An essay concerning Parliaments at a certainty, or, The kalends of May by Samvel Johnson. Johnson, Samuel, 1649-1703. 1693 Approx. 63 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 26 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2003-01 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A46947 Wing J826 ESTC R11823 13302076 ocm 13302076 98941 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A46947) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 98941) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 459:26) An essay concerning Parliaments at a certainty, or, The kalends of May by Samvel Johnson. Johnson, Samuel, 1649-1703. [2], ii, 47 p. Printed for the author, London : 1693. Reproduction of original in Huntington Library. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. EEBO-TCP is a partnership between the Universities of Michigan and Oxford and the publisher ProQuest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by ProQuest via their Early English Books Online (EEBO) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). 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Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng England and Wales. -- Parliament. Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1689-1702 -- Sources. 2000-00 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2002-01 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2002-03 TCP Staff (Michigan) Sampled and proofread 2002-03 Mona Logarbo Text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-04 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion AN ESSAY CONCERNING PARLIAMENTS AT A CERTAINTY ; OR , The KALENDS of MAY. BY SAMUEL JOHNSON . Vice Cotis fungar . Horace . LONDON ; Printed for the Author . MDCXCIII . TO THE Barons and Commons Of ENGLAND In Parliament Assembled . May it please your Honours . YOU either knew more of the Matter contained in these Papers , or less , or the same . If you knew more , I should be glad to see it in your Laws which you mean to Establish : Or which is better , in your Declaration of the Constitution . If not ; no Body can find fault with my poor Office of bearing a Light , but they that have very ill Eyes . I am the known Servant of You , and of my whole Country , Samuel Johnson . AN ESSAY Concerning Parliaments at a Certainty . CHAP. I. Shewing that the Frequent meeting of Parliaments is the Basis of our Constitution , and the True of the Government ; and that the Intermission of them is Inconsistent with the Body of the English Law. IF a Man would have an entire View of the English Constitution , he must have recourse to those Able and Approved Authors who have written Purposely on that Subject . For it is a Rule , Parva est Authoritas aliud Agentis ; and what is said by the by , is of less Weight , than what is professedly handled ; provided it have been Maturely considered , by a Competent Judge of that Matter of which he treats . And in this kind we do not find a Man better Qualified than the Learned Lord Chancellor Fortescue , who was an Aged Lawyer , and had been Lord Chief Justice of England when he wrote his Book de laudibus Legum Angliae , which was on purpose in a Dialogue with the Prince of Wales , to inform him of the Nature of the English Constitution , and to let him know by what Sort of Laws the Realm , in which he was to Succeed his Father , was to be Governed . And therefore he adjures him over and over again to Addict himself to the Understanding of the Laws of his Father's Realm , wherein he was to Succeed , Fol. 16. a. and having shewed the Prince the Different nature of Reahns , where a King could Tyrannize , and where he could not , being restrained by Politick Laws , Fol. 26. b. Rejoyce therefore ( says he ) most Excellent Prince and be glad , That the Law of the Realm in which you are to succeed is Such , for it shall exhibit and minister to You and your People no small Security and Comfort . But out of that excellent Book which I believe no way Warped , ( for then it must lean towards the Court , partly because of the Flattery and Officiousness which is too often found in Dialogues with Princes , and partly because the Author was retained on the Crown side by the Greatest Office in England ; ) I will confine my Self to those Passages only which relate to the Frequency of Parliaments . And the first I meet with is in his 18th Chap. concerning the Statutes of England in these words . Et si Statuta haec , tantâ solemnitate & prudentiâ edita , efficaciae tantae , quantae conditorum cupiebat intentio , non esse contingant : Concitò reformari ipsa possunt , 〈◊〉 non sine Communitatis & Procerum Regni illius assensu , quali ipsa primitùs emanarunt . And if these Statutes fall short of their intended Efficacy , though devised with such great Solemnity and Wisdom of Parliament ; they may very Quickly be Reformed , but not without the Assent of the Commons and Peers of the Realm , which was their Source from the beginning . Now I only desire that the word Concitò may be taken notice of , which is the quickest Word that can be imagined , and shews that our Parliaments were always at Hand ; and the whole Passage shews for what Wise and Just Reasons they were so . The next Passage is Chap. 53. Fol. 129. a. Neque leges Angliae frivolas & infructuosas permittunt inducias . Et siquae in Regno illo dilationes in Placitis minùs accommodae fuerint usitatae , in Omni Parliamento amputari illae possunt : etiam & Omnes Leges Aliae in Regno illo usitatae , cum in aliquo Claudicaverint , in Omni Parliamento poterunt Reformari . Quo recte concludi potest , quod omnes Leges Regni illius Optimae , sunt in actu vel potentiâ , quo faciliter in actum duci poterunt & in Essentiam realem . Ad quod faciendum , quoties aequitas id poposcerit , singuli Reges ibidem Sacramento astringuntur , solemniter praestito tempore receptionis Diadematis sui . Neither do the Laws of England allow in Law-suits frivolous and fruitless Delays . And if in this Kingdom Delays in Pleas which are not to the purpose should be used , they may in every Parliament be cut off . Yea , and all other Laws used in the Realm , when they Halt or are Defective in any point , they may in every Parliament be set to Rights . Whereupon it may be rightly , Concluded , that the Laws of England are the Best in the World , either Actually or Potentially , since they can easily be brought into Act or Being . To the performance whereof , as often as Equity so requireth , Every King is bound by an Oath solemnly taken at the time of receiving his Crown . Out of this last Passage I will not trouble you with any more Observations than these ; First , That Parliaments are the Remedy against Delays in Law Proceedings : But how if Parliaments themselves should be Delayed ? Secondly , That if any or all our Laws should Halt , and our Parliaments at the same time should be Crippled too , and not able to come together ; they could not help one another . In the next and last Chapter of that Book , Fol. 129. b. the Prince immediately replies . Princeps . Leges illas , nedum bonas sed & optimas esse Cancellarie , ex prosecutione tuâ in hoc Dialogo certissimè deprehendi . Et siquae ex illis meliorari deposcant , id Citissimè fieri posse , Parliamentorum ibidem Formulae nos erudiunt . Quo realiter , potentialiterve , Regnum illud semper praestantissimis Legibus gubernatur . Nec tuas