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1393,1 limiting the power of the Pope over the English Church. On the other hand, the rise of the Lollards had caused a statute to be passed (1401) against heretics, and under it the first martyr had been burned in England. During this period the villeins had risen in insurrection (1381) (§§ 250-252), and were gradually gaining their liberty. Thus a very large body of people who had been practically excluded from political rights now began to slowly acquire them.2 But, on the other hand, a statute was enacted (1430) which prohibited all persons having an income of less than forty shillings a year - or what would be equal to forty pounds at the present value of money from voting for knights of the shire (§ 297). The consequence was that the poorer and humbler classes in the country were no longer directly represented in the House of Commons.

15. Wars of the Roses; Decline of Parliament; Partial Revival of its Power under Elizabeth. The Civil Wars of the Roses (1455-1485) gave a decided check to the further development of parliamentary power. Many noble families were ruined by the protracted struggle, and the new nobles created by the King were pledged to uphold the interests of the Crown. Furthermore, numerous towns absorbed in their own local affairs ceased to elect members to the Commons. Thus, with a House of Lords on the side of royal authority, and with a House of Commons diminished in numbers and in influence, the decline of the independent attitude of Parliament was inevitable.

3

The result of these changes was very marked. From the reign of Henry VI to that of Elizabeth, a period of nearly a hundred and forty years, the voice of Parliament was rarely heard." The Tudors practically set up a new or personal monarchy," in which their will rose above both Parliament and the constitution; and Henry VII, instead of asking the Commons for money, extorted it by fines enforced by his Court of Star Chamber, or compelled his wealthy subjects to grant it to him in "benevolences " (§ 330), · those "loving contributions," as the King called them, "lovingly advanced"!

During this period England laid claim to a new continent, and Henry VIII, repudiating the authority of the Pope, declared himself the "r supreme head" (1535) of the English Catholic Church. In the next reign (Edward VI) the Catholic worship, which had existed in England for nearly a thousand years, was abolished (1540), and the Protestant faith became henceforth except during Mary's short reign the established religion of the kingdom. It was enforced by two Acts of Uniformity (1549, 1552). One effect of the overthrow of Catholicism

1 Præmunire: see Constitutional Documents, p. xxxii. Neither the law of Provisors nor of Præmunire was strictly enforced until Henry VIII's reign.

2 Villeins appear, however, to have had the right of voting for knights of the shire until the statute of 1430 disfranchised them.

3 Theoretically Henry VII's power was restrained by certain checks (see $328, note 1), and even Henry VIII generally ruled according to the letter of the law, however much he may have violated its spirit. It is noticeable, too, that it was under Henry VIII (1541) that Parliament first formally claimed freedom of speech as one of its " undoubted privileges."

was to change the character of the House of Lords, by reducing the number of spiritual lords from a majority to a minority, as they have ever since remained (§ 406, note 2).

At the beginning of Elizabeth's reign the Second Act of Supremacy (1559) shut out all Catholics from the House of Commons (§ 382), Protestantism was fully and finally established as the state religion,1 embodied in the creed known as the Thirty-Nine Articles (1563); and by the Third Act of Uniformity (1559) very severe measures were taken against all-whether Catholics or Puritans-who refused to conform to the Episcopal mode of worship. The High Commission Court was organized (1583) to try and to punish heretics - whether Catholics or Puritans. The great number of paupers caused by the destruction of the monasteries under Henry VIII and the gradual decay of relations of feudal service caused the passage of the first Poor Law (1601) (§ 403), and so brought the Government face to face with a problem which has never yet been satisfactorily settled; namely, what to do with habitual paupers and tramps.

The closing part of Elizabeth's reign marks the revival of parliamentary power. The House of Commons now had many Puritan members, and they did not hesitate to assert their right to advise the Queen on all questions of national importance. Elizabeth sharply rebuked them for presuming to meddle with questions of religion, or for urging her either to take a husband or to name a successor to the throne; but even she did not venture to run directly counter to the will of the people. When the Commons demanded (1601) that she should put a stop to the pernicious practice of granting trading monopolies (§ 388) to her favorites, she was obliged to yield her assent.

