CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE Cornell University Library The original of tinis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027916463 THE LIVES OF THE*SPE^KERa OPINIONS OF THE PKESS. " It is a rare and elaborate monument of industry and genius. It is well worthy of taking a place beside the valuable productions of Lord Campbell." — Sunday Times. " It is, in truth, a work of very considerable merit, exhibiting tokens of great' industry and care ; and there is no reason why it should not occupy a igh position in public estimation." — Morning Post. "The learned author is a very careful and truth-loving biographer." — BelVs Life in London. " To collect together the materials for nearly one-hundred-and-twenty biographical notices, scattered over a period of nearly five centuries, was indeed no easy task." — John Bull. " This volume, intimately connected with the history of the English con- stitution, will be found of the greatest use to the student as well as the states- man." — WeeMy Despatch. " This is one of a very useful class of publications auxiliary to history, and Mr. Manning has contrived to make the results of his biographical researches entertaining, while the moderate compass within which they are brought renders them convenient for reference." — The Olobe. " Nor shall we do Lord Campbell a wrong, but rather pay him a compliment in placing this able work by the side of his ' Lives of the Chancellors.' " — St. James's Magazine. " Mr. Manning has collated from every available source, a complete and correct account of those who have gloried in the title of the ' First Com- moner of the Realm.' " — Britannia. " The kindly perseverance with which the author follows out the family destinies of the functionaries whom he has undertaken to biographise, betokens a general love for his subject, exercised not a little to the profit of his readers." — Atlas. " This work is a valuable sequel to Lord Campbell's ' Lives of the Chan- cellors and Chief Justices of England.'" — BelVs Weekly Messenger. "The ' Lives of the Speakers' will always be valuable as a book of reference." — Observer. THE LIVES or THE SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, PROM THE TIME OF KING EDWARD III. TO QUEEN VICTORIA, COMPRISING THE BIOGRAPHIES OF UPWARDS OF ONE HUNDRED iistitiguisliBii "^tmu, AND COPIOUS DETAILS OF THE PARLIAMENTARY HISTORY OF ENGLAND, FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC DOCUMENTS. BY JAMES ALEXANDER MANNING, Esq., OF THE INNER TEMPLE. LONDON: GEORGE WILyS, GREAT. PIAZZA, COVENT GARDEN. 185L DA t\sb^t><^ ^ MTEKS AND CO., PKINTBES, 22, TAVISTOOK-STKBET, COTENT GARDEN. TO THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES SHAW LEFEVRE, Spca&cr o{ tl)e ^oui^e of CommoniS. To you who have so long and so worthily presided over the deliberations of the third Estate of the Kealm, and have so ably maintained the privileges and dignity of Parliament, with transcendent urbanity, impartiality, and integrity, I dedicate this record of your illustrious predecessors, whose names and actions must be fondly cherished by every British subject who rejoices in the freedom which Parliaments have achieved, and can alone preserve. I have the honour to subscribe myself, Your very obedient humble servant, JAMES ALEXANDER MANNING. PREFACE. The Lives of the Speakers has no pretension to merit beyond that of novelty, no such work having any previous existence, Browne Willis's account of the Speakers being but a briefly annotated, and by no means correct, list of those who, up to his time, had filled the chair of St. Stephens, while the late Mr. Townsend's admirable, but unfinished " History of the House of Commons," commences only with the Convention Parliament of 1688 — 9, and (to the regret of all who have perused his first volume) leaves off shortly after the commencement of the Hanoverian dynasty. The Author does not flatter himself that his work will meet the require- ments of this age of literature, but he feels that the meritorious public services of the eminent and illustrious men of whom it treats, deserve resusci- tation, and he trusts that even this slight record of their lives and actions intended to revive and perpetuate their fame, may prove an acceptable adjunct to biography. The facts in which the work abounds, are derived from the much abused, but most valuable Chronicles of the times, general, topographical, and Par- liamentary Histories, Journals, Records, and Diaries, Heraldic Visitations, Monumental Inscriptions, Memoirs, and Family Muniments. The text is not encumbered by the addition of a single note, nor the work with any index of the authorities cited, but the sources whence the Author has derived his information are everywhere acknowledged, while he takes credit to himself for seldom interrupting the thread of the old Chronicler's narrative by the intrusion of his own opinions, a fact which will be duly appreciated by the thinking portion of his readers. It was observed by a great authority, that the vanity of the historian rendered him indifierent to facts, and the Author of these pages, bearing this memorable aphorism in his mind, has cautiously endeavoured to steer clear of those shoals upon which the fragile barque of the minor historian too frequently strikes, when, in the pride of penman- ship, he seeks to lead others to his own wild and visionary conclusions. PREFACE. The Author's first intention was to afford more ample memoirs than those now offered, and, although it could scarcely be expected that he should furnish detailed biographies of one hundred and fifteen Speakers in a single volume, he trusted that a small type and large paper might enable him to accomplish his original design. Deferring, however, to a literary friend, whose judgment, based upon long experience, at once decided the course to be adopted, the Author felt that it became a duty to sacrifice his vanity to the convenience of the public by concentrating within a single volume the huge mass of information he had acquired after much persevering labour and research. That this work may contain some inaccuracies, it would he presumptuous on the part of the Author to entertain a doubt, but that he would cheerfully correct any error in a second edition, will be as readily conceded. The Author scarcely knows how to express his sense of obligation, or in what pleasing manner to offer his acknowledgments to a most learned genealogist for the generous and friendly assistance he has afforded him. None other than he would have submitted with equal grace and forbearance to such frequent interruptions to his own literary pursuits. All who have the pleasure of his acquaintance, will at once divine his name, but the puhlic will best appreciate a reference which applies to the author of " The Landed Gentry," and other eminently popular genealogical works. NOTICE. As a dissertation upon the rights, privileges, and duties of the Speaker of the House of Commons, based upon the laborious researches and learned commentaries of Hatsell and other eminent parliamentary writers, would occupy too much space in this work, we have thought it right to give the following ably condensed abstract from a very popular little book of great merit and public utility, conveying, as it does, all the information which can be required by the general reader. DUTIES OF SPEAKER OP THE HOUSE OP COMMONS. "This great officer must have been anciently, as at present, the organ or mouth-piece of the Commons, although in modern times he is more occupied in presiding over the delibera- tions of the House, than in delivering speeches on their behalf. Amongst the duties of the Speaker, are the following: — To read to the Sovereign petitions or addresses from the Com- mons, and to deliver, in the royal presence, whether at the Palace or in the House of Lords, such speeches as are usually made on behalf of the Commons ; to manage in the name of the House, where counsel, witnesses, or prisoners, are at the bar ; to reprimand persons who have incurred the displeasure of the House ; to issue warrants of committal or release for breaches of privilege ; to communicate in writing with any parties, when so instructed by the House ; to exercise vigilance in reference to private bills, especially with a view to pro- tect property in general, or the rights of individuals, from undue encroachment or injury ; to express the thanks or approbation of the Commons to distinguished personages ; to con- trol and regulate the subordinate officers of the House ; to entertain the members at dinner, in due succession, and at stated periods ; to adjourn the house at four o'clock, if forty members be not present ; to appoint tellers on divisions. The Speaker must abstain from debating, unless in Committees of the whole Plouse. As Chairman of the House, his duties are the same as those of any other President of a deliberative assembly. When Parliament is about to be prorogued, it is customary for the Speaker to address to the Sovereign, in the House of Lords, a speech, recapitulating the proceedings of the session. " He is chosen by the House of Commons from amongst its own members, subject to the approval of the crown, and holds- his office tiU the dissolution of the Parliament in which he was elected. His salary is £6000 a year, exclusive of a furnished residence. At the end of his official labours he is generally rewarded by a peerage, and a pension of £4000 for two lives. He is a member of the Privy Council, and entitled to rank after Barons. When forty members are not present, he may adjourn the House without leave. Generally speaking, business cannot be transacted in his absence, though to this rule there was an exception in the year 1606, a prisoner being released by order of the House during the illness of a Speaker. Should a member persevere in breaclies of order, the Speaker may " name " him, as it is called, a course uniformly followed by the censure of the House. In extreme cases, the Speaker may order members or others into custody until the pleasure of the House be signified. He has a casting vote on divisions." — Dodd's Farliamentary Companion. COUNTY INDEX. Wauton, Sir Thomas Wenlock, Sir John Mordaunt, Sir John - BEDFORDSHIRE. (6.) 1425 Bray, Sir Reginald - - - - 1496 1455 Puckering, Sir John (Bedford Town) 1586 1488 Snagg, Serjt. Thomas (Bedford Town) 1589 Englefield, Sir Thomas Do BERKSHIRE. (2.) 1497 Powle, Henry (Windsor Town) 1499 1689 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. (3.) Crewe, Sir Thomas, (Ailsbury) (see _ Sawyer, Sir Robert (Wycombe) also G-atton) • 1623 GrenviUe, WiUiam Wyndham 1678 1798 Alington, William Alington, William CAMBRIDGESHIRE. (4.) - 1430 Dyer, .Sir James ... 1553 1472 Manners Sutton, Charles (University) 1832 CHESHIRE. Williams, Sir William (Chester City) 1679 Cheney, Sir John Heigham, Sir Clement (West Looe) - 1555 CORNWALL. (3.) 1406 Say, William, (€amelford) 1659 INDEX. Trevor, Sir John (Denbigh Town) DENBIGHSHIRE. 1685 Vernon, Sir Richard DBKBYSHIRE. (10 1426 Esturmy, Sir William Btourton, William - Williams, Thomas (Exeter) Rous, Francis DEVONSHIRE. (7.) 1405 Bampfylde, Thomas (Exeter) 1413 Trevor, Sir John (Beeralston) 1563 Mitford, Sir John (Beeralston) 1653 1659 1690 1801 Abercromby, James Goldsbrough, Sir John Dorewood, John Baynard, Richard Tyrrel, Sir John Thorpe, Thomas EDINBURGH. 1835 ESSEX. (10.) 1380 Green, John 1381 Audley, Sir Thomas 1421 Hare, Sir Richard 1428 CordeU, Sir William 1453 Grimston, Sir Harbottle (Colchester) 1460 1530, 1537 1558 1660 Popham, Sir John (Bristol City) GLOUCESTERSHIRE. (2.) 1572 Glanville, Sir John (Bristol City) 1640 Popham, Sir John Smith, John (Andover) HANTS. (3.) 1450 Lefevre, Charles Shaw (North) 1705 1839 De la Mare, Sir Peter Russell, Sir John HEREFORDSHIRE. (4.) 1387 Gregory, Sir WiUiam (Weobly) 1423 Foley, Paul 1678 1694 Say, Sir John Richardson, Sir Thomas (St. Albans) 1620 HERTFORDSHIRE. (3.) 1462 Turnour, Sir Edward, Bart. 1661 Tibetot or Tiptoft, Su: John Hunt, Roger HUNTINGDONSHIRE. (3.) 1406 Baker, Sir John 1432 1547 Savage, Sir Arnold Nevill, Sir Thomas KENT. (4.) 1400 Moyle, Sir Thomas - 1514 Finch, Sir John (Canterbury) 1542 1626 INDEX. More, Sir Thomas Bussy, Sir John LANCASHIRE or MIDDLESEX (doubtful. 1523-4 LINCOLNSHIRE. (5.) 1394 Sheffield, Sir Robert Bedford, Sir Henry 1403 Cust, Sir John \ n .^ f Almgton, WUliam, (see also Cam- Do. ^Grantham | bridgeshire) - 1477 1512 1761 1768 Brooke, Robert Crook, John LONDON. (3.) 1554 Finch, Sir Heneage 1601 1626 Charleton, Sir Thomas Bowes, John MIDDLESEX. (2.) 1453 Chute, Chaloner, Sen. NORTHUMBERLAND. • 1436 1659 Tresham, William Do. Do. - Tresham, Sir Thomas NORFOLK. (5.) 1440 Hare, Sir Nicholas - 1447 Bell, Robert, (Lynn Regis) 1450 , Coke Sir Edward 1459 1540 1572 1592 NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. (5.) Catesby, William Lovel, Thomas Empson, Sir Richard 1483 Yelverton, Christopher 1485 Crewe, Randolph 1492 OXFORDSHIRE. (5.) 1597 1614 Chaucer, Thomas Do. Do. Do. Pollard, John, (see also Wilts) - 1408 Lenthall, William (Woodstock) 1409 Do. (for County) - 1412 Littleton, Sir Thomas, Bart. (Wood- 1415 stock) ■ 1554 Abbot, Charles (Woodstock) 1653 1654 1698 1802 RADNORSHIRE. Harley, Robert (New Radnor) (1.) 1700-1701 RUTLANDSHIRE. Flower, Roger Do. 1416 Flower, Roger 1417 Do. 1419 1422 INDEX. Bm-ley or Boerly, William Do. Phelips, Sir Edward SHROPSHIRE. (2.) 1439 Charlton, Sir Job, Bart. 1673 1445 SOMERSETSHIRE. (2.) 1603 Long, Sir Lislebone (Wells City) 1659 STAFFORDSHIRE. (1-) Dudley, Edmund 1504 SUFFOLK. (3.) •Waldegrave, Sir Richard - 1382 Hanmer, Sir Thomas, Bart. 1713 Wing'field, Sir Humphrey 1533 SURREY. (5.) Wode, John 1482 Onslow, Arthur 1741 Crewe, Sir Thomas, (Gatton) (see also Do. 1747 Bucks) 1625 Do. - ■ - 1754 Onslow, Sir Richard, Bart. 1710 Norton, Sir Fletcher, Knt., (Guildford, Onslow, Arthur 1727 Surrey) 1774 Do. - 1735 Drury, Robert - Onslow, Richard, (Steyning, Sussex) - Compton, Hon. Spencer • Do. - SUSSEX. (4.) 1496 Cornwall, Charles Wolfran (Winchel- 1563 sea, Sussex) - 1714 Do. (for Rye) 1722 1780 1784 Bromley, William WARWICKSHIRE. 1710 Pickering, Sir James Hungerford, Sir Thomas Hungerford, Walter - Beauohamp, Sir Walter WESTMORELAND. 1378-80 Pickering, Sir James WILTSHIRE. (7.) 1377 Wray, Sir Christopher, (LudgershaU) 1413 Seymour, Sir Edward, Bart., (Hindon) 1415 Do. Pollard, John, (see also Oxfordshire) ■ 1556 Addington, Henry (Devizes) Redman, Richard Strangewaies, Sii" James Fitzwilliam, Sir Thomas YORKSHIRE. (6.) 1415 Gargrave, Six- Thomas 1460 Widdrington, Sir Thomas (York City) 1489 Manners Sutton,Charles (Scarborough) 1386 1571 1672 1790 1559 1656 1817 THE LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. SIR THOMAS HUNGERFORD. Sir Thomas Hungerford, one of the Knights of the Shire for Wilts, styled in the Parliamentary Rolls, Monsieur Thomas de Hungerford, chevalier, qui avoit les paroles pur les communes d'Angleterre en cet Parliament, Rot. Pari. 51. Ed. 3. Anno 1377, No. 87, is the first speaker of the House of Commons on record, although little doubt can he entertained that all pre- vious Parliaments, from the earliest period of their being called together, must have chosen one among their body for the purposes of regulating the order of their proceedings, the presentation of their petitions to the King, which, if assented to, were the only laws they had the power of proposing at that early stage of legislative authority, and generally to act as the organ or mouth-piece of the whole. In the Parliamentary History of England it is stated that no one is par- ticularized in the records before this period, but that the future Speakers are regularly given to the present period; this however is not strictly correct, as there are continual omissions in succeeding reigns, the Rolls being perfectly silent as to the names of the Speakers, although from other sources we have frequently been enabled to supply this deficiency. From the paucity of information to be obtained at this distance of time, even as to the great public events of the period, it can scarcely be anticipated that materials calculated to throw much light upon the personal character of an individual member of 2 IIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER ISVY- the Commons could be discovered, but the fact of Sir Thomas Hungerford's election, by the whole body of which he was a member, to the honorable and dignified position of president, must be regarded as a strong proof of the influence of his wealth, and position, or the superiority of his understanding, and the estimation in which he was held by his fellow-commoners, par- ticularly as it does not appear that at this early period the custom of nominating the Speakers by the Crown had come into operation. Were there opportunities, by lengthened research, to dive deeply into the political biography of this gentleman, it would scarcely afford an interest to any but the antiquary, as Parliament in those days, particularly the House over which Sir Thomas Hungerford presided, was but in the infancy of its institution, and almost powerless for the effecting of any good for the kingdom, beyond giving its concurrence to such measures, as the Barons, who dreaded any increase in monarchical power, suggested, more for the pre- servation of their own power and influence, than from any consideration for the rights or liberties of the people ; although it was scarcely possible they could ipaintain the former, without in some measure securing advantages to the latter, so intimately are the rights of persons and property blended together. But apart from these considerations, it must be borne in mind, as some excuse for the apparent easy yielding of the Parliament to almost all the demands of the King, that the great and glorious reign of Edward III. (whatever misgovernment arose towards the close of his career, when the weari- ness of age and bodily infirmities rendered him more susceptible to the im- proper influence of his courtiers), had obtained for that monarch so deep- rooted a feeling of respect and veneration from aU classes of his subjects, that the Commons, in truth, had little or no desire to act otherwise than in strict conformity to his wishes. Independently of their petition for the better maintenance of good laws, and the enacting of fresh statutes for the better security of the people, the only acts of remonstrance or apparent opposition to the King's government, which the Commons seem to have sanctioned during a reign of fifty-one years, were their representation in the 23rd year of his reign of the state of the nation, declaring they would grant no supplies but upon condition of their grievances being redressed : a protestation against the conduct of the King's ministers, in the fiftieth year of his reign, 1376 : and towards the close of the same year, a remonstrance against the influence of Alice Peers, or Perriers, in public affairs : but we shall not now enter into any further details of these events, as we shall be obliged to recur to them in the life of a succeeding Speaker, who was more intimately connected with them, and particularly, as Sir Thomas Hungerford was not then in the chair, although still a member of the House of Commons. The Hungerfords, from whom the Speaker descended, were of very ancient lineage, long seated in the County of Wilts, of whom Everard de Hungerford 61 EdW. III.] SIR PETER DE LA MARE. 3 is mentioned in the Sheriff's accounts, in the 11th of Hen. II., by reason of a fine of £20. having been levied upon him. His grandson, Sir Robert, a great benefactor to the Church, died in the 28th of Ed. III., and was succeeded by his brother, Sir Walter Hungerford, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Adam Fitz-John, and had issue, Thomas, the subject of this memoir. In the 3rd Rich. II., this eminent knight obtained a confirma- tion of the office of forester of Selwood Forest, which he had acquired from Roger de Stourton. He married Joane, daughter and co-heir of Sir Edmund Hussie, knt., a right ancient and knightly family, and dying 3rd Dec, 1398, was succeeded by his son. Sir Walter Hungerford, knt., also Speaker of the House of Commons, whose memoir will contain further information respecting this great historical family. Arms : Barry of four az. and gu. in chief three plates. SIR PETER DE LA MARE, Knt. Sir Peter de la Mare is mentioned by Hakewell in the supplement to his "Modus tenendi ParUamentum" as prolocutor in the 50th Edward III., where he occurs miles pro co. Hereford, but notwithstanding this state- ment, Mr. Browne Willis says, " I take the first regular Speaker to have been Sir Thomas Hungerford, who was miles pro co. Wilts, an. 51 £dw. III.," and Hakewell expressly says he was the first named speaker on the record. Upon this authority we have given precedence to Sir Thomas Hungerford. Sir Peter De la Mare having been elected knight of the shire for Here- ford, was chosen Speaker in the first parliament of Richard II., held at Westminster, fifteen days after Michaelmas, a.d. 1377, and is styled in the record, " Monsieur Peres de la Mare." He had only recently obtained his discharge from Nottingham Castle, where he had suffered imprisonment for speaking his mind too freely in parliament in the preceding reign, having attacked Alice Peers, the king's concubine, and averred that her influence over Edward III. was the cause of many of the grievances under which the people laboured. This punishment, however, does not appear to have had the effect of sealing his lips, or of checking the freedom of his speech, for his first act, as Speaker of the House of Commons, was to deliver a dis- course in the name of the House, in which he proposed several regulations in the government. He said, " That which he had to declare was from their b2 4 SIR PETER BE LA MARE. [SPEAKER 1377. whole body ; and therefore required, that if he should happen to speak anything without their consents, that it ought to be amended before his departure from the said place. He commended the feats of chivalry here- tofore practised, for which this nation was so renowned; and said that by decay of the same, the honour of the realm did and would daily decrease. That whereas merchants were masters of their own ships, and had the free disposition of them, yet, formerly, one town had more good ships than the whole nation at this time. He therefore prayed that, ' Because the king was then very young and of tender age, for the amendment of several errors in the government, and the preservation of the realm, which was at that time in greater danger than ever, the king and lords of parliament would consider more especially of three things: First, the appointment of seven sufficient persons, to be selected from the different estates, as continual counsellors to the king, and that their names might be given to the Com- mons. Secondly, That good and virtuous men might be appointed for the king's education, and that the charge of his household might be borne by the revenues of the crown, so that what was granted to the wars might be expended that way only ; and. Thirdly, That the common and statute laws might be observed, ratified, and confirmed, and the people governed by them, and not defeated, by any about the king's person, &c.' The boldness of his language, and the justice of the demands made by the Commons, had their due weight with the king's council, but the fact is chiefly interesting as evincing an approach to independence on the part of the third estate, which up to that time had merely recorded its assent to " the propositions of the Upper House. In this session of parliament, our Speaker was revenged for the imprison- ment he had suffered in the previous reign at the instigation of Alice Peers. This lady, who in the 50th Edward III. had, through her influence over the old king, obtained a pardon for one Richard Lyon, convicted of embezzling the public money, was brought before the Lords, found guilty of this .and other high crimes, and sentenced to be banished, and her estates confiscated, the parliament at the same time making a proviso " that the law under which she was convicted, should not be made use of, nor drawn into an example, against any other person, or in any other case whatsoever." But in the next Parliament, the £nd of Richard II., upon the petition of Sir William Windsor, and Alice his wife, formerly Alice Peers, or Perriers, the reversal of this judgment was authorized to be pursued in due form by their attorneys. It was not, however, until the 8th of this reign that the sentence was formally reversed. Barnes, in his " Life of Edward III.," bestows a whole page in vindication of this lady's character. He admits that she had great influence over the King, and was an especial favourite, but not a concubine ; and, con- sidering the age of the monarch, this may readily be conceded. But the 1 Rich. II.] sib. james Pickering. 5 capital part of his argument is the illustration of her purity by reference to the life of the royal psalmist, where he says, " old King David had a young damsel lay in his bosom," Of the personal character of our Speaker we can obtain no further inform- ation ; but we may reasonably infer that his bold and fearless conduct in the senate, rendered him equally redoubtable in the field. The family of De la Mare was of Norman extraction, and the various branches settled in the counties of Wilts, Hereford, Somerset, Oxford, and Berks, were, according to the most learned genealogists, descended from the same parent stock ; one of whom was summoned to Parliament as a Baron of the Realm from 1299 to 1313, although nothing further is known of his Lordship ; and Dugdale says, " his descendants had never afterwards summons to Parliament." The subject of our memoir resided at Tedston de la Mare, in the county of Hereford, his ancestor having acquired that estate by grant from the Earl of Hereford, by the service of one knight's fee in the reign of Henry III. He married Matilda, daughter and co-heir of John Maltravers, of Hoke, in the county of Dorset, and dying without male issue, his only daughter and heiress, Elizabeth, who married Sir Walter Beauchamp, second son of William Lord Powick, succeeded to his estates, and their issue became the repre- sentatives of this branch of the ancient family of De la Mare. (Vide Sir Walter Beauchamp, Speaker.) Arms, Gu, two chevrons, or. SIR JAMES PICKERING. Sir James Pickering, Knight of the shire for Westmoreland, was chosen Speaker of the Parliament held at Gloucester in the second year of Richard II., a.d. 1378, and is the third instance only in which a Speaker of the House of Commons is expressly recognised much in the same manner and form as at the present period. It may also be observed, that this was the first time in which the Speaker's protestation for freedom of speech, continued nearly in the same terms of loyalty and attachment to the crown and kingly estate during all times of the monarchy, was inserted in the journals of the House, and was as follows : — " If he should utter anything to the prejudice, damage, slander, or disgrace of the King or his crown, or in lessening the honour or estates of the great Lords, it might not be taken notice of by the King ; and that the lords would pass it by, as if nothing had been said; for the Commons highly desired to maintain the honour and B 2 6 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1378. estate of the King, and the rights of the crown, as also, to preserve the reverence due to the lords in all points. Then, as for his own person, he made protestation that if by indiscretion he spoke anything hy common assent of his fellow members, it might either then or afterwards be amended by them," After which on the part of the Commons, he humbly thanked the King for his promise to preserve the good laws and customs of the kingdom, and to punish whosoever should act against them ; the Commons kneeling upon the ground and praying God that they might be put in due execution. The Speaker concluded his address by a remonstrance on the state of the nation, drawing the attention of the King and his counsel to the fact, that by reason of his great possessions, subsidies of wool, the revenues of the crown, the lands of the late King, and the many great lordships in his possession, in consequence of the non-age of their heirs, the Commons conceived there could be no need of any subsidy, as there must be plenty of money in the treasury, or, as it is vsrritten in the record, Bien grante plente de monoye en le tresorie. This fact being well established, and the miseries of the people authenticated beyond the possibility of doubt or denial, greatly to the honour of this parliament and their Speaker, they made the most violent struggle, and, perhaps, the first upon record, against granting a subsidy, for which, in truth, there was no apparent necessity. Frequent deliberations and alterca- tions took place between the King's ministers and the Commons, and it was only when the perils with which the kingdom was threatened, from abroad, were forcibly represented to them, that they consented to the grant, in which they were heartily joined by the Lords, declaring that it was done as a proof of the good will they bore their Sovereign Lord, whom they would be "ready to serve when required, as well in person as otherways." Considering the im- poverished state of the nation, the failure of the crops, the terrible disease among the cattle, and the losses by pestilence and wars, the granting of this subsidy was a strong and highly honourable proof of the patriotism and loyalty of Parliament. In the Parliament holden at "Westminster in the 6th of Richard II., a.d. 1383, Sir James Pickering was again chosen Speaker ; and, upon the question submitted to the consideration of the Lords and Commons, as to whether the King should go in person to the relief of Ghent, and if so, how to provide for such an undertaking ; Sir James Pickering, after making the usual protesta- tion, declared against the King's journey, and advised him to accept the pro- posal made by Henry Le Spenser, Bishop of Norwich, for raising troops to relieve Ghent, reduce Flanders, and carry the war into France, provided he was allowed the fifteenth and tenth granted by the laity and Clergy. At this period, there was a contest for the papal chair between .Urban VI. and Clement XL, the former of whom was the favourite in England, and the warlike Bishop of Norwich collected immense sums of money, besides 2 Rich. II.] sir james piCkering. 7 jewels, rings, bracelets, dishes, spoons and silver implements, which the ladies and other devotees gave to purchase Heaven and obtain the benefit of pardon and absolution for all transgressions. The form of pardon is curious, but not within our province. The Bishop afterwards amended his bill, as it is called, and undertook to serve the King one whole year with 5000 men, &c. This last proposal was accepted by both houses of Parliament, great hopes being entertained of the advantages of this expedition in the French war, which still continued ; nevertheless, it was warmly debated in the Commons "whether it was safe to hazard so considerable a strength of the kingdom in such an impertinent quarrel, and under the conduct of a rash, unexperienced priest ? " while others argued that now that France was under the curse of Urban for siding with Clement, was the proper time to attack our enemies, who could expect no success in arms ; " but," says the noble author of the Hfe and reign of Richard II,, " at last, upon hearing that JntipJwne sung at high mass Ucce crucem Domini, fugite partes adverse, they were, as with a charm, brought over to decree in favour of the expedition." Thus, says another historian, the determining which of the two Popes had the better claim to the chair of ,St. Peter seems at this time to have depended on a vote of the EngKsh Parliament. It is probable that Sir James Pickering was Speaker in the next Parlia- ment, although the fact cannot now be ascertained; it is, however, quite certain that no other is named as Speaker in the Parliamentary Roll, indeed, two years elapse before any mention is again made of that important functionary. Of Sir James Pickering we. are only able to give the following account. He was the grandson of Sir James Pickering, of Killington and Firbank, in Westmoreland, whose ancestors were long seated in that county, and the son of Sir John Pickering, of Killington, by Eleanor, daughter of Sir Richard Harington, of Harington, in Cumberland, from whom descended the old Barons Harington of that place, and Exton,in Rutlandshire. The West- moreland pedigrees, and Bridges, in his History of Northamptonshire, give ample details of the family of Pickering of Tichmarsh ; in the latter county, descended from' Sir James Pickering of Winderwarth, co. Westmoreland — doubtless a relative, if not the son, of our Speaker. Of this family was Sir Gilbert Pickering, who displayed such zeal in the apprehension of the conspirators concerned in the Gunpowder Plot, and a baronetcy was conferred upon one of its members, which is said to have become extinct in 1735. There were however two, if not more, who claimed descent from this ancient stock, one of whom was the late Edward Lake Pickering, who by Mary his wife, daughter and eventually heiress of William Umfreville, Esq., Exigencer of the Common Pleas, was father of Edward Rowland Pickering, Esq., of Lincoln's Inn. Arms, Erm. a lion passant, az. crowned or. LIVES OE THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1380. SIR JOHN GOLDSBROUGH. Sir John Goldsbrouqh, or Gyldersburgh, of Wenington Hall, in the Hundred of Chafford, in Essex, having heen elected one of the knights of the shire for that county, was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons, in the third Parliament of Richard II., held at Westminster on the 14th of January, a.d. 1380, heing Monday after the feast of St. Hilary, but in con- sequence of the heavy rains having prevented many lords from arriving in due time, it was adjourned to the next day. Upon the opening of the session, the Speaker made the usual protestation, and prayed, that the prelates and lords of the King's standing council might he discharged, and none such for the future retained, because that now the King was of good discretion, in respect of his age, &c.. he required no other than the five principal officers of the realm — the chancellor, treasurer,- keeper of the privy seal, chamber- lain, and steward of the household. There is no doubt that great abuses had taken place in the management of the King's household and revenues, and t)ie Commons boldly prayed a commission to examine into the expenses and receipts in all the offices. As Parliament was sensible that both the Kin^ and kingdom were surrounded with enemies, the Lords and Commons granted ,a subsidy for carrying on the war in Brittany, with a restriction as to its application to any other purpose whatsoever. In the next Parliament, the 4th Richard II., which was held at North- ampton, on the Monday after the feast of All Saints, Sir John Goldsbrough was a second time chosen Speaker of the Commons, and commenced his address by demanding of the lords a clearer declaration of the amount required for the supplies than that which they had heard from the speech of the Lord Chancellor, who had informed the Parliament, that the late expe- dition into Scotland, the defence of Guienne, and the charges he had been at in Ireland, had put the King under such great necessities, that he had been forced to pawn his jewels, &c., &c. Upon this, a schedule was delivered by the King's council, containing the sums necessary, amounting to £160,000 sterling — an enormous demand for the period. Sir John Goldsbrough replied on the part of the Commons, that such a demand was insupportable, and begged the lords to treat by themselves as to the way in which any reasonable sum might be levied and collected. Upon which they proposed the celebrated and fatal capitation, or poll-tax, which became the fruitful source of so much bloodshed and rebellion; but to the credit of the Commons, they 3 Rich. II.] sir james goldsbrough. 9 debated it long before they agreed to this unpopular measure, declaring, that if the clergy would support a third part of the charge, as they possessed a third of the kingdom, they would grant £100,000, to be raised by a certain number of groats ; the clergy to make up the difference— £50,000, The clergy, denying the authority of laymen to constrain them ; and the exi- gencies of the state being great and pressing, the Lords and Commons agreed to the ta:^ of three groats per head, from every person, male or female, over fifteen years of age (except beggars) throughout the kingdom : the richer people in every town to help and assist the more needy. The whole amount to be applied solely in the support of the expedition in Brittany, under the Earl of Buckingham, and the safeguard of seaports and the kingdom. One singular feature in reference to this most unpopular tax was the exclusion of members of parliament from any interference in its collection, by an ordinance of their own, — an honourable instance of their patriotism and public spirit. The tragical consequences of this new and strange subsidy, as the old English chroniclers designated it; and the bitter curses that followed on the levying this money, together with the details of "Wat Tyler's rebellion, which it provoked, are matters of general history, upon which we must not dwell, referring only to such points from time to time as are necessary to elucidate the characters and conduct of those whose memoirs we have undertaken to present to the public. It does not appear that Sir John Goldsbrough was again chosen Speaker of the Commons ; although he represented the county of Essex in the parlia- ments of the 3rd, 4th, 6th, 9th, and 11th of Richard II., and we are unable to trace any further details of his name beyond the estates and manors he possessed in different parts of Essex, and that he was one of the wit- nesses in the Court of Chivalry in the great Scrope and Grosvenor con- troversy; and in his evidence in favour of the former, stated that " when he was twelve years old, and went to school at Oxenford, he saw there the com- mencement of a clerk bearing the name Le Scrope, and that there were trum- peters there, having attached to their trumpets pennoncels with the said arms (az. a bend or.) ; and the clerks demanded whose arms these were, when it was stated that they were the arms of Le Scrope." The family of Goldsbrough came originally from Yorkshire. Arms, Argent, three piles, gules. Crest, A chevalier on horseback, at full speed, holding a sword, all ppr. 10 LIVES OF THB SPEAKERS. [SPEAKEB 1382. SIR RICHARD WALDEGRAVE. Sir Richard Waldegrave of Smallbridge, in the County of Suffolk, derived descent from the ancient Northamptonshire family of Walgrave, of Walgrave, whose ancestor, Warine de Walgrave, was the father of John de Walgrave, who served the office of Sheriff of London in 1205, an appoint- ment then of great power and trust ; by his wife, the daughter of Sir Henry ' Hastings, knt., the Sheriff had issue, Walter de Walgrave, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir James Nevil, of Nottinghamshire, and by her had issue. Sir Ralph, who died the 3rd of Edward III., seized of the manors of Walgrave, &c. He was succeeded by his son and heir. Sir Richard, who accompanied by John de Walgrave, junior, attended the King that same year, into Aquitaine. In the 9th of Ed. III., Sir Richard was one of the Knights of the Shire for the County of Lincoln, and in the 11th of the same reign, he had the King's protection to travel beyond seas, with Henry Burwash, Bishop of Lincoln, to hold from April 24th till August 1st following. He had also, the next year another protection from the King, dated April 10th, 1338, going abroad in his service, with the said Bishop, to hold till Michael- mas following. He married Agnes, daughter of Daubeney, ancestor of the great Lord Daubeney, Chamberlain to King Henry VII., by whom he had issue a son and heir, Richard, the subject of our present memoir. This gentleman was one of the Knights of the Shire for Suffolk, in the Par- liament of 50th Edward III., and was again elected in the first, second, and fifth years of the reign of Richard II., in the last of which, held at West- minster, A.D. 1382, he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons, and when the circumstance was made known to him, not wishing to accept the honor which his fellow-commoners had conferred upon him, he desired that the King would excuse and discharge him from the office; the first instance upon record of a Speaker having pleaded to be excused, but the King insisted upon his allegiance, that he should stand as being chosen by his companions, or "Eluz par ses compaignons," as it is written in the Rolls of Parliament. The first act of the Commons, under the presidency of Sir Richard Waldegrave, is not altogether creditable to their patriotism and love of liberty, for in reference to the recent rebellion, occasioned by the levying of the poll- tax, they joined the lords unanimously in resolving " that all grants of liberty and manumission to the said villains and bond-tenants, obtained by force. 5 Rich. II.] sir richaed waldegeave. 11 were in disherison of them, the Lords and Commons, and destruction of the realm ; and therefore to be nulled and made void by authority of this Parlia- ment." This charter of freedom was under the great seal of England, but as its provisions only affected the lower orders of people, and had been obtained from the King when the country was in a state of rebellion, it would seem that the Lords and Commons had two concurring causes for desiring to annul it ; the first, if not from an absolute indifference to the liberties of the people, from a desire to restrain their excesses ; the second, and by far the more important in a legislative point of view, was the recognition of a power to annul, by the authority of Parliament. That such motives can be positively assigned to this Parliament we will not venture to assert, but as it was the first time the King had ever sought the sanction of the Lords and Commons, or desired their authority for cancelling or repealing either statute or charter, we may fairly infer that they were the governing causes of their ready acquiescence, as the fact must have greatly augmented the power and authority of the Commons then just beginning to find that their branch of the legislature was rising into importance. The Commons, however, still complained of abuses in the govern- ment, and generously petitioned the King for a pardon in favour of the people involved in the late insurrection of Wat Tyler; but in reference tp the required subsidy, they said they would take time for consideration. To which the King replied, " that he would also consider of their pardons." However, the subsidy was granted by the Commons, and the pardons by the King, with certain exceptions — which, by the way, amounted to some hundreds, — the whole of whose names and trades are entered on the rolls, amongst whom, although there were some few priests, there was not one gentleman — a circumstance upon which the historians and chroniclers seem to dwell with no slight exultation. Shortly after this, in December, the Parliament was prorogued until the middle of the following February, when the Commons granted a subsidy for the assistance of the Portuguese, at the request of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, in right of his wife, titular King of Castile and Leon, protesting, however, " that it was not their in- tention to be obliged by any words in this grant, to quarrel or have a war with Spain, but they only gave it for defence of the kingdom, &c., and as it should seem best to the King's good and honourable council to ordain about it;" and the Commons further prayed that if any of the subsidy could be saved by a peace, it might be kept for another occasion — an admirable and saving maxim, but opposed to all experience. Upon the dissolution of this parliament, the King, in return for the easy compliance of the Lords and Com- mons in annulling the charter of freedom, by the advice of his Privy Council and corrupt judges, set aside the determinations of Parliament. Of the political career of this Speaker, we are unable to trace further par- 12 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1362. ticulars, than that he sat in Parliament in the 6th, 7th, 10th, and 13th of this King, representing his native county. He married Joan, daughter and heiress of Silvester, of Buers, in the county of Suffolk, and dying on the 2nd of May, 1402, was huried, in accordance with the desire expressed in his will made at Smallbridge the previous year, April 22, 1401, on the north side of the parish church of St. Mary, at Buers, near Joan his wife. As an instance of the piety of those days we may observe, that he constitutes Master William Candysh, rector of the church of Bulmere, Nicholas Blundel, and two other priests his executors, and amongst other bequests to the church and the poor, he leaves one hundred shillings to the brothers of the convent of Sudbury, to pray for his soul, the soul of Joan his wife, and the souls of their benefactors. He was succeeded by his son and heir, Sir Richard Waldegrave, a gallant, knight, who with Lord Clinton, Sir John Howard, and Lord Falconbridge, was appointed to keep the seas in 1402 : and landing 10,000 men in Brittany won the town of Conquet with the isle of Rhee. He married Jane, daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Montechensy of Edwardstown, in the county of Suffolk, Knt., and dying in 1436, was succeeded by his son Sir William Waldegrave, who married Joan, daughter of William Doreward, of Doreward Hall, in Bocking, in Essex, one of the sons of John Doreward, Esq., Speaker of the House of Commons, and was succeeded by his second but eldest sur- viving son and heir. Sir Thomas Waldgrave, an eminent and distinguished soldier, who received the honour of knighthood for his valour at Towton Field, 20th March, 1461. He married Elizabeth, eldest daughter and coheir of Sir John Fray, Kt., Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, by Agnes his wife, daughter of John Danvers, Esq., of Banbury, which lady subsequently became the second wife of Sir John Say, Kt., the eminent Speaker of the House of Commons in the 1st of Edward IV., while Lady Waldegrave herself became the second wife of Sir William Say, the son and heir of the Speaker — so that the children of Sir Thomas Waldegrave and Sir William Say were brothers and sisters of the half-blood. By this lady, Sir Thomas Waldegrave had several children, of whom Edward Waldegrave, Esq., married Eli2abeth, daughter and coheir of John Cheney, Esq., a branch of the family of Sir John Cheney, Speaker of the House of Commons in 1406. It would afford us much pleasure if we could find space for more ample de- tails respecting the very eminent descendants of the Speaker, who flourished so conspicuously in the history of this country in every subsequent age ; but such a course would be a departure from the plan we laid down for our guid- ance, and to which we must reluctantly adhere. The descendants of this gallant knight formed matrimonial connections with the families of Rochester I Nevil (for the second time in the Speaker's or Abergavenny branch), Jerning- ham, Lovel, Englefield, and Churchill, and amongst them we may particularize 5 Rich. IL!] sib richard waldegrave. 13 Sir Edward, who signalized himself by his attachment to the faith of his ancestors, and his persevering loyalty to the Lady Mary, afterwards Queen, refusing to interdict the celebration of mass in her apartments — conduct which was rewarded during her reign by his appointment to the highest offices about her person, and the Chancellorship of the duchy of Lancaster, and caused his committal to the Tower, where he died, in the following reign of Elizabeth. The grandson of this gentleman, another Sir Edward Walde- grave, was knighted at Greenwich, 1607, and created a baronet by King Charles I., August 1, 1643. This gallant veteran, one of the bravest of the cavaliers, took up arms in the cause of royalty, and the defence of his sovereign at the advanced age of seventy, and at the impounding of Lord Essex's army, in Cornwall, 1644, Sir Edward, with his own regiment, kept the pass at Saltash; and being charged by the parliamentary horse, in an attempt to break through, he thrice rallied his men, and although twice unhorsed, eventually succeeded in making forty prisoners. Soon after this, according to Sir Ed- ward Walker in his " History of the Progress of the King's Forces," he again defeated the enemy, killing several, and taking a cornet and forty prisoners, at Portsham, near Abbotsbury. He continued steadfast in his loyalty to the last, although he lost two sons in the cause, and sufifered in his estate to the value of £50,000. This heroic loyalist married Eleanor, daughter of Sir Thomas Lovel, of Harling, co. Norfolk, the great nephew and representative of Sir Thomas Lovel, of Beauchamp Well, in the same county. Speaker of the House of Commons in the 1st of Henry VII., and his grandson, Sir Charles Waldegrave, who married Helen, daughter of Sir Francis Englefield, Bart., of Englefield, in the county of Bucks, descended from Sir Thomas Englefield, Speaker of the House of Commons in the first of Henry VIIL, was the father of Sir Henry Waldegrave, fourth Baronet, who was created Baron Waldegrave of Chewton, 1685. His Lordship married Henrietta, daughter of Arabella Churchill (sister to the great Duke of Marlborough), by King James II., and had issue John, second Baron, K.G., whose eminent diplomatic services were rewarded with an Earldom in 17^9. James, the second Earl Waldegrave, and Viscount Chewton, K.G., married Mary, daughter of Sir Edward Walpole, K.B., by whom he had three daughters ; but dying without male issue, the title devolved upon his brother John, whose second son. Sir WiUiam Waldegrave, G.C.B., Admiral, R.K, was elevated to the peerage of Ireland as Baron Radstock ; and his daughter Elizabeth married James, fifth Earl of Cardigan ; while George, who suc- ceeded his father as fifth Earl, married his cousin, the Lady Elizabeth Laura Waldegrave, half-sister to his late Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester, whose youngest son, William, the present peer, inherited the family honours as eighth Earl upon the death of his.nephew in 1846. His Lordship, who is the lineal male descendant and representative of Sir Richard Waldegrave, 14 LIVES OP THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1394. descends also from five other families which have produced Speakers of the House of Commons, namely, Dorewood, Cheney, Neville, Lovel, and Englefield, and is connected by the half blood with a sixth, in that of Sir John Say, and a seventh, by the marriage of Anne, daughter of Sir Richard Waldegrave, of Smallbridge, with Sir Clement Heigham, the celebrated Speaker in Queen Mary's time; making with his Lordship's direct ances- tor, the subject of this memoir, eight Speakers of the House of Commons from whom the noble house of Waldegrave descends, or is connected by ties of consanguinity. For more ample genealogical details of .this family, we must refer the reader to " Burke's Peerage and Baronetage." Arms. Per pale arg. and gu. Crest, out of a ducal coronet, or. a plume of five ostrich feathers, per pale arg. and gu. Motto, Caelum nan animum. SIR JOHN BUSSY. Sir John Bussy was chosen Speaker in the Parliament, held at Westmirister , in the 17th year of Richard II., a.d. 1394. Several years had elapsed since the presentation of a Speaker had been inserted upon the Rolls, a circumstance which historians attribute solely to the negligence of the clerks of the House, and therefore regret that they have not the good fortune to hand down their names to posterity. This gentleman, who was three times elected Speaker of the House of Commons, played a very conspicuous part in those great historical and political events which caused such unusual excitement towards the end of this mis- guided King's career ; and although at the onset of his parliamentary life, he had evinced a spirit of independence of an unusual character for the times in which he lived, fearing the consequences of opposition to royal authority, combined, no doubt, with personal views of ambition and self interest, he speedily gave his staunch adherence to the arbitrary and uncon- stitutional proceedings of the Monarch, and ultimately met the reward due to his perfidious acts and counsels. The principal business of this, as of every other Parliament in those days, was granting a subsidy to the King, who had avowed his intention to go in person to reduce Ireland to obedience to which the Commons assented without ■ much discussion. In the next year the Duke of York, who had been left as guardian of the realm in the King's absence, summoned a Parliament ; but 17 Rich. II.] sir john bussy. 15 no mention is made of it in the statutes at large, nor is the name of the Speaker inserted on the Rolls— and no less remarkable is the fact, that the Parliament of the year 1396, the 19th of Richard II., which is mentioned in the statutes, is not to be found on the Rolls. In the 20th year of this reign a new Parliament assembled at "Westminster on the 22nd January, 1397, and on the following day the Commons again presented Sir John Bussy as their Speaker, who, after making the usual protestation, desired a conference with the Chancellor and others of the King's officers, in the course of which he declared that the Commons required a law " for avoiding of the extravagant expences of the King's household, and to forbid bishops and ladies, who had no particular business there, from frequenting the Court ;" as it is quaintly set forth in the Parliamentary Rolls — de la multitude d' evesques et aussi de pluseurs Dames, Sfc. There can be no doubt that the motives which induced this demand on the part of the Commons were good and well-founded — as all historians agree that crowds of lazy divines hung about the Court at that period to catch the loaves and fishes through the influence of the favourite ladies. At the same time it was a bold and unprecedented step on the part of the Commons, and highly calculated to incense and irritate the Monarch, who informed the Peers that the demand of the Commons " was calculated against those liberties and royalties his progenitors had enjoyed, and which he was resolved to uphold and maintain. He therefore commanded the Lords spiritual and temporal to inform the Commons of his resolution; and particularly ordered the Duke of Lancaster to charge Sir John Bussy, their Speaker, upon his allegiance, to acquaint him who it was that brought the bill into Parlia- ment." Historians agree that the King's anger arose chiefly from the apprehension that this bill was intended to act as a check upon the expences of his house- hold, which were at that time both profuse and disorderly, but whatever were the intentions of the Commons, their humble and submissive apology conveyed to the King by Sir John Bussy, and their delivering up the bill, which disclosed the name of Thomas Haxey, clerk, who had brought it into the House, must ever reflect disgrace upon all parties concerned. Great fear, however, must have taken possession of their minds, for soon after they came before his Majesty in full Parliament, and there, with all humility and obedience, as the Rolls describe it, " faisant grant dolour come apparust par leur ' cries,' " (as we apprehend the last word must be, though not so written in the Pari. Hist., where a very equivocal one is substituted) fell on their knees and humbly asked pardon ; when the King out of his royal benignity and gracious seigniory, fully excused them. Thomas Haxey, clerk, was how. ever sentenced to die as a traitor, but his life was granted upon the intercession of the Bishops. In this Parliament every act against the royal prerogative 16 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1394. which had passed during the preceding nine years, was reversed and annulled and the banished judges who had assisted the King to set aside and annul the resolutions of Parliament were recalled. Notwithstanding these proofs of truckling to the Royal authority, the same men, a few years afterwards, de- posed Richard for misgovernment, and placed the Duke of Lancaster on the throne, in defiance of the rights of the declared heir to the Crown. Finding how easily the Commons complied with all his demands, Richard, previously to the dissolution of Parliament, informed them that as they had obliged him several ways, he would never again seek to burden them with tenths or fifteenths in his own person. With this declaration they were so satisfied, that 'they granted him the required subsidy, and in the next Parliament, be- came more subservient than ever, a circumstance which put the King ^into such good spirits that he lost no time in prosecuting with the utmost severity all those great lords who had long governed the helm of afiairs. For this pur- pose he summoned another Parliament, which met at Westminster, on the 17th Sept., 1397, anno, regni. 21, when Sir John Bussy was once more chosen Speaker. The old historians do not hesitate to call this a packed Parliament, although by the yielding and entire submissiveness of the former, composed of all the old members favorably disposed to the King, no apparent necessity existed for such a proceeding ; it is however certain that the Sheriffs through- out England were changed, and such only appointed as were known to be devoted to the King. From the course Sir John Bussy appears hitherto to have pursued in former Parliaments, little doubt can be entertained that, inde- pendently of the talent he had evinced in his capacity of Speaker, he must have possessed that shrewdness and cunning which are so peculiarly suited to the views of ambitious minds, and this opinion is confirmed by subsequent events. Hollingshed says, that " this Sir John Bushie or Bussy, Speaker, in all his speeches which he made to the King, did not give him the accus- tomed titles of honour, but invented unusual terms, and such epithets as were rather agreeable to the Divine Majesty of God than to any earthly potentate : which," he adds, " this Prince, being more ambitious and desirous of honour than was requisite, gave too much ear to." The Parliament was now occupied in reversing and annulling the pardons formerly granted by statute, in which the Commons willingly concurred, and the Lords proceeded to impeach the Duke of Gloucester, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Earls of Arundel and Warwick; matters of history which require some mention in this work from the manner in which our Speaker was involved therein. At the opening of this Parliament, according to Hollingshed, " the King greatly complained of the misdemeanour of the Peers and Lords of the realm, as well for the things done against his will and pleasure whiles he 17 Rich. II.] sm john bussy. 17 was young, as for the strict dealing which they had shewed towards the Queen, who was three hours at one time on her knees before the Earl of Arundel, for one of her Esquires, named John Calverly, who, nevertheless, had his head smit from his shoulders ; and all the answer that she could get was this, ' Madam, pray for yourself and your husband, for that is best, and let this suit alone.' " The old chronicler from whom we have quoted the preceding anecdote, thus describes the temporary building erected in Palace Yard upon the occasion of the trials of the Duke of Gloucester, Lord Arundel, and Lord Warwick : — " In the new house made within the Palace of Westminster, for the arraign- ment of the Lords, a huge building of wood, and covered with tiles, there was a high throne for the King, and a large place for all the Estates. There were places for the appellants to stand on the one side, and the defen- dants on the other; a like row was made behind for the knights and burgesses of the Parliament" — and he adds, in language far from flattering to our Speaker — "there was a place devised for the Speaker, Sir Johi; Bussy, a knight of Lincolnshire, accompted to be an exceeding cruel man, ambitious, and covetous beyond measure." In justification of this opinion we have the following account of Sir John Bussy's conduct in Parliament upon the trial of these great men, in which nothing of the public prosecutor of the vilest ages of tyranny is wanting, and sulBcient shewn to confirm our author in his estimate of the Speaker's character. " Those that set forth the King's grievances as prolocutors in this Parlia- ment were Sir John Bussy, Sir William Bagot, and Sir Henry Green. Immediately after each man being placed in his row, the cause of assembling that Parliament was shewed, as that the King had called it for reformation of divers transgressions and oppressions committed against the peace of his land by the Duke of Gloucester, the Earls of Arundel, Warwick, and others. Then Sir John Bussy stept forth, and made a request on behalf of the Com- monalty, that it might please the King's Highness, for their heinous acts attempted against his laws and Royal Majesty, to appoint them- punishment according to their deservings, and especially to the Archbishop of Canterbury (who then sat next the King), whom he accused of high treason, for that he had evil-counselled his Majesty, inducing him to grant his letters of pardon to his brother, the Earle of Arundel, being a rank traitor. " When the Archbishop began to answer in his own defence, the King willed him to sit down again, and hold his peace, for all should be well. Herewith Sir John Bussy besought the King, that the Archbishop should not be admitted to make his answer, which if he did, by reason of his great wit and good utterance, he feared lest he should lead men astray to believe him : so the Archbishop might be heard no more. c 18 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1394. " Thus, when the Archbishop was constrained to keep silence, Sir John Bussy proceeded in his purpose, requiring, on behalf of the Commons, that the charters of pardon granted unto the traitors, to wit, the Duke of Gloucester and the Earls of Arundel and Warwick, should be revoked by consent of all the estates now in Parliament assembled. The King also for his part protested that these pardons were not voluntarily granted by him, but rather extorted by compulsion, and therefore he besought them that every man would shew forth their opinions what they thought thereof." The bishops, without much persuasion, consented to the revocation of tliese charters, the lay lords followed their example, and the Commons evinced their usual subserviency to the King's wishes ; but we agree with Thomas Walsingham, that "the act sounded highly to the King's dishonour, for- asmuch as mercy and pardoning transgressions is accounted to be the confir- mation and establishing of the King's seal and royal estate." It is not within our province to wade through the details of this affair, but we cannot avoid expressing an opinion that our Speaker, who exhibited a degree of bitterness, coupled with no ordinary ability, in this transac- tion, was a very fit tool for the tj'ranny of the times; and the following incident seems to prove the estimation in which he was held by the great Lord Arundel: — "When," says HoUingshed, " Sir John Bussy, with open mouth, besought that judgment might be had against such a traitor; and ' your faithful Commons,' said he to the King, ' ask and require that so it may be done.' The Earl of Arundel, turning his head aside, quietly said to him, ' Not the King's faithful Commons require this, but thou — and what thou art I know.' " Before the King adjourned this Parliament, which only lasted twelve days, clearly demonstrating how much mischief could be accomplished in a short space of time, he made the lords spiritual and temporal take a solemn oath to support all the statutes, ordinances, judgments, &c., made or given in this ParHament, and never to repeal or revoke them under pain of death, as false traitors to the King and kingdom, &c. &c. ; and the knights of shires, then present for the Commons, being asked '' if they would hold and keep the same oath ? " avesque haut voices, holding up their hands on high as a sign of their afiirmance of the said oath, promised to do so. And to sum up all , the pre- lates, lords, and knights of shires went from the shrine of St. Edward to the High Altar of the Church where sentence of the greater excommunication was pronounced against any who should contravene or do anything against any of the aforesaid promises. At the meeting of the adjourned Parliament, at Shrewsbury, January 27th, 1398, Sir John Bussy was duly presented as Speaker in the same form as at the opening of the session in the previous year, and the Commons agreed that all the proceedings of the Parliament of the 11th of this King should be 17 Rich. II.] sir john bussy. 19 annulled. This was the session in which the judges had been impeached, and several of them executed, while the rest were banished for advising the King that he and his Privy Council, by and with their advice, might lawfully annul the determinations of Parliament. The next day Sir John Bussy, on behalf of the Commons, presented himself to the King and Lords, and said, " that before that time many ordinances and statutes, made in divers Parliaments, had been reversed by others of different opinions, reasons, and devices — there- fore he prayed the King that the greatest security which could be given, might be done this Parliament." It certainly was high time that the Parlia- ment should know whether there was ever to be any stability in their pro- ceedings; and having so far obliged the King, they had more than the semblance of a claim for some better security than they had theretofore enjoyed. Upon this motion the King charged all the estates to give him their best advice ; when the Lords answered that they had all sworn before to hold and keep the said judgments, statutes, &c., which, as much as in them lay, they were resolved to maintain with all their powers. The judges, upon reference to them, said, the greatest security for the maintenance of the statutes was already done by this Parliament. How the reversal of every previous statute or judgment offensive to the King, by this obsequious Parliament, held out any security for the better maintenance of future enact- ments, we cannot understand — but lawyers in those days not unfrequently stretched their consciences in favour of the fountain of all honor and prefer- ment. Just before the prorogation of this Parliament our Speaker rose high in power, having been appointed by the most arbitrary, unconstitutional, and unfortunate act of the ill-fated Richard, one of the six Commoners, to whom, with twelve Lords, the whole authority of Parliament was delegated, with full power " to execute, answer, and fully determine all petitions, with their complaints, as also all other matters and things moved in the presence of the King with all other dependencies upon them, not yet determined, as they shall think best by their good advice and discretion to act in these affairs by autho- rity of Parliament." All these extraordinary inroads upon the constitution were perpetrated in the space of four days, during which this Session lasted ; but as this short-sighted Monarch did not contemplate the result of this gross innovation upon ancient usages, he dismissed the Parliament with hearty thanks for their diligence and great despatch of business. By this last act, the whole power and authority of the kingdom devolved upon the King, twelve Peers, and six Commoners, amongst whom was Sir John Bussy : and as Mr. Tyrrel, in his History of England, observes, how arbitrarily they used it, may be seen in the sequel. The first act of this junta, as it was afterwards styled, was to decree and proclaim the banishment of the Dukes of Hereford and Norfolk. On the 14th of October following, his Majesty, with the Dukes of Lancaster (the father of the banished Duke of Hereford), York, c 2 2) LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1394. Albemarle, Surrey and Exeter ; the Marquis of Dorset, the Earls of March, Salisbury and Gloucester ; John Bussy, Henry Green, and John Russel (an- cestor of the noble house of Bedford"), Knights, by virtue of the authority to them committed in the last Parliament, made certain ordinances and statutes, five whereof are printed in the statutes at large, anno regni 21 Rich. II. cap. 20 ; the last of which ordains that any persons seeking to repeal or reverse any of the statutes or ordinances of the said committee, shall be adjudg.ed a traitor, and have sentence accordingly ; and for greater security, all bishops upon receiving their temporalities, and lay-lords upon having livery of their lands, should make oath to observe the same. Without entering into the history of the revolution, which now shortly deposed this unfortunate and misguided Prince, we must advert to the suicidal act he committed upon the death of John, Duke of Lancaster, which happened at this period, by revoking the letters patent he had granted to his son Henry, Duke of Hereford, after judgment given against him, by which, during his banishment, he was autho- rized to sue by his attorney, and have livery of any lands descended to him. Richard, fearing the great wealth and increased power of Henry, the new Duke of Lancaster, by and with the advice of the committee, of which Sir John Bussy was one of the most active coadjutors, not only confiscated all his estates, and as some authors assert, pronounced his banishment perpetual, but pro- ceeded with the utmost severity against the Duke's solicitor, Henry Bowett, clerk. Archbishop of York, in the next reign, who vi^as found guilty and ordered to be hanged, drawn, and quartered, although this sentence was after- wards commuted to banishment from the kingdom for ever ; and even the dead were found guilty of treason, and their estates confiscated ; — the castles, manors, and lands of Sir Robert Pleshington, who had been concerned with the Duke of Gloucester, being forfeited to the King. In bestowing their censure upon the King in these arbitrary and un- precedented acts, it is well observed in the Parliamentary History of England, that the blame ought not to be laid singly upon the King, "when it is certain that his coadjutors, the deputies of Parliament, ought to bear some of the scandal, since they must have been advising and consenting to these arbitrary edicts ; and no doubt had a share in the plunder collected by them." A record of the unworthiness of our Speaker, upon which we might dwell with deserved severity, did not a feeling of charity and commiseration, arising from the miserable fate to which he was so soon subjected, check our indignation. It is exceedingly difiicult in a work of this nature to avoid trespassing slightly upon general history ; but as we find it is indispensable to the nature of our undertaking, that we should confine ourselves to such portions only as will properly elucidate the lives of the individuals under discussion, we shall merely observe, that in the absence of Richard in Ireland, the Duke of 17 Rich. II.] sir john bussy. 21 Lancaster landed in England with an army of 60,000 men, and having laid claim to the kingdom, he besieged the Castle of Bristol, which soon fell into his hands, and with it his capital enemies, The Earl of "Wilshire, Lord Treasurer, Sir John Bussy, and Sir Henry Green, three of the usurping com- mittee, or late juncto of Parliament, all of whom were beheaded on the fol- lowing morning, amidst the universal indignation of the people. Of the antiquity of the family of Bussy, we have the strongest proof on the Roll of Battle Abbey, where the name of Roger de Bussy appears as one of the companions-in-arms of the Conqueror, who distinguished himself at the battle of Hastings, a fact which is attested by Andre Duchesne, and Leland ; and we learn also from Doomsday Book, that this Roger de Bussy held lands immediately after the conquest at Grentewell, in Lincolnshire, and that John, the son and heir of Hugh de Bussi, and grandson of Roger, married in the 35th Edward I., Rohesia, daughter of Baldwin Fitzgilbert ; and we find deeds from Sir John Bussy, Knt., to the family of St. Liz, dated I3th and 19th Edward II., bearing his seal. In the 4th of Edward III., another of this family, Oliver Bussy de Haughtyam, married Isabella, daughter of John Paynell, of Knaptoft, and sister of Sir John Paynell de Botheby. But the name is no longer to be found, and this family in all its male branches is believed to be extinct. The blood, however, still flows in the noble house of Howard, Duke of Norfolk, the Countess of Carnarvon, the Viscountess Andover, the issue by the first marriage of Sir John Ogilvie, Bart., and the wife of J. W. BuUer, Esq., M. P., who descend (throvigh the marriage of Henry Howard, Esq., of Glossop, co. Derby, the grandfather of the present Duke, with Juliana, daughter of Sir William Molyneux, of Teversal, Bart., and ultimately heiress of her brother. Sir Francis, who died s. p. in 1812) from Margaret, daughter of Edmund Bussy, Esq., of Hather, in Lincoln- shire. The ancient families of Jodrell, of Yeardsley, in Cheshire ; Fawkes, of Farnley ; Gregory, of Barnby Dun, and Bunny, of Newland, county of York ; Cartwright, of Hexgrave, and Plumptree, of Notts., as well as the Lisles, of Moyle's Court, were also descendants of our Speaker. Arms — Or. three water bougets, arg. 22 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKEB 1399. SIR JOHN CHENEY, Knt. Sir John Cheney having been elected to the high oiSce of Speaker, we should not be altogether justified in omitting to give the few particulars we can glean respecting him, although his slight tenure of this post of dignity (only forty-eight hours) scarcely warrants any deep research into the political character of the individual. He had been returned to the first Parliament of Henry IV., as one of the knights of the shire for Cornwall, when, according to Sir John Hayward, in his life of that Sovereign, a committee was appointed to receive the unhappy Richard's resignation of the crown ; upon which occasion the legitimate but captive Monarch is reported, though on somewhat doubtful authority, to have made a speech which would do honour to the superior acquirements and intelligence of this age of refine- ment, — while it betrays such a manifestly sincere feeling of repentance, that those who listened to it without remorse for the act of injustice they were aiding to perpetrate, must have possessed most adamantine hearts. This speech was read to the Parliament on the first day of the Session, together with the answers of Richard II. to the questions put to him by Sir William Thirnyng (chief justice of the King's Bench) in the Tower, at the conclusion of which that weak and misguided prince, consenting to all the usurper's demands, meekly observed that, " after all this, he hoped that his cosyn wolde be a gode Lorde to hym." " The next day," says the Pari. Hist., " the Parliament met again, when the Commons presented to the King, Sir John Cheney for their Speaker, whom the King accepted, and he made the usual protestation, which was also accepted. But the day following the said Sir John, with the Commons, came again before the King, and declared that by reason of a sudden disorder, he was unable to serve, and that they had chose Sir John Darewood in his place; beseeching the King to allow the said John Darewood to be Speaker of the Commons ; which said Knight having also made the usual protestation, was allowed as before." In the foregoing account there are one or two trifling inaccuracies which have been corrected by the learned antiquary, Mr. Hakewell, in his Modus tenendi Parliamentum, with a more ample account of the transaction which we shall make no apology for inserting. He says, " Sir John Cheney is styled in the Roll not only parlour, but procurator de les Commons ; the next day after he was presented he grew sick, and the Con^mons made choice of Mr. John Dorewood in his place, and yet he came up with the Commons 1 Hen. IV.] SIR john cheney. 23 to the Lords' House, and prayed to be discharged by reason of his infirmity, declaring whom the Commons had made choice of, and prayed he might be accepted, which was granted, and he (Mr. Dorewood) made the like pro- testation as Sir John Cheney had done, which was that he might have liberty to amend any mistaking in that which he should deliver from the Commons, and made none of the other requests now usuall." In the previous account, amongst other things, the Pari. Hist, is wrong in styling Sir John Cheney's successor a Knight, except as Knight of the shire for Essex, the honour of Knighthood never having been conferred upon him, although we find that other historians have fallen into a similar error, thinking it perhaps a matter of little importance, and have gone further still, as we shall shew hereafter, in making two Speakers of the name of Dorewood, which is against all evidence. Of Sir John Cheney's further parliamentary career we know nothing, except that he was again returned to Parliament for the county of Cornwall in 1406, the 7th of Henry IV. There were two families of Cheney, one derived from Ralph de Caineto, who accompanied William the Conqueror into England, and was probably of Italian origin, which at various periods of history had distinguished themselves as valiant soldiers, and had summons to Parliament as Barons of the Realm, and were connected by marriage with the Waldegraves, Says, and many of the noblest families of England. Sir John Cheney, a descendant, standard bearer to Richmond at the battle of Bosworth, in a personal encounter with Richard III., was, although a man of great bodily strength, felled to the ground by that Monarch. He afterwards fought stoutly against the Earl of Lincoln, at Stoke, and was summoned to Parliament as Baron Cheney the 3rd of Henry VII. This valiant nobleman was a Knight Banneret, and a Knight of the Garter, but dying without any issue in 1496, his estates descended to his nephew. Sir Thomas Cheney, of Toddington, and the family is now represented by R. H. Cheney, Esq., of Moneyash, Derbyshire. The other family was of an ancient Cornish race, whose name is said to have been cor- rupted from Chenduit, the male line of which became extinct in the reign of Henry VI. From which of these two eminent families our Speaker is derived we cannot positively assert, but give the preference to the latter, upon the authority of Browne "Willis, who states that he represented the county of Cornwall. Arms. — Az. six lions rampant, ar. a canton erm., for Cheney, of Shirland, Kent. Gu. a lion ram. regard, ar. betw. nine acorns or., Cheney, or Chen- duit, of Bodanon, Cornwall. 24 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1399. JOHN DOREWOOD, Esq. John Dorewood, Esq., of Dorewood Hall, in the county of Essex, Serjeant- at-law, a gentleman of good family and estate, represented his native county in several Parliaments, and was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons in the first of King Henry IV. in the room of Sir John Cheney, whose bodily health obliged him to resign that dignity after its short tenure of forty-eight hours. Fabian, in his account of the coronation of this Monarch, thus nar- rates the manner in which Mr. Dorewood was elected to the ofSce of Speaker. " Than this feest with all honoure endyd, upon the morne beyinge Tuysday, the Parlyament was agayne begunne, and upon Wedneysdaye Syr John Cheney, y'. before that tyme had occupyed as Speker of that Parlyament, by his owne laboure, for cause of such infyrmyties as he tha had, was dyschargyd, and a Squyer named Wyllyam Durwarde was electe to that roume for hym." The old historians and chroniclers observe, that this Parliament was, by some chicanery, but the reassembling of the former Parliament of the late King, whose powers (as we have related in the previous memoir of Sir John Bussy) had been so long usurped by a committee. If such were the fact, we still applaud the policy of the new King, who, fully aware of the indignation which had been excited in the minds of the great majority of its members for having suffered themselves to be duped by Sir John Bussy and others, into the delegation of their whole powers to a committee, which had in fact deprived the kingdom of the benefits of a Parliament for nearly ten years, could not have hoped to assemble a body of legislators less favourable to the dejure captive Monarch, and consequently better disposed to his successor de facto. The Commons, with the assent of the Bishops and Lords, " for the great love and affection which they bore their Lord and Sovereign," with many other fulsome compliments, and in order to provide for the war against Scot- land, defence of Calais and Ireland, and the amendment of the state, also in hopes that their requests should he granted, voted a large subsidy. The proceedings against the captive Monarch and the noble and magnani- mously courageous conduct of Thomas Meerks, bishop of Carlisle, in the cause of his rightful Sovereign, independently of the fact of their being purely matters of general history, have been too well engraven upon the memory of man by the immortal bard to require comment from us, more especially as these acts were all regulated by the Prelates and Lords without reference to 1 Hen. IV.] JOHN DOREWOOD. 25 the Commons. We are tempted, however, to give the words which the great poet puts into the mouth of King Henry, in reference to the bishop's high sen- timents of loyalty and devotion to his legitimate Sovereign, at the conclusion of his historical play of King Richard II. The bishop being brought before him to receive his sentence, Henry says — " Carlisle, this is thy doom. Chuse out some secret place, some reverend room, More than thou hast, and -with it joy thy life ; So, as thou livest in peace, die free from strife. For though mine enemy thou hast ever been, High sparks of honour in thee I have seen," In the further proceedings of this Parliament it appears that in consequence of the King having granted the prayer of the Duke of York and others in favour of a restitution of lands to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who had been impeached and exiled by a former Parliament, the Commons prayed the King that since they were not made privy to the "judgment aforesaid, no record might be made to charge or make them parties therein." To which the Archbishop, by the King's command, made the following singular answer — " That the Commons in Parliament were only petitioners, and that all judg- ments belong to the King and Lords, unless it was statutes, grants of subsidies, or such like," which ordinance the King willed should be from that time observed. As we cannot separate the acts of the Commons from the Speaker who presided over their deliberations, and was himself a lawyer of eminence, or rather as he must be associated with them, we willingly give insertion to some of the petitions of the Commons in this Parliament, as they redound greatly to their credit, and produced some excellent laws. The principal were, " That the Lords spiritual and temporal and the judges do not hence- forth plead in excuse, that they darst not, for fear of death, to speak the truth;" "that no part of the Crown lands may be sold, given, or exchanged, and that there be a resumption of such as are ;" " that all men dispossessed of any tenements, without process of law, may be restored, if done since the coming of the King;" "that the King will appoint able captains as well in England as in Wales." They then proceeded to grant the King the same liberties as were enjoyed by his progenitors, upon the King's promise not to turn them against the laws ; and after praying the reversal of the attainders against those whose titles and estates had been confiscated in the previous reign, they required the repeal of the whole Parliament of the 21st Richard II., with a general restitution of lands and goods to all such as lost thereby — which act will be found in the statutes at large in the 1st Henry IV. The Parliament above alluded to, was, according to the old chroniclers, called 26 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1399. " the evil Parliament for the nobility, the worse for the menality, but the worst of all for the commonalty." The last act of the Commons in this Parliament, was their prayer that the arrest and judgment against William le Scrope, Earl of Wiltshire, Sir Henry Green, and Sir John Bussy, the former Speaker, might be confirmed in full parliament, which was carried into effect against the Knights, but after sentence confirmed against all three ; the lands of Lord Wiltshire were restored by the King to his family, upon which the Commons thanked that prince for his just judgment, and blessed God for sending them such a king and governor, " tiel Roy et Governour," as it is written in the Parliamentary Record, which, however, furnishes very little information concerning our Speaker, or the proceedings of the Session. In the first parliament of King Henry V-, a.d. 1413, Mr. Dorewood was again chosen Speaker ; but it is a very curious and remarkable coincidence that this gentleman owed both his elections to the illness of the Speakers first chosen by the House of Commons. In the former instance, when Sir John Cheney was excused from the office on the ground of bodily infirmities, and in the latter because of the incompetency of Mr, Stourton, by reason of sickness, to attend to his duties ; and what adds to the strangeness of this coincidence, is the fact of Mr. Dorewood's elections, under such circum- stances, occurring in the first year of each of the two monarchs, Henry IV. and Henry V., and that these were the only occasions upon which he occupied the chair of the House of Commons. We maj-, however, here remark, that some writers have erred in supposing that Mr. Dorewood, the Speaker in the Parliament of the 1st of Henry IV., and the Speaker of this parliament, were father and son. It appears to us that it was one and the same person, and that had it been otherwise, the topographical writers who specifically name his children and their alliances, would have mentioned the fact of father and son being so singularly honoured ; but it is an error, for the Speaker on both occasions was a Sergeant- at-law : not so with either of his sons. In taking a very cursory review of the proceedings of this Parliament, we find that it granted the new monarch a subsidy for four years ; which, although unusual, does not astonish us, considering his great popularity. The Com- mons petitioned for the redress of grievances ; and many excellent laws to promote the public good were enacted. It was during this Session that the Clergy sitting in Convocation at St. Paul's stirred up the King to prosecute Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, as a favourer of the Lollards, or, as the prelates designated him, "a most notorious heretic." His principal heresy consisted in having, in the last reign, brought in a Bill for the reduction of the exorbitant revenues of the Church. The unfortunate and ill-advised insurrection of the reformers in this year, which began in London and the suburbs, headed by Sir John Oldcastle, induced the young monarch to believe 1 Hen. IV.] JOHN dorewood. 27 that their principles were equally destructive to the State and the Church ; and, notwithstanding his personal regard for this ill-fated nobleman, whose valour in the field had excited his admiration, he subsequently gave his assent to the prosecution, and to that act of severity against the followers of Wickliffe, which must ever remain as a stain upon the pages of history, and the foulest blot in the escutcheon of this otherwise magnanimous prince. The statute passed in the next parliament, at Leicester, enacts, " that whoever read the Scriptures in English (which was then called Wickliffe's learning), should forfeit land, cattle, goods, and life, and be condemned as heretics to God, enemies to the Crown, and traitors to the kingdom ; that they should not have the benefit of any sanctuary (a privilege granted to the most noto- rious murderers and malefactors), and that if they continued obstinate, or relapsed after pardon, they should first be hanged for treason against the King, and then burnt for heresy against God." History informs us that many were taken and executed under this statute, and that thousands fled into Germany, Bohemia, &c. It may be asked how the House of Commons, so deeply in- fected with the new doctrines, could assent to a law which might at any moment be put in execution against them. We confess it is puzzling to philosophy to account for the passive submission of man to cruelty or oppression at the period in question, or at any previous or subsequent era of the world, and cannot, in our humble judgment, be attributed to any other source than the want of moral force, by reason of ignorance, to oppose and repress the abuses of power. We now live in an age in which it is admitted as a principle, that liberty is the safeguard of monarchy, licentiousness the most tyrannical opponent of freedom ; but, acknowledging that we are all the children of the same God, do we not find, within the memory of man, that the most hideous cruelty and oppression were sanctioned by the laws of this Christian country against the colored population of our colonial terri- tories ? and at a period, too, when ignorance ofiered no excuse, nor even pal- liation, for the commission of such revolting atrocities. Let us, then, be tender in our judgments upon our forefathers, and receive the history of the past as so many excellent lessons for the future avoidance of bigotry and intolerance. Our motive for making any allusion to these transactions, arises from the fact of the Rolls of the next Parliament having been lost, and our inability to discover the name of the Speaker who presided over the delibe- rations of the Commons. Our research has not enabled us to find many particulars relative to the personal history or qualifications of this Speaker, but we find that his father represented the county of Essex, in the Parliaments of the 18th and 20th of Edward III., and that he sat for the same county in the 1st and 5th of Henry IV., and the 1st and 2nd of Henry V., and was sherifi' of Essex and Hertfordshire in 1425 and 1432. Of his family, wHch is extinct in the 28 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. male line, we have ample accounts from Morant's and Wright's tope graphical histories. The Dorewoods of Dorewood Hall, or Durrants, had resided there ever since the reign of Henry III., and were connected hy marriage with the great families of Waldegrave and Knivet. The sub- ject of this memoir, Mr. John Dorewood, married Blanch, eldest daugh- ter of Sir William de Coggeshall, one of the most ancient families in the county, which they had represented in several Parliaments. It does not appear that this gentleman ever received the honour of Knighthood, although he is erroneously styled Sir John Dorewood, in the Pari. Hist, of Eng. ; where, by the way, numerous errors of this nature, which may be accounted trivial, and others of more serious import, are of constant occurrence in the e^rly volumes. We find that William Dorewood, Esq., of Dorewood Hall, in Bocking, in Essex, the son of our Speaker, in the reign of King Henry VI., married Margaret, one of the daughters and co-heiresses of Sir Roger Harsyke, the tenth Knight in a regular descent according to these old lines : — " Three Eudo's first, then Alexander brave, Sir Roger next, the line of Harsyke save ; Four Johns succeed, and knighted every one, Sir Roger dropped the line, for want of son." Joan, the other co-heiress, married John Dorewood Esq., of East Denham, a younger brother of the above. Elizabeth, daughter and sole heiress of Wilham Dorewood, Esq., of Dorewood Hall, son of the above-named William, married Henry Thoresby, Esq., of Southacre, and Dorewood Hall, in her right, a gentleman of very ancient family claiming Saxon origin, descended from Gos- patrick. Lord of Thoresby, there seated long prior to the Norman invasion. Dorewood Hall remained in their possession until the ] 7th century, when it was alienated, but the families of Thoresby and Dorewood are represented by the present John Harvey Thursby, of Abington Abbey, in the county of Northampton, Esq. (See Burke's " Landed Gentry.") Arms. — Ermine, a chevron charged with three crescents. SIR ARNOLD SAVAGE. 29 SIR ARNOLD SAVAGE, Knt. Sir Arnold Savage, Knt., of Frodshara Castle, co. Chester, and of Bobbing Court, co. Kent, at the former of which this very ancient family had been seated for many generations, vras elected a Knight of the Shite for Chester, and was chosen Speaker of theHouse of Commons in the second Par- liament of King Henry IV., holden at Westminster on the 22nd January, 1401, and appears to have been the first Speaker who introduced the custom of making complimentary speeches to the Monarch — at least his speech on that occasion is the first which appears on the Record. On the third day of the Session, after thanking the King for his promise to maintain the Catholic faith, he addressed him in the following manner : — " To every good government four things appertained, viz., wisdom, prowess, manhood, and riches ; all of which he affirmed were in the King and his nobility, as the world very well knew, and they would approve ; for the hearts and good will of subjects were the riches of a King. Therefore, for certain reasons, the Commons would persuade the King not to agree to the challenge which the French King had made to him and the Lords." The challenge to which the Speaker alluded was from the Duke of Orleans (brother to the King of France, a prince of great courage and reputation) to Henry, to meet him at Bordeaux, with a hundred stout warriors on a side, there to fight, and each victor to have his prisoner — an attempt to bring Henry to justice for the deposition and cruel imprisonment of his brother-in-law, the captive King, which must ever be regarded as honourable and chivalrous on the part of the French Prince ; but the King took' the Commons' advice, and refused to meet him, giving thanks to the knights and burgesses for their tender good-will to him. In this Parliament there was no act of any import- ance in which the Commons were concerned until the 21st of the following month, when they prayed the King to execute the ordinance of Richard IL upon the conquest of Wales — " that no Welshman should bear any office in the country," which was kindly assented to ; but not satisfied with this con- cession to their prejudices, they required the King also to assist in pacifying the schism then in the Church of Rome, which had continued a long time, if it could be done without any charge to the realm. And although there is no record of the Commons having procured it, shortly afterwards a writ was issued for the burning of William Sawtre, clerk, convicted of heresy by his clergy — the first man, according to old John Stowe, that suffered death for 30 LIVES or THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1401. religion in England — and a statute was passed in this Session touching the imprisoning, or punishing with death, such as held any erroneous opinion in religion. Prynne says—" This was the first statute and butcherly knife that the impeaching prelates procured, or had, against the poor preachers of Christ's Gospel ;" and Fox, in his " Acts and Monuments," adds, that " Henry IV. was the first of all English kings that began the unmerciful burning of Christ's Saints." This act, however, was not repealed until 25th Henry VIII. ; and notwithstanding that the external schism, owing to the contest between the rival Popes, and the internal discord arising from the daily-increasing number of the Reformers, or followers of Wickliffe, must have greatly agitated all classes of the community, it cannot be denied, even at this distance of time, when men's minds are not warped by the puritanism of bygone days, that this was a bloody statute, for the procuring and maintainance of which the clergy deserve the chief discredit, although its becoming the law of the land casts a deep stain upon the three estates of the kingdom. However, it is admitted that this Parliament passed several good laws ; and such we find to be the case at the commencement of almost every usurpation, it having been truly observed, that the best laws for the subject have been often gained under the weakest titles of our kings. On the last day of this Parliament a curious and degrading ceremony occurred, for which we find no precedent in the re- cords of previous Parliaments, although we have several times met with genu- flections on the part of the Commons, after an acknowledged offence to the King. It appears that the Commons all knelt before the King and humbly besought him to pardon them, if, through ignorance, they might have offended him — which the King readily granted. The Speaker in his address made, as it is called, a long preachment, comparing the beginning and ending of this Parliament to the sacrifice of the Mass — which metaphor Sir Arnold Savage thus explained : — " At first, he said, the Archbishop of Canterbury read the Epistle and expounded the Gospel to them; the King did the sacrifice, by promising to defend and protect the Holy Church, &c., and when they were come the end, to say, Ita missa est Deo gratias, they had great reason to thank God for sending them so good and gracious a King, so full of pity and humanity to all his subjects." Sir Arnold Savage was again chosen Speaker of the House in the Parlia- ment holden at Westminster in the 5th year of Henry IV., a.d. 1404, the proceedings in which, although interesting to the general reader, throw no particular light upon the character of our Speaker. One of the first acts of the Commons, however, was to require the King to repair his own castles and houses (particularly Windsor), which were all in great decay, and to stand to the repairs himself; otherwise, if the charge fell upon his Commons, it might endanger the whole estate. And they further advised the King to remove certain ofiicers of his establishment, and although the King informed them 2 Hen. IV.] sir Arnold savage. 31 that he found no fault with the four — his Confessor, the Abbot of Dore, and two others, still he discharged them as he would any that should incur the hatred and displeasure of his people ; they then required that all foreigners in the interest of the Anti-Pope, Benedict XIII. (the English adhering to Boniface IX. j, should be banished the realm ; that all French, Bretons, Lombards, Italians, and Navarians, be" removed out of the house from the King and Queen, except the Queen's two daughters, &c. ; and that no Welshmen be about the King's person, all which were assented to by the King and the Lords, and put into execution that same evening. In this Parliament, the statute for the protection of members' persons from arrest for debt, &c., was first enacted. Our Speaker, Sir Arnold Savage, was sheriff of Kent, in the reign of Richard II., and held his shrievalty at Bobbing Court, near Sittingbourne, in great magnificence, according to Hasted, the learned topographer of Kent, who, in reference to the distinguished merit of this great family of warriors, states that no less than three knights, Sir John, of Bobbing Court, Sir Thomas, and Sir Roger Savage, together with some esquires of the same family, all Kentish gentlemen, attended Edward I. at the siege of Carlaverock, and that they were of such estimation in that county, that their arms are to be found in several churches ; those of Sir Arnold Savage, being " Argent, six lioncells sable, as they now stand on the roof of Canterbury Cloysters." A descendant of our Speaker, Sir John Savage, of Frodsham Castle, and Rock Savage, near Clifton, was a faithful ally and supporter of the claims of Henry Earl of Richmond, afterwards Henry VII., whom he helped to place upon the throne. This eminent and valiant knight was subsequently slain at the siege of Boulogne. His de- scendants were raised to the peerage as Viscounts Savage, and subsequently became Earls Rivers, both of which titles are now extinct, but the blood still flows in the family of Pitt, Baron Rivers, Henry Seymor, Esq., of Hereford, in the county of Dorset, and the very ancient and eminent family of Fox Lane, of Bramham Park, Yorkshire ; and amongst the lineal descendants of our Speaker, we may cite the Marquis of Winchester, and the Earl of Cardigan, who derive from the daughters of Sir Thomas Savage, Viscount Savage, by Elizabeth, his wife, daughter and co-heiress of Thomas, Lord Darcy, Viscount Colchester and Earl Rivers, who were sisters to Sir Thomas Savage, the third Baronet, second Viscount, and first Earl Rivers, who died in 1654. The male line of the family is not however extinct, as the repre- sentative of Savage, of Rock Savage, co. Chester, still exists in the person of John Savage, Esq., M.A., Barrister-at-law, now of St. Leonards, co. Kent who, for several years held the office of Master of the Supreme Court at Madras. This gentleman is the grandson of John Savage, Esq., of Brompton, by Ann Allen Scott, his wife, of the noble family of Deloraine in Scotland, who was the great great grandson of Thomas Savage, Esq., a younger son, who emigrated to new England in 1635. 32 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1403. This family is enumerated by Wingfield, York Herald, amongst the few distinguished houses that are, hy prescriptive right, entitled to use supporters to their coat of arms ; and in the Savage Chapel at Macclesfield, the burial place of the family for centuries, which was erected by Thomas Savage (Bishop of Rochester in 1492, Bishop of London in 1497, and Archbishop of York in 1501), brother of Sir John Savage, K.G., and nephew of Thomas Stanley, first Earl of Derby ; the arms of the family, with the supporters, appear on the monument of that valiant Knight. Arms. — Arg. six lioncells, sa. three, two and one. Supporters. — A falcoQ, billed, or. and an unicorn, arg. SIR HENRY REDFORD, Knt. According to the visitations of the county of Lincoln, the family of Redeford, Redford, Ritford, and Rydford, for the name was thus variously written, must have been of great consideration in that county, in the thir- teenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries. In Mr. Hollis' curiously interesting collections at the British Museum, we find frequent mention of difierent members of this ancient family, and various deeds to which their seal and signatures are affixed. Oae, indeed, of an earlier date between Witto Gaskrik, Johe Feryby, Rado Redford, et ahjs, Dat. apud Laccehy die lunce prima post festum Conversionis Sci Pauli, post conquestum Anglia quinto decimo. (Sic in orig.) One of this family, Walter Redford, married Agnes Mallet, a lady of a very ancient Norman family, and in the 16th of Richard II., the subject of our memoir appears as Vicecomes de Lincoln Militi; while in the 1st of Henry IV., Sir Henry Redford and "William Bellesby present Robert Teverington, chaplain, to the church of Heyling, county of Lincoln. Sir Henry Redford having been elected a Knight of the shire for Lincoln, was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons in the 4th of Henry IV., a.d. 1403. Most historians state that this Parliament was held at Coventry, but that, owing to the inconvenience of the place on account of provisions and lodgings, it was adjourned to Westminster. The business of Parliament having been opened by the Lord Chancellor on the 1st of October, in a speech in which "he desired them to provide ways and means for maintaining the war against Scotland, for utterly subjecting the enemies of Wales, for wholly conquering Ireland, for defending Guienne, Calais, and the Marches thereof," the Commons, alarmed at the magnitude of 3 Hen. IV.] sir henry redford. 33 supplies required for all these purposes, took several days to consider this charge, and were at a loss as to the course they should pursue. On the 10th they had come to no determination — a very unprecedented delay — when the Chancellor informed the King that the Commons desired to confer with certain of the Lords. The King granted their request, protesting, however, " that the same was done out of favour, and not of duty ;" a protest on the part of the sovereign which was enrolled by the Clerk of the House of Lords. The King then sent the steward of his household and his secretary to the Commons to acquaint them with it, who returned for answer, that " they accepted of his protestation ;" and accordingly, four Bishops, four Earls, and four Barons, were ordered to attend them. Independently of the usual subsidy on wools, &c., for three years, with three shillings on every ton of wine, and twelve- pence in the pound on merchandize, the Commons granted a tenth and a fifteenth. It is recorded that Henry was so pleased with the liberality of his faithful Commons upon this occasion, that he invited both Houses to dine with him the next day; the particulars of which would have been very interesting, but nothing further js said upon the subject by the old historians, but that they did so accordingly. The further proceedings of this session are altogether without parliamentary interest, and no mention whatever is made of our Speaker in the journals of the House beyond the fact of his election and acceptance after the usual protestation, except on the 16th of October, when the Commons, by the mouth of their Speaker, "gave to the King their most humble thanks for his many valiant exploits — namely, for his last expedition into Scotland, and for his three several journeys into "Wales since the former. Wherein they took occasion to praise the valour of the Prince, and forgot not to mention the noble service performed by the Lord Thomas, the King's second son, in Ireland. As for the victory in Scotland, they humbly hoped that, by 'good policy, it might be made to turn to the advantage and ease of the Commons ; and because in that battle the Earl of Northumberland behaved gallantly, they prayed the King to give him thanks." This is about one of the earliest, if not absolutely the first, instance in which the thanks of Parliament were awarded to a general for his military prowess. "We cannot omit a most singular event, which may be regarded as the sequel to our Speaker's oration upon this occasion. Four days after, on the 20th of the same month, the King being seated on his throne in the House of Lords, the Commons being then assembled, the Earl of Northumber- land and his son, Henry Percy, surnamed Hotspur, accompanied by other noblemen and knights, brought before the King, Sir Mordach le Steward, son and heir to the Duke of Albany, brother to the King of Scots, the Lord Montgomery, Sir William Graham, Sir Adam Forester, Scots ; Sir Jaques de Heleye, Sir Pierce Hagars, and John Dorney, Esq., Frenchmen, 34 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1405. who, with others, were taken prisoners at the famous battle of Humbledon, or Halidown Hill, near Wollar, in the county of Northumberland, where 10,000 Scots were slain, and many prisoners made, on the 14th of the previous month of September, and the day of the Exaltation of Holy Cross. The ceremony observed on that occasion by the Scottish Prince and his fellow-captives is too curious to be omitted. The historian says, " These prisoners, in coming into the King's presence, kneeled three times : first, at the door of the Whitehall within the King's palace ; then in the midst of the Hall; and lastly, before the throne ; and, whilst they were still kneeling, Sir Adam Forester, in the name of them all, humbly prayed the King that they might be entertained according to the course of war ; which the King, because they were taken valiantly fighting in the field, readily granted. Then the said Sir Adam declared, " that, in order to stop the eiTusion of Christiaji blood, it was now in the King's power to have either a long peace or a league." Upon which the King answered, " that, by his own flattery and untruth, he was taught to be wiser than to trust them, as he had caused the King, by relying on his word, to leave Scotland sooner than he intended to do." Sir Adam asked pardon for this ; and then they were committed to the care of the Steward of the Household to wait the King's pleasure." In this parliament, a release for monies, jewels, &c., was granted by letters patent to one John Kelyngton, clerk, who had been entrusted with the same by the late King, whose title, now that he was dead, Henry thus recognises : " Carissimus Dominus et consanguineus noster Ricardus nuper Rex Ang. defunctu. This parliament was dissolved on the 25th of November, the very day on which the supplies were granted; and, after the most diligent search, we are compelled to state that we find no further mention of our Speaker, nor have we obtained any information whatever as to his descendants. Arms, Ax. fretty, sa. a chief of the second. SIR WILLIAM ESTURMY, Knt. The family of Esturmy was of great consideration as far back as the reign of Richard L, but we have no further evidence of its existence in any stated locality prior to that period, although the name appears in the Roll of Battle Abbey among the companions in arms of the Conqueror. Geofi-rey Esturmy became the owner of Wolf's Hall, in the hundred of 6 Hen. IV.] sir william esturmy. 35 Meere, in the county of Wilts, in the twelfth century, and married Alice. His son, Roger Esturmy, gave considerable land to the monks of Margan in the reign of King John ; and the grandson of this gentleman, Henry Esturmy, married Margaret, daughter and co-heir of Sir John de Lortie, of Axford, CO. "Wilts, by Maud, his wife, daughter of the Lord Lovell, by whom he had four sons — Richard, Henry, Geoffrey, and Thomas; the eldest and youngest died unmarried ; the second son, Henry, married Margaret, daughter and co-heir of Herbert Husee, Esq., temp. Edward III., but dying without issue, was succeeded by his nephew William, the son of his brother Geoffrey, who is the subject of our memoir. Of the education, early life, or vocation of this gentleman, we can glean no particulars— whether he was a knight of the field and tournament, or of the quill and the statutes, we are equally ignorant, for until he made his appearance in the political arena of the House of Commons — although we meet with his name and that of various members of his family in county histories, we find no details or particulars which would justify us in hazarding any opinion with respect to (what our Gallic neighbours style) ses antecedents. According to Browne Willis, Sir William Esturmy, or Sturmy, of Chedhara and Wolf's Hall, was elected one of the Knights of the Shire for Devon, and was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons in the Parliament holden at Coventry, 6th Hen. IV., anno. 1405, wherein an extraordinary subsidy was granted upon the third day of the session for the safety of the realm, suppression of the Welsh rebels, and resisting the enemies in France and Brittany; and the Commons again interfered in the regulation of the King's household, suggesting certain ways by which the King might live by his own, and be less burdensome to his subjects. The Commons seemed greatly averse to the bestowal of useless pensions, and desired to practice every possible economy consistent with the splendour of the Crown, whose revenues they thought, with proper management, ample for its support. This Parliament was called the illiterate or lack learning Parliament, ParUamentum indoctorum, as it is alleged by some by reason of the absence of the clergy during its proceedings — this is however denied, and the name of the Layman's Parliament (according to Stowe) was given to it in consequence of the Commons having gone in a body to the King, headed by their Speaker, who proposed applying the revenues of the Church to the service of the State. Indeed the circumstance and the arguments used on both sides are too curiously interesting to be omitted. Sir William Esturmy observed, " That the clergy possessed a third part of the riches of the realm, and not doing the King any personal service, it was but just they should contribute out of their revenues towards the pressing necessities of the state. That it was evident the riches of the ecclesiastics made them neg- ligent in their duty, and the lessening of their excessive incomes would be a double advantage both to the Church and State." d2 86 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKEK 1405. Historians observe that this proposition was not disagreeable to the King, but the Archbishop of Canterbury being present, replied, that " though the ecclesiastics served him not in person, it could not be inferred that they were unserviceable, since they sent into the field their vassals and tenants whenever there was occasion. That the stripping the clergy of their estates, would put a stop to their prayers, night and day, for the welfare of the State ; and there was no expecting God's protection of the kingdom, if the prayers of the Church were so little valued." Upon this, our Speaker smiled, and said openly, " he thought the prayers of the Church a very slender supply." The Archbishop answered with emotion, " That if the prayers of the Church were so slighted, and that other considerations were not capable of suppressing the plots against the clergy, it would be found difficult to deprive them of their estates, without exposing the kingdom to great danger ; and, so long as he was Archbishop of Canterbury, he would oppose this injustice to the utmost of his power." Then suddenly falling upon his knees before the King, he strongly pressed him in point of conscience, and endeavoured to make him sensible, that of all the crimes a Prince could commit, none was so heinous as an invasion of the Church's patrimony. " Whether," says the Parliamentary History, " Henry was moved with the Archbishop's speech, or that he foresaw the strong opposition the clergy would make, and that he could not without great difficulty accomplish his design, he suddenly changed his purpose, and resolved to desist from it. He answered the Archbishop, " That though he blamed not his zeal, he could not help saying that his fears were groundless ; for, when he mounted the throne, he made a firm resolution, to support the Church with all his power, and he hoped with God's assistance, to leave her in a better state than he found her." The Archbishop, encouraged by this answer, turned to .the Commons, and spoke to them in a manner not very proper to gain their good will, telling them their demand was built wholly on irreligion and avarice. " You," said he, " and such like as you, have advised both our Lord the King and his predecessors, to confiscate the goods and lands of the alien priories and religious houses, on pretence he should gain great riches by it, as indeed, they were worth many thousands ; notwithstanding, it is mosf true, that the King is not half a mark the richer for them all; for, you have extorted, or, at least, begged them out of his hands, and have appropriated the said goods to your own uses ; so- it may be well conjectured that your request to have our temporalities, proceeds not so much for the King's profit, as for your own covetousness : for without doubt, if the King, as God forbid, should fulfil your wicked purpose, he would not be one farthing the richer for it at the year's end. And (he concluded) verily, I will sooner have my head cut off, than that the Church should he deprived of the least right pertaining to it." Nevertheless the Commons, when they went back to their own House 6 Hen. IV.] sir william esturmy. 87 brought in a bill to seize the clergy's revenues, which was thrown out by the Lords, at the solicitations of the Archbishop and the rest of the prelates, and the clergy granted the King a tenth and a half. Walsingham says, the knights and burgesses were so ashamed of themselves, that they confessed their fault to the Archbishop, and asked his pardon ; but this is extremely problema- tical, for it is not confirmed by other historians, and he wrote ever with a strong bias towards the higher authorities and the cloth to which he belonged. The Commons also prayed, just before the dissolution of this Parliament, that no member of their House should be a collector of subsidies — a fact which is recorded to their honour. It would be inexcusable on our parts to omit giving insertion to the good opinion of the historian upon the conduct of the Commons at this period — the compliment he pays to the Lower House was well merited by their exer- tions to repress useless expenditure, and to institute the most rigid economy in all branches of the state, without impairing the splendour and dignity of the Crown. He says, " The representatives of the people in these days shewed themselves to be really so, by making the interest of their constituents the same as their own ; they freely gave to relieve the necessities of the state, in time of war, or the like; but, at the same time, took care that no useless grants or pensions should be made from the Crown, to impoverish the revenue of it, which was then thought sufficiently ample to maintain itself in splendour, when an English Monarch had no foreign appendages to draw from him the very blood and vitals of the Commonwealth." Sir William Esturmy appears to have evinced a spirit of independence in the preceding transaction, and indeed throughout the whole proceedings of this Parliament, of an unusual character for the period, which causes us the more deeply to regret our inability to obtain further information respecting the parliamentary career of a man who had sufficient boldness to stand forward and argue with the Head of the Church in the presence of his Sovereign. Were book-making the object of our contemplation, here we have ample op- portunity of enlarging upon the unprecedented courage displayed by our Speaker at a period when liberty was but a word, and the very name of inde- pendence had no existence ; but much as we admire the bold and fearless eon- duct of Sir William Esturmy ; and proud as we are of this proof of political heroism in an age when man's thoughts surrounded him with danger, and their expression too often involved him in ruin and death, we must in con- sideration of our limited space, and the many claims upon our attention, con- tent ourselves with this simple, but pleasurable record of public spirit on the part of one of our earliest Speakers, for in all subsequent periods of English history, until almost within our own times, few, if any, of his successors have surpassed him in political courage ; but in order to appre- ciate his conduct in its true light, the reader must reflect upon the times 38 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. in which he lived, and the arbitrary and despotic power of the Sovereign ; but, above all, he must remember the influence of the Church, its power, its wealth, the terror excited by its anathemas, and last, though not least, its anti-christian, but no less certain vengeance upon its opponents ; all these were braved by our Speaker in his endeavours to lighten the burthens of the people, and save them from that oppressive taxation under which the whole kingdom was then groaning. That the House of Commons, probably the Peers, were with him at the onset, cannot be doubted ; that the opinions to which he gave utterance were consonant to the secret resolutions of the House, may be admitted ; that unarmed with such an authority, he would have abstained from giving expression to such opinions, we may concede ; never- theless, to Sir William Esturmy was confided the post of danger, and even at this distance of time, we must chefcrfully concur in admitting that he fulfilled his trust with honour and unexampled courage. We regret our inability to trace any further particulars in the life of this eminent man, except that he was appointed, with that " noble and prudent" Knight (as John I., King of Portugal styled him), Sir John Pelham, ancestor of the illustrious house of Newcastle, in the third of Henry V., to borrow money to enable that king to go beyond the seas for the recovery of his right, and to signify that security should be given for the payment thereof, and a few genealogical facts which establish beyond a doubt, the extinction of his race in the male line in his own person. Sir William Esturmy married the daughter and co-heiress of Robert Stokey, Esq., of the county of Wilts, who was the relict of John Beaumont, a younger branch of the great family of the Barons Beaumont, by whom he had issue two daughters and co-heiresses ; what became of the elder we are unable to state, but the younger daughter, Maud, espoused Roger Seymour, Esq., of Penhow, the eldest son and heir of Sir Roger de St. Mauro by the heiress of the illustrious house of Beauchamp, of Hache, from whose eldest son, Sir John Seymour, descended Edward Seymour, better known as the protector Somerset, Thomas Lord Seymour, of Sudley (the brilliant but unfortunate Lord High Admiral of England, second husband of Queen Cathe- rine Parr), and Queen Jane Seymour, the wife of Henry VIIL, and in the direct and eldest male line, unbroken by a single link or chasm, now descend Edward Adolphus, the present and eleventh Duke of Somerset (who is the re- presentative of our Speaker), and the noble house of Hertford ; while from Sir Henry Seymour, K.B,, next brother to the protector Somerset, Aaron Crossley Seymour, Esq., of Castletown, in Ireland, and the Rev. Sir John Hobart Culme Seymour, Bart., High Mount, co. Limerick, and Tothill, near Plymouth, derive their descent, inheriting the blood of Esturmy, though not descended from the Dukes of Somerset. Arms. — Three demi-lions couped, gules. SIR JOHN TIPTOFT. 39 SIR JOHN TIPTOFT. Sir John Tiptoft, or Tibetot, a gentleman of very ancient and distin- guished Norman family, Knight of the shire for Huntingdon, was the son and heir of Sir Pain de Tibetot, younger son of John, second Baron Tibetot, by Agnes his wife, sister of Sir John Wrothe, Knight. He was in the first year of Henry IV. retained for life in the service of that monarch, for which, it appears, he had a grant of one hundred, marks per annum, payable out of the issues of the county of Cambridge'. In the Parliament holden at Westminster, in the seventh year of Henry IV., A.D. 1406, Sir John Tibetot was chosen Speaker of the House of Com- mons, when he endeavoured to excuse himself on the ground of youth, which, however, was not allowed ; and the King confirmed the election. It is stated that this Speaker omitted to make the usual protestation at the proper time, and that he was afterwards unable to do so, the Commons being charged to repair immediately to their accustomed place in the Abbey of Westminster for the speedy dispatch of business ; and on the following day, March 2nd, such was their willingness to oblige the King, that they prepared their Bill, and granted a subsidy of one-tenth and one-fifteenth to be levied on the laity for one year, besides the same tonnage and poundage which they had granted him in the former Parliament. Rapin has erroneously observed that the Commons refused to grant a subsidy, and flatly told the King there was no visible occasion for it. But this is an egregious error, as the Parlia- mentary Records clearly demonstrate. The Parliament having been prorogued on the 23rd of March the Commons came again before the King, when Sir John Tiptoft " required a confirmation of all their liberties and privileges, and that they might at any time send for any of their Bills from the Lords, for amendment of the same ; " which was granted. The same day, the Speaker made several memorandums for good government, for confirming all their liberties, for safe keeping of the sea, and for providing for the safety of Guienne, which was then in great danger of being lost; and on the 3rd of April, our Speaker required of the King that his former protestation, and the following regulations, might be entered in the Record : " That for the better resisting the Welch rebels, the Prince might reside in Wales, and have sufiicient power given him, &c. "That no heritages conquered from the Welch be given away till one quarter of a year after. 40 LIVES OF THE 8PEAKEBS. [SPEAKEB 1406. " That a time for banishing all Frenchmen and Bretons out, of the realm be appointed ; and, " That it would please the King to excuse the Commons, in that it had been reported they had talked of the King's person otherwise than beseemed them, which was untrue." To the last of which the King declared his belief in their loyalty, and gave satisfactory answers to their other propositions. On the same day, after the conclusion of the business of a Committee of both Houses, appointed to treat upon the safeguard of the sea, the King adjourned the Parliament to the Quindene of Easter next ensuing, which was the 25th of April ; but it did not settle to business until the 8th of May following. Upon the 7th of June, the famous Act for the settlement of the crown of England upon Henry and the heirs male of his body, was passed, with the consent of the Lords and Commons ; upon which event, Rapin, in the folio edition of his History of England, p. 498, has bestowed much learning, in proving not only the justice of his arguments, but the profound knowledge he possessed of the policy of the existing government, highly creditable to his talents and discrimination, particularly when we take into consideration the fact of his being a foreigner; very few of whom, even in these en- lightened days, have a just conception of the English character or the policy of our institutions. At the adjourned meeting, and not in a fresh Parliament, as this same historian has supposed, the Act in question was repealed, and a new settlement made upon the heirs of the body lawfully begotten, for ever; thus letting in the female succession. To this Act, subscribed by the Peers, Sir JohnTibetot was required, on his own behalf and in the name of the whole Commons, to subscribe ; and he gave his assent thereto, the King and Parliament swearing to keep the provisions inviolable. We now come to a heavy charge, which Mr. Prynne, in his Abridgement of Sir Robert Cotton, makes against our Speaker. He says, " At this time the clergy suborned Henry, Prince of Wales, for and in the name of the Bishops and Lords ; and Sir John Tibetot, the Speaker, for and in the name of the Commons, to exhibit a long and bloody Bill against certain new-called Lollards, namely, against those that preached or taught anything against the temporal livings of the clergy, &c. ;" and he further adds in allusion to the provisions of the statute, " wherein note a most unlawful and monstrous tyranny ; that every officer, or other minister whatever, might enquire after, or apprehend such Lollards, without any other commission, and that no sanctuary should protect them." The Lords* address to the King, touchant les LoUardes et les autres parlours et controvours des novelles et des mensonges, as they are styled in the Parliamentary Rolls, does not make any allusion to the Commons, it being simply an address from Henry Prince of Wales and the Lords spiritual and temporal, in this present parliament ; and although the Commons may have assented thereto, it would adduce no evidence of the 7 Hen. IV.] sik john tiptoft. 41 tigotry of that body, as it was impossible for them at that period successfully to oppose the wishes of the King, Prelates, and Lords ; and all historians, as well contemporaneous as others, have admitted that the great progress which the reformed doctrines had made, was not so much among the mass of the people, as with the members of the Lower House, of which, their frequent attacks upon Church property, and urging the King to supply his necessities from the Clergy's revenues, afford sufficient proof. It is not within the pro- vince of this work to enter into any discussion upon these perilous and knotty points, but we cannot avoid expressing our dissent from the opinions which some parties have, now in the nineteenth century, endeavoured to enforce upon the public mind, that persecution sprung from the Reformers. Here, and in the preceding reign, we have ample proofs, in the burning of Sawtre, for heresy, and the subsequent destruction of Lord Cobham, that this unchristian and unnatural war against conscience, took its rise in the fears of the Roman Catholic hierarchy ; that any further extension of the doctrines of Wickliffe would tend to despoil the Church of its vast riches, and as a matter of policy, totally unconnected \rith any innate feeling of cruelty or desire for blood, the Church hoped, by the additional powers conferred upon them in this Parliament, to strike terror into the very souls of heretics, and thus stem the torrent which seemed likely to overwhelm the whole fabric. We feel that we are tresspassing upon the limits which we laid down for our own guidance in this work, by offering any opinion upon subjects not strictly connected with the lives of the Speakers, but we may be excused in this instance, as we are answering a charge purporting to be made against Sir John Tibetot, by so high an authority as Sir Robert Cotton, although, in fact, it proceeds only from the pen of Mr. Prynne, whose Puritan party, we are bound with sorrow to admit, took much greater delight, and made it more a matter of business to follow the cruel example of persecution, set them by the Parliament of this and the previous reign, than can be properly laid to the charge even of the Prelates and Clergy of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries ; at the same time, the honor of original persecution belongs exclusively to the Romanists of that period, and the after atrocities to both Catholics and Protestants, pari passu. We now approach a subject of a more agreeable nature, in which the Commons gave eminent proof of their patriotism, clearly evincing, as an able historian remarks, that they were neither fools nor knaves in those days. Sir John Tibetot came before the King and the I^ords on the 22nd October, and in the name of the whole Commons presented twenty-nine articles for the better regulation of the affairs of government, all of which were ser- viceable and highly important amendments of the laws and practices of the palace, the council, and the courts, the highest and most subordinate officers and clerks, the sheriffs' and King's household, but too long for 42 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1406. insertion in this memoir, to the strict observance of virhich, the Speaker required that all the Lords of the council should then and there be sworn. The Archbishop, for himself and others, refused to take the re- quired oath, when the King charged him upon his allegiance so to do, and caused all the officers of his household, and of all his courts of justice to do the same. The articles in question are set forth at length in the Pari. Hist, pp. 103, 104, and 105. The last act of this Parliament was one of con- siderable importance, being no less than a statute to secure the freedom of election. E,apin says, that as the King's design in this Parliament was to demand money (of which there can be no doubt, as this was the chief mo- tive of all the Kings of England in all parliaments ever since their institution), he readily gave his assent to secure the freedom of election ; by which it is evident that the King had done something in the elections for the last Parliament, tending to abridge the liberty of voting — see Statutes at large, anno 7 Hen. IV., cap. xv. And in order not to be misrepresented in future, the Commons obtained an enactment that their proceedings should be carefully recorded, and certain members of the House present at their engrossing the Roll of this Parliament. Hakewell says, that while our Speaker sat in the chair, " he signed and sealed the Deed intailing the Crown, with these words, " nomine totius communitatis." It cannot be denied that the Cxjmmons in this session made a rapid stride on the road towards independence ; and if successive Parliaments had fol- lowed in their wake with the same spirit, it might have saved the history of this kingdom from many a foul stain upon its pages. We read in the Pari. Hist, that Henry IV., to evince his gratitude towards Sir John Tibetot, the young Speaker of the Commons, granted " him in fee all the lands and hereditaments of Richard ap Griffith ap Voethus, in the counties of Carmarthen and Cardigan, and elsewhere in the Principality of South Wales, forfeited to the King by his adherence to Owen Glendower, rebel and traitor ; and also the office of Keeper of the Forests of Waybridge and Sapley, in the county of Huntingdon, without any fee or out-payment. And further, that the King gave to the said Sir John the goods and chattels of Peter Priswick, carpenter, a felon, amounting to one hundred and fifty pounds- all which must be allowed a truly royal donation." And in a note to this para- graph it states, purporting to be derived from Dugdale's Baronetage, that " he (Sir John Tibetot) was afterwards made Earl of Worcester," which is an unnecessary and inexcusable error. We know that the unlawful means to which the King resorted to obtain the throne, rendered his life one of constant care and anxiety. Shakespear's description of his death-bed amply illustrates this fact — yet, unlike many of his predecessors, Henry IV. was not unmindful of services rendered to him. We must, however, in this 7 Hen. IV.} sir john tiptoft. 43 instance, take the liberty to differ from the high authority we have quoted in doubting whether any motive beyond personal favour induced these grants to the Speaker. We commenced by informing our reader that Sir John Tibetot was, in the first year of his reign, then a very young man, retained in the service of this monarch for life ; and we find that afterwards, upon the attainder of Thomas Mowbray, Earl Marshal and Nottingham, " Sir John Tibetot had, in conjunction with Ralph de Rochfort, a grant from the King of all the apparel pertaining to the body of that Earl, and all his harness for peace and war, as well for great horses called coursers, as saddles for tilts and tournaments," As this occurred before he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons, we may reasonably infer that the subsequent grants were the mere continuance of that royal favor which had previously been bestowed upon him, particularly as no act of the Commons during the period in which he presided over their deliberations, was of a truckling or submis- sive character ; and indeed Mr. Prynne himself observes upon the independent spirit and conduct of Sir John Tibetot in this Parliament, He says — " The Commons' young Speaker took more upon him, and spoke more boldly and fervently to the King and Lords than any Speaker had done before him — which innovation, beginning to grow in fashion, the King and Lords thought proper, in a succeeding Parliament, to put a check upon, as a novelty inconsistent with the King's prerogative. That the Speakers afterwards be- came more modest, and did not say anything that was displeasing to the King ; or, if they casually did, to pray that it might be imputed only to their own ignorance, and not unto the Commons." We find, also, that Sir John Tibetot was in the same year constituted Chief Butler of England, and sub- sequently made Treasurer of the King's household; and in the reign of Henry V. he was appointed the King's resident at the court of the Emperor Sigismund, Seneschal of Aquitaine, President of the King's Exchequer in Normandy, and Treasurer of that duchy. In the 3rd of Henry VI. he was constituted Chief Steward of the King's Castles and Lordships throughout Wales and the Marshes ; and the next year, he was created a Baron of the realm, as appears by the writ of summons dated 7th January, 1426, 4th Henry VI. Sir John Tibetot married Joyce, second daughter and co-heiress of Edward Charlton, Lord Powys, by whom he acquired a great inheritance, and dying in 1443, left issue John, his successor, who became the second Baron Tibetot, or Tiptoft, a most eminent nobleman, remarkable for all kinds of polite learning and Kterature, and esteemed the most eloquent orator of the age in which he lived, his speech at Rome having drawn tears from the eyes of the Pope, and excited the amazement of the Cardinals, &c. Just as he had obtained his majority July, 16, 1449, he was created by Henry VI, Earl of Worcester, and afterwards beheaded for treason. A most highly inter- 44 LIVES OV THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1407. esting account of this nobleman will be found in " Burke's Extinct Peerage of Great Britain and Ireland." The family of Tibetot, although extinct in the male line, is now represented by Sir Harry Hunloke, Bart. Arms. — Az. a saltier engrailed, gu. THOMAS CHAUCER, Esq. On referring to the "Biographia Britannica " and other authorities, we find that many fruitless attempts have been made to trace the origin of the Chaucer family ; and equally speculative have been the opinions of various writers as to the immediate parentage and early occupation of the illustrious Geoffrey, who, if not the father, was at least the earliest friend to English poetry, and certainly the first grand improver of our language. It has been suggested — and it is not an improbable or far-fetched idea — that the name of Chaucer was derived from the occupation of his ancestor, a follower of the Norman camp, who probably held the appointment of Chausseur to the Conqueror's foot soldiers, by no means an insignificant position, being nearly on a par with that of Mareschal, or Farrier General to the Cavalry. Acoording to Kennet, " the town of Woodstock was graced with the birth, and it certainly was long a principal residence, of Geoffrey Chaucer, the ancient learned poet of whom Warton, in his ' History of English Poetry,' informs us, that he procured a portrait on panel from an old quadrangular stone house at Woodstock, where it had been preserved ;" and the former adds, that " the last remains of this building, chiefly consisting of what was called Chaucer' s bed-chamber, with a carved oaken roof, were de- molished about twenty-five years before Warton's publication appeared." There is, however, still extant a portrait which accompanies Occleve's epitaph of the illustrious poet in MS. in the King's Library at the British Museum, marked 17 d. v. 1, a copy of which, of the same date, is in the Harleian Collection,"numbered 4866, fol. 91, and another in the Cottonian Library, marked Otho. a. xviii. Occleve mentions this portrait of Chaucer in his Consolatio Servilis. Leland, in allusion to Geoffrey Chaucer's vocation, writes : " Sum say this Chaucer was a marchant man, and had about £1000 by the yere, and that wollesakkes be yn Ewelme in token of marchandise." Without opposing the view of the case taken by that learned antiquary, who, living nearer to 9 Hen. IV.] thomas chaucer. 45 Chaucer's lime, may be supposed to have had greater facilities for enquiry, and readier means of ascertaining the truth, we merely suggest that the " woUesakkes " (to which he must allude only as a charge in the armorial bearings of his son Thomas, the first of his family, who possessed the manor of Ewelme) are by no means an evidence of Geoffrey's vocation, but merely of the high and important office he held as Comptroller of the Customs of Wool, then the principal export from the port of London ; and , they may have been borne virtute officii, or been granted as an augmentation of honour to his family coat. The following brief account will shew the favour and estimation in which he was held before the accession, or rather the usurpa- tion, of the family to which he became so closely allied by marriage. Geoffrey Chaucer was Valettus Hospitii to King Edward III., who granted him an annuity of twenty marks as Comptroller of the Customs of Wool. After this we find him despatched to Genoa as envoy by the title of Scutifer noster, he being at that time Esquire of the King's body; and in the last year of Edward III. he was sent Ambassador to France, to treat of a marriage be- tween the Prince of Wales, afterwards Richard II., and the daughter of the French King. Again we find that under Richard II., Chaucer had lost no portion of his influence ; for that monarch not only confirmed all the grants of his grandfather, but allowed our poet to surrender them in favour of another person ; and in the thirteenth of that monarch's reign, he appears to have held the office of Clerk of the Works at Westminster, and in the follow- ing year at Windsor. We now find him treading upon dangerous ground, by paying court to John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, his brother-in-law, and, becoming involved in the riot in London, he betook himself to flight, " which circumstance," says the historian, " had he lived, would haye earned himself the favour of King Henry IV." He died 25th October, 14O0, and was buried in Poet's Corner, anciently termed the Chapel of St. Blase, In Westminster Abbey, where in 1556 a monument was erected to his memor^f at the expense of Mr. Brigham, of Caversham, in ' Oxfordshire. By his wife, Phillippa, daughter of Sir Payne, or Pagan Rouet (a native of Hainault, Guienne, King at Arms for that country), and sister to Catherine Swinford, afterwards wife of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the father of King Henry IV. he had issue, Thomas Chaucer, Esq., the subject of this memoir, with a younger son, of whom no information has ever been obtained from the period of his youth, notwithstanding the most diligent researches of antiquarians and genealogists. This gentleman was born in 1365 or 6, and very early in life married Maud, second daughter of Sir John Burghershe, nephew of Sir Bartholomew Bur- ghershe. Knight of the Garter, and of Henry Burghershe, Bishop of Lincoln, Chancellor and Treasurer of England, a great co-heiress, whose elder sister, Margaret, married, first. Sir John Grenville, Knt., and, secondly, John 46 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1407. Arundel, Esq. At the period of this marriage (about the fourth of Richard II.), Geoffrey Chaucer settled all his estates upon his son Thomas. Two causes have been assigned by historians for our poet's thus divesting himself of his whole property in favour of his son, who at that period had only just attained his majority. The one was, his natural desire to place him as much as possible upon an equality in point of fortune with the great heiress he was about to espouse ; and the other, the fear he entertained of persecution as a follower of Wickliffe's doctrines, to which he had openly confessed him- self a convert when in the service of his brother-in-law, John of Gaunt, himself a Lollard in principle. But we are unable to decide the question from any facts to be discovered in the chronicles of the period ; and, after all> it is not a matter of much importance to posterity. In the second year of Henry IV., Mr. Chaucer was High Sheriff of the counties of Oxford and Bucks, and appointed Constable of the Castles of Wallingford and Knaseborough during life, but not Speaker of the House of Commons, as it is asserted in the " Biographia Britannica," until the eighth and ninth of that king's reign, a.d. 1407 ; but he was created Chief Butler of England about this period, and in the sixth of Henry IV. was sent Ambassador to France, and in the following year he went again beyond the seas, joined in a commission with the King's brother, his own cousin, Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester. For his good services, Queen Joan granted him the manors of Woodstock, Haninborough, Wooton, and Stunesfield, for life. In the second year of Henry V. he was sent by the King in joint commission with Hugh Mortimer, to treat of a marriage with Catherine, daughter of the Duke of Burgundy. He was also Ambassador in the fifth and sixth of the same reign, with Walter Hungerford (a former Speaker), Steward of the Household, in the same affair ; and again, in the latter year, Ambassador to France, to treat of a peace. With this brief detail of the various ofiices and employments confided to Mr. Chaucer, we will now take a cursory view of his political career. Having been returned for the county of Oxford, he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons in the Parliament summoned to meet at Gloucester on the 20th of October, 1407, the eighth and ninth of Henry IV. ; but, in consequence of the non-arrival of several Lords and others, it did not commence business until the 24th of the month. On the 9th November the Speaker reminded the King of the last subsidies granted, and of the oaths of the Lords and others for the disposition of the same ; when he was inter- rupted by the Lord Chancellor, who said that no accounts were yet made for the disbursements of the same to the Commons, and that the Lords, having little thanks for the last, would by no means take the like oath again ; which the King, at his request, excused them from, notwithstanding, as we have seen in the memoir of the preceding Speaker, he commanded the Lords, upon their allegiance, to be sworn. There was little business beyond granting a 9 Hen. IV.] ' thomas chaucer. 47 subsidy effected by this Parliament, the only matter of real interest was the misunderstanding between the Lords and Commons in the course of the debates upon the subsidy, which gave rise to an ordinance of the greatest im- portance to that and all future parliaments, and may be said to have laid the foundation for, if it did not then actually ensure, the independence of the Lower House, for it prohibited the Lords from communicating the private debates of the Commons to the King — a species of espionage on the part" of the peers which they had long practised, to the hindrance of free discussion, and was often productive of ill-will between the Sovereign and the represen- tatives of the people. In the next Parliament, held at Westminster, 11th of Henry IV., a.d. 1410, Thomas Chaucer was again chosen Speaker, when the King informed the Commons in allusion to the ordinance of the last Parlia- ment, " that since, now the Lords and Commons were come to an agree- ment, he expected that they, the Commons, would speak no unbecoming words, or attempt anything that was not consistent with decency." After the passing of several acts for the defence of the kingdom, in which the greatest respect appears to have been paid upon all occasions by the Parliament to the Prince of Wales, which does not tally with those notions of his profligacy in- stilled into our minds by most historians, the Commons prayed the King to grant some relaxation in the late severe act against the Lollards and heretics, that they might be bailed, and freely purge themselves, and arrested only by the sheriffs, or such like officers, and no havoc made of their goods. This petition was so creditable to the humanity of the Commons, that we cannot desire to deprive them of any portion of the merit to which they were so justly entitled, by adopting the opinions of those authors who have asserted that Wickliffe's doctrines had gained such ground that the majority of the Commons were then in that way of thinking. The King, however, answered " that he would be advised ; " which, in fact, was a denial of their prayer ; and the Commons, knowing that the Clergy had influenced the King to re- fuse the prayer of their petition, renewed their project for reducing the Church revenues. Nothing can exceed the boldness of the language used by the Commons in their attack upon the Clergy ; and although we have prohibited ourselves from discussing events not immediately connected with the subject of our memoir, we are proud to record every spirited determination of the Commons, from the conviction that, in most instances, they must have met with the cordial sanction and approval of the Speaker for the time being, and therefore tend to illustrate the character of the individual. Another object which we have in view, is to shew in the course of succeeding memoirs, the progress of the Commons towards independence as a legislative assembly, although we have still much ground to go over, of no common character, from good to bad, and bad to worse, ere we arrive at such a happy destination. To return, however, to the petition : the King not only refused it, but re- 48 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1407. buked the Commons sharply, and desired them never again to meddle with the Church's concerns ; at the same time, he informed them that, so far from mitigating any of the severity against the Lollards, he wished the laws were more rigorous for the utter extirpation of heresy out of the land. HoUing- shed, Biondi, and others, assert that Henry was in heart as great a favourer of the doctrines of Wickliffe as his father John, Duke of Lancaster, which opinion is confirmed by the statement of Richard II,, given in the evidence of Sir Richard Bagot, aiid by the Abbot of Westminster ; but Henry could not afford to lose the support of so powerful a body as the Church, and to make a shew of his sincerity, he signed a warrant for the burning of one Thomas Badley, who had been before convicted of heresy. The Commons, regarding this as an insult, and a great aggravation of the King's other re- fusals, boldly rejected his demand to levy every year a certain subsidy, and only granted the necessary supply, for fear of a prolongation of the session. Our Speaker, like his predecessor, held a place in the household, being, as we have before observed, Chief Butler to the King ; and in the course of this Parliament presented a petition against the Corporation of London giving thrf freedom of the city to aliens, which exempted them from the payment of the advanced duties, and thus defrauded the King in his prizage of wines. It is scarcely necessary to observe, that the Speaker's prayer was instantly granted. Some historians have remarked upon the fact of the Speaker being a place- man, although none have charged him with partiality or unfairness, but hitherto his conduct in the chair must have given satisfaction to the members of the House, or they would not have chosen him again to preside over, their deliberations. We have omitted to state that at the beginning of this session the Commons procured an act to be passed by which " Sheriffs who should be guilty of making false returns were to be fined £100 sterling for each offence ; " a very important step in the cause of freedom of election, which Rapin asserts, " the King would have gladly evaded ; but as he could not do so without laying himself too open, and, besides, as he intended to demand a subsidy, he gave it the royal assent." In the next Parliament, 13th of Henry IV.,- 1411, Thomas Chaucer was a third time chosen Speaker, when, upon praying that he might speak under the usual protestation, it was granted that " he might speak as others before had done, but not otherwise; and that the King would have no novelties in- troduced, and would enjoy his prerogative. In this Parliament, beyond voting a subsidy, passing acts for regulating the corn, and to fine Sheriffs and Justices for not suppressing riotous assemblies £100 for each offence, the only business of great importance transacted was the confirmation of the Archbishop of Canterbury's power of visiting the University of Oxford in opposition to the Pope's Bull of exemption. After all we have read of the spread of the reformed doctrines, we must take it for granted that the Com- 9 Hen. IV.] thomas chaucer. 49 mons were perfectly powerless at this period to affect any substantial good or protect their fellow subjects from persecution ; for the Archbishop did not hesitate to aiBrm in Parliament, upon making his demand for the con- firmation of this power, that the Bull had been obtained in the time of Richard II. by the University, to the end that they might better support heretics and Lollards, whom he now, beyond a doubt, devoted to destruction. On the last day of this Parliament, the Lords and Commons, by a joint peti- tion, lamented that a report was spread that the King was offended with some in both Houses for matters done in the last Parliament, and they desired that he would embrace and esteem them as his loyal subjects ; which request he, out of mere grace, granted. As far as we have hitherto gone in this memoir, we have given rather an outline of the proceedings of the three Parliaments over whose deliberations our Speaker presided, than any details as to the political character of the individual ; but the difficulty of obtaining, at this distance of time, information upon minute points of this nature may be readily conceived, above all where the records of the proceedings are so deficient. It appears, however, that just previously to the dissolution of this, the' last Parliament of Henry IV., which occurred on the 20th December, 1411, our Speaker again recommended to the King the persons of the Queen, the Prince, and the rest of the King's sons, praying the advancement of their estates ; for which his Majesty gave his hearty thanks. The very severe statute against riotous assemblies passed in this Parliament, by which Sheriffs and Justices of the Peace were made liable to a fine of £100 " if not watchful to suppress them," gave occasion to Sir John Hayward to suggest that the ghost of King Richard haunted this King to his dying day, and that every slight tumult of the people disturbed his peace of mind. The act of grace, the last public act of Henry's life, in which there were only two exceptions, Owen Glendour and Thomas Trumpyngton, was, as this historian remarks, very seasonable " both for the King and his subjects ; since, as he shewed mercy to them, he had the better title to expect it himself from the King of kings, before whom he was shortly to appear." He died soon after; the exact period of his death, as well as the precise nature of his disease, are disputed by different writers. Some affirm that he died before the dissolution of Parlia- ment ; but this we should imagine to be clearly disproved by the date of the general pardon, which was the 22nd December, two days after ; while others prolong his life till the 20th March in the following year. Again, apoplexy is assigned by several as the cause of his death ; while Polydore Virgil says it was an incurable disease inflicted for his ursurpation, " Suhito morbo tentatus, nulla Medicina suhlevari potuit." Upon one point, however, all writers have concurred, that his mind was a continual prey to the remorse which his usurpation of the throne and participation in the death of Richard had E 50 IIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKEB 1407. engendered, which is so naturally and beautifully expressed by the immortal bard : — " Come hither, Harry ; sit thou on my bed, And hear, I think, the very latest counsel That ever I shall breathe. Heav'n knows, my son. By what bye-paths and indirect crook'd ways I met this crown ; and I myself know well How troublesome it sat upon my head. It seemed in me But as an honour snatch'd with boist'rous hand, And I had many living to upbraid My gain of it by their assistance, Which daily grew to quarrel and to bloodshed. Therefore, my Harry, Be it thy course to busy giddy minds With foreign quarrels ; that action, hence, borne out, May waste the memory of former days. More would I say, but my lungs are wasted so. That strength of speech is utterly deny'd me. How I came by the crown, God, forgive ! And grant it may with Thee in true peace live. In the 2nd of Henry V., Thomas Chaucer was again chosen Speaker, when, beyond the supplies, there was little business of a public or parlia- mentary character transacted, except an act to regulate juries, by which it was enacted that no person who had not, in land or tenements, forty shilUngs yearly, should be admitted on an inquest upon trial of hfe and death, &c. ; the false verdicts so frequently given rendered this statute highly acceptable to the people. Some historians have stated that in the 9th of this King, the last year of his glorious reign, Mr. Chaucer was again elected Speaker of the House of Commons, for the fifth time he had enjoyed that high and distinguished honour. But this is an error, as the Rolls distinctly prove Richard Ray- nard to have been Speaker in that Parliament. We may here remark, that although our Speaker is frequently styled Sir Thomas Chaucer, Knight, in former parliaments, it is a misnomer, for that honour was never con- ferred upon him. In an Act of Parliament passed in the first year of the reign of Henry VI., a.d. 1422, he is described as Thomas Chaucer, Chief Butler of the King, and that he shall hold the said ofiice during his life, according to the letters patent made to his father, Greoffrey Chaucer, and to himself by King Henry IV. ; and the monumental inscription on his tomb in Ewelme Church preserved by Leland, proves the correctness of our asser- tion beyond the possibility of cavil : — 9 Hen. IV.] thomas chaucer. 51 " Hie jacet Dominus Thomas Chaucer, Armiger, quondam Dominua istius villaj et patronus istius ecclesise, qui obiit xvin die mensis Novembris Anno Domini mccccxxxiv. et Meteldis uxor ejus, quse obiit xxvni. die mensis Aprilis, Anno Domini mccccxxxyi." Our Speaker resided chiefly at Ewlme, in Oxfordshire, acquired by his marriage; which the ahove cited learned antiquary thus describes in his Itinerary : " The manor place of Ewelme is in the valley of the village ; the base court of it is fair, and is builded of brick and timber. The inner part of the house is set within a fair mote, and is builded richly of brick and stone. The hall of it is fair, and hath great bars of iron overthwart it instead of crossbeams. The parlour by it is exceeding fair and lightsome, and so be all the lodgings there. The common saying is, that Duke John made about the beginning of King Henry VII. time, most of the goodly buildings within the mote. There is a right fair park by the manor place." We must not omit another learned topographer's account of Mr. Chaucer's tomb : — " I pass on now," says Skelton, " to the tomb of Sir Thomas Chaucer and Matilda, his wife ; a representation of which will be found in the naive westward of that of his daughter. It is an altar tomb of grey marble, inlaid with brass figures of a knight and his lady, in a costume that marks th3 commencement of the reign of Henry VI. This armour is entirely of plate ; appendant to his breast-plate are ten taces, below his genouilliers pendant pointed pieces ; gorget of plate attached to his basinet ; his armpits defended by shield-like palettes, and his gauntlets not separated into fingers. At his feet is an unicorn couchant, which seems to have been the crest of Chaucer* The lady is habited in a gown, with long sleeves over her tunic, and upon this a robe, secured in front by tasselled cords, while on her head appears the veil and wimple. At her feet is a lion couchant, la queue fourchee, which is the crest of Burgherst. The following coats of arms originally surrounded these figures, some of which only remain: Chaucer, Rouet, Despencer, Burgherst, E. of Somerset, Richard Plantagenet, D. of York, Beauchamp, Newburgh, E. of Warwick ; Montacute, Monthermer, John, Lord Mohun of Dunster, De La Pole, Percy, and Neville." All these royal, noble, and illustrious families allied themselves to the fame of Chaucer's learning, and their blood flowed in the veins of his descend- ants. Greater than the father at that period was the son's position by the splendour of his alliances ; but, while the tree of descent withered in the fifth generation root and branch, the soil in which it was planted still proudly flourishes in honour and reno\*^n ; such is the universal homage of posterity to the learning and genius of our ancestors. By his wife, Maud, who survived him two years, our Speaker had an only daughter and heiress, Alice, who was tlu-ice married ; first, to Sir John Philips, Knight, and, secondly, to Sir Thomas Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, who, dying, left her an immense fortune. Her third husband was the famous E 2 52 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. William de la Pole, Duke of Suifolk, who had been previously married in secret to the Countess of Hainault, but from v^hom he had procured a divorce. By this ambitious and unfortunate nobleman, whose head was struck off on the gunwale of a cock-boat in the Dover-roads, she had issue a son, John, first Duke of Suffolk of the new creation, after the reversal of his father's attainder, who married the Lady Elizabeth Plantagenet, sister of Edward IV. and Richard III., whose male line became extinct upon the death of the great and gallant Richard de la Pole, — fourth in succession, but third Duke of Suffolk of the second creation, — at the battle of Pavia, in 1524, honoured by his foes for his heroic conduct with the most splendid obsequies. That the subject of our memoir in no way degenerated from his father, his various missions and employments, executed to the entire satisfaction of the Crown, under three successive sovereigns, must fully attest ; while his fre- quent election to the chair of St. Stephens, is the best indication of the con- fidence reposed in him, and the high sense entertained by his fellow Com- moners of his singular merits, learning, and acquirements ; although it appears that there are no living representatives of the illustrious Chaucer ; for not only, genealogically speaking, has the male line become extinct, but the blood has ceased to flow ; his fame still remains in the archives of literature and the memory of the heart fondly cherished by the votaries of learning, who, in the midst of wonderful changes of daily occurrence, are nevertheless satisfied that the name will be hailed by future generations, and to all posterity, with gratitude and respect. The only living persons who can proudly boast a coUatei-al affinity to our Speaker, are the family of his Grace the Duke of Beaufort, who descends lineally from Catherine Swinford, the wife of John of Gaunt, and sister of Mrs. Chaucer, the mother of the subject of this memoir. Arms.— Forty per pale, arg. and gules, a bend counterchanged. WILLIAM STOUIITON. 53 WILLIAM STOUIITON, Esq. The subject of this memoir was a gentleman of noble Saxon family, one indeed of the few claiming descent from that race, whose pretensions are sup- ported by irrefragable evidence, his ancestor, Botolph de Stourton (a name derived from the town of Stourton, Wilts), having disputed every inch of ground with the foreigner, and finally obtained his own terms from William of Normandy. The elsewhere victorious Norman was foiled at Glastonbury by this patriotic and gallant soldier, when the conqueror of a kingdom was forced to treat with the direct ancestor of our Speaker, and to grant to his valour> the terms he dictated as the price of his submission. Upon the meeting of the first Parliament of Henry V. at Westminster on the 15th May, 1413, Mr. Stourton, the lineal descendant of the gallant Botolph, was chosen Speaker, and boldly declared to his Majesty " That in the time of his father, many fair promises were made for the observation of the laws, but nothing done in them, whereupon he prayed the King to provide for the due execution of them, and particularly mentioned a late riot against the Abbot of Cirencester, which he desired might be punished. The King commanded the Speaker to exhibit his complaint in writing that he might the better consider it. We find nothing more connected with the public acts or ofiicial duties of our Speaker, who was an old and infirm man at the period of his election, except a charge brought against him of having agreed to certain demands of the King without being authorized by the House ; but we prefer giving the account of this circumstance in the language of the learned anti- quary and lawyer, Mr. Hakewell, in the supplement to his curious little book, entitled " Modus tenendi Parliamentum." " This Speaker without the assent of his companions, did agree before the King to deliver certain articles ; but about three days following the Commons finding themselves agrieved there- with, sent unto the Lords — the King being then present — Mr. John Dorewood, and divers of the Commons with him, and declared to the King that their Speaker had no authority from them to yield thereunto, and therefore they desired to be excused therein, which the King was pleased to accept." And he adds that, " about two months after the Commons coming before the King, did present for their Speaker the same Mr. John Dorewood, because their old Speaker being sick in his bed was not able to execute the place, which the King allowed." But according to other authorities, although the main facts are allowed by most historians, it was within a few days only of Mr. Stourton's 64 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1414. election that his hodily infirmities precluded his attention to the arduous duties of Speaker, for the Parliament met on the 15th May, and Mr. Dore- wood was elected in Mr. Stourton's place on the 3rd of June following. The immediate ancestors of our Speaker were Sir Ralph de Stourton, knight of the Holy Sepulchre, who married Alice, daughter of Lord Berkeley, and was succeeded by his son William, who married Joan, daughter of Richard Vernon, of Wiltshire, whose son and heir John de Stourton, attended Edward III. in the wars of Aquitaine, and left issue by Jane, daughter of Ralph, Lord Basset, besides other sons, William Stourton the subject of our memoir, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Moigne, of Maddenton, Wiltshire, and was succeeded by his son Sir John Stourton, Knt., a gallant soldier and distinguished statesman in the following reign, who was elevated to the peerage by King Henry VI. 26th May, 1455, as Baron Stourton, of Stourton, in the county of Wilts. The interesting genealogical descent of this family down to the present peer, Gharles, Baron Stourton, the direct descendant of our Speaker, is set forth with his accustomed accuracy in Mr. Burke's Peerage and Baro- netage, to which we must refer the reader. Arms, — Sa, a bend or. between six fountains, ppr. Crest. — A demi grey friar ppr. habited in russet, girt, or., holding in his dexter hand a scourge of three lashes with knots, and in his sinister hand a cross, both of the last. Motto. — Loyal je serai durant ma vie. SIR WALTER HUNGERFORD, K.G. This very eminent soldier was the son of Sir Thomas Hungerford, the first recopded Speaker of the House of Commons, whose memoir we have already given. In the reign of Henry IV. he had obtained considerable grants in consi- deration of his distinguished military services, particularly one, upon the accession of that monarch, of £40 per annum, a very large annuity in those days, to be received out of the lands of Margaret, Duchess of Norfolk. Three years afterwards we find that Sir Walter was engaged in the wars of France and acquired great honour and renown at Calais, by an encounter vrath a French knight whom he;worsted in combat, in commemoration of which event he had a further grant of a hundred marks per annum payable out of the Town and Castle of Marlborough, in Wilts, and the same year, 1403, he was con- 2 Hen. V.] sib Walter hungerfobd. 