in hâc concionatione doctrinas futuris Angliae Regibus inutiles fore Conjicio ; dum non delectent regere legibus quae non delectant . Says the Prince , My Lord Chancellor by the Tenour of your Discourse in this Dialogue I am throughly satisfied , that the Laws of England are not only Good , but the Best in the World. And in case any of the Laws want to be mended or improved , the Rules of the English Parliaments do instruct us , That that may be done forthwith . Whereupon the Realm of England is always Governed by the very best Laws , either in Reality or in Possibility . And besides I conjecture that the Doctrines that have been held forth in this Dialogue will be very useful to the Kings of England that shall come hereafter ; since no Body likes to Govern by Laws which they do not like . After all these Lauds and Praises of the English Laws , which the Chancellor has stuck all over with Stars quite through his Book , and has made their Perfection to Center in this , that they either Are or Soon may be the Best in the World , because in case they labour 〈◊〉 any defect , that Fault may be Immediately amended by a wise Senate : What if that wise Senate be no where to be found ; or is at no Certainty ? It is then Impossible to render the Chancellor's Latin into English. For the speedy Perfection of the English Laws which the Prince and he are agreed is Concitò & Citissimè , may be rendred , either at the Four Years end , or the Twelve Years end , or at the World's end . For so I am satisfied it was meant , after a Ten Year's Interval of Parliaments , if the Herb woman at Edinburgh had not thrown her Cricket-stool at the Arch-Bishop's Head. And so Dr. Heylin I remember does not so much acknowledge that Secret as Justify it . It is in his little Book of Observations upon Hammond L'Estrange's History of the Reign of K. Charles I. Says Hammond , upon the Dissolution of that wise Parliament in 28. ( to whom we owe the Petition of Right ) All wise Men concluded that there was an end of all Parliaments . Yes , says Heylin , so they might well , the King having been troubled with their Impertinencies , and having an Example in France before his Eyes , where Parliaments have been so much discontinued , that it is become a Proverb amongst them , Voyons le Jeu de Trois Estats , as the strangest Sight which can be seen in an Age. I have not the Book now by me , but I will be answerable for the Substance of this Quotation , having retained this Passage in my Head above these Five and Twenty Years . I can only touch several other Arguments which might be enlarged upon . The High Court of Parliament is the Dernier Resort in this Kingdom ; and if that fail , there may be a failure of the English Justice . Bracton says of an Ambiguous or Difficult Cause , Respectuetur ad magnam Curiam ; but unless Parliaments be Frequent , such a Cause is Adjourned to a long Day . Every Body that understands the English Constitution knows that it is exactly the same as it was laid down in Parliament 8 Ed. 4. by the Lord Chancellour that then was . You have it in Sir Robert Cotton's Abridgment of the Rolls in the Tower , p. 682. in these words . He then declared the three Estates to comprehend the Governance of this Land , the Preheminence whereof was to the King as chief , the second to the Lords and Bishops , and the third to the Commons . Now if we are at a loss or uncertainty about our Parliaments , we are at a loss or uncertainty about two Thirds of our Government . But I will say no more upon this Head , intending to shew in the following Chapters , how the matter of Parliaments stood in former Ages . CHAP. II. Shewing how Parliaments stood in King Alfred's Time , and afterwards . I Chuse to begin with this Period of Time in King Alfred's Reign , because we have clear Law and History to shew how Parliaments stood in his Time , and what Law was Ordained concerning them for ever . It is in the Mirror of Justices , which as my Lord Coke says in his Preface to his Tenth Reports , was written in the Saxon Times , and it appears by the Book it self : But several things were added to it by a Learned and Wise Lawyer Andrew Horne , who lived in the Reign of Ed. 1. and Ed. 2. Antiquity enough for a Book , we desire no more ; for we are sure that no Common-wealths Man had the Penning of it . The words of the Myrror are these , p. 10. Pur le estate del Royalme fist l' Roy Alfred assembler les Comitees , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pur Usage Derpetuelle , que a deur foits per l' An on pluis-sovent , pur mestier , en tempts de peace se assemblerout a 〈◊〉 pur Parliamenter sur le guidement del people d' Dieu , coment gents se garderent de peche , 〈◊〉 en quiet , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 droit per certaine usages 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Der cel estate se sierent plusiours 〈◊〉 per 〈◊〉 Royes jesque al 〈◊〉 Roy ; Les quells Dideinances sont disuses per meins sages , 〈◊〉 put default que 〈◊〉 ne sont my mise en escript 〈◊〉 publies en Certeine . For the Good Estate of the Realm , King Alfred caused the Counties to Assemble , and Ordained it for a Perpetual Usage , that at Two Times yearly , or oftner if need were , in Time of Peace , they should Assemble at London , to sit in Parliament , for the Guidance of God's People , how the Nation should keep themselves from Sin , live in Quiet , and receive Right by certain Usages and holy Judgments . By this Estate were made many Ordinances by several Kings down to the King that is now ; ( which says the Margin was Edward the First ) : which Ordinances are disused by some that are not so wise , and for want that they are not put into Writing and published in Certain . In this Passage the Two Times a Year seem to be Stationary ; the Calling a Parliament Oftner than Two Times a Year if need were , is plainly intended for Contingencies of State , and when the Ardua Regni , or Extraordinary Affairs of the Nation require an Extraordinary Parliament . I say , and will make out to all the World , by Laws and Declarations of Parliament , that the King has a Power of calling Parliaments within the Law ; But I never did , nor never will say to the end of my Life , that the King can hinder Parliaments Appointed by Law. These Frequent Parliaments were to meet at London in Time of Peace . We see then what has interrupted our Parliaments both as to Time and Place . For London was after in the hands of the Dane , and Foreigners Wars and Tribulations came on . But the best way is to let an Author explain himself , which the Mirror does in telling us likewise the Abusions of the Law , or the Contrarieties and Repugnancies to Right , or as he calls it , the Fraud and Force which is put upon Law. This way of writing Law is the best that can be invented , for it is the way of Preaching by Positive and Negative , which is a two-edged Sword , and cuts both ways . And the Truth of it is , the Negative part of the Law , which lies in a little Compass , oftentimes teaches us a world of the Positive . For instance the 33 Articles in the Roll , 1 H. 4. m. 20. which K. Richard the 2d . solemnly acknowledged of his own Male-administration , do give us more light into the Constitution , than a Book of six times the bigness could do . But to come to the Abusions of Law which are in the Mirror , p. 282. He says , that the First and Sovereign Abusion is for the King to be beyond the Law , whereas he ought to be subject : to it , as is contained in his Oath : Though the second is my Business , which is in these words . 