THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
FROM THE LIBRARY OF
FRANK J. KLINGBERG
SOURCE-BOOK
OF
ENGLISH HISTORY
LEADING DOCUMENTS
TOGETHER WITH
ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL FROM CONTEMPORARY
WRITERS
AND A
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SOURCES
BY
GUY CARLETON LEE, PH.D.
OF JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
SECOND EDITION, REVISED
NEW YORK
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
1906
Copyright, tqoa,
BY
HENRY HOLT & CO.
College
Library
I dedicate this volume, by his kind permission, to
Gbe IRiflbt IRcvcrcn^ lUilltam Stubbs
LORD BISHOP OF OXFORD
In appreciation of his contributions to
historical literature
1327471
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
THE generous appreciation of my fellow- workers in the
field of English History resulted in the exhaustion of the
first edition of the Source-Book. The opportunity for
a revision of the text thus came to me. I have gladly
availed myself of it in order that the usefulness of the
book might be increased.
This new edition, however, does not contain any radical
changes. The plan of the book and the choice of selec-
tions are the same. The careful reader will, nevertheless,
detect various alterations. These are, as a rule, typo-
graphical corrections discovered by a rigid triple com-
parison of each word of the text of the first edition with
that of the source from which the excerpt was made.
The chapter devoted to " The Growth of Law " has
presented many editorial difficulties, owing to the fact
that no one text or translation of the early English
statutes can be regarded as absolutely correct. I have
in this work edited the early statutes after the following
plan: I have selected those parts of the best readings
which were closest to the meaning of the most highly
approved MSS. texts. I have combined these excerpts
into what I believe to be an accurate rendition of the
statute. My version will in several particulars differ
from The Statutes of the Realm and The Statutes at
Large. The differences are rendered necessary by the
variations and errors of these antiquated works.
vi PREFACE
1 have made no changes in the choice of illustrative
material of the section illustrating the Nineteenth Cen-
tury. An examination of the authorship of the selections
will demonstrate their right to speak authoritatively of
the events of which they treat.
I trust that this edition will aid to illustrate the history
of England and that, despite its faults, it may prove a
useful working tool.
GUY CARLETON LEE
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
October 15, 1901
PREFACE
IN editing this volume I have differed from the plan
of selection adopted by Bishop Stubbs, in that I have in-
cluded illustrative material not strictly documentary ;
and I have departed from the method of Professor Hart
from whom I have borrowed the name, source-book
in that I have included the great constitutional and legal
documents which furnish the framework of the history
of national development.
Though I have differed in details of editing from these
learned scholars, to whom students and teachers of his-
tory are under great obligations, yet I have striven for
the same result that they have so successfully attained,
in that their works are not only useful tools for the class-
room and authoritative reference works for the library
but are interesting to the general reader.
The scope of this collection of sources is such as to
make it available for use with any text-book upon Eng-
lish History. It extends from the first mention of Britain
by ancient historians to the last great treaty with the
Boers of South Africa. Thanks to the liberality of my
publishers, who have regarded the work from the educa-
tional rather than the commercial point of view, I have
been enabled to add to its usefulness by including much
illustrative material hitherto inaccessible to most stu-
dents.
The first part of the volume is devoted to a working
bibliography of sources. An attempt has been made to
cite nearly every important collection by title; and,
where an omission has been found to be necessary, the
student is furnished with such bibliographical informa-
via PREFACE
tion as will enable him to find material for the epoch
under consideration. I desire to express my obligations
in this department to the erudite and invaluable works of
Professor Charles Gross and of the late Sir Thomas
Duffus Hardy ; to them the student must always turn for
bibliographical detail.
In editing this volume I have in most cases modern-
ized the spelling, punctuation, and capitalization of the
excerpts, believing that documents are most useful in
their most readable form. I have, however, preserved
the original style when necessary to bring out the full
effect of the selections. In selecting matter from printed
texts I have sought to excerpt from the most approved
editions without reference to date of their publication.
In choosing from reprints I have preferred the official
editions. In deciding upon translations I have selected
and edited those which in my opinion most faithfully
present the meaning of the best manuscripts. The senti-
ments expressed in the selections are those of the respect-
ive authors; I am obliged to disclaim any responsibility
for them.
I desire to express my gratitude to authors and pub-
lishers for the use of much valuable material. I have
taken pains to acknowledge special obligations by indi-
cating my sources at the close of each selection. I am
especially grateful for the many privileges and kind-
nesses which I have received from Philip R. Uhler, Pro-
vost of the Peabody Library, and his assistants, all of
whom have been untiring in their efforts to aid me in my
work.
I shall be under obligations to my fellow-labourers in
the field of history if they will advise me of any sins of
omission or commission which they may note.
G. C. L.
HISTORICAL DEPARTMENT
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
May, 1900
CONTENTS
PART I
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SOURCES
CHAPTER I HISTORIANS; CATALOGUES AND COLLECTIONS
SECTION' PACK
1. The Historians 3
2. Catalogues of Sources ........ 5
3. Great Collections of Materials 9
CHAPTER II SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS
4. P.re-Norrnan Period 26
5. Frorn the, Cpnquest.to.the Charter , 31
6. F.rom the Charter tp the .Reformation 34
7. The Tudor Period 40
8. The Struggle for Constitutional Government .... 49
9. The Hanoverian Period 55
10. Nineteenth Century .,, 61
PART II
THE PRE-NORMAN PERIOD
(circa 425 B.C. to 1066 A.D.)
CHAPTER III THE BRITAIN OF THE ANCIENTS
11. First Mention of the Islands afterwards called British . 65
12. First Mention of the Islands by Name ....... 65
13. Evidence of Increasing Interest in the British Islands . 66
14. First Roman Invasion of Britain 66
15. Description of the Britons 68
16. Characteristics of the Britons 69
17. The Tin Mine's of Britain ' . 70
18. Phases of the Roman Occupation 72
19. Consequences of the Withdrawal of the Romans ... 76
20. The Power of ' Britain revives . " 77
ix
K CONTENTS
CHAPTER IV THE BIRTH OF THE ENGLISH NATION
5KCTION PAGE
21. The Ancient Germans 79
22. Coming of Hengist and Horsa 80
23. England becomes One Kingdom 82
24. Reestablishment of Christianity 84
CHAPTER V ANGLO-SAXON LAWS
(The Dooms of the Kings Alfred, Athelstan, and Edgar)
25. Of a Man's Eye-Wound and of various other Limbs . . 87
26. Of Lordless Men 88
27. Of Landless Men 88
28. Of the Doom concerning Hot Iron and Water .... 88
29. Of Wer-Gilds ... V 89
30. Of People's Ranks and Law 90
31. How the Hundred shall be held 91
32. Ordinance of King Edgar Church-Scots 92
33. Tithes 92
34. Hearth Penny 92
35. Festivals -ami Fasts 93
36. Secular Ordinance 93
CHAPTER VI THE DANES IN ENGLAND
37. Danish Invasions <X>
38. Alfred at Athelney 97
39. Alfred and Guthrum's Peace 98
40. Second Period of Danish Invasion 99
41. Laws of Canute 101
42. Charter of Canute 103
43. Letter of Canute to his People 105
PART III
FROM THE CONQUEST TO THE CHARTER
(1066 to 1215)
.CHAPTER VII THE NORMAN RULE
44. Invasion of England m
45. Coronation 'Oath' of William the Conqueror 117
46. Administration of William 117
47. Character of William 118
48. Doomsday Survey 119
CONTENTS xi
SECTION PACK
49. A Doomsday Manor 121
50. Letter" of William I. to Gregory VII 121
51. Royal ' Supremacy '.'.".'.' 122
52. Separation of Spiritual ahd'Ldy Courts 122
53. First Charter of the City of London 123
54. Exactions of William Rufas 124
55. Charter of Liberties of Henry 1 124
56. Charter of the City of London (from Henry I.) . . . 127
57. The Investiture Controversy 128
CHAPTER VIII THE EARLY ANGEVINS
58. Henry II. and Thomas a Becket at the Council of
Woodstock 130
59. The Council Of Westminster 131
60. The Constitutions of Clarendon 133
61. The King's Rash Words and Becket's Death .... 137
62. The Assize of Clarendon 138
63. Constitution of the King's Household 141
64. The First Coronation of Richard 1 147
65. Levying a Feudal Aid 149
.PART IV
FROM THE CHARTER TO THE REFORMATION
(1215 to 1529)
CHAPTER IX THE PAPAL AUTHORITY TRIUMPHANT
66. The Struggle between John and Innocent III 155
67. England under the Interdict 156
68. John Excommunicated by Name 157
69. The Pope deposes the King 158
70. -The Papal Legate in England 159
71. The Repentance of the King 160
72. John resigns Crown and Kingdom to the Pope .... 160
73. John does Homage to the Pope 162
74. Declaration of Laws and Rights 164
CHAPTER X THE WINNING OF THE CHARTER
75. Rising of the Barons 165
76. Conference held by the Barons 165
77. Demands -of' the Barons 166
CONTENTS
78. London given up to the Barons 168
79. Meeting at Runnymedc 168
80. The Magna Charta 169
CHAPTER XI THE GROWTH OF LAW
81. Summonses to Parliament 181
82. Confirmation of the Charters 184
83. Ecclesiastical Sanction of the Confirmation of the
Charters 186
84. De Tallagio Non Concedendo 186
85. Law of Mortmain 187
86. Freedom of Parliament 189
87. Taxation of Religious Houses 189
88. The Statute of " Quia Emptores " 193
89. Coronation Oath of Edward II 195
90. A Statute of Provisors (1352) 195
91. First Statute of Treasons 196
92. Second Statute of Provisors 198
93. Great Statute of Praemunire 199
CHAPTER XII THE BLACK DEATH
94. Spread of the Plague 203
95 Statute of Labourers 206
CHAPTER XIII LOLLARDY
96. Wycliffite Conclusions 209
97. Bull of Pope Gregory XI. against Wycliffe 211
98. Reply of Wycliffe to a Summons from the Pope . . . 212
99. De Haeretico Comburendo 214
100. Henry V. to the Mayor and Sheriffs of London . . . 217
101. Henry V. to the Sheriff of Kent 219
102. Henry VI. to the Abbot of St. Edmondsbury .... 220
103. Mandate for the Burning of a Heretic 222
PART V
THE TUDOR PERIOD
(1485 to 1603)
CHAPTER XIV THE DIVORCE QUESTION
104. Henry Attempts to secure the Aid of the Church . . 227
105. Speeches at the Trial 229
CONTENTS xiii
SECTION PAGE
106. Divorce Proceedings announced to the House of Com-
mons 231
CHAPTER XV HENRY VIII AND THE CHURCH
107. Payment of Annates to the Pope Forbidden 234
108. Appeals to Rome Prohibited 236
109. Henry's Attitude toward Heretics 237
no. Submission of the Clergy 239
in. Act of Supremacy 243
1 12. Denial of the Authority of the Pope 244
113. Dissolution of the Monasteries 244
114. Confession made with the Surrender of a Monastery . 247
115^ Directions for Visitations of Monasteries 247
116. Letters concerning the Suppression of the Monasteries . 256
117. Summons to the Pilgrimage of Grace 263
118. Lancaster Herald's Mission to the Insurgents .... 263
119. The Six Articles 267
120. The Bible in the English Churches 269
121. Church Services to be in English 271
CHAPTER XVI THE REIGN OF EDWARD VI
122. Regulations concerning the Sacrament of the Lord's
Supper 273
123. Act of Uniformity 274
124. Against Books and Images 277
125. Journal of Edward VI 279
CHAPTER. XVII THE REACTION AGAINST PROTESTANTISM
126. Lady Jane Grey's Claim to the Throne 281
127. Execution of Lady Jane Grey 285
128. Mary's Claim to the Throne 286
I28a Reply of the Council 287
129. Mary's Status as Queen 289
130. Mary attempts to restore Church Lands 291
131. Mary's Orders for the Execution of John Hooper . . 292
132. The Burning of Ridley and Latimer 293
CHAPTER XVIII ELIZABETH
133. Classes of the People in the XVIth Century .... 298
xiv CONTENTS
134. The Anglican Standpoint 300
135. The Presbyterian Position 302
136. Whitgift's Articles touching Preachers and other Or-
ders for the Church 304
137. Puritan Demands 305
138. Privileges of Parliament 306
139. Elizabeth and Mary Stuart 307
140. Defeat of the Spanish Armada 309
141. Armada Speech of Elizabeth 310
142. Executiori of Margaret Clitherow 312
143. Death of Elizabeth 313
CHAITER XIX ELIZABETHAN SEAMEN
144. Hawkins' Third Voyage 316
145. Drake's Famous Voyage 319
146. Frobishef's First Voyage 325
147. The Beginnings of American Colonization .... 327
PART VI
THE STRUGGLE FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERN-
MENT
(1603 to 1688)
CHAPTER XX THE REIGN OF JAMES I.
148. Coronation Oath of James 1 335
149. Grown abave. the .Courts 336
150. King is above the Law 337
151. Millenary Petition 338
152. Levying a Feudal Aid 341
153. Berrevolences 342
154. James- I: and- the Commons 344
. CILAPTER XXI THE PURITAN REVOLUTION
155. The Petition of Right 348
156. First Writ of Ship-Money 352
157. Ship-Money declared Illegal 355
158. Charles I. and Strafford 357
1583 Charles I. to the House of Lords in behalf of the
Earl of Strafford 358
I58b Parliament considers King's Letter 359
159. A Summary of Grievances 360
160. The. Charge against the King 364
161. Charles refuses to Plead 366
162. The Sentence of the King 368
163. The Death Warrant of Charles 1 372
CHAPTER XXII ENGLAND A COMMONWEALTH
164. Act abolishing the Office of King 373
165. House of Lords Abolished 376
166. England declared to be a Commonwealth 376
167. Instrument of Government 377
168. Cromwell disciplines his first Parliament 387
169. Cromwell and the Kingship 389
170. Richard Cromwell becomes Lord Protector .... 392
.CHAPTER XXIII THE RESTORATION
171. Declaration oi Breda 394
172. Reception of the Declaration of Breda by Parliament . 396
173. Commons thank Sir John Grenville 397
174. Resolutions of Parliament urging the King to Return . 398
175. Beginning of Cabinet Government 398
176. Opinion of French Court concerning Members of Cabal 398
177. Habeas Corpus Act 400
178. James ll. and the Catholics 409
179. The Last Appeal .'..'.. 412
PART vn
ENGLAND A CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY
CHAPTER XXIV " THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION "
180. Memorial from the Church of England to the Prince
of Orange 417
181. The Prince of Orange reorganizes the Government . 418
182. The Lords invite William to undertake the Government 419
183. The Manner of Summoning Parliament 419
184. Answer of the Prince to the Suggestions of the Lords 420
185. William of Orange to the Commons 421
186. The Commons answer the Prince 421
187. The Prince's Address to Parliament 422
188. The Parliamentary Title of the Sovereign of England 423
189. The Bill of Rights 424
190. Act of Settlement 431
xvi CONTENTS
SECTION PACK
191. Jesuits in England under William 436
192. Dissenters in the Eighteenth Century 438
CHAPTER XXV UNION BETWEEN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND
'93- Queen Anne's Speeches on Union of England and Scot-
land 443
194. Union between England and Scotland 445
CHAPTER XXVI THE JACOBITE REBELLIONS
195. The Proclamation of James III 456
196. Landing of the Young Pretender 458
197. Escape of Prince Charles at Moy Hall 460
198. After Cullbden 462
199. Bond given by the Young Pretender 464
200. Execution of the Rebel Lords 464
CHAPTER XXVII JOHN WILKES
201. No. 45 of the " North Briton " 467
CHAPTER XXVIII AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
202. Question of Taxation 474
203. Policy of Conciliation 475
204. Right to Tax . 477
205. Character of the Colonists 480
CHAPTER XXIX UNION OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND
206. The Union Advocated 483
207. Grattan Opposes the Union 485
208. Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland . . . 487
PART VIII
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
CHAPTER XXX EMANCIPATION
209. " No-Popery " Riots 497
210. Speech of King George on Catholic Emancipation . . 500
211. Speech of the Attorney General against the Catholic
Emancipation Bill 501
212. Speech of Lord Plunkett for the Emancipation Bill . 504
CONTENTS
213. The Duke of Wellington on Emancipation 511
214. End of Jewish Disability 509
215. Oaths Act 510
216. Jewish Relief Act 513
217. End of the Slave Trade 515
CHAPTER XXXI PARLIAMENTARY REFORM
218. Speech on the First Reform Bill 519
219. Prorogation of the Anti-Reform Parliament .... 523
220. Passage of the First Reform Bill 527
CHAPTER XXXII CHARTISM AND CORN LAW REPEAL
221. First National Petition 531
222. Presentation of the National Petition 537
223. Suffering of the " Lower Classes " 537
224. Repeal of the Corn Law 539
CHAPTER XXXIII AUSTRALIA
225. Establishment of the Colony 542
226. First Penal Settlement 545
227. Discovery of Gold 549
228. Result of the Finding of Gold 551
CHAPTER XXXIV THE INDIAN EMPIRE
229. English at Surat and Bombay 554
230. Letter of Warren Hastings 557
231. Cession of India to the English Crown 562
232. Victoria, Empress of India 565
CHAPTER XXXV ENGLAND AND THE TRANSVAAL
233. Sand River Convention 583
234. Convention of Pretoria 571
235. Convention of London 580
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 587
SUBJECT INDEX 603
PART I
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SOURCES
CHAPTER I
HISTORIANS, CATALOGUES, AND COLLECTIONS
SECTION 1. THE HISTORIANS
The student of history should be able to recall without
effort the names of the principal historians of his chosen
field. With the names should be associated in his memory
the important works of those historians, and of these works
the scope and value should be known. As study becomes
more intensive and the field of research narrower or more
thoroughly explored, his bibliography of the subject should
attain a comprehensiveness that includes all available
material.
Bibliographies are too often mere collections of names,
series of titles which form a catalogue whose value varies
with the knowledge possessed as to each item. Such in-
sufficiency of equipment more often results from lack of a
true conception on the part of the student of his needs than
from unwillingness to gain the requisite knowledge.
The most extended and minute knowledge of authors and
their works is incomplete is, we may say, of little worth
unless it includes a valuation of the items of evidence
which bibliography furnishes. This appraisement must be
the work of the student himself, and by his success must be
measured his understanding of history. To acquire the
power of correctly gauging the weight of this or that his-
torian is by no means easy; but it is not impossible. The
work of critics and essayists will give views worthy of most
respectful consideration; but such work is too often special
pleading, and in the last instance the student must, as did
the critic, investigate for himself the personality, the environ-
ment, and the opportunities of the writer whose work is
under examination. Until a knowledge of these is gained,
even a study of original materials fails t6 reveal the mean-
ing and purport of history,
3
4 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
I
BOSTON", JOHN (b. : d. 1410) : Catalogtis Scriptorum
Ecclcsicc.
Valuable for its account of the libraries of England in the
fourteenth century. Of slight worth in accounts of individual
authors. The Catalogus has been reprinted in part in No.
VII. Boston is the first of the English Bibliographers.
II
LELAXD, JOHN (b. 1506; d. 1552) : DC Rebus Britannicis
Collectanea, ed. T. Henrne. Oxford, 1715. Reprinted
London, 17/0. Commcntarii dc Scriptoribus Britannicis,
ed. A. Hall. Oxford, 1709. (A continuation of De Re-
bus, etc.)
Leland has been called "the Father of English Antiqua-
ries." He was the librarian of Henry VIII., and as "King's
antiquary" was commissioned to search for records and
manuscripts in all cathedrals, colleges, abbeys and priors
of England. He was successful in his search, and his
works, of which the two principal ones are noted above, are
of great value. Although Boston (No. I) antedates Leland,
yet the latter's work was the first important English con-
tribution to bibliographical knowledge and was the foun-
dation for future publications of similar character.
Ill
BALE, JOHN (b. 1495; d. 1563): Illustriitm Majoris Bri-
tannia: Scriptorum, hoc cst, Anglicc, Cambria: ac Scotia",
Summarium. First published Ipswich, 1549. Then in
several editions at London. Notably the first ed. 1559,
under title Illustrium Majoris Britannia: Scriptorum Cata-
logus, a Japhcto sanctissimi Noah filio ad An. Dom. 1559.
Bale was educated in the Catholic faith. He became a
Protestant and a most zealous partisan. His life was a
stormy one, and his writings reflect the bitterness engendered
by the religious controversies in which he was actively en-
gaged. Despite his bias and bitterness against all writers
not of his faith, his work is yet of great value because of
the minuteness with which it describes Protestant writers
not elsewhere mentioned.
IV
PITS, JOHN (b. 1560; d. 1616) : Relationum Historicarum
de Rebus Anglicis, Tomus primus. Paris 1619. This work
is also known as De Illustribits Anglic? Scriptoribus. This
is the fourth volume of Pits' work. The first three vol-
umes have never been published. The manuscript is at
Verdun, in the library of the collegiate church.
HISTORIANS, CATALOGUES, COLLECTIONS 5
Pits was a violent Catholic partisan. His work furnishes
the antithesis to that of Bale (No. III.) It is marred by the
same suppressions, exaggerations and misrepresentations in
favour of the Catholics as occur in the work of Bale in
behalf of the Protestants. But the book is of value for its
careful and comprehensive accounts of Catholic writers and
their works.
V
CAVE, WILLIAM (b. 1637; d. 1713): Scriptorum EC-
clesiasticorum Historic, Litteraria a Christo nato usque
ad Saculum XIV, First published 1688. The best edition
is that of the Clarendon Press, 1740-1743. This contains
many additions by Cave and a continuation by Wharton
and Grey bringing the work down to 1517.
The work is in the main trustworthy. (See contra, Le-
clerc, in Bibliotheque universelle.) Cave was careful, ac-
curate, and able to avail himself of existing sources. The
volume is of especial value in its field of Church History.
VI
WARE, SIR JAMES (b. 1594; d. 1666): De Scriptoribus
Hibernia. 1639.
The first of the great bibliographies of Irish History. It
is fair, but limited in scope and lacking in detail. Superseded
by No. VII.
VII
TANNER, THOMAS (b. 1674; d. 1735): Bibliotheca Bri-
tannico-Hibernica. London, 1748, ed. D. Wilkins.
"On all questions connected with the early literature of
our nation, Tanner's Bibliotheca, notwithstanding its many
omissions, defects and redundancies, is still the highest au-
thority to which the inquirer can refer." See Hardy in No.
VIII. The Bibliotheca is based on original research, and yet
due regard was paid to the work of Leland, Bale and Pits.
For details regarding later historians consult Allibone, S.
A., Critical Dictionary of English Literature, with supple-
ment by J. F. Kirk ; Lee's Dictionary of National Biography,
and other cyclopaedic works.
SECTION 2. CATALOGUES OF SOURCES
Catalogues of Sources are indispensable to the student.
Their uses are varied. The student who is acquainted with
the name of an author or editor turns to the catalogues for
6 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
an enumeration of his works, their contents, and a synopsis
of particulars regarding editions, times and places of publi-
cation, and reviews, comments, and criticisms; or the name
of the work is taken as a basis of research and the same
results are obtained. Again, the investigator may desire
to obtain an estimate of the critical value of a work, in a con-
densed form and apart from the point of view of essays and
reviews. Lastly, the student may desire to gain a knowledge
of the literature upon a given subject, and this is to be found
in the catalogues. I have below given references to the most
useful works in this field ; but the student should supplement
these and keep abreast of current literature by reference to
the Annual Annotated Bibliography of English History,
edited by W. D. Johnston. This has been published in both
card and pamphlet form by the American Library Associa-
tion. It will henceforth be found in the Annual Report of
the American Historical Association. Knowledge of the
valuable contributions upon present historical questions may
be obtained by reference to Poole and Fletcher's Index to
Periodical Literature, and also to the Cumulative Index.
The student, however, must not rest content with these
sources of information. They will serve for the preparation
of the skeleton bibliography, the construction of which should
always precede serious historical investigation; but this
framework must be clothed from the references to be found
in footnotes and bibliographical lists attached to works upon
his chosen field. Information thus obtained is more directly
referred to its proper place, and assigned its exact value and
application, than is possible in any general catalogue.
VIII
HARDY, THOMAS DUFFUS: A Descriptive Catalogue
of Manuscripts relating to the History of Great Britain
and Ireland. Published 1862-1891 in the Rolls Series
(No. XXXI) in 3 volumes. Vol. I (2 pts.), 1066;
Vol. II, 1066-1200; Vol. Ill, 1200-1327. Vol. I, pt. 2, con-
tains a catalogue of printed source material up to date of
publication.
This catalogue is of the greatest value. It furnishes in
concise form a mass of indispensable data. It is, and must
for years 'remain, the basis of bibliographical study in early
English, history. A supplement to Vol. I, Part 2, is needed,
. . but the student jean without difficulty supply the break from
1862 to this present date.
HISTORIANS, CATALOGUES, COLLECTIONS 7
IX
WATT'S BIBLIOTHECA BRITANNICA: A General In-
dex to British and Foreign Literature, ed. R. Watt. Edin-
burgh, 1824.
This catalogue is a mine of information. It is indexed
by authors and subjects.
X
LOWNDES, WILLIAM THOMAS (b. 1800; d. 1843):
The Bibliographer's Manual of English Literature, ed. H.
G. Bohn. London, 1864.
This series (n vols. I2mo) is of great value. Its scope
is indicated by the sub-title: "An Account of rare, curious,
and useful books, published in or relating to Great Britain
and Ireland, from the invention of printing; with biograph-
ical and critical notices, collations of the rarer articles and
the prices at which they have been sold in the present cen-
tury." The appendix volume is especially useful ; it contains
"An Account of books issued by literary and scientific so-
cieties and printing clubs ; books printed at private presses ;
privately printed series; and the principal literary and scien-
tific serials."
XI
THE ENGLISH CATALOGUE of Books published from
1835 to January 1863. Comprising the Contents of the
London and the British Catalogues, etc., etc. London,
1864.
This series has been continued to date. Although it leaves
much to be desired, it is invaluable. Its appendix continues
the work of Lowndes (No. X) in cataloguing publications
of learned societies. It thus bridges the gap between
Lowndes and the Official Year Book of the Scientific and
Learned Societies, which was begun in 1884. The scope of
this series is shown by the sub-title of its continuations :
"An Alphabetical List of Works published in the United
Kingdom and of the Principal Works published in America.
With dates of Publication, Indications of Size, Price, Edi-
tions and Publishers' names." For earlier record of printed
books see the catalogues -of Maunsell (1595) A Catalogue
of certaine books (1631), London (1658), Clavell (1666-
1695), Bent's General Catalogue (1786), London Catalogue
(1811-1855) continued by No. XI. See also The American
Catalogue.
XII
GROSS, CHARLES: Bibliography of British Municipal
History, including Gilds and Parliamentary Representa-
tion. Published in Harvard Historical Studies, 1897.
8 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Sources and Literature of English History from the
Earliest Times to about 1485. New York, 1900.
The most modern, the most illuminating, and withal the
most satisfactory works within their chosen fields.
In addition to the class of works included above, there are
a number of most helpful volumes upon modern historians.
These do not pretend to be as scientific in treatment or as
inclusive in scope as those numbered from I to XII and yet
should be within access of students. Among them I would
enumerate :
XIII
ADAMS, C. K. : Manual of Historical Literature. New
York, 1888.
This work comprises "brief descriptions of the most im-
portant histories." It is a helpful work, and from it may
be obtained impartial and accurate estimates of historical
values.
The Manual was first published in 1882. No thorough re-
vision has been made. The revision of 1888 was not a com-
plete one. A new edition of this valuable book is needed.
XIV
SONNENSCHEIN, W. S.: Best Books. A Reader's Guide
to the choice of the Best Available Books in every depart-
ment of Science, Art, and Literature (about 50,000 titles)
doum to 1800, with prices and numerous notes. London,
1889. Also, by same editor, A Reader's Guide to Con-
temporary Literature being the first supplement to Best
Books. London, 1894.
These volumes are of the greatest value. They are not
only useful for historical purposes, but furnish a wealth of
bibliographical information upon the multitude of questions
arising in the study of history. Such knowledge is in-
dispensable to the thorough student. The student should
know Brunet, J. C. : Manuel du Librairc, Paris; also Ebert,
F. A.: Allgcmcines bibliographischcs Lexikon, Leipzig.
1821-30.
The student will find much biographical information in
a book whose title would seem to limit it to a particular
library, but whose application is not so confined. It is
Hand-list of Bibliographies, classified Catalogues and In-
dexes placed in the Reading Room of the British Museum
for Reference. See also Richard Sims' Hand-Book to the
library of the British Museum.
HISTORIANS, CATALOGUES, COLLECTIONS
SECTION 3 GREAT COLLECTIONS OF MATERIALS
The manuscript sources of English history for the periods
after the Norman Conquest are abundant and valuable.
Through the labours of scores of scholars, working, not for
gain, but for the advancement of historical science, the
student has at his disposal critical editions of a large part of
the most important sources. These texts have been prepared
with an erudition and exhaustiveness that is unsurpassed,
perhaps unequalled, in like critical work. The texts have in
many cases been issued in collections and series, and it is my
purpose in this section to give a general statement of the
characters of the most important, and to indicate where, de-
tailed information concerning them can be found. The
edited texts and single translations are enumerated in sec-
tions 4 to 10 inclusive. Certain students may shrink from
an examination of untranslated sources; and I think it in
place to encourage them by the statement that the most ele-
mentary knowledge of Latin can because of the simplicity
of style, the limitations of vocabulary, and the copious notes
and special glossaries of the edited texts easily master the
materials which are not in English.
XV
ABBOTSFORD CLUB PUBLICATIONS.
This club was instituted at Edinburgh, 1835. Its purpose
is the publication of miscellaneous works, illustrative of
history, literature and antiquities. Its field of work is Scot-
land. For list of publications, see Nos. VIII and X and so-
cieties' catalogues. These latter should be consulted in look-
ing up every reference herein given to publications of learned
societies; also No. XI (appendix) and the Official Year
Book for work of existing societies.
XVI
ACTA SANCTORUM: quotquot toto orbe coluntur, vel a
catholicis scriptoribus celebrantur, ex Latinis et Greeds;
aliarumque gentium antiquis monumentis collecta, digesta,
notisque illustrata ab J. Bollando et al. Antwerp, 1643-
1794-
This gigantic work is a mine of information upon the
lives of the saints, but it is chiefly valuable to the secular
historian for the light thrown upon the times of the charac-
ters described. For catalogue of British saints discussed in
No. XVI, see No. VIII under title Ada Sanctorum.
io SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
XVII
.ELFRIC SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS.
This society was instituted in London, 1843, for the pur-
pose of publishing Anglo-Saxon and other literary monu-
ments, both civil and ecclesiastical, tending to illustrate the
early state of England. See Nos. VIII and X.
XVIII
ANGLIA SACRA: sire collcctio Historiarum, partim anti-
quitns, partim rcccntcr scriptarum, de Archiepiscopis ct
Episcopis Anglicr, a prima Fidci Christiana; susccptionc
ad annum MDXL, ed. H. Wharton. London, 1691.
For the contents of this set, whose scope is explained by
its title, see No. VIII.
XIX
ARCFLEOLOGIA. Published by the Society of Anti-
quaries.
The society probably developed from a society which was
founded in 1572. Its publications are valuable and chiefly
relate to the early and middle period of English history.
The catalogue of this series will be found in No. VIII. This
series must not be confounded with the publications of
the scores of Archaeological Societies that exist in Great
Britain. Many of these series are of great value. See No. X.
XX
BALUZE, S. : Miscellanea, novo ordine digesta ct non pau-
cis incditis monumentis opportiinisqtie animadversionibns
aiicta, opera ac studio Joannis Dominici Mansi, Lncensis.
Lucae, 1761.
Contains various documents not elsewhere so readily ac-
cessible. Has been superseded by later works for which see
No. VIII.
XXI
BANNATYNE CLUB PUBLICATIONS.
This club was organized at Edinburgh, 1823, with the
object of printing rare works illustrative of Scottish history,
topography, etc. Club was dissolved, 1861. Its publications
are of value. For catalogue, see Nos. VIII and X.
XXII
BOUQUET: Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la
France, ed. M. Bouquet. Paris, 1738-1855.
HISTORIANS, CATALOGUES, COLLECTIONS 11
The record of early Gaul and France and England as
traced by contemporary and early historians. Valuable for
texts of chronicles and histories by English and Norman
authors. For contents relating to England, see No. VIII.
This series is sometimes cited as Rerum Gallicarum et Fran-
cicarum Scriptores.
XXIII
BRITISH RECORD SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS.
This society was founded, in 1898, for the purpose of fur-
nishing such information as well as rendering the records
more accessible. Publications of value. See note to No. XV.
XXIV
CALENDARS OF STATE PAPERS.
The State Papers spring from three great and original
sources ; namely, the offices of the Secretaries of State for
the Foreign, the Colonial, and the Home Departments. In
the State Paper office they are classified under their several
denominations, those emanating from the Home Depart-
ment being technically called the Domestic Papers. The
multitude of State Papers presents a vast field of valuable
material. The student, to whom the papers were accessible,
would without a guide be lost in their mazes. Such a
guide is to be found in the valuable Calendars of State Pa-
pers. These catalogue the documents and abstract their con-
tents with a completeness that relieves the ordinary student
from the task of examining the manuscripts themselves. The
calendars commence with the reign of Henry VIII. They
extend, though in broken sequence, to the close of the
eighteenth century.
XXV
CAMDEN: Anglica, Hibernica, Normannica, Cambrica, a
veteribus scripta, etc. etc., ed. W. Camden. 1602.
This set, as also No. XVIII, has been in part superseded
by No. XXXI ; but it is still of great value to those to whom
No. XXXI is not accessible. For contents of No. XIX,
see No. VIII.
XXVI
CAMDEN SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS.
This society was instituted in London, 1838, for the pur-
pose of perpetuating and rendering accessible "whatever is
valuable, but at present little known, amongst the materials
for the civil, ecclesiastical or literary history of the United
Kingdom." The work of this society is of great value. Its
scope has, since the projection of the Rolls Series (No.
12 SOURCE-BOOK Ol>' ENGLISH HISTORY
XXXI), been devoted to the materials of the i6th, i/th and
i8th centuries. Its publications contain a mass of informa-
tion not elsewhere accessible. See lists of the society's publi-
cations and Descriptive Catalogue of the First series (1838
to 1870) ed. J. G. Nichols, Nos. VIII and X. Do not
catalogue the series beyond 1862-64. See XIV, Supplement,
and Official Year Book. Also No. XL
XXVII
CANISIUS: Thesaurus Monnmcntornm Ecclcsiasticorum ct
Historiconim, siz'c Hcnrici Canisii Lcctioncs Antiqufc, ad
Sfcculorum Ordincm digests, variisquc opusculis auctcc,
quibus Prccfationcs Historicas, Animadvcrsioncs criticas,
ct Notas in singiilos auctorcs, adjccit Jacobus Basnagc;
cum Indicibus locuplctissimis. Antucrpicc, apud Rudol-
phum ct Gcrhardum Wctstcnios. 1725.
This work in the above, or in the Ingoldstat edition of
1601-1604, ' s of value where more modern texts are inacces-
sible ; it has, however, been superseded by them. For con-
tents, see No. VIII.
XXVIII
CAXTON SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS.
This society was instituted in London, 1845, for the pur-
pose of publishing the chronicles and literature of the
Middle Ages. Its publications have not equaled those of No.
XXIII in critical value, but they are useful and in the main
accurate. For contents, see No. VIII and note to No. XV.
XXIX
CHETHAM SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS
This society was instituted at Manchester, 1843, for the
purpose of publishing the historical and literary remains
connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and
Chester. In its chosen field the publications of the society
possess unique value. For contents, see No. VIII and note
to No. XV.
XXX
COBBETT, WILLIAM: The Parliamentary History of
England from the earliest period to the year 1803.
This work supersedes (a) Parliamentary or Constitutional
History ... by several hands. London, 1751-61, as well as
all previous collections dealing with proceedings on Parlia-
ment. Yet where Cobbett's work is inaccessible the early
collections are of great importance. Of these the student
should in any case be familiar with (>) D'Ewes' Journals
HISTORIANS, CATALOGUES, COLLECTIONS 13
of the Parliaments of Queen Elisabeth, (c) Chandler and
Timberland's Debates, (d) Grey's Debates of the House
of Commons from 1667 to 1694. (e) Almons' Debates, (f)
Debrett's Debates, (f) Parry's The Parliaments and Coun-
cils of England. See for other early debates No. X.
The work of Cobbett is continued by No. XLII.
XXXI
CHRONICLES AND MEMORIALS: Chronicles and
Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the Middle
Ages.
This collection is usually cited as the ROLLS SERIES.
It is of the highest value. Its contents see VIII and Lists
of series - are of such scholarly rank as to possess the
highest authority, and the texts therein contained supersede
all previous editions. The scope of the series extends from
the invasion of the Romans to the end of the reign of
Henry VII. The texts have been edited after the following
plan : Texts not to be mutilated or abridged, accepted text
to be formed from collation of most authentic manuscripts.
Accompanying the texts are valuable introductions, in which
may be found an account of the manuscripts, their peculiari-
ties, account of the life and times of the author, as well as
remarks explaining the chronology.
XXXII
COLGANUS, J. : Acta Sanctorum Hibernia, per Joannem
Colganum edit a. Lovania, 1645-47.
Of considerable interest in its field. For contents, see
No. VIIL
XXXIII
COLLECTANyE ADAMANT/EA
This small series, begun by E. Goldsmith, Edinburgh, in
1884, reproduces a number of rare texts; they are in most
cases translated as well as edited.
XXXIV
COUNCILS AND ECCLESIASTICAL DOCUMENTS
Under this head seven series are included because of their
especial importance.
(A) CARD WELL, E. : Documentary Annals of the
Reformed Church of England, being a Collection of In-
junctions, Declarations, Orders, Articles of Inquiry, etc.
etc., from 1546 to 1716. Oxford, 1839.
See also Sparrow's Collection. London, 1661, and later
editions.
1 4 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
(B) CARDWELL, E. : Synodalia, a Collection of Ar-
ticles of Religion, Canons and Proceedings of Convoca-
tions in the Province of Canterbury from 7547 to 7777,
with notes historical and explanatory. Oxford, 1842.
Invaluable for history of convocations.
(BB) GIBSON'S CODEX: Codex Juris Ecclesiastici
Anglicani, or the Statutes, Constitutions, Canons, Ru-
bricks and Articles of the Church of England, etc., etc., etc.
Ed. E. Gibson. London, 1703.
A valuable work.
(C) HADDAN, A. W., AND STUBBS, W.: Councils
and Ecclesiastical Documents relating to Great Britain
and Ireland. Oxford, 1869 et seq.
This series is most valuable within its scope, which ends
870, for the British Church. With 1295 for the Welsh and
1072 for the Cornish.
(>) JOHNSON, J.: A Collection of the Laws and
Canons of the Church of England from its first Foundation
to 1519. Translated into English with explanatory notes.
London, 1720. Oxford, 1850.
Though not entirely satisfactory, this series bridges the
gap between XXXIV (C) and XXXIV (A) and (B). Con-
tains Lynwood's notes.
(E) LYNWOOD, W. : Provincialc sen Constitutions
Anglicc, continens Constitutions Provinciates XIV archi-
cpiscoporum Cantuaricnsium, viz. a Stephana Langtono ad
Henricum Chichlc'ium. Oxford, 1470-80. Best edition,
cui adiicuntur constitutioncs Legating Dom. Othonis et
Othotonis [John of Actona's Gloss]. Oxford, 1679.
Only complete view of Ecclesiastical Jurisprudence before
the Reformation in England.
(F) SPELMAN, H. : Concilia, Decreta, Leges, Consti-
tutioncs, in re Ecclcsiarum Orbis Britannici ab initio
Christiana ibidem Religionis ad nostram usque cetatam.
1st vol. London, 1669. lid vol. ed. C. Spelman, London,
1664.
The scope of this work extends to 1530. It is not only
valuable in itself, but should be used in conjunction with th
translated documents in XXXIV A, B, D.
HISTORIANS, CATALOGUES, COLLECTIONS 15
(G) WILKINS, D. : Concilia magnce Britannia et Hi-
bernice. Accedunt constitutions et alia. London, 1737.
Still valuable.
(H) JAFFE, P.: Regesta Pontificum Romanorum.
Leipzig, 1885.
Papal Letters from 64-1198.
(/) POTTHAST, A. : Regesta Pontificum Romanorum.
Berlin, 1873-75.
Papal Letters from 1198-1304.
XXXV
D'ARCHERY, D. L. : Spicilegium sive Collectio veterum
aliquot Scriptorum qui in Gallia Bibliothecis delituerant,
etc., etc. Paris, 1723.
Of interest because of the rare letters it contains. For
contents, see No. VIII. This manuscript is supplemented
by Vetera Analecta; see No. VIII for title and contents.
XXXVI
DUGDALES MONASTICON: Monasticon Anglicanum,
William Dugdale, ed. Caley, Bandinel and Ellis. London,
1817-1830.
This work is indispensable to a study of the ecclesiastical
history of England and Wales. It covers the period from
the institution to the dissolution of the monasteries. See
note to No. XV.
XXXVII
EARLY ENGLISH TEXT SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS.
This society was founded, in 1864, for the purpose of edit-
ing and reprinting the texts of early English writers. The
publications of the society are useful. See note to No. XV.
XXXVIII
ENGLISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS.
This society was instituted in 1837 for the purpose of
publishing the results of bibliographical and chronological
investigations. Before its dissolution the society issued
several texts, which are valuable when other editions are un-
procurable. For contents, see No. X and note to No. XV.
16 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
XXXIX
EXCERPTA HISTORICA; or Illustrations of Engi.s'..
History, ed. S. Bentley. London, 1831.
Contains a variety of interesting documents which, though
of secondary importance, are of value as illustrating phases
of history. For contents, see No. VIII.
XL
FASTI ECCLESI/E ANGLICAN/E; or, a Calendar of
the Principal Dignitaries in England and Wales, and of
the chief Officers in the University of Oxford and Cam-
bridge from the eariest times to the year 171$, ed. John
Le Neve. Ed. and cont. by T. D. Hardy. Oxford, 1854.
An indispensable work of reference in its field. See also
Fasti Ecclcsicc Hibcrnicc, ed. Cotton. London, 1858.
XLI
HAKLUYT SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS.
This society was organized in London, 1846, for the pur-
pose of publishing rare and valuable voyages, travels and
geographical records. Its purpose has been well carried out.
Its publications are of the highest value and should be known
to every student. See Nos. VIII, X and note to No. XV.
XLII
HANSARD, T. C. : Parliamentary Debates, from the year
1803 to the present time: forming a continuation of the
work entitled "The Parliamentary history of England
from the earliest period to the year 1803" [No. XXX].
London, 1812-20. New Series, London, 1820-30. Third
Series, London, 1831-91. Fourth Series, London, 1892-96.
Fifth Series, now in course of publication.
This series, and that numbered XXX, are invaluable.
Parliamentary history can best be followed in their volumes.
See also No. XLVII.
XLIII
HARLEIAN MISCELLANY: a collection of scarce, cu-
rious and entertaining tracts, ed. Oldys and Park. London,
1808.
These volumes contain a mass of material of varying value
yet of uniform interest. The student will find much that
will be helpful. These volumes should not be confounded
with those issued by the Harlcian Society, which was in-
stituted for the publication of inedited manuscripts relating
to genealogy, family history and heraldry.
HISTORIANS, CATALOGUES, COLLECTIONS 17
XLIV
HENRY BRADSHAW SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS.
This society was founded, in 1890, for the purpose of
printing and editing rare liturgical texts. Its work is im-
portant. See note to No. XV.
XLV
IMPERIAL INSTITUTE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM,
THE COLONIES AND INDIA PUBLICATIONS.
This society was founded, in 1887, for the purpose of col-
lecting and publishing, both by lectures and books, informa-
tion regarding the Empire. The work of the society is valu-
able for contemporaneous record and future possibilities.
See note to No. XV.
XLVI
IRISH HISTORICAL SOCIETIES.
The work of the numerous societies is of value, and the
student should consult No. X for the publications of the
Iberno-Celtic Society (bibliographical), the Irish Archae-
ological, and the Irish Archaeological and Celtic Societies,
both devoted to the publication of materials for the study of
Irish History. See also No. LVI and note to No. XV.
XLVII
JOURNALS: (a) House of Commons; (&) House of Lords.
(a) Journals of the House of Commons. London.
(&) Journals of the House of Lords. London.
These extremely valuable series extend from 1547 to date.
They are indexed and in some instances calendared ; for de-
tails, see No. IX. They should be consulted in connection
with Nos. XXX and XLII.
XL VIII
LAWS AND STATUTES.
(A} Anglo-Saxon Period. See No. XCL
(B) Norman Period. In addition to volumes numbered
CIV, CV, and CVI, see The Sources of the Law of Eng-
land, by H. Brunner, trans. W. Hastie. Edinburgh, 1888.
(C) From 1215.
(a) Statutes of the Realm, ed. A. Luders, T. E.
Tomlins and others. London, 1810-22.
Statutes from 1215 to 1713. Preceded by several
earlier charters. Contains valuable introduction on le-
gal bibliography.
i8 SOURCE-BOOK OP ENGLISH HISTORY
(b) Statutes at Large from Magna Charta, ed. O.
Ruffhead and others. London, 1763-1800.
From 1215 to 1800.
(c) Statutes at Large of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, ed. T. E. Tomlins and
others. London, 1804-69.
From 1801-1869.
(d) Public General Statutes.
From 1830-1887.
(e) Public General Acts. Published by Authority.
1888 and following.
From these editions may he studied the sequence of legis-
lation and the detail of acts from the earliest records to the
present annual publications. In addition to the series men-
tioned there are series of Revised Statutes published by
authority. These are not as valuable for historical research,
as they do not contain obsolete statutes. Abridgments and
other private editions of the laws are of even less value from
the historical standpoint. The series named are well in-
dexed and see for this Gross. Bibliography of Municipal
History, No. IX as well as works therein mentioned on page
13 et seq.
The student should make himself familiar with the prin-
cipal series of reports and also with accounts of trials in
the various courts.
XLIX
LETTERS.
Various important collections of letters have been made.
See the titles in chapter II, also No. VIII.
L
MABILLON: Ada Sanctorum Ordinis Sancti Bcnedicti in
Sccculorum Classes distribute . . . Paris, 1688-1701. Venice
(reprint), 1733.
This work is of value. VIII does not give full list of the
lives of the British saints in L, but the exclusion is judicious,
as all lives not based upon manuscript sources are excluded.
LI
MAITLAND CLUB PUBLICATIONS.
This club was instituted at Glasgow in 1828 for the pur-
pose of printing works illustrative of the antiquities, liter-
ature and history of Scotland. See Nos. VIII, X and so-
cieties catalogues. See also Wodrow Society Publications
catalogue in No. X and No. VIII.
HISTORIANS, CATALOGUES, COLLECTIONS IQ
LII
MANX SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS.
This society was instituted at Douglas, Isle of Man, in
1858, for the purpose of publishing materials for the history
of Soder and Man. The publications afford valuable light
in an obscure field.
LIII
MESSINGHAM, THOMAS: Florilegium Insulcc Sancto-
rum sett Vitas et Acta Sanctorum Hibcrnia:.
For contents, see VIII. For additional lives of the saints
and from such writings much of the detail of early his-
tory may be obtained see Capgrave's Nova Lcgcnda Anglia-
(see No. VIII, p. 736 and note). See Pinkerton's Vita;
Antiques Sanctorum Scotice (contents stated in No. VIII).
LIV
MIGNE, L'ABBE: Patriologicc Cursus Completus. Paris,
1844-1855. Part of this set exists in a French translation.
This monumental series contains well edited texts of the
works of the early English writers, and also valuable cor-
respondence. See No. VIII for contents.
LV
MONUMENTA HISTORICA BRITANNICA, or Materials
for the History of Britain, ed. H. Petrie and J. Sharpe.
London, 1848.
A valuable work. Of particular interest because of the
material bearing upon earliest British history.
LVI
OSSIANIC SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS.
This society was instituted at Dublin, 1853, for the purpose
of preserving and of publishing manuscripts in the Irish
language illustrative of the Fenian period of Irish history . . .
with literal translations and notes. The publications are of
great interest. See No. X. See also No. XLVI and note
to No. XV.
LVII
PARKER SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS.
This society was instituted at Cambridge, 1840, for the
purpose of reprinting without abridgment, alteration, and
omission, of the best works of the Fathers and early writers
of the Reformed English Church, published in the period
between the accession of King Edward VI. and the death of
Queen Elizabeth. See Nos. VIII, X, and note to No. XV.
20 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
LVIII
PARLIAMENTARY WRITS and writs of military sum-
mons . . . relating to the suit and service due and performed
to the King's Jiigh court of Parliament and the councils of
the realm, or affording evidence of attendence given at
Parliaments and councils, ed. F. Palgrave. No. XXXI.
London, 1827-1834.
Of this work Professor Gross well says: "The most elabo-
rate source for the study of parliamentary history in the
reigns of Edward I. and Edward II." See also W. Prynne's
A brief register, kalcnder. and survey of the several kinds
[and] forms of all parliamentary wits. London, 1659-64.
Examples extend to 1483. In connection with Parliamentary
Writs, see Parliamentary Papers, 1878, vol. Ixii, parts i-iii.
London, 1878. for a Return of the name of every member
of the lower house of the Parliaments of England, Scotland,
and Ireland, with name of constituency represented, and date
of return, from 1213 to 1874. Also Parliamentary Papers,
1890-91, vol. Ixii, London, 1891, which contains the foregoing
to 1885. See also the critical examination of above compila-
tions by W. W. Bean in the Parliamentary Returns . . .
London, 1883.
LIX
PIPE ROLL SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS.
This society was instituted in London, in 1883, for the
purpose of publishing the Great Rolls of the Exchequer,
commonly called the Pipe Rolls, and other documents prior
to the year A.D. 1200. The rolls begin in 2 Hen. II., and ex-
tend with but two breaks (i Hen. III. and 7 Hen. IV. this
break is filled by other records ) to 1833. The Rolls are
of great value. One not in sequence, that of 31 Hen. I., is
the oldest national document, except Doomsday book, now
in existence. The student should make himself familiar with
the Charter, Close, Hundred, Patent, Plea, and other Rolls.
See Nos. VIII and X (p. 22 et seq.), and note to No. XV.
LX
RECORD COMMISSION PUBLICATIONS.
Under the term "Records" Messrs. Gardiner and Mul-
linger, in their exceedingly valuable little text-book English
History for Students, include "(O Inrolmcnts which are
intended to be official and authentic records of lawful acts
made by the proper officer of any court upon rolls, or, in
some case, in official entry-books of the same court; (2)
Memorandum of acts or instruments brought into the proper
office of any court by parties interested therein (or by their
agents) either in the form of rolls or otherwise, and pre-
HISTORIANS, CATALOGUES, COLLECTIONS 21
served in bundles or on files; (3) Books of entries, contain-
ing memorandum of acts, etc., entered by officers of the
court; (4) State papers, which form a distinct branch of the
records."
The publications of the Commission include The Corre-
spondence of Henry VIIL (abstracted in No. XXII), The
Statutes of the Realm (No. XLVIII, C, a), The Doomsday
Book (No. XCI, D), Ancient Laws and Institutes (No.
XCI, A), and various other important publications, notably
indexes, catalogues, and transcripts. See Record Com-
mission Catalogue (Macmillan & Co. will send on request).
See Handbook to the Public Records, ed. F. S. Thomas,
Lond. 1853, and Guide to Principal Classes of Documents
preserved in Public Record office, ed. R. S. Bird.
(ROLLS SERIES. See No. XXX.)
LXI
ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS.
This society was founded in London, in 1868. Its publi-
cations are varied in subject and of unequal value. They
furnish, however, much information of importance that is
not elsewhere obtainable. Consult the publications of the
Royal Society (not to be confounded with No. LXI) for
history of the progress of science. See note to No. XV.
LXII
SCOTTISH HISTORY SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS.
This society was instituted, in 1886, at Edinburgh for the
purpose of discovering and printing, under selected editor-
ship, unpublished documents illustrative of the civil, religious,
and social history of Scotland. Its publications are valuable.
See note to No. XV.
LXIII
SCRIPTORES
The items under this head are numerous. In the various
series may be found, with scant exceptions, all the texts of
the writers of the pre-printing epoch in English history. The
student should be informed as to the contents of the various
series and their critical value. See No. VIIL The names
of the principal sets are here given.
(a) Scriptores post Bedam, ed. Savile. London, 1596.
Frankfort, 1601.
(&) Scriptores Dec em, Histories Anglicance, ed. Twys-
den. London, 1652.
22 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
(c) Scriptorcs Rcrum Anglicarum, ed. Fulman. Ox-
ford, 1684.
(</) Scriptorcs XV, Historicc Britanniccc, Saxoniccc, An-
glo-Danic(c, ed. Gale. Oxford, 1691.
(c ) Scriptures Varii, Historicc Anglicancc, ed. Sparkes.
London, 1/23.
(f) Scriptorcs Vctustiorcs, Rcrum Britannic arum, id
est Anglicc, Scoticc, vicinarumquc insularum ac regionum,
ed. Conimelin. Heidelberg, 1587.
(g) Scriptorcs Normannicc, ed. Duchesne. Paris, 1619.
(/) Scriptorcs Vctcrcs rcrum Hibcrnicarum, ed. O'Con-
or. Buckingham, 1804-1806.
(*) Scriptorcs Rcrum Danicarum Mcdii JEvi, ed.
Langebek. Hafinise, 1772.
LXIV
SELDEN SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS.
This society was founded, in 1887, for the purpose of en-
couraging the study and advancing the knowledge of the
history of English Law. Its objects in detail are "the print-
ing of manuscript and of new editions and translations of
books having an important bearing on English legal history;
the collection of materials for dictionaries of Anglo-French
and of law terms; the collection of materials for a history of
English law," etc. etc. The works of the society are of the
highest importance. See note to No. XV.
LXV
SPALDING CLUB PUBLICATIONS.
This Club was instituted at Aberdeen, 1839, for the pur-
pose of printing the historical, ecclesiastical, genealogical,
topographical, and literary remains of the' North-Eastern
counties of Scotland. See Nos. VIII, X, and the society
catalogues. In connection with Scottish history, see the
Scottish Burgh Record Society (note to No. XV).
LXVI
SURTEES SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS.
This society was instituted at Durham, 1834. for the pur-
pose of publishing inedited manuscripts illustrative of the
intellectual, the moral, the religious, and the social condition
of those parts of England and Scotland included on the East
between the Humber and the Firth of Forth, and on the West
between the Mersey and the Clyde the ancient kingdom of
Northumbria. The publications of this society are interest-
ing and of peculiar value within its chosen field. See Soc.
Catgs., also Nos. VIII and X, and note to No. XV.
HISTORIANS, CATALOGUES, COLLECTIONS 23
LXVII
THESAURUS NOVUS ANECDOTORUM: Complectens
Regum ac Principum, aliorumque Virorum illustrium Epis-
tolas ct Diplomata bene mult a, Prodiit nunc primum studio
et opera Domni Edmundi Martene et Domni Ursini Du-
rand . . . 1717.
Contains much interesting material. For catalogue, see
No. VIII, also No. LXIX.
LXVIH
TREATIES AND CONVENTIONS
(A) RYMER'S FCEDERA: Fcedera, Conventions,
liters, ct cujuscumque generis Ada, Publica, inter Reges
Anglicc et alias quosvis Irnperatores, Reges, Pontifices,
Principes, vel communitatcs . . ., ed. T. Rymer (14 vols.),
R. Sanderson (last 6 vols.). London, 1704-35. Several
other editions. The best is that edited by A. Clarke and
others for Record Commission. The Series is indexed
and commented upon in Syllabus of Documents in Rymer's
Fcedera, ed. T. D. Hardy. No. XXXI. 1869-85.
Rymer's Fcedera commences with noi and concludes with
1654. It is invaluable in its chosen field, which, as stated in
the instructions to Thomas Rymer, the historiographer royal,
was : the transcription and publication of all leagues, treaties,
alliances, capitulations, and confederacies which had at any
time been made between the crown of England and other
kingdoms. The last volume of Fcedera is not full, and the
work must be supplemented by No. LXVIII, B.
(B) DUMONT'S: Corps Universel Diplomatique du
Droit des Gens: Contenant un Recueil des Traitez d' Al-
liance, de Paix, de Treve, de Neutralite, de Commerce,
d'Echange, etc., etc., depuis le Regne de VEmpereur Charle-
magne jusques a present, par J. Dumont. Continued by
Barbeyrac and Rousset. Amsterdam, 1739.
This work continues the record of treaties from 315 to
1730. Then consult No. LXVIII, C. See also Histoire des
Traites de Paix et autres negotiations du dix-septieme siecle,
depuis la paix de Veruins jusqu'a la paix de Nimigue, Am-
sterdam, 1725. Also Negotiations Secretes, The Hague,
1725-1726.
(C) WENCK'S: Corpus Juris Gentium Recentissimi e
tabulariorum exemplorumque fide dignorum mottumentis
SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
compositus . . . Fred. Aug. Gid. IVcnkii . . . Towns Primus
continens diplomata indc ab anno MDCCXXXV usque ad
annum MDCCXLII. Lipscc, MDCCLXXXI. Ill, 1743
to 1753. Ill, 1753 to 1772.]
The student will next consult No. LXVIII, D.
(D) MARTEN'S RECUEIL and continuations: Rc-
cucil dc Traitcs d'Alliancc, dc Paix, dc Trcvc, dc Neutra-
lite, dc Commerce, dc Limitcs, d'Echangc, etc., ct plusicurs
autrcs actes servant a la connaissancc dcs relations ctran-
gcrcs des Puissances et etats dc I'Europc tant dans leur
rapport miitucl quc dans ccliti envers Ics Puissances et
ctats dans d'autrcs parties du Globe depuis 1761 jusqu'a
present [//o#], par Gco. Fred, de Martens. Seconde edi-
tion, revue ct augmcntce. Gottingen, 1817.
() Nouveau Rccueil . . . depuis 1808 jusqu'a present
[1874] . . . Martens [to 1817 continuations by Murhard,
Samwer and Hopfe.
(F) Nouveau Supplements an Rccueil dc Traitcs, by
Murhard [covers 1761-1839].
(G) Nouveau Rccueil General . . . Continuation du
Grand Rccueil [that of Martens et al.] . . . Dcuxicmc
Scric [by Samwer, Hopfe and Stoerk]. Gottingen and
Leipzig, 1876 ct seq. Covers period from 1853 to date and
still in progress.
Full indexes and extensive supplements accompany these
volumes (D) to (G) inclusive.
(//) HERTSLET'S COMMERCIAL TREATIES: A
Complete Collection of the Treaties and Conventions and
Reciprocal Regulations at present subsisting between Great
Britain and Foreign Powers and of the Laws, Decrees and
Orders in Council concerning the same; as far as they relate
to Commerce and Navigation, to the Repression and Aboli-
tion of the Slave Trade and to the Privileges and Interests
of the subjects, of the high contracting parties. Compiled
from authentic documents by Lewis Hcrtslet, Librarian and
Keeper of the Papers, foreign office. London, 1840-1885.
This important series has a full double index, arranged
by subjects and by dates. Various other series of treaties
have been published ; see note in Encyclopedia Britannica.
9th edition. At present, all treaties, not secret, are pub-
lished in the London Gazette and in Parliamentary reports.
HISTORIANS, CATALOGUES, COLLECTIONS 25
LXIX
VETERUM SCRIPTORUM et Monument orum, Histori-
corum, Dogmaticorum, Moralium, Amplissirna Collectio.
Complectcns Re gum et Principum aliorumque virorum
illustrium Epistolas et Diplomata bene multa. Prodiit
nunc primum studeo et opera Domni Edmundi Martene,
et Domni Ursini Durand, presbytcrorum et monachorum
Benedictinorum e Congregratione S. Mauri. Paris, 1724.
Contains a mass of material. See No. LXVII. For con-
tents, see No. VIII.
LXX
WELSH MANUSCRIPTS.
The four principal societies for the publication of Welsh
manuscripts are :
(a) Cambrian Archaeological Association, inst. 1846.
(b) Cambrian Institute, inst. 1853.
(c) Cymmrodorion or Metropolitan Cambrian Institute,
1751, revived 1820.
(rf) Welsh Manuscripts' Society, inst. 1837.
During the activity of these societies they published many
valuable works. See No. VIII and No. X. For publica-
tions, see note to No. XV.
LXXI
Year Books: Lcs reports des cases argue et adjudge...
London, 1678-80.
The scope of this series extends from Edw. II. to Hen.
VIII. For year books antedating Edw. II., see No. XXXI.
In this series also appear various Year Books of Edw. III.
In addition to the series and collections given, the stu-
dent is referred to the additional series and to the publica-
tions of private presses, catalogued in Lowndes' Bibliog-
rapher'* Manual (No. X), Hardy's Descriptive Catalogue
(No. VIII), Watt's Bibliotheca Britannica (No. IX), The
English Catalogue (No. XI), and the Official Year Book
of the Scientific and Learned Societies of Great Britain and
Ireland. London, ann. since 1884.
CHAPTER II
SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS
In the sections which follow an attempt has hecn made to
group the most important and most accessible sources by
epochs. The great collections given in section 2 and 3 are,
with few exceptions, to be found at the university centres
of the United States. The sources under sections 4 to 9
inclusive are, in most cases, even more readily available.
While no attempt has been, or could have been, made to
render source material complete for any epoch, yet the student
will find ample working bibliographies, and by consulting the
volumes mentioned in sections i and 2, the lists given can be
made exhaustive.
SECTION 4. THE PRE-NORMAN PERIOD
LXXII
MATERIALS FOR THE HISTORY OF BRITAIN:
Monument a Historica Britannica, ed. H. Petrie and J.
Sharpe. London, 1848. Only one volume published.
Indispensable for reprints of references to Britain in early
Greek and Latin writers. Greek excerpts are translated.
Contains copies of ancient inscriptions referring to Britain.
Also ancient British and Roman coins, facsimiles of MSS,
maps. Also texts of Gildas, Nennius, Bede, Short Chronicle
of Northumberland, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Asser, Chron-
icle of Eathelward, Florence of Worcester, Simeon -of Dur-
ham, Ecclesiastical Register, Henry of Huntingdon, Cam-
brian Annals, Geoffrey Gaimer, Chronicle of the Prince of
Wales, Song of the Battle of Hastings. Full indices.
LXXIII
C/ESAR, Commentaries on the Gallic War: Commentarii
de bello Gallico. Many editions of both original text
and its translation.
26
SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 27
Caesar's invasions of Britain, description of island and its
inhabitants, accounts of the early Germans. For the latter
subject, see also Tacitus, Germania.
LXXIV
TACITUS, Life of Agricola: Agricola vita. As of Caesar,
many editions of this work and its translation are acces-
sible.
Activities of Agricola, Roman occupation of Britain, de-
scriptions of island and its inhabitants, supplements Caesar.
LXXV
GILDAS: De Excidio Britannia;. Text in Nos. LXXII,
LIV, LXIX, XXXVIII, 1838, etc. Translations. Most
accessible in Six Old English Chronicles. Bohn Library.
Two parts: 1st 55 B.C. to circa 383; 2nd to middle of sixth
century. The work of Gildas forms "the basis of early Eng-
lish History."
LXXVI
BEDE, Ecclesiastical History of the English People: His-
torica Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum. Of the texts, a
number of editions are accessible ; I prefer edition in No.
LXXII and in No. XXXVII. Of the several translations
that by T. Miller in No. XXXVII is useful.
Covers period from 55 B.C. to middle of eighth century.
For this period the book is indispensable.
LXXVII
THE ITINERARY OF ANTONIUS: Itinerarium Anto-
nini Augnsti et Hieroslymitanum, ed. G. Parthey and M.
Finder. Berlin, 1848.
Enumerates the towns and stations of Roman Britain with
intervening distances.
/
LXXVIII
THE OFFICIAL LIST OF THE EMPIRE : Notitia Digni-
tatum et Administrationuwi omnium tarn Civilium quam
Militarium in Partibus Orientis et Occidentis. Several
edit, of texts; see that of O. Seeck. Berlin, 1876.
Organization of Britain under Roman government.
28 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
LXXIX
NENNIUS' HISTORY OF BRITAIN: Eulogium Brittania;
sire Historia Britonum, auctore Ncnnio. Texts in Nos.
LXIII; LXXII; XXXVIII. Also in several other edits.
Trans. J. A. Giles. Six Old English Chronicles. London,
1848.
Valuable for Welsh history. Ends 688. For a discussion
as to value of this work, see Ncnnius Vindicatus, H. Zim-
mer, Berlin, 1893.
LXXX
ICELANDIC SAGAS, and other Historical Documents re-
lating to the Settlements and Descents of the Northmen in
the British Isles. Vols. iii-iv, G. W. Dasent, in No.
XXXI.
A collection of historical documents referring to descents
and settlements of Northmen in Britain. See XIV First
Supplement.
LXXXI
ANGLO-SAXON CHRONICLE: Various valuable editions
of text, notably those of Petrie in No. LXXII; Thorpe
in No. XXXI; J. Earle, Oxford, 1865. Tr., Gurney, Nor-
wich, 1819; Ingram, London, 1823; also Thorpe, supra.
This most valuable of national records extents from i A.D.
to 1154. Especially valuable from sixth century to close of
Norman Conquest.
LXXXII
ASSER'S LIFE OF ALFRED: Annalcs Rerum Gestarum
Alfredi Magni, Auctore Asserio Menevensi. Text, ed.
Wise. Oxford, 1722. Also in Nos. LXXXII ; LXII D, etc.
Tr. Six Old English Chronicles. London, 1848.
Chronicle from 851-887. Events of Alfred's life.
LXXXIII
ETHELWERD'S CHRONICLE: Chronicon JEthelweardi
ab Incarnationc Domini ad annum 975. Text, Nos. LXIII
a; LXXII B. Tr. in Six Old English Chronicles. Lon-
don, 1848.
Of some value for tenth century.
SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 29
LXXXIV
EMMA, QUEEN OF THE ENGLISH: Emma: Anglorum
Regince, Ricardi I. Duds Normannorum Filia, Enconium.
Author unknown. Text, No. LIV and elsewhere. See
No. VIII.
Valuable for period from 1012 to 1040.
LXXXV
EDWARD THE CONFESSOR: Vita JEduuardi Regis qui
apud Westmonastcrium requiescit, ed. H. R. Luard in
XXXI. For other lives see same series, Lives of Edward
The Confessor, and No. VIII.
Lives of the Confessor; valuable for his period.
LXXXVI
ALCUIN'S LETTERS: Beati Flacci Albini sen Alcuini
Epistolce. These are printed in many collections as well
as by themselves. See No. VIII.
Relations between England and the Continent in eighth and
ninth centuries.
LXXXVII
SIMEON OF DURHAM'S HISTORY OF THE KINGS
OF ENGLAND : Simeonis Dunelmensis Opera et Collec-
tanea, ed. T. Arnold, in No. XXXI. Texts also in No.
LXXII.
Valuable for tenth century, particularly for events in
Northumbria. Stops at 1130.
LXXXVIII
HENRY OF HUNTINGDON : Henrici Archidiaconi Hun-
tindoniensis Historic Anglorum, ed. T. Arnold, No. XXXI.
Text also in Nos. LXIIIo; LIV; XXXV, iii. 503; also
LXXII. Trans., T. Forester. London (Bohn).
Ballads and traditions not otherwise preserved. Details
of history not elsewhere found. Ends with middle of twelfth
century.
LXXXIX
WILLIAM OF MALMESBURY: Willielmi Monachi Mal-
mesburiensis de Gestis Re gum Anglorum, libri V et His-
toric Novella. Texts also in Nos. XXXVIII ; LIV, 179,
30 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
959; XVIII, ii., pp. 1-49, vi. 77; LXIIIa; XV, pp. 337-81;
XXXI, and elsewhere. See No. VIII. Trans., J. Sharpe.
London (Bohn).
High authority for Anglo-Norman period. Gives history
of English bishops and monasteries from 597 to 1123 A.D.
XC
FLORENCE OF WORCESTER: Florentii Wigornensis
Monachi Chronicon ex Chronicis ab Adventu Hcngcsti et
Horsi in Britanniam usque ad Annum iiif, ed. B. Thorpe.
No. XXXVIII, 1848. Text also in several editions. Por-
tion from 450 to 1066 in No. LXXII. Trans., T. Forester.
London.
Of considerable value. Ends 1116.
XCI
LAWS AND LEGAL DOCUMENTS.
(A) Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, ed. B.
Thorpe, for Record Commission. No. LX.
Complete collection of laws and legal documents of Anglo-
Saxon Period. Invaluable.
Ancient Charters, royal and private, prior to A.D. 1066.
See Rec. Comm. No. LX and Pipe Roll Soc. Publications
No. LIX.
(B) Codex Diplomaticus 2Evi Saxonici, ed. J. M.
Kemble. For No. XXXVII.
A valuable collection of charters of Anglo-Saxon Period.
(C) Cartularium Saxonicum, ed. W. de G. Gray. Lon-
don, 1883.
A collection of charters. The critical estimate of authen-
ticity of documents is to be found in last volume. It is
valuable.
(D) Doomsday Book. Seu Liber Censualis Williclmi
Primi, ed. A. Farley and others. London, 1783-1816.
This work is valuable. It should be consulted in connec-
tion with Prof. Maitland's erudite work, Doomsday Book
and Beyond.
(E) Die Gc seize dcr Angclsachsen. R. Schmid. Leip-
zig, 1858. Supplemented by Liebermann, Zu den Gcsetzen
der Angclsachsen in Zcitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung,
vol. V. Weimar, 1885. Germ. Abtheilung, pp. 198 ff.
SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 31
The documents are given in their original language. Ger-
man translation, critical explanations of value, and copious
glossary is given.
(F) Handbook to the Land-Charters and other Saxonic
Documents, ed. J. Earle. Oxford, 1888.
Useful book by a careful scholar.
(G) Select Charters and other Illustrations of English
Constitutional History, from the Earliest Times to the Reign
of Edw. I., ed. W. Stubbs. Oxford, 1870, etc.
The most valuable of the small collections.
(H) Autotype Facsimiles of the Ancient Charters in
British Museum, ed. E. A. Bond. London, 1873-78.
These are interesting and suggestive volumes, and the
most important of a class of works with which the student
should become familiar.
Ecclesiastical Documents, Laws, Councils, etc. See
No. XXXIV.
The student should consult Nos. XI, XIV, for late publi-
cations in this and succeeding periods. Much valuable biblio-
graphical material is to be found in periodicals, particularly
of the class of which the American Historical Magazine and
English Historical Magazine are types.
SECTION 5. FROM THE CONQUEST TO THE
CHARTER
ZCII
BAYEUX TAPESTRY. Engraved facsimile, with notes
by G. C. Bruce. The Society of Antiquaries.
A valuable record of episodes in the life and times of
William the Conqueror. See also Carmen de Bella Hastin-
gensi, Guy of Amiens; text in No. XXXII.
XCIII
EADMER'S HISTORY: Eadmeri Monachi Cantuariensis
Historic Novorum sive sui sceculi Libri VI. London, 1623.
Authority for career of Lanfranc and Anselm. Important
for reigns of first two Norman kings.
XCIV
ORDERICUS VITALIS' ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY:
Orderici Vitalis Angligencv, cacnobii Uticensis monachi,
32 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Historic Ecclesiastics, libri XIII. Ed. Prevost. Paris,
1838. Also in Nos. LIV and LXIII g. Also Vitalis' His-
toire de Normandic. Text, ed. Guizot. Paris, 1825-27.
Eng. Trans, of both works, T. Forester. London (Bohn).
Period of the Conquest and the early Norman Kings. Ex-
tremely valuable for relations of Normandy and England,
Norman history.
xcv
WILLIAM OF POITIERS' LIFE OF WILLIAM THE
CONQUEROR : Gcsta Guillclmi Ducis Normannorum et
Regis Anglorum, a Guilelmo Pictavensi Lexoviorum,
Archidiacono contemporaneo scripta. Text in No.
LXIII b, and No. LIV, vol. 149, p. 1216.
For life of William I., 1036-1067. There are several other
accounts of the life of the Conqueror. See Scriptorcs Rerum
gestarum Wilhelmi Conquestoris, etc., ed. J. A. Giles, London,
1845-
(WILLIAM OF MALMESBURY'S NEW HISTORY. Cf.
preceding section; deals with period 1126-42. It favours
the cause of Matilda. Translation.)
XCVI
LIFE OF KING STEPHEN : Gesta Stephani Regis Anglo-
rum et Ducis Normannorum. Author unknown, ed. R.
Hewlett. Text in No. XXXI, also in No. XXXVIII, 1846.
Trans., T. Forester. London, 1853 (Bohn). Bound with
Chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon.
Of limited value.
XCVII
THE HEXHAM CHRONICLES : Historia Johannis Prio-
ris Hagustaldensis Ecclcsicc XXV. annorum. Text ed.
R. Hewlett. No. XXXI, vol. iii. Historia pice memories
Ricardi Prioris Hagustaldensis, de Gestis Regis Stephani
et de Bella Standardii. Text ed. R. Hewlett. No. XXXI,
vol. iii. Translation of both Chronicles in The Church
Historians of England, vol. iv, pt. i. The Chronicle of
Melrose will be found in same collection of translations.
Reign of Stephen.
SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 33
XCVII
WILLIAM OF NEWBURY: Historia a Normannorum in
Angliam ingressu usque ad annum 1197. Several editions
of text, among them that of Hearne, Oxford, 1719. Trans,
in Church Historians of England, vol. iv, pt. 2.
Covers 1066-1198. Especially valuable for Reign of Henry
II.
XCIX
BENEDICT OF PETERBOROUGH: Benedictus Abbas
Petroburgensis de vita et gestis Henrici II et Ricardi I.,
ed. Hearne. Oxford, 1735. Trans, and ed., W. Stubbs.
No. XXXI. 1867. This work was probably written by
Richard Fitz-Neal.
"Indisputably the most important chronicle of the time."
The preface to the edition by Bishop Stubbs is valuable.
C
ROGER OF HOVEDEN: Rogeri de Hoveden Annalium,
pars prior et posteriori. Text in Nos. LXIII a; XXIII;
XXXI. 1868-71, etc. Trans. H. T. Riley. London, 1853
(Bohn).
Covers period from 732-1201. From 1170-1201 it is of the
greatest importance.
CI
RALPH OF DICETO: Radulfi de Diceto Decani Londe-
niensis Opera Historica, ed. W. Stubbs for No. XXXI,
1876. Text also in No. LXIII, a, b ; also No. XVIII.
Reigns of Hen. II and Ric. I. Valuable.
CII
RICHARD OF DEVIZES: Chronicon Ricardi Divisiensis
de Rebus gestis Ricardi Primi, Regis Anglice, ed. J. A.
Giles. No. XXXVIII. 1841.
Covers period 1189-1192. Supplements preceding works.
cm
GIRALDUS CAMBRENSIS: Topographia Hibernia; sive
de Mirabilibus Hibernia auctore Silvestro Geraldo Cam-
brense.. .Expugnatio Hibernice, sive Historia vaticinalis
34 SOURCh BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Silvestris Giraldi Cambrensis. Iteriarium Cambria; Cam-
bria Dcscriptio. Texts in Nos. XVIII, XXXI, etc. Trans.
T. Forester, R. C. Hoare. T. Wright. London (Bohn).
Valuable authority in fields covered.
CIV
GLANVILL: Tractates de Legibus et Consuctudinibus
regni Angliff, tempore Regis Hcnrici Secundi compositus.
Text in various editions, e.g., ed. J. Rayner, London, 1780,
and in No. LXIV. Trans. J. Beames. London, 1812.
The first book on English Law.
CV
DIALOGUES ON THE EXCHEQUER: Dialogus de Scac-
cario, by Richard, Bishop of London. Text in Madox's
History of the Exchequer; Stubbs' Constitutional Docu-
ments.
"An extraordinary mass of information on every important
point in the development of constitutional principles before
the great Charter."
CVI
STATUTES OF THE REALM from Original Records and
Authentic Manuscripts Printed by Command of His Ma-
jesty King George the Third. London, 1810. See
XLVIII Co.
Begin to be of value in this period.
(THE FCEDERA: See Treaties No. LXVIII/1.)
SECTION 6. -- FROM THE CHARTER TO THE
REFORMATION
CVII
ROGER OF WENDOVER'S FLOWERS OF HISTORY:
Rogeri de Wendover Chronica, sive Flores Historiarum,
ed. H. R. Luard in No. XXXI, also in No. LXIII A.
Trans. J. A. Giles. London, 1849 (Bohn).
Source for period of Magna Charta, 1214-1235.
cvm
MATTHEW PARIS : Matthcci Parisiensis Monachi Sancti
Albani, Chronica Majora, ed. H. R. Luard. No. XXXI.
SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 35
1872-80. Matthai Parisiensis Historia Anglorum, sive, ut
vulgo dicitur, Historia Minor, ed. F. Madden. No. XXXI.
1866-69. Trans, of period from 1235-73. J. A. Giles.
London, 1852. From 1259 the work is by an author as to
whose name authorities disagree. .
Continues Roger of Wendover. Source for 1235-1273.
CIX
WILLIAM RISHANGER'S CHRONICLE: Wilhelmi
Rishanger Chronica et Annales, ed. H. T. Riley. No.
XXXI. Also under title Continuatio Matthcci ab anno
1259 ad usque annum 1272 in Watt's adition of M. Paris.
See also De Bellis Lewes et Eversham, or the Chronicle of
William de Rishanger of the Baron's Wars. J. O. Halli-
well for No. XXVI. 1840. Translation. Continuation in
Matthew of Paris.
Source for period 1259-1306.
CX
NICHOLAS TRIVET'S ANNALS: Annales sex Regunt
Anglia qui a comilibus Andegavensibus originem traxe-
runt, ed. T. Hog. No. XXXVIII. 1845.
Contemporary source for reign of Edward I.
CXI
CHRONICA MONASTERII, S. Albani, ed. H. T. Riley.
No. XXXI. London, 1863-76.
These chronicles contain valuable historical material of
which the most important is contained in Vol. I, Walsing-
ham's Historia Anglicana, 1272-1422 (valuable from 1377 to
!395) ; II, Rishanger's Chronica et Annales, 1259-1307; III,
Trokelowe and Blaneforde, Chr. et Ann., 1259-1296,1307-1324,
1392-1406; IV, Gesta Abbatum, 793-1411.
CXII
MONASTIC ANNALS: Annales Monastici, ed. H. R.
Luard. No. XXXI. 1864-69.
Valuable sources. Covers period 1004-1432. Particularly
refer to the reigns of John, Henry III., and Edward I.
CXIII
WALTER HEMINGFORD : Chronica Walteri de Heming-
burg, ed. H. C. Hamilton. No. XXXVIII. Text also in
No. LXIII A ; also edition by Hearne, Oxon. 1731.
36 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Extends from 1066 to 1346. Extremely valuable for last
hundred years, covered partly by Walter, partly by other
hands.
CXIV
CHRONICLES OF LONDON. Various chronicles; con-
sult No. XXVI for 1844, 1846, 1858; also No. XXXI for
Munirncnta Gildhallcc Londonicnsis, ed. H. T. Riley.
This contains laws, regulations, etc., as well as city trans-
actions. Valuable from a political, economical, and social,
as well as legal standpoint.
cxv
BRACTON: DC Lcgibus ct Consuetudinibus Anglicc, ed. T.
Twiss. No. XXXI. 1878-83. Also several other texts.
Translation.
Indispensable for law of the thirteenth century.
CXVI
BRACTON'S NOTE BOOK. Ed. by T. W. Maitland.
London, 1887.
This work is of great importance, not only because of its
being the first book on "case-law," but for the light it throws
on the life of the thirteenth century.
CXVII
CORRESPONDENCE : Royal and other Historical Letters
illustrative of the reign of Henry III., ed. W. W. Sherley.
No. XXXI. 1862-66. Of the reign of Henry IV., ed. F.
C. Hingeston: No. XXXI. 1860. Edward IV., Richard
III., and Henry VII., ed. J. Gairdner: No. XXXI.
Letters of Bishop Grossctcste, illustrative of the Social
Condition of his Time, ed. H. R. Luard : No. XXXI.
Papal Letters are in several editions. See No. XXIV, H, I.
CXVIII
MONUMENTA BRITANNICA ex Autographis Romano-
rum Pontificum. Covers period 1216-1759; e( l- by Marini.
These letters are extremely valuable. They present infor-
mation not elsewhere obtainable.
CXIX
ROBERT OF AVESBURY: Roberti de Avesbury, Historia
de mirabilis gestis Edward Tcrtii, ed. Hearne, Oxon. 1720.
Especially good for relations of England with France prior
to the battle of Crecy.
SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 37
cxx
HIGDEN'S POLYCHRONICON : Polychronicon Ranulphi
Higdeni, ed. C. C. Babington. No. XXXI. Translation
by Trevisa, ed. by Babington, Churchill, and Lumby, ac-
companies text. Text also in No. LXIII d.
Contemporary source for first half of the fourteenth cen-
tury.
CXXI
CAPGRAVE'S CHRONICLE: The Chronicle of England
from the Creation to 1417, by John Cap grave, ed. F. C.
Hingeston. No. XXXI. 1858.
Very valuable for period 1328-1388.
CXXII
THE BOOK OF THE NOBLE HENRYS : Johannis Cap-
grave Liber de Illustribus Henricis, ed. F. C. Hingeston.
No. XXXI. 1858. Translation by same ed.
The work is valuable for its later portion only.
cxxm
ADAM OF USK'S CHRONICLE: Chronicon Ada; de Usk
ed. with Translation by E. M. Thompson. London, 1876.
Serviceable for 1377-1404.
CXXIV
THOMAS ELMHAM'S LIFE OF HENRY V. : Thome de
Elmham Vita et Gesta Henrici Quinti, Anglorum Regis, ed.
T. Hearne. 1732. Also in No. XXXI. For other lives
consult No. XXXVIII, 1846, also Titi Livii Foro-Juliensis,
Vita Henrici Quinti, Regis Angliee, ed. by Hearne. 1716.
Of some value for period.
cxxv
THE CONCORDANCE OF HISTORIES: The New
Chronicle of England and France, in two parts, by Robert
Fabyan, ed. H. Ellis. 1811.
Valuable for history of London during War of the Roses.
CXXVI
JOHN AMUNDESHAM'S ANNALS : Johannis Amundes-
ham, Monachi Monasterii S. Albani, ut videtur, Annales,
ed. Riley in No. XXXI.
For period 1421-1440.
38 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
CXXVII
JOHN WHETHAMSTEDE'S REGISTER: Registrum
Abbaticc Johannis IVhcthamstcde, Abbatis Monasterii
Sancti Albani, iterum susceptcc, ed. Riley in No. XXXI.
1452-1461. The time of the War of the Roses.
CXXVIII
Letters and Papers illustrative of the Wars of the English
in France during the Reign of Henry VI, eel. J. Stevenson.
No. XXXI. 1861, 1864. This collection includes the An-
nals and Collections of William of Worcester, the Chron-
icle of Jean le Bel ; the collection is continued by the same
editor in Narratives of the Expulsion of the English from
Normandy. 1449-50. No. XXXI. 1863.
Valuable source. The French text is translated.
CXXIX
FROISSART'S CHRONICLES: Chroniques, qui traitent
des merveilleuses emprises . - . en France, Anglcterrc, Bre-
taigne, Burgognc, Escossc, Espagnc, Portingal ct cs
Autres Parties, ed. J. A. C. Buchon. Paris, 1835. Many
translations and editions.
Most interesting. Covers period 1326-1400.
cxxx
MONSTRELET'S NARRATIVES: Chroniques d'Enguer-
rand de Monstrelct, ed. J. A. Buchon. Paris, 1826. Sev-
eral translations, one by T. Johnes. London, 1849 (Bohn).
Begins where Froissart ends. Terminates 1467.
See also Robert Blondel in No. XXXI, 1863.
CXXXI
HISTORIE OF THE ARRIVAL OF EDWARD IV. in
England and the Finall Rccoucryc of his Kingdomes from
Henry VI., ed. J. Bruce. No. XXVI. 1838.
Valuable contemporary account.
CXXXII
PASTON LETTERS. Ed. by J. Gairdner. 1872-75. Other
editions.
1422-1509. Light on social life of period. Overrated
source. The prefaces of the editor are more valuable than
the sources.
SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 39
CXXXIII
CONTINUATION OF THE CROYLAND CHRONICLE :
Petri Blesensis continuatio ad Historiam Ingulphi. Gale,
Fell and Fulman's Scriptures; also elsewhere. Transla-
tions. H. T. Riley. London, 1854 (Bohn).
Important for reign of Edward IV. Not to be confounded
with the Ingufian forgery.
CXXXIV
PECOCKS REPRESSOR: The Represser of over much
Blaming of the Clergy, ed. C. Babington. No. XXXI.
1860.
This work indicates the theological movement of the fif-
teenth century.
cxxxv
LITTLE BUNDLE OF TARES: Fasciculi Zisaniorum
Magistri Johannis Wyclif cum Tutico, ascribed to T.
Netter; ed. W. W. Shirley. No. XXXI. 1858.
The contemporary account of the rise of Lollardy.
Strongly anti-Lollard.
CXXXVI
WYCLIF'S WORKS. These have appeared in many edi-
tions and by various editors. Among them, Select English
Works, ed. T. Arnold. 1871. The English Works of
Wyclif hitherto unprinted, ed. F. D. Matthew. No.
XXXVII. 1880.
CXXXVII
MORE'S EDWARD V AND RICHARD III: Historie of
the pitifull life and unfortunate death of Edward the Fifth.
Also, The History of Richard the Third. In various edi-
tions; also in Kennett's Complete History of England.
London, 1719.
Considered by S. R. Gardiner as a contemporaneous ac-
count.
CXXXVIII
Grants, etc. From the Crown during the Reign of Edward
The Fifth from the Original Docket-Book and Two
Speeches for Opening Parliament, ed. J. G. Nichols. 1854.
Of some value for a period not well illustrated.
40 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
SECTION 7. THE TUDOR PERIOD
CXXXIX
MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF THE REIGN OF
HENRY VII., ed. W-. Campbell. No. XXXI. 1873, 1877.
From original documents. Furnishes valuable material for
the study of the reign.
CXL
POLYDORE VIRGIL: Polydori Vcrgilii Urbinatis Angli-
ccc Histori Libri Vigintiseptem. Basel, 1534. Also in
No. XXVI. Translation, first VIII books, in No. XXVI.
Very high authority from the time of Henry VI., where
contemporay record becomes scanty. Somewhat biassed,
violently opposed to Wolsey, but otherwise accurate. Should
be read in connection with No. CXLVIII.
CXLI
BERNARD ANDRE: Historia Regis Hcnrici Septimi a
Bernardo Andrea Tholosate conscripta, necnon alia quon-
dam ad cundcm regem spectantia, ed. J. Gairdner. No.
XXXI. 1858.
Best contemporary record of reign of Henry VII. It is to
be found in Memorials of Henry VII, ed. J. Gairdner. No.
XXXI, 1847. This work contains other valuable material.
CXLII
VENETIAN RELATION: A Relation, or rather a true
account, of the Isle of England; with sundry particulars
of the customs of these People and of the Royal Revenues
under Kng Henry the Seventh about the year 1500. Trans-
lation. No. XXVI. 1847.
Political, commercial, financial data of reign of Hen. VII.
CXLIII
STATE PAPERS OF THE TUDOR PERIOD. The col-
lection of manuscripts is extremely large. It has been in-
dexed and epitomized in the various Calendars which have
been issued by the Record Commission under the following
title : Calendar of Letters and Papers, Foreign and Do-
mestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII. ; Calendar of State
Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reigns of Edward VI.,
Mary, Elisabeth, and James I.; Calendar of State Papers,
SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 41
Foreign Series, of the Reign of Edward VI.; Calendar of
State Papers, Foreign Series, of the Reign of Mary ; Calen-
dar of State Papers, Foreign Series, of the Reign of Eliza-
beth; Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts relating
to English Affairs preserved in the Archives of Venice
and other Libraries of Northern Italy, 1202-1501; Calendar
of Letters, Despatches and State Papers dealing with the
Negotiations between England and Spain, preserved in the
Archives of Simancas and elsewhere, 1485-1543. Selec-
tions from the State Papers of Henry VIII. have been
issued by the Record Commission under the following
titles : Domestic Correspondence ; Correspondence Relating
to Ireland; Correspondence Relating to Scotland; Cor-
respondence between England and other Courts. See No.
XXV.
CXLIV
HARPSFIELD'S TREATISE: The Pretended Divorce be-
tween Henry VIII. and Catharine of Aragon, by Nicholas
Par ps field. No. XXVI, 1878, ed. N. Pococke.
Written from the Catholic point of view. Consult also
Reginald Pole's treatise de Unitate Ecclesia.
CXLV
RECORD OF THE REFORMATION. Oxford, 1870, ed.
by N. Pococke.
Valuable material for period 1527-1533.
CXLVI
MORE'S UTOPIA: A truteful and pleasaunt worke of the
beste State of a publyque weale, and of the newe yle called
Utopia: Written in Latine by Syr Thomas More Knyght,
and translated into Englyshe by Ralphe Robynson Citizein
and Goldsmythe of London, at the procurement and earnest
request of George Tadlowe Citizein and Haberdassher of
the same city. London, 1551. Arbers' English Reprints
1869, also other editions.
Social and political evils and abuses of first half of the
sixteenth century.
CXLVII
STARKEY'S ENGLAND in the reign of King Henry the
Eighth, ed. S. J. Herrtage. No. XXXVII. 1878.
Social and political evils and abuses of the sixteenth cen-
tury..
42 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
CXLVIII
HALL'S CHRONICLE: Containing the History of England
during the Reign of Henry the Fourth and the succeeding
Monarchs to the End of the Reign of Henry the Eighth, in
which are particularly described the Manners and Customs
of these Periods. Various editions. 1548, 1550, 1809.
Should be considered with the work of Polydore Virgil,
upon which it is very largely based. Virgil is bitterly op-
posed to Woolsey and his partisans ; Hall flatters them.
These books well illustrate the opposing parties of the reign
of Henry VIII. for which period they are contemporary
sources.
CXLIX
HOLINSHED'S CHRONICLES of England, Scotland and
Ireland. Various edits. First in 1557, 1586.
Various Chronicles. Valuable sources. Last edition
brings record to 1586. First edition contains passages sup-
pressed in succeeding editions but printed separately in 1723.
C
STOW, JOHN
(a) A Summarie of the Chronicles of England dili-
gently collected, abridged, and continued unto this present
year of Christ 1604. London, 1604.
(fr) Annales or a Gcncrall Chronicle of England. Be-
gun by John Stow: Continued and augmented with mat-
ters Foreign and Domestique, Ancient and Moderne, unto
the end of this present ycere, 1631. By Edmund Howes,
Gent. London, 1631.
(c) A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminister
and the Burough of Southwark. Containing the Original,
Antiquity, Increase, present State and Government of those
Cities. Written at first in the Year 1598 by John Stow,
Citizen and Native of London. Corrected, improved, and
very much enlarged in the Year 1720 by John Strype,
M. O. A native also of the said City. The Survey and
History brought down to the present time by careful hands.
With an appendix. London, 1754. Several other edits.
These works of Stow are extremely valuable. Stow was
unbiassed, well informed, and accurate in description.
SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 43
CLI
FOXE'S BOOK OF MARTYRS : History of the Acts and
Monuments of the Church, by John Foxe. Many editions,
among them that edited by J. Cummings. London, 1861.
Covers Reformation period to 1559. Although strongly
anti-Catholic, the history is valuable as a source.
CLII
ZURICH LETTERS. Ed. by H. Robinson. No. LVII.
Vol. I contains from the Reformation to 1557; II, 1558-
1579; III, 1558-1602. These letters have as their originals
the Epistolce Tigurince, so often cited by Froude.
CLIII
CHRONICLES OF THE GREY FRIARS OF LONDON.
Ed. J. G. Nichols. No. XXVI. 1852.
Valuable as source for religious tendencies of time.
CLIV
THREE CHAPTERS OF LETTERS relating to the Sup-
pression of the Monasteries. Edited from the Originals
in the British Museum. Ed. T. Wright. No. XXVI.
1843-
These letters possess interest as a contemporary private
description of the suppression of the monasteries.
CLV
NARRATIVES OF THE DAYS OF THE REFORMA-
TION, chiefly from the manuscripts of John Foxe the
Martyrologist, with two contemporary biographies of
Archbishop Cranmer, ed. J. G. Nichols. No. XXVI. 1859.
Interesting and occasionally valuable.
CLVI
LITERARY REMAINS OF KING EDWARD THE
SIXTH, edited from his Autograph Manuscripts, with
historical notes and a biographical memoir, by J. G.
Nichols. Roxburghe Club. 1857.
Especially interesting as containing the private journal of
the young king.
BIOGRAPHIES. For this period there^ are a number of
valuable contemporary biographies of the principal per-
sons of the day, notably of More, Wolsey, Carew, Eliza-
beth. Consult catalogues under surname of person whose
biography is desired.
44 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
CLVH
THE CHRONICLE OF QUEEN JANE and of Two Years
of Queen Mary, and especially of the Rebellion of Sir
Thomas Wyat, written by a resident in the Tower of
London, edited with illustrative documents and notes by
J. G. Nichols. No. XXVI. 1850.
The Authority for the days of "Jane the Queen."
CLVIII
THE HISTORY OF THE KIRK OF SCOTLAND by Mr.
David Caldcrwood some time minister of Crailing, edited
from the original manuscript preserved in the British
Museum by T. Thomson. The Wodrow Society. Edin-
burgh, 1842-1849. Various editions.
Covers period 1514-1625. Strongly anti-episcopal. Whole
work tinged with prejudice.
CLIX
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND, begin-
ning the Year of Our Lord 203 and continued to the end
of the reign of King James VI. By the Right Rev. John
Spottisivoode, Archbishop of St. Andrew, and Lord Chan-
cellor of Scotland, ed. M. Russell. Spottiswoode Society.
Edinburgh, 1847.
From beginning of I4th century it is most valuable as a
source. It is moderate and fair in tone.
CLX
HARDWICKE PAPERS: Miscellaneous State Papers, ed.
by Earl of Hardwicke. From 1507 to 1726. London, 1778.
These papers are of great interest and value. In matters
political they give a side light of great service to the student.
CLXI
THE COMPLEAT AMBASSADOR, or two Treaties of
the intended marriage of Queen Elizabeth of Glorious
Memory; comprised in Letters of Negotiation of Sir
Francis Walsingham, her Resident in France. Together
with the Answers of the Lord Burleigh, the Earl of
Leicester, Sir Tho. Smith, and others. Wherein, as in
a clear Mirror, may be seen the Faces of the two Courts
of England and France, as they then stood, with many re-
markable passages of State, not at all mentioned in any his-
SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 45
tory. Faithfully Collected by the truly Honourable Sir
Dudley Deggs, Knight, late Master of the Roll. London,
1655-
Valuable as giving the personal expressions of some of the
greatest men of the time.
CLXII
CABALA SIVE SCRINIA SACRA: Mysteries of State and
Government, in Letters of Illustrious Persons, and Great
Ministers of State, as well Foreign as Domestick, in the
Reigns of King Henry the Eighth, Queen Elizabeth, King
James, and King Charles. Wherein such secrets of Em-
pire, and Publick Affairs as were then in Agitation are
clearly Represented; and many remarkable Passages faith-
fully collected. To which is added in this Third Collection,
a Second Part, consisting of a choice collection of Original
Letters and Negotiations, never before published. London,
1691.
An interesting collection of correspondence.
CLXIII
THE SOMERS TRACTS : A Collection of Scarce and Valu-
able Tracts, on the most Interesting and Entertaining Sub-
jects; but chiefly such as relate to the History and Con-
stitution of these Kingdoms. Selected from an infinite
number in Print and Manuscript, in the Royal, Cotton,
Sion, and other Public as well as Private Libraries, par-
ticularly that of the Late Lord Somers. The Second Edi-
tion Revised, Augmented, and Arranged, by Walter Scott.
London, 1809.
Principally valuable for the seventeenth century. Very
extensive.
CLXIV
D'EWES JOURNALS of the Elizabethan Parliaments:
The Journals of all the Parliaments during the reign of
Queen Elizabeth, both of the House of Lords and House
of Commons. Collected by Sir Simons D'Ewes of Stow-
Hall in the Country of Suffolk, Knight and Baronet. Re-
vised and Published by Paul Botves, of the Middle Temple
London, Esq. London, 1682.
Interesting and valuable. Incorporated in Cobbett (No.
XXX).
46 SOURCE-BOOK OP ENGLISH HISTORY.
CLXV
TOWNSHEND'S HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS: His-
torical Collections: An Exact Account of the Proceedings
of the Four Last Parliaments of Queen Elisabeth of Fa-
mous Memory. Wherein is contained the Compleat Jour-
nals both of the Lords and Commons, Taken from the
Original Records of their Houses, as also the more par-
ticular Behaviours of the Worthy Members during all
the last notable Sessions; comprehending the Motions,
Speeches, and Arguments of the Renowned and Learned
Secretary Cecill, Sir Francis Bacon, Sir Walter Rawleigh,
Sir Edw. Hobby, and divers other eminent Gentlemen.
Together with the most considerable Passages of the His-
tory of those times Faithfully and Laboriously collected,
by Heywood Townshend Esq., a Member in those Parlia-
ments. The like never Extant before. London, 1680.
Exhaustive account of proceedings of parliaments named
in title.
CLXVI
BURLEIGH PAPERS: (A) A Collection of State Papers
Relating to Affairs in the reigns of King Henry VIII.,
King Edward VI., Queen Mary and Queen Elisabeth,
From the Year 1542 to 1570. Transcribed from Original
Letters and other Authcntick Memorials, Never before
published, Left by William Cecill Lord Burghley, and now
remaining at Hatfield House, in the Library of the Right
Honourable the present Earl of Salesbury, by Samuel
Haynes, A. M. Rector of Hatfield in Hertfordshire.
London, 1740. (B) A Collection of State Papers Relating
to Affairs in the reign of Queen Elisabeth from the year
/57/ to 1596. Transcribed from Original Papers and other
Authentic Memorials never before published, left by Wil-
liam Cecil Lord Burghley and Re posited in the Library
at Hatfield House. By William Murdin, B. D. Rector
of Morrow and Vicar of Shalford in Surrey. London,
1759-
Valuable for period 1542-1596.
CLXVII
GRANVELLE PAPERS: (A) Papiers d'Etat du Cardinal
de Granvelle d'apres les manuscrits de la Bibliotheque de
Besanqon, ed. C. Weiss. Paris, 1841. (B) Correspon-
SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 47
dance du Cardinal de Granvelle, 1565 to 1586, by various
editors, in Documents inedits sur VHistoire de France.
1877-1894. Bruxelles.
Very important source for foreign relations during six-
teenth century.
CLXVIII
THE FRENCH DISPATCHES: (A) Inventaire Chrono-
logique des Documents Relatifs a VHistoire d'Ecosse, ed.
J. B. A. T. Teulet. Abbottsford Club. Edinburgh, 1839.
(B) Relations Politiques de la France et de VEspagne avec
VEcosse au XVI Siecle, ed. A. Teulet. Paris, 1862. Other
editions.
Valuable for accounts of negotiations between France and
Scotland.
CLXIX
THE NOAILLES DISPATCHES: Ambassades de Mes-
sieurs de Noailles en Angleterre, Vertot. Leyden, 1763.
Contain accounts of plots against Queen Mary.
CLXX
LETTRES, INSTRUCTIONS ET MEMOIRES DE
MARIE STUART, Reine d'Ecosse; publie sur les origi-
naux et les manuscrits du State Paper office de Londres
et des Principales Archives et Bibliotheques de I'Europe,
et accompagnees d'un resume chronologique par le Prince
Alexandre Labanoff. London, 1844. There are many
editions of the letters of Mary Queen of Scots. Also sev-
eral collections of historical materials.
Throw much light on the character of the Queen of Scots.
CLXXI
MEMOIRS OF MISSIONARY PRIESTS, as well secular
as regular, and of other Catholics, of both Sexes, that have
suffered death in England on Religious accounts from the
year of Our Lord 1577 to 1684, by R. Challoner. First pub.
1741. Reprint, 1878, Edinburgh.
This, and the work that follows, should be read in con-
nection with Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Persecution and
death was not the lot of one sect alone in the years of the
Tudor Dynasty.
48 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
CLXXII
RECORDS OF THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE
SOCIETY OF JESUS: Historic Facts illustrative of the
Labours and Sufferings of its Members in the Sixteenth
and Seventeenth Centuries, ed. H. Foley. London, 1877.
The Jesuit view of the religious persecutions.
CLXXIII
THE TROUBLES OF OUR CATHOLIC FORE-
FATHERS, related by themselves, ed. J. Morris. Lon-
don, 1872.
Setting forth the sufferings of the Catholics in Protestant
England.
CLXXIV
WINWOOD'S MEMORIALS: Memorials of Affairs of
State in the Reigns of Queen Elizabeth and K. James I.
Collected (chiefly) from the Original Papers of the Right
Honourable Sir Ralph Winwood, Kt. Sometime one
of the Principal Secretaries of State. Comprehending
likewise the negotiations ... a/ the Courts of France and
Spain and in Holland, Venice, etc., ed. E. Sawyer. 1725.
Chiefly valuable upon foreign relations, 1596-1613.
CLXXV
SELECT STATUTES AND OTHER CONSTITUTION-
AL DOCUMENTS, illustrative of the Reigns of Eliza-
beth and James I., ed. G. W. Prothero. Oxford, 1894.
The best handy collection for the period covered. Profes-
sor Prothero has in preparation a like volume devoted to
the early Tudor Period.
CLXXVI
HARRISON'S DESCRIPTION OF ENGLAND. See
Holingsheds Chronicle, A.D. 1577-87. Also Reprint ed.
J. J. Furnival in New Shakspere Soc. Pubs.
Excellent description of condition of English people in
latter part of sixteenth century.
CLXXVII
PHILLIP STUBBE'S Anatomy of the Abuses in England
in Shakspere' s Youth. A.D. 1583. Reprint ed. by F. J.
Furnival in N. S. Soc. Pubs.
An interesting arraignment of the sins of the time, 1583 to
1595-
SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 49
CLXXVIII
WILLIAM STAFFORD'S Compendious or briefe Examina-
tion of certayne ordinary Complaints of divers of our
countrymen in these our dayes. A.D. 1549, ed. Elizabeth
Lamoud. Cambridge, 1893.
Deals with status of trade and agriculture. Important
source. Has caused revision of various economic theories.
SECTIONS. THE STUGGLE FOR CONSTITUTIONAL
GOVERNMENT
CLXXIX
CALENDARS OF STATE PAPERS.
Furnish much valuable information. Have been issued
of many of the public documents for the reigns of James I.,
Charles I., and Charles II., as well as for the period of the
Commonwealth. Period of James II. in preparation. The
student should keep himself informed regarding late publica-
tions of this series.
CLXXX
RENNET'S Complete History of England; vol. v, Camden's
Annals of King James I.; vol. vi, Wilson's History of
King James I. Second ed., London, 1719.
A well edited and impartial collection. Covers period
from earliest Britain to death of William III. Made up of
monographs upon various reigns. Most of the histories in-
cluded are of considerable value. Those after vol. IV are
most useful.
CLXXXI
COURT OF KING JAMES THE FIRST, by Dr. Godfrey
Goodman, Bishop of Gloucester; to which are added,
Letters illustrative of the personal history of the most dis-
tinguished characters in the Court of that monarch and
his predecessors, ed. J. S. Brewer. London, 1839.
Written from a royalist standpoint. To be read in con-
nection with works of Puritan authors, and balance struck.
CLXXXII
STATE PAPERS, and Miscellaneous Correspondence of
Thomas, Earl of Melrose, ed. for No. XV by John Hope.
Edinburgh, 1837.
Covers period 1599-1625.
50 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
CLXXXII
LETTERS from George Lord Carew to Sir Thomas Roe,
Ambassador to the Count of the Great Mogul, 1615-1617,
ed. J. Maclean. No. XXVI. 1860.
General summary and comment of events occurring 1615 to
1617.
CLXXXIV
THE HISTORY OF THE REBELLION AND CIVIL
WARS IN ENGLAND, to which is now added an his-
torical Z'icw of the affairs of Inland by Edzvard Earl of
Clarendon (1625-1660). Oxford, 1842. See also State
Papers collected by Edward, Earl of Clarendon, Commen-
cing from the year MDCXXI. Containing the materials
from which his history of the Great Rebellion was com-
posed, and the authorities on which the truth of his rela-
tion is founded. Oxford, 1767. See also Calendar of the
Clarendon State Papers preserved in the Bodleian Library.
1623-57. Oxford, 1872-76.
Principally devoted to period 1641-1660. Royalist in bias.
Important source.
CLXXXV
MEMORIALS AND LETTERS relating to the History of
Britain, (A) in the reign of James the First, 2d ed., 1756.
(B) in the reign of Charles the First. Published from the
originals. The second edition corrected and enlarged by
Sir David Dalrymple, Lord Hailes. Glasgow, 1766.
Anti-royalist. Compare with No. CLXXXI.
CLXXXVI
PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT: Parliamentary De-
bates. 1610, ed. S. R. Gardiner. No. XXVI, 1862. Pro-
ceedings and Debates. 1620-21 ; in Parliamentary His-
tory, vol. V. London, 1763. Notes of Debates. 1621, ed.
S. R. Gardiner. No. XXVI. 1870. 1624-26, same ed.
No. XXVI. 1879. 1625, same ed. No. XXVI. 1874;
1618-29. Rush-worth Collections. London, 1659; Somcrs
Tracts supra; Protests of the Lords. 1624-1874, ed. J. T.
Rogers. Oxford, 1875. See also edit, of London, 1767.
1640-53. The History of the Parliament of England
which began Nov. 3, 1640; T. May. Oxford, 1854. Notes
SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 51
of Proceedings in the Long Parliament, temp. Charles I.,
by Ralph Verney, ed. J. Bruce. No. XXVI. 1845. A
Collection of acts and ordinances of General Use, etc., by
H. Scobell. London, 1658.
See also No. XXX and No. LXII.
CLXXXVII
VERNEY PAPERS: Letters and Papers of The Verney
Family down to the end of the year 1630. Printed from
the original MSS. in the possession of Sir Harry Vcrncy,
Bart., ed. J. Bruce. No. XXVI. 1851.
This volume is one of a number devoted to the period of
the Puritan Revolution and published in No. XXVI, the
catalogue of which should be consulted.
CLXXXVIII
WALKER'S DISCOURSES: Historical Discourses upon
Several Occasions . . . by Sir Edward Walker. London,
I705-
Mainly valuable for negotiations between Charles I. and
Parliament, in 1648, in Isle of Wight.
CLXXXIX
ENGLAND'S RECOVERY: Anglia Rediviva; England's
Recovery, being the History of the motions, actions and
successes of the army under the immediate conduct of his
excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax, ed. J. Sprigg. New edit.
Oxford, 1854.
"The acts of Fairfax and his independent army till the
reduction of Oxford and the King."
cxc
LETTERS OF KING CHARLES THE FIRST to Queen
Henrietta Maria, ed. J. Bruce. No. XXVI. 1856.
Written in 1646. Show the double-dealing of the King.
(RYMER'S Fcedera: See No. LXVIII A.)
(DUMONT'S Corps Universel Diplomatique du Droit des
Gens: See No. LXVIII .)
CXCI
CONSTITUTIONAL DOCUMENTS OF THE PURITAN
REVOLUTION (1625-1660), ed. S. R. Gardiner, 2d ed.
Oxford, 1899.
For the period covered, the most suitable single-volume
collection for university use.
52 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
CXCII
BURTON'S CROMWELLIAN DIARY: Diary of Thomas
Burton, Esq., Member in the Parliaments of Oliver and
Richard Cromwell from 1656 to 1659; now first published
from the original autograph manuscript. With an intro-
duction containing an account of the Parliament of 1654
from the Journal of Guibon Goddard, Esq., M.P., also now
first printed, ed. J. T. Rutt. London, 1828.
Valuable for proceedings of the parliament of the Com-
monwealth.
CXCIII
BURNET'S HISTORY OF HIS OWN TIME: with notes
by the Earls of Dartmouth and Hardwicke, Speaker
Onslozv, and Dean Sivift, etc. Oxford, 1823. Several
other editions.
1660-1713. Much chaff, some wheat.
CXCIV
KENNET'S REGISTER: A Register and chronicle eccle-
siastical and civil: containing matters of fact, Delivered
in the zvords of the most authcntick Books, Papers, and
Records; Digested in exact Order of Time, with proper
Notes and References Tozvards discovering and connecting
the True History of England From the Restauration of
King Charles II. Vol. I (only one printed). London,
1728.
1660-1662. "A valuable collection of materials."
cxcv
ANGLIyE NOTITIA or, the Present State of England corn-
pleat. Together zvith Divers Reflections upon the ancient
state thereof, by Edw. Chamberlaync. Many editions.
First edition London, 1669.
On the institutions, customs and social life of England.
CXCVI
EVELYN'S DIARY: Diary and Correspondence of John
Evelyn. To zuhich is subjoined The Private Correspon-
dence between King Charles I. and Sir Edward Nicholas,
and betzveen Sir Edward Hyde, afterwards Earl of Claren-
don, and Sir Richard Browne, ed. from the original MSS.
at Wollon by Bray and Whcatley. London, 1879.
1620-1706. "A storehouse of illustration as regards the
political, literary and scientific movements of his age."
SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 53
CXCVII
PEPYS'S DIARY: The Diary of Samuel Pepys ... Tran-
scribed front the shorthand manuscript in the Pepysian
Library Magdalene College Cambridge by M. Bright, with
Lord Braybrooke's Notes, ed. H. B. Wheatley. London,
1893. Several other editions. Wheatley's edition (1893),
though the most exhaustive, is not as suitable for students'
use as are earlier editions. See Braybrooke's ed., Lond.
1893.
An interesting, though, from an historical point of view,
overrated source.
CXCVIII
LUTTRELL'S DIARY: A Brief Historical Relation of
State Affairs from September 1678 to April 1714, by Nar-
cissus Luttrell. Printed from MS. in Library of All Souls'
College. Oxford, 1857.
A methodical narration of contemporary events.
CXCIX
ELWOOD'S HISTORY : The History of Thomas Elwood,
written by himself, ed. Morley. London, 1886.
Valuable for information regarding the "Friends" under
Charles II. See also Stephen Crisp and his Correspondence,
London, 1892 ; The Penns and Penningtons of the I7th
Century.
CC
WHITELOCK'S MEMORIALS : Memorials of the English
Affairs {A) from the supposed Expedition of Brute to
this Island to the End of the Reign of King James the
First, by Sir Bulstrode Whit clock. London, 1709. (B)
From the beginning of the Reign of King Charles the
First to the Happy Restoration of King Charles the Sec-
ond, by Bulstrode Whitelock. Oxford, 1853. First com-
plete edition. Lond. 1732. Avoid ed. of 1682.
(B) is valuable as "containing the public transactions,
civil and military, together with the private consultations
and secrets of the Cabinet."
CCI
THURLOE PAPERS : A Collection of the State Papers of
John Thurloe, Esq.; Secretary, First, to the Council of
State, and afterwards to the Two Protectors, Oliver and
54 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Richard Cromwell . . . Containing Memorials of the Eng-
lish Affairs from the year 1638 to the Restoration of King
Charles II. Published from the originals, ed. T. Birch.
London, 1742.
Thurloe's position gave him unusual facilities, which he
successfully employed.
ecu
NALSON'S COLLECTION: An Impartial Collection of
the Great affairs of State from the Beginning of the
Scotch Rebellion in the Year MDCXXXIX. To the Mur-
ther of King Charles I. Taken from Authentic Records,
and Methodically Digested by John Nalson, LL.D. Lon-
don, 1682.
Ultra-royalist. Well expresses views of extreme court
party.
CCIII
ORMONDE PAPERS: A Collection of Original Letters
and Papers concerning the Affairs of England, from the
year 1641 to 1660, found among the Duke of Ormonde's
Papers, ed. T. Carte. London, 1739. See also Contem-
porary History of Affairs in Ireland, 1641-52, ed. J. T. Gil-
bert for the Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society. 1879.
Also Memoirs of Dcnzil Lord Holies. From the year
1641-1648. London, 1699.
Valuable for history of Ireland. See Nos. XLVII and
LVI and the publications of J. Grasco, J. Gutch, R. Lascelles,
R. Theiner and others.
CCIV
GUTHRY'S MEMOIRS: The Memoirs of Henry Guthry,
late Bishop of Dunkcld, in Scotland: wherein the Con-
spiracies and Rebellion against King Charles I. of Blessed
Memory To the time of the Mnrther of that Monarch are
briefly and faithfully related. London, 1702.
An impartial narration. Useful for period.
ccv
DALRYMPLE'S MEMOIRS: Memoirs of Great Britain
and Ireland from the Dissolution of the last Parliament of
Charles II. until the sea-battle off La Hague, by Sir John
Dalrymple. 2d edition. London and Edinburgh, 1771.
Consisting chiefly of letters from the French Ambassadors
in England to their Courts and from Charles II., James II.,
SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 55
King William and Queen Mary, and the Ministers and
Generals of those Princes, from the originals.
SECTION 9. THE HANOVERIAN PERIOD
CCVI
D'AVAUX'S DISPATCHES: The Negotiations of Count
D'Avaux, Ambassador from the Most Christian King,
Lewis XIV. to the States General of the United Provinces,
containing besides the secret History of the Rise and Mo-
tives of the Duke of Monmouth's Rebellion, the Steps
taken by the Prince of Orange to ascend the Throne of
Great Britain; and the Intrigues of the Court of France
to counteract his measures during that interesting Period.
Translated from the French. London, 1754-55.
Interesting and valuable for inner history of movements
described. See also Negotiations de M. Ic Comte d'Avaux
en Ireland, depuis 1689 jusqu'en 1690. Priv. print., Lond.,
1830.
CCVII
DE COMINGE'S CORRESPONDENCE: A French Am-
bassador at the Court of Charles II. Translated by J. J.
Jusserand, N. Y. and London, 1892.
A vivid picture of diplomacy and intrigue at Charles'
court.
CCVIII
RELIQUI/E BAXTERIAN^: or Mr. Richard Baxter's
Narrative of the most Memorable Passages of his life and
Times. Faithfully published from his own original manu-
script by Matthew Sylvester. London, 1696.
Written from the independent standpoint. Deals with
people rather than politics.
CCIX
NORTH'S LIVES OF THE NORTHS : The Lives of the
Right Hon. Francis North, Baron Guilford, Lord Keeper
of the Great Seal under King Charles II. and King James
II.; The Hon. Sir Dudley North, Commissioner of the
Customs and afterwards of the Treasury, to King Charles
II. and The Hon. and Rev. Dr. John North, master of
Trinity College, Cambridge, and clerk of the Closet to
King Charles II. by The Hon. Roger North. New ed.
London, 1826.
Taking the brothers North as examples of their class, the
book well illustrates the manners and motives of the time.
56 SOURCE-BOOK OP ENGLISH HISTORY
ccx
DRYDEX: The Works of John Drydcn, ed. Walter Scott.
Edinburgh, 1821.
The political works of Dryden illustrate the controversial
literature of the royalist type, as do those of Milton the
Puritan.
CCXI
MOXMOUTH'S REBELLION: Some Sources of History
for the Monmouth Rebellion and the Bloody Assizes, ed.
A. L. Humphreys. Taunton, 1893.
May be supplemented by The Bloody Assizes, A Complcat
History of the Life of George, Lord Jeffries, ed. Goldsmith.
CCXII
SHREWSBURY'S CORRESPONDENCE: Private and
Original Correspondence of Charles Talbot, Duke of
Shrewsbury, with King William, the Leaders of the Whig
Party, and other distinguished statesmen . . ., ed. W. Coxe.
London, 1821.
Part i. Correspondence with William to 1700. Part 2.
With Admr. Russell in 1695-06, with Galway in 1695-96 on
Grand Alliance. Part 3. Confidential correspondence with
Sunderland, Somers, Wharton, Russell, Oxford and Halifax
1695-1704.
CCXIII
MACPHERSON PAPERS : Original Papers containing the
Secret History of Great Britain from the Restoration to
the accession of the House of Hanover, To which are pre-
fixed extracts from the life of James II. as written by him-
self, ed. J. Macpherson. London, 1775. Other editions.
Worthy of study, although tainted by suspicion engendered
by the Ossianic forgeries.
CCXIV
STATE TRACTS : A Collection of State Tracts Published
on occasion of the Late Revolution in 1688 and during the
Reign of King William III. To which is prefixed The
History of the Dutch War in 1672. Translated from the
French Copy printed at Paris in 1682, which was supprest
at the instance of the English Ambassador, because of the
Discoveries it made of the League betwixt the Kings of
France and England for enslaving Europe, and intro-
ducing the Popish Religion into their Kingdoms, and the
United Provinces. London, 1705.
A curious book, illustrating the spirit of the times. It em-
bodies much of the work of the pamphleteers.
SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 57
CCXV
CARSTARE'S STATE PAPERS AND LETTTERS:
State-Papers and Letters addressed to William Carstares,
confidential Secretary to K. William during the whole of
his Reign; afterwards Principal of the University of Edin-
burgh. Relating to Public Affairs in Great-Britain, but
more particularly in Scotland, during the Reigns of K.
William and Q. Anne . . . Published from the originals by
J. McCormick. Edinburgh, 1774.
A carefully compiled volume of some value.
CCXVI
DEAN SWIFT : The Works of Jonathan Swift DD. Dean
of St. Patricks, Dublin; Containing additional Letters,
Tracts and Poems, not hitherto Published; with notes, and
a life of the author, by Walter Scott Esq. Edinburgh,
1814.
In the works of Swift we find some of the most valuable
material for this period. History of the Four Last Years
of Queen Anne's Reign and Journal to Stella are particularly
important for period covered. See also therein : On the
Conduct of the Allies, on national policy; Tale of a Tub,
satire on ecclesiastical quarrels ; Drapier Letters, etc., etc.
CCXVII
BOLINGBROKE: The Works of the Right Honourable
Henry St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbrokc. 5 vols., ed.
O. Mallet. London, 1754. Letters and Correspondence,
public and private, of Lord Bolingbroke, ed. G. Parke.
London, 1798.
Valuable although marred by partisanship and self- justifi-
cation.
CCXVIII
BOYER'S HISTORY OF QUEEN ANNE: The History
of Queen Anne, wherein all the Civil and Military Trans-
actions of that memorable Reign are faithfully compiled
from the best Authorities. The whole intermixed with
Several authentic and remarkable Papers; together with
all the more Important Debates in Parliament; A compleat
List of the most Eminent Persons who died in the course
of this Reign; with proper characters of those who ren-
dered themselves most conspicuous in Church and State,
ed. A. Boyer. London, 1735.
Useful as an accessible source.
5-S SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
CCXIX
OLDMIXON'S HISTORY: The History of England Dur-
ing the reigns of King William and Queen Mary, Queen
Anne and King George I. Being the sequel of the Reigns
of the Stuarts . . ., ed. J. Oldmixon. London, 1735.
Though coloured by violent partisanship of the Whig pol-
icy, this is a useful source. It contains extracts from Parlia-
mentary Debates and from political publications.
ccxx
RAPIN'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND CONTINUED: The
History of England by Mr. Rapin dc Thoyras. Continued
from the Revolution to the Accession of King George II.,
ed. N. Tindal. London, 1747. The work was extended to
include reign of George II and was republished Lond. 1757.
Impartial, accurate, and comprehensive. Covers period
1649-1820.
CCXXI
FLETCHER OF SALTOUN : The Political Works of An-
drew Fletcher, Esq. Reprint, Lond. 1732.
Opinions of party opposed to union between England and
Scotland.
CCXXII
HERVEY'S MEMOIRS : Memoirs of the Reign of George
the Second from his accession to the Death of Queen
Caroline.. .By John, Lord Hervcy, ed. from the original
mss. by J. W. Croker. London, 1848.
I 737- J 74 2 - Court Life and the inner political management.
Valuable source.
CCXXIII
KER'S MEMOIRS: The Memoirs of John Ker of Kersland
in North Britain Esq.; containing His secret transactions
and negotiations in Scotland, England, the Courts of
Vienna, Hanover, and other Foreign Parts. With an ac-
count of the Rise and Progress of the Ostcnd Company in
the Austrian Netherlands. London, 1726.
Ker was a secret agent of the Government, and his work
not only throws light upon the policy of the Ministry, but
gives a clear idea of the methods of the service in which he
was engaged.
CCXXIV
LETTERS OF WILLIAM III. AND LOUIS XIV. and of
their ministers, illustrative of the Domestic and Foreign
SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 59
politics of England from the Peace of Ryswick to the ac-
cession of Phillip V . of Spain. 1697-1700, ed. P. Grimblot.
London, 1848.
Useful in the field indicated in title.
ccxxv
CALENDARS: of Home Office Papers of the Reign of
George III. 1760-65; 1766-60; 1760-72; of Treasury
Papers, 1557-1730. London, 1878-81. See No. XXV.
Extremely valuable.
CCXXVI
BEDFORD CORRESPONDENCE: Correspondence of
John, Fourth Duke of Bedford; selected from the original
at Woburn Abbey. With an introduction by Lord John
Russell. London, 1842-46.
Generally useful for political history in period 1742-1770.
CCXXVII
PITT CORRESPONDENCE: Correspondence of William
Pitt, Earl of Chatham . . . published from the original
manuscripts. London, 1838.
Covers period 1741-1778. The position of the writer en-
ables him to give much information not elsewhere obtain-
able.
CCXXVIII
THE GRENVILLE PAPERS : being the correspondence of
Richard Grenville, Earl Temple, K.G., and the Rt. Hon.
George Grenville, their friends and contemporaries. Ed.
W. J. Smith, Lond., 1852.
Begins 1742. Particularly important after 1755.
CCXXIX
ROSE CORRESPONDENCE: Diaries and Correspondence
of the Right Hon. George Rose; containing original-
Letters of the most disingulshed statesmen of his day, ed.
L. V. Harcourt. London, 1860-62.
Period of 1782-1815. Useful.
ccxxx
AUCKLAND CORRESPONDENCE: The Journal and
Corespondence of William, Lord Auckland, ed. The Bishop
of Bath and Wells. London, 1861-62.
Period of 1782-1814. Scholarly and impartial.
60 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
CCXXXI
MEMOIRS OF THE LAST TEN YEARS OF THE
REIGN OF GEORGE II., by Horace Walpolc. London,
1822. Also Memoirs of the Early Reign of George III ,
by Horace Walpolc, ed. from original MSS. by D. Le
Marchant. London, 1845. Also Correspondence of, ed.
Cunningham. London, 1840-51, and 1888. Also Journal
of the Reign of George III [1771-1783], ed. Doran. Lon-
don, 1859. Also Letters of, ed. C. D. Yonge, 1891.
The standard source for the period.
CCXXXII
ANNUAL REGISTER, or a view of the History, Politics
and Literature for the year 1758. (Continued to date.)
Each volume of this important series contains a summary
of the principal events of the year in England and foreign
countries. Particular attention given to parliamentary pro-
ceedings. Texts of important acts and treaties are often
quoted. Although in many cases the editor shows bias, this
is so readily perceptible as to be of little disadvantage.
CXXXIII
CAVENDISH'S DEBATES: Henry Cavendish's Debates
of the House of Commons During the Thirteenth Parlia-
ment of Great Britain, commonly called the Unrcported
Parliament; to which arc appended Illustrations of the
Parliamentary History of the Reign of George the Third;
consisting of unpublished letters, Private Journals, Me-
moirs, etc. Drawn up from the original manuscripts by
J. Wright. London, 1841-43.
Covers period 1768-1771.
CCXXXIV
BUBB DODINGTON'S DIARY: The Diary of the late
George Bubb Dodington, from Mar. 8, 1748-40 to Fcby. 6,
1761. With an Appendix containing many curious and
interesting Papers referred to in the Diary. Ed. H. P.
Wyndham from the original MSS. I4th edition. 1809.
Useful for period 1748-1761.
ccxxxv
NORTH CORRESPONDENCE: The Correspondence of
King George the Third with Lord North from 1768-1783,
ed. from the originals by W. B. Donne. London, 1867.
Period of 1768-1783.
SOURCES ARRANGED BY EPOCHS 61
CCXXXVI
MALMESBURY CORRESPONDENCE: Diaries and Cor-
respondence of James Harris, First Earl of Malmesbury;
containing an account of His Mission to the Courts of
Madrid, Frederick the Great, Catherine the Second, and
the Hague; and his special missions to Berlin, Brunswick
and the French Republic, ed. Earl of Malmesbury. Lon-
don, 1844.
Period of 1767-1797.
CCXXXVII
BURKE'S WORKS: The Works and Correspondence of
Edmund Burke. London, 1852. Speeches of, Lond. 1859.
For missing correspondence, completing this valuable
source, see T. Macknight's Life and Times of Edmund
Burke, London, 1858-1861.
ccxxxvm
CORNWALLIS CORRESPONDENCE: Correspondence
of Charles, First Marquis Cornwallis. Ed. C. Ross, Lond.,
1859.
Period of 1776-1806. Colonial affairs.
CCXXXIX
MEMOIRS OF THE COURT AND CABINETS OF
GEORGE THE THIRD. From original family docu-
ments by the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. Lon-
don, 1853-55.
Period of 1782-1800. Valuable for letters of eminent per-
sons.
SECTION 10. THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
The source material for the study of the history of the
Nineteenth Century is so voluminous as to preclude even an
attempt to outline its resources within the limits of the space
at command. The student will, however, by following the
bibliographical lines indicated for preceding periods, have
no difficulty in securing an ample supply of material for the
study of recent history.
PART II
THE PRE-NORMAN PERIOD
(425 B.C. TO 1066 A.D.)
CHAPTER III
THE BRITAIN OF THE ANCIENTS
ii. First Mention of the Islands afterwards called British
Herodotus
HERODOTUS (b. circa 484 B.C.; d. 408 B.C.?) was the earliest
Grecian historian. His History contains the first authentic allu-
sion to the British Islands. The form of the reference indicates
that definite knowledge of the "Tin Islands," the Cassiterides,
generally believed to be the British Islands, was current among
the trading countries of the Mediterranean at a period somewhat
earlier than that of Herodotus.
Of the extremities of Europe towards the west I cannot
speak with certainty, . . . nor am I acquainted with the islands
Cassiterides, from which tin is brought to us.
(Herodoti Historiarum libro III 115, ed. Abicht-Kallenberg, Teubner Text
Leipsic, 1890.)
12. First Mention of the Islands by Name
Aristotle
ARISTOTLE (b. circa 384 B.C.; d. 322 B.C.?) Controversies have
more than shaken the belief that The Universe was written by
Aristotle; yet the undoubted antiquity of the work justifies the
insertion of the excerpt given below. If we accept the attribution
of The Universe to the great Stagirite we may confidently assert
that therein is contained the earliest recorded allusion by name to
the British Islands.
Without which [the Pillars of Hercules] the ocean flows
round the earth ; in this ocean, however, are two islands, and
those very large, called Bretannic, Albion and lerne, which
are larger than those before mentioned and lie beyond the
Celti; and other two not less than these, Taprobane, beyond
the Indians, lying obliquely in respect of the main land, and
that called Phebol, situate over against the Arabic Gulf;
moreover not a few small islands, around the Bretannic Isles
and Iberia, encircle as with a diadem this earth, which we
have already said to be an island.
(Aristoteles de .#/<& capite iii, Prussian Royal Academy. Ed. , Berlin, 1831-70.)
65
66 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
13. Evidence of increasing Interest in the British Islands
Polybiiu
The great History of POLYBIUS (b. circa 204 B.C.; d. 122 B.C.?)
is chiefly devoted to the affairs of Greece, but it contains many
allusions to the contemporaneous history of other countries.
From the excerpt given, the increasing interest in and knowledge
of the British Islands are apparent. Not only are these islands
mentioned by name, but their connection with the tin trade is
definitely stated.
Perhaps indeed some will enquire why, having made so
long a discourse concerning places in Libya and Iberia, we
have not spoken more fully of the outlet at the Pillars of
Hercules, nor of the exterior sea, and of the peculiarities
which occur therein, nor yet indeed of the Bretannic Isles,
and the working of tin ; nor again, of the gold and silver
mines of Iberia ; concerning which writers, controverting
each other, have discoursed very largely.
Polybii Historiarum Hbro III. c. 57, ed. Buttner-Wobst and Dindorf, Teubner
Text, 1882.)
14. First Roman Invasion of Britain
Cttsar
In the Commentaries on the Gallic War, by JULIUS CESAR
(b. loo B.C.; d. 44 B.C.) we possess an invaluable source of con-
temporary information concerning the first two invasions of
Britain. C?esar could speak not only authoritatively as being the
leader of the Roman armies, but with clearness and accuracy as
being an observant scholar.
These matters being arranged, finding the weather favour-
able for his voyage, he set sail about the third watch, and
ordered the horse to march forward to the farther port, and
there embark and follow him. As this was performed rather
tardily by them, he himself reached Britain with the first
squadron of ships, about the fourth hour of the day, and there
saw the forces of the enemy drawn up in arms on all the hills.
The nature of the place was this : the sea was confined by
mountains so close to it that a dart could be thrown from
their summit upon the shore. Considering this by no means
a fit place for disembarking, he remained at anchor till the
ninth hour, for the other ships to arrive there. Having in
the meantime assembled the lieutenants and military tribunes,
he told them both what he had learnt from Volusenus, and
what he wished to be done; and enjoined them (as the prin-
ciple of military matters, and especially as maritime affairs,
which have a precipitate and uncertain action, required) that
all things should be performed by them at a nod and at the
THE BRITAIN OF THE ANCIENTS 67
instant. Having dismissed them, meeting both with wind and
tide favourable at the same time, the signal being given and
the anchor weighed, he advanced about seven miles from that
place, and stationed his fleet over against an open and level
shore.
But the barbarians, upon perceiving the design of the
Romans, sent forward their cavalry and charioteers, a class
of warriors of whom it is their practice to make great use in
their battles, and following with the rest of their forces, en-
deavoured to prevent our men landing. In this was the
greatest difficulty, for the following reasons, namely, because
our ships, on account of their great size, could be stationed
only in deep water ; and our soldiers, in places unknown to
them, with their hands embarrassed, oppressed with a large
and heavy weight of armour, had at the same time to leap
from the ships, stand amidst the waves, and encounter the
enemy ; whereas they, either on dry ground, or advancing a
little way into the water, free in all their limbs, in places
thoroughly known to them, could confidently throw their
weapons and spur on their horses, which were accustomed
to this kind of service. Dismayed by these circumstances
and altogether untrained in their mode of battle, our men did
not all exert the same vigour and eagerness which they had
been wont to exert in engagements on dry land.
When Caesar observed this, he ordered the ships of war,
the appearance of which was somewhat strange to the bar-
barians and the motion more ready for service, to be with-
drawn a little from the transport vessels, and to be propelled
by their oars, and be stationed towards the open flank of
the enemy, and the enemy to be beaten off and driven away,
with slings, arrows, and engines: which plan was of great
service to our men : for the barbarians being startled by
the form of our ships and the motions of our oars and
the nature of our engines, which was strange to them,
stopped, and shortly after retreated a little. And while our
men were hesitating [whether they should advance to the
shore], chiefly on account of the depth of the sea, he who
carried the eagle of the tenth legion, after supplicating the
gods that the matter might turn out favourably to the legion,
exclaimed, "Leap, fellow-soldiers, unless you wish to betray
your eagle to the enemy. I, for my part, will perform my
duty to the commonwealth and my general." When he had
said this with a loud voice, he leaped from the ship and pro-
ceeded to bear the eagle toward the enemy. Then our men,
6S SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
exhorting one another that so great a disgrace should not be
incurred, all leaped from the ship. When those in the nearest
vessels saw them, they speedily followed and approached the
enemy.
The battle was maintained vigorously on both sides. Our
men, however, as they could neither keep their ranks, nor get
firm footing, nor follow their standards, and as one from one
ship and another from another assembled around whatever
standards they met, were thrown into great confusion. Hut
the enemy, who were acquainted with all the shallows, when
from the shore they saw any coming from a ship one by one,
spurred on their horses, and attacked them while embar-
rassed; many surrounded a few, others threw their weapons
upon our collected forces on their exposed flank. When
Caesar observed this, he ordered the boats of the ships of war
and the spy sloops to be filled with soldiers, and sent them up
to the succour of those whom he had observed in distress.
Our men, as soon as they made good their footing on dry
ground, and all their comrades had joined them, made an
attack upon the enemy, and put them to flight, but could not
pursue them very far, because the horse had not been able
to maintain their course at sea and reach the island. This
alone was wanting to Caesar's accustomed success.
(Ctrsar's Commentaries on the Gallic War, book IV, c. 23-26.)
15. A Description of the Britons
Ctfsar
The characteristics of the Britons and their country are well
described by OESAR. He possessed keen perception and cool
judgment, and he was accustomed to impartially record all which
personal interests did not tempt him to colour.
The interior portion of Britain is inhabited by those of
whom they say that it is handed down by tradition that they
were born in the island itself: the maritime portion by those
who had passed over from the country of the Belgre for the
purpose of plunder and making war ; almost all of whom are
called by the names of those states from which being sprung
they went thither, and having waged war, continued there and
began to cultivate the lands. The number of the people is
countless, and their buildings exceedingly numerous, for the
most part very like those of the Gauls: the number of cattle
is great. They use either brass or iron rings, determined at
a certain weight, as their money. Tin is produced in the mid-
land regions; in the maritime, iron; but the quantity of it
THE BRITAIN OF THE ANCIENTS 69
is small : they employ brass, which is imported. There, as in
Gaul, is timber of every description, except beech and fir.
They do not regard it lawful to eat the hare, and the cock,
and the goose ; they, however, breed them for amusement and
pleasure. The climate is more temperate than in Gaul, the
colds being less severe . . .
The most civilized of all these nations are they who in-
habit Kent, which is entirely a maritime district, nor do they
differ much from the Gallic customs. Most of the inland in-
habitants do not sow corn, but live on milk and flesh, and are
clad with skins. All the Britains, indeed, dye themselves
with wood, which occasions a bluish colour, and thereby have
a more terrible appearance in fight. They wear their hair
long, and have every part of their body shaved except their
head and upper lip. Ten and even twelve have wives com-
mon to them, and particularly brothers among brothers, and
parents among their children ; but if there be any issue by
these wives, they are reputed to be the children of those by
whom respectively each was first espoused when a virgin.
(C&sar's Commentaries on the Gallic War, book V, c. 12, 14 )
1 6. The Characteristics of the Britons
Strata
In the Fourth Book of the Geography of STRABO (b. circa 50 B.C. ;
d. 21 A.D. ?) we find an interesting account of the British Islands
and their inhabitants. Strabo gathers and reflects the opinions
of the historians and geographers who preceded him, but he also
adds much derived from his own research and observation. His
description is not the less valuable because based on the accounts
of Pytheas, Posidonius, Artemidorus, Ephorus, Timagenes, Aris-
totle, Polybius, Asinius, Pollio, and Caesar.
. . . The greatest portion of the island is level and woody,
although many tracts are hilly. It produces corn, and cattle,
and gold, and silver, and iron, which things are brought
thence, and also skins and slaves, and dogs sagacious in hunt-
ing: and the Celti use these for the purposes of war also, as
well as their native dogs. The men are taller than the Celti,
with hair less yellow ; and slighter in their persons. As an
instance of their height, we ourselves saw at Rome some
youths who were taller by so much as half a foot than the
tallest there; but they were distorted in their lower limbs,
and in other respects not symmetrical in their conformation.
Their manners are in part like those of the Celti, though in
part more simple and barbarous ; insomuch that some of them,
though possessing plenty of milk, have not skill enough to
70 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
make cheese, and are totally unacquainted with horticulture
and other matters of husbandry. There arc several states
among them. In their wars they make use of chariots for the
most part, as do some of the Cclti. Forests are their cities:
for having enclosed an ample space with felled trees, here
they make themselves huts, and lodge their cattle, though not
for any long continuance. Their atmosphere is more subject
to rain than to snow ; even in their clear days the mist con-
tinues a considerable time, insomuch that throughout the
whole day the sun is only visible for three or four hours about
noontime ; and this must be the case also among the Morini
and the Menapii, and among all the neighbouring people. The
deified Caesar twice passed over to the island, but quickly
returned, having effected nothing of consequence, nor pro-
ceeded far into the country, as well on account of some com-
motions in Celtica, both among his own soldiers and among
the barbarians, as because of the loss of many of his ships
at the period of the full moon, when both the flux and reflux
of the tides were greatly increased. Nevertheless he gained
two or three victories over the Britons, although he had
transported thither only two legions of his army, and brought
away hostages, and slaves, and much other booty. At the
present time, however, some of the princes there having, by
their embassies and court, gained the friendship of Caesar
Augustus, have dedicated their offerings in the Capitol ; and
have brought the whole island into a state little short of
intimate union with the Romans. They bear moderate taxes
laid both on the imports and exports from Celtica; which are
ivory bracelets and necklaces, amber, and vessels of glass,
and such like mean merchandise ; wherefore the island would
be hardly worth a garrison, for it would require at least one
legion and some cavalry to enforce tribute from them ; and
the total expenditure for the army would be equal to the
additional revenue : for if a tribute were levied, of necessity
the imposts must be diminished, and at the same time some
dangers would be incurred if force were to be employed.
(Strabonis Geographic?, lib. I., ed. Meineke, Teubner Text, 1866.)
17. The Tin Mines of Britain
Diodorns Sicnlus
The History, or Bibliothcca, of DIODORUS SICULUS was probably
written in the last half of the first century of our era. The work
has not been preserved in its entirety. From the fragments re-
lating to Britain I have selected one which speaks of the tin trade
of that island. It was to the product of its mines that Britain
owed its earliest importance.
THE BRITAIN OF THE ANCIENTS 71
. . . Further they say that its aboriginal tribes inhabit Brit-
ain, in their usages still preserving the primitive modes of
life; for in their wars they use chariots, as the ancient
Greek heroes are reported to have done in the Trojan war,
and they have mean habitations, constructed for the most part
of reeds or of wood, and they gather in their harvest by cut-
ting off the ears of corn and storing them in subterraneous
repositories : that they cull therefrom daily such as are old,
and, dressing them, have thence their sustenance : that they
are simple in their manners, and far removed from the cun-
ning and wickedness of men of the present day: that their
modes of living are frugal, and greatly differing from the
luxury consequent on riches: that the island is thickly in-
habited, and the temperature of the air exceedingly cold, in-
asmuch as it lies directly beneath the north: and that they
have many kings and princes, and for the most part live
peaceably together.
But concerning its institutions and other peculiarities we
shall write at detail when we arrive at Caesar's expedition
into Britain : at present we shall speak of the tin which is
there produced. They who dwell near that promontory of
Britain which is called Belerium are singularly fond of
strangers, and, from their intercourse with foreign mer-
chants, civilized in their habits. These people obtain the tin
by skilfully working the soil which produces it; this being
rocky, has earthy interstices, in which, working the ore, and
then fusing, they reduce it to metal ; and when they have
formed it into cubical shapes, they convey it to a certain is-
land, lying off Britain, named Ictis : for at the low tides the
intervening space being laid dry, they carry thither, in
waggons, the tin in great abundance. A singular circum-
stance happens with respect to the neighbouring islands lying
between Europe and Britain ; for at the high tides, the inter-
vening passage being flooded, they seem islands; but at the
low tides, the sea retreating and leaving much space dry, they
appear peninsulas. From hence the merchants purchase the
tin from the natives, and carry it across into Gaul; and
finally journeying by land through Gaul for about thirty
days, they convey their burdens on horses to the outlet of
the river Rhone. This much, therefore, to have spoken con-
cerning tin may suffice.
(Diodori Siculi Bibliothecce Historic^, ed. Vogel, Teubner Text, in progress,)
72 SOURCE-BOOK. OF ENGLISH HISTORY
18. Phases of the Roman Occupation
Tacitus
No Roman writer has given a description so comprehensive
and clear of methods of war in Britain as has TACITUS. In the
Life of Agricola this author furnishes information regarding
the British Islands and their inhabitants, which is of utmost
value to the student. Tacitus possessed peculiar facilities for
directly obtaining authentic and minute information regarding
the actual occurrences in the country of the Britons.
Who were the first inhabitants of Britain, whether in-
digenous or immigrants, is a question involved in the obscu-
rity usual among barbarians. Their temperament of body is
various, whence deductions are formed of their different
origins. Thus, the ruddy hair and large limbs of the Cale-
donians point out a German derivation. The swarthy com-
plexion and curled hair of the Silures, together with their
situation opposite to Spain, render it probable that a colony
of the ancient Iberi possessed themselves of that territory.
They who are nearest Gaul resemble the inhabitants of that
country ; whether from the duration of hereditary influence,
or whether it be that when lands jut forward in opposite
directions, climate gives the same condition of body to the in-
habitants of both. On a general survey, however, it appears
probable that the Gauls originally took possession of the
neighbouring coast. The sacred rites and superstitions of
these people are discernible among the Britons. The lan-
guages of the two nations do not greatly differ. The same
audacity in provoking danger, and irresolution in facing it
when present, is observable in both. The Britons, however,
display more ferocity, not being yet softened by a long peace :
for it appears from history that the Gauls were once re-
nowned in war, till, losing their valour with their liberty,
languor and indolence entered among them. The same
change has also taken place among those of the Britons who
have been long subdued; but the rest continue such as the
Gauls formerly were.
Their military strength consists in infantry: some nations
also make use of chariots in war ; in the management of
which, the most honourable person guides the reins, while
his dependents fight from the chariot. The Britons were
formerly governed by kings, but at present they are divided
in factions and parties among their chiefs ; and this want
of union for concerting some general plan is the most favour-
able circumstance to us, in our designs against so powerful
a people. It is seldom that two or three communities concur
THE BRITAIN OF THE ANCIENTS 73
in repelling the common danger; and thus, while they engage
singly, they are all subdued. The sky in this country is de-
formed by clouds and frequent rains; but the cold is never
extremely rigorous. The length of the days greatly exceeds
that in our part of the world. The nights are bright, and,
at the extremity of the island, so short, that the close and
the return of day is scarcely distinguished by a perceptible
interval. It is even asserted that, when clouds do not inter-
vene, the splendour of the sun is visible during the whole
night, and that it does not appear to rise and set, but to move
across. The cause of this is, that the extreme and flat parts
of the earth, casting a low shadow, do not throw up the dark-
ness, and so night falls beneath the sky and the stars. The
soil/ though improper for the olive, the vine, and other
productions of warmer climates, is fertile, and suitable for
corn. Growth is quick, but maturation slow ; both from the
same cause, the great humidity of the ground and the atmos-
phere. The earth yields gold and silver and other metals,
the rewards of victory. The ocean produces pearls, but of
a cloudy and livid hue ; which some impute to unskilfulness
in the gatherers ; for in the Red Sea the fish are plucked
from the rocks alive and vigorous, but in Britain they are
collected as the sea throws them up. For my own part, I
can more readily conceive that the defect is in the nature
of the pearls, than in our avarice.
The Britons cheerfully submit to levies, tributes, and the
other services of government, if they are not treated in-
juriously ; but such treatment they bear with impatience,
their subjection only extending to obedience, not to servitude.
Accordingly Julius Caesar, the first Roman who entered
Britain with an army, although he terrified the inhabitants
by a successful engagement, and became master of the shore,
may be considered rather to have transmitted the discovery
than the possession of the country to posterity. . .
In the beginning of the next summer, Agricola . . . having
sent forwards his fleet to spread its ravages through various
parts of the coast, in order to excite an extensive and dubious
alarm, he marched with an army equipped for expedition,
to which he had joined the bravest of the Britons whose
fidelity had been proved by a long allegiance, and arrived at
the Grampian hills, where the enemy was already encamped.
For the Britons, undismayed by the event of the former
action, expecting revenge or slavery, and at length taught
that the common danger was to be repelled by union alone,
74 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
had assembled the strength of all their tribes by embassies
and confederacies. Upwards of thirty thousand men in arms
were now descried; and the youth, together with those of
a hale and vigorous age, renowned in war, and bearing their
several honorary decorations, were still flocking in ...
