440 The Period of Consumuon iviaiang~
the time.1 There were many cases in the last half of
the century which confirmed the privilege, one of the most
prominent being that of Walter Clerk, who represented
the borough of Chippenham in 1460.2 By the end of
Edward IV. 's reign, the privilege had become established,
as also a method of procedure in case of its breach.
The privilege was in no case extended to imprisonment for
treason, felony, or for security of the peace: it was loosely
allowed to the servants in attendance on members, and it
was claimed for a time preceding and following as well as
during the session. The length of this period was variously
stated, and has not been legally decided. Tlie general belief
or tradition has established the rule of forty days before and
after each session.3
The third privilege, freedom of speech, was by far the
most important, though there could be no surety of its
exercise until freedom from arrest had been established.
When a king conceded freedom of speech, he was, con-
sciously or unconsciously, conceding that Parliament was
a higher power than he; conversely, there could be no
assured government by the people, or any part of the peo-
ple, unless their representatives had unquestioned pos-
session of this privilege. Thus only the House of Com-
mons was concerned in its vindication, and only in its
connection with that House could it be a matter of consti-
tutional importance.4 In the early Parliaments there
could be no issue on this point. Knights and burgesses
1 Thorpe was a Lancastrian and an enemy of the Duke of York; he
was arrested at the latter's instigation for non-payment of a fine imposed
for a trespass. The Lords consulted the judges, who somewhat grudgingly
admitted that the privilege should be allowed, but carefully disclaimed any
right to determine the matter, which, they said, lay wholly with the Lords.
The Lords, under Yorkist influence, decreed that Thorpe should remain in
prison.
3 The record of this case especially well illustrates how the matter was
regarded and dealt with at this time. See A. and S., document 127.
3 Stubbs, Constitutional History, § 452.
* The Lords, of course, possess the right equally with the Commons, and
thus it is considered one of the common privileges of Parliament. But it
seems never to have been an issue with the Lords. As Stubbs says, "he
would have been a bold king indeed who had attempted to stop discussion
in the house of lords."—Ibid., § 451.