them for doing our service and commandments. In these and other their proceedings, because we would not give the least show of interruption, we endured long with much patience both these and sundry other strange and exorbitant encroachments and usurpations, such as were never before attempted in that House.

We are not ignorant how much that House hath of late years endeavoured to extend their privileges, by setting up general committees for religion, for Courts of Justice, for trade, and the like; a course never heard of until of late: so as, where in former times the Knights and Burgesses were wont to communicate to the House such business as they brought from their countries; now there are so many chairs erected, to make inquiry upon all sorts of men, where complaints of all sorts are entertained, to the unsufferable disturbance and scandal of justice and government, which, having been tolerated awhile by our father and ourself, hath daily grown to more and more height; insomuch that young lawyers sitting there take upon them to decry the opinions of the Judges; and some have not doubted to maintain that the resolutions of that House must bind the Judges, a thing never heard of in ages past: but in this last assembly of Parliament they have taken on them much more than ever before.

They sent messengers to examine our Attorney-General (who is an officer of trust and secrecy) touching the execution of some commandments of ours, of which, without our leave first obtained, he was not to give account to any but ourself. They sent a captious and directory message to the Lord Treasurer, Chancellor, and Barons of the Exchequer, touching some judicial proceedings of theirs in our Court of Exchequer.

They sent messengers to examine upon sundry questions, our two Chief Justices and three other of our Judges, touching their judicial proceedings at the Gaol Delivery at Newgate, of which they are not accountable to the House of Commons.

And whereas suits were commenced in our Court of Star Chamber, against Richard Chambers, John Fowkes, Bartholomew Gilman, and Richard Phillips, by our Attorney-General, for great misdemeanours; they resolved that they were to have privilege of Parliament against us for their persons, for no other cause but because they had petitions depending in that House; and (which is more strange) they resolved

+ a signification should be made from that House, by a

letter to issue under the hand of their Speaker unto the Lord Keeper of our Great Seal, that no attachments should be granted out against the said Chambers, Fowkes, Gilman, or Phillips, during their said privilege of Parliament. Whereas it is far above the power of that House to give direction to any of our Courts at Westminster to stop attachments against any man, though never so strongly privileged; the breach of privilege being not in the Court that grants, but in the party or minister that puts in execution such attachments. And therefore, if any such letter had come to the Lord Keeper, as it did not, he should have highly offended us if he had obeyed it. Nay, they went so far as they spared not the honour of our Council Board, but examined their proceedings in the case of our customers, interrogating what this or that man of our Council said in direction of them in the business committed to their charge. And when one of the members of that House, speaking of our counsellors, said we had wicked counsel; and another said that the Council and Judges sought to trample under feet the liberty of the subject; and a third traduced our Court of Star Chamber for the sentence given against Savage, they passed without check or censure by the House. By which may appear, how far the members of that House have of late swoln beyond the rules of moderation and the modesty of former times; and this under pretence of privilege and freedom of speech, whereby they take liberty to declare against all authority of Council and Courts at their pleasure.

They sent for our Sheriff of London to examine him in a cause whereof they had no jurisdiction; their true and ancient jurisdiction extending only to their own members, and to the conservation of their privileges, and not to the censure of foreign persons and causes, which have no relation to their privileges, the same being but a late innovation. And yet upon an enforced strain of a contempt, for not answering to their satisfaction, they commit him to the Tower of London, using that outward pretext for a cause of committing him, the true and inward cause being, for that he had showed himself dutiful to us and our commandments in the matter concerning our customs.

In these innovations (which we will never permit again) they pretended indeed our service, but their drift was to break, by this means, through all respects and ligaments of government, and to erect an universal over-swaying power to themselves, which belongs only to us, and not to them.

Lastly, in their proceedings against our customers, they went about to censure them as delinquents, and to punish them for staying some goods of some factious merchants in our store-house, for not paying those duties which themselves had formerly paid, and which the customers, without interruption, had received of all other merchants many years before, and to which they were authorised both by our Great Seal and by several directions and commandments from us and our Privy Council.