. . . They burst forth into cheerful acclamations, and in-
stantly flew to arms. Thus eager and impetuous, he formed
them so that the centre was occupied by the auxiliary in-
fantry, in number eight thousand, and three thousand horse
were spread in the wings. The legions were stationed in
the rear, before the intrenchments ; a disposition which
would render the victory signally glorious, if it were obtained
without the expense of Roman blood ; and would ensure
support if the rest of the army were repulsed. The British
troops, for the greater display of their numbers, and more
formidable appearance, were ranged upon the rising grounds,
so that the first line stood upon the plain ; the rest, as if
linked together, rose above one another upon the ascent.
The charioteers and horsemen filled the middle of the field
with their tumult and careering. Then Agricola, fearing
from the superior number of the enemy lest he should be
obliged to fight as well on his flanks as in front, extended
his ranks; and although this rendered his line of battle less
firm, and several of his officers advised him to bring up the
legions, yet, filled with hope, and resolute in danger, he dis-
missed his horse, and took his station on foot before the
colours.
At first the action was carried on at a distance. The
Britons, armed with long swords and short targets, with
steadiness and dexterity avoided or struck down our missile
weapons, and at the same time poured in a torrent of their
own. Agricola then encouraged three Batavian and two
Tungrian cohorts to fall in and come to close quarters ; a
method of fighting familiar to these veteran soldiers, but
embarrassing to the enemy from the nature of their armour;
for the enormous British swords, blunt at the point, are unfit
for close grappling, and engaging in a confined space. When
the Batavians, therefore, began to redouble their blows, to
strike with the bosses of their shields, and mangle the faces
of the enemy; and, bearing down all those who resisted them
on the plain, were advancing their line up the ascent; the
other cohorts, fired with ardour and emulation, joined in the
charge and overthrew all who came in their way rand so great
was their impetuosity in the pursuit of victory, that they left
THE BRITAIN OF THE ANCIENTS 75
many of their foes half dead or unhurt behind them. In the
meantime the troops of cavalry took to flight, and the armed
chariots mingled in the engagement of infantry; but although
their first shock occasioned some consternation they were
soon entangled among the close ranks of the cohorts, and the
inequalities of the ground ; not the least appearance was left of
an engagement of cavalry ; since the men, long keeping their
ground with difficulty, were forced along with the bodies of
the horses ; and frequently, straggling chariots, and affrighted
horses without their riders, flying variously as terror impelled
them, rushed obliquely athwart or directly through the lines.
Those of the Britons who, yet disengaged from the fight,
sat on the summits of the hills, and looked with careless
contempt on the smallness of our numbers, now began grad-
ually to descend; and would have fallen on the rear of
the conquering troops, had not Agricola, apprehending this
very event, opposed four reserved squadrons of horse to their
attack, which, the more furiously they had advanced, drove
them back with the greater celerity. Their project was thus
turned against themselves ; and the squadrons were ordered
to wheel from the front of the battle and fall upon the
enemy's rear. A striking and hideous spectacle now appeared
on the plain: some pursuing; some striking; some making
prisoners, whom they slaughtered as others came in their
way. Now, as their several dispositions prompted, crowds
of armed Britons fled before inferior numbers, or a few,
even unarmed, rushed upon their foes, and offered them-
selves to a voluntary death. Arms and carcases, and man-
gled limbs, were promiscuously strewed, and the field was
dyed in blood. Even among the vanquished were seen in-
stances of rage and valour. When the fugitives approached
the woods, they collected, and surrounded the foremost of
the pursuers, advancing incautiously and unacquainted with
the country ; and had not Agricola, who was everywhere
present, caused some strong and lightly-equipped cohorts to
encompass the ground, while part of the cavalry dismounted
made way through the thickets, and part on horseback
scoured the open woods, some disaster would have proceeded
from the excess of confidence. But when the enemy saw
their pursuers again formed in compact order, they renewed
their flight, not in bodies as before, or waiting for their
companions, but scattered and mutually avoided each other ;
and thus took their way to the most distant and devious
retreats. Night and satiety of slaughter put an end to the
76 SOURCE-BOOK OP ENGLISH HISTORY
pursuit. Of the enemy ten thousand were slain : on our part
three hundred and sixty fell ; among whom was Aulus At-
ticus, the praefect of a cohort, who, by his juvenile ardour,
and the fire of his horse, was borne into the midst of the
enemy.
Success and plunder contributed to render the night joyful
to the victors; whilst the Britons wandering and forlorn,
amid the promiscuous lamentations of men and women, were
dragging along the wounded; calling out to the unhurt;
abandoning their habitations, and in the rage of despair
setting them on fire; choosing places of concealment, and
then deserting them ; consulting together, and then separat-
ing. Sometimes, on beholding the clear pledges of kindred
and affection, they were melted into tenderness, or more fre-
quently roused into fury; insomuch that several, according
to authentic information, instigated by a savage compassion,
laid violent hands upon their own wives and children. On
the succeeding day, a vast silence all around, desolate hills,
the distant smoke of burning houses, and not a living soul
descried by the scouts, displayed more amply the face of
victory. After parties had been detached to all quarters
without discovering any certain traces of the enemy's flight,
or any bodies of them still in arms, as the lateness of the
season rendered it impracticable to spread the war through
the country, Agricola led his army to the confines of the
Horesti. Having received hostages from this people, he
ordered the commander of the fleet to sail round the island ;
for which expedition he was furnished with sufficient force,
and preceded by the terror of the Roman name. He himself
then led back the cavalry and infantry, marching slowly, that
he might impress a deeper awe on the newly conquered
nations; and at length distributed his troops into their winter-
quarters.
(Life of Agricola, Tacitus, London, 1875, II, p. 355 et sey.)
19. Consequences of the Withdrawal of the Romans
Gildas
The short treatise DC Excidio Britannia was written by GILDAS
(b. circa 516; d. 570?) about 560 A.D. Gildas cannot therefore
be styled a contemporary source for the Romano-British period
of English History, yet he is the accepted and sole though not
wholly satisfactory authority for the period extending from
the early part of the fifth century until about 560 A.D.
The Romans, therefore, left the country . . . No sooner
were they gone, than the Picts and Scots, like worms which
THE BRITAIN OF THE ANCIENTS 77
in the heat of mid-day come forth from their holes, hastily
land again from their canoes, in which they had been carried
beyond the Cichican valley, differing one from another in
manners, but inspired with the same avidity for blood, and
all more eager to shroud their villainous faces in bushy hair
than to cover with decent clothes those parts of their body
which required it. Moreover, having heard of the departure
of our friends, and their resolution never to return, they
seized with greater boldness than before on all the country
towards the extreme north as far as the wall. To oppose
them there was placed on the heights a garrison equally slow
to fight and ill adapted to run away, a useless and panic-
struck company, who slumbered away days and nights on
their unprofitable watch. Meanwhile the hooked weapons
of their enemies were not idle, and our wretched countrymen
were dragged from the wall and dashed against the ground.
Such premature death, however, painful as it was, saved them
from seeing the miserable sufferings of their brothers and
children. But why should I say more ? They left their cities,
abandoned the protection of the wall, and dispersed them-
selves in flight, more desperately than before. The enemy,
on the other hand, pursued them with more unrelenting
cruelty than before, and butchered our countrymen like
sheep, so that their habitations were like those of savage
beasts ; for they turned their arms upon each other, and for
the sake of a little sustenance, imbrued their hands in the
blood of their fellow-countrymen. Thus foreign calamities
were augmented by domestic feuds ; so that the whole coun-
try was entirely destitute of provisions, save such as could
be procured in the chase.
Again, therefore, the wretched remnant, sending to ^Etius,
a powerful Roman citizen, address him as follows : "To
yEtius, now consul for the third time : the groans of the
Britons." And again a little further, thus : "The barbari-
ans drive us to the sea; the sea throws us back on the bar-
barians : thus two modes of death await us, we are either
slain or drowned." The Romans, however, could not assist
them . . .
(The works of Gildas, 'The History,' 19, 20. In Six Old English Chronicles.
London, 1872.)
20. The Power of Britain Revives
Bede
The distress and despair into which the Britons fell at the
withdrawal of the Romans is well shown by the preceding selec-
78 SOL' RC E-BOOK OF EX GUSH HISTORY
tion from GILDAS. Tbc condition of depression did not endure.
The valour of the native Britons re-asserted itself, and gave to
the island a period of prosperity.
In the meantime, the aforesaid famine distressing the Brit-
ons more and more, and leaving to posterity lasting memo-
rials of its mischievous effects, obliged many of them to
submit themselves to the depredators; though others still
held out, confiding in the Divine assistance, when none was
to be had from men. These continually made excursions
from the mountains, caves, and woods, and, at length, began
to inflict severe losses on their enemies, who had been for
so many years plundering the country. The Irish robbers
thereupon returned home, in order to come again soon after.
The Picts, both then and afterwards, remained quiet in the
farthest part of the island, save that sometimes they would
do some mischief, and carry off booty from the Britons.
When, however, the ravages of the enemy at length ceased,
the island began to abound with such plenty of grain as had
never been known in any age before.
(Bede's Ecclesiastical History, book 1, c. 14, ed. J. A. Giles, London, 1894.)
CHAPTER IV
THE BIRTH OF THE ENGLISH NATION
21. The Ancient Germans
Co 1 sat
The famous Commentaries of CESAR contain the first accurate
and comprehensive account of the primitive Germans, the an-
cestors of the English. In connection with the excerpt given,
the Germania of TACITUS may be read with profit.
The Germans differ much from these usages, for they have
neither Druids to preside over sacred offices, nor do they
pay great regard to sacrifices. They rank in the number of
gods those alone whom they behold, and by whose instru-
mentality they are obviously benefited, namely, the sun, fire,
and the moon ; they have not heard of the other deities even
by report. Their whole life is occupied in hunting and in
the pursuits of the military art; from childhood they devote
themselves to fatigue and hardships. Those who have re-
mained chaste for the longest time, receive the greatest com-
mendation among their people . . .
They do not pay much attention to agriculture, and a large
portion of their food consists in milk, cheese, and flesh ; nor
has any one a fixed quantity of land or his own individual
limts; but the magistrates and the leading men each year
apportion to the tribes and families, who have united to-
gether, as much land as, and in the place in which, they think
proper, and the year after compel them to remove elsewhere.
For this enactment they advance many reasons lest seduced
by long-continued custom, they may exchange their ardour
in the waging of war for agriculture ; lest they may be anx-
ious to acquire extensive estates, and the more powerful drive
the weaker from their possessions; lest they construct their
houses with too great a desire to avoid cold and heat; lest the
desire of wealth spring up, from which cause divisions and
discords arise; and that they may keep the common people in
a contented state of mind, when each sees his own means
placed on an equality with [those of] the most powerful.
79
8o SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
It is the greatest glory to the several States to have as wide
deserts as possible around them, their frontiers having been
laid waste. They consider this the real evidence of their
prowess, that their neighbours shall be driven out of their
lands and abandon them, and that no one dare settle near
them ; at the same time, they think that they shall be on that
account the more secure, because they have removed the ap-
prehension of a sudden incursion. When a State either repels
war waged against it, or wages it against another, magis-
trates are chosen to preside over that war with such author-
ity, that they have power of life and death. In peace there is
no common magistrate, but the chiefs of provinces and can-
tons administer justice and determine, controversies among
their own people. Robberies which are committed beyond the
boundaries of each State bear no infamy, and they avow that
these are committed for the purpose of disciplining their
youth and of preventing sloth. And when any of their
chiefs has said in an assembly "that he will be their leader,
let those who are willing to follow, give in their names";
they who approve of both the enterprise and the man arise
and promise their assistance and are applauded by the people ;
such of them as have not followed him are accounted in the
number of deserters and traitors, and confidence in all mat-
ters is afterwards refused them. To injure guests they
regard as impious; they defend from wrong those who come
to them for any purpose whatever, and esteem them inviol-
able ; to them the houses of all are open and maintenance is
freely supplied.
(Cxsar's Commentaries on the Gallic f('ar, book VI, c. 21, 22, 23.,
22. The Coming of Hengist and Horsa
Bede
The accounts of the coming of the Teutons to the Isle of
Thanet are extremely unsatisfactory. Although this is the case,
yet to the student of history the beginning of the Teutonic in-
vasion of Briton is of such importance as to demand an illustra-
tion. The statement of BEDE possesses at least an element of
probability.
They consulted what was to be done, and where they should
seek assistance to prevent or repel the cruel and frequent in-
cursions of the Northern Nations; and they all agreed with
their King Vortigern to call over to their aid, from the parts
beyond the sea, the Saxon nation ... In the year of our
Lord 449 . . . then the nations of the Angles, or Saxons, being
invited by the aforesaid King, arrived in Britain with three
THE BIRTH OF THE ENGLISH NATION 81
long ships, and had a place assigned them to reside in by the
same king, in the eastern part of the island, that they might
thus appear to be fighting for their country, whilst their real
intentions were to enslave it. Accordingly they engaged
with the enemy, who were come from the north to give battle,
and obtained the victory ; which, being known at home in
their own country, as also the fertility of the country, and
the cowardice of the Britons, a more considerable fleet was
quickly sent over, bringing a still greater number of men,
which, being added to the former, made up an invincible
army. The newcomers received of the Britons a place to
inhabit, upon condition that they should wage war against
their enemies for the peace and security of the country,
whilst the Britons agreed to furnish them with pay. Those
who came over were of the three most powerful nations of
Germany Saxons, Angles, and Jutes. From the Jutes are
descended the people of Kent, and of the Isle of Wight, and
those also in the province of the West- Saxons who are to
this day called Jutes, seated opposite to the Isle of Wight.
From the Saxons, that is, the country which is now called
Old Saxony, came the East-Saxons, the South-Saxons, and
the West-Saxons. From the Angles, that is, the country
which is called Anglia, and which is said, from that time, to
remain desert to this day, between the provinces of the Jutes
and the Saxons, are descended the East-Angles, the Midland-
Angles, Mercians, all the race of the Northumbrians, that is,
of those nations that dwell on the north side of the river
Humber, and the other nations of the English. The two first
commanders are said to have been Hengist and Horsa. Of
whom Horsa, being afterwards slain in battle by the Britons,
was buried in the eastern parts of Kent, where a monument,
bearing his name, is still in existence. They were the sons
of Victgilsus, whose father was Vecta, son of Woden ; from
whose stock the royal race of many provinces deduce their
original. In a short time, swarms of the aforesaid nations
came over into the island, and they began to increase so
much, that they became terrible to the natives themselves
who had invited them. Then, having on a sudden entered
into league with the Picts, whom they had by this time
repelled by the force of their arms, they began to turn their
weapons against their confederates. At first, they obliged
them to furnish a greater quantity of provisions; and, seek-
ing an occasion to quarrel, protested, that unless more plenti-
ful supplies were brought them, they would break the con-
82 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
fcderacy, and ravage all the island ; nor were they backward
in putting their threats in execution. In short, the fire
kindled by the hands of these pagans, proved God's just re-
venge for the crimes of the people; not unlike that which,
being once lighted by the Chaldeans, consumed the walls and
city of Jerusalem. For the barbarous conquerors acting here
in the same manner, or rather the just Judge ordaining that
they should so act, they plundered all the neighbouring cities
and country, spread the conflagration from the eastern to the
western sea, without any opposition, and covered almost
every part of the devoted island. Public as well as private
structures were overturned ; the priests were everywhere
slain before the altars ; the prelates and the people, without
any respect of persons, were destroyed with fire and sword ;
nor was there any to bury those who had been thus cruelly
slaughtered. Some of the miserable remainder, being taken
in the mountains, were butchered in heaps. Others, spent
with hunger, came forth and submitted themselves to the
enemy for food, being destined to undergo perpetual servi-
tude, if they were not killed even upon the spot. Some, with
sorrowful hearts, fled beyond the seas. Others, continuing
in their own country, led a miserable life among the woods,
rocks, and mountains, with scarcely enough food to support
life, and expecting every moment to be their last.
(Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England, book I, c. 16.
Kd. J. A. Giles, London, 1894.)
23. England becomes One Kingdom
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The development of the over-lordship of the kings of Wessex,
and the establishment of the dynasty of its ruler Ecgbert as Bret-
walders of England, is set forth in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
This old chronicle is unique among histories, stretching as it
does from the beginning of the Christian era to 1154 A.D. and
being contemporary history from the fifth century. It is be-
lieved to have been an annual compilation, made at one of the
chief monasteries, and its authority is in the main accepted. There
are several manuscript copies extant. Details supplementary to
the statements of the chronicle of the progress of the union of
England into one kingdom under Ecgbert from whom every
sovereign of England, including the Danish kings and William
the Conqueror, has claimed descent may be found in BEDE'S
Ecclesiastical History.
KENT BEGUN
A. 455. This year Hengist and Horsa fought against king
Vortigern at the place which is called ^gels-threp [Ayles-
THE BIRTH OF THE ENGLISH NATION 83
ford] and his brother Horsa was there slain, and after that
Hengist obtained the kingdom, and JEsc his son.
SUSSEX BEGUN
A. 477. This year ^lla, and his three sons, Cymen, and
Wlencing, and Cissa, came to the land of Britain with three
ships, at a place which is named Cymenes-ora, and there
slew many Welsh, and some they drove in flight into the
wood that is named Andreds-lea.
WESSEX BEGUN
A. 495. This year two ealdormen came to Britain, Cerdic
and Cynric his son, with five ships, at the place which is
called Cerdics-ore, and the same day they fought against the
Welsh.
NORTHUMBRIA BEGUN
A. 547. This year Ida began to reign, from whom arose
the royal race of North-humbria ; and he reigned twelve
years, and built Bambrough, which was at first enclosed by
a hedge, and afterwards by a wall.
SUPREMACY OF NORTHUMBRIA
A. 617. This year Ethelfrid the king of the North-hum-
brians was slain by Redwald king of the East-Angles, and
Edwin the son of Alia succeeded to the kingdom, and subdued
all Britain, the Kentish-men alone excepted. And he drove
out the ethelings, sons of Ethelfrid ; that is to say, first Ean-
frid, Oswald, and Owsy, Oslac, Oswudu, Oslaf, and Offa.
SUPREMACY OF MERCIA
A. 792. This year Offa, king of the Mercians, commanded
the head of king Ethelbert to be struck off. And Osred, who
had been king of the Northumbrians, having come home after
his exile, was seized and slain on the i8th before the Kalends
of October; and his body lies at Tinemouth.
A. 796. This year Kenulf, king of the Mercians, laid
waste Kent as far as the marshes, and took Pren their king,
and led him bound into Mercia, and let his eyes be picked out
and his hands be cut off.
SUPREMACY OF WESSEX
A. 823. This year there was a battle between the Welsh
and the men of Devon at Camelford : and the same year Eg-
bert king of the West-Saxons and Bernulf king of the Mer-
cians fought at Wilton, and Egbert got the victory, and there
was great slaughter made.
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EGBERT OVERLORD OF BRITAIN
A. 827. . . . And the same year king Egbert conquered the
kingdom of the Mercians, and all that was south of the Hum-
ber; and he was the eighth king who was Bretwalda.
(From the Angfo-Saxon Chronicle, for years named.
Ed. Giles, 1875.)
24. The Re-Establishment of Christianity
Bede
Although the venerable BEDE (673 to circa 735) was born a
century after the landing of St. Augustine, we turn to his Eccle-
siastical History as the native source of our knowledge of the
regeneration of Christianity in Britain. Bede has been termed
the Father of English History. His learning was great, his in-
dustry constant, and his means of information at once extensive
and unique. His History is an 1 indispensable source for the
period of which it treats.
Augustine, thus strengthened by the confirmation of the
blessed father Gregory, returned to the work of the word of
God, with the servants of Christ, and arrived in Britain.
The powerful Ethelbert was at that time king of Kent; he
had extended his dominions as far as the great river Hum-
ber, by which the Southern Saxons are divided from the
Northern. On the east of Kent is the large Isle of Thanet
containing according to the English way of reckoning, 600
families, divided from the other land by the river Wantsum,
which is about three furlongs over, and fordable only in two
places, for both ends of it run into the sea. In this island
landed the servant of our Lord, Augustine, and his com-
panions, being, as is reported, nearly forty men. They had,
by order of the blessed Pope Gregory, taken interpreters of
the nation of the Franks, and sending to Ethelbert, signified
that they were come from Rome, and brought a joyful mes-
sage, which most undoubtedly assured to all that took advan-
tage of it everlasting joys in heaven, and a kingdom that
would never end, with the living and true God. The king
having heard this, ordered them to stay in that island where
they had landed, and that they should be furnished with all
necessaries, till he should consider what to do with them.
For he had before heard of the Christian religion, having a
Christian wife of the royal family of the Franks, called
Bertha ; whom he had received from her parents, upon con-
dition that she should be permitted to practise her religion
with the bishop Luidhard, who was sent with her to preserve
THE BIRTH OF THE ENGLISH NATION 85
her faith. Some days after, the king came into the island,
and sitting in the open air, ordered Augustine and his com-
panions to be brought into his presence. For he had taken
precaution that they should not come to him in any house,
lest, according to an ancient superstition, if they practised
any magical arts, they might impose upon him, and so get
the better of him. But they came furnished with Divine, not
with magic virtue, bearing a silver cross for their banner,
and the image of our Lord and Saviour painted on a board ;
and singing the litany, they offered up their prayers to the
Lord for the eternal salvation both of themselves and of those
to whom they were come. When he had sat down, pursuant
to the king's commands, and preached to him and his attend-
ants there present, the word of life, the king answered thus :
- "Your words and promises are very fair, but as they are
new to us, and of uncertain import, I cannot approve of them
so far as to forsake that which I have so long followed with
the whole English nation. But because you are come from
far into my kingdom, and, as I conceive, are desirous to im-
part to us those things which you believe to be true, and most
beneficial, we will not molest you, but give you favourable
entertainment, and take care to supply you with your neces-
sary sustenance; nor do we forbid you to preach and gain
as many as you can to your religion." Accordingly he per-
mitted them to reside in the city of Canterbury, which was
the metropolis of all his dominions, and, pursuant to his
promise, besides allowing them sustenance, did not refuse
them liberty to preach. It is reported that, as they drew near
to the city, after their manner, with the holy cross, and the
image of our sovereign Lord and King, Jesus Christ, they,
in concert, sung this litany: "We beseech thee, O Lord, in
all thy mercy, that thy anger and wrath be turned away from
this city, and from thy holy house, because we have sinned.
Hallelujah."
There was on the east side of the city, a church dedicated
to the honour of St. Martin, built whilst the Romans were
still in the island, wherein the queen, who, as has been said
before, was a Christian, used to pray. In this they first
began to meet, to sing, to pray, to say mass, to preach, and
to baptize, till the king, being converted to the faith, allowed
them to preach openly, and build or repair churches in all
places.
86 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Nor was it long before he gave his teachers a settled resi-
dence in his metropolis of Canterbury, with such possessions
of different kinds as were necessary for their subsistence.
(Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England, book I, c. 25-2$.
Ed. J, A. Giles, London, 1894.)
CHAPTER V
ANGLO-SAXON LAWS
The Dooms of the Kings Alfred, Athelstan, and Edgar,
'Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, ed. Thorpe
The importance of the Anglo-Saxon laws as sources of Eng-
lish History is enhanced by the absence of authentic contem-
porary literature. Were it not for those laws, we should know
but little of the period.
The law of a people is synchronous with the development of
that people. Legislation not only indicates the progress of a
race, but preserves its characteristics from generation to gen-
eration. In the selections given below it is sought to indicate the
development of early English law from the crudest customary
law to the more scientific enactments of the later Anglo-Saxon
kings, and also to give the material which best illustrates the
development of fiscal, political, and legal institutions of the early
English.
25. Of a Man's Eye-Wound and of Various Other Limbs
From the Laws of King Alfred
If a man strike out another's eye, let him pay LX. shillings,
and VI. shillings and VI. pennies and a third part of a penny,
as "hot." If it remain in the head, and he cannot see aught
therewith, let one third part of the "hot" be retained.
If a man strike off another's nose, let him make "hot" with
LX. shillings.
If a man strike out another's tooth in the front of his head,
let him make "hot" for it with VIII. shillings: if it be the
canine tooth, let IV. shillings be paid as "bot." A man's
grinder is worth XV. shillings.
If a man's tongue be done out of his head by another man's
deeds, that shall be as eye-"bot."
If a man be wounded on the shoulder so that the joint-oil
flow out, let "bot" be made with XXX. shillings.
If the thumb be struck off, for that shall be XXX. shillings
as "bot."
If the nail be struck off, for that shall be V. shillings as
"bot."
88 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
If the shooting [i.e. fore] finger be struck off, the "bot"
is XV. shillings; for its nail it is IV. shillings.
If a man's thigh be pierced, let XXX. shillings be paid him
as "bot"; if it be broken, the "bot" is likewise XXX. shil-
lings.
If the great toe be struck off, let XX. shillings be paid him
as "bot"; if it be the second toe, let XV. shillings be paid as
"bot"; if the middlemost toe be struck off, there shall be IX.
shillings as "bot"; if it be the fourth toe, there shall be VI.
shillings as "bot"; if the little toe be struck off, let V. shil-
lings be paid him.
If a man's arm, with the hand, be entirely cut off before
the elbow, let "bot" be made for it with LXXX. shillings.
For every wound before the hair, and before the sleeve,
and beneath the knee, the "bot" is two parts more.
26. Of Lordless Men
From the Laivs of King Athelstan
And we have ordained: respecting those lordless men of
whom no law can be got, that the kindred be commanded that
they domicile him to folk-right, and find him a lord in the
folk-mote; and if they then will not or cannot produce him
at the term, then be he thenceforth a "flyma," and let him
slay him for a thief who can come at him: and whoever after
that shall harbour him. let him pay for him according to his
"wer," or by it clear himself.
27. Of Landless Men
From the Laws of King Athelstan
And we have ordained: if any landless man should become
a follower in another shire, and again seek his kinsfolk; that
he may harbour him on this condition, that he present him to
folk-right if he there do any wrong, or make "bot" for him.
28. Of the Doom concerning Hot Iron and Water
From the Laws of King Athelstan
And concerning the ordeal we enjoin by command of God,
and of the archbishop, and of all bishops: that no man come
within the church after the fire is borne in with which the
ordeal shall be heated, except the mass-priest, and him who
shall go thereto : and let there be measured nine feet from
the stake to the mark, by the man's feet who goes thereto.
But if it be water, let it be heated till it low to boiling. And
be the kettle of iron or of brass, of lead or of clay. And if
it be a single accusation, let the hand dive after the stone up
ANGLO-SAXON LAWS 89
to the wrist; and if it be threefold, up to the elbow. And
when the ordeal is ready, then let two men go in of either
side ; and be they agreed that it is so hot as we before have
said. And let go in an equal number of men of either side,
and stand on both sides of the ordeal, along the church ; and
let these all be fasting, and abstinent from their wives on
that night ; and let the mass-priest sprinkle holy water over
them all, and let each of them taste of the holy water, and
give them all the book and the image of Christ's rood to kiss :
and let no man mend the fire any longer when the hallowing
is begun; but let the iron lie upon the hot embers till the last
collect : after that, let it be laid upon the "stapela" ; and let
there be no other speaking within, except that they earnestly
pray to Almighty God that he make manifest what is sooth-
est. And let him go thereto ; and let his hand be enveloped,
and be it postponed till after the third day, whether it be
foul or clean within the envelope. And he who shall break
this law, be the ordeal with respect to him void, and let him
pay to the king CXX. shillings as "wite."
"Wal-reaf" is a "nithing's" deed: if any one desire to deny
it, let him do so with eight and forty full-born thanes.
29. Of Wer-Gilds
from the Laws of King At he 1st an
1. The North people's king's "gild" is XXX. thousand
"thrymsas"; fifteen thousand "thrymsas" are for the "wer-
gild," and XV. thousand for the "cyne-dom." The "wer"
belongs to the kindred, and the "cyne-bot" to the people.
2. An archbishop's and an atheling's "wer-gild" is XV.
thousand "thrymsas."
3. A bishop's and an "ealdorman's," VIII. thousand
"thrymsas."
4. A "hold's" and a king's high-reeve's, IV. thousand
"thrymsas."
5. A mass-thane's and a secular thane's, II. thousand
"thrymsas.''
6. A "ceorl's" "wer-gild" is CC. and LXVI. "thrymsas,"
that is CC. shillings by Mercian law.
7. And if a "Wilisc"-man thrive so that he have a hide of
land, and can bring forth the king's "gafol," then is his "wer-
gild" CXX. shillings. And if he thrive not except to half
a hide, then let his "wer" be LXXX. shillings.
8. And if he have not any land, and yet be free, let him be
paid for with LXX. shillings.
90 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
9. And if a "ceorlish" man thrive, so that he have V. hides
of land for the king's "ut-ware," and any one slay him, let
him be paid for with two thousand "thrymsas."
10. And though he thrive, so that he have a helm and coat
of mail, and a sword ornamented with gold, if he have not
that land, he is nevertheless a "ceorl."
11. And if his son and his son's son so thrive, that they
have so much land ; afterwards, the offspring shall be of
"gesithcund" race, at two thousand ["thrymsas"].
12. And if they have not that, nor to that can thrive, let
them be paid for as "ceorlish."
30. Of People's Ranks and Law
From the Laws of King Athelstan
1. It was whilom, in the laws of the English, that people
and law went by ranks, and then were the counsellors of the
nation of worship worthy, each according to his condition,
"eorl" and ''ceorl," "thegen" and "theoden."
2. And if a "ceorl" thrived, so that he had fully five hides
of his own land, church and kitchen, bell-house and "burh"-
gate-seat, and special duty in the king's hall, then was he
thenceforth of thane-right worthy.
3. And if a thane thrived, so that he served the king, and
on his summons, rode among his household; if he then had a
thane who him followed, who to the king's "ut-ware," five
hides had, and in the king's hall served his lord, and thrice
with his errand went to the king; he might thenceforth, with
his "fore-oath," his lord represent, at various needs, and his
plaint lawfully conduct, wheresoever he ought.
4. And he who so prosperous a vicegerent had not, swore
for himself according to his right, or it forfeited.
5. And if a thane thrived, so that he became an "eorl," then
was he thenceforth of "eorl"-right worthy.
6. And if a merchant thrived, so that he fared thrice over
the wide sea by his own means ; then was he thenceforth of
thane-right worthy.
7. And if there a scholar were, who through learning
thrived, so that he had holy orders, and served Christ ; then
was he thenceforth of rank and power so much worthy, as
then to those orders rightfully belonged, if he himself con-
ducted so as he should ; unless he should misdo, so that he
those orders' ministry might not minister.
8. And if it happened, that any one a man in orders, or a
ANGLO-SAXON LAWS 9
stranger, anywhere injured, by word or work; then pertained
it to king and to the bishop, that they that should make good,
as they soonest might.
31. This is the Ordinance how the Hundred shall be Held
From ike Laws of King Edgar
First, that they meet always within four weeks : and that
every man do justice to another.
2. That a thief shall be pursued . . .
If there be present need, let it be made known to the
hundred-man, and let him [make it known] to the tithing-
men; and let them all go forth to where God may direct them
to go: let them do justice on the thief, as it was formerly the
enactment of Edmund. And let the "ceap-gild" be paid to
him who owns the cattle, and the rest be divided into two;
half to the hundred, half to the lord, excepting men; and let
the lord take possession of the men.
3. And the man who neglects this, and denies the doom of
the hundred, and the same be afterwards proved against him ;
let him pay to the hundred XXX. pence, and for the second
time sixty pence; half to the hundred, half to the lord. If he
do so a third time, let him pay half a pound: for the fourth
time, let him forfeit all that he owns, and be an outlaw, un-
less the king allow him to remain in the country.
4. And we have ordained concerning unknown cattle ; that
no one should possess it without the testimonies of the men
of the hundred, or of the tithing-man ; and that he be a well
trusty man : and, unless he have either of these, let no vouch-
ing to warranty be allowed him.
5. We have also ordained: if the hundred pursue a track
into another hundred, that notice be given to the hundred-
man, and that he then go with them. If he neglect this, let
him pay thirty shillings to the king.
6. If any one flinch from justice and escape, let him who
held him to answer for the offence pay the "angylde." And
if any one accuse him of having sent him away, let him clear
himself, as it is established in the country.
7. In the hundred, as in any other "gemot," we ordain :
that folk-right be pronounced in every suit, and that a term
be fixed when it shall be fulfilled. And he who shall break
that term, unless it be his lord's decree, let him make "bot"
with XXX. shillings, and, on the day fixed, fulfil that which
he ought to have done before.
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8. An oxes bell, and a dog's collar, and a blast-horn ; cither
of these three shall be worth a shilling, and each is reckoned
an informer.
9. Let the iron that is for the threefold ordeal weigh III
pounds; and for the single, one pound.
32. Here is the Ordinance of King Edgar
Front the L aius of King itdgar
This is the ordinance that King Edgar, with the counsel of
his "witan," ordained, in praise of God, and in honour to
himself, and for the behoof of all his people.
These then are first : that God's churches be entitled to
every right; and that every tithe be rendered to the old
minster to which the district belongs; and that be then so
paid, both from a thane's "in-land," and from "geneat-land,"
so as the plough traverses it.
Of Church-Scots
But if there be any thane who on his "boc-land" has a
church, at which there is a burial-place; let him give the
third part of his own tithe to his church. If any one have a
church at which there is not a burial-place, then, of the nine
parts, let him give to his priest what he will ; and let every
church-scot go to the old minster, according to every free
hearth ; and let plough-alms be paid, when it shall be fifteen
days over Easter.
33. Of Tithes
From the I.aius of King F.dgar
And let a tithe of every young be paid by Pentecost ; and
of the fruits of the earth by the equinox ; and every church-
scot by Martinmass, on peril of the full "wite" which the
doom-book specifies: and if any one will not then pay the
tithe, as we have ordained, let the king's reeve go thereto,
and the bishop's, and the mass-priest of the minster, and take
by force a tenth part for the minster to which it is due; and
assign to him the ninth part; and let the eight parts be di-
vided into two, and let the land-lord take possession of half,
half the bishop; be it a king's man, be it a thane's.
34. Of the Hearth-Penny
From the Laws of King Edgar
And let every hearth-penny be rendered by St. Peter's
mass-day : and he who shall not have paid it by that term, let
him be Jed to Rome, and in addition thereto [pay] XXX.
ANGLO-SAXON LAWS 93
pence, and bring then a certificate thence, that he has there
rendered so much ; and when he comes home, pay to the king
a hundred and twenty shillings. And if again he will not
pay it, let him be led again to Rome, and with another such
"bot" ; and when he comes home again, pay to the king two
hundred shillings. At the third time, if he then yet will not,
let him forfeit all that he owns.
35. Of Festivals and Fasts
from the Laws of King Edgar
And let the festivals of every Sunday be kept, from noon-
tide of the Saturday, till the. dawn of Monday, on peril of the
"wite" which the doom-book specifies; and every other mass-
day, as it may be commanded: and let every ordained fast be
kept with every earnestness; and every Friday's fast, unless
it be a festival : and let soul-scot be paid for every Christian
man to the minster to which it is due; and let every church-
"grith" stand as it has best stood.
36. Secular Ordinance
From the Laws of King Edgar
Now this is the secular ordinance which I will that it be
held. This then is first what I will : that every man be
worthy of "folk-right," as well poor as rich : and that right-
eous dooms be judged to him; and let there be such remission
in the "bot" as may be becoming before God and tolerable
before the world.
IN CASE ANY ONE APPLY TO THE KING: AND OF THE
And let no man apply to the king, in any suit, unless he at
home may not be worthy of law, or cannot obtain law. If
the law be too heavy, let him seek a mitigation of it from the
king : and, for any "bot"-worthy crime, let no man forfeit
more than his "wer."
OF UNRIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT
And let the judge who judges wrong to another pay to the
king one hundred and twenty shillings as "bot" ; unless he
dare to prove on oath, that he knew it not more rightly ; and
let him forfeit forever his thaneship ; unless he will buy it of
the king, so as he is willing to allow him : and let the bishop
of the shire exact the "bot" into the king's hands.
IN CASE ANY ONE ACCUSE ANOTHER
And he who shall accuse another wrongfully, so that he,
either in money or prosperity, be the worse; if then the other
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can disprove that which any one would charge to him; be he
liable in his tongue; unless he make him compensation with
his "wer."
OF GEMOTS
And let the huiidred-"gcm6t" be attended as it was before
fixed; and thrice in the year let a "burh-gemot" be held; and
twice, a shire-"gemot" ; and let there be present the bishop
of the shire and the "ealdorman," and there both expound the
law of God as the secular law.
OF "BORHS"
And let every man so order that he have a "borh" ; and let
the "borh" then bring and hold him to every justice; and if
any one then do wrong and run away, let the "borh" bear
that which he ought to bear. But if it be a thief, and if he
can get hold of him within twelve months; let him deliver
him up to justice, and let be rendered to him what he before
had paid.
OF "TIHT-BYSIG" PERSONS
And he who is "tyht-bysig," and is untrue to the people,
and has shunned these "gemots" thrice; then let there be
chosen from the "gemot" those who shall ride to him, and
then let him yet find a "borh" if he can: but if he cannot, let
them seize him as they can, whether alive or dead ; and take
all that he owns; and let the accuser be paid an "angylde" for
his "ceap-gild": and let the lord moreover take half, half the
hundred; and if either a kinsman or a stranger refuse the
riding, let him pay to the king a hundred and twenty shil-
lings: and let a notorious thief seek whatever he may seek,
or he who is found plotting against his lord, so that they
never seek life; unless the king will grant them salvation of
life.
F MONEY AND MEASURES
And let one money pass thoughout the king's dominion ;
and that let no man refuse : and let one measure and one
weight pass; such as is observed at London and at Win-
chester; and let the wey of wool go for CXXX. pence; and
let no man sell it cheaper; and if any one sell ir cheaper,
either publicly or privately, let each pay XL. shillings to the
king, both him who sells it, and him who buys it.
This then is what I will : that every man be under "borh,"
both within the "burhs," and without the "burns"; and let
witness be appointed to every "burh" and to every hundred.
ANGLO-SAXON LAWS 95
To every "burh," let there be chosen XXXIII. as witness.
To small "burhs," and in every hundred, XII.; unless ye
desire more.
And let every man, with their witness, buy and sell every
of the chattels that he may buy or sell, either in a "burh" or
in a wapentake; and let every of them, when he is first
chosen as witness, give the oath that he never, neither for
money, nor for love, nor for fear, will deny any of those
things of which he was witness, nor declare any other thing
in witness, save that alone which he saw or heard: and of
such sworn men, let there be at every bargain two or three as
witness.
CHAPTER VI
THE DANES IN ENGLAND
37. The Danish Invasions
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Danish invasions of England extended from 787 through
three centuries. During this period there was no decade free
from harrying and slaughter. Ireland and Scotland did not
escape the ravagers, but England had to bear the brunt of the
struggle. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us of the first com-
ing of the Danes in 787, and then marks the progress of the
Danish power until this culminated in the reign of Canute. The
selections given, from the Chronicle and from ASSER'S Life of
Alfred, note but a few of the salient points in the history of the
establishment of the Danish power. The works cited should be
consulted for details.
A. 787. This year king Bertric took to wife Eadburga,
king Offa's daughter; and in his day first came three ships
of Northmen, out of Haeretha-land [Denmark]. And then
the reve rode to the place, and would have driven them to the
king's town, because he knew not who they were : and they
there slew him. These were the first ships of Danishmen
which sought the land of the English nation.
A. 855. This year the heathen men, for the first time,
remained over winter in Sheppey:...
A. 878. This year, during midwinter, after twelfth night,
the army stole away to Chippenham, and overran the land of
the West-Saxons, and sat down there ; and many of the
people they drove beyond sea, and of the remainder the
greater part they subdued and forced to obey them, except
king Alfred: and he, with a small band, with difficulty re-
treated to the woods and to the fastnesses of the moors. And
the same winter the brother of Hingwar and of Halfdene
came with twenty-three ships to Devonshire in Wessex ; and
he was there slain, and with him eight hundred and forty
96
THE DANES IN ENGLAND 97
men of his army : and there was taken the war-flag which
they called the RAVEN. After this, at Easter king Alfred
with a small band constructed a fortress at Athelney; and
from this fortress, with that part of the men of Somerset
which was nearest to it, from time to time they fought
against the army. Then in the seventh week after Easter
he rode to Brixton, on the east side of Selwood; and there
came to meet him all the men of Somerset, and the men of
Wiltshire, and that portion of the men of Hampshire which
was on this side of the sea; and they were joyful at his
presence. On the following day he went from that station
to Iglea [Hey], and on the day after this to Heddington, and
there fought against the whole army, put them to flight, and
pursued them as far as their fortress : and there he sat down
fourteen days. And then the army delivered to him hostages,
with many oaths, that they would leave his kingdom, and also
promised him that their king should receive baptism : and
this they accordingly fulfilled. And about three weeks after
this king Gothrun came to him, with some thirty men who
were of the most distinguished in the army, at Aller, which
is near Athelney: and the king was his godfather at baptism;
and his chrism-loosing was at Wedmore : and he was twelve
days with the king; and he greatly honoured him and his
companions with gifts.
(Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, for years given, ed. cited.)
38. Alfred at Athelney
Asser
ASSER, a monk of St. David's, afterward Bishop of Sherborne.
was an adviser and intimate of King Alfred. He wrote a Life of
the king, which, though containing few facts not also to be found
in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, is of interest and value. The
following selection graphically describes the period of discour-
agement which formed the prelude to the victories of the greatest
of the early English kings, as well as the battle in which the
power of the Danes was overthrown.
The same year, after Easter, king Alfred, with a few fol-
lowers, made for himself a stronghold in a place called Athel-
ney, and from thence sallied with his vassals and the nobles
of Somersetshire, to make frequent assaults upon the pagans.
Also, in the seventh week after Easter, he rode to the stone
of Egbert, which is in the eastern part of the wood which is
called Selwood, which means in Latin Silva Magna, the
Great Wood, but in British Coit-mawr. Here he was met by
all the neighbouring folk of Somersetshire, and Wiltshire,
and Hampshire, who had not, for fear of the pagans, fled
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beyond the sea ; and when they saw the king alive after such
great tribulation, they received him, as he deserved, with joy
and acclamations, and encamped there for one night. When
the following day dawned, the king struck his camp, and went
to Okely, where he encamped for one night. The next morn-
ing he removed to Edington, and there fought bravely and
perseveringly against all the army of the pagans, whom, with
the divine help, he defeated with great slaughter, and pur-
sued them flying to their fortification. Immediately he slew
all the men, and carried off all the booty that he could find
without the fortress, which he immediately laid siege to with
all his army; and when he had been there fourteen days, the
pagans, driven by famine, cold, fear, and last of all by de-
spair, asked for peace, on the condition that they should give
the king as many hostages as he pleased, but should receive
none of him in return, in which form they had never before
made a treaty with any one. The king, hearing that, took
pity on them, and received such hostages as he chose ; after
which the pagans swore, moreover, that they would imme-
diately leave the kingdom; and their king, Gothrun, promised
to embrace Christianity, and receive baptism at king Alfred's
hands. All of which articles he and his men fulfilled as they
had promised. For after seven weeks Gothrun, king of the
pagans, with thirty men chosen from the army, came to Al-
fred at a place called Aller, near Athelney, and there king
Alfred, receiving him as his son by adoption, raised him up
from the holy laver of baptism on the eighth day, at a royal
villa named Wedmore, where the holy chrism was poured
upon him. After his baptism he remained twelve nights
with the king, who, with all his nobles, gave him many fine
houses.
(Asser's Annals of the Reign of Alfred the Great, ed. J. A. Giles,
in Six Old English Chronicles, London, 1872.)
39. Alfred and Guthrum's Peace
From the Laws of King Alfred
After the defeat of Guthrum and the Danes in 878. a peace
was sworn between the rival forces. This was recorded in the
treaty of Chippenham sometimes incorrectly called the Peace
of Wedmore. By this treaty. England was divided between
Alfred and Guthrum, and laws were provided for the government
of the respective portions.
This is the peace that king Alfred, and king Guthrum, and
the "witan" of all the English nation, and all the people that
are in East-Anglia, have all ordained and with oaths con-
THE DANES Itt ENGLAND $$
firmed, for themselves and for their descendants, as well for
born as for unborn, who reck of God's mercy or of ours.
1. First, concerning our land-boundaries: up on the
Thames, and then up on the Lea, and along the Lea unto its
source, then right to Bedford, then up the Ouse unto Wat-
ling-Street.
2. Then is this: if a man be slain, we estimate all equally
dear, English and Danish, at VIII. half-marks of pure gold ;
except the "ceorl" who resides on "gafol-land," and their
"liesings" : they also are equally dear, either at CC. shillings.
3. And if a king's thane be accused of man-slaying, if he
dare to clear himself, let him do that with XII. king's thanes.
If any one accuse that man who is of less degree than the
king's thane, let him clear himself with XI. of his equals,
and with one king's thane. And so in every suit which may
be for more than IV. "mancuses." And if he dare not, let
him pay for it three-fold, as it may be valued.
OF WARRANTORS
4. And that every man know his warrantor for men, and
for horses, and for oxen.
5. And we all ordained on that day that the oaths were
sworn, that neither bond nor free might go to the host with-
out leave, no more than any of them to us. But if it happen,
that from necessity any of them will have traffic with us, or
we with them, with cattle and with goods, that is to be al-
lowed in this wise ; that hostages be given in pledge of peace,
and as evidence whereby it may be known that the party has
a clean back.
(Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, ed. cited.
40. The Second Period of Danish Invasion
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
For many years after the peace between Alfred and Guthrum
the Danes refrained from attacking England ; this not so much
because of the treaty, as because of the strong kings who suc-
ceeded Alfred. But with ^thelred the Redeless came the second
series of invasions. These led to the overthrow of the English
kings and the establishment of Canute upon the throne.
A. 980. In this year abbat Ethelgar was consecrated bishop
on the 6th before the Nones of May, to the episcopal seat at
Selsey. And in the same year was Southampton ravaged
by a ship-force, and the most part of the townsmen slain, -and
led captive. And that same year was Thanet-land ravaged
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by a ship-force, and the most part of the townsmen slain, and
led captive. And that same year \vas Legecester-shire
[Chester] ravaged by a northern ship-force. In this year
St. Dunstan and Alfere the ealdorman fetched the holy king's
body, St. Edward's, from Warcham, and bore it with much
solemnity to Shaftsbury.
A. 991. This year was Ipswich ravaged; and after that,
very shortly, was Britnoth the ealdorman slain at Maldon.
And in that year it was decreed that tribute, for the first time,
should be given to the Danish-men, on account of the great
terror which they caused by the sea-coast ; that was at first
ten thousand pounds: this counsel was first given by arch-
bishop Siric.
A. 994. In this year came Olave and Sweyn to London,
on the nativity of St. Mary, with ninety- four ships ; and they
then continued fighting stoutly against the city, and would
also have set fire to it. But they there sustained more harm
and evil than they ever supposed that any citizens would be
able to do unto them. But the holy mother of God, on that
day, shewed her mercy to the citizens and delivered them
from their foes. And they then went thence, and wrought
the utmost evil that ever any army could do, by burning, and
plundering, and by man-slaying, both by the sea-coast and
among the East-Saxons, and in the land of Kent, and in Sus-
sex, and in Hampshire. And at last they took to themselves
horses, and rode as far as they would, and continued doing
unspeakable evil. Then the king and his witan decreed that
they should be sent to, and promised tribute and food, on con-
dition that they should cease from their plundering: which
terms they accepted. And then all the army came to South-
ampton, and there took up their winter-quarters : and there
they were victualled from all the realm of the West-Saxons,
and they were paid sixteen thousand pounds of money. Then
the king sent bishop Elphege [II.] and Ethelwerd the ealdor-
man after king Olave, and the while, hostages were delivered
to the ships; and they then led Olave with much worship to
the king at Andover. And king Ethelred received him at
the bishop's hands, and royally gifted him. And then Olave
made a covenant with him, even as he also fulfilled, that he
never again would come hostilely to the English nation.
k ........ .........
A. 1002. . . . And in that year the king ordered all the
THE DANES IN ENGLAND 101
Danish-men who were in England to be slain. This was
done on St. Brice's mass-day . . .
A. ion. In this year sent the king and his witan to the
army, and desired peace, and promised them tribute and food,
on condition that they would cease from their plundering.
They had then overrun, ist, East-Anglia, and 2d, Essex, and
3d, Middlesex, and 4th, Oxfordshire, and 5th, Cambridge-
shire, and 6th, Hertfordshire, and 7th, Buckinghamshire,
and 8th, Bedfordshire, and Qth, half of Huntingdonshire, and
loth, much of Northamptonshire ; and south of Thames, all
Kent, and Sussex, and Hastings, and Surry, and Berkshire,
and Hampshire, and much of Wiltshire. All these misfor-
tunes befel us through unwise counsel, that they were not in
time offered tribute, or fought against ; but when they had
done the most evil, then peace and truce were made with
them. And nevertheless, for all the truce and tribute, they
went everywhere in bands, and plundered our miserable
people, and robbed and slew them . . .
A. 1016. . . . The army then went again up into Essex, and
passed into Mercia, and destroyed whatever it over-ran.
When the king learned that the army was upward, then
assembled he, for the fifth time, all the English nation, and
followed after them, and overtook them in Essex, at the
down which is called Assingdon : and there they strenuously
joined battle. Then did Edric the ealdorman, as he had oft
before done, begin the flight first with the Maisevethians,
and so betrayed his royal lord and the whole people of the
English race. There Canute had the victory; and all the
English nation fought against him . . .
A. 1017. In this year king Canute obtained the whole
realm of the English race, and divided it into four parts :
Wessex to himself, and East-Anglia to Thurkill, and Mercia
to Edric, and North-humbria to Eric.
A. 1017. This year Canute was chosen king.
(Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for years given, ed. cited.)
41 . The Laws of Canute
Front the Laws of King Canute.
The examples of the laws of the Danish kings of England
prove, among other things, the continuity of the legal principles
developed in the days of the Anglo-Saxon kings. They also
demonstrate the justice and equity of Canute, a king whose great-
ness endeared him, despite his alien birth, to that heterogeneous
mass which was called the English People.
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THAT EVERY MAN SHALL BE IN A TITHING
And we will, that every freeman be brought into a hundred,
and into a tithing, who wishes to be entitled to "lad" or to
"wer," in case any one shall slay him after he is XII. years
of age ; or let him not afterwards be entitled to any free
rights, be he "heorth-fiest," be he follower. And that every
one be brought into a hundred and in "borh" ; and let the
"borh" hold and lead him to every plea. Many a powerful
man will, if he can and may, defend his man in whatever way
it seems to him that he may the more easily defend him ;
whether as a freeman or a "theow." But we will not allow
that injustice.
SECULAR DOOMS
Cap. 17. And let no one apply to the king unless he may
not be entitled to any justice within his hundred ; and let the
hundred gemot be applied to under penalty or the "wite," so
as it is right to apply to it.
Cap. 18. And thrice a year let there be a "burh-gemot,"
and twice a "shire-gemot" ; under penalty of the "wite," as is
right, unless there be need oftener. And let there be present
the bishop of the shire and the ealdorman, and there let both
expound as well the law of God as the secular law.
Cap. 19. And let no man take any distress either in the
shire or out of the shire, before he has twice demanded his
right in the hundred. If at the third time he have no jus-
tice, then let him go at the fourth time to the "shire-gemot,"
and let the shire appoint him a fourth term. If that then
fail, let him take leave either from hence or from thence,
that he may seize his own.
Cap. 20. And we will that every free man be brought into
a hundred and a tithing . . . And that every one be brought
into a hundred and in "borh" ; and let the "borh" hold and
lead him to every plea . . .
Cap. 21. And we will that every man above XII. years
make oath that he will neither be a thief nor cognisant of
theft.
Cap. 70. This then is the alleviation which it is my will
to secure to all the people of that which they before this were
too much oppressed with. That then is first; that I com-
mand all my reeves that they justly provide on my own, and
maintain me therewith ; and that no man need give them
anything as "feorm-fultum" unless he himself be willing.
And if any one after that demand a "wite," let him be liable
in his "wer" to the king.
THE DANES IN ENGLAND 103
Cap. 71. And if any one depart this life intestate, be it
through his neglect, be it through sudden death; then let not
the lord draw more from his property than his lawful heriot.
And according to his direction, let the property be distributed
very justly to the wife and children and relations, to every
one according to the degree that belongs to him.
Cap. 72. And let the heriots be as it is fitting to the
degree. An elor's such as thereto belongs, that is, eight
horses, four saddled and four unsaddled, and four helmets
and four coats of mail, and eight spears and as many shields,
and four swords and 200 mancuses of gold. And after that,
a king's thegn's, of those who are nearest to him ; four horses,
two saddled and two unsaddled, and two swords and four
spears and as many shields, and a helmet and a coat of mail
and fifty mancuses of gold. And of the medial thegns, a
horse and his trappings and his arms; or his "healsfang" in
Wessex ; ana in Mercia two pounds ; and in East Anglia two
pounds. And the heriot of a king's thegn among the Danes,
who has his soken, four pounds. And if he have further
relation to the king, two horses, one saddled and the other
unsaddled, and one sword and two spears and two shields
and fifty mancuses of gold ; and he who is of less means, two
pounds.
Cap. 81. And I will that every man be entitled to his hunt-
ing in wood and in field, on his own possession. And let
every one forego my hunting: take notice where I will have
it untrespassed on, under penalty of the full "wite."
Cap. 83. And I will that every man be entitled to "grith"
to the "gemot" and from the "gemot," except he be a noto-
rious thief. (Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, t&. Thorpe.)
42. Charter of Canute
York Gosfiel Book
The Charter of Liberties given by Canute should be studied in
connection with those later charters which render notable the
reigns of Henry I. and John. The even-handed justice assured
to all men, both English and Danes, finds a parallel in the laws
enforced by William the Conqueror.
Canute, the king, greets his archbishops and his suffragan
bishops, and Thurcyl the earl, and all his earls and all his
people, twelfhynde and twyhynde, clerk and lay, in England,
friendly ; and I do you to wit that I will be kind lord and un-
failing to God's rights and to right secular law. I took to
my remembrance the writing and the word that archbishop
Lyfing brought me from Rome from the Pope, that I should
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everywhere maintain the glory of God and put down wrong,
and work full peace by the might that God would give me.
Now I shrank not from my cost while hostility was in hand
among you ; now I with God's help took away at my cost
that of which men told me that it threatened me with more
harm than well pleased us; and then went I myself into Den-
mark, with the men that went with me, from whence most
harm came to you ; and that have I with God's help taken
precautions for that never henceforth should enmity come to
you from thence whilst ye men rightly hold, and my life
lasteth. Now I thank God Almighty for his help and mercy,
that I have so allayed the great harms that threatened us,
that we need expect from thence no harm, but to full peace
and to deliverance if need be. Now I will that we all rever-
ently thank God Almighty for the mercy that he has done for
our help. Now I beseech my archbishops and all my suf-
fragan bishops that they all be attentive about God's right,
every one in his district which is committed to him; and
also my ealdormen I command that they help the bishops to
God's right and to my royal authority and to the behoof of
all the people. If any be so bold, clerk or lay, Dane or Eng-
lish, as to go against God's law and against my royal author-
ity, or against secular law, and be unwilling to make amends,
and to alter according to my bishop's teaching, then I pray
Thurcyl my earl, and also command him, that he bend that
unrighteous one to right if he can; if he cannot, then will I
with the strength of us both that he destroy him in the land
or drive him from out of the land, be he better, be he worse ;
and also I command all my reeves, by my friendship and by
all that they own, and by their own life, that they everywhere
hold my people rightly and do judge right judgments by the
shire bishop's witness, and do such mercy therein as the shire'
bishop thinks right, as a man may attain to; and if any har-
bour a thief, or neglect the pursuit, be he answerable to me
as the thief should, unless he can clear himself towards me
with full purgation. And I will that all people, clerk and lay,
hold fast Edgar's law, which all men have chosen and sworn
to at Oxford, for that all the bishops say that it right deeply
offends God, that a man break oaths or pledges; and like-
wise they further teach us that we should with all might and
main, alike seek, love, and worship the eternal merciful God.
and eschew all unrighteousness; that is, slaying of kinsmen,
and murder, and perjury, and witchcraft and enchantment,
and adultery, and incest; and also they charge in the name of
THE DANES IN ENGLAND 105
God Almighty, and of all his saints, that no man be so bold
as to marry a hallowed nun or mynchen; and if any have
done so, be he outlaw towards God, and excommunicated
from all Christendom, and answerable to the king in all he
has, unless he quickly alter and deeply make amends to God ;
and further still, we admonish that men keep Sunday's festi-
val with all their might, and observe it from Saturday's noon
to Monday's dawning; and no man be so bold that he either
go to market or seek any court on that holy day ; and all men,
poor and rich, seek their church, and ask forgiveness for
their sins, and keep earnestly every ordained fast, and earn-
estly honour the saints that the mass priests shall bid us, that
we may altogether through the mercy of the everlasting God
and the intercession of his saints come to the joy of the king-
dom of heaven, and dwell with him who liveth and reigneth
for ever without end. Amen.
(Select Charters and other Illustrations of English Constitutional History, from
the Earliest Times to the Reign of 'Edward I. , ed. William Stubbs, Oxford, 1870.)
43. Letter of Canute to his People
Florence of Worcester
The letter of Canute to his people after his return from Rome
is of great value because of the insight into the king's character
given in its quaint phraseology.
Canute, king of all England, and of Denmark, Norway, and
part of Sweden, to Ethelnote, metropolitan, and Alfric, arch-
bishop of York, and to all the bishops and prelates, and to the
whole nation of the English, both the nobles and the com-
mons, greeting :
I notify to you that I have lately taken a journey to Rome,
to pray for the forgiveness of my sins, and for the welfare of
my dominions, and the people under my rule. I had long
since vowed this journey to God, but I have been hitherto
prevented from accomplishing it by the affairs of my king-
dom and other causes of impediment. I now return most
humble thanks to my God Almighty for suffering me in my
lifetime to visit the sanctuary of his apostles, SS. Peter and
Paul, and all others which I could find either within or with-
out the city of Rome, and there in person reverentially wor-
ship according to my desire. I have performed this chiefly,
because I have learnt from wise men that St. Peter the
apostle has received from God great power in binding and in
loosing, and carries the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; and
therefore I esteemed it very profitable to seek his special
patronage with the Lord,
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Be it known to you that, at the celebration of Easter, a
great assembly of nobles was present with our lord, the pope
John, and Conrad the emperor ; that is to say, all the princes
of the nations from Mount Garganus to the neighbouring sea.
All these received me with honour and presented me with
magnificent gifts; but more especially was I honoured by the
emperor with various gifts and valuable presents, both in
gold and silver vessels, and in palls and very costly robes.
I spoke with the emperor himself, and the lord pope, and the
princes who were there, in regard to the wants of my people,
English as well as Danes; that there should be granted to
them more equal justice and greater security in their jour-
neys to Rome, and that they should not be hindered by so
many barriers on the road, nor harassed by unjust tolls. The
emperor assented to my demands, as well as king Rodolph, in
whose dominions these barriers chiefly stand; and all the
princes made edicts that my people, the merchants as well as
those who go to pay their devotions, shall pass to and fro in
their journeys to Rome in peace, and under the security of
just laws, free from all molestation by the guards of barriers
or the receivers of tolls. I made further complaint to my
lord the pope, and expressed my high displeasure, that my
archbishops are sorely aggrieved by the demand of immense
sums of money, when, according to custom, they resort to the
apostolical see to obtain the pallium; and it is decreed that it
should no longer be done. All things, therefore, which I re-
quested for the good of my people from my lord the pope, and
the emperor, and king Rodolph, and the other princes through
whose territories our road to Rome lies, they have most freely
granted, and even ratified their concessions by oath ; to which
four archbishops, twenty bishops, and an innumerable multi-
tude of dukes and nobles who were there present, are wit-
nesses. Wherefore I return most hearty thanks to Almighty
God for my having successfully accomplished all that I had
desired, as I had resolved in my mind, and having satisfied
my wishes to the fullest extent.
Be it known therefore to all of you, that I have humbly
vowed to the Almighty God himself henceforward to amend
my life in all respects, and to rule the kingdom and the people
subject to me with justice and clemency, giving equitable
judgments in all matters; and if. through the intemperance
of youth or negligence, I have hitherto exceeded the bounds
of justice in any of my acts, I intend by God's aid to make
an entire change for the better. I therefore adjure and com-
THE DANES IN ENGLAND 107
mand my counsellors to whom I have entrusted the affairs of
my kingdom, that henceforth they neither commit themselves,
nor suffer to prevail, any sort of injustice throughout my
dominions, either from fear of me, or from favour to any
powerful person. I also command all sheriffs and magis-
trates throughout my whole kingdom, as they tender my
regard and their own safety, that they use no unjust violence
to any man, rich or poor, but that all, high and low, rich or
poor, shall enjoy alike impartial law ; from which they are
never to deviate, either on account of royal favour, respect
of person in the great, or for the sake of amassing money
wrongfully, for I have no need to accumulate wealth by
iniquitous exactions.
I wish you further to know that, returning by the way I
went, I am now going to Denmark to conclude a treaty for a
solid peace, all the Danes concurring, with those nations and
peoples who would have taken my life and crown if it had
been possible; but this they were not able to accomplish, God
bringing their strength to nought. May He, of his merciful
kindness, uphold me in my sovereignty and honour, and
henceforth scatter and bring to nought the power and might
of all my adversaries ! When, therefore, I shall have made
peace with the surrounding nations, and settled and reduced
to order all my dominions in the East, so that we shall have
nothing to fear from war or hostilities in any quarter, I pro-
pose to return to England as early in the summer as I shall
be able to fit out my fleet. I have sent this epistle before
me in order that my people may be gladdened at my success;
because, as you yourselves know, I have never spared, nor
will I spare, myself or my exertions, for the needful service
of my whole people. I now therefore command and adjure
all my bishops and the governors of my kingdom, by the duty
they owe to God and myself, to take care that before I come
to England all dues belonging to God, according to the old
laws, be fully discharged; namely, plough-alms, the tythe of
animals born in the current year, and the pence payable to
St. Peter at Rome, whether from towns or vills; and in the
middle of August the tythes of corn ; and at the feast of St.
Martin the first-fruits of grain [payable] to every one's
parish church, called in English ciric-sceat. If these and
such-like dues be not paid before I come, those who make
default will incur fines to the king, according to the law,
which will be strictly inforced without mercy. Farewell.
(Chronicle of Florence of Worcester, for year IOJT, trans, by T.Forester, Lond., 1854.)
PART III
FROM THE CONQUEST TO THE
CHARTER
(IO66-I2I5)
109
CHAPTER VII
THE NORMAN RULE
44. Invasion of England by Harold Hardrada and Tostig Invasion
by William, Duke of Normandy Battle of Stamford Bridge
Battle of Hastings
Ordericus Vitalis
No good contemporary account of the invasion of the Nor-
mans exists. The writers of the succeeding century are quite as
unsatisfactory as their predecessors. The account by ORDERICUS
VITALIS (1075 to circa 1143) which is given below, though erro-
neous in many particulars, presents the most vivid description
of the fall of Harold which remains to us. Vitalis was an
Englishman, born on the banks of the Severn. His life was
spent in the study of history, in collecting historical materials,
and in writing his Ecclesiastical History of England and Nor-
mandy. Though it is marred by inaccuracies, it is valuable as
a source of the history of the Norman Period.
In the month of August, Harold, king of Norway, and
Tostig, with a powerful fleet set sail over the wide sea, and,
steering for England with a favourable aparctic,or north wind,
landed in Yorkshire, which was the first object of their in-
vasion. Meanwhile, Harold of England, having intelligence
of the descent of the Norwegians, withdrew his ships and
troops from Hastings and Pevensey, and the other sea-ports
on the coast lying opposite to Neustria, which he had care-
fully guarded with a powerful armament during the whole of
the year, and threw himself unexpectedly, with a strong force
by hasty marches on his enemies from the north. A hard-
fought battle ensued, in which there was great effusion of
blood on both sides, vast numbers being slain with brutal
rage. At last the furious attacks of the English secured
them the victory, and the king of Norway as well as Tostig,
with their whole army, were slain. The field of battle may
be easily discovered by travellers, as great heaps of the bones
of the slain lie there to this day, memorials of the prodigious
numbers which fell on both sides.
in
ii2 SOURCE-BOOK OP ENGLISH HISTORY
While however the attention of the English was diverted
by the invasion of Yorkshire, and by God's permission they
neglected, as I have already mentioned, to guard the coast,
the Norman fleet, which for a whole month had been waiting
for a south wind in the mouth of the river Dive and the
neighbouring harbours, took advantage of a favourable breeze
from the west to gain the roads of St. Valeri. While it lay
there innumerable vows and prayers were offered for the
safety of themselves and their friends, and floods of tears
were shed. For the intimate friends and relations of those
who were to remain at home, witnessing the embarkation of
fifty thousand knights and men-at-arms, with a large body of
infantry, who had to brave the dangers of the sea, and to
attack an unknown people on their own soil, were moved to
tears and sighs, and full of anxiety both for themselves and
their countrymen, their minds fluctuating between fear and
hope. Duke William and the whole army committed them-
selves to God's protection, with prayers, and offerings, and
vows, and accompanied a procession from the church, carry-
ing the relics of St. Valeri, confessor of Christ, to obtain a
favorable wind. At last when by God's grace it suddenly
came round to the quarter which was the object of so many
prayers, the duke, full of ardour, lost no time in embarking
the troops, and giving the signal for hastening the departure
of the fleet. The Norman expedition, therefore, crossed the
sea on the night of the third of the calends of October [29th
September], which the Catholic Church observes as the feast
of St. Michael the archangel, and meeting with no resistance,
and landing safely on the coast of England, took possession
of Pevensey and Hastings, the defence of which was en-
trusted to a chosen body of soldiers, to cover a retreat and
guard the fleet.
Meanwhile the English usurper, after having put to the
sword his brother Tostig, and his royal enemy, and slaugh-
tered their immense army, returned in triumph to London.
As however wordly prosperity soon vanishes like smoke be-
fore the wind, Harold's rejoicings for his bloody victory
were soon darkened by the threatening clouds of a still
heavier storm. Nor was he suffered long to enjoy the secu-
rity procured by his brother's death ; for a hasty messenger
brought him the intelligence that the Normans had embarked.
Learning soon afterwards that they had actually landed, he
made preparations for a fresh conflict. For his intrepidity
was dauntless, and his conduct of affairs admirable, while
THE NORMAN RULE .13
his personal strength was great, his presence commanding,
and he had the arts of a persuasive eloquence, and of a
courtesy which endeared him to his supporters. Still his
mother Githa, who was much afflicted by the death of her
son Tostig, and his other faithful friends, dissuaded him
from engaging in battle with the Normans ; his brother, Earl
Gurth, thus addressing him : "It is best, dearest brother and
lord, that your courage should be tempered by discretion.
You are worn by the conflict with the Norwegians from
which you are only just come, and you are in eager haste to
give battle to the Normans. Allow yourself, I pray you, some
time for rest. Reflect also, in your wisdom, on the oath you
have taken to the duke of Normandy. Beware of incurring
the guilt of perjury, lest by so great a crime you draw ruin
on yourself and the forces of this nation, and stain forever
the honour of our own race. For myself, I am bound by no
oaths, I am under no obligations to Count William. I am
therefore in a position to fight with him undauntedly in de-
fence of our native soil. But do you, my brother, rest awhile
in peace, and wait the issue of the contest, so that the liberty
which is the glory of England, may not be ruined by your
fall."
Harold was very indignant at this speech. Holding in
contempt the wholesome advice of his friends, he loaded his
brother with reproaches for his faithful counsel, and even
forgot himself so far as to kick his mother when she hung
about him in her too great anxiety to detain him with her.
For six days Harold sent forth the summons to call the
people to arms from all quarters, and having assembled vast
numbers of the English, he led them by forced marches
against the enemy. It was his design to take them unawares,
and crush them at once by a night attack, or, at least, by a
sudden onset, and, that they might not escape by sea, he
caused a fleet of seventy ships, full of soldiers, to guard the
coast. Duke William, having intelligence of Harold's ap-
proach, ordered his troops to take to their arms on the morn-
ing of Saturday. He then heard mass, strengthening both
body and soul by partaking of the consecrated host ; he also
reverently suspended from his neck the holy relics on which
Harold had sworn. Many of the clergy had followed the
Norman army, among who were two bishops, Odo, of
Bayeux, and Geoffrey, of Coutances, with attendant clerks
and monks, whose duty it was to aid the war with their
prayers and counsels. The battle commenced at the third
114 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
hour of the Ides [i4th] of October, and was fought despe-
rately the whole day, with the loss of many thousand men on
both sides. The Norman duke drew up his light troops, con-
sisting of archers and men armed with cross-bows, in the
first line; the infantry in armour formed the second rank;
and in the third were placed the cavalry, in the centre of
which the duke stationed himself with the flower of his
troops, so as to be able to issue his commands, and give sup-
port to every part of the army.
On the other side, the English troops, assembled from all
parts of the neighborhood, took post at a place which was
anciently called Senlac, many of them personally devoted to
the cause of Harold, and all to that of their country, which
they were resolved to defend against the foreigners. Dis-
mounting from their horses, on which it was determined not
to rely, they formed a solid column of infantry, and thus
stood firm in the position they had taken.
Turstin, son of Rollo, bore the standard of Normandy.
The sound of the trumpets in both armies was the terrible
signal for beginning the battle. The Normans made the first
attack with ardour and gallantry, their infantry rushing for-
ward to provoke the English, and spreading wounds and
death through their ranks by showers of arrows and bolts.
The English, on their side, made a stout resistance, each
man straining his powers to the utmost. The battle raged
for some time with the utmost violence between both parties.
At length the indomitable bravery of the English threw the
Bretons, both horse and foot, and the other auxiliary troops
composing the left wing, into confusion, and, in their rout,
they drew with them almost all the rest of the duke's army,
who, in their panic, believed that he was slain. The duke,
perceiving that large bodies from the enemy had broken
their ranks in pursuit of his flying troops, rode up to the
fugitives and checked their retreat, loudly threatening them,
and striking with his lance. Taking off his helmet, and ex-
posing his naked head, he shouted: "See, I am here; I am
.'till living, and, by God's help, shall yet have the victory."
Suddenly the courage of the fugitives was restored by these
bold words of the duke; and, intercepting some thousands of
their pursuers, they cut them down in a moment. In this
manner, the Normans, twice again pretending to retreat, and
when they were followed by the English, suddenly wheeling
their horses, cut their pursuers off from the main body, sur-
rounded and slew them. The ranks of the English were
THE NORMAN RULE 115
much thinned by these dangerous feints, through which they
fell separated from each other ; so that, when thousands were
thus slaughtered, the Normans attacked the survivors with
still greater vigour. They were charged home by the troops
of Maine, France, Brittany, and Aquitaine, and great num-
bers of them miserably perished.
Among others present at this battle, were Eustace, Count
de Boulogne, William, son of Richard, Count d'Evreux,
Geoffrey, son of Robert, Count de Mortagne, William Fitz- '
Osbern, Robert, son of Robert de Beaumont, a novice in
arms, Aimer, Viscount de Thouars, Earl Hugh, the con-
stable, Walter Giffard, and Ralph Toni, Hugh de Grant-
mesnil, and William de Warrenne, with many other knights
illustrious for their military achievements, and whose names
merit a record in the annals of history amongst the most
famous warriors. Duke William surpassed them all in cour-
age and conduct ; for he nobly performed the duties of a gen-
eral, staying the flight of his troops, re-animating their
courage, their comrade in the greatest dangers, and more
frequently calling on them to follow where he led, than com-
manding them to advance before him. He had three horses
killed under him in the battle; thrice he remounted, and did
not suffer his steeds to be long unavenged. Shields, helmets,
and coats of mail were shivered by the furious and impatient
thrusts of his sword; some he dashed to the earth with his
shield, and was at all times as ready to cover and protect his
friends, as to deal death among his foes.
Although the battle was fought with the greatest fury
from nine o'clock in the morning, King Harold was slain in
the first onset, and his brother Earl Leofwin fell some time
afterwards, with many thousands of the royal army. To-
wards evening, the English finding that their king and the
chief nobles of the realm, with a great part of their army,
had fallen, while the Normans still showed a bold front, and
made desperate attacks on all who made any resistance, they
had recourse to flight as expeditiously as they could. Vari-
ous were the fortunes which attended their retreat; some
recovering their horses, some on foot, attempted to escape
by the highways ; more sought to save themselves by striking
across the country. The Normans, finding the English com-
pletely routed, pursued them vigorously all Sunday night,
but not without suffering a great loss ; for, galloping onward
in hot pursuit, they fell unawares, horses and armour, into
an ancient trench, overgrown and concealed by rank grass,
n6 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
and men in their armour and horses rolling over each other,
were crushed and smothered. This accident restored con-
fidence to the routed English, for, perceiving the advantage
given them by the mouldering rampart and a succession of
ditches, they rallied in a body, and, making a sudden stand,
caused the Xormans severe loss. At this place Eugenulf,
lord of Laigle, and many others fell, the number of Normans
who perished being, as reported by some who were present,
nearly fifteen thousand. Thus did Almighty God, on the eve
of the Ides of October, punish in various ways the innumer-
able sinners in both armies. For, on this Saturday, the Nor-
mans butchered with remorseless cruelty thousands of the
English, who long before had murdered the innocent prince
Alfred and his attendants; and on the Saturday before tjie
present battle, had massacred without pity King Harold ana
Earl Tostig, with multitudes of Norwegians. The righteous
Judge avenged the English on Sunday night, when the furi-
ous Normans were precipitated into the concealed trench; for
they had broken the divine law by their boundless covetous-
ness ; and, as the Psalmist says: "Their feet were swift to
shed blood," whereupon, "sorrow and unhappiness was in
their ways."
Duke William, perceiving that the English troops suddenly
rallied, did not halt; and when he found Count Eustace with
fifty men-at-arms retreating, and the count wished him to
have the signal sounded for recalling the pursuers, he com-
manded him with a loud voice to stand firm. The count,
however, familiarly approaching the duke, whispered in his
ear that it would be safer to retreat, predicting his sudden
death if he persisted in the pursuit. While he was saying
this, Eustace received a blow between the shoulders, so vio-
lent that the noise of the stroke was plainly heard, and it
caused blood to flow from his mouth and nostrils, and he
was borne off by his comrades in a dying state.
The victory being secured, the duke returned to the field
of battle, where he viewed the dreadful carnage, which could
not be seen without commiseration. There the flower of the
youth and nobility of England covered the ground far and
near stained with blood. Harold could not be discovered
by his features, but was recognized by other tokens, and his
corpse, being borne to the duke's camp, was, by order of the
conqueror, delivered to William Mallet for interment near
the sea-shore, which had long been guarded by his arms.
(The Ecclesiastical History of F. upland and Nnrmanrlv, by Ordericus Vitalis
Trans. T. Forester, London, 1853, book III, c. 14.)
THE NORMAN RULE "7
45. Coronation Oath of William the Conqueror
Florence of Worcester
The coronation oaths of the sovereigns of England have been
of varying force. In that of William the Norman is expressed
in a few strong words all that other rulers promised with more
of detail. See also Nos. 89, 148.
Having first, as the archbishop required, sworn before the
altar of St. Peter the Apostle, in the presence of the clergy
and people, to protect the holy churches of God and their
governors, and to rule the whole nation subject to him with
justice and kingly providence; to make and maintain just
laws and straitly to forbid every sort of rapine, violence and
all unrighteous judgments.
(Chronicle of Florence of Worcester . ed. cited.
46. The Administration of William
Ordericus Vitalis
The administration of William the Norman has been the object
of varied criticism. Perhaps the best contemporary view can be
found in the following excerpt from ORDERICUS VITALIS.
After his coronation in London, King William ordered
many affairs with prudence, justice, and clemency. Some
of these concerned the profit and honour of that city, others
were for the advantage of the whole nation, and the rest were
intended for the benefit of the church. He enacted some
laws founded on admirable principles. No suitor ever de-
manded justice of this king without obtaining it: he con-
demned none but those whom it would have been unjust to
acquit. He enjoined his nobles to comport themselves with
grave dignity, joining activity to right judgment, having con-
stantly before their eyes the Eternal King who had given
them the victory. He forbade their oppressing the con-
quered, reminding them that they were their own equals by
their Christian profession, and that they must be cautious
not to excite revolt by their unjust treatment of those whom
they had fairly subdued. He prohibited all riotous assem-
blages, murder, and robbery, and as he restrained the people
by force of arms, he set bounds to arms by the laws. The
taxes and all things concerning the royal revenues were so
regulated as not to be burdensome to the people. Robbers,
plunderers, and malefactors had no asylum in his dominions.
Merchants found the ports and highways open, and were pro-
tected against injury. Thus the first acts of his reign were
all excellent, and eminent for the great benefits flowing from
n8 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
good government conferred on his subjects, which were con-
firmed by perseverance in a right course, with plain indica-
tions of a successful result.
(Ordericns Vitalis, ed. cited, book IV, c. i.)
47. The Character of William
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
William of Normandy was of a character too subtle to be
readily comprehended. The estimate in the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle is rather laudatory, but does not scruple to call atten-
tion to the misdeeds of the Conqueror.
A. 1087. ... If any would know what manner of man king
William was, the glory that he obtained, and of how many
lands he was lord; then will we describe him as we have
known him, we, who have looked upon him, and who once
lived in his court. This king William, of whom we are
speaking, was a very wise and a great man, and more hon-
oured and more powerful than any of his predecessors. He
was mild to those good men who loved God, but severe be-
yond measure towards those who withstood his will. He
founded a noble monastery on the spot where God permitted
him to conquer England, and he established monks in it, and
he made it very rich. In his days the great monastery at
Canterbury was built, and many others also throughout Eng-
land; moreover this land was filled with monks who lived
after the rule of St. Benedict ; and such was the state of
religion in his days that all that would, might observe that
which was prescribed by their respective orders. King
William was also held in much reverence: he wore his crown
three times every year when he was in England : at Easter he
wore it at Winchester, at Pentecost at Westminster, and at
Christmas at Gloucester. And at these times, all the men
of England were with him, archbishops, bishops, abbats, and
earls, thanes, and knights. So also, was he a very stern and
a wrathful man, so that none durst do anything against his
will, and he kept in prison those earls who acted against his
pleasure. He removed bishops from their sees, and abbats
from their offices, and he imprisoned thanes, and at length
he spared not his own brother Odo. This Odo was a very
powerful bishop in Normandy, his see was that of Bayeux,
and he was foremost to serve the king. He had an earldom
in England, and when William was in Normandy he was the
first man in this country, and him did he cast into prison.
Amongst other things the good order that William estab-
THE NORMAN RULE 119
lished is not to be forgotten ; it was such that any man, who
was himself aught, might travel over the kingdom with a
bosom- full of gold unmolested; and no man durst kill an-
other, however great the injury he might have received from
him. He reigned over England, and being sharp-sighted to
his own interest, he surveyed the kingdom so thoroughly that
there was not a single hide of land throughout the whole, of
which he knew not the possessor, and how much it was worth,
and this he afterwards entered in his register. The land of
the Britons was under his sway, and he built castles therein ;
moreover he had full dominion over the Isle of Man [Angle-
sey] : Scotland also was subject to him from his great
strength ; the land of Normandy was his by inheritance, and
he possessed the earldom of Maine ; and had he lived two
years longer he would have subdued Ireland by his prowess,
and that without a battle. Truly there was much trouble in
these times, and very great distress ; he caused castles to be
built, and oppressed the poor. The king was also of great
sternness, and he took from his subjects many marks of gold,
and many hundred pounds of silver, and this, either with or
without right, and with little need. He was given to avarice,
and greedily loved gain. He made large forests for the deer,
and enacted laws therewith, so that whoever killed a hart or
a hind should be blinded. As he forbade killing the deer, so
also the boars ; and he loved the tall stags as if he were their
father. He also appointed concerning the hares, that they
should go free. The rich complained and the poor mur-
mured, but he was so sturdy that he recked nought of them;
they must will all that the king willed, if they would live; or
would keep their lands; or would hold their possessions; or
would be maintained in their rights. Alas ! that any man
should so exalt himself, and carry himself in his pride over
all ! May Almighty God show mercy to his soul, and grant
him the forgiveness of his sins ! We have written concern-
ing him these things, both good and bad, that virtuous men
might follow after the good, and wholly avoid the evil, and
might go in the way that leadeth to the kingdom of heaven.
{Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for year 1087, ed. cited.)
48. Doomsday Survey
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The years 1085 and 1086 were of great constitutional and politi-
cal importance to England. In the first, the Doomsday survey
was made. In the second, the Gemot of Salisbury was held.
120 SOURCE-BOOK OV ENGLISH HISTORY
The survey was the greatest fiscal work England had ever
known, nor did she for several centuries know another of equal
importance. The survey furnished the basis of taxation and
military service, as well as that for the establishment and main-
tenance of the English feudal system. The utility of the return
was established at the national gathering, or Gemot, on Salisbury
Plain. There William exacted from every landholder oaths of
homage, fealty, and allegiance, binding each man directly to the
king instead of to the mesne lord the great difference between
English and Continental feudalism.
A. 1085. ... At midwinter the king was at Gloucester
with his witan; and he held his court there five days;
and afterwards the archbishop and clergy held a synod
during three days ; and Maurice was there chosen to the
bishopric of London, William to that of Norfolk, and Robert
to that of Cheshire ; they were all clerks of the king. After
this the king had a .great consultation, and spoke very
deeply with his witan concerning this land, how it was
held and what were its tenantry. He then sent his men
over all England, into every shire, and caused them to as-
certain how many hundred hides of land it contained, and
what lands the king possessed therein, what cattle there were
in the several counties, and how much revenue he ought to
receive yearly from each. He also caused them to write
down how much land belonged to his archbishops, to his
bishops, his abbats, and his earls, and, that I may be brief,
what property every inhabitant of all England possessed in
land or in cattle, and how much money this was worth. So
very narrowly did he cause the survey to be made, that there
was not a single hide nor a rood of land, nor it is shame-
ful to relate that which he thought no shame to do was
there an ox, or a cow, or a pig passed by, and that was not
set down in the accounts, and then all these writings were
brought to him.
A. 1086. This year the king wore his crown and held his
court at Winchester at Easter, and he so journeyed forward
that he was at Westminster during Pentecost, and there he
dubbed his son Henry a knight. And afterwards he trav-
elled about, so that he came to Salisbury at Lammas ; and
his witan, and all the land-holders of substance in England,
whose vassals soever they were, repaired to him there, and
they all submitted to him, and became his men, and swore
oaths of allegiance, that they would be faithful to him against
all others.
(Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for years 1085-1086, ed. cited.)
THE NORMAN RULE 121
49. A Doomsday Manor: Hecham, Essex, A.D. 1086
Doomsday Book
Many extracts from Doomsday Book would no better serve our
purpose than does this single one. Herein we can see the method
of the examiners in ascertaining the extent of a manor. The
purpose was to give the state of the manor as well as an enumera-
tion and valuation of the property as it existed in the days of
both Edward and William.
Peter de Valence holds in domain Hecham, which Haldane
a freeman held in the time of King Edward, as a manor, and
as 5 hides. There have always been 2 ploughs in the de-
mesne, 4 ploughs of the men. At that time there were 8
villeins, now 10 ; then there were 2 bordars, now 3 ; at both
times 4 scrvi, woods for 300 swine, 18 acres of meadow.
Then there were 2 fish ponds and a half, now there are none.
At that time there was I ox, now there are 15 cattle and
I small horse and 18 swine and 2 hives of bees. At that
time it was worth 6os., now 4 IDS. When he received this
manor he found only i ox and i planted acre. Of those 5
hides spoken of above, one was held in the time of King
Edward by 2 freemen, and was added to this manor in the
time of King William. It was worth in the time of King
Edward IDS., now 22s., and William holds this from Peter
de Valence.
{Doomsday Book, II, /Sb.)
50. William I to Gregory VII
William I
The following letter from the Conqueror to the Pope presents
better than any other single document the relation of the English
Church to the Papal See in the eleventh century. The King does
not deny the rightfulness of the ecclesiastical tax, for he believed
this to be due from all Christians. He, however, positively
repudiates the theory that England was a fief of Rome, and
sharply checks the interference of Rome in the civil affairs of his
kingdom. In this connection, see also No. 51.
To Gregory, the most noble Shepherd of the Holy Church,
William, by the grace of God renowned king of the English,
and duke of the Normans, greeting with amity. Hubert,
your legate, Holy Father, coming to me in your behalf, bade
me to do fealty to you and your successors, and to think
better in the manner of the money which my predecessors
were wont to send to the Roman Church : the one point I
agreed to, the other I did not agree to. I refused to do
fealty, nor will I, because neither have I promised it, nor do
I find that my predecessors did it to your predecessors.
122 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
The money for nearly three years, whilst I was in Gaul,
has been carelessly collected ; but now that I am come back
to my kingdom, by God's mercy, what has been collected is
sent by the aforesaid legate, and what remains shall be
dispatched when opportunity serves, by the legate of Lan-
franc, our faithful archbishop. Pray for us, and for the
good estate of our realm, for we have loved your predeces-
sors and desire to love you sincerely, and to hear you
obediently before all.
(Original Letters Illustrative of English History,
ed. H. Ellis, London, 1846.)
51. Royal Supremacy
Eadmer
William I. was firm in his determination to prevent the en-
croachment of ecclesiastical authority upon the civil administra-
tion. The following selection not only illustrates this principle,
but shows the independence of the English State as to papal con-
trol. This independence was not seriously questioned by the
popes as long as a strong king ruled in the island realm.
Eadmer says: "Some of those novel points I will set down
which he [William] appointed to be observed . . .
1. He would not then allow any one settled in all his
dominion to acknowledge as apostolic the pontiff of the City
of Rome, save at his own bidding, or by any means to receive
any letter from him if it had not first been shown to him-
self.
2. The primate also of his realm, I mean the Archbishop
of Canterbury or Dorobernia, presiding over a general Coun-
cil assembled of bishops, he did not permit to ordain or
forbid anything save what had first been ordained by himself
as agreeable to his own will.
3. He would not suffer that any, even of his bishops,
should be allowed to implead publicly, or excommunicate,
or constrain by any penalty of ecclesiastical rigour, any of
his barons or ministers accused of incest, or adultery, or any
capital crime, save by his command.
(Eadmeri Monachi Cantuariensis Histories Novorum ... I, 6, Lond. 1623.)
52. Separation of Spiritual and Lay Jurisdiction
Ancient Laws and Institutes of England
The greatest legal change resulting from the Conquest was the
separation of the civil and ecclesiastical courts of law. An end
was put to the practice of churchmen sitting as judges in the
civil courts, as well as to the administration by the laity of eccle-
siastical affairs. The result of the law was to strengthen the
power of the ecclesiastical courts.
THE NORMAN RULE 123
William, by the grace of God king of the English, to R.
Bainard, and G. de Magneville, and Peter de Valoines, and
all my liege men of Essex, Hertfordshire and Middlesex
greeting. Know ye and all my liege men resident in Eng-
land, that I have by common council, and by the advise of
the archbishops, bishops, abbots and chief men of my realm,
determined that the episcopal laws be mended as not having
been kept properly nor according to the decrees of the sacred
canons throughout the realm of England, even to my own
times. Accordingly I command and charge you by royal
authority that no bishop nor archdeacon do hereafter hold
pleas of episcopal laws in the Hundred, nor bring a cause
to the judgment of secular men which concerns the rule of
souls. But whoever shall be impleaded by the episcopal
laws for any cause or crime, let him come to the place
which the bishop shall choose and name for this purpose,
and there answer for his cause or crime, and not according
to the Hundred but according to the canons and episcopal
laws, and let him do right to God and his bishop. But if any
one, being lifted up with pride, refuse to come to the bishop's
court, let him be summoned three several times, and if by this
means, even, he come not to obedience, let the authority and
justice of the king or sheriff be exerted; and he who refuses
to come to the bishop's judgment shall make good the bishop's
law for every summons. This too I absolutely forbid that any
sheriff, reeve, or king's minister, or any other layman, do in
any wise concern himself with the laws which belong to the
bishop, or bring another man to judgment save in the
bishop's court. And let judgment be nowhere undergone
but in the bishop's see or in that place which the bishop
appoints for this purpose.
(Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, I, 213.)
53. First Charter of the City of London
Historical Charters
This, the first charter granted to the City of London, although
of great brevity, is of importance because of its recognition of
the rights possessed by the citizens of that place.
William the king friendly salutes William the bishop, and
Godfrey the portreve, and all the burgesses within London,
both French and English : And I declare, that I grant you
to be all law-worthy, as you were in the days of King
Edward; and I grant that every child shall be his father's
i2 4 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
heir, after his father's days; and I will not suffer any per-
son to do you wrong. God keep you.
(Historical Charters and Constitutional Documents of the City of London,
p. i. Lond. 1884.)
54. Exactions of William Rufas
Ordericus I'italis
The striking contrast between the administration of William
the Conqueror and that of his son, William Rufas, is clearly
shown in the following quotation from the contemporary chron-
icler ORDEKICUS VITALIS.
While these events were occurring in Normandy, beyond
sea, and enormous sums were prodigally spent in useless
armaments, Ranulph Flambard, now made bishop of Durham,
and the other minions and officers of the king, were robbing
England, and, worse than thieves, pillaged without mercy
the granaries of the farmers and the stores of the merchants,
not even restraining their bloody hands from plundering
the church. On the death of the prelates, they immediately
intruded themselves into their places by a violent exercise
of the royal authority, and seized without decency whatever
they found in their treasuries. They took into the king's
hands the domains of the monasteries and the revenues of
the bishoprics, and exacted from the abbots or bishops who
still survived enormous sums of money. Thus amassing,
by fair means or foul, an immense amount of contributions,
they remitted it to the king beyond sea, to be employed on his
own occasions whether good or bad. Vast sums, accumulated
by these taxes, were presented to the king who used them
ostentatiously to enrich foreigners. But the native in-
habitants, unjustly spoiled of their goods, were in great
distress and cried lamentably to God, who delivered Israel
from the hand of Moab, when Eglon the corpulent king was
slain by Aoth, the left-handed.
(Ordericus Vitalis, book X, c. 8, ed. cited.)
55. The Charter of Liberties of Henry I.
Ancient Laws and Institutes of England
William Rufas was succeeded by Henry, the third son of
William the Conqueror. Henry's first public act was to issue a
charter of liberties. This important charter was not only of
great value to Henry's subjects, but a century later it was to form
the basis of the demands which led King John to grant the
Magna Charta (No. 80). The two documents should be studied
together.
THE NORMAN RULE 125
In the year of the incarnation of the Lord, noi, Henry,
son of King William, after the death of his brother William,
by the grace of God, king of the English, to all faithful,
greeting:
1. Know that by the mercy of God, and by the common
counsel of the barons of the whole kingdom of England, I
have been crowned king of the same kingdom; and because
the kingdom has been oppressed by unjust exactions, I,
from regard to God, and from the love which I have toward
you, in the first place make the holy church of God free, so
that I will neither sell nor place at rent, nor, when arch-
bishop, or bishop, or abbot is dead, will I take anything from
the domain of the church, or from its men, until a successor
is installed into it. And all the evil customs by which the
realm of England was unjustly oppressed will I take away,
which evil customs I partly set down here.
2. If any one of my barons, or earls, or others who hold
from me shall have died, his heir shall not redeem his land as
he did in the time of my brother, but shall relieve it by a just
and legitimate relief. Similarly also the men of my barons
shall relieve their lands from their lords by a just and
legitimate relief.
3. And if any one of the barons or other men of mine
wishes to give his daughter in marriage, or his sister or niece
or relation, he must speak with me about it, but I will neither
take anything from him for this permission, nor forbid him
to give her in marriage, unless he should wish to join her
to my enemy. And if when a baron or other man of mine
is dead, a daughter remains as his heir, I will give her in
marriage according to the judgment of my barons, along
with her land. And if when a man is dead his wife remains,
and is without children, she shall have her dowry and right
of marriage, and I will not give her to a husband except
to her will.
4. And if a wife has survived with children, she shall have
her dowry and right of marriage, so long as she shall have
kept her body legitimately, and I will not give her in
marriage, except according to her will. And the guardian
of the land and children shall be either the wife or another
one of the relatives as shall seem to be most just. And I
require that my barons should deal similarly with the sons
and daughters or wives of their men.
5. The common tax on money which used to be taken
through the cities and counties, which was not taken in the
126 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
time of King Edward, I now forbid altogether henceforth to
be taken. If any one shall have been seized, whether a
moneyer or any other, with false money, strict justice shall
be done for it.
6. All fines and all debts which were owed to my brother,
I remit, except my rightful rents, and except those payments
which had been agreed upon for the inheritances of others
or for those things which more justly affected others. And
if any one for his own inheritance has stipulated anything,
this I remit, and all reliefs which had been agreed upon for
rightful inheritances.
7. And if any one of my barons or men shall become
feeble, however he himself shall give or arrange to give his
money, I grant that it shall be so given. Moreover, if he
himself, prevented by arms, or by weakness, shall not have
bestowed his money, or arranged to bestow it, his wife or
his children or his parents, and his legitimate men shall di-
vide it for his soul, as to them shall seem best.
8. If any of my barons or men shall have commited an
offence he shall not give security to the extent of forfeiture
of his money, as he did in the time of my father, or of my
brother, but according to the measure of the offence so shall
he pay, as he would have paid from the time of my father
backward, in the time of my other predecessors ; so that if
he shall have been convicted of treachery or of crime, he
shall pay as is just.
9. All murders moreover before that day in which I was
crowned king, I pardon; and those which shall be done
henceforth shall be punished justly according to the law of
King Edward.
10. The forests, by the common agreement of my barons,
I have retained in my own hand, as my father held them.
11. To those knights who hold their land by the cuirass,
I yield of my own gift the lands of their demesne ploughs
free from all payments and from all labor, so that as they
have thus been favoured by such a great alleviation, so they
may readily provide themselves with horses and arms for my
service and for the defence of my kingdom.
12. A firm peace in my whole kingdom I establish and re-
quire to be kept from henceforth.
13. The law of King Edward I give to you again with
those changes with which my father changed it by the
counsel of his barons.
14. If any one has taken anything from my possessions
THE NORMAN RULE 127
since the death of King William, my brother, or from the
possessions of any one, let the whole be immediately returned
without alteration, and if any one shall have retained any-
thing thence, he upon whom it is found will pay it heavily
to me. Witnesses Maurice, bishop of London, and Gundulf,
bishop, and William, bishop-elect, and Henry, earl, and
Simon, earl, and Walter Giffard, and Robert de Montfort,
and Roger Bigod, and Henry de Port, at London, when I
was crowned.
(Translations and Reprints. Published by the Department of History,
University of Pennsylvania. Reprinted by permission.)
56. Charter of the City of London
(From HENRY I.)
Historical Charters
The City of London was the recipient of many charters, the
first being that granted by William I. (No. 53). That granted
by Henry I. is, however, the first in which is given an account of
the municipal government. A comparative study of these char-
ters is of great value to those interested in municipal develop-
ment.
Henry, by the grace of God, king of England, to the arch-
bishop of Canterbury, and to the bishops and abbots, earls
and barons, justices and sheriffs, and to all his faithful sub-
jects of England, French and English, greeting.
Know ye that I have granted to my citizens of London, to
hold Middlesex to farm for three hundred pounds, upon
accompt to them and their heirs; so that the said citizens
shall place as sheriff whom they will of themselves; and
shall place whomsoever, or such a one as they will of them-
selves, for keeping of the pleas of the crown, and of the
pleadings of the same, and none other shall be justice over
the same men of London ; and the citizens of London shall
not plead without the walls of London for any plea. And
be they free from scot and lot and danegeld, and of all
murder; and none of them shall wage battle. And if any-
one of the citizens shall be impleaded concerning the pleas
of the crown, the man of London shall discharge himself
by his oath, which shall be adjudged within the city; and
none shall lodge within the walls, neither of my household,
nor any other, nor lodging delivered by force.
And all the men of London shall be quit and free, and
all their goods, throughout England, and the ports of thr
sea, of and from all toll and passage and lestage, and all
other customs; and the churches and barons and citizens
128 SOURCE-BOOK OP ENGLISH HISTORY
shall and may peaceably and quietly have and hold their
sokes with all their customs ; so that the strangers that shall
be lodged in the sokes shall give custom to none but to him
to whom the soke appertains, or to his officer, whom he shall
there put: And a man of London shall not be adjudged in
amerciaments of money but of one hundred shillings (I
speak of the pleas which appertain to money) ; and further
there shall be no more miskenning in the hustings, nor in the
folkmote, nor in other pleas within the city; and the hustings
may sit once in a week, that is to say, on Monday : And I
will cause my citizens to have their lands, promises, bonds,
and debts, within the city and without ; and I will do them
right by the law of the city, of the lands of which they shall
complain to me :
And if any shall take toll or custom of any citizen of
London, the citizens of London in the city shall take of the
borough or town, where toll or custom was so taken, so much
as the man of London gave for toll, and as he received
damage thereby : And all debtors, which do owe debts to the
citizens of London, shall pay them in London, or else dis-
charge themselves in London, that they owe none ; but if
they will not pay the same, neither come to clear themselves
that they owe none, the citizens of London, to whom the
debts shall be due, may take their goods in the city of
London, of the borough or town, or of the county wherein
he remains who shall owe the debt : And the citizens of
London may have their chaces to hunt, as well and fully as
their ancestors have had, that is to say, in Chiltre, and in
Middlesex and Surrey.
Witness the bishop of Winchester, and Robert son of
Richier, and Hugh Bygot, and Alured of Toteneys, and
William of Alba-spina and Hubert the king's Chamberlain,
and William de Montfichet, and Hangulf cle Taney, and John
Bellet, and Robert son of Siward. At Westminster.
(The Historical Charters and Constitutional Documents of the City of London,
p. 3. Ed. cit.)
57. The Investiture Controversy
Eadnter
The policy of the Church forbade its ecclesiastics to receive in-
vestiture from a layman, even though he were a king. It also
forbade churchmen to render homage to laymen. Anselm. Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, contested these points with Henry I. ;
the result was the compromise set forth in the selection which
follows.
THE NORMAN RULE 129
On the first of August an assembly of bishops, abbots,
and nobles of the realm was held at London in the king's
palace. And for three successive days, in Anselm's absence,
the matter was thoroughly discussed between king and
bishops concerning church investitures, some arguing for
this that the king should perform them after the manner of
his father and brother, or according to the injunction and
obedience of the pope. For the pope in the sentence which
had been then published, standing firm, had conceded hom-
age, which Pope Urban had forbidden, as well as investiture,
and in this way had won over the king about investiture, as
may be gathered from the letter which we have quoted
above. Afterwards, in the presence of Anselm and a large
concourse, the king agreed and ordained that henceforward
no one should be invested with bishopric or abbacy in Eng-
land by the giving of a pastoral staff or the ring, by the
king or any lay hand : Anselm also agreeing that no one
elected to a prelacy should be deprived of consecration to the
office undertaken on the ground of homage, which he should
make to the king. After this decision, by the advise of
Anselm and the nobles of the realm, fathers were instituted
by the king, without any investiture of pastoral staff or
ring, to nearly all the churches of England which had been
so long widowed of their shepherds.
(Eadmeri Monacki Cantuariensis Historic Novorum, ed cited.)
CHAPTER VIII
THE EARLY ANGEVINS
58. Henry II and Thomas a Becket at the Council of Woodstock
(July 1163)
Ed-ward Grim
The reign of the strong king, Henry II., was marred by his
quarrel with Thomas a Becket. The assassination of the arch-
bishop has tended to obscure in the mind of the younger student
of history the principles which were at stake in the quarrel. As
chancellor, Thomas was the king's servant, but when created
archbishop he became the servant of the Church, and as such he
resisted the encroachments of the Crown upon what he believed
to be the ecclesiastical prerogative. The first issue with the king
came in 1163 at the Council of Woodstock, upon a matter of
taxation ; the second at the Council of Westminster in the same
year, upon the question of the rights of civil courts to try eccle-
siastical persons. The dissension was partly healed, and at the
Council of Clarendon the compromise effected between Church
and State was embodied in the Constitutions of Clarendon. But
the dispute again broke out, and Becket fled from England. For
years the struggle between ruler and prelate continued. In 1170
a reconciliation was effected, but only to be succeeded by more
bitter strife. Some rash words of the king led to the murder of
the archbishop. The sincerity of Henry's remorse may well be
doubted. In consequence of the murder Henry was forced to
submit himself to the pope.
When the king was tarrying on his manor at Woodstock,
with the archbishop and the great men of the land, among
other matters a question was raised concerning a certain
custom which obtained in England. Two shillings from each
hide were given to the king's servants, who, in the post of
sheriffs,, guarded the shires. This sum the king wished to
have enrolled in the treasury and added to his own revenue.
Whom the archbishop resisted to the face, saying that it
ought not to be exacted as revenue "Nor will we," said he,
"my lord king, give it as revenue, saving your pleasure ; but
if the sheriffs, and servants, and ministers of the shires shall
13
THE EARLY ANGEFINS 131
serve us fitly, and maintain and defend our dependants, in no
way will we be behindhand in contributing to their aid." But
the king, taking ill this answer of the archbishop, said "By
the eyes of God, it shall be given as revenue, and in the king's
scroll shall it be writ ; nor is it fit that thou shouldst gainsay,
when no man would oppose your men against your will."
The archbishop foreseeing and being aware lest by his suf-
ferance a custom should be brought in whereby posterity
should be harmed, answered, "By the reverence of the eyes
by which you have sworn, my lord king, there shall be given
from all my land or from the right of the Church not a
penny." The king was silent, repulsed by the bold objection
of the archbishop, but his indignation was not set at rest ; for
silently erewhile his fury from secular matters which seemed
to be but little contrary to the archbishop, turned against the
clergy, and his rage extended against the ministers of the
church whose injuries specially redounded against the arch-
bishop.
(Edward Grim, Materials for the History of Archbishop Becket. From St. Thomas
of Canterbury, ed. W. H. Hutton, London, 1889. p. 36.)
59. The Council of Westminster
(Oct. 1163)
Herbert of Boshant
The king when he explained the cause of the summons
straightway demanded that clerks seized or convicted of great
crimes should be deprived of the guardianship of the church
and handed over to his officers, declaring that they would
be the more prompt to evil unless after spiritual punishment
they were subject to corporal penalty, and that those who
were not restrained by the memory of their orders from such
enormities would care little for the loss of orders : and that
the more worthy they were than other persons of the privi-
lege of clergy so much the worse was their guilt ; and hence
they should be constrained by greater punishments whenever
they were discovered in crime. Accordingly the king, ad-
vised by certain who made a boast of their learning in either
law, straitly demanded that such persons should be deprived
of their orders and handed over to the civil courts, the which
not only human law but also the canonical authority of the
Divine law sanctioned. Whence also concerning such it is
found in the canons, "let him be given over to the court."
Whence those who were prepared with learning on the king's
behalf alleged, in nowise should be sent to exile or a monas-
132 SOURCE-BOOK Ol< ENGLISH HISTORY
tery, but rather, according to the canons, to the court, and
this "to he handed over to the court" [they explained to
mean] to he given over to the secular power to be punished.
To the king and his party bringing forward these things,
the archbishop, having had counsel with the bishops of his
province and with prelates of learning, when he had an-
swered at length and clearly on behalf of ecclesiastical liberty
according to the canonical rule of the ancient fathers, at the
end of his speech with all devotion besought the royal clem-
ency not to bring into his realm a new discipline contrary to
the rules of the holy fathers, under a new king Christ, and
under a new law of Christ, by a new and strange kind of Lord.
And this he besought firmly and oft for himself and for the
security of the realm, again and again declaring that he
neither ought to nor could endure it.
The king nothing moved by this, but rather the more ex-
cited as he saw the archbishop and the bishops opposing him
and, as he reckoned, so unanimous and constant, demanded
whether they would observe his royal custom.
Whereon the archbishop, after counsel had with his breth-
ren, said that he and his brethren would observe them saving
their order. And the bishops each made the same answer
when questioned singly by the king. But one, Hilary of
Chichester, considering rather the king's anger than the
opinion of the others, without consulting the archbishop and
the bishops changed the expression, saying that he would ob-
serve the royal customs in good faith; and indeed for a good
purpose, as I think, that he might soothe the mind of the
king. But the king, in no way appeased, spurned his good-
will with contumely; and turning to the archbishop and bish-
ops, having heard the same speech from all, he said that they
had formed a host against him and poison lay in that saying,
"salvo ordine," and that it was full of guile. Wherefore he
demanded that absolutely and without qualification they
should promise to obey the customs. The archbishop to this
answered that they had sworn fealty to him in life and limb
and earthly honour, salvo ordine suo; and that under earthly
honour were comprehended the royal customs and that they
would not be bound in another form to observe them, but
only in that to which they had sworn. When the day was
now far advanced the king, angrily and without saluting the
prelates, departed hastily from the hall, in ire and much in-
dignation.
(Herbert of Bosham, as condensed in the Quadrilogus. From St. Thomm
of Canterbury, ecr. cited, p. 44.)
THE EARLY ANGEVINS 133
60. The Constitutions of Clarendon
(1164 A.D.)
In the year of the incarnation of the Lord, 1164, of the
papacy of Alexander, the fourth year, of the most illustrious
king of the English, Henry II., the tenth year, in the presence
of the same king, has been made this memorial of acknowl-
edgement of a certain part of the customs and franchises and
dignities of his predecessors, that is to say of King Henry,
his grandfather, and of the other kings, which ought to be ob-
served and held in the kingdom. And on account of the dis-
cussions and disputes which have arisen between the clergy
and the justices of our lord the king and the barons of the
kingdom concerning the customs and dignities, this acknowl-
edgement is made in the presence of the archbishops and
bishops and clergy and earls and barons and principal men of
the kingdom. And these customs, acknowledged by the arch-
bishops and bishops and earls and barons, and by the most
noble and ancient of the kingdom, Thomas, archbishop of
Canterbury, and Roger, archbishop of York, and Gilbert,
bishop of London, and Henry, bishop of Winchester, and
Nigel, bishop of Ely, and William, bishop of Norwich, and
Robert, bishop of Lincoln, and Hilary, bishop of Chichester,
and Jocelyn, bishop of Salisbury, and Richard, bishop of
Chester, and Bartholomew, bishop of Exeter, and Robert,
bishop of Hereford, and David, bishop of Man, and Roger,
bishop-elect of Worcester have conceded, and in the word of
truth by their living voice have firmly promised to the lord
king and to his heirs should be held and observed, in good
faith and without any evil intention; the following being
present : Robert, earl of Leicester, Reginald, earl of Cornwall,
Conan, count of Brittany, John, count of Eu, Roger, earl of
Clare, count Geoffrey de Mandeville, Hugh, earl of Chester,
William, earl of Arundel, Earl Patrick, William, count of Fer-
rarar, Richard de Lacy, Reginald de St. Valery, Roger Bigod,
Reginald de Warenne, Richer de Aquila, William de Brapse,
Richard de Camville, Nigel de Mowbray, Simon de Warfield,
Humphrey de Bohun, Matthew de Hereford, Walter de Med-
way, Manasses Bisett, steward, William Malet, William de
Courcy, Robert de Dunstanville, Jocelyn de Balliol, William
de Lanvale, William de Cheyney, Geoffrey de Vere, William
de Hastings, Hugh de Morville, Alan de Neville, Simon
Fitz-Peter, William Malduit, chamberlain, John Malduit,
John Marshall, Peter de Mare, and many others of the prin-
cipal men and nobles of the kingdom, as well clergy as laity.
134 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Of these acknowledged customs and dignities of the realm,
a certain part is contained in the present writing. Of this
part the heads are as follows:
I. If any controversy has arisen concerning the aclvow-
son and presentation of churches between laymen, or between
laymen and ecclesiastics, or between ecclesiastics, it is to be
considered or settled in the court of the lord king.
2. Churches of the fee of the lord king cannot be given
perpetually without his assent and grant.
3. Clergymen charged and accused of anything, when
they have been summoned by a justice of the king shall come
into his court, to respond there to that which it shall seem
good to the court of the king for them to respond to, and in
the ecclesiastical court to what it shall seem good should be
responded to there; so that the justice of the king shall send
into the court of holy church to see how the matter shall be
treated there. And if a clergyman shall have been convicted
or has confessed, the church ought not to protect him other-
wise.
4. It is not lawful for archbishops, bishops, and persons
of the realm to go out of the realm without the permission of
the lord king. And if they go out, if it please the lord king,
they shall give security that neither in going nor in making
a stay nor in returning will they seek evil or loss to the king
or the kingdom.
5. Excommunicated persons ought not to give per-
manent security nor offer an oath, but only security and a
pledge to stand to the judgment of the church, in order that
they may be absolved.
6. Laymen ought not to be accused except by definite
and legal accusers and witnesses, in the presence of the
bishop, so that the archdeacon shall not lose his right, nor
anything which he ought to have from it. And if there are
such persons as' are blamed, but no one wishes or no one
dares to accuse them, let the sheriff when required by the
bishop cause twelve legal men of the neighbourhood or of the
township to take an oath in the presence of the bishop that
they will show the truth about it according to their con-
science.
7. No one who holds from the king in chief, nor any
one of the officers of his demesnes shall be excommunicated,
nor the lands of any one of them placed under an interdict,
unless the lord king, if he is in the land, first agrees, or his
justice, if he is out of the realm, in order that he may do right
THE EARLY ANGEVINS 135
concerning him ; and so that what shall pertain to the king's
court shall be settled there, and for that which has respect to
the ecclesiastical court, that it may be sent to the same to be
considered there.
8. Concerning appeals, if they should occur, they ought
to proceed from the archdeacon to the bishop, from the bishop
to the archbishop. And if the archbishop should fail to show
justice, it must come to the lord king last, in order that by his
command the controversy should be finally terminated in the
court of the archbishop, so that it ought not to proceed
further without the assent of the lord king.
9. If a contest has arisen between a clergyman and a
layman or between a layman and a clergyman, concerning
any tenement which the clergymen wishes to bring into char-
itable tenure, but the layman into a lay fief, it shall be settled
by the deliberation of a principal justice of the king, on the
recognition of twelve legal men, whether the tenement per-
tains to charity or to a lay fief, in the presence of that justice
of the king. And if the recognition shall decide that it be-
longs to charity, the suit will be in the ecclesiastical court,
but if to a lay fief, unless both are answerable to the same
bishop or baron, the suit will be in the king's court. But if
both shall be answerable concerning that fief before the same
bishop or baron, the suit will be in his court, provided that
the one who was formerly in possession shall not lose his
possession on account of the recognition which has been
made until it has been decided upon through the suit.
10. If any one who is of a city or a castle or a borough
or a demesne manor of the lord king has been summoned by
the archdeacon or the bishop for any offence for which he
ought to respond to them, and is unwilling to make answer
to their summons, it is fully lawful to place him under an
interdict, but he ought not to be excommunicated before the
principal officer of the lord king for that place agrees, in
order that he may adjudge him to come to the answer. And
if the officer of the king is negligent in this, he himself will
be at the mercy of the lord king, and afterward the bishop
shall be able to coerce the accused man by ecclesiastical
justice.
li. Archbishops, bishops, and all persons of the realm,
who hold from the king in chief, have their possessions from
the lord king as a barony, and are responsible for them to the
justices and officers of the king, and follow and perform all
royal rules and customs ; and just as the rest of the barons
136 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
ought to be present at the judgment of the court of the lord
king along with the barons, at least till the judgment reaches
to loss of limbs or to death.
12. When an archbishopric or bishopric or abbacy or
priorate of the demesne of the king has become vacant, it
ought to be in his hands and he shall take thence all its rights
and products just as demesnes. And when it has come to
providing for the church, the lord king ought to summon the
more powerful persons of the church, and the election ought
to be made in the chapel of the lord king himself, with the
assent of the lord king and with the agreement of the persons
of the realm whom he has called to do this. And there the
person elected shall do homage and fealty to the lord king as
to his liege lord, concerning his life and his limbs and his
earthly honour, saving his order, before he shall be con-
secrated.
13. If any one of tjie great men of the kingdom has pre-
vented archbishop, bishop or archdeacon from exercising
justice upon himself or his, the lord king ought to bring him
to justice. And if by chance anyone has deprived the lord
king of his right, the archbishops and bishops and arch-
deacons ought to bring him to justice in order that he may
give satisfaction to the lord king.
14. The chattels of those who are in forfeiture to the
king no church or church-yard must detain against the jus-
tice of the king, because they are the king's whether they
have been found within the churches or without.
15. Suits concerning debts which are owed through the
medium of a bond or without the medium of a bond should
be in the jurisdiction of the king.
16. Sons of rustics ought not to be ordained without the
assent of the lord upon whose land they are known to have
been born.
The acknowledgment of the aforesaid royal customs and
dignities has been made by the aforesaid archbishops, and
bishops, and earls, and barons, and the more noble and ancient
of the realm, at Clarendon, on the fourth day before the
Purification of the Blessed Mary, perpetual Virgin, Lord
Henry with his father, the lord king, being there present.
There are, however, many other and great customs and dig-
nities of holy mother church and of the lord king, and of the
barons of the realm, which are not contained in this writing.
These are preserved to holy church and to the lord king and
to his heirs ard to the barons of the realm, and shall be ob-
served inviolably forever. (Translations and Reprints, ed. cited.)
137
6i. The King's Rash Words and Remorse
William Fits Stephen
The Archbishops of York and the Bishops of London and
Salisbury, with the Archdeacon of Poictiers (the Archdeacon
of Canterbury was delayed on the sea by bad weather), hav-
ing crossed the water, came to the King's court. He had
already heard of the suspension and excommunication of
the bishops. They repeat to him the whole story. They lay
all the blame upon the Archbishop; they declare him to be
guilty of treason in what he has done. Falsehood doubles
his offence. It had been told the King that the Archbishop
was making the circuit of the kingdom at the head of a large
body of men. The King asks the Archbishop of York and
the Bishops of London and Salisbury to advise him what to
do. "It is not our part," they say, "to tell you what must be
done." At length one says, "My lord, while Thomas lives,
you will not have peace or quiet or see another good day."
On hearing this, such fury, bitterness, and passion took pos-
session of the King, as his disordered look and gesture ex-
pressed, that it was immediately understood what he wanted.
When they saw his emotion, four knights, barons of the
king's household, seeking to please him, named Reginald
Fitz Urse, William de Traci, Hugh de Morville, Richard
Brito having sworn the death of the Archbishop, departed
sailing from different ports. By the guidance of the devil
the old enemy of all good, they met at the same hour on the
morrow at the castle of the family of Broc, at Saltwood.
Whilst we were lately assembled in council before our lord
the king, and supposed we were going to discuss important
matters connected with the Church, . . . we are told by some
who are just come over from England, that certain enemies
of the archbishop, provoked to madness, it is said, by frequent
causes of exasperation, have suddenly set upon him, and
I can hardly write for my tears have attacked his person
and put him to a cruel death. At the first words of the mes-
senger the king burst into loud lamentations, and exchanged
his royal robes for sackcloth and ashes, acting more like a
friend than the sovereign of the deceased. At times he
ceased his cries and became stupid ; after which he burst
again into cries and lamentations louder than before. Three
whole days he spent in his chamber, and would receive
neither food nor consolation, but by the excess of his grief
it seemed as if he had thoroughly made up his mind to die.
The state of things indeed became alarming, and we had now
138 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
a double cause for anxiety. First we had to lament the death
of the bishop, now we almost despaired of the life of the king,
and so in losing one we thought our evil fortune would de-
prive us of both.
(William Fiti Stephen. From St. Thomas of Canterbury , ed. cited, p. 232.)
62. The Assize of Clarendon
(1166)
The Assize of Clarendon is of great importance to the histori-
cal student because of its re-arrangement of judicial processes.
It is a valuable legal landmark. By it the custom of the country
was crystallised in the provision for a jury of presentment, anal-
ogous to the modern grand jury. The old form of compurgation
was finally superseded, and that of collective responsibility re-
affirmed. The whole document is worthy of intensive study.
Here begins the Assize of Clarendon, made by King
Henry II. with the assent of the archbishops, bishops, ab-
bots, earls and barons of all England.
I. In the first place, the aforesaid King Henry, with
the consent of all his barons, for the preservation of the
peace and the keeping of justice, has enacted that inquiry
should be made through the several counties and through the
several hundreds, by twelve of the more legal men of the
hundred and by four of the more legal men of each manor,
upon their oath that they will tell the truth, whether there is
in their hundred or in their manor, any man who has been
accused or publicly suspected of himself being a robber, or
murderer, or thief, or of being a receiver of robbers, or mur-
derers, or thieves, since the lord king has been king. And
let the justices make this inquiry before themselves, and the
sheriffs before themselves.
2. And let anyone who has been found by the oath of
the aforesaid, to have been accused or publicly suspected of
having been a robber, or murderer, or thief, or a receiver of
them, since the lord king has been king, be arrested and go
to the ordeal of water and let him swear that he has not been
a robber, or murderer, or thief, or receiver of them since the
lord king has been king, to the value of five shillings, so far
as he knows.
3. And if the lord of the man who has been arrested or
his steward or his men shall have claimed him, with a pledge,
within the third day after he has been seized, let him be given
up and his chattels until he himself makes his law.
4. And when a robber, or murderer, or thief, or receiver
THE EARLY ANGEVINS 139
of them shall have been seized through the above-mentioned
oath, if the justices are not to come very soon into that
county where they have been arrested, let the sheriffs send
word to the nearest justice by some intelligent man that they
have arrested such men, and the justices will send back word
to the sheriffs where they wish that these should be brought
before them; and the sheriffs shall bring them before the
justices; and along with these they shall bring from the
hundred and the manor where they have been arrested, two
legal men to carry the record of the county and of the hun-
dred as to why they were seized, and there before the justice
let them make their law.
5. And in the case of those who have been arrested
through the aforesaid oath of this assize, no one shall have
court, or judgment, or chattels, except the lord king in his
court before his justices, and the lord king shall have all
their chattels. In the case of those, however, who have been
arrested, otherwise than through this oath, let it be as it has
been accustomed and ought to be.
6. And the sheriffs who have arrested them shall bring
such before the justice without any other summons than they
have from him. And when robbers, or murderers, or thieves,
or receivers of them, who have been arrested through the
oath or otherwise, are handed over to the sheriffs they also
must receive them immediately without delay.
7. And in the several counties where there are no jails,
let such be made in a borough or in some castle of the king,
from the money of the king and from his forest, if one shall
be near, or from some other neighbouring forest, on the view
of the servants of the king; in order that in them the sheriffs
may be able to detain those who have been seized by the offi-
cials who are accustomed to do this or by their servants.
8. And the lord king moreover wills that all should come
to the county courts to make this oath, so that no one shall
remain behind because of any franchise which he has or
court or jurisdiction which he had, but that they should come
to the making of this oath.
9. And there is to be no one within a castle or without
a castle or even in the honour of Wallingford, who may for-
bid the sheriffs to enter into his court or his land for seeing
to the frankpledges and that all are under pledges; and let
them be sent before the sheriffs under a free pledge.
10. And in cities and boroughs, let no one have men or
receive them in his house or in his land or his soc, whom he
MO SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
does not take in hand that he will produce before the justice
if they shall be required, or else let them be under a frank-
pledge.
n. And let there be none in a city or borough or in a
castle or without, or even in the honour of Wallingford, who
shall forbid the sheriffs to enter into his land or his juris-
diction to arrest those who have been charged or publicly
suspected of being robbers or thieves or receivers of them,
or outlaws, or persons charged concerning the forest ; but he
requires that they should aid them to capture these.
12. And if any one is captured who has in his pos-
session the fruits of robbery or theft, if he is of bad reputa-
tion and has an evil testimony from the public, and has not
a warrant, let him not have law. And if he shall not have
been accused on account of the possession which he has, let
him go to the water.
13. And if any one shall have acknowledged robbery or
murder or theft or the reception of them in the presence of
legal men or of the hundreds, and afterwards shall wish to
deny it, he shall not have law.
14. The lord king wills moreover that those who make
their law and shall be absolved by the law, if they are of very
bad testimony, and publicly and disgracefully spoken ill of
by the testimony of many and legal men, shall abjure the
lands of the king, so that within eight days they shall go over
the sea, unless the wind shall have detained them ; and with
the first wind which they shall have afterward they shall go
over the sea, and they shall not afterward return into Eng-
land, except on the permission of the lord king; and then let
them be outlawed if they return, and if they return they shall
be seized as outlaws.
15. And the lord king forbids any vagabond, that is a
wandering or an unknown man, to be sheltered anywhere ex-
cept in a borough, and even there he shall be sheltered only
one night, unless he shall be sick there, or his horse, so that
he is able to show an evident excuse.
16. And if he shall have been there more than one night,
let him be arrested and held until his lord shall come to give
securities for him, or until he himself shall have secured
pledges; and let him likewise be arrested who has sheltered
him.
17. And if any sheriff shall have sent word to any other
sheriff that men have fled from his county into another
county, on account of robbery or murder or theft, or the re-
THE EARLY ANGEVINS 141
ception of them, or for outlawry or for a charge concerning
the forest of the king, let him arrest them. And even if he
knows of himself or through others that such men have fled
into his county, let him arrest them and hold them until he
shall have secured pledges from them.
18. And let all sheriffs cause a list to be made of all
fugitives who have fled from their counties ; and let them do
this in the presence of their county courts, and they will carry
the written names of these before the justices when they
come first before these, so that they may be sought through
all England, and their chattels may be seized for the use of
the king.
19. And the lord king wills that, from the time when
the sheriffs have received the summons of the justices in eyre
to appear before them with their county courts, they shall
gather together their county courts and make inquiry for all
who have recently come into their counties since this assize ;
and that they should send them away with pledges that they
will be before the justices, or else keep them in custody until
the justices come to them, and then they shall have them
before the justices.
20. The lord king moreover prohibits monks and canons
and all religious houses from receiving any one of the lesser
people as a monk or canon or brother, until it is known of
what reputation he is, unless he shall be sick unto death.
21. The lord king moreover forbids any one in all Eng-
land to receive in his land or his jurisdiction or in a house
under him any one of the sect of those renegades who have
been excommunicated and branded at Oxford. And it any-
one shall have received them, he will be at the mercy of the
lord king, and the house in which they have been shall be
carried outside the village and burned. And each sheriff
will take this oath that he will hold this, and will make all
his servants swear this, and the stewards of the barons, and
all knights and free tenants of the counties.
22. And the lord king wills that this assize shall be held
in his kingdom so long as it shall please him.
(Translations and Reprints, ed. cited.)
63. Constitution of the King's Household
Little Black Book of the Exchequer
This document is of sufficient importance to warrant its intro-
duction into this book of sources. In the words of its most able
editor, HUBERT HALL, F.S.A., of the Public Record Office: "The
value of this historical document is inestimable. It brings us into
142 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
touch with the Angevin king [Henry II.] and possibly with his
Norman predecessors, by affording a hundred clues to court
life." Beside this, it affords a host of suggestions upon the
manners of the times.
THIS IS THE CONSTITUTION OF THE KING'S HOUSE
The Chancellor.
Five shillings daily and one royal simnel, and two [of
dripping,] and one sextary of clear wine, and one sextary
of household wine, and one wax-candle and forty candle-
ends.
The Master of the Scriptorum.
Formerly tenpence daily, and one simnel [of dripping,]
and half a sextary of household wine, and one thick candle
and twelve candle-ends. But King Henry increased Robert
de Sigillo by so much, that on the day of the king's death
he had two shillings, and one sextary of household wine,
and one simnel [of dripping,] and one taper and twenty-
four candle-ends.
The Chaplain, Keeper of the Chapel and Relics.
The entertainment of two men and four Serjeants of the
Chapel, each a double ration ; and two sumpter-horses of
the Chapel, each one penny daily and one penny to shoe
them monthly. For the service of the Chapel, two wax-
candles on Wednesday and two on Saturday ; and every
night one wax-candle at the Relics, and thirty candle-ends ;
and one gallon of clear wine at mass and one sextary of
household wine on the day of Absolution, to wash the
altar. On Easter Day, at Communion, one sextary of clear
wine and one of household wine.
The Clerk of the household bread and wine.
Two shillings daily, and one simnel [of dripping,] and
one sextary of household wine, and one taper and twenty-
four candle-ends.
Of the Stewards of the bread.
The regular Master Steward of the bread, if he shall eat
without the king's house, two shillings and tenpence daily,
and one simnel [of dripping,] and one sextary of house-
hold wine, and candles fully.
Of the Sewers.
The Sewers the same as the Chancellor, if they shall eat
without the house; if within, three shillings and sixpence,
and two simnels [of dripping,] and one sextary of house-
hold wine and candles fully.
THE EARLY ANGEVINS 143
Of the Stewards serving in turn.
If without the house, nineteen pence daily, and one sim-
nel [of dripping,] and one sextary of household wine, and
one thick candle and twenty candle-ends. If within, ten-
pence and half a sextary of household wine and candles
fully.
Of the Naperers.
The Naperer, the customary ration. To his man, three
half-pence daily, and one penny for a sumpter-horse, and
one penny monthly to shoe him.
The Usher of the Dispensary.
The same, the sumpter-horse excepted.
The Counter of the Bread.
The customary ration.
Of the four Bakers serving together in their turn.
Two who serve in the house shall eat in the house ; and
two who go abroad shall have forty pence to procure a
measure of Rouen for which they should render forty royal
simnels and a hundred and fifty [of dripping,] and two
hundred and seventy baker's loaves. A royal simnel to
four, one [of dripping] to two, and a loaf to each.
Of the Waferers.
The Waferer, the customary ration; and three half-pence
to his man daily.
The Keeper of the Tables.
So much as the above; and besides this a sumpter-horse
with his allowance.
The bearer of the Alms-dish shall eat in the house.
Of the Stewards of the Larder.
The Master Steward of the Larder, the same as the
Master Steward of the bread and wine, and in the same
manner.
Likewise the Stewards of the Larder serving in turn,
like also as the Stewards of the bread and wine serve in
turn. The Larderers who serve in turn, the customary
ration, and their man three half-pence daily. The Usher
of the Larder the same. The Slaughter-men the customary
ration only.
Of the Cooks.
The Cook of the king's kitchen shall eat in the house.
Three half-pence to his man. **********
144 SOURCE-BOOK OP ENGLISH HISTORY
Of the Great Kitchen.
The king's Poulterer, the customary ration and three
half-pence to his man.
Two Cooks, each of them the customary ration. Three
half-pence to their man.
The Serjeants of the same kitchen, the customary ration
only.
The Usher of the Spithouse, the customary ration; to his
man three half -pence.
The Turn Spit likewise.
Likewise the Keeper of the Dishes, and besides this one
sumpter-horse with his allowance.
The Carter of the great kitchen, a double ration, and for
his horse a proper allowance.
The Carter of the Larder likewise.
The Serjeant who receives the venison shall eat within ;
and three half-pence to his man.
The Master Butler, the same as the Sewer, and they
have one allowance and in the same manner.
The Master Stewards of the Butlery who serve in turn,
the same as the Stewards of the Dispensary who serve in
turn. But they have more candle, because they have a
taper and twenty-four candle-ends.
The Usher of the Butlery, the customary ration, and
three half-pence to his man.
The Hosiers shall eat in the house, and to each of their
men threepence.
The Butterer, the customary ration, and threepence to
his men, and half a sextary of household wine and twelve
candle-ends.
The Workmen of the Buttery, the customary ration only,
but the serjeant besides this three half-pence to his man
and two sumpter-horses with their allowances.
Of the Keepers of the Cups.
Four only must serve together in their turn, of whom
two shall eat in the house, and each for his man three half-
pence. Two other shall have the customary ration and
likewise three half-pence to their men.
The Keepers of the Mazers a double ration only.
Of the Fruiterers.
The Fruiterer shall eat in the house, and three of his
men.
The Carter the customary ration and allowance for his
horses.
THE EARLY ANGEVINS US
The Master Chamberlain is equal with the Sewer in his
allowance.
The Treasurer as the Master Chamberlain if he shall be in
the Court and shall serve in the Treasury. William
Maudut fourteen pence daily, and he shall eat regularly in
the house, and one thick candle and thirteen candle-ends
and two sumpter-horses with their allowances.
The Porter of the King's Litter shall eat in the house, and to
his man three half-pence and one sumpter-horse with his
allowance.
The Chamberlain who serves in his turn two shillings daily,
and one simnel [of dripping,] and one sextary of house-
hold wine, and one taper and fourteen candle-ends.
The Chamberlain of the Candles eightpence daily, and half
a sextary of household wine.
The King's Tailor shall eat in his house, and to his man
three half-pence.
The Chamberlain shall eat in the house without allowance if
he shall desire it.
The Water-carrier a double ration, and when the king goes
abroad one penny to wring out the king's clothes ; and
when the king bathes, threepence, except on the three
feasts of the year.
Of the Washerwoman doubtful.
The Constables have allowances like as the Sewers, and in
like manner William, son of Odo, one royal simnel and one
sextary of clear wine and one taper and twenty-four
candle-ends.
Henry de la Pomerai, if he shall eat without the house,
two shillings daily, and one simnel [of dripping,] and one
sextary of household wine, and one taper, and twenty-four
candle-ends; but if within, fourteen pence and half a sex-
tary of household wine, and candle fully.
Roger de Oyli likewise.
Of the Marshalsea.
The Master Marshal likewise, namely, John. And be-
sides this he ought to have vouchers of the gifts and allow-
ances that may arise from the King's Treasury and from
his Chamber, and he ought to have vouchers against all the
king's officials as witness for all things.
The four Marshals who serve the family of the king as
well clerks as knights and ministers, the day whereon they
146 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
make a harbourage or abide without the Court in the
king's business, eightpence daily, and one gallon of house-
hold wine and twelve candle-ends. If without, threepence
daily for their man and a full candle. And it" anyone of
the Marshals shall be sent on the king's business, eight-
pence only.
The Serjeants of the Marshals if they shall be sent on
the king's business, to each of them, daily, threepence. But
if not they shall eat in the king's house.
The Ushers, servants of the Bishop, shall eat in the house ;
to each of their men three half-pence daily and eight
candle-ends.
Gilbert Bonnehomme and Ralph shall eat in the house with-
out any other allowance.
The Watchmen, a double ration; and to their men three half-
pence daily and four candles, and besides this of a morning
each of them two loaves and one dish of meat and one gal-
lon of beer.
The Keeper of the Hearth shall always eat in the house, and
from the feast of Saint Michael to Easter every day four-
pence for the fire.
The Usher of the Chamber each day on which the king fares
abroad fourpence for the king's bed.
The Keeper of the Tents shall eat in the house, and when-
ever he was to carry the tents, he used to have allowance
for one man and one sumpter-horse.
Each 6f the four Hornblowers threepence daily.
Twenty Serjeants, each one penny daily.
The Keepers of the Gazehounds, each threepence daily and
two-pence, to their men.
And for every Harrier a half-penny daily.
The King's Mews eightpence daily.
The Knight's Huntsmen eightpence daily each.
The Cat Hunters each fivepence.
The Leader of the Limmers a penny.
A Limmer, a half-penny.
The Bear-ward threepence daily.
The Huntsmen of the Hart, each threepence daily, and of the
great Hart four ought to have a penny, and of the small
Hart seven a penny.
For the great Hart two men, and each a penny daily;
and for the small Hart two men, and each a penny daily.
THE EARLY ANGEVIN 3 M7
The Keepers of the Brachs, each threepence daily.
The Wolf-catchers, twenty pence daily for them and their
men and dogs, and they ought to have twenty- four cours-
ing dogs, and eight Harriers, and six pounds by the year
to buy horses, but they themselves say eight.
Of the Archers who used to carry the king's bow, each five-
pence daily; and other archers the same.
Bernard, Ralph le Bobeur, and their fellows each threepence
daily.
(In Court Life under the Plantagenets, ed. H. Hall, London, 1890. p. 244.)
64. The First Coronation of Richard I.
Roger de Hovenden.
The ceremony described by Roger de Hoveden illustrates the
form by which the kings of England were installed in office.
The royal state used by the Norman kings was derived from
their Saxon predecessors and continued by the Angevins. The
student should observe the function of the Church, the oath of
the king, the manner of anointing and crowning, and the oaths
of fealty and homage which concluded the ceremony.
First came the bishops, abbats, and large numbers of the
clergy, wearing silken hoods, preceded by the cross, taper-
bearers, censers, and holy water, as far as the door of the
king's inner chamber; where they received the before-named
duke, and escorted him to the church of Westminster, as far
as the high altar, in solemn procession, with chaunts of
praise, while all the way along which they went, from the
door of the king's chamber to the altar, was covered with
woollen cloth. The order of the procession was as follows:
First came the clergy in their robes, carrying holy water, and
the cross, tapers, and censers. Next came the priors, then
the abbats, and then the bishops, in the midst of whom walked
four barons, bearing four candlesticks of gold; after whom
came Godfrey de Lucy, bearing the king's cap [of main-
tenance], and John Marshal by him, carrying two great and
massive spurs of gold. After these came William Marshal,
earl of Striguil, bearing the royal sceptre of gold, on the top
of which was a cross of gold, and by him William Fitz-
Patrick, earl of Salisbury, bearing a rod of gold, having on
its top a dove of gold. After them came David, earl of
Huntingdon, brother of the king of Scotland, John, earl of
Mortaigne, the duke's brother, and Robert, earl of Leicester,
carrying three golden swords from the king's treasury, the
scabbards of which were worked all over with gold ; the earl
of Mortaigne walking in the middle. Next came six earls
148 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
and six barons, carrying on their shoulders a very large
chequer, upon which were placed the royal arms and robes;
and after them William de Mandeville, earl of Aumarle,
carrying a great and massive crown of gold, decorated on
every side with precious stones. Next came Richard, duke
of Normandy, Hugh, bishop of Durham, walking at his right
hand, and Reginald, bishop of Bath, at his left, and four
barons holding over them a canopy of silk on four lofty
spears. Then followed a great number of earls, barons,
knights, and others, both clergy and laity, as far as the porch
of the church, and dressed in their robes, entered with the
duke, and proceeded as far as the choir.
When the duke had come to the altar, in presence of the
archbishops, bishops, clergy, and people, kneeling before the
altar, with the holy Evangelists placed before him, and many
relics of the saints, according to custom, he swore that he
would all the days of his life observe peace, honour, and
reverence towards God, the Holy Church, and its ordinances.
He also swore that he would exercise true justice and equity
towards the people committed to his charge. He also swore
that he would abrogate bad laws and unjust customs, if any
such had been introduced into his kingdom, and would enact
good laws, and observe the same without fraud or evil intent.
After this they took off all his clothes from the waist up-
wards, except his shirt and breeches; his shirt having been
previously separated over his shoulders; after which they
shod him with sandals embroidered with gold. Then Bald-
win, archbishop of Canterbury, pouring holy oil upon his
head, anointed him King in three places, on his head, breast,
and arms, which signifies glory, valour, and knowledge, with
suitable prayers for the occasion; after which the said arch-
bishop placed a consecrated linen cloth on his head, and
upon that the cap which Godfrey de Lucy had carried.
They then clothed him in the royal robes, first a tunic, and
then a dalmatic; after which the said archbishop delivered
to him the sword of rule, with which to crush evil-doers
against the Church ; this done, two earls placed the spurs
upon his feet, which John Marshal had carried. After this,
being robed in a mantle, he was led to the altar, where the
said archbishop forbade him, in the name of Almighty God,
to presume to take upon him this dignity, unless he had
the full intention inviolably to observe the oaths and vows
before-mentioned which he had made; to which he made
answer that, with God's assistance, he would without re-
servation observe them all. After this, he himself took the
THE EARLY ANGEVINS 149
crown from the altar and gave it to the archbishop ; on which,
the archbishop delivered it to him, and placed it upon his
head, it being supported by two earls in consequence of its
extreme weight. After this, the archbishop delivered to him
the sceptre to hold in his right hand, while he held the rod
of royalty in his left; and, having been thus crowned, the
king was led back to his seat by the before-named bishops
of Durham and Bath, preceded by the taper-bearers and the
three swords before-mentioned. After this, the mass of our
Lord was commenced, and, when they came to the offertory,
the before-named bishops led him to the altar, where he
offered one mark of the purest gold, such being the proper
offering for the king at each coronation; after which, the
bishops before-named led him back to his seat. The mass
having been concluded, and all things solemnly performed,
the two bishops before-named, one on the right hand, the
other on the left, led him back from the church to his
chamber, crowned, and carrying a sceptre in his right hand
and the rod of royalty in his left, the procession going in the
same order as before. Then the procession returned to the
choir, and our lord the king put off his royal crown and
robes of royalty, and put on a crown and robes that were
lighter; and, thus crowned, went to dine; on which the arch-
bishops and bishops took their seats with him at the table,
each according to his rank and dignity. The earls and
barons also served in the king's palace, according to their
several dignities ; while the citizens of London served in
the cellars, and the citizens of Winchester in the kitchen . . .
On the second day after his coronation, Richard, king of
England, received the oaths of homage and fealty from the
bishops, abbats, earls, and barons of England.
(Annals of Roger de Hovcdenfor 1189, trans, by H. T. Riley.
London, 1853. II, 117.)
65. Levying a Feudal Aid
(n 9 8)
Roger de Hoveden
The manner in which the king's taxes were collected is well
illustrated in the chosen selection. .The minuteness of detail in
the account makes it as interesting as valuable. This extract
should be compared with that describing the levying of an aid in
the seventeenth century (No. 152).
... In the same year, Richard, king of England, levied
from each carucate or hide of land throughout all England
five shillings as an aid; for the purpose of collecting which,
iso SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
the said king sent through each county of England one clerk
and one knight ; who, with the sheriff of the county to which
they were sent, and lawful knights elected for the purpose,
making oath that they would faithfully perform the king's
business, caused to appear before them the seneschals of the
barons of the said county, and the lord or bailiff of every
vill, and the reeve, together with the four lawful men of the
vill, whether freemen or villeins, as also two lawful knights
of the hundred, who made oath that they would faithfully
and without fraud declare what was the amount of carucates
in each vill that were in tillage ; namely, how many were
held in demesne, how many in villanage, how many in al-
moign bestowed on religious orders, which the givers thereof
were bound to make warranty of, or to pay for, or for which
the said religious were bound to do service ; and upon each
carucate in tillage, by the king's commands, they first levied
two shillings and then three shillings; all of which was re-
duced to writing. Of all this the clerk had one register, the
knight another, the sheriff a third, and the seneschals of the
barons a fourth register as to the land of their lords.
This money was received by the hands of two lawful
knights of each hundred, and by the hands of the bailiff of
the hundred, and they were answerable for the same to the
sheriff, and the sheriff answerable for the same accord-
ing to the before-mentioned registers to the exchequer, in
presence of the bishops, abbats, and barons appointed for
the purpose.
Also, for the punishment of the jurors who, contrary to
their oath, should be guilty of concealing anything in the
said matters, it was enacted that whatever villein should be
convicted of perjury he should forfeit to his lord the best
ox of his plough, and should, out of his own property, be
answerable for as much money for the use of our lord the
king as should be proved to have remained concealed by
means of his perjury; but if a free man should be convicted,
he was to be amerced by the king, and was to refund as well
out of his own property as much as had been concealed by
him, in the same manner as the villein.
It was also enacted, that every baron should, with the aid
of the sheriff, make levies upon his tenants; and if, by
default of the baron, such levies should not be made, then
there was to be taken from the demesne of the baron what
should remain payable by his tenants, and the baron was
to take the same from his tenants. Frank-fees of parish
THE EARLY ANGEVINS 151
churches were exempted from the said tallage; and all
escheats of barons which were held in the hands of our lord
the king contributed thereto. But serjeanties of our lord
the king, which were not attached to knights' fees, were
excepted, although they were placed on the register, as also
the number of the carucates of land, the values of their lands,
and the names of those holding by serjeanty; and all those
so holding, were summoned to be at London on the octave
at the end of Easter, to hear and perform the king's com-
mands.
The persons who were chosen for that purpose, and ap-
pointed by our lord the king, according to the estimation of
lawful men, set down a hundred acres of land for each
carucate of land in cultivation.
(Annals of Roger de Hovedenfor 1198, ed. cited. II, 420 J
PART IV
FROM THE CHARTER TO THE
REFORMATION
(1215-1529)
153
CHAPTER IX
THE PAPAL AUTHORITY TRIUMPHANT
66. The Struggle between John and Innocent III.
Roger of Wendover
ROGER OF WENDOVER (d. 1237) left a work known as The
Flowers of History (formerly attributed to Matthew Paris). It
is the chief contemporary source for the reign of King John.
The stormy rule of that king was full of struggles between the
Throne and the Church, and the Throne and the Baronage. The
first chain of events grew out of the tripartite struggle between
the cathedral chapter of Canterbury, the king, and the pope, to
seat their respective candidates in the archbishopric of Canter-
bury, in place of Hubert Walter, deceased. The pope was able
to control the clergy, but the king refused to admit the right of
Rome to appoint to the vacant see.
THE KING OF ENGLAND ADMONISHED BY OUR LORD THE POPE
In the same year pope Innocent, on learning that king
John's heart was so hardened, that he would not either by
persuasion or threats be induced to acquiesce in receiving
Stephen as archbishop of Canterbury, was touched to the
heart with grief, and, by advice of his cardinals, sent orders
to William bishop of London, Eustace bishop of Ely, and
Manger bishop of Winchester, to go to the said king, about
the matter of the church of Canterbury, and to give him
wholesome counsel to yield to God in this matter, and so
secure the Lord's favour ; but if they found him contumacious
and rebellious as he had hitherto been, he ordered them to
lay an interdict on the whole kingdom of England, and to
denounce to the said king that, if he did not check his bold-
ness by that means, he, the pope, would lay his hand on him
still more heavily ; since it was necessary for him to conquer,
who for the safety of the holy church had made war on the
devil and his angels, and despoiled the cloisters of hell. He
also, by letters of the apostolic see, gave orders to the
'55
156 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
suffragan bishops of the church of Canterbury, and to the
other prelates of that diocese, that, by virtue of their obedi-
ence, they were to receive the aforesaid archbishop as their
father and pastor, and were to obey him with all due affec-
tion.
67. England under the Interdict
A. 1208. The bishops of London, Ely, and Winchester,
in execution of the legateship entrusted to them, went to king
John, and after duly setting forth the apostolic commands,
entreated of him humbly and with tears, that he, having God
in his sight, would recall the archbishop and the monks of
Canterbury to their church, and honour and love them with
perfect affection ; and they informed him that thus he would
avoid the shame of an interdict, and the Disposer of rewards
would, if he did so, multiply his temporal honours on him,
and after his death would bestow lasting glory on him.
When the said bishops wished, out of regard to the king, to
prolong the discourse, the king became nearly mad with rage,
and broke forth in words of blasphemy against the pope and
his cardinals, swearing by God's teeth, that, if they or any
other priests soever presumptuously dared to lay his domi-
nions under an interdict, he would immediately send all the
prelates of England, clerks as well as ordained persons, to
the pope, and confiscate all their property ; he added more-
over, that all the clerks of Rome or of the pope himself who
could be found in England or in his other territories, he
would send to Rome with their eyes plucked out, and their
noses slit, that by these marks they might be known there
from other people; in addition to this he plainly ordered the
bishops to take themselves quickly from his sight, if they
wished to keep their bodies free from harm. The bishops
then, not finding any repentance in the king, departed, and,
in the Lent following, fearlessly fulfilled the duty required of
them by the pope, and accordingly on the morning of Monday
in Passion week, which that year fell on the 23rd of March,
they laid a general interdict on the whole of England; which,
since it was expressed to be by authority of our lord the
pope, was inviolably observed by all without regard of person
or privileges. Therefore all church services ceased to be
performed in England, with the exception only of confession,
and the viaticum in cases of extremity, and the baptism of
children; the bodies of the dead too were carried out of cities
THE PAPAL AUTHORITY TRIUMPHANT 157
and towns, and buried in roads and ditches without prayers
or the attendance of priests. What need I say more?