5S stituted sheriff of that county, an office of great power and authority in those days, far surpassing that of our present Lord Lieutenant. In the second year of Henry V., 1414, Sir Walter Hungerford represented the same county in the Parliament which met at Leicester on the 29th January, and was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. The roll of this Parhament being lost, the statute book and the old historians give the only information concerning its proceedings, and the name of our Speaker in no manner appearing, it is impossible to trace even the faintest idea of his political conduct or tendencies, in fact, it is more than probable that his election to the high office of Speaker was a compliment to his gallantry, and the favour in which he was held at Court, or that the King had willed his election, and the Commons had prudently assented thereto, a course frequently pursued in after times. Notwithstanding the severe laws which had passed against the followers of Wickliffe, the Commons in this Parliament made another attempt against the overgrown wealth of the Church, requiring that the lands and possessions of the Clergy should be converted to the service of the state. This bill, says the old chronicler Fabian, " made the fat Abbots to sweat ; the proud Priors to frown ; the siUy Nuns to weep ; and indeed all her merchants to fear that Babel would down." The Clergy certainly never had greater cause for fear, for they were naturally apprehensive that the martial ardour of the young monarch might induce him to consent to an act which would affiard him facilities for carrying out any warlike projects he might conceive ; but instead of endeavouring to fix the King in their interest by an offer of money as suggested by some of the Bishops, they wisely decided that it would be better to find active employment for his bold and martial spirit, and therefore prompted him to declare war against France. This Parliament, of whose proceedings we have no further information, is stated to have been prorogued, but this is not consistent with the fact of writs being issued, bearing date the 26th September, for the assembling of a new Parliament, to be holden on the octave of St. Martin following at Westminster; but the two Parliaments being held in the same year may account for the mistakes committed by the old chroniclers, who have altogether passed over the election of Sir Walter Hungerford to the chair, an error into which the Parliamentary History has also fallen, having omitted making allusion to the fact, either in the body of the work, or in its marginal notes. In the course of the war which followed the advice of the Bishops, Sir Walter Hungerford distinguished himself by his military prowess, and was constituted in the fourth of Henry V., Admiral of the whole fleet, under John, Duke of Bedford, the King's brother, and during that and the two following years he was entirely engaged in the French wars. In the latter year he obtained a grant in special tail of the Barony of Homet, in Normandy, which had formerly belonged to Sir William de Montney, Knt., rendering to the 56 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1414. king and his heirs annually, a lance with a fox's tail hanging thereat, upon the feast day of the exaltation of the holy cross, and finding ten men-at-arms and twenty archers, to serve him, or his Lieutenant, during his wars with France. About this time Sir Walter was chosen a Knight of the Garter, and con- tinuing to acquire fresh laurels on the French soil, this gallant soldier obtained a further grant for his services in the ninth year of this King, of the Castle of Neville, and territory of Breant, in Normandy, with other lands formerly possessed by Sir Robert de Breant, Knt. Sir Walter performed prodigies of valour at the great battle of Agincourt, where he claimed the honour of having captured the Duke of Orleans, one of the bravest of the chivalry of France. This claim has been disputed by another family for their ancestor. Sir John Waller, and we cannot venture to state which of the two de- served the palm: it is however more than probable that the Royal Prince, find- ing no escape, yielded to both those gallant knights by whom he was attacked at the same moment. Sir Walter was also with the King at the siege of Rouen, and was at that time Steward of the Household. He was one of the executors to the will of Henry V. ; and in the second year of Henry VI. he was consti- tuted by the advice of the Lords, then sitting in Parliament, Steward of the young King's household, and two years afterwards Treasurer of the Exchequer. In the sixth of Henry VI. he gave to the Dean and Canons of the Free Royal Chapel of St. Stephen, within the King's Palace at Westminster, divers houses and shops in the parish of St. Anthony, within the City of London, in consideration whereof they covenanted to make him partaker of all their masses and suffrages, during his life, and after his death to celebrate his obit annually, with Placebo and Dirige, and mass of Requiem, and to make distribution thereat of twenty pence to the Dean — to every Canon twelve pence — to every Vicar, sixpence— to every Clerk, fourpence — and to the Verger, sixpence. Three years after this, being still Lord Treasurer of England, he had license to transport three thousand marks for the ransom of Sir Walter Hungerford, his son, then a prisoner in France ; and in the fourth of Henry VI., 1426, he was summoned to Parliament as Baron Hungerford. His Lordship married first Catherine,' one of the daughters and co-heiresses of Sir Thomas Peverell, by Margaret, his wife, daughter of Sir Thomas Courtenay, Knt., by whom he had issue— the above named Sir Walter, who died in France before his father ; Sir Robert, a very distinguished soldier under John, Duke of Bedford, Regent of France, and Sir Edmund Hun- gerford. Sir Robert and his descendants continued the title down to the period of its attainder in the first year of the reign of Edward IV., which being reversed in the first Parliament of Henry VII., the heiress of the family, Mary Hungerford, who espoused Edward Hastings, son and heir apparent of William, Lord Hastings, of Ashby de la Zouch, carried the Barony into that family, and it is now vested in the present Marquis of Hastin"S. 2 Hen. V.] sir Walter hungerford. 57 Our Speaker, Lord Hungerford, married secondly, Alianore, Countess of Arundel, daughter of Sir John Berkeley, Knt., but had no issue by her. Lord Hungerford died in 1449, and by his will, which bears date 1st July of that year, he directs his body to be buried in a certain chapel in the Cathe- dral Church of Salisbury, in which he had founded a perpetual Chantry for two Chaplains, and wherein Catherine, his first wife, lay buried ; and after some pious bequests, he leaves to Alianore, Countess of Arundel, his then wife, all his plate, both of silver and gold, and likewise all those other goods and chattels which were hers while she was unmarried. To Sir Robert Hun- gerford, his son, his best Dorser of Arras. To the Lady Margaret (heiress of the Barony of Burnell), wife of his said son, his best legend of the Lives of Saints, written in French, and covered with red cloth. To Robert Hun- gerford, Lord Molines, his grandson, his best pair of curasses, with all belonging thereto, to be made choice of by him out of the armoury at Farley- Hungerford. To his son. Sir Edmund, a cup of gold, with a cover, and a sapphire on the head thereof. To his daughter, Elizabeth, a cup of gold. To Margaret, his other daughter, a bed of silk, of black and green colour ; and because his much honoured lord, the Viscount Beaumont, was lineally descended from the Dukes of Lancaster, he bequeathed unto him a cup of silver, with a cover bordered with gold, with which cup the most noble Prince John, Duke of Lancaster, was often served, and in which he did use to drink so long as he lived. And lastly, for the better advancement of Arnulph and William Hungerford (sons of Sir Robert) in their marriages, and Mary, daughter of the said Sir Robert, he bequeaths to them seven hundred marks sterling. This illustrious warrior was the founder of five out of the six great houses of Hungerford of Farley Castle, Heytsbury, Down Ampney, Caden- ham, Windrush, and Black Bourton. In their matrimonial connexions the Hungerfords were, for upwards of a century and a half, as successful as they were unfortunate in their political career, two descendants of our Speaker having been beheaded for treason, Robert, third Baron Hungerford, in 1 163, and his great nephew. Sir Walter, who sufiered with Cromwell, Earl of Essex, the thirty-second of Henry VIII. The eldest branch, Hungerford of Heytsbury, as we before observed, is now represented, in the female line, by the Marquis of Hastings — Baron Hungerford. The Hungerfords of Down Ampney are represented by Thomas Hungerford, Esq., A.M., of Cahirmore, Ross Carberry, in the county of Cork. This gentleman claims to descend, in the direct male line, from Sir Edmund Hungerford before-named, second surviving son of Sir Walter, Lord Hungerford of Heytsbury, the subject of this memoir. — See " Burke's Landed Gentry." The Hungerfords of Cadenham are represented by the present Hungerford Crewe, Baron Crewe, co. Chester; his lordship's mother, Henrietta Maria Anna, was the daughter of Walker Hungerford, Esq., of Calne, by Henrietta 58 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKEB 1415. Maria, daughter of John Hungerford Keate, Esq., son of John Keate, Esq., and Frances his wife, daughter of Sir George Hungerford— a double con- nexion, in consideration of which his Lordship and all his brothers and sisters bear the illustrious name of Hungerford.— Vide " Burke's Peerage and Baronetage." Arms. — Sa., two bars, arg. — in chief, three plates. Crest.— Out of a ducal coronet, or. a pepper garb, between two reaping hooks, all ppr. SIR RICHARD REDMAYNE. The family of Redmayne, Redmaine, Redeman, or Redmain, variously written, was of great antiquity in the county of Westmoreland, where they possessed the splendid domain of Levens, granted to Norman de Redmain at the commencement of the Norman dynasty. Benedict, son and heir of Henry de Redemain, the grandson of Norman, Seneschal of Kendal, 13th of John, was one of the hostages for the future fidelity of WilKam de Lancaster, who having joined the rebellious Barons, had been sent prisoner to Rochester Castle, and his descendant was the possessor of Yealand's Redmayne and Leighton Hall, in Yealand Conyers, in the Parish of Warton, in the county of York. Of this family was Sir Richard Redmayne, who married Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of Sir William de Aldborough, of Hare- wood, a person of great family, descended from all the preceding Lords of Harewood, in Yorkshire, the Lords Lisle de Rougemont, the Courtenays, William de Fortibus, the De Courcis, Barons of Stoke Courci, De Mechines, Earls of Chester, Baldwin de Redvers, Earl of Devon, ^Warine Fitzgerald, and Fitz Duncan of Scotland, son of Duncan, King of Scot- land. Sir Richard Redmayne acquired, by this marriage, a moiety of the Lordship of Harewood, and the other great possessions of the Aldborough family. By his wife, Elizabeth de Aldborough, who was the widow of Sir Brian Stapleton, of Carleton, in the county of York, and was twenty- eight years of age in the sixteenth of Richard XL; he had issue a son. Sir Matthew Redmayne, Lord of Levens, and a moiety of Harewood, who was the father of Sir Richard Redmayne, the subject of this memoir. This gentleman was elected one of the Knights of the Shire for York, in the third year of the reign of Henry V., and was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons in the Parliament held at Westminster, a.d. 1451, called together 3 Hen. V.]^ sir richard redmayne, 59 by the Regent, John, Duke of Bedford, in the absence of the King, " in order to provide a good aid for the furtherance of the King's enterprises in France, and for the recovery of his rights in that kingdom." A large subsidy was granted by the Commons as quickly as the forms of the House vrould allow, accompanied with every demonstration of good will and devotion to the King, with congratulations upon the great valor he had exhibited, and the glorious success which had attended his arms at the Battle of Agincourt, the details of which were announced in the opening address to both Houses by the Chancellor, Bishop of Winchester, the King's uncle. We have no further information concerning our Speaker, the Rolls of this Parliament being silent as to its future proceedings, giving nothing beyond the summons and prorogation. It is, however, more than probable that it was solely assembled to obtain the supplies required by the King, and that object having been attained, no other business was submitted to its consideration. We learn from, the usual sources of information. County History, that Sir Richard mar- ried Margaret, daughter of Middleton, of Middleton Hall, and represented the county of Westmoreland in the twentieth Henry VI., and' that William, his eldest son, died without issue. Edward, his brother, married Elizabeth, daughter of Huddleston, of Milium Castle, widow of Sir Leigh of Isell, in the county of Cambridge, by whom he had issue Henry, who married Alice, daughter and heiress of Roger Pilkington, whose daughter and heiress Johanna, married Marmaduke Gascoigne, fourth son of Sir William Gascoigne, Knt., of Gawthorpe, while Richard Redmayne, brother of the before-named Henry, married Elizabeth, daughter of the same Sir William Gascoigne, but had no issue. Richard married, secondly, Dorothy, daughter of Layton, of Delmayne, county Westmoreland, and left issue Matthew, who married Bridget, daughter of Sir William Gascoigne, of Gawthorpe, Knight, the third time the family connection between the Redmaynes and the Gascoignes was cemented by marriage. According to the above account, the [family of Gascoigne would be the representatives of the elder branch of the Redmaynes, but the younger branch of the family settled in Yorkshire, and we trace them for many generations at Thurston, in Lonsdale, where they were regarded as the principal family, and declared by the topographers, as well as by the herald's visitations, to be the male descendants of Red- mayne of Levens, and bore the same arms. In the parish church of Thurston, there is a monument to the memory of " Major John Redmayne, eldest son of Sir John Redmayne, who departed this life the 25th April, 1680, in the 50th year of his age," with the following epitaph : — Here lieth a mirror, matchless in his time For human learning, and a great Divine, Pirme in his faith, and valiant for his king, Stout as an Ajax, just in everything ; go LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKEB 1415. Well armed for death, he did for mercy call, To be with Christ he knew was best of all ; By his example, therefore, spend your hours, His bitter cup is past, the next turn's yours. Of this family we are told, was the learned John Redmayne, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, one of the greatest lights of the University. Anthony Wood says he was a man " of such learning, reading, and profound knowledge in divinity, so that the greatest divines gave a mighty deference to his judgment." Other writers have stigmatized him as a man wanting in moral courage, 'outwardly professing a faith which he inwardly condemned, being a Romanist, and dying a Protestant. But as he died in 1551, the fifth year of Edward VI., there could have been no reason why he should conceal his opinions. Whether there are any male representatives of our Speaker in existence at this time, Ive are ignorant, our researches not having led to any satisfactory result. Arms. — Gu. three cushions, ermine. Crest. — A dexter hand couped at the wrist, gu. Motto. — Sans sang nul victoire. SIR WALTER BEAUCHAMP. Sir Walter Beauchamp, a Knight of the Shire for Wilts, was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons in the second Parliament held at West- minster in the third year of Henry V., a.d. 1415, upon the return of that Sove- reign from France, after the battle of Agincourt. He was a younger son of John, Lord Beauchamp, of Powyke, and, although in his youth he had studied the law, he was a very distinguished soldier in this and the preceding reign, having accompanied the fourth and fifth Henrys in their principal campaigns, and displayed great gallantry at the battle of Agincourt. In Sir Harris Nicolas' 'Agincourt,' the retinue of this gallant soldier is set forth. The previous Parliament, summoned by the Regent, was so well disposed towards the Sovereign that we cannot account for its sudden dissolution, and the calling together of a new one, unless it arose from the King's desire to place our Speaker in the chair, who, as one of his companions in arms, and at the same time a man well versed in the laws of his country, might offer some 3 Hen. V.] sir Walter beauchamp. 61 better guarantee for the passing of such measures as he may have been desirous to propose. In the memoir of Sir Thomas Wauton, Speaker in the third Henry VI., we shall have occasion to refer to a cause, which at that period almost exclusively engrossed the attention of the nobility of England, and in which were enlisted all the feelings of pride and chivalry of the litigants and their partizans. The case was merely one of precedence between our Speaker's illustrious relative, Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, and John Mowbray, Earl Marshal, and the counsel employed for the respective parties had both filled the office of Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Walter being retained for his cousin, against the celebrated lawyer, Roger Hunt, who appeared for the Earl Marshal. We mention the fact in this place merely to shew the estimation in which our Speaker's forensic abilities must have been held, notwithstanding the years he had passed in camps and the practice of arms. With reference to the proceedings of this Parliament, we can only observe, that the Commons ordered a speedier payment of the subsidy granted by the last, and they enacted with the Lords, " that considering the long vacancy in the Popedom, and the damnable schism between the two Popes, all Bishops elect, and other persons, should be confirmed by their own metropolitans, upon the King's writ, without further excuse or delay. The petitions of the Commons, and the laws passed in this Parliament, although evincing a growing desire on the part of the legislature to protect the people from the numberless abuses to which they were subjected by those who were clothed in a little brief authority, were not of sufficient importance in a legislative point of view to require insertion in a work of this nature, they belong more properly to general history. Sir Walter Beauchamp married twice ; — first to Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Sir Peter de la Mare, the second Speaker of the House of Com- mons; and secondly, to Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Roche, Knt., and had issue a son, William, who married the co-Jieiress of Sir Gerard de Braybroke (grandson and heir of Almaric St. Amand, third and last Baron St. Amand of that family), who, in right of his wife, was sum- moned to Parliament as William de Beauchamp, Baron St. Amand, 2nd January, 1449. The political career of our Speaker was but of short duration, as this Parliament was speedily dissolved, and we find no further mention of his name in the journals of the house. In Mr. Burke's "Extinct apd Dormant Peerage," a most interesting and accurately detailed account of all the branches of this family, will be found under the illustrious name of Beauchamp, to which we must refer the reader; at the same time we may observe that, although we are not aware of the existence of any male 63 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1416, representative of this great historical family, there is no doubt whatever that the present house of Lygon, Earl Beauchamp, derives its descent in the female line, from a branch of our Speaker's family. Arms. — Gu. a fesse, betvyeen six martlets, or. virithin a bordure, ar. ROGER FLOWER, Esq. The family of Flure, Fluer, or Flow.er, the name having been thus differently written in public acts and private deeds relating to them, was, according to Wright, of great note in former times in Rutland- shire, holding several estates at Whitwell, Okeham, and Hambleton, in that county. The topographer describes Whitwell as an ancient estate of freehold, consisting of two messuages, forty acres of land, twenty ditto of meadow, and one water-mill, held by the worshipful family of Flure, or Flower, of the Prior of St. John of Jerusalem, in England, &c. " Okeham," he says, " contained ten messuages, an hundred acres of land, ten acres of meadow cum pertinent, held of the lord of the manor by fealty only." Roger Flower, Esquire, the subject of this memoir, was the son of Richard Flower, Esquire, of Whitwell and Okeham, by Jane, daughter and co-lieiress of Sir John Frauncis, of Burley, Knt., whose grandfather was Vice-Lieutenant of the county of Rutland, the tenth of Richard 11. It does not appear from any researches we have been enabled to make, that Mr. Flower was a lawyer, and, certainly, if he had attained any great reputation in that profession, we think Hakewell or Browne Willis would have mentioned the fact ; nevertheless we are inclined to believe that such was his vocation. Having been returned for the county of Rutland, Mr. Flower was elected Speaker of the House of Commons, in the Parliament held at Westminster, the fourth Henry V., when the King, by the Bishop of Winchester, having announced his deter- mination to continue the war against France, the Commons, to evince their zeal for the cause in which he was engaged, granted him two whole tenths and two fifteenths. This not being deemed sufficient, aU the crovm jewels were pawned to raise money for the war. Two remarkable statutes were passed during this session, which do not appear to have met with any opposi- tion on the part of the Commons ; one was to establish the act made 12th of Richard IL, regulating the rate of wages for bailiffs and husbandry servants, and imposing fines upon all who took more than the tariff, thus the master under the provisions of this act, might give what he liked, leaving, however, the receiver liable to the penalty ; and the other was to prohibit the election of any Irishman to archbishopricks, bishopricks. 4 Hen. V.} roger flower, 63 livings, &c. ; and that whoever promoteth such to those ecclesiastical preferments, or brought any such Irish rehels to Parliaments, Councils, and other assemblies, should have all their temporal estates seized into the King's hands, till they had paid the fines due for such offences. "We must give our ancestors some credit for the strict impartiality with which they dealt out injustice and oppression alike to all. It was in this session that Sir John Tibetot, former Speaker of the Com- mons, was appointed Ambassador, or King's Resident at the Imperial Court, the Emperor Sigismund having come to England to endeavour to effect a peace between the crowns of England and France. In the next Parliament summoned by the Regent to meet at Westminster, on the 5th of October, 1417, 5th Henry V., Mr. Flower was again chosen to preside over the dehberations of the Commons, but beyond the required subsidy, which was zealously assented to by the House, no business of any importance occurred during the session, except the trial of the unfortunate Lord Cobham, better known as Sir John OldcasUe ; at which period a motion was made in the Commons' House that Edward Cherlton, Lord Powis (whose co-heiress was married to Sir John Tibetot beforenamed), might have the thanks of the House, and the reward in the proclamation (1000 marks) for apprehending that heretic. This subserviency to the policy of the King against the Lollards, and the enmity of the Clergy in particular to the prisoner, is highly discreditable to the Commons, and when placed in juxtaposition with the honourable and virtuous abnegation of the people, it must strike every sensitive mind with disgust. Even upon the evidence of Walsingham, a monastic writer, we find that this proclamation was utterly useless as a bribe to the people, and he adduces it as an example of the great hold WickKffe's doctrines had obtained over their minds, "that in so long a time there was not found any man whom so great a reward could tempt to betray him." It is not our intention to launch out into the coarse and violent invective in which our old puritan friend William Prynne indulges, when, in reference to this affair, he charges the clergy with " roaring after Christian blood, tanquam hones rugientes," &c. ; but, although there is sufficient evidence in his dying speech to prove the fanaticism of this ill-fated nobleman, whose misfortunes every enlightened Christian has deplored (deprecating all acts of cruelty , and religious persecution), still our censure, insignificant as it may be, falls chiefly upon the time-serving Parliament who, if the opinions of contem- poraneous authors be true, that the majority of the Commons were in their hearts followers of Wicldiffe, and devoted one of their own flock to the butcher's knife, out of compliment to the policy of a victorious monarch. In the next Parliament, the seventh Henry V., Mr. Flower was a third time chosen to preside over the deliberations of the House of Commons, but of the proceedings of Lords or Commons during this session we are totally 64 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1416. ignorant, beyond the granting of a subsidy, and two statutes, which enacted " that the Lords of the Council should have power to establish orders touching the coin ;" and in order to keep the coin within the realm, " That all neces- saries for the King's soldiers should be bought at home, and sent to them," &c. The only event of historical interest was the accusation against Joan, the Queen Dowager, for conspiring against the life of the King, upon which all her tenants were ordered to pay her rents over to the King's treasury. In the first Parliament of Henry VI., 1422, Mr. Flower was a fourth time elected Speaker, Mr. Chaucer, the son of the illustrious Geoffrey, and this gentleman, being the only persons on record from the earliest period of our history, who had up to that time ever enjoyed so great an honour, or so high a compliment to their talent, political integrity, and impartiality. On Tues- day, the 1st of October, Mr. Flower was presented to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, who acted as Regent during the absence of his brother, the Duke of Bedford, and was allowed. A subsidy was granted, and several good laws passed in this Parliament, and it was enacted, that Thomas Chaucer, chief butler to the King, should hold the said office during his life, according to the letters patent made to his father, Geoffrey Chaucer, and to himself by King Henry IV. It was also enacted that the jewels which had been pawned by Henry V. should be redeemed or forfeited, saving the jewels of the crown. The name of Mr. Flower does not, however, appear upon the record, beyond the simple fact of his election to the office of Speaker; and, indeed, in no other channel have we found anything further respecting this gentleman, except from the county historians, who inform us that he married Catherine, sole daughter and heiress of "William Dalby, of Exton, merchant, the founder of the college or old hospital in Oakham, and that by his will he bequeaths his body to the parish church, his best animal to the vicar for a mortuary, together with ten shillings for forgotten tythes. His descendants were connected by marriage with the families of Tessington and Brooksby, of the county of Leicester ; Conyers, of Northampton, Salis- bury ; Harington, of Exton ; Colly, of Glaiston ; and Sheldon, of Wor- cestershire ; and by an inquisition taken at" Ketton, Notts., in the 15th Henry VIII., before John Mollesworth, escheator, shortly after the death of our Speaker's grandson, Richard, Roger Flower, Esq., was found to be his heir. It would, however, be unpardonable were we to pass over the statement contained in Mr. Burke's Peerage, which gives a descendant and male representative of our Speaker, in the person of the Right. Hon. Henry Flower, Viscount Ashbrook, Baron of Castle Durrow, county Kilkenny, whose descent from Sir George Flower, a distinguished soldier in the wars of Ireland in the time of Elizabeth (a branch of the family emanating from the subject of this memoir), is set forth with his accustomed accuracy. Arms. — Sable, a cinquefoil, erminois. ROGER HUNT. 65 ROGER HUNT, Esq. Roger Hunt, Esq., of Chalverston, in the county of Bedford, was an eminent lawyer in the reigns of Henry IV., V., and VI,, and ultimately became one of the Barons of the Exchequer. Of his origin we are ignorant, his de- scendants, for some generations, are easily traced by the visitations. He was returned to Parliament in the eighth of Henry V., for the County of Hun- tingdon, and was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons at a period when the brilliant successes of that glorious monarch had raised a suspicion in the minds of his faithful, but patriotic English subjects, that the noble Kingdom of France, with its broad lands, would offer a great temptation to him to fix his residence in that country, and render England but tributary to his newly acquired possessions. This aroused the jealousy of the Commons, and hence arose those "Cautionary Acts" relating to the conquest of France, which almost exclusively occupied the attention of this Parliament. This appre- hension was one of those clouds which lowered upon the horizon of victory, and produced in minds just over-elated with success, the gloomy forebodings of evil, but not the real one which England sustained in the loss of all her French possessions (except Calais), in the following reign — such is the short- sightedness of man. The Commons, with the advice and assent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, petitioned their thrice gracious Lordship, the Duke of Gloucester, to supplicate, move, and excite his most gracious Sovereign Lord the King, and. his no less gracious Queen, his consort, to return and come into this kingdom, in as short a time as it shall please his Majesty, to the great comfort, support, and relief of his said Commons, and they peti- tioned " that the realm of England, and the people of it, of what estate and condition soever, shall not be under any subjection or obedience to him, (Henry V.), or his heirs and successors, as Regent or Kings of France, but shall remain free and independent from any such subjection for evermore." These were the principal acts of the first ParHament of which Mr. Hunt was Speaker, what part he took in the proceedings we are unable to discover, as the roll of Parliament enters into very few particulars. In the third of Henry VI., Mr. Hunt being counsel for John Mowbray, Earl Marshall, pleaded his cause for precedence, evincing great legal talent. (See Sir Thomas Wauton.) In the eleventh year of King Henry VI., we find Mr. Hunt again chosen to preside over the deliberations of the Commons on the 11th of July, 1433. 66 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1420. It was at the opening of this Parliament that the Cardinal Beaufort, Chan- cellor, adopted such a curious style in addressing the Three Estates of the Realm, calling them mountains, lesser hills, and people, meaning the Bishops and Lords, the Knights and Burgesses, and the People ; but he might have carried his metaphor one step farther to be in perfect keeping, as mountains, hills, and valleys, for surely nothing could be lovs^er than the condition of the people in those days. This veas a very short Session, for after the Parliament had sat about a month, the plague broke out in London, and it was prorogued on the 13th August, until the fifteenth day after St. Michael ensuing, at West- minster. Nothing further occurs as to the proceedings of this Parliament until 3rd November, when the Speaker of the House of Commons came before the King, in the other House, and shewed his Majesty a precedent in the reign of King Edward III., whereby the King commanded the Bishops and Clergy to pronounce sentence of ex-communication against certain offenders at that time. The Speaker then desired his Majesty to act in the same manner, and cause the Clergy to excommunicate some that were then culpable, the details of which are more fully described in the Parliamentary Roll of the 32nd year of this King, in the curious Latin of that day — "pro diversa specialia et enormia murdra, homicidia, raptus mulierum, robberias, arsurias, et alia mala qtiamplurima, &c." But nothing appears to have been done in the matter. At the same time, the Speaker presented to the King and Lords, one article amongst others, in an Ordinance of Parliament, made in the eighth of this reign, whereby it was established " That no Nobleman or other person should retain in his service, any offender against the law, or maintain any title, or quarrel," which all the Bishops and Lords then present were sworn to observe ; and a few days after, the King commanded the Duke of Bedford (who had arrived in England just before the meeting of the first Session of this Parliament, things going very much against the English interests in France,) to go to the House of Commons, and swear all the members to the performance of the aforesaid article, which he did ac- cordingly. Afterwards the whole nation was sworn to the observance of the Act against quarrels, the King, and indeed all peaceably disposed persons, apprehending serious troubles from the rancorous feeling subsisting between the Cardinal Beaufort and the Duke of Gloucester. On the 24ith November, the Commons came again before the King and the Lords, and notwithstanding the malicious charges, or rather insinuations, which had been thrown out against the conduct of the Regent Bedford in France, the Speaker, on the part of the Commons, publicly thanked and " com- plimented him on his warlike behaviour and notable deeds done in France, and particularly for his conduct in the Battle of Vermyle," and he desired the King to insist upon his personal attendance about him, to which the Duke of Bedford consented, upon conditions which were granted, and by which he 9 Hen. V.] richard baynard. 67 recovered some of the prerogatives the Duke of Gloucester had lost through the malicious intrigues of the Cardinal and the Clergy, his sworn enemies. Many excellent laws were enacted in this Parliament ; the liberties of the County Palatine of Durham were ascertained, the Attorney-General, Sir William Earl, Knight, having learnedly endeavoured to prove that the Bishop of Durham had no right to a County Palatine, or royal liberties. Keepers of brothels were rendered ineligible to sit on juries, or keep inns or taverns, and all French prisoners in the kingdom found at large, without the King's safe conduct, their keeper or host, might be taken by any Englishman, and ransomed as his prisoner, considering, adds the Record, " that Englishmen be so served in France, by a law called Lex Talionis." After the dissolution of this Parliament, we find nothing further of our Speaker, whose exertions were, in all probability, confined to his judicial capacity of Baron of the Exchequer. Roger Hunt, Esq., the son of the Speaker, married Elizabeth, daughter of Taylard, of the county of Huntingdon, and had issue a son, Roger, who married Mary, daughter of Sir Thomas Wauton, Knight, of Bassmey or Bassmead, in the county of Bedford, Speaker of the House of Commons, in the third year of this king's reign, from whom descended Wilham Hunt, of Chalverston, who, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, married Joan, daughter of John Russell, Esq., of Emslade, county of Bucks, whose son, Roger Hunt, subsequently inherited this estate. We have not been able to discover any further traces of this family ; the lineage, however, may still be flourishing unknown even to the owners of the name. Arms. Ar. on a chevron gu, anannulet, or. a bordure of the second charged with eight bezants. RICHARD BAYNARD, Esq. This gentleman was descended lineally from Ralph de Baynard, one of the companions-in-arms, and an especial favourite, of the Conqueror, who re- warded him for his gallantry at the Battle of Hastings with twenty-five Lordships in Essex, and many more elsewhere ; the head of whose Barony and capital mansion was Baynard's Castle, in London. This noble Knight and Baron was succeeded by his son, Geofirey, and he by Sir Walter Bay- nard, who, joining in a conspiracy against Henry I., was deprived of his Barony and estates. Sir Thomas Baynard, a lineal descendant of these re- bellious and powerful Barons, held the manor of Kiiipsho, alias Baynards and Dredgers, in Essex, a.d. 1344, under John Gurnoun, by the service of the fourth part of a Knight's fee, and was succeeded by his son and heir, John F 2 68 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1423. Baynard, the grandfather of Richard, the subject of this memoir. Imania Baynard, who died 1272, possessed of the manors of Missing and Baynards, was one of our Speaker's ancestors ; and Juga Baynard, another celebrated female of this family, was the foundress of the priory of Dunmow. Richard Baynard, Esq., having been returned to Parliament for the county of Essex, in the ninth year of King Henry V., 1421, was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. This Parliament, which met in December, was the second held this year (in the former of which Mr. Chaucer had been, for the fourth time, elected Speaker), and the last of King Henry V., that glorious and victorious monarch having finished his brilliant career at Vincennes, near Paris, where he died of a dysentery on the 3Ist August, 14*22. The Duke of Gloucester, who had so wisely governed the kingdom during the Sovereign's absence, had assembled this Parliament solely to provide the necessary supplies to carry on the war against France ; and, beyond the subsidy granted, no business appears to have been transacted of the least public im- portance, with the exception of some Acts for regulating the coin, which had become much deteriorated in value, by reason of clipping and washing : Nee tonsione vel lotione enormiter diminutum ,• shewing the antiquity of this species of fraud, which was continued nearly to our own times. Beyond the fact of his election, and allowance by the Regent, Mr. Baynard's name does not appear upon the Records, and we have no further information concerning him or his family, except that his aunt, or his sister Joan, married John Dorewood, Esq., formerly . Speaker of the House of Commons. Arms. — Sable, a chevron, ermine. SIR JOHN RUSSELL, Knt. The great historical family of Russell is said to derive its descent from Olaf, the sharp-eyed King of Rerik, in the sixth century, one of whose descendants, Turstain, a Scandinavian Jarl, settled in Normandy on its con- quest by the Northmen, and became possessed of the Barony of Briquebec, and the Castle of Rozel, near the venerable City of Caen in that Province, where the name of Rozel still flourishes. In a Charter of Matilda, wife of the Conqueror, dated 1066, Hugh de Rozel appears as a witness, and no doubt is the same person that accompanied William in his invasion of England, and assisted at the battle of Hastings. His name, together with 2 Hen. VI.] sir john russell. 69 that of his brother, the Lord de Barneville, are inserted on the Roll of Battle Abbey. They both accompanied Duke Robert of Normandy in the first crusade, and after performing prodigies of valour against the Saracens, Lord de Barneville perished nobly under the walls of Antioch. Hugh de Rozel, his younger brother, upon his return from the Holy Land, established himself in England, and was the progenitor of Sir James Rozel, or Russell, Knt. Governor of Corfe Castle in 1221, and of Sir William Russell, who repre- sented the county of Southampton in the first Parliament of Edward II. From this gentleman directly descended Sir John Russell, one of the most valiant soldiers of the age of chivalry in which he lived, whose gallant deeds and martial prowess have been chronicled by all the historians of his time ; and his knightly bearing at the celebrated tournament of Inglevere, in Picardy in 1390, against the three French Knights, Reginald de Roye, Boucicaut, and the Lord de Saimpi (who had challenged all the gentlemen Knights and Esquires of the neighbouring Kingdoms), was so highly extolled. This gallant knight was the father of Sir John Russell, the subject of our memoir. Of the early life of this gentleman we know nothing whatever, nor is it probable that the deepest research could enlighten us, since Mr, Wifien, who devoted so much of his time to the publication of the memoirs of the Russell family, made no discovery concerning him beyond that which can be deduced from the Parliamentary Records. He says — " Whether the early life of Sir John Russell was spent in the exercise of arms, under the same banner beneath which his father fought, or in civil occupations merely, must remain a matter of conjecture. One fact, however, seems indisputable, that he was early introduced into public life ; if what many authorities state be correct, that he was chosen a Parliamentary representative in the second year of King Henry VI., and on the appointment of the Receivers and Tryers of Petitions, pre- sented by the Commons as their Speaker." Mr. Wiffen follows up this account by a relation of the romantic and affecting history of the captivity of James L of Scotland (one of the luminaries of his age), at Windsor Castle ; and the story of his love for the beautiful Lady Jane Beaufojt, afterwards his Queen : and he tells us that our Speaker was chosen to announce to the Commons the treaty of m rriage concluded between that Monarch and the lady of his love, to whom he had addressed such beautiful sonnets from his prison window, as he saw her walking in the park beneath. The melancholy fate of this enlightened and excellent Sovereign, and the heroism displayed by his lovely Queen, are matters of history upon which we dare not dwell ; but his liberation after eighteen years of captivity, and his marriage, gave universal satisfaction, and were hailed with great joy by the Commons, as events highly calculated to cement the union of the two nations. Sir John Russell represented the county of Hereford in the Parliament in question, and was elected Speaker of the House of Commons the day after its 70 LIVES or THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1423 meeting, the 21st October, 1423. Nothing of any public importance occurred in this Session. The King quashed the proceedings against the Earl ol Ormond, under the accusation of Lord Talbot, with the assent of Parhament ; a Committee of the Commons was appointed to thank the Duke of Gloucester for communicating the peace with the Scotch King, to which Mr. Wiffen adverts in the extract we have just quoted ; and with the exception of an ordinance relative to the ofBce of Mint Master, nothing further appears upon the record. This Parliament was prorogued, and, upon its reassembling, after granting a subsidy, its principal act was the nomination of a Council for the Government of the Kingdom, under the Duke of Gloucester as Lord Protector, during the King's minority. It is worthy of notice, that of the four Commoners who had the high honour to be joined in this commission, three had previously filled the Speaker's chair— Sir John Tiptoft, Sir Walter Hungerford, and Thomas Chaucer, and the fourth, William Alington, was subsequently elected to that office. The Council desired written instructions for their guidance in this weighty matter, with which they were supplied, and we cannot forbear giving an extract from this document, in every way curious and interesting as a specimen of the orthography of that period, and at the same time honourable to the feelings of the Committee which prepared it. The seventh paragraph runs thus — " Item. That the Clerk of Counsaill be sworne, that every day that the Counsaill sitteth on any Billes, betwixt partie and partie, that he shall, as far as he can espye, which is the porest Suyter's Bills, and that first to be redd and answered ; and the Kyng's Serjeant to be sworne trewly and plainly to geve the pore man, that for such is accept to the Counsaill, assistence and trew Counsaile in his matere so to be suyed, without any good taking of hym, on payn of discharge of thyr office." The Commons, over whose deliberations Sir John Russell presided, honour- ably provided for the payment of all claims upon the late King Henry V., but with the exception of petitions, and an expost facto law against Sir John Mortimer, who had escaped from the Tower, to which he had been com- mitted on suspicion of treason, based upon the information of a man named King, servant to Robert Scott, Esq., keeper of the Tower, who swore that Mortimer had ofiered him £40 and an Earldom to contrive his escape, nothing of great importance occurred, although the Parliamentary Roll is, as the old historians quaintly observe, of mighty length. We cannot trace anything in the proceedings of this Parliament which tends to illustrate the character of our Speaker. We may mention that it was during this Session that Jaqueline of Holland, so well known to the readers of romance, was naturalized by Act of Parliament. In the tenth of this reign Sir John Russell was a second time elected Speaker of the House of Commons, and although we are ignorant of the source from whence Mr. Wiffen derived his information, deeming the 3 Hen. VI.] sir thomas wauton. 71 character he draws of our Speaker as consistent with probability, we shall not hesitate to quote from him, that " The good qualities and ability displayed by Sir John Russell in this (the former) Parliament were generally acknowledged, so that being returned a second time to Parliament in the tenth of Henry VI. he was a second time chosen Speaker by the Commons, and in this station, throughout the disputes that took place between the Gloucester and Win- chester factions, is recorded to have conducted himself with equal prudence and impartiality." Mr. Wiffen does not tell us where we can find the record of his prudence and impartiality, great qualities in those days of subserviency to power ; but we cannot doubt its existence, although we have searched in vain for any demonstration of character in public men at this early period of our history. Little beyond the dispute above alluded to, occurred in this Parliament, where no mention is made of our Speaker in the Record, beyond the fact of his election to the chair. One very important concession was obtained upon the petition of the Commons. The King " released the subsidy granted in the last Parliament on lands and tenements, so as it should never be mentioned again." The historian observes, that " this looks as if all parties were ashamed of such an uncommon imposition on the subject in those days (a land tax), though it is now no novelty, and will continue, we fear, to be as immutable as fate." Our Speaker was again returned to Parliament for Weymouth, in 1450; but we cannot glean any further information as to his political career. He married one of the co-heiresses of Sir John Herringham, of Chaldon Herring, Dorset, deriving from the ancient Norman family of Harenc or Harange, near Evreux, by whom he had issue, from which descended a long line of eminent and illustrious' characters (dear to history and ever associated with the name of liberty), now represented by his Grace the Duke of Bedford. (See " Burke's Peerage.") Arms. — At. a lion rampant, gu. on a chief sa. three escallops of the first. SIR THOMAS WAUTON, Knt. Sir Thomas Wauton was descended from a family seated for many generations at Great Stoughton, and became, according to Lyson's " Magna Britannia," the owner, by purchase, of Bassmead, or Bassmey, in Bedford- shire, in the reign of Henry VI. ; but as the Bedford pedigrees in the British Museum, commence only with the subject of our memoir, we glean little or no information concerning him or his descendants. We do not find by the 72 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1425. authority of Hakewell, or Browne Willis, that Sir Thomas Wauton held any legal appointment, nor even that he was "learned in the lawes, as these judicious antiquaries commonly describe the Speaker's who had risen to that dignified station, by reason of their forensic talent, but from the matnmomal alliances of his family with eminent lawyers, as well as from the fact of the great majority of the Speakers of that period being members of the learned profession/although some of them wielded the sword and the pen with equal dexterity, we think it not improbable that Sir Thomas Wauton was a lawyer. Having been returned to Parliament in the third year of the reign of Henry VI., 1425, for the county of Bedford, Sir Thomas Wauton (and not Wauton, as some historians have written his name) was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. The opening of this Parliament by an infant King, whose presence, the Protector and his council had deemed an act of policy, caused great excitement in the public mind, and the people flocked in multitudes to see the royal child carried from his Manor of Kennington on a great horse to Westminster. The procession to Westminster Abbey, two days before the opening of Parliament, is thus described by Fabian. We give it insertion only, because this chronicler adds that he went to Westminster in the same manner: — " Two days before the Parlement met, the King with the Queen his moder came through the cytye from Wendesore, and when he came at the West dore of Poulys, the Lord Protector toke him out of the chare, and so was ledd upon his Fete, between the sayde Lorde Protector and the Duke of Exeter, unto the steppes goyng into the Quyer ; from whence he was borne unto the hygh Aulter, and there kneled on a traverse purveyed for hym ; and when he had ben there he yode to the Rode of the North Dqre, and there made his Offerynges: And then he was borne into the Church-yerde, and theyre set upon a fayre Courser, and so conveyed thorugh Chepe, and the other Streetes of the Cytye, unto St. Georg's Barre, and so held his journay to his Manour of Kenyngton. In the same manner he was conveyed thorugh the Cytye to Westminster, to mete the Parliament." Speed, Hall, and Hollingshed allude to the event, and observe, that the people, desirous to trace in his features the virtues of his father, loaded him with acclamations and hearty wishes for a long and happy life. Speed says : — " It was a strange sight, and the first time it was ever seen in England, an infant sitting in his mother's lap (on the throne), and before it could tell what English meant, to exercise the place of sovereign direction in open Parliament." From the speech of the Bishop of Winchester on this occasion, based upon the text of Gloria, Honor, et Pax, omni operanti Bonum, Lord Coke is said to have borrowed his " Character of a Member of Parliament," which was burlesqued by the witty Dean of St. Patrick's. (See " Swift's Miscellanies," 3 Hen. VI.] sir thomas wauton. 73 vol. iv.) The entire business of this Session was the settlement of a quarrel for precedency between John Mowbray, Earl Marshall, and Richard Beau- champ, Earl of Warwick, each laying claim to the higher place in the House of Parliament. Roger Hunt, Esquire, Speaker in a former, and again in a subsequent Parliament to this, was counsel for the former peer, and evinced great legal acumen in his arguments favouring the pretensions of his client, while the forensic warrior. Sir Walter Beauchamp, who had also served the office of Speaker in the third of Henry V., was the champion of his noble relative. These little facts are interesting to biography ; but our principal motive in bringing them under the notice of the reader is, to shew that precedents are worthless in matters of great excitement, for, in this instance, the Commons were consulted in a matter of precedency relating solely to the Upper House. It was a nice question, but not being within our province to discuss, we shall dismiss it by observing with strict historical accuracy, that the restoration of the forfeited dukedom of Norfolk to the Earl Marshall, put an end at once to Lord Warwick's pretensions, and rendered the solution of this knotty question perfectly useless. Both Mr. Hunt and Sir Walter Beauchamp, however, maintained their high reputation as lawyers, in this extraordinary cause before Parliament. This Parliament having been prorogued by the Duke of Gloucester, the Lord Protector, until the 15th May, and then again for a week longer, the first Act of the second Session was to grant a subsidy. Several good laws for encouraging the exportation of provisions, and prohibiting that of sheep, which improved the woollen manufactures in England, and to regulate the sale of foreign goods, so that they might not be warehoused until an apparent scarcity should raise their prices, were passed ; but the time of this second session appears to have been principally consumed in the quarrel of the Duke of Gloucester, and Philip, Duke of Burgundy, who had assisted to deprive the former of his wife, Jaqueline of Holland, and her great inheritance (she having gone back to the Duke of Brabant, her former husband), for which the Duke of Gloucester had defied him to mortal combat. The Parliament took up the matter, in order to reconcile their diSerences, and the Record of this Session contains what is called a schedule for the purpose, beginning : " Consederyng the full, grete, and irreparable Inconveniences that might ensue to grete Harme and Prejudice of the Kyng and of his Reames, gyf it were proceeded to Execution of the Bataille in the personale Quarele and Debate bytwixt my Lord of Gloucestre and the Due of Burgoyne, hit is thoght necessary and behofiuU, that by assent of the three Estates assembled in this present Parlement, the Chancellor have Commaundement to do make lettres Patente, under the Kyng's Grete Seel, by which Power be geven and commytted to the Queenes of France and of this Land, the Kyng's Aiele and his Moder, and to my Lord the Regent of France, and to itch of them, to 74 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. receive and take the said Debate into the Kyng's hand, and to make expresse Defense and Inhibition to the said parties, yef and whan it shall be thought to them, or any of them, and to the Kyng's Counseillis of both Reumys expedient to be doo, that thei precede no ferther in, nor to Executun of, the said Bataille, nor that oon of hem ayenst that other in ony wise be wey of Fete therefore, and to offer them on the Kyng's Behalfe Administracion of justice, swich as the Cas requireth to be doon unto them therynne by the Kyng, at swich time as he shall come to Yeres of Discretion, or eUis to be doon to hem nowe gif thei wolle algates desire it," &c. We confess we could not resist the insertion of this long extract from the Parliamentary Record, for which we trust we shall be excused, from the interest which history attaches to the event ; the curious style of the schedule itself, which gives us so good an insight into the language and orthography of our ancestors, and from the fact of our Speaker's having taken at least an official part in its preparation and passing through Parliament. We are tempted here, also, to remark upon the little rule which must have existed at this period in matters of orthography, for not only did different authors spell differently, and all of them almost as badly, and, to ears polite, as unnaturally as the "Fonetic Nuz," a system highly calculated to perpetuate ignorance ; but we find that the same authors spelt the same words in different ways in the same page. After the dissolution of this Parliament, we learn nothing further of our Speaker; and, indeed, beyond his election and allowance, his name never occurs in the record of its proceedings. Of his family, we find that Ciceley, one of his daughters and co-heiresses, married Nicholas Luke, Esquire, one of the Barons of the Exchequer, and that William FitzGeffrey married Elizabeth, another daughter and co-heiress; but, in spite of the general accuracy of the visitations, we are inclined to believe that these co-heiresses must have been the daughters of his son, and, consequently, the grandchildren of our Speaker, as Nicholas Luke, the Baron of the Exchequer, who married the eldest, did not die until 1563, upwards of a century from the period at which Sir Thomas Wauton was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons, According to " Noble's Life of Cromwell," Colonel Valentine Walton, Wauton, or Waughton, one of the regicides, who married Margaret, the sister of Oliver Cromwell, and fled to Flanders just before the Restoration of Charles II., where he died, was descended from a branch of the family of our Speaker. Noble says he was descended from the ancient family of Wauton, of Great Staughton, and that he frequently wrote his name Wauton, although commonly styled Walton. Arms.— Ar. a chevron, and an annulet in the dexter chief point, sa. SIB RICHARD VERNON. 75 SIR RICHARD VERNON, Knt. This noble Knight was lineally descended from the Lords o£ Vernon in Normandy, of whom William assumed the appellation of De Vernon, from the town and district of that name, of which he was proprietor in 1052. William de Vernon had two sons, Richard and Walter, both of whom came into England with the Conqueror. The elder brother, Richard, was one of Hugh Lupus' Barons for the county Palatine of Chester, by the title of Baron Shipbroke, and, according to Doomsday Book, was a large landed pro- prietor. One of his grandsons. Sir William de Vernon, Knight of Harlaston, was Chief Justice of Chester in the reign of Henry III., and married Alice, daughter and heiress of WiUiam de Avenel, of Haddon, county of Derby ; whose son, Richard de Vernon, married Margaret, daughter of Robert, Baron of Stockport, and acquired with her the manor of Appleby-Parva, and the advowson of Appleby-Magna, in the county of Leicester. His grandson. Sir Richard, married Maud, daughter and co-heiress of William de Camville, Baron Camville, of Clifton, and was succeeded by his son, William de Vernon, who, by Benedicta, his wife, sister and heiress of Sir Fulk Pembruge, Knt., of Tonge Castle, in Shropshire, was father to Sir Richard Vernon, Knt., the subject of our present memoir. No clearer or more genuine pedigree exists in the annals of genealogy or the archives of heraldry ; yet the cynic or the radical may observe, " cui bono." Let him not, however, imagine that his question is an answerless one. Good seed ever produces the best corn ; and as in vegetable life the fairest flowers are produced by cultivation, so with humanity, the virtues of our ancestors, in most instances, predispose us to their imitation, and often tend to check those vicious propensities of our nature, the indulgence of which would cast a stain^upon the family escutcheon. Sir Richard Vernon, having been returned for the county of Derby to the Parliament summoned to meet at Leicester, in the fourth of Henry VI., 1426, was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons, This was called the Parliament of Batts, a designation it acquired in consequence of the members- and their followers having been prohibited from appearing with swords, or any other warlike weapon, great fear being entertained that the parties of the Bishop of Winchester and the Lord Protector might come to blows, as their quarrel was now at its height; an order literally observed, but at the same time defeated by the Lords and their attendants, who came armed with batts, or great clubs, on their shoulders ; but this having been put a stop to 76 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. as soon as it was discovered, Fabian says, " after this, they took stones and plummets of lead, and hid them in their sleeves and bosoms," a worthy pre- cedent for the engagement of prize-fighters to secure the freedom 0/ election, which has not unfrequently occurred in our own days. It is supposed that great tumults must have occurred at the opening of this Parliament ; for, although it met on the 18th February, it was not until the 28th of that month that Sir Richard Vernon was presented as their Speaker. Almost the whole time of this Session was consumed in the settlement of the differences between the Bishop of Winchester and the Duke of Gloucester, a matter of history, upon which we have no right to trespass, as it in no manner eluci- dates the life of our Speaker. The Parliament was prorogued until the latter end of April ; but with the exception of the subsidy, an attack upon the Clergy in a petition of the Commons, who prayed that no man should make any advowson, presentation, &c., to any foreigner, of any benefice, or other ecclesiastical dignity, on pain of a Preemunire, and that every person might present again for the non-residence of the incumbent ; nothing further appears to have occurred in which the Commons took any active part. The Pope had sent a menacing letter to the Parliament to repeal the statute of provisors, in which he designated it a detestabile Statutum contra Divinum, &c. ; and again, abominable Statutum {quod qui observat vel observari faciat sahiari not potest), a curious document, which the reader will find in Bishop Burnet's " Collections of Records," vol. i. p. 99 ; but it is too long for insertion here. The Archbishop of Canterbury made a very forcible speech to the Commons in favour of the repeal of this statute, taking for his text, "Render unto Caesar," &c., calling upon them, for the salvation of their souls, and the happiness of the kingdom, to give the Pope satisfaction, by repealing the statute of " Praemunire." Historians say, so great was his zeal in the Pontiff's cause, that he shed tears plentifully in the course of his oration ; but it was all thrown away upon the Commons, who were by no means satisfied with the Archbishop's arguments, and the Parliament was dissolved immediately after. Of our Speaker's Parliamentary career, we are unable to glean any information ; we find, however, that he was appointed by patent, Treasurer of Calais, and that he married Janette, daughter and heir of Sir Rees ap Griffitin, Knt., and, dying in 1452, was succeeded by his son. Sir William Vernon, Knt., Treasurer of Calais, and Constable of England ; from whom, after many alliances with the noble families of Talbot, Ludlow, Shirley, Littleton, Vernon of Hilton, Pigott of Chetwynd, Lee of Hartwell, Howard of Effingham, Harcourt, Mansel, and Sedley, as well as their connections with the Venables, Barons of Kinderton, &c. &c,, descends in an unteoken male line, the Right Honourable George John Warren, Baron Vernon of Kinderton, in the county of Chester. ^ms.— Chequy or. and az., on a canton, gu., a lion rampant, ar. SIR JOHN TYRREI,. 77 SIR JOHN TYRREL, Knt. Mr. Burke, the eminent genealogist, in his account of this very ancient, historical, and knightly family, says, they derive from Sir Walter Tyrrel, a Norman Knight, who came into England at the Conquest, and soon after became tenant of the Manor of Langham, in the county of Essex, which he held at the general survey, under Richard de Tonbrigg. Morant, in his " History of Essex," observes, " Whether he. Sir Walter, was the same person who shot William Rufus in the New Forest, or whether he did it at the instigation of Archbishop Anselm, through the persuasion of a fanatic monk, as it is asserted, we are not able to determine." The authority we have first cited seems to think it extremely doubtful that the deed was committed designedly, and by no means clear that the Walter Tyrrel who is said to have perpetrated it, was the ancestor of this family. The great weight which any opinion expressed by this profound genealogist must necessarily have with us, would induce extreme caution on our parts in venturing to differ with him ; but we must say, that the very authority which he further cites in his account of the family {Ordericus VitaUs), is conclusive to our minds as to the fact of the deed in question having been charged against the Sir Walter Tyrrel who was the immediate ancestor of the gentleman of whom we are about to treat ; Vitalis, in his "History of Normandie," relates, "ThatSir Walter Tyrrel, on his deathbed, declared that he was not so much as in the field when William Rufus was kiUed," — a clear indication that he had been charged with the perpetration of an act which he probably never committed, and was anxious to remove the stain of crime from his name by a solemn denial of his guilt in articulo mortis. There is no doubt whatever of the great antiquity of this family, its chiefs, for nearly four hundred years, having enjoyed the honour of knight- hood down to our Speaker, who was the son of Sir Thomas Tyrrel, Knt., by his second wife, Elionora, daughter of John Flambard, Esq. Sir John Tyrrel represented the county of Essex in the Parliament of the sixth of King Henry VI. when he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. The Parliament met on the 13th October, 1428, and sat until the 8th December ; but no accoujQt of its proceedings exist upon the Records, beyond the fact of its prorogation until the 28th January following. On the re-assembling of which the usual subsidy was granted, together with another of an extraordi- nary nature, resembling a poll-tax. Several good laws were enacted upon the subject of civil authorities, which by fraudulent practices had been made 78 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1428. oppressive to the subject ; to compel sheriffs to deliver a true copy of their panels six days before the assizes ; for the protection of sheriffs against corrupt juries, under the Act for false returns, to which we have before adverted, giving them liberty to traverse ; and it was ordained also by this Parliament, that several Commissions of Sewers should be issued out by the Chancellor of England, to cleanse and repair walls, ditches, gutters, bridges, wears, &c. It was in this Parliament, as old John Stowe informs us, that " one Mistress Stokes, with divers other stout women of London, of good account and well apparelled, came openly to the Upper House of Parliament, and delivered letters to the Duke of Gloucester, to the Archbishops, and other Lords there present, containing matters of rebuke and sharp repre- hension to the said Duke of Gloucester, because he would not deliver his wife JaqueHne, out of her grievous imprisonment, being then detained prisoner by the Duke of Burgundy, and suffering her there to remain, unkindly, whilst he kept another adulteress, contrary to the law of God, and the honourable estate of matrimony." Another historian observes, that our author is silent as to the success of this virtuous remonstrance, and that the arms of the peti- tioners were too feeble to hurt so great a man as the Lord Protector ; but we find that the Commons took up the cudgels in favour of poor Jaqueline of Holland, as appears by the following short and curious petition, which they tacked to the grant of subsidy, probably to ensure its more speedy and certain delivery to the Duke of Gloucester : — " Also for scene that my Lady of Gloucester liveth in so grete dolour and hevyness, and hath so lamentably written to our Soverein Lord, and to all the estate of this noble Roiaume to be pourveyde fore be way of tretee, or in otherwise, be the hie wisdome of our Soverein Lord, and the habundant discretion of the Lords of his Counseill, that her persone and the alliance betwene this noble Roiame and hir lands, had and contained, be put in sal- ve tee and sickernesse, in singular comforte of the said Commens, and of all that they been comyn for." Although in our cursory review of the proceedings of Parliament we have generally given precedence to the subsidies, it must not be omitted that in this, as in all foregoing Parliaments, the Commons never voted the suppUes until their petitions were granted, or a speedy answer and attention promised to their demands. In the ninth year of this King, 1431, Sir John Tyrrel having been again returned Knight of the Shire for Essex, was a second time elected to preside over the deliberations of the Commons, but beyond his election and allowance, the name of our Speaker does not occur in the proceedings of this Parliament. The acts passed were not of any great public importance ; the Lord Protector, in the absence of the King (who was enjoying the pageantries of his corona- tion at Paris), not deeming it prudent, perhaps, to give a definitive answer 6 Hen. VI.] sir john tyrrel. 79 to any one of the petitions of the Commons, which related principally to the transport of wools, the pardoning of outlawries, the venue in forgeries of deeds, the tythe of great wood, &c. ; but the two last acts of this Parliament were, the subsidy, ever an important consideration to the Government, and the peace with Scotland, which was settled by the interference of Parliament, and the articles of which were strongly debated by the Commons. Hall and Hollingshed say, that the Duke was not willing to settle so important a matter without the consent of the people, so referred it to the Three Estates, who, after long consultation and many debates, settled a peace with them — which peace, it was then thought, would long continue, because Scotland was so disturbed by home-bred divisions, that no molestation could be expected from that quarter. In the year 1436, the 15th of Henry VI., Sir John Tyrrel was, for the third time, elected Speaker of the House of Commons ; but he was disabled from attending by grievous sickness, and William Burley, Esq., was chosen in his place, the particulars of which will be found in the memoir of that gentleman. It must have been between the 9th and the 15th of Henry VI., that Sir John Tyrrel received the honour of knighthood, as, in the two former Parliaments, he is named in the Record, John Tyrrel, Esq. We find also that he held the appointment of Captain of the Carpenters for the new works at Calais, with 12d. per diem wages, and he was afterwards constituted treasurer of the household to King Henry VI. He married Alice, one of the daughters and co-heiresses of Sir William Coggershall, Knt., of Little Stamford Hall, in the county of Essex, by Antiocha, his wife, daughter of that renowned warrior Sir John Hawkwood, whose eventful life, gallant deeds, and extraordinary rise from the humble occupation of a tailor's apprentice (although of ancient and respectable lineage), are most graphically described by John Bernard Burke, Esq., in his '' Anecdotes of the Aristocracy," one of the most inter- esting works of modern times, in which Mr. Burke has proved, incontestibly, that there is more romance in real life — more startling facts to be discovered in the study of humanity, than are to be found in the whole range of fiction, including even the horrors of the old Minerva Press, Sir John Tyrrel, of Boreham House, in the county of Essex, Bart., is the present representative of our Speaker. Arms. — Ar. two chevrons az. vsdthin a bordure engr. gu. Crest. — A boar's head erect, ar. out of the mouth, a peacock's tail, ppr. Supporters. — Two tigers, reguardant, ppr. 80 LIVES OP THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1429. WILLIAM ALINGTON, Esq. The family of Alington is of great antiquity, the first upon record in this country, Sir Hildebrand having accompanied William the Conqueror, and held the appointment of Under Marshal to that Prince at the Battle of Hastings. In tracing the descendants of Sir Hildebrand Alington, we find that, from the period of the conquest, until within the last century and a half, various members of this family have held distinguished rank, and played eminent parts in the drama of history. For centuries, both the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament claimed one or two of this noble stock amongst their most distinguished members, and although the lineal descendants of this right ancient and historical family are still in existence, and are truly respected by, all who have the pleasure of their acquaintance, few, beyond those who have devoted their time to the study of genealogy, are aware that the worthy and respectable country gentlemen who bear this name, as well as that of Pye, which the younger branches have lately assumed, and now reside in Lincohi- shire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire, deduce their origin, clearly, and without a shadow of doubt or suspicion upon the evidence, from the old Barons of the realm, valiant knights of the glorious days of chivalry, and eminent statesmen, who flourished in English history for a period of more than 500 years. It is a curious feature in the history of so eminent a family, that the representatives and successors of a series of characters conspicuously eminent, and actively engaged in most of the great events recorded in our annals, should now hve, certainly not in obscurity, but so retired, and with such little ostensible pretensions to the former greatness of their house and lineage. At the same time, we may observe, that the AKngtons do not stand alone in this respect, and that this fact, so little known abroad, and with which it is scarcely possible for foreigners to become acquainted (who, in the plenitude of their ignorance as to the manners and institutions of England, rail against the privileges of our aristocracy, foolishly imagining that that body is com- posed solely of the Peers of Parliament), is the bulwark of monarchy, and its stoutest defence, both against foreign aggression and intestine troubles, for many of the gentry of England are, by illustrious descent and great present possessions, as much an integral portion of the aristocracy of Britain, as the noblest Duke, Earl, or Baron in the peerage. They have the same interests to uphold, the same principles to sustain, the same prepossessions in favour of monarchical institutions, the same prejudices against demo cratical, republican, 8 Hen. VI.] william alington. 81 or anarchical designs — they are, in fact, but the members of one noble family, interlaced with, and entwined round the British oak of royalty, which, in the midst of the world's political convulsions, has lately presented that aspect of unbending firmness and solidity of principle, which must have obtained for this country the inward respect, if not the outward admiration, of all the nations of Europe. William Alington, Esq., the subject of our memoir, descended lineally from the before named Sir Hildebrand, the companion-in-arms of the Con- queror, was Sheriff of the counties of Cambridge and Huntingdon, where he had large possessions, and having been returned to Parliament as Knight of the Shire for Cambridge, in 1429, the eighth Henry VI., was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. There was something singular in the mode in which the announcement of Mr. AUngton's election to the chair was made by the Commons to the King and Lords, for the next day they informed the House " that they had chosen one William Alington, Esq., to be their Speaker, but desired a respite of two days before they presented him, which being granted, the said William Alington, on the fourth day of the Session, made the usual protestation, and was allowed." It was during the sitting of this Parliament, that the Protectorship of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, was dissolved, and the young King (then in his ninth year), having, as the historians observe, exhibited a pregnancy of wit and parts, it was deemed proper to admit him, as it were, into the royal dignity, by a coronation. The proceedings of this Parliament, not exhibiting any peculiar features in the character of our Speaker, we do not feel justified in venturing upon their narration. One circumstance, however, we cannot omit, this was the extraordinary popularity of the Cardinal Beaufort with the Commons, who petitioned the King that he would grant his full pardon for whatever he had ever done contrary to the laws, particularly in regard to the statute of pnemunire, which having been granted, screened the Cardinal from all state prosecutions. The petition in question, printed, at length, in " Rymer's Fsedera," is too long for insertion ; but a short extract, we think, may not be unamusing as a sample of the language in which our Parliamentary proceedings were entered upon the Roll in those days. " Item. — Priouent les Comunes que please a vous tresgracious Seigneur. Considerant les tresgraunds et notable Services ^ Naturesses, sihien a vous, come a vostre tresnohle Pere, que Dieu assoile, avaunt ces Heures, faitez par le tresverent Pere en Dieu, Henry Beaufort, Prestre Cardinale, south la Title de Saint Euseie, % Evesque de Wynchestre, d'ordiner Sf grauntier, par Assent des Seigneurs Espirituelx 8f Temporelx, en cest vostre Parlement, que le dit Henry Cardinal, par queconque Noun mesme le Henry soil name, ne nul aultre, serra mye, pursue, vexe, emplede, ou grave, par vous, ou vos Heires, ou Suc- cessours, Royes d'Engleterre, ne par ascud aultre Person, a cause d'ascun G 82 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. Provision, ou d'ascun Offense, ou Misprision, fait par le dit Henry en countre ascun Estatute, 8{c., Sfc." This Parliament evinced great liberality towards the King, for v?hich, no doubt, there was an existing cause, although, at this distance of time, and in the absence of positive data, we are unable to unravel the mystery. They granted him two subsidies, one upon the 12th December, 1429, and another on the 23rd February, 1430, It may have arisen from the great expenses attending the King's coronation at Westminster, and the repetition of that ceremony, which was about to take place at Paris. But the greater acts of justice and beneficence were ransoming the valiant Lord Talbot, who had served the King in his wars for two years, without any wages, and restoring the gallant Duke of Orleans to liberty, who had been a prisoner in England ever since the Battle of Agincourt. Numerous statutes were passed in this Par- liament, and several petitions presented by the Commons, exhibiting a praiseworthy zeal for the interests of society, but no satisfactory answers having been elicited from the King, we do not feel justified in encumbering this memoir with their insertion. One act we are bound to mention as bearing upon the privileges of Parliament. The servants of the Bishops and Clergy attending the House, were protected from arrest in the same way as those of other Lords, &c., and a case of breach of privilege was read and determined upon, where one "William Leke, servant to William Mildred, one of the burgesses for London, committed to the Fleet, on an execution for debt, was discharged by the privilege of the House, and authority given to the Chan- cellor to appoint certain persons, by commission, to apprehend him after the end of the Parliament. No details respecting the political, or rather the parliamentary career of Mr. Alington are to be discovered at this distance of time, but one fact, to which we have before alluded in the] memoir of Sir John Russell, must, in itself, be considered as the strongest proof of the opinion entertained of this gentleman by both Lords and Commons. Mr. Alington was one of the council of guardians appointed by Parliament for the government of the kingdom during the King's minority, under Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the Lord Protector. Our Speaker married Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of John de Argentine, fifth Baron Argentine of Wymondely, co. Hertford, held in grand serjeantry by the service of presenting the first cup at the corona- tion of the Kings of England, a ceremony which has ever since been performed by the Lords of the Manor, acquired by the Alingtons, through the marriage in question. For further particulars of this family, we refer the reader to the memoir of his son, William Alington, Esq., Speaker in the 12th and 17 th Edward IV. Arms. — Sa. a bend engrailed, between six billets, arg. JOHN HOWES. 83 JOHN BOWES, Esa. It would fill a volume were we to give anything like ample details of the great historical family from whom the subject of our memoir derived descent. Amongst his ancestors, all of whom were more or less eminent and distin- guished, we may cite Sir Adam Bowes, of Richmond, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in the fifth of Edward III., a.d. 1332, who became possessed of Streatlam Castle, county of Durham, through his marriage with Alice, daughter and heiress of Sir John Trayne, Knt. Sir William Bowes, the grandson of the Chief Justice, was created a Knight Banneret for his gallantry at the battle of Poictiers in 1346, and a similar honour was conferred upon his son and heir, Sir Robert Bowes of Streatlam Castle, for his eminently valiant services atthe siege of Rouen in 1419, although he did not long survive the event, having been slain at Bange Bridge with Thomas, Duke of Clarence, in 1421. By the marriage of this gallant soldier with Joan, daughter of Sir Robert Conyers of Ormesby, in Cleveland, he left a son, Sir William Bowes, of Streatlam Castle, called " Old Sir William," Governor of Berwick, and Warden of the Middle Marches, who married Jane, daughter of Ralph Lord Greystock. The death of this lady, at the early age of twenty, so afiected him that he devoted himself to the mihtary service of his country, at home and abroad, for fifty years after the event. This martial veteran, rebuilt Streatlam Castle, and left a son, Sir William Bowes, Warden of the Middle Marches, under John, Marquis of Montague, who, by his wife Maude, daughter of WiUiam Lord Fitz-Hugh, of Ravensworth, was the father of four sons, all of them eminent in their several vocations, and of whom John, the second, is the subject of our memoir. This gentleman, having been elected a knight of the shire for Northumberland, was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons in the Parliament which assembled at Westminster on the 10th October, 1436, 14th of Hen. VI. What peculiar merit or capacity our Speaker possessed to render him acceptable to the Commons, we are unable to discover ; it is, however, more than probable that, as a second son, he had adopted the legal profession, although neither Hakewell nor Browne Willis states that he was learned in the laws ; but we find that his younger brother, Sir Robert Bowes, was a distinguished lawyer, holding the offices of Master of the Rolls, Privy Counsellor to Henry VII., and Warden of the Middle Marches. The Parhamentary Records make no allusion whatever to Mr. Bowes, be- yond the fact of his election to the chair ; and we are unable through other G 2 84 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1435. channels to glean any particulars as to his political career. Two years had elapsed since the assembling of a Parliament, and the wants of the State, coupled with the necessity for making every exertion to save the King's pos- sessions in France, induced the Commons to grant an unusually large subsidy in the nature both of a property and income tax, including rents and profits of lands and hereditaments, annuities, offices, or fees, varying from Qd. in the pound upon the yearly income of £5, to 2s. in the pound upon estates above the value of £400 per annum. But the most stringent feature in this grant was that which enacted the administration of an oath to the rate-payers. The usual subsidy of a tenth and a fifteenth, with the duties on wool, and tonnage and poundage, were also granted by this Parliament. Amongst the public Acts passed this Session, was one against disturbing foreigners in selling fish or other victuals by wholesale or retail, under a penalty of £10 ; another to prohibit the exportation of wools, enacting that all wools and woolfells shipped for transportation, should be carried to Calais only. But the most important Act was that which empowered the Judges on circuit to give judg- ment in all cases of felony and treason, and to award execution according to judgment. No business of further interest seems to have occupied the attention of this, the only Parliament over whose deliberations our Speaker presided ; and of the public events, we need only observe that the prediction of the Duke of Bedford, who died in the previous September, that " the English would soon be rooted out of France, in consequence of the peace which had been concluded between the French King and the Duke of Burgundy" (a pre- diction soon after verified) ; was the all-absorbing topic of interest, and that which induced the Parliament to provide so liberally for the exigencies of the State. We learn nothing further of our Speaker than that he died without leaving issue ; but of his family we find that his next brother. Sir Robert, the Master of the Rolls, survived all his children ; that Sir Ralph, of Streatlam Castle, Deldon and South Cowton, the eldest son (thirty years Sheriff of Durham), greatly distinguished himself at the battle of Flodden Field, and, dying in 1516, was succeeded by his only son. Sir George, upon whose death, without issue, the estates devolved upon his first cousin, the famous Sir George Bowes, the son and heir of Richard, the youngest brother of our Speaker, as heir male of the family. This valiant soldier was Sherifi" of York- shire in the fourth of Elizabeth, 1562, Knight Marshall of Berwick, and Governor of Barnard Castle, which he defended against the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland at "the rising of the North " in 1569. The fame of this loyal and gallant Knight has been perpetuated, and his name immortalized, in the beautiful old ballad commemorative of this rash attempt of the noble Percys and Nevilles, as appears from the following ex- tracts taken from Bishop Percy's text : — 14 Hen. VI.] john bowes. 85 " Then Sir George Bowes he etraightwaye rose, After them some spoyle to make ; Those noble erles tum'd back againe, And aye they vowed that knight to take. " That Baron he to his castle fled, To Barnard Castle then fled hee, The uttermost waUes were eathe to win, The earles have wonne them presentlie." Sir George Bowes, however, defended Barnard Castle gallantly for eleven days ; but, wanting provisions for his small garrison, his men deserted, leap- ing over the walls, and opening the gates to the enemy. Nevertheless, when compelled by treachery to yield, he marched out, with all the honours of war, under an honourable capitulation. We have a further heraldic allusion to this valiant soldier, and the two great Earls in another version of this affair after the defeat of the latter. " Now the Percies' crescent is set in blood. And the northern buU his flight has taen, And the sheaf of arrows are keen and bright, And Bamards' walls are hard to gain." The crescent, bull, and sheaf of arrows, being the crests of Percy, Neville, and Bowes. "We have not space to continue the pedigree of this great historical family, but may observe that the fine estate of Gibside Park was acquired by the marriage of Sir William Bowes (M.P. for Durham in 1679) with Eliza- beth, daughter and heir of Sir Francis Blackiston, Bart. The male representa- tion of this ancient stock vested eventually in Thomas Bowes, Esq., of Bradley Hall, co. Durham ; the Earl of Strathmore descends in the female line through John Lyon, ninth Earl, who married the heiress of George Bowes, Esq., and thereupon assumed the name of Bowes in addition to his own, and the splendid patrimonial estates are possessed by John Bowes, Esq., of Streatlam Castle and Gibside Park, the worthy and excellent member for the county of Durham in the last Parliament. Arms. — Erm. three bows, strung, in pale, gules. Crest. — A sheaf of arrows, or. bound in a girdle az. surmounted with the motto, " Sans variance et mon droit." Motto. — In multis, in magnis, in bonis expertus. 86 IIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1436. WILLIAM BURLEY, Esq. It is said that the Burleys derived their name from Burley, in Hereford- shire, which they held under their superior lords, the Mortimers, and made a considerable figure for several generations ; but this account does not tally vrith Peck, in his " History of Stamford," who makes Burghley, in Lincolnshire, the seat of this ancient and illustrious family. Walter Burley, one of the fi^rst fellows of Merton College, was a younger son, or grandson, of Sir Simon de Burlega, Knight, who appears as subscribing witness to a deed of Ralph de Mortimer, who died in 1247. In an age when learned men prided themselves upon abstruseness and subtility, Walter Burley obtained the honourable appellation of the plain and the perspicuous Doctor — qualities which eminently fitted him for the instruction of youth, and procured for him the important office of Preceptor of the Prince of Wales, afterwards Edward III. ; wherein he conducted himself so meritoriously, that the King elected him to superintend the education of his son, the Black Prince. This probably enabled him to introduce at court his relation, another Sir Simon de Burley, esteemed one of the most accom- plished men of his age, and as such appointed governor of the young Prince, afterwards King Richard II. Sir Simon de Burley and his two brothers, Sir Richard and Sir John, aU Knights of the Garter, "men of worth and valour," are mentioned amongst the officers despatched by the Black Prince in 1366 to escort Don Pedro the Cruel, from his asylum at Corunna to Bordeaux. Sir Simon was also one of the gallant Knights who volunteered, in a manner characteristic of the chivalrous spirit of the age, to accompany Sir Thomas Felton in his adventurous exploit to gain intelligence in the enemies' quarters, which terminated in the death or captivity of the whole party. Of the latter was Sir Simon, who was subsequently ransomed. Of the great influence of this gallant knight, and his family, with the young monarch, we have the evidence of Stowe, Hollingshed, and Knighton. The former thus describes the occurrences upon the death of Richard's grand- father and predecessor. " King Edward the 3, departing this life the 21 day of June, 1377, the morrow after there was sent to London from K. Rich., Sir Simon Burley, and others, to bring the news of his assured death. On the 15 July, being Wednesday, K. Rich, was crowned, at which time Sir Simon bare the sword before him. At this coronation Sir John Burley, 7 Hen. VI.] WILLIAM BURLEY. 87 Knight, the King's Chamberlain, Gustos of Nottingham Castle, was for term of life, by patent, made keeper of the forest of Sherwood. And Simon Burley, Knight, his brother, was made Constable of Windsor Castle, "Wigmore, Guildford, and the Manor of Kennington, and also Master of the King's Falcons at the Mues, near Charing Cross, by Westminster. This Sir Simon Burley had his house in London, in Thame Streete, between Baynardes Castle and Paul's Wharfe ; which house sometime belonged to the Abby of Fiscampe, and by reason of the wars in France, came to the King's hands." The historians of that day consider that Sir Simon was one of the principal causes of Wat Tyler's insurrection. Stowe, in allusion to the event, says : — "On Monday after Whitsuntide, a Knight of the King's house, named Simon Burley, having in his companie two Serjeants at arms of the King's, came to Gravesend, when he challenged one to be his bondman, for whom men of the Town did gently entreat him to shew favour, but Sir Simon would not take less than £300 of silver for his manumission, and therefore arrested him and sent him to Rochester Castle ; whereupon the Commons of Kent began to rise — saying, that there were more Kings than one, which they would not suffer, nor have any other but K. Richard. This tumult," adds our author, " thus begun in Kent, by meane of Sir Simon Burley, was also increased by divers other actions in other places." HoUingshed says, " so great was the favour and influence of this family, that Richard II., in the fifth year of his reign, made his Chamberlain, Sir Simon Burley, Keeper of Wolmore Forest, in Hants, and gave all the manor of Parrok, nigh to Gravesend, to John, Simon, and Richard Burley, Knights, and Baudewine de Redington, Esq. The custody of Dover Castle, void by the death of Robert Ashton, was appointed to Simon Burley. The King likewise advanced him highly to other great honours and promotions, insomuch that at the same time he was made Knight of the Garter, Lorde Chamberlaine, and also of the Privye Counsaile." " This person," says Knighton, " by his ill practices in few years, increased his small patrimony of 20 marks per annum ; and grew to that excess of pride, that at Christmas he would give liveries to a great number of Knights, Squires, Yeomen, and others, as well of the King's Court, as of his owne family, bestowing therein sometimes 140 or 160, nay, sometimes 220 broadcloths, and these of great price, as being embroidered with gold, and some of scarlet." Another says, " he was an intollerable proud man, and a great oppressor of the poor," &c. But a third, more handsomely, "indeede, the sayde Sir Simon Burley was thought to bear himself more loftie, by reason of the King's favour, than was requisite, which procured him envye of them that could not abyde others to bee in any condition theyr equals in authoritie." Stowe leaves out the " ill practices," and says, " this man might by inheritance dispend 20 marks by the yeare, but in few yecres 88 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1436. SO grew in service of the King that he attained to the value of 3000 markes of yearly revenue." " But note" (says Francis Peck, in his " Antiquarian Annals of Stamford"), " Sir Simon Burghley and his ancestors held their lands and the Lordship of Burghley, by Stamford, of the Abbot of Burg, by Knights' service, and made always a greater figure (as may be seen by accounts of their mortuaries paid to the said Abbot of Burg, and other passages in these collections) than men of bare 20 marcs a year." To this we may add, that Sir Simon Burley was a younger son, and an annual income of twenty marks was no small amount for a soldier of fortune in those days, Stowe says again, in summing up the amount of his influence, " There was not anything done concerning the affayres apperteyning to the state without his counsaile, appointment, and direction : wherein he so much favoured and leaned to the party of the D. of Ireland (there being faythful friendship growne betwixt them) that he was sore envied, and greatly hated of diverse of the rest of the nobility, especially of the King's uncle the Duke of Glou- cester ; who, upon malice that he bare to the man, not so much for his owne demeanour as for his allies, and, peradventure, for desire of his rowmeths more than of his life, (looking to have had such offices and rowmeths which Sir Simon enjoyed, by the King's gracious favour and grauntes thereof, to him made, as the "Wardship of the Cinque Ports, &c.) caused him afterwards, anno. 1388, to be accused of diverse offences against the Crowne, Realme, and Churche." In 1380, Sir Simon Burley was appointed one of the King's Commissioners to treat with the German Princes ; and independently of the preferments to which we have alluded, he received the appointment of " Keeper of Laustephan Castle, and grants of Castle Emlyn, in Kermardin; Leybourn Castle, in Kent, and a great extension of the liberties of his Castle of Lennalx, in Herefordshire." In 1385, he was named one of the executors of Joan, Princess of Wales, the King's mother, and in 1386 he had a further grant of Castle Frome, forfeited by the felony of Lord Deveros. In so turbulent a reign as that in which Sir Simon de Burley flourished, he could not be neutral, or hope to escape uninjured. Walsingham represents him and Richard Styry as two of those who prejudiced the King against the Earl of Arundel, but Walsingham writes with a manifest leaning to the opposition. On the other hand, Carte, the perpetual advocate of the legitimate Sovereign, represents him as a victim to his affection for the King, and attachment to the constitution. The truth seems to be, that the King was weak, with a strong desire for despotic power— his uncles, imperious and factious. Amongst them all, Sir Simon was brought to the block. May 5th, 1388 ; and in the same year the Archbishop of Canterbury had a grant of the parks of Langley and Elmham, in Kent, which accrued to the Crown by virtue of his attainder. 7 Hen. VI.] william burley. B9 The judgment against him was reversed in the following reign — a fair presump- tion, says Mr. Hallam, of its injustice. Sir Simon's brother, John, was also a Knight of the Garter, and besides his eldest son, William, who was seated at Burley, had two other sons, Richard, an eminent man in his day, Knight of the Garter, Marshall of the Field, and Privy Counsellor to John of Gaunt, whom he accompanied into Spain, and died there the same year his uncle was beheaded, and Sir Roger, father of John Burley, of Bromcroft Castle, Sheriff of Salop in 1409, whose daughter, Joyce, became the wife of John de Gatacre, of Gatacre, a family of stupendous antiquity, having acquired the estate of Gatacre (now the principal seat of their lineal descendants), by grant from Edward the Confessor. William Burley, Esq., of Bromcroft Castle, who is the subject of our memoir, was the only son of the above-named. He executed the office of sheriff of Salop in 1426, and ha\'ing been elected member for that county in the 15th of Henry VI., he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons under the following circumstances. The receivers and tryers of petitions for England, and all other parts of the King's dominions, having been appointed, according to ancient custom, the Commons presented Sir John Tyrrel, Knt., to be their Speaker, whose excuse being refused, he, with the common pro- testation, was allowed. But on the 19th March, a Committee of the Com- mons was sent to the King, declaring that their House had newly chosen William Beerley, Esq. (so written), in the room of Sir John Tyrrel, disabled from attending by grievous sickness, which William was allowed by the King, under the usual protestation. Hakewell's account of this affair, differs a little from the foregoing. He says, that " the King taking notice of the sickness of the Speaker, and that by reason thereof he could not attend to the affairs of the Parliament, commanded the Commons to make choice of a new Speaker, who accordingly did make choice of Mr. William Boerly, and did, by one John Hody (Knight of the Shire), inform the King thereof, who thereupon was allowed by the King without any further ceremony." We learn nothing whatever of the proceedings of this Parliament beyond the Acts passed, one of which relative to Juries, afforded great relief to the people. Corn was also allowed to be exported when wheat was as low as 6s. 8d., and barley 3s. 4d. the quarter. No further mention is made of our Speaker in the proceedings of this Session, but in the Parliament of the 23rd and 84th of this King, 1445, Mr. Burley was again elected Speaker. During the short duration of this Session, the proceedings of the Commons are not noticed, but it is supposed that Parliament was prorogued from the 15th March to the 29th April following, to give time for the arrival of the new Queen, Margaret of Anjou, of whomLe Pere d'Orleans, says, " Nulle femme ne la surpassoit en beauie, et peu di'hommes V egalloient en courage. II semhloit que le del I'eutformee a dessein de suppleer a ce qui manquait a son mart pour 90 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1436. etre un grand Roi, Sfc," and another historian, Polydore Virgil, thus speaks of this princess, Puallam tarn ultra alias fceminas pulchr am quam prudentem, ac animo prcster naturam sexus prceditam ingenti, quod ejus res gestee quas suo ordine memorabimus perspicue declararunt. A spirit of gallantry forbade our passing over these compliments to the brave and beautiful, though unfortu- tunate and disappointed Margaret. Another prorogation, from the 5th June until the 20th October, took place, and the reason assigned, was the breaking out of a dreadful pestilence in the City of London, and the suburbs of the same, and on the meeting, or intended meeting, of Parliament at the day appointed, it veas further prorogued until the 24th January in the ensuing year. During the several prorogations to which we have alluded, we find no business transacted beyond a subsidy in the first Session, and now another subsidy was granted by the Commons, a peace made with France ; the statute against peace with that country passed in the reign of Henry V. being utterly repealed, together with the penalties for advising the same, — and we find by the Records, that on the 4th June, the Speaker of the House of Commons came before the King and Lords, and there in behalf of their whole body, highly commended the person and services of the Marquis and Earl of Suffolk, particularly for the King's marriage, and obtaining the truce with France, for all of which, at the request of the Commons and mediation of the Lords, a vote was passed, " That the said Marquis should be esteemed as a most true and faithful subject to the King." Samuel Daniel, in allusion to this event, says "Few men of prudence, in either House, but knew that the Marquis deserved little thanks, either in making the peace or the match, yet as if all had been well done for the nation's interest ; the very next day (after a speech from Suffolk, in which he is represented to have much vaunted his own services) the Speaker of the House of Commons, "William Burley, attended with a great number of the House, went up to the Lords, and de- sired their concurrence in a petition to the King, to reward the Marquis for his services ;" and it further says, " that they gave him a whole fifteenth for his expences." Rapin observes, that this Parliament was all managed by Court intrigue; nevertheless, the Marquis was created Duke of Suffolk, and was certainly, at that time, the most powerful subject in England, and his influence over the Queen unbounded ; the only person standing between them and ab- solute power, the good Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, being found dead in his bed shortly after, under very suspicious circumstances No less than eighteen Acts passed during this Session, appear in the statute book, and the King's Letters Patent for the erection and endowment of Eton College (founded in the 20th of his reign), "with all the lands and liberties then and now granted," were especially declared and confirmed by Parliament, together with the like Letters Patent for King's College, Cambridge. During this Session of Parliament, Sir Richard Woodville, Knt., after- 7 Hen. VI.] william tresham. 91 wards Earl Rivers, paid £1000 as a fine to the King, for marrying, without license, the celebrated Jacqueline of Luxembourg, widow of the Regent, Bed- ford, and mother, by this marriage, of the Lady Elizabeth, Queen of Edward IV. We are unable to glean any further particulars of our Speaker, than that he died without male issue, leaving two daughters and co-heiresses, of whom the eldest, Joane, married, first. Sir Philip Chetwynd, of Ingestrie, and secondly. Sir Thomas Lyttelton, the celebrated author of the " Tenures," from which marriage the present Lords Lyttelton and Hatherton derive descent ; and Elizabeth married Sir Thomas Trussel, of Billersby, in "Warwickshire ; a descendant of the celebrated Sir William Trussel, whose name has been handed down to us as the first Speaker of the House of Commons, but upon too doubtful an authority to justify our giving him a place in these memoirs, particularly as Hakewell, the learned antiquary, observes, that " if he were Speaker at all, he was Speaker of the Lords and Commons," an observation which is confirmed by other authorities, for in the Decern Scriptores, William Trussel is styled " Procurateur des Prelatz. Contez, Barons, et Altrez Gentz" so that previously to the 51st of Edward III., when our memoirs commence, there is no doubt that the Upper and Lower Houses were presided over by one and the same person. Amongst other descendants of the great historical family of Burley, we may cite the very ancient stock of Gatacre, of Gatacre, CO. Salop. Arms. — Ar. a lion rampant, sa., armed gu. debruised with a fesse counter- compony, or. and arg. WILLIAM TRESHAM, Esq. William Tresham, Esq., of Sywell and Rushton, in Northamptonshire — which county he represented in six successive Parliaments — was a gentleman of ancient family and standing, who, having been educated for the bar, in which profession he acquired a considerable degree of eminence, was appointed Attorney General to King Henry V. In 1439 he was returned for his native county, and was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons in the Parliament held at Westminster in that year — the 18th of Henry VI., — which was shortly afterwards prorogued to the 14th January following, to meet at Reading, in consequence of the plague, which, according to the old chroniclers then raged terribly in London. There were no less than nineteen statutes made in this Parliament ; bijt how long it sat is uncertain, the statutes alone (some of which were of an important public character) attesting the labours 92 LIVES OB THB SPBAKEES. [SPEAKEB 1439. of the members, whose proceedings are not entered upon the Rolls. The last transaction of this Parliament, and the only one to which we feel justified in making allusion, was the enactment in consequence of the ravages of the great plague or pestilence, " That all persons who should do homage to the King, holding by Knight's service, should do the same without kissing him, and the same should be as good as though the kiss were given." In 1447, the twenty-fifth of the same reign, Mr. Tresham was again chosen Speaker of the House, in the Parliament summoned to meet at St. Edmunds- bury, in the Refectory of the Old Abbey. The Parliamentary historian says, " It is remarkable that the heads of all the statutes made in this Parliament in the Statute Books, are comprised in two lines! " What a grand lesson for the legislative mania of the nineteenth century ! Beyond some grants to Eton College and Cambridge, little business, however, appears to have been transacted within the walls of Parliament, although the cruel death of the great and wise Duke of Gloucester, and other acts, without, opened the door to the civil wars of the Roses, which afterwards deluged the land in blood. We may reasonably infer that our Speaker was considered efficient for the discharge of the duties of his high function, for we find that he became a third time Speaker in the Parliament which was summoned to meet at Leicester, in the 28th of this reign, a.d. 1450. Upon that occasion, however, very few attended, the Lords and Commons having protested against meeting any where but Westminster, where, from the threatening aspect of afiairs and the unsettled state of the public mind, owing to the losses England had sustained in her French possessions, they felt a security under the protection of the City of London not elsewhere to be obtained, and at Westminster they accordingly met and chose Sir John Popham for their Speaker, but his excuse having been admitted, they had recourse to their old Speaker, Mr. Tresham, who was thereupon chosen and accepted. (Vide Sir John Popham.) This Parliament was prorogued, and met again at Westminster, when it was adjourned to Leicester, for the trial of the Duke of Suffolk, the Queen trusting, by this device, to influence both Lords and Commons, when removed from the clamour of the Londoners ; but as the Lords again refused to attend, the Parliament was, a fourth time, adjourned or prorogued to London. There appears to be some confusion in the accounts of these several adjournments, but we copy them from the old historians, and if erroneous, the blame must rest with them. In this Parliament, a large subsidy on land was granted by the Commons, one, indeed, of a very extraordinary nature ; that every person having, by free deed, copy, grant of annuity, or office, the clear yearly value of from 20s. to £20, should pay 6d. ; from £20 to £200, Is. ; and from £200 and upwards, 2s. in the pound, yearly, as well the clergy as laity. This was the first instance upon record of any impost approaching to a property tax in England. In the course of the proceedings of this Parliament, we find that 18 Hen. VI.] william tresham. 93 our Speaker took a very prominent part. It is possible that he acted solely, virtute officii, but coupled with a subsequent event to which we must shortly allude, it may be fairly inferred that his feelings were excited in the cause. We refer now to the impeachment of William De la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, notwithstanding the opinions of the Lords and Judges, who thought that there was no good cause for it, unless some special matter was objected against him. Two days after the delivery of this opinion, Mr. Tresham went before the Lords, and as Speaker of the Commons, declared " that the Duke of Suffolk, as it was said, had sold this realm to the French, &c., and re- quested that he should be committed to the Tower," and he was thereupon committed, and on the 7th February following, our Speaker, accompanied by the Chancellor and the Lords, presented the Bill of Impeachment to the King. The banishment and subsequent death of Suffolk, are matters of history to which we should not have been warranted in making any allusion, except with the view of illustrating the life and character of Mr. Tresham, whose apparent enmity to this ill-fated nobleman, may have been the cause of his own melancholy end, the particulars of which are by no means as ample as we could have desired, but we give them to the reader as we find them related by the old historians of Northamptonshire, the bare fact itself being, however, confirmed by the Rolls of a subsequent Parliament (29 Henry VI.), in which Isabel, his widow, is recorded to have presented a petition for justice upon the murderers of her husband, and names Simon Norwich, Esq., as a principal, and several others who were instigated to the commission of the crime by him. The Parliamentary History says, that he was barbarously murdered in the King's highway, as he was riding to meet the Duke of York, who had sent to speak with him ; and the same authority adds, " whether this affair was any beginning of the civil wars, we shall not determine, but it looks somewhat like it." The following is the quaint nar- rative of the event, in the words of Leland, in his " Itinerary," 6 vol. fol. 38. " In times past, one William Tresham cumming from Northampton to Siwelle, and saying his matins, was cruelly slayne by one Salisbury and Glin of Wales, with their route servants to the Lord Gray, of Ruthyne. This William had a route of servants cummung by chaunce half a mile behynd him, and they hering the scry, cam and cut of eche end of the spere yn hym, bringing him back to Northampton, where, after the truncheon was pulled cute, he dyed." Mr. Tresham married Isabel, the lady above referred to, who was the daughter of William Vaux, of Harrowden, one of the most ancient and illustrious families of Europe, which had given Queens and Princesses to Sicily, Naples, Savoy, Piedmont, Vienna, and Servia, and is now represented by Lord Vaux, of Harrowden, and from which stock descends also, in the female line, Henry, Lord Brougham and Vaux. By this marriage, Mr. Tresham, 94 LIVES OP THE SPEAKERS. or Sir William Tresham, as he is frequently styled, although we do not find him thus denominated in any public acts, left issue. (See Sir Thomas Tresham, another Speaker. Arms. — Per saltire arg. and sa. ; in chief three trefoils, slipped, vert., tviro and one ; in base, one and two of the last. SIR JOHN POPHAM, Knt. We are scarcely justified in giving this gallant Knight a place among the Speakers, for although elected by the unanimous voice of the Commons, the state of his health, age, and a shattered constitution, occasioned by long military services, and the wounds he had received in the glorious wars of the fourth and fifth Henrys, incapacitated him from the performance of its arduous duties, and as we have shewn in a previous memoir, Mr. Tresham was chosen in his stead. The circumstances, however, not having been de- tailed, we will narrate them as briefly as possible. Three days after the meeting of the Parliament of the 28th Henry VI., 1450, the Commons chose and presented Sir John Popham, Knt., as their Speaker, whose excuse (thus entered upon the Rolls of Parliament) "Propter debilitatem corporis sui, guerrarum fremitihus et diversarum infirmitatum vexationem, nee nan senti gravitatem multipliciter depressi,'' was accepted, and he was discharged from the office. Sir John Popham derived descent from an ancient and honourable family, long seated at Popham, in Hants, to or from which they either gave or derived their name. One of his progenitors was high in favour with the Empress Maud, and held a considerable post about the person of King Henry III. Several of the family served the office of Sheriff of the county, from the reign of Edward III. to that of Henry VI., when Sir John Popham removed into Somersetshire. This valiant soldier married Amy, daughter of Robert Games, of Casalton, in Glamorganshire, by whom he had issue one son. Sir Francis Popham, and six daughters. We shall not, however, pursue the pedigree of this ancient and distinguished family any further in this biogra- phical sketch, as we shall be compelled to recur to the subject in the memoir of a descendant, an eminent Speaker, and one of the most distinguished lawyers of his age, in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. (See Sir John Popham.) Arms. — Ar. on a chief gu. two buck's head, cabossed, or. Crest, — A buck's head, erased, ppr. SIR JOHN SAY, 95 SIR JOHN SAY, Knt. The pedigree of the illustrious family of Saye is as well authenticated as any in the College of Arms. From Picot de Saye, a younger hrother of the great Norman Count of Magnaville, who accompanied William the Con- queror into England, came Geoffrey de Saye, one of the Barons chosen to proceed with William de Longchamp, Bishop of Ely, ^yith the covenanted ransom of seventy thousand marks of silver for the release of Richard Coeur de Lion ; and his son, Geoffrey, was one of the twenty-five Barons in arms against King John, who were appointed to enforce the observance of Magna Charta. The male line of these great Barons was continued for nine genera- tions from the conquest, when the Barony was inherited by Elizabeth, only daughter of John, last Baron Saye. Chauncey, in his " History of Hert- fordshire," gives a very erroneous account of the family, and states that our Speaker was the son of this lady by her husband. Sir John Heron, while the fact is, that she married Sir William, not Sir John Heron, and died, vyithout issue, in 1399, when the Barony fell iu abeyance between the descendants of her two aunts, Idonea, Lady Clinton, and Joan, Lady Fiennes, whose grandson. Sir James Fiennes, (beheaded by Jack Cade at the standard in Cheapside, 1451,) was created Lord Saye and Sele in 1447, and the Right Hon. Frederick-TwisletonWykeham- Fiennes, present and thirteenth Lord Saye and Sele, is heir general and twentieth in' descent from the before- named Geoffrey, Lord Saye, one of the Barons appointed to enforce the ob- servance of Magna Charta. But, independently of the Barons Saye and Sele, who were chiefs of the English branches of the Saye family, the elder line flourished in Normandy in the person of Stephen Joseph de Saye, Count of Magnaville, down to the period of the French revolution of 1769, while the counties of Kent, Norfolk, and Hertford, claimed cadets in the male line of this noble and great historical family. Of the Kentish branch we shall have to speak hereafter in our memoir of William Say, one of the regicides and temporary Speaker during the usurpation, that of Norfolk is re- presented by Frederick Richard Say, Esq., of Tilney, in that county, and Harley Street, Cavendish Square, while the subject of our memoir was the founder of the line which flourished for several generations in the county of Hertford. It is no speculation to advance the right of our Speaker to the name of Say, as the penalties attached to the assumption of a false name, but, above all, of a noble one in the days of heraldic inquisitions, were ex- 96 LIVES or THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1449. tremely severe, we may therefore safely assert our belief that the subject of this memoir was a younger branch or offshoot in the male line of the noble house of Save. John Say, Esq. (for'he had not at this period received the honour of knighthood), having been elected a knight for the shire of Hertford, was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons in the Parliament which met at Westminster on the 2nd January, 1449, the 27th of Henry VI., two years having elapsed since the dissolution of the lastsParliament. This was a difficult and dangerous period for the exercise of political rights, if any such existed ; for the Duke of York, now that the murder of the Duke of Gloucester, (whose wisdom and popularity had acted as a strong check upon him,) bad opened the door to his superior legal claim to the throne occupied by the weak descendant of a powerful usurper, began those intrigues which afterwards involved the country in bloodshed, desolation, and ruin. During the first Session of this Parliament, we find no business transacted beyond granting a subsidy. It was soon prorogued to the 7th of May, when, after a few days, it was further prorogued, by reason of the insalubrity of the air of London and Westminster, to the 16th of June, to meet at Winchester. In this Session the Commons granted a further subsidy, and a poll tax of 6s. 8d. a head upon all Venetian, Italian, Januey (Genoese), Fiorentyn, My- liners (Milanese), Luccas, Cataloners, Albertyns, Hansiers, Prusiers, &c. ; and 20d. a-head on each of their clerks, together with the old subsidy on wool, &c., for four years to come. The events of this period belong to history, and as we cannot, but by a stretch of the imagination, give our Speaker any defined part in the sad drama of England's reverses, augmented by the loss of Normandy and other misfortunes, we shall content ourselves with observing that the dissolution of this Parliament probably increased the general dis- content of the people, and forced the government to summon another, a short account of whose proceedings will be found in the preceding memoir of William Tresham, Esq., who was chosen Speaker in the Parliament in ques- tion, in the room of Sir John Popham, excused. In the third year of the reign of King Edward IV., John Say, Esq., who sat again for the county of Hertford, was a second time chosen Speaker in the Parliament which met at Westminster on the 3rd April, 1463, when the Commons granted the King an aid of £37,000, to be levied on the lands, goods, and chattels, in counties, cities, and towns, according to the rate therein ex- pressed. It was then prorogued to the 4th November, to give the King time to meet the Scots, who had entered England and joined with his rebel subjects ; and on its re-assembling, it granted a further subsidy of £31,000, and was adjourned immediately after to the 20th February, 1464, at York, and further adjourned to the 1st of May, the King being obliged to go in person to Gloucester, to suppress the rebellion; then again it was adjourned 27 Hen. VI.] sir john say. 97 by commission to the 25th of November, and from the 26th November to the 26th January ensuing, when they met, and granted the King a subsidy for life. In the mean time, Henry VI. had been taken prisoner at the house of Mr. Pudsey, a gentleman of ancient family, who had afforded him shelter and protection, where he left behind him, when carried off, a pair of chamois stockings, his gloves, and other articles, which the family ever after preserved as relics of this unhappy Sovereign. The principal acts of this Parliament were the attainders against the friends of the captive monarch ; but there was also a law made to restrain the excessive vanity of the upper classes in dress, and encourage home manufactures. At this period they wore the beaks or pikes of their shoes so long, that they could only walk easily by tying them up to their knees with gold or silver chains, and the less wealthy with silk laces. After the dissolution of this Parliament, three years elapsed before another was assembled, Edward having been taken prisoner by the Earl of Warwick in the mean time, but, being only slightly guarded, he escaped, and driving Warwick and the Duke of Clarence out of the kingdom, he summoned a Parliament to meet at Westminster on the 3rd June, 1467, when the Com- mons again chose Sir John Say (who in the interval between this and the former Parliament had received the honour of knighthood) to preside over their deliberations ; and, having been accepted by the King, Edward thus addressed him and his fellow Commons : — " John Say, and ye Sirs comyn to this my Court of Parlement for the Comons of this my lond — " The cause why y have cald and summoned this my present Parlement is, that y purpose to live upon my nowne, and not to charge my subjects but in great and urgent causes, concerning more the weale of themselves, and also of the defence of them and of this my realme, rather than mine owne pleasure, as heretofore by Comons of this lond hath been done, and borne unto my proge- nitours in time of need ; wherein y trust that yea. Sirs, and all the Comons of this my lond, will be as tender and kinde unto me in such cases as heretofore my Comons have been to any of my progenitours. And for the good-will, kindness, and true hearts that yee have borne, continued, and shewed to me at all, times heretofore, y thanke you as hartily as y can ; also y trust yee will continue in time coming ; for which, by the grace of God, y shall be to you as a good and gracious King, and reign as rightuisly upon you as ever did any of my progenitours upon Comons of this my realme in dayes past ; and shall also, in time of need, apply my person for the weale and defence of you, and of this my realme, not sparing my body nor life for any jeopardy that might happen the same." As the two former Parliaments had dealt extensively in attainders of Edward's enemies, this Parliament was occupied in reversing those which Henry VI. had procured to be passed against his friends, and amongst them 98- LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1449. the attainder of Sir Thomas Tresham was made void, and his estates restored. The Commons granted the King a large subsidy. A Bill brought into this Parliament gives no great idea of the advance of liberal feelings on the part of the Legislature. William Pynne does not state in the " Abridgement of the Records " from vrhence it emanated, but we presume it was the work of the Clergy, as it relates to robbing churches, and was to the effect, " that all such as should rob any church of any pix, cope, granel, mass-book, or any other trinket, shall be deemed a traitor, and be burnt for the same." But the King's answer to it was merely Le Roi s'avisera. After the dissolution of this Parliament, the civil wars not being ended, Edward was obliged to fly the kingdom, and Henry VI. was restored through the instrumentality of Warwick ; but, although his restoration to power was but of short duration, a Parliament was called to meet at Westminster; when such was either the fear or the subserviency of all the members of both Houses, that everything was granted which the powers, in esse, demanded. Attainders against all Edward's friends, as well as against him, were readily acceded to ; and John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, Lord High Constable of England, and Lord Deputy of Ireland, the son of the celebrated Speaker of Richard the Second's time, was beheaded. In this Parliament of Henry VI. the Speaker's name does not appear. How it fared with our Speaker we know not ; but as he certainly avoided the danger of the times, and did not die until 1478, we presume he may have followed the fortunes of his master, and returned with the returning triumph of the house of York. We are unable to glean any further information respecting the political career of our Speaker; but we find he married twice: first, Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of Lawrence Cheney, Esq., of Fenditton, county of Cambridge, of the Speaker Cheney's family, by whom he left a son. Sir Wil- liam Say, and, secondly, to Agnes, daughter of John Danvers, Esq., of Ban- bury, widow of Sir John Fray, Knt., Chief Baron of the Exchequer, and of Sir Thomas Waldegrave, Knt. Sir William Say, the eldest son and heir, married Elizabeth, the daughter and co-heiress of the above named Sir John Fray, by his step-mother, and had issue two daughters and co-heirs : first, Elizabeth, who married William Blount, Lord Mountjoy, whose only child, Gertrude, espoused Henry Courtenay, Earl of Devonshire and Marquis of Exeter, who was attainted in 1539, and she in the year following, both which attainders were reversed in the 1st of Queen Mary, but she died without issue ; and, second, Mary, who married Henry Bouchier, Earl of Essex, and left an only daughter and heiress, Anne, who married WilKam Parr, Earl of Essex, and Marquis of Northampton, and was divorced from him, and her issue bastardized by Act of Parliament 34th Henry VIII. Our Speaker appears to have had two other sons, Leonard, who died without issue, and Thomas Say, who married Joan, daughter of John Cheney Esq., of Listou SIR WILLIAM OLDHALt. 99 Hall, Essex, whose only son, William, died without issue in 1506, when the male line of this branch became extinct ; and his sisters, Anne and Elizabeth married to Sir Robert Hussey, Knt., and William Clopton; Esq. Arms. — Per pale az. and gu., three cheronels or. voided and counter- changed. SIR WILLIAM OLDHALL, Knt. Sir William Oldhall having been elected Knight of the Shire for Hert- ford, was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons in the Parliament held at Westminster, 29th Henry VI., 1451. After a diligent search through all those channels of antiquity, where alone the genealogist can obtain information respecting the origin of those who lived in times far remote, we confess we have discovered little or nothing concerning the birth, parentage, or education of this gentleman. If Hakewell, or Browne Willis, had known him to be a lawyer, they would have given some indication to that effect in their account, or rather in their list of Speakers, nevertheless we feel inclined to believe that such was his vocation, from the circumstance of his being evidently a new man in his county, the topographers making mention of his estate of Hunsdon without reference to his family or connection, although they enter more fully into the fortunes of his son, and subsequent events in which this gentle- man, and his manor of Hunsdon, are more immediately concerned. History gives us so many examples of the sudden rise of lawyers, that this fact, coupled with the paucity of information concerning our Speaker to which we have alluded, and the preference given to gentlemen of that profession to preside over the deliberations of the Commons, are the motives we assign for our conclusion upon this point. In the first Session of this Parliament we find nothing upon the record which has reference to our Speaker, and little indeed of any interest except an appeal to the King and Parliament from Isabel, relict of William Tresham, Esq., formerly Speaker of the House of Commons, for justice upon the murderers of her husband, the particulars of whose horrid assassination we have already given in the words of Leland, in our account of this unfortunate gentleman. The poverty of the King and kingdom was so great at this period that Parliament granted him £20,000 out of the Customs of London and Southampton, to be received in hundred pound payments for the relief of his immediate necessities. And it was also enacted, that upon certain Genoese merchants advancing £8000 in allom to the King, they should H 2 100 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1451. be allowed to export any staple ware from the south of England, " until they be answered the said sum;" and further, that certain merchants of the south upon purchasing the allom of the King, and paying down the £8000, shall have the monopoly of this article for two years. In the third Session of this Par- liament the Commons presented a very bold petition to the King, requiring the dismissal of nearly all the officers of the Court, from Edmund Duke of Somerset and Alice Pole, wife of William Pole, late Duke of Suffolk, to Ralph Bassthorp and Mr. Devalore, in all twenty-eight, including the Bishop of Chester, three other peers, an abbot, four knights, and about seventeen gentle- men of family and consideration, holding the offices of secretaries, usher, clerk of the council, &c. All but the peers were banished for a year, as the King said, " to see if, in the mean time, any man could truly lay anything to their charge." It is possible that the petition and the King's ready acquiescence in its prayer may have been brought about by a politic desire to quiet the clamours of the people of Kent, who had risen under Jack Cade, in whose rebellion our Speaker was so deeply implicated, that he was attainted in the next Parliament, and voted a traitor to the King and kingdom, together with Thomas Vaughan, Esq., and Alice, wife of Richard Earl of Salisbury, for procuring and aiding Richard, Duke of York, &c. Hollingshed, and other chroniclers, mention our Speaker Oldhall but very slightly, not dreaming that posterity could ever require any details of the life and actions of so small a performer in the drama of history, while the sayings and doings of princes and prelates commanded their undivided attention. But we differ as widely from our ancestors in this respect as in our manners and customs, and look with peculiar interest for the elucidation of character in every class of life, those who have been the founders of their own fortunes, the Rodolphs of their race, claiming more than an ordinary share of our attention, the courses they pur- sued in mounting the ladder of ambition, acting upon our minds as examples to be followed or avoided, according to their worthiness, by all who seek fame, or desire to advance their temporal interests^ Some historians have not hesi- tated to affirm that the rebellion in which our Speaker was implicated, was brought about in order to favour the pretensions of the house of York ; for in the 38th Henry VJ., when he was attainted of high treason for adhering to the Duke of York, his complicity in the treasonable practices of Jack Cade was alleged in Parliament. "We are unable to assign any cause for the following departure from the usual form in the case of our Speaker's attainder, but it appears that the Royal assent to the bill against Cade, was given in the ordi- nary manner, " Le Roi le veut," while in the bill against Sir William Oldhall it runs thus—" The King woUs that it be hadde and doon in maner and fourme as it is desired." (Rot. Pari., vol. v. p. 266.) As we do not find any further mention of our Speaker in history or the old chronicles, we must presume that he escaped the fate which awaited him. We learn, however, that upon the THOMAS THORPE. 101 accession of Edward IV., his son, Sir John Oldhall, was restored in blood and estate. This luckless knight, who proved his fidelity to the cause he espoused, better than the justice of the cause itself, " built at Hunsdon a fair house after the model of a castle in this reign, which building, 'tis said, cost £7,222 ;" but being afterwards with Richard III. at the battle of Bosworth, he was there slain, and attainted in the succeeding Parliament, when the manor of Hunsdon came to the Crown. Clutterbuck, in his "History of Hertfordshire," gives an interesting description of this seat of the Oldhalls, taken from the " Itinerary" of William of Worcester, although little is said of the family by him or Sir Henry Chauncey. The former mentions a vpillow tree of immense age within 300 yards of the house, more remarkable than the chestnut at Little Wymondeley, or the oak at Pansanger. In 1820 the trunk of this willow (which was pro- bably planted by our Speaker) was in a vigorous state, but it was blown down in the succeeding year. By admeasurement taken under the bark, it contained 420, and over the bark 479 cubic feet of timber. The house itself, which since belonged to the family of Calvert, was in part, if not wholly, demolished. Arms. — Per pale, az. and purp., a lion ramp., erm. THOMAS THORPE, Esq. The subject of our memoir represented the coiinty of Essex, in the Parliament which met at Reading, in Berkshire, on the 6th of March, 1453, the 31st of Henry VI. On the assembling of the Lords and Commons in the Refectory of Reading Abbey, they were addressed by the Bishop of Lincoln, in the absence of the Chancellor, who, after setting forth the object of their being summoned, desired the Commons to retire and choose their Speaker, who thereupon chose and presented Thomas Thorpe, Esq., who, after the usual protestation, was allowed. The first Session was solely occupied with the subsidy, and Money Bills, when, on the 28th of the same month, ParHament was prorogued, from the day and town aforesaid, to the 25th April then ensuing, at Westminster, Upon their re-assembling, an additional supply was granted to the King, which he thus acknowledged : — "We thank you for your good grants, for the which, be you assured, we will be a good and gracious Lord unto you." And he then further prorogued the Parliament to meet at Reading, on the 7th November following, and from thence, .on the same day, it was adjourned to the 11th February next, at Westminster. Richard, Duke of York (the 102 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPKAKEU 1453. father of Edward IV.), was appointed, by the King's letters patent. President of the Parliament, a very impolitic act of this weak monarch, as it gave the Duke the strongest possible position for carrying out his views to supplant him in the affections of the Lords and Commons. Although the Duke of York commenced his high duties in a manner calculated to render him exceedingly unpopular with the third estate of the realm, he does not appear to have suffered from the course he pursued, notwithstanding that the privileges of Parliament had never been so openly invaded as in the event we are about to relate. The Commons represented to the King and Lords then assembled, "that Thomas Thorpe, their Speaker, and William Rail, a member of their House, were both imprisoned; they therefore requested that the said members might be set at liberty, according to the privileges of their House." The next day the Duke of York stood up in the House of Lords, and acquainted their lordships, " That he had received damages in an action of trespass against the said Thorpe, last term, by a verdict of the King's Exchequer, for carrying away his goods out of Durham House ; for the which he remained in execution, and prayed he might continue there." The judges having been consulted upon this important question, dehvered the following opinion : — " That it was not their part to judge of the Parlia- ment's actions, who were judges and makers of the law themselves; that there were divers supersedeas of privilege of Parliament brought into Courts, but that a general supersedeas, to suppress all proceedings, there was not. For if there should, it would seem as if the High Court of Parliament, that ministered all justice and equity, should hinder the process of the common law, and so put the party complainant without remedy, inasmuch as actions at common law are not determinable in Parliament. But if any member of Parliament be arrested for such cases as are not treason, felony, or surety of the peace, or for a judgment had before Parliament, it was usual for such person to be quitted of such arrest, and set at liberty to attend his service in Parliament." After this solemn decision of the Bench, we can scarcely understand how the Lords came to the resolution, " That the' said Thomas Thorpe should remain in execution, notwithstanding his privilege as a member, and being Speaker of the House of Commons." The conduct of the Commons in submitting to so manifest an invasion of their rights, and quietly yielding to the desire of the Committee sent by the Lords, requiring them, in the King's behalf, to choose a new Speaker, by no means redounds to their honour ; for it appears that, following the direction they had thus received, they sent a Committee of their House to the Lords to acquaint them, " that they had newly chosen, in the place of Thomas Thorpe, Sir Thomas Charlton, Knt., for their Speaker, to which the Chan- 31 Hen. VI.] thomas thorpe. 103 cellor answered, " that the King approved of him, and willed them to proceed effectually." The following is the account of the affair given by Sir Symonds D'Ewes in his journal : — " Richard, Duke of York, having gained the ascendant of the King, prepared hahiliments of war in the palace of the Bishop of Durham. Thorpe, being Speaker, by command of the King, seized the arms, whereupon the Duke brought his action of trespass, in the Exchequer, against Thorpe, and upon trial this term recovered £1000 damages, and thereupon Thorpe was com- mitted to the prison of the Fleet in execution." How far Thorpe may have exceeded his duty in obeying the King's commands when he seized arms which had been collected for treasonable piirposes, is a question into which we need not enter. In his capacity of Speaker of the House of Commons, we apprehend he had no right to interfere against a peer of the realm, or even a private individual, neither obnoxious to, nor offending against the rules of the House. The verdict the Duke obtained, under such circumstances, very plainly indicates the feelings of the people at that time towards the house of York. This was the first and only time in the history of Parliament, under the monarchy, in which so gross an outrage upon its privileges had been perpetrated, and the tame submission of the Commons to this palpable invasion of their rights, can only be attributed to the uncertain state of political affairs, and the momentary apprehension of an outbreak between the rival houses of York and Lancaster. If the Speaker's authority has not always been respected, his person (from the earliest institution of the Legis- lative Chambers) has ever been held sacred froip violence. The case of Sir Peter de la Mare, the second Speaker on record, was altogether different. At the period of his committal to Nottingham Castle, for remarks upon Alice Peers, the King's favourite, he was not — nor is it known who was— ^Speaker of the House of Commons ; it was not untU two years after that event, and in another reign, that he was elected to the chair. Our Speaker, Thorpe, did not, however, obtain his liberty until full payment of the damages of £1000 ; and although his loyalty was rewarded, as much as it was in the King's power, by constituting him a Baron of the Exchequer (some historians say Chief Baron), he was a marked man by the Yorkists, and the day of their triumph sounded his knell. That he must have played a very conspicuous part in the events of this period cannot be doubted, for independently of the general charge made against him by the Duke of York, in the second Session 'of the Parliament of the 33rd of this reign, in one of the resolutions against the Queen, in which the Duke justifies himself, and Lords Warwick and Salisbury, for taking up arms against the King at the first battle of St. Albans, it says, that " all the blame was to be laid on the Duke of Somerset, 104 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. Lord Chief Baron Thorpe, and William Joseph, Esq., who, out of a malicious and evil design, kept a letter sent by the Lords from the King's knowledge ; which, if it had been delivered to the King's Majesty, would have taken away the cause of these disorders." Hall gives the letter in his " Chronicles," p. 644, which merely contains a declaration of their loyalty, and a desire to prove it, if admitted to his presence, &c. Upon the breaking out of open hostilities, Thorpe followed the footsteps of his royal master ; this course however only added to his danger and discomfiture ; for, as in such cases, the ermine must give place to the buckler, so our Baron of the Exchequer was compelled to put on armour, and take his place in the ranks of the combatants. Hollingshed, after giving an account of the battle of St. Albans, and naming the most eminent among the slain, thus describes the luckless position of the unhappy lawyer. " Divers knights and gentlemen were also wounded ; James Butler, Earl of Ormonde and Wiltshire, and Thomas Thorpe, Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, with many others, fled away through gardens, backsides, shrubs, hedges, and woods, leaving their harness there, and seeking places where to hide themselves until the storm of the battle was past ; divers of the King's house, who could better act the part of courtiers than soldiers, fled with the first." On this occasion our Speaker was fortunate enough to efiect his escape, but was subsequently taken at the battle of Northampton, a.d. 1460. Hollingshed says, " There were divers persons apprehended, and indicted of treason, whereof some were pardoned, and some executed. Thomas Thorpe, second Baron of the Exchequer, was committed to the Tower, where he remained long after, for that he was knowne to be a great friend to the house of Lancaster," Another chronicler observes, that he was taken prisoner fighting under the Lancastrian banner at Northamp- ton, from whence he was conveyed to London, and thrown into Newgate, subsequently committed to the Marshalsea, and finally lost his head at Haringay Park, co. Middlesex. But as Baker gives more ample details, brief as they are, we shall ofier no apology for their insertion. He says, " The Lord Scales, in disguised apparel, endeavouring to escape, is taken by the watermen, and by them beheaded, and his corps care- lessly left upon the sands. Thomas Thorpe, one of the Barons of the Exche- quer, in the habit of a monk, his crown shorn, proposing to flie to the Queen, is taken and committed prisoner to the Tower, and after by the Commons beheaded at High-gate." He adds, also, that when the news of Baron Thorpe's execution reached the Queen, she in revenge thpreof caused both the heads of Lord Bonville and Sir Thomas Kyriel, Knt. to be stricken off' at St. Albans. Desirous as we were to trace every particular in the life of a man, who played so eminent and unfortunate a part in the events of that most exciting period of history, we nevertheless confess we can glean no further information con- cerning him, his family, or descendants. SIR THOMAS CHARLTON. 105 SIR THOMAS CHARLTON, Knt. The preceding memoir has fully narrated the circumstances under which Sir Thomas Charlton became Speaker of the House of Commons, in the third Session of the Parliament of the 31st and 52nd of Henry VI., the fur- ther proceedings of which are of the deepest interest to the historian, as they are the key-stone to all the subsequent events in which the kingdom was em- broiled by reason of the wars of the roses ; but as the Commons played a very small part in those affairs, the Lords having assumed to themselves the appointment of the Duke of York as Protector of the kingdom during the King's illness (a sudden attack of mental imbecility), and the minority of his son. Prince Edward, at this time only seven months old, we do not feel justi- fied in entering into these details. We find, however, that the Commons, who now addressed themselves to the Lords (a new feature in Parliamentary usages), called their attention to " the hazard the town of Calais was then in, and the safe keeping of the sea, and prayed that the subsidies granted might be really employed to that purpose." They also desired the Lords to excuse them from granting any other subsidies, for that they neither could nor durst do it ; and, finally, they required that a grave and wise council should be established to answer all petitions, &c., which was promised. Prior to the dissolution of this Parliament, Sir William Oldhall, Speaker of the last Par- liament, was attainted of treason, for being concerned in Jack Cade's rebel- lion, and a writ of outlawry against him was confirmed. The Commons pe- titioned that the Lords spiritual and temporal who absented themselves from their Parliamentary duties, should be fined to the use of the King ; for every Archbishop and Duke, £100; Bishop or Earl, 100 marks; Abbot and Baron, £40; to be levied upon the lands,,goods, Sec, with the exception of the Bishops of St. Asaph, Bangor, and Llandaff, who, on account of their poverty, were to be fined only £20. Well proved sickness, absence beyond the seas, or attendance on the King's person in his present bad state, to be alone allowed as an excuse. This Act had the royal assent. An important Act was passed this Session for the protection of women, entitled, "A remedy for a woman inforced to be bound by statute or obligation," and was brought about upon the petition of Henry Beaumont, Esq., son and heir of the late Sir Henry Beaumont, Knt., against Edward Lancaster, of Skepton, in Craven, Esq., for the abduction of his mother. Dame Joan Beaumont, and 106 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKEK 1460. marrying her against her will, a crime of frequent occurrence in those days, which required the strong arm of the law to suppress. We cannot connect the subject of our memoir with the family of Charl- ton of Apley Castle, but have no doubt he was a man of consideration in his county, as the name of his father, according to the Speculum Britanniee, stands second on the list of the gentry of Middlesex returned by the Com- missioners in the l^th year of King Henry VI., a.d. 1433. Fuller, in his " Worthies," says, under the head of Thoms Chaleton, mititis, " I can hardly believe him of the same family (R being slipped out in the writing thereof,) with Thomas Charleton, who died a.d. 1447, being buried under a much defaced monument in Edmonton church, and whom the inhabitants deliver by tradition to have been a man of great command in that county." SIR JOHN WENLOCK, K.G. Sir John Wenlock, Baron Wenlock, and a Knight of the Garter, was a very eminent soldier and diplomatist in the reigns of Henry VI. and Edward IV. In the former he was appointed escheator of the counties of Buckingham and Bedford, and usher of the chamber to Queen Margaret ; at which time he was designated as John Wenlock, Esq., but shortly afterwards he was knighted and appointed Governor of Bamborough Castle, in Northumberland. In the 28th of Henry VI., he was constituted Chamberlain to the Queen, and fought under the Lancastrian banner at the first battle of St. Albans, where he was severely wounded. After this we find that he advanced the King a considerable sum of money by way of loan, and was subsequently created a Knight of the noble order of the Garter. In the 38th of Henry VI., he was elected Knight of the Shire for Bedford, and having been chosen by the Commons as their Speaker, was duly presented and allowed, after the usual ceremonies had been observed. The day upon which our Speaker was placed in the chair, a charter, made by the King, was read and confirmed by Parliament, in which the Duke of York, and the Earls of Warwick and Salisbury were acquitted of any disloyal practices, and taken to be good and faithful subjects, and the whole blame (as we have before observed in the life of Thorpe) thrown upon Edmund, late Duke of Somerset, Thomas Thorpe, and William Joseph, Esqs., who, by their false deg,lings, had caused the King to think the contrary of these lords, &c. According to Stowe, the last named person was " the King's collateral companion ;" m 32 Hen. VI.] sir john wenlock. 107 we do not, however, understand the term. This Parliament was announced to have been summoned — to take order for the expences of the King's house- hold — ^for the due payment of the garrison at Calais, and the marches there — to provide for keeping the seas against any invasion of the French and Scots — to procure a perfect accord and imity amongst the Lords' — to restrain the carrying out of gold and silver coin, &c. ; but according to the Record, its proceedings were confined chiefly to the struggles between the rival princes, Henry and the Duke of York and their partisans, and belong exclusively to general history. We soon find our Speaker engaged in a very different pursuit, deserting the founder of his fortunes, and siding with the Duke of York, although he must have joined the Commons in revoking the power and authority of Protector which the same Parliament had before committed to him. One circumstance, however, must be borne in mind in reference to the event which soon occurred in changing the dynasty. Not only was the title of the Duke of York manifestly just, but that prince knew how to enforce his claims by words as well as arms ; nevertheless our Speaker would derive but little benefit from this hypothesis, for such it must be considered in the absence of the real motive of his secession from the house of Lancaster, as notwith- standing that he joined the standard of York, and fought under that banner at the battle of' Towton Field, for which service he was rewarded by Edward IV. with a grant of the offices of Chief Butler of England, and Steward of the Castle and Lordship of Berkhampstead, in Hertfordshire, was sworn of the Privy Coun- cil, and was raised to the peerage as Baron Wenlock of Wenlock, in the county of Salop, and was employed in Edward's reign in several important and con- fidential embassies to the Courts of Burgundy and France, and constituted Lieutenant-Governor of Calais and the marches adjacent, we find that he subsequently joined the Earl of Warwick in his attempt to restore Henry VI. At the battle of Tewkesbury, in which the fate of the unfortunate Henry was for ever sealed. Lord Wenlock held a considerable command, and if the story of the old chroniclers is to be credited, did not come up in time to render that aid which might have turned the fortunes of the day — a circumstance which so enraged the Duke of Somerset, that he rushed furiously upon him, and cleft his skull with his battle-axe. Thus perished this great man, and with him all his honours expired, for he had no issue, although he had long been married to Elizabeth, daughter and coheiress of Sir John Drayton. He was buried in Luton church, Bedfordshire, where there are the following curious inscriptions on his monument : — Jesu Christ most of might, Have mercy on John Le Wenlock, Kjiight, And on his wife Elizabeth, Who out of this world is past by death. 108 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1460, Which founded this chapel liere, Help them with your hearty prayer, That they may come to that place Wher ever is joy and solace. And on the north side of the monument : — In Wenlock brad I In this town Lordschipes had I, Here I am now fady. Christes moder help me lady, Under thes stones For a tym shall I reste my bones, Dey mot I need ones Myghtful God grant me thy wones. The present representative of our Speaker is Sir Francis Lawley, Bart., of Middleton Hall, Warwickshire, and Wenlock, Salop, elder brother of Paul, Lord Wenlock, of Escrick Park, Yorkshire, who is the lineal male descen- dant of Thomas Lawley, Esq., who succeeded to Lord Wenlock's estates, as his cousin and heir at law, upon his death in 1471 ; and in consideration of which descent her Majesty was pleased to revive the Barony of Wenlock in favour of the late Sir Robert Lawley, Bart., in 1831 ; and upon his Lordship's decease without issue in 1832, his younger brother, Paul Beilby, the present peer, who had assumed the maternal name of Thompson, was called to the Upper House by the title of Baron Wenlock, in the county of Salop, 1839. For a more ample account of this ancient family, see Burke's " Peerage and Baronetage." Arms — Or. a cross formee, extending to the extremities of the shield, chequy or. and sa. Crest — A wolf passant sa. SIR THOMAS TRESHAM, Knt. The subject of our memoir was the eldest son of William Tresham,.Esq., of Rushton, whose barbarous assassination we have narrated in our account of that eminent Speaker. Sir Thomas Tresham was elected Knight of the Shire for Northampton, in 1459 — 60, and was chosen Speaker of the Parlia/- ment of the 38th Henry VI., which was held in that year at Coventry. In an historical point of view, the proceedings of this Session are highly interesting, although almost exclusively confined to the preparation of the Bills of Attainder against Richard, Duke of York, and his accomplices, in- 38 Hen. VI.] sir thomas tresham. 109 eluding Sir John Wenlock, the former Speaker, the gran dson of Sir James Pickering, who held that office in the 2nd of Richard II., and Sir William Oldhall, Speaker in 1451, the 29th Henry VI. ; and it is a curious circum- stance, that Sir Henry Redford, Knt., and William Bowes, Esq., the former said to be the son of Sir Henry Redford, and the latter the nephew of John Bowes, Esq,, both of whom had been Speakers of the House of Commons, should have been implicated in the same transaction. It does not appear that any subsidy was granted, or even demanded of this Parliament. An oath of allegiance and fidelity to Henry, and his son Prince Edward, and his heirs for ever, of an extraordinary nature, great length, and deep solemnity, was taken by 66 peers of Parliament, the greater portion of whom went over to the other side as soon as victory declared itself in favour of the House of York ; but luckily for the consciences of the Commons, this oath was not tendered to them. An extraordinary Act was passed upon the petition of the Sheriffs, " that all such Knights, of any county, as were returned to this Par- liament by virtue of the King's Letters, without any other election, should be valid, and that no Sherifi"for returning them, should incur the penalty of the statute made 23rd Henry VI.," in other words, this Act was a Bill of Indemnity to the Sheriffs for packing a Parliament. We have no further particulars of our Speaker, beyond the fact of his attainder for treason towards the latter end of Henry's reign. If we suffer ourselves to indulge in an opinion, it strikes us forcibly, that the crime of ingratitude is affixed to that of treason in the case of this gentleman, for it appears that he was high in the confidence of his sovereign, and held the appointment of Treasurer of the Household, a:t the period of his deserting his royal master; but instances of mere weakness and ingratitude are so numerous in history, that the exhi- bition of feeling, or the application of censure or reproach, are repugnant to philosophy. In the 7 th Edward IV., Sir Thomas Tresham, who had openly espoused the cause of the Yorkists, and had fought under the banner of the White Rose, at Towton Field, was restored in blood and estate, and his attainder made void. Sir Thomas Tresham married Margaret, daughter of the Lord Zouch, from which union descended a long line of eminent men, knights, and baronets, several of whom figure conspicuously in the most eventful pages of history from the period of which we are writing, to that of the memorable " gun- powder plot," in which Sir Francis Tresham was deeply involved, and attainted of high treason. The character and the fate of this gentleman have been admirably well drawn and narrated by a popular novelist in his romance of Guy Fawkes. Notvrithstanding Sir Francis' complicity in that awful conspiracy. King James I. conferred a baronetcy upon his brother, Sir Lewis Tresham, upon the institution of that order of hereditary knighthood in 1611, which title expired with his only son Sir William, in 1650. By 110 LIVES OJ THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKEB, 1461. marriage the Treshams were allied to some of the greatest historical families of England, amongst whom we may cite Zouch, Harington, Par of Horton, Catesby, Vaux, Throckmorton, Stourton, Monteagle, Brudenell, Parham, Tufton, Heneage, and Gage. "We need scarcely observe, that it was the relationship subsisting between the Tresham and Monteagle families, which was the cause, under Providence, of the failure of the plot in which Sir Francis Tresham was engaged. Arms. — (See William Tresham.) JOHN GREEN, Esq. John Green, Esq. was Knight of the Shire for Essex in the Parliament summoned to meet at Westminster 39th Henry VI., 1461, and was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons, The first act of this Parliament was to repeal everything that was done in the last, held at Coventry; and the reason assigned was, "because that Parliament was unlawfully summoned, and the Knights and Burgesses not duly chosen," and a mandamus was sent to the Sherifis commanding them to proclaim the same. These were cer- tainly perilous times, when the Sovereign opened the Parliament as a prisoner in the hands of the Prince who panted for his throne ; they were perilous times, too, when the monarch summoned the knights to Parlia- ment by letters from himself, instead of their election by the voice of the people. This annulling of the entire proceedings of the former Parliament, which, according to all credible historians, was truly a packed assembly, was a very politic stroke of Richard, Duke of York ; for it of course quashed the attainder against himself and the partisans of his house. We cannot enter into the details of this Parliament, as it would be too bold a trespass upon the province of the historian, particularly as we do not find any mention of our Speaker beyond the usual routine ceremonies, and are therefore alto- gether unab-e to put our readers into possession of Mr. Green's political sentiments, prejudices, or predilections. Whatever they were, they would have been unavailing, and their expression would merely have gratified our curiosity by enabling us to draw conclusions as to public opinion upon the exciting events of the time. We may, however, refer to the fact of the Duke's title being set forth in this Parliament, and his satisfactory reply to the objections urged against it by the favourers of the house of Lancaster. Indeed, unless we are prepared to admit that the attainder of a legitimate 39 Hen. VI.] john green. Ill prince, passed by an usurperj could have the effect of disinheriting the blood for ever, there never was a clearer title than that of Richard, the father of Edward IV., to the throne of this realm. Historians, however, observe that when Richard saw by the countenances of the Lords and Commons, that they were not disposed to alter the compact he had entered into with the poor King for his succession to the throne after the death of the latter, he left the House in a passion, abruptly saying, " Think of this matter ! I have taken my course, take you yours." It is also stated upon the authority of the chroniclers, that the Commons, over whose deliberations Mr. Green presided, could not conceive how the Duke could get over the oaths of allegiance he had so frequently taken to the reigning monarch ; but they had plenty of ex- amples in the conduct of the peers in this, and Parliaments ^of previous days, who evinced very little compunction of conscience in such matters. This affair, however, having been arranged through the intercession of the Lords, Henry might have retained a life interest in the throne, had it not been for the martial spirit and determination of Margaret his Queen, who, shortly after these negociations, at the battle of Wakefield, slew Richard Duke of York, and cut his small army to pieces. The effect of this short-lived triumph was the reverse of the usual consequences of victory, for it only hastened the downfall of her husband, the battle of Towton Field having effectually anni- hilated the hopes and fortunes of the house of Lancaster for upwards of a quarter of a century afterwards. Thus far have we permitted ourselves cursorily to refer to the history of the times as an introduction to a new reign and a new Speaker, rather than as any exemplification of the character or opinions of the gentleman to whom the memoir should be specially devoted. But we confess our inability to trace any details respecting the political conduct or peculiarities of Mr. Green in his capacity of Speaker of the House of Commons, and must conclude our account of him with a few particulars relative to the stock from whence he sprung. The family of Green formerly held considerable possessions in Essex, and acquired the estate of Sampford in that county by marriage. Our Speaker appears to have been either the brother or the son of William Greene, Esq., by Margaret, daughter of William Bateman, Esq., Sheriff of the counties of Essex and Herts from the 19th and 22nd of Richard II., who, dying a.d. 1488, left two sons, David, the younger, the parson of Little Sampford, and John, his heir, from Vhom descended, in the sixth generation. Sir Edward Greene, the greatest gambler and spendthrift of the age in which he lived, who was created a baronet 26th July, 1660 ; but having no male issue, the title expired at his decease in 1676, his two daughters and co-heirs having married William Gossip, of Thorparch, and Joshua Field of Heaton, Esqs. Arms. — Per fess sa. and arg. ; a Hon rampant, crowned, counterchanged. 112 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1461. SIR JAMES STRANGEWAIES. In the first Parliament, of Edward IV., which met at Westminster on the 6th November, 1461, Sir James Strangewaies, who sat for the county of York, was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. There can be no doubt that the influence of the court procured his election to this high oflSce, and that his devotion to the cause of the new Sovereign was the chief motive for his appointment. We find in numerous instances, both previously and subsequently to that period, that the mere desire of the King had influenced the choice of the Commons in the nomination of the party who was to pre- side over their deliberations, and it cannot be questioned that common policy would dictate to them the selection of an individual in every way acceptable to the victorious monarch of a new dynasty. But there was something more in this instance ; there was a statement to be made, and to go forth to the world as the deliberate opinion of the Commons of England ; the people of England were to be pacified by the judgment of their representatives ; peace was to be restored to a distracted country by the unanimous declaration of the people's choice assembled in the Commons' House of Parliament. Thus arose an innovation upon Parliamentary usages, which has continued almost down to our own time — at least, for some centuries after the period in question, and for which the policy of the moment formed the precedent. We allude to the Speaker's oration to the King in full Parliament imme- diately after his presentation and allowance, of which that delivered by our Speaker on this occasion, is the first we meet with in the Parliamentary records. In matters of grievance, state trials, and attainders, we have had numerous instances of Speakers personally addressing the Sovereign on the throne, as the organ or mouth-piece of the whole body of' the Commons ; but as the speech of Sir James Strangewaies is unquestionably *the first of this character on record, detailing, as it does, all the events which the partisans of the house of York wished to be published to the world, we do not hesitate, notwithstanding its length, to give it insertion in this memoir. It is a very important feature in the history of this reign, equally so in the history of Parliaments ; and although we do not pretend that it throws any new light upon the events of that period, its whole style and curious orthography must claim an interest in its perusal. " No. 7.— Moost Christen Kyng, right high and myghty Prynce, and our aller moost drede Soverayne, and naturall Liege Lord— 1 EdW. IV.] SIR JAMES STRANGEWAIES. 113 " We your humble and true subgetts, the Commyns of this your noble Reame, comyn to this your high Courte of Parlement, by your high com- mandement, have as grete cause to calle, and calle to the Tendernesse of our Mynde, as ever had people lyvyng under eny Christen Prynce, the honor- able and noble Devoir, that it hath pleased your Highnesse to put the same in of pryncely and knyghtly Prowesse and corage for the redempcion of your seid Reame and subgetts from the Persecucion and Tyrannye of your and theire grete and insatiable Ennemytees. " For the first ; where incontynent after the pitouse and dolorous Deth of that noble and famous Prynce and our right honourable Lord, of worthy Memorie, your Fader the Due of York, very and rightful Heire, and in Right, Kyng of the said Reame, the Erles of Pembroke and Wilteshire, gadering and accompaynyng towarde theym a grete nombre of men of guerrable array, to have removed out of the Marches of Wales into the north parties, to have there assisted Margarete, late called Queue of Englond, hir son Edward, the Dues of Excestre and Somerset, and other Lordes, pur- posyng to have preceded to the destruction of your seid Reame and sub- getts, it pleased your high Mageste, though all the sorrowe and lamentation for the deth of the seid noble and famous Prynce was not a little in your noble and naturall remembrance, to adjoiiie your moost noble Persone, of knyghtly corage, accordyng to the nature of your high Birth, and the tender zele and naturall love that your seid Highnesse bare unto the defence ajjd tuition of your seid Reame and subgetts, and to the resistence of the mali- ciouse entent and purpose of the seid Erles, and to precede of pryncely prowesse against theym in Battaille ; uppon whom it pleased Almighty God to graunt unto your seid Mageste the hande of Victorye, chasyng uppon theym untyll they were dryven of drede of your seid Nobley into the confynes and corners of your Lordship of Wales, to the grete and, grounded joye and cou- solacion of your seid Reame and subgetts. " For the secunde; where the grete laboure and payne that it pleased your good Grace to take in that noble and vvorshypfull journej' asked after that of reason, natural rest and ease of refreshment ; yit natheless at suche tyme as the seid Margarete, Edward hir son, and Dukes, and other Lordes aboveseid commying from the north parties of your seid Reame, destroying and spoil- ying the same in their commying, neither sparyng Godd's Church, the viola- cion thereof, his ministers of the same, ravyshing and defoulynge religious wemmen, maydens, wydowes, and mennes wyfes ; sheyding, in manner of tyrannye, immense Blode, entendyng to the fynal and extreme destruction and subversion of your seid Reame, apperyng experiently by their cruell violence ; it please your magnificence of the plenteth of tendernesse that ye bare to your seid natural subgetts, to forget and leye away the weryness that grew by the seid laboure in the seid felde, and the ease that reason wold ye I 114 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1462. shuld have used conveniently thereby, and with all celerite advaunced your seid moost noble Persone to your Cite of London, for the socor, relef, and joy therof, and the redemption of the seid Reame. " For the third ; where, at youre commyng to your seid Cite, it pleased your noble and benigne Grace, of the plenteth of tendernesse that it pleased unto the same to bare of naturall love unto your seid subjetts, havyng their defence and suertee in herty and piteous affection, and their lamentable ex- clamation therof in nyhness of your gracious benyvolence to take uppon you, to the pleasure of Godd, and the infinite and assured joy of all your seid subgetts, the reigne and governance of the seid Reame, whereunto you be right wisely and naturally borne, and, with all reasonable convenient haste, to remove from thens towards the seid north parties, arreyng, armyng, and ledyng your batailles, lyke a victorious Prynce, for the defence and salva- cion of your seid Reame and subgetts against your adversarie Henry, late called Kyng Henry the Sixt ; and his power not oonly of your rebelles, but also of Scotts and Frenshmen, your ennemyes, whome he sturred and reteyned to assist hym, arreyed and armed, against your seid Majeste ; the which not sparyng for any jopardie, peril], or aventure, joyning your moost noble per- sone to the seid defence and salvacion knyghtly of pryncely corage, recountred the seid power of your seid adversarie in your shire of York, on Palme Son- day last past, where bataille was geven and made against your seid magnifi- cence, wherunto therin it pleased Almighty God to send to you his Grace of Eviccion and the hand of victoirie agenst your seid adversarie, ennemyes, and rebelles, whome, without any longer rest within your seid Reame, the drede of your mighty power, and of the renowne of your knyghtly and Pryncely prowesse, drove and chased out of your seid Reame into the parties of Scotland. "Moost Christen Kyng, right high and myghty Prynce, and our allermoost drede and naturall Soverayne and Liege Lord, the noble and condigne merites, pryncely and knyghtly corage, in the grete and victorious acts afore rehearsed, the beauty of personage that it hath pleased Almighty God to send you, the wysdome that, of his Grace, is annexed thereunto, and the blessed and noble disposition and application of your seid Highnesse to the commyn wele and policie of your seid Reame, and to Godd's chirch of the same, calleth upon us to give therfor as herty and entier lovyng to God as we can ; and with all humblenesse possible thanke your good and benigne Grace shewed to our seid redempcion and salvacion in manner and fourme afore declared. And sith that our Lord, of his infinite myght, hath called your seid high and nobley to reigne uppon us your humble subgetts, according to your naturall birth, to our grettestjoye and consolacion erthly, and hath geven unto you the victorie of your seid enneymyes, we havyng our singular felicitee and suertee in that concerneth the perfitte suertee of your moost noble persone, and the long contynnance of your reigne uppon us, and as desirouse as any Christen 1 EdW. IV.] SIR JAMES STRANGEWAIES. 