To give some colour to their proceeding herein, they went about to create a new privilege (which we will never admit), that a Parliament-man hath privilege for his goods against the King; the consequence whereof would be, that he may not be constrained to pay any duties to the King during the time of privilege of Parliament. It is true, they would have this case to have been between the merchants and our farmers of our customs, and have severed them from our interest and commandment, thereby the rather to make them liable to the censure and punishment of that House. But on the other side, we holding it both unjust and dishonourable to withdraw ourself from our officers in anything they did by our commandment, or to disavow anything that we had enjoined to be done; upon Monday, the twenty-third of February, sent a message unto them by Secretary Coke', thanking them for the respect they had showed in severing the interest of our farmers from our own interest and commandment. Nevertheless we were bound in honour to acknowledge a truth, that what was done by them was done by our express commandment and direction; and if, for doing thereof, our farmers should suffer, it would highly concern us in honour. Which message was no sooner delivered unto them, but in a tumultuous and discontented manner they called Adjourn, Adjourn; and thereupon, without any cause given on our part, in a very unusual manner, adjourned unto the Wednesday following.

On which day, by the uniform wisdom of our Privy Council, we caused both Houses to be adjourned until the second day of March, hoping that in the meantime a better and more right understanding might be begotten between us and the members of that House, whereby the Parliament might come to a happy issue.

But understanding by good advertisement that their dis

1 Sir John Coke.

content did not in that time digest and pass away, we resolved to make a second adjournment until the tenth of March, which was done, as well to take time to ourself to think of some means to accommodate those difficulties, as to give them time to advise better; and accordingly we gave commandment for a second adjournment in both Houses, and for cessation of all business till the day appointed, which was very dutifully obeyed in the Higher House; no man contradicting or questioning it. But when the same commandment was delivered in the House of Commons by their Speaker, it was straightway contradicted; and although the Speaker declared unto them it was an absolute right and power in us to adjourn as well as to prorogue or dissolve, and declared and read unto them divers precedents of that House to warrant the same; yet our commandment was most contemptuously disobeyed, and some rising up to speak said they had business to do before the House should be adjourned1.

For

Whilst the Duke of Buckingham lived he was entitled to all the distempers and ill events of former Parliaments, and therefore much endeavour was used to demolish him, as the only wall of separation between us and our people. But now he is dead, no alteration was found amongst those envenomed spirits which troubled then the blessed harmony between us and our subjects, and continue still to trouble it. now under the pretence of public care of the Commonwealth they suggest new and causeless fears, which in their own hearts they know to be false; and devise new engines of mischief, so to cast a blindness upon the good affections of our people, that they may not see the truth and largeness of our heart towards them. So that now it is manifest, the Duke was not alone the mark these men shot at, but was only as a near minister of ours, taken up, on the by, and in their passage to their more secret designs; which were only to cast our affairs into a desperate condition, to abate the powers of our Crown, and to bring our government into obloquy, that in the end all things may be overwhelmed with anarchy and confusion.

We do not impute these disasters to the whole House of Commons, knowing that there were amongst them many religious, grave, and well-minded men; but the sincerer and

1 Note by Rushworth: 'Here are the passages concerning the members' deportment in the House, mentioned in this Declaration, which we forbear to repeat, in regard the same are at large expressed in the Information in the Star Chamber, before mentioned.'

better part of the House was overborne by the practices and clamours of the other, who, careless of their duties, and taking advantage of the times and our necessities, have enforced us to break off this meeting; which, had it been answered with like duty on their parts as it was invited and begun with love on ours, might have proved happy and glorious both to us and this whole nation.

We have thus declared the manifold causes we had to dissolve this Parliament, whereby all the world may see how much they have forgotten their former engagements at the entry into the war, themselves being persuaders to it; promising to make us feared by our enemies and esteemed by our friends, and how they turned the necessities grown by that war to enforce us to yield to conditions incompatible with monarchy.

And now that our people may discern that these provocations of evil men (whose punishments we reserve to a due time) have not changed our good intentions to our subjects, we do here profess to maintain the true religion and doctrine established in the Church of England, without admitting or conniving at any backsliding either to Popery or schism. We do also declare that we will maintain the ancient and just rights and liberties of our subjects, with so much constancy and justice that they shall have cause to acknowledge that under our government and gracious protection they live in a more happy and free estate than any subjects in the Christian world.. Yet let no man hereby take the boldness to abuse that liberty, turning it to licentiousness; nor misinterpret the Petition by perverting it to a lawless liberty, wantonly or frowardly, under that or any other colour, to resist lawful and necessary authority. For as we will maintain our subjects in their just liberties, so we do and will expect that they yield as much submission and duty to our royal prerogatives, and as ready obedience to our authority and commandments, as hath been promised to the greatest of our predecessors.

And for our ministers, we will not that they be terrified by those harsh proceedings that have been strained against some of them. For, as we will not command anything unjust or dishonourable, but shall use our authority and prerogatives for the good of our people; so we will expect that our ministers obey us, and they shall assure themselves we will protect them.

As for our merchants, we let them know we shall always