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folk, and others, contemptuously gone over the seas," passed the House of Lords, and was rejected by the Commons. A philosophic mind might employ itself in the inquiry, whether the sudden transition of so great a number of people from Protestantism to the Roman Catholic faith, and, in five or six years afterwards, an equally rapid resumption of the Protestant doctrines, could have been genuine and sincere.

National opinions seldom change, with the celerity that we occasionally observe in individuals; yet, it is possible, that the inferior classes, who, in those days, were not very enlightened, might have confided the task of thinking on abstruse subjects, to their rulers. Michele, the Venitian ambassador, is quoted from the Lansdowne MSS., as having said in his Prelazione del Stato d'Inghilterra, that the English in general would turn Jews, or Turks, if their sovereign pleased. He was a devout Catholic, and not friendly to the English nation.

From this degraded woman, and this disgusting reign, we pass with pleasure to her illustrious successor; yet, with all the merit of the latter, it would be unjust to deny, that, in respect to religion, Elizabeth was not much less intolerant, than her departed sister.

The Catholic martyrs, under Elizabeth, says Hallam,—

"Amount to no inconsiderable number. Dodd reckons them at 191; Milner has raised the list to 204. Fifteen of these, according to him, suffered for denying the queen's supremacy, 126 for exercising their ministry, and the rest for being reconciled to the Romish church. Many others died of hardships in prison, and many were deprived of their property. There seems nevertheless to be good reason for doubting, whether any one who was executed might not have saved his life by explicitly denying the pope's power to depose the queen. It was constantly maintained by her ministers, that no one had been executed for his religion. This would be an odious and hypocritical subterfuge, if it rested on the letter of these statutes, which adjudge the mere manifestation of a belief in the Roman catholic religion, under certain circumstances, to be an act of treason. But both lord Burleigh, in his Execution of Justice, and Walsingham in a letter published by Burnet, positively assert the contrary; and I am not aware that their assertion has been disproved. This certainly furnishes a distinction between the persecution under Elizabeth, (which, unjust as it was in its operation, yet as far as it extended to capital inflictions, had in view the security of the government), and that which the protestants had sustained in her sister's reign, springing from mere bigotry and vindictive rancour, nor even shielding itself at the time with those shallow pretexts of policy which it has of late been attempted to set up in its extenuation. But that which renders these condemnations of popish priests so iniquitous, is, that the belief in, or rather the refusal to disclaim, a speculative tenet, dangerous indeed and incompatible with loyalty, but not coupled with any overt act, was construed into treason; nor can any one affect to justify these sentences, who is not prepared to maintain, that a refusal of the oath of abjuration, while the pretensions of the house of Stuart subsisted, might lawfully or justly have incurred the same penalty."

In respect to other subjects, the delineation of this reign is generally fair, and correct.

He begins his view, of what we may term the civil administration, to distinguish it from ecclesiastical matters, by observing,

that civil liberty in England, has two direct guarantees; first, the due administration of justice; secondly, the right of Parliament to inquire into, and obtain redress, of public grievances. The first of these, is the most indispensable; and real freedom cannot be enjoyed without it.

"In this, much more than in positive law, our ancient constitution, both under the Plantagenet and Tudor line, had ever been failing; and it has been be cause one set of writers have looked merely to the letter of our statutes, or other authorities,-while another have been almost exclusively struck by the instances of arbitrary government they found on record, that such incompatible systems have been laid down with equal positiveness, on the character of that constitution."

It is, indeed, of little consequence, to have mild and favourable statutes, if the administration of justice is conducted with partiality and severity; and the want of a power to correct, or to prevent judicial proceedings of that character, must be considered as a defect in the Constitution of any country whatever. It is, therefore, properly noticed by Mr. Hallam, and he is not sparing of instances under this head. In the case of Captain Lee, a partisan of Essex and Southampton, the court by which he was tried, appear to have denied the right of peremptory challenge. The Earl of Arundel, was convicted of imagining the Queen's death, on evidence, which, at the utmost, could only have supported an indictment for reconciliation to the Church of Rome.

"A law had been enacted some years before, levelled at the books dispersed by the seminary priests, which rendered the publication of seditious libels against the queen's government a capital felony. This act, by one of those strained constructions which the judges were commonly ready to put upon any political crime, was brought to bear on some of these puritanical writings. The authors of Martin Mar-prelate could not be traced with certainty; but strong suspicions having fallen on one Penry, a young Welshman, he was tried some time after for another pamphlet, containing some sharp reflections on the queen herself, and received sentence of death, which it was thought proper to carry into execution. Udal, a puritan minister, fell into the grasp of the same statute for an alleged libel on the bishops, which had surely a very indirect reference to the queen's administration. His trial, like most other political trials of the age, disgraces the name of English justice. It consisted mainly in a pitiful attempt by the court to entrap him into a confession that the imputed libel was of his writing, as to which their proof was deficient. Though he avoided this snare, the jury did not fail to obey the directions they received to convict him. So far from being concerned in Martin's writings, Udal professed his disapprobation of them and his ignorance of the author. This sentence appeared too iniquitous to be executed even in the eyes of Whitgift, who interceded for his life; but he died of the effects of confinement."

