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terest thereof; and out of the 1-4th part the Receiver-general paid so much of the charge of managing the Customs, as was payable by his hands; and the residue of the said 4th part was applicable to uses of the Civil-list.

The Receipts of the said Customs in the said year ended at Michaelmas 1694, over and above the Debentures, Discounts, and Allowances, aforesaid; and over and above the

abhor all unfair or unfaithful dealing) I will first set before you a true copy of the writ by which this parliament was called; and also so much of the late Act of Settlement of the Crown, 1 Wm. and Mary, as concerns this question, that you may the more clearly discern and judge of what I hereinafter say.

Charges of Management; did amount to £.406,987. 16. 6.; besides the sum of £. 24,282. 7. 74.; which was not the real produce of the Revenue, but money within the said year advanced, and paid before-hand, by the Receiver upon the said 4th part.

beant ad faciend, et consentiend. his quæ 'tunc ibidem de comunit. consilio dicti regni 'nostri (favente Deo) contingent. ordinari super negotiis antedict. Ita quod pro defectu potestat. hujusmodi seu propt. improvidam electionem militum civ. aut burgens. pre'dictor. dict. negotia infecta non remaneant quovismodo, &c.'

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The Principal Money remaining unpaid this 14th of Jan. 1694, upon the Register for the 3-4th Customs, doth amount to £.232,447. 15.9. dam indentur inter te et illos qui hujusmodi interfuerint inde conficiend. licet hujusmodi 'eligend. presentes fuerint vel absentes inseri eosque ad dictos diem et locum venire fac. 'Ita quod iidem milites plenam et sufficientem potestat. pro se et comunit. com, illius ac dicti 'cives et burgenses pro se et comunitate civi"The Act 1 William and Mary first recitingtat. et burgor. predictor. division ab ipsis hathe donation of the crown and royal dignity, by the Convention to the prince and princess of Orange, and that thereby they did becoine, and of right ought to be, our sovereign liege lord and lady, king and queen of England, &c. in and to whose princely persons the royal estate, crown, and dignity of these 'realms, with all honours, stiles, titles, regalities, prerogatives, powers, jurisdictions, and "Now, it will not be denied, but that all Parauthorities to the same belonging, are most liament Writs must naturally, necessarily, and • fully, rightfully, and intirely invested and in- essentially, be derived and proceed from the corporated, united and annexed;' then goes whole and entire sovereignty and royal dignity; on, and says, That it is therein enacted and and consequently these our writs must necessadeclared, that the crown, and regal govern- rily have their being and authority as well from 'ment of these realms, with all and singular queen Mary as king William; because the sothe premisses thereunto belonging, shall be vereignty and royal dignity, at the time of and continue to their said majesties, and the issuing these writs, were no less united and in⚫ survivors of them, during their lives, and the corporated to the natural person of queen life of the survivor of them: and that the Mary than king William; they both then being intire and full exercise of the regal power actually and jointly in the possession thereof, and government be only in and executed by however distinguished in the exercise of them: his majesty in the names of both their ma- and therefore the clause for using her name in jesties, during their joint-lives; and after the exercise of the regal power and government, their deceases, the crown and premisses shall was not inserted in the said act of settlement, be and remain to the heirs of the body of her as a matter only of respect and deference, but majesty; and so on to the princess Ann, &c.' as a thing necessary and essential to that share "And the Writ is this: Gulielmus et Maria, of the sovereignty wherewith her person was Dei Gratia, Angl. &c. Rex et Regin. Fidei invested in respect of which sovereignty, so 'Defensor. Vicecomit. B. salutem. Quia de lodged in her, treason, no doubt, might no advisamento et assensu consilii nostri pro less have been committed against her natural 'quibusdam arduis et urgentibus negotiis nos, person, than against his : so that her name was 'statum, et defensionem regni nostri Angl. et necessary to these writs, ex essentia rei; and 'eccles. Anglican. concernen. quoddam Parlia- the writs could not have been sufficient or valid 'mentum nostrum apud civitatem nostram in law, unless her name had been used in them, Westminster, vicesimo die Martii prox. futur. and that although there had been no such 'teneri ordinavimus et ibidem cum prelatis clause in the said act for the using both their magnatibus et proceribus dicti regni nostri names. Now, therefore, if the validity of these colloquium habere et tractatum. Tibi preci- writs essentially consisted in their being in the pimus firmiter injungend. quod facta procla- names of both, as proceeding from the joint <matione in prox. com. tuo, post receptionem regal authority of these two joint sovereigns; hujus brevis nostri tenend. de die et loco pre- and could not have been good in either of their 'dictis, duos milites gladiis cinctos magis names alone, for want of legal sovereignty ⚫ idoneos et discretos com. predict, et de quali enough in either of them to impregnate the bet civitate com. illius duos cives et de writs: then must the death of either necessaquolibet burgo duos burgeness de discreti- rily abate and dissolve these writs, and the paroribus et magis sufficient, libere et indifle-hament depending thereon; because the soverenter per illos qui proclamatione hujusmodi reignty of the one, which necessarily went to interfuerint juxta formam statuti inde edite the authority and support of these writs, is et provis-elegi et nomina corrundem militum demised or departed from the natural body civium et burgense sic eligend. in quibus-wherein it was invested, and consequently from

