1604. have recourse to contempt and ridicule, the only CHAP. proper method of appeasing it. The church of XLV. England had not yet abandoned the rigid doctrines of grace and predestination: The puritans had not yet separated themselves from the church, nor openly renounced episcopacy. Though the spirit of the parties was considerably different, the only appearing subjects of dispute were concerning the cross in baptism, the ring in marriage, the use of the surplice, and the bowing at the name of Jesus. These were the mighty questions which were so. Confelemnly agitated in the conference at Hampton-court rence at between some bishops and dignified clergymen on Hampthe one hand, and some leaders of the puritanical party on the other; the King and his ministers being present'. ton court. THE puritans were here so unreasonable as to 4th Jan. complain of a partial and unfair management of the dispute; as if the search after truth were in any degree the object of such conferences, and a candid indifference, so rare even among private inquirers in philosophical questions, could ever be expected among Princes and prelates, in a theological controversy. The King, it must be confessed, from the beginning of the conference, showed the strongest propensity to the established church, and frequently inculcated a maxim, which, though it has some foundation, is to be received with great limitations, No BISHOP, NO KING. The bishops, in their turn, were very liberal of their praises towards the royal disputant; and the Archbishop of Canterbury said, that undoubtedly His Majefty spake by the special assistance of God's spirit. A few alterations in the liturgy were agreed to, and both parties separated with mutual dissatisfaction. Ir had frequently been the practice of the puritans to form certain assemblies, which they called r Fuller's Ecclesiast. History. $ Kennet, p. 665. prophe 14 CHAP. prophesyings; where alternately, as moved by the XLV. spirit, they displayed their pious zeal in prayers and exhortations, and raised their own enthusiasm, as 1604. well as that of their audience, to the highest pitch, from that social contagion which has so mighty an influence on holy fervours, and from the mutual emulation which arose in those trials of religious eloquence. Such dangerous societies had been suppressed by Elizabeth; and the ministers in this conference moved the King for their revival. But A parlia ment. James sharply replied, If you aim at a Scottish presbytery, it agrees as well with monarchy as God and the devil. There Jack and Tom and Will and Dick shall meet and censure me and my council. Therefore I reiterate my former speech: Le Roi s'avisera. Stay, I pray, for one seven years before you demand; and then, if you find me grow pursie and fat, I may perchance hearken unto you. For that government will keep me in breath, and give me work enough. Such were the political considerations which determined the King in his choice among religious parties. THE next assembly in which James displayed his learning and eloquence, was one that showed more spirit of liberty than appeared among his bishops March19. and theologians. The parliament was now ready to assemble; being so long delayed on account of the plague, which had broken out in London, and raged to such a degree that above 30,000 persons are computed to have died of it in a year; though the city contained at that time little more than 150,000 inhabitants. THE speech which the King made on opening the parliament, fully displays his character, and proves him to have possessed more knowledge and better parts, than prudence or any just sense of decorum and propriety". Though few productions of the Fuller's Ecclesiast. History. K. James's Works, p.484. age XLV. 1604. age surpass this performance either in style or CHAP. matter; it wants that majestic brevity and reserve which becomes a King in his addresses to the great council of the nation. It contains, however, a remarkable stroke of candour, where he confesses his too great facility in yielding to the solicitations of suitors: A fault which he promises to correct, but which adhered to him, and distressed him, during the whole course of his reign. THE first business, in which the commons were engaged, was of the utmost importance to the preservation of their privileges; and neither temper nor resolution were wanting in their conduct of it. IN former periods of the English government, the house of commons was of so small weight in the balance of the constitution, that little attention had been given, either by the crown, the people, or the house itself, to the choice and continuance of the members. It had been usual, after parliaments were prolonged beyond one session, for the chancellor to exert a discretionary authority of issuing new writs to supply the place of any members whom he judged incapable of attending, either on account of their employment, their sickness, or other impediment. This practice gave that minister, and consequently the Prince, an unlimited power of modelling at pleasure the representatives of the nation; yet so little jealousy had it created, that the commons, of themselves, without any court influence or intrigue, and contrary to some former votes of their own, confirmed it in the twenty-third of Elizabeth". At that time, though some members, whose places had been supplied on account of sickness, having now recovered their health, appeared in the house, and claimed their seat; such was the authority of the chancellor, that, merely out of respect to him, * K. James's Works, p. 495,499. Journ. January 19, 1580. XLV. 1604. CHAP. his sentence was adhered to, and the new members were continued in their places. Here a most dangerous prerogative was conferred on the crown: But to show the genius of that age, or rather the channels in which power then ran, the crown put very little value on this authority; insomuch that two days afterwards the chancellor, of himself, resigned it back to the commons, and gave them power to judge of a particular vacancy in their house. And when the question concerning the chancellor's new writs was again brought on the carpet towards the end of the session, the commons were so little alarmed at the precedent, that, though they readmitted some old members, whose seats had been vacated on account of slight indispositions, yet they confirmed the chancellor's sentence, in instances where the distemper appeared to have been dangerous and incurable. Nor did they proceed any farther in vindication of their privileges, than to vote, that during the sitting of parliament, there do not, at any time, any writ go out for chusing or returning any member without the warrant of the house. In Elizabeth's reign we may remark, and the reigns preceding, sessions of parliament were not usually the twelfth part so long as the vacations; and during the latter, the chancellor's power, if he pleased to exert it, was confirmed, at least left, by this vote, as unlimited and unrestrained as ever. In a subsequent parliament, the absolute authority of the Queen was exerted in a manner still more open; and began for the first time to give alarm to the commons. New writs having been issued by the chancellor when there was no vacancy, and a controversy arising upon that incident, the Queen sent a message to the house, informing them, that it were impertinent for them to deal in such matters. These questions, she said, belonged Journ. March 18, 1580. See farther, D'Ewes, p.430. only 1604 only to the chancellor; and she had appointed him CHAP. to confer with the judges, in order to settle all dis- XLV. putes with regard to elections. The commons had the courage, a few days after, to vote, "That it "was a most perilous precedent, where two knights "of a county were duly elected, if any new writ "should issue out for a second election, without "order of the house itself; that the discussing and adjudging of this and such like differences belonged only to the house; and that there should be no "message sent to the Lord Chancellor, not so much 66 as to inquire what he had done in the matter, be"cause it was conceived to be a matter derogatory "to the power and privilege of the house." This is the most considerable, and almost only, instance of parliamentary liberty, which occurs during the reign of that Princess. b OUTLAWS, whether on account of debts or crimes, had been declared by the judges incapable of enjoying a seat in the house, where they must themselves be lawgivers; but this opinion of the judges had been frequently over-ruled. I find, however, in the case of Vaughan, who was questioned for an outlawry, that, having proved all his debts to have been contracted by suretiship, and to have been, most of them, honestly compounded, he was allowed, on account of these favourable circumstances, to keep his seat: Which plainly supposes that, otherwise it would have been vacated, on account of the outlawry'. a D'Ewes, p. 397. 39 H. 6. WHEN Journ. Feb. 8, 1580. In a subsequent parliament, that of the 35th of the Queen, the commons, after great debate, expressly voted, that a person outlawed might be elected. D'Ewes, p. 518. But as the matter had been much contested, the King might think the vote of the house no law, and might esteem his own decision of more weight than theirs. We may also suppose that he was not acquainted with this vote. Queen Elizabeth in her speech to her last parliament, VOL. VI. C com |