It was
determined by the said Lords of Parliament, by the assent of our said
lord the King, that this appeal was made and pleaded well and
sufficiently, and that the process upon it is good and effectual,
according to the law and course of Parliament; and for such they decree
and adjudge it."[2]
And your Committee finds, that toward the close of the same Parliament
the same right was again claimed and admitted as the special privilege
of the Peers, in the following manner:--"In this Parliament, all the
Lords then present, Spiritual as well as Temporal, claimed as their
franchise, that the weighty matters moved in this Parliament, and which
shall be moved in other Parliaments in future times, touching the peers
of the land, shall be managed, adjudged, and discussed by the course of
Parliament, and in no sort by the Law Civil, or by the common law of the
land, used in the other lower courts of the kingdom; which claim,
liberty, and franchise the King graciously allowed and granted to them
in full Parliament."[2]
Your Committee finds that the Commons, having at that time considered
the appeal above mentioned, approved the proceedings in it, and, as far
as in them lay, added the sanction of their accusation against the
persons who were the objects of the appeal.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25