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COFFEE and TEA.-The new Duties on Coffee and Tea were applicable to uses of the Civil List; and the net Receipts thereof, in the year ended at Michaelmas 1694, did amount to £. 2,153. 9.; but these are expired at Christmas last, and are not regranted by the act newly passed.

besides the interest thereof.-The Principal Money borrowed, and remaining unpaid this 14th of Jan. 1694, upon the 1-4th Customs, is £. 15,000. for which interest is also payable. The annual Charge, usually borne on the Revenue of Customs by Letters Patents, or Grants for Pensions, and other yearly payments, part of the Civil-list, doth amount, in the whole, EXCISE. The rates of Excise granted in fee, unto £6,783. 5. 11. Whereof the Particulars and those now enjoyed during his majesty's are contained in the annexed List, marked (A). | life, which are called the hereditary and tem

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survivor, or otherwise; all that need be asked is but this, whether or no any sovereignty was vested in queen Mary's natural person, and whether the same be not thence departed by her death? For if so, then according to our laws, (if the law knows what a demise is) there was a demise by her death.

"As to the Power given king William by this act, for his only exercise of the regal power, that, if it makes any thing, makes the dissolution yet more evident; for that no ways altered, or affected the joint lodgment or settlement of the sovereignty, but was only as in the nature of a warrant of attorney; which, by the express limitation of the act, wholly deter

their joint lives. But king William now has the sole exercise, not by virtue of this clause in the act, but as resulting and flowing from his sole title by survivor: and therefore these writs, if they were grounded or depended on his sole exercise, must consequently be at an end for this reason also.

these waits. Nihil enim tam conveniens est naturali aquirati unumquodque dissolvi eo ligamne quo constituitur,' as says Bracton. Nor is it any objection to say, That the sovereignty vested in queen Mary, did, by her death, besome vested in king William as survivor, and the whole sovereignty is now in him ; unless any one could say, or think, that her Sovereignty, which was of absolute necessity to make good these writs, and which, by her death, departed these writs, could immediately again re-enter into these very writs; which would be very absurd to say. So that these writs must either remain half alive, and half dead, or else must wholly abate and determine by the queen's death. And to shew you fur-mined by her death, being given only during ther, that here was a demise, and consequently a dissolution, please to observe, that it is not the kingship, or sovereignty in genre, that preserves these writs; for then they might be as durable as the monarchy itself; for the king in genere never dies, but these writs depend upon the continuance of the natural person of the king in individuo, who issued them out: now the king, who issued them forth, was king William and queen Mary, (they both being but un roy in the sense of the law) but this un roy is changed and gone by the queen's death; unless any one can say, that king William alone is the same roy in individuo with king William and queen Mary. Therefore here is a demise of the crown, and consequently an abatement of the writs; for where the sovereignty ceases to be in statu que, but is become otherwise lodged, and the sovereign stile altered and changed, by the death of any natural person invested with the sovereignty, and a new stile used in all writs, patents, and acts of government; such change and alteration is in law a demise, and what this kingdom ever took notice of as such: and if so, then certainly the queen's death was a demise; for thereby the Sovereignty thereby became otherwise lodged than it was before: for the sovereignty thereby became wholly in king William, whereas before he was but a joint-tenant with queen Mary; and, whereas, before the regal stile was king William and queen Mary, now, by her death, the regal stile is altered to king William 3, and all this by the act of God. So that all the legal demonstrations, that can go to the proof of a demise of the crown, proves this plainly to be one; and consequently the parliament dissolved, if a demise can do it. It is not at all material to this argument, how king William now claims or holds the crown, whether by