2. Abusion est , que ou les Parlaments se duissent faire pur le salvation des Almes de 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 ceo a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 deur foits per An , la ne se font ils 〈◊〉 rarement , 〈◊〉 a la 〈◊〉 le Roy pur aides 〈◊〉 cuilets de 〈◊〉 . Et ou les 〈◊〉 duissent faire al Common assent del Roy 〈◊〉 de ses Counties la le se font 〈◊〉 per le Roy 〈◊〉 ses Clerks ; 〈◊〉 per aliens 〈◊〉 autres que nosent contravener le 〈◊〉 ; eins 〈◊〉 de luy plaire ; 〈◊〉 de luy Counseller a son 〈◊〉 , tout ne soit my le Counsel Covenable al Commons del People , fans 〈◊〉 les Counties , 〈◊〉 fans ensuer les Rules de 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 dount 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 se foundent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fur 〈◊〉 , que sur Droit . The second Abusion of the Law is , that whereas Parliaments ought to Convene for the Salvation of the Souls of Trespassors , and this at London , and Two Times in the Year , now a days they meet but seldom , and at the Will of the King for Aids and Gatherings of Treasure : And whereas Ordinances ought to be made by the Common Assent of the King and his Counties , now they are made by the King and his Clerks , and by Aliens and others that dare not Contradict the King , but desire to Please him , and to Counsel him for his own Profit , though it be not Counsel which is Convenient for the Commons of the People ; without applying to the Counties , and without following the Rules of Right ; Whereupon there are several of the present Ordinances that are rather founded upon Will , than upon Right . From this Passage I shall only observe , that the Place of a Parliament's meeting is Fixed , and still at London ; And that the Two Times a Year was standing Law down to King Edward the First , though Abusions and Court-Practices had broken in upon the Law. Now let us see how the Law stood afterwards ; wherein I can only consult the Books I have by me , for I have not Health enough to go and Transcribe the Records in the Tower , but take them upon Content as they lie in Sir Robert Cotton's Abridgment of the Records in the Tower. And there in the very first Page , 5 Ed. 〈◊〉 . it is Ordained , Que Parliament serra tenus un ou deux foits per An. That a Parliament shall be held one Time or Two Times a Year . Here you see the Twice a Year is 〈◊〉 into Once or Twice . The next is p. 93. of the same Bock , 36. Ed. 3. The Print touching the Yearly holding of a Parliament , cap. 10. agreeth with the Record . Now the Print is , Item , for Maintenance of the said Articles and Statutes , and Redress of divers Mischiefs which Daily happen , a Parliament shall be holden every Year , as another time was Ordained by Statute . Now that Statute , as I find by the Statute-Book , for I cannot find it in Sir Robert Cotton , is thus . 4 Ed. 3. cap. 14. Item , it is accorded , that a Parliament shall be holden every Year Once , and more Often if need be . By the Reason given in the 36 Ed. 3. cap. 10. just now recited for a Yearly Parliament , one would think it should be a Daily Parliament ; because it is for the Maintenance of former 〈◊〉 , and Redress of divers Mischiefs which Daily happen : But I believe that a Parliament which Sits but Forty Days in the Year are able to do that Work ; Concerning which we will enquire further afterwards . In the 50 Ed. 3. p. 138. The Parliament's Demand or Petition is this , That a Parliament may be holden every Year ; the Knights of the Parliament may be chosen by the whole Counties ; and that the Sheriff may likewise be without brokage in Court. The King's Answer is this . To the Parliament , there are Statutes made therefore ; To the Sheriffs there is answer made ; To the Knights it is agreed , that they shall be chosen by common Consent of every County . After these Three Laws in Ed. 3d's Time , we come to the First of King Richard the Second , p. 163. where the Petition or Demand for a Yearly Parliament is this . That a Parliament may be Yearly holden in convenient place , to redress Delays in Suits , and to end such Cases as the Judges doubt of . The King's Answer is . It shall be as it hath been used . In the 2 R. 2. p. 173. By the King's Commandment one Cause of opening the Parliament is Declared to be this . Secondly , for that it was enacted that a Parliament should Yearly be holden . Nay , if the Court insist upon a Yearly Parliament , the Country may and ought . Thus stood the Law of England till the 16 Caroli 1. when that King having discontinued Parliaments for Twelve Years , and created a Distrust of him in the Breasts of his People which was Just ; ( for if a Prince spoil the Government for Twelve Years together , who shall Trust him in the Thirteenth ? ) The Nation found a Necessity of having a Cautionary Parliament every Third Year , to secure their Annual Parliaments for the Two Years immediately foregoing . This is the true Reason of the Act for a Triennial Parliament , which was a perfect Innovation both Name and Thing . For I challenge any Antiquary , Lawyer , or Person whatsoever that has turned over Books , to shew me the word Triennial joined to the word Parliament , from the Foundation of this Government till the Year 1640. A Triennial Parliament therefore is so far from being the Constitution of this Government , that if it were so , a great number of our present Lords and Commoners are Older than the Constitution , and were Born before it . But as I said before , that Act was only a Cautionary Act , as a Town or Gate of a City is taken in Caution , for performance of Articles . This appears by the first thing which is Enacted in that Law , namely , That the Laws for a Parliament to be holden at least once a Year , shall hereafter be duly Kept and Observed . Scobel's Coll. 16 Car. 1. Cap. 1. This Act was Gently drawn up , and had more of a Prospect than a Retrospect , and does not look back into those Oppressions which King Charles himself in his large Declaration of August the 12th does acknowledge were Insupportable ; which were wholly owing to this long Intermission of Parliaments : but it wisely provides , that in case the two first Years Parliaments should fail , then came a Peremptory Parliament , which the King and Keeper might call if they pleased ; but if they did not , the Counties and Burroughs of England were forced to send . It is an Act that executes it self , like our Act for Burying in Woollen ; and he that will see the Wisdom of it , may read it where I have quoted it . After this comes the Act 16 Car. 2. cap. 1. and repeals this Triennial Act , because say they , It is in Derogation of his Majesty's just Rights and Prerogative , inherent to the Imperial Crown of this Realm for the Calling and Assembling of Parliaments ; whereupon the Triennial Act is Annulled as if it had never been made . I wish it had never been made . But we will stop there first . It is annulled as if it had never been made : There is nothing lost by that ; for then our Parliaments are where they were , which was Due Annual . Well now let us see what Alteration is made by this New Act , 16 Car. 2. which follows in these words , Sect. 3. And because by the Ancient Laws and