1558-1603.

tered at Sta

tioners' Hall.

Licensing of printers.

ELIZABETH. In 1585, the Star Chamber published ordinances for the regulation or restriction of the press, which, after reciting that enormities and abuses of disorderly persons professing the art of printing and selling books had increased, arising from the inadequacy of the penalties hitherto inflicted; then commands Presses to be en- every printer to certify his presses to the stationers' company, on pain of having them defaced, and suffering a year's imprisonment; that none should print at all, under similar penalties, except in London, and one in each of the two universities;-that no printer who had only set up in his trade within six months, should exercise it any longer, nor any commence in future, until the excessive multitude of printers were diminished, and brought to such a number as the Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop of London, for the time being, might think convenient; but whenever any addition to the number of master printers was required, the stationers' company should select proper persons to use that calling with the approbation of the ecclesiastical commissioners;-that none should print any book, matter, or thing whatsoever, until it had been first seen, perused, and allowed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, or Bishop of London, except the queen's printer, to be appointed for some special service, or law printers, for whom the license of the chief justices should alone be requisite ;-that every one selling books contrary to the intent of this ordinance should suffer three months' imprisonment. That the stationers' company should pany empowered be empowered to search houses and shops of printers and booksellers, and to seize all books printed in contravention of this ordinance, and to destroy and deface the presses, and to arrest and bring before the council, those who should have offended therein.

Licensing of books.

Stationers' com

to search houses.

James extended this decree to the importation of books, and forbade the printing of any book without a license from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Bishop of London, or the Vice-Chancellor of one of the Universities, or of some person appointed by them.

8. Undue Influence exercised over the Boroughs.

Elizabeth having perceived the necessity of acquiring a numerical ascendency over the deliberations of the commons, 21 Hallam's Const. Hist. 324, 325.

exerted all her energies to control those boroughs which ELIZABETH. existed', and resorted to her prerogative for the restoration of 1558-1603. old, and creation of new boroughs, by which she obtained the support of sixty-two new members;-and this fact establishes that, the commons had emerged from their primary insignificance, and had become an influential assembly.

tions modelled

"Select governing bodies" were grafted into the municipal Borough institucorporations, and by this unconstitutional manœuvre, the for political crown acquired increased parliamentary influence; and these objects. institutions, which had been intended for the "local government of the people, within certain prescribed boundaries," were fashioned to become the ready and effective instruments of political infamy.

summoned to

In the fifth year of this reign, the necessity of a supply in- New boroughs duced the summoning of a parliament, and in order to procure send members of an undue influence, six boroughs were summoned to send parliament. members of parliament, none of them having done so for a considerable interval, and the greater portion never having done so; but the right of election was exercised by the inhabitants paying scot and lot.

parliamentary franchises en

joyed by the

same class of

freemen.

In these boroughs the court-leet existed, and was in the full Municipal and exercise of its powers, and those persons who were to return the members of parliament, the doing of which by the writ was cast upon the "burgesses," were the same class of persons as those who were entitled to enjoy the municipal franchises. Parliamentary, but fruitless, discussions arose as to the right of these boroughs to return members, and the speaker declared to the House, that the lord steward had agreed, that the members should resort to the House, and show letters patent why they were returned to parliament.

The question was put upon the ground of these boroughs not having charters to show for their returning members. If their representatives were allowed to sit in consequence of their having charters, it was an admission on the part of the House, that the crown had power to grant such charters: but,

The first time the subject of bribery appears to have been brought before the house, was in the reign of Elizabeth.

One Thomas Long gave the returning officer, and others of the borough of Westbury, four pounds, to be returned member. For this offence the borough was amerced, the member removed, and the officer fined and imprisoned. (4 Inst. 23.)

2 Parl. Hist. 958. 1 Hallam's Const. Hist. 359. 31 Hallam's Const. Hist., 364.

ELIZABETH. Subsequently, it was rarely exercised,-resisted in the case of 1558-1603. Newark, in the reign of Charles II., and has never since been

The right to re

parliament can

not be lost.

claimed.

4

Sir Simon D'Ewes treats these places as having anciently been boroughs; but, from their poverty, having neglected to return members of parliament, when they were paid wages by their constituents, they for a time lost the right of returning members. But that when the payment of wages was discontinued, many boroughs, both in the reign of Elizabeth and that of her successor, returned members which had not returned in the preceding parliaments.

This doctrine was recognised by a committee of the House turn members of in 21 James I., that "the right of a borough to return members having once existed, can never be lost;" but they disregarded the charters of Mary, thereby negativing the right of the crown to interfere by its charters with the right of returning members.

Charges of burgesses avoided.

Many places ceased to be boroughs, not keep

ing up the exerclusive jurisdic

cise of their ex

tion.

