postern gates, whereby they mought have approach and entrance to annoy us. France had Scotland, and Spain had Ireland; for these were the two accesses which did comfort and encourage both these enemies to assail and trouble us. We see that of Scotland is cut off by the union of both these kingdoms, if that it shall be now made constant and permanent. That of Ireland is likewise cut off by the convenient situation of part of Scotland towards the north of Ireland, where the sore was: which we see, being suddenly closed, hath continued closed by means of this salve; so as now there are no parts of this state exposed to danger to be a temptation to the ambition of foreigners, but their approaches and avenues are taken away: for I do little doubt but those foreigners which had so little success when they had these advantages, will have much less comfort now that they be taken from them. And so much for surety. Fo greatness (Mr. Speaker) I think a man may speak it soberly and without bravery, that this kingdom of England, having Scotland united, Ireland reduced, the sea provinces of the Low Countries contracted, and shipping maintained, is one of the greatest monarchies, in forces truly esteemed, that hath been in the world. For certainly the kingdoms here on earth have a resemblance with the kingdom of heaven, which our Saviour compareth not to any great kernel or nut, but to a very small grain, yet such a one as is apt to grow and spread. And such do I take to be the constitution of this kingdom, if indeed we shall refer our counsels to greatness and power, and not quench them too much with consideration of utility and wealth. For (Mr. Speaker) was it not, think you, a true answer that Solon of Greece1 made to the rich king Croesus of Lydia, when he shewed unto him a great quantity of gold that he had gathered together, in ostentation of his greatness and might: But Solon said to him, contrary to his expectation, Why, sir, if another come that hath better iron than you, he will be lord of all yours gold. Neither is the authority of Machiavel to be despised, who scorneth the proverb of estate taken first from a speech 1 So K; where there seems to have been some erasure. The two other MSS., the copy printed in 1641, and the Resuscitatio,' have all of them "the north of Scotland." Blackbourn substituted "the west of Scotland;" on what authority I do not know : but probably (in this as in the other cases) on the authority of a marginal note made by somebody who had observed the inaccuracy. partly by: K; partly crossed out in H. 5 all wh your: K. Græcia: K. 3 these: K. of Mucianus, that Moneys are the sinews of Wars; and saith there are no true sinews of wars but the very sinews of the arms of valiant men. Nay more (Mr. Speaker), whosoever shall look into the seminary and beginnings of the monarchies of the world, he shall find them founded in poverty. Persia, a country barren and poor, in respect of the Medes whom they subdued. Macedon, a kingdom ignoble and mercenary, until the time of Philip the son of Amyntas. Rome had poor and pastoral beginnings. The Turks, a band of Sarmatian Seithes, that in a vagabond manner made impression upon that part of Asia, which is yet called Turcomania; out of which, after much variety of fortune, sprung the Othoman family, now the terror of the world. So we know the Goths, Vandals, Alans, Huns, Lombards, Normans, and the rest of the northern people, in one age of the world made their descent or expedition upon the Roman empire, and came not as rovers to carry away prey and be gone again, but planted themselves in a number of fruitful and rich provinces, where not only their generations, but their names, remain till this day; witness Lombardy, Catalonia, a name compounded of Goth and Alane, Andaluzia, a name corrupted from Vandelicia, Hungarie, Normandy, and others. Nay the fortune of the Swisses of late years, which are bred in a barren and mountainous country, is not to be forgotten; who first ruined the Duke of Burgundy, the same who had almost ruined the kingdom of France; what time, after the battle of Grançon, the rich jewel of Burgundy, prized at many thousands, was sold for a few pence by a common Swiss, that knew no more what a jewel meant than did Æsop's cock. And again the same nation, in revenge of a scorn, was the ruin of the French king's affairs in Italy, Lewis the 12th. For that king, when he was pressed somewhat rudely by an agent of the Swisses to raise their pensions, brake into words of choler: What, said he, will these villains of the mountains put a tax upon me? Which words lost him his duchy of Milan, and chased him out of Italy. All which examples (Mr. Speaker) do well prove Solon's opinion of the authority and mastery that iron hath over gold. And therefore if I shall speak unto you mine own heart, methinks we should a little disdain that the nation of Spain, which howsoever of late it hath grown to rule, 1 seminaries: R. yet of ancient time served many ages, first under Carthage, then under Rome, after under Saracens, Goths, and others, should of late years take unto themselves that spirit as to dream of a Monarchy in the West, according to that device, Video solem orientem in occidente, only because they have ravished from some wild and unarmed people mines and store1 of gold; and on the other side, that this island of Brittany, seated and manned as it is, and that hath (I make no question) the best iron in the world, that is the best soldiers of the world, should think of nothing but reckonings and audits, and meum and tuum, and I cannot tell what. 2 Mr. Speaker, I have, I take it, gone through the parts which I propounded to myself: wherein if any man shall think that I have sung placebo, for mine own particular, I would have him know that I am not so unseen in the world but that I discern it were much alike for my private fortune to rest1 a tacebo as to sing a placebo in this business. But I have spoken out of the fountain of my heart. Credidi propter quod locutus sum: I