condemne the gathering of money from the Subject vnder title of a free gift whereas a fift a sixt a tenth c. was set downe and required But my good Lord though diuers Shires haue giuen to his Maiestie some more some lesse what is this to the Kings debt COVNS We know it well enough but we haue many other projects IVST It is true my good Lord but your Lordship will find that when by these you haue drawn many petty summs frō the subjects those sometimes spent as fast as they are gathered his Maiesty being nothing enabled thereby when you shal be forced to demand your great aide the countrey will excuse it selfe in regard of their former payments COVNS What meane you by the great aide IVST I meane the aide of Parliament COVNS By Parliament I would faine know the man that durst perswade the King vnto it for if it should succeed ill in what case were he IVST You say well for your selfe my Lord and perchance you that are louers of your selues vnder pardon do follow the advice of the late Duke of Alva who was euer opposite to all resolutions in businesse of importance for if the things enterprized succeeded wel the advice neuer came in question If ill whereto great vndertakings are commōly subiect he then made his advantage by remembring his countrey councell But my good Lord these reserued Polititians are not the best seruants for hee that is bound to adventure his life for his Master is also bound to adventure his advice Keep not backe councell saith Ecclesiasticus when it may doe good COVNS But Sir I speake it not in other respect then I think it dangerous for the King to assemble the three estates for thereby haue our former kings alwaies lost somwhat of their prerogatiues And because that you shall not thinke that I speake it at randome I will begin with elder times wherein the first contention began betwixt the Kings of this land and their subiects in Parliament IVST Your Lordship shall doe me a singular fauour COVNS You know that the Kings of England had no formal Parliament till about the 18 th yeare of Henry the first for in his 17 yeare for the marriage of his daughter the King raised a tax vpon euery hide of land by the advice of his privy councell alone But you may remember how the subiects soone after the establishment of this Parliament beganne to stand vpon termes with the King and drew from him by strong hand and the sword the great Charter IVST Your Lordship sayes well they drew from the King the great Charter by the sword and hereof the Parliament cannot be accused but the Lords COVNS You say well but it was after the establishment of the Parliament by colour of it that they had so great daring for before that time they could not endure to heare of S Edwards lawes but resisted the confirmation in all they could although by those lawes the Subjects of this Iland were no lesse free then any of all Europe IVST My good Lord the reason is manifest for while the Normans other of the French that followed the Conquerour made spoyle of the English they would not endure that any thing but the will of the Conquerour should stand for Law but after a discent or two when themselues were become English found themselues beaten with their own rods they then began to sauour the difference betweene subjection slauery insist vpon the law Meum Tuum to be able to say vnto themselues hoc fac vives yea that the conquering English in Ireland did the like your Lordship knowes it better than I. COVNS I thinke you guesse aright And to the end the subiect may know that being a faithfull seruant to his Prince he might enioy his own life and paying to his Prince what belongs to a Soueraigne the remainder was his own to dispose Henry the first to content his Vassals gaue them the great Charter and the Charter of Forrests IVST What reasō then had K. Iohn to deny the cōfirmatiō COVNS He did not but he on the cōtrary confirmed both the Charters with additions required the Pope whom he had thē made his superior to strengthē him with a goldē bul IVST But your honour knowes that it was not long after that he repented himselfe COVNS It is true he had reason so to do for the Barons refused to follow him into France as they ought to haue done and to say true this great Charter vpon which you insist so much was not originally granted Regally and freely for Henry the first did vsurpe the kingdome and therefore the better to assure himselfe against Robert his eldest brother hee flattered his Nobility and people with those Charters Yea King Iohn that confirmed them had the like respect for Arthur Duke of Britaine was the vndoubted heire of the crowne vpon whom Iohn vsurped And so to conclude these Charters had their originall from Kings de facto but not de iure IVST But King Iohn confirmed the Charter after the death of his Nephew Arthur when he was then Rex de iure also COVNS It is true for he durst doe no other standing accursed whereby few or none obeyed him for his Nobility refused to follow