entitled, "Precedents of Proceedings in the House of Commons, with Observations," in 4to. It was dedicated to the Right Honourable Jeremiah Dyson, cofferer to His Majesty's household, &c. "The following cases," says he in the Preface, "are part of a larger collection, extracted from the Journals of the House of Commons, and other parliamentary records. The compiler of these has always been of opinion, that the easiest method of conveying to the public the very useful information contained in those voluminous collections, is, to select particular heads or titles; and having brought together every thing that has reference to any of these heads, to digest the whole in a chronological order, and to publish it in a separate volume. He has upon this principle, ventured to send forth this work, relating to privileges of members of the House of Commons, only by way of specimen, and as an example for those who may adopt this idea, and who may have more leisure to pursue so laborious an undertaking.

"The reader will not suppose that the observations on the several cases are made with a view of declaring what the law of privilege is, in the instances to which these observations refer; they are designed merely to draw the attention of the reader to particular points, and in some degree, to assist him in forming his own opinion upon that question. This work ought, therefore, to be considered only in the light of an Index, or a chronological abridgment of the cases to be found upon this subject. The public cannot but suppose that, notwithstanding his most accurate search, many instances must have escaped his observation; he has however endeavoured, with great diligence, to examine every work which he thought might contain any thing relating to this matter; and pretends to no other merit than the having faithfully extracted and published what appeared to him essential for the information of the reader."

The work is divided into five chapters. The first contains precedents from the earliest records to the end of the reign of Henry VIII.; the second occupies the interval to the demise

6

of Elizabeth; the third from the accession of James I. to the end of the parliament of 1628, while the fourth and fifth are occupied with additional cases and the Appendix.

Of this volume, which was published by Dodsley, a second edition was printed in 1785; in the course of which year, also appeared a second edition of the second volume, dedicated to the Right Hon. Charles W. Cornwall, then Speaker of the House of Commons. The assistance which Mr. Hatsell obtained upon this occasion is gratefully acknowledged in the remarks: "It will be impossible to peruse a page of the following work, without observing the great advantage that it derives from the notes and observations of Mr. Onslow, the late Speaker of the House of Commons, which have been very obligingly communicated upon this occasion by his son, the present Lord Onslow." "It would be impertinent in the editor of this collection to suppose," adds he, "that any thing which he can say, will add to the reputation of a character so truly eminent as that of Mr. Onslow; but, as it was under the patronage, and from the instructions of that excellent man, that he learned the first rudiments of his parliamentary knowledge; and, when Mr. Onslow retired from a public station, as it was permitted to the compiler of this work to visit him in that retirement, and to hear there observations on the law and constitution of this government, which, particularly in the company of young persons, Mr. Onslow was fond of communicating, he may perhaps be allowed to indulge himself for a moment in recollecting those virtues which distinguished that respectable character, and in endeavouring to point them out as patterns of imitation to all who may wish to tread in his steps. Superadded to his great and accurate knowledge of the history of this country, and of the minuter forms and proceedings of Parliament, the distinguished feature of Mr. Onslow's public character was a regard and veneration for the British constitution, as it was declared and established at the Revolution. This was the favourite topic of his discourse; and it appeared from the uniform tenor of his conduct through life, that, to maintain this pure and inviolate, was the object

at which he always aimed. In private life, though he held the office of Speaker of the House of Commons for above three and thirty years, and during part of that time enjoyed the lucrative office of treasurer of the navy, it is an anecdote perfectly well known, that on his quitting the chair in 1761, his income from his private fortnne, which had always been inconsiderable, was rather less than it had been in 1727, when he was first elected into it. These two circumstances in Mr. Onslow's character." adds he, 66 are in themselves sufficient to render the memory of that character revered and respected by all the world; but the recollection of them is peculiarly pleasant to the Editor of this work, who, amongst the many fortunate events that have attended him through life, thinks this one of the most considerable, that, in a very early period of it, he was introduced and placed under the immediate patronage of so respectable a man; from whose instructions, and by whose example, he was confirmed in a sincere love and reverence for those principles of the constitution which form the basis of this free government, the strict observation and adherence to which principles, as well on the part of the Crown as of the people, can alone maintain this country in the enjoyment of those invaluable blessings, which have deservedly drawn this eulogium from the best informed writers of every nation in Europe. That as this is the only constitution which, from the earliest history of mankind, has had for its direct object Political Liberty;' so there is none other, in which the laws are so well calculated to secure and defend the life, the property, and the personal liberty of every individual." The titles noticed in this volume, are the following::-"Members," "Rules of Proceeding,"-" Speaker,"-" Clerk,"" Fees," "King," and " Appendix." The third volume relates to the "Lords" and "Supply," and concludes, like the former, with an Appendix.