16. James I; the Divine Right of Kings; Struggle with Parliament. James began his reign by declaring that kings rule not by the will of the people, but by "divine right." "God makes the King," said he, "and the King makes the law" (§ 419). For this reason he demanded that his proclamations should have all the force of acts of Parliament. Furthermore, since he appointed the judges, he could generally get their decisions to support him; thus he made even the courts of justice serve as instruments of his will. In his arrogance he declared that neither Parliament nor the people had any right to discuss matters of state, whether foreign or domestic, since he was resolved to reserve such questions for the royal intellect to deal with. By his religious intolerance he maddened both Puritans and Catholics, and the Pilgrim Fathers fled from England to escape his tyranny.

But there was a limit set to his overbearing conceit. When he dictated to the Commons (1604) what persons should sit in that body, they indignantly refused to submit to any interference on his part, and their refusal was so emphatic that James never brought the matter up again.

1 By the Third Act of Uniformity and the establishment of the High Commission Court ($382). The First and Second Acts of Uniformity were enacted under Edward VI (§ 362).

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The King, however, was so determined to shut out members whom he did not like that he attempted to gain his ends by having such persons seized on charges of debt and thrown into prison. The Commons, on the other hand, not only insisted that their ancient privilege of exemption from arrest in such cases should be respected, but they passed a special law (1604) to clinch the privilege.

Ten years later (1614) James, pressed for money, called a Parliament to get supplies. He had taken precautions to get a majority of members elected who would, he hoped, vote him what he wanted. But to his dismay the Commons declined to grant him a penny unless he would promise to cease imposing illegal duties on merchandise. The King angrily refused, and dissolved the so-called "Addled Parliament." 1

Finally, in order to show James that it would not be trifled with, a later Parliament (1621) revived the right of impeachment, which had not been resorted to since 1450.2 The Commons now charged Lord Chancellor Bacon, judge of the High Court of Chancery, and "keeper of the King's conscience," with accepting bribes. Bacon held the highest. office in the gift of the Crown, and the real object of the impeachment was to strike the King through the person of his chief official and supporter. Bacon confessed his crime, saying, "I was the justest judge that was in England these fifty years, but it was the justest censure in Parliament that was these two hundred years."

James tried his best to save his servile favorite, but it was useless, and Bacon was convicted, disgraced, and partially punished (§ 425).

The Commons of the same Parliament petitioned the King against the alleged growth of the Catholic religion in the kingdom, and especially against the proposed marriage of the Prince of Wales to a Spanish Catholic princess. James ordered the Commons to let mysteries of state alone. They claimed liberty of speech. The King asserted that they had no liberties except such as the royal power saw fit to grant. Then the Commons drew up their famous Protest, in which they declared that their liberties were not derived from the King, but were "the ancient and undoubted birthright and inheritance of the people of England." In his rage James ordered the journal of the Commons to be brought to him, tore out the Protest with his own hand, and sent five of the members of the House to prison (§ 419). This rash act made the Commons more determined than ever not to yield to arbitrary power. James died three years later, leaving his unfortunate son Charles to settle the angry controversy he had raised. Macaulay remarks that James seems to have been sent to hasten the coming of Civil War.

17. Charles I; Forced Loans; the Petition of Right. Charles I came to the throne full of his father's lofty ideas of the Divine Right of Kings

1 This Parliament was nicknamed the "Addled Parliament," because it did not enact a single law, though it most effectually "addled" the King's plans (§ 424).

2 See 13 of this Summary.

to govern as they pleased. In private life he was conscientious, but in his public policy he was a man "of dark and crooked ways."

He had married a French Catholic princess, and the Puritans, who were now very strong in the House of Commons, suspected that the King secretly sympathized with the Queen's religion. This was not the case; for Charles, after his peculiar fashion, was a sincere Protestant, though he favored the introduction into the English Church of some of the ceremonies peculiar to Catholic worship.

The Commons showed their distrust of the King by voting him the tax of tonnage and poundage (certain duties levied on wine and merchandise), for a single year only, instead of for life, as had been their custom. The Lords refused to assent to such a limited grant,1 and Charles deliberately collected the tax without the authority of Parliament. Failing, however, to get a sufficient supply in that way, the King forced men of property to grant him "benevolences," and to loan him large sums of money with no hope of its return. Those who dared to refuse were thrown into prison on some pretended charge, or had squads of brutal soldiers quartered in their houses.