him into Scotland and he had so grieued the people by pulling downe all the Parke pales before harvest to the end his deere might spoyle the Corne And by seizing the temporalities of so many Bishoprickes into his hands and chiefly for practizing the death of the Duke of Brittaine his Nephew as also hauing lost Normandy to the French so as the hearts of all men were turned from him IVST Nay by your fauour my Lord. King Iohn restored K. Edwards Lawes after his absolution and wrote his letters in the 15 ◠of his reigne to all Sheriffes countermaunding all former oppressions yea this he did notwithstanding the Lords refused to follow him into France COVNS Pardon me he did not restore King Edwards Lawes then nor yet confirmed the Charters but he promised vpon his absolution to doe both but after his returne out of France in his 16 th yeare he denyed it because without such a promise he had not obtained restitution his promise being constrained and not voluntary IVST But what thinke you was hee not bound in honour to performe it COVNS Certainely no for it was determined the case of King Francis the first of France that all promises by him made whilst he was in the hands of Charles the fifth his enemie were voide by reason the Iudge of honour which tells vs he durst doe no other IVST But King Iohn was not in prison COVNS Yet for all that restraint is imprisonment yea feare it selfe is imprisonment and the King was subject to both I know there is nothing more kingly in a King than the performance of his word but yet of a word freely and voluntarily giuen Neither was the Charter of Henry the
first so published that all men might plead it for their advantage but a Charter was left in deposito in the hands of the Archbishop of Canterbury for the time and so to his successours Stephen Langthon who was euer a Traytor to the King produced this Charter and shewed it to the Barons thereby encouraging them to make warre against the King Neither was it the old Charter simplie the Barons sought to haue cōfirmed but they presented vnto the King other articles and orders tending to the alteration of the whole common-wealth which when the King refused to signe the Barons presently put themselues into the field and in rebellious and outragious fashion sent the King word except he confirmed them they would not desist from making warre against him till he had satisfied them therein And in conclusion the king being betrayed of all his Nobility in effect was forced to graunt the Charter of Magna Charta and Charta de Forestis at such time as he was invironed with an Army in the meadowes of Staynes which Charters being procured by force Pope Innocent afterward disavowed threatned to curse the Barons if they submitted not themselues as they ought to their Soueraigne Lord which when the Lords refused to obey the King entertained an army of strangers for his own defence wherewith hauing mastered beaten the Barons they called in Lewes of France a most vnnaturall resolution to be their King Neither was Magna charta a law in the 19 th of Henry the 2◠but simply a Charter which hee confirmed in the 21 ◠of his reigne made it a law in the 25 th according to Littletons opinion Thus much for the beginning of the great Charter which had first an obscure birth from vsurpation and was secondly fostered shewed to the world by rebellion IVST I cannot deny but that all your Lordship hath said is true but seeing the Charters were afterwards so many times confirmed by Parliament made lawes that there is nothing in them vnequall or prejudicial to the King doth not your Honour thinke it reason they should be obserued COVNS Yes obserued they are in all that the state of a King can permit for no man is destroyed but by the lawes of the land no man disseized of his inheritance but by the lawes of the land imprisoned they are by the prerogatiue wherē the King hath cause to suspect their loyaltie for were it otherwise the King should neuer come to the knowledge of any conspiracy or treason against his Person or state and being imprisoned yet doth not any man suffer death but by the law of the land IVST But may it please your Lordship were not Cornewallis Sharpe Hoskins imprisoned being no suspition of treason there COVNS They were but it cost them nothing IVST And what got the King by it for in the conclusion besides the murmure of the people Cornewallis Sharpe Hoskins hauing greatly ouershot themselues and repented them a fine of 5 or 600 l was laid on his Maiesty for their offences for so much their diet cost his Maiestie COVNS I know who gaue the advice sure I am that it was none of mine But thus I say if you consult your memory you shall finde that those kings which did in their own times confirme the Magna Charta did not onely imprison but they caused of their Nobility and others to bee slaine without hearing or tryall IVST My good Lord if you will giue me leaue to speak freely I say that they are not well