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"Besides, from the very nature of jointtenancy, these Writs must be determined; for, was it ever made a question in law, where two joint-tenants grant any authority to any person or persons, but that the death of the one jointtenant determines the authority so granted? If two joint-tenants make a letter of attorney to any person or persons, to do any act or acts, is not the death of one of such joint-tenants, a determination in law of such letter of attorney? Suppose two joint-tenants of a manor grant the same to one or more persons, and one of these joint-tenants dies, can the grantees claim any more than a moiety only as from the survivor? For though a surviving jointtenant may, in some cases, claim wholly as immediately from the donor; yet nothing is plainer in law than that they that have any grant or authority from two joint-tenants, cannot afterwards claim as, from the surviving joint-tenant only, but must from both the joint-tenants, respectively, according to their respective interests and estates: and therefore, if the parliament cannot now make good their sittings, as if called ab initio from king William only, (which he then alone had no power to do) then, certainly, neither can the sole title of king William, now by survivor, stand them in any stead.

You may please to observe further, That for the Parliament to continue longer than the joint lives of king William and queen Mary, is as contrary to the end and intent of their writs,

porary Excise, did, by the receipts thereof in | the year ended at Michaelmas last, produce, in net money, over and above the charges of management, the sum of £.413,053. 14. 04.

The Principal Money borrowed and charged by tallies on the said two branches, and now remaining unsatisfied, doth amount to the sam of £. 260,743. 11. 11.; and interest is payable for the same.

Besides which sum of £.260,748. 11. 11.

as it is without any authority from them. The writ tells you, That they, viz. king William and queen Mary, for some high and urgent matters concerning themselves, and the state and defence of the kingdom, &c. having, by the advice of their council, appointed a parliament at Westminster, and there to have a colloquium et tractatum, i. e. conference and consult with the prelates, and great men of their kingdom, king William and queen Mary command the sheriff to proclaim the same in his next county court, after the receipt of this their writ, to cause two such knights, &c. to be chose, &c. as shall have sufficient power for themselves, and the commonalty of the county, &c. to do and consent to such things as shall fall out to be ordained by the common council of their kingdom, upon the matters aforesaid, &c. | And the knights, &c. after they are chose by virtue of the writ, have, by indenture, full power given them by the electors of the county, &c. for themselves, and the whole county, to do and consent as aforesaid.

"Now the power and trust given by the electors to the knights, &c. are conform and correspondent to the power required by the writ, and that is, to represent them to king William and queen Mary jointly; and to do and consent to such things as shall be ordained, as well concerning king William and queen Mary's persons, as the state of the kingdom: therefore, when either of their persons fail, this power and trust given by the electors, must fail and determine; for this being but a bare authority, must be strictly observed and pursued. Now that this intends their particular natural persons, nothing can be more evident, unless the prelates and great men could have colloquium et tractatum, with their politic capacities. So that the power these parliament-men had from the people, of representing and doing for them, is at an end; unless they could still represent them to, and consent and do, as well for queen Mary as king William; which was what the writs required, and the people chose and sent them for. If the parliament, when they made this Act of Settlement, would have had a parliament to continue in such a case as this, they should have made provision for it in the act, and have given power for the making of such writs as would have served on such an occasion; and then the people would have directed their choice of representatives, and impowered them accordingly: but without an act of parliament, the antient writs cannot be altered, any more than any other part of the common

