No VIII.

An ENQUIRY; or a Discourse between a Yeoman of Kent, and a Knight of a Shire, upon the Prorogation of the Parliament to the 2nd of May, 1693.

By Major WILDMAN and Mr. HAMPDEN.*

Yeoman. SIR, your humble servant, I am Prorogation of Parliament, which (as our lawhappy to meet you at this friend's house, where yers have of late resolved) makes void all Bills I did not expect you. Pray, sir, is the news of that session, not enacted, and all other mattrue, that the king hath prorogued the parlia-ters depending, as if they had never been: ment to day?

part practised in the late reigns; and the upon the wills of our kings: then the supreme Judges then were so corrupted, that they de- power, vested by the constitution in parliaclared (notwithstanding the laws for annual ments, to maintain the laws and statutes, and parliaments)" That the holding of Parliaments preserve justice and good government, must be depended intirely on the king's pleasure." acknowledged not to be the kingdom's right, But it is most manifest, besides the positive but to arise from the gracious will and pleasure laws for yearly parliaments, that by the antient of their kings, and the people must not dare to constitution of our government, they did meet claim liberty and property as their due.-If of course at least twice every year. After- this point of our constitution should remain thos wards in the reigns of the Saxon kings it was unsettled, and an ill king succeed his present made a perpetual law, that a Parliament maj., then the free counsels of the whole kingshould be holden every year once at London; dom for its defence and welfare, appointed by and the same law was incorporated into the our laws to be in parliament, may (by the prelaws of Edward the Confessor; and from thence tence of his prerogative) be utterly rejected all the successive kings of England to this day, and despised; and the flatterers, and designhave been sworn to the observance of it. I ers to make him absolute master of our laws, must confess to you nothing prevailed with me liberties and lives, may be exempted by him more to concur with our king in his pretensions from the danger of punishment, certain justo restore our parliaments, and the laws to tice being to be done upon such offenders, their due authority, than my own knowledge, only upon the people's complaints, and imthat the late Civil Wars in this kingdom, and peachment of them in parliament.-If the due the subversion of our religion, laws and liber- succession of parliaments be not established, ties, were principally occasioned by the pow- so as the kings cannot by any artifices avoid ers usurped in several late reigns, to refuse the their meeting, an ill king inay, in effect, autbocalling of successive parliaments, and to conti- | rize whom he pleases to subvert and destroy nue the same parliament for many years, to our religion, laws and liberties, by renewing form them into a compliance with their de- Pardons of all such crimes as often as they signs of despotic power.-When I read the can commit them. I am sorry to say it, but solemn and repeated assurances his majesty our present case is such, that all the security gave us, That his design in coming into Eng-we have for our religion, our laws, our liberties, land, was to remove from the administration of the government those evil ministers that had promoted the murders and treasons committed, in attempting to set up an Arbitrary Power over the people and their parliaments;' and also heard him desire the Parliament to make such an effectual provision for their fundamental laws and liberties, that they might never hereafter be in danger to be again invaded;' I thought the antient legal course of annually chosen parliaments would have been immediately restored, and the strongest fence made for that constitution, that the wisdom of the kingdom could have invented: but I must tell you, to my sorrow, that we are left as much to the king's will for a session of parliament, as evil ministers in the late reigns designed we

should be.

Yeom. If this be our case, it is no wonder that mens minds are so unquiet; we are in daily eminent hazard of confusion, whilst the government remains wholly unsettled in its fundamentals. It seems to be apparent, that after the expence of twenty millions, besides the vast effusion of blood, we are no more secured against the slavery we feared by subverting our constitution, than we were before the convention of the people for a settlement, when king James had just abdicated the kingdom.

Knt. You take it rightly. If no Bill should pass to secure the certain legal succession of parliaments, and we should connive at the usurpations made by the late kings therein, and seemingly approve the Turkish doctrine of the then Judges, That the holding and continuance of Parliaments depended absolutely

our lives, depends wholly upon the uncertain and hazardous life of our present king, to make good his declarations and promises to the kingdom.

Yeom. Sir, you make me afraid that our country must run a desperate hazard, to have their government, and all their highest concerns, remain still unsettled for at least another half year. The king, I hear, is going to Flanders, not to return till towards winter; and who can be secure of his life, or the events of war? and what dreadful consequences may ensue in an unsettled kingdom? Pray, sir, can you tell me the reason why his majesty hath deferred to make this Settlement of Parliament? What shall I say to my neighbours in this point?

Knt. Do you expect, my good neighbour, that I should shew you good reasons for the king's rejecting of the Bill? If I had known any such reasons, or either house of parliament, we ought not, as his great council, to have advised him to pass it. We concluded, upon solemn debates, that he was highly concerned to have this Bill enacted, to justify the design of his coming with force and arms to deliver us from arbitrary power, and to settle our laws and liberties. We thought that the reputation of his concurrence, with the advice of the great council of his kingdom, obliged him to a free consent to that Bill, the expectations of all Europe being so exceeding great from the results of this parliament's counsels, and his union with them. We believed his desire to secure to his subjects their government by laws, would have made him glad of the opportunity of this Bill, lest any accident should be

Knt. It would be useless to tell you the fallacious arguments that were brought, to shew there was no necessity of passing such a Bill in this king's reign; but all that was said was Yeom. Sir, our country is bound to pray for in substance no more than, That the bill took all those gentlemen that have thus maintained away an undoubted prerogative of the king's, this first foundation of all our rights and liberto call, continue, and dissolve parliaments at ties, and made it thus plain, that it does not his pleasure; that the power of the regal office intrench upon the rights of the king. Yet I would be lessened thereby; and, that it was must tell you, sir, there are a sort of people not fit to shew jealousy of this king's denying make great noise of the right of the kings, by our legal rights, whilst he so continually hazards their prerogative, to call and dissolve parliahis person for our sakes. ments, and that all kings have constantly done it. Pray, sir, help us to understand what is the royal prerogative in this case.