The following case may be added:

"Before this sanguinary statute was enacted, a punishment of uncommon seve rity had been inflicted upon one Stubbe, a puritan lawyer, for a pamphlet against the queen's intended marriage with the duke of Anjou. It will be in the recollection of most of my readers that, in the year 1579, Elizabeth exposed herself to much censure and ridicule, and inspired the justest alarm in her most faithful subjects, by entertaining, at the age of forty-six, the proposals of this young scion of the house of Valois. Her council, though several of them, in their de

liberations, had much inclined against the preposterous alliance, yet in the end, displaying the compliance usual with the servants of self-willed princes, agreed, 'conceiving, as they say, her earnest disposition for this her marriage,' to further it with all their power. Sir Philip Sidney with more real loyalty wrote her a spirited remonstrance, which she had the magnanimity never to resent. But she poured her indignation on Stubbe, who, not entitled to use a private address, had ventured to arouse a popular cry in his Gaping Gulph, in which England will be swallowed up by the French Marriage.' This pamphlet is very far from being, what some have ignorantly or unjustly called it, a virulent libel, but writ ten in a sensible manner, and with unfeigned loyalty and affection towards the queen. But besides the main offence of addressing the people on state affairs, he had, in the simplicity of his heart, thrown out many allusions proper to hurt her pride, such as dwelling too long on the influence her husband would acquire over her, and imploring that she would ask her physicians, whether to bear children at her years would not be highly dangerous to her life. Stubbe for writing this pamphlet received sentence to have his right hand cut off. When the penalty was inflicted, taking off his hat with his left, he exclaimed, Long live Queen Elizabeth!"

Jurors, who ventured to resist the inclinations of the Court, began to tremble, as soon as they delivered their verdict. We shall transcribe one more paragraph on this subject, which is not only just in itself, but contains one of the best specimens of our author's elaborate diction. We use this term, because it is obvious, that, in many parts of the work, Mr. Hallam has bestowed little pains upon his style :-

"There is no room for wonder at any verdict that could be returned by a jury, when we consider what means the government possessed of securing it. The sheriff returned a pannel, either according to express directions, of which we have proofs, or to what he judged himself of the crown's intention and interest. If a verdict had gone against the prosecution in a matter of moment, the jurors must have laid their account with appearing before the Star-chamber; lucky if they should escape, on humble retractation, with sharp words instead of enormous fines and indefinite imprisonment. The control of this arbitrary tribunal bound down and rendered impotent all the minor jurisdictions. That primæval institution, those inquests by twelve true men, the unadulterated voice of the people, responsible alone to God and their conscience, that should have been heard in the sanctuaries of justice, as fountains springing fresh from the lap of earth, became, like waters constrained in their course by art, stagnant and impure. Until this weight that hung upon the constitution should be taken off, there was li terally no prospect of enjoying with security those civil privileges which it held forth."

Whenever it lay in her power, Elizabeth carried her prerogative to as great an extent, as any monarch who ever sat on that throne; and our author seems to shudder at the commission issued in 1595, to Sir Thomas Wilford, which he calls a stretch of prerogative without parallel. The House of Commons, on some occasions, put on a bold face, and appeared inclined to exhibit a manly opposition; but on a frown from maiden Majesty, they generally shrunk back into silent, though reluctant acquiescence;-yet, as it was always more desirable to govern by gentle means, than by force, the plan of increasing the number of the members of the House, which has been noticed, under the reign of Mary, was kept up by the present monarch :

"Sixty-two members were added at different times by Elizabeth to the representation; as well from places which had in earlier times discontinued their franchise, as from those to which it was first granted; a very large proportion of them petty boroughs, evidently under the influence of the crown or peerage. This had been the policy of her brother* and sister, in order to counterbalance the country gentlemen, and find room for those dependants, who had no natural interest to return them to parliament. The ministry took much pains with elections, of which many proofs remain. The house accordingly was filled with place-men, civilians, and common lawyers grasping at preferment. The slavish tone of these persons, as we collect from the minutes of D'Ewes, is strikingly contrasted by the manliness of independent gentlemen. And as the house was by no means very fully attended, the divisions, a few of which are recorded, running from 200 to 250 in the aggregate, it may be perceived that the court, whose ollowers were at hand, would maintain a formidable influence."