and interest, the said hereditary branch of Excise stands charged with an old debt of £. 1,333,873. 14. 74. due to several bankers, and others, or their assigns; for which his late majesty king Charles the 2d granted to them, and their heirs, several sums, making £.80,032. 8. 1. per ann. in the nature of perpetual interest, until they should be respectively satisfied the principal; and the said perpetual interest is in arrear for 11 years, amounting to law: neither could the people give their representatives any other power than the writs required; and these only go to king William and queen Mary, jointly, and not to the survivor of them. Besides, if the death of the queen did not dissolve this parliament, then, certainly, neither could king William's, in case he had happened to die first: (for she had the better estate in the sovereignty, as having an estare tail to some purposes executed in her, which, in case she had survived, had been executed to all purposes.) And if so, then was here a power in them of holding the same parliament, during their joint lives, and the life of the longer liver of them and by the same reason, if the regal power, had, after the same manner, been settled also on the prince and princess of Denmark, and duke of Gloucester, and twenty more, the same parliament might continue during all their lives, and the lives of the survivors and survivor of them; and consequently there would have, been an end of the peoples elections, for one age at least, unless the person who, for the time being, should have the exercise of the regal power, should think fit to dissolve them. Of what ill consequence it may be to the monarchy, for parlia ments once to begin to survive demises of the sovereignty, I will neither consider nor examine, confining myself altogether to the matter of law. Only I will say, with the Lord Chief Justice Coke, (4 Inst. 37.) That the more high and absolute the high court of parliament is, the more just and honourable ought it to be, and give example of justice and fair dealing to the kingdom. And as Fleta says of kings, so it may be said of parliaments too, they are sub Deo et lege.' (As here the parliament is dissolved in law by the act of God) and though, as sir Robert Atkins says, a power limited by law, may be thought potestas minor, sed tu'tior et diuturnior.'

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"The Parliament Writs, and the legal certainty of them, is all the legal security the people have for the great trust and concernment they commit to parliaments; and if these are once exceeded, and a parliament got beyond the boundaries of them, and consequently of the law, they may, for all that can be said, as well continue to sit after the deceases of both king William and queen Mary, as after the decease of either; for no one can determine who or what can make them cease and dissolve, when the law cannot.

"To add yet one consideration more; I would' fain know how any laws can be enacted, by the

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L. 940,380. 14. 11. or thereabouts; and the said two branches of Excise, jointly or severally, do stand specially charged by particular letters patents or grants for pensions, and other yearly payments, part of the Civil-list, with several annual payments, amounting to £.79,069. 15. 2. per ann.; whereof the particulars are contained in the schedule hereunto annexed, marked (A).

Low WINES.-The duties upon the Low Wines produced, in the net receipts thereof, for the said year ended at Michaelmas 1694, the sum of £. 13,698. 15. 84.; and have no debt thereupon.

LETTER-MONEY.-The Revenue arising in the General Post-office, in the year ended at Michaelmas 1694, produced, over and above the charges of management, the sum of £. 59,972.

14. 9.

The present debt, by tallies upon this Revenue, is £.19,205. 9. 2.; and the yearly charge, by special grants thereupon, doth amount to the sum of £.21,200. per annum, which is also part of the charge of the Civil-list, as appears by the annexed List, marked (B).

SMALL BRANCHES, and CASUALTIES.-All the sums which have been answered in money into the Receipt of the Exchequer, or by tallies levied upon the small Branches and Casualties, within the year before-mentioned,

legal consent of this parliament, but only such as receive their sanction from the authority both of king William and queen Mary? For if the writs neither speak of, or imply any other, neither by the people are their representatives chosen or impowered to consent to any other, but expressly by the peoples indenture, annexed to the writs impowered, only by them to consent to such things as shall be ordained at the said parliament of king William and queen Mary, mentioned in the said writs, how could this be any longer called the parliament of king William and queen Mary, than whilst queen Mary was alive?-Besides, it has ever been a steady standing rule in all parliaments, and the law, That all acts of parliament must relate to the first day of the session; so that what cannot relate to the first day of the session, can be no act. And I think no one will say, that acts made now, under the reign of William 3, can have any relation in law to the first day of the session, which was in the reigns of king William and queen Mary, any more than they can relate to William the Conqueror.

Sir; I could say much more, to let you see how plainly and certainly the laws of the kingdom have fixed and fenced the legal limits and boundaries of parliaments, and how evidently and inevitably, by the queen's death, the parliament was dissolved in law; but supposing I have said more than enough already, to satisfy you that there is foundation sufficient in the law for the assurance you had in the country of the Parliament's Dissolution by the queen's Death; and therefore I shall add no more, but that I am your faithful servant."

The Revenue of Wine-Licences, one of the small Branches, was granted to sir Stephen Evance, and others, for ten years, from Ladyday 1691; and thereupon they advanced £. 30,000. of which there still remains unpaid £. 21,000.

The yearly Charge on 'small Branches, as by the List marked (B) doth amount; viz.

On the Alienation-Office for Pensions, part of the Civil List ....

On the Duchy of Cornwall, for the

like

On the Revenue of Wales, for the like

On First-Fruits and Tenths, for the

like

£.

1,800

5,330

2,500

12,450

S.

d.

On the Lotteries, for the like 3,992 2 6

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