Knt. You ought to know that it is the king's undoubted prerogative to issue out all legal writs in the administration of the whole government; and writs for calling parliaments being established by law, all kings, by their prerogative, called the parliaments. Though it was not in their power to change a word or syllable in the form of those writs, yet the times of sending out such writs, and of their Knt. As to the first pretence, That the Bill returns within the limits of the law, and the destroyed the Prerogative of the crown, to call, place of the parliament's meeting, were at the prorogue and dissolve parliaments at their will king's discretion; from whence it might be and pleasure only, it was plainly said, That said to be their prerogative alone to call them. there neither is, nor ever was, any such prero--I must further tell you that it ought to be gative, and that there needs no other evi- remembered, that by our English constitution, dence of that truth, than the very nature and parliaments are, and always were to be holden

within the compass of certain times, being the foundations and essence of the government; and that it is not in the power of the royal prerogative to refuse the calling these parliaments successively as the constitution intends. The being or not-being of such parliaments is not trusted to the crown, but the direction only of some circumstances about holding them, is left to the royal prerogative. But there is also a general trust placed in the crown, by our constitution, to call parliaments upon occasions and emergences, when the safety and welfare of the kingdom require it; and for that reason, when a positive statute enacted, that a parliament should be holden once every year at least, these words were therein added, And oftner if need be.'-Now the calling and dissolving such occasional parliaments, is trusted wholly by our laws to the royal prerogative, the kings are the only judges of the necessity of holding such parliaments, subject always to the oath of the crown, to preserve the laws and liberties of the kingdom.--The Prerogative of the kings is so absolute about the calling such occasional parliaments, that it were highly injurious both to the king and kingdom to attempt to take it away, or diminish it by any act of parliament: it is as necessary to the common good and safety, to maintain this prerogative of the crown about occasional parliaments intire, as it is to prevent the extending the like prerogative to parliaments in general; and a certain prevention of that mischief was the only aim, and honest intention of the promoters of the late Bill.

cry out, that this Bill lessens the power and dignity of the regal office. Pray, sir, what was said to shew the falshood of that suggestion?

Knt. This suggestion against the Bill appeared to be so far from truth, that those who objected it, could neither give an instance of any power belonging to the regal office which the Bill restrained, nor of any one act proposed by it to be done by the kings, unto which they are not obliged by law, and the duty of their office without any such Bill. It is a wonder that any secret enemies of our laws and liberties should have the confidence to insinuate, that the regal office would be lessened, by a constant successive electing and holding of parliaments in a legal course, not to be interrupted by evil ministers, or ill princes; the contrary being indeed manifest, that the honour, greatness and glory of the crown can never be in any other manner supported, much less advanced and augmented. It cannot but be clear to every man, that by such a certain succession of parliaments, the greatest and wisest of the kingdom should constantly hold their consultations to advance the king's and his kingdom's interest, honour and greatness, and be enabled to discover all unfaithfulness, failures and defects in the administration of the government, which may any way derogate from the security, potency and honour of the king.-In like manner, all the forces of the kingdom, which are some hundreds of thousands, may be applied to the king's service, and every man of them employed as shall most Yeom. Sir, you so well distinguish the powers conduce to the kingdom's safety and honour. and prerogatives of the crown, that I cannot And to compleat the prince's glory, all the imagine what could be said to shew that this treasure and wealth which these islands have bill incroached upon any of them. I have gathered in many ages from both the Indies, found, by experience, that those who clamoured and all the peoples lands, goods and interests, most against it, for taking away the king's pre- would be subject to be charged, as the wisdom rogative, could say very little when they were of such great councils should think fit for the pressed to speak particularly. I myself, after maintenance and prosecution of any just and my country-manner, asked one of them the glorious design.-But it is notorious, that none other day, whom I heard clamouring, What of these high powers and authorities can be royal prerogative the Bill took away? Tell me, exercised by the English kings in any other said I, what act of royal power, possible to do manner, than by such a constant succession any good to the crown or kingdom, was pro- of parliaments as the laws intend; and thereposed by the Bill to be restrained? Is it a royal fore it is evident, that this bill proposed the prerogative, to have the very being of parlia- highest advancement of the regal office, by ments, the use of their authorities, and the con-making provision for the certain holding of such stitution itself, absolutely at the king's will, against which alone the Bill provides? That the people should never consult, or provide for the safety of their estates, liberties and lives, unless their kings please? Hereupon the gentleman grew angry, and said I talked like a base Commonwealth's-man. Truly, sir, it appears to me, that some amongst us hate our laws and liberties; but not daring to say so, they cover their malice with pretences of advancing the power of the crown. These men are better at railing than reasoning, and talk only in generals, as if they were the only friends to king William, though they have another person in their hearts and intentions, when they seem so careful for the power of the crown, and

successive parliaments within the times limited by law.-Pray, countryman, let me advise you to read your Chronicles at home of our kings; and you shall find, that all those princes were most great and glorious, who governed by the counsels of legal successive parliaments; and that those who declined it, lost the honour and power of the nation, and rendered themselves and their people unhappy.

Yeom. These things being so clear, pray, sir, let me be so bold as to ask you, what hath made so many favourites of our princes dissuade them from observing the laws for constant successive parliaments? and how came our princes so readily to follow those counsels?

Knt. I could easily tell you, if it were fit to