68. John excommunicated by Name
A. 1209. King John had now for nearly two years, as has
been said before, unceasingly continued throughout England,
on account of the interdict, a most severe persecution against
the clergy as well as some of the laity, and had entirely de-
stroyed all kind of hope in every one of any improvement or
satisfaction, and pope Innocent could no longer put off the
punishment of his rebellion; wherefore, by the advice of his
cardinals, he, in order to cut up by the root such an insult
to the church, gave orders to the bishops of London, Ely,
and Winchester, to declare the said king excommunicated by
name, and solemnly to publish this sentence every Sunday
and feast day in all the conventual churches throughout
England, that thus the king might be more strictly shunned
by every one. But after the aforesaid bishops had, by the
apostolic authority, entrusted the publication of this sentence
to their fellow bishops who had remained in England, and to
the other prelates of the church, they all, through fear of or
regard for the king, became like dumb dogs not daring to
bark, wherefore they put off fulfilling the duty enjoined on
them by the apostolic mandate, and failed to proceed accord-
ing to the usual course of justice. Nevertheless in a short
time the decree became known to all in the roads and streets,
and even in the places of assembly of the people it afforded a
subject of secret conversation to all; amongst others, as
Geoffrey archdeacon of Norwich was one day sitting in the
Exchequer at Westminster, attending to the king's business,
he began to talk privately with his companions who sat with
him, of the decree which was sent forth against the king;
and said that it was not safe for beneficed persons to remain
any longer in their allegiance to an excommunicated king;
after saying which, he went to his own house without asking
the king's permission. This event coming soon after to the
knowledge of the king, he was not a little annoyed, and
sent William Talbot a knight, with some soldiers, to seize
the archdeacon, and they, after he was taken, bound him in
chains and threw him into prison ; after he had been there
a few days, by command of the said king a cap of lead was
put on him, and at length, being overcome by want of food
as well as by the weight of the leaden cap, he departed to
the Lord,
158 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
69. The Pope deposes the King
A. 1212. About this time Stephen archbishop of Canter-
bury, and the bishops William of London, and Eustace of
Ely, went to Rome and informed the pope of the divers rebel-
lions and enormities perpetrated by the king of England from
the time of the interdict up to the present time, by un-
ceasingly laying the hands of rage and cruelty on the holy
church in opposition to the Lord; and they therefore humbly
supplicated the pope in his pious compassion to assist the
church of England, now labouring as it were in its last ex-
tremities. The pope then being deeply grieved for the deso-
lation of the kingdom of England, by the advice of his cardi-
nals, bishops, and other wise men, definitively decreed that
John king of England should be deposed from the throne of
that kingdom, and that another, more worthy than he, to be
chosen by the pope, should succeed him. In pursuance of this
his decree, our lord the pope wrote to the most potent Philip,
king of the French, ordering him, in remission of all his
faults, to undertake this business, and declaring that, after
he had expelled the English king from the throne of that
kingdom, he and his successors should hold possession of the
kingdom of England for ever. Besides this, he wrote to all
the nobles, knights, and other warlike men throughout the
different countries, ordering them to assume the sign of the
cross, and to follow the king of the French as their leader, to
dethrone the English king, and thus to revenge the insult
which had been cast on the universal church : he also ordered
that all those who afforded money or personal assistance
in overthrowing that contumacious king, should, like those
who went to visit the Lord's sepulchre, remain secure under
the protection of the church, as regarded their property,
persons, and spiritual interests. After this the pope, on his
part, sent Pandulph, a sub-deacon, with the archbishop and
bishops above-named, into the French provinces, that in his
own presence all his commands above related might be ful-
filled ; Pandulph, however, on leaving the pope when all
others were away from him, secretly inquired of his holiness
what it was his pleasure should be done, if by chance he
should find any of the fruits of repentance in John, so that
he would give satisfaction to the Lord and the church of
Rome for all matters in regard of this business. The pope
then dictated a simple form of peace, and said that if John
determined to agree to it, he might find favour with the
apostolic see.
THE PAPAL AUTHORITY TRIUMPHANT 159
70. The Papal Legate in England
A. 1213. Whilst the English king was with his army
waiting the approach of the king of the French near the sea-
coast, two of the brothers of the Temple arrived at Dover,
and coming to the king in a friendly manner said to him :
"We have been sent to you, most potent king, for the benefit
of yourself and your kingdom, by Pandulph the sub-deacon
and familiar of our lord the pope, who desires to have an
interview with you; and he will propose to you a form of
peace, by which you can be reconciled to God and to the
church, although you have by the court of Rome been deposed
from your right to the sovereignty of England, and been
condemned by decree of that court." The king then, on hear-
ing the speech of the Templars, ordered them immediately
to cross the sea and fetch Pandulph to him. Pandulph there-
fore, on this invitation of the king came to him at Dover, and
spoke to him in these words: "Behold, the most potent king
of the French is at the mouth of the Seine with a countless
fleet, and a large army of horse and foot, waiting till he is
strengthened with a larger force, to come upon you and your
kingdom, and to expel you from it by force, as an enemy
to the Lord and the supreme pontiff, and afterwards, by
authority of the apostolic see to take possession of the king-
dom of England for ever. There are also coming with him all
the bishops who have for a long while been banished from
England, with the exiled clergy and laity, by his assistance,
to recover by force their episcopal sees and other property,
and to fulfil to him for the future the obedience formerly
shown to you and your ancestors. The said king moreover
says that he holds papers of fealty and subjection from al-
most all the nobles of England, on which account he feels
secure of bringing the business he has undertaken to a most
successful termination. Consult therefore your own ad-
vantage, and become penitent as if you were in your last
moments, and delay not to appease that God whom you have
provoked to a heavy vengeance. If you are willing to give
sufficient security that you will submit to the judgment of
the church, and to humble yourself before Him who humbled
himself for you, you may, through the compassion of the
apostolic see, recover the sovereignty, from which you have
been abjudicated at Rome on account of your contumacy.
Now therefore reflect, lest your enemies shall have cause to
rejoice over you, and bring not yourself into difficulties,
160 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
from which, however you may wish to do so, you will not be
able to extricate yourself."
71. The Repentance of the King
[A.D. 1213.] King John, hearing and seeing the truth of all
this, was much annoyed and alarmed, seeing how imminent
the danger was on every side. There were four principal
reasons, which urged him to repentance and atonement; the
first was that he had been now for five years lying under
excommunication, and had so offended God and the holy
church, that he gave up all hopes of saving his soul ; the
second was, that he dreaded the arrival of the French king,
who was waiting near the sea-coast with a countless army,
and planning his downfall ; the third was, he feared, should
he give battle to his approaching enemies, lest he should be
abandoned to himself in the field by the nobles of England
and his own people, or be given up to his enemies for destruc-
tion ; but his fourth reason alarmed him more than all the
rest, for the day of our Lord's ascension was drawing near,
when he feared that, according to the prophecy of Peter the
hermit mentioned above, he should with his life lose the tem-
poral as well as the eternal kingdom. Being therefore driven
to despair by these and the like reasons he yielded to the
persuasions of Pandulph, and, although not without pain, he
granted the underwritten form of peace; he also swore by
the holy gospels in the presence of Pandulph, that he would
be obedient to the church's sentence, and sixteen of the most
powerful nobles of the kingdom swore on the soul of the
king himself, that, should he repent of his promise, they
would, to the utmost of their power, compel him to fulfil it.
72. John resigns Crown and Kingdom to the Pope
[A.D. 1213.] Matters having been thus arranged on the fif-
teenth of May, which was the eve of Ascension-day, the Eng-
lish king and Pandulph, with the nobles of the kingdom, met
at the house of the Knights Templars near Dover, and there
the said king, according to a decree pronounced at Rome,
resigned his crown with the kingdoms of England and Ire-
land into the hands of our lord the pope, whose functions the
said Pandulph was then performing. After having resigned
them then he gave the aforesaid kingdoms to the pope and
his successors, and confirmed them to the latter by the
underwritten charter:
THE PAPAL AUTHORITY TRIUMPHANT 161
"John, by the grace of God, king of England, &c. to all the
faithful servants of Christ who shall behold this charter,
health in the Lord. We wish it, by this our charter signed
with our seal, to be known to you, that we, having in many
things offended God and our mother the holy church, and
being in great need of the divine mercy for our sins, and not
having wherewithal to make a worthy offering as an atone
ment to God, and to pay the just demands of the church, un-
less we humiliate ourselves before Him who humiliated
himself for us even to death ; we, impelled by the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, and not by force or from fear of the
interdict, but of our own free will and consent, and by the
general advice of our barons, assign and grant to God, and
his holy apostles Peter and Paul, and to the holy church of
Rome our mother, and to our lord pope Innocent and his
catholic successors, the whole kingdom of England and the
whole kingdom of Ireland, with all their rights and ap-
purtenances, in remission of the sins of us and our whole
race, as well for those living as for the dead ; and hence-
forth we retain and hold those countries from him and the
church of Rome as vicegerent, and this we declare in the
presence of this learned man Pandulph, subdeacon and
familiar of our lord the pope. And we have made our hom-
age and sworn allegance to our lord the pope and his catholic
successors, and the church of Rome in manner hereunder
written ; and we will make our homage and allegiance for the
same in presence of our lord the pope himself, if we are able
to go before him ; and we bind our successors and heirs by
our wife for ever, in like manner, to do homage and render
allegiance, without opposition, to the supreme pontiff for the
time being, and the church of Rome. And in token of this
lasting bond and grant, we will and determine that, from our
own income and from our special revenues arising from the
aforesaid kingdoms, the church of Rome shall, for all service
and custom which we owe to them, saving always the St.
Peter's pence, receive annually a thousand marks sterling
money; that is to say, five hundred marks at Michaelmas,
and five hundred at Easter ; that is, seven hundred for the
kingdom of England, and three hundred for Ireland; saving
to us and our heirs all our rights, privileges, and royal cus-
toms. And as we wish to ratify and confirm all that has
been above written, we bind ourselves and our successors
not to contravene it ; and if we, or any one of our successors,
shall dare to oppose this, let him, whoever he be, be deprived
1 62 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
of his right in the kingdom. And let this charter of our
bond and grant remain confirmed for ever. Witness myself
at the house of the knights of the Temple near Dover, in the
presence of Henry archbishop of Dublin, John bishop of Nor-
wich, Geoffrey Fitz-Peter, William earl of Salisbury, William
earl of Pembroke, Reginald count of Boulogne, William earl
Warenne, Sayer earl Winton, William earl of Arundel,
William earl of Ferrars, William Briuere, Peter Fitz-Here-
bert, and Warin Fitz-Gerald, this fifteenth day of May, in
the fourteenth year of our reign."
73. John does Homage to the Pope
[A. 0.1213.] This charter of the king's, as above-mentioned,
having been reduced to writing, he delivered it to Pandulph
to be taken to pope Innocent, and immediately afterwards in
the sight of all, he made the underwritten homage: "I, John,
by the grace of God, king of England and lord of Ireland,
will, from this time as formerly, be faithful to God, St. Peter,
the church of Rome, and to my liege lord pope Innocent and
his catholic successors; I will not act, speak, consent to, or
advise, anything by which they may lose life or limb, or be
exposed to caption by treachery; I will prevent damage to
them if I am aware of it; and, if in my power, will repair it;
or else I will inform them as soon as in my power so to do,
or will tell it to such a person as I believe will be sure to in-
form them of it; any purpose which they may entrust to me
themselves, or by their messengers or letters, I will keep
secret, and, if I know of it, will not disclose it to any one to
their injury; I will assist in holding and defending the in-
heritance of St. Peter, and particularly the kingdoms of Eng-
land and Ireland, against all men, to the utmost of my power.
So may God and the holy gospel help me, Amen."
[A.D. 1214.] By the advice of Pandulph. . . . Stephen arch-
bishop of Canterbury, and the bishops William of London,
Eustace of Ely, Hubert of Lincoln, and Giles of Hereford,
embarked in company with others of the clergy and laity who
were in exile on account of the interdict, and, landing at
Dover on the i6th of July, they set out to see the king, and
came to him at Winchester on St. Margaret the virgin's day.
The king, when he heard of their approach, went out to meet
them, and when he saw the archbishop and bishops, he pros-
trated himself at their feet, and besought them in tears to
THE PAPAL AUTHORITY TRIUMPHANT 163
have compassion on him and the kingdom of England. The
said archbishop and bishops, seeing the king's great humility,
raised him from the ground, and taking him by the hand on
each side, they led him to the door of the cathedral church,
where they chanted the fiftieth psalm, and, in the presence
of all the nobles, who wept with joy, they absolved him
according to the custom of the church. At this absolution,
the king swore on the holy gospels that he would love holy
church and its ordained members, and would, to the utmost
of his power, defend and maintain them against all their
enemies; and that he would renew all the good laws of his
ancestors, especially those of king Edward, would annul bad
ones, would judge his subjects according to the just decrees
of his courts, and would restore his rights to each and all.
He also swore that, before the next Easter, he would make
restitution of confiscated property to all who were concerned
in the matter of the interdict; and if he did not do so, he
would consent to have the former sentence of excommunica-
tion renewed. He moreover swore fealty and obedience to
pope Innocent and his catholic successors, as was contained
in the above-written charter: the archbishop then took the
king into the church, and there performed mass, after which
the archbishop, bishops, and nobles, feasted at the same table
with the king, amidst joy and festivity. The next day the
king sent letters to all the sheriffs of the kingdom, ordering
them to send four liege men from each town in their demesne,
together with the warden, to St. Alban's on the 4th of August,
that through them and his other agents he might make in-
quiries about the losses and confiscated property of each of
the bishops, and how much was due to each. He then set out
in all haste to Portsmouth, that he might thence cross to
Poictou, and gave charge of the kingdom to Geoffrey Fitz-
Peter and the bishop of Winchester, with orders that they
were to consult with the archbishop of Canterbury in ar-
ranging the business of the kingdom. On the king's arrival
at Portsmouth, there came to him there an immense number
of knights, complaining that, during their long stay there
they had spent all their money, and that therefore unless they
were supplied with money from the treasury, they could not
follow him. This the king refused, but, flying into a rage,
he embarked with his private attendants, and after three days
landed at Guernsey, whilst his nobles returned home ; and
the king, seeing himself thus abandoned, was compelled to
return to England himself.
164 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
74. Declaration of Laws and Rights
[A.D. 1214.] Whilst this was passing, Geoffrey Fitz-Peter
and the bishop of Winchester held a council at St. Alban's
with the archbishop, bishops, and nobles of the kingdom, at
which the peace made by the king was told to all, and, on
behalf of the said king, it was strictly ordered, that all the
laws of his grandfather king Henry should be kept by all
throughout the kingdom, and that all unjust laws should be
utterly abolished.
(Roger of Wendover's Flmvers of History. Trans. J. A. Giles, Lond. 1849
II, for years given.)
CHAPTER X
THE WINNING OF THE CHARTER
75. The Rising of the Barons
Roger of Wendover
The sequence of events leading to the grant of the Charter by
John not only throws light upon the character of that monarch,
but gives a clear view of the political conditions in the early part
of the thirteenth century.
THE REASON OF THE IRRITATION OF THE BARONS AGAINST
THE KING
[A.D. 1214.] On the 25th of August in the same year,
Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, with the bishops, abbats,
priors, deacons, and barons of the kingdom assembled at St.
Paul's, in the city of London At this conference, as report
asserts, the said archbishop called some of the nobles aside
to him, and conversed privately with them to the following
effect, "Did you hear," said he, "how, when I absolved the
king at Winchester, I made him swear that he would do away
with unjust laws, and would recall good laws, such as those
of King Edward, and cause them to be observed by all in the
kingdom; a charter of Henry the first king of England has
just now been found, by which you may, if you wish it, recall
your long-lost rights and your former condition." And
placing a paper in the midst of them, he ordered it to be read
aloud for all to hear. [It was the charter of Henry I.]
76. Of a Conference held by the Barons against King John
[A.D. 1214.] About this time the earls and barons of Eng-
land assembled at St. Edmund's, as if for religious duties,
although it was for some other reason ; for after they had dis-
coursed together secretly for a time, there was placed before
them the charter of king Henry the First, which they had
received, as mentioned before, in the city of London from
Stephen archbishop of Canterbury. This charter contained
165 "
1 66 SOURCE-BOOK OP ENGLISH HISTORY
certain liberties and laws granted to the holy church as well
as to the nobles of the kingdom, besides some liberties which
the king added of his own accord. All therefore assembled
in the church of St. Edmund, the king and martyr, and, com-
mencing from those of the highest rank, they all swore on
the great altar that, if the king refused to grant these liber-
ties and laws, they themselves would withdraw from their
allegiance to him, and make war on him, till he should, by a
charter under his own seal, confirm to them every thing they
required ; and finally it was unanimously agreed that, after
Christmas, they should all go together to the king and demand
the confirmation of the aforesaid liberties to them, and that
they should in the meantime provide themselves with horses
and arms, so that if the king should endeavour to depart from
his oath, they might by taking his castles, compel him to
satisfy their demands; and having arranged this, each man
returned home.
77. Demands of the Barons
A.D. 1215 ; which was the seventeenth year of the reign of
king John ; he held his court at Winchester at Christmas for
one day, after which he hurried to London, and took up his
abode at the New Temple ; and at that place the above-
mentioned nobles came to him in gay military array, and
demanded the confirmation of the liberties and laws of king
Edward, with other liberties granted to them and to the king-
dom and church of England, as were contained in the charter,
and above-mentioned laws of Henry the First ; they also
asserted that, at the time of his absolution at Winchester, he
had promised to restore those laws and ancient liberties, and
was bound by his own oath to observe them. The king, hear-
ing the bold tone of the barons in making this demand, much
feared an attack from them, as he saw that they were pre-
pared for battle ; he however made answer that their demands
were a matter of importance and difficulty, and he therefore
asked a truce till the end of Easter, that he might, after due
deliberation, be able to satisfy them as well as the dignity of
his crown. After much discussion on both sides, the king
at length, although unwillingly, procured the archbishop of
Canterbury, the bishop of Ely, and William Marshal, as his
sureties, that on the day pre-agreed on he would, in all
reason, satisfy them all, on which the nobles returned to their
homes. The king however, wishing to take precautions
THE WINNING OF THE CHARTER 167
against the future, caused all the nobles throughout England
to swear fealty to him alone against all men, and to renew
their homage to him ; and, the better to take care of himself,
he, on the day of St. Mary's purification, assumed the cross
of our Lord, being induced to this more by fear than devo-
tion . . .
In Easter week of this same year, the above-mentioned
nobles assembled at Stamford, with horses and arms; for
they had now induced almost all the nobility of the whole
kingdom to join them, and constituted a very large army ; for
in their army there were computed to be two thousand
knights, besides horse soldiers, attendants, and foot soldiers,
who were variously equipped ... all of these being united by
oath, were supported by the concurrence of Stephen arch-
bishop of Canterbury, who was at their head. The king at
this time was awaiting the arrival of his nobles at Oxford.
On the Monday next after the octaves of Easter, the said
barons assembled in the town of Brackley ; and when the king
learned this, he sent the archbishop of Canterbury, and
William Marshal earl of Pembroke, with some other prudent
men, to them to inquire what the laws and liberties were
which they demanded. The barons then delivered to the
messengers a paper, containing in great measure the laws
and ancient customs of the kingdom, and declared that, un-
less the king immediately granted them and confirmed them
under his own seal, they would, by taking possession of his
fortresses, force him to give them sufficient satisfaction as
to their before-named demands. The archbishop with his
fellow messengers then carried the paper to the king, and
read to him the heads of the paper one by one throughout.
The king when he heard the purport of these heads, derisively
said, with the greatest indignation, "Why, amongst these un-
just demands, did not the barons ask for my kingdom also?
Their demands are vain and visionary, and are unsupported
by any plea of reason whatever." And at length he angrily
declared with an oath, that he would never grant them such
liberties as would render him their slave. . . .
As the archbishop and William Marshall could not by any
persuasions induce the king to agree to their demands, they
returned by the king's order to the barons, and duly reported
all they had heard from the king to them ; and when the
nobles heard what John said, they appointed Robert Fitz-
Walter commander of their soldiers, giving him the title of
"Marshal of the army of God and the holy church," and then,
168 SOURCE-BOOK Ol : ENGLISH HISTORY
one and all flying to arms, they directed their forces towards
Northampton.
78. London given up to the Barons
[A.D. 1215.] When the army of the barons arrived at Bed-
ford, they were received with all respect by William de
Beauchamp. There also came to them there messengers from
the city of London, secretly telling them, if they wished to
get into that city, to come there immediately. The barons,
inspirited by the arrival of this agreeable message, imme-
diately moved their camp and arrived at Ware ; after this
they marched the whole night, and arrived early in the morn-
ing at the city of London, and, finding the gates open, they,
on the 24th of May, which was the Sunday next before our
Lord's ascension, entered the city without any tumult whilst
the inhabitants were performing divine service ; for the rich
citizens were favourable to the barons, and the poor ones
were afraid to murmur against them. The barons having
thus got into the city, placed their own guards in charge of
each of the gates, and then arranged all matters in the city
at will. They then took security from the citizens, and sent
letters throughout England to those earls, barons, and
knights, who appeared to be still faithful to the king, though
they only pretended to be so, and advised them with threats,
as they regarded the safety of all their property and pos-
sessions, to abandon a king who was perjured and who
warred against his barons, and together with them to stand
firm and fight against the king for their rights and for peace;
and that, if they refused to do this, they, the barons, would
make war against them all, as against open enemies, and
would destroy their castles, burn their houses and other build-
ings, and destroy their warrens, parks, and orchards. . . . The
pleas of the exchequer and of the sheriff's courts_ceased
throughout England, because there was no one to make a
valuation for the king or to obey him in any thing.
79. Meeting at Runnymede
[A.D. 1215.] King John, when he saw that he was deserted
by almost all, so that out of his regal superabundance of fol-
lowers he scarcely retained seven knights, was much alarmed
lest the barons would attack his castles and reduce them
without difficulty, as they would find no obstacle to their so
doing; and he deceitfully pretended to make peace for a time
THE WINNING OF THE CHARTER 169
with the aforesaid barons, and sent William Marshal earl of
Pembroke, with other trustworthy messengers, to them, and
told them that, for the sake of peace, and for the exaltation
and honour of the kingdom, he would willingly grant them
the laws and liberties they required; he also sent word to the
barons by these same messengers, to appoint a fitting day
and place to meet and carry all these matters into effect. The
king's messengers then came in all haste to London, and with-
out deceit reported to the barons all that had been deceitfully
imposed on them; they in their great joy appointed the fif-
teenth of June for the king to meet them, at a field lying
between Staines and Windsor. Accordingly, at the time and
place pre-agreed on, the king and nobles came to the ap-
pointed conference, and when each party had stationed them-
selves apart from the other, they began a long discussion
about terms of peace and the aforesaid liberties. ... At
length, after various points on both sides had been discussed,
king John, seeing that he was inferior in strength to the
barons, without raising any difficulty, granted the under-
written laws and liberties, and confirmed them by his charter
as follows :
(Roger of Wendover^tA. cited, vol. II.)
80. The Magna Charta
(17 JOHN, June 15, 1215)
Foremost among those great documents which illustrate and
establish the rights of Englishmen stands the Magna Charta.
The text is given in full, for the document should be studied in
its entirety. Every paragraph is of importance to the student
though much might be of little interest to the casual reader, and
in a source book none of it can properly be omitted. The events
leading up to the charter have been given in considerable detail,
not only because of the importance of their result, but also for
the light which they throw upon the method by which rights were
obtained and wrongs righted. The value of illustrative material
does not lie alone in the words thereof, but also in the train of
thought which they suggest.
John, by the grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ire-
land, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, Count of Anjou, to
the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciars, for-
esters, sheriffs, reeves, servants, and all bailiffs and his faith-
ful people greeting. Know that by the suggestion of God
and for the good of our soul and those of all our predeces-
sors and of our heirs, to the honour of God and the exalta-
tion of holy church, and the improvement of our kingdom,
by the advice of our venerable fathers Stephen, archbishop
i?o SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
of Canterbury, primate of all England and cardinal of the
holy Roman church, Henry, archbishop of Dublin, William
of London, Peter of Winchester, Jocelyn of Bath and Glas-
tonbury, Hugh of Lincoln, W r alter of Worcester, William of
Coventry, and Benedict of Rochester, bishops ; of Master
Pandulf, subdeacon and companion of the Lord Pope, of
Brother Aymeric, master of the Knights of the Temple in
England; and of the noblemen William Marshall, Earl of
Pembroke, William, Earl of Salisbury, William, Earl of
Warren, William, Earl of Arundel, Alan of Galloway, con-
stable of Scotland, Warren Fitz-Gerald, Peter Fitz-Herbert,
Hubert de Burgh, steward of Poitou, Hugh de Nevil, Mat-
thew Fitz-Herbert, Thomas Bassett, Alan Bassett, Philip
d'Albini, Robert de Roppelay, John Marshall, John Fitz-
Hugh, and others of our faithful.
1. In the first place we have granted to God, and by this
our present charter confirmed, for us and our heirs forever,
that the English church shall be free, and shall hold its rights
entire and its liberties uninjured ; and we will that it be thus
observed; which is shown by this, that the freedom of elec-
tions, which is considered to be most important and especially
necessary to the English church, we, of our pure and spon-
taneous will, granted, and by our charter confirmed, before
the contest between us and our barons had arisen ; and ob-
tained a confirmation of it by the lord Pope Innocent III. ;
which we will observe and which we will shall be observed
in good faith for our heirs forever.
We have granted moreover to all free men of our kingdom
for us and our heirs forever all the liberties written below,
to be had and holden by themselves and their heirs from us
and our heirs.
2. If any of our earls or barons, or others holding from us
in chief by military service shall have died, and when he has
died his heir is of full age and owe relief, he shall have his
inheritance by the ancient relief; that is to say, the heir or
heirs of an earl for the whole barony of an earl a hundred
pounds; the heir or heirs of a baron for a whole barony a
hundred pounds; the heir or heirs of a knight, for a whole
knight's fee, a hundred shillings or more; and who owes less
let him give less according to the ancient custom of fiefs.
3. If moreover the heir of any one of such shall be under
age, and shall be in wardship, when he comes of age he shall
have his inheritance without relief and without a fine.
4. The custodian of the land of such a minor heir shall not
THE WINNING OF THE CHARTER i/i
take from the land of the heir any except reasonable prod-
ucts, reasonable customary payments, and reasonable ser-
vices, and this without destruction or waste of men or of
property ; and if we shall have committed the custody of the
land of any such a one to the sheriff or to any other who
is to be responsible to us for its proceeds, and that man
has caused destruction or waste from his custody we will
recover damages from him, and the land shall be committed
to two legal and discreet men of that fief, who shall be re-
sponsible for its proceeds to us or to him to whom we have
assigned them ; and if we shall have given or sold to any one
the custody of any such land, and he has caused destruction
or waste there, he shall lose that custody, and it shall be
handed over to two legal and discreet men of that fief who
shall be in like manner responsible to us as is said above.
5. The custodian moreover, so long as he shall have the
custody of the land, must keep up the houses, parks, warrens,
fish ponds, mills, and other things pertaining to the land,
from the proceeds of the land itself; and he must return to
the heir, when he has come to full age, all his land, furnished
with ploughs and implements of husbandry according as the
time of wainage requires and as the proceeds of the land are
able reasonably to sustain.
6. Heirs shall be married without disparagement, so never-
theless that before the marriage is contracted, it shall be an-
nounced to the relatives by blood of the heir himself.
7. A widow, after the death of her husband, shall have her
marriage portion and her inheritance immediately and with-
out obstruction, nor shall she give anything for her dowry or
for her marriage portion, or for her inheritance which in-
heritance her husband and she held on the day of the death
of her husband ; and she may remain in the house of her hus-
band for forty days after his death, within which time her
dowry shall be assigned to her.
8. No widow shall be compelled to marry so long as she
prefers to live without a husband, provided she gives security
that she will not marry without our consent, if she holds from
us, or without the consent of her lord from whom she holds,
if she holds from another.
9. Neither we nor our bailiffs will seize any land or rent,
for any debt, so long as the chattels of the debtor are suffi-
cient for the payment of the debt; nor shall the pledges of a
debtor be distrained so long as the principal debtor himself
has enough for the payment of the debt; and if the principal
ij2 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
debtor fails in the payment of the debt, not having the where-
withal to pay it, the pledges shall be responsible for the debt ;
and if they wish, they shall have the lands and the rents of
the debtor until they shall have been satisfied for the debt
which they have before paid for him, unless the principal
debtor shall have shown himself to be quit in that respect
towards those pledges.
10. If any one has taken anything from the Jews, by way
of a loan, more or less, and dies before that debt is paid, the
debt shall not draw interest so long as the heir is under age,
from whomsoever he holds; and if that debt falls into our
hands, we will take nothing except the chattel contained in
the agreement.
11. And if any one dies leaving a debt owing to the Jews,
his wife shall have her dowry, and shall pay nothing of that
debt; and if there remain minor children of the dead man,
necessaries shall be provided for them corresponding to the
holding of the dead man ; and from the remainder shall be
paid the debt, the service of the lords being retained. In the
same way debts are to be treated which are owed to others
than the Jews.
12. No scutage or aid shall be imposed in our kingdom ex-
cept by the common council of our kingdom, except for the
ransoming of our body, for the making of our oldest son a
knight, and for once marrying our oldest daughter, and for
these purposes it shall be only a reasonable aid ; in the same
way it shall be done concerning the aids of the city of
London.
13. And the city of London shall have all its ancient liber-
ties and free customs, as well by land as by water. More-
over, we will and grant that all other cities and boroughs and
villages and ports shall have all their liberties and free
customs.
14. And for holding a common council of the kingdom
concerning the assessment of an aid otherwise than in the
three cases mentioned above, or concerning the assessment
of a scutage, we shall cause to be summoned the archbishops,
bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons by our letters under
seal; and besides we shall cause to be summoned generally,
by our sheriffs and bailiffs, all those who hold from us in
chief, for a certain day, that is at the end of forty days at
least, and for a certain place; and in all the letters of that
summons, we will express the cause of the summons, and
when the summons has thus been given the business shall
THE WINNING OF THE CHARTER 173
proceed on the appointed day, on the advice of those who
shall be present, even if not all of those who were summoned
have come.
15. We will not grant to any one, moreover, that he should
take an aid from his free men, except for ransoming his
body, for making his oldest son a knight, and for once marry-
ing his oldest daughter; and for these purposes only a reason-
able aid shall be taken.
1 6. No one shall be compelled to perform any greater ser-
vice for a knight's fee, or for any other free tenement than
is owed from it.
17. The common pleas shall not follow our court, but shall
be held in some certain place.
18. The assizes of novel disseisin, mart d'ancestor, and
darrein presentment shall be held only in their own coun-
ties and in this manner : we, or, if we are outside of the king-
dom, our principal justiciar, will send two justiciars through
each county four times a year, who with four knights of each
county, elected by the county, shall hold in the county and
on the day and in the place of the county court, the aforesaid
assizes of the county.
19. And if the aforesaid assizes cannot be held within the
day of the county court, a sufficient number of knights and
free-holders shall remain from those who were present at the
county court on that day to. give the judgments, according as
the business is more or less.
20. A free man shall not be fined for a small offence, ex-
cept in proportion to the measure of the offense; and for a
great offense he shall be fined in proportion to the magni-
tude of the offense, saving his freehold; and a merchant in
the same way, saving his merchandise ; and the villain shall
be fined in the same way, saving his wainage, if he shall be
at our mercy; and none of the above fines shall be imposed
except by the oaths of honest men of the neighbourhood.
21. Earls and barons shall only be fined by their peers, and
only in proportion to their offense.
22. A clergyman shall be fined, like those before men-
tioned, only in proportion to his lay holding, and not accord-
ing to the extent of his ecclesiastical benefice.
23. No manor or man shall be compelled to make bridges
over the rivers except those which ought to do it of old and
rightfully.
24. No sheriff, constable, coroners, or other bailiffs of ours
shall hold pleas of our crown.
174 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY,
25. All counties, hundreds, wapcntakes, and tithings shall
be at the ancient rents and without any increase, excepting
our demesne manors.
26. If any person holding a lay fief from us shall die, and
our sheriff or bailiff shall show our letters-patent of our
summons concerning a debt which the deceased owed to us,
it shall be lawful for our sheriff or bailiff to attach and levy
on the chattels of the deceased found on his lay lief, to the
value of that debt, in the view of legal men, so nevertheless
that nothing be removed thence until the clear debt to us
shall be paid; and the remainder shall be left to the executors
for the fulfilment of the will of the deceased; and if nothing
is owed to us by him, all the chattels shall go to the deceased,
saving to his wife and children their reasonable shares.
27. If any free man dies intestate, his chattels shall be
distributed by the hands of his near relatives and friends,
under the oversight of the church, saving to each one the
debts which the deceased owed to him.
28. No constable or other bailiff of ours shall take any-
one's grain or other chattels, without immediately paying
for them in money, unless he is able to obtain a postponement
at the good-will of the seller.
29. No constable shall require any knight to give money
in place of his ward of a castle if he is willing to furnish that
ward in his own person or through another honest man, if
he himself is not able to do it for a reasonable cause; and if
we shall lead or send him into the army he shall be free
from ward in proportion to the amount of time by which he
has been in the army through us.
30. No sheriff or bailiff of ours or any one else shall take
horses or wagons of any free man for carrying purposes ex-
cept on the permission of that free man.
31. Neither we nor our bailiffs will take the wood of
another man for castles, or for anything else which we are
doing, except by the permission of him to whom the wood
belongs.
32. We will not hold the lands of those convicted of a
felony for more than a year and a day, after which the lands
shall be returned to the lords of the fiefs.
33. All the fish-weirs in the Thames and the Medway, and
throughout all England, shall be done away with, except
those on the coast.
34. The writ which is called Prcccipc shall not be given for
the future to anyone concerning any tenement by which a
free man can lose his court.
THE WINNING OF THE CHARTER 175
35. There shall be one measure of wine throughout our
whole kingdom, and one measure of ale, and one measure
of grain, that is the London quarter, and one width of dyed
cloth and of russets and of halbergets, that is two ells within
the selvages ; of weights, moreover, it shall be as of measures.
36. Nothing shall henceforth be given or taken for a writ
of inquisition concerning life or limbs, but it shall be given
freely and not denied.
37. If anyone holds of us by fee farm or by soccage or
by burgage, and from another he holds land by military
service, we will not have the guardianship of the heir of
his land which is of the fief of another, on account of that
fee farm, or soccage, or burgage; nor will we have the
custody of that fee farm, or soccage, or burgage, unless that
fee farm itself owes military service. We will not have
the guardianship of the heir or of the land of anyone, which
he holds from another by military service on account of any
petty serjeanty which he holds from us by the service of
paying to us knives or arrows, or things of that kind.
38. No bailiff for the future shall place anyone to his law
on his simple affirmation, without credible witnesses brought
for this purpose.
39. No free man shall be taken or imprisoned or dis-
possessed, or outlawed, or banished, or in any way destroyed,
nor will we go upon him, nor send upon him, except by the
legal judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.
40. To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny, or delay
right or justice.
41. All merchants shall be safe and secure in going out
from England and coming into England and in remaining
and going through England, as well by land as by water, for
buying and selling, free from all evil tolls, by the ancient and
rightful customs, except in time of war, and if they are of
a land at war with us; and if such are found in our land at
the beginning of war, they shall be attached without injury
to their bodies or goods, until it shall be known from us or
from our principal justiciar in what way the merchants of
our land are treated who shall be then found in the country
which is at war with us; and if ours are safe there, the
others shall be safe in our land.
42. It is allowed henceforth to anyone to go out from our
kingdom, and to return, safely and securely, by land and by
water, saving their fidelity to us, except in time of war for
some short time, for the common good of the kingdom; ex-
1 76 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
cepting persons imprisoned and outlawed according to the
law of the realm, and people of a land at war with us, and
merchants, of whom it shall be clone as is before said.
43. If anyone holds from any escheat, as from the honour
of Wallingford, or Nottingham, or Boulogne, or Lancaster,
or from other escheats which are in our hands and are
baronies, and he dies, his heir shall not give any other relief,
nor do to us any other service than he would do to the
baron, if that barony was in the hands of the baron; and we
will hold it in the same way as the baron held it.
44. Men who dwell outside the forest shall not henceforth
come before our justiciars of the forest, on common sum-
mons, unless they are in a plea of, or pledges for any person
or persons who are arrested on account of the forest.
45. We will not make justiciars, constables, sheriffs or
bailiffs except of such as know the law of the realm and are
well inclined to observe it.
46. All barons who have founded abbeys for which they
have charters of kings of England, or ancient tenure, shall
have their cvistody when they have become vacant, as they
ought to have.
47. All forests which have been afforested in our time shall
be disafforested immediately; and so it shall be concerning
river banks which in our time have been fenced in.
48. All the bad customs concerning forests and warrens
and concerning foresters and warreners, sheriffs and their
servants, river banks and their guardians shall be inquired
into immediately in each county by twelve sworn knights
of the same county, who shall be elected by the honest men
of the same county, and within fifty days after the inquisi-
tion has been made, they shall be entirely destroyed by them,
never to be restored, provided that we be first informed of
it, or our justiciar, if we are not in England.
49. We will give back immediately all hostages and char-
ters which have been liberated to us by Englishmen as
security for peace or for faithful service.
50. We will remove absolutely from their bailiwicks the
relatives of Gerard de Athyes, so that for the future they
shall have no bailiwick in England ; Engelard de Cygony,
Andrew, Peter and Gyon de Chancelles, Gyon de Cygony,
Geoffrey de Martin and his brothers, Philip Mark and his
brothers, and Geoffrey his nephew and their whole retinue.
51. And immediately after the re-establishment of peace
we will remove from the kingdom all foreign-born soldiers,
THE WINNING OF THE CHARTER 177
cross-bow men, servants, and mercenaries who have come
with horses and arms for the injury of the realm.
52. If anyone shall have been dispossessed or removed
by us without legal judgment of his peers, from his lands,
castles, franchises, or his right we will restore them to him
immediately; and if contention arises about this, then it shall
be done according to the judgment of the twenty-five barons,
of whom mention is made below concerning the security of
the peace. Concerning all those things, however, from which
anyone has been removed or of which he has been deprived
without legal judgment of his peers by King Henry our
father, or by King Richard our brother, which we have in
our hand, or which others hold, and which it is our duty to
guarantee, we shall have respite till the usual term of
crusaders; excepting those things about which the suit has
been begun or the inquisition made by our writ before our
assumption of the cross ; when, however, we shall return
from our journey, or if by chance we desist from the journey,
we will immediately show full justice in regard to them.
53. We shall, moreover have the same respite and in the
same manner about showing justice in regard to the forests
which are to be disafforested or to remain forests, which
Henry our father or Richard our brother made into forests ;
and concerning the custody of 'lands which are in the fief
of another, custody of which we have until now had on
account of a fief which anyone has held from us by military
service ; and concerning the abbeys which have been founded
in fiefs of others than ourselves, in which the lord of the
fee has asserted for himself a right; and when we return or
if we should desist from our journey we will immediately
show full justice to those complaining in regard to them.
54. No one shall be seized nor imprisoned on the appeal
of a woman concerning the death of anyone except her
husband.
55. All fines which have been imposed unjustly and against
the law of the land, and all penalties imposed unjustly and
against the law of the land are altogether excused, or will be
on the judgment of the twenty-five barons of whom mention
is made below in connection with the security of the peace,
or on the judgment of the majority of them, along with the
aforesaid Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, if he is able
to be present, and others whom he may wish to call for this
purpose along with him. And if he should not be able to
be present, nevertheless the business shall go on without him,
i?8 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
provided that if any one or more of the aforesaid twenty-five
barons are in a similar suit they should be removed as far as
this particular judgment goes, and others who shall be chosen
and put upon oath, by the remainder of the twenty-five
shall be substituted for them for this purpose.
56. If we have dispossessed or removed any Welshmen
from their lands, or franchises, or other things, without legal
judgment of their peers, in England, or in Wales, they shall
be immediately returned to them; and if a dispute shall have
arisen over this, then it shall be settled in the borderland by
judgment of their peers, concerning holdings of England
according to the law of England, concerning holdings of
Wales according to the law of Wales, and concerning hold-
ings of the borderland according to the law of the border-
land. The Welsh shall do the same to us and ours.
57. Concerning all these things, however, from which any
one of the Welsh shall have been removed or dispossessed
without legal judgment of his peers, by King Henry our
father, or King Richard our brother, which we hold in our
hands, or which others hold, and we are bound to warrant
to them, we shall have respite till the usual period of cru-
saders, those being excepted about which suit was begun or
inquisition made by our command before our assumption of
the cross. When, however, we shall return or if by chance
we shall desist from our journey, we will show full justice
to them immediately, according to the laws of the Welsh and
the aforesaid parts.
58. We will give back the son of Lewellyn immediately,
and all the hostages from Wales and the charters which had
been liberated to us as a security for peace.
59. We will act toward Alexander, king of the Scots, con-
cerning the return of his sisters and his hostages, and con-
cerning his franchises and his right, according to the manner
in which we shall act toward our other barons of England,
unless it ought to be otherwise by the charters which we hold
from William his father, formerly king of the Scots, and this
shall be by the judgment of his peers in our court.
60. Moreover, all those customs and franchises mentioned
above which we have conceded in our kingdom, and which
are to be fulfilled, as far as pertains to us, in respect to our
men ; all men of our kingdom as well clergy as laymen, shall
observe as far as pertains to them, in respect to their men.
61. Since, moreover, for the sake of God, and for the im-
provement of our kingdom, and for the better quieting of
THE WINNING OF THE CHARTER 179
the hostility sprung up lately between us and our barons, we
have made all these concessions ; wishing them to enjoy
these in a complete and firm stability forever, we make and
concede to them the security described below; that is to
say, that they shall elect twenty-five barons of the kingdom,
whom they will, who ought with all their power to observe,
hold, and cause to be observed, the peace and liberties which
we have conceded to them, and by this our present charter
confirmed to them; in this manner, that if we or our justiciar,
or our bailiffs, or any one of our servants shall have done
wrong in any way toward any one, or shall have trans-
gressed any of the articles of peace or security ; and the
wrong shall have been shown to four barons of the aforesaid
twenty-five barons, let those four barons come to us or to our
justiciar, if we are out of the kingdom, laying before us the
transgression, and let them ask that we cause that trans-
gression to be corrected without delay. And if we shall not
have corrected the transgression, or if we shall be out of the
kingdom, if our justiciar shall not have corrected it within
a period of forty days, counting from the time in which it
has been shown to us or to our justiciar, if we are out of the
kingdom; the aforesaid four barons shall refer the matter
to the remainder of the twenty-five barons, and let these
twenty-five barons with the whole community of the country
distress and injure us in every way they can ; that is to say
by the seizure of our castles, lands, possessions, and in such
other ways as they can until it shall have been corrected
according to their judgment, saving our person and that of
our queen, and those of our children ; and when the correc-
tion has been made, let them devote themselves to us as
they did -before. And let whoever in the country wishes
take an oath that in all the above-mentioned measures he
will obey the orders of the aforesaid twenty-five barons, and
that he will injure us as far as he is able with them, and
we give permission to swear publicly and freely to each
one who wishes to swear, and no one will we ever forbid to
swear. All those, moreover, in the country who of them-
selves and their own will are unwilling to take an oath to the
twenty-five barons as to distressing and injuring us along
with them, we will compel to take the oath by our mandate,
as before said. And if any one of the twenty-five barons
shall have died or departed from the land or shall in any
other way be prevented from taking the above-mentioned
action, let the remainder of the aforesaid twenty-five barons
i So SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
choose another in his place, according to their judgment.
who shall take an oath in the same way as the others. In
all those things, moreover, which are committed to those five
and twenty barons to carry out, if perhaps the twenty-five
are present, and some disagreement arises among them about
something, or if any of them when they have been summoned
are not willing or are not able to be present, let that be con-
sidered valid and firm which the greater part of those who
are present arrange or command, just as if the whole twenty-
five had agreed in this; and let the aforesaid twenty-five
swear that they will observe faithfully all the things which
are said above, and with all their ability cause them to be
observed. And we will obtain nothing from anyone, either
by ourselves or by another by which any of these concessions
and liberties shall be revoked or diminished; and if any such
thing shall have been obtained, let it be invalid and void,
and we will never use it by ourselves or by another.
62. And all ill-will, grudges, and anger sprung up between
us and our men, clergy and laymen, from the time of the
dispute, we have fully renounced and pardoned to all. More-
over, all transgressions committed on account of this dispute,
from Easter in the sixteenth year of our reign till the
restoration of peace, we have fully remitted to all, clergy and
laymen, and as far as pertains to us, fully pardoned. And
moreover we have caused to be made for them testimonial
letters-patent of lord Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury,
lord Henry, archbishop of Dublin, and of the aforesaid
bishops and of master Pandulf, in respect to that security
and the concession named above.
Wherefore we will and firmly command that the Church
of England shall be free, and that the men of our kingdom
shall have and hold all the aforesaid liberties, rights and
concessions, well and peacefully, freely and quietly, fully
and completely, for themselves and their heirs, from us and
our heirs, in all things and places, forever, as before said.
It has been sworn, moreover, as well on our part as on the
part of the barons, that all these things spoken of above
shall be observed in good faith and without any evil intent.
Witness the above named and many others. Given by our
hand in the meadow which is called Runnymede, between
Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenth day of June, in the
seventeenth year of our reign.
(Translations and Reprints, ed. cit.)
CHAPTER XI
THE GROWTH OF LAW
81. Summonses to Parliament
Lords' Report on the Dignity of a Peer
The custom of summoning the great lords to national councils
existed in Anglo-Saxon times. Not until after the Conquest,
however, did the custom grow into a right, which in the Angevin
Period gave rank to him who was summoned. The great coun-
cils, which later grew into the Parliament, were attended cer-
tainly as to the Early Angevin, probably as to the Norman
Period only by the great nobles. In the time of the Charter,
however, we find the lesser nobles desirous of the right of atten-
dance, and later even representatives of the commonality
though in a limited degree were given a place in these gather-
ings, when money was to be exacted from them. The following
forms respectively represent a summons to a great noble to
attend the formation of a representative Parliament, and to each
of the three estates for the Model Parliament of 1295.
A WRIT OF SUMMONS OF THE LORDS, SPIRITUAL AND TEMPORAL,
TO A PARLIAMENT, 26 HENRY III.
(1242)
The king to the venerable father in Christ, W. archbishop
of York, greeting. We command and require you, as you
love us and our honour, and your own equally, and in the
faith by which you are held to us, that laying aside all other
business, you be with us at London, fifteen days after St.
Hilary's day, to discuss with us, along with the rest of our
magnates whom we have similarly caused to be convoked,
our arduous affairs and those things which more especially
touch our state and that of our whole kingdom ; and that you
in no way fail to perform this. Witness the king at Windsor,
Dec. I4th.
In the same way it is written to all the bishops, abbots,
earls, and barons.
SUMMONS OF A BISHOP TO PARLIAMENT
("95)
The king to the venerable father in Christ, Robert, by the
same grace Archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all Eng-
181
i8z SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
land, greeting. As a most just law, established by the care-
ful providence of sacred princes, exhorts and decrees that
what affects all, by all should be approved, so also, very
evidently should common danger be met by means provided
in common. You know sufficiently well, and it is now, as
we believe, divulged through all regions of the world, how
the king of France fraudulently and craftily deprives us of
our land of Gascony, by withholding it unjustly from us.
Now, however, not satisfied with the before-mentioned fraud
and injustice, having gathered together for the conquest of
our kingdom a very great fleet, and an abounding multitude
of warriors, with which he has made a hostile attack on our
kingdom and the inhabitants of the same kingdom, he now
proposes to destroy the English language altogether from
the earth, if his power should correspond to the detestable
proposition of the contemplated injustice, which God forbid.
Because, therefore, darts seen beforehand do less injury, and
your interest especially, as that of other fellow-citizens
of the same realm, is concerned in this affair, we command
you, strictly enjoining you in the fidelity and love in which
you are bound to us, that on the Lord's day next after the
feast of St. Martin, in the approaching winter, you be present
in person at Westminster, citing beforehand the dean and
chapter of your church, the archdeacons and all the clergy
of your diocese, causing the same dean and archdeacons in
their own persons, and the said chapter by one suitable
proctor, and the said clergy by two, to be present along with
you, having full and sufficient power from the same chapter
and clergy, for considering, ordaining and providing, along
with us and with the rest of the prelates and principal men
and other inhabitants of our kingdom, how the dangers and
threatened evils of this kind are to be met. Witness the king
Wangham, the thirtieth day of September.
Identical summons were sent out to the tivo archbishops
and eighteen bishops, and, with the omission of the last
paragraph, to seventy abbots.
SUMMONS OF A BARON TO PARLIAMENT
(1295)
The king to his beloved and faithful relative, Edmund,
Earl of Cornwall, greeting. Because we wish to have a
consultation and meeting with you and with the rest of the
principal men of our kingdom, as to provision for remedies
against the dangers which in these days are threatening our
THE GROWTH OF LAW 183
whole kingdom ; we command you, strictly enjoining you in
the fidelity and love in which you are bound to us, that on
the Lord's day next after the feast of St. Martin, in the
approaching winter, you be present in person at Westminster,
for considering, ordaining and doing along with us and with
the prelates, and the rest of the principal men and other in-
habitants of our kingdom, as may be necessary for meeting
dangers of this kind.
Witness the king at Canterbury, the first of October.
Similar summons were sent to seven earls and forty-one
bar HS - (Translations and Reprints, ed. cit)
SUMMONS OF REPRESENTATIVES OF SHIRES AND TOWNS TO
PARLIAMENT
("95)
The king to the sheriff of Northamptonshire. Since we
intend to have a consultation and meeting with the earls,
barons and other principal men of our kingdom with regard
to providing remedies against the dangers which are in these
days threatening the same kingdom ; and on that account
have commanded them to be with us on the Lord's day next
after the feast of St. Martin in the approaching winter, at
Westminster, to consider, ordain, and do as may be necessary
for the avoidance of these dangers; we strictly require you
to cause two knights from the aforesaid county, two citizens
from each city in the same county, and two burgesses from
each borough, of those who are especially discreet and ca-
pable of labouring, to be elected without delay, and to cause
them to come to us at the aforesaid time and place.
Moreover, the said knights are to have full and sufficient
power for themselves and for the community of the afore-
said county, and the said citizens and burgesses for them-
selves and the communities of the aforesaid cities and bor-
oughs separately, then and there for doing what shall then
be ordained according to the common counsel in the premises ;
so that the aforesaid business shall not remain unfinished in
any way for defect of this power. And you shall have there
the names of the knights, citizens and burgesses and this
writ.
Witness the king at Canterbury on the third day of Oc-
tober.
Identical summons were sent to the sheriffs of each county.
{.Select Ckarttrt, Stubbs, ed. dt.1
184 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
82. Confirmation of the Charters
(25 Edw. I, c. 1-7, 1297)
Statutes of the Realm
The Magna Charta was a rallying point for all those striving
for relief from the despotic exercise of the kingly power. Again
and again were the rights of the people violated, but need and
fear of the people compelled the re-granting of the rights given
in the Great Charter. These re-grants took the form of re-issues
of the Charter, as in the Charter of Henry III., or of confirma-
tions of its provisions, as the following Confirmation of the
Charters.
1. Edward, by the grace of God king of England, lord of
Ireland, and duke of Aquitaine to all those that shall see or
hear these present letters, greeting: Know ye, that we to the
honour of God and of holy church, and to the profit of our
realm, have granted for us and our heirs that the Charter
of Liberties and the Charter of the Forest, which were made
by common assent of all the realm, in the time of King
Henry our father, shall be kept in every point without breach.
And we will that the same charters shall be sent under our
seal, as well to our justices of the forest as to others, and to
all sheriffs of shires, and to all our other officers and to all
our cities throughout the realm, together with our writs, in
which it shall be contained that they cause the aforesaid
charters to be published, and declare to the people that we
have confirmed them in all points; and that our justices,
sheriffs, mayors, and other officials which under us have the
laws of our land to guide, shall allow the said charters
pleaded before them in judgment in all their points; that is
to wit, the Great Charter as the common law and the Charter
of the Forest according to the assize of the forest, for the
weal of our people.
2. And we will that if any judgment be given from hence-
forth, contrary to the points of the charter aforesaid, by the
justices or by any other of our officials that hold pleas be-
fore them, it shall be undone and holden for naught.
3. And we will that the same charters shall be sent under
our seal to cathedral churches throughout our realm, there
to remain, and shall be read before the people twice yearly.
4. And that archbishops and bishops shall pronounce the
sentence of the greater excommunication against all those that
by act, by aid, or by counsel, do contrary to the aforesaid
charters, or that in any point break or undo them. And that
the said curses be twice a year denounced and published by
the prelates aforesaid. And if the same prelates or any of
THE GROWTH OF LAW 185
them, be remiss in the denunciation of the said sentences,
the archbishops of Canterbury and York for the time being,
as is fitting, shall compel and constrain them to make that
denunciation in form aforesaid.
5. And for as much as divers people of our realm are in
fear that the aids and tasks which they have given to us
beforetime towards our wars and other business, of their
own grant and good-will, howsoever they were made, might
turn to a bondage to them and their heirs, because they
might be at another time found in the rolls, and so likewise
the prises taken throughout the realm by our ministers; we
have granted for us and our heirs, that we shall not draw
such aids, tasks, nor prises, into a custom, for anything that
hath been done heretofore, be it by roll or any other prece-
dent that may be found.
6. Moreover we have granted for us and our heirs, as well
to archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, and other folk of holy
church, as also to earls, barons, and to all the commonalty
of the land, that for no cause from henceforth will we take
such manner of aids, tasks, nor prises, but by the common
consent of the realm, and for the common profit thereof,
saving the ancient aids and prises due and accustomed.
7. And for as much as the greater part of the commonalty
of the realm find themselves sore grieved with the male-tolt
of wools, that is to wit, a toll of forty shillings for every sack
of wool, and have made petition to us to release the same;
we, at their requests, have fully released it, and have granted
for us and our heirs that we shall not take such thing or any
other without their common consent and good-will, saving to
us and our heirs the custom of wools, skins, and leather
granted before by the commonalty aforesaid. In witness of
which things we have caused to be issued these our letters
patent. Witness Edward, our son, at London, the tenth day
of October, the five and twentieth year of our reign.
And be it remembered that this same charter in the same
terms, word for word, was sealed in Flanders under the
king's great seal, that is to say at Ghent, the fifth day oi
November in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of our afore-
said lord the king, and sent into England,
(Edited from Statutes of the Realm, I, 123, 124.^
Tn regard to the manner of -editing this and all other selections from Statutes of
Realm, see the Preface to the second edition of the Source-Book of English History.
186 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
83. Ecclesiastical Sanction of the Confirmation of the Charters
(97)
Book of Rights
The intimate connection between Church and State in the thir-
teenth century is well shown by the following selection which
furnishes the text of the endorsement by the ecclesiastical au-
thority of the act of the king.
In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost, Amen. Whereas our sovereign lord the King, to the
honour of God and of holy church, and for the common profit
of the realm, hath granted for him and his heirs for ever these
articles abovewritten. We, Robert archbishop of Canter-
bury, primate of all England, admonish all those of the realm
of England once, twice, and thrice because that shortness
of time will not suffer more delay, that all and every of
them of what estate soever they be, as much as in them is,
do uphold and maintain these things granted by our sover-
eign lord the King in all points ; and that they or none of
them do resist or break, or in any manner hereafter procure,
counsel, or any ways assent to resist or break them, or go
about it, by word or deed, openly or privily, by any manner
of pretence of colour; and we the foresaid archbishop, by our
authority in this writing expressed, do excommunicate all
such, and them from the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
from all the company of heaven, and from all the sacraments
of holy church, do dissever. Fiat! Fiat! Amen!
(Trans. Edgar Taylor in Book of Rights, Lond. 1831. p. 51.)
84. De Tallagio Non Concedendo
(25 EDW. I, 1297)
Statutes of the Realm
The Statutum de Tallagio non Concedendo was originally an
unauthorized interpretation of the Confirmatio Chartarum. It
was not a statute, though afterward cast in that form. Its prin-
ciples were of such importance in the struggles against illegal
taxation that it early acquired by sufferance a place in the collec-
tions of laws. In 1628 it was quoted as a statute in the Petition
of Right (which embodied its principles), and in 1637 it was
judicially declared a statute.
"A STATUTE CONCERNING CERTAIN LIBERTIES GRANTED BY
THE KING TO HIS COMMONS"
i. No tallage or aid shall be laid or levied by us or our
heirs in our realm, without the good-will and assent of the
archbishops, bishops, and other prelates, earls, barons, knights,
burgesses, and other freemen of the land.
THE GROWTH OF LAW 187
2. No officer of ours, or of our heirs, shall take corn, wool,
leather, or any other goods, of any manner of person, with-
out the good-will and consent of the party to whom the goods
belonged.
3. Nothing from henceforth shall be taken of sacks of wool
in the name or by occasion of male-tent.
4. Also we will and grant for us and our heirs, that all
clerks and laymen of our realm shall have all their laws,
liberties, and free customs, as freely and wholly as they were
used to have the same at any time when they had them best
and most fully: And if any statutes have been made by us or
our ancestors, or any customs brought in contrary to them,
or to any manner of article contained in this present charter,
we will and grant, that such manner of statutes and customs
shall be void and frustrate for evermore.
5. [Pardon granted to certain offenders.]
6. And for the more assurance of this thing, we will and
grant for ourselves and our heirs, that all archbishops and
bishops of England for ever, in their cathedral churches this
present charter being first read, shall excommunicate, and
publically in the several parish churches of their diocese,
shall cause to be excommunicated, or to be declared excom-
municated twice in the year all those that willingly do or
procure to be done any thing contrary to the tenor, force,
and effect of this present charter in any point or article.
In witness whereof our seal is put to this present charter,
together with the seals of the archbishops, bishops, earls,
barons, and others; who voluntarily have sworn that, as
much as in them is, they will observe the tenor of this present
charter in all and singular its articles, and will afford their
faithful aid and counsel to its observance for evermore.
(Ed. from Statutes of the Realm, I, 125.)
85. The Law of Mortmain
Statutes of t fie Realm
The Statute of Mortmain was the first step taken by Ed-
ward I. in the assertion of the right of the State to control the
Church when civil interests were affected by ecclesiastical action.
It " stands to ecclesiastical tenures in the same position that the
statute Quia Emptorcs stands to lay tenures." The statute given
is the first, and is typical of a series, all aimed at the practice
by which lands were transferred to the Church and removed
from the control of lords who claimed the feudal rights, and
from the possession of those to whom the lands would naturally
have descended.
1 88 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
STATUTUM DE RELIGIOSIS
(7 EDW. I, 1279)
Where of late it was provided, that religious men should
not enter into the fees of any without licence and will of the
chief lords, of whom such fees be holden immediately; and
whereas religious men have notwithstanding entered as well
into their own fees, as into the fees of other men, appropriat-
ing and buying them, and sometime receiving them of the
gift of others, whereby the services that are due of such fees,
and which at the beginning were provided for defence of
the realm, arc wrongfully withdrawn, and the chief lords do
lose their escheats of the same: We, therefore, to the profit
of our realm, intending to provide convenient remedy, by the
advice of our prelates, earls, barons, and other our lieges,
being of our council, have provided, established, and ordained,
that no person, religious or other, whatsoever he be, do pre-
sume to buy or sell any lands or tenements, or under the
colour of gift or lease, or by reason of any other title, what-
soever it be, to receive from any man, or by any other craft
or device to appropriate to himself, lands or tenements, under
pain of forfeiture of the same, whereby such lands or tene-
ments may anywise come into Mortmain.
We have provided also, that if any person, religious or
other, do presume either by craft or device to offend against
this statute, it shall be lawful to us, and other immediate
chief lords of the fee so aliened, to enter therein within a
year from the time of such alienation, and to hold it in fee
and inheritance. And if the immediate chief lord be negli-
gent, and will not enter into such fee within the year, then it
shall be lawful to the next immediate chief lord of the same
fee to enter into the same within half a year next following,
and to hold it as before is said; and so every immediate chief
lord may enter into such fee, if the next immediate lord be
negligent in entering into the same fee, as is aforesaid. And
if all such chief lords of such fees, being of full age, within
the four seas, and out of prison, be negligent or slack in this
behalf, we immediately after the year accomplished, from
the time that such purchases, gifts, or other appropriations
happen to be made, shall take such lands and tenements into
our hand, and shall infeoff others therein, by certain ser-
vices to be done for the same to us for the defence of
our realm; saving to the chief lords of the same fees their
wards and escheats, and other services to them due and accus-
tomed,
THE GROWTH OF LAW 189
And therefore we command you, that ye cause the foresaid
statute to be read before you, and from henceforth to be kept
firmly and observed. Witness my self at Westminster the
fifteenth day of November, the seventh year of our reign.
(Ed. from Statutes of the Realm, I, 51.)
86. Freedom of Parliament
(7 EDW. I., 1*79)
Book of Rights
This provision is in line with the many designed to protect the
commonalty when exercising their political rightss. From the
days of the Saxon Kings this protection was constant in theory
and usually in practice.
To all Parliaments and Treatises men shall come without
Force and Arms.
Edward by the grace of God, King of England, Lord of
Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine; to the justices of his bench
sendeth greeting. Whereas of late before certain persons
deputed to treat upon sundry debates had between us and
certain great men of our realm, amongst other things it was
accorded, in our next parliament after, provision should be
made by us and the common -assent of the prelates, earls, and
barons, that in all parliaments, treatises, and other assemblies
which should be made in the realm of England for ever,
every man shall come without all force and armour, well and
peaceably to the honour of us and the peace of our realm.
And now in our next parliament at Westminster after the
said treatise, the prelates, earls, barons, and the commonalty
of our realm, there assembled to take advice of this business,
have said to us that it belongeth and our part is, through our
royal seigniory, straightly to prohibit force of armour and all
other force against our peace, at all times when it shall please
us, and to punish them which shall do contrary, according
to our laws and usages of our realm; and hereunto they are
bound to aid us as their sovereign lord at all seasons when
need shall be. We command you, that ye cause these things
to be read afore you in the said bench, and there to be en-
rolled.
(Book of Rights, ed. cit., p. 59.
87. Taxation of Religious Houses
(35 EDW. I., 1306-7)
Statutes of the Realm
The statute De Asportatis Rellglosorum, also known as the
statutum Carlisli, was the first of a series of anti-papal statutes
which extended even beyond the close of the Stuart period. The
190 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
texts of the most important of these have been translated and are
printed in full (Nos. 85. oo. 02, 03. 107, 108. TIT), that the student
may himself trace the clnim of ecclesiastical independence put for-
ward by English kings. The object of the following statute was to
prevent the taxation of religious houses by non-resident superiors.
STATUTUM DE ASPORTATIS RELIGIOSORUM
In the Parliament held at Carlisle, on the Octave of St. Hilary
(A.D. 1306-7)
Of late it came to the knowledge of our lord the king, by
the grievous complaint of the honourable persons, lords, and
other noblemen of his realm, that whereas monasteries, pri-
ories, and other religious houses had been founded to the
honour and glory of God, and the advancement of the Holy
Church, by the king and his progenitors, and by the said
noblemen and their ancestors ; and a very great portion of
lands and tenements had been given by them to the said
monasteries, priories, and houses, and the religious men
serving God in them, to the intent that as well clerks as lay-
men might be admitted in such monasteries and religious
houses, according to their sufficient ability, and that sick
and feeble men might be maintained, hospitality, almsgiving,
and other charitable deeds might be exercised and done, and
in them prayers might be said for the souls of the said
founders and their heirs; the abbots, priors, and governors
of the said houses, and certain aliens their superiors, as
the abbots and priors of the orders of Cluniaccnses, Cister-
cicnscs, and Prcmonstratcnses, and of St. Augustine, and
St. Benedict, and many more of other religion and order,
have, of late, appointed to be made and at their own pleasure
ordained divers unwonted, heavy and importable tallages,
payments, and impositions upon every of the said monas-
teries and houses in subjection unto them in England, Ire-
land, Scotland, and Wales, without the privity of our lord
the king and his nobility, contrary to the laws and customs
of the said realm ; whereby it happens that numbers of
religious persons, and other servants in the said houses and
religious places being oppressed by such tallages, payments,
and impositions, the service of God is diminished, and alms
are withdrawn from the poor, the sick, and feeble, and
the healths of the living and the souls of the dead be
miserably defrauded, hospitality, almsgiving, and other
deeds of charity, do cease ; and so that which in times past
was given to pious uses, and to the increase of the service.
THE GROWTH OF LAW 191
of God, or to charity, is now converted to an evil payment:
From whence, beside what is before mentioned, there
groweth great scandal to the people, and infinite losses are
well known to have ensued, to the disheritance of the said
founders and their heirs, and are yet likely to ensue, unless
speedy and sufficient remedy be provided to redress so many
and grievous detriments :
Our said lord the king, therefore, considering that it would
be very prejudicial to him and his people if he should any
longer suffer such great losses and injuries to be winked at,
and thereupon being willing to maintain and defend the
monasteries, priories, and other religious houses erected in
his kingdom, and in the lands subject to his dominion, ac-
cording to the will and pious wishes of the founders, and
from henceforth to provide sufficient remedy to reform such
oppressions, as he is bound, by the counsel of his earls,
barons, great men, and other the nobles and the commonalty
of his realm, in his parliament holden at Westminster, on the
Sunday next after the feast of St. Matthias the Apostle, in
the three-and-thirtieth year of his reign, ordained and en-
acted as follows :
"That no abbot, prior, master, warden, nor any other
religious person, of whatsoever condition, state, or religion
he be, appointed under his power or jurisdiction, shall by
himself, or by merchants or others, secretly or openly, by any
art or device, carry or send, or by any means cause to be
carried, any tax imposed by their superiors, abbots, priors,
masters or wardens of religious houses or places, or in any
way assessed among themselves, out of his kingdom and
dominion, under the name of a rent, tallage, tribute, or any
kind of imposition, or otherwise in the name of exchange,
sale, loan, or other contract howsoever it may be termed;
neither shall himself depart into any other country for visi-
tation or, upon any other colour, by that means to carry the
goods of their monasteries and houses out of the kingdom
and dominion aforesaid. And if any presume to offend this
present statute, he shall be grievously punished according to
the quality of his offence, and according to his contempt of
the king's prohibition.
"Moreover, our said lord the king doth inhibit all and sin-
gular abbots, priors, masters and governors of religious
houses and places, being aliens, to whose authority, subjec-
tion, and obedience, the houses of the same orders being in
his kingdom and dominion be subject, that they do not at any
192 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
time hereafter impose, or by any means cause to be assessed,
any tallages, payments, impositions, tributes, or other burdens
whatsoever, upon any of the monasteries, priories, or other
religious houses as aforesaid in subjection unto them; and
this upon forfeiture of all that they have in their power, and
can forfeit in future.
"And further, our lord the king hath ordained and estab-
lished, that the abbots of the orders of Cistcrcicnscs and
Prcmonstratcnscs, and other religious orders, whose seal
hath heretofore been used to remain only in the custody of
the abbot, and not of the convent, shall hereafter have a com-
mon seal, and shall deposit the same in the custody of the
prior of the monastery or house, and four of the most worthy
and discreet men of the convent of the same house, to be
kept under the private seal of the abbot of the same house ;
so that the abbot or prior of the house which he doth govern,
shall not be able of himself to confirm any contract or obliga-
tion, as heretofore he hath been used to do. And if it hap-
pen hereafter that any writings obligatory of donations,
purchases, sales, alienations, or of any other contracts, be
found sealed with any other seal than such a common seal,
kept as is aforesaid, they shall be adjudged void and of no
force in law.
"But it is not the meaning of our lord the king to exclude
the abbots, priors, and other religious aliens, by the ordinance
and statutes aforesaid, from executing their office of visita-
tion in his kingdom and dominion ; but that they may visit
at their pleasure, by themselves or others, the monasteries
and other places in his kingdom and dominion aforesaid in
subjection unto them, according to the duty of their office,
in those things only that belong to the regular observance
and the discipline of their order. Provided, that they which
shall execute this office of visitation, shall carry, or cause
to be carried out of the kingdom and dominion aforesaid,
none of the goods or things of such monasteries, priories, and
houses, saving only their reasonable and competent charges.
And though the proclamation and publication of the ordi-
nance and statutes aforesaid was stayed in suspense, from
the parliament last passed, until this present parliament
holden at Carlisle in the octaves of Saint Hilary, in the
five-and-thirtieth year of the reign of our said lord King
Edward, for certain causes, and to the intent they might
proceed with greater deliberation and advice ; our lord the
king, after full deliberation and conference had with the
THE GROWTH OF LAW 193
earls, barons, lords, and other the nobles and the commonalty
of his realm, touching the premisses, by their unanimous
consent and agreement hath ordained and enacted, that the
ordinance and statutes aforesaid, under the manner, form,
and conditions aforesaid, from the first day of May next
ensuing, shall thenceforth be inviolably observed and in force
for ever, and the offenders of them shall thereafter.be pun-
ished as is aforesaid.
(Edited from Statutes of the Realm, I, 150.)
88. The Statute of "Quia Emptores"
(18 EDW. I., 1289-90)
Statutes at Large
The feudal lord enjoyed many profitable rights in the property
held by another under him. He obtained certain sums from the
heir who was of full age at the death of his father, and also
profits from the estates of minors and from their marriages.
Not only was his ransom paid, if he were taken prisoner, but
when his son became a knight or his eldest daughter married,
the expenses of the ceremonies were borne by his tenants. Be-
sides all this, on certain contingencies the entire estate of his
vassals became his. Prior to the eighteenth year of the reign
of Edward I., these rights had been seriously impaired by the
practice of subinfeudation, or subdivision of holdings. To ex-
emplify this, let us suppose that A. held lands of B., and owed him
the above-mentioned rights. If A. sold part of his lands to C.,
the latter would owe rights to A., and not to B. Thus B. would
be deprived of his rights over the lands sold to C. This was a
direct loss to the lord, and the statute of Quia Emptores was
passed to prevent its occurrence. By the provisions of this en-
actment, the transfer could still be made, but C. would hold of
B. instead of A., and would owe the rights of the land to the
former.
THE STATUTE OF WESTMINSTER THE THIRD:
Or QUIA EMPTORES TERRARUM
CAP. I
Purchasers shall hold of the chief lord, and not of the
Feoffor
Forasmuch as purchasers of lands and tenements of the
fees of great men and others, have many times heretofore
entered into their fees, to the prejudice of the lords, the free-
holders of such great men and others having sold such lands
and tenements to be holden in fee by such purchasers and
their heirs, of the feoffors, and not of the chief lords of the
fees, whereby the same chief lords have many times lost their
escheats, marriages, and wardships of lands and tenements
194 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
belonging to their fees; which thing seemed very hard and
extreme unto those great men and other lords, and moreover
in this case manifest disheritance : Our lord the king, in his
parliament at Westminster, after Easter, the eighteenth year
of his reign, that is to wit, in the quinzime of Saint John
Baptist, at the instance of the great men of his realm, hath
granted, 'provided, and ordained, that from henceforth it
shall be lawful to every freeman to sell at his own pleasure
his lands and tenements, or part thereof: so nevertheless that
the feoffee shall hold the same lands or tenements of the
same chief lord of the fee, and by the same services and cus-
toms as his feoffor held them before.
CAP. II
// a Tenant sell Part of his Land, the Services shall be
apportioned
And if he sell any part of such his lands or tenements to
any, the feoffee shall hold that immediately of the chief lord,
and shall be forthwith charged with so much service as per-
taineth, or ought to pertain to the said chief lord for such
part, according to the quantity of the land or tenement so
sold. And so in this case for the same part of the service
shall remain to the lord, to be taken by the hands of the
feoffee, for the which he ought to be attendant and answer-
able to the same chief lord, according to the quantity of the
land or tenement sold, for the parcel of the service so due.
CAP. Ill
No such Feoffment shall be made to assure Land in
Mortmain
And it is to be understood, that by the said sales or pur-
chases of lands or tenements or any part thereof, such lands
or tenements shall in no wise come into Mortmain, either in
part or in whole, any way by craft or device, contrary to the
form of the statute made thereupon of late. And it is to be
understood, that this statute extendeth only to lands sold to
be holden in fee simple ; and that it extendeth to the time
coming, and it shall begin to take effect at the feast of Saint
Andrew the Apostle next coming.
Given the eighteenth year of the reign of King Edwaid,
son of King Henry.
(Edited from Statutes at Large, ed. T. D. Tomlins, Lond., 1811, I, 935.)
THE GROWTH OF LAW 19$
89. Coronation Oath of Edward II.
(1307)
Statutes of the Realm
The oath of Edward II. is interesting in that it contains the
completed fourfold division which was for centuries to mark the
promise of the king upon assuming office. Compare the corona-
tion oaths of William I. (No. 45) and of James I. (No. 144).
CORONATION OATH OF EDWARD II.
[Archbishop.] Sire, will you grant and observe, and by
your oath confirm to the people of England the laws and
customs granted to them by the ancient kings of England,
your predecessors, just and devoted to God; and especially
the laws and customs and franchises granted to the clergy
and to the people by the glorious king, Saint Edward, your
predecessor ?
[King.'] I grant them and promise them.
[Archbishop. ] Sire, will you keep toward God and holy
church, and clergy and people, entire peace and concord in
God, according to your power?
[King.] I will keep them.
[Archbishop.'] Sire, will you cause to be made in all your
judgments equal and right justice and judgment, in mercy
and truth, according to your power?
[King.] I will do it.
[Archbishop.] Sire, do you grant that the just laws and
customs will be observed which the commonalty of your
realm have chosen, and do you promise to protect and en-
force them to the honour of God, according to your power?
[King.] I grant and promise it.
(Ed. from Statutes of the Realm, I, 168.)
90. A Statute of Provisors
(25 EDW. Ill, s. 5, c. 22, 1352)
Statutes of the Realm
The Statute De Asportatis Religiosorum, passed in 1306-7,
was followed by a series of anti-papal enactments, the first of
which to become effective, the Statute of Provisors, is given
below.
Also because that some do purchase at the court of Rome
provisions to have abbeys and priories in England, in destruc-
tion of the realm, and of holy religion ; it is accorded and as-
sented, that every man that purchaseth such provisions of
196 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
abbeys or priories, that he and his executors and procurators
which do sue and make execution of such provisions, shall be
out of the protection of our lord the king ; and that a man
may do with him as an enemy of the king and the realm ;
and he that doth anything against such provisors in body or
in goods, or in other possessions, shall be excused against
all people, and shall never be impeached nor grieved for the
same at any man's suit.
(Ed. from Statutes of the Realm, I, 323, 324.)
91. First Statute of Treasons
(25 EDW. III., st. 5, c. 2, 1352)
Statutes of the Realm
The crime of treason has always been visited by most severe
punishment, but prior to the twenty-fifth year of the reign of
Edward II. these punishments were not fixed by statute. Neither
was the crime of treason accurately defined and determined.
The repeated demand that this crime should be defined and
limits set to its punishment passed unheeded until the following
statute was passed during the reign of Edward III. The seven
heads of treason enumerated by this Act formed the basis of all
subsequent legislation on the subject.
A STATUTE OF WESTMINSTER
CAP. II
A Declaration which Offences shall be adjudged Treason.
Also, whereas divers opinions have been before this time
in what case treason shall be said, and in what not; the king
at the request of the lords and of the commons, hath made
the declaration following, that is to say ; when a man doth
compass or imagine the death of our lord the king; or of our
lady his consort, or of their eldest son and heir; or if a man
do violate the king's consort, or the king's eldest daughter
unmarried, or the wife of the king's eldest son and heir: and
if a man do levy war against our said lord the king in his
realm or be adherent to the enemies of our lord the king in
his realm, giving to them aid and comfort in the realm, or
elsewhere ; and thereof be provably attainted of open deed
by the people of their condition. And if a man counterfeit
the king's great or privy seal, or his money; and if a man
bring false money into this realm, counterfeit to the money
of England, as the money called Lushburgh, or other like to
the said money of England, knowing the money to be false,
to merchandise, or make payment, in deceit of our said lord
the king and of his people : And if a man slay the chancellor,
THE GROWTH OF LAW 197
treasurer, or the king's justices of the one bench or the other,
justices in eyre, or of assise and all other justices assigned
to hear and determine, being in their places, doing their
offices. And it is to be understood, that in the cases above
rehearsed, that ought to be judged treason which extends to
our lord the king, and his royal majesty: And of such manner
of treason the forfeiture of the escheats pertaineth to our
sovereign lord the king as well of the lands and tenements
holden of other as of himself.
And moreover there is another manner of treason, that is
to say, when a servant slayeth his master, or a wife slayeth
her husband, or when a man, secular or religious, slayeth his
prelate, to whom he oweth faith and obedience; and such
manner of treason giveth forfeiture of the escheats to every
lord of his own fee.
And because many other cases of like treason may happen
in time to come, which a man cannot think nor declare at
this present time; It is accorded, that if any other case,
supposed treason, which is not above specified, doth happen
anew before any justices, the justices shall tarry without
going to judgment of treason, till the cause be shown before
the king and his parliament, and it be declared whether it
ought to be judged treason or other felony.
And if perchance any man of this realm ride armed, openly
or secretly, with men of arms against any other, to slay him,
or rob him, or to take and retain him till he hath made fine
or ransom for to have his deliverance, it is not the mind of
the king nor his council, that in such case it shall be judged
treason ; but it shall be judged felony or trespas, according
to the law of the land of old time used, and according as the
case requireth. And if in such case, or other like, before
this time any justice have judged treason, and for this cause
the lands and tenements have come into the king's hands as
forfeit, the chief lords of the fee shall have their escheats
of the tenements holden of them, whether that the same tene-
ments be in the king's hands, or in others, by gift or in other
manner.
Saving always to our lord the king the year, and the
waste and the other forfeitures of chattels, which pertain
to him in the cases above named: and that Writs of Scire
facias be granted in such case against the land-tenants with-
out other original, and without allowing the king's protec-
tion in the said suit; and that of the lands which be in the
king's hands, Writs be granted to the sheriffs of the coun-
198 SOURCE-BOOK OF EXGLISH HISTORY
tics where the lands be, to deliver them out of the king's
hands without delay.
(Ed. from Statutes of the Realm, I, 320, 321.)
92. Second Statute of Provisors
(27 KDW. III., s . i, 1353)
Statutes of the Realm
The Statute of Provisors of 1351 was followed by that of
I 353- This latter had the same special purposes of preventing
the papal court from compelling the attendance of Englishmen
in those cases where that court claimed jurisdiction and of
strengthening the power of the royal courts. The opening words
of the statute show the demand which caused its promulgation.
A STATUTE OF PROVISORS
CAP. I
Prccmunire for suing in a Foreign Realm, or Impeaching
of Judgment given
First, because it is showed to our said lord the king, by the
grievous and clamorous complaints of the great men and
commons aforesaid, how that divers of the people be, and
have been drawn out of the realm to answer of things,
whereof the cognizance pcrtaineth to the king's Court; and
also that the judgments given in the same court be im-
peached in another's court, in prejudice and disherison of
our lord the king, and of his crown, and of all the people of
his said realm, and to the undoing and destruction of the
common law of the same realm at all times used : Where-
upon, good deliberation being had with the great men and
other of his said council, it is assented and accorded by our
said lord the king, and the great men and commons afore-
said, that all the people of the king's ligeance, of what con-
dition soever they may be, which shall draw any out of the
realm, in plea whereof the cognizance pertaineth to the
king's court, or of things whereof judgments be given in the
king's court, or which do sue in the court of any other, to
defeat or impeach the judgments given in the king's court,
shall have a day, containing the space of two months, by
warning to be made to them in the place where the pos-
sessions be, which be in debate, or otherwise where they
have lands or other possessions, by the sheriff or other the
king's minister, to appear before the king and his council,
or in his chancery, or before the king's justices in his courts
of the one bench or the other, or before other the king's
justices which to the same shall be deputed, to answer in
THE GROWTH OF LAW 199
their proper person to the king, of the contempt done in
this behalf. And if they come not at the said day in their
proper person to be at the law, they, their procurators,
attornies, executors, notaries, and maintainers, shall from
that day forth be put out of the king's protection, and their
lands, goods, and chattels forfeit to the king, and their
bodies, wheresoever they may be found, shall be taken and
imprisoned, and ransomed at the king's will : And there-
upon a writ shall be made to take them by their bodies, and
to seize their lands, goods, and possessions, into the king's
hands; and if it be returned, that they be not found, they
shall be put in exigent, and outlawed.
Provided always, that whenever 'they come at any time
before they be outlawed, and will yield them to the king's
prison, to be judged by the law, and to receive that which
the court shall award in this behalf, that they shall be thereto
received; the forfeiture of lands, goods, and chattels abiding
in force, if they do not yield them within the said two
months, aforesaid.
(Ed. from Statutes of the Realm, \, 329, 330 )
93. The Great Statute of Praemunire
(16 Rich. II., c. 5, 1393)
Statutes of the Realm
The contest between pope and king, begun in the reign of
Edward I. and continued through successive reigns by means of
the anti-papal statutes, was brought to a close by the action of
Pope Boniface IV. in 1391. This prelate declared Acts of Par-
liament contravening papal rights to be void, and he denied the
right of the Crown to present to benefices. The people of Eng-
land rallied to the support of the cause of the king, and in the
"Great Statute of Prsemunire" (16 Rich. II., c. 5, 1392) every
estate of the realm pledged its support to Richard II. This
Statute of Praemunire was the most effective of the so-called
anti-papal statutes.
Also, whereas the Commons of the realm in this present
Parliament have showed to our redoubted lord the king,
grievously complaining, that whereas our said lord the king
and all his liege people ought of right and of old were wont
to sue in the king's court, to recover their presentations to
churches, prebends, and other benefices of Holy Church to the
which they had right to present, the cognizance of plea of
which presentment belongeth only to the king's court of the
old right of his crown, used and approved in the time of all
his progenitors, kings of England; and when judgment is
given in the said court upon such a plea and presentment, the
200 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
archbishops, bishops, and other spiritual persons who have
institution of such benefices within their jurisdiction be
bound, and have made execution of such judgments by the
king's commandments, of all the time aforesaid without in-
terruption, for a lay person cannot make such execution,
and also be bound of right to make execution of many other
of the king's commandments, of which right the crown of
England hath been peaceably seized, as well in the time of
our lord the king that now is, as in the time of all his pro-
genitors till this day.
But now of late divers processes be made by the Holy
Father, the Pope, and censures of excommunication upon cer-
tain bishops of England, because they had made execution
of such commandments, in open disherison of the said crown
and destruction of the regalty of our said lord the king,
his law, and all his realm, if remedy be not provided. And
also it is said and a common clamour is made that the said
Holy Father, the Pope, hath ordained and purposed to
translate some prelates of the said realm, some out of the
realm, and some from one bishopric into another within the
said realm, without the assent and knowledge of our lord the
king, and without the assent of the prelate who should be so
translated, which prelates be very profitable and necessary
to our said lord the king, and to all his realm; by which
translations, if they should be suffered, the statutes of the
realm would be defeated and made void; and his wise lieges
of his council, without his assent and against his will carried
away and removed out of his realm and the substance and
treasure of the realm would be carried away, and so the said
realm destitute as well of council as of substance, to the
final destruction of the said realm ; and so the crown of Eng-
land which hath been so free at all times that it hath not
been in subjection to earthly sovereign, but is immediately
subject to God in all things touching the regalty of the same
crown, and to none other, would be submitted to the Pope,
and the laws and statutes of the realm by him defeated and
annulled at his will, in perpetual destruction of the sover-
eignty of the king our lord, his crown, his regalty, and of all
his realm, which God forbid.
And moreover, the Commons aforesaid say, that the said
things so attempted be clearly against the king's crown and
his regalty, used and approved in the time of all his pro-
genitors ; wherefore, they and all the liege commons of the
said realm will stand with our said lord the king, and his
THE GROWTH OF LAW 201
said crown and his regalty, in the cases aforesaid, and in all
other cases attempted against him, his crown, and his regalty
in all points, to live and to die; and moreover, they prayed
our said lord the king, and required him, by way of justice,
that he would examine all the lords in Parliament, as well
spiritual as temporal severally, and all the estates of the
Parliament, how they think of the cases aforesaid, which be
so openly against the king's crown, and in derogation of his
regalty, and how they will stand in the same cases with our
lord the king in upholding the rights of the said crown and
regalty. Whereupon, the lords temporal so demanded have
answered every one by himself, that the cases aforesaid be
clearly in derogation of the king's crown and of his regalty,
as is notoriously, and hath been of all time known, and that
they will stand with the same crown and regalty, in these
cases specially, and in all other cases which shall be at-
tempted against the said crown and regalty in all points,
with all their power.
And, moreover, it was demanded of the lords spiritual
there being, and the procurators of others being absent, their
advice and will in these cases; which lords, that is to say,
the archbishops, bishops, and other prelates, being in the said
Parliament severally examined, making protestations that it
is not their intention to deny nor to affirm that our Holy
Father, the Pope, may not excommunicate bishops nor that
he may not make translations of prelates according to the law
of Holy Church ; answered and said, that if any executions
of processes made in the king's court, as before, be made by
any, and censures of excommunications be made against any
bishops of England, or any other of the king's liege people,
for that they have made execution of such commandments,
and that if any executions of such translations be made of
any prelates of the same realm, which prelates be very
profitable and necessary to our said lord the king, and to
his said realm, or that his wise lieges of his council, without
his assent and against his will, be removed and carried out
of the realm, so that the substance and treasure of the realm
may be destroyed, that the same is against the king and his
crown, as is contained in the petition before named. And
likewise the said procurators, every one by himself examined
upon the said matters, have answered and said, in the name
and for their lords, as the said bishops have said and an-
swered; and that the said lords spiritual will and ought to
Stand with our lord the king in these cases loyally in main-
202 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
tcnancc of his crown, and in all other cases touching his
crown and regally, as they are bound by their allegiance.
Whereupon, our said lord the king, with the assent afore-
said, and at the request of his said Commons, hath ordained
and established; that if any do purchase or pursue, or cause
to be purchased or pursued in the court of Rome or else-
where any such translations, processes, and sentences of
excommunications, bulls, instruments, or any other thing
whatsoever which touches our lord the king, against him,
his crown and regalty, or his realm, as is aforesaid, and
those who bring the same within the realm, or receive them,
or make thereof notification, or any other execution what-
soever, within the said realm or without; that they, their
notaries, procurators, maintainers, abbetors, favorers, and
counsellors, shall be put out of the protection of our said
lord the king, and their lands and tenements, goods and
chattels, shall be forfeited to our lord the king; and that
they shall be attached by their bodies, if they may be found,
and brought before the king and his council, there to an-
swer to the cases aforesaid, or that process be made against
them by prccmnnirc facias, in manner as it is ordained in
other statutes of provisors and others who sue in the court
of any other, in derogation of the regalty of our lord the
king.
(Ed. from Statutes of the Realm, II, 84.)
CHAPTER XII
THE BLACK DEATH
94. Spread of the Plague
Knighton
In the fourteenth .century England had entered upon an era
of progress. This was brought to an abrupt close by the
scourge known to history as the Black Death. This pestilence
swept away half of the entire population of the country. Its
force was most severely expended upon the poor, whose suffer-
ings were so great as to drive them well-nigh to desperation.
Yet neither did the Death spare the rich. It invaded the royal
palace, and the king's daughter fell a victim ; it entered the
cathedral town of Canterbury, and in one year three archbishops
died. The Black Death had more than physical results ; it led
to political disturbances, it caused great agrarian changes, and it
even impared the work of the Church by decimating its priest-
hood and giving rise to murmurs against its teachings.
Then the grievous plague penetrated the sea-coasts from
Southampton, and came to Bristol, and there almost the
whole strength of the town died, struck as it were by sudden
death; for there were few who kept their beds more than
three days, or two days, or half a day; and after this the
fell death broke forth on every side with the course of the
sun. There died at Leicester in the small parish of S.
Leonard more than 380 ; in the parish of Holy Cross more
than 400; in the parish of S. Margaret of Leicester more
than 700 ; and so in each parish a great number. Then the
bishop of Lincoln sent through the whole bishopric, and
gave general power to all and every priest, both regular and
secular, to hear confessions, and absolve with full and en-
tire episcopal authority except in matters of debt, in which
case the dying man, if he could, should pay the debt while
he lived, or .others should certainly fulfil that duty from his
property after his death. Likewise, the pope granted full
remission of all sins to whoever was absolved in peril of
death, and granted that this power should last till next
, Easter, and everyone could choose a confessor at his will.
203
204 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
In the same year there was a great plague of sheep every-
where in the realm, so that in one place there died in one
pasturage more than 5,000 sheep, and so rotted that neither
beast nor bird would touch them. And there were small
prices for everything on account of the fear of death. For
there were very few who cared about riches or anything
else. For a man could have a horse, which before was
worth 403., for 6s. 8d., a fat ox for 45., a cow for I2d., a
heifer for 6d., a fat wether for 4cl., a sheep for 3d., a lamb
for 2d., a big pig for 5d., a stone of wool for yd. Sheep
and cattle went wandering over fields and through crops.
and there was no one to go and drive or gather them, so
that the number cannot be reckoned wPlich perished in the
ditches in every district, for lack of herdsmen ; for there
was such a lack of servants that no one knew what he ought
to do. In the following autumn no one could get a reaper
for less than 8d. with his food, a mower for less than I2d.
with his food. Wherefore many crops perished in the fields
for want of some one to gather them ; but in the pestilence
year, as is above said of other things, there was such abun-
dance of all kinds of corn that no one much troubled about it.
The Scots, hearing of the cruel pestilence of the English,
believed it had come to them from the avenging hand of
God, and as it was commonly reported in England took
for their oath when they wanted to swear: "By the foul
death of England." But when the Scots, believing that the
English were under the shadow of the dread vengeance of
God, came together in the forest of Selkirk, with purpose
to invade the whole realm of England, the fell mortality
came upon them, and the sudden and awful cruelty of death
winnowed them, so that about 5,000 died in a short time.
Then the rest, some feeble, some strong, determined to re-
turn home, but the English followed and overtook them and
killed many of them.
Master Thomas of Bradwardine was consecrated by the
pope archbishop of Canterbury, and when he returned to
England he came to London, but within two days was dead.
He was famous beyond all other clerks in the whole of
Christendom, especially in theology, but likewise in the
other liberal sciences. At the same time priests were in
such poverty everywhere that many churches were widowed
and lacking the divine offices, masses, mattins, vespers,
sacraments, and other rites. A man could scarcely get a
chaplain under 10 or 10 marks to minister to a church. And
THE BLACK DEATH 205
when a man could get a chaplain for 5 or 4 marks or even
for 2 marks with his food when there was an abundance of
priests before the pestilence, there was scarcely anyone now
who was willing to accept a vicarage for 20 or 20 marks ;
but within a short time a very great multitude of those
whose wives had died in the pestilence flocked into orders,
of whom many were illiterate and little more than laymen,
except so far as they knew how to read although they could
not understand.
Meanwhile the king sent proclamation into all the coun-
ties that reapers and other labourers should not take more
than they had been accustomed to take, under the penalty
appointed by statute. But the labourers were so lifted up
and obstinate that they would not listen to the king's com-
mand, but if anyone wished to have them he had to give
them what they wanted, and either lose his fruit and crops,
or satisfy the lofty and covetous wishes of the workmen.
And when it was known to the king that they had not
observed his command, and had given greater wages to the
labourers, he levied heavy fines upon abbots, priors, knights,
greater and lesser, and other great folk and small folk of
the realm, of some iocs., of some 403., of some 205., from
each according to what he could give. He took from each
carucate of the realm 2os., and, notwithstanding this, a
fifteenth. And afterwards the king had many labourers
arrested, and sent them to prison; many withdrew them-
selves and went into the forests and woods ; and those who
were taken were heavily fined. Their ringleaders were
made to swear that they would not take daily wages beyond
the ancient custom, and then were freed from prison. And
in like manner was done with the other craftsmen in the
boroughs and villages . . . After the aforesaid pestilence,
many buildings, great and small, fell into ruins in every
city, borough, and village for lack of inhabitants, likewise
many villages and hamlets became desolate, not a house
being left in them, all having died who dwelt there; and it
was probable that many such villages would never be in-
habited. In the winter following there was such a want of
servants in work of all kinds, that one would scarcely be-
lieve that in times past there had been such a lack . . . And
so all necessaries became so much dearer that what in times
past had been worth a penny, was then worth 4d. or 5d.
Magnates and lesser lords of the realm who had tenants
made abatements of the rent in order that the tenants should
206 SOL'RCli-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
not go away on account of tke want of servants and the
general clearness, some half the rent, some more, some less,
some for two years, some for three, some for one year, ac-
cording as they could agree with them. Likewise, those who
received of their tenants daywork throughout the year, as is
the practice with villeins, had to give them more leisure, and
remit such works, and either entirely to free them, or give
them an easier tenure at a small rent, so that the homes should
not be everywhere irrecoverably ruined, and the land every-
where remain entirely uncultivated.
(From Edward III and his Wars, ed. W. J. Ashley, Lend. 1887. p. 122.)
95. The Statute of Labourers
Statutes of the Realm
The existing relations of master and servant were disorganized
by the Black Death. The demand for labour so far exceeded the
supply that wages rose to a figure hitherto unknown. Unable,
or unwilling, to pay the wages demanded ; alarmed at the new
tendency of labour to seek, regardless of habitation, a market
where the return was highest ; exasperated by the disregard
paid by the bondmen to the ties of villeinage, the employers
sought and secured harsh and far-reaching legislation in control
of labour. A specimen of these enactments is given below ; for
further examples, consult Statutes of the Realm, Vol. I.
Edward by the grace of God, etc., to the Reverend Father
in Christ, William, by the same grace Archbishop of Canter-
bury, Primate of all England, greeting. Because a great
part of the people, and especially of workmen and serv-
ants, have lately died of the pestilence, many seeing the
necessities of masters and great scarcity of servants, will
not serve unless they may receive excessive wages, and
others preferring to beg in idleness rather than by labour
to get their living; we, considering the grievous incom-
modities which of the lack especially of ploughmen and such
labourers may hereafter come, have upon deliberation and
treaty with the prelates and the nobles and learned men
assisting us, with their unanimous counsel ordained:
That every man and woman of our realm of England, of
what condition he be, free or bond, able in body, and within
the age of sixty years, not living in merchandize, nor exer-
cising any craft, nor having of his own whereof he may live,
nor land of his own about whose tillage he may occupy
himself, and not serving any other; if he be required to
serve in suitable service, his estate considered, he shall be
bound to serve him who shall so require him ; and take
THE BLACK DEATH 203
only the wages, livery, meed, or salary which were ac-
customed to be given in the places where he oweth to serve,
the twentieth year of our reign of England, or five or six
other common years next before. Provided always, that the
lords be preferred before others in their bondmen or their
land tenants, so in their service to be retained ; so that, never-
theless, the said lords shall retain no more than be necessary
for them. And if any such man or woman being so re-
quired to serve will not do the same, and that be proved by
two true men before the sheriffs, or the bailiffs of our sov-
ereign lord, the king, or the constables of the town where the
same shall happen to be done, he shall immediately be taken
by them or any of them, and committed to the next gaol, there
to remain under strait keeping, till he find surety to serve in
the form aforesaid.
If any reaper, mower, or other workman or servant, of what
estate or condition he be, retained in any man's service, do
depart from the said service without reasonable cause or
license, before the term agreed, he shall have pain of im-
prisonment ; and no one, under the same penalty, shall pre-
sume to receive or retain such a one in his service.
No one, moreover, shall pay or promise to pay to any one
more wages, liveries, meed, or salary than was accustomed,
as is before said; nor shall any one in any other manner
demand or receive them, upon pain of doubling of that which
shall have been so paid, promised, required or received, to
him who thereof shall feel himself aggrieved ; and if none
such will sue, then the same shall be applied to any of the
people that will sue ; and such suit shall be in the court of
the lord of the place where such case shall happen.
And if lords of towns or manors presume in any point to
come against this present ordinance, either by them or by
their servants, then suit shall be made against them in the
form aforesaid, in the counties, wapentakes, and tithings,
or such courts of ours, for the penalty of treble that so paid
or promised by them or their servants. And if any before
this present ordinance hath covenanted with any so to serve
for more wages, he shall not be bound, by reason of the said
covenant, to pay more than at another time was wont to be
paid to such a person; nor, under the same penalty, shall
presume to pay more.
Also, Saddlers, skinners, white-tawyers, cordwainers, tail-
ors, smiths, carpenters, masons, tilers, shipwrights, carters,
and all other artificers and workmen, shall not take for their
labou.r and workmanship above the same that was wont to
208 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
be paid to such persons the said twentieth year, and other
common years next preceding, as before is said, in the place
where they shall happen to work ; and if any man take more
he shall be committed to the next gaol, in manner as before
is said.
Also, That butchers, fishmongers, innkeepers, brewers,
bakers, poulterers, and all other sellers of all manner of
victuals shall be bound to sell the same victuals for a reason-
able price, having respect to the price that such victuals be
sold at in the places adjoining, so that the same sellers have
moderate gains, and not excessive, reasonably to be required
according to the distance of the place from which the said
victuals be carried; and if any sell such victuals in any
other manner, and thereof be convicted, in the manner and
form aforesaid, he shall pay the double of the same that he
so received to the party injured, or in default of him, to
any other that will sue in this behalf. And the mayors,
and bailiffs of cities, boroughs, merchant towns, and others,
and of the ports and maritime places, shall have power to in-
quire of all and singular, which shall in any thing offend
against this, and to levy the said penalty to the use of them
at whose suit such offenders shall be convicted. And in case
that the same mayors and bailiffs be negligent in doing exe-
cution of the premises, and thereof be convicted before our
justices, by us to be assigned, then the same mayors and bai-
liffs shall be compelled by the same justices to pay the treble
of the thing so sold to the party injured, or to any other, in
default of him, that will sue; and nevertheless toward us they
shall be grievously punished.
And because that many strong beggars, as long as they
may live by begging, do refuse to labour, giving themselves
to idleness and vice, and sometimes to theft and other abom-
inations; none upon the said pain of imprisonment, shall,
under the colour of pity or alms, give anything to such,
which may labour, or presume to favour them in their idle-
ness, so that thereby they may be compelled to labour for
their necessary living.
(Ed. from Statutes of the Realm, I, 307, 306.)
CHAPTER XIII
LOLLARDY
96. Wycliffite Conclusions: Ten Condemned as Heretical and
Fourteen as Erroneous
In the fourteenth century began a resistless movement against
the Catholic Church. This movement was in the sixteenth cen-
tury to end in the establishment of Protestantism in England.
The movement rolled on in three great waves : that for reform
in the personal behaviour of recreant clerics ; that for a more
Christian life among the laity ; and that for a reformation in
doctrine. The great leader in these agitations was John Wy-
cliff, and the Lollards were encouraged and directed by him
and his "poor priests." As the central figure in the Lollard
movement, it is fitting that there should be given Wycliff's
doctrinal conclusions, the Bull of Pope Gregory against him,
and his reply to the summons to appear at Rome.
I. That the material substance of bread and of wine re-
mains, after the consecration, in the sacrament of the altar.
II. That the accidents do not remain without the sub-
ject, after the consecration, in the same sacrament.
III. That Christ is not in the sacrament of the altar
identically, truly and really in his proper corporal presence.
IV. That if a bishop or priest lives in mortal sin he does
not ordain, or consecrate, or baptize.
V. That if a man has been truly repentant, all external
confession is superfluous to him, or useless.
VI. Continually to assert that it is not founded in the
gospel that Christ instituted the mass.
VII. That God ought to be obedient to the devil.
VIII. That if the pope is foreordained to destruction
and a wicked man, and therefore a member of the devil, no
power has been given to him over the faithful of Christ by
any one, unless perhaps by the Emperor.
IX. That since Urban the Sixth, no one is to be acknowl-
edged as pope ; but all are to live, in the way of the Greeks,
under their own laws.
X. To assert that it is against sacred scripture that men
of the church should have temporal possessions.
209
2io SOURCE-BOOK OP ENGLISH HISTORY
XI. That no prelate ought to excommunicate any one
unless he first knows that the man is excommunicated by
God.
XII. That a person thus excommunicating is thereby a
heretic or excommunicate.
XIII. That a prelate excommunicating a clerk who has
appealed to the king, or to a council of the kingdom, on that
very account is a traitor to God, the king and the kingdom.
XIV. That those who neglect to preach, or to hear the
word of God, or the gospel that is preached, because of the
excommunication of men, are excommunicate, and in the
day of judgment will be considered as traitors to God.
XV. To assert that it is allowed to any one, whether a
deacon or a priest, to preach the word of God, without the
authority of the apostolic see, or of a catholic bishop, or some
other which is sufficiently acknowledged.
XVI. To assert that no one is a civil lord, no one is a
bishop, no one is a prelate, so long as he is in mortal sin.
XVII. That temporal lords may, at their own judgment,
take away temporal goods from churchmen who are habit-
ually delinquent; or that the people may, at their own judg-
ment, correct delinquent lords.
XVIII. That tithes are purely charity, and that par-
ishioners may, on account of the sins of their curates, detain
these and confer them on others at their will.
XIX. That special prayers applied to one person by
prelates or religious persons, are of no more value to the
same person than general prayers for others in a like position
are to him.
XX. That the very fact that any one enters upon any
orivate religion whatever, renders him more unfitted and
more incapable of observing the commandments of God.
XXI. That saints who have instituted any private reli-
gions whatever, as well of those having possessions as of
mendicants, have sinned in thus instituting them.
XXII. That religious persons living in private religions
are not of the Christian religion.
XXIII. That friars should be required to gain their liv-
ing by the labour of their hands and not by mendicancy.
XXIV. That a person giving alms to friars, or to a
preaching friar, is excommunicate ; also the one receiving.
(Fasciculi Zizaniorum, pp. 277-282. Rolls Series. Translation from
Translations and Reprints, ed. cit.)
LOLLARDY 2I1
97. Bull of Pope Gregory XI, against John Wycliffc
Gregory, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his be-
loved sons the chancellor and University of Oxford, in the
diocese of Lincoln, grace and apostolic benediction.
We are compelled to wonder and grieve that you, who, in
consideration of the favours and privileges conceded to your
University of Oxford by the apostolic s:e, and on account of
your familiarity with the Scriptures, in whose sea you navi-
gate, by the gift of God, with auspicious oar, you, who ought
to be, as it were, warriors and champions of the orthodox
faith, without which there is no salvation of souls, that
you through a certain sloth and neglect allow tares to spring
up amidst the pure wheat in the fields of your glorious uni-
versity aforesaid; and what is still more pernicious, even
continue to grow to maturity. And you are quite careless,
as has been lately reported to us, as to the extirpation of
these tares ; with no little clouding of a bright name, danger
to your souls, contempt of the Roman church, and injury to
the faith above mentioned. And what pains us the more is
that this increase of the tares aforesaid is known in Rome
before the remedy of extirpation has been applied in England
where they sprang up. By the insinuation of many, if they
are indeed worthy of belief, deploring it deeply, it has come
to our ears that John de Wycliffe, rector of the church of
Lutterworth, in the diocese of Lincoln, Professor of the
Sacred Scriptures, (would that he were not also Master of
Errors,) has fallen into such a detestable madness that he
does not hesitate to dogmatize and publicly preach, or rather
vomit forth from the recesses of his breast certain proposi-
tions and conclusions which are erroneous and false. He
has cast himself also into the depravity of preaching hereti-
cal dogmas which strive to subvert and weaken the state of
the whole church and even secular polity, some of which
doctrines, in changed terms, it is true, seem to express the
perverse opinions and unlearned learning of Marsilio of
Padua of cursed memory, and of John of Jandun, whose book
is extant, rejected and cursed by our predecessor, Pope John
XXII, of happy memory. This he has done in the kingdom
of England, lately glorious in its power and in the abundance
of its resources, but more glorious still in the glistening piety
of its faith, and in the distinction of its sacred learning ; pro-
ducing also many men illustrious for their exact knowledge
of the holy Scriptures, mature in the gravity of their char-
212 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
acter, conspicuous in devotion, defenders of the catholic
church. He has polluted certain of the faithful of Christ hy
besprinkling them with these doctrines, and led them away
from the right paths of the aforesaid faith to the brink of
perdition.
Wherefore, since we are not willing, nay, indeed, ought
not to be willing, that so deadly a pestilence should continue
to exist with our connivance, a pestilence which, if it is not
opposed in its beginnings, and torn out by the roots in its
entirety, will be reached too late by medicines when it has in-
fected very many with its contagion ; we command your
university with strict admonition, by the apostolic authority,
in virtue of your sacred obedience, and under penalty of the
deprivation of all the favours, indulgences, and privileges
granted to you and your university by the said see, for the
future not to permit to be asserted or proposed to any extent
whatever, the opinions, conclusions, and propositions which
are in variance with good morals and faith, even when those
proposing strive to defend them under a certain fanciful
wresting of words or of terms. Moreover, you are on our
authority to arrest the said John, or cause him to be arrested
and to send him under a trustworthy guard to our venerable
brother, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Bishop of
London, or to one of them.
Besides, if there should be, which God forbid, in your uni-
versity, subject to your jurisdiction, opponents stained with
these errors, and if they should obstinately persist in them,
proceed vigorously and earnestly to a similar arrest and
removal of them, and otherwise as shall seem good to you.
Be vigilant to repair your negligence which you have
hitherto shown in the premises, and so obtain our gratitude
and favour, and that of the said see, besides the honour and
reward of the divine recompense.
Given at Rome, at Santa Maria Maggiore, on the 3ist of
May, the sixth year of our pontificate.
(Fasciculi Zizaniorum, pp. 242-244. Rolls Series. Translation from
Translations and Reprints, ed. cit.)
98. Reply of Wycliffe to a Summons from the Pope
(1384)
I have joy fully to tell what I hold, to all true men that
believe and especially to the Pope; for I suppose that if my
faith be rightful and given of God, the Pope will gladly con-
LOLLARDY 213
firm it; and if my faith be error, the Pope will wisely
amend it.
I suppose over this that the gospel of Christ be heart of the
corps of God's law ; for I believe that Jesus Christ, that gave
in his own person this gospel, is very God and very man, and
by this heart passes all other laws.
I suppose over this that the Pope be most obliged to the
keeping of the gospel among all men that live here; for the
Pope is highest vicar that Christ has here in earth. For
moreness of Christ's vicar is not measured by worldly more-
ness, but by this, that this vicar follows more Christ by vir-
tuous living; for thus teacheth the gospel, that this is the
sentence of Christ.
And of this gospel I take as believe, that Christ for time
that he walked here, was most poor man of all, both in spirit
and in having ; for Christ says that he had nought for to rest
his head on. And Paul says that he was made needy for
our love. And more poor might no man be, neither bodily
nor in spirit. And thus Christ put from him all manner of
worldly lordship. For the gospel of John telleth that when
they would have made Christ king, he fled and hid him from
them, for he would none such worldly highness.
And over this I take it as believe, that no man should fol-
low the Pope, nor no saint that now is in heaven, but in as
much as he follows Christ. For John and James erred when
they coveted worldly highness; and Peter and Paul sinned
also when they denied and blasphemed in Christ; but men
should not follow them in this, for then they went from Jesus
Christ. And this I take as wholesome counsel, that the Pope
leave his worldly lordship to worldly lords, as Christ gave
them, and more speedily all his clerks to do so. For thus
did Christ, and taught thus his disciples, till the fiend had
blinded this world. And it seems to some men that clerks
that dwell lastingly in this error against God's law, and flee
to follow Christ in this, been open heretics, and their fautors
been partners.
And if I err in this sentence, I will meekly be amended,
yea, by the death, if it be skilful, for that I hope were good
to me. And if I might travel in mine own person, I would
with good will go to the Pope. But God has needed me to
the contrary, and taught me more obedience to God than to
men. And I suppose of our Pope that he will not be Anti-
christ, and reverse Christ in this working, to the contrary of
Christ's will ; for if he summon against reason, by him or by
2i4 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
any of his, and pursue this unskilful summoning, he is an
open Antichrist. And merciful intent excused not Peter,
that Christ should not clepe him Satan ; so blind intent and
wicked counsel excuses not the Pope here; but if he ask of
true priests that they travel more than they may, he is not
excused by reason of God, that he should not be Antichrist.
For our belief teaches us that our blessed God suffers us not
to be tempted more than we may ; how should a man ask such
service? And therefore pray we to God for our pope Urban
the sixth, that his old holy intent be not quenched by his
enemies. And Christ, that may not lie, says that the enemies
of a man been especially his home family; and this is sooth
of men and fiends.
(Select English Works ofWycliffe, ed. Arnold, Lond., Ill, 504.)
Spelling modernized.)
99. De Haeretico Comburendo
(2 HENRY IV., 1401)
Statutes of the Realm
Henry IV., a devout son of the Catholic Church, by the advice
of Archbishop Arundell sought to stay by legislation the Lollard
movement. To that end was passed in 1402 the statute De
Hccrctico Comburendo, an ordinance resting on the authority
of the king and the Lords, as the Commons were distinctly
opposed to the line of policy therein outlined. This sweeping
measure was the first enactment prescribing death as the
punishment for heresy ; but before its passage, even in England,
death by burning at the stake had under the Common Law
been meted out to heretics.
Whereas, it is shown to our sovereign lord the king on the
behalf of the prelates and clergy of his realm of England in
this present Parliament, that although the Catholic faith
builded upon Christ, and by his apostles and the Holy Church
sufficiently determined, declared and approved, hath been
hitherto by good and holy and most noble progenitors and
predecessors of our sovereign lord the king in the said realm
amongst all the realms of the world most devoutly observed,
and the Church of England by his said most noble progen-
itors and ancestors, to the honour of God and the whole
realm aforesaid laudably endowed and in her rights and
liberties sustained, without that the same faith or the said
church was hurt or grievously oppressed, or else perturbed
by any perverse doctrine or wicked, heretical, or erroneous
opinions. Yet, nevertheless, divers false and preverse people
of a certain new sect, of the faith of the sacraments of the
church, and the authority of the same damnably thinking,
and against the law of God and of the Church usurping the
LOLLARDY 215
office of preaching, do perversely and maliciously in divers
places within the said realm, under the colour of dissembled
holiness, preach and teach these days openly and privily
divers new doctrines, and wicked heretical and erroneous
opinions contrary to the same faith and blessed determina-
tions of the Holy Church, and of such sect and wicked doc-
trine and opinions they make unlawful conventicles and con-
federacies, they hold and exercise schools, they make and
write books, they do wickedly instruct and inform people,
and as much as they may excite and stir them to sedition and
insurrection, and make great strife and division among the
people, and other enormities horrible to be heard daily do
perpetrate and commit, in subversion of the said catholic
faith and doctrine of the holy church, in diminution of divine
worship, and also in destruction of the estate, rights, and
liberties of the said church of England; by which sect and
wicked and false preachings, doctrines, and opinions of the
said false and perverse people, not only most greatest peril
of the souls, but also many more other hurts, slanders, and
perils, which God prohibit, might come to this realm, unless
it be the more plentifully and speedily helped by the king's
majesty in this behalf; especially since the diocesans of the
said realm cannot by their jurisdiction spiritual, without aid
of the said royal majesty, sufficiently correct the said false
and perverse people, nor refrain their malice, because the
said false and perverse people do go from diocese to diocese
and will not appear before the said diocesans, but the same
diocesans and their jurisdiction spiritual, and the keys of the
church with the censures of the same, do utterly condemn
and despise; and so their wicked preachings and doctrines
do from day to day continue and exercise to the utter de-
struction of all order and rule of right and reason. Upon
which novelties and excesses above rehearsed, the prelates
and clergy aforesaid, and also the Commons of the said realm
being in the same Parliament, have prayed our sovereign
lord the king that his royal highness would vouchsafe in the
said Parliament to provide a convenient remedy. The same
our sovereign lord the king, graciously considering the
premises, and also the laudable steps of his said most noble
progenitors and ancestors, for the conservation of the said
catholic faith and sustentation of tfre said divine worship, and
also the safeguard of the estate, rights and liberties of the
said church of England, to the laud of God and merit of our
said sovereign lord the king, and prosperity and honour of
:i 6 SOURCE-BOOK Ol : ENGLISH HISTORY
all his said realm, and for the eschewing of such dissensions,
divisions, hurts, slanders, and perils, in time to come, and that
this wicked sect, preachings, doctrines, and opinions, should
from henceforth cease and be utterly destroyed; by the
assent of the great lords and other noble persons of the said
realm, being in the said Parliament, hath granted, stablished,
and ordained, from henceforth firmly to be observed, that
none within the said realm, or any other dominions subject
to his royal majesty, presume to preach openly or privily,
without the license of the diocesan of the same place first
required and obtained, curates in their own churches and
persons hitherto privileged, and other of the canon law
granted, only excepted ; nor that none from henceforth any-
thing preach, hold, teach, or instruct openly or privily, or
make or write any book contrary to the catholic faith or
determination of the holy church, nor of such sect and wicked
doctrines and opinions shall make any conventicles, or in any
wise hold or exercise schools ; and also that none from hence-
forth in any wise favour such preacher or maker of any such
and like conventicles, or persons holding or exercising
schools, or making or writing such books, or so teaching,
informing, or exciting the people, nor any of them maintain
or in any wise sustain, and that all and singular having such
books or any writings of such wicked doctrine and opinions,
shall really with effect deliver or cause to be delivered all
such books and writings to the diocesan of the same place
within forty days from the time of the proclamation of this
ordinance and statute.
And if any person or persons of whatsoever sex, estate, or
condition that he or they be, from henceforth do or attempt
against the said royal ordinance and statute aforesaid in the
premises or any of them, or such books in the form aforesaid
do not deliver, then the diocesan of the same place in his dio-
cese such person or persons in this behalf defamed or evi-
dently suspected and every of them may by the authority of
the said ordinance and statute cause to be arrested and under
safe custody in his prison to be detained till he or they of the
articles laid to him or them in this behalf do canonically
purge him or themselves, or else such wicked sect, preach-
ings, doctrines and heretical and erroneous opinions do ab-
jure, according as the laws of the church do demand and
require.
*****
And if any person within the said realm and dominions,
LOLLARD Y 217
upon the said wicked preachings, doctrines, opinions, schools,
and heretical and erroneous informations, or any of them be
before the diocesan of the same place or his commissaries
convicted by sentence, and the same wicked sect, preachings,
doctrines and opinions, schools and informations, do refuse
duly to abjure, or by the diocesan of the same place or his
commissaries, after the abjuration made by the same person
be pronounced relapsed, so that according to the holy canons
he ought to be left to the secular court, (upon which cred-
ence shall be given to the diocesan of the same place or to
his commissaries in this behalf), then the sheriff of the
county of the same place, and mayor and sheriffs, or sheriff,
or mayor and bailiffs of the city, town, and borough of the
same county next to the same diocesan or the said commis-
saries, shall be personally present in preferring of such sen-
tences, when they by the same diocesan or his commissaries
shall be required; and they the same persons and every of
them, after such sentence promulgate shall receive, and them
before the people in an high place cause to be burnt, that
such punishment may strike fear into the minds of others,
whereby no such wicked doctrine and heretical and erroneous
opinions, nor their authors and fautors, in the said realm and
dominions, against the catholic faith, Christian law, and
determination of the holy church, which God prohibit, be
sustained or in any wise suffered in which all and singular
the premises concerning the said ordinance and statute, the
sheriffs, mayors, and bailiffs of the said counties, cities,
boroughs and towns shall be attending, aiding, and support-
ing to the said diocesans and their commissaries.
(Ed. from Statutes of the Realm, II, 125-128.)
ROYAL LETTERS REGARDING LOLLARDY
No more illuminating documents exist than those of the royal
letters regarding the Lollards. Those selected are peculiarly
suggestive. No. 100 shows the attitude of Henry V. toward the
Church, in its relation with Lollardy. No. 101 directs the pro-
secution of Sir John Oldcastle, the Lollard leader. No. 102 out-
lines the attitude of Henry VI., and the importance of the
religious movement.
100. Henry V. to the Mayor and Sheriffs of London
(MU)
Letters of the Kings of England
The King, &c., greeting. Inasmuch as we have been given
to understand, that certain priests, not privileged by law for
this purpose, nor licensed by the diocesan of the place, nor
218 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
permitted by the church, who are said to be of this new sect
of the Lollards, have been preaching in public places within
the aforesaid city, and in the suburbs and vicinity thereof,
in order to excite and win over some, who are ill disposed to
the Catholic faith, and the doctrine of holy mother church ;
and by their own rashness, and contrary to the laws and
ordinances of the church, they have preached, nay, rather
have profaned the Word of God; or, at least, under pretext
of preaching, they have in such places been emboldened to
propagate discord among our people and the pestiferous
seeds of Lollardism and evil doctrine, after the manner of
preachers; and as some of our people of our said city and its
vicinity, under pretence of hearing such preaching, have
assembled to those places, and have congregated together in
large multitudes ; and, in consequence, murmurs and sedi-
tions have in part arisen, and will probably arise, to the dis-
turbance and no small marring of our peace, unless a remedy
be more quickly applied to abolish such meetings and pull
down such conventicles :
We, desiring especially to provide for the defence of the
Catholic faith, the laws and ordinances of the church, and
for preserving our peace, command you, that you cause pro-
clamation publicly to be made, within our city aforesaid, and
its suburbs, in every place where you shall find it expedient :
That no chaplains, of whatever degree, state, or condition
they may be, shall henceforward hold, cherish, affirm,
preach, or defend such opinions, heresy or error, contrary to
the decision of holy mother church ; and that none other our
lieges and subjects in this matter adhere to or abet them, or
lend them counsel or assistance, under penalty of imprison-
ment of their bodies, and the forfeiture of all their goods and
chattels, to our will and disposal. We further command and
positively enjoin you that, if henceforth you shall be able to
find within your bailiwick any such chaplains preaching and
affirming publicly or secretly, contrary to the aforesaid re-
script, or any other our lieges and subjects making conven-
ticles and meetings, or receiving the same chaplains, or being
under probable or great suspicion concerning the premises,
or in any way counselling, favouring, or helping such chap-
lains in this matter, then arrest ye them without delay, and
commit them 'to prison, there to remain, until they shall obey
the commands of the diocesan in whose diocese they may
have preached, and it shall have been certified unto you
accordingly by the same diocesan.
LOLLARDY 219
And, that also in the places aforesaid, ye cause it to be
proclaimed, in our behalf, that no such chaplain presume
hereafter to preach, contrary to the constitutions of the prov-
ince published, without license, sought and obtained as a
qualified literate ; and that none of our lieges henceforward
hear the same chaplains so preaching, or be present at such
preachings on any pretence alleged, under the punishment
and forfeiture aforesaid ; and that all and every our lieges
and subjects of our city and suburbs aforesaid comply with,
obey, and attend to you and any of you, in the carrying out
of the premises, under penalty of imprisonment.
Witness the King, at Westminster, the 2ist day of August,
I4I3-
(Letters of the Kings of England, ed. by J. O. Halliwell, Lond., 1846, I, p. 72.)
101. Henry V. to the Sheriff of Kent
('4M>
Letters of the Kings of England
The king to the sheriff of Kent, greeting. Whereas we
are more fully informed, and it is notoriously and openly dis-
covered, that very many our subjects of our kingdom of Eng-
land, vulgarly called Lollards, have, by the agency, instiga-
tion, encouragement, abetting, and upholding of John Old-
castle, knight, who hath lately stood condemned of heresy,
and is declared and pronounced a manifest heretic, according
to the canonical decrees published on that behalf, have
preached and caused to be preached divers opinions mani-
festly contrary to the Catholic faith ; and have falsely and
traitorously, contrary to their due allegiance, contemplated
our death, because that we do take part against them and
such their opinions, even as a true Christian prince, and as
we are bound by the chain of our oath ; and, whereas they
have formed many other designs to the destruction as well
of the Catholic faith as of the estate of the lords and nobles
of our kingdom, as well spiritual as temporal ; and they have
purposed to hold various meetings and other unlawful cabals,
with a view to perpetrate their abominable project in this
behalf, and desist not from daily plotting (as far as in them
lies) to the probable destruction of our own person, and of
the estates of the lords and nobles aforesaid ; we, considering
in what manner certain such Lollards and others, who imag-
ined and designed our death and the other mischiefs and
misdeeds aforesaid, have been taken for the before-named
reason, and stand adjudged to death for this abominable act
and purpose; and wishing to order and provide, in the best
220 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
and most quiet manner possible, for the avoiding of the
effusion of Christian blood, and especially that of our lieges
whom, on account of our tender and special regard towards
them, we desire, with our whole heart's intent, to preserve
from the shedding of blood and corporal punishment.
We command you, and positively enjoin, that in each place
in your bailiwick, where you shall find it best, you cause
to be proclaimed publicly on our behalf, that they, by whose
agency, incitement, counsel, or information, the said John
shall be taken or arrested, shall receive five hundred marks ; .
and he that shall take or cause to be arrested the same John,
one thousand marks, of our free gift, for his labour and
his pains in this behalf, and that the citizens, burgesses,
and corporations of the cities, boroughs, and other towns,
who shall take and arrest the same John, and shall cause him
to be brought before us, shall be quit and wholly exonerated
for ever from all taxes, tallages, tenths, fifteenths, and other
contributions whatever, to us and our heirs hereafter pay-
able, and that we will cause accordingly to bo made to them
our letters patent under our great seal ; and that in doing
their own concerns, and in any lawful and honourable trans-
actions whatever to be done towards ourself, they shall find
and have ourself more than usually gracious.
Witness the King, at Westminster, the nth day of Jan-
uary, 1414.
(Letters of the Kings of England, ed. cit., I, p. 74.)
102. King Henry VI. to the Abbot of St. Edmondsbury and to the
Aldermen and Bailiffs of the Town, for the Suppression of
the Lollards
By the king,
Trusty and well-beloved, the malicious intent and purpose
of God's traitors and ours, heretics in this our realm, com-
monly called Lollards, the which now lately setting up of
seditious bills, and otherwise traitorously exhorted, stirred
and moved the people of our land to assemble, gather, and
arise against God's peace and ours, is not unknown to you
nor to no man endued with reason, foresight, or discretion:
the which, howbeit that they of high subtlety, fraud, and
fellness, feign, pretend, and write such thing as they trow
to blind with you that be simple, and to draw by their arts
and affections to them and their intent, intending never-
theless and purposing without any doubt the subversion of
the Christian faith, and belief of us also and of all estates,
LOLLARD Y 221
and gentlemen, and generally of all true Christian men and
women that will not follow them, and assist them in their
damnable errors, intent and purpose, and would destroy all
political rule and government, spiritual and temporal ; and
considering that they, against God's law and man's, stir our
people without our commandment or authority to assemble
and arise, and therewith purpose and would take upon them
and usurp as well our royal power and authority as the
Church's, and use correction and government in no wise be-
longing unto them that ought to be governed, and not so to
govern; the which stirring and usurpation of our royal
power, by the law of this our land, is treason, each reason-
able man may well feel that in eschewing of chastising, and
aspire reddome [violence] to the contemner of our laws, they
so doing would never by their wills come to reckoning there-
of, but dispose them to be out of subjection, obedience, or awe
of us, and of our law ; and, as God knoweth, never would they
be subject to his, nor to man's, but would be loose and free, to
rob, reve, and despoil, slay and destroy all men of estate,
thrift, and worship, as they purposed to have done in our
fadre's days, and of lad and lurdains [clowns] would make
lords, and generally would use, do, and fulfil all their lusts
and wills that God forbade: and howbeit, that by the grace
of our Lord, and the great and notable diligence of our bel
[good] uncle of Gloucester, our lieutenant, and of other com-
missioners and judges in sundry places, lawful execution may
be done upon divers of the said God's traitors and ours ; the
which, if reason ought to have been unto them and their
accomplices extreme confusion and rebuke ; nevertheless, it
is credibly from day to day reported unto our said lieutenant
and council here, in divers ways, that the wicked and ma-
licious purpose of the said traitors ceaseth not, but con-
tinueth and abideth : wherefore, howbeit, that we wrote late
ago unto you, that be now true unto God and us, to the intent
that followeth: nevertheless, forasmuch as we know not
when our said letters came unto you, praying you heartily
and also charging you on the faith, truth, and allegiance
that ye owe to God and to us, that with all diligence and
without delay or tarrying, ye ordain and array you and
yours, and stir other such as will accompany you to be ready
to assemble, with other of our true liege men to do the
same, and withstand mightily, chastise, and subdue the
damnable malice and enterprise of God's said traitors and
ours, the which ye and all our true liege men have great
222 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
cause and matter to have in great await. And, in especial,
we will and charge you that ye inquire, consider, and take
good heed from time to time, which of the inhabitants in the
country about who have now of late time absented them,
or absent them hereafter, otherwise than their occupation
or craft axeth ; and also, of strange and unknown comers,
such as any matter of ill suspicion may reasonably be felt
in, and that ye arrest, search, and examine them in the
straightest wise, whence they come, and where they have
been, and of all the days, times, and places of their absence ;
and also, if sowers of seditions, slanderous or troublous
language, or tales. Over this, not suffering privy gather-
ings, or conventicles to be had or made by night or by day
thereabout, you having alway your recourse and resort, when-
soever you think that need is for your succour, your help,
and comfort to our said lieutenant and council, whom ye
shall find ever well-willed and disposed to purvey that that
may be to your surety, and comfort and ease ; and fail not
in due and diligent execution of these things aforesaid, as
ye desire our prosperity and yours and welfare. Given
under our privy seal at Westminster, the sixth day of July.
To our trusty and well-beloved the Aldermen and Bailiffs
of our town of Bury.
{Letters of the Kings of England, ed. cited, i, 115.)
103. Mandate for the Burning of a Heretic
(H3S)
Letters of the Kings of England
There exists a misconception regarding the executions of
heretics under English law. It is not infrequently supposed that
the death penalty for heresy was peculiar to the reign of Mary.
(Nos. 131, 132.) The selection given will therefore be as sug-
gestive as No. 141, which follows in the chapter devoted to the
reign of Elizabeth.
The king to the sheriffs of London, etc.,
Whereas the venerable Father Robert, bishop of London,
by the assent and consent of reverend men of great discern-
ment and wisdom, as well doctors of divinity as others,
doctors of the canon and civil law, who were aiding to him
in the process of justice required in this behalf, and which
hath been observed in all points, hath pronounced John Bis-
mire, otherwise called John Chandyrer, of the Parish of
Saint Mary-at-Axe, in the city of London, who hath fallen
back into the heresy which he held and abjured a heretic
relapsed by his definite sentence, according to laws and
LOLLARDY 223
canonical decrees set forth in this matter, even as appeareth
to us by the letter of the foresaid bishop ; and as Holy
Mother Church hath not any more that she can do in the
preceding case . . .
We, therefore, zealous for justice, and revering the catholic
faith, and willing to uphold and defend Holy Church, the
rights and liberties of the same, to pluck out by the roots
heresies and errors out of our kingdom of England, as far as
in us lieth, and to punish with condign punishment heretics
so convicted; and considering that such heretics, convicted
in the form aforesaid, according to law, divine and human,
and the canons and institutes in this behalf, ought, as a
matter of course, to be burned with the burning of fire.
To you we command, with all strictness possible, and
positively enjoin, that the aforesaid John, now being in your
custody, you cause to be committed to flames in some public
and open place, within the liberty of the city foresaid, having
made public the reason before stated, in presence of the
people; and him to be burned in the same fiie in very deed,
by way of abomination of a crime of this kind, and as an
open example to others, his neighbours: and this at your
instant peril by no means omit ye.
Witness the king, the I4th day of May, the sixteenth year
of his reign.
(Letters of the Kings of England, ed. cited, I, 119.)
PART V
THE TUDOR PERIOD
(1485-1603)
s
CHAPTER XIV
THE DIVORCE QUESTION
104. Henry's Attempts to secure the Aid of the Church
('53)
Original Letters
The following letter from the emissary of the king to the
Italian universities shows the method on which Henry proceeded
in his efforts to obtain the sanction of the Church to his divorce
from Katherine.
Richard Croke to Henry VIII., on the prevarication of
certain Friars of the University of Padua, who had taken
his Majesty's money to give their subscription as disallow-
ing his marriage with Queen Katharine, but now are for it.
(Ms. Harl. 416, fol. 21 Orig.)
Please yt yowr Highnes to be aduertysed that syns the
xxviij day of Auguste I delyuered vnto friar Thomas xxiij
crouynes ; syns the whyche tyme he hathe got yowr Highnes
but vij subscriptions; the whiche I sent by Harwel the xix
of Octobre. And of them, too only excepte, there ys not on
worthy thanke. I have and do often cal vpon hym, but he
answerithe me that there ys no mo doctors to be goten: the
contrary whereoff I knowye to be trew. And whan I de-
mande off hym for the declaration off my accompts som
remembrance off his hande for xlvij crouynes whyche I
have paide hym, he answerythe that at th'end off the cause
he wyl other make me a byl, or delyver me th'ole money
ayene. And hys cause why he wol make me no byl, ys, as
he saithe, feare leste hys byl myght be shewed to yowr
Highnes aduersaryes. Off the whyche pretendyd feare I
so moche the more douzt, by cause I have taken hym twysse
styffelye reasonying upon the Queenys parte ayenste yowr
Highnes conclusion with a friar of Florence, whom afore
thys day he alwayes assuryed me to be off yowr Highnes
opinion. Albeyt now he saithe the said friar ys departyd,
beynge utter enymye to the same. And in communication,
2*7
228 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Soverayne Lord, with me upon his said reasonynge with
the said friar, he said to me that th'Emperowrs embassator
shulde say to him quod si vclit procurare pro Rcgina merces
cjns non starct intns paucula scuta, and he addyd these
words to the same, Crcdc mihi, Croce, posse me efficcre si
rclim facer e quod alii vclint ct faciunt, ut quicqnid hactenus
feccrim pro rege illi magis obsit quam prosit. Thys frute
commythe off Rhaphacls works put in printe makinge pro-
testation in the worke writen ayenste yowr Highnes quod
qiiidquid scripserit pro eadcm id otnne tantum ex aliorum
mcnte non sua ad ingenii exercitationem scripserit. And
that the worke writen ayenste yowr Highnes ys hys very
trew and playne opinion, and firme and ful sentence and
mynde. What hurte thys worke with sutche werks as ar
in Englishe, setforthe in England (by comen rumor here)
ayenste yowr Highnes cause, dotthe unto yowr Highnes said
cause I have at temptit by doble lettres sente by the means
off Harwel from Venice to Antewarpe, and from Antewarpe
to yowr Highnes by post, purposely acertayned yowr Hight-
nes. And consyderinge that I can get no mo subscriptions
nother off Friar Ambrose nor off Thomas, very feare corn-
pellythe me to aduertyse yowr Highnes that all these Friars
were firste and only attayned vnto yowr Highnes by me.
And Ambrose had off me for the gettinge of the determina-
tion off Padua for his parte only xx crouynes. Thomas
hathe had xlvij crouynes. Franciscus, for him and Dio-
nysius, Ixxvij crouynes, as I can right wel prove. And thys
notwithstandynge, whan I cal upon them for som frute of
none off theyr labor, except Dionysius, I can get non. And
as Ambrose hathe answerid me that my Lorde of London
hathe comandyd hym tantum in causa regia facere quam
ipsi prescripserit Cassalius, so Leonicus, a man off greate
gravitye and lernynge, by his lettres (whereoff a copye I
sende herein enclosyd) acertaynythe me off a wars poynte.
Albe yt I truste yt be not so, for suche commaundemente
coulde not but be prejudicial, as wel unto yowr high cause
as unto my labors taken in the same, and also to the losse
off the money that I have laid owzt to the said friars, for
the same. Nor can I not perceve how (yff thys be true)
that I any more may preferre yowr most high causes m
Venice and the partyes abowzt. Whose importune labor
my Lorde knowethe to have bene the principal and chefe
cause off the successe that yowr Highnes cause hathe had
in Italye. Where afore my commynge, nor yet by other men
THE DIVORCE QUESTION 229
longe after, there was (as yowr Highnes and al other know-
ethe) nothinge earthely done. And I beseche yowr Highnes
to pondre my good harte and acts passed, the whyche shall
never (to dye for yt) cease to farther yowr said Highnes
pleasure in thys behalffe, with all payne, faythe, and dili-
gence, as the effect off my endevor I truste shal alwayes
frutefully profe. And thus I besech our mooste mercyful
Saviour Christe to preserve yowr moste noble Grace. At
Venice, the xxiij d off Octobre, with the rude hand off yowr
moste High Majestyes.
(From Original Letters illustrative of English History, Ellis, Load., 1846
Third Series, II, p. 167.)
105. Speeches made in the Divorce Trial between Henry VIII
and Katherine of Arragon
(1529)
Somers Tracts
The four speeches which follow show the hasty method of
the proceedings as inaugurated, the gross injustice to the queen,
and the independence of Campeius, who refused to bend his
sense of right to the will of the royal despot. The determination
of the cardinal that judgment must be given by the pope was an
important factor in producing the religious revolution which
later shook England to her centre and freed her from papal
domination.
"The four following articles are the Speeches of the different
parties at the famous trial of Divorce, before Wolsey and Cam-
peius, as papal commissioners, 2ist June, 1529. The Speeches
are here given rather more fully than in the Chronicles."
The Speech of Queen Katherine, which she made when
she was called upon, about the Divorce of her and the King,
who rose out of her chair, and came to the King, and kneeling
down at his feet, said as followeth:
Sir,
In what have I offended you? Or what occasion of dis-
pleasure have I given you, intending thus to put me from
you? I take God to be my judge, I have been to you a
true and humble wife, ever conformable to your will and
pleasure ; never contradicting or gain-saying you in any
230 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
thing: being always contented with all things, wherein you
had any delight, or took any pleasure, without grudge, or
countenance of discontent or displeasure. I loved, for your
sake, all them whom you loved, whether I had cause or no;
whether they were my friends, or my enemies. I have been
your wife these twenty years or more, and you had by me
divers children; and when you had me first, I take God to
be my judge, that I was a maid : and whether it be true or no,
I put it to your own conscience. If there be any just cause
that you can alledge against me, either of dishonesty, or mat-
ter lawful to put me from you, I am content to depart, to my
shame and confusion ; and if there be none, then I pray
you to let me have justice at your hands. The king, your
father, was, in his time, of such an excellent wit, that he
was accounted amongst all men for wisdom, to be a second
Solomon ; and the king of Spain, my father Fardinand, was
accounted one of the wisest princes that had reigned in
Spain for many years. It is not, therefore, to be doubted,
but that they had gathered as wise counsellors unto them,
of every realm, as to their wisdom they thought meet: And
I conceive, that there were in those days, as wise and well-
learned men, in both the realms, as be now at this day, who
thought the marriage between you and me good and lawful.
Therefore it is a wonder to me, what new inventions are
now invented against me. And now to put me to stand to
the order and judgment of this court, seems very unreason-
able. For you may condemn me for want of being able to
answer for myself; as having no council, but such as you
assigned me; who cannot be indifferent on my part, since
they are your own subjects, and such as you have taken, and
chosen out of your own council ; whereunto they are privy,
and dare not disclose your will, and intent. Therefore I
humbly pray you, to spare me, until I may know, what
council my friends in Spain will advise me to take: and if
you will not, then your pleasure be fulfilled. And zvith
that she rose up, and departed, never more appearing in any
court.
King Henry the VHIth's Speech upon the Queen's depart-
ure out of the Court.
I will now, in her absence, declare this unto you all, That
she has been unto me as true and obedient a wife, as I could
wish, or desire. She has all the virtuous qualities, that
THE DIVORCE QUESTION 231
ought to be in a woman of her dignity, or in any other of
mean condition. She is also surely a noble woman born :
Her condition will well declare it.
The Speech of Queen Katherine to Cardinal Campeius, and
Wolsey, they being sent by the king.
My lords, I cannot answer you so suddenly; for I was
set, among my maids, at work, little thinking of any such
matter; wherein there needs a longer deliberation, and a
better head than mine, to make answer. For I have need
of council in this case, which concerns me so near : and for
any council, or friends that I can find in England, they are
not for my profit. For it is not likely that any Englishman
will council me, or be a friend to me against the king's
pleasure, since they are his subjects; and for my council, in
which I may trust, they are in Spain.
The Speech of Cardinal Campeius, upon King Henry the
VHIth's calling for judgment.
I will not give judgment, till I have made relation to the
pope of all our proceedings; whose council, and command,
I will observe. The matter is too high for us to give an
hasty judgment, considering the highness of the persons,
and doubtfulness of the case ; and also whose commissioners
we be, under whose authority we sit. It were therefore
reason that we should make our chief head a council in the
same, before we proceed to a definitive sentence. I came
not to please, for favour, need, or dread, of any person alive,
be he king, or otherwise. I have no such respect to the
person, that I will offend my conscience. I will not, for
the favour or disfavour of any high estate, do that thing,
which shall be against the will of God. / am an old man,
(both weak and sickly) that look daily for death. I will
not wade any farther in this matter, until I have the opinion
and assent of the pope.
(From Sonters' Collection of Tracts, ed. by Walter Scott, Lond., 1809, I, p. 33.
1 06. The Divorce Proceedings announced to the House of Commons
(1531)
Parliamentary History
On March 30, 1531, the Lord Chancellor, together with a
committee of Lords Spiritual and Temporal, went to the House
of Commons, where the Chancellor opened the proceedings with
a brief speech announcing the reason of the visit. There is a
2 3 2 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
grim humour in the king's self-accusation of incestuous union,
and the subserviency of the consulted authorities is an object-
lesson of the time. The object of the communication is set forth
in the concluding sentences of the extract, but it may be doubted
if the purpose was accomplished.
"You of this worshipful House,
"I am sure you be not so ignorant but you know well that
the Kyng our Soveraign Lorde hath maried his Brother's
Wyfe; for she was both wedded and bedded with his Brother
Prince Arthur, and therefore you may surely say that he
hath maried his Brother's Wyfe, if this Mariage be good as
so many Clerkes do doubt; Wherefore the Kyng, like a vir-
tuous Prince, willing to be satisfied in his Conscience, and
also for the Suretie of his Realme, hath, with great Delibera-
tion, consulted with great Clerkes, and hath sent my Lorde
of London, here present, to the chiefe Universities of all
Christendome, to know their Opinion and Judgment in that
Behalf. And altho' the Universities of Cambryge and Ox-
forde had been sufficient to discusse the Cause, yet, because
they be in this Realme, and to avoyde all Suspicion of Par-
tiality, he hath sent into the Realme of France, Italy, the
Pope's Dominions, and Venetians, to know their Judgment
in that Behalf; which have concluded, written, and sealed
their Determinations, accordyng as you shall heare red."
Then Sir Brian Tuke took out of a Box twelve Writings
sealed, and read them before the House as they were trans-
lated into the English Tongue.
Next follows, in Hall, the Judgment of the Foreign Uni-
versities ; which were those of Paris, Orleans, Anjou, Bruges,
Bononia, and Padua, at Length. These being somewhat
foreign to our Purpose, \ve shall therefore content ourselves
with observing, That the Question put to these learned So-
cieties was, Whether the Pope's Dispensation for a Brother's
marrying a Brother's Wife, after Consummation with her
former Husband, was valid or not? Which, as the Question
was stated, they all gave in the Negative.
These Determinations being all read in the House, there
were produced abouve an hundred different Books, wrote by
foreign Civilians and Divines, against the Lawfulness of the
Marriage; which, says Hall, because the Day was far spent,
were not read. Then the Chancellor again said, "Now you
of this Commen House may reporte in your Countries what
you have scene and heard; and then all Men shall openly
THE DIVORCE QUESTION 233
perceyve that the Kyng hath not attempted this Matter of
Wyll or Pleasure, as some Straungers reporte, but only for
the Discharge of his Conscience, and Suretie of the Succes-
sion of his Realme. This is the Cause of our Repayre hyther
to you, and now we wyl departe."
(Parliamentary History, 2nd ed., Lond., 1763. Vol. Ill, p. 81.)
CHAPTER XV
HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH
107. Payment of Annates to the Pope forbidden
Parliamentary History
The struggle between Henry VIII. and the Pope on the ques-
tion of divorce caused the king to assume the headship of the
Catholic Church in England and to take that church from papal
control. The first important step was taken in 1531 when the
clergy were compelled to address Henry as "Head of the Church
and Clergy so far as the law of Christ will allow."
The second was the act restraining the payment of annates to
the pope. The selection given contains a summary of this act.
Its language should be compared with the other anti-papal
statutes contained in this chapter. They in turn should be read
in connection with those given in Chapters XI, XVII, XVIII,
and XIX. The acts given in these and preceding chapters
furnish material for the study of the development of the inde-
pendent Church of England.
This year also an Act passed, concerning Annates, or the
First-Fruits of Bishoprics, paid usually to the See of Rome,
for the obtaining of Palls, Bulls, etc., the Preamble and Con-
sideration whereof was, as appears in the Records, i. The
great Sums of Money already passed out of the Kingdom
that Way, being no less than 160,000 / Sterling, since the
second Year of Henry VII. 2. That more was likely to be
shortly transported, by reason many of the Bishops are aged.
3. That the first Use and Grant of them was for maintaining
Arms against Infidels. So that it was enacted, That they
should henceforth cease, and no Money to be paid to Rome
to that Intent, except as is hereafter specified, viz. Lest the
Court of Rome should think themselves irremunerated for
their Pain in making and sealing Bulls in Lead, etc., it was
ordained, That there may be allowed for the said Bulls Five
Pounds in the Hundred, according to the Rate of each
Bishopric's clear Value above all Charges. And if any
Man, being chosen to a Bishopric, and presented by the
234
HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 235
King to the Pope, shall hereupon find any Lett or Hinder-
ance, by Restraint of his Bulls, upon convenient Suit for
the same, then he may be named and presented by the
King's Highness to the Archbishop of the Province, who
shall consecrate him ; or, the said Archbishop delaying,
under Pretence of wanting Pall, Bull, etc., the Person so
named shall be consecrated, and invested by any two Bishops
of the Land whom the King shall appoint thereto; and shall
be held and reputed thereafter as a compleat Bishop. But
of this Act we shall speak again, when we come to the 25th
Year of the King: For though it passed the Parliament now,
and the King gave his Assent thereto, yet Power was re-
served for him to annul or confirm the same any Time within
two Years next following.
Moreover, in this Statute, the King and his Parliament de-
clare, That they do not intend to use any Extremity or
Violence, before gentle and courteous Ways have been at-
tempted: But it shall please the King to propose an amicable
Composition to the Pope, and his Holliness shall be content
either to abolish or moderate those Annates, then the Com-
positions, so made, to stand firm : But if, upon the said
amicable Propositions, the Realm cannot be disburdened, and
that, for the Continuance of the same, the Pope shall un-
justly vex and disquiet the King or his Subjects by any Ex-
communication, etc., be it then enacted, by the Authority
aforesaid, That the King's Highness, his Heirs and Succes-
sors, Kings of England, and all his Spiritual and Lay Sub-
jects of the same, without any Scruple of Conscience, shall
and may lawfully, to the Honour of Almighty God, the In-
crease and Continuance of Virtue and good Example within
this Realm (the said Censures, Excommunications, Inter-
dictions, Compulsories, or any of them, notwithstanding),
minister, or cause to be ministered, throughout this said Re-
alm, and all other the Dominions and Territories belonging
or appertaining thereunto, all and all Manner of Sacraments,
Sacramentals, Ceremonies, or other Divine Service of Holy
Church, or any other Thing or Things necessary for the
Health of the Soul of Mankind, as they heretofore, at any
Time or Times, have been virtuously used or accustomed to
do within the same. And that no Manner of such Censures,
Excommunications, Interdictions, or any other Process or
Compulsories shall by any of the Prelates, or other Spiritual
Fathers of this Realm, nor by any of their Ministers or
2j6 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Substitutes, be at any Time or Times hereafter published,
executed, or divulged, in any Manner of Ways.
(Parliamentary History, ed. cit., Ill, p. 88.)
108. Appeals to Rome prohibited
(1533)
Parliamentary History
The following Act was a further severance of the Church of
England from the domination of the See of Rome, restraining
the Canonical Courts from carrying appeals to the Pope. The
terse comment at the end, written by the author of the portion
of the History from which the Act is quoted, well sums up the
motive for the action taken.
