XXII.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

I. THERE be but two erroneous opinions in the House of Commons; that the Lords sit only for themselves; when the truth is, they sit as well for the commonwealth. The knights and burgesses sit for themselves and others, some for more, some for fewer. And what is the reason? Because the room will not hold all; the Lords being few, they all come; and imagine the room able to hold all the Commons of England, then the Knights and burgesses would 10 sit no otherwise than the Lords do. The second error is, bishop. His speech is given at length in Laud's Works, vol. vi. p. 41 ff. The sentence was brutal, and it was carried out with brutal and unusual severity. The report thereof,' says Rushworth, 'flew quickly into Scotland, and the discourse among the Scots were, that the bishops of England were the cause thereof.' Historical Collections, ii. 385. So Prynne, speaking from the pillory, ascribes the whole business to the vexation of the bishops as the subjects of the libels for which he and the others had been sentenced. Cobbett, State Trials, p. 747. His statement is borne out by Whitelock's account of the case.

'The King and Queen did nothing direct against him (Prynne) till Laud set Dr. Heylin (who bore a great malice to Prynne for confuting some of his doctrines) to peruse Prynne's book, &c. The archbishop went with these notes to Mr. Attorney Noy, and charged him to prosecute Prynne, which Noy afterwards did rigorously enough in the Star Chamber, and in the meantime the Bishops and Lords in the Star Chamber sent Prynne close prisoner to the Tower.' Whitelock, Memorials, p. 18.

The trial in the Star Chamber was in 1637. That court and the High Commission Court were abolished in 1640. Selden's remarks must therefore have been made at some time between the two dates. 1. 3. that the Lords sit only &c.] 'If they (sc. the bishops) vote for the clergy, then they are to be elected by the clergy, as the members of the Commons House now are; but your Lordships, voting only for yourselves, need no electors.' Solicitor St. John's speech at a conference of the two Houses, 1641. Nalson's Collections, ii. 501. So, too, in Baillie's Letters and Journals, we find it stated that the Lords represent none but themselves. Vol. i. 369.

1. 10.

The second error is &c.] That a money bill must originate with

that the House of Commons are to begin to give subsidies; yet if the Lords dissent, they can give no money.

2. The House of Commons is called the Lower House in twenty acts of parliament: but what are twenty acts of parliament amongst friends?

3. The form of a charge runs thus, I accuse in the name of all the Commons of England. How then can any man be as a witness, when every man is made an accuser?

XXIII.

COMPETENCY.

THAT which is a competency for one man, is not enough for another; no more than that which will keep one man warm will keep another man warm: one man can go in

the House of Commons is admitted on all hands. But whether the opinion, that if the Lords dissent the Commons can give no money, is, as Selden terms it, an error, is more than doubtful. It is true that the Bill of Subsidy is offered by the Commons only; but before that stage is reached, it is sent up to the Lords, is thrice read by them, and is then sent back to the Commons, and there it remaineth to be carried by the Speaker, when he shall present it.' See Orders and Proceedings of the Commons, ch. xv. Harleian MS. v. 266.

Sir Erskine May says expressly that 'A grant from the Commons is not effectual, in law, without the ultimate assent of the Queen and of the House of Lords.' Law, &c., of Parliament, p. 638 (9th ed.).

Indeed, that the Commons in Selden's day had a less independent control over grants than they have gained since, appears from the fact that although their right to originate grants was unquestionable, yet bills of supply were, until 1671, liable to be amended by the Lords. Ibid. p. 641.

1. 6. The form of a charge &c.] See, Message to the Lords re Strafford, delivered by Mr. Pym at the command of the House: 'My Lords. . . . I do here in the name of the Commons now assembled in Parliament, and in the name of all the Commons of England, accuse Thomas, Earl of Strafford, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, of High Treason.' Nalson, Collections, vol. ii. p. 7.

There are other instances given at p. 796, and passim.

doublet and hose, when another man cannot be without a cloak, and yet have no more clothes than is necessary for him.

XXIV.

CONFESSION.

I. IN the time of parliament it used to be one of the first things the house did, to petition the king that his confessor might be removed; as fearing either his power with the king, or else, lest he should reveal to the pope what the house was in doing, as no doubt he did, when the Catholic Io cause was concerned.

