able to his civility; upon this the gentlemen | them the copy of their commitment, he denied offered him 100 guineas, half in hand, and the it; Mr. Polhill in particular replied, they asked other when they should be discharged, though him nothing but what by law he ought to grant: it should be next day: The Serjeant neither he rudely replied, He cared not a fart for accepted nor refused the offer, nor expressed them, nor the law neither.' And so left them; any dislike as if he thought it too little, but ap- which refusal of his he may hear of again perpointed to come to them the next day. haps in a way of legal application. Saturday in the evening Mr. Thomas Colepeper, having notice that his lady was very much frightened at his confinement, desired leave of the messenger in whose custody he was, to let him go down to Maidstone, upon his parole, to return by Monday night; which the messenger tacitly granted.-The rest of the gentlemen being met at the tavern, expecting the Serjeant according to appointment, and having waited till 10 o'clock, instead of coming himself, he sends orders to the messengers to separate the gentlemen, and confine them in several prisons, that very night; which order the officers executed as rudely as the Serjeant could desire, saving that they obtained the civility from the officers to be confined two in one place, and two in another; but were hurried away with such unmannerly indecency, that they would not permit them to send for their night-gowns and necessaries.-In this manner Mr. Wm. Colepeper and Mr. Justinian Champneys were carried to Myatt's house, the messenger, in Fox-Court in Holborn, where they had this hard choice proposed to them at their entrance, Whether they would lodge in the cellar or in the garret ; and chusing the latter, they were thrust into a little hole on the top of the house, where they had all the inconveniences of a nasty prison, as base lodging, foul sheets, little covering, and a cold room; by which means they both took such cold as they have not yet recovered. But Mr. Serjeant, lest they should not be treated ill enough, coming the next morning to Mr. Myat's house, was in a great rage at him, and drawing his sword cut him over the head, for using the gentlemen so civilly,' as he called it; afterwards coming up into the garret where Mr. Colepper and Mr. Justinian Champneys were lodged, they asked him, What order he had for using them thus? He replied, He had an order from those who committed them. Being asked again, If there was any such Vote passed the house? He said, no; but he had an order. Mr. Colepeper replied, If it be not a Vote of the house, pray how is it an order? Have the majority of the house, one by one, come to you, and given you direction to use us thus barbarously?' He replied, Yes, they had. For which scandalous reflection, if false, his masters, the members of the house of commons, are exceedingly obliged to him. Mr. Colepeper told him, He believed he should live to see him hanged;' And so they parted. All this while Mr. Polhill and Mr. Hamilton were put into a cellar, without the favour of having their choice, and had so vile a lodging that they could scarce breathe; and were likewise in their turn bullied by Mr. Serjeant the next day; and when they asked him to shew On Tuesday he gave the house notice, that the younger Mr. Colepeper had made his escape, though he had a letter from him that he would be in town that very day; and at the same time he made a complaint that the other gentlemen behaved themselves so disorderly, that he apprehended a rescue; though the gentlemen, to avoid any suspicion, had voluntarily surrendered their swords to the messengers, without being required so to do.-This complaint to the house was the gentlemen's deliverance, and the serjeant's disappointment, though not in kindness to them neither, for ordering them to the Gatehouse, as a more ignominious confinement, the serjeant lost the extravagant fees which he designed to extort from them; and the humanity of captain Taylor, the keeper of the Gatehouse, made their restraint easy to them; for this keeper used them like gentlemen, and the reputation he has obtained by his civility, will be as lasting as the infamy of the serjeant; the one leaves a grateful acknowledgment in the mouths of all men, and will always be spoken of to his advantage; and the other, nauseous like the person, is dishonourable both to his memory, and to the house that employed him. On Wednesday, Thomas Colepeper, esq. the younger brother, who had been in Kent, and who was just come up according to his promise, rendered himself to the Speaker, and desired to be sent to his brethren. Mr. Serjeant, who thought to make himself amends upon him, laboured to have him continued in his custody, and had not that party in the house thought the Gatehouse a greater punishment, possibly it had been so. But therein that infallible house were deceived, and he was delivered from the hands of a villain, by his enemies themselves, who thought they had mortified him the more, to the infinite regret of the serjeant, and the general satisfaction of his fellow sufferers. The same morning that Mr. Colepeper surrendered himself, "The Legion Paper," as it was called, was sent to the house; it was said it was delivered the Speaker by a woman, but I have been informed since that it was a