That no Appeals should be made out of this Realm for
these Reasons, viz. That whereas the Kingdom of England
was a just Empire, furnished with such able Persons, both
Spiritual and Temporal, as could decide all Controversies
arising in it : And whereas Edward I. Edward III. Richard
II. Henry IV. and other Kings of this Realm, had made
sundry Ordinances, Laws, and Statutes, for the Conservation
of the Prerogative, Liberties, and Pre-eminences of the said
Imperial Crown, and of the Jurisdictions Spiritual and Tem-
poral of the same, to keep it from the Annoyance of the See
of Rome, as also from the Authority of other foreign
Potentates attempting the Diminution or Violation thereof:
And because, notwithstanding the said Acts, divers Appeals
have been sued to the See of Rome in Causes Testamentary,
Causes of Matrimony and Divorce, Right of Tythes, Ob-
lations and Obvertions, to the great Vexation and Charge
of the King's Highness and his Subjects, and the Delay of
Justice ; and forasmuch as the Distance of the Way to Rome
is such, as the necessary Proofs and true Knowledge of the
Cause cannot be brought thither, and represented so well as
in this Kingdom, and that therefore many Persons be with-
out Remedy, it is therefore enacted, That all Causes Testa-
mentary, Causes of Matrimony and Divorces, Tythes, Obla-
tions, and Obventions, either commenced or depending form-
erly, or which hereafter shall commence in any of. the
King's Dominions, shall be heard, discussed, and definitively
determined within the King's Jurisdiction and Authority in the
Courts Spiritual and Temporal of the same, any foreign Inhi-
bition or Restraints to the contrary notwithstanding: So that,
altho' any Excommunication or Interdiction on this Occasion
should follow from that See, the Prelates and Clergy of this
HENRY Fill. AND THE CHURCH 237
Realm should administer Sacraments, and say Divine Serv-
ice, and do all other their Duties, as formerly hath been
used, upon Penalty of One Year's Imprisonment, and Fine at
the King's Pleasure ; and they who procured the said Sen-
tences should fall into a Prccmunirc. As for the Orders to
be observed henceforth, it was enacted, That in Suits com-
menced before the Arch-Deacon or his Officials, Appeal
might be made to the Bishop of the said See ; and from
thence, within fifteen Days, to the Archbishop of Canter-
bury, or Archbishop of York, respectively in their Provinces,
and so likewise to the Archbishops in the King's other Do-
minions. Or if Suit be commenced before the Arch-Deacon
or any Archbishop or his Commissaries, then appeal may be
made within fifteen Days to the Court of Arches, and so to
the Archbishops without further Appeal : In all which Cases
the Prerogative of the Archbishop and Church of Canter-
bury was reserved. That if any Suit arose betwix the King
and his Subjects, Appeal might be made within fifteen Days
to the Prelates of the Upper House in the Convocation then
sitting, or next called by the King's Writ, there to be finally
determined: And that they who shall take out any Appeal
contrary to the Effect of this Act, or refuse to obey it, they,
their Adherents, and Counsellors, shall incur the Penalty
of the Statute of 16 Richard II. And it is natural to sup-
pose, that the Spirituality, finding the Power, invested for-
merly in the Pope, to be devolved now in great part on them,
did more easily suffer the Diminution of Papal Authority.
(Parliamentary History, ei cit., Ill, p. 93.)
109. Henry's Attitude toward Heretics
(25 HENRY VIII., c. 14, 1533-34)
Statutes at Large of England
Henry's laws against heretics were intended to strike a blow
at the exercise of the papal power in England, but they also
show that his antagonism was against the headship of the Pope
and not against the prevailing faith. To Henry, the Church
of Rome was the true Church; he cherished the idea that he
could in England take the place hitherto held by the Pope, and
yet preserve the doctrines of the Church in their entirety. He
was therefore as severe in his enactments against heretics as in
those against traitors.
AN ACT FOR PUNISHMENT OF HERESY
I. (Preamble.)
II. And nevertheless forasmuch as the most foul and de-
testable crime of heresy should not hereafter grow and in-
238 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
crease, but utterly be abhorred, detested, and eradicate, nor
that any heretics should be favoured, but that they should
have condign and sufficient punishment, and for the repres-
sion of heretics and such erroneous opinions in time coming:
be it established, ordained, and enacted by the authority of
this present Parliament, that the statute made in the fifth
year of your noble progenitor King Richard the Second, and
the statute made in the second year of King Henry the Fifth
[Fourth], concerning punishment and reformation of Here-
tics and Lollards, and every provision therein contained, not
being repugnant to this Act, shall be, and stand, in their
force, strength, and effect.
Sheriffs in their turns, and Stewards in their leets, rapes,
and wapentakes, shall have authority to inquire of heretics;
and every such presentment made in any turn, leet, etc., con-
cerning heretics, shall be certified to the Ordinary. Every
person presented or indicted of any heresy, or duly accused
by two lawful witnesses, may be cited, arrested, or taken by
an Ordinary, or other of the King's subjects, and committed
to the Ordinary, to answer in open court, and being convicted
shall abjure his heresies, and refusing so to do, or falling
into relapse, shall be burned in an open place for example of
others.
HI. VI.
VII. And where the great number of the King's subjects
having little or no knowledge of letters have been put in opin-
ion, that by divers laws, decrees, ordinances, and constitu-
tions heretofore made by the bishop of Rome, called the Pope,
and his predecessors, or by their authorities, for the ad-
vancement of their worldly glory and ambition, every man
that in any thing speaketh or doth against the said pre-
tended power or authority of the same bishop of Rome, or
any of the said laws, decrees, ordinances, and constitutions,
standeth in danger and is impeachable of heresy; which ef-
fect or matter, nor any such laws, decrees, ordinances, or
constitutions, not approved and confirmed by Holy Scripture,
was never commonly accepted or confirmed to be any law of
God or man within this realm. "No speaking, doing, com-
munication, or holding against the Pope, nor any speaking,
doing, communication, or holding against any laws called
spiritual laws, made by authority of the See of Rome, re-
pugnant to the laws and statutes of this realm or the King's
prerogative royal, shall be reputed heresy, or punishable as
such." ''Persons accused or indicted of heresy may be let to
HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 239
bail by the Ordinaries, or by two justices of peace, except
the Ordinary declare to the King's Council a reasonable
cause why they should not be bailed."
(Ed. from Statutes at Large of England and Great Britain, Lond., 1811.
Ill, p. 156.)
1 10. Submission of the Clergy
(25 HENRY VIII., c. 19, 1533-34)
Statutes at Large of England.
In the following Act, Henry practically assumes dominion
over the English Church. Sections I, II, and VII were recited
in a later Act and continued for three years. Later again,
similar provisions were made, to endure for the life of the king.
The effect of these enactments was to legally vest in the king
that appellate jurisdiction which had hitherto been the prero-
gative of the Pope, and to abolish the control of convocations
over ecclesiastical affairs.
AN ACT FOR THE SUBMISSION OF THE CLERGY TO THE KING'S
MAJESTY
I. Where the King's humble and obedient subjects, the
clergy of this realm of England, have not only acknowledged
according to the truth, that the convocations of the same
clergy are always, hath been, and ought to be, assembled only
by the King's writ, but also submitting themselves to the
King's Majesty, have promised in vcrbo sacerdocii that they
will never from henceforth presume to attempt, allege, claim,
or put in use, or enact, promulgate or execute any new can-
ons, constitutions, ordinance provincial or other, or by what-
soever other name they shall be called in the convocation,
unless the King's most royal assent and license may to them
be had, to make, promulgate, and execute the same, and that
his Majesty do give his most royal assent and authority in
that behalf: And whereas divers constitutions, ordinances,
and canons, provincial or synodal, which heretofore have
been enacted, and be thought not only to be much preju-
dicial to the King's prerogative royal, and repugnant to the
laws and statutes of this realm, but also overmuch onerous
to his Highness and his subjects ; the said clergy have most
humbly besought the King's Highness that the said con-
stitutions and canons may be committed to the examination
and judgment of his Highness, and of two-and-thirty per-
sons of the King's subjects, whereof sixteen to be of the
Upper and Nether House of the Parliament of the tempo-
ralty, and the other sixteen to be of the clergy of this realm ;
and all the said two-and-thirty persons to be chosen and
2 4 o SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
appointed by the King's Majesty; and that such of the said
constitutions and canons as shall be thought and determined
by the said two-and-thirty persons, or the more part of them,
worthy to be abrogated and annulled, shall be abolished and
made of no value accordingly ; and such other of the same
constitutions and canons as by the said two-and-thirty, or
the more part of them, shall be approved to stand with the
laws of God and consonant to the laws of this realm, shall
stand in their full strength and power, the King's most royal
assent being first had and obtained to the same : Be it there-
fore now enacted by authority of this present Parliament
according to the said submission and petition of the said
clergy, that they, nor any of them from henceforth, shall
presume to attempt, allege, claim, or put in use any constitu-
tions or ordinance, provincial or synodal, or any other can-
ons, nor shall enact, promulgate, or execute any such canons,
constitutions, or ordinances provincial, by whatsoever name
or names they may be called, in their convocations in time
coming (which always shall be assembled by authority of
the King's writ) unless the same clergy may have the King's
most royal assent and license to make, promulgate, and
execute such canons, constitutions, and ordinances, provin-
cial or synodal ; upon pain of every one of the said clergy
doing contrary to this Act, and being thereof convicted, to
suffer imprisonment, and make fine at the King's will.
II. And forasmuch as such canons, constitutions, and or-
dinances, as heretofore have been made by the clergy of this
realm, cannot now at the session of this present Parliament,
by reason of shortness of time, be viewed, examined, and
determined by the King's Highness and thirty-two persons
to be chosen and appointed according to the petition of the
said clergy in form above rehearsed ; Be it therefore enacted
by authority aforesaid, That the King's Highness shall have
power and authority to nominate and assign, at his pleasure,
the said two-and-thirty persons of his subjects, whereof six-
teen [are] to be of the clergy and sixteen to be of the tempo-
ralty of the Upper and Nether House of the Parliament ; and
if any of the said two-and thirty persons so chosen shall hap-
pen to die before their full determination, then his Highness
to nominate other from time to time of the said two Houses
of the Parliament, to supply the number of the said two-and-
thirty; and that the same two-and-thirty, by his Highness
.so to be named, shall have poxver and authority to view,
search, and examine the said canons, constitutions, and or-
HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 241
dinances, provincial and synodal heretofore made ; and such
of them as the King's Highness and the said two-and-thirty,
or the more part of them, shall deem and adjudge worthy to
be continued, kept, and obeyed, shall be from thenceforth
kept, obeyed, and executed within this realm, so that the
King's most royal assent under his great seal be first had
to the same; and the residue of the said canons, constitu-
tions, and ordinances provincial which the King's Highness,
and the said two-and-thirty persons, or the more part of
them, shall not approve, or deem and judge worthy to be
abolished, abrogated, and made frustrate, shall from thence-
forth be void and of none effect, and never be put in execu-
tion within this realm. Provided always, That no canons,
constitutions, or ordinances shall be made or put in execution
within this realm by authority of the convocation of the
clergy, which shall be contrary or repugnant to the King's
prerogative royal, or the customs, laws, or statutes of this
realm ; anything contained in this Act to the contrary hereof
notwithstanding.
III. And be it further enacted by authority aforesaid,
That from the feast of Easter, which shall be in the year of
our Lord God one thousand five hundred and thirty-four, no
manner of appeals shall be had provoked or made out of this
realm, or out of any of the King's dominions, to the bishop of
Rome, nor to the See of Rome, in any causes or matters
happening to be in contention, and having their commence-
ment and beginning in any of the courts within this realm,
or within any of the King's dominions, of what nature, con-
dition, or quality soever they be of; but that all manner of
appeals, of what nature or condition soever they be of, or
what cause or matter soever they concern, shall be made and
had by the parties aggrieved or having cause of appeal,
after such manner, form, and condition as is limited for
appeals to be had and prosecuted within this realm in causes
of matrimony, tithes, oblations, and obventions, by a statute
thereof made and established since the beginning of this
present Parliament, and according to the form and effect
of the said statute ; any usage, custom, prescription, or any
thing or things to the contrary hereof notwithstanding.
IV. And for lack of justice at or in any the courts of
the archbishops of this realm, or in any the King's do-
minions, it shall be lawful to the parties grieved, to appeal
to the King's Majesty in the King's Court of Chancery; and
that upon every such appeal, a commission shall be directed
2\2 SOURCE-BOOK OF EXGLISIl HISTORY
under the Great Seal to such persons as shall be named by
the King's Highness, his heirs or successors, like as in case
of appeal from the Admiral's Court, to hear and definitively
determine such appeals, and the causes concerning the same :
Which commissioners, so by the King's Highness, his heirs
or successors, to be named or appointed, shall have full
power and authority to hear and definitively determine every
such appeal, with the causes and all circumstances concern-
ing the same; and that such judgment and sentence as the
said commissioners shall make and decree in and upon any
such appeal shall be good and effectual, and also definitive;
and no further appeals to be had or made from the said com-
missioners for the same.
V. And if any person or persons, at any time after the
said feast of Easter, provoke or sue any manner of appeals,
of what nature or condition soever they be, to the said bishop
of Rome, or to the See of Rome, or do procure or execute
any manner of process from the See of Rome, or by authority
thereof, to the derogation or let of the due execution of this
Act, or contrary to the same, that then every such person or
persons so doing, their aiders, councillors, and abettors, shall
incur and run into the dangers, pains, and penalties con-
tained and limited in the Act of Provision and Prccmunire
made in the sixteenth year of the King's most noble pro-
genitor, King Richard the Second, against such as sue to the
court of Rome against the King's crown and prerogative
royal.
VI. Provided always, That all manner of provocations and
appeals hereafter to be had, made, or taken from the juris-
diction of any abbots, priors, or other heads and governors of
monasteries, abbeys, priories, and other houses and places
exempt, in such cases as they were wont or might afore
the making of this Act, by reason of grants or liberties of
such places exempt, to have or make immediately any appeal
of provocation to the bishop of Rome, otherwise called Pope,
or to the See of Rome, that in all these cases every person
and persons, having cause of appeal or provocation, shall
and may take and make their appeals and provocations im-
mediately to the King's Majesty of this realm, into the Court
of Chancery, in like manner and form as they used afore to
do to the See of Rome; which appeals and provocations so
made shall be definitively determined by authority of the
King's commission, in such manner and form as in this Act
is above-mentioned; so that no archbishop nor bishop of this
HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 243
realm shall intermit or meddle with any such appeals, other-
wise or in any other manner than they might have done be-
fore the making of this Act; any thing in this Act to the
contrary thereof notwithstanding.
VII. Provided also, That such canons, constitutions, or-
dinances, and synodals provincial being already made, which
be not contrary or repugnant to the laws, statutes, and cus-
toms of this realm, nor to the damage or hurt of the King's
prerogative royal, shall now still be used and executed as
they were before the making of this Act, till such time as
they be viewed, searched, or otherwise ordered or determined
by the said two-and-thirty persons, or the more part of them,
according to the tenor, form, and effect of this Present Act.
(Ed. from Statutes at Large, ed. cit., Ill, p. 162.)
in. The Act of Supremacy
(26 HBNRY VIII, c. i, 1535)
Statutes at Large of England
The Act of Supremacy was little more than an ex post facto
announcement, yet it had far-reaching effect. It left no ground
for retreat; the position so assumed must be at all hazards
maintained.
THE KING'S GRACE TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED SUPREME HEAD
Albeit the king's majesty justly and rightfully is and
ought to be the supreme head of the Church of England, and
so is recognized by the clergy of this realm in their con-
vocations, yet nevertheless for corroboration and confirma-
tion thereof, and for increase of virtue in Christ's religion
within this realm of England, and to repress and extirp all
errors, heresies, and other enormities and abuses heretofore
used in the same : Be it enacted by authority of this present
Parliament, that the king our sovereign lord, his heirs and
successors, kings of this realm, shall be taken, accepted, and
reputed the only supreme head in earth of the Church of Eng-
land, called Anglicana Ecclesia; and shall have and enjoy,
annexed- and united to the imperial crown of this realm, as
well the title and style thereof, as all honours, dignities, pre-
eminencies, jurisdictions, privileges, authorities, immunities,
profits, and commodities, to the said dignity of supreme head
of the same church belonging and appertaining.
And that our said sovereign lord, his heirs and successors,
kings of this realm, shall have full power and authority from
time to time to visit, repress, redress, reform, order, correct,
restrain, and amend all such errors, heresies, abuses, of-
244 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
fences, contempts, and enormities, whatsoever they be, whicr
by any manner spiritual authority or jurisdiction ought or
may lawfully be reformed, repressed, ordered, redressed, cor-
rected, restrained, or amended, most to the pleasure of Al-
mighty God, the increase of virtue in Christ's religion, and for
the conservation of the peace, unity, and tranquility of this
realm ; and usage, custom, foreign laws, foreign authority,
prescription, or any other thing or things to the contrary
hereof notwithstanding.
(Ed. from Statutes at Large, ed. cit., Ill, p. 187.)
112. Denial of the Authority of the Pope
(28 HENRY VIII., c. 10, 1536-37)
Statutes at Large of England
The absolute renunciation of all allegiance to the See of Rome
was the natural corollary to the Act of Supremacy, and the Act
containing this renunciation is one of the shortest in the statute
books. Yet its meaning was unmistakable, and it gave promise
of stern determination. The Act was repealed by the general
words of I and II. Philip and Mary, c. VIII ; but it was after-
ward practically re-affirmed by Elizabeth.
AN ACT EXTINGUISHING THE AUTHORITY OF THE BISHOP OF
ROME
If any person shall extol the authority of the bishop of
Rome, he shall incur the penalty of prccmunirc provided by
Stat. 16 R. 2 c. 5. Every ecclesiastical and lay officer shall
be sworn to renounce the said bishop and his authority, and
to resist it to his power, and to repute any oath taken in
maintenance of the said bishop, or his authority, to be void ;
and the- refusing of the said oath, being tendered, shall be
adjudged high treason.
(Ed. from Statutes at Large, ed. cit., Ill, p. 262.)
113. The Dissolution of the Monasteries
(27 HENRY VIII, c. 28, 1535-36)
Statutes at Large of England
The dissolution of the lesser monasteries was a severe blow
to the Church of Rome. The following Act sets forth the reasons
assigned for the suppression of these houses, as well as the de-
termination that they shall be suppressed. It will be noted that
the greater monasteries are highly spoken of; the good faith of
the statements can be judged by the subsequent destruction of
the last citadels of the old faith.
HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 245
AN ACT THAT ALL RELIGIOUS HOUSES UNDER THE YEARLY
REVENUE OF TWO HUNDRED POUNDS SHALL BE DISSOLVED
AND GIVEN TO THE KING AND HIS HEIRS.
"Forasmuch as manifest synne, vicious, carnal, and abom-
inable Living is daily used and committed commonly in such
little and small Abbeys, Priories, and other Religious Houses
of Monks, Canons, and Nuns, where the Congregation of
such Religious Persons is under the Number of twelve Per-
sons, whereby the Governors of such Religios Houses and
their Covent spoyle, destroye, consume, and utterly waste,
as well their Churches, Monasteries, Priories, principal
Houses, Farms, Granges, Lands, Tenements, and Heridita-
ments, as the Ornaments of their Churches, and their Goods
and Chattels, to the high Displeasure of Almighty God,
Slander of good Religion, and to the great Infamy of the
King's Highness and the Realm, if Redress should not be had
thereof. And albeit that many continual Visitations hath
been heretofore had, by the Space of two hundred Years
and more, for an honest and charitable Reformation of such
unthrifty, carnal, and abominable living, yet nevertheless
little or none amendment is hitherto had, but their vicious
living shamelessly increaseth and augmenteth, and by a
cursed Custom so rooted and infected, that a great Multitude
of the Religious Persons in such small Houses do rather
choose to rove abroad in Apostacy, than to conform them-
selves to the Observation of good Religion ; so that, without
such small Houses be utterly suppressed, and the Religious
Persons therein committed to great and honourable Monas-
teries of Religion in this Realm, where they may be com-
pelled to live religiously, for Reformation of their lives, the
same else be no Redress nor Reformation in that Behalf. In
Consideration whereof, the King's most Royal Majesty being
supreme Head on Earth, under God, of the Church of Eng-
land, dayly studying and devysing the Increase, Advance-
ment, and Exaltation of true Doctrine and Virtue in the said
Church, to the only Glory and Honour of God, and the total
extirping and Dystruction of Vice and Sin, having Knowl-
edge that the Premisses be true, as well by the Accompts of
his late Visitations, as by sundry credible Informations,
considering also that diverse and great solemn Monasteries
of this Realm, wherein (Thanks be to God) Religion is
right well kept and observed, be destitute of such full Num-
ber of Religious Persons, as they ought and may keep, hath
246 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
thought good that a plain Declaration should be made of
the Premisses, as well to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal,
as to other his loving Subjects the Commons, in this present
Parliament assembled: Whereupon the said Lords and
Commons, by a great Deliberation, finally be resolved, that
it is and shall be much more to the Pleasure of Almighty
God, and for the Honour of this his Realm, that the Pos-
sessions of such small Religious Houses, now being spent,
spoiled, and wasted for Increase and Maintenance of Sin.
should be used and committed to better Uses, and the un-
thrifty Religious Persons, so spending the same, to be com-
pelled to reform their Lives." And thereupon most humbly
desire the King's Highness that it may be enacted by Au-
thority of this present Parliament, That his Majesty shall
have and enjoy to him and his Heirs for ever, all and singu-
lar such Monasteries, Priories, and other Religious Houses
of Monks, Canons, and Nuns, of what kinds of Diversities
of Habits, Rules, or Order soever they be called or named,
which have not in Lands, Tenements, Rents, Tithes, Por-
tions, and other Hereditaments above the clear yearly Value
of two hundred Pounds. And in like manner shall have and
enjoy all the Sites and Circuits of every such Religious
Houses, and all and singular the Manors, Granges, Meases,
Lands, Tenements, Rents, Reversions, Services , Tithes, Pen-
sions, Portions, Churches, Chapels, Advowsons, Patronages,
Annuities, Rights, Entries, Conditions, and other Heredita-
ments appertaining or belonging to every such Monastery,
Priory, or other Religious House, not having, as is afore
said, above the said clear yearly Value of two hundred
Pound, in as large and ample manner as the Abbots, Priors,
Abbesses, Prioresses, and other Governors of such Monas-
teries, Priories, and other Religious Houses now have or
ought to have the same in the right of their Houses. And
that also his Highness shall have to him and to his Heirs
all and singular such Monasteries, Abbeys, and Priories
which at any Time within one Year next before the making of
this Act hath been given and granted to his Majesty by any
Abbot, Prior, Abbess, or Prioress, under their Covent Seals,
or that otherwise hath been suppressed or dissolved, and all
and singular the Manors, Lands, Tenements, Rents, Services,
Reversions, Tithes, Pensions, Portions, Churches, Chapels,
Advowsons, Patronages, Rights, Entries, Conditions, and all
other Interests and Hereditaments to the same Monasteries,
Abbeys, and Priories, or to any of them appertaining or be-
HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 2*7
longing; to have and to hold all and singular the Premisses
with all their Rights, . Jurisdictions, and Commodities, unto
the King's Majesty, and his Heirs and Assigns for ever, to
do and use therewith his and their own Wills, to the Pleasure
of Almighty God, and to the Honour and Profit of this
Realm. (Ed. from Statutes at Large, ed. cit., Ill, p. 256.)
114. Confession made with Surrender of a Monastery
Records, Burnet
When the monasteries were surrendered, their heads were in-
duced by promises or threats to make confessions justifying the
action of the king. The document given is typical of the rest,
and its veracity is at least questionable, however the falsehood
may have been excused by the necessities of the case.
Forasmuch as we, Richard Green, abbot of our monastery
of our blessed Lady St. Mary of Betlesden, and the convent
of the said monastery, do profoundly consider, That the
whole manner and trade of living, which we and our pre-
tensed religion have practised, and used many days, does
most principally consist in certain dumb ceremonies, and
other certain constitutions of the bishops of Rome, and other
forinsecal potentates, as the abbot of Cistins, and therein only
noseled, and not taught in the true knowledge of God's
laws, procuring always exemptions of the bishops of Rome
from our ordinaries and diocesans : submitting ourselves
principally to forinsecal potentates and powers, which never
came here to reform such disorders of living and abuses, as
now have been found to have reigned among us. And there-
fore now assuredly knowing, that the most perfect way of
living is principally and sufficiently declared unto us by our
master Christ, his evangelists and apostles, and that it is
most expedient for us to be governed and ordered by our
Supreme Head, under God, the king's most noble grace, with
our mutual assent and consent, submit ourselves, and every
one of us, to the most benign mercy of the king's majesty;
and by these presents do surrender, etc.
(Collection of Records in vol. II, p. LXVII, History of the Reformation of the
Church of England, G. Burnet, Lond., 1880.)
115. Directions for Visitation of Monasteries
Records, Burnet
Before a religious house was suppressed if was visited and
inspected. The general directions to the king's agents are given
in the important document given below. This is presented in
full because of its great value in describing the ideal manage-
2 4 S SOURCE-BOOK OP ENGLISH HISTORY
ment of a monastery and its implication of prevailing irregulari-
ties.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE GENERAL VISITATION OF THE
MONASTERIES
Articnli Regicc Inqisitionis, in Monasticam vitam agcntcs,
cxponcndi, ct pracipuc in cxcmptos a jurisdictione Dioccc-
sana, jam tantum Regie? Majcstati et ejus jurisdictioni sub-
ditos ct subjcctos, ac hujus inclyti sui Rcgni Statntis ct legi-
bus, nullisq; aliis pcnitus, obnoxios ct astrictos.
1. In primis, Whether divine service be solemnly sung-,
said, observed, and kept, in this monastery, according to the
number and the abilities thereof, by night and by day, in due
time and hours ? and how many be present commonly at
mattins, and other service, and who be absent, and so accus-
tomed to be, without cause or sickness?
2. Item, How many monks, canons regulars, or nuns, be
within this monastery, and how many there ought to be,
and whether the number be complete according to the foun-
der's will, or the statutes, ordinances, and laudible custom of
this house; and whether the number be augmented or dimin-
ished now of late?
3. Item, Who were the first founders of this house?
Fundationem primam, sccundam, tertiam, ct quot-
quot habcnt, exhibcant.
4. Item, Whether this house hath had any increase of
lands given to it sithence the first foundation thereof? by
whom ? by how many ? and when ?
5. Item, To what sum of money those revenues and
rents of this house do extend and amount unto yearly.
6. Item, Whether this house was ever translated from
one habit and order to another? by whose authority? and
for what cause ?
Translationem exhibcant.
7. Item, How the lands and possessions appertaining unto
this monastery, given by the first founder, and all other
lands given sithence the first foundation, were granted;
given, and established, and so first brought to morte main?
whether by the only authority of the giver, or by the author-
ization of the prince for that time reigning, and by what
tenor and form ye hold them?
Donationem ct Confirmationem exhibeant.
HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 249
8. Item, What evidence have you to show for all and sin-
gular your lands, manors, tenements, and other your posses
sons mortisate, and given unto you, and this your monas-
tery?
9. Item, Wherefore, for what causes and considerations
ye were exempt from your diocesan ? and what was your
suggestion and motive at the obtaining of your said exemp-
tion?
Exemptionem exhibeant.
10. Item, Whether ye have any private, peculiar, or local
statutes, confirmations, ordinances, or rules, made only for
the behoof, good order, and singular weal of this house, be-
sides the rules of your profession ? and whether they were
made either by your founders before your exemption, or by
the good fathers of this house, with the whole consent of the
brethren, being sinneth your exemption; to what use they
were made, and how ye observe them?
Statuta ilia localia, et alia quotquot habent, exhibeant.
11. Item, By what way and form the master of this house
was elected and chosen? And whether all the brethren
having, or ought to have by the law, statutes, or laudable
custom of this house, voices in the election, were present
in the same election, or lawfully called or cited to it?
12. Item, Whether any persons excommunicate, suspended,
or interdicted, did give voices in the same election?
13. Item, Within what time after the election was made
and done, the master of this house was confirmed? and by
whom ?
14. Item, Whether unto the confirmation, all that had in-
terest, or that would object against the same, were lawfully
cited, monished, and called?
Exhibeat Electionem, Confirmationem, et Titu-
lum SU<B Incumbentice.
15. Item, What rule the master of this house, and other
the brethren, do profess ?
1 6. Item, How many be professed, and how many be
novices ; and whether the novices have like habit, or use to
wear an habit distinct from the habit of the brethren pro-
fessed?
17. Item, Whether ye do use to profess your novices in due
250 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
time, and within what time and space after they have taken
the habit upon them?
18. Item, Whether the brethren of this house do know the
rule that they have professed, and whether they keep their
profession according to that their rule and custom of this
house; an in especial, the three substantial and principal
vows, that is to say, poverty, chastity, and obedience.
19. Item, Whether any of the brethren use any propriety
of money or of plate in their chambers ; or of any other
manner thing unwarre of the master, and without his knowl-
edge and license, or by his sufferance and knowledge ? and
for what cause?
20. )
21. V [These relate to questions of chastity.]
22. )
23. Item, Whether the brethren of this house keep their
obedience, being ready at their master's commandment, in
all things honest, lawful, and reasonable ?
Sequuntur Regular Cccrcmonialcs.
24. Item, Whether ye do keep silence in the church,
cloister, fraitry, and dormitory, at the hours and time spe-
cified in your rule?
25. Item, Whether ye do keep fasting and abstinence, ac-
cording to your rules, statutes, ordinances, and laudable
customs of this house ?
26. Item, Whether ye abstain from flesh in time of Ad-
vent, and other times declared and specified by the law, rules,
and laudable customs of this house?
27. Item, Whether ye wear shirts and sheets of woollen,
or that ye have any constitution, ordinance, or dispensation,
granted or made to the contrary, by sufficient and lawful
authority?
Profitentes Regulam Benedicts quam arctissime
tenentur ad pradicta Cccremonialia obser-
vanda.
28. Item, Whether ye do sleep altogether in the dormitory,
under one roof, or not?
29. Item, Whether ye have all separate beds, or any one
of you doth lay with another ?
30. Item, Whether ye do keep the fraitry at meals, so
that two parts, or the least, the two part of the' whole
HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 251
covent be always there, unless the master at every one time
dispense with you to the contrary?
31. Item, Whether, ye do wear your religious habit con-
tinually, and never leave it off but when ye go to bed?
32. Item, Whether every brethren of this house have
lightly departed hence, and hath gone to any other house of
like order and profession, without special letters and license
of their master?
33. Item, Whether the master and brethren of this house
have received and admitted any brother of another house,
without special license and letters of his master and head?
34. Item, Whether any of you, sithence the time of your
profession, hath gone out of this house to his friends, or
otherwise ?
35. Item, How oftimes he did so, and how long at every
time ye tarried forth ?
36. Item, Whether ye had special license of your master
so to go forth, or not ?
37. Item, Whether at every time of your being forth, ye
changed or left off your habit, or every part thereof?
38. Item, Whether ye, or any of you be, or hath been, in
manifest apostacy, that is to say, fugitives or vagabonds?
39. Item, For what cause or occasion ye have so gone
forth and been in apostacy? and whether the cause of your
going forth was by reason of the great cruelty of your
master, or by his negligence, not calling you home to your
cloister?
40. Item, Whether ye be weekly shaven, and do not
nourish or suffer your hair to be long? and whether ye
wear your apparel according to the rule, not too excessive
nor too exquisite ; and in likewise the trappos of your horses,
and other your bearing beasts?
41. Item, Whether the master and head of this house do
use his brethren charitably, without partiality, malice, envy,
grudge, or displeasure, more showed to one than to another?
42. Item, Whether he do use his disciplines, corrections,
and punishments upon his brethren, with mercy, pity, and
charity, without cruelty, rigorousness, and enormous hurt,
no more favouring one than another?
43. Item, Whether any brother, or religious person of this
house, be incorrigible?
44. Item, Whether the master of this house do use his
brethren charitably when they be sick and diseased? and
whether in time of their sickness he do procure unto them
physicians, and all other necessaries,?
252 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
45. Item, Whether he make his accompts (as he ought to
do) once every year before his brethren, and chiefly the
seniors and officers, to the intent they may be made privy
to the state and condition of the house, and know perfectly
the due administration thereof?
46. Item, Whether the prior, subprior, sellerar, kitchener,
terrure, sacristen, or any such like officer, having adminis-
tration of every manner revenues of this house, do make his
whole and true accompt, according as he is bound to do,
not applying anything by him received to his own proper
use or commodity?
47. Item, Whether any religious person of this house do
bear, occupy, or exercise more offices than one, for, and
to his own singular commodity, advantage, or profit, by the
partial dealing of the master?
48. Item, Wliether all and singular the revenues and
profits of this house be converted and employed to the be-
hove and use thereof, and of the brethren, according to the
founder's mind and giver?
49. Item, Whether the master do make sufficient repara-
tions upon his monastery, as the church and all other hous-
ing thereto adjoined, and also upon all other the lands,
granges, farms, and tenements belonging to the same ; and
whether he suffer any dilapidation, decay, or ruin in any part
of them?
50. Item, Whether there be any inventory made of all and
singular the moveables, goods, which from time to time have
been, and yet be in this house, as of jewels, reliques, orna-
ments, vestiments, ready money, plate, bedding, with other
utensils ; also of corn, chattels, and other commodities, to the
intent the state and condition of this house may be always
known ?
51. Item, That ye express truly and sincerely the whole
state and condition of this house, as in money, plate, cattle,
corn, and other goods ?
52. Item, Whether this monastery be indebted? to whom?
and for what cause ?
53. Item, Whether any of the lands be sold, or mortgaged ?
and for what sums?
54. Item, Whether any be let to farm by the master of this
house for term of years, and for how many years ? and
specially, whether they be letten for small sums, or for less
sums than they were wont to be letten for, to the intent tq
have great sums of ready money beforehand?
HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 253
55. Item, Whether he do enforce, compel or constrain his
brethren, or any of them, to consent to the sealing of any
leases, grants, farm-holds, annuities, corrodies, or any other
alienations?
56. Item, Whether the plate and jewels, or any part or
parcel thereof, or of any other moveable goods of this house
be laid to pledge, sold, or alienated for a time, or for ever?
for what cause, and to whom? or otherwise embezzled, or
consumed ?
57. Item, Whether the master of this house be wont to
give under his seal or office, or convent-seal, farms, corrodies,
annuities, or offices, to his kinsfolk, alliances, friends, or
acquaintances, for term of years, or otherwise, to the hurt,
hindrance, damage, and impoverishment of this house ?
58. Item, Whether he be wont to grant any patent, or
convent-seal, without the consent of his brethren?
59. Item, Whether the convent-seal of this house be surely
and safely kept under three keys ; that is to say, one remain-
ing and being in the custody of the master, and the other
two in the custody of two seniors?
60. Item, Whether the muniments and evidences of the
lands, rents, and revenues of this house, be safely kept from
vermin and moistness ?
61. Item, Whether the master do keep hospitality accord-
ing to the ability of his house, and in like manner as other
fathers hereof have done heretofore ?
62. Item, Whether the master of this house in receiving
any novice, being of willing and toward mind to enter into
religion, hath demanded or received, or convented to receive
any money, rewards, or any other temporal commodities of
him so entering, or willing to enter, or of any other his
friends ? and whether for not promising, granting, or giving
such rewards or gifts, any hath been repelled and not re-
ceived?
63. Item, Whether the novices, and other received into
religion, have a preceptor and master deputed unto them to
teach them grammar and good letters ?
64. Item, Whether any senior of this house be deputed
to declare, inform, and instruct them their rules, and where-
unto they shall be bounden to observe and keep after their
profession ?
65. Item, Whether any of you have taken upon him the
habit and profession of your religion, chiefly for the intent,
hope, or trust to be made head and master of this house?
254 SOURCE-BOOK OP ENGLISH HISTORY
66. Item, Whether the master of this house, in giving any
advocation, nomination, presentation, or collation of any
parsonage, vicarage, chapel, or benefice of the patronage and
gift of this house, do take or use to take any manner pension,
portion, or other commodity or gains; or else doth make any
convention or compaction, whereby any lucre many ensue
to him in that behalf?
67. Item, Whether he do receive, or use to receive, the
fruits and revenues of every such benefice vacant, or use to
borrow any money of him to whom he intendeth to give
such benefice unto, expr-essly covenanting or intending, that
he so obtaining the said benefice shall freely and clearly
remit the said money so borrowed?
68. Item, What and how many benefices the master of this
house doth occupy and keep in his own hands?
69. Item, Whether the same benefices be appropriate and
united to this house by sufficient authority?
70. Item, Whether the master of this house doth make
distributions amongst the parishioners of the benefices ap-
propriate, and doth keep and observe all and singular other
provisions and ordinances specified and expressed in the ap-
propriations of the same benefices ?
Exhibcant omnes et singulas Appropriationcs,
una cum Ordinationibus et Donationibus Vi-
cariatuum.
71. Item, Whether he do promote unto such benefices as
be of his gift sufficient and able persons in learning, man-
ners, and virtue?
72. Item, Whether any brother of this house do serve any
parish-church, being appropriate and united to the same, and
how many churches appropriate to be so served?
73. Item, Whether the master of this house hath and pos-
sesseth any benefice with cure, or any other dignity with his
abbey ?
Si aliquod tale habct, Dispensationcm exhibeat.
74. Item, Whether the master of this house at any time
since he was first made abbot, or master, did know or believe
that he was suspended, or excommunicate, either by the law,
or by any judge; and whether he knowing or supposing him-
self so to be, did sing mass in the mean time, and before he
was absolved?
In Visitatione Monialium ad Prccmissa addantur
hccc.
HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 255
75. Item, Whether this monastery hath good and sufficient
enclosure, and whether the doors and windows be diligently
kept shut, so that no man can have any entry into the same
or any part thereof at inconvenient times?
Propter quod nccessarium erit Visitatori circum-
ire Monasterium, ac vidcre et rimare dis-
positionem ccdificiorum, et an sint aliqua loca
pervia per qua secrete intrari possit; et una
sccum habcat Abbatissam cum duabus out
tribus senioribns Monialibus, a quibus turn
interroget, an ostia Monasterii singulis qui-
busque noctibus sub clavibus clausa tenean-
tur, et qua; earum Monialiitm senio confecta-
rum, vel an Abbas ipsa clavium custodiam
tempore nocturno habeant et teneant: nam
non est tutum clavium custodiam Junioribus
committere.
76. Item, Whether strangers, both men and women, useth
commonly to have communication with the sisters of this
house, without license of the abbess or prioress, specially in
secret places, and in the absence of their sisters?
77. Item, Whether any sister of this house were professed
for any manner of compulsion of her friends and kinsfolks,
or by the abbess or prioress ?
78. Item, Whether any of the sisters of this house useth
to go forth any whither out of the precinct thereof, without
special license of their abbess or prioress?
79. Item, Whether any sister doth use her habit con-
tinually out of her cell?
80. Item, Wherein every one of you occupieth herself, be-
side the time of divine service?
81. Item, Whether any sister of this house hath any famil-
iarity with religious men, secular priests, or lay-men, being
not near of kin unto them ?
82. Item, Whether any sister of this house hath been
taken and found 'with any such accustomably so communing,
and could not shew any reasonable cause why they so did?
83. Item, Whether any of you doth use to write any letters
of love or lascivious fashion to any person, or receive any
such, or have any privy messengers coming or resorting
unto you, or any of you, with token or gifts, from any man-
ner secular person or other?
84. Item, Whether any of you doth use to speak with any
256 SOURCE-BOOK OP ENGLISH HISTORY
manner of person, by night or by day, by grates or back
windows, or other privy places within this monastery, with-
out license of your head ?
85. Item, Whether the confessor of this house be a dis-
creet man, of good learning, virtue and honest behaviour,
of good name and fame, and whether he hath been always so
taken ?
86. Item, How oftimes in the year the sisters of this house
useth to be confessed and communicate?
Restat pro Ecclcsiis Collegiatis, Hospitalibus, Ec-
clesiis Cathedralibns, Parochialibus, Eccle-
siis, Episcopo, et Archicpiscopo, pro ordine
Jerosoloin itarum ?
Exhibeant omnia scripta, munimenta, Inventaria, Scedu-
las quascunque, unde aliqitid cognitionis eorum reformation!
Monastcriorum, sive domorum utilitati, necessarian explicari,
out quoquo modo colligi possit.
(Collection of Records, vol. II, p. lix. History of the Reformation of the Church
of England, ed. cited.)
116. Letters concerning the Suppression of the Monasteries
Original Letters
The agents who were sent to suppress the monasteries have
left many letters detailing their acts in this office. Several
typical documents are here given. The ancient form of spelling,
with all the inconsistencies of each writer in this respect, has
been preserved.
(a) DR. LONDON TO THE LORD PRIVY SEAL
Original Letters
In my most humble maner I have me commendyd unto
your gudde Lordeschippe. I have with moche adoo dis-
pacchyde the Priory of Black Monks at Coventrye, the
Charterhowse, and Combe Abbay. The Priory wasse in dett
befor he com ther, and he bathe made me an apparent rea-
sonable accompte. I have left the Churche and Howse vn-
spoylede and vndefacyd, because as yet I do nott know the
Kings Grace's pleasur and yowrs what schalbe don ther-
with. At the Charter howse I found scase the valor of xx 11
nobles worth of gudds to dispach the hole Howse. Howbeit
Godde hath so disclosyd ther crafty dealing, that I have
gevyn every brodor xl s towards ther apparell, have payd all
the servants wages, have gevyn to every brodor his. . .celle,
HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 257
saving the Howse and a vestyment, have payde all ther
detts within x 11 ., and yit schall the Kings Grace have above
cc. vnc. of plate ther, wher I found but iij. chalyces scasly
waying all iij. xl. vnc. I have gevin the Prior a salt of
syluer with a cover, a drynking cuppe of syluer with a
cover, a maser, a chales, a suyte of vestyments with bedding
and other stuff, lyke an honest man, and so I have dis-
pacchyd that House clerlye.
At Combe, I have left the hole Howse with implyments
vnspoyled thorowlye. Hardforde now schyryue of Coven-
trye informyd me that the Abbot of Combe hadde ccccc 1 '., in
a fetherbedd at hys brodors Howse. Of truythe I serchyd
the bedd, and the Abbot hymself, with owt any difficulty,
confessed unto me what money was ther, and farther in-
formyd me of every thing he hadd lyk an honest man, and of
truythe ther wasse no more monye ther in that bedde but
xxv 1 '., wiche vpon hys oothe he tolde me that he putt yt ther
to paye certen detts with all now at Candelmas, wich in dede
ys trew dett, and he layd those things at his brothers bycause
he cowde yvill trust any servant he hadde. He surrenderyd
hys Howse the same day twelve monyth he was made Mas-
ter, and therfor every thing consideryd he left hys Howse in
competent gudd state. The dyspacching of that Howse
wasse som thing chardgeable for I founde ther xv. monks
and Ixviij. seruants. I have made safe the evydences in
every Howse wher I com, and in som of them I founde the
evydences dispersyd and neglecte, moche pytie to see yt.
Wherfor I beseke your Lordeschippe that aswell to stay the
spoyle of the Howsys as for safgarde of suche evydences
the Surveyors may com as spedyly after me as may be.
I have folowyd your pleasure for your servant M. Whalley,
at Pollesworth, wherfore I besek your Lordeschipp to re-
membre M. Cheyrey, at Bowsvale, Charterhowse Monks bye
Notingam, or in som other place.
If I hadde made rasch ryddyng of thees iij. Howsys I
hadde don the Kings Grace butt yvell service. And I trust
now I have don both for hys Grace is profytt, and as every
thing is savyd and all parts well pleasyd, I schall forwards
mak all the spede I can possiblie.
I have of thees iij. Howsys above DCCC. vnc. of plate,
wich schalbe at London safly caryede by my commyng
thedyr. And my servant now shall delyuer to your Lorde-
shippe such ornaments as I have sent uppe. I besek your
Lordeshippe to take these things I do in gudd part, for of
258 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
my fayth I do truly my best diligence to serve the Kinge as
our Lord knoweth, who with encrese of nioch honor longe
preserve your gudde Lordeshippe
Your most bounden orator and servant,
JOHN LONDON.
To the right honerable and my most
singuler goode Lorde, my Lorde of
Prive Sealle.
{Original Letters illustrative of English History, ed. H. Ellis, Lond., 1846.
Third series, vol. Ill, p. 183.)
(&) JOHN TREGONWELL TO SECRETARY CROMWELL
Original Let ten
Pleasyth you to be advertised that after my departyng
from Oxforde I went to Godstowe, where I fownde all thyngs
well, and yn good order aswell yn the Monasteri and the
Abbas there, as also yn the Convent of the same, excepte
that one sister xiij. or xiiij. yers past, beyng then of a nothere
howse, brake her chastyte (quid pepcrit), the whych for cor-
reccyon and punysment afterward was sent to Godstowe by
the Byschope of Lyncolne, where now and euer sethens that
tyme she hath levyd vertuowse.
From thens I went to Ensham, where I fownde a rawe
sort of Relygouse parsons and offences emongst them (al-
moste yn all kyndys of synne commyttede, ct ctiam crimcn
pessimum) ; for the whych offences they have byne pun-
yschede by theire ordynarye in his Visitation. Yet by as
myche as I can perceve by inquisition th' abbot ys chaste of
hys levyng, and dothe right well over loke the reparracons
of his Howse, to whom I can obiecte nothyng but that he ys
neglygent yn over seyng hys bretherne. He sayethe that
hys dayly ynfyrmyty is th'occasion therof, whych ynfyr-
mytye somwhat dyd appere by hys face to be trewe.
From Ensham to Bruwerne, wher th'abbot ys (as hyt ap-
peryth to me) not only vertuowse and well lernyde in holy
Scrypture, but also hathe ryght well reparyde the rewen and
dekeye of that howse, lefte by hys predycessors neglygens,
and the Convent whych heretofore were insolent) byn now
brought to good order.
From Brewerne, I rode to Wraxton, a Howse of smalle
rents, and stondyth moast by husbandry. The Prior there
althoghe he be a good husbande and kepyth good hospitalite
to hys abylyte, yet he is rewde and unlernyd. Et qualis
pater tales filij.
HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 259
From thens to Clathercott a Howse of th'Order of the Gil-
bertynes, where I fownde iij. Chanons beside the Pryor.
That Howse ys olde, fowle, and fylthe. Whethere there
levyng be accordyng, I cannot tell, for they desyryd me that
I wolde not vyset them by cause (as they sayd) that yow
hadde gevyne (by your commyssion) full autoryte to the
Prior of Semperyngham to vyset all there Order, so that no
man but he shulde medle with that Order; and by cause I
wolde not mittcre falcem in tnessem alienam with owt your
pleasure to me knowen, I departed thens negotio infecto.
And from that howse of the Gilbertynese I came to a
Howse of Nunnes called Catysby of Ixxxx" landys yerly,
of th'order of Cistiowxe, under my Lorde of Lyncolnes
jurysdiction (as I suppos) by usurpation. For that Order as
you knowe hathe allwayes byn exempte from the Byschope.
The Priores there ys a ryght sadde matrone, the systers also
there now beyng by the space of xx u yeres hath byn (by as
myche as I can lerne) without suspicon of incontynent
levyng.
From Catesby I rode to Chanons Asbye whych howse is
Clx u yn dette, by reason of the late preferment of the Prior
there now beyng. The Howse also, by the neglygens of hys
predycessor, ys yn rewen and dekey. Howbehyt the sayde
Prior (all thought he be unlernyde) ys dysposed to thryve,
and by the lernyng and good example of levyng of the Sup-
prior of that Howse, the relygowse men there byn lyke to
doo well.
From Chanons Asbye, I rode to Chacombe, the Prior ys
newly come thether whoo ys competently well lernyde in
holy Scripture. The Chanons byn rewde and vnlernyde.
He begynnyth to bryng them to some order. I fere nothyng
yn hym but neglygens and overmyche famylyarite which he
vseth emongst them.
From Chacombe, I came to Burcestre, ther I fynde that
the Prior doth well over loke his bretherne, and also the
profettys of hys Howse. His said bretherne by hys tyme
hathe byn yn good order, exceptyde one (for fray of pun-
ysment for hys incontenant levyng) ran away and soo he
remaynyth at thys tyme yn apostacye.
From thens, yester nyght, I came to Stoodlye. From
thens, I yntende to Notley, and thens to Tame Abbeye, and
last of all to Dorchester, where I make an end vnto the tyme
I may knowe your farder pleasure, whych (Code wyllyng)
I shall accomplysche. Vpon Frydaye nexte, I trust to be
260 SOURCE-BOOK OP ENGLISH HISTORY
redyc to come to your Masterschype accordyng to your com-
maundement sent to me by yo letters, besechyng you that I
maye knowe whethere you wyll remayne yn the Cowrte or
returne to London. And thus the holy Goast preserve you.
Frome Stoodley, the xxvij th day of Septembre.
Yours moast bownden
JOHN TREGONWELL.
To the ryght honerable Mr. Thomas
Cromwell, Cheff Secretarye to the
Kynges Maiestye, be this dd. w l
speade.
{Original Letters, ed. cit., Ill, p. 37.)
(c) JOHN LONDON TO LORD CROMWELL
Original Letters
In my most humble manner I have me comendyd unto
your gudde Lordeshipp, as your most boundon orator and
servant. I have not so moche rasyd Howses I have be at
as I perceve the Kings Grace and your Lordeschippe ys in-
formyd, and hadde rasyd noon saving for the words of suche
Corhissions as I have to schew, and dydd nott extremely so
do butt wher necessitee compellyd me by reason of the im-
portunytie of the people, wich els wold have pilledd all so as
the Kings Grace schulde have hadd no profytt of those
Howses ; and in every place I savyd the hole ledd unto the
Kings Graces use, and the hole plate. Yet have I be in som
very beggarly Howses, as now I am at oon, the Whyte Fryers
in Northampton, wher all they have ys nott able to pay ther
detts. And bravely I will rehersse what I dydd in euery
Howse.
At Reding I dydd oonly deface the Church ; all the windoes
being full of Fryers ; and left the rof f and wallys hole to the
Kings use. I solde the ornaments and the sellys in the dorter
and certen utensyls wiche els wold have be stolen as dyvers
were indede.
At Aylesbury, I founde them very powr and in dett. Ther
ornaments wor very coursse and very litill stuff of howshold.
Ther I oonly solde the glasse wyndoes and ther ornaments
with ther vtensyles. I left the Howse hole and oonly de-
faced the Churche. Ther the hole churche ys well coveryd
with ledd, and a gudd new roff.
At Bedford, I dydd sell the ornaments of ther churche and
HENRY Vlll. AND THE CHURCH 261
certen vtensiles. All the ledde I savyd with certen vten-
syles, because I myzt leve them in saff custody with Mr.
Gostvvike.
At Stamford, I left in the Grey Fryers all ther brewyng
vessels, and ther kechyn stuff wasse so gud that I cowde gete
butt viij s for all. I solde ther ornaments and glasse of ther
churche with certen stuff, and solde no glass in the Grey,
Whyte, or Blacke Fryers, saving oonly in ther churches. At
the Austen Fryers I sold all there glasse, for els all wold have
be stollyd, ffor it stondeth owt of the town. In thre Fryers
ther I sold ther brewyng vessels wich wer very ny worn.
In Coventry, I dydd partly rase that Howse of the Gray
Fryers, thou after the powr people lay so sore vpon ytt.
Butt the Whyte Fryers I dydd litill vnto.
At Warwick, the Fryers Howse ys withowt the town, an
olde ruynose howse and no ledd butt gutters and the couer-
yng of the steple. Ther I defacyd the church wyndoes and
the sellys of the dorter as I dydd in euery place saving in
Bedford and Aylisbury wher were few byars. I pullyd
down no Howse thorowly at noon of the Fryers : butt so de-
facyd them as they shuld not lyztly be made Fryerys agen.
At Tellisford Crosse Fryers, I have oonly recyvyd the
surrendere: and have left the Howse with all the stuff in
safe custody with the late mynyster and oon of the Kings ser-
uants dwelling therbye. In that Howse I must farther know
your Lordeships pleasur or I do any more, as by my servant
I shall shortly more at lengeth expresse every thing. Ther
wasse a fonde fasschon of Idolytrye. In the body of the
Churche wasse an Image at an Awters end callyd Mayden
Cutbrogh, and vnder her feete wasse a trowgh of wodde des-
cending undre the Awter wich wasse holow. Thyder re-
sortyd suche as wer trobelyd with the hedde ache, or hadde
any slottiche wydowes lockes, viz. here growen to gether in
a tufte. Ther must they putt in to the trowgh a peckke of
oots, and when they wer oons slydyd vndre the Awter, the
Crosse Fryers schuld behynd the Awter pryvily stele them
owt, and the sykk person must give to the Fryer a peny for
a pynte of these Maydon Cutbrogh oots, and then ther heds
schuld ak no more till the next tyme. I have pullyd downe
thys Idoll with herre manage.
At Northampton, I fynd the Prior of Augustyns lyk a
Fryer, and oon of the most unthrifts that yet I have mett
with all : yet have I found butt few trew or gud, and amongs
many blessyd reformations don by the Kings Grace, I sup-
262 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
pose thys be nott the lest, vtterly to suppresse theis Fryars,
in whom I fynd so moch dissymylation as may be in men.
I trust to bring all ther falshudds here to lyzt, butt in the
mean tyme I am fayne to sett the Prior and almost all hys
brethern in warde. They have delyuered owt of ther Howse
all ther plate and gudd stuff, and made billes of sale and
knowledging of receipt of certen sommys of money wher
they receyvyd, nor ovvzt, oon peny, and all to disseyve the
Kinge. I have in som of those billes her enclosyd, and moo
I will have or I depart, and have agen the best stuff I saw
yet, and more I trust to have. Howbeit by hys own con-
fession he made away thys yere above a C H plate. He ys
a great lyar and a gy velar [shuffler].
I will hensforth deface no Howse unlesse I have your or
the King's Grace speciall comaundment. Butt then if ther
be no Surveyor to do ytt immedyaty or som suer man to in-
habitt the same, the Howsys will be so spoylyd as litill profytt
will com of them. I thowzt I dydd for the beste in defacinge
those Howses, and have to the Kings Grace use above all,
dispacchyng of the Fryers, payng ther detts and rewarding
every oon of them, savyng also all the coveryng and wallys
of the Howses, aswell in ledde, slatt, as tyle, and my chard-
ges of expens born, and all the plate also thorowly savyd
whole to the Kings use, CC 1! and above in gudd gold. And
have also savyd to the Kings use the best ornaments wher any
were with all. I will now owt of hand upon All Halon tyde
send vppe or I execute any of these commissions last sent
from your Lordeschippe to me. For I have a great dele of
gudd plate wiche I wold fayn be dischargyd of. Thus I be-
sech your Lordeschipp to take my powr meanyng in gudd
partt intending to my litill powr truly to serve the Kings Grace,
and so I dowbt nott butt his Majesty will accept my doings
when his Grace knowith what beggarly and crafty merchants
I have to be occupyed with all. And most humble I do thank
your gudd Lordeshippe for your gudnes and gudd mediation
vnto hys most noble Grace for me, and shalbe during my liff
your assured seruant and orator vnto Almyztie Godd long to
preserue your guud Lordeshipp with increse of moch honor.
At Northampton, XXIX. Octobris.
Your most bovndon orator and seruant,
JOHN LONDON.
(Original Letters, ed.cit., vol. Ill, p. 130.)
HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 263
117. A Summons to the Pilgrimage of Grace
Original Letter s
The popular discontent which followed the dissolution of the
smaller monasteries resulted in two insurrections ; the first was
in Lincolnshire, the second, in Yorkshire. The latter was a
most formidable movement, and was directed by Robert Aske,
who gave to the uprising the name of the Pilgrimage of Grace.
He issued several addresses, the selection given being his appeal
to the common people.
Masters, all men to be redie to morrw, and this neighte
and in the mornyng to ryng your bellis in every towne, and
to assemble your selfs apon Skypwithe mowre, and thare
apoynte your Captayns, Master Hussye, Master Babthorp,
and Master Gascoygn, and other gentilmen ; and to gef f
warnyng to all be yonde the watter to be redy vpon payn of
dethe for the Corhen Welthe ; and make your proclymacon,
every man to be trewe to the Kings issue, and the noble
blode; to preserve the Churche of God from spolyng; and to
be trew to the Comens and the welthis; and ye shall have
to morrowe the Articles and causis of your assemble and
peticon to the Kyng, and the place of oure meting, and all
other of poure and commen welthe. In haste, etc.
By me Robt. Aske, Chieffe Captayn of
M'ches land, Thile, and Howden
shyre, Thomas Metham, Robt. Aske
Yonger, Thomas Salte-Marche,
Wyll~m. Monketon, M. Ffranke,
Master Cawood, Captayns of the
same.
(Original Letters illustrative of English History, ed. H. Ellis.
Lond., 1846, III, p. 53.)
1 18. The Lancaster Herald's Mission to the Insurgents
Original Letters
The Pilgrimage of Grace was of such formidable character
that great exertions were made to rapidly suppress it. These
efforts were successful when force of numbers overawed the
insurgents whose ranks were thinned by discontent and distress
bred by the diplomacy, or treachery, of the Duke of Norfolk, the
commander of the forces of the king. The leaders of this re-
bellion, Aske, and the Lords Darcy and Hussey were pardoned,
but another rebellion having broken out in Lancaster convenient
pretext was taken for connecting them with it, and they suffered
the death penalty. The Lancaster Herald, whose account of a
mission to the insurgents on the Pilgrimage we give, was also
executed, not for participation in the rebellion, but for kneeling
to its leaders while he was on the king's mission.
264 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
The manner, fashion, and ordering of me Lancaster Her-
ald at Arms to our Sovereign Lord the King, sent from Scroby
the 2 ist day of October, by the right honourable Lord the
Earl of Shrewsbury, Lord Steward of the King's most hon-
ourable household, and Lieutenant General from the Trent
northward, and the right honourable Earls of Rutland and
Huntingdon of the King's most honourable Counsell, to Pom-
fret, with a Proclamation to be read amongst the traitorous
and rebellious persons assembled at Pomfret contrary to
King's laws. And when I did approach near the town of
Pomfret, I overtook certain companies of the said rebellious,
being common people of the husbandry, which saluted me
gently, and gave great honour to the King's coat of arms
which I ware. And I demanded of them why they were in
harness, and assembled of such sort; and they answered me
that it was for the Commonwealth ; and said if they did not
so, the Commonalty and the Church should be destroyed.
And I demanded of them how. And they said that no man
should bury, nor christen, nor wedd, nor have their beast un-
marked, but that the King would have a certain sum of
money for every such thing, and the beast unmarked to his
own house, which had never been seen. And I answered
them and told them how good and gracious Lord the King
had been to them, and how long he had kept them in great
wealth, tranquillity and peace; and also that his Grace, nor
none of his Counsel, never intended nor thought no such
things and articles as they found them grieved with. And
with such persuasions as I found and said to them, riding
into the Town, I had gat grant of three or four hundred of
the Commonalty to go gladly home to their houses, and to
ask the King's mercy ; and said, they were weary of that life
they were in. And resorted first to the Market Cross, where
I should have made the proclamation. And Robert Aske,
captain of the host, being in the Castle, heard tell that I was
comen, and sent for me to come to him ; and so I did ; and as
I entered into the first ward, there I found many in harness,
of very cruel fellows, and a porter with a white staff in his
hand; and at the two other ward-gates every of them a
porter with his staff, accompanied with harnessed men ; and
so I was brought into the Hall, which I found full of people.
And I was commanded to tarry to such time as the said trai-
torous captain's pleasure was known ; and in that space I
stood up at the high table in the Hall, and there shewed to
the people the cause of my coming, and the effect of the
HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 265
Proclamation; and in doing the same, the said Aske sent
for me in to his chamber; and there keeping his port and
countenance as though he had been a great Prince, with
great rigour and like a tyrant ; who was accompanied with
the Archbishop of York, the Lord Darcy, Sir Robert Con-
stable, Mr. Magnus, Sir Christopher Danby, and divers
other. And, as my dutie was, I saluted the Archbishop of
York and my Lord Darcy, showing to them the cause I came
thither for. And then the said Robert Aske, with a cruell
and inestimable proud countenance, stretched himself, and
took the hearing of my tale, which I opened to him at large,
in as much honour to our Sovereign Lord the King as my
reason would serve me ; which the said Captain Aske gave
no reverance to, and superstitiously demanded the sight of
my Proclamation. And then I took it out of my purse and
delivered it to him, and then he read it openly, without any
reverence to any person ; and said, it should not need to call
no counsell for the answer of the same, for he would of his
own wit give me the answer, which was this. He, standing
in the highest place of the chamber, taking the high estate
upon him, said, "Herald, as a messenger you are welcome to
me and all my company, intending as I do. And as for the
Proclamation sent from the Lords, from whence you come,
shall not be read at the Market Cross, nor in no place
amongst my people, which be all under my guiding; nor for
fear of loss of lands, life, and goods, not for the power which
is against us, doth not enter into our hearts with fear, but
are all of one accord with the points of our articles, clearly
intending to see a reformation, or else to die in those causes."
And then I demanded of him what his article was. And he
said, one was that he and his company would go to London
of pilgrimage to the King's Highness, and there to have all
vile blood of his Counsell put from him, and all noble blood
set up again, and also the Faith of Christ and his laws to be
kept, and full restitution of Christ's Church of all wrongs
done unto it, and also the Commonalty to be used as they
should be : and bade me trust to this, for it should be done,
or he would die for it. And then I required him, that he
would give me this in writing, for my capacity would not
serve to bear it away ; and he said, "With a good will" ; and
called for his oath which he gave to his people, and said
th'articles was comprehended within the said oath, and
delivered it in writing to me, and caused me to read it my-
self; and he sayd, to that he would sett to his hand, and die
266 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
in the quarrel, and his people with him. And then I prayed
him to put his hand to the said bill, and so he did, and with a
proud voice said, "This is mine act, whosoever say the con-
trary." And also he said, he meant no harm to the King's
person, but to see reformation. And I fell down on my knee
before him, showing him how I was a messenger, and
charged by the King's Counsell to read the Proclamation
which I brought, for my discharge ; and he clearly answered
me, that of my life I should not; for he would have nothing
put into his people's head that should sound contrary to his
intent ; and said at all times I should have his safe conduct,
to come and go in message, wearing the King's coat of arms,
or else not: and also said, if my Lord of Shrewsbury, or any
other of the Lords of the King's army, would come and speak
with him, they should have of him their safe conducts, to
come safe and go safe ; and also said, "Herald, recommend
me to the Lords from whence you come, and say to them it
were mete that they were with me, for it is for all their
wealths that I do." And then he commanded the Lord
Darcy to give me two crowns of five shillings to reward,
whether I wold or no ; and then took me by the arm, and
brought me forth of the Castle, and there made a proclama-
tion that I should go safe and come safe, wearing the King's
coat, in payne of death; and so took his leave of me, and re-
turned into the Castle in high honour of the people, as a
traitor may. And I missed my horse, and I called to him
again, for to have my horse, and then he made a proclama-
tion that who so held my horse, and brought him not again
immediately, bad kill him without mercy. And then both my
horse was delivered to me, and then he commanded that
twenty or forty men should bring me out of the Town where
I should see the least of his people, nor that I should not speak
with them. For surely I think, if I might have redd the
Proclamacion and good words unto the people, that all the
plough-commonalty would have gone home to their houses
immediately, for they say they be weary of that life they
lead, and if they say to the contrary to the captain's will, he
shall die immediately. And this all to be true, I, the said
Lancaster, hath written this with my hand and true report as
mine Oath is."
"Lancaster Herrald."
(Original Letters, ed. cit., Ill, 54.)
HENRY Vlll. AND THE CHURCH 267
ng. The Six Articles
(31 HENRY VIII, c. 14, 1539)
Statutes of the Realm
No single document so well illustrates the attitude of Henry
VIII. to the Catholic Church as does the "Act Abolishing Diver-
sity in Opinions." In this enactment we find no departure from
the tenets of the ancient faith. In its preservation of the funda-
mental doctrines of the Catholic Communion, we find proof that
the Church of Henry VIII. was not Protestant, as to any doctrine
except that of papal supremacy. Yet in breaking away from the
Catholic Church, and in repudiating the supremacy of the pope,
Henry gave a fresh impetus to the Protestant movement, which
had been for centuries accumulating force.
AN ACT ABOLISHING DIVERSITY IN OPINIONS
Whereas the King's most excellent Majesty is by God's
law supreme head immediately under Him of this whole
Church and Congregation of England, intending the conser-
vation of the same Church and Congregation in a true,
sincere, and uniform doctrine of Christ's Religion, calling
also to His blessed and most gracious remembrance as well
the great and quiet assurance, prosperous increase, and other
innumerable commodities which have ever ensued, come, and
followed of concord, agreement, and unity in opinions, as
also the manifold perils, dangers, and inconveniences, which
have heretofore in many places and regions grown, sprung,
and arisen of the diversities of minds and opinions, es-
pecially of matters of Christian Religion; and therefore
desiring that such an unity might and should be charitably
established in all things touching and concerning the same,
as the same so being established might chiefly be to the
honor of Almighty God, the very Author and Fountain of all
true unity and sincere concord, and consequently redound
to the common- wealth of this his highness' most noble
realm, and of all his loving subjects and other residents and
inhabitants of or in the same; hath therefore caused and
commanded this his most high Court of Parliament, for
sundry and many urgent causes and considerations, to be at
this time summoned, and also a synod and convocation of all
the archbishops, bishops, and other learned men of the clergy
of this his realm, to be in like manner assembled ; and .foras-
much as in the said Parliament, synod, and convocation
there were certain articles, matters, and questions appointed
and set forth touching Christian Religion, that is to say;
First, whether in the most blessed Sacrament of the Altar re-
268 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
maineth after the consecration the substance of bread and
[wine] or no; Secondly, whether it be necessary by God's
law that all men should be communicate with both kinds or
no; Thirdly, whether priests, that is to say men dedicated to
God by priesthood, may by the law of God marry after or no ;
Fourthly, whether vow of chastity or widowhood made to God
advisedly by man or woman be by the law of God to be ob-
served or no; Fifthly, whether private Masses stand with the
law of God and be to be used and continued in the Church
and Congregation of England as things whereby good
Christian people may and do receive both godly consolation
and wholesome benefits or no; Sixthly, whether auricular
confession is necessary to be retained, continued, used, and
frequented in the Church or no ; the King's most Royal
Majesty, most prudently pondering and considering that by
occasion of variable and sundry opinions and judgments of
the said Articles, great discord and variance hath arisen as
well amongst the clergy of this his realm, as amongst a great
number of vulgar people, his loving subjects of the same,
and being in a full hope and trust that a full and perfect re-
solution of the said Articles should make a perfect concord
and unity generally amongst all his loving and obedient
subjects; of his most excellent goodness not only com-
manded that the said Articles should deliberately and ad-
visedly by his said archbishops, bishops, and other learned
men of his clergy, be debated, argued, and reasoned, and
their opinions therein to be understood, declared, and known,
but also most graciously vouchsafed in his own princely
person to descend and come into his said high court of Par-
liament and Council, and there, like a prince of most high
prudence and no less learning, opened and declared many
things of high learning and great knowledge touching the
said articles, matters, and questions, for an unity to be had
in the same ; Whereupon, after a great and long deliberate
and advised disputation and consultation had and made con-
cerning the said Articles, as well by the consent of the King's
Highness as by the assent of the Lords Spiritual and Tem-
poral, and other learned men of his clergy in their con-
vocation, and by the consent of the Commons in this present
Parliament assembled, it was, and is, finally resolved, ac-
corded, and agreed in manner and form following, that is
to say; First, that in the most blessed Sacrament of the
Altar, by the strength and efficacy of Christ's mighty word,
it being spoken by the priest, is present really, under the
HENRY VllL AND THE CHURCH 269
form of bread and wine, the natural body and blood of our
Saviour Jesus Christ, conceived of the Virgin Mary, and that
after the consecration there remaineth no substance of bread
or wine, nor any other substance but the substance of Christ,
God and Man; Secondly, that communion in both kinds is
not necessary ad salutcm by the law of God to all persons;
and that it is to be believed and not doubted of, but that in
the flesh under form of bread is the very blood, and with the
blood under form of wine is the very flesh, as well apart as
though they were both together ; Thirdly, that priests after
the order of priesthood received, as before, may not marry
by the law of God; Fourthly, that vows of chastity or
widowhood by man or woman made to God advisedly ought
to be observed by the law of God, and that it exempts them
from other liberties of Christian people, which, without that,
they might enjoy; Fifthly, that it is meet and necessary
that private Masses be continued and admitted in this the
King's English Church and Congregation, as whereby good
Christian people ordering themselves accordingly do receive
both godly and goodly consolations and benefits, and it is
agreeable also to God's law; Sixthly, that auricular confes-
sion is expedient and necessary to be retained and continued,
used and frequented, in the Church of God ; . . .
(Ed. from Statutes of the Realm, ed. cit., Ill, 739.)
120. The Bible in the English Churches
(33 HBNRY VIII, 1542)
Records, Burnet
The close of the reign of Henry VIII. was marked by a de-
cided movement toward Protestantism. The influence of Cran-
mer and Cromwell was thrown against the fundamental doctrines
of the Catholic Church. The changed attitude of the Crown is
shown in the statute enforcing the keeping of a public Bible in
the English churches, and in the proclamation ordering prayers
to be read in the English tongue. These two statutes indicated
the approaching era of ultra-Protestantism brought about by the
advisers of Edward VI.
PROCLAMATION ORDAINED BY THE KING'S MAJESTY, WITH THE
ADVICE OF HIS HONOURABLE COUNCIL, FOR THE BIBLE OF
THE LARGEST AND GREATEST VOLUME TO BE HAD IN EVERY
CHURCH ; DEVISED THE SIXTH DAY OF MAY, THE THIRTY-
THIRD YEAR OF THE KING'S MOST GRACIOUS REIGN.
WHEREBY injunctions heretofore set forth by the au-
thority of the king's royal r-.ujesty, supreme head of the
270 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
church of this his realm of England, it was ordained and
commanded, amongst other things, that in all and singular
parish churches, there should be provided, by a certain day
now expired, at the costs of the curates and parishioners,
Bibles containing the Old and New Testament in the English
tongue, to be fixed and set up openly in every of the said
parish churches; the which godly commandment and injunc-
tion was to the only intent that every of the king's majesty's
loving subjects, minding to read therein, might, by occasion
thereof, not only consider and perceive the great and inef-
fable omnipotent power, promise, justice, mercy and good-
ness of Almighty God, but also to learn thereby to observe
God's commandments, and to obey their sovereign lord and
high powers, and to exercise godly charity, and to use them-
selves according to their vocations, in a pure and sincere
Christian life without murmur or grudging : by the which
injunctions, the king's royal majesty intended that his loving
subjects should have and use the commodities of the reading
of the said Bibles, for the purpose above rehearsed, humbly,
meekly, reverently, and obediently, and not that any of
them should read the said Bibles with high and loud voices,
in time of the celebration of the holy mass, and other divine
services used in the church ; or that any of his lay-subjects
reading the same, should presume to take upon them any
common disputation, argument, or exposition of the mysteries
therein contained;- but that every such layman should, hum-
bly, meekly, and reverently, read the same for his own in-
struction, edification, and amendment of his life, according
to God's holy word therein mentioned. And notwithstand-
ing the king's said most godly and gracious commandment
and injunction, in form as aforesaid, his royal majesty is in-
formed, that divers and many towns and parishes within this
his realm have neglected their duties in the accomplishment
thereof; whereof his highness marvelleth not a little; and
minding the execution of his said former most godly and
gracious injunctions, doth straitly charge and command, that
the curates and parishioners of every town and parish within
this his realm of England, not having already Bibles pro-
vided within their parish churches, shall, on this side the
feast of All Saints next coming, buy and provide Bibles of
the largest and greatest volume, and cause the same to be
set and fixed in every of the said parish churches, there to
be used as is aforesaid, according to the said former in-
junctions, upon pain that the curate and inhabitants of the
HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH 271
parishes and towns shall lose and forfeit to the king's ma-
jesty for every month that they shall lack and want the said
Bibles, after the same feast of All Saints, 40$., the one half
of the same forfeit to be to the king's majesty, and the other
half to him or them which shall first find and present the
same to the king's majesty's council . . . And his highness
straitly chargeth and commandeth that all and singular
ordinaries, having ecclesiastical jurisdiction within this his
church and realm of England, and dominion of Wales, that
they and every of them shall put their effectual endeavours
that the curates and parishioners shall obey and accomplish
this his majesty's proclamation and commandment, as they
tender the advancement of the king's most gracious and
godly purpose in that behalf and as they will answer to his
highness for the same.
God save the king.
(Collection of Records, Burnet, ed. cit., cvii.)
12 x. Church Services to be in English
(36 HENRY VIII, 1545)
Records, Burnet
This mandate produced a complete overturn of the old custom
of using Latin in the services of the Church ; and since its issue
the services of the Church of England have been held in the
English tongue.
A MANDATE FOR PUBLISHING AND USING THE PRAYERS IN THE
ENGLISH TONGUE.
Mandatum Domino Episcopo London, direct, pro publica-
tione Regiarum Injunctionum.
Most reverend father in God, right trusty and right well-
beloved, we greet you well, and let you wit, that calling to
our remembrance the miserable state of all Christendom,
being at this present, besides all other troubles, so plagued
with most cruel wars, hatred, and dissensions, as no place of
the same almost (being the whole reduced to a very narrow
corner) remaineth in good peace, agreement, and concord;
the help and remedy whereof far exceeding the power of
any man, must be called for of Him who only is able to grant
our petitions, and never forsaketh nor repelleth any that
firmly believe and faithfully call on him ; unto whom also
the example of Scripture encourageth us, in all these and
other our troubles and necessities, to fly and to cry for aid
273 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
and succour ; being therefore resolved to have continually
from henceforth general processions, in all cities, towns,
churches, and parishes in this our realm, said and sung, with
such reverence and devotion as appertaineth. Forasmuch
as heretofore the people, partly for lack of good instruction
and calling, and partly for that they understood no part of
such prayers or suffrages as were used to be sung and said,
have used to come very slackly to the procession, when the
same have been commanded heretofore ; we have set forth
certain godly prayers and suffrages in our native English
tongue, which we send you herewith, signifying unto you,
that for the special trust and confidence we have of your
godly mind, and earnest desire, to the setting forward of
the glory of God, and the true worshipping of his most holy
name, within that province committed by us unto you, we
have sent unto you these suffrages, not to be for a month or
two observed, and after slenderly considered, as other our
injunctions have, to our no little marvel, been used; but to the
intent that as well the same, as other our injunctions, may be
earnestly set forth by preaching good exhortations and other-
wise to the people, in such sort as they feeling the godly
taste thereof, may godly and joyously, with thanks, receive,
embrace, and frequent the same, as appertaineth. Where-
fore we will and command you, as you will answer unto us
for the contrary, not only to cause these prayers and suf-
frages aforesaid to be published, frequented, and openly used
in all towns, churches, villages, and parishes of your own
diocess, but also to signify this our pleasure unto all other
bishops of your province, willing and commanding them in
our name, and by virtue hereof, to do and execute the same
accordingly. Unto whose proceedings, in the execution of
this our commandment, we will that you have a special
respect, and make report unto us, if any shall not with good
dexterity accomplish the same ; not failing, as our special
trust is in you.
At St. James's, Junii Regni 36. Directed to
the Archbishop of Canterbury.
(Collection of Records, Burnet, ed. cit., cxiil.
CHAPTER XVI
THE REIGN OF EDWARD VI.
122. Regulations concerning the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper
(i EDW. VI, 1547)
Statutes at Large of England
The following Act strikingly illustrates one of the results of
the sudden overthrow of Catholicism. The sacrament, which had
once been to all the most sacred of ceremonies, became a subject
of blasphemy on both sides. So widespread was this evil that
it was necessary to take legal measures to suppress it, lest religion
should be utterly subverted by being brought into almost uni-
versal disrepute.
AN ACT AGAINST SUCH PERSONS AS SHALL UNREVERENTLY
SPEAK AGAINST THE SACRAMENT OF THE BODY AND BLOOD
OF CHRIST, COMMONLY CALLED THE SACRAMENT OF THE
ALTAR, AND FOR THE RECEIVING THEREOF IN BOTH KINDS.
I. (PREAMBLE. This describes the nature and sanc-
tity of the Sacrament, recites the abuses thereof, and pro-
vides against irreverent speaking thereof.)
II. (Provides for the methods of examination of Ac-
cusers.)
III. (Provides for process under this Act.)
IV. (Provision that justices of the peace, before whom
trial is held, shall summons bishop of diocese to trial.)
V. (Provides that indictment must be laid within three
months after committal of offense.)
VI. (Method of proof of innocence.)
VII. And forasmuch as it is more agreeable, both to the
first institution of the said Sacrament of the most precious
body and blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and also more
conformable to the common use and practice both of the
Apostles and the primitive Church by the space of 500 years
and more after Christ's ascension, that the said blessed
Sacrament should be administered to all Christian people
under both the kinds of bread and wine, than under the
273
274 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
form of bread only : And also it is more agreeable to the
first institution of Christ, and to the usage of the Apostles
and the primitive Church, that the people being present
should receive the same with the priest than that the priest
should receive it alone : Therefore be it enacted by our said
sovereign lord the King, with the consent of the Lords
Spiritual and Temporal, and the Commons, in this present
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same,
That the said most blessed Sacrament be hereafter commonly
delivered and administered unto the people within the Church
of England and Ireland, and other the King's dominions,
under both the kinds, that is to say, of bread and wine,
except necessity otherwise require: And also the priest
which shall administer the same shall, at the least one day
before, exhort all persons which shall be present likewise
to resort and prepare themselves to receive the same. And
when the day prefixed cometh, after a godly exhortation by
the minister made (wherein shall be further expressed the
benefit and comfort promised to them which worthily re-
ceive the said Holy Sacrament, and danger and indignation
of God threatened to them which shall presume to receive
the same unworthily, to the end that every man may try and
examine his own conscience before he shall receive the
same), the said minister shall not without a lawful cause
deny the same to any person that will devoutly and humbly
desire it; any law, statute, ordinance, or custom contrary
thereto in any wise notwithstanding: Not condemning here-
by the usage of any church out of the King's Majesty's
dominions. (Ka. from Statutes at Large, ed. cit., Ill, 478.)
123. The Act of Uniformity
(2 EDW. VI, 1548)
Statutes at Large of England
Confusion in order and lack of reverence in religious services
followed the innovations of Henry VIII. As Protestantism
gained control, the disorder increased. The inevitable end was
clearly foreseen by the advisers of Edward VI., and prompt action
was taken by the following Act, which was designed to cause all
the various forms of divine service to conform to one model,
that of the Protestant Church of England.
AN ACT FOR THE UNIFORMITY OF SERVICE AND ADMINISTRA-
TION OF THE SACRAMENTS THROUGHOUT THE REALM
(The preamble recites the uses of various forms of ser-
vice ; the attempt of the King and Lord Protector to prevent
THE REIGN OF EDWARD VI. 275
innovations; the clemency of the King in not punishing of-
fenders against his decrees; the appointment of the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury and others to frame a common order
of prayer and rites; the framing of the Book of Common
Prayer; and the thanks of Parliament for the latter. It
also asks amnesty for all offenders in the premises, and
proceeds:)
. . . and that all and singular ministers in any cathedral or
parish church or other place within this realm of England,
Wales, Calais, and the marches of the same, or other the
King's dominions, shall, from and after the feast of Pente-
cost next coming, be bounden to say and use the matins,
evensong, celebration of the Lord's Supper, commonly called
the Mass, and administration of each of the Sacraments, and
all their common and open prayer, in such order and form
as is mentioned in the same book, and none other or other-
wise. And albeit that the same be so godly and good that
they give occasion to every honest and conformable man
most willingly to embrace them, yet lest any obstinate person
who willingly would disturb so godly order and quiet in
this realm should not go unpunished, that it may also be
ordained and enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any
manner of parson, vicar, or other whatsoever ministers, that
ought or should sing or say Common Prayer mentioned in
the said Book, or administer the Sacraments, shall after the
said feast of Pentecost next coming refuse to use the said
Common Prayers, or to administer the Sacraments in such
cathedral or parish church, or other places as he should use
or administer the same, in such order and form as they be
mentioned and set forth in the said Book ; or shall use, wil-
fully and obstinately standing in the same, any other rite,
ceremony, order, form, or manner of Mass openly or privily,
or matins, evensong, administration of the Sacraments, or
other open prayer than is mentioned and set forth in the said
Book (open prayer, in and throughout this Act, is meant
that prayer which is for other to come unto and hear, either
in common churches or private chapels or oratories, com-
monly called the Service of the Church) : or shall preach,
declare, or speak any thing in the derogation or depraving
of the said Book, or any thing therein contained, or of any
part thereof; and shall be thereof lawfully convicted ac-
cording to the laws of this realm, by verdict of twelve men,
or by his own confession, or by the notorious evidence of the
fact, shall lose and forfeit to the King's Highness, his heirs
276 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
and successors, for his first offence, the profits of such one
of his spiritual benefices or promotions as it shall please the
King's Highness to assign or appoint, coming and arising
in one whole year next after his conviction. [The rest of
this section deals with form of penalty for first, second, and
third offences.]
II. And it is ordained and enacted by the authority above-
said, That if any person or persons whatsoever, after the
said feast of Pentecost next coming, shall in any interludes,
plays, songs, rhymes, or by other open words, declare or
speak any thing in the derogation, depraving, or despising
of the same Book, or of any thing therein contained, or any
part thereof; or shall by open fact, deed, or by open threat-
enings, compel or cause, or otherwise procure or maintain
any parson, vicar, or other minister in any cathedral or
parish church, or in any chapel or other place, to sing or say
any common and open prayer, or to administer any Sacra-
ment otherwise or in any other manner or form than is
mentioned in the said Book; or that by any of the said
means shall unlawfully interrupt or let any parson, vicar,
or other ministers in any cathedral or parish church, chapel,
or any other place, to sing or say common and open prayer,
or to administer the Sacraments, or any of them, in any
such manner and form as is mentioned in the said Book ; that
then every person being thereof lawfully convicted in form
abovesaid, shall forfeit to the King our sovereign lord, his
heirs and successors, for the first offence ten pounds. [The
rest of this section deals with forms of penalties.]
III. (Provides that justices of oyer may sit in judgment.)
IV. (Provides that a bishop may at his pleasure join with
the justices at the trial.)
V. Provided always, That it shall be lawful to any man
that understandeth the Greek, Latin, and Hebrew tongue,
or other strange tongue, to say and have the said prayers
heretofore specified of matins and evensong in Latin, or any
such other tongue, saying the same privately, as they do
understand.
VI. And for the further encouragement of learning in the
tongues in the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford to use
and exercise in their common and open prayer in their
chapels (being no parish churches), or other places of
prayer, the matins, evensong, litany, and all other prayers
(the Holy Communion, commonly called the Mass, ex-
cepted), prescribed in the said Book, in Greek, Latin, or
THE REIGN OF EDWARD VI. 277
Hebrew; any thing in this present Act to the contrary
notwithstanding.
VII. Provided also, That it shall be lawful for all men,
as well in churches, chapels, oratories, or other places, to
use openly any psalms or prayer taken out of the Bible, at
any due time, not letting or omitting thereby the Service,
or any part thereof, mentioned in the said Book.
VIII. (Provides that Service Books shall be gotten by all
churches before the next feast of Pentecost.)
IX. X, XI, XII, and XIII provide for procedure and juris-
diction under this Act.
(Ed. from Statutes at Large, ed. cit., Ill, p. 517.)
124. Against Books and Images
(3 EDW. VI, 1549)
Statutes at Large of England
The zeal of the Protestant party led to the issue of stringent
acts against all practices that recalled the doctrines of the Catho-
lic Church. Uniformity of worship was secured by careful sup-
pression and drastic legislation.
Whereas the King's most excellent Majesty hath of late
set forth and established by authority of Parliament an
uniform, quiet, and godly order for Common and Open
Prayer, in a book entitled, The Book of Common Prayer
and Administration of the Sacraments, and other Rites and
Ceremonies of the Church, after the Church of England, to
be used and observed in the said Church of England, agree-
ably to the order of the primitive Church, much more com-
fortable unto his loving subjects than other diversity of ser-
vice, as heretofore of long time hath been used, being in the
said book ordained, nothing to be read but the very pure
Word of God, or which is evidently grounded upon the
same ; and in the other, things corrupt, untrue, vain, and
superstitious, and as it were a preparation to superstition;
which for that they be not called in, but permitted to re-
main undefaced, do not only give occasion to such perverse
persons as do impugn the order and godly meaning of the
King's said Book of Common Prayer, to continue in their
old accustomed superstitious service, but also minister great
occasion to diversity of opinions, rites, ceremonies, and
services : Be it therefore enacted by the King our Sovereign
Lord, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the Commons,
in the present Parliament assembled, That all books called
antiphoners, missals, grailes, processionals, manuals, legends,
2?3 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
pies, portuasscs, primers in Latin or English, couchers, jour-
nals, ordinals, or other books or writings whatsoever hereto-
fore used for service of the Church, written or printed in the
English or Latin tongue, other than such as are or shall be
set forth by the King's Majesty, shall be by authority of this
present Act clearly and utterly abolished, extinguished, and
forbidden for ever to be used or kept in this realm, or else-
where within any of the King's dominions.
II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid,
That if any person or persons, of what estate, degree, or
condition soever he, she, or they be, body politic or cor-
porate, that now have or hereafter shall have in his, her, or
their custody, any the books or writings of the sorts afore-
said, or any images of stone, timber, alabaster, or earth,
graven, carved, or painted, which heretofore have been
taken out of any church or chapel, or yet stand in any
church or chapel, and do not before the last day of June
next ensuing deface and destroy, or cause to be defaced and
destroyed, the same images and every of them, and deliver
or cause to be delivered all and every the same books to the
mayor, bailiff, constable, or church-wardens of the town
where such books then shall be, to be by them delivered over
openly within three months next following after the said
delivery, to the archbishop, bishop, chancellor, or commis-
sary, of the same diocese, to the intent the said archbishop,
bishop, chancellor, or commissary, and every of them, cause
them immediately either to be openly burnt or otherwise de-
faced and destroyed ; shall for every such book or books will-
ingly retained in his, her, or their hands or custody within this
realm, or elsewhere within any of the King's dominions, and
not delivered as is aforesaid, after the said last day of June,
and be thereof lawfully convict, forfeit and lose to the King
our Sovereign Lord, for the first offence xx s., and for the
second offence shall forfeit and lose (being thereof lawfully
convict) iv /', and for the third offence shall suffer im-
prisonment at the King's will.
III. (Provides penalty in case of default of duty by any
Mayor, etc.)
IV. (Provides for jurisdiction by Justices of the Assize.)
V. Provided also, and be it enacted by the authority afore-
said, That any person or persons may use, keep, have, and
retain any primers in the English or Latin tongue, set forth
by the late King of famous memory, King Henry the Eighth,
so that the sentences of invocation or prayer to the saints in
THE REIGN OF EDWARD VI. 279
the same primers be blotted or clearly put out of the same;
any thing in this Act to the contrary notwithstanding.
VI. Provided always, That this Act, or any thing therein
contained, shall not extend to any image or picture set or
graven upon any tomb in any church, chapel, or church-
yard, only for a monument of any king, prince, nobleman, or
other dead person, which hath not been commonly reputed or
taken for a saint, but that such pictures and images my
stand and continue in like manner and form as if this Act
had never been had nor made; any thing in this Act to the
contrary in any wise notwithstanding.
(Ed. from Statutes at Large, ed. cited, III, p. 565.'
125. Journal of Edward VI.
Records, Burnet
The following extracts from the journal of Edward VI., a mere
boy, are pathetic in their evidence of abnormal precocity. They
are also important in that they foreshadow the attitude of Mary
toward the Protestant religion.
March [1550]
18. The lady Mary, my sister, came to me at Westminster,
where, after salutations, she was called with my council, into
a chamber; where was declared how long I had suffered her
mass, in hope of her reconciliation, and how now being no
hope, which I perceived by her letters, except I saw some
short amendment, I could not bear it. She answered, "that
her soul was God's, and her faith she would not change,
nor dissemble her opinion with contrary doings." It was
said, "I constrained not her faith, but willed her not as a
king to rule, but as a subject to obey; and that her example
might breed too much inconvenience."
19. The emperor's ambassador came with a short message
from his master of war, if I would not suffer his cousin, the
princess, to use her mass. To this was no answer given at
this time.
20. The bishops of Canterbury, London, Rochester, did
consider to give license to sin, was sin; to suffer and wink
at it for a time might be born, so all haste possible might
be used.
23. The council having the bishop's answers, seeing my
subjects taking their vent in Flanders, might put the whole
realm in danger. The Flemings had cloth enough for a year in
their hand, and were kept far unde.r the danger of the papists;
2 8o SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
the fifteen hundred cinquetales of powder I had in Flanders,
the harness they had for preparation of the gendarmory,
the goods my merchants had there at the Wool fleet, decreed
to send an ambassador to the emperor, Mr. Wotton, to deny
the matter wholly, and persuade the emperor in it, thinking,
by his going, to win some time for a preparation of a mart,
convenience of powder, harness, etc., and for the surety of the
realm. In the mean season, to punish the offenders, first of
my servants that heard mass, next of hers.
24. Sir Anthony Brown sent to the Fleet for hearing mass
with serjeant Morgan, sir Clement Smith, which a year be-
fore heard mass, chidden.
25. The ambassador of the emperor came to have his
answer, but had none, saving, that one should go to the
emperor within a month or two to declare the matter.
(Collection of Records, Burnet, ed. cit., clxvi.
CHAPTER XVII
THE REACTION AGAINST PROTESTANTISM
126. Lady Jane Grey's Claim to the Throne
Records, Burnet
The claim of Lady Jane Dudley or, as she is better known,
of Lady Jane Grey to the throne of England is set forth in the
following document. The text has been given in full, as it throws
light upon a little-understood period, and gives the complete
ground of claim of the unfortunate lady whose reign was the
briefest of England's queens.
Jane, by the grace of God queen of England, France, and
Ireland, defender of the faith, and of the Church of England,
and also of Ireland, under Christ on earth the supreme head.
To all our most loving, faithful, and obedient subjects, and
to every of them, greeting. Whereas our most dear cousin
Edward the 6th, late king of England, France, and Ireland,
Defender of the Faith ; and on earth supreme head, under
Christ, of the Church of England and Ireland; by his letters
patents, signed with his own hand, and sealed with his great
seal of England, bearing date the 2ist day of June, in the sev-
enth year of his reign ; in the presence of the most part of
his nobles, his counsellors, judges, and divers other grave
and sage personages, for the profit and surety of his whole
realm, thereto assenting and subscribing their names to the
same, hath, by the same his letters patent, recited, that foras-
much as the imperial crown of this realm, by an act made in
the 35th year of the reign of the late king, of worthy memory,
king Henry the 8th, our progenitor, and great uncle, was,
for lack of issue by his body lawfully begotten; and for lack
of issue of the body of our said late cousin king Edward the
6th, by the same act, limited and appointed to remain to the
lady Mary his eldest daughter, and to the heirs of her body
lawfully begotten : and for default of such issue, the re-
mainder thereof to the lady Elizabeth, by the name of the
" 281
282 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
lady Elizabeth his second daughter, and to the heirs of her
body lawfully begotten; with such conditions as should be
limited and appointed by the said late king of worthy mem-
ory, king Henry the 8th, our progenitor, and great uncle, by
his letters patent under his great seal, or by his last will
in writing, signed with his hand. And forasmuch as the
said limitation of the imperial crown of his realm being
limited, as is aforesaid, to the said lady Mary, and lady
Elizabeth, being illegitimate, and not lawfully begotten, for
that the marriage had, between the said late king, king
Henry the 8th, our progenitor, and great uncle, and the
lady Katherine, mother of the said lady Mary ; and also the
marriage had between the said late king, king Henry the
8th, our progenitor, and great uncle, and the lady Ann,
mother of the said lady Elizabeth, were clearly and lawfully
undone, by sentences of divorce, according to the word of
God, and the ecclesiastical laws; and which said several
divorcements have been severally ratified and confirmed
by authority of Parliament, and especially in the 28th year
of the reign of king Henry the 8th, our said progenitor,
and great uncle, remaining in force, strength, and effect,
whereby, as well the said lady Mary, as also the said
lady Elizabeth, to all intents and purposes, are, and been
clearly disabled, to ask, claim, or challenge the said imperial
crown, or any other of the honours, castles, manours, lord-
ships, lands, tenements, or other hereditaments, as heir or
heirs to our said late cousin king Edward the 6th, or as heir
or heirs to any other person or persons whatsoever, as well
for the cause before rehearsed, as also for that the said lady
Mary, and lady Elizabeth, were unto our said late cousin but
of the half-blood, and therefore by the ancient laws, statutes.
and customs of this realm, be not inheritable unto our said
late cousin, although they had been born in lawful matri-
mony; as indeed they were not, as by the said sentences of
divorce, and the said statute of the 28th year of the reign of
king Henry the 8th, our said progenitor, and great uncle,
plainly appeareth. And forasmuch also, as it is to be thought,
or at the least much to be doubted, that if the said lady Mary,
or lady Elizabeth, should hereafter have or enjoy the said
imperial crown of this realm, and should then happen to
marry with any stranger born out of this realm, that then the
said stranger, having the government and the imperial crown
in his hands, would adhere and practice not only to bring
this noble, free realm into the tyranny and servitude of the
REACTION AGAINST PROTESTANTISM 283
bishops of Rome, but also to have the laws and customs of
his or their own native country or countries, to be practised
and put in use within this realm, rather than the laws, stat-
utes, and customs here of long time used; whereupon the
title of inheritance, of all and singular the subjects of this
realm to depend, to the peril of conscience, and the utter
subversion of the common-weal of this realm : whereupon
our said late dear cousin, weighing and considering within
himself which ways and means were most convenient to be
had for the stay of the said succession, in the said imperial
crown, if it should please God to call our said late cousin
out of this transitory life, having no issue of his body; and
calling to his remembrance, that we, and the lady Katherine,
and the lady Mary, our sisters (being the daughters of the
lady Frances, our natural mother, and then, and yet, wife of
our natural and most loving father, Henry duke of Suffolk ;
and the lady Margaret, daughter of the lady Elianor, then
deceased, sister of the said lady Frances, and the late wife
of our cousin Henry earl of Cumberland) were very nigh
of his grace's blood, of the part of his father's side, our said
progenitor, and great uncle ; and being naturally born here,
within the realm ; and for the very good opinion our said
late cousin had of our said sisters' and cousin Margaret's
good education, did therefore, upon good deliberation and
advice herein had, and taken, by his said letters patents,
declare, order, assign, limit, and appoint, that if it should
fortune himself, our said late cousin, king Edward the Sixth,
to decease, having no issue of his body lawfully, begotten,
that then the said imperial crown of England and Ireland,
and the confines of the same, and his title to the crown of
the realm of France ; and all and singular honours, castles,
prerogatives, privileges, preeminencies and authorities, ju-
risdictions, dominions, possessions, and hereditaments, to
our said late cousin, king Edward the Sixth, or to the said
imperial crown belonging, or in any-wise appertaining,
should, for lack of such issue of his body, remain, come, and
be to the eldest son of the body of the said lady Frances, law-
fully begotten, being born into the world in his life-time, and
to the heirs males of the body of such eldest son lawfully be-
gotten ; and so from son to son, as he should be of vicinity of
birth of the body of the said lady Francis, lawfully begotten,
being born into the world in our said late cousin's life-time,
and to the heirs male of the body of every such son lawfully
begotten. And for default of such son born into the world
284 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
in his life-time, of the body of the said lady Frances, law-
fully begotten ; and for lack of heirs males of every such son
lawfully begotten, that then the said imperial crown, and all
and singular other the premises, should remain, come, and
be to us, by the name of the lady Jane, eldest daughter of
the said lady Frances, and to the heirs male of our body
lawfully begotten, and for the lack of such issue, then to the
lady Katherine aforesaid, our said second sister, and the heirs
male of her body lawfully begotten, with divers other re-
mainders, as by the same letters-patents more plainly and
at large it may and doth appear. Sithence the making of
our letters patents, that is to say, on Thursday, which was
the 6th day of this instant month of July, it hath pleased God
to call unto his infinite mercy our said most dear and entirely
beloved cousin Edward the Sixth, whose soul God pardon ;
and forasmuch as he is now deceased, having no heirs of his
body begotten ; and that also there remaineth at this present
time no heirs lawfully begotten, of the body of our said pro-
genitor, and great uncle, king Henry the Eighth ; and for-
asmuch also as the said lady Frances, our said mother, had
no issue male begotten of her body, and born into the world,
in the life-time of our said cousin king Edward the Sixth, so
as the said imperial crown, and other the premises to the
same belonging, or in any-wise appertaining, now be, and
remain to us, in our actual and royal possession, by authority
of the said letters patents : we do therefore by these presents
signify, unto all our most loving, faithful, and obedient sub-
jects, that like-as we for our part shall, by God's grace, shew
ourselves a most gracious and benign sovereign queen and
lady to all our good subjects, in all their just and lawful suits
and causes ; and to the uttermost of our power, shall preserve
and maintain God's most holy word, Christian policy, and
the good laws, customs, and liberties of these our realms and
dominions; so we mistrust not but they, and every of them,
will again, for their parts, at all times, and in all cases, shew
themselves unto us, their natural liege queen and lady, most
faithful, loving, and obedient subjects, according to their
bounden duties and allegiance, whereby they shall please
God, and do the things that shall tend to their own preserva-
tion and sureties ; willing and commanding all men, of all
estates, degrees, and conditions, to see our peace and accord
kept, and to be obedient to our laws, as they tender our
favour, and will answer for the contrary at their extreme
perils. In witness whereof, we have caused these our letters
REACTION AGAINST PROTESTANTISM 285
to be made patents. Witness ourself, at our Tower of Lon-
don, the tenth day of July, in the first year of our reign.
God save the Queen.
(Collection of Records, Burnet, ed. cit., ccliii.)
127. Execution of Lady Jane Grey
Foxe
The brief reign of Lady Jane Grey Dudley was brought to a
pathetic close with her condemnation to death. Her bearing on
the scaffold was marked by resignation and dignity, and the
sympathies of all, even those who were opposed to her claim as
queen, were given to the young girl who died so bravely.
These are the words that the lady Jane spake upon the
scaffold, at the hour of her death. First, when she mounted
upon the scaffold, she said to the people standing thereabout,
"Good people, I am come hither to die, and by a law I am
condemned to the same. The fact against the queen's high-
ness was unlawful, and the consenting thereunto by me : but
touching the procurement and desire thereof by me, or on my
behalf, I do wash my hands thereof in innocency before God,
and the face of you, good Christian people, this day :" and
therewith she wrung her hands, wherein she had her book.
Then said she, "I pray you all, good Christian people, to bear
me witness that I die a true Christian woman, and that I do
look to be saved by no other mean, but only by the mercy of
God, in the blood of his only son Jesus Christ: and I confess,
that when I did know the word of God, I neglected the same,
loved myself and the world ; and therefore this plague and
punishment is happily and worthily happened unto me for
my sins ; and yet I thank God, that of his goodness he hath
thus given me a time and respite to repent. And now, good
people, while I am alive, I pray you assist me with your
prayers." And then, kneeling down, she turned her to Feck-
nam, saying: "Shall I say this psalm?" And he said, "Yea."
Then said she the psalm of "Miserere met Deus" in English,
in most devout manner, throughout to the end ; and then she
stood up, and gave her maiden, mistress Ellen, her gloves
and handkerchief, and her book to master Bruges. And
then she untied her gown, and the hangman pressed upon her
to help her off with it; but she, desiring him to let her alone,
turned towards her two gentlewomen, who helped her off
therewith, and also with her frowes paste and neckerchief,
giving to her a fair handkerchief to knit about her eyes.
Then the hangman kneeled down and asked her forgive-
280 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
ness, whom she forgave most willingly. Then he willed her
to stand upon the straw ; which doing, she saw the block.
Then she said, "I pray you despatch me quickly." Then she
kneeled down, saying, "Will you take it off, before I lay me
down?" And the hangman said, "Xo, madam." Then tied
she the handkerchief about her eyes, and feeling for the
block, she said, "What shall I do? Where is it? Where is
it?" One of the standers-by guiding her thereunto she laid
her head down upon the block, and then stretched forth her
body, and said, "Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit ;"
and so finished her life, in the year of our Lord God 1554,
the I2th day of February.
(Acts and Monuments, of John J'oxc, ed. J. Pratt, I.ond. n. d. 4th ed., VI, 423.)
128. Mary's Claim to the Throne
Acts and Monuments, Foxe
That the claim of Lady Jane Grey was not without strong
support is shown by the following correspondence between Mary
and the lords of the council. The answer of the prominent lords
to the claim of Mary is very sharp in its tone, and some of the
Protestants afterward paid dearly for their partisanship of Lady
Jane and for their strictures upon the legitimacy of Mary.
My lords, we greet you well, and have received sure adver-
tisement, that our dearest brother the king, our late sover-
eign lord, is departed to God's mercy; which news how wo-
ful they be unto our heart, he only knoweth, to whose will
and pleasure we must, and do, humbly submit us and our
wills. But in this so lamentable a case, that is to wit now,
after his majesty's departure and death, concerning the
crown and governance of this realm of England, with the
title of France, and all things thereto belonging, what hath
been provided by act of Parliament, and the testament and
last will of our dearest father, besides other circumstances
advancing our right, you know, the realm and the whole
world knoweth ; the rolls and records appear by the authority
of the king our said father, and the king our said brother,
and the subjects of this realm; so that we verily trust that
there is no good true subject, that is, can, or would pretend
to be ignorant thereof; and of our part we have of ourselves
caused, and, as God shall aid and strengthen us, shall cause,
our right and title in this behalf to be published and pro-
claimed accordingly. And albeit this so weighty matter
seemeth strange, that our said brother, dying upon Thursday
at night last past, we hitherto had no knowledge from you
REACTION AGAINST PROTESTANTISM 287
thereof, yet we consider your wisdoms and prudence to be
such, that having eftsoons among you debated, pondered, and
well weighed this present case with our estate, with your
own estate, the commonwealth, and all our honours, we shall
and may conceive great hope and trust, with much assurance
in your loyalty and service ; and therefore for the time inter-
pret and take things not to the worst, and that ye will, like
noblemen, work the best. Nevertheless, we are not ignorant
of your consultations, to undo the provisions made for our
preferment, nor of the great bands, and provisions forcible,
wherewith ye be assembled and prepared by whom, and to
what end, God and you know, and nature cannot but fear
some evil. But be it that some consideration politic, or
whatsoever thing else hath moved you thereto; yet doubt you
not, my lords, but we can take all these your doings in gra-
cious part, being also right ready to remit and fully pardon
the same, and that freely, to eschew bloodshed and vengeance,
against all those that can or will intend the same; trust-
ing also assuredly you will take and accept this grace and
virtue in good part, as appertained, and that we shall not be
enforced to use the service of others our true subjects and
friends, which in this our just and right cause, God, in whom
our whole affiance is, shall send us. Wherefore, my lords,
we require you, and charge you and every of you, that of
your allegiance which you owe to God and us, and to none
other, for our honour and the surety of our person, only em-
ploy yourselves, and forthwith, upon receipt hereof, cause
our right and title to the crown and government of this
realm to be proclaimed in our city of London and other
places, as to your wisdom shall seem good, and as to this
case appertaineth ; not failing hereof as our very trust is in
you. And this our letter, signed with our hand, shall be
your sufficient warrant in this behalf.
Given under our signet, at our Manor of Kenning-hall,
the ninth of July, 1553.
(Acts and Monuments, of John Foxe, ed. cit., VI, 385.)
i28a. Answer of the Lords of the Council unto the Lady Mary's
Letter
Madam, we have received your letters, the ninth of this in-
stant, declaring your supposed title, which you judge your-
self to have, to the imperial crown of this realm, and all the
dominions thereunto belonging. For answer whereof, this
is to advertise you, that forasmuch as our sovereign lady
288 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
queen Jane is, after the death of our sovereign lord Edward
the Sixth, a prince of most noble memory, invested and pos-
sessed with the just and right title in the imperial crown of
this realm, not only by good order of old ancient laws of this
realm, but also by our late sovereign lord's letters patent,
signed with his own hand, and sealed with the great seal of
England in presence of the most part of the nobles, coun-
cillors, judges, with divers other grave and sage personages,
assenting and subscribing to the same : we must, therefore,
as of most bounden duty and allegiance, assent unto her said
grace, and to none other, except we should (which faithful
subjects cannot) fall into grievous and unspeakable enormi-
ties. Wherefore we can no less do, but, for the quiet both
of the realm and you also, to advertise you, that forasmuch
as the divorce made between the king of famous memory,
king Henry the Eighth, and the lady Katherine your mother,
was necessary to be had both by the everlasting laws of God,
and also by the ecclesiastical laws, and by the most part of
the noble and learned universities of Christendom, and con-
firmed also by the sundry acts of parliaments remaining yet
in their force, and thereby you justly made illegitimate and
unheritable to the crown imperial of this realm, and the
rules, and dominions, and possessions of the same, you will,
upon just consideration hereof, and of divers other causes
lawful to be alleged for the same, and for the just inheritance
of the right line and godly order taken by the late king our
sovereign lord king Edward the Sixth, and agreed upon by
the nobles and greatest personages aforesaid, surcease by
any pretence to vex and molest any of our sovereign lady
queen Jane's subjects from their true faith and allegiance due
unto her grace: assuring you, that if you will for respect
show yourself quiet and obedient (as you ought), you shall
find us all and several ready to do you any service that we
with duty may, and be glad, with your quietness, to preserve
the common state of this realm, wherein you may be otherwise
grievous unto us, to yourself, and to them. And thus we bid
you most heartily well to fare. From the Tower of London,
in this ninth of July, 1553.
Your Ladyship's friends, showing yourself an obedient
subject.
Thomas Canterbury. Shrewsbury. John Gates.
The Marquis of Winchester. Pembroke. W. Peter.
REACTION AGAINST PROTESTANTISM 289
John Bedford. Cobham. W. Cecil.
William Northampton. R. Riche. John Cheke.
Thomas Ely, chancellor. Huntingdon. John Mason.
Northumberland. Darcy. Edward North.
Henry Suffolk. Cheney. R. Bowes.
Henry Arundel. R. Cotton.
(Acts and Monuments, Foxe, ed. cit., VI, 386.)
129. Mary's Status as Queen
(i MARY, s. 3, 1553)
Statutes at Large of England
The question of the status of a queen regnant had never been
legally fixed. Custom had given to the queen consort many
rights, privileges, and powers, but it had not found occasion to
fix the amount of power vested in that unknown quantity in
England, a reigning queen. The question was raised as to
whether a woman could rule England. The Salic Law appeared
to forbid, and favourable precedent was lacking. It was there-
fore necessary to define and confirm the status of the queen by
an Act of Parliament.
AN ACT DECLARING THAT THE REGAL POWER OF THIS REALM IS
IN THE QUEEN'S MAJESTY, AS FULLY AND ABSOLUTELY AS
EVER IT WAS IN ANY OF HER MOST NOBLE PROGENITORS,
KINGS OF THIS REALM.
FORASMUCH as the imperial crown of this realm, with all
dignities, honours, prerogatives, authorities, jurisdictions
and preeminences thereunto annexed, united and belong-
ing, by the divine providence of Almighty God, is most
lawfully, justly and rightfully descended and come unto the
Queen's Highness that now is, being the very, true and un-
doubted heir and inheritrix thereof, and invested in her
most royal person, according unto the laws of this realm :
And by force and virtue of the same, all regal power,
dignity, honour, authority, prerogative, preeminence and
jurisdictions doth appertain, and of right ought to apper-
tain and belong unto her Highness, as unto the sovereign
supreme governor and queen of this realm, and of the do-
minions thereof, is as full, large and ample manner, as it
hath done heretofore to any other her most noble progeni-
tors, kings of this realm : Nevertheless, the most ancient
statutes of this realm, being made by kings then reigning,
do not only attribute and refer all prerogative, preeminence,
power and jurisdiction royal unto the name of king, but
also do give, assign and appoint the correction and punish-
290 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
merit of all offenders against the regality and dignity of
the crown, and the laws of this realm, unto the king: By
occasion whereof, the malicious and ignorant persons may
be hereafter induced and persuaded unto this error and
folly, to think that her Highness could nor should have, en-
joy and use such like royal authority, power, preeminence,
prerogative and jurisdiction, nor do nor execute and use all
things concerning the said statutes, and take the benefit
and privilege of the same, nor correct and punish offenders
against her most royal person and the regality and dignity
of the crown of this realm and the dominions thereof, as
the kings of this realm, her most noble progenitors, have
heretofore done, enjoyed, used and exercised.
II. For the avoiding and clear extinguishment of which
said error or doubt, and for a plain declaration of the laws
of this realm in that behalf.
III. Be it declared and enacted by the authority of this
present Parliament, That the law of this realm is, and ever
hath been, and ought to be understood, that the kingly or
regal office of his realm, and all dignities, prerogatives
royal, power, preeminences, privileges, authorities and
jurisdictions thereunto annexed, united or belonging, being
invested either in male or female, are and be, and ought to
be, as fully, wholly, absolutely and entirely deemed, judged,
accepted, invested and taken in the one as in the other; so
that what or whensoever statute or law doth limit and ap-
point that the king of this realm may or shall have, execute
and do any thing as king, or doth give any profit or com-
modity to the king, or doth limit or appoint any pains or
punishment for the corrections of offenders or transgres-
sors against the regality and dignity of the king or of the
crown; the same, the Queen (being supreme governess,
possessor and inheritrix to the imperial crown of this
realm, as our said sovereign lady the Queen most justly
presently is) may by the same authority and power likewise
have, exercise, execute, punish, correct and do, to all intents,
constructions and purposes, without doubt, ambiguity,
scruple or question ; any custom, use or scruple, or any
other thing whatsoever to be made to the contrary notwith-
standing.
(Ed. from Statutes at Large, ed. cit., IV, 17.)
REACTION AGAINST PROTESTANTISM 20*
130. Mary Attempts to restore Church Lands
(1554)
bomers I r acts
The fidelity of Queen Mary to the Catholic Church was dis-
played in many ways. Her attitude toward heretics has been
shown, and the following Act indicates another phase in her
desire to restore to the Church the lands taken from it during
the previous reigns. The attempt was only partially successful,
as vested private interests were too strong to be abrogated,
especially as their possessors formed the legislature through
which Mary sought to effect the restitution.
A SPEECH OF QUEEN MARY'S TO HER COUNCIL, UPON HER RE-
SOLUTION OF RESTORING CHURCH LANDS. ANNO REG.
MAR. 4.
We have willed you to be called to us, to the intent you
might hear of me, my conscience, and the resolution of my
mind, concerning the lands and possessions, as well of mon-
asteries, as other churches whatsoever, being now in my pos-
session.
First, I do consider, that the said lands were taken away
from the churches aforesaid in time of schism ; and that by
unlawful means, such as are contrary both to the law of God,
and of the church : for which cause my conscience doth not
suffer me to detain them. And therefore I here expressly
refuse, either to claim, or retain those lands for mine: but
with all my heart, freely and willingly, without all paction
or condition, here, and before God, I do surrender and relin-
quish the said lands and possessions, or inheritances what-
soever; and renounce the same with this mind and purpose,
that order and disposition thereof may be taken, as shall
seem best liking to the Pope, or his legate, to the honour of
God, and the wealth of this our realm. And albeit you may
object to me again, That the state of my kingdom, the dignity
thereof, and my crown imperial, cannot be honourably main-
tained and furnished without the possessions aforesaid : yet
notwithstanding (and so she had affirmed before, when she
was bent upon the restitution of the tenths and first fruits),
I set more by the salvation of my soul, than by ten such king-
doms : and therefore the said possessions I utterly refuse
here to hold, after that sort and title : and I give most hearty
thanks to God, who hath given me a husband of the same
mind, who hath no less good affection in his behalf, than I
myself. Wherefore I charge and command that my chan-
cellor, (with whom I have conferred my mind in this mat-
2 Q2 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
tcr,) and you four, to resort to-morrow together, to the
legate, signifying to him the premises in my name. And give
your attendance upon me, for the more full declaration of
the state of my kingdom, and of the aforesaid possessions,
according as you yourselves do understand the matter, and
can inform him in the same.
(Collection of Tracts, Somers', ed. by Walter Scott, Lond., 1809. I, 56.)
131. Mary's Orders for the Execution of John Hooper
(1555)
Historical Documents, Goldsmid
Mary's extreme anxiety for the stamping out of heresy may be
seen in her instructions as to the execution of Hooper. He was
not to be allowed to speak lest he should further spread his
pernicious doctrines. The original manuscript is subscribed "A
True Copy of an Old Paper in my Custody, which seems to be
the first Draught of a Letter from the Queen to the lord Chan-
dois, etc., who went to see Execution done on Bishop Hooper."
Right Trusty and Well-beloved, etc. Whereas John
Hooper, who of late was called Bushop of Worcester and
Gloucester, is, by due order of the laws Ecclesiastique,con-
dempned and judged for a moste obstinate, false, detestable
Heretique, and committed to our Secular Power, to be burned
according to the holsome and good Lawes of our Realme in
that Case provided. Forasmuche as in those Cityes, and the
Diocesse thereof, he hath in Tymes paste preached and taught
most pestilent Heresyes and Doctryne to our Subjects there:
We have therefore geven Order, that the said Hooper, who
yet persisteth obstinate, and hath refused Mercy when it was
gracyously offred, shall be put to Execution in the sayd Cytie
of Gloucester, for the Example and Terror of suche as he
hath there seduced and mistaught, and bycause he hath doone
moste Harme there. And woll that you, calling unto you
some of Reputation dwelling in the Shire, such as ye thinke
best, shall repayre unto our said Cytye, and be at the said
Execution, assisting our Mayor and Shriefs of the same
Cytie, in this Behalf. And forasmuche also as the said
Hooper is, as Heretiques be, a vain-glorious Person, and
delyteth in his Tongue, and having Liberty, may use his sayd
Tongue to perswade such as he hath seduced, to persist in
the myserable Opinion that he hath sowen among them:
Our Pleasure is therefore, and we require you to take Order,
that the said Hooper be neither, at the Tyme of his Execu-
tion, nor in goyng to the Place thereof, suffred to speak at
large; but thither to be ledde quietly, and in Sylence, for
REACTION AGAINST PROTESTANTISM 293
eschuyng of further Infection, and such Inconvenyence, as
may otherwise ensue in this Parte. Whereof fayle not, as
ye tender our Pleasure . . .
A True Copy of an Old Paper in my Custody, which
seems to be the first Draught of a Letter from the Queen to
the Lord Chandois, etc., who went to see Execution done on
Bishop Hooper.
THOM. TANNER.
(Collection of Historical Documents Illustrative of the Reigns of the Tudor
and Stuart Sovereigns. Ed. by E. Goldsmid, Edinburg, 1886. II, 16.)
132. The Burning of Ridley and Latimer
Foxe
The History of the Acts and Monuments of the Church has
had, under the name of the Book of Martyrs, a wide circulation
among Protestants. The writer, JOHN FOXE (1517-1587) was a
man of great discernment and unquestioned integrity, and his
work is a leading source for the Reformation period. The
execution of bishops Ridley and Latimer has been selected as
typical of such scenes. In a later page is given (No. 141), as
contrast, an execution of a Catholic during the reign of Eliza-
beth.
THE BEHAVIOUR OF DR. RIDLEY AND MASTER LATIMER, AT THE
TIME OF THEIR DEATH, WHICH WAS THE l6TH OF OCTOBER,
1555-
Upon the north-side of the town, in the ditch over against
Balliol-college, the place of execution was appointed: and
for fear of any tumult that might arise, to let the burning of
them, the lord Williams was commanded, by the queen's let-
ters, and the householders of the city, to be there assistant,
sufficiently appointed. And when every thing was in readi-
ness, the prisoners were brought forth by the mayor and the
bailiffs.
Master Ridley had a fair black gown furred, and faced
with foins, such as he was wont to wear being bishop, and a
tippet of velvet furred likewise about his neck, a velvet night-
cap upon his head, and a corner cap upon the same, going in
a pair of slippers to the stake, and going between the mayor
and an alderman, etc.
After him came master Latimer in a poor Bristol frieze
frock all worn, with his buttoned cap, and a kerchief on his
head, all ready to the fire, a new long shroud hanging over
his hose, down to the feet: which at the first sight stirred
294 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
men's hearts to rue upon them, beholding on the one side,
the honour they sometime had, and on the other, the calamity
whereunto they were fallen.
Master doctor Ridley, as he passed toward Bocardo, looked
up where master Cranmer did lie, hoping belike to have seen
him at the glass-window, and to have spoken unto him. But
then master Cranmer was busy with friar Soto and his
fellows, disputing together, so that he could not see him,
through that occasion. Then master Ridley, looking back,
espied master Latimer coming after, unto whom he said,
"Oh, be ye there ?" "Yea," said Master Latimer, "have-
after as fast as I can follow." So he, following a pretty
way off, at length they came both to the stake, the one after
the other, where first Dr. Ridley entering the place, marvel-
lous earnestly holding up both his hands, looked towards
heaven. Then shortly after espying master Latimer, with a
wonderous cheerful look he ran to thim, embraced, and kissed
him; and, as they that stood near reported, comforted him,
saying, " Be of good heart, brother, for God will either as-
suage the fury of the flame, or else strengthen us to abide it."
With that went he to the stake, kneeled down by it, kissed
it, and most effectuously prayed, and behind him master Lati-
mer kneeled, as earnestly calling upon God as he. After
they arose, the one talked with the other a little while, till
they which were appointed to see the execution, removed
themselves out of the sun. What they said I can learn of
no man. . . .
Incontinently they were commanded to make them ready,
which they with all meekness obeyed. Master Ridley took
his gown and his tippet, and gave it to his brother-in-law
master Shipside, who all his time of imprisonment, although
he might not be suffered to come to him, lay there at his own
charges to provide him necessaries, which from time to time
he sent him by the Serjeant that kept him. Some other of
his apparel that was little worth, he gave away; other the
bailiffs took.
He gave away besides, divers other small things to gentle-
men standing by, and divers of them pitifully weeping, as to
sir Henry Lea he gave a new groat ; and to divers of my lord
William's gentlemen some napkins, some nutmegs, and rases
of ginger; his dial, and such other things as he had about
him, to every one that stood next him. Some plucked the
points off his hose. Happy was he that might get any rag
of him.
REACTION AGAINST PROTESTANTISM 295
Master Latimer gave nothing, but very quietly suffered
his keeper to pull off his hose, and his other array, which to
look unto was very simple : and being stripped into his
shroud, he seemed as comely a person to them that were there
present, as one should lightly see ; and whereas in his clothes
he appeared a withered and crooked silly old man, he now
stood bolt upright, as comely a father as one might lightly
behold.
Then master Ridley, standing as yet in his truss, said to
his brother, "It were best for me to go in my truss still."
"No," quoth his brother, "it will put you to more pain: and
the truss will do a poor man good." Whereunto master Ridley
said, "Be it, in the name of God;" and so unlaced himself.
Then, being in his shirt, he stood upon the foresaid stone,
and held up his hand and said, "O heavenly Father, I give
unto thee most hearty thanks, for that thou hast called me to
be a professor of thee, even unto death. I beseech thee, Lord
God, take mercy upon this realm of England, and deliver the
same from all her enemies."
Then the smith took a chain of iron, and brought the same
about both Dr. Ridley's, and master Latimer's middles: and,
as he was knocking in a staple, Dr. Ridley took the chain
in his hand, and shaked the same, for it did gird in his belly,
and looking aside to the smith said, "Good fellow, knock it in
hard, for the flesh will have his course." Then his brother
did bring him gunpowder in a bag, and would have tied the
same about his neck. Master Ridley asked, what it was.
His brother said, "Gunpowder." "Then," said he, "I take it
to be sent of God ; therefore I will receive it as sent of him.
And have you any," said he, "for my brother;" meaning
master Latimer. '"Yea sir, that I have," quoth his brother.
"Then give it unto him," said he, "betime; lest ye come too
late." So his brother went, and carried of the same gun-
powder unto master Latimer.
In the mean time Dr. Ridley spake unto my lord Williams,
and said, "My lord, I must be a suitor unto your lordship in
the behalf of divers poor men, and especially in the cause of
my poor sister : I have made a supplication to the queen's
majesty in their behalfs. I beseech your lordship for Christ's
sake, to be a mean to her grace for them. My brother here
hath the supplication, and will resort to your lordship to
certify you thereof. There is nothing in all the world that
troubleth my conscience, I praise God, this only excepted.
Whilst I was in the see of London, divers poor men took
296 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
leases of me, and agreed with me for the same. Now I hear
say the bishop that now occupieth the same room, will not
allow my grants unto them made, but, contrary unto all law
and conscience, hath taken from them their livings, and will
not suffer them to enjoy the same. I beseech you, my lord,
be a mean for them: you shall do a good deed, and God will
reward you."
Then they brought a faggot, kindled with fire, and laid the
same down at Dr. Ridley's feet. To whom master Latimer
spake in this manner: "Be of good comfort, master Ridley,
and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle, by
God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out."
And so the fire being given unto them, when Dr. Ridley
saw the fire flame up towards him, he cried with a wonderful
loud voice, "In mantis tuas, Domine, commcndo spiritual
meum: Domine recipe spiritum meum." And after, repeated
this latter part often in English, "Lord, Lord, receive my
spirit;" master Latimer crying as vehemently on the other
side, "O Father of heaven, receive n\y soul !" who received
the flame as it were embracing of it. After that he had
stroked his face with his hands, and as it were bathed them a
little in the fire, he soon died (as it appeareth) with very
little pain or none. And thus much concerning the end of
this old and blessed servant of God, master Latimer, for
whose laborious travails, fruitful life, and constant death,
the whole realm hath cause to give great thanks to Almighty
God.
But master Ridley, by reason of the evil making of the fire
unto him, because the wooden faggots were laid about the
gorse, and overhigh built, the fire burned first beneath, being
kept down by the wood ; which when he felt, he desired them
for Christ's sake to let the fire come unto him. Which when
his brother-in-law heard, but not well understood, intending
to rid him out of his pain (for the which cause he gave at-
tendance), as one of such sorrow not well advised what he
did, heaped faggots upon him, so that he clean covered him,
which made the fire more vehement beneath, that it burned
clean all his nether parts, before it once touched the upper;
and that made him leap up and down under the faggots, and
often desire them to let the fire come unto him, saying, "I
cannot burn." Which indeed appeared well ; for, after his
legs were consumed by reason of his struggling through the
pain (whereof he had no release, but only his contentation in
God), he showed that side toward us clean, shirt and all un-
REACTION AGAINST PROTESTANTISM 297
touched with flame. Yet in all this torment he forgot not
to call unto God still, having in his mouth, "Lord have mercy
upon me," intermingling his cry, "Let the fire come unto me,
I cannot burn." In which pangs he laboured till one of the
standers by with his bill pulled off the faggots above, and
where he saw the fire flame up, he wrested himself unto that
side. And when the flame touched the gunpowder, he was
seen to stir no more, but burned on the other side, falling
down at master Latimer's feet ; which, some said, happened
by reason that the chain loosed ; others said, that he fell over
the chain by reason of the poise of his body, and the weak-
ness of the nether limbs.
(Acts and Monuments, Foxe, ed. cit., VII, 547.)
CHAPTER XVIII
ELIZABETH
133. Classes of the People in the XVIth Century
Smith
Sir THOMAS SMITH (1512-1577), in his capacity of Secretary
of State under Elizabeth, enjoyed peculiar opportunities of ob-
-crvation, which his wide learning and philosophical inclination
enabled him to use to great result. His description of the
classes of the people is accurate and comprehensive. It is taken
from the best known of his works, the posthumous volume en-
titled De Rcpublica Anglorum a work which passed through
many editions and is one of the classics of English Constitutional
History.
Of the first part of Gentlemen of England, called nobilitas
major.
... In England no man is created a baron, except he may
dispend of yearly revenue one thousand pounds, or one thou-
sand marks at the least . . .
Of the second sort of Gentlemen, which may be called nobi-
litas minor, and first of knights.
No man is a knight by succession, not the king or
prince . . . : knights therefore be not born but made ... In
England whosoever may dispend of his free lands forty
pounds sterling of yearly revenue . . . may be by the king
compelled to take that order and honour, or to pay a fine . . .
Of Esquires.
Esquires (which we commonly call squires) be all those
which bear arms (as we call them) or armories . . . these be
taken for no distinct order of the commonwealth, but do go
with the residue of the gentlemen . . .
298
ELIZABETH 299
Of Gentlemen.
Gentlemen be those whom their blood and race doth make
noble and known . . . Ordinarily the king doth only make
knights and create barons or higher degrees, for as for
gentlemen they be made good cheap in England. For who-
soever studieth the laws of the realm, who studieth in the
Universities, who professeth liberal sciences, and to be short,
who can live idly and without manual labour, and will bear
the port, charge and countenance of a gentleman, he shall
be called master, . . . and be taken for a gentleman . . .
Of Yeomen.
Those whom we call yeomen, next unto the nobility,
knights and squires, have the greatest charge and doings in
the commonwealth ... I call him a yeoman whom our laws do
call le golem hominem . . . which is a freeman born English,
and may dispend of his own free land in yearly revenue to
the sum of 40^. sterling . . . This sort of people confess them-
selves to be no gentlemen . . . and yet they have a certain
preeminence and more estimation than labourers and arti-
ficers, and commonly live wealthily . . . These be (for the
most part) farmers unto gentlemen, . . . and by these means
do come to such wealth, that they are able and daily do buy
the lands of unthrifty gentlemen, and after setting their sons
to the school at the Universities, to the laws of the realm, or
otherwise leaving them sufficient lands whereon they may
live without labour, do make their said sons by those means
gentlemen . . .
Of the fourth sort of men which do not rule.
The fourth sort or class amongst us, is of those which the
old Romans called capite censi . . . day labourers, poor hus-
bandmen, yea merchants or retailers which have no free
land, copyholders and all artificers . . . These have no voice
nor authority in our commonwealth, and no account is made
of them, but only to be ruled.
(Manner of Government or Policies of the Realtne of England, ed. 1589.
Bk. I, c. 17-24.)
Of Bondage and Bondmen.
After that we have spoken of all the sorts of freemen,
according to the diversity of their estates and persons, it
300 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
resteth to say somewhat of bondmen . . . The Romans had
two kinds of bondmen, the one which were called scrvi . . .
all those kind of bondmen be called in our law villains in
gross . . . Another they had . . . which they called adscriptitii
glcbcc . . . and in our law are called villains regardant ... Of
the first I never knew any in the realm in my time ; of the
second, so few there be, that it is not almost worth the speak-
ing, but our law doth acknowledge them in both those sorts.
(The Commonwealth of England, ed. 1589, Bk. Ill, c. 10.)
The four great religious parties of the age of Elizabeth were
the Anglican, the Catholic, the Presbyterian, and the Puritan.
The attitude of the Catholic Church needs no illustration. The
positions of the other sects are well illustrated by the excerpts
which follow. For exposition of the Anglican stand we have
selected extracts from the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, by
RICHARD HOOKER (1553-1600). No man stands as prominently
as the exponent of the doctrines of the Church of England as
does this divine. RICHARD BANCROFT (1544-1610), Archbishop of
Canterbury, was the bitter and uncompromising opponent of the
Puritans, a staunch and even violent supporter of the royal
power and episcopal system; but his sympathies and teachings
were those which led to Presbyterianism in its modern form.
The Convocation of 1563 tersely and yet comprehensively for-
mulated the Puritan demands ; and the articles drawn up in
1583 by JOHN WHITGIFT (1530 or 1533-1604), Archbishop of
Canterbury, mark the latest stage of ecclesiastical development
in the Elizabethan period.
134. The Anglican Standpoint
Hooker
(a) The plain intent of the Book of Ecclesiastical Dis-
cipline is to shew that men may not devise laws of church
government, but are bound for ever to use and to execute
only those which God himself hath already devised and de-
livered in the scripture. The self-same drift the Admoni-
tioners also had, in urging that nothing ought to be done in
the Church according unto any law of man's devising, but all
according to that which God in his word hath commanded . . .
Demand of them, wherefore they conform not themselves
unto the order of our Church, and in every particular their
answer for the most part is, 'We find no such thing com-
manded in the world.'
(b) Touching points of doctrine, as for example the Unity
of God, . . . they have been since the first hour that there was
a Church in the world, and till the last they must be believed.
ELIZABETH 301
But as for matters of regiment, they are for the most part of
another nature. To make new articles of faith and doctrine
no man thinketh it lawful ; new laws of government what
commonwealth or church is there which maketh not either
at one time or another ? . . . There is no reason in the world
wherefore we should esteem it as necessary always to do, as
always to believe the same things ; seeing every man knoweth
that the matter of faith is constant, the matter contrariwise
of action daily changeable, especially the matter of action
belonging unto church polity.
(c) Let not any man imagine, that the bare and naked
difference of a few ceremonies could either have kindled so
much fire, or have caused it to flame so long; but that the
parties which herein laboured mightily for change and (as
they say) for reformation, had somewhat more than this
mark only whereat to aim. Having therefore drawn out a
complete form, as they supposed, of public service to be done
to God, and set down their plot for the office of the ministry
in that behalf, they very well knew how little their labours so
far forth bestowed would avail them in the end, without a
claim of jurisdiction to uphold the fabric which they had
erected; and this neither likely to be obtained but by the
strong hand of the people, nor the people unlikely to favour
it; the more if overture were made of their own interest,
right and title thereunto.
(rf) This we boldly set down as a most infallible truth,
that the Church of Christ is at this day lawfully, and so hath
been since the first beginning, governed by bishops, having
permanent superiority and ruling power over other ministers
of the word and sacraments . . . Let us not fear to be herein
bold and peremptory, that, if anything in the Church's
government, surely the first institution of bishops was from
heaven, was even of God: the Holy Ghost was the author
of it.
(e) The drift of all that hath, been alleged to prove per-
petual separation and independency between the Church and
the Commonwealth is, that this being held necessary, it
might consequently be thought, that in a Christian kingdom,
he whose power is greatest over the Commonwealth may not
lawfully have supremacy of power also over the Church . . .
Whereupon it is grown a question whether power ecclesias-
tical over the Church, power of dominion in such degree as
the laws of this land do grant unto the sovereign governor
thereof, may by the said supreme Head and Governor law-
302 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
fully be enjoyed and held? . . . Unto which supreme power in
kings two kinds of adversaries there are that have opposed
themselves; one sort defending 'that supreme power in
causes ecclesiastical throughout the world appertained! of
divine right to the bishop of Rome/ another sort 'that the
said power belonged! in every national Church unto the
clergy thereof assembled.' We defend as well against the
one as the other, 'that king's within their own precincts may
have it.'
(Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, R. Hooker, ed. Keble,Lond., 1834.)
135. The Presbyterian Position
Bancroft
For the first ten or eleven years of her Majesty's reign,
through the . . . outcries and exclamations of those that came
home from Geneva, against the garments prescribed to
ministers and other such like matters, no man of any ex-
perience is ignorant what great contention and strife was
raised . . .
About the twelfth year of her Highness' government, these
malcontents . . . began to stir up new quarrels, concerning the
Geneva discipline . . . Hereupon (the 14 of her Majesty) two
Admonitions were framed, and exhibited to the High Court
of Parliament. The first contained their pretended griefs,
with a declaration, forsooth, of the only way to reform them,
viz. by admitting of that platform which was there described.
This Admonition finding small entertainment, (the authors
or chief preferrers thereof being imprisoned), out cometh
the Second Admonition, towards the end of the same par-
liament ... In this Second Admonition, the first is wholly
justified, . . . and in plain terms it is there affirmed that, if
they of that assembly would not then follow the advice of
the First Admonition, they would surely themselves be their
own carvers . . . Whereupon, presently after the said parlia-
ment (viz. the 2Oth of November, 1572), there was a pres-
bytery erected at Wandsworth in Surrey.
. . . Hitherto it should seem that in all their former pro-
ceedings they had relied chiefly upon the First Admonition
and Cartwright's book . . . But now, at the length (about the
year 1583), the form of discipline, which is lately come to
light, was compiled: and thereupon an assembly or council
being held (as I think at London, or at Cambridge), certain
decrees were made concerning the establishing and the prac-
tice thereof . .
ELIZABETH 303
. . . About which time also [viz. 1587] . . . the further prac-
tice of the discipline ... began to spread itself more freely;
. . . but especially ... it was most friendly entertained among
the ministers of Northamptonshire, as it appeareth in record
by some of their own depositions, 1 6th of May, 1590, in these
words following. About two years and a half since, the
whole shire was divided into three Classes. I. The Classis
of Northamptonshire ... II. The Classis of Daventry side . . .
III. The Classis of Kettering side .. .This device (saith
Master Johnson) is commonly received in most parts of Eng-
land, . . . but especially in Warwickshire, Suffolk, Norfolk.
Essex, etc.
The next year after, viz. 1588, the said Warwickshire
classes, etc. assembling themselves together in council (as it
seemeth, at Coventry), ... there was . . . a great approbation
obtained of the aforesaid Book of Discipline . . . This book,
having thus at the last received this great allowance more
authentically, was carried far and near, for a general ratifi-
cation of all the brethren . . .
. . . Mutual conference is to be practised in the Church
by common assemblies . . . Such as are to meet in the assem-
blies, let them be chosen by the suffrages of those churches
or assemblies that have interest or to do in it, and out of
these let such only be chosen as have exercised the public
office in that church either of a minister or of an elder . . .
It shall be lawful for other elders and ministers, yea, and
for deacons and students in divinity, by the appointment of
the assembly ... to be both present, and to be asked their
judgments . . . Yet let none be counted to have a voice, but
those only that were chosen by the Church . . .
It is expedient that in every ecclesiastical assembly there
be a president, which may govern the assembly, and that he
be from time to time changed . . . The assemblies according
to their several kinds, if they be greater are of more, if they
be less, they are of less authority. Therefore it is lawful to
appeal from a less assembly to a greater . . .
Assemblies are either Classes or Synods.
Classes are conferences of the fewest ministers of churches,
standing near together, as for example of twelve. The
chosen m.en of all the several churches of that assembly are
to meet in conference : that is to say, for every church a min-
ister and an elder : and they shall meet every fortnight. They
shall chiefly endeavour the oversight and censure of that
Classis . .
304 SOURCE-BOOK OP RXGLISII HISTORY
A Synod is an assembly of chosen men from more churches
than those that be in one Classis or conference.
In these, the articles of the holy discipline and synodical
must always be read; also in them . . . censures or inquisition
made upon all that be present . . .
Of Synods there be two sorts : the first is particular, and
this containeth under it, both Provincial and National
Synods.
A Provincial Synod is an assembly of those which be
delegated from all the Classes or Conferences of that prov-
ince. Let every province contain in it 24 Classes . . . Let
every Classis send unto the Provincial Synod two ministers
and as many elders. It shall be called every half year, or
more often, until the discipline be confirmed . . .
Let the acts of all the Provincial Synods be sent unto the
National . . .
The National is a Synod consisting of the delegates from
all the Synods Provincial that are within the dominion of
one commonwealth . . .
For the National Synod, three ministers and three elders
must be chosen out of every Synod Provincial.
In it the common affairs of all the churches of the whole
nation and kingdom are to be handled: as of doctrine, dis-
cipline and ceremonies, causes not decided in inferior as-
semblies, appellations and such like . . .
. . .Now follows the universal or Oecumenical Synod of the
whole world. And this is the Synod that consisted! and is
gathered together of the chosen men out of every particular
national Synod.
(Dangerous Positions and Proceedings, Richard Bancroft, Lond., 1593.)
136. Whitgift's Articles touching Preachers and other Orders
for the Church
I. That the laws late made against the recusants be put
in more due execution, considering the benefits that have
grown to the Church thereby, where they have been so exe-
cuted, and the encouragement which they and others do re-
ceive by remiss executing thereof.
II. That all preaching, reading, catechising and other such
like exercises in private places and families whereunto others
do resort, being not of the same family, be utterly extin-
guished. . .
III. That none be permitted to preach, read or catechise
in the church or elsewhere unless he do four times in the
ELIZABETH 305
year at least say service and minister the sacraments accord-
ing to the Book of Common Prayer.
IV. That all preachers and others in ecclesiastical orders
do at all times wear and use such kind of apparel as is
prescribed unto them by the book of Advertisements and her
Majesty's Injunctions anno primo.
V. That none be permitted to preach or interpret the
Scriptures unless he be a priest or deacon at the least, ad-
mitted thereunto according to the laws of this realm.
VI. That none be permitted to preach, read, catechise,
minister the sacraments or to execute any other ecclesias-
tical function . . . unless he first consent and subscribe to
these articles following . . . viz. :
(a) That her Majesty, under God, hath and ought to have
the sovereignty and rule over all manner of persons born
within her realms, dominions and countries, of what estate
ecclesiastical or temporal soever they be ; and that no foreign
power, prelate, state or potentate hath or ought to have any
jurisdiction . . . authority ecclesiastical or temporal within
her Majesty's said realms, dominions and countries.
(b) That the Book of Common Prayer and of ordering
bishops, priests and deacons containeth nothing in it con-
trary to the word of God, and that the same may be lawfully
used, and that he himself will use the form of the said book
prescribed in public prayer and administration of the sacra-
ments, and none other.
(c) That he alloweth the book of Articles of Religion,
agreed upon by the archbishops and bishops in both provinces
and the whole clergy in the Convocation holden at London
in the year of our Lord 1562 and set forth by her Majesty's
authority, and that he believeth all the articles therein con-
tained to be agreeable to the word of God. . .
Jo. Cant. Jo. London. Jo. Sarum.
Ed. Petriburgh. Pho. Lincoln. Edm. Norwich.
Jo. Roffen. Tho. Exon. Marmad. Meneven.
(Life and Acts of John Whitgift, John Strype, Oxford, 1822, I, pp. 229-232.)
137. Puritan Demands in Convocation of 1563
I. That all the Sundays in the year, and principal feasts
of Christ, be kept holydays; and all other holydays to be
abrogated.
II. That in all parish churches the minister in common
prayer turn his face towards the people ; and there distinctly
306 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
read the divine service appointed, where all the people as-
sembled may hear and be edified.
III. That in ministering the sacrament of baptism, the
ceremony of making the cross in the child's forehead may
be omitted, as tending to superstition.
IV. That forasmuch as divers communicants are not able
to kneel during the time of the communion, for age, sickness,
and sundry other infirmities ; and some also superstitiously
both kneel and knock ; that order of kneeling may be left to
the discretion of the ordinary within his jurisdiction.
V. That it be sufficient for the minister, in time of saying
divine service, and ministering the sacraments, to use a sur-
plice; and that no minister say service or minister the sacra-
ments, but in a comely garment or habit.
VI. That the use of organs be removed.
(Annals, Strype, Oxford, 1824, I, p. 502.)
138. Privileges of Parliament
(is 62 )
D' 'Elves' Journals
The privileges of the modern Parliament may be classed under
seven heads: (i) Freedom of members from arrest and mo-
lestation; (2) freedom of speech and debate; (3) secrecy of
debate; (4) privilege of access to the sovereign; (5) favourable
construction by the sovereign of all actions of Parliament ; (6)
right of deciding contested elections; (7) right of each House
to settle the order of its business. Various parliamentary rights
belong to each House. It is the custom for the Speaker of the
House of Commons to make the demand for the recognition of
privilege at the meeting of each Parliament. The present privi-
leges are the result of continued effort against the royal assump-
tions. The original privileges were far less extensive, including
only the four privileges first enumerated in the following ex-
tract from the speech of Speaker Williams at the opening of
Parliament of 1562.
. . . Further, I am to be a suitor to your Majesty, that
when matters of importance shall arise whereupon it shall
be necessary to have your Highness' opinion, that then I
may have free access unto you for the same ; and the like to
the Lords of the Upper House.
Secondly, that in repairing from the Nether House to your
Majesty or the Lords of the Upper House, to declare their
meanings, and I mistaking on uttering the same contrary to
their meaning, that then my fault or imbecility in declaring
thereof be not prejudicial to the House, but that I may again
repair to them, the better to understand their meanings, and
so they to reform the same.
ELIZABETH 307
Thirdly, that the assembly of the Lower House may have
frank and free liberties to speak their minds without any
controlment, blame, grudge, menaces or displeasure, accord-
ing to the old ancient order.
Finally, that the old privilege of the House be observed,
which is that they and theirs might be at liberty, frank and
free, without arrest, molestation, trouble or other damage to
their bodies, lands, goods or servants, with all other their
liberties, during the time of the said parliament; whereby
they may the better attend and do their duty; all which
privileges I desire may be enrolled, as at other times it hath
been aCCUStOmed . . . (D>Ew e *> Journals, Lond. 1682, p. 65.)
139. Elizabeth and Mary Stuart
D' Eives 1 Journals
No student of history can pass lightly over the pages which
deal with Mary, Queen of Scots. This romantic figure in an age
of romance is a character enigma not yet solved. The attitude
of Elizabeth and Parliament toward Mary, when a prisoner in
their hands, is well shown by the accompanying extract.
May it please your most excellent Majesty, We, your
humble, loving and faithful subjects, the Lords and Com-
mons in this present parliament assembled, having of long
time, to our intolerable grief, seen by how manifold, most
dangerous and execrable practices, Mary . . . commonly called
the Queen of Scots, hath compassed the destruction of your
Majesty's sacred and most royal person, in whose safety
(next under God) our chief and only felicity doth lie, and
thereby not only to bereave us of the sincere and true religion
of Almighty God, bringing us and this noble crown back
again into the thraldom of the Romish tyranny, but also
utterly to ruinate and overthrow the happy state and com-
monweal of this most noble realm : . . . and seeing also what
insolent boldness is grown in the heart of the same Queen,
through your Majesty's former exceeding favours and clem-
encies towards her; and thereupon weighing, with heavy
and sorrowful hearts, in what continual peril of such-
like desperate conspiracies and practices your Majesty's
most royal and sacred person and life (more dear unto
us than our own) is and shall be still, without any pos-
sible means to prevent it, so long as the said Scottish Queen
shall be suffered to continue, and shall not receive that
due punishment which, by justice and the laws of this your
realm, she hath so often and so many ways, for her most
3o8 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
wicked and detestable offences, deserved : therefore . . . We
do most humbly beseech your most excellent Majesty that,
as well in respect of the continuance of the true religion
now professed amongst us and of the safety of your most
royal person and estate, as in regard of the preservation
and defence of us your most loving, dutiful and faithful
subjects and the whole commonweal of this realm, it may
please your Highness to take speedy order, that declaration
of the same sentence and judgment be made and published
by proclamation, and that thereupon direction be given for
further proceedings against the said Scottish Queen, accord-
ing to the effect and true meaning of the said statute [Stat.
27 Eliz. i. i] : because, upon advised and great consultation,
we cannot find that there is any possible means to provide
for your Majesty's safety, but by the just and speedy execu-
tion of the said Queen :... and if the same be not put in
present execution, we your most loving and dutiful subjects,
shall thereby (so far as man's reason can reach) be brought
into utter despair of the continuance amongst us of the true
religion of Almighty God, and of your Majesty's life, and the
safety of all your faithful subjects, and the good estate of
this most flourishing commonweal.
The Queen answered, 24. November, 1586:
That her Highness, moved with some commiseration for
the Scottish Queen, in respect of her former dignity and
great fortunes in her younger years, her nearness of kindred
to her Majesty and also of her sex, could be well pleased to
forbear the taking of her blood, if, by any other means to be
devised by her Highness' Great Council of this realm, the
safety of her Majesty's person and government might be
preserved, without danger of ruin and destruction, and else
not ; therein leaving them all nevertheless to their own free
liberty and dispositions of proceeding otherwise at their
choice.
To which the Houses made reply :
That having often conferred and debated on that ques-
tion, according to her Highness' commandment, they could
find no other way than was set down in their petition.
The Queen's second answer.
If I should say unto you that I mean not to grant your
petition, by my faith I should say unto you more than per-
ELIZABETH 309
haps I mean. And if I should say unto you I mean to grant
your petition, I should then tell you more than is fit for
you to know. And thus I must deliver you an answer answer-
^ ess ' (D' Ewes' Journals, Rev. Ed. Lond., 1628 pp. 380-402.)
140. Defeat of the Spanish Armada
Somers' Tract*
The Great Armada has given a theme to innumerable writers.
Of these Sir Robert Carey, Earl of Monmouth, best among con-
temporaries, condenses in a succinct yet vivid form the story of
the futile attempt to conquer England.