2. The difference between us and the papists is, we both allow contrition, but the papists make confession a part of contrition; they say, a man is not sufficiently contrite, unless he confess his sins to a priest.

3. Why should I think a priest will not reveal confession? I am sure he will do any other thing that is forbidden him, haply not so often as I. The uttermost punishment is deprivation. And how can it be proved, that ever any man revealed confession, when there is no witness? And no 20 man can be witness in his own cause. A mere gullery. There was a time when 'twas public in the church, and that is much against their auricular confession.

XXV.

GREAT CONJUNCTION.

THE greatest conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter happens but once in eight hundred years, and therefore astrologers

1. 24. The greatest conjunction &c.] 'Conjonction en Astronomie se dit de la rencontre apparente de deux astres ou de deux planètes dans le même point des cieux, ou plutôt dans le même degré du zodiaque.

can make no experiments of it, nor foretell what it means; not but that the stars may mean something, but we cannot tell what because we cannot come at them. Suppose a planet were a simple, or an herb; how could a physician tell the virtue of that simple, unless he came at it, to apply it?

XXVI.

CONSCIENCE.

I. HE that hath a scrupulous conscience, is like a horse that is not well wayed1; he starts at every bird that flies out 10 of the hedge.

2. A knowing man will do that which a tender con

1 Wayed, H. 2] weighed H.

The conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, placed by astronomers among the grand conjunctions, happens once in every twenty years. A less frequent conjunction, placed among the very grand, is that of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars, which happens once in every five hundred years. See Diderot and D'Alembert, Encyclopédie, under heading Conjonction.

If Selden is writing of astrological conjunctions (as it would appear he is, from the remarks which follow) see, on the whole passage,— Planetarum prima diversitas est in virtutibus propriis. Nam Saturnus est frigidus et siccus, et omnis pigritiae et mortificationis et destructionis rerum causativus per egressum siccitatis et frigoris. Mars vero est corruptivus propter egressum caliditatis et siccitatis et isti duo planetae nunquam faciunt bonum nisi per accidens; sicut aliquando venenum est bonum per accidens

• ...

• ...

Habent autem planetae virtutes alias a signis et iterum penes aspectus, qui sunt conjunctio, oppositio, etc. Conjuncti dicuntur planetae, quando sunt in eodem signo oppositi, quando unus est in septimo ab alio Quando vero malus opponitur aut conjungitur malo, tunc magnum malum est, &c. R. Bacon, Opus Majus, p. 237-8. 1.9. well wayed;] Explained in Bailey's Etymological English Dict. 'to way a horse is to teach him to travel in the way.'

'Way'd Horse (with horsemen) is one who is already backed, suppled and broken and shows a disposition to the manage.'

E

scienced man dares not do, by reason of his ignorance; the other knows there is no hurt: as a child is afraid to go in the dark, when a man is not, because he knows there's no danger.

3. If we once come to leave that out-loose, as to pretend conscience against law, who knows what inconveniency may follow? For thus, suppose an anabaptist comes and takes my horse; I sue him, he tells me he did according to his conscience; his conscience tells him all things are 10 common amongst the saints, what is mine is his; therefore you do ill to make such a law, if any man take another's horse he shall be hanged. What can I say to this man? He does according to his conscience. Why is not he as honest a man, as he that pretends a ceremony, established by law, is against his conscience? Generally to pretend conscience against law is dangerous; in some cases haply

we may.

4. Some men make it a case of conscience, whether a man may have a pigeon-house, because his pigeons eat 20 other folks' corn. But there is no such thing as conscience in the business. The matter is, whether he be a man of such quality, that the state allows him to have a dovehouse; if So, there's an end to the business; his pigeons have a right to eat where they list themselves.

1. 21.

The matter is, whether he be &c.] The law seems to have been that-A lord of a manor might build a dove-cote upon his land, parcel of his manor, and this he might do by virtue of his right as lord thereof. It appears also from the obiter dicta in a case before the King's Bench, that the parson had a like right. But the tenant of a manor could not do it without licence, the reason assigned being that he can have no right to any privilege that may be prejudicial to others.

In every case, however, in which pigeons came upon a man's land, he might lawfully kill them, the quality of their owner notwithstanding. See Croke's Reports of cases in the reign of James I, pp. 382, 490, and Salkeld's Reports of cases in the reign of William and Mary, vol. iii. p. 248, sub voce 'Nuisance.'