The History of England, Volume III Henry VIII A parliament
by David Hume
[23d Nov.] The great expence of these two wars, maintained by Henry, obliged him to summon a new parliament. The commons granted him a subsidy, payable in two years, of two shillings a pound on land.u The spirituality voted him six shillings a pound. But the parliament, apprehensive lest more demands should be made upon them, endeavoured to save themselves by a very extraordinary liberality of other people’s property: By one vote they bestowed on the king all the revenues of the universities, as well as of the chauntries, free chapels,w and hospitals. Henry was pleased with this concession, as it encreased his power; but he had no intention to rob learning of all her endowments; and he soon took care to inform the universities, that he meant not to touch their revenues. Thus these ancient and celebrated establishments owe their existence to the generosity of the king, not to the protection of this servile and prostitute parliament.
The prostitute spirit of the parliament farther appeared in the preamble of a statute;x in which they recognize the king to have always been, by the word of God, supreme head of the church of England; and acknowledge, that archbishops, bishops, and other ecclesiastical persons, have no manner of jurisdiction but by his royal mandate: To him alone, say they, and such persons as he shall appoint, full power and authority is given from above to hear and determine all manner of causes ecclesiastical, and to correct all manner of heresies, errors, vices, and sins whatsoever. No mention is here made of the concurrence of a convocation, or even of a parliament. His proclamations are in effect acknowledged to have, not only the force of law, but the authority of revelation; and by his royal power he might regulate the actions of men, controul their words, and even direct their inward sentiments and opinions.
[24th Dec.]The king made in person a speech to the parliament on proroguing them; in which, after thanking them for their loving attachment to him, which, he said, equalled what was ever paid by their ancestors to any king of England, he complained of their dissentions, disputes, and animosities in religion. He told them, that the several pulpits were become a kind of batteries against each other; and that one preacher called another heretic and anabaptist, which was retaliated by the opprobrious appellations of papist and hypocrite: That he had permitted his people the use of the Scriptures, not in order to furnish them with materials for disputing and railing, but that he might enable them to inform their consciences and instruct their children and families: That it grieved his heart to find how that precious jewel was prostituted, by being introduced into the conversation of every alehouse and tavern, and employed as a pretence for decrying the spiritual and legal pastors: And that he was sorry to observe, that the word of God, while it was the object of so much anxious speculation, had very little influence on their practice; and that, though an imaginary knowledge so much abounded, charity was daily going to decay.y The king gave good advice; but his own example, by encouraging speculation and dispute, was ill fitted to promote that peaceable submission of opinion, which he recommended.
[u] Those who possessed goods or money, above five pound and below ten, were to pay eight pence a pound: Those above ten pound, a shilling.
[w] A chauntry was a little church, chapel, or particular altar in some cathedral church, &c. endowed with lands or other revenues for the maintainance of one or more priests, daily to say mass or perform divine service, for the use of the founders, or such others as they appointed: Free chapels were independant on any church, and endowed for much the same purpose as the former. Jacob’s Law Dict.
