A discovrse concerning the svccesse of former Parliaments

A discovrse concerning the svccesse of former Parliaments

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Title page

A DISCOVRSE Concerning Former Parliaments.

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A DISCOVRSE CONCERNING THE SVCCESSE OF Former Parliaments.

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Imprinted at LONDON: MDCXLII.

A DISCOVRSE Concerning Former Parliaments.

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SIR:

I Have, according to my ſmall abilitie, and the ſhortneſſe of time, fulfilled your command, in ſending to you this briefe and plaine Diſcourſe concerning the ancient opinions and eſteeme of Engliſh Parliaments (for that was all which you deſired) without any reflection upon the proceedings of this preſent Parliament: accept it only [Page] as a plaine peece of common talk, which I would have delivered, had I beene preſent with you: Such diſcourſes need no dreſſe of Rhetorique.

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THe conſtitution of our Engliſh Monarchy is by wiſe men eſteemed one of the beſt in Europe, as well for the ſtrength and honour of the Prince, as the ſecuritie and freedome of the people; and the Baſis, on which both are founded, is the conveniencie of that great Councell, the High Court of Parliament.

Without which neither can the Prince enjoy that honour and felicitie, which Philip de Commines, a forrainer, ſo much admires, where he delivers what advantages the Kings of England have by that Repreſentative Body of their people, by whoſe aſſiſtance in any action they can neither want meanes, or loſe reputation. Nor on the other ſide, can the people have any poſſibilitie of pleading their owne rights and liberties. For in the Interim betweene Parliaments, the People are too ſcattered and confuſed a body, to appeare in vindication of their proper intereſts; and by too long abſence of ſuch Aſſemblies they would loſe all. For (as Iunius obſerves) Populus [...] heritatem ſua [...] tac [...]tè non ut endo amitti [...]; ſic plerumque accidit ut quod omnes curare tenentur curet nemo, quodomnibus commiſſum est, nemo ſibi commendatum putet:

The People inſenſibly loſe their power for [Page] want of uſing it: for ſo it happens, that what all ſhould look after, no man does; what is committed to all, no man thinks his owne charge.

And in that Interim it happens, that thoſe Optimates Regni (as he ſpeaks) who under the Prince are entruſted with government, meaning Councellours, Judges, and other great Magiſtrates, either through feare, flatterie, or private corruption, doe often betray the peoples rights to the Prince.

The ſtate of government ſtanding thus; If diſtempered times happen to be (as our Chronicles have ſhewed ſome) where by diſſention betweene Prince and People, the Kingdomes ruine hath beene endangered, it doth not ſo much prove that the Engliſh government is not the beſt, as that the beſt government may be abuſed. For in everie Monarchy, how limited ſoever, the Prince his perſon is inveſted with ſo much Majeſtie, that it would ſeeme a mockerie in State, if there were no conſiderable power entruſted into his hands; yea, ſo much as that, if he be bad or weak, he may endanger the ruine of the Kingdome; ſo neceſſary is it for all humane ordinances, how wiſe ſo ever, to leave ſomewhat to Chance, and to have alwayes need of recourſe to God, for his aſſiſting or curing Providence.

And though the Kingdome of England, by vertue of the government thereof, will be as hardly brought into a confuſion, as any in Europe; yet there is no warrant againſt the poſſibilitie of it.

[Page]For it was ever heretofore ſeene, that our Parliaments were rather a ſtrength and advantage to an honourable wiſe Prince, than a remedy againſt a bad or weak one; or, if wee change the expreſſion, they were rather an excellent diet to preſerve a good raigne in ſtrength, than Phyſick to cure a bad one; and therefore have been as much loved by ſound and healthy Princes, as loathed by them that were out of temper; the later having thought them a depreſſion of their dignitie: as the former have eſteemed them an advantage to their ſtrength. So that in ſuch times only the true convenience of that great Councell hath been perceived by England, and admired by forreine Authors: in the other times it was, that thoſe wittie complaints have been in faſhion (as Sir Robert Cotton ſpeaks of a bad time) that Princes in Parliaments are leſſe than they ſhould be, and Subjects greater. But on the contrarie, that they have been an advantage to Kings, the conſtant Series of our hiſtorie will ſhew. 1. By thoſe great atchievements which they have enabled our wiſe Kings to make, who were moſt conſtant in calling them, and conſenting to them. 2. That no one Prince was ever yet happie without the uſe of them.