115 subgetts to knowe and uiiderstand the doubte, perills, and inconvenience of the contrarie to be removed, biseche, as lowly as we suffice, your Mageste Roiall to have and take such persones as have, of approved experience, ad- joyned their bodyes and lyves to this recoveree of your ancyen title and right of your seid Reame of Englond, and to the entreteignyng thereof against your said adversaries and enemyes, in such favoir, trust, and aflfection of your seid good grace, as accord with their condigne and approved merites ; and other persones in such wise and prudent trust and afFeccion as accord with the assured prosperite of your high estate above all earthly thynges, desired of all as your true subgetts. " And that as in the time of the usurped reigne of your seid adversarie Henry, late called King Henry the sixt, extorcion, murder, rape, effusion of innocent blode, ryot, and unrightwisnesse were commynly used in your seid Reene, without punicion, we held for certeyne and undoubted, that it wol please your seid good grace to preferre all thyng that may serve to the seid commyn wele, to the exercise of justice and rightwisnesse, and to punish the grete and horrible offendours, extortionours, and riotours, and have pite, com- passion, and mercy upon the innocents to Godd's pleasure ; to whome we besech to contynne and prosper your noble reigne longe uppon us your true and lowly subgetts, in honour, joye, and feHcite." This effusion, in which the most painfully fulsome flattery is dealt out wholesale to Majesty, is but a type of the manners of the period in this and every other country where the people are but in a state of semi-civilization. We thought it was incumbent upon us to give the whole speech, but we doubt that any pleasurable feelings will have been excited by its perusal, for it shews the depth of degradation assigned to man under the sway of despotism and, ignorance. At the same time, though devoid of any peculiar merit, this oration, for the reas6ns we have assigned, has its interest, and could not be omitted with propriety in the memoir of our Speaker. It does not appear by the Records, that any other business was transacted by this Parliament beyond the countless attainders against Henry VI., and his Queen, together with all the Dukes, Earls, Barons, Knights, Esquires, and Gentlemen who took part in the battles of Towton and Saxton Fields, Tadcaster and Tute Hill, near Carnarvon, or were known to have assisted the old King, but surely this was enough, and occupied them fully. At the close of the Session, the King addressed the Commons in a plain and honest speech, to which, because of its brevity, we shall give insertion. " James Strangewaies, and ye that be commyn for Common of this my Lond — "For the true Hertes and tender consideracions that ye have had to my right and title, that y and my Ancestres have had unto the Coronne of this Reame, the which -from us have bene long time withelde, and nowe, thanked i3 116 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. be Almyghty God, of whos Grace growitli all victory, by your true Hertes and grate assistens, y am restored unto That that is my right and title, wherefore y thanke you as hertely as y can. Also for the tender and true herts that ye have shewed unto me, in that ye have tenderly had in remembraunce the correccion of the horrible raurdre and cruel Deth of my Lord my Fader, my Brother Rutland and my Cosyn of Salysbury, and other, y thanke you right hertely, and y shall be unto you, v^ith the Grace of Almighty God, as good and gratious Sovereign Lord as ever was eny of my noble progenitours to their subgettes and liegemen. And for the faithful and lovyng hertes, and also the grete labours that ye have borne and sustained towards me, in the recouering of my said right and title which y now possesse, y thanke you with all my herte, and if y ■ had eny better good to reward you withall then my body ye shuld have it, the which shall alwey be redy for your defence, never sparing nor letting for noo jeopardie ; praying you all of youre herty assistens and good contynuance, as y shall be unto you youre veray rightwisse and lovyng Liege Lord." The Parliament was then prorogued to meet again on the 6th of May, but Edward being unable to attend, owing to some fresh troubles which had broken out, the Archbishop of Canterbury, by the King's Letters Patent, dissolved the same. We find no further mention of our Speaker in future Parliaments, and probably this was the last of his political career, if such a term be applicable to the Parliamentary duties of those days. Sir James Strangewaies was a counsellor of eminence, Serjeant-at-Law, and one of the Justices of the Common Pleas in the two previous reigns of Henry V. and VI. He married the Lady Catherine Gordon, but died without issue, a.d. 1516, and was buried in the Abbey Church of St. Mary Overy's, Southwark. , His will was proved the 9th January, 1517. Thomas Strangewaies, Esq., of Melbury Sampford, in the county of Dorset, who married Eleanor, daughter and sole heiress of Walter, Lord Talbois, was the elder brother and heir of our Speaker, and from this illustrious connection descended a long line of eminent country gentlemen, who, as well as our Speaker, are now represented by Henry Stephen Fox Strangways, Earl of Ilchester, and Baron Strangways, of Melbury House, Dorsetshire, the lineal descendant of the above named gentleman, through the marriage of Stephen Fox, first Lord Ilchester, and Baron Strangways, with EUzabeth, only daughter of Thomas Strangways Horner, Esq., by his wife, Susannah Strangways, one of the daughters, and (on the death of her sister, Jane, Duchess of Hamilton) sole heiress of Thomas Strangways, Esq., of Melbury. Arms.— Sa.. two lions passant, in pale arg., each charged with three bendlets, gu- Crest. — A lion of the field. WIILIAM ALINGTON. 117 WILLIAM ALINGTON, Esq. In the Parliament sunamoned to meet at Westminster, in the 49th of Henry VL, or 8th of Edward IV. a.d. 1470, the former being again in the ascen- dant, owing to the assistance of Warwick, " the setter up and puller down of kings," Edward, with Richard Duke of Gloster, and others, his adherents, were attainted. We are, however, unable to discover who presided over the deliberations of the Commons in the Parliament in question as the proceedings, if entered upon the record, were, according to the opinions of most historians, erased by Edward upon his restoration shortly after. Although his victories at Barnet and Tewkesbury gave him quiet possession of the throne, and England some years of profound tranquillity, it was not until 1472, that another Parliament was summoned to meet at Westminster, upon the 6th of October, when William Alington, Esq., son of the gentleman whose memoir we have already given, having been elected Knight of the Shire for Cambridge, was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. In the first Session of this Parliament no business of importance beyond granting two subsidies, and the reversals of the attainders against the. Earl of Northumberland, Sir Humphrey Dacres, and others, appears to have been transacted, yet it was not until the 8th of April in the following year that this Parliament was prorogued, previously to which King Edward granted a general pardon as a recompense for the liberality of the Commons. For this proof of their affection Habington writes, " he liberally repaid them ; for by the late civil wars, the-lapse into treason was so universal, that scarce any estate could be safe, if license was given to informers, the cormorants of a Commonwealth, who swallow much but never grow fat, and least of all, advance what they most pretend — the King's benefit." In the course of this long Parliament, which was five times prorogued, and lasted until the 15th of Edward IV., we do not discover any allusion to our Speaker beyond the fact of his election to the chair ; nor are the proceedings themselves of any remarkable interest in a public point of view, as they relate cliiefly to the attainders of Edward's enemies, and the revocation of those against his friends, passed in the last short Parliament of Henry VI., with some grants and exchanges of lands to the Dukes of Clarence and Gloucester. We may, how- ever, mention, that in the first Session of this Parliament, Lewes de Bruges, a noble Burgundian, Lord of Gruthuse, and Prince of Steinhuse, who had shewn King Edward much kindness, when he was forced to fiy the kingdom in the 10th year of his reign, arrived in England, and was received with great honour. 118 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. when as a testimony of their gratitude towards the friend of their Sovereign, " the House of Commons in Parliament assembled, though their Speaker, William Alington, besought the King to bestow upon this foreign Prince some especial mark of his favour, who thereupon, Oct., 1472, created him Earl of Winches- ter, with £200 per annum to uphold the dignity." Just before the dissolution of this Parliament, the King finding it necessary to raise money for carrying on the war with France, yet well knowing how dangerous it would be to tax thepeople any further, hit upon a strange expedient (which served, however, as a precedent to future Sovereigns) designated by the historian of Croyland, as " a new and yet unheard of imposition called a benevolence, whereby every one might give what they would, or rather what they would not." Fabian, in reference to this new imposition, relates that " the King had called before him a widow gentlewoman, much abounding in wealth, and equally stricken in years, of whom he only demanded what she would freely give him towards the support of his great charges : ' JSy my troth,' quoth the old lady, 'for the sake of thy loving countenance thou shalt have twenty pounds' The King, expecting scarce half that sum, thanked her, and gave her a loving kiss." Hall in his chronicles, adds the following ryder to this anecdote, " whether the flavour of his breath did so warm her old heart, or she esteemed the kiss of a King so precious a jewel, she swore directly that he should have twenty pounds more, which she as willingly paid as offered." By this and other means, not alto- gether creditable to the Sovereign dignity, such as trading with all parts of the continent in wool, cloth, tin, and other products of the country, exported in his own ships ; the money received from France for concluding a treaty of peace ; fines and forfeitures, and the sale of places, even to bishopricks, Edward amassed enormous wealth, and was enabled to carry on his Govern- ment without calling another Parhament until the 17th year of his reign, a.d. 1477, when Mr. Alington was again chosen Speaker of the House of Com- mons. We do not, however, in the proceedings of this Parliament as related by historians find any particulars concerning our Speaker beyond the fact of his being called before the House of Lords with his brethren, for the re-hear- ing of the charges against the Duke of Clarence, whose execution had been delayed until sentence was confirmed by the Commons. We can glean no further information as to our Speaker's Parliamentary career, but we find that he married twice, first, Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Wentworth, and secondly, a daughter of Ralph Sapcote, and left issue an only child, who married the sister of Sir William Cordell, Master of the Rolls, and Speaker of the House of Commons m the reign of Queen Mary, from whose heiress are descended the Earls of Stanhope, Chesterfield, and Denbigh. The male line of this ancient family was however continued by the issue of his brother, and produced along succession of emment and distinguished noblemen and gentlemen, amongst whom we may cite Sir Giles Alington, Giles, and Hildebrand, successively Barons of England and Ireland as Lords Alington of Killard, Richard Alington, JOHN WODE. 119 Master of the Rolls, &c., &c. All of whom are now represented by George Marmaduke Alington, Esq., of Swinhope, in Lincolnshire, a magistrate and deputy lieutenant of his county, who is the lineal descendant of George Alington, Esq., the second son of Sir Giles Alington of Horseheath, co. Cam- bridge ; and brother of the first Baron, descending from William Alington, Esq., Speaker in the 8th of Henry VI., and one of the counsel of guardians during the minority of that Monarch. Mr. Alington of Swinhope is also the male representative of the subject of this memoir. The Alingtons have con- nected themselves by marriage with some of the most illustrious houses of England; it will sufiice for us to cite those of Mallet, De Burgh, Argentine, Cheney, Say, Colville, Sapcote, Drury, Middleton, Conisby, Spencer of Al thorp, Thomas Earl of Exeter, Talmach of Helmingham, Lord Seymour of Trow- bridge, John Hampden, the patriot, and the very ancient and eminent family of Pye, whose ancestors were champions to the early Norman Kings of England. In consideration of the last named connection some of the younger branches of Mr. Alington 's family have assumed the name of Pye, of whom we may par- ticularize Henry Pye, Esq., of Louth, in the county of Lincoln, and his sons, John and Richard, in holy orders, and Hildebrand William Pye, Esq., of Boston. We may also observe that the late Henry Alington, Esq., the uni- versally respected town clerk of Hertford, was a member of this ancient family. Arms. — Sa. a bend engr. between six billets, ar. Crest. — A Talbot passant, erm. JOHN WODE, Esq. This gentleman, whose family had been long seated in the counties of Surrey and Sussex, having been returned to Parliament for the latter county, in the 22t\& year of the reign of King Edward IV., was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons in the Parliament which met at Westminster, the 20th January, 1482. Before we enter into any details relative to the genealogy of Mr. Wood, or Wode, as his name is written in the Record, we may observe, that five years had elapsed since the dissolution of the last Parliament, the King placing little trust or confidence in the loyalty or affection of his faithful Commons, having, as an historian has remarked, " a disgust against these assemblies, by observing that they ever declared on the strongest side, a flagrant instance of which, was the recognizing and swearing to defend two opposite titles in less than the space of six months," which they had done in his own case- 120 LIVES or THE SPEAKERS. Little business of public interest was transacted during the sitting of this Parliament. The subsidy required by Edward's great necessities was the sole object of his assembling the representatives of the people ; and although some Acts of public advantage were passed, and amongst others a sumptuary law to regulate what kind of apparel temporal men of every degree should wear, there is nothing of peculiar interest in the record of its proceedings, or in any manner referring to the Parliamentary conduct of our Speaker. There was something wanting either in the King or the times to give security to the dynasty of the rightful line ; Edward, although victorious in almost all his warlike operations, was suspicious of his subjects, and was treated contemptuously by his allies. In this year the King of France with- drew the annual tribute, and forbad the marriage of the Dauphin with Elizabeth, his eldest daughter, while the King of Scots broke off the proposed alliance with Ciceley, another of his daughters, and openly espoused the cause of France. The subsidy of a tenth and a fifteenth was quite unequal to his necessities, Edward therefore applied to the Clergy, who gave him a tenth ; and were sufficiently complaisant to grant whatever he demanded. Walsing- ham expresses himself strongly upon these practices ; he says : — " servile, pernitiosum Exitium EcclesitE ! Avertat Deus, ah omnibus Regum succedentium animis factum ejusmodi in ullam trahere consequentiam ; ne forsan ipsis ea mala, sive deteriora, excogitare possint, eveniant, quce mox huic Regi, at suae claris- simcB posteritati, miserahiliter evenerunt. (Hist. Croyl. Cont., p. 563.) This was the last Parliament of Edward IV. William Prynne, in his " Abridgment of the Records," gives the names of the peers summoned to attend a Parliament in the next year, but there are no proceedings of any such Parliament on the Record, and as the King died in the month of April of 1483, it is probable they never met. Browne Willis, in his " Notitia Parliamentaria," in a short account of this gentleman, says, " he was, probably, miles pro county Surrey vel Sussex, of both which counties he was Sheriff in 1476, the latter whereof he represented in 1472. And though the writs, indentures, and returns of the members of Parliament are all lost between the years 1477 and 1542, so that nothing can be affirmed with certa,inty, yet, forasmuch as all his predecessors appear to have served for the respective counties where they were seated, and as none seem to me to have been elected Speakers, but such as were the milites Comitatuum, I have ventured to place his successors in that period (viz. inter 1477 and 1542 aforesaid) as representatives of the counties of their family's principal residence; which, I hope, will be the more' excusable, as it is an attempt to retrieve the names of some of those eminent persons, and point out the places they served for, which might be otherwise unknown to posterity." We can trace no further particulars of our Speaker, beyond the fact of his being the son of John Wode, a burgess for Horsham in 1414. WILLIAM CATESBY. 121 WILLIAM CATESBY. William Catesby, of Ashby Leger, in the county of Northampton (a man whose name has been imperishably associated with infamy by the immortal bard, as the minister of the crook-backed Richard, and the wiUing associate and accomplice of the usurper's crimes), traced his origin from Simon de Esseby, younger brother of Philip de Esseby, steward to Randle Grernon, Earl of Chester, in the reigns of Henry I. and Stephen. The lineal descendant of this Simon de Esseby (the family having assumed the name of Catesby) married Isabel, sole heiress of Henry Ladbroke, of Ladbroke, in Warwickshire, of which estate our Speaker's father was possessed at the period of his birth. The Catesbys were people of some consideration in the counties of Warwick and Northampton, and held, independently of the above- named property, the manors of Rodburne and Shuckburg inthe former, and those of Ashby Leger, Walton, and Watford, in the latter county. Of the early years of our Speaker we have no information, but no doubt can be entertained that he adopted the legal profession as the surest road to fortune, and the stepping-stone to those honours and distinctions for which the ambitious ever thirst, Catesby, who was introduced to Richard, Duke of Gloucester, by his patron. Lord Hastings, acquired great influence in his councils or conspiracies, and as a reward for his services, as soon as he mounted the throne, Richard constituted him Esquire of the Body, and Chancellor of the Marches of Wales, and conferred upon him grants of various forfeited manors and lucrative wardships, and amongst other local appointments, made him Steward of the manors belonging to the Duchy of Lancaster, in the county of North- ampton, Master Forester of Rockingham, Justice of Whittlebury Forest, and joint Constable with the Viscount Lovell, of Rockingham Castle. It may easily be conceived that Catesby had earned these favours by his devotion to the cause of his master, and the unscrupulous execution of his orders. It is much the fashion now-a-days to find virtues in those who were consigned to everlasting infamy by contemporaneous authors ; and it is doubted whether Richard merited any, beyond a very slight portion of the obloquy which has been cast upon him by writers in the interest of an opposite faction, or who lived at a period when truth was no virtue, or at least could only be practised by those who sought the crown of martyrdom in her sacred- cause. If those who have thrown this new light 122 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1438, upon history have convinced the world of the innocency of Richard, then the subject of our memoir must be equally or more free from stain. We must, hovi^ever, express our belief, in spite of Mr. Buck's defence of him, or the discoveries of Mr. Sharon Turner, that both Richard and Catesby vi^ere instrumental in procuring the death of the young Princes in the Tower, as they were the principal flaws in the usurper's title to the crown. Historians relate that Catesby had frequent interviews with Sir James Tyrrell prior to these murders, and had selected this man as one worthy of his master's confidence. Catesby is charged with ungratefully betraying his early patron, Lord Hastings ; and Grafton, the chronicler, gives us the words of this ill-fated but unsuspecting nobleman, in a conversation with Lord Stanley, in reference to the power of this man over Richard, in spite of any order in Council: — " Well, on my life never doubt you, for while one man is there which is never thence, neither can there be anything once mended that should sound amiss towards me, but it should be in mine ears, or it were well out of their mouths." "This," says Grafton, "meant he by Catesby, which was near of his, the King's, secret council, and whom he familiarly used in his most weighty matters, putting no man in so special trust as him, since he wist well that there was no man to him so much beholding as was this Catesby, which was a man well learned in the laws of this land, and by the special favour of the Lord Hastings, in good authority, and much rule bare in the countries of Leicester and Northampton, where the Lord Hastings' power lay. But surely great pity was it that he had not either more truth or less wit, for his dissimulation only kept all that mischief up, in whom, if the Lord Hastings had not put so special trust, that Lord Stanley and he, with divers others Lords, had departed into their countries, and broken all the dance for many evil signs that he saw, which he now construed all for the best ; so surely thought he that there could be no harm towards him in that council intended where Catesby was." Considering the extent of Catesby's obligation to this honest-hearted and unfortunate nobleman, whose principal and almost only fault was his friendship ■ and adherence to the usurper, it was scarcely possible for him to have enter- tained a suspicion of his truth ; but, unfortunately, there are too many instances of obsequious treachery under and by virtue of royal authority, in better men than Catesby. Of the influence of Catesby, Ratcliife, and Lovell, in the councils of the King, beyond the authority of Lord Hastings, we have Collingborn's distich : — " The rat, the cat, and Lovell, our dog, Rule all England under the hog." In allusion to the boar which Richard had adopted as one of his supporters. 1 Rich. III.] willtam catesby. 123 For this harmless political squib, the luckless author was " hanged, headed, and quartered," on Tower Hill. Authorities have observed, that " Catesby was so well versed in the laws of the land, that he made the judges shake at his displeasure ;" but under what statute he framed the indictment, so as to procure the execution of this barbarous sentence upon the poor poet, we are at a loss to conceive. To enumerate the events in which Catesby was involved, during Richard's bloody and unnatural struggle for the throne, and the prominent part he acted during the short reign of the usurper, would require a larger space than we can afford to the subject of our memoir, and would trespass too much upon history. "We shall therefore content ourselves with a slight reference to the course he pursued in the interest of his master, during his short Parliamentary career. In 1483 he was elected Knight of the Shire of Northampton, in the first and only Parliament of Richard III., which met at Westminster on the 23rd of January of that year, when he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. There is no doubt that his election to this high office was the efiect of utter subserviency to the will of the tyrant, whose minion he was known to be by all. Indeed, the whole proceedings of this Parliament (in which we must admit that some of the best laws which grace our statute books were enacted) are marked by a cowardly and impious deference to this Sovereign ; such, indeed, as meets with no parallel in the previous history of the English monarchy. Even the Act of Subsidy was " ordered to be presented to the King, by William Catesby, Esq., the Speaker of the House of Commons," and in the preamble or preface it is said to be, " For the worship of God," the Commons granted the subsidy to the King, &c. The Act of Settlement of the Crown was the business of first importance. John Speed sets it forth fully, and thus expresses himself upon the subject: — "These things I have laid forth, more at large, out of the Parliament Roll, that ye may understand both what and how great matters the power of a Prince, the outward show of virtue, the wily fetches of lawyers, fawning hope, pensive fear, desire of change, and goodly pretences, are able to effect in that most wise assembly of all the estates in the kingdom, even against all law and right ; so the saying of Solomon, in this State, seemed most true, that a living dog is better than a dead lion." In " the wily fetches of lawyers," we see the handiwork of our Speaker, whose zeal in Richard's cause never relaxed until the Parliament had exhausted every resource for assuring to him, as far as possible, the crown of these realms. They confirmed his title to the crown, among other arguments, as perfect by their own election ; they declared the marriage of Edward IV. void, and his children illegitimate and incapable of succession ; Elizabeth, his wife, a damnable adultress, by reason of Edward having previously promised 124 LIVES OF THE SPEAKEES. [SPEAKER 1483. marriage to Eleanor, tlie daughter of the Ear] of Shrewsbury ; and Edward himself a man of such ungodly disposition, that it was no marvel that he, the Sovereign Lord and head of the land, had provoked the ire and indig- nation of our Lord God, &c." Added to all this blasphemy, the deceased Duke of Clarence was attainted, and resorting to the very policy of the house of Lancaster, on the usurpation of Henry IV., they adjudged his issue incapable of inheriting the crown ; and finally, declared Richard IIL undoubted heir, making his hereditary title by the law of God and Nature, his election by the three estates, and as Mr. Prynne observes, " his pretended virtues and fitness to reign as King ; his valour in battle ; his honourable and royal birth fwithout one word of his desperate treasons, regicides, murders, hypocrisy, and other vices), the grounds of their choice. These acts, together with the attainder of the Duke of Buckingham, Margaret, Countess of Rich- mond, the mother of Henry VII., and others, are sufficient to shew the pliancy of this Parliament, and their entire submission to the will of the tyrant, and the fear which then possessed the boldest, as the historians assert, so far from excusing them, adds to their debasement. The last act of this Parliament was the crowning infamy of this single and singular session of Richard's reign. It was an Act to vest certain lands in the counties of Cornwall and Devon, of great value, forfeited by the attainder of Sir John Arundel, upon Sir James Tyrrell, Knt., and Anne, his wife, whose atrocious villainy, as the principal person concerned in the murder of the two young Princes in the Tower, must be alluded to in his own petition to the King, in which, among other things, he prays for this reward, for " having done some true service to Ms good grace." It is to be regretted that the Rolls and Records of this Parliament are so meagre of information as to the proceedings of individuals. As an historical curiosity, it would have been highly inter- esting to have traced the conduct and deportment of our Speaker in the course of the debates, and to read the specious arguments by which his partisans bolstered up the title of their unworthy master ; but the statute books contain almost the only information that can be derived upon this point, and the Roll itself, which is very short, was so obliteTated that but a small portion of the Chancellor's opening speech could be deciphered. Yet from all we learn from contemporaneous authors, we may reasonably infer that the legal acumen and cunning of our Speaker were actually at ■work in the preparation and carrying out of the various laws intended to promote his master's interest, and raise himself to greatness. The short rest of Richard's reign belongs to history, but of our Speaker, William Catesby, we may perhaps be allowed to observe, that having embarked in that dreadful career of crime which was necessary to promote the ambitious schemes of the usurper, he allowed no feeling or compunction of conscience to interfere with that which he considered he was bound in honour to perpetrate in futherance 1 Rich. III.] william catesby. 125 of his schemes ; and that his zeal, though in a bad cause, was more real than affected, we may instance his unshaken fidelity to the last moment. Fuller, in his " Worthies of Northamptonshire," styles our Speaker Sir William Catesbye, an error which stands corrected by the Speaker himself, as we shall presently manifest, but he adds nothing whatever of interest to the foregoing particulars of this extraordinary man. He observes, that " if any object that being neither Lord Chief Justice, Chief Baron, nor any writer on the law, he falleth not under my pen, by the charter of method prefixed to this catalogue, know, that though formerly nrnie, he was eminently all officers, in every court of judicature, all the Judges shaking at his displeasure," and he gives Sir Thomas More as his authority for this statement. But the last paragraph in this very short account of our Speaker, not only surprises us for the accuracy of the learned Doctor, but shews how little trust is to be placed in the hastily written chronicles of our ancestors. He says, " The time of his death is uncertain ; but because we find him not molested in thereign of King Henry the Seventh (which had he survived, had surely happened), it is probable he died before his patron and preferrer, King Richard the Third." While the real facts are, that Mr. Catesby followed the fortunes of his royal master to the fatal field of Bosworth, where he was taken prisoner, and beheaded three days after at Leicester, without any form or semblance of a trial, on the 25th August, 1485. Although at the risk of extending this memoir beyond the ordinary limits, we will offer no apology for the insertion of the following document, drawn up by Catesby on the morning of his execution, as it not only gives a further insight into the character of the man, but is really curious from its style, and the reference he makes to the new Sovereign, whose favour towards his family he endeavoured to propitiate by the instrument in question. " This is the Will of William Catesby, Esq., made the xxvth of August, 1485, to be executed by me dere and well beloved wife, to whom 1 have ever be trew of my body, putting my sole trust in her for the executing thereof for the helth of my soul, the which I am undoubted she will execute, and for my body, when she may, to be beryed in the Church of St. Leger in Aisby, and to do such memoriall for me as I have appointed by for, and to restore all land that I have wrongfully purchased, and to pay the residue of such land as I have bought truly, and to demene hit among her children and migne as she thynketh good after her discretion. I doubt not the King will be a good and gracious lord to them ; for he is called a full gracious Prince, a.nd I never offended him hy my good and free will, for God I take to my Judge I have ever loved him. Item that the executors of Nich. Conley have the land again in Evertofte, without they have their C. li. Item in likewise Renet his land in Buckby. Item in likewise- that the Coparceners have their part in Roden- hall, in Suffolk, if thay have right thereto, or else to be restored to them that had it before : and the lond beside Kymbolton be desposed for my soul 126 LIVES OF THE SPEAKEES. and Evertons, and so of all other lands that the parte hath righte in. Item that all my Faders detts be executed and paid as to the house of Catesby and other Item that my Lady of Buckingham have C. li. to help her children, and that she will see my Lords detts paied and his will executed, and in speciall for such land as shall be amortised to the house of Flashy. Item my Lady of Shaftsbury XL mark. Item that John Spencer have his XL li with the olde money that I owe. Item that Thomas Andrews have his XX li. And there as I have be Executor, I beseech you see the will executed ; and that all other bequests in my other will be executed, as my special trust is in your Maisteres Margarete : and I heartily cry you mercy if I have delyd uncurteously with you, and ever pray you to live sole, all the deys of yowr life to do for my soul. And I pray my Lord of Winchester, my Lord of Worceter, my Lord of London, to help yow to execute this my will, and they will do somewhat for me : and that Richard Freebody have his XX li. and Badby X li. or the lande at Evertons and the X li., and pray you in every place see cleerness in my soul, and pray fast, and I shall for you, and Jesu have mercy on my soul. Amen. My Lords Stanley, Strange, and all that blood helpe, and pray for my soul, for ye have not for my body as I trusted in yow : and if my issue rejoice my land, I pray you let Mr. John Elton have the best benefice : and my Lord Lovell come to grace, then that ye show to him that he pray for me. And Uncle John remember my soul, as ye have done my body, and better ; and I pray you see the sadler Hartlington be paied, and in all other places." The above recited will negatives the statement of his having been honoured with Knighthood, upon his own authority, as well as the fact of his having died before his master. In the Parliament which assembled in the following November, Sir William Catesby, as he is there styled, though dead, was attainted of high treason, and the greater portion of his estates escheating to the Crown, were granted to Sir James Blount and Sir David Owen, but the attainder was reversed in the eleventh Henry VII., and his son, George, obtained restitution of the lands. Nevertheless misfortunes thickened upon them and their descendants, for Sir William Catesby, the great grandson of the above named George, was convicted, with Lord Vaux, of Harrowden, in 23rd Elizabeth, 1581, for harbouring the Jesuits, upon the confession of William Campion, one of the order, and was executed shortly afterwards, and Robert Catesby, his son and successor, is " dammed to everlasting fame" as the projector of the diabolical Gunpowder Plot in 1605, and was shot with Percy, another of the con- spirators, by one of the officers of the sheriff, while the rest of his confederates ' were either killed or taken prisoners, and subsequently executed. Arms. — Ar. two lions passant, guardant sa. crowned or. Crest.— A.rY antelope's head couped, ar;, between the attires, or., two battle- axes erect, ppr. SIR THOMAS LOVELL. 127 SIR THOMAS LOVELL, Knt. This family was of great antiquity in the county of Norfolk, where they were seated early in the reign of Henry III. From William Lovell, Esq., of Barton Bendish, in that county, lineally descended Ralph Lovell, Esq., of Well Hall pr Beauchamp Well, whose three sons, Sir Gregory, Sir Robert, and Thomas, the subject of this memoir, were among the most eminent knights of the age in which they lived. Our Speaker was the youngest of the three brothers, and was seated at Ryhall, in the county of Rutland, an estate he had purchased of Sir Edmund Dudley, Baron Dudley, and Cecilia his wife. In his capacity of Esquire of the Body to Henry VII., he attended him at the Battle of Bosworth. On the meeting of the first Parliament of this King, at Westminster, on the 7th November, 1486, Mr. Lovell having been elected one of the Knights of the Shire for Northampton, was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. A subsidy was granted and the friends of Richard were attainted ; this appears to have been the principal business of this Session, on the last day of which, however, the 10th December, we find by the Record that " Thomas Lovell, Esq., Speaker of the House of Commons, with that whole body came before the King in Parliament, and there in the most humble and respectful manner besought his Majesty that seeing the crown of these kingdoms was, by the authority of the present Parliament, established on him and his issue, that his Majesty would please to espouse and take to his bed the most noble and excellent Princess Elizabeth, daughter to King Edward IV., that by this happy match, and by God's Grace, a royal progeny might ensue, to the great comfort and consolation of the whole realm." The Speaker having ended, all the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, then present, rising from their seats, bowed their heads towards the King on his throne, and made the same request, to whom the King, with his own mouth, answered " that he was wilHng to do as they desired him ;" and in the course of that year the marriage was solemnized. This Parliament was prorogued, and the next Session was almost exclusively occupied in the attainders of the King's enemies, and the reversals of those of former reigns against his friends. But nothing further transpired in the course of their proceedings to give us any insight into the character of the Speaker. An insurrection was raised this year by the Lord Lovell, Sir Humphrey Stafford and his brothers, which was speedily put down. In the next year, one of a more serious character, Lambert Simnel's plot, produced the great Battle of Stoke, in which our Speaker and his brothers 128 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1486. distinguished themselves so greatly by their gallant bearing that Sir Gregory and Sir Robert were created Knights Banneret on the field of battle, and Thomas, who had cq^ntinued in the ofSce of Esquire of the King's Body, re- ceived the honour of Knighthood, and was shortly afterwards created a Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. In this battle many of the insurgents were slain, but one amongst them, Thomas, Viscount Lovell, effected his escape. This nobleman had been Lord Chamberlain to Richard III., and was one of the triumvirate of " the Rat, the Cat, and Lovell our Dog," to whom we have alluded in the memoir of William Catesby, the previous Speaker. We may here observe upon the singularity of the coincidence, that the most devoted adherents to the rival Princes of York and Lancaster, were gentlemen of the same name, and probably of the same family, and on each side at Bosworth and Stoke the Lovells displayed the greatest zeal and gallantry for and against the Sovereign de facto. We have said that Francis Lord Lovell escaped after the battle, so indeed he did, but it would have been better for him had he been taken and suffered the extreme penalties of the law as* a traitor. Know- ing how impossible it was to hope for pardon. Lord Lovell exhausted by fatigue, arrived at the gate of one of his own castles, and threw himself upon the protection of a servant, who for his better security, lodged him in a cellar, and from some cause or other which has to this day and probably ever will be shrouded in mystery, left him to his fate — a lingering death from starvation. About a century ago his skeleton was found upon the opening of the vault, a circumstance which gave rise to the romance of the Old English Baron, and of the popular ballad of the Mistletoe Bough, in which, although the incidents are varied, the name is preserved. In 1483, Sir Thomas Lovell was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer for life, and in 1502, Treasurer of the Household, and sworn of the Privy Council, and we find that he was one of the executors to the will of Henry VII. Under Henry VIII. he was continued in favour, and was appointed Constable of the Tower of London ; Surveyor of the Court of Wards, and Steward and Marshal of the King's Household. He refounded the Nunnery of Halliwell, in the parish of Shoreditch, London, and died at Enfield on the 25th May, 1524, and was buried under a tomb of white marble in the Nunnery Church, Halliwell. His wife was one of the two daughters of Thomas, Baron Ross of Hamlake (by the Lady Philippa, daughter of Sir John Tiptoft, Baron Tiptoft, Speaker of the House of Commons, and sister to Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester) ; she was buried at Enfield, in Middlesex, under an altar tomb. By his will which bears date the 10th December, 1522, the 14th of Henry VIIL, after directing his" body to be buried within thp Monastery of Nuns called Halliwell, in a little chapel there made by him, he leaves several manors, and artiongst them his residence or manor place of Elsynge, near Enfield, to Thomas Manners, Lord Ross ; and the bulk of his property to his cousin, SIR JOHN MORDAUNT. ' '■"' Sir Francis Lovell of Harling, from one of whose daughters or grand-daughters descends the noble family of Walgrave or Waldegrave, He leaves legacies also to his cousin Chamberlain's daughter, married to John Dethick, and to Dorothy Hansard, as well as to " William Hussey, John Fitz Lewis, Anthony Gurney, and John Billesby, which have married my brother Sir Robert Lovell's daughters £100 each ;" and he bequeaths several manors in Hertford- shire to James Oriell, son of Sir James Oriell, Knt., and his manor place at HalUwell (Shoreditch), where he dwelt for two years, to his aforesaid cousin Francis Lovell. In a note to the Testamenta Vetusta it is stated, that in the will of George Manners, Lord Roos, that nobleman calls Sir Thomas Lovell his uncle, but that there does not appear to have been any relationship between them. As far as consanguinity is concerned this may be strictly true, but as Sir Thomas Lovell married a daughter of Thomas Manners, Lord Roos, he became uncle-in-law to her brother's son. "We have not ascertained who is the present representative, if any, of our Speaker. Arms. — Or. a chev. az. between three squirrels sejant, gu. Crest. — A peacock's tail erect, ppr., banded with a belt, sa. rimmed and buckled arg., the end pendent. SIR JOHN MORDAUNT. Sir John Mordaunt was the lineal descendant of Sir Osbert Le Mor- daunt, a Norman knight, who obtained Radwell in Bedfordshire from his brother, to whom it had been granted by William the Conqueror, as a re- ward for his own and his father's good services. Eustach Le Mordaunt, the grandson of Sir Osbert, acquired the lordship of Turvey in the same county, through his marriage with Alice, eldest daughter and co-heiress of Sir Wil- liam de Alneto. He was succeeded by his son, William Mordaunt, Lord of Turvey, Radwell, AsthuU, and other manors in that county, whose son and successor, William, married Rose, daughter of Sir Ralph Wake, and left issue Robert Mordaunt, knight of the shire for Bedford in the 15th Edward III. From this gentleman we pass to his descendant, Sir John Mordaunt, of Turvey, Knt., the subject of our memoir, who wielded both the sword and the pen with equal dexterity, having attained such eminence as a soldier that he was appointed one of the royal commanders at the battle of Stoke, while we find that he subsequently held very high offices in the law and the govern- ment. In 1488, Sir John Mordaunt was elected knight of the shire for Bedford, 130 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1488. and on the meeting of the Parliament at Westminster on the 9th November, in the 3rd of Henry VII., he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. A large-and extraordinary subsidy w^as granted by this Parliament for a war with France, the exact nature of which is, however, unknown, although Polydore Vergil observes " that it was a poll-tax ; Tributo in singula capita imposito" and other authors confirm his view of the case, because of the insurrection which followed, such a tax being odious to the people ; never- theless, Hollingshed, Hall, and Stowe, say it was a tenth penny on all lands and goods. The infamous Star Chamber, which Lord Bacon so highly eulogizes, was instituted in this Parliament, and several good laws against murders, rapes, &c., were enacted. The benefit or privilege of Clergy was now first attacked, by the King's ordaining " That clerks convicted should be burnt in the hand, because they might taste of some corporal punishment, and carry a brand of infamy ; " a very wise and just enactment, for which, however, the King was himself subsequently branded in Perkin Warbeck's proclamation as " an execrable breaker of the rites of Holy Church." There was also a political Act passed, making it a capital offence for any of the King's servants under the degree of a Lord to conspire the death of any of the King's Council, &c., said to have been obtained by the Cardinal Chan- cellor Morton, who dreaded assassination ; and a highly politic statute against usury, the bastard use of money. The passing of this last statute confers immortal honour upon that Parliament in the opinions of all those simple- minded people who consider that the ordinances of God are a sure basis for legislation ; but we have lived to see the day when, upon the continued agita- tion of the question by a lawyer of ordinary abilities, but great perseverance, the wisdom of Parliament overruled the omnipotence of God, and usury now flourishes in this happy land, to the ruin of our noblest blood, while the Jews of St. Mary Axe become the unworthy possessors of the once lordly castles and baronial halls of England. And all this, too, without a dissentient voice, even from those whom it most concerns ; while, on the other hand, the mer- chants, millionaires, and rapacious Israelites, Christian and Hebrew Jews, are straining every nerve for the re-enactment of arrest for debt upon mesne process. To return, however, to our Speaker. It is singular that the his- tories of the time give no particulars as to his parliamentary career, or his conduct in the chair ; indeed, the Parliamentary History of England is alto- gether silent as to the fact of his election to the office, notwithstanding the expression of its satisfaction, in a former reign, at being enabled to continue for the future to hand down the Speakers' names to posterity. We are conse- quently unable to give anything like an insight into the political character or conduct of this learned and gallant knight; but we find that in the 11th year of this reign. Sir John Mordaunt was appointed King's Sergeant, four years afterwards Justice of Chester, and that subsequently he became Chancellor of 4 Hen. VIL] sib thomas fitzwiluam. ^31 the duchy of Lancaster, and, upon the creation of Henry Prince of Wales (afterwards Henry VIIL), 18th February, 1502-3, our Speaker was made one of the Knights of the Sword. He died in the 21st year of Henry VIT. ; and from him a long line of descendants, more eminent and illustrious than his predecessors, grace the pages of English history in the persons of Sir John, Baron Mordaunt, the grandson of the subject of this memoir, the Vis- counts Mordaunt of Avalon, the Earls of Peterborough and Monmouth, be- sides several gallant generals, sailors, and soldiers, slain or wounded in their country's service, and many eminent members of the Lower House of Parlia- ment amongst the cadets of this right noble and distinguished stock of true English gentlemen, which is now represented by Sir Charles Mordaunt, Bart., of Massingham, in the county of Norfolk, and Walton, in the county of Warwick, a lineal descendant of William Mordaunt, Esq., the next brother of our Speaker. Arms. — Ar. a chev. between three estoils of six points, sa. Crest. — A Saracen's head, in profile, ppr., wreathed about the temples, ar. and s^. SIR THOMAS FITZWILLIAM, Knt. The subject of this brief memoir. Sir Thomas Fitzwilliam of Aldwark, derived descent from the Fitzwilliams of Sprotborough, whose elaborate pedigree is set forth in Hunter's learned and admirable " History of Don- caster." He was born on the 13th January, 1448, and married the Lady Lucy Neville, daughter of the Marquis of Montacute, and niece of the king- making Earl of Warwick. The brother of this lady was created Duke of Bedford by King Edward IV., but was afterwards deprived of that honour, and died unmarried at Sheriff Hutton. Independently of connection, she brought Sir Thomas Fitzwilliam estates of the annual value of £193, which must have been considered a great fortune in those days, or the chroniclers would not have remarked upon the magnitude of her possessions. Sir Thomas Fitzwilliam was returned to Parliament as one of the knights of the shire for York, in the 4th of Henry VIL, a.d. 1489-90, and was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. The Parliamentary History is altogether silent as to his election to the chair ; and it is only by consulting the statute books that we find any clue to the period of the opening of Par- liament, which occurred on the 13th of January, the summonses, according to DugdaJe, being lost, "nulla summonitiones recordata." Several good laws, highly praised by Lord Bacon, were passed in this Parliament relating to the K 2 132 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. ^ [SPEAKER 1402. enclosure of land; the importation of wines in English bottoms ; the good conduct of Justices of the Peace, and restraining the benefit of Clergy to the first ofience. But, as our Speaker's name nowhere occurs, and we glean nothing further of his parliamentary services, we must conclude with a few particulars relating to his family. It appears that our Speaker died on the 29th May, 1495, leaving eight children by his wife, who survived him many years, and re-married the celebrated Sir Anthony Browne, Lieutenant of Calais, the favourite of Henry VIII., from whom descended the Viscounts Montacute. The youngest of our Speaker's sons was created Earl of South- ampton ; but, dying without issue, that title became extinct. Thomas, the eldest son, married Agnes, daughter of Sir Hugh Pagenham, Knt., and was slain at Flodden Field in 1513, with his brother John. William, the only son of the above named Thomas, died in infancy, 26th August, 1515, leaving two sisters, Alice and Margaret, married to James and Godfrey Foljambe, of Walton and Aldwark ; a very ancient knightly family, now represented by George Savile Foljambe, Esq., of Osberton, Notts, and Aldwark, co. York, although the Earl Fitzwilliam is the male representative of the Fitzwilliam family. Arms. — Lozengy arg. and gules. SIR RICHARD EMPSON, Knt. This famous, or infamous minister of the most avaricious monarch that ever wielded the sceptre of England, as the just reward of his ill doings, has been handed dovrai to posterity with that never ending opprobrium which attaches, more lastingly, to the abettors of a base, sordid, and avaricious tyranny, than to the sanguinary acts of the fiercest despotism. According to Bacon, Stowe, Hollingshed, Fuller, and other historians, he was a man of the humblest birth, his- father being a sieve maker, at Towcester, in Northamp- tonshire. Yet notwithstanding the lowness of his origin, the greatness of his ambition, and the hugeness of his criminality, it is astonishing how few and scarce are the particulars which are left upon record, concerning one whose actions had rendered him so odious to the community at large. We have not been able to discover any details of his early proceedings, nor do we find how, or under whose patronage, he commenced his legal career, in which, however, he soon distinguished himself pre-eminently for ability and sound judgment, as well as great tact as a financier, and a dogged perseverance in the pursuit of wealth both for his master and himself. We are, from the 7 Hen. VII.] sir richard empson. 133 different circumstances of his position, enabled to trace many particulars in the life of his equally culpable colleague, Edmund Dudley, but this we may attribute to the high station of his ancestors, and tha brilliant position of his descendants as the first and most influential nobles of the state; but of the subject of our memoir, we discover little beyond that which is contained in the records of his extortions, and the universal hatred in which he was held by a whole country. We need not detail the various schemes of his own suggestion, which were so readily sanctioned by the King, but the old chronicler's excuse for these terrible exactions on the part of Henry VII., is too curious to be omitted. Thus Richard Grafton, in " continuation of Hardyng," says, " And now the King drawing nigh to age, and consideryng the great battayles that he had in times past, which (as it was thought) came of over much welthines, provided a remedy ryght shortly for it. And to the extent that menne shoulde not thynck y' he would oppresse them or do the wrong, for of all people he hated oppressors, therefore he deuised with hym selfe, by what honest meane he might do it, and thus deuising called to mind y' English me dyd litle passe upo the observacio of any lawes y' were made, in so much, y' if such a thynge should be called to accompte, he thoughte manye men as well lords, as other of the lay fee, would be founde fautie. And so searching over the Statutes that he had made, punished them a lytle by. the pursse that had trans- gressed therein. After that he appoynted two Commissioners to receave the forfeietes, the one Richard Hempson, and the other Edmunde Dudley, booth lawers of the temporaltee, whiche persounes, for the desire to please their King, had no respect how thei got the moneye so thei might have it ether by ryght or wrong. Albeit, y* King hauyng pitee of his people, after that he perceaved they were sore punyshed and polled unknowyng to hym, restored to them their mony, of whom it was exacted uniustlye, and depryued the of their office that had so unjustly executed it." It is almost needless to observe, that although the chronicler's report that the King directed, by his last will, that restitution should be made, there is no evidence that this direction was carried into efiiect. Some, no doubt, from court favour and influence, obtained a remission of fines and the restoration of their estates, but that there was any general restitution from compunctious motives on the part of the monarch, is altogether unwarranted by any historical fact, and it is notorious that his successor never troubled himself about his father's exactions, beyond yielding to the popular desire of bringing his unworthy ministers to the scaffold. Fuller, in his " Worthies of Northamptonshire," when noticing Sir Richard Empson, whose name follows immediately after that of Catesby, another wm-thy of that county, observes, " It is a pity to part them, seeing Empson may be called the Catesbye to King Henry the Seventh, as Catesbye the Empson to King Richard the Third ; both countrymen. 134 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKEB 1492. eminent for having, odious for abusing, their skill in law ; active for the prince, injurious for the people. This Sir Richard was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and from a sieve maker's son (at Towcester, in this county, where he was born), came to sift the estates of the most wealthy men in England. For King Henry the Seventh, vexed that he had refused Columbus's proffer (whereby the West Indies, being found out fortunately, fell to Ferdinand, King of Spain), resolved to discover Indies in England, and to this purpose, made Empson promoter-general, to press the penal statutes all over the land. Empowered hereby, this prowling knight did grind the faces of rich and poor, bringing the grist thereof to the King, and keeping the toll thereof to himself, whereby he advanced a vast estate, which now, with his name, is reduced to nothing. He united the two houses of York and Lancaster in the king's good service, by making all equally obnoxious to fines and forfeitures. But in the beginning of the reign of King Henry the Eighth, he was arraigned, condemned, and beheaded, August 17, 1510. Say not that princes, if sacrificing their ministers to popular fury, will want persons faithfully to serve them, seeing such exem- plary justice will rather frighten officers from false deserving them ; for in fine, no real profi-t can redound to the sovereign, which results from the ruin of his subjects." Our author adds to the foregoing account : " I must not forget how there was an old man in Warwickshire, accounted very Judicious in judicial astrology, of whom Sir Richard Empson (then in his prime) did scoffingly demand, when the sun would change ? To whom the old man replied, " Even when such a v/icked lawyer as you go to heaven. But we leave him to stand and fall to his own master." This anecdote of the astrologer is taken from " Camden's Remains." Of the Parliamentary career of our Speaker we learn little or nothing from the journals or records of the proceedings of the only Parliament over whose deliberations he presided. It is somewhat strange that the Parliamentary History which had long previously to this period professed to give the names of all future Speakers, should not only be silent as to Sir Richard Empson, but should abstain from naming any Speaker during the reign of Henry VII. beyond the first and the last, Lovell and Dudley. We are the more astonished at the omission in the case of Empson (whose talent as a financier has been generally admitted), as the Par- liament of 1492, the 7th Henry VII. in which he was chosen Speaker, representing at that time his native county, was called together for no other purpose than that of raising money. The King opened the business himself by declaring his desire to retrieve his losses in France, at which declaration of war, all historians declare that the Lords and Commons were mightily pleased, and Lord Bacon observes, that " Parliament took fire immediately at this (the King's) speech, being ever affectionate to a war with France, but at this time the more so, in order to repair the dishonour they thought the King 7 Hen. VII.] sir hichard empson. 135 had sustained by the loss of Brittany." In the measures adopted to raise the necessary supplies for carrying on the war which was to be conducted by the King in person, we clearly see the handy work of our Speaker, Empson. No other minister but one whose triumphant extortions had already hardened his feelings against shame or reproach, would have suggested a return to the system of benevolence which had created such general odium in preceding reigns ; at the same time we must give him credit for great tact in covering himself with the sanction of an Act of Parliament for this illegitimate method of taxation. There is no doubt (as in the case of Dudley, his colleague, in which the noble author before cited affirms the fact) that Empson was placed in the chair by the King's influence for the special purpose of this pretended war, which history informs us was no sooner begun than ended, a treaty of peace having been concluded almost as soon as he landed at Boulogne, when Henry returned vrith a vast addition to his private treasury, this money-getting Sovereign acting upon the wise principle that, " so much saved is so much gained." No laws of any nature were enacted during this Parliament beyond those which had reference to the supply by benevolence, and the conduct of the war, for which purpose alone it was summoned. Empson continued his cruel career of exaction during the rest of this reign (the details of which are too well known to require further notice), enjoying in an eminent degree the execrations of the public and the curses of the widow and the orphan. Upon the accession of Henry VIII. he was delivered over to the popular fury — tried at Leicester, found guilty, and brought to London, where he was executed on Tower Hill, in 1510, amidst the revilings of the populace. The more respectful behaviour of the assembled thousands toward Dudley, his equally culpable colleague, can alone be attributed to the difference of his position, personal appearance, and the elegance of his manners. Empson, on the contrary, was a coarse person, and by birth essentially one of the people, there- fore the more criminal in the eyes of those who were accustomed only to the exactions of their superiors. Among other large estates in the possession of Sir Richard Empson was the manor of Towcester, which from a natural feeling of affection for the scenes of our infancy, surpassing the policy which should induce those of lowly origin, rather to fix upon a distant spot, he purchased of Richard Lord Grey de Ruthyn, who, according to Dugdale, wasted his estates in gaming and riotous living, and died in a tavern in Lombard Street, without issue, in the 15th year of IQng Henry VIII. Upon Empson's attainder this manor was seized by the crown, and in the Srd year of Henry VIIL, it was granted, with many other manors belonging to him, to William Compton, Esq. Eston-Neston was also granted to Mr. Compton, but it does not appear to have taken effect, as Thomas Empson, the son of our Speaker, sold it afterwards to Richard Fermor, Esq., ancestor of the Earls of Pomfret, in the 22nd of Henry VII I. 186 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1496. For further particulars of the subject of this memoir, and to avoid an useless repetition of facts and opinions, we refer the reader to our account of Edmund Dudley, Esq., Speaker of the House of Commons, a.d. 1505. Arms. — Ar. two bends, sa. SIR ROBERT DRURY, Knt. The family of Drury is of Norman extraction, the first of whom upon record in this country, was a companion-in-arms of the Conqueror, a fact which is attested by the best of all evidence, the Roll of Battle Abbey. Immediately after the Battle of Hastings, we find the Drurys settled at Thurston, in SuiFolk, and continued there until Sir Roger Drury removed to Rougham, in the same county, where he died in 1418. Roger Drury, his descendant, became seated at Hawsted, where he died in 1500, having married Felice, daughter of William Denson, Esq., of Besthorp, in Norfolk, by which union he' was the father of Sir Robert Drury, who is the subject of this memoir. For a more ample account of this ancient and historical family, the reader may refer to Sir John CuUum's " History and Antiquities of Hawsted," where the pedigrees of the various branches of this eminent stock are set forth with remarkable accuracy. In 1496, Sir Robert Drury was elected knight of the shire for Suffolk, and it is asserted, that in the Parliament which met at Westminster the tenth of Henry VIT., he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. Historians are all at variance as to the meeting of this Parliament, and if it were really in 1496, there is no record whatever of its proceedings, nor of any Parliament between 1492 and 1497. In the latter year. Sir Reginald Bray was the Speaker, in the former, the celebrated Sir Richard Empson. As, however, Hakewell, Browne Willis, and Hatsell, all concur in the fact of Sir Robert Drury being Speaker of a Parliament held in 1496, we must take it for granted. By Kennet's marginal dates of years, in his edition of "Dugdale's Summons," it would appear that the Parliament met in 1495 and 1406. Rapin confirms this, while Fabian gives 1494 as the correct date. At any rate, there is no account of its proceedings, the records being lost. Sir Robert was in great favour with Henry VII., in whose reign he was sworn of the Privy Council, and in the first of Henry VIII. he procured a license to impark 2000 acres of land, and 500 of wood, in Hawsted, Whepsted, and Horningsheath. We find, from the authority we have before 10 Hen. VII.] sir Robert drury. 137 cited, that in the 10th of Pope Alexander VI., he obtained a license, which bears date the 7th of the Calends of July (25th June), 1501, for a chapel in his house at Hawsted. He died about the 24th of Henry VIII., and judging from his signature to a deed of conveyance to Sir Robert Norwich, Chief Justice of the King's Bench, and others, he must have been of great age. He was buried in St. Mary's Church, at Bury, under a large altar monument of stone, which is beneath the last arch of the chancel, towards the east, on the south side, where the following distich was inscribed on the wooden palisades — " Suche as ye be, some tyrae were wee, Suche as wee are, suche schall ye be." He left issue by his first wife, Anne, daughter of Sir William Calthorpe. Knt., a son Sir William Drury, a great favourite of Queen Mary, who was knight of the shire for Suffolk from the seventh of Edward VI. to his death. He married, first, Jane, daughter and heiress of Sir William St. Maure, Knt., who died in childbed, and secondly, to Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of Henry Southwell, Esq., Attorney-General to Henry VIII., from whom, after allying themselves, by marriage, with the great and noble families of Waldegrave, Rich, Jermyn, Botteler, Alington, Corbet, Yelverton, Stafford, Bacon, Clifford, Cecil Earl of Exeter, and Cecil Viscount Wim- bleton, &c., descended a long line of eminent men, celebrated in the history of their country, one of whom. Sir Drue Drury, was, in conjunction with Sir Amias Paulet, charged with the custody and safe keeping of the un- fortunate Mary, Queen of Scots. It was from this family, that Drury Lane claimed its name, the Speaker's son, or grandson, having there built a noble mansion in the time of Elizabeth, called Drury House, the site of which was a little behind the Olympic Theatre. G. V. Drury, Esq., of Shotover Park, Wheatley, Oxon, is the represen- tative of the Speaker, while the Rev. Henry Drury, M. A., Vicar of Bromhill, Wilts, the grandson, and the Rev. Charles Drury, of Knightstone, St. Mary Ottery, in the county of Devon, the son of the late Rev. Joseph Drury, D.D.,Head Master of Harrow, derive froma younger branch of the same family, all, however, descending from Sir Robert Drury, the subject of this memoir. Of this family was also the Rev. Benjamin Drury, the talented and witty assistant master of Eton, under the presidency of Dr. Keate. Arms. — Ar, on a chief vert., two mullets pierced, or. Crest. — A greyhound, courant, ppr. Motto. — Non sine causa. 138 LIVES OP THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1497. SIR REGINALD BRAY, K.G. Amongst the companions-in-arms of the victorious Norman, we find the name of the Sieur de Bray inscribed on the Roll of Battle Abbey. Many foreigners, Normans, Bretons, Flemish, and French, who sought their fortunes in this country after its subjection to the Norman rule, and long subsequent to the battle of Hastings, which decided the fate of the unfortunate Saxons, tampered with the monks of that celebrated abbey, and procured the surrepti- tious insertion of their names upon that roll which for ages to come was per se to give dignity and nobility to their newly founded, and in many instances base born, families. This subject has been admirably treated by M. Thierry, in his history of the " Conquest of England by the Normans," in which he proves to the satisfaction of the genealogist, not only the fact we have just advanced, but the extraordinary rise of the lowest followers of the Norman camp, bearing the names of the menial trades and occupations in which they were employed, who, throwing down the hammer and the saw, the spit and the carving-knife, not only lorded it over the miserable Saxon nobility, but became large landed proprietors, and the founders of many of those houses whose Norman blood is their pride and boast even to this day. Not so, how- ever, with the family whose pedigree we are now tracing, for the name as Seigneur de Bray (a small town in Normandy), is not only inscribed upon the celebrated roll to which we have adverted, but its position indicates its genuine- ness, while his signature as a witness to a charter granting further privileges and immunities to the abbey in question in 1088, confirms the entry on the roll, and at the same time establishes the fact of the Seigneur De Bray's personal attendance about the Conqueror, and that he bore his Sovereign's Christian name. From this William de Bray we trace the family for several generations holding the then high and important ofiice of sheriff in the counties of Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, and Bucks, and from the reign of King John to this day, a period of 600 years and upwards, the pedigree developes one uninterrupted line of male descent. A circumstance which few families among the aristocracy can establish, although we are of opinion, that with all the pride and pretensions of continental nations, who have accused us of being a nation of shopkeepers, no kingdom of the civilized world possesses so ancient and well established an aristocracy as that of our own country. When Fitz- Stephen invaded Ireland in 1169, he was attended by Thomas de Bray, one of 11 Hen. VII.] SIR Reginald bray. 139 this family, who wrote an account of the expedition. The MS. in 62 chapters is amongst the Irish papers in the library of the Archbishop of Canterbury, at Lambeth, entitled a " History of the Conquest of Ireland." In the 17th of Henry III. 1233, Ralph de Bray with Ralph de Norwich, two of the King's justices, were appointed to receive from Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent, an abjuration of the King's realm if he would not quit the sanctuary he had taken in the chapel of Brentwood, in Essex, or appear in the King's courts, and abide the judgment there according to agreement between the King and this great subject In the 34th Henry III., 1250, Hugh de Bray, a descen- dant of the above, married Beatrice, daughter and heirof Ehas de Beauchamp, and in 1260, William de Bray, probably a brother of the preceding, who was possessed of two knight's fees, in Wollaston, in Northamptonshire, obtained a weekly market on Tuesday, and a fair every year. This gentleman was succeeded by Sir Robert de Bray, who attended Edward I. and II. in theii: wars in Scotland, where he greatly distinguished himself. He was ranger of Sancey Forest, in Northamptonshire, and employed in various matters for his Sove- reign. In 1313, Roger de Bray was knight of the shire for Bedford, and Sir T. de Bray of Hadden, called the Seneschall by Thoroton, who died 1328, left ason and heir Nicholas, then nine years and a half old. Passing over many eminent members of this family we come to John Bray, a literary character of great eminence for the age in which he lived, who is mentioned by Tanner in his book of " English Writers." This gentleman was a student of medicine and botany, and wrote a most learned worlc for the time on the names of plants in Latin, French, and English. King Richard II. rewarded his extraordinary merit by an annuity of one hundred shillings per annum, charged upon the Earldom of Salisbury. In the Lansdowne Collection at the British Museum are two very curious MSS. containing accounts of the Bray family, and their possessions, written by Henry de Bray for the purpose of preserving the memory of his ancestors, in which the writer proves his descent from the preceding eminent characters, and the lands in their possession since the year 1189, temp of Richard I. The manuscript is continued to, or rather finishes in 1329, at which the writer states himself to be sixty years old, and that Thomas, his nephew, son of Nicholas de Bray, then in his wardship, was nine years and six months old. There are many interesting facts narrated in the journal of this gen- tleman; amongst other things, under date of the 22nd March, 1293, he says, his brother Robert de Bray took the habit of a monk at St. Andrews, in North- ampton, about which business he expended £2 15s., besides the expense of his mother. And to shew the value of money at that period he says, he bought a cottage for lis., and built two new ones for 32s. 4d. ; built a short wall 8| perches, 5s. ; a bridge at the mill 10s. This manuscript contains much that is curious, but as it is not our object to dwell at any great length upon the remote ancestors of the subject of our memoir, we will pass overa few genera- 140 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1497- tions, and introduce to the reader the direct descendant of the foregoing persons, Sir Richard de Bray, a very eminent man, who was of the privy council to King Henry VI. He had two wives, first, Margaret, daughter of John Sandes, of Furnes Felles, in Lancashire, by whom he had issue Sir John de Bray, who died in his father's hfetime, leaving a daughter and only child Margaret, who married Sir William Sandys, of the Vine, near Basingstoke, in Hants, Lord Chamberlain to Henry VIII., by whom he acquired a great estate. It was upon the occasion of this marriage that the following lines were made about the period when Lord Sandys projected leaving France, and returning to his young and rich wife : — " My Lord Sands, my Lord Sands, Lift up both your hands, And down on your knees and pray That when you come from France, You may lead up the dance With good Mrs. Margery Bray." Sir Richard de Bray's second wife was Joan or Johanna, the youngest of the three daughters and coheiresses of Nicholas Hussey of Harting, one of the most ancient and eminent families in the kingdom, by whom he had two sons, Sir Reginald, the subject of this memoir, and a younger son John, who pro- bably was not born until the death of his elder brother of the half blood. Sir John de Bray, the father of Lady Sandys. We mention this fact as we shall have occasion to speak hereafter of the issue male of Sir Reginald's youngest brother, who continued the line of this eminently historical family. We are not told whether Sir Reginald studied the law in his youth, the well-authenticated family papers merely asserting that he was brought up to understand business. We find, however, that he was Receiver General to Sir Henry Stafibrd, who married Margaret, Countess of Richmond, the mother of Henry VII., and that that noble knight mentions him in his will, bequeath- ing him his " Grissell courser ;" and he continued in the service of that illus- trious lady during her subsequent marriage with Lord Stanley, by whom he was appointed a trustee for her dower of 500 marks per annum. From the position of his father, Sir Richard Bray, in the counsels of Henry VI., it is natural to suppose that Sir Reginald sided with the house of Lancaster ; nothing is, however, recorded which throws any light upon his proceedings during the reign of that monarch, or of Edward IV. ; but on Richard's assuming the crown, he had a general pardon granted to him. Whether it was to cover any actual transgression, or to guard against any in- sidious attack in such a critical time, we are not able to state ; but there can be no doubt it was obtained through the instrumentality of Lord Stanley, who was at that period high in the usurper's favour. Sir Reginald was on 11 Hen. VII.] SIR Reginald bray. 141 terms of friendship with a priest named Morton, who subsequently played a very conspicuous part in the drama of history, as the Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury. This illustrious divine was firmly attached to the Lancastrian interests so long as Henry VI. lived ; but his prudence and fidelity pointed him out to his successor as a person worthy of every trust and confidence, and Edward IV. did not hesitate to engage him in his service, and made him Bishop of Ely. Upon Richard's usurpation, the good Bishop was looked upon with an evil eye, as too honest and conscientious for the work required of all his ministers, and he was sent to Brecknock Castle in Wales, under the watchful care of the Duke of Buckingham, who had been, as is well known, a chief instrument in advancing that monarch to the throne. Morton's attachment to the house of Lancaster had been interrupted by the deaths of Henry VI. and his son, and with the firm hold which Edward seemed to possess of the throne, and the affections of the people, with a family to keep up that line of succession, it could scarcely be supposed that any of his subjects should keep aloof from his service ; but when by deeds of blood Richard assumed the crown, his attachment to the red rose returned with all its pristine force. The two daughters of Edward were still living, and the wise and politic Bishop, though a prisoner under the surveillance of Buckingham, formed the idea of cementing the two roses by a marriage of the young Earl of Richmond with the elder of the two princesses, and thus overthrow the usurper. Buckingham, who was discontented with the manner in which his services had been recompensed, was brought over to the bishop's views, and joined him heartily in the scheme. Morton told the Duke that he had an old friend, Reginald Bray, with the Countess of Richmond, a man sober, secret, and well witted, whose prudent policy he had known to have compassed matters of great importance, and recommended him to be employed in this transaction. The Duke approving this, Morton wrote to Bray, who was then in Lancashire with the Countess, to come to Brecknock. He rapidly obeyed the summons, and receiving his charge, returned to the Countess, who, entering fully into the design, engaged the Queen Dowager (widow of the late King Edward) to consent to the marriage, and well knowing the ability of Bray, made him her chief manager in the business. The knowledge of that ability was not confined to the Countess, for he soon engaged Sir Giles Daubeny, afterwards Lord Daubeny, Sir John Cheney, and Sir Richard Guildford, or Guldeford, (all of whom were much honoured, and employed by the Earl when he obtained the crown,) and many others. The Earl of Richmond accepted the proposal, and a fruitless expedition was set on foot, which ended in the capture and decapitation of Buckingham. We cannot enter into the particulars of these events, it would be trespassing too much upon the province of the historian. We shall, therefore, merely observe that, at the celebrated battle of Bosworth, which followed very shortly after Buckingham's attempt. Sir Reginald Bray 142 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1497. greatly distingnished himself in the ranks of the Earl of Richmond, and was the discoverer of Richard's crown in a thorn-bush, which he carried to Sir Thomas Stanley, who placed it on the victorious Richmond's head, when he was hailed King by the title of Henry VII., amidst the universal acclamations of the army. On this occasion Sir Reginald Bray was created a Knight ' Banneret, and was taken into the immediate confidence of the King. Bishop Morton, who was abroad, was recalled for the same purpose. Inde- pendantly of large grants of lands, the new monarch conferred high honours upon Sir Reginald, constituted him Knight of his body, Knight of the Bath at his coronation, and subsequently conferred upon him the order of the Garter, He was appointed also Lord High Treasurer (which office, however, he held but one year) ; Constable of the Castle of Oakham, in the county of Rutland; joint Chief Justice in Eyre with the Lord Fitzwater, of the forests south of the Trent ; Steward of the Manor of Acton-Clinton, and Overton, in Bucks ; and of " the estates which were late of Henry, Duke of Buckingham," soon after restored to the Duke's son. The Manor of Stene, in Northamp- tonshire, part of the forfeited estate of Francis, Viscount Lovel, one of the ministers of the usurping Richard, with Catesby and Ratclifi'e, "The rat, the cat, and Lovel, our dog," was also granted to Sir Reginald, by the favour of Henry VII. As a mark of great honour to his family, at the coronation of the Queen in 1487, the Duchess of Norfolk sat at one side of the table, Lady Ferrars of Chartley, and Lady Bray on the other, and at the christening of Prince Arthur, Sir Reginald wore a rich suit of gold, given him by the Earl of Derby. In the second year of this reign, he was made keeper of the king's parks of Guildford and Henley, as well as of the manor of Cleygate, in Surrey, for life. Sir Reginald was also with the king, at Hertford, in the fourth year of his reign, keeping the feast of Easter, and was amongst the bannerets at the creation of Henry, Duke of York, afterwards Henry VIII. Independently of all the honours conferred upon this distinguished knight, the possessions he held from the crown are too numerous for insertion in this memoir, indeed their detail would fill a volume. "We will only observe, that among them was the manor of Shere, in Surrey, the forfeited estate of the Earl of Ormond, now the residence of Edward Bray, Esq., the heir male of the family. Indeed the estate of Sir Reginald must have been collossal, for we find, that in 1492, upon the proposed war with France, he covenanted by indenture, to serve the king beyond sea, for a whole year, with twelve men, himself included, each having his custrell and page, 24 demi-lances, 77 archers on horseback, 231 archers, and 24 billmen on foot, a contingent which ex- ceeded that furnished by the Earl of Derby. We find, by this indenture, 11 Hen. VII.] SIR Reginald bray. 143 that soldiers' wages were extremely liberal in those days, " each man-at-arms garnished with his custrell (or huckler bearer) and page, 18d. per day ; each demi-lance, 9d. ; each archer on horseback or foot, 6d. per day." In the 10th of Henry VII., Sir Reginald had, amongst other fresh grants, that of the Isle of Wight, for life, with Carisbrooke Castle, &c., at a rent of £308 16 8|, at which time he was also Steward of the University of Oxford, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The circumstances attending his acceptance of the former office, are detailedinArchdeaconChurton's life of Bishop Smith, who mentions a letter addressed to Sir Reginald, on the 4th of June, 1494, by the University, desiring him to accept the office, and another to Dr. Mayors, to use his influence with him for that purpose, with a third to Sir Reginald, thanking him for the acceptance of the office, and a donation of 40 marcs, which according to Anthony "Wood, was given towards repairing St. Mary's Church, in the window of which Richard Le Clarencieux found, in 1547, the figures of Sir Reginald and his wife kneeling, vnth their arms emblazoned on their surcoats. As an instance of the great influence of Sir Reginald vrath his sovereign, when the Bishop of Oxford was desirous to resign his charge, by reason of old age and infirmity, the king would not comply vrath his request ; upon this the University wrote to Sir Reginald, their steward, in which they requested him to obtain the king's consent, observing, " that they know his influence with the king is such, that he can prevail for anything that he desires, knowing that he will not desire anything which is not lawful." In 1497, the 11th of Henry VII., Sir Reginald having been elected a knight of the shire for Bedford, was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. "We make this statement of his representing that county, upon the authority of the topographical writers, for Sir Reginald's name does not even appear in the Parliamentary History, as Speaker, and the lists of the Parliaments of this reign have never been found ; indeed, those which are extant are very incomplete, and no dependence can be placed upon any of them until the Long Parliament of 1640. Those given by Browne Willis in his Notitia Parliamentaria being correct only as regards the names inserted, leaving out even some of the Knights of Shires, and in many instances nearly all the Burgesses. Much error also seems to have existed with respect to the date of this Parliament. Kennet's marginal dates of years, make it 1495 and 1496. Rapin has fallen into the same error. Dugdale and Lord Bacon, however, establish the fact, and although there is no entry upon the journals of the House which give the slightest indication of the course of proceedings or of the conduct of our Speaker in the chair, the latter noble author observes generally upon the acts passed in this Parliament, that " It may be justly suspected, by the proceedings following, that as the King did ex- cel in good commonwealth laws, so nevertheless he had, in secret, a design to make use of them, as well for the collecting of treasure as for correcting of 144 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1497. manners, and so meaning thereby to harrow his people, did accumulate them the rather." Lord Bacon here draws his conclusion from the subsequent conduct of his ministers, Empson and Dudley, the latter of whom was Sir Reginald's successor in the chair of St. Stephen's. The principal act passed in this Parliament was for securing the subject against prosecution for his allegiance to the King da facto. The same noble author describes it as "a law of a strange nature, rather just than legal, and more magnanimous than provident." It ordained that no man should be impeached or attainted either by the course of law, or Act of Parliament, who should assist in arms or otherwise the King for the time being, and the noble author wittily observes that " The spirit of this law was wonderfully pious and noble ; being like, in matter of war, unto the spirit of David in matter of plague, who said, " If I have sinned, strike me, hut what, what have these sheep done ? " and he goes on to observe upon the illusory nature and futility of this act, which we should have imagined must have been evident to common sense that " no precedent act could bind or frustrate a future." Although, as we before ob- served, there is no clue whatever to the political conduct of Sir Reginald Bray, during his tenure of the high and dignified ofB.ce of Speaker, we may conclude from his devotedness to his Sovereign, [and the continued favour in which he lived with the Court, that he was (as his successors continued until the time of Charles II.) but a nominee of the crown. As there were so few acts of public importance passed in this Parliament we feel that we shall be excused in naming two or three which throw some light upon the policy of the monarch. It was enacted " That no statute made during the minority of the King, should bind him or his successors, except it was confirmed by the King under his Great Seal, or at his full age," which statute was repealed by the first act passed in the reign of King Edward VI. during his minority. There was also an act passed empowering the King to sue for the balances due upon the amount of benevolences agreed to be paid for his assistance in the war with France, which had been brought to an end as soon as Henry landed on the French coast, and the people had justly imagined there was no necessity for its collection, the cause having ceased to exist ; but the bait was too tempting to this avaricious monarch, and it helped to augment the vast wealth he had amassed ; amongst other defaulters, it appears that the Arch- bishop of Canterbury owed the enormous amount of £1500 upon this account alone. But the wisest and most humane law which passed in this session was the admission of poor suitors to plead in forma pauperis, without fee to counsel, attorney, or clerk, a most charitable act which opened the courts to the poorest claimants, with whom the want of means had previously operated as a total denial of justice. Lord Bacon, however, pays rather a negative compliment to this act of equity, whereby, he observes,—" Poor men become rather able to vex, than unable to sue." 11 Hen. VII. SIR Reginald bray. 145 Sir Heginald Bray was one of the witnesses to the deed of settlement of the 14th November, 1501, on the marriage of Prince Arthur with Catherine of A.rragon, and one of the Commissioners in 1502, appointed jointly with the Lord Mayor of London, for examining the state of the ditches which enclosed the Fleet Prison ; but the most memorable event in which he was engaged about this period, was laying the first stone of Henry VII.'s Chapel, at Westminster, on the 24th January, 1502-3, and we may conclude that Sir Reginald's love of architecture, so well evinced in the building of St. George's Chapel, at Windsor, contributed greatly to the perfection of that magnificent and truly noble monument of antiquity. That Sir Reginald justified the character given of him by his friend Arch- bishop Morton, for his skill in arms and in negociation, his conduct in the events we have narrated, have proved incontestably, but his talent for archi- tecture, a new feature in his life, must challenge competition. Henry VII.'s Chapel and that of St. George's, at Windsor, must ever proudly perpetuate the mamory of this gallant soldier and statesman, and like his more professional successor, the architect of St. Paul's, he might, in either case, have inscribed upon the most conspicuous portions of these sumptuous buildings, si monumentum requiris, cirumspice ! / Other evidences were left for centuries, to attest his taste and talent in the arts, in the magnificent palace of Henry VII. at Richmond, designed by him, as well as the palace at Greenwich, and both built under his direction. No stone of these buildings now remains even to illustrate their character, but after the two ecclesiastical buildings we have named — objects of universal admiration — what need is there of further evidence to substantiate his genius. For his public character, we must refer to his conduct in conjunction with Archbishop Morton, as a minister of the crown, during a period of extreme political difficulty and danger; for Lord Bacon and other historians concur in admitting the continued fear and uneasiness which operated on the king's mind, notwithstanding his eminent wisdom and good policy as the governor of his people. Some share of that good policy, some portion of the renown attendant upon preserving the peace and order of society must be due, and may justly be attributed to those ministers who possessed his entire confidence, and must have shared in advising measures so generally esteemed. Grafton, in his chronicles, says that " immediately after the accession of Henry VII., he established a council of grave, wise, and politic men, by whose judgment and determination the people might be governed according to justice and equity, without expense in long suits, amongst whom were Stanley, Earl of Derby, Sir William Stanley, Giles Lord Daubeney, Sir Reginald Bray, Sir Richard Guildford, and Sir Thomas Lovel." Th? last was Speaker of the House of Commons in the 1st of Henry VII. Sir Reginald Bray died on the 5th August, 1503, after a short and sudden L 146 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1497. illness, for his will, though made some time previously, was executed only on the day preceding his decease. This document is of great length, clearness, and precision, intended, no doubt, to preclude the possibility of cavil amongst his nephews and nieces, who were to be the participators cf his great wealth and possessions. The learned Serjeant Coningsby, who was one of the executors, and witnesses to the execution, and afterwards joined in the probate, probably drew up that important instrument. Nevertheless, such is the in- stability of legal, as well as human affairs, it was afterwards partially set aside in the Star Chamber, some slij;ht reference to which we shall make before we conclude this memoir. Polydore Vergil, in his " History of England," printed in 1546, bearing his testimony to the merits of the deceased, observes, " Secutus est reginam in ccehim redeundem Reginaldus Braius vere pater patruB, homo severus," Sfc, but we need not continue the quotation, as we find that Grafton has rendered it into English in his chronicles, when after relating the death of the Princess Elizabeth, Queen of Henry VII., called the good Queen, he says, " depar'ed Sir Reginald Bray, Knight of the Garter, a very father of his country, a sage and grave person, and a fervent lover of justice. In so much, that if any thing had been done against good law or equity, he would, after an humble fashion, plainly {naviter, the translation of which would be more properly " resolutely") reprehend the King, and give him good ad- vertisement how to reform that offence, and to be more circumspect in another like case ; of the same virtue and honest plainness was John Morton, Arch- bishop of Canterbury, which bishop died two years before, having retained his situation in the council till the time of his death in 1449. So these two persons were ever restrainers and reformers of the King's wilful scope and unbridled liberty, whereas the common people used to say, that they had cor- rupted the conscience of the King, but surely as long as the King would hear, and obey such as warned him of his office, royal and kingly duty, he would, in no wise, err or swerve aside." Amongst the papers in the hands of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, are letters to Sir Reginald Bray, from " his loving cousin, Kateryne Hastings, from Ashby (de la Zouch), the Countess of Richmond, the King's mother, from Colles Weston, Lord Daubeney, the Archbishop of York, the Earls of Devonshire, Oxford, and Northumberland, Cecil Dorset, the Bishop and Chapter of Lincoln, the Bishops of Durham, Bath, and Carlisle, the Abbot of St. Mary, near York, the Prior of St. John in England, and others. Sir Reginald's widow, dame Catherine Bray, who was a daughter of Richard Hussey, Esq., and his cousin on his mother's side, survived him, and in her will, which is dated 1507, she gives her body to the College of Windsor, to be buried without pomp, by the side of her said husband. Colet, the learned Dean of St. Paul's, was one of her executors, and she bequeathed a tablet of gold, with a crucifix, to Henry VIII., a tablet of gold also, with a taber- 11 Hen. VII.] SIR Reginald bray. 147 nacle with stones set therein, to the King's mother, gold beads and pieces of plate to some friends, money for masses and Trentalls, 6s. 8d. to the steeple of Dorney church, near Windsor, where she probably lived, &c. It does not appear, from any existing memorial, that her wishes, with regard to sepulture, were complied with, it is more than probable they were not, for upon the death of Dr. Waterland, in 1740, Mr. Pote, in his History of Windsor, and of this chapel, says, p. 374, " in the middle of this (Sir Regi- nald's) chapel is buried the late Dr. Waterland, who died in 1740 ; on pre- paring the vault for him, a leaden coffin of antient form was found, which by other appearances also (he does not particularize them), was judged to be the coffin of Sir Reginald Bray, and was, by order of the Dean, immediately arched over with great decency. This gentleman has no monument, and probably this chapel itself was thought the best memorial of this great and faithful servant of the crown." Amongst the papers in the chapter-house at Westminster, we omitted to mention a most curious and interesting account of the " Expense of the re- paration of the Master, Sir Reginald Bray, his house that is new made within Princes Risborough," and we regret that want of space precludes our giving it insertion in its entirety. We shall, however, indulge in a few extracts, as matters of interest to those who are curious in ascertaining the relative value of money at different periods of the history of this country. The account is entitled " This byn the psells y' I William Clark of Princ Rysborow hath payed for the Repacion of Mast. Syr. Raynold Braye ys hows that ys new made w' in Princ Rysborow." Payd for xxxx lodys of Timbyr - xxvja viij* It. — ^payd for the carege of the same vt oute mete and drynke xxvj= viij* It. — ^payed for another bargyn of gret tymber the sum of xiij^ It. — for careage of the same ix^ iiij'* It. — ^payd for felling and cutting of all the whole tymber iiij* It. — ^payd to the Carpunt^ for the space of xij dayes for framyng and settyng up of the jams a grett - xxxij' It. — payed for brede and ale at the wryng of the satae hows xiijs It. — payed to ij sawyers for the space of xiiij dayes sawing a grett xiiij* It. — payd for dygginge and eareyng of viij lods of whyght erthe • ■ xvj^ It. — payd to Thomas Campeon for growne pynnynge and WaUynge the Chambyr the space of ii days xx* It. — payd to Robert Hall for making of iiij hooks xij^ W the keyes same iiij hinges with iiij brakys x* For ij lods of gret tymbyr for to make the geat and so to make bordi ij^ For feUynge and careying of the same ijs For a carpunt' for iiij dayes to fete the rafters ■ ij^ For xo of lathe v^ For iiijc of v penny nayles i» iiijeviously held the appointment of Attorney-General for Wales. Upon the accession of King Edward VI., Sir Richard Rich was elevated to the peerage by letters patent, dated 15th February, 1547, four days before his coronation, as Baron Rich, of Leeze, in Essex, a title he took from the priory of Leeze, the site of which had been granted to him by Henry VIII. ; and on the 30th of November following, he was constituted Lord Chancellor of England. But within five years, observing the danger of the times, by the Duke of Somerset's fall, and other circumstances equally ominous, and having amassed a very large fortune, " like a discreet pilot," says Dugdale, " who seeing a storm at hand, gets his ship into harbour, he made his suit to the King by reason of some bodily infirmities, that he might be discharged of his office, which being granted, the great seal was delivered to Thomas Goodrich, Bishop of Ely, after which he (Lord Rich) lived many years, and at his own charge built the tower steeple at Rochford, in Essex." Another account difiers materially as to the cause of his resigning the seals, and as it seems more consistent with the fact of his hasty retirement from office, we shall give it in the author's own words. " The Lord Rich being a fast friend to the great Duke of Somerset, then in the Tower, was endea- vouring to serve him with the King, and for that purpose had written him notice of something designed against him by the Council, and being in haste, directed the letter only to the Duke, bidding his servant carry it to the Tower, without giving him any particular directions, ' to the Duke of Somerset.' The servant not knowing that his master was intimate with Somerset, but knowing that he was so with the Duke of Norfolk (then also in the Tower), gave the latter nobleman the letter by mistake. When the Chancellor found out his error at night, fearful that Norfolk would discover him, he immediately repaired to the King, and desired to be discharged his office, feigning illness, which was merely to raise pity for himself, and pre- vent the malice of his enemies." Lord Rich died in 1568, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Robert. The nine daughters of our Speaker married into the families of Mordaunt, Wrothe, Barley, Peyton, Dudley, Roger Lord North, Drury, Pigot, and Lord Darcy. Robert Rich, the third Ba!ron, was created Earl of Warwick by King James I. ; and his second son was elevated to the peerage as Baron Kensington, in 1622, and two years afterwards was created Earl of Holland. Upon the failure of issue male, in the elder line, the Earldoms of Warwick and Holland became united. It was by the marriage of the first Earl of Holland vdth Isabel, daughter of Sir Walter 'Cope, of Kensington, that he acquired the manor and mansion of Kensington, better known as Holland 188 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1537. House, now the residence of the family of Fox. Lord Holland, who purchased the property from William Edwards, Lord Kensington, the son of the Lady Elizabeth Rich, daughter of Robert, second Earl of Holland, and fifth Earl of Warwick, by her husband Francis Edwards, Esq., of Haverfordwest, a gentleman of very ancient" family, descended from the princes of Wales, whose only surviving son inherited the family estates upon the decease of his cousin Edward Henry, fourth Earl of Holland and seventh Earl of Warwick, without issue, when the title became extinc^, and he was created a peer of Ireland, as Baron Kensington, in 1776. His Lordship married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Warren, Esq., of Langridge, in the county of Pembroke, by whom he had an only son, William, Lord Kensington, the present peer, who is the representative of our Speaker, and of the Earls of Warwick and Holland. The Lords Warwick and Holland distinguished themselves greatly during the civil wars, but, as is too often the case in intestine troubles, although so nearly related, they fought on opposite sides ; for while the former was a staunch adherent to the Parliament, and high in the confidence of Cromwell, to whom his son became closely allied by marriage, the latter nobleman fought under the banner of royalty, but miscarrying at Kingston-on-Thames in 1648, was taken prisoner, and being brought to trial shortly after the exe- cution of King Charles, was beheaded before the gates of Westminster Hall, 9th March, 1649. Arms. — Gu. a chevron, between three cross-crosslets, or. SIR NICHOLAS HARE, Knt. The family of Hare claimed to be a scion of the House of Harecourt, or Harcourt, in Lorraine, who were Counts of Normandy ; but whether there be evidence to substantiate the claim, is a question which we shall not now stop to discuss. We find that Sir John Hare, Knt., who married Ehzabeth, daughter of Sir John de Ashton, was a progenitor of this family, and that his descendants allied themselves by marriage with the Mydeltons, of Mydelton Hall, in. Lancashire; the Shirleys, of Whiston, in Sussex ; the Husseys, of Lmcolnshire; the De Walsinghams; Seckfords, of Suffolk ; the Nevilles, Hydes, of Norbury ; De Andersons, and the Fortescues, all eminent knightly famihes, and that in the twelfth generation, from the above named Sir John, came Sir Nicholas Hare, of Brusyard, in Suffolk, the subject of our memoir. He was a lawyer of eminence; and having been elected one of the knights of the shire for Norfolk in the 31st of King Henry VIII.. was chosen Speaker 31 Hen. VIII.] sir Nicholas hare. 1S9 of the House of Commons in the Parliamsnt which was summoned to meet at Westminster on the 28th April, 1540. The business transacted in this Session was, perhaps, more important than any which had ever engaged the attention of the English legislature. Without in any degree lessening re- ligious persecution, on the contrary, increasing it tenfold by laws which were truly designated the bloody enactments, without effecting or suggesting any change whatever in the doctrines of the Church of Rome, the measures of this Parlig^ent laid the foundation of the Reformation by the destruction of monastic institutions, and the reduction of the Clergy from enormous wealth, and its consequent power and influence, to a state of comparative poverty and insignificance. Never was a Parliament ushered into being with such pomp and ceremony. A public procession, accompanied by all the pageantry of a coronation, marked its opening ; while the attendance of the King and all the high oflBcers of State, the Lords and Commons, the dignitaries of the law, heralds, poursuivants, &c., at the most solemn ceremony of the Mass, seemed almost like a mockery of the religion he professed, yet was determined to pull down, because (and, in his case, only because) its principles were op- posed to those selfish passions in which he indulged, and which it is the aim of religious precept to suppress and keep in subjection. The most singular circumstance connected with this procession was the attendance of twenty abbots, by the King's special command, who little knew that in a few days they were doomed to destruction. On Tuesday, the 13th May, and the 9th day of the sitting of this Parliament, the fatal Bill for the fall of Abbies, Monasteries, &c., was brought into the House of Peers by the Lord Chan- cellor Audley. On the 7th June, the celebrated Bill concerning the punish- ment of those persons who violated or infringed the six articles called the " Lash with six stings," was brought in, and passed both Houses on the 16th. After this infamous Act had passed, the Duke of Norfolk, meeting one of his Chaplains, who was a favourer of the Reformation, said to him, " Now, sir, what think you of the Jaw to hinder priests to have wives ? " " Yes, my Lord," replied the Chaplain, " you have done that ; but I will answer for it you cannot hinder other men's wives from having priests." This Parliament was prorogued, and upon their reassembling, some of the provisions of the Act of the six articles were amended ; the punishment of death for the mar- riage of priests being repealed, and the confiscation of their goods and chattels substituted. The journals of the House state that on the 24th of July, when the King came to the House of Lords to dissolve the Parliament, Sir Nicholas Hare, Knt., Speaker of the House of Commons, addressed the King on his throne. We cannot find space for this oration, short as it is, but we give the con- cluding paragraph : " The whole people of England, in order to show some gratitude to his Majesty, to whom they thought themselves so much obliged, that they could never pay him according to his merit, had, lest they should 190 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. seem unmindful of such benefits, joined in granting a subsidy, by the consent of both Houses, which they freely offered to him." About seventy Acts re- ceived the royal assent ; and although some of them were the most bloody and diabolical that ever emanated from the fiendish mind of a monster in human garb, including the divorce of two of his wives, and burning at the stake for any one who should even presume to think or obstinately affirm that the Com- munion of the blessed Sacrament in both kinds is necessary for the health of man's soul, or that private masses were not laudable, or that aurjpular con- fession is not expedient and necessary, &c., he shall be adjudged to suffer death, and forfeit lands and goods as a felon ; yet every Act was passed by the Lords and Commons with perfect unanimity, a fact which is left on record with much apparent pride and satisfaction by the Clerk of the Parlia- ment ; and our Speaker "congratulated the kingdom, and thought great praises were due to God for the blessing of such a ruler." Sir Nicholas was shortly afterwards appointed Master of the Requests, and Chief Justice of Chester, subsequently Master of the Rolls, sworn of the Privy Council, and made Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, under Queen Mary. For his judicial character, we must refer the reader to " Lord Campbell's Lives of the Chan- cellors ;" but we find, upon the authority of Hakewell, that he died fourteen days after his appointment to the Great Seal. Sir Nicholas married Catherine, daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Bas- singbourn, of Woodhall, in Hertfordshire, by whom he had issue three sons, who all died without issue, and three daughters. Sir Nicholas purchased, in the year 1553, the liberty of franchise of the whole hundred of Clackhouse, which comprised Stow Bardolph, and thirty-one towns adjoining, in which his descendants, as Lords paramount, had, by virtue of that office, the execu- tion of all writs whatsoever ; held a court, in the nature of Sheriff's turn, and a court every three weeks for the trial of actions, &c., within the hundred. In the patent is an express prohibition to the county Sheriff and his officers to enter into the hundred to do any act of authority, on any pretence or occasion whatsoever, except in default of the Lord Paramount's bailiff. This very ancient franchise was granted by King Edgar to the Abbey of Ramsey, where it remained, until Henry VIII., at the dissolution of the monasteries by the Act passed in the Parliament of which Sir Nicholas Hare was Speaker, granted it to Lord North, who sold it to Sir Nicholas. John, the brother of our Speaker, succeeded to the estates, and his son Nicholas, a bencher of the Inner Temple, rebuilt the mansion house of Stow Bardolph in 1589, at the enormous outlay of £40,000. He died in 1591, and was succeeded by his next brother, Ralph, also a bencher of the same Society, who, dying issueless, was succeeded by Richard, the fourth brother of Sir Nicholas ; while Hugh, the sixth brother, a bencher of the same Inn of Court, and Master of the Court of "Wards, died without issue in 1619, and left £99,400 (equal to half a million at this day), to be divided between his SIR THOMAS MOYLE. 191 two nephews, the younger of whom, Hugh Hare, was created Lord Coleraine, in 1625. Sir Ralph Hare, son of Richard Hare, the fifth brother above named, was created a Knight of the Bath at the coronation of James 1 ., in 1603 ; and his son. Sir John, married Elizabeth, only daughter of Thomas Lord Coventry, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, and had issue a numerous family, the eldest of whom. Sir Ralph, was created a Baronet by Charles I., in 1641, a title which became extinct upon the death of Sir George Hare, fifth Baronet, in March 1764, but the estates devolved upon his sisters and coheirs, of whom Mary married Thomas Leigh, Esq., of Iver, in the county of Bucks, whose son Thomas married Anne, daughter of Dr. Robert Clavering, Bishop of Peterborough, and had issue, with two daughters, Anne, the wife of Thomas Williams, Esq., and Mary married to Thomas Trewern, Esq., a son and heir, Thomas Leigh, who was created a Baronet 14th December, 1818, and was father of the present Sir Thomas Hare, Bart., of Stow Hall, the lineal de- scendant and representative of Sir Nicholas Hare, the subject of this memoir. Arms. — Gu. two bars, and a chief, indented, or. SIR THOMAS MOYLE, Knt. In the early part of the reign of King Edward III., the then ancient family of Moyle, whose previous residence is not however recorded, although the name is essentially of Cornish origin, acquired the manor and mansion place of Beke or Bake, in the county of Cornwall, by marriage with the female heir, and last possessor of the same name and estate. We find that the Moyles stood high in their county as people of consideration for some generations, and that from Thomas Moyle of Bodmin, descended Sir Walter Moyle, Knt. (his grandson), who settled in Kent, and was a Justice of the Peace for that county in the reigns of King Henry VI. and Edward IV. John, the eldest son of Sir Walter, married a daughter of Sir Robert Drury, Knt., and had issue several children, of whom Thomas, the third son, is the subject of this memoir. This gentleman having been educated for the bar became an eminent lawyer, and a person of great consideration during the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth. In 1542 he was elected a knight of the shire for Kent, and was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons, in the Parliament which met at Westminster in that year, the 33rd of Henry VIII. Hakewell observes that " Mr. Moyle is the first that is recorded to have 192 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1542. made petition for freedom of speech, the petition for privilege from arrest is of latter dayes," and we have found in the course of the preceding memoirs that the Speaker's protestation extended merely to the privilege of amending what had been spoken amiss, and not to that liberty of speech which Mr. Moyle is stated by the above authority to have desired on the part of the House over whose deliberations he presided. "The Parliamentary History," however, says only this, " he made the usual protestation for liberty of speech, and after some hiah flown compliment paid to the King from this quarter, he was confirmed." We musthowever be permitted to differ with the learned antiquary upon both points, previous decisions having confirmed not only the right of members, but even of their servants and th ose of peers and bishops, from incarce- ration for debt during the sitting of Parliament, and Lord Bacon cites a case of " wrong done to the ancient privilege of Parliament" during the first session of Mr. Moyle's speakership. The noble historian, after a slight and partial account of the transaction adds, " by which means the King whose master- piece it was to make use of his Parliaments, not only let foreign princes see the good intelligence between him and his subjects, but kept them all at his devotion." Lord Bacon gives too much credit to the King in this matter, for according to Hollingshed, who relates the affair in all its details, the spirited course pursued by the Commons in general, and our Speaker in particular, fully entitled them to the merit of having maintained the dignity and privileges of Parliament. The old chronicler who asserts that he had taken the greatest pains to make himself master of the subject, gives the following version of the affair — "George Ferrers, Esq., a servant of the Kings, and elected a burgess for the town of Plymouth, in Devonshire, &c., as he was going to the Parlia- ment-House was arrested, by a process out of the King's Bench, at the suit of one White, for the sum of two hundred marks, for which he stood engaged, as a surety for one Weldon of Salisbury, and carried to the Counter in Broad Street. Sir Thomas Moyle, Knt., the Speaker, being informed of this, acquainted the House with it, who forthwith ordered the Sergeant-at-Arms to repair to the said prison and demand the prisoner. The Sergeant went imme- diately to the Counter, but the clerk and officers there were so far from delivering the prisoner, that they forcibly resisted him, broke the Sergeant's mace, and knocked down his servant. During this squabble the two Sheriffs of London, Rowland Hill and Henry Suckcliff, came thither, to whom the Sergeant complained of this abuse, and of them required the delivery of the imprisoned member ; but they not only denied to deliver him, but treated the Sergeant very contemptuously ; and he was forced to return without him to the house. Finding the members still sitting, the Sergeant declared to the Speaker all the circumstances of his ill usage ; upon hearing of which the whole House, among whom were several of the King's privy council and chamber, would sit no longer without their brother member ; but rose up and went in a body to 33 Hen. VIII.] sir thomas moyle. 193 the House of Lords, where their Speaker informed the Chancellor what a great indignity was put upon them. The Lords and Judges there assemhled took the contempt to be of a very high nature, and referred the punishment of it to an order of their own House. The Commons returning, after some debate on the case, soon came to a resolution to send their Sergeant to the Sheriff's house, and require the delivery of the prisoner without any other warrant. For though the Lord Chancellor had offered his writ to them, they refused it, as judging that their commands were to be executed by their own Sergeant, with his mace, without any other authority. But before the Sergeant-at-Arms came with this second message, the Sheriffs had been told how heinously the matter was taken ; and therefore they now delivered the prisoner to him with- out any hesitation. But the Sergeant's orders went further ; he charged the Sheriffs to appear personally before the house at eight o'clock the next morning, and bring with them the clerks of the Counter, and such other officers as were concerned in the affray. The next day the Sheriffs, &c., appeared at the bar of the house, when the Speaker charged them with the contempt and misdemeanour, and commanded them to answer immediately, without allowing them any counsel, though Sir Roger Cholmley, Recorder of London, and others of the city counsel, offered to speak in their cause. In the end the Sheriffs, and White the prosecutor, were committed to the Tower, and the rest to Newgate as aforesaid. There they remained two days ; and then, on their own petition, and at the humble request of the Lord Mayor of London, and other friends, they were discharged. But there still remained another difficulty to settle ; the said Ferrers being condemned in the debt, and lying in execution for it, but released by the privilege of Parliament, could not by law, be again put under execution for the same debt ; and so the party was left without remedy for his debt, as well against him as his principal debtor. This knotty point in law was debated in the House for nine or ten days together. At last it was resolved to make a particular Act to revive the execution of the debt against Weldon, the principal, and to discharge Ferrers of it. This occasioned a division in the House, and it was only carried for Ferrers by fourteen voices." This account is confirmed by the speech of Henry VIII., immediately after the transaction in question, when having called before him the Lord Chan- cellor and the judges with Sir Thomas Moyle, the Speaker, he not only com- mended the wisdom of their proceedings in maintaining the privileges of Parliament, but enlightened them with several legal anecdotes, and pointed out to them that if Ferrers had only been a cook or horsekeeper of a Member and no burgess, he had still a right to privilege as well as another ; and that during the time of Parliament, he added "whatsoever injury is done or offered against the meanest Member of the House, is judged as done against our person and whole court of Parliament.'' With reference to the second point, all we discover during this session is, 194 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1542. that if the Commons' petitions were for liberty of speech, this demand only related to the discussion of one question (the attainder of Queen Katherine Howard) in which the King told them " he granted yet more, giving leave for each man to speak his mind freely, and not to incur the penalty which the laws had fixed on those who took the liberty to talk on the incontinency of Queens, &c." We find no particulars of our Speaker during the further proceedings of this session which was prorogued from the 11th February to the 14th, during which interval the Queen and Lady Rochford were beheaded. The Acts passed amounted to forty-four, but few of them would be deemed of interest at the present day, having little or no reference to existing cus- toms or institutions, such for instance as settling the authority of the officers of the Courts of Wards and Surveyors of the King's lands, and making all practices of conjuration, witchcraft, and false prophecy, felony. Of public events the declaration of war against Scotland was the only important matter. In the second session, a. d. 1543, a subsidy was granted, and a sumptuary law passed, limiting the number of dishes for the tables of the Lord Mayor, Sherifis, &c., &c. But the principal and most important act was that " For the Reformation of Religion," in_which, amongst other savage absurdities, it was enacted that none under the 4egree of a gentleman was entitled to read the Bible, and that "no doctrine should be preached but that which was set forth by his Maj esty since the year of our Lord 1540; the psalter, primer, paternoster, ave, and creed, to be in English, and that whoever should preach or maintain anything contrary to the doctrines above mentioned, shall, after the second ofience, sufier the pains of 'burning, and forfeit all his goods and chattels. On the meeting of the Parliament in a third session, on the 14th January, 1544, an Act was passed by which it was ordained that the stj'le of the King should be, " King of England, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, and of the Church of England, and also of Ireland, on earth the supreme head." In the interval between this and the last session, the King had married Katherine Parr, and the Commons were now occupied in settling the Act for the succession to the Crown, which passed both Houses on the 17th February without opposition. The royal assent was given by commis- sion to twenty-five Acts, although the statute books contain only eighteen, amongst which was one of vast importance to the navy and commerce of England, respecting the preservation of woods ; and another relative to the trial of heretics, in which we must admit that Parliament endeavoured to shield the subject as much as possible by surrounding him with every imaginable pro- tection against the severity of the six Acts, and the machinations of informers. "We cannot flatter ourselves with the success which we anticipated, but our object has been to shew the conduct of the Speakers during the periods in which they presided over the deliberations of the Commons, and to gain some insight into their characters, but the very meagre details aflforded by the only 33 Hen. VIII.] siu, thomas moyle. 195 channels from which we could obtain information, in many instances pre- clude our fulfilling this important feature of the plan we had laid down for our guidance. All the chroniclers have declared that our Speaker, upon whom the honour of knighthood had now been conferred, was an especial favourite of the King. We do not feel justified in entering into the particulars of the proceedings of the last Parliament of Henry VIII., for although it is possible Sir Thomas Moyle may have been elected to the chair, we have no evidence to prove the fact as the rolls of Parliament maintain a perfect silence as to the presen- tation of the Speaker. We find that Sir Thomas Moyle was appointed Chancellor of the King's Court of Augmentation, and that he sat in frequent Parliaments subsequently to holding the high ofiice of Speaker, in the reigns of Edward VI. and Queen Mary. His patriotic and courageous conduct in the latter reign deserves to be cherished by all who revere the civic virtues of our ancestors, and his name has been preserved by Sir Edward Coke as one of the true friends of the Protestant faith, who, finding that a packed Par- liament, devoted to the interest of the Queen and the Roman Catholic Church, was carrying all their own way, boldly deserted his place in Parliament, although fully aware of the pains and penalties he incurred by the act, rather than give the sanction of his name and attendance upon an assembly, bent upon uprooting all that the blood of the martyrs had obtained in favour of religious liberty, and the freedom of conscience. Sir Thomas Moyle's undaunted courage upon this occasion claims the gratitude of posterity, and it is with no slight satisfaction we learn, that although doomed to persecution by a prosecution which was actually commenced, and would probably have ended fatally to this- honest and noble-minded representative of the people and the people's feelings, he was saved from the honour of martyrdom by the timely death of the sovereign, whose feelings were however less bloodthirsty than they have been represented by prejudiced writers, but whose bigotry was never surpassed by any but her husband, the frequent incognito visitor and assistant at all the horrors of the Spanish inquisition. Sir Thomas Moyle died at Eastwell Court in 1560, and left issue two daughters and co-heiresses Amy : married Sir Thomas Kempe of Ollentigh, in Wye, Knight; and Catherine, upon whom devolved the estate of Eastwell, espoused Sir Thomas Finch, ancestor of Sir Heneage and Sir John Finch, both Speakers of the House of Commons, from the first of whom lineally descends the Earl of Winchelsea and Nottingham, as well as the Earl of Aylesford, the former being the representative of our Speaker, while the male representation of the ancient family of Moyle, in one unbroken line,, is continued in the person of Sir Joseph William Copley, of Sprotborough, in the county of York, Bart., whose ancestor Joseph Moyle, Esq., son of Sir Walter Moyle, Knight, of Beke, in the county of Cornwall, o 2 196 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1547. married Catherine, only daughter and heir of Sir Godfrey Copley, of Sprot- borough, Bart., by whom he had, amongst other children, a son, Joseph, who upon succeeding to the property of his grandfather. Sir Godfrey Copley, assumed by Act of Parliament, the surname of Copley only, and was created a baronet 28th August, 1778. For more ample details, and the great family connections and arms of the present worthy baronet, see " Burke's Peerage and Baronetage." Arms of Moyle. — Gu. a Moyle (Cornish for mule), passant, within a bor- dure argent. SIR JOHN BAKER, Knt. The Bakers were of a very eminent Kentish family, seated at Sising- hurst, Cranbrooke, in that county, in the early part of the reign of Edward III., a junior branch of which, Richard Baker, of Rushington, left an only child, Margaret, who was the mother of the learned John Seldon, too in- teresting a fact as connected with the literature of this county, to be omitted. The subject of our memoir was the son of Richard Baker, of Sisinghurst ; and having a(Jopted the legal profession, which then was, now is, and, we suppose, ever will be, the high road, if not the only path, to honours and preferment, soon became so eminent for his talent and acquire- ments, that he was sent ambassador to Denmark. Upon his return, he was appointed Attorney-General, sworn of the Privy Council, and in 1545, having specially recommended himself to the King by the activity he dis- played in forwarding a loan in London, and suggesting other imposts to enrich the royal treasury, as a reward for his financial schemes, he was made Chancellor of the Exchequer by Henry VIII., who also constituted him Assistant Trustee for the Minor Succession, in which office he distinguished himself by steadfastly refusing his assent to that portion of Henry's will which excluded Mary and Elizabeth from inheriting the throne. To the pe- culiar credit and honour of this gentleman, it is asserted, that he stood alone in his opposition, all the other members of the Privy Council being wilUng, if not positively desirous, to carry the unnatural directions of the father against his children into efiect. In 1547, Sir John Baker, having been elected knight of the shire for Huntingdon, was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons, in the first Parliament of Edward VI., at which period, accord- 1 EdW. VI.] SIB JOHN BAKER. 197 ing to Stowe, he was Chancellor of the first fruits and tenths. Although the principal acts of this Parliament related to religion, we must not omit one of great political importance, the repeal of the statute of prerogative of the 28th Henry VIII., to which we adverted in the memoir of Sir Reginald Bray, p. 144; and in reference to which the historian well observes, that the Act "was a stretch of absolute power, left as a legacy by the late King to his son and successors ; and if it had stood, ParHaments would soon have be- come useless to this nation." Amongst other important measures, we may cite a bill brought in in consequence of the irreverent treatment of the sacra- ment by the then increasing sect of Puritans, who, because the wafer was round, and kept in a pix or box, termed it a " Round Robin — Jack in the Box — the sacrament of the halter," &c. This Act, which passed both Houses without opposition, except from the four bishops of Hereford, Norwich, Wor- cester, and Chichester, enjoined that the holy sacrament should be adminis- tered to the people in both kinds of bread and wine, " being more con- formable to the common use and practice of the apostles and primitive Church for the space of 500 years and more after Christ's ascension." Independently of the subsidy, and an Act for the dissolution of Chantries, greatly to the honour of this Session, all Acts for extending treason beyond that of the 25th Edward III., were repealed. On the 24th December, the Par- liament was prorogued until the 20th April ensuing, at which time, owing to the absence of many members in the war carrying on against Scotland, it was further prorogued until the 15th October, when, in consequence of the plague, or sweating sickness, which then raged in and about London, so that, according to Stowe and Speed, one thousand died of it in a week. Parliament was further prorogued until the 24th November next ensuing. The princi- pal Acts passed in this Session were for " uniformity in religion ; To allow priests to marry ; For the better support of the parochial Clergy ; Against eating flesh in Lent ; For the relief of the poor ; and the attainder of Lord Seymour, the Protector's brother." Upon the discussion of the first-named bill, one. Storey, a member of the House, in his zeal for the old religion, re- flected severely upon the King and the Protector. Amongst other impolitic expressions, he is reported to have said, " JVo unto thee, England, when thy King is a child ! " For which he was given into the custody of the Sergeant-at- Arms, and afterwards committed to the Tower. Many other acts of less im- portance were passed in this Parliament, which lasted, under several pro- rogations, until the 15th April, 1551, a period of nearly five years, during which the Protector Somerset was himself attainted and beheaded — an act of retributive justice for^the part he played in his brother's tragedy. We shall, however, in the further proceedings of this Parliament, only notice a resolu- tion of the Commons, by which the eldest sons of Peers were for the first time permitted to sit in the House, previously to which a younger son be- coming heir by the death of his brother, was obliged to vacate his seat. 198 LIYES OF THE SPEAKEES. [SPEAKER 1547. What course our Speaker pursued in any of these important questions, we have no means of ascertaining ; but we have the following flattering estimate of his character from Lloyd's " State Worthies," which must be perused with interest : — " There is one of this name remarkable in every king's reign since the Con- quest. Here is one now renowned in this : 1. For integrity, to be neither awed nor corrupted ; 2. For a spirit public as nature, neither moved with particular respect, nor terminated in a private design. " The French were so insolent in London, the 8th year of Henry VIIL, that when one Williamson, a carpenter, was about to pay for two pigeons he bought, a Frenchman takes them out of his hand, saying. They were no meat for carpenters, but for my Lord Embassadour ; who concerned himself so much in the case, that he had Williamson imprisoned. Sir John sued the embassadour for the man, who answered. That the English knave deserved to he hanged for denying anything to a Frenchman. Whereupon Sir John re- plied, You know not that you are in London; a notable reply, considering that the city was up next day against strangers in so desperate a tumult, that none could suppress but Sir Thomas More, and none could settle but Sir William Kingston and Sir John Baker. No sooner had he allayed the dis- order at home, but he, with the Bishop of St. Asaph, are sent to appease a re- bellion abroad, I mean in Denmark, though in vain ; when the King's cruelty exceeded their apology, and ruine was more elegiable with that people than duty or obedience ; where he observed these six maximes, in order to a newly conquer'd kingdome : — " 1. That the royal line should be extinguished. " 2. That the old customs in laws and taxes should be observed. " 3. The prince must be there, to observe their humours in person. " 4. That the officers be moderate and honest. " 5. That there be colonies planted in one or two places that are the keys of the State." " 6. That the neighbours should be weakened and divided, and the inland forts demolished. " As he would have composed the troubles of foreign princes, so he served the necessities of his own, being the most successful Comissioner for the be- nevolence in the countrey, and the most active agent for the loan in London. Wherefore I find him Chancellour of the Exchequer, anno 1545, and one of the Assistunts to the trustees for King Edward, 1547. Judge Montague was the only person that durst dispute King Edward's will. Judge Hales and Sir John Baker were the only Counsellours that durst refuse it ; the first whereof stood to the law, against power ; the second, to his allegiance against interest; and both to the rights of the crown, which are lasting, rather than the designes of some favourites, that are as momentary as their great- ness, and as uncertain as tlieir grandeur. 1 EdW. VI.] SIR JOHN BAKER. 199 This constant and firm resolution to stick to his duty and loyalty, brought him to his grave in peace and honour ;' having been a faithful counsellour and servant to King Henry the Eighth, King Edvyard the Sixth, Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth." Independently of the various offices w^e have enumerated, our Speaker was some time Recorder of London, and vyas continued of the Privy Council during the reigns of the four last named Sovereigns. He married EHzabeth, daughter and heiress of Thomas Dinley, and v^idow of George Barrett, by whom he left issue, and, dying in 1558, was buried at Sisinghurst, where he had erected a splendid castle, which remained for centuries with his de- scendants ; but, as Mr. Burke, in his " Extinct_ and Dormant Baronetcies," sorrowfully observes, " it has since bowed down its battlements to the unfeel- ing taste of modern times." John, the second son of our Speaker, was the father of the celebrated chronicler. Sir Richard Baker, whose melancholy fate has been so much deplored. This learned historian married Margaret, daughter of Sir George Manwaring, of Ightfield, by whom he had issue two sons and three daughters. Sir Richard possessed the manor of Middle Acton, in Oxfordshire, and other estates ; but, having become surety for some debts of his wife's family, he was reduced to poverty, and thrown into the Fleet Prison, where he died in 1645, and was buried in St. Bride's Church, Fleet Street. We have not ascertained the fact positively, but it is by no means improbable, that this branch of the family may still be extant, although the male line of our Speaker's eldest son, Sir Richard Baker, of Sisinghurst (who entertained Queen Elizabeth at that place in her progress through Kent in 1573), failed upon the death of Sir John Baker, the third and last baronet, in 1661 (the great grandson of the Speaker having had that dignity conferred upon him upon the institution of the order in 1611), and in 1744, upon the death of John Baker Bridges Dowel, Esq., of Over, who descended from one of the daughters of the last baronet, the representation of the family vested in the noble family of Dacre, through the marriage of Henry Lennard, the twelfth Baron Dacre, with Crisogona, the daughter of the before named Sir Richard Baker, of Sisinghurst, the eldest son of the subject of this memoir. The Earl of Thanet descends also from Mary, the youngest daughter of our Speaker. Arms. — Az., on a fesse between three swans' heads, erased and ducally gorged or., as many cinquefoils, gu. 200 LIVES or THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1552. SIR JAMES DYER, Knt. Sir James Dyer was a gentleman of an ancient and honourable Somerset- shire family, which produced several distinguished men, amongst whom we may cite Sir Edward, Chancellor of the Order of the Garter, a polite scholar, and eminent poet, who was a competitor with Sir Christopher Hatton for the favour of Queen Elizabeth. This gentleman was fourth in descent from our Speaker's great-grandfather, according to the account given of him in " Strype's Annals of the Reformation," vol. 2, p. 308. The subject of our memoir was the youngest son of Richard Dyer, of Wincanton and Round Hill, in Somersetshire, and was born at the latter place in 1512. He was educated at Broadgate Hall, now Pembroke College, Oxford, but it does not appear that he took any academical honour? or degrees. In 1530 he was entered of the Middle Temple, and in due time called to the bar. In the beginning of 1 552, he was appointed autumnal reader to his society, a distinguished com- pliment to the talent and abilities of any aspirant for forensic honours, and in the month of May of the same year he took the coif, and was constituted King's Sergeant in the following November, having previously been returned to Parliament (by royal command) as one of the knights of the shire for Cam- bridge. Strype informs us, that the young King " intended to have this Parlia- ment (the second and last of his reign) composed of men endowed with good and great abilities to consult with him on the pressing affairs and difficulties of his kingdom," and with this intent he observes that " he caused letters to be wrote to every sheriff in the realm, directing them whom to chuse for that purpose." We have not space for the King's letter, but cannot resist giving the following ex- tract from this unconstitutional mandate. "And yet nevertheless, our pleasure is, that where our privy council, or any of them within their jurisdictions, in our behalf, shall recommend men of learning and wisdom, in such case their directions be regarded and followed, as tending to the same which we desire ; that is, to have this assembly to be of the most choicest men in our realm for advice and counsel." We find that Sir Richard Cotton, Sir William Drury, Sir Henry Benningfield, Lewis, and James Dyer, Richard Fiennes, Esq[s., and others, were absolutely recommended and returned to Parliament by the sheriffs upon special letters written to them to that effect by the King's own hand, and no doubt the privy council did the rest to the entire satisfaction of their Sovereign. The packing of this Parliament, which was opened on the 1st of March, at 7 EdW.VI.] sir JAMES DYER. 201 Whitehall (the King being, as the chroniclers observe, " so far gone in a consumption that he was not able to go to Westminster), was no doubt greedily seized upon as a precedent, and a truly unfortunate one, by Queen Mary, . shortly after her accession to the throne, and enabled her to overturn in a ses- sion all that the reformers had desired, and her predecessors had accomplished in the cause of religion. On the 2nd of March, James Dyer, Esq., the subject of this memoir, was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. Of the political conduct of our Speaker during this short Parliament, which lasted only one month, we have no means of obtaining the slightest information, and the proceed- ings of the House were, in a public point of view, almost unimportant. Avery just and proper bill to prevent laymen from holding spiritual promotion, sent down by the Lords, was thrown out by the Commons, shewing, as the historian ob- serves, "what poor interest the clergy had then in this house, when so reasonable a bill was rejected." One act, however, of importance, was the suppression of the bishopric of Durham, through the interest of Dudley, Duke of Northumber- land, who coveted, without obtaining, that principality, for the King's death and Mary's accession soon put an end to all his hopes. As it was, the act passed with so much difficulty, that he advised the King to dissolve the Parliament, which he did on the 31st of March. Thus ended the last Parlia- ment of Edward VI., who died of consumption on the 6th of the following July, 1553, in the sixteenth year of his age, and the seventh of his reign. Upon the accession of Queen Mary, Mr. Dyer continued to enjoy the royal favour ; and was one of the Commissioners upon the singular trial of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, who was acquitted. The lawyers and historians of the time highly approved our Speaker's conduct upon that occasion. About this time he was chosen Recorder of Cambridge, and on the 20th May, 1 557, he was appointed one of the Judges of the Common Pleas, and on the 23rd April, 1558, the last of Philip and Mary, he was promoted to the Queen's Bench. In November of 1559, the 1st of Elizabeth, the honour of knight- hood was conferred upon him, when he returned to the Common Pleas, of which court he was appointed chief justice in the following year, and held that high office, with distinguished reputation until his death, which took place 24th May, 1582, at the advanced age of 70. In every relation of life our Speaker bore an unblemished character, and was an honour to the profes- sion of which he was so distinguished a member. His " reports '" will con- tinue to perpetuate both his name and fame to posterity^. But beyond this passing compliment to the merit of this eminent man, we have no intention to enter into any discussion of his legal or judicial talents and abilities. The ground is about to be occupied by the noble and learned author of the " Lives of the Chancellors," and we must refer the reader to the " Chief Justices " (announced for immediate publication) for any further information he may require upon those points. Sir James Dyer married Margaret, daughter 202 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1553. of Sir Maurice h Barrow, of Hants, relict of Sir Thomas Elyot, (the celebrated philologist) but having no issue his estates of Great S tough ton, in the county of Huntingdon, which he had himself acquired, descended to his great nephew. Sir Richard Dyer, the grandson of his elder brother John, whose descendant, Sir Ludovick Dyer, Bart., is stated to have sold the same in 1653 to Sir Edward Coke, Bart., of Longford (a title which is now extinct), the grandson of the celebrated Chief Justice of England, from whom the present noble family of Holkam derives in the female line. But Mr. Valliant, from whom we have extracted many of these particulars, does not appear to have been aware of the family connection subsisting between the descendants of these great lawyers. Sir Edward Coke, the first baronet, who acquired the great Stoughton property, having married Catherine, daughter of Sir William Dyer, Knt., the sister and coheiress of Sir Ludovick, by which union it is more probable that he obtained the estate in question. It appears to us that the Earl of Leicester is the representative of our Speaker. Arms. — Or. a chief indented gu. Crest. — Out of a coronet or. a goat's head sa. armed gold. JOHN POLLARD. Esq. In the reign of Henry II., Walter Pollard, of Way, in the parish of Horwood, CO. Devon, married Jane, daughter of Roger de Baronia. In the 19th Edward III. this estate was held by Joel Pollard, and at a later period of the same reign we find that John Pollard, of Horwood, espoused Emma, daughter and coheiress of John Doddescombe, of Doddescomb Leigh, the last of that very ancient race. From this union descended a long line of eminent men, allied by marriage with the great and wealthy families of Cornu, Copleston, Cockworthy of Ernscombe, Bamfyde of Poltimore, Fortescue of Fillagh, Carew, and Valletort of St. Laurence Clist; of whom we may par- ticularly cite Sir Louis Pollard, Knt., of Kings Nympton, Serjeant-at-Law, in the reign of King Henry VII. who in 1515 was appointed one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, in which honourable office Prince, in his " Worthies of Devon," says, " he continued for many years, until age and the consequent infirmities thereof sued out his quietus est." Our author further observes, " This high and great trust of a judge (an higher than which is hardly found upon earth, the lives and livelyhoods of men being therein concern'd), Sir Lewis Pollard executed with great faithfulness and expe- dition ; the fragrant odour whereof perfumes his memory unto this day." Sir 1 Mary.] john pollard. 203 Lewis married Agnes, daughter of Thomas Hext, Esq., of Kingston, in the parish of Staverton, and had by her eleven sons and as many daughters. Four of the sons attained the honour of knighthood, and four of the daughters espoused Sir Hugh Stukeley of Affton, Sir Hugh Courtenay of Powderham, Sir Hugh Pawlet of Stamford Peveril, and Sir John Croker of Lineham, all gentlemen of the first families in the county of Devon. The grandson of the judge, another Sir Lewis, also an eminent lawyer, was lent reader of the Middle Temple in the 1st of Edward VI. ; Recorder of the City of Exeter the 2nd of the same reign, and afterwards Sergeant-at-Law. The issue of this gentleman continued the line of the Pollards, of Kings Nympton, down to Sir Amias Pollard the third baronet (that dignity having been conferred upon Lewis, the grandson of the preceding Sir Lewis), who died unmarried in 1693, when the title became extinct. From which of the eleven sons of the judge the subject of this memoir derived, we have not dis- covered, but that he was a member of this eminent family, and bore the same arms, is unquestionable. Of the personal biography of Mr. Pollard, we are also equally ignorant, our researches not having enabled us to discover any particulars beyond those which we collect from the journals and proceedings of the House over whose deliberations he twice presided, during periods of extreme difficulty, arising from the steady determination of the Queen to restore the Romish faith in all its pristine splendour. The support of able, zealous, and judicious heads in all departments of the state, was essentially necessary to save the kingdom from the convulsions which might reasonably have been anticipated, where the great majority of the people were so unequi- vocally opposed to the faith of which the Sovereign was so bigoted and so blindly, obedient a member. We have the authority of Hatsell and Browne Willis, for stating that Mr. Pollard was learned in the laws, we doubt not that he was equally well skilled in doctrinal controversy, and zealous in the cause of his religion, for that he was of the ancient faith cannot be questioned ; and this was in all probability the chief cause of his nomination by the crown as a fit and proper person to occupy the chair of the House of Commons, in the first Parliament of Queen Mary, to which he had been returned as one of the knights of the shire for Oxford, and was, as a matter of course, duly elected Speaker. The first Session of this Parliament was, as Bishop Burnet sarcastically observes, devoted to acts of mercy ; a public act " for limiting of treason and felonies," so as to save the Queen's friends from the penalties of the severe statutes enacted during Henry's reign, and yet so framed in point of time that Edward's friends. Lady Jane's well-wishers, or Protestant pro- fessors, who had been taken up and crowded into gaols, could receive no benefit by this wonderful act of clemency ; and two private bills for the res- titution in blood of Lady Courtenay and her son Edward, Earl of Devonshire, being the only fruits of its labours. The second session commenced with an 204 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. act declaratory of the Queen's legitimacy, which was followed by the repeal of all acts in favour of the Reformation. But for the purpose of restraining the passions of the people, who, in their disappointment and sorrow at the revival of Popery, had committed some excesses, an act for suppressing un- lawful and rebellious assemblies was passed, which revived the most severe enactments of the bloody statutes of Henry VIII., the repeal of which in the former session had given such joy to the people. With the exception of the revival of some, and the confirmation of other attainders, no further business of public importance was transacted in this Parliament, during whose proceed- ings our Speaker's name occurs only upon the presentation of an address to the Queen against her marrying Philip of Spain. The historian observes that the answer he received is not known, but he infers reasonably enough, that " it was no good one," as the Queen shortly after dissolved the Par- liament . In the 2nd and 3rd of Philip and Mary, a. d. 1555, Mr. Pollard, who had been returned to Parliament as a Burgess for Chipenham, in Wiltshire, was again elected Speaker, and probably as a record which should mark her Majesty's and Parliament's estimation of his previous services, the journals of the House contain the following entry : " That this House unanimously chose for their Speaker, John Pollard, Esq., deeph/ learned in the laws of this land." When the Speaker was presented to the Queen on the 23rd October, he is stated to have made an eloquent oration, which, however, we nowhere find, after which he read a Bull from the Pope's Holiness, confirming Cardinal Pole's promise relative to the assurance of abbey lands. The Commons granted the Queen a subsidy and two-fifteenths, but as she heard that the proposition had met with some opposition, and the amount did not probably come up to her expectations, she refused to accept anything beyond the usual subsidy, although the object of the Commons was the payment of her Majesty's debts. A Bill for the restitution of Church lands, which the Queen was most desirous to pass, met with such opposition from the Commons, although it had passed the Lord's House, that it was dropt. An over zealous and injudicious member of the House named Storey, to whom we have before alluded in the memoir of Sir John Baker, made himself again very conspi- cuous during this session by the insult he offered to our Speaker. The Queen having sent for the Commons on the 19th November, to inform them that she would restore to the Clergy " the tenths and first fruits of spiritual benefices, a tax laid upon the Clergy by her father to support the dignity of Supreme Read, to which she laid no claim." Storey, falling on his knees before the Queen, told her that " the Speaker did not open to her their desire that Licenses might be restrained." Upon their return to the House the Speaker complained of this affront; but Storey confessing his fault, and the House conceiving that he had spoken from a good zeal, forgave him. In the reign of 2 & 3 Mary.] sir Robert brooke. 205 Edward VI., this man opposed the Reformation ; on this occasion he appears to have changed sides, as he was equally violent against Licenses from Rome ; in the reign of Elizabeth he was executed for treason. With the exception of some statutes for the encouragement of trade and the woollen manufac- tures, although twenty-three acts were passed in this session, there are few pf sufficient public importance to require any special mention. The Commons however, to their honour, rejected several bills intended to harass the con- science, and refused their assent to that which had passed the House of Lords, against such as had gone out of the realm without the Queen's license, although levelled against the Duchess of Suffolk and other favourers of the Reformation, upon which the historian observes, " But how temperate soever this House of Commons might be in these affairs, the two preceding ones were warm enough in their zeal ; since they revived all the bloody laws against heretics, which were made for some centuries past. On the 9th December, the Queen dissolved this Parliament, and we glean no further information of our Speaker through any channel whatever. Arms. — Ar. a chev. sa. between three escallops gu. SIR ROBERT BROOKE, Knt. Anthony Wood has given us rather a long account of this celebrated lawyer, which we feel it incumbent upon us to insert in this brief memoir, as it embodies all we could advance with consistency, being well aware that the subject will be so much better handled in the " Lives of the Chief Justices " (now announced as about to issue from the press), from the pen of the noble and learned author of the "Lives of the Chancellors," and we doubt not that it will vie in talent and ability with that justly popular and interesting work. Wood, in his usual pithy manner, thus introduces to posterity the subject of our memoir. " Robert Broke or Brook, son of Thorn. Broke, of Claverley, in Shrop- shire, by Margaret, his wife, daughter of Hugh Grosvenor, of Farmot, in the said county, was bom, as I conceive, at Cleverley, laid a foundation of literature at Oxon, which was a great advantage to him when he studied the municipal law in the Middle Temple. Stow, in his Annals, 1552, says he was of Gray's Inn, where he became the compleatest lawyer of his time. In 206 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1554. 1542, he was elected autumn or summer reader of that house, and in the latter end of the year (in Lent) 1550, he was elected double reader. In 1552, he was, by writ, called to be Sergeaat-at-Law, and in 1553, being the first year of Queen Mary, he was made Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas (and not of the King's Bench as some say), and about that time received the honor of knighthood from that Queen, in whose reign, and after, he was held in high value for his profound knowledge in the law, and for his just and upright dealing in all matters relating to the profession thereof." Here follows an account of, and a very learned criticism upon the legal works of this eminent judge, to which, however, for the reasons before stated, we do not feel justified in giving insertion ; but we must be permitted to observe, that Anthony Wood is in error as to the dates of Sir Robert Brooke's appointment to the Chief Justiceship of the Common Pleas, for at that period, and afterwards, he was only Recorder of London, as the Records of Parliament, to which we are about to refer, fully testify. In the second Parliament, summoned to meet at Oxford, but held at Westminster in the 1st of Queen Mary, a.d. 1554, Robert Brook, Esq., Sergeant-at-Law and Recorder of London, which city he then represented, was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons, on which occasion, we are informed by the Journals of the House, he made an eloquent speech to the Queen, although not entered therein. Historians of credit have asserted that the marriage of Mary with Philip of Spain, was the chief object of this Parliament having been assembled, while Burnet, who merely details the acts against heretics, makes no allusion to the subject. A Bill was brought in to limit the prerogative, placing it, however, at as high a point as ever it was enjoyed by any of her predecessors. Whether the charge made by Rurnet and others aigainst Mary's Parliaments, as to their all being packed, be wholly true, we have no positive means of ascertaining, but unquestionably the Com- mons throughout this short reign, which lasted, however, almost beyond the endurance of the people, vi^ere more subservient to the wishes of the Sovereign than is recorded in the annals of any other reign, and forces us to infer that the Bishop was not far wrong in this instance, although he has been railed at by other writers for his partiality. Bills against lollardy and heresies, sent up by the Commons, were thrown out by the Lords, and a motion for the restitution of the Papal power in England was moved in the Lower House, and there carried, with a stipulation, however, that the tenure of the abbey lands was not to be disturbed. They had no objection whatever to the restora- tion of the Roman Catholic faith, but to release their hold of ecclesiastical property, those broad lands which had fallen to them upon the dissolution of monastic institutions, was a perfectly different feature ; and the Queen seeing how futile were all her arguments upon this question, abandoned it in despair. 1 Mary. J sir Robert brooke. 207 In this Session, independently of the act relating to the Queen's marriage, the bishopric of Durham was re-established, but the bills we have alluded to for the punishment of heresy, which had passed the Commons, were thrown out by the Lords. We find no other proceedings of interest during this Parliament, except a case of privilege upon which the House came to a very proper decision. It appears that Mr. Beaumont, a member of the House, had, during Parlia;Tient, served the Earl of Huntingdon with a subpoena, at which the Upper House was offended, and on the 17th April, they sent some of the judges to the Lower House, bringing the subpoena with them, and prayed the order of the House for that offence. After some debate, it was resolved, that eight members of the said House should declare to the Lords, " that they took the executing this writ to be no breach of privilege." Fifteen bills received the royal assent on the 5th May, when the Parliament was dissolved. The Queen was so satisfied with the services rendered by our Speaker, who is represented to have been a most zealous Catholic, that he was shortly after appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, upon which occasion she also conferred upon him the honor of knighthood. Anthony Wood concludes his account of this celebrated man as follows : " In the chancel of Claverley Church, in the county of Salop, a stately monument against the north wall, for Sir Rob. Broke, Knight, in his time for virtue and learning, advanced to be Common Sergeant of the City of London, Recorder of London, Sergeant-at-Law, Speaker of Parliament, and Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, who, visiting his friends and country, died the 5th September, 1558." He then concludes, "as for Sir Rob. Broke, the judge, he obtained a fair estate by his endeavours, which he left to his posterity, remaining at Madeley, in Shropshire, and at one or two places in Sufi'olk." Fuller, in his " Worthies of England," thus writes, under the head of " Suffolk :" " reader, be charitably pleased that this note may (till better in- formation) preserve the right of this county unto Sir Robert Broke, a great lawyer, and Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in the reign of Queen Mary. He wrote an "Abridgment of the whole Law," a book of high account. It insinuateth to me a probability of his birth herein, because (lawyers generally purchase near the place of their birth) his posterity still flourish in a worshipful equipage at Nacton, near Ipswich, in this county." — Vol. iii. p. 177. The learned doctor, however, is in error, as there is no doubt whatever as to the origin of our Speaker, who derived from' an ancient Shropshire family, the elder or ascending branch of which is now represented by the Rev. J. Brooke, of Haughton Shiffnall, in that county, son of the late George Salis- bury Townsend, Esq., by Frances, his wife, daughter of the Rev. George Brooke, of Blackland, who, in consideration of his lineal descent from this ancient and eminent family, assumed the maternal name and arms. The ancient family of Gatacre, of Gatacre, in the county of Salop, descends 208 LIVKS OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1554. from the family of Brooke, by the marriage of one of their ancestors with the daughter of our Speaker ; but we have not traced any other descendants of Sir Robert Brooke, although it appears by the splendid monument erected to his memory in Cleverley church, that he had two wives and twelve or thirteen children. Arms. — Chequy ar. and sa. on a canton vert, a brock pass. ppr. Crest. — A brock pass. ppr. SIR CLEMENT HEIGHAM, Knt. During the short interval which elapsed between the dissolution of the last Parliament, and the writs issued for the assembling of another, the marriage of the Queen had been consummated, and Spanish bigotry, acting, no doubt, upon the fruitful soil already prepared to receive the seeds of intolerance, induced Mary to issue letters to the sheriffs throughout England, commanding them upon pain of her heavy displeasure, to elect such persons members " as were of the wise, grave, and Catholic sort," announcing her intention, and that of her dear husband " to root out heresies, and restore the true religion, to the honour of God, and the prosperity of the Commonwealth." The Commons, elected under the influence of such an outrageously unconstitutional mandate, assembled at Westminster on the 11th of November, 1554, when Mr. Heig- ham, who, according to the authority of Mr. Browne Willis, had been returned to Parliament for the borough of Portpigham, otherwise West Looe, in the county of Cornwall, was chosen Speaker of their house. This gentleman who sat for Rye, one of the Cinque Ports, in the first, and for Ipswich, in the second Parliament of Queen Mary, was the son and heir of Clement Heigham, Esq., of Lavenham, in the county of Suffolk, the fourth son of Thomas Heigham, Esq. of Heigham, a hamlet of Gaseley, near Barrow, in the same county, from which place they, no doubt, derived their name. Gage, in his " History of Suffolk," observes, that Montaigne in his " Essay on Glory," remarks that his own ancestors had been surnamed Heigham, or Eyquiem," which the author we have cited seems to think a curious illustration of the Nag's Heads, in the Heigham arms. That this family is of great antiquity in Suffolk there cannot be a question, as their name appears as witnesses to charters and other deeds at a very remote period of the history of that county ; and they claim descent from Sir Richard Heigham de Heigham, in the county of Suffolk, and Sutton, Cheshire, who, according to Camden, the great antiquary, embraced the cross, and attended his royal master, Richard Cceur de Lion, to the Holy Land, and fought under his banner at the battle of Ascalon, in 1191. 2 Phil. & Mary.] sir clement heigiiam. 209 Mr. Heigham being destined for the law, was entered of Lincoln's Inn, as appears by the books of that society, on the 20th July, a.d. 1518, the 9th Henry VIII., and after studying the usual period, was called to the bar. In his professional career, he must have distinguished himself at an early age, for we find that he was twice appointed reader of his society, and in 1528 made counsel to the great monastic establishment of St. Edmund, and upon the resignation of that office by Sir Robert Drury, was appointed chief bailiff of the liberty, while as a reward for his services, various abbey leases were granted to him. Upon the accession of Queen Mary, Mr. Heigham joined the royal standard at Kenninghall, in obedience to her Majesty's letters addressed to him, among other leading men of the county of Suffolk, and he was shortly after sworn of her privy council, and nominated by her as a fit and proper person to execute the high office of Speaker of her third Parliament, a preference tantamount to a command, to which the Commons yielded without discussion or serious opposition until the reign of Charles II. It was in this Parliament that all the laws of Henry VIII. and Edward VI., relating to the reformed religion were repealed, and the reunion of England with the Church of Rome effected. At this distance of time it would be absurd to argue the question with any warmth of feeling, the Queen, a zealous Catholic, had, according to Bishop Burnet, and other less partial historians, not only pro- cured the election of a majority of the members of the House who were of the same religion with herself, but had nominated our Speaker to preside over their deliberations, knowing how sincerely he was attached to the faith of his ancestors, of which, as we shall see hereafter, he did not hesitate to make an open confession in the equally, if not more persecuting reign, of her Protestant sister and successor. The first act of this Parliament was to reverse the attainder against Cardinal Pole, who had arrived in England as legate from the Pope, and was introduced to the Parliament with much form and ceremony by Bishop Gardner. This is, however, a matter of general history upon which we must not trespass too far ; nevertheless, we cannot avoid expressing our hearty contempt of those of the Lords and Commons, who, contrary to their conscientious belief, and their previous activity in the persecution of the Catho- lics, now prostrated themselves at the Cardinal's feet, humbly expressing sorrow for their past misconduct, and received absolution at his hands. Sir Edward Coke has preserved the names of about sixty Protestant members who absented themselves from Parliament, when they found everything going against them, for which they were afterwards prosecuted, but saved from the penalties by the Queen's timely death — amongst whom was Sir Thomas Moyle (an ancestor of the present Earl of Winchelsea and Nottingham, and of Sir Joseph Copley, Bart.), who had been Speaker of the House of Commons in 1 SI'S, but it does not appear that they were absent from the ceremony in question. A bill reviving three old acts of Richard II., Henry IV., and Henry V. against 210 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKEE 1554. heresy, was brought into the House on the 12th December, and passed the third reading on the 14th. Another bill against " traitorous words " (having reference nevertheless to the Queen's profession of faith) was passed in great haste, and sent up to the Lords, where it was read thrice, and passed on the day on which the Parliament was dissolved. These were the principal acts of the Parliament of which Mr. Heigham was so important a counsellor, but the day before the dissolution, a solemn procession of both Houses passed through London from St. Paul's to give thanks to God for their conversion to the Catholic church, in which were borne ninety crosses, and there were no less than 116 priests in their copes and vestments, with eight bishops in pontifi- calihus ; Bonner, Bishop of London, carrying the pix, under a splendid canopy, attended by the House of Lords, and the House of Commons headed by their Speaker, and followed by the Lord Mayor, aldermen, and city companies in their several liveries. " After parading the streets they all returned to St. Paul, where the King and the Cardinal, together with the rest, heard mass for a conclusion of the whole solemnity." We have no means of ascertaining what particular course was adopted by our Speaker in these polemical transactions, but we may fairly presume he acted in his parliamentary career in strict conformity with the wishes of his Sovereign, and in perfect accordance with his own conscientious feelings and desires : for according to Strype's Mem., a.d. 1557, vol. iii., he appears, in his judicial character, not to have shrunk from administering the statute law, and, like his predecessor. Sir Thomas More, assisted in the condemnation of heretics ; and, as the chronicler observes, dealt out justice with severity upon Alice Driver and others. Shortly after the dissolution of the Parliament, her Majesty conferred the honour of knighthood upon our Speaker, and he was appointed Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. His eminence as a lawyer was great, his integrity and impartiality as a Judge unquestioned. Upon the death of Queen Mary, Sir Clement Heigham, who represented Lancaster in her last Parliament, notwithstanding his being Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, retired from public life to his manor house of Barrow Hall, in the county of Suffolk, an estate he had purchased of Lord Went- worth, and passed the remainder of his life in the active discharge of the duties of a country gentleman and magistrate, and in the performance of those acts of charity towards his poorer neighbours, which, together with his character, are so well described in his epitaph, a valuable record of his merits we can by no means omit in this memoir. He died 9th March, 1570; and by his will, which bears date the 10th of the preceding November, he makes a full profession of his faith as a Catholic, and orders his body to be buried within the chancel of the church at Barrow, where a monument was erected to his memory, described by Gage, in his " History of Suffolk," as a low canopy of Petworth marble, on the south side 1 & 2 Phil. & Mary.] sir clement heigham, 211 of the chancel. The effigies of the knight and his family are represented upon brasses under the flat arch of the canopy, and over his head hangs his shield, tearing the arms of Heigham quartering those of Francys of GifFard's, and impaling Waldegrave, together with the bearings of the great families of Montcheney, Vauncey, and Moyne. The following is the epitaph, or monumental inscription, to which we have referred. It is in itself a perfect, and, no doubt, a truthful memoir, of our Speaker. His life and actions are here recorded by one who knew his worth, but has not descended to that debasing flattery which characterizes the eulogistic effusions of the writers of those days upon men of high station. Of the poetry, we say nothing. Berefte of worldly lyfe, in hope to ryse to endlesse light, By Christ's deserts, here rests the corse of Clement Heigham, Knight, Whom Suffolk soyle did brede, bring up, and chiefly foster ; ay. In Barrow, where his dweUiag was imtU his dying day, Which was the ninth of March, since God a mortal man became. The thousantb and five hundreth yeare with seventy to the same. What tyme our Soverane Lady deere, Elizabeth, our Queene, Of her most mild and gracius reigne, did recken years thirteen. He was a man whom God had given great pregnancie of wit. And therewith all such utterance as for the same was fytte. The feare of God he alwais had fast fixt in holy hearte. And from his Prynce ia loyalty no iote would he departe. A faithful frend to all goode men, in worde and eke in deede. And lyke a parent to the pore, w*^ almose at their nede. His study and profession were, the laws of this our lande. The ground whereof he deemed was ryght well to understand. And for his proof of learned skyll, by study got theryn. In house of Courte cald Lyncohi's Inn twice reader he had been. By this his knowledge in those lawes he did still peace preserve. When quareUs caus'd his neyghbors ofte from unitye to swerve. His country may fuU well bewaile the losse of such a guyde. Who ready was as ryghtfull judge, their stryfe for to decyde. He duely did correct all vice, and favoured virtue mylde, And in his judgment would not be with bryberye defyled. In punishment unto the pore, which did their crime lament. He wold with pyty mercifuU from rigour soon relent. But unto them which wilfully contynuede in offence. A terror unto them he was in justice true defence. Through which good gift, so manifest, such favor he obtained With Philippe and with Marye, late our Soveraynes when they reigned, f2 212 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1554. That he by sage and good advyce was chosen for to bee The Speaker of the Parliamente, and furthered to degree To be of Privy Counsayle with his Prynce, and afterward To Lord Chief Baron of the Queen's Eschecker was preferd, The which advancement ended by Queene Marie's death, and he Eeturning into private state, contynued in degree Of Worshippe in his country, still a justicer of peace. And from his virtues here rehirst, till death he did not cease, Wh* then from care dischardgyng him, and of each worldlye thynge. Was unto him a direct meane his lastinge life to bringe. Then (as he usde alwais much time in prayr for to spend) Then soe with prayer at the last his earthly lyfe did end. God grant that this (a true record) of him here left behind May cause ech man remember one, and bear his life in mind. Sir Clement Heigham was twice married. By his first wife, Anne, daughter of John de Moonines, of Seamere Hall, in Suffolk, he had issue one son, who died an infant, and five daughters ; by his second wife, Anne, daughter of Sir George Waldegrave, of Smallbridge, in the same county, the lineal de- scendant of Sir Richard Waldegrave, Speaker of the House of Commons in 1380, and the direct ancestor of the Earls "Waldegrave, he had issue three sons, John, Thomas, and William^ (the last of whom was ancestor of the Heighams of East Ham, in Essex), and two daughters. Sir John Heigham, of Barrow, the eldest son of our Speaker, married, 1562, Anne, daughter and co-heiress of Edmund Wright, Esq., of Bradfield, in the county of Suffolk, by whom he had issue Sir Clement, his heir and successor, and other children. Sir John sat in Parliament for Sudbury in 1563, and was elected a knight of the shire for Suffolk in 1586 and again in 1603. He was also sheriff of that county in 1577, and upon the threatened invasion of the Spanish Armada, had the command of the Suffolk band of infantry at Tilbury Fort ; and when Queen Elizabeth made her progress through Suffolk, he had the honour to entertain his Sovereign at the family seat of Barrow Hall. This worthy and gallant knight died in 1626, at the patriarchal age of ninety-eight. Sir Clement, the eldest son and heir of Sir John, married twice ; first, Anne, daughter and heiress of William Cardinal, Esq., of Great Bromley, in Essex, and, secondly, Anne, daughter of John Appleyard, Esq. By his first wife he had, with other children, an eldest son, John, who died in the lifetime of his father, leaving issue, by Phillippa, daughter of Robert Bedingfield, Esq., of Ditchenham, in Norfolk, a son, Clement Heigham, Esq., heir to his grandfather ; a distinguished cavalier, who for his loyalty and devotion to his Sovereign during the civil wars, was named by King Charles II. as one of the knights of the contemplated order of the Royal Oak, which, however, for poll- 1 & 2 Phil. & Mary. J sir clement heigham. 