
III. And whereas also, by the statute called
The great charter of the liberties of
England,
it is declared and enacted, That no freeman may be taken or imprisoned, or be disseized of his freehold or liberties, or his free customs, or be outlawed or exiled, or in any manner destroyed, but by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land.
IV. And, in the eight and twentieth year of the reign of king Edward III. it was PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011)
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declared and enacted, by authority of parliament, That no man, of what estate or condition that he be, should be put out of his land or tenements; nor taken, nor imprisoned, nor disherited, nor put to death, without being brought to answer by due process of law.
V. Nevertheless, against the tenor of the said statutes, and other the good laws and statutes of your realm to that end provided, divers of your subjects have of late been imprisoned without any cause shewed: And, when, for their deliverance, they were brought before justice, by your majesty’s writs of
Habeas Corpus,
there to undergo and receive as the court should order, and their keepers commanded to certify the causes of their detainer, no cause was certified, but that they were detained by your majesty’s special command, signified by the lords of your privy council, and yet were returned back to several prisons, without being charged with any thing to which they might make answer according to the law.
VI. And whereas of late great companies of soldiers and mariners have been dispersed into divers counties of the realm, and the inhabitants, against their wills, have been compelled to receive them into their houses, and there to suffer them to sojourn, against the laws and customs of this realm, and to the great grievance and vexation of the people.
VII. And whereas also, by authority of parliament, in the five and twentieth year of the reign of king Edward III. it is declared and enacted, That no man should be fore-judged of life or limb against the form of the
Great charter,
and law of the land: And, by the said
Great charter,
and other the laws and statutes of this your realm, no man ought to be judged to death but by the laws established in this your realm, either by the customs of the same realm, or by acts of parliament: And whereas no offender, of what kind soever, is exempted from the proceedings to be used, and punishments to be inflicted by the laws and statutes of this your realm: Nevertheless, of late divers commissions, under your majesty’s great seal, have issued forth, by which certain persons have been assigned and appointed commissioners, with power and authority to proceed within the land, according to the justice of martial law, against such soldiers and mariners, or other dissolute persons joining with them, as should commit any murther, robbery, felony, mutiny, or other outrage or misdemeanour whatsoever, and by such summary course and order as is agreeable to martial law, and as is used in armies in time of war, to proceed to the trial and condemnation of such offenders, and them to cause to be executed and put to death according to the law martial.
VIII. By pretext whereof some of your majesty’s subjects have been, by some of the said commissioners, put to death, when and where, if, by the laws and statutes of the land, they had deserved death, by the same laws and statutes also they might, and by no other ought, to have been judged and executed.
IX. And also sundry grievous offenders, by colour thereof claiming an exemption, have escaped the punishments due to them by the laws and statutes of this your realm, by reason that divers of your officers and ministers of justice have unjustly refused or forborn to proceed against such offenders, according to the same laws and statutes, upon pretence that the said offenders were punishable only by martial law, and by PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011)
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authority of such commissions as aforesaid: Which commissions, and all other of like nature, are wholly and directly contrary to the said laws and statutes of this your realm.
X. They do therefore humbly pray your most excellent majesty, That no man hereafter be compelled to make or yield any gift, loan, benevolence, tax, or such like charge, without common consent, by act of parliament: And that none be called to make answer, or take such oath, or to give attendance, or be confined or otherways molested or disquieted concerning the same, or for refusal thereof: And that no freeman, in any such manner as is before-mentioned, be imprisoned or detained: And that your majesty would be pleased to remove the said soldiers and mariners, and that people may not be so burthened in time to come; and that the aforesaid commissions, for proceeding by martial law, may be revoked and annulled: And that hereafter no commissions of like nature may issue forth, to any person or persons whatsoever, to be executed as aforesaid, lest, by colour of them, any of your majesty’s subjects be destroyed, or put to death, contrary to the laws and franchise of the land.
XI. All which they most humbly pray of your most excellent majesty, as their rights and liberties, according to the laws and statutes of this realm: And that your majesty would also vouchsafe to declare, That the awards, doings, and proceedings to the prejudice of your people, in any of the premisses, shall not be drawn hereafter into consequence or example: And that your majesty would be also graciously pleased, for the further comfort and safety of your people, to declare your royal will and pleasure, that in the things aforesaid, all your officers and ministers shall serve you according to the laws and statutes of this realm, as they tender the honour of your majesty, and the prosperity of this kingdom.
Stat. 17 Car. cap. 14.
[g]State Trials, vol. vii. p. 212. Rushworth, vol. i. p. 590.
[h]Parl. Hist. vol. viii. p. 206.
[i]Rushworth, vol. i. p. 585, 594. Parl. Hist. vol. viii. p. 168, 169, 170, &c. Welwood,
p. 44.
[k]Rushworth, vol. i. p. 65. Parl. Hist. vol. viii. p. 212.
[l]Rushworth, vol. i. p. 635. Whitlocke, p. 11.
[o]Ibid. vol. i. p. 610. Parl. Hist. vol. viii. p. 197.
[p]Rushworth, vol. i. p. 613. Journ. 7 June, 1628. Parl. Hist. vol. viii. p. 201.
[r]Rush. vol. i. p. 614. Parl. Hist. vol. viii. p. 214.
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[u]Rush. vol. i. p. 619. Parl. Hist. vol. viii. 219, 220, &c.
[w]Rush. vol. i. p. 628. Journ. 18, 20 June, 1628.
[y]May’s Hist. of the Parliament, p. 10.
[z]Clarendon, vol. i. p. 27, 28.
[c]State Trials, vol. vii. p. 216. Rush. vol. i. p. 643.
[d]State Trials, vol. vii. p. 216. Parl. Hist. vol. viii. p. 246.
[e]Parl. Hist. vol. viii. p. 339, 340.
[NOTE [U]]
The reason assigned by Sir Philip Warwick, p. 2. for this unusual measure of the commons, is, that they intended to deprive the crown of the prerogative, which it had assumed, of varying the rates of the impositions, and at the same time were resolved to cut off the new rates fixed by James. These were considerable diminutions both of revenue and prerogative; and whether they would have there stopped, considering their present disposition, may be much doubted. The king, it seems, and the lords, were resolved not to trust them; nor to render a revenue once precarious, which perhaps they might never afterwards be able to get re-established on the old footing.