advised that perswade the King not to admit the Magna Charta with the former reseruations For as the King can neuer loose a farthing by it as I shall proue anon So except England were as Naples is and kept by Garrisons of another Nation it is impossible for a King of England to greaten and inrich himselfe by any way so assuredly as by the loue of his people For by one rebellion the King hath more losse then by a hundred yeares observance of Magna Charta For therein haue our Kings beene forced to compound with Roagues and Rebels and to pardon them yea the state of the King the Monarchie the Nobility haue beene endangered by them COVNS Well Sir let that passe why should not our kings raise mony as the kings of France doe by their letters and Edicts only for since the time of Lewes the 11 th of whom it is said that hee freed the French Kings of their wardship the French Kings haue seldome assembled the States for any contribution IVST I will tell you why the strength of England doth consist of the people and Yeomanry the Pesants of France haue no courage nor armes In France euery Village and Burrough hath a castle which the French call Chastean Villain euery good citty hath a good Cittadell the king hath the Regiments of his guards and his men at armes alwayes in pay yea the Nobility of France in whom the strength of France consists doe alwaies assist their King in those leavies because them selues being free they make the same leavies vpon their tennants But my Lord if you marke it France was neuer free in effect from ciuill warres and lately it was endangered either to be conquered by the Spaniard or to be cantonized by the rebellious French themselues since that freedome of Wardship But my good Lord to leaue this digression that wherein I would willingly satisfie your Lordship is that the kings of England haue neuer receiued losse by Parliament or preiudice COVNS No Sir you shall find that the subiects in Parliament haue decreed great things to the disadvantage and dishonour of our kings in former times IVST My good Lord to avoide confusion I will make a short repetition of them all and then your Lordship may obiect where you see cause And I doubt not but to giue your Lordship satisfaction In the sixt yeare of Henry the 3 rd there was no dispute the house gaue the King two shillings of euery plough land within England and in the end of the same yeare he had escuage paid him to wit for euery knights fee two markes in siluer In the fifth yeare of that King the Lords demaunded the confirmation of the Great Charter which the kings Councell for that time present excused alleadging that those priviledges were extorted by force during the Kings Minoritie and yet the King was pleased to send forth his writ to the Sheriffes of euery county requiring them to certifie what those liberties vvere and hovv vsed in exchange of the Lords demaund because they pressed him so violently the king required all the castles places which the Lords held of his had held in the time of his Father vvith those Manors Lordships vvhich they had heeretofore vvrested from the Crovvne vvhich at that time the King being provided of forces they durst not deny In the 14 th yeare he had the 15 th peny of all goods giuen him vpon condition to
this summe strangers not being inhabitants aboue 16 yeares 4 â— a head All that had Lands Fees and Annuities from 20 to 5â— and so double as they did for goods And the Cleargy gaue 6 the pound In the thirty seuenth yeare a Benevolence was taken not voluntary but rated by Commissioners which because one of the Aldermen refused to pay he was sent for a soldier into Scotland He had also another great subsedy of sixe shillings the pound of the Clergy and two shillings eight pence of the goods of the Laity and foure shillings the pound vpon Lands In the second yeare of Edward the sixt the Parliament gaue the King an ayde of twelue pence the pound of goods of his Natural subiects and two shillings the pound of strangers and this to continue for three yeares and by the statute of the second and third of Edward the sixt it may appeare the same Parliament did also giue a second ayde as followeth to wit of euery Ewe kept in seuerall pastures 3 of euery weather kept as aforesaid 2 â— of euery sheepe kept in the Common 1 â— ob The House gaue the King also 8 the pound of euery woollen cloath made for the sale throughout England for three yeares In the third and fourth of the King by reason of the troublesome gathering of the polymony vpon sheepe the taxe vpon cloath this acte of subsedy was repeal'd and other reliefe giuen the King and in the kings seauenth yeare hee had a subsedy and two fifteenes In the first yeare of Queene Mary tunnage and poundage were granted In the second yeare a subsedy was giuen to King Philip and to the Queene shee had also a third subsedy in Annis 4. 