It may therefore ſeeme a Paradox, that any Prince ſhould diſaffect that which is ſo high an advantage to him, and a great wonder, that ſome Kings of England, not vicious in their diſpoſitions, nor verie ſhallow in their underſtandings, [Page] have ſo much kicked againſt Parliaments. And that ſuch have been (before we ſhew what reaſons may be of it) ſee the characters of ſome Princes, whoſe ſucceſſe and fortunes are knowne to all that read the hiſtories, as they are delivered by Polydore Virgil, who in his ſixteenth book ſpeaks thus of Henry the third: Fuit ingenio miti, animo magis nobili quàm magno, cultor religionis, adverſus inopes liberalis. Hee was of a gentle nature, a mind rather noble than great, a lover of religion, and liberall to the poore.

In his eighteenth Book thus of Edward the ſecond; Fuit illi natura bona, ingenium mite, quem primò juvenili errore actum in leviora vitia incidentem, tandem in graviora malorum conſuetudines & conſilia traxerunt. Non deerant illi animi vires, ſi repudiatis malis ſuaſoribus illas juſtè exercuiſſet. He was of a good nature and mild diſpoſition, who firſt by the errours and raſhneſſe of youth falling into ſmall faults, was afterwards drawne into greater, by the ſocietie and counſels of wicked men. There was not wanting in him a ſtrength of mind, if avoyding evill counſell, hee could have made a juſt uſe of it.

And in his twentieth Book, thus of Richard the ſecond; Fuit in illo ſpiritus non vilis, quem conſociorum improbitas, & inſulſitas extinxit. He was of a ſpirit not low or baſe, but ſuch as was quite deſtroyed by the wickedneſſe and folly of unhappy Conſociates.

A reaſon of this accident may be, that their [Page] ſoules, though not vicious, have not been ſo large▪ nor their affections ſo publike, as their great calling hath required; but being too much mancipat d to private fancies and unhappie Favourites, and long flattered in thoſe affections under the ſpecious name of firmneſſe in friendſhip, (not being told that the adaequate object of a Prince his love ſhould be the whole people, and that they who receive publike honour, ſhould returne a generall love and care) they have too much neglected the Kingdome, and grow at laſt afraid to look their faces in ſo true a glaſſe as a Patliament, and flying the remedy, encreaſe the diſeaſe, till it come to that unhappie height, that rather than acknowledge any unjuſt action, they ſtrive for an unjuſt power to give it countenance, and ſo by a long conſequence become hardly reconcilable to a Parliamentarie way.

Such Princes (though it may ſeeme ſtrange) have been a greater affliction to this Kingdome, than thoſe who have been moſt wicked, and more incurable for theſe reaſons. 1. They have not been ſo conſcious to themſelves of great crimes; and therefore not ſo apt to be ſenſible of what they have beene accidentally made to doe againſt their people by evill counſell, whoſe poyſon themſelves did not perfectly underſtand. And therefore they are more prone to ſuſpect the people, as unkind to them, than themſelves as faultie, and ſo the more hardly drawne to repent their actions, or meet heartily with a Parliament. 2. The ſecond [Page] reaſon is from the People, who naturally looke with honour upon the Prince, and when they find none, or few perſonall vices in him (not conſidering that the true vertues of Princes have a larger extent than thoſe of private men) will more hardly be brought to think, though themſelves feele, and ſuffer for it, that he is faultie; and therfore ſometimes (which would hardly be beleeved, if experience had not ſhewed it) the People have been ſo raſh as that to maintaine for the King an unjuſt Prerogative, which themſelves underſtand not, they have to their owne ruine, and the Kings too (as it hath after proved) deſerted that great Councell whom themſelves have choſen, and by whom only they could be preſerved in their juſt rights; untill too late, for the Kings happineſſe and their owne, they have ſeene and repented their great folly.