License from the

king to be dis

Sir Simon D'Ewes says, that "it was very common and ordinary in former times to avoid the charges of their burgesses' allowance in time of parliament (when the town grew into any poverty or decay); that the boroughs did either get license of the sovereign for the time being to be discharged from such election and attendance, or did by degrees discontinue it themselves; but of later times the knights, citizens, and burgesses of the House of Commons, for the most part bearing their own charges, many of those borough towns, who had discontinued their former privilege, by not sending, did again recontinue it (as these towns here), both during her majesty's reign, and afterwards in the reign of King James her successor."

66

par

These observations must be taken in a qualified sense. Many places which originally returned members of liament, discontinued sending representatives when they fell into poverty or decay," upon the ground of their ceasing to keep up the exercise of their exclusive jurisdiction; by which they ceased to be boroughs, separate and distinct from the jurisdiction of the sheriff, and were reabsorbed into the counties.

"Boroughs, in order to avoid the charges of their burgesses' allowance in parliament, obtained a license from the parliamentary king to be discharged from their election and attendance;"

charged from

attendance.

• P. 80.

1558-1603.

but those licenses were not universally acted upon, as the ELIZABETH. places obtaining them notwithstanding sent their members; whilst, on the other hand, places which had ceased to be boroughs by falling into decay, and ceasing to have an exclusive jurisdiction, altogether discontinued sending members. But the royal licenses were inoperative, for the king had no constitutional power to discharge any place from returning members as long as it continued a borough.

boroughs.

The crown had the undoubted prerogative of directing Prerogative of within what districts the law should be locally administered, the king to create whether in the county at large, or in any particular franchise, as a city or borough; but when the king made any place a borough, all the legal consequences followed as a necessary result of law; and amongst others, that it should, in conformity with the parliamentary writ, be called upon by the sheriff's precept to return members of parliament; and thus the burgesses would be discharged from contributing to the wages of the knights of the shire. But the king could not exempt them from both; they were bound to contribute either to the one or the other; and therefore if the burgesses, by reason of the place being a borough, were released from contributing to the wages of the knights, the king could not direct that they should neither send nor pay their members whilst it continued a borough: but if he and the burgesses wished that they should be exempt from that liability, then the place must cease from being a borough, and, as the consequent, become contributory to the knights of the shire.

An object of demember of the

sire to become a

With respect to the " members having begun to pay their own charges," it proves that the being returned a member of the House had then, in public estimation, lost its character of commons. being a burden, and had become an object of desire to persons of station and property.

storation of bo

In 13 Elizabeth, a new parliament being assembled, nine Creation and reother places, which had not returned members in the pre- roughs. ceding parliament, were summoned, and sent representatives; and at a subsequent period in this reign, twelve other boroughs were also newly summoned to parliament, and three boroughs restored.

When Elizabeth perceived the impolicy of increasing the number of boroughs, her only alternative was to bring the existing boroughs under obedience; and this was unconstitutionally effected by creating "select bodies" in the “ corpo

Origin of "select bodies," in muni

cipal corpora

tions.

1558-1603.

ELIZABETH. rations," and then recognizing, under this false claim of prescription, that existing corporations possessed the exclusive right of electing their own officers, and in some instances the members of parliament,-which will account for the charters of Elizabeth commencing with recitals that, the boroughs had been anciently incorporated; and for modern usages at variance from the charters having been supported under the plea of prescription.

Origin of the usurpations and conflicting usages in boroughs.

Anxiety of the crown to bring the commons under its command.

Burgesses of

Wells com

manded to elect

The queen having granted the "parliamentary franchise" to these boroughs for an abstract political object, it cannot be regarded as a matter of surprise, that, from this period, usurpations and conflicting usages arose in the ancient and modern. boroughs in order to crush or promote conflicting interests, and which produced such disgraceful anomalies in the "parliamentary and municipal institutions."

The anxiety which the crown evinced in order to bring the "commons" under its command, by the intervention of "select bodies" and the "corporations," will be perceived by the following extracts.

In 1570, a letter from Sir Hugh Powlett was written in the queen's name to the burgesses of Wells, desiring them to fit parliamentary elect fit persons as burgesses of parliament at peril of the queen's displeasure.

representatives.

Sir Francis Wal

singham to have

the nomination

of the burgesses

of Colchester.

mination of one

for Andover.

In 1584, the bailiffs, aldermen, and common council of Colchester, to serve the queen's grace, made the following extraordinary order:-"That Sir Francis Walsingham shall have the nomination of both the burgesses of the town, for the parliament, for time to come, according to his honor's letters to the bailiffs, aldermen, and common council of the town directed:" whereupon two persons were returned according to the order".

In 1584, the burgesses of Andover received the following letter from the Earl of Leicester, high steward of the borough: Earl of Leicester After my heartie commendations, whereas it has pleased requests the no- her majesty to appoint a parliament to be presently called, of the members being steward of your towne, I make bould heartily to pray you, that you would give me the nomination of one of your burgesses for the same; and yf mynding to avoid the charges of allowance for the other burgesse, you mean to name anie that is not of your towne, if you will bestow the nomination of the other burgesse also on me, I will thank you for it; and will 5 M. and S. Hist. of Boroughs, 1346.