213 tical reasons, was never established. Thomas.the fifth son of Sir Clement by his first marriage, was the translator of " The Ghosts of the deceased Sieurs de Villemor and de Fontaines, a most neeessarie Discourse of Duells," &c., printed by Cantrell Legge, printer to the University of Cambridge, 16^4, which was dedicated to his " thrice honoured kinsmen, the two worthy knights. Sir William Harvey, of Ickworth, and Sir Edward Sulyard, of Haughley." The former was the direct ancestor of the present noble Marquis of Bristol ; the latter was of a stupendiously ancient and highly historical family, long seated at Haughley. Sir John Sulyard, and his son, Edward Sulyard, Esq., were difeadfuUy persecuted in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, for recusancy. Edward was afterwards knighted by King James I., and the penalties he had incurred remitted ; but he was imprisoned by Cromwell, and his estates sequestered. The family of Sulyard, which claimed a Plantagenet descent from King Edward I., through the marriage of one of their ancestors with a daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, although now extinct in the male line, is represented by the family of Jerningham, Lord StaiFord. Clement Heigham, the cavalier, was succeeded by his son, Clement, who was in holy orders, and rector of Barrow. He married, first, Susan, daughter of the Rev. Luke Skippon, D.D., and, secondly, Barbara, daughter and heiress of Sir L'Estrange Calthorpe. But male issue having failed in this line, we retiftn to Sir Clement, who, by his second wife, Anne, daughter of John Appleyard, Esq., of Denston, in Norfolk, had a son, Arthur, in holy orders. Rector of Redgrave, in SuiFolk, who married Anne, daughter of Thomas Coell, Esq., of Depden, in the same county, whose great grandson and lineal male descendant, was the late Rev. Henry Heigham, of Hunston, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Symonds, Esq., of St. Edmunds- bury, Captain R.N., and left issue three sons: I.John Henry Heigham, Esq., of Hunston, co. Sufiblk (the eldest male representative and descendant of our Speaker), a magistrate and Deputy Lieutenant of the county, and one of the Chairmen of the Quarter Sessions, who married, first, in 1823, Maria Catherine, daughter of Lieut-Colonel William Gould, and has issue by her two sons and five daughters ; and, secondly, in 1847, Lydia, daughter of the Rev. Henry William Rous Birch, of Southwold, in the county of Sufiblk, by whom he has issue one son : 2. George Thomas Heigham, Esq., of Houghton Hall, in Cavendish, co. Sufiblk, a magistrate of the county, formerly Captain in the 4th Dragoon Guards, married, in 1830, Mary-Anne-Elizabeth, only daughter of the Rev. Henry Hasted, rector of Horningsheath, in the same county, and has issue three sons and two daughters : 3. Charles William Heigham, Esq., of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister-at-Law. The sisters of these gentlemen are Mary Anne Penelope, married to the Rev. Edward Gould, rector of Sproughton, in Sufiblk, and Elizabeth Sophia married to Alexander 214 LIVES or THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKEB 1558. Henry Augustus John, Comte de St. George, of Changins, in the Canton de Vaud, Switzerland, Arms.—Sa. a fesse, chequy, or. and az., between three horses' heads, erased, arg. Crest — A horse's head erased, arg. SIR WILLIAM CORDELL. The ancient family of Cordell was long seated in Suffolk, at the head of which was the subject of our memoir, who resided at Long Melford, in that county. He was educated for the law, and soon became a counsellor of note, when ' having been elected one of the Knights of the Shire for Essex, he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the 5th and 6th of Queen Mary, which met at Westminster on the 20th January, 1558, the memorable year of the loss of Calais, which was soon followed by that sove- reign's death. We have ialready remarked, in the lives of the preceding Speakers, upon the ready acquiesence of the Parliament, both upper and lower Houses, in all the measures of the Queen for the uprooting of Protes- tantism and the perfect re-establishment of the Roman Catholic religion in all its ancient splendour. Little business of that nature was debated in this Parliament, all had been already achieved. One circumstance, however, which fixes our attention, occurred towards the end of the first session, when a bill was brought in for the confirmation of the Queen's letters patent. It was read a third time in the House of Lords and passed on the 26th February ; the Earls of Oxford, Arundel, and Derby, Lords Cobham and Mountjoy, dissenting. The object of the bill was to confirm the religious foundations made by the Queen. In the course of its discussion in the Lower House a young member named Copley said, " That he did not approve of such a general confirmation of all she had given, or might give ; lest under colour of this, she might dis- pose of the crown from the right heirs of it." The House was much offended at this, and Copley was made to withdraw. He was voted guilty of great irreverence to the Queen ; and though he asked pardon and desired it might be imputed to his youth, yet our Speaker ordered him into the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms, and kept him in his hands till they had sent to the Queen to desire her to forgive his offence — she returned for answer " That, at their request, she readily forgave him ; but desired them to examine him from whence that notion sprang." Upon this curious passage in our Parlia- mentary history, Burnet in his Reformation, vol.ii.p. 361, strangely observes. 5- & 6 Phil. & Mary.] sir wihiam cobdell. 215 that it shewed " a proper resentment in the House, as well as their high esteem for the Queen, and their resolution to have the crown descend, after her death, to her sister." Now it curiously enough happens that Burnet calls the offender Coxley instead of Copley, and he may have been as ignorant of the motives of the utterer as of his name, and we feel in- clined to think he strains a point to further his own peculiar argu- ments. We regard Mr. Copley's observations altogether in another "light, and believe that, seeing the willingness displayed by a Romanist majority of a House, packed by the Queen's influence, to overturn everything which had been effected in the two preceding reigns, and that they were about to consummate their iniquity, by the solemn confirmation of all those Monastic Institutions which Mary had revived and endowed, he naturally imagined that any other measure, even that of disinheriting Elizabeth and settling the crown upon Philip and his heirs, might obtain an equally ready acquiescence from this subservient and obsequious Parliament. We do not pretend to say that we have discovered the true motives of the ofiensive speech delivered by Mr. Copley, but as it is evident that Burnet knew little about it in his time, and as it is impossible to twist or torture Copley's words (which are upon record] into a desire that after Mary's death, the crown should not descend to Elizabeth, but as on the contrary they plainly indicate his fear that by the yielding of the Parliament in all things to Mary's request, there was no telling what extravagant proposition might next come before them, we are inclined to regard this gentleman in the light, not only of a good patriot, but one of the most independent members of all the Par- liaments of that reign, whose conduct merits our highest praise, instead of the censure in which the good Bishop indulges. With the exception of the reversals of attainders, a few political acts, and one inflicting five years imprisonment, or a large fine, on all concerned in the abduction of heiresses under sixteen years of age, little business beyond the supplies, was transacted in this Session. The Queen's wants and the state of the nation were discussed by a committee of both Houses, the Speaker with ten other members having been invited by the Lords for that purpose. This was not altogether the constitutional method of voting, or even suggesting the supply, but it does not appear that our Speaker (consummate lawyer as we are told he was) objected to the proposal, for on the 4th of February a bill was read for the grant of a subsidy of two-fif ceenths and tenths " as agreed upon by the Lords and Commons in Committee," which occasioned some debate, and it appears that the Speaker was desired to see the Queen and ascertain whether a smaller amount would not satisfy her Majesty. For on the 10th of the month Sir William Cordell acquainted the House "That he had opened unto the Queen's Majesty his commission touching the grant of the subsidy ; which the Queen thankfully took, giving them present. 216 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1558. hearty thanks, and all the realm." Our Speaker acquitted himself well of his commission, for it seems that he induced the Queen to accept a sub- sidy and one-fifteenth, which was all that was granted that session. The second session of this Parliament, which commenced its proceedings on the 5th of November following, was remarkable for an Act which was intended to put the first restraint upon the liberty of the press. A bill was brought in and passed to a third reading in the House of Lords on the 16th, " That no man shall print any book or ballad, &c., unless he be authorized thereunto b}' the King and Queen's Majesties license, under the great seal of England," when the further progress of the bill was staid by the announcement of the Queen's illness and her death on the following day. The " Parliamentary History" remarks, that it is uncertain what fate such a bill would have met with in the House of Commons. We, on the other hand, entertain no such feelings of doubt, as the ex uno disce omnes, or the converse rather, proves to our minds that in all the Parliaments of Mary's reign the members were ready to vote away the lives and liberties of Englishmen, indeed all that was dear to the very name, saving always their money, at the desire of the sove- reign — the only honourable exceptions to the time-serving Parliaments of this Queen, are the sixty-five members (amongst whom was Sir Thomas Moyle, member for the county of Kent, and Speaker of the House of Com- mons towards the end of Henry VIII.'s reign), recorded by Sir Edward Coke, who, refusing to associate their names with the proceedings of Parliament boldly and openly deserted the House, for which they were prosecuted and would have been severely dealt with, no doubt, but for the happy circum- stance of the Queen's death. Our Speaker was in high favour with the Queen, by whom he was constituted a Privy Councillor, and appointed Master of the Rolls. The former possibly as a reward for his political subserviency, the latter as a just tribute to his legal acquirements, and in the interval between the two Sessions of her last Parliament, Mary conferred the honour of knighthood upon him. It was the custom for writers in former ages to gloss over the errors of omission and commission of all who held or had held high oflicial or judicial situations ; it seems to our view of the case, that the unqualified praise they bestow upon all, not actually under the ban of the powers in esse, arose from a fear of libelling the office in the person of the officer, for it must be confessed that their arguments seldom have any correct reference to the characters of their ancestors, although tSey deal justly enough, at times, with their contempo- raries, making allowance for the vein of flattery which runs through their biographical sallies. We give the following extract from Lloyd, although our author is wrong in some of his facts: after a lamentable account of the state of the kingdom upon the accession of Queen Mary, owing to religious dissensions, he observes—" The body of the kingdom meets, and chuseth our 5 & 6 Phil & Mary. J sir william cordell. 217 Knight for Speaker, whose temper was a representative of the Parliament, as that is of the kingdom : a temper made up of an equal mixture of loyalty and piety, that could at once stand to their religion, and submit to their sovereign ; render to Caesar what was Caesar's, and to God, what was God's : long did he expect that the Queen would comply with the Parliament, and as long did she stay for their compliance with her ; unite they could not unanimously among themselves, dissolved they are, therefore, peaceably by her. But Cordell was too popular to be neglected, and too honest to be corrupted ; useful parts will find preferment, even when the dissenting judgment findes not favour. The Speaker of the unhappily healing Parliament was made Master of the Rolls in Queen Maries days, and of a more happily healing one was made so in Charles the Second's reign : the one was of that primitive faith that was before the modern names of Papists and Protestants ; the other of a moderation that was older than the new heats of disciplinarians and anti- disciplinarians. Sir WiUiam Cordell bequeated this observation, ' There is no man that talks, but I may gain by him ; and none- that holds his tongue, but I may lose by him.' " Sir William Cordell married Mary, daughter and heiress of Richard Clop- ton, Esq., and dying at an advanced age in the 23rd of Elizabeth, was buried in the church of Long Melford. As he had no issue, his sister Joan, who married Richard Alington, Esq., of Horseheath, in Cambridgeshire, the descendant of the Speakers in several Parliaments of Henry VI. and Edward IV., became his heir, and carried his estate at Foxley, in Norfolk, into that very ancient family. (See Alington.) Mr. Alington had two daughters and coheiresses : Mary, married to Sir John Savage, of Clifton, co. Chester, and Cordelia, mar- ried to Sir John Stanhope, of Elvaston, whose direct descendant the pre- sent Earl of Chesterfield, is now the representative of our Speaker in the female line. The estate of Long Melford passed to Sir William Cordell, the cousin and male representative of the subject of this memoir, whose descendant was created a baronet in 1660, a title which expired with Sir John Cordell, who was killed by a fall from his horse in 1704, when his two sisters and co-heiresses came into possession of the estate. Elizabeth married Thomas King, Esq., who was killed in a duel, and Margaret espoused Sir Robert Firebrace, Bart., by whom he had an only son. Sir Cordell Firebrace, who married Bridget, third daughter of Sir Nicholas Bacon, K.B., of Shrubland Hall, Suffolk. This lady was the relict of Edward Evers, Esq., of Ipswich, and subsequently re- married to a third husband, William Campbell, Esq., brother to John, third Duke of Argyle. Sir Cordell dying in 1759, without issue, the title became extinct, while the estates passed to Basil Fielding, fourth Earl of Denbigh, and Viscount Fielding, who married Hester, daughter, and eventually sole heiress of Sir Basil Firebrace, Bart, (son of the devoted royalist. Sir Henry Firebrace, who attended King Charles I. to the scaffold, and received from 218 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1558. that unfortunate monarch, his miniature set in diamonds in a small ring, which has descended to, and is now possessed by the present Earl of Denbigh). A junior branch of the ancient family of Firebrace, or Farbrace, is represented by the Rev. George Farbrace, Rector of E ythorne, near Dover. Sir William Cordell's epitaph in Latin, setting forth his various appoint- ments through life, is thus translated in Lloyd's "State Worthies." — " Here William Cordel dotli in dust remain ; Great by his birth, but greater by his brain r Plying his studies hard, his youth throughout. Of causes he became a pleader stout, His learning deep such eloquence did vent. He -was chose Speaker to the Parliament : Afterwards Knight, Queen Mary did him make, And Counsellor, state work to undertake ; And Master of the Rolls : well worn with age, Dying in Christ, Heaven was his utmost stage. Diet and clothes to poor he gave at large, And a fair Alms- House founded on his charge Arms. — Gu. a chev. erm. between three griffins* heads, erased arg. SIR THOMAS GARGRAVE, Knt. The name of Gargrave is supposed to be derived from Gargrave, in Craven, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and occurs often in the afiairs of that district. The first we find upon record, is John Gargrave, tutor to Richard, Duke of York. He was both a warrior and a man of letters, and died at Ponterson, in France, while acting as Master of the Horse to King Henry V, His son, Sir Thomas Gargrave, was Master of the Ordnance, and Marshal of the English army in France. Hunter, in his learned and admirable " History of Doncaster," says he was slain with the Earl of Salisbury, at the siege of Orleans ; and Granger observes, that " Thomas, Earl of Salisbury, was concerned in most of the military exploits during the reign of Henry V.. He died in the service of his country, being mortally wounded when com- manding the English army at the siege of Orleans." The account of his lordship's death, in which our Speaker's ancestor is introduced, is thus described by Strutt, p. 89. " In the tower that was taken at the bridge end, there was an high chamber, having a grate full of barres of yron, by the whiche a man myghte look all the length of the bridge into the citie, and devising in what place it were best to give the assault. They within the citie well perceived thys peeping 1 Elizabeth.] sir thomas gargrave. 219 hole, layde a piece of ordinance directly against the windowe. It so chanced the 59th day after the siege was layde, the Earl of Salisbury, Sir Thomas Gargrave, and William Glasdale, with divers other, went into the sayde tower, and so into the high chamber, and looked out at the grate ; and within a short space, the sonne of the master gunner, perceiving men looking out at the window, took his match, as his father had taught him, who was gone down to dinner, and fired the gunne, the shot whereof broke and shevered the iron barres of the grate, so that one of the same barres stroke the earle so violently on the heade, that it stoke away one of his eyes and side of his cheeke, &c." From Sir Thomas Gargrave alluded to in the above extract, descended Sir Thomas Gargrave, the subject of our memoir, who was born in 1495, and according to all the accounts we have seen, must have been one of those legal warriors, who wielded pen and sword with equal dexterity, as he won his spurs in Scotland, where he received the honour of knighthood from the Earl of Warwick. In proof of his acting in a military capacity, or at least holding high appointments in the civil department of the array, we find, from an inscription upon the portrait of this eminent man, in the possession of Viscount Galway, at Serlby, Notts, that he was Treasurer of the War, and he is further described as President of the Council of the North. We agree, however, with Mr. Hunter, that it is more probable he was only one of the learned council of that court. In the first Parliament of Queen Elizabeth, which met at Westminster on the 23rd January, 1558, Sir Thomas Gargrave, who represented the county of York, and was, at that time, sixty-three years old, was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. The first Acts of this Parliament were, as might have been anticipated, the restoration of the Protestant faith, and they commenced by giving back the first fruits and tenths to the Queen's Majesty, which met with no oppo- sition, except from eight bishops in the Upper House, The restoration of the supremacy to the imperial crowii, was debated in the Commons for the period of a month, which, as the historian observes, argued much opposition, but it was at length carried, and stands first in the statute books of this reign. In the course of the debates upon this question, our old friend. Dr. John Storey, who in the two previous reigns had acted so injudiciously, is reported to have boasted, in his zeal for the Romish faith, " that he himself was once at the burning of an heretic, and tost a faggot at his face, as he was singing psalms, and put a bunch of thorns under his feet." This is the statement of Fox, in his " Book of Martyrs ; " its truth, however, has been questioned, although other v^riters of admitted authority, testify to this gentleman's imprudence, and state that he was obliged shortly after to fly the kingdom, and took refuge at Antwerp, wdth the Duke D'Alva, but that being tre- panned on board an English ship, he was brought back, and executed for treason. Fox, in illustration of this unhappy man's zeal, and the violence 220 LIVES OP THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1558. of his spirit, says, that after he was taken down alive from the gallows, and, according to the bloody and barbarous customs of the time, had undergone further mutilation, Storey rose up and hit the executioner a blow in the face, to the wonder of all the spectators. In the course of this session, the Commons determined, notwithstanding the delicacy of the question, to address the Queen upon the subject of marriage, and we are tempted to transcribe our Speaker's oration upon the occasion, because it appears to be consistent with legitimate English feeling, and is unaccompanied by that servile flattery and fulsome adulation, by which the speeches of the public men of that age are so disgustingly distinguished. We may also add, that its style is superior to most of the effusions of this nature which have come under our inspection, and if we had not good authority for the fact of its being given in the words in which Sir Thomas Gargrave delivered it, we should have imagined it had undergone considerable repairs, if not wholly reconstructed to suit the taste of modern society. " May it please the Queen's Highness — " There is nothing that we more earnestly desire of God in our daily prayers, than that the happiness we have hitherto enjoyed, in the equity and justice of your Majesty's Government, may be continued to this nation down to the latest posterity. But how to effect this, amidst all the variety of our aims and endeavours, we must profess ourselves at a loss, unless either your Majesty were to reign for ever (a blessing which 'twere in vain to hope for), or would vouchsafe to accept some match capable of supplying heirs to your royal virtues and dominions, which God grant, since it is the hearty and united wish of all your subjects. It ought to be the main concern of persons of allranks and degrees whatever (of princes especially), that since they are mortal themselves, they may secure the kingdom from that fate. Now it is in your majesty's power to confer this kind of immortality upon your kingdom of England, by accepting a husband, who may prove a support and comfort to you in all changes of fortune ; besides that your majesty's temper and age, person and fortune, seem to plead hard for such a change of state. For it cannot be doubted, but the single zeal and assiduity of such a relation will' dispatch more business, arid to better purpose, than the joint endeavours of a great many who are less concerned. Nor indeed can anything have a worse influence upon the public, than that a princess, whose marriage must needs produce the twin blessings of peace and safety to a kingdom, should, like a nun profess'd, condemn herself to a single state. Since your majesty has received the kingdom by way of inheritance from your royal ancestors, you ought to continue it down to such, as may prove the glory and the security thereof. Besides the Kings of England have ever shown a more than ordi- nary concern, that the royal family might be extinct for want of issue. Hence was it, that your royal grandfather, Henry VII., did (within our 1 Elizabeth.] sir thomas gargrave. 221 freshest memory) provide suitable matches for his sons Arthur and Henry, tho' they were both very young. And for the same reason, your royal father courted Mary, Queen of Scots, for his son Prince Edward, who was then but eight years old. And it is not very long since your sister Queen Mary, though pretty well advanced in years, was married to Philip of Spain. Now if the lot of barrenness, whether it fell to the share of princes or peasants, was always looked on as the most grievous misfortune, what a weighty guilt must that princess contract, who shall make this punishment her option ; from whence innumerable evils must arise to the Commonwealth, and such mis- fortunes as are not even to be thought of without dread and horror. That matters may never come to this sad pass, not only the small number of us that are here present, but all England in general, and every one of your subjects in particular, cast themselves at your majesty's feet, and with the • deepest concern, tender this humble but pressing and earnest address." The answer of Elizabeth is too well known to require observation or com- ment, but it must be allowed, that if circumstances had rendered it necessary in this age of liberty and civilization, for her subjects to have petitioned our gracious Sovereign to take a husband, no Speaker of the House of Commons upon whom the duty of addressing her personally might have devolved, could have achieved his mission in a more satisfactory manner to himself, or have worded his address in more forcible and becoming language, alike free, as it is, from sycophancy or servility ; Sir Thomas Gargrave infused into his oration the boldness of the soldier, and the close reasoning of the lawyer, for he was both. We know nothing more of the Parliamentary career of this gentleman. In the latter part of his life Hunter says he lived almost exclusively in the country, and twice served the office of high sheriff of Yorkshire. At the time of the rebellion of the two northern Earls, he was in Pontefract Castle attending to the interests of the Queen, whence he wrote to the Earl of Shrewsbury, one of his principal friends, 25th November, 1569, in which he speaks of the plan being ill-concerted and extravagant. In the next year he entertained Grindal, the new Archbishop of York, in his way to take possession of his see, who says, " That he was not received with such concourse of gentlemen, at his first coming into the shire, as he hoped for, only Sir Thomas Gargrave with his son, Mr. Bunnie, Mr. Waterton, one of the Saviles, and four or five gen- tlemen more, meeting him near to Doncaster, and that he was conducted to the said Sir Thomas's house, where he lodged that night." — (" Strype's Life of Grindal" p. 163.) Sir Thomas Gargrave appears to have been at once active and useful, benevolent and religious. The many offices and employments in which his services were required by princes so discerning as those of the Tudor race, are a sufficient proof of the former ; and what we can collect of his private life evinces the latter. 222 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1558. Sir Thomas lived to the age of 84 or 85, and his second wife, who was the widow of Sir John Wentworth, of Elmsal, was living at the time of his .death. His will is a curious document, in it he alludes to this lady and charges his son and successor. Sir Cotton Gargrave, " Even as a father may chardge the Sonne before God that hee bee gentle and good unto her, as unto his father's good wife ; as hee hath good cause, yf he call to remembrance her rare diligence and goodness towards him in his youths, and her kyndness now to his children;" and he leaves her £50 per an., with six silver spoons gilt, and six with the apostles on the end, and a silver ale cup, all which were Sir John Wentworth's. He also orders that during the rest of her life she is to have the three chambers she occupies in his house of Nostel, with apartments for two maids and one man servant, and to be provided with sufficient meat, drink, and lire — and he desires to be buried in "Wragley Church. His will is dated the 27th March, 1579, and he died the next day. Sir Cotton Gargrave, his only surviving child and successor, was Sheriff of Yorkshire, 26th Elizabeth. He married first, Bridget, daughter of Sir William Fairfax of Stuton, Knight, by whom he had three sons ; John, died an infant, Thomas married Catherine, daughter of Thomas Wentworth of Wentworth Woodhouse, whose only child, a daughter Prudence, married Richard Bernie, M.D., and died witjhout issue, and Robert, who was killed in Gray's-inn Fields, at the age of seventeen. Thomas Gargrave was executed at York upon a charge of murder of a most revolting nature, which was, as far as the particulars can be ascertained (but over which it was the interest of all parties at the period to cast the thickest veil of mystery) for poisoning and burning a boy of his kitchen in the oven. Many attempts were afterwards made by his daughter Prudence to set aside the verdict, but nothing appears to have been effected in the matter. By the second marriage of Sir Cotton Gargrave with Agnes, daughter of Thomas Waterton of Walton, Esq., he had several sons and daughters, the latter of whom married into the families of Venables of Kinderton, Fenwick of Stanton, in Northumberland, Holt and Tempest of Broughton, two of the sons died unmarried, and Francis, the youngest, steward to the Earl of Mulgrave, married and had eight children. The eldest son by the second marriage who succeeded to Nostel upon the execution of his half- brother, was Sir Richard Gargrave. He married Catherine, daughter of Sir John Danvers, Knt., by Elizabeth, daughter and coheir of John Nevill, Lord Latimer, sister and coheir of Henry, Earl of Danby, by whom he had issue two daughters and coheirs ; Elizabeth married Sir Thomas Dereham of West Dereham, in Norfolk, and Mary married to Colonel Richard Molyneux. This Sir Richard Gargrave was one of the most extravagant and expensive men of his age. He was High Sheriff of Yorkshire, and as he rode through the streets of Wakefield " bestowed great largesses upon the common people in congratulation for so wise, peaceable, and religious a King as England then THOMAS WILLIAMS. 223 enjoyed." He dissipated his whole estate in revellings and gaming, his love of which was long commemorated in an old painting preserved in the neigh- bouring mansion of Badsworth, in which he is represented playing at the old game of " put," the right hand against the left for the stake of a cup of ale. Dodsworth writing in 1634, says of him, that, " He now lyeth in the Temple for Sanctuary, having consumed his whole estate, to the value of £3,500 per annum at the least, and hath not a penny to maintain himself, but what the purchasers of some part of his lands in reversion after his mother's death allow him, in hope he will survive his mother, who hath not consented to the sale. His end was almost as tragical as that of his brother. He, who could once ride on his own land from Wakefield to Doncaster, was reduced at last to travel to London with the pack horses, and was found dead in an old hostelry with his head upon a pack saddle. He was a man of talent nevertheless, and a letter written by him to his brother-in-law, when remorse had succeeded to a life of vicious dissipation and boundless extravagance, which, however, is too long for insertion here, gives ample proof of the powers of his mind. From Francis, his younger brother, it is possible that, at this time, there may be male heirs representing this very eminent family, but it is stated that they never recovered their position, and that notwithstanding their high alliances and great anti- quity, some years ago, Mr. Gargrave, one of Francis Gargrave's descendants, held the humble office of parish clerk of Kippax, sic transit gloria mundi. The Gargraves of Kingsley Park, co. York (a branch of our Speaker's family), ended in two coheiresses, of whom Elizabeth married Sir Thomas Dereham of West Dereham, Bart., both of which families are represented by the present Sir Simeon Henry Stuart, Bart. Arms. — Lozengy or. and sa., on a bend of the first three crescents of the second. Motto. — Servire Deo regnare est. THOMAS WILLIAMS, Esq. According to Sir John William Pole, the subject of our memoir was of a very respectable family, seated at Stowford or StofFord, in Harford or Hereford parish, in the county of Devon, and was the son of Adam Williams, Esq., by Alis, his wife, daughter and heiress of Thomas Prideaux, of Ash- burton, of the same family as Dr. John Prideaux, Bishop of Worcester, but this worthy baronet does not further enlighten us as to the history of Mr. Williams, although he makes one or two remarks upon his celebrity as a 224 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1562. lawyer, and inserts his name among the worthies, or most eminent men of his county. All we know of this gentleman's early life is, that he was a student of the Inner Temple, and called to the bar of that society, of which he became subsequently a bencher. Having been returned for the city of Exeter, to the second Parliament of Queen Elizabeth, held at Westminster in January, 1562, and opened with great pomp by that sovereign, in the fifth year of her reign he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. The oration he made on that occasion has been handed down to us, as a rare sample of eloquence ; it was much lauded by contemporaneous writers, and historians of a more recent period have not hesitated to give great importance to this oratorical effusion of our Speaker, declaring it to be a most elaborate speech, and as well worthy a place in history " for the rarity of its style and other incidents," as that of the Lord Keeper Bacon. We shall give the speech in its entirety as a portion, and in this peculiar instance the best portion of Mr. Williams' memoir, which it is in our power to offer to the curious, as his early death precluded that promotion to which he might have aspired by his commanding talent and ability, when more ample details of his life would necessarily have been left upon record. Independently of which, notwithstanding the quaintness of his language, we have not met with any address from the chair to the Queen and both Houses of Parliament, so com- pletely in unison with the political and philosophical principles of our own days. Making allowances for the overwrought zeal and fanaticism of our Speaker in matters of religion, and the jus divinum of sovereigns, we must do honour to his memory, as the first who stands upon record, as an adviser of a wide extension of education to the people, in his argument upon which subject he enters into details, which give us a better insight into the manners of the people of that age, than can be collected from the most powerfully written fictions of the modern novelist. To the peculiar credit also of Mr. Williams, we observe a wide departure from the general style of nauseating flattery, addressed by his predecessors to their sovereigns, and at the conclusion, a bold and fearless demand, in language not to be misunderstood, for those privileges to which the legislative assembly had ever laid claim as of indispu- table right, though that right was continually infringed, until a comparatively modern epoch. Mr. Williams having gone through the usual form of excusing himself on the score of unfitness and incapacity, all of which were of course overruled, addressed the Queen and both Houses of Parliament, as follows — " Most honourable, — Although afore this time the place hath been fur- nished with orators, and therefore their matter entreated of worthily call'd an oration, yet I now, void of any such knowledge, require that name may be left, and that it might bear the name of an epistle with a request, and for 5 Elizabeth.] thomas Williams, Esa. 225 the better understanding thereof, I will divide the matter into three parts ; one for time past ; and the second, time present ; and the third, time to come. But fearing to fall between two mountains, as to be counted either ungrate, or dissembling, I know not what to say ; but yet seeing savage beasts forget not them who do well unto them, as appeareth by the story of a lyon, out of whose foot a certain man took a thorn, which said person being afterwards cast to the same lyon to be devoured, the lyon not forgetting, but remembering the former kindness shewed unto him, would not devour him, but ever after followed the same man ; even so without too much ingratitude, can I not let pass your majesty's manifold benefits extended upon us, which although worthily to be declared, pass capacity now to express ; yet think it blasphemy to suffer it clean to be untouch'd, and therefore in some part will put in remembrance the same, which I will divide into two parts, the one spiritual, the other temporal. For the first, when God planted your highness in this place, you found it not so furnished with treasure as other your predecessors have, although if you had yet occasions enough to employ it, which notwith- standing you did not take the extremity of penal statutes, and other forfeitures due unto you, but pardoned all such as in time convenient required it. Also your majesty did vouchsafe to take upon you the charge of both the states, as well spiritual as temporal, and so purged this church of all ill service, and placed therein service to God's honour. Further, what great plague and dearth happened by ill money this twenty years last past, which within one year is brought to good again, with little loss of your subjects ? Your majesty prevented also, as well the attempt in Scotland, made by your common enemy there, as now of late again in France, which otherwise, if it had not been foreseen, would have turned to the no little peril and loss of this your realm and subjects thereof. Also your highness hath been author of good laws, as appeareth by those made, both of the last Parliament, and by your other proclamations since. Further, finding this realm at your entrance in wars, you brought it in peace : all which former proceedings have been a great charge unto your majesty, which although the revenues of the crown be small, yet hath it hitherto only been done of your own charge, as the last day by the Lord Keeper it was declared. And for the last part and principal point of all other, your Highness hath brought and restored again God's doctrine into this realm, for which your humble subjects most heartily give thanks to God and you, by the mouth of me, their appointed speaker. For the second point, being time present, your majesty is the head and the body, the spirituality and the temporalty, which body is to be divided into three estates, the Lords spiritual, and the Lords temporal, and the Commons, whose mouth I am, which by no means can prosper the one without the other ; for as any estate divided cannot well continue, so in this, and therefore say, nosce teipsum, not minding to speak these words only to you, but to the whole Q 226 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1562. body ; for although the head may lack a member of the body, and yet con- tinue, yet so the member cannot want the head, not yet the head the whole body, but the want of the one of these last two shall be the ruin of the other, and therefore of necessity, for the sure preservation of the whole, it behoveth them firmly to join together, for though your highness be the head, and therefore the chief care pertaineth to you, yet your majesty cannot thoroughly redress the same, without knowledge of the faults, nor yet well understand the whole state, except the other parts of the body join with you, and put to their helping hands. I find in divers histories, great commodities grow to princes, by searching out, not only the wants of their subjects, but know- ledge of their talk, whereby they both better understand their own faults and the flatterers they have about them, which order the wise and prudent Marcus Aurelius used, and long time reigned honourably. The noble conqueror Alexander, in the beginning of his reign, used the same, but leaving that order, and having no regard to his living, was destroyed, which like example was seen by that notable and valiant warrior Julius Caesar. And being encouraged by these like examples and others, to enter into some abuses used in this realm, I will only speak of three, being all three notable monsters — Necessity, Ignorance, and Error. Necessity is grown amongst ourselves, so that no man is contented with his degree, though he hath never so much, but where she is (as the proverb saith) she hath no law ; for how now be all schools, benefices, and other like rooms furnished, and yet those for schools so few, that I dare say a hundred schools want in England, which before this time have been. And if in every school there had been but an hundred scholars, yet that had been ten thousand, so that ilow I doubt whether there be so many learned men in England as the number wants of these scholars. The second monster is her daughter Ignorance; for want of ten thousand scholars, which these schools were the bringers up of, and want of good schoolmasters, bringeth ignorance ; but the occasion of these two monsters is for want of livings and preferments, for covetousness hath gotten the livings, as by impropriations, which is a decay of learning. For by it the tree of knowledge groweth downwards, and not upwards, as it was first meant and made for, and groweth thereby greatly to the dishonour both of God and this commonwealth. The universities are decayed, and great market towns and others, without either school or preacher ; for the poor vicar hath but only twenty pound and the rest being no small sum is impropriate, and so thereby no preacher there, but the people being trained up and led in blindness, for want of instructions, become obstinate. And therefore to see to it, and that impropriations may be redressed, notwithstanding the laws already made. " The third monster is Error, a serpent with many heads, many evil opinions, and much evil life, as Pelegians, Libertines, Papists, and such others, leaving 5 Elizabeth.] thomas Williams, Esa. 227 God's commandments to follow their own traditions, affections, and minds. But if the Papist be, as indeed he is, in error, let us seek the redress thereof, for that the poor and ignorant be thereby abused. Until which redress be had, you nor your realm, neither at home nor abroad, shall ever b e well served of such people, which be so divided; and therefore speedily look to it, and weed out this wickedness and error within these our days, which is too much known now-a-days ; for if your Godly proclamations were not so soon forgotten, they would be amended. In the country I heard tell, but since I came hither, walking in the streets, I have heard oftentimes more oaths than words ; a pitiful hearing ! for if the Egyptians, by whose laws the people lost their hands, and amongst the barbarians lost their lives for swearing, and especially if it were a lie : If it were so punished amongst them being infidels, what shall there be no punishment amongst us being Christians ? Is truth further from us professing the name of Christ, and being Christians, than from them being infidels ? But even as Tantalus was plagued, so are we ; for although he had apples even hanging at his mouth, yet could he not eat any of them ; and having a river of water even as it were running by his lips, yet could he not drink, but died for hunger and thirst : Even so are we plagued; for having God's word, and his name ever in our mouths, yet we live as infidels, or as them that are furthest from the same, and so having enough, there is scarcity. And that we may avoid this blashphemy, and the other monsters, your humble subjects desire your Highness to see to the lamentable estate of this com- monwealth, and the redress of the same. " Having perused times past and times present, let us go to, and well remember the time to come. For Cato saith, a thing well begun shall be well ended, so then foUoweth of a good beginning a good ending. For that noble Captain Hannibal, environ'd with his enemies, in a strange country, sounded his trum- pet to council, and thereby prospered. So your Majesty hath now called the Prelates, Nobles, and Commons to council, for surety of the realm. We now so therefore assembled, as diligent in our calling, have thought good to move your Majesty, with the assent of this assembly, to build a strong fort for the surety of the realm, to the repulsing of your enemies abroad ; which must be set upon firm ground, and stedfast, having two gates, one commonly open, the other as a postern, with two watchmen at either of them, one governor, one lieutenant, four soldiers, and no good thing there wanting. The same to be named, the fear of God ; the governor thereof to be God, your Majesty the lieutenant, the stones the hearts of faithful people, the two watchmen at the open gate to be called Knowledge and Virtue, the other two at the postern to be called Mercy and Truth, all being spiritual ministers. " This fact is invincible, if every man will fear God ; for all governors reign and govern by the two watchmen. Knowledge and Virtue; and if you, being the lieutenant, see Justice with Prudence her sister executed, you shall then q2 228 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKER 1562. rightly use the office of a h"eutenant ; and for such as depart out of this fort, let them be let out at the postern by the two watchmen, Mercy and Truth, and then you shall be well at home and abroad. The charge of this fort is yours, being lieutenant. By Justice your place is settled, whereunto obedience ought to be taught and done ; which your Majesty ought to look to. And so now the fear of God to be a sure fort, the subjects' hearts the stones, Knowledge, Virtue, Mercy, and Truth, the four watchmen, God the governor, and your Majesty the lieutenant is well proved. Therefore to build upon this fort, the fear of God is nothing lacking to a happy life, for by God are all princes appointed. Who put down Saul ? Who made David king, who sought only God's glory and so prospered! As did Josophat, Josias, and Hezechias, and also Abas, as long as they sought God's glory, prospered ; but forgetting God, were overthrown. Therefore, first of all, and continually, vouchsafe to seek God's glory, and his true honour, and then you shall have this fort well built, and by you well governed. " Further I am a suitor to your Majesty, that when matters of importance shall arise, whereupon it shall be necessary to have your Highness's opinion, that then I may have free access unto you for the same ; and the like to the Lords of the Upper House. " Secondly, That in repairing from the nether House to your Majesty, or the Lords of the Upper House, to declare their meanings, and I mistaking or uttering the same contrary to their meaning, that then my fault or imbecility in declaring thereof be not prejudicial to the House, but that I may again repair to them, the better to understand their meanings, and so they to reform the same. " Thirdly, That the assembly of the Lower House may have frank and free liberties to speak their minds, without any controulment, blame, grudge, menaces, or displeasure, according to the old ancient order. "Finally, That the old privilege of the House be observed, which is, that they and theirs might be at liberty, frank, and free, without arrest, molestation, trouble, or other damage to their bodies, lands, goods, or servants, with all other their liberties, during the time of the said Parliament ; whereby they may the better attend, and do their duty ; all which privileges I desire may be enrolled, as at other times it hath been accustom'd. " And thus having been tedious unto you with my speech, void of eloquence, I crave your pardon, and desire your Majesty to accept of my heart and good will, as well at this time as after, and I will pray as I am bounden for your honour long to reign over us." It was in this Parliament that the oath of supremacy was first taken by all the Members of both Houses pursuant to an Act passed in the 1st year of this reign. Before the end of this session, in which were passed thirty-one public 5 Elizabeth.] thomas wilmams, esq. 229"' Acts, our Speaker assisted in preparing a petition to the Queen humbly entreating her to take a husband, which unpleasant circumstance was dis- missed with a few haughty words, not, we should imagine, very palatable to the Commons. And on the last day of the session Mr. Williams made another very powerful speech on presenting her Majesty with the subsidiary bills, in which he took occasion to allude to the forbidden subject of marriage, begging her Majesty to bear with " his unfitting words, uplandish and rude speech, beseeching God to incline her Majesty's heart to marriage, and that he would so bless and send her good success thereunto, that they might see the fruits and children that might come thereof, prosperously, and as long time, reign, as ever did any kings or princes." After a speech from the Lord Keeper the Parliament was prorogued to the following October, but owing to the plague, which Stow describes as " the threefold plague of pe&tilence, scarcity of money, and a great dearth of victuals," and which carried off in the 121 parishes of London alone, 21,530 people ; it was further prorogued to the 5th October of the following year, and on its meeting at the time appointed, again prorogued to the 30th of April in the next year, and without any reason assigned, again prorogued to the 4th October ensuing, once more to the 7th of February, and for the sixth time to the 30th September, in the 8th year of her reign. In the mean time our Speaker died, to the great grief of the Commons, by whom there is evidence to prove that he was greatly and deservedly esteemed. The proceedings which followed the melancholy event are set forth in the memoir of Richard Onslow, Esq., the Queen's Solicitor-General, his successor in the chair, Mr. Williams, according to the authority we before cited, Sir John William Pole, died in his young flourishing age, and left issue by Emeline his wife, the daughter and heiress of William Crew, Esq., of Chimley, two sons, John and Thomas, " both of them thriftles,'' says our author. Another topograhp- ical writer observes, that Williams of Stofford (the father of our Speaker), married the heiress of Drewe of Drewe's Cliffe, and Prideauxof Ashburton, and that John Williams, the grandson of the Speaker, married the heiress of Edgecumbe of Calstock, and sold the Stofford estate in the reign of King Charles I. It is possible that the family may still be extant, but we have not been fortunate enough to trace the descendants of our Speaker lower than the grandson to whom we have just alluded. Jrms.—Vaity per fesse vaire, arg. and gu. three curlews' head erased, counter-changed. The Speaker bore — Sa. three curlews' heads erased, arg. Crest. — A curlew arg. becked and legged, or. 230 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKER 1566. RICHARD ONSLOW, Esq. The family of Onslow was anciently seated in Shropshire, where they had large possessions, and took their surname from the lordship of Ondeslow, or Onslow (written Andeslow in Doomsday-book), within the liberty of the town of Shrewsbury, in the reign of Henry III., the period at which, according to Camden and other learned antiquaries, surnames were first assumed, although not generally adopted until the end of the reign of Edward I. In deeds which date as far back as 1281 and 1303, mention is made of Roger de Ondeslow, whose brother William succeeded to his property, he having died issueless, and from this William de Ondeslow, in a direct male line, de- scended Richard Onslow, Esq., the subject of our memoir. This gentleman was the younger son of Roger Onslow, Esq., of Shrewsbury, by Margaret his wife, daughter of Thymas Poyner, Esq., of the county of Salop ; his elder brother, Fulk Onslow, held the office of Clerk of the Parliament nearly all this reign, and died on the 6th August, 1602, aged 88 — while Richard having been destined for the law, was entered of the Inner Temple, and in due time called to the bar. His early proficiency was so great, that in 1562 he was chosen Autumnal Reader ; and the same year, at a grand Christmas festival kept with great magnificence by that honourable society, " with masks and mummeries," in honour of the Queen, Robert Dudley, the favour- ite (afterwards Earl of Leicester, being constituted constable and marshal of the ceremonies, Mr. Onslow was appointed second officer of the festival, with the title of Lord Chancellor. He was made Attorney General of the Duchy of Lancaster, and also of the Court of Wards, and in the 8th of Elizabeth, being then Recorder of London, was appointed with others of note, Commissioners to hear and determine all manner of treasons, and other crimes committed within the verge of the court. In the same year, June 27th, he was made Solicitor General, and having been returned to Parha- ment for the borough of Steyning, in Sussex, was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons, an office which he was not desirous to serve, and pleaded his attendance upon the House of Lords as one of the Council, in excuse thereof, but upon a motion of Sir Edward Rogers, that " Richard Onslow, Esq., her Majesty's Solicitor-General, was a member of that House, and yet attended the House of Lords, that they would have him restored to them to join in the election of a Speaker," -the House of Lords immediately acceded 8 Elizabeth. J richard onslow, esq. 231 to their request, and Mr. Onslow took his seat, but still endeavouring to evade the wishes of the Commons, the question was put to the House, when upon a division the numbers were eighty-two for, and seventy against him as Speaker, so that he was compelled to take the chair. In his speech to the Queen, desiring to be excused from that office, he alludes to the death of the former Speaker, Thomas Williams, Esq., whom, he observes, "it hath pleased God to call to his mercy ;" but there is nothing extraordinary in his discourse, which, at this period was a mere matter of form, praying to be excused by reason of incompetency, from the performance of an arduous duty, for which the Sovereign almost universally discovered the party elected to be peculiarly fitted. We may, however, observe that Mr. Onslow has been charged vnth omitting in his oration to the Queen, to claim liberty of speech and freedom from arrest for the Commons and their followers, and the publisher of Sir Simon D'Ewes' journal observes, that " he probably thought the rights of the House were so evident and unquestionable, that they needed no further confirmation ;" but the fact of Mr. Onslow's having been elected to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Mr. Williams, who had in the former Session of this Parliament made all the accustomed demands in a more substantive form than any previous Speaker on record, is a sufficient refutation of any charge of negligence on his part. The proceedings of this Parliament belong more to history than biography, and we can only take notice of those points in which our Speaker appears to have been more particularly involved. We may, however, observe, that the desire expressed by the Commons for the marriage of the Queen, and more especially for the public nomination, by enactment, of her successor, were the principal topics of debate during the session, and produced much curious and animated discussion, during which her Majesty thought proper to interdict any further debate upon the latter subject, knowing from experience how dangerous a ground it was to tread upon, and feeling, as the historian observes, that after her death there could be no difficulty as to the right of succession, as blood would speak for itself, in allusion to the near relationship of James VI. of Scotland. Some very strong language had been used in the discussion of this question by the Com- mons, such as — " That the Queen, by not appointing a successor, did at once provoke the wrath of God and alienate the hearts of her people." " That none but timorous princes, or such as were hated by their people, or faint- hearted women, did ever stand in fear of their successors, &c," and the discussion being carried on with great pertness and insolence, according to Sir Simon D'Ewes and other court-paying historians, mixed with much personal abuse and audacious invective, the Queen, to whom everything was communicated, desired thirty members, with the Lords Committee, to appear before her, when, after many obliging expressions, in which she endeavoured to smooth and qualify their minds she gave them a smart reproof, forbad their 232 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1566. proceeding any further in the business, and refused the large subsidies offered by the Parliament, contenting herself with a much smaller sum, observing « that money in her subjects' purse, was as good as in her own ex- chequer." The rebellious spirit of the Commons, however, was by no means quelled, and Mr. Paul Wentworth moved, to know " whether the Queen's commands and inhibition were not against the liberties and privileges of the House," and the debate lasted from nine in the morning of the Uth Novem- ber, until two in the afternoon. The next day our Speaker was sent for by the Court, and on his return reported to the House, " that he had received a special command from the Queen, that there should be no further talk of that matter, and that if any person thought himself not satisfied, and had further reasons, let him come and shew them before the Privy Council," an invitation not likely to be accepted by any but a fanatic, desirous of political martyrdom, few instances of which are to be found in the records of flames and faggots. However, on the 25th November, the Speaker declared to the Commons, by her Majesty's command, "that for the good will she bore them, she did revoke her two former commandments, but desired the house to proceed no further in the matter at that time," a convenient yielding on the part of the Queen, which was joyfully accepted by the House as a sort of apology for the infraction of their privileges, while the Queen herself persevered in her resolution to the end of her life, never to suffer an Act of Parliament to be passed to settle the succession. Upon the dissolution of the Parliament, the Queen, attended in great state by the lords and high dignitaries, having taken her seat, Mr. Onslow was brought in between Sir Francis KnoUes, Vice Chamberlain, and Sir Ambrose Cave, Chancellor of the Duchy, and after reverence done, proceeded down to the wall, and from thence came up to the rail, in the way making three reverences, and standing there, made other three like reverences, and then began his oration — a lengthy affair, which in point of style, however, is superior to many of those We have hitherto perused, but our limited space precludes the insertion of more than one or two short extracts, as indicative of his style of eloquence and declamation. After saying how gladly he would have been excused from the office of Speaker, and that he should be forced utterly to discover the barrenness of his learning before that noble assembly, by not being able to avail himself of the true saying, that there is no difference between a wise man and a fool if they may keep silence, which he required, he touched upon the superior advantages of government by succession over that of election, in which, as he wisely observes, " there is great variance, particularly strifes and part takings. As for examples, among the rest, take out one, which is called the most Holy, as that of the Pope, and weigh how holily and quietly it is done, called indeed holy and quiet, but utterly unholy and unquiet, with great part takiags and strifes." 8 Elizabeth.] bichard onslow, esq. 233 He then spoke of religion, desiring thanks to God for his Divine providence in giving not a heathen or unbelieving prince as he might, but a faithful, and one of his own children, to govern us his children, for the liberty of God's word, whereof they were before bereaved, and for the reformation of the state of the corrupt church, now drawing souls out of dangerous errors which afore, by that corruption, they were led and brought into, and after praising the Queen's foreign and domestic policy, and calling upon her to quicken, by her assent, those laws which had been made by this Parliament, he concludes his learned oration by his hearty thanks to God that her highness had signified the pleasure of her inclination to marriage, which afore she was not given to, and he sums up all in these words in allusion to Abraham's request : " There- fore God grant us, that as your majesty hath defended the faith of Abraham, you may have the like desire of issue with you, and for that purpose that you will shortly embrace the holy state of matrimony, to have one, where and with whom God shall appoint, and best like your majesty, and so the issue of your own body, by your example, rule over our posterity, and that we may obtain this, let us give our most humble thanks to God for his manifold benefits bestowed upon us, and pray for the reign of your majesty's issue, after your long desired government." Notwithstanding the many civil things uttered by our Speaker, and the Lord Keeper Bacon's approval of his wise and eloquent oration, Elizabeth, unable to suppress her feelings of vexation with the Commons for the liberties they had taken, made such an extraordinary speech, that we trust we shall be excused f»r inserting its first paragraph in this memoir. " Although the Lord Keeper hath according to order, very well answered in my name, yet as a periphrasis I have a few words further to speak unto you : notvpithstanding I have not been used, nor love to do it, in such open assemblies ; yet now, not to the end to amend his talk, but remembering that commonly princes own words be better printed in the hearer's memory, than those spoken by their command ; I mean to say thus much unto you. 1 have in this assembly found so much dissimulation, where I always professed plainness, that I marvel thereat ; yea, two faces under one hood, and the body rotten, being covered with two vizors, succession and liberty, which they determined must be either presently granted, denied, or deferred." Not to trouble the reader with the whole of this royal eiFusion, we will merely observe that she informed the Parliament how she had discovered her enemies amongst them, who worked to do her this mischief which never foreign enemy could bring to pass, the hatred of the Commons. She then repudiates any intention to break their liberties. " No" (she observes, with the most uncompromising vanity and self-conceit, from a woman to a large assembly of wise and learned men), " no, it never was in my meaning, but to stay you before you fall into the ditch." And she concludes — " And, therefore, henceforth, whether I 234 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. Jive to see the like assembly or no, or however it be, yet beware, however, you prove your prince's patience, as you have now done mine ; and now to conclude^ all this notwithstanding (not meaning to make a Lent of Christmas), the most part of you may assure yourselves, that you depart in your prince's grace." Whatever her Majesty's grace may have been, she was determined that Parlia- ments, like angels visits, should be few and far between, and thus suffered five years to elapse before she again summoned her faithful Commons, before the meeting of which our Speaker departed this life. Mr. Onslow married Catherine, daughter and heiress of Richard Harding of Knoll, in the county of Surrey, Esq., with whom he acquired that estate, where his posterity resided, and he left issue seven children, five daughters and two sons. Margaret married Richard Threll, of Drengwicke, in the county of Sussex, Esq. ; Ceceley, to Sir Humphrey Winch of Everton, in the county of Bedford, Knt., one of the Justices of the Common Pleas, and Elizabeth, to Richard Hill, Esq. of Blackwall. Ann and Mary died unmarried. Robert Onslow, our Speaker's eldest son and successor died a bachelor, when Sir Edward Onslow, knighted by Queen Elizabeth, who married Isabel, daughter of Sir Thomas Shirley, Knight, of Preston Place, co. Surrey, succeeded to the estates, and from this gentleman descended lineally Sir Richard Onslow, and the celebrated Arthur Onslow, whose memoirs will be found towards the conclusion of this work. In the reign of Queen Mary, the subject of the present memoir sat in two Parliaments for the borough of Steyning, and afterwards represented that place until his decease. The town residence of our Speaker was the ancient Blackfriars Convent, in the city of London, having had a grant of that estate from the Queen, with whom he is represented to have been a great favourite. He died of a pestilential fever, after five days' illness, " and lieth buried in St. Chad's church in Shrewsbury, between two pillars, on the south side of the chancel, towards Our Lady's isle, in a fair raised tomb, with the figures of him and his wife lying thereon ; and on the sides and at the feet of the tomb are the figures of two sons and five daughters, and this inscription." Here follows a long Latin inscription, which Collins the genealogist gives in full, but as the details therein set forth of the various offices he fulfilled, have already been given, we shall merely extract from it the dates of his birth and death, the former of which event happened in 1528, and the latter occurred in 1571, at the age of forty-three. In justice, however, to the memory of this eminent man, we must not omit the high character it records of him — " Fuit staturdprocerd,frontegratissimd,,voce gravi, Ungudfacundd, veritatis siudiosissi- mus, virtutum omnium thesaurus, sincerus, liheralis, incorrwptus." Of good stature, most agreeable mien, grave voice, eloquent, most studious of truth, the trea- sure of every virtue, sincere, liberal and incorruptible. A noble eulogium, (and no doubt merited) of which his descendants may well feel proud, and had the effect, in this as it must in other instances, in spite of the levelling system of SIR CHRISTOPHER WRAY. 235 the presentage, of exciting his posterity to anoble imitation of ancestral virtues. In the will of Mr. Richard Onslow every proof of his affectionate care for the younger branches of his family is conspicuous, as well as the high and holy sentiments he entertained upon the all-important subject of religion. As a proof of his grateful recollection of services rendered to him in his professional career, we shall conclude this memoir with one extract from this interesting document — " Also I bequeath to every of my good and loving friends, Peter Osborne, John Mershe, William Leighton of Plashe, Esq., a ring of gold, with a death's head : to Robert Earl of Leicester, my best standing cup with a cover; to the Right Hon. William Lord Burghley, my special good lord, my gilt bowl with a cover ;" and he appoints his loving wife one of his executors. This lady afterwards married Richard, the brother of Sir Thomas Brown, Knight. It would be inexcusable were we to omit stating that the Right Hon. Arthur Onslow, the celebrated Speaker, from a due regard to the virtues of his ancestor, repaired his monument at Shrewsbury in 1742. We need scarcely observe that the present Right Hon. Earl of Onslow is the direct descendant and representative of our Speaker. Arms. — Ar., a fesse gu. between six Cornish choughs, ppr. SIR CHRISTOPHER WRAY, Knt. The ancient family of Wray was seated for some centuries in the bishopric of Durham, until about the reign of King Henry VIIL, when William Wray, Esq., having acquired estates at Richmond, in Yorkshire, removed into that county. He married the daughter and heiress of Jackson, Esq., of Snydall, by whom he had, with other issue, Christopher, the sub- ject of this memoir, who was his eldest son and heir. We shall have occasion hereafter to refer more particularly to Richard, the second son, whose de- scendants have continued the male line of this eminent family down to the present time. Christopher Wray was bom at Bedale, in Yorkshire ; and, although we have not ascertained where he received the rudiments of his education, we find that he completed his general studies at Magdalen College, Cambridge. He was afterwards entered of Lincoln's Inn, having been destined for the law, in due time called to the bar, and attained great eminence in his pro- fession. Consistently with the plan upon which we have hitherto proceeded, 236 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1571. it is not our intention to enter at any length into the character of this gentleman in his legal or judicial capacity, except where we find combined opinions of his private worth and public excellence, as one of the high magis- trates of the county ; and to these records we shall cheerfully give insertion. It is in his political or parliamentary character that we undertake his memoir, leaving the legal portion to the noble and learned author who is about to favour the public with the " Lives of the Chief Justices." Sir Christopher sat for Boroughbridge in all the Parliaments of Queen Mary, and having been returned for Ludgershall, in Wiltshire, in the 13th of EHzabeth, a.d. 1571, he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. The Queen's speech at the opening of this Parliament was as remarkable for its brevity as that of the Lord Keeper for its tedious length. She merely said : — " My right loving Lords, and you, our faithful and obedient subjects, — We, in the name of God, for his service, and for the safety of this State, are now here assembled, to his glory, I hope and pray that it may be to your comfort, and the common quiet of our, yours, and all ours, for ever." Then, as the historian observes, looking on the right side of her, towards Sir Nicholas Bacon, she willed him to shew the cause of the Parliament. After which, according to custom, the new Speaker made a long oration, avowedly with the intent of proving his unworthiness and incapacity for the high office to which he had beqn elected. What Sir Christopher said, however, in reference to his election, we know not, for we have but an abstract of his speech after his confirmation by the Queen, in which he observed that " He desired to be heard to say somewhat concerning the orderly government of a Commonwealth, which to be duly done, he said, there were three things requisite — religion, authority, and laws. By religion, we do not only know God aright, but also how to obey the King or Queen, whom God shall assign to rule over us, and that, not in temporal causes, but in spiritual or ecclesiastical, in which wholly her Majesty's power is absolute. And leaving all proofs of divinity to the Bishops and Fathers, as he said he would, he proved the same by the practice of Princes within this realm, and first made remembrance of Lucius, the first Christian King, who having written Elutherius the Pope, 1300 years past for the Roman laws, he was answered, that he had the Holy Scriptures, out of which he might draw good discretion, for that he was the Vicar of Christ over the people of Britain. The Conqueror, he said, in the erection of Battle Abbey, granted that the Church should be free from all episcopal juris- diction." " Henry HI. gave to Ranulph, Bishop of London, the Archbishoprick of Canterbury, by these words. Rex, 8(c., sciatit quod dedimus dilect. Nostra Ranulpho Archiepiscop. Cantuarien. quern instituimus Anulo et Baculo. The ring, he said, was the sign of perfection, the staff" the sign of pastoral faith. 13 Elizabeth.] sir Christopher wray. 237 which he could not do, if these Kings had not had and used the ecclesiastical powers. In the reports of the law, we find that an excommunication of a certain person came from the Pope under his Leaden Bull, and was shew'd in abatement of an action brought at the common law, which, besides that it was of no force, the King and Judges were of mind, that he who brought it had deserved death, so to presume on any foreign authority : which authority being now, by God's grace and Her Highness's means, abolished, and the freedom of consciences, and the truth of God's word established, we there- fore ought greatly to thank God and her. "For authority, or the sword, whereby the Commonwealth is stayed, three things are requisite, — men, armour, and money. For men, their good wills were most, being of itself a strong fortress. For armour, the necessity he shewed in part, and how requisite treasure y^as, he a little declared. Lastly for laws, the third stay of the Commonwealth, he said there must be con- sideration in making them, and care in executing of them ; in making such, as by the providing for one part of the Commonwealth, the rest should not be hindered, which were indeed a matter most pernicious ; and this he vouched out of Flato de legibus. For execution, he said, that since the law of itself is but mute, set in paper, not able to do aught, the magistrate (except he will be also mute) must be the doer, and then is a good law said to be well made, when it is well executed, for anima legis est executio." After commending her Majesty for giving free course to her laws, not sending or requiring the stav of justice, by her letters, or privy seals, as heretofore sometimes hath been by her progenitors used, and praising her for not pardoning any without the advice of such, before whom the offenders have been arraigned, and the cause heard, he concluded a speech, which in the " Journals of the Commons" is said to have occupied two hours, with the usual petitions, the last of which was " That in the House all men might have free speech." It is evident from this sample of Serjeant Wray's eloquence, but more particularly of his arguments, that he was shackled by the orders of the court, whose nominee he was, in all probability, for otherwise he had not employed such sophistry with regard to Church government, which the Commons were then endeavour- ing, by every means in their power to subvert, while the Queen on the other hand held firmly to her prerogative. At the same time we must give him credit for not having carried the language of flattery towards the Queen so far as his predecessors in that high office, nevertheless the Lord Keeper replied, that " Her Highness would not acknowledge so great perfections to be in her, but said, they should be instructions for her better proceedings in time to come." And with regard to the Speaker's fourth petition for liberty of speech, be thus delivered himself — " The fourth was such, that her Majesty having experience of late of some disorders, and certain offences, which though they were not punished, yet were they offences still, and so must be 238 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1571. accounted ; therefore said, that they should do ^vell to meddle with no matters of state, but such as should be propounded unto them, ^ and to occupy them- selves in other matters, concerning the Commonwealth." The " Parliamentary History" observes upon this strange reply to the fiction of freedom of speech, for such indeed it appears to have been at this period, that "this last injunction must sound harsh in the ears of an EngHsh House of Commons, who have ever valued themselves on that darUng prerogative, freedom of speech ;" but we are bound to say that the language of Sir Nicholas Bacon on this occasion was extremely mild in comparison to that of many of his predecessors and successors, one of whom, Sir John Pickering, who had himself been Speaker, told the Commons they had liberty of speech granted them by her Majesty, but they must understand that that liberty consisted in saying Aye and No. (Vide Pickering.) The most interesting debate which took place in this Parliament was upon the second reading of a bill against usury. We may appear to be old fashioned and prejudiced in our opinions when we state that the arguments of Mr. Clarke and others in favour of its enactments were unanswerable ; not only was it proved that the word of God was against this atrocious crime, but even Aristotle and Plato, the greatest and wisest of Pagan authorities regarded it as prater naturam, and Idem ac hominem occidere, St. Augustine, the same ; and in the very words of the Psalmist, answering to the question, Domine, quis habitaUt in Tabernaculo tuo ? He said — Qui curat proximo mo, non decipit eum, et qui pecuniam suam non dahit ad usuram. Other members spoke to " the mischief which did grow by reason of excessive taking, the destruction of young gentlemen," &c. Had they who were so unanimous in their condemnation of this crime lived in these days and seen how by the foolish and criminal yielding of a House of Commons to a single agitator, not only the wisdom of Aristotle and Plato, but the very commands of God were set at defiance, and no effort made to remedy the evil which was and still is reducing the aristocracy of England to beggary, while it helps the Jews to overwhelming riches ; and with them to the most insatiable pretensions, they might well despair of England's continued prosperity. The journals of this session give us little or no information concerning the conduct of the Speaker. We find that by order of the Queen he checks the members for debating on points of prerogative, and that upon some arguments started concerning the liberties of the House, Mr, Speaker declared, " That the Queen had as good a liking of this Parliament, as ever she had of any Parliament since her Majesty's reign." And the same day, upon the bringing in of a bill for fugitives or such as were fled beyond sea without licence, Mr. Wentworth having complained of some one misrepresenting speeches, the Treasurer's, observed, " that it was convenient, ill speeches should be avoided," whereupon our Speaker said, " that her Majesty had in plain words declared unto him that she had 13 Elizabeth.] sir Christopher wray. 239 good intelligence of the orderly proceedings among us, whereof she had as good a liking as ever she had of any Parliament since she came to the crown, and wished we should give her cause to continue the same." And he added further her Majesty's pleasure to be, to take order for licences ; wherein she had been careful, and more careful would be." On another occasion when Mr. Carleton informed the House, " how a member (Mr. Strickland) was detained from them by whose commandment or for what cause he knew not," a very interesting debate ensued, in which both Mr. Carleton and Mr. Yelverton (a celebrated lawyer, afterwards Speaker and Chief Justice), distinguished themselves greatly by their constitutional views of the privileges of the House, giving their opinions in the most fearless manner considering the tyranny of the times. They were violently attacked by Mr. Treasurer and Mr. Cleere, who observed that prerogative was not disputable, and Mr. Fleetwood timidly observed that their best plan was to be humble suitors to her Majesty for Mr. Strickland's release. It would have been gratifying to us to have been enabled to shew that our Speaker, so eminent a lawyer, had sided with the patriotic feelings of Messrs. Yelverton and Carleton, but all we can discover is, that Mr. Speaker moved " that the House should make stay of any further consultation thereupon." Towards the end of the session a curious case of bribery was brought under the notice of the House, in which one Thomas Long, a simple-minded person, having been returned for Westbury, co. Wilts, was questioned how he came to be elected ? The poor man immediately confessed that he gave Anthony Garland, the mayor, and one Watts, four pounds for his place in Parliament. Upon which the House ordered that the money should be returned to Mr. Long, fined the corporation of Westbury in £20 for the Queen's use, and that the mayor and Watts should be sent for to answer such things as should be objected against them by the House. And on the last day of the session in consequence of reports " that some of the members had taken money for their voices," a committee of the Privy Council and others examined the members, and particularly Mr. Norton, who himself hinted that he had been pointed at as one, and after a strict examination cleared the members in general, and Mr. Norton in particular, from any such imputation. The Par- liamentary History justly observes, " That if this purgation or scrutiny was truly made, it is a remarkable instance of the integrity and incorruption of Parliaments in those days ;" and we may add, much more than could have been said at any subsequent period. Our Speaker's address at the close of the session is not upon record, but the Lord Keeper Nicholas Bacon's answer to it is so much more arrogant, audacious, and presumptuous than was justified by the conduct of the members it is intended to arraign, that we cannot avoid giving the following extract : — " So there be certain of them, altho not many in number, who in the 240 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1571. proceedings of this session, have shewed themselves audacious, arrogant, and presumptuous, calling her Majesty's grants and prerogatives also into question, contrary to their duty and place that they be called into, and contrary to the express admonition, given in her Majesty's name, in the beginning of the Parliament, &c. But her Majesty saith, that seeing they will thus wilfully forget themselves, they are otherwise to be remembered, &c. ; so doth her Highness utterly disallow, and condemn the second sort for their audacious, arrogant, and presumptuous folly, thus by superfluous speech spending much time in meddling with matters neither pertaining to them, nor within the capacity of their understanding." We may thank God that such insolent lan- guage can no longer be addressed to the representatives of the people ; at the same time it puzzles all our philosophy to conceive how it was possible for the most supreme earthly authority, under the wildest despotism, to suppose itself really superior in intellect to the combined wisdom of Parliament, although no doubt such was the innate feeling of the virgin Queen. As a great mark of Queen Elizabeth's favour, she granted our Speaker the profits of the royal mint, with which he built his mansion of Glentworth. In the 16th of her reign, the distinguished talent and learning of Sir Christopher Wray, induced Elizabeth, who had previously conferred upon him the honour of knighthood, to appoint him Lord Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, over which court he presided with the greatest reputation for seventeen years. An old writer describes him as an upright judge, who respected every man in his proper station, when he was off the bench, but when he was upon it, he had no such regard for the greatest of men, so as to bias his judgment ; and Lloyd in his " Worthies" thus speaks of this excellent judge ; "Five particulars I have heard old men say he was choice in : 1 ; His friend, who was always wise and equal ; 2. His wife ; 3. His book ; 4. His secrets ; 5. His expression and garb. By four things he would say, an estate was kept : 1. By under- standing it ; 2. By spending not until it comes ; 3. By keeping old servants ; 4. By a quarterly audit. He was mindful of what is past, observant of things present, and provident for things to come. No better instances whereof need be alledged, than his pathetic discourses on the behalf of those two great stays of this kingdom, husbandry and merchandise ; for he had a clear discerning judgment, and that not only in points of law, which yet his arguments and deci- sions in that profession manifest without dispute; but in matters of policy and Government; as also in the little mysteries of private manage, to which, when you add his happy faculty of communicating himself, by a free and graceful elocution, to charm and command hisaudience, assisted by the attractive dignity of his presence, you will not admire that he managed his justiceship with so much satisfaction to the court, and that he left it with so much applause from the country ; for these two peculiarities he had, that none was more tender to the poor, or more civil in private ; and yet none more 13 Elizabeth.] sir Christopher wray, 241 stern to the rich, I mean justices of the peace, officers, &c., or more severe in public. He deKghted indeed to be loved, not reverenced ; yet knew he well how to assert the dignity of his place and function from the approaches of contempt." We have no reason whatever to doubt the justice of this noble portraiture, and must confess the satisfaction we derive from perusing such an evidence of the sterling worth and brilliant qualities of so distinguished a lawyer and statesman in an age in which it is rare to find a genuine record of man's worthiness, unaccompanied by that fulsome adulation to station which destroys the effect of eulogy or encomium. Sir Christopher married Anne, daughter of Nicholas Girlington, Esq. of Normanby, in Yorkshire, and left issue two daughters, Isabel, married to Godfrey Foljambe, Esq. ; secondly, to Sir William Bowes, Knt. ; and thirdly, to John, Lord Darcy ; and Frances, married to Sir George St. Paul, Bart, of Snarford ; and secondly to Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick ; and a son, William, who was created a baronet by King James I., a.d. 1612, the year after the institution of that order. Sir Christopher died the 8th May, 1592, and lies buried in the chancel of the church of Glentworth, under a splendid monu- ment, whereon are the effigies, the size of life, of a judge in his robes, with his lady by his side ; and the following inscription to perpetuate the memory of this great lawyer and estimable man : — Capital. Justiciar. Quisqnis es (o hospes 1) manes reverere Sepultos Qui jacet He, nostri Gloria Juris, erat Christopherus Wrajus, re Justus, Nomine varus Quique pia minuit, Cognitione, Fide. En fuit : En non est : Eapidum rotat omnia Patum Heu moritur nobis : ipse sibi superest ; Terram Terra petit : Cinerem Cinis ; iEtheraque ^ther ; Spiritus setherei possidet Astra Poli Obiit Die Sept. Maii Anno D. 1592, Et Elizt. Reg. 34. The immediate descendants of this learned and exemplary judge formed matrimonial alliances with some of the greatest families of the English aristo- cracy. Sir William Wray, his only son, married a Montague and a Drury of Hawsted, his son, the second baronet, espoused a daughter of Cecil Viscount Wimbledon (son of the Earl of Exeter), and by this mar- riage had a younger son, who was also created a baronet as Sir William Wray of Ashby, in 1660. He married a daughter of Sir Humphrey Tufton, and his son, the second baronet of Ashby, succeeded eventually to the elder title as fourth baronet of Glentworth. His descendants in the male line married into the families of Bethel of EUerton, Willoughby of Risley, and 242 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1572. Evelyn of West Dean. Sir John Wray, the ninth baronet, married Frances, daughter of Fairfax Norcliffe, Esq. of Langton, in Yorkshire, and had issue one surviving son, who succeeded him as tenth, baronet, and three daughters, of v7hom Mary married in 1769, Sir James Innes, Bart., afterwards fifth Duke of Roxburgh, but died without issue ; and Isabella married John Dalton, Esq., whose grandsons, the present Norclifie Norcliffe, Esq. of Langton, and John Dalton, Esq. of Slevingford, in the county of York, are the lineal descen- dants and representatives of our Speaker. Sir Cecil, the tenth baronet, having died without issue, as well as all the daughters of his cousin and successor. Sir William Ullithorne Wray, the baronetcy became extinct, as well as the male line of this branch of the Wray family upon the death of his only son Sir William James Wray, the twelfth and last baronet, in 1809. But the male line of the family of Wray, descending from Richard, the younger brother of our Speaker, exists in the person of the Rev. Cecil Daniel Wray, A.M., of Strangways, senior canon of the Cathedral of Manchester, whose claim to the arms and male representation of this ancient family was proved and acknowledged by the college of arms after the death of the last baronet. For a more detailed account of this gentleman's descent we refer the reader to Burke's " Landed Gentry." Arms. — Az. on a chief or., three martlets, gu. Crest. — An ostrich, or. SIR ROBERT BELL, Knt. The subject of this memoir is stated to have been born of a respectable Norfolk family, whose pedigree, however, according to the Herald's visitations for that county, commencing only with himself, we are unable to give any account of his ancestry, although Mr. Bell was allied, by marriage, to some of the most ancient and illustrious families of England. Having been educated for the bar, Mr. Bell became very eminent in his profession, and ultimately attained the highest rank on the Exchequer bench. He sat in Parliament during several Sessions, and was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons in the Parliament which met at Westminster, on the ,8th May, 1572, the 14th of Elizabeth, at which time he represented the borough of Lynn Regis. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, more ample details of the Parlia- 14 Elizabeth.] sir Robert bell. 243 mentary proceedings are to be found on the records than in any previous reign, but the journals are still silent as to the peculiarities, if any, of the individual v^ho presided over the deliberations of the Lower House, and it is only by reference to the proceedings themselves, that we are enabled to draw any inference as to the manner in which the Speakers performed the arduous duties committed to their charge. In the course of this Parliament, one very important matter connected with the privileges of the House, was brought under discussion, in which we cannot say that our Speaker shines or appears to much advantage, for although tbe journals are totally silent as to the course he pursued, we may reasonably infer that he espoused the cause of the court against privilege and patriotism. We allude to the speech of Mr. Wentworth, full of sound loyal, constitutional, and patriotic sentiments, worthy in every- thing, but the style so peculiar to the age in which he lived, of the most enlightened period. Mr. Wentworth, in his celebrated speech commencing witb the text of " sweet is the name of liberty, but the thing itself a value beyond all inestimable treasure," complained of two things, the one a rumour running about the house that " the queen's majesty liketh not such a matter, and that whosoever prefereth it she will be ofi'ended ; or on the contrary, her majesty liketh of such a matter, whosoever speaketh against it, she will be much offended with him : the other, sometimes a message is brought into the House, either of commanding or inhibiting, very injurious to the freedom of speech and consultation." Mr. Wentworth then said, " I would to God, Mr. Speaker, that these two were buried in hell, I mean rumours and messages, for wicked undoubtedly they are, the reason is, the devil was the first author of them, from whom proceedeth nothing but wickedness." The above is but a very slight extract from a remarkable speech, forcible and argumentative, in which he took as comprehensive a view of the rights and privileges of Parliament as statesmen of the present age could desire. He afterwards boldly sustained his opinions when examined before the Privy Council, and according to the report of the proceedings, the very members of the council admitted the justice of his sentiments, but alleged that he should have expressed himself in other words, whereupon he was called to the bar of the House, reprimanded by the Speaker, and committed a close prisoner to the Tower. The worst feature in the conduct of Parliamentary affairs, was the appoint- ment of lawyers to the chair, for their professional hopes and prospects depended so entirely upon their subserviency to the court, that the exhibition of a spirit of independance by a legal Speaker is scarcely to be found upon the Records of the olden time. This Parliament which commenced its first session in 1572, was prorogued from time to time during several years, but the journals of the House give little or no information beyond the speeches of the chancellor and that of Mr. R 2 244 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. "Wentworth, and the grant of a subsidy. Sir Symonds D'Ewes has, how- ever, supplied one deficiency in presenting us with Sir Robert Bell s, speech at the close of the Session of 1575, in which, after enumerating her majesty's many virtues, and the benefits the kingdom received by her gracious govern- ment, he humbly petitions her majesty to make the kingdom further happy in her marriage, so that they might hope for a continual succession of those benefits in her posterity. After a tedious speech from the chancellor, the Parliament was prorogued for the twenty- third time, and our Speaker, who had previously received the honour of knighthood from Queen Elizabeth, although not removed from the ofiice of Speaker, was appointed Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. As far as we can trace Sir Robert Bell in his professional career, he appears to have deserved the character of a learned lawyer and an upright judge ; his melancholy death soon after his appointment, was a catastrophe which produced great lamentation, not for him alone, but for the many of all classes who fell victims to the same awful scourge — a pestilential fever with which he was attacked while trying prisoners at the Oxford Assizes, in 1577. At the same time it destroyed the high sheriff, most of the grand jury, and upwards of three hundred others, counsel, attorneys, witnesses, servants, and officers attending the assizes. Sir Robert Bell married Dorothy, the youngest daughter and co-heiress of Edmund Beaupre, great great-grandson of Speaker Dorewood, and left the manor of South- Acre in Norfolk, acquired by the descent of his wife from the right ancient and knightly family of Harsyk (see Dorewood), to his son Sir Edmund Bell, who married Anne, daughter of Sir Peter Osborn. Dorothy, the widow of our Speaker, remarried Sir John Peyton, of Dodding- ton, and the present Sir Henry Peyton, Bart, is one oi the representatives, through this descent, of the very ancient and great family of Beaupre or De Bello Prato. The lineal male descendant of our Speaker, in the fourth generation, was Beaupre Bell, Esq., of Beaupre Hall, in Upwell, and Outwell, in the hundred of Clackclose, in Norfolk, a very eccentric person. He married Margaret, daughter of Sir Anthony Oldfield, of Spalding, Bart, who died 1720. This gentleman possessed an estate of £1500 per annum ; he had upwards of five hundred horses, some more than thirty years old, and all of them unbroke, running wild about his park. He had a remarkably fine library, which he suffered to go to ruin, never permitting a book to be removed until they were all destroyed by damp and mould, and he scarcely allowed his only son, Beaupre Bell, Esq., the celebrated antiquary, the means of existence. On his death, this gentleman found the paternal mansion in a perfect state of ruin, but an ample fortune would have enabled him to restore it to its pristine splendour, had he not died of consumption on his road to Bath, for the benefit of his health, in 1741. His decease was probably accelerated by the SIR JOHN POPHAM. 245 miserly conduct of his father, who according to NichoUs, in his memoirs of the 18th century, " hardly allowed his son the common necessaries of life." This very learned young gentleman rendered great assistance to Mr. Blomfield in his History of Norfolk, which that learned topographer gratefully acknow- ledges, and he left his curious collection of books, coins, and medals to Trinity College, Cambridge, where after leaving Westminster School, he finished his education. Mr. Philip Bell, his younger brother, of Wallington, and Sybeton Hall, in the county of Norfolk, married Anne, daughter of Sir Algernon Peyton, Bart., and left a son and heir, a minor, in the beginning of this century, but by the will of his elder brother Beaupre, the Clackclose estate was devised to his sister Elizabeth, who married in 1742, William Groves, Esq., of Fulbourn, in Cambridgeshire, who also, through his wife, succeeded to the Spalding estate. Amongst the many great' families with whom the Bells were connected by their various marriages, we may mention the Beaupres, John de Vere, Earl of Oxford, Dorewood, Bedingfield, Knevit, Osborn, Wiseman, Deering, Chester, Oxburgh, Oldfield, Peyton, and Hobart, all persons of great eminence and distinction. Arms. — Sa. a fesse erm. between three church bells, arg. SIR JOHN POPHAM, Knt. Although this Parliament had already lasted nine years, having been summoned in 1572, it met again in a new session, after twenty-four pro- rdgations, on the 16th January, 1581, the Queen finding her faithful, though at times rather unruly. Commons, too obedient to her wishes in the main to permit her to think of a dissolution, and the consequent trouble it would engender in teaching a new Parliament its duties. The melancholy death of the Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer in the manner related in the previous memoir, rendered it necessary to elect a new Speaker, when the choice of the Commons, being of course in strict unison with the wishes of the sovereign, fell upon John Popham, Esq., her Majesty's Solicitor General, who had been returned to that Parliament for the City of Bristol. In our very brief sketch of Sir John Popham, one of the warriors of Agincourt, and the companion in arms of the fourth and fifth Henrys in all their glorious wars in France, who was unanimously elected Speaker of the House of Commons in the 28th of Henry VI., but excused from that office 246 LIVES OP THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1581. by reason of the wounds he had received in the service of his country (vide page 94), we omitted to state that he was Governor of Southampton in England, and of Touraine and Bayonne, in France, under Henry V. and Treasurer of the Household to King Henry VI. This gallant knight was the son of Sir John Popham, of Popham, in Hants, by Sybil, his wife, daughter and heiress of Sir Laurence St. Martin, Knt., and dying unmarried, was succeeded in his estates by Henry Popham, Esq., his only brother, who was the immediate ancestor of Alexander Popham, Esq., of Huntworth, who by Jane, his wife, the daughter of Sir Edward Stradling, Knt. of St. Donat's Castle, CO. Glamorgan, left issue Edward, from whom descends in the direct male line, the present Francis Popham, Esq., of Bagbprough, in the county of Somerset (who is therefore the representative of the former Speaker of that name), and John, the second son, who is the subject of this memoir. The history of Mr. Popham is one of very romantic interest. He was born in 1531, at "Wellington, in Somersetshire, to which county his great-grand- father had removed from Popham, in Hampshire, in the reign of Henry VI. When a boy, he was kidnapped by a tribe of gypsies, and detained by them for a considerable time. The wandering life he led at this early period, with constant exposure to the air, are supposed to have improved his health and constitution, which had previously been the source of uneasiness to his family, but in other respects the change of society from the home of his parents to such a sink of iniquity, only sowed those seeds of immorality, which ripened with his years, and long after he became a student at the Middle Temple his dissipated habits rendered it extremely doubtful whether he would ever attain to any eminence in his profession ; it was feared rather that his future exist- ence would be wasted in adventurous exploits for which the vigor of his body, his daring spirit and inclinations so peculiarly suited him. It is stated that to supply his extravagance, love of gaming, and every dissipation, Mr. Popham re- sorted to the road, and that in the society of equally daring spirits, who were associated with him in crime, he committed frequent robberies on the highway at Shooter's Hill, and other lonely places in the vicinity of London. He is represented to have continued these pursuits after he was admitted to the bar, and had became a husband. We have Aubrey's authority for his having pursued this course of life for some years, but we are so far inclined to divest his conduct of unmitigated criminality, as to beheve that it might have been dictated by a love of adventure, and that youthful folly we have so often deplored in our own times, which has, until very lately, induced young gen- tlemen of birth and education, holding commissions in her Majesty's service, not only to break and destroy the property of the peaceable inhabitants of the towns in which they were quartered, but feloniously, although without felonious intention, to steal the knockers and bell-handles from the doors ; one of whom gloried in the numerous spoils he had collected, so numerous 23 Elizabeth.] sir john fopham. 247 indeed that he was obliged to hire a room in which to warehouse the sign- boards, scrapers, brass plates, knockers, bells, bell-handles and wires, which he had amassed by this species of domestic depredation. The writer we have cited, however, gives the subject of our memoir no such credit, for in describ- ing the singular manner in which, through the urgent appeals of his wife, Mr. Popham was induced to give up his vicious pursuits, and devote himself to the study of his profession, he distinctly charges him with crime. He says : — " For several yeares he addicted himselfe but little to the studie of the lawes, but profligate company, and was wont to take a purse with them. His wife considered her and his condition, and at last prevailed with him to lead another life and to stick to the studie of the lawe, which, upon her im- portunity, he did, beeing then about thirtie yeares old. He spake to his wife to provide a very good entertainment for his comerades to take his leave of them, and after that day fell extremely hard to his studie, and profited exceed- ingly. He was a strong, stout man, and could endure to sit at it day and night ; became eminent in his calling, had good practice, was called to be a sergeant and a judge." After Mr. Popham had once determined to conquer the equal difiiculties attendant upon severing himself from his old associates and acquiring a competent knowledge of the law, his progress towards that eminence which he afterwards attained, must have been sufficiently rapid, for according to Aubrey, it was not till 1561 that he commenced in good earnest, and in 1572 we find him Member of Parliament for Bristol, and elected Speaker in the last session of that Parliament. On his confirmation by the Queen, the Lord Chancellor admonished him " That the House of Commons should not deal or intermeddle with any matters touching her Majesty's person, or estate, or Church government" Notwithstanding which the first act of the Commons was a motion by Mr. Paul Wentworth (a brother of the gentleman to whom we have previously alluded), for a public fast and daily prayers, at the sitting of the House, which was carried. This following so immediately after the Chancellor's admonition, was taken in very bad part by the Queen, as an interference with her prerogative, and we find that our Speaker publicly declared " his sorrow for the error into which the House had fallen in resolv- ing to have a public fast, and shewed her Majesty's great misliking of the proceeding of this House therein, declaring it to fall out in such sort as he before did fear it would do, and advising the House to a submission, in that behalf further moved them to bestow their time and endeavour hereafter, during the session, in matters proper and pertinent for the House to- deal in, &c." It is almost needless to observe that the House made their submission to the Queen, which was haughtily accepted, with further advice as to their future good behaviour. Such imperious conduct on the part of a female towards a 248 LIVES or the speakers. [Speaker 1581. wise, grave, and reverend Legislative Assembly, must strike us as avrfuUy degrading, and we can scarcely conceive how the high and chivalrous spirits it contained could hrook such insult and humiliation — but they did, and worse too, ere the smothered feelings of the insulted dignity of man burst forth in a subsequent reign, and in ovewhelming monarchy for a time, laid the foun- dation for the firm and enduring establishment of those pure political liberties we now so amply enjoy under the title of subjects of the British Crown, which practically surpass all the boasted rights of citizens under the freest republican institutions. In Elizabeth's message to the House, she failed not, however, in that shrewd cunning which ever marked her policy. She would not " that the cause of her misliking were misreported, which was not, for that they desired fasting and prayer, but for the manner in presuming to indict a form of public fast without order, and without her privity, which was to intrude upon her authority ecclesiastical." With the exception of a motion for securing the kingdom, &c., against the Pope and his adherents, which produced some long-winded speeches, petitions for further Reformation in religion, some orders and regulations concerning elections, and last though not least, the bill for a supply ; no measures of any importance were brought forward in this Session, nor do we find the name of our Speaker further alluded to, except on presenting the bills for the royal assent. On this occasion he delivered a speech, which commenced with an exposition of the object of making laws, " for the Glory of God, the safety of the sovereign, and the benefit of the people," and he declared that the sincere preaching of God's word, the due administration of the sacraments, and the true exercise of church discipline, were the ordinary means of obtaining God's blessings upon all, " the dew of the word watering and bringing forth in all good christian consciences, the true knowledge and fear of God, faithful love and due obedience unto her majesty, and perfect unity in the general society of this commonwealth." We shall not, however, pursue his oration any further, as it was one of a perfectly ordinary character, and contains nothing of the slightest interest. In thanking the Commons on the part of the Queen, the Lord Chancellor, in reply to our Speaker's oration, took occasion, to except from her Majesty's approbation, all those turbulent spirits, who in the course of the Session, dealt more rashly in some things than was fit for them to do." The Parliament was then prorogued, and after seventeen further adjournments, making forty-two in the whole, it was dissolved on the 19th April, 1585. Of the further political career of our Speaker we are ignorant ; of his iudicial eminence, for the reasons assigned in the memoirs of other luminaries of the law, we shall abstain from entering at large, merely contenting ourselves with a passing compliment while we refer the reader to the subject which cannot fail to be well and eloquently treated by Lord Campbell in his forthcoming 23 Elizabeth.] sir john popham. 249 " Lives of the Chief Justices." Our Speaker was, shortly after this period, appointed Attorney-General, and in 1592 he was constituted Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, in which office he continued many years with great honour, the reputation of a consummate lawyer, and an impartial though a severe judge, hefore whom, nevertheless, many of the victims of political intrigue, whose sacrifice to the jealousy and oppression of the times has dis- graced the annals of our history, found a patient hearing, unaccompanied by the vituperative insolence and overbearing vehemence of his no less talented contemporary. Sir Edward Coke. The great and gallant, but unfortunate Raleigh, was tried by the former, and prosecuted by the latter eminent lawyer, and the infamous Fawkes and his guilty accomplices, received condemnation at our Speaker's hands. Sir John Popham died in 1607, and was buried under a magnificent tomb in the church of Wellington, in Somersetshire. We shall now leave this eminent and illustrious man in the hands of one whose ability to appreciate kindred associations must, and has already given a charm to the productions of his pen, upon the subject of legal biography, and we shall merely observe, that our Speaker's descendants, by Amy, his wife, daughter of Robert Games, Esq., of Caselton, in the county of Glamorgan, stand prominently forward in history as men of singular talent and worth. Of these we may cite our Speaker's grandson. Sir Francis Popham, whose political influence was so much dreaded by the court, that he was excepted out of the general pardon by Charles I. He was a very distinguished member of the Long Parliament (having previously sat in the last of Queen Elizabeth, and in all the Parliaments of James I. and Charles I.), and an eminently politic person, as one act of his life so clearly demonstrates, for although his adherence to Cromwell, and that of his son, Alexander, who sat in Oliver's House of Peers as Lord Popham, might have embroiled him seriously with the Stuart dynasty, he managed most dexterously to save himself and his estate from the consequences of his disaffection by voting in the Healing Parliament for the Restoration, and he had the honour shortly after that event, to receive Charles II. as a guest, at his splendid mansion of Littlecott, in Wiltshire (which our Speaker had purchased of the Darell family), and was created a Knight of the Bath at his coronation. He married Anne, sole daughter and heiress of John Dudley, Esq., of Stoke Newington, grandson of Thomas, seventh son of Edward Sutton, alias Dudley, Lord Dudley, from which family sprung the Speaker Dudley, Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, and the great Earl of Leicester. Noble states, that this Mr. Dudley was also a great favourite of Queen Elizabeth, who, on paying him a visit, " took a rich jewel from her hair, and gave it to his daughter, afterwards Lady Popham." Alexander Popham, Esq. (Cromwell's peer), the only surviving son of Sir Francis, married the Lady Ann, daughter of Ralph, third Duke of Montague, and from him descended, in the fifth generation, Francis Popham, Esq., of 250 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1585. Littlecott, who married Dorothy, daughter of the most Rev. Matthew Hutton, D.D., A.rchbishop of Canterbury, but dying without issue in 1780, devised his estates to his nephew (the son of his sister, by her husband, William Leyborne Leyborne, Esq., Governor of Grenada, St. Vincent, and Tobago), whose issue assumed the maternal name, and this branch of the great and ancient house of Popham, is now represented by Francis Leyborne Popham, Esq., of Littlecott, in Wilts, who derives lineally from our Speaker, and the other illustrious families with whom his descendants united them- selves by marriage. Arms. — Ar. on a chev. gu., three bucks' heads cabossed or. Crest. — A stag's head erased, ppr. Motto. — Agincourt. SIR JOHN PUCKERING, Knt. This eminent lawyer was the son of William Puckering, of Plamborough, in the county of York. He was entered of Lincoln's Inn, and in due time called to the bar. After some years' practice, he attained considerable pro- fessional reputation, and the rank of Sergeant-at-Law. Having been re- turned for the town of Bedford to the Parliament held at Westminster in the 27th of Elizabeth, 1585, he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. It is not our intention to discuss the judicial character of this eminent man at any length, nor to enter very deeply in the question of his merits as a lawyer. No doubt they were of a superior order, as he subsequently became Lord High Chancellor of England. But the woolsack has been already occupied by a noble and learned Lord, whose " Lives of the Chancellors," one of the most interesting works of the age, may be consulted with the greatest ad- vantage by all aspirants for forensic honours, and yet perused with pleasure by the unprofessional reader. We shall confine ourselves almost exclusively to the parliamentary career of our Speaker ; although we find it impossible, in the space we can allot, even to this eminent individual, to wade through all the measures in which he took so active a, part, and can only refer to the most prominent, as an indication of character. The Parliament in which Mr. Sergeant Puckering had been chosen Speaker, met on the 23rd November, 1585, and was shortly after adjourned to the 4th of February following. A Bill of a most oppressive character against Jesuits, Seminary Priests, &c., having been brought under the consideration of the House, was opposed by 27 Elizabeth.] sir john puckering. 251 Dr. William Parry, a Welchman and a civilian, who in the course of his argu- ments declared, " That it was a cruel, bloody, and desperate law." For which oiFence against the unanimous feeling of the Commons, our Speaker ordered him into the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms ; and, having been commanded to attend, our Speaker thus addressed him, on his being brought before the House, and kneeling at the bar : " If you think good, the House is contented to hear what reasons you can yield for yourself in maintenance of your said speeches against the aforesaid Bill, to the better satisfaction of this House, or what other matter of excuse you can alledge touching your former contempt, uttered in the presence of this said House, in very unseemly manner, and in unfitting words, in that you did speak so directly, reproach- fully, and absolutely, against a Bill first travelled in, and publickly allowed in the House ; and there considerately and maturely perused and digested by so grave a committee, selected and framed out of the ablest members of this House, who, having further diligently and dutefully laboured therein, and brought it again into the House v?ith one unanimous approbation of it as of a good and necessary Bill ; and that, lastly, it has also been so approved of this day, and upon the third reading had passed the House ; and yet that you. Dr. Parry, have termed the said Bill to be a Bill favouring of treasons, and to be full of confiscations, blood, danger, despair, and terror, to the subjects of this realm ; and, withal, that you would well prove and justify the same by good reasons, which, nevertheless, you would not deliver to this House, but would reserve them only to be revealed to her Majesty." After much discussion, Dr. Parry made his submission, humbly apologizing to the House for tbe use of language inconsistent with parliamentary usage, whereupon our Speaker released him from custody, and allowed him to re- sume his seat, upon condition of better behaviour for the future, but he was soon after accused of being concerned in a plot to subvert the govern- ment, and take away the Queen's life, was found guilty, and executed, as a traitor, before the Palace gate, at Westminster, whilst the Parliament of which he was a member was still sitting. Thirty public and thirteen private Acts received the royal assent imme- diately before the dissolution of this Parliament ; but the proceedings do not throw any particular light upon the character of our Speaker. In his speech to the Q,aeen upon this event, he deals largely in submissive thankfulness to her Majesty for having sufiered so long a continuance of Parliament, and thus expresses himself upon the subsidy offered by her faithful Commons : — " And as your Majesty hath a manifest demonstration hereby of our hearts and minds, so also we have added (for a further outward declaration thereof by our deeds, ofiered to your Majesty of our voluntary minds) a small por- tion out of those worldly goods which God hath given us, and by the long peace under your blessed Government we have encreased; by way of a subsidy 252 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1585. and two fifteenths, to be used by your Majesty, as in former times you have always done, for the defence of this your realm and us, your humble ser- vants. "Which tho' we know shall not amount to the value that percase shall be needful for the defence of your realms, dominions, and subjects, against all attempts that may be ministered by the enemies of God and your Majesty, yet your Majesty may make an assured account, that, besides this our offer, you cannot lack a further supply of the rest that we have, to be spent, or com- mitted to your direction, as cause shall require." He concluded his long harrangue by supplicating the Queen to grant a general pardon ; but, as we find that the speeches on these occasions were all nearly alike, making allow- ance for the difference of style in different ages, we do not feel inclined to refer to them more in detail, or purpose noticing them further than is abso- lutely necessary for the elucidation of particular facts connected with the lives of the Speakers themselves. We may, however, remark, in reference to the oratory of that day, that scarcely any of the parliamentary effusions can be placed in comparison with the speeches delivered by the Queen herself, as they are handed down to us by the same authorities. At the same time, we must bear in mind that her speech was unfettered by forms, her thoughts as bold and dauntless as her too frequent tyrannies, her mind as absolute as her acts were despotic ; while the grovelling fears of courtiers and lawyers seek- ing advancement through the medium of flattering and abject subserviency, put such a bridle upon their tongues, and so restrained the flight of their imagination, that it left them no subject for its exercise beyond the too fre- quent and impious comparisons between earthly and heavenly sovereignty, in which they indulged, so much to the satisfaction of their royal niistress. In the next Parliament, 28th of this Queen, 1586, to which Mr. Puckering was returned for the borough of Gatton, in Surrey, he was again chosen Speaker of the House of Commons ; but we shall abstain from entering fur- ther into the history of the proceedings of this Session, than are sufiicient to shew the course adopted by our Speaker in the persecution of the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots, whose trial and conviction took place at this period. In the course of these proceedings, Mr. Moore, a member of the House, de- clared, that all the evils with which the country was afflicted, took their root in Popery, and that the Queen of Scots was so identified with that religion, that attempts to establish her on the throne of this realm were, in fact, so many endeavours in favour of Romanism, and he moved that no servants should be retained about Elizabeth's person but those who professed the true religion, &c., and that the laws against Papists might be put in due execu- tion. Our Speaker thereupon " shewed that the said motion, or any other tending to the safety of her Majesty's person, may be very well delivered, and remembered to the Committees in the great cause," (the Queen of Scots,) " by any member of the House." On the presentation of the joint petition 27 Elizabeth.} sir john puckering. 253 of the Lords and Commons to the Queen for the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, D'Ewes, in his journal, gives a series of notes, from an authentic copy of his own, which he says were made use of by the Speaker in his ora- tion to the Queen on this occasion. In this speech, another historian has ob- served that Mr. Sergeant Puckering displayed more of the statesman and lawyer than of the Christian ; and without being moved by that Quixotic feeKng which has blindly led so many authors to the chivalrous defence of beauty, rather than innocence, we must observe, that it is no slight stain upon the character of our Speaker, that he appears to have joined so heartily with the stream which then ran with such unchristian velocity against the heavenly attribute of mercy. It was impossible for Elizabeth to have extricated herself with honour from the position in which she had placed herself, when, in answer to the petition for the execution of Mary Queen of Scots, she said personally to the Lord Chan- cellor and our Speaker, " Find out a more pleasing expedient, whereby both the Queen of Scots' life may be spared, and my own security provided for." It was, we assert, impossible for her to have withdrawn from this position, if the Lords and Commons had not, by their renewed solicitations for the im- mediate execution of this unhappy Princess, induced her to acquiesce in this flagitious act. "When the Commons informed Elizabeth that they stood by their petition, her answer, delivered to the House by our Speaker, discloses the effect of his arguments upon her mind more than her own inclinations in favour of their demand : — " If I shall say unto you, that I mean not to grant your petition, by my faith, I should say unto you more than, perhaps, I mean. And if I should say unto you, I mean to grant your petition, I should then tell you more than is fit for you to know. And thus I must de- liver you an answer answerless," But the Parliament adduced further reasons why Elizabeth could not hope for security to her person while the Queen of Scots lived, and that as to " surer guards, stricter custody, bonds, oaths, and hostages, they esteemed them all as nothing worth ; because, if the Queen's life were once taken away, all these would presently vanish ; and if she (the Queen of Scots) should depart the realm, they feared lest she should presently take up arms, and invade the same." To the above petition, our Speaker gently urged upon her Majesty that, " as it were injustice to deny ex- ecution of the law to any one of her subjects that should demand it, so much more to the whole body of her people of England, unanimously, and with one voice, humbly and instantly suing for the same." Camden, in allusion to the death of this unhappy lady, and the pretended sorrow and anger of Eliza- beth against her Secretary, Davison, quaintly observes, that " it was thought to proceed from the natural art and guise of woman ; who, tho' they desire a thing never so much,, yet will always seem rather to be constrained and forced to it." 254 LIVES OP THE SPEAKERS- [SPEAKER 1585. It is not within our province to attempt a justification of Elizabeth, but it must be borne in mind, notwithstanding her apparently Jesuitical answer answerless, to which we have just alluded, that the opinions of her ministers and other grave counsellors, in perfect unison with the feelings of the great mass of the people (who dreaded the restoration of the papal power, which would have been the result of Mary's accession to the throne), combined too with the excitement continually produced in her mind by the rumours of Popish conspiracies and threatened assassination (much of which it may have been the policy of her ministers to have created) must have had their due weight, and in our humble judgment these circumstances should be maturely considered before that Princess's memory is stained with the commission of a cold and calculated act of blood, rather than the nation which doomed her rival to destruction. In furtherance of this view of the case, let us take one of our Speaker's acknowledged maxims when the constant adviser of his Sovereign as Chancellor of England — ■" He that is thoroughly Popish, the same man cannot but be a traytor." So narrow minded a view of man's con- science does little honor to the memory of our Speaker, while it clearly demonstrates the boundless extent of his prejudice, and the length to which he was prepared to go in advising the execution of the beautiful Queen of Scots. In 1587, the year of the memorable Spanish Armada, the same Parliament met again according to the adjournment on the 15th February, It is notour intention, however, to touch upon the great historical questions which then agitated the kingdom both in and out of Parliament, but simply to confine ourselves to those passages which mark the character of our Speaker; On the 1st March, Mr. Wentworth having delivered certain articles con- taining questions touching the liberties of the House, moved that they be read, and some of them answered by the Speaker. The Speaker excused himself until her Majesty's pleasure was known, but upon Mr. Wentworth's insisting upon their being read, he promised to peruse them, and then do what was fit. We cannot give Mr. Wentworth's speech on this subject,- but may observe that few members of the House had displayed greater boldness on former occasions, and although in this instance his address savours strongly of the puritanical, the style was perhaps forced upon him by the novelty and the danger of his position. We willingly give insertion to the questions them- selves, which were highly honourable to his patriotism, while the conduct of our Speaker, and his royal mistress are but the usual types of time-servino' and tyranny. Whether this council be not a place for any member of the same here assembled, freely and without controlment of any person, or danger of laws, by bill or speech, to utter any of the griefs of this commonwealth whatsoever, touching the service of God, the safety of the Prince and this noble realm ? Whether that great honour may be done unto God, and benefit the service 27 Elizabeth.] sir john puckering. 255 unto the Prince, and still without free speech in this council, which may be done with it ? Whether there be any council which can make, add to, or diminish from the laws of the realm, but only this council of Parliament ? Whether it be not against the orders of this council to make any secret or matter of weight which is in hand, known to the Prince or any other concerning the high service of God, Prince or State, without the consent of the House ? Whether the Speaker or any other may interrupt any member of this council in his speech used in this House, leading to any of the aforesaid high services ? Whether the Speaker may rise when he will, any matter being propounded, without the consent of the House or not ? Whether the Speaker may overrule the House in any matter or cause then in question ; or whether he is to be ruled or overruled in any matter or not ? Whether the Prince and State can continue, stand, and be maintained without this council of ParKament but by altering the Government of the State ? Our Speaker refused to put these questions, but showed them to one of the privy council. Sir Thomas Heneage, and the result was that on the same day Mr. Wentworth was committed prisoner to the Tower, and on the next four members who spoke to the motion shared the same fate, and although Sir John Heigham (the son of Sir Clement Heigham, Speaker in the previous reign) moved two days afterwards for their release, nothing was done in the matter, nor has it ever been ascertained, how long these patriotic members remained in durance, or the nature of their treatment during their sojourn in the Tower, for the Parliament was soon after dissolved by commission, and there is no doubt that previously to, and as a condition of the release of Mr. Went- worth and his companions from prison, a promise of silence was exacted from them. We cannot say that our Speaker shines very conspicuously in his political career, whatever may have been his professional merit in expounding the statute or common law of the land. That he was an awful instrument of tyranny as a state servant we admit, while his speech as Lord Chancellor when confirming the election of Mr. Speaker Coke in a subsequent Parliament clearly demonstrates how limited were his views of constitutional liberty, and what little value he set upon freedom of speech or the privileges of a legis- lative assembly. (Vide memoir of Sir Edward Coke.) We must now take our leave of Mr. Sergeant Puckering's Parliamentary career, whose zeal, in the cause of persecution, was perhaps in strict keeping with the spirit of the times, while it aided greatly in procuring his advance- ment to the highest legal offices of the state. In the 30th Elizabeth he received the honour of knighthood, was made Queen's Sergeant, and in the 34th of that Queen, the great seal was committed to his custody. 256 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1588. Lloyd in his " State Worthies," gives the following strange excuse for the charges v?hich had been brought against Sir John Puckering in his judicial capacity to which vre should not otherwise have adverted, having already referred the reader for all such details to Lord Campbell's " Lives of the Chancellors." He says he was " a man that was of himself of good repute for his own carriage, but unhappily for that of his servants, who disposing of his livings corruptly, left themselves an ill name in the church, and him but a dubious one in the state. David (he continues) is not the only person whom the iniquity of his heels, that is, of his followers, layeth hold on." Sir John Puckering married Anne, daughter of George Chowne, Esq. of Kent, and left a son who was created a baronet by King James I., but dying without issue, the title became extinct. Dorothy, the only daughter of our Speaker, married the Rev. Sir Adam Newton, Bart, of Charlton, in Kent, Dean of Durham, tutor to the lamented Prince Henry, eldest son to King James I., and treasurer to his Highness's revenue, whose second son Henry, the third baronet, assumed the name of Puckering on succeeding to his uncle's estate, the Priory, in Warwickshire, where he resided in great credit for his kindness and hospitality to the advanced age of eighty-three, having been appointed paymaster-general of the forces, by patent of King Charles IL Upon the death of Sir Henry Newton Puckering, the families of Newton and Puckering became extinct in both lines. Sir Henry's estates devolved by his will, upon his wife's niece. Miss Jane Murray, for life, with remainder to Vincent Grantham, Esq. of Goltho, in Lincolnshire. Arms. — Sable, a bend fusilie, cottised argent. THOMAS SNAGG, Esq. Thomas Snagg, Esq., and not George, as he is erroneously styled in the " Parliamentary History," was a lawyer of eminence. He was summer reader of Gray's Inn in the 16th,— double reader of the same society in the 22nd of Queen Elizabeth, and Sergeant-at-Law in the same year. He was a frequent debater in the House of Commons in the Parliaments of 1571 and 1586, when he represented the county of Bedford. In the former he supported the motion for the Reformation of the Book of Common Prayer, and opposed the Bill for a compulsory attendance at Church, as neither beneficial to religion nor morality, and there is no doubt that this feeling operates upon the legislature of our times in their resistance to the numerous attempts at inter- 31 Elizabeth.] thomas snagg. 257 ference with the conduct of the people on the sahbath, beyond the very proper enactments subsisting against the desecration of that day by open trading : upon the question of Simony he declared as a principle, now fully recognised, " That the patron had nothing of worth or value but a bare nomination;" and upon the introduction of the Treason Bill (April 12th, 1571), he argued most forcibly " That in making of laws, plainness of speech should be used, all entrapments to be shunned and avoided." In these judicious views of this sensible lawyer all rational people must concur, for as it is a maxim that ignorance of the law is no excuse for its infraction, so it is no less trite that orders to be obeyed must be understood — and to be rightly understood it is clear that they must be within the comprehension of the parties whose obedience they are intended to enforce. We have given this brief insight into the character of the subject of this memoir, before enter- ing upon his conduct in the chair, and it is with no inconsiderable degree of pleasure that we discern at so remote a period such evidence of enlightenment and liberal sentiments upon subjects of deep importance to the well being of society. In the Parliament which met at Westminster in 1588-9, Mr. Snagg, who had been returned as a burgess for the town of Bedford, was elected Speaker, on which occasion Sir Christopher Hatton, the dancing Chancellor, as he was termed by his enemies, merely admonished the Commons " not to extend their privileges to any unreverend and misbecoming speeches, or unnecessary accesses to her Majesty." Of this great courtier, Camden says — " What he wanted in knowledge of the law, he laboured to make good by equity and justice." We must say that his unconstitutional admonition was at least clothed in gentler language than those of the rude lawyers who preceded him. The Commons granted a very large supply for the exigencies of the state, and on the 11th March sent up a bill to the Lords, entitled " An act for three-fifteenths and tenths and subsidies, granted by the temporality." The historian says it is uncertain whether there was any mistake in this entry, but on the 14th March the bill was read a first time in the House of Lords, and was pompously entitled " An act for the granting of four-fifteenths and tenths, and two entire subsidies to our most gracious Sovereign the Queen's most excellent Majesty." The universal joy of the people at the delivery of England from the Spanish invasion, expressed by their representatives in Parliament, is supposed to have been the cause for such excessive liberality on the part of both Houses, one indeed which has called forth some severe animadversions from Lord Coke in his " Institutes," part iv. p. 33. He says—" This tax was the first that broke the circle, and made way for much greater than this afterwards." A Subsidy produced about seventy thousand pounds ; a fifteenth about thirty ; and the Clergy's sub- sidies twenty thousand pounds, and until this time Parliament had never s 258 LIVES or the speakees. exceeded one subsidy. It was, however, a fatal precedent, for the Commons were never after able to return to the old system, which had generally been considered satisfactory to the crown ; and it was afterwards wisely observed that let the subjects give what they will under any extraordinary circumstances, the crown would always make it a precedent for similar or larger demands at ordinary periods. Happily for us that system no longer prevails. In the course of a debate on a bill for reforming abuses in the Exchequer, and another concerning purveyors which gave great offence at court, the Commons thinking it better to represent the state of the case to the Queen, by the mouth of their Speaker, Mr. Snagg waited on her, and the next day he stated that he and others of the House who were appointed to attend upon her Majesty, had access to her highness yesterday in the afternoon, and that they received from her Majesty most comfortable and gracious speeches in far better sort and measure than he was able to repeat or open unto them, of her highness's great and inestimable loving care towards her loving subjects, yea, more than of her own self, or than any of them have of themselves." He then goes on to explain that the late attempted invasion of the Spaniards had interrupted her good intentions with regard to reforming the abuses in her household, and observed that " Her Majesty having as much skill, will, and power to rule and govern her own household, as any subject to rule and govern theirs, without the help or aid of their neighbours, &c., had promised in the course of that session with the advice of her judges and council, to set down such a form and plot for the said redresses as should be better for her subjects than anything they, the Commons, could have attempted without her privity, and in which they would have bereaved her Majesty of the honour, glory, and commendation of the same." Her Majesty's determination carried the day, while the strong asseverations of her extraordinary love for her people softened the asperity of the royal sarcasm — both bills were dropped. On a motion " for further reformation of the Clergy," the mover, Mr. Davenport, handed a paper to the Speaker, and prayed that it might be read. Upon which Mr. Secretary WoUey reminded the House that it was contrary to the inhibition of the Chancellor by the Queen's orders, and a great contempt of her Majesty's commands. Whereupon the motion was withdrawn, and after some time the Speaker returned the paper to Mr. Davenport, who thus fortunately escaped the effects of his constitutional, but indiscreet and rash opposition to royal authority. We learn nothing further relative to the political career of Mr. Snagg, whose name not again appearing in the political arena, induces us to infer that he devoted the rest of his life to his professional pursuits, particularly as we find that in the 32nd of Elizabeth, a.d. 1590, he was appointed Queen's Sergeant. We have not been very successful in our endeavours to trace the ancestry of Mr. Sergeant Snagg. The name has certainly no very aristocratic sound, and SIR EDWARD COKE. 259 is as little euphonius as any in the catalogue of nomenclature. What he was, we have shewn ; who he was, or whence he sprung, we are quite in the dark. From the influence which he seemed to possess in the county and town of Bedford, we are inclined to believe that he was a native of that town or its neighbourhood, and there is no doubt that his professional gains enabled him to increase his estate both there and in Hertfordshire. His son Thomas sat in the Parliament of 1586, for the borough of Bedford, and received the honour of knighthood from James I. shortly after his accession to the throne, in the fifth year of whose reign he served the office of sheriff of that county. We find -that Sir Thomas Snagg married Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of Thomas Dickens, Esq., and that his descendants were sheriffs of Bedfordshire in the 17th and 30th of Charles II., and the 3rd of Queen Anne. The Snaggs held the manors of Kempston and Kempston Fisher, Goldington, in Lidling- ton, and Marston Morteyne, in Bedfordshire, and the manor of Latchworth, in Hertfordshire. We have not ascertained whether the blood of Snagg is still extant, but we find that the last heir male died in the early part of the 18th century. Arms. — Arg, three pheons. sa. Crest. — A demi goat az. attired or. SIR EDWARD COKE, Knt. TfiE life of this great luminary of the law has so frequently occupied the pens of the learned, and his praises have been so loudly said and sung, that we approach the subject with some degree of embarrassment, increased as it is by the very slight estimation in which we feel inclined to hold that portion of his political career during which he presided over the deliberations of the House of Commons. For the reasons we have assigned in other memoirs, it is not our intention to make any, beyond the slightest possible allusion, to his judicial eminence, which, illustrious as it was, in our humble judgment was marred by the want of all natural and gentlemanlike feeling, by the savage ferocity of his manners, and the bitter invective and low revilings in which he indulged both as an advocate and a judge; of which no further proof is re- quisite, than the vulgar and abusive terms of " Traitor, monster, viper and spider of hell" — applied so inhumanly to the gallant Raleigh, when a prisoner at the bar upon his trial of life or death. Nevertheless Sir Edward Coke cannot fail to occupy a very prominent place in the " Lives of the Chief Justices," s 2 260 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1592. just about to issue from the press, and no doubt ample justice will be rendered to his memory by the very competent authority by whom that important work is undertaken. It is solely in his political capacity that we venture to offer a brief notice of this very extraordinary man, and even here must observe how infinitely greater he was as a private member of the House, shorn of his honours, and fearlessly asserting the political rights and privileges of Parhament, than when holding the office of Speaker. Notwithstanding the suspicion engendered in our minds that his opposition to the court was based upon personal injury received, and disappointed ambition rankling in his heart, still we must honour him for the effects of his exertions in the sacred cause of liberty vwthout reference to his motives, and the world must ever associate his name with that glorious petition of rights which in confounding the counsels of despotism, laid the foundation for the future liberties of the .subject, while the act itself sheds as great a lustre upon the name of Coke, as his learning and profound knowledge of the law shed upon the bench when presiding over the highest legal tribunal as Lord Chief Justice of England. The family of Coke was of considerable antiquity springing from Sir Thomas Coke, Knt., of Munteby, Lord of Dudlington, Fouldin, &c., whose eldest son, another Sir Thomas, was a very distinguished soldier, a knight banneret, and governor of one of our French provinces in the reign of Edward III. From John the younger brother of this gallant knight, who eventually became the representative of the family, came, in the fifth generation, Robert Coke, Esq., of Mileham, in Norfolk, a person of good estate, a barrister of consi- derable practice, and a bencher of Gray's Inn, who by Winifred, his wife, daughter and coheir of William Knightley, Esq. of Margrave Knightley, in the same county, was the father of Sir Edward Coke, the subject of this memoir. He was born on the 1st February, 1551-2, was educated at the free grammar school at Norwich, and finished his academical studies at Trinity College, Cambridge. Having been destined for the law, in which his father was no unsuccessful practitioner, he commenced his studies at Clifford's Inn, one of the small inns of Chancery, and was subsequently entered of the Middle Temple, and in due time called to the bar. We purposely avoid entering into minor facts published and republished, over and over again in the detailed biographies of this great man, and will merely observe that being most assiduous in his study of the law, he obtained a very early reputation for his legal acquirements, was chosen Recorder of Coventry and Norwich, and long before the period at which legal men in general attain fame or notoriety, it is said he was noticed and even consulted by a minister of the crown ; such was the favourable opinion entertained of his abilities by the great Lord Burleigh. Shortly after his appointment as Solicitor-General, he was returned to Parlia- ment, as one of the knights of the shire for Norfolk, where he must necessarily have possessed considerable influence from the extent of his property, for his 35 Elizabeth.] sir edward coke. 261 father had died during his minority, indeed while he was at school at Norwich. Parliament met on the 19th of February, 1592, the 35th of Queen Elizabeth, and on the 22nd of the same month he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. We have before had occasion to remark that the inaugural address of the Speakers, a mere matter of form, commenced by a declaration of their inability, and utter incompetency for the great duties which had fallen to their charge ; and short as is the record of Sir Edward's speech on the occasion in question, we do not feel disposed to give more than one or two brief extracts, as a specimen of his manner of handling those flattering comphments to royalty, which must have exhausted the brain of man to vary, so as to give them a semblance of novelty. After observing that his nomination is no election until her Majesty had given her allowance and approbation, he goes on, " For, as in the Heavens, a star is but (ypacum corpus, until it have received light from the sun ; so stand I corpus opacum, a mute body, until your Highness's bright shining wisdom hath looked upon me and allowed me." Then in allusion to the superior wisdom, learning, and abilities of many other members of the House, he observed — " But I am untimely fruit, not yet ripe, but a bud scarcely blossomed. So as I fear me your Majesty will say, neglectd fruge eliguntur folia: amongst so many fair fruits ye have plucked a shaking leaf;" and he concluded this portion of his oration by declaring, that, " amidst many imper- fections, yet this is my comfort ; I never knew any in this place, but, if your Majesty gave them favour, God, who called them to the place, gave them also the blessing to discharge it." In reply to which, our old Speaker, Sir John Puckering, now Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, not to be behindhand in compliments to the Queen, or to the rising talent of Mr. Coke, observed, " And whereas you account yourself corpus opacum, her Majesty, by the influence of her virtue and wisdom, doth enlighten you ; and not only alloweth and approveth you, but much thanketh the Lower House, and commendeth their discretion in making so good a choice, and electing so fit a man." The Lord Keeper having finished his reply, Mr. Coke concluded the speech of the day, in which, alluding to the laws, he observed that " they were so great, and so many already, that they were fit to be termed " ElephantincB legesJ'^ Had he lived to this day, how he must have deplored and deprecated our mania for legislation, which, if continued in the same ratio for another genera- tion, will render the acquisition of the statutes at large impossible to a lawyer of ordinary practice, and in the course of the next century, they will be sufiiciently voluminous to cover the whole surface of England; while, being beyond the power of purchase, except by wealthy corporations, a luggage train and high pressure locomotives will be requisite to convey them from one assize town to another. Mr. Coke concluded his singular but able address, by the three usual petitions for liberty of speech and freedom from 262 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1592. arrest, access to her Majesty's person, and her royal assent to things agreed upon. We refer to this portion of our Speaker's oration, merely for the purpose of giving the Lord Keeper's reply to the first petition. "Liberty of speech is granted you, but hovF far this is to be thought on, there be two things of most necessity, and those tvFO do most harm, which are wit and speech. The one exercised in invention, and the other in uttering things invented. Privilege of speech is granted, but you must know what privilege you have : not to speak every one what he listeth, or what cometh in his brain to utter that, but your privilege is Jye or No." This direction, proceeding from the mouth of a former Speaker, who might reasonably be supposed to set some value upon free discussion, adds little honour to the constitutional views and feelings of the Lord Keeper ; but argument would be out of place here, and comment, which, in almost all the proceedings of our ancestors, must run in the same even current of censure, is equally useless. The Parliament commenced its proceedings by a bill against Popish recusants, restraining them to some certain place of abode. Another was brought in against Puritans and other Nonconformists, and in a lengthened debate upon the two, it was judged expedient by some, to con- solidate the acts, as they would then apply with equal efficacy to all the enemies of the state, but our Speaker observed, "that as the title of the bill, and the preamble ran only against such as are enemies to the state, and adherents to the Pope, other recusants than Popish could not be comprised in it, since another bill might be framed against those persons, and these not included in it." However, the bill, after some further debate, was committed, and another bill against the Puritans, " who had grown so bold and licentious as to libel and defame both' Church and State in a very open manner," and against disloyal subjects generally, was brought in, both of which passed the House. It was during these proceedings, that the following circumstance occurred, which is so quaintly related by Sir Symonds D'Ewes, that we cannot refuse to give it insertion in these pages. " On Saturday, the 24th day of February, the House being set, and a great number of the members assembled, Mr. Speaker (Edward Coke) not being then come to the house, some of the house said to one another, they heard he was sick, and one affirmed it t;o be so indeed, shew mg that he had been with him this morning himself, and left him sick in his bed, and his physician and his wife with him, and some others supposing that he would shortly signify unto this House, the cause of that his absence, moved that the clerk might in the mean time proceed to saying of the Litany and Prayers, which being so done accordingly, the Sergeant of this House, presently after the said prayers finished, brought word from Mr. Speaker, unto the Right Honourable Sir John Wooley, Knight, one of her Majesty's most honourable Privy Council, and a member of this House, and then present in the same 35 Elizabeth.] sir edward coke. 263 House, that hehad been this last night, and also was this present forenoon, so extremely pained with a wind in his stomach, and looseness of body, that he could not as yet, without his further great peril and danger, adventure into the air at this time, which otherwise most willingly he wouldhave done &c.," and Sir Symonds D'Ewes then goes on to observe, that " all the members of this house being very sorry for Mr. Speaker his sickness, rested well satisfied, and . so the House did rise, and every man departed away." The same day on which the house adjouraed, in consequence of the Speaker's illness, Mr. Peter Wentworth and Sir Henry Bromley delivered a petition to the Lord Keeper, therein desiring the Upper House to be suppliants with them unto the Queen for entailing the succession of the crown, for which they had a bill abeady drawn. The Queen, greatly incensed at this act of disobedience to her strict injunctions, not to meddle with such matters, sent the former to the Tower, and the latter to the Fleet, with whom were also committed Mr. Richard Stevens and Mr. Welch, who had been concerned in drawing up the petition. The "Parliamentary History " says, "this is an odd beginning of a Parliament, and shows the Queen's resolution to maintain the prerogative of the crown in a very high degree." It does indeed, but when, on the 10th of March, Mr. Wroth moved the House on the subsidy Bill, " that since some countries might complain of these very large taxations, their knights and burgesses never consenting, not being present at the grant, and because an instrument, by taking away some of its strings, can give but an unpleasant sound : therefore he desired that the House would be humble suitors to her Majesty, that she would be pleased to set at liberty those members of it, that were restrained." Certain members of the Privy Council observed, that for them to press their suit, was but to make their case the worse, and advised them to leave all to the clemency of the Queen, to act of her own accord ; the House meanly acted upon this suggestion, instead of unanimously asserting their privilege, which, considering the Queen's necessities at that moment, might have been attended with success. The debates on the supplies, occupied nearly the whole of this session, and although the threatening attitude of Spain, and the danger of the kingdom, were strongly urged by the government oflicers, the Commons now acted with a degree of boldness, which manifested a rising spirit of independance, by no means palatable to the Queen. The name of our Speaker occurs in the " Journals of the House," only in one case of any importance. A bill against the Ecclesiastical Courts having been brought into the House, it was referred to the Speaker to pronounce his opinion upon it, for which purpose he requested leave to take it home with him, upon a promise that no eye but his own should see it. In the mean time, the very large subsidy desired by the Queen, had passed the House, when, having gained her point, she instantly sent for Mr. Coke, and commanded him. 264 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKEK 1592. " upon his allegiance, not to read any bills touching matters of state or refor- mation in causes ecclesiastical," and committed Mr. Moore, the mover, to prison. At the close of the Session not long after, our Speaker made " a most elaborate speech on the dignity and antiquity of Parliaments," in which, after detailing the customs of the Saxon Parliaments (so like our own) under King Ina, now represented by her Majesty, who caused all his fatherhood, meaning bishops, aldermen, noblemen, and wisest Commons, signifying knights and " burgesses, to meet together to consult of weighty matters, &c., and telling the queen that her own wisdom and exceeding judgment needed not the counsels of Parliament, he compares " this sweet council of ours to that sweet commonwealth of the little bees." Sic enim parvis componere magna sole- bam. The little bees have but one governor whom they all serve, their king, quia latera hdbet latiora, 'placed in the midst of their habitations, ut in tutissima Turri. They forage abroad, sucking honey from every flower to bring to their king. Ignavum Fucos Pecus & Prcesepihus arcent, the drones they drive away out of their hives, non hahentes aculeos. And whoso assails their king, in him immittunt Aculeos, et tamen Rex ipse est sine aculeo." " Your Majesty is that princely governor and noble Queen, whom we all serve ; being protected under the shadow of your wings we live, and wish you may ever sit upon your throne over us, and whosoever shall not say, Amen, for them we pray ut convertantur ne pereant, et ut confundantur ne noceant." " Under your happy government we live upon honey, we suck upon every sweet flower ; but where the bee sucketh honey, there also the spider draweth poison. Some such venoms there be. But such drones and door bees we will expel the hive, and serve your Majesty, and withstand any enemy that shall assault you. Our lands, our goods, our lives, are prostrate at your feet to be commanded." These extracts are a sufiicient sample of the whole of this fulsome, adulatory oration, which naturally suggests the deepest regret that a man of such a mind, of such rare talent, such legal acumen, such bright parts, should so debase himself in the eyes of posterity, as to leave behind him such a record of servile and disgusting flattery to an earthly sovereign. We omitted to state in its proper place, that, some time before the dissolu- tion of this Parliament, a great debate ensued, in which we were anxious to trace the course pursued by our Speaker, but our efibrts were futile. The question at issue was a conference with the House of Lords, upon the question of supply, which was most forcibly opposed by Mr. Francis Bacon (afterwards Lord Bacon), Mr. Beale, Mr. Wroth, and other members, who taking a con- stitutional view of the privileges of the House, refused their assent to a prece- dent of so dangerous a character, and although all the privy councillors and the whole court party, including Sir Walter Raleigh, supported the motion, 35 Elizabeth.] sir edward coke. 265 it was triumphantly carried against the government by 2 17 against 1-^8 voices, the Speaker confining himself exclusively to putting the question. Shortly after the dissolution of Parliament, our Speaker was appointed Attorney- General, in which office he conducted the trial of the Earl of Essex, with much the same spirit of acrimony as that to which we have alluded in Sir Walter Raleigh's case, in the next reign. Of his second marriage with the widow of Sir William Hatton, and the sister of Lord Burleigh, one of fortune and misfortune, for he acquired great wealth, and lost his peace of mind, we shall only observe that it was the fruitful source of grief and disappointment to his views of ambition. In 1603 King James conferred upon him the honor of knighthood, and after having evinced his zeal in the cause of the crown by the mode in which he carried on the prosecution against Raleigh, and in unravelling all the secrets of the conspirators concerned in the Gunpowder Plot, where his deep penetration and profound knowledge of the law raised him to the highest pinnacle of fame ; he was constituted Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and seven years after promoted to the King's Bench as Lord Chief Justice of England. Sir Edward Coke subsequently, upon the death of Chancellor Egerton, aimed at possessing the great seal, but the lawyer was no match for the politician, and Bacon bore away the palm. Less than this would have been sufficient to widen the breach between these eminent men — who hated each other most cordially — at least that it was deep rooted on the part of the former, who envied the genius of his rival, cannot be doubted, for it lasted to the grave, and betrayed itself when generosity for the fallen mighty might have rescued the memory of Coke from the imputation of a thoroughly vindictive spirit. Coke had, however, great and real cause for complaint at a subsequent period, when Bacon (then Lord Verulam), triumph- antly deprived him of his office, and the bench of its greatest ornament, as an oracle of the law. We cannot enter into the merits of the question, but the effect it produced was to throw Sir Edward Coke upon the world again, to break the shackles which bound him to power, to set him free to battle for his country's liberty, and the maintenance of those privileges which appertain of right to the Legislative Assemblies of the kingdom, as clearly demonstrated by the lucid arguments he applied to the question, in all its subsequent discussions. Before, however, he arrived at this happy state of mind, for the furtherance of the great object, for which other but not equally gifted patriots were contending in Parliament, he essayed once more to propitiate the patronage of Buckingham, by a marriage between his daughter and Sir John Villiers, the Duke's brother, which in effect took place, without adding to his happiness, his honour, or his restitution to power. In the Parliament of 1621, Sir Edward Coke being again returned for his native county, took a very active part, and his biographers admit, though in other words, that the 266 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. trumpet of patriotism, which he now sounded so loudly, was attuned by a spirit of vengeance against the court and court party. Divested of all those high offices which his talent and profound knowledge of the law had so truly adorned, we now find him bringing forward all the energies of his mind in defence of the constitutional privileges of Parliament, and strenuously advocating the appointment of a Committee to enquire into the grievances of the nation. This bold conduct alarmed the court, and pro- duced the King's injudicious proclamation forbidding all persons to inter- meddle by pen or speech, with state affairs, and he carried his royal views of man's intellect so far as to doubt that Parliament possessed sufficient com- prehension to discuss politics or affairs of state, and that their privileges emanating solely from his royal favour, might be withdrawn at pleasure. The Parliament incensed at such an attack upon their undoubted privileges, drew up their protest in energetic, but perfectly constitutional terms, which was ordered to be entered in the Journals of the House. In these proceed- ings Coke took a most active and decided part on the popular side, so much so as to draw down upon his devoted head the vengeance of the court. It was upon this occasion that James, impelled by passion, went down to the House of Commons, and with his own hand indecently tore out the protest from the journals, and having hastily prorogued the Parliament, committed Sir Edward Coke to the Tower. All historians have admitted that the con- duct of this uselessly learned, and stupidly pedantic sovereign, in the event just narrated, lost him the respect of Parliament and the people, and it is not improbable that the sanction of Coke's judgment, universally recognised as he was as a perfect oracle of the law, was the principal exciting cause of that persevering opposition on the part of the Commons which ended so fatally to his successor. According to his biographers. Coke now became a leading patriot. Neglect and insulted pride forced him, unwillingly, into the ranks of the opposition ; personal injury and oppression confirmed him in unbending hostility to the Court. After his liberation from the Tower, as a further insult James struck his name out of the list of Privy Councillors, observing as it is supposed, with the object of destroying the respect and confidence reposed in him by the people, " that he was the fittest instrument for a tyrant that ever was in England;" and looking to the bent of his inclinations as evidenced by his former conduct, we are inclined to think the King had not formed a very inaccurate conclusion, although fortunately for posterity he had omitted as an act of policy, to silence and secure him by preferment. In the beginning of the reign of Charles I. every obstacle was thrown in the way of his return to Parliament, and when that failed the office of High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire was forced upon him to prevent his taking his seat and humiliate him by a forced attendance upon the judges at the assizes. This alarm and apprehension of the man's influence in Parliament was the SIR CHRISTOPHER YELVERTON. 267 greatest homage that could have been paid to his transcendant abilities ; and in 16'28, having been returned for that county, he had the honor to have a principal share in drawing up the petition of right — and by his profound reasoning and argument, the Parliament was chiefly urged to persist in obtain- ing the royal sanction to this formal acknowledgment of their political and constitutional rights and privileges. His language on this occasion was highly inflammatory, and seems to have been dictated by a spirit of vengeance and settled hatred to the Court, more than by the nobler principles of justice and patriotism. Sir Edward Coke had six sons and two daughters by his first'wife, Bridget, daughter and coheiress of John Paston, Esq., and two daughters by his second, the Lady Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas, Earl of Exeter, and died at his house at Stoke Pogis, in Buckinghamshire, on the 3rd of September, 1633, in the 83rd year of his age, and was buried at Tittershall, in Norfolk. Notwithstanding his numerous issue, the male line of this great lawyer failed in the last century, but the blood still flourishes in the person of the Right Hon. Thomas William Coke, Earl of Leicester, of Holkam, co. Norfolk, and Viscount Coke, Lord Lieutenant and Custos Ro- tulorum] of Norfolk, who descends lineally from the heiress of the Cokes of Thurrington, in the county of Sufiblk, deriving from Henry Coke, Esq., of Thurrington, the fifth son of the subject of this memoir, by Margaret, his wife, daughter and heir of Richard Lovelace, Esq., of Kingsdown, in the county of Kent, whose descendants, in consideration of their illustrious ancestor, assumed the maternal name by royal authority. Arms. — Party per pale gu. and az. three eagles displayed arg. SIR CHRISTOPHER YELVERTON, Knt. The family of Yelverton was of great antiquity in the county of Norfolk, tracing ifs descent from Andrew Yelverton, who held considerable estates there in the reign of Edward II. His son Robert, of Rackheath, near Norwich, married in the reign of Edward III., Cycely, daughter of Sir Thomas Bardolfe, and his grandson Sir William Yelverton, a lawyer of great eminence was constituted one of the Judges of the Court of King's Bench, in 22nd Henry VL He appears to have been in favour with the Houses of York and Lancaster, as he was not only continued in his judicial seat by King Edward IV., but made a Knight of the Bath at his coronation, and upon tlie temporary restoration of Henry VL, he was appointed by patent dated 9th 268 LIVES or the speakers. [Speaker 1597. October, 1470, one of the Judges of the Common Pleas. This learned judge married Agnes, daughter of Sir Oliver Le Gross, of Crostwick, co. Norfolk, Knt., and was succeeded hy his son John of Rackheath, whose grandson, Sir WilHam Yelverton, Knt., was retained by indenture, dated 1474, to serve King Edward IV. in his wars in France with two men-at-arms and four archers. He married, first, Anne, daughter of John Paston, Esq., of Paston HaU,^ co. of Norfolk, by whom he had issue a son who died in his father's lifetime, s. jp.— and three daughters, one of whom, Anne, married Thomas Jermy, Esq., son of Sir John Jermy, Knt., ancestor of Thomas Jermy, sen. and jun., of Stanfield Hall, whose barbarous murders by their tenant, John Rush of the Potash farm, have lately created so great a sensation of horror throughout England. By the second marriage of Sir William Yelverton with Eleanor, daughter of Sir Thomas Brewse, Knt., he had issue William of Roughamand Rackheath, whose grandson, William Yelverton of Rougham, married Anne, daughter and heiress of Sir Henry Fermor of East Barsham, co. Norfolk, by whom he acquired large landed possessions. The eldest grandson of this gen- tleman, William, was created a baronet in 1620. Christopher, the subject of our memoir, and next brother of the first baronet, being bred to the bar, soon acquired great distinction as a lawyer, and greater eminence as a Parliamentary debater. In the 13th of Elizabeth, when it was shewn to the House that a member, Mr. Strickland, was imprisoned for encroaching upon the Queen's prerogative, upon a motion that he should be sent for to the bar of the House to be heard, &c., Mr. Yelverton distinguished himself greatly by his spirited opposition to this attack upon the liberties and privileges of the House. He said, " The precedent was perilous, and though in this happy time of lenity, among so good and honourable personages, under so gracious a prince, nothing of extremity or injury was to be feared ; yet the times might be altered, and what now is permitted, hereafter might be construed as of duty, and enforced even on this ground of the present permission. He further said, that all matters not treason, or too much to the derogation of the Imperial Crown, were tolerable there ; where all things came to be considered of, and where there was such fulness of power, as even the right of the crown was to be determined, and by warrant whereof we had so resolved. Thus to say the Parliament had no power to determine of the crown, was high treason. He remembered how that men are not there for themselves, but for their countries. He shewed it was fit for princes to have their prerogatives ; but yet the same to be straitened within reasonable limits. The prince, be shewed, could not of herself make laws, neither might she by the same reason break laws. He further said, that the speech uttered in that place, and the offer made of the bill, was not to be condemned as evil, for if there were any thing in the Book of Common Prayer, either Jewish, Turkish, or Popish, the same was to be reformed. He said also that amongst the Papists it was bruited, that by the 39 Elizabeth.] sir Christopher yelverton. 