The Petition exhibited to His Majesty by the Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and Commons in this present Parliament assembled, concerning
divers Rights and Liberties of the Subjects, with the King's Majesty's
Royal Answer thereunto in full. Parliament.
TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY: Humbly show unto our Sovereign
Lord the King, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons in
Parliament assembled, that whereas it is declared and enacted by a
statute made in the time of the reign of King Edward the First,
commonly called Statutum de Tallagio non concedendo,[1] that no
tallage [here, a tax levied by the King upon the lands of the crown,
and upon all royal towns] or aid shall be laid or levied by the King
or his heirs in this realm, without the goodwill and assent of the
Archbishops, Bishops, Earls, Barons, Knights, Burgesses, and other the
freemen of the commonalty of this realm: and by authority of
Parliament holden in the five and twentieth year of the reign of King
Edward the Third, it is declared and enacted, that from henceforth no
person shall be compelled to make any loans to the King against his
will, because such loans were against reason and the franchise of the
land; and by other laws of this realm it is provided, that none should
be charged by any charge or imposition, called a Benevolence, or by
such like charge, by which the statutes before-mentioned, and other
the good laws and statutes of this realm, your subjects have inherited
this freedom, that they shuld not be compelled to contribute to any
tax, tallage, aid, or other like charge, not set by common consent in
Parliament.
[1] A statute concerning tallage not granted by Parliament. This is
now held not to have been a statute. See Gardiner's "Documents of the
Puritan Revolution," p. 1. It is considered by Stubbs an unauthorized
and imperfect abstract of Edward I's Confirmation of the Charters--
which see.
Yet nevertheless, of late divers commissions directed to sundry
Commissioners in several counties with instructions have issued; by
means whereof your people have been in divers places assembled, and
required to lend certain sums of money unto your Majesty, and many of
them upon their refusal so to do, have had an oath administered unto
them, not warrantable by the laws or statutes of this realm, and have
been constrained to become bound to make appearance and give
attendance before your Privy Council, and in other places, and others
of them have been therefore imprisoned, confined, and sundry other
ways molested and disquieted: and divers other charges have been laid
and levied upon your people in several counties, by Lords Lieutenants,
Deputy Lieutenants, Commissioners for Musters, Justices of Peace and
others, by command or direction from your Majesty or your Privy
Council, against the laws and free customs of this realm:
And where also by the statute called, "The Great Charter of the
Liberties of England," it is declared and enacted, that no freeman may
be taken or imprisoned or be disseized of his freeholds or liberties,
or his free customs, or be outlawed or exiled; or in any manner
destroyed, but by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of
the land:
And in the eighth and twentieth year of the reign of King Edward the
Third, it was declared and enacted by authority of Parliament, that no
man of what estate or condition that he be, should be put out of his
lands or tenements, nor taken, nor imprisoned, nor disenherited, nor
put to death, without being brought to answer by due process of law:
Nevertheless, against the tenor of the said statutes, and other the
good laws and statutes of your realm, to that end provided, divers of
your subjects have of late been imprisoned without any cause showed,
and when for their deliverance they were brought before your Justices,
by your Majesty's writs of Habeas Corpus, there to undergo and receive
as the Court should order, and their keepers commanded to certify the
causes of their detainer; no cause was certified, but that they were
detained by your Majesty's special command, signified by the Lords of
your Privy Council, and yet were returned back to several prisons,
without being charged with anything to which they might make answer
according to law:
And whereas of late great companies of soldiers and mariners have been
dispersed into divers counties of the realm, and the inhabitants
against their wills have been compelled to receive them into their
houses, and there to suffer them to sojourn, against the laws and
customs of this realm, and to the great grievance and vexation of the
people:
And whereas of late great companies of soldiers and mariners have been
dispersed into divers counties of the realm, and the inhabitants
against their wills have been compelled to receive them into their
houses, and there to suffer them to sojourn, against the laws and
customs of this realm, and to the great grievance and vexation of the
people:
And whereas also by authority of Parliament, in the 25th year of the
reign of King Edward the Third, it is declared and enacted, that no
man shall be forejudged of life or limb against the form of the Great
Charter, and the law of the land: and by the said Great Charter and
other the laws and statutes of this your realm, no man ought to be
adjudged to death; but by the laws established in this your realm,
either by the customs of the same realm or by Acts of Parliament: and
whereas no offender of what kind soever is exempted from the
proceedings to be used, and punishments to be inflicted by th elaws
and statutes of this your realm; nevertheless of late divers
commissions under your Majesty's Great Seal have issued forth, by
which certain persons have been assigned and appointed Commissioners
with power and authority to proceed within the land, according to the
justice of martial law against such soldiers and mariners, or other
dissolute persons joining with them, as should commit any murder,
robbery, felony, mutiny, or other outrage or misdemeanour whatsoever,
and by such summary course and order, as is agreeable to martial law,
and is used in armies in time of war, to proceed to the trial and
condemnation of such offenders, and them to cause to be executed and
put to death, according to the law martial:
By pretext whereof, some of your Majesty's subjects have been by some
of the said Commissioners put to death, when and where, if by the laws
and statutes of the land they had deserved death, by the same laws and
statutes also they might, and by no other ought to have been, adjudged
and executed.
