. 583 
LAW.. 
tienly carried to an amazing extent, by the ufe of the 
compafs, and the confequent difcovery of the Indies; the 
minds of men thus enlightened by fcience, and enlarged 
by oblervation and travel, began to entertain a more juft 
opinion of the dignity and rights of mankind. An in¬ 
undation of wealth flowed in upon the merchants and 
middling rank; while the two great eftates of the king¬ 
dom, which formerly had balanced the prerogative, the 
nobility and clergy, were greatly impoveriffed and weak¬ 
ened. The popilh clergy, detefted in their frauds and 
abufes, expofed' to the refentment of the populace, and 
ftripped of their lands and revenues, ftood trembling for 
their very exiltence. The nobles, enervated by the re¬ 
finements of luxury, (which knowledge, foreign travel, 
and the prog refs of the politer arts, are too apt to intro¬ 
duce with themfelves,) and fired with difdain at being 
rivalled in magnificence by the opulent citizens, fell into 
enormous expenfes, to gratify which they were permit¬ 
ted, by the policy of the times, to diffipate their over¬ 
grown eftates, and alienate their ancient patrimonies. 
This gradually reduced their power and their influence 
■within very moderate bounds, while the king, by the 
fpoil of the monafteries, and the great increafe of the cuf- 
toras, grew rich, independent, and haughty; and the 
commons were not yet fenfible of the ftrength they had 
acquired, nor urged to examine its extent by new bur¬ 
thens or oppreflive taxations, during the ludden opulence 
of the exchequer. Intent upon acquiring new riches, 
and happy in being freed from the infolence and tyranny 
of the orders more immediately above them, they never 
dreamed of oppofing the prerogative to which they had 
been fo little accuflomed, much lefs of taking the lead in 
oppofition, to which by their weight and their property 
they were now entitled. The latter years of Henry VIII. 
were therefore the times of the greateft defpotilfn that 
have been known in this ifland fince the death of William 
the Norman; the prerogative, as it then ftood by common 
law, (and much more when extended by act of parlia¬ 
ment,) being too large to be endured in a land of liberty. 
Queen Elizabeth, and the intermediate princes of the 
Tudor line, had almoft the fame legal powers, and fome- 
times exerted them as roughly, as their father Henry VIII. 
But the critical fituation of that princefs with regard to 
her legitimacy, her religion, her enmity with Spain, and 
her jealoufy of the queen of Scots, occafioned greater 
caution in her condudl. She, probably, or her able ad- 
vifers, had penetration enough to difeern how the power 
of the kingdom had gradually drifted its channel, and 
wifdom enough not to provoke the commons to difeover 
and feel their ftrength. She therefore drew a veil over 
the odious part of prerogative, which was never wantonly 
thrown afide, but only to anfwer fbme important pur- 
pofe; and, though the royal treafury no longer overflowed 
with the wealth of the clergy, which had been all granted 
out, and had contributed to enrich the people, die alked 
for fupplies with fuch moderation, and managed them 
t with fo much economy, that the commons were happy in 
obliging her. Such, in ffort, were her circumftances, her 
neceflities, her wifdom, and her good difpofition, that ne¬ 
ver did a prince fo long and fo entirely, for the fpace of 
half a century together, reign in the affections of the 
people. 
On the accelfion of king James I. no new degree of 
royal power was added to, or exercifed by, him; but fuch 
a feeptre was too weighty to be wielded by fuch a hand. 
