We can not give a better proof and illustration of what has been said than by transcribing the substance of one of King James's messages to his Parliament, delivered about the close of his life, and, of course, at the period of which we are writing. It was as follows:
"My Lords spiritual and temporal, and you the Commons: In my last
Parliament I made long discourses, especially to them of the
Lower House. I did open the true thought of my heart. But I may
say with our Savior, 'I have piped to you and ye have not danced;
I have mourned to you and you have not lamented;' so all my
sayings turned to me again without any success. And now, to tell
the reasons of your calling and of this meeting, apply it to
yourselves, and spend not the time in long speeches. Consider
that the Parliament is a thing composed of a head and a body; the
monarch and the two estates. It was, first, a monarchy; then,
after, a Parliament. There are no Parliaments but in monarchical
governments; for in Venice, the Netherlands, and other free
governments there are none. The head is to call the body
together; and for the clergy the bishops are chief, for shires
their knights, for towns and cities their burgesses and citizens.
These are to treat of difficult matters, and counsel their king
with their best advice to make laws[A] for the commonweal and the
Lower House is also to petition the king and acquaint him with
their grievances, and not to meddle with the king's prerogative.
They are to offer supply for his necessity, and he to distribute,
in recompense thereof, justice and mercy. As in all Parliaments
it is the king's office to make good laws, whose fundamental
cause is the people's ill manners, so at this time.
[Footnote A: Meaning advice to him how he shall make laws, as is evident from what is said below.]
"For a supply to my necessities, I have reigned eighteen years,
in which I have had peace, and I have received far less supply
than hath been given to any king since the Conquest. The last
queen had, one year with another, above a hundred thousand pounds
per annum in subsidies; and in all my time I have had but four
subsidies and six fifteens[B]. It is ten years since I had a
subsidy, in all which time I have been sparing to trouble you. I
have turned myself as nearly to save expenses as I may. I have
abated much in my household expenses, in my navies, and the
charge of my munition."
[Footnote B: Species of taxes granted by Parliament.]
After speaking about the affairs of the Palatinate, and calling upon the Parliament to furnish him with money to recover it for his son-in-law, he adds:
"Consider the trade for the making thereof better, and show me
the reason why my mint, these eight or nine years, hath not gone.
I confess I have been liberal in my grants; but if I be informed,
I will amend all hurtful grievances. But whoever shall hasten
after grievances, and desire to make himself popular he hath the
spirit of Satan. I was, in my first Parliament, a novice; and in
my last, there was a kind of beasts, called undertakers, a
dozen of whom undertook to govern the last Parliament, and they
led me. I shall thank you for your good office, and desire that
the world may say well of our agreement."
This kind of harangue from the king to his Parliament seems not to have been considered at the time, at all extraordinary; though, if such a message were to be sent, at the present day, to a body of legislators, whether by a king or a president, it would certainly produce a sensation.
Still, notwithstanding what we have said, the Parliament did contrive gradually to attain to the possession of some privileges and powers of its own. The English people have a great deal of independence and spirit, though Americans traveling there, with ideas carried from this country, are generally surprised at finding so little instead of so much. The knights and burgesses of the House of Commons, though they submitted patiently to the forms of degradation which the lords and kings imposed upon them, gradually got possession of certain powers which they claimed as their own, and which they showed a strong disposition to defend. They claimed the exclusive right to lay taxes of every kind. This had been the usage so long, that they had the same right to it that the king had to his crown. They had a right too, to petition the king for a redress of any grievances which they supposed the people were suffering under his reign. These, and certain other powers and immunities which they had possessed, were called their privileges. The king's rights were, on the other hand, called his prerogatives. The Parliament were always endeavoring to extend, define, and establish their privileges. The king was equally bent on maintaining his ancient prerogatives. King Charles's reign derives its chief interest from the long and insane contest which he waged with his Parliament on this question. The contest commenced at the king's accession to the throne, and lasted a quarter of a century: it ended with his losing all his prerogatives and his head.
This circumstance, that the main interest in King Charles's reign is derived from his contest with his Parliament, has made it necessary to explain somewhat fully, as we have done, the nature of that body. We have described it as it was in the days of the Stuarts; but, in order not to leave any wrong impression on the mind of the reader in regard to its present condition, we must add, that though all its external forms remain the same, the powers and functions of the body have greatly changed. The despised and contemned knights and burgesses, that were not worthy to have seats provided for them when the king was delivering them his speech, now rule the world; or, at least, come nearer to the possession of that dominion than any other power has ever done, in ancient or modern times. They decide who shall administer the government, and in what way. They make the laws, settle questions of trade and commerce, decide really on peace and war, and, in a word, hold the whole control, while the nominal sovereign takes rides in the royal parks, or holds drawing-rooms in the palaces, in empty and powerless parade. There is no question that the British House of Commons has exerted a far wider influence on the destinies of the human race than any other governmental power that has ever existed. It has gone steadily on for five, and perhaps for ten centuries, in the same direction and toward the same ends; and whatever revolutions may threaten other elements of European power, the British House of Commons, in some form or other, is as sure as any thing human can be of existence and power for five or ten centuries to come.
And yet it is one of the most remarkable of the strange phenomena of social life, that this body, standing at the head, as it really does, of all human power, submits patiently still to all the marks and tokens of inferiority and degradation which accompanied its origin. It comes together when the sovereign sends writs, ordering the several constituencies to choose their representatives, and the representatives to assemble. It comes humbly into the House of Peers to listen to the instructions of the sovereign at the opening of the session, the members in a standing position, and with heads uncovered.[C] It debates these suggestions with forms and in a phraseology which imply that it is only considering what counsel to give the king. It enacts nothing-it only recommends; and it holds its existence solely at the discretion of the great imaginary power which called it into being. These forms may, very probably, soon be changed for others more true to the facts; and the principle of election may be changed, so as to make the body represent more fully the general population of the empire; but the body itself will doubtless continue its action for a very long period to come.