And also sundry grievous offenders by colour thereof, claiming an
exemption, have escaped the punishments due to them by the laws and
statutes of this your realm, by reason that divers of your officers
and ministers of justice have unjustly refused, or forborne to proceed
against such offenders according to the same laws and statutes, upon
pretence that the said offenders were punishable only by martial law,
and by authority of such commissions as aforesaid, which commissions,
and all other of like nature, are wholly and directly contrary to the
said laws and statutes of this your realm:
They do therefore humbly pray your Most Excellent Majesty, that no man
hereafter be compelled to make or yield any gift, loan, benevolence,
tax, or such like charge, without common consent by Act of Parliament;
and that none be called to make answer, or take such oath, or to give
attendance, or be confined, or otherwise molested or disquieted
concerning the same, or for refusal thereof; and that no freeman, in
any such manner as is before-mentioned, be imprisoned or detained; and
that your Majesty will be pleased to remove the said soldiers and
mariners, and that your people may not be so burdened in time to come;
and that the foresaid commissions for proceeding by martial law may be
revoked and annulled; and that hereafter no commissions of like nature
may issue forth to any person or persons whatsoever, to be executed as
aforesaid, lest by colour of them any of your Majesty's subjects be
destroyed or put to death, contrary to the laws and franchise of the
land.
All which they most humbly pray of your Most Excellent Majesty, as
their rights and liberties according to the laws and statutes of this
realm: and that your Majesty would also vouchsafe to declare, that the
awards, doings, and proceedings to the prejudice of your people, in
any of the premises, shall not be drawn hereafter into consequence or
example: and that your Majesty would be also graciously pleased, for
the further comfort and safety of your people, to declare your royal
will and pleasure, that in the things aforesaid all your officers and
ministers shall serve you, according to the laws and statutes of this
realm, as they tender the honour of your Majesty, and the prosperity
of this kingdom.
[Which Petition being read the 2d of June, 1628, th eKing gave the
following evasive and unsatisfactory answer, instead of the usual one,
given below.]
The King willeth that right be done according to the laws and customs
of the realm: and that the statutes be put in due execution, that his
subjects may have no cause to complain of any wrong or oppressions,
contrary to their just rights and liberties, to the preservation
whereof he holds himself as well obliged as of his prerogative.
On June 7 the King decided to make answer in the accustomed form, Soit
droit fait comme est desir'e. [Equivalent to the form of royal assent,
"Le roi (or la reine) le veult," meaning "the King grants it." On the
Petition of Right, see Hallam and compare Gardiner's "England"; and
his "Documents of the Puritan Revolution."]
The Bill of Rights, 1689.
This Bill consists of thirteen Articles, of which the following is an
abstract. It begins by stating that "Whereas the late King James II,
by the advice of divers evil counsellors, judges, and ministers
employed by him, did endeavor to subvert and extirpate the Protestant
religion, and the laws and liberties of this kingdom:" 1. By
dispensing with and suspending the laws without consent of Parliament.
2. By prosecuting worthy bishops for humbly petitioning him to be
excused for concurring in the same assumed power. 3. By erecting a
High Commission Court. 4. By levying money without consent of
Parliament. 5. By keeping a standing army in time of peace without
consent of Parliament. 6. By disarming Protestants and arming Papists.
7. By violating the freedom of elections. 8. By arbitrary and illegal
prosecutions. 9. By putting corrupt and unqualified persons on juries.
10. By requiring excessive bail. 11. By imposing excessive fines and
cruel punishments. 12. By granting fines and forfeiture against
persons before their conviction.
It is then declared that "the late King James the Second having
abdicated the government, and the throne being thereby vacant,"
therefore the Prince of Orange ("whom it hath pleased Almighty God to
make the glorious instrument of delivering their kingdom from Popery
and arbitrary power") did by the advice of "the Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and divers principal persons of the Commons "summon a
Convention Parliament."
This Convention Parliament declares, that the acts above enumerated
are contrary to the law. They then bestow the Crown on William and
Mary--the sole regal power to be vested only in the Prince of Orange--
and provide that after the decease of William and Mary the Crown shall
descend "to the heirs of the body of the said Princess; and, for
default of such issue, to the Princess Anne of Denmark[1] and the
heirs of her body; and for default of such issue, to the heirs of the
body of the said Prince of Orange."
[1] The Princess Anne, sister of the Princess Mary, married Prince
George of Denmark in 1683; hence she is here styled "the Princess of
Denmark."
Here follow new oaths of allegiance and supremacy in lieu of those
formerly required.
The subsequent articles are as follows: IV. Recites the acceptance of
the Crown by William and Mary. V. The Convention Parliament to provide
for "the settlement of the religion, laws, and liberties of the
Kingdom." VI. All the clauses in the Bill of Rights are "the true,
ancient, and indubitable rights and liberties of the people of this
Kingdom." VII. Recognition and declaration of William and Mary as King
and Queen. VIII. Repetition of the settlement of the Crown and
limitations of the succession. IX. Exclusion from the Crown of all
persons holding communion with the "Church of Rome" or who "profess
the Popish religion" or who "shall marry a Papist." X. Every King or
Queen hereafter succeeding to the Crown to assent to the Act
[i.e. Disabling Act of 1678 (S478)] "disabling Papists from sitting in
either House of Parliament." XI. The King and Queen assent to all the
articles of the Bill of Rights. XII. The Dispensing Power (S488,
note 1) abolished. XIII. Exception made in favor of charters, grants,
and pardons made before October 23, 1689.