The unreafonable and imprudent exertion of what was 
then deemed to be prerogative, upon trivial and unwor¬ 
thy occasions, and the claim of a more abfolute power 
inherent in the kingly office than had ever been carried 
into practice, loon awakened the deeping lion. The peo¬ 
ple heard with aftonilhment doftrines preached from the 
throne and the pulpit, fubverflve of liberty and property, 
and all the natural rights of humanity. They examined into 
the divinity of this claim, and found it weakly and falla- 
cioufly fupported; and common reafon affured them, that, 
if it were of human origin, no conftitution conld eftablifh 
it without power of revocation, no precedent could fanc- 
tify, no length of time could confirm, it. The leaders 
felt the pulfe of the nation, and found they had ability 
as well as inclination to refill it: and accordingly refilled 
and oppofed it, whenever the pufillanimous temper of the 
reigning monarch had courage to put it to the trial; and 
they gained fome little viflories in the cafes of conceal¬ 
ments, monopolies, and the difpenfing power. In the 
mean time, very little was done for the improvement of 
private juftice, except the abolition of fan<5luaries, the 
extenfion of the bankrupt-laws, the limitation of fuits and 
aflions, and the regulating of informations upon penal 
ftatutes. For I cannot clafs the laws againft witchcraft 
and conjuration under the head of improvements ; nor 
did the difpute between lord Ellcfmere and fir Edward 
Coke, concerning the powers of the Court of Chancery, 
tend much to the advancement of juftice. 
Indeed when Charles I. fucceeded to the crown of his 
father, and attempted to revive fome enormities which 
had been dormant in the reign of king James, the loans 
and benevolences extorted from the fubje<St, the arbitrary 
imprifonments for refufal, the exertion of martial law irv 
time of peace, and other doineftic grievances, clouded the 
morning of that mifguided prince’s reign; which, though 
the noon of it began a little to brighten, at laft went down 
in blood, and left, the whole kingdom in darknefs. It 
mull be acknowledged that, by the petition of right, 
enabled to aboliff thefe encroachments, the Engliffi con¬ 
ftitution received great alteration and improvement. But 
there ftill remained the latent power of the foreft-laws, 
which the crown molt unfeafonably revived. The legal 
jurifdidtion of the liar-chamber and high commiffion- 
courts was alfo extremely great; though their ufurped 
authority was ftill greater. And, if we add to thefe the 
difufe of parliaments, the ill-timed zeal and delpotic pro¬ 
ceedings of the ecclefiaftical governors in matters of mere 
indifference, together with the arbitrary levies of tonnage 
and poundage, drip-money, and other projects, we may 
fee grounds mod; amply fufficient for feeking redrefs in a 
legal conttitutional way. This redrefs, when fought, was 
alfo conllitutionally given ; for all thefe opprelfions were 
aftually abolifhed by the king in parliament, before the 
rebellion broke out, by the leveral ftatutes for triennial 
parliaments, for aboliffiing the liar-chamber and high-com- 
miftion courts, for afeertaining the extent of ferefts and 
foreft-laws, for renouncing Ihip-money and other exac¬ 
tions, and for giving up the prerogative of knighting the 
king’s tenants in capite, in confequence of their feodal 
tenures; though it mull be acknowledged that thefe con- 
ceffions were not made with fo good a grace as to conci¬ 
liate the confidence of the people. Unfortunately, either 
by his own mifmanagement, or by the arts of his enemies, 
the king had loft the reputation of fincerity; which is the 
greateft unhappinefs that can befal a prince. Though he 
had formerly drained his prerogative, not only beyond 
what the genius of the prefent times would bear, but alio 
beyond the examples of former ages, he had now con- 
fented to reduce it to a lower ebb than was confident 
with monarchical government. A conduft fo oppofite to 
his temper and principles, joined with fome raff actions 
and unguarded expreffions, made the people fufpeft that 
this condefcenfion was merely temporary. Fluffed there¬ 
fore with the fuccefs they had gained, fired with refent¬ 
ment for pad opprelfions, and dreading the confequences 
if the king ffould regain his power, the popular leaders 
(who in all ages have called themfelves the people) began 
to grow infolent and ungovernable; their infolence loon 
rendered them defperate; and defpair at length forced 
them to join with a fet of military hypocrites and enthuli- 
alls, who overturned the church and monarchy, and pro¬ 
ceeded with deliberate folemnity to the trial and murder 
of their fovereign. 
The crude and abortive fciiemes for amending the laws 
in the times of confufion which followed, mult be palled 
by i 