CAREY'S ACCOUNT OF THE ARMADA
The next year (1588) the King of Spain's great Armado
came upon our coast, thinking to devour us all. Upon the
news sent to court from Plymouth of their certain arrival,
my Lord Cumberland and myself took post horse, and rode
straight to Portsmouth, where we found a frigate that car-
ried us to sea ; and having sought for the fleets a whole day,
the night after we fell amongst them; where it was our
fortune to light first on the Spanish fleet; and finding our-
selves in the wrong, we tacked about, and in some short time
got to our own fleet, which was not far from the other. At
our coming aboard our admiral, we stayed there awhile; but
finding the ship much pestered, and scant of cabins, we left
the admiral, and went aboard Captain Reyman, where we
stayed, and were very welcome, and much made of. It was
on Thursday that we came to the fleet. All that day we
followed close the Spanish Armado, and nothing was at-
tempted on either side ; the same course we held all Friday
and Saturday, by which time the Spanish fleet cast anchor
just before Calais. We likewise did the same, a very small
distance behind them, and so continued till Monday morning
about two of the clock ; in w r hich time our council of war
had provided six old hulks, and stuffed them full of all com-
bustible matter fit for burning, and on Monday, at two in the
morning, they were let loose, with each of them a man in
her to direct them. The tide serving, they brought them
very near the Spanish fleet, so that they could not miss to
come amongst the midst of them : then they set fire on them,
and came off themselves, having each of them a little boat
to bring him off. The ships set on fire came so directly to
the Spanish fleet, as they had no way to avoid them, but to
cut all their halsers, and so escape ; and their haste was such,
310 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
that they left one of their four great galeasses on ground
before Calais, which our men took, and had the spoil of,
where many of the Spaniards were slain with the governor
thereof, but most of them were saved with wading ashore
to Calais. They being in this disorder, we made ready to
follow them, where began a cruel fight, and we had such ad-
vantage both of wind and tide, as we had a glorious day of
them; continuing fight from four o'clock in the morning till
almost five or six at night, where they lost a dozen or four-
teen of their best ships, some sunk, and the rest run ashore
in divers parts to keep themselves from sinking. After God
had given us this great victory, they made all the haste they
could away, and we followed them Tuesday and Wednesday,
by which time they were gotten as far as Flamborough-
head. It was resolved on Wednesday at night, that, by four
o'clock on Thursday, we should have a new fight with them
for a farewell ; but by two in the morning, there was a flag
of council hung out in our vice-admiral, when it was found
that in the whole fleet there was not municion sufficient to
make half a fight; and therefore, it was there concluded,
that we should let them pass, and our fleet to return to the
Downs. That night we departed with them, we had a mighty
storm. Our fleet cast anchor, and endured it; but the
Spanish fleet, wanting their anchors, were many of them
cast ashore on the west of Ireland, where they had all their
throats cut by the kernes; and some of them on Scotland,
where they were no better used; and the rest, with much
ado, got into Spain again. Thus did God bless us, and gave
victory over this invincible navy ; the sea calmed, and all our
ships came to the Downs on Friday in safety.
(Somers' Collection of Tracts, ed. cit., I, 445.)
141. The Armada Speech of Elizabeth
Somers' Tracts
The following speech of Elizabeth to Parliament is full of
interest, not only for its subject matter, but also for the clear
light which it throws upon the character of the queen. Her
firmness, her finesse, her duplicity, and above all, her ability to
manage men, can be read by the student of history in the public
utterances of the great queen.
A SPEECH MADE BY QUEEN ELIZABETH (OF FAMOUS MEMORY)
IN PARLIAMENT, ANNO 1593: AND IN THE THIRTY-FIFTH
YEAR OF HER REIGN, CONCERNING THE SPANISH INVASION.
My Lords and Gentlemen,
This kingdom hath had many wise, noble, and victorious
ELIZABETH 3"
princes; I will not compare with any of them in wisdom,
fortitude, or any other virtues; but saving the duty of a
child, that is not to compare with his father in love, care,
sincerity, and justice, I will compare with any prince that
ever you had, or shall have.
It may be thought simplicity in me, that, all this time of
my reign, I have not sought to advance my territories, and
enlarge my dominions; for opportunity hath served me to
do it. I acknowledge my womanhood and weakness in that
respect; but though it hath not been hard to obtain, yet I
doubted how to keep the things so obtained ; and I must say.
my mind was never to invade my neighbours, or to usurp
over any; I am contented to reign over my own, and to rule
as a just princess.
Yet the king of Spain doth challenge me to be the quar-
reller, and the beginner of all these wars ; in which he doth
me the greatest wrong that can be, for my conscience doth
not accuse my thoughts, wherein I have done him the least
injury; but I am persuaded in my conscience, if he knew
what I know, he himself would be sorry for the wrong, that
he hath done me.
I fear not all his threatenings ; his great preparations and
mighty forces do not stir me; for though he come against
me with a greater power than ever was his invincible navy,
I doubt not (God assisting me, upon whom I always trust)
but that I shall be able to defeat and overthrow him. I have
great advantage against him, for my cause is just.
I heard say, when he attempted his last invasion, some
upon the sea-coast forsook their towns, and flew up higher
into the country, and left all naked and exposed to his en-
trance : but, I swear unto you, if I knew those persons, or any
that should do so hereafter, I will make them know and feel
what it is to be so fearful in so urgent a cause.
The subsidies you give me, I accept thankfully, if you give
me your good wills with them ; but if the necessity of the
time, and your preservations, did not require it, I would
refuse them; but let me tell you that the sum is not so
much, but that it is needful for a princess to have so much
always lying in her coffers for your defence in time of need,
and not to be driven to get it, when we should use it.
You that be lieutenants and gentlemen of command in
your countries, I require you to take care that the people be
well armed, and in readiness upon all occasions. You that
be judges and justices of the peace, I command and straightly
3i2 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
charge you, that you see the laws to be duly executed, and
that you make them living laws, when we have put life into
them.
(Somers' Collection of Historical Tracts, ed. cit., I, 463.)
142. Execution of Margaret Clitherow
John Mush
John Mush, who gives the following account, was an Eng-
lish secular priest, who was ordained in Rome and then came
to the English mission. He was several times imprisoned, and
once sentenced to death, for his fearless defence of his faith, yet
he finally died peacefully at an extreme old age. Margaret
Clitherow was executed on the charge of treason in concealing
attainted priests, although in the account of her death it is
strongly intimated that she was martyred because she would not
recant her faith.
The martyr coming to the place, kneeled her down, and
prayed to herself. The tormentors bade her pray with them,
and they would pray with her. The martyr denied, and said,
"I will not pray with you, and you shall not pray with me;
neither will I say Amen to your prayers, nor shall you to
mine." Then they willed her to pray for the Queen's ma-
jesty. The martyr began in this order. First, in the hear-
ing of them all, she prayed for the Catholic Church, then for
the Pope's Holiness, Cardinals, and other Fathers which have
charge of souls, and then for all Christian princes. At which
words the tormentors interrupted her, and willed her not to
put her majesty among that company, yet the martyr pro-
ceeded in this order, "and especially for Elizabeth, Queen
of England, that God turn her to the Catholic faith, and that
after this mortal life she may receive the blessed joys of
heaven. For I wish as much good," quoth she, "to her ma-
jesty's soul as to mine own." Sheriff Gibson, abhorring
the cruel fact, stood weeping at the door. Then said Faw-
cet, "Mrs. Clitherow, you must remember and confess that
you die for treason." The martyr answered, "No, no, Mr.
Sheriff, I die for the love of my Lord Jesu" ; which last
words she spake with a loud voice . . .
The women took off her clothes, and put upon her the
long habit of linen. Then very quietly she laid her down
upon the ground, her face covered with a handkerchief, the
linen habit being placed over her as far as it would reach,
all the rest of her body being naked. The door was laid
upon her, her hands she joined towards her face. Then the
sheriff said, "Nay, you must have your hands bound." The
ELIZABETH 313
martyr put forth her hands over the door still joined. Then
two sergeants parted them, and with the inkle strings, which
she had prepared for that purpose bound them to two posts,
so that her body and her arms made a perfect cross. They
willed her again to ask the Queen's Majesty's forgiveness,
and to pray for her. The martyr said she had prayed for
her. They also willed her to asked her husband's forgive-
ness. The martyr said, "If ever I have offended him, but
for my conscience, I ask him forgiveness."
After this they laid weight upon her, which when she
first felt, she said, "Jesu ! Jesu ! Jesu ! have mercy upon
me !" which were the last words she was heard to speak.
She was in dying one quarter of an hour. A sharp stone,
as much as a man's fist, put under her back ; upon her was
laid to the quantity of seven or eight hundred-weight at the
least, which, breaking her ribs, caused them to burst forth of
the skin.
Thus most victoriously this gracious martyr overcame
all her enemies, passing [from] this mortal life with marvel-
lous triumph into the peaceable city of God, there to receive
a worthy crown of endless immortality and joy.
This was at nine of the clock, and she continued in the
press until three at afternoon. Her hat before she died she
sent to her husband, in sign of her loving duty to him as to
her head. Her hose and shoes to her eldest daughter, Anne,
about twelve years old, signifying that she should serve God
and follow her steps of virtue.
(The Troubles of Our Catholic Forefathers Related by Themselves, p. 430 et seq.
Mr. John Mush's Life of Margaret Clitherow, London, 1877.)
143. Death of Elizabeth
Somers^ Tracts
The death of Queen Elizabeth closed the Tudor dynasty, the
most brilliant completed period of English history. The ac-
count given is of especial interest for the portion concerning the
act of the dying sovereign in relation to the succession to the
throne. Other contemporary writers deny the intention of
Elizabeth to appoint James of Scotland as her successor ; and
even if the account selected is true, the claim that James was
absolutely named by Elizabeth as her heir was evidently largely
founded on imagination and desire.
SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
THE DEATH OF QUEEN ELIZABETH, WITH HER DECLARATION
OF HER SUCCESSOR
About the Friday sevenight after Christmas last, being
about the I4th of January, 1602, in the 45th year of her
reigne, the late queen about two days before sickened of a
colde, (being ever forewarned by Doctor Dee, to beware of
White-hall,) and the said I4th day removed to Richmond;
but a little before her going, even the same morning, the
Earle of Nottingham, high admirale of England, coming to
her, partly to speake with her as concerning her removall, and
partly touching other matters, wherein her pleasure and
direction was to be knowne, they fell into some speech of the
succession; and then she told him that her seate had been
ever the throne of kings, and none but her next heir of
blood and descent should succeed her. After falling into
other matters, they left that speech, and she departed to
Richmond ; where she was well amended of the cold. But
on Monday the 2Oth of February, she begann to sicken
againe, and so continued till Monday the 7th of March, at
which time notice was given to the lords of the councell,
that she was sick of a cold, and so she continued sick till
Tuesday the I5th of March following; after which day she
began somewhat to amend. But the i8th of March follow-
ing being Friday, she began to be very ill, whereupon the
lords of the councell were sent for to Richmond, and there
continued till Wednesday the 24th of March, about three of
the clock in the morning (being our Lady even) at which
time she died; but on Tuesday before her death, being the
23d of March, the lord admirall being on the right side of the
bed, the lord keeper at the left, and Mr. Secretary Cecill
(after Earle of Salisbury) at the beds feete; all standing.
The lord admirall put her in mind of her speech, con-
cerning the succession, had at White-hall ; and that they, in
the name of all the rest of her councell, came unto her to
knowe her pleasure who should succeede. Whereunto she
thus replyed : "I told you my seat had been the seat of kings,
and I will have no rascall to succeed me, and who should
succeed me, but a king?"
The lords not understanding this darke speech, and look-
ing the one on the other, at length Mr. Secretary boldly
asked her, what she meant by these words, "That no rascall
should succeed her ?" whereunto she replyed, "That her mean-
ELIZABETH 31 5
ing was, that a king should succeed her, and who," quoth she.
"should that be, but our cozen of Scotland."
They asked her whether that were her absolute resolution ?
whereunto she answered, "I pray you trouble me no more,
I'll have none but him" ; with which answer they departed.
Notwithstanding, after again, about four a clock in the
afternoon, the next day, being Wednesday, (after the arch-
bishopp of Canterbury and other divines had been with her,
and left her in a manner speechlesse), the three lords afore-
said repaired unto her againe, asking her if she remained
in her former resolution, and who should succeed her; but
she not being able to speak, was asked by Mr. Secretary in
this sort, wee beseech your majesty if you remaine in your
former resolution, and that you would have the King of
Scots to succeed you in your kingdom, shewe some sign unto
us; whereat suddenly heaveing herself upwards in the bed,
and putting her arms out of bed, she held both her hands
jointly together over her head in manner of a crown, where-
by as they guessed she signified, that she did not only wish
him the kingdome, but desired the continuance of his estate,
after which they departed.
And the next morning (as is aforesaid) she dyed. Im-
mediately after her death, all the lords, as well of the councell
as other noblemen that were at the courte, came from Rich-
mond to White-hall by six o'clock in the morning, where other
noblemen that were at London met them ; but as they began
to sitt in councell in the privy chamber at White-hall, the
lord keeper, (Sir Thomas Egerton,) and the rest of the coun-
cell that were no barons, offered to sitt at the lower end of
the councell table, and not above any of the meanest nobility :
but the noblemen, in respect of their former authority, called
them to the higher end of the table, and wished them to
keepe their places ; whereunto the lord keeper answered, viz.
If it be your lordshipps pleasure, wee will do so, but that is
more of your courtesies then we can demand of duty; and
so they sat downe, every man according to his degree in
councell; touching the succession, where after some speech
had of divers competitors and matters of state, at length the
lord admirall rehearsed all the aforesaid premisses, which the
late queen had spoken to him, and to the lord keeper, and
Mr. Secretary, with the manner thereof; which they being
asked, did affirme to be true upon their honours.
(Somers* Collection of Historical Tracts, ed. cit., I, 246.)
CHAPTER XIX
ELIZABETHAN SEAMEN
144. Hawkins' Third Voyage
Hakluyl
The activities of the Elizabethan seamen who bore the banner
of England north, south, and west, and defied the power of
Spain, the then lord of the New World, found their historian
in RICHARD HAKLUYT (circa 1553-1616). The greatest of his
works is The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiqucs, and
Discoveries of the English Nation (London, 1598-1600). "It is
an invaluable treasure of material for the history of geographical
discovery and colonization." Various editions are accessible. I
have selected four accounts of voyages, each typical of the enter-
prise of the sea-rovers, who traversed many oceans in quest of
slaves, treasure, discovery of a passage to Cathay, or spots on
which to found colonies. The first of these voyages is that of
Sir John Hawkins, told by that seaman himself. John Hawkins
(circa 1532-1595) was Vice-Admiral in the time of the Armada,
and before that day had been untiring in voyages of exploration.
These were often extremely lucrative, as he secured large cargoes
of slaves. His third voyage, of which the following is the ac-
count, is illustrative of one of the expeditions made for the latter
purpose. In this traffic he did not stand alone among his con-
temporaries.
The Third troublesome Voyage made with the Jesus of
Lubeck, the Minion, and four other ships, to the parts of
Guinea and the West Indies, in the years 1567 and 1568, by
Master JOHN HAWKINS.
The ships departed from Plymouth, the 2nd day of Oc-
tober, Anno 1567, and had reasonable weather until the
seventh day. At which time, forty leagues north from Cape
Finisterre, there arose an extreme storm, which continued
four days, in such sort, that the fleet was dispersed, and all
our great boats lost ; and the Jesus, our chief ship, in such
case as not thought able to serve the voyage. Whereupon in
the same storm we set our course homeward, determining to
give over the voyage. But the eleventh day of the same
month, the wind changed with fair weather, whereby we
316
ELIZABETHAN SEAMEN 317
were animated to follow our enterprise, and so did, directing
our course with the islands of the Canaries, where, accord-
ing to an order before prescribed, all our ships before dis-
persed, met at one of those islands, called Gomera, where we
took water, and departed from thence on the 4th day of No-
vember, towards the coast of Guinea, and arrived at Cape
Verde, on the i8th day of November: where we landed 150
men, hoping to obtain some negroes, where we got but few,
and those with great hurt and damage to our men, which
chiefly proceeded of their envenomed arrows. And although
in the beginning they seemed to be but small hurts, yet there
hardly escaped any that had blood drawn of them, but died in
strange sort, with their mouths shut some ten days before they
died, and after their wounds were whole ; where I myself had
one of the greatest wounds, yet, thanks be to God, escaped.
From thence we passed the time upon the coast of Guinea,
searching with all diligence the rivers from Rio Grande
unto Sierra Leone, till the I2th of January, in which time
we had not gotten together a hundred and fifty negroes.
Yet notwithstanding, the sickness of our men and the late
time of the year commanded us away : and thus having noth-
ing wherewith to seek the coast of the West Indies, I was
with the rest of our company in consultation to go to the
coast of the Mine, hoping there to have obtained some gold
for our wares, and thereby to have defrayed our charge.
But even in that present instant, there came to us a negro,
sent from a king, oppressed by other kings his neighbours,
desiring our aid, with promise that as many negroes as by
these wars might be obtained, as well of his part as of ours,
should be at our pleasure. Whereupon we concluded to give
aid, and sent 120 of our men, which on the I5th of January
assaulted a town of the negroes of our ally's adversaries,
which had in it 8,000 inhabitants, being very strongely im-
paled and fenced after their manner. But it was so well de-
fended, that our men prevailed not, but lost six men and forty
hurt : so that our men sent forthwith to me for more help.
Whereupon, considering that the good success of this en-
terprise might highly further the commodity of our voyage,
I went myself, and with the help of the king of our side, as-
saulted the town, both by land and by sea and very hardly
with fire (their houses being covered with dry palm leaves)
obtained the town and put the inhabitants to flight, where
we took 250 persons, men, women, and children, and by our
friend the king of our side, there were taken 600 prisoners,
318 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
whereof we hoped to have had our cho : ce. But the negro
(in which nation is seldom or never found truth) meant
nothing less: for that night he removed his camp and prison-
ers, so that we were fain to content us with those few which
we had gotten ourselves.
Now had we obtained between four and five hundred
negroes, wherewith we thought it somewhat reasonable to
seek the coast of the West Indies ; and there, for our negroes,
and other our merchandise, we hoped to obtain whereof to
countervail our charges with some gains. Whereunto we
proceeded with all diligence, furnished our watering, took
fuel, and departed the coast of Guinea on the 3d of February,
continuing at the sea with a passage more hard than before
hath been accustomed till the 27th day of March, which day
we had sight of an island, called Dominica, upon the coast of
the West Indies, in fourteen degrees. From thence we coasted
from place to place, making our traffic with the Spaniards
as we might, somewhat hardly, because the king had straitly
commanded all his governors in those parts by no means to
suffer any trade to be made with us. Notwithstanding, we
had reasonable trade, and courteous entertainment, from the
Isle of Margarita unto Cartagena, without anything greatly
worth the noting, saving at Capo de la Vela, in a town called
Rio de la Hacha, from whence come all the pearls. The
treasurer, who had the charge there, would by no means
agree to any trade, or suffer us to take water. He had forti-
fied his town with divers bulwarks in all places where it
might be entered, and furnished himself with an hundred
arquebusiers, so that he thought by famine to have inforced
us to have put on land our negroes. Of which purpose he
had not greatly failed, unless we had by force entered the
town; which (after we could by no means obtain his favour)
we were enforced to do, and so with two hundred men brake
in upon their bulwarks, and entered the town with the loss
only of two men of our part, and no hurt done to the Span-
iards, because after their volley of shot discharged, they all
fled. Thus having the town with some circumstance, as
partly by the Spaniards' desire of negroes, and partly by
friendship of the treasurer, we obtained a secret trade :
whereupon the Spaniards resorted to us by night, and bought
of us to the number of 200 negroes. In all other places
where we traded the Spanish inhabitants were glad of us
and traded willingly.
(Hakiuyt, ed. by J. A. Payne in I'oyages of the Elizabethan Seamen
Lond. 1880. p. 52.)
ELIZABETHAN SEAMEN 319
145. Drake's famous Voyage
Hakluyt
Sir Francis Drake (circa 1545-1595) began his naval career as
a chaplain and died an admiral. His greatest voyage was that
around the world, begun in 1577. This was made in the ship
The Golden Hind, which Elizabeth ordered to be forever pre-
served as a monument of the glory of the navigators and the
country. Drake's circumnavigation of the world was but one
of many successful voyages. In these days, when piracy and
robbery are not the necessary accompaniments of exploration,
his exploits appear well-nigh incredible. Yet there is good
evidence of the truth of the tales of towns sacked, galleons
plundered, and treasures of silver, gold, and jewels secured.
Above all seamen of his time, Drake bearded the Spanish power
and tore from it the mastery of the seas. The voyage given is
from the pen of one who himself sailed with Drake. It well
illustrates the progress of the second great incentive to English
exploration in the sixteenth century, the plunder of the Spaniard.
NARRATIVE OF FRANCIS PRETTY
The Famous Voyage of Sir FRANCIS DRAKE, into the South
Sea, and therehence about the whole globe of the earth, begun
in the year of our Lord, 1577.
On the 1 5th day of November, in the year of our Lord
1577, Mr. Francis Drake, with a fleet of five ships and
barques, and to the number of 164 men, gentlemen and
sailors, departed from Plymouth. . . .
On the I7th of August we departed the port of St. Julian,
and on the 2Oth we fell in with the Straits of Magellan, going
into the South Sea, at the cape or headland whereof we
found the body of a dead man, whose flesh was clean con-
sumed. On the 2 ist day we entered the Straits . . . We con-
tinuing our course, fell the 29th of November with an island
called La Mocha. . .the next day repairing again to the shore,
and sending two men to land with barrels to fill water, the
people taking them for Spaniards (to whom they use to
show no favor if they take them) laid violent hands on them,
and, as we think, slew them.
Our General seeing this, stayed here no longer, but
weighed anchor, and set sail towards the coast of Chili, and
drawing towards it, we met near to the shore an Indian in a
Canoe, who thinking us to have been Spaniards, came to us
and told us, that at a place called Santiago, there was a great
Spanish ship laden from the kingdom of Peru, for which
good news our General gave him divers trifles. Whereof he
320 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
was glad, and went along with us and brought us to the place,
which is called the port of Valparaiso. When we came
thither we found, indeed, the ship riding at anchor, having
in her eight Spaniards and three negroes, who, thinking us
to have been Spaniards, and their friends, welcomed us with
a drum, and made ready a Bottija of wine of Chili to drink
to us. But as soon as we were entered, one of our company
called Thomas Moon began to lay about him, and struck one
of the Spaniards, and said unto him, "Abaxo perro !" that is
in English, "Go down, dog !" One of these Spaniards, see-
ing persons of that quality in these seas, all to crossed and
blessed himself. But, to be short, we stowed them under
hatches, all save one Spaniard, who suddenly and desperately
leapt over-board into the sea, and swam ashore to the town
of Santiago, to give them warning of our arrival.
They of the town being not above nine households, pres-
ently fled away and abandoned the town. Our General
manned his boat and the Spanish ship's boat and went to the
town, and being come to it, we rifled it, and came to a small
chapel, which we entered, and found therein a silver chalice,
two cruets, and one altar-cloth, the spoil whereof our Gen-
eral gave to Mr. Fletcher, his minister. We found, also in
this town a warehouse stored with wine of Chili and many
boards of cedar- wood, all which wine we brought away with
us, and certain of the boards to burn for firewood. And so,
being come aboard, we departed the haven, having first set
all the Spaniards on land, saving one John Griego, a Greek
born, whom our General carried with him as pilot to bring
him into the haven of Lima.
When we were at sea our General rifled the ship, and
found in her good store of the wine of Chili, and 25,000
pesos of very pure and fine gold of Valdivia, amounting in
value to 37,000 ducats of Spanish money, and above. So,
going on our course, we arrived next at a place called Co-
quimbo, where our General sent fourteen of his men on land
to fetch water. But they were espied by the Spaniards, who
came with 300 horsemen and 200 footmen, and slew one of
our men with a piece. The rest came aboard in safety, and
the Spaniards departed. We went on shore again and buried
our man, and the Spaniards came down again with a flag
of truce; but we set sail, and would not trust them. From
hence we went to a certain port called Tarapaca, where,
being landed, we found by the sea a Spaniard lying asleep,
who had lying by him thirteen bars of silver, which weighed
ELIZABETHAN SEAMEN 321
4,000 ducats Spanish. We took the silver and left the man.
Not far from hence, going on land for fresh water, we met
with a Spaniard and an Indian boy driving eight llamas or
sheep of Peru, which are as big as asses; everyone of which
sheep had on his back two bags of leather, each bag contain-
ing 50 Ibs. weight of fine silver. So that, bringing both the
sheep and their burthen to the ship, we found in all the bags
800 weights of silver.
Herehence we sailed to a place called Arica, and, being
entered the haven, we found there three small barques, which
we rifled, and found in one of them fifty-seven wedges of
silver, each of them weighing about 20 Ibs. weight, and every
of these wedges were of the fashion and bigness of a brick-
bat. In all these three barques we found not one person.
For they, mistrusting no strangers, were all gone on land to
the town, which consisteth of about twenty houses, which
we would have ransacked if our company had been better and
more in number. But our General, contented with the spoil
of the ships, left the town and put off again to sea, and set
sail for Lima, and, by the way, met with a small barque,
which he boarded, and found in her good store of linen
cloth. Whereof taking some quantity, he let her go.
To Lima we came on the I3th of February, and, being
entered the haven, we found there about twelve sail of ships
lying fast moored at anchor, having all their sails carried on
shore ; for the masters and merchants were here most secure,
having never been assaulted by enemies, and at this time
feared the approach of none such as we were. Our General
rifled these ships, and found in one of them a chest full of
reals of plate, and good store of silks and linen cloth, and
took the chest into his own ship, and good store of silks and
linen. In which ship he had news of another ship called the
Cacafuego, which was gone towards Payta, and that the
same ship was laden with treasure. Whereupon we stayed
no longer here, but, cuting all the cables of the ships in the
haven, we let them drive whither they would, either to sea
or to the shore, and with all speed we followed the Cacafuego
toward Payta, thinking there to have found her ; but before
we arrived there she was gone from thence towards Panama,
whom our General still pursued, and by the way met with a
barque laden with ropes and tackle for ships, which he
boarded and searched, and found in her 80 Ibs. weight of gold,
and a crucifix of gold with goodly great emeralds set in it,
which he took, and some of the cordage also for his own ship.
322 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
From hence we departed, still following the Cacafuegc;
and our General promised our company that whosoever
should first descry her should have his chain of gold for his
good news. It fortuned that John Drake, going up into the
top, descried her at about three o'clock, and at about six
o'clock we came to her and boarded her, and shot at her
three pieces of ordnance, and struck down her mizen, and,
being entered, we found in her great riches, as jewels and
precious stones, thirteen chests full of reals of plate, four-
score pounds weight of gold, and six-and-twenty tons of
silver. The place where we took this prize was called Cape
de San Francisco, about 150 leagues from Panama. The
pilot's name of this ship was Francisco, and amongst other
plate that our General found in this ship he found two very
fair gilt bowls of silver, which were the pilot's, to whom our
General said, " Senor Pilot, you have here two silver cups ;
but I must needs have one of them," which the pilot, because
he could not otherwise choose, yielded unto, and gave the
other to the steward of our General's ships. When this pilot
departed from us, his boy said thus unto our General, "Cap-
tain, our ship shall be called no more the Cacafuego, but the
Cacaplata, and your ship shall be called the Cacafuego,"
which pretty speech of the pilot's boy ministered matter of
laughter to us, both then and long after. When our General
had done what he would with this Cacafuego, he cast her
off, and we went on our course still towards the west, and
not long after met with a ship laden with linen cloth and
fine China dishes of white earth, and great store of China
silks, of all which things we took as we listed. The owner
himself of this ship was in her, who was a Spanish gentle-
man, from whom our General took a faulcon of gold, with
a great emerald in the breast thereof; and the pilot of the
ship he took also with him, and so cast the ship off.
This pilot brought us to the haven of Aguatulco, the town
whereof, as he told us, had but seventeen Spaniards in it.
As soon as we were entered this haven, we landed, and went
presently to the town and to the Town-house, where we
found a judge sitting in judgment, being associated with
three other officers, upon three negroes that had conspired
the burning of the town. Both which judges and prisoners
we took, and brought them a-shipboard, and caused the chief
judge to write his letter to the town to command all the
townsmen to avoid, that we might safely water there, which
being done, and they departed, we ransacked the town, and
ELIZABETHAN SEAMEN 3*3
in one house we found a pot, of the quantity of a bushel, full
of reals of plate, which we brought to our ship. And here
one Thomas Moon, one of our company, took a Spanish
gentlemen as he was flying out of the town, and, searching
him, he found a chain of gold about him, and other jewels,
which he took, and so let him go. At this place our General,
among other Spaniards, set ashore his Portuguese pilot
which he took at the Islands of Cape Verde out of a ship of
St. Mary Port, of Portugal ; and having set them ashore we
departed hence, and sailed to the Island of Canno, where our
General landed, and brought to shore his own ship, and dis-
charged her, mended and graved her, and furnished our ship
with water and wood sufficiently
On the 5th of June, being in forty-three degrees towards
the Arctic Pole, we found the air so cold, that our men being
grievously pinched with the same, complained of the ex-
tremity thereof, and the further we went, the more the cold
increased upon us. Whereupon we thought it best for that
time to seek the land, and did so, finding it not mountainous,
but low plain land, till we came within thirty-eight degrees
towards the line. In which height it pleased God to send us
into a fair and good bay, with a good wind to enter the same.
In this bay we anchored, and the people of the country having
their houses close by the waterside, shewed themselves unto
us, and sent a present to our General. When they came unto
us, they greatly wondered at the things that we brought, but
our General (according to his natural and accustomed hu-
manity) courteously entreated them, and liberally bestowed
on them necessary things to cover their nakedness, where-
upon they supposed us to be gods, and would not be pur-
suaded to the contrary : the presents which they sent to our
General, were feathers, and cauls of net-work. Their houses
were digged round about with earth, and have from the utter-
most brims of the circle, clifts of wood set upon them, joined
close together at the top like a spire steeple, which by reason
of that closeness are very warm. Their bed is the ground
with rushes strewed on it, and lying about the house, they
have the fire in the midst. The men go naked, the women
take bulrushes, and comb them after the manner of hemp,
and thereof make their loose garments, which being knit
about their middles, hang down about their hips, having also
about their shoulders a skin of deer, with the hair upon it.
These women are very obedient and serviceable to their
husbands. .
324 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Our General called this country New Albion, and that for
two causes, the one in respect of the white banks and cliffs,
which lie towards the sea, and the other, because it might
have some affinity with our country in name, which some-
times was so called. There is no part of earth here to be
taken up, wherein there is not probable show of gold or
silver. . . .
When we had ended our business here we weighed, and
set sail to run for the Moluccas; but having at that time a
bad wind, and being amongst the islands, with much diffi-
culty we recovered to the northward of the island of Celebes,
where by reason of contrary winds, not able to continue our
course to run westwards, we were enforced to alter the same
to the southward again, finding that course also to be very
hard and dangerous for us, by reason of infinite shoals which
lie off and among the islands ; whereof we had too much
trial to the hazard and danger to our ship and lives. For,
of all other days, upon the Qth of January, in the year 1580,
we ran suddenly upon a rock, where we stuck fast from
eight o'clock at night till four o'clock in the afternoon the
next day, being indeed out of all hope to escape the danger ;
but our General as he had always hitherto shewed himself
courageous, and of a good confidence in the mercy and pro-
tection of God ; so now he continued in the same, and lest he
should seem to perish wilfully, both he and we did our best
endeavour to save ourselves, which it pleased God so to bless,
that in the end we cleared ourselves most happily of the
danger.
We lightened our ship upon the rocks of three tons of
cloves, eight pieces of ordnance, and certain meal and beans ;
and then the wind (as it were in a moment by the special
grace of God) changing from the starboard to the larboard of
the ship, we hoisted our sails, and the happy gale drove our
ship off the rock, into the sea again, to the no little comfort
of all our hearts, for which we gave God such praise and
thanks, as so great a benefit required.
On the 8th of February following, we fell in with the
fruitful island of Barateue, [Borneo] having in the mean
time suffered many dangers by winds and shoals. . . .
At our departure from Barateue, we set our course for
Java Major, [Java] where arriving, we found great cour-
tesy, and honourable entertainment. . . .
Not long before our departure, they told us that not far
off there were such great ships as ours, wishing us to be-
ELIZABETHAN SEAMEN 325
ware; upon this our captain would stay no longer. From
Java Major we sailed for the Cape of Good Hope, which
was the first land we fell in withal ; neither did we touch
with it, or any other land, until we came to Sierra Leone,
upon the coast of Guinea; notwithstanding we ran hard
aboard the Cape, finding the report of the Portuguese to
be most false, who affirm that it is the most dangerous Cape
of the world, never without intolerable storms and present
danger to travellers which come near the same. This Cape
is a most stately thing, and the fairest Cape we saw in the
whole circumference of the earth, and we passed by it on the
1 8th of June. From thence we continued our course to
Sierra Leone, on the coast of Guinea, where we arrived on
the 22nd of July, and found necessary provisions, great store
of elephants, oysters upon trees of one kind, spawing and in-
creasing infinitely, the oyster suffering no bud to grow. We
departed thence on the 24th day.
We arrived in England on the 3rd of November, 1580,
being the third year of our departure.
(Hakluyt, ed. cit., p. 145.)
146. Frobisher's First Voyage
Hakluyt
Sir Martin Frobisher (1535-1594) was distinctively the navi-
gator of the time of Elizabeth in whom Columbus' desire to
discover a short passage to Cathay found expression. Through
this, the third great incentive to English exploration, he made
voyage after voyage to the northern coast of America. The ac-
count of George Best, one of those who accompanied Frobisher
on his first voyage, well illustrates the character of the expedi-
tion, and also gives us a view of the speculative fever that
burned in the veins of Englishmen. To these the pyrites
well termed "fools' gold" brought back by Frobisher, opened
visions of treasure surpassing that of the fabled city of Manoa.
NARRATIVE BY GEORGE BEST
Which thing being well considered, and familiarly known
to our general Captain Frobisher, as well for that he is
thoroughly furnished of the knowledge of the sphere and
all other skills appertaining to the art of navigation; as also
for the confirmation he hath of the same by many years'
experience both by sea and land, and being persuaded of a
new and nearer passage to Cathay than by Capo de Buona
Speranqa, which the Portuguese yearly use : he began first
with himself to devise, and then with his friends to confer,
and laid a plain plot unto them that that voyage was not only
326 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
possible by the north-west, but also, he could prove, easy to
be performed, . . .
He prepared two small barques of twenty and five-and-
twcnty tons a-piece, wherein he intended to accomplish his
pretended voyage. Wherefore, being furnished with the
forsaid two barques, and one small pinnace of ten tons bur-
den, having therein victuals and other necessaries for twelve
months' provision, he departed upon the said voyage from
Blackwall, on the I5th of June, anno domini 1576. . . .
. . . And on the 2Oth of July he had sight of an high land,
which he called Queen Elizabeth's Foreland, after her Ma-
jesty's name. And sailing more northerly along that coast,
he descried another foreland, with a great gut, bay, or pas-
sage, dividing as it were two main lands or continents asun-
der. There he met with store of exceeding great ice all this
coast along, and coveting still to continue his course to the
northwards, was always by contrary winds detained over-
thwart these straits, and could not get beyond. Within a few
days after, he perceived the ice to be well consumed and
gone, either there engulfed in by some swift currents or in-
drafts, carried more to the southwards of the same straits,
or else conveyed some other way; wherefore he determined
to make proof of this place, to see how far that gut had con-
tinuance, and whether he might carry himself through the
same into some open sea on the back-side, whereof he con-
ceived no small hope; and so entered the same on the 2ist
day of July, and passed above fifty leagues therein, as he re-
ported, having upon either hand a great main of con-
tinent. . . .
And it is especially to be remembered that at their first
arrival in those parts there lay so great store of ice all the
coast along, so thick together, that hardly his boat could pass
unto the shore. At length, after divers attempts, he com-
manded his company, if by any possible means they could get
ashore, to bring him whatsoever thing they could first find,
whether it were living or dead, stock or stone, in token of
Christian possession, which thereby he took in behalf of
the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, thinking that thereby
he might justify the having and enjoying of the same things
that grew in these unknown parts.
Some of his company brought flowers, some green grass,
and one brought a piece of black stone, much like to a sea
coal in colour, which by the weight seemed to be some kind
of metal or mineral. This was a thing of no account in the
ELIZABETHAN SEAMEN 327
judgment of the captain at first sight; and yet for novelty
it was kept in respect of the place from whence it came.
After his arrival in London, being demanded of sundry
his friends what thing he had brought them home out of
that country, he had nothing left to present them withal but
a piece of this black stone. And it fortuned a gentlewoman,
one of the adventurers' wives, to have a piece thereof, which
by chance she threw and burned in the fire, so long, that at
the length being taken forth and quenched in a little vinegar,
it glistered with a bright marquesite of gold. Whereupon
the matter being called in some question, it was brought to
certain gold-finers in London to make assay thereof, who
gave out that it held gold, and that very richly for the quan-
tity. Afterwards the same gold-finers promised great mat-
ters thereof if there were any store to be found and offered
themselves to adventure for the searching of those parts
from whence the same was brought. Some that had great
hope of the matter sought secretly to have a lease at Her
Majesty's hands of those places, whereby to enjoy the mass
of so great a public profit unto their own private gains.
(Hakluyt, ed. cit., p. 64.)
147. The Beginnings of American Colonization
Hakluyt
In 1584 Sir Walter Raleigh fitted out an expedition for the
purpose of exploration with a view to establishing a colony.
This resulted in the discovery of a country which was afterward
known as Virginia. The extract given was written by Arthur
Barlowe, one of the captains of the expedition, and by him sent
to Raleigh. The account is more picturesque than accurate, but
is interesting as illustrating the fourth of the great incentives to
the sea-rovers of the Elizabethan era the incentive of coloniza-
tion.
FIRST VOYAGE TO VIRGINIA
(1584)
The 27th day of April, in the year of our redemption,
1584, we departed the West of England, with two barks
well furnished with men and victuals, having received our
last and perfect directions by your letters, confirming the
former instructions and commandments delivered by your-
self at our leaving the river of Thames. And I think, in a
matter both unneccessary, for the manifest discovery of the
Country, as also for tediousness sake, to remember unto you
the diurnal of our course, sailing thither and returning ; only
I have presumed to present unto you this brief discourse, by
328 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
which you may judge how profitable this land is like to
succeed, as well to yourself (by whose direction and charge,
and by whose servants this our discourse hath been per-
formed) as also to her Highness, and the Commonwealth,
in which we hope your wisdom will be satisfied, considering
that as much by us hath been brought to light, as by those
small means, and number of men we had, could any way
have been expected, or hoped for.
The tenth of May we arrived at the Canaries, and the
tenth of June in this present year, we were fallen with the
Islands of the West Indies. . . .
The second of July, we found shoal water, where we smelt
so sweet and so strong a smell, as if we had been in the midst
of some delicate garden abounding with all kinds of odorif-
erous flowers, by which we were assured, that the land could
not be far distant: and keeping good watch, and bearing
good slack sail, the fourth of the same month we arrived
upon the coast, which we supposed to be a continent and firm
land, and we sailed along the same a hundred and twenty
English miles before we could find any entrance, or river
issuing into the sea. The first that appeared unto us, we
entered, though not without some difficulty, and cast anchor
about three arquebus-shot within the haven's mouth, on the
left hand of the same ; and after thanks given to God for
our safe arrival thither, we manned our boats, and went to
view the land next adjoining, and "to take possession of the
same, in the right of the Queen's most excellent Majesty, as
rightful Queen, and Princess of the same, and after de-
livered the same over to your use, according to her Majesty's
grant, and letters patent, under her Highness' Great Seal.
Which being performed, according to the ceremonies used
in such enterprises, we viewed the land about us, being,
whereas we first landed, very sandy and low towards the
water's side, but so full of grapes, as the very beating and
surge of the sea overflowed them. . . .
We passed from the sea side towards the tops of those
hills next adjoining, being but of mean height, and from
thence we beheld the sea on both sides to the north, and to
the south, finding no end any of both ways. This land lay
stretching itself to the west, which after we found to be but
an island of twenty miles long, and not above six miles
broad. Under the bank or hill whereon we stood, we beheld
the valleys replenished with goodly cedar trees, and having
discharged our harquebus-shot, such a flock of cranes (the
ELIZABETHAN SEAMEN 329
most part white) arose under us, with such a cry redoubled
by many echoes, as if an army of men had shouted all
together.
The islands had many goodly woods full of deer, conies,
hares, and fowl, even in the midst of summer in incredible
abundance. The woods are not such as you find in Bohe-
mia, Moscovia, or Hercynia, barren and fruitless, but the
highest and reddest of cedars in the world, far bettering
the cedars of the Azores, of the Indies, or Libanus; pines,
cypress, sassafras, the lentiscus, or the tree that beareth the
mastic, the tree that beareth the rinde of black cinammon,
of which Master Winter brought from the Straits of Magel-
lan, and many other of excellent smell and quality. We re-
mained by the side of the Islands two whole days before we
saw any people of the country: the third day we espied one
small boat rowing towards us, having in it three persons:
this boat came to the Island side, four arquebus-shot from
our ships, and there two of the people remaining, the third
came along the shoreside towards us, and we being then all
within board, he walked up and down upon the point of the
land next unto us : then the master and the pilot of the Ad-
miral, Simon Ferdinando, and the Captain Philip Amadas,
myself, and others rowed to the land, whose coming this fel-
low attended, never making any show of fear or doubt. And
after he had spoken of many things not understood by us,
we brought him with his own good liking, aboard the ships,
and gave him a shirt, a hat, and some other things, and made
him taste of our wine, and our meat, which he liked very
well : and after having viewed both barks, he departed, and
went to his own boat again, which he had left in a little cove
or creek adjoining: as soon as he was two bow shot into the
water, he fell to fishing, and in less than half an hour, he had
laden his boat as deep, as it could swim, with which he came
again to the point of land, and there he divided his fish into
two parts, appointing one part to the ship, and the other to
the pinnace: which, after he had (as much as he might)
requited the former benefits received, departed out of our
sight.
The next day there came unto us divers boats, and in one
of them the King's brother, accompanied with forty or fifty
men, very handsome and goodly people, and in their be-
havior as mannerly and civil as any in Europe. His name
was Granganimeo, and the king is called Wingina, the coun-
try Wingandacoa, and now by her Majesty Virginia. . . .
330 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
The soil is very plentiful, sweet, fruitful and wholesome of
all the world: there are about fourteen several sweet smell-
ing timber trees, and most part of their underwoods are
bays, and such like: They have those oaks that we have,
but far greater and better. After they had been divers times
aboard our ships, myself, with seven more went twenty mile
into the river, that runneth toward the city of Skicoak,
which river they call Occam : and the evening following, we
came to an island, which they call Roanoak, distant from
the harbor by which we entered, seven leagues: and at the
north end thereof there was a village of nine houses, built
of cedar, and fortified round about with sharp trees, to keep
out their enemies, and the entrance into it made like a turn-
pike very artifically. . . .
Beyond this island there is the main land, and over against
this island falleth into this spacious water, the great river
called Occam by the inhabitants, on which stancleth a town
called Pomeiock, and six days journey from the same is
situated their greatest city, called Skicoak, which this people
affirm to be very great : but the savages were never at it;
only they speak of it by the report of their fathers and other
men, whom they have heard affirm it to be about one hour's
journey about.
Into this river falleth another great river, called Cipo, in
which there is found great store of muscles in which there
are pearls : likewise there descendeth into this Occam, another
river, called Nomopana. . . .
Towards the Southwest, four day's journey is situated a
town called Sequotan, which is the southermost town of
Wingandacoa, near unto which, six and twenty years past,
there was a ship cast away, whereof some of the people were
saved, and those were white people, whom the country people
preserved . . . other than these, there was never any people
apparelled, or white of colour, either seen, or heard of
amongst these people, and these aforesaid were seen only
by the inhabitants of Secotan, which appeared to be very
true, for they wondered marvelously when we were amongst
them at the whiteness of our skins, ever coveting to touch
our breasts, and to view the same. Besides they had our
ships in marvelous admiration and all things else were so
strange unto them, as it appeared that none of them had
ever seen the like. When we discharged any piece, were it
but an arquebus, they would tremble thereat for very fear,
and for the strangeness of the same: for the weapons which
ELIZABETHAN SEAMEN 331
themselves use are bows and arrows: the arrows are but of
small canes, headed with a sharp shell or tooth of a fish
sufficient enough to kill a naked man. Their swords be of
wood hardened : likewise they use wooden breastplates for
their defence. They have beside a kind of club, in the end
whereof they fasten the sharp horns of a stag, or other
beast. When they go to wars they carry about with them
their idol, of whom they ask counsel, as the Romans were
wont of the oracle of Apollo. They sing songs as they
march towards the battle instead of drums and trumpets:
their wars are very cruel and bloody, by reason whereof and
of their civil dissensions which have happened of late years
amongst them, the people are marvelously wasted, and in
some places the country left desolate
Beyond this island called Roanoak, are main islands very
plentiful of fruits and other natural increases, together with
many towns, and villages, along the side of the continent,
some bounding upon the islands, and some stretching up
further into the land. . . .
Thus Sir, we have acquainted you with the particulars
of our discovery made this present voyage, as far forth as
the shortness of the time we were continued would afford
us to take views of: and so contenting ourselves with this
service at this time, which we hope hereafter to enlarge, as
occasion and assistance shall be given, we resolved to leave
the country, and to apply ourselves to return for England,
which we did accordingly, and arrived safely in the west of
England about the middle of September.
(Ed. from Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations, etc., Lond., 1598-1600.)
PART VI
THE STRUGGLE FOR CONSTITU-
TIONAL GOVERNMENT
(1603-1688)
333
CHAPTER XX
THE REIGN OF JAMES I.
148. Coronation Oath of James I.
Tanner MSS.
The following oath should be compared with that taken by
Edward II., four centuries earlier (No. 89). In that space of
four centuries, with all the tremendous changes in ecclesias-
tical organization, the coronation oaths of the sove'reigns of Eng-
land altered but little ; yet in comparing those instanced, we find
sufficient difference to indicate that the king had taken the place
which the Pope once held, and that the Church of the State was
no longer the child of Rome.
Archbishop. Sir, will you grant and keep and by your oath
confirm to your people of England the laws and customs to
them granted by the' kings of England your lawful and re-
ligious predecessors ; and namely the laws, customs and
franchises granted to clergy and to the people by the glorious
king, St. Edward, your predecessor, according and con-
formable to the laws of God and true profession of the
gospel established in this kingdom, and agreeing to the
prerogatives of the kings thereof and to the ancient customs
of this realm ?
King. I grant and promise to keep them.
A. Will you keep peace and agreement entirely, according
to your power, both to God, the holy church, the clergy and
the people ?
K. I will keep it.
A. Will you to your power cause law, justice and discre-
tion in mercy and truth to be executed in all your judg-
ments ?
K. I will.
A. Sir, will you grant to hold and keep the laws and right-
ful customs which the commonalty of your kingdom ha\ne,
and to defend and uphold them to the honour of God, so
much as in you lieth?
K. I grant and promise so to do.
335
336 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Sequitur admonitio episcoporum, etc.
Our lord and king, we beseech you to grant and preserve
unto us and every one of us and the churches committed to
our charge all canonical privileges and due law and justice,
and that you would protect and defend us as every good
king in his kingdom ought to be a protector and defender
of the bishops and churches under their government.
K. With a willing and devout heart I promise and grant
that I will preserve and maintain to you and every of you
and the churches committed to your charge all canonical
privileges and due law and justice, and that I will be your
protector and defender to my power by the assistance of God,
as every good king in his kingdom ought to protect and de-
fend the bishops and churches under their government.
(Statutes and Constitutional Documents, Prothero, Oxford, 1894, p. 391.)
149. The Crown above the Courts
James I.
The cause of the ruin of the Stuart dynasty may be read in
the political works of the first English king of that house. In
the mind of James I. the doctrine of the divine right of kings
and of the absolute power of the sovereign were firmly fixed.
These theories were expressed by the acts as well as the words
of the first Stuart. In the speech which he made in the Star
Chamber on June 20, 1601, the subordination of the judicial
power to that of the Crown is stated clearly and positively.
... I am next to come to the limits wherein you are to
bound yourselves, which likewise are three. First, encroach
not upon the prerogative of the crown: if there falls out a
question that concerns my prerogative or mystery of state,
deal not with it, till you consult with the king or his council,
or both ; for they are transcendent matters and must not be
deliberately carried out with over-rash wilfulness. . . . That
which concerns the mystery of the king's power is not lawful
to be disputed ; for that is to wade into the weakness of
princes, and to take away the mystical reverence that be-
longs unto them that sit on the throne of God.
Secondly, that you keep yourselves within your own
benches, not to invade other jurisdictions, which is unfit and
an unlawful thing. Keep you therefore all in your own
bounds, and for my part, I desire you to give me no more
right, in my private prerogative, than you give any subject,
and therein I will be acquiescent: as for the absolute prerog-
THE REIGN OF JAMES I. 337
ative of the crown, that is no subject for the tongue of a
lawyer, nor is lawful to be disputed.
It is atheism and blasphemy to dispute what God can do :
good Christians content themselves with his will revealed in
his word, so it is presumption and high contempt in a subject
to dispute what a king can do, or say that a king cannot do
this or that; but rest in that which is the king's revealed will
in his law.
(Works of James /., Lond., 1616, p. 556.)
150. The King is above the Law
James I.
James I. from the first day of his reign disclaimed the power
of Parliament to control the will of the sovereign. He claimed
the power to make, amend or alter laws as well as the right to
abrogate them. The dispensing and suspending power was af-
firmed in its most arbitrary form. The following selection aptly
illustrates the Stuart theory of the royal prerogative.
According to these fundamental laws already alleged, we
daily see that in the parliament (which is nothing else but
the head court of the king and his vassals) the laws are
but craved by his subjects, and only made by him at their
rogation and with their advice : for albeit the king make
daily statutes and ordinances, enjoining such pains thereto
as he thinks meet, without any advice of parliament or
estates, yet it lies in the power of no parliament to make any
kind of law or statute, without his sceptre be to it, for giving
it the force of a law . . . And as ye see it manifest that the
king is over-lord of the whole land, so is he master over
every person that inhabiteth the same, having power over the
life and death of every one of them: for although a just
prince will not take the life of any of his subjects without
a clear law, yet the same laws whereby he taketh them are
made by himself or his predecessors ; and so the power flows
always from himself ; as by daily experience we see good and
just princes will from time to time make new laws and
statutes, adjoining the penalties to the breakers thereof, which
before the law was made had been no crime to the subject to
have committed . . . And where he sees the law doubtsome or
rigorous, he may interpret or mitigate the same, lest other-
wise summum jus be summa injuria: and therefore general
laws made publicly in parliament may upon known respects
to the king by his authority be mitigated and suspended upon
causes only known to him.
As likewise, although I have said a good king will frame
338 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
all his actions to be according to the law, yet is he not bound
thereto but of his good will, and for good example-giving
to his subjects ... So as I have already said, a good king,
though he be above the law, will subject and frame his ac-
tions thereto, for example's sake to his subjects, and of his
own free will, but not as subject or bound thereto. . . .
(Law of Free Monarchies in Works of James I., p. 202, ed. cit.)
151. The Millenary Petition
(1603)
Church History, Fuller
While James I. was journeying to London to take his place
on the English throne, the Puritan clergy presented to him the
paper known to us as the Millenary Petition. This document
received its name from the number of signatures supposed to
be attached thereto, although it is doubtful if it was signed at
all. The petition prayed for "a reformation in the church ser-
vice, ministry, livings, and discipline." The petition led to the
Hampton Court Conference, in which James declared his ad-
herence to the Episcopal form of church government as carried
out by the Anglican Church.
THE HUMBLE PETITION OF THE MINISTERS OF THE CHURCH
OF ENGLAND DESIRING REFORMATION OF CERTAIN CER-
EMONIES AND ABUSES OF THE CHURCH
To the most Christian and excellent prince, our gracious
and dread Sovereign, James, by the grace of God, etc., we,
the ministers of the Church of England that desire reforma-
tion, wish a long, prosperous and happy reign over us in this
life, and in the next everlasting salvation.
Most gracious and dread Sovereign, seeing it hath pleased
the Divine Majesty, to the great comfort of all good Chris-
tians, to advance your Highness, according to your just title,
to the peaceable government of this church and common-
wealth of England, we, the ministers of the gospel in this
land, neither as factious men affecting a popular parity in
the church nor as schismatics aiming at the dissolution of
the state ecclesiastical, but as the faithful servants of Christ
and loyal subjects to your Majesty, desiring and longing for
the redress of divers abuses of the church, could do no less
in our obedience to God, service to your Majesty, love to his
church, than acquaint your princely Majesty with our par-
ticular griefs. For, as your princely pen writeth, " The King
as a good physician must first know what peccant humours
his patient naturally is most subject unto before he can begin
THE REIGN OF JAMES I. 339
his cure. And although divers of us that sue for reforma-
tion have formerly in respect of the times subscribed to the
book, some upon protestation, some upon exposition given
them, some with condition, rather than the church should
have been deprived of their labour and ministry, yet now we,
to the number of more than a thousand of your Majesty's
subjects and ministers, all groaning as under a common
burthen of human rites and ceremonies, do with one joint
consent humble ourselves at your Majesty's feet, to be eased
and relieved in this behalf. Our humble suit then unto your
Majesty is, that [of] these offences following, some may be
removed, some amended, some qualified:
I. In the church service: That the cross in baptism, in-
terrogatories ministered to infants, confirmation, as super-
fluous, may be taken away. Baptism not to be ministered
by women, and so explained. The cap and surplice not
urged. That examination may go before the communion.
That it be ministered with a sermon. That divers terms of
priests and absolution and some other used, with the ring in
marriage, and other such like in the book may be corrected.
The longsomeness of service abridged. Church songs, and
music moderated to better edification. That the Lord's day
be not profaned : the rest upon holy-days not so strictly urged.
That there may be an uniformity of doctrine prescribed. No
popish opinion to be any more taught or defended : no minis-
ters charged to teach their people to bow at the name of
Jesus. That the canonical scriptures only be read in the
church.
II. Concerning church ministers: That none hereafter
be admitted into the ministry but able and sufficient men, and
those to preach diligently, and especially upon the Lord's
day. That such as be already entered and cannot preach
may either be removed and some charitable course taken with
them for their relief, or else to be forced, according to the
value of their livings, to maintain preachers. That non-
residency be not permitted. That King Edward's statute
for the lawfulness of ministers' marriage be revived. That
ministers be not urged to subscribe but according to the
law to the Articles of Religion and the King's supremacy
only.
III. For church living and maintenance: That bishops
leave their commendams, some holding prebends, some par-
sonages, some vicarages, with their bishoprics. That double-
beneficed men be not suffered to hold some two, some three
340 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
benefices with cure, and some two, three or four dignities
besides. That impropriations annexed to bishoprics and col-
leges be demised only to the preachers incumbents for the
old rent. That the impropriations of layman's fees may be
charged with a sixth or seventh part of the worth, to the
maintenance of the preaching minister.
IV. For church discipline: That the discipline and ex-
communication may be administered according to Christ's
own institution, or at least that enormities may be redressed;
as, namely, that excommunication come not forth under the
name of lay persons, chancellors, officials, etc. That men
be not excommunicated for trifles and twelve-penny mat-
ters; that none be excommunicated without consent of his
pastor. That the officers be not suffered to extort un-
reasonable fees. That none having jurisdiction or registers'
places put out the same to farm. That divers popish canons
(as for restraint of marriage at certain times) be reversed.
That the longsomeness of suits in ecclesiastical courts,
which hang sometimes two, three, four, five, six or seven
years, may be restrained. That the oath ex officio, whereby
men are forced to accuse themselves, be more sparingly used.
That licences for marriage without banns asked be more
cautiously granted.
These, with such other abuses yet remaining and practised
in the Church of England, we are able to show not to be
agreeable to the Scriptures, if it shall please your Highness
further to hear us, or more at large by writing to be in-
formed, or by conference among the learned to be resolved.
And yet we doubt not but that without any further process
your Majesty of whose Christian judgment we have re-
ceived so good a taste already is able of yourself to
judge of the equity of this cause. God, we trust, hath
appointed your Highness our physician to heal these dis-
eases. And we say with Mordecai to Hester, "Who knoweth
whether you are come to the kingdom for such a time?"
Thus your Majesty shall do that which we are persuaded
shall be acceptable to God, honourable to your Majesty in all
succeeding ages, profitable to his church, which shall be
thereby increased, comfortable to your ministers, who shall
be no more suspended, silenced, disgraced, imprisoned for
men's traditions, and prejudicial to none but to those that
seek their own quiet, credit and profit in the world. Thus
with all dutiful submission referring ourselves to your Ma-
jesty's pleasure for your gracious answer as God shall direct
THE REIGN OF JAMES I. 34'
you, we most humbly recommend your Highness to the
Divine Majesty, whom we beseech for Christ his sake to
dispose your royal heart to do herein what shall be to his
glory, the good of his church, and your endless comfort.
Your Majesty's most humble subjects, the ministers of the
gospel, that desire, not a disorderly innovation, but a due and
godly reformation.
(The Chvrch History of Britain, from the Birth of Jesus Christ until the
year 162?. ed. T. Fuller, 3rd Ed., Lond. 1842, vol. Ill, p.i93.)
152. Levying a Feudal Aid
(1612)
Fcedera, Rymer
Even in the seventeenth century, the feudal dues continued to
be an important source of the royal revenue, and so continued
until abolished in 1660 by the statute of 12 Car. II, c. 24. The
directions, given below, for the levying of an aid in 1612 should
be compared with those given in the reign of Richard I. (No.
65.)
Whereas our eldest daughter Elizabeth hath long since ac-
complished the age of seven years, by reason whereof there is
due. unto us by the laws and statutes of this our realm of
England reasonable aid to be had and levied of all our im-
mediate tenants by knight's service and in soccage for her
marriage : These are therefore to will and require you our
Chancellor to cause to be made and sealed under our great
seal of England as well several commissions to be directed
unto all the counties of this our said realm according to the
form of a draught of a commission for that purpose to these
presents annexed, as also several commissions for the Cinque
Ports and for compounding with all the Lords spiritual and
temporal of this our realm and with the masters . . . and
other the heads of houses, halls and colleges of our Uni-
versities of Oxford and Cambridge, according to several
draughts hereunto likewise annexed, changing such things
therein as are to be changed, and to direct them to such com-
missioners as you with the Lord Privy Seal and our Chan-
cellor of our Exchequer shall name and appoint, returnable
at the days of the several draughts prefixed, and the same
several commissions to renew to the same commissioners or
any others according to your directions as often as need
shall require, and also to name and choose any two of the
said commissioners in every county respectively to be col-
lectors for the same aid; and these shall be your sufficient
warrant in that behalf.
342 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Given under our signet at Woodstock the 3Oth day of
August in the loth year of our reign of England, France and
Ireland, and of Scotland the six and fortieth.
Per ipsum Kegem
(Fcedera, Rymer, vol. XVI, p. 724.)
153. Benevolences
(1622)
Ruskworth' 's Collections
Cardwell Documents
Edward IV., in 1473, was the first king to mask the forced
loans exacted by several of his predecessors and successors as
"Benevolences." After his time, though the kings continued to
extort loans, or more properly tribute, from their subjects with-
out legal warrant, the extortions were to be "free gifts." The
practice was declared illegal by Richard II. in the first year of
his reign, yet in the second it was made use of. The extortion
of Benevolences was practised by the Tudors, and under the
Stuarts it became a crying abuse, which the express prohibition
contained in the Petition of Right did not overcome, for in 1661
a limited Benevolence was authorized by Parliament. To this,
however, was attached the condition that in future the exaction
of these Benevolences was to be under the absolute control of
Parliament instead of the king. The following letters are ex-
tremely illuminating: (A) the form that was sent to the Jus-
tices of the Courts at Westminster and to the Barons of the
Exchequer as well as to civil officials was with the addition of
(B) sent by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the greater ec-
clesiastics generally on receipt of letters from the king requir-
ing contributions from ecclesiastics.
(A) . . . What endeavours his Majesty hath used by treaty
and by all fair and amiable ways to recover the patrimony of
his children in Germany, now for the most part withholden
from them by force, is not unknown to all his loving subjects,
since his Majesty was pleased to communicate to them in
Parliament his whole proceedings in that business : of which
treaty, being of late frustrate, he was enforced to take other
resolutions, namely, to recover that by the sword which by
other means he saw no likelihood to compass. For which
purpose it was expected by his Majesty that his people in
Parliament would (in a cause so nearly concerning his and
his children's interest) have cheerfully contributed there-
unto. But the same unfortunately failing, his Majesty is
constrained, in a case of so great necessity, to try the dutiful
affections of his loving subjects in another way, as his pre-
decessors have done in former times, by propounding unto
them a voluntary contribution. And therefore, as yourselves
have already given a liberal and worthy example (which his
Majesty doth take in very gracious part), so his pleasure is,
THE REIGN OF JAMES I. 343
and we do accordingly hereby authorize and require your
lordships, as well to countenance and assist the service by
your best means, in your next circuits, in the several counties
where you hold general assizes, as also now presently with
all convenient expedition to call before you all the officers
and attorneys belonging to any his Majesty's courts of jus-
tice, and also all such others of the houses and societies of
court or that otherwise have dependence upon the law, as are
meet to be treated withal in this kind and have not already
contributed; and to move them to join willingly in this con-
tribution in some good measure, answerable to that your-
selves and others have done before us, according to their
means and fortunes; wherein his Majesty doubteth not, but
beside the interest of his children and his own crown and
dignity, the religion professed by his Majesty and happily
flourishing under him within this kingdom (having a great
part in the success of this business) will be a special motive
to incite and persuade them thereunto. Nevertheless, if any
person shall, out of obstinacy or disaffection, refuse to con-
tribute herein proportionably to their estates and means, you
are to certify their names unto this board.
And so recommending this service to your best care and
endeavour, and praying you to return unto us notes of the
names of such as shall contribute and of the sums offered by
them, we bid [etc.].
{Historical Collections of Private Passages of State, etc.,
ed. J. Rushworth, 1682, I, p. 60.)
(B) ... Your Lordship by these letters may see how far it
concerneth his Majesty in honour and the realm in safety,
that the patrimony of the King's children should be recovered
again by force of war, since it cannot be obtained by treaty.
. . . We therefore, who upon the receipt of these his Majesty's
letters have met together and duly considered what was most
convenient to be done, have resolved that T,S. lod. in the
pound is as little as we can possibly offer towards so great
an enterprise, yet hoping that such as be of ability will ex-
ceed the same. You shall therefore do well by all forcible
reason, drawn from the defence of religion and justice, to
incite all your clergy ... as also the lecturers and licensed
schoolmasters within your diocese, that with all readiness
they do contribute towards this noble action. And whereas
there be divers commendataries, dignitaries, prebendaries
and double-beneficed men that have livings in several dioce-
344 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
ses, we hold it fit that for every one of these within your
Lordship's diocese the contribution be rateable, so that the
monies in such sort to be given may be brought to London by
the loth day of March next, to be delivered to the hands of
such receivers as for that purpose shall be appointed. And
to the end that true notice may be taken of such as are best
disposed to this so good a service, we expect that your
Lordship send up to the Archbishop of Canterbury the sev-
eral sums and names of all those who contribute ; and lastly
that you cause the preachers within your diocese in a
grave and discreet fashion to excite the people that, when
occasion shall serve, they do extend their liberalities to so
Christian and worthy an enterprise : Wherein not doubting
but your lordship will use all your best, prudent, and most
careful endeavours, we leave you to the Almighty. From
Lambeth, 21. Januarii MDCXXI. Juxta etc.
G. Cant.
Jo. Lincoln, C.S.
[and twelve other bishops].
(Cardwell, Docum, Annals, Oxford, 1844, vol. II, p. 196.)
154. James I. and the Commons
Parliamentary History
The policy of James I. was the reverse of conciliatory in the
contest with Parliament upon its constitutional rights. The
Commons' side of the question is set forth in the protest re-
corded on December 18, the day of the forced adjournment, in
the Journal Book. The King struck out the record with his
own hand, and the memorial which is given by the historian
shows the royal opinion on the matter immediately in question,
as well as hinting James' general conceptions of constitutional
rule. The incident forms a fitting introduction to the stormy
rule of Charles I.
The Commons now assembled in Parliament, being justly
occasioned thereunto concerning sundry Liberties, Fran-
chises, and Privileges of Parliament, amongst others here
mentioned, do make this Protestation following, That the Lib-
erties, Franchises, Privileges, and Jurisdictions of Parliament,
are the ancient and undoubted Birth-right and Inheritance
of the Subjects of England; and that the arduous and urgent
Affairs concerning the King, State, and Defence of the
Realm, and of the Church of England; and the Maintenance
and Making of Laws, and Redress of Mischiefs and Griev-
ances which daily happen within this Realm, are proper
Subjects and Matter of Counsel and Debate in Parliament;
THE REIGN OF JAMES I. 345
and that in the handling and proceeding of those Businesses,
every Member of the House of Parliament hath, and of
Right, ought to have Freedom of Speech, to propound, treat,
reason, and bring to Conclusion the same : And that the
Commons in Parliament have like Liberty and Freedom to
treat of these Matters in such Order, as in their Judgments
shall seem fittest : And that every Member of the said House
hath like Freedom from all Impeachment, Imprisonment, and
Molestation (other than by Censure of the House itself) for
or concerning any speaking, reasoning, or declaring any
Matter or Matters touching the Parliament, or Parliament-
Business: And that if any of the said Members be com-
plained of, and questioned for any thing done or said in
Parliament, the same is to be shewed to the King by the
Advice and Assent of all the Commons assembled in Par-
liament, before the King give Credence to any private In-
formation.
This Protestation was made and recorded in the Journal-
Book of the Commons, December the i8th, the Day of Ad-
journment. But how the King took it, will best appear, by
his sending for the Journal-Book of the Commons, in Council,
and striking out the Protestation with his own hand; and by
the following Memorial, which was published soon after, as
is seen by the Date of it ...
Whitehall, December 30, 1621.
"His Most Excellent Majesty coming this Day to the
Council, the Prince his Highness, and all the Lords and
others of his Majesty's Privy-Council sitting about him, and
all the Judges then in London, which were six in Number,
there attending upon his Majesty; the Clerk of the Commons
House of Parliament was called for, and commanded to
produce his Journal-Book, wherein was noted, the Entries
made of most Passages that were in the Commons House
of Parliament; and amongst other Things there was written
down the Form of a Protestation concerning sundry Liberties,
Privileges, and Franchises of Parliament; with which Form
of Protestation his Majesty was justly offended. Never-
theless his Majesty, in a most gracious Manner, there ex-
pressed, That he never meant to deny that House of Com-
mons any lawful Privileges that ever they had enjoyed; but
"whatsoever Privileges or Liberties they had by any Law
or Statute, the same should be inviolably preserved unto
"them; and whatsoever Privileges they enjoyed by. Custom,
346 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
or uncontroulled and lawful Precedent, his Majesty would
be careful to preserve. But this Protestation of the Com-
mons House, so contrived and carried as it was, his Majesty
thought fit to be razed out of all Memorials, and utterly to
be annihilated; both in respect of the Manner by which it was
gained, and the Matter therein contained. For the Manner
of getting it, first, in respect of the Time: For after such
Time as his Majesty, out of princely Grace, as to take away
all Mistakings, had directed his Letters to Secretary Calvert,
dated at Royston, 16 Decembris, and therein had so explained
himself, in the Point of maintaining the Privileges of the
House of Commons, as that most of the said House rested
fully satisfied, and freed from any Scruple of having their
Liberties impeached: And after that, by his Majesty's Let-
ters, directed to the Speaker, dated 18 December, being Tues-
day, his Majesty, at the humble Suit of the House of Com-
mons, condescended to make this Meeting a Session before
Christmas, and for the Purpose had assigned Saturday fol-
lowing: Now, upon this very Tuesday, and while the Mes-
sengers from the House of Commons were with his Majesty
at Theobalds, to return Thanks unto his Majesty, and there-
with an Excuse from them not to make it a Session, in
respect of the Strait of Time whereunto they were driven;
which Deferment his Majesty admitted of at their Desires,
and thereupon gave Order for the Adjournment of the Parlia-
ment until the 8th of February next, which was the first
Day formerly appointed by his Majesty for the meeting
together of the Parliament : And whilst their Messengers
were with his Majesty, and had received a gracious Answer
to return unto their House; even that Afternoon, a Com-
mittee was procured to be made for taking their Liberties into
Consideration : And this Afternoon a Protestation was made
(to whom, appears not) concerning their Liberties, and at
six o'Clock at Night, by Candle-light, the same Protestation
was brought into the House by the Committee; and at that
Time of Night it was called upon to be put to the Question,
there not being the third Part of the House then present;
whereas in all Matters of Weight, their usual Custom is, to
put nothing of Importance to the Question, till the House be
full : And at this Time many of them that were present, ex-
pected that the Question would have been deferred to another
Day, and a fuller House ; and some then present stood up to
have spoken to it, but could not be seen or heard in that
Darkness and Confusion. Now for the Matter of the Pro-
THE REIGN OF JAMES I. 347
testation, it is penned in such ambiguous and general Words,
as may serve for future Times to invade most of the Rights
and Prerogatives annexed to the Imperial Crown; the
Claim of some Privileges being grounded upon the Words
of the Writ for assembling the Parliament, wherein some
Words, viz. Arduis rcgni, are cunningly mentioned, but the
Word quibiisdam, which restraineth the Generality to such
particular Cases, as his Majesty pleaseth to consult with
them upon, is purposely omitted.
These Things considered, his Majesty did, this present
Day, in full Assembly of the Council, and in the Presence of
the Judges, declare the said Protestation to be invalid, an-
nulled, void, and of no Effect : And did further, Manu sua
propria; take the said Protestation out of the Journal-Book
of the Clerk of the Commons House of Parliament; and com-
manded an Act of Council to be made thereupon, and this
Act to be entered in the Register of Common-Causes.
(Parliamentary History, ed. cit., V, p. 512.)
CHAPTER XXI
THE PURITAN REVOLUTION
155. The Petition of Right
(3 CAR. I, c. i, June 7, 1628)
Statutes of the Realm
In 1628 the position of Charles I. had gone from bad to worse.
Rash enterprises, lavish and illegal expenditure, and broken
promises of better government had almost produced open rupture
between the monarch and his subjects. In his third Parliament
matters reached a point in which the Commons felt the strongest
action to be necessary. Under the leadership of Wentworth, a
Committee of Grievances discussed the illegal methods of the
king, and particularly considered the matters of forced loans,
imprisonment of subjects who refused to make such loans to
the king, the billeting of soldiers on private persons, and punish-
ment by the methods of martial law. The Commons then sought
the concurrence of the Lords by means of a petition embodying
protest against these grievances. For two months both Houses
debated the question of steps to be taken. Aids were granted
the king, but no regular Money Bill was passed. This Charles
sought to secure, but the Commons refused to be cajoled by
blandishments or frightened by threats. The king offered to
grant a Confirmation of the Great Charter, such as had often
been issued and disregarded by former monarchs. The Com-
mons refused this offer, and under the leadership of Sir Edward
Coke they drew up and passed the Petition of Right. Charles
made repeated attempts to avoid ratifying it in a legal manner.
He was finally compelled to give his assent in due form. The
statute, in form of a petition, is one of the five most important
constitutional documents of English history.
THE PETITION EXHIBITED TO HIS MAJESTY BY THE LORDS
SPIRITUAL AND TEMPORAL, AND COMMONS IN THIS PRES-
ENT PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED, CONCERNING DIVERS RIGHTS
AND LIBERTIES OF THE SUBJECTS, WITH THE KING'S
MAJESTY'S ROYAL ANSWER THEREUNTO IN FULL PARLIA-
MENT
To the King's Most Excellent Majesty.
Humbly show unto our Sovereign Lord the King, the
Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons in Parliament
348
THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 349
assembled, that whereas it is declared and enacted by a statute
made in the time of the reign of King Edward the First,
commonly called Statutunt de Tallagio non concedendo, that
no tallage or aid shall be laid or levied by the King or his
heirs in this realm, without the goodwill and assent of the
Archbishops, Bishops, Earls, Barons, Knights, Burgesses,
and other the freemen of the commonality of this realm :
and by authority of Parliament holden in the five and
twentieth year of the reign of King Edward the Third, it
is declared and enacted, that from thenceforth no person
shall be compelled to make any loans to the King against his
will, because such loans were against reason and the franchise
of the land; and by other laws of this realm it is provided,
that none should be charged by any charge or imposition,
called a Benevolence, or by such like charge, by which the
statutes before-mentioned, and other the good laws and
statutes of this realm, your subjects have inherited this
freedom, that they should not be compelled to contribute to
any tax, tallage, aid, or other like charge, not set by com-
mon consent in Parliament :
Yet nevertheless, of late divers commissions directed to
sundry Commissioners in several counties with instructions
have issued, by means whereof your people have been in
divers places assembled, and required to lend certain sums
of money unto your Majesty, and many of them upon their
refusal so to do, have had an oath administered unto them,
not warrantable by the laws or statutes of this realm, and
have been constrained to become bound to make appearance
and give attendance before your Privy Council, and in other
places, and others of them have been therefore imprisoned,
confined, and sundry other ways molested and disquieted :
and divers other charges have been laid and levied upon
your people in several counties, by Lords Lieutenants, Deputy
Lieutenants, Commissioners for Musters, Justices of Peace
and others, by command or direction from your Majesty or
your Privy Council, against the laws and free customs of this
realm :
And where also by the statute called, 'The Great Charter
of the Liberties of England,' it is declared and enacted, that
no freeman may be taken or imprisoned or be disseised of his
freeholds or liberties, or his free customs, or be outlawed or
exiled; or in any manner destroyed, but by the lawful judg-
ment of his peers, or by the law of the land :
And in the eight and twentieth year of the reign of King
350 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Edward the Third, it was declared and enacted by authority
of Parliament, that no man of what estate or condition that
he be, should be put out of his land or tenements, nor taken,
nor imprisoned, nor disherited, nor put to death, without
being brought to answer by due process of law :
Nevertheless, against the tenor of the said statutes, and
other the good laws and statutes of your realm, to that end
provided, divers of your subjects have of late been imprisoned
without any cause showed, and when for their deliverance
they were brought before your Justices, by your Majesty's
writs of Habeas Corpus, there to undergo and receive as the
Court should order, and their keepers commanded to certify
the causes of their detainer ; no cause was certified, but that
they were detained by your Majesty's special command, sig-
nified by the Lords of your Privy Council, and yet were re-
turned back to several prisons, without being charged with
anything to which they might make answer according to the
law :
And whereas of late great companies of soldiers and
mariners have been dispersed into divers counties of the
realm, and the inhabitants against their wills have been com-
pelled to receive them into their houses, and there to suffer
them to sojourn, against the laws and customs of this realm,
and to the great grievance and vexation of the people :
And whereas also by authority of Parliament, in the five
and twentieth year of the reign of King Edward the Third, it
is declared and enacted, that no man shall be forejudged of life
or limb against the form of the Great Charter, and the law of
the land : and by the said Great Charter and other the laws
and statutes of this your realm, no man ought to be adjudged
to death ; but by the laws established in this your realm, either
by the customs of the same realm or by Acts of Parliament :
and whereas no offender of what kind soever is exempted
from the proceedings to be used, and punishments to be in-
flicted by the laws and statutes of this your realm : never-
theless of late time divers commissions under your Majesty's
Great Seal have issued forth, by which certain persons have
been assigned and appointed Commissioners with power and
authority to proceed within the land according to the justice
of martial law against such soldiers or mariners, or other
dissolute persons joining with them, as should commit any
murder, robbery, felony, mutiny, or other outrage or mis-
demeanour whatsoever, and by such summary course and
order, as is agreeable to martial law, and is used in armies
THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 35'
in time of war, to proceed to the trial and condemnation of
such offenders, and them to cause to be executed and put to
death, according to the law martial :
By pretext whereof, some of your Majesty's subjects have
been by some of the said Commissioners put to death, when
and where, if by the laws and statutes of the land they had
deserved death, by the same laws and statutes also they,
might, and by no other ought to have been, judged and exe-
cuted:
And also sundry grievous offenders by colour thereof,
claiming an exemption, have escaped the punishments due
to them by the laws and statutes .of this your realm, by
reason that divers of your officers and ministers of justice
have unjustly refused, or forborne to proceed against such
offenders according to the same laws and statutes, upon pre-
tence that the said offenders were punishable only by martial
law, and by authority of such commissions as aforesaid, which
commissions, and all other of like nature, are wholly and
directly contrary to the said laws and statutes of this your
realm :
They do therefore humbly pray your Most Excellent Ma-
jesty, that no man hereafter be compelled to make or yield
any gift, loan, benevolence, tax, or such like charge, without
common consent by Act of Parliament; and that none be
called to make answer, or take such oath, or to give atten-
dance, or be confined, or otherwise molested or disquieted
concerning the same, or for refusal thereof; and that no
freeman, in any such manner as is before-mentioned, be im-
prisoned or detained; and that your Majesty will be pleased
to remove the said soldiers and mariners, and that your
people may not be so burdened in time to come ; and that the
aforesaid commissions for proceeding by martial law, may be
revoked and annulled ; and that hereafter no commissions
of like nature may issue forth to any person or persons what-
soever, to be executed as aforesaid, lest by colour of them
any of your Majesty's subjects be destroyed or put to death,
contrary to the laws and franchise of the land.
All which they most humbly pray of your Most Excellent
Majesty, as their rights and liberties according to the laws
and statutes of this realm: and that your Majesty would
also vouchsafe to declare, that the awards, doings, and pro-
ceedings to the prejudice of your people, in any of the pre-
mises, shall not be drawn hereafter into consequence or
example: and that your Majesty would be also graciously
352 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
pleased, for the further comfort and safety of your people,
to declare your royal will and pleasure, that in the things
aforesaid all your officers and ministers shall serve you,
according to the laws and statutes of this realm, as they
tender the honour of your Majesty, and the prosperity of this
kingdom.
(Ed. from Statutes of the Realm, V, 23.)
[The King's first answer, June 2, 1628:
The King willeth that right be done according to the laws
and customs of the realm; and that the statutes be put in
due execution, that his subjects may have no cause to com-
plain of any wrong or oppressions, contrary to their just
rights and liberties, to the preservation whereof he holds
himself as well obliged as of his prerogative.
The King's second answer, June 7, 1628:
Soit droit fait commc il est desire."]
156. The First Writ of Ship-Money
(Oct. 20, 1634)
Rushworth.
The Petition of Right did not put an end to the illegal extor-
tions of Charles I. Among other expedients, he ordained a
revival of the old law which compelled coast cities and counties
to send ships at the call of the king. But the demand of Charles,
in the hands of Lord Keeper Finch, extended to inland cities
as well. As these could send no ships, and as the lesser maritime
towns could not send vessels of the size required by the king,
provision was made that in these cases a money equivalent was to
be rendered. In October, 1664, the first writs of ship-money
of which an example is given below were issued. There was
some opposition, but the expedient proved successful until suc-
cessive writs in time of peace convinced the people that the king
was using the money at the royal pleasure instead of for the
defense of the nation. John Hampden beaded the opposition
which then became general, and the matter was taken to the
Court of Exchequer, where the venal judges gave judgment for
the king. The royal victory weakened the power of the crown
as it exposed the subserviency of the Bench to the wishes of the
Crown.
To the Mayor, commonalty, and citizens of our city of
London, and to the sheriffs of the same city, and good men
in the said city and in the liberties, and members of the same,
greeting: Because we are given to understand that certain
thieves, pirates, and robbers of the sea, as well Turks, enemies
of the Christian name, as others, being gathered together,
wickedly taking by force and spoiling the ships, and goods,
and merchandises, not only of our subjects, but also the sub-
THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 353
jects of our friends in the sea, which hath been accustomed
anciently to be defended by the English nation, and the same,
at their pleasure, have carried away, delivering the men in
the same into miserable captivity: and forasmuch as we see
them daily preparing all manner of shipping farther to
molest our merchants, and to grieve the kingdom, unless
remedy be not sooner applied, and their endeavours be not
more manly met withal; also the dangers considered which,
on every side, in these times of war do hang over our heads,
that it behoveth us and our subjects to hasten the defence of
the sea and kingdom with all expedition or speed that we
can; we willing by the help of God chiefly to provide for the
defence of the kingdom, safeguard of the sea, security of our
subjects, safe conduct of ships and merchandises to our king-
dom of England coming, and from the same kingdom to
foreign parts passing; forasmuch as we, and our progenitors,
Kings of England, have been always heretofore masters of
the aforesaid sea, and it would be very irksome unto us if
that princely honour in our times should be lost or in any
thing diminished. And although that charge of defence
which concerneth all men ought to be supported by all, as by
the laws and customs of the kingdom of England hath been
accustomed to be done : notwithstanding we considering that
you constituted in the sea-coasts, to whom by sea as well
great dangers are imminent, and who by the same do get
more plentiful gains for the defence of the sea, and con-
servation of our princely honour in that behalf, according to
the duty of your allegiance against such attempts, are chiefly
bound to set to your helping hand; we command firmly, en-
joining you the aforesaid Mayor, commonalty and citizens,
and sheriffs of the said city, and the good men in the same
city and in the liberties, and members of the same, in the
faith and allegiance wherein you are bound unto us, and as
ye do love us and our honour, and under the forfeiture of
all which ye can forfeit to us, that ye cause to be pre-
pared and brought to the port of Portsmouth, before the
first day of March now next ensuing, one ship of war of the
burden of nine hundred tons, with three hundred and fifty
men at the least, as well expert masters, as very able and
skilful mariners; one other ship of war of the burden of eight
hundred tons, with two hundred and sixty men at the least,
as well skilful masters, as very able and expert mariners :
four other ships of war, every of them of the burden of five
hundrd tons, and every of them with two hundred men at
354 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
the least, as well expert masters, as very able and skilful
mariners : and one other ship of war of the burden of three
hundred tons, with a hundred and fifty men, as well expert
masters, as very able and skilful mariners : and also every
of the said ships with ordnance, as well greater as lesser,
gunpowder, and spears and weapons, and other necessary
arms sufficient for war, and with double tackling, and with
victuals, until the said first of March, competent for so many
men ; and from that time, for twenty-six weeks, at your
charges, as well in victuals as men's wages, and other things
necessary for war, during that time, upon defence of the sea
in our service, in command of the admiral of the sea, to whom
we shall commit the custody of the sea, before the aforesaid
first day of March, and as he, on our behalf, shall command
them to continue ; so that they may- be there the same day,
at the farthest, to go from thence with our ships, and the
ships of other faithful subjects, for the safeguard of the sea,
and defence of you and yours, and repulse and vanquishing
of whomsoever busying themselves to molest or trouble upon
the sea our merchants, and other subjects, and faithful people
coming into our dominions for cause of merchandise, or from
thence returning to their own countries. Also we have as-
signed you, the aforesaid Mayor and Aldermen of the city
aforesaid, or any thirteen, or more of you, within thirty days
after the receipt of this writ, to assess all men in the
said city, and in the liberties, and members of the same, and
the landholders in the same, not having a ship, or any part
of the aforesaid ships, nor serving in the same, to contribute
to the expenses, about the necessary provision of the pre-
mises ; and to assess and lay upon the aforesaid city, with the
liberties and members thereof, viz. upon every of them ac-
cording to their estate and substances, and the portion as-
sessed upon them ; and to nominate and appoint collectors in
this behalf. Also we have assigned you, the aforesaid
Mayor, and also the Sheriffs of the city aforesaid, to levy
the portions so as aforesaid assessed upon the aforesaid men
and landholders, and every of them in the aforesaid city, with
the liberties and members of the same, by distress and other
due means; and to commit to prison all those whom you shall
find rebellious and contrary in the premises, there to remain
until we shall give further order for their delivery. And
moreover we command you, that about the premises you
diligently attend, and do, and execute those things with ef-
fect, upon peril that shall fall thereon : but we will not, that
THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 355
under colour of our aforesaid command, more should be
levied of the said men than shall suffice for the necessary
expenses of the premises; or that any who have had levied
money for contribution to raise the aforesaid charges, should
by him detain the same, or any part thereof ; or should pre-
sume, by any manner of colour, to appropriate the same to
other uses; willing, that if more than may be sufficient shall
be collected, the same may be paid out among the contrib-
utors, for the rate of the part to them belonging.
Witness myself, at Westminster the twentieth day
of October, in the loth year of our reign.
(Rvshwortk's Collections, ed. cit., II, 257.)
157. Ship-Money declared Illegal
(17 CAR. I, c. 14, 1641.)
Statutes of the Realm
The injustice of the practice of levying ship-money and the
prostitution of justice to be an instrument of the king's will
had never ceased to be a source of irritation and complaint.
To this discontent Charles was indifferent, but the people
watched and worked for the opportunity to right the wrong.
In the Long Parliament the act given below was passed. It ; s
important not only because it abolished one illegal tax and an-
nulled the judgment of the Exchequer Court against Hampden
as contrary to the laws and statutes of the realm, the right of
property, the liberty of the subject, and the Petition of Right,
but also because it completed the long line of statutes that de-
prived the Crown of the power of arbitrary taxation.
AN ACT FOR THE DECLARING UNLAWFUL AND VOID THE LATE
PROCEEDINGS TOUCHING SHIP-MONEY, AND FOR THE
VACATING OF ALL RECORDS AND PROCESSES CONCERNING
THE SAME
Whereas divers writs of late time issued under the
Great Seal of England, commonly called Ship-writs, for the
charging of the Ports, Towns, Cities, Boroughs, and Counties
of this realm respectively, to provide and furnish certain
ships for His Majesty's service; and whereas upon the execu-
tion of the same writs and returns of certioraries thereupon
made, and the sending the name by Mittimus into the Court
of Exchequer, process hath been thence made against sundry
persons pretended to be charged by way of contribution for
the making up of certain sums assessed for the providing
of the said ships ; and in especial in Easter Term in the thir-
teenth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord the King that
356 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
now is, a Writ of Scirc facias was awarded out of the Court
of Exchequer to the then Sheriff of Buckinghamshire against
John Hampden, Esquire, to appear and show cause why he
should not be charged with a certain sum so assessed upon
him: upon whose appearance and demurrer to the proceedings
therein the Barons of the Exchequer adjourned the same case
into the Exchequer Chamber, where it was solemnly argued
divers days ; and at length it was there agreed by the greater
part of all the Justices of the Courts of King's Bench and
Common Pleas, and of the Barons of the Exchequer there
assembled, that the said John Hampden should be charged
with the said sum so as aforesaid assessed on him : The main
grounds and reasons of the said Justices and Barons, which
so agreed, being, that when the good and safety of the king-
dom in general is concerned, and the whole kingdom in
danger, the King might by writ under the Great Seal of Eng-
land command all the subjects of this his kingdom at their
charge to provide and furnish such number of ships with
men, victuals and munition, and for such time as the King
should think fit for the defence and safeguard of the king-
dom from such danger and peril, and that by law the King
might compel the doing thereof in case of refusal or re-
fractoriness, and that the King is the sole judge both of the
danger, and when and how the same is to be prevented and
avoided ; according to which grounds and reasons all the
Justices of the said Courts of King's Bench and Common
Pleas, and the said Barons of the Exchequer, having been
formerly consulted with by His Majesty's command, had set
their hands to an extrajudicial opinion expressed to the same
purpose, which opinion with their names thereunto was also
by His Majesty's command enrolled in the Courts of Chan-
cery, King's Bench, Common Pleas and Exchequer, and
likewise entered among the remembrances of the Court of
Star Chamber, and according to the said agreement of the
said Justices and Barons, judgment was given by the Barons
of the Exchequer that the said John Hampden should be
charged with the said sum so assessed on him: and, whereas
some other actions and process depend, and have depended
in the said Court of Exchequer and in some other Courts,
against other persons for the like kind of charge grounded
upon the said writs commonly called Ship-writs; all which
writs and proceedings as aforesaid were utterly against the
law of the land: be it therefore declared and enacted by the
King's Most Excellent Majesty and the Lords and the Com-
THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 357
mons in this present Parliament assembled, and by the au-
thority of the same, that the said charge imposed upon the
subject for the providing and furnishing of ships, commonly
called Ship-money, and the said extrajudicial opinion of the
said Justices and Barons and the said writs, and every of
them, and the said agreement or opinion of the greater part
of the said Justices and Barons, and the said judgment given
against the said John Hampden, were and are contrary to
and against the laws and statutes of this realm, the right of
property, the liberty of the subjects, former resolutions in
Parliament, and the Petition of Right made in the third year
of the reign of His Majesty that now is.
And it is further declared and enacted by the authority
aforesaid, that all and every the particulars prayed or desired
in the said Petition of Right shall from henceforth be put in
execution accordingly, and shall be firmly and strictly holden
and observed as in the same Petition they are prayed and ex-
pressed ; and that all and every the records and remembrances
of all and every the judgment, enrolments, entry, and pro-
ceedings as aforesaid, and all and every the proceedings what-
soever, upon or by pretext or colour of any of the said writs
commonly called Ship-writs, and all and every the dependents
on any of them, shall be deemed and adjudged, to all intents,
constructions and purposes, to be utterly void and disannul-
led; and that all and every the said judgment, enrolments,
entries, proceedings and dependents of what kind soever,
shall be vacated and cancelled in such manner and form as
records use to be that are vacated.
(Ed. from Statutes of the Realm, V, i6.)
158. Charles I. and Strafford
(1641)
Letters and Dispatches.
The letter of Charles to Strafford, and that of the monarch
to Parliament in behalf of the earl, with the subjoined account
of the interview of the messenger with Charles, conclusively
prove the weakness and timidity of the king. The letters are of
the greatest interest as being unimpeachable evidence of the
faithlessness of the master to his chosen servant, whom he had
promised at all hazards to protect.
CHARLES I. TO THE EARL OF STRAFFORD
Strafford,
The misfortune that is fallen upon you by the strange
mistaking and conjuncture of these times, being such, that
358 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
I must lay by the thought of employing you hereafter in my
affairs ; yet I cannot satisfy myself in honour or conscience
without assuring you (now in the midst of your troubles),
that upon the word of a king you shall not suffer in life,
honour or fortune. This is but justice, and therefore a very
mean reward from a master to so faithful and able a servant
as you have showed yourself to be ; yet it is as much as I
conceive the present times will permit, though none shall
hinder me from being
Your constant, faithful friend,
Charles R.
Whitehall, April 23, 1641.
(Ed. from Earl of Strafford's Letters and Dispatches, Lond., 1739, II, p. 416.)
i58a. Charles I. to the House of Lords, in Behalf of the
Earl of Strafford
My lords,
I did yesterday satisfy the justice of the kingdom, by
passing of the bill of attainder against the earl of Strafford;
but mercy being as inherent and inseparable to a king as
justice, I desire at this time in some measure, to show that
likewise, by suffering that unfortunate man to fulfil the
natural course of his life in a close imprisonment, yet so that,
if ever he make the least offer to escape, or offer, directly or
indirectly, to meddle with any sort of public business, es-
pecially with me, either by message or letter, it shall cost
him his life, without further process.
This, if it may be done without the discontent of my people,
will be an unspeakable contentment to me; to which end,
as in the first place, I by this letter do earnestly desire your
approbation ; and to endear it more, have chosen him to carry
it, that of all your house is most dear to me; so I desire,
that by a conference you will endeavour to give the House
of Commons contentment likewise; assuring you, that the
exercise of mercy is no more pleasing to me than to see both
Houses of Parliament content, for my sake, that I should
moderate the severity of the law in so important a case. I
will not say, that your complying with me in this my in-
tended mercy, shall make me more willing, but certainly it
will make me more cheerful in granting your just grievances ;
but, if no less than his life can satisfy my people, I must say,
Fiat justitia.
THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 359
Thus again earnestly recommending the consideration of
my intentions to you, I rest
Your unalterable and affectionate friend,
Charles R.
Whitehall, loth May, 1641.
P. S. If he must die, it were charity to reprieve him till
Saturday. (Journals of the House of Lords, May n, 1641.)
In Kennett, III, 117.
i58b. Parliament considers the King's Letter
(The following record of the proceedings upon receipt of the
above letter, taken from the Parliament Journals, throws further
light upon the attitude of Charles.)
This letter, all written with the king's own hand, the peers,
this day received in Parliament, delivered by the hand of the
prince. It was twice read in the House, and, after serious
and sad consideration, the House resolved presently to send
twelve of the peers, messengers to the king: "Humbly to
signify, that neither of the intentions expressed in the letter
could, with duty to them, or without evident danger to him-
self, his dearest consort the queen, and all the young princes
their children, possibly be advised."
Which being delivered, and more expressions offered,
his majesty suffered no more words to come from them, but,
out of the fulness of his heart, to the observance of justice,
and for contentment of his people, told them, that what he
intended by his letter was with an " If," "If it may be done
without discontentment to his people. If that cannot be, I
say again the same that I wrote, Fiat Justitia; my other in-
tention, proceeding out of charity, for a few days' respite, was
upon certain information that his estate was so distracted,
that it necessarily required some few days for settlement
thereof."
Whereunto the lords answered, " Their purpose was to be
suitors to his majesty, for favour to be shown to his innocent
children ; and, if he himself had made any provision for them,
that the same might hold."
This was well-liking to his majesty, who thereupon parted
from the lords. At his majesty's parting, the peers offered
up into his hands the letter itself, which he had sent; but he
pleased to say : " My lords, what I have written to you I
shall be content it be registered by you in your House; in it
you see my mind. I know you will use it to my honour."
(Journals of the House of Lords, May n, 1641.)
360 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
159. A Summary of Grievances
(1642)
Contemporary Tract
In the reign of Charles I. the discontent which had been grow-
ing since the time of Henry VIII. reached its culmination. The
popular grievances found voice in many pamphlets and tracts ;
and from this political literature we have chosen, as particularly
suggestive, the following illustration :
CERTAIN QUERIES OF THINGS DONE SINCE KING CHARLES
HIS REIGN BEGAN
1. When our good King James his death was by one of
his physicians tendered to the King and Parliament, to be
examined, why the Parliament was so soon dissolved?
2. When in the first and succeeding Parliaments, they be-
gan to fall upon Reformation in Kirk and State, why still
were the Parliaments dissolved?
3. Why, presently after the Petition of Right in England
was signed, it was violated and nulled by imprisonment of
sundry members of Parliament, which cost some of them
their lives?
4. Why at length came Parliaments to be so out of date
and request, as that a proclamation was published inhibiting
the least mention of ever having any more Parliaments in
England ?
5. Why against the Petition of Right was tonnage and
poundage extorted ?
6. Why against the Petition of Right was ship-money
levied?
7. Why against the Petition of Right was coat-and-con-
duct money imposed ?
8. Why against the Petition of Right was such an in-
finite number of monopolies to the drainage and exhaust-
ing of the subjects, granted?
9. Why was it attempted to make all England a forest,
and so to make the people so many deer for Nimrods to
hunt?
10. Who is the author of all the evils and grievances in
the kingdom, and so the great troubler of Israel, seeing so
many malefactors, and delinquents, and instruments of
cruelty, are authorized and protected as innocents ?
11. Who aided the French King with eight ships, by means
whereof the Protestants in Rochelle were most miserably
destroyed, and all the rest in France left to the mercy of
THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 361
Papists, the more easily to exercise their massacres upon
them?
12. How, or by whom was it, that we poor harmless, yet
much oppressed Scots, were proclaimed rebels, when we only
fought for right and justice?
13. By whose authority, and for what end was it, that
that more than heathenish book for sports, to profane the
Lord's day, was published in every kirk in England?
14. By whose countenance was it, that so many novations
have taken place, so much idolatry and superstition hath
overspread England, so many notorious papist books in
English of late days printed with their high dedications,
so much restaint of preaching, so grievous persecuting of
preachers even unto blood and banishment, with all ways
and crafts to root out the Gospel, and to let up popery every-
where, and so to put the prince of the apostles (Peter, or the
pope) in possession of that noble and long flourishing island?
15. Who hath murdered so many innocents in Ireland by
the long retarding of sending succors in due time, by means
whereof so many thousands, and they Protestants, might
have been preserved from such horrid and bloody butcheries ?
Or how came it to pass (then when the plot among us in
Scotland for murdering some of our prime nobles in the
King's chamber, should have taken place) that the rebellion
in Ireland began to break forth just about the same time?
Such a sympathy and harmony (it seems) there was be-
tween the two.
16. What was the end of plotting, the coming up of the
York army towards the City and Parliament?
17. What was the end of the King's going to the Parlia-
ment with his armed troops of furious Cavaliers, and their
manner of carriage there?
18. \Vhat was the end of turning out our faithful brother
Sir William Belphore from being Lieutenant of the Tower,
and placing in his room that desperate Cavalier Lunsford?
19. By what authority was it, that the captains that were
by the Parliament sent into Ireland to suppress the rebels
there, came into England again to help the Malignant party
against the Parliament?
20. Whether the present taking of Portsmouth by the
King, through the infamous perfidiousness of Goring, may
not stand the Malignants in as good stead against the
Parliament and people as Hull, considering that Portsmouth
is nearer both to France and Spain?
362 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
21. Whether the King's Commission of Array, though it
may seem to have in general some countenance from the law,
yet can possibly be imagined to have any law at this time,
when the King stands out against his Parliaments, to over-
throw their militia, which is to no other end but to pre-
serve both King and kingdom from imminent ruin ; consider-
ing that no laws of the kingdom are destructive thereof, but
preservative only?
22. Whether the gentry of England, who now appear for
the King against the Parliament, and so against the whole
kingdom, be true bred Englishmen, and gentlemen, or no :
or if true bred, whether they be not so far degenerate as to
become enemies of God and their country, and with Esau to
sell their birthright of laws and liberties for a mess of
broth, and so to purchase to their house a perpetual slavery,
by shedding the blood of their brethren, which they prize
at so vile and ignoble a rate ?
23. Whether the displacing of the good old justices ail
over England, and setting up of new, being of the Malignant
party and enemies of the kingdom, do not hasten the ruin
thereof, while they labor to root out the Gospel, and all good-
ness, to destroy the Parliament and all. good laws, and to
countenance and maintain the most profane in the land, who
are ready everywhere to make war against the Gospel, and
all the faithful preachers thereof?
24. Whether the wounding of religion by reproachful
names, as calling all the true professors thereof Roundheads
and the like, be not a sleight of Jesuits to set the Protestants
together by the ears, and their swords in one another's sides,
that so they may all perish together?
25. Whether it be not the wisdom of all true-hearted Eng-
lish, and such as account it their honor to be called and be
true Protestants, and namely such as are enemies to papistry,
however they may differ in opinion in matter of religion,
according to the different degrees of light in their souls, yet
not to differ in their affections one to another, but to be fast
united in the bond of charity, and combined in a firm resolu-
tion for the rooting out of all papery, according to the late
protestation, which no true Protestant, and such as it not
papishly affected, nor a lover of Antichrist, and so a hater
of his own soul and salvation, will ever refuse to take, pro-
fess, and maintain.
26. Why, notwithstanding so many protestations, and
declarations to the contrary, are papish priests and Jesuits,
THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 363
after they are justly condemned, according to the law, for
traitors, reprieved, time after time, so as no justice can be
executed on them ?
27. Whether so many proclamations, declarations, protes-
tations or remonstrances, as are published in the King's
name, being so full of manifest and palpable falshoods, and
shameless untruths, whereby the true meaning people are
most pitifully abused, seduced, deluded and blindfolded, to
the undoing of themselves and of their dear country, by
betraying it and themselves into the hands of most wicked
tyrants and cut-throats, and open enemies of both God and
men, ought not to be laid upon the King himself, as the su-
preme author of them, seeing he is pleased to be the owner
and maintainer of them ? And whether, in particular, it be
not a meer mockery to send forth proclamations against
papist-recusants, inhibiting and forbidding them upon pain
of high displeasure to approach the King's person, court or
army, whenas, for all this, most of them that be of the
King's cavalry, and of his commanders, are papists, having
nothing to excuse them from being recusants, but merely
the pope's dispensation for going to kirk ; and all men know
by experience, that Kirk-Papists are the worst and most
dangerous ?
28. Whether the setting-up of the King's standard against
the Parliament and the best subjects of the kingdom be not
an actual unkinging of him, as whereby he professeth an
open hostility against that kingdom and State, which at his
coronation he swore to protect; and as now, intending and
endeavoring with might and main to come in as a conqueror,
and so to set up a lawless and tyranical government over his
land, and so to make good what he hath promised, and (in
his letter to the Pope of Rome lately published in English, as
aforesaid) solemnly protested and vowed.
These queries and questions being seriously and impar-
tially satisfied and foyled, it cannot but most evidently appear
to every intelligent heart that will not be wilfully blind, what
is the aim and end of the Malignant party now in England,
from the head to the foot of them ; and how much it concerns
them all who love their religion, laws, and liberties to look
about them, and timely to endeavor (by God's assistance) to
prevent their great and imminent dangers.
FINIS
Septem. 8, 1642.
(From King James, 'His Judgment of a. King and of a. Tyrant.
Political tract, published Load., 1642.)
364 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
160. The Charge against the King
Rushworih's Collections
The deeds which cost Charles I. his crown are summed up in
the formal charge against him at his trial. Although many
grievances are omitted, and those presented are coloured by the
spirit of a people in revolt, yet the arraignment places clearly
before us the reasons for the action of that people.
THE CHARGE AGAINST THE KING
That the said Charles Stuart, being admitted King of Eng-
land, and therein trusted with a limited power to govern by
and according to the laws of the land, and not otherwise ; and
by his trust, oath, and office, being obliged to use the power
committed to him for the good and benefit of the people, and
for the preservation of their rights and liberties ; yet, never-
theless, out of a wicked design to erect and uphold in himself
an unlimited and tyrannical power to rule according to his
will, and to overthrow the rights and liberties of the people,
yea, to take away and make void the foundations thereof, and
of all redress and remedy of niisgovernment, which by the
fundamental constitutions of this kingdom were reserved on
the people's behalf in the right and power of frequent and
successive Parliaments, or national meetings in Council ; he,
the said Charles Stuart, for accomplishment of such his de-
signs, and for the protecting of himself and his adherents in
his and their wicked practices, to the same ends hath traitor-
ously and maliciously levied war against the present Parlia-
ment, and the people therein represented, particularly upon
or about the 3Oth day of June, in the year of our Lord 1642,
at Beverley, in the County of York ; and upon or about the
3Oth day of July in the year aforesaid in the County of
the City of York; and upon or about the 24th day of
August in the same year, at the County of the Town of
Nottingham, where and when he set up his standard of
war; and also on or about the 23rd day of October in the
same year, at Edgehill or Keynton-field, in the County of
Warwick ; and upon or about the 30th day of November in
the same year, at Brentford, in the County of Middlesex ;
and upon or about the 3Oth day of August, in the year of our
Lord 1643, at the Caversham Bridge, near Reading, in the
County of Berks ; and upon or about the 3oth day of October
in the year last mentioned, at or upon the City of Gloucester;
and upon or about the 3oth day of November in the year last
mentioned, at Newbury, in the County of Berks ; and upon or
THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 365
about the 3ist day of July, in the year of our Lord 1644, at
Cropredy Bridge, in the County of Oxon ; and upon or about
the 3Oth day of September in the last year mentioned, at Bod-
min and other places near adjacent, in the County of Corn-
wall ; and upon or about the 3Oth day of November in the year
last mentioned, at Newbury aforesaid ; and upon or about the
8th day of June, in the year of our Lord 1645, at tne Town of
Leicester; and also upon the I4th day of the same month in
the same year, at Naseby-field, in the County of Northamp-
ton. At which several times and places, or most of them, and
at many other places in this land, at several other times
within the years aforementioned, and in the year of our Lord
1646, he, the said Charles Stuart, hath caused and procured
many thousands of the free people of this nation to be slain ;
and by divisions, parties, and insurrections within this land,
by invasions from foreign parts, endeavoured and procured
by him, and by many other evil ways and means, he, the said
Charles Stuart, hath not only maintained and carried on the
said war both by land and sea, during the years beforemen-
tioned, but also hath renewed, or caused to be renewed, the
said war against the Parliament and good people of this na-
tion in this present year 1648, in the Counties of Kent, Essex,
Surrey, Sussex, Middlesex, and many other Counties and
places in England and Wales, and also by sea. And particu-
larly he, the said Charles Stuart, hath for that purpose given
commission to his son the Prince, and others, whereby, be-
sides multitudes of other persons, many such as were by the
Parliament entrusted and employed for the safety of the
nation (being by him or his agents corrupted to the betraying
of their trust, and revolting from the Parliament), have had
entertainment and commission for the continuing and renew-
ing of war and hostility against the said Parliament and
people as aforesaid. By which cruel and unnatural wars, by
him, the said Charles Stuart, levied, continued, and renewed
as aforesaid, much innocent blood of the free people of this
nation hath been spilt, many families have been undone, the
public treasure wasted and exhausted, trade obstructed and
miserably decayed, vast expense and damage to the nation
incurred, and many parts of this land spoiled, some of them
even to desolation. And for further prosecution 'of his said
evil designs, he, the said Charles Stuart, doth still continue
his commissions to the said Prince, and other rebels and
revolters, both English and foreigners, and to the Earl of
Ormond, and the Irish rebels and revolters associated with
366 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
him ; from whom further invasions upon this land are threat-
ened, upon the procurement, and on the behalf of the said
Charles Stuart.
All which wicked designs, wars, and evil practices of him,
the said Charles Stuart, have been, and are carried on for the
advancement and upholding of a personal interest of will,
power, and pretended prerogative to himself and his family,
against the public interest, common right, liberty, justice, and
peace of the people of this nation, by and from whom he was
entrusted as aforesaid.
By all which it appeareth that the said Charles Stuart hath
been, and is the occasioner, author, and continuer of the said
unnatural, cruel and bloody wars; and therein guilty of all
the treasons, murders, rapines, burnings, spoils, desolations,
damages and mischiefs to this nation, acted and committed
in the said wars, or occasioned thereby.
(RushwortJi's Collections, ed. cit., VII, 1396.)
161. Charles Refuses to Plead
Rushwortk' 's Collections
The Stuart theory of the Divine Right of Kings a theory
which placed the sovereign above the law (see Nos. 148, 149 and
154) is clearly set forth in the reasoning by which Charles I.
explained his refusal to submit to the jurisdiction of the High
Court of Justice. While denying the right of the court to try
him, Charles attempted to vindicate his conduct. The document
is an excellent demonstration of the characteristics of the Stuarts.
Having already made my protestations, not only against
the illegality of this pretended Court, but also, that no earthly
power can justly call me (who am your king) in question as
a delinquent, I would not any more open my mouth upon this
occasion, more than to refer myself to what I have spoken,
were I in this case alone concerned : but the duty I owe to
God in the preservation of the true liberty of my people will
not suffer me at this time to be silent: for, how can any free-
born subject of England call life or anything he possesseth
his own, if power without right daily make new, and abrogate
the old fundamental laws of the land which I now take to be
the present case? Wherefore when I came hither, I expected
that you would have endeavoured to have satisfied me con-
cerning these grounds which hinder me to answer to your pre-
tended impeachment. But since I see that nothing I can say
will move you to it (though negatives are not so naturally
proved as affirmatives) yet I will show you the reason why
I am confident you cannot judge me, nor indeed the meanest
THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 367
man in England: for I will not (like you) without showing
a reason, seek to impose a belief upon my subjects.
There is no proceeding just against any man, but what is
warranted, either by God's laws or the municipal laws of the
country where he lives. Now I am most confident this day's
proceeding cannot be warranted by God's laws; for, on the
contrary, the authority of obedience unto Kings is clearly
warranted, and strictly commanded in both the Old and New
Testament, which, if denied, I am ready instantly to prove.
And for the question now in hand, there it is said, that
'where the word of a King is, there is power; and who may
say unto him, what dost thou?' Eccles. viii. 4. Then for the
law of this land, I am no less confident, that no learned
lawyer will affirm that an impeachment can lie against the
King, they all going in his name : and one of their maxims is,
that the King can do no wrong. Besides, the law upon which
you ground your proceedings, must either be old or new: if
old, show it; if new, tell what authority, warranted by the
fundamental laws of the land, hath made it, and when. But
how the House of Commons can erect a Court of Judicature,
which was never one itself (as is well known to all lawyers)
I leave to God and the world to judge. And it were full as
strange, that they should pretend to make laws without King
or Lords' House, to any that have heard speak of the laws of
England.
And admitting, but not granting, that the people of Eng-
land's commission could grant your pretended power, I see
nothing you can show for that ; for certainly you never asked
the question of the tenth man in the kingdom, and in this
way you manifestly wrong even the poorest ploughman, if
you demand not his free consent; nor can you pretend any
colour for this your pretended commission, without the con-
sent at least of the major part of every man in England of
whatsoever quality or condition, which I am sure you never
went about to seek, so far are you from having it. Thus you
see that I speak not for my own right alone, as I am your
King, but also for the true liberty of all my subjects, which
consists not in the power of government, but in living under
such laws, such a government, as may give themselves the
best assurance of their lives, and property of their goods:
nor in this must or do I forget the privileges of both Houses
of Parliament, which this day's proceedings do not only
violate, but likewise occasion the greatest breach of their
public faith that (I believe) ever was heard of, with which I
368 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
am far from charging the two Houses ; for all the pretended
crimes laid against me bear date long before this Treaty at
Newport, in which I having concluded as much as in me lay,
and hopefully expecting the Houses' agreement thereunto, I
was suddenly surprised and hurried from thence as a
prisoner; upon which account I am against my will brought
hither, where since I am come, I cannot but to my power
defend the ancient laws and liberties of this kingdom, to-
gether with my own just right. Then for anything I can see,
the higher House is totally excluded; and for the House of
Commons, it is too well known that the major part of them
are detained or deterred from sitting; so as if I had no other,
this were sufficient for me to protest against the lawfulness
of your pretended Court. Besides all this, the peace of the
kingdom is not the least in my thoughts; and what hope of
settlement is there, so long as power reigns without rule or
law, changing the whole frame of that government under
which this kingdom hath flourished for many hundred years?
(nor will I say what will fall out in case this lawless, unjust
proceeding against me do go on) and believe it, the Commons
of England will not thank you for this change ; for they will
remember how happy they have been of late years under the
reigns of Queen Elizabeth, the King my father, and myself,
until the beginning of these unhappy troubles, and will have
cause to doubt, that they shall never be so happy under any
new : and by this time it will be too sensibly evident, that the
arms I took up were only to defend the fundamental laws of
this kingdom against those who have supposed my power
hath totally changed the ancient government.
Thus, having showed you briefly the reasons why I cannot
submit to your pretended authority, without violating the
trust which I have from God for the welfare and liberty of
my people, I expect from you either clear reasons to convince
my judgment, showing me that I am in an error (and then
truly I will answer) or that you will withdraw your pro-
ceedings.
This I intended to speak in Westminster Hall, on Monday,
January 22, but against reason was hindered to show my
reasons. Rushworth' 's Collections, ed. cit., VII, 1403.)
162. The Sentence of the King
Rushworth' 's Collections
The sentence of the High Court of Justice affirms the limited
power of the English monarchs, and sternly enumerates Charles'
misuses of his royal prerogative. The judges reiterate the doc-
THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 369
trine which formed the basis of the Puritan Revolution, that a
king can be guilty of treason and, and if thus guilty, can be
punished by the nation from whom alone is derived the right to
rule.
Whereas the Commons of England assembled in Parlia-
ment, have by their late Act intituled an Act of the Commons
of England assembled in Parliament, for erecting an High
Court of Justice for the trying and judging of Charles Stuart,
King of England, authorised and constituted us an High
Court of Justice for the trying and judging of the said
Charles Stuart for the crimes and treasons in the said Act
mentioned; by virtue whereof the said Charles Stuart hath
been three several times convented before this High Court,
where the first day, being Saturday, the 2Oth of January
instant, in pursuance of the said Act, a charge of high treason
and other high crimes was, in the behalf of the people of
England, exhibited against him, and read openly unto him,
wherein he was charged, that he, the said Charles Stuart,
being admitted King of England, and therein trusted with a
limited power to govern by, and according to the law of the
land, and not otherwise ; and by his trust, oath, and office,
being obliged to use the power committed to him for the good
and benefit of the people, and for the preservation of their
rights and liberties ; yet, nevertheless, out of a wicked design
to erect and uphold in himself an unlimited and tyrannical
power to rule according to his will, and to overthrow the
rights and liberties of the people, and to take away and make
void the foundations thereof, and of all redress and remedy
of misgovernment, which by the fundamental constitutions
of this kingdom were reserved on the people's behalf in the
right and power of frequent and successive Parliaments, or
national meetings in Council ; he, the said Charles Stuart, for
accomplishment of such his designs, and for the protecting
of himself and his adherents in his and their wicked practices,
to the same end hath traitorously and maliciously levied war
against the present Parliament, and people therein repre-
sented, as with the circumstances of time and place is in the
said charge more particularly set forth ; and that he hath
thereby caused and procured many thousands of the free
people of this nation to be slain ; and by divisions, parties,
and insurrections within this land, by invasions from foreign
parts, endeavoured and procured by him, and by many other
evil ways and means, he, the said Charles Stuart, hath not
only maintained and carried on the said war both by sea and
3/o SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
land, but also hath renewed, or caused to be renewed, the said
war against the Parliament and good people of this nation in
this present year 1648, in several counties and places in this
kingdom in the charge specified; and that he hath for that
purpose given his commission to his son the Prince, and
others, whereby, besides multitudes of other persons, many
such as were by the Parliament entrusted and employed for
the safety of this nation, being by him or his agents corrupted
to the betraying of their trust, and revolting from the Par-
liament, have had entertainment and commission for the
continuing and renewing of the war and hostility against the
said Parliament and people : and that by the said cruel and
unnatural war so levied, continued and renewed, much in-
nocent blood of the free people of this nation hath been
spilt, many families undone, the public treasure wasted, trade
obstructed and miserably decayed, vast expense and damage
to the nation incurred, and many parts of the land spoiled,
some of them even to desolation : and that he still continues
his commission to his said son, and other rebels and revolters,
both English and foreigners, and to the Earl of Ormond, and
to the Irish rebels and revolters associated with him, from
whom further invasions of this land are threatened by his
procurement and of his behalf: and that all the said wicked
designs, wars, and evil practices of him, the said Charles
Stuart, were still carried on for the advancement and up-
holding of the personal interest of will, power, and pretended
prerogative to himself and his family, against the public
interest, common right, liberty, justice, and peace of the
people of this nation : and that he thereby hath been and is
the occasioner, author, and continuer of the said unnatural,
cruel, and bloody wars, and therein guilty of all the treasons,
murders, rapines, burnings, spoils, desolations, damage, and
mischief to this nation, acted and committed in the said wars,
or occasioned thereby; whereupon the proceedings and judg-
ment of this Court were prayed against him, as a tyrant,
traitor, and murderer, and public enemy to the Common-
wealth, as by the said charge more fully appeareth. To
which charge, being read unto him as aforesaid, he, the said
Charles Stuart, was required to give his answer; but he
refused to do so : and upon Monday, the 22nd day of January
instant, being again brought before this Court 1 , and there
required to answer directly to the said charge, he still refused
so to do; whereupon his default and contumacy was entered;
and the next day, being the third time brought before the
THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 371
Court, judgment was then prayed against him on the behalf
of the people of England for his contumacy, and for the
matters contained against him in the said charge, as taking
the same for confessed, in regard of his refusing to answer
thereto. Yet notwithstanding this Court (not willing to take
advantage of his contempt) did once more require him to
answer to the said charge ; but he again refused so to do :
upon which his several defaults, this Court might justly have
proceeded to judgment against him, both for his contumacy
and the matters of the charge, taking the same for confessed
as aforesaid.
Yet nevertheless this Court, for its own clearer informa-
tion and further satisfaction, have thought fit to examine
witnesses upon oath and take notice of other evidences
touching the matters contained in the said charge, which
accordingly they have done.
Now therefore upon serious and mature deliberation of
the premises, and consideration had of the notoriety of the
matters of fact charged upon him as aforesaid, this Court is
in judgment and conscience satisfied that he, the said Charles
Stuart, is guilty of levying war against the said Parliament
and people, and maintaining and continuing the same; for
which in the said charge he stands accused, and by the gen-
eral course of his government, counsels, and practices, before
and since this Parliament began (which have been and are
notorious and public, and the effects whereof remain abund-
antly upon record) this Court is fully satisfied in their judg-
ments and consciences that he has been and is guilty of the
wicked design and endeavours in the said charge set forth ;
and that the said war hath been levied, maintained, and con-
tinued by him as aforesaid, in prosecution and for accom-
plishment of the said designs; and that he hath been and is
the occasioner, author, and continuer of the said unnatural,
cruel, and bloody wars, and therein guilty of high treason,
and of the murders, rapines, burnings, spoils, desolations,
damage, and mischief to this nation acted and committed in
the said war, and occasioned thereby. For all which treasons
and crimes this Court doth adjudge that he, the said Charles
Stuart, as a tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy to the
good people of this nation, shall be put to death by severing
of his head from his body.
(RushwortW s Collections, ed. cit., VII, 1418.)
372 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
163. The Death Warrant of the King
Rushiuorth's Collections
The death warrant of Charles I., however pathetic in its tra-
gedy of misspent opportunities and of a monarch dying at the
hands of his subjects, yet bears in its words the triumphant
vindication of the will of the people as the real force and
majesty of all law.
At the High Court of Justice for the trying and judging of
Charles Stuart, King of England, Jan. 29, 164.8.
Whereas Charles Stuart, King of England, is, and standeth
convicted, attainted, and condemned of high treason, and
other high crimes ; and sentence upon Saturday last was pro-
nounced against him by this Court, to be put to death by the
severing of his head from his body; of which sentence, execu-
tion yet remaineth to be done : These are therefore to will and
require you to see the said sentence executed in the open
street before Whitehall, upon the morrow, being the 3Oth
day of this instant month of January, between the hours of
10 in the morning and 5 in the afternoon of the same day,
with full effect. And for so doing this shall be your suffi-
cient warrant. And these are to require all officers, soldiers,
and others, the good people of this nation of England, to be
assisting unto you in this service.
To Col. Francis Hacker, Col. Huncks, and Lieut. -Col.
Phray, and to every of them.
Given under our hands and seals.
John Bradshaw.
Thomas Grey.
Oliver Cromwell,
etc., etc.
(RnshwortK's Collections, ed. cit., VII, 1426.)
CHAPTER XXII
ENGLAND A COMMONWEALTH
Formal Declaration of the Commonwealth
Acts and Ordinances, ScobcJl
The Acts abolishing the office of king and the House of
Lords were followed by the statute which declared England to
be a commonwealth. Yet these enactments, while they close the
first period of the English monarchy, did not promote a real
democracy. The despotism of the king was succeeded by the
despotism of the Lord Protector, and the change of government
was only in name. The oath of fidelity required to be taken,
ran as follows : "I do declare and promise that I will be true
and faithful to the Commonwealth of England, as it is now
established, without a King or House of Lords."
164. The Act Abolishing the Office of King
(May 17, 1649)
Acts and Ordinances, Scobell
Whereas Charles Stuart, late King of England, Ireland,
and the territories and dominions thereunto belonging, hath
by authority derived from Parliament been and is hereby
declared to be justly condemned, adjudged to die, and put to
death, for many treasons, murders, and other heinous offences
committed by him, by which judgment he stood, and is hereby
declared to be attained to high treason, whereby his issue
and posterity, and all others pretending title under him, are
become incapable of the said Crowns, or of being King or
Queen of the said kingdom or dominions, or either or any of
them ; be it therefore enacted and ordained, and it is enacted,
ordained, and declared by this present Parliament, and by
authority thereof, that all the people of England and Ireland,
and the dominions and territories thereunto belonging, of
what degree or condition soever, are discharged of all fealty,
homage, and allegiance which is or shall be pretended to be
due unto any of the issue and posterity of the said late King,
or any claiming under him ; and that Charles Stuart, eldest
son, and James called Duke of York, second son, and all other
the issue and posterity of him the said late King, and all and
373
374 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
every person and persons pretending title from, by, or under
him, are and be disabled to hold or enjoy the said Crown of
England and Ireland, and other the dominions thereunto be-
longing, or any of them ; or to have the name, title, style, or
dignity of King or Queen of England and Ireland, Prince of
Wales, or any of them ; or to have and enjoy the power and
dominion of the said kingdoms and dominions, or any of them,
or the honors, manors, lands, tenements, possessions, and
hereditaments belonging or appertaining to the said Crown
of England and Ireland, and other the dominions aforesaid,
or to any of them; or to the Principality of Wales, Duchy of
Lancaster or Cornwall, or any or either of them, any law,
statute, ordinance, usage, or custom to the contrary hereof in
any wise notwithstanding.
And whereas it is and hath been found by experience, that
the office of a King in this nation and Ireland, and to have
the power thereof in any single person, is unnecessary, bur-
densome, and dangerous to the liberty, safety, and public
interest of the people, and that for the most part, use hath
been made of the regal power and prerogative to oppress and
impoverish and enslave the subject; and that usually and
naturally any one person in such power makes it his interest
to incroach upon the just freedom and liberty of the people,
and to promote the setting up of their own will and power
above the laws, that so they might enslave these kingdoms
to their own lust; be it therefore enacted and ordained by
this present Parliament, and by authority of the same, that
the office of a King in this nation shall not henceforth reside
in or be exercised by any one single person ; and that no one
person whatsoever shall or may have, or hold the office, style,
dignity, power, or authority of King of the said kingdoms
and dominions, or any of them, or of the Prince of Wales,
any law, statute, usage, or custom to the contrary thereof in
any wise notwithstanding.
And it is hereby enacted, that if any person or persons shall
endeavour to attempt by force of arms or otherwise, or be
aiding, assisting, comforting, or abetting unto any person or
persons that shall by any ways or means whatsoever en-
deavour or attempt the reviving or setting up again of any
pretended right of the said Charles, eldest son to the said late
King, James called Duke of York, or of any other the issue
and posterity of the said late King, or of any person or per-
sons claiming under him or them, to the said regal office,
style, dignity, or authority, or to be Prince of Wales; or the
ENGLAND A COMMONWEALTH 375
promoting of any one person whatsoever to the name, style,
dignity, power, prerogative, or authority of King of England
and Ireland, and dominions aforesaid, or any of them; that
then every such offence shall be deemed and adjudged high
treason, and the offenders therein, their counsellors, pro-
curers, aiders and abettors, being convicted of the said of-
fence, or any of them, shall be deemed and adjudged traitors
against the Parliament and people of England, and shall
suffer, lose, and forfeit, and have such like and the same
pains, forfeitures, judgments, and execution as is used in case
of high treason.
And whereas by the abolition of the kingly office provided
for in this Act, a most happy way is made for this nation (if
God see it good) to return to its just and ancient right, of
being governed by its own representatives or national meet-
ings in council, from time to time chosen and entrusted for
that purpose by the people, it is therefore resolved and de-
clared by the Commons assembled in Parliament, that they
will put a period to the sitting of this present Parliament, and
dissolve the same so soon as may possibly stand with the
safety of the people that hath betrusted them, and with what
is absolutely necessary for the preserving and upholding the
Government now settled in the way of a Commonwealth ; and
that they will carefully provide for the certain choosing,
meeting, and sitting of the next and future representatives,
with such other circumstances of freedom in choice and
equality in distribution of members to be elected thereunto,
as shall most conduce to the lasting freedom and good of this
Commonwealth.
And it is hereby further enacted and declared, notwith-
standing any thing contained in this Act, no person or per-
sons of what condition and quality soever, within the Com-
monwealth of England and Ireland, dominion of Wales, the
islands of Guernsey and Jersey, and town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, shall be discharged from the obedience and subjec-
tion which he and they owe to the Government of this nation,
as it is now declared, but all and every of them shall in all
things render and perform the same, as of right is due unto
the supreme authority hereby declared to reside in this and
the successive representatives of the people of this nation,
and in them only.
(A Collection of Acts and Ordinances of General Vfejetc., ed. H. Scobell,
Lend., 1698, II, ^.) ,,
376 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
165. The House of Lords Abolished
(March 19, 1649)
The Commons of England assembled in Parliament, find-
ing by too long experience that the House of Lords is useless
and dangerous to the people of England to be continued, have
thought fit to ordain and enact, and be it ordained and en-
acted by this present Parliament, and by the authority of the
same, that from henceforth the House of Lords in Parliament
shall be and is hereby wholly abolished and taken away; and
that the Lords shall not from henceforth meet or sit in the
said House called the Lords' House, or in any other house
or place whatsoever, as a House of Lords ; nor shall sit, vote,
advise, adjudge, or determine of any matter or thing what-
soever, as a House of Lords in Parliament : nevertheless it is
hereby declared, that neither such Lords as have demeaned
themselves with honour, courage, and fidelity to the Com-
monwealth, nor their posterities who shall continue so, shall
be excluded from the public councils of the nation, but shall
be admitted thereunto, and have their free vote in Parlia-
ment, if they shall be thereunto elected, as other persons of
interest elected and qualified thereunto ought to have.
And be it further ordained and enacted by the authority
aforesaid, that no Peer of this land, not being elected, quali-
fied and sitting in Parliament as aforesaid, shall claim, have,
or make use of any privilege of Parliament, either in relation
to his person, quality, or estate, any law, usage, or custom to
the contrary notwithstanding.
(Scobell Collection, ed. cited, II, 8.)
166. England declared to be a Commonwealth
(May 19, 1649)
Be it declared and enacted by this present Parliament, and
by the authority of the same, that the people of England, and
of all the dominions and territories thereunto belonging, are
and shall be, and are hereby constituted, made, established,
and confirmed, to be a Commonwealth and Free State, and
shall from henceforth be governed as a Commonwealth and
Free State by the supreme authority of this nation, the repre-
sentatives of the people in Parliament, and by such as they
shall appoint and constitute as officers and ministers under
them for the good of the people, and that without any King
or House of Lords.
(Scobell Collection, ed. cited, II, 30.)
ENGLAND A COMMONWEALTH 377
167. The Instrument of Government
Parliamentary History
In the stormy period of the Puritan Revolution, three great
models for the constitutional government of the realm were
evolved. These were, the Agreement of the People (Jan. 15,
1648-9), the Instrument of Government (Dec. 16, 1653), and the
Humble Petition and Advice (May 25, 1657), with its amend-
ments (June 26, 1657). In these documents is foreshadowed
much of the constitutional and political development of Great
Britain and of the United States of America. Although these
constitutional plans failed of immediate effect, this was not be-
cause of their lack of merit. The circumstances of the times
were such as to prevent the realization of the political ideals
therein set forth. The models themselves do not entirely escape
the influence of the personal equation of the environment which
made them possible. The Instrument of Government, however,
is least affected by the fears of the people and the ambitions of
their leaders. It has therefore been selected as a type of the
highest development of constitutional theory that had yet been
reached in English history.
The government of the Commonwealth of England, Scot-
land, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging.
I. That the supreme legislative authority of the Common-
wealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the dominions
thereunto belonging, shall be and reside in one person, and
the people assembled in Parliament : the style of which person
shall be the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of Eng-
land, Scotland, and Ireland.
II. That the exercise of the chief magistracy and the ad-
ministration of the government over the said countries and
dominions, and the people thereof, shall be in the Lord Pro-
tector, assisted with a council, the number whereof shall not
exceed twenty-one, nor be less than thirteen.
III. That all writs, processes, commissions, patents, grants,
and other things, which now run in the name and style of the
keepers of the liberty of England by authority of Parliament,
shall run in the name and style of the Lord Protector, from
whom, for the future, shall be derived all magistracy and
honours in these three nations; and have the power of par-
dons (except in case of murders and treason) and benefit of
all forfeitures for the public use; and shall govern the said
countries and dominions in all things by the advice of the
council, and according to these presents and the laws.
IV. That the Lord Protector, the Parliament sitting, shall
dispose and order the militia and forces, both by sea and land,
for the peace and good of the three nations, , by consent of
378 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Parliament ; and that the Lord Protector, with the advice and
consent of the major part of the council, shall dispose and
order the militia for the ends aforesaid in the intervals of
Parliament.
V. That the Lord Protector, by the advice aforesaid, shall
direct in all things concerning the keeping and holding of a
good correspondency with foreign kings, princes, and states;
and also, with the consent of the major part of the council,
have the power of war and peace.
VI. That the laws shall not be altered, suspended, abro-
gated, or repealed, nor any new law made, nor any tax,
charge, or imposition laid upon the people, but by common
consent in Parliament, save only as is expressed in the thir-
tieth article.
VII. That there shall be a Parliament summoned to meet
at Westminster upon the third day of September, 1654, and
that successively a Parliament shall be summoned once in
every third year, to be accounted from the dissolution of the
present Parliament.
VIII. That neither the Parliament to be next summoned,
nor any successive Parliaments, shall, during the time of five
months, to be accounted from the day of their first meeting,
be adjourned, prorogued, or dissolved, without their own
consent.
IX. That as well the next as all other successive Parlia-
ments shall be summoned and elected in manner hereafter
expressed ; that is to say, the persons to be chosen within
England, Wales, the Isles of Jersey, Guernsey, and the town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, to sit and serve in Parliament, shall
be, and not exceed, the number of four hundred. The per-
sons to be chosen within Scotland, to sit and serve in Parlia-
ment, shall be, and not exceed, the number of thirty; and the
persons to be chosen to sit in Parliament for Ireland shall be,
and not exceed, the number of thirty.
X. That the persons to be elected to sit in Parliament from
time to time, for the several counties of England, Wales, the
Isles of Jersey and Guernsey, and the town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, and all places within the same respectively, shall be
according to the proportions and numbers hereafter ex-
pressed: that is to say, [Here follows the apportionment.]
The distribution of the persons to be chosen for Scotland
and Ireland, and the several counties, cities, and places
therein, shall be according to such proportions and number
a shall be agreed upon and declared by the Lord Protector
ENGLAND A COMMONWEALTH 379
and the major part of the council, before the sending forth
writs of summons for the next Parliament.
XI. That the summons to Parliament shall be by writ under
the Great Seal of England, directed to the sheriffs of the
several and respective counties, with such alteration as may
suit with the present government, to be made by the Lord
Protector and his council, which the Chancellor, Keeper, or
Commissioners of the Great Seal shall seal, issue, and send
abroad by warrant from the Lord Protector. If the Lord Pro-
tector shall not give warrant for issuing of writs of summons
for the next Parliament, before the first of June, 1654, or for
the Triennial Parliaments, before the first day of August in
every third year, to be accounted as aforesaid ; that then the
Chancellor, Keeper, or Commissioners of the Great Seal for
the time being, shall, without any warrant or direction, within
seven days after the said first day of June, 1654, seal, issue,
and send abroad writs of summons (changing therein what
is to be changed as aforesaid) to the several and respective
Sheriffs of England, Scotland, and Ireland, for summoning
the Parliament to meet at Westminster, the third day of Sep-
tember next; and shall likewise, within seven days after the
said first day of August, in every third year, to be accounted
from the dissolution of the precedent Parliament, seal, issue,
and send forth abroad several writs of summons (changing
therein what is to be changed) as aforesaid, for summoning
the Parliament to meet at Westminster the sixth of Novem-
ber in that third year. That the said several and respective
Sheriffs shall, within ten days after the receipt of such writ
as aforesaid, cause the same to be proclaimed and published
in every market-town within his county upon the market-
days thereof, between twelve and three of the clock ; and shall
then also publish and declare the certain day of the week and
month, for choosing members to serve in Parliament for the
body of the said county, according to the tenor of the said
writ, which shall be upon Wednesday five weeks after the
date of the writ; and shall likewise declare the place where
the election shall be made : for which purpose he shall appoint
the most convenient place for the whole county to meet in;
and shall send precepts for elections to be made in all and
every city, town, borough, or place within his county, where
elections are to be made by virtue of these presents, to the
Mayor, Sheriff, or other head officer of such city, town,
borough, or place, within three days after the receipt of such
writ and writs; which the said Mayors, Sheriffs, and officers
380 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
respectively are to make publication of, and of the certain day
for such elections to be made in the said city, town, or place
aforesaid, and to cause elections to be made accordingly.
XII. That at the day and place of elections, the Sheriff of
each county, and the said Mayors, Sheriffs, Bailiffs, and
other head officers within their cities, towns, boroughs, and
places respectively, shall take view of the said elections, and
shall make return into the chancery within twenty days after
the said elections, of the persons elected by the greater num-
ber of electors, under their hands and seals, between him on
the one part, and the electors on the other part ; wherein shall
be contained, that the persons elected shall not have power to
alter the government as it is hereby settled in one single
person and a Parliament.
XIII. That the Sheriff, who shall wittingly and willingly
make any false return, or neglect his duty, shall incur the
penalty of 2000 marks of lawful English money ; the one
moiety to the Lord Protector, and the other moiety to such
person as will sue for the same.
XIV. That all and every person and persons, who have
aided, advised, assisted, or abetted in any war against the
Parliament, since the first day of January, 1641 (unless they
have been since in the service of the Parliament, and given
signal testimony of their good affection thereunto) shall be
disabled and incapable to be elected, or to give any vote in
the election of any members to serve in the next Parliament,
or in the three succeeding Triennial Parliaments.
XV. That all such, who have advised, assisted, or abetted
the rebellion of Ireland, shall be disabled and incapable for
ever to be elected, or give any vote in the election of any
member to serve in Parliament ; as also all such who do or
shall profess the Roman Catholic religion.
XVI. That all votes and elections given or made contrary,
or not according to these qualifications, shall be null and
void; and if any person, who is hereby made incapable, shall
give his vote for election of members to serve in Parliament,
such person shall lose and forfeit one full year's value of his
real estate, and one full third part of his personal estate ; one
moiety thereof to the Lord Protector, and the other moiety
to him or them who shall sue for the same.
XVII. That the persons who shall be elected to serve in
Parliament, shall be such (and no other than such) as are
persons of known integrity, fearing God, and of good conver-
sation, and being of the age of twenty-one years,
ENGLAND A COMMONWEALTH 381
XVIII. That all and every person and persons seised or
possessed to his own use, of any estate, real or personal, to
the value of 200, and not within the aforesaid exceptions,
shall be capable to elect members to serve in Parliament for
counties.
XIX. That the Chancellor, Keeper, or Commissioners of
the Great Seal, shall be sworn before they enter into their
offices, truly and faithfully to issue forth, and send abroad,
writs of summons to Parliament, at the times and in the
manner before expressed: and in case of neglect or failure
to issue and send abroad writs accordingly, he or they shall
for every such offence be guilty of high treason, and suffer
the pains and penalties thereof.
XX. That in case writs be not issued out, as is before ex-
pressed, but that there be a neglect therein, fifteen days
after the time wherein the same ought to be issued out by the
Chancellor, Keeper, or Commissioners of the Great Seal ;
that then the Parliament shall, as often as such failure shall
happen, assemble and be held at Westminster, in the usual
place, at the times prefixed, in manner and by the means
hereafter expressed; that is to say, that the sheriffs of the
several and respective counties, sheriffdoms, cities, boroughs,
and places aforesaid within England, Wales, Scotland, and
Ireland, the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the Uni-
versities of Oxford and Cambridge, and the Mayor and
Bailiffs of the borough of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and other
places aforesaid respectively, shall at the several courts and
places to be appointed as aforesaid, within thirty days after
the said fifteen days, cause such members to be chosen for
their said several and respective counties, sheriffdoms, uni-
versities, cities, boroughs, and places aforesaid, by such per-
sons, and in such manner, as if several and respective writs
of summons to Parliament under the Great Seal had issued
and been awarded according to the tenor aforesaid : that if
the sheriff, or other persons authorised, shall neglect his or
their duty herein, that all and every such sheriff and person
authorised as aforesaid, so neglecting his or their duty,
shall, for every such offence, be guilty of high treason, and
shall suffer the pains and penalties thereof.
XXI. That the clerk, called the clerk of the Common-
wealth in Chancery for the time being, and all others, who
shall afterwards execute that office, to whom the returns
shall be made, shall for the next Parliament, and the two
succeeding triennial Parliaments, the next day after such re-
382 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
turn, certify the names of the several persons so returned,
and of the places for which he and they were chosen respect-
ively, unto the Council ; who shall peruse the said returns,
and examine whether the persons so elected and returned be
such as is agreeable to the qualifications, and not disabled to
be elected : and that every person and persons being so duly
elected, and being approved of by the major part of the
Council to be persons not disabled, but qualified as afore-
said, shall be esteemed a member of Parliament, and be ad-
mitted to sit in Parliament, and not otherwise.
XXII. That the persons so chosen and assembled in man-
ner aforesaid, or any sixty of them, shall be, and be deemed
the Parliament of England, Scotland, and Ireland ; and the
supreme legislative power to be and reside in the Lord Pro-
tector and such Parliament, in manner herein expressed.
XXIII. That the Lord Protector, with the advice of the
major part of the Council, shall at any other time than is
before expressed, when the necessities of the State shall
require it, summon Parliaments in manner before expressed,
which shall not be adjourned, prorogued, or dissolved with-
out their o\vn consent, during the first three months of their
sitting. And in case of future war with any foreign State,
a Parliament shall be forthwith summoned for their advice
concerning the same.
XXIV. That all Bills agreed unto by the Parliament, shall
be presented to the Lord Protector for his consent; and in
case he shall not give his consent thereto within twenty days
after they shall be presented to him, or give satisfaction to
the Parliament within the time limited, that then, upon de-
claration of the Parliament that the Lord Protector hath not
consented nor given satisfaction, such Bills shall pass into
and become laws, although he shall not give his consent
thereunto; provided such Bills contain nothing in them
contrary to the matters contained in these presents.
XXV. That Henry Lawrence, Esq., [The names of fifteen
members follow], or any seven of them, shall be a Council
for the purposes expressed in this writing ; and upon the
death or other removal of any of them, the Parliament shall
nominate six persons of ability, integrity, and fearing God,
for every one that is dead or removed; out of which the
major part of the Council shall elect two, and present them
to the Lord Protector, of which he shall elect one; and in
case the Parliament shall not nominate within twenty days
after notice given unto them thereof, the major part of the
ENGLAND A COMMONWEALTH. 3*3
Council shall nominate three as aforesaid to the Lord Pro-
tector, who out of them shall supply the vacancy; and until
this choice be made, the remaining part of the Council shall
execute as fully in all things, as if their number were full.
And in case of corruption, or other miscarriage in any of the
Council in their trust, the Parliament shall appoint seven of
their number, and the Council six, who, together with the
Lord Chancellor, Lord Keeper, or Commissioners of the
Great Seal for the time being, shall have power to hear and
determine such corruption and miscarriage, and to award
and inflict punishment, as the nature of the offence shall
deserve, which punishment shall not be pardoned or remitted
by the Lord Protector; and, in the interval of Parliaments,
the major part of the Council, with the consent of the Lord
Protector, may, for corruption or other miscarriage as afore-
said, suspend any of their number from the exercise of their
trust, if they shall find it just, until the matter shall be heard
and examined as aforesaid.
XXVI. That the Lord Protector and the major part of
the Council aforesaid may, at any time before the meeting
of the next Parliament, add to the Council such persons as
they shall think fit, provided the number of the Council be
not made thereby to exceed twenty-one, and the quorum to
be proportioned accordingly by the Lord Protector and the
major part of the Council.
XXVII. That a constant yearly revenue shall be raised,
settled, and established for maintaining of 10,000 horse and
dragoons, and 20,000 foot, in England, Scotland and Ireland,
for the defence and security thereof, and also for a con-
venient number of ships for guarding of the seas; besides
200,000 per annum for defraying the other necessary
charges of administration of justice, and other expenses of
the Government, which revenue shall be raised by the
customs, and such other ways and means as shall be agreed
upon by the Lord Protector and the Council, and shall not
be taken away or dimished, nor the way agreed upon for
raising the same altered, but by the consent of the Lord Pro-
tector and the Parliament.
XXVIII. That the said yearly revenue shall be paid into
the public treasury, and shall be issued out for the uses
aforesaid.
XXIX. That in case there shall not be cause hereafter to
keep up so great a defence both at land or sea, but that there
be an abatement made thereof, the money which will be
384 SOURCE-BOOK OP ENGLISH HISTORY
saved thereby shall remain in bank for the public service,
and not be employed to any other use but by consent of
Parliament, or, in the intervals of Parliament, by the Lord
Protector and major part of the Council.
XXX. That the raising of money for defraying the charge
of the present extraordinary forces, both at sea and land, in
respect of the present wars, shall be by consent of Parlia-
ment, and not otherwise : save only that the Lord Protector,
with the consent of the major part of the Council, for pre-
venting the disorders and dangers which might otherwise fall
out both by sea and land, shall have power, until the meeting
of the first Parliament, to raise money for the purposes
aforesaid ; and also to make laws and ordinances for the
peace and welfare of these nations where it shall be necess-
ary, which shall be binding and in force, until order shall be
taken in Parliament concerning the same.
XXXI. That the lands, tenements, rents, royalties, juris-
dictions and hereditaments which remain yet unsold or
undisposed of, by Act or Ordinance of Parliament, belonging
to the Commonwealth (except the forests and chases, and the
honours and manors belonging to the same; the lands of the
rebels in Ireland, lying in the four counties of Dublin, Cork,
Kildare, and Carlow ; the lands forfeited by the people of
Scotland in the late wars, and also the lands of Papists and
delinquents in England who have not yet compounded), shall
be vested in the Lord Protector, to hold, to him and his suc-
cessors, Lords Protectors of these nations, and shall not be
alienated but by consent in Parliament. And all debts, fines,
issues, amercements, penalties and profits, certain and casual,
due to the Keepers of the liberties of England by authority
of Parliament, shall be due to the Lord Protector, and be
payable into his public receipt, and shall be recovered and
prosecuted in his name.
XXX That the office of Lord Protector over these nations
shall be elective and not hereditary ; and upon the death of
the Lord Protector, another fit person shall be forthwith
elected to succeed him in the Government; which election
shall be by the Council, who, immediately upon the death of
the Lord Protector, shall assemble in the Chamber where
they usually sit in Council ; and, having given notice to all
their members of the cause of their assembling, shall, being
thirteen at least present, proceed to the election ; and, before
they depart the said Chamber, shall elect a fit person to
succeed in the Government, and forthwith cause proclama-
ENGLAND A COMMONWEALTH 3S
tion thereof to be made in all the three nations as shall be
requisite; and the person that they, or the major part of
them, shall elect as aforesaid, shall be, and shall be taken to
be, Lord Protector over these nations of England, Scotland
and Ireland, and the dominions thereto belonging. Provided
that none of the children of the late King, nor any of his line
or family, be elected to be Lord Protector or other Chief
Magistrate over these nations, or any the dominions thereto
belonging. And until the aforesaid election be past, the
Council shall take care of the Government, and administer in
all things as fully as the Lord Protector, or the Lord Pro-
tector and Council are enabled to do.
XXXIII. That Oliver Cromwell, Captain-General of the
forces of England, Scotland and Ireland, shall be, and is
hereby declared to be, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth
of England, Scotland and Ireland, and the dominions thereto
belonging, for his life.
XXXIV. That the Chancellor, Keeper or Commissioners
of the Great Seal, the Treasurer, Admiral, Chief Governors
of Ireland and Scotland, and the Chief Justices of both the
Benches, shall be chosen by the approbation of Parliament ;
and, in the intervals of Parliament, by the approbation of the
major part of the Council, to be afterwards approved by the
Parliament.
XXXV. That the Christian religion, as contained in the
Scriptures, be held forth and recommended as the public
profession of these nations ; and that, as soon as may be, a
provision, less subject to scruple and contention, and more
certain than the present, be made for the encouragement and
maintenance of able and painful teachers, for instructing the
people, and for discovery and confutation of error, hereby,
and whatever is contrary to sound doctrine; and that until
such provision be made, the present maintenance shall not be
taken away or impeached.
XXXVI. That to the public profession held forth none
shall be compelled by penalties or otherwise; but that en-
deavours be used to win them by sound doctrine and the
example of a good conversation.
XXXVII. That such as profess faith in God by Jesus
Christ (though differing in judgment from the doctrine, wor-
ship or discipline publicly held forth) shall not be restrained
from, but shall be protected in, the profession of the faith
and exercise of their religion; so as they abuse not this
liberty to the civil injury of others and to the actual dis-
386 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
turbance of the public peace on their parts: provided this
liberty be not extended to Popery or Prelacy, nor to such as,
under the profession of Christ, hold forth and practise licen-
tiousness.