269 judgment of the council, Strickland was taken for an heretick, it behoved them therefore to think thereof." It appears that Mr. Strickland had been seized upon for interfering in ecclesiastical matters against the Queen's injunctions, and that the height of his offending was proposing some alteration in the form of prayer. Considering the general subserviency to power at that period, and the dread of Elizabeth's absolute assertion of prerogative, the speech of Mr. Yelverton was both bold and startling ; and we are surprised not to find that he was ordered to keep Mr. Strickland company in durance. It does not appear from our researches that Mr. Yelverton suffered any personal incon- venience from the determined stand he made, then and afterwards in the course of his Parliamentary career, in the support of the liberties and privileges of the Commons, but his professional advancement was no doubt retarded by these demonstrations of independence, as it was not until 1590, the 31st of Elizabeth, that he appears to have held any place or appointment under the crown, when he was constituted Queen's Sergeant. In 1597, the 39th Eliza- beth, having been elected knight of the shire for Northampton, he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons in the Parliament which met at West- minster on the 24th of October. We shall give an extract from the singular speech he dehvered on his presentation, as it contains not only his opiijion as to the general requirements for the ofiice of Speaker, but a true portrait of himself, setting forth his actual position, and that of his family, his personal appearance, figure, and fortune, much to the satisfaction of the biographer, who, at this distance of time would otherwise be puzzled to form an idea of the man, although his recorded actions might lead us to an accurate conclusion as to the qualities of his mind. The Queen and all the officers of state being present on the 28th of Oct., the day after his election, Mr, Sergeant Yelverton thus spoke : — " Whence your unexpected choice of me to be your mouth, or Speaker, should proceed, I am utterly ignorant. If from my merits, strange it were that so few deserts should purchase, and dearly, so great an honour. Nor from my ability doth this your choice proceed ; for well known it is to a great number in this place now assembled, that my estate is nothing corres- pondent for the maintenance of this dignity ; for my father, dying, left me a younger brother, and nothing to me but my bare annuity. Then, growing to man's estate and some small practice of the law, I took a wife, by whom I have had many children, the keeping of us all being a great impoverishment to my estate, and the daily living of us all nothing but my daily industry. Neither from my person nor nature doth this choice arise ; for he that sup- plieth this place ought to be a man bigg and comely, stately and well-spoken ; his voice great, his courage magestical, his nature haughty, and his purse plentiful and heavy. But, contrarily, the stature of my body is small, myself not so well spoken, my voice low, my carriage lawyerlike, and of the common 270 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKEK 1597 fashion, my nature soft and bashful, my purse thin, light, and never yet plen- tiful. Wherefore, I novr see the only cause of this choice is, a gracious and favorable censure of your good and undeserved opinions of me. The rest of his speech is similar to that of all his predecessors in the chair, comprising the usual amount of Queenly adulation, which, we trust, was even then considered merely as an ancient form, from which it was not deemed pru- dent to depart ; and is not, we hope, for the dignity of man, to be taken as a positive evidence of his debasing servihty. Although the Speaker elect did not on this occasion make the usual excuse of " utter inability," he " urged the House to choose a more worthy and sufficient person, both for the honour of that assembly, and the general good of the public state ; " but, the whole House being " unanimous in their option," he was confirmed by the Queen. The proceedings of this short Session are not remarkable for their interest. A very large supply was, however, voted without opposition, owing, probably, to the exigencies of the State ; but on what particular ground history is silent, and we only presume that such was the state of affairs, from the powerful opposition which the smaller, though still large, grant of the previous Parlia- ment had encountered, A public Act of importance was passed for " The abridgment and reforming the excessive number of superfluous and burthen- some penal laws," and various committees were appointed to consider bills brought in for the improvement of agriculture, unlawful marriages, &c., and one against monopolies, which, as it was considered to infringe upon the royal prerogative, created great excitement in the next Parliament. Notwithstand- ing the large grant of three subsidies, and six-fifteenths and tenths, to be paid within a very limited period, the Queen dissolved this Parliament on the 9th of February, it having been previously adjourned from the 20th December, 1597, to the 11th of January, 1598, so that altogether it sat but little more than two months. In his address to the Queen at the dissolution of Parlia- ment, Mr. Yelverton speaks in the following manner of the supply : — "Your Majesty's most humble, dutiful, and obedient subjects, have, by me, their mouth and Speaker, presented here a free gift of their free and loving hearts ; the which, I hope and think, was granted without a thought of a No ; sure I am, without the word of a No." In allusion to the Bill against mono- polies, a very tender subject at that period, he says he acted by the com- mand imposed upon him by the House, using the very language of the com- mittee ; and in thanking the Queen on behalf of the House of Commons, for her general pardon, he trusts, if he should have omitted anything, she would not exempt him alone. The answer of Sir Thomas Egerton, then Lord Keeper, by command of her Majesty, was too flattering to our Speaker's cha- racter to be omitted in a memoir of this nature, particularly as there is every reason to believe it was merited by his strictly impartial and dignified conduct in the chair ; at the same time it is interesting as a public document, from 39 Elizabeth.] sir cheistopher yelverton. 271 the change of tone it evinces in reference to those points which had pre- viously been held sacred from the rude hand of the Commons of England. After thankfully acknowledging the free gift of subsidy on the part of her loving subjects, he said, " Touching the monopolies, her Majesty hoped that her dutiful and loving subjects would not take away her prerogative, which is the chiefest flower in her garden, and the principal and head pearl in her crown and diadem." And he goes on to state that they (the monopolies) shall be examined, " and shall abide the trial and true touchstone of the law." He then observed, " For your pardon, Mr. Speaker, her Majesty saith, that you have so learnedly and so eloquently defended yourself now, and painfully behaved yourself heretofore, as that your labour deserveth double her thanks." In the 44th of Elizabeth, Mr. Yelverton was appointed a Judge of the Court of Queen's Bench; and on the accession of King James, his patent was renewed, and the honour of knighthood was conferred upon him by that Sovereign. He married Mary, daughter of Thomas Catesby, Esq., of Whis- ton, in Northamptonshire, a junior branch of the family of Catesby, of Ashby Leger, in the same county, which produced the celebrated minister of Richard III., the Speaker of the single Parliament of that usurper's reign. By this lady. Sir Christopher Yelverton had issue two sons, Henry and Christopher, both of whom received the honour of knighthood. He died at his estate of Eastern Mauduit, co. Northampton, 1607. Sir Henry Yelver- ton, of Eastern Mauduit, the successor to his father, also adopted the legal profession. His path through life was not strewed with roses, although the distinction to which he attained in early life was indicative of prosperity. In 1613 he was appointed Solicitor General, and knighted at the same period. In 1617 he was promoted to the office of Attorney General ; but having offended both the King and the favourite of the day, the great Duke of Buckingham, by refusing to appear against Carr, Earl of Somerset, at his trial for the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury, although he made his peace with the King, he was for some additional cause, which has never been pro- perly explained, looked upon with an evil eye by the Duke. Through the instrumentality of this nobleman, he was, in the year 1620, involved in a Star Chamber prosecution, with the Lord Mayor of London and others, re- garding the passing of certain clauses in a charter to the city, not authorized by the King's warrant ; for which, although every submission was made, and the charter given up, he was fined £4000, deprived of the office of Attorney- General, and committed prisoner to the Tower. But his sufferings were not to terminate so easily ; the proud Villiers was not yet sufficiently revenged. He caused him to be prosecuted before Parliament for speeches uttered against the King's honour, for which he was fined ten thousand marks; and for those which affected Buckingham, five thousand marks, and to be im- 272 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1597. prisoned during pleasure. To make a show of his magnanimity, Bucking- ham now rose, and freely remitted his portion of the fine, and Prince Charles and the House agreed to petition the King for a mitigation of the other part of the judgment. We do not know how the affair was ultimately settled ; but the clouds which had so long lowered over the fortunes of this gentle- man began to disperse shortly after he had received a visit from the Duke, who arrived incognito at the Tower, for he obtained his liberty, and returned to his profession as a practising barrister, in which station he continued until April, 1625, when, one month after James the First's decease, a messenger from the Duke brought him a warrant from King Charles I., constituting him one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, a situation which he held until his death, Sith January, 1629 — 30, when he was buried in the parish Church of Easton Mauduit. He married Margaret, daughter of Robert Beale, Esq., Clerk of the Council to Queen Elizabeth, and was succeeded by his eldest son. Sir Christopher Yelverton, who was created a Baronet by Charles I. in 1641. Sir Henry, his eldest son, and second Baronet, having married Susan, Baroness Grey da Ruthyn, daughter and heiress of Charles Longueville, Lord Grey de Ruthyn, Sir Charles, his successor, became Baron Grey de Ruthyn on the death of his mother ; but dying unmarried, his next brother. Sir Henry Yelverton, succeeded him, and claimed by inheritance from the Hastings, Earls of Pembroke, the right of carrying the golden spurs at the coronation of James II., which was allowed. He married Barbara, daughter of John Talbot, Esq., of Laycock, co. Wilts, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Talbot Yelverton, who was in 1717 created Earl of Sussex, and Viscount Longueville, with remainder to his brother, the Honourable Henry Yelverton, and the heirs male of his body. His Lordship was consti- tuted Deputy Earl Marshall of England in 1725, and officiated in that capacity at the Coronation of George II. He was also created a Knight of the Bath, upon the revival of that order, and subsequently sworn of the Privy Council. He married Lucy, daughter of Henry Pelham, Esq., of Lewes, in Sussex, Clerk of the Pells, the uncle of Thomas Pelham, Duke of Newcastle, by whom he had two sons, George and Henry, who successively inherited the family honours, the elder of whom died unmarried ; and Sir Henry Yelver- ton, the seventh Baronet, and third Earl of Sussex, who had married Hester, daughter of John Hall, Esq., of Mansfield Woodhouse, Notts, had issue an only surviving daughter. Lady Barbara Yelverton, who married Edward Thoroton Gould, Esq., of Woodhouse Mansfield, in the county of Notts, but died in the lifetime of her father, leaving a son, Henry Edward Gould, who assumed the name of Yelverton, and on the death of his grandfather, the Earl of Sussex, succeeded to the Barony of Grey de Ruthyn, while, for want of male issue, the earldom of Sussex became extinct. Lord Grey de Ruthyn married Anna Maria, daughter of William Kellam, Esq., and dying the year 43 Elizabeth.] sir john croke. 273 after his marriage, left an only daughter, Barbara, Baroness Grey de Ruthy;i, now Marchioness of Hastings, who is the representative of our Speaker, and of the senior branch of the very ancient and noble family of Yelverton, from a junior branch of which descends the Viscount and Viscountess Avon- more, of Ireland. Arms. — Ar. three lions rampant, gu., and a chief of the last. SIR JOHN CROKE. In writing the memoir of an individual of any class of life, custom has invariably sanctioned an inquiry into the parentage or ancestry, which, from some not very fully explained cause, is considered to be as necessary to the wholeness and completion of the biogl-aphy as the education, personal con- duct, and character of the individual under discussion. Were this work intended merely as one of genealogical reference, we might enter deeply into the pedigree of the gentleman of whom we are about to treat, but as in our necessarily short sketches of the Speakers, we have other objects in view, we must content ourselves with observing that the family from which our Speaker derived would require a much larger space than we can afford to give any thing like ample details of their valorous deeds, and their eminent actions both in the field and the senate. The name of Croke, or Crook as it has been sometimes written, is but one of assumption, and we will offer no excuse for narrating the cause. The Le Blounds, or Blounts, descended from the Blondis, Counts of Guisnes, claimed alliance with most of the royal houses of Europe, of whom Sir Robert Le Blound, accompanied by his brother Sir William, assisted the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings, and his great-grandson William, Baron of Ixworth, was standard-bearer to the army of the insurgent barons, under Simon Montford, Earl of Leicester, iemp. Henry III., but dying without issue male, his uncle, Stephen Le Blound, who married Maria, the sole heiress of Sir William Le Blound of Saxlingham, the descendant of the first named Sir William (thus uniting both these great families), continued the line to Sir Thomas Blount who, with his cousin Nicholas Le Blount, was involved in a futile attempt to restore King Richard 11. to the throne in the year 1400. The barbarously cruel death of Sir Thomas Blount, who after being slightly hanged, was made to sit on a bench before a great fire, while the executioner with a razor, cut open his bowels, and threw them into the flames, is recorded in all its details by the T 274 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1601. old chroniclers, yet such was his truth and honourable constancy to the King he had sworn 'faithfully to serve, that his dying words must ever be cited as the perfection of duty in a subject, and his name honoured as a paragon of loyalty. When Erpingham, the chamberlain of the usurper (Henry IV.) insulted him in his dying agonies, saying in derision, " Go seek a master that can cure you," our hero only replied, " Te Deum laudamus ! Blessed be the day on which I was born, and blessed be this day, for I shall die in the service of my Sovereign Lord, the noble King Richard." A few minutes afterwards his head was cut off and his body quartered. His cousin Nicholas was fortunate enough to escape, but was outlawed and forced to fly the king- dom. He entered into the service of the celebrated John Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan, and by his valour aided that great soldier in driving the Imperialists out of Italy. On his return to England many years afterwards he adopted the precaution of changing his name, as did several others of his companions in flight, John Carrington, the ancestor of the extinct barons of that name, taking the name of Smith, and William Fitzwilliams assuming that of English, while Nicholas Le Blount chose the equally simple and unpre- tending one of Croke, under which descending generations displayed as much talent in the senate, at the bar, and on the bench, as large an amount of civic virtue and excellence, as their warrior ancestors had evinced of valour and warlike prowess in the field. The subject of our memoir was the eldest son of Sir John Croke, Knight, of Chilton, in the county of Bucks (great-great-grandson of the above-named Nicholas Le Blount, alias Croke), who represented the county of Buckingham in several Parliaments, by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Sir Alexander Unton, Knight, of Chequers and of Wadley, Berkshire. He was born in 1553, and having been destined for the legal profession, was entered of the Inner Temple in 1570, and in due time called to the bar, of which he soon became a very distinguished member. In 1591, we find that he was elected a bencher of his society, and constituted treasurer in 1598. He was subsequently appointed Recorder of London, which distinguished station he filled to the entire satisfaction of the corpora- tion of that great metropolis, and having sat in Parliament for Windsor in 1585, and for the city of London in 1597, he was again returned for the latter in 1601, and in this the last Parliament of Queen Elizabeth, which met at Westminsiter in the 43rd year of her reign, he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. It would be unpardonable were we to omit the following recorded opinion of the House of Commons as expressed by Sir William Knolles, the Comp- troller, upon moving that Mr. John Croke do take the chair. He said, " Mr. John Croke, Recorder of London, and returned one of the knights for the city of London, was a very fit, able, and sufiicient man to supply the whole 43 Elizabeth.] sir john croke. 275 charge of the said office of Speaker, being a gentleman very religious, very judicious ; of a good conscience, and well furnished with all other good parts," The Parliamentary History refers to the manner in which his election is reported to have occurred in the journal of Sir Symonds D'Ewes, as somewhatsingular, but beyond the fact of its having been unanimous, we find nothing remarkable in the circumstances there narrated. It would be impossible in the small space which we are enabled to allot to the subject of this memoir, to give anything more than a very slight abridgement of the proceedings of the House over whose deli- berations Mr. Croke presided, but we cannot avoid regarding them as of deep interest, producing as they did, the most animated discussions upon points of vital importance to society at large, and shewing so strong a desire on the part of the representatives of the people to relieve their constituents and the country generally from the grievances and oppressions under which they were labouring. We allude principally to the debate upon the bill against mono- polies brought in by Mr, Laurance Hide, entitled, "An Act for the explanation of the common law in certain cases of letters patent." This interference with the prerogative of the crown had been in a measure sanctioned by the Queen herself, who in the previous Pasliament had stated, that if the abuses complained of were not redressed, she would permit the next Parlia- ment to proceed by bill for their reformation. It would be difficult to parti- cularize those who most distinguished themselves in the discussion of a ques- tion in which all but the very drones of the Court evinced so deep and laudable an interest. Mr. Francis Moore observed, " I cannot utter with my tongue, or conceive with my heart the great grievances that the town and country for which I serve suffereth by some of these monopolies, it bringeth the general profit into a private hand, and the end of all is beggary and bondage to the subject." He concludes, " And to what purpose is it to do anything by Act of Parliament, when the Queen will undo the same by her prerogative ? Out of the spirit of humiliation, Mr. Speaker, I do speak it, there is no Act of hers that hath been, or is more derogatory to her own Majesty, more odious to the subject, more dangerous to the commonwealth than the granting of these monopolies." Another member, Mr. Martin, spoke for a town that grieved and pined, for " a country that groaned and languished under the burthen of monstrous and unconscionable substitutes to the monopolitans of starch, tin, fish, cloth, oil, vinegar, salt, &c. &c., all of which were ingrossed into the hands of those blood-suckers of the commonwealth." To the credit of Sir Walter Raleigh, who had a patent for tin, he ofiered to give it up to be cancelled, as freely as any member of the House. The proceeding by Bill was opposed by the law officers of the Crown, Bacon and Flamming, Attor- ney and Solicitor-General, but seeing that the House was nearly unanimous in its opposition to the monopolies, Mr. Secretary Cecil made a wise and politic address, in which he proposed referring the whole matter to a committee t2 276 LIVES VF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1601. " to consider what her Majesty may grant, and what not ; what course the House should take, and upon what points." But the next day, to the sur- prise of the Commons, after the reading of some bills, the Speaker " arose out of his chair, and every man wondering why he stood up, he said, " It pleased her Majesty to command me to attend upon her yesterday in the afternoon, from whom I am to deUver unto you all, her Majesty's most gra- cious message sent by my unworthy self." After many compliments to Elizabeth for the expression of her zeal and affection for her people, which a hundred tongues could not express, he observed that, " She appealed to the throne of Almighty God, how careful she had been and would be to defend her people from all oppressions. That partly by intimation of her council, and partly by divers petitions that had been delivered unto her both going to the chapel and also to walk abroad, she understood that divers patents which she had granted were grievous to her subjects, and that the substitutes of the patentees had used great oppressions." He then informed the House that her Majesty had to his unspeakable comfort, made him the messenger of her intentions to repeal some, suspend other monopolies, and to put none iii execution but such as should first have a trial according to the law for the good of the people, and he stated that she was so incensed against the abuses that none should escape with impunity. Such was the joy of the House upon this announcement, that one member, Mr, Wingfield, observed — " If a sen- tence of everlasting happiness had been pronounced unto me, it would not have made me shew more outward joy than now I do, there could have been nothing more acceptable to the subject than the message, and I verily think, if ever any of her Majesty's works be meritorious before God, this is." Sir Francis Bacon and others spoke to the same effect, and a motion for an address of thanks to the Queen to be presented by the Speaker and a committee of the House was unanimously adopted. The ceremonies observed on the occasion of presenting the address together with the Speaker's oration are too long for insertion here, but the Oueen's speech to the committee gave unbounded satisfaction and infused joy and delight into the hearts of all her subjects. On a bill for " resorting to Church," upon which the opinions of the House were divided, the ayes numbering 105 against 106, Sir Edward Hobbie, who who was of the former, claimed the Speaker's vote, and the question arose as to whether he had a voice, and upon the arguments of Sir Walter Raleigh who opposed the bill, which were confirmed by our Speaker himself, it was decided in the negative, and the bill v?as thrown out. Nothing of any further public interest occurred during this session, if we except the enormous grant of four entire subsidies and eight fifteenths and tenths, upon which the historian remarks, that they grew like Falstaff's buckram-men and were monstrous things in those days. It should, however, be borne in mind that at the period at which this great supply was granted, without the least opposition 43 Elizabeth.] sir john croke. 277 in either House of Parliament, a Spanish army had actually landed in Ireland, and as a further consideration for the liberality evinced by Parliament, we must remember that the bills were not passed until after Elizabeth's promise to revoke the monopolies. Upon the dissolution of Parliament shortly after this period, our Speaker made a long address to the Queen, full of the accus- tomed flattery, all of which Elizabeth could well swallow ; but this oration was chiefly remarkable for the wise and witty interruption he experienced from the Queen, when outheroding Herod he declared, that " The peace of the kingdom had been defended by the mighty arm of their dread and sacred Queen," Elizabeth promptly checked his blossoming eloquence, by abruptly observing — " No ; but by the mighty hand of God, Mr. Speaker." In the first year of James I. our Speaker received the honour of knighthood, and was made Sergeant-at-Law. He was afterwards constituted King's Ser- geant, and a Welch Judge ; and he succeeded Sir John Popham as one of the Justices of the Court of King's Bench in the 5th of the same reign. The arguments of Sir John Croke at the bar, and his decisions from the bench, evinced the profoundest professional knowledge ; in testimony of which he received from the Lord Chancellor, Sir Christopher Hatton, a bowl of silver guilt. He married Katherine, daughter of Sir Michael Blount, Knt., of Maple Durham, Oxon, and died the 23d January, 1619, aged 66, leaving several children, Sir John Croke of Chilton, Sir Henry, M.P. for Christ Church,. Charles in holy orders, and Unton Croke, who sat in Parliament for Walling- ford in 1626 and 1640, and was a barrister of eminence and a sergeant-at-law in 1654, attached to the Parliamentarian interest, who had two sons. Sir Richard of Marston, sergeant-at-law, M.P. for Oxford, and Unton, a cele- brated Parliamentary officer. Of the issue of the eldest son of our Speaker there is a sad tale, but it is the only blemish in the family escutcheon. This gentleman, Sir John Croke, Bart., and a justice of the peace (grandson of the judge), having wasted his property in every species of debauchery and dissipa- tion, finally disgraced the honoured and honourable name of his family by conspiring with one Henry Larimore, an anibaptist preacher, Mayne, a con- stable, and others, to trump up a charge of felony against the Rev. Robert Hawkins, to whom Sir John was indebted for arrears of salary as his chaplain and the incumbent of Chilton. The case was tried before the Lord Chief Baron Hale, at Aylesbury, on the 9th March, 1669, when Mr. Hawkins was honourably acquitted, while Sir John Croke made his escape from the Court as soon as he saw the perjury of his witnesses detected. On this trial Lord Chief Baron Hale informed the Court that he had received a present of two sugar loafs that morning from Sir John Croke, and had desired them to be returned as the judges did not take bribes; and after telling the rev. prisoner that he believed him innocent, he turned to Larimore, the chief witness, and 278 LIVES or the speakers. [Speaker 1603. said—" Thou art a very villain." We may, however, turn from this black sheep of the family to his uncle, Sir George Croke, than whom no purer judge ever adorned the bench, nor a greater upholder of the British constitution in the time of peril and danger to her stabiHty. This family is now represented in the direct male line by George Croke, Esq., of Studely Priory, Oxon, which estate was purchased of the Crown by his ancestor, at the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII., who is the son of the late Sir Alexander Croke, L.L.D., Knt., of that place. Arms. — Gu. a fesse, between six martlets, ar. SIR EDWARD PHELIPS, Knt. Thb family of Phelips, according to Collinson, migrated into Somersetshire from Wales (where they were long anciently established), about the time of Edward I., and were for many years resident at Barrington, a few miles distant from Montacute. A branch of the family settled at Corfe Mullen, in Dorset, having received a grant of that manor from Henry VIII. and represented the boroughs of Poole and Wareham, in several Parliaments. William Phelips, Esq., the last male heir of the Dorsetshire branch, dying without issue in 1747, the estate of Corfe Mullen devolved on his niece Jane, daughter of his second brother Edward Phelips, of Winbourne, Esq., and this lady married the Rev. Sir James Hanham, Bart., and was mother of the present Sir James Hanham. But the subject of our memoir was the third son of Sir Thomas Phelips, of Barrington. He was a lawyer of great eminence in the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and King James I., and seated himself at Montacute, where he erected the noble mansion which now graces that spot. His rise in his profession was owing principally to his learning and his eloquence, qualities of a high order no doubt for the period in which he lived. He was appointed Queen's Sergeant in the reign of Elizabeth, and was subsequently Chan- cellor to the young and much beloved Henry, Prince of Wales, eldest son of of King James I., and eventually took his seat upon the bench as Master of the Rolls, at all times an office of dignity and importance, the duties of which he performed with great ability and strict impartiality. In the first Par- liament of James I. he was returned for Somersetshire (not Bristol, as some writers have incorrectly stated), and was elected Speaker of the House of Commons. The King opened this Parliament with a most inconveniently long speech, occupying nineteen pages of a closely printed octavo volume, beginning — " My Lords of the Higher House, and you Knights and Burgesses of the Lower"— 1 James I.] sib edward phelips. 279 the only extract we shall make from this royal effusion, as its tedious learning and pedantry would be no recommendation in this age of steam rapidity of thought as well as action. We confess we cannot give a much stronger preference to our Speaker's oratorical displays ; but we feel it incumbent upon us to quote a paragraph from his speech to the King as a specimen of the fulsome, flattering, and almost impious style in which our ancestors indulged when addressing the sovereign. " Most renowned, and of all other most worthy to be admired. Sovereign, as the supreme and aU powerful King of Heaven hath created man to govern his works, so did he depute terrestrial kings, in whom his image was, to govern men ; but yet so as still to think that they themselves are but men. And to that end adorned them with three imperial ensigns of honour — a crown, a sceptre, and a sword : commanding to the crown, reverence ; to the sceptre, obedience ; and to the sword, fear — wherewith, in his divine distribution of kings and kingdoms, he hath magnified and invested your sacred person, on the imperial throne of this most victorious and happy nation, wherein you now do, and, Nestor like, long may sit, not as a conqueror by the sword^ but as an undoubted inheritor by the sceptre ; not as a stepfather, by match or alliance, but as a true tender father, by descent of nature, to whom we your children are truly naturalised in our subjection, and from whom in our loyalty we expect unto us a paternal protection." Pretending, according to the ancient Parliamentary usage, a wish to be excused from the performance of the high office to which his fellow Commons had elected him, he thus defines the requisite duties of a Speaker, " which requireth to be managed by the absolute perfection of experience, the mother of prudence ; by the profoundness of Kterature, the father of true judgment ; and by the fullness and grace of nature's gifts, which are the beauty and ornament of arts and actions. From the virtues of all and every part whereof I am so far estranged, that not tasting of Parnassus's springs at all, nor of that honey left upon the lips of Pluto and Pindarus by the bfees, birds of the muses ; as I remain touched with the error of the contrary, and thereby am disabled to undergo the weight of so heavy a burthen, under which I do already groan, and shall both faint and fail, if not by your justice disburthened, or by your clemency commiserate." We think the above is suffi- cient to shew the style of our Speaker's eloquence. There were many public and private acts passed in this session, among others that against witchcraft which so long disgraced the statute book, not having been repealed until the reign of George II. ; the descendants of these superstitious legislators having less fear of the devU and all his works than their silly ancestors, — but the most exciting event of the session was the debate upon the return for the county of Buckingham, when the Commons evinced a praiseworthy spirit of independence which the King tried for a long time to quash ; but the affair was eventually compromised by the voluntary retirement of Sir Francis Goodwin. It was a 280 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1603. question as to how far civil outlawry would affect the return of a member ; several writs of outlawry having been obtained against Sir Francis, who had, nevertheless, sat in previous Parliaments while they were in existence, with- out any notice having been taken thereof, — but although this was the special pretence for his exclusion on the part of the King, there is no doubt that his preference for Sir John Fortescue was the real motive of his interference. Notwithstanding the specimen we have had of our Speaker's kingly adulation, it must be confessed, as it appears by the record of the proceedings of this Parliament, that he did not shrink from any responsibility in his desire to maintain the true dignity and independence of the House, which, in the just exercise of its privileges, although in direct opposition to the King and the judges, voted " that Sir Francis Goodwin was lavrfuUy elected and returned one of the Knights for Bucks and (de jure) ought to be received." The arguments in this case are highly interesting, both right and reason being entirely on the side of the Commons — they are, however, too voluminous for a work of this nature, and we must refer the reader, who is curious in such matters, to the old chroniclers and the " Parliamentary History," where they are set forth literatim et verbatim. In this session the question of the Union with Scotland was delicately debated. The King, from whom it emanated, was most anxious that a mea- sure should pass for this object, which should not, as he observed, " innovate the fundamental laws, privileges, and good customs of this kingdom." It does not, however, appear that the Commons at that period regarded the proposition in a very favourable light, as his Majesty, in a letter written by his own hand to the House of Commons, observes — " Ye see with what cleernes and sinceritie I have behaved myself in this earande, even throuch all the progresse thairof, thouch, I will not saye, too littel regairdit by you, but I may justlie saye, not so willinglie embraced by you as the worthines of the maitter doth well deserve. I proteste to God, the fruictes thairof will chiefiie tende to youre owen well, prosperitie, and increase of strength and greatness : nothing can staye you from hearkening unto it, but jalousie and mistrust, ather of me the propounder, or of the maitter by me pro- pounditt." The question, however, hung heavily upon hand, as the old historians observe, and all that was done upon it was the appointment of a Committee of Lords and Commons, to treat with the Scotch upon the union of the two kingdoms. The union of the Established Church and Protestant Dissenters was also attempted this session, but with no happier success. The King, by an act of cunning policy, informed the House at the end of the session, that he declined any further supply. He thought it would impress his new subjects with a high idea of his thriftiness and moderation, while he knew it would enable him on a further occasion to increase any 1 James I.] sir edward phelips. 281 demand based upon the modesty of his bearing upon his accession to the throne. It had the desired effect ; there were no bounds to the dehght manifested by the Commons and the common people, and Sir Edward Phelips was ordered to return thanks to his Majesty for this unprecedented act of paternal affection for his people — the conclusion of whose address on that occasion we shall present to the reader as a curious specimen of our Speaker's wit and eloquence. " And although your Majesty more seeking to enrich your treasure with the hearts and minds of us your subjects, than with the money and treasure of our purses, have lately, out of your abundant grace, prevented our concluding to present you with a subsidy of crowns and coin, being but a blossom of the fruitful ever-bearing tree of our abundant love, loyalty, and duty (which we sooner shall leave to live, than leave unperformed), yet give us leave (of all the most worthy to be beloved Sovereign), not only to present you with our humble and duti- ful thanks, but also to present you with five subsidies of far more precious price and worth. 1. The first consisting of many millions of affectionated hearts to love you. 2. Of number of loyal minds to obey you. 3. Of as many zealous spirits to pray for you. 4. Of as equal proportioned hands to fight for you. 5. And with the treasure of the whole kingdom to sup- ply you; which the world shall both feel and know, when, where, and against whom whatsoever your Majesty shall be pleased to dispose and com- mand us." It was the custom in James's reign to introduce much metaphor in public discourse. Bacon abounds in that species of flowery adornment, which, un- accompanied by a continuous flow of poetical imagery, makes the finest efforts of oratory appear like a melange of roses and thistles, the greatest orator in those days being equally classical and common-place, their prosy speeches abounding alike in poetry, proverbs, and provincialisms. It would be unfair to pronounce an opinion upon our Speaker's powers of oratory, by a comparison with the more refined style of this age of literature ; and if we are forced to remark upon the general quaintness of his diction, and the rather far-fetched metaphor in which he indulges, we must also bear in mind that Bacon is not a whit freer from this pompously inflated and yet un- dignified manner, which savours strongly of the scholastic pedantry of the monarch they served, and imitated as the paragon of learning, wisdom, and eloquence. Indeed, the world has often lamented this sad defect in our great philosopher, which is almost as great a stain upon his writing as the charge of corruption upon his moral integrity. This Parliament met in a second session on the 7th February, 1605, but was prorogued to the 3rd of October ; it was again further prorogued to the 5 th of the following November, and on that day to the 9th, between which last periods was discovered, as the historian observes, " the deepest and blackest 282 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1603. plot that ever was laid against King and kingdom ; so vile and execrable in its nature, that no religion could tolerate, nor no cause vyhatsoever give a sanction to it." We find no mention of our Speaker in this short session, which was occupied entirely with the details of the Gunpowder Plot, by the King himself, whose love of talking seemed boundless, while it had the effect of setting a bad example to all others , who in imitation of their royal master doubled and quadrupled the ordinary length of their orations. In another session of this Parliament the Act of Union was but slowly proceeded with. The Commons had evidently a dislike to the measure, and after a few days, Parliament was, by the King's command, adjourned for nearly two months. Upon the meeting of Parliament the Union Act was again brought forward, but met with great opposition from the patriotic members of that day, who were anything but complimentary to their northern neighbours. Mr. Fuller, a member of the House, opposed the mea- sure, strangely observing, that " God had made people fit for every country, some for a cold, some for a hot climate," and was followed by our old Puritan friend, Mr. Wentworth, much in the same strain of dissent. But the prin- cipal feature in the discussion was the speech of Sir Christopher Pigot, Knt., who, standing up with his hat on, loudly vociferated, " Let us not join murderers, thieves, and the roguish Scots with the well-deserving Scots — as much difference between them as between a judge and a thief. He would speak his conscience without flattery of any creature whatsoever. They have not suffered above two Kings to die in their beds, these two hundred years. Our King hath hardly escaped them ; they hecve attempted him. Now he is come from amongst them, let us free him from such attempts hereafter, &c." As might naturally be expected these impolitic words were soon carried to the King, who sent a message to the House, that " He did much mislike and tax the neglect of the House ; in that the speech was not interrupted in the instant, and the party committed before it became public, and to his highness's ear." The House excused itself by urging the sorrowful silence that reigned in the House during its delivery, but fearing to offend the King they sent their Serjeant for Sir Christopher, who, after explaining the words uttered by him, and denying either malice or disloyalty, was ordered out, until they resolved what punishment should be inflicted upon him. At last the offender was called in again, and kneeling down our Speaker pronounced the following judgment upon him. " That since his offence was] so apparently heinous, the House did not hold it fit that any particulars should be named, or to give a reason for their judgment ; but their order was, that he should be car- ried to the prison of the Tower, there to remain during the pleasure of the House ; that he should be dismissed from his place of Knight of the Shire of Bucks, and a writ issued out for a new choice." This manner of settling the question, though striking at the very root of that freedom of speech which the 1 James I.J sir edward phelips. 283 Commons had so long and so loudly boasted, was satisfactory to the King, who permitted the House to discharge Sir Christopher from prison, " in order that he might go to some fitter place for his health," a few days after his commitment. But the King not finding the Commons a whit more dis- posed to agree upon the Act of Union, called both Houses before him at Whitehall, on the 31st of March, and in an awfully long-winded speech, which occupies seven-and-twenty pages, followed by another not quite so long, two days after, in explanation of certain passages in his former address which had been misrepresented, he endeavoured to shew the advan- tages likely to result from this contemplated measure, but with the exception of a bill passed by the Commons for preventing discords and hostilities between the two nations, nothing further was done in the business, although it was the all-engrossing subject of the King's thoughts, until the House pressed their desire for the abolition of tenures with other grievances ; the causes of which (and possibly the civil strifes of the subsequent reign), by a little more policy and liberality on the part of the Commons, might have been removed, as James was willing to sell much of his prerogative for the con- venient annuity of £200,000 per annum, but when in a niggardly spirit they bargained for a reduction of £20,000 per annum from the stipulated annuity, they destroyed all hopes of an accommodation, for the King, highly offended, hastily dissolved the Parliament on the 31st December, 1610, after seven years duration. Many useful acts were passed during this long Parliament, but our Speaker's name not occurring, except in the ordinary routine business of the House, we cannot enter into further details. We omitted to mention a case of breach of privilege which occurred at the commencement of this Parliament, in which Sir Edward Phelips maintained the dignity of the House, and the privileges of the members, with great spirit up to a certain point. Sir Thomas Shirley, who sat for Steyning, in Sussex, had been com- mitted to the fleet on an execution for debt after his return, but before the meeting of Parliament. Our Speaker sent the Serjeant-at-Arms to demand the prisoner, to which demand the warden refused obedience, and he was committed to the Tower for contempt. It was argued in a debate that it was- impossible to secure the warden from an escape of his prisoner, if Sir Thomas were released. The Recorder of London spiritedly observed, that " this was no time to treat about matters of law, but how to deliver Sir Thomas Shirley ;" and he moved that six members of the House with the Serjeant and his mace should go to the Fleet, and if necessary bring him away by force. This motion was carried by 176 against 153, but our Speaker deemed it right to give the House the benefit of his legal knowledge, and therefore acquainted them that they would all be liable to an action upon the case — the fear of which stopt their proceedings with regard to their brother member, but they nothing relaxed towards the warden, who was now com- 284 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1614. mitted to the prison called " Little-ease " within the Tower. This severe punishment had its eflFect, for the warden consented to discharge his prisoner if two members of the House whom he named would become security for the debt. Of course the House would not listen to any such proposition, and directed a Habeas Corpus, to release their member, to be served upon the warden, who was to be brought from the Tower to the door of the Fleet in order to be served, and then returned to his dungeon of Lit tie- ease. In the mean time the King ordered him upon his allegiance to deliver up Sir Thomas, and after some further continuance in the same dismal hole, the warden con- fessing his error and presumption, and his unfeigned sorrow for having offended that honourable House, our Speaker, by the direction of the House pronounced his pardon, and discharged him upon payment of the ordi- nary fees. We glean nothing further of Sir Edward Phelips in his Parliamentary career, and merely ascertain that he married Elizabeth Newdigate, of New^ digate, and was succeeded by his son Sir Robert Phelips, of Montacute, Knt., who married Bridget, daughter of Sir Thomas Gore, Knt., by Ellen, his wife. Marchioness of Northampton, from whom lineally descends the present William Phelips, Esq,, of Montacute, who is the direct heir male and representative of our Speaker. Charles Phelips, Esq., of Briggins Park, in the county of Hertford, derives also from the same source. Arms. — Argent a chevron gu. between three roses ppr. Crest. — A square beacon or chest on two wheels, or. filled with fire, ppr. Motto. — Pro aris et focis. SIR RANDOLPH CREWE. The Crewes of Crewe, in the palatinate of Chester, are stated by Ormeroyd, to be a branch of the great family of Montalt, and bore the arms of that house undifferenced, from a very early period, but not uniformly. The first upon record according to the same authority, is Henry de Crewa of Crewa, whese grandson. Sir Thomas Crewe, Knt, lived in the time of Henry III., and was succeeded by his son and heir, Thomas, ancestor of the different branches of Crewes of Holt, Pulcroft, Sound, and Aston. Lysons says, « The township of Crewe, in the parish of Barthomley, in Cheshire, which lies about four miles south-west by south from Sandbach, was, from a very early period, the seat and inheritance of the family of Crue or Crewe. About the year 1288, Thomas 12 James. I.] sir Randolph crewe. 285 de Crewe became possessed of a knight's fee, parcel of the barony of Wich- Malbank, which, in 1253, had belonged to. Philippa, Countess of Warwick ; this comprised the lordship of Crewe, to which some other manors were attached as parcel of that lordship. About the year 1300, Joan, eldest daughter and coheiress of Thomas de Crewe, the last male heir of the elder branch of the family, married Richard Praers, whose grand-daughter brought Crewe, in marriage, to Sir Robert Fulleshurst, or Foulshurst, one of Lord Audley's Esquires at the battle of Poictiers. Sir Christopher Hatton purchased it of the Foulshursts in 1578. About the year 1610, Sir Randal Crewe, sergeant- at-law, descended from Patrick, a younger brother of Thomas de Crewe (whose daughter, Joan, three centuries before,- brought this estate to the Praers family), purchased the manor of Crewe of Sir Christopher Hat- ton's heirs." John Crewe, Esq. of Nantwich, in Cheshire (the immediate descendant of the before-named Patrick, and heir male of this ancientand eminent family), by Alice, his wife, daughter of Humphrey Manwaring, Esq., had the honour to be the father of two sons, Randolph the subject of this memoir, and Thomas (his younger brother), both of whom distinguished themselves by their talent and learning, their private worth and public spirit, their determined resistance to the encroachments of the royal prerogative, their unshaken fidelity to the laws and constitution of their country, the love of true liberty, and their respect for the rights of the people. Randolph was born at Nantwich, in 1558, and having been destined for the law, was entered of Lincoln's Inn, where after the usual time he was called to the bar, and soon became a very eminent pleader, and was ultimately advanced to the highest rank in his profession. It is not our intention to dwell at any length upon the professional career of this distinguished man ; the " Lives of the Chief Justices," about to be pub- lished, cannot fail to do ample justice to the memory of this great ornament of the judicial bench, whose name must ever be pronounced with profound respect, and his actions regarded with admiration to the latest posterity. In- deed the only allusions we shall make to the legal appointments of the subject of our memoir in this brief biographical notice, will be those which are con- tained in the extracts we shall make from a contemporaneous writer. In 1614, the 12th year of his reign, King James, finding himself unable, with all the monopolies and the lottery schemes of Somerset and his ministers, to obtain the money he required for his necessities, was obliged to summon a Parliament, and in his opening speech informed the Lords and Commons of the whole state of his afiairs both foreign and domestic, giving them also a very particular account of his family, the death of Prince Henry, and the marriage of the Princess Elizabeth with the Elector Palatine, all of which being purely matters of history come not within our province. But we cannot avoid giving one or two paragraphs of the speech in question, as they tend in 286 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1614. a great measure to explain his feelings upon the points mooted in the last Parliament, whose obstinacy and want of liberality were the causes of its sudden dissolution. In allusion to his treaty with the Commons upon the subject of tenures, he said — " But I must be playne with you. I will deale no moare with you like a merchante, by waye of exchange, for every bargaine chete the lone, I will expect loving contribushone for loving retribushone, which is, suum cuique tribuere; the some of all justice, and to take care bothe for your ease and preservasone. To come to accompte with you how and what, is too base for my quallatye ;" &c. Then in reference to the extortions of Sir Giles Mompesson and others, which formed the subject of future Parliamentary enquiries, he concluded — " I must cleare some rumores and aspersyones cast abroade by ill aifectyones, that heare are some private undertakers uppon whom I did relye, who with their credite or industrye, wolde doe greate matters : First, as I proteste it is in itselfe false, so it is unworthie of me, because I had rather have anything with generall love, moare respectyng the source and affectyon from whence it is derived, than any proffyte by them. This I hope you will all credite ; silence all dissonente and jarringe stringes of the kingdom, which shall bringe you home your Prinses grace and favore." In this Parliament Sir Randolph Crewe who, according to Browne Willis, had been returned as a burgess for Brackley, in Northamptonshire, although some writers say, as one of the knights for Cheshire, was elected Speaker of the House of Commons, and was introduced to the King by Sir Ralph Win- wood, Knt., principal secretary to his Majesty, and Sir Julius Caesar, Knt., Chancellor of the Exchequer, and with the usual ceremonies, was allowed. Our Speaker in his inaugural address to the King, replete with flattery, dived deeply into the royal pedigree, and evinced much research in genealogical matters, most pleasing to the Monarch, but as his oration contains nothing worthy of reproduction, we abstain from giving it insertion in these pages. The principal business of this Parliament was the debate upon the subject of impositions or exactions upon merchandize, which pressed heavily upon the trading interests of the country. This matter produced a series of conferences with the Lords, in which much warmth of debate ensued, as well as disagreement between the Upper and Lower Houses. Upon the legality of Impositions being submitted by the Lords to the Judges, the latter declined delivering any opinion ; while the Commons, who had desired a conference with the Lords, felt deeply aggrieved at a speech uttered by the Bishop of Lincoln, in which, in reference to this question, he said, " That the matter whereof conference was by that House desired, is a Noli me tangere ; in conferring, also, that the taking the oaths of allegiance and supremacy is an impediment, so, as whoso had taken the said 12 James I.] sIr Randolph crewe. 287 oaths, might not enter safely into conference of the said matter. That it did strike, not at a branch, but at the root of the prerogative of the imperial Crown, and that he doubted least in such a conference as was desired, there would, from some of the Committees of that House, proceed some undutiful and seditious speeches, unfit for their Lordships to hear, tending to a danger- ous rent and distraction of both Houses, and to make an alienation between the King and his subjects." This unprovoked attack upon the Commons, was highly resented by them, which soon brought the bishop to a sense of his indiscretion, who humbly but solemnly protested, " on his salvation, that he did not speak with any evil intention towards the House of Commons, which he did, with all hearty duty and respect, highly esteem ; expressing, with many tears, his sorrow that his words were so misconceived, and strained further than he ever intended them," &c. &c. An anecdote is told of this Bishop (whose name was Neile), in the life of Dr. Andrews, Bishop of "Winchester, which is highly amusing. The two being at dinner with the King, his Majesty asked the latter "If he had not a right to take his subjects' money without consent of Parliament ?" Dr. Andrews answered that " His studies had been confined to points of divinity." But Neile being asked the same question, said, "God forbid but you should, you are the breath of our nostrils." Upon this the King repeated the question to Andrews, who wittily replied "Your Majesty has an undoubted right to my brother Neile's money." To return, however, to the conference, little satisfaction was derived from the frequent messages between the two Houses, but we know not what course our Speaker pursued in this afiair, although we are told from other sources that the result of this session gave him a strong distate for politics, and determined him to retire from Parlia- ment, as soon as he could conveniently disengage himself from office. In this session the House resolved : " that the then Attorney-General might remain in the House, but never any Attorney-General to serve for the future." In the debate on the supply, though last not least, and by far the most important, if not the only, measure which the King was desirous his faithful Commons should discuss, there was so much delay, and such little chance of their coming to any speedy or satisfactory resolution, notwithstanding a threatening mes- sage from the Lords, that the King dissolved the Parliament by commission, by which all the bills brought in, or passed in either house were entirely frus- trated. We are fully aware how imperfectly we have sketched the proceed- ings of the only Parliament over whose deliberations our Speaker presided, and how much more brilliantly Sir Randolph Crewe shone in his professional career. Fuller in his " Worthies of Cheshire," thus expresses himself, " Sir Randal Crewe was born in this county, bred in the study of our municipal law, wherein such his proficiency, that (after some steps in his way thereunto) 288 LIVES OP THE SPEAKERS. in the 22nd of King James, he was made Lord Chief Justice of the upper Bench, and therein served two Kings, though scarce two years in his office, with great integrity. King Charles's occasions caUing for speedy supplies of money, some great ones adjudged it was useless to venture on a Parliament (for fear in these distempered times, the physic would side with the disease), and put the King to furnish his necessities by way of loan. Sir Randal being demanded his judgment of that design, and the consequence thereof (the imprisoning of recusants to pay it), openly manifested his dislike of such preter-legal courses ; and thereupon, November 8th, 1626, was commanded to forbear his sitting in the court ; and the next day was by writ discharged from his office ; whereof he discovered no more discontent, than the weary traveller is offijnded, when told that he is at his journey's end. " The country hath constantly a smile for him, for whom the court hath a frown. This Knight was out of office, not out of honour, living long after at his house in Westminster, much praised for his hospitality. " Indeed he may the better put off his gown (though before he goeth to bed) who hath a warm suit under it ; and this learned judge, by God's blessing in his endeavours, had purchased a fair estate, and particularly Crewe Hall, in Cheshire (for some ages formerly in the possession of the Fulshursts), but which probably was the inheritance of his ancestors. Nor must it be for- gotten, that Sir Randal first brought the model of excellent building into these remote parts ; yea, brought London into Cheshire, in the loftiness, sightliness, and pleasantness of their structures. One word of his lady : a virtuous wife being very essential to the integrity of a married judge, but what Westminster Hall doth conclude, Westminster bed-chamber doth revoke. He married Julia, daughter and coheir of John Clipsby, of Clipsby, in Norfolk, Esq., with whom he had a fair inheritance. She died at Kew, in Surrey, in 16^3 ; and lieth buried in the chancel of Richmond, with this epitaph : — " ' Antiqufi fait orta domus, pia vixit, inivit Virgo pudioa thorum, sponsa pudica polum.' " I saw this worthy judge in health in 1642, but he survived not long after." Sir Clipsby Crewe, son and heir of Sir Randolph, had two sons, John and Randolph. Of the latter Fuller observes that, " He drew a map of Cheshire so exactly with his pen, that a judicious eye would mistake it for printing; and the graver's skill and industry could little improve it. This map I have seen ; and, reader, when my eye directs my hand, I may write with confi- dence. This hopeful gentleman went beyond seas, out of design to render himself by his travels more useful for his country, where he was barbarously assassinated by some Frenchmen ; and honourably buried with general lamentation of the English at Paris, 1656." SIR THOMAS RICHARDSON. 289 John Crewe, Esq., the son and heir, married Mary, daughter and coheir of Sir John Done, of Utkinton Hall, and had issue Sir John Crewe, of Crewe Hall and Utkinton, who married Mary, daughter of Thomas Wagstaff, Esq. of Tachhrook, in Warwickshire. Sir John dying without issue was succeeded by his cousin, John Crewe, Esq., the last heir male, who left two daughters and coheirs, one of whom dying without issue, Anne, the eldest and even- tually sole heir, married John Offley, Esq., of Madele)', in Staffordshire, and by her had issue, John, of Crewe Hall, his son and heir, who assumed the pame of Crewe by Act of Parliament, in 1708. This gentleman sat for Cheshire, in 1707, 1708, and 1722, and died in 1749; leaving by Sarah, his wife, John, his heir, Charles, M.P. for Cheshire, and Randolph, in holy orders, L.L.D., Rector of Barthomley, &c., who married Ann Read, and was grandfather of the present John Offley Crewe Read, Esq., of Wern, co. Flint. John Crewe, Esq., the eldest son, repre- sented his native county in the Parliaments of 1734, 1741, and 1747, and dying in 1752, left issue by Anne Shuttleworth, his wife, with other issue, John Crewe, Esq., his heir, who served in all the Parliaments from 1768 to 1806, representing his native county, when he was elevated to the peerage as Baron Crewe, of Crewe, in Cheshire. His Lordship married Frances Ann, only daughter of Fulke Greville, Esq. (Minister to the diet of Ratisbon, and grandson of Fulke, fifth Lord Brooke), by whom he had issue John, the second Baron, a general officer, who married Henrietta Maria Anne, only daughter of George "Walker Hungerford, Esq., of Calne, by Henrietta Maria, his wife, daughter of John Hungerford Keate, Esq., son of John Keate, Esq., and Frances, his wife, daughter of Sir George Hungerford, a direct male descendant of Sir Thomas Hungerford, the first recorded Speaker of the House of Commons in the reign of King Edward III. (see Sir Thomas, and Sir Walter Hungerford), by whom his Lordship had issue, Hungerford Crewe, the present Baron, who is the representative of our Speaker. Arms. — Az. a lion rampant arg. Crest. — Out of a ducal coronet or, a lion's gamb, erect, arg. SIR THOMAS RICHARDSON, Knt. The subject of our memoir was the son of Dr. Thomas Richardson, rector of Mulbarton, in the county of Norfolk, and was born at Hardwick, in the adjoining county of Suffolk, on the 3rd of July, 1569. Having adopted the legal profession, he soon attained great eminence and rapid promotion. He 290 LIVES OP THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1620. was made recorder of Bury, under-steward to the dean and chapter of Nor- wich, recorder of that city, reader of Lincoln's- Inn in 1612, and in Michael- mas term, 1614, sergeant-at-law, after which he was constituted chancellor to the Queen and king's sergeant. Having been returned to Parliament as a burgess for St. Albans, in the 18th of James I., a. d. 1620, he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons, and received the honour of knighthood, while holding that high office. It is not our intention to enter into any lengthened details concerning the political career of our Speaker, notwith- standing the deep interest which attaches to the proceedings of this Parlia- ment and of the House over whose deliberations he presided. The cunningpohcy of James, driven to the last extremity for money to supply the necessities of the state, which the various schemes of his ministers had failed to procure, gave an impetus to the just complaints of the Commons, whose grievances were now to be redressed under the royal sanction and authority. Nothing could be more welcome to the representatives of the people, and the people them- selves ; nothing more politic on the part of a bankrupt sovereign, desirous by this show of justice to propitiate the good will of the public cashiers, and thus obtain a liberal supply for his necessities, which were really great. The King's desires were gratified by a large subsidy, voted with entire unanimity ; the people's wishes equally so, by the exposure of the bribery and corruption of lawyers and churchmen, the extortions of the patentees of monopolies and the punishment of the delinquents, the great Lord Bacon, the Bishop of Llandafi^, Yelverton, Mompesson, Mitchell, and Bennet. Thus the vrishes of Parliament, and the King's expressed desires were so completely in unison, that our Speaker had no opportunity of hazarding his popularity by too great a leaning to the prerogative, of which his after actions proved him to be so strong an advocate, though, doubtless, from the same motives of self-interest, which had so generally influenced the conduct of lawyers. These circumstances, coupled with the fact to which we have so often adverted, the speedy publication of the " Lives of the Chief Justices," by so competent an authority, induce us to refrain from entering more fully into the proceedings of this Parliament, in which, however, no special or particular act marks the conduct or illustrates the opinions of our Speaker, "We, may, however, observe, that in the course of the Session, Sir Edward Coke displayed the soundness of his knowledge of constitutional law, when he observed with reference to freedom of speech, " The privileges of the House concern the whole kingdom, which, like a circle, ends where it began. But take heed we lose not our liberties, by petitioning for liberty to treat of grievances, &c. No proclamation can be of force against an Act of Parliament. If a proclamation comes against this, the law is to be obeyed, and not the proclamation." The only point of dilFerence between the two Houses was in the well known 18 James I.] sir thomas Richardson. 291 case of Floyd for aspersing, or rather ridiculing the distress of the Elector Palatine, and the Princess Elizabeth, " the goodman Palsgrave and his good wife," in which both estates joined in inflicting upon the unfortunate man the most degrading, barbarous, and brutal punishment. The House of Lords was, however, offended that the Lower House had presumed to constitute itself into a court of judicature, and took the matter out of their hands. This step was in no way beneficial to the culprit, as without jnuch discussion they confirmed the sentence which the Commons had pronounced upon him. A bill was, however, brought in, shortly after Mr. Floyd had undergone that por- tion of his sentence, to relieve persons of the degree of a gentleman from the punishment of whipping at the cart's tail. Nothing of further interest occurs in the proceedings of this session, except a long discussion as to the difference between an adjournment and a prorogation, which was ultimately decided in favour of the King's views. On the reassembling after the adjournment, the principal business of the Commons was their remonstrance and petition against Popery and the Spanish match, which gave great offence to his Majesty, who wrote to the Speaker forbidding its presentation, upon which they sent to recall the Committee, and drew up another petition expressive of their sorrow, &c., and sent it, together with the first, to the King, by a Com- mittee of twelve members. Wilson says, "when the King heard of this second remonstrance, he called for twelve chairs, saying, there were twelve kings a coming." It was upon this occasion that James in his petulant epis- tolary reply to the Commons, amongst other things threw the whole blame of the war of the Palatinate upon his son-in-law ; in reference to which and the cause of religion, he observed: "The beginning of this miserable war, which had set all Christendom on fire, was not for religion, but only caused by our son-in-law's hasty and harsh resolution, following evil counsel, to take to himself the crown of Bohemia." Nothing could exceed the violence of the King's letter on this occasion, or the insulting language he applied to " the foul-mouthed orators of the House of Commons." He accused them of high treason, in presuming to offer any opinion upon the marriage of his son with the Spanish princess, and in rejecting their suit, he informed them that " they had left no crime against sovereignty unattempted, but the striking of coin." These grave charges, however, were not regarded in any very important light by the Commons ; they cared as little for the compliment paid to their under- standing, when James informed them that " Government and mysteries of state, matters of war or peace, or his dearest son's match, were all quite beyond their comprehension, and things with which they had been forbidden to med- dle,'' but when he attacked their privileges by stating that he could not allow the style of " their antient and undoubted right and inheritanpe" and would rather they had said, "their privileges derived from the grace and permission of his ancestors and him," the Commons took fire, and Parliament after u 2 292 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1620. sitting a whole year, in which no matters had been concluded, except the subsidy in the past session, although upwards of eighty bills had been brought into the House of Lords, was abruptly adjourned in the morning by Prince Charles under a commission from the King, and finally dissolved on the even- ing of the same day. But before their dissolution, an event foreseen by them, the Commons entered the following protestation on the journals of the House, which we shall give in its entirety, although it may be called an old affair, because it is the first noble stand against arbitrary and despotic power, which the Commons of England had ever carried into positive operation, and was the precursor of those liberties, which the acts of the immediately suc- ceeding Parliaments tended to confirm to their descendants. " The Commons now assembled in Parliament, being justly occasioned thereunto concerning sundry liberties, franchises, and privileges of Parliament, amongst others here mentioned, do make this protestation following : That the liberties franchises, privileges, and jurisdictions of Parliament, are the antient and undoubted birthright and inheritance of the subjects of England ; and that the arduous and urgent afiairs concerning the King, state, and defence of the realm, and of the Church of England, and of the main- tenance and making of laws, and redress of mischiefs and grievances which daily happen within this realm, are proper subjects and matter of counsel and debate in Parliament; and that in the handling and proceeding of those businesses every member of the House of Parliament hath, and of right ought to have, freedom of speech to propound, treat, reason, and bring to conclusion the same ; and that the Commons in Parliament have like liberty and freedom to treat of these matters in such order as in their judgments shall seem fittest; and that every member of the said House hath like freedom from all impeach- ment, imprisonment, and molestation (other than by censure of the House itself), for or concerning any speaking, reasoning, or declaring any matter or matters touching the Parliament, or Parliament business : and that if any of the said members be complained of, and questioned for anything done or said in Parliament, the same is to be shewed to the King by the advice and assent of all the Commons assembled in Parliament, before the King give credence to any private information," Although the King indecently erased this protestation from the journals with his own hand, every line— every word of it was too deeply and indelibly impressed on the memory of the people to be forgotten, while the imprison- ment of Coke, Phillips, Selden, Pym, and Mallory, and the banishment of Dudley Diggs, Sir Thomas Crewe, and others to Ireland, only tended to nourish the excitement, and perpetuate the fame of their patriotism. Of the course pursued by our Speaker we know nothing, but if we permitted our- selves to draw an inference as to his conduct in these important transactions, from the line of policy adopted in after life, it would be decidedly unfavour- 18 James I.] sir ihomas richarbson. 29S able to his patriotism or liberality of sentiment, although the strongest evidence exists of his humanity as a judge. In the next reign our Speaker became Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, an appointment he received from Charles I., on the 28th November, 1626 ; and in 1631 he was promoted to the Chief Justiceship of the King's Bench. We are informed that he was a good lawyer, and to his honour be it recorded, that he was the first who delivered his opinion against the legality of torture to which prisoners were then commonly subjected, and from that moment this engine of terror to the innocent, as well as the guilty, ceased to degrade the justice of the country. This fact alone in the life of Sir Thomas Richardson is sufficient to hand down his name to the remotest posterity, as a great benefactor to the cause of humanity, and induces us to overlook, if not altogether to pardon the many recorded instances of his subserviency to power, and his maintainance of the kingly prerogative against all law, right, and reason. Lloyd, who makes a trivial mistake as to his birth place, thus delivers himself with reference to the subject of our memoir. " Judge Richardson was born at Mulbarton, in Norfolk, his father being minister thereof, and he a friend to ministers, though a foe of the church. He was bred in the study of our municipal law, and became King's Serjeant therein. Afterwards on the 28th November, 1626, he was sworn Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, that place having been void tea months before ; wherein he was humersom, but honest, only unhappy, in that he raised the Sabbateriem controversie, by his orders against wakes in Somer- setshire," which orders we may observe he was afterwards forced to cancel. After giving an account of his monunment in Westminster Abbey, Lloyd continues : — " As one reason of his advancement, you must know, this judge married for his second wife, the lady Elizabeth Beaumont, the sister (as I take it), of Mary, Countess of Buckingham, and the relict of Ashburnham, Knt. She was by King Charles created Baroness of Cromont, in Scotland, and (though issueless by the judge) the honour descended to his grandchild. He died an enemy to Bishop Williams, over-ruling all his pleas in his chamber in one quarter of an hour; and yet, which was strange, at that time no friend to Archbishop Laud, for he said " the lawn sleeves had choked him." He died at his house in Chancery Lane, 4th February, 1634, in the 66th year of his age, and was buried on the south side of the choir of Westminster Abbey. He was twice married : first to Ursula, daughter of John Southwell, of Barham Hall, in the county of Sufiblk, Esq., and by her had issue, five sons and seven daughters, of whom one son and four daughters survived him ; his second wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Beaumont, of Staughton, in Leicestershire, widow of Sir John Ashburnham, by whom he had no issue. This lady was raised to the peerage of S Gotland, as Baroness 294 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1623. Cramond, in 1628, the dignity being conferred on her for life, with re- mainder to the son, by a former wife, of her second husband. Sir Thomas Richardson, and his heirs male, which failing, to the heirs male of the body of his father. Sir Thomas Richardson, M.P. for Norfolk, the grandson of our Speaker, born in 1650, succeeded to the barony on the death of Lady Cramond, who survived her husband many years, but having no issue, he was succeeded at his death by his next brother, Henry, who dying also issueless, "William the third brother became Lord Cramond, and by Eb'zabeth, his second wife, daughter of James Daniel, of Norwich, goldsmith, left one son, who died unmarried in 1735, when the title became extinct (unless there be any other male descendants of the Speaker's father, who would take under the special limitation in the patent), and a daughter Eliza- beth, heiress to her brother, who married John Jermy, Esq., of Bayfield, in Norfolk, from whom the late Messrs. Jermy, father and son, of Stanfield Hall, in the same county, who were barbarously murdered by their tenant, John Rush, are said to have derived in the female line. Arms, — Or. on a chief sa. three lions' heads erased of the field. To which King Charles I. added — A canton az. charged with a St. Andrew's cross, arg. SIR THOMAS CREWE. The worthy and excellent subject of this memoir was the younger brother of the equally worthy and excellent chief justice. Sir Randolph Crewe, a brief sketch of whose life and actions we have so recently concluded. Of nearly equal age, talent, and ability, they went hand in hand, and step by step through all the early grades of the profession, to which they were devoted. Members of the same honourable society, Lincoln's Inn may well be proud of the brothers Crewe, against whose honesty of purpose, moral integrity, noble sentiments, and political worth and consistency, in times of peril to the states- man, no word of censure has ever been recorded. An excellent lawyer, but more of a politician than his elder brother. Sir Thomas Crewe distinguished himself by his opposition to the Spanish match in the last Parliament, and in favour of the protestation of the Commons, and in the previous debates relative to the privileges of the House, he boldly declared that " our privileges are our inheritance, not matters of grace nor toleration. This (he continued) is of that importance to us, that if we should yield our liberties to be but of grace, 21 James I.] sir thomas crewe. 295 these walls, that have known the holding them these many years, would blush." For these constitutional views upon the all important subject of Parliamentary privileges, we have already alluded to the unconstitutional seizure and impri- sonment of Sir Edward Coke and others, while Sir Thomas Crewe was banished to Ireland, really as a punishment, although ostensibly for the King's business, where he vtflis chosen Speaker of the Irish Parliament. Lloyd says, " His speeches there gave no more pleasure to his Majesty, than they had done in England." Supposing our author to be correct in his fact and opinion, we can scarce understand the policy of the court in procuring his nomination to the Speakership on his return in 1623, except with the object of gagging him, knowing the influence of his opinion, and the strength of his arguments in debate. Be this as it may, we find that on the meeting of a new Parliament at Westminster on the 19th February, in the 21st of King James, a.d. 1623, Sir Thomas Crewe, sergeant-at-law, who sat for Aylesbury, in Buckinghamshire, was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons, and upon this occasion he de- livered a sensible oration, which, though sufficiently complimentary to the Monarch in all conscience, diflers so materially from the usual style of these inaugural addresses, and at the same time enters so largely into the hopes and expectations of the Parliament and the people as to the future policy of the crown, and the good fruits thereof to both King and people, that we shall present it to the reader intact : — " Most gracious Sovereign, since I cannot bring an olive branch in my mouth, as a sign of my peace ; and that God (in whose hands are the hearts of kings), without whose providence a sparrow doth not fall to the ground, whom no man can resist, hath inclined your Majesty to cast your eye of grace on me, and to confirm me in this place : I am taught in the best school, that obedience is better than sacrifice ; and will only say with a learned father. Da Domine, quodjuhes, efjube quod vis : Otherwise I have great cause to be afraid of such a charge, to be executed before so great a Majesty, and in so great an assembly ; but that I hope your Majesty will extend your sceptre of grace, as Abersuerus did, to sustain me in my fainting. "Your Majesty is Princeps Hcereditarius, descended from both the roses, and hath united both the kingdoms. At your first entrance you wrought a wonder in the tumult of our cares, and cloud of our fears, happening upon the death of the late Queen, by the bright beams of your sunshine ; which a poet elegantly expressed Mira cano, sol occubuit, nox nulla secuta est. There was a David in Hebron, and no Ishbosheth to disturb your peaceful entrance ; but the acclamations of all your subjects and Commons concurring to express their great contentment. There was no sudden flash of joy, but a constant blessing, by the continuance of the gospel and true religion, maugre the malice and hellish invention of those, who would have blown up all, at once ; but God laughed them to scorn, and they fell into their own trap. These things I 296 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1623, leave to your Majesty's royal remembrance, as a duty to be practised, and to be expressed by our thankfulness to our Holy God ; for it is a good thing to be thankful : Non est dignus dandis qui non agit gratias pro datis. Since my designment to this place, I called to mind these statutes of late times, and find tvs'o of especial note : the first of 32nd Henry VIII., which was called Par- liamentum doctum, for the many good laws made for the settling of possessions. The other 39th Elizabeth ; which by a reverend divine, was called Parlia- mentum jaium ; because the subjects were enabled to found hospitals, without license of mortmain, or ad quod damnum, and other charitable laws, which I omit, being not perpetual. And I likewise called to mind many glorious offers made by your Majesty, and other provisions at the last two meetings. Now your Majesty hath stretched forth your sceptre to call us to you again, and hath made declaration, that all jealousies and distractions might be re- moved, and the memory of Parliament-nullities might be buried. And my desire is, that your Majesty's influence may distil upon us, and you proceed in such a sweet harmony and conjunction, that righteousness and peace may kiss each other, and that mercy and truth may meet : and the world may say, £cce quam honum et quam jucundum regem et populum convenire in unutn. And for perfecting this work, the good bills against monopolies, informers, and concealers, may now pass, and receive strength, with general, liberal, and royal pardon, according to the bounty of the late Queen ; that so this Parlia- ment may be called, felix, doctum, et pium,- which will be good to your subjects, and no diminution to your revenue, or derogation to your preroga- tive ; which, in your Majesty's hands, is a sceptre of gold ; but, in other hands is a rod of iron. I need not speak in the praise of the fundamental common laws ; Veritas temporis fiUa, time has sufiiciently justified them. Monarchy is the best Government ; and of monarchies, those which are hereditary. The best supply of your Majesty's wants is in Parliament, where the subject is bound by his own consent ; other courses of benevolence come heavily. The subjects enjoy the gospel freely by your protection, and your Majesty may be safe in their loyalty : other safeties are but as Ajax his shield, a weight rather than a defence. Their desire is, that the good laws for religion may be confirmed, and that the generation of locusts, the Jesuits and seminary priests, which were wont to creep in corners, and do now come abroad, may be, by the execution of these good laws, as with an east wind, blown over the sea. Our late Queen Elizabeth lived and died in peace, the Pope cursed her, but God blessed her : and so shall your Majesty, having God to your friend, find safety in the ark of true religion, and, when you are old and full of days, land you in Heaven ; and then your hopeful Prince, which sprang out of your own loins, shall sway that sceptre, which you must leave to enjoy a crown celestial. And God, in his due time, will restore the distressed Princess, her husband and royal issue, to that inheritance which is now possessed by the 27 James 1.] sir thomas crewe. 297 usurping sword of their enemies : whereof we are the more confident, because that country was heretofore a sanctuary in our distress, when religion was here persecuted. Cato was wont to say, Hoc sentio, et Carthago destruenda est : but I say, Hoc sentio, et Palatinatus recuperundus est. The question was put to a Lacedemonian, why their city wanted no walls ? who answered, Concord was their walls. Your Majesty, under God, is a sole and entire Monarch, whose walls are the ocean without, and fortified within with a wall of brass, the bond of unity and religion ; and happy is that place, of which it may be said, as of Jerusalem, it is a city of unity within itself. Neither is your Government confined within the limits of this kingdom, but extends itself to Ireland, where your Majesty's care and pains in our late employment, gave divers provident directions for the setting forth of religion, reforming of courts of justice, and the inflicting punishment on the disturbers of the public peace. And I was occularis testis, that you have made them ample endowments of churches out of your own escheated revenue, as will be to your honour in all posterity. But my desire is, as well in the beginning, as in all other our proceedings, our words may be, vera, pauca, et ponderosa. " Therefore, with your gracious favour, according to antient precedents, we are humble suitors, that you would be pleased to allow our antient privileges," &c., &c., &c. Here follows the usual demand for liberty of speech, freedom from arrest, &c., &c. A volume would scarcely suffice for an ample narrative of the proceedings of this Parliament, although little public business was eflfected by the joint endeavours of the Lords and Commons. Frequent conferences between the Upper and Lower Houses, concerning the Spanish match, Buckingham's long narrative, the breaking of the treaties, and a war with Spain, the state of the Palatinate and the nation, together with the remonstrances of the Commons relative to the two treaties, and the Parliament's address to the King upon voting a supply, occupied them until the end of March. After this a great period of the session was consumed with petitions for the execu- tion of the laws against the Jesuits, and the well known and voluminous charges against the Lord High Treasurer, Lionel Cranfield, Earl of Middle- sex, for high crimes and misdemeanours in the execution of his office, which was opened by Sir Edward Coke and Sir Edwin Sandys on the part of the Commons, and the prosecution ultimately conducted by our Speaker's brother, Sir Randolph Crewe, as Attorney-General. This affair was not disposed of until the middle of the month of May, when sentence ,was pronounced upon this terrible delinquent, whose corruption and extortions surpassed all that had, or ever has, been brought to light against a government officer under the monarchy. Historians attribute his fall to the malice of Buckingham ; but if this statement be true, and certainly nobody need doubt that the spirit of vengeance was strong within him after so many recorded instances of his malice, still the whole aflfair is but an illustration of the old saying, " when 298 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKER 1625. rogues fall out honest men get their own." The enormous supply of three entire subsidies and three-fifteenths and tenths, which, according to Sir Edward Coke, amounted to nearly one million sterling, having been granted, although not altogether in the ordinary form (so much so, indeed, as to pro- duce a protest on the part of the Lords, that nothing in the Act contained was to add to the power of one, or take away from the privileges of the other House, &c.), the King determined this session of Parliament on the 29th of May, 1624, when our Speaker made another oration, in which he congratu- lated the King upon the unanimity which prevailed throughout the session, thanked him for the full enjoyment of their privileges, and for his Majesty's large, liberal, and free pardon ; and on presenting the money bill, he said, in reference to the recovery of the Palatinate, for which principally this large grant had been voted by the Commons, that " He made his earnest prayer unto Almighty God, to direct his Majesty's heart to make his own sword his sheriff to put his son-in-law in possession of the Palatinate, the ancient inheritance of his royal grand-children ;" and concluded by humbly craving pardon for himself and his own errors committed this session. The Parliament was now prorogued until the 2nd day of November next ensuing, and after two other prorogations was finally to meet on the 20th of April, 1625; but King James dying on the 27th of the previous month, this Par- liament was finally dissolved. An extraordinary and unprecedented conces- sion was made by King James in this session, — this was giving leave to the Parliament to name and appoint their own treasurers and commissioners for the disbursement of the supply, which incHnes many historians to believe, and we think justly, that he really intended to invest it in an attempt to re- cover the Palatinate. In the first Parliament of Charles I. which met at Westminster on the 18th of June, 1625, Sir Thomas Crewe was again chosen Speaker, at which period he sat for Gatton, in Surrey, one of the old rotten boroughs, ddomed by the late Reform Bill. The fact of his election on this occasion, would at the first blush indicate a decline of that patriotism which marked his early political career, but it does not appear from anything we can collect from contemporary writers, or those who have subsequently searched with such scrutinizing care into the history of that eventful period, that his conduct subjected him to the charge or suspicion of partiality. In the former Parlia- ment he was, as we before observed, forced to take the chair, and the proceed- ings were all of so satisfactorily a nature to the Commons that no opposition nor cause for it ever manifested itself. Our Speaker's address to the King after protesting that he undertook the office only in obedience to his Majesty, was a mere reiteration of his speech in the former Parliament, concerning the questions which then and still agitated the public mind. After the appoint- ment of a fast amongst themselves, and the Commons had chosen their com- mittees of privileges and elections ; Sir Benjamin Rudyardj one of the most 21 James I.} sir thomas crewe. 299 eloquent, dignified, learned, and honest statesmen of his age, addressed the House in favour of a good understanding and harmony between the King and Parlia- ment. In this short session two subsidies were granted to the King, and the Parliament was adjourned to Oxford in consequence of the plague. On its re-assembling, although the ministers tried to induce the Commons to vote a further supply to carry on the war, the latter insisted upon knowing first what was to be done about religion, and secondly, who was the enemy against whom they were to contend. In the course of the debates, Mr. Edward Clarke complained of the unseasonable invective infused into the speeches of some members, for which he was called to the bar, reprimanded by the Speaker, and committed to the custody of the Sergeant. The Commons persevered in their grievances, to which they also added some pardons to Jesuits who had given great offence, expressing themselves, however, willing to grant all neces- sary supplies for the King's honour and credit, but requiring first of all satis- faction in points of religion. The King seeing that thei_ Commons were opposed to the supply without a redress of grievances, but above all that these debates tended to reflect upon Buckingham, dissolved the Parliament. We learn nothing more relative to the political career of our Speaker, who survived this event eight years, dying in the month of February, 1633, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. By Temperance, his wife, one of the daughters and coheirs of Reginald Bray, Esq. of Stene, in the county of Northampton (by Anne, his wife, daughter of Thomas, Lord Vaux), Sir Thomas Crewe left four sons and five daughters, and was succeede d in his estates by his eldest son, John Crewe, Esq. of Stene, M.P. for Northamptonshire, in the 15th Charles I., and the 1 2th of Charles 11. , whose loyalty, and exertions in favour of the restoration of Charles II,, were rewarded by that Monarch, who, in testimony of his laudable services, in the 1 3 th year of his reign advanced him to the degree of a baron of the realm by the title of Lord Crewe of Stene, and although this dignity became extinct upon the death of the third baron, the Right Hon. and Right Rev. Nathaniel Lord Crewe, Bishop of Durham ; Thomas, Lord Crewe of Stene, the elder brother of the Bishop, left several daughters and coheirs, married to Henry Grey, Duke of Kent, Sir John Harper, Bart, of Calke Abbey, co. Derby, Thomas Cartwright, Esq. of Aynho, CO. Northampton, and Charles Butler, Earl of Arran, the three former of whom transmitted the blood of the Crewes to their descendants, the present Earls de Grey and Ripon, Sir John Harper Crewe, Bart, of Calke Abbey, and Sir Edmund Cartwright of Aynho, who are therefore the representatives of our Speaker, and of the Brays of Stene, a younger branch of the family of Sir Reginald Bray, the celebrated Speaker of the House of Commons, and minister to Henry VII. — {Vide Bray.) Arms. — Az. a lion rampant arg. Crest.-r-Ont of a ducal coronet or., a lion's gamb erect arg. 300 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1625. SIR HENEAGE FINCH, Knt. That learned antiquary. Sir "William Dugdale, is of opinion that the family of Finch claims a common ancestor with the Herberts, Earls of Pem- broke, of whom was Henry Fitz Herbert, Chamberlain to King Henry I, ; and Leland says, " The Finches that be now, say that their proper name is Herbert, and that with marriage of the Finche's heir, they took Finche's name. One Vincent Finch, in Henry IV. 's days, recovered by a suit the manor of , by Winchelsea." Mr. J. B. Burke, the eminent genea- logist, adds, that " in an old inscription in Braborne church, the name is written Herbert, alias Finch." To some it may be matter of little import, whether they derived their origin' from the one source or the other ; history proves incontestably the great antiquity of the family, and their eminent ser- vices to the State during many centuries, facts which outweigh, all other con- siderations. Vincent Finch, Esq., of Netherfield, co. Sussex (the lineal descendant of the before named Vincent Finch, alias Herbert, temp. Edward II.), served the office of Sheriff of Sussex and Surrey, in the 8th of King Henry VI. He married Agnes, daughter of Walter Roo, Esq., of Dartford, in Kent, and was succeeded by his elder son, John Herbert, alias Finch, who, dying issueless, was succeeded by his brother, Henry Finch, of Nether- field, who married AHce, only daughter and heir of Philip Belknap, Esq., of the Moat, near Canterbury, of the same family as the celebrated Judge of that name in the time of Richard II., who, in conjunction with the majority of the bench, gave his opinion that the King, by and vnth the advice of his Privy Council, might lawfully annul the determinations of Parliament ; for which several of them were afterwards beheaded, and the rest banished. This alliance caused the first establishment of the family in Kent, and its issue was Sir "William Finch, Knt., a distinguished soldier, who served in the French wars of Henry VIII., and in reward for his gallantry, obtained > grant of the manor of Borowe Marche, otherwise Burmarshe, co. Kent, part of the possessions of the monastery of St. Austin, near Canterbury. Sir, "William Finch married twice : first, to Elizabeth, daughter of Sir James Crowmer, of Tunstal (rehct of Sir Richard Lovelace, of Bethersden, co. Kent), by whom he had three sons ; and secondly, to Catherine, daughter of Sir John Gaynsford, of Crowhurst, co. Surrey, by whom he had two sons and three daughters. Lawrence, the eldest son, dying without issue. Sir 1 Charles I.] sib heneage finch. 301 Thomas, his next brother, succeeded to the estates. This gentleman was in high favour with Queen Mary, for his services against Sir Thomas Wyatt, and upon other important occasions ; and in 1553, the day after the corona- tion of that Queen, in the palace of Westminster, before her Majesty, in her chamber of presence, under the cloth of State, he was made one of the Knights of the Carpet, by the Earl of Arundel, who was commissioned to confer the honour. In the 6th year of Queen Elizabeth, Sir Thomas Finch was appointed Knight-Marshal of the forces in Newhaven, then besieged by the French, but perished by shipwreck, with a numerous suite, in his voyage to that place. He married Catherine, elder daughter and one of the co-heiresses of Sir Thomas Moyle, of Eastwell, co. Kent, Chancellor of the Court of Aug- mentations, and Speaker of the House of Commons (see his memoir), and had with other issue, Moyle, his successor, and Sir Henry Finch, a learned Sergeant-at-Law, whose son and heir,' Sir John, was also Speaker of the House of Commons, and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. (See his memoir.) Sir Moyle Finch, Knt., of Eastwell, was created a Baronet, 29th July, 1611. He married Elizabeth, only daughter of Sir Thomas Heneage, Knt., of Copt Hall, Essex, by Anne, daughter of Sir Nicholas Poyntz, of Acton Poyntz, CO. Gloucester, and grand-daughter, maternally, of Thomas, Lord Berkeley, of Berkeley Castle. By this marriage. Sir Moyle had, with other issue, Theophilus, his successor, Thomas, and Heneage, the subject of our memoir. This gentleman was educated for the law, in which he, made a very conspicuous figure ; and, although not rising to that professional eminence which his son and other members of his family attained, he was appointed Recorder of London, the duties of which office he fulfilled with credit to himself, and to the entire satisfaction of the great corporation by whom he was elected. In 1625 he represented the City of London in ParKament, and was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. His speech on this occasion contains rather more than the usual dose of flattery, both to Charles and the memory of his father. Addressing the King, he said, " Your piety to the memory of your dear father, in following and bedewing his herse with your tears, is full in every man's memory." And in reference to the learning of the deceased Sovereign, he observed, "But, I trust, as God hath put it into the heart of your blessed father, by the matchless book of his, written to all Christian monarchs and princes (a work by which he raised a monument to himself more lasting than marble), to denounce war to that adversary of God and Kings, the Pope, so he hath set your sacred Majesty upon the throne of your father, to do as many things worthy to be written as he had written things worthy to be read." Speaking of monarchy, he said, " We live not under a monarchy only, the best of governments, and under a government the best of monarchies, but under a King the best of monarchs, your royal per- 302 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1625. son, and those eminent graces and virtues which are inherent in your person, (in whom greatness and goodness contend for superiority), it were presump- tion in me to touch, tho' with never so good a meaning : they will not be bounded within the narrow compass of niy discourse," &c. But we turn with more pleasure to the following paragraph, the language of which is more consistent with the patriotic feelings and parliamentary views of the period. " The laws by which we are governed are above any value my words can set upon them ; time hath refined and improved them ; they are equal, at least, to any human laws, and so curiously framed and fitted, that as we live under a temperate climate, so the laws are temperate ; yielding a due ob- servance to the prerogative royal, and yet preserving the right and liberty of the subject; that which Tacitus saith of two of the best Emperors, Res oUm insociahiles miscuerunt, Imperium et Libertatem, And so far is this from the least diminution of Sovereigns, that, in this, your Majesty is truly styled Pater Patrice, and the greatest king in the world, that is, King of such and so many free-born subjects, whose persons you have not only power over, but, which is above the greatest of Kings, to command their hearts. If time or corruption of manners breed any mists or grievance, or discover any defect in the law, they are soon reformed by Parliament, the greatest court of justice, and the greatest council of the kingdom, to which all other courts and coxmcils are subordinate." It is not our intention to follow Sir Heneage Finch further in his elaborate oration, as in all but the style, it is precisely similar to those of the three previous Speakers, the same exciting subjects being still under consideration. As in the two previous Parliaments all the members received the communion at St. Margaret's church, West- minster, as a test of their religion, and it was ordered that no man should come into the House until he had taken the sacrament in the presence of some of the committee appointed for that purpose. If this were a true test of Protestantism, there could not have been a single recusant returned to Parliament, as it is recorded that not one member was absent. It was at the commencement of this session that Charles sent a message to the House, acquainting them that Sir Edward Coke, being Sheriff of Buckinghamshire (the King having purposely pricked him), was returned one of the knights of the shire for Norfolk, contrary to the tenor of the writ. We have before alluded to the circumstance in the memoir of that illustrious lawyer, and will only observe, that in depriving him of his seat for the time, the King sharpened his enmity against him for the future. There is no doubt, how- ever, that he had secretly instigated an inquiry into the conduct of Bucking- ham, upon which the Commons, notwithstanding the absence of the man, whose peculiar glory it would have been to humiliate his enemy (for that Coke owed his disgrace and dismissal from ofiice solely to the kind ofiices of 1 Charles I.] , sia heneage finch. 303 the favourite, cannot be questioned), determined to proceed before discussing the question of supply. The impatience of the King, arising principally from his fears for Buckingham, could brook no such delay, and several letters and messages for hastening the supply were forwarded to the Commons, but to no purpose, for they determined to proceed in their charges against the Duke, which, with the case of the Earl of Bristol, matters appertaining to general history, almost exclusively occupied their attention. Ou the reassembling of Parliament after an adjournment, while the Com- mons were determining the course they should pursue against the Duke, the Lords were occupied with the impeachment of the Earl of Bristol, by order of the King, whose object, doubtless, was to serve the former by incapaci- tating the latter from giving evidence against him. These businesses occu- pied both Houses from April until the 10th of June, when the Commons petitioned the King against Popish recusants, in answer to his letter for hastening the supply, and forwarded him a long list of suspected noblemen, knights, and gentlemen, which so incensed the King, that he hastily dissolved the Parliament. In the course of this session, the King had been as little mindful of the privileges of Parliament, as any sovereign who ever sat upon the throne, and the Commons framed a bold but respectful remonstrance, embodying all their grievances, in which, amongst other things, they alluded to the arts of Buck- ingham in depriving them of the services of Sir Edward Coke and others, by causing them to be named sheriffs of several counties, and by the punishment of Mr. Glanville (see Glanville), one of the managers of the charges against the Duke, in sending him out of England as secretary to the fleet, the im- prisonment of two other managers of the same cause. Sir Dudley Diggs and Sir John Elliot, and it concluded by stating, that when these grievances were redressed, they would willingly supply his majesty's wants. The sudden dissolution of Parliament prevented the presentation of this remonstrance, but it became sufliciently public and notorious to induce this ill-advised King to issue a proclamation for burning it. We cannot, in so slight a memoir or sketch of our Speaker's life, enter more fully into the his- tory of the times, but in allusion to his conduct in the chair during such unpre- cedently difficult affairs, we may with truth affirm, that no imputation of truckling to royal authority was brought against Sir Heneage Finch, although his eminent descendants were accounted great sticklers for the authority and prerogative royal. Our Speaker appears throughout to have acted with much fairness and impartiality in the discharge of his duties in the chair. He married twice, first to Frances, daughter of Sir Edmund Bell, of Beaupve Hall, CO. Norfolk, the descendant of Sir Robert Bell, Speaker of the House of Commons, and Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, who died of the plague during the assizes at Oxford (see his memoir), by whom he had seven 304 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. sons and four daughters, and secondly to Elizabeth, daughter of William Craddock, Esq., of Staffordshire, and widow of Richard Burnet, Esq., by whom he had two daughters. , He was succeeded by his eldest son, Heneage Finch, who was educated at Westminster and Christchurch, Oxford. He was one of the leading members of the Parliament which restored King Charles II., and having followed his father's profession, he became very eminent, and was first knighted, and then created a baronet. When he was autumn reader of the Inner Temple in 1661, his reputation was so great, that his readings were attended by all the nobility, and , by King Charles 11. and his court, upon which occasion Sir Heneage gave a magnificent entertainment in the Temple Hall. Anthony Wood gives a long list of the great men, including the King, whom he entertained on this occasion. The same year he was elected member for the University of Oxford. When he was created Doctor of Civil Law, the public orator took the opportunity of giving Sir Heneage a gentle reproof for not voting for the exemption of the University from the operation of the Hearth tax, by observing, that "the University wished they had more colleges, and more chambers in which to entertain their guests, but by no means any more chimneys." Sir Heneage was appointed Attorney-General in 1670, Lord Keeper in 1673, and Chancellor in 1675. As a statesman, it has been said of him with great truth, that " though inclining too much to the enlargement of the crown's prerogative, yet he conducted himself with such moderation and manifest integrity, that no one ever raised against him a disparaging voice. As a judge, we have the authority of Sir William Blackstone for his excellence as an equity lawyer. Dryden, in his " Absolom and Achitophel," thus records his opinion of his lordship — " Our laws that did a boundless ocean seem, Were coasted all, and fathom'd all by him ; No rabbin speaks like him their mystic sense. So just, and with such charms of eloquence ; To whom the double blessing does belong, - With Moses' inspiration, Aaron's tongue." We refer the reader for his judicial biography to Lord Campbell's " Lives of the Chancellors." Sir Heneage Fin(5h was elevated to the peerage shortly after he was appointed Lord Keeper, lOth January, 1673-4, as Lord Finch, of Daventry, co. Northampton, and in 1681, advanced to the dignity of Earl of Nottingham. He married Elizabeth, daughter of William Harvey, Esq., and had fourteen children. His lordship died 18th December, 1682, and his eldest son, Daniel, second Earl of Nottingham, succeeded also to the Earldom of Wmchelsea as sixth earl, upon the demise of his kinsman, John, fifth earl, descendmg from Sir Thomas, the eldest surviving brother of our Speaker, SIR JOHN FINCH. 305 whose mother, Elizabeth Heneage, was, after the death of her husband, Sir Moyle Finch, Bart., elevated to the peerage as Viscountess Maidstone, 8th July, 1623, and advanced to the dignity of Countess of Winchelsea, with remainder of both honours to the heirs male of her body, 12th July, 1628. The lineal male representative of our Speaker is therefore George William Finch Hatton, ninth Earl of Winchelsea, and fifth Earl of Nottingham, Viscount Maidstone, Baron Finch of Daventry, and a baronet, who also re- presents Sir Thomas Moyle, the celebrated Speaker in the 33rd of King Henry VIII., and is one of the representatives of Sir Robert Bell, Speaker of the House of Commons in the 14th of Queen Elizabeth. Arms. — Quarterly, first and fourth, az. a chev. between three garbs, or. second and third, ar. a chev. between three griffins passant, wings endorsed, sa. ' Crest. — A pegasus courant, ar. winged, maned, and hoofed, or. ducally gorged, of the last. SIR JOHN FINCH. We need not enter into any lengthened genealogical details concerning the subject of our memoir, as his pedigree is so fully given in the biographi- cal sketch we have just concluded. We shall only observe, that he was the eldest son of Sir Henry Finch, Sergeant-at-Law, a younger, brother of Sir Moyle Finch, of Eastwell, co. Kent, the father of Sir Heneage Finch, the preceding Speaker. Sir John Finch was a lawyer of eminence, whose opinions in favour of the prerogative, and whose zeal in the royal cause, were, of course, well known to the court, and having been returned to Parliament for the city of Canterbury in 1627, he was nominated and chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. The King's necessities obliged him to call a Par- liament, in the hope of obtaining those supplies he had been unable to pro- cure by forced loans, benevolences, and other unconstitutional and oppressive measures ; yet, such was the state of the kingdom, owing to the threatening aspect of foreign afiairs, that there never was a period in the history of this country in which a good understanding between the King and the people, as represented by Parliament, was more to be desired. Our Speaker's oration upon this occasion was replete with flattery ; but, as the style differs from the ordinary addresses from the chair, we give, as a specimen of his eloquence, the following extract : — 306 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1627. " It is now no longer time, nor good manners, to dispute with my lord the King, hut with all joy and alacrity of heart, humhly and thankfully to meet so great a favour from the best of masters and the best of men. Therefore, first, I lift up my heart to him that sits on the throne of heaven, per quern Principes imperant et Potentes decernunt Justitiamr; humbly begging at his hands that made the tongue to give me speech, and that framed the heart of man, to give me understanding ; for I am but as clay in the hands of the potter, and he will mould me for honour or dishonour, as best seems good unto him. Next, I bow my knees unto your most excellent Majesty, in all humble and hearty acknowledgment of this and many other your great and gracious favours. The truth of my own heart, full of zeal and duty to your Majesty and the public as aily man's, quits me from all fear of running into wilful and pregnant ' errors, and your Majesty's great goodness, of which I have been so large a partaker, gives me strong assurance, that having been by your gracious beams drawn up from earth and obscurity, you will so uphold me by a benign and gracious interpretation of all my words and actions, that I fall not down again, like a crude and imperfect vapour, but consume the remainder of my days in zeal for your Majesty's service. This great and glorious assembly, made perfect by your royal presence, like a curious per- spective, the more I behold it, with the more joy and comfort I find a lively representation of that true happiness, which, under your Majesty's gracious government, we all at this time enjoy ; a better tongue were fitter to express it ; but a rich stone retains its value, though ill set. Here, in the fulness and height of your glory, like the sun in the exaltation of his orb, sits your most excellent Majesty, the sovereign Monarch of this famous Isle, in a throne made glorious by a long succession of many and great princes. A meditation worthy our better thoughts, that we live neither enthralled to the fury and rage of the giddy multitude, nor yet to the distracted wills of many masters, but under the command of a King, the stay and strength of a people, one, as Homer saith well of Kings, — TToXKuiv avra^ios oKKwv, not to be laid in common ballance with other men ; for kings know no tenure but God's service, and their value is only tried at his beam; whence the poets said, the parents of the first kings were Ccelum et Terra, divine insti- tution, and human approbation." The rest of his speech, with the exception of some high flown compliments to the peers, and a strong panegyric upon the impartial administration of the laws, and the incorruptibility of the Judges, several of whom, by way of parenthesis, had been so lately convicted of bribery, and most dishonest practices, was devoted to an exposition oif the King's wants, and the state of 3 Charles I.] sir john finch. 307 the kingdom, and his conviction that the Commons would Willingly supply the former, from affection to his person and the honour of their country. It would be impossible for us to enter into anything like a detail, or even an abstract, of this Parliament's proceedings ; grievances (justly so called) su- perseded all other considerations, and every concession on the part of the King induced larger demands on the part of the people's representatives, who, nevertheless, were actuated solely by patriotism, and an ardent desire to place the institutions of the country on such a firm and enduring basis of equity and justice as should be equally advantageous to the king and the liberty of the subject This, of course, could not be effected without great jealousies and heartburnings, the satellites of the court impressing upon the King's mind the importance of maintaining his prerogative inviolably, while nobler minds, but not less loyal ones, incurring the royal displeasure, and at the hazard of their personal liberty, determined that supply and grievances should go hand in hand. In these struggles, many of the most illustrious statesmen and most influential members of the House of Commons, became the victims of oppression ; and the names of Coke, Seldon, Elliot, Hollis, Hobart, Coriton, Long, Strode, and others, stand prominently forward with Pym and Hampden as martyrs in the sacred cause of liberty ; while little' can be advanced in favour of our Speaker's sympathy in the cause in which so many patriots perilled their liberty and fortunes. The ill-success of the expedition under Buckingham, augmented the general discontent ; and when the Commons de- termined to examine into religious grievances, and reform the abuses' which had crept into the Church, the King dissolved a Parliament from which he expected much, but was totally unable to manage. When this determination was taken, the Commons were occupied in discussing one of their grievances, and just as Sir John Finch was about to put the question concerning the legality of tonnage and poundage, he rose up, and informed the House that he had a command from the King to adjourn. This produced great excitement and uproar, and our Speaker, unwilling by any act to lessen the appearance of his zeal, loyalty, or subserviency to the court, was hastily preparing to quit his seat, when he was seized by Hollis and Valentine, pushed back into the chair, and forcibly detained, while the House framed a remonstrance, in which they voted that tonnage and poundage were contrary to law, and that not only those who raised that duty, but those who paid it, were guilty of capital crimes, and they declared Papists and Armenians capital enemies of the State. In venturing to offer an opinion upon the political conduct and Parlia- mentary career of Sir John Finch, the principal object of our enquiries in this work, we are bound to state that he appears to have evinced as much zeal, courage, and devotion in the cause of his Sovereign, as any member of the House over whose deliberations he presided had displayed in their nobler opposition to despotism, and in his capacity of Speaker, he did not shrink X 2 308 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. from assisting the crown, by the weight of his authority over the House, in all those measures which the statesmen and politicians of subsequent ages have generally condemned as oppressive and unconstitutional. After this period he appears to have confined himself principally to the duties of his profession, in which he attained the highest honors. In 1626 our Speaker was appointed Lord Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and in 1639 Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, and was created Baron Finch, of Fordwich, in the county of Kent, 7th April, 1646. His Lordship's character does not shine when put in comparison with that of his cousin the Earl of Nottingham, to which we have referred in our ac- count of his father. Sir Heneage, the preceding Speaker ; but of his talent and abilities, although tinctured with a spice of vanity, there cannot be a question. We shall not, however, conclude this short account of Sir John Finch without giving the opinions of other writers. Granger, in his '' Bio- graphical History," speaks of the subject of our memoir in a tone of severity scarcely justified by the difficult circumstances of the times in which he lived, when, independently of learning and talent, uncommon firmness and strength of character were necessary to enable a man to steer even a prudent course, while to place himself above the vituperation of party was hopeless. He writes that " the character of Lord Finch was just the reverse of that of his predecessor. He was one of those men, who, with some parts, and more vanity, fancy themselves qualified for the highest offices, without the due methods of study and preparation. He converted the laws to a per- verse meaning, to answer the purposes of a despotic court, and was ever an advocate for ship money, or any other illegal imposts. Soon after the meeting of the Long Parliament, the apprehension of being brought to a severe justice, hurried him into a foreign country, and he died in exile." On the other side Lloyd, in his " State Worthies," acts as his apologist, and praises him for the very acts which others condemn, quot homines tot sententice ! " This family (saith our author) hath had an hereditary eminence in the study of the law. Sir Henry Finch (the author of No^iorfxwf), a learned Sergeant-at-Law in King James his time. Sir Heneage Finch, Re- corder of London in King Charles his time, and this noble person at the same time the Queen's Attorney, and Speaker of the curious, knowing, and rich Parliament, wherein some have observed, though wide, I suppose, that the House of Commons modestly estimated (consisting of 500) could buy the House of Peers (consisting of 118) thrice over. Nurimbergh, in Germany, and Florence, in Italy, would not of old admit of any learned men in their council: because great learned men, saith the historian of these places, are perplexed to resolve upon affairs, making many doubts full of respects and imaginations. Semblably this Parliament was too rich and curious to do any good, though this noble personage, even when the house doors were shut. SIR JOHN GLANVILLE. 309 and he violently detained in his chair, refused to counrenance their proceed- ings, always abhorring Elliot's doctrine, That men should not be questioned for offences in Parliament : as if that reverend assembly were called for no other end, than that turbulent spirits might be at liberty to speak treason every three years. When he was questioned about ship-mony, his judgment was : That if the whole were in danger, the whole should contribute. When he was urged to read the remonstrance against Sir R. W. 4. Car, in Parliament, his opinion was: That at any rate (though at the highest there can be) authority must be vindicated and redeemed from contempt, since the life of government is reputation." Lord Finch married, but had no male issue, and the dignity consequently expired at his death. His only daughter and heiress, married the Right Hon. Sir George Radcliffe, of Ireland, but we have not discovered whether there are any descendants of this marriage who would be the representatives of the subject of this memoir, but the male representation rests in the pre- sent Earl of Winchelsea and Nottingham, the lineal descendant of Sir Heneage Finch, the preceding Speaker. Arms. — Arg. a chevron between three garbs or. SIR JOHN GLANVILLE, Knt. Sir .John Glanville, Knt., Sergeant-at-Law, born at Tavistock, in Devonshire, was the second son of Sir John Glanville, of the very ancient family of Glanvil, of Halswell House, in the parish of Whitchurch, in the same county, there seated upwards of three hundred years, and lineally descended from Ranulph de Glanvile, who accompanied William the Con- queror from Normandy, one of whose grandsons was that renowned Justice of all England, Ranulph de Glanvile, a baron of the realm, by the title of Lord de Bronholme, in the time of King Henry II. Prince, in his " Worthies of Devon" observes, that it is uncertain whether this branch of the family descended from that celebrated man. Genealogists are generally of opinion that the barony not descending to them, is no proof \vhatever against their descent in blood from that source, as there are numerous instances of the heirs of baronies in ancient times not receiving summons to Parliament. There appears to be no doubt whatever as to the fact of the Glanviiles, of Devonshire, being the lineal descendants of the companion-in-arms of the Conqueror. Our Speaker, although the son of an eminent judge, was bred. 310 LIVES or THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1640, an attorney, his father having also adopted that profession at the commence- ment of his career. He afterwards became a member of Lincoln's Inn, and as the author we have already cited observes, " by the help of his father's notes " became a great proficient in the law. A few years after he was called to the bar, he was made recorder of Plymouth, and returned to Parliament as its burgess several times. In the 2nd of Charles I., a.d. 1627, Mr. Glanville was appointed one of the managers for conducting the charges against the Duke of Buckingham, on which occasion, although nothing could be more temperate than his language in maintaining the seventh and eighth articles, he was marked for vengeance by the court, and under the despotic principle which then held, that the subject was the property of the sove- reign, he was, as a punishment for the performance of the duty imposed upon him by a vote of the House of Commons, sent out of the kingdom as secretary to the Pleet. In the 5th King Charles I., he was appointed Lent Reader of his Society, and on the 20th May, 1637, was advanced to the degree of Serjeant-at-Law, " at which time," says the same author, " having engaged himself to the more faithful service of the king (for in several Parliaments before he had been a great enemy to the prerogative), he was elected Speaker for that Parliament, which began at Westminster, April 13th, 1640, in which he shewed himself active to promote the King's interest and desires to his utmost power." On the 6th July, the same year, he was constituted one of the King's Ser- geants, being esteemed an excellent orator, a good lawyer, and an ornament to his profession. On the 7th August, 1641, he was knighted by the King at Whitehall, and he afterwards followed him to Oxford, where he was very zealous in his cause, and in a public convocation he was created Doctor of the Civil Law, although he had not graduated at either University. In 1645, he was proclaimed a delinquent, and disabled from taking his seat in the House of Commons, then sitting at Westminster, upon which he retired to his home, seeing that the King's cause had so much declined, from which, however, he was dragged away, and committed to prison, where he remained three years, until 1648, when, by making his composition, he was released. He was a man of excellent judgment, temper, spirit, and elocution, but as Prince observes, " those men whose liberties of voting he had argued formerly, allowed him not the liberty of his vote." The same authority states, that in 1627, he had been imprisoned on board a ship, for speaking his mind freely against a boundless prerogative, (which circumstance we have already explained), and he afterwards suffered, with equal resignation, six several imprisonments, two years of which he passed in the Tower, for declaring himself honestly against a "treasonable popularity." He was afterwards (having been bailed out of prison by the House of Lords) sent to Parliament for the University of Oxford, but was not, however, permitted to take his seat. He pleaded with 16 Charles I.] sir john glanville. 311 great energy the cause of Lord Craven, though banished, and Sir John Stawels, then a prisoner. Our Speaker is remarkable for the performance of one of the most generous and brotherly actions we find upon record. His elder brother, Sir Francis Glanville, had, by his irregular and vicious life, so vexed and harassed his father, the judge, that he cut him off with a shilhng, and left his fine estate of Killworthy, to the Speaker. After the death of the judge, the reading of his will, and the severe animadversions it contained, had such an effect upon his mind, that he retired for a time from society, and became a perfectly altered man. Sir John seeing the change which was effected in his brother's conduct, determined to act as he thought his father would have done, had he witnessed the sincere penitence of his first-born child, so he invited a large party of friends to his house, amongst whom was Sir Francis Glanville, and gave them a sumptuous entertainment, and just before dinner was over, he desired his brother to take off the cover, and help himself to the dish which he had pur- posely placed before him, when to the surprise of every one at table, it was found to contain the old title deeds of the Killworthy Estate, with a convey- ance to Sir Francis of the property, which he freely restored to him. Dr. Bain gives him credit for an act of greater importance to society; he says, that " our Speaker was chiefly instrumental in bringing forward the celebrated judge, Sir Matthew Hale, and that he had the honour of reclaiming him from the idle and dissolute life he led in his early years." He delivered a celebrated speech at a general committee of both Houses, on the 23rd May, 1628 ; in which he declared the reasons of the House of Commons, for not assenting to the proposition tendered to them by the Lords, concerning sovereign power. His speeches concerning the petition of right, and those in Rushworth's Collections, when he was presented Speaker of the House of Commons, and one in the Upper House of Parliament for the redress of present grievances in December, 16i6, give proof of his judg- ment and eloquence. Upon the restoration of Charles II. he was again appointed King's Ser- geant, but death put an end to his further advancement. He died on the 2nd of October, 1661, and was buried in the church of Broad Hinton, in Wilt- shire, the manor of which he had purchased. By Winifred, his wife, he had issue five sons. His second son, John, succeeded to Broad Hinton upon the death of his elder brother William. He was a barrister of note, who married a daughter of Sir Edmund Fortescue^ of Fallopit, co. Devon. The third son, Francis Glanville, took up arms in favour of Charles I., and after fighting gallantly, and distinguishing himself greatly by his bravery and courage in the defence of Bridgewater, with the rank of Lieut-Colonel, he was there slain on the 21st of July, 1645, in the eight-and-twentieth year of his age ; and in the church of Broad Hinton there is a monument to record his 312 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKER 1640. memory, and perpetuate the fame of his actions. From John, the eldest son and heir of Julius Glanville, Esq., barrister-at-law, who was the youngest son of our Speaker, and who purchased the estate of Catchfrench, near Lis- keard, co. Cornwall, in 1721, descended Sir John Glanville, Knt, High Sheriff of the county in 1753, whose son, Francis Glanville, Esq., of Catch- french, a magistrate asid Deputy Lieutenant for Cornwall, High Sheriff thereof in 1793, M.P. for Malmshury 1794, and for Plymouth from 1797 to 1802, was the father of the present Francis Glanville, Esq., of Catchfrench, the lineal male descendant of our Speaker. From the sisters and co-heirs of the last heir male of the elder branch of the Glanvilles, descending from Sir Francis Glanville, of Killworthy, the brother of our Speaker, to whom the anecdote we have related refers, the present John Digby Fowell, Esq., and Sir Joseph Sawle Graves Sawle, Bart., derive descent. Arms. — Az. three saltiers or. Crest. — On a mount vert, a stag trippant ppr. WILLIAM LENTHALL, Esq, The family of Lenthall is of considerable antiquity and historical renown, descending in the direct male line, unbroken by a single chasm, from the same source, if not positively from the body of the celebrated Sir Rowland Lenthall, of Hampton Court, co. Hereford, one of the most distinguished warriors of Agincourt, of whom Camden thus writes in his " Britannia," vol. 2—460 — "Hampton Court was sumptuously erected by one Sir Rowland Lenthall, Knt., that thus rose by service. He was yeoman of the robes to King Henry IV., and being a gallant fellow, either a daughter or a very near kinswoman of the King's fell in love with him, and in continuance was wedded to him. Whereupon after he fell into estimation and had given to him a thousand by the year, for maintenance of him and his wife and their heirs, among which lands he had Ludlow for one parte. This Lenthall was victorious at the battle of Agencourt, and took many prisoners there, by which prey he begaune the new buildings of Hampton Court, and brought from an hill a springe of water, and made a little pool within the top of his house." If this account be correct Sir Rowland must have been an extra- ordinary engineer for the times in which he lived. He is described by contemporaneous writers as a gentleman of ancient and honourable lineage, several of whose ancestors are enumerated as holding considerable estates 15 Charles !•] william lenthall. 313 in Herefordshire and Oxfordshire as early as the reign of Henry II., of the former of which counties they were several times sheriiFs. Sir Rowland married twice, first to the Lady Margaret Fitz Alan, one of the three daughters and co-heiresses of Thomas Fitz Alan, Earl of Arundel, K.G., great-grandson of Edmund Plantagenet, Earl of Lancaster, son of Henry III. by Elizabeth, daughter of William de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, and grand-daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, by the Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King Edward I. (The other sisters of the Lady Margaret Lenthall were the Duchess of Norfolk and the Lady Bergavenny.) Sir Rowland married secondly Lucy, daughter of the last Lord Grey, of Codnor. This gallant knight, who was Governor of Haverfordwest, and described in Fenton's " History of Pembrokeshire," " Rolandus Lenthall miles Dominus Haverfordi," had two sons. Sir Edmund Lenthall, who married Margaret, daughter of William, Lord Zouch, of Haringworth, co. Northampton, but died without issue male ; and John Lenthall, who married Ann, daughter of Humphrey de Bessills, of Besselsleigh (an estate which after many generations came back into the family), by whom he had two daughters, Agnes, married to Thomas Cornwall, Baron of Burford, descended from Cornwall, King of the Romans, a natural brother of Henry III., and Catherine, married to her cousin William, Lord Zouch, of Haringworth, with a son John Lenthall, from whom after several generations, united by marriage with some of the best families of England, such as the Baronial fainily of Piparde, ajid the knightly ones of Badby, Fox, Baxter, Tempest, Eveleigh of Devon, Brome of Halton, and S toner of Oxfordshire, came John Lenthall, Esq., of the Barrow, in Buckinghamshire, who married Elinor, daughter of Edmund Lee, Esq., of Pitston, in the same county, by whom he had issue four sons. Sir Edmund, William, Thomas, and Francis ; of whom, William, the second son, upon the death of his eldest brother. Sir Edmund, without issue, became the head of his family, and is the subject of this memoir. It has been suggested that our Speaker descended from Walter, the bro- ther of the celebrated Sir Rowland Lenthall, but after a careful examina- tion of the family deeds, vnlls, &c., it certainly strikes us that the tree of descent from Sir Rowland and his first wife, the Lady Margaret Fitz Alan, is clearly made out, and we are confirmed in this view of the case by the un- interrupted possession of the manor of Great Hazeley (part of that great heir- esses estate, derived from the De Bohuns), by this branch of the family down to Sir Edmund, the brother of our Speaker, although the Latchford estate, within that manor, came to the Lenthalls by marriage with the heiress of the noble family of Piparde, whose ancestor, Ralph Pipard, Steward of the House- hold to Henry III., was summoned to Parliament as a Baron of the realm, from the 6th February, 1299, to July, 1302, and although his descendants were not afterwards summoned, upon proof of the original writ, we believe they would 314 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. LSP^-*'^^'^ 1640, have been entitled to take their seat in the House of Peers, and if this opinion be correct, the barony vrould descend to the present William John Lenthall, Esq., lateof Burford Priory, the direct descendant and heir male of the family. Noble, and other authors, have made several unjustifiable mistakes with regard to the relationship of the various branches of this family, vs^ho figured prominently in public affairs at the same epoch, and particularly v^ith refer- ence to SirJJohn Lenthall, a member of the Long Parliament, and Marshal of the King's Bench, who is described as the elder brother of the gentleman whose political career is the subject of our enquiry. Sir John, who married Bridget, daughter of Sir Thomas Temple of Stowe, Knt., and Bart., ancestor of the present Duke of Buckingham, was the son of William Lenthall, Esq., of Cutslowe, in Oxfordshire, a younger brother of our Speaker's father, consequently his cousin, and is so styled by the Speaker in his will, wherein he leaves a ring to his cousin. Sir John Lenthall, Marshall of the Kind's Bench, and not elder brother, as Noble and other writers have erroneously styled him. In allusion to the ofl5.ce he held of Mar- shall of the King's Bench, Ben Jonson wrote the following lines, often quoted in those days. " Wlien a man has spent all, Take him Sir John Lenthall." Dreadful charges of cruelty and oppression were brought against this gentleman in the execution of his office, — some of the prisoners went so far as to state that he was in the habit of poisoning those who were unable to satisfy his extortionate demands, but independently of the gross exaggera- tion of the charges themselves, it was notorious that he had nothing whatever to do with the prison, beyond receiving the salary of a patent office which was farmed out to one Thomas Dudson. In reference to the supposed influence of Sir John Lenthall with the Speaker, by reason of their consanguinity, the prisoners of the Upper Bench, as it was then called, had the following saying, which was considered sufficiently caustic to obtain great popularity : " The Lawyers rule Committees, the Speaker rules the Lawyers, Sir John Lenthall rules the Speaker, Thomas Dudson rules Sir John, and the Devil rules Dudson." Another reason for allud- ing to this gentleman, beyond correcting the errors to which we have referred, is to prevent his being confounded with Sir John Lenthall, our Speaker's only surviving son, who was Governor of Windsor Castle, and also a member of the Long Parliament. William Lenthall, Esq., of Burford Priory, co. Oxon, the subject of this memoir.was baptised at Henley-upon-Thames, in the same county, in a house near the church, at the latter end of June, a.d. 1591, and was educated at Thame school, where also Richard Whistler, Recorder of Oxford, and the celebrated Judge, George Croke., received the rudiments of instruction. 15 Charles I.] william lenthall. 315 In 1606 he became a commoner of St. Alban's Hall, where he continued three years, when he was entered of Lincoln's Inn, and applying himself dili- gently to the study of the law, he acquired such reputation for learning, and so considerable a practice that he was appointed Lent Reader to the Society in the 13th Charles I., and afterwards became a bencher of the Inn. In the 15th of that King, he was made Recorder of Woodstock, and returned to Par- liament for the borough, and having been re-elected for the same place in 1640, he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons, over whose delibera- tions he presided during the whole continuance of the Long Parliament. Many circumstances have conspired to render us particularly cautious in the manner of handling the memoir of this celebrated man. Political prejudices and party spirit are totally subversive of truth, no man who writes under their influence can do justice to his subject ; his praise must be exaggerated, or his censure too severe. The most unfounded accusations have been brought against our Speaker by Clarendon, himself a man of conveniently pliant principles, and a modern writer has suffered his judgment to be warped by the leaven of political prejudice. Mr. Townsend, in his " History of the House of Commons, from the Con- vention Parliament of 1688-9, to the passing of the Reform Bill in 1832," taking a brief and hasty review of previous Parliaments, says at page 20, in allusion to the position in which Charles I. was placed on the meeting of the ParUament of 1640, by reason of the person he had selected for the office of Speaker not having been able to obtain a seat, " By a peculiar infelicity, he was constrained to nominate Mr. Lenthall, a disaffected barrister of Lin- coln's Inn, whose memorable answer to the Monarch, when, for the only time in our anneJs, he invaded the penetralia of the House, has conferred upon the utterer a species of fraudulent immortality." Why Mr. Townsend should hastily jump at such a conclusion we are at a loss to discover — history being perfectly silent as to any imputation upon the loyalty of the Speaker at the period of his election, nor has any impartial author cited him as a disaffected person. That he and all other men of principle and intelligence unswayed by courtly affections or that singular perversion of mind, which ever accompanies the fascination of royal favouritism, was fully impressed with the necessity for reform, and painfully sensible of the oppressions under which the nation was labouring, cannot be doubted, that general discontent prevailed, is equally true, but we have it on record from the highest authority, to which Milton has even added the weight of his testimony, that the Parliament over which Mr. Lenthall presided contained the elements of the best and wisest assembly that ever met together for the purpose of redressing grievances, and settling the affairs of the nation upon the best and surest foundations of justice and peace, and those acts which obtained the royal sanction more frequently from the King's fears, than from any feeling of their justice, are the strongest tests 316 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. {SPEAKER 1640, of the rare ability and steady determination of the representatives of the people to secure the liberty of the subject, and for ever annihilate the tyranny under which the nation had groaned during centuries of kingly despotism. In a work of this nature it would be impossible for us to enter into all the details of our Speaker's eventful life, and we shall confine ourselves chiefly to the refutation of the calumnies with which he has beenjassailed. The author before quoted would even deprive him of the merit, if not the glory, of being the first Speaker, who had ever openly resisted the royal authority, when Charles borrowing his chair asked him " Whether any of the persons he sought were in the House, whether he saw any of them, and whom they were ?" Lenthall answered, "May it please your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place, but as the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here: and humbly beg your Majesty's pardon that I cannot give any other answer than this to what your Majesty is pleased to demand of me." How Mr. Townsend can, at this distance of time, pretend to attribute this worthy reply which he admits to be in accordance with his duty and the rights of the House, to fear on the part of the Speaker, or to stigma- tize the just celebrity it obtained for him as fraudulent, we cannot understand, nor why he enlarges upon the prejudiced view he takes of the question, and tells us that " the moment when Yie faltered forth his apology was the proudest of his life — a spark struck from rotten wood — the flash of spirit darting up from a life of meanness," All men are not heroes, but a timid mind may on an emergency be equal to the most heroic acts. Mr. Lenthall, without reference to any other qualification than his distinguished merit as a lawyer, was elected to the important office of Speaker, an honour for which there is the evidence even of Clarendon to prove^ that he was by no means solicitous. The choice was the accident of the moment, and it cannot be denied that during his long continuance in office the greatest and most glorious measures for securing the liberties of the people, the indepen- dance of the judicial seat, and the privileges of Parliament were enacted ; although the indecent haste of parties more deeply interested than by feelings of loyalty in the restoration of monarchy, deprived the people of those guarantees for their happiness which it had been the aim of the Long Parliament to secure, by admitting Charles IL without those reasonable restrictions, which should have compelled him to confirm the acts of his father, and thus by their selfish neglect of the true interests of their country, and the just rights of the people, put another century between them and the smallest portion of that Hberty which our ancestors had achieved for us. This oversight, however, cannot be laid to the charge of the Long Parliament, or the Speaker who presided over its deliberations. " Yet," continues Mr. Townsend, " Lenthall was in truth a poor creature ; the tame instrument of a worse and more vulgar tyranny, the buffeted tool of the army and the rump ; subdued to sit or go, to remain 15 Charles T.] william lenthall. 317 at home or return, to find the doors of St. Stephens shut or open according to the will of his masters, the ofiicers, and at the bidding of Cromwell." Had w3 lived in those times of intestine trouble we doubt not that we should have enrolled ourselves under the banner of royalty, we doubt not that our pre- judices would have led us to favour royal prerogative at the expense of reason and justice. Even at this distance of time our aversion to the puritanical, canting, and hypocritical feeling of that age can scarcely be expressed in moderate language ; at the same time whatever may be the innate loyalty of our principles, whatever horror we may feel at the sacrifice of the best blood of the kingdom in the civilstrife which so soon followed, truth compels us to aver, that our Speaker was no advocate for taking the King's life, and that he associated himself in every principle with the moderate party, having no ulterior object, no hidden or interested motive, no desire beyond working to a happy conclusion the good which the determined resistance of the Parliament to kingly oppression had constitutionally commenced and nobly sustained. Of the physical courage of Mr. Lenthall we are not called upon to pronounce any opinion ; of his moral strength we have cited one noble example, which satisfac- torily refutes Mr. Townsend's summary of his character, and proves how little it is in any manner justified by the circumstances. The perplexing state of public affairs, must have required the strongest exertion of both mental and physical courage to have sustained a proper and dignified position at such an eventful period, and who can deny that that of Speaker of the Commons was alike the most conspicuous and the most difficult in which a man, even of the boldest character, could have been placed ? Moderation is considered a great virtue in all things but politics, where it is ever a crying sin in the opinion of one party or the other. According to those who at the present day assume the sole merit of liberality, the regicides and fierce puritans were the only consistent political characters of the age, the royalists were depraved enthu- siasts, or dissipated courtiers, while men of moderate views, whose only object was the restoration of peace to their distracted country, were weak and pusi- lanimous, and by far too insignificant to merit the attention of the politician. Mr. Lenthall possessed neither the savage ferocity of the puritan regicide, nor the cavalier's high flown notions of loyalty, which would sacrifice the kingdom for the King, and we are inclined — ^indeed, a Christian feeling com- pels us — to give implicit credence to the solemn declaration made in his last moments, when conscious that he was about to appear before the dread tribunal of Heaven, he declared in reference to the part he had taken against the King — " My trouble is disobedience to the pater patrice, I confess with Saul, I held their clothes whilst they murdered him ; but herein I was not so criminal as Saul, for I never consented to his death. No excuse can be made for me, that I proposed the bloody question for trying the King ; but I hoped, even then when I put the question, the very putting the question 318 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKEE 1640, would have cleared him, because I believed there were four to one against it. Cromwell and his agents deceived me." Mr. Townsend adds, with an un- becoming bitterness — " They might, we fear, have retorted, Qui vult decipi, decipiatur ;" but, in all fairness, he should have continued to quote the last words of his confession, " but he deceived better men than me." "With equal injustice, this author accuses Lenthall of time-serving, and says, that " his subserviency secured him, at a critical time, April, 1642, when the forms and names of old officers seemed to carry weight with the people, a vote of £6,000 as a voluntary gift, and the promise of a " further thankful- ness ;" notwithstanding that he gives insertion to Lenthall's letter to the Speaker after the Restoration, in which is the following explanation of the circumstances : — " Before his late Majesty's going from London, the House took into con- sideration my great and extraordinary charge and loss, and gave me by vote £6,000; but I never to this day received the one half of it; besides which I never had gift of land or money, nor any part of that £5 per diem which is due to the Speaker, as Speaker, whilst he so continues." Mr. Townsend says of Lenthall, at page 22 — " Obsequious to power in the ascendant, and forgetful of his memorable saying, he proved at Scot's trial his declaration in Parliament, that ' he would have his vote, as the King's judge, written on his grave ;' " and he quotes the " State Trials'' as his autho- rity. We have carefully perused Mr. Scot's trial, and so far from discovering any confirmation of the fact advanced, we were not a little surprised to find that Mr. Lenthall who was subpoenaed on the part of the Crown, acted in the most honourable manner, and considering the delicacy of his position at that period, he screened Scot as far as he could consistently with the oath he had taken to give true evidence to the Court and the jury touching the prisoner at the bar. In a spirit of fairness and justice to the memory of the Speaker, we shall make no apology for giving the following extract from the trial in question : — " William Lenthall, Esq., sworn — " Counsell (Sir Edward Turner) — ' Mr. Lenthall, pray be pleased to tell my Lords and the Jury what you remember of any discourse of Mr. Thomas Scot's (the prisoner at the bar), tending to the glorying in this act, or any thing in justification of that act ?' " Mr. Lenthall — ' My Lords, the last day, it was the last instante of time, we ware resolving of breaking the House ; there was some opposition in it, not very much ; the general consent of the House was to dissolve it ; I must confess at that time I did hear Mr. Scot much justifie that act of the death of the King (which truly I was much offended at). I confess to you, upon my oath, touching his speech of the inscription upon his,tombe, I did not hear that: justifying the death of the King he made a long harrange about. 15 Charles I.] william lenthall. 319 and he sate at the upper end of the gallery ; but these words, of having it written upon his tombe, and to have all the world take notice of it, I do not remember.' " It should also be borne in mind that Mr. Lenthall was not a willing witness for the crown, and that Sir Thomas Biddulph, M.P. for the City of London, Colonel Copley, and the Lord Mayor elect, all Members of Parliament at the time, and witnesses immediately preceding Lenthall, had positively sworn to Mr. Scot's having said, that his epitaph should be "Here lyes Thomas Scot, who adjudged to death the late King." How far it might have been becoming on the part of Mr. Lenthall to have adhered to his own celebrated maxim, that " he had neither eyes to see, nor tongue to speak," &c., is another question, but still one easily disposed of when we regard the feeling of all the judges of the land in the preceding trials of Harrison, Jones, Scroope, and Carew, fellow regicides, where they laid it down that forty-six members of a House of Commons (only twenty-one of whom took part in its proceedings) were not a Parliament, which, according to the constitution of England, consisted of King, Lords, and Commons, and they scouted the bare idea of either privilege or protection for words spoken in such a self constituted assembly as Richard Cromwell's Parliament. We think Mr. Townsend has rendered himself obnoxious to the imputation of unfairness in his quotations, and we must condemn the undue severity of his remarks upon the political conduct and character of Mr. Lenthall. At the same time, we candidly acknowledge the pleasure we have derived from the perusal of the first volume of his *' History of the House of Commons." There is a raciness of style throughout the work, abounding in pleasant anecdotes, delightfully narrated, which induces us to hope that the learned author may still feel disposed to favour the public with the second volume. Clarendon represents Lenthall as unequal to the station which he filled at the important period of the disputes between the King and his Parliament, but we have instanced one act of firmness and courage in his memorable answer to Charles I., when in the most unconstitutional manner he sought to arrest certain members of the House, for words spoken in debate, which patriotic resistance to arbitrary power, we are happy to hear, is about to be com- memorated in a painting for the corridor of the House of Lords, the Com- missioners of the f'ine Arts having selected that event as one of the subjects- for illustration ; and as a proof of Lenthall's moderation, it must not be for- gotten, that in the month of August, 1648, when there was a debate in the House, whether the treaty should be with the King, in the Isle of Wight upon the proposition of Hampton Court, the numbers being equal, he turned the scales in favour of royalty, by his casting vote. In 1654, Mr. Lenthall was returned to Cromwell's Parliament, both for the City of Gloucester and the county of Oxford, and was again elected 320 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1640. Speaker. Shortly afterwards he was, with Robert, Earl of Warwick, Edward, Earl of Mulgrave, Edward, Earl of Manchester, Sir Richard Onslow, Sir John Hobart, General Monk, and others, created one of Oliver's lords by writ, and in the single Parliament assembled by Richard Cromwell, he sat in the Upper House by the title of William Lord Lenthall. In 1659, Mr. Lanthall was elected Speaker to the Rump Parliament, and well deserved the trust the Commons had placed in his hands, for he gave a proof of courage under circumstances, which would have daunted many a stout heart, and we feel it incumbent upon us as his biographers, to narrate the event as we find it recorded in the pages of history. " The army, jealous of the Parliament, was determined to set them aside, and prevent their sitting, but he discovering their intentions, sat up in his chamber the whole night with Sir Arthur Hasilrigge and others. Notwith- standing this, Lambert, dispatching Lieut-Col. Duckenfield, stopped him in his carriage at seven of the clock in the morning of October 13th, and in- sisted on his returning home; he resolutely asked him, ' by what authority ?' ' by command of the General,' — to whom he replied, ' I am your General, follow me,' but the colonel refused, and obliged him to return. The army finding they could not receive any pay without a parliament, the officers waited on him, December 24th, and conducted him in his coach, attended with Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, and others, to the Tower, where he received the keys, and placed another lieutenant. From thence he went to the House of Parliament, was recognized Speaker, and received the thanks of the House." In reference to this affair we subjoin the following letter from General Monke (afterwards Duke of Albemarle) to our Speaker, and we point atten- tion to its peculiar style of address, as well as to the solemn asseveration it contains upon the subject of the Commonwealth. Edinburgh, October 20, 1659. Right Honourable, Having received notice that there was a force put upon the Parliament on the 12th of this instant, I have sent this messenger to your Lordship, to know whether that force doth continue ; for I am resolved, by the grace and assistance of God, as a true Englishman, to stand to and assert the liberty and authority of Parliament : and the army here, praised be Gtod, is very courageous and unanimous ; and T doubt not but to give a good account of this action to you. I have, according to your Act of the 11th instant, being constituted a Commissioner of the Government of the Army, put out such persons as would not act according to your commission. I do call God to witness, that the assert- ing of a Commonwealth is the only intent of my heart ; and I desire, if possible, to avoid th sheddmg of blood, and therefore entreat you, that there may be a good understanding b tween the Parhament and army. But if they will not obey your commands, I wUl not desert you, according to my duty and promise, which is all at present from your Humble and faithful servant, George Monkb. 15 Charles I.] william lenthall. 321 In another letter from General Monk, addressed to the Right Honourable William Lenthall, Esq., Speaker to the Right Honomrable the Parliament of England, dated from Coldstream, 29th December, 1659, after giving an account of his proceedings in Scotland, he says : — " I have your army, I bless God, upon the river Tweed, within three hours ready to be drawn together, and they are very cheerful and unanimous, willing to endure any hardship for your service." And he continues, " I humbly thank the members of the Council for the ^eat honours they were pleased to confer upon me, and hope you shall never find but such an absolute ^obedience from me to your commands, that I shall be more ready to return that commission than to receive it." He concludes, " I have made ready to march, but am unwilling to hazard your justice and authority upon a fight, when it might be done with more security. I shall attend your further commands, and desire the Lord to bless your forces and counsels, and to restore you in your great authority, which is both the prayer and endeavour of Sir, your most humble and faithful servant, Geobge Mokke. In allusion to the illness of Mr. Lenthall, and the manner in v^hich he conducted the business of the House, Bishop Kennet, in his " Register," adds the weight of his testimony to the following effect: "Saturday, January 21, 1659. This day, the Speaker, being recovered of his late indisposition, re- turned to the House and took the chair, a place that was never managed by any with greater prudence and dexterity." Of Monk's confidence in our Speaker, and his opinion of his merits, as well as his power to promote the views he entertained for the restoration of mon- archy, the subjoined letter to the University of Oxford offers the strongest evidence : — " Honourable Gentlemen, " March 27, 1660. " Understanding by some of your members that you have an intention to choose me as a Burgess for the ensuing Parliament, I do thankfully acknowledge your kindness therein ; but having already engaged myself to serve for my own country, I shall desire you to omit me, and out of my real respects to you offer my honourable friend, William Lent- hall, the late Speaker of Parliament, now Master of the RoUs, a worthy patriot to his country, and known friend to learning and the University, and of no less abilities in all respects to serve you, in whose election you will conjoin om- interests for the promotion of the Universities, and consequently be the better served, and as perfectly oblige me as if you had made choice of " Your very humble Servant, "George Monke." The kindness of Mr. Lenthall's disposition, evidenced by the part he took in saving the life of Lord Goring, and his strenuous, although ineffectual efforts in favour of the extension of mercy to the gallant and unfortunate Earl of Derby, (the noble king of Man, the husband of the heroic defender of Lathom House,) whose chaplain found an asylum in bis house until he pro- cured him a living, are entitled to our warmest praise. His weight and influence were so great at the period of the restoration, that Monk assured Y 322 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKER 1640. Charles II. he could not have brought about that desirable event without his assistance, and even the " virulent Wood," as Noble truly styles him, admits that " he had a long time kept intelligence with General Monk, loved the King, and had conveyed him monies." It is true that, owing to his supposed great wealth, he was excepted out of the Bill of Indemnity, by that monarch whose necessities made him unscrupulous as to the mode of supplying them, but shortly after tlie restoration he received a special par- don from the King, which document is now in the possession of his de- scendant, Edmund Henry Lenthall, Esq., solicitor, of Gray's Inn. The following extract from our Speaker's will, dated 13th August, 1662, betrays his sensitiveness at the injustice of those who had ventured to proclaim, that he had made the times and his position subservient to personal interest, and the acquisition of wealth. " Yet that it may be manifest to the world how injuriously to my prejudice false rumours and lying lips hath advanced my temporary estate, I shall truely manifest the same to the world by the legacies, and bequeasts hereafter given and bequeathed, hoping that there is none soe uncharitably minded as to believe that I would dissemble both with God and man, when I am not assured of one moment longer of life than I have to right this and declare what followeth — First I do bequeath unto my brother Thomas Lenthall the sume of £800 of lawful English money, which he lent me in the tyme of greate necessity, and which my wife and mine shall ever acknowledge with thankfulnesse, for which money I did mortgage, as a security for it, the parsonage of Burford, and those pels of land in Burford, Upton, and Signett, knowne by the name of Elston's lands, and alsoe Broadwell Grove, Psh of Broadwell, as it is conceaved, in the county of Oxon. " There was also a debt of £200, which I did bynd myselfe by promise to pay CoUonell "William Legg upon certayne conditions, first to be performed on his part, which he never performed, yet because now I conceave myselfe free from the danger which his promise was to discharge, I shall order there be paid £100 of the said amount, whereof I have already paid the remainder. And my will and meaning is, that my trustees hereafter named shall upon a ful discharge from the said W. Legg, first had and obtained pay unto the said "William L. or his assyns, the full sume of £100 of lawful English money in dischardge of all demands from him, as soone as the same can be raised out of my estates, after the debts paid to my brother Thomas Lenthall. " I do alsoe will and devise the sume of £100 of lawful money to the Right Hon. the Earle of Norwich, if he be living at my decease, but if he dye before me, then my will and meaning is, that the same sume of £100 be paid to the Lord Goring, his eldest soune, for he expressed a great willingnesse to my assistance in my sore and great troubles." Colonel "William Legg, named in the second clause of Mr. Lenthall's will, was the father of the celebrated minister, the Earl of Dartmouth, and the Earl 15 Charles I.] william lenthall. 323 of Norwich was the father of the Lord Goring, whose life the Speaker was mainly instrumental in saving. But both these paragraphs of his will are in- teresting in an historical point of view, as they exhibit beyond the possibility of doubt the general corruption of society at that period, and prove that the favours of the great depended more upon pounds, shillings, and pence, than the noble attributes of mercy, justice, or generosity. The above extracts also give the lie direct to the charge of enormous wealth, which some writers in the interest of the restored Monarch had endeavoured to fasten upon our Speaker, and under this serious impression, interested parties effected his exemption from the general pardon ; and, but for the honest testimony of Monk, as to the important services he had rendered in bringing about the restoration of the exiled Monarch, there is no doubt the fair estate he possessed by inheritance would have been sequestered, and our Speaker himself had probably been doomed to destruction. In allusion to Mr. Lenthall's efforts on Lord Go- ring's trial an elegant writer has observed, " his conduct merits our highest commendation, for at the hazard of offending the sanguinary factions by whom he was surrounded, the casting vote falling into his hands, he saved the prisoner, feigning personal obligations as an excuse for the extension of mercy to the accused." This author also states, that " on this occasion the City of London invited the House of Commons to a grand dinner, the corporation receiving their visitors in great state, and the Lord Mayor resigned the civic sword to our Speaker, a ceremony which had never before been observed to any but the monarch." "We have omitted noticing the judicial appointments of Mr. Lenthall, the duties of which he discharged to the entire satisfaction of the suitors, and with a clearness of judgment and legal acumen which have never been dis- puted by contemporary or subsequent writers, however much opposed to his political conduct and principles. In 1643, while holding the appointment of Recorder of London, he was made Master of the Rolls, although contrary to the King's wishes, upon the joint petition of both Houses of Parliament, .a proud testimony of their opinion ; in 1646, Commissioner of the Great Seal ; and in 1647, Chief Justice of Chester, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Under the Protectorship, he was appointed one of the six Mas- ters in Chancery, 2nd May, 1655, and on the 27th Feb., 1659, re-appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Chamberlain of Chester, and Keeper of the Great Seal, which offices were revived by the Parliament for the ex- press purpose. That Mr. Lenthall may have betrayed a weakness, unpalatable to our tastes, in accepting office under the Usurper, we might be inclined to admit, but when we regard the honoured names of those truly ready instruments of treason, whose return to loyalty was dictated by self interest alone, and contrast their egotistical conduct with the useful exertions and civil abilities Y 2 324 LIVES OF THE SPEAKEES. [SPEAKER 1640' of our Speaker, upon his return to the humbler station of a private gentleman, he rises in our estimation far above those of his colleagues and compeers, who purchased the highest dignities of the state by the grossest desertion of the principles of their lives. Bargaining rank for restoration, wickedly un- mindful of their country's interest, they rendered the revolution of 1688 and a change of dynasty absolutely necessary, as a cure for their own wilful and criminal neglect in not stipulating, as a condition of the exiled monarch's return, for the confirmation of many of those acts of his father, which would have secured the rights and liberties of the people. The name of Algernon Sidney is still cherished by every true patriot. He may have been visionary in some of his political views, only because, from the general corruption of man, he saw no possible guarantee for liberty under the sovereigns he had known and served ; had he lived at this period, or could he be brought back to Ufe, who can doubt his entire satisfaction at the amount of rights and liberties now enjoyed by his more fortunate descendants. Of the honor and sincerity of this great political martyr, neither Whig nor Tory ever entertained a doubt. He thus writes to Speaker Lenthall, and his opinion is more valuable in our estimation, than that of Burnet, or any of the court writers of the day, " The English plenipotentiaries in Denmark, to the Speaker of the Parliament. " Copenhagen. "Mr. Speaker, — We have, within these two days, heard the certain news of your being restored unto the exercise of your trust, and the re-assuming the government, which we will rather congratulate with the three nations than with you, since they are to receive the benefit of all your labours and counsels. God hath done great things by you, and given us reason to hope for all good things from you. The experience of what we have seen and received, gives us a very unmoved assurance that you will ever contiuue in that good and glorious path in which you have hitherto walked, and not to take rest unto your- self until the people under you may rest in liberty and safety. Having been for these last months from you, we have not been able to give any other testimonies of our desires to serve you than by our diligence in the work, which you had committed unto our care," &c. After announcing that they had not yet been successful in their negociation with the court of Denmark ; but thought the Queen Regent, and Senate would act according to the directions of the deceased sovereign, they add — " The dead king did ever say he valued your friendship above any states' or prince's in the world. His friends and servants hope you will continue unto this infant king and his mother, the same friendship which you have shewed unto him, and the protection of them has something of noble and generous in it, &e. (Signed) Ai,. Sydney. ROBEBT HONYWOOD." Such direct evidence in favor of our Speaker's services to his country, from the pen of the illustrious Sidney, is infinitely more valuable than the en- venomed attacks of interested and time-serving authors, who wrote to please a restored monarch at the expense of truth and justice, blackening all whose stars were on the decline, as vehemently as they had praised them when in the 15 Charles I.] william lenthall. 