When even these measures failed to supply his wants, Charles was forced to summon a Parliament, and ask for help. Instead of granting it, the Commons drew up the Petition of Right 2 of 1628, as an indignant remonstrance, and as a safeguard against further acts of tyranny. This Petition has been called the "Second Great Charter of the Liberties of England." It declared: (1) That no one should be compelled to pay any tax or to supply the King with money, except by order of act of Parliament. (2) That neither soldiers nor sailors should be quartered in private houses.3 (3) That no one should be imprisoned or punished contrary to law. Charles was forced by his need of money to assent to this Petition, which thus became a most important part of the English constitution. But the King did not keep his word. When Parliament next met (1629), it refused to grant money unless Charles would renew his pledge not to violate the law. The King made some concessions, but finally resolved to adjourn Parliament. Several members of the Commons held the Speaker in the chair by force, — thus preventing the adjournment of the House, — until resolutions offered by Sir John Eliot were passed (§ 434). These resolutions were aimed directly at the King. They declared: (1) that he is a traitor who attempts any change in the established religion of the kingdom; (2) who levies any tax not voted by Parliament; (3) or who voluntarily pays such a tax. Parliament then adjourned.

18. "Thorough"; Ship Money; the "Short Parliament." The King swore that "the vipers" who opposed him should have their

1 See Taswell-Langmead (revised edition), p. 557, note.

2 Petition of Right: see $432, and Constitutional Documents, p. xxx.

3 The King was also deprived of the power to press citizens into the army and navy.

4 The Puritans had come to believe that the King wished to restore the Catholic religion

as the Established Church of England, but in this idea they were mistaken.

"1

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reward. Eliot was thrown into prison and kept there till he died. Charles made up his mind that, with the help of Archbishop Laud in Church matters, and of Lord Strafford in affairs of state, he would rule without Parliaments. Strafford urged the King to adopt the policy of "Thorough ($435); in other words, to follow the bent of his own will without consulting the will of the nation. This, of course, practically meant the overthrow of parliamentary and constitutional government. Charles heartily approved of this plan for setting up what he called a "beneficent despotism" based on Divine Right."

The King now resorted to various unconstitutional means to obtain supplies. The last device he hit upon was that of raising ship money. To do this, he levied a tax on all the counties of England, inland as well as seaboard, on the pretext that he purposed building a navy for the defense of the kingdom. John Hampden refused to pay the tax, but Charles's servile judges decided against him, when the case was brought into court (§ 436).

Charles ruled without a Parliament for eleven years. He might, perhaps, have gone on in this way for as many more, had he not provoked the Scots to rebel by attempting to force a modified form of the English Prayer Book on the Church of that country (§ 438). The necessities of the war with the Scots compelled the King to call a Parliament. It declined to grant the King money to carry on the war unless he would give some satisfactory guarantee of governing according to the will of the people. Charles refused to do this, and after a three weeks' session he dissolved what was known as the "Short Parliament."

19. The "Long Parliament "; the Civil War. But the war gave Charles no choice, and before the year was out he was obliged to call the famous " Long Parliament" of 1640.2 That body met with the firm determination to restore the liberties of Englishmen or to perish in the attempt. (1) It impeached Strafford and Laud, and sent them to the scaffold as traitors.3 (2) It swept away those instruments of royal oppression, the Court of Star Chamber and the High Commission Court (§§ 330, 382). (3) It expelled the bishops from the House of Lords. (4) It passed the Triennial Bill, compelling the King to summon a Parliament at least once in three years. (5) It also passed a law declaring that the King could not suspend or dissolve Parliament without its

1 "Thorough": Strafford wrote to Laud, "You may govern as you please. . . . I am confident that the King is able to carry any just and honorable action thorough [i.e. through or against] all imaginable opposition." Both Strafford and Laud used this word "thorough," in this sense, to designate their tyrannical policy.

2 The "Long Parliament": it sat from 1640 to 1653, and was not finally dissolved until 1660.

3 Charles assured Strafford that Parliament should not touch "a hair of his head"; but to save himself the King signed the Bill of Attainder (see p. xxxii), which sent his ablest and most faithful servant to the block. Well might Strafford exclaim, " Put not your trust in princes."

4 The Triennial Act was repealed in 1664 and reënacted in 1694. In 1716 the Septennial Act increased the limit of three years to seven. This act is still in force.