XX. proach. The man who thinks only of himself CHAP. and his own wrongs, we may be inclined to excuse, but he cannot reasonably be made the theme of our applause. One of the mistakes into which Lilburne fell, was the supposing that all the exact rules and precautions which ought to be observed in the most quiet times, were equally irremissible during the storm of a civil war. In a revolutionary period there must be arbitrary measures. The landmarks of justice and ordinary proceeding are then unfixed; and all that we can reasonably require of the persons who conduct the public affairs, is that they should maintain the best cause by the best practicable means, and at all events by measures of energy and decision. Something must be trusted to their discretion. If they are timid and irresolute in their proceedings, it should be recollected that there is a public enemy lying in wait to take advantage of their hesitation. In times of convulsion and disorder the safety of the public and the public cause, becomes superior to all other laws. We should defer our cavilling about niceties, till the great battle against usurpation and the general oppressor has been fully won. In the period of which we treat two great parties were at issue, the king and the parliament. Every man should be called on to chuse the scheme of life he thinks proper to adopt, whether 1645. XX. 1645. CHAP. of activity and public service, or of personal quietness and obscurity. In fact, in perilous and eventful times, every one capable of benefiting his country should be at his post, endeavouring to contribute to the ascendancy of the just cause. But we cannot hope to effect much for the general welfare without co-operators. In the men who act along with us we must be ready to overlook a thousand errors and infirmities. So in these times did Milton and Ludlow and Sidney and Ireton, men far beyond the imputation of interested views. Beside the question between the king and the parliament, there was an inferior, but important issue to be tried between the presbyterians and the independents. If Lilburne saw much to object to in the presbyterians, there was still a party with which he could combine. It was unfortunate, in these days, so fertile in talent, and surely not barren in virtue, in fervent religion, and the strenuous love of liberty, if Lilburne could find none worthy that he should unite himself with them in working out the general salvation. But, no! His hand was against every man; and the natural consequence followed; he was unsupported himself. He loaded every great public character in turn, as we shall see in the sequel, with his abuse and dearly did he abide the penalty of his intemperance and folly. 25 CHAPTER XXI. DIMINISHED NUMBERS OF THE COMMONS AT WEST- commons. XXI. ed numbers mons at A MOMENTOUS question which at this time de- CHAP. manded the attention of parliament, was the imperfect state of the representation of the people of DiminishEngland, as it was now found in the house of of the com The general election had taken place Westminin the autumn of 1640, and the parliament had ster. sat nearly five years. In somewhat less than two years after its assembling, the civil war had broken out; and, though a great majority, particularly of the lower house, had been engaged in opposition to the views of the court, yet it could not be supposed, that when it became evident that blows and martial strife must decide XXI. CHAP. the contest, many would not embrace the party of the king. On the fifteenth of June 1642, thirty-five peers signed a declaration at York dictated to them by the king; and about the same time many of the commons, though in no amount compared with the numbers of the house, resorted to the same quarter. Others of course would be desirous either of temporising, or of observing a strict neutrality. The war was attended with memorable vicissitudes; and, in the winter of 1642, and the autumn of 1643, expectations ran strongly in favour of the success of the royal party. This situation of things would of course induce the timid and lukewarm to desert the standard of the parliament. The king therefore, in his message to the privy council of Scotland of the date of December 1642, takes occasion to boast, that of more than five hundred members of the house of commons, not above eighty remained at Westminster, and of the house of peers, amounting to more than one hundred, not above fifteen or sixteen c. Estimate. The precise number of the house of commons, according to the returns in 1640, appears to have been five hundred and sixd. The highest numbers that I observe upon any division, occur on C Husbands, p. 357. b Rushworth, Vol. V, p. 395, 396. d Brown, Notitia Parliamentaria. May, Book II, p. 59. XXI. 1644. the first of March following, and amount, taken CHAP. together, to three hundred and eighty-three, including the tellers. About the time of the king's declaration above mentioned, the divisions ran very low, sometimes as low as the numbers there specified; but this was accident, and could only be used to colour a party-declaration. On the ninth of February following the numbers rose as high as two hundred and one. The numbers were nearly as great upon a vote respecting the self-denying ordinance in December 1644 8. At the time of assembling the mock parliament at Oxford on the twenty-second of January in that year, the commons ordered a call of the house, which took place on the same day that the king had fixed for his followers at Oxford, and the numbers appear to have been divided as follow: two hundred and eighty members answered to their names at Westminster; one hundred were excused, as being absent in the service of parliament in their several counties; and one hundred and eighteen at Oxford signed the letter to Essex of the twentyseventh of the same month, calling on him to interpose for the restoration of peace'. There are therefore only eight individuals unaccounted for in this computation. |