325 ascendant. One circumstance, however, strikes us in the perusal of all the letters we have read, to our Speaker ; the writers of every degree address him as though he alone, and not Cromwell, held the reigns of government. We omitted to state in reference to Mr. Lenthall's strenuous exertions in favor of the gallant Earl of Derhy, that Mrs. Cromwell, in one of her letters to the Protector, urges him to endeavour to effect a reconciliation with the Speaker, which proves how sincerely he had interested himself to save that noble victim of loyalty, and at the same time how little he was disposed to render himself the passive tool of the Usurper. Mr. Lenthall married Elizabeth, daughter of Ambrose Evans, Esq., of Lodington, co. Northampton, by whom he had issue, two sons and three daughters, of whom Katherine married James, Lord Paisley, eldest son of James, second Earl of Abercorn, and dying on the 1st September, 1662, at his seat, Burford Priory (an estate purchased by the Speaker of the great Lord Falkland for £7000), he was privately buried in the parish church at his own request, desiring that no monument might be erected to his memory, or if anything, that it should be " but at the utmost a plain stone with the superscription only of " Vermis sum," a direction which was followed out in a manner perfectly consonant to his feelings, no stone having ever marked his resting place ; but on opening the family vault upon the death of John Lenthall, Esq., of Burford Priory (the father of the present William John and Roland Henry Lenthall, Esquires), who died a.d. 1820, the Speaker's coffin was identified by the plate, on which was simply inscribed " Vermis sum." Sir John Lenthall, the eldest and only surviving son of our Speaker, sat in the Long Parliament, for Gloucester, was a Colonel in the Parliamentary army. Governor of Windsor Castle, and one of the six clerks in Chancery, He was knighted by Cromwell, at Whitehall, 9th March, 1657, and subse- quently created a Baronet. This gentleman was also returned for the same city to Richard Cromwell's Parliament in January, 1659-60, and was appointed one of the twenty-one Commissioners for managing the affairs of the Admiralty and Navy. He was named one of the Judges in the High Commission for the trial of Charles I., but he refused to sit. In 1672, he was High Sheriff for Oxford ; and in 1677 he was knighted again by King Charles II. This gen- tleman lived at Besselsleigh, an estate purchased of the Fettiplace family (now in the possession of the junior branch of the Lenthall family), near Abingdon, for which borough he sat in the Parliament of 1658. He joined Monk in his scheme for the restoration of monarch}', and was afterwards in con- siderable favour at the court of Charles II., notwithstanding his memorable say- ing in the debate upon the General Pardon and Indemnity Bill, when with heroic courage, he argued against any exceptions, and to the horror of those by whom he was surrounded, declared that " He that drew his sword against the King, committed as high an offence as he that cut off the King's head." 326 LIVES or the speakers. [Speaker 1640, Mrs. Lucy Hutcliinson, in the memoirs of her husband, p. 367, says of this gentleman, "although he had no hand in the King's death, while the impeachment, Sec, was debating, he stood up and made so handsome and honourable a speech in defence of them all as deserves eternal honour. But," (she continues) " the Presbyterians called him to the bar for it, where though he mitigated some expressions which might be ill taken of the House, yet he spoke so generously as it is never to be forgotten of him. Herein he behaved himself with so much courage and honour as was not to be matched at that time in England, for which he was looked on with an evil eye, and upon a pretence of treason put in prison, from whence his father's money, and the Lieutenant of the Tower's jealousy delivered him," Sir John Lenthall married three times, but left issue only by his second wife Mary, daughter and co-heir of John Blewitt, Esq., of Holcombe, in the county of Devon, relict of Sir James Stonehouse, of Amerden Hall, co. Essex, Bart., by whom he had several children, for one of whom (James Lenthall) General Monk stood godfather, and the eldest, William, married his first cousin, the Honourable Katherine Hamilton, only child of James, Lord Paisley, eldest son of James, second Earl of Abercorn, by Katherine, daughter of the Speaker, which lady after the death of Mr. Lenthall (by whom she had issue, Johu Lenthall, Esq., of Burford Priory, Sheriff of Oxfordshire, the direct ancestor of the existing families of Lenthall, of London, Worcester, and Berkshire), remarried to another cousin, Charles Hamilton, who afterwards, upon the death of his grandfather, James, first Earl of Abercorn, succeeded to that title. The Countess appears to have been a singular woman. Through the kindness of Mr. Edmund Henry Lenthall, the only surviving son of William John Lenthall, Esq., of Burford Priory, which ancient and beautiful estate he alienated in 1829, we are enabled to give the following letter, which must be regarded as a really curious specimen of the orthography as well as the female acquirements of that age. As there is no address, we cannot say positively for whom this letter was intended, but it is supposed to have been written to her professional adviser, Mr. Ready, of Filkin's Hall, Oxon, whose family subsequently assumed the name of Colston. " Dear Sir, " My health, I thanke God, is perffectlywell ; butt nott knowing whether I am with child or no, the doucter is possitively agance my sturing, and says, if I am with child, sturing so grate a gurniy may cas me to miscariy, w* was butt so latly the case of my so grate illeness, and may in reallity hasard my liffe, as my enimiys so much wish, (your repu- tachon is above any one soandallising, and if any one has arrived to know, lett them send any one to me, and ye shall see whather I am like to diey. You we to weU knowe to be thought in any combinachon that is not just. Mr. Warin, Mr. Wliiber that was with him can, and Mr. Price, informe you how I was then, and Mr. Price and CasdeU how I am now, many degrees better than when Mr. Warin say me.) And you say, I may seUe hear beffore y> Lone, and Mr. Price, or ho ells you pies, you ned not send me the artickells to perrnse, 15 Charles I.] william lenthall. 327 for when I see them I am ignorant, only I know we must sell so much, and that is all I know ; as to the just part, I confid in you and the Lay part, Mr. Holbeck, and when the artickells are sent to me to sine, I am redy, and shall dou itt with charful hart, that itt lys in my pour to be so kind to my dear Lord and poor children. I desier you will coutt what trees you want before the sealling, as for repars, for after we cannott give itt. God bles you, and I hope you and I may Hve to dance togather att Jackeys weding. I dou nott atalle question itt but G-od wiU hear my prayers, and then where is there expectacon. I say my Lady Leger at hie parke raitiy shining and parfett red and white. Pray my dutty to the Lord Abercorne, and by the nex I will ritte. I went all the tone to gett that acte, but gott itt, and sent itt by CasdeU. " Dear Sir, believe me, " Your real aflfectionate servant, " K. Abekcoenb. " My love to y° corner, and all yr family. " My Lo. Bedfort, Lord Devensher, lord markis of Kinmarning, Lord Bathe, are as they say to be dukes, the King went, butt the wind nott fare, is returned, and is yett hear, and ther is a prodigous whalle landed. The Lord Bellimont is put off from the queue. " March 30th day, 1693." We presume she alludes to the wedding of her son by her first marriage, who afterwards appears to have given her great offence, as in a very unchris- tian spirit, she designates him in her last will ^and testament, dated 17th August, 1722, "my disobedient son, John Lenthall." This gentleman married Jane, daughter of Sir William Hill, of Ashchurch, in the county of Gloucester. The eldest son of this marriage, William Lenthall, of Burford Priory and Bessells Leigh, High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, dying without issue, 1781, left Bessells Leigh to William John Lenthall, Esq., the younger of his two nephews, from whom descends KyfSn John William Lenthall, Esq., the present owner of Bessells Leigh and Maynan Hall, who is the maternal grandson of Sir Thomas Kyffin, of Maynan Hall, Caernarvonshire, Attorney- General of North Wales, and representative of the eldest branch of that ancient family, descended from Einion Efel, Lord of Cynllaetb, younger son of Madoc, last Prince of Powis. Richard Kyffin, Abbot of Maynan, at the suppression of monastic institutions in the reign of Henry VIII., was a member of this stock. Another branch of the family of Kyffin, is repre- sented by Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, Bart., whose ancestor, Sir William Williams, the celebrated Speaker of the House of Commons in the reign of Charles II., married Margaret, only daughter and heiress of Watkin Kyffin, Esq. (See memoir of Sir W. Williams, and Yorke's Royal Tribes of Wales.) John Lenthall, Esq., the elder nephew and chief representative of the family who succeeded, under the will of his uncle, to Burford Priory, was High Sheriff of Oxfordshire in 1787. He married Sarah, daughter of the Rev. John Caswell, Rector of Swacliffe, in that county, and left issue, be- sides daughters, two sons, William John, and Rowland Henry Lenthall, of Kemsey, in the county of Worcester, Esq. The elder son, William John, who alienated Burford Priory in 1829, was formerly an officer in 328 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKEK 1653. the 3rd Dragoons, and afterwards in the 23rd Fusileers. He married Frances, daughter of Thomas Terry, Esq., of Beverley, co. York, one of the re- presentatives of the Speaker Wingfield (see Sir Humphrey Wingfield), and has surviving issue, an only son, Edmund Henry Lenthall, Esq., Solicitor, of South Square, Gray's Inn, who married Ann, daughter of Henry Man, Esq., merchant of London, descended from the Mans of Inverness, by whom he has issue. Independently of two portraits of the Speaker, by Vandyck and Dobson, and a beautiful miniature on copper, by the famous Peter Oliver, which are in his possession, Mr. E. H. Lenthall has several very interesting relics of the Speaker ; amongst others, his sacra- mental cup, his walking stick, and a pair of beautifully embroidered gloves or gauntlets, presented to him by King Charles I., together with the Speaker's own private seal, on which are the family arms, rudely engraven, as below. William John Lenthall, Esq., the father of this gentleman, is the heir male of the family, the lineal descendant and representative of our Speaker, as well as of the Baronial family of Piparde, and of James, second Earl of Abercorn. jirms.—Sa. a bend fusilly, arg., as borne by the Speaker. Also, Ar. on a bend, cottised sa., three mullets, or. ; borne by the Besselsleigh branch. Motto. — " Agincourt." FRANCIS ROUS. We scarcely know how properly to designate this eminent man. One authority, Anthony Wood, states, that he was in holy orders ; history tells us, he was one of Cromwell's peers — ^if the former, we cannot style him esquire, while the transient nature of the authority which raised him to the latter dignity, precludes our giving him the ^higher title of Lord. In point of pedigree, few had a stronger claim to distinction, for he traced his lineal male descent from Radulphus le Rufus, a Norman knight in the army of William the Conqueror; one of whose gallant descendants, Sir Robert le Rous, so distinguished himself for his valour under the Black Prince, that he was created a knight banneret, the highest and proudest military honour it was in the power of the Sovereign to confer upon a subject, one also which was scarcely ever degraded by the selection of an unworthy or improper object. William le Rous, the son of this valiant knight, married Alice, daughter and heir of Edmerstone, of Edmerstone, in Devonshire, and from this alliance the families of Rous, of Edmerstone, Modbury, Halton, co. Cornwall, Wooton-under-Edge, Piercefield, and Courtyrala, derived their origin ; at which last place the lineal male descendant of this very ancient family now resides, in the person of Thomas Bates Rous, Esq., eldest son of BaREBONE PaEL.J FRANCIS ROUS. 329 the late George Rous, of Moor Park, co. Herts, Esq., counsel to the East India Company, and M.P. for Shaftesbury, by Mary, his wife, daughter of Thomas Bates, Esq., of Northumberland. Mr. Rous was the grandson of Thomas Rous, Esq., of Piercefield, descended from Richard Rous, Esq., M.P. for Bossiney, 13 th of Charles II., the grandson of Sir Anthony Rous, of Edmerstone and Halton, Knt., the father of the subject of this memoir. Francis Rous was born at Halton, co. Cornwall, and at the early age of thirteen was entered as a Commoner of Broadgate Hall, and took the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1591. Anthony Wood not only says, that he shortly afterwards took holy orders, but preached at Saltash, although he afterwards studied the law, from a dislike to the National Church. In the first Parliament called by Charles I. he was returned for Truro, in Cornwall, and for Tregony again in the third and fourth Parliaments, in the 15th and 16th of that reign. From the commencement of his parliamentary career he ap- pears to have been bitter against the Established Church, and consistent in his opposition to the royal prerogative. In 1653, he represented the county of Devon in Parliament, and was chosen Chairman, and afterwards Speaker for a month ; but continued during the whole sitting, in order to carry out Cromwell's purposes. The Parliament, or rather Convention, over whose de- liberations Mr. Rous presided, met in the Council Chamber in Whitehall, on the 4th July, 1653. About 120 members composed this extraordinary assembly, upon whom, or any forty of them, under Cromwell's dictation, devolved the supreme authority and government of the Commonwealth. These members were not freely elected by the people, but merely nominated by his own warrant. This assembly was not to sit longer than the 3rd No- vember, 1654, when other members were to be called in to replace them. The manner of their proceeding is thus recorded : — " After Cromwell had harangued the new members at Whitehall, and had invested them with the supreme authority of the nation, they resolved to meet at the old Parliament House tho next day ; accordingly, about eight in the morning, many of them assembled there, where they began with seeking God by prayer ; and the Lord did so draw forth the hearts of them, that they did not find any necessity to call for the help of a minister," &c. The account goes on to state : — " That much of the presence of Christ, and his spirit, appeared at that time, to the great gladdening of the hearts of many, some affirming they never enjoyed so much of the spirit and presence of Christ in any of their meetings and exercises of religion in all their lives, as they did that day." After this blasphemous twaddle, they proceeded to business, and at six o'clock in the evening, resolved : " That Francis Rous, Esq., be called to the chair." This was the only ceremony they observed in the choice of their Speaker, and they ordered that such persons as were called to the chair, should be styled Speaker. 330 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. After Mr. Rous had sat a month in the chair, lie took his place as a mem- ber; but. by the general voice he was called again to the chair, to keep it for one month longer, from which time he continued to be chosen Speaker every month till the dissolution of the Parliament. By his influence he procured a resolution that Cromwell, Lambert, Harrison, Desbrowe, and Tomlinson, should sit in the House as Members ; and afterwards proposed that the Parliament should resign the government into the hands of Oliver, with the title of Pro- tector. For this he was made one of his Highness's Privy Council. When Mr. Rous went up with the majority of the Barebone Parliament to resign the au- thority with which he had invested them, into Cromwell's hands, he informed Mm that some of the members were refractory, and refused their consent. Upon this, Oliver sent Colonel "White to clear the House of such as ventured to remain. They had placed one Moyer in the chair by the time the Colonel ar- rived, and being asked by White what they did there ? Moyer replied very gravely, " that they were seeking the Lord." " Then (said the Colonel) you may go elsewhere, for, to my certain knowledge, the Lord has not been here these many years. " In 1656, Mr. Rous was returned as one of the members for Cornwall, created one of Oliver's lords, and, in the following year, made Pro- vost of Eton College, a situation, which with an advantageous college lease, pro- duced him about £1,200 per annum. He died at Acton, near London, January 7, 1658-9, and was buried at Eton College on the 24th of the same month. The standard, pennon, and other insignia of a Baron, were placed over his tomb, but of course they were destroyed at the restoration. The opinions formed of his talents and abilities depend in a great measure upon the politics of the writers. Lord Clarendon considered him a vain man with little depth of understanding ; and Mr. Noble, in his " Life of Cromwell," says, " His speeches in Parliament were mere pompous rhapsody, very much bordering upon nonsense ; but as they were very much levelled against Arminianism, they were well received. Having held several appointments relating to the Church, or rather religion, being head tryer and approver of public preachers, and a commissioner for the ejectment of scandalous and ignorant ministers, he was very unpopular amongst the orthodox clergy, who called him the " illiterate Jew of Eaton, and Proteus." It must, however, be borne in mind, that although it is the duty of a bio- grapher to collect and give insertion to all the information he can obtain relative to the subject of his memoir, the non-concealment of the unfavour- able opinions of prejudiced writers, by no means pledges him to a behef in their justice, or identifies him with their conclusions. We are not called upon to pronounce our sentiments or opinions upon Cromwell, or the Protectorate, to whose service Mr. Rous so faithfully devoted himself, but erroneous as they may appear to many minds, we have already recorded them in another work, and cannot flinch from maintaining them in this. We regard Cromwell's whole career as one of the most successful pieces of hypocrisy ever practised SIR THOMAS WIDDRINGTON. 331 since the days of Mahomet, and cannot probably divest our minds of some portion of the prejudice which naturally tinges our estimate of those who so zealously served his purposes ; nevertheless, while we see enough in the character of the subject of this memoir to convince us of his sincere aversion to the Stuart dynasty (we cannot say to monarchy, for Cromwell's was a spurious one), we must admit that his ability as a public man, and his talents as a parliamentary debater, were quite equal to the task he under- took, and to those by whom he was surrounded, while his political views, though not in accordance with our own, were those of hundreds, who bartered them for place upon the restoration, from which disgraceful re- flection he was at least saved by the hand of death. Francis Rous, the only son of our Speaker, a very learned physician, dying at a premature age in London, in 1635, this branch of the Rous's became extinct, while the male representation of the family vests, as we observed at the commencement of this memoir, in Thomas Bates Rous, Esq., of Courtyrala, near Cardiff, in Wales. Arms. — Or. an eagle displayed, pruning its wings az., with beak and bill gu. Crest. — A dove arg. SIR THOMAS WIDDRINGTON, Knt. Sir Thomas Wxddrington of Gisborn Grange, in Northumberland, was a gentleman of good family descending from a junior branch of the Widdring- tons of Widdrington Castle, an ancient Northumbrian house, whose representa- tive,Sir William Widdrington, a zealous royalist, fell at the head of the forces he hadraisedin support of his Sovereign, at the fight of Wigan Lane, in 1651 , having been created a baronet in 1642, and afterwards raised to the peerage by the title of Baron Widdrington, which was forfeited in 1715, by reason of the fourth Lord Widdrington's steady adherence to the royal house of Stuart. Sir Thomas, the subject of this memoir, was educated both at Oxford and Cambridge, and being intended for the law, was entered of Gray's Inn, and after the usual time called to the bar. At an early period of his professional career he was appointed Recorder of Berwick, and afterwards of York. In 1639 he received the honour of knighthood from King Charles I., and on his Majesty's journey through the north to be crowned in Scotland, he received him in his official capacity at the head of the corporation of York, and con- gratulated him in language replete with the most fulsome panegyrics. In the 15th and 16th of Charles, he was returned to Parliament for the town of Berwick, and became a warm advocate for liberty and independence, and took the. Covenant. In 1647, he was appointed one of the four Commissioners of 332 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1656. the Great Seal, and in the following year was constituted Parliamentary, and King's Serjeant. Upon the trial and execution of the King, Sir Thomas, who did not approve of the bloody designs of the regicides, threw up his appointments upon the pretence of illness, but being pressed upon the sub- ject, he admitted that he did so from scruples of conscience. He was after- wards permitted to practise within the bar, and the Parliament gave him a quarter's salary more than was due to him. It was probably imagined that the best way to a lawyer's heart was through his breeches pocket ; at any rate Sir Thomas afterwards became a useful and zealous advocate of the Protector, who heaped honors thick upon him for his merit. There is no doubt that he was a very learned lawyer, and Oliver rewarded his abilities by making him a Commissioner of his Great Seal, and Commissioner of the Treasury, with £1000 per annum for each office, which he accepted without any scruple of conscience. In 1656, he represented Northumberland in Parliament and was chosen Speaker, as also in 1657, when he sat for York, and assisted at the second or more solemn investiture and installation of his Highness, the Lord Protector, the account of which ceremony, given by an eye witness, Edmund Prestwich, is fully set forth in Sir John Prestwich's " Respublica." That part which relates to our Speaker we shall extract, not only because of its singularity, but that it enables us to give the reader a specimen of his eloquence. " In "Westminster Hall, &c. Before his Highness, and below him, was set a table covered with pink-coloured velvet of Genoa, fringed with fringe of gold. On this table, besides the Bible, sword and sceptre of the Common- wealth, were pens, ink, paper, sand, wax, &c. Before this table, on a chair sat Sir Thomas Widdrington, the Speaker to his Highness, and the Parliament. The heralds, in the name of his Highness and the Commonwealth, commanding silence ; then the Speaker, in the name of the Parliament presented to his Highness Oliver Cromwell, a rich and costly robe of purple velvet, lined with ermines, a Bible ornamented with bosses and clasps, richly gilt ; a rich costly sword, and a sceptre of massy gold. At the delivery of these things the Speaker made a short comment upon them, and in the ceremonies thereof, which he ad- dressed to the Protector, dividing them into four parts, viz. : 1. The robe of purple : — " This is an emblem of Magistracy, and imparts righteousness and justice. When you have put on this vestment, I may say you are a gown-man. This robe is of a mixt colour, to shew the mixture of justice and mercy. Indeed a magistrate must have two hands, plectentem et amplectentem, to cherish and to punish. " 2. The Bible is a book that contains the Holy Scriptures, in which you have the happiness to be well versed. This book of life consists of two testaments, the old and new. The first shews Christum velatum; the second, Christum revelatum,- Christ veiled and revealed. It is a book of books, and doth contain both precepts and examples for good government. PbOTECTOKATE.J sir THOMAS WIDDEINGTON. 33S " 3. Here is a sceptre, not unlike a staff, for you to be a staff to the weak and poor. It is of antient use in this kinde. It 's said in Scripture, that the sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shilo come, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be ! ! ! It was of the like use in other kingdoms. Homer, the Greek poet, calls kings and princes Sceptre-bearers. ' " 4. The last is the sword — not a military, but a civil sword. It is a sword rather of defence than offence — not to defend yourself only, but your people also. If I might presume to fix a motto upon this sword, as the valiant Lord Talbot had upon his, it should be this : Ego sum Domini Erotectoris ad pro- teg endum populum meum; I am the Lord Protector's, to protect my people." Sir Thomas Widdrington, having finished his oration, administered the oath to the Protector, and the procession then left the Hall. Of the character of Oliver Cromwell, Sir John Prestwich adds, at the end of this account of his installation given by his relative : — ' " This may be justly said of the Protector, that, although he might have been in his time a hypocrite, adulterer, whoremonger, drunkard, murderer, usurper, and tyrant ; yet in this I am confident, that however unjustly he might be said to have come to the crown, yet it cannot be said he ever abused it ; for by his sound judgment, great spirit, gratitude, and magnanimity, he was beloved, feared, and obeyed, and made foreign nations know more of England's strength than any of the Kings of the Stuart line." In justice to the memory of Sir Thomas Widdrington, we must not omit, that in a conference with Oliver Cromwell, before his second investiture, to which we have referred as above, he, Lenthall, and the Lord Chief Justice St. John, advocated the restoration of the monarchy, and that the crown should be offered to the Duke of Gloucester, then a boy, and a prisoner in England. Sir Thomas Widdrington was appointed Lord Chief Baron of the Ex- chequer, June 25th, 1658, one of the Council of State, and again Commissioner of the Great Seal. In the Convention Parliament of 1660, he sat for York, having been returned for two places, York and Berwick, and after the Res- toration, he was appointed temporal Chancellor of the Bishoprick of Durham, and created a Serjeant by Charles II. Sir Thomas Widdrington married Frances, dau^ter of Ferdinand, Lord Fairfax of Cameron, sister to Lord Fairfax, the celebrated Parliamentary General, by whom he had an only daughter, who died when twelve years of age. He died May 13th, 1664, and was buried in the church of St. Giles in the Fields, where a handsome monument was erected to his memory, against the north wall. Sir Thomas published " Anacleta Eborensia, or some remains of the Antient City of York." Arms. — Quarterly, ar. and gu., a bend sa. 334 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1658, CHALLONER CHUTE, Esa. This ancient family derives from Alexander Chute, Lord of the Manor of Taunton, in Somersetshire, as early as 1268, at which place the Chutes con- tinued until the sixteenth century, when they removed to Wrenham, in Suf- folk, and subsequently purchased the beautiful seat of* The Vine" in Hamp- shire, long the residence of the noble family of Sandys. A junior branch seated at Surrenden and Appledore, in Kent, produced a gallant knight, who was standard-bearer to King Henry VIII., at the siege of Boulogne, and terminated with Sir George Chute, of Surrenden, created a baronet in 1674, who dying issueless in 1721, that title became extinct Another branch emi- grated to Ireland, where their descendants still flourish, and claim the male representation of the family. Challoner Chute, Esq., of the Vine, of whom we are about to treat as briefly as the short duration of his presidential career, was the son of Charles Chute, Esq., who, according to Anthony Wood, was also a lawyer of the Middle Temple, by Ursula, his wife, daughter of John Challoner, Esq., of Fulham, in Middlesex, and the grandson of Arthur Chute, Esq., of Wrenham, in Sufiblk. The subject of our memoir being destined for the law, was entered of the Middle Temple, and in due time called to the bar. We have not discovered much information relative to his progress in that learned and laborious profession, but from the fact of his having been assigned as counsel for Archbishop Laud, we must presume that he had acquired the reputation of a- sound lawyer, as the appointment would otherwise have appeared a mockery of justice in public estimation. Mr. Chute lived in very eventful periods, and although he was several times a parliament man, it does not appear that he entertained any of those violent opinions or principles, which rendered so many of his contemporaries notorious rather than memorable. In the last Parliament of Oliver Cromwell he sat for Middlesex ; and in that under the short-lived protectorship of Richard, he was returned for the same county. The manner of his election to the office of Speaker is thus recorded. After all the members of the House had been sworn, " Sir Walter Erie rose, and put them in mind that their first work was to choose a Speaker, and there was amongst them a worthy gentleman of the long robe, whom he conceived was very fitly qualified for that service. He therefore proposed Challoner Chute, Esq.," who was fully approved of by a general call to the chair. Mr. Chute endeavoured to excuse himself on the ground of ill health and debility, as well as his want of experience of the rules and orders of the House, but, although the statement as to his bodily Protectorate. J challoner chute. 335 infirmities was unfortunately correct, the House insisted upon his taking the chair. It is not our intention to enter at any length into the proceedings of this Parliament, which met on the 27th of January, and was opened by a long and sensible speech from Richard Cromwell, (much more so indeed than his friends expected from him,) and a longer discourse from Mr. Commis- sioner Fiennes. The recognition of his title as Protector appeared to be the principal object of the former, while prayers and debates concerning the power and bounds of the House of Peers almost exclusively occupied the attention of the members until the 9th' of March, when our Speaker shortly after the sitting of the House rose and said, ."that he came to the chair with a great desire to serve the House, but their sittings had been so extraordinary, and their business such, and so requiring it, that he was utterly disabled to serve them as he would for the present. That it was a great grief of mind to him to retard the public business, though but for one half hour or more, as it had been this morning ; that he found himself grow weaker and weaker, and therefore prayed that he might be totally discharged, or otherwise that he might have so much respite, at least, granted to him, as that by the blessing of God, he might recover some better measure of health, and be enabled to return again to this service." Mr. Chute's request having been complied with, he instantly left the house, the Serjeant with his mace attending him to his coach, and on returning brought the mace back and placed it below, under the table. It has been observed by some of the writers of that day, that Mr. Chute saw the danger of the times and was sensibly affected by the daily increasing difiiculties of his position arising from the total in- capacity of Richard Cromwell to carry on the Government ; they even went so far as to hint that timidity was the cause of his wishing to be discharged from the high office which the House had conferred upon him ; but that his illness was feigned, is powerfully contradicted by the fact of his death, which hap- pened on the 15th April, 1658-9, within a few weeks of his retirement from office. Noble says, " He was one of the most respected lawyers of his time. His last wife was Dorothy, daughter of Dudley, Lord North, the second wife and widow of Richard Lord Dacre, and sister of Francis Lord Dacre, who condescended to sit as member for Sussex, in one of Oliver's Parliaments." Our author is a little confused in this account, as he proves to be very often in genealogical matters. Mr, Chute married first, Anne, daughter and coheir of Sir John Skorey, by whom he had issue, and secondly, Dorothy, daughter of Dudley, Lord North, by whom he had none. Challoner Chute, Esq., of the Vine, his eldest son and successor, who sat for Devizes in the same Parhament with his father, married the Hon. Catherine Lennard, daughter of Lord Dacre, by whom he had issue a daughter Elizabeth, of whom presently, and several sons who continued the male line of the family until 1776, when upon the death of John Chute, Esq. of the Vine, that estate devolved by marriage with 336 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1658. the heiress upon Thomas Lobb, Esq., great-grandson of our Speaker, through his mother, and from his son, the Rev, Thomas Vera Chute, the estates passed to their present proprietor William Lyde Wigget Chute, Esq. of the Vine and Pickenham Hall. We now return to Elizabeth Chute, the grand-daughter of our Speaker. This lady married Sir Charles Ludowicke Cottrell, Knt., and had issue Colonel John Cottrell, Stephen Cottrell, L.L.D., (the father of Sir Stephen Cottrell, Master of the Ceremonies to the King,) and the Right Rev. William Cottrell, D.D., Lord Bishop of Leighlin and Ferns. Colonel Cottrell, the eldest of the three brothers, was the direct ancestor of Charles Herbert Cottrell, Esq. of Hadley, near Barnet, who is the lineal descendant and representative of our Speaker. The sister of this gentleman is married to the Rev. John Sloper, of West Woodhay, in Berkshire. We cannot conclude this short memoir of the Chute family without adding a remark of Silas Taylor's, that, " the name of Chute carried the memorial of the almost forgotten third nation of the Germans that conquered the Britons, and were commonly called Jutes, and after Chutes and Wights." — Harl. MSS. Arms. — Gu. semee of mullets or., three swords in fesse arg. pomelled gold. SIR LISLEBONE LONG. Genealogists are of opinion that the Longs of Semington, Trowbridge, Rowde-Ashton, Whaddon, Moncton, Beckington, and Stratton, all. derive from one source, and that the Longs of Wraxhall were probably of the same family. The immediate ancestor of Sir Lislebone Long, the subject of this memoir, was William Longe, Esq., of Beckington, co. Somerset, third son of Henry Longe, of Trowbridge, who died 1535, Sir Lislebone was the eldest son of William Long, of Stratton, by Mary his wife, daughter of Thomas Lovibond, of Shorwell, in the Isle of Wight, and was baptized, 1613, at Beckington, by the name of Loveban. We are not informed why he afterwards changed it to Lislibon, or Lislebone. The following extract from the " Fasti Oxoniensis " is almost as much as can be required in our very brief sketch of this gentleman's political career : — " Feb 1, — Lislebone Long, of Magd. Hall, This person, who was the eldest son of William Long, of Stratton, in Somersetshire, Esq., went afterwards to one of the Temples, became a barrister, sided with the rout in the time of the rebellion, was made Master of the Requests, and Recorder of the City of Protectorate.] sir lislebone long. 337 London, in the reign of Oliver, from whom he received the honour of knight- hood, 15th December, 1656. He afterwards supplied the place of Speaker in the absence and indisposition of Challoner Chute, Esq., in the months of February and March, anno 1658; but Long being taken with a sudden disease in the last of these two months, died on the sixteenth day thereof, and Chute died not till the 14th April, 1659. As for Long, he was esteemed by the men of those times a person of great integrity in the profession of the law, and for his particular affection to the service of Oliver, Protector, and to the Commonwealth." To this we may add a further account of our Speaker from Noble's " House of Cromwell." He says, — " Sir Lislebone Long, Knt., was elected to fill the chair, March 9, during the indisposition of Mr. Chute; but he himself declined the honour, the sixteenth of the same month, and died the day following. He was Recorder' of London, Member for the City of Wells in the Long Parliament, and in 1654 ; for Somerset in 1656, and in this Parliament again for the City of Wells. His relation Walter, had the courage to plead the cause of the people in the House of Commons, for which King Charles I. summoned him before the Star Chamber, which he, disowning as a Court, was sent to prison, though he had found sureties at the Judge's Chambers, and was afterwards punished in the King's Bench." The journals of the House, which confirm these accounts of Wood and Noble in most particulars, merely state that in consequence of the indisposi- tion of Mr. Chute, Sir Lislebone Long, Knt., Recorder of London, by the general consent of the House, was called, and brought to the chair by Sir Walter St. John, and Mr. Francis Gerard; and being there placed, and set in the chair, and the mace placed on the table by the Serjeant, as is usual, it was ordered " That in respect of Mr. Speaker's (Chute) present indisposition of body, and at his earnest request. Sir Lislebone Long be desired to supply the Speaker's place, during his absence, occasioned by his present indisposi- tion of health, and no longer." We find, however, nothing of any importance in the journals of the House during the short period of Sir Lislebone Long's presidency, except a debate concerning the sitting of the members returned for Scotland in that House, which commenced on the 10th March and was not concluded until the 21st of the same month, when the question was carried, "that they should continue as Members during the present Parliament," by a majority of 211 against 120 ; during which period, that is, on the 16th in- stant, our Speaker's presidency, and his political career, were both arrested by the ^hand of death. In addition to the authorities we have cited as to jthe character of Sir Lislebone Long, Mr. Whitlocke, a competent judge, esteemed him " a very sober, discreet gentleman, and a good lawyer." It is a curious coincidence, that Long and Chute, the first and second Speakers z 338 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpBAKER 1658. of this short Parliament, should both have died during its sitting, and within a few weeks of each other ; and " extremely singular," as Noble remarks, " that a Parliament called January 29, and dissolved in May following, should have so many Speakers." The last of the male line of our Speaker, William Long, ofStratton, died in his minority, in 1735, and his sister Judith married Norton Knatchbull, fifth son of Sir Edward Knatchbull, Bart. ; but the line of our Speaker is ex- tinct, while of the old Wiltshire family of Long, and from whom he descended, several branches still exist ; the eldest, represented by Walter Long, Esq., of Rowde Ashton Wraxali, and Whaddon, M.P. for North Wilts ; the second, by John Long, Esq., of Monkton Farleigh ; and the third, by Walter Long, Esq., of Preshaw, Hants. The Longs of Hurt's Hall, co. Suffolk, and of Hampton Lodge, co. Surrey, are also, we believe, scions of the Wiltshire stock: of this line is Charles Edward Long, Esq., the accomplished antiquary. Arms. — Sa. semee of crosses crosslet, a lion rampant, arg. Also, same, between two flaunches, erni. ; granted to Long of Trowbridge, 1561. Another, Sa. a lion passant ar., on a chief of the second three cross crosslets of the first; granted to Long of Moncton, 1589. THOMAS BAMPFYLDE, Esq. Thomas BampFylde, Esq., the subject of this memoir, an eminent lawyer, and Recorder of Exeter, was a cadet of the family of Bampfylde, of Polti- more, in the county of Devon, whose great antiquity, and eminent standing, are fully set forth by Sir William Pole ; Prince, in his Worthies of Devon ; and other historians of that county. Of Mr. Bampfylde's real opinions upon the state of the nation at the eventful period of his professional and political career, we have no evidence. He held oiEce under the Usurper as Recorder of Exeter, and his name is therefore placed in the category of Cromwellians ; it is however asserted, that he assisted in some of those measures which were actively pursued by the elder branches of his family for the restoration of monarchy. Mr. Bampfylde represented the city of Exeter in the Parliaments or con- ventions of Oliver Cromwell in 1654 and 1656, and was returned for the same place to the Parliament of Richard Ctomwell in 1658, whfen by the con- tinued illness of Mr. Chute, and the death of Sir Lislebone Long, a vacancy occurred for the second time in the Speakership, and he was at first ap- pointed Speaker j3ro tempore, and upon the death of the former gentleman. Protectorate.] thomas bampfylde. 339 was confirmed in the chair, where he presided over the deliberations of the House until its dissohition in the month of May. We confess that we take so little interest in that portion of history which relates to the short-lived Protectorate of Richard Cromwell, that we by no means regret the paucity of information concerning the conduct of our Speaker in the chair. No measures of the least importance, or which afterwards led to any great poli- tical result afiecting the kingdom, occurred during the sitting of this Par- liament, until April 8th, when a letter from his Highness the Lord Protector directed " To our truly and right well helmed Thomas Bampfield, Esq., Speaker of our House of Commons, to be communicated to the House," was read, directing their attention to the petition from the army. Great divisions had already begun in the army, and it was by their means that Monk was eventually enabled to carry out his policy. The Commons were afraid of the " red coat patriots," as they styled them, who carry always the Argumentum Baculinum along with them, and having, after prayers, on the 18th of April, ordered their doors to be shut in, and none of the members suffered to go out without leave, they resolved, out of fear for their own personal safety, that no person shall have or continue any command or trust, &c., who shall refuse to subscribe — " That he will not disturb, nor interrupt, the free meetings in Parliament, of any of the members of either House of Parliament, or the freedom in their debates and counsels." And it was further resolved, " that the concurrence of the other House be desired to these votes." But although the House of Peers answered that they would take time to consider, and re- turn an answer by their own messengers, (thus keeping up the farce of a real House of Lords,) no answer ever came, and the House adjourned to the 25th instant, never to meet again ; for on the 22nd, Richard Cromwell dissolved the Parliament by proclamation ; a catastrophe, which, the historian remarks, — ironically, we presume — " absolutely put an end to Richard's short-lived empire, and greatly paved the way for the ensuing restoration of the royal family." * There cannot be a doubt that the imitation of monarchy by Oliver's creation of a House of Peers, which never had the respect of the people, and was ever in bad odour with the Lower House, who considered themselves superior, was the principal cause of this abrupt termination of Richard's government, for all historians who have maturely considered the event, are of opinion that if both Houses of Parliament had acted in concert, and had paid the soldiers, instead of quarrelling with one another, the army would never have rebelled against them. These are, however, matters of history, upon which we dare not trespass too far. Of our Speaker we find no further mention, except in the account of an aifair in the History of Devon, in which his nephew, Sir Coplestone Bampfylde, who was no inconsiderable actor in the drama of history at that eventful period, was implicated. This gentleman " made the 340 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKER 1659. most vigorous exertions in his county to bring about the restoration ; but being suspected by the men in power, messengers or pursuivants were sent abroad to apprehend him ; all the while he was concealed at Trill, in one of the houses of his friend, John Drake, Esq., afterwards Sir John Drake, Bart, by which means he escaped their hands. Shortly after, the city of Exeter be- gan to rise, and put themselves in arms, declaring for a free Parliament, and the release of all the secluded members, happening at the general quarter ses- sions, persons of quality then present agreed to a remonstrance, which was drawn up, and presented by his uncle, Thomas Bampfield, Esq., Recorder of Exeter, and M.P. for the same city." We confess we have not found any account of the presentation of this petition as it is here recorded, although it may have been presented to Monk on his journey from the north, biit we find that in February, 1659, after the re-assembling of the Long Parliament (by the clever contrivance of that general), for the third time under the presidency of William Lenthall, their old Speaker, that Sir John Norcott, Sir Coplestone Bampfield, Sir William Courtenay, Sir Richard Temple, and Mr. Henry Chester, were committed to the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms for some matters objected against them. There is a romantic story told of Sir Coplestone Bampfylde, for the parti- culars of which we have not space. In his infancy he had been carried off by his guardian, but was ultimately discovered by one of the old tenants of the family. In the Convention Parliament of 1660, to which our Speaker was returned, both for Tiverton and Exeter, we find that he was very busy, and presented a petition to the House for raising £500,000 out of the church lands. "He also voted for a committee to settle the form of prayer for the House, and spoke in favour of Drake, impeached for publishing a book, en- titled " The Long Parliament revived." He also opposed the Militia Bill and the Excise laws, preferring a direct tax on land. We have not ascer- tained whether there be any descendants of our Speaker; but the direct descendant of Sir Coplestone Bampfylde, and the heir male of the family, is the present Right Honourable George Warwick, Lord Poltimore. Jrms. — Or. on a bend gu., three mullets arg. WILLIAM SAY, Esq. We learn from Sir John Prestwich's trifling but amusing little volume, entitled " Respublica," in which he describes the ceremonies attendant upon the inauguration of his Highness the Lord Protector, and gives, here and there, the shortest possible accounts of the principal actors in the mummeries of those days of ungodly godliness and unkingly kingliness, that William Protectorate.] william say. 341 Say, the subject of this memoir, was of the Kentish branch of the great and illustrious family of Say, for many centuries Barons of the realm (now rep- resented by Lord Saye and Sele), a more particular account of whom we ■have given in our previous memoir of Sir John Say, Speaker in the reigns of Henry VI. and Edward IV. , In very early times the Sayes possessed large estates in the county of Kent, a portion of which may have been allotted to the junior branch, from which the subject of this memoir is stated to have derived descent. We do not, however, presume to settle definitively any question involving great genealogical knowledge and research ; and confess, that we are guided princi- pally in this instance by the statement of the author we cited at the com- mencement of this memoir. We scarcely feel justified in placing Mr. Say in the category of Speakers, as he was appointed to hold that important office by a vote of the Parliament, only during the illness of Mr. Speaker Lenthall, and took the chair on the 13th of January, 1659-60; but as the mace was laid on the table, and as he played so prominent a part in the history of his time, not from any appa- rent motives of personal aggrandizement or ambition, but solely in carrying out the pernicious principles with which his mind was, nevertheless, con- scientiously imbued, we cannot refrain from giving all the particulars we can glean of this singular individual, particularly as an interest of the deepest historical importance attaches to one portion of his political career. In the course of this memoir it will be necessary to refer to the opinions of cotem- poraneous and other writers, who lived in times when disappointed political vengeance was gall and wormwood to the soul of monarchy ; and in their desire to prove their steadfast loyalty to the restored Sovereign and his immediate successors, authors betook themselves to low revilings and blas- phemous anathemas against the King's enemies, whenever the law was cheated of its victim ; but we have no intention to follow in the wake of such malignant and subservient scribes. Detesting as we do the principles of the Cromwellians, which must ever be distinguished from republicanism, although we must acknowledge our aversion to the latter form of government, and declare our steadfast opinion that the monarchical principle is the safest and wisest that ever was instituted for the rule of man in any state under that of universal perfection, which cannot be attained in this sublunary world ; we, nevertheless, strongly protest against the language applied to Mr. Say and his colleagues, which we shall have to reproduce, as undignified and ill suited to the occasions upon which it was pronounced, while it betrays a prejudice inconsistent with the faithful discharge of the duty of the historian. Of Mr. Say's early history we know nothing; it was the policy of the period of the restoration to throw the veil of oblivion over all whose actions had rendered them obnoxious to royal displeasure, but had, happily for themselves, escaped the hangman, stigmatizing them as the blackest demons upon the earth, or 342 LIVES OF THE SPEAKES. [SPEAKER 1659. under the earth, and in some authorized publication of the day, to give them a hearty curse, and dismiss them for ever from discussion, in a tone which forbad the very mention of their names, until freer institutions and the perfect extension of that liberty we now so happily enjoy, united to education, enabled us fearlessly to discuss whatever questions might be mooted, with- out the least danger to our own personal liberty, the stability of the throne, or the maintenance of the constitution in all its force. Hasted, the learned historian of Kent, gives us no information respecting Mr. Say ; and all that we know of him, until a certain period of life, is, that he was a lawyer, and represented Camelford in the Long Parliament of 1640. Noble, who, in his time, had not outlived the prejudices of his ancestors, in his " Lives of the Regicides," says, " He was of an antient knightly family, and bred to the law, of which he was one of its greatest disgraces, having submitted to sit at that diabolical tribunal, the High Court of Justice, which sentenced his Sovereign to die as a malefactor. He attended in the Painted Chamber, January the 10th, 12, 13, 17, 19, 20, 21, 25, 21, and 29th, and all the- four days in Westminster Hall ; gave his assent to the sentence, and signed and sealed the warrant for execution; " He came late into the House of Commons as one of the members for the borough of Camelford, in Cornwall, but was appointed, during a real or political illness of the Speaker, Mr. Lenthall, to take the chair in the Rump Parliament, which is the only occurrence I have seen worthy recording of him in the busy scene that passed before him, except that crime, which will ever brand his name foremost amongst traitors. The books of the day call him a lewd lawyer, and a stately committee man of Kent, either during the Com- monwealth, or the Protectorates of Oliver or Richard. There may, perhaps, be more truth in what is said of his having dealt much in fen lands, but we are not told in what county these purchases were made. He was proscribed at the restoration, both as to life and estate, but happily for him, he escaped to the Continent just previous to that event, and joined several other gentle- men in the same sad predicament, and for the same crime; but after the assassination of the regicide, Mr. LMsle, no arguments could prevail upon him to remain where he was, because, says he, we are so numerous, and so pub- lickly known, that the royal family could as easily procure our deaths as they have Mr. L' Isle's; he therefore determined to retire to some place where he could remain incognito. Going to Amsterdam, he plotted with the Dutch, then at war with the British monarch, to send him over to England, and assist the republicans with arms, ammunition, money, and some troops, and they flattered themselves, that if they could raise thirty thousand men, they should be able to overturn the monarchy a second time, as they were more powerful then than they had been at the commencement of the civil war ; but they did not recollect, that the mischief they had then done, was gradual, and grew out of a variety of circumstances, that could not, nor probably ever can, happen Protectorate.] william say. 343 again ; besides too, the nations had seen what was the aim of this party, an aim that they never durst avow, until just before they effected it, by the des- truction of the sovereign. He urged Lieutenant-Greneral Ludlow to leave Lausanne, and come to him, but that officer, more circumspect, declined it, until the Dutch would disavow the act of giving up some of his fellow regi- cides." The manner in which Mr. Say affected his escape, is not communicated to us by this author, but Ludlow himself, gives us further particulars, which are too interesting to be omitted. He says, " In the months of September and October, 1663, we had a con- siderable addition to our company, by the arrival of Mr. William Say, Colonel Bisco, Mr. Serjeant Dendy, Mr. Nicholas Love, Mr. Andrew Broughton, Mr. Slingsby Bethel, and Mr. Cornelius Holland, at Laussana. The three gentlemen first named, having passed by Bern in their journey to us, had made a visit to Mr. Humelius, the principal minister of that place, who, having a compleat knowledge of the English tongue, had been highly kind and servicable in procuring the order of the Lords of Bern, for our protection. By him they were entertained with all manner of civilities, and informed that we were at Lausanna, which gave us an opportunity of returning our acknowledgments for his favour to our friends and countrymen, with our desire that he would be pleased to present our humble thanks to their excellencies for their honourable protection, being obliged to use this way rather than any other, not only because of the respect he had acquired in that place by his singular merit, but because we were not sufficiently acquainted with the language of the country, to make our addresses to the government." He then goes on to say, that for many reasons, six of them determined on fixing their residence at Vevay, and that " Mr. Phelps and Colonel Bisco had bought goods at Geneva and other places, intending to improve their stock of money, by trading with Germany and Holland, while Mr. Serjeant Dendy and Mr. Andrew Broughton chose to continue at Lausanna, promising, however, to make them frequent visits wherever they should resolve to fix their habitation." Ludlow gives a sad account of the persecution of the regicides, and their continual apprehensions, together with the details of the assassination of Mr. Lisle, who, on Thursday, the 11th August, 1664, going "to hear the sermon in the church that stood near the Tower gate, was shot dead by a person on foot, who had a companion waiting for him on horseback, with a led horse in hand, which the murderer having mounted, and cried Five le Roy ^ they immediately rode away together towards Morges." Ludlow, in detailing the circumstances, says " the villain that murdered him, had waited his coming at a barber's shop, where he pretended to want something for his teeth, till seeing Mr. Lisle at a distance, he stept out of the shop, and as he came by saluted him. Then following him into the churchyard, he drew a carabine from under his cloak, and shot him in the back. With the recoil of the piece, the villain's hat was beaten off, and he himself falling over a piece of timber, 344 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER, 1659. dropp'd his gun, which he left behind him, and as soon as he had recovered himself, running to his companion, who held the led horse, he mounted, and made his escape. Thus died John Lisle, Esq., son to Sir William Lisle, of the Isle of Wight, a member of the Great Parliament, one of the .Council of State, Commissioner of the Great Seal, and one of the Assistants to the Lord President in the High Court of Justice, that was erected for the trial of the late King." He complains of the remissness of the authorities in allowing the assassin to escape, and paints in glowing terms, the painful state of suspense of Jiis fellow exiles expecting a similar fate, notwithstanding the generous offers of the Burgomaster and others, to provide for their future safety. Mr. Say and Colonel Bisco, he says, cannot be persuaded to remain, and it appears that they started soon after for Germany, from whence Mr. Say proceeded to Holland, fondly cherishing a hope that the misgovernment of Charles II, and the general discontent in England, would lead to the overthrow of monarchy. The following extract from a letter from this staunch republican, to Ludlow, shortly after his arrival in Holland, will best develope his feelings. " Believe me, sir, things are so well prepared here to answer the good ends we all desire, that nothing seems to be wanting but hands to set the wheels going. Invitations and incouragements are not only offered, but pressed upon you ; and there is no ground to fear their retreat, of which you seem to doubt. , The ruin of the present Government in England is certainly intended, and I liave cause to believe will be effected ; the States being unanimously for this war, and at last brought to see that their commonwealth cannot long subsist, if monarchy continue in England. Of this they will soon give the clearest evidence, as well as their resolution to assist the commonwealth interest as far as shall be desired; in which they seem to be no less zealous, then how to defend themselves. As to the usuage our three friends met with in this country, I have examined the particulars, and I find the thing to have passed in a different manner than has been represented. They are able here to give you or any person satisfaction, that the matter does not lie so foul upon them, as is generally conceived ; and would, if it might be any way conducing to the advantage of our affairs, set that business in its true light. But this is not thought advisable by many of our friends, who think that such a course may too much alarm the court of England, and put them upon measures of pro- curing peace at any rate. The King of England is never mentioned without the utmost contempt, and writings every day published to expose his person and Government. You may propose what you please for your safety, and I dare answer it shall be granted. Only I must take leave to tell you that the most private manner of treating is best approved by our friends. The offers they make here are very great, and yet no promises exacted from us for their security. Therefore I beg of you to think of seeing this place, and quitting the quarters where you are, that you may be instrumental in the service of your country at this time. I am certainly informed that considerable numbers in Protectorate.] william say. 345 Englanrd, Scotland, and Ireland, sensible of their present servitude, will appear for us; and such measures will be taken here for their assistance, that I have great hope of success. Nothing seems now so much wanting as fixed councils both here and in England, and no one can be more serviceable than yourself in this important matter: 1 beseech you therefore let us have your help, for we cannot be without it, and I am perswaded the work will prosper in our hands. Make all the expedition you can in your journy ; for tho' this be not the conjuncture of action, yet I am perswaded 'tis high time to be preparing, and 'twill be to our shame if we neglect it." The usage of their three friends to which Mr. Say alludes, was the seizure of Colonel Barksted, Colonel Okey and Mr. Miles Corbet, through the instru- mentality of Mr. George Downing who was agent for Charles II., in Holland, but had formerly been chaplain in Okey's regiment. There can be no doubt that the Dutch authorities lent a helping hand to this outrageous infraction of the law of nations, and the rights of hospitality, and its perfidy sunk too deeply into Ludlow's heart to permit him again to place confidence in the councils or promises of a nation which had so eternally disgraced itself ; but Say on the other hand was too desperate a republican to suffer prudence to guide him while he espied but a chance of success ; and we find that a few days after he wrote another letter to Ludlow, in which he desired him to give credit to the contents of bis last and enters more fully into the business, stating that the intentions of Holland were to relieve the good people of England and that Herr Nieuport had assured him he should be glad of any overtures for that purpose from him or any others. That there was more in the design of this war than was commonly understood, the destruction of the whole Pro- testarit party being intended by King Charles. That some of the most aniinent of the religion in France were of opinion if the States were borne down in this war, the reformed religion would be extinguished in France. That the Dutch had 30,000 men ready to put on board their fleet, of which 10,000 were land soldiers, to be disposed of as Ludlow, &c., should advise and direct : that money was abundant, and that the fleet should be com- manded to favour the enterprise. The States would transport horse also if necessary into England, and were desirous for the maintenance of the most perfect friendship with England which they trusted would never be broken. At the conclusion of his letter Mr. Say writes — " I beg of you to lay aside all former prejudices, and as you love the cause in which you have engaged, come speadily, and set your heart and hand to this work. I can certainly assure you that the most considerable minister of the State has lately very much inquired for you, and having received some account of you, has given us reason to hope, that if you will come to them in this conjuncture, they will place you at the head of such a number of men as should, by the blessing of God, and the concurrence of our friends in England, be sufiicient to restore the commonwealth. I dare assure you from the best information I can get, that on such an occasion there 346 LIVES OP THE SPEAKEES. [SpEAKER 1660. would be a greater appearance for us, than at the beginning of the late war. Let me therefore not hear from you, but see you." It is surprising that historians have not dwelt more strongly upon this important revelation of the intentions of the expatriated regicides, as it certainly oifers the best apology, if not an absolute justification, for the treacherous in- fraction of all international laws so frequently practised by the authorized agents of Charles II. in inveigling these unfortunate men into their power by fraud, or seizing them by force, and bringing them to the scaffold upon their arrival in England. A due portion of the obloquy which attaches to all the actors in the royal tragedy of 1648, must fall to the share of Mr. Say, but it does not appear that he had any object to gain beyond the establishment of principles which he believed to be necessary for securing the liberties of his fellow-countrymen. From his first entrance into the political arena, in no instance does it appear that he sought place or emolument as the price of his co-operation in overthrowing the monarchy, and he certainly never held any high office under either Oliver or his son, although staunch in his adherence to the last moment of Richard's shallow authority ; we may therefore fairly infer that this gentleman was a thorough paced red republican, in the pursuit of which object, like many greater heroes of antiquity, he was conscientiously imbued with the fallacious idea that the means, however facinerous, were sanctified by the end proposed, and in this opinion he probably passed the remainder of his days in Holland, where he is said to have died, but neither th e particulars of his death nor the exact period are known with any degree of certainty. Noble, in allusion to the correspondence we have quoted from Ludlow's Memoirs, winds up his short memoir of this regicide in these words, " This however shows what a monster Say must have been, to wish to deluge his country again in blood, to gratify his revenge, and build up again a Babel, the miseries of which must be fresh in his eyes. The Dutch procured a peace, and Say died in obscurity, no one knows how, or where." Arms, — Quarterly or. and gu. SIR HARBOTTLE GRIMSTON, Bart. Of the family of Grimston, we find in the Harleian Collection the following curious MS., copied, no doubt, from an original pedigree : " The auntient & right worshipfuU dessent of Sr Harbottle Grimston, of Bradfield, in the county of Essex, Knight and Barronett, continued in a lineall stemm from the worshipful! Sylvester Grimston, of Grimston, in the county of York, Esq., who did hommage to William the Conqueror for Restoration.] sir harbottle qrimston. 347 Grimston, Hoxton, Tonstod, and other his lands, there to hold of the Lord Roos as of his Seigniorie and Mannor of Roos, in Holdernesse, wch Lo. Rocs was chamberlain of the King's houssehold, in the time of Wm. the Conqr., Ao. Dm. 1006." The MS. goes on to describe as follows : — • " Here a figure on foot in arm. cap a pee., with blew breaches, holding a standard of the arms of England in his left hand, resting his right hand on his eares, w"' his open helmett and sword by his side, standing in a green field." On the other side it is written : — " In this side the figure of a Knt. in armour compleat in all points, hold- ing in his right hand a standard of argt. on a fFess sable 3 mulletts or., mounted on a white sted, bridle, and trappings, and studded or. on a green field." Then follows a most elaborate pedigree, for which we have not space, shew- ing the alliances of the Grimstons with the following families : — Lord of Brenthall, in Holdernesse ; Langley, co. Salop ; Bouvel, of Aldersley, Knt, Goodmagham, Knt., dau. and h., Colhane, Knt., d. and ch. ; Constable, Baskeville, Ashton ; Sutton, Baron of Saint and Ld. of Sutton, in Holdernesse ; Fitz Williams, Knt., coh. ; Partington, Knt. ; Harvey, of Ickworth ; and Harbottle, of Litham, in Norfolk, coheiresses. In the reign of King Edward VL, Sir Edward Grimston, M.P. for Ips- wich, the lineal male descendant of this Norman knight, was appointed Comp- troller of Calais ; and at the taking of that last stronghold of British power in France, was one of those stout English hearts who, with Sir Anthony Aucher, the Marshal of Calais, and some few others, devoted themselves to death or imprisonment, rather than yield to the enemy. Sir Edward Grim- ston was amongst the latter, and was sent by the Duke de Guise to Paris, where he was closely confined for two years in the Bastile, at the expiration of which painful imprisonment he effected his escape by filing the bars of his window, and letting himself down into the moat by means of a rope con- veyed to him by his servant, with whom he changed clothes, and thus dis- guised, after surmounting many difficulties, arrived safely in England. He was shortly after tried for the part he had taken in the surrender of Calais ; but the evidence he adduced so clearly established his valour and gallantry upon that unfortunate occasion, that he was honourably acquitted. Queen Elizabeth afterwards conferred the honour of knighthood upon Sir Edward, who died at the advanced age of ninety-eight, and was succeeded by his son, Edward Grimston, Esq., of Bradfield, in the county of Essex, M.P. for the borough of Eye, in the 31st of Elizabeth. This gentleman married Joan, daughter and co-heir of Thomas Risly, Esq., of Lavenham, in the county of Suffolk, and maternal grand-daughter of John Harbottle, Esq., of Crosfield, in the same county, and was succeeded at his decease, in 1610, ,by his elder son, Sir Harbottle Grimston, Knt., of Bradfield, who was 348 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1660. created a Baronet, 25th November, 1612, the second year of the institution of that order of hereditary knighthood, and served the office of Sheriff of Essex, in 1614, and represented that county in three Parliaments of King Charles I. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Ralph Coppenger, Esq., of Stoke, in Kent, and was succeeded in title and estate by his second but eldest surviving son, Harbottle, the subject of this memoir. The father of our Speaker was one of those true patriots who resisted the unjust exactions of the Crown, and suffered his share of political martyrdom by a long impri- sonment for refusing to pay his assigned quota towards a forced loan to the King. He died in 1648, the year of his unhappy Sovereign's decapitation; but he had no hand in that event, his opposition, and that of his son, was based upon a just maintenance of the rights of the people, and a watchful jealousy of kingly prerogative ; but, in spite of all that enthusiastic, and therefore prejudiced, , authors have written upon the subject, both father and son were eminently loyal to the King and people, but not to the one at the expense of the other, a species of loyalty of higher value to a state, as well as more noble in principle, than the most heroic actions of partisans, or the chivalrous deeds of the gay and gallant cavalier. Sir Harbottle Grimston, the subject of our memoir, was bred to the bar, and after he had acquired a competent knowledge of the common law, turned his attention to the higher consideration of the constitutional rights of his fellow subjects, then deeply oppressed by the illegal exactions of an excellent man, but a weak and misguided monarch. Having been returned to the Long Parliament for the borough of Colchester, we find him a consi- derable debater upon all the important questions which agitated the kingdom at that eventful period, ever taking the popular side, not from factious mo- tives, or hostility to kingly government, (although the author of his existence had been the victim of kingly persecution) but for the preservation of the monarchy, and the salvation of the kingdom from the anarchy with which it was threatened by the unwarrantable pretensions of the King, and the evil counsels of his ministers. During the usurpation. Sir Harbottle Grimston was ever regarded with suspicion, and for a time fled the country ; but he returned when he foresaw the probability of the re-establishment of monarchical institutions, which he so ardently desired, and in effecting which he was one of the happy instru- ments. But we need not dwell upon this portion of his biography, as in the course of this memoir it will be necessary to refer to the opinions of contem- poraneous writers, who set forth in greater detail the various and important services rendered by this eminent man to his King and country. We will merely observe, that in 1660, Sir Harbottle Grimston, still representing the borough of Colchester, was chosen Speaker of the Parliament of the Re- storation. In reference to his election. Lord Clarendon says, " Sir Harbottle Grimston had been a member of the Long Parliament, and continued, ra- Restoration.] sir harbottle grimston. , 349 ther than concurred, with them till after the treaty of the Isle of Wight, when he was one of the Commissioners sent to treat with the King, and be- haved himself so well, that his Majesty was well satisfied with him; and after his return from thence, he pressed the King's concessions, and was thereupon in the number of those who were by force excluded the House. His election to be Speaker at this time was contrived by those who meant well to the King, and he submitted to it out of a hope and confidence that the designs it was laid for would succeed." — Vol. vi., p. 755. When Bishop Burnet fell into disgrace at Court, in consequence of giving evidence against the Duke of Lauderdale, he was Chaplain to Sir Harbottle, then Master of the Rolls, who continued his protection to him notwith- standing King Charles II. expressed a desire that Sir Harbottle should dismiss him, observing, in answer to his Majesty, "he was an old man, fitting himself for another world, and that he found Burnet's ministry useful to him, so prayed he might be excused in that." In recounting the circumstance, the Bishop says, " But since I was so long happy in so quiet a retreat (ten years), it seems but a just piece of gratitude that I should give some account of that venerable old man." Here follows the Bishop's character of Sir Harbottle, which we shall insert verbatim. " He was descended from a long lived family, for his great-grandfather lived till he was ninety-eight, his grandfather to eighty-six, and his father to seventy-eight, and himself to eighty-two. He had to the last a great sound- ness of health, of memory, and of judgment. He was bred to the study of the law, being a younger brother. Upon his elder brother's death he threw it up ; but falling in love with Judge Crook's daughter, the father would not bestow her on him unless he would return to his studies, which he did with great success. That judge was one of those that delivered his judgment in the Chequer Chamber against ship money, which he did with a long and learned argument. And Sir Harbottle's father, who served in Parliament for Essex, lay long in prison, because he would not pay the loan money. Thus both his family and his wife's were zealous for the interest of their country. In the beginning of the Long Parliament he was a great asserter of the laws, and inveighed severely against all that had been concerned in the former illegal oppression. His principle was, that allegiance and protection were mutual obligations, and that the one went for the other. He thought the law was the measure for both, and that when a legal protection was denied to one that paid a legal allegiance, the subject had a right to defend himself. He was much troubled when preachers asserted a divine right of regal government. He thought it had no other efiect but to give an ill impression of them* as aspiring men; nobody was convinced by it; it inclined their hearers rather to suspect all they said besides ; it looked the sacrificing their country to their own preferment; and an encouraging of princes to turn 350 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1660. tyrants. Yet when, the Long Parliament engaged into the league with Scot- land, he would not swear the "Covenant, and he discontinued sitting in the House until it was laid aside. Then he came back, and joined with Hollis and the other Presbyterians, in a high opposition to the Independents, and to Cromwell in particular. And he was one of the secluded members that were forced out of the House. He followed afterwards the practise of the law, but was always looked upon as one who wished well to the ancient govern- ment of England. So he was chosen Speaker of that House that called home the King; and had so great a merit in that whole affair, that he was soon after, without any application of his own, made Master of the Rolls ; in which post he continued to his death with a high reputation, as he well deserved it. For he was a just judge, very slow, and ready to hear any thing that was offered, without passion or partiality. I thought his only fault was, that he was too rich, and yet he gave yearly great sums in charity, discharging many prisoners by paying their debts. He was a very pious and devout man, and spent every day at least an hour in the morning, and as much at night in prayer and meditation. And even in winter, when he was obliged to be very early on the bench, he took care to rise so soon, that he had always the command of that time which he gave to those exercises. He was much sharpened against Popery; but had always a tenderness to the Dissenters (in a marginal note, Swift says, this was " Burnet's test of all virtues"), though he himself continued still in the comm.union of the Church. His second wife, whom I knew was niece to the great Sir Francis Bacon, and was the last heir of that family; she had all the highest notions for the Church and the Crown, in which she had been bred, but was the humblest, the devoutest, and best tempered person I ever knew of that sort. (Swift,, here again writes " Rogue ;" but, we think, this marginal note might have been spared by the witty Dean. It is as unworthy of him as of the lady and the Bishop.) It was really a pleasure to hear her talk of religion ; she did it with so much elevation and force. She was always very plain in her clothes, and went oft to gaols, to consider the wants of the prisoners, and relieve or discharge them ; and by the meanness of her dress, she passed but for a ser- vant trusted with the charities of others. When she was travelling in the country, as she drew near a village she often ordered her coach to stay behind till she had walked about it, giving orders for the instruction of the children, and leaving liberally for that end. With two such happy persons I spent several of my years very happily." Lord Dartmouth adds the following note at the end of the Bishop's character of our Speaker : — " Lord Treasurer Oxford told me, his father. Sir Edward Harley, was very intimately acquainted with the Master of the Rolls; and when the Bill of Exclusion was depending, had communicated a secret of very great importance Restoration.] sie harbottle grimston. 351 to him, which he trusted to Burnet, and by that means was soon known at Court. Sir Harbottle knew he had spoke of it to nobody else, and charged Burnet with having revealed it. He began to make some very awkward excuses, which the Master stopt by telling him, that he himself was most to be blamed, for having mentioned it to anybody." Making all reasonable allowance for the feeling of gratitude which may have inspired our author in detailing the character of Sir Harbottle Grimston, to whom he was so deeply indebted, for ten years peace and happiness, no in- considerable portion of a man's life, and above all at a period of great political danger, when the protection of the Master of the Rolls was a real tower of strength to him, we must still be satisfied that the merits and virtues of our Speaker were considerable, and so far from agreeing with a recent author, who in this instance, as in the case of Speaker Lenthall, has endeavoured to cast obloquy upon the meinories of those who in their opposition to the King, opposed not kingly government, but merely the excesses of monarchical domi- nation, we honour the men who considered it to be a fixed and first principle of nature and philosophy that Kings were made for the people, not the people for Kings. One might be made for all, but all cannot be intended for one — save in the realms of eternal justice. We have before had occasion to ani- madvert upon the strictness of Mr. Townsend in his " History of the House of Commons, from 1688 to the Reform Bill," upon the Speaker of the Long Parliament, we then expressed our regret that a writer of such talent should have jumped to conclusions so hastily, which are not warranted by historical facts. We find the same fault with that learned gentleman's observations upon Sir Harbottle Grimston ; and unless he set out with the firm deter- mination to brand every man as a traitor and a rebel who conscientiously opposed the arbitrary acts of King Charles, and desired to revive all the acrimony of the cavaliers, in a cause which has so long decayed, we cannot understand the drift of his arguments. Speaking of Sir Harbottle, p. 26, he says — "In the honeymoon of the Restoration he stretched his throat to dulcet strains of sycophancy and obsequiousness. The crabbed old Pres- byterian knight. Sir Harbottle Grimston, just absolved from the guilt of rebellion, harangued the King on " the monsters, who had been guilty of blood, precious blood, precious royal blood, and declared ' we must needs be a happy Parliament, a Parliament propter excellenliam that may truly be called ParUamentissimum ParUamentum.'' " Well might the Royal prodigal who loved a more familiar style, have retorted " Rise up, old Rebel, and speak like a man !" We shall not follow this author further in his severe and unjustifiable attacks upon our Speaker. If Sir Harbottle were a rebel, he sinned in the best company,, for all the learning, all the taknts, all the virtue, all the patriotism of the age were with him ; and in haranguing the King upon " The monsters who had been guilty of blood," it is no specu- 352 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKER 1660. lation, no hypothesis, to assert that he only gave expression to the honest sentiments which regulated his own conduct when he withdrew from public life, and political employments, as soon as he discovered the bloody intentions of the regicides, and left his country in disgust, when the curtain fell upon the last act of that tragic drama which his soul abhorred. These are not our conclusions, they are facts we glean from history, to the truth of which all historians, with the single exception of Mr. Townsend, have subscribed. We nevertheless recommend that learned author's " History of the House of Commons," to the perusal of our readers. It abounds in anecdote, is written with great spirit and eloquence, and we are convinced that if the lives of Sir Harbottle Grimston, or Speaker Lenthall, had come within the range of his subject, he would have exercised more caution and research before he heaped upon their memories the load of calumny, which a simple narration of facts must at once and for ever remove. Of the opinion of his constituents as to his merits and his long and faith- ful services in Parliament, no stronger test can be adduced than the flattering letter addressed to him, in 1659, by the Corporation of Colchester, and subscribed by the Mayor and Recorder on its behalf. We regret that we have not space for its insertion in these pages, but we cannot avoid giv- ing the following extract, begging him to resume " That trust to which you were so freely and unanimously elected in the year 1640, which we do the rather request, out of the former experience, that not only this town, but the nation in general, hath of your fathfulness and ability, and the many miseries and calamities we have groaned under since your absence." This flattering appeal was not to be rejected, for Sir Harbottle had ulterior views for the accomplishment of which he had long been working; the re-establishment of the monarchy on a firm and enduring basis, and but for the indecent haste of Monk and others in the race of " first come, first served," the only principle which regulated their conduct, it might have been happily efiected, to the future advantage of England, her permanent liberty and prosperity; instead of a mere unconditional restoration, in which none reaped the slightest advantage beyond the General and his friends — whilst tyrnany, blood, perjury, injustice, and a corruption which attached to almost all, from the crown and its ministers to the lowest clerk in office (with very few exceptions, in which, however, to his honour be it said, our Speaker may be truly classed) cast an eternal stigma upon the restored dynasty and the history of that period. Sir Harbottle died in 1683 at the advanced age of eighty-two, leaving issue by Mary, his first wife, daughter of that eminent constitutional judge, Sir George Croke, Knt., Sir Samuel Grimston, Bart., M.P. for St. Albans, with two daughters, of whom hereafter. The baronetcy having, upon the death of Samuel Grimston in October 1700, become extinpt for want of male issue, and the 12 Charles II.] sir harbottle grimston. 35S daughters of Sir Samuel dying issueless we must refer to his sisters and their issue upon whom the family estates devolved. Mary, the eldest daughter of our Speaker, married Sir Capel Luckyn, Bart, of Messing Hall, in the county of Essex^ whose grandson William Luckyn, assumed the named of Grimston, and was raised to the peerage of Ireland hy the title of Viscount Grimston in 1719, and inherited the family honours, as fifth baronet, upon the death of his brother Sir Harbottle Luckyn in 1736. From this nobleman descended James Walter Grimston, foiirth Viscount, who upon the death of his maternal cousin, Anna Maria, Baroness Forrester, in 1808, inherited the Scottish barony of Forrester, and was created Earl of Verulam. His lordship married Lady Charlotte Jenkinson, daughter of Charles, first Earl of Liverpool, and had issue besides other sons and several daughters, James Walter Grimston, Earl of Verulam, Baron Verulam of Gorhambury, co. Herts, in the peerage of Gt. Britain, Viscount Grimston and Baron Dunboyne, in the peerage of Ireland, Baron Forrester of Corstor- phine, in the peerage of Scotland, and a Baronet of England, who is one of the representatives of our Speaker. (See Burke's Peerage, &c.) Elizabeth Grimston, the younger daughter of our Speaker, married Sir George Grubham Howe, Bart., and left one son. Sir James, who died without issue, andfour daughters ; L Dorothy, who married Col. Henry Lee of Dungeon, near Canterbury, which city he represented in seven successive Parliaments, and sat once also for Hindon. He had male issue which became extinct, and a daughter, Anne, who married the Rev. Richard Huntly, A.M. of Box- well Court, in the county of Gloucester, (from whom descends the present Rev. Richard Webster Huntly, A.M., of the same place), while Daniel Henry Woodward, Esq., the grandson of the former gentleman, by Act of Parlia- ment, 45th Geo. III., assumed, with his two sons, the name of Lee Warner, in compliance with the will of Henry Lee Warner, Esq., of Little Walsing- ham, and his son the Rev. Daniel Henry Lee Warner of Walsingham Abbey, CO. Norfolk, and Tiberton Court, co. Hereford, is now one of the representatives of our Speaker. He married Anne, daughter and coheir of Francis W. T. Brydges, Esq., of Tiberton Court, co. Hereford, by whom he has issue ; of whom the eldest son, Henry, married Ellen Rosetta, youngest daughter of Jonathan Bullock, Esq., of Faulkbourne Hall, co. Essex, and has issue, and a daughter, Margaret Anna-Maria, married to William Vernon Guise, Esq., son and heir of Sir John Guise, Bart. II. Anne, the second daughter of Sir George Grub- ham Howe, married John Lisle, Esq., of Moyle's Court, co. Hants, and is now represented by Ambrose Lisle Phillips, Esq., of Grace Dieu, Loughborough. III. Elizabeth, third daughter, married Robert Hovenden, Esq., of Frisby, of the very ancient family of Hovenden, of Hovenden or Howden,^ in East Yorkshire, which, according to Grose, in his " Antiquities," and other autho- rities, gave their name, not only to Hovenden, or Howden, in that county, A A 354 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKER 1661. but also to the surrounding district of Hovendingsbire. Of the same family, evidently of Saxon origin, was another Robert Hovenden, forty-two years "Warden of All Soul's College, whose widow married Sir W. Jones, Chief Justice of the King's Bench, the author of the celebrated Reports. The various branches of the Hovendens, who formerly held immense possessions in the counties of York, Warwick, Leicester, Northampton, Kent, Surrey, &c., &c., are now represented by J. E, Hovenden, Esq., of Oxford Square, Hyde Park, London, who is also one of our Speaker's representatives. IV. Margaret, the youngest daughter, married the celelebrated Admiral Sir George Rooke, whose capture of Gibraltar conferred immortal honour upon the hero, while, at the same time, the disregard of his gallant achieve- ments, and the eminent services he rendered to his country, have stamped the Whig administration of that day (whose party spirit and narrow minded policy refused to acknowledge the merit of a political adversary) with well merited disgrace. Upon the death of Sir George and Lady Rooke, with- out issue, their estates devolved upon the before-named Mrs. Dorothy Lee, the eldest daughter of Sir George Grubham Howe, Bart., and grand-daughter of our Speaker, Sir Harbottle Grimston. In the possession of the Rev. D. H. Lee Warner (the lineal descendant of Mrs. Lee), at Walsingham Abbey, are some highly interesting historical portraits ; amongst others is an original, by Riley, of his ancestor. Sir Harbottle Grimston, in his judicial robes, as Master of the Rolls ; another, representing our Speaker, with his first wife and Samuel his eldest son — artist unknown ; and a beautiful portrait of the gallant Sir George Rooke. Arms. — Ar. on a fesse, sa. three mullets of six points, or. pierced, gules; in the dexter chief point an ermine spot. SIR EDWARD TURNOUR. The family of Tumour, according to Lodge, Burke, and other eminent genealogists, derives from Les Sires de Tour Noir, or the Black Castle, in Normandy, one of whom accompanied William the Conqueror in his invasion of England, and received grants of land from that monarch, in reward for his services. This fact is recorded by William Tailleur, in his ''Chronicles of Normandie." The direct descendant of this Norman knight, Edward lurnour, who married an heiress of the Peverell family, was seated at Haveril, co. Suffolk, in the reign of Henry IV., and from him descended 13 Charles II.] sir edward turnour. 356 a long line of gentlemen, of whom we find nothing remarkable beyond their alliances with the ancient families of Constable of Flamborough, GifFord of Haveril, Caldebec of Plecheden, alias Prison Hall, in Essex (descended from the Lords of Caudebec, near Havre, in Normandy), Newport, and Beaumont of Collerton. Edward Turnour, Esq., the eldest surviving son by the marriage of his father with Miss Beaumont, was a lawyer of emi- nence, and a bencher of the Temple, who dying in May, 1623, was buried near the altar, in the Temple Church. By Martha, his wife, daughter of John Hanchett, Esq., of Cannons Grove (by which marriage the manor of Cannons vested in the family), he had issue a daughter, who married Thomas Sparke, a celebrated divine, and a son, Edward, whose only son, Arthur, Treasurer of the Middle Temple, and one of his Majesty's Serjeant's-at-Law, by Anne, his wife, daughter of John Jermy, Esq., of Gunton, in Nor- folk (a member of the family in which so deep a tragedy has lately been enacted)^ besides a daughter married to L'Estrange Calthorpe, Esq., of the Temple, had several sons, of whom the eldest, Edward, is the subject of this memoir. This gentleman was born in Threadneedle Street, near the Old Exchange, London, in the house of his uncle, Sir Thomas Moulson, sometime Lord Mayor of that city. He received his school education under Dr. Goodwin, author of the " Antiquities of Rome," from whence he was entered a Fellow Commoner of Queen's College, Oxford, under Dr. Bar- low, afterwards Bishop of Lincoln. He was subsequently entered of the Middle Temple, of which society his immediate ancestors had been members for four generations. He was called to the bar during the civil wars, and his name fre- quently occurs in the proceedings of the Commonwealth. At the restoration Charles 11. conferred the honour of knighthood upon him, and he was appointed one of the Bang's Council, in which capacity he assisted in the prosecution of the regicides. Upon that occasion, in reference to the magnitude of the crime charged against the prisoners, he observed in his opening speech, " My Lords, I do read in the Roman story,' that both among them and other nations, there was no law against parricide. It was not thought, that any man was so unnatural and devilish to destroy his father. But we do finde amongst the Romans such a fact was committed, and then they were at a loss to punish it. The way was this, that they found out ; the oflFendoar they sewed into a mail of leather so close, that no water could get in, when they had done they threw him into the sea ; by this denoting, the ofiendour was not worthy to tread upon the ground, nor to breathe in the air, nor to have the benefit of any of the four elements, nor the use of any of God's creatures ; and so he starved. Gentlemen, parricide and regicide difier not in nature, but in degree. Parricide is the kilHng of the father of one or a few persons — regicide, the killing the father of a country, — what punishment then is suitable to this ofience ?" It is not our aa2 ■356 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1661' intention to proceed further with Sir Edward Tumour's forensic display, which, by the way, is altogether devoid of eloquence ; but we may state, that although he pressed for convictions, according to custom and his duty at that period, it does not appear that he outraged the feelings of human- ity in these prosecutions by any very indecent exhibition of passion or intemperance, while he displayed great ability as a lawyer. Shortly after he was appointed Attorney General to the Duke of York (afterwards James II.), and having been returned to Parliament in 1661 for the town of Hertford, he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. In his speech to the King upon this occasion, full of flattery to the very overflow, he said— " We read of the Emperor Adrian, when he was dying, he complained that many physicians had destroyed him, meaning that their contrary conceits and diflerent directions for his recovery, had hastened his death. So it is with us: we were sick of reformation ; our reformers were of all ages, sexes, and degrees; of all professions and trades. The very cobbler went beyond his last. These new statesmen took upon them to regulate and govern our governors; this was the sickness and plague of our nation Their new kws were all written in bloody letters; the cruelty of their tribunals made the judgment- seat little better than a slaughter-house; the rich man was made an oflendor for a word ; poor men were sold for slaves, as the Turk sells heads, twenty for an asper ; yet for all this villainy there was at length found a protector, &c." — a dreadful picture, if a truthful one, of the state of the country under the Commonwealth, and a foul stain upon the Government of the Restoration in renewing such scenes of blood. He then continued : " If the affections of all Englishmen can make you happy, if the riches of this nation can make you great, if the strength of this warlike people can make you considerable at home and abroad, be assured you are the greatest monarch in the world ; give me leave to double my words and say it again. I wish my voice would reach to Spain, and to the Indies too : you are the greatest monarch in the world." He might have said, more properly, the luckiest man in the world, to have been restored to a throne, under any circum- stances, after so much poverty and suffering in a foreign land ; yet, notwith- standing his high flown compliments to the King and kingdom, it is notorious that England, so far from being prosperous, was in such a state of bankruptcy, that at no period of her history did she, or her Sovereign, ever stand in a more inglorious light before the nations of the earth. Sir Edward Tumour's conduct in the chair during the nine sessions in which he presided (overrunning a period of ten years), at least gave satisfaction to the Crown, by whom he had been nominated, and the charges brought against him of receiving bribes from the East India Company, did not offer the slightest impediment to his professional advancement ; this practice was so universal that it excited neither shame nor surprise in those halcyon days of official 13 ChABLES II.] SIR EDWARD TUKNOUR. 357 peculation. We cannot enter into any further details of his parliamentary- career ; it would be but a history of the times, without exhibiting any pecu- liarities of the man. In May, 1670, whilst still holding the office of Speaker, Sir Edward Tur- nour was appointed Solicitor General to his Majesty. In Easter Term, 1671, lie was made Prime Serjeant-at-Law ; and on the 23rd of May, in the same year, he resigned the Speakership, upon being constituted Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, in which office he continued till his death. Our Speaker married twice — first, to Sarah, daughter of Gerard Gore, Esq., Alderman of London, by whom he had four sons and two daughters ; and secondly, to Mary, daughter and heir of Henry Ewer, of South Mymms, co. Middlesex, by whom he had no issue. Sir Edward died 4th March, 1675, and was interred with great pomp, in the church of Little Parendon, in Essex, He was succeeded by his son. Sir Edward Tumour, whose signature is ap- pended to the following funeral certificate : — " Sir Edward Ttirnour Knt., late Lord Chief Baron of his Majesty's Court of Exchequer, departed this life on the 4th of March, 1675, at the town and borough of Bedford, during the public assizes there, being then one of the judges itinerant for the Norfolk circuit; from thence his body was privately removed to his house in Cliancery Lane, London, where it remained till Thursday, the 16th day of the said month, on which it was, with all solemnity, befitting his degree, conveyed through the city of London, accompanied with a great number of coaches, as the King's, the Queen's, their Royal Highnesses', the Archbishop of Canterbury's, the Lord Chancellor's, and diverse of the nobility, relations, and others, as far as Kingsland, juxta Newington, and proceeding thence to Hodesdon, in Hertfordshire ; it was met at the entrance into that county by several of the principal gentry, both of the counties of Hertford and Essex, who accompanied the corpse to Little Parendon, in Essex, where it was that night interred on the south side of the chancel of the parish church there. " The officers of arms who marshalled this funeral, were Henry St. George, Esq., Rich- mond Herald, and Robert Devenish, Esq., York Herald ; and the truth of this certificate is attested, &c., this 6th day qf March, 1682. Annoque R. Caroli secundi, nunc Angliae, &c. 35. (Signed) E. Tdknour." Sir Edward Turnour, the son of our Speaker, was knighted by Charles II., and served several years in Parliament for the borough of Orford, co. Sufiblk. He married Isabella Keith, daughter of William, Earl Marischal of Scotland, and left issue two sons and five daughters. King Charles II. stood godfather in person to Charles, the eldest son of the above, but the male line of the Tumours, deriving from our Speaker, became extinct in this generation, and Sarah, the only surviving daughter, having married Francis Gee, Esq., their only surviving child, Sarah, married Joseph Garth, Esq. That gentleman was, by Edward Turnour, Esq., of Shillinglee, appointed heir general to all liis estates and claims, with remainder to Edward Turnour Garth, the only issue of this marriage, who assumed the name of Turnour upon succeeding to the estates, and was in 1761 advanced to the peerage of Ireland as Baron Winterton, of Gort, co.Galway; and in 1766 he was created Viscount 358 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1672. Tumour, and Earl of Wintertori, whose descendant, the present Earl, is the representative of our Speaker, Arms. — Ermines, on a cross pierced, arg., four fers de molines, sa. Crest. — On a wreath arg. and sa., a lion passant, guardant, holding in his paw a fer de naoline, sa. Motto. — Esse quam videri. SIR JOB CHARLTON, Bart. The family from which the subject of this memoir derived descent was of great wealth and importance in Shropshire, where they were seated, at Appley Castle, as early as the twelfth century. Their pedigree, with all their brilliant alliances, is, however, so fully set forth in Mt. Burke's " Extinct Peerage," under the title of Charlton, Lord Powis, as well as in the " Extinct Baronet- age," that we do not feel justified in entering'into any genealogical account of the Charltons heyond the immediate ancestors of the gentleman whose brief memoir we are about to give. Mr. Charlton was the son of Robert Charlton, Esq., of Whitton (the direct descendant of a younger brother of the first Lord Povds), by Emma, his wife, daughter of Thomas Harby, Esq., of Adston, CO. Northampton, who, with his brother, Sir Job Harby, Knt., were the most eminent goldsmiths of their time, and suffered greatly for their loyalty to the house of Stuart. In allusion to a transaction in which the Harbys were no doubt considerable losers, Mr. Secretary Nicholas writes to Charles, Sept, 24th: — " Yesterday Sir Job Harby and I atteaded the Queene about your Ma- jestie's collar of rubies, upon which he saith there is alreddy £25,000. Her Majestie hath let him understand your Majestie's pleasure concerning the disposing of it, whereupon he hath promised that he and Sir John Mills, (who hath been formerly employed in the pawning of it), will forthwith unto the partie in Holland with whom it lyes engaged, to see what more money can be had upon it ; and if that man will not lend any further considerable some, then Sir Job promiseth to doe his best to procure elsewhere as much more upon it as he can, and therewith redeeme it out of the hands where it now lyes, a:nd get the overplus for your Majestie." Of the subject of our memoir, we extract the following from the " Fasti Oxoniensis : " Job Charlton, of Magdalen Hall, was born in London, and much about the time that he took the degree of Bachelor of Arts, he was entered of Lincoln's Inn, of which he became a barrister and a counsellor of some note. After the Restoration of K. Charles II., an. 1660, he was created Serjeant- 24 Charles II.] sir job charlton. 359 at-Law, and in the year following elected a burgess for Ludlow, in Shrop- shire, to serve in that Parliament that begun at Westminster the^ 8th May, was made deputy for Sir GeoiFrey Palmer, Chief Justice of Chester, by the name of Job Charlton, of Ludlow, in Shropshire, Esq., and in October the same year, (1661,) was made the first Judge of the Council of Wales, and Marches of the same. In 1662, he being then a knight, was made Chief Justice of Chester, and on the 5th February, 1672, he was elected Speaker of the House of Commons, in the place of Sir Edward Turner, Knt. ; at which time he spake two speeches to his Majesty and Parliament upon his admission to that ofiice, which were soon after printed in folio papers. On the 15th of the said month he gave up the said honourable office, under pretence of indispo- sition of body. Yet a certain writer, (the author of " A Seasonable Argument," &c., printed in qu. 1677, p. 15,) tells us that he (whom he calls a dull Welch Judge,) had £500 per annum for giving it up, at which time succeeded Edward Seymour, Esq. In the latter end of April, 1680, he was constituted one of the Justices of the Common Pleas ; whereupon, his Chief Justiceship of Chester was conferred upon Sir George Jeffries, Recorder of London. Afterwards he was made Chief Justice of Chester again, and was living in 1688, and perhaps may be still, being a great friend to the Church of England." This last statement is not, however, correct. Sir Job never was reappointed to Chester ; but we have a further account of our Speaker in the 2nd vol. of Wood's " Athenae Oxoniensis," p. 464, which we shall give verbatim, although it travels over much of the same ground, as it enters more fully into the par- ticulars of that event in the life of Sir Job Charlton, which was the source of such deep chagrin to him. "He was born in 1614, and created Serjeant immediately after the restor- ation, viz. July 4, 1660, appointed Chief Justice of Chester in 1662, and promoted to be King's Serjeant May 20, 1668. In 1672 he was elected Speaker of the House of Commons, but desired leave to resign on account of ill health. Sir Job retained his situation at Chester, which enjoys the advantage of being compatible with extensive practice in Westminster Hall, for the space of eighteen years ; but in 1680, at the age of sixty-six, he was compelled by the aspiring Jeffries (who coveted the post, chiefly because he was born at Acton, near Wrexham, within that circuit) to accept in room of it a seat on the Bench of Common Pleas. Roger North, in his "Life of Lord Guildford," says — " Jeffries laid his eyes on the place of Chief Justice of Chester, which was full of Sir Job Charlton, than whom there was not a person better qualified for his Majesty's favour : an old cavalier, loyal, learned grave, and wise. He had a considerable estate towards Wales, and desired to die in that employment, v But Jeffries with his interest on the side of the Duke of York, pressed the King so hard that he could not stand it ; but Sir Job must be a Judge of the Common Pleas, and Jeffries at Chester in his 360 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKER 1672. place, being more Welshman than himself. Sir Job laid this heavily upon his heart, and desired only that he might speak to the King, and receive his pleasure from his own mouth ; but he was diverted from so doing, as the thing was determined. However, he went once to Whitehall, and placed himself where the King (Charles II.), returning from his walk in St. James's Park, must pass ; and there he sate him down like hermit poor. When the King came, and saw Sir Job at a distance where he was to pass, he con- cluded he intended to speak with him, which he could not by any means bear ; he therefore turned short off, and went another way. Sir Job, seeing that, pitied his poor master, and never thought of troubling him more, but buckled to his business in the Common Pleas. And may West- minster Hall never know a worse judge than he was !" It was, says Mr, Blakeway in his " Sheriffs of Shropshire," probably in reward for this easy compliance, that King James, early in his reign (May \2, 1686) created the judge a baronet. In a note to his short account of this transaction the same learned and reverend author draws attention to the fact that Mr. North's simile of the " Hermit poor," is taken from a favourite old song much esteemed by our ancestors, which began " Like hermit poor in pensive place obscure, I mean to spend my days of endless doubt, To wait such woes as time cannot re-oure, Where none but love shall ever find me out.'' Isaac Walton, in the " Angler's Wish," expressing his desire to hear his Kenna sing a song, states, in the margin, that it shall be like " Hermit poor," in which that lady, his future wife (the sister of the apostolic Bishop Kenn), probably excelled. Butler also alludes to it in Hudibras, where Crowdero is put into the stocks — " Crowdero making doleful face, Like hermit poor in pensive place." Part 1, canto ii. 1. 1168. The foregoing accounts give sufGcient information concerning the very short political career of our Speaker, who, according to more positive autho- rity (Grey's Debates), held the office of Speaker only eleven days, alleging indisposition as an excuse for resigning. He felt probably more at home in the pursuit of his professional avocations, in which, as we liave seen, he was doomed to meet with great disappointment in the loss of the Chief Justiceship of Chester. It must also be borne in mind, that the period at which Sir Job was called upon to exercise the arduous duties of the Speakership, was one of great pubHc excitement, owing to our unsuccessful naval operations against the Dutch, the fluctuating measures of the King, the general discontent of the people, and the strong contests in Parliament, these matters combining 24 Charles II.] sir edward seymour. 361 to aggravate the difficulties of his position had a sensible effect upon the health of our Speaker, and determined him to resign that important office ten days after the honour had been conferred upon him. We must, however, observe, in justice to the memory of Sir Job Charlton, whose character was unimpeachable, though none escaped slanderous imputations in those days of political rancour, that there is no proof, whatever of his having received a bribe for his retirement from the Chair of the House of Commons, Sir Job Charlton married, first, Dorothy, daughter and heiress of William Blunden, Esq., of Bishop's Castle, and secondly, Lettice, daughter of Walter Waring, Esq., of Oldbury, and had issue of both marriages. In the second of James II. he was created a baronet, as it is alleged, in compensation for the loss of the Chief Justiceship of Chester, through that King's influence with his predecessor at the instigation of his tool, Jeffiries — which title became extinct upon the death of Sir Francis Charlton, of Ludford, the fourth and last baronet, gentleman of the Privy Chamber to George III., who died without issue in 1784, when the estates devolved upon his nephew Nicholas Lechemere, Esq., of Hanley Castle, who thereupon assumed the maternal name of Charlton in addition to his own, and Francis Lechemere Charlton, Esq., of Ludford is now the representative of our Speaker, and of the two ancient families of Charlton and Lechemere — (See Burke's " Landed Gentry "). Amongst the descendants of our Speaker in the female line we may enumerate Sir John Hamner, Bart., M.P., of Bettersfield Park, and the Rev. John Storer, M.A., of Hawksworth, near Newark ; and in the possession of the Rev. Dr. Staunton, of Staunton Hall, Grantham, who is connected by marriage with the Charlton family, are the portraits of Sir Job Charlton and his lady. Amongst the celebrated men produced by this family were Charlton, Bishop of Hereford, 1361 ; George Charlton, Bishop of Landafi", in 1618, who was translated to Chichester; and Guy Charlton, Bishop of Bristol, in 1671, who was also translated to Chichester in 1678. Arms. — Or, a lion rampant gules, a crescent for difierence. Crest. — On a wreath a leopard's head, gules. SIR EDWARD SEYMOUR, Bart. This gentleman was the head of the ducal House of Somerset, descending from a long line of illustrious ancestors, deriving their surname from their territorial possessions of St. Maur, in the Duchy of Normandy, now, as Camden says, corruptly called Seymour. They were united by marriage with the 362 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1672. most noble families of England, amongst others with a coheiress of the illustri- ous John Beauchamp, Baron of Hache, descended as the before cited authority observes, " from Sybil, one of the coheiresses of that most puissant "William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, and from William Ferrars, Earl of Derby, Hugh de Vivon, and William Malet, men of eminent worth in their times." Roger Seymour, the eldest son of Sir Roger de St. Mauro, the husband of the Beau- champ coheiress, married Maud, one of the daughters and coheiresses of Sir William Esturmy, Knt., of Chedham, Wilts, and Lord of Wolf Hall, in the same county, the bold and fearless Speaker of the House of Commons in the 6th year of King Henry IV. a.b. 1405 — (see Esturmy), whose great-grandson, Sir John Seymour, a renowned soldier, held a high command against the Lord Audley and the Cornish rebels in 1497, and accompanied Henry VIII. in the French wars, where he was created a knight banneret. He was the father of Queen Jane (Seymour), wife of King Henry VIIL (the mother of King Edward VI.), his fourth son Thomas Seymour, Baron Seymour of Sudley, married Queen Catherine (Parr), the widow of the former monarch, while Sir Edward, the eldest, afterwards Duke of Somerset, was the celebrated pro- tector of the realm. This powerful noble left amongst other issue Sir Edward Seymour, his eldest son, who did not, however, for the reasons hereafter as- signed, succeed to the family honors, but his eldest son Sir Edward Seymour was created a baronet by King James 1611, and the great-grandson of this gentleman. Sir Edward Seymour, who succeeded as fourth baronet, is the sub- ject of this memoir. Sir Edward Seymour having been elected one of the knights of the shire for the county of Wilts, was chosen Speaker of the House of Com- mons, which met at Westminster in the 24th of King Charles II., a.d. 167f, upon the retirement of Sir .Job Charlton. Our Speaker is represented by his- torians as the most arrogant man that ever presided over the deliberations of the House of Commons. At the same time contemporary writers admit that this very quality was eminently advantageous in preserving order in the pro- ceedings of a most unruly house, torn and distracted by factions. So much fear did he inspire by his haughty bearing, dignity, and courage, that " one day when the House was sitting in committee, in consequence of a violent discussion, blows were struck, and some members had even drawn their swords, Mr. Seymour resumed the chair as of right, although contrary to all the usages of Parlia- ment, and instantly reduced the House to obedience." On another occasion, " in passing through Charing Cross his carriage broke down and he ordered the beadles to stop the next gentleman's they met, and bring it to him. The gentleman in it was much surprised to be turned out of his own coach, but Sir Edward told him it was more proper for him to walk in the streets, than the Speaker of the House of Commons, and left him so to do, without any further apology." This anecdote we give upon the authority of Lord Dartmouth. We find it also recorded that in passing through Westminster Hall he desired 24 Charles II.] sir edward seymour. 363 the mace to take Serjeant Pemberton into custody for not paying him suffi- cient respect. " He saw me, said our Speaker, and paid me no respect, though I was near him, or very slightly." A further instance of determined resistance to power, in supporting the dignity of the House, occurred when a message was brought that the King was seated on his throne, and his presence desired to hear the proroga- tion of Parliament, he refused to stir till the bill of supply had been returned from the House of Lords according to precedent ; and though warned that the King was waiting, he emphatically declared " he would be torn by wild horses sooner than quit the chair." Mr. Townsend in his " History of the House of Commons," adds to these instances of determined courage and public spirit on the part of our Speaker, the following anecdotes. He says, " Always bearing in mind his descent from a protector of the realm, that the Duke of Somerset was a member of his family, not he of the duke's, when summoned to the privy council, he walked to the head of the room, and leaning over Charles, whispered too audibly, that he should not prevaricate with himself." And, that " Hardened in his pride by age, he treated William III. with the airs of an equal, if not a superior, and when dismissed from his place of comptroller of the household by Queen Anne, sent word that he should return his staff by the common carrier." Burnet says, " The ablest man of his party was Seymour, who was the first Speaker of the House of Commons that was not bred to the law. He was a man of great birth, being the elder branch of the Seymour family, and was a graceful man, bold and quick, but he had a sort of pride so peculiar to himself, that I never saw anything like it." The Bishop is, however, in error. We have no proof th&t De la Mare, Hungerford, Cheney, Oldhall, Chaucer, and many others, were bred to the law. Sir John Popham, who was elected but excused, temp. Henry VI., was an eminent soldier, so were Sir Henry Redeford, and Sir Richard Wal- degrave ; independently of the above named, there were several Speakers who were both lawyers and warriors. It is impossible from the nature of this work, which contains the memoirs of all the Speakers of the House of Commons, that we can extend the life of Sir Edward Seymour much beyond the limit of an ordinary biographical sketch, but as a matter of interest to all who do not regard history in the light of an old almanack, we shall give Sir John Reresby's account of the extraordinary transaction in which our Speaker was involved,. and brought into collision with King Charles II. in the 30th of his reign, 1678, where he certainly displayed as high and independant a spirit as any we find recorded in the annals of history. Reresby says : " The Parliament met, but a difference arose about the choice of a Speaker, the House being for one and the King for another; whereof they refused to enter upon the business, but adjourned to the 7th instant, and then to the 8th, and 364 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1672. SO on to the 10th. The next day I met the King in his royal robes, with the crown on his head, coming out of the House of Lords. He stopped me and asked if I was elected. To which replying, yes, he said, ' He was glad of it.' Upon my return to town, I to the surprise of all men found that the King had commanded the Duke (of York) to go into Flanders, Some said that the treasurer had brought this to pass, that he might ingross the King to himself, others said it was to divert the violence of both Houses against his Highness, from the suspicion of some that he was of the plot (the meal tub). But I presume it was chiefly intended to extirpate all jealousies in the Parliament, that he was influenced by Popish counsels, tho' even from his own brother. " The Commons began to be angry with the treasurer for that the Speaker they had chosen (Sir Edward Seymour) had been rejected by the King ; saying he was the cause of it, because truly the gentleman was not his lordship's friend. This dispute subsisting between the King and the Commons, they at length address him, beseeching him not to invade their undoubted privilege of chusing their Speaker ; but his Majesty still insists on it, that without his approbation, their choice is of none effect. Now all the moderate men in the House were concerned that such punctilios should stand in the way of business, especially when business of such high importance lay before them, but the angry party was deaf to all remonstrance, and the King by way of expedient, prorogued the Parliament until the Ilth inst., and from then to the 15th, when Serjeant Gregory being elected, both sides were satisfied," Although Sir John Reresby has recorded the satisfaction of the House, all that can truly be advanced upon this point is that the King and Coinmons came to a sort of compromise for the time, the point, however, being no further settled, than that any member, not of the Privy Council, might name a fit and proper person for the chair. The following account, from higher authority, gives a clearer view of the matter, while it faithfully exhibits the spirited con- duct of Sir Edward Seymour. After the King and the Lord Chancellor (Finch) had severally addressed the assembled Parliament in very conciliatory speeches, the Commons were directed to return to their House, and choose their Speaker. Colonel Birch proposed " The Right Honourable Edward Seymour, knight of the shire for the county of Devon, Treasurer of the Navy, one of the Privy Council, and Speaker of the last Parliament." Mr. Seymour was unanimously elected, and it being known to the House that he was to be rejected, he was instructed not to make the usual application to be excused, which it was known would be accepted, but merely to announce his unanimous election, which he did, and concluded by adding, " And now I am come hither for your Majesty's appro- bation, which, if your Majesty will please to grant, I shall do them and you the best service I can." This abrupt announcement rendered useless the pre- pared speech of the Chancellor; but after a slight pause and consultation, his 24 Charles II.] sir edward seymour. 365 lordship, with a good deal of tact, told the Speaker, that the King reserved him for other services, and desired the Commons " to make another choice." Upon their return to their House, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir John Early, proposed Sir Thomas Meres, as a proper person for Speaker ; but after a very warm debate, the original choice was adhered to, and finally the Par- liament was prorogued for a few days. When it met again, the Commons and the King both yielded, by adopting Mr. Serjeant Gregory as Speaker. The above account is taken from Grey's and Chandler's Debates, Ferguson's " Growth of Popery, &c. ;" but Burnet's Annotator observes, that " it cer- tainly was a most unpropitious mode of beginning what the King said he wished to be " a healing Parliament ; " such a piece of ill policy would be without any assignable reason, if Sir William Temple had not recorded that Seymour's rejection arose from a pique that existed between him and the wife of the Lord Treasurer." Of the character of Sir Edward Seymour we have several versions, all pretty well concurring in general points. Mr. Noble, in his continuation of Granger, describes him as " a man of morose disposition, but of great good sense, invincible obstinacy, and incorruptible integrity, feared more than loved, and respected more than esteemed." The wags were pleased when they could annoy this impersonation of pride and haughtiness. One gave him a petition, of no moment, to present to the House ; Seymour took it from his pocket with his accustomed gravity, and putting on his spectacles, began to read : — " The humble petition of Oliver Cromwell — the devil !" The laugh was so loud and long, that the old man, throwing down the paper, hastened from the House, confused, and in wrath at the insult to his dignity. Every Englishman, though he laughs at his peculiarities, must love his virtues, and venerate him as the man to whom we are principally indebted for the Habeas Corpus Act. Temperate in the use of wealth, he was frugal, yet liberal in his expenditure, nor did he enrich himself and his family as he might have done. Proud of his: ancestry, and haughty as he was, yet he would not accept a barony from Queen Anne ; but he permitted the eldest son of his second marriage to take the title of Conway, whose descendants now possess one of the old Seymour titles, the marquisate of Hertford. In private life he was worthy, if not amiable ; true to his two wives, and to his children careful, if not kind ; to his tenants and attendants, a good, though not a bountiful land- lord and master. His eldest son and heir, Sir Edward Seymour, was father of Edward, the eighth Duke of Somerset, who succeeded to this title, by the extinction of the male descendants of the first Duke, the Protector Somerset, by his second marriage, who, to gratify the inordinate pride of his second wife, procured his title to go to her posterity ; but she " condescended" that the children of the first marriage should be placed in the limitation, which after two hundred years, now reverted to them." 366 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. We shall conclude the memoir of this eminent man with an extract from the " Secret Services of John Macky," who observes that "Sir Edward Seymour was always suspected to be in the French interest, and was impeached by the Commons. At the Revolution he opposed King William's coming to the throne ; but they brought him over, by making him a Privy Councillor, and Lord of the Treasury. He, not answering the King's expectation, was turned out, and during the rest of that Prince's reign, was at the head of those who opposed the measures of the Court, in the House of Commons. He was the zealousest man for impeaching the partition ; and the King made him advances on that occasion, below his dignity, calling a new Parliament, by his and my Lord Rochester's direction, and squaring the government by his rule. But nothing being able to bring this gentleman into hearty measures against them, that Parliament was immediately dissolved, and a new one called, when the King dyed. On the Queen's accession to the throne, he was made Comp- troller of the Household, and of the Privy Council. He is believed to be the prudentest man in England ; of great experience in the affairs of his country, but extremely carried away by his passion ; does not value scandal and was openly visited by the French ambassador, when the people seemed to suspect him in that interest. He hath established his family very well, his second son being a Major-General in the army, and a Lieutenant in the Band of Pensioners ; his third son is created a Peer by the title of Lord Conway ; and the fourth is Gentleman of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Denmark. " He hath a very erect countenance, and is a stately man for his age, of a fair, sanguine complexion, about seventy years old. " Since the writing of these characters, he is turned out of all, and is suc- ceeded in his place of Comptroller, by Mr. Mansel." Drawing our conclusions from the opinions of so many writers, who seem to concur in the main points and features as to the singular character of our Speaker, we are induced to believe that a deep sense of the wrong and injury inflicted upon him by his great ancestor, the Protector Somerset, when, in the weakness of the moment, he yielded to the influence of a step-mother, and disinherited his first born — may have descended through many generations, and have engendered that acerbity which Burnet and others have ascribed to moroseness of disposition. Our Speaker must have felt, while presiding over the deliberations of the Commons that according to all right and justice his proper seat was near the woolsack in the House of Loprds — and he might have said with perfect truth, " I am head of the house of Seymour, a commoner, while the descendant of a younger brother bears my title as the second Duke, the second subject of England." Our Speaker, Sir Edward Seymour, was the fourth baronet, and the fifth in succession who bore the same Christian name in direct descent from Edward, SIR ROBERT SAWYER. 367 the eldest son of Sir Edward Seymour, K. G. and K. B., Viscount Beauchamp, Earl of Hertford, Baron Seymour of Hache, and Duke of Somerset. He married first, Margaret, daughter and coheir of Alderman Sir William Wale, by whom he had two sons, and secondly, Lettice, daughter of Francis Popham, Esq., by whom he had issue Francis, created Lord Conway from whom the house of Hertford derives. He was succeeded by his eldest son. Sir Edward, who married Letitia, only daughter of Sir Francis Popham, of Littlecote, and dying 1740, was succeeded by his son Sir Edward, the sixth baronet (and eighth Sir Edward including the Protector) upon whom the Dukedom of So- merset devolved at the death of Algernon, seventh Duke, the son of Charles, commonly called "the proud Duke of Somerset." It must be regarded as a curious coincidence that Sir Edward Seymour the subject of this memoir, and his kinsman Charles the sixth Duke, so nearly resembling each other in character, should have been contemporaries. The representative and lineal male descendant of our Speaker is Edward Adolphus St. Maur, Duke of Somerset, K. G., D.C. L., F.R. S., F. S. A., Baron Seymour of Hache, and a Baronet, his grace having assumed the origi- nal name of the family derived from the place of their abode in Normandy. (See Burke's " Peerage and Baronetage.") His grace is also the lineal repre- sentative of the before named Sir William Esturmy, Speaker of the House of Commons, a. d. 1405. Arms. — Quarterly : 1st and 4th, or. on a pile gu. between six fleurs-de-lis, az. three lions of England, the coat of augmentation granted by King Henry VIII., on his marriage with Lady Jane Seymour ; 2nd and 3rd gu. two wings conjoined in lure, the tips downwards, or. for Seymour, SIR ROBERT SAWYER. The family of Sawyer derived from Edward Sawyer, Esq., of Cawton, in Norfolk, whose grandson, Sir Edmund Sawyer, born in 1579, purchased the manor of Heywood, near Maidenhead in Berkshire in 1627. He married Anne, daughter of Sir William Whitmore, Knt., of London, by whom he had several children. From the eldest son, Edmund, descends Charles Sawyer, Esq., the present proprietor of Heywood ; from a daughter Catherine, 368 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1678. married to Sir Constantine Phipps, Knt., Lord Chancellor of Ireland, the Marquis of Normanby derives, while Robert, who was born in 1633, is the subject of this memoir. North, in his Life of Lord Keeper Guilford, at page 184, gives the following character and account of this gentleman, which, as it commences with his early years, we shall insert at length. " And first, of Sir Robert Sawyer, who rose no higher than Attorney- General; for, at the Revolution, for reasons I shall give, he was dropped. He was a proper, comely gentleman, inclining to the red ; a good general scholar, and perhaps too much of that in show at least, which made some account him inclined to the pedantic. He was of the family of Sir Edmund Sawyer, and so related to his lordship (the Lord Keep Guilford). He was continued at the University till he had taken the degree of Master of Arts, and being designed for the gown, he had his logic and arts, and by per- forming the academic exercises, he had acquired an assurance and formality of speaking in public, which is always profitable to a professor in Westminster Hall, It was his good fortune to divert to the law, and his first practice was at the Exchequer Court, and there he pitched his camp, and arrived at top practice. It was also his adyantage to come up under the Lord Chief Baron Hales, whose learning in the law and records, and most pertinent application of it, were admirable, and students in the law, or practisers under him, pro- fited more than by any study. And no business in the law is so instructive, in order to serve the crown, as that of the Exchequer, which, by proper insti- tution, is the court of the king's revenue, and the royal prerogative is at home there. It is no wonder therefore, that Sir Robert Sawyer, being taken into the Attorney-General's place, at a time when the Crown was very much em- barassed at law, as about the time of the Rye plot, conducted those great afiairs so steadily and well as he did. But we must charge to account, among his very great advantages, his relation to his lordship, which created a friend- ship and a familiarity betwixt them, and thereby he had the most cordial assist- ance that his lordship could, on all occasions, give him. And this alliance was the firmer, because Sawyer's bias was to loyalty, whieh had been the character of his family. I need not recapitulate the great dependences of law that succeeded well under his conduct, for all notes of the latter end of the reign of King Charles II. are full of them. He was continued in his ofiice by King James II. but then he was soon off the hooks, for soon after the Lord Keeper North died, a deluge of irregular dispensations and non ohstantes, were coming towards him, and he was so just a man in his nature, that he was resolved, whatever became of him, he would not pass any such. So there was a stop at him. He was always very careful of his office, and, when he did not fear any impositions, he was free to use his judgment as other Attorney-Generals did, yet, when matters of life and death were de- 30 Charles II.] sir robert sawyer. 369 pending, he used to summon the King's counsel to attend him at his chamber, where it was freely consulted if there were fitting evidence to proceed upon or not; and if the general opinion was, that the evidence did not come up, he never pushed any trial against any man. Now in this time of peril, he was so kind to his friends, the King's Counsel, as to give them warn- ing to study the points ; for they would be asked whether the King might not, by his royal grant, appoint ofiicers unqualified, with non ohstantes to the test laws ; and that the first case would be concerning the soldiery. And I believe the whole nation of the law were, at that time, apprised of all the arguments pro and con, so none could be taken napping. The first person that was tested was Mr. Solicitor Finch, a younger son of the Lord Notting- ham, and he refused plumb. Upon one Saturday, in the afternoon, I was cited to the Lord Chancellor, and told I must give him an answer forthwith. I answered, " That so nice a point ought to be well considered." He replied, " There was no need of that," and cited some books. I told him I had seen those books, and would send him an answer on the next day, which was a refusal. On Sunday after Mr. Solicitor Finch was discharged, and one Powis made solicitor in his room, Mr. Attorney did not stay long, but was displaced to make room for Powis to be Attorney. And there ended Sir Robert Sawyer's performances. He ended his days honourably and in peace ; and his acquisi- tions remain in a noble family, by a match with his only daughter. And nothing ever impeached him or his actions in life. And that is a fair con- clusion of a man's life, although we might see that, without such a noble support, he might have been calumniated for what was done in his time, as well as some of his contemporaries." It is seldom that, in the life of one individual, the quot homines tot sen - tenticB is so fully illustrated as in the case of the gentleman who is now the subject of our notice. Burnet, on the other hand, says (p. 1269), " Sawyer, the Attorney-General, who had for many years served the ends of the Court in a most abject and obsequious manner, would not support the dispensing power ; so he was turned out, Powis being advanced to be Attorney-General. He was afterwards Counsel for the seven Bishops." In another place, Bur- net calls him " a dull, hot man, and forward to serve all the designs of the Court." Mr. Hargrave, a very competent authority (in his preface to Lord Hale's Treatise on the Jurisdiction of the House of Lords, p. 141), speaks of Sir Robert Sawyer in the highest terms. We now come to a modern writer, whose indignation knows no bounds while discussing the character of this celebrated lawyer. Mr. Townsend, in the first volume of his unfinished " History of the House of Commons," says : " When the voluptuous Charles began, a few years later, to act the part of a callous tyrant, he selected Sir Robert Sawyer as a fit instrument for oppressing his subjects, and made him Attorney-General, &c. This vindictive situation he held from 1681 to 1687, B B 370 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1678. six years stained with the blood of some of England's noblest freemen, and damning to the fame of the first law officer of the Crown." We fully appre- ciate Mr. Townsend's sentiments upon these black pages in our history, more damning, however, to the rulers than to the ever-ready instruments of their tyranny ; but while we cannot stand forward as the apologists of Sir Robert Sawyer, any more than of those under whose bloodthirsty orders he acted, we must bear in mind that political murders and prosecutions were licensed by the spirit of the times, and, indeed, of all times up to th^ beginning of the present century, and were only repressed when, by the diffusion of education, and the consequent increase of the people's influence, convictions could no longer be obtained at the hands of intelligent juries. We are far from desiring to blacken the memories of the departed, but our early remi- niscences of the Attorney-General Garrow, and other law officers of the Crown, quite carry us back to the days of the Stuarts, and the virulence of Coke, et hoc genus omne, although these prosecutions were not attended with such bloody and revolting consequences, because — and only because — opposed to the better spirit of the times. We have often had occasion to re- mark upon the bloody sacrifices offered up to the dread Moloch of politics ; but a philosophical review of the past, enables us to look down with pity, " more in sorrow than in anger," upon the proceedings of our ancestors, in which the little good we find we may prize and cherish dearly, while we may attribute the huge amount of ill, wrong, and oppression, to that total ignorance of the rights of man as a social being, which could neither be felt nor appreciated by the mere clerk-like learning of the favoured few amongst our ancestors. Mr. Townsend enters very -fully into the conduct of Sir Robert Sawyer in the case of Sir Thomas Armstrong, which stands out in bold relief, but certainly not of the character of our Speaker. This was one of those political murders disgraceful even to the government of that day, in which, with the government. Sir Robert Sawyer must bear his share of blame, as well as in the prosecutions of Lord William Russell, Algernon Sidney, and other political martyrs ; while we must admire the strenuous exertions he made in defence of the seven Bishops, where, as Mr. Townsend observes, he acquitted himself with distinguished legal ability. The poHtical character of this eminent lawyer may be inferred from the course he pur- sued as the first law officer of the Crown ; his parliamentary career was of such an ephemeral duration, that it scarcely requires a line to narrate. He sat in Parliament for the borough of Wycomb, and represented the University of Cambridge, when he was chosen, at the special nomination, or rather re- quest, of the King, Speaker of the House of Commons. His tenure of that high office was, however, so short, that it would be useless to touch upon the proceedings of the Parliament of 1678-9, during the few days in which he presided over their deliberations, as he resigned the chair, in conse- 30 Charles II.] sir robert sawyer. 371 quence of " a violent fit of the stone, occasioned by his long sitting one day in the House." The affair of Sir Thomas Armstrong, to which we have slightly alluded, was the cause of great discomfiture to our Speaker, and at a subsequent period procured his expulsion from the House of Commons. The whole question turned upon whether it was the Attorney-General's duty to grant a writ of error, which Sir Robert Sawyer denied, declaring that it could alone be obtained by petition to the King or the Lord Keeper. In the examina- tion of Mrs. Mathews, the daughter of Sir Thomas Armstrong, before the House, she admitted that Sawyer told her she must petition the King. In his defence he said : " As for my management at the arraignment, it was according to my oath and duty to attend the court. Every tittle of what passed was printed in three days, and went all over England. It was not only lawful, but my duty, to put Armstrong upon trial, to hear what he had to say to the record of outlawry, and I prayed judgment; if he had nothing to say, it was my duty to pray execution. I went no further, not a tittle, in this business. Armstrong quoted such a statute, and it was read in court. Has he rendered himself to the Chief Justice ? No. Armstrong said, ' I now render myself to your Lordship.' This is the fact. I never argued to incline the court one way or another. When Armstrong had said he surrendered himself, I sat down, and said no more." Notwithstanding the numerous friends he had in the House, his connection with the Earl of Pembroke, who had married his daughter, and the strong and able defence of his conduct by Sir Robert Cotton, the Commons re- solved " that Sir Robert Sawyer be put out of the bill of idemnity (to be ex- cepted) as one of the prosecutors of Sir Thomas Armstrong," and the question that he be expelled passed, and was carried in the affirmative by 131 to 71. In the next Parliament he was, however, again returned unopposed for the University of Cambridge, and took an active part in the debates until a short period before his death in 1692. We now turn with pleasure to an account of our Speaker in his domestic relations, from which we may conclude, that so far from being the inhuman person some writers would desire to make him out, Sir Robert Sawyer really possessed all those kindly feelings which endear man to society. The testi- mony we shall produce to that effect is from a learned and venerable man of irreproachable character. The Bishop of Waterford thus writes in the life of his father, Mr. Mills, the respected clergyman of Highcleer, — " Sir Edward Atkins and Sir Robert Sawyer, who was afterwards Attorney- General in the latter end of the reign of King Charles XL till towards the end of James II. ; that is, if I mistake not, from the beginning of the year 1681 to the year 1687, had jointly purchased, of one Mr. Lucy, a Warwickshire gentleman, an estate in Hampshire, viz., the manor of Highcleer and B B 2 372 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1678. Burghcleer. To this manor two advowsons were appendant, i.e., that of the parsonage of Highcleer, which is small, and worth about £100 per annum, and that of the parsonage of Burghcleer, a very fat benefice, as being valued at near £400 per annum. Here Sir Edward Atkins designed to provide for Mr. Milles, if either of these parsonages fell in due time ; and this was the ground of those assurances he gave to Mr. Milles from time to time at Wic- comb, that he would certainly provide something better for him." It appears further, that Sir Robert purchased Sir Edward Atkins' interest, and with it his promise to Mr. Milles, who had, as his biographer states, been serviceable to our Speaker " in promoting his interest to be elected member of Parliament for the bourough of Wiccomb. It at last, Highcleer, fell in ; and although the parsonage house was but a miserable ruin, &c., a desolate country, &c., such nvultitudes flocked to hear him preach, and attend to Mr. Milles' instructions, that it put Sir Robert Sawyer upon the thought of building a new church in that parish." Our author observes, " Sir Robert Sawyer might have, and no doubt had, other reasons for his rebuilding this parish church ; such as the credit and reputation he should, by such a good work, acquire, not only in the present, but after times, the more convenient and stately accommodation at church of himself, his family, and immediate tenants, which he hath indeed very amply provided for." After the old church was pulled down, and the people had been advised, during the rebuilding of the new one, to go to the neighbouring churches, the Presbyterians of Newbury, " being always watchful to propagate the schism in places where it was not already planted," sent one " of their vile fraternity of preachers to Highcleer, to try whether he could raise a congre- gation there;" but it appears by our author's account, that Sir Robert Sawyer opened his great hall and the adjoining parlours to the minister and the parishioners, and the attempt of the Presbyterians was so signal a failure that even the good people of Newbury, where dissent ever abounded, gave up all hope of obtaining converts to their doctrines, and Mr. Milles did duty at Sir Robert's house until the year 1689, when the new church was opened for divine service. Of Thomas, Earl of Pembroke, who espoused the daughter and heiress of our Speaker, we feel it but just to republish the worthy minister's sentiments. Our author says, Mr. Milles never mentioned him " without that respect and honour, which all that knew him are sensible is justly due to his extra- ordinary virtues ; a person of so much humanity and goodness, such conde- scension and nobleness of spirit to all with whom he hath any correspondence, as renders him an illustrious example, and fit to be imitated by the greatest and best men in the nation." To the truth of this eulogy the history of the times bears ample evidence ; but Mr. Milles and his posterity had good cause to be grateful to his lordship, for by his patronage his son (our author) was 30 Charles II.] sia Robert sawyer. 373 recommended to the Queen for, and obtained, the bishoprick of Waterford and Lismore. Of Sir Robert Sawyer, his patron, Mr. Milles says, " This gentleman was born in Berkshire, not far from Windsor, educated at Cam- bridge, in Magdalen College, where, I have heard, he was Fellow. Some time after the Restoration he applied himself to the diligent practice of the common law, and got into a good deal of business, especially in his Majesty's Court of Exchequer. He was a representative in Parliament for the borough of Wiccomb, and for the University of Cambridge. He was made Attorney General about the beginning of the year 1681, in the room of Sir Creswell Levinz, who was made one of the Judges of the Common Pleas, and con- tinued seven years in that post, till the year 1687." He dy'd of a dropsy at Highcleer, on the 28th day of July, in the year 1692; and when Mr. Milles, who buried him, entered his name in the register of burials, he could not forbear giving him the following character : — " That he was put out of place of Attorney General by King James' II. for his integrity. That he was a gentleman of good principles, and good practice, and immoveable in them. That he was of a sweet and chearful temper, of a courteous and obliging carriage. In fine, that he was continually doing much good, and was himself a blessing and a public good, and that he reaps the reward of all, in the society of the spirits of just men made perfect." As a conclusion to this memoir we give the monumental inscription, which was kindly forwarded to us by the present minister of the parish : Heio juxta requiescit, , Eobs. Sawyer, Miles Sireniissimo Car", ii". Sex Annos Ei IA°. n". inter initia Eegni sui A tomatus Generalis. Hoc Templum. In honorem Dei An". MDCLXXXVIH Proprijs Impensis Recedificavit. Obijt X". Die Julij ^„ ( Cristi MDCLXXXXn 't ^tatis Suae LX>>. Exact Copy from Higheleer Church. KicHD. McDonald Gaunter, L.L.B. Sir Robert Sawyer married Margaret, eldest daughter of Ralph Suckley, or Suckcliffe,.Esq., of Canonbury House, Islington, and left an only child, Margaret, who married in 1684 Thomas, eighth Earl of Pembroke, from which marriage lineally descend the present Earl and the Hon. Sidney Her- bert, as also the Earl of Carnarvon, who is the possessor of Highcleer Castle, originally the property of our Speaker. 374 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1678, Arms of Sawyer. — Or. two bars, azure, each charged with a barrulet, dan- cettee, argent, a chief, indented, of the second. Crest. — A demi lion, az. holding in the paws a saw, erect, or. SIR WILLIAM GREGORY. A branch of the ancient family of Gregory, of Stivichall, in Warwickshire, settled at Cattys Court, in the Parish of Fawnhope, in Herefordshire, in the sixteenth century, from whom descended the Rev. Robert Gregory, a Fellow of All Souls, Vicar of Fawnhope, and Rector of Sutton St. Nicholas, in the same county. He married Anne, daughter of John Harvey, of Bradestone, CO. Gloucester, by whom he had issue two sons, of whom the eldest died in his minority. William, the survivor, and the subject of this memoir, was born 1st March, 1624, and w^as afterwards admitted a Fellov? of All Souls, Oxford. Having adopted the profession of the law, he v^as, in due time, called to the bar, obtained an extensive practice, and rose to considerable eminence, although it was not till 1677 that he was created a Serjeant-at-Law. In this year we find that the election of Sir Thomas Williams, for the borough of Weobly, having been petitioned against, and declared void, Mr. Serjeant Gregory offered himself as a candidate for its representation, and was returned without opposition, on the 9th March. There can be no doubt, that at this time, he had acquired the reputation of a sound lawyer, and we find him taking part in the debates upon questions of the deepest importance at that eventful period. We may also presume, in the absence of any positive information upon the point, that his knowledge of Parliamentary usages was considerable, or he would not, as so young a member of the House (having been but one year in Parliament), have been called upon on an emergency to preside over' their deliberations. In the life of a preceding Speaker we have slightly referred to the manner of Serjeant Gregory's election to the chair, in consequence of the King's aversion to Sir Edward Seymour, upon whom the choice of the Commons had fallen. This question was sharply debated for several days, indeed during the continuance of the first session of this Parliament, vyhich met on the 5th day of March, 1678-9, and was prorogued on the 12th of the month for two days. The right of the King to exercise his veto was strongly contested, while the law officers of the Crown, setting aside all question of the policy of 30 ChARLKS II.] SIR WILLIAM GREGORY. 375 the act, fairly argued that if the consent of the Sovereign were necessary to confirm the Speaker's election, his refusal must necessarily render the choice inoperative. The matter was, however, arranged amicably, although the Journals of the House give no very clear or precise reasons for their submis- sion. Mr. Serjeant Gregory was elected, a sort of compromise being effected between the King and the Parliament. His speech on the occasion was very short : he said — " I humbly thank you for your good opinion of me ; but when I consider the weight of your debates, which require a person of the greatest experience and parts, my time of sitting here has not been above a year, and my experience so little, that you may suffer in your affairs ; and I come with the greatest disadvantage immaginable to succeed a person of so much experience. Pray, consider of it, and chuse a more experienced person." The Parliamentary History says, " Then Lord Russell and Lord Cavendish took him by the arms, and led him to the chair, which he did not in the least resist, and on the 17th of March he was presented to the King, who, without hesitation, approved the choice." Many questions mooted in this session of Parliament were of a highly interesting character ; but only one is recorded in which our Speaker took a prominent part. We allude to the examination of the witnesses in the debate concerning monies paid to members, a venal system long practised by the ministry, to the beggary of the exchequer, in which some of the proudest names were deeply implicated. It would be unfair in us, were we to refuse to do Mr. Serjeant Gregory the justice which his conduct on this occasion appears to merit ; for he was firm, yet temperate, and acted altogether with impartiality. One great measure was happily carried through its last stage in this session, which put the seal upon arbitrary imprisonment, and insured a large amount of liberty to the subject, and a considerable degree of honour to the Speaker who presented the Bill to his Majesty for the royal assent — this was the Habeas Corpus Act, which passed immediately before the dissolution of Parliament. The honour of knighthood was subsequently conferred upon our Speaker, and he was elevated to the bench as one of the Barons of the Exchequer, and after- wards removed to the Common Pleas, where he enjoyed the reputation of a sound lawyer and an excellent magistrate. About the year 1677, Sir William Gregory purchased the manor and estate of How Caple, in his native county, from Edward Capel, Esq., whose ances- tors had possessed it as early as a.d. 1289, and from which that noble family derived its name. Sir William subsequently added considerably to his estate by the purchase of other lands and woods in Woolhope and Fawnhope, and the manors of Fawnhope and Sellershope, and spent at the Mansion-house of How 376 LIVES OF THE SPEAKEES. [SPEAKER 1678. Caple, to the close of his life, whatever time could be spared from his circuits and his professional avocations as a judge. He married Katharine, only daughter and heiress of James Smith, Esq., of Tillington, by whom he had an only son. In the latter part of his life Sir William Gregory was afflicted with stone, the pain of which he bore with ex- emplary resignation and cheerfulness. In a letter to Sir Edward Harley, dated How Caple, March 16, 1694-5, he says — ■" My distemper hath been very sharp upon me this winter, and I have not been out of my chamber this three months. My trust is that God, who hath hitherto of his goodness sup- ported me under it, will sanctifie it unto me." He was a considerable benefactor to his parish, having most munificently rebuilt all the Church of How Caple, with the exception of the chancel and tower, for which he left by his will, made in 1694, adequate funds, and his wishes upon this head were carried out by his executor. The building is greatly admired for its architectural beauty, and remains as a lasting monu- ment of his good taste, although built at a period when architecture was at the lowest ebb. We find also that he gave a garden in Bowsey Lane, Hereford, to the Lazarus Hospital, in 1694. On the floor of the chancel of How Caple Church, amongst other inscriptions to various members of his family, is the following epitaph to the memory of our Speaker : — M. S. Gulielmi Gregorie, Equ aurai Totius Anglise Senatus E. Cathedra Audivit Prolocutorem, Erudita Juris Consultorum Subsellia Nunc Id ^rario Baronem, Deinde In regio Tribimali Justitiarium Suspexerunt ; Qui In Salermi comitiorum circutu jure ferente Incorrupta semper comes assidit justitia, Eodemque apud suos argenti Amieum ad omnia magis paratum Tota non undique experta est vicinia. Nee Patronum ecclesiagenerosiorem; Hujus gravi disuria pereuutis exuvias Templum hoc pia ejusdem munificentia extructum Dignumque tam sacro deposito conditorium, Ad Beatorum conservat resurrectionem ; Qua suipremevi judicis adventum Divines fiducia petus dementias Ipse mitissimus in terris judex Securus prsestolatur Obt. ^Vn : Salut : MDCXCVI iETA'J\ LXXII. 30 Charles II.] sir william Gregory. 377 James, the only son of our Speaker, followed the profession in which his father had so eminently distinguished himself, andhecame a bencher of Gray's Inn. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Rodd, Esq., of Moreton Jeffrey, CO. Hereford, and died at the early age of thirty-eight, leaving a widow with three sons and daughters. The two elder sons of this gentleman dying without issue, William, the survivor, married Elizabeth Geers, daughter and sole heiress to her mother, and grandmother. Lady Elizabeth Cope, daughter of the Earl of "Westmoreland, a lady of illustrious birth, descending throughthemarriageof her ancestor with the heiress of Nevil, Lord Bergavenny, from FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel, Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Northampton, and the Princess Elizabeth Plantagenet, daughter of Edward I. William Gregory, Esq., the only son of the above-named William, was a Serjeant-at- law. He married Susan, eldest daughter and co-heir of William Brydges, Esq., and left issue, with a daughter Anne, a son, William Cope Gregory, Esq., who was twice married, but dying without issue in 1789, devised his estates to Thomas Pendarves Stackhouse, Esq. (who afterwards assumed the name of Acton), the second son of his niece, Susannah, daughter and heiress of Edward Acton, Esq. of Acton Scott, co. Salop, by the before-named Anne, the only sister of Mr. Gregory. On the death of Thomas Pendarves Stackhouse Acton, Esq., in 1838, his brother Edward William Wynne Pendarves, Esq. of Pendarves, CO. Cornwall, who has sat in Parliament for his native county for a quarter of a century, succeeded to the Herefordshire and Shropshire estates, and is the lineal descendant and representative of our Speaker, and, as we have before shewn, has a Plantagenet descent through the Lady Elizabeth Cope, his great-great-grandmother. The widow of Mr. T. P. S. Acton survives, and resides at Acton Scott, near Shrewsbury, where there is a portrait of Sir William Gregory. Arms. — Or. two bars, az. in chief, a lion passant of the second. B B 3 378 HVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1680. SIR WILLIAM WILLIAMS, Bart. Mr. Burke, in his " Peerage and Baronetage," gives a most interesting account of the distinguished ancestors of the subject of our memoir, and the royal progenitors of his descendant and representative, the present Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, of Wynnstay, Bart. Cadrod Hardd, or Cadrod the hand- some, a Welch chieftain, was seated in the Isle of Anglesey, in the tenth century ; from him, in the twelfth century, proceeded Idhon ap Cadrod, from whom in the tenth generation sprung levan ap William, or Evan Williams, of Bryngwallon, in the same county, who was ancestor of the Rev. Hugh Williams, D.D., of Nantanog, in Anglesey, Vicar of Llantrissent, born 1596, and died 1670, leaving issue by Emma his wife, daughter and heiress of John Dolben, of Cae-Gwynon, co. Denbigh (niece of the Bishop of Bangor, of the house of Segroit), a son, William, of whose legal and political career we are now about to treat. Mr. Williams having been destined for the legal profession, after having graduated at Jesus College, Oxford, was entered of Gray's Inn, a.d. 1654, and in due time called to the bar. His eminence as a lawyer brought him into note at an early period of his life, and he was returned to Parliament for the city of Chester, 1668, having been appointed Recorder of that city in the previous year. It is, however, reported of him, that previously to his having attained to a great reputation, or much professional practice, he ven- tured to pay his addresses to Margaret, one of the daughters and coheiresses of Watkin Kyffin, Esq., of Glasceod, co. Denbigh, a gentleman of large estate and great family, descending from Einion EiFel, Lord of Cynllaeth, younger son of Madoc, the last Prince of Powys. Upon Mr. Kyffin's asking him what were his pretensions for the hand of his daughter, Mr. WilKams is said to have replied boldly, " a tongue and a gown." It is to be presumed that this candid avowal of his dependance upon his own exertions, was not displeasing to the lady's father, for they were soon after united, and by this marriage Mr. Williams became the founder of the families of Wynnstay, Bodlewyddan, and Penbedw. Notwithstanding his known ability as a lawyer, Mr. Williams' promotion was slow, having been upwards of twenty years in practice before he received a silk gown. This may, however, be attributed to the course he pursued in his parliamentary career, and the misfortunes which followed the correct and conscientious discharge of his duties as 32 Charles II.] ] sir william Williams. 379. Speaker, to which dignified office he was unanimously elected on the meeting of the new Parliament in Oct. 1678. Bishop Burnet speaks most disparagingly of him, declaring that, " Though a worthless man, he was chosen Speaker for his zeal." The good Bishop is, however, too hasty in his judgment, for at this period, the only zeal our Speaker had betrayed, was in the cause of liberty, the privileges of Parliament, and the rights of the peopk. In the discharge of his duty as Speaker, according to the Journals of the House, he seems to have acted consistently with the spirit of the party to whom he had allied himself, and although too much of a partizan, he might have been cited as a patriot, and a political martyr to this day, had he not subsequently yielded principle to preferment. When Sir Francis Wythens, one of the judges, and a member of the House, presented an address to Charles II., expressive of his abhorrence of the petitions to his Majesty for calling a sitting of Parliament, our Speaker thus addressed him, in passing upon him the sentence of expulsion which had been voted by the House — " You, being a lawyer, have ofiended against your own profession, you have offended against yourself, your own right, your own liberty, as an Englishman. This is not only a crime against the living, but a crime against the unborn. You are dismembered from this bodj'." He was equally strong in his observations upon Jeffiries, who, having been voted a betrayer of the rights of the subject, had to kneel before him, and receive his condemnation. In the well known case of Sir Robert Peyton, who, through the intervention of Lord Peter- borough, Mrs. Collier, and Mr. Gadbury, had deserted the country party, and gone over to the Duke of York, his vituperative style was almost equal to that of Sir Edward Coke when addressing Sir Walter Raleigh at his trial — " Many gentlemen," said our Speaker, " whose eyes are in their heads, their tongues and eyes have moved as well as yours. You have sat betwixt the devil and the witch — Mr. Gadbury and Mrs. Collier. The dark ways you have taken show your ill designs. You have fallen from being an angel to be a devil. From the beginning you sought your own interest, to set up a Commonwealth. You had 20,000 men to make your interest the stronger. You were bustling like the wind in this House, and in the coffee-houses. Your country chose you to this place, not only for your interest, but for an example to other men ; not with noise and thundering, but to behave your- self, without vanity or ostentation. This Parliament nauseates such members as you are ; you are no longer a part of this noble body." Such a tirade of coarse invective, which would disgust any gentleman of this age, was perfectly in keeping with the virulence of party feeling at that period ; and although Sir Robert sent our Speaker a challenge, for which he was again committed to the Tower, it is extremely doubtful if any other lawyer in the House, filling the chair, would have addressed a voted delinquent in milder or more gentlemanlike terms. It is evident also that the course he pursued was not 380 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1680. displeasing to the Commons, for in the next Parliament of 1681, the last of Charles II., which the King summoned to assemble at Oxford, on the 21st of March, 1681, being apprehensive of disturbances from the citizens of London, he was unanimously re-elected to the chair. This must have been a singular assembly ; the King's guards were regularly mustered, as though the town were besieged, the popular leaders were attended with numerous bands of partizans, and the city members appeared surrounded by a considerable body of horsemen, distinguished by ribbands, on which were inscribed, " No popery, no slavery." On the presentation of Mr. Williams to the King at his first election, he had avoided following in the beaten path, by adopting a style of address entirely free from the obsequious flattery of his predecessors, and on this occasion he seems to have pushed his boldness almost beyond good feeling and discretion. He arrogantly observed, " The knights, citizens, and burgesses, in Parliament assembled, with duty and loyalty agreeable to themselves and the persons whom they represent, have, in obedience to your royal pleasure, for the disposing of themselves in this great assembly for your Majesty's service, considered of a Speaker, and to manifest to your Majesty and the world that they are not inclined to changes, have with one voice elected me their Speaker, having had the honour to serve your Majesty and the Commons in that trust in the last Parliament. With all humility I presume again, by their commands, to stand before your Majesty, to receive your pleasure, with a head and a heart full of loyalty to your sacred person, armed with a settled resolution never to dissent from your well known, ancient, and established government." Having been approved of, although his speech was not relished by the King, he continued — " Most gracious Sovereign, natural allegiance commands loyalty to your Majesty from every subject ; your singular grace and favour to me in the last Parliament, con- tinued by the honour I have in this, add more than dutifulness and obedience to my loyalty. I am set in the first station of your Commons for trust and quaUty — an high and slippery place. It requires a steady head and a well poised body in him that will stand firm there. Uprightness is the safe pos- ture and best pohcy, and shall be mine in this place, guarded with this opinion, that your Majesty's service in this trust is one and the same with the service of your Commons, and that they are no more to be divided than your crown and sceptre. They truly serve the crown and country, which shall be my care and industry, who make the safety of your sacred person, the defence and security of the Protestant religion, the support of your Majesty's government, the maintenance of the laws, and the preservation of the ancient constitutions of Parliament, one and the same undivided interest, one and the same safety, one and the same inseparable security for yourself and people. These are the desires of all good men, but must be the efiects of good counsels." Then follows the usual demand for the privileges, &c., 32 Charles II.] sir wihiam williams. 381 which were granted as usual, although it is stated by the newsmongers of the day, that Charles was highly incensed at the Speaker's bearing in his presence. The exclusion of the Duke of York from the throne, which was pressed with great vehemence by Mr. "Williams' party, induced the King to dissolve . the Parliament within a week of its assembling, and thus all parties obnoxious to the enmity of the court, were doomed to destruction. A criminal infor- mation was filed in the Court of King's Bench, at the instigation of the Duke of York, against the late Speaker for libel, in having, in the strict discharge of his duty, licensed the printing of the votes, with Dangerfield's narrative of the meal-tub plot, implicating the duke and certain lords. For this offence against the feelings of his royal highness, but none against law, Mr. Williams was found guilty by a court of law, not justice, and fined £10,000 by the corrupt and subservient instruments of tyranny, who then disgraced the judicial bench. Mr. "Williams did not obtain his liberty until he had satisfied the rapacity of James II., by the payment of £8000, the King having generously thrown ofi" £2000 in the nature of discount for cash. Up to this period, the political character of Mr. "Williams stood as fairly before the world as that of any thorough paced Whig or legal partizan under the Stuart dynasty, for it can- not be denied, that amidst all the changes of society, the lawyers were the last to alter that tone of vituperative coarseness which detracts so much from the merit of their greatest luminaries in the eyes of modern society, and this was the principal fault of our Speaker, Williams ; but his subsequent conduct betrayed a want of principle, which a due regard to historical truth obliges us to notice. He became the willing instrument of James the Second's per- secutions, accepted the office of Solicitor- General, and received the honour of knighthood from that monarch. In 1688, he was created a baronet, as a reward for the virulence vnth which he conducted the prosecution against the seven bishops. We give the bishops every credit for the course they pursued ; they were driven to adopt it to save themselves, their characters, and that which was dearer to them — the character of the religion they professed, from a scandal which could not otherwise have been easily efikced from the records of Pro- testantism. Their petition did them honour, and we cheerfully acknowledge the blessings we have derived from the result, but such was the religious and political excitement which then, animated the great majority of the people in. their favour, that if James could have ensured a conviction, it would, in all probability, only have hastened his own downfall. Upon the abdication of James, the political influence of Sir William Wil- liams, and every prospect of professional advancement, fell to the ground ; nevertheless, he continued to practise both as a lawyer and a politician till his death, in the former capacity, it must be eonfessed, with much greater credit 382 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS, and more success than in the latter. He was returned for the county of Carnarvon to the Parliaments of 1688, 1690, and 1695, and took the popular side at the Revolution, even proposing that a revenue should be settled on the new king, for three years certain- But no concessions could avail him ; by his tergiversation he had signed the death warrant of his advancement. He who had been the spirited, fearless, and eloquent advocate of John Hampden, Braddon, Sir Samuel Barnadiston, and Algernon Sidney, pleading their causes with the utmost zeal and courage before Jeffries, his capital enemy, who had not forgotten the castigation he had administered to him as Speaker, having deserted the Whigs, whose oracle he was in the last Parliaments of Charles II., and upon the prosecution of the bishops, advanced extreme opinions as to the prerogative, for which even his position as an advocate for the crown, could offer no fair excuse, was now doomed to neglect. Even an act of righteous justice in reversing the judgment of the King's Bench against him, and restoring to him the amount of the exorbitant fine of which he had been mulcted, was refused. Sir William Williams died at his chambers, at Gray's Inn, in July, 1700, at the age of sixty-six, and was buried at Llansilen, in Denbighshire, where a handsome monument was erected to his memory, bearing a highly eulogistic epitaph, which is fully set forth in Yorke's " Royal Tribes of Wales." There can be no question as to the great legal knowledge and ability of this gentleman, but ambition was the rock on which he split. Had he suc- ceeded in convicting the bishops he was to have been Lord Chancellor ; and it is reported that when Jeffries, upon taking his seat in the Court of Chancery, heard the acclamations of the people upon their acquittal, he covered his face with a bouquet of flowers to conceal the smile of triumph at the discomfiture of the Solicitor General, and his satisfaction at the preservation of the seals. Sir William Williams, Bart., M.P., the eldest son of our Speaker^ married Jane, daughter of Edward Thelwall, Esq., of Plas-y-ward, co. Denbigh, by Sidney, his wife, daughter and heiress of William Wynn, son of Sir John Wynn, of Gwydyr, co. Carnarvon, created a baronet 29th June, 1611, derived from Roderick, Lord of Anglesey (second son of the chivalrous Owen Grwy- nedd, Prince of North Wales), who was the representative of Anarawd, King of North Wales, and sovereign paramount of all Wales, son (with his brothers Cadeth, King of South Wales, and Morgan, King of Powys) of Rhodri Mawr, or the great King of Wales, from whom lineally descends the present Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, of Wynnstay, Bart., who is the male represen- tative of our Speaker. Sir John Hay Williams, of Bodelwyddan, co. Flint, Bart., descends from John Williams, an eminent provincial barrister, who was the second son of our Speaker. Arms. — Ar. two foxes, counter-salient,, in saltier, gu. Crest. — An eagle, displayed, or. Motto, — Cadarn ar cyfrwjs. SIR JOHN TREVOR. 