mistake, and that it was delivered by the very person who wrote it, guarded with about 16 gentlemen of quality, who, if any notice had been taken of him, were ready to have carried him off by force; it was reported, that Mr. Thomas Colepeper brought it out of Kent, and that all the country were at his heels to make it good, though it was really no such thing, and that gentleman declared he knew nothing at all of it. But be it as it will, that Paper struck such a terror into the party in the house, that from that time there was not a word ever spoken in the house of proceeding against the Kentish Petitioners, and the members of that party began to drop off and get into the country, for their management began to be so disliked over the whole nation, that their own fears dictated to them they had run things too far.-The clashings with the upper house about the Trial of the four peers they had impeached, and the miserable shifts they were driven to by the lords, to avoid trying them, served but to make them more uneasy, and to hasten the dispatch of the Money bills in order to the prorogation, which was on the 23d of June, 1701.- By the prorogation, the Kentish gentlemen were discharged; but to shew their respect to the civility of captain Taylor their keeper, they continued to lodge with him till they went into the country.--The first honour done them on account of their sufferings, was their being invited to a noble entertainment at Mercers-Hall in Cheapside, at the charge of the citizens of London, where above 200 gentlemen dined with them, together with several noble lords and members of parliament. | proceeded to Rochester, where they were met Thursday, the 2d of July, they set out for Kent; the citizens had offered to accompany them out of town, but they declined it, desiring to go privately. And those who pretend to charge them with affected popularity, would do well to remember, that they were fain to send their coaches empty out of town, and go by water to meet them, to avoid the respect which the citizens would have shewn them.- But there was no shunning the appearance of the | country, who shewed their value for the gentlemen, and the cause for which they had suffered, in all the possible terms of respect and affection. The first instance of this was at Blackheath, where Mr. David Polhill, one of the gentlemen, was to separate from the rest, his road lying near Bromley to his house at Ottford in Kent. He was met at Black beath by above 500 horse, who received him into the midst of them, and surrounded his coach with such shouts, and joy, as sufficiently testified their respect for him and their satisfaction at his return among them: Nor can I omit, that having to satisfy my curiosity, drank among and discoursed with some of that party, while they were waiting for Mr. Polhill, I never heard of any gentleman more universally beloved by the country, or more particularly distinguished for modesty and teniper; and I believe I may affirm that it would be hard to find any gentleman so near the city of London, who could have had such an appearance, of his own tenants and neighbours, to congratulate his deliverance.-Mr. Polhill being come to the corner of the park wall on Blackheath, stopt to take his leave of his brethren, and giving them a loud huzza, wished them a good journey, and proceeded to Ottford.-All possible demonstrations of joy concluded the day, and it has not been known that the country ever expressed more satisfaction since the coronation of king William, than at the return of this gentleman.-The rest of the gentlemen with the other, that it might be rationally expected; it is true, the country being justly disobliged at the ill usage of these gentlemen, did not spare their reflections, but I chuse to pass it over, because it is not parliaments in general, but the conspirators and Jacobite party in a parliament, that are at present the nation's burthen, and from whom she groans to be redeemed. The Conclusion. Had this nation listened to the calls of their own reason, and to the voice of things, all this confusion of councils had been prevented; had the people of England chosen men of honesty, and of peaceable principles, men of candour, disengaged from interest and design, that had nothing before them but the benefit of their country, the safety of religion, and the interest of Europe, all this had been avoided; they would never have imprisoned five honest gentlemen, for coming to them with the sense of their country in a peaceable Petition; they would never have had the occasion to repent of their refusing to hearken to the voice of the people: But it is too late to look back, the nation has had the misfortune to chuse them, and our peace, and liberty, and the Protestant interest in Europe is too much in their hands. All the advice I can pretend to give my fellow-slaves and countrymen is, that they would not be backward to let the gentlemen know, that the nation is sensible they are not doing their duty; and withal, that to impose upon the rights and liberties of the English nation, bas always been fatal to the persons of those who have attempted it, and their examples stand as buoys and marks to warn posterity of the hidden dangers which others have fallen into. It has been fatal to favourites, to judges, to lords, and to kings, and will certainly be so even to parliaments, if