PARLIAMENTS, ANCIENT AND MODERN.
(For the Mirror.)
Chamberlayne in his Notitia Angliæ, says, "Before the conquest, the great council of the king, consisting only of the great men of the kingdom, was called Magnatum Conventus, or else Prælatorum Procerumque Concilium, and by the Saxons in their own tongue Micel Gemote,[3] the great assembly; after the conquest about the beginning of King Edward I., some say in the time of Henry I., it was called by the French word Parlementum, from Parler, to talk together; still consisting (as divers authors affirm) only of the great men of the nation, until the reign of Henry III. when the commons also were called to sit in parliament; for divers authors presume to say, the first writs to be found in records, sent forth to them, bear date 49 Henry III. Yet some antiquaries are of opinion, that long before, nothing of moment wherein the lives or estates of the common people of England were concerned, ever passed without their consent."
In Edward the Third's time, an act of parliament, made in the reign of William the Conqueror, was pleaded in the case of the Abbey of St. Edmund's Bury, and judicially allowed by the court. Hence it appears that parliaments or general councils are coeval with the kingdom itself.
Sir Walter Raleigh thinks the Commons were first called on the 17th of Henry I.
Parliamentum de la Blande, was a denomination to a parliament in Edward the Second's time, whereto the barons came armed against the two Spencers, with coloured bands on their sleeves for distinction.
Parliamentum Insanum, was a parliament held at Oxford, anno 41 Henry III. so called, because the lords came with great retinues of armed men to it; and many things were violently transacted therein against the king's prerogative.
Parliamentum Indoctorum, was a parliament held at Coventry, 6th Henry VI. whereunto by special precept to the sheriffs of the several counties, no lawyer, or person skilled in the law was to be called.
Parliamentum Diabolicum, was a parliament held at Coventry, 38th Henry VI. wherein Edward, Earl of March (afterwards king) and several others were attainted. The acts passed therein were annulled in the succeeding parliament.
"In 1524, April 15, (says Stowe) a parliament was begun at the Blacke Friers, wherein was demanded a subsidy of £800,000. to be raised of goods and lands, four shillings in every pound; and in the end was granted two shillings. This parliament was adjourned to Westminster, among the blacke monks, and ended in the king's palace there the 14th of August, at nine of the clocke in the night, and was therefore called the Blacke Parliament."
Parliaments formerly sat in Westminster Hall and the Chapter house. "In 1397, (says Pennant) when in the reign of Richard II. the hall was extremely ruinous, he built a temporary room for his parliament formed with wood, covered with tiles. It was open on all sides, that the constituents might see every thing that was said and done; and to secure freedom of debate, he surrounded the house with 4,000 Cheshire archers, with bows bent, and arrows knocked ready to shoot. This fully answered the intent, for every sacrifice was made to the royal presence."
The place where the commons of Great Britain, now hold their assemblies, was built by king Stephen, and dedicated to his namesake the proto-martyr. It was beautifully rebuilt by Edward III. in 1347, and by him made a collegiate church, and a dean and twelve secular priests appointed. Soon after its surrender to Edward VI. it was applied to its present use. The revenues at that period were not less than £1,085 a year.
When the royal assent (says de Lolme) is given to a public bill, the clerk says, le Roy le veut. If the bill be a private one, he says, soit fait comme il est désiré. If the bill has subsidies for its objects, he says, le Roy remercie ses loyaux sujets, accepte leur benevolence ainsi le veut. Lastly, if the King does not think proper to assent to the bill, the clerk says, le Roy s'en avisera; which is a mild way of giving a refusal. This custom was introduced at the conquest, and has been continued, like other matters of form, which sometimes exist for ages after the real substance of things has been altered; and judge Blackstone expresses himself on this subject in the following words:—"A badge, it must be owned, (now the only one remaining) of conquest; and which one would wish to see fall into total oblivion, unless it be reserved as a solemn memento to remind us that our liberties are mortal, having once been destroyed by a foreign power." (De Lolme.) Under the walls of the legal parliament, there is held an illegal parliament, composed of livery men, who assemble in the members' servants waiting-room. Every year, a speaker or chairman is chosen, and each member addresses the other by the title his master bears. In case of disputes, &c., the speaker (who sits in an elevated chair) decides, and if there is any unparliamentary conduct, the party is fined.
This ground parliament has powers peculiar to itself, and never interferes with the upper parliament under the same roof, its powers not being so great as the "Senatus populusque Romanus." It is an annual parliament, but does not extend to universal suffrage. The members vacate their seats or stands, when discharged by their masters in the upper, or legal parliament. This parliament prints no journals, its acts not extending beyond the room, except when the Irish members turn out in palace yard. N.B. No member can be admitted till the fees are paid. For further information relating to this self-elected parliament, see the rules and regulations over the mantelpiece in the room.
P.T.W.