5. Now my Lord for the Parliaments of the late Queenes time in which there was nothing new neither head money nor sheepe money nor escuage nor any of these kindes of payments was required but onely the ordinary subsedies those as easily graunted as demaunded I shall not neede to trouble your Lordship with any of them neither can I informe your Lordship of all the passages and actes which haue passed for they are not extant nor printed COVNS No it were but time lost to speake of the latter and by those that are alreadie remembred we may iudge of the rest for those of the greatest importance are publique But I pray you deale freely with mee what you thinke would bee done for his Maiestie if hee should call a Parliament at this time or what would bee required at his Maiesties hands IVST The first thing that would be required would be the same that vvas required by the Commons in the thirtenth yeare of H. the 8 to wit that if any man of the commons house should speake more largely then of duety hee ought to doe all such offences to be pardoned and that to be of record COVNS So might euery Companion speake of the King what they list IVST No my Lord the reuerence vvhich a Vassall ovyeth to his Soueraigne is alvvaies intended for euery speech howsoeuer it must import the good of the King and his estate and so long it may bee easily pardoned othervvise not for in Queene Elizabeths time vvho gaue freedome of speech in all Parliaments vvhen Wentworth made those motions that were but supposed dangerous to the Queenes estate he was imprisoned in the Towre notwithstanding the priviledge of the house and there died COVNS What say you to the Scicilian vespers remembred in the last Parliament IVST I say hee repented him heartily that vsed that speech and indeede besides that it was seditious this example held not The French in Scicily vsurped that Kingdome they kept neither law nor faith they tooke away the inheritance of the Inhabitants they tooke from them their wiues and rauished their daughters committing all other insolencies that could bee imagined The Kings Maiesty is the Naturall Lord of England his Vassals of Scotland obey the English Lawes if they breake them they are punished without respect Yea his Maiesty put one of his Barons to a shamefull death for being consenting onely to the death of a Common Fencer And which of these euer did or durst commit any outrage in England but to say the trueth the opinion of packing the last was the cause of the contention and disorder that happened COVNS Why sir doe you not think it best to compound a Parliament of the Kings seruaunts and others that shall in all obey the kings desires IVST Certainely no for it hath neuer succeeded well neither on the kings part nor on the subiects as by the Parliament before-remembred your Lordshippe may gather for from such a composition doe arise all jealousies and all contentions It was practized in elder times to the great trouble of the kingdome and to the losse and ruine of many It was of latter time vsed by King Henry the eight but euery way to his disadvantage When the King leaues himselfe to his people they assure themselues that they are trusted and beloued of their king and there was neuer any assembly so barbarous as not to aunswere the loue and trust of their King Henry the sixt when his estate was in effect vtterly ouerthrowne vtterly impouerished at the humble request of his Treasurer made the same knowne to the House or otherwise vsing the Treasurers owne words Hee humbly desired the King to take his staffe that hee might saue his wardship COVNS But you know they will presently bee in hand with those impositions which the King hath laid by his owne royall prerogatiue IVST Perchance not my Lord but rather with those impositions that haue beene by some of your Lordships laide vpon the King which did not some of your Lordships feare more than you doe the impositions laid vpon the Subjects you would neuer disswade his Majestie from a Parliament For no man doubted but that his Majestie was advised to lay those impositions by his Councell and for particular things on which they were laid the aduice came from petty fellowes though now great ones belonging to the Custome-house Now my Lord what prejudice hath his Majestie his revenue beeing kept vp if the impositions that were laid by the aduice of a few be in Parliament laid by the generall Councell of the kingdome which takes off all grudging and complaint COVNS Yea Sir but that which is done by the King with the aduice of his priuate or priuy Councell is done by the Kings absolute power IVS. And by whose power is it done in Parliament but by the Kinges absolute power mistake it not my Lord The 3 estates doe but advise as the priuy Councel doth which advice if the king embrace it becomes the kings own acte in the one the kings law in the other for without the kings acceptation both the publicke priuate aduices bee but as empty egge-shels and what doth his Majestie loose if some of those things which concerns the poorer sort be made free