Statutes of this Realm , made in the Reign of K. Edward the 3d , Parliaments are to be held very often , ( that is once or twice a Year ) Therefore they shall not be Discontinued above Three Years at the most . I do not use to Admire Consequences which I do not understand . But under favour , I would be taken right . I say , that the Recital of the Ancient Laws of this Realm does not Repeal them , Disannul them , anneantir , any thing , nothing ; when there is not one Repealing Word concerning them in that Statute . I knew what I said when I wished the Triennial Bill of Forty had never been made ; and it must be remembred that that Act is as if it had never been made ; For it gave occasion to some Men that came in with the Deluge of the Restauration , when it rained Cavaliers , ( though I value all Mens Rights more than my own , and Princes most because they are biggest ) and it prompted them to think of turning a Cautionary Triennial , into a Discretionary . But God be thanked they wanted Words to express themselves ; and if they meant it , they have not done it . But so as they did put the Act together , and as it now stands , there are several things in it worth observing . 1st , That if there be occasion there shall be more and oftner Parliaments , than once in Three Years . Now I ask for whose sake was that Clause Enacted ? Not for the King 's , for he was always enabled by his Prerogative , for the sake of the Ardua Regni , to call a Parliament every Month in the Year : Well then it was for the sake of his People , that if they judged there was Occasion for more or Oftner Parliaments , they might ask for them . For I appeal to Common Sense , whether it be not Ridiculous , and wonderfully beneath the Dignity of a Parliament , when a Prince was bound by his Coronation Oath to Call a Parliament Once a Year , or oftner if need were , ( for so the Law stood , and so this Prince was at that time Bound ) to Interpret a Law after such a manner , as to say he was Enabled to call a Parliament Oftner than once in Three Years . So much for that Point ; the next is this . The The Upshot of this Act of Parliament , and the Conclusion of the whole Act is in these words . To the end , there may be a frequent Calling , Assembling , and Holding of Parliaments once in Three Years at the least . I do say , that if ever we came to Low-water Mark in our Laws about Parliaments , and if ever they run Dregs , it was in the Time of Charles the 2d . And yet it was enacted , and was the End of that Law , that One should be Called , Once in Three Years at the least . Now I leave it to the Lawyers to tell , whether a Proclamation can call a Parliament , or any thing else besides a Writ of Summons and a Writ for Elections ? And thus have I run through the Law of Parliaments till t'other Day , and considered what is the Law at present . From King Alfred's Time down to Edward the First , it seems to have been the standing Law to have Parliaments Twice a Year . I know that the Invasions of several Nations both Danes and Normans , and the Revolutions and Disturbances of State which happened , must needs cause frequent Interruptions in the practice of it . But my reason to be of that Opinion is this , because Horne who lived in those Times , says , That Parliaments at that Time ought to meet twice a Year , and that at London , and that the Intermitting of Parliaments was the Greatest Abusion of the Law but one . Though I think I have still a Greater Authority than Horn's , ( if any thing in this World can be bigger than that of an Able and Honest Man ) ; But it is a King in his Letter to the Pope . It is in the Clause Rolls Anno 3. Ed. 1. m. 9. Cedula . and is to be seen in Prynne's large Book p. 158. I will quote no more of it than is for my purpose . It is concerning the Yearly Tribute of a Thousand Marks which the Popes from K. John's Time claimed , and there were several Years Due . The Pope's Nuncio sollicites the Matter , but the King excuses himself that he had come to no Resolution in his Easter-Parliament , but by Common Advice he would give him an Answer in his Michaelmass-Parliament next following . At present I only mind the wording and way of expressing these two Parliaments . Concerning the First he says , In Parliamento quod circa 〈◊〉 Resurressionis 〈◊〉 celebrati in 〈◊〉 Consuevit . In a Parliament that Used to be held in England about the Octaves of Easter . That word Consuevit amounts to Custom and Usage , and seems to express a Parliament de More . He says , That the Parliament was in Octabis , and by Occasion of his Sickness , ( after they had made several good Laws and 〈◊〉 many Grievances , but not all that lay before them ) for the Reason aforesaid , That Parliament was Dissolved , and the King could not treat with them about the Pope's Petition of Tribute . But he promises to do the Pope Reason in his Michaelmass-Parliament which he intended . Now let us see how that is express'd ; 〈◊〉 firmo scituri , pie Dater et Domine , quod in alio Parliamento nostro quod ad festum Sancti Michaelis prox . , futur . intendimus , dante Domino , celebrare , habito et communicato consilio cum 〈◊〉 et 〈◊〉 memoratis , 〈◊〉 super 〈◊〉 , ipsorum consilio dabimus 〈◊〉 . Know for certain , Pious Father and Lord , That in another Parliament of Ours which we intend to hold at Michaelmass next ensuing , with God's leave ; We and the Prelats and Peers aforesaid consulting together , according to their Advice will give you an Answer upon the Premisses . But I will say no more upon this Head , being intent upon another . CHAP. III. Shewing , That the Yearly Parliaments were Fresh and Fresh . THERE are several ways of proving that there was a New Election every Year . They tell me there are Writs extant for New Elections for Fourscore Years Successively , where there are but about Six wanting . What if they had been all lost , imbezelled or made away ? What then , is our Constitution lost , when Bundles of Writs are lost ? No , I will go no farther than this last Letter to shew that there is a great Appearance that while there were Two Parliaments in a Year , the Second must be new Called . Though I hate the word New applied to a Parliament ; for a Parliament is a Parliament , and our Ancestors would no more have dream'd of a Stale or Old Parliament , than of an Old Moon cut out into Stars . I will cite the words of King Edward's Letter , dated the 19th of June in the third of his Reign , and when that 's done , let the Reader make his own Judgment upon them . It was in the Interval betwixt his 〈◊〉 and his Michaelmass-Parliament . Set antequam eidem Parliamento propter negotiorum multitudinem quae reformatiouis remedio indigebant sinem imponere 〈◊〉 , eodem Capellano vestro responsionem debitam sibi fieri instanter poitulante , 〈◊〉 gravis nos inbasit , sicut Domino placuit , infirmitas Corporalis , quae perfectionem multorum aliorum negotiorum , 〈◊〉 deliberationem petitionis Census annui supradicti , de quo dolemus non modicum , impedivit ; sicque cum occasione infirmitatis hujusmodi , a qua per Dei gratiam , cujus est perimere 〈◊〉 mederi , incepimus convalescere , idem Paliamentum fuerit dissolutum , 〈◊〉 super hoc 〈◊〉 super petitione Census ejusdem deliberationem 〈◊〉 cum Praelatis 〈◊〉 Proceribus antedictis . To this Sense . But before we could put an end to that Parliament , because of the Multitude of Grievances which lay before them , your Nuncio in the mean time diligently Solliciting your Business , a great Distemper as it pleased God befel me , which hindered the finishing of many other Matters , and treating about the Petition of the Yearly Tribute , which is a great Grief to me ; and so by reason of my said Illness , ( from which by the Grace of God , in whose Hands are the Issues of Life and Death , I begin to Recover ) That Parliament was Dissolved , and hereupon I could not Treat with the Prelates and Peers aforesaid about this Tribute . From this long Quotation I shall only make this Observation at present , That in this Parliament begun in the Octaves of Easter ( perhaps upon May-Day ) there was a great deal of Business done , and a great deal of Business left undone ; amongst the rest the Pope's , because of the King's Sickness , who thereupon could not give Answers to Bills or Petitions ; and that the Nuncio's Petition was Unanswered , went to the King's Heart . But upon Occasion of that Sickness it was that the Parliament was Dissolved , and the Pope's Business hindred , to the King 's great Regret . What , could not the King keep this Parliament alive till the Nineteenth of June , when he himself began to be well again , which is the Date of the Letter ? It is no more than Fifty Days from their first sitting down to the Date of his Letter , and yet though he set his Heart upon the Business that lay before that Parliament , it was Dissolved ; and to stop that Gap he promises to call Another Parliament at Michaelmass . Then it seems they did not understand the Method of Prorogations , and it is unknown to me by what Law it came in . If there be such a Law , I never minded it , for I am speaking of the Constitution , and not of Innovations . But I believe the true Reason of the Abrupt Disfolution of that Summer Parliament in Conjunction with the King's Sickness , was this , That if they had been held till Michaelmass , though thore was then to be Another Parliament , it must have been at the King's Charge . For I am of Opinion by what I have seen even as low as Richard the 2d's Time , that the Sitting of a Parliament was usually Forty Days and that the Quarantain was not duly kept in this Parliament 3 Ed. 1. of the Octaves of Easter . But there was a Concern in holding a Parliament above Forty Days about the Knights and Burgesses Wages . As appears by that Memorable Record which is in 〈◊〉 , p. 2682. being the Message sent by both Houses to K. Rich. 2. 〈◊〉 Eltham . The words are these . Dicunt 〈◊〉 quod habent ex antiquo Statuto quod si Rex a Parliamento 〈◊〉 se 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sponte , non aliqua , set se subtraxerit per absentiam temporis 40. dierum tanquam de vexatione populi sui 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non Curans , extunc licitum omnibus & singulis eorum absque domigerio Regis redire ad propria & unicuique eorum in patriam suam remeare . In short , they say they have an Ancient Statute for it , that in case the King wilfully absent himself and will not come to Parliament , As having no Care of vexing his People , nor Regard of their Great Expences , after Forty Days , they are Free to go Home , and the King has no Wrong done him . Now what is the meaning of these Forty Days , but that they had waited a Just Session ? And how should the Parliament-Mens Wages be otherwise adjusted , when at the end of every Parliament in those Times they were dismissed , with desiring them to sue out their Writs for their Wages ? And I leave it to the Antiquaries , because I am not now able to Travel in that Point , to consider how the several Proportions of Land which are allotted for the Knights and Burgesses in several Counties for their Wages , can be adjusted , without a Certainty of the Length of their Sessions . But not a word of this is my present Business , which was to shew that Parliaments by the Constitution are not to be Stale ; as I have seen one in my Time retained about Nineteen Years with Pensions , and another for fewer Years with Places and turning out of Places : But if a Parliament were corrupted neither of these ways , yet a standing Parliament will always Stagnate , and be like a Country-pond which is over-grown with Ducks-meat . The worst King one of them that ever the Nation had , was so limited by the Constitution , that he did not know how to compass a long Parliament , and therefore he was fain to take other indirect Ways to gain the same Point as if he had one . It was Rich. the 2d . who in the Articles alledged against him , and confessed by him , lets us know it was by influencing Elections and false Returns . The words as they stand in the Rolls 1 H. 4. m. 20. are these . 19. Item , Licet de Statuto , & consuetudine Regni sui in Convocatione cujuslibet Parliamenti populus suus in singulis comitatibus regni debeat esse liber ad Eligendum & deputandum milites pro hujusmodi comitatibus ad interessendum Parliamento , & ad exponendum eorum gravamina , & ad prosequendum pro remediis superinde prout eis videretur expedire ; tamen praefatus Rex ut in Parliamentis suis liberius consequi valeat suae temerariae Voluntatis effectum , direxit mandata sua frequentius Vice-comitibus mitibus suis , ut certas personas per ipsum Regem nominatas ut milites comitatuum venire faciant ad Parliamenta sua , quos quidem milites eidem Regi faventes inducere poterat , prout frequentius fecit , quandoque per minas varias , & terrores , & quandoque per munera ad consentiendum illis quae regno fuerant praejudicialia , & populo quamplurimum onerosa ; & specialiter ad concedendum eidem Regi subsidium lanarum ad terminum vitae suae , & aliud subsidium ad certos annos , suum populum nimium opprimendo . 19. Item , Although by Statute , and the Custom of his Realm in the Calling of Every Parliament in every the Counties of England , his People ought to be free to Choose and depute Knights for the said Counties to be present in Parliament , and to lay open their Grievances , and to prosecute for Remedies thereupon as they think fit , notwithstanding the said King that in his Parliaments he might obtain his Will which was Rash , often directed his Mandates to his Sheriffs , that they should Return certain Persons nominated by the King himself as Knights of the Shires , which Knights indeed he could make Plyable to him , and as he very often did , sometimes by various Threats and Terrors , and sometimes by Gifts , to Consent to those Things which were Prejudicial to the Realm , and extreamly Burthensom to the People ; and particularly to grant the same King the Subsidy of Wool during his Life , and another Subsidy for certain Years , thereby too much Oppressing his People . Now if he could have made Long Parliaments , he need not have made use of these mean Shifts . But he could make use of no other way , because Parliaments , as I said , were Fresh and Fresh , and Antiquity knew no other . And if any Man can make out of this Authentick Record , that it was any otherwise , Than so many Parliaments so many Elections , then I have done with Writing and Reading . CHAP. IV. Of the Kalends of May. AT last I am come to search after the Head of Nile , and the true old Land-mark of the English Constitution . How Parliaments stood in the British times I am not so certain ; but that there were Parliaments then , I am certain . I have it from the wise Gildas , that Vortigern