XVIII.

tion of an

archbishop.

CHAP. prisoner, he claimed to be set at liberty on account of his sacerdotal character, but the government ordered him to be Conviction brought to trial. Sir William Gascoigne, Chief Justice of and execu- the King's Bench, who had courage to commit the Prince of Wales to prison for a contempt, was afraid to try an archbishop. Thereupon, a commission passed the Great Seal for his trial before another judge, Sir William Falthorpe, and he was convicted and executed, to the great horror of all churchmen and many of the laity, although clerical exemptions and privileges were now regarded with much less respect than at any prior æra.*

The Chancellors at this time successfully resisted an attempt by the Commons to participate in the appellate jurisdiction of parliament, and obliged them to be contented with a resolution that their consent was necessary to all legislative acts. †

As civilisation advanced, it was desirable that the power and exclusive privileges of the clergy should be curtailed; but their ascendency during the darker ages had been highly beneficial to the community. Not only were they the sole depositaries of learning, but they were often the protectors of the people against the tyranny of the King and the nobles. The enlightened reformers at Runnymede therefore made it the first article of Magna Charta, quod Ecclesia Anglicana libera sit, et habeat omnia jura sua integra, et libertates suas illesas."

66

† See Hale's Jurisd. House of Lords. There is a curious entry in the Parliament Roll, showing the hours when the two houses now met for the despatch of business. At the parliament which assembled in 1406, after the choice of the speaker had been confirmed, "Et sur ceo le Chanceller d'Engleterre dona en charge de par le Roi as ditz Communes, q. pur l'esploit du dit parlement ils soient assemblez en lour maison accoustemez deinz l'Abbeie de Westm' chescun jour durant le parlement a sept del clocke; et semblable charge il dona as seignrs. du parlement, q'uils de lour partie pur mesme l'esploit se assemblent en lour lieu accustume a noef del clocke.". Roll. Par. iii, 568.

CHAPTER XIX.

CHANCELLORS DURING THE REIGN OF HENRY V.

CHAP.

XIX.

1413. Accession

of Hen. V.

Great Seal

Arch

Arundel, and re

Cardinal

Beaufort.

We now come to a reign for military exploits, one of the most brilliant in our annals, but by no means distinguished for juridical improvement, although during the course of it the March 21. office of Chancellor was filled by very eminent men. Henry V. being proclaimed King, to the great joy of the people, the first act of his reign was to take the Great Seal from Archbishop Arundel, and deliver it to his uncle Henry taken from Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, the Cardinal, who now bishop entered on his second Chancellorship. The young King was not actuated by any desire to change his father's ministers. stored to Contrary to the expectations of his dissolute companions, and of the nation generally, his plan was to continue in their offices all who had faithfully served the Crown. Perhaps he was induced to make an exception in the case of the Archbishop, on account of the active part which this Prelate had taken in the dethronement of Richard II. Henry expressed the deepest sorrow for the fate of that unhappy Prince, did justice to his good qualities, performed his funeral obsequies with pomp and solemnity, and cherished all those who had distinguished themselves by their loyalty and attachment to him. The Archbishop, while in exile, and on his return to England, had devised and prosecuted the plans which led Richard to his grave, and he might now be an object of personal dislike to the new King, who did not go so far as to resign his Crown to the true heir, but affected much to favour the doctrine of legitimacy.

career of

We must now take final leave of Ex-chancellor Arundel. Subsequent Relieved from official duties, he occupied himself in carrying Ex-chanon a violent prosecution against the Lollards, whom the King cellor

Those who take their notions of English history from Shakspeare, expect to see the Great Seal now delivered to Sir John Falstaff, that he might play the part of " Chancellor," as he had done that of " King."

Arundel.

CHAP.
XIX.

Lord Cob

ham to be burnt.

was rather disposed to screen, and he presided on the trial and condemnation of Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, their Sentences leader, who had incurred the peculiar hatred of the clergy, by actively supporting the proposal to encroach on the revenues of the church. This intriguing Prelate and Chancellor, does not fill so great a space in the eye of history as might have been expected, from the important part he acted in the revolutions of his age; but such was his reputation for ability with his contemporaries, that when impeached for high treason in 1397, the Commons having finished their case, as he began to answer for himself, Sir John Busby, the Speaker, entreated the King that this might not be allowed him, "lest he might, by his subtlety and great wit, bring persons over to believe him innocent," so that he was forced to remain silent.* Of his judicial character no author makes mention. He died in January, 1314.

23d March, 1413. Renewed

the Com

mons to seize the

property of the church.