Throughout the whole of this work, Mr. Hatsell stoutly asserts the rights and privileges of the House of Commons; and Charles I., and his minister, Strafford, experience, by

turns, his indignation.-" Finding it was impossible," says he, vol.iii. chap. 5. p. 198, "to prevail on any House of Commons, (of which he had tried three in three years,) to comply with his exorbitant ideas of regal prerogative, or to give countenance to the arbitrary measures of his ministers, he resolved to get rid of all restraint, and accordingly introduced such a system of tyranny into every part of the government, that the constitution was entirely destroyed and lost in the power of the Crown. Notwithstanding that he had so lately given the most solemn assent to the Petition of Right, he now as publicly violated it in every instance: 1. He, by his circularletters to the Lords-lieutenants of counties, exacted loans and benevolences without pretence of law; and gentlemen of fortune and rank in the country were imprisoned for refusing to contribute tonnage and poundage were taken without the consent of Parliament; and such as would not submit to pay, had their goods seized, their persons imprisoned, and heavy fines imposed upon them. 2. The rigorous" powers of the Star Chamber were executed with unlimited severity; and the most trifling offences were punished without mercy. 3. Soldiers were billetted in the houses of private persons. 4. And martial law executed, attended with the most provoking outrages committed by the soldiers. Add to these, the grievous imposition of ship-money; the cruelties exercised by the HighCommissioned Court; the rigorous execution of the forest laws, and the severe administration of ecclesiastical affairs, together with the tyrannical oppressions in the government of Scotland and of Ireland, under that able arch-traitor the Earl of Strafford; and we shall have such a regular and comprehensive plan of arbitrary government, as was not to be exceeded in the most despotic states of Europe. But what rendered all this most odious and terrible was, that his government was so administered under pretence of law; and the courts of justice were filled with wretches ready to declare the will of the Prince to be the law of the land. Hitherto the people might have submitted; but, as Lord Clarendon observes*,

* Lord Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, vol. i. p. 54.

when they saw in a court of law (that law which gave them a title to, and possession of all they had,) reasons of state urged as elements of law; judges as sharp-sighted as secretaries of state, and in the mysteries of state; judgment of law grounded on matter of fact, of which there was neither enquiry nor proof, the burthen became intolerable.” ”

Mr. Hatsell often animadverts on the conduct of the compilers of the Parliamentary History, who wish to palliate the conduct of Charles I.; and blames Mr. Hume for omitting to distinguish between the engagement and the exercise of certain powers supposed to be incident to the prerogative.

The subject of this memoir resigned his office in the year 1795, with that propriety and discernment of time, and circumstance, and of the "ætatis insidia," which uniformly distinguished his very useful and honourable life. The Speaker of the House of Commons, the Right Hon. Henry Addington, announced Mr. Hatsell's intended resignation in a manner which did honour to the sincerity of his friendship, and to his sense of the loss of so able a servant of the public. The House were unanimous in their applause. Mr. Pitt seconded the Speaker, and pronounced also his testimony. Mr. Hatsell departed this life at Marden Park, near Godstone, Surrey, in his 78th year.

From the time of his retirement, Mr. Hatsell shared the profits of his lucrative office with Mr. Ley, and subsequently with Mr. Dyson. Mr. Hatsell, educated at Queen's College, Cambridge, did not forget in old age the use and enjoyment of the classical acquirements of early youth. In manners, he was mild and conciliating: a perfect gentleman of the old school, and rich in anecdotes of public men and public events of the last half of the eighteenth century. He enjoyed his faculties, and a comfortable state of health, to the last. After having read prayers to his family on Saturday evening, October 14th, 1820, he was seized in the night by an apoplectic affection, which terminated his life at three o'clock in the morning of Sunday. His volumes of "Precedents of Proceedings in the House of Commons" are well known, and