and his foolish Thaynes sent to the Saxons for help against the Picts and Scots , and took into their Bosoms a Warlike and Fierce Nation , whom at a distance they were afraid of . And they indeed of Course beat those that infested Severus's Wall , but they made mine Hosts that invited them in , Hewers of Wood and Drawers of Water . And those of the Britains that opposed them , the Saxons drove out of their Countrey , whereby as Gildas says all their Records were lost . But out of that Venerable Author we plainly see , that the Lamentable Letter which was sent the Year before to the Senate of Rome , was Written by a British Parliament . For whose sake I beg of all Nations not to let in Legions of Foreign Nations to be their Masters , for when they want them and their Protection most , they shall go without it . For when the Roman Legions were withdrawn out of Britany , ( which caused our Enemies to make an Insult ) and the British Parliament begg'd hard to have them return , the Roman Senate's Answer was , that they were otherwise engaged ; and they must help themselves as they could , which made them betake themselves to the Saxons . A very fair Answer to a Nation that was disabled and disarmed , after their Kings and Parliaments had been only Tax-gatherers to the Romans for several Hundreds of Years ; as if you have no True Lord Mayor , you must still have Pageants , and somewhat that keeps up the Shew . But after these Early Times , we have somewhat in King Edward the Confessor's Laws , which all succeeding Kings have been Sworn to , which I will try what to make of . It is an Yearly Folkmote upon the Kalends of May. I do not know readily what that Yearly Folkmote is , because those Laws of Edward the Confessor say that King Arthur Invented it ; Quod Arthurus Rex inclytus Britonum invenit . Then I am sure the Original Name of it was not Folkmote . Then we will mind the Name no more , but come to the Thing . Sir Henry Spelman in the Learnedest Glossary that ever was Writ , I will not except Mr. Somner's , says thus under the word Gemotum . Wittenagemot idem apud Anglosaxones quod apud nos hodie Parliamentum , parumque a Folcmoto differebat , nisi quod Hoc Annuum esset & e certis plerumque Causis , illud ex Arduis Contingentibus & Legum condendarum gratiâ , ad arbitrium Principis indictum . A Wittenagemot was the same thing amongst the English Saxons , as now at this Day a Parliament is amongst us ; and a Wittenagemote differed little from a Folkmote , only that this last was Annual , and chiefly sat about the standing Affairs of the Nation : The other was called at the King's Pleasure upon Emergencies of State and for the sake of making Laws . Now let us see what the Learned Antiquary says concerning Folkmotes by themselves in the same place , p. 315. In Folcmoto semel quotannis sub initio Kalendarum Maii ( tanquam in annuo Parliamento ) convenere Regni Principes , tam Episcopi quam Magistratus Liberique homines . Jurantur Laici omnes coram Episcopis in mutuum foedus , in fidelitatem Regis , & in Jura Regni Conservanda . Consulitur de Communi Salute , de Pace , de Bello , & de Utilitate publicâ Promovendâ . In a Folkmote Once every Year at the beginning of the Kalends of May ( as in an Yearly Parliament ) there Met together the Princes of the Realm , as well Bishops as Magistrates , and the Freemen . All the Laymen are sworn in the Presence of the Bishops into a Mutual Covenant with one another , into their Fealty to the King , and to Preserve the Rights of the Kingdom . They Consult of the Common Safety , of Peace , of War , and of Promoting the Publick Profit . It follows in the next words , Adhibetur praeterca Folcmotum in repentino omni discrimine , exigente etiam necessitate , sub Aldermanno ( hoc est Comite ) cujuslibet Comitatus . Besides a Folkmote is used in every suddain Danger , and likewise if Necessity require it , under the Alderman ( that is the Earl ) of every County . This last is plainly a Provincial Folkmote in time of Necessity ; but the former part of the Sentence seems to intimate , that upon a Surprize when the King had not time to call a Parliament , the last Folkmote met ; as the last Westminster Parliament did , to give the Prince of Orange the Administration , before it was Possible to have a Parliament Elected . Though the former Description of the General and not the Provincial Folkmote is our present Business . And at the first sight it looks like a Full Parliament , for it consists of the Princes , as well Bishops as Magistrates , and the Freemen ; that is to say , the Chiefs of the whole Nation . And they are employed in Parliament-work , for they Consult of the Common Safety , of Peace , of War , and promoting the Publick Profit . And did not the General Title of our Laws every Session run thus ; To the High Honour of God , and to the Profit of the Common-Wealth ? If ever there were Wites in Parliament , sure it was Princes , as well Bishops as Magistrates , and the Freemen . Why then does this Learned Knight distinguish betwixt a Wittenagemote and a Folkmote , seeing they were both made up of Wites ? I am governed by Things and not by Words , and am throughly satisfied that an Assembly which does Parliament-Business is a Parliament . And no doubt the Folkmote made Laws ; for it is not to be supposed that an Assembly of the whole Nation should sit Consulting Forty Days of Peace and War , of Armies and Fleets , ( which in those Days were Three Thousand Ships , and were able to make out the Dominion of the Seas ) ; of the Grievances of the Nation , and the Redress of those Grievances ; and of Providing for the Common Profit of the Realm ; and after all not to be able to enact their own Conclusions . That is just as if our present Parliament should spend Forty Days in finding out Ways and Means for the raising Money , and afterwards were not able to put them into a Law : Or as we Private Men use to Consult and Debate , and Settle the Nation over a Dish of Coffee , without being able to oblige one single Man to our Orders . The Thing which misled this Great Antiquary ( as I conjecture ) to make this Mark of Difference betwixt a Folkmote and a Wittenagemote , as if a Wittenagemote made Laws and a Folkmote nor , is this ; That when the Saxon Kings issued out their Laws , they said they had passed in their Wittenagemote , Concilio Sapientum , or Council of Wise Men : And it was proper for the King to call his Folkmote by that Name , though not for them themselves . As for Instance , the Writs of Election at this Day call for some of the Discreetest to be chosen to Parliament , though the Members do not assume that Title : And I know so much of the Old English Genius , that they would no more have called themselves a Wittenagemote , than this present Parliament would call their Votes which come out Day by Day , Journal de Sqavans . But I will wave Conjectures even in Antiquities , ( though we are there oftentimes forced to go in the Dark , to tread upon Ruins , and to feel out our Way ; ) because I have direct Proof that the Folkmote made all the Laws we ever had . And for this I will go no farther than to the third Branch of the Usual and Accustomed Coronation Oath taken by the former Kings of England , and taken twice by Richard the Second , 1 Hen. 4. Membr . 