The Commons, however, are considered by our author, as acquiring some important privileges, notwithstanding the high hand held over them by the Tudors, and particularly by Henry VIII. and Elizabeth; and we accede to his concluding observation :

"That the practical exercise of authority seems to have been less frequently violent and oppressive, and its legal limitations better understood in the reign of Elizabeth, than for some preceding ages; and that sufficient indications had become distinguishable before its close, from which it might be gathered that the seventeenth century had arisen upon a race of men in whom the spirit of those who stood against John and Edward was rekindled with a less partial and a steadier warmth."

The peaceful accession of James, gives occasion for a short discussion of his right to the English crown, into which, although we dissent from some parts of the reasoning, we decline to enter. It is now of little importance, whether he was, or was not, the Constitutional King; but he entertained no doubt of it himself. He uniformly relied upon his unquestionable right, and thought it unnecessary to conciliate the affections of his subjects. He managed to conduct the government an entire year after his accession, without calling a Parliament. The proclamation which he at last issued for this purpose, indicated an adoption of the high tones of the Tudors. After recommendations in respect to the characters of those who might be offered as candidates, he proceeds expressly to command, that no bankrupts or outlaws be chosen; but men of known good behaviour, and sufficient livelihood. The sheriffs are charged not to direct a writ to any aneient town, being so ruined, that there are not residents sufficient to make such choice,-for it was at that time supposed, that the person elected ought to reside on the spot. These provisions have apparently a good design; but the concluding part of the proclamation, more directly invaded both the freedom of election, and the internal powers of the House. All returns were to be filed in Chancery; and if any be found contrary to the

The only misprint that we have perceived in this large work, the typographical execution of which is admirable, is at p. 48, where Edward II, instead of Edward VI., is represented as having adopted this course.

proclamation, the same was to be rejected as unlawful and insufficient, and the place to be fined for making it. This, however, was not enough; the unfortunate candidate elected "contrary to the purport, effect, and true meaning of the proclamation," was himself to be fined and imprisoned. A full submission to these invasions of the rights of the people, could have been expected only from a timid or a servile House; and an opportunity soon occurred, the circumstances of which are detailed, in which they resisted with some manliness; but it ended in a compromise, and formed no precedent.

At this time, purveyance, and the incidents of military tenure continued, the abolition of which will hereafter be noticed.

"Purveyance had been restrained," as the Commons assert, by no less than thirty-six statutes,"

"In spite of which the impressing of carts and carriages, and the exaction of victuals for the king's use, at prices far below the true value, and in quantity beyond what was necessary, continued to prevail under authority of commissions from the board of green cloth, and was enforced, in case of demur or resistance, by imprisonment under their warrant. The purveyors, indeed, are described as living at free quarters upon the country, felling woods without the owners' consent, and commanding labour with little or no recompense. Purveyance was a very ancient topic of remonstrance; but both the inadequate revenues of the erown, and a supposed dignity attached to this royal right of spoil, had prevented its abolition from being attempted. But the commons seemed still more to trench on the pride of our feudal monarchy, when they proposed to take away guardianship in chivalry; that lucrative tyranny, bequeathed by Norman conquerors, the custody of every military tenant's estate until he should arrive at twenty-one, without accounting for the profits. This, among other grievances, was referred to a committee, in which Bacon took an active share. They obtained a conference on this subject with the lords, who refused to agree to a bill for taking guardianship in chivalry away, but offered to join in a petition for that purpose to the king, since it could not be called a wrong, having been patiently endured by their ancestors as well as themselves, and being warranted by the law of the land. In the end the lords advised to drop the matter for the present, as somewhat unseasonable in the king's first parliament."

But the Commons appear, towards the close of the session, to have roused themselves to more spirit, than was ever before discovered in that body; and long extracts are given from a paper entitled a form of apology and satisfaction, to be delivered to his Majesty, which the author takes from Petyt's Just Parliamentarian; and observes, was unknown to Hume and Carte, though alluded to by Rapin. After setting forth, in firm and plain language, what they considered as the fixed principles of the Constitution, they aver,

"That in this session the privileges of the house have been more universally and dangerously impugned than ever, as they suppose, since the beginnings of parliaments. That in regard to the late queen's sex and age, and much more upon care to avoid all trouble, which by wicked practice might have been drawn to impeach the quiet of his majesty's right in the succession, those actions were then passed over which they hoped in succeeding times to redress and rectify; whereas, on the contrary, in this parliament, not privileges, but the whole freedom of the parliament and realm had been hewed from them. 'What cause,' VOL. III. NO. 5.

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