Whereas the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and
Commons assembled at Westminster, lawfully, fully and freely representing all
the estates of the people of this realm, did upon the thirteenth day of
February in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred eighty-eight present
unto their Majesties, then called and known by the names and style of William
and Mary, prince and princess of Orange, being present in their proper persons,
a certain declaration in writing made by the said Lords and Commons in the
words following, viz.:
Whereas the late King
By assuming and exercising a power of dispensing
with and suspending of laws and the execution of laws without consent of
Parliament;
By committing and prosecuting divers worthy
prelates for humbly petitioning to be excused from concurring to the said
assumed power;
By issuing and causing to be executed a commission
under the great seal for erecting a court called the Court of Commissioners for
Ecclesiastical Causes;
By levying money for and to the use of the Crown
by pretence of prerogative for other time and in other manner than the same was
granted by Parliament;
By raising and keeping a standing army within this
kingdom in time of peace without consent of Parliament, and quartering soldiers
contrary to law;
By causing several good subjects being Protestants
to be disarmed at the same time when papists were both armed and employed
contrary to law;
By violating the freedom of election of members to
serve in Parliament;
By prosecutions in the Court of King's Bench for
matters and causes cognizable only in Parliament, and by divers other arbitrary
and illegal courses;
And whereas of late years partial corrupt and
unqualified persons have been returned and served on juries in trials, and
particularly divers jurors in trials for high treason which were not
freeholders;
And excessive bail hath been required of persons
committed in criminal cases to elude the benefit of the laws made for the
liberty of the subjects;
And excessive fines have been imposed;
And illegal and cruel punishments inflicted;
And several grants and promises made of fines and
forfeitures before any conviction or judgment against the persons upon whom the
same were to be levied;
All which are utterly and directly contrary to the
known laws and statutes and freedom of this realm;
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And thereupon the said Lords Spiritual and
Temporal and Commons, pursuant to their respective letters and elections, being
now assembled in a full and free representative of this nation, taking into
their most serious consideration the best means for attaining the ends
aforesaid, do in the first place (as their ancestors in like case have usually
done) for the vindicating and asserting their ancient rights and liberties
declare
That the pretended power of suspending the laws or
the execution of laws by regal authority without consent of Parliament is
illegal;
That the pretended power of dispensing with laws
or the execution of laws by regal authority, as it hath been assumed and
exercised of late, is illegal;
That the commission for erecting the late Court of
Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes, and all other commissions and courts
of like nature, are illegal and pernicious;
That levying money for or to the use of the Crown
by pretence of prerogative, without grant of Parliament, for longer time, or in
other manner than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal;
That it is the right of the subjects to petition
the king, and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are
illegal;
That the raising or keeping a standing army within
the kingdom in time of peace, unless it be with
consent of Parliament, is against law;
That the subjects which are Protestants may have
arms for their defence suitable to their conditions
and as allowed by law;
That election of members of Parliament ought to be
free;
That the freedom of speech and debates or
proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court
or place out of Parliament;
That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive
fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments
inflicted;
That jurors ought to be duly impanelled and
returned, and jurors which pass upon men in trials for high treason ought to be
freeholders;
That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures
of particular persons before conviction are illegal and void;
And that for redress of all
grievances, and for the amending, strengthening and preserving of the laws,
Parliaments ought to be held frequently.
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