20. inter Decem Scriptores , p. 2746. in these words , spoken to the King by way of Question . Concedis justas Leges & Consuetudines esse tenendas ; & promittis per te esse protegendas & ad honorem Dei corroborandas quas Vulgus elegerit , secundum vires tuas ? Respondebit , Concedo & promitto . Do you grant that the just Laws and Customs which are of the Folks Chusing shall be kept , and do you promise that they shall be Protected , and to the Honour of God receive Affirmance by you , to the utmost of your Power ? The King shall Answer , I Grant and Promise . Now I would fain know , How a Folkmote can be otherwise expressed in Latin than by the Word Vulgus , which is a Collective Word : Or how the Vulgus or Folk could chuse Laws any otherwise than in a Folkmote ? I will not enter into the stiff Dispute which exercised King Charles the First and his Parliament for a long time , whether the word was Praeter Tense or Future , and whether the Word was best rendred in the French Translations , the Laws which the Folk auront esleu , shall have chosen , or which the Folk eslieront shall hereafter Chuse ; whereupon they said that he was bound to Sign and Affirm all the Laws they should hereafter present to him , and that he could not make use of a Negative without Perjury . I say that that whole Dispute was not worth a Farthing . For if the Folk Chose the Laws all along down to King Richard the Second's Time , and the Kings were sworn to Affirm them , then we know how the Laws antiently were made ; And who cares whether Eslieront or Choosing for the future be the Sense of the Word or no ? For if the Folks Choosing was the Constitution in K. Richard the Second's Time , then I would fain know in what King 's Reign it was afterwards that the Constitution was altered . In short , the Folk Chose the Laws ; and I believe the English Folkmote and Wittenagemote will be found to be old Homer's River , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Which the Gods call Xanthus , but mortal Men call Scamander . Now though Scamander be the homelier Name , yet it is the same River . I cannot but say there was some Difference betwixt the Folkmote upon the Kalends of May , and the Folkmotes which the King always called for his Ardua Contingentia or Contingencies of State : But the Difference lay only in this , that the Folkmote of the Kalends of May was a Parliament de more , and of Course , who Assembled themselves , sub initio Kalendarum Maii , says Spelman , and were bound to do so , in Capite Kal. Maii , say the Laws of Edward the Confessor , cap. 35. de Greve ; ( and out of that Chapter has Sir H. Spelman extracted his true Account of a Gerneral Folkmote , which was Anniversary : ) whereas a Wittenagemote or Extraordinary Parliament or Folkmote was Summoned at the King's Pleasure , and was ever at his Call both for Time and Place . Other Difference I can find none . For as for the Constituent Parts of a Folkmote , if the Princes of the Realm , as well Bishops as Magistrates , and the Freemen , cannot denominate a Wittenagemote , I know not where the King will find his Wites , or Wise-men . I have spoke to that Point already . I have likewise spoken to the Point of the Folkmotes making of Laws . We find indeed the Saxon Kings in the Preface of their Laws which were made in Extraordinary Parliaments , Decreeing with their Wites , ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) some at Greatanlage , and at Midwinter afterwards at Eaxcester , as King Athelstan ; some at 〈◊〉 at the Holy Easterly Tide , as King Edmund ; others at Wodestock in Mercialand , and others at Winchester . Whereby it appears that the Kings of England had a Power to Summon Parliaments when and where their Weighty Affairs required them , in all Places of the Realm , and at all Seasons of the Year . This is an undoubted Prerogative lodged in the King for the sake of the Ardua Contingentia ; and no Man would Govern a Kingdom that could not Command the Advice and Assistance of his Subjects to be forthcoming , when the Occasions of the Kingdom required it . And for the sake of these Ardua Negotia , the Knights , Citizens and Burgesses are to be Impowered to Act in Parliament-Business by those that sent them ; lest for want of that full and sufficient Power , or by means of an Improvident Election , these Arduous and Weighty Affairs of the Kingdom should in any wise remain Infecta , or be left Undone . This is contained in the present Writ of Elections directed to every Sheriff of a County at every Election of Parliament-men . But that is not my present Business , for I am in a further Search after the Annual or rather the Anniversary Folkmote . CHAP. V. Concerning the First Founder of the Yearly Folkmote of the Kalends of May. BEfore I proceed any further I must clear one Point . And that is , that we find the Author and Founder of our Yearly Folkmote mentioned in the Laws of Edward the Confessor , ( which were Recited and Confirmed by K. William the First ) under the Title De Greve , Chap. 35. which may possibly leave a Suspicion that this Yearly Folkmote of the Kalends of May was a Greve's Court. Now what Court should this be , belonging to a Greve , or any Count or Viscount , or President whatsoever , for Greve is an Ambiguous Word ? It is not a Burghmote , for that is Three times a Year by the Saxon Laws . It is not a County Court , for that by Edward the Senior's Laws , N. 11. was in these words . Ic Wille that aelc Gerefa haebbe Gemot a ymb feower wucan . I will that each Greve have a Gemot at about Four Weeks . So that there were Twelve in the Year . It was not the Sheriffs Turn , or le 〈◊〉 del 〈◊〉 , for that was twice a Year ; 〈◊〉 Scirgemot on ger , by the Laws of King Edgar , cap. 5. it is not the Gemot for the View of Weapons or Arms , which every Freeman in England was charged with , and was bound to shew once every Year , and , as was wisely contrived , all in one Day throughout all England ; but that Day was not in our Kalends of May , but the Morrow after Candlemass , Crastino Purificationis B. M. And therefore I cannot for my Life make any thing else of an Universal Anniversary Full Folkmote , which is but semel in Anno , scilicet in capite Kal. Maii , but a Stationary Parliament : Especially considering who they were and what they did . The next thing to be considered is the Author or Founder of this Ancient Constitution , which we have in the aforesaid Chap. De Greve , Num. 35. amongst the Laws of Good King Edward . Hanc Legem Invenit Arthurus , qui quondam fuit Inclytissimus Rex Brytonum , & ità consolidavit , & confoederavit regnum Britanniae universum semper in unum . This Law of the Anniversary Folkmore Arthur Invented , who was heretefore the most Renowned King of the Brytons , and thereby he consolidated , and confederated together the whole Realm of Britany for ever as One Man. It is good to Honour the Founders of all Useful Constitutions ; and I believe that 〈◊〉 Arthur was the Inventor of this as to this Realm ; because these Laws of K. Edward say so : And so was Cadmus the Inventor of Letters in Greece , though we 〈◊〉 trace them out of Phoenicia ; and the Letters speak for themselves . For if it be Aleph , Beth , Gimel , Daleth in one Place , and in the same Order it is Alpha , Beta , Gamma , Delta in the other Place , then we are sure there has been an Understanding and Communication . For it is impossible to be otherwise when the Alphabets are settled on both Sides , by being their Numeral Letters ; as it was