383 SIR JOHN TREVOR. According to Yorke, in his " Royal Tribes of Wales," and other genealo- gical writers, the subject of this memoir was a lineal descendant of Tudor Trevor, Lord of Hereford, Whittington, and BothMaclors, the founder of the tribe of the Marches, by Angharad, his wife, daughter of Howell Dha, the celebrated lawgiver of Cambria, and King of South Wales, a.d. 907. Not- withstanding this illustrious descent it appears that Mr. Trevor began his eventful life with little or no worldly estate, and though no founder of tribes was at least the founder of his own fortune. In Roger North's life of his relative, the Lord Chief Justice, this gossip, as he is truly called, discusses Mr. Trevor with his usual freedom. Beginning at a very early period of his life, he says — " He was bred a sort of clerk in old Arthur Trevor's chambers, an eminent and worthy professor of the law in the Inner Temple. A gentleman that visited Mr. Arthur Trevor, at his going out, observed a strange looking boy in his clerk's seat (for no person ever had a worse squint than he had), and asked who that youth was : a kinsman of mine said Arthur Trevor, that I have allowed to sit here to learn the knavish part of the law ! This Sir John Trevor grew up and took in with the gamesters, among whom he was a great proficient, and, being well grounded in the law, proved a critic in resolving gaming cases and doubts, and had the authority of a judge amongst them, and his sentence for the most part carried the cause." This short paragraph brings us in a few words to a period of Trevor's life in which he must have obtained some notoriety. In a mere sketch of this great equity lawyer's life, it cannot be expected that we should follow him through the difiiculties which beset his path at the onset of his professional career. We are informed that he owed much of his promotion to his cousin Jeffries, but contemporaneous and subsequent authorities have ad- mitted his surpassing abilities, and sound knowledge of the law, and these qualities were of themselves sufficient to raise him to the highest professional honours at any period or under any government if he had not marred his own advancement by bad policy in suffering his corruption to be publicly detected ; but for this there cannot be a doubt that Sir John Trevor would have held the Great Seal, and if he owed any professional advancement to his ruthless cousin it did Lord Jeffries more credit than any other appointment obtained through 384 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1685. his influence, for his judges were in general as grossly ignorant as they were bloodthirsty and brutal, indeed it was their ignorance combined with brutality which rendered them fitting tools for his fiendish purposes. It is, however, in his Parliamentary career that we have undertaken to exhibit the character of Sir John Trevor, and although our limited space scarcely allows us to enter into very minute details, we shall, endeavour to satisfy the reader by a brief narration of those events in which he took a prominent part, and left both his opinions and his character as a record to posterity. Sir John Trevor having been returned to Parliament in the reign of Charles II. A.D. 1677, supported the crown and the crown's prerogative as strongly as Finch, or any other of the court party had done in the previous reign. On one occasion he is reported in " Grey's Debates" to have said, " 'Tis the King's prerogative to make peace or war ; 'tis he that makes it, and he that breaks it ;" so far no constitutional lawyer could _object, but he followed it up by an impious quotation from Scripture, which proved his servility more than his patriotism, in these words — " The disciples came to our Saviour in the ship, and said, ' Lord, save us or we perish,' and we can say no more to the King." His opinion and his conduct on the subject of the Papist plot, met with favourers and detracters. He said boldly, " I would satisfy the loyal subjects of England, and pass a vote in plain English, to make an address to the King, that the Queen and her family, together with all reputed or suspected Papists, may be removed from Whitehall." The extent to which political rancour and party feeling carried the politi- cian of those days may be best understood by the course Sir John Trevor pursued against innocence, and in favour of the grossest and most fiendish criminality. On the impeachment of Lord Stafiord he said, " Upon the evidence, I am satisfied clearly that this Lord Stafford is guilty ; and so I would make no manner of bones to demand judgment. I would have no more delay, but go up and demand judgment." In the defence of his relative the infamous Jeffries, in the House of Commons, he said, " I take it he stands fair as to his carriage relating to the libel and the rape. This gentleman has been recorder of London many years, and it is a place of great authority, and it is his happiness that there is no evidence against him that he ever packed a jury, or has gone about to clear a person innocent. He has been counsel for the King when persons were indicted for the horrid plot, and behaved himself worthily, and, if I may say so, he was too forward in prosecuting ; if so, that may make some atonement for his forwardness in other matters. I hope in some measure you will take pity of him." Upon the death of Sir John Churchill, Sir John Trevor was appointed Master of the Rolls, and having been returned to Parliament for the town of Denbigh, in 1685, the 1st of James II,, he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. 1 James II.] sir john trevor. 385 Evelyn in his " Diary" has stigmatized this Parliament as one composed of the worst materials, comprehending even gentlemen's servants among its members. The list, however, does not appear to differ materially from those of previous or subsequent returns in point of the quality of the members ; and other writers have given this Parliament credit for the usual amount of respec- tability, although the chattering Burnet, the most regular touche h tout we have upon record, stands pre-eminently forward in the ranks of its defamers. To the credit of our Speaker we find that on presenting the Money Bill to the King, he boldly communicated to his Majesty a resolution of the House, " that they trusted to the King's word for the safety of the Church of England, which was dearer to them than their lives." At which James was so offended that he prorogued the Parliament, and upon their reassembling it was dissolved after sitting a fortnight. In the proceedings of this short Parliament, not- withstanding the abuse which some political writers have heaped upon our Speaker, he seems to us to have acted in accordance with the prevailing spirit against Popery, and not to have committed himself by any strong leaning to the court, although his cousin Jeffries now held the Great Seal. We find also in reference to the affair of Alderman Cornish who was persecuted to the death by James, that he manfully told Jeffries, " if he pur- sued that unfortunate man to execution, it would be no better than murder." Some writers have assumed that he was not guided by humanity in this case, but solely by the desire to supplant the Chancellor ; and North says, " Like a true gamester, he fell to the good work of supplanting his friend, and had certainly done it, if the affairs of King James had stood right up much longer." It is however recorded that notwithstanding their consanguinity there was a bitter feeling between the Chancellor and the Master of the Rolls. Jeffi-ies carried his hatred to the extent of insulting him publicly on the bench, and Trevor retorted upon every opportunity. Amongst those who have added their mite to the measure of abuse heaped upon our Speaker, Clarendon, as envenomed a writer as any partizan who ever dipped pen in political gall, thus expresses himself upon his appointment to the privy council. " July 6, 1688. Sir John Trevor, Master of the Rolls, Colonel Titus, and Mr. Vane, Sir Henry Vane's son, were sworn of the privy council. Good God bless us ! what will the world come to ?" At the Revolu- tion Sir John Trevor was dismissed from the Rolls and was succeeded by Mr. Powle ; but says Mr. Townsend, in his " History of the House of Commons," " Nothing daunted he resumed his practice at the bar, and was loud and voluble in the House." He adds that when it was proposed to disfranchise the borough of Stockport for bribery and corruption, and that two members should be added to the coimty of Southampton instead, having a fellow feeling for such practices, he (Sir John Trevor) manfully opposed the measure.' On this occasion he said, " I never heard of boroughs dissolved before. I am 386 LIVES OF THE SPEAKEES. [SPEAKER 1690. afraid if this question pass, you Mr. Speaker, and I, shall sit no more in that chair. I have the honour to sit for a borough in Devonshire (Beeralston), for which T am obliged to a member of the House (Maynard) and to the gentle- men of that county. If you break the ancient constitution of elections, I know not the consequence. The security of the nation was ever thought to lie in the mixture of this House. What shall then become of merchants to inform you of trade ? The House stands upon antient constitutions, and I hope you will not remove old land marks." On the meeting of King William's second Parliament in 1690, Sir John Trevor was again elected to the chair which he occupied for five years, and in 1692, on the death of Mr. Powle, he was re- appointed to his old of&ce at the Rolls, having previously held the appoint- ment of first commissioner of the Great Seal. It was at the expiration of this period that a serious charge of corruption was brought against him, from which he was unable to exculpate himself, but we shall leave the narrative of this event in the hands of his noble descendant, merely observing that his chief fault, according to the manners of an universally corrupt age, was de- tection. In the " Life and Times of William III." by the Hon. Arthur Trevor (now Lord Dungannon), the affair is thus detailed : — " By far the most remarkable event in the annals of Parliamentary History, was the expulsion of their Speaker this session by the House of Commons for having accepted a bribe. The city of London had for several years solicited in vain to have a bill passed for payment of the debt due to the orphans. Many hundred orphans starved for want of their portions, which had been put into the Chamberlain's hands, on the security of the city; but, as the Exchequer was shut up in King Charles's time, so the chamber of London was also closed, and bankruptcy pleaded to the demand of the distressed orphans. When the management of the city affairs fell into better hands, a committee was appointed to inquire into the matter, who, finding that nothing had been done after three j-ears' troublesome solicitation, several bills having been brought into the House of Commons for the relief of the orphans, but that they were always either lost, or so clogged, that a bill could not pass through the House in a Session, thought the most effectual way to prevent the starving of these orphans, would be to give some men of interest what they should require, and engage them to do for profit what they would not do for justice. Accordingly, by a proper application and disposal of several sums of money, a bill passed in the last session of Parliament, creating a fund for the repayment of the debt owing to the orphans by the chamber of London. Among the sums distributed on this occasion, it was found, on inspecting the books of the Chamberlain of London, that a present of 1000 guineas had been made to Sir John Trevor, the Speaker, for his service in that affair ; which sum appeared to have been paid on the 2nd of June, 1694, in the presence of Sir Robert Clayton and Sir James Houblon. The Commons having debated 2 William and Mary,] sir john trevor. 387 and considered this report, came to the resolution " That Sir John Trevor, Speaker of the House, receiving a gratuity of 1000 guineas from the city of London, after passing of the Orphan's Bill, was guilty of a high crime and misdemeanour." Sir John Trevor not appearing in his place, the Commons, on the 14th of March, resolved to proceed to the election of a new Speaker ; whereupon Sir Thomas Littleton and Mr. Paul Foley were submitted as can- didates ; when Mr. Foley was chosen by a small majority, in consequence of Sir Thomas being considered in the court interest, Mr. Wharton, the comp- tAller of the King's household, having spoken in his behalf. On the 16th the House further resolved, " That Sir John Trevor, their late Speaker, being guilty of a high crime and misdemeanour, should forthwith be expelled from that assembly." A similar resolution was at the same time passed with respect to " Mr. Hempsford, chairman of the committee on the Orphan Bill, he having received twenty guineas for his service." Lord Dungannoii then goes on to acquaint us with the issue of these pro- ceedings, and the attempt which was made to implicate a noble duke and others with Sir John Trevor in these corrupt practices. The Duke of Leeds loudly protested his innocence, and demanded speedy justice. He thus concludes — " While the House were preparing, with various other persons, to impeach Sir John Trevor, a stop was put to their proceedings by the King coming, on the 3rd of May, to the House of Lords, and closing the session, &c." Notwithstanding these proceedings Sir John Trevor retained his office of Master of the Rolls for more than twenty years with the highest reputation as an equity lawyer, and as the learned author we have so often quoted observes, " superior in legal attainments to all the Chancellors and lord keepers of his day with the exception, perhaps, of Somers;" even Lord Harcourt deferred to his judgment, and sought his assistance in cases of difficulty. In York's " Tribes of Wales," there are several anecdotes of our Speaker, amongst others that the wits of the day in allusion to the Speaker's venality, and the defect in One of his eyes, observed, that justice was blind, but that bribery only squinted, which, as our author remarks, " he did most abominably." Among his other virtues Trevor was an economist. He had dined by him- self one day at the Rolls, and was drinking his wine quietly, when his cousin, Roderic Lloyd, was unexpectedly introduced to him from a,side door. " You rascal," said Trevor to the servant, "and you have brought my cousin Roderic Lloyd, Esquire, Prothonotary of North Wales, Marshal to Baron Price, and so forth and so forth ; take him instantly back, down my hack stairs and bring him up my front stairs." Roderic in vain remonstrated, and whilst he was being conveyed down one, and up the other stairs, his Honor removed the bottle and glasses." York tells another anecdote which befell Roderic Lloyd at the Rolls — " He was returning rather elevated from his club one night. 388 LIVES OP THE SPEAKERS. and ran against the pump in Chancery Lane; conceiving somebody had struck him, he drew, made a lounge at the pump, and the sword entering the spout, the pump being crazy fell down. Roderic concluded he had killed his man, left his sword in the pump, and retreated to his old friend's house in the Rolls. There he was concealed by the servants for the night. In the morning his Honor, having heard the story, came himself to deliver him from his conster- nation and confinement in the coal-hole." In this brief and hasty account of our Speaker we have been compelled to pass over matters of great political and historical importance. Want of space precludes our entering more fully into the life of this eminent man, who but for the stain of corruption might from his talent, and, as Jekyll, " On the rights of the Master of the Rolls," truly observes, his confessedly great merit as a lawyer, have occupied one of the most prominent places in legal bio- graphy. In justice to his memory we are bound to state that the same learned authority exculpates him from the most remote taint of corruption in his judicial decisions, and in all other respects both as to his political career, and his moral and personal defects, we agree with King William (who had obtained a pretty good insight into the manners of the age and its universal corruption), when, after desiring Sir John Trevor to refrain from further attendance in Parliament to prevent the charge of corruption being thrown in his teeth, he declined promoting him, not for his corruption, but for the crime he committed in suffering it to be detected. Sir John Trevor was one of the original contributors to the building of Greenwich Hospital ; he endowed the free grammar school at Denbigh with £105; founded six alms-houses in the parish of St. Martin, Shropshire, for decayed widows or old women ; and gave a handsome communion service, in silver, to the church of Llancadwaladar, co. Denbigh. He died at his house in Clement's Lane, May 20, 1717, and is buried in the Rolls Chapel, in Chan- cery Lane, close to the altar. Sir John Trevor left issue, an only daughter and heiress, Anne, who mar- ried Michael Hill, Esq., of Hillsborough, and had two sons, Trevor, his heir, ancestor of the Marquis of Downshire, and Arthur, who, inheriting the estates of his maternal grandfather, assumed the name of Trevor, and was created Lord Hill and Viscount Dungannon 27th April, 1765, who was the grandfather of the present peer, Arthur Hill Trevor, third Viscount Dun- gannon, M.A., F.A.S., and M.R.S.L., of Brynkinalt, in the county of Denby. His Lordship possesses a fine portrait of the Speaker which was engraved by Bond for Yorke's "Royal Tribes of Wales." Arms, — Party per bend sinister, ermine and erminois, a lion rampant, or. HENRY POWLE 389 HENRY POWLE, Esq. The Right Honourable Henry Powle, of Quenington, in Gloucestershire, was the younger brother of Sir Richard Powle, who represented Berkshire in the Parliament of 1661, and died without issue, and the son of Henry Powle, Esq., of Shottisbroke, in the same county (of which he was high sheriff in the eighth of Charles I., 1632), by Catherine his wife, daughter of Matthew Herbert, Esq., of Monmouth. The subject of our memoir was a member of the bar, although according to Mr. Townsend, not regularly educated to that profession, and having obtained a seat in Parliament, in early life he distin- guished himself greatly by the boldness of his language, and the energy of his address at a period of no ordinary peril. When in 1672, Charles II. issued a declaration of indulgence to the Catholics, expressing his positive will and pleasure to suspend all penal statutes in matters ecclesiastical, and informed the House on their meeting "that he should stick to his declaration," the Commons were greatly irritated, when Mr. Powle rose and said that the declaration, which was merely a paper under no seal, would suspend at once forty Acts of Parliament, and he drew up a bold address to the King, in which he stated that if his Majesty claimed a power to suspend penal statutes in matters ecclesiastical, and supposed such a right was inherent in the crown, he had been very much misinformed. The King finding so strong an opposition to his wishes, cancelled the declaration with his own hand, and shortly after the House was adjourned by his Majesty's command. At the commencement of the next session Mr. Powle took notice of the previous adjournment and of the conduct of the Speaker, Mr. Seymour, in acting upon the King's arbi- trary command, and contended that his Majesty addressed himself to the House and not personally to the Speaker, who had assumed an authority in adjourning the House, under present circumstances, which did not belong to him. How, he observed, has the Speaker then the authority of adjourning the House ? I never yet saw a pocket order of adjourning the House admitted. It may be doubted whether this power is in the crown. I take the Lords' House and the Commons to be but one court in judgment of law, and that is the High Court of Parliament. It must follow then, the King must adjourn the whole court. If the King should adjourn the Commons, and have the Lords sitting, it would breed confusion. But if the power of adjournment be not in the crown, it cannot be in the chair. The Speaker is cc 2 390 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKER 1688. called the mouth and tongue of the House, which speaks the conceptions of the mind— not that he is to make those conceptions, but pronounce what he has in command from the House. Lenthall, upon an occasion known to most, told the late King " he had neither tongue, eyes, nor ears, but what the House gave him." Notwithstanding the question was angrily debated, the House, however, admitted that Mr. Seymour had acted with due respect to the prerogative. In the next year Mr. Powle supported the re-election of Mr. Seymour to the chair, to which the King refused his assent. Upon that occasion Mr. Powle said, " I have ever taken the record to be, that no man was ever refused being Speaker, when presented to the King, but for some disability of body, as in Sir John Popham's case, who desired to be excused from that service by reason of disability of body from wounds he had received in the wars (28th Henry VI.) ; and lately Sir Job Charlton-, not being able to endure the employment, by reason of disability of body. But nothing of this can be objected against Mr. Seymour ; must any private person inform the King of his unfitness without any cause assigned ? I know not what may come of it. I do protest before God, that I think the greatness of this nation is under the privileges " of this House. A people can never heartily •support the government that does not protect them. A slavish people can never heartily support the government. Those that come after us here, if we are dissolved upon this point, will speak the same language. I fear not dis- solution." Although Mr. Powle was named as a fit and proper person for the ■chair upon this occasion, by a sort of compromise, Mr. Serjeant Gregory, as we have narrated, in the memoir of that gentleman, was unanimously elected. Mr. Townsend in his highly interesting " History of the House of Commons," from the convention of Parliament to the passing of the Reform Bill (a period of 144 years, only 70 of which has he given to the public), properly observes that, Burnet is mistaken in stating as the result of this contest that the un- conditional choice of a Speaker was tacitly surrendered to the Commons. All that was, in fact, conceded, appears to have been the barren trophy, that the Speaker might be named by one who was not a Privy Councillor. Shortly after this Mr. Powle was sworn a member of the Privy Council, proving by long experience, that opposition to the government is ever the direct road to preferment. But upon the prorogation of Parliament without any previous intimation to the Council, the opposition members repaired to court in a body, and solicited to be excused from further attendance as they des- paired of being able to serve him. The King instantly replied, " with all my heart" Mr. Powle now became the head of the opposition, and carried his boldness to the extent of presenting the Duke of York to a Middlesex grand jury as a Popish recusant. Chief Justice Scroggs discharged the grand jury before they could make this presentment, and rebuked them sharply for drawing up a petition that Parliament might soon meet, a circumstance which Convention Parliament.] henry powle. 391 did not escape Mr. Powle's notice upon the meeting of Parliament, when he inveighed bitterly against Scroggs, and but for its dissolution, would, no doubt, have carried his impeachment. Mr. Powle was a zealous Protestant, and rendered himself notorious at the period of the Popish plot by the line of policy he pursued in the persecution of the Catholics. His sentiments and his actions were, however, in strict keeping with the spirit of the times, and in weighing his conduct posterity must make allowance for the excitement which prevailed. Mr. Townsend informs us that during the undisguised despotism of James II., Mr, Powle ap- pears to have sought shelter in the courts of law, but the advance of the Prince of Orange upon London, recalled the Whig leader to his political sphere of duty. Lord Clarendon, in his Diary says — " December 16th, Sir Robert Howard and Mr. Powle came together to Windsor, and were a long time in private with the Prince. Colonel Titus and Sir William Williams were there likewise, but could not be admitted to the Prince." When all the old members of Charles the Second's Parliament, together with the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and sixty Common Councilmen of London, were con- vened at St. James's, Mr. Powle attended the summons at the head of one hundred and sixty members. Upon their return to Westminster to consider the best method of calling a free Parliament, he was chosen chairman, and solved the grave doubt then first started, what authority they had to assemble, by the short answer, " that the request of the Prince was a sufficient warrant." Shortly after he was elected member for Windsor with Sir Algernon May, and although his return was petitioned against by Sir Christopher Wren, the great architect, and Mr. Adderly, the House resolved that he was duly elected, and on the 22nd January, 1688-9, Mr. Pelham having moved " that one of the members might take the chair, and for that purpose he nominated the Right Hon. Henry Powle." Mr. Powle, without more ceremony, walked up to the clerk's table, and sat him in a chair placed there for that purpose," — and as the author we have so frequently quoted, and to whose researches we owe so much, observes, " thus attained the highest station to which a statesman could aspire — Speaker of the Convention Parliament." Hatsell informs us that his formal excuse of inability was overruled by the House, and the throne being vacant, the ceremony of presenting him for ap- proval was omitted — the circumstances, however, were precisely similar to the case of Sir Harbottle Grimston, in the Parliament of the Restoration. We have not sufficient space to enter at any length into a narration of our Speaker's political career ; ten volumes would not suffice for the details of his life and those of his successors in the Chair of St. Stephen's, from his time to the present. Our accounts of one hundred and sixteen Speakers, and particularly those of comparatively modern times, have no pretension to any other character than mere sketches. The first act of the Parhament, over 392 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1688. whose deliberations Mr. Powle presided, was to pass, by a considerable majo- rity, the following memorable vote : " That King James II. having endeavoured to subvert the constitution of the kingdom, by breaking the original contract between the king and the people, and having, by the advice of the Jesuits and other wicked persons, violated the fundamental laws and withdrawn himself out of the kingdom, had abdicated the government, and that the throne is thereby vacant." The Parliament then proceeded to settle the crown upon the Prince and Princess of Orange, with certain limitations, constituting the Bill of Rights. The principal clauses contained in this Bill were : That the King has no right to suspend or dis- pense with laws, or the execution of laws ; that all ecclesiastical commission courts are illegal ; that the levying money for the use of the crown by pre- rogative, without grant of Parliament, is not warranted by law ; that it is the " right of the subject to petition the King ; that a standing army in time of peace, unless by consent of Parliament, is against law ; that Protestant sub- jects may have arms for their defence ; that the election of Members of Par- liament ought to be free ; that freedom of debate in Parliament ought to be allowed ; that excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel punishments inflicted ; that jurors ought to be duly impanneled, and upon trials for high treason ought to be freeholders ; that all grants and premises of fines and forfeiture, before conviction, are illegal ; that for redress of grievances frequent Parliaments should be assembled, &c. The Convention Parliament further determined that a separate income should be allowed for the King's household. Among the acts passed were the Habeas . Corpus Suspension Bill, a Bill for disarming the Papists, an Indemnity Bill, &c. Ralph, in his " History of England," gives an abstract of Mr. Powle's speech in favour of a war with France, so desired by the Prince of Orange. He says, " Mr. Powle opened the diet with an harangue on the dangerous state of the nation, the fatal consequences of anarchy, the deplorable con- dition of the Protestants of Ireland, the dreadful consequences to England of the loss of that kingdom, the growth of the power of France, the insatiable ambition of the most Christian King, his sworn enmity to the Protestant religion, and the interests of England, the necessity of putting the nation in such a posture as might not only secure it from any afiront, but enable it to subdue France a second time, or at least secure the provinces of Normandy and Aquitaine, which were the inheritance of our Kings, and whatever else had a tendency to convince or persuade his audience that they all depended on the Prince of Orange ; and with such success did he play the orator on this occasion, that the House rang with applause, and in a sort of transport all was agreed to that was proposed either for his highness's honour or his interests." Convention Parliament.] henry powle. 393 Upon the presentation of the Bill of Rights, our Speaker observed, " They have agreed upon a bill for declaring of their rights and liberties, which were so notoriously violated in the late reign, humbly claiming your Majesty to give life to it by the royal assent, that so it may remain, not only as a security to them from the like attempts hereafter, but be a lasting monument to all posterity of what they owe to your Majesty for their deliverance." At the close of the session of 1689, Mr. Powle delivered an address to King William, which Mr. Townsend observes was less pleasing to his ungracious royal master, but listened to with delight by his brother Englishmen. The phrase of conquest had been industriously whispered, a prelate had preached upon King William and Queen Mary conquerors, and there seemed to be an overwhelming sense of the service rendered, within the precincts of the court. To lessen this conceit, says Ralph in his " History of England," the Speaker introduced an historical reminiscence. " It is little more than an age since the most illustrious Prince of Orange, your Majesty's great-grandfather, whose name will ever be 'famous for his love to his country, did, by the assistance of the English, redeem those provinces from the like oppressions, which shews how inseparable the interests of these two nations are ; and, since it was the fatal policy of those that laboured our destruction to endea- vour to divide us, it ought to be the endeavours of all true lovers of their countries to keep us firmly united, in order to our preservation," Mr. Powle was appointed a Privy Councillor to the new King, he subse- quently received his patent as Master of the Rolls, in which office he con- tinued till his decease 21st November, 1692, set. 63. The fact of having been the fixst commoner in the great Convention Parliament is alone sufficient to perpetuate the name of Powle, while the independent yet loyal feelings ex- pr essed in his words, " I will not invade prerogative, neither will I consent to infringement of the least liberty of my country," are sufficient to render his memory honorable. Mr. Robert H. O'Byrne, from the perusal of whose highly interesting work, the " Representative History of Great Britain and Ireland," we have derived great satisfaction, and have taken several ex- tracts, says " That Mr. Powle occasionally deviated from the path of political rectitude is beyond a question ; that he was the instrument of good to his country is equally unquestionable." In conclusion we may observe, in quoting the epitaph on his tomb in Quenington church, Gloucestershire, that while the first line of that inscription, " Regi et regno fidelissima," may be con- sidered by some to be an open question, there will be found but few to con- tradict the closing portion of the same epitaph : — " ^qui rectique arbiter, integerrimus, Pius, probus, temperans, prudens, Virtutum omnium Exemplar Magnum." 394 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. In opposition, however, to this charge of deviation from the path of poli- tical rectitude, we are inclined to consider Mr. Powle as a comparatively virtuous political character for the age in which he lived, for when we look back to the public men who preceded him, with very few exceptions, what sentiment but disgust does their sordid corruption and open and flagitious political tergiversation excite in our minds. Burnett's opinion of our Speaker v^as highly favourable. He says — " Powle was very learned in precedents and Parliamentajy Journals which goes a great way in their debates, and, when he had time to prepare himself, he was a clear and strong speaker." We agree with Mr. Townsend that his style of oratory was inflated and bombastic upon some occasions ; but in periods of revolution, particularly one brought about chiefly by religion, the mind of man generally expands, and exaggeration of feeling as well as action may be reasonably expected. Mr. Powle has not escaped the charge of corruption, his name is inserted in Barillon's list for a few paltry hundreds. Charles James Fox observed that "every man has his price;" without discussing that question, the general truth of \^4lich was so well illustrated in the case of the Queen Mother of France, whose feelings were insulted by Mazarini's ofler of half a million of francs, although she pocketed three millions without scruple, so without standing forward as the champion of Mr. Powle's integrity, we may observe that we do not regard Barillon's list as conclusive evidence of corruption against those whose names are there inserted. There was scarcely any cheque upon the disposing of the secret service money intrusted to that minister, and one must be very credulous to believe that the corrupter was incorruptible, particularly after the testimony of so many of his own country- men as to the enormous wealth he amassed by his embassy. Mr. Powle married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Lord Newport of High Ercall, and left issue an only daughter and heiress, married to Henry Ireton, Esq. ; but we have not ascertained whether there are any descendants of this gentleman now extant. Arms. — Arg. a chev. erm. between six lions ramp. or. PAUL FOLEY. 395 PAUL FOLEY, Esq. Paul Foley, Esq., was the second son of Thomas Foley, Esq., of Whitley Court, in the county of Worcester, by Anne, his wife, daughter of John Browne, Esq. of Spelmanden, in Kent, a gentleman of large fortune, the whole of which was ultimately added to the great paternal inheritance of the Foleys. As an introduction to the memoir of our Speaker, it cannot be uninteresting to the reader to have a slight account of the author of his ex- istence, a man whose singular good fortune combined with great commercial knowledge, and that bold spirit of enterprise for which the Anglo Saxon race is so pre-eminently distinguished above all other nations of the earth, enabled him to found a family which yields to none at this day in the high nobility of its sentiments and actions, and although many may claim a more ancient descent, few can boast of higher alliances than the descendants of Thomas Foley, the celebrated iron master. Baxter, in his " History of his Life and Times," part iii. p. 73, says — " Mr. Foley, who purchased the advowson of Kidderminster, was a truly honest and religious man, who would make the best choice of a minister he could. On this occasion I will mention (says Bagster), the great mercy of God to the town of Kidderminster and the country, in raising one man, Mr. Thomas Foley, who from almost nothing did get £5000 per annum, or more, by iron works; and that with so just and blameless dealing, that all men that ever he had to do with, that ever I heard of, magnified his great integrity and honesty, which was questioned by none : and being a religious faithful man, he purchased, among other lands, the patronage of several great places, and among the rest, of Stourbridge and Kadderminster, and so chose the best comfortable ministers that could be got ; and not only so, but placed his eldest son's habitation in Kidderminster, which became a great pro- tection and blessing to the town ; having placed two families more else- where of his two other sons, all three religious worthy men, and in thank- fulness to God for his mercies to him, built a well founded hospital near Stourbridge, to teach poor children to read and write, and then set them apprentices,' and endowed it with about £500a-year," This very eminent and excellent man served the office of High Sheriff of Worcester, and died Oct. 1, 1677, aged 59. Paul Foley, Esq., his second son, was, as Bagster observes, settled by his father at Stoke Edith Court, in Herefordshire, which county he represented 396 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1694. in several Parliaments with great reputation. At the Revolution Mr. Folej was one of the members of the Convention, who strenuously supported the question of the vacancy of the throne, and was one of the managers of the free conference with the Lords upon that occasion. In December, 1690, he was elected by the House of Commons one of the Commissioners for stating the public accounts, and on the 14th March, 1694-5 he was chosen Speaker of the House in the room of the former Speaker, and in the next Par- liament was again unanimously elected to that high office. Although the memoir of Mr. Powle intervenes between that of Sir John Trevor and Mr. Foley, it was upon the resignation or retirement of Mr. Trevor, for the rea- sons we have detailed, that Mr. Foley was elected in his place, and the cir- cumstances are thus recorded : — Mr. Wharton, the Comptroller of the King's household, having brought a message from the King, rose and said — " I am commanded by the King to inform the House, that the late Speaker, Sir John Trevor, hath sent him word that his indisposition does so continue upon him, that he cannot further attend the service of the House, as Speaker, and further commanded me to say, that there may be no delay in the public pro- ceedings, he does give leave to this House to proceed to the choice of a new Speaker," and he concluded, " I shall, without fear of displeasing any person, out of so many who are qualified to serve you, nominate," — but here he was interrupted by the House, who objected to a nomination proceeding from a person who brought u message from the King, and in the midst of con- siderable confusion Mr. Wharton proposed Sir Thomas Lyttleton, which was seconded by Sir Henry Goodrick, when Sir Christopher Musgrave proposed and Lord Digby seconded Paul Foley, Esq. After a long debate, the ques- tion, " that Sir Thomas Lyttleton take the chair of this House as Speaker," was put by the Clerk, and on coming to a division it was lost by a majority of 179 to 146. When the second question was about to be put, Mr. Foley rose, but the House refused to hear him, and ordered the Clerk to proceed, when it was resolved nem. con. " that Paul Foley, Esq., take the chair of this House as Speaker." Mr. Foley was conducted to the chair by the Hon. Colonel Granville and the Hon. Henry Boyle, and upon the first step of the chair he made a speech to the House to excuse himself which not being allowed he sat down, and the mace was laid upon the table. When Mr. Fole}' went up next day to the House of Lords to solicit the royal assent he thus addressed the King, " May it please your most excellent Majesty ! The Commons of England in ParUa- ment assembled, having by a very extraordinary occasion lost the services of their late Speaker, proceeded to a new election, and being commanded by jour Majesty to present their Speaker at this time and place, they now wait on your Majesty in full Parliament, to present me to succeed, on whom they have unanimously agreed. I must acknowledge myself very unfit for so great William III.] paul foley. 397 an employment, and wish they have not done themselves a great prejudice therein, which they might have avoided, having choice of much more able members for that service ; but I dare not oppose my own opinion to that of so .great a body as the Commons of England, and therefore with your Ma- jesty's approbation, am ready to serve your Majesty, and them, to the utmost of my abilities. If they find themselves on trial mistaken, and that I cannot answer expectations, though hitherto they will not allow me to excuse myself, yet then I hope they will, and provide one more fit for your Majesty's and their service." Mr. Foley, from his known political opinions, could not have been very acceptable ,at court, but this firm and temperate address must have had a good effect, and his election was at once confirmed. Burnet, who had a finger in every pie, gives the following character of our Speaker — writing of the year 1693, he says, " But the party of the Tories was too inconsiderable to have raised a great opposition, if a body of Whigs had not joined with them : some of them had such republican notions, that they were too much set against the prerogative, and they thought the King was become too stifii" in maintaining it. Others were ofifended because they were not considered, nor preferred, as they thought they deserved. The chief of these -were Mr. Paul Foley and Mr. Harley, the first was a younger son of one, who, from mean beginnings, had by iron works raised one of the greatest estates that had been in England in our time. He was a learned, though not a practising lawyer, and was a man of virtue and good principles, but morose and wilful, and he had the afiectation of passing for a great patriot, by his constant finding fault with the Government, and venting an ill humour, and a bad opinion of the court. Foley joined with the Tories to create jealousies and raise an op- position. They soon grew to be able to delay matters long, and set on foot some very uneasy things that were popular ; such as the bill against Parlia- ment-men being in places, and that for dissolving the Parliament, and for having a new one every third year." Roger North, thus writes of our Speaker : " Paul Foley had apphed himself very closely to the learning of records. He showed Lord North a book which he had compiled, which was designed to go beyond the ordinary collectors, such as Cotton and Prynne. I heard him say things would never go well, till forty heads flew for it. He had very singular opinions ; one was that ' all foreign trade was loss and ruinous to the nation,' The mortal evil of foreign trade was the great supply brought to the crown, by which it could be sup- ported, without being continually at the mercy of the Parliament for supplies. When his lordship (Lord Keeper Guilford) was named in the House of Com- mons in order to be criminated, he was pleased to say in the House, that he certainly knew that person to be of arbitrary principles, because he had heard him discourse to that purpose at his own table." We do not, find any con- firmation of this statement in the iournals of the House, and can scarcely be- 398 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKEE 1694. lieve that a man of common sense would have been guilty of such an infraction of the rites of hospitality, the customs of society and all the rules of gentle- manly conduct and principle, while we entirely discredit the statement of this malicious gossip, the cause of whose enmity to our Speaker is sufEciently apparent. North continues — " The Lord Keeper found that factious lawyers, and particularly Paul Foley, were very busy in ferreting musty old repositories, with design to produce in Parliament what they thought fit to the prejudice of the crown and its just prerogative. They conferred with the bell-wethers of the party in the House of Commons, and frequently alleged passages in the records of Parliament, and certain exotic cases, extracted chiefly from those, in irregular times, when the crown had been distressed, and imposed upon, and done, not only partially, but often untruly, and always defective. By which means they sustained their anti-monarchic institutions." Lawyers have frequently been charged with quoting just so much of an instrument as suited their purposes, and politicians may have followed in their wake, at the same time the exclusive honour of such equivocal dealings founded upon the Machiavellian policy, which holds that the end justifies the means, belongs to on particular sect. Whigs and Tories have not escaped the imputation, while Radicals and free-traders, scorning such paltry and inefficient precedents, have been (no doubt unjustly) accused of manufacturing their statistics as they do their goods, bolstering up their statements with figures, which cannot err, as they starch their cotton pieces to give them a fraudulent consistency. To return, however, to our Speaker, it appears that in his Parliamentary career, the boldness of his language and the severity of his deportment must necessarily have excited the ire of the enemies of change, the silent yet sturdy advocates and participators in that corruption which pervaded all the departments of the state, to which stain upon the nation Mr. Foley applied the axe of his cutting eloquence with woodman-like success. While chairman of a committee ap- pointed to inspect the books of the East India Company, he discovered that no less than £80,000 had been abstracted from its funds in the preceding year, and traced the delinquents, and exposed the venality of the Speakers of both Houses of Parliament. With true English feeling he manifested the great- est repugnance to the employment of foreign officers. He said, " It is a great prejudice that English forces should be commanded by foreign officers. This summer there was a mighty great confusion in the English army ; orders were given in Dutch and French to the English, who understood neither Dutch nor French! The general officers were at dinner, when they should have sus- tained our men." And on the miscarriage of our fleet, he boldly said, " We once had great hopes but were become a scorn and contempt to other nations." And when the King refused his assent to the Place Bill, Mr. Foley ihoved, that an humble address be made to the King for a further answer — " The King," he said, " has a great regard to our constitution, but it appears tiot that William III.] paul foley. 399 he understands our constitution, which he may take to be to reject our bills of ever so just grievances." Both Mr. Foley and his son opposed the shame- ful attainder of Sir John Fenwick, and to the credit of our Speaker we must not omit to mention that he was instrumental to the reform of the fees for private bills, the scale of which, according to Hatsell, was readjusted by him. Vernon in one of his letters, writes, " I hear that Tom Foley has been with the King, to desire the Bishop of Bristol might be translated to Worcester, and the King's answer was that he should consider it as much as he and his friends considered any business that related to him." The learned author, whom we have so often cited in the Lires of the Speakers of this century, truly observes, " it were to be wished that more personal anecdotes could be obtained descriptive of the character, &c. ;" and he goes on to observe that, " few can imagine what scanty notices remain, except those who have at- tempted, as in this biography, to visit the neglected, and call to remembrance the forgotten." It is impossible for us to follow our Speaker through the proceedings of the two Parliaments over whose deliberations he presided, but it cannot be doubted that he acted with dignity, for such was his natural inclination, and with much impartiality, considering the virulence of political feelings in the age in which he lived. Mr. Foley married Mary, daughter of John Lane, Esq., an Alderman of the city of London, and dying November 11, 1699, he was buried at Stoke, leaving issue two sons, Thomas and Paul. The younger son, Paul Foley, Esq., barrister at law, married, first, Susannah, daughter of Sir William Mas- singbeard, of Bratost's Hall, in the county of Lincoln, Bart. ; and, secondly, Susannah, daughter of Henry Hoare, of Stourton Castle, Wilts, Esq., and sister to Sir Richard Hoare, Knt., Lord Mayor of London in 1745. Thomas Foley, Esq., the eldest son of our Speaker, was one of the Commissioners for Trade and Plantations in the reign of Queen Anne, and one of the audi- tors of the Imprest, in which place he died at Bath, December 10th, 1737. He married his cousin Anne, daughter and sole heir of Essex Knightley, Esq., of Fawesley, in Northamptonshire, by Sarah his wife, second daughter of -Thomas Foley, Esq., of Whitley, by whom he left issue Thomas Foley, Esq., of Stoke Edith, who had five wives : 1. Hester, daughter of Thomas An- drews, Esq., and by her, who died 1717, had Thomas, his heir, and another son, who died young : 2. Mary, daughter of John Warteis, Esq., by whom he had Robert Foley, D.D., Dean of Worcester: S. Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Wolstenholme, Esq., and by her, who died 1725, had one son, Paul- Jermyn Foley, L.L.D. 4. Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Unit, Esq. ; and, 5. Catherine, daughter of Francis Gwyn, Esq., but by the two last he had no issue. Upon the death of Thomas, second Lord Foley, unmarried, in 1766, the above named Thomas Foley, Esq., of Stoke Edith, the 400 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1698- grandson of our Speaker, became the head of the family, and, succeeding to the immense estates, was elevated to the peerage, as Baron Foley, of Kidderminster, in Worcestershire, by letters patent, bearing date May 20th, 1776. His Lordship married Grace, daughter and heir of George Granville, Lord Lansdown, had issue three sons, and was succeeded by the eldest, Thomas, the second Baron of the new creation, born July 174;2, mar- ried, 1776, the Lady Henrietta Stanhope, fourth daughter of the Earl of Harrington, by the Lady Caroline FitzRoy, eldest daughter of Charles, Duke of Richmond, and left issue an only son, Thomas, the third Baron, who mar- ried, 1780, Lady Cecilia Olivia Geraldine FitzGerald, fifth daughter of Wil- liam Robert, second Duke of Leinster, by whom he had issue Thomas Henry, the present peer, and direct male representative of the subject of this memoir. Arms. — Ar. a fesse engrailed between three cinquefoils within a bordure, sable Crest. — On a wreath, ar. and sa., a lion sejant erect, az. holding between his fore-paws a shield of the family arms. SIR THOMAS LITTLETON, Bart. It would be idle to enter into any discussion as to the high antiquity of the illustrious house of Lyttleton, which has produced some of the most eminent servants of the Crown of these realms, alike remarkable for their chivalrous loyalty and exemplary virtues, their legal attainments, and their political talents. In almost every age from the reign of Henry III., one or two mem- bers of this noble family have been prominently conspicuous in the history of their times ; were it, however, otherwise, surely the pride of man, in its most exalted sense, might be satisfied with a descent from Sir Thomas Lyttleton, the author of the celebrated " Treatise on Tenures," which Lord Coke has characterised " as the ornament of the common law, and the most perfect and absolute work that was ever wrote in any human science." This great lumi- nary of the law was the eldest son of Thomas Westcote, Esq., a gentleman of an ancient Devonshire family, who held a high situation about the person of King Henry VI., by his wife, Elizabeth Luttelton, Lyttelton, or Little- ton, sole heiress of a long line of ancestors, originally seated at South Littel- ton, from which, no doubt, they derived their name, and afterwards at Frankley, both in the county of Worcester. This lady, according to the celebrated Lord Coke, was fair and of noble spirit, and obtained the assent William III.] sir thomas Littleton. 401 of Mr. Westcote, before their marriage, that their issue should continue the name of Lyttelton. This wish, however, was not carried out by all her chil- dren, of whom she bad eight ; some of them continuing the paternal name of Westcote, of whom there were several highly distinguished families. Sir Thomas Lyttleton, the eldest son, whose resplendent abilities and profound knowledge of the law, obtained for him the respect and admiration of the houses of York and Lancaster throughout the progress of the civil wars, as ■the justice of the country could not dispense with his services, jparried Joan, widow of Sir Philip Chetwind, of Ingestree, in Staffordshire, who was a daughter and co-heiress of Sir William Burley, Knt., of Bromscroft Castle, in Shropshire, the celebrated Speaker of the House of Commons in I'iSQ, , the last of a line of illustrious warriors and statesmen, whose rare talents, for the age in which they lived, while they excited the envy of courtiers, and brought misfortunes thick upon their devoted heads, necessarily raised them to the most exalted stations. (See memoir of Sir William Burley.) We may here observe, that the family of Burley is now represented by his lineal descendants. Colonel Gatacre, of Gatacre, and the Right Honourable George William, Baron Lyttelton, of Frankley, co. Worcester, Baron Westcote, of Ballymore, in Ireland, and a Baronet of England, who is also the direct male representative of the great Judge, being descended from Sir William de Lyttelton, of Frankley, Knt., his eldest son, while Richard, his second son, ancestor of the Littletons, of Pillaton Hall, co. Stafford, is now repre- sented in the female line by Edward John Littleton, Baron Hatherton. Thomas of Spetchley, co. Worcester, the third and youngest son, was the direct ancestor of the Lord Keeper Lyttleton, Baron Littleton, of Mounslow, temp. Charles I., and of Sir Adam Littleton, of Stoke Mibburgh, in Shropshire, created Baronet 14th October, 1642, who married Awdrey, daughter and eventually sole heiress of Thomas Poynz, Esq., of North Skyndon, in Essex, whose only son. Sir Thomas Littleton, Bart., having married his cousin Anne, daughter and sole heiress of the before named Edmund, Lord Littleton, of Mounslow, united the two younger branches of the Littletons descending from the Judge. By this marriage Sir Thomas had two sons, the younger of whom is the subject of this memoir. Having, in as brief and hasty a manner as is consistent with the importance of the subject in a genealogical point of view, run through so many genera- tions, without referring to the special services rendered by various members of this noble family to the crown at different periods of the history of this country, and their dreadful sufferings and misfortunes in the cause of loyalty, particularly during the Stuart dynasty, (which we are satisfied would fill a volume of the deepest interest to the historian, as well as to the lovers of incident and romance,) we will trespass no further from the subject of our memoir than in reproducing the following lines, written in letters of gold, as 402 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1698. an epitaph, upon the tomb of two noble knights of this family, who are in- terred in the chancel of the parish church of Penkrich : — " Reader, 'twas thought enough, upon the tomb Of the great captain, th' enemy of Rome, To write no more, but — here lies Hannibal. Let this suffice thee, then, instead of all — Here lye two Knights, the father and the son. Sir Edward, and Sir Edward Littleton." • Detesting, as we do, from our very souls, the obsequious flattery which marks the exaggerated compliments of the old authors towards the magnates of the land, even when history proves them deserving of our execration, in- stead of praise, we may with truth aver, in confirmation of this classical elegy, that, with the single exception of Thomas, second Baron Lyttelton, of Frankley, of the first creation of that Barony, a man of singular wit and ability, who perhaps entered more deeply into the vices and dissipation of his day than was consistent with health or propriety, and thus died a victim of disease and dissipation ; the son, too, be it remembered, of a singularly virtuous and religious parent, the name of Littleton hath ever been as ho- noured as it is honourable, in every sense of the word. The gentleman of whom we are now about to treat was the younger son of the second baronet, who placed him with an eminent merchant, Sir John Moore, Lord Mayor of London, in order that he should become thoroughly acquainted with mercantile affairs, preparatory to his embarking in commerce, his limited fortune not at that time permitting him to indulge in higher aspirations for the advantage of a second son. These views were however speedily changed by the death of his first born, and Mr. Thomas Littleton was sent to Oxford to complete those studies which had been obstructed by his early attention to trade. His natural abilities being great, he soon acquired a knowledge of polite literature, and a thorough acquaintance with general history ; these com- bined with the maxims of economy and a deep insight into the commercial interests of the country which he had studied both theoretically and practically in a great house of business, rendered him important service in his future political career, and brought him into notice at an early age, when he obtained a seat in Parliament, and became a powerful debater. In allusion to his abilities. Lord John Russell in his " History of Europe," says, " He had more than any other person of his time, that command of historical knowledge, and that skill in argument, which are necessary to form an able Speaker of the present day." It would be impossible in a work of this nature, as we have before had occasion to remark, to enter deeply into the political questions which agitated society at the period of their debate, and as we do not profess to give detailed 10 William anb Mary.J sir thomas uttleton. 403 memoirs of the Speakers, ^but merely biographical sketches which may lead others hereafter to more important literary undertakings, we shall pass over as rapidly as possible the events in which Mr. Littleton took an active part prior to his election to the chair. In 1667 he was chairman of the committee which resolved that Lord Clarendon should be impeached of high treason. Upon his conduct in this matter, his opponents of course heaped coals of fire upon his head. In 1668 he was appointed a Commissioner of the Navy, but being turned out in 1675, he joined the opposition. In allusion to Charles the Second's speech from the throne, it was he who first drew the distinction between the respect due personally to the Sovereign and the policy of his ministers, when he constitutionally declared in his place in Parliament, " Here is an answer from the King ; I desire that what is said upon it may be thought to reflect, not upon the King, but upon its authors.'' In 1681, he succeeded to the baronetcy upon the death of his father, and in the same year was again appointed a Commissioner of the Admiralty. It is stated that he was not free from the universal corruption of the times, that he ratted for place, and that he was one of those Whigs who at the same time drew a pension of £500 per annum, from Barillon while procuring a good understanding with the Prince of Orange. Upon the proposition for excluding the Duke of York from the throne being mooted Sir Thomas Littleton moved the House, " That a bill to secure the Protestant religion should be brought in, and consist of the following heads : — That the Duke of York should enjoy the title, but the Prince of Orange exercise the power ; that if a Prince should be in being when it should please God to take our present King, they should have power to sit. That the judges and all other ofiicers of the crown, should be continued till liberty and property were secured ; that if there was no Parliament sitting, one should assemble of course, and that to prevent the Duke's interfering to prevent this, he should by the same act be banished to the distance of five hundred miles from England, not to return as long as the King lived." He stated upon that occasion, that " having no share in the Government, he could speak his mind possibly more freely than those that had — that he proposed the best expedient he could to preserve religion, and quiet the minds of the people," but he added " I am afraid, if we do nothing at all, but let the thing lie loose, we shall gratify the Jesuits on the one hand by our conclusion, and let the commonwealth-men shufile again on the other hand, but if you go into some medium, both these men will be undone." The proposition was a bold one, but it was scouted by the Parliament at Oxford as a mean compromise, who in their wisdom did nothing. Bishop Burnet, in his memoirs, s^ys Sir Thomas Littleton, " was the ablest and vehementest arguer of them all. He commonly lay quiet till the end of a debate : and he often ended it, speaking with a strain of conviction and authority that was not easily resisted. I lived the very next door to him for several years : and we spent a great deal of our time every day together. He D D 404 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. told me all their management: and commonly, when he was to put his whole strength to argue any point, he used to talk it over with me, and to set me to object all that I could against him. He lived wholly in London. So matters were most in his hands during the intervals of Parliament. And by his means it was, that I arrived at such knowledge of their intrigues. He was a wise and worthy man, had studied much modern history, and the present state and interest of Europe." Our Speaker drew a hornet's nest about his ears by his professed antipathy to lawyers, he, being, according to Burnet, the first Speaker who had not been brought up in the legal profession. We doubt the Bishop's accuracy upon this point. There is no evidence to prove that Sir Thomas Hungerford, Sir Peter de la Mare, or Sir John Cheney were lawyers ; Sir John Popham, -who was elected Speaker temp. Henry VI., but was excused serving by rea- son of a broken constitution and the wounds he had received in the wars of King Henry V., we may presume was no lawyer, although knightly prowess must not be taken as a certain proof of military capacity alone, for Sir Walter jBeauchamp, who so greatly distinguished himself at the battle of Agincourt, was not only a soldier, but a lawyer of great eminence, so much so, as to be selected by his relative, the Earl of Warwick, to argue a then highly important case of privilege before the House of Lords, against a no less celebrated lawyer, Roger Hunt, who had also filled the Speaker's chair. We might mention others, such as Sir Walter Hungerford, the son of the first Speaker, and a Speaker himself, summoned to Parliament as Baron Hungerford, for his gallant services in the French wars, whose whole life was passed in the battle field. Sir Richard Waldegrave, ancestor of the Earls Waldegrave and Lord Wenlock, who was slain at the battle of Tewkesbury, we do not believe that either of these noble and gallant knights were educated in the law, for we find no record whatever of the fact, and their continued military occupations are in themselves a sufficient refutation of the loose statement of the good Bishop. Thomas Chaucer, though not esteemed a* lawyer, may nevertheless have studied the laws, in order the better to fit him for diplomacy, in which the greater portion of his life was passed. To return, however, to our Speaker, it must be admitted, that he carried his crude ideas of policy to the utmost verge, for he declared in Parliament that the principle which ever guided his vote was the party from whom the proposition emanated. " I, said he, for my part, have a way how to guide my vote always in the House, which is to vote contrary to what our enemies without doors wish." And in the debates upon the bill for allowing counsel to prisoners in cases of high treason, and .the impeachment of Sir John Fenwick, who had demanded further time to produce his witnesses, he argued in the following strain : — " Here ye shall have cunning lawyers defending an impeachment, I hope .1 shall not degrade your members to argue against lawyers, but when an ROBERT HARLEY. 405 impeachment is by gentlemen of his own quaUty, I think a cause is as well tried without counsel, and I would disagree with the Lords." And again he ohserved that "It may be, the counsel have a mind to have another fee." Upon his election to the chair, December 6th, 1698, he carried it by a majo- rity of 107 over Harley, afterwards Earl of Oxford, and on his presentation he did not fall far short of his predecessors in the complimentary language he addressed to William. " As the King (he observed) had done many impos- sibilities, he might do another in enabling him to discharge the place." Sir Thomas occupied the Speaker's chair for two years, during which period he suffered much from bodily infirmity, and was sometimes unable to attend to the duties of his office. At last the King, disgusted with the opposition he experienced from the Commons, dissolved the Parliament and commanded Sir Thomas Lyttleton to give way to Mr. Harley, which he did in the next Parliament, and thus secured himself the comfortable berth of Treasurer of the Navy, which he held till his death, January 1st, 1709-10. Mackey describes him as " a stern-looked man, of a brown complexion, well shaped." Sir Thomas married Ann, daughter of Benjamin Baun, Esq. of West- wate, in Gloucestershire. By dying without issue the baronetcy became extinct. Arms. — Arg. a chevron between three escallop shells, sa. ROBERT HARLEY. This distinguished statesman was born the 5th December, 1661^, and was the eldest son of Colonel Sir Edward Harley, M.P. for the county of Here- ford, in the Parliament of the Restoration, and afterwards Governor of Dun- kirk, by Mary, his wife, daughter of Sir William Batton, of Parkgate, and grandson of Sir Robert Harley, K.B., M.P. for Hereford, who was removed from his office of Master of the Mint, to which he had been appointed by Kino- Charles I., with a pension of £4000 per annum, in consequence of his re- fusal, after the execution of that monarch, to coin with the new die. The Harleys trace their descent to a very remote period ; and the great house of Harlai in France, deduces its origin from the English family, which is the parent stock. One of the direct ancestors of this noble house. Sir Robert de Harley, married Margaret, eldest daughter, and co-heiress with her sister, Elizabeth (wife of Sir Richard de Cornwall, son of Richard, Earl of Corn- wall, King of the Romans, and brother to King Henry III,), of Sir Bryan de D D 2 406 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1701, Brampton, by which marriage he acquired a great estate, and the seat of Brampton Castle, which has ever since continued to be the chief residence of his descendants. In the troubles of the seventeenth century, the Harleys sided with the Presbyterians ; and, indeed, that party looked up to them as one of their chief supports. They fought also on the Parliamentary side, at the com- mencement of the civil war, but deserted it in favour of royalty as soon as the King was reduced to extremities, and subsequently took an active part in bringing about the restoration. Mr. Harley sat for Tregony immediately after the revolution, and again for Radnor, professing the principles of his family. At last he joined the opposite party, and soon became one of the most eloquent debaters under the Tory administration of Rochester and Go- dolphin. In the Parliament which met in February, 1701, he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons, and in the next Parliament, in Decem- ber, he was again elected to the chair. Upon the accession of Queen Anne, he was a third time chosen by the Commons to preside over their delibera- tions, in October, 1702, and retained the office until April, 1704, some time after he had been appointed Secretary of State. It has been stated that he owed his promotion to this important station to Miss Abigail Hill, a cousin of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough. This lady was the daughter of Francis Hill, Esq., a Turkey merchant (related to the Harleys), who had married a near relation of the Duchess, and was introduced by her to Queen Anne, when she soon supplanted her benefactress in the royal favour. Miss Hill fell in love with Mr. Samuel Masham, one of the royal pages, and, through the instrumentality of her cousin, Robert Harley, a marriage was brought about between these parties, which, according to the scandal-mongers of the day, was the cause of Mrs. Masham's exerting her influence in promoting the rise of this eminent man. There is no doubt that Harley op- posed the Duchess's party in every way from this period, and that he and Mrs. Masham appeared to act in concert, a fact which induced the Duchess of Marlborough to turn her attention towards the Whigs, a line of policy which was favoured by circumstances. In the Parliament which met in October, 1705, the strength of the Whigs had increased greatly, and two im- portant personages were introduced into the cabinet, William Cowper, after- wards Lord Cowper, the Ciiancellor, and Charles, Earl of Sunderland, the son-in-law of the Duke of Marlborough, who was appointed one of the Secretaries of State. Another circumstance which tended to the complete overthrow of Mr. Harley, was the conviction of a Mr. Gregg, one of his clerks, for carrying on a treasonable correspondence with France. Gregg was executed, and in his dying moments entirely exculpated our Speaker from any participation in, or knowledge of, the crime for which he suffered ; but his enemies made it the handle with which to work his ruin, and through 1 Q.UEEN Anne.] robert harley. 407 its instrumentality, draw down upon him the public odium and suspicion. Harley and Bolinbroke resigned, against the wishes of the Queen, who would have retained the former, notwithstanding the threats of the great Duke of Marlborough to retire from her service unless she dismissed this now un- popular minister, and he remained out of office for two years and a half, at the end of which time the Whig government worked its own downfall by its imbecility and imprudence, assisted, as it is asserted, by the intrigues of Harley and Mrs. Masham. Godolphin was dismissed in August, 1710, and Harley was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer. A new administration being formed, a new Parliament was summoned, and on their meeting, they sanctioned the arrangement, the tables having been so completely turned against the Whigs, that they had become more hateful in public opinion than their successors had ever been, in the worst periods of political excite- ment. It is a remarkable proof of their unpopularity, that not more than 100 Whigs were returned to this Parliament, throughout England, and to the end of Queen Anne's reign, Mrs. Masham continued in her confidence, to the entire exclusion of the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, and the whole of their friends. But not so the subject of our memoir, for the in- triguing Bolinbroke wormed him out of the friendship of Mr. Masham, a bad feeling having bepn excited in his mind against his quondam friend ever since^the affair of the soi disant Marquis de Guiscard, an Abbe and a Jesuit, a younger brother to the French Count de Guiscard, who on his examination in the cockpit, on a charge of high treason, suddenly plunged his pen-knife into the minister. Harley 's wound may have been but slight ; but even at this dis- tance of time, such is the force of political rancour. Whig authors endeavour to make out that it was a mere scratch, and that Harley kept his bed, and pretended severe illness, as a stepping-stone to his ambitious views ; and as to Mrs. Masham's enmity to him, it is well known that Harley, in the dis- charge of a public duty, refused to sanction a pension to her of£1500 per annum. On the 24th May, 1711, the 10th of Queen Anne, the Right Honourable Robert Harley was elevated to the peerage, by the titles of Baron Harley, of Wigmore, co. Hereford, Earl of Oxford, and Earl of Mortimer, with remainder in default of issue male, to the heirs male of his grandfather. Sir Robert Harley, K.B., to whom we have before alluded, and in the same month he was appointed Lord High Treasurer of England. On the 10th June, 1715, 2nd George I., his Lordship was impeached by the Commons of high treason, and committed to the Tower by the House of Lords, where he remained in confinement until the 1st July, 1717, when he was acquitted, after a public trial by his Peers. The life of this noble Lord, abounding as it did in inci- dents and events of the highest historical interest, would fill a folio volume ; we do not pretend, in a work of this nature, even to the character of biogra- 408 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1705. phers, and in this instance shall not attempt to offer any opinion of our own upon the merits of our Speaker, as all our eulogy would sink into insignifi- cance when compared with the memorable lines of Pope, who has heralded forth his praise by the trumpet of everlasting fame in these lines : — " A soul supreme, in each hard instance tried, Above all pain, all anger, and all pride. The rage of power, the blast of public breath, The lust of lucre, and the dread of death." The Earl married, 1, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Foley, Esq., of Whitley Court, co. Worcester, ancestor of the Lords Foley, by whom he had Edward, his successor, Abigail, married to George, Earl of Kin- noul, and Elizabeth, married to Peregrine, Duke of Leeds; but by his second marriage, with Sarah, daughter of Thomas Middleton, Esq., he had no issue. This celebrated statesman died on the 21st May, 1724, and was succeeded by his son Edward, second Earl, by whose researches the literature of this country has been greatly benefited, and many of the darkest points of history cleared up, by means of the celebrated collection known as the Harleian Mis- cellany, purchased by Parliament from his widow. Lady Catherine Holies, daughter and heiress of John Holies, last Duke of Newcastle of that name, in 1754, and deposited in the British Museum., This noble and erudite Lord dying without issue, the title and estates devolved, according to the limitation in the patent, upon Edward Harley, Esq., M.P. for Hereford. (See Burke's Peerage and Baronetage). Arms. — Or. a bend, cottised, sa. Crest. — A castle, triple-towered, ar., out of the middle tower a demi lion, issuant, gu. Supporters. — Two angels, ppu., the habits and wings displayed, or. ilfo«o.— Virtute et fide. JOHN SMITH, Esq. The Right Hon. John Smith, the first Speaker of the Commons of Great Britain, was a gentleman of an ancient and highly respectable Hampshire family, where he possessed a good estate. Of his early life we know little, until his appearance in the political arena, where he attached himself at once to the Whig party, by whose principles his conduct was ever after guided. 4 Queen Anne. J john smith. 409 In the Convention Parliament he was the leading whipper-in of his party — which has been described as " either professed and open dissenters, or the more dangerous church fanatics, who keep in our communion no otherwise than as spies, who ridicule us, and do us all the ill offices that are in their power. Of such principles, adds the pamphleteer, in his ' Querela Tem- porum,' " most iniquitous to the church, are the Attorney and Solicitor Generals, and almost all the King's counsel, as Williams and Hawles, and with Russell are joined in the commission of the Admiralty, rigid fanatics. Such are Montague and Smith, two of the Lords Commissioners for the Trea- sury, indefatigable sticklers for the Whig party." It is, however, stated upon good authority, that Mr. Smith had filled several high offices to the entire satisfaction of the government and the public service in the preceding reign, and Burnet, a partizan it is true, thus writes of him. — "The Parliament of England met in the end of October. The first struggle was about the choice of a Speaker, by which a judgment was to be made of the temper and incli- nations of the members. The court declared for Mr. Smith ; he was a man of clear parts, and of a good expression : he was then in no employment, but he had gone through great posts in the former reign, with reputation and honour. He had been a Commissioner of the Treasury, and Chancellor of the Exchequer ; he had from his first setting out in the world, been tho- roughly in the principles and interests of the Whigs, — yet with a due temper in all personal things, with relation to the Tories; but they all declared against him for Mr. Bromley, a man of a grave deportment, and good morals, but looked upon as a violent Tory, and as a great favourer of Jacobites ; which appeared evidently in a relation he printed of his travels — no matter of that sort had ever been carried with such heat on both sides as that was." Burnet is not wrong in his main facts, but as his partiality and party pre- /judices greatly impair his political inferences, we shall take the liberty to give the matter as we find it recorded in the history of the times which were not exclusively Burnet's own. Upon the retirement of Mr. Harley, the Whigs determined to propose Mr. Smith as a candidate for the chair. Coxe, in his " Life of Sir R. Walpole," quotes a letter from Spencer Compton, in which he says — " Lord Hartington continues ill of the gout, and Mr. Smith has a defluxion in his eyes, and if Mr, Walpole should be absent, the poor Whigs must lose any advantage that may ofier, for want of a leader." Notwithstand- ing this faintheartedness on the part of one who looked upon himself as a leader they, were destined to be triumphant, for Mr. Smith carried his election over Mr. Bromley, the Court and Tory candidate, by a majority of 43 — the numbers being for Smith, 248 — for Bromley, 205. We are told that no previous election for the chair had ever been disputed with greater warmth on both sides, and Evelyn says — " There had never been so great an 410 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKEK 1705. assembly of members on the first day of sitting, being more than 450. The votes both of the old as well as the new fell to those called Lovf Church- men, contrary to all expectation." The strong opposition manifested at Mr. Smith's election to the chair might naturally have led to the expectation of a more than ordinary strug- gle in the conduct of public affairs, but the splendid military successes of the great Duke changed the aspect of affairs and induced the House to grant all necessary supplies with unprecedented speed. On the presentation of the money bills to the Queen, the Parliamentary History informs us Mr. Smith observed — " That as the glorious victory obtained by the Duke of Marlborough at Ramilies, was so surprising, that the battle was fought before it could be thought the armies were in the field: so it was no less surprising that the Commons had granted supplies to her Majesty, before her enemies could well know that her Parliament was sitting.'' In the violence of party spirit which so often disturbed the domestic hearth in those days of disafiec- tion to the throne, when the Jacobite minority was at least composed of some of the most exalted and influential of the aristocracy of birth and wealth, it is not extraordinary to find a man's conduct and abilities lauded to the echo by one party and ridiculed and condemned by the other. Satire was the easiest vehicle with which to assail a political rival, thus we are told in reference to our Speaker : " He may serve for one of his Grace of Canter- bury's watermen, for to look one way and row another is their business : an Englishman with a Scotch heart, an Irish pair of heels, and a Spanish countenance. He goes to church, because the Queen does. He is a state Hermaphrodite — an ambidexter — Jacob Tonson, with his two left legs, makes not such an awkward figure as he does." On the other hand, Mackey writes that Smith, " a gentleman of a good estate in Hampshire, made a very considerable figure in the House of Commons all King William's reign, was a Lord of the Treasury, and Exchequer, but on impeaching, the par- tition, quitted his employment. On the Queen's accession to the throne, he was continued a Privy Councillor, and often called. He is a gentle- man of much honour, a lover of the constitution of his country, a very agree- able companion in conversation, a bold orator in the House of Commons when the interest of his country is at stake, of a good address, middle stature, fair complexion, turned of fifty years old." Mr. Smith was one of the Commissioners in the treaty of union with Scot- land, and executed the same, his signature, as usual in such solemn matters requiring the sanction of Parliament, immediately follows those of the Peers, and he had the honour to be the first Speaker of the Commons of Great Britain, an oflSce, however, which he shortly after, 1st Nov. 1708, resigned in favour of his political ally. Sir Richard Onslow, although he afterwards sat in Parliament for several sessions. 4 Queen Anne. J john smith. 41 1 In 1.709, he was made Chancellor of the Exchequer, having been returned to Parliament for the borough of Andover, ;md was one of the managers of Sacheverell's impeachment, which brought the Whigs into general disgrace, and produced their entire overthrow. Mr. Smith, however, secured the good retiring office of one of the Tellers of the Exche{)uer, and held it for many years. To the credit of Mr. Smith, it must be admitted that he was perfectly con- sistent throughout his whole political career, never swerving from that line of policy and those principles which he had imbibed in the infancy of his poli- tical existence. He has been greatly condemned, and we think, with reason, for the conduct he pursued on Sir John Fenwick's attainder ; and a learned and very able author stigmatizes the course he adopted in very strong terms. He says Mr. Smith was " a thorough paced and useftd partizan, indifferently honest, and would have left an unstained name in political annals but for his speeches in favour of Sir John Fenwick's attainder, a cruel and unjust pro- ceeding, defended by no state necessity, and for which few will believe that Mr. Smith did "heartily," as he states, and "according to his conscience, vote ;" and Mr. Townsend adds, in a spirit of real Christianity and true philosophy, with which we heartily concur, " the Christian reader will reject with scorn his patent sophism, that there have been extraordinary things done even by God himself, for the preserving a community," for if presumptuous man might draw his own fancied analogies from the counsels of the Inscrutable in his peculiar Jewish theocracy, to what crime and profaneness would his dar- ing precedents lead ! to which we may add that Mr. Smith's views upon this occasion were manifestly opposed to the great and beautiful principle, that "the God of Justice sanctions no evil in a step towards good." In reviewing the conduct of public men of the period in which Mr. Smith flourished, few of them, notwithstanding this lapse, can be said to have sustained a fairer character throughout their whole political career than the subject of this me- moir. Of the eight preceding Speakers only one had entirely escaped the charge of corruption, the venality of several had been legally proved, while accusations of a more serious nature and too well founded for their reputation continue to this day to brand the memories of others. It is said that the odium which the impeachment of Sacheverell brought upon the Whigs, enabled the Queen to free herself from a ministry, to which she had ever entertained a peculiar aversion. Swift recounts that a letter was sent to the Lord Treasurer (Lord Godolphin), by a groom of the Queen's stables (no doubt to add to the insult), to desire he would break his staff of office, and that the Chancellor of the Exchequer happening to come in Lord Godolphin broke his staff and flung the pieces into the chimney, desiring Mr. Smith to be a witness that he had obeyed her Majesty's commands. Mr. Smith's party had intended to propose him again for the chair in the new 412 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 170Si parliament, but as it had dwindled down to a most insignificant minority owing to the cry of the "Church in danger," the idea was given up. Mr. Smith retained his office of one of the Tellers of the Exchequer for many years, and in 1713, informed the House " that the debts of the civil list, then stated at £400,000, had not amounted to half that sum two months before the estimates were made. The deficiency had arisen from the payment of arrears due to the Queen Dowager, and from the excess of secret service money." This curious revelation on the part of a Whig subaltern, under a high-flying Tory government could not, as Mr. Townsend observes, escape Swift's sarcastic notice, and is amusingly glanced at in Toland's Invitation to Dismal (Lord Nottingham), in 1712. " Wine can clear up Godolphin's clondy face, And fill Jack Smith with hopes to keep his place.'' "Which he did until the accession of George I., when the return of his party to office rendered the tenure of his place perfectly secure. Mr. Smith joined Walpole in dpposition to the Stanhope Cabinet in 1717, and in 1722, opposed the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act for one year, as well as the proposal for closing for the future the House of Lords against Commoners. Our Speaker left an only son. Captain William Smith, who died without issue, leaving his estates to his nephew and heir, Thomas Asheton, Esq., of Ashley, co. Chester, who assumed the name of Smith, and was the father of Thomas Smith, Esq., who died 12th May, 1828, leaving an only son, Thomas Assheton Smith, Esq., of Tedworth, Hants, M.P. for Carnarvon, who is the representative of our Speaker. Mary, one of the daughters of Mr. Smith, married the Hon. Robert Sawyer Herbert, second son of Thomas, eighth Earl of Pembroke, by Margaret, his wife, only daughter and heir of Sir Robert Sawyer, Knt., of Highcleer, co. Southampton, Attorney General to Charles II., and Speaker of the House of Commons ; and this was probably the per- son who is cited by Mr. Townsend from the Sufiblk correspondence, as the Hon. Mrs. Smith, one of the ladies of the bed-chamber to Queen Caroline. Arms. — Quarterly, Smith and Assheton. SIR RICHARD ONSLOW, Bart. The subject of our memoir was the direct male descendant of Richard Onslow, Solicitor General and Speaker of the House of Commons in the 8th of Elizabeth, whose biographical sketch we have already given ; and grandson of Sir Richard Onslow, a member of the Long Parliament, who, although for 7 Q.UEEN AnNE.J sir RICHARD ONSLOW. 413 a time suspected of favouring the royal cause, was afterwards, with Lenthall, Hobart, Monk, and others, one of Cromwell's peers, and took a very dis- tinguished and prominent part in the great political events of his day, having in a very remarkable speech, full of learned subtlety, vainly endeavoured to persuade Cromwell to assume the title of king, although the project was far from distasteful to that wily usurper, whose sound policy, however, prevailed over his ambition. The subject of our memoir was the eldest son of Sir Arthur Onslow, Bart., M.P. for Bramber, temp. Charles I., and for Surrey during the Protectorate, by Mary, daughter and coheir of Sir Thomas Foot, Knt. and Bart., Alderman of London, and was born in 1654. At an early age he sat in Parliament, having been a member of the Convention of 1688, and in 1708, representing the county of Surrey, he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. Many years of his life had been passed in the conduct of public affairs, during which he had filled several important offices to the entire satisfaction of the Whigs, in whose cause he was eminently zealous, enjoying also the confidence of King William. He was well ac- quainted with all the forms and usages of Parliament, from his long experience in the House, and was frequently appointed chairman of its committees. In a work of this nature it would be impossible to detail all the measures in which our Speaker was even particularly concerned, and there is, as may well be imagined, conflicting evidence as to his ability in the discharge of his high office, the Whigs lauding him to the skies, the Tories detracting as much as possible from his merits. Burnet says, " He was chosen Speaker without the least opposition ; he was a worthy man, entirely zealous for the government; he was very acceptable to the Whigs, and the Tories felt that they had so little strength in this Parliament, that they resolved to be silent, and to wait for such advantages as the circumstances of affairs might give them." Lord Dartmouth, on the other hand, a political adversary, it is true, says, " He was a very trifling, vain man, of a ridiculous figure, full of party zeal, by which he expected to go shares in the company's merits, though he brought little to the common stock, besides being descended from one of Ohver's lords, which introduced him at last into the House of Lords, not- withstanding the contemptible denomination of " Stiff Dick," usually given him by the whole set, except by Bishop Burnet and a few zealous nonconform- ists, who looked upon him as a man greatly gifted." In the absence of strong party feeling, and, above all, of the cause which rendered it the more peculiarly virulent, we may draw the just line of demar- cation, and readily concede that Sir Richard Onslow was, if not a man of first-rate talents, at least one of considerable knowledge and ability, perfectly competent to discharge the duties of his office with a dignity that was natural to him, not free, however, from the partiality that was inseparable from the spirit of the age in which he lived, for unfortunately the Speakers were still 414 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS; [SpEAKEK 1708. the tools of the government in esse. It is said that our Speaker was of an irascible temper, and that in one or two instances the House was compelled to interfere, particularly between him and the proud Sir Edward Seymour, who had formerly filled the chair. Lord Shaftesbury alludes to the event as foMows, in one of his letters dated November, 1708. " The late Speaker beset the new one ; and he will have, I fear, a hard task, if this be not an easy session, as our great news and glorious success abroad is like to make it." Sir Richard Onslow was so great a stickler for forms, that Hatsell relates, upon the authority of the celebrated Arthur Onslow, that " When the Speaker, Sir Richard Onslow, went up with the House to demand judgment against Dr. Sacheverell, as the mace was going into the House of Lords before the Speaker, the black rod endeavoured to hinder it, by putting his black rod before the door ; on which the Speaker said, ' If he did not immediately take away the black rod, he would return to the House of Commons.' The black rod desired him to stay a little, and he would acquaint the Lords. The door was shut, and Mr. Speaker and the House staid without. After a little time the door was opened, and Mr. Speaker with the mace went in. As Mr. Speaker was going to the bar, the black rod attempted to interpose himself between the Speaker and the mace; upon which the Speaker said aloud, ' My Lords, if you do not immediately order your black rod to go away, I will immediately return to the House of Commons.'^ The Lord Chancellor, Cowper, directed the black rod to go from thence. Then Mr. Speaker, with the mace, went up to the bar. The black rod was then ordered to bring the prisoner, and the black rod was going to put him on the right hand of Mr. Speaker, who upon that said, ' If you don't order the black rod to go with the prisoner on the left hand of me, at some distance, I will return to the House of Commons.' Upon which the Lord Chancellor directed the black rod to do so, and then Mr. Speaker demanded the judgment, and the Lord Chan- cellor accordingly pronounced sentence upon the prisoner kneeling at the bar." A short time after the death of Prince George of Denmark, our Speaker addressed her Majesty, on the part of the House of Commons, in the follow- ing strain : — " Being truly and deeply sensible of the many and great blessings we have enjoyed during the whole course of your Majesty's most glorious reign, we ■do most humbly conceive we should be inexcusably wanting to ourselves and the whole kingdom, if we should neglect to use our most zealous endeavours that those blessings may be derived down to future ages ; and, therefore, with hearts full of the most profound respect and duty to your royal person, we most humbly beseech your Majesty graciously to consider the universal de- sires and most humble supplications of yotir faithful subjects, that your Ma- 7 QxTEEN Anne. J sir richard onslow. 415 jesty would not so far indulge your just grief as to decline tlie thoughts of a second marriage. This would be an unspeakable joy to your people, who would join their most fervent prayers to Almighty God to bless your Majesty with royal issue ; all of them concurring in this opinion, — that no greater Jiappiness can be desired for your kingdoms than that they and their children may long continue under the gentle and gracious government of your Majesty and your posterity." Anne answered this fulsome address in a dignified and suitable style, acknow- ledging the frequent marks of duty and affection she had received from both Houses of Parliament ; and after observing that, the provision she had made for the Protestant succession was a proof how much she had at heart the future happiness of the kingdom, she concluded, " The subject of your address is of such a nature that I am persuaded you do not expect a particular answer," a gentle tone of irony, which evinced both the sincferity of her grief for the recent loss of her husband, and the indecency as well as absurdity of their request, that a woman nearly fi.fty years old should marry again to perpetuate (her succession. We have, in preceding memoirs, had occasion to advert to ithe many causes which conspired for the overthrow of the Whigs, not the least •of which was the ridiculous impeachment of Dr. Sacheverell, and at the general ■election in 1710, Sir Richard Onslow was thrown out for Surrey, which according to more recent Parliamentary language, had long been considered as a rotten borough in the hands of the Onslow family. This unexpected reverse of political fortune affected him deeply for a time, but we find him afterwards in the foremost rank of opposition, and upon the Queen's illness, which soon terminated fatally, he was sent to Flanders to hasten the return of the Duke of Marlborough ; and when, after her death the tory Secretary Bromley moved an address of condolence. Sir Richard Onslow observed " That the form of the address ought to consist not in condolence only, but in congratulation, and in assuring the King of their firm resolution to support his undoubted title to the crown." For this proof of his zealous devotion to the Hanoverian interest he was-- made a Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer shortly after the arrival of George I., which offices together with others of minor import he resio-ned in 1715, in consequence of his increasing infirmities, although at this period only sixty- one years of age, when as a further reward for his services he received the appointment of one of the Tellers of the Exchequer for life, and in the following year was created a peer by the title of Baron Onslow, in the county of Salop. Lord Onslow married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Henry Tulse, Knt., Lord Mayor of London ; and dying 5th December, 1717, was succeeded by his son Thomas, as second Baron, a nobleman of distinguished talent, and a very successful debater, who married Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Knight, Esq., of Jamaica, with whom his lordship obtained a 416 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKER I7l0. considerable fortune. By this marriage Lord Onslow had an only son, Richard, who succeeded as third Baron, at whose demise without issue in 1776, the family honours were transmitted to his cousin George, the son of the cele- brated Speaker Arthur Onslow, who had been called to the Upper House in the same year as Baron Cranley. Arms. — Ar. a fesse gu. between six Cornish choughs, ppr. THE RIGHT HON. WILLIAM BROMLEY. The subject of our present biographical sketch was a gentleman of illus- trious ancestry, the lineal male descendant and representative of the eldest branch of a family of warriors, lawyers, and statesmen, whose names adorn the pages of history. We are, however, spared the trouble of recounting their eminent services to their country, they stand upon record, we have only to reproduce them from a higher authority, the pen of William Dugdale, who in his " History and Antiquities of Warwickshire," gives the following ac- count of Baginton and the family by whom it was at that period possessed. " Baginton" — (he writes) — "was purchased 16th January, by William Bromley, Esq., descended from Sir Walter Bromley of Bromley, co. Stafford, Knight temp. K. John — whose family hath for many ages flourisht in the counties of Stafford, Salop, and Chester and lineall heir male to the sometime famous Sir John Bromley, who in 4. Hen. 5. recovering the standard of Guyen, in that memorable battle of Corby, then gained by the French, in a fierce charge on that army, which Hugh Stafford, Lord Bourchier (his near kinsman) then commanded, had for that eminent service, not only the dignity of knighthood conferred upon him, but lands of great value in the Dutchy of Normandy, with offices of speciall power and trust in those parts ; as also an augmenta- tion to his arms ; viz., the same standard of Guyen for his crest. To which succeeded Sir John, his son and heir ; who by his first wife leaving none but female issue, amongst whom, by reason of a speciall entail, a large inheritance was shared, afterwards wedded M., daughter of Ric. Widvile E. of Rivers, by Jaquet Duchess of Bedford (a branch of the Imperiall family of Luxemburgh, and great-grand-child to K. Edw. 3. by the Princess Isabell his eldest daughter) and by her had issue Thomas ; whose direct heir male is William Bromley, Esq. (son of the before-specified William) now Lord of this Manoiir, a person whose speciall endowments do shew, that he hath not degenerated from such his worthy ancestors, to whom I have dedicated the map of this hundred, whereof he is so great an ornament, as by his anus therein graven, with that 9 QoEEN Anne, J william bromley. 417 honorary crest before-mentioned, which hath been borne by them ever since, may be seen. This last mentioned William was in arms for King Charles I. of blessed memory, and suiFering much imprisonments and sequestrations for his loyalty, during the great rebellion and usurpation, was made one of the Knights of the Honourable Order of the Bath, at the coronation of King Charles II. He wedded Ursula, daughter of Thomas, Lord Leigh of Stoneley, whose son William Bromley is now Lord of the Manor, whose speciall endow- ments do shew, that he also hath not degenerated from his worthy ancestors. He has been twice one of the knights of the shire for this county in Parlia- ment, and has been nine times elected one of the burgesses for the University of Oxon. He was several times in the reigns of King William III. and Queen Anne, appointed by Parliament one of the Commissioners for taking, examin- ing, and stating the public accounts of the kingdom. In the ninth year of •Queen Anne's reign, he was Speaker of the House of Commons, and one of her Majesty's most honourable privy council; and after the dissolution of that Parliament, he was one of her Majesty's principal Secretaries of State. By his present Lady Elizabeth, second daughter of Ralph, Lord Stawall, he hath issue now living two sons, William and Francis, and two daughters, Elizabeth and Anne." Dugdale concludes his account of Baginton by deploring the loss of the old manor house in consequence of a lamentable fire which occurred there on St. Thomas's day, 1706, which destroyed at the same time, " the furniture, a large liberary of books and MSS., with most of the writings belonging to the faipily." And he pays a well merited compliment to our Speaker for the handsome manner in which he recognised a paper found, as the true copy of a deed executed by his ancestor, securing certain lands to the rector for the time being, for the benefit of the incumbent and the poor of the parish, and taking immediate steps fully to perpetuate the intentions of the lost instru- ment. And he concludes by observing, " near where the house that was burnt, he has erected an elegant pile of building." In order the more fully to bear out the statement with which we commenced in reference to the genealogical consideration of this eminent family, we will refer to the Rev. Mr. Blakeway's admirable work, " The Sheriffs of Shrop- shire" in which he gives a further account o.f the different branches of the Bromleys, which must be read with interest by all Who attach any importance to ancestral records. The following extract from Mr. Blakeway's account of George Bromley, one of the Sheriffs of Salop, shews the unquestionable connection of the various branches of this transcendantly eminent family. He says — ".George Bromley, of Hawkestone, in the parish of Hodnet, was son of William JBromley, of the same place, by Beatrice, daughter of Humphrey Hill, and was tenth in descent from Sir Walter de Bromley, of Bromley, in Staffordshire, 418 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1710. and of the same family with William de Bromley, the deputy sheriff in 1229. He was himself a member of the council of Wales, and by his eldest son Sir George Bromley, Chief Justice of Chester, and Custos Rotulorum of Shrop- shire (seated at Hallon, near Worfield, by marrying the heiress of Waverton) was grandfather of Sir Edward Bromley of Shiffnal Grange, Baron of the Exchequer, and great-grandfather of Jane, wife of William Davenport, an- cester of the Davenports of Hallon and Davenport House. Sir Thomas Bromley, second son of the present sheriff, arrived at the dignity of Lord High Chancellor of England, and was father of Sir Henry Bromley of Shrawardine Castle, in this county, and Holt Castle, in Worcestershire, whose descendant in the fifth degree, Mercy Bromley, married her namesake, perhaps her rela- tion, John Bromley of Horseheath, in Cambridgeshire, grandfather of Henry Bromley, created Baron Montford, or as he chose to write it, Montfort, near Shrawardine, grandfather of the'present (1820) Lord Montfort. Sir Thomas Bromley of Eyten-upon-Severn, cousin german of the present sheriff was Lord Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench, in 1553, and one of the Exors. of King Henry VIII. and (by a daughter of Richard Lyster, Esq. of Rowton) father of an heiress from whom the Newports, Earls of Bradford, derived Eyten and their other estates in this neighbourhood. So singular a constellation of luminaries of the law in one family and in the course of three generations, may excuse (it is hoped) this little digression." (Vide 1643.) Mr. Blakeway concludes by informing us that the portraits of these distin- guished lawyers are now in the possession of William Sherington Davenport, Esq. of Davenport House, a descendant and representative of one of the branches of this illustrious family. Wood in his " Athense Oxoniensis," says, in his usually quaint manner, •carried however in this instance to eccentricity, " William Bromley, eldest son of Sir William Bromley, Knight of the Bath, of Bagenton, in Warwickshire, became a gent, commoner of Ch. Ch. under the tuition of Mr. John Old, matric. in East, term, an. 1679, aged fifteen, admitted bach, of arts, 5, July 1681, went home and married, buried his wife, travel'd, was at Rome in 1688, and heard there of the Prince of Orange's invasion before it was heard of in England, chose knight for Warwickshire for that Parliament that met at Westm. 26th March, 1689. He hath written * Remarks on the Grande Tour of France and Italy,' Lond., 1692, Oct, pub. in the latter end of 1691." Having thus introduced Mr. Bromley and hispretensions on the score of high position and family consideration to thenoticeof the reader, we will endeavour as cursorily as possible, to give some idea of his political career. We have before had occasion to remark upon the rancour of parties at the period in question, and Mr. Bromley experienced its effects at the commencement of his political life. The little work mentioned by Wood, entitled " Remarks on the Grande Tour 9 Queen Anne.] william bromley. 419 of France andltaly, lately performed by a person of quality, 1692," had no sooner made its appearance than it was attacked with an acerbity altogether unjustifiable, although in those times of party strife and political' animosities, every thing that could cast a shade of ridicule upon one whose declared senti- ments placed him in the ranks of his opponents was deemed fair game. Suffi- cient might possibly be collected from this little book to prove Mr. Bromley's youthful predelictions in favour of Toryism and the high church party ; a latent feeling of loyalty and attachment to the ancient dynasty might also be inferred from the manner in which he writes of the exiled family and the reigning Sove- reign, but there was nothing to aSect his genuine Protestantism, and upon the whole the production was perfectly harmless, truthful and even liberal in its sentiments, although it was made the source of much annoyance to its author. Upon the subject of the ballot he writes, " In the Doge's palace, at Genoa, I observed their balloting boxes, an excellent method for freedom in voting, being impossible the suffrage of any particular person should be known. Every body has a ball like a white thread button given to him, and putting his hand with it into the common mouth of the box, can, without discovery, cast his ball on either side the partition that is made in the box ; the one half is coloured with or., and the other argent ; this negative, and that affirmative." Speaking of the scala sancta, or holy steps in the Church of St. John de Lateran, at Rome, Mr. Bromley says, " They are of white marble ; on one of them, it is generally believed, some of our Saviour's blood dropped after his scourging ; it is covered vyith a brass grate, through which a hole is wore in the step by devout rubbing of beads, &c., but no stain that I could perceive, though the Roman Catholics saw it plainly ! " He goes on to observe that " All go up them on their knees, and the devout say an ' Ave Maria,' and kiss each step." Mr. Bromley tells us that Cardinal Howard admitted they were not the true stairs which our Lord went up into the judgment hall, but that being generally believed, it would be a pity to undeceive the people, whose devotion was so commendable. In another place, Mr. Bromley says, " In the evening I was admitted to the honour of kissing the pope's slipper ; who, though he knew me to be a Pro- testant, gave me his blessing, and said nothing about religion." " In the gallery at Florence, among the pictures, but not by the first hands, are our King Charles II. and his queen ; King James and his queen ; and the Prince and Princess of Orange." The grave offences he committed in receiving the pope's blessing, and omit- ting to give the regal style to William and Mary, brought a hornet's nest about his ears, and he was induced to withdraw the remaining copies from the bookseller's hands shortly after publication, but his enemies brought out a second spurious edition, to which they added in satire, " a title of the prin- cipal matters contained in this book : — E E 420 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1710. " Bologne, the first city on the French shore, lies on the coast. " Crosses and crucifixes on the road in France, prove it not England. " Eight pictures take up less room than sixteen of the same size. " How asses are received and entertained at the villas near Marseilles. " February an ill season to see a garden in. " Forty coaches vyaiting at a church door. " The author cannot perceive the stains of five drops of blood that fell from a picture of the Virgin Mary, which was wounded in the eye by an unlucky boy. " The author kissed the pope's slipper, and had his blessing, though known to be a Protestant, but not a word of religion, &c. &c." Bromley's own copy of this edition, collected by the learned Dr. Parr, con- tained the following observations on the fly-leaf, in the handwriting of the author. "This edition of these travels, is a specimen of the good nature and good manners of the whigs, and, I have reason to believe, of one of the ministry, very conversant in this sort of calumny, for the sake of publishing the title of the principal matters, &c. to expose me, whom the gentlemen of the Church of England designed to be Speaker of the House of Commons, in the Parliament that met October 25, 1705. When, notwithstanding the whigs and court joining to keep me out of the chair, and the great violence towards the members, turning out some and threatening others, to influence their votes, I had the honour (and I shall ever esteem it a greater honour than my competitors' success) to have the suflrages of 205 disinterested gentlemen for me ; such a number as never lost such a question before, and such as, vrith the addition of those that by force, and contrary to their inclinations, with the greatest reluctancy voted against me, must have prevailed for me. " This printing my book was a very malicious proceeding ; my words and meaning being plainly perverted in several places, which, if they had been im- proper, and any observations trifling or impertinent, an allowance was due for my being very young when they were made. But the performances of others, not entitled to such allowances, may be in like manner exposed, as appears by the like tables published for the travels of Bishop Burnet and Mr. Addison." In the second Parliament of King "William, Mr. Bromley was elected a knight of the shire for Warwick, and faithful to his principles of loyalty, he was one of the ninety-two members who voluntarily declined to recognise William, as his lawful and rightful king. He was a powerful, bold, and intrepid debater, and when William IE. refused to pass the place bill, he said :— " The preamble of the bill declared former corruptions, and suspicions of the like now ; the bill offers a remedy, but we are denied it, which speaks this language, ' that the king will have us still corrupt.' We have done well for religion, but all in vain, for we 9 Queen Anne.J william bromley. 421 enjoy not our liberties." He was equally severe and more unjust when he paid the Duke of Marlborough a compliment, at the expense of William's memory, in saying that the former " had signally retrieved the antient honour and glory of the English nation." His subsequent attacks upon Marlborough and his duchess, whom he compared to Alice Piers, the concubine of King Edward III., were a source of great bitterness to that illustrious commander, and prove to the fullest extent, the rancorous feelings in which even men of honour and high principle indulged in the cause of party. On the occasion of moving the thanks of the House to Major General Webb, for his gallant conduct at Wynnendale, the merit of which Marlborough was desirous to fasten on his friend General Cadogan, Mr. Bromley observed " that he did not disapprove the custom, which of late years had been intro- duced, of returning thanks to such Generals as had performed eminent ser- vices, especially when they received those comphments as modestly as the worthy member, to whom they were now given, had done. But it was with grief he observed that a certain commander, on whom not only the thanks of the House, but also great reward had been bestowed, appeared yet to be un- satisfied." No stronger proof need be given of the severity of these insinua- tions and the manner in which they were appreciated by their victim, than the Duke's own letter in 1708, in which he states, that "Mr. Brom- ley's and other gentlemen's good nature, joined with the trouble I have here, makes me quite weary of serving." But Mr. Bromley was mostly conspicuous for his ardent support of the high church party, and his determined hostility to dissenters and sectarians of every deno- mination. The House of Commons and the people were then what might or would now be termed the illiberals, and dissent grew up and was fostered under the more expansive and liberal sentiments or policy of the Peers. Many attempts were made by the Commons to pass the bill against occasional conformity in 1703, 1703, and 1704. The second time it was introduced by Mr. Bromley, and against the opinion of the House of Lords the Queen wrote that " she saw nothing like persecution in this bill." On the last occasion Mr. Bromley urged " that the practice of occasional conformity was such a scandalous hypocrisy, as no way to be excused upon any pretence whatsoever. That it was condemned even by the better sort of dissenters themselves. The employing persons of a different religion from that established by law had never been practised by any wise government, and was not allowed even in Holland. That the sacramental test was appointed by the wisdom of the legislature, to preserve the established church, which church seemed in as much danger from the dissenters at this time, as it was from papists when the act was passed. That this law being so necessary, and having been thrice refused in the House of Lords, the only way to have it pass, was to tack it to a money bill. That it had been an antient practice to tack bills that were for the good of the sub- E E 2 422 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. ject to money bills, it being reasonable that while grievous taxes were laid upon the subject for the support of the crown, the crown should in return pass such laws as were for the benefit of the people." Of the policy of the question we are not called upon to offer any opinion, but may observe that liberty of conscience has not hitherto offered the least impediment to the pub- lic service, at the same time we agree with Mr. Bromley that it was both hypocritical and disgusting to see men taking the sacrament for place, and deserting it for conscience. But while the tack was rejected in the Commons, the bill was again thrown out in the Lords by a majority of thirty-one, most of the Bishops, who were low churchmen, having opposed it. Our Speaker lost none of his popularity at Oxford by the course he pursued on this occasion, on the contrary that university applauded his zeal, and publicly thanked him for his exertions in favor of the Church. In the Parliament of the 9th of Queen Anne, a. d. 1710, Mr. Bromley, who sat again for the University of Oxford, was proposed as a fit and proper person for the chair, by Sir Thomas Hanmer, who observed that he was " eminent for his true and unaffected zeal for the Protestant succession in the house of Hanover, and his firm adherence to the Church of England, as by law established ; and one, who, by a long service in Parliament, had acquired great experience in the rules and orders of the House, and had also given the vyorld an equal experience of himself." Mr. Bromley was unanimously chosen, and presided over the deliberations of the House with great dignity for a period of three years. Swift, in his ''Journal to Stella," thus writes of Bromley's election. " Nov. 25. — I was to-day to see the Parliament meet, and Ford and I went to see the tombs at Westminster, and sauntered so long, I was forced to go to an eating-house for my dinner. Bromley is chosen Speaker, nemine contra-dicente. Do you understand these two words ? And Pompey, Colonel Hill's black, designs to stand speaker for the footmen. I am engaged to use my interest for him, and have spoken to Patrick to get him some votes." Upon the death of our Speaker's son, the House testified its esteem for his private worth by adjourning for six days, " out of respect to the father, and to give him time both to perform the funeral rites and to indulge his just afflic- tion." Upon Mr. Bromley's retirement from the chair, he was appointed a Secretary of State ; and the author we have so often cited, whose previous researches have saved us no inconsiderable degree of labour in the memoirs of several Speakers of this period, observes, "it may be inferred from the warm praises of Bolingbroke, that he rather sided with that dangerous intriguer than with the Treasurer in the negociations for peace, and would probably have gone as far as Harcourt, if not Sir William Wyndham, in restoring, upon conditions, the pretender. But for his horror of Popery, Bromley would have rejoiced to see the Stuart reinstated on the throne of his ancestors ; nor can ■WILLIAM BROMLEY. 423 we wonder at an old Tory gentleman looking with strong distaste to the settle- ment of the crown upon a German family, unacquainted alike with our lan- guage, our manners, and laws." For some years after Mr. Bromley had ceased to take an active part in political afiairs, he occasionally visited the House, and supported his fallen party by the strongest opposition to the Whig measures, and powerfully opposed the septennial act, a standing army, and Hanoverian alliances. Our Speaker died at Bagginton, in 1733, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. By Elizaheth, his wife, he had two sons and two daughters, of whom the latter were eventually his coheirs, the sons having died issueless, and in the life time of their father. We have not discovered who is the actual representative of our Speaker's (the eldest) branch of the ancient family of Bromley ; but find that the Davenports, of Davenport House, co. Salop, are descendants and representatives of one branch of the family. Arms. — Quarterly, per fesse indented gu. and or. an escutcheon ar. charged with a griffin segreant, vert. Crest. — Out of a ducal coronet or. a demi lion ar. supporting a banner, gu. charged with a lion passant, gold staff of the last (the standard of Guienne). SIR THOMAS HANMER, BART. The family of Hanmer is of high antiquity ; John de Hanmere, living in 1)98, the 10th of Richard I., as appears by a deed still extant, having had a grant of the Fenns Wood at that period from David de Hampton. The descendant of this John de Hanmere, in the female line, having married Sir Thomas de Macclesfield, in the reign of King Henry III., their son assumed the name of Hanmer, derived from the possessions of his mother, and from that period the line of male descent has continued to this day. Sir John Hanmer, who was knighted by King Edward I., and constituted Constable of Caernarvon Castle, married Hawys, or Alicia, daughter and heiress of Enion ap Griffith ap Gwinwinwin, Lord of Powis, descended from Bleddwyn ap Kyn- wyn. Prince of Wales, and was succeeded by his son Philip Hanmer, of Han- mer ; he married Agnes, daughter and heir of David ap Ririd ap Rhys Sais, derived from Tudor Trevor, Lord of Hereford, and was succeeded by his son. Sir David Hanmer, one of the Justices of the Court of King's Bench, in the 6th year of King Richard II., a.d. 1383, and received the honour of knight- 424 LIVES or the speakers. [Speaker 1713. hood from that monarch. He married Agnes, daughter of Llewelyn Ddu ap Griffith ap Jorwerth Voel, of the tribe of Tudor Trevor, and had, with a daughter, Margaret (the wife of the famous Owen ap Griffith Vychen, Lord of Glyndwrdwy, better known as Owen Glendower), a son and successor. Sir John Hanmer, who fell under the banner of his brother-in-law, at the battle of Shrewsbury. He married, first, Margaret, daughter and heir of David ap Blethin Vychan, derived from Edwin, Lord of Tegaingl, and by her had a son, Griffith ; and secondly, Efa, daughter and heir of David ap Grono ap Jorwerth, of Lai, co. Flint, and had by her two sons, first, Edward, of Fenns, ancestor of the existing male branch of the family, and second, Richard, of Bettisfield. Richard Hanmer, Esq., of Hanmer, the second surviving son of the above named Griffith (only son of Sir John by his first marriage), married Margaret, daughter of Sir Roger Kynaston, of Hordley, (by Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Grey, Earl of Tankerville, by Antigone, daughter of Humphrey Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester), and had a son and successor, Sir Thomas Hanmer, \frho was knighted by Henry VIII., at Boulogne. He married Jane, daughter of Sir Randle Brereton, Knt., and, with a daughter Ellen (who married her cousin, William Hanmer, Esq., of the Fenns), had a son and successor. Sir Thomas Hanmer, Knt., whose grandson, another Sir Thomas, M.P. for the County of Flint, one of the council of the President of the Marches of Wales, attended the Earl of Derby into France, with the ensigns of the Order of the Garter, to Henry III., from Queen Elizabeth. He married, first, Anne, daughter of John Talbot, of Grafton, the father of George, ninth Earl of Shrewsbury, and secondly, Catherine, daughter of Sir Thomas Mostyn, Knt., of Mostyn, by whom he had a son and successor, Sir John Hanmer, Knt., M.P. for the county of Flint, who was created a baronet, 8th July, 1620, whose only son, Sir Thomas Hanmer, the second baronet, M.P. for the county of Flint, and cup-bearer to King Charles I., was a distin- guished cavalier, who raised two troops of horse in the service of his royal master; and was named as one of the knights of the contemplated order of the Royal Oak. This gentleman married twice ; first, Elizabeth Baker, maid of honour to Queen Henrietta Maria, and daughter of Sir Thomas Baker, of Whittingham, Knt., by whom he left a son, Sir John, M.P. for the county of Flint, a Major-General and Colonel of a regiment under King William, at the battle of the Boyne, who succeeded as third baronet, but died without issue, when the title devolved upon his nephew. Sir Thomas Hanmer, the subject of the present memoir, who was the only son of WiUiam Hanmer, Esq., the half brother of the General, by the second marriage of the before-named Sir Thomas, with Susan, daughter of Sir William Harvey, of Ickworth, the , father of the Earl of Bristol. He was born on the 24th September, 1677, at Bettisfield Park, the seat of his grandfather, and succeeded to the title and estates on the death of his uncle in 1701, having previously inherited the 12 Queen Anne. J sir ihomas hanmer. 425 property of the Norths of Mildenhall, in the county of Suffolk, in right of his mother, Peregrine, daughter of Sir Henry North, Bart., of Mildenhall (descended from Sir Henry, second son of Roger, Lord North), and sister and co-heir of Sir Henry North, the last baronet of that family. Thomas Hanmer received the rudiments of education at Westminster, and from thence removed to Christchurch, Oxford, where he completed his studies under the tuition of Dr. Robert Friend. He married, shortly after he came of age, Isabella, widow of Charles, first Duke of Grafton, only daughter and heiress of Robert Bennet, Earl of Arlington, and although the duchess was ten years older than Mr. Hanmer, she was still considered one of the most striking beauties of the court. It was not until nearly three years after this event, that he had a seat in Parliament, although in the mean time he had succeeded to the title and estates of the family, upon the death of his uncle, and as his biographer remarks, took his place as a person of great weight in the kingdom with respect to fortune, connexions, and rising character. In 1702, Sir Thomas Hanmer was elected to represent his native county of Flint, in the first Parliament of Queen Anne, at which period he was in the twenty-fiifth year of his age, and already imbued with attachment to the royal prerogative, and that unlimited reverence for the Church of England, which marked the whole of his political career. He seldom addressed the House in general subjects of debate, but his habits of business and judi- cious conduct, brought him early into consideration. Cautious and reserved, he took no active part in politics till the High Church ferment, and the triumph of the Tory party in 1710, when he was invited by the Duke of Shrewsbury to become one of the five Commissioners of the Treasury upon the dismissal of Godolphin. Sir Thomas Hanmer did not, however, accept office, but it appears that he now began to take a more active and decisive part in the proceedings of the House, and was regarded as one of its most influential members. Whether he belonged to the association called the •October Club, we have no means of stating positively,- although there is some slight evidence of the fact, but there can be no doubt that he belonged to that party called the Hanover Tories, or as Lord Bolingbroke designated them, " the Whimsicals," of whom the Earls of Nottingham and Anglesea were the leaders amongst the Peers, and Sir Thomas Hanmer in the Commons. When Harley was raised to the peerage, and constituted Lord Treasurer, he wrote to Hanmer respecting " his desires" that he would take office, but his wishes were not complied with. Shortly after this he was named chairman of the committee appointed to consider and report upon the state of the nation, when he drew up that celebrated "Representation" which trium- phantly justified the conduct of the Tories towards the Duke of Marlborough and his late colleagues, and the allies of England on the continent. While at Ghent with the Duke of Ormonde, during "the fatal campaign of 1712," Sir Thomas 426 IIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER, 1713, Hanmer received letters from the Speaker, Bromley, Bolingbroke, and Mr, Hill, urging him to accept the office of Secretary of State in the room of Lord Dartmouth. The answer he returned is not known, but on the margin of the Speaker's letter, is inscribed in his own hand, the word " liberty," He subsequently visited Paris, where every attempt was made to draw him over to the views of the pretender ; they were, however, not only unsuc- cessful, but what he saw inclined him more than ever, to support the opposite interest, although his High Church principles were unshaken. On his return he openly opposed the Ministers on the question of the treaty of commerce, and they were beaten on a division by 194 votes to 185, Again he was solicited to take office under Lord Oxford, and not only his relative, the Duke of Ormonde, aided the ministers by the most pressing solicitations of friend- ship, but the Speaker Bromley was a second time put in requisition, and if nothing else would satisfy him, offered him the chair of the House of Com- mons, On this occasion we find that Sir Thomas Hanmer's friend and cousin. Lord Harvey (afterwards the Earl of Bristol), aided the application. " The chair of the House of Commons," he writes, " is the only public post I could at present congratulate you upon, since there I am sure you may maintain that noble figure my friendship wisheth, and my great opinion of your virtue eXj ects from you." Arrangements having at length been made, , when the Parliament met on the 16th February, 1713, Sir Thomas Hanmer, then member for Sufiblk, was accordingly chosen Speaker without opposition. Lord Oxford, however, had correctly predicted, that the influence of the Government in securing the election of Sir Thomas Hanmer to the chair, would not seduce him from his principles or reconcile him to the ministerial policy. The fervour of the majorities of both Houses for the Protestant succession, and their fear of the Pretender, was revived shortly after the meeting of Parliament, by the motion of Sir Edward Kjiatchbull, in a Committee of the whole House, " Whether the Protestant succession in the House of Hanover be in danger under her Majesty's Government." Of course this motion was supported in the affirma- tive by AValpole's friends, and their intended resolution as zealously opposed by Mr. Secretary Bromley and others of the court party. In reply to the latter, the Speaker said " He was sorry to see, that endeavours were used to wave that question, and stop their mouths ; but he was of opinion that this was the proper, and perhaps the only time for patriots to speak. That a great deal of pains was taken to screen some persons, and in order to that, to make them overlook the dangers that threatened the Queen, the nation, and the Protes- tant succession. That for his own part, he had all the honour and respect imaginable for her Majesty's ministers, but that he owed still more to his country than to any minister. That in this debate, so much had been said to prove the succession to be in danger, and so little to make out the contrary. 12 UuEEN Anne.] sir thomas hanmer. 427 that he could not but believe the first." This speech is said to have had great influence with the independent and unbiassed members, and the administration had much to do to save themselves ; but after a long and very warm debate, it was resolved (in favor of the ministers), by a majority of 48 in a House of 464 members then present, " That it is the opinion of this committee, that the Protestant succession in the House of Hanover, is in no danger under her Majesty's Government Secondly : That the House be moved humbly to address her Majesty, returning the thanlis of the House for the instances she has used for the removal of the Pretender from the dominions of the Duke of Lorrain, and humbly desiring her Majesty to insist upon, and renew her instances for his speedy removal from thence." This near division upon a question of such vital importance to the ministers, which in fact verged upon their impeachment, had a sensible effect upon Lord Oxford, which induced Bolingbroke, who, in one of his letters to Sir William Windham, says he was " convinced of his (Lord Oxford's) perfidy, jaded with his yoke, and piqued against him personally," to plan the ruin of his colleagues and supplant him in the favour of the Queen. The decided part taken by the Speaker in favour of the house of Hanover, and his correspondence with the electress Sophia (for which we regret that we have not space), immediately after his election to the chair, proves his devotion to their cause and that of the Protestant succession. Nevertheless the Jacobites, and even the Pretender himself, had not, as appears by the letters of M. de Torcy, the Duke of Bruns- wick, the Due d'Aumont, and others, entirely given up the idea of working upon his hereditary attachment. There is no doubt he felt as most men of family and standing in England did at that eventful period, that if they could have had an undoubted guarantee for their religion, they would have preferred the restoration of the legitimate Sovereign, to hazarding the prosperity and welfare of the nation by placing a foreigner on the throne, but on his visit to Paris some years previously Sir Thomas Hanmer had satisfied his mind, that the restoration of the Pretender could not be accomplished with any chance of the internal peace, or the prosperity of the British dominions. During this sitting of Parliament, Lord Oxford addressed a letter to the Speaker in the most humble tone of entreaty, to let him " communicate his poor thoughts for the public good." " I shall " (he says) " be glad to unite with you in joint endeavours — you shall find your favours are not thrown away," &c. On the 9th July, Queen Anne put an end to the session and delivered her last speech to Parliament, for three weeks only elapsed between the proroga- tion and her death, which was at the same time the death blow of Lord Oxford and his party. Secretary Bromley despatched an express to the Speaker on the 30th, summoning him instantly to London to assemble the Parliament according to law, and informing him that the Lords of the Council had 428 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1713. unanimously requested her Majesty to make the Duke of Shrewsbury, Lord Treasurer. The Queen expired on the 1st of August, and the Elector of Hanover was peaceably proclaimed King of Great Britain, as George I. This session did not last a month, and no business of any importance was transacted, beyond the congratulatory addresses to the new Sovereign, and granting the same sum for the civil list as had been enjoyed by his predecessor. Sir Thomas Hanmer's political aspirations for the Protestant succession were now fully realized, yet he did not agree with the new administration, and upon the meeting of the new Parliament no attempt was made to replace the former Speaker in the chair ; he sat again for the county of Suffolk, and the Hon. Spencer Compton, a younger son of the Earl of Northampton, was chosen on the 17th of March without opposition. During the remainder of Sir Thomas Hanmer's political career, he was a cold though constant opposer of the Government, whose power however was too well consolidated, and sup- ported by the King to be moved by any endeavour of their opponents. At the period of the disunion in the royal family, when the Prince of Wales- shewed an inclination to court the Tory party. Sir Thomas Hanmer cheerfully re- sponded to the call, but finding ere long that the hope of bringing his party back to power was altogether illusory, he retired from Parliament after passing thirty years in the service of his country, and devoted the remainder of his life to literature and the arts, and that genuine but elegant hospitality which constituted the charm of his society. It is impossible for us to give anything like a succinct account of the various political transactions in which he took a part. In a work of this nature, destined as a general record of the services of those illustrious men who have presided over the deliberations of the House of Commons, detailed biography cannot be expected, but for the most ample particulars concerning Sir Thomas Hanmer's political life, together with those highly amusing extracts from the letters of the foreign princes and diplomatists, who had entered so deeply into the schemes of the Stuart family, as well as the interesting papers connected with the memoir of our Speaker himself, we must refer the reader to the " Correspondence of Sir Thomas Hanmer, Bart.," &c., &c., by his relative, Sir Henry Bunbury, Bart., published by Moxon, London, 1838. Sir Thomas Hanmer distinguished himself by his contributions to literature, and we have, from his labours, a valuable corrected edition of Shakspeare's dramatic works, the copyright of which, together with the manuscript, he liberally presented to the University of Oxford, where it was printed in six quarto volumes, in 1744. A "revise of Paradise Lost," and " Remarks on the tragedy of Hamlet," have been also with some reason ascribed to him. He was a great patron of literature and learned men, and under these circumstances, according to custom " fed with soft dedication all day long ;" yet though he was thus often propitiated by an abundance of undesirable flattery, he was not fortunate enough to 12 Queen Anne. J sir ihomas hanmer. 429 escape from literary squabbles, and the assaults of the Attorney-Bishop, War- burton, whose jealousy he had excited by his edition of Shakspeare, were renewed upon his memory, many years after he was dead. The second marriage of Sir Thomas Hanmer with Elizabeth, only child of Thomas Folkes, Esq., of Great Barton, in Suffolk, was not a fortunate one, this young lady having eloped with the cousin of her husband, Mr. Thomas Hervey. The estate of Barton, however, which was her inheritance, remained in the possession of Sir Thomas, and devolved, by his will, on the Bunbury family, one of whom. Sir Henry Bunbury, has become the biographer of the Speaker. In his work is an interesting notice of the personal appearance and manners of Sir Thomas Hanmer, in his latter days, derived from a yeoman at Milden- hall, whose father was one of the tenants. " My informant," says Sir Henry Bunbury, " spoke of the baronet as a portly old gentleman, of a very stately carriage, accustomed to walk solemnly to church twice on every Sunday, followed by all his servants, and moving from his iron gates to the porch of the church between two ranks of his tenants and adherents, who stood, hat in hand, bowing reverently low, while the great man acknowledged their saluta- tions by a few words and a dignified condescension. He was strict, but just, towards his tenants, and they respected him ; he was kind and liberal to the poor, and they loved him." Sir Thomas Hanmer died on the 7th May, 1746, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, and his body was buried with his ancestors, in the church of Hanmer, in Flintshire, opposite to the monument of his grandfather, Sir Thomas, which he himself had formerly erected. Of the well-known paraphrase of his epitaph, written by Dr. Johnson, these are the chief passages : — Thou who survey'st these walls with curious eye, Pause at the tomb where Hanmer's ashes lie ; His various worth through varied life attend, And learn his virtues while thou moum'st his end. His force of genius bum'd La early youth, With thirst of knowledge and with love of truth ; His learning, join'd with each endearing art, Chann'd ev'ry ear, and gain'd on ev'ry heart. Thus early wise, th' endanger'd realm to aid. His country caU'd him from the studious shade In life's first bloom his public toils began, At once commenced the senator and man. In business dext'rous, weighty in debate. Thrice ten long years he labour'd for the State. » * « « * The moderator firmly mild appear'd Beheld with love, with veneration heard. This task perform'd, he sought no gainful post, 430 LIVES OF IHE SPEAKERS. Nor wish'd to glitter at his country's cost ; Strict on the right he fix'd his steadfast eye, With temperate zeal and wise anxiety; Nor e'er from virtue's paths was lur'd aside, To pluck the flow'rs of pleasure or of pride. Her gifts despis'd, corruption blush'd and fled, And fame pursu'd him where conviction led. Age call'd, at length, his active mind to rest, With honour sated, and with cares opprest ; To letter'd ease retired, and honest mirth, To rural grandeur and domestic worth : Delighted still to please mankind, or mend The patriot's fire yet sparkled in the friend. Calm conscience, then, his former life survey'd, And recollected toils endear'd the shade, Till Nature call'd him to the gen'ral doom. And Virtue's sorrow dignified his tomb." Sir Thomas Hanmer having died without issue, the Mildenhall estate, and that of Barton, in Suffolk, which he had derived through his mother, the heiress of the Norths, devolved upon his cousin, and heir-at-law, Sir William Bunbury, Bart., whose father. Sir William, had married Susanna, daughter of Sir Thomas Hanmer, by Susan, daughter of Sir William Harvey, of Ick- worth, who is now represented by Sir Henry Edward Bunbury, Bart., of Stanney Hall, Cheshire, and Mildenhall and Barton, in Suffolk, the biogra- pher of his distinguished ancestor, from whose entertaining work we have ex- tracted all the principal points in the life of our Speaker. The paternal pro- perty, however, passed to his cousin, William Hanmer, Esq,, of Fenns, the male heir of the family, descending from the before-named Sir John Hanmer, Knt., who was slain at the Battle of Shrewsbury, as, also, (by the marriage of his ancestor, William Hanmer, of the Fenns, with the daughter of his first cousin. Sir Thomas Hanmer, of Hanmer, in the time of Henry VIH.,) from Humphrey Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester, and the other noble houses to which we have adverted in the commencement of this memoir. No less dis- tinguished for loyalty than the younger branch of his family, William Hanmer, Esq., the immediate descendant of the above, joined his cousin in the service of King Charles I., and was compelled to compound for his estate of Fenns. He was also named for one of the Knights of the Royal Oak in the succeed- ing reign. He married Eleanor, daughter of Peter Warburton, Esq., of Arley, and left issue Thomas, who married Jane, eldest daughter of Sir Job Charlton, Speaker of the House of Commons, by whom he had two sons, William and Job. The line of the elder brother failing, Walden Hanmer, Esq., M.P. for Sudbury, the son of Job Hanmer, Esq., by Susanna, daughter and heir of Thomas Walden, Esq., of Simpson, co. Bucks, succeeded to the estates, and was created a Baronet, 3rd May, 1774. The great grandson of SPENSER COMPTON. 431 this gentleman, Sir John Hanmer, Bart., M.P. for Flint, is the present heir male, and representative of the Hanmer Family. Arms.—Arg. two lions passant, guardant, az. armed and langued, gu. Crest. — On a chapeau, az., turned up erm. a lion guard., sejant, ar. Motto. — Gardez I'honneur. Seats, Hanmer Hall, and Bettisfield Park, co. Flint. THE HON. SPENSER COMPTON. The subject of this memoir was the third son of James, third Earl of Northampton, by his second wife, Mary, daughter and heiress of Baptist Noel, Viscount Camden. Descended from a long line of ancestors, whose illustrious actions, both in war and peace, find their proper place in the his- tory of their country, the Comptons were conspicuous amongst the subjects of the Stuart dynasty for their eminent loyalty, brilliant courage, and un- daunted fidelity. Spenser, the second Earl (grandfather of our Speaker), fell gallantly fighting under the royal banner at the Battle of Hopton Heath, near Stafford in 1642-3, while two of his younger sons, Sir Charles and Sir William Compton, were the most distinguished of the cavalier leaders ; the former having performed one of the most daring and chivalrous actions we find recorded during the whole period of the civil wars, when, attended by six followers only, he attacked and took Beeston Castle, in Cheshire, although for want of timely succour, he was afterwards forced to retreat ; and ano- ther son. Sir Spenser Compton, accompanied Charles II. into exile. James, the elder brother of these heroes, and father of our Speaker, while a com- moner, having a seat in Parliament for the county of Warwick, voted in 1641, against the attainder of the Earl of Stratford, for which exercise of the liberty of conscience, he was expelled the house by the prevailing spirits, and his name published in the list of Staffordians, and posted up in old Palace Yard, with the liberal motive of drawing down upon his devoted head the vengeance of the populace. He afterwards behaved with distin- guished gallantry in the royal cause with his brave parent, and on the mag- nificent entry of Charles II. into the city of London, 29th May, 1660, headed a band of two hundred gentlemen, attired in gray and blue. As may well be imagined, the principles of this noble family were strictly Tory, and Mr, Spenser Compton was the first deserter from their camp of politics. He was 432 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1714. born in 1676, and in 1698 was returned to Parliament for the borough of Eye. The Whigs rewarded him for his desertion of the principles of hia family by appointing him Chairman of the Committee of Privileges and Elections in 1705, before he had attained his thirtieth year, and to evince his sense of their favour, probably he accepted the odious office of one of the managers of Sacheverell's impeachment. Upon the accession of George I., in 1714, he was, upon the removal of Walpole from the candidateship, by his acceptance of the office of Treasurer of the Navy, unanimously chosen ' Speaker of the House of Commons. According to the writers of that day, his style of oratory was not unpleasing, as the following extract from his speech, when his choice was confirmed by the king, clearly demonstrates. He observed, " That his Majesty had thus given proof that he would never deny anything that can be asked of him by his faithful Commons, because it will be impossible for them ever to make a request that could be more reasonably refused," and when he returned thanks, by order of the House, to the managers of the impeachment of the Earl of Macclesfield, his language was dignified and classical. He said, " You have maintained the charge of the Commons with that force of argument, beauty of expression, and strength of reason, as VPould have gained you the highest applause in the most flourish- ing of the Grecian republics, and I may add, but I shall not enlarge further on this part of your praise, being sensible that I am not able to express myself in a manner suitable to the dignity of the subject ; your own tongues are only equal to such an undertaking, and were I able to do it, your modesty would not permit it. You have stopped the cries of orphans, and dried up the tears of the widow, — even those who must ever be insensible of the benefits they receive, — ^idiots, and lunatics (and such only can be insensible of them), vcill be partakers of the fruits of your labours." Mr. Spenser Compton enjoyed the favour of the Court in an eminent degree. Cope, in his life of Walpole, says, his solemn manner, majestic deportment, and sonorous voice, rendered him an especial favourite, both with the King and the Prince of Wales, and it cannot be doubted, that as President of the Legislative Assembly, these personal attributes were well calculated to ensure him the attention and respect of the general body of the members, at the same time there was a hauteur, and an authoritativeness about him on some occasions, which are altogether at variance with the urbanity of modern manners and usages, and in one instance, related by Hatsell, he clearly mistook his duty. A member having called to order, observed to the Speaker, that he had a right to be heard ; " No, sir ! " (replied our Speaker) " you have a right to speak, but the House have a right to judge whether they will hear you." If this were correct reasoning, nothing would be easier than to stifle the effect of the most dreaded eloquence, and the House of Commons, from being a deliberative assembly, might be turned into a bear garden. Hatsell adds, the 1 George I.] spenseu compton. 433 comments of the celebrated Speaker, Arthur Onslow, upon this, perhaps, unguarded expression of Mr. Compton's, in which he says, that it is the Speaker's duty to endeavour to keep order, " but where the love of talking gets the better of modesty and good sense, and which sometimes happens, it is a duty very difficult to execute in a large and popular assembly." We are tempted to observe, that if Mr. Onslow, with all his thirty-three years' expe- rience in the chair, could come from the grave, he would, in this age, find his difficulties on this score seriously increased. In the year 1721, Mr. Compton received further proofs of the estimation in which he was held by the then all powerful Whig Government, by his appointment to the offices of Treasurer of Chelsea Hospital, and Paymaster of the Navy, to be held, of course, in commendam with his Speakership, a bad custom, which was afterwards abolished. There are several anecdotes concerning Mr. Compton's influence over the King, amusingly told by Coxe in his " Life of Walpole," but they would swell out this account to an inconvenient length were we to indulge in their inser- tion in this work, which has no pretension to detailed memoirs, as the space allotted to us necessarily confines our exertions to mere biographical sketches. To those who take pleasure in the chit-chat of past times — and few, if any, do not — we recommend the perusal of the " History of the House of Commons from 1688 to 1832," in which the learned author has carefully collected many amusing anecdotes of the most eminent Parliamentary characters from the accession of William III. to the death of George II. On the death of George I. it is said that his successor in answer to Walpole's demand, had desired that the declaration to the Privy Council should be drawn up by Compton, which in fact was an indication of the new monarch's intention to make him his prime minister, but as Compton was obliged to ask Walpole to prepare the declaration, not knowing how to do it himself, the latter undertook the task, but acquainted Queen Caroline with the fact, and managed with consummate address and no slight measure of duplicity, aided by the Queen's influence, to change the King's determination, and Sir Robert retained his place. As a compensation to our Speaker for thus defrauding him of the premiership, he was, at Walpole's instigation, called to the Upper House as Earl of Wilmington, and was created a Knight of the Gar- ter. He was subsequently appointed First Lord of the Treasury, an office he held till his death. Mr. Spencer Compton had the disadvantage to live in an age when his competitors for office, even those of his own party, were so brilliantly endowed that comparison with his contemporaries might, perhaps, cast a shade over his merits and position which at ordinary epochs would have been illuminated by the light of his own eloquence ; but we have it upon record that few, if any, had ever presided over the deliberations of the House of Commons with greater 434 tlVES OF THE SPEAKERS. dignity than our Speaker. Of the talent and abilities of the Earl of Wil- mington as a Minister of the Crown, we are not called upon for the expres- sion of any opinion. The wits and satirists of his day made merry at his Lord- ship's expense. He accepted the offices of First Lord of the Treasury and Pre- sident of the Council, at an advanced period of life, when it was asserted, that in his prime he had acknowledged himself incompetent to the proper discharge of such arduous duties. Here the frequenters of the coffee houses, the wits and politicians of the day, brim full of political gall, overflowing with the rancour of party malignity, took their stand, and assailed him with countless squibs and pasquinades ; but his own acknowledgment of insufficiency might be attributed, in a fairer spirit, to natural modesty on his part, rather than taken- as a proof of incapacity. The names of the authors of these political squibs give as great a zest to their productions, as the pungent satire they contain. Were we furnishing a detailed biograp hy of this nobleman we should feel it incumbent upon us to notice these attacks seriatim, and in the cause of truth, as well as justice to the memory of an eminent man, who served his country so many years in times of trouble, and great political excitement, to sift them thoroughly, and test, not their merits as compositions, but their truth as affect- ing the private worth and public efficiency of the subject of our memoir. But in a work of this nature such a, course is impracticable, and we only for our- selves observe, that we have never permitted the keenest satire of the most eminent or envious critics of the day, to bias our judgment as to the sterling qualities of public men, whose merit may be reasonably inferred when raising themselves to the highest offices in the state, and such must have been the case of Lord Wilmington, whose desertion from the political creed of his ancestors, deprived him of the powerful influence of his own family. It is not our intention to follow in the wake of those authors, who hail with indes- cribable delight the discovery of any sarcasm, amidst the musty rolls of malice, affecting the subject under discussion, but we give one specimen from the pen of the noted Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, as it is intended to apply gene- rally to the administration over which Lord Wilmington presided, rather than to his Lordship himself. The witty baronet in comparing the cabinet to the blind beggar, who is unable to move without his dog, thus satirises the government in general — " Well skilled each different way in finding, Wlio knows aU crossings, every winding By him through all the town is led, And safely guided home to hed ; So fares it with our Treasury board, Where dark and blind sits every Lord, From that grave thing that wears a ribbon Quite down to that grave notlimg Gibbon." 1 George II.] Arthur onslow. 435 The Earl of Wilmington died unmarried on the 4th of July, 1743, when all his honours became extinct, but his representative, and the head of the noble family from which he derived, is the Most Hon. Spencer Joshua Aiwyne Compton, present and first Marquis, and tenth Earl of Northampton, Earl of Compton, co. Warwick, and Baron Wilmington, of Wilmington, co. Sussex. (See Burke's Peerage.) Jrms.—Sa. a lion passant, guardant, or. between three helmets, ar. a cres- cent for difierence. ARTHUR ONSLOW. This justly celebrated man, the third Speaker of his race, but by far the most eminent of his family, and the best and purest who up to that period had ever presided over the deliberations of the House of Commons, was the eldest son of Foot Onslow, Esq. — next brother to Sir Richard Onslow, Bart., Speaker, whose memoir we have already given — by Susanna, his wife, daughter of Thomas Anlaby, Esq. of Etton, in the county of York, representative of John Anlaby, one of the judges named in the High Commission for the trial of Charles I. Mr. Foot Onslow had considerable Parliamentary experience, having represented Guildford in three Parliaments, during the reign of William III., as well as in the Convention Parliament of 1688, and held various public appointments, being first Commissioner of the Board of Excise at the period of his decease in 1710. Arthur, the subject of our memoir, was educated for the bar, and was appointed Recorder of Guildford, and returned to Parliament for that borough in the years 1719, and 1720. In the first Parliament of George 11. he was again chosen for Guildford, and at the same time returned one of the knights of the shire for Surrey, and making his election for the county was unanimously chosen Speaker of the House of Commons at the meeting of that Parliament on the 23rd January, 1726-7, and approved of by the King on the 27th. In 1728 (i^5th July) our Speaker was sworn one of his Majesty's most honourable privy council ; and on May 13, 1729, was appointed Chancellor, and Keeper of the Great Seal, to Queen Caroline. In April 1734, he was constituted Treasurer of the Navy, but resigned that appointment in May F F 436 LIVES OF THE SPEAKEKS. [SPEAKER, 1726. 1743, from a feeling that it was inconsistent with the office of Speaker to hold an appointment which might under any circumstances impair the strict dis- charge of those functions, for the impartial exercise of which all shades of politics have an equally undoubted claim. He was a second time returned to Parliament, and chosen Speaker in 1734, and in 1737 was elected High Steward of the borough of Kingston-upon- Thames. On the meeting of the next Parliament in December, 1741, sitting again for his native county, he was a third time unanimously chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. For the fourth time the same honours were conferred upon him by the county of Surrey and the House of Commons in 1 747 ; and in the ensuing Parliament, which met first May 31, 1754, he was unanimously elected to the chair for the fifth time, no such distinction having ever, up to that period, been conferred upon any public man in the history of this or any other country. A volume would scarcely suffice to give anything like an ample detail of the Parliamentary career of this distinguished statesman, for such he really was. His conduct in the chair during thirty-three years, in which he presided over the deliberations of the House of Commons, was distinguished by talents of the highest order, the most refined dignity, and a zealous watchfulness of the liberties and privileges of Parliament. On his being elected Speaker for the fourth time, Mr. Browne Willis, one of our most eminent and learned anti- quaries, in his account of the Speakers, in " Notitia Parliamentaria,'' which would be better designated his list of Speakers, since he gives little or no information concerning them, says, page 118, " He was elected Speaker by as unanimous a concurrence of all the members in general, as any of them had been by their constituents in particular ; and as he enjoyed this eminent ■station a longer time than any of his predecessors, so he executed this im- portant trust with equal, if not superior abilities, to any of those who had gone before him." But we agree with Collins, the eminent genealogist, who in his account of this noble family, observes, " The most honourable testi- monies of his conduct were the unanimous resolutions of the House of Com- mons on March 18, 1761, two days before the close of their eighth and last session," The first was, " That the thanks of this House be given to Mr. Speaker for his constant and unwearied attendance in the chair, during the course of above thirty-three years, in five successive Parliaments ; for the unshaken integrity and steady impartiahty there ; and for the indefatigable pains he has, with uncommon abilities, constantly taken to promote the real interest of his King and country, to maintain the honour and dignity of Par- liament, and to preserve inviolable the rights and privileges of the Commons of Great Britain." The history of the eventful period in which Mr. Onslow lived furnishes thousands of pleasant anecdotes concerning him and his con- temporaries too numerous to be inserted in this necessarily short biographical sketch, but we doubt whether any could be more perfectly illustrative of this 1 George II.] Arthur onslow. 437 great man's character than his spontaneous reply to this address, to which we feel bound to give insertion : — " I was never under so great a difficulty in my life to know what to say in this place, as I am at present. Indeed it is almost too much for me, — I can stand against misfortunes and distresses ; I have stood against misfortunes and distresses ; and may do so again ; but I am not able to stand this overflow of good will and honour to me. It overpowers me, and had I all the strength of language, I could never express the full sentiments of my heart, upon this occasion of thanks and gratitude. If I have been happy enough to perform any services here that are acceptable to the House, I am sure I now receive the noblest reward for them ; the noblest that any man can receive for any merit, far superior, in my estimation, to all the other emoluments of this world . I owe everything to this House ; I not only owe to this House, that I am in this place, but that I have had their constant support in it, and to their good will and assistance, their tenderness and indulgence towards me in my errors, it is, that I have been able to perform my duty here to any degree of appro- bation : thanks therefore are not so much due to me for these services, as to the House itself, who made them to be services to me. When I begun my duty here, I set out with a resolution and promise to the House, to be im- partial in everything, and to shew respect to every body. The first I know I have done ; it is the only merit I can assume. If I have failed in the other, it was unwillingly, it was inadvertentlv : and I ask their pardon, most sin- cerely, to whomsoever it may have happened. I can truly say, the giving satisfaction to all has been my constant aim, my study, and my pride, " And now, sirs, I am to take my last leave of you. It is, I confess, with regret ; because the being within these walls has ever been the chief pleasure of my life : but my advanced age and infirmities, and some other reasons, call for retirement and obscurity. There I shall spend the remainder of my days, and shall only have power to hope, and to pray, and my hopes and prayers, my daily prayers, will be, for the continuance of the constitution in general, and that the freedom, the dignity, and authority of this House, may be per- petual." The Commons, to mark their sense of the Speaker's farewell address, resolved, nemine contradicente, " 1. That the thanks of this House be given to Mr. Speaker for what he has now said to the House ; and that the same be printed in the votes of the day. 2. That an humble address be presented to his Majesty, humbly to beseech his Majesty, that he will be graciously pleased to confer some signal mark of his royal favour upon the Right Hon. Arthur Onslow, Esq., Speaker of this House, for his great and eminent services performed to his country, for the space of thirty-three years and upwards, during which he has, with distinguished ability and integrity, pre- sided in the chair of this House ; and to assure his Majesty, that whatever F f2 438 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKEB 1761. expense his Majesty shall think proper to be incurred upon that account, this House will make good the same to his Majesty." The answer of the King to this address was, "That he had the justest sense of the long services and great merit of Mr. Onslow, present Speaker of the House of Commons ; and had already taken the same into consideration ; and that he would do therein what should appear to be most proper, agreeable to the desire of his most faithful Commons." In accordance with this intention, on the 30th of April, 1761, within a month of the presentation of the address, the King ordei-ed letters patent to be passed under the great seal, granting out of his civil list revenue £3,000 a year to the Speaker for his life, and the life of his son George Onslow, Esq., with a recommendation that, as he had no power to continue the annuity beyond the term of his life, the Parliament should efFectually secure the same, and an act was passed in the first session of the next Parliament to that efiect. Amongst the numerous histories, memoirs, and political publications of that d^y, anecdote after anecdote might be selected in illustration of the virtues, patriotism, transcendent abilities, and high moral integrity of our Speaker both in public and private life ; but as opinions and private judgment are liable to error, the imputation of partiality, or political rancour, and as we cannot bestow that time upon the biographical sketch of any one individual in a work destined to contain so many within a limited space, however de- serving our best eulogies, we have deemed it more safe, more satisfactory, and more compatible, to adduce this public testimony of Mr. Onslow's worth in the estimation of his contemporaries of all shades of politics, than to pin our faith upon the opinions of writers, however eminent their attainments. In addition to other marks of esteem oflered to our illustrious Speaker, the freedom of the city was presented to " the Speaker of five successive Parliaments," by the Corporation of London, in a gold box of £100 value, by the unanimous consent of the Common Council, " as a grateful and lasting testimony of the respectful love and veneration which the citizens of London entertain for his person and distinguished virtue, for the many eminent qualifications he displayed, the unwearied and disinterested labours he bestowed, and the impartial and judicious conduct he maintained, in the execution of that arduous and important office, during a course of three-and- thirty years ; and for that exemplary zeal which, upon all proper occasions, he exerted, with so much dignity and success, in support of the rights and privileges, and constitutional independence of the Commons of Great Britain." Mr. Onslow was perfectly right when he observed, that such honours sur- passed all the emoluments of the world, and we cannot pass over this address of the Corporation of London without admiring the eloquence and purity of 1 George II.] Arthur onslow. 