believed, therefore I spake. So as my duty is performed. The judgment is yours. God direct it for the best. What was the exact form of the question before the House when this speech was made, the Journals do not distinctly explain. Bacon evidently wished to turn it upon the consideration of general policy -or "conveniency" as it was called-which was indeed the proper province of the Legislature; for upon the question what the existing law was, they had no authority to decide. And if they were satisfied that a general naturalization was expedient, though not prepared to affirm that the Post-nati were naturalized already, there was no need to meddle with the question. It would have been easy to frame the Act so as either to include them under the new law or leave them to the operation of the old. But the truth was that they were not prepared to admit any of the Scots to the benefits of naturalization, except upon conditions; and therefore it was necessary to put a veto, if possible, upon the doctrine that the Post-nati were entitled to admission as the law stood. Hence, as the debate went on, it shifted more and more from the point of conveniency' towards the 2 Britanny: R. 3 and audits om. K. 1 stores: K. to hold: K; the words interlined in Bacon's hand: the transcriber having left them out. point of law; and ended at last on the 5th day in an instruction to the Committee to discuss it among themselves and "report their opinion on that point only." Their opinion was that the Post-nati were not naturalized de jure: and upon their report to that effect (23 Feb.)-the House having in the meantime passed a resolution (21 Feb.) that it was not fit to handle the point of conveniency before the point of law were determined-they were again instructed "to collect and set down in writing the heads of the arguments .... touching the point of law," and to consider who should be deputed to maintain each of the heads at the Conference with the Lords, which was to be the next step. 2 The object of the conference being to establish a position which Bacon had just declared to be in his opinion "contrary to reason of law, contrary to form of pleading in law, and contrary to authority and experience of law," he could not be asked to take a part in maintaining it by argument. But he was not the less fit to set forth the state of the question at issue, and to explain the proposed method of discussion and accordingly the part assigned to him by the House3 was "to make the entrance, by way of preamble and insinuation of the order of argument appointed to the Committee:" to which was added the duty (which proved a very heavy one) of making report of the proceedings to the House the next morning. : : It seems that at these Conferences between the Lords and the Commons, the rule was that the Commons should stand all the time, bareheaded which was found "a great hurt and danger to the health of their bodies, and almost impossible for the strongest body to endure, considering the length of conferences and the crowding and thronging there." On this occasion, the conference having lasted very long and been continued through two successive days, the fatigue appears to have been too much for Bacon's constitution, and on the next morning he was ill and unable to appear in the House. But on Saturday, the 28th of February, he began his report: which "being," says the Journal, "very long, consisting of many divisions and particulars, and interlaced with much variety of argument and answer on both parts, the time would not allow him to finish, and so was deferred till Monday morning." Of this report there remains among the State papers an abstract in the hand of Dudley Carleton, drawn up apparently by himself: and though several leaves are missing, it will help us to understand the position of the question as between the two Houses, and to interpret the proceedings which followed. SIR FRANCIS BACON'S REPORT OF THE FIRST DAY'S CONFERENCE TOUCHING THE QUESTION WHETHER THE SCOTCHMEN BORN SINCE THE KING CAME TO THE CROWN BE NATURALIZED IN ENGLAND.1 If want of health may not excuse attendance, nor want of hearing answer for not reporting, he knew not what to say for himself. For others they have stood as peremptories, but to him they cannot serve as dilatories. To bring out the whole and entire body he would not undertake; but to make an anatomy of it, and shew the lines and parts, which might serve to give a light, though not delight. The speeches used by the Lower House divided into two parts; first into matter of introducement; secondly into matter of argument. The introducement chiefly tended to prevent mistakings, and to persuade that this proceeding was no opposition to the main point of the Union, nor a wilful contradiction to his Majesty's proclamation, but a desire to make the Scottishmen more beholding to the State than to our laws; because our laws were firm and stable, and could neither impart favours nor expect thanks. This is not a matter in deliberativo genere but in judiciali, and the question not de bono but de vero, which might argue the insatisfaction of our judgments, not the indisposition. of our wills. We might not be thought to oppose against the proclamation, because that had auother main and principal intent, and these words only a passage set down by some skilful in the laws, which they term according to their usual form, sages aux loyes. That we acknowledge the power of proclamations to be great, yet not such as might explain laws. And that the explanation of a law was all one if not more than the enacting; because it was like Janus bifrons, and looked as well back how the law was ever to be taken, as forward how it should be taken hereafter, and was therefore left only to Parliament. Yet had this proclamation effected so much that in all this proceeding, which had suffered much debate, there was no flash of heat, or any unrespective word cast out. In novo casu veritas tanquam germen quod spiritu humano 1 Domestic, James I. vol. xxvi. no. 65. 2 we not in MS. |