they descend to abuse the people they represent. The imprisoning these five gentlemen had neither reason, law, pretence, nor policy in it. It had no reason in it, because they had offended against no law, either of reason, or the nature of the thing. It had no law in it, because they had no legal power to commit any but their own members. And I am of the opinion, they are convinced there was no policy in it, for there is seldom much policy in doing that publicly, which we know we shall be ashamed of. The not proceeding against them afterward, showed they were either ashamed or afraid; had they been in the right, there could be no reason to fear: and if in the wrong, they had all the reason in the world to be ashamed. To commit five gentlemen to custody, for petitioning them to do what they really knew they ought to have done, it was the most preposterous thing in nature: To punish for humbly petitioning! it is nonsense in itself. God himself permits the meanest and most despicable of his creatures to remind him as we may say, of their wants, and petition for his aid. The most contemptible beggar is permitted to be importunate for relief, and though the law is against him, we are not affronted at it. But to resent the representation of their country, and imprison gentlemen who, at the request of the freeholders of a county, came, under the express protection of an act of parliament, to deliver a petition; it was the most ridiculous inconsistent action that ever the parliament of England was guilty of; and, with submission, I think the best action the same house can do, at their next meeting, is to vote that it should be razed out of their journals, and never be made a precedent for the time to come; upon which condition, and no other, the nation ought to forgive it them. The Act of 13 Car. 2, to assert the Right of the subjects petitioning, is a sufficient authority for any one to quote, and those that pretend to call this an illegal act, must first trample down the authority of that act of parliament. Let this act justify me in saying, that to imprison Englishmen for petitioning, is illegal, and a dishonour to English parliaments, Legion' Article 3rd. But, say the lame excusers of this eccentric motion of the house, this was a factious thing contrived by a few private insignificant people of no value, and the matter of it is saucy and impertinent.-First, had it been a Petition of the meanest and most inconsiderable person in England, and that single by himself, provided he were a freeholder of England, he had a legal right to speak his mind, for that same reason from whence the commons in parliament claim a freedom of speech, gives every commoner a freedom to speak to the house, since every freeholder has an equal concern in their debates, and equal power in deputing them to sit there. But because this right unlimited might be tumultuous and uneasy, therefore the method how we shall do it, is circumscribed for decency's sake, that it shall be done by petition, and that petition shall be presented so and so, and by such a number, and no more: but that it should not be lawful to petition, no tribunal, no court, no collective or representative body of men in the world ever refused it; nay, the inquisition of Spain does not forbid it; the divan of the Turks allows it, and I believe if Satan himself kept his court in public, he would not prohibit it.-But besides this, the fact is not true: As for it being contrived by a few people, let the impartial relation here given, answer that ridiculous untruth, unless you will account the county of Kent a few, for certainly eleven parts of twelve of the whole county, and now of the whole kingdom, approve of it.-Nor has the reproach upon the persons presenting it, more of truth, unless gentlemen of ancient and illustrious families, whose ancestors have been known for several ages to be men of of honour and estates, allied to several of the nobility, and now known and valued by the whole country, both for their considerable fortunes, as well as personal merit, unless I say such men are to be accounted private and inconsiderable, the charge cannot be true: To such I shall only say, that the ancestors of these gentlemen were members of ancient parliaments, and of such parliaments as would have been ashamed of committing such an absurdity, as to imprison the freeholders of England for a peaceable Petition. As to the matter of the Petition, and which some people say was a banter, the turning their loyal Addresses into Bills of Supply. The gentlemen ought to have had liberty to explain themselves, which if they had done, I am of the opinion that it would have been to this purpose, that they thought it was proper the house should speedily supply the king so with money, as that he might be enabled to defend our Protestant neighbours from the encroachments of France;' and not to lose their time in addressing the king in matters of less moment.