he defired them to go home, till he sent for them again, which is a Difmiffion fine Die. Now if there were forty ways of Diffolving Parliaments, if I can prove this Parliament has been diffolved by any one of them, I fuppofe there is no great need of the other thirty nine. Another thing, which they much infift upon, is, that they have found out a Prefident in Queen Elizabeth's Time, when a Parliament was once prorogued three Days beyond a Year. In which I cannot chufe but obferve, that it is a very great confirmation of the value and esteem all People ever had of the forementioned Acts of Edw. III. fince from that time to this, there can be but one Prefident be found for the Proroguing a Parliament above a rear, and that was but for three Days neither. Befides, my Lords, this Prefident is of a very odd kind of Nature; for it was in time of a very great Plague, when every body of a fudden was forced to run away one from another, and fo being in hafte, had not leisure to calculate well the time of the Prorogation, tho' the appointing it to be within three Days of the Year is an Argument to me, that their design was to keep within the bounds of the Acts of Parliament. And if the Miftake had been taken notice of in Q. Elizabeth's Time, I make no queftion but she would have given a lawful Remedy.

Now I beseech your Lordships, what more can be drawn from the fhewing this Prefident,

but

but only that because once upon a time a thing was done illegally, therefore your Lordships fhould do fo again now: Tho', my Lords, under Favour, ours is a very different Cafe from theirs; for this Prefident they mention was never taken notice of, and all Lawyers will tell you, that a Prefident that paffes fub filentio is of no validity at all, and will never be admitted in any Judicial Court, where its pleaded. Nay, Judge Vaughan fays, in his Reports, That in Cafes which depend upon Fundamental Principles, for which Demonftrations may be drawn, millions of Prefidents are to no purpofe. Oh! but fay they, you must think prudentially of the Inconveniencies which will follow upon it: For if this be allowed, all thofe Acts which were made in that Seffion of Parliament will be then void. Whether that be fo or no, I fhall not now examine; but this I will pretend to fay, that no Man ought to pass for a Prudential Person who only takes notice of the Inconveniencies of one fide. It is the part of a Wife Man to examine the Inconveniencies of both fides, to weigh which are the greatest, and to be fure to avoid them. And, my Lords, to that kind of Examination I willingly fubmit this Caufe; for I prefume it will be eafy for your Lordships to judge, which of these two will be of the most dangerous Confequence to the Nation; either to allow, that the Statutes made in that particu lar Seffion in Queen Elizabeth's Time are void,

(which may easily be confirmed by a lawful Parliament,) or to lay it down for a Maxim, That the Kings of England, by a particular Order of theirs, have power to break all the Laws of England when they pleafe.

And, my Lords, with all the Duty we owe to His Majefty, it is no difrefpect to him to fay, That His Majefty is bound up by the Laws of England; for the Great King of Heaven and Earth, God Almighty himself, is bound by his own Decrees: And what is an Act of Parliament, but a Decree of the King made in the most folemn manner it is poffible for him to make it, that is, with the Confent of the Lords and Commons: It is plain then, in my Opinion, that we are no more a Parliament; and I humbly conceive, your Lordfhips ought to give God thanks for it, fince it has thus pleafed him by his Providence, to take you out of a Condition wherein you must have been entirely useless to His Majefty, to your Selves, and the whole Nation : For, I do befeech your Lordfhips, if nothing of this I have urged were true, what honourable Excufe could we find for our acting again with the Houfe of Commons? Except we could pretend an exquifite Art of Forgetfulness, as to avoid calling to mind all that paffed between us the laft Seffions; and unless we could have also a faculty of teaching the fame Art to the whole Nation. What Opinion could they have of us, if it should happen, that the very fame Men,

who

who were fo earneft the laft Seflion, for having the House of Commons Diffolved, when there is no queftion of their lawful Sitting, should be now willing to join with them again, when without question they are Diffolved?

Nothing can be more dangerous to a King or a People, than that the Laws fhould be made by an Affembly, of which there can be a doubt, whether they have power to make Laws or no: And it would be in us inexcufable, if we should overlook this danger, fince there is for it fo eafie a Remedy, which the Law requires, and which all the Nation longs for.

The Calling a new Parliament it is, that only can put His Majefty into a poffibility of receiving Supplies; that can fecure your Lordfhips the Honour of Sitting in this House like Peers, and of being ferviceable to your King and Country; and that can reftore to all the People of England their undoubted Rights of choofing Men frequently to represent their Grievances in Parliament: Without this, all we can do would be in vain; the Nation may languish a while, but muft perifh at last: We fhould become a Burden to our felves, and a Prey to our Neighbours. My Motion therefore to your Lordships fhall be, that we humbly Address ourselves to His Majesty, and beg of him, for his own fake, as well as for the Peoples fake, to give us fpeedily a New Parli ament; that fo we may unanimoufly, before

it

it is too late, to use our utmost Endeavours for His Majefty's Service, and for the Safety, the Welfare, and the Glory of the Englifh Nation.

Whilst another was speaking, the Duke of Buckingham took a Pen, and writ this Syllogifm: And then appealed to the Bishops, whether it were not a true Syllogifm; and to the Judges, whether the Propofitions were not true in Law?

The Syllogifm.

;

T is a Maxim in the Law of England, that the Kings of England are bound up by all the Statutes made Pro bono Publico that every Order or Direction of theirs contrary to the Scope, and full Intent of any such Statute, is Void and Null in Law.

But the laft Prorogation of the Parliament was an Order of the King's contrary to an Act of King Edward the Third, made for the greatest Common Good, viz. The Maintenance of all the Statutes of England, and for the Prevention of the Mischiefs and Grievances, which daily happen.

Therefore the last Prorogation of Parlia ment is Void and Null in Law.