h could be derived from this source was very
small. Then there were certain other modes of raising money, which had
been resorted to by former monarchs, in emergencies, at distant
intervals, but still in instances so numerous that the king considered
precedents enough had been established to make the power to resort to
these modes a part of the prerogative of the crown. The people,
however, considered these acts of former monarchs as irregularities or
usurpations. They denied the king's right to resort to these methods,
and they threw so many difficulties in the way of the execution of his
plans, that finally he would call another Parliament, and make new
efforts to lead them to conform to his will. The more the experiment
was tried, however, the worse it succeeded; and at last the king
determined to give up the idea of Parliaments altogether, and to
compel the people to submit to his plans of raising money without
them.

The final dissolution of Parliament, by which Charles entered upon his
new plan of government, was attended with some resistance, and the
affair made great difficulty. It seems that one of the members, a
certain Mr. Rolls, had had some of his goods seized for payment of
some of the king's irregular taxes, which he had refused to pay
willingly. Now it had always been considered the law of the land in
England, that the person and the property of a member of Parliament
were sacred during the session, on the ground that while he was giving
his attendance at a council meeting called by his sovereign, he ought
to be protected from molestation on the part either of his
fellow-subjects or his sovereign, in his person and in his property.
The House of Commons considered, therefore, the seizure of the goods
of one of the members of the body as a breach of their privilege, and
took up the subject with a view to punish the officers who acted. The
king sent a message immediately to the House, while they were debating
the subject, saying that the officer acted, in seizing the goods, in
obedience to his own direct command. This produced great excitement
and long debates. The king, by taking the responsibility of the
seizure upon himself, seemed to bid the House defiance. They brought
up this question: "Whether the seizing of Mr. Rolls's goods was not a
breach of privilege?" When the time came for a decision, the speaker,
that is, the presiding officer, refused to put the question to vote.
He said he had been command