XXXVIII. That all laws, statutes and ordinances, and
clauses in any law, statute or ordinance to the contrary of
the aforesaid liberty, shall be esteemed as null and void.
XXXIX. That the Acts and Ordinances of Parliament
made for the sale or other disposition of the lands, rents and
hereditaments of the late King, Queen, and Prince, of Arch-
bishops and Bishops, etc., Deans and Chapters, the lands of
delinquents and forest-lands, or any of them, or of any other
lands, tenements, rents and hereditaments belonging to the
Commonwealth, shall nowise be impeached or made invalid,
but shall remain good and firm; and that the securities given
by Act and Ordinance of Parliament for any sum or sums of
money, by any of the said lands, the excise, or any other
public revenue ; and also the securities given by the public
faith of the nation, and the engagement of the public faith
for satisfaction of debts and damages, shall remain firm and
good, and not be made void and invalid upon any pretence
whatsoever.
XL. That the Articles given to or made with the enemy,
and afterwards confirmed by Parliament, shall be performed
and made good to the persons concerned therein ; and that
such appeal as were depending in the last Parliament for
relief concerning bills of sale of delinquents' estates, may be
heard and determined the next Parliament, any thing in this
writing or otherwise to the contrary notwithstanding.
XLI. That every successive Lord Protector over these
nations shall take and subscribe a solemn oath, in the
presence of the Council, and such others as they shall call to
them, that he will seek the peace, quiet and welfare of these
nations, cause law and justice to be equally administered:
and that he will not violate or infringe the matters and
things contained in this writing, and in all other things will,
to his power and to the best of his understanding, govern
these nations according to the laws, statutes and customs
thereof.
XLII. That each person of the Council shall, before they
enter upon their trust, take and subscribe an oath, that they
will be true and faithful in their trust, according to the best
of their knowledge; and that in the election of every suc-
cessive Lord Protector they shall proceed therein impartially,
ENGLAND A COMMONWEALTH 387
and do nothing therein for any promise, fear, favour or
reward.
(Parliamentary History, ed. cit., XX, 248.)
168. Cromwell disciplines his First Parliament
Goddard
The first Parliament of the Commonwealth met in September,
1654. Its members seemed to be resolved to take from Crom-
well much of the power which he considered necessary to the
office of Lord Protector. These members desired to make
absolute the authority of Parliament. Some of them were
anxious to set aside the Instrument of Government; others had
no love for the Commonwealth or its leaders. So great was the
popular dissatisfaction, so imminent was the danger that the
royalists might regain power, that Cromwell resolved upon a
desperate remedy. He proposed to the members of Parliament
a form of oath of allegiance, binding them to himself and his
form of government and pledging them not to alter that form.
All members who refused to subscribe to this oath he turned out
of the House. An account of this high-handed, though from
the Puritan point of view justifiable proceeding, is given in
the following selection.
Tuesday 12. [Sept. 1654.] This morning news was brought
to the Herald's Office, where I lay, with my brother Bish, that
the Parliament House was dissolved, and that, for certain,
the Council of State and Council of War, had sat together all
the Sabbath-day before, and had then contrived this dissolu-
tion. Notwithstanding, I was resolved to go to Westminster,
to satisfy myself of the truth, and to take my share of what
I should see or learn there.
Going by water to Westminster, I was told that the Par-
liament doors were locked up and guarded with soldiers, and
the barges were to attend the Protector to the Painted Cham-
ber. As I went, I saw two barges at the Privy Stairs.
Being come to the Hall, I was confirmed in what I had
heard. Nevertheless, I did purpose not to take things merely
upon trust, but would receive an actual repulse, to confirm
my faith.
Accordingly, I attempted up the Parliament-stairs, but
there was a guard of soldiers, who told me there was no
passage that way; that the House was locked up, and com-
mand given to give no admittance to any. That, if I were a
member, I might go into the Painted Chamber, where the
Protector would presently be.
The mace was taken away by Commissary-general Whal-
ley. The Speaker and all the members were walking up and
down the Hall, the Court of Requests, and the Painted Cham-
388 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
her, expecting the Protector's coming; the passages there,
being likewise guarded with soldiers.
The Protector coming about ten of the clock, attended
with his officers, life-guard, and halberds, he took his place
upon the scaffold, where it was before, and made a speech
of about an hour and a-half long. Wherein he did not for-
bear to tell us, that he did expect and hope for better fruit
and effect of our last meeting in that place than he had
yet found; that he perceived there was a necessity upon him
to magnify, as he called it, his office. He told us a large
series of the providences of God and the suffrages of the
people, which were so many witnesses, evidences, and seals,
of his calling to the government, and which did cause him to
put a greater value upon his title so derived, than upon the
broken hereditary title of any prince whatsoever. That
having received his office from God and from the people,
he was resolved never to part with it, until God and the
people should take it from him.
That it could not be expected, when he told us before, that
we were a free Parliament, that he meant it otherwise free
than as it should act under the government. That those
pitiful forwardnesses and peevishnesses, which were abroad,
he valued no more than the motes in the sun. But that the
Parliament should now dispute his office under whose au-
thority we were then met, was a great astonishment to him.
That he was unwilling to break privileges ; but necessity
had no law.
He told us, he had ordered the Parliament doors to be
locked up and guarded, and had appointed an officer to take
subscriptions to a recognition of his authority; which being
done might give us an entrance. Which being said, we were
dismissed about eleven o'clock.
His party, that is, courtiers and officers of the army, and
some others, presently subscribed. Before they adjourned,
which was about twelve of the clock, there were about one
hundred subscriptions; which being entered, they sent for
the Speaker, who came, subscribed, entered, and adjourned
until two of the clock.
In the mean time, the rest of the members consulted one
another's judgments. I went to see what it was that we were
to subscribe unto. It was written in a long piece of parch-
ment in these words, or to that effect, viz. :
"I do hereby freely promise and engage, that I will be true
and faithful to the Lord Protector and the Commonwealth
ENGLAND A COMMONWEALTH 389
of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and that according to the
tenor of the indentures whereby I am returned to serve in
this present Parliament, I will not propose, or consent to alter
the government as it is settled in a sole person and the Parlia-
ment."
Our Norfolk members did not presently subscribe, saving
only Mr. Frere, who instantly subscribed it. The rest of our
members did most of us dine together, purposely to consult
what was fittest to be done in so great an exigent, in order
to the discharge of our trust. And, truly, the subscription
was, in effect, no more than what we were restrained unto by
our Indentures, and the thing would be done without us, and
we had fairly contended for it : we had not given the ques-
tion, but it was forced from us, and we were told that plainly
it must be so. For these and several other considerations
and reasons, which we thought ought to prevail with men
preferring the peace of our countries and the safety of our
people immediately concerned in this affair, before passions
and humours, we thought fit rather to give way to the present
necessity, and to comply with it by submitting than refusing.
Accordingly we did subscribe, all except Mr. Woodhouse,
Mr. Hobart, and Mr. Church. And although we condemn th :
breach of privilege as much as any, yet we doubt not but to
acquit ourselves to God, and to our country, in so doing,
rather than to put the nation into another combustion and
confusion.
After we had subscribed, we went into the House, and
after some expressions of tenderness and respects to our
fellow members without, we adjourned until Thursday morn-
ing ; the next day, Wednesday, being the Fast.
{An Account of the Parliament of 1654 from the Journal of Guibon Goddard,
in Diary of Thomas Burton, ed. G. T. Ruth, Loud., 1828, vol. I, p. xxxii.)
169. Cromwell and the Kingship
Keunett
That Cromwell desired to be king seems, in this day, fully
established. When matters had been so arranged that the crown
seemed within his grasp, and while the voice of the army had
not yet been raised to warn him that his acceptance of the king-
ship would lead to his overthrow, Cromwell took counsel with
his intimates upon the wisdom of the step. The following ac-
count of his interview with Whitlock is most characteristic.
Upon this juncture Cromwell advises with Commissioner
Whitlock how to maintain all things in order and obedience ;
"What if a man should take upon him to be King?" Whit-
39 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
lock, "I think that remedy would be worse than the disease."
Cromwell, "Why do you think so?" W hillock, "As to your
own person the title of king would be of no advantage, be-
cause you have the full kingly power in you already con-
cerning the militia, as you are general. As to the nomina-
tion of civil officers, those whom you think fittest are sel-
dom refused : and altho' you have no negative vote in the
passing of laws, yet what you dislike will not easily be
carried; and the taxes are already settled and in your power
to dispose the money raised. And as to foreign affairs, tho'
the ceremonial application be made to the Parliament, yet the
expectation of good or bad success in it is from your Ex-
cellency ; and particular solicitations of foreign ministers
are made to you only. So that I apprehend indeed less envy
and danger and pomp, but not less power and real op-
portunities of doing good in your being general, than would
be if you had assumed the title of king." Cromwell went
on to argue, that whoever was actually king by election, the
acts done by him were as lawful and justifiable as if done
by a king who had the crown by inheritance ; and that by
an act of Parliament in Henry VIFs time, it was safer for the
people to act under a king (let his title be what it will) than
under any other power.
Whitlock agreed to the legality, but questioned the ex-
pediency of it; and being asked what danger he apprehended,
answered thus, "The danger I think would be this : one of the
main points of controversy between us and our adversaries
is whether the government of this nation shall be established
in monarchy or in free state or a commonwealth ; and most
of our friends have engaged with us upon the hopes of having
the government settled in a free state; and to effect that,
have undergone all their hazards and difficulties. They
being persuaded (tho' I think much mistaken) that under
the government of a commonwealth they shall enjoy more
liberty and right, both as to their spiritual and civil con-
cernments than they shall under monarchy, the pressures and
dislikes whereof are so fresh in their memories and suffer-
ings. Now if your Excellency shall take upon you the title
of king, this state of your cause will be thereby wholly deter-
mined, and monarchy established in your person, and the
question will be no more, whether our government shall be by
a monarch or by a free state, but whether Cromwell or Stuart
shall be our king or monarch ? And that question wherein
before so great parties of the nation were engaged, and
ENGLAND A COMMONWEALTH 39'
which was universal, will by this means become in effect a
private controversy only. Before it was national, what kind
of government we should have? Now it will become parti-
cular, who shall be governour ? Whether of the family of he
Stuarts or of the family of the Cromwells? Thus the state
of our controversy being totally changed, all those who
were for a commonwealth (and they are a very great and
considerable party) having their hopes therein frustrate, will
desert you ; your hands will be weakened, your interests
straightened, and your cause in apparent danger to be
ruined." Cromwell confessed he spoke reason, and desired to
know if he could find any other expedient. Whitlock, after
suggesting the danger he was in from his own officers and
from the Parliament, who were plotting to bring him down,
or to clip his wings, proceeded thus: "Pardon me, Sir, in the
next place, a little to consider the condition of the King of
Scots. This prince being now by your valour, and the suc-
cess which God has given to the Parliament, and to the army
under your command, reduced to a very low condition, both
he and all about him cannot but be very inclinable to hearken
to any terms, whereby their last hopes may be revived of his
being restored to the crown, and they to their fortunes and
native country. By a private treaty with him, you may
secure yourself and your friends, and their fortunes : you
may make yourself and prosterity as great and permanent,
to all human probability, as ever any subject was, and provide
for your friends. You may put such limits to monarchical
power, as will secure our spiritual and civil liberties: and
you may secure the cause in which we are all engaged. And
this may be effectually done, by having the power of the
militia continued in yourself, and whom you shall agree upon
after you."
Cromwell adjourned the discourse to some farther time,
and went off with a countenance and carriage of displeasure.
And Whitlock says, "That Cromwell's carriage toward him
from that time was altered, and his advising with him not so
frequent and intimate as before; and, that it was not long
after, he found an occasion, by an honourable employment, to
send him out of the way, that he might be no obstacle or
impediment to his ambitious designs." For certainly Crom-
well in his thoughts and intentions, was for bringing the
crown upon his own head; and it was a great providence
that his friends would not permit him to have his own way.
However, to carry it as far as it would bear, he and his
392 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
officers were always complaining of the grievance of the
Long Parliament, and were zealous and loud in recommend-
ing to the people the common pretences of right and justice,
and public liberty, to put a period to their session; and if
they would not shortly do it themselves, the army and the
people must do it for them.
(Compleat History of England, ed. W. Kennett, 2nd ed., Lond., 1719, III, 204.)
170. Richard Cromwell becomes Lord Protector
Kennett
At the death of Oliver Cromwell, his son Richard was called
to office. The following selection gives the proclamation made
at the installation, and also gives a very valuable account of
the character of the new ruler.
Whereas it has pleased the most wise God in his provi-
dence to take out of this world the most serene and renowned
Oliver, late Ld. Protector of this Commonwealth: And his
highness having in his life-time, according to the Humble
Petition and Advice declared and appointed the most noble
and illustrious the Lord Richard, eldest son of his late High-
ness, to succeed him in the government of these nations, we
therefore of the Privy Council, together with the Lord-
Mayor, aldermen and citizens of London, the officers of the
army, and numbers of other principal gentlemen, do now
hereby with one full voice and consent of tongue and heart,
publish and declare the said noble and illustrious Lord
Richard to be rightful Protector of this Commonwealth of
England, Scotland and Ireland, and the dominions and ter-
ritories thereto belonging: To whom we do acknowledge
all fidelity and constant obedience, according to law, and the
said Humble Petition and Advice, with all hearty and humble
affections beseeching the Lord, by whom princes rule, to
bless him with long life, and these nations with peace and
happiness under his government.
(signed) Richard Chiverton, Mayor.
Henry Laurence, President.
And 27 others.
God save his Highness Richard Lord Protector.
Then the Council proceeded to give the oath of govern-
ment to the new Protector, who published a proclamation for
all officers to continue in their places; and the master of the
ceremonies was ordered to acquaint all foreign ministers
ENGLAND A COMMONWEALTH 393
with the death of the late Protector, and the succession of
his son Richard; which soon brought over many new ambas-
sadors and envoys from the neighbour princes and States,
all admitted with due ceremony to a solemn audience given
by his Highness, to condole the death of his father, and to
congratulate his succession to the government ; while infinite
adresses came up from all parts of the three kingdoms, to
compliment the new Protector with mighty professions of
public joy and satisfaction, and with solemn resolutions and
promises of adhering to him against all his enemies. And
indeed the general exultation of the people and armies was
so very great upon this new succession, that it must be im-
puted more to the common sense of deliverance from one
tyrant, than to their hopes or expectations from this other
Protector; who was raised to the government without any
respect or good opinion in the minds of the people or the
soldiers. For he had been neither a military man nor a
statesman ; rather an honest country gentleman, bred to
privacy and sports, and willing to serve his neighbours, and
even the cavaliers, by the little interest he had in his father's
court. His own father seemed to have the least affection
and lowest opinion of this son, among all his other children :
He never trusted him in any command, nor employed him in
any true business : He made him indeed Chancellor of Ox-
ford, and put him at the top of the other House in Parliament :
but this was rather for the honour of his family, than for the
love of his son. He never let him into any secrets of policy
nor any arts of war; and therefore it is plain, he never de-
signed him for his successor, because he never trained him
up to it.
(Kennett, ei cit., Ill, p. 228.)
CHAPTER XXIII
THE RESTORATION
171. The Declaration of Breda
(April 4, 1660)
Parliamentary History
In the Declaration of Breda Charles II. set forth the principles
on which he promised to rule England. The difference between
these promises and their fulfilment presents an interesting study
on the theory and practice of kingcraft.
Charles R.
Charles, by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland,
France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc. To all our
loving subjects, of what degree or quality soever, greeting.
If the general distraction and confusion which is spread
over the whole kingdom doth not awaken all men to a desire
and longing that those wounds which have so many years
together been kept bleeding, may be bound up, all we can say
will be to no purpose ; however, after this long silence, we
have thought it our duty to declare how much we desire to
contribute thereunto; and that as we can never give over
the hope, in good time, to obtain the possession of that right
which God and nature hath made our due, so we do make
it our daily suit to the Divine Providence, that He will, in
compassion to us and our subjects after so long misery and
sufferings, remit and put us into a quiet and peaceable pos-
session of that our right, with as little blood and damage to
our people as is possible ; nor do we desire more to enjoy
what is ours, than that all our subjects may enjoy what by
law is theirs, by a full and entire administration of justice
throughout the land, and by extending our mercy where it
is wanted and deserved.
And to the end that the fear of punishment may not
engage any, conscious to themselves of what is past, to a
perseverance in guilt for the future, by opposing the quiet
394
THE RESTORATION 395
and happiness of their country, in the restoration of King,
Peers and people to their just, ancient and fundamental
rights, we do, by these presents, declare, that we do grant
a free and general pardon, which we are ready, upon demand,
to pass under our Great Seal of England, to all our subjects,
of what degree or quality soever, who, within forty days after
the publishing hereof,shall lay hold upon this our grace and
favour, and shall, by any public act, declare their doing so,
and that they return to the loyalty and obedience of good
subjects; excepting only such persons as shall hereafter be
excepted by Parliament, those only to be excepted. Let all
our subjects, how faulty soever, rely upon the word of a
King, solemnly given by this present declaration, that no
crime whatsoever, committed against us or our royal father
before the publication of this, shall ever rise in judgment, or
be brought in question, against any of them, to the least
endamagement of them, either in their lives, liberties or
estates, or (as far forth as lies in our power) so much as to
the prejudice of their reputations, by any reproach or term
of distinction from the rest of our best subjects ; we desiring
and ordaining that henceforth all notes of discord, separation
and difference of parties be utterly abolished among all our
subjects, whom we invite and conjure to a perfect union
among themselves, under our protection, for the re-settlement
of our just rights and theirs in a free Parliament, by which,
upon the word of a King, we will be advised.
And because the passion and uncharitableness of the
times have produced several opinions in religion, by which
men are engaged in parties and animosities against each
other (which, when they shall hereafter unite in a freedom
of conversation, will be composed or better understood), we
do declare a liberty to tender consciences, and that no man
shall be disquieted or called in question for differences of
opinion in matter of religion, which do not disturb the peace
of the kingdom ; and that we shall be ready to consent to such
an Act of Parliament, as, upon mature deliberation, shall be
offered to us, for the full granting that indulgence.
And because in the continued distractions of so many years,
and so many and great revolutions, many grants and pur-
chases of estates have been made to and by many officers,
soldiers and others, who are now possessed of the same, and
who may be liable to actions at law upon several titles, we
are likewise willing that all such differences, and all things
relating to such grants, sales and purchases, shall be deter-
396 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
mined in Parliament, which can best provide for the just
satisfaction of all men who are concerned.
And we do further declare, that we will be ready to consent
to any Act or Acts of Parliament to the purposes aforesaid,
and for the full satisfaction of all arrears due to the officers
and soldiers of the army under the command of General
Monk; and that they shall be received into our service upon
as good pay and conditions as they now enjoy.
Given under our Sign Manual and Privy Signet,
at our Court at Breda, this 4 / 14 day of April,
1660, in the twelfth year of our reign.
(Parliamentary History, ed. cit., XXII, 238.)
172. Reception of the Declaration of Breda by Parliament
Parliamentary Intelligencer
Parliament's enthusiastic, if not servile, reception of the com-
munication from Charles II. is in strong contrast to the actions
of that body in the preceding decade. It may be questioned
whether either body faithfully expressed the will of the majority
of the people ; but it was evident that the Commonwealth had
proved a failure and that there was in the popular mind a strong
loyalty to the House of Stuart. A king was the only means of
reconciling the warring factions and Parliament recognized at
once its necessity and opportunity.
RECEPTION OF THE DECLARATION OF BREDA BY THE LORDS
(May i, 1660)
Whitehall, Tuesday. The House of Lords being informed
that Sir John Grenville attended at the door with a letter
from his Majesty, the earl of Manchester, speaker to the
House of Lords, went down near the clock to receive it of
him. The letter with a declaration enclosed was read in the
House, and thanks ordered to be given to Sir John Grenville
for bringing the gracious letter.
The House resolved that they do own and declare that
according to the ancient and fundamental laws of this king-
dom, the government is and ought to be by king, lords, and
commons. That the lords having a deep sense of the miser-
ies and distractions that the kingdom hath been involved in
since the violent attempts to dissolve the established govern-
ment, do desire that some way may be considered how to
make up these breaches; and to obtain the king's return
again to his people.
(Parliamentary Intelligencer, no. 19, pp. 291, 292 )
THE RESTORATION 397
BY THE COMMONS
Resolved nemine contradicente. That a committee be
appointed to prepare an answer to his Majesty's letter, ex-
pressing the great and joyful sense of House of his gracious
offers and their humble and hearty thanks to his Majesty
for the same, and with professions of their loyalty and
duty to his Majesty, and that this House will give a speedy
answer to his Majesty's gracious proposals.
A committee was appointed accordingly.
Resolved nemine contradicente.
That the sum of 50,000
be presented to his Majesty by the House.
Tuesday afternoon. Resolved that this House doth agree
with the lords and do own and declare, that according to the
ancient and fundamental laws of this kingdom, the govern-
ment is and ought to be by king, lords, and commons.
{Parliamentary Intelligencer, no. 19, p. 293.)
173. The Commons thank Sir John Grenville for Bringing
the Declaration
(May 3, 1660)
Mercurius Publicus
The words of the Speaker of the House of Commons merely
voiced the thought of the nation. Beneath the exuberance of
language lies the true spirit of loyalty. Throughout the period
of the Commonwealth, the majority of Englishmen had clung to
the hope that the king would yet come to his own.
THE COMMONS THANK SIR JOHN GRENVILLE FOR BRINGING
THE DECLARATION
Thursday. The House being informed that Sir John
Grenville was at the door, he was called in to receive the
thanks of the House, which' Mr. Speaker delivered, as fol-
loweth :
Sir John Grenville, I need not tell you with what grate-
ful and thankful hearts the Commons now assembled in Par-
liament have received his Majesty's gracious letter, res ipsa
loquitur: you yourself have been auricularis et ocularis testis
de rei veritate. Our bells and our bonfires have already be-
gun the proclamation of his Majesty's goodness and of our
joys. We have told the people that our king, the glory of
England, is corning home again, and they have resounded it
back again in our ears that they are ready and their hearts
are open -to feceive him ; both Parliament and people have
398 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
cried aloud in their prayers to the King of Kings, Long live
king Charles the second !
(Mercurius Publicus, no. 19, p. 292.)
174. Resolutions of Parliament urging the King to Return
(May 8 and 9, 1660)
Tuesday. At the House of Commons. Resolved, That
the king's Majesty be desired to make a speedy return to his
Parliament, and to the exercise of his kingly office.
Wednesday. Ordered by the Lords and Commons that
general Montague do receive the commands of the king's
Majesty for the disposal of the fleet in order to his Majesty's
return.
The Lords agreed to the vote for his Majesty's return to
the Parliament and kingly office
(Mercurius Publicus, No. 19, p. 304.)
175. The Beginning of Cabinet Government
(1672)
Historian's Guide, Crook
The beginnings of Cabinet Government in England are to be
found in the history of the secret council, popularly called the
Cabal, from the initials of the surnames of its members. The
selections next following will serve to awaken interest in the
development of the Cabinet.
SHAFTESBURY, AS HEAD OF CABAL, TAKES GREAT SEAL
Nov. 4, 1672.
Sir Orlando Bridgeman, late Lord Keeper, having re-
signed by reason of his great age and a continual indis-
position of body, the Great Seal went into the hands of his
Majesty.
Nov. 17.
His Majesty was pleased to deliver the keeping of it to the
Right Honourable Anthony Ashley Cooper, earl of Shaftes-
bury, with the title of Lord Chancellor of England.
(Crook, W., Historian's Guide, Lend. 1679.)
176. Opinion of French Court concerning Members of Cabal
Secret History of Whitehall
The ministers of this Court are not only the most in-
quisitive persons in the world into the affairs of other
Courts, but even in the persons who manage them; whose
natures, dispositions, religion, natural and acquired abilities,
as well as respective infirmities, they endeavour to sift out
THE RESTORATION 399
to the quick so that they may use them or shun them as they
find occasion: and for this reason it is that they make some
remarks upon them in their minutes, as well as upon the
affairs transacted by them. And therefore since the five
persons who made up the Cabal in England . . . , and who
your lordship may remember were the dukes of Buckingham
and Lauderdale, the earls of Shaftesbury and Arlington, and
the Lord Treasurer Clifford, were very distinguishable for
the stations they filled, the offices they held and the parts
each of them acted in the government ; I find this character
given of them : for the duke of Buckingham, as he was the
king's favourite, so he really deserved to be so, as being
very capable to be a minister of state if his application to
business had been answerable to his talents; if his mind,
which was furnished with excellent endowments, had not
been distracted by libertinism, which was in him to an ex-
treme degree ; and by a love to his pleasures, which made one
of those persons in the world that was fittest for great and
solid things vain and frivolous. Of the duke of Lauderdale
there is little or nothing said but that he is a great and quaint
politician, and no question but he has merited that character
at their hand. Of my lord Clifford they are as profuse in
their praises, as I doubt they have been too of their money ;
saying he was a person who wanted nothing but a theatre
where virtue and reason had been much more in use than
it was in his country in the age wherein he lived, for to be
superior to and overtop the rest. My lord of Arlington they
make to be a person of meaner capacity, and a more limited
genius than any of the five, but say his experiences supply
the defect, and have acquired him especially a very great
knowledge of foreign affairs. Last of all, they bring in
Anthony Ashley-Cooper, the renowned earl of Shaftesbury;
of whom they say he was by far the fittest person of any of
them to manage a great enterprise, and so was as the soul
to all the rest, being endued with a vast capacity, clear judg-
ment, bold nature, and subtle wit, equally firm and constant
in all he undertook; a constant friend but an implacable
enemy; with many other expressions, such as his not being
terrified either with the greatness or the multitude of crimes
he judges necessary for his own preservation, or the destruc-
tion of others much to his lordship's dishonour, which is a
clear argument he was not for their interest, and for which
he is much beholden to them.
(Letter in the Secret Hist, of Whitehall, Loud., 1717, vol I., pp. 78, 79.)
400 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
177. The Habeas Corpus Act
(31 CAR. II, c. ii, 1679)
Statutes of the Realm
In the 39th and 4Oth clauses of the Magna Charta "are clearly
contained the Habeas Corpus and the Trial by Jury, the most
effectual securities against oppression which the wisdom of man
has hitherto been able to devise." For centuries before, as for
centuries after, the Great Charter, the abuses of judicial processes
by the Crown led to complaint and discontent, which finally cul-
minated in open rebellion. Again and again the kings broke their
promises to abide by the law and to measure out that even-handed
justice which the great documents of English history sought to
secure for the people. At last, in 1679, the great Habeas Corpus
Act was passed. It had radical defects, but these were remedied
by the Bill of Rights (No. 190) and by an Act for More Effec-
tually Securing the Liberty of the Subject (1812). The Habeas
Corpus Act remains the basis of all legislation on its subject
throughout English-speaking states.
An Act for the better securing the Liberty of the Subject,
and for Prevention of Imprisonments beyond the Seas.
Whereas great delays have been used by sheriffs, gaolers,
and other officers, to whose custody any of the king's sub-
jects have been committed for criminal or supposed criminal
matters, in making returns of writs of Habeas Corpus to
them directed, by standing out an Alias and Pluries Habeas
Corpus, and sometimes more, and by other shifts to avoid
their yielding obedience to such writs, contrary to their duty
and the known laws of the land, whereby many of the king's
subjects have been and hereafter may be long detained in
prison, in such cases where by law they are bailable, to their
great charges and vexation :
II. For the prevention whereof, and the more speedy relief
of all persons imprisoned for any such criminal or supposed
criminal matters ; be it enacted by the King's most excellent
Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords
Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Par-
liament assembled, and by the authority thereof, that when-
soever any person or persons shall bring any Habeas Corpus
directed unto any sheriff or sheriffs, gaoler, minister, or
other person whatsoever, for any person in his or their cus-
tody, and the said writ shall be served upon the said officer,
or left at the gaol or prison with any of the under-officers,
under-keepers or deputy of the said officers or keepers, that
the said officer or officers, his or their under-officers, under-
keepers or deputies, shall within three days after the service
THE RESTORATION 401
thereof as aforesaid (unless the commitment aforesaid were
for treason or felony, plainly and specially expressed in the
warrant of commitment) upon payment or tender of the
charges of bringing the said prisoner, to be ascertained by
the judge or court that awarded the same, and endorsed
upon the said writ, not exceeding twelve pence per mile, and
upon security given by his own bond to pay the charges of
carrying back the prisoner, if he shall be remanded by the
court or judge to which he shall be brought according to the
true intent of this present act, and that he will not make any
escape by the way, make return of such writ ; and bring or
cause to be brought the body of the party so committed or
restrained, unto or before the Lord Chancellor, or Lord
Keeper of the great seal of England for the time being, or
the judges or barons of the said court from whence the said
writ shall issue, or unto and before such other person or
persons before whom the said writ is made returnable, ac-
cording to the command therof ; and shall then likewise cer-
tify the true causes of his detainer or imprisonment, unless
the commitment of the said party be in any place beyond the
distance of twenty miles from the place or places where such
court or person is or shall be residing; and if beyond the
distance of twenty miles, and not above one hundred miles,
then within the space of ten days, and if beyond the distance
of one hundred miles, then within the space of twenty days,
after the delivery aforesaid, and not longer.
III. And to the intent that no sheriff, gaoler or other of-
ficer may pretend ignorance of the import of any such writ ;
be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all such writs
shall be marked in this manner, per statutum tricesimo primo
Caroli secundi regis, and shall be signed by the person that
awards the same ; and if any person or persons shall be or
stand committed or detained as aforesaid, for any crime, un-
less for treason or felony plainly expressed in the warrant of
commitment, in the vacation-time, and out of term, it shall
and may be lawful to and for the person or persons so com-
mitted or detained (other than persons convict or in execu-
tion) by legal process or any one on his or their behalf, to
appeal or complain to the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper,
or any one of his Majesty's justices, either of the one bench
or of the other, or the barons of the exchequer of the degree
of the coif; and the said Lord Chancellor, Lord Keeper, jus-
tices or barons or any of them, upon view of the copy or
copies of the warrant or warrants of commitment and de-
402 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
tainer, or otherwise upon oath made that such copy or copies
were denied to be given by such person or persons in whose
custody the prisoner or prisoners is or are detained, are here-
by authorized, and required, upon request made in writing by
such person or persons or any on his, her or their behalf,
attested and subscribed by two witnesses who were present at
the delivery of the same, to award and grant an Habeas Cor-
pus under the seal of such court whereof he shall then be one
of the judges, to be directed to the officer or officers in whose
custody the party so committed or detained shall be, return-
able immediate before the said Lord Chancellor or Lord
Keeper, or such justice, baron or any other justice or baron
of the degree of the coif of any of the said courts; and upon
service thereof as aforesaid, the officer or officers, his or
their under-officer or under-officers, under-keeper or under-
keepers, or their deputy, in whose custody the party is so
committed or detained, shall within the times respectively
before limited, bring such prisoner or prisoners before the
said Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper, or such justices, barons
or one of them, before whom the said writ is made returnable,
and in case of his absence before any of them, with the return
of such writ, and the true causes of the commitment and
detainer ; and thereupon within two days after the party shall
be brought before them, the said Lord Chancellor or Lord
Keeper, or such justice or baron before whom the prisoner
shall be brought as aforesaid, shall discharge the said prisoner
from his imprisonment, taking his or their recognizance, with
one or more surety or sureties, in any sum according to their
discretions, having regard to the quality of the prisoner and
nature of the offence, for his or their appearance in the court
of king's bench the term following, or at the next assizes,
sessions, or general gaol-delivery of and for such county,
city, or place where the commitment was, or where the
offence was committed, or in such other court where the said
offence is properly cognizable, as the case shall require, and
then shall certify the said writ with the return thereof, and
the said recognizance or recognizances into the said court
where such appearance is to be made ; unless it shall appear
unto the said Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper, or justice or
justices, or baron or barons, that the party so committed is
detained upon a legal process, order or warrant, out of some
court that hath jurisdiction of criminal matters, or by some
warrant signed and sealed with the hand and seal of any of
the said justices or barons, or some justice or justices of the
THE RESTORATION 43
peace, for such matters or offences for the which by the law
the prisoner is not bailable.
IV. Provided always, and be it enacted, that if any person
shall have wilfully neglected by the space of two whole terms
after his imprisonment, to pray a Habeas Corpus for his en-
largement, such person so wilfully neglecting shall not have
any Habeas Corpus to be granted in vacation-time, in pur-
suance of this act.
V. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that
if any of ficer or officers, his or their under-officer or under-
officers, under-keeper or under-keepers,or deputy, shall neglect
or refuse to make the returns aforesaid, or to bring the body
or bodies of the prisoner or prisoners according to the com-
mand of the said writ, within the respective times aforesaid,
or upon demand made by the prisoner or person in his behalf,
shall refuse to deliver, or within the space of six hours after
demand shall not deliver, to the person so demanding, a true
copy of the warrant or warrants of commitment and detainer
of such prisoner, which he and they are hereby required to
deliver accordingly; all and every the head gaolers and
keepers of such prisons, and such other person in whose
custody the prisoner shall be detained, shall for the first
offence forfeit to the prisoner or party grieved the sum of
one hundred pounds ; and for the second offence the sum of
two hundred pounds, and shall and is hereby made incapable
to hold or execute his said office; the said penalties to be
recovered by the prisoner or party grieved, his executors or
administrators, against such offender, his executors or ad-
ministrators, by any action of debt, suit, bill, plaint, or in-
formation, in any of the king's courts at Westminster, where-
in no essoin, protection, privilege, injunction, wager of law,
or stay of prosecution by non vult ulterius prosequi, or other-
wise, shall be admitted or allowed, or any more than one im-
parlance ; and any recovery or judgment at the suit of any
party grieved, shall be a sufficient conviction for the first
offence; and any after recovery or judgment at the suit of a
party grieved for any offence after the first judgment, shall
be a sufficient conviction to bring the officers or person
within the said penalty for the second offence.
VI. And for the prevention of unjust vexation by reiter-
ated commitments for the same offence; be it enacted by the
authority aforesaid, that no person or persons which shall
be delivered or set at large upon any Habeas Corpus, shall
at any time hereafter be again imprisoned or committed for
404 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
the same offence by any person or persons whatsoever, other
than by the legal order and process of such court wherein he
or they shall be bound by recognizance to appear, or other
court having jurisdiction of the cause; and if any other per-
son or persons shall knowingly contrary to this act recommit
or imprison, or knowingly procure or cause to be recommitted
or imprisoned, for the same offence or pretended offence,
any person or persons delivered or set at large as aforesaid,
or be knowingly aiding or assisting therein, then he or they
shall forfeit to the prisoner or party grieved the sum of five
hundred pounds ; any colourable pretence or variation in the
warrant or warrants of commitment notwithstanding, to be
recovered as aforesaid.
VII. Provided always, and be it further enacted, that if
any person or persons shall be committed for high treason or
felony, plainly and specially expressed in the warrant of com-
mitment, upon his prayer or petition in open court the first
week of the term, or first day of the sessions of Oyer and
Terminer or general gaol-delivery, to be brought to his trial,
shall not be indicted some time in the next term, sessions of
Oyer and Terminer or general gaol-delivery, after such com-
mitment ; it shall and may be lawful to and for the judges of
the court of king's bench and justices of Oyer and Terminer
or general gaol-delivery, and they are hereby required, upon
motion to them made in open court the last day of the term,
sessions or gaol-delivery, either by the prisoner or any one
in his behalf, to set at liberty the prisoner upon bail, unless
it appears to the judges and justices upon oath made, that
the witnesses for the king could not be produced the same
term, sessions or general gaol-delivery ; and if any person or
persons committed as aforesaid, upon his prayer or petition
in open court the first week of the term or first day of the
sessions of Oyer and Terminer or general gaol-delivery, to
be brought to his trial, shall not be indicted and tried the
second term, sessions of Oyer and Terminer or general gaol-
delivery, after his commitment, or upon his trial shall be
acquitted, he shall be discharged from his imprisonment.
VIII. Provided always, that nothing in this act shall ex-
tend to discharge out of prison any person charged in debt,
or other action, or with process in any civil cause, but that
after he shall be discharged of his imprisonment for such
his criminal offence, he shall be kept in custody according to
the law, for such other suit.
IX. Provided always, and be it enacted by the authority
THE RESTORATION 405
aforesaid, that if any person or persons, subject of this realm,
shall be committed to any prison or in custody of any officer
or officers whatsoever, for any criminal or supposed crim-
inal matter, that the said person shall not be removed
from the said prison and custody into the custody of any
other officer or officers ; unless it be by Habeas Corpus or
some other legal writ ; or where the prisoner is delivered to
the constable or other inferior officer to carry such prisoner
to some common goal : or where any person is sent by order
of any judge of assize or justice of the peace to any common
workhouse or house of correction ; or where the prisoner is
removed from one prison or place to another within the
same county, in order to his or her trial or discharge in due
course of law; or in case of sudden fire or infection, or other
necessity; and if any person or persons shall after such com-
mitment aforesaid make out and sign, or countersign any
warrant or warrants for such removal aforesaid, contrary to
this act ; as well he that makes or signs, or countersigns such
warrant or warrants as the officer or officers that obey or
execute the same, shall suffer and incur the pains and for-
feitures in this act before mentioned, both for the first and
second offence respectively, to be recovered in manner afore-
said by the party grieved.
X. Provided also, and be it further enacted by the author-
ity aforesaid, that it shall and may be lawful to and for any
prisoner and prisoners as aforesaid, to move and obtain his
or their Habeas Corpus as well out of the high court of chan-
cery or court of exchequer, as out of the courts of king's
bench or common pleas, or either of them; and if the said
Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper, or any judge or judges,
baron or barons for the time being, of the degree of the coif,
of any of the courts aforesaid, in the vacation-time, upon
view of the copy or copies of the warrant or warrants of
commitment or detainer, or upon oath made that such copy
or copies were denied as aforesaid, shall deny any writ of
Habeas Corpus by this act required to be granted, being
moved for as aforesaid, they shall severally forfeit to the
prisoner or party grieved the sum of five hundred pounds, to
be recovered in manner aforesaid.
XI. And be it enacted and declared by the authority afore-
said, that an Habeas Corpus according to the true intent and
meaning of this act, may be directed and run into any county
palatine, the cinque-ports, or other privileged places within
the kingdom of England, dominion of Wales, or town of
406 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Berwick upon Tweed, and the islands of Jersey or Guernsey ;
any law or usage to the contrary notwithstanding.
XII. And for preventing illegal imprisonments in prisons
beyond the seas ; be it further enacted by the authority afore-
said, that no subject of this realm that now is, or hereafter
shall be an inhabitant or resiant of this kingdom of England,
dominion of Wales, or town of Berwick upon Tweed, shall
or may be sent prisoner into Scotland, Ireland, Jersey, Guern-
sey, Tangier, or into parts, garrisons, islands or places be-
yond the seas, which are or at any time hereafter shall be
within or without the dominions of his Majesty, his heirs or
successors ; and that every such imprisonment is hereby en-
acted and adjudged to be illegal; and that if any of the said
subjects now is or hereafter shall be so imprisoned, every
such person and persons so imprisoned, shall and may for
every such imprisonment maintain by virtue of this act an
action or actions of false imprisonment, in any of his
Majesty's courts of record, against the person or persons by
whom he or she shall be so committed, detained, imprisoned,
sent prisoner or transported, contrary to the true meaning of
this act, and against all or any person or persons that shall
frame, contrive, write, seal or countersign any warrant or
writing for such commitment, detainer, imprisonment, or
transportation, or shall be advising, aiding or assisting in
the same, or any of them; and the plaintiff in every such
action shall have judgment to recover his treble costs, besides
damages, which damages so to be given, shall not be less than
five hundred pounds ; in which action no delay, stay or stop
of proceeding by rule, order or command, nor no injunction,
protection or privilege whatsoever, nor any more than one
imparlance shall be allowed, excepting such rule of the court
wherein the action shall depend, made in open court, as shall
be thought in justice necessary, for special cause to be ex-
pressed in the said rule ; and the person or persons who shall
knowingly frame, contrive, write, seal or countersign any
warrant for such commitment, detainer, or transportation, or
shall so commit, detain, imprison or transport any person or
persons contrary to this act, or be any ways advising, aiding
or assisting therein, being lawfully convicted thereof, shall
be disabled from thenceforth to bear any office of trust or
profit within the said realm of England, dominion of Wales,
or town of Berwick upon Tweed, or any of the islands, terri-
tories or dominions thereunto belonging; and shall incur and
sustain the pains, penalties, and forfeitures limited, ordained
THE RESTORATION 407
and provided in and by the statute of Provision and Prcc-
munire made in the sixteenth year of King Richard the
Second; and be incapable of any pardon from the king, his
heirs or successors, of the said forfeitures, losses, or disabili-
ties, or any of them.
XIII. Provided always, that nothing in this act shall ex-
tend to give benefit to any person who shall by contract in
writing agree with any merchant or owner of any plantation,
or other person whatsoever, to be transported to any parts
beyond the seas, and receive earnest upon such agreement,
although that afterwards such persons shall renounce such
contract.
XIV. Provided always, and be it enacted, that if any per-
son or persons lawfully convicted of any felony, shall in open
court pray to be transported beyond the seas, and the court
shall think fit to leave him or them in prison for that pur-
pose, such person or persons may be transported into any
parts beyond the seas ; this act, or anything therein contained
to the contrary notwithstanding.
XV. Provided also, and be it enacted, that nothing herein
contained shall be deemed, construed or taken, to extend to
the imprisonment of any person before the first day of June
one thousand six hundred seventy and nine, or to anything
advised, procured, or otherwise done, relating to such im-
prisonment; anything herein contained to the contrary not-
withstanding.
XVI. Provided also, that if any person or persons at any
time resiant in this realm, shall have committed any capital
offence in Scotland or Ireland, or any of the islands, or for-
eign plantations of the king, his heirs or successors, where
he or she ought to be tried for such offence, such person or
persons may be sent to such place, there to receive such trial,
in such manner as the same might have been used before the
making of this act ; anything herein contained to the contrary
notwithstanding.
XVII. Provided also, and be it enacted, that no person or
persons shall be sued, impleaded, molested or troubled for
any offence against this act, unless the party offending be
sued or impleaded for the same within two years at the most
after such time wherein the offence shall be committed, in
case the party grieved shall not be then in prison ; and if he
shall be in prison, then within the space of two years after
the decease of the person imprisoned, or his or her delivery
out of prison, which shall first happen, .
408 SOURCE-BOOK OP ENGLISH HISTORY
XVIII. And to the intent no person may avoid his trial at
the assizes or general gaol-delivery, by procuring his removal
before the assizes, at such time as he cannot be brought back
to receive his trial there; be it enacted, that after the assizes
proclaimed for that county where the prisoner is detained, no
person shall be removed from the common gaol upon any
Habeas Corpus granted in pursuance of this act, but upon
any such Habeas Corpus shall be brought before the judge of
assize in open court, who is thereupon to do what to justice
shall appertain.
XIX. Provided nevertheless, that after the assizes are
ended, any person or persons detained, may have his or her
Habeas Corpus according to the direction and intention of
this act.
XX. And be it also enacted by the authority aforesaid, that
if any information, suit or action shall be brought or exhib-
ited against any person or persons for any offence committed
or to be committed against the form of this law, it shall be
lawful for such defendants to plead the general issue, that
they are not guilty, or that they owe nothing, and to give
such special matter in evidence to the jury that shall try the
same, which matter being pleaded had been good and suffi-
cient matter in law to have discharged the said defendant or
defendants against the said information, suit or action, and
the said matter shall be then as available to him or them, to
all intents or purposes, as if he or they had sufficiently
pleaded, set forth or alleged the same matter in bar or dis-
charge of such information, suit or action.
XXI. And because many times persons charged with petty
treason or felony, or as accessaries thereunto, are committed
upon suspicion only, whereupon they are bailable, or not, ac-
cording as the circumstances making out that suspicion are
more or less weighty, which are best known to the justices of
peace that committed the persons, and have the examinations
before them, or to other justices of peace in the county: be
it therefore enacted, that where any person shall appear to be
committed by any judge or justice of the peace, and charged
as accessory before the fact, to any petty treason, or felony,
or upon suspicion thereof, or with suspicion of petty treason
or felony, which petty treason or felony shall be plainly and
specially expressed in the warrant of commitment, that such
person shall not be removed or bailed by virtue of this act,
or in any other manner than they might have been before the
making of this act.
(Ed. from Statutes of the Realm, V, 935, 938.)
THE RESTORATION 409
178. James II. and the Catholics
Foley
James II. was a fervid Catholic, and most anxious to further
the promulgation of that faith with the realm. Indeed, his ex-
treme enthusiasm in the cause of his Church cost him dearly.
The following letter, though bearing evidence of a natural op-
timism and perhaps self-persuasion, yet presents a vivid picture
of the status of the Catholic religion in England at the time
when the close of the Stuart dynasty was drawing near. If the
words of the king were not exactly as quoted by the chronicler,
there is no reason to doubt that their spirit did not vary from
the account given.
LETTER FROM A JESUIT OF LIEGE TO A BROTHER OF HIS AT
FRIBURG
February 1686-7.
It is wonderful to see King James' great affection to our
Society. He wished prosperity to this whole College, by the
Reverend Father the Provincial, and earnestly recommended
himself to our prayers. Upon Father John Keynes return
into England, he gave him a most gracious reception (while
earls and dukes were commanded for some hours to wait for
admittance), with whom, in the Queen's presence, he dis-
coursed with all familiarity. He asked him how many can-
didates for Order he had, and how many students ? And
upon the Provincial's answer to his Majesty, who was very
urgent with him: That of the former, and of the latter he
had above fifty. He replied: There would be occasion for
double or treble that number, to effect what he designed for
that Society's performance, and ordered that they should be
all exercised in the art of preaching. "For now," said he,
"England has need of such."
I do not doubt but you have heard that the king, writing to
Father de la Chaise, the French King's confessor, concerning
the affairs of the house among the Walloons, declared that
whatever was done to the English Fathers of that house he
would look upon as done to himself. Father Clare, Rector
of the same house, being arrived at London to treat of that
matter, got an easy access to the King, and as easily gained
his point. The King himself forbid him to kneel and kiss
his hand, according to custom, saying: "Reverend Father,
you have indeed once kissed my hand; but, if I had known
then, as I do now, that you were a priest, I would rather my-
self, Father, have kneeled down and kissed your hand." After
he had finished his business, in a familiar conversation, his
Majesty told this Father: That be would eitbej- convert'Eng-
410 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
land, or die a martyr; and he had rather die the next day and
convert it, than reign twenty years piously and happily and
not effect it. Finally, he called himself a "son of the So-
ciety, of whose good success," he said, "he was glad as of
his own." And it can scarcely be expressed how much grati-
tude he showed when it was told him : That he was made
partaker, by our very Reverend Provincial, of all the merits
of the Society out of which he is to nominate one for his
confessor; but hitherto it is not known who it will be. Some
report that it will be the Reverend Father Provincial, but
still there is no certainty of that. Many are of opinion that
Father Edward R. Petre, who is chiefly in favour with the
King, will obtain an archbishopric, but more believe it will be
a Cardinal's cap. To him has been granted, within this
month or two, all that part of the Palace in which the King
used to reside, when he was Duke of York, where there is
not a day but you may see I know not how many courtiers
waiting to speak to his "Eminence," for so they say he is
called. For the King advises with him, and with many
Catholic lords, who have the chief places in the kingdom, to
find a method to propagate the faith without violence. Not
long since, some of these lords objected to the King: That
they thought he made too much haste to establish the faith.
To whom he answered: "I am growing old, and must take
large steps, else, if I should happen to die, I might perhaps
leave you in a worse condition than I found you." When
they asked him : Why then was he so little concerned about
the conversion of his daughters, who were the heirs of the
kingdom ? he answered : God will take care of that ; leave
the conversion of my daughters to me. Do you, by your
example, convert your tenants and others to the faith."
He has Catholic Lord Lieutenants in most counties ; and
we shall shortly have Catholic Justices of the Peace in
almost all places. We hope also that our affairs will have
good success at Oxford. In the public chapel of our Vice-
Chancellor, who is a Catholic, there is always one of our
divines, who has converted some of the students to the faith.
The Bishop of Oxford himself seems to be a great favourer
of the Catholic faith, he proposed to the Council: "Whether
it did not seem to be expedient that at least one College
should be granted to the Catholics at Oxford, that they might
not be forced to study beyond sea, at such great expenses."
But it is not yet. known what answer he had. The same
Bishop, having invited two. of .our .brethren together with
THE REST OR A TION 4 1 1
some of his nobility, drank the King's health to a certain
"heretic lord who was in company": Wishing his Majesty
good success in all his undertakings: adding also, That the
religion of the Protestants in England did not seem to him in
a better condition than Buda was before it was taken; and
that they were next to atheists that defended that faith.
Many embrace the true religion, and four of the most con-
siderable earls have lately made public profession of it.
Father Alexander Keynes, the Provincial's nephew, to whom
is committed the care of the chapel belonging to the Elector
of Palatine's Envoy, is continually taken up in solving and
answering the questions of heretics who doubt of their faith,
of whom you may see two or three together walking by the
chapel door, continually disputing about some point of
religion. As to Prince George, it is yet uncertain what
religion he professes. We gradually begin to get footing
in England. We teach human learning [humanities] at
Lincoln, Norwich, and York ; and at Worcester we have a
public chapel protected by a guard of the King's soldiers ;
and we are to buy some houses in the town of Wigan, Lan-
cashire. The Catholic interest grows very strong, and at
some churches granted to the Catholics upon holidays there
are often counted fifteen hundred present at the sermon. At
London, also, our business is carried on with the same good
success. Sermons are preached upon every holiday, and
there are so many that frequent the chapels, that they are not
big enough to hold them. Two of our Society, Dormer and
Bertue, preach continually before the King and Queen ;
Father Edward Neville, before the Queen Dowager; Father
Alexander Keynes in the chapel aforesaid ; others in other
chapels. There are many houses bought in the Savoy near
Somerset House, which is the Queen Dowager's Palace,
towards the erecting of the first College in London for about
eighteen thousand florins ; and they are hard at work to
bring them to the form of a College, that a school may be
opened before Easter.
A Catholic Lord Lieutenant is shortly to go over to Ire-
land, because the King cannot be satisfied with any other to
establish the Catholic interest in that kingdom. The Parlia-
ment will certainly sit in this month of February, of whom
his Majesty is resolved to ask three things : First, that by
a general Act all the Catholic peers shall be admitted to sit
in the Upper House; secondly, that the Test may be abol-
ished ; and thirdly, which is the chief point, that all penal
4i2 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
laws against Catholics should be abrogated. And that he
may the better obtain these things he designs to let them all
know : That he is resolved to turn out all those who will
not heartily act for the obtaining of them ; and likewise dis-
solve the Parliament. At which resolution some heretics
being terrified, came to a certain earl to advise with him
what might be done ; to whom he answered : "The King's
mind is sufficiently known; what he has once said, he will
certainly perform. If you love yourselves, submit to the
King's pleasure." There is to be a great preparation of war
at London, and a fleet of above one hundred men of war is
to be fitted out against the spring, but against whom it is
uncertain. The Dutch are under great apprehensions, but
for what reason, although they are said to make an arma-
ment, time will discover.
{Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus, ed. H. Foley,
Lond., 1879. V, 157.)
179. The Last Appeal
Kennett
In the year 1688 the affairs of the kingdom had come to such
a pass that James II., becoming alarmed for his throne because
of threatened invasion, resolved to radically reform his adminis-
tration. On Wednesday, October 3, the Archbishop of Canter-
bury and various members of the higher clergy, upon the king's
invitation, presented to the monarch the following address :
1. Our first humble advice is, that Your Majesty will be
graciously pleased to put the management of your govern-
ment in the several counties, into the hands of such of the
nobility and gentry there, as are legally qualified for it.
2. That Your Majesty will be graciously pleased to annul
your Commission for Ecclesiastical Affairs, and that no such
court (as that Commission sets up) may be erected for the
future.
3. That Your Majesty will graciously be pleased, that no
dispensation may be granted or continued, by virtue whereof
any person, not duly qualified by law, hath been, or may be
put into any place, office or preferment, in church or state,
or in the universities, or continued in the same; especially
such as have cure of souls annexed to them ; And in particu-
lar, that you will be graciously pleased to restore the presi-
dent and fellows of St. Mary Magdalen College in Oxford.
4. That Your Majesty will graciously be pleased to set
aside all licenses or faculties already granted, by which any
persons of the Romish communion may pretend to be enabled
THE RESTORATION 413
to teach public schools; and that no such be granted for the
future.
5. That Your Majesty will be graciously pleased to desist
from the exercise of such a dispensing power, as hath of late
been used; and to permit that point to be freely and calmly
debated and argued, and finally settled in Parliament.
6. That Your Majesty will be graciously pleased to inhibit
the four foreign bishops, who style themselves Vicars Apos-
tolical, from further invading the ecclesiastical jurisdiction,
which is by law vested in the bishops of this church.
7. That Your Majesty will be pleased graciously to fill the
vacant bishoprics, and other ecclesiastical promotions with-
in your gift, both in England and Ireland, with men of learn-
ing and piety; and in particular, (which I must own to be
my peculiar boldness, for 'tis done without the privity of my
brethren) that you will be graciously pleased forthwith to
fill the Archiepiscopal Chair of York (which has so long
stood empty, and upon which a whole province depends)
with some very worthy person: for which (pardon me, Sir,
if I am bold to say) you have now here before you a very
fair choice.
8. That Your Majesty will be graciously pleased to super-
sede all further prosecution of Quo Warranto's against cor-
porations, and to restore to them their ancient charters,
privileges, and franchises, as we hear God has put into Your
Majesty's heart to do for the City of London, which we in-
tended to have made otherwise one of our principal requests.
9. That if it please Your Majesty, writs may be issued out
with convenient speed, for the calling of a free and regular
Parliament, in which the church of England may be secured
according to the Acts of Uniformity; provision may be made
for a due liberty of conscience, and for securing the liber-
ties and properties of all your subjects; and a mutual con-
fidence and good understanding may be established between
Your Majesty and all your people.
10. Above all, That Your Majesty will be graciously
pleased to permit your bishops to offer you such motives and
arguments, as (we trust) may, by God's grace, be effectual
to persuade Your Majesty to return to the communion of the
Church of England, into whose most Holy Catholic faith you
were baptized, and in which you were educated, and to which
it is our daily earnest prayer to God, that you may be re-
united.
(Kennett, ed. cit., vol. Ill, p. 521.)
PART VII
ENGLAND A CONSTITUTIONAL
MONARCHY
415
CHAPTER XXIV
"THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION"
1 80. A Memorial from the Church of England to the
Prince of Orange
(1688)
The encroachments of James upon the religious liberties of
the people at last made the situation one impossible of con-
tinuance. There seemed to be no remedy but the second deposi-
tion of a Stuart. In this crisis, the people turned their gaze to
the Prince of Orange, the one Protestant who had any claim of
succession, though this claim was only by marriage. The clergy
were especially solicitous that he should come to the aid of the
Protestant faith, and to this end sent him the following earnest
appeal for countenance and protection.
Your Royal Highness cannot be ignorant that the Protest-
ants of England, who continue true to their religion and
government established by law, have been many ways
troubled and vexed by restless contrivances and designs of
Papists, under pretence of the royal authority, and things
required of them unaccountable before God and man : Eccle-
siastical benefits and preferments taken from them, without
any other reason but the King's pleasure : That they have
been summoned and sentenced by ecclesiastical commis-
sioners, contrary to law, deprived of their birth-right in the
free choice of their magistrates and representatives ; divers
corporations dissolved, the legal security of our religion and
liberty, established and ratified by King and Parliament,
annulled and overthrown by a pretended dispensing power :
New and unheard-of maxims have been preached, as if sub-
jects had no right but what depends on the King's will and
pleasure ; The militia put into the hands of persons not quali-
fied by law, and a popish mercenary army maintained in the
kingdom in time of peace, absolutely contrary to the law ; the
execution of the law against several high crimes and mis-
demeanors superseded and prohibited : The statutes against
correspondence with the court of Rome, papal jurisdiction,
418 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
and popish priests, suspended: That in courts of justice,
those judges are displaced, who dare acquit them whom the
King would have condemned; as happened to the judges
Powel and Holloway, for acquitting the seven bishops:
Liberty of chusing members of Parliament (notwithstanding
all the care taken, and provision made by law on that behalf)
wholly taken away, by Quo Warrantos served against cor-
porations and the three known questions: All things carried
on in open view for the propagation and growth of Popery,
for which the courts of England and France have so long
jointly laboured, with so much application and earnestness:
Endeavours to persuade your Royal Highnesses to liberty of
conscience, and abrogating the penal laws and tests; wherein
they fell short of their aim.
That they most humbly implore the protection of your
Royal Highnesses, as to the suspending and encroachments
made upon law, for maintenance of the Protestant religion,
our civil and fundamental rights and privileges : And that
your Royal Highnesses would be pleased to insist, that the
free Parliament of England, according to law, may be re-
stored; the laws against Papists, priests, papal jurisdiction,
etc. put in execution, and the suspending and dispensing
power declared null and void; the rights and privileges of
the City of London, the free choice of their magistrates, and
the liberties as well of that as of other corporations restored,
and all things returned to their ancient channel, etc.
(Kennett, ed. cit., Ill, 517.)
181. The Prince of Orange Reorganizes the Government
(Dec. 23, 1688)
After the flight of James, England was without a legal gov-
ernment. The Prince of Orange, after due invitation, proceeded
to organize the administration. His first act was to provide for
the calling of a Parliament, which he did in the following docu-
ment.
Whereas the necessity of affairs does require speedy
advice ; We do desire all such persons as have served as
knights, citizens or burgesses, in any of the Parliaments that
were held during the reign of the late K. Charles II. to meet
Us at St. James's, on Wednesday the 26th of this instant De-
cember, by ten of the clock in the morning. And We do
likewise desire, that the Lord-Mayor and Court of Aldermen
of the City of London would be present at the same time :
And that the Common-Council would appoint fifty of their
"THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" 49
number to be there likewise. And hereof we desire 'em not
to fail.
Given at St. James's, the 23d of December, 1688.
W. H. Prince of Orange.
(Kennett, ed. cit., Ill, 538.)
182. The Lords Invite William to Undertake the Government
The first step toward the foundation of a free Parliament was
taken when the Prince of Orange summoned the Commons to
confer with him (No. 181). The next step was taken by the
Lords. They met at Westminster on Dec. 25, 1688, and formally
invited William to undertake the government of England until
the first meeting of Parliament.
We, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, assembled in this
conjuncture, do desire your Highness to take upon you the
administration of the public affairs, both civil and military,
and the disposal of the public revenue, for the preservation
of our religion, rights, laws, liberties, and properties, and of
the peace of the nation : And that your Highness will take
into your particular care, the present condition of Ireland;
and endeavor, by the most effectual means, to prevent the
dangers threatening that kingdom. All which, we make our
request to your Highness to undertake and exercise, till the
meeting of the intended convention, the 22d of January next.
In which, we doubt not, such proper methods will be taken,
as will conduce to the establishment of these things upon
such sure and legal foundations, that they may not be in dan-
ger of being again subverted.
Dated at the House of Lords, Westm. Dec. 25th, 1688.
(Kennett, ed. cit., Ill, 539.)
183. The Manner of Summoning Parliament
On Christmas Day, 1688, the Lords at Westminster drew up a
second address containing suggestions as to the method for sum-
moning and electing members of the Parliament to be held on
the 22d of January, i68g.
We, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, assembled at West-
minster in this extraordinary conjuncture, do humbly desire
your Highness to cause letters to be written, subscribed by
yourself, to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal (being Prot-
estants;) and to the several counties, universities, cities,
420 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
boroughs, and cinque-ports of England, Wales, and Town of
Berwick upon Twede. The letters for the counties, to be
directed to the coroners of the respective counties or any one
of them; and in default of the coroners, to the clerk of the
Peace, of the respective counties : And the letters for the
universities, to be directed to every Vice-Chancellor : And
the letters to the several cities, boroughs, and cinque-ports,
to be directed to the chief magistrate of each respective
city, borough, and cinque-port; containing directions for the
choosing, in all such counties, cities, universities, boroughs,
and cinque-ports, within ten days after the receipt of the
respective letters, such a number of persons to represent
them, as are of right to be sent to Parliament: Of which
elections, and the times and places thereof, the respective
officers shall give notice, within the space of five days at the
least. Notice of the intended elections for the counties, to be
published in the churches, immediately after the time of
divine service ; and in all market-towns within the respective
counties: And notice of the intended elections for the
cities, universities, boroughs, and cinque-ports, to be pub-
lished within the said respective places. The said letters,
and the execution thereof, to be returned, by such officer
and officers who shall execute the same, to the Clerk of the
Crown in the Court of Chancery ; so as the persons so to be
chosen, may meet and sit at Westminster, on the two and
twentieth day of January next.
Dated at the House of Lords, Westm. Dec. 25, 1688.
(Kennett, ed. cit., Ill, 539.)
184. Answer of the Prince to the Suggestions of the Lords
(Dec. 28, 1688)
In a brief but comprehensive address the Prince assured the
Lords that he favourably regarded their suggestions concerning
the method of calling Parliament together.
I have considered of your advice ; and, as far as I am able,
I will endeavour to secure the peace of the nation, until the
meeting of the convention in January next ; for the election
thereof, I will forthwith issue out letters, according to your
desire. I will also take care to apply the public revenue to
the most proper uses that the present affairs require : And
likewise endeavour to put Ireland into such a condition, as
that the Protestant religion, and the English interests, may
be maintained in that Kingdom. And I further assure you,
That as I came hither for the preservation of the Protestant
"THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" 421
religion, and the laws and liberties of these kingdoms; so I
shall always be ready to expose myself to any hazard, for
the defense of the same.
(Kennett, ed. cit., Ill, 540.)
185. William of Orange to the Commons
(Dec. 26, 1688)
In accordance with the invitation of the Prince of Orange
(No. 181) members of the Commons' House of the Parliaments
held during the reign of Charles II., and the Lord Mayor and
court of the City of London, as well as representatives of the
Common Council of the City of London, gathered for the pur-
pose of forming a Parliament. The Prince briefly addressed
them, and authorized them to carry out the purpose of their
meeting.
You gentlemen that have been members of the late Par-
liaments, I have desired you to meet me here, to advise the
best manner how to persue the ends of my declaration, in
calling a free Parliament, for the preservation of the Prot-
estant religion, and the restoring the rights and liberties of
the kingdom, and settling the same, that they may not be in
danger of being again subverted.
And you the aldermen and members of the Common-Coun-
cil of the City of London, I desire the same of you. And m
regard your numbers are like to be great, you may, if you
think fit, divide yourselves, and sit in several places.
(Kennett, ed. cit., Ill, 539.
1 86. The Commons Answer the Prince
(Dec. 26, 1688)
Upon receipt of the command (No. 185) the Commons unani-
mously consented to proceed with the organization of parlia-
mentary government. They thanked the Prince for undertaking
the care of the kingdom, and suggested methods for calling the
Parliament together.
We who have served as members of the Parliaments
during the reign of the late King Charles II. together with
the Court of Aldermen, and members of the Common-Council
of the City of London, assembled at Your Highness's desire
(in this extraordinary conjuncture), do, with an unanimous
consent, tender to your Highness our humble and hearty
thanks, for your coming in this kingdom, and exposing
your person to so great hazards, for the preservation of our
religion, laws, and liberties, and rescuing us from the mis-
eries of popery and slavery : And desire your Highness, that
422 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
(in pursuance of those ends, and for the preservation of
the peace of the nation) your Highness will take upon you
the administration of public affairs, both civil and military,
and the disposal of the public revenue.
We do also desire, That your Highness will take into your
particular care, the present condition of Ireland; and en-
deavour, by the most speedy and effectual means, to prevent
the dangers threatening that kingdom.
All which, we desire your Highness to undertake and
execute, until the meeting of the intended convention, the
22d day of January next . . .
[Suggestions as to summoning Parliament follow. They
are almost identical with those of the Lords. No. 183.]
(Kennett, ed. cit., Ill, 539.)
187. The Prince's Address to Parliament
'On Tuesday, January 22, 1688-9, the Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and Commons, assembled at Westminster : the Lord
Marquis of Halifax, executed the place of Speaker in the House
of Lords, and the Commons chose Henry Powle, Esq., to be their
speaker. After which this letter from the Prince of Orange was
read in both Houses on the occasion of their meeting.'
I have endeavoured, to the utmost of my power, to perform
what was desired from me, in order to the public peace and
safety, and I do not know that any thing hath been omitted,
which might tend to the preservation of them, since the ad-
ministration of affairs was put into my hands. It now
lieth upon you to lay the foundations of a firm security for
your religion, your laws, and your liberties.
I do not doubt, but that by such a full and free repre-
sentative of the nation, as is now met, the ends of my decla-
ration will be attained : And since it hath pleased God hitherto
to bless my good intentions with so good success; I trust in
Him, that we will complete His own work, by sending a spirit
of peace and union, to influence your counsels, that no
interruption may be given to an happy and lasting settle-
ment.
The dangerous condition of the Protestants in Ireland,
require a large and speedy succour ; and the present state of
things abroad, oblige me to tell you, that next to the danger
of unseasonable divisions amongst yourselves, nothing can
be so fatal, as too great a delay in your consultations. The
states, by whom I have been enabled to rescue this nation,
may suddenly feel the ill effects of it, both by being too long
"THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" 423
deprived of the service of their troops, which are now here,
and of your early assistance against a powerful enemy, who
hath declared war against them. And as England is by
treaty already engaged to help them upon such exigencies,
so I am confident that their cheerful concurrence to preserve
this kingdom with so much hazard to themselves, will meet
with all the returns of friendship and assistance, which may
be expected from you as Protestants and Englishmen, when-
ever their condition shall require it.
(Kennett, ed. cit., Ill, 541.)
1 88. The Parliamentary Title of the Sovereigns of England
(Feb. 13, 1688)
The era of Kingship by Divine Right passed with the fugitive
Stuart. Once again in England the principle of an elective King-
ship was vindicated. The title of William and Mary plainly
rested upon parliamentary action, and since 1688 the Sovereigns
of England have had in the will of the people a sure foundation
for their thrones. The determination of William to be the sole
executive head of the nation, a determination that prohibited
the co-sovereignty of Mary, is clearly shown in the act con-
ferring the crown upon him.
The said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons as-
sembled at Westminster, do Resolve :
That William and Mary, Prince and Princess of Orange
be, and be declared King and Queen of England, France^
and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, to hold
the crown and royal dignity of the said kingdoms and
Dominions, to them the said Prince and Princess during their
lives, and the life of the survivor of them ; and that the sole
and full exercise of the royal power be only in, and ex-
ecuted by the said Prince of Orange, in the names of the
Prince and Princess during their lives; And after their
deceases, the said crown and royal dignity of the said king-
doms and dominions to the heirs of the body of the said Prin-
ces; And for default of such issue, to the Princess Anne
of Denmark, and the heirs of her body ; a rd for default
of such issue, to the heirs of the body of the said Prince of
Orange.
And the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons,
do pray the said Prince and Princess of Orange to accept
the same accordingly.
REPLY OF THE KING
My Lords and Gentlemen:
This is certainly the greatest proof of the trust you have
424 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
in me that can be given, which is the thing that makes us
value it the more : And as I had no other intention in coming
hither, than to preserve your religion, laws, and liberties, so
you may be sure, that I shall endeavour to support them, and
shall be willing to concur in anything that shall be for the
good of the kingdom, and to do all that is in my power to
advance the welfare and glory of the nation.
(Kennett, ed. cit., Ill, 548.)
189. The Bill of Rights
(l W. & M. S. 2, C. 2, 1689)
Statutes of the Realm
Among the great constitutional documents the Bill of Rights,
passed in October, 1689, ranks with the Magna Charta. On this
great Act Macaulay says : "The Declaration of Right, though it
made nothing law which had not been law before, contained the
germ of the law which gave religious freedom to the Dissenter,
of the law which secured the independence of the judges, of the
law which limited the duration of parliaments, of the law which
placed the liberty of the press under the protection of juries, of
the law which prohibited the slave trade, of the law which abol-
ished the sacramental test, of the law which relieved the Roman
Catholics from civil disabilities, of the law which reformed the
representative system, of every good law which has been passed
during more than a century and a half, of every good law which
may hereafter, in the course of ages, be found necessary to pro-
mote the public weal, and to satisfy the demands of public
opinion."
AN ACT DECLARING THE RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES OF THE SUBJECT
AND SETTLING THE SUCCESSION OF THE CROWN
Whereas the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons,
assembled at Westminster, lawfully, fully, and freely re-
presenting all the estates of the people of this realm, did,
upon the thirteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
one thousand six hundred eighty-eight, present unto theit
Majesties, then called and known by the names and style of
William and Mary, Prince and Princess of Orange, being
present in their proper persons, a certain declaration in
writing, made by the said Lords and Commons, in the words
following ; viz :
Whereas the late King James II., by the assistance of
diverse evil counsellors, judges, and ministers employed by
him, did endeavour to subvert and extirpate the Protestant
religion, and the laws and liberties of this kingdom :
i. By assuming and exercising a power of dispensing with
and suspending of laws, and the execution of laws, without
consent of Parliament.
"THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" 425
2. By committing and prosecuting divers worthy prelates,
for humbly petitioning to be excused form concurring to the
same assumed power.
3. By issuing and causing to be executed a commission
under the Great Seal for erecting a court, called the Court
of Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes.
4. By levying money for and to the use of the Crown, by
pretence of prerogative, for other time, and in other manner
than the same was granted by Parliament.
5. By raising and keeping a standing army within this
kingdom in time of peace, without consent of Parliament,
and quartering soldiers contrary to law.
6. By causing several good subjects, being Protestants,
to be disarmed, at the same time when Papists were both
armed and employed contrary to law.
7. By violating the freedom of election of members to
serve in Parliament.
8. By prosecutions in the Court of King's Bench, for
matters and causes cognizable only in Parliament ; and by
diverse other arbitrary and illegal courses.
9. And whereas of late years, partial, corrupt, and un-
qualified persons have been returned and served on juries in
trials, and particularly diverse jurors in trials for high
treason, which were not freeholders.
10. And excessive bail hath been required of persons com-
mitted in criminal cases, to elude the benefit of the laws
made for the liberty of the subjects.
n. And excessive fines have been imposed.
12. And illegal and cruel punishments inflicted.
13. And several grants and promises made of fines and
forfeitures, before any conviction or judgment against the
persons upon whom the same were to be levied.
All which are utterly and directly contrary to the known
laws and statutes, and freedom of this realm.
And whereas the said late King James II. having abdicated
the government, and the throne being thereby vacant, his
Highness the Prince of Orange (whom it hath pleased Al-
mighty God to make the glorious instrument of delivering
this kingdom from popery and arbitrary power) did (by the
advice of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and diverse
principal persons of the Commons) cause letters to be written
to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, being Protestants, and
other letters to the several counties, cities, universities, bor-
oughs, and cinque ports, for the choosing of such persons
426 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
to represent them, as were of right to be sent to Parliament,
to meet and sit at Westminster upon the two-and-twentieth
day of January, in this year one thousand six hundred eighty
and eight, in order to such an establishment, as that their
religion, laws and liberties might not again be in danger of
being subverted; upon which letters, elections have been ac-
cordingly made.
And thereupon the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal,
and Commons, pursuant to their respective letters and elec-
tions, being now assembled in a full and free representation^
of this nation, taking into their most serious consideration
the best means for attaining the ends aforesaid, do in the
first place (as their ancestors in like case have usually done),
for the vindicating and asserting their ancient rights and
liberties, declare :
1. That the pretended power of suspending of laws, or the
execution of laws, by regal authority, without consent of
parliament, is illegal.
2. That the pretended power of dispensing with laws, or
the execution of laws by regal authority, as it hath been as-
sumed and exercised of late, is illegal.
3. That the commission for erecting the late Court of Com-
missioners for Ecclesiastical causes, and all other commis-
sions and courts of like nature, are illegal and pernicious.
4. That levying money for or to the use of the Crown, by
pretence of prerogative, without grant of parliament, for
longer time or in other manner than the same is or shall be
granted, is illegal.
5. That it is the right of the subjects to petition the king,
and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning
are illegal.
6. That the raising or keeping a standing army within the
kingdom in time of peace, unless it be with consent of parlia-
ment, is against law.
7. That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms
for their defence suitable to their conditions, and as allowed
by law.
8. That election of members of parliament ought to be free.
9. That the freedom of speech, and debates or proceedings
in parliament, ought not to be impeached or questioned in
any court or place out of parliament.
10. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor exces-
sive fines imposed; nor cruel and unusual punishments in-
flicted.
"THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" 427
11. That jurors ought to be duly impanelled and returned,
and jurors which pass upon men in trials for high treason
ought to be freeholders.
12. That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures
of particular persons before conviction, are illegal and void.
13. And that for redress of all grievances, and for the
amending, strengthening, and preserving of the laws, parlia-
ments ought to be held frequently.
And they do claim, demand, and insist upon all and singular
the premises, as their undoubted rights and liberties; and
that no declarations, judgments, doings or proceedings, to the
prejudice of the people in any of the said premises, ought in
any wise to be drawn hereafter into consequence or example.
To which demand of their rights they are particularly en-
couraged by the declaration of his Highness the Prince of
Orange, as being the only means for obtaining a full redress
and remedy therein.
Having therefore an entire confidence that his said High-
ness the Prince of Orange will perfect the deliverance so far
advanced by him, and will still preserve them from the viola-
tion of their rights, which they have here asserted, and from
all other attempts upon their religion, rights, and liberties:
II. The said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons,
assembled at Westminster, do resolve, that William and
Mary, Prince and Princess of Orange, be, and be declared,
King and Queen of England, France, and Ireland, and the
dominions thereunto belonging, to hold the Crown and royal
dignity of the said kingdoms and dominions to them the said
Prince and Princess during their lives, and the life of the
survivor of them ; and that the sole and full exercise of the
regal power be only in, and executed by, the said Prince of
Orange, in the names of the said Prince and Princess, during
their joint lives ; and after their deceases, the said Crown and
royal dignity of the said kingdoms and dominions to be to
the heirs of the body of the said Princess; and for default
of such issue to the Princess Anne of Denmark, and the heirs
of her body and for default of such issue to the heirs of the
body of the said Prince of Orange. And the Lords Spiritual
and Temporal, and Commons, do pray the said Prince and
Princess to accept the same accordingly.
III. And that the oaths hereafter mentioned be taken by
all persons of whom the oaths of allegiance and supremacy
might be required by law, instead of them ; and that the said
oaths of allegiance and supremacy be abrogated.
428 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
I, A. B., do sincerely promise and swear, That I will be
faithful and bear true allegiance to their Majesties King
William and Queen Mary:
So help me God.
I, A. B., do swear, That I do from my heart, abhor, detest,
and abjure as impious and heretical, that damnable doctrine
and position, that Princes excommunicated or deprived by
the Pope, or any authority of the See of Rome, may be de-
posed or murdered by their subjects, or any other what-
soever. And I do declare, that no foreign prince, person,
prelate, state, or potentate hath, or ought to have, any juris-
diction, power, superiority, pre-eminence, or authority ec-
clesiastical or spiritual, within this realm :
So help me God.
IV. Upon which their said Majesties did accept the Crown
and royal dignity of the kingdoms of England, France, and
Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, according
to the resolution and desire of the said Lords and Commons
contained in the said declaration.
V. And thereupon their Majesties were pleased, that the said
Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, being the two
Houses of Parliament, should continue to sit, and with their
Majesties' royal concurrence make effectual provision for
the settlement of the religion, laws, and liberties of this king-
dom, so that the same for the future might not be in danger
again of being subverted; to which the said Lords Spiritual
and Temporal, and Commons, did agree and proceed to act
accordingly.
VI. Now in pursuance of the premises, the said Lords
Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in parliament as-
sembled, for the ratifying, confirming, and establishing the
said declaration, and the articles, clauses, matters, and things
therein contained, by the force of a law made in due form
by authority of parliament, do pray that it may be declared
and enacted, That all and singular the rights and liberties
asserted and claimed in the said declaration, are the true,
ancient, and indubitable rights and liberties of the people
of this kingdom, and so shall be esteemed, allowed, adjudged,
deemed, and taken to be, and that all and every the partic-
ulars aforesaid shall be firmly and strictly holden and ob-
served, as they are expressed in the said declaration ; and
all officers and ministers whatsoever shall serve their Ma-
"THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" ^9
jesties and their successors according to the same in all times
to come.
VII. And the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and
Commons, seriously considering how it hath pleased Al-
mighty God, in his marvellous providence, and merciful
goodness to this nation, to provide and preserve their said
Majesties' royal persons most happily to reign over us upon
the throne of their ancestors, for which they render unto
Him from the bottom of their hearts their humblest thanks
and praises, do truly, firmly, assuredly, and in the sincerity
of their hearts, think, and do hereby recognize, acknowledge,
and declare, that King James II. having abdicated the govern-
ment, and their Majesties having accepted the Crown and
royal dignity aforesaid, their said Majesties did become,
were, are, and of right ought to be, by the laws of this realm,
our sovereign liege Lord and Lady, King and Queen of Eng-
land, France, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto be-
longing, in and to whose princely persons the royal State,
Crown, and dignity of the same realms, with ail honours,
styles, titles, regalities, prerogatives, powers, jurisdictions
and authorities to the same belonging and appertaining, are
most fully, rightfully, and entirely invested and incorporated,
united and annexed.
VIII. And for preventing all questions and divisions in
this realm, by reason of any pretended titles to the Crown,
and for preserving a certainty in the succession thereof, in
and upon which the unity, peace, tranquillity, and safety of
this nation doth, under God, wholly consist and depend, the
said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, do be-
seech their Majesties that it may be enacted, established, and
declared, that the Crown and regal government of the said
kingdoms and dominions, with all and singular the premises
thereunto belonging and appertaining, shall be and continue
to their said Majesties, and the survivor of them, during
their lives, and the life of the survivor of them. And that
the entire, perfect, and full exercise of the regal power and
government be only in, and executed by, his Majesty, in the
names of both their Majesties during their joint lives; and
after their deceases the said Crown and premises shall be
and remain to the heirs of the body of her Majesty: and for
default of such issue, to her Royal Highness the Princess
Anne of Denmark, and the heirs of her body ; and for default
of such issue, to the heirs of the body of his said Majesty:
and thereunto the -said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and
43 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Commons, do, in the name of all the people aforesaid, most
humbly and faithfully submit themselves, their heirs and
posterities, for ever: and do faithfully promise, That they
will stand to, maintain, and defend their said Majesties, and
also the limitation and succession of the Crown herein speci-
fied and contained, to the utmost of their powers, with their
lives and estates, against all persons whatsoever that shall
attempt anything to the contrary.
IX. And whereas it hath been found by experience, that it
is inconsistent with the safety and welfare of this Protestant
kingdom, to be governd by a Popish prince, or by any king
or queen marrying a Papist, the said Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and Commons, do further pray that it may be en-
acted, That all and every person and persons that is, are, or
shall be reconciled to, or shall hold communion with, the
See or Church of Rome, or shall profess the Popish religion,
or shall marry a Papist, shall be excluded, and be for ever
incapable to inherit, possess, or enjoy the Crown and govern-
ment of this realm, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto
belonging, or any part of the same, or to have, use, or exercise
any regal power, authority, or jurisdiction within the same ;
and in all and every such case or cases the people of these
realms shall be and are hereby absolved of their allegiance ;
and the said Crown and Government shall from time to time
descend to, and be enjoyed by, such person or persons, being
Protestants, as should have inherited and enjoyed the same,
in case the said person or persons so reconciled, holding com-
munion, or professing, or marrying as aforesaid, were natur-
ally dead.
X. And that every king and queen of this realm, who at
any time hereafter shall come to succeed in the Imperial
Crown of this kingdom, shall, on the first day of the meeting
of the first parliament, next after his or her coming to the
Crown, sitting in his or her throne in the House of Peers, in
the presence of the Lords and Commons therein assembled,
or at his or her coronation, before such person or persons
who shall administer the coronation oath to him or her, at
the time of his or her taking the said oath (which shall first
happen), make, subscribe, and audibly repeat the declaration
mentioned in the statute made in the thirtieth year of the
reign of King Charles II., intituled 'An Act for the more
effectual preserving the King's person and government, by
disabling Papists from sitting in either House of Parliament.'
But if it shall happen, that such king W queen, upon his or
"THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" *$l
her succession to the Crown of this realm, shall be under the
age of twelve years, then every such king or queen shall
make, subscribe, and audibly repeat the said declaration at
his or her coronation, or the first day of the meeting of the
first parliament as aforesaid, which shall first happen after
such king or queen shall have attained the said age of twelve
years.
XI. All which their Majesties are contented and pleased
shall be declared, enacted, and established by authority of this
present parliament, and shall stand, remain, and be the law
of this realm for ever; and the same are by their said Ma-
jesties, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords
Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in parliament as-
sembled, and by the authority of the same, declared, enacted,
and established accordingly.
XII. And be it further declared and enacted by the au-
thority aforesaid, That from and after this present session of
parliament, no dispensation by non obstante of or to any
statute, or any part thereof, shall be allowed, but that the
same shall be held void and of no effect, except a dispensa-
tion be allowed of in such statute, and except in such cases
as shall be specially provided for by one or more bill or bills
to be passed during this present session of parliament.
XIII. Provided that no charter, or grant, or pardon granted
before the three-and-twentieth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand six hundred eighty-nine, shall be
any ways impeached or invalidated by this act, but that the
same shall be and remain of the same force and effect in law,
and no other, than as if this act had never been made.
(Ed. from Statutes of the Realm, VI, 142-145.)
190. The Act of Settlement
(12 & 13 WILL. Ill, 1700)
Statutes of the Realm
The Act of Settlement, or Act of Succession, became a law on
June 12, 1701. HALLAM says of this important statute that it is
"the seal of our constitutional laws, the complement of the Revo-
lution itself and the Bill of Rights, and the last great statute
which restrains the power of the Crown."
AN ACT FOR THE FURTHER LIMITATION OF THE CROWN, AND
BETTER SECURING THE RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES OF THE
SUBJECT
Whereas in the first year of the reign of your Majesty, and
of our late most Gracious Sovereign Lady Queen Mary (of
432 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
blessed memory) an Act of Parliament was made, intituled
"An Act for declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Sub-
ject, and for settling the Succession of the Crown," where-
in it was (amongst other things) enacted, established and
declared, That the Crown and Regal Government of the
kingdoms of England, France and Ireland, and the dominions
thereunto belonging, should be and continue to your Majesty
and the said late Queen, during the joint-lives of your Ma-
jesty and the said Queen, and to the survivor : And that
after the decease of your Majesty and of the said Queen,
the said Crown and Regal Government should be and remain
to the heirs of the body of the said late Queen : And for
default of such issue, to her Royal Highness the Princess
Anne of Denmark, and the heirs of her body: And for de-
fault of such issue, to the heirs of the body of your Majesty.
And it was thereby further enacted, That all and every
person and persons that then were, or afterwards should
be reconciled to, or shall hold communion with the See or
Church of Rome, or should profess the Popish religion, or
marry a Papist, should be excluded, and are by that act made
for ever uncapable to inherit, possess, or enjoy the Crown and
Government of this realm and Ireland, and the dominions
thereunto belonging, or any part of the same, or to have,
use, or exercise any regal power, authority, or jurisdiction
within the same : and in all and every such case and cases
the people of these realms shall be and are thereby absolved
of their allegiance : And that the said Crown and Govern-
ment shall from time to time descend to and be enjoyed by
such person or persons, being Protestants, as should have in-
herited and enjoyed the same, in case the said person or
persons, so reconciled, holding communion, professing, or
marrying as aforesaid, were naturally dead. After the
making of which statute, and the settlement therein con-
tained, your Majesty's good subjects, who were restored
to the full and free possession and enjoyment of their re-
ligion, rights, and liberties, by the providence of God giving
success to your Majesty's just undertakings and unwearied
endeavours for that purpose, had no greater temporal felicity
to hope or wish for. then to see a royal progeny descending
from your Majesty, to whom (under God) they owe their
tranquillity, and whose ancestors have for many years been
principal assertors of the reformed religion and the liberties
of Europe, and from our said most Gracious Sovereign Lady,
whose memory will always be precious to the subjects of
"THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" 433
these realms: And it having since pleased Almighty God to
take away our said Sovereign Lady, and also the most hope-
ful Prince William Duke of Gloucester (the only surviving
issue of her Royal Highness the Princess Anne of Denmark)
to the unspeakable grief and sorrow of your Majesty and
your said good subjects, who under such losses being sensibly
put in mind, that it standeth wholly in the pleasure of Al-
mighty God to prolong the lives of your Majesty and of her
Royal Highness, and to grant to your Majesty, or to her
Royal Highness, such issue as may be inheritable to the
Crown and regal Government aforesaid, by the respective
limitations in the said recited Act contained, do constantly
implore the Divine Mercy for those blessings: and your
Majesty's said subjects having daily experience of your royal
care and concern for the present and future welfare of these
kingdoms, and particularly recommending from your Throne
a further provision to be made for the succession of the
Crown in the Protestant line, for the happiness of the nation,
and the security of our religion ; and it being absolutely neces-
sary for the safety, peace and quiet of this realm, to obviate
all doubts and contentions in the same, by reason of any pre-
tended titles to the Crown, and to maintain a certainty in the
succession thereof, to which your subjects may safely have
recourse for their protection, in case the limitations in the
said recited Act should determine : Therefore for a further
provision of the succession of the Crown in the Protestant
line, we your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the
Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present
Parliament assembled, do beseech your Majesty that it may
be enacted and declared, and be it enacted and declared by
the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice
and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Com-
mons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the
authority of the same, That the most Excellent Princess
Sophia, Electress and Duchess Dowager of Hanover, daugh-
ter of the most Excellent Princess Elizabeth, late Queen of
Bohemia, daughter of our late Sovereign Lord King James I,
of happy memory, be and is hereby declared to be the next in
succession, in the Protestant line, to the Imperial Crown and
dignity of the said realms of England, France and Ireland,
with the dominions and territories thereunto belonging, after
his Majesty, and the Princess Anne of Denmark, and in de-
fault of issue of the said Princess Anne, and of his Majesty
respectively: And that from and after the deceases of his
434 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
said Majesty, our now Sovereign Lord, and of her Royal
Highness the Princess Anne of Denmark, and for default of
issue of the said Princess Anne, and of his Majesty respec-
tively, the Crown and regal Government of the said kingdoms
of England, France and Ireland, and of the dominions there-
unto belonging, with the royal state and dignity of the said
realms, and all honours, stiles, titles, regalities, prerogatives,
powers, jurisdictions and authorities, to the same belonging
and appertaining, shall be, remain, and continue to the said
most Excellent Princess Sophia, and the heirs of her body,
being Protestants: And thereunto the said Lords Spiritual
and Temporal, and Commons, shall and will, in the name of
all the people of this realm, most humbly and faithfully sub-
mit themselves, their heirs and posterities; and do faithfully
promise that after the deceases of his Majesty, and her Royal
Highness, and the failure of the heirs of their respective
bodies, to stand to, maintain, and defend the said Princess
Sophia, and the heirs of her body, being Protestants, accord-
ing to the limitation and succession of the Crown in this Act
specified and contained, to the utmost of their powers, with
their lives and estates, against all persons whatsoever that
shall attempt anything to the contrary.
II. Provided always, and it is hereby enacted, That all
and every person and persons, who shall or may take or in-
herit the said Crown, by virtue of the limitation of this
present Act, and is, are or shall be reconciled to, or shall hold
communion with, the See or Church of Rome, or shall pro-
fess the Popish religion, or shall marry a Papist, shall be
subject to such incapacities, as in such case or cases are by
the said recited Act provided, enacted, and established ; and
that every King and Queen of this realm, who shall come to
and succeed in the Imperial Crown of this kingdom, by virtue
of this Act, shall have the Coronation Oath administered
to him, her or them, at their respective Coronations, accord-
ing to the Act of Parliament made in the first year of the
reign of his Majesty, and the said late Queen Mary, intituled.
'An Act for establishing the Coronation Oath,' and shall
make, subscribe, and repeat the Declaration in the Act first
above recited mentioned or referred to, in the manner and
form thereby prescribed.
III. And whereas it is requisite and necessary that some
further provision be made for securing our religion, laws
and liberties, from and after the death of his Majesty and the
Princess Anne of Denmark, and in default of issue of the
"THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" 435
body of the said Princess, and of his Majesty respectively:
Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and
with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Tem-
poral, and Commons, in Parliament assembled, and by the
authority of the same,
That whosoever shall hereafter come to the possession of
this Crown, shall join in communion with the Church of Eng-
land, as by law established.
That in case the Crown and imperial dignity of this realm
shall hereafter come to any person, not being a native of this
kingdom of England, this nation be not obliged to engage
in any war for the defence of any dominions or territories
which do not belong to the Crown of England, without the
consent of Parliament.
That no person who shall hereafter come to the possession
of this Crown, shall go out of the dominions of England,
Scotland, or Ireland, without consent of Parliament.
That from and after the time that the further limitation
by this Act shall take effect, all matters and things relating
to the well governing of this kingdom, which are properly
cognizable in the Privy Council by the laws and customs of
this realm, shall be transacted there, and all resolutions taken
thereupon shall be signed by such of the Privy Council as
shall advise and consent to the same.
That after the said limitation shall take effect as aforesaid,
no person born out of the kingdoms of England, Scotland, or
Ireland, or the dominions thereunto belonging (although he
be naturalised or made a denizen, except such as are born of
English parents), shall be capable to be of the Privy Council,
or a Member of either House of Parliament, or to enjoy any
office or place of trust, either civil or military, or to have
any grant of lands, tenements or hereditaments from the
Crown, to himself or to any other or others in trust for
him.
That no person who has an office or place of profit under
the King, or receives a pension from the Crown, shall be
capable of serving as a Member of the House of Commons.
That after the said limitation shall take effect as aforesaid,
Judges' Commissions be made Quamdiu se bene gesserint,
and their salaries ascertained and established; but upon the
Address of both Houses of Parliament it may be lawful to
remove them.
That no pardon under the Great Seal of England be plead-
able to an impeachment by the Commons in Parliament.
436 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
IV. And whereas the Laws of England are the birthright
of the people thereof, and all the Kings and Queens, who
shall ascend the Throne of this realm, ought to administer
the Government of the same according to the said laws, and
all their officers and ministers ought to serve them respect-
ively according to the same : The said Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and Commons, do therefore further humbly pray,
That all the Laws and Statutes of this realm for securing
the established religion, and the rights and liberties of the
people thereof, and all other Laws and Statutes of the same
now in force, may be ratified and confirmed, and the same
are by his Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of
the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, and by
authority of the same, ratified and confirmed accordingly.
(Statutes of the Realm, VII, 636-638.)
191. The Jesuits in England under William
Henry Humbertson
The striking contrast between this letter and No. 178, written
but thirteen years before, is the best illustration of the radical
change in the status of the Catholics effected by the revolution
of 1688. The disabilities then imposed on Catholics were not
destined to be removed for over a century. The letter is from
the Rev. Henry Humbertson, Rector of St. Omer's College, to the
Very Rev. Father General of the Society of Jesus.
LETTER FROM THE FATHER PROVINCIAL TO THE FATHER
GENERAL OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS
St. Omer, loth April, 1700.
Very Reverend Father in Christ,
P. C.
It is deemed unsafe to write to your Paternity from Eng-
land, and this is the reason of my long silence. Being now
in Belgium I take the opportunity of writing to acquaint your
Paternity in the first place that a great persecution is about
to be raised in England. The Parliament which, so long as
it stood in need of the aid of the Catholic princes in the war
against the King of France and their own Sovereign (James
II.), restrained itself for the time, now that the motive for
dissimulation is removed, has resumed its accustomed prac-
tices, and, besides reviving the ancient penal laws, both
Houses have passed a new one, of which the following are
the principal heads:
"THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" 437
I. If any Catholic Bishop, priest, or Jesuit be apprehended
in this kingdom after the 25th of March, 1700, and shall be
convicted of having exercised any episcopal or sacerdotal
functions whatever, he shall be imprisoned for life in some
place in England, to be assigned by the King. The informer
is to receive a reward of 100 sterling (about 400 Roman
scudi). Also, if any one shall open a school for the educa-
tion of children, or shall afford any means of doing so in his
own house, without first taking the oath of allegiance and
supremacy, he shall be condemned to the same punishment.
II. After the 2gih of September, 1700, every Catholic at-
taining the age of eighteen must within six months after
attaining that age take the said oath, abjuring his faith and
embracing the national religion ; in default of which he shall
be incapable of inheriting or of possessing any goods, honours,
or titles whatever, and during such his refusal his inheritance,
etc., shall pass to, and be held and enjoyed by his nearest
Protestant relation, without being liable to account for the
same (except in case of wilful waste).
III. After the loth of April, 1700, every Catholic shall be
incapable of either buying or selling any lands, possessions,
or hereditaments whatever within the kingdom ; and all titles
and contracts of every kind, under which property shall be
bought or sold, shall be null and void.
IV. Whoever shall send a son or daughter or any ward
into foreign parts for education in the Roman Catholic
religion shall be fined in the sum of fioo sterling, and
whereas the statute of I. James I. awarded one half that fine
to be paid to the Treasury and the other half to the informer,
now, to intensify the exertions of the informer, the whole
fine is allotted to them by way of reward.
V. In order that Protestant sons or daughters born of
Catholic parents may not be compelled to follow their parents'
religion against their conscience for want of the means of
support, it is enacted that in case such parents refuse to find
them support proper to their state, the Lord Chancellor, upon
the petition of any such child, shall order some scheme
whereby the second clause of the act may be applied to them.
This act having passed both Houses of Parliament only
awaits the assent of the Prince of Orange, who is now king,
to give it the force of law, and this there is no doubt of his
giving. A persecution is hence anticipated, exceeding any
that has been experienced since heresy took root in England.
No act of Parliament more calculated to root out the Catholic
438 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
faith in England was ever enacted, and, unless it pleases God
to hinder its execution, it will be impossible for religion long
to exist in the kingdom. I have ordained public prayers
throughout the whole Province to implore the Divine pro-
tection. I entreat your Paternity likewise to recommend the
unhappy condition of our country to the Holy Sacrifices and
prayers of the whole Society, and that they will remember
me also,
Your Very Rev. Paternity's
Most obedient servant in Christ,
Henry Humberston.
(Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus, ed. cit. , V. )
192. Dissenters in the Eighteenth Century
Chamberlayne
The student should not lose sight of the fact that for a thou-
sand years after the coming of the Anglo-Saxons as for cen-
turies before, the Church of Rome was the Church in England.
Following the establishment of the Church of England in the
reign of Henry VIII a variety of sects contended with the State
Church for place and power. Much of the history of the later
Tudors and the Stuarts finds its impulses in the dissensions of
sectaries. Despite constant and stringent measures looking to
uniformity of worship, dissent continued and increased. The fol-
lowing selection well illustrates the theological divisions of the
people after the Revolution of 1688.
The inhabitants of this land, being a sensible and civilized
people, are generally much addicted to religion ; and whereas,
in those countries where the Roman Catholic religion is
national, ignorance is the mother of devotion, people of the
best parts being least affected with a religion; so, contrary
to reason, here in England those who are of the best capaci-
ties are generally most devout ; and again, the devoutest men
of this church are always the best moralists, which shows
their devotion to be unfeigned and without hypocrisy; but
the greatest blemish to religion amongst us is the pitiable
number of dissenters from the Established Church, some pre-
judiced by education, some by sensuality, some by interest,
and some few by misguided zeal ; for, having repented of
their former ill courses, whilst they call themselves members
of the Church of England, they think they cannot thoroughly
change their lives without changing their religion too, be-
coming, like stray sheep, an easy prey to the next claimer.
If we divide the people of England into 60 parts, perhaps
"THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" 439
five of them are such dissenters of all sorts who never come
to the public services of the national church.
Two parts who hold communion with the national Church
and with their own particular sect at the same time, as occa-
sion or opportunity offers. These are a foolish and incon-
siderate people, who are little valued by either side by reason
of their inconsistency and prevarication with God and man,
especially if it appears to be done upon a selfish and temporal
account.
Three parts are these who being in constant communion
with the Church of England, seldom or never joining openly
with any other, seem nevertheless somewhat displeased with
the Church, and the only reason they continue in it is because
they are more displeased with every sect of the dissenters
from it: for they acknowledge this to be the best form of
religion in the country ; but this they (having new schemes
in their heads) would reform or refine.
The most understanding of this sort of men have a political
thirst after such a reformation, in hope by that means to
comprehend many of the more moderate dissenters, and to
bring them into communion with the national Church ; and
such a design was set on foot in the beginning of this
government in convocation, where all things of that nature
are first to be debated; but few of the dissenters at that
time showing any willingness to be so comprehended, and
some of the heads of them counselling ingeniously that all
such attempts would prove successless, without quite dissolv-
ing our frame of church government, the whole business fell.
And instead thereof, all Protestant dissenters from the
Church (except Antitrinitarians) are tolerated so long as
they live peaceably and conformably in the state, and every
man in England doth now enjoy a free liberty of conscience
and use of what religion best pleases him.
The dissenters from the Church of England are of these
five sorts: Libertines, Papists, Anabaptists, Independents,
and Presbyterians.
First, By Libertines we mean those that live ad libitum,
whether they be Atheists, Sceptics, Deists, and the like;
of these there are not many amongst us, at leastwise pro-
fessedly so, and those that be, are vain, fanatic, unthinking
people, some of whom having a little smattering of learning,
are troublesome with it to themselves and the rest of man-
kind. These men have some superficial knowledge in second
causes, but, for want of due consideration, they are al*
440 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
together ignorant of the first Mover and of his revealed
will . . .
The number of Jews and Socinians amongst us is still more
inconsiderable.
Secondly, Papists we have many, yet not so many but that
in the late government, when they all appeared publicly, it
was, and is, a wonder how the designs of that handful of
men could put the whole nation into such convulsions . . .
3. Anabaptists are of two sorts : First, those who go vul-
garly by that name ; and, secondly, those who are distin-
guished by the name of Quakers.
The Anabaptists which go by that name are a more reason-
able sort here in England that those of Flanders and Ger-
many ; very few of ours are so wild, extravagant, and en-
thusiastical as those abroad. These submit themselves to
civil government; and the chief article of their dissent in
religion, is concerning Pccdobaptism, which they hold un-
reasonable. Yet there is in many other things some of the
Flemish leaven still among them, as accounting themselves
the only pure church ; are envious at the Established Church ;
abhor paying of tithes, and affect parity : but that which is
worst of all, some of them have strange notions concerning
our blessed Saviour and his Incarnation, the Holy Trinity,
the soul of man, etc. Some of these, as well as Quakers, are
great admirers of Jacob Behmen and his sort of cant ; and
many of them are closely wrapped up in Rosicrusian Divin-
ity; they look upon all liturgy and ceremonies as popish, allow
that laymen may administer sacraments, expect an universal
monarchy of Christ here on earth. Some of them are called
Brownists, from Robert Brown of Northamptonshire, but
there are some Brownists who allow of Paedobaptism. Fam-
ilists, or the Family of Love, we have scarce any remaining:
Adamites none. But here are some Antimonians who hold
that no trangression is sin in the "children of God": Tras-
kitts, now called Seventh-day men, who keep the Jewish Sab-
bath : Antisabbatarians, who keep none at all ; and the
Muggletonians are scarce extinct, who say that God the
Father, leaving the government of Heaven to Elias, came
down on Earth and suffered in human form ; these deny the
Holy Trinity, the creation of earth and water, the immortal-
ity of the soul, religious ministry, and, some of them, ma-
gistratual authority.
Quakers. The other sort of Anabaptists are called Quakers
or Shakers, from the trembling and quaking caused in them
"THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" 44'
by vapors in their ecstatic fits, especially after long fasting,
an exercise very much practised by the first disciples of
this sect here in England, but of late almost wholly dis-
used . . .
They reject ministerial ordinances, and place religion
wholly in the inward light of every man's private spirit;
and how different soever the impulses of one man's spirit
are from another, and how different notions soever they
create, they account it all the same light infused by the
Spirit of God in different measures and degrees. They
agree with other Anabaptists against infant baptism, and
go far beyond them, even to the neglecting of all baptism,
and the other sacrament of the Eucharist, all human learn-
ing, appropriate places and times of worship, and abhor
paying of tithes. They practised formerly abstinence and
self-denial, but now of late none are prouder or more
luxurious than the generality of them : they formerly wore
plain and coarse clothes, now the men wear very fine cloth,
and are distinguished from others only by a particular shap-
ing of their coats, a little pleated cravat, and a slender
hat-band; the women nevertheless wear flowered, or striped,
or damask silks, and the finest linen cut and pleated in
imitation of lace, but they wear no lace or superfluous rib-
bons ; however, they are extremely nice in their choice of
tailors, seamstresses, and laundresses. Those of the men
who wear periwigs have them of genteel hair and shape,
tho' not long. They are as curious in their meats, and
as cheerful in their drink, and as soft in their amours, and as
much in the enjoyment of life as others.
They have generally denied the Trinity of Persons in the
one Godhead, the resurrection of the body, the Incarnation
of Christ (which they seem to look upon as a figure) the
locality of heaven and hell, and many other Catholic tenets.
Independents. Independents are a sect lately sprung up
from the Brownists. These have no general church govern-
ment, but each particular congregation is ruled by their own
laws and methods without dependence on one another: look
upon tithes as superstitious and Judaical ; are against all
set form of prayer, even the Lord's Prayer. They give
power to private men to erect and gather churches, elect,
ordain, depose, excommunicate, and determine finally in all
church-causes. Laity sometimes administer the sacraments,
and magistrates administer the office of matrimony. They
are most of them Millenaries, and commence the last thousand
W SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
years of Christ's kingdom from the beginning of Independ-
ency. All those of the laity they account "gifted men,"
are permitted to preach, and pray, and to catechise the
preacher concerning the doctrine he has preached. They
communicate frequently, sitting at a table or without a table.
Presbyterians. Presbyterians maintain that there is only
a nominal difference between bishop, presbyter, and pastor;
and that priest is not a gospel word, but belongs only to
sacrifices. They will not allow deacons to preach, but only
to collect for and administer to the poor. In every church
they appoint lay-elders and rulers, who are to inspect men's
manners and to bear a part in the government of the church.
They acknowledge a priority of order ought to be amongst
church-governours, but not a priority of jurisdiction. They
deny the civil magistrate any authority in church govern-
ment, making the king mere Laicits, and subject to the
censures of parochial church-governours. They have two
church judicatories, the classical assembly and the general
assembly, to which there lies an appeal from the classical.
When we speak of any of these sectaries indiscriminately,
we call them dissenters and nonconformists ; and they that
speak more freely term them fanatics and enthusiasts. It
must be confessed that in all these sects there are some
good moral men, nay, some of them zealous towards God,
but in such a zeal as is not according to knowledge.
Neither are they all equally blameable in all respects. The
Presbyterians come nearest to the Church ; the Quakers are
the most peaceable; the Papists are the most mannerly, and
the like;...
(Anglite Notitia, E. Chamberlayne, Lend. 2oth, ed. 1703, 255.)
CHAPTER XXV
UNION BETWEEN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND
193. The Queen's Speeches on Union of England and Scotland
Oldmixot.
The strife of centuries was brought to a close by the union
of England and Scotland. Queen Anne publicly expressed the
hope that the two peoples would become firmly united into one
great nation, and JOHN R. GREEN, in his History of the English
People, thus comments upon her words : "Time has more than
answered these hopes. The two nations whom the Union brought
together have ever since remained one. England gained in the
removal of a constant danger of treason and war. To Scotland
the Union opened up new avenues of wealth which the energy
of the people turned to wonderful account. The farms of Lothian
have become models of agricultural skill. A fishing-town on the
Clyde has grown into the rich and populous Glasgow. Peace
and culture have changed the wild clansmen of the Highlands
into herdsmen and farmers. Nor was the change followed by
any loss of national spirit. The world has hardly seen a mightier
and more rapid development of national energy than that of
Scotland after the Union. All that passed away was the jealousy
which had parted since the days of Edward the First two peoples
whom a common blood and common speech proclaimed to be one.
The Union between Scotland and England has been real and
stable simply because it was the legislative acknowledgment and
enforcement of a national fact."
(Jan. 28th, 1707.)
My Lords and Gentlemen,
Having acquainted you at the opening of this session, that
the treaty for an Union between England and Scotland,
which had been concluded here by the commissioners ap-
pointed for that purpose, in pursuance of the powers given
by the Parliaments of both kingdoms, was then under the
consideration of the Parliament of Scotland, I can now, with
great satisfaction, inform you that the said treaty has been
ratified by Act of Parliament in Scotland with some additions
and alterations.
443
444 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
I have directed the treaty agreed to by the commissioners
of both kingdoms, and also the Act of Ratification from
Scotland, to be laid before you, and I hope it will meet with
your concurrence and approbation.
Gentlemen of the House of Commons,
It being agreed by this treaty, that Scotland is to have an
equivalent for what that kingdom is obliged to contribute
towards paying the debts of England. I must recommend to
you, that in case you agree to the treaty you would take care
to provide for the payment of the equivalent to Scotland
accordingly.
My Lords and Gentlemen,
You have now an opportunity before you of putting the
last hand to a happy Union of the two kingdoms, which I
hope will be a lasting blessing to the whole Island, a great
addition to its wealth and power, and a firm security to the
Protestant religion. The advantages which will accrue to us
all from an Union are so apparent that I will add no more,
but that I shall look upon it as a particular happiness, if this
great work, which has been so often attempted without suc-
cess, can be brought to perfection in my reign.
(March 6th, 1707.)
My Lords and Gentlemen,
It is with the greatest satisfaction that I have given my
assent to a Bill for uniting England and Scotland into one
kingdom.
I consider this Union as a matter of the greatest impor-
tance to the wealth, strength, and safety of the whole Island,
and at the same time, as a work of so much difficulty and
nicety in its own nature, that till now all attempts, which
have been made towards it in the course of above a hundred
years, have proved ineffectual ; and therefore I make no doubt
but it will be remembered and spoken of hereafter to the
honour of those who have been instrumental in bringing it
to such a happy conclusion.
I desire and expect from all my subjects of both nations,
that from henceforth they act with all possible respect and
kindness to one another, that so it may appear to all the
world, they have hearts disposed to become one people. This
will be a great pleasure to me, and will make us all quickly
sensible of the good effect of this Union.
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 445
And I cannot but look upon it as a peculiar happiness, that
in my reign so full a provision is made for the peace and
quiet of my people, and for the security of our religion, by so
firm an establishment of the Protestant succession through-
out Great Britain.
Gentlemen of the House of Commons,
I take this occasion to remind you to make effectual pro-
vision for the payment of the equivalent to Scotland within
the time appointed by this Act, and I am persuaded you will
show as much readiness in this particular as you have done
in all the other parts of this great work.
My Lords and Gentlemen,
The season of the year being now pretty far advanced, I
hope you will continue the same zeal which has appeared
throughout this session, in despatching what yet remains un-
finished of the public business before you.
(The History of England, Oldmixon, Lond. 1739. III. p. 383-386.)
194. Union between England and Scotland
(5 ANNE, c. 8, 1707)
Collection of Statutes, Evans
AN ACT FOR AN UNION OF THE TWO KINGDOMS OF ENGLAND
AND SCOTLAND
(Preamble)
ARTICLE I
THAT the two kingdoms of England and Scotland shall
upon the first day of May, which shall be in the year one
thousand seven hundred and seven, and for ever after, be
united into one kingdom by the name of Great Britain ; and
that the ensigns' armorial of the said united kingdom be such
as her Majesty shall appoint, and the crosses of St. George
and St. Andrew be conjoined in such manner as her Majesty
shall think fit, and used in all flags, banners, standards, and
ensigns, both at sea and land.
ARTICLE II
That the succession of the monarchy of the united kingdom
of Great Britain, and of the dominions thereto belonging,
after her most sacred Majesty, and in default of issue of her
Majesty, be, remain, and continue to the most excellent Prin-
446 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
cess Sophia, electoress and duchess dowager of Hanover,
and the heirs of her body being Protestants, upon whom the
Crown of England is settled by an Act of Parliament made
in England in the twelfth year of the reign of his late Ma-
jesty King William the Third, entitled, An Act for the
further Limitation of the Crorvn, and better securing the
Rights and Liberties of the Subject: And that all Papists,
and persons marrying Papists, shall be excluded from, and
for ever incapable to inherit, possess, or enjoy the Imperial
Crown of Great Britain, and the dominions thereunto belong-
ing, or any part thereof ; and in every such case, the Crown
and government shall from time to time descend to, and be
enjoyed by such person, being a Protestant, as should have
inherited and enjoyed the same, in case such Papist, or per-
son marrying a Papist, was naturally dead, according to the
provision for the descent of the Crown of England, made by
another Act of Parliament in England in the first year of the
reign of their late Majesties King William and Queen Mary,
entitled, An Act declaring the Rights and Liberties of the
Subject, and settling the Succession of the Crown.
ARTICLE III
That the united kingdom of Great Britain be represented
by one and the same Parliament, to be styled, The Parlia-
ment of Great Britain.
ARTICLE IV
That all the subjects of the united kingdom of Great
Britain shall, from and after the Union, have full freedom
and intercourse of trade and navigation to and from any
port or place within the said united kingdom, and the do--
minions and plantations thereunto belonging; and that there
be a communication of all other rights, privileges, and ad-
vantages, which do or may belong to the subjects of either
kingdom; except where it is otherwise expressly agreed in
these articles.
ARTICLE V
(Scotch ships to be registered as British ships.)
ARTICLE VI
(Concerning Trade, Scots Cattle, and Importation of
Victuals.)
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 447
ARTICLE VII
(Concerning Excises.)
ARTICLE VIII
(Concerning Foreign Salt, Scotch Salt, Flesh Exported from
Scotland, Curing of Herrings, Fish Exported, etc.)
ARTICLE IX
(Concerning Land Tax and Quota of Scotland.)
ARTICLE X
(Concerning Stamped Vellum.)
ARTICLE XI
(Concerning the Window Tax.)
ARTICLE XII
(Concerning Coals, Culm, and Cinders.)
ARTICLE XIII
(Concerning Malt.)
ARTICLE XIV
(Scotland not chargeable with any other duties before the
Union, except these consented to.)
ARTICLE XV
(Concerning Equivalent Money and Uses, Coin of Scotland,
African and Indian Company of Scotland, Overplus,
Public Debts of Scotland, Manufacture of Coarse Wool,
Fisheries, and the Appointment of Commissioners for
the Equivalent.)
ARTICLE XVI
That from and after the Union, the coin shall be of the
same standard and value throughout the united kingdom, as
now in England, and a mint shall be continued in Scotland,
under the same rules as the mint in England, and the present
officers of the mint continued, subject to such regulations
and alterations as her Majesty, her heirs or successors, or
the Parliament of Great Britain shall think fit.
ARTICLE XVII
That from and after the Union, the same weights and
measures shall be used throughout the united kingdom, as
are now established in England, and standards of weights
44 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
and measures shall be kept by those burghs in Scotland, to
whom the keeping the standards of weights and measures,
now in use there, does of special right belong: All which
standards shall be sent down to such respective burghs, from
the standards kept in the Exchequer at Westminster, subject
nevertheless to such regulations as the Parliament of Great
Britain shall think fit.
ARTICLE XVIII
That the laws concerning regulation of trade, customs, and
such excises to which Scotland is, by virtue of this treaty, to
be liable, be the same in Scotland, from and after the Union,
as in England; and that all other laws in use within the
kingdom of Scotland, do after the Union, and notwithstand-
ing thereof, remain in the same force as before (except such
as are contrary to, or inconsistent with this treaty), but
alterable by the Parliament of Great Britain ; with this dif-
ference betwixt the laws concerning public right, policy, and
civil government, and those which concern private right,
that the laws which concern public right, policy, and civil
government, may be made the same throughout the whole
united kingdom; but that no alteration be made in laws which
concern private right, except for evident utility of the sub-
jects within Scotland.
ARTICLE XIX
(Concerning Courts and the Privy Council.)
ARTICLE XX
(Concerning Heritable Offices.)
ARTICLE XXI
(Concerning Royal Burghs.)
ARTICLE XXII
That, by virtue of this treaty, of the peers of Scotland, at
the time of the Union, sixteen shall be the number to sit and
vote in the House of Lords, and forty-five the number of
representatives of Scotland in the House of Commons of the
Parliament of Great Britain ; and that when her Majesty, her
heirs or successors, shall declare her or their pleasure for
holding the first or any other subsequent Parliament of
Great Britain, until the Parliament of Great Britain shall
make further provision therein, a writ do issue under the
great seal of the united kingdom, directed to the privy council
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 449
of Scotland, commanding them to cause sixteen peers, who
are to sit in the House of Lords, to be summoned to Parlia-
ment, and forty-five members to be elected to sit in the
House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain,
according to the agreement of this treaty, in such manner as
by an Act of this present session of the Parliament of Scot-
land is or shall be settled; which Act is hereby declared to be
as valid as if it were a part of and engrossed in this treaty.
And that the names of the persons so summoned and elected
shall be returned by the privy council of Scotland into the
court from whence the said writ did issue . . . And that
every one of the lords of Parliament of Great Britain, and
every member of the House of Commons of the Parliament
of Great Britain, in the first and all succeeding Parliaments
of Great Britain, until the Parliament of Great Britain shall
otherwise direct, shall take the respective oaths appointed to
be taken instead of the oaths of allegiance and supremacy. . .
And it is declared and agreed, That these words, This Realm,
The Crown of this Realm, and The Queen of this Realm,
mentioned in the oaths and declaration contained in the
aforesaid Acts, which were intended to signify the crown
and realm of England, shall be understood of the crown and
realm of Great Britain ; and that in that sense the said oaths
and declaration be taken and subscribed by the members of
both Houses of the Parliament of Great Britain.
ARTICLE XXIII
That the aforesaid sixteen peers of Scotland mentioned in
the last preceding article, to sit in the House of Lords of the
Parliament of Great Britain, shall have all privileges of
Parliament, which the peers of England now have, and which
they, or any peers of Great Britain shall have after the Union,
and particularly the right of sitting upon the trial of peers :
And in case of the trial of any peer, in time of adjournment,
or prorogation of Parliament, the said sixteen peers shall be
summoned in the same manner, and have the same powers
and privileges at such trial, as any other peers of Great
Britain. And that in case any trials of peers shall hereafter
happen, when there is no Parliament in being, the sixteen
peers of Scotland who sat in the last preceding Parliament,
shall be summoned in the same manner, and have the same
powers and privileges at such trials, as any other peers of
Great Britain ; and that all peers of Scotland, and their suc-
cessors to their honours and dignities, shall from and after
45<> SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
the Union, be peers of Great Britain, and have rank and prece-
dency next and immediately after the peers of the like orders
and degrees in England at the time of the Union, and before
all peers of Great Britain of the like orders and degrees,
who may be created after the Union, and shall be tried as
peers of Great Britain, and shall enjoy all privileges of peers,
as fully as the peers of England do now, or as they, or any
other peers of Great Britain may hereafter enjoy the same,
except the right and privilege of sitting in the House of
Lords, and the privileges depending thereon, and particularly
the right of sitting upon the trials of peers.
ARTICLE XXIV
That from and after the Union, there be one great seal for
the united kingdom of Great Britain, which shall be different
from the great seal now used in either kingdom: And that
the quartering the arms, and the rank and precedency of the
lyon king of arms of the kingdom of Scotland, as may best
suit the Union, be left to her Majesty: And that in the mean
time, the great seal of England be used as the great seal of
the united kingdom, and that the great seal of the united
kingdom be used for sealing writs to elect and summon the
Parliament of Great Britain, and for sealing all treaties with
foreign princes and states, and all public acts, instruments
and orders of state, which concern the whole united kingdom,
and in all other matters relating to England, as the great seal
of England is now used : And that a seal in Scotland after
the Union be always kept and made use of in all things relat-
ing to private rights or grants, which have usually passed the
great seal of Scotland, and which only concern offices,
grants, commissions, and private rights within that kingdom ;
and that until such seal be appointed by her Majesty, the
present great seal of Scotland shall be used for such pur-
poses : And that the privy seal, signet, casset, signet of the
judiciary court, quarter seal, and seals of court now used in
Scotland be continued ; but that the said seals be altered and
adapted to the state of the Union, as her Majesty shall think
fit; and the said seals, and all of them, and the keepers of
them, shall be subject to such regulations as the Parliament
of Great Britain shall hereafter make. And that the crown,
sceptre, and sword of state, the records of Parliament, and
all other records, rolls and registers whatsoever, both public
and private, general and particular, and warrants thereof,
continue to be kept as they are within that part of the united
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 451
kingdom now called Scotland; and that they shall so remain
in all time coming, notwithstanding the Union.
ARTICLE XXV
That all laws and statutes in either kingdom, so far as
they are contrary to, or inconsistent with the terms of these
articles, or any of them, shall, from and after the Union,
cease and become void, and shall be so declared to be, by the
respective Parliaments of the kingdom.
As by the said articles of Union, ratified and approved by
the said Act of Parliament of Scotland, relation being there-
unto had, may appear. And the tenor of the aforesaid Act
for securing the Protestant religion and Presbyterian church
government within the kingdom of Scotland, is as follows:
II. Our sovereign lady, and the estates of Parliament, con-
sidering that by the late Act of Parliament, for a treaty with
England for an Union of both kingdoms, it is provided, That
the commissioners for that treaty shall not treat of or con-
cerning any alteration of the worship, discipline, and govern-
ment of the church of this kingdom as now by law estab-
lished: Which treaty being now reported to the Parliament,
and it being reasonable and necessary that the true Protes-
tant religion, as presently professed within this kingdom, with
the worship, discipline, and government of this church,
should be effectually and unalterably secured : Therefore
her Majesty, with advice and consent of the said estates of
Parliament, doth hereby establish and confirm the said true
Protestant religion, and the worship, discipline, and govern-
ment of this church, to continue without any alteration to
the people of this land in all succeeding generations ; and
more especially her Majesty, with advice and consent afore-
said, ratifies, approves, and for ever confirms the fifth Act
of the first Parliament of King William and Queen Mary,
entitled, Act ratifying the Confession of Faith, and settling
Presbyterian Church Government; with all other Acts of
Parliament relating thereto, in prosecution of the declaration
of the estates of this kingdom, containing the claim of right,
bearing date the eleventh of April, one thousand six hun-
dred and eighty-nine: And her Majesty, with advice and
consent aforesaid, expressly provides and declares, That the
foresaid true Protestant religion, contained in the above-
mentioned confession of faith, with the form and purity of
452 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
worship presently in use within this church, and its Pres-
byterian church government and discipline (that is to say)
the government of the church by kirk sessions, presbyteries,
provincial synods, and general assemblies, all established by
the foresaid Acts of Parliament, pursuant to the claim of
right, shall remain and continue unalterable, and that the
said Presbyterian government shall be the only government
of the church within the kingdom of Scotland.
III. (Providing for the continuance of Universities and
Colleges in Scotland.)
IV. (Scotch subjects not to be liable to any oath incon-
sistent with said Church Government; Queen's successors
to maintain said government.)
V. And it is hereby statute and ordained, That this Act of
Parliament, with the establishment therein contained, shall
be held and observed in all time coming, as a fundamental
and essential condition of any treaty or Union to be con-
cluded betwixt the two kingdoms, without any alteration
thereof, or derogation thereto in any sort for ever : As also,
That this Act of Parliament, and settlement therein con-
tained, shall be insert and repeated in any Act of Parliament
that shall pass for agreeing and concluding the foresaid
treaty or Union betwixt the two kingdoms ; and that the
same shall be therein expressly declared to be a fundamental
and essential condition of the said treaty or Union in all
time coming: Which articles of Union, and Act immediately
above-written, her Majesty, with advice and consent aforesaid,
statutes, enacts, and ordains to be and continue, in all time
coming, the sure and perpetual foundation of a complete and
entire Union of the two kingdoms of Scotland and England,
under the express condition and provision, that this approba-
tion and ratification of the foresaid articles and Act shall be
no ways binding on this kingdom, until the said articles and
Act be ratified, approved, and confirmed by her Majesty,
with and by the authority of the Parliament of England, as
they are now agreed to, approved, and confirmed by her Ma-
jesty, with and by the authority of the Parliament of Scot-
land ; declaring nevertheless, that the Parliament of England
may provide for the security of the church of England as
they think expedient, to take place within the bounds of the
said kingdom of England, and not derogating from the se-
curity above provided for establishing of the church of
Scotland within the bounds of this kingdom; as also the said
Parliament of England may extend the additions and other
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 453
provisions contained in the articles of Union, as above insert,
in favours of the subjects of Scotland, to and in favours of
the subjects of England; which shall not suspend or derogate
from the force and effect of this present ratification, but
shall be understood as herein included, without the necessity
of any new ratification in the Parliament of Scotland.
VI. (Providing that all laws, etc., inconsistent with Ar-
ticles of Union, shall cease.)
VII. And whereas an Act hath passed in this present ses-
sion of Parliament, entitled, An Act for securing the Church
of England as by Law established; the tenor whereof fol-
lows:
Whereas by an Act made in the session of Parliament held
in the third and fourth year of her Majesty's reign, whereby
her Majesty was empowered to appoint commissioners, under
the great seal of England, to treat with commissioners to be
authorized by the Parliament of Scotland, concerning an
Union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland, it is pro-
vided and enacted, That the commissioners to be named in
pursuance of the said Act should not treat of or concerning
any alteration of the liturgy, rites, ceremonies, discipline, or
government of the church as by law established within this
realm: And whereas certain commissioners appointed by her
Majesty in pursuance of the said Act, and also other com-
missioners nominated by her Majesty by the authority of
the Parliament of Scotland, have met and agreed upon a
treaty of Union of the said kingdoms; which treaty is no\v
under the consideration of this present Parliament; And
whereas the said treaty (with some alterations therein made)
is ratified and approved by Act of Parliament in Scotland;
and the said Act of ratification is by her Majesty's royal
command, laid before the Parliament of this kingdom : And
whereas it is reasonable and necessary, that the true Prot-
estant religion professed and established by law in the
Church of England, and the doctrine, worship, discipline,
and government thereof, should be effectually and unalterably
secured; be it enacted by the Queen's most excellent Ma-
jesty, by and with the advice of the Lords Spiritual and Tem-
poral, and the Commons, in this present Parliament assem-
bled, and by authority of the same, That an Act made in the
thirteenth year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, of famous
memory, entitled, An Act for the Ministers of the Church to
be of sound Religion; and also another Act made in the
thirteenth year of the reign of the late King Charles the
454 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Second, entitled, An Act for the Uniformity of the Public
Prayers and Administration of Sacraments, and other Rites
and Ceremonies, and for establishing the form of making,
ordaining, and consecrating Bishops, Priests and Deacons in
the Church of England, (other than such clauses in the said
Acts, or either of them, as have been repealed or altered by
any subsequent Act or Acts of Parliament,) and all and sin-
gular other Acts of Parliament now in force for the estab-
lishment and preservation of the Church of England, and the
doctrine, worship, discipline, and government thereof, shall
remain and be in full force for ever.
VIII. (Providing that the Queen's successors are to take
an oath to maintain the settlement of the Church of Eng-
land.)
IX. (Providing that this Act is to be an essential part of
any treaty between the kingdoms.)
X. (Providing that the Articles of Union, and the Act for
the establishment of the Presbyterian Church Government,
be ratified and confirmed.)
XL (Declaring the Acts for settling the Church Govern-
ments in both kingdoms essential parts of the Union.)
XII. And whereas since the passing the said Act in the
Parliament of Scotland, for ratifying the said articles of
Union, one other Act, entitled, An Act settling the Manner
of electing the Sixteen Peers, and Forty-five Members, to
represent Scotland in the Parliament of Great Britain, hath
likewise passed in the said Parliament of Scotland at Edin-
burgh, the fifth day of February, one thousand seven hun-
dred and seven, the tenor whereof follows :
Our sovereign lady considering, That by the twenty-second
articles of the treaty of Union, as the same is ratified by an
Act passed in this session of Parliament, upon the sixteenth
of January last, it is provided, That by virtue of the said
treaty, of the Peers of Scotland, at the time of the Union,
sixteen shall be of the number to sit and vote in the House
of Lords, and forty-five the number of the representatives
of Scotland in the House of Commons of the Parliament of
Great Britain; and that the said sixteen peers, and forty-
five members in the House of Commons, be named and
chosen in such manner as by a subsequent Act in this present
session of the Parliament in Scotland, should be settled ;
which Act is thereby declared to be as valid, as if it were a
part of, and engrossed in the said treaty : Therefore her
Majesty, with the advice and consent of the estates of Par-
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 455
liament, statutes, enacts and ordains, That the said sixteen
peers, who shall have right to sit in the House of Peers in
the Parliament of Great Britain, on the part of Scotland, by
virtue of this treaty, shall be named by the said peers of
Scotland, whom they represent, their heirs or successors to
their dignities and honours, out of their own number, and
that by open election and plurality of voices of the peers
present, and of the proxies for such as shall be absent, the
said proxies being peers, and producing a mandate in writ-
ing duly signed before witnesses, and both the constituent
and proxy being qualified according to law; declaring also.
That such peers as are absent, being qualified as aforesaid,
may send to all such meetings lists of the peers whom they
judge fittest, validly signed by the said absent peers, which
shall be reckoned in the same manner as if the parties had
been present, and given in the said list; and in case of the
death, or legal incapacity of any of the sixteen peers, that the
aforesaid peers of Scotland shall nominate another of their
own number, in place of the said peer or peers, in manner
before and after-mentioned : And that of the said forty-five
representatives of Scotland in the House of Commons in the
Parliament of Great Britain, thirty shall be chosen by the
Shires or Steuartries, and fifteen by the royal borrows, as
follows: (The remainder of the Article provides for the
methods of election, legal capacities, oaths to be administered
to, etc., of those elected to the House of Commons.)
XIII. As by the said Act passed in Scotland, for settling
the manner of electing the sixteen peers, and forty-five mem-
bers, to represent Scotland in the Parliament of Great Britain,
may appear; Be it therefore further enacted and declared by
the authority aforesaid, That the said last-mentioned Act
passed in Scotland for settling the manner of electing the
sixteen peers, and forty-five members, to represent Scotland
in the Parliament of Great Britain, as aforesaid, shall be,
and the same is hereby declared to be as valid as if the same
had been part of, and engrossed in the said articles of Union
ratified and approved by the said Act of Parliament of Scot-
land, and by this Act, as aforesaid.
(Evans' Collection of Statutes, ed. Hammond & Granger, Lend., 1836, VIII, 446.)
CHAPTER XXVI
THE JACOBITE REBELLIONS
195. The Proclamation of James III.
(1715)
Clarke
The first Jacobite Rebellion, which was doomed to end in a
complete fiasco, was hardly imposing in its beginnings. The
account given by PETER CLARKE of the reading of the Pretender's
proclamation at Kendall reads like the description of the re-
hearsal of a comedy, rather than a serious uprising. Yet the
play turned out to be a tragedy for many, although from the in-
ception it was a hopeless undertaking.
Sir, On Wednesday the second day of November one
thousand seaven hundred and fifteen, the then high sherriff
of Cumberland assembled the posse comitatus on Penrith
Fell, Viscount Loynsdale being there as commanded of the
malitia of Westmoreland, Cumberland, and Northumberland,
who were assembled at the place aforesaid for prevention
of rebelion and riots. The Lord Bishop of Carlisle and his
daughter were there. By the strictest observation the num-
bers were twenty-five thousand men, but very few of them
had any regular armes.
At ii o'clock in the afternoon of the same day the high
sherriff and the two lords received a true account that the
Earl of Derwentwater, together with his army, were w'ithin
6 miles of Penrith. Vpon receipt of this news the said high
sherriff and the said 2 lords, the posse comitatus and the ma-
litia fled, leaving most of their armes vpon the said fell.
There is no doubt had the men stood their ground the said
Earl and his men (as it hath since beene acknowledged by
diverse of them) wood have retreated. About 3 aclock in
the afternoon of the same day the said Earl, together with his
armys in number about one thousand seaven hundred, entred
the said towne of Penrith, where they proclaimed their king
by the name and title of James the 3d of England and Ire-
land, and 8th of Scotland. In this towne they received
456
THE JACOBITE REBELLIONS 457
what excise was due to the crowne and gave receipts for the
same. A small party were sent to Lowther Hall to search for
Lord Loynsdale, but not finding him there (for he was gone
into Yorkshire), they made bold to take provision for them-
selves and their horses, such as the Hall aforded. There
were only at that time two old woomen in the said Hall who
received no bodily damage. But provision being scarce in
the said towne, Penrith, they marched betimes next morning
for Apleby. The gentlemen paid their quarters of for what
they called for in both these townes, but the commonality
paid little or nothing, neither was there any person that re-
ceived any bodily damage in either of the said townes. If
they found any armes they tooke them without paying the
owners for them. Only one man joyned them in their march
from Penrith to Apleby. In this towne they made the same
proclamation as they had done in the former, and received
the excise. The weather at this time for some days before
was rainey. They marched out of this towne betimes on
Saturday morning, being the 5th of November, in order for
Kendall. In this days march none joyned them (excepting
one, Mr. Francis Thornburrow) son of Mr. William Thorn-
burrow of Selfet Hall neare Kendall. His father sent one of
his servant men to wait vpon his son because he was in
scarlet cloathes, and stile of Captain Thornburrow.
About 12 a'clock of the same day 6 quartermasters came
into the towne of Kendall, and about 2 aclock in the after-
noone Brigadeer Mackintoss and his men came both a horse-
back, having both plads on their targets hanging on their
backs, either of them a sord by his side, as also either a gun
and a case of pistols. The said Brigadeere looked with a
grim countenance. He and his men lodged at Alderman
Lowrys, a private house in Highgate Street in this towne.
About one houre after came in the horsemen, and the foot-
men at the latter end. It rained very hard here this day,
and had for several days before, so that the horse and the
footmen did not draw their swords, nor shew their collours,
neither did any drums beat. Onely six highlands bagpipes
played. They marched to the cold-stone or the cross, and
read the same proclamation twice over in English, and the
reader of it spoke very good English without any mixture
of Scotish tongue. I had for about one month lived and was
clerke to Mr. Craikenthorp, attorney at Law, and as a spec-
tator I went to heare the proclamation read, which I believe
was in print, and began after this manner, vizt., Whereas
458 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
George Elector of Brunswick has vsurped and taken vpon
him the stile of the king of these realms, etc. Another clause
in it I tooke particular notice of which was this, vizt., Did
imedietly after his said fathers decease become our only and
lawful leige. At the end of the proclamation they gave a
great shout. A quaker who stood next to me not puting of
his hat at the end of the said ceremony, a highlander thurst
a halbert at him, but it fortunatly went between me and him,
so that it did neither of vs any damage. So they dispersed.
(Peter Clarke's Journal, 1715. From Miscellany of the Scottish History Society
ed. I, p. 513.)
196. Landing of the Young Pretender
(1745)
Robert I'orbes
The following account is taken from The Lyon in Mourning,
a collection of journals, narratives, etc., of the second Jacobite
invasion. This collection was made by the Rev. Robert Forbes,
M.A., Bishop of Ross and Caithness. He was an ardent sup-
porter of the Jacobite cause, and indefatigable in the acquisition
of facts pertaining thereto. The original title-page of the manu-
script from which the published work was edited, reads as fol-
lows: "The Lyon in Mourning; or, A Collection (as made as
exactly as the Iniquity of the Times would permit) of Speeches,
Letters, Journals, &c., relative to the Affairs, but more particu-
larly to the Dangers and Distresses of ...
Journal of the Prince's imbarkation and arrival, etc., the
greatest part of which was taken from Duncan Cameron at
several different conversations I had with him.
At Nantes the Prince and his few attendants waited about
fifteen days before the Elisabeth ship of war came, which
was to be their convoy in the expedition. To cover the
design the better, Sir Thomas Sheridan passed for the father,
and the Prince for the son, for none knew the Prince to be in
company but the seven, some few others, and Mr. Welch (an
Irishman, a very rich merchant in Nantes), who was to
command the frigate of sixteen guns, on board of which the
Prince and the few faithful friends with the servants were to
imbark.
After the Prince was on board he dispatched letters to
his father, and the King of France, and the King of Spain,
advising them of his design, and no doubt desiring assist-
ance. . . .
Two or three hours before landing, an eagle came hover-
THE JACOBITE REBELLIONS 459
ing over the frigate, and continued so to do till they were
all safe on shore. Before dinner the Duke of Athol had
spied the eagle; but (as he told several friends in Scotland)
he did not chuse then to take any notice of it, lest they
should have called it a Highland freit in him. When he
came upon deck after dinner, he saw the eagle still hovering
about in the same manner, and following the frigate in her
course, and then he could not help remarking it to the
Prince and his small retinue, which they looked upon with
pleasure. His grace, turning to the Prince said, "Sir, I
hope this is an excellent omen, and promises good things to
us. The king of birds is come to welcome your royal high-
ness upon your arrival in Scotland."
When they were near the shore of the Long Isle, Duncan
Cameron was set out in the long boat to fetch them a proper
pilot. When he landed he accidentally met with Barra's
piper, who was his old acquaintance, and brought him on
board. The piper piloted them safely into Erisca (about
July 21 st), a small island lying between Barra and South
Uist. "At this time," said Duncan Cameron, "there was a
devil of a minister that happened to be in the island of
Barra, who did us a' the mischief that lay in his power. For
when he had got any inkling about us, he dispatched away
expresses with informations against us. But as the good
luck was, he was not well believed, or else we would have
been a' tane by the neck."
When Duncan spoke these words, "a devil of a minister,"
he bowed low, and said to me, "Sir, I ask you ten thousand
pardons for saying so in your presence. But, good faith,
I can assure you, sir (asking your pardon), he was nothing
else but the devil of a minister"
When they landed in Eriska, they could not find a grain
of meal or one inch of bread. But they catched some
flounders, which they roasted upon the bare coals in a mean
low hut they had gone into near the shore, and Duncan
Cameron stood cook. The Prince sat at the cheek of the
little ingle, upon a fail sunk, and laughed heartily at Dun-
can's cookery, for he himself owned he played his part
awkwardly enough.
Next day the Prince sent for young Clanranald's uncle
(Alexander MacDonald of Boisdale), who lived in South
Uist, and discovered himself to him. This gentleman spoke
in a very discouraging manner to the Prince, and advised
him to return home. To which it is said the Prince replied,
460 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
"I am come home, sir, and I will entertain no notion at all
of returning to that place from whence I came; for that I
am persuaded my faithful Highlanders will stand by me."
Mr. MacDonald told him he was afraid he would find the
contrary. . . .
The royal standard was set up at Glenfinnan (August
1 9th), the property of Clanranald, at the head of Lochschiel,
which marches with Lochiel's ground, and lies about ten
miles west from Fort William. The Prince had been a full
week before this, viz., from Sunday the nth, at Kinloch-
moydart's house, and Lochiel had been raising his men who
came up with them just as the standard was setting up. . . .
September 4th. In the evening he made his entrance into
Perth upon the horse that Major MacDonall had presented
him with. . . .
September i6th. The Prince and his army were at Gray's
Mill upon the Water of Leith, when he sent a summons to
the Provost and Town Council of Edinburgh to receive him
quietly and peacefully into the city. Two several deputa-
tions were sent from Edinburgh to the Prince begging a
delay till they should deliberate upon what was fittest to be
done. Meantime eight or nine hundred Highlanders under
the command of Keppoch, young Lochiel, and O'Sullivan,
marched in between the Long Dykes without a hush of
noise, under the favour of a dark night, and lurked at the
head of the Canongate about the Nether Bow Port till they
should find a favourable opportunity for their design, which
soon happened. The hackney coach that brought back the
second deputation, entred at the West Port, and after setting
down the deputies at their proper place upon the street, drove
down the street towards the Canongate, and when the Nether
Bow Port was made open to let out the coach, the lurking
Highlanders rushed in (it being then peep of day) and made
themselves masters of the city without any opposition, or
the smallest noise.
(The Lyon in Mourning, Robert Forbes, edited from his Manuscript by Henry
Paten, 3 vols., University Press, Edinburgh, 1895. I, 201.)
197. Escape of Prince Charles at Moy Hall
Gib
The peril which the Pretender narrowly escaped at Moy Hall
on February I7th not 24th. as erroneously dated in Gib's ac-
count is a good example of the dangers to which he was con-
stantly subjected, and of the devotion of his adherents. Gib's
"accompts" are mostly made up of household expenses, with
occasional interruptions in the shape of narrative.
THE JACOBITE REBELLIONS 461
Copy (exact and faithful) of the Accompts of James Gib,
who served the Prince in station of Master-Household and
provisor for the Prince's own Table.
24 Monday. At Moy hall.
N.B. This is the day in the morning of which Lord
Loudon thought to have surprized the Prince, and to have
taken him prisoner in his bed at Moy or Moy-hall. Old
Lady Macintosh, living in Inverness, and getting notice of
Lord Loudon's design, dispatched a boy (Lachlan Macintosh)
about fifteen years of age, to try if he could get past Lord
Loudon's men, and to make all the haste he could to Moy to
warn the Prince of what was intended against him. The
boy attempted to pass by Lord Loudon and his command,
but found that he could not do it without running the risque
of a discovery ; and therefore, as he said, he lay down at a
dyke's side, till all Lord Loudon's men passed him, and, tak-
ing a different road, came to Moy about five o'clock in the
morning. And though the morning was exceedingly cold,
the boy was in a top sweat, having made very good use of his
time. He said that Lord Loudon and his men (to use his
own words) were within five quarters of a mile of Moyhall.
Immediately the Prince was awaked, and having but about
thirty men for a guard, he marched two miles down the
country by the side of a loch, till his men should conveen.
There was not the least suspicion entertained of any danger,
otherwise there would have been a much stronger guard
about the Prince's person ; and there is no doubt to be made
but that Lord Loudon had got certain information of the
small number of men who were to mount guard upon the
Prince that night, which had induced him to try the experi-
ment. Lady Macintosh (junior) was in great pain to have
the Prince save off from Moy when she heard the alarm.
The Prince returned the same night (Monday) to Moy and
slept there. Mr. Gib, upon the alarm, having been sleeping
in his cloaths, stept out with his pistols under his arm, and
in the close he saw the Prince walking with his bonnet above
his nightcap, and his shoes down to his heels ; and Lady
Macintosh in her smock petticoat running through the close,
speaking loudly and expressly her anxiety about the Prince's
safety. Mr. Gib went along with the Prince down the side
of the Loch, and left several covered waggons and other
baggage at Moy, about which Lady Macintosh forbad Mr.
462 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Gib to be in the least anxious, for that she would do her best
to take care of them. And indeed she was as good as her
word; for upon the Prince's return to Moy, Mr. Gib found
all his things in great safety, the most of them having been
carried off by Lady Macintosh's orders into a wood, where
they would not readily have been discovered, though Lord
Loudon and his men had proceeded to Moy. But they were
most providentially stopt in their march, which happened
thus. A blacksmith and other four, with loaded muskets in
their hands, were keeping watch upon a muir at some dis-
tance from Moy towards Inverness. As they were walking
up and down, they happened to spy a body of men walking
towards them, upon which the blacksmith fired his piece,
and the other four followed his example. The Laird of
Macleod's piper (reputed the best of his business in all
Scotland) was shot dead on the spot. Then the blacksmith
(Eraser) and his trustly companions raised a cry (calling
some particular regiments by their names) to the Prince's
army to advance, as if they had been at hand, which so far
imposed upon Lord Loudon and his command (a pretty con-
siderable one), and struck them with such a panick, that
instantly they beat a retreat, and made their way back to
Inverness in great disorder, imagining the Prince's whole
army to be at their heels. This gallant and resolute be-
haviour of the five, which speaks an uncommon presence of
mind, happened much about the same time when the boy
(Lauchlan Macintosh) arrived at Moy to give the alarm.
(7 he Lyon in Mourning; ed. cit., II, 134.)
198. After Culloden
John Fraser
The brutalities perpetrated upon the conquered by the victors
at Culloden are shown in the account, given by Mr. Fraser, of
the execution of prisoners, with its attendant outrages.
An account of the Signal Escape of John Fraser taken
from the Copy Printed at Edinburgh.
John Fraser, Ensign in the Master of Lovat's regiment,
was shot through the thigh by a musket bullet at the battle
of Culloden, and was taken prisoner, after the battle, at a
little distance from the field, and carried to the House of
Culloden, where a multitude of other wounded prisoners lay
under stronsr guards. There he and the other miserable
THE JACOBITE REBELLIONS 463
gentlemen (for most of them were gentlemen), lay with their
wounds undressed for two days in great torture. Upon the
third day he was carried out of Culloden House, and with
other eighteen of his fellow prisoners flung into carts,
which they imagined were to carry them to Inverness to be
dressed of their wounds. They were soon undeceived. The
carts stopt at a park dyke at some distance from the house;
there they were dragged out of the carts ; the soldiers who
guarded them, under command of three officers, carried the
prisoners close to the wall or park dyke, along with they
ranged them upon their knees, and bid them prepare for
death. The soldiers immediately drew up opposite to them.
It is dreadful to proceed ! They levelled their guns ! They
fired among them. Mr. Eraser fell with the rest, and did
not doubt that he was shot. But as those gentlemen who
proceeded thus deliberately in cold blood had their orders to
do nothing by halves, a party of them went along and
examined the slaughter, and knocked out the brains of such
as were not quite dead; and observing signs of life in Mr.
Fraser, one of them with the butt of his gun struck him on
the face, dashed out one of his eyes, and beat down his nose
flat and shattered to his cheek, and left him for dead. The
slaughter thus finished the soldiers left the field. In this
miserable situation, Lord Boyd riding out that way with his
servant, espied some life in Mr. Fraser, who by that time had
crawled to a little distance from his dead friends, and calling
out to him, asked what he was. Fraser told him he was an
officer in the Master of Lovat's corps. Lord Boyd offered
him money, saying he had been acquainted with the Master
of Lovat, his colonel. Mr. Fraser said he had no use for
money, but begged him for God's sake to cause his servant
carry him to a certain mill and cott house, where he said
he would be concealed and taken care of. This young Lord
had the humanity to do so, and in this place Mr. Fraser lay
concealed, and by God's providence recovered of his wounds,
and is now a living witness of as unparallel'd a story in all
its circumstances as can be met with in the history of any
age.
Mr. Fraser is well known and his veracity attested by all
the Inverness people.
N.B. Mr. David Chisholm, Presbyterian Minister at
Kilmorack in the shire of Inverness, when in Edinburgh at
the General Assembly in May 1758, told that said Fraser or
Maclver still lives at a place called Wellhouse in said parish
464 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
of Kilmorack, that his name is Alexander and not John, and
that he himself (Mr. Chisholm), is a blood relation to said
Alexander Eraser's Wife (See f. 1619).
Robert Fraser, A.M.
(From The Lyon in Mourning, ed. cit., II, p. 26
199. Bond Given by the Young Pretender
The Lyon in Mourning
The conditions of the bond given by Prince Charles to Hep-
burn of Kingstoun were hardly calculated to give it value, save
as a curiosity, but it well illustrates the manner in which money
was raised for the Stuart cause. The original was preserved by
Mr. John Goodwillie, who attested the copy under the name of
Benevole a punning translation of his name in Latin.
L. S. We, Charles Prince of Wales, etc., Regent of the
kingdoms of Scotland, England, France, and Ireland, and the
dominions thereunto belonging, Whereas Patrick Hepburn
of Kingstoun in the County of Haddington hath advanced
to us by the hands of Collonel Lauchlan M'Lauchlan of that
Ilk the sum of seven hundred and fourty pounds sterling in
numerate money of Britain, we therefore hereby authorise
and appoint our treasurer for the time to repay the aforsaid
sum of seven hundred and fourty pounds to the said Patrick
Hepburn, his heirs and assigneys whomsoever, and that how
soon we shall arrive at our Palace of St. James, London,
our Royall Father settled upon the throne of our royall an-
cestors, and our said kingdoms in peace and tranquillity,
under our government. Given at our Palace of Holyrood-
house, the seventeenth day of October, 1745.
(Signed) Charles P. R.
H<zc est -uera copia ita testamur.