439 its style. Mr. Hatsell has left the following highly interesting record of our Speaker's worth, proceeding as it does from so high an authority. " Superadded to his great and accurate knowledge of the history of this country, and the minuter forms and proceedings of Parliament, the dis- tinguishing feature of Mr, Onslow's public character was a regard and veneration for the British constitution, as it was declared and established at the revolution. This was the favourite topic of his discourse ; and it ap- peared from the uniform tenour of his conduct through life, that to maintain this pure and inviolate was the object at which he always aimed. In private life, though he held the qffice of Speaker of the House of Commons for above three-and-thirty years, and during part of that time enjoyed the lucrative employment of Treasurer of the Navy, it is an anecdote perfectly well known that, on quitting the chair in 1761, his income from his private fortune, which had always been inconsiderable, was rather less than it had been in 1727, when he was first elected into it." It would be unpardonable were we to omit, as a just conclusion to this brief memoir of the long public services of the illustrious Arthur Onslow, the opinion expressed by one of the most distinguished members of the House of Commons upon proposing a suitable person to supply his place. On this occasion the Right Hon. George Grenville rose and said in reference to- ©ur Speaker, " There was in him (Mr. Onslow), experience, knowledge, authority, firm- ness, patience, and industry, dispatch without precipitation, vigour of mind, supported by the most unfettered integrity, and tempered by the most ex- tensive benevolence and gentleness, equally free from the sordid love of money, and from the dangerous taint of power, he was impartial to all, a con- stant encourager of rising genius, desirous to assist the most ignorant, and able to instruct the most knowing. Such were the virtues, such were the talents, which he exerted during a long and unexampled course of years, in this most honourable, but most difiicult station; and he left it, not too soon for his own glory and reputation, which were complete, too late, I fear, for his health, worn out and broken in this painful service, but much too soon for the public good, and for the dignity of this House, to which he was so ardently devoted, and whose essential rights, upon all occasions, he most firmly maintained." Mr, Onslow married Anne, daughter of John Bridges, Esq., of Thames Ditton, CO, Surrey, and niece of Henry Bridges, Esq., of Ember Court, in the same county, afterwards the chief residence of our Speaker, by whom he had issue, a daughter, Anne, who died unmarried December 20, 1781, and an only son, the Right Hon, George Onslow, a Privy Councillor, who, after having represented the county of Surrey in several Parliaments, and held various high appointments in the state, was. May 14, 1776, created 440 LIVES OE THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER, 1761. Baron Cranley, of Ember Court, in the county of Surrey, and on the death of his cousin Richard, third Lord Onslow, on the 9th October following, he became the representative of the family and succeeded to the title as fourth Baron Onslow, and was subsequently created "Viscount Cranley and Earl of Onslow. This nobleman was the grandfather of the present Arthur George Onslow, Earl of Onslow, the representative of the three Speakers whose me- moirs are given in this work. For further particulars of this noble and highly eminent family see Burke's " Peerage and Baronetage." Arms. — Ar. a fesse gu. between six comish choughs, ppr. Crest. — An eagle sa. preying upon a partridge, or. Motto. — " Semper fidelis." SIR JOHN CUST. According to Collins, the eminent genealogist, the family of Cust is of great antiquity, and was originally seated in Yorkshire, but subsequently removed to Pinchbeck, co. Lincoln, where Sir Peter Cust, Knt., their direct ancestor, died in the twelfth of Edward III., a.d. 1338. To all but the mere herald, it is uninteresting to trace the line of succession where it is not relieved by romantic incidents or those startling historical events in which our ancestors have taken part, and therefore rivet the atten- tion of their descendants. Here we have fourteen generations of the Custs, from the above-named Sir Peter, of whom we have no information what- ever beyond their births, deaths, and alliances, until the middle of the seventeenth century, when Richard Cust, Esq., was sent at the head of a deputation from the county of Lincoln, to his Majesty King Charles I. anno 1641, most Immbly to entreat his sovereign to agree with his Par- liament. In the year 1654, this gentleman was chosen one of the knights of the shire for the county of Lincoln, but his known principles of loy- alty to the constitution, as governed by King, Lords, and Commons, were a barrier to his claims -as the representative of his county, and he was excluded from his seat by the Protector Cromwell. After the Restoration he was twice returned to Parliament for the borough of Stamford, and his loyalty rewarded with a baronetcy by letters patent, bearing date Sep- tember 29, 1677, the twenty-ninth of Charles II. Sir Richard Cust mar- ried Beatrix, daughter of Thomas Purey, Esq., of Kirton, co. Lincoln, by whom he had one son and two daughters. Sir Richard died a. d. 1700, George III.] sir john cust. 441 and was buried in St. George's Church, Stamford. Purey Cust, Esq., son and heir of Sir Richard was a very distinguished person : he raised a troop of horse at the period of the revolution, and joining with other gentlemen, formed themselves into a regiment under the command of William, Earl of Devonshire, one of the first noblemen who appeared in the interest of the Prince of Orange, and marched to receive that Prince upon his land- ing in the west. He also attended him, as William III. in his expedition for the reduction of Ireland, and on his return to England the honour of knighthood was conferred upon him by the King for his eminent services. Sir Purey married, first, Ursula, daughter and heiress of Edward Woodcock, Esq., of Newtimber, in Sussex, by Mary, the daughter of Thomas Barker, Esq., of Chiswic'v, Middlesex, and niece of Sir Thomas Woodcock, who was imprisoned by Cromwell for several years for refusing to divulge the secrets of his Sovereign, Charles II. ; but as it has been well and truly ob- served, "neither the terrors of death, on one side, nor the ofier of great re- wards on the other, could in the least shake his loyalty ; for which reason he was knighted at Breda, and was the first person upon whom his Majesty con- ferred that honour." By this marriage Sir Purey had only one surviving son, Richard, who succeeded his grandfather as second baronet in 1700, Sir Purey having died in his father's lifetime, a.d. 1698-9. Sir Richard Cust, who was a Knight of the Bath, and M. P. for Grantham, married Anne, daughter of Sir William Brownlow, Bart., and sister, and eventu- ally heir of the Right Hon. John Lord Viscount Tyrconnel, of the king- dom of Ireland, whose great merits, charitable actions, noble sentiments, and Christian virtues, the poet sings in the loudest strain of eulogy in the lines commencing — "In Lincolnshire, near Grrantham's lofty spire, A Lord there dwells whom all mankind admire, Designed by Heav'n for universal good. Like rain and sunshine that create us food. In him all mortal eyes may plainly see A perfect image of what man should be." « » * * * Sir Richard Cust left at his death, in 1734, with other children. Sir John Cust, Bart., his eldest son, who is the subject of this memoir. Sir John Cust was Clerk of the Household to Frederic, Prince of Wales, in 1747, and attended the funeral procession of the Prince in that capacity. Upon the establishment of the household of his late Majesty George III., when Prince of Wales, he was continued in the same office, and was appointed Steward of the Household to the Princess Dowager of Wales, in 1751, and Colonel of the south battalion of the Lincolnshire militia, in 1759. In the year 1743 Sir John Cust was returned to Parliament for Grantham, in Lin- 442 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. L^PEAKER 1761. colnshire, and continued to represent that borough in every succeeding Par- liament during his life. On the meeting of the second Parliament of George III. a.d, 1761, the illustrious Arthur Onslow having resigned the Speakership, the Right Hon. George Grenville proposed Sir John Gust as a fit and proper person for the chair, which was seconded by the Lord Viscount Barrington. On this occa- sion Mr. Grenville made an eloquent speech, setting forth the merits of the last Speaker in language of the greatest force and purity, to which, however, we need not further advert, as we have given so copious an extract from the speech in question in the life of the preceding Speaker. The opinion of the House must, however, have been highly favourable to this gentleman, who was thus put in nomination for the chair, as he was elected unanimously. At the same time we may observe, that it must have required the greatest effort of moral courage on the part of any member of the House, to have accepted that high post of dignity, after it had been so ably filled, and its duties so transcendently performed for a period of thirty-three years by his great predecessor. Sir John Gust felt that the brilliant qualities of Mr, Onslow would place all his efforts in the shade ; he knew, that however well the energies of his mind might be directed and devoted to the service of the House, no man could surpass, few, if any, could be compared to that perfect impersonation of a Speaker of a great legislative assembly, and he, therefore, with sincere and becoming modesty, declared his unwillingness to assume the oiEce, and honestly objected that he had before him the fear of losing by com- parison with his illustrious predecessor. His excuse for wishing to decline the honour, which his fellow commoners had conferred upon him, was not of the ordinary nature of those we have recorded in the course of these memoirs, for his language perfectly evinced the sincerity of his feelings. Amongst other well-expressed sentiments, he observed, " But after what has been, with so much truth and justice, said of that great person, who filled that chair for thirty-four successive years ; when I reflect upon his eminent abilities, his extensive knowledge in the constitutional law of this country, his inimitable method of conducting the business of this House, but above all, his steadiness and vigour in supporting its rights and privileges, and in them the rights and privileges of all the Gommons of Great Britain, how greatly must I be alarmed at the difficulties which must attend any successor to him ; I most sincerely concur with the noble lords and very honourable gentleman, in lamenting that this excellent person has chosen to be no more amongst us ; let me not. Sir, have so particular a reason for lamenting his loss beyond any other member of this House." Ever since the Revolution, the business of Parliament has annually in- creased in amount and importance. It cannot therefore be expected that w should encumber these memoirs, which are intended more as a record of the George III.] sir john cust. 443 eminent services, and a register of the public servants of the empire, than as a history of the House of Commons, with even a summary of the proceed- ings of the Parliaments, over which they have presided since that event. In the earlier periods of history, an opposite course was almost necessary in order to give anything like a faint outline of the manners of the different epochs, by which alone we were enabled to form an inference as to the characters of those whose memoirs we had undertaken, but the life of a Speaker of modern times, would, if connected with his public and official duties, embrace so many topics, and involve us in such political discussion, that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for us to speculate upon the termination of our labours. We must therefore content ourselves with obtaining the best and truest information as to the characters and qualifications of those eminent men who have been honoured with the suffrages of their fellow members, in their election to the chair of St. Stephen, and follow the bright example of strict impartiality set us by the Speakers themselves towards all the members of their House, and all shades of political opinions, by ex- clusively confining ourselves to the recorded judgment of their contemporaries, and the expression of public opinion. In the " Historical Memoirs of Sir Nathaniel Wraxall," to which work we did not refer until after this brief memoir of our Speaker was written, and then only in consequence of a com- munication made to us by an interested party, we find nothing whatever rela- tive to the political character of the subject of this memoir, or the manner in which he performed the duties of the high office to which he had been so unanimously elected, that is worthy of repetition. Under any circumstances we should feel that it was our duty to exercise extreme caution in quoting from that rambling and loquacious author, whose avidity in giving insertion to every paltry anecdote affecting the characters of public men is neither credi- table to his taste nor his discretion, but in this instance he merely offers, in the nature of a quotation from others, an opinion disparaging to the merits of our Speaker in comparison with the brilliant qualities of Mr. Onslow, his pre- decessor, but we have already proved from the lips of our Speaker himself how perfectly sensible he was of the false position in which he was placed by responding to the will of the House, and we have the evidence of all dispas- sionate and impartial writers, that during the period in which he presided over the deliberations of the Commons he evinced great ability, strict impartiality, and all those high qualities requisite for the dignified conduct of the office of Speaker, which are eloquently described in his epitaph, in the Church of St. George at Stamford, where he was buried with his ancestors in 1770. To this record of the numerous virtues of our Speaker we cheerfully give insertion, satisfied that if even a slight tinge of partiality should have guided the hand of the writer (which we are far from suspecting), its general truth cannot be impugned. 444 LIVES OF THB SPEAKERS. " In memory of the Right Honourable Sir John Cust, Bart., Speaker of the House of Commons, and one of the Privy Council to his Majesty King George III. In the year 1748, and in every succeeding Parliament to his death, he represented the borough of Grantham, by the united voices of his constituents; and in the year 1761, the Commons of Great Britain unani- mously elected him their Speaker, For this arduous and important office, he had the qualification of a sound judgment, and a strong habit of attention, improved by an early application to the profession of the law, and his integ- rity, candour, and beneficence which distinguished him in his domestic and social capacity, heightened the value and dignity of his public character. In discharge of the great trust reposed in him, he was indefatigably attentive to the duties of his office ; remarkably anxious to preserve private rights, and strongly attached to the liberties of his country, under the support and regulations of its laws. This conduct received the fullest proof of approbation, by his unanimous re-election to the same high office, in the Parliament of 1768, when extraordinary increase of national business neither relaxed his attention, nor confounded his judgment, but the unusual fatigue of his office exceeded the strength of his constitution, and deprived his family of a valuable Ufe, devoted to the service of his country. The chair was thus prematurely vacated, but his own merit was not unrewarded, for in 1776, his Majesty's approbation of his public services was testified by a grant to his son, of the dignity of a peer of Great Britain, by the style and title of Baron Brownlow of Belton. He was the eldest son of Sir Richard Cust, Bart., by Ann Brownlow, sister and heir of John, Lord Viscount Tyrconnel, and he died January 24th, 177, in the fifty-second year of his age." Sir John Cust married in 1743, Ethelred, one of the daughters and co- heirs of Thomas Payne, Esq. of Hough, co. Lincoln, and had issue two sons, Brownlow, afterwards Lord Brownlow, and Richard, who died in infancy. Her ladyship died in 1775, aged fifty-five, and is buried in the vault with her husband, having survived through five years of inconsolable widowhood. Sir Brownlow Cust, who was elevated to the peerage as Baron Brownlow in consideration of the public services of his father, married Jocose-Catherina, youngest daughter and co-heir of Sir Thomas Drury, Bart, of Overstone, co. Northampton, by whom he had no surviving issue. He married secondly, Frances, only child and heir of Sir Henry Bankes, Knt. of London, and had a numerous issue, of whom John, now Earl Brownlow, Viscount Alford, Baron Brownlow of Belton, and a Baronet, Lord Lieutenant, custos-rotulorum, and Vice-Admiral of Lincoln, and Recorder of Boston, is the eldest representative, and the Hneal male descendant of our Speaker. The Hon. Sir Edward Cust, of Leasowes Castle, in Cheshire, a colonel in her Majesty's service, and the Hon. Peregrine Cust, who has also attained the rank of Lieut.-Colonel in the army, are brothers of the present earl. SIK, FLETCHER NORTON. 445 ^ms.— Quarterly, 1st and 4th, on a chev. sa. three fountains, ppr, for Cust. 2nd. Or. an escotcheon between eight martlets, in orle, sa. for Brownlow, 3rd. Sa. a fesse, ermine, in chief three crosses patee, fi tehee, ar. for Payne. Crest— A lion's head, erased, sa., gorged with a collar paly, wavy of six, ar. and az. Motto. — Opera illius mea sunt SIR FLETCHER NORTON. Amongst the soldiers in the train of William at the invasion of England was a member of the baronial family of Coigniers of Coigniers, his place of residence, in the Duchy of Normandy, whose services were rewarded by the Conqueror with considerable grants of land in Yorkshire. From this Norman knight the several distinguished families of Conyers, who flourished in this country for many centuries, derived descent ; but the various branches are now all extinct in the male line with the exception of the noble family of Norton, and that of Conyers of Copt Hall, Essex. Roger Conyers, the son of Egbert, married Margaret, daughter and sole heir of Richard Norton, Esq. of Norton, CO. York, by whom he acquired that estate, which descending to his son and heir Adam Conyers, according to a custom very prevalent in those days, he assumed the maternal name of Norton, which his descendants have continued to bear ever since. In the fifth generation from the above-named Adam, came Richard Norton, who was very eminent in the history of his times, a man of considerable authority in his county, but of a too confiding disposition, a quality which brought his gray hairs with sorrow to the grave, and ruined the prospects of an ancient, wealthy, and honourable family. This gentleman, Richard Norton, Esq. of Norton, was one of the council of the north in the reigns of Henry VIII. and Edward VI., and high sheriff of the county of York in the 10th of Elizabeth. He was the friend of the great northern Earls of West- moreland and Northumberland, one too who could not change his religion at the whim and caprice of his Sovereign ; and when Neville and Percy raised the standard of rebellion, old Norton, their ancient friend, generously resolved to share their fate. Mr. Norton is said to have been more particularly drawn into this insurrection in consequence of his connection with Lord Westmore- land, Susanna, his first wife, and the mother of his eighteen children, being the fifth daughter of Richard Neville, Lord Latimer, descended from the first 446 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1769. Earl of Westmoreland, by a daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, son of Edward III. The event is one of the most remarkable passages in histpry, but as it belongs exclusively to history, we shall only allude to the un- happy part taken by the family of Norton, so well described in the old ballad, ' " The Rising of the North," to which we have already referred in the memoir of Sir John Bowes, Speaker, whose descendant, the celebrated Sir George Bowes, took an active part on the opposite side of the question. In Bishop Percy's text of the ballad in question, the manner in which this venerable gentleman, Richard Norton, "the life and soul of the expedition," and seven out of eleven sons, were implicated in this insurrection is thus described. After giving an account of the interview between the Earl of Northumberland and his countess, in which Percy communicated the danger of his position from his enemies about the court, he determines to send to his old friend Norton, and desires his " little foot page" to take a letter to him. " Commend me to that gentleman And beare this letter here fro mee ; And say that earnestly I praye He will ryde in my companie.'' The page arrived at Norton Conyers, and delivered the letter — And when the letter it was redd Afore that goodlye companye, r wit, if you the truthe wold know, There was many a weeping eye. " He sayd, come thither, Christopher Norton, A gallant youth thou seemest to bee ; What doest thou counsell me, my soune, Now that good Erie's in jeopardy ? " Father, my counseUe's fair and free ; That Erie he is a noble lord. And whatsoever to him you hight, I wold not have you break your word. " Gramercy, Christopher, my soune, Thy counsell well it liketh mee. And if we speed and scape with life Well advanced shalt thou bee. " Come you hither, my nine good sounes, Gallant men I trowe you bee ; How many of you, my children deare, Wm stand by that good erle and mee ? 9 George III.] sir Fletcher Norton. 44jr " Eight of them did answer make, Eight of them spoke hastilie, O father, till the daye we dye We'll stand by that good erle and thee. " Gramercy now, my children dears. You show yourselves right bold and brave. And whethersoe'er I live or dye, A father's blessing you shall have. " But what sayst thou, Francis Norton, Thou art my eldest soune and heire : Somewhat lies brooding in thy breast ; Whatever it be, to me declare. " Father, you are an aged man. Your head is white, your bearde is gray ; It were a shame at these your yeares. For you to ryse in such a fray. " Now fye upon thee, coward Francis, Thou never leamedst this of mee ; When thou wert young and tender of age Why did I make so much of thee ? " But, father, I will wend with you, Unarm'd and naked will I be ; And he that strikes against the orowne. Ever an ill death may he dee. " Then rose that reverend gentleman. And with him came a goodlye band To join with the brave Erie Percy, And all the flower o' Northumberland. " With them the noble Nevill came. The Erie of Westmoreland was hee ; At Wetherbye they mustred their host, Thirteen thousand faire to see." In allusion to the standard borne by the different leaders, it continues — " Erie Percy then his ancyent spred. The half-moone shining all soe faire, The Nortons' ancyent had the crosse And the five wounds our Lord did beare." This insurrection was speedily subdued, when old Norton, or " The Patry- arek," as he was styled, and is described by Camden as " an old gentleman, with a reverend gray head, bearing a cross with a stremer," being then seventy-one 448 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER, 1769. years of age, fledinto Flanders, and received, under the protection of the Duke of Alva, eighteen crovras per month for his subsistence. His eldest son Francis, who was averse to the insurrection, and but very slightly compromised in it, was nevertheless equally obliged to fly the country, where he led a miserable life, being greatly disliked by the other exiled rebels. Seven other sons of Richard Norton were actually implicated in this transaction as well as their uncle Thomas Norton, who, with the gallant young Christopher men- tioned in the ballad, was executed at Tyburn with every species of barbarity. This young gentleman is stated to have been very penitent, " exhorting all men at the scaffold to take warning by him. After the butcher had opened him, and as he took out his bowels, he is reported to have cried, ' Lord, Lord, have mercy upon me,' and so he yielded up the ghost." Independently of eleven sons, Richard Norton had also seven daughters by the same (his first) wife, daughter of Nevil, Lord Latimer. Edmund, the third son of " the Patryarck," and one of his " eight good sounes," was the immediate ancestor of Thomas Norton, Esq., of Grantley, near Ripon, in Yorkshire, who, by Mary, his wife, daughter of Thomas Fletcher, Esq., of the county of Westmoreland, left issue an only son, Thomas Norton, Esq., of Grantley, who died in February, 1719, leaving by Elizabeth, his wife, daughter of William Serjeantson, of Hanlith, in Craven, Esq., several chil- dren, of whom the subject of this memoir was the eldest son and heir. Fletcher Norton was born at Grantley, on the 23rd of June, 1716, and having, after his school education, applied himself to the study of the law, was called to the bar, and obtained those appointments which are generally considered as the stepping stones to the highest honours of the profession. He was appointed King's Counsel, Attorney-General for the County Palatine of Lancaster, and constituted Solicitor-General on the 14th December, 1761. In the next year the honour of knighthood was conferred upon him, and in 1763 he was promoted to the office of Attorney-General to the King, which he held with distinguished ability until 1765, and in 1769 was appointed Chief Justice in Eyre of all his Majesty's forests south of Trent. Sir Fletcher Norton was returned to the eleventh Parliament of Great Britain for the borough of Appleby, in Westmoreland ; and on the debate in the House upon "General Warrants and the Seizure of Papers," a.d. 1764, being then Attorney-General, he is reported to have declared, that " He should regard a resolution of the members of the House of Commons, no more than the oaths of so many drunken porters in Covent Garden." This intemperate observa- tion was sharply noticed in a pamphlet attributed to Lord Temple, entitled "A letter from Albemarle Street to the Cocoa Tree," in which, amongst other severe reflections, it says, " Parliamentary Resolutions are not like the words of a drunken porter, say so who will. One should think England could not have bred a man, I had almost said a , who would talk in so ridiculous 9 GeOBGE III.] SIR FLETCHER NORTON. 419 a manner, and nobody has more reason to stand in awe of Parliament, than such as are capable of holding a language so disrespectful to it, so derogatory to the great security of the nation. It must proceed from ignorance of the constitution, and to confute the nonsense would be supposing it not what it really is. Lawyers, who are generally fettered with the trammels of their profession, may say, as they sometimes have said, that votes of the Commons are not considered as laws, &c." It is evident that Sir Fletcher Norton's observation gave great offence to the opposite party, at the same time, strongly deprecating the language in which he conveyed his sentiments, as we do, all sound constitutional lawyers maintain, and justly so, that the resolutions of one branch of the legislature can only bind the members of the House from which they emanate. Were it otherwise, where would be the utility of the three estates? At the next general election. Sir Fletcher Norton was chosen for Wigan, in Lancashire, and upon Sir John Gust's resignation of the chair in 1769, he was elected Speaker of the House of Commons. It is perhaps an extraordinary circum- stance, to which little or no credence would be given by those who had not wasted their time in fruitless researches, that there are very few works relative to the eventful period in which our Speaker presided over the deliberations of the Lower House of Parliament, which enter at any length into political biography. The rising men of that epoch, it is true, became the most illus- trious senators England had ever produced, but their halcyon days belonged almost to the history of another generation, though they were yet in being, and earnest though early actors in the political arena. From the retirement of that truly great man, Arthur Onslow, until the palmy days of Pitt and Fox, there is an inconceivable dearth of information as to the private and political conduct and characters of the leading men in both Houses of Parliament. "We have Wraxall it is true, but according to his own shewing, it would be difficult to pin our faith upon his information, derived at times from sources which brand it with suspicion, from which there is no possible "relief, but the most clear and precise corroboration of history, while the coarse and petty anecdotes to which he gives such ready insertion, even if calculated to raise a smile, perhaps at the expense of truth, are unsuitable records of public men and events, and should take their stand only with the countless myriads of poHtical pamphlets and personal squibs of the day. The period at which Sir Fletcher Norton presided over the deliberations of the third estate of the realm was one of great political excitement. The citizens then played a very conspicuous part in the politics of the day, and our Speaker was called upon to vindicate the privileges, and enforce the authority of the House of Commons in the case of Brass Crosby, the Lord Mayor of London, for signing a warrant for the commitment of the messenger of the House of Commons, who was sent to seize Mr. Miller, the printer of the London Evening Post, &c., &c. 450 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1769. Party spirit has passed away, and the narrow-minded views of questionable statesmen have given place to liberal sentiments, under which the freedom and the glory of the country have been ensured, and will be maintained, in spite of every effort to crush her; historians will do justice to the patriotic conduct of those worthy aldermen and chief magistrates of the metropolis, who braver! imprisonment and fines in the cause of liberty and the rights of their fellow subjects. The troubles created by the turbulent political career of John Wilkes, the distresses of the people, and their riotous proceedings engendered by want, and the heavy pressure of taxation, the spirit of disafiection and rebellion which manifested itself in our American colonies, all tended to in- crease the difficulties of the Speaker's position, and although the. chair of St. Stephen was not then a bed of roses. Sir Flqtcher Norton shrunk not from the performance of the arduous and responsible duties which devolved upon him, but it is impossible for us to enter into' the details of the various events of his political career; there are, however, two or three to which we must refer, as the consequences they entailed, form the most important features of his biography. The first to which we shall advert is the celebrated speech of Sir Fletcher Norton, as Speaker of the House of Commons, addressed to the King at the bar of the House of Lords, upon the presentation of the bill to which it refers, for the royal assent on the 7th May, 1777, as follows : — " Most gracious Sovereign, the bill which it is now my duty to present to your Ma.jesty, is entitled 'An act for the better support of His Majesty's household, and of the honour and dignity of the crown of Great Britain,' to which your Commons humbly beg your royal assent. By this bill, sir, and the respectful circumstances which preceded and accompanied it, your Commons have given the fullest and clearest proof of their zeal and affection for your Majesty. For in a time of public distress, full of difliculty and danger, their constituents labouring under burthens almost too heavy to be borne, your faithful Commons postponed all other business, and with as much dispatch as the nature of their proceedings would admit, have not only granted to your Majesty a large present supply, but also a very great additional income ; great beyond your Majesty's highest expense (so written by Sir F. N., but by others the word he used is stated to have been ' wants.'') " But all this, sir, they have done, in a well grounded confidence, that you will apply wisely, what they have granted liberally : and feeling, what every good subject must feel with the greatest satisfaction, that under the direction of your Majesty's wisdom, the afiluence and grandeur of the Sovereign will reflect dignity and honour upon his people." It was ordered nem. con. that the Speaker's speech to his Majesty be printed. It was afterwards sought to impugij the loyalty of our Speaker and to fasten upon him, not words, but one word, to which, if we give ere- George III.] sir fletcher Norton. 451 dence to his assertion, he never gave utterance. But granting that he had used the word wants, instead of expense, Vfe are still at a loss to conceive how the most violent party feeling could draw any inference from the expression un- favourable to the Speaker's loyalty or want of due respect to the Crown. "We have not space to reproduce the arguments upon this point, although strongly tempted to give Fox's answer to Mr. Rigby, one of the most cutting, and con- vincing replies to a groundless, or at least a most insignificant and unworthy accusation, we ever remember to have perused. It is, however, sufficient to observe that the accusation itself only reflected upon the accusers, who had voted unanimously for the printing of the speech, so satisfied were they with the sentiments it expressed and the tone of loyalty which pervaded it, and thus it became the child, by adoption, of all political parties, and the subsequent rejection of the work of their own hands was unworthy of the great party from whom the charge emanated. We cannot doubt that the King's anger with our Speaker arose from the officious interference of those about him, who had instilled into his mind the idea of a premeditated insult on the part of the Whigs, whose organ he was. At the same time it was a paltry act to ground the charge upon a word which was of no real importance, for wants and ex- pense are almost synonymous in their application in the sense in which either was used by our Speaker, while it is quite evident that the only offensive part of his address was the hope he expressed " that his Majesty would expend wisely what the Parliament had granted liberally." This was the head and front of his offending, though his opponents dared not avow it, or acknow- ledge that they had overlooked his language when they voted that his speech be printed. It is an unfortunate circumstance in any state, or under any description of government, for a public man to lose the confidence, and above all to incur the displeasure of the chief ruler — it places a stopper upon his hopes of ambition, and in the opinions of the many who are guided solely by fashion and court intrigue, it sets a brand of disgrace upon the individual which no time can efface. The King never forgave the ofience in this instance, but the public and public bodies duly appreciated Sir Fletcher Norton's patriotism : and we find that shortly after, at a court of Common Council held at Guildhall, on the 14th May, 1777, at which were present the Lord Mayor, Aldermen Bull, Sawbridge, Lewis, Plomer, Newn- ham, Lee, and Wooldridge, it was resolved " That the speech made by the Right Hon. Sir Fletcher Norton, Speaker of the House of Commons, to his Majesty, on the 7th instant, be entered in the journals of this court. " That the freedom of the city be presented to the Right Hon. Sir Fletcher Norton, Speaker of the Honourable House of Commons, for having declared, in manly terms, the real state of the nation to his Majesty on the throne, when he presented to him, for his royal assent, the bill entitled, ' an act for the better support of his Majesty's household, and of the honour and dignity of G G 452 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1769. the Crown of Great Britain.' " " That a copy of the freedom of this city, with the resolution of the court inserted therein, be delivered to the Right Hon. Sir Fletcher Norton, in a gold box, of the value of fifty guineas ; and the Lord Mayor was desired to provide the same." This was a proud testimony of the opinions of his fellow citizens, which with other public praise probably tended considerably to increase the King's dislike to our Speaker ; and the following ode in imitation of Horace in allusion to the event, from the pen of Macgregor, appeared in print shortly after : — " Muse ! were we ricli in land, or stocks, We'd send Sir Fletcher a gold box ; Who lately to the world's surprise, Advised his Sovereign to be wise. The zeal of cits should ne'er surpass ns, We'd make him Speaker of Parnassus. Or could I boast the mimic eye Of Townsend, or of Bunbury, TVTiose art can catch, in comic guise, ' The manners living as they rise,' And find it the same easy thing To hit a joUux or a king, I'd hangings weave, in fancy's loom, For Lady Norton's dressing room ; But arts like these I don't pursue, Nor does Sir Fletcher heed vLrtu. Enough for me in these hard times, When everything is tax'd but rhymes, To tag a few of those together, Tho' I am quite uncertain, whether My verse will much rejoice the knight. As great a store as I set by't — For verse (I'd have Sir Fletcher know it) When written by a genuine poet. Has more of meaning and intent, Than modern acts of Parliament. 'Tis fit and right when heroes die, The nation .should a tomb supply ; Yet, not the votes of both the Houses, Without th' assistance of the muses, Can give that permanence of fame That heroes from their country claim And tell me pray, to our good King, What fame our present broils can bring, Ev'n should the Howes (which some folks doubt), Put Washington to total rout, Unless his treasurer in an ode Exalt the Victor to a god ? " * « * » * 9 George III,] sir fletcher Norton. 453 During our Speaker's tenure of the chair, he had ever, in his official addresses to the King, advised a conciliatory course tovsrards the revolted Americans, which circumstance is of course alluded in the foregoing ode. The obstinacy of George III. upon this point, led to that useless exhaustion of blood and wasteful expenditure of treasure, which pressed so heavily upon the country, as the consequences of that inglorious struggle. The known opposition of the Whigs to the darling hopes of the Sovereign, of suppressing the American rebellion, and punishing, with the utmost rigour, all the leaders in the revo- lutionary movements which aimed at wresting so great a continent from the grasp of the mother country, was in itself sufficient to increase his Majesty's dislike to Sir Fletcher Norton, but the rerum omnium primum, was the advice to which the poet alludes, and it was determined, that in the next Parliament, another should be proposed as Speaker of the House of Commons. In Wraxall's Historical Memoirs, we have the following narration of the event, to which we give insertion, because it is, in a great measure, confirmed by the Journals of the House. Our author says, — "It was not intended by administration, that Sir Fletcher Norton, who during near eleven years, ever since the resignation of Sir John Cast, in January, 1770, had filled the chair, should re-occupy it in the new Parliament. He had given umbrage during the Session of 1777, both to the Sovereign and to ministers, by a memorable speech which he addressed to the King, while standing in his official capacity, at the bar of the House of Peers, and though the admonition or exhortation that he thought proper then to use, relative to the economical expenditure of the money voted by the House of Commons, had met with the approbation of the country at large, yet it un- questionably produced his eventual exclusion from the employment of Speaker. Lord North having tried the ground at St. James's, found his majesty deter- mined upon the point. Conscious, nevertheless, that it would be highly un- popular to place his intended dismission on such a basis, the ministers availed themselves of Sir Fletcher's ill state of health, which had considerably im- peded the progress of public business in the preceding Session, as forming a sufficient cause for his removal. While therefore they passed high eulogiums on his ability and talents, they lamented that infirmities of body rendered it improper to ask of him, or to accept from him, a continuance of his public services. Sir Fletcher, however, rising in his place, and speaking from the opposition bench, while he was sustained by that powerful and numerous phalanx, endeavoured to point out the latent enmity, as well as the obvious nullity, of the ministerial arguments. He afiected, it is true, to disclaim any wish of being again placed in the Speaker's chair; but he took care to accom- pany the declaration, by an assertion of his perfect physical capacity to meet its duties and fatigues. His appearance seemed indeed to present the aspect of a man, who though somewhat declined in years, did not manifest any tokens G G 2 454 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1769. of decay. All the personal attacks levelled by Norton's friends, on the opposition side of the House, at Lord North, could neither induce nor provoke the first minister to open his lips on the occasion. He remained profoundly silent, but Mr. Rigby, unintimidated by the clamours of Sir Fletcher's ad- herentSj after boldly avowing. that he v?as dismissed for his political trespasses, justified his exclusion from the chair on parliamentary or on ministerial grounds. CornvFall was chosen Speaker by a very large majority. " Sir Fletcher Norton, though perhaps justly accused, as a professional man, of preferring profit to conscientious delicacy of principle ; and though de- nominated in the coarse satires or caricatures of the day, by the epithet of 'Sir Bullface Doubleface,' yet possessed an eminent Parliamentary know- ledge as well as legal talents. Far from suffering in his capacity of Speaker, by a comparison either with his immediate predecessor or successor in that high office, he must be considered very superior to both." Wraxall continues, " We may here remark, as a curious fact, that Sir Fletcher's dismission from the office of Speaker, conducted him within eighteen months, to the dignity of the peerage, an elevation which he owed solely to the jealousies and rivalities that arose between Lord Rockingham and Lord Shelbourne, as soon as they got into power." The manner in which Sir Fletcher Norton obtained his elevation to the peerage, is thus narrated by the same authority. When the Premier found that Dunning had been created a peer upon the recommendation of Lord Shel- bourne, he felt highly incensed, and the other members of the administration insisted upon an immediate reparation. Wraxall says, " Under this impression several of the leading persons, among whom were Fox, Burke, and George Byng, having repaired to Lord Rockingham's house in Grosvenor Square, a sort of tumultuary consultation was there held on the occasion. They unanimously agreed that the First Lord of the Treasury would be at once dishonoured in the cabinet, and disgraced in public estimation ; if the Secre- tary of State, so much his inferior in official rank, could thus, without his knowledge or participation, dispose of the highest dignities to his own adhe- rents. It was maintained, that the reparation ought to be no less public than the affront, and that in order to wipe it away, some individual must be without delay, raised to the peerage, at Lord Rockingham's personal recommendation. This resolution being adopted, it was next debated whom to choose for the honour. The selection fell on Sir Fletcher Norton, late Speaker of the House of Commons, not indeed so much from inclination as from necessity, no other person appearing equally proper to be created a peer at the same time with Dunning as Sir Fletcher, they being both lawyers of great eminence in their profession, members of the House of Commons, speaking as well as voting, in decided opposition to the late Government, and rival candidates for power or office. On the following day, Thursday, the 28th of March, the new First 9 GeOBGE III. J SIR FLETCHER NORTON. 455 Lord of the Treasury repaired to St. James's. Having obtained an audience of the King, he represented the impossibihty of his continuing at the head of the intended administration, after the elevation of Mr. Dunning to a peerage, on Lord Shelbourne's recommendation, unless his Majesty should be graciously pleased to confer' the same mark of royal favour on one of his own friends. After some hesitation, the King, apprehensive of the consequences to himself and to the public tranquillity, if Lord Rockingham and his followers should suddenly resign as they menaced, and aware that Lord Shelbourne could not support himself, signified his assent, adding, that the person named. Sir Fletcher Norton, might kiss his hand at the first levee. But the marquis peremptorily insisted on that ceremony immediately taking place on the same day. In vain the King stated the singularity and impropriety of such an act, contrary to all the usages of established court etiquette, inasmuch as no indi- vidual ever was known to be presented at the Queen's drawing room by whatever title, till he had previously been received under that denomination at the levee. Lord Rockingham signified in reply, respectfully, but tena- ciousFy, that every form must give way on the present occasion, and he exacted compliance. "Sir Fletcher being brought forward, actually kissed his Majesty's hand on his creation as a baron, by the title of Lord Grantley, the same day, in the drawing room, to the no small astonishment of the oldest courtiers, and hardly less so of the newly created peer himself, who having been apprised of this extraordinary elevation, attended for the purpose at St. James's, on the previous notice of only a few hours. No instance of such a breach of established usage has occurred, either before or since, in the course of the present reign." His lordship's creation was Lord Grantley, and Baron of Maikenfield, in the county of York, 9th April, 1782. In a very able and interesting work, " the Life of Lord Sidmouth," from which we have so frequently quoted in the memoirs of succeeding Speakers, there is an excellent anecdote relative to the anticipated horrors of continued disobedience to the chair ; when order ! order 1 failed to produce its effect, and the Speaker was compelled to reiterate the cry with the mysterious addition of " or I shall name names," Mr. Wilkes once ventured to ask Speaker Onslow what would be the consequence of his naming names T^ "The Lord in Heaven only knows, sir, what the consequences would be," was the solemn reply. Some years afterwards, Mr. Fox himself put the same question to Sir Fletcher Norton, who carelessly answered, " Happen ! hang me if I either know or care." Lord Sidmouth's biographer observes, that Mr. Fox afterwards related this anecdote to the House, in the debate of the 2.^:!rd April, 1804 , ^ , . The particulars of the last illness of Lord Grantley are thus recorded in the journals and periodicals of the day. Some days before his death, his 456 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. lordship sent for Mr. Pott, a very old and intimate acquaintance, to consult him respecting his situation, as he was labouring under severe cold and asthma. The answer was, that Surgeon Pott was dead, which intelligence greatly affected his lordship. He then sent for a physician, who not being in the way, he declined sending for any other person until within two days of his death, when his son, perceiving that the disorder was taking a very un- favourable turn, insisted upon having medical advice. Upon the arrival of the physician, he at once announced that there was no hope, and his lordship died at four o'clock on the morning of the following day, the 1st of January, 1789, at his house in Lincoln's Inn Fields. At the period of his death, his lordship held the appointments of a Lord of Trade and Plantations, Chief Justice in Eyre of his Majesty's forests south of Trent, Recorder of Guild- ford, one of his Majesty's most honourable Privy Council, and L.L.D, His lordship married 22nd May, 1741, Grace, eldest daughter of Sir William Chappie, Knt., one of the Judges of the Court of King's Bench, by whom he had issue, first, William, afterwards Lord Grantley, second, Fletcher, a Baron of the Exchequer, in Scotland, third. Chappie, a Major-General in the army, and Colonel in the second Regiment of Guards, M.P. for Guildford, and other sons, and one daughter, Grace, who married John Charles, Earl of Portsmouth. William, second Lord Grantley, married Miss Midgley, daughter of Jonathan Midgley, Esq., of Beverley, in Yorkshire, but left no issue, when the title devolved upon his nephew, Fletcher Norton, the present Lord Grantley, the eldest son of the before named Hon. Fletcher Norton, one of the Barons of the Exchequer in Scotland. His lordship, who is the represen- tative of our Speaker, married Charlotte Earle, second daughter of the late Sir William Beechey, Knt., but has no issue. The Hon. C. C. Norton, the Police Magistrate, and Recorder of Guildford, is a brother of his lordship. Arms. — Azure, a maunch ermine, over all a bend, gules. Crest. — A moor's head, couped at the shoulders, wreathed round the tem- ples, with ivy, ppr., tied, ar. and az. Motto. — Avi numerantur Avorum. CHARLES WOLFRAN CORNWALL. Amongst all the great and noble families of England, no pedigree is better attested and confirmed, or its truth more readily acknowledged by the heralds and genealogists of all ages, from Camden downwards, than that of the illus- trious family of Cornwall, the first of whom, and of course the very founder CHARLES WOLFRAN CORNWALL. 457 of his race, was Richard, the natural son of Richard Plantagenet, Earl of Cornwall, King of the Romans, second son of King John, nephew of the lion hearted Richard, and brother to King Henry III, It would be highly inter- esting if we could trace the particulars which led to the birth of Richard Cornwall, the ancestor of the subject of our memoir ; for it must be evident that it could not have been an ordinary occurrence, from the circumstance of the high rank and illustrious position of his mother, Beatrix, niece of Conrad of Cologne, King of the Romans. But history is silent upon the subject, and we dare not indulge in conjecture. From Richard, who assumed the name of Cornwall, descended the Barons of Burford, co. Salop, and a long line of eminent warriors allied by marriage with the great families of Mortimer, De Bottringham, Latimer, De la Barr, &c. &c., of whom, in the ninth generation, came Thomas Cornwall, living in 1472, who married Elizabeth, one of the daughters of Sir Rowland Lenthall, the renowned warrior of Agincourt, (ancestor of the celebrated Speaker of the Long Parliament, see his memoir,) by the Lady Margaret Fitz Alan, his wife, sister and co-heir of Thomas, Earl of Arundel, descended from the De Bohuns, Earls of Hereford, who were closely allied to the royal family of England, descending directly from the Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Ed- ward I. The pedigree of the Cornwalls is too voluminous to permit us to do more than take a hasty glance at some of the most conspicuous characters who adorn its pages. Amongst others, we may be pardoned for recalling to the reader's notice Sir John Cornwall, the youngest son of the first Baron Burford, who espoused the niece of the Duke of Brittany, and had an only son, the illustrious Sir John Cornwall, Knight of the Garter, whose military prowess and knightly deeds, frequently adverted to with pride by both houses of Parliament in those days, were rewarded by his elevation to the peerage as Baron Fanhope. This nobleman married Elizabeth, widow of the Duke of Exeter, and sister to King Henry IV. But his Hne became extinct, and nothing remains to mark the greatness of the man but his stall plate and tattered banner, in the royal chapel of St. George, at Windsor. As we cannot sink the historian or biographer in the genealogist, we must set a limit to our wanderings in the path of pedigree, and introduce the reader as speedily as possible to the sub- ject of our memoir. From Sir Rowland Cornwall, (who married the heiress of Besington, co. Hereford,) the youngest son of Thomas, Baron of Burford, and Ehzabeth Lenthall, his wife, descended, in the seventh generation, Charles Cornwall, Esq., of Besington, Vice-Admiral of the Fleet, commanded by Sir George Byng, which defeated the Spanish fleet, July 31st, 1718, who died at Lisbon, as he was returning from the Mediterranean, on the 17th October of the same year. By Dorothy, his wife, daughter of Job Hanmer, Esq., of Flint, ancestor of the present Sir John Hanmer, Bart., of Bettis- 458 LIVES OP THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKfiR 1780, ^ field Park, he left issue Jacobs Cornwall, Esq., of Besington, who by Rose his wife, daughter of Robert Fowler, Esq., of Barton Priors, was the father of Charles Wolfran Cornwall, Esq., the subject of this memoir. This gentle- man died shortly after the birth of his son, on the 8th August, 1736, at the early age of twenty-six, but his place was supplied by the maternal care of his widow, a lady of rare endowments, whose solicitude was rewarded, and the inscription on her tomb touchingly observes that " she had her maternal care and tenderness amply repaid by ^;he duty and affection of her only son, the Right Honourable Charles Wolfran Cornwall, and the satisfaction of seeing him before her death Speaker of the House of Commons." Charles Wolfran Cornwall was born 1736, and was educated at Winchester school and Oxford. He was subsequently entered of Gray's Inn, and in due time called to the bar. We do not find that he acquired much eminence, or any extensive practice, although qualified by ability and talent to shine in his profession ; but on his marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of Colonel Charles Jenkinson, and sister of Mr. Charles Jenkinson, then Secretary at War, afterwards Lord Hawkesbury and Earl of Liverpool, (the father of the late lamented Earl of Liverpool) he appears to have retired from the active duties of a practising barrister, and having obtained a seat in Parlia- ment, accepted, in 1763, an appointment under Government, as one of the Commissioners for auditing the German accounts. The manner in which he fulfilled the duties of his office was so satisfactory to the administration, that he was rewarded with a pension. Some time after, a difference arose between Mr. Cornwall and Lord Hawkesbury, with the particulars of which we are not well informed, when the former joined Lord Shelburne's party, and sup- ported the Whigs in all the questions which so greatly agitated society at that eventful period, particularly upon John Wilkes' election for Middlesex, and the prosecutions respecting the letters of Junius. This estrangement from his family connections, as well as his political principles, was not, however, of long duration ; for we find that in 1774, he was appointed one of the Lords of the Treasury, an office he held until the general election in 1780. During the long period in which Mr. Cornwall sat in the House of Commons, he is reported to have paid great attention to its rules and proceedings, by which he acquired such a knowledge of the laws and usages of Parliament as ren- dered him capable to undertake the duties of Speaker, and it is not impro- bable that the ministers had particularly directed his attention to that im- portant position, as one to which he might aspire, since there is little doubt that they had long resolved to supersede Sir Fletcher Norton upon the first opportunity that should occur. We have before adverted to that important event in the life of Sir Fletcher Norton, in which, having suffered his patriotism to get the better of ob- sequiousness, he gave unpardonable offence to George IIL, a monarch vrhose CHARLES WOLFRAN CORNWALL. 459 memory was extremely tenacious of injury, by advising liim, in 1777, to ex- pend wisely what Parliament had granted liberally. It is unnecessary to go over the same ground again, we therefore refer the reader to the preceding memoir, where the circumstances are briefly narrated. It is sufficient for us to observe, that it being determined to oust Sir Fletcher Norton, upon the meeting of the new Parliament, after the general election of 1780, Lord George Germain proposed, and Mr. Welbore Ellis seconded, Charles Woolfran Cornwall, Esq., as a fit and proper person to take the chair. The thanks bestowed by the noble mover upon the late Speaker for his long and arduous services, and his able discharge of the duties imposed upon him, and the sym- pathy of the Government for the detrimental consequences to his health, were the occasion of much merriment to the House, as the excuse, a palpable subterfuge, was rendered the more absurd by Sir Fletcher's rising in the House, and declaring that he never was better in his life, or, as far as phy- sical powers were concerned, better able to undergo the fatigues of the office. The Tories had a majority, and it was useless to contest the nomination, which, after a sharp debate, ended in Mr. Cornwall's election to the chair, at which time he represented Rye, in Sussex. As Speaker, we have the testimony of his contemporaries that he uniformly conducted himself with an afiability, dignity, and rectitude of conduct highly becoming his elevated situation. He was not, however, free from the gibes and satires which attacked all men in eminent situations in those days of fierce political warfare; and, amongst other charges brought against him was a habit of imbibing too much malt liquor. Wraxall gives the following por- trait of our Speaker, and ends with an allusion to this propensity. " Cornwall possessed every physical quality requisite to ornament the place ; a sonorous voice, a manly as well as imposing tigure, and a commanding deportment ; but his best ministerial recommendation to the office, consisted in the con- nection between him and Mr. Charles Jenkinson, then Secretary at War, which the marriage of the former gentleman with the sister of the latter had cemented. After his election Cornwall gave little satisfaction, and had re- course to the narcotic virtues of porter for enabling him to sustain its fatigue, an auxiliary which sometimes becoming too powerful for the principal who called in its assistance, produced inconveniences." The " Rolliad," alluding to the Speaker's chair as it was filled in 1784, says, " There Cornwall sits, and ah ! compelled by Fate, Must sit for ever through the long debate ; Save when comp^ed by Nature's sovereign will, Sometimes to empty, and sometimes to fill." " Like sad Prometheus fastened to the rock. In vain he looks for pity to the clock ; In vain the powers of strengthening porter tries, And nods to Bellamy for fresh supplies." 460 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. Few persons, however, in private life were more generally esteemed than Mr. Cornwall, who was remarkable for his gentlemanlike manners and affability, Mr. Cornwall was appointed Chief Justice of his Majesty's forests north of Trent; which office, with a pension of £1500 per annum, he held at the period of his death, as well as the appointment of one of his Majesty's most honourable Privy Council, Master of St. Cross Hospital, near Winchester, and a bencher of Gray's Inn. Mr. Cornwall died .on the 2nd of January, 1788, after a very short and rather sudden attack of illness. On the previous day, he, being considered out of danger, sent a message to the House to that effect ; but at twelve o'clock his disorder took a fatal turn, and he expired the following morning. Having no issue, this branch of the family of Corn- wall became extinct, and he devised the bulk of his property to the children of his kinsman, Sir George Cornwall, Bart. ; and after the death of his wife, to whom he left a hfe interest in all he possessed, by his will, which bore date the 1st May, 1787, he desired that he might be buried wherever his wife should appoint, provided the funeral expenses did not exceed the sum of £500 ; and he left £5000 to the Rev. Dr. Sturges, one of his executors, and £500 a-piece to the other two, his solicitor and his Secretary. He was buried at St. Cross church, near Winchester, where a monument was erected to his memory, with an inscription recording his services to his country, the following copy of which was kindly forwarded to us for the purposes of this memoir by the Rev. Mr. Williams, the chaplain of the hospital. " Near this place lies the body of the Right Honourable Charles Wolfran Cornwall, of an ancient family, in the county of Hereford. " Having been educated at the college near Winchester, and removed from thence to New College, Oxford, he applied himself to the study of the law, but was diverted from proceeding in the course of his profession, for which he was eminently qualified, by being appointed a Commissioner for examining German Accounts, 1763, which trust he so dis- charged as to merit and receive a reward from the public. He became Member of the House of Commons in the 13th Parliament of Great Britain, 1768, and served in the suc- ceeding Parliaments of 1774, 1780, and 1784. He was appointed one of the Lords Com- missioners of the Treasury, 1774 ; Chief Justice in Eyre, of the royal forests north of Trent ; and one of his Majesty's most honourable Privy Council, 1780. In the Parliament assembled in that year, he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons, and rechosen to the same office 1784. Endued with strong and correct understanding, having a perfect knowledge of the privileges and functions of the great assembly in which he presided, and a sincere attachment to the constitution of his country, he filled the high office, of which he died possessed, with ability, with dignity, with impartiality. " In private life, whilst an accurate memory, a perspicuity of thought and expression, a peculiar pleasantry of conversation, and agreeableness of manners, rendered his society highly engaging, he was endeared to the persons more nearly connected with him by the warmth and constancy of his affection, and his friendship. " He was born June 15th, 1735. " And died January 2nd, 1789. ""He married, 1764, Elizabeth, daughter of Charles Jenkinson, Esq., Lieutenant Colonel WILLIAM WYNDHAM GBENVILLE. 461 of the royal regiment of Horse Guards, Blue, and son of Sir Robert Jenkinson, Bart., of Walcot, in the county of Oxford, who survived him, and by whom this monument is erected, m token of her unalterable love and esteem. In the same grave are interred the remains of Elizabeth Cornwall, his wife, who died the 8th of March, a.d. 1809, aged 78 years. Although this branch of the Cornwalls became extinct upon the death of our Speaker, two other branches are still in existence in the male, and two also in the female line. The eldest is represented through the heiress of the last Baron of Burford, by George Cornwall Legh, Esq., of High Legh, M.P. for North Cheshire ; from the second, which still flourishes in the male line, descends Colonel Cornwall, of Cadogan Place, formerly in the Coldstream Guards, and Equerry to her late Majesty, Queen Adelaide. Our Speaker was the representative of the third, the late Bishop of Worcester was the representative of a fourth, and Sir Velters Cornewall, Bart., represents in the female line, a fifth branch of this ancient and illustrious family. Arms. — A lion rampant gu., ducally crowned, or., within a bordure, eiigr, sa., bezantee. WILLIAM WYNDHAM GRENVILLE, Esq. The family of Grenville is of great antiquity in the county of Buckingham, where it was seated at Wooton under Barnwood, as early as the reign of Henry I., and the records of that county shew how frequently the Grenvilles- were entrusted with the then truly important office of Sheriff^ one of much more extensive authority than that of Lord Lieutenant in these days. The- Abbe de la Rue, in his " Recherches sur la tapisserie de Bayeux,'' published at Caen, 1824, says, " Wace is far from having transcribed all the names of the nobility who assisted Duke William in his expedition. Thus our re- searches enable us to state with certainty that our province (Normandy) still contains many families, branches of which were established in England at the period, and subsequently to the conquest, who have preserved the same names, and often the same armorial bearings. But (he continues) as these names have not all been inscribed in Wace's catalogue, we shall have much pleasure in giving those which our discoveries have brought to light." He then enumerates thirty-three families, several of whose names are to this day borne by members of the British peerage and aristocracy, amongst whom are 462 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1789, those of De Courcy, Harcourt, Granville, Percy, Pierpolnt, and Touchet, not one of vrhom are found in Andre Duthesne's " Antient List of the Con- querors of England," although Bromton and other authorities give two or three of them. The result, however, is convincing to our minds, that the nohle family of Grenville is of Norman extraction, and we cannot doubt that the family of Granville in Normandy, mentioned by the learned Abbe, was the parent stock. This fact, however, is probably of little or no impor- tance in this money getting, wealth absorbing, cash counting, and singularly selfish age ; but we plead guilty to the soft impeachment which attaints us with a love of antiquity and genealogical research, and candidly acknowledge our weakness (if so it be) upon this (to our minds) interesting subject. From the reign of Henry I. to the noble Duke of Buckingham, now the chief of the Grenvilles, the race has been continued in one unbroken line of male des- cent, and few families have produced more eminent members in all its various branches, William Wyndham Grenville, the subject of our memoir, was the third son of the Right Hon. George Grenville (brother to Richard, Earl Temple), a highly distinguished political character in the reigns of George II, and George III. (a Privy Councillor, who had filled the offices of Secretary of State, Treasurer of the Navy, First Lord of the Admiralty, and in 1763 Chancellor of the Exchequer), by Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Wynd- ham, Bart., and was born in October, 1759, In his youth Mr. Grenville gave satisfactory proof of- talent and intelligence, which were improved by assiduous study at Eton and Oxford, where his habits of application held out the strongest promise of future celebrity. On quitting the university he became a member of an Inn of Court, intending at that time to study for the bar, but he was induced by the representations of his friend, Mr. Pitt, to give up all idea of law, and from that moment he directed the energies of his mind to the business of politics. Upon the death of his uncle Richard, Earl Temple, his elder brother George succeeded to that title, and in 1782 was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and Mr. Grenville accompanied him as his secretary. In this capacity he continued until the recall of Lord Temple (who had been superseded by the Earl of Northington) in the following year, when Mr. Grenville was appointed Paymaster General of the army, in the place of Mr. Burke. Mr. Grenville gave great satisfaction to the government by the manner in which he discharged the duties of his office, during which period he became a candidate for the representation of his native county, Buckinghamshire, and was returned to parliament after one of the most severely contested elections upon record. At the beginning of the year 1789 the death of Mr. Cornvvall produced a vacancy in the chair of the House of Commons, when Mr. Grenville, although comparatively a young member of the House, was elected to this high office. During his short tenure of this George III.] william wyndham grenville. 463 dignified position, which did not exceed six months, many questions of the deepest importance were brought under the consideration of Parliament; amongst others, that of a Regency, owing to the mental affliction of his Majesty, in which, in a committee of the whole House, our Speaker dis- tinguished himself by one of the most brilliant, luminous, and impressive speeches made upon that delicate subject. Mr. Grenville presided so short a time over the deliberations of the House, that in drawing an estimate of his political conduct, we must travel from the object of this publication, and take a view of his character as a public man, a statesman, and a minister of the crown, although it is admitted that his conduct in the chair was both dignified and impartial. Upon the resignation of that office by Lord Sidney, Mr. Grenville was appointed Secretary of State for the home department, and on the 25th of November, 1790, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Grenville. His subsequent career as a minister of the crown, has been so ably treated by a contemporary writer, that we do not hesitate to reproduce it, as we fully concur in the justice of his encomiums and the estimate he has formed of his lordship's character and abilities. In 1791 his lordship was made Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. The period at which he was appointed to this important station in the administration was fraught with peril both to this country and to Europe in general. The revo- lution in France was beginning to spread with the terror it occasioned, the prin- ciples by which it was supported. Every Government felt the necessity of watching with attention the progress of events, which had already been so momentous in their consequences ; and which, whether for good or evil, were harbingers of the most important changes. Lord Grenville was not long in deciding upon the part which he thought it right to take in this emergency. He considered that no room was now left for compromise — that the most vigorous measures could alone save England from the evils with which she appeared threatened ; and that if the state of affairs ever presented an aspect that justified drawing the sword and throwing away the scabbard, it was in the present crisis. The first step taken was the summary dismission of the French ambassador from the English court. The Directory however was not ready to receive this conduct of the British cabinet as an insult upon its authority, and immediately despatched M. Maret to enter upon a negotiation intended to secure the neutrality of this country. Lord Grenville remained fixed to his original purpose. Intimations were given, that the new government of France would be ready to make even important sacrifices to effect the purpose of the mission ; but nothing could change the mind of the minister on the subject, and he persisted to the last in not suffering the ambassador to visit him or to propose his terms, as legitimately authorized to act as the envoy of a government. A. difference of opinion appears to have existed under these circumstances between Mr. Pitt and Lord Grenville. The former considered it necessary 464 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. to admit the private visits of the French ambassador ; and this and other similar causes led to the resignation of his friend and coadjutor, who was suc- ceeded in his office by Mr. Dundas. Lord Granville made himself early con- spicuous for his talents as a parliamentary speaker, and it is probable had he not risen to the high station he held as a minister and a man of business, that his eloquence alone would have rendered him one of the most distinguished men of his time. His talents as a speaker, and for conducting a debate, were, shortly after the events above alluded to, put to a memorable trial. Such was the state of the popular mind in England at this period that his Majesty, in proceeding to the House of Parliament, was assailed by the mob in a manner which it would have been a gross violation of duty in the legis- lature of the country to neglect noticing; Lord Grenville accordingly brought in a bill, intended to provide for the safety and protection of the royal person. The debate which followed the introduction of the bill was long and stormy, and gave ample opportunity to Lord Grenville for the most loyal exertion of his oratorical abilities. He had the satisfaction of seeing his motion carried after a strong debate by a great majority, and he followed up his success by bringing in another bill intended to suppress the formation or continuance of the seditious societies which had so great an influence in agitating the king- dom, and preventing either the establishment of peace or a firm prosecution of the war. Lord Grenville took a conspicuous part with Mr. Pitt in pro- moting the union with Ireland, and shared with him in giving the intimations, on which the Catholics of that country founded their claims to emancipation. When it was found that Government was unwilling to forward these views, the ministers felt themselves obliged to resign their offices. Application, however, was shortly after made to Mr. Pitt to form a union with the parties then in power ; but he refused to accede unless Lord Grenville was at the same time put into office ; which proposal being rejected the negociation ended. But no long time elapsed before Mr. Pitt found himself obliged to yield to the urgent necessities of the state, and he again took his seat in the adminis- tration. On the occurrence of this circumstance, Lord Grenville entered the ranks of the opposition, in which he continued to act till the death of Mr. Pitt in the year 1806. A total alteration in the arrangements of the cabinet was produced by that event, and the subject of the present memoir was made first Lord of the Treasury. The continuance of this ministry was but short ; not- withstanding the union of great talents and powerful names which it presented, it was unable to carry into execution the designs which the principal persons who composed it had in view. The Catholic Emancipation was an object for which Lord Grenville had already strenuously laboured, and in this he was aided by his most powerful coadjutors in office. But the seeds of dissolution were sown immediately on the direct introduction of the measure into the debates of the cabinet. His Majesty was determinedly opposed to its pro- HENRY ADDINGTON. 465 gress, nor could their utmost exertion bear up against his resolution. The First Lord of the Treasury suifered also at the same time in his popularity, by accepting the office of Auditor, which was incompatible with his situation in the administration. After a short and feverish existence therefore, the ministry was dissolved. Since that period Lord Grenville's exertions were principally confined to subjects connected with the Catholic question, on which he has always spoken with fervour and earnestness. His lordship married in 1792, the Hon. Anne Pitt, only daughter of Lord Camelford, and sister and heiress of Thomas, last Lord Camelford, but dying without issue in 1834, the title became extinct, while the representation of our Speaker rests on his great nephew, Richard Plantagenet Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos- Grenville, Duke of Buckingham, and Chandos. Arms. — Vert, on a cross, ar. five torteaux (with a difference.) HENRY ADDINGTON, Esq. In the reign of King Henry VI., a.d. 1448, license was given to found a chantry at Banbury, in Oxfordshire, in which the name of Nicholas Addington appears as a trustee, and before the close of the sixteenth century, a family of the same name, doubtless a branch of the Addingtons, of Banbury, was settled at Fringford, in the same county, where the death of William Adding- ton, in the year 1600, is recorded in the parish register. Both branches used the same armorial bearings, which according to the herald's visitations, must have been granted before the reign of Henry VII. In this retired spot, in which the family of our Speaker resided for many generations, on a moderately sized estate, still in the possession of Viscount Sidmouth, was born Dr. Anthony Addington, a celebrated physician, whose talents and general acquire- ments were as much appreciated by society as his great medical knowledge and professional skill. Dr. Addington was the intimate friend, as well as the medical adviser, of the great Lord Chatham, and was one of the physicians consulted upon the first mental attack of his late Majesty, George III. By Mary, his wife, daughter and heir of the Rev. Haviland John Hiley, of Reading, co. Berks, Dr. Addington had issue four daughters, Anne, married to the late William Goodenough, M.D., Eleanor, to James Sutton, Esq., of New Park, Wilts, whose only daughter and heir espoused T. G. B. Estcourt, Esq., M.P. for the University of Oxford, Elizabeth, married to William Hoskyns, Esq., of South Perrott, Somersetshire, and Charlotte, the wife of 406 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1789, the Riglit Honourable Charles Bragge Bathurst, of Lydney Park, co. Glou- cester, and two sons, Henry and Hiley, of whom Hiley, the younger, was a distinguished Member of Parliament for many years, a Privy Counsellor, and Minister of the Crown. The eldest son, Henry, the subject of this memoir, was born on the 30th May, 1757, in Bedford Row, and was educated at Winchester School, under tlie celebrated Dr. Joseph Warton, the head master, and George Isaac Hun- tingford, one of the assistants, who was so greatly distinguished in after life as a divine and a scholar ; and it speaks volumes in favour of Mr. Addington, that the friendship he formed with these celebrated men in his boyhood, en- dured through life. He was afterwards entered as a commoner of Brasennose College, Oxford, and a student of Lincoln's Inn, having decided upon adopt- ing the law as a profession. At the University, Mr. Addington distinguished himself by no ordinary talent, he took the degree of B.A. 26th February, 1778, and was the successful competitor for the bachelor's prize, in the next year. He married early in life, and intending to practice at the bar, took chambers in Paper Buildings, and resided in Southampton Street, Bloomsbury. But he was not destined long to pursue the slow progress of that arduous pro- fession, for adopting the advice of his friend, "William Pitt, with whom he had been brought up from childhood, upon terms of intimacy and affection, he turned his back upon Westminster Hall, and devoted all the energies of his mind to the business of politics. In 1784, he was returned to Parliament for Devizes, and served upon the Downton election and other committees, and was early observed to pay great attention to the business of the House. In 1786, he was selected by his friend Pitt, to second the address, upon which occasion he displayed great ability, evincing the capabilities of his mind as well as his oratorical powers, although far from prone to their indulgence. The most im- portant business of the Session of 1787, was the impeachment of Warren Hastings, when the eloquence displayed by Sheridan, Burke, and the great orators of that day, the managers of the impeachment, had such an effect upon a young and ardent mind, that we are not surprised to find his name in the majority, but when time and reflection enabled him to judge dispassion- ately, and draw a just conclusion from the evidence, Mr. Addington became more favourably impressed with the conduct of Mr. Hastings. A singular circumstance in the life of Mr. Addington, is related by his biographer. In August, 1788, Mr. Grenville and Mr. Addington were at Lyme, and on paying a visit to Lord Rolle, at Bicton, a conversation occurred as to the probable successor to Mr. Cornwall, who was then Speaker of the House of Commons, when they expressed an opinion that neither of them had any chance, and that Mr. Edward Phelips, of Montacute, (the descendant of the celebrated Speaker in the 1st of James I.), would be the most eligible person. Within twelve months from that period, both Mr. Grenville and Mr. Addington were elected to the chair. George III.] henry addinoton. 467 On the 5th of. June, 1789, Mr, Grenville resigned the Speakership, and accepted the appointment of Secretary of State, and on the 8th Mr. Addington, who had just completed his 32nd year, was proposed to the House by the Marquis Graham, and seconded by Mr. Grosvenor, as a suitable person to fill the vacant chair, and was supported by exactly the same number of members, namely, two hundred and fifteen, that had voted for his predecessor, thus gaining his election by a majority of 73 over his competitor Sir Gilbert Elliot, the present Lord Minto's ancestor. It was impossible for a public man to have been regarded with greater kindness by all political parties than Mr. Addington, at the period of his election. His opponents pressed around him, with, if not hearty congratulations, the expression of their regret at having voted against him. " We were all very sorry to vote against you," was Sheridan's first address to him on taking the chair, and our Speaker's biographer justly observes " certainly Addington did possess much of that indescribable attraction of conversation, appearance, and general demeanour, which is so often observed to concentrate upon one the favour and affection of many." Our Speaker's election to this post of dignity was the theme of great delight to his friends, who overwhelmed him with congratulations, and the King, only just restored to health, confirmed the choice of his faithful Commons in person. We are told also upon the same authority that the cor- diality vyith which he was hailed, and the approbation he received from one side of the House, was quickly re-echoed from the other; insomuch that although Addington was Mr. Pitt's intimate friend, and was known to have been in close intercourse with him, during the whole time he continued Speaker, still, as he used to declare, " this made no difference in the conduct of the opposition towards him." The treatment he received from Sheridan, Fox, Burke, Wyndham, Grey, Sir Gilbert Elliot, his late opponent, and other party leaders, was invariably of the same respectful and friendly character. In the next session of Parliament it was proposed by the Rt. Hon. Frederic Montague, " that an annual salary of £5000 should in future be given to that great public functionary" (the Speaker), which was assented to by acclamation, when Sir James Johnstone moved that £6000 should be inserted instead of £5000, which was carried by an overwhelm- ing majority. Shortly after this event Mr. Addington had the misfortun3 to lose his father, to whom he was aflFectionately devoted, while there is the strongest evidence to prove how well he merited such a return for his parental care, and how greatly he was esteemed and respected by all who knew him. Upon the meeting of the new Parliament, in 1790, Mr. Addington was re-elected to the chair, on the motion of the Master of the Rolls, seconded by Mr. Phelips, the gentleman to whom we have before alluded as the most eligible person for that office in the opinions of Mr. Grenville and Mr. H H 468 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1790. Addington. Mr. Pitt offered to propose his friend, but for many politic rea- sons our Speaker declined the honor. It was during this session that the great question was decided "that an impeachment does not deter- mine by the dissolution of Parliament." Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox agreed upon this, up to that period, the only point in their political lives, and our Speaker declared himself of the same opinion. The sanguinary proceedings of the French democrats, and the spread of revolutionary doctrines at home among the evil disposed ; the renewal of hostilities in India, and the misunderstand- ing between Russia and the Porte, greatly augmented the difficulties of our Speaker's position, but it was, However, the general opinion that the more arduous the duties of the chair became by reason of the universal excitement produced by these events, the more the talents and ability of our Speaker, and the energy of his mind became conspicuous. In 1793 Mr. Addington declined the appointment of Secretary of State, offered to him by Mr. Pitt, and he had the satisfaction to find that his old tutor Huntingford and his friend Sir John Mitford cordially concurred with him upon the grounds of his refusal. As it is impossible for us in a work of this nature to follow our Speaker through his brilHant Parliamentary career, we shall merely observe that upon his retirement from the chair, which he had filled with so much honour and credit to himself, and with such advantage to the public service, in order to assume the government of the country at the King's desire, the House on the 16th of February, 1801, resolved unanimously, " That the thanks of this House be expressed in the strongest terms to the Right Hon. Henry Addington, for the exemplary and distinguished manner in which he discharged the duties of Speaker, during the whole period in which he filled the chair of the House of Com- mons. That he be assured that the proofs which he has uniformly given of attachment to the constitution, the steadiness with which he has main- tained the dignity and privileges of the House, and the ability, integrity, and unremitting attention to Parliamentary business, which have marked the whole of his conduct, justly entitle him to our approbation, respect, and gratitude." This must be regarded as a proud testimony of our Speaker's worth, which surpasses all earthly honours, but we feel compelled to add to this expression of national appreciation of merit, and gratitude for public services, the following estimate of Mr. Addington's conduct in the chair, from an old and valued periodical renowned for the pleasing and eloquent manner in which it sets forth the virtues of the dead, and preserves their memory fresh and green for the instruction of the living and the benefit of posterity. " As this" (the Speakership) says the ' Gentleman's Magazine,' "was one of the most arduous, honourable and important occupations of his life, so it was one to which he was wont to look back with greater complacency than any George III,] henry addington. 469 other. Those, should. any yet remain, who remember him when in the chair, will bear testimony that no Speaker ever enjoyed more fully the confidence of the House than he did. His sound old English principles, which no change of times and seasons — no fancied expediency — could induce him ever to swerve from, his honesty, fearlessness and truth, the sincerity, frankness, and dignity of his manners, and his perfect command of temper, the nature also of his education, his friendly social disposition, the natural flow of his conversation, and, perhaps, also the similarity of his position in life with their own— this combination of attaching qualities rendered him a peculiar favourite with that class of English gentlemen who constituted a majority of the House over which he presided." This flattering eulogium might be supposed by some to savour of partiality, but we have the evidence of all political parties to the truth of the character it so justly delineates. For twelve years our Speaker presided over the deli- berations of the House of Commons ; during this lengthened period, no act called forth animadversion (if we except his conduct in the case of the duel Between Pitt and Tierney, and we do not see how as a man of honour he could have interfered), or endured the slightest change in the opinions of those who bowed so willingly to his rule, and it was only at the earnest com- mand of his sovereign that he relinquished this trust, to occupy the highest oflice in the state. Mr. Addington assumed the government of the country at a period of great difficulty, when, as the eloquent memoir from which we last quoted, so well observes — the nation was disheartened and exhausted by (on the part of the allies at least) a most unsuccessful war. Under these circumstances the pub- lic were clamorous for peace, and Mr. Addington had the merit to obtain for them that blessing, on terms which were admitted by a great majority both within and without the walls of Parliament, to be favourable beyond expecta- tion. Mr. Addington, however, did not hesitate to declare war shortly after, when, as he emphatically declared in the House of Commons, "it was no longer possible with honour to remain at peace." Upon the threatened invasion of England by Napoleon, Mr. Addington pursued those measures which were best calculated to preserve this sacred soil inviolate from hostile agression, and at this period England could boast, with her militia and volunteers, a million of men under arms. It was upon this occasion that Mr. Pitt for the second time in his life was known to agree with Mr. Fox, and for the first and only time united himself with that emi- nent statesman in opposition to the government. Upon retiring from the helm of affairs, it has heen stated with perfect truth that Mr. Addington experienced more satisfaction than most men would have felt on assuming it, for the premiership was never with him an object of ambition, a source of public duty rather than personal inclination having alone induced him to as- H H 2 470 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1790. sume the government at his sovereign's earnest desire. After Mr. Adding- ton's resignation he supported the government of the day in promoting every measure of which he consistently approved, despising all factious oppo- sition to men and measures. In 1805 he accepted office under Mr. Pitt, as President of the Council, and upon this event he was created a peer, January ISth, by the title of Viscount Sidmouth, and thus took his leave of that House over whose deliberations he had so long presided, and to which he was so ardently devoted. After Mr. Pitt's death, Lord Sidmouth accepted office in February, 1806, as Lord Privy Seal, with Mr. Fox and Lord Grenville, and in the following October he again became President of the Council, and in April, 1812, he for the third time accepted the office of Lord President under Mr. Percival. Under the administration of Lord Liverpool, Viscount Sidmouth took a prominent part in public affiiirs, and accepted the arduous and responsible office of Secretary of State for the Home Department, in which for the period of ten years of unusual excitement in the field of domestic politics, he exhibited wisdom, and moral courage of the highest order. His biographer observes, that throughout that period he lived in a perpetual storm, repressing any attempt to create disturbance and to clog the wheels of government, with constant vigilance and uncompromising firmness ; no sooner did sedition anywhere appear than it was immediately crushed. In 1822, after having passed forty years in the public service of his country, Xord Sidmouth tendered his resignation to the King, desiring to retire from public life and obtain a respite from the turmoil incident to political duties, but at the express desire of his Majesty, and the earnest request of Lord Liverpool, he consented to remain at his post and it was not until 1824, that he finally retired from the trammels of an official life. Of Lord Sidmouth's patriotism and noble disinterestedness we have several examples, which we dare not pass over, even in this very brief biographical sketch. Eight years before his death he voluntarily resigned a pension of £3000 per annum, secured to him by Act of Parliament, feeling that from altered circumstances he did not require it. On another occasion the Chancellorship of the Duchy of Lancaster was offered to him for life, as a reward for his services during his long and meritorious discharge of his duties as Speaker of the House of Commons, Lord Sidmouth declined it, saying, " he could not bring himself to be instru- mental in alienating from the crown the means of rewarding greater public services than he, as yet, had been able to perform." At the period of his resignation of the government in 1801, it appears that Mr. Addington had refused both pension and peerage, when the following appropriate lines re- cording his noble and virtuous resolution were written : — " Let others prostrate hail the rising sun, Prouder, I bow to that whose course is run — George III.] henky addington. 471 And never did the flaming orb of day, When westward darted his descending ray, From the vast empire of the skies retire. With brighter splendour, or with purer fire.'' It is also said, and we readily telieve it from such a man, that his lordship subsequently refused both an Earldom and the Blue Ribbon, offered to his acceptance by his Majesty George IV. We should do violence to our own appreciation of Lord Sidmouth's numerous virtues, and statesmanlike abilities, as well as injustice to the memory of so great and good a man, if we omitted to give insertion to the concluding para- graph of his memoir in the " Gentleman's Magazine " for ISii, in which the writer, in language the most touching and eloquent, observes, " We shall here close our brief, but we hope faithful record of this veteran statesman of the olden time, this valued associate and coadjutor of the great leaders both of the past and the existing race of politicians, this the last (until now) remaining link of the chain which once united two such totally different eras and systems as those of George III. and Victoria I. The period, perhaps, has not even yet arrived when full justice can be rendered to the pubKc character of this pious and upright minister. For, enjoying as we now are, the blessings purchased by our fathers' desperate life struggles, and accustomed to deal only with the petty mischief-makers of this comparatively pacific age, we can form no ade- quate conception of the difficulties encountered by him who guided the vessel of the state at that moment of peril, when the surface of society throughout the civilized world was heaving in terrific fermentation. But the time will come when the springs and motives of Lord Sidmouth's policy will be known, and considered in connection with the circumstances by which it was neces- sarily influenced, and then his principles and conduct, in the fulfilment of most arduous duties under difficulties the most appalling, will be appreciated and recorded as they deserve. It will then be admitted that, although he was not the greatest in that group of noble-minded men which made the age in which he flourished for ever memorable, he still possessed numerous qualities of a very high order in themselves, and peculiarly suited to those trying and perilous times, which enabled him to render most essential services to his country. But, although, his public character cannot probably be considered quite entitled to the epithet of great, it is universally admitted that in private life he possessed every qualification entitling him to the appellation of good, and calculated to win over and bind to himself the hearts of all who knew him. It was impossible, indeed, to be in his society and hear his conversation without loving and respecting him; and although latterly those who enjoyed this advantage were comparatively few, there is not one of that privileged number who, on reflecting upon his many public and yet more numerous private vir- tues, would not unite heartily in the exclamation — 472 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1790. " He was a man, take Mm for all and all, We ne'er shall look upon his like again." We heartily concur in every sentiment expressed by the writer in a style of eloquence which cannot be surpassed, but if we venture to differ with him upon one solitary point, we feel that even to him our opinion cannot be displeasing. We regard Lord Sidmouth in every sense of the word as a great man, the devotion of his life to the public service, the absence of those ambitious views which mar the brightest parts, and, possibly, more brilliant endowments than he possessed, his freedom from grasping avarice, the besetting sin of states- men, his self-abnegation, his firmness in counsel, and consistency in action, fully entitle him to the distinction which greatness conveys to our minds in contradistinction to, or comparison with the general conduct of mankind. In so brief a sketch of the eventful life of the eminent individual" to whom these few pages are devoted, it would be impossible for us to enter into those details which invest biography with its chief attraction, but we have great satisfaction in being able to refer the rieader to the " Life of Lord Sid- mouth," by the Hon. and Venerable George Pellew, Dean of Norwich, his lordship's son-in-law, where every important incident in his political and social career, is set forth with all the affectionate care which a son could bestow upon the record of a parent's achievements, but at the same time with the strictest regard to historical truth, and an entire freedom from all partiality save that which the virtues, amiability and noble qualities of his lordship engendered in the breasts of all who had the happiness to be acquainted with him. His lordship after his retirement from office attended in his seat in the House of Lords, and took the deepest interest in every measure connected with the wel- fare of his country — consistent through life as a politician he manfully opposed the Catholic Relief Bill, even to the last division upon the third reading, and it was during the discussion upon this measure that he made his last speech in Parliament. At his death in February, 1844, Lord Sidmouth held the appointment of High-Steward of Westminster, and Reading, Recorder of Devizes, Governor of the Charter-House, and Deputy Ranger of Richmond Park. By Ursula- Mary, daughter and coheir of Leonard Hammond, Esq. of Cheam, co. Surrey, his first wife, his lordship had issue William Leonard, the present Viscount Sidmouth, Mary Anne, who died in 1847, Frances, married in 1820, to the Hon. and Rev. George Pellew, Dean of Norwich, from whose highly interest- ing " Life of Lord Sidmouth " we have made as many extracts as the space allotted to us would permit ; Charlotte, married to the Rev. Horace Gore Currie, and Henrietta, to Thomas Barker Wall, Esq. His lordship married, secondly, the Hon. Marianne Townsend, relict of Thomas Townsend, Esq. of Honing- ton, CO. Warwick, only daughter, and eventually heiress of William, Lord George III.] sir john mitford. 473 Stowell, the learned brother of the Lord Chancellor Eldon, but by this lady he had no issue. William Leonard, Viscount Sidmouth, the son and representative of our Speaker, married Mary, daughter of the Rev. John Young, by v^hom his lordship has a numerous issue, of whom the Hon. William Wells Addington, the eldest surviving son, an officer in the navy, married his cousin, Georgiana Susan, eldest daughter of the Hon. and Very Rev. George Pellew. Arim. — Per pale, ermine and ermines, on a chev. five lozenges, all counter- changed, between three fleurs-de-lis, or. Crest. — A cat-a-mountain, sejant, guardant, ppr., bezantee, resting his paw upon a shield az. charged with a mace, erect, surmounted with a regal crown, or. (for Speaker of the House of Commons) within a bordure engr. arg. Motto, — Libertas sub rege pio. SIR JOHN MITFORD. The family of Mitford is of great antiquity in the county of Northumber- land, and at the period of the Norman invasion, was seated at Mitford Castle, whose owner. Sir John Mitford, having an only daughter and heiress, Sibil, bestowed her upon Richard Bertram, one of the great Norman barons, and the companion-in-arms of the Conqueror. The descendants of this noble- man continued to represent the eldest branch of the Mitfords for many gene- rations, but the family became extinct prior to the reign of Charles II., when the castle came again into the male line of the Mitfords, deriving from Mathew, next brother of the above mentioned Sir John, by special grant from the crown, and the male line has continued to this day in one unbroken chain of descent, through upwards of twenty generations. We have not space to enter more deeply into the pedigree of this very ancient stock, but we may observe, that it was aUied, by marriage, to the following eminent and knightly families : Lisle of Felton, Forster of Etherston, Wallis of Akeld, Mitford of Seighill, all in the county of Northumberland, Wharton of Ufferton, co. Durham, Wharton, of Gillingwood, co. York, Vane, of Long Newton co. Durham, Powel of London, and Edwards of Wingfield, co. Bucks. From the last marriage, came John Mitford, Esq., of Newton House, and Exbury, co. Hants, barrister-at-law, who married Philadelphia, daughter of Willey Reveley, Esq., of Newby, co. York, and cousin of Hugh, Duke of Northumberland, by whom he had issue, two sons, William, the learned and accomplished author of the " History of Greece," Lieutenant-Colonel of the 474 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1801. South Hants Militia, who served in Parliament for many years for Nevyport, in Cornwall, and Beeralston, co. Devon, and John, the subject of this memoir. This gentleman was born 18th August, 1748, o. s., and having been destined to follow his father's profession, was entered of the Inner Temple, and after the usual period, called to the bar, where he acquired great reputation and a con- siderable practice in chancery, both of which increased yearly, until his eminence in that branch of the law, second to none but his friend Sir John Scott, procured him a silk gown, and the appointment of one of the Justices of the Grand Sessions for the counties of Cardigan, Pembroke, and Carmar- then. In 1788, Mr. Mitford was returned to Parhament for Beeralston, co. Devon, and he subsequently sat for East Looe, co. Cornwall. He distinguished himself greatly in Parliament, by moving on the 23rd of June, 1789, for leave to bring in a bill to relieve the Roman Catholics from certain penalties to which they were liable under the old statutes, and although two years elapsed before he succeeded in carrying his point, his exertions were ultimately re- warded with success. All civil and religious disabilities being now removed from our Roman Catholic brethren, the act may not be regarded with the admiration it merited, but if the spirit of those times be taken into considera- tion, it must be admitted that it was, though a just measure, still a bold step at that peculiar period, and one that was highly honourable to Mr. Mitford's liberal and tolerant principles. Mr. Mitford was shortly after appointed Solicitor-General, and received the honour of knighthood ; but the favours of the crown did not in any degree stifle his exertions in the cause he had previously advocated, and he still maintained in Parliament, that most of the penal laws contained in the statute books against Roman Catholics, were sanguinary and severe, and he had the happiness to find, that both Fox and Pitt supported the salutary measures he proposed. Upon another great ques- tion relative to impeachment, to which allusion is made in the preceding memoir, Sir John Mitford maintained that the House had no power to revive an impeachment, and that all proceedings determined with the existence of Parhament, and he observed, that " if judgment had been demanded against Mr. Hastings by the last Parliament, he would have opposed every resolution in statu quo, because he was not in the House for two years after the impeachment had been prosecuted, and therefore as he had not heard the whole evidence, he could not, in his conscience, vote for such a resolution, — such, he ob- served, was the case with many other members of the present legislature ; and as to the question whether an impeachment was depending ? he was clearly of opinion,^ that it could not, as it had died a natural death at the dis- solution of the late Parliament." On the 25th May, 1791, when Mr. Fox moved " that it should be declared and enacted, that the right of juries to give a general verdict on a general issue, extended to prosecutions in libels as well as all other proceedings George III.] sir john mitford. 475 whatever in criminal matters." Sir John Mitford is stated to have opposed the bill, and we can easily imagine that this course was not calculated to in- crease his popularity at such a period. The measure itself has proved a great benefit and a strong safeguard to the people against state prosecutions, but upon referring to the temperate, eloquent, and learned address of Sir John Mitford upon this occasion, we are bound to state that his advice, rather than opposition, was perfectly consistent with the usual caution of a lawyer, depre- cating any hasty change which should deprive the judges of the responsibility that had ever attached to them in such matters, and that his arguments were based upon the well-known principles and practice of the law. Upon this subject, and the continuance of impeachments, the liberals triumphed and rejoiced, the enlargement of the authority of juries, and the increase of the power of Parliament, giving greater satisfaction in those days, than would be experienced at this moment, when public opinion alone is the best security, and the surest protection against political injustice or persecution. With regard to the continuance of impeachments, we fully concur in Sir John Mitford's views, and consider the resolution to the contrary effect was a strain- ing of the power of Parliament beyond its ancient, accustomed, and legitimate authority. In 1793, Sir John Mitford conducted the state trials of Hardy, Tooke, and Thelwall, under Sir John Scott, (afterwards Lord Eldon), then Attorney-General, but the prosecution having failed, the Government gave up the charge against the other prisoners. Upon this occasion nothing could exceed the mild and temperate course pursued by the Solicitor-General. In his speech to the jury, which occupied several hours in the delivery, he ob- served, that " all the evidence, either defective or contradictory, was to make for the prisoner," and he thus concluded, " and now gentlemen of the jury, I have nothing more to offer. I have discharged, God knows, with much pain, the harsh duty imposed upon me. You will now do yours. If your verdict shall discharge the prisoners, I know you will give it with joy ; if on the ■contrary, yet it must be given. The cup, although it may be bitter, must not pass away from you. I have had a duty to perform beyond my strength and my abihty ; I have discharged it faithfully and satisfactorily to my conscience." ■Sir John Mitford supported Mr. Pitt's administration, and spoke upon almost every subject that occurred, and when Sir John Scott was removed to the Common Pleas, he was appointed to succeed him as Attorney-General. In 1801, upon the retirement of Mr, Addington from the Speakership of the House of Commons, Sir John Mitford, who then represented the borough of East Looe, was proposed by Lord Hawkesbury, and seconded and supported by Mr. J. H, Browne, M.P. for the county of Hertford, Mr. Pitt, and others, and was elected to the chair on the 18th of February, notwithstanding a futile attempt at opposition on the part of Mr. Sheridan, who proposed a gentleman (Mr. Charles Dundas), who had neither taken the oaths nor his seat, and con- sequently was not eligible. 476 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1801. Upon its being made known to the King by Mr. Addington, who had now become Prime Minister, that the ministry intended proposing Sir John Mitford as his successor, his Majesty wrote : — " Mr. Speaker is highly right, as he is prepared for it, to notify to the House of Commons his resignation of the chair, which I must think he has filled to the honour of that House, the advantage of the public, and to his own per- sonal credit. I shall be happy if Sir John Mitford is able to say as much after so long a service," And upon the event being notified to the King, he wrote another letter to his new Prime Minister, in which he says — " There could not be a stronger presage of our joint endeavours to save this dear country than the choice of Sir John Mitford as Speaker of the House of Commons just notified to me by Mr. Addington. *»***« I desire the commission may be instantly prepared for approving the choice the House of Commons have made, and that the Lord Chancellor -will have it sent, as soon as ready, for my signature, &c. George R. Sir John Mitford held this high and dignified office one year, wanting nine days, as appears by his letter to Mr. Ley, the clerk of the House, dated Palace Yard, February 9, 1802, in which he says, "His Majesty having been graci- ously pleased to signify his intention to appoint me Chancellor of Ireland, it becomes my duty to resign my office of Speaker of the House of Commons," &c. &c. Upon this occasion the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Addington (afterwards Lord Sidmouth) expressed himself in the strongest terms of respect towards the right honourable gentleman whose resignation had been read. " But, he observed, however inclined he might be to give scope to the feelings he entertained of his conduct in the discharge of the arduous duties of that most honourable station which he had lately filled, from every senti- ment of private friendship, as well as every consideration of public duty, yet under the restraints in which he was now placed, it was only incumbent upon him at present to make known to the House, that it was his Majesty's plea- sure that they should proceed to the election of a new Speaker." The friend- ship that subsisted between these eminent men might be supposed to have induced the exercise of a somewhat partial judgment from the minister upon the merits of the retiring Speaker, but we have further, we might almost say, better authority for the eulogiums to which our Speaker was entitled for his conduct while presiding over the deliberations of the House of Commons. The Master of the Rolls, Sir William Grant, whose name must ever be pronounced with respect and veneration, as one of the best judges that ever sat upon the judicial bench, the perfect model of a magistrate, thus spoke of our Speaker on the day following his retirement from office : — " Before he proceeded to enumerate the talents and the qualities which George III.] sir john mitford. 477 characterised the person whom it was his intention to propose for the choice of the House, he could not pass over in silence those supereminent endow- ments which so peculiarly distinguished the learned gentleman who was now retiring from this high station. To pay adequate praise to such endowments was no light attempt, for during the short period which his learned friend had filled the chair, was it possible to have evinced a knowledge more various, and at the same time so profound, an information more extensive, and at the same time so accurate, a more ardejjt and enlightened love of the constitution, and at the same time so punctilious a regard to all the forms of the House, and all the rules of its proceedings ? Such, in short, was the display he made of the necessary qualifications for that exalted office that it is but justice to acknow- ledge they enabled him to rise to distinction in a situation in which the cha- racter and conduct of his predecessors made it difficult for him to excel. And if now the House was to experience the loss of the immediate service of these great and manifold talents, the idea of that loss would be somewhat alleviated by the reflection that a particular part of the empire was to enjoy the benefit of them ; and that in a sphere in which he might expand the whole compass of his capacious mind; a mind that equally embraced the minutest rules of forensic practice, and the most large and liberal principles of general jurispru- dence." This splendid eulogium, this noble panegyric, was not undeserved, the aspirations breathed by the excellent Sir William Grant were not doomed to disappointment. Lord Redesdale, for so he was created five days after (on the 15th of February, 1802) as Lord Chancellor of Ireland, presided over the Court of Chancery in that country for a period of four years, to the entire satisfaction of the bar and the suitors. His removal was the act of a new Government whose principles he had ever opposed, but it was accompanied by an indecent haste no way creditable to the Whig administration. To suppose that his Lordship during that short period of his brilliant judicial career never made an enemy, would be to suppose him more than human in any country, and no less than divine in Ireland, torn and distracted as it was by factions ; but that he never deserved one, by his equitable hold- ing of the scales of justice between man and man, we firmly believe ; between party and party there must be difierent opinions ; the Roman Catholics were disappointed when they found that Lord Redesdale, the friend to toleration, was not also the advocate for their total emancipation from civil and political disabilities. We fully appreciate his Lordship's motives, based as they were on the highest principles of morality, which induced him to seek for the reform of those laws against his Roman Catholic fellow countrymen, which were a disgrace to the statute books and a stain upon humanity, but at the same time we believe his Lordship was most conscientiously opposed to their total emancipation. 478 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKER 1801. In giving an estimate of his conduct while he held the seals of Ireland we should be guilty of gross injustice were we to omit inserting a few extracts from the address of the Attorney General of Ireland on the part of the bar of that country, previously to his Lordship's departure. He said — " Having had an opportunity of communicating with a great majority of the gentlemen of the bar, who have practised in the Court of Chancery during the time that your Lordship has presided, I feel myself authorised to express their sentiments on this occasion. " We have a great sense, my lord, of those endowments which have so eminently qualified you to preside in a Court of Equity. " Whilst your impartial attention has secured to the honest suitor the full investigation of his claims, your sagacity and patience have taken away from fraud all hope of impunity, and all pretext for complaint. " We return your Lordship thanks for the instruction which we have received in attending to the series of decisions, by which, during a period of four years, you have advanced the science vphich we profess. " But most peculiarly, and from our hearts, we beg leave to make our grateful acknowledgements for the uniform courtesy and kindness which we have experienced from you in the discharge of our duty at your Lord- ship's bar. " Under these impressions we take our leave of your Lordship ; the con- sciousness of having thus well discharged the duties of an elevated and im- portant situation must render you independent of our praise. We trust, however, that this sincere tribute of esteem and gratitude which is now offered to your Lordship will not be deemed unacceptable." After Lord Redesdale's retirement from office he rendered most important services to the justice of the country by his unwearied attention to cases of appeal, and in committees of the House of Lords, where his authority ever carried the greatest possible weight, and as a lasting monument of his philan- thropy we may instance the measure he carried through Parliament for the relief of insolvent debtors, the principle of which originated entirely with his Lordship. An excellent work " On pleadings in the Court of Chancery by English Bill," was published by him in 1787, and at a later period we have from his Lordship's pen " Observations, occasioned by a pamphlet entitled Observations on the project of creating a Vice Chancellor of England." Lord Redesdale received a very considerable addition to his fortune upon the death of his relative, the late W. G. Freeman, Esq., whose name he assumed by virtue of an Act of Parliament ; this gentleman was descended from Richard Freeman, Esq., of Batsford, co. Gloucester, one of the Lords Justices of Ireland, and for a time. Lord High Chancellor of that kingdom, who died in Dublin, in 1710, by Elizabeth, his first wife, daughter of Sir George III.] charles abbot. 479 Anthony Keck, Knt. His Lordship miirried 6th June, 1803, the Lady Frances Percival, daughter of John, second Earl of Egmont, and sister of the Right Honourable Spencer Percival, who was assassinated by Bellingham, by whom (who died 22nd August, 1817) he had issue John Thomas Mitford, the present peer, born 9th September, 1805, who succeeded to the title as second Baron Redesdale, on the death of his father at Batsford Park, Glou- cestershire, on the 16th January, 1830. Arms. — Ar. a fesse, between three moles, sa. Crest.— A dexter hand fesse wise, couped. ppr. supporting a sword, erect, ar., hiked and pomelled, or. pierced through a boar's head, sa. tusked, of the first, couped gu, ^ Supporters.— Two eagles, wings elevated, sa. each gorged with a chaplet of vine leaves, ppr. • Motto. — Equabiliter et diligenter. Seat. — Batsford Park, Gloucestershire. THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES ABBOT. The subject of this memoir was the second son of the Rev. John Abbot, CD., Rector of All Saints, Colchester, by Sarah, his wife, daughter of Mr. Jonathan Farr. He was born 14th October, 1757, at Abingdon, in Berkshire, and received his early education at Westminster school, from whence he was removed to Christ Church College, Oxford, as the student at the head of the election of the year 1775, where he took the degree of B.C.L., in 1788, and that of Doctor in 1792. He was an eminent classic, and distinguished himself greatly at the University, where he obtained a prize for a Latin poem eulogistic of Peter the Great, for which the Empress, Catherine II., honoured him with a gold medal. Having turned his thoughts towards the legal pro- fession, he was entered as a student of Lincoln's Inn, attended the chambers of an eminent practitioner, and after the usual preliminaries, was called to the bar. Thus qualified, he went the circuit, and acted as Junior Counsel to Mr. Erskine on the celebrated trial of the Dean of St. Asaph, respecting which, although some demur occurred on the part of Mr. Justice Buller about the manner of recording the verdict, they finally triumphed. Mr. Abbot, though he attained considerable practice, does not appear to have aspired to the ho- nours or the emoluments of his profession. He however obtained about this 408 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1802. period the place of Clerk of the Rules in the Court of King's Bench ; and soon after we find him a candidate for a seat in Parliament, on which occasion he was favoured with the friendly offices of the Duke of Leeds. He was not successful, however, upon this occasion, although returned for two places on another. In 1790, he stood for Helstone, in Cornwall, with Sir Gilbert Elliot, Bart., Sir Stephen Lushington, and Sir I. B. Burges, Bart., and after some delay, he obtained his seat. In 1796 he was re-elected for Helstone, in conjunction with Lord Francis Godolphin Osborne, and in 1802 he was returned both for Woodstock and Heytesbury, and having thus an option, he chose the former, with which he was connected for some years as recorder. Although Mr. Abbot was not, as we have observed, very solicitous for professional rank or distinction, his legal knowledge was of the highest service to him in his Parliamentary duties, and we find him suggesting, at an early age, a remedy for the defective state of the promulgation of the statutes. After a very able speech upon this point, on the 2nd November, 1796, he moved " That a committee might be appointed to consider of the most effectual mode of promulgating the statutes of the realm, and to repoit the same to the House." The motion was seconded by Mr. Wilberforce, and carried. In his speech, Mr. Abbot pointed out the absurdity of magistrates dealing with cases when they are ignorant of the existence of the laws they were bound to enforce, and moved, that instead of 1126 then printed, the King's printer be ordered to print 3550 copies of every public and general Act of Parliament, and not less than 200 of every local or private act. That all Acts should be remitted by post as soon as ordered. That copies be sent to the Chief Magistrate, or head officer of every town, &c., in England, Scotland, and Wales. That persons interested in private bills pay the expenses, instead of the public. That the general statutes state the heads and clauses of each statute, together with the general substance of each head in a particular clause. That the precise duration of temporary bills be inserted in the head or close of the bill, and nowhere else. That the revival of the various statutes proposed to be revived be included in one Bill, and those to be continued in another, expressing the precise duration or continuation thereof. Mr. Abbot had a further plan in respect to reforming the diction of Acts of Parliament ; but many circumstances occurred to frustrate it, although there can be no doubt that plainness of language in laws which are to bind our fellow crea- tures, is of the first importance, as was well observed by Mr. Speaker Snagg so early as the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and to which interesting circumstance we have referred in our memoir of that gentleman. In 1797 and 98, Mr. Abbot acted as chairman of the select committees of Finance, and presented a number of important resolutions in its name, which proved highly beneficial by being enacted in the form of statutes. When George III.] charles abbot. 481 Mr. Pitt first proposed the income tax, Mr. Abbot ably defended it on the following points : By its being assented to by the raonied interests in a public declaration as similar in principle to the poor laws, as sanctioned by the cele- brated Act of King William, as being comprehensive in all its details, and affording immediate relief against the possible oppression of any who might act under its authority; the economical mode of collection, and finally that it would prevent the increase of permaaent taxation ; and he concluded a most able speech by observing, that " as a war tax he regarded the measure in the most favourable point of view, whilst its domestic effects must tend to increase the national energy in bringing the contest to a speedy and honourable con- clusion." It could not, however, become popular in a free country, as it be- reaved the subject of his option, so necessary in fiscal regulations. In 1799 Mr. Abbot moved for a committee to inquire into and regulate the abuses of " expired and expiring laws." He said many acts had been renewed which ought to have been permitted to fall into oblivion, while others had been suffered to relapse, although there was a manifest necessity for their continuance ; among the latter, he named the power of the crown to summon Parliament, call out the militia upon any sudden emergency, and temporary acts relative to bankruptcy and insolvency. He was instrumental, also, in effecting amendments in the laws respecting forfeitures in cases of treason, and the amelioration of the King's civil list. Mr. Afebot, in his Parliamentary career, distinguished himself not so much by the brilliancy of his thoughts or the power of his wit, as by a steady per- severance in acts of real utility to his country, which were attended with the most important and beneficial results. In February, 1800, he moved for a committee to inquire into the state of the national records, which sacred muniments had been neglected for many ages, but through his means have helped to throw light upon the darkest passages of history, and he directed the labours and researches of this committee until 1817. He frequently acted as Chairman of the select Committees of Finance, and took an active part in all the important measures then brought under the consideration of Parliament. Amongst other reforms which owe their origin to Mr. Abbot, was the responsibility placed upon public accountants, charging them with the payment of interest. Having given such unquestionable evidence of talent, habits of business, and great knowledge of Parliamentary usages, it is not surprising that he was elected to the chair of the House of Commons upon the first vacancy that occurred. Previously, however, he filled the ofiice of Principal Secretary of State in Ireland, under Lord Hardwick's administra- tion, was one of the Lords of the Treasury, and a Privy Counsellor for that kingdom. When Sir John Mitford, Lord Redesdale, accepted the Chancel- lorship of Ireland, Mr. Abbot was proposed by Sir William Grant, Master of the RoUs, as a fit person to succeed him in the chair of the House of Com- 482 LIVES or the speakers. [Speaker 1802, mons, and the proposition was seconded by Mr. Baker, M.P. for the county of Hertford. On this occasion, as on the former, Mr. Sheridan proposed and Lord George Cavendish seconded the nomination of Mr. Charles Dundas. Sheridan observing that "in better times it was the practice to choose a Speaker from the landed interest." To the credit, however, of Lord George, we must add that he handsomely declared that " he thought Mr. Abbot the better qualified of the two," and he was immediately elected. It is not necessary for us to offer any observations in the nature of excuse for re- fraining to enter into a detail of the proceedings of Parliament during the long period in which our Speaker presided over the deliberations of the House ; such a course would be impracticable in a work of this nature. In the important office of Speaker, Mr. Abbot displayed an independence and a freedom from political bias, which deserves to be recorded to his honour, in giving his casting vote against the ministry, on the motion of Mr. Whitbread for a censure on Lord Melville for malversation while Treasurer of the Navy. In 1806 Mr. Abbot stood a contested election for the University of Oxford, and having been returned, continued his valuable services to the House of Commons and the country. Mr. Abbot effected many reforms in the proceedings of the House ; and the public is indebted to him for the institution of the " private Bill office," which he recommended for the sanction of the House in 1811. The facilities afforded by this department to parties interested in the progress of business requiring Parliamentary enactments, are well appreciated by all who re- member the delays and inconvenience of the previous system, or rather the want of it. The excellent manner in which the votes, detailing the pro- ceedings of the previous sitting, and the whole business of the day, are now distributed at an early hour each morning to every member of the legislature, owes its origin to the ever watchful care and anxiety of our Speaker for the more perfect dispatch of public business. Shortly after he had perfected this valuable and important improvement in the mode of conducting this por- tion of Parliamentary affairs, our Speaker retired from the high office he had held with so much honour to himself and such advantage to the House and the public for fifteen years, and in retiring carried with him the sincere regrets of all classes, and of all political parties. In politics Mr. Abbot was attached to the Tory party, of whose adminis- tration, under Lord Sidmouth, he had been so efficient a member, and although, upon the agitation of the question of Catholic Emancipation, he was opposed to the admission of that body into the legislature, and on one occasion, 24th May, 1813, in a committee on the Bill, defeated their claim by a motion to that effect, which he supported by a speech of great learning and ability, he was by no means a bigotted or ungenerous opponent ; and while his consistency and learning, talent, and habits of business, caused him George III.] charles abbot, 483 to be respected by all parties in his public capacity, no man was more be- loved or esteemed by all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance in private life. In enumerating the public services of our Speaker, we must not omit that he was ex-ofl5cio a member of the committee appointed to carry out the great improvements in the highlands of Scotland, under the sanction of Lord Sid- mouth's administration. Roads to the extent of 900 miles, besides many large bridges, and the Caledonian Canal, were completed at the joint expense of the public and the highland counties ; and the people are sensible, even to this day, of the deep interest, vigilance, and watchful care he ever evinced in all that related to their interests and the improvement of the country. An anonymous, and of course not very modern, writer has observed : " In our own times we have witnessed the dignified demeanour of an Onslow, the spirited behaviour of a Norton, and the conciliatory manners of an Adding- ton ; while the professional knowledge, joined to the distinguished impar- tiality of an Abbot, reflect new lustre on the first representative assembly in the world." As a reward for his long and invaluable services to the House of Commons and the country from 1802 till 1817, a period of unexampled peril and thril- ling excitement, owing to the protracted and desolating war in which England had been engaged with the French empire, his Majesty called our Speaker to the Upper House, as Baron Colchester, of Colchester, in Essex, by patent bearing date the 3rd of June, 1817. His Lordship shortly afterwards went abroad for the recovery of his health, and remained chiefly in France and Italy for a period of three years, when he returned, and resided at his seat, Kidbroke, near East Grinstead, in Sussex, dividing his time between his duties as an active magistrate of his county and the improvement of his own estate, in which he took particular pleasure. In the House of Lords Lord Colchester efiected the same im- provements he had introduced into the lower House, and the Lords also owe to him the establishment of a library upon the same plan as that of the House of Commons. Lord Colchester was the author of a treatise on the " Jurisdiction and Practice of the Court of Great Session of Wales on the Chester Circuit," 1795, royal 8vo, and several of his speeches on the Catholic question have been published. He was a Lord of trade and plantations, a Privy Coun- cillor for England, and Keeper of the Privy Seal in Ireland. His Lordship married, 29th December, 1796, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Sir Philip Gibbes, Bart., of Spring-Head, in the island of Barbadoes, and dying 7th May, 1829, left issue Charles Abbot, the present and second Baron Colchester, born 12th March, 1798, married, 3rd February, 1836, the Hon. Elizabeth Susan Law, daughter of Edward, first Lord EUenborough, and I I 484 riVEs OF the speakers. [Speaker 1817. sister of the present Earl of EUenborough, and has issue Reginald Charles Edward, bom 13th February, 1842. Our Speaker had also another son, the Hon. Philip Henry Abbot, of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister-at-Law, who married, 31st December, 1829, Francis Cecil, third daughter of the very Rev. Charles Talbot, D.D., Dean of Salisbury, and dying 8th January 1835, left issue Charles Henry Philip, born 21st March, 1832, and a daughter, Henrietta Elizabeth Agnes. Arms. — Gu. on a chev. between three pears, or., as many crosses raguly, az., within a tressure, flory, of the second. Crest. — Out of a ducal coronet, or., an unicorn's head, erm., maned, and tufted of the first, between six ostrich feathers, ar. quilled gold. Mottoes. — Deo patriae amicis ; over the crest, Perseverando. Seat. — Kidbrooke, Sussex. SIR CHARLES MANNERS SUTTON, K.B. TgE subject of this memoir was the eldest son of Charles, Archbishop of Canterbury, (fourth son of Lord George Manners, third son of John, third Duke of Rutland,) who assumed the name of Sutton upon inheriting the estate of the Buttons, Lords Lexington, by Mary, his wife, daughter of Thomas Thoroton, Esq. Mr. Manners Sutton was born 29th January, 1780, and was educated at Eton, and Trinity College, Cambridge, at which University he took the degree of Bachelor of Arts, in 1802. He was subsequently entered of Lincoln's Inn, was called to the bar in 1805, and practised the common law for some years. In 1807, he was returned to Parliament for Scarborough, which borough he continued to represent for a period of twenty- five years, until 1832, when he was elected for the University of Cambridge, at the first general election after the passing of the Reform Bill. In 1809, Mr. Manners Sutton was appointed Judge Advocate General during the administration of Mr. Percival, and upon the retirement of Mr. Abbot (afterwards Lord Colchester) from the Speakership, in 1817, he was put in nomination for the chair, and was elected by a majority of 160 over his competitor, Mr. "Wynn. It would be impossible in a sketch of this nature, to enter into any detail of the political events of the period in which this most estimable man presided over the deliberations of the Commons. We must therefore almost exclusively confine ourselves to the personal cha- racter of our Speaker. George III.] sir charles manners sutton, k.b. 485 He succeeded a gentleman in the chair, whose impartiality in the strict discharge of the duties of his high office, was admitted on all hands, whose patience and urbanity were equally the theme of praise, but Mr. Manners Sutton lost nothing by the comparison, while his dignified bearing, sonorous voice, commanding person, and high breeding, perfectly illustrated the re- quisites for the station of first Commoner of the realm, described by the. learned and excellent Sir Christopher Yelverton, who so ably filled the chair of the House of Commons in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. In the Parlia- mentary career of Mr. Manners Sutton, circumstances concurred to render his tenure of office, in one respect, peculiarly agreeable, for even during times of great excitement, he was as welcome to one as to the other of the political factions. Whigs and Tories, Radicals and Conservatives, alike combined in one general admission of his singular merits, and either party was ready under any change of Government, to submit to the indulgent rule of one so thoroughly acquainted with the laws and usages of Parliament, not only in general, but specific matters. The manner in which he conducted that portion of the Speaker's duty, which has of late years increased a hundredfold, — private business — excited the amazement not only of the members of the House, but of the public in general, who felt and appreciated his invaluable services, and the rare talent by which they were directed for the benefit of the state. Of his personal bearing to the members themselves, it is impossible to speak too highly. He who had maintained through life, with a consistency we are not often called upon to record, the political principles under which this country had raised herself above all the nations of the earth, knew no party in the discharge of his duty; if he ever exercised a tinge of partiality, it is universally admitted that it was in favour of his political opponents. It has been remarked also, that if he sometimes wasted the time of others, for he rather encouraged than repressed the practice of speech making, he never spared his own, for few public men ever laboured more conscientiously, or with greater success in the service of the state, than this truly estimable cha- racter. In 1833, upon the resignation of Lord Grey, our Speaker, now Sir Charles Manners Sutton, was charged by his sovereign,'Jn conjunction with the Duke of "Wellington, to form a new cabinet, but in consequence of the proceedings in Parliament, the Whig administration, which had tendered its resignation, remained in power. Upon the meeting of the new Parlia- ment, in 1835, as a trial of strength on the part of the Whigs, because their late Speaker, respected as he was by all, was supposed to have listened to the invitations to power, issued to him from his sovereign, Mr. Abercromby was elected to the chair. Mr. Manners Sutton had been (while Speaker) created a Knight of the Bath, by his late Majesty King WilHam IV., and as a fur- ther reward for his long and faithful services, was called to the Upper House by patent, dated 1835, by the titles of Viscount Canterbury, of the city of 1 I g 486 , LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKER 1817. Canterbury, and Baron Bottesford, of Bottesford, co. Leicester. He was appointed High Commissioner for adjusting the claims of Canada, but re- signed the office before entering upon its duties. As an instance of his lordship's political discretion and statesmanlike mind, we venture to narrate an event of trifling importance in itself, which occurred when, altogether absolved from the trammels of oflice, he was sojourning with his family in Paris. The circumstance to which we are about to allude, and the course pursued by Lord Canterbury, gave great satisfaction to the majority of the British residents in that capital, although attended with severe mortification to others: Shortly after an attempt upon the life of Louis Philippe, a public meeting of the British residents was convened, for the purpose of ofiering a congratulatory address to that sovereign, upon his escape. Our gallant and estimable friend. Sir W. Sidney Smith, was called to the chair, and the address, which was ready cut and dried for the occasion by some officious parties who had assumed more than was warranted by their position in society, and seemed strangely desirous to evince their loyalty to the ruler of a foreign land, contained amongst other paragraphs, one which congratulated all nations upon the escape of a monarch, who alone was capable of maintaining the peace of Europe, and preserving the balance ' of power. Immediately after the reading of this document, which, in the ex- citement of the moment, had been hailed with considerable applause. Lord Canterbury rose and said, " Gentlemen, understanding that this meeting was convened for the purpose of ofiering our congratulations to his Majesty, the King of the French, upon his recent escape, out of respect to his position as the sovereign of this country, and the kind protection afforded by him to the British residents who sojourn in this capital, and the provinces, as well as out of my English abhorrence of the crime of assassination, I did not hesitate to attend this meeting in order to subscribe my humble name to an address con- gratulating his Majesty upon his escape from the hands of an assassin, but, gentlemen, I am clearly of opinion, that here the duties of a British subject in a foreign land should terminate. Anything further, above all, in the nature of a political allusion, is, in my judgment, misplaced and uncalled for. It is highly necessary on such an occasion as the present, that the greatest unanimity should prevail, but I must tell you that I cannot add my name to an address which would pledge me to the opinion, that the life of his Majesty the King of the French, was necessary for the maintenance of the peace of Europe, and the preservation of the balance of power. If the address be confined simply to a personal congratulation at the King's escape, as I sincerely rejoice in the event, so will I cheerfully subscribe my name to it, otherwise I shall feel it my duty to withdraw from this meeting." It is almost needless to add, that the objectionable clause was expunged, to the chagrin of a few and the address, in its amended form, carried unanimously. Although the George IV.] sir charles manners sutton, k.b. 487 anecdote in itself is of no great importance, it serves to show how clear and statesmanlike a judgment his lordship possessed, and but for his opposition to the gratuitous and absurd composition of interested parties, not only might Louis Philippe have conceived an erroneous opinion of our estimate of his character, but the French press, and with it the nation, might reasonably have objected to our meddling in matters which did not concern us. . Our admiration of the great qualities of his lordship's mind, and our sense of his devotion to the service of his country, combined with a personal know- ledge of his kind and amiable disposition, his engaging manners, his wit, learn- ing and brilliant conversational powers, would under ordinary circumstances prove most felicitous adjuncts to the biographer, but even at this distance of time, they tend rather to augment than diminish the difficulties under which we labour in our endeavours to do justice to his memory. We feel our in- competency, from a recollection of his friendship, which is treasured and fondly cherished in our hearts, to give more than a faint outline of Lord Canterbury's personal merits, his public services stand recoi^ded in the archives of history. None ever surpassed him as Speaker of the House of Commons, few will be found hereafter to equal him in dignity, urbanity, sound consti- tutional knowledge, and that thorough acquaintance with the usages and customs of Parliament, combined with that high breeding and manners by which his decisions from the chair imparted satisfaction to all parties, and triumph to none. It was during the Speakership of Mr. Manners Sutton that both Houses of Parliament were destroyed by fire on the 16th of October 1834. We were present on this melancholy occasion, and with many other gentlemen who volunteered their services, assisted in saving public documents of inestimable value from destruction. The original warrant for the execution of Charles L framed and glazed, passed through our hands, as we formed a sort of chain for the more convenient transmission of bundles of books, papers, &c. from the burn- ing building to a place of safety in Cotton Garden. At least so we were told, for it may be conceived that we had no time to examine it — we remember how- ever that the word was passed that " great care was to be taken of it," and mysteriously enough, it was afterwards missing, and some time elapsed before it was happily restored. We had a narrow escape of our life at this time, as we were outside the private door in Cotton Garden receiving the papers, an iron chest was thrown out of an upper window and fell within a foot of the spot on which we were standing. A melancholy sight presented itself in the Speaker's garden. The most splendid damask hangings, crimson velvet sofas, gilt chairs, books, MS S., pictures, &c., literally strewed the lawn, articles of most costly furniture, from inability to remove them to any place of greater security, were doomed to destruction in a few minutes from the falling flakes of fire, the volumes of black smoke in which they were enveloped, and the water from the 488 tlVES OF THE SPEAKERS. fire engines with which they were saturated. Our Speaker's loss upon this occasion must have been great, such indeed as could not well be compensated with money, had the then government or any future administration been in- clined to act towards him with perfect liberality, but we will not revive the question, requiescat in pace. Lord Canterbury married, 8th July 1811, Lucy-Maria-Charlotte, eldest daughter of John Dennison, Esq,, of Ossington, co. Nottingham, and by her, who died 7th December, 1815, had issue Charles John Manners Sutton, the present Viscount Canterbury and Baron Bottesford, co. Leicester, and the Hon. John-Henry-Thomas, M.P. for Cambridge, born 27 th May, 1814, some time Under Secretary of State for the Home Department, who married, 5th July, 1838, Georgina, youngest daughter of Charles Thompson, Esq. of Witchingham Hall, CO, Norfolk, and has issue ; and a daughter, Charlotte-Matilda, married, 12th February, 1833, to Richard Saunderson, Esq, M,P. His lordship mar- ried, secondly, 6th December, 1828, Ellen, daughter of Edmund Power, Esq., and widow of John Home Purvis, Esq., andby her had issue another daughter, Frances Diana, married 8th August, 1848, to the Hon. Delaval Astley. The sudden attack which deprived Lord Canterbury of life, and all those who knew him of an inestimable and invaluable friend, was apoplexy, with which he was seized on his return to town, by the Great Western Railway, on Saturday, the 18th July, 1845, being up to the moment of the attack in perfect health, and although immediately upon his arrival at the Paddington terminus he was attended by several eminent men, amongst whom were Dr. Chambers and Mr, Guthrie, their skill could not avail him, and he died on the following Tuesday, at the house of his son the Hon, John Henry Manners Sutton, in Southwick Crescent, OxfordSquare, atthe age of sixty-five ; deeply, deservedly, and sincerely regretted, not only by his former colleagues and personal friends, but by all political parties. Universally respected and esteemed in public life, beloved and venerated in private, the memory of Lord Canterbury will long be preserved and revered. Jrms. — Quarterly, 1 st and 4th, ar. a canton sa. for Sutton ; 2nd and 3rd, or. two bars az. a chief, quarterly, az. and gu, the first charged with two fleurs-de-lis, or,; the 2nd charged with a lion, passant, guardant, or. for Manners. Crest, — On a chapeau gu. turned up, erm. a peacock in pride, ppr. Motto, — Pour y parvenir. JAMKS ABEBCROMBY. 48.9 JAMES ABERCROMBY. The ancient family of Abercromby of that Ilk, assumed the name, as the expression denotes, from that domain or territory in the county of Fife, a fact which Mr. Burke and other eminent genealogists inform us, is proved by a charter from King Malcolm III., and the possessor of the property was esteemed the chief of the family until the seventeenth century, when, by the extinction of the eldest line, the chiefship devolved upon a younger, but next surviving male branch, in the person of Sir James Abercromby, of Pitmed- den. Ley, and Birkenbog, who was slain at Flodden Field, leaving by Margaret, his wife, daughter of Sir James Ogilvie, of Deskford, a son and successor, George Abercromby, of Pitmedden, Ley, and Birkenbog, born 1512, who married Christian, daughter of Barclay, of Gartley, in Strathbogie, and whose successors, James, George, and Alexander, married the daughters of the Earl of Errol, Gordon, and Leslie, of Pitcaple. Alexander Abercromby, the son and heir by the last cited marriage, espoused Margaret, daughter of William Leslie, of Balquhain, by whom he had issue two sons, James, and Alexander, from the latter of whom descended Lord Glassford and Dr. Patrick Abercromby, author of " The martial achievements of the Scottish nation," and of the " Memoirs of ^the Family of Abercromby." From the above-named James, the eldest son. Sir Alexander Abercromby, of Birken- bog, Bart., derived descent. This gentleman, who was created a baronet of Nova Scotia, in 1656, took so active a part against Charles I., that he was characterised by contemporaneous historians as "a main covenanter." In May, 1645, he joined Major Urry, and was at the battle of Auldearn, but Montrose retaliated, by quartering himself and some of his troops at Birken- bog. By his third and last wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir James Baird, of Achmedden, he had two sons, James, from whom the present baronet. Sir Robert Abercromby, of Birkenbog, derives, and Alexander, of Tullibody, in the county of Clackmannan. This gentleman was succeeded by his son, George Abercromby, of TulKbody, who married Mary, daughter of Ralph Dundas, Esq., of Manour, by whom he had issue (with Barnet, and General Sir Robert Abercromby, K.B.,) Sir Ralph Abercromby, of Tullibody, his eldest son and heir. Commander in Chief of the British Forces, who fell gloriously at the Battle of Alexandria at the moment of victory, on the 28th March, 1801. The hero of Alexandria married Mary Anne, daughter of John Menzies, Esq., of Fernton, in the county of Perth, who, as soon as the 490 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1835, official account of the glorious victory, and the fate of her lamented husband, reached England, was elevated to the peerage as Baroness Abercromby, vrith remainder to the heirs male of the deceased general. By Sir Ralph Aber- cromby, her ladyship had issue, George, who succeeded her in the Barony of Abercromby, Sir John, a General Officer and Grand Cross of the Bath, who died unmarried, and (with other children) the Right Honourable James Abercromby, the subject of this memoir. ' This distinguished scion of a house, ennobled as much by its heroic deeds as by its great antiquity and high alliances, including several royal descents, through the Menzies of Fernton, was born on the 7th of November, 1776, and was educated for the bar. Having been brought into Parliament for Midhurst, in Sussex, at, an early period of life, he took his political stand under the banner of the Liberals, and has ever continued loyal and firm to his principles. He afterwards sat for Calne, in two Parliaments, and distinguished himself as an able debater, evincing, even at that period, a knowledge of Parliamentary law, customs, and usages. As a lawyer, Mr. Abercromby's practice was confined exclusively to the Court of Chancery, where he acquired considerable reputation, and held the office of a Commissioner of Bankrupts under the old system. He was appointed Judge Advocate-General under Mr. Canning's administration, in 1827, elevated to the Bench as Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer in Scotland, in 1830, in which eminent position his decisions and his conduct gave universal satisfaction, and he was subse- quently appointed Master of the Mint, and a Member of the Cabinet in 1834* In all these high appointments, Mr. Abercromby evinced talent of the highest order, and his legal acquirements, general knowledge, his learning and eloquence, combined to increase his influence in the House of Commons, especially with his own party, prior to his elevation to the chair. When Par- liament met in 1835, under Sir Robert Peel's short administration, his party having accepted the seals of office, the opposition conceiving that Sir Charles Manners Sutton had busied himself in the formation and bringing about of the new arrangements, with which idea we cannot doubt, that they were, at the onset, fully impressed, determined to ofier their most strenuous opposition to the re-election of that eminent and distinguished public servant to the chair of the House of Commons. Parliament was opened by Commission on the 19th of February, and within five minutes after the opening of the doors of the House, no less than 300 members were present. The Parliamentary History says, " We preserve this record to mark the great interest excited by the expected contest for the Speakership." After Mr. Ley, the Chief Clerk of the House, had announced that the Commons had been commanded to choose a Speaker, the Right Hon. Sir Charles Manners Sutton, and the Right. Hon. James Abercromby, the subject of this memoir, who then represented the city of Edinburgh in ParHament, were put in nomination for the chair by their respective political parties. In our very William IV.] james abercromby. 491 brief account of Lord Canterbury we altogether abstained from entering into the particulars of the almost unprecedented act of dismissing an old and faith- ful public servant from the chair, whose superior talents and qualifications for this high office were universally acknowledged by all political parties. "We use the term of dismissal although the language of courtesy might suggest another expression, from a conviction that the truth is alone reached by this explicit announcement. The cause of this, we have said, almost unprecedented act (for there is no instance upon record, except that of Sir F. Norton, alluded to by Lord John Russell in the debate upon this question, in which however it may be observed that there was this difference, that Sir Fletcher Norton immediately after the nomination of Mr. Cornwall, announced most positively that it was not his intention to serve the office of Speaker), was as follows : — " That being Speaker he (Sir Charles Manners Sutton) had busied himself in the subversion of the late Government ; that he had assisted with others in the formation of the new Government ; and that he had last of all, counselled and advised the dissolution of the last Parliament." Our opinions upon the subject can be of no earthly importance, we must however observe that if these charges were proved against Sir Charles Manners Sutton, the opposition were perfectly justified in the course they pursued. For upwards of a century it has been tacitly acknowledged that the political principles of the Speaker are to be held in abeyance during his tenure of office, which is rendered secure to him, (upon these implied conditions as a compensation for giving up all other chances of preferment) during life, or at least until age or infirmities unfit him for its arduous duties. For the sake of principle and political consistency, greatly as we admired and loved the party who had now fallen under the ban of the opposition, we could almost have wished they had succeeded in proving him guilty of the charges they had so widely circulated against him, but he, a man of truth, a gentleman of the highest honour and principle, of a noble family distinguished alike for its chivalry and high bearing, its truthfulness and virtues, publicly pledged his honour that every word of the charges, from beginning to the end, was false. None, not even a radical or free trader in the House, presumed to doubt that real gentleman's word — and therefore we may conclude that after all it was but a mere trial of strength between the Whigs and the Conservatives, in which the result was felicitous to the former by a majority of ten, the numbers upon the division appearing for Mr. Abercromby, 316, for Sir Charles Manners Sutton, 306. How far this result, as a party question, was satisfactory to those who engaged in it, must be left to their own ideas of justice as between man and man, unless the principles of political warfare differ from all other considerations of public equity. But we fear we are digressing, if not from the subject, at least from the plan we laid down for our guidance, and that strict impartiality which should have pre- cluded us from the expression of any opinion from which political prejudice or predilection on our part might be inferred. Of our Speaker, the Right Hon. 492 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SPEAKER 1835. James Abercromby, and of the manner in which, during his tenure of oflSce, he discharged the arduous duties imposed upon him, we cannot speak too highly. We have before adverted to the talents, learning, knowledge of the law, and general acquirements which marked him out as one of, if not of all, the most eligible of his party, for the honour of presiding over the deliberations of so great a legislative assembly. Firmness, dignity, and courtesy were combined with those accomplishments which render the most disagreeable duties of the chair agreeable to the varied and various tempers submitted, and under such circumstances, submitting cheerfully to its rule. Of the important services ren- dered by our Speaker to his country in general, and to the House in particular, we have the testimony of all who composed it, and shall give from one of the most able periodicals of the day, " The Law Review," a work of high standing, con- ducted with the talent and judgment which might be expected from the very nature of the publication, the following extract from a very able paper in the 7th vol. for 1848, art. V. p. 287, upon " Private business in Parliament." After forcibly setting forth the increasing difficulties and labours of this depart- ment of the Speaker's duties, owing to railway bills, together with the jobbing- transactions connected with them ; and severely animadverting upon the utter recklessn^ess of character displayed by some members acting in committees on private bills, so derogatory to the reputation of the House of Commons, and which, as the writer justly observes, must have ended in depriving that branch of the legislature of all respect on the part of the public, he says, " It was fortunate that at this critical period a Speaker was selected to pre- side over the proceedings of the House of Commons whose great legal and constitutional learning, coupled with his laborious habits of business, and his firm yet cautious turn of mind, eminently fitted him to struggle with the growing evil, and, so far as in a Speaker lay, to apply a remedy. Mr. Aber- cromby seems from the first to have been fully alive to the great importance of the private business, and to have felt it to be the duty of the Speaker to watch over the proceedings of the House with regard to this branch of its business not less vigilantly than with regard to the other and more prominent department. The practice which he observed from the first, of coming down to the House at twelve o'clock every day, where he was at all times accessible, not to members only, but to the parliamentary agents, taking pains in all cases in which questions upon the standing orders, or other questions con- nected with the private business, were likely to be made the subject of dis- cussion in the House, to inform himself of the merits of the case, had the efiect not only of enabling him to assist the judgment of the House in its decision on those points, (an assistance which at that time, before the consti- tution of the select committee on standing orders presently to be mentioned, was of inestimable value), but was attended with this useful result also, that, having thus become practically acquainted with the details of the private business, and with the working of the vast machine over which he was called William IY.] james abercromby. 493 to preside, he was better prepared to suggest the means by which a remedy might be provided for the evils which were every day becoming more in- tolerable." The whole article, which enters fully into the amendments and reforms carried out by our Speaker, is worthy most attentive perusal ; but we have not space for such details, and must therefore content ourselves with refer- ring the reader to the paper itself. On the 15th May, 1839, after presiding with great and distinguished ability over the deliberations of the House of Commons for a period of four years, to the sincere regret of all parties, to whom he had endeared himself by the suavity of his manners and the strictly' impartial exercise of the powers with which his high office invested him, our Speaker announced his intention to resign, and the House adjourned in consequence to the 27th instant, when, as a reward for his public services, he was called to the Upper House, as a Baron of the United Kingdom, by the title of Lord Dunferm- line, CO. Fife, and took his place in the Lords on the 27th May, the very day upon which the House of Commons met for the choice of a suitable per- son to succeed him in the chair. In concluding this very brief memoir, we must observe that the circum- stances under which it is written preclude our launching out into those eulo- giums which the subject of this sketch so justly merits ; but he still survives, and we trust may continue long to live in the enjoyment of that ease which a cessation from the toils of public life and political turmoil can alone pro- cure, while we have learnt sufficient of his lordship's character to be aware that unmeasured praise would be as unpalateably received by him as it would be ill-judged and untimely in us to offer it. Lord Dunfermline married, the 14th of June, 1803, Mary Anne, eldest daughter of the late Egerton Leigh, Esq., of the West Hall, High Leigh, Cheshire, and has an only son, the Hon. Ralph Abercromby, Minister Pleni- potentiary and Envoy Extraordinary at the court of Turin, born 6th April, 1803, who married, in September, 1838, the Lady Mary Elliot, eldest daughter of the Earl of Minto. Arms. — Arg. a fesse, embattled, gu., therefrom issuant in chief a dexter arm, embowed in armour, ppr. garnished or., encircled by a wreath of laurel, the hand supporting the French invincible standard, in bend sinister, also ppr., in base a chev. indented gu. between .three boars' heads erased az. Crest. — A bee erect, ppr. Supporters. — Two greyhounds, per fesse, arg, and or,, each plain collared, with line reflexed over the back, gu., and suspended from the collar a shield, az., charged with the Speaker's mace, in pale, or., between the shield, a thistle, ppr. Seat. — CoUington, Mid-Lothian. 494 tlVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKER 1835. CHARLES SHAW LEFEVRE. The Right Hon. Charles Shaw Lefevre, the present Speaker of the Honse of Commons, is the eldest son of the late Charles Shaw, Esq., harrister-at-law, who was returned to Parliament for Newport, in the Isle of Wight, in 179&, and sat for Reading in the Parliaments of 1802-6-7-12, and 1818 — shaving assumed the name and arms of Lefevre in addition to his own, in consequence of his marriage with Helena, only daughter of John Lefevre, Esq., of Heck- field Place, near Hartfordbridge, Hants, a gentleman of an ancient Norman family, whose ancestors were settled for many generations in the neighbour- hood of Rouen, and quitted their fatherland about the period of the revoca- tion of the edict of Nantes, probably to avoid persecution and enjoy that liberty of conscience, which the bigotry of Louis XIV. denied to the best and most intelligent portion of his subjects. The private worth and benevo- lence, added to the steady and consistent political conduct of the late Mr. Shaw Lefevre, and the esteem in which he was held by all parties were regarded almost as a certain guarantee for the possession of similar qualities on the par t of his son and successor, while the knowledge he had acquired of constitu- tional law and parliamentary usages, by his untiring attention to the business of the House during his long and useful political career, must have enabled him to communicate such valuable information to his son as would well pre- pare him for the office he now holds. The subject of this memoir was born the 22nd February, 1794j and being destined for the law, was entered of Lincoln's Inn, by which society he was called to the bar in 1819. In 1830, Mr. Shaw Lefevre obtained a seat in Parliament for the borough of Downton, and in every other Parliament he has represented the Northern Division of his native county. We shall pass over the first nine years of Mr. Shaw Lefevre's political life, merely observing that in all popular measures emanating from the party to whose principles he was firmly attached, he gave his unflinching support, and so distinguished himself as an able debater, and sound constitutional lawyer, that upon the retirement of Mr. Abercromby from the chair of the House of Commons on the 17th May, 1839, he was, on the 27th of the same month, upon the meeting of the House after an adjournment from the former day, proposed by Mr. Handley, and seconded by the Right Hon. Stephen Lushington, as a suitable person for the chair, and elected by a majority of 18 over his opponent Mr. Goulburn — the numbers being for Mr. Shaw Lefevre, ayes 317, noes 299. Re-elected in Queen Victoria.] charles shaw lefevre. 495 1841, he was again proposed on the" 10th November, 1847, by Lord Seymour, and seconded by Mr. J. A. Smith, while the leading men of the opposition. Lord Oeorge Bentinck and Sir R. H. Inglis, addressed the House concurring in the choice. After our Speaker had acknowledged the honour, thus for a third time, conferred upon him. Lord John Russell rose and said : — " I now venture to address the House for the purpose of congratulating you, sir, and I must add the House itself, on the choice just made ; that you, sir, will maintain the privileges of this House — that you will render great service to the public in the conduct of the private business of this House, and in maintaining order in these our debates — that you will so preserve order in this assembly as to conciliate those whom it may be your duty to reprove — these are predictions which are no longer matters of surmise or expectation, but of well founded confidence; your previous conduct in the chair justifies the House and me in entertaining this conviction. It was your fortune to succeed to a person of distinguished learning, of great knowledge of the con- stitution, and of great experience in the House, and whose conduct in the chair was received with approbation by this House. Placed in this position of disadvantage by the qualifications of your immediate predecessor, you have nevertheless, established a character as Speaker of this House which is not a matter of envy to any one, but is equal to that of any former Speaker ; and I trust that being long in the possession of the honour now conferred on you by the House your reputation may continue to increase, and that you may leave as bright a name to posterity as that of the greatest Speaker that ever sat in that chair." Mr. Shaw Lefevre has more than verified the prediction of the noble Lord. He has in the discharge of the arduous duties of the ofiice of Speaker, esta- blished for himself a high reputation for talent, judgment, knowledge of parliamentar)- usages, and sound constitutional learning, with that singular combination of dignity and urbanity, so perfect an illustration of the suaviter in modo and fortiter in re, which constitutes the charm of authority, and causes the most refractory spirits to yield a ready obedience to his dictum, rather than raise a question as to its accuracy. Such is the homage, such the deep-rooted respect and deference of the House of Commons towards the man whose unquestionable probity, high-mindedness, and strict impartiality in the chair have gained him the affection of all political parties, and placed him where Lord John Russell hoped he might take his stand as " the equal of any former Speaker." We might enlarge considerably upon the Right Honourable gentleman's pretensions without overstepping the limits of truth, but he lives, — and long may he do so, both for the public service, his own happiness, and that of his family and friends, — and we will not ofiend the natural modesty of his mind by bestowing upon him even those eulogiums to which he is fully entitled, although a feeling of justice tells us how in- 496 LIVES OF THE SPEAKERS. [SpEAKER 1835. adequately our language expresses a proper sense of his extraordinary merits, how far short it falls of conveying a just estimate of his public ser- vices, so truly recorded in our more appropriate dedication to the Right Honourable gentleman. We will only add our fervent hopes that the con- duct, bearing, and demeanour of our Speaker in the discharge of his onerous duties, may hereafter be equalled by those who may succeed him. We are confident they can never be surpassed, and that at the end of his career, the Right Hon. Charles Shaw Lefevre will, as the noble Lord at the head of her Majesty's government truly observed, "leave as bright a name to posterity as that of the greatest Speaker that ever sat in that chair." Mr. Shaw Lefevre married, 24th of June, 1817, Emma Louisa, daughter of Samuel Whitbread, Esq., M.P., by the Lady Elizabeth, his wife, sister of Charles, late Earl Grey, and has had, with three sons, all of whom died young, tliree daughters : 1 . Emma Louisa ; 2. Helena ; and 3. Elizabeth. Mr. Shaw Lefevre is a magistrate for Hampshire, High Steward of West- minster, and Lieut. -Colonel of the North Hants Yeomanry. Our Speaker has two younger brothers, John George Shaw Lefevre, Esq., Assistant Clerk of Parliament, formerly M. P. for Petersfield, Under Secretary for the Colonies, and a Poor Law Commissioner, who married Rachel Emily, daughter of Ichabod Wright, Esq., of Mapperley, Notts; and Henry Francis Shaw Lefevre, Esq., who married, first, Helen, daughter of General Le Marchant ; and secondly, Elizabeth Emma, daughter of the Rev. John and the Hon. Emma Forster. Arms. — Quarterly, first and fourth ; sa. a chev. ar. between two trefoils, slipped in chief, and a bezant in base, therefrom issuant a cross patee, or., for Lefevre ; second and third, sa. a chev. erm. on a canton or. a talbot's head, erased gu, for Shaw. Crest. — Six arrows interlaced saltierwise, three and three ppr., within an annulet, or. Motto. — " Sans changer." FINIS. Myeks and Co., Printers, 37, King Street, Oovent Garden, INDEX. Abbot, Charles (Lord Colchester) Page 479 Finch, Su- Heneage - - - Page - 300 Abercromby, James (Lord Dunferm- Pinch, Sir John ... - 305 line) - 489 Fitzwilliam, Sir Thomas - - 131 Addington, Henry (Lord Sidmouth) 465 Plower, Roger - . - - - 62 Alington, William 80 Foley, Paul - - - - - 395 Alington, WiUiam 117 Audley, Sh: Thomas (Lord Audley) 172 Gargrave, Sn Thomas - 218 Glanville, Sir John - 309 Baker, Sir John 196 Goldsbrough, Sir John 8 Bampfylde, Thomas 338 Green, John - - . . - 110 Baynard, Richard 67 Gregory, Serjt. WiUiam - - 374 Beauchamp, Sir Walter 60 Grenville, William Wyndham - 461 BeU, Sir Robert 242 Grimston, Sir Harbottle - - 346 Bowes, John 83 Bray, Sir Reginald 138 Hanmer, Sir 'i'homas, Bart. - 423 Bromley, WHliam 416 Hare, Sir Nicholas . - - - 188 Brooke, Sir Robert 205 Harley, Robert (Earl of Oxford) - 405 Bnrley, Sir William - 86 Heigham, Sir Clement - 208 Bussy, Sir John 14 Hungerford, Sir Thomas - 1 Hungerford, Sir Walter - 54 Catesby, William 121 Hunt, Roger - . - - - 65 Charlton, Sir Thomas 105 Charlton, Sir Job, Bart. 358 Lefevre, Charles Shaw - 494 Chaucer, Thomas 44 Lenthall, William - - 312 Cheney, Sir John 22 Long, Sir Lislebone - 336 Chute, Challoner 334 Lovel, Sir Thomas - 127 Coke, Sir Edward 259 Littleton, Sir Thomas 400 Compton, Hon. Spencer (Earl of Wil- mington) - 431 Mitford, Sir John (Lord Redesdale) - 473 Cordell, Sir William 214 More, Sir Thomas 161 Cornwall, Charles Wolfran 456 Mordaunt, Sir John - 129 Crewe, Sir Randolph - 284 Moyle, Sir Thomas - 191 Crewe, Sir Thomas 294 Croke, Sir John 273 NeviUe, Sir Thomas - - 159 Cust, Sir John, Bart 440 Norton, Sir Fletcher - 445 De la Mare, Sir Peter 3 Oldhall, Sir WiUiam ^ - 99 Dorewood, John 24 Onslow, Richard - 230 Drury, Sir Robert 136 Onslow, Sir Richard, Bart. - 412 Dudley, Edmund 151 Onslow, Arthur ... - 435 Dyer, Sir James 200 Phelips, Sir Edward 278 Empson, Sir Richard . - - 132 Pickering, Sir James 5 Englefield, Sir Thomas 154 Pollard, John - 202 Esturmy, Sir William 34 Popham, Sir John ... - 94 INDEX. Page Popham, Sir John ... - 245 Powle, Henry . . - 389 Puckering, Sir John - . - 250 Bedford, Sir Henry 32 Eedmayne, Sir Richard . - - 58 Rich, Sir Richard (Lord Rich) - 182 Richardson, Sir Thomas - - - 289 Rous, Francis 328 Russell, Sir John . - - . 68 Savage, Sir Arnold - 29 Sawyer, Su- Robert . - - - 367 Say, Sir John ... 95 Say, William .... 340 Seymour, Sir Edward, Bart. 361 Sheffield, Sir Robert 156 Smith, John - - 408 Snagg, Serjt. Thomas ... 256 Stourton, William - 53 Strangewaies, Sir James ... 112 Sutton, Sir Charles Manners (Viscount Canterbury) .... 484 Page Thorpe, Thomas - - - - 101 Tiptoft, Sir John (Lord Tiptoft) - 39 Tresham, William - - - - 91 Tresham, Su- Thomas - - 108 Trevor, Sir John - - - 383 Tyrrel, Sir John . - - 77 Turnour, Su: Edward, Bart. > 354 Vernon, Sir Richard - - - 75 Waldegrave, Sir Richard - - 10 Wauton, Sir Thomas - - - 71 Wenlock, Sir John (Lord Wenlock) - 106 Widdrington, Sir Thomas - - - 331 Williams, Thomas - . . - 223 Williams, Sir WiUiam, Bart. - - 378 Wingfield, Sir Humphrey - . 177 Wode, John 119 Wray, Sir Christopher . - - 235 Yelverton, Sir Christopher - - 267 EREATA, Page 23, last line but 6, for " Speaker is derived,'^ read Speaker derived. 35, line 17, for " antecedents" read antecedeus. 42, last line but 7, for " Baronetage" read Baronage. 44, line 3, for " Sir Harry" read Sir Henry. G3, last line but 5, for " and devoted " &c. read had devoted. 99, line 4, for "cheronels,'' read chevronels. . 105, line 11, for " these details," read their detail. . 124, last line but 7, for " actually" read actively. . 139, line 32, for " at which the writer," read at which time, &c. . 143, line 14, for "Richard Le Clarendeux,'' read Richard Lee, &c. . .. last line but 5, for "^jwi?," read g7M«. . 144, line 13, for " but what, what," read hvt what have, &c. . ,. last line but 8, " amovg.it other defavlters" read for amongst, &c. 146, line 24, for " 1449," read 1499. Cornell University Library DA 28.4.M28 Lives of the speakers of the House of Co 3 1924 027 916 463