Such a deſertion was too ſadly feene at the end of that Parliament of Edward the ſecond, where the two Spencers were baniſhed, and the tragicall effects that followed, when the King found ſo great a partie both of Clergie and Laitie, as enabled him to call home againe his baniſhed Favourites, and proved fatall to ſo many Parliamentarie Lords, as the like execution of Nobilitie had never before beene ſeene in England: over whoſe graves the People afterwards wept when it was too late, and proceeded further in their revenge, than became the dutie aud allegeance of Subjects.

It is therefore a great miſ-fortune to England, [Page] and almoſt a certaine calamitie, when the diſtempers of government have been let grow ſo long, as that for their cure they muſt need a long Parliament. For there are no wayes, how juſt, how moderate ſoever they be, which that great Councell can take (if they go far enough to make the cure) but will provoke, either by the meanes, or the length of them, the Prince his impatience, or the peoples inconſtancie.

For the firſt; the Delinquents muſt needs be many and great▪ and thoſe employed, and perchance highly favoured by him, beſides the reflexion which is made upon his judgement by their ſufferings, and that will be one reaſon of his impatience.

Another is, that many prerogatives which were not indeed inherent in the Crowne, but ſo thought by the Prince, and by him and his bad Councell long abuſed, to the prejudice of the People, with ſome ſeeming advantage to him▪ (though well weighed they brought none) are then after a long ſufferance called in queſtion.

For the People are uſed to entruſt kind Princes with many of their owne rights and priviledges, and never call for them againe till they have beene extremely abuſed. But at ſuch a time to make all cleare after ſo long a reckoning (and thoſe long reckonings in State being commonly fatall; for Parliaments have ſeldome beene diſcontinued, but by ſuch Princes whoſe governments in the Interim have been verie illegall) they [Page] uſually queſtion ſo much, as that the Prince thinks himſelfe hardly dealt withall, ſuch a Prince as we ſpoke of, who not bad in himſelfe, but long miſled by wicked counſell, was not enough ſenſible of the injuries he had done.

The ſecond obſtacle that ſuch Parliaments may find is the Peoples inconſtancie; and what age is not full of ſuch examples which before we name, let us conſider whether there be any reaſon for it? This perchance may be one, that the People naturally are lovers of noveltie, affecting with greedineſſe everie change, and againe loathing it when it ceaſes to be a noveltie. Long-diſcontinued and reforming Parliaments ſeemes to carrie the face of a change of government, and thoſe things may then happen which doe in the ſhift of Princes, that ſome people may for a while flatter themſelves with new and ſtrange hopes, that prove fruſtrate; or elſe with quicker redreſſes of inconvenience, than the great concurrence of ſo many weightie buſineſſes can poſſibly admit, how induſtrious ſoever that great Councell be, diſtracted with ſo great a varietie; and the people after ſome time ſpent, grow wearie againe of what before they ſo long had wiſhed to ſee. Beſides, the people are more and more poyſoned daily by the diſcourſes of the friends, kindred, and retainers to ſo many great Delinquents, as muſt needs be at ſuch a Parliament: who, though they be no conſiderable partie in reſpect of the whole Common-wealth, yet ply their particular intereſts [Page] with more eagerneſſe than moſt doe the publike. They ſubtilly perſwade the people, that whatſoever the Parliament does againſt thoſe great Delinquents is aimed againſt the Kings honour, and that he is wounded thorow their ſides. And this opinion is ſomewhat furthered, when the People fee how many prerogatives of the Prince (as wee ſaid before) are after long enjoying called in queſtion. So that by this meanes their inconſtancie ſeemes to be grounded upon loyaltie to the King, and they (perchance with honeſt, but deceived hearts) grow wearie of the great Councell of the Land.

Another reaſon may be, that the Prince himſelfe averſe from ſuch a Parliament, for the reaſons aforeſaid, can find power enough to retard their proceedings, and keep off the cure of State ſo long, till the People tired with expectation of it, have by degrees forgot the ſharpneſſe of thoſe diſeaſes, which before required it.