Johannes Benevole,
Scriba.
. , ., ., f Robertus Ross, tcstis.
Sic suoscribitur 4 A , , ,,.' .
( Alexander Mitchell, testis.
(From The Lyon in Mourning (see above). II, p. 262.)
200. Execution of the Rebel Lords
R. Graham
The following letter, written by a spectator of the execution
of the rebel lords, furnishes a fitting conclusion to the extracts
concerning the Jacobite uprisings, which in 1715 and 1746 threat-
ened the throne of the Protestant Succession,
THE JACOBITE REBELLIONS 465
LETTER DESCRIBING THE EXECUTION OF THE REBEL LORDS IN
1746, COPIED FROM THE ORIGINAL
August 20th (1746). Dear Sir, As you and Mrs.
Grimstone attended the Lords' tryal, I thought it would not
be disagreeable to you to have an account of their exit or
the last act of their tragedy, especially as I saw part of it,
and heard the rest from one who was on the scaffold. The
sheriffs came there between 9 and 10 to see if everything
was prepared. The scaffold was nine feet above ground,
with a rail and black bays hanging from it. On the floor
(which was covered with sawdust) was fixed the block,
2ft. 2in. high and 3 inches broad: near it lay red bags to
receive the heads, and two white sheets to wrap the bodies
in, and on each side were the coffins with coronets and
inscriptions, and on the ground two hearses. The execu-
tioner was in blew with gold buttons and a red waistcoat
(the cloaths of Fletcher executed by him) : the ax that of
a carpenter.
At 1 1 the Lords came : Kilmarnock attended by Foster and
a young clergyman. Balmerino was dressed in blew turned
up with red (his uniform). Going into the house prepared
for them, a spectator asked which was Balmerino ; to which
he replied, "I am he at your service." Then turning to
Kilmarnock, he told him he was sorry he was not the only
sacrifice, and asked the sheriffs if they were ready, for he
longed to be at home, and said he was asham'd for some of
his friends, who shed tears when Lord Kilmarnock came on
the scaffold. The bays was turned up that all might see,
and the executioner put on a white waistcoat. My Lord had
a long discourse with Foster, who pressed him to own there
what he had told him privately, a detestation of the fact
for which he suffered; which he did and which Foster has
advertised.
The executioner was a great while fitting him for the
block, my Lord rising several times ; and when down on his
knees, it was six minutes before he gave the sign, when his
head was nearly severed from his body by one blow; a slight
cut finished the execution, and the body fell on its back. . . .
The scaffold being cleared, and the executioner having
put on a clean shirt, Lord Balmerino mounted the stage, and
immediately walked to his coffin, and read the inscription,
and then called up a warder, and gave him his tye wig, and
put on a Scotch plaid cap, and then read a paper denying
466 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
the Pretender's orders for no quarter, commending him very
much: but being interrupted, he desired (briskly) to go on,
and said he should lay down his head with pleasure on that
block, pointing to it, and desiring those between him and it
to remove. He reflected very much upon General William-
son, but said he had received the Sacrament that morning,
and was told it was not proper for a person of his condition
to say more of him, but referred for his character to Psalm
109, from verse 5th to I5th. He said the Pretender gave
him leave to enter our service, but soon as he could be of
service to him, he left us. He talked to the executioner,
took the ax in his hand, and tried the block, and told and
showed him where to strike (near his head), and gave him
three guineas (all he had) ; kneeled down and presently gave
the sign. The first blow did not strike his head off, so that
the assistants were forced to lift up his body to receive a
second, but the third finished him.
I own I was a great deal more moved when I called on
my friend Mr. Gill in the afternoon, and found him in great
pain and given over by his Doctor, than I was with what I
saw in the morning.
The Guards attending were 1,000, and I am sure the spec-
tators were 100 to i of the Guards.
I am yours and Mr. and Mrs. Grimstons
Most obliged servant,
R. Graham.
(Diaries of a Lady of Quality (Miss Wynn), ed. by A. Hayward Q.C.
London, 1864, p. 142.)
CHAPTER XXVII
JOHN WILKES
201. No. 45 of the "North Briton"
We cannot better introduce the following paper than by quot-
ing the words of Sir THOMAS ERSKINE MAY, in his Constitu-
tional History of England:
"On the 23rd of April, 1763, appeared the memorable num-
ber of the 'North Briton,' commenting upon the king's
speech at the prorogation, and upon the unpopular peace
recently concluded. It was at once stigmatized by the court
as an audacious libel, and a studied insult to the king him-
self; and it has since been represented in the same light, by
historians not heated by the controversies of that time. But
however bitter and offensive, it unquestionably assailed the
minister rather than the king. Recognizing, again and
again, the constitutional maxim of ministerial responsibility,
it treated the royal speech as the composition of the min-
ister."
The result of the publication was the prosecution of
Wilkes for libel in the Court of King's Bench. A verdict
was easily obtained, but the people considered Wilkes their
champion, and the illegal proceedings against him made him
a hero. He was punished by imprisonment, but finally
triumphed by being seated in that Parliament which had
ousted him from their midst as a thing unclean.
THE NORTH BRITON
No. XLV, Saturday, April 23, 1763.
Genus orationis atrox, et vehemens, cui opponitur lenitatis
et mansuetudinis.
CICERO.
The King's Speech has always been considered by the
legislature, and by the public at large, as the Speech of the
467
468 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Minister. It has regularly, at the beginning of every session
of parliament, been referred by both houses to the considera-
tion of a committee, and has been generally canvassed with
the utmost freedom, when the minister of the crown has been
obnoxious to the nation. The ministers of this free country,
conscious of the undoubted privileges of so spirited a people,
and with the terrors of parliament before their eyes, have
ever been cautious, no less with regard to the matter, than
to the expressions, of speeches, which they have advised the
sovereign to make from the throne, at the opening of every
session. They well knew that an honest house of parliament,
true to their trust, could not fail to detect the fallacious arts,
or to remonstrate against the daring acts of violence, com-
mitted by any minister. The speech at the close of the ses-
sion has ever been considered as the most secure method of
promulgating the favourite court creed among the vulgar;
because the parliament, which is the constitutional guardian
of the liberties of the people, has in this case no opportunity
of remonstrating, or of impeaching any wicked servant of
the crown.
This week has given the public the most abandoned in-
stance of ministerial effrontery ever attempted to be im-
posed on mankind. The minister's speech of last Tuesday,
is not to be parralleled in the annals of this country. I am
in doubt, whether the imposition is greater on the sovereign,
or on the nation. Every friend of his country must lament
that a prince of so many great and amiable qualities, whom
England truly reveres, can be brought to give the sanction
of his sacred name to the most odious measures, and to the
most unjustifiable, public declarations, from a throne ever
renowned for truth, honour, and unsullied virtue. I am sure,
all foreigners, especially the king of Prussia, will hold the
minister in contempt and abhorrence. He has made our
sovereign declare. My expectations have been fully answered
by the happy effects which the several allies of my crown
have derived from this salutary measure of the definitive
Treaty. The powers at war with my good brother, the King
of Prussia, have been induced to agree to such terms of
accomodation, as that great prince has approved; and the
success zvhich has attended my negociation, has necessarily
and immediately diffused the blessings of peace through
every part of Europe. The infamous fallacy of this whole
sentence is apparent to all mankind: for it is known, that the
King of Prussia did not barely approve, but absolutely die-
JOHN WILKES 469
tatcd, as conqueror, every article of the terms of peace. No
advantage of any kind has accrued to that magnanimous
prince from our negotiations, but he was basely deserted by
the Scottish prime-minister of England. He was known by
every court in Europe to be scarcely on better terms of friend-
ship here, than at Vienna; and he was betrayed by us in the
treaty of peace. What a strain of insolence, therefore, is
it in a minister to lay claim to what he is conscious all his
efforts tended to prevent, and meanly to arrogate to himself
a share in the fame and glory of one of the greatest princes
the world has ever seen ? The king of Prussia, however,
has gloriously kept all his former conquests, and stipulated
security for all his allies, even for the elector of Hanover.
I know in what light this great prince is considered in
Europe, and in what manner he has been treated here ; among
other reasons, perhaps, from some contemptuous expressions
he may have used of the Scot: expressions which are every
day echoed by the whole body of Englishmen through the
southern part of this island.
The Preliminary Articles of Peace were such as have
drawn the contempt of mankind on our wretched negocia-
tors. All our most valuable conquests were agreed to be
restored, and the East India Company would have been in-
fallibly ruined by a single article of this fallacious and bane-
ful negociation. No hireling of the minister has been hardy
enough to dispute this; yet the minister himself has made
our sovereign declare, the satisfaction which he felt at the
approaching re-establishment of peace upon conditions so
honourable to his crown, and so beneficial to his people. As
to the entire approbation of parliament, which is so vainly
boasted of, the world knows how that was obtained. The
large debt on the Civil List, already above half a year in
arrear, shews pretty clearly the transactions of the winter.
It is, however, remarkable, that the minister's speeche dwells
on the entire approbation given by parliament to the Prelim-
inary Articles, which I will venture to say, he must by this
time be ashamed of; for he has been brought to confess the
total want of that knowledge, accuracy and precision, by
which such immense advantages both of trade and territory,
were sacrificed to our inveterate enemies. These gross
blunders are, indeed, in some measure set right by the De-
finitive Treaty; yet, the most important articles, relative to
cessions, commerce, and the FISHERY, remain as they were,
with respect to the French. The proud and feeble Spaniard,
470 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
too, does not RENOUNCE, but only DESISTS from all pretensions,
which he may have formed, to the right of fishing where ?
only about the island of NEWFOUNDLAND till a favourable
opportunity arises of insisting on it, there, as ivcll as else-
where.
The minister cannot forbear, even in the King's Speech,
insulting us with a dull repetition of the word occonomy. I
did not expect so soon to have seen that word again, after
it had been so lately exploded, and more than once, by a most
numerous audience, hissed off the stage of our English the-
atres. It is held in derision by the voice of the people, and
every tongue loudly proclaims the universal contempt, in
which these empty professions are held by this nation. Let
the public be informed of a single instance of occonomy,
except indeed in the household. Is a regiment, which was
compleated as to its compliment of officers on the Tuesday,
and broke on the Thursday, a proof of (economy? Is the
pay of the Scottish Master Elliot to be voted by an English
parliament, under the head of occonomy? Is this, among
a thousand others, one of the convincing proofs of a firm
resolution to form government on a plan of strict occonomy ?
Is it not notorious, that in the reduction of the army, not the
least attention has been paid to it ? Many unnecessary ex-
penses have been incurred, only to increase the power of the
crown, that is, to create more lucrative jobbs for the crea-
tures of the minister. The staff indeed is broke, but the
discerning part of mankind immediately comprehended the
mean subterfuge, and resented the indignity put upon so
brave an officer, as marshal Ligonier. That step was taken
to give the whole power of the army to the crown, that is, to
the minister. Lord Ligonier is now no longer at the head
of the army; but Lord Bute in effect is: I mean that every
preferment given by the crown will be found still to be ob-
tained by his enormous influence, and to be bestowed only
on the creatures of the Scottish faction. The nation is still
in the same deplorable state, while he governs, and can make
the tools of his power pursue the same odious measure.
Such a retreat, as he intends, can only mean that personal in-
demnity, which, I hope, guilt will never find from an injured
nation. The negociations of the late inglorious peace, and the
excise, will haunt him, wherever he goes, and the terrors of
the just resentment, which he must be to meet from a brave
and insulted people, and which must finally crush him, will
be for ever before his eyes,
JOHN WILKES 471
In vain will such a minister, or the foul dregs of his
power, the tools of corruption and despotism, preach up in
the speech that spirit of concord, and that obedience to the
laws, which is essential to good order. They have sent the
spirit of discord through the land, and I will prophecy, that
it will never be extinguished, but by the extinction of their
power. Is the spirit of concord to go hand in hand with the
Peace and Excise thro' this nation? Is it to be expected
between an insolent Exciseman, and a peer, gentleman, free-
holder, or farmer, whose private houses are now made liable
to be entered and searched at pleasure ? Gloucestershire,
Herefordshire, and in general all the Cyder countries, are
not surely the several counties which are alluded to in the
speech. The spirit of concord hath not gone forth among
them; but the spirit of liberty has, and a noble opposition has
been given to the wicked instruments of oppression. A na-
tion as sensible as the English, will see that a spirit of con-
cord, when they are oppressed, means a tame submission to
injury, and that a spirit of liberty ought then to arise, and I
am sure ever will, in proportion to the weight of the griev-
ance they feel. Every legal attempt of a contrary tendency
to the spirit of concord will be deemed a justifiable resistance,
warranted by the spirit of the English constitution.
A despotic minister will always endeavour to dazzle his
prince with high-flown ideas of the prerogative and honour
of the crown, which the minister will make a parade of
firmly maintaining. I wish as much as any man in the
kingdom to see the honour of the crown maintained in a
manner truly becoming to Royalty. I lament to see it sunk
even to prostitution. What a shame was it to see the security
of this country, in point of military force complimented away,
contrary to the opinion of Royalty itself, and sacrificed to
the prejudices and to the ignorance of a set of people, the
most unfit from every consideration to be consulted on a
matter relative to the security of the house of Hanover! I
wish to see the honour of the crown religiously asserted with
regard to our allies, and the dignity of it scrupulously main-
tained with regard to foreign princes. Is it possible such an
indignity can have happened, such a sacrifice of the honour
of the crown of England, as that a minister should already
have kissed his majesty's hand on being appointed to the
most insolent and ungrateful court in the world, without a
previous assurance of that reciprocal nomination which the
meanest court in Europe would insist upon, before she pro-
472 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
ceeded to an act otherwise so derogatory to her honour?
But Electoral Policy has ever been obsequious to the court of
Vienna, and forgets the insolence with which count Colloredo
left England. Upon a principle of dignity and acconomy,
lord Stormont, a Scottish peer of the loyal house of Murray,
kissed his Majesty's hand I think on Wednesday in the Easter
week ; but this ignominious act has not yet disgraced the
nation in the London Gazette. The ministry are not ashamed
of doing the thing in private; they are only afraid of the
publication. Was it a tender regard for the honour of the
late king, or of his present majesty, that invited to court lord
George Sackville, in these first days of Peace, to share in the
general satisfaction, which all good courtiers received in the
indignity offered to lord Ligonier, and on the advancement
of ? Was it to show princely gratitude to the eminent
services of the accomplished general of the house of Bruns-
wic, who has had so great a share in rescuing Europe from
the yoke of France ; and whose nephew we hope soon to see
made happy in the possession of the most amiable princess in
the world ? Or, is it meant to assert the honour of the crown
only against the united wishes of a loyal and affectionate
people, founded in a happy experience of the talents, integ-
rity, and virtue of those, who have had the glory of redeem-
ing their country from bondage and ruin, in order to support,
by every art of corruption and intimidation, a weak dis-
jointed, incapable set of I will call them any thing but
ministers by whom the Favourite still meditates to rule
this kingdom with a rod of iron.
The Stuart line has ever been intoxicated with the slavish
doctrines of the absolute, independent, unlimited power of
the crown. Some of that line were so weakly advised, as to
endeavour to reduce them into practice; but the English
nation was too spirited to suffer the least encroachment on
the ancient liberties of this kingdom. The King of England
is only the first magistrate of this country; but is invested by
law with the whole executive power. He is, however, re-
sponsible to his people for the due execution of the royal
functions, in the choice of ministers, etc., equally with the
meanest of his subjects in his particular duty. The personal
character of our present amiable sovereign makes us easy
and happy that so great a power is lodged in such hands; but
the favourite has given too just cause for him to escape the
general odium. The prerogative of the crown is to exert the
constitutional powers entrusted to it in a way, not of blind
JOHN WILKES 473
favour and partiality, but of wisdom and judgment. This is
the spirit of our constitution. The people too have their
prerogative, and I hope, the fine words of Dryden will be
engraven on our hearts :
Freedom is the English subject's Prerogative.
(The North Briton, ed. Wilkes, Churchill and others, Lond., 1772. No. 45.)
CHAPTER XXVIII
AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
202. The Question of Taxation
Gremnllc
The American Colonies, in their opposition to taxation without
representation, gave much opportunity for parliamentary elo-
quence. The resulting speeches so well epitomise the contend-
ing opinions of the statesmen of England upon the current
question, that four of them have been selected to place before the
reader the views held by the English nation at large. The first
of these speeches was delivered by Mr. George Grenville, who
had recently been Premier. Only a brief extract has been
given, but that contains the main argument of those who fa-
voured taxation.
I cannot understand the difference between external and
internal taxes. They are the same in effect, and differ only
in name. That this kingdom has the sovereign, the supreme
legislative power over America is granted ; it cannot be de-
nied; and taxation is a part of that sovereign power. It is
one branch of the legislation. It is, it has been, exercised
over those who are not, who were never represented. It is
exercised over the India Company, the merchants of London,
the proprietors of the stocks, and over many great manufac-
turing towns. It was exercised over the county palatine of
Chester and the bishopric of Durham, before they sent any
representatives to Parliament. I appeal for proof to the
preambles of the Acts which gave them representatives : one
in the reign of Henry VIII, the other in that of Charles II.
When I proposed to tax America, I asked the House if any
gentleman would object to the right; I repeatedly asked it,
and no man would attempt to deny it. Protection and obe-
dience are reciprocal. Great Britain protects America ;
America is bound to yield obedience. If not, tell me when the
Americans were emancipated ? When they want the protec-
tion of this kingdom they are always very ready to ask for it.
That protection has always been afforded them in the most
474
AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 475
full and ample manner. The nation has run herself into an
immense debt to give them their protection ; and now, when
they are called upon to contribute a small share toward the
public expense an expense arising from themselves they
renounce your authority, insult your officers, and break out
I might almost say into open rebellion. The seditious
spirit of the colonies owes its birth to the factions in this
House. Gentlemen are careless of the consequences of what
they say, provided it answers the purposes of opposition.
We were told we trod on tender ground. We were bid to
expect disobedience. What is this but telling the Americans
to stand out against the law, to encourage their obstinacy
with the expectation of support from hence? "Let us only
hold out a little," they would say; "our friends will soon be
in power." Ungrateful people of America ! Bounties have
been extended to them. When I had the honour of serving
the Crown, while you yourselves were loaded with an enor-
mous debt you gave bounties on their lumber, on their iron,
their hemp, and many other articles. You have relaxed in
their favour the Act of Navigation, that palladium of the
British commerce; and yet I have been abused in all the
public papers as an enemy to the trade of America. I have
been particularly charged with giving orders and instruc-
tions to prevent the Spanish trade, and thereby stopping the
channel by which alone North America used to be supplied
with cash for remittances to this country. I defy any man
to produce any such orders or instructions. I discouraged
no trade but what was illicit, what was prohibited by an Act
of Parliament. I desire a West India merchant, well known
in the city, a gentleman of character, may be examined. He
will tell you that I offered to do everything in my power to
advance the trade of America. I was above giving an answer
to anonymous calumnies; but in this place it becomes one to
wipe off the aspersion.
(British Orations, ed. C. K. Adams, N. Y., 1897. I, 106.)
203. The Policy of Conciliation
Chatham
Lord Chatham was a consistent upholder of the rights of the
American Colonies in their contention with Parliament. No one
saw more clearly than he the possible consequences of persistence
in oppression, and in his most famous speech on the subject,
from which we have quoted a portion, he well sets forth the
grievances of the Americans.
The gentleman asks, when were the colonies emancipated?
4?6 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
I desire to know, when were they made slaves ? But I dwell
not upon words. When I had the honour of serving his
Majesty, I availed myself of the means of information which
I derived from my office. I speak, therefore, from knowl-
edge. My materials were good. I was at pains to collect,
to digest, to consider them; and I will be bold to affirm that
the profits to Great Britain from the trade of the colonies,
through all its branches, is two millions a year. This is the
fund that carried you triumphantly through the last war.
The estates that were rented at two thousand pounds a year,
threescore years ago, are at three thousand at present. Those
estates sold then from fifteen to eighteen years' purchase ; the
same may now be sold for thirty. You owe this to America.
This is the price America pays you for her protection. And
shall a miserable financier come with a boast that he can
bring "a pepper-corn" into the exchequer by the loss of
millions to the nation ? I dare not say how much higher
these profits may be augmented. Omitting the immense in-
crease of people, by natural population, in the northern colo-
nies, and the emigration from every part of Europe, I am
convinced on other grounds that the commercial system of
America may be altered to advantage. You have prohibited
where you ought to have encouraged. You have encouraged
where you ought to have prohibited. Improper restraints
have been laid on the continent in favour of the islands. You
have but two nations to trade with in America. Would you
had twenty ! Let acts of Parliament in consequence of
treaties remain; but let not an English minister become a
custom-house officer for Spain, or for any foreign power.
Much is wrong ! Much may be amended for the general
good of the whole . . .
A great deal has been said without doors of the power, of
the strength of America. It is a topic that ought to be cau-
tiously meddled with. In a good cause, on a sound bottom,
the force of this country can crush America to atoms. I know
the valour of your troops. I know the skill of your officers.
There is not a company of foot that has served in America,
out of which you may not pick a man of sufficient knowledge
and experience to make a governor of a colony there. But
on this ground, on the Stamp Act, which so many here will
think a crying injustice, I am one who will lift up my hands
against it.
In such a cause, your success would be hazardous.
America, if she fell, would fall like the strong man; she
AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 477
would embrace the pillars of the State, and pull down the
Constitution along with her. Is this your boasted peace
not to sheathe the sword in its scabbard, but to sheathe it in
the bowels of your countrymen ? Will you quarrel with
yourselves, now the whole house of Bourbon is united against
you: while France disturbs your fisheries in Newfoundland,
embarrasses your slave trade to Africa, and withholds from
your subjects in Canada their property stipulated by treaty:
while the ransom for the Manillas is denied by Spain, and
its gallant conqueror basely traduced into a mean plunderer;
a gentleman whose noble and generous spirit would do honour
to the proudest grandee of the country? The Americans
have not acted in all things with prudence and temper ; they
have been wronged ; they have been driven to madness by
injustice. Will you punish them for the madness you have
occasioned ? Rather let prudence and temper come first
from this side. I will undertake for America that she will
follow the example. There are two lines in a ballad of
Prior's, of a man's behaviour to his wife, so applicable to you
and your colonies that I cannot help repeating them:
" Be to her faults a little blind ;
Be to her virtues very kind."
Upon the whole, I will beg leave to tell the House what is
my opinion. It is, that the Stamp Act be repealed absolutely,
totally, and immediately. That the reason for the repeal be
assigned, namely, because it was founded on an erroneous
principle. At the same time, let the sovereign authority of
this country over the colonies be asserted in as strong terms
as can be devised, and be made to extend to every point of
legislation whatsoever; that we may bind their trade, confine
their manufactures, and exercise every power whatsoever,
except that of taking their money out of their pockets with-
out their consent.
(British Orations, ed. cit., I, 113.)
204. The Right to Tax
Mansfield
In the speech from which the following selections have been
made, Lord Mansfield delivered a most able argument upon the
purely legal aspect of the question of taxing the colonies. The
speech was declared by one of his opponents to be absolutely un-
controvertible as an argument on the law of the question at
issue.
There can be no doubt, my Lords, but that the inhabitants
478 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
of the colonies are as much represented in Parliament as the
greatest part of the people of England are represented;
among nine millions of whom there are eight which have no
votes in electing members of Parliament. Every objection,
therefore, to the dependency of the colonies upon Parliament,
which arises to it upon the ground of representation, goes to
the whole present Constitution of Great Britain, and I sup-
pose it is not meant to new-model that too. People may
form speculative ideas of perfection, and indulge their own
fancies or those of other men. Every man in this country
has his particular notion of liberty; but perfection never did,
and never can, exist in any human institution. To what pur-
pose, then, are arguments drawn from a distinction in
which there is no real difference of a virtual and actual
representation? A member of Parliament, chosen for any
borough, represents not only the inhabitants and constituents
of that particular place, but he represents the inhabitants of
every other borough in Great Britain. He represents the
city of London and all the other commons of this land, and
the inhabitants of all the colonies and dominions of Great
Britain ; and is, in duty and conscience, bound to take care of
their interests.
I have mentioned the customs and the post tax. This
leads me to answer another distinction, as false as the above :
the distinction of internal and external taxes. The noble
Lord who quoted so much law and denied upon those grounds
the right of the Parliament of Great Britain to lay internal
taxes upon the colonies, allowed at the same time that restric-
tions upon trade and duties upon the ports were legal. But
I cannot see a real difference in this distinction; for I hold
it to be true that a tax laid in any place is like a pebble fall-
ing into and making a circle in a lake, till one circle produces
and gives motion to another and the whole circumference is
agitated from the centre. For nothing can be more clear
than that a tax of ten or twenty per cent, laid upon tobacco,
either in the ports of Virginia or London, is a duty laid upon
the inland plantations of Virginia, a hundred miles from the
sea, wheresoever the tobacco grows.
I do not deny but that a tax may be laid injudiciously and
injuriously, and that people in such a case may have a right
to complain. But the nature of the tax is not now the ques-
tion ; whenever it comes to be one, I am for lenity. I would
have no blood drawn. There is, I am satisfied, no occasion
for any to be drawn. A little time and experience of the in-
AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 479
conveniences and miseries of anarchy may bring people to
their senses . . .
I am far from bearing any ill-will to the Americans; they
are a very good people, and I have long known them. I began
life with them, and owe much to them, having been much
concerned in the plantation causes before the Privy Council ;
and so I became a good deal acquainted with American
affairs and people. I dare say their heat will soon be over,
when they come to feel a little the consequences of their
opposition to the Legislature. Anarchy always cures itself;
but the ferment will continue so much the longer while hot-
headed men there find that there are persons of weight and
character to support and justify them here.
Indeed, if the disturbances should continue for a great
length of time, force must be the consequence, an application
adequate to the mischief and arising out of the necessity of
the case; for force is only the difference between a superior
and subordinate jurisdiction. In the former the whole force
of the Legislature resides collectively, and when it ceases to
reside the whole connection is dissolved. It will, indeed, be
to very little purpose that we sit here enacting laws and
making resolutions, if the inferior will not obey them, or if
we neither can nor dare enforce them ; for then and then,
I say, of necessity the matter comes to the sword. If the
offspring are grown too big and too resolute to obey the
parent, you must try which is the strongest, and exert all the
powers of the mother country to decide the contest.
I am satisfied, notwithstanding, that time, and a wise and
steady conduct, may prevent those extremities which would
be fatal to both. I remember well when it was the violent
humour of the times to decry standing armies and garrisons
as dangerous and incompatible with the liberty of the subject.
Nothing would do but a regular militia. The militia are
embodied ; they march ; and no sooner was the militia law
thus put into execution, but it was then said to be an intoler-
able burden upon the subject, and that it would fall, sooner
or later, into the hands of the Crown. That was the lan-
guage, and many counties petitioned against it. This may
be the case with the colonies. In many places they begin
already to feel the effects of their resistance to government.
Interest very soon divides mercantile people ; and, although
there may be some mad, enthusiastic, or ill-designing people
in the colonies, yet I am convinced that the greatest bulk,
who have understanding and property, are still well affected
4So SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
to the mother country. You have, my Lords, many friends
still in the colonies ; and take care that you do not, by ab-
dicating your own authority, desert them and yourselves, and
lose them forever . . .
But, my Lords, I shall make this application of it. You
may abdicate your right over the colonies. Take care, my
Lords, how you do so; for such an act will be irrevocable.
Proceed, then, my Lords, with spirit and firmness ; and when
you shall have established your authority, it will then be a
time to show your lenity. The Americans, as I said before,
are a very good people, and I wish them exceedingly well ;
but they are heated and inflamed. The noble Lord who
spoke before ended with a prayer. I cannot end better than
by saying to it, Amen ; and in the words of Maurice, Prince
of Orange, concerning the Hollanders, "God bless this in-
dustrious, frugal, and well-meaning, but easily deluded
people !"
(British Orations, ed. cit., I, 161.)
205. The Character of the Colonists
Burke
The great Irish orator, Edmund Burke, was a warm advocate
of the American cause. In his most noted speech on the sub-
ject, he voiced the opinion general in England, though not in
Parliament, that the love of liberty would call the colonists to
great deeds if they were driven to desperation. His words form
a just and comprehensive summing-up of the judgment of the
most intelligent Englishmen of that day.
But there is still behind a third consideration concerning
this object, which serves to determine my opinion on the sort
of policy which ought to be pursued in the management of
America, even more than its population and its commerce
I mean its character and temper. In this character of the
Americans a love of freedom is the predominating feature,
which marks and distinguishes the whole ; and, as an ardent
is always a jealous affection, your colonies become suspi-
cious, restive, and untractable, whenever they see the least
attempt to wrest from them by force, or shuffle from them by
chicane, what they think the only advantage worth living for.
This fierce spirit of liberty is stronger in the English colo-
nies, probably, than in any other people of the earth ; and
this from a variety of powerful causes, which, to understand
the true temper of their minds and the direction which this
spirit takes, it will not be amiss to lay open somewhat more
largely.
AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 481
First, the people of the colonies are descendants of
Englishmen. England, sir, is a nation which still, I hope,
respects, and formerly adored, her freedom. The colonists
emigrated from you when this part of your character was
most predominant; and they took this bias and direction the
moment they parted from your hands. They are, therefore,
not only devoted to liberty, but to liberty according to
English ideas and on English principles. Abstract liberty,
like many other abstractions, is not to be found. Liberty in-
heres in some sensible object ; and every nation has formed to
itself some favourite point which, by way of eminence, becomes
the criterion of their happiness. It happened, you know, sir,
that the great contests for freedom in this country were from
the earliest times chiefly upon the question of taxation.
Most of the contests in the ancient commonwealths turned
primarily on the right of election of magistrates, or on the
balance among the several orders of the State. The question
of money was not with them so immediate. But in England
it was otherwise. On this point of taxes the ablest pens and
most eloquent tongues have been exercised, the greatest
spirits have acted and suffered. In order to give the fullest
satisfaction concerning the importance of this point, it was
not only necessary for those who in argument defended the
excellence of the English Constitution to insist on this priv-
ilege of granting money as a dry point of fact, and to prove
that the right had been acknowledged in ancient parchments
and blind usages to reside in a certain body called the House
of Commons; they went much farther. They attempted to
prove and they succeeded that in theory it ought to be
so, from the particular nature of a House of Commons as an
immediate representative of the people, whether the old
records had delivered this oracle or not. They took infinite
pains to inculcate, as a fundamental principle, that in all
monarchies the people must in effect themselves, mediately
or immediately, possess the power of granting their own
money, or no shadow of liberty could subsist. The colonies
draw from you, as with their life-blood, those ideas and prin-
ciples. Their love of liberty, as with you, fixed and attached
on this specific point of taxing. Liberty might be safe or
might be endangered in twenty other particulars, without
their being much pleased or alarmed. Here they felt its
pulse; and as they found that beat, they thought themselves
sick or sound. I do not say whether they were right or
wrong in applying your general arguments to their own case.
482 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
It is not easy, indeed, to make a monopoly of theorems and
corollaries. The fact is that they did thus apply those gen-
eral arguments; and your mode of governing them, whether
through lenity or indolence, through wisdom or mistake, con-
firmed them in the imagination that they, as well as you, had
an interest in these common principles.
They were further confirmed in these pleasing errors by
the form of their provincial legislative assemblies. Their
governments are popular to a high degree; some are merely
popular ; in all, the popular representative is the most
weighty ; and this share of the people in their ordinary gov-
ernment never fails to inspire them with lofty sentiments and
with a strong aversion from whatever tends to deprive them
of their chief importance . . .
Sir, I can perceive from their manner that some gentlemen
object to the latitude of this description, because in the
southern colonies the Church of England forms a large body
and has a regular establishment. It is certainly true. There
is, however, a circumstance attending these colonies which,
in my opinion, fully counterbalances this difference and
makes the spirit of liberty still more high and haughty than
in those to the northward. It is that in Virginia and the
Carolinas they have a vast multitude of slaves. Where this
is the case in any part of the world, those who are free are
by far the most proud and jealous of their freedom. Free-
dom is to them not only an enjoyment, but a kind of rank
and privilege. Not seeing there that freedom, as in countries
where it is a common blessing and as broad and general as
the air, may be united with much abject toil, with great
misery, with all the exterior of servitude, liberty looks, among
them, like something that is more noble and liberal. I do not
mean, sir, to commend the superior morality of this senti-
ment, which has at least as much pride as virtue in it; but I
cannot alter the nature of man. The fact is so ; and these
people of the southern colonies are much more strongly, and
with a higher and more stubborn spirit, attached to liberty
than those to the northward. Such were all the ancient com-
monwealths ; such were our Gothic ancestors ; such, in our
days, were the Poles ; and such will be all masters of slaves
who are not slaves themselves. In such a people the haughti-
ness of domination combines with the spirit of freedom, for-
tifies it, and renders it invincible.
(British Orations, ed. cit., I, 210.
CHAPTER XXIX
UNION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND
206. The Union Advocated
Castlereagh
The influence of Lord Castlereagh had much to do with ef-
fecting the union. Castlereagh and Flood were probably the
best hated men in Ireland, being looked upon as traitors, but
they exercised a power which was undiminished by any personal
scruples. That their cause prevailed was owing neither to its
popularity nor its justice, but to the methods employed by its
advocates and the English Government.
It is said, that an union will reduce Ireland to the abject
state of a colony. Is it by making her a constituent part of
the greatest and first empire in the world? For my part, if
I were to describe a colony, I should picture a country in a
situation somewhat similar to the present state of Ireland.
I should describe a country, whose crown was dependent on
that of another country, enjoying a local legislature, but
without any power intrusted to that legislature of regulating
the succession of that crown. I should describe it as having
an executive power administered by the orders of a non-
resident minister, irresponsible to the colony for his acts or
his advice; I should describe it as incapable of passing the
most insignificant law without the licence of the minister of
another country; I should describe it as a country unknown
to foreign nations in the quality of an independent state, and
as subject to another power with regard to all the questions
which concern alliances, the declaration and conduct of war,
or the negotiations for peace.
Another objection has been started, that an imperial parlia-
ment cannot be possessed of such local knowledge of the
kingdom as is necessary for the due encouragement of its
interests. But I ask, what is there to prevent the representa-
tives of Ireland from carrying with them to the imperial
parliament all their local knowledge of the wants and inter-
ests of Ireland? And what is there to prevent an imperial
483
484 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
parliament from attending as anxiously to the concerns of
this part of the empire, as to the concerns of the west of Eng-
land, or the affairs of Scotland?
It has also been asserted, that an union would have the
effect of weakening the executive power in Ireland. Con-
vinced as I am, that Ireland cannot exist without a strong ex-
ecutive power, and that the lives and properties of its loyal in-
habitants cannot be otherwise secured, I could not argue in
favour of the advantages which are promised by this measure,
were it to be followed by such a consequence. But I am so
confident of the opposite effect, that it is upon this very prin-
ciple of giving new vigor to the executive power, and of
giving additional security to the persons and properties of
the inhabitants, that I embrace the measure. It is an union
alone that can give us strength, by removing the cause of our
weakness. It will take away from the executive power all
those jealousies, which hang upon its motions and prevent
its constitutional effects : it will preclude the plausible in-
sinuation, that we are governed by the influence of a parlia-
ment in which we are not represented; that we are directed
by the counsels of ministers who are irresponsible ; that our
interests are sacrificed to those of Great Britain ; in short, it
will remove all those constitutional awkwardnesses and
anomalies which render all the exertions of the executive
power suspected and inefficient, and, by rendering it un-
popular, diminish and counteract its influence.
There is another objection, which has been strongly urged
and plausibly supported. It is this that our parliament
has, from the circumstance of its being local, been able to
make exertions for suppressing the rebellion, which an im-
perial parliament would not have attempted. I most cordially
admit, that the Irish parliament has most materially assisted
the government by arming it with those ample powers which
have been employed to suppress the rebellion. But, if it was
parliament that gave the powers, it was the cabinet that em-
ployed them. And I ask, by what constitutional scruples
would an imperial parliament be prevented from giving the
same powers in similar circumstances, or the ministers of the
empire be arrested in the exercise of them? And is it agree-
able to common sense, or truth, that the acts of the parlia-
ment of the empire would have less authority than the acts
of only a part of the empire?
It has also been said, that a local parliament alone could
have traced and developed the conspiracy which produced
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 485
the late rebellion. Here is a mistake in point of fact. It
was not the local parliament, but the executive government
which discovered the conspiracy. It was the government
that detected the plans of the traitors; and it was upon the
documents produced by the government that the accurate
report of the secret committee was formed. The merits of
the report in disclosing the information as a warning to the
public, after the treason was detected and defeated, may be
ascribed to the parliament; but the discovery of the con-
spiracy, and the suppression of the rebellion, arose from the
energies of the executive government . . .
Having now gone through the outline of the plan with as
much conciseness as possible, I trust I have proved to every
man who hears me, that the proposal is such an one as is at
once honourable for Great Britain to offer, and for Ireland
to accept. It is one which will entirely remove from the
executive power those anomalies which are the perpetual
sources of jealousy and discontent. It is one which will
relieve the apprehensions of those who feared that Ireland
was, in consequence of an union, to be burthened with the
debt of Britain. It is one which, by establishing a fair prin-
ciple of contribution, tends to release Ireland from an ex-
pence of one million in time of war, and of 500,000 in time
of peace. It is one which increases the resources of our
commerce, protects our manufactures, secures to us the
British market, and encourages all the produce of our soil.
It is one that, by uniting the ecclesiastical establishments,
and consolidating the legislatures of the empire, puts an end
to religious jealousy, and removes the possibility of separa-
tion. It is one that places the great question, which has so
long agitated the country, upon the broad principles of im-
perial policy, and divests it of all its local difficulties. It is
one that establishes such a representation for the country, as
must lay asleep for ever the question of parliamentary re-
forms, which, combined with our religious divisions, has
produced all our distractions and calamities.
(History of the Union between Great Britain and Ireland,
C. Coote, Lond., 1802. p. 339.)
207. Grattan Opposes the Union
Grattan
The projected union of Ireland with Great Britain provoked
bitter hostility in the former country. The adherents of the
measure were made the objects of scathing invective, by the
press and their parliamentary opponents. Of those who most
486 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
strenuously fought the union, none stands higher than Henry
Grattan, a portion of whose finest speech in opposition to the
measure is given below.
I have done with the pile which the minister batters I
come to the Babel which he builds and, as he throws down
without a principle, so does he construct without a founda-
tion. This fabric he calls an union; and to this his fabric
there are two striking objections. First, it is no union it
is not an identification of the people, for it excludes the cath-
olics : 2dly, It is a consolidation of the legislatures ; that is
to say, it merges the Irish parliament, and incurs every ob-
jection to an union, without obtaining the only object which
an union professes: it is an extinction of the constitution,
and an exclusion of the people. I say, he excludes the cath-
olics for ever, and for the very reason which he and his ad-
vocates hold out as the ground of expectation that here-
after, in a course of time (he does not say when), if they
behave themselves (he does not say how), they may see
their case submitted to a course of discussion (he does not
say with what result or determination) ; and, as the ground
for the inane period, in which he promises nothing, in which
he can promise nothing, and in which, if he did promise much,
he would at so remote a period be able to perform nothing,
unless he, like the evil he has accomplished, be immortal ;
for this inate sentence, in which he can scarcely be said to
deceive the catholic, or suffer the catholic to deceive him-
self, he exhibits no other ground than the physical inanity of
the catholic body accomplished by an union, which, as it
destroys the relative importance of Ireland, destroys also the
relative proportion of its catholic inhabitants, who thus
become admissible, because they cease to be any thing.
Hence, according to him, their brilliant expectation ; "you
were," say his advocates, and so imports his argument, "be-
fore the union, as three to one you will be by the union as
one to four." - - Thus he founds their hopes of political power
on the extinction of physical consequence, and makes the
inanity of their body and the non-entity of their country the
pillars of their future ambition. Let me add, that even if
catholics should be admitted into parliament by the articles
of union, it would be of little avail to the body. What signi-
fies it to the body, whether a catholic individual be an in-
significant unit in the English parliament or in the street ;
in either case he would be nothing he would belong to
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 487
nothing he would have nothing to which he could belong
no country no Irish people no Irish nation.
(flistory of the Union of the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland,
C. Coote, Lond., 1802. p. 322.)
208. Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland
Collection of Statutes, Evans
The union between Great Britain and Ireland was the result
of fraud, trickery, and coercion, combined with good intentions
and upright dealing. The union was not popular at its for-
mation, nor has it ever become so. The ties existing between
England and Ireland have from the earliest history of the two
countries been of the nature of chains. The Irish antagonism
to England has never faltered, though it has changed in nature
and expression. Yet the union has been maintained for more
than a century, and is not likely to become dissolved in the near
future.
UNION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND
(40 GEO. Ill, c. 67. July 2, 1800)
AN ACT FOR THE UNION OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND
(Preamble}
ARTICLE I
That it be the first article of the Union of the kingdoms
of Great Britain and Ireland, that the said kingdoms of
Great Britain and Ireland shall, upon the first day of January
which shall be in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and one, and for ever after, be united into one king-
dom, by the name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland; and that the royal style and titles appertaining to
the imperial crown of the said united kingdom and its depen-
dencies; and also the ensigns, armorial flags, and banners
thereof, shall be such as his Majesty, by his royal proclama-
tion under the great seal of the united kingdom, shall be
pleased to appoint.
ARTICLE II
That it be the second article of Union, that the succession
to the imperial crown of the said united kingdom, and of the
dominions thereunto belonging, shall continue limited and
settled in the same manner as the succession to the imperial
crown of the said kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland now
stands limited and settled, according to the existing laws, and
to the terms of Union between England and Scotland.
488 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH PI I STORY
ARTICLE III
That it be the third article of Union, that the said united
kingdom be represented in one and the same Parliament, to
be styled The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland.
ARTICLE IV
That it be the fourth article of Union, that four Lords
Spiritual of Ireland by rotations of sessions, and twenty-eight
Lords Temporal of Ireland elected for life by the peers of
Ireland, shall be the number to sit and vote on the part of
Ireland in the House of Lords of the Parliament of the
united kingdom; and one hundred commoners (two for each
county of Ireland, two for the city of Dublin, two for the city
of Cork, one for the university of Trinity College, and one
for each of the thirty-one most considerable cities, towns, and
boroughs) be the number to sit and vote on the part of Ire-
land in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the
united kingdom :
That such Act as shall be passed in the Parliament of Ire-
land previous to the Union, to regulate the mode by which
the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, to serve
in the Parliament of the united kingdom on the part of Ire-
land, shall be summoned and returned to the said Parliament,
shall be considered as forming part of the treaty of Union,
and shall be incorporated in the Act of the respective Parlia-
ments by which the said Union shall be ratified and estab-
lished :
That all questions touching the rotation or election of
Lords Spiritual or Temporal of Ireland to sit in the Parlia-
ment of the united kingdom, shall be decided by the House of
Lords thereof; and whenever, by reason of an equality of
votes in the election of any such Lords Temporal, a complete
election shall not be made according to the true intent of this
article, the names of those peers for whom such equality of
votes shall be so given, shall be written on pieces of paper of
a similar form, and shall be put into a glass, by the Clerk
of the Parliaments at the table of the House of Lords whilst
the House is sitting; and the peer or peers whose name or
names shall be first drawn out by the Clerk of the Parlia-
ments, shall be deemed the peer or peers elected, as the case
may be :
That any person holding any peerage of Ireland now sub-
sisting, or hereafter to be created, shall not thereby be dis-
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 489
qualified from being elected to serve, if he shall so think fit,
or from serving or continuing to serve, if he shall so think
fit, for any county, city, or borough of Great Britain, in the
House of Commons of the united kingdom, unless he shall
have been previously elected as above, to sit in the House of
Lords of the united kingdom; but that so long as such peer
of Ireland shall so continue to be a member of the House of
Commons, he shall not be entitled to the privilege of peerage,
nor be capable of being elected to serve as a peer on the part
of Ireland, or of voting at any such election; and that he
shall be liable to be sued, indicted, proceeeded against, and
tried as a commoner, for any offence with which he may be
charged:
That it shall be lawful for his Majesty, his heirs and suc-
cessors, to create peers of that part of the united kingdom
called Ireland, and to make promotions in the peerage there-
of, after the Union; provided that no new creation of any
such peers shall take place after the Union until three of the
peerages of Ireland, which shall have been existing at the
time of the Union, shall have become extinct; and upon
such extinction of three peerages, that it shall be lawful for
his Majesty, his heirs and successors, to create one peer of
that part of the united kingdom called Ireland; and in like
manner as often as three peerages of that part of the united
kingdom called Ireland shall become extinct, it shall be law-
ful for his Majesty, his heirs and successors, to create one
other peer of the said part of the united kingdom; and if it
shall happen that the peers of that part of the united king-
dom called Ireland shall, by extinction of peerages or other-
wise, be reduced to the number of one hundred, exclusive of
all such peers of that part of the united kingdom called Ire-
land, as shall hold any peerage of Great Britain subsisting
at the time of the Union, or of the united kingdom, created
since the Union, by which such peers shall be entitled to an
hereditary seat in the House of Lords of the united kingdom,
then and in that case it shall and may be lawful for his Ma-
jesty, his heirs and successors, to create one peer of that part
of the united kingdom called Ireland, as often as any one of
such one hundred peerages shall fail by extinction, or as often
as any one peer of that part of the united kingdom called
Ireland shall become entitled, by descent or creation, to an
hereditary seat in the House of Lords of the united kingdom ;
it being the true intent and meaning of this article, that at
all times after the Union, it shall and may be lawful for his
49 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Majesty, his heirs and successors, to keep up the peerage of
that part of the united kingdom called Ireland to the number
of one hundred, over and above the number of such of the
said peers as shall be entitled, by descent or creation, to an
hereditary seat in the House of Lords of the united kingdom:
That if any peerage shall at any time be in abeyance, such
peerage shall be deemed and taken as an existing peerage ;
and no peerage shall be deemed extinct, unless on default of
claimants to the inheritance of such peerage for the space of
one year from the death of the person who shall have been
last possessed thereof; and if no claim shall be made to the
inheritance of such peerage, in such form and manner as may
from time to time be prescribed by the House of Lords of the
united kingdom, before the expiration, of the said period of
a year, then and in that case such peerage shall be deemed
extinct; provided that nothing herein shall exclude any per-
son from afterwards putting in a claim to the peerage so
deemed extinct ; and if such claim shall be allowed as valid,
by judgment of the House of Lords of the united kingdom,
reported to his Majesty, such peerage shall be considered as
revived; and in case any new creation of a peerage of that
part of the united kingdom called Ireland, shall have taken
place in the interval, in consequence of the supposed extinc-
tion of such peerage, then no new right of creation shall ac-
crue to his Majesty, his heirs or successors, in consequence
of the next extinction which shall take place of any peerage
of that part of the united kingdom called Ireland :
That all questions touching the election of members to sit
on the part of Ireland in the House of Commons of the
united kingdom shall be heard and decided in the same man-
ner as questions touching such elections in Great Britain now
are, or at any time hereafter shall by law be heard and de-
cided; subject nevertheless to such particular regulations in
respect of Ireland as, from local circumstances, the Parlia-
ment of the united kingdom may from time to time deem ex-
pedient.
That the qualifications in respect of property of the
members elected on the part of Ireland to sit in the House of
Commons of the united kingdom, shall be respectively the
same as are now provided by law in the cases of elections for
counties and cities and boroughs respectively in that part of
Great Britain called England, unless any other provision
shall hereafter be made in that respect by Act of Parliament
of the united kingdom.
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 49<
That when his Majesty, his heirs or successors, shall de-
clare his, her, or their pleasure for holding the first or any
subsequent Parliament of the united kingdom, a proclama-
tion shall issue, under the great seal of the united kingdom,
to cause the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons,
who are to serve in the Parliament thereof on the part of
Ireland, to be returned in such manner as by any Act of
this present session of Parliament of Ireland shall be pro-
vided; and that the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Com-
mons of Great Britain shall, together with the Lords Spir-
itual and Temporal and Commons so returned as aforesaid
on the part of Ireland, constitute the two Houses of Parlia-
ment of the united kingdom :
(The next clause provides for a temporary personnnel of
the first Parliament after the Union.)
That the Lords of Parliament on the part of Ireland, in the
House of Lords of the united kingdom, shall at all times
have the same privileges of Parliament which shall belong
to the Lords of Parliament on the part of Great Britain ; and
the Lords Spiritual and Temporal respectively on the part of
Ireland shall at all times have the same rights in respect of
their sitting and voting upon the trial of peers, as the Lords
Spiritual and Temporal respectively on the part of Great
Britain ; and that all Lords Spiritual of Ireland shall have
rank and precedency next and immediately after the Lords
Spiritual of the same rank and degree of Great Britain, and
shall enjoy all privileges as fully as the Lords Spiritual of
Great Britain do now or may herafter enjoy the same (the
right and privilege of sitting in the House of Lords, and the
privileges depending thereon, and particulary the right of
sitting on the trial of peers, excepted) ; and that the persons
holding any temporal peerages of Ireland, existing at the
time of the Union, shall, from and after the Union, have
rank and precedency next and immediately after all the per-
sons holding peerages of the like orders and degree in Great
Britain, subsisting at the time of the Union; and that all
peerages of Ireland created after the Union shall have rank
and precedency with the peerages of the united kingdom, so
created, according to the dates of their creations; and that
all peerages both of Great Britain and Ireland, now subsist-
ing or hereafter to be created, shall in all other respects, from
the date of the Union, be considered as peerages of the united
kingdom ; and that the peers of Ireland shall, as peers of the
united kingdom, be sued and tried as peers, except as afore-
492 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
said, and shall enjoy all privileges of peers as fully as the
peers of Great Britain; the right and privilege of sitting in
the House of Lords, and the privileges depending thereon,
and the right of sitting on the trial of peers, only excepted :
ARTICLE V
That it be the fifth article of Union, That the churches of
England and Ireland,, as now by law established, be united
into one Protestant Episcopal Church, to be called The
United Church of England and Ireland ; and that the doc-
trine, worship, discipline, and government of the said united
church shall be, and shall remain in full force for ever, as
the same are now by law established for the church of Eng-
land ; and that the continuance and preservation of the said
united church, as the established church of England and
Ireland, shall be deemed and taken to be an essential and
fundamental part of the Union ; and that in like manner the
doctrine, worship, discipline, and government of the church
of Scotland, shall remain and be preserved as the same are
now established by law, and by the Acts for the Union of the
two kingdoms of England and Scotland.
ARTICLE VI
That it be the sixth article of Union, That his Majesty's
subjects of Great Britain and Ireland shall, from and after
the first day of January one thousand eight hundred and
one, be entitled to the same privileges, and be on the same
footing, as to encouragements and bounties on the like ar-
ticles being the growth, produce, or manufacture, of either
country respectively, and generally in respect of trade and
navigation in all ports and places in the united kingdom and
its dependencies ; and that in all treaties made by his Ma-
jesty, his heirs and successors, with any foreign power, his
Majesty's subjects of Ireland shall have the same privileges,
and be on the same footing, as his Majesty's subjects of
Great Britain:
(The remaining clauses of this article deal with the duties
upon articles respectively imported and exported between
the kingdoms, two schedules being given.)
ARTICLE VII
(Provides that the interest and sinking fund for the reduc-
tion of the debt of either kingdom shall continue to be sepa-
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 493
rately defrayed. Also provides for the expenditures of the
united kingdom.)
ARTICLE VIII
(Provides that existing laws and courts of jurisdiction
within the respective kingdoms may be altered at pleasure of
the united Parliament. Also provides for appeal.)
(Evans' Collection of Statutes, ed. cited, VIII, 462.)
PART VIII
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
CHAPTER XXX
EMANCIPATION
209. The "No-Popery" Riots
Wraxall
The movement to relieve the Catholics of some of the dis-
abilities from which they suffered provoked violent opposition
at first. Lord George Gordon, a fanatic nobleman, headed an
agitation which, had it been more ably led, might have worked
lasting harm to England. As it was, the rioters for a time were
masters of London, and their excesses alone prevented them
from inaugurating a revolution, instead of a mere revolt. They
were finally overcome and dispersed, and Lord George, the
instigator of the outrages committed, consigned to prison. He
soon after professed the Jewish faith. He died in prison.
I was personally present at many of the most tremendous
effects of the popular fury, on the memorable 7th of June,
the night on which it attained its highest point. About nine
o'clock on that evening, accompanied by three other gentle-
men, who, as well as myself, were alarmed by the accounts
brought in every moment, of the outrages committed ; and of
the still greater acts of violence meditated, as soon as dark-
ness should favour and facilitate their further progress; we
set out from Portland-place, in order to view the scene.
Having got into a hackney-coach, we drove to Bloomsbury-
square ; attracted to that spot by a rumour generally spread,
that lord Mansfield's residence, situated at the north-east
corner, was either already burnt, or destined for destruction.
Hart street, and Great Russell street, presented, each, to the
view as we passed, large fires composed of furniture taken
from the houses of magistrates, or other obnoxious individ-
uals. Quitting the coach, we crossed the square and had
scarcely got under the wall of Bedford House, when we
heard the door of lord Mansfield's house burst open with
violence. In a few minutes, all the contents of the apart-
ments being precipitated from the windows, were piled up,
and wrapped in flames. A file of foot-soldiers arriving,
drew up near the blazing pile; but, without either attempt-
497
498 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
ing to quench the fire, or to impede the mob, who were in-
deed far too numerous to admit of their being dispersed, or
even intimidated, by a small detachment of infantry. The
populace remained masters; while we, after surveying the
spectacle for a short time, moved on into Holborn, where Mr.
Langdale's dwelling house and warehouse afforded a more
appalling picture of devastation. They were altogether en-
veloped in smoke and flame. In front had assembled an
immense multitude of both sexes, many of whom were fe-
males, and not a few held infants in their arms. All ap-
peared to be, like ourselves, attracted as spectators solely by
curiosity, without taking any part in the acts of violence.
The kennel of the street ran clown with spirituous liquors, and
numbers of the populace were already intoxicated with this
beverage. So little disposition, however, did they manifest
to riot, or pillage, that it would have been difficult to con-
ceive who were the authors and perpetrators of such enor-
mous mischief, if we had not distinctly seen at the windows
of the house, men, who while the floors and rooms were on
fire, calmly tore down the furniture, and threw it into the
street, or tossed it into the flames. They experienced no
kind of opposition, during a considerable time that we re-
mained at the place ; but a party of the horse guards arriving,
the terrified crowd instantly began to disperse ; and we,
anxious to gratify our further curiosity, continued our pro-
gress on foot, along Holborn, towards Fleet Market.
I would in vain attempt adequately to describe the spec-
tacle which presented itself, when we reached the declivity
of the hill, close to St. Andrew's Church. The other house
and magazines of Mr. Langdale, who, as a Catholic, had been
selected for the blind vengeance of the mob ; situated in the
hollow, near the north end of Fleet Market, threw up into
the air a pinnacle of flame resembling a volcano. Such was
the beautiful and brilliant effect of the allumination, that St.
Andrew's church appeared to be almost scorched by the heat
of so prodigious a body of fire ; and the figures on the clock
were as distinctly perceptible as at noon-day. It resembled
indeed a tower, rather than a private building, in a state of
conflagation ; and would have inspired the beholder with a
sentiment of admiration allied to pleasure, if it had been
possible to separate the object from its causes and its conse-
quences. The wind did not however augment its rage on
this occasion ; for the night was serene, and the sky un-
clouded, except when it became obscured by the volumes of
EMANCIPATION 499
smoke, which, from time to time produced a temporary dark-
ness. The mob, which completely blocked up the whole
street in every part, and in all directions, prevented our ap-
proaching within fifty or sixty yards of the building, but
the populace, though still principally composed of persons al-
lured by curiosity, yet evidently began here to assume a more
disorderly and ferocious character. Troops, either horse or
foot, we still saw none ; nor, in the midst of this combination
of tumult, terror and violence, had the ordinary police ceased
to continue its functions.
While we stood by the wall of St. Andrew's churchyard,
a watchman, with a lanthorn in his hand, passed us, calling
the hour, as if in time of profound tranquillity.
Finding it altogether impracticable to force our way any
further down Holborn Hill, and hearing that the Fleet Prison
had been set on fire; we penetrated through a number of
narrow lanes, behind St. Andrew's church, and presently
found ourselves in the middle of Fleet Market. Here, the
same destruction raged, but in a different stage of its prog-
ress. Mr. Langdale's houses were already at the height of
their demolition : the Fleet Prison on the contrary was only
beginning to blaze, and the sparks or flaming particles that
filled the air, fell so thick upon us on every side, as to render
unsafe its immediate vicinity, meanwhile we began to hear
the platoons discharged on the other side of the river, to-
wards St. George's Fields; and were informed, that a con-
siderable number of rioters had been killed on Blackfriars
Bridge, which was occupied by the troops. On approaching
it, we beheld the King's Bench Prison completely wrapt in
flames. It exhibited a sublime sight, and we might be said
there to stand in a central point, from which London offered
on every side, before, as well as behind us, the picture of a
city sacked and abandoned to a ferocious enemy. The
shouts of the populace, the cries of women, the crackling
of the fires, the blaze reflected in the stream of the Thames,
and the irregular firing which was kept up both in St.
George's Fields, as well as towards the quarter of the man-
sion-house, and the bank; all these sounds, or images
combined, left scarcely any thing for the imagination to sup-
ply; presenting to the view every recollection, which the
classic descriptions in Virgil, or in Tacitus, have impressed
on the mind in youth, but which I so little expected to see
exemplified in the capital of Great Britain.
(Historical Memoirs of my own Time, by Sir N. W. Wraxall, Phila., 1837
Part II,
Soo SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
210. Speech of King George on Catholic Emancipation
Annual Register
For more than a century Catholics had been subjected to many
disabilities. They were not only excluded from holding civil
office, but every relation of life was affected. The repressive
legislation harassed the Catholics in the possession of their
property, the education of their children, and the exercise of
their religion. Such an attitude toward Catholic citizens re-
sulted in agitation looking toward emancipation, a number of
Protestants joining in the movement. The final conflict with
intolerance was begun in 1778, with Sir George Saville's measure
for the relief of Roman Catholics. It was carried on by Pitt,
Grenville, Grattan, Canning, and other leaders, until in 1829
came the last struggle, which was to end in Catholic emancipa-
tion. The necessity of such a measure had been accentuated by
the condition of Ireland. The King's Address, given below, was
the first step in the movement of the session. It was a surprise
and disaster to the intolerant party. It aroused the bitterest
invective; but the majority, Protestants as well as Catholics,
welcomed the promise of support which it bore, and which
alone their cause had lacked for success.
My Lords and Gentlemen :
The state of Ireland has been the object of His Majesty's
continued solicitude.
His Majesty laments that in that part of the United King-
dom an Association should still exist, which is dangerous
to the public peace, and inconsistent with the spirit of the
Constitution; which keeps alive discord and ill-will amongst
His Majesty's subjects; and which must, if permitted to con-
tinue, effectually obstruct every effort permanently to im-
prove the condition of Ireland.
His Majesty confidently relies on the wisdom and on the
support of his parliament; and His Majesty feels assured
that you will commit to him such powers that may enable His
Majesty to maintain his just authority.
His Majesty recommends that, when his essential object
shall have been accomplished, you should take into your
deliberate consideration the whole condition of Ireland, and
that you should review the laws which impose civil dis-
abilities on His Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects.
You will consider whether the removal of these disabilities
can be effected consistently with the full and permanent
security of our establishments in church and state, with the
maintenance of the reformed religion established by law,
and of the rights and privileges of the bishops and of the
EMANCIPATION 501
clergy of this realm, and of the churches committed to their
charge.
These are institutions which must ever be held sacred in
this Protestant kingdom, and which it is the duty and deter-
mination of his Majesty to preserve inviolate.
His Majesty most earnestly recommends to you to enter
upon the consideration of a subject of such paramount im-
portance, deeply interesting to the best feelings of his people,
and involving the tranquillity and concord of the United
Kingdoms, with the temper and the moderation which will
best ensure the successful issue of your deliberations.
(Annual Register, 1829, v. 71, 5.)
ax i. Speech of the Attorney-General against the Catholic
Emancipation Bill
Annual Register
The opponents of the Emancipation Bill were not entirely in-
fluenced by religious intolerance. The relation of Church and
State was considered by many a very buckler of English in-
dependence, and any measure likely to weaken the influence of
the Church of England was thought by them to be dangerous
to the welfare of the realm. The following speech, though in-
temperate in its language, well sums up the main arguments of
the opponents of the Bill.
. . . When he, the Attorney-general of the king, was called
on to frame an act of parliament, it was not unnatural that
he should look, as a lawyer, to a higher authority than him-
self, namely the lord Chancellor. How could the Attorney-
general prepare a bill, which the lord Chancellor had de-
clared would subvert the Protestant church of England? and
he thought he was placing himself under a strong shield,
when he took his position behind the buckler of lord Chancel-
lor Lyndhurst. "When my attention was drawn to the fram-
ing of this bill, I felt it my duty to look over the oath taken
by the lord Chancellor, as well as that taken by the Attorney-
general; and it was my judgment, right or wrong, that, when
desired to frame this bill, I was called to draw a bill sub-
versive of the Protestant church, which his Majesty was
bound by his coronation oath to support. If his Majesty
chose to dispense with the obligations of the coronation oath,
he might do so, but I would do no act to put him in jeop-
ardy. These are the grounds on which I refused, and would
refuse a hundred times over, to put one line to paper of what
constitutes the atrocious bill now before the House. Hun-
dreds of those who now listen to me must remember the
502 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
able, valuable, and impressive speech delivered two years
ago by the present lord Chancellor, then Master of the Rolls,
and a member of this House. It will also be in the recollec-
tion of hundreds that that eminent individual, than whom
none is more acute in reasoning, more classical in language,
and more powerful in delivery, then Master of the Rolls, but
now lord Chancellor, quarrelled with the late Mr. Canning
on this very subject. Am I then to blame for refusing to do
that in the subordinate office of Attorney-general, which a
more eminent adviser of the Crown, only two years ago, de-
clared, he would not consent to do? Am I, then, to be twit-
ted, taunted, and attacked? I dare them to attack me. I
have no speech to eat up. I have no apostacy disgracefully
to explain. I have no paltry subterfuge to resort to. I have
not to say that a thing is black one day, and white another.
I have not been in one year a Protestant Master of the Rolls,
and in the next a Catholic lord Chancellor. I would rather
remain as I am, the humble member for Plympton, than be
guilty of such apostacy such contradiction such unex-
plainable conversion such miserable, contemptible apos-
tacy."
The Attorney-general then entered into an examination
of the bill itself, which, he said, he was doubtful whether
members understood. It contained an oath to be taken, instead
of the present oaths of abjuration and supremacy which had
excluded the Catholics. But there was no provision in the
bill which confined this oath to Catholics. It was an oath
which any man might take, whether Catholic or not. A per-
son, who was not a Catholic, might, by taking it, enjoy the
privileges of a Catholic. The oath ought to have stated, "I
am a Catholic, and swear so and so." But the bill did not
require any such declaration. He supposed that this was an
imitation of James the Second's scheme of liberty of con-
science.
Peel and Co. were supported on the principles of James II.
For the effect of the oath was, that any man might gain ad-
mission to office, or to the House of Commons; whereas he
understands the object of the alteration to be, that only those,
who swore they were Catholics, were to be permitted to
take the oath. Another clause supposed that a man, who was
a Catholic, might be prime minister ; it gave a general capacity
to office. All offices, said the bill, are open to Catholics,
with one or two exceptions ; ecclesiastical appointments, how-
ever, were to be separated from the patronage, and vested in
EMANCIPATION 503
commissions. Now, Catholics had never manifested an un-
ambitious temper, and a Catholic prime minister would never
be satisfied with this retrenchment of his privileges. And
who was to appoint the commissioners? Why, a Protestant
lord Chancellor, lord Lyndhurst. The lord Chancellor would
have the appointment to ecclesiastical places ; but was this
sufficient security? Lord Shaftesbury was a Protestant
chancellor, and so was lord Jeffries. Was the conduct of
Jeffries to the bishops forgotten? a riian who, though a
Protestant, was as great an enemy to Protestants, and as
adverse to admitting them to power, as Father Peter himself.
The protection of the Great Seal was as little to be relied on
as in the reign of Charles II., when lord Shaftesbury was
chancellor, or in that of James II., when Jeffries filled that
office. There might come a time, when no security would be
found in the character of a lord Chancellor. And who would
the commissioners select? Would they select Protestants
who would, or those who would not, apostatize. According
to the bill, any Catholic, who took ecclesiastical preferment,
was guilty of a misdemeanour, and could hold his office no
longer; and again, any Catholic, who advised His Majesty
respecting the appointment to an ecclesiastical office, was
subject to the same penalty. Might he be permitted to ask
who drew that clause? the very clause, which created the
offence, contained an absolute prevention of a conviction for
that offence. The church of Ireland was protected by a
flimsy sort of security in the bill. None of the dignities of
the Romish church were to be permitted, eo nomine, to hold
English titles, as nominees of the pope; but these titles might
be held by virtue of a money medium ; a 50 I bank note would
enable Dr. Doyle, or Dr. Curtis, or any other, to sport Catho-
lic titles. The bill forbade this, except upon the payment
of 50 I., which was all the penalty inflicted. There was no
penalty in the act higher than 200 I., so that, in fact, the
whole protection of the British constitution consisted in pen-
alties of 50 /., loo L, and 200 /. No control over the see of
Rome; none over the nomination of the bishops; nothing
after the passing of this bill in the way of security for the
Protestant establishment but those penalties of 50 L, 100 L,
and 200 /. This was the declared value of the Protestant
constitution of the empire in current coin. When this bill
was dissected and anatomized, it destroyed itself. It ad-
mitted the danger, and yet provided no security for Prot-
estants. He would not have condescended to stultify him-
504 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
self by the composition of such a bill. He refused to draw
it up. The folly and the contradictions be upon the heads
of those who drew it. They might have turned him out of
office ; but he would not be made such a dirty tool as to draw
that bill. Let who would, he would not defile pen, or waste
paper, by such an act of folly, and forfeit his character for
common sense and honesty. He had, therefore, declined to
have anything to do with it.
{Annual Register, for iSzt), vol. 71, p. 55.)
212. Speech of Lord Plunkett for the Emancipation Bill
Annual Register
The speeches made in favour of the Emancipation Bill are
in general far more dignified and logical than those of its op-
ponents. The supporters of the measure rested their cause upon
the argument of the inalienable right of every man to citizen-
ship and equality under the law ; and they buttressed their case
with historical as well as polemical arguments. The speech
which follows is indicative of the general attitude of the friends
of emancipation.
Lord Plunkett said, that he had reserved himself for the
purpose of hearing the unanswerable arguments against the
bill, which lord Eldon on former occasions had threatened
he would produce when the measure was fairly before the
House.
As that noble and learned lord, however, had brought forth
nothing but the ipse dixit of his own authority, unsustained
either by ingenious argument, by historical deduction, or by
an appeal to public and authenticated documents, he felt him-
self so far absolved from the necessity of refuting anticipated
arguments for which he had prepared himself, that he would
address his observations more particularly to the position
that the bill was calculated to subvert the Protestant consti-
tution.
According to lord Eldon, the established principle of the
Reformation had been to exclude Roman Catholics from Par-
liament and from offices; and therefore it was that the Oath
of Supremacy was framed. Now the 5th of Elizabeth did
not go so far as to exclude Roman Catholics from sitting in
that House, and not only was there an exception as to the
House of Peers, but the reason of the exception was stated.
The reason was this because the queen was otherwise as-
sured, not of the religion, but of the loyalty of such Roman
Catholics as were peers of Parliament. Then the Oath of
Supremacy was a test, not of religion, but of loyalty. The
EMANCIPATION 505
members of the lower House were called upon to take the
oath. It was the policy of Elizabeth to gain the Catholics;
and for that purpose she changed the Articles and the Liturgy
of the Church of England, as framed by Edward 6th, and
adopted the communion service, to suit the Roman Catholics,
and to enable them to join in communion with the Prot-
estants. Passages, containing an expressed denial of the
real presence, were expunged; and for thirteen years after
the Reformation did the Roman Catholics take the Oath of
Supremacy, and join in communion with the Church of Eng-
land. They continued to be admitted to all the offices of
the state till towards the latter end of the reign of the
Stuarts. The Roman Catholics then became suspected, not
on account of their religion, but owing to their supposed ad-
herence to the designs of the throne. The throne became
first disaffected to the liberties of the subject; and from
the reign of Charles ist the Roman Catholics came to be con-
sidered as enemies to the state through their adherence to
the king. In a subsequent reign the king himself was a
Catholic ; and, the throne being thus a convert to their re-
ligion, and making inroads upon the public liberty, the Roman
Catholics became more and more suspected ; and, in point
of fact, though not of law, they were very generally ex-
cluded from Parliament in the reign of Charles 2nd because
the people were prejudiced against them. Till the 25th
Charles 2nd, the Roman Catholics had contrived occasionally
to get into Parliament ; and how did the Protestant leaders
get them out of the House of Commons, as they took the
Oath and Declaration? Why, they brought into operation
the law against recusancy, which prohibited persons con-
victed of recusancy from coming within ten miles of the
cities of London and Westminster, and thus effectually pre-
vented them from doing duty in Parliament. They therefore
got a conviction of recusancy, and then called for a new writ.
This was a decisive proof that, before the 3Oth of Charles
2nd, there was nothing to prevent the Roman Catholics from
sitting in Parliament. That statute itself contained two en-
actments, the first, that Roman Catholics should not sit
in Parliament without making the Declaration, and the
second that persons not making the Declaration should be
excluded from access to the king. There was a third enact-
ment, which banished such persons ten miles from the cities
of London and Westminster. This was a law of the land;
and what had become of that law ? That member of it, which
5?6 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
related to the penalties against recusancy, was gone; for all
the laws relating to recusancy had been repealed. Then the
enactment as to access to the king, that had also been repealed.
So here was a limb of this immortal law lopped off ; leaving
only the mutilated bust of Titus Gates to represent this im-
mortal statute, till the act of William 3rd. He would not
pretend that there might not be good reason for enacting it,
or that the Catholics might not be dangerous, or that they
ought not to have been excluded from office owing to their
adherence to the dangerous designs of the Crown. But what
was meant by saying that that law was consummated at the
Revolution ? Was that act of 3Oth Charles 2nd incorporated
in the Bill of Rights? No such thing. Did the Bill of
Rights trouble itself with all the trumpery of the invocation
of saints and transubstantiation? No such thing. The fram-
ers of that bill thought only of settling the principles of the
constitution so far as they had been invaded, and they had not
room in their heads for the consideration of such things as
these. They scouted such trash and trumpery, whilst they
were intent upon securing the rights and liberties of their
fellow-subjects which had been invaded by the Crown. These
wise and great men were no system-mongers, no grinders of
theories or dogmas, but sound and practical statesmen ; and
no light toil had they incurred. There were thirteen particu-
lars stated. The Bill of Rights did not say, upon abstract
principle, that the Church and State are necessarily Prot-
estants, but it stated "Whereas it has been found by ex-
perience that it is necessary to the safety and welfare of this
Protestant kingdom that the throne should be unalterably
Protestant:" and it then goes on to enact, that, should the
king become a Papist, or marry a Papist, he should thereby
forfeit his title to the throne, it being found by experience
that such a security was necessary for this Protestant king-
dom. He had been asked, whether this was a Protestant
kingdom; he had been asked triumphantly, was this not a
Protestant government, a Protestant Parliament ? In one
sense he admitted it was a Protestant kingdom, but did not
exclude Papists. So he admitted that the Parliament was
essentially and predominantly Protestant, and in that sense,
but in no other, the Parliament was Protestant. The act of
ist of William 3rd forbade Papists to carry arms; this was
considered as necessary to the security of this Protestant
state. The principle of that act was transferred to the Bill
of Rights, which recognized the claim of the Protestants to
EMANCIPATION 507
carry arms, but did not refer to the right of the Roman Cath-
olics to carry arms. Those, who argued by inference, took
advantage of this; but it so happened that throughout the
Bill of Rights this was the only passage the construction of
which was hostile to the Roman Catholics; and this was the
only passage in it which had been repealed. It had been
repealed by an act of George 2nd, which also repealed the
law by which Roman Catholics were forbidden access to the
throne. By the law previous to 3Oth Charles 2nd, no person
could be admitted into the army unless he had previously
taken the Oath of the Declaration ; but by that act, he could
take the oath subsequent to taking the commission. Then
came the act of William, saying that that provision was not
a sufficient security, and that the oath must be taken pre-
viously. Then the present law precisely and practically
repealed the act of William, for it restored the mattter to the
state it was in at the period of the 25th Charles 2nd ; and the
act, for which lord Eldon had told their lordships he was
responsible, had taken greater liberties with the Bill of Rights
than the noble duke had done. Their lordships probably had
not been apprised, when the act of 1817 passed, that they
were repealing the act of king William. The act recited,
"Whereas by certain laws now in existence, there were
sundry embarrassments in respect to the oaths taken by the
army and navy," and, in order to clear up doubts, and to
assimilate one to the other, it enacted that the oaths pre-
scribed by the former act need not be taken. Thus was there
an utter abandonment of the act of William, and that too
without providing any oath or security in its stead. The
present bill did not give the Roman Catholics any benefit
without an oath, an oath too, which combined in its language
every possible security that such a form could afford; but
under the act of the noble and learned lord, the provisions
of king William's act were done away, and not even an oath
was substituted in their stead.
(Annual Register for 1829, vol. 71, p. 93.)
213. The Duke of Wellington on Emancipation
Annual Register
The attitude of the Ministry was set forth in a brief speech
by the duke of Wellington at the close of the debate. While
there is little in the utterance beyond a personal explanation of
the secrecy maintained, it is inserted as being the final word
on the great question which had for so many years troubled the
heart of England.
508 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
The debate was closed by a brief reply from the duke of
Wellington. The apprehended danger to the Irish Church
from the admission of a few Catholics into Parliament, he
treated as futile, considering that the throne would be filled
by a Protestant. Moreover, a fundamental article of the
Union between the two countries was the union of the two
Churches; and it was impossible that any mischief could
happen to the Irish branch of this united Church, without
destroying the union of the two countries. "A different
topic," said his grace, "to which I wish to advert, is a charge
brought against several of my colleagues, and also against
myself, by the noble earl on the cross-bench, of a want of
consistency in our conduct. My lords, I admit that many of
my colleagues, as well as myself, did on former occasions
vote against a measure of a similar description with this ;
and, my lords, I must say, that my colleagues and myself felt,
when we adopted this measure, that we should be sacrificing
ourselves and our popularity to that which we felt to be our
duty to our sovereign and our country. We knew very well,
that if we put ourselves at the head of the Protestant cry of
'No Popery/ we should be much more popular even than
those who had excited against us that very cry. But we felt
that in so doing we should have left on the interests of the
country a burthen which must end in bearing them down, and
further that we should have deserved the hate and execration
of our countrymen. Then I am accused, and by a noble and
learned friend of mine, of having acted with great secrecy
respecting this measure. Now I beg to tell him, that he has
done that to me in the course of this discussion which he
complains of others having done to him; in other words,
he has, in the language of a right hon. friend of his and
mine, thrown a large paving-stone instead of throwing a
small pebble. I say, that if he accuses me of acting with
secrecy on this question, he does not deal with me altogether
fairly. He knows as well as I do how the Cabinet was con-
structed on this question; and I ask him, had I any right to
say a single word to any man whatsoever upon this measure,
until the person most interested in the kingdom upon it had
given his consent to my speaking out? Before he accused
me of secrecy, and of improper secrecy too, he ought to have
known the precise day upon which I received the permission
of the highest personage in the country, and had leave to
open my mouth upon this measure. There is another point
also on which a noble earl accused me of misconduct; and
EMANCIPATION 509
that is, that I did not at once dissolve the Parliament. Now
I must say that I think noble lords are mistaken in the notion
of the benefits which they think that they would derive from
a dissolution of Parliament at this crisis. I believe that
many of them are not aware of the consequences and of the
inconveniences of a dissolution of Parliament at any time.
But when I know, as I did know, and as I do know, the state
of the elective franchise in Ireland, when I recollected the
number of men it took to watch one election which took place
in Ireland in the course of last summer, when I knew the
consequences which a dissolution would produce on the
return to the House of Commons, to say nothing of the risks
which must have been incurred at each election, of col-
lisions that might have lead to something little short of a
civil war, I say, that, knowing all these things, I should
have been wanting in duty to my sovereign and to my coun-
try, if I had advised his Majesty to dissolve his Parliament."
(Annual Register far 1829, vol. 71, p. 94.)
214. The End of Jewish Disability
Annual Register
The long persecution of the Jewish race, which had been a
blot upon the civilization of England as upon that of nearly all
European countries, was finally ended with the admission of
Baron Rothschild into Parliament. This measure of justice
and tolerance was not effected without opposition, but the senti-
ment of the country was overwhelmingly in favour of the step,
and its execution was not attended with grave difficulty.
On the 26th of July, that honourable member, being con-
ducted to the table by Lord John Russell and Mr. J. A. Smith,
stated, on the oath being read to him, that he could not con-
scientiously take it in the form in which it was tendered.
He was then directed to withdraw. Upon this Lord John
Russell moved a resolution, simply stating that Baron Roths-
child was prevented by conscientious objections from taking
the oath. This resolution, after an ineffectual protest from
Mr. Warren, was agreed to; whereupon Lord John Russell
moved a second resolution in the following terms : "That
any persons professing the Jewish religion may henceforth,
in taking the oath prescribed in an Act of the present Session
of Parliament to entitle him to sit and vote in this House,
omit the words, 'and I make this declaration upon the true
faith of a Christian.' "
A debate ensued, in which Mr. Warren threatened to
5io SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
divide the House. Lord Hotham said he had not intended
to vote, but, being called upon to decide, felt bound to oppose
the resolution. Mr. Walpole said he had always regarded
this as a religious rather than a political question. He did
not think Jews ought to sit in a Christian legislature: and
must oppose the resolution. But he was bound to say that
Baron Rothschild had never permitted himself to do one act
contrary to the law of the land. He also said that the course
taken could not be too much deprecated, and if the Jews were
to be admitted they ought to have been admitted in a frank
and honest manner. Let them not suppose, however, that
they were closing the question. Mr. Spooner and Mr. Newde-
gate repeated their objections to the proceeding. Mr. Fox
expressed his conviction that the House had never acted
more in accordance with the spirit of a Christian legislature
than they were about to do by the admission of Jews to
Parliament. Lord John Russell reminded Mr. Walpole that
the mode of settling the question had not been proposed by
the advocates for the admission of the Jews. "It is not our
choice but the choice of the other House of Parliament."
Mr. Walpole said this was not the end of the question; but
he trusted none would hereafter attempt to deprive the Jews
of the privilege about to be conferred upon them.
On a division the resolution was carried by 69 to 37.
Baron Rothschild, being again introduced, was greeted by
loud cheers. He took the oath on the Old Testament, omit-
ting the words, "on the true faith of a Christian," and took
his seat on the Opposition benches. Thus ended the long
controversy which had for so many years divided the two
Houses of Parliament.
(Annual Register for 1858, vol. too, p. 163.)
215. The Oaths Act
(21 & 22 Vic., c. 48, July 23, 1858)
Statutes of the Realm
While the recognition of Jews as possessing equal rights re-
moved the great barriers against any inhabitant of the realm,
it was not until 1858 that all citizens were legally placed upon
the same footing in regard to their nominal duties. The oaths
of allegiance to be taken by a Catholic, a Protestant, and a
Jew differed in form, though but little in substance. At length,
in the year named, the last distinction was removed, and a
general form of oath was devised. The "rider" to the Bill,
whereby the act of participating in the Sacrament of Communion
was not made obligatory upon aspirants for office, was the last
needfuj concession to liberty and justice,
EMANCIPATION 511
AN ACT TO SUBSTITUTE ONE OATH FOR THE OATHS OF ALLE-
GIANCE, SUPREMACY, AND ABJURATION; AND FOR THE
RELIEF OF HER MAJESTY'S SUBJECTS PROFESSING THE
JEWISH RELIGION
Whereas it is expedient that One Oath should be substi-
tuted for the Oaths of Allegiance, Supremacy, and Abjura-
tion now required by law : Be it therefore enacted by the
Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice
and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Com-
mons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the-
Authority of the same, as follows:
I. Instead of the Oaths of Allegiance, Supremacy, and
Abjuration, where the same are now by Law required to be
taken, and taken and subscribed respectively, the following
Oath shall be taken and subscribed:
"I, A. B., do swear, that I will be faithful and bear true
Allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, and will defend
Her to the utmost of my Power against all Conspiracies and
Attempts whatever which shall be made against Her Person,
Crown or Dignity, and I will do my utmost Endeavour to
disclose and make known to Her Majesty, Her Heirs and
Successors, all Treasons and traitorous Conspiracies which
may be formed against Her or them; and I do faithfully
promise to maintain, support, and defend, to the utmost of
my Power, the Succession of the Crown, which Succession,
by an Act, intituled 'An Act for the further Limitation of the
Crown, and better securing the Rights and Liberties of the
Subject/ is and stands limited to the Princess Sophia Elec-
tress of Hanover, and the Heirs of Her Body being Protes-
tants, hereby utterly renouncing and abjuring any Obedience
or Allegiance unto any other Person claiming or pretending
a Right to the Crown of this Realm; and I do declare that
no foreign Prince, Person, Prelate, State, or Potentate hath
or ought to have any Jurisdiction, Power, Superiority, Pre-
eminence, or Authority ecclesiastical or spiritual within this
Realm; and I make this Declaration upon the true Faith of
a Christian. So help me God."
II. Wherein the Oath hereby appointed the Name of Her
present Majesty is expressed or referred to, the Name of the
Sovereign of this Kingdom for the Time being, by Virtue of
the Act "for the further Limitation of the Crown and better
securing the Rights and Liberties of the Subject," shall be
5i2 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
substituted from Time to Time, with proper Words of Ref-
erence thereto.
III. The Oath hereby appointed shall be taken and sub-
scribed in the same Cases, and by and before the same Per-
sons, and at the same Times and Places, as the Oaths of
Allegiance, Supremacy, and Abjuration are respectively now
directed to be taken, and taken and subscribed ; and the taking
and subscribing of the Oath hereby appointed shall have the
like Effect as the taking, and taking and subscribing respect-
ively of the Oaths of Allegiance, Supremacy, and Abjuration
would have had if this Act had not been passed ; and the
Refusal, Neglect, or Omission to take and subscribe the
Oath hereby appointed shall be attended with the like Dis-
abilities, Incapacities, Penalties, Liabilities, and Consequen-
ces, as now by Law provided in the Case of Refusal,
Neglect or Omission to take, or take and subscribe re-
spectively the Oaths of Allegiance, Supremacy, and Ab-
juration ; and all Provisions now in Force shall be con-
strued and take effect accordingly: Provided always, that
no Person, having before the Commencement of this Act
taken the Oaths of Allegiance, Supremacy and Abjuration,
shall be required to take and subscribe the Oath hereby ap-
pointed, unless and until he would be by Law required to
take the said Oaths of Allegiance, Supremacy, and Abjura-
tion in Case this Act had not been passed.
IV. Provided always, that every Person of the Persuasion
of the People called Quakers, and every other Person now
by Law permitted to make his solemn Affirmation or De-
claration instead of taking an Oath, shall, instead of tak-
ing and subscribing the Oath hereby appointed, make and
subscribe a solemn Affirmation in the Form of the Oath
hereby appointed, substituting the Words "solemnly, sin-
cerely, and truly declare and affirm" for the Word "swear,"
and omitting the Words "And I make this Declaration upon
the true faith of a Christian. So help me God;" and the
making and subscribing of such Affirmation by a Person
hereinbefore authorized to make and subscribe the same,
with such Omission as aforesaid, shall have the same Force
and Effect as the taking and subscribing by other Persons of
the Oath hereby appointed.
V. And whereas by a certain Act passed in the Ninth Year
of the Reign of King George the Fourth, intituled "An Act
for repealing so much of the several Acts as imposes the Ne-
cessity of receiving the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper as a
EM4NCIPATION 5'3
qualification of certain Offices and Employments," a certain
Declaration is prescribed to be taken in the Cases in the said
Act mentioned : And whereas, by an Act passed in the Ninth
Year of the Reign of Her present Majesty, intituled "An Act
for the relief of Persons of the Jewish Religion elected to
Municipal Offices," a certain other Declaration was per-
mitted to be taken in certain Cases by Persons professing the
Jewish Religion, instead of the Declaration required to be
made and subscribed by the said Act of King George the
Fourth : And whereas it is right to extend the Benefit of the
last-recited Act to all other Cases in which the Declaration
set forth in the said Act of the Ninth Year of the Reign of
King George the Fourth is by Law required to be taken : Be
it enacted, That in all Cases which are not in the Provisions
of the said Act of the Ninth Year of the Reign of Her Ma-
jesty, in which any other of Her Majesty's subjects are re-
quired by Law to make and subscribe the Declaration set
forth in the said Act of the Ninth Year of the Reign of King
George the Fourth, Her Majesty's Subjects professing the
Jewish Religion shall be required instead thereof to make and
subscribe the Declaration set forth in the said Act of the
Ninth Year of the Reign of Her present Majesty, which
Declaration shall, with respect to such Person professing the
Jewish Religion, be of the same Force and Effect as if he
made and subscribed the said Declaration by the said Act of
the Ninth Year of the Reign of King George the Fourth,
and shall be made and subscribed at the same Times and
Places respectively, and preserved of Record in the same
Manner as the last-mentioned Declaration is now by Law
required to be made, subscribed, and preserved.
VI. Provided also, that nothing in this Act contained shall
be held to alter or affect the Provisions of the Act passed in
the Tenth Year of King George the Fourth, Chapter Seven,
"for the Relief of His Majesty's Roman Catholic Subjects."
(Annual Register for 1858, vol. 100, p. 238.)
216. The Jewish Relief Act
(21 & 22 VICT., c. 49, July 23, 1858)
Annual Register
On the same day as that on which was passed the Oaths Act,
there was passed a measure for defining the privileges of the
Jews more clearly than this had yet been done. While the first
portion of the Act is almost similar to the provisions contained
in the Oaths Act, the latter portion expressly continues certain
disabilities made necessary by the connection between Church
and State. As a citizen, the Jew was to be henceforth regarded
5H SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
as the peer of the Christian ; but certain functions which trenched
on the ecclesiastical ground were still withheld.
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE RELIEF OF HER MAJESTY'S SUI5-
JECTS PROFESSING THE JEWISH RELIGION
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by
and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and Commons, in the present Parliament as-
sembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows :
I. Where it shall appear to either House of Parliament
that a Person professing the Jewish Religion, otherwise en-
titled to sit and vote in such House, is prevented from so
sitting and voting by his conscientious Objections to take the
Oath which by an Act passed or to be passed in the present
Sessions of Parliament has been or may be substituted fo"
the Oaths of Allegiance, Supremacy, and Abjuration in the
Form therein required, such House, if it think fit, may
resolve that henceforth any Person professing the Jewish
Religion, in taking the same Oath to entitle him to sit and
vote as aforesaid, may omit the Words "and I make this
Declaration upon the true Faith of a Christian," and so long
as such Resolution shall continue in force the said Oath, when
taken and subscribed by any Person professing the Jewish
Religion to entitle him to sit and vote in that House of Par-
liament, may be modified accordingly; and the taking and
subscribing by any Person professing the Jewish Religion of
the Oath so modified shall, so far as respects the Title to sit
and vote in such House, have the same Force and Effect as
the taking and subscribing by other Persons of the said Oath
in the Form required by the said Act.
II. In all other Cases, except for sitting in Parliament as
aforesaid, or in qualifying to exercise the Right of Presenta-
tion to any Ecclesiastical Benefice in Scotland, whenever
any of Her Majesty's Subjects professing the Jewish Religion
shall be required to take the said Oath, the Words "and I
make this Declaration upon the true Faith of a Christian"
shall be omitted.
III. Nothing herein contained shall extend or be construed
to extend to enable any Person or Persons professing the
Jewish Religion to hold or exercise the Office of Guardians
and Justices of the United Kingdom, or of Regent of the
United Kingdom, under whatever Name, Style, or Title
such Office may be constituted, or of Lord High Chancel-
lor, Lord Keeper or Lord Commissioner of the Great Seal
EMANCIPATION 515
of Great Britain or Ireland, or the Office of Lord Lieu-
tenant or Deputy or other Chief Governor or Governors of
Ireland, or Her Majesty's High Commissioner to the Gen-
eral Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
IV. Where any Right of Presentation to any Ecclesiastical
Benefice shall belong to any Office in the Gift or Appoint-
ment of her Majesty, Her Heirs or Successors, and such
Office shall be held by a Person professing the Jewish
Religion, the Right of Presentation shall devolve upon and
be exercised by the Archbishop of Canterbury for the Time
being; and it shall not be lawful for any Person professing
the Jewish Religion, directly or indirectly, to advise Her
Majesty, Her Heirs or Successors, or any Person or Persons
holding or exercising the Office of Guardians of the United
Kingdom, or of Regent of the United Kingdom, under what-
ever Name, Style, or Title such Office may be constituted,
or the Lord Lieutenant or Lord Deputy, or any other Chief
Governor or Governors of Ireland, touching or concerning
the Appointment to or disposal of any Office or Preferment
in the United Church of England and Ireland, or in the
Church of Scotland; and if such Person shall offend in the
Premises he shall, being thereof convicted by due Course of
Law, be deemed guilty of a high Misdemeanor, and disabled
for ever from holding any Office, Civil or Military, under
the Crown.
{Annual Register for 1858, ed. cit., p. 241.)
217. The End of the Slave Trade
Cobbett
The great struggle against slavery was fought out in the
nineteenth century. Then it was that the question of emanci-
pation of the negroes was agitated by the whole world. The
movement resulted in the freedom of the negroes held in bondage
by civilized nations, and in ending exportations of slaves from
Africa. The success of the English movement was only brought
about by a long and arduous combat on the part of its adherents,
but it was largely instrumental in the general abolition of the
system. The following extract portrays the closing scenes at-
tending the passage of the Emancipation Act.
Lord Grenville moved the order of the day for taking into
consideration the amendments made by the house of com-
mons in the Slave Trade Abolition bill. His lordship ob-
served that the object of the greater part of these amend-
ments was to inforce penalties and forfeitures upon those
carrying on the trade, after the period fixed by parliament
5'G SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
for its abolition, which it was not the practice of that house
to enact. These amendments, therefore, were merely calcu-
lated the better to carry into effect the principle of the bill.
With respect to the amendment in the preamble, leaving out
the words, declaring the trade to be contrary to justice,
humanity, and sound policy, it would not be imagined after
what he had said upon the subject, that his opinion had sus-
tained any alteration. It having, however, been thought
right by the House of Commons to make this alteration, in
order that the feelings of those concerned in the trade might
not be wounded, he had no objection to it.
The Bishop of Landaff rose to deliver his opinion of the
bill, which he had not till then an opportunity of doing. The
right reverend prelate observed, that in judging of the
propriety of the preamble as it originally stood, or of the
amendments that had been made in it, the different states of
slavery as they existed at different periods of the world
should duly be considered. Certain conditions of slavery
existed in the antediluvian world full 700 years before Noah;
and such must have existed both before and after the forma-
tion of civil society. Under the circumstances of those
times, multitudes must have existed, who could derive sus-
tenance only from their labour, and who, in order to secure
the means of support, were willing to surrender up that
labour, and with it their freedom. Such a state of slavery
might not indeed be considered as contrary to justice and
humanity, because it was a voluntary act on the part of those
who submitted to it ; but, although that state of slavery might
not be judged inconsistent with justice and humanity, it did
not follow that other descriptions of it might not be highly
inhuman and unjust ; for what could be more contrary to jus-
tice and humanity, than to excite civil war in a country, and
then take advantage of'the calamities arising from it to force
away the miserable inhabitants into an hopeless captivity?
Such he conceived to be the nature of the trade which it was
proposed to abolish. Its abolition was an act of national
humanity and justice ; it was an act that would never be
blotted out in the records of divine mercy. He was ready
to confess, that the most keenly exploring eye might not be
able to dive into the consequences of such a measure ; but
as it evidently sprang from the root of undissembled piety
and humanity, it should not be supposed to be productive of
evil ; but, on the contrary, that it must be healing and bene-
ficial to mankind.
EMANCIPATION 517
The Earl of Westmoreland could not let slip this last op-
portunity of entering his protest against the bill; he must
therefore repeat some of his former objections to it, though
he was aware that the repetition must be in some degree
irksome to the house. At least he must remind them that
one more occasion presented itself to allow them to rectify
their opinions, which they should be the more induced to do
from the awful warning contained in the petition which he
had that day laid on their lordship's table. From that peti-
tion they might collect the dreadful consequences which even
the resolutions of last year were producing in Jamaica.
Every thing there seemed to indicate the approach of an
organized insurrection, which might receive a new stimulus
and encouragement from the bill now on the eve of passing.
It, therefore, called again for the most serious consideration
of their lordships, and that consideration would shew them
that the proposed clauses involved the greatest inconsisten-
cies, absurdities, and even impossibilities. As to the pre-
amble, nothing could reconcile him to it. No good could be
expected from it, while it might be attended with much mis-
chief: he was, therefore, for leaving it out altogether. As
to the consequences of the measure, they certainly appeared
to him most alarming. If ever St. Domingo and Cuba were
in the hands of our enemies, and if they resolved to carry on
this trade, that alarm would prove but too well founded. He
would even venture to say, that it was to the existence of the
slave trade that their lordships were indebted for their being
now sitting in that house. Our existence depended upon the
strength of our navy, and the strength of our navy was
chiefly derived from the slave trade. Their lordships must
be convinced of it, if they but reflected that the town of
Liverpool alone now sent out a greater number of privateers
than were employed by the whole of the country against the
enemy, in the time of Queen Elizabeth.
The Marquis of Sligo disapproved of the clauses, and con-
tended, that the preamble contained a gross calumny.
The Duke of Norfolk was not very anxious on former
occasions to support the measures of the abolition; because
he knew that many of those who were loudest in its praise,
were far from being sincere in their wishes for its success.
Now, however, when it was taken up by ministers who had
his confidence, and, who, he was satisfied, were incapable of
any duplicity, the bill should have his most cordial support,
and he should rejoice to see it pass. The question was now
$i8 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
put on the several amendments, and agreed to. Lord Gren-
ville then moved, that the bill, with the amendments, etc., as
agreed to, be sent to the commons, and on the motion being
agreed to, his lordship again rose, and congratulated the
house on having now performed one of the most glorious acts
that had ever been done by any assembly of any nation in
the world.
{Parliamentary Debates, ed. Cobbett, Lond., 1807. IX, 168.)
CHAPTER XXXI
PARLIAMENTARY REFORM
218. Speech on the First Reform Bill
(1831)
Russell
The speech of Lord John Russell, when oh March i, 1831, he
introduced the First Reform Bill, opened a debate which prac-
tically lasted until June 5, 1832. The Whig ministry knew that
the fate of their party depended upon that of the Bill, and they
came to realize that the fate of the dynasty itself might depend
upon the same thing. The Opposition were no less desirous 01
victory, seeing in the Bill a measure which threatened the pros-
perity of the people and the very existence of the State. " The
country was divided into two hostile camps, regarding each other
with feelings of increased exasperation. On the one hand, the
anti-reformers, though comparatively few, were immensely
strong in position and prestige . . . On the other hand, the re-
formers could count upon the support of the great mass of the
people."
The object of ministers has been to produce a measure with
which every reasonable man in the country will be satisfied
we wish to take our stand between the two hostile parties,
neither agreeing with the bigotry of those who would reject
all Reform, nor with the fanaticism of those who contend
that only one plan of Reform would be wholesome or satis-
factory, but placing ourselves between both, and between the
abuses we intend to amend and the convulsion we hope to
avert.
The ancient constitution of our country declares that no
man should be taxed for the support of the state, who has
not consented, by himself or his representative, to the im-
position of these taxes. The well-known statute, de tallagio
non concedcndo, repeats the same language ; and, although
some historical doubts have been thrown upon it, its legal
meaning has never been disputed. It included "all the free-
men of the land," and provided that each county should send
to the Commons of the realm, two knights, each city two
520 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
burgesses, and each borough two members. Thus about a
hundred places sent representatives, and some thirty or forty
others occasionally enjoyed the privilege, but it was discon-
tinued or revived as they rose or fell in the scale of wealth
and importance. Thus, no doubt, at that early period, the
House of Commons did represent the people of England ;
there is no doubt likewise, that the House of Commons, as
it now subsists, does not represent the people of England.
Therefore, if we look at the question of right, the reformers
have right in their favour. Then, if we consider what is
reasonable, we shall arrive at a similar result.
A stranger, who was told that this country is unparalleled
in wealth and industry, and more civilized, and more en-
lightened than any country was before it ; that it is a country
that prides itself on its freedom, and that once in every seven
years it elects representatives from its population, to act as
the guardians and preservers of that freedom, would be
anxious and curious to see how that representation is formed,
and how the people chose those representatives, to whose
faith and guardianship they entrust their free and liberal
institutions. Such a person would be very much astonished
if he were taken to a ruined mound, and told that that mound
sent two representatives to Parliament if he were taken
to a stone wall, and told that three niches in it sent two repre-
sentatives to Parliament if he were taken to a park, where
no houses were to be seen, and told that that park sent two
representatives to Parliament; but if he were told all this,
and were astonished at hearing it, he would be still more
astonished if he were to see large and opulent towns full of
enterprise, and industry, and intelligence, containing vast
magazines of every species of manufactures, and were then
told that these towns sent no representatives to Parliament.
Such a person would be still more astonished, if he were
taken to Liverpool, where there is a large constituency, and
told, here you will have a fine specimen of a popular elec-
tion. He would see bribery employed to the greatest extent,
and in the most unblushing manner; he would see every voter
receiving a number of guineas in a box, as the price of his
corruption ; and after such a spectacle, he would no doubt be
much astonished that a nation whose representatives are thus
chosen, could perform the functions of legislation at all, or
enjoy respect in any degree. I say then, that if the question
before the House is a question of reason, the present state
of representation is against reason.
PARLIAMENTARY REFORM 531
The confidence of the country in the construction and con-
stitution of the House of Commons is gone. It would be
easier to transfer the flourishing manufactures of Leeds and
Manchester to Gatton and Old Sarum, than re-establish con-
fidence and sympathy between this House and those whom
it calls its constituents. If, therefore, the question is one of
right, right is in favour of Reform; if it be a question of
reason, reason is in favour of Reform; if it be a question of
policy and expediency, policy and expediency are in favour
of Reform.
I come now to the explanation of the measure which,
representing the ministers of the king, I am about to propose
to the House. Those ministers have thought, and in my
opinion justly thought, that no half measures would be suf-
ficient ; that no trifling or paltering with Reform could give
stability to the Crown, strength to Parliament, or satisfaction
to the country. The chief grievances of which the people
complain are these. First, the nomination of members by
individuals ; second, the election by close corporations ; third,
the expense of elections. With regard to the first, it may be
exercised in two ways, either over a place containing scarcely
any inhabitants, and with a very extensive right of election;
or over a place of wide extent and numerous population, but
where the franchise is confined to very few persons. Gatton
is an example of the first, and Bath of the second. At Gat-
ton, where the right of voting is by scot and lot, all house-
holders have a vote, but there are only five persons to exer-
cise the right. At Bath the inhabitants are numerous, but
very few of them have any concern in the election. In the
former case, we propose to deprive the borough of the fran-
chise altogether. In doing so, we have taken for our guide
the population returns of 1821 ; and we propose that every
borough which in that year had less than 2,000 inhabitants,
should altogether lose the right of sending members to Par-
liament, the effect of which will be to disfranchise sixty-two
boroughs. But we do not stop here. As the honourable
member for Boroughbridge [Sir C. Wetherell] would say,
we go plus ultra; we find that there are forty-seven boroughs
of only 4,000 inhabitants, and these we shall deprive of the
right of sending more than one member to Parliament. We
likewise intend that Weymouth, which at present sends four
members to Parliament, should in the future send only two.
The total reduction thus effected in the number of the
members of this House will be 168- This is the whole ex-
522 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
tent to which we are prepared to go in the way of dis-
franchisement.
We do not, however, mean to allow that the remaining
boroughs should be in the hands of a small number of persons
to the exclusion of the great body of the inhabitants who
have property and interest in the place. It is a point of great
difficulty to decide to whom the franchise should be ex-
tended. Though it is a point much disputed, I believe it will
be found that in ancient times every inhabitant householder
resident in a borough was competent to vote for members of
Parliament. As, however, this arrangement excluded villeins
and strangers, the franchise always belonged to a particular
body in every town ; that the voters were persons of prop-
erty is obvious, from the fact that they are called upon to pay
subsidies and taxes. Two different courses seem to prevail
in different places. In some, every person having a house,
and being free, was admitted to a general participation in
the privileges formerly possessed by burgesses : in others, the
burgesses became a select body, and were converted into
a kind of corporation, more or less exclusive. These differ-
ences, the House will be aware, lead to the most difficult, and
at the same time the most useless questions that men can be
called upon to decide. I contend that it is proper to get rid
of these complicated rights, of these vexatious questions,
and to give the real property and real respectability of the
different cities and towns, the right of voting for members
of Parliament. Finding that a qualification of a house rated
at 20 a year, would confine the elective franchise, instead
of enlarging it, we propose that the right of voting should be
given to the householders paying rates for houses of the
yearly value of 10 and upwards, upon certain conditions
hereafter to be stated. At the same time it is not intended
to deprive the present electors of their privilege of voting,
provided they are resident. With regard to non-residence,
we are of opinion that it produces much expense, is the cause
of a great deal of bribery, and occasions such manifest and
manifold evils, that electors who do not live in a place ought
not be permitted to retain their votes. With regard to res-
ident voters, we propose that they should retain their right
during life, but that no vote should be allowed hereafter, ex-
cept to 10 householders.
I shall now proceed to the manner in which we propose to
extend the franchise in counties. The bill I wish to in-
troduce will give all copyholders to the value of 10 a year,
PARLIAMENTARY REFORM 523
qualified to serve on juries, under the right hon. gentlemen's
[Sir R. Peel] bill, a right to vote for the return of knights
of the shire; also, that leaseholders, for not less than twenty-
one years, whose annual rent is not less than 50, and whose
leases have not been renewed within two years, shall enjoy
the same privilege.
(History of the Reform Bill, Molesworth, Lend., 1866, 103.)
219. The Prorogation of the Anti-Reform Parliament
(1831)
Molesworth
The First Reform Bill had passed two readings when the
ministry, concluded after an adverse vote upon a motion, in-
troduced by General Gascoyne, in opposition to their policy, that
it was useless to continue the struggle in Parliament. Confident
of the support of the electors, they resolved to appeal to the
country. To dp this a dissolution of Parliament was necessary,
and against this the anti-reformers were firmly arrayed. The
ministry appealed to the king. In the selection which follows,
this appeal is vividly described, and the action of the king in
dissolving Parliament is clearly portrayed.
Under these circumstances, ministers acted with prompti-
tude and decision. Their defeat had occurred on the morn-
ing of the 22nd of April ; on the same day summonses were
issued, calling a Cabinet council at St. James's Palace. So
short was the notice, that the ministers were unable to attend,
as was customary on such occasions, in their court dresses.
At this council it was unanimously resolved that the Parlia-
ment should be prorogued the same day, with a view to its
speedy dissolution, and the royal speech, which had been
prepared for the occasion, was considered and adopted. All
necessary arrangements having been made, in order to take
away from the king all pretext for delay, Earl Grey and Lord
Brougham were deputed to wait on the king, and communi-
cate to him the advice of the Cabinet. From what has been
already said, the reader will be prepared to anticipate that
this advice was far from palatable. The unusual haste with
which it was proposed to carry out that measure, naturally
increased the king's known objections to the proposed step,
and furnished him with a good excuse for refusing his assent
to it. Earl Grey, the pink and pattern of loyalty and chival-
rous courtesy, shrunk from the disagreeable errand, and re-
quested his bolder and less courtly colleague to introduce the
subject, begging him at the same time to manage the suscep-
tibility of the king as much as possible.
The Chancellor accordingly approached the subject very
carefully, prefacing the disagreeable message with which he
524 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
was charged, with a compliment on the king's desire to pro-
mote the welfare of his people. He then proceeded to com-
municate the advice of the Cabinet, adding, that they were
unanimous in offering it.
"What !" exclaimed the king, "would you have me dismiss
in this summary manner a Parliament which has granted me
so splendid a civil list, and given my queen so liberal an
annuity in case she survives me?''
"No doubt, sire," Lord Brougham replied, "in these respects
they have acted wisely and honourably, but your Majesty's
advisers are all of opinion, that in the present state of affairs,
every hour that this Parliament continues to sit is pregnant
with danger to the peace and security of your kingdom, and
they humbly beseech your Majesty to go down this very day
and prorogue it. If you do not, they cannot be answerable
for the consequences."
The king was greatly embarrassed ; he evidently enter-
tained the strongest objection to the proposed measure, but
he also felt the danger which would result from the resigna-
tion of his ministers at the present crisis. He therefore
shifted his ground, and asked "Who is to carry the sword
of state and the cap of maintenance?"
"Sire, knowing the urgency of the crisis and the imminent
peril in which the country at this moment stands, we have
ventured to tell those whose duty it is to perform these and
other similar offices, to hold themselves in readiness."
"But the troops, the life guards, I have given no orders for
them to be called out, and now it is too late."
This was indeed a serious objection, for to call out the
guards was the special prerogative of the monarch himself,
and no minister had any right to order their attendance with-
out his express command.
"Sire," replied the Chancellor, with some hesitation, "we
must throw ourselves on your indulgence. Deeply feeling
the gravity of the crisis, and knowing your love for your
people, we have taken a liberty which nothing but the most
imperious neccessity could warrant ; we have ordered out the
troops, and we humbly throw ourselves on your Majesty's
indulgence."
The king's eye flashed and his cheek became crimson. He
was evidently on the point of dismissing the ministry in an
explosion of anger. "Why, my lords," he exclaimed, "this
is treason ! high treason, and you, my Lord Chancellor,
ought to know that it is."
PARLIAMENTARY REFORM 525
"Yes, sire, I do know it, and nothing but the strongest
conviction that your Majesty's crown and the interests
of the nation are at stake, could have induced us to
take such a step, or to tender the advice we are now giv-
ing."
This submissive reply had the desired effect, the king
cooled, his prudence and better genius prevailed, and having
once made up his mind to yield, he yielded with a good grace.
He accepted, without any objection, the speech which had
been prepared for him, and which the two ministers had
brought with them, he gave orders respecting the details of
the approaching ceremonial, and having completely recov-
ered his habitual serenity and good humour, he dismissed the
two lords with a jocose threat of impeachment.
At half-past two o'clock the king entered his state carriage.
It was remarked that the guards on this occasion rode wide
of it, as if they attended as a matter of state and ceremony,
and not as being needed for the king's protection. Persons
wishing to make a more open demonstration of their feelings,
were allowed to pass between the soldiers and approach the
royal carriage. One of these, a rough sailorlike person,
pulled off his hat, and waving it around his head, shouted
lustily, "Turn out the rogues, your Majesty." Notwithstand-
ing the suddenness with which the resolution to dissolve had
been taken, the news had already spread through the metrop-
olis, an immense crowd was assembled, and the king was
greeted throughout his whole progress with the most enthu-
siastic shouts. He was exceedingly fond of popularity, and
these acclamations helped to reconcile him to the step he had
been compelled to take, and to efface the unpleasant impres-
sion which the scene which had so recently occurred could
not fail to leave behind it.
Meanwhile, another scene of a far more violent kind was
taking place in the House of Lords. The Chancellor on
leaving the king went down to the House to hear appeals.
Having gone through the cause list he retired, in the hope
that he should thereby prevent Lord Wharncliffe from bring-
ing forward his motion. But the opposition lords had mus-
tered in great force, and the House was full in all parts. It
is usual on the occasion of a prorogation by the sovereign,
for the peers to appear in their robes, and most of those
present wore theirs, but owing to the precipitation with
which the dissolution had been decided on, several peers,
especially on the opposition s ; c!e of the House, were without
526 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
them. A large number of peeresses in full dress, and of
members of the House of Commons were also present. And
now a struggle commenced between the two parties into
which the House was divided. The object of the opposition
was to press Lord Wharncliffe's motion before the king's
arrival ; the supporters of the ministry wished to prevent it
from being passed. The firing of the park guns announced
thai the king was already on his way down to the House, and
told the opposition they had no time to lose. On the motion
of Lord Mansfield, the Earl of Shaftesbury presided, in the
absence of the Lord Chancellor.
The Duke of Richmond, in order to baffle the opposition,
moved that the standing order which required their lordships
to take their places ehould be enforced. The opposition saw
at once that this motion was made for the sake of delay, and
angrily protested against it; whereupon the duke threatened
to call for the enforcement of two other standing orders
which prohibited the use of intemperate and threatening
language in the house. Lord Londonderry, furious with in-
dignation, broke out into a vehement tirade against the con-
duct of the ministry, and thus effectually played the game of
his opponents. So violent was the excitement which pre-
vailed at this time in the House, that the ladies present were
terrified, thinking that the peers would actually come to
blows. At length Lord Londonderry was persuaded to sit
down, and Lord Wharncliffe obtained a hearing. But it was
too late to press his motion, and he contented himself with
reading it, in order that it might be entered on the journals
of the House.
At this conjuncture, the Lord Chancellor returned, and the
moment the reading of the address was concluded, he ex-
claimed in a vehement and emphatic tone
"My lords, I have never yet heard it doubted that the
king possessed the prerogative of dissolving Parliament at
pleasure, still less have I ever known a doubt to exist on the
subject at a moment when the lower House have thought fit
to refuse the supplies." Scarcely had he uttered these words
when he was summoned to meet the king, who had just ar-
rived and was in the robing room ; he at once quitted the
House, which resounded on all sides with cries of "hear" and
"the king."
This tumult having in some degree subsided, Lord Mans-
field addressed the house, regretting the scene which had
just occurred, and condemning the dissolution, which he
PARLIAMENTARY REFORM 527
qualified as an act by which the ministers were making the
sovereign the instrument of his own destruction.
He was interrupted by another storm of violence and con-
fusion, which was at length appeased by the announcement
that the king was at hand. When he entered, the assembly
had recovered its usual calm and decorous tranquillity. The
members of the House of Commons having been summoned
to the bar, the king, in a loud and firm voice, pronounced his
speech, which commenced with the following words :
"My lords and gentlemen,
"I have come to meet you for the purpose of proroguing
this Parliament, with a view to its immediate dissolution.
"I have been induced to resort to this measure for the
purpose of ascertaining the sense of my people, in the way in
which it can be most constitutionally and authentically ex-
pressed, on the expediency of making such changes in the
representation as circumstances may appear to require, and
which, founded on the acknowledged principles of the consti-
tution, may tend at once to uphold the just rights and pre-
rogatives of the crown, and to give security to the liberties of
the people."
(History of the Reform Bill, ed. cit., 185.)
220. Passage of the First Reform Bill
Macaulay
The scenes which accompanied the passage of the first Re-
form Bill are graphically described in the following letter from
Lord Macaulay. The writer was himself an ardent supporter
of the Bill, and he thoroughly entered into the spirit of its
triumph.
PASSAGE OF THE FIRST REFORM BILL
London, March 30th, 1831.
Dear Ellis, I have little news for you, except what you
will learn from the papers as well as from me. It is clear
that the Reform Bill must pass, either in this or in another
Parliament. The majority of one does not appear to me, as
it does to you, by any means inauspicious. We should per-
haps have had a better plea for a dissolution if the majority
had been the other way. But surely a dissolution under such
circumstances would have been a most alarming thing. If
there should be a dissolution now, there will not be that
ferocity in the public mind which there would have been if
the House of Commons had refused to entertain the bill at
528 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
all. I confess that, till we had a majority, I was half in-
clined to tremble at the storm which he had raised. At
present I think that we are absolutely certain of victory, and
of victory without commotion.
Such a scene as the division of last Tuesday I never saw,
and never expect to see again. If I should live fifty years,
the impression of it will be as fresh and sharp in my mind
as if it had just taken place. It was like seeing Caesar
stabbed in the Senate-house, or seeing Oliver taking the mace
from the table ; a sight to be seen only once, and never to be
forgotten. The crowd overflowed the House in every part.
When the strangers were cleared out, and the doors locked.
we had six hundred and eight members present more by
fifty-five than ever were in a division before. The ayes and
noes were like two volleys of cannon from opposite sides of a
field of battle. When the opposition went out into the lobby,
an operation which took up twenty minutes or more, we
spread ourselves over the benches on both sides of the
House ; for there were many of us who had not been able to
find a seat during the evening. When the doors were shut
we began to speculate on our members. Everybody was
desponding. "We have lost it. We are only two hundred
and eighty at most. I do not think we are two hundred and
fifty. They are three hundred. Alderman Thompson has
counted them. He says they are two hundred and ninety-
nine." This was the talk on our benches. I wonder that
men who have been long in Parliament do not acquire a
better coup d'oeil for numbers. The House, when only the
ayes were in it, looked to me a very fair House much fuller
than it generally is even on debates of considerable inter-
est. I had no hope, however, of three hundred. As the
tellers passed along our lowest row on the left-hand side the
interest was insupportable two hundred and ninety-one
two hundred and ninety-two we were all standing up and
stretching forward, telling with the tellers. At three hun-
dred there was a short cry of joy at three hundred and two
another suppressed, however, in a moment ; for we did
not yet know what the hostile force might be. We knew,
however, that we could not be severely beaten. The doors
were thrown open and in they came. Each of them, as he
entered, brought some different report of their numbers. It
must have been impossible, as you may conceive, in the
lobby, crowded as they were, to form any exact estimate. First
we heard that they were three hundred and three; then that
PARLIAMENTARY REFORM 529
number rose to three hundred and ten ; then they went down
to three hundred and seven. Alexander Barry told me that
he had counted, and that they were three hundred and four.
We were all breathless with anxiety, when Charles Wood,
who stood near the door, jumped upon a bench and cried out,
"They are only three hundred and one." We set up a shout
that you might have heard to Charing Cross, waving our
hats, stamping against the floor, and clapping our hands.
The tellers scarcely got through the crowd ; for the House
was thronged up to the table, and all the floor was fluctua-
ting with heads like the pit of a theatre. But you might have
heard a pin drop as Duncannon read the members. Then
again the shouts broke out, and many of us shed tears. I
could scarcely refrain. And the jaw of Peel fell; and the
face of Twiss was as the face of a damned soul ; and Herries
looked like Judas taking his neck-tie off for the last opera-
tion. We shook hands and clapped each other on the back,
and went out laughing, crying, and huzzaing into the lobby.
And no sooner were the outer doors opened than another
shout answered that within the House. All the passages
and the stairs into the waiting-rooms were thronged by
people who had waited till four in the morning to know the
issue. We passed through a narrow lane between two thick
masses of them; and all the way down they were shouting
and waving their hats, till we got into the open air. I called
a cabriolet, and the first thing the driver asked was, "Is the
bill carried?" "Yes, by one." "Thank God for it, sir!"
And away I rode to Gray's Inn and so ended a scene which
will probably never be equalled till the reformed Parliament
wants reforming; and that I hope will not be till the days of
our grandchildren till that truly orthodox and apostolical
person, Dr. Francis Ellis, is an archbishop of eighty.
(Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay, ed. Trevelyan, Lond., 1897, I, 201.)
CHAPTER XXXII
CHARTISM, AND CORN-LAW REPEAL
221. The First National Petition
Gammage
The first petition drawn up in 1838 by the Chartists, although
not that subsequently presented to the House of Commons, well
defines the motives and purposes of the movement. One of the
six points demanded that of equal representation was omit-
ted ; perhaps because it was deemed a corollary of universal
suffrage. This petition was the first definition of the spirit of
the movement, and formed a basis for the petitions which were
afterward drafted and presented.
"To the Honourable the Commons of Great Britain and
Ireland, in Parliament assembled, the Petition of the under-
signed, their suffering countrymen,
"HUMBLY SHOWETH,
"That we, your petitioners, dwell in a land whose mer-
chants are noted for their enterprise, whose manufacturers
are very skilful, and whose workmen are proverbial for their
industry. The land itself is goodly, the soil rich, and the
temperature wholesome. It is abundantly furnished with the
materials of commerce and trade. It has numerous and con-
venient harbours. In facility of internal communication it
exceeds all others. For three and twenty years we have en-
joyed a profound peace. Yet, with all the elements of na-
tional prosperity, and with every disposition and capacity to
take advantage of them, we find ourselves overwhelmed with
public and private suffering. We are bowed down under a
load of taxes, which, notwithstanding, fall greatly short of the
wants of our rulers. Our traders are trembling on the verge
of bankruptcy; our workmen are starving. Capital brings no
profit, and labour no remuneration. The home of the artif-
icer is desolate, and the warehouse of the pawnbroker is full.
The workhouse is crowded, and the manufactory is deserted.
530
CHARTISM, AND CORN-LAW REPEAL 531
We have looked on every side; we have searched diligently
in order to find out the causes of distress so sore and so long
continued. We can discover none in nature or in Provi-
dence. Heaven has dealt graciously by the people, nor have
the people abused its grace, but the foolishness of our rulers
has made the goodness of our God of none effect. The ener-
gies of a mighty kingdom have been wasted in building up
the power of selfish and ignorant men, and its resources
squandered for their aggrandisement. The good of a part
has been advanced at the sacrifice of the good of the nation.
The few have governed for the interest of the few, while the
interests of the many have been sottishly neglected, or in-
solently and tyrannously trampled upon. It was the fond
expectation of the friends of the people that a remedy for the
greater part, if not for the whole of their grievances, would
be found in the Reform Act of 1832. They regarded that
Act as a wise means to a worthy end, as the machinery of an
improved legislation, where the will of the masses would be
at length potential. They have been bitterly and basely de-
ceived. The fruit which looked so fair to the eye, has turned
to dust and ashes when gathered. The Reform Act has effected
a transfer of power from one domineering faction to another,
and left the people as helpless as before. Our slavery has
been exchanged for an apprenticeship to liberty, which has
aggravated the painful feelings of our social degradation, by
adding to them the sickening of still deferred hope. We
come before your honourable house to tell you, with all hu-
mility, that this state of things must not be permitted to con-
tinue. That it cannot long continue, without very seriously
endangering the stability of the throne, and the peace of the
kingdom, and that if, by God's help, and all lawful and con-
stitutional appliances, an end can be put to it, we are fully
resolved that it shall speedily come to an end. We tell your
honourable house, that the capital of the master must no
longer be deprived of its due profit ; that the labour of the
workman must no longer be deprived of its due reward.
That the laws which make food dear, and the laws which
make money scarce, must be abolished. That taxation must
be made to fall on property, not on industry. That the
good of the many^as it is the only legitimate end, so must it
be the sole study of the government. As a preliminary es-
sential to these and other requisite changes as the means
by which alone the interests of the people can be effectually
vindicated and secured, we demand that those interests be
532 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
confided to the keeping of the people. When the State calls
for defenders, when it calls for money, no consideration of
poverty or ignorance can be pleaded in refusal or delay of the
call. Required, as we are universally, to support and obey
the laws, nature and reason entitle us to demand that in the
making of the laws the universal voice shall be implicitly
listened to. We perform the duties of freemen; we must
have the privileges of freemen. Therefore, we demand
universal suffrage. The suffrage, to be exempt from the
corruption of the wealthy and the violence of the powerful,
must be secret. The assertion of our right necessarily in-
volves the power of our uncontrolled exercise. We ask for
the reality of a good, not for its semblance, therefore we
demand the ballot. The connection between the Representa-
tives and the people, to be beneficial, must be intimate. The
legislative and constituent powers, for correction and for
instruction, ought to be brought into frequent contact. Er-
rors which are comparatively light, when susceptible of a
speedy popular remedy, may produce the most disastrous
effects when permitted to grow inveterate through years
of compulsory endurance. To public safety, as well as
public confidence, frequent elections are essential. There-
fore, we demand annual parliaments. With power to choose,
and freedom in choosing, the range of our choice must be
unrestricted. We are compelled, by the existing laws, to
take for our representatives men who are incapable of ap-
preciating our difficulties, or have little sympathy with
them ; merchants who have retired from trade and no longer
feel its harrassings ; proprietors of land who are alike igno-
rant of its evils and its cure ; lawyers by whom the notoriety
of the senate is courted only as a means of obtaining notice
in the courts. The labours of a representative who is sed-
ulous in the discharge of his duty are numerous and burden-
some. It is neither just, nor reasonable, nor safe, that they
should continue to be gratuitously rendered. We demand
that in the future election of members of your honourable
house, the approbation of the constituency shall be the sole
qualification, and that to every representative so chosen, shall
be assigned out of the public taxes, a fair and adequate re-
muneration for the time which he is called upon to devote
to the public service. The management of this mighty king-
dom has hitherto been a subject for contending factions to
try their selfish experiments upon. We have felt the con-
sequences in our sorrowful experience. Short glimmerings
CHARTISM, AND CORN-LAW REPEAL 533
of uncertain enjoyment, swallowed up by long and dark
seasons of suffering. If the self-government of the people
should not remove their distresses, it will, at least remove
their repmmgs. Universal suffrage will, and it only can,
bring true and lasting peace to the nation ; we firmly believe
that it will also bring prosperity. May it therefore please
your honourable house, to take this our petition into your
most serious consideration, and to use your utmost endeav-
ours, by all constitutional means, to have a law passed, grant-
ing to every male of lawful age, sane mind, and unco'nvicted
of crime, the right of voting for members of parliament to
and directing all future elections of members of Parliament to
be in the way of secret ballot, and ordaining that the duration
of Parliament, so chosen, shall in no case exceed one year,
and abolishing all property qualifications in the members,
and providing for their due remuneration while in attendance
on their parliamentary duties.
"And your petitioners shall ever pray."
(History of the Chartist Movement, R. G. Gammage, London, 1894. p. 87.)
222. Presentation of the National Petition
Gammage
The climax of the Chartist movement occurred upon April loth,
1848 the date of the presentation of the "monster petition." The
apprehension of the Government, the attitude of Parliament, and
die motives and actions of the leaders of the Chartists are well
shown by the following selection from the works of a prominent
agitator.
The ever memorable loth of April arrived, and vast prep-
arations were made by the Government. Beside the regular
troops quartered in the metropolis, others poured in from
Windsor, Hounslow, Chichester, Chatham, Winchester, and
Dover. The marines and sailors of the Royal Navy at
Sheerness, Chatham, Birkenhead, Spithead, and other govern-
ment towns, as well as the dockyard men, were kept under
arms. The Thames police kept watch upon the mercantile
marine, lest they should show any leaning towards the
Chartists. Heavy gun-batteries were brought from Wool-
wich, and placed at various points. The marines were
stationed at the Admiralty. Many of the troops were dis-
posed of secretly, to be ready in case of necessity. The
mounted police were armed with broad swords and pistols.
All the public buildings were put in a state of defence. Two
thousand stand-of-arms were supplied to the general post-
office, for the use of the clerks and officers of that depart-
ment, who were all sworn in as special constables; and the
534 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
officials at other public places were equally well provided.
All the steam vessels were ordered to be ready for any
emergency, in order to convey troops. At the Tower the guns
were examined, the battlements strengthened by barricades,
and the troops held in readiness to march at a minute's notice.
The labourers at the docks were sworn in as specials. The
city prisons were guarded by military, and the churches were
converted into barracks. The public vehicles were generally
withdrawn from the streets. In the city seventy thousand
persons were sworn in as special constables, and military
officers commanded them. The royal carriages and horses,
and other valuables, were removed from the palace. The
military force amounted to nine thousand men. It being
believed that the procession would go from Kennington Com-
mon over Blackfriars Bridge, to the House of Commons,
great preparations were made in that quarter. At Stepney
Green, Finsbury-square, and Russell-square, bodies of the
Chartists met with bands and banners, and paraded the
streets on their way to Kennington Common, where six
thousand police, and eight thousand specials were in atten-
dance. Before eleven o'clock Trafalgar-square was filled
with police. The approaches of Westminster Bridge were,
on the Surrey side, guarded by strong bodies of that force,
and the bridge was placarded with bills, announcing that no
procession would be allowed to accompany the Petition to
the House. Every commodious place in the vicinity was
filled with military, police, or specials. The artillery was also
present. Various bodies continued to arrive on the Common
with music and banners, bearing various inscriptions, such as
"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"; "Ireland for the Irish." The
Convention assembled at nine o'clock, Reynolds occupying
the chair. The delegates' names were called. When the
name of Bronterre O'Brien was called, McCarthy said he
understood O'Brien had resigned, and he wished to know
when he attended last. Doyle said they had no notice of his
resignation officially, and he had not attended since the day
before the proclamation was issued from the Government.
Doyle also announced that he had received a letter from the
Commissioner of Police, in reply to one sent by him that the
route of procession was altered. The letter stated that the
contemplated procession would on no account be allowed to
take place. O'Connor delivered a precautionary speech ;
took the blame off the Government for the preparations they
had made, and charged it upon those who had talked of an
CHARTISM, AND CORN-LAW REPEAL 535
armed demonstration. He said he was prepared to ask the
meeting "in the name of courage, in the name of justice, in
the name of God, not to hold the procession, and thus throw
their great cause into the hands of the pickpockets and
scoundrels, and give the Government an opportunity of
attacking them." He then stated that the preparations had
been made for shooting from certain windows on the leaders
of the movement. He was told this by Alderman Humphery
in the House of Commons, by the police, and others. The
delegates started from the Convention Room at ten o'clock.
The procession was headed by a car, decorated with various
banners, and drawn by four horses. This car was to convey
the National Petition. This was followed by a second car,
drawn by six horses, and containing the delegates. On the
front seat were Feargus O'Connor, Doyle, McGrath, Jones,
Wheeler, and Harney. This car, like the preceding one, was
profusely decorated. As the delegates left a body of people
fell into procession behind them, eight abreast. Having
arrived at the National Land Company's office, the proces-
sion stopped to take up the petition. This accomplished, the
procession resumed its march through Holborn, Farringdon-
street, and New Bridge-street, to Blackfriar's Bridge. Two
or three hundred pensioners were on the Steamboat Pier,
who, on being recognised, were loudly cheered by the people
in the procession. Quite as many police were on the other
side of the Bridge, and a little further on were fifty mounted
police with cutlasses. As far as the Blackfriar's-road most
of the shops were open, but from the Bridge they were mostly
closed. The procession at length reached the Common,
where the several bodies of men, with their bands and ban-
ners, formed into a dense mass, estimated at from one hun-
dred and fifty thousand to one hundred and seventy thousand,
and who burst into loud cheering as the delegates' car came
upon the Common. . . .
. . . The meeting being at an end, the Petition was placed
in three cabs, and the Chartist Executive accompanied it to
the House of Commons. The police guarded the bridges,
and for upwards of an hour after the meeting, prevented any
approach on the part of the people. Some endeavoured to
effect a passage, but the police used their staves, often with
very little moderation. The masses did not, however, risk
a collision with the police, and considering the excitement
previously existing, the day passed off in a singularly peace-
ful manner.
536 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
On the same day O'Connor presented the Petition to the
House, which he stated was signed by five million seven
hundred thousand persons. He also presented one for the
same object, signed by thirty thousand persons. He moved
that the first Petition be read by the clerk at the table, which
was accordingly done. Lord Morpeth stated that Sir George
Grey was unavoidably absent on account of business; but he
might say for him, that whatever might be his sentiments
on the prayer of the Petition, he would not wish to appear
wanting in respect to that or any other petition, signed by
a large number of his fellow-subjects. The Petition being
rolled out of the House, Bright presented a petition from
delegates at Manchester, representing six thousand persons,
praying for the six points of the Charter; the abolition of
the law of entail and primogeniture ; a limitation of the
hours of labour ; and local boards for the regulation of wages.
Lushington gave notice that on Friday next he would ask
whether it was the intention of the Government to introduce
any measure of parliamentary reform during the session. . . .
On the same day that the last three motions were adopted,
an important scene occurred in the House of Commons on
the subject of the National Petition. Thornley brought up
a report from the Committee on public petitions. He stated
that with the assistance of thirteen law stationer's clerks, the
petition which O'Connor had said contained five million seven
hundred thousand signatures, had been examined, and it was
found to contain only one million nine hundred and seventy-
five thousand four hundred and ninety-six, and amongst the
rest were signatures such as Victoria Rex, the Duke of Wel-
lington, Sir Robert Peel, Colonel Sibthorpe, etc. There were
also a large number of fictitious names, such as Pugnose,
Longnose, Flatnose, Punch, Snooks, Fubbs, and other obscene
names, which he would not offend the House or its dignity
by repeating. O'Connor denied that it would be possible for
thirteen clerks to count one million nine hundred thousand
signatures in the time, and moved for a committee to enquire
into the subject. He attributed the fictitious names to
Government spies. He believed the number of signatures
he had stated was correct. He did not believe he should
have any difficulty in obtaining fifteen million or double or
treble that number. Thornley said the Committee was not
appointed specially to examine that Petition, but it was ap-
pointed in the early part of the session, to examine all peti-
tions presented to the House, O'Connor had stated that the
CHARTISM, AND CORN -LAW REPEAL 537
Petition was contained in four large bundles, and it took
himself and four other persons to lift the largest. The Peti-
tion had been weighed that morning, and was found to weigh
5cwt. 48 Ibs. The Committee was, he trusted, too well known
to render any further statement necessary. Lord John Rus-
sel expressed himself satisfied with the report. The Earl
of Arundel and Surrey, Maurice O'Connell, and Sir R. H.
Inglis having spoken, Cripps, one of the Committee, got up
and confirmed the statement of Thornley, and stated out of
ten thousand signatures, eight thousand two hundred were
women. He made some strong remarks upon O'Connor, who
replied that he could not be answerable for every signature
contained in the Petition. He had palmed no falsehood upon
the House, nor had he charged the Committee with-practising
a deception. After he had spoken O'Connor left the House.
(History of the Chartist Movement, ed. cit., p. 312.)
223. Suffering of the "Lower Classes"
Contemporary Newspaper
The following letter to the Sun throws powerful light upon
the sufferings of the English poor in the days of Chartism and
Reform. The description of the poverty of the lower classes
is as vivid as it is painful, and the prophecy with which the
letter concludes shows the impression made by the conditions
of the times upon men of thought.
Sir, I have been at the siege of Bolton for nothing but
some such cause suggests itself as adequate to the phenome-
non. And is it not a siege ? Not carried on perhaps by any
enemy within gun-shot, but by one working on a wider
radius, and making his blockade by sea upon the means of
life.
Many sights it has been my chance to see. I think I know
what is the minimum of help by which horse, ass, dog, hog,
or monkey, can sustain existence, and when it must go out
for want of appliances and means of living. But anything
like the squalid misery, the slow, mouldering, putrefying
death, by which the weak and the feeble of the working
classes are perishing here, it never befel my eyes to behold,
nor my imagination to conceive. And the creatures seem to
have no idea of resisting or even repining. They sit down
with Oriental submission, as if it was God, and not the land-
lord, that was laying hand upon them. And when their
honourable representative in Parliament gave a description
538 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
of their sufferings, "liar" was the best word applied to him
by the organs of tyranny.
Did you ever set your eyes on a pennyworth of mutton ?
Come here, and you shall see how rations are served out
under the landlord's state of siege. It might bait a rat-trap ;
though a well-fed rat would hardly risk his personalities for
such a pittance. Pennyworths of mutton, and halfpenny-
worths of bread cut off the loaf, are what the shopkeepers
of Bolton deal out to the inhabitants of their Jerusalem. I
saw a woman come for one halfpenny-worth of bread, which
was to be the dinner of herself and her children twain; and
when I reflected that of this transparent slice the other one
was gone to buy the landlord's sack, astonishment possessed
me at the endurance of that long-bearing ass the public, and
the extent to which ignorance and divisions will prop the
rich man's robbery.
I saw another mother of a family, who said she had not
tasted meat for many months ; and on one of the children
being sent off to the butcher's for some of the strange luxury,
she was discovered making many efforts to intercept the
messenger. Her anxiety was to instruct the boy to bring
back nothing but one pennyworth of bacon ; there was a to-
morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, for which she had
conceived the idea of spinning out existence by means of the
remainder of the funds.
If you are curious in human misery, if you are anxious
to know what a shabby tyranny can bring the rank and file
to suffer, come, at your leisure, to the "leaguer" of Bolton,
and see what the people sleep upon, if they do sleep. Chopped
dirt, the sweepings of a henhouse, mingled with a portion
of sparrows' nests, to show that men had heard of straw,
would be the best representatives of what they huddle upon
in corners, and call it resting. And all this because Sir
Having Greedy votes in the House of Commons for closing
honest trade, as the means of doubling his rents. The min-
ister, meanwhile, and his associates, are racking their tender
hearts to find a remedy. As in O'Connell's celebrated story
of the horse, "Will they try corn?" They will try anything
except allow the sufferers to keep themselves, for that would
interfere with the plans of those who, being rich already, use
their riches as a means of doubling them by confiscation of
the poor man's bread.
There is danger in their schemes. Already people of all
kinds are parodying the sentiment of the Italians "-Ad
CHARTISM, AND CORN-LAW REPEAL 539
ogni nomo puzza qncsto barbaro dominio" which may be
translated for English use, " Neither man nor woman will
endure this dynasty of clodhoppers." It wants nothing but
the privates of the regiment to know what hurts them, and
to get rid (as they are doing fast) of the various false lights
thrown out to induce them to run in every direction that will
preserve the evil; and a quicker end than pleasant may be
put to mischiefs, which nobody would remove by an earlier
application of the prudential virtues.
(Recollections of Richard Cobden and the Anti-Corn Law League,
H. Ashworth, Lond. p. 36.)
224. Repeal of the Corn Law
Levi
The Anti-Corn-Law movement finally met with the success
it merited, though not without encountering fierce opposition.
The landed interest was inimical, almost as a unit. Legislation
in the interest of the masses found little favour among the
upper classes of England at that period, and the voice of the
multitude, reduced to the borders of starvation, was long raised
in vain. Sir Robert Peel's defection from the opponents of the
Bill largely aided its ultimate passage, but to Cobham and Bright
belong the greatest meed of praise for the final triumph of the
cause of the people.
The Anti-Corn-Law agitation was one of those movements
which, being founded on right principles, and in harmony
with the interests of the masses, was sure to gather fresh
strength by any event affecting the supply of food. It was
popular to attempt to reverse a policy which aimed almost
exclusively to benefit one class of society. . . . The economic
theorists had the mass of the people with them. Their
gatherings were becoming more and more enthusiastic. And
even amidst Conservative landowners there were not a few
enlightened and liberal minds who had already, silently at
least, espoused the new ideas. No change certainly could
be expected so long as bread was cheap and labour abund-
ant. But when a deficient harvest and a blight in the
potato crop crippled the resources of the people and raised
grain to famine prices, the voice of the League acquired
greater power and influence. Hitherto they had received
hundreds of pounds. Now, thousands were sent in to sup-
port the agitation. A quarter of a million was readily con-
tributed. Nor were the contributors Lancashire mill-owners
exclusively. Among them were merchants and bankers, men
of heart and men of mind, the poor labourer and the peer of
540 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
the realm. The fervid oratory of Bright, the demonstrative
and argumentative reasoning of Cobden, the more popular
appeals of Fox, Rawlins, and other platform speakers, filled
the newspaper press, and were eagerly read. And when
parliament dissolved in August 1845, even Sir Robert Peel
showed some slight symptoms of a conviction that the days
of the corn laws were numbered. Every day, in truth,
brought home to his mind a stronger need for action, and as
the ravages of the potato disease progressed, he saw that all
further resistance would be absolutely dangerous. A cabinet
council was held on October 31 to consult as to what
was to be done, and at an adjourned meeting on Novem-
ber 5 Sir Robert Peel intimated his intention to issue an
order in council remitting the duty on grain in bond to one
shilling, and opening the ports for the admission of all
species of grain at a smaller rate of duty until a day to be
named in the order; to call parliament together on the
27th inst., to ask for an indemnity, and a sanction of the
order by law; and to submit to parliament immediately
after the recess a modification of the existing law, including
the admission at a nominal duty of Indian corn and of
British colonial corn. A serious difference of opinion, how-
ever, was found to exist in the cabinet on the question brought
before them, the only ministers supporting such measures
being the Earl of Aberdeen, Sir James Graham, and Mr.
Sidney Herbert. Nor was it easy to induce the other mem-
bers to listen to reason. And though at a subsequent meet-
ing, held on November 28, Sir Robert Peel so far secured
a majority, it was evident that the cabinet was too divi-
ded to justify him in bringing forward his measures, and
he decided upon resigning office. This resolution having
been communicated to the Queen, her Majesty summoned
Lord John Russell to form a cabinet, and, to smooth his
path, Sir Robert Peel, with characteristic frankness, sent
a memorandum to her Majesty embodying a promise to
give him his support. But Lord John Russell failed in
his efforts, and the Queen had no alternative but to recall
Sir Robert Peel, and give him full power to carry out his
measures. It was under such circumstances that Parliament
was called for January 22, 1846, and on January 27 the
government plan was propounded before a crowded house.
It was not a immediate repeal of the corn laws that Sir
Robert Peel recommended. He proposed a temporary pro-
tection for three years, till February i, 1849, imposing a
CHARTISM, AND CORN -LAW REPEAL 541
scale during that time ranging from 43. when the price of
wheat should be 503. per quarter and upward, and los. when
the price of wheat should be under 485. per quarter, and
that after that period all grain should be admitted at the
uniform duty of is. per quarter. The measure, as might
have been expected, was received in a very different manner
by the political parties in both Houses of Parliament. There
was treason in the conservative camp, and keen and bitter
was the opposition they offered to their chief. For twelve
nights speaker after speaker indulged in personal recrimina-
tions. They recalled to Sir Robert Peel's memory the
speeches he had made in defence of the corn laws. And as
to his assertion that he had changed his mind, they denied
his right to do so.
. . . The passing of the measure was, however, more than
certain, and after a debate of twelve nights' duration on Mr.
Miles, amendment, the Government obtained a majority of
97, 337 having voted for the motion and 240 against it. And
from that evening the corn law may be said to have expired.
(History of British Commerce, Lond. 1872, p. 292.)
CHAPTER XXXIII
AUSTRALIA
225. The Establishment of the Colony
(27 GEO. III. c. 2, 1787)
Barton
The following Act established the colony of New South
Wales by extending thereto the criminal jurisdiction of the king
Transportation for certain offences had already been determined
upon, and Australia presented many advantages as a penal settle-
ment.
ACT TO ENABLE HIS MAJESTY TO ESTABLISH A CRIMINAL JU-
DICATURE ON THE EASTERN COAST OF NEW SOUTH WALES
AND THE PARTS ADJACENT
Whereas by an Act made and passed in the twenty-fourth
year of his present Majesty's reign, intituled An Act for
the effectual transportation of felons and other offenders,
and to authorize the removal of prisoners in certain cases,
and for other purposes therein mentioned, it is enacted that,
from and after the passing of that Act, when any person or
persons at any Sessions of Oyer or Terminer or Gaol Deliv-
ery, or at any Quarter or other General Session of the Peace
to be holden for any county, riding, division, city, town,
borough, liberty, or place, within that part of Great Britain
called England, or at any Great Session to be holden for the
County Palatine of Chester, or within the Principality of
Wales, shall be lawfully convicted of grand or petit larceny,
or any other offence for which such person or persons shall
be liable by the laws of this realm to be transported, it shall
and may be lawful for the Court before which any such
person or persons shall be convicted as aforesaid, or any sub-
sequent Court holden at any place for the same county,
riding, division, city, town, borough, liberty, or place respect-
ively, with like authority, to order and adjudge that such
person or persons so convicted as aforesaid shall be trans-
542
AUSTRALIA 543
ported beyond the seas for any term of years not exceeding
the number of years or terms for which such person or
persons is or are or shall be liable by any law to be trans-
ported ; and in any such case it shall or may be lawful for his
Majesty, by and with the advice of his Privy Council, to de-
clare and appoint to what place or places, part or parts,
beyond the seas, either within his Majesty's dominions, or
elsewhere out of his Majesty's dominions, such felons or
other offenders shall be conveyed or transported : And such
Court as aforesaid is thereby authorized and empowered to
order such offenders to be transferred to the use of any
person or persons, and his or their assigns, who shall con-
tract for the due performance of such transportation :
And when his Majesty, his heirs and successors, shall be
pleased to extend mercy to any offender or offenders who
hath or have been, or shall be convicted of any crime or
crimes, for which he, she, or they is or shall be by law ex-
cluded from the benefit of clergy, upon condition of trans-
portation to any place or places, part or parts, beyond the
seas, either for term of life, or any number of years, and
such extension of mercy shall be signified by one of his Ma-
jesty's Principal Secretaries of State, it shall be lawful for
any Court, having proper authority, to allow such offender
or offenders the benefit of a conditional pardon, and (except
in cases where such offenders shall be authorized by his
Majesty to transport himself, herself, or themselves) to order
the transfer of such offender or offenders to any person or
persons who shall contract for the due performance of such
transportation, and his or their assigns, for such and the
same term of years for which any such offender or offenders
shall have been ordered to be transported, or for such term
of life or years as shall be specified in such, condition of
transportation :
And whereas his Majesty, by two several Orders-in-Coun-
cil, bearing date respectively on the sixth day of December,
1786, hath judged fit, by and with the advice of his Privy
Council, to declare and appoint the place to which certain
offenders named in two lists to the said several Orders-in-
Council annexed, should be transported for the time or term
in their several sentences mentioned, to be the eastern coast
of New South Wales, or some one or other of the islands ad-
jacent :
And whereas Sir James Eyre, Knight, and Sir Beaumont
Hotham, Knight, two of the Barons of his Majesty's Court of
544 SOL' RC E-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Exchequer of the degree of coiffe, according to the au-
thority of them given by the said statute, did, on the thir-
tieth day of December, 1/86, order that the said several
offenders, in the said several lists to the said several Orders-
in-Council annexed, should be transported to the place and
for the time and terms aforesaid :
And whereas it may be found necessary that a colony and
a civil Government should be established in the place to
which such convicts shall be transported, under and by virtue
of the said Act of Parliament, the said two several Orders-of-
Council, and other the said above-recited Orders, and that a
Court of Criminal Jurisdiction should also be established
within such place as aforesaid, with authority to proceed in
a more summary way than is used within this realm, accord-
ing to the known and established laws thereof:
Be it therefore enacted by the King's Most Excellent Ma-
jesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords
Spiritual and Temporal and Commons, in this present Parlia-
ment assembled, and by the authority of the same, that his
Majesty may, by his Commission under the Great Seal, au-
thorize the person to be appointed Governor, or the Lieuten-
ant-Governor in the absence of the Governor, at such place
as aforesaid, to convene from time to time, as occasion may
require, a Court of Judicature for the trial and punishment
of all such outrages and misbehaviours as, if committed with-
in this realm, would be deemed and taken, according to the
laws of this realm, to be treason or misprison thereof, felony
or misdemeanor, which Court shall consist of the Judge-
Advocate, to be appointed in and for such a place, together
with six officers of his Majesty's forces by sea or land:
Which Court shall proceed to try such offenders by calling
such offenders respectively before that Court, and causing
the charge against him, her, or them respectively, to be read
over, which charge shall always be reduced into writing, and
shall be exhibited to the said Court by the Judge-Advocate,
and by examining witnesses upon oath, to be administered
by such Court, as well for as against such offenders respect-
ively, and afterwards adjudging by the opinion of the major
part of the persons composing such Court, that the party
accused is or is not (as the case shall appear to them) guilty
of the charge, and by pronouncing judgment therein (as upon
a conviction by verdict) of death, if the offence be capital, or
of such corporal punishment not extending to capital punish-
ment, as to the said Court shall seem meet; and in cases not
AUSTRALIA 54S
capital, by pronouncing punishment of such corporal punish-
ment, not extending to life or limb, as to the said Court shall
seem meet.
II. And be it further enacted that the Provost-Marshal,
or other officer to be for that purpose appointed by such
Governor or Lieutenant-Governor, shall cause due execu-
tion of such judgment to be had and made under and ac-
cording to the warrant of such Governor or Lieutenant-
Governor in the absence of the Governor, under his hand
and seal, and not otherwise :
Provided always that execution shall not be .had or done
on any capital convict or convicts, unless five persons present
in such Court shall concur in adjudging him, her, or them,
so accused and tried as aforesaid, to be respectively guilty,
and until the proceedings shall have been transmitted to his
Majesty and by him approved.