plainly in King David's Time by the Octonaries of the 119th Psalm , as it stands in the middle of the Bible ; and as it was in Homer's Time in Greece ; or else the Old Scholiasts have deceived me , who say that Homer purposely couched the Number of all his Books in the first Word of his Iliads 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Which Numerals stand for 48. The Greeks likewise taught the Welch to tell Twenty , and I believe they taught the Romans too . Now by the same Rule , if there was a very Ancient Folkmote in the Neighbouring Kingdom of France upon every Kalends of May , then perhaps King Arthur borrowed from them ; and it is good to look upon their Kalends , because it is possible they may give Light to Ours . The French Kalends of May lie thus in Radulphus de Diceto , a Famous Dean of Paul's in King John's time , whose History was thought so Authentick , that the English Parliament , in Edward the First 's time , Relied upon his Testimony , amongst some others , in no less a Point than the Claim of the King of England , to the Supream Dominion of the Realm of Scotland . As to our present business he has these Words , Abbreviat . Chronicorum , pag. 439. Abhinc Francorum Regibus à solita fortitudine & scientia degenerantibus , regni potentia disponebatur per Majores domus , Regibus solo nomine regnantibus ; Quibus moris erat principari quidem secundum genus , & nil agere vel disponere praeterquam irrationabiliter edere & bibere domique morari , & Kal. Maii praesidere coram totâ gente & salutari , obsequia & dona accipere & rependere , & sic secum usque ad alium Maium permanere . I will render the Sense of it into English as near as I can : However the Latin lies before every Man to Translate it for himself . From henceforward the French Kings degenerating from the Valour and Learning which they used to have , the Power of the Kingdom was Administred by the Masters of the Palace , the Kings themselves being upon the Matter only Titular ; whose Custom it was to come to the Crown indeed according to their Descent , and neither to Act nor Order any thing , but to Eat and Drink Unconscionably and to live at Home , and upon the Kalends of May to Preside in an Assembly of the whole Nation , and there to be Addressed , to receive their Allegiances , and Aids or Benevolences , and to Remercie them , and so to retire to the same Life again till another May came . This French Kalends of May , is so much a Picture of Ours , that I know not which is the Copy , nor which the Original . Their's was an Assembly of the whole Nation ; so was Our's . Annual and Anniversary ; so was Our's . It was 〈◊〉 Gens Kal. Maii , in France . Our Folkmote looks extreamly like it in those two Strokes . Statutum est enim quod ibi debent populi omnes , & gentes Universae singulis annis , semel in anno scilicet convenire , scilicet in capite Kal. Mati . For it was Appointed by Statute that all the People and Counties Universal should meet together at the Folkmote each Year , namely , Once in the Year , namely , in the Beginnings of the Kalends of May. The King used to have fine Speeches made to him in France ; so had we . They swore Allegiance to him ; so did our Folk . They gave him Gifts ( it was not New-Year's tide ) Aids , Benevolences , call them what you will ; and our People at the same time , as Sir H. Spelman said above , Consulted of Peace and War , which cannot be managed without Ways and Means of raising Money , which is the Sinews of War , as Laws are of Peace . The word rependere at last in the French Kalends looks so like our French form of the Royal Assent given to a Money Bill , le 〈◊〉 Remercie ses Loyals Sujects , that I knew not how to render the word Rependere , any otherwise than I did , by the word Remercie . I know that the Year 662 , was below K. Arthur's Time , but it appears that when the French Government was utterly spoiled in the Merovingian Family , as to the other Points , still they retained the old Custom of the Kalends of May ; so that it was of much greater standing . The Conclusion . And thus I have finished what I at first propoundded ; but under such difficulties and disadvantages of a broken Health , as I do verily believe never Book was Written . And for that Reason , I am certain that the very Great Personages to whom I ventured to Offer it , ( though it was upon presumption of a better Performance ) will bear with it ; to whom I wholly Submit it with all Deference : and if one single Word of it should happen to be against Law , I here revoke it before hand . And for the same Reason I earnestly desire all Antiquaries and Learned Men to look further into this Matter , because I my self cannot : And as they see Cause , either to Confirm or Confute my Notion , which is Indifferent to me , because I only seek Truth . I do not speak thus doubtingly concerning Annual Parliaments , for I am Positive in them ; but if People will have the utmost of Antiquities , and the very Original of the Wisest and Justest Government in the World , they must sometimes be content to Read with Letters that are somewhat Worn ; Though I have been of Opinion for many a Year , that the Kalends of May were very Legible . And I am sure that I have by this Time gained my Point , which was to set Wiser Men upon Thinking . I was afraid that this Government would float and move upon the Face of the Waters , till we were at a certainty about our Parliaments ; and therefore when I waited upon my Lord Devonshire before the Coronation , and it is my Fault I have not done it often since , I said that we were never the Better for this Revolution till we had a Settlement of Parliaments , and our Ancient Right was Anniversary Parliaments , and that nothing else could set the Government to rights . Knowing how much he had Assisted the King , and seeing the white Staff in his Hand , I concluded upon his Interest with the King , and therefore said ; My Lord , you may make a Complement of this Matter to the King , and tell him that we must have Good Laws , in a Good Reign , or never , for we cannot have them in a Bad one ; but the Laws made in a Good Reign are to support us when a bad one comes , as the seven Years of Plenty in Egypt , sustained the seven Years of Famine . It breaks no Rules to repeat my own Discourse to his Lordship , and to say that he gave me the hearing , nor to say that a certain Knight pulled me by the Sleeve , which had no other Effect than to make me speak the more , and the more earnestly to my Lord in that matter . Likewise when Mr. Johnston the present Secretary of State for Scotland , told me in the Court of Requests , that the Bill of Rights was going up to the House of Lords , I wish'd at that Time that all the Rights were reduced to One Line which was our Right , To have a Parliament every Kalends of May. I tell these old Stories to shew that I was always of the same Mind , and that no Court neglects nor disappointments have Altered me ; and I will Love this Court whether they will or no , for I am sure that I laid the Bridg that brought them over , and am pretty certain that they did not come hither in Virtue of Passive-Obedience . FINIS . ERRATA . P. 19. l. 6. dele The. P. 30. l. 11. for , the Year before , read , some few Years before . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A46947-e190 4 E. 3. c. 14. 36 E. 3. c. 10. An. Dom. 662. L. L. Ed. Cons. cap. 35. de Greve .