266
Constitutional History.
[chap.
Resuitof probably to be found in the social changes which had been at
changes. work since the days of Edward III, and which belong to an-
other part of our subject. We have seen how during the
struggle of parties in the latter years of Henry VI, especially by
the returns made to the parliament of Coventry in 1459, the
forms of election were evaded and dispensed with.
Preedomof 369. Next to purity of election the great requisite of the
Jictioniu . _ . _ . . - .
parliament, national council was freedom of action ; and tins, whether
under the exemplified in the maintenance of the privilege of members, of
kings. the right of conference with the lords, of the freedom of the
Speaker, or of freedom of debate, was sufficiently strengthened
by practice under the three Henries. The most signal examples
have been noticed already ; the case of the Speaker Thorpe
being the most important instance of disputed privilege1, and
the discussions of Henry IV with Savage and Chaucer the
most significant occasions on which the privilege of the Speaker
was asserted2. The right of conference with the lords, which
had been conceded as a matter of grace by Edward III and
Richard II, was claimed from and allowed by Henry IV, under
protest, in 14023 and 14044; in 1407 the king was obliged to
concede the whole question so far as money grants were con-
cerned. The last occasion secured to the two houses perfect
freedom of debate, and deserves special notice.
The increase Henry IV, no doubt instructed by his parliamentary experi-
theɪɪeomʃ '" ence as earl of Derby, had more than once shown irritation at
mo‰ fɪɪθ conduct of the commons, and they in return had been some-
what tedious. In 1401 they had requested that they might
have good advice and deliberation without being called upon
suddenly to answer on the most important matters at the end
of the parliament, as had been usual. The king was affronted
at the request, and commissioned the earl of Worcester to diɛ-
Henry IV own any such subtlety as was imputed to him. A day or two
to interfere after they begged the king not to listen to any report of their
Uonshbera' proceedings before they themselves informed him of them ; and
Henry acquiesced5. In 1407 however, in the parliament of
1 Above, p. 169. 2 Above, pp. 31, 69. 3 Rot. Part. iii. 486; above, p. 38.
4 lb. iii. 523 ; above, p. 43. 5 Rot. Part. iiɪ. 455, 456.
XVIII.]
Freedom of Delate.
zf>t]
Gloucester, the king, without reference to the commons, inquired
of the lords what aid was required for the exigencies of the
moment, and, having received their answer, sent for a certain
number of the commons to hear and report the opinion of the
lords. Twelve members were sent, and their report greatly
disturbed the house ; the king saw fit to recall the impolitic
measure and to recognise the rule that on money grants he
should receive the determination of the two houses by the
mouth of the speaker of the commons1. The leaving of the Money
ɪ ι , grants to be
determination of the money grant to that estate which being declared by
, . , the speaker.
collectively the richest was individually the poorest of the three
was consonant to common sense ; where taxation fell on all in
the same proportion, the commons might safely be trusted not
to vote too much : sparing their own pockets, they spared
those of the lords. But the importance of the event is not
confined to the points thus illustrated ; it contains a full recog-
nition of freedom of deliberation.
The right of the commons to consider and debate on every sɪght of the
ŋ t commons to
matter of public interest was secured to them by the recognι- debate aiɪ
• z. -, . .1 , _ matters of
tιon of their freedom of deliberation ; for although in words the public in-
king acknowledged only their right to ‘ commune on the state
of the realm and the necessary remedies,’ there was no question
of foreign policy or domestic administration that might not be
brought under that head. The kings moreover, in the old idea
of involving the third estate in a common responsibility with
themselves for all national designs, did not hesitate to lay all
sorts of business before them ∙ and the commons, as before, were
inclined to hang back rather than rashly to approach matters
in which they saw they might have little influence and incur
much blame. The care taken by Henry V in preparing for his
French war is an abundant illustration of this2 ; but many
other examples may be found. The petitions on Lollardy show
that even the clergy were not jealous of the commons when they
were ranged on the side of orthodoxy ; the closing of the great
schism was a matter on which the chancellor dilated in his
opening speech and on which the commons of their own accord
ɪ Rot. Pari. ɪii. 609 ; see above, p. 63. 2 Above, pp. 85-87.