By this meanes at laſt, accidentally a miracle hath been wrought after a long Parliament, which is, that the People have taken part with the great Delinquents againſt the Parliament, for no other reaſon, than becauſe thoſe Delinquents had done them more wrong than the Parliament could ſuddenly redreſſe. And ſo the multitude of thoſe great Delinquents crimes hath turned to their owne advantage.

But in ſuch reforming Parliaments, upon whom ſo much buſineſſe lyes, not only the inconſtancie [Page] of the people hath been ſeene in hiſtorie, but the unſtedfaſtneſſe of the Repreſentative Body it ſelfe: and the diſtractions of that Aſſembly, whilſt they forſake each other under ſo great a burden, have let that burden fall diſhonourably to the ground. The moſt unhappie inſtance in this caſe, was that Parliament of Richard the ſecond begun at Weſtminſter, and adjourned to Shrewsbury in the nineteenth yeare of his reigne; a Parliament that diſcharged their truſt the worſt of any that I read of; where there was as much need of conſtancie and magnanimitie as ever was, to redreſſe thoſe great diſtempers which were then growne upon the State; and as much miſchiefe enſued by their default, both upon Prince and People, which might have beene well prevented, and his happineſſe wrought together with their owne (in the judgement of beſt Wtiters) if they had timely and conſtantly joyned together in maintaining the true rights of Parliament, and reſiſting the illegall deſires of their ſeduced King. But being fatally diſtracted, the major part of Lords and Biſhops wrought upon by the King, and the Houſe of Commons too far prevailed with by Buſhy the Speaker, and his Inſtruments, they utterly deſerted the Common-wealth, and looking only upon the Kings preſent deſire, aſſented to ſuch things as made the Prerogative a thing boundleſſe; that he himſelfe (as the Storie reports) was heard glorying to ſay, That there was no free and abſolute Monarch in Europe but himſelfe. Upon which, [Page] the ſame bad counſell which had before brought him out of love with Parliaments, brought him to as great an abuſe of that power which hee had now gotten over a Parliament. And then followed the blank Charters, and other horrid extortions, beſides the ſuffering of ſome Lords, whom the people moſt loved; and ſhortly after, by a ſad conſequence, his owne ruine. Nor doe wee read that any of thoſe Lords, who under colour of loyaltie and love (as they called it) to his perſon, had trodden downe the power and priviledge of a Parliament under his feet, had afterwards ſo much loyaltie to him, as to defend his Crowne and Perſon againſt the force of an Uſurper, who without any reſiſtance or contradiction unjuſtly aſcended the Royall Throne: the ſad occaſion of that miſerable and cruell civill war, which in the following ages ſo long afflicted the Kingdome of England. This was the worſt example of any Parliament; but in other times, though bad too, they have proved better Phyſick than any other earthly wayes or meanes could be; yet their greateſt vertue and excellencie is ſeene, when they have been uſed as a diet by honourable and juſt Princes, ſuch as this Nation hath been often bleſt with; and ſuch who have thought it no diſparagement or depreſſion of their dignitie, to be ruled by the ſway of that great Councell, than a wiſe guider of a ſhip would think it to follow his Compaſſe, or any Mathematician to be directed by his neceſſarie rules and inſtruments.

FINIS.

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Information about this book

Title statement

A discovrse concerning the svccesse of former Parliaments

May, Thomas, 1595-1650.

Edition statement

1642

Publication

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

Place of publication

Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) :

Date

2005-12 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).

ID [DLPS]

A50364

ID [STC]

Wing M1404

ID [STC]

ESTC R2156

ID [EEBO-CITATION]

12689245

ID [OCLC]

ocm 12689245

ID [VID]

65823

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(EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A50364)

Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 65823)

Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 252:E154, no 51)

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— A discovrse concerning the svccesse of former Parliaments, May, Thomas, 1595-1650..

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[2], 12 p.

[s.n.]. Imprinted at London :: 1642.. (Author's name appears in the 2nd (1644) ed. Cf. DNB.) (Reproduction of original in Thomason Collection, British Library.)

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