III. And be it so enacted by the authority aforesaid that the
said Court shall be a Court of Record, and shall have all such
powers as by the laws of England are incident and belonging
to a Court of Record.
(History of New South Wales from the Records, G. B. Barton,
Lond. and Sidney, 1889. I, 453).
226. The First Penal Settlement
Barton
In 1786 there was drawn up the following plan for the estab-
lishment of a penal settlement in New South Wales. The
document given is not the first submitted, but it is that which
contains the plan nearest that which was adopted. The result
was the famous "first fleet," which in 1788 sailed for Botany
Bay. Although the experiment was not an unqualified success,
it was sufficiently so to warrant the continuance of the penal
settlements in Australia. All of these settlements were gener-
ically known as Botany Bay, although the spot to which that
title belonged was soon abandoned. It was not for many years
that Australia was able to free herself from the unjust reproach
of being inhabited mainly by convicts.
HEADS OF A PLAN
For effectually disposing of convicts, and rendering their
transportation reciprocally beneficial both to themselves and
to the State, by the establishment of a colony in New South
Wales, a country which, by the fertility and salubrity of the
climate, connected with the remoteness of its situation (from
whence it is hardly possible for persons to return without
permission), seems peculiarly adapted to answer the views
of Government with respect to the providing a remedy for
the evils likely to result from the late alarming and numer-
546 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
cms increase of felons in this country, and more particularly
in the metropolis.
It is proposed that a ship-of-war of a proper class, with a
part of her guns mounted, and a sufficient number of men
on board for her navigation, and a tender of about two hun-
dred tons burthen, commanded by discreet officers, should
be got ready as soon as possible to serve as an escort to the
convict ships, and for other purposes hereinafter mentioned.
That, in addition to their crews, they should take on board
two companies of marines, to form a military establishment
on shore, not only for the protection of the settlement, if
required, against the natives, but for the preservation of
good order, together with an assortment of stores, and uten-
sils and implements necessary for erecting habitations and
for agriculture ; and such quantities of provisions as may
be proper for the use of the crews.
As many of the marines as possible should be artificers,
such as carpenters, surveyors, smiths, potters, if possible,
and some husbandmen. To have a chaplain on board, with a
surgeon and one mate at least, the former to remain at the
settlement.
That these vessels should touch at the Cape of Good Hope,
or any other places that may be convenient, for any seed that
may be requisite to be taken from thence, and for such live
stock as they can possibly contain, which it is supposed can
be procured there without any sort of difficulty, and at the
most reasonable rates, for the use of the settlement at large.
That Government should immediately provide a certain
number of ships of a proper burthen to receive on board at
least seven or eight hundred convicts, and that one of them
should be properly fitted for the accommodation of the
women, to prevent their intercourse with the men.
That these ships should take on board as much provisions
as they can possibly stow, or at least a sufficient quantity for
two years' consumption, supposing one year's to be issued
at whole allowance, and the other year's provisions at half-
allowance, which will last two years longer ; by which time
it is presumed that the colony, with the live stock and grain
which may be raised by a common industry on the part of the
new settlers, will be fully sufficient for their maintenance
and support.
That, in addition to the crews of the ships appointed to
contain the convicts, a company of marines should be divided
between them, to be employed as guards for preventing ill
AUSTRALIA 547
consequences that might arise from dissatisfaction amongst
the convicts, and for the protection of the crews in the navi-
gation of the ships from insults that might be offered by the
convicts.
That each of the ships should have on board at least two
surgeons' mates to attend to the wants of the sick, and should
be supplied with a proper assortment of medicine and instru-
ments, and that two of them should remain with the settle-
ment.
After the arrival of the ships which are intended to convey
the convicts, the ship-of-war and tender may be employed in
obtaining live stock from the Cape, or from the Molucca
Islands, a sufficient quantity of which may be brought from
either of those places to the new settlement, in two or three
trips ; or the tender, if it should be thought most advisable,
may be employed in conveying to the new settlement a
further number of women from the Friendly Islands, New
Caledonia, etc., which are contiguous thereto, and from
whence any number may be procured without difficulty; and
without a sufficient proportion of that sex it is well known
that it would be impossible to preserve the settlement from
gross irregularities and disorders.
The whole regulation and management of the settlement
should be committed to the care of a discreet officer, and
provision should be made in all cases, both civil and military,
by special instructions under the Great Seal, or otherwise,
as may be thought proper.
Upon the whole, it may be observed with great force and
truth, that the difference of expense (whatever method of
carrying the convicts thither may be adopted) between this
mode of disposing of them, and that of the usual ineffectual
one, is too trivial to be a consideration with Government,
at least in comparison with the great object to be obtained
by it, especially now the evil is increased to such an alarm-
ing degree, from the inadequacy of all other expedients that
have hitherto been tried or suggested.
It may not be amiss to remark in favour of this plan that
considerable advantage will arise from the cultivation of the
New Zealand hemp or flax plant in the new intended settle-
ment, the supply of which would be of great consequence to us
as a naval power, as our manufacturers are of opinion that
canvas made of it would be superior in strength and beauty to
any canvas made of the European material, and that a cable
of the circumference of ten inches, made from the former,
548 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
would be superior in strength to one of eighteen inches made
of the latter. The threads or filaments of this New Zealand
plant are formed by nature with the most exquisite delicacy,
and may be so minutely divided as to be manufactured into
the finest linens.
Most of the Asiatic productions may also, without doubt,
be cultivated in the new settlement, and in a few years may
render our recourse to our European neighbours for those
productions unnecessary.
It may also be proper to attend to the possibility of
procuring from New Zealand any quantity of mast and
ship timber for the use of our fleet in India, as the distance
between the two countries is not greater than between Great
Britain and America. It grows close to the water's edge, is
of size and quality superior to any hitherto known, and may
be obtained without difficulty.
STAFF ESTABLISHMENT FOR THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW SOUTH
WALES YEARLY SALARY
The Naval Commander appointed Governor or & s - d -
Superintendent-General 500 o o
The Commanding Officer of the Marines to be
appointed Lieutenant-Governor or Deputy
Superintendent 250 o o
The Commissary of Stores and Provisions, for
himself and assistants, to be appointed or
named by the contractors for the provisions 200 o o
Pay of a Surgeon 182 10 o
Pay of two mates 182 10 o 365 10 o
Chaplain 182 10 o
1,497 IO
ESTIMATE OF CLOTHING TO SERVE A MALE CONVICT FOR ONE
YEAR VALUE EACH
No. s. d. s. d.
Jackets 2 46 090
Woollen drawers .... 4 20 080
Hat I 26 026
Shirts 3 30 090
Worsted stockings .... 4 i o 040
Frocks 3 2 3 069
Trousers 3 23 069
Shoes 3 46 0136
2 19 6
AUSTRALIA 549
The expense of clothing female convicts may be computed
to amount to like sum.
(History of New South Wales, ed. cit., I, 432.)
227. Discovery of Gold
E. Hargraves
The discovery of gold in Australia marked an epoch in the
history of that country. Thitherto the vast expanse of territory
had been considered of value only for the purposes of stock-
raising ; but under the new conditions resulting from the dis-
covery of the precious metal the standing of the country was
revolutionized. Crowds flocked to its shores, and cities rose as
if by enchantment. The question of the actual discoverer of
gold has never been determined, but Mr. Hargraves, whose ac-
count is given below, was the first to make the discovery known
to the world, and so is fairly entitled to the honour of dis-
coverer.
To the particulars of my own discovery I now proceed. I
have already in a former chapter stated my reasons for
believing in the existence of gold fields in New South Wales.
It was with an anxious heart, therefore, that I again landed
at Sydney, in the month of January, 1851. On my passage
thither and immediately on my arrival, I made known to my
friends and companions my confident expectations on the
subject; one and all, however, derided me, and treated my
views and opinions as those of a madman. Still undaunted,
on the 5th of February I set out from Sydney on horseback
alone to cross the Blue Mountains.
After resting one day at Guyong, on the I2th of February
I started thence, accompanied by young Lister. Our course
was down the Lewes Pond Creek, a tributary to the Summer
Hill Creek, which again is a tributary of the Macquarie
River. After traveling a distance of about fifteen miles, I
found myself in the country that I was anxiously longing to
behold again. My recollection of it had not deceived me.
The resemblance of its formation to that of California could
not be doubted or mistaken. I felt myself surrounded by
gold ; and with tremulous anxiety panted for the moment of
trial, when my magician's wand should transform this track-
less wilderness into a region of countless wealth.
Still one difficulty seemed to present itself. There had
been an unusual drought during the summer, which was now
drawing to a close, and the creek, where we then were, was
completely dried up. My guide, however, in answer to :ny
inquiries told me that we should find water lower down; so,
550 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
following its course, we soon fell in with some rocks which
contained a sufficient supply.
We now turned out our horses, and seated ourselves on
the turf, as it was necessary to satisfy the cravings of hunger
before I ventured on my grand experiment. Had that failed,
but little appetite for food would have been left me.
My guide went for water to drink, and, after making a
hasty repast, I told him that we were now in the gold fields,
and that the gold was under his feet as he went to fetch the
water for our dinner. He started with incredulous amaze-
ment, and, on my telling him that I would now find some
gold, watched my movements with the most intense interest.
My own excitement, probably, was far more intense than his.
I took the pick and scratched the gravel off a schistose dyke,
which ran across the creek at right angles with its sides ; and,
with the trowel, I dug a panful of earth, which I washed in
the water-hole. The first trial produced a little piece of
gold. "Here it is !" I exclaimed ; and I then washed five
panfuls in succession, obtaining gold from all but one.
No further proof was necessary. To describe my feelings
at that eventful moment would be impossible. What I said
on the instant though, I must admit, not warranted as the
language of calm reflection has been since much laughed
at. And though my readers may renew the laugh, I shall not
hesitate to repeat it, because, as it was the natural and im-
pulsive impression of my overwrought feelings at the mo-
ment, so is it the only account I can now give of what those
feelings were.
"This," I exclaimed to my guide, "is a memorable day in
the history of New South Wales. I shall be a baronet, you
will be knighted, and my old horse will be stuffed, put into
a glass-case, and sent to the British Museum !"
At that instant I felt myself to be a great man. I was as
mad, perhaps, at the moment, as Don Quixote was his life
through ; and assuredly, my companion was as simple as
Sancho Panza for the good youth afterwards told me, he
expected I should obtain for him the honour I had promised.
On our return that night to the inn at Guyong, I wrote a
memorandum of the discovery, which I afterwards gave to
the Colonial Secretary, as a memorial of the great event.
(Australia and its Gold Fields, ed. Hammond, Lund., 1855. p. HI.)
AUSTRALIA 551
228. Results of the Finding of Gold
Contemporary Pamphltt
The following account of the consequences of the discovery
of gold is of great interest. It is written with thought as well
as care, and the evil as well as the good results likely to accrue
are pointed out. The former were averted by the good sense
of the Australians, although at one time it seemed as if the coun-
try would fall into a worse condition than that which existed
when the colony was only a penal settlement.
The first results of the Australian gold discoveries are now
displayed in a tangible, unmistakable shape individual loss,
individual suffering, by the diversion of capital and labour.
There may be many carried away by mere enthusiasm, who
will rue the day they abandoned the certain easy employ-
ments of civilized life for the hard navigator-like trade of a
gold-seeker ; but the advantage of this new mineral discovery
is unquestionable, in spite of all that croakers may say and
sing.
Up to the middle of May, 1851, as heretofore shown, the
colonial heart beat high with hope. Trade was good; the
pastoral interests were flourishing; the country properties,
as a matter of course, were improving; and the introduction
of the alpaca, the extended culture of the vine, and the
growth of cotton, appeared to present new and rich sources
of wealth. At that moment came the discovery of the gold
fields; and a shock was communicated to the whole indus-
trial system, which to some people seemed to threaten almost
annihilation. The idea was, that gold digging would swallow
up all other pursuits, and the flocks perish in the wilderness
from the want of shepherds. Nor was this altogether with-
out foundation ; for the stockholders have actually been con-
siderable sufferers: all the industrial projects mentioned
have been stopped short; and the gold-diggings still continue
to attract to themselves, as if by a spell, the labour of the
country. The panic, however, has now subsided. It is seen
that the result is not so bad as was anticipated, and it is now
rendered evident that the evil will go no further. A stream
of population, it is thought, will be directed to Australia
from abroad, and the labour not demanded by gold may suf-
fice for other pursuits.
Already upwards of two millions sterling have been real-
ised by the rude exertions of part of a population which has
never yet exported more than three millions of raw produce ;
and with the evidence now before us, we may confidently
552 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
assert, that although there will be a temporary diminution in
the exportation of Australian wool under new arrangements,
the flocks of Australia will not be destroyed.
The Australian population have stood the test of gold
wonderfully, and come out of the trial with honour. Their
conduct, as a body, has been singularly orderly and sub-
missive to the constituted authorities.
Two very healthy signs are displayed by the Australian
diggers the multiplication of marriages and the large con-
sumption of the best articles of female attire.
At Port Phillip it is impossible to retain a tidy servant
girl. The first luxury to which the successful gold-seeker
treats himself on his return for a holiday is a wife, and the
wife is then treated to the best gowns and shawls that the
shops afford. A friend writes that "the carpenters and
smiths of Melbourne and Geelong will not let their wifes be
seen in a gown of less cost than ten pounds, with a shawl and
bonnet to match."
Whatever may be the taste of the workers from the Turon
or Braidwood, Ballarat and Mount Alexander, it is certain
that what they purchase they honestly pay for, and no one
will suffer for their gains. The advantage, in a commercial
point of view, is obvious. The man who was earning before
20 or 40 a year, of which, perhaps, he spent one-half in
manufactures, can now afford to spend - and does spend
from 100 to 500 a year. The tales of wild extravagance
are grossly exaggerated, and not at all to be depended upon.
On the best authority, we can assert that the colonists are
spending and investing their money in a very creditable
manner. Among other proofs may be cited the circumstance
of two thousand pounds received in gold-dust in less than
seven weeks after his arrival at Port Phillip, by Captain
Chisholm, from working men, to pay the passage of their
relatives.
Now that so strong a stream of self-paid emigration is
flowing, the sooner the Government free emigration is given
up the better for the mother country and for the colonies.
Many a man does not save as he could, to pay his own
passage, because he hopes to win a prize in the Government
lottery.
Education, and free, liberal education, is in truth the only
thing required in Australia. Education, established and ex-
tended from the time the May Flower landed her Puritan
freight on the bleak shores of New England, until the time
AUSTRALIA 553
when the progress of commerce brought a deluge of emigrant
ignorance, has saved America under a different form of Gov-
ernment, and neutralized the effect of the late annual inva-
sion of the uneducated. But in Australia no such provision
exists, or is possible. And if England goes on annually in-
oculating the gold fields with illiterate strong arms, the
feeble efforts made by Australia to redeem the errors of past
educational neglect, will never be able to overtake and arrest
the disease.
(Australia (pamphlet), B. Fabian, N. Y., 1852. p. 77.)
CHAPTER XXXIV
THE INDIAN EMPIRE
229. The English at Surat and Bombay
Fryer
Dr. Fryer, a surgeon in the service of the East India Com-
pany, visited Surat in 1674. His travels were published in
London in 1698. They contain a graphic account of the manner
in which the Company conducted its affairs in India.
The house the English live in at Surat, is partly the King's
gift, partly hired ; built of stone and excellent timber, with
good carving, without representations ; very strong, for that
each floor is half a yard thick at least, of the best plastered
cement, which is very weighty. It is contrived after the
Moor's buildings, with upper and lower galleries, or terrace-
walks ; a neat Oratory, a convenient open place for meals.
The President has spacious lodgings, noble rooms for counsel
and entertainment, pleasant tanks, yards, and a hummum to
wash in ; but no gardens in the city, or very few, though
without the city they have many, like wildernesses, over-
spread with trees. The English had a neat one, but Sevaji's
coming destroyed it. It is known, as the other Factories are,
by their several flags flying.
Here they live (in shipping-time) in a continual hurly-
burly, the Banians presenting themselves from the hour of
ten till noon; and then afternoon at four till night, as if it
were an Exchange in every row ; below stairs, the packers
and warehouse-keepers, together with merchants bringing
and receiving musters, make a mere Billinsgate ; for if you
make not a noise, they hardly think you intent on what you
are doing.
Among the English, the business is distributed into four
offices; the Accomptant, who is next in dignity to the Pres-
ident, the general accompts of all India, as well as this place,
passing through his hands; he is quasi Treasurer, signing
all things, though the broker keep the cash. Next him is the
554
THE INDIAN EMPIRE 555
warehouse-keeper, who registers all Europe goods vended,
and receives all Eastern commodities bought ; under him is
the Purser Marine, who gives account of all goods exported
and imported, pays seamen their wages, provides wagons
and porters, looks after tackling for ships, and ships' stores.
Last of all is the Secretary, who models all Consultations,
writes all letters, carries them to the President and Council
to be perused and signed ; keeps the Company's seal, which
is affixed to all passes and commissions; records all trans-
actions, and sends copies of them to the Company; though
none of these, without the President's approbation, can act
or do any thing. The affairs of India are solely under his
regulation; from him issue out all orders, by him all prefer-
ment is disposed; by which means the Council are biassed
by his arbitrament.
The whole mass of the Company's servants may be com-
prehended in these classes, viz. : Merchants, Factors, and
Writers ; some Bluecoat Boys also have been entertained
under notion of apprentices for seven years, which being ex-
pired, if they can get security, they are capable of employ-
ments. The Writers are obliged to serve five years for 10 I.
per Ann. Giving in a bond of 500 /. for good behaviour, all
which time they serve under some of the forementioned
Offices: After which they commence Factors, and rise to
preferment and trust, according to seniority or favour, and
therefore have a 1,000 /. bond exacted from them, and have
their salary augmented to 20 /. per Ann. for three years, then
entering into new indentures, are made Senior Factors ; and
lastly, Merchants after Three Years more; out of whom are
chose Chiefs of Factories, as places fall, and are allowed 40 I.
per Ann. during their stay in the Company's service, besides
lodgings and victuals at the Company's charges.
These in their several Seigniories behave themselves after
the fundamentals of Surat, and in their respective Factories
live in the like grandeur ; from whence they rise successively
to be of the Council in Surat, which is the great Council ; and
if the President do not contradict, are sworn, and take their
place accordingly, which consists of about five in number,
besides the president, to be constantly resident.
As for the Presidency, though the Company interpose a
deserving man, yet they keep that power to themselves, none
assuming that dignity till confirmed by them : His salary
from the Company is 500 I. a year; half paid here, the other
half reserved to be received at home, in case of misdemeanour
556 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
to make satisfaction ; beside a bond of 5,000 /. sterling of
good securities.
The Accountant has 72 /. per Ann., fifty pound paid here,
the other at home: All the rest are half paid here, half at
home, except the Writers, who have all paid here.
Out of the Council are elected the Deputy-Governor of
Bombay, and Agent of Persia ; the first a place of great trust,
the other of profit; though, by the appointment from the
Company, the Second of India claims Bombay, and the Sec-
retary of Surat the Agency of Persia, which is connived at,
and made subject to the will of the President, by the interest
of those whose lot they are; chusing rather to reside here,
where consignments compensate those emoluments ; so that
none of the council, if noted in England, but makes consid-
erably by his place, after the rate of five in the hundred,
commission ; and this is the Jacob's ladder by which they
ascend.
It would be too mean to descend to indirect ways, which
are chiefly managed by the Banians, the fittest tools for any
deceitful undertaking; out of whom are made brokers for
the Company, and private persons, who are allowed two per
cent, on all bargains, besides what they squeeze secretly out
of the price of things bought; which cannot be well under-
stood for want of knowledge in their language; which ignor-
ance is safer, than to hazard being poisoned for prying too
nearly into their actions: Though the Company, to encourage
young men in their service, maintain a master to learn them
to write and read the language, and an annuity to be annexed
when they gain a perfection therein, which few attempt, and
fewer attain.
To this Factory belong twenty persons in number, reckon-
ing Swally Marine into the account; a Minister for Divine
Service, a Surgeon, and when the President is here, a guard
of English soldiers, consisting of a double file led by a Ser-
jeant.
The present Deputy has only forty Moor-men, and a flag-
man, carrying St. George his colours swallow-tailed in silk,
fastened to a silver partisan ; with a small attendance of
horse with silver bridles, and furniture for the gentlemen of
the house, and coaches for ladies and Council.
The President besides these has a noise of trumpets, and
is carried himself in a Palenkeen, a horse of state led before
him, a Mirchal (a fan of ostriches' feathers) to keep off the
sun, as the Omrahs or great men have, none but the Emperor
THE INDIAN EMPIRE 557
have a Sumbrero among the Moguls: Besides these, every
one according to his quality has his menial servants to wait
on him in his chamber, and follow him out. . . .
But lest the New Company should be exclaimed against as
too greedy monopolizers, they permit free traders on their
Island Bombay ; when, to speak truth, they are in a far worse
condition than their servants ; being tied up without hopes
of raising themselves : so that in earnest they find out that
to be but a trick.
However, to confess on the Company's behalf, the trade
(I mean on this coast) for some years lately passed has
hardly balanced expenses. They employing yearly forty sail
of stout ships to and from all parts where they trade, out and
home ; manning and maintaining their Island Bombay, Fort
St. George, and St. Helens ; besides large sums expended to
bear out the port of their Factors ; which notwithstanding
by impartial computation has been found inferior to the
costs of the Hollanders, and therefore more to the profit of
the English East India Company, than theirs, in the few
years they have adventured ; so that I should mightily blame
them should they prove ungrateful to His Majesty, who by
his gracious favour has united them in a society, whereby
they are competitors for riches (though not strength) with
the notedest Company in the universe.
This Charter was granted presently after the happy res-
toration of our Gracious Sovereign, when order began to
dawn, and dispel the dark chaos of popular community: Then
was sent out a President, to put their Charter in force, and
establish a graduation among their servants, which before
was not observed ; only for order's sake, they did nominate
an Agent; the rest being independent, made no distinction.
When as now, after a better model, they commence accord-
ing to their standing, and are under a collegiate manner of
restraint.
(New Account of East India and Persia, John Fryer, M. D., London, 1698.
Reprinted in Early Records of British India, J. T. Wheeler, London, 1878.)
230. Letter of Warren Hastings
Hastings
The following letter from Warren Hastings is interesting as
setting forth his side of the discussion which resulted in his
impeachment. Being a private letter to a personal friend, it is
unlikely that the former ruler of India would therein defend
himself against accusation unless he at least believed that the
defence was justifiable. Hastings' trial was memorable in the
history of India, for the reason that, whether or not he was
558 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
guilty of the crimes imputed to him, it served as a warning to
future rulers in their transactions with the natives. They
learned that there was retribution in store for cruelty and op-
pression, and that the "pagoda-tree" could not be robbed with
impunity.
TO SIR JOHN SHORE
St. James's Place, igth February, 1787.
Dear Shore, As I have now every reason to believe that
an impeachment will be carried against me to the House of
Lords, and have had a severe warning given me not to trust
to my own integrity, or services, as I may conceive them, for
the event, and as I fear no issue of the trial so much as
its influence upon my future and lasting reputation, I ap-
ply to you, my friend, to afford me such assistance as, I hope,
may be in your power to obviate such a conclusion, by col-
lecting the testimonials of the most respectable inhabitants
of the provinces of Bengal, and such other creditable vouch-
ers, of whatever kind, beyond the provinces, as may refute the
calumnies with which I have been loaded, and ascertain what-
ever pretentions I may have to more positive merit.
I am charged with cruelty, oppression, violation of treaties,
and with the general guilt of having sacrificed every duty to
the views of interest, ambition, or private vengeance. I am
not sure that rapacity makes a part of the catalogue of my
imputed crimes, because the instances which have been ad-
duced in evidence to prove it apply only to acts done for the
relief of the public necessities, and it is scarcely (I believe
not at all) insinuated, that I have practiced it for any profit
of my own.
I wish to make my appeal to the justice and generosity of
those to whom it best appertains to pronounce upon my real
character, according to their several relations or concerns
with the government of Bengal during the periods in which
I held an efficient share in its powers; that they may declare
whether I deserve these imputations, or whether I am entitled
to their testimony of the reverse.
Whether I have extorted money from individuals to gratify
my own avarice; or whether I have not notoriously abstained
from every means which might have promoted my own in-
terest, with the injury of individuals or the public :
Whether I have countenanced, or permitted; or whether
I have not, on the contrary, to the utmost of my power pre-
vented men in office or favour from oppressing or plunder-
THE INDIAN EMPIRE 559
ing those who were subjected to their authority or influ-
ence:
Whether the provinces have been infested with robbers,
or plundering Seneassies, as much during my administration
as in the times preceding it:
Whether the provinces have suffered the calamities either
of war or famine during my administration ; or whether they
have not enjoyed both uninterrupted peace and abundance,
though our Government and nation were for years engaged
in wars with powerful states and neighbours, and were at
one time threatened with a dearth from the same causes
which produced one in 1768:
Whether I have oppressed the reiats by intolerable or un-
equal taxes, for the public service; or whether I have not
rather multiplied the sources of the public wealth, and equal-
ised the burthens imposed on the people.
Whether I have neglected the administration of justice;
or whether I have not established Courts of Civil and Crim-
inal Justice, and supported both in the exercise of their func-
tions beyond the experience of any former times :
Whether I have offended, or discountenanced the laws,
customs, and religious worship of the country; or whether I
have not respected, protected, and conformed to them :
Whether I have shown a disregard to science; or whether
I have not, on the contrary, by public endowments, by per-
sona! attentions, and by the selection of men for appointments
suited to their talents, given effectual encouragement to it :
Whether in my public negociations, and in my general
intercourse, I have made use of artifice and trick, or of truth
and plain-dealing:
Whether I have affected a display of state ; whether I have
ever shown an inordinate solicitude for my personal safety;
or whether I have not been thought to err in the opposite
extremes :
Whether I left the country in a worse or in a better state
of population and cultivation than I found it:
And lastly, whether the English name, power, and influ-
ence were ever greater, more respected, or more extensively
known in India before than during my administration, and
particularly at the close of it.
The persons who can be most instrumental in collecting
the suffrages which I require, are Gunga Govin Sing; Alice
Ibraheem Cawn ; Beneram, or Bissumbes Pundit; Rajah Go-
vindram; Tofuzzel Hossein Cawn; Mowlary Majud O'Deen.
560 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
or his brother Muftee Ahmed; and I believe I may venture
to join Mahdajee Sindia. I would wish at least to have his
testimony, and those of every other chief with whom our Gov-
ernment was in connexion; Moodajee, the ministers of Poona,
Nizam al Moolk, Assof o'Dowlah, and the Nabob Wallah
Jah.
I cannot prescribe the means. Perhaps I have been too
particular in detailing the ends. But you must make -al-
lowance for my anxiety, and the cause which I have to make
me more than ordinarily anxious.
If you think that you can undertake this commission with
an assurance of its complete execution, you will of course (as
I should on every account wish) first propose it to Lord
Cornwallis for his approbation. If he objects to it, there
must of course be an end to it. Even from the little which I
know of his Lordship, and from his general character, I give
him credit for qualities incompatible with such a supposition,
and assure myself besides that he will not in Bengal have
changed the opinion which he entertained of me in England
for a worse.
I wil not ask your forgiveness for wishing to impose on
you so much trouble; but I ought if I thought that it might
eventually draw on you the same enmities which are now
directed at me. I confess, I think such may be the conse-
quence, though I rather hope that the crisis of this phrenzy
may terminate with me. If it does not, I am not sure that
any conduct will be a safeguard against it.
You will readily comprehend that I do not mean to use the
justification which I solicit from your means for any purpose
of meeting the impending trial ; for though I am certain that
every artifice will be put in practice to protract it, it will be
impossible to extend the delay beyond another sessions ; I
mean another after the present. The result, therefore, of this
plan can be of no other benefit to me than that of retrieving
my character from the injury which it may have received
from the present prosecution, and its legal consequences.
These must all have 1 ceased long before the result of my com-
mission can arrive in England. I am not sure that the House
of Commons will vote an impeachment. I cannot be certain
that the same prejudices, the same intrigues, and the same
influence may not follow me into the House of Lords, though
in judicial matters the character of that assembly stands
hitherto unimpeached. But I have been told by judgments
much better informed than those of common men, that much
THE INDIAN EMPIRE 561
is to be apprehended, even in that assembly, from the respect
paid to a decided judgment of the House of Commons, and
yet more to the ascribed inclination of the minister; and I
myself have my doubts of another kind. The charges may
prove so numerous and complicated, that every mind will not
be able to comprehend them, or to retain even what they do
comprehend; and the tedious and artificial examination of
the witnesses to every charge will, with other process, take
up such a length of time, that the aged, infirm, and indiffer-
ent will not sit out the trial. I may therefore lose many ver-
dicts in my favour. None will be lost of those which are
predetermined against me. I am almost ashamed of these
suspicions, yet, after what has passed, how can I avoid them?
I have been condemned by one assembly for having intended
by a resolution, which was confined to my own breast, to ex-
act a fine from Cheyt Sing exceeding his offences, admitted
to be great, and a fine, if moderate, admitted to be a legal and
proper punishment. I have been condemned for permitting
the jagheers and treasures to be taken from the mother of
the Nabod Assof o'Dowlah, because in the evidence adduced
by my prosecutor to prove my guilt, I had not brought proofs
sufficient of the Begum's rebellion against her sovereign, and
hostility to our nation; though the charge, black and ran-
corous as it is, and the admired harangue of the mover of the
charge, fabricated with the labour of months, and the combi-
nation of all the powers of a great party, both stated in terms
that the money produced by these exactions was applied to
the relief of the public necessities, and they have not dared
to suggest that I took or attempted to take any part of it to
my own use. Let, however, this business end as it will, a
great portion of mankind will think they judge with candour,
if, unable to comprehend any part of the accusations, they
acquit me, at a guess, of some, and conclude that where so
much is alleged against me, much of it must be necessarily
true. The plan which I have recommended may be product-
ive of that species of evidence which the meanest capacity
will understand, and which will most effectually and totally
efface every prejudice against me. Let it arrive when it
will, whether I shall have received an absolute and unquali-
fied, acquittal, or a condemnation; whether I am alive or
deadj it will answer the end for which I want it. I am ever,
my dear Shore, your most affectionate friend.
(Memoirs of the Life of the Right Hon. Warren Hastings, by Rev. G. R. Gleig,
Loud., 1841, III, p. 321.)
562 SOURCE-BOOK OP ENGLISH HISTORY
231. Cession of India to the English Crown
(1858)
Nolan
In 1858 the old East India Company formally resigned its
interests in India, and the land became entirely subject to the
crown of England. There were many reasons for this step ; the
old government had not proved entirely faithful to the trusts
reposed in it, and there was need for a more stable form of rule.
The proclamation made by the Queen sets forth the policy
adopted by England in assuming control. It must be remem-
bered that at the time of the transfer the India Mutiny was in
progress; hence the clauses as to the enforcement of justice and
the granting of clemency. It is probable that to this fact was
also due the tenderness displayed for the religious feelings of
the natives.
PROCLAMATION BY THE QUEEN IN COUNCIL TO THE PRINCES,
CHIEFS, AND PEOPLE OF INDIA
VICTORIA, by the grace of God of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, and of the Colonies and Depen-
dencies thereof in Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and Aus-
tralia, Queen, Defender of the Faith.
Whereas, for divers weighty reasons, we have resolved, by
and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and Commons, in Parliament assembled, to take
upon ourselves the government of the territories in India
heretofore administered in trust for us by the Honourable
East India Company,
Now, therefore, we do by these presents notify and declare
that, by the advice and consent aforesaid, we have taken upon
ourselves the said government ; and we hereby call upon all
our subjects within the said territories to be faithful, and to
bear true allegiance to us, our heirs and successors, and to
submit themselves to the authority of those whom we may
hereafter, from time to time, see fit to appoint to administer
the government of our said territories, in our name and on
our behalf.
And we, reposing especial trust and confidence in the
loyalty, ability, and judgment of our right trusty and well-
beloved cousin and counsellor, Charles John, Viscount
Canning, do hereby constitute and appoint him, the said Vis-
count Canning, to be our first Viceroy and Governor-General
in and over our said territories, and to administer the govern-
ment thereof in our name, and generally to act in our name
and on our behalf, subject to such orders and regulations as
he shall, from time to time, receive from us through one of
our Principal Secretaries of State.
THE INDIAN EMPIRE 563
And we do hereby confirm in their several offices, civil
and military, all persons now employed in the service of the
Honourable East India Company, subject to our future
pleasure, and to such laws and regulations as may hereafter
be enacted.
We hereby announce to the native princes of India that
all treaties and engagements made with them by or under the
authority of the Honourable East India Company are by us
accepted, and will be scrupulously maintained, and we look
for the like observance on their part.
We desire no extension of our present territorial posses-
sions; and, while we will permit no aggression upon our do-
minions or our rights to be attempted with impunity, we
shall sanction no encroachment on those of others. We shall
respect the rights, dignity, and honour of native princes as
our own; and we desire that they, as well as our own sub-
jects, should enjoy that prosperity and that social advance-
ment which can only be secured by, internal peace and good
government.
We hold ourselves bound to the natives of our Indian ter-
ritories by the same obligations of duty which bind us to all
our other subjects, and those obligations, by the blessing of
Almighty God, we shall faithfully and conscientiously fulfil.
Firmly relying ourselves on the truth of Christianity, and
acknowledging with gratitude the solace of religion, we dis-
claim alike the right and desire to impose our convictions
on any of our subjects. We declare it to be our royal will and
pleasure that none be in anywise favoured, none molested or
disquieted, by reason of their religious faith or observances,
but that all shall alike enjoy the equal and impartial protec-
tion of the law; and we do strictly charge and enjoin all
those who may be in authority under us that they abstain
from all interference with the religious belief or worship of
any of our subjects on pain of our highest displeasure.
And it is our further will that, so far as may be, our sub-
jects, of whatever race or creed, be freely and impartially
admitted to offices in our service, the duties of which they
may be qualified, by their education, ability, and integrity,
duly to discharge.
We know, and respect, the feelings of attachment with
which the natives of India regard the lands inherited by them
from their ancestors, and we desire to protect them in all
rights connected therewith, subject to the equitable demands
of the State ; and we will that, generally, in framing and ad-
564 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
ministering the law, due regard be paid to the ancient rights,
usages, and customs of India.
We deeply lament the evils and misery which have been
brought upon India by the acts of ambitious men, who have
deceived their countrymen by false reports, and led them into
open rebellion. Our power has been shown by the suppres-
sion of that rebellion in the field : we desire to show our
mercy by pardoning the offences of those who have been thus
misled, but who desire to return to the path of duty.
Already, in one province, with a view to stop the further
effusion of blood, and to hasten the pacification of our In-
dian dominions, our Viceroy and Governor-General has held
out the expectation of pardon, on certain terms, to the great
majority of those who, in the late unhappy disturbances, have
been guilty of offences against our Government, and has de-
clared the punishment which will be inflicted on those whose
crimes place beyond the reach of forgiveness. We approve
and confirm the said act of our Viceroy and Governor-
General, and do further announce and proclaim as follows :
Our clemency will be extended to all offenders, save and
except those who have been, or shall be, convicted of having
directly taken part in the murder of British subjects. With
regard to such the demands of justice forbid the exercise of
mercy.
To those who have willingly given asylum to murderers,
knowing them to be such, or who may have acted as leaders
or instigators in revolt, their lives alone can be guaranteed ;
but, in apportioning the penalty clue to such persons, full
consideration will be given to the circumstances under which
they have been induced to throw off their allegiance; and
large indulgence will be shown to those whose crimes may ap-
pear to have originated in the credulous acceptance of the
false reports circulated by designing men.
To all others in arms against the government we hereby
promise unconditional pardon, amnesty, and oblivion of all
offence against ourselves, our crown, and dignity, on their
return to their homes and peaceful pursuits.
It is our royal pleasure, that these terms of grace and
amnesty should be extended to all those who comply with
these conditions before the ist day of January next.
When, by the blessing of Providence, internal tranquillity
shall be restored, it is our earnest desire to stimulate the
peaceful industry of India, to promote works of public utility
and improvement, and to administer its government for the
THE INDIAN EMPIRE 565
benefit of all our subjects resident therein. In their pros-
perity will be our strength, in their contentment our security,
and in their gratitude our best reward. And may the God
of all power grant to us, and to those in authority under us,
strength to carry out these our wishes for the good of our
people.
(History of India, E. H. Nolan, Lond., n. d., Ill, p. i.)
232. Victoria, Empress of India
(877)
Wheeler
In 1876 Victoria issued a formal proclamation, in which she
assumed the dignity and title of Empress of India. This pro-
clamation recited that on January i, 1877, the said title and dig-
nity were to vest in the royal house of England. The date
named was made a day of festivity in India. The royal procla-
mation was read at Delhi with impressive ceremonies. The ac-
count of these ceremonies, which also contains the text of the
royal proclamation, is given.
The first of January eighteen hundred and seventy-seven
was the great day of the Imperial Assemblage. Her Majesty
the Queen of England was proclaimed Empress of India.
The Governors and other High Officials of British India
were assembled together with all the Ruling Native Chiefs
to inaugurate the installation of the Empress as the Sover-
eign of Her Eastern Empire. . . .
The scene of the Proclamation was a turf-covered plain
about four miles from Delhi. Three structures had been set
up, namely, a Throne Pavilion for the Viceroy, an Amphi-
theatre for the High Officials and Ruling Chiefs, and blocks
for Representatives of Foreign Governments and. spectators.
The Throne Pavilion was a graceful building of blue, red,
and gold, near the centre of the area. It was a hexagon;
each of its sides was forty feet long; the whole was thus
about two hundred and twenty-four feet round. The details
are worth describing. The lower part was a solid structure
of masonry ten feet from the ground. It was surrounded
by a gilded railing. There was a flight of steps in front and
another behind, also with gilded railings. The upper part
was a canopy raised over the structure, supported on twelve
slender clustered shafts. The Imperial Crown at the top
rested upon a cushion. Beneath it depended a graceful
drapery of red clothes embroidered with gold. On the upper
cornice was worked a pattern of festooned laurel wreaths
and Imperial Crowns. At each angle was a trophy of three
566 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
satin bannerets, festooned outwards, displaying the Cross of
St. George and the Union Jack. Below the cornice the ca-
nopy was continued in alternate stripes of red and white
satin, embroidered with golden fleurs de Us. There was a
lower frieze with an armorial vallance hanging from it. The
frieze displaced the Rose, Shamrock, and Thistle, embroid-
ered with the Lotos of India in gold, silver, and colours. It
was adorned at each angle by a gilded crown and silken
drapery. The vallance was composed of shield-shaped forms,
on which were shown alternately the Irish Harp, the Lion
Rampant of Scotland, and the three Lions of England. The
shafts of the canopy were hung with silver shields, about ten
feet from the ground, bearing the imperial monogram in
gold, surmounted by bannerets of various-coloured satins. . . .
From an early hour there had been a general gathering
towards the Imperial Assemblage. Ruling Chiefs drove by
in state carriages accompanied by retainers and soldiers.
Groups of elephants crowded to the same spot clad in the
trappings they had worn on the day of the entry. Vast
multitudes also assembled to see the various Chiefs and High
Officials pass by on their way to the place- of Proclamation.
The spectators' seats on either side of the Throne Pavilion
were occupied by Ambassadors, Envoys, and Deputations,
including those from Nipal and Siam ; also by Foreign Con-
suls, and a large number of European ladies and gentlemen.
Here also were seated- the Khan of Khelat, the Governor-
General of the Portuguese Settlements in India, and numer-
ous Native nobles and officials. The general public were
also admitted in great numbers to the inclosure, behind the
Amphitheatre.
All the British troops assembled at Delhi were drawn up
on a plain, to the north of the pavilions; the Native chiefs
and nobles had in like manner drawn up their retainers and
followers on the opposite plain to the south of the pavilions.
Guards of honour were drawn up on either side of the
Throne Pavilion, as well as at each of the several entrances
to the Amphitheatre.
At noon a flourish of trumpets from the Heralds an-
nounced the arrival of His Excellency the Viceroy. All who
were present in that vast assembly rose from their seats ;
the military bands played a grand march. His Excellency,
who was accompanied by Lady Lytton and the members of
his family, alighted from his carriage and advanced towards
the Throne Pavilion preceded by the Personal Staff. The
THE INDIAN EMPIRE 567
bands struck up the National Anthem, and the guards of
honour presented arms as the Viceroy took his seat upon the
throne.
The proceedings were simple and impressive. His Ex-
cellency was arrayed in his robes as Grand Master of the
Star of India. He commanded the Chief Herald to read the
Proclamation of the assumption of the Imperial Title by
Her Majesty the Queen. The twelve Heralds sounded a
flourish of trumpets. The Chief Herald then read the Pro-
clamation in a loud voice, which was heard by the whole
Assemblage.
"VICTORIA, R.
"Whereas an Act has been passed in the present Sessions
of Parliament, intituled 'An Act to enable Her Most Gra-
cious Majesty to make an addition to the Royal Style and
Titles appertaining to the Imperial Crown of the United
Kingdom and its Dependencies,' which Act recites that, by
the Act for the Union of Great Britain and Ireland, it was
provided that after such Union the Royal Style and Titles
appertaining to the Imperial Crown of the United Kingdom
and its Dependencies should be such as His Majesty by His
Royal Proclamation under the Great Seal of the United
Kingdom should be pleased to appoint: and which Act also
recites that, by virtue of the said Act, and of a Royal Pro-
clamation under the Great Seal, dated the ist day of Jan-
uary 1 80 1, Our present Style and Titles are 'VICTORIA, by
the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland QUEEN, Defender of the Faith' : and which Act
also recites that, by the Act for the better government of
India, it was enacted that the Government of India, thereto-
fore vested in the East India Company in trust for Us, should
become vested in Us, and that India should thenceforth be
governed by Us and in Our name, and that it is expedient
that there should be a recognition of the transfer of govern-
ment so made by means of an addition to be made to Our
Style and Titles: and which Act, after the said recitals, en-
acts that it shall be lawful for Us, with a view to such re-
cognition as aforesaid, of the transfer of the Government
of India, by Our Proclamation under the Great Seal of the
United Kingdom to make such addition to the Style and
Titles at present appertaining to the Imperial Crown of the
United Kingdom and its Dependencies as to Us may seem
meet; we have thought fit, by and with the advice of Our
568 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Privy Council, to appoint and declare, and We do hereby,
by and with the said advice, appoint and declare that hence-
forth, so far as conveniently may be, on all occasions and in
all instruments wherein Our Style and Titles are used, save
and except all Charters, Commissions, Letters Patent, Grants,
Writs, Appointments, and other like instruments, not ex-
tending in their operation beyond the United Kingdom, the
following addition shall be made to the Style and Titles at
present appertaining to the Imperial Crown of the United
Kingdom and its Dependencies; that is to say, in the Latin
tongue in these words: 'INDITE IMPERATRIX.' And in the
English tongue in these words: 'EMPRESS OF INDIA.'
"And Our will and pleasure further is, that the said ad-
dition shall not be made in the Commissions, Charters, Let-
ters Patent, Grants, Writs, Appointments, and other like
instruments, hereinbefore specially excepted.
"And Our will and pleasure further is, that all gold, silver,
and copper moneys, now current and lawful moneys of the
United Kingdom, and all gold, silver, and copper moneys
which shall on or after this day be coined by Our authority
with the like impressions, shall, notwithstanding such addi-
tion to Our Style and Titles, be deemed and taken to be
current and lawful moneys of the said United Kingdom ; and
further, that all moneys coined for and issued in any of the
Dependencies of the said United Kingdom, and declared by
Our Proclamation to be current and lawful money of such
Dependencies respectively bearing Our Style, or Titles, or
any part or parts thereof, and all moneys which shall here-
after be coined and issued according to such Proclamation,
shall, notwithstanding such addition, continue to be lawful
and current money of such Dependencies respectively, until
Our pleasure shall be further declared thereupon.
"Given at Our Court at Windsor the twenty-eighth day
of April One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six in the
thirty-ninth year of Our Reign.
"GOD SAVE THE QUEEN."
(History of the Imperial Assemblage at Delhi, J. T. Wheeler, Lond., n. d. ( p. 70.)
CHAPTER XXXV
ENGLAND AND THE TRANSVAAL
233. The Sand River Convention
The far-reaching consequences which threatened to result from
the war between England and the Transvaal Republic, the ques-
tions in diplomacy and international law which have been raised,
seem to justify a departure from the principles hitherto followed
in the making of this book. I have therefore given the complete
texts of the three important conventions by which the contesting
nations sought to justify their respective positions. The first of
these treaties is entitled The Sand River Convention, and was
made in 1852.
Minute of a meeting held on the farm of Mr. P. A. Venter,
Sand River, on Friday, the i6th day of January, 1852, be-
tween her Majesty's Commissioners, Major W. S. Hogge
and C. M. Owen, appointed to settle the affairs of the east
and north-east boundaries of the Cape Colony, on the one
part; and the following deputies of the emigrant Boers,
living north of Vaal River, on the other hand: A. W. J.
Pretorius, Comdt.-General ; H. S. Lombard, Landdrost; H.
F. Joubert, Comdt.-General; G. F. Krieger, Commandant,
and twelve others.
i. The Assistant Commissioners guarantee in the fullest
manner, on the part of the British Government, to the emi-
grant farmers beyond the Vaal River, the right to manage
their own affairs, and to govern themselves according to
their own laws, without any interference on the part of the
British Government ; and that no encroachment shall be
made by the said Government on the territory beyond, to the
north of the Vaal River, with the further assurance that the
warmest wish of the British Government is to promote peace,
free trade, and friendly intercourse with the emigrant far-
mers now inhabiting, or who may inhabit, that country; it
being understood that this system of non-interference is
binding upon both parties.
S69
570 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
2. Should any misunderstanding hereafter arise as to the
true meaning of the words, "The Vaal River," this question,
in so far as it regards the line from the source of that river,
over to Drakensberg, shall be settled and adjusted by Com-
missioners chosen by both parties.
3. Her Majesty's Assistant Commissioners hereby dis-
claim all alliances whatever and with whomsoever of the
coloured nations to the north of the Vaal River.
4. It is agreed that no slavery is or shall be permitted or
practised in the country to the north of the Vaal River by
the emigrant farmers.
5. Mutual facilities and liberty shall be afforded to traders
and travellers on both sides of the Vaal River ; it being
understood that every waggon containing firearms, coming
from the south side of the Vaal River, shall produce a cer-
tificate signed by a British magistrate, or other functionary,
duly authorized to grant such, and which shall state the
quantities of such articles contained in said waggon to the
nearest magistrate north of the Vaal River, who shall act
in the case as the regulations of the emigrant farmers
direct. It is agreed that no objections shall be made by
any British authority against the emigrant Boers purchasing
their supplies of ammunition in any of the British Colonies
and possesions of South Africa; it being mutually under-
stood that all trade in ammunition with the native tribes
is prohibited, both by the British Government and the emi-
grant farmers on both sides of the Vaal River.
6. It is agreed that, so far as possible, all criminals and
other guilty parties who may fly from justice either way
across the Vaal River shall be mutually delivered up, if
such should be required; and that the British courts, as well
as those of the emigrant farmers, shall be mutually opened
to each other for all legitimate processes, and that sum-
monses for witnesses sent either way across the Vaal River
shall be backed by the magistrates on each side of the same
respectively, to compel the attendance of such witnesses
when required.
7. It is agreed that certificates of marriage issued by the
proper authorities of the emigrant farmers shall be held
valid and sufficient to entitle children of such marriages to
receive portions accruing to them in any British colony or
possession in South Africa.
8. It is agreed that any and every person now in posses-
sion of land, and residing in British territory, shall have free
ENGLAND AND THE TRANSVAAL 571
right and power to sell his said property, and remove unmo-
lested across the Vaal River and vice versa; it being distinct-
ly understood that this arrangement does not comprehend
criminals or debtors without providing for the payment of
their just and lawful debts.
(From a published copy of the original document.)
234. The Convention of Pretoria
The second treaty between the Transvaal and England was
that made at Pretoria in 1881. While the suzerainty of the
Queen of England is specifically acknowledged in the Preamble,
the rights of England in the Transvaal are definitely limited.
Although much of the convention is of minor interest, it has
been thought best to give the whole document.
Preamble. Her Majesty's Commissioners for the settle-
ment of the Transvaal territory, duly appointed as such by
a commission passed under the Royal Sign Manual and
Signet, bearing date the 5th of April, 1881, do hereby under-
take and guarantee on behalf of her Majesty that, from and
after the 8th day of August, 1881, complete self-government,
subject to the suzerainty of her Majesty, her heirs and suc-
cessors, will be accorded to the inhabitants of the Transvaal
territory, upon the following terms and conditions, and sub-
ject to the following reservations and limitations :
Article I. The said territory, to be hereinafter called the
Transvaal State, will embrace the land lying between the
following boundaries, to wit: [here follows definition of
boundaries.]
Article 2. Her Majesty reserves to herself, her heirs
and successors (a) the right from time to time to appoint a
British Resident in and for the said state, with such duties
and functions as are hereinafter defined; (&) the right to
move troops through the said state in time of war, or in case
of the apprehension of immediate war between the suzerain
power and any foreign state or native tribe in South Africa;
and (c) the control of the external relations of the said
state, including the conclusion of treaties and the conduct
of diplomatic intercourse with foreign powers, such inter-
course to be carried on through her Majesty's diplomatic and
consular officers abroad.
Article 3. Until altered by the Volksraad, or other com-
petent authority, all laws, whether passed before or after
the annexation of the Transvaal territory to her Majesty's
572 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
dominions, shall, except in so far as they are inconsistent
with or repugnant to the provisions of this Convention, be
and remain in force in the said state in so far as they shall
be applicable thereto, provided that no future enactment
especially affecting the interest of natives shall have any
force or effect in the said state, without the consent of her
Majesty, her heirs and successors, first had and obtained and
signified to the government of the said state through the
British Resident ; provided further that in no case will the
repeal or amendment of any laws enacted since the an-
nexation have a retrospective effect, so as to invalidate any
acts done or liabilities incurred by virtue of such laws.
Article 4. On the 8th day of August, 1881, the govern-
ment of the said state, together with all rights and obliga-
tions thereto appertaining, and all state property taken over
at the time of annexation, save and except munitions of war,
will be handed over to Messrs. Stephanus Johannes Paulus
Kruger, Martinus Wessel Pretorius, and Petrus Jacobus
Joubert, or the survivor or survivors of them, who will forth-
with cause a Volksraad to be elected and convened, and the
Volksraad, thus elected and convened, will decide as to the
further administration of the government of the said state.
Article 5. All sentences passed upon persons who may be
convicted of offences contrary to the rules of civilized war-
fare committed during the recent hostilities will be duly
carried out, and no alteration or mitigation of such senten-
ces will be made or allowed by the Government of the Trans-
vaal State without her Majesty's consent conveyed through
the British Resident. In case there shall be any prisoners
in any of the gaols of the Transvaal State whose respective
sentences of imprisonment have been remitted in part by her
Majesty's Administrator or other officer administering the
Government, such remission will be recognised and acted
upon by the future government of the said state.
Article 6. Her Majesty's Government will make due com-
pensation for all losses and damage sustained by reason of
such acts as are in the 8th Article hereinafter specified,
which may have been committed by her Majesty's forces
during the recent hostilities, except for such losses or damage
as may already have been compensated for, and the Govern-
ment of the Transvaal State will make due compensation for
all losses or damage sustained by reason of such acts as are
in the 8th Article hereinafter specified which may have
been committed by the people who were in arms against her
ENGLAND AND THE TRANSVAAL 573
Majesty during the recent hostilities, except for such losses
or damage as may already have been compensated for.
Article 7. The decision of all claims for compensation,
as in the last preceding Article mentioned, will be referred
to a sub-commission, consisting of the Hon. George Hudson,
the Hon. Jacobus Petrus de Wet, and the Hon. John Gilbert
Kotze. In case one or more of such sub-commissioners shall
be unable or unwilling to act, the remaining sub-commissioner
or sub-commissioners will, after consultation with the Gov-
ernment of the Transvaal State, submit for the approval of
her Majesty's High Commissioners the names of one or more
persons to be appointed by them to fill the place or places
thus vacated. The decision of the said sub-commissioners,
or of a majority of them, will be final. The said sub-com-
missioners will enter upon and perform their duties with all
convenient speed. They will, before taking evidence or
ordering evidence to be taken in respect of any claim, decide
whether such claim can be entertained at all under the rules
laid down in the next succeeding Article. In regard to claims
which can be so entertained, the sub-commissioners will, in
the first instance, afford every facility for an amicable ar-
rangement as to the amount payable in respect of any claim,
and only in cases in which there is no reasonable ground for
believing that an immediate amicable arrangement can be ar-
rived at will they take evidence or order evidence to be
taken. For the purpose of taking evidence and reporting
thereon, the sub-commissioners may appoint deputies, who
will, without delay, submit records of the evidence and their
reports to the sub-commissioners. The sub-commissioners
will arrange their sittings and the sittings of their deputies
in such a manner as to afford the earliest convenience to
the parties concerned and their witnesses. In no case will
costs be allowed to either side, other than the actual and
reasonable expenses of witnesses whose evidence is certified
by the sub-commissioners to have been necessary. Interest
will not run on the amount of any claim, except as is herein-
after provided for. The said sub-commissioners will forth-
with, after deciding upon any claim, announce their decision
to the Government against which the award is made and to
the claimant. The amount of remuneration payable to the
sub-commissioners and their deputies will be determined by
the High Commissioners. After all the claims have been de-
cided upon, the British Government and the Government of
the Transvaal State will pay proportionate shares of the said
574 SOURCE-BOOK OP ENGLISH HISTORY
remuneration and of the expenses of the sub-commissioners
and their deputies, according to the amount awarded against
them respectively.
Article 8. For the purpose of distinguishing claims to be
accepted from those to be rejected, the sub-commissioners
will be guided by the following rules, viz. : Compensation
will be allowed for losses or damage sustained by reason of
the following acts committed during the recent hostilities,
viz., (a) commandeering, seizure, confiscation, or destruction
of property, or damage done to property; (b) violence done
or threats used by persons in arms. In regard to acts under
(a), compensation will be allowed for direct losses only.
In regard to acts falling under (fr), compensation will be
allowed for actual losses of property, or actual injury to
the same proved to have been caused by its enforced abandon-
ment. No claims for indirect losses, except such as are in
this Article specially provided for, will be entertained. No
claims which have been handed in to the Secretary of the
Royal Commission after the first day of July, 1881, will be
entertained, unless the sub-commissioners shall be satisfied
that the delay was reasonable. When claims for loss of
property are considered, the sub-commissioners will require
distinct proof of the existence of the property, and that it
neither has reverted nor will revert to the claimant.
Article 9. The Government of the Transvaal State will
pay and satisfy the amount of every claim awarded against
it within one month after the sub-commissioners shall have
notified their decision to the said Government, and in default
of such payment the said Government will pay interest at the
rate of six per cent, per annum from the date of such default ;
but her Majesty's Government may at any time before such
payment pay the amount, \vith interest, if any, to the claim-
ant in satisfaction of his claim, and may add the sum thus
paid to any debt which may be due by the Transvaal State
to her Majesty's Government, as hereinafter provided for.
Article 10. The Transvaal State will be liable for the
balance of the debts for which the South African Republic
was liable at the date of annexation, to wit, the sum of
48,000 /. in respect to the Cape Commercial Bank Loan,
and 85,667 /. in respect to the Railway Loan, together with
the amount due on the 8th of August, 1881, on account of the
Orphan Chamber Debt, which now stands at 22,200 I., which
debts will be a first charge upon the revenues of the State.
The Transvaal State will, moreover, be liable for the lawful
ENGLAND AND THE TRANSVAAL 575
expenditure lawfully incurred for the necessary expenses of
the province since the annexation, to wit, the sum of
265,000 /., with debt, together with such debts as may be
incurred by virtue of the gih Article, will be second charge
upon the revenues of the State.
Article n. The debts due as aforesaid by the Transvaal
State to her Majesty's Government will bear interest at the
rate of three and a half per cent., and any portion of such
debt as may remain unpaid at the expiration of twelve
months from the 8th of August, 1881, shall be repayable by
a payment for interest and sinking fund of six pounds and
ninepence per cent, per annum, which will extinguish the
debt in twenty-five years. The said payment of six pounds
and ninepence per 100 /. shall be payable half-yearly in
British currency on the 8th of February and the 8th of
August in each year. Provided always, that the Transvaal
State shall pay in reduction of the said debt the sum of
ioo,oco /. within twelve months of the 8th of August, 1881,
and shall be at liberty at the close of any half-year to pay off
the whole or any portion of the outstanding debt.
Article 12. All persons holding property in the said State
on the 8th day of August, 1881, will continue after the said
date to enjoy the rights of property which they have enjoyed
since the annexation. No person who has remained loyal
to her Majesty during the recent hostilities shall suffer any
molestation by reason of his loyalty, or be liable to any
criminal prosecution or civil action for any part taken in
connection with such hostilities, and all such persons will
have full liberty to reside in the country, with enjoyment of
all civil rights, and protection for their persons and prop-
erty.
Article 13. Natives will be allowed to acquire land, but
the grant or transfer of such land will, in every case, be
made to and registered in the name of the Native Location
Commission, hereinafter mentioned, in trust for such natives.
Article 14. Natives will be allowed to move as freely
within the country as may be consistent with the require-
ments of public order, and to leave it for the purpose of
seeking employment elsewhere or for other lawful purposes,
subject always to the past laws of the said State, as amended
by the Legislature of the Province, or as may hereafter be
enacted under the provisions of the Third Article of this Con-
vention.
Article 15. There will continue to be complete freedom
576 SOURCE-BOOK Ol< ENGLISH HISTORY
of religion and protection from molestation for all denomina-
tions, provided the same be not inconsistent with morality
and good order, and no disability shall attach to any person
in regard to rights of property by reason of the religious
opinions which he holds.
Article 1 6. The provisions of the Fourth Article of the
Sand River Convention are hereby reaffirmed, and no slavery
or apprenticeships partaking of slavery will be tolerated by
the Government of the said State.
Article 17. The British Resident will receive from the
Government of the Transvaal State such assistance and sup-
port as can by law be given to him for the due discharge
of his function; he will also receive every assistance for the
proper care and preservation of the graves of such of her
Majesty's forces as have died in the Transvaal, and if need
be for the expropriation of land for the purpose.
Article 18. The following will be the duties and func-
tions of the British Resident :
Sub-section I. He will perform duties and functions an-
alogous to those discharged by a Charge-d'Affaires and
Consul-General.
Sub-section 2. In regard to natives within the Transvaal
State he will (a) report to the High Commissioner, as rep-
resentative of the Suzerain, as to the working and observ-
ance of the provisions of this Convention; (b) report to the
Transvaal authorities any cases of ill-treatment of natives
or attempts to incite natives to rebellion that may come to
his knowledge; (c) use his influence with the natives in
favour of law and order; and (d) generally preform such
other duties as are by this Convention entrusted to him, and
take such steps for the protection of the person and property
of natives as are consistent with the laws of the land.
Sub-section 3. In regard to natives not residing in the
Transvaal (a) he will report to the High Commissioner and
the Transvaal Government any encroachments reported to him
as having been made by Transvaal residents upon the land
of such natives, and in case of disagreement between the
Transvaal Government and the British Resident as to whether
an encroachment has been made, the decision of the Suzerain
will be final; (fr) the British Resident will be the medium
of communication with native chiefs outside the Transvaal,
and, subject to the approval of the High Commissioner, as
representing the Suzerain, he will control the conclusion of
treaties with them; and (c) he will arbitrate upon every dis-
ENGLAND AND THE TRANSVAAL 577
pute between Transvaal residents and natives outside the
Transvaal (as to acts committed beyond the boundaries of
the Transvaal) which may be referred to him by the parties
interested.
Sub-section 4. In regard to communications with foreign
powers, the Transvaal Government will correspond with her
Majesty's Government through the British Resident and the
High Commissioner.
Article 19. The Government of the Transvaal State will
strictly adhere to the boundaries defined in the First Article
of this convention, and will do its utmost to prevent any of
its inhabitants from making any encroachment upon lands
beyond the said State. The Royal Commission will forth-
with appoint a person who will beacon off the boundary-
line between Ramatlabama and the point where such line
first touches Griqua-land West boundary, midway between
the Vaal and Hart rivers; the person so appointed will be
instructed to make an arrangement between the owners of
the farms Grootfontein and Vallei'fontein on the one hand,
and the Barolong authorities on the other, by which a fair
share of the water supply of the said farms shall be allowed
to flow undisturbed to the said Barolongs.
Article 20. All grants or titles issued at any time by the
Transvaal Government in respect of land outside the bound-
ary of Transvaal State, as defined, Article I, shall be con-
sidered invalid and of no effect, except in so far as any such
grant or title relates to land that falls within the boundary of
the Transvaal State, and all persons holding any such grant
so considered invalid and of no effect will receive from the
Government of the Transvaal State such compensation either
in land or in money as the Volksraad shall determine. In all
cases in which any native chiefs or other authorities outside
the said boundaries have received any adequate consider-
ation from the Government of the former South African
Republic for land excluded from the Transvaal by the First
Article of this Convention, or where permanent improve-
ments have been made on the land, the British Resident will,
subject to the approval of the High Commissioner, use his
influence to recover from the native authorities fair com-
pensation for the loss of the land thus excluded, and of the
permanent improvement thereon.
Article 21. Forthwith, after the taking effect of this
Convention, a Native Location Commission will be con-
stituted, consisting of the President, or in his absence the
578 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Vice-President of the State, or some one deputed by him,
the Resident, or some one deputed by him, and a third person
to be agreed upon by the President or the Vice-President, as
the case may be, and the Resident, and such Commission will
be a standing body for the performance of the duties herein-
after mentioned.
Article 22. The Native Location Commission will reserve
to the native tribes of the State such locations as they may be
fairly and equitably entitled to, due regard being had to the
actual occupation of such tribes. The Native Location Com-
mission will clearly define the boundaries of such locations,
and for that purpose will, in every instance, first of all as-
certain the wishes of the parties interested in such land. In
case land already granted in individual titles shall be required
for the purpose of any location, the owners will receive such
compensation either in other land or in money as the Volks-
raad shall determine. After the boundaries of any location
have been fixed, no fresh grant of land within such location
will be made, nor will the boundaries be altered without the
consent of the Location Commission. No fresh grants of
land will be made in the districts of Waterberg, Zoutpans-
berg, and Lydenberg until the locations in the said districts
respectively shall have been defined by the said Commission.
Article 23. If not released before the taking effect of this
Convention, Sikukuni, and those of his followers who have
been imprisoned with him, will be forthwith released, and the
boundaries of his location will be defined by the Native
Location Commission in the manner indicated in the last
preceding Article.
Article 24. The independence of the Swazies within the
boundary-line of Swazi-land, as indicated in the First Article
of this Convention, will be fully recognized.
Article 25. No other or higher duties will be imposed on
the importation into the Transvaal State of any article the
produce or manufacture of the dominions and possessions of
her Majesty, from whatever place arriving, than are or may
be payable on the like article the produce or manufacture
of any other country, nor will any prohibition be maintained
or imposed on the importation of any article the produce or
manufacture of the dominions and possessions of her Ma-
jesty, which shall not equally extend to the importation of
the like articles being the produce or manufacture of any
other country.
Article 26. All persons other than natives conforming
ENGLAND AND THE TRANSVAAL 579
themselves to the laws of the Transvaal State (a) will have
have full liberty with their families to enter, travel, or reside
in any part of the Transvaal State; (&) they will be entitled
to hire or possess houses, manufactures, warehouses, shops,
and premises; (c) they may carry on their commerce either
in person or by any agent whom they may think to employ ;
(rf) they will not be subject in respect of their persons or
property, or in respect of their commerce or industry to any
taxes, whether general or local, other than those which are
or may be imposed upon Transvaal citizens.
Article 27. All inhabitants of the Transvaal shall have
free access to the Courts for the protection and defence of
their rights.
Article 28. All persons other than natives who established
their domicile in the Transvaal between the I2th day of
April, 1877, and the date when this Convention comes into
effect, and who shall within twelve months after such last-
mentioned date have their names registered by the British
Resident, shall be exempt from all compulsory military serv-
ice whatever. The Resident shall notify such registration
to the Government of the Transvaal State.
Article 29. Provision shall hereafter be made by a sep-
arate instrument for the mutual extradition of criminals, and
also for the surrender of deserters from her Majesty's forces.
Article 30. All debts contracted since the annexation will
be payable in the same currency in which they may have
been contracted; all uncancelled postage and other revenue
stamps issued by the Government since the annexation will
remain valid, and will be accepted at their present value by
the future Government of the State ; all licenses duly issued
since the annexation will remain in force during the period
for which they may have been issued.
Article 31. No grants of land which may have been made,
and no transfer of mortgage which may have been passed
since the annexation, will be invalidated by reason merely
of their having been made or passed since that date. All
transfers to the British Secretary for Native Affairs in trust
for natives will remain in force, the Native Location Com-
mission taking the place of such Secretary for Native Af-
fairs.
Article 32. This Convention will be ratified by a newly-
elected Volksraad within the period of three months after its
execution, and in default of such ratifications this Conven-
tion shall be null and void.
58o SOURCE-BOOK OF 'ENGLISH HISTORY
Article 33. Forthwith, after the ratification of this Con-
vention, as in the last preceding Article mentioned, all British
troops in Transvaal territory will leave the same, and the
mutual delivery of munitions of war will be carried out.
[Here follow signatures of Royal Commissioners ; then
the following precedes signatures of triumvirate.]
We, the undersigned, Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger,
Martinus Wessel Pretorius, and Petrus Jacobus Joubert, as
representatives of the Transvaal Burghers, do hereby agree
to all the above conditions, reservations, and limitations under
which self-government has been restored to the inhabitants
of the Transvaal territory, subject to the suzerainty of her
Majesty, her heirs and successors, and we agree to accept the
Government of the said territory, with all rights and obliga-
tions thereto appertaining, on the 8th day of August ; and we
promise and undertake that this Convention shall be ratified
by a newly-elected Volksraad of the Transvaal State within
three months from this date.
(From a published copy of the original document.)
235. The Convention of London
The Convention of London must be read in conjunction with
that of Pretoria, as upon the variance of the two rests much
of the ground of dispute between the two countries. The omis-
sion of the clauses as to suzerainty was claimed by the Boers
as extinguishing that claim, while England held that the London
treaty was in that respect merely supplementary, and that the
Convention of Pretoria was still in force, except where explicitly
changed by that of London.
A CONVENTION BETWEEN HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF THE
UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND AND
THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Preamble.
Article i. The territory of the South African Republic
will embrace the land lying between the following boundaries,
to wit :
[Here follows a description of the line of boundary.]
Article 2. The Government of the South African Republic
will strictly adhere to the boundaries defined in the first
Article of this Convention, and will do its utmost to prevent
ENGLAND AND THE TRANSVAAL 581
any of its inhabitants from making any encroachments upon
lands beyond the said boundaries. The Government of the
South African Republic will appoint Commissioners upon
the eastern and western borders whose duty it will be strictly
to guard against irregularities and all trespassing over the
boundaries. Her Majesty's Government will, if necessary,
appoint Commissioners in the native territories outside the
eastern and western borders of the South African Republic
to maintain order and prevent encroachments.
Her Majesty's Government and the Government of the
South African Republic will each appoint a person to proceed
together to beacon off the amended south-west boundary as
described in Article i of this Convention ; and the President
of the Orange Free State shall be requested to appoint a
referee to whom the said persons shall refer any question on
which they may disagree respecting the interpretation of the
said Article, and the decision of such referee thereon shall
be final. The arrangement already made, under the terms
of Article 19 of the Convention of Pretoria of the 3rd of
August, 1881, between the owners of the farms Grootfontein
and Valleifontein on the one hand, and the Barolong author-
ities on the other, by which a fair share of the water supply
of the said farms shall be allowed to flow undisturbed to the
said Barolongs, shall continue in force.
Article 3. If a British officer is appointed to reside at
Pretoria or elsewhere within the South African Republic to
discharge functions analogous to those of a Consular officer
he will receive the protection and assistance of the Republic.
Article 4. The South African Republic will conclude no
treaty or engagement with any State or nation other than the
Orange Free State, nor with any native tribe to the eastward
or westward of the Republic, until the same has been ap-
proved by her Majesty the Queen. Such approval shall be
considered to have been granted if her Majesty's Government
shall not, within six months after receiving a copy of such
treaty (which shall be delivered to them immediately upon
its completion), have notified that the conclusion of such
treaty is in conflict with the interests of Great Britain or
any of her Majesty's possessions in South Africa.
Article 5. The South African Republic will be liable for
any balance which may still remain due of the debts for
which it was liable at the date of annexation, to wit, the
Cape Commercial Bank Loan, the Railway Loan, and the
Orphan Chamber Debt, which debts will be a first charge
582 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
upon the revenues of the Republic. The South African
Republic will moreover be liable to her Majesty's Govern-
ment for 250,000 /., which will be a second charge upon the
revenues of the Republic.
Article 6. The debt due as aforesaid by the South African
Republic to her Majesty's Government will bear interest at
the rate of three and a half per cent, from the date of the
ratification of this Convention, and shall be repayable by a
payment for interest and Sinking Fund of six pounds and
ninepence per 100 /. per annum, which will extinguish the
debt in twenty-five years. The said payment of six pounds
and ninepence per 100 /. shall be payable half-yearly, in
British currency, at the close of each half-year from the
date of such ratification: Provided always that the South
African Republic shall be at liberty at the close of any half-
year to pay off the whole or any portion of the outstanding
debt.
Interest at the rate of three and a half per cent, on the debt
as standing on the Convention of Pretoria shall as heretofore
be paid to the date of the ratification of this Convention.
Article 7. All persons who held property in the Transvaal
on the 8th day of August, 1881, and still hold the same, will
continue to enjoy the rights of property which they have en-
joyed since the I2th of April, 1877. No person who has
remained loyal to her Majesty during the late hostilities shall
suffer any molestation by reason of his loyalty; or be liable
to any criminal prosecution or civil action for any part taken
in connection with such hostilities; and all such persons will
have full liberty to reside in the country, with enjoyment of
all civil rights, and protection for their persons and property.
Article 8. The South African Republic renews the dec-
laration made in the Sand River Convention, and in the Con-
vention of Pretoria, that no slavery or apprenticeship par-
taking of slavery will be tolerated by the Government of the
said Republic.
Article 9. There will continue to be complete freedom of
religion and protection from molestation for all denomina-
tions, provided the same be not inconsistent with morality
and good order; and no disability shall attach to any person
in regard to rights of property by reason of the religious
opinion which he holds.
Article 10. The British officer appointed to reside in the
South African Republic will receive every assistance from
the Government of the said Republic in making due pro-
ENGLAND AND THE TRANSVAAL 583
vision for the proper care and preservation of the graves of
such of her Majesty's forces as have died in the Transvaal;
and if need be, for the appropriation of land for the purpose.
Article n. All grants or titles issued at any time by the
Transvaal Government in respect of land outside the bound-
ary of the South African Republic, as defined in Article i,
shall be considered invalid and of no effect, except in so far
as any such grant or title relates to land that falls within the
boundary of the South African Republic; and all persons
holding any such grant so considered invalid and of no effect
will receive from the Government of the South African
Republic such compensation, either in land or in money, as
the Volksraad shall determine. In all cases in which any
native chiefs or other authorities outside the said boundaries
have received any adequate consideration from the Govern-
ment of the South African Republic for land excluded from
the Transvaal by the first article of this Convention or where
permanent improvements have been made on the land, the
High Commissioner will recover from the native authorities
fair compensation for the loss of the land thus excluded, or
of the permanent improvements thereon.
Article 12. The independence of the Swazis, within the
boundary line of Swazi-land, as indicated in the first article
of this Convention, will be fully recognized.
Article 13. Except in pursuance of any treaty or engage-
ment made as provided in Article 4 of this Convention, no
other or higher duties shall be imposed on the importation
into the South African Republic of any article coming from
any part of her Majesty's dominions than are or may be im-
posed on the like article coming from any other place or
country; nor will any prohibition be maintained or imposed
on the importation into the South African Republic of any
article coming from any part of her Majesty's dominions
which shall not equally extend to the like article coming from
any other place or country. And in like manner the same
treatment shall be given to any article coming to Great
Britain from the South African Republic as to the like
article coming from any other place or country.
These provisions do not preclude the consideration of
special arrangements as to import duties and commercial
relations between the South African Republic and any of her
Majesty's colonies or possessions.
Article 14. All persons, other than natives, conforming
themselves to the laws of the South African Republic (a) will
5*4 SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH HISTORY
have full liberty, with their families, to enter, travel, or reside
in any part of the South African Republic; (ft) they will
be entitled to hire or possess houses, manufactories, ware-
houses, shops, and premises; (c) they may carry on their
commerce either in person or by any agents whom they think
fit to employ; (d} they will not be subject, in respect to their
persons or property, or in respect to their commerce or in-
dustry, to any taxes, whether general or local, other than
those which are or may be imposed upon citizens of the said
Republic.
Article 15. All persons, other than natives, who estab-
lished their domicile in the Transvaal between the I2th day
of April, 1877, and the 8th of August, 1881, and who within
twelve months after such last-mentioned date have had their
names registered by the British Resident, shall be exempt
from all compulsory military service whatever.
Article 16. Provision shall hereafter be made by a separate
instrument for the mutual extradition of criminals, and also
for the surrender of deserters from her Majesty's forces.
Article 17. All debts contracted between the I2th of
April, 1877, and the 8th of August, 1881, will be payable in
the same currency in which they may have been contracted.
Article 18. No grants of land which may have been made,
and no transfers or mortgages which may have been passed
between the I2th of April, 1877, and the 8th of August, 1881,
will be invalidated by reason merely of their having been
made or passed between such dates.
All transfers to the British Secretary for Native Affairs
in trust for natives will remain in force, an officer of the
South African Republic taking the place of such Secretary
for Native Affairs.
Article 19. The Government of the South African Repub-
lic will engage faithfully to fulfil the assurance given, in
accordance with the laws of the South African Republic, to
the natives at the Pretoria Pitso by the Royal Commission in
the presence of the triumvirate and with their entire assent ;
(i) as to the freedom of the natives to buy or otherwise
acquire land under certain conditions; (2) as to the appoint-
ment of a commission to mark out native locations; (3) as
to the access of the natives to the courts of law, and (4) as
to their being allowed to move freely within the country, or
to leave it for any legal purpose, under a pass system.
Article 20. This Convention will be ratified by a Volks-
raad of the South African Republic within the period of six
ENGLAND AND THE TRANSVAAL 585
months after its execution, and in default of such ratifica-
tion this Convention shall be null and void.
Signed in duplicate in London this 27th day of February,
1884.
(From a published copy of the original document.)
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
The Source-material indicated in the Bibliography of Sources,
pages 1-61, is there arranged under 239 heads. The limits of
space prohibited a more minute classification in the body of the
volume. The needs of the student have, however, been fully
provided for in this Bibliographical Index, wherein the sources
are divided into more than a thousand titles.
In looking up references in the body of the book always con-
sult the head and foot of the selection examined. Society names
. Wodrow Society are italicized when they represent publica-
tions.
The references are to Sections, not to pages.
Abbatum, Gesta, cxi.
Abbotsford Club, xv.
Ada Sanctorum, xvi.
Acta Sanctorum Hibernia,
xxxii.
Acta Sanctorum Ordinis Sanc-
ti Benedicti in Saculorum
Classes distributa, 1.
Acton, John of, xxxiv E.
Acts and Monuments of the
Church, cli ; 127 ; 128 ; 132.
Acts and Ordinances. See
Statutes.
Adams, C. K., xiii ; 203 ; 204 ;
205.
Adam of Usk, cxxiii.
ALlfric Society, xvii.
Agricola, 27, 18.
Alcuin, Letters of, Ixxxv.
Alfred, Laws of, 25.
Allgemeines bibliographisches
Lexikon, xiv.
Allibone, S. A., vii.
Allies, On the Conduct of,
ccxvi.
Almon's Debates, xxv.
Alphabetical List of Works, xi.
Ambassades des Messieurs de
Noailles en Angleterre,
clxix.
587
Ambassador, The Compleat,
clxi.
Amiens, Guy of, xcii.
American Catalogue, xi.
American Historical Associa-
tion, Section 2, p. 6.
American Library Association,
Section 2, p. 6.
American Historical Maga-
zine, xci H note.
Amundesham, John, Annals
of, cxxvi. (See St. Albans.)
Analecta, Vetera, xxxv.
Anatomy of Abuses in Eng-
land in Shakespeare's Youth,
clxxvii.
Ancient Charters, Royal and
Private, xci A.
Ancient Laws and Institutes,
Ix ; xci A ; chap. V.
Andre, Bernard, cxli.
Angelsachsen, Die Gesetze der,
xci E ; Zu den Gesetzen
der, xci E.
Anglice Notitia, cxcv ; 192.
Anglia Rcdiviva, clxxxix.
Anglia Sacra, xviii.
Anglica, Hibernica, Normanni-
ca, Cambrica, a veteribus
scrip ta . . ., xxv.
588
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
Anglorum, De Respublica, 133.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Ixxxi;
23 ; 37 ; 40 ; 47 ; 48.
Anglo-Saxon Laws; of Al-
fred, 25 ; 39 ; of Athelstan, 26
ct seq.; of Edgar, 31 ct scq.
See Ancient Laws and In-
stitutes.
Annales Monastics, cxii.
Annales Rcrum Gcstarum Al-
fredi Magni . . ., Ixxxii.
Annales sex Rcgum Anglia,
ex.
Annals, Camden, of James I,
clxxx ; Cardwell, Document-
ary, xxxiv A ; Cambrian,
Ixxii ; Hoveden, c. ; 64 ; 65 ;
Stowe, cl. See Annales.
Anne, History of Queen,
ccxviii ; ccxix ; 193.
Annual Annotated Bibliog-
raphy, Section 2, p. 6.
Annual Register, ccxxxii ; 210 ;
211 ; 212; 213 ; 214; 215; 216.
Antiquaries, Society of, xix;
xcii.
Antoninus, Itinerary of, Ixxvii.
Arber, Edward, English Re-
prints, cxlvi.
Archaologica, xix.
Aristotlcs de Mundo, 12.
Ashworth, H., 223.
Asser, Life of Alfred, Ixxxii;
38.
Assizes, The Bloody, ccxi.
Athelstan, see Anglo-Saxon
Laws.
Auckland, William, Lord,
ccxxx.
Autotype Facsimiles of the
Ancient Charters in the Brit-
ish Museum, xci H.
Australia, 228.
Australia and- the Gold Fields,
227.
Avesbury, Robert of, cxix.
Babington, C, cxxxiv.
Bale, John, iii.
Baluze, S., Miscellanea, xx.
Bancroft, Richard, 135.
Bannatyne Club, xxi.
Baron's Wars, Chronicle of,
cix.
Barton, G. B., 225-226.
Basnage, J., xxvii.
Baxter, Richard, ccviii.
Baycux Tapestry, Engraved
Facsimile with notes, xcii.
Bean, W. W., Iviii.
Bcati Flacci Albini seu Alcuini
Epistolce, Ixxxvi.
Bcckct, Materials for the His-
tory of Archbishop, 58.
Bede, Ixxvi ; 20 ; 22 ; 24.
Bedford, John, Fourth Duke
of, ccxxvi.
Bel, Jean le, Chronicle of,
cxxviii.
Bcncdictus, Abbas Petrobur-
gensis . . ., xcix.
Bentley, S., xxxix.
Bent, General Catalogue, xi.
Bernard, Andre, cxli.
Best Books. A Readers Guide,
xiv. See Reader's Guide.
Bibliographer's Manual of
English Literature, x.
Bibliography : of Sources, Part
I, pp. 3-61, incl. How to form,
pp. 3, 6 ; Correct type of, p.
3 ; Uses of, p. 6 ; Catalogues
of, pp. 6-9; Of English
Guilds, xii ; of Afunicipal
History, xii ; Parliamentary
Representation, xii ; Histor-
cal Literature, xiii ; Refer-
ence Books in British Mu-
seum, xiv ; Best Books, xiv ;
Reader's Guide, ix ; Manu-
scripts relating to the His-
tory of Great Britain, viii ;
General Index to British and
Foreign Literature, ix ; Man-
ual of English Literature, x ;
Books Published from 1835
to 1863 ; xi ; Early books, see
note to xi ; Hand-list of Bib-
liographies, xiv ; Manuel du
Libraire (Brunet), xiv; All-
gemeines bibliographisches
Lexikon, xiv.
Bibliotheca Britannico-Hiber-
nica, vii.
Bibliotheca Histories, Diodo-
rus Siculus, 17.
Bibliotheque Universelle, v.
Biographies, clvi note.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
589
Biography, Dictionary of Na-
tional, vii.
Bird, B. R. S., Ix.
Blaneforde, Henrici de, Chro-
nica et Ed-war di II. Vita,
cxi.
Blondel, Robert, cxxx.
Bohn, H., x.
Bolingbroke (Henry St. John),
Works and Correspondence
of, ccxvii.
Bollando, J., xvi.
Book, Doomsday, 49; Little
Black of the Exchequer, 63;
Of Rights, 86.
Boston, John, i.
Boyer, A., ccxviii.
Bracton, H., cxv ; cxvi.
Bradshaw, Society, xliv.
Brief Historical Relation of
State Affairs (Luttrell),
cxviii.
Brief Register, Kalendar and
Survey of the several kinds
and forms of Parliamentary
Writs, Iviii.
Britannia, de Excidio, Ixxv.
Britannicis, de Rebus, ii.
Britannico-Hibernica, Biblio-
theca, vii.
British Catalogue, xi.
British Museum, Books in
Reading Room of, xiv;
Charters in, xci H.
British Orations, 202 ; 203 ;
204; 205.
British Record Society, xxiii.
Brunet, J. C, xiv.
Brunner, H., xliii.
Buckingham and Chandos,
Duke of, ccxxxix.
Burke, Edmund, ccxxxvii.
Burleigh Papers, clxvi.
Burnet, Bishop, History of His
Own Times, cxciii.
History of the Reformation,
114; 115; 125; 126.
Cabala Sive Sacra Scrinia,c\xii.
Ccesar, Ixxiii; 14; 21.
Calderwood, David, clviii.
Calendars: of State Papers,
xxiv ; clxxiv ; ccxxv ; of
Principal Dignitaries of
England and Wales and of
the Chief Officers in the Uni-
versity . . ., xl. See Sources
arranged by Epochs.
Caley, Bandinell and Ellis,
xxxvi.
Cambrensis, Giraldus, ciii.
Cambrian: Archceological As-
sociation, Ixx a ; Institute,
Ixx b ; Metropolitan Insti-
tute, Ixx c; Annals, Ixxii.
Camden, G., xxv; Annals,
clxxx ; Society Publications,
xxvi ; Catalogue of Publica-
tions of the Camden Society,
xxvi.
Canisius, xxvii.
Canute, Laws of, 41. See An-
cient Laws and Institutes.
Capgrave, John, liii ; cxxi.
Cardwell, E., xxxiv A B ;
153 B.
Carstares, William, ccxv.
Carew, George, Lord (Let-
ters to Sir Thomas Roe),
clxxxiii.
Carmen de Bella Hastingensi,
xci. See Hastings.
Cartularium Saxonicum, xci-c.
Catalogues : of historians, p. 3 ;
of sources, p. 5; of histor-
ical literature, p. 6 et seq.;
of manuscripts, viii ; of
source-material before Tu-
dor period, viii ; English;
London, British, Learned
Societies, Lowndes, Maun-
sell's, of certain Books, Cla-
vell's, Bent's General, Ameri-
can, xi.
Catalogus Scriptorum Eccle-
sice, John Boston, i.
Catholic Forefathers, The
Troubles of Our, clxxiii.
Catholic historians, accounts
of. See Pits, 14.
Cave, William, v.
Cavendish, Henry, cxxxiii.
Caxton Society, xlvi.
Cecil, Lord Burleigh, clxvi.
Celtic Society, xxix.
Chamberlayne, Edw., cxcv.
Chandler and Timberland'
Debates, xxx.
590
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
Challoner, R., clxxi.
Charles I., Memorials and Let-
ters, clxxxv ; Letters, cxc ;
Letters, cxcvi ; Guthry's
Memoirs of, cciv.
Charters, Ancient, xci A. B.
C. F. G. H. ; Historical, 53 ;
56.
Chartist Movement, History
of, 221-222.
Chetham Society, xxix.
Chronicles: Northumberland,
Ixxii ; Anglo-Saxon, Ixxii ;
23 ; 37 ; 40 ; Eathehvard,
Ixxii ; Ixxxiii ; Florence of
Worcester, Ixxii ; xc ; Prince
of Wales, Ixxii; Six Old
English, Ixxv ; Mclrose,
xcvii ; Richard of Devises.
cii ; Roger of Wendover,
cvii; William Rishangcr, cix,
cxi; Monastcrii (St. Al-
bans), cxi; Trokelowe-
Blancforde, cxi ; Walter
Henningford, cxiii ; Lon-
don, cxiv ; Poly chronic on,
cxx ; Capgrave's,cxxi; Adam
of Usk, cxiii; New (Con-
cordance of Histories),
cxxi ; Jean le Bel, cxxviii ;
Froissart, cxxix ; Monstrc-
let, cxxx ; Croyland, Con-
tinuation of, cxxxiii ; Hall's
cxlviii. Holinshcd, cxlix ;
Stow, cl ; Grey Friars, cliii ;
of Queen Jane, clvii ; Ken-
net, cxciv ; of Great Britain,
etc., xxxi ; Hcngcst, xc.
Chronicles and Memorials of
Great Britain and Ireland
during the Middle Ages,
xxxi.
Chronicon &thelwcardi,\x.-x.-x.ii\.
Chronicon ex Chronicis ab
Adventu Hcngesti, etc., xc.
Chronicon Ricardi Divisiensis
de Rebus gestis Ricardi, Pri-
mi, Regis Anglice, cii.
Church Historians of England,
xcvii.
Church History, v ; Councils
and Ecclesiastical Docu-
ments, xxxiv ; xxxvi ; of
Britain, 151. See Chronicles,
Saints, Scriptorcs, Act'a 'Sanc-
torum.
Clarendon, Earl of, clxxxiv.
Clavell, Robert, General Cata-
logue of, xi.
Clitherow, Life of Margaret
(see Catholic Forefathers),
142.
Cobbett.W.. xxx ; 106 ; 107 ; 108.
Cobdcn and the Anti-Corn
Law League, Recollections
of Richard, 223.
Codex Diplomaticus 2Er\ Sa-
xonici, xci B.
Codex Juris Ecclesiastici An-
glicani . . ., xxxiv BB.
Colganus, J., xxxii.
Collectanee Adamantcea, xxxiii.
Collection of Acts and Ordi-
nances of General Use (Sco-
bell), clxxxvi.
Collection of the Laivs and
Canons of the Church of
England from its first Foun-
dation to 1519, xxxiv D.
Collection of Original Letters
and Papers..., 1641-1666...
(Ormonde), clxvi.
Collection of Records. See
Burnet, Reformation.
Collection of Scarce and Valu-
able Tracts (Somers), 45
clxiii ; cciii ; 105.
Collections of Source Materi-
al. Sec. 3, p. 9 et scq.
Collection of State Papers
(Cecil, Lord Burleigh),
clxvi.
Collection of State Tracts,
Published on Occasion of
the Late Revolution in 1688
. . . , etc., ccxiv.
Colonial State Papers, Calen-
dars of, xxiv.
Cominge, De, ccvii.
Commelin, Ixiii f.
Commerce, History of Brit-
ish, 224.
Commerce, Treaties and Nego-
tiations concerning, Ixviii
H.
Commentaries on the Gallic
War, Ixxiii ; 14; 21.
Commons, House of. Jour"
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
59*
nals, xlvii a. See De-
bates, Parliamentary Histo-
ry, Proceedings, Cobbett,
Hansard, Lords, House.
Commonwealth of England, 133.
Compendious or Brief Exami-
nation (Stafford), clxxviii.
Compilatio de Eventibus An-
glia: (Knighton), 94.
Complete Collection of the
Treaties and Conventions
and Reciprocal Regulations
. . ., etc., Ixviii H.
Constitutional Documents of
the Puritan Revolution, cxci.
Concilia, Decreta, Leges, Con-
stituciones in re Ecclesiarum
Orbis Britannici ab initio
Christ [to 1530] , xxxiy F.
Concilia magnce Britannia et
Hibernia: Acedunt constitu-
tiones et alia, xxxiv.
Contemporary History of Af-
fairs in Ireland, cciii.
Continuatio Mat thai, cix.
Coote, Charles, 206-207.
Corn Law. See Cobden.
Cornwallis, Charles, First Mar-
quis, ccxxxviii.
Corpus Juris Gentium Recen-
tissimi e Tabulariorum . . .,
etc., Ixviii c.
Correspondence, xxxiv H.
I. (Papal); xxxv ; cxvii ;
cxxviii ; cxxxii ; cxliii ; clii ;
cliv ; clxii ; clxvii ; clxviii ;
clxix ; clxx ; clxxxiii ; cxc ;
ccxii. See also Letters, Roy-
al, Kings of England, Origi-
nal (Hanoverian Period).
D'Avaux, ccvi ; De Cominge,
ccvii ; Shrewsbury, ccxii ;
Carstares, ccxv ; Boling-
broke. ccxvii ; William III.
and Louis XIV., ccxxxiv ;
Bedford, ccxxvi ; Pitt,
ccxxvii ; Grenville, ccxxvii ;
Rose, ccxxix ; Auckland,
ccxxx ; North, ccxxxv ;
Malmsbury, ccxxxvi ; Corn-
wallis, ccxxxviii.
Councils and Ecclesiastical
Documents, xxxiv.
Council, Orders in, Ixviii H.
Court Life under the Plan-
tagenets, 63.
Crisp, Stephen, and his Cor-
respondence, cxcix.
Cromwellian Diary, cxcii.
Crook, W., 175.
Croyland Chronicle, Continua-
tion of, cxxxiii.
Dalrymple, Sir John, ccv.
Dangerous Positions and Prac-
tices . . ., 135.
D'Archery, D. L., xxxv.
Dasent, G. W., Ixxx.
D'Avaux, Count, ccvi.
Debates. See D'Ewes, Chan-
dler and Timberland, Grey,
Almon, Debrett, Parry, xxx;
Hanzard, Cobbett, Caven-
dish ; Proceedings in Parlia-
ment Parliamentary His-
tory.
Debrett, J., xxx.
D'Ewes' Journals of the Par-
liaments of Queen Elizabeth,
xxv ; clxiv ; 138; 139.
De Rebus Britannicus, 11.
De Scriptoribus Hibernice, vi.
Descriptive Catalogue of . . .
History of Great Britain and
Ireland, viii.
Devizes, Richard of, cii.
Dialogues of the Exchequer
(Dialogus de Scaccario), cv.
Diary : Evelyn, cxcvi ; Pepys,
cxcvii ; Luttrell, cxcviii ;
Burton, cxcii ; Goddard,
cxcii ; Doddington, ccxxxiv ;
Lady of Quality (Miss
Wynn), 200.
Diceto, Ralph of, ci.
Dictionary of National Bi-
ography, vii.
Diggs, Sir Dudley, clxi.
Diodorus Siculus, 17.
Discourses, Historical,
clxxxviii.
Dispatches, The French, clxviii ;
Noailles, clxix.
Documentary Annals of the
Reformed Church of Eng-
land (1546-1716), xxxiv.
Documents inedits sur I'His-
toire de France, clxvii.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
Doddington, George, Bubb,
ccxxxiv.
Domestic Papers, Calendars
of, xxiv.
Doomsday Book, xci D. ; 49;
And Beyond, xci D.
Drapicr Letters, ccxvi.
Dry den, John, Works of, ccx.
Duchesne, A., Ixiii g.
Dugdale, W., xxxvi.
Dumont, J., Ixviii A.
Durand, O., Ixvii ; Ixix.
Durham, County of, xxix ;
Simeon of, Ixxxvii.
Dutch War, History of, ccxiv.
Eadmcr's History: Eadmcri
Monachi Cantuariensis His-
tories Novorum . . ., xciii ; 50 ;
57-
Earle, J., Ixxxi ; xci F.
Early English Text Society,
xxxvii.
East India and Persia, New
Account of, 229.
Eathch^ard, Chronicle of, Ixxii.
See Ethehvard, Ixxxiii.
Ebert, F. A., xiv.
Ecclesiastical Documents, xxiv.
Ecclesiastics! Historic? (Or-
dericus Vitalis), xciv, 44;
46; 54-
Ecclesiastical History (Bede),
Ixxii; Ixxxvi ; 20; 22; 24.
Ecclesiastical Polity, Laws of,
134- .
Ecclesiastical Register, Ixxii.
Edgar, Laivs of. See Anglo-
Saxon Laws.
Edward the Confessor, Lives
of, Ixxxv.
Edward V., Life of, cxxxvii.
Grants in Reign of, cxxviii ;
VI., Literary Remains of, clvi.
Ellis, H., xxxvi; cxxv ; 50;
105 ; 116 et seq.
Elmham, Thomas, cxxiv.
Elwood, Thomas, cxcix.
Elizabethan Seamen, Voyages
of, 144 : 145 ; 146. See D'Ewes.
Emma, Queen of the English:
Einni(e Anglorum Rcgina,
Ixxxiv.
England, Chronicle of, cxxi.
England, Description of, clxxvi.
England in the Reign of Hen-
ry I/HI., cxlvii.
England, Manner of Govern-
ment, 133.
England, Present State of,
cxcv.
England's Recovery, clxxxix.
England, The Commonwealth
of, 133-
English Catalogue, xi.
English History for Students,
Ix.
English Historical Magazine,
xci H. Note.
English Historical Society,
xxxviii.
English Works of John Wyc-
liffc, cxxxv.
Epistola: Tigurince, clii.
Eulogium Brittanicc sive His-
toria Britonum, Ixxix.
Evelyn, John, cxvi.
Exccrpta Historica, xxxix.
Exchequer, Dialogues of, cv.
Exchequer, History of, cv.
Exchequer, Little Black Book
of, 63.
Fabian, B., 228.
Fabyan, Robert, cxxv.
Fairfax, Sir Thomas, clxxxix.
Fasciculi Zizaniorium, cxxxv ;
96-97.
Fasti Ecclcsicc Anglicans, xl.
Ecclcsice Hibernicz, xl.
" Father of English Antiqua-
ries," ii.
Fitz-Neal, Richard, xcix.
Fitz-Stephen, William, 61.
Fletcher of Saltoun, The Po-
litical Works of, ccxxi.
Florence of Worcester, xc; 43.
Florilegium Insulcc Sanctiorum
scu Vita; et Ada Sanctorum
Hibcrnia;, liii.
Flowers of History, cvii.
Chap. IX, X.
Fccdera, Conventioncs . . ., etc.,
Ixviii A.; 152. Syllabus
of, Ixviii- A.
Foley, H., 178.
Forbes, Robert, 196; 197; 198;
199.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
593
Foreign State Papers, Calen-
dars of, xxiy.
Foxe, John, cli.
French Ambassador at the
Court of Charles II., ccvii.
Friars, Grey, Chronicles of,
cliii.
Froissart, Chronicle of, cxxix.
Fryer, John, 229.
Fuller, Thomas, 151.
Fulman, Wm., Ixiii C.
Gale, Thomas, Ixiii d.
Gaimer, Geoffrey, Ixxii.
Gammage, C. G., 221-222.
Gardiner, S. R., Ixviii H.
Gazette, London, Ixviii H.
General Index to British and
Foreign Literature, ix.
George II. Memoirs of, ccxxxi.
George III. Journal, ccxxxi. ;
Letters, ccxxxiv. ; Corre-
spondence with Lord North,
ccxxxv.
Geographies Strabonis, 17.
Ger mania (Tacitus), Ixxiii.
Gesta Guillclmi Duds Norman-
norum et Regis Anglorum
(William of Poitiers), xcv.
Gesta Stephani Regis Anglo-
rum ct Duds Normannorum
xcvi.
Gestis Regum Anglorum,
Ixxxix.
Gibson, E., xxxiv BB.
Gildas, Ixxv ; 19.
Giraldus Cambrensis, ciii.
Glanvill, civ.
Goddard, Guibon, cxcii ; 168.
Goldsmith, E., xxxiii.
Goodman, Godfrey, clxxxi.
Gospel Book, York, 42.
Grants, Reign of Edward V.,
cxxxviii.
Granvellc Papers, clxvii A ;
Correspondence, clxvii B.
Grenville, Richard, ccxxviii.
Grey and Wharton, v ; W. de
G., xci C.
Grey, Debates of the House of
Commons, from 1667-1694..
XXX.
Grim, Edward, 58.
Gross, Charles, xii.
Grosseteste, Letters of Bishop,
cxvii.
Guide to the Principal Classes
of Documents Preserved in
Public Office, Ix.
Guthry, Henry, cciv.
Guy of Amiens, cxii.
Haddan, A. W., xxxiv C.
Hakluyt Society, xli.
xix.
Hakluyt Society, xli.
Halliwell, J. O., cix.
Hall, Hubert, 63.
Hall's Chronicle, cxlviii.
Handbook to the Public Rec-
ords, Ix.
Handbook to the Land-
Charters and other Saxonic
Documents, xci.
Hand-list of Bibliographies,
Classified Catalogues and
Indexes placed in the Read-
ing Room of the British
Museum, xiv.
Hansard, T. C., Parliamentary
Debates, xlii. See Cobbett
and works cited.
Hardwicke Papers, clx.
Hardy, T. D., viii ; xl.
Hargraves, E., 227.
Harleian Miscellany, xiii ; So-
ciety, xliii.
Harpsfield's Treatise, cxliv.
Harrison's Description of Eng-
land, clxxvi.
Harvard Historical Studies,
xii.
Hastings, Song of the Battle
of, Ixxii. See Carmen de,
xcii.
Hastings, Memoirs of Warren,
230.
Hayward, A., 200.
Henningford, Walter, cxiii.
Henrice Archidiaconi Huntin-
doniensis Historic Anglo-
rum, Ixxxviii.
Henrys, The Book of the
Noble, cxxii.
Henry V , Life of, cxxiv.
Henry VII, Materials for a
History of the Reign of,
cxxxix.
594
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
Henry VIII, Calendar of State
Papers, xlx ; Correspondence
of, cxliii.
Herbert of Bosham, 59.
Hcrodoti Historiarum, n.
Hertslet, L., Ixviii H.
Hcxham Chronicles, xcvii.
Hibernicc, dc Scriptoribus, vi.
Higden, R., cxx.
Histoire dcs Traitcs dc Pai.v et
autrcs negotiations du di.f-
septicme sicclc, etc., Ixviii
B.
Historia Anglicana, cxi.
Historia Johannis Prioris Ha-
gustaldensis, Ecclcsicc, xcvii.
Historia dc mirabilis gcstis Ed-
ward Tcrtii, cxix.
Historia a Normannorum in
Angliain ingressu, xcviii.
Historia Novorum (Eadmer),
xciii; 50; 57.
Historia pice memories Ricar-
di Prioris Hagustaldensis,
xcvii.
Historia Anglorum, Ixxxviii.
Historians' Guide, 175.
Historica Ecclesiastica Gentis
Anglorum (Bede), Ixxvi.
Historical Charters, London, 53.
Historical Collections, Toivn-
shend, an Exact Account of
the Proceedings of the Four
Last Parliaments of Queen
Elisabeth..., etc., clxv. See
Collections. [smid), 131.
Historical Documents (Gold-
Historical Literature, Manual
of, xiii. Charters, 53 ; 56.
History of the Arrival of Ed-
ward IV., cxxxi.
Histories, Concordance of,
cxxv.
History, Flowers of, cvii,
chaps, ix-x.
History of the Parliament of
England which began Nov.
3, 1640, clxxxvi.
Holinshed, Chronicles, cxlix.
Holies, Memoirs of Denzil
Lord, cciii.
Home Department State
Papers, Calendars of, xxiv.
Hooker, Richard, 134.
Hopfe, Ixviii EG.
Hoveden, Roger of, 33 C ;
46; 65.
Howes, Edmund, cl b.
Humberson, Henry, 191.
Huntingdon, Henry of,
Ixxxviii.
Ibcrno-Ccltic Society, xlvi.
Icelandic Sagas, Ixxx.
Illustrations of English His-
tory, xxxix.
Illustrium Majoris Britannice
Scriptorium . . ., iii.
Impartial Collection of the
Great Affairs of State (Nal-
son), ccii.
Imperial Assembly at Dellii,
232.
Imperial Institute of the United
Kingdom, the Colonies and
India Publications, xlv.
Index to Periodical Literature,
section 2, p. 6 ; Cumulative,
section 2, p. 6. General to
British and Foreign Litera-
ture, ix.
India, History of, 231.
Ingulfas, cxxxiii.
Inventaire Chronologique des
Documents Rclatifs a I'His-
toire d'Ecosse, clxviii.
Irish Historical Bibliography,
Ware, vi. Tanner, vii.
Irish History, Scriptores, Ixiii,
e-f-h, xxv ; Acta Sanctorum,
xxxii ; xxxiv C; Histor-
ical Societies, xlvi; Archcco-
logical Society, xlvi ; Flori-
legium, liii ; Ossianic So-
ciety, Ivi ; Contemporary His-
tory, cciii.
Itinerarium Antonini Augusti
et Hieroslymitanum, Ixxvii.
Jaffe, P., xxiv H.
James I., Annals of, clxxx ;
Court of, clxxxi ; History of,
clxxx ; Memorials and Let-
ters of, clxxxv ; Works of,
149-150.
fane, Chronicles of Queen,
clvii.
Jean le Bel, cxxviii.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
595
Jeffries, Life of Lord, ccxi.
Jesuits, Records of English So-
ciety of, 178.
John, of Acton, xxxiv E;
of Amundesham, cxxvi ;
Whethamstede, cxxvii.
Journals, House of Commons,
xlvii ; House of Lords, xlvii.
Kemble, J. M., xci B.
Kennett, W., Complete His-
tory of England, cxxxvii. ;
49 clxxx ; Register, cxciv.
Ker, John, ccxxiii.
King James, His Judgment of
a King and of Tyrant, 159.
Kings of England. History of,
Ixxxvii ; Letters of, 100 ;
101 ; 102 ; 103.
Kirk, History of Scotland,
clviii.
Knighton, H., 94.
Labanoff, A., clxx.
Lament, Elizabeth, clxxviii.
Lancaster and Durham, xxix.
Langebek, Ixiii i.
Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity
(Hooker), 134.
Laws and Statutes, xlviii ;
Sources of, xlviii. See Stat-
utes ; Legal Documents, xci ;
Ancient Laws; Anglo-Saxon
Law ; Cnut's Laws ; Selden
Society, etc., etc.
Leclerc, v.
Lee, Sidney, vii.
Legibus et Consuetudinibus
Anglia, cxv.
Leland, John, ii.
Le Neve, J., xl.
Letters, see Correspondence.
Letters from George Lord
Carew to Sir Thomas Roe,
clxxxiii.
Letters and Papers Illustrative
of the Wars of the English
in France during the Reign
of Henry VI, cxxviii.
Levi, L., 224.
Lewes and Eversham, de
Bellis, cix.
Liber de Illustribus Henricis,
Liebermann, xci E. [cxxii.
Literary Remains of King Ed-
ward the Sixth, clvi.
Literature, Historical, see Sec-
tions i and 2.
Liturgical Texts, xliv.
London Catalogue, xi.
London, Charters and Constitu-
tional Documents of, 53.
London, Chronicles of, cxlv.
London Gazette, Ixviii H.
Lords, House of, Journals,
xlvii. See Commons, De-
bates, Parliament, Cobbett,
Hanzard, etc., etc.
Lords, Protests of (1624-
1874), clxxxvi.
Lords, Report on the Dignity
of a Peer, 81.
Lowndes, W., x.
Luttrell, Narcissus, cxcviii.
Lynwopd,W., xxxiv E.
Lyon in Mourning, 196; 197;
198; 199.
Mabillon, 1.
Macaulay, Life and Letters of
T. B., 220.
Macpherson, J., Papers, ccxiii.
Madox, T., cv.
Magazines, American Histor-
ical, English Historical, xci
H note.
Marie Stuart, Lettres, Instruc-
tions et Memoires, clxx.
Maitland, F. W., xci D; cxvi.
Maitland Club, li.
Malmesbury, Correspondence
of James Harris, First Earl
of, ccxxxvi. [Ixxxix.
Malmesbury, William of,
Manner of Government or
Policies of the Realme of
England, 133.
Mansi, J. D., xx.
Manual of Historical Litera-
ture, xiii.
Manuel du Libraire, xiv.
Manx Society, Hi.
Marini, cxviii.
Marten, G. F. de, Ixviii D.
Martene, E., Ixviii, Ixix.
Martyrs, Book of, cli.
Mary (1689), History of King
William and Queen, ccxix.
59 6
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
Materials for the History of
Archbishop Bccket, 58.
Materials for the History of
Britain, Ixxii.
Materials- for the History of
the Reign of Henry VII,
cxxxix.
Matthciv Paris, cviii.
Maunsell's Catalogue, xi.
May, T., clxxxvi.
Mclrose, Chronicles of, xcvii.
Mclrose, Papers and Corre-
spondence, clxxxii.
Memoirs of Guthry, cciv ;
Dalrymplc, ccv. ; Hcrvcy,
ccxxii ; Kcr, ccxxiii ; Wal-
polc, ccxxxi ; Court and
Cabinets of George III.,
ccxxxix; Wraxall, 209;
Hastings, 230.
Memorials of Affairs of State
(Wimvood, R.), clxxiv.
Memorials of the English Af-
fairs, Thurloe, cci ; White-
lock, cc.
Memorials and Letters Relat-
ing to the History of Britain
(Dalrymple), clxxxv.
Mercurius Publicus, 173-174.
Messingham, Thomas, liii.
Metropolitan Cambrian Insti-
tute, Ixx.
Milton, John, Works of, ccx.
Middle Ages, xxix ; xxviii.
Migne, L'Abbe, liv.
Miscellanea, novo ordine di-
gesta et non paucis ineditis
monument is . . ., etc., xx.
Missionary Priests, Memoirs
of, clxxi.
Monastic Annals, xcii.
Monastic Chronicles, cxi.
Monasticon Anglicanum,
xxxvi.
Monasteries, Suppression of,
cliv.
Monstrclct's Narratives, cxxx.
Monumenta Historica Britan-
nica, Iv ; Ixxii.
Monumenta Britannica ex
Autographis Romanorum
Pontificum, cxviii.
More, Sir Thomas, cxxxvii ;
cxlvi.
Morris, J., clxxiii.
Mullinger, J. B.. Ix.
Munimenta Gildhallce Lon-
doniensis, cxiv.
Murhard, Ixviii E F.
Mush, John, 142.
Mysteries of State and Govern-
ment, clxii.
Nalson, John, ccii.
Narratives of the Expulsion of
the English from Normandy,
cxxviii.
Narratives of the Days of the
Reformation, civ.
Negotiations of Count
d'Avaux, ccvi.
Negotiations Secretes, Ixviii
B.
Nennius, History of Britain,
Ixxix.
Nennius Vindicatus, Ixxix.
Neve, see Le Neve.
Newbury, William of, xcviii.
New South Wales, History of,
226.
Nicholas Trivet's Annals, ex.
Noaillcs Dispatches, clxix.
Nolan, E. H., 231.
North Briton, 201.
North, Correspondence with
George III., ccxxxv.
Norths, Lives of the (Roger
North), ccix.
Northumberland, Short Chro-
nicle of, Ixii.
Normandie, Histoire de, cxiv.
Norman History and Histo-
rians, xxii, xxv.
Note Book, Bracton's, cxvi.
Notes of Debates (1621),
clxxxvi.
Notes of Proceedings in the
Long Parliament, clxxxvi.
Notitia, Anglia, 192.
Notitia Dignitatum et Admi-
nistrationum . . ., Ixxviii.
Nouvcau Rccucil . . . depuis
1808, jusqu'a present . . .
(Martens), Ixviii E.
Nouvcau Rccucil General...
Continuation du Grand Rc-
cueil [Martens],... Deuxi-
eme Serie, Ixviii G.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
597
UoK'Jcaux Supplements au Re-
cueil de Traites [Martens],
Ixviii.
O'Connor, C, Ixiii h.
Official List of the Empire,
Ixxviii.
Official Year Book of the
Scientific and Learned So-
citics, xi ; Ixxi.
Oldmixon, J., ccxix; 193.
Ordericus Vitalis, xciv. ; 44 ;
46; 54-
Original Letters (Ellis), 50;
104; 116; 117; 118.
Original Papers Containing the
Secret History of Great Bri-
tain from the Restoration to
the Accession of the House
of Hanover, ccxiii.
Ormonde, Letters and Papers
of the Duke of, cciii.
Ossianic Society, Ivi.
Our Times, History of (Bur-
net), cxciii.
Palgrave, F., Iviii.
Papal Letters, xxxiv H I.
Paris, Matthew, cviii.
Parker Society, Iviii.
Parliamentary Debates (1610),
clxxxvi. See Debates, Par-
liamentary History, Papers,
Writs, Returns, etc.
Parliamentary History, Cob-
bett, xxx ; 106 ; 102 ; 108 ;
154; 167; 171: 217. Con-
tinuation of Cobbett, xlii ;
or Constitutional, xxx ;
Townshend, clxiv ; clxv ;
clxxxvi. See also xxx.
D'Ewes Journals; Chandler
and Timberland's Debates;
Grey's Debates; Almond De-
bates; Debrett's Debates;
Parry's The Parliaments and
Councils of England. See
also x. Parliamentary In-
telligencer, 172. Mercurius
Publicus, 173: 174; Annual
Register, cxxviii., etc., etc.
Parliamentary Proceedings, see
Parliamentary History.
Parliamentary Returns, Iviii.
Parliamentary Writs, Iviii.
PapersThe Verney, clxxxvii.
Parry, The Parliaments and
Councils of England, xxx.
Paston Letters, cxxxii.
Patriologice Cursus Completus,
liv.
Payne, J. A., 144-145-146.
Pecock, R., cxxxiv.
Peer, Lord's Report upon the
Dignity of, 81.
Penns and Penningtons of the
ijth Century, cxcix.
Pepys, Samuel, cxcvii.
Periodical Literature, Pople
Fletcher's Index to, Section
2, p. 6. Cumulative Index
to, Section 2, p. 6.
Peterborough, Benedict of,
cxix.
Petrie, H., lv., Ixxii ; Ixxxi.
Pinkerton, J., liii.
Pipe Roll Society, lix.
Pitt, William, Correspondence
of, ccxvii.
Pitts, John, 14.
P lantagenets , Court Life
under, 63.
Poitiers, William of, xcv.
Pole, Reginald, cxliv.
Polybii Historiarum, 14.
Poly chronic on, cxx.
Polydore Virgil, cxl.
Potthast, A., xxxiv I.
Pre-Norman Sources, Section 4.
Present State of England
Compleat, cxcv.
Pretended Divorce between
Henry VIII . . ., cxliv.
Prince of Wales, Chronicle of,
Ixxii.
Principal Navigations, Voy-
ages, Traffiqucs and Dis-
coveries of the English Na-
tion, 144 et seq.
Protestant Historians, Ac-
counts of, see Bale, iii.
Protests of the- House of
Lords (1624-1874), clxxxvi.
Prothero. G. W., clxxv.
Provinciale seu Constitutiones
Anglic? ... a Stephana Lang-
tono ad Heuricum Chich-
leium, xxxiv E.
S9 8
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
Prynne, W., Iviii.
Puritan Revolution, clxxxvii.
Quadrilogus, 59.
Radulfi dc Diccto Decani Lon-
denicnsis Opera Historica,
ci.
Rapin de Thoyras, ccxx.
Rebellion and Civil War in
England (Clarendon),
clxxxiv.
Records: Record Society,
xxiii ; Classified and De-
fined Ix ; Handbook to, Ix ;
Guide to Principal Classes
of Documents Preserved in
Public Record Office, Ix; Of
the Reformation, cxlv ; Of
the English Province of the
Society of Jesus, 191 ; Best
Books- and Reader's Guide,
xiv.
Recueil des Historiens des
Gaulcs et de la France, xxii.
Cf. Rcrum Gallicarum.
Recueil de Traites d' Alliance,
de Paix, de Treve, de Neu-
tralite, de Commerce, de
Limitcs, d'Echange . . ., etc.,
etc., Ixviii D.
Reformation, Records of, cxlv ;
Narratives of the Days of,
civ; History of, 114, 115;
120; 121.
Regesta Pontificum Romano-
rum, Jaffe, xxxiv H;
Potthast, xxxiv I.
Register and Chronicle Eccle-
siastical and Civil, cxciv.
Register, Annual, 6o-ccxxxii ;
210; 2ii ; 212; 213; 214; 215 ;
216.
Registrum. Abbatice Johannis
IVhethamstede, cxxvii.
Relation, A, or rather a true
account' of . . ., cxlii.
Rclationum Historicarum de
Rebus Anglicis, iv.
Relations Politiques de la
France et dc I Espagne avec
I'Ecosse au XVI. Siecle,
clxviii.
Reliquiae Baxtcriana, ccviii.
Represser, Pecock, cxxiv.
Reprints, Arbcr English, cxlvi ;
and Translations (University
of Pennsylvania), 55; 60;
80; 81.
Rerum Gallicarum et Franci-
carum Scriptores, xxii.
Richard of Divizeo, cii.
Richard HI., Life of, More,
cxxxvii.
Rights, Book of, 86.
Rishanger, William, cix; cxi.
Robert, of Avesbury, History
of Edw. HI, cxix.
Robert, Fabyan, cxxi.
Roger of Hoveden, Annals, c;
64 ; 65.
Roger of Wendover, cvn,
chaps, ix-x.
Rolls, Pipe, Great or Exche-
quer, Charter, Close, Hun-
dred, Patent, Plea, etc., lix.
Rolls Scries, xxxi.
Rose, George ccxxix.
Rousset, Ixviii B.
Royal Historical Society, Ixi.
Royal Letters, see Correspond-
ence.
Royal Society, Ixi.
Rushworth, J., Collections and
Private Passages of State,
clxxxvi; 153; 156; 160; 161 ;
162; 163.
Russell, M., clix.
Rymer, T., Ixviii A. See
Foedera.
Sagas, Icelandic, Ixxx.
Saints, British, xvi ; xviii ; 1 ;
liii; see Irish and Scottish
history.
Saltoun, Fletcher of, ccxxi.
Samwer, Ixviii E G.
Sanderson, R., Ixviii A.
Savigny-Stiftung, Zeitschrift
dcr, xci E.
Savile, H., Ixiii a.
Schmid, R., xci E.
Scotland, History of the
Church of, clix. See Kirk.
Scottish Burg Record Society,
Ixv.
Scottish History Society, Ixi,
195-
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
599
Scriptores : Camden, xxv ; Post
Bedam (Savile), Ixiii a;
Decem (Juysdem), ibid.
b; Rerum Anglicarum (Ful-
man), ibid. c; XV (Gale),
ibid. d ; Varii ( Sparkes ) ,
ibid. e; Vetustiores (Com-
melin), ibid. f; Norman-
nite ( Duchesne) , ibid. g ;
Vctercs rerum Hibernicarum
(O'Connor), ibid. h; Re-
rum Danicarum Medii 2Evi
( Langbeck ) , ibid. i ; Re-
rum gestarum Wilhelmi Con-
qucstoris, cxv.
Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum
Historia Litteraria, v.
Selden Society, Ixiv.
Select Charters and other Il-
lustrations of English Con-
stitutional History, from the
Earliest Times to the Reign
of Edward I, xci G.
Select English Works of Wyc-
lif (Arnold), cxxxvi.
Select Statutes and other Con-
stitutional Documents (Pro-
thero), clxxv.
Seu Liber Censualis Williclmi
Primi, xci D.
Sharpe, J., Iv ; Ivxxii ; Ixxxix.
Shrewsbury, Correspondence
of Charles Talbot, Duke of,
ccxii.
Siculus Diodorus, 17. [Ixxv.
Six Old English Chronicles,
Simeonis Dunelmensis Opera
et Collectanea, Ixxxvii.
Smith, Sir Thomas, 133.
Societies, Learned and Scien-
tific, Publications of, xx;
Ixxxi.
Some Sources of History for
the Monmouth Rebellion and
the Bloody Assizes, ccxxi.
S o me r' s Tracts, clxiii ;
clxxxvi; 130; 140; 141; 143.
Soder, see Maux.
Sonnenschein, W. S., xiv.
Song of the Battle of Hastings,
Ixxii.
Sources, Biblibgraphy of, Part
I, pp. 2 to 61 ; Catalogues of,
p. 5; Great Collections of, p.
9; Arranged by Epochs
Pre- Norman Period, p. 26;
Conquest to Charter, p. 31 ;
Charter to Reformation, p.
34; Tudor Period, p. 40;
Stuart Period, p. 49; Hano-
verian Period, p. 55 ; Nine-
teenth Century, p. 61.
Sources of the Law of Eng-
land, xlviii.
Sources and Literature of Eng-
lish History; Gross, xii.
S Raiding Club, Ixv.
Sparkes, Jos., Ixiii E.
Sparrow's Collection, xxxiv.
Spelman, H., xxxiv F.
Spicillegium sive Collectio ve-
terum aliquot Scriptorum
qui in Gallia Bibliothecis de-
lituerant, . . . xxxv.
Spottiswoode, John, clix.
Spottiswoode Society, clix.
Staffords, William, clxxviii.
Starkey, England in the reign
of Henry the Eighth, cxlvii.
State Papers, Calendars of,
xxiv ; cxliii ; Selections from,
ibid.; Miscellaneous, clx.
State Papers and Miscellaneous
Correspondence of Thomas,
Earl of Melrosc, clxxxii.
State Papers of Edward, Earl
of Clarendon, Calendar of
Same, cci.
State Papers of William Cars-
tares, ccxv. [cci.
State Papers of John Thurloe,
State Tracts, ccxiv.
Statutes and Laws; of the
Realm, xlviii ; cvi ; 28 ; 85 ;
87 ; 90 ; 91 ; 92 ; 93 ; 95 ; 99 ;
119; 155; 177; 189; 190- At
Large, xlviii b c ; 84 ;
88; 109; no; in; 112-113:
164; 129. At Large of the
United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, xlviii
c ; Public General, xlviii
d ; Evans' Collection of,
194 ; 208 ; Scobell's Col-
lection ( Commonwealth ) ,
clxxxvi ; 164-165-166.
Stephen, Life of,
Steterk, Ixviii G.
6oo
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
Stow, John, cl. Summaric of
the Chronicles of England,
cl a; Annalcs, or a Gen-
eral Chronicle of England,
ibid. (b).
Survey of tJic Cities of London
. . . cl c.
Strabonis Geographic?, 16.
Strafford, Letters and De-
spatches of Thomas Wcnti-
u'orlh, Earl of, 158.
Stubbe, Phillip, clxxvii.
Stubbs, W., xxxiv C; xci
G ; xciv ; cl ; 43 ; 62.
Strype, John, cl-c; 136; 137.
St. Alba us, Chronicle of the
Monastery, cxi. See Am-
undesham, Wcthamstcdc.
Summaric of the Chronicles of
England, cl.
Surtces Society, Ixvi.
Sii'ift, Works of Dean, ccxvi.
Sylvester, Matthew, ccviii.
Synodalia, A Collection of Ar-
ticles of Religion . . ., etc.
(1547-1717), xxiv B.
Tacitus, Gcrmania, Ixxiii ;
Agricola, Ixxiii.
Tanner, Thomas, vii.
Thesaurus Novus Anccdoto-
rum, Ixvii.
Thomas, of Elham, cxxiv ;
Earl of Melrose, clxxxii ; St.
of Canterbury, 58 ct scq.
Thorpe, B., Ix ; xc ; xci A ;
Chap. V; 41 ; 52.
Thoyras, see Rapin.
Thurloe, John, cci.
Three Chapters of Letters re-
lating to the Suppression of
the Monasteries, cliv.
Tigurinoe, Epistola, 'cli.
Tindal, N., ccxx.
Titi Livii Foro-Julicnsis Vita
Henrici Quinti, cxxii.
Topographia Hibernice, ciii.
Townshend, Heywood, clxv.
Tractatus de Legibus ct Con-
suetudinibus regni AnglicE
tempore Regis Henrici Se-
cundi Compositus, civ.
Translations and Reprints, U.
of P., 55; 60; 8o;-8i.
Treaties and Conventions,
Ixviii A; Rymcr, Fccdcra;
B, Dumont, Corps Univcr-
scl Diplomatique; liistoirc
dcs Traitcs de Paix; Ne-
gotiations Secretes; C,
Wenk, Corpus Juris Gentium
Rccentissimi . . . ; D, Mar-
ten, Rccucil dc Traitcs d' Al-
liance, etc....; -- E, Mar-
tens, Murhard, Samwer and
Hopfe, Nouvcau Rccucil; -
F, Murhard, Nouvcau Sup-
plements au Rccucil de Trai-
tes; - G, Samwer, Hopfe
and Stoerk, Nouveau Recucil
General; - H, Hertslet's
Commercial Treaties; Mod-
ern Treaties ; New Treaties.
Trivet, Nicholas, ex.
Trokelowe, J. de, cxi.
Troubles of our Catholic Fore-
fathers, clxxiii ; 142.
Tub, Tale of a, ccxvi.
Twysden, Ixii b.
Union between Great Britain
and Ireland, History of, 206-
207.
Universe, The, 12.
Urbinatis Anglica Histori . . .,
cxi.
Usk, Adam of, cxxiii.
Utopia, cxlvi.
Venetian Relation, cxlii.
Verney, Ralph, clxxxvi ; Sir
Harry, clxxxvii.
Verney Papers, clxxxvii.
Vetera Analecta, xxxv.
Veterum Scriptorum et Monu-
mentorum . . ., Ixix.
Virgil, Polydore, cxi.
Vitalis, Ordericus, cxiv ; 44 ;
46; 54-
Walker, Sir Edward, clxxxviii.
Walpple, Horace, ccxxxi.
Walsingham, T., Historica An-
glicana, cxi.
Walter Henningford's Chron-
icle, cxiii.
Ware, Sir James, vi.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
601
Welsh Manuscripts, Ixx; So-
ciety, Ixx d.
Wenck, F. A. G., Ixviii c.
Wcndovcr, Roger of, cvii;
Chap. IX, X.
Wheeler, J. T., 223.
Whitelock, Bulstrode, Memo-
rials, cc.
Whitehall, Secret History of,
176.
W 'hit gift, Life and Acts of
John, 136.
Wilkes, John, 201.
Wilkins, D.. xxiv 9.
William HI; Correspondence
of, ccxii : Papers concern-
ing, ccxiii ; State Tracts of
Reign of, ccxiv ; ccxv ; His-
tory of, ccix, ccxx; Letters
to Louis XIV , ccxxiv.
William: of Malmcsbury,
Ixxxix ; of Poitiers, xcv ;
The Conqueror, ibid.; 50;
of Newbury, xcviii ; Ris-
hangcr, cix ; of Worcester,
cxxviii ; Fits Stephen, 61.
Winwood's Memorials, clxxiv.
Wodrow Society, li.
Worcester, Florence of, ex;
43 ; William of, cxxviii.
Wraxall, N. W., 209.
Writs, Parliamentary, Iviii.
Year Books, Ixxi.
York Gospel Book, 42.
Zimmer, H., Ixxix.
Zisaniorum Fasciculi, cxxxv ;
94-96.
Zurich Letters, clii.
SUBJECT INDEX
A Subject Index to a work of the character of the Source-
Book of English History could without difficulty be extended to
cover many pages. In the present instance it has been deemed
expedient simply to present the group indications. From this,
the student will have no difficulty in finding information on any
subject contained in the book.
The references are to Sections, not to pages.
Act of Settlement, 190.
Act of Supremacy, in.
Acts of Union, England and
Scotland : Queen Anne's
speeches upon, 193 ; Act, 194.
Great Britain and Ireland:
The Union advocated, 206;
the Union opposed, 207 ;
Act, 208.
^Ella and his sons land in Bri-
tain, 23.
Agricola in Britain, 18.
Aid : Levying in time of
Richard I., 65 ; in time of
James I., 152. (See Benev-
olence, Ship-money.)
Albion, 12.
Alfred, 38, 39-
American Exploration, 144 ;
145; 146; 147.
American Revolution, Ch.
XXVIII. The Question of
Taxation. 202 ; The Policy
of Conciliation, 203 ; The
Right to Tax, 204 ; Character
of the American Colonists,
205.
Angevins, Chs. VIII, IX, X.
Angles invade Britain, 22.
Anglican Views in Time of
Elizabeth, 134.
Anglo-Saxon Invasion, De-
scription of, 22.
603
Anglo-Saxon Laws of Alfred,
Athelstan, and Edgar, Ch. V.
Angylde, 31, 35.
Annates, Payment to the Pope
forbidden, 107.
Anne, Speeches on Union of
England and Scotland, 193.
Anselm and Henry I., 57.
Anti-Papal Statutes, 90. (See
also Ch. XV.)
Appeals to Rome prohibited,
1 08.
Armada, Defeat of Spanish,
140.
Armada, Speech made by Eliz-
abeth, 141.
Aske, Robert and the Pilgrim-
age of Grace, 118.
Asportatis Religiosorum, 87.
Augustine's Mission, 24.
Australia, Ch. XXXIII: Es-
tablishment of the Colony,
225; First Penal Settlement,
226 ; Discovery of Gold, 227 ;
Results of the Finding of
Gold, 228.
Barons win Magna Charta
from John, Ch. X.
Becket, Thomas : : Quarrels
with Henry, and Death of,
58, 59, 60, 6l,
604
SUBJECT INDEX
Benevolences, 153.
Bible in the English Churches,
1 20.
Bill of Rights, 189.
Bishops in Secular Courts,
4i. 52.
Black Death, Ch. XII.
Bolton, Sufferings at, 223.
Books and Images, Act against,
124.
Bohrs, 36; 41.
Bot, 25 ; 34 ; 36 ; Ch. V, passim.
Breda, Declaration of, 171.
(See Declaration of Breda.)
Britannic Islands: First men-
tion of, 12; way to and prod-
ucts of, 13.
Bright, John, 224.
Britain : First mention of, 12 ;
first mention of by name,
13; tin of, 13; first Roman
invasion of, 14; tin mines of,
17; climate of, 17, 18; trade
route to Rome, 17 ; descrip-
tion of, 18; abandoned by
Romans, 19 ; invaded by
Picts and Scots, 19 ; invaded
by Anglo-Saxons, 22.
Britons : Mode of warfare, 14,
18; description of, 14, 18;
characteristics of, 15, 17;
form of government, 18.
Briton, The North, 201.
Burhs, 36, 41.
Burke, Speech on the Character
of the American Colonists,
205.
Cabal, 175, 176.
Cabinet Government, 175, 176.
Caesar in Britain, 14, 16.
Campeius, Cardinal, Speech at
Divorce Trial, 105.
Canterbury, the centre of ori-
ginal Christianity, 24.
Canute : Becomes King of Eng-
land, 40 ; Laws of, 41 ; Char-
ter of, 42 ; Letter of, 43.
Cassiterides, 12.
Castlereagh on Union of Great
Britain and Ireland, 206.
Catholics: Under Henry VIII.,
Ch. XV : under Edward VI.,
Ch. XVI; under James II.,
178; under William III.,
191.
Catholic Emancipation : The
No - Popery Riots, 209 ;
Speech of King George, 210;
of Attorney-General against,
21 1 ; of Lord Plunkett for,
212; of Duke of Wellington
on, 213.
Ceap-gild, 31, 36.
Cerdic and Cynric settle Wes-
sex, 23.
Charles, Prince. (See Pre-
tender, Young.)
Charles I. : Abandons Straf-
ford, 158; I58a; is8b; Sum-
mary of Grievances against,
159; Charge against, 160;
Charles refuses to plead, 161 ;
Sentence of the King, 162;
Death Warrant of the King,
163.
Charles II. makes the Declara-
tion of Breda, 171.
Charta, Magna : Winning of,
Ch. X: Text of, 80; Con-
firmation of by Edward I.,
82.
Chartism, 221, 222.
Chatham, Earl of, Speech on
the Policy of Conciliation,
203.
Chippenham, Treaty of, 39.
Christianity re-introduced into
England, 24.
Church: Right to Tithes, 32;
Scot, 32; Hearth-penny, 32;
Teachings enforced by secu-
lar power, 42.
Church and State, Relations
of : Danes, 42 ; Normans,
50, 51, 52; Angevins, 58, 59,
60, 61 ; Struggle between
John and Innocent III., Ch.
IX ; Ecclesiastical Sanction
of Secular Law, 83 ; Mort-
main, 85 ; DC Asportatis Rc-
ligiosorum, 87 ; Provisors,
90; Second Statute of Pro-
visors, 92; Great Statute of
Prsemunire, 93 ; Payment of
Annates forbidden, 107 ; Ap-
peals to Rome prohibited,
108; Heresy punished, 109;
SUBJECT INDEX
605
Clergy forced to submit to
Henry VIII., no; Act of
Supremacy, in; Denial of
the Authority of the Pope,
112; Dissolution of the Mon-
asteries, 113; Surrender of a
Monastery, 114; Visitation of
Monasteries, 115; Six Arti-
cles, 119; Bible in the
Churches, 120; Services to
be in English, 121.
Church Services : To be in Eng-
lish, 121, 123, 124; Provisions
for Uniformity in, 123; 124;
Against Books and Images,
124.
Clarendon : Constitutions of,
60; Assize of, 62.
Classes of People in the XVIth
Century, 133.
Clergy: Status of, 30; Privi-
leges of, 59, 60; Submission
of to Henry VIII., no.
Cljthero, Margaret, Death of
142.
Cobden, Richard, 224.
Coke, Sir Edward, 155.
Common Prayer, Book of Ed-
ward VI., 124.
Commonwealth, England to be,
166.
Commonwealth Period, Ch.
XXII.
Communion. (See Six Arti-
cles and Sacrament.)
Constitution of the King's
Household, 63.
Constitutions of Clarendon, 60.
Corn Law : Suffering of the
Lower Classes, 223 ; Repeal
of the Corn Law, 224.
Coronation Oaths : of William
L, 45; of Edward II., 89; of
James I., 148.
Croke, Richard, 104.
Cromwell, Oliver : Disciplines
his first Parliament, 168 ;
C. and the kingship, 169.
Cromwell, Richard, becomes
Lord Protector, 170.
Cromwell, Thomas, and the
Destruction of the Mon-
asteries, 116.
Culloden, Atrocities after 198.
Danes in England, Ch. VI. "In-
vasions, 37 ; Treaty with Al-
fred, 39; Second Period of
Invasion, 40; Laws, 41.
Declaration of Breda, 171 ; Re-
ception of by Parliament,
172; Thanks of Parliament
to Sir John Grenville for
bringing Declaration, 173.
Dissenters in the Eighteenth
Century, 192.
Divine Right of Kings, 149,
150.
Divorce between Henry VIII.
and Katherine of Aragon,
104, 105, 106.
Dooms, 36. (See Ordeal.)
Doomsday Survey, 48; Manor,
example of Survey, 49.
Dudley, Lady Jane. (See
Grey, Lady Jane.)
Ecbert, Overlord of Britain,
23-
Edward I. : Confirms Char-
ters, 82; Abolishes unjust
Taxation, 82, 84; De Tal-
lagio non Conccdendo, 84 ;
Mortmain, 85 ; Provides for
Safety of Members of Parlia-
ment, 86; Prevents Revenues
of English religious Houses
being carried beyond seas,
87; Quia Emptores, 88.
Edward II., Coronation Oath
of, 90.
Edward III.: Statute of Pro-
visors, 80; Statute of Trea-
sons, 91 ; Second Statute of
Provisors, 92.
Edward VI. : Reign of, Ch.
XVI ; Journal of, 125.
Elizabeth : Reign of, Ch.
XVIII ; Religious Sects in
Time of, 134, 135, 136, 137;
E. and Mary Stuart, 139; Ar-
mada Speech of, 141 ; Death
of, 143-
Elizabethan Seamen, Ch. XIX.
Emancipation, Era of, Ch.
XXX.
England becomes one King-
dom, 23.
6o6
SUBJECT INDEX
English, Church Services to be
in, 121, 123.
English Bible to be accessible
in all Churches, 121.
Eorl, how man might become,
30.
Ethelbert, King of Kent, and
Augustine, 24.
Excommunication of John, 68.
Fasts. (See Festivals.)
Festivals and Fasts, 35.
Finch, Lord Keeper, 156.
Gascoyne, General, and the
First Reform Bill, 219.
Gemot, 31, 36; of Salisbury,
48-
George IV., Speech in favor of
Catholic Emancipation, 210.
Germans, Description of the
ancient, 21.
Gordon, Lord George, 209.
Government, Instrument of,
167.
Grattan opposes the Union be-
tween Great Britain and Ire-
land, 207.
Gregory I. sends missionaries
to England, 24.
Gregory IX., Bull against
Wycliffe, 97.
Grenville, George, Speech on
Question of taxing American
Colonies, 202.
Grey, Lady Jane : Claim to the
Throne, 126; Execution of,
127 ; House of Lords sup-
ports her claim, 1283.
Guthrum, 37, 39.
Habeas Corpus Act, 177.
Harctico Comburcndo, DC, 99.
Hampden, John, 146, 157.
Harold, King : defeats Harold
Hardrada and Tostig, and
himself defeated by William
the Conqueror, 44.
Harold Hardrada and Tostig
invade England, 44.
Hastings, Battle of, 44.
Hastings, Warren, Letter of,
230.
Hearth-penny, 34.
Hengist, 22.
Henry I. : Charter of Liberties,
55; Charter to the City of
London, 56; Quarrel with
Ansehn, 57.
Henry II. : H. and a Becket,
58, 59, 61 ; Constitutions of
Clarendon, 60 ; Assize of
Clarendon, 62 ; Court Life
under Henry II., 63.
Henry IV. : DC Harctico Com-
burcndo, 99.
Henry V. and VI. : Letters
against Lollards, 100, 101,
102.
Henry VIII. : Divorce from
Katherine of Aragon, 104,
105, 106; and the Church,
Attitude to the Catholic Doc-
trines, 119.
Hercules, Pillars of, 13.
Heretics : DC H cere tic o Com-
burcndo, 99; Royal Letters
concerning, 100 ct scq.;
Mandate for burning, 103 ;
Attitude of Henry VIII. to-
ward, 109; of Edward VI.,
123, 124; Mary burns Hoop-
er, 131 ; Ridley and Latimer,
132.
Heriot, 41.
Hooper, Bishop John, burnt by
Mary Tudor, 131.
Horsa, 22.
Hundred : Edgar's Ordinance
of, 31 ; witnesses for, 41.
Ida reigns over Northumbria,
23-
lerne, 12.
Images, Act against, 124.
India: Ch. XXIV; English at
Surat and Bombay, 229 ;
Warren Hastings, 230 ; Ces-
sion of India to the Bri-
tish Crown. 231 ; Victoria
made Empress of India, 232.
Inheritance, Danish rule, 41.
Instrument of Government,
167.
Interdict on England, 67.
Investiture, Controversy, 57.
Jacobite Rebellions, Ch. XXVI.
SUBJECT INDEX
607
James I. : Nominated as Suc-
cessor to Elizabeth, 143 ;
Oath of, 148 ; His Theory of
Position of King, 149, 150;
J. and the Commons, 154.
James II. : J. and the Catholics,
178; Last Appeal to J. that
he would reform his Govern-
ment, 179.
James IV., Proclamation of,
195. (See also Pretender,
Young.)
Jesuits in England : under
James II., 178; under Wil-
liam III., 119.
Jews: End of Disability, 214;
Oaths Act, 215; Relief Act,
216.
John : J. and Innocent III., Ch.
IX ; J. excommunicated, 68 ;
deposed, 69; submits, 70;
71 ; resigns Crown and King-
dom to the Pope, 72 ; does
homage to the Pope, 73 ; J.'s
struggle with the Barons,
Ch. X; grants Magna Char-
ta; 79-
Jury. (See Assize of Claren-
don.)
Justice, how administered : in
the Hundred, 31, 36, Ch. V,
passim; under the Danes,
under the Normans, 52, 55 ;
under the Angevins, 62 (see
text of Magna Charta, 80) ;
under the Tudors, 108.
Jutes, 22.
Katherine of Aragon, Divorce
from Henry VIII., Ch. XIV.
Kent begun, 23.
Kindred of Lordless and Land-
less Men, 26, 27.
King, Office of abolished, 164.
Laborers : effect of Black
Death on, 94; Statute of, 95.
Lad, 41.
Lancaster Herald's Mission to
Insurgents of the Pilgrim-
age of Grace, 118.
Landless Men, 27.
Latimer, Bishop Hugh, burnt
by Mary Tudor, 132.
Law : Anglo-Saxon, Ch. V.
(See Justice) ; Growth of,
Ch. XI.
Life at the Court of an Ange-
vin King, 63.
Lollardy, Ch. XIII.
London : First Charter of, 53 ;
Charter from Henry I., 56 ;
given up to the Barons, 78;
Convention of, 235.
London, John, Letter on sup-
pression of the Monasteries,
U7a, H7c.
Lordless Men, 26.
Macaulay, Lord, describes pas*
sage of First Reform Bill,
220.
Magna Charta. (See Charta,
Magna. )
Mansfield, Lord, Speech on the
Right to tax American Colo-
nies, 204.
Mary (Tudor) : Attitude on
Religion before her Acces-
sion, 125 ; Claim to the
Throne, 128; House of
Lords answers her claim,
1283; Status as Queen, 129;
Attempts to restore Church
Lands, 130; Orders for Ex-
ecution of Bishop Hooper,
131 ; Burning of Ridley and
Latimer, 132.
Mary Stuart and Elizabeth,
139-
Measures in Anglo-Saxon
Period, 36.
Mercia supreme in England,
23-
Millenary Petition, 151.
Monasteries : Dissolution of,
113; Confession with Sur-
render of, 114; Directions
for Visitation of, 113; Let-
ters regarding Suppression
of, 116; Mary attempts to
restore Property of, 130.
Money in Anglo-Saxon Period,
36.
Mortmain, Law of, 85; 88.
Norman Rule in England, Ch.
VII. ; Norman Conquest, 44.
6o8
SUBJECT INDEX
North Briton, The, 201.
Northumbria : begun, 23 ; wins
supremacy, 23.
Oaths Act, 215.
Oaths of Allegiancy and Su-
premacy replaced by new
Oath, 189.
Offa, King of the Mercians, 23.
Ordeals, Hot Iron and Water,
28.
Ordinance, Secular of King
Edgar, 36.
Papal Authority i n England :
acknowledge, 72, 73 ; de-
nied, 112.
Parliament : Form of Sum-
mons to, 81, 183; Freedom
of, 86; Privileges of, 138;
Treatment of by James I.,
154; Disciplined by Oliver
Cromwell, 168 ; thanks Gren-
ville for bringing- Declara-
tion of Breda, 173; urges
King's return, 174; Proroga-
tion of the Anti-Reform P.,
219.
Peel, Sir Robert, and the Corn
Law, 224.
People's Ranks and Law, 30.
Peter's Pence : under the Sax-
ons, 34 ; under the Danes,
43-
Petition, Millenary, 151 ; P. of
Right, 155.
Picts and Scots : ravage Bri-
tain, 19; are driven from
Britain, 20; relations with
Anglo-Saxon invaders, 22.
Pilgrimage of Grace : Sum-
mons to, 117; Lancaster
Herald's Description of, 118.
Plague. (See Black Death.)
Prsemunire, Great Statute of,
93-
Presbyterian Position in Reign
of Elizabeth, 135.
Pretender, Young : Landing,
196; Escape at Moy Hall,
197; Atrocities after Cullo-
den, 198 ; Bond given by Y.
P., 193 ; Execution of the
Rebel Lords, 200.
Pretoria, Convention of, 234.
Privileges of Parliament, 138;
of Clergy. (See Constitu-
tions of Clarendon.)
Puritan Demands in Convoca-
tion of 1563, 137.
Queen Regnant, Status of, 129.
Quia Emptorcs, 88.
Ranks of the People in Anglo-
Saxon Period, 30.
Reform, Parliamentary, Ch.
XXXI. : Lord John Russell's
Speech on the First Reform
Bill, 218; Prorogation of
the Anti-Reform Parliament,
219; Passage of the First
Reform Bill, 220. (See also
Chartism, Corn-Law, Catho-
lic and Jewish Emancipa-
tion.)
Restoration, Ch. XXIII.
Richard I. : First Coronation
of, 64; Levying a Feudal
Aid in time of, 65.
Richard II. : Great Statute of
Prsemunire, 93.
Ridley, Bishop Nicholas, 132.
Right, Petition of, 155; Bill
of, 189.
Riots, The No-Popery, 209.
Romans in Britain: Caesar, 14:
Agricola, 18; Government of
Britain by, 18; withdraw
from Britain, 19.
Rome (see also Hearth-penny,
Peter's Pence, and Church) :
England not a fief to, 50 ;
not to interfere in English
civil affairs, 66, 67 ; John
surrenders England to Inno-
cent III., to take it back as
fief of Rome. Ch. IX. ; Con-
flict of R. with Henry VIII.,
Ch. XV.
Royal Supremacy, Canons of,
Si-
Runnymede, Magna Charta
signed at, 79.
Russell, Lord John, Speech on
First Reform Bill, 218.
Sacrament, Regulations con-
SUBJECT INDEX
609
earning that of the Lord's
Supper, 122. (See also Six
Articles, The.)
Salisbury, Gemot of, 48.
Sand-River Convention, 233.
Saxons : invade Britain, 22 ;
settlements, 22.
Scotland united to England,
193, 194-
Sects, Religious, in the time of
Elizabeth, 134, 135, 136, 137.
Senlac. (See Hastings, Battle
of.)
Separation of Ecclesiastical
and Lay Jurisdictions, 52.
Settlement, Act of, 190.
Ship-Money : First Writ of;
156; declared illegal, 157.
Six Articles, The, 119.
Slave Trade, End of, 217.
Stamford Bridge, Battle of, 44.
Strafford and Charles I., 158,
!S8a, is8b.
Stuart Theory of Kingship,
149, 150.
Subinfeudation, 88.
Submission of Clergy to Henry
VIII., 1 10.
Summary of Grievances
against Charles I., 159.
Summons to Parliament, 175;
183-
Supremacy, Act of, in. (See
also 112.)
Sussex begun, 23.
Tallagio non Concedendo, De,
84-
Teutonic Tribes. (See Ger-
mans.)
Thane, how man might be-
come, 30.
Throne of England held by
Parliamentary Title, 188.
Tin: in the Cassiterides, 12;
in Britain, 14, 15.
Tithes: under the Saxons, 33;
under the Danes, 43. (See
also Church.)
Tithing, 41.
Tostig, 44.
Transvaal, England and the,
Ch. XXXV.
Treasons, First Statute of, 91.
Tregonwell, John, Letter con-
cerning suppression of Mon-
asteries, ii7b.
Uniformity, Act of (1548),
123.
Union. (See Acts of Union.)
Voyages : Hawkins', 144;
Drake's, 145 ; Frobisher's,
146; Barlowe's, 147.
Wedmore. (See Chippen-
ham.)
Wellington, Duke of, on Catho-
lic Emancipation, 213.
Wer-gild, 29. (See wer in 36,
and Ch. V. passim.)
Wessex: begun, 23; supreme,
23-
Westminster, Council of, 59.
Whitgift, Articles touching
Preachers and other Orders
for the Church, 136.
Wilkes, John, 201.
William the Conqueror: in-
vades England, 44; Corona-
tion Oath of, 45 ; Administra-
tion of, 46 ; Character of, 47 ;
Letter to Gregory VII., 50;
Independence from Papal
Rule, 51 ; Charter to London,
S3-
William of Orange : invited to
come to England, 180 ; his
Reign, Ch. XXIIL, passim.
William Rufas, Rule of, 54.
Witan, 32.
Wite, 33, 41.
Woodstock, Council of, 58.
Wycliffe : Wycliffite Conclu-
sions, 06; Bull of Gregory
XI. against W., 97; Reply to
Gregory IX., 98.
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