Cardinal Beaufort, two days after his appointment, sealed writs for a new parliament to meet at Easter; and when the attempt of time came, opened the session with a speech from the text, "Ante omne actum consilium stabilire."† The Commons made an attempt to reform the Ecclesiastical Courts and other abuses, but exhausted themselves in attacks on the Lollards. These were renewed in a parliament which met A. D. 1414. the following year, when laws were passed, at the suggestion of the Chancellor and other Prelates, against reading Wickliffe's translation of the Bible, and against other such enormities. But the church was alarmed by the Commons again urgently pressing that the revenues of the clergy should be applied to the purposes of the State, and passing a bill which, says Hall, "made the fat abbots to sweat, the proud priors to frown, the poor monks to curse, the silly nuns to weep, and indeed all to fear that Babel would fall down."

King claims crown of France.

It is said by some historians, that it was to divert this storm from the church, that Chicheley, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, strongly advised the King to claim the crown of France, and to lead an army across the seas in support of

his pretended right. Certainly there is extant a long and
very extraordinary speech of his, addressed to the King in the
House of Lords, making out the title of Edward III., not-
withstanding the Salic law, and insisting that whatever title
that Sovereign had was now vested in his present Majesty.
He thus concluded, "Consider the just title you have to this
Crown, devolved on you by Queen Isabella your great-grand-
mother, sister and heir to three successive kings of France,
who died without children, and take up noble arms to assist
so just a cause. Advance your standard into France, and
with assured hopes of victory march to conquer those
dominions which are your own by inheritance. There is no
true Englishman but is ready to devote his life and fortune
to so glorious a service of his King. And in full persuasion
of the justness of the war, we the clergy have given such a
sum of money to maintain it as was never granted to any of your
predecessors, and will join all our prayers for the success of
your arms."
His Grace found it convenient to forget not
only the objections to the claim of Edward III., but the awk-
ward fact, that, supposing this monarch to have been entitled
to the crown of France, -if the succession to it was not regu-
lated by the Salic law, the true heir was the Earl of March,
descended from his second son the Duke of Clarence, and not
Henry V. descended from his third son, the Duke of Lancas-
ter;
- and if the parliament of England could change the
descent of the English crown, transferring it to a younger
branch of the royal family, it could have no such power
over the crown of another country, which could not be con-
sidered, like the Isle of Man, as appurtenant to the crown of
England. But he was warmly supported by the Ex-chan-
cellor Thomas Beaufort, then Earl of Dorset, afterwards Duke
of Exeter, and his arguments prevailed with the King and the
royal brothers, who, being young and thirsting for glory, were
impatient to signalise their courage against the old enemies
of their native land. The same gallant spirit diffusing itself

After the revolution of 1688, William III. and our constitutional kings of the House of Hanover called themselves kings of France, and bore the lilies in their shield till the year 1806; but to make out their title would have required the eloquence of the Archbishop.

CHAP.

XIX.

XIX.

CHAP. through the minds of the other nobles, they all declared for a war with France. The Ecclesiastical Revenues Bill was allowed to drop, and as soon as a supply was voted, the parliament was prorogued. The successive ecclesiastical Chancellors who presided in the House of Lords from this time till the quarrel with Rome in the reign of Henry VIII., contrived to prevent the subject being again brought forward in parliament.

A. D. 1415.

Chancellor's speech at the open

ing of parliament.

Petition

against the Chancery.

Court of

But the clamours against the abuses of the Court of Chancery could not be silenced. Cardinal Beaufort was now extending its jurisdiction in a manner that greatly alarmed the common lawyers, and caused the most lively remonstrances from the House of Commons. As soon as the King returned to England, after his glorious campaign, commenced by the capture of Harfleur, and crowned by the battle of Agincourt, a parliament was called, and the Chancellor, in his speech with which the session was opened, tried to divert attention from all domestic grievances, by a glowing description of the martial glory the nation had won. He strongly urged them to be content with nothing less than the conquest of France, endeavouring to demonstrate "that a thing well begun, and continued with diligence, must have a prosperous event, according to the saying, Dimidium facti qui bene cœpit habet.”*

There were, of course, warm congratulations on account of the splendid success of the royal arms; but the first real business was a petition from the Commons to the King (the usual mode of legislating in that age) against the recent encroachment of Courts of Equity,-praying that no causes should be drawn thither which might be determined in the courts of common law. The petition is curious, as containing a full exposition of the opinion of the great body of the nation upon the subject of equitable jurisdiction.†

1 Parl. Hist. 331.

Also the Commons pray, that inasmuch as many persons of your kingdom feel themselves greatly aggrieved in this, that your writs, called writs of subpoena and certiorari, are made and sued out of your Chancery and Exchequer for matters determinable by your common law, which never were granted or used before the time of the late King Richard; when John Waltham, heretofore Bishop of Salisbury, of his craft, invented, made, and commenced such