-I shall conclude with this short animadversion by way of remark, and let all men judge of the justness of the observation, 'That as this was the first time that ever the English nation petitioned to be taxed, so this was the first parliament that ever addressed the king to take care of himself, and defend himself against his people.' ADDENDA. SOME book-learn'd fools pretend to find a flaw, All men, like Phaeton, would command the reins, 'Tis only want of power that restrains. Then why should we think strange the parliament The people's late Petitions shou'd resent: 'Tis fatal to tyrannic power, when they In vain bold heroes venture to redeem The actions we their ancestors have done, JURA POPULI ANGLICANI: or the Subject's Right of PETITIONING set forth, occasioned by the Case of the KENTISH PETITIONERS. With some Thoughts on the Reasons which induced those Gentlemen to petition: and of the Commons Right of Imprisoning. Printed in 1701.* Nulla Veritas ullâ de re ita disertè cavere potest, What discouraged the Author in his work.— Imprisoning the Kentish Petitioners not the act of the whole House.-House of Commons not Representatives of the whole People of England.-Names of Whig and Tory considered. -Tory Party that which governed in the House of Commons.-They now called Tories, ULPIAN, Of the Laws of his Time. were formerly Whigs.-Their practices dangerous.-England has most reason to be upprehensive of the growing power of France.— * State Tracts published during the reign of William 3, vol. iii. p. 257. See Proceedings of the House of Commons, May 8, 1701. The Kentish Petition-The Presenters imprisoned by the House of Commons.-House of Commons Power as to Imprisonment.-Peo ple's Representatives have no Power above Law. The Power assumed by the House of Commons an Incasion of our Legal Rights. -Their Power of Imprisonment extends only to their own Members.-Kentish Petitioners not imprisoned for any fact against Law.House of Commons no Court.-Subject's Right of Petitioning considered.-Act about the People's Right to Petition.-Kentish Petition warranted by the Law of the Land.-Resolutions in the same concerning the Duke of York-Right of Petitioning why run down. -Col. Sidney's Opinion of a Parliament.Lord Coke's Account of the old Constitution of Parliament.-It cannot tend to the Destruction of the Constitution to advise the Delegates.-The Reasons of the Petitioners in their so doing.-War violently opposed by the ruling part of the H- of C--Reflections upon it. remove a prejudice which is enough to defeat his sincere endeavours to serve the public. The apology which I shall here make for myself, is to desire those who are so tender of the honour of their Representatives, to consider,-First, That he who uses a freedom in speaking against the proceedings of the house of commons, is not necessarily to be supposed to speak against the whole house, much less the whole people of England. It is true, indeed, when a question is carried, though it be only by one voice, it is as much the act of the whole body, as to any force and operation in our constitution, as if it had the suffrages of every individual person, Will any one say that such a resolution, in the debates of men without doors, concerning its being reasonable or unreasonable, is as much to be reckoned the act of the whole body, as if it had the chearful suffrages of them all? To speak a little more plainly, let us consider a question at the very time of division, with the voices equal on both sides. In this case, men reasoning and speaking their minds freely concerning either side of the question, cannot be said to be guilty of any offence, or utter any reflection against the people of England, or their Representatives, because they whose suffrages he con IT is a melancholy reflection to consider how universal a dissatisfaction the management of the house of commons has this session caused in the people of England. Among the many-demns are no more than the other side whose who arraign their proceedings, there are none who make not the treatment of the five gentlemen who presented the Kentish Petition, one article of impeachment against them: and the most intelligent part of the people have been free in saving, That the punishment of them plainly demonstrates very extraordinary designs, and must be allowed, even by men of candour and sense, to give just grounds for all the jealousies and suspicions that have been entertained.—It is not my design, in handling this subject, to use any artifices or false colours, to foment such jealousies as these, but to discharge a duty which I owe the community, and to prevent an intolerable sort of slavery which may be brought in upon us, if care be not taken to fence against such acts of power, and infringements of our liberty, by shewing the injustice and illegality of them. Though the task be very grateful, and what I could not but undertake, when I consider how necessary it was to run down that power, which has been assumed to destroy the freedom we are entitled to by the law of nature, and municipal laws of this land; yet two considerations there are which did not a little discourage me in the undertaking.-First, It was no small check to me to consider how invidious a thing it is to censure the proceedings of that great and honourable assembly the house of commons. The people of England generally call them their Representatives; and so far do they think themselves interested in what they do, as to espouse their acts for their own, and reckon any censure of them to be an arraignment of the whole people.. He therefore that will be so hardy as to attack such an authority as this, may well be under some concern at the undertaking, and had need in the very entrance to proceedings he justifies. Afterwards, when such |