Freedom of Speech in Hume's Richard II

The commons choose Peter de la Mare as their first speaker. Hume describes de la Mare as being "the same person that had been imprisoned and detained in custody by the late king for his freedom of speech, in attacking the mistress and the ministers of that prince."

In another place, Hume speaks of freedom of speech as a way of keeping rulers within their proper bounds and it may be that de la Mare's criticisms were an example of this. It would be helpful to see what the criticisms were in this case and whether or not they were justified.

In any case, Hume understands this choice of de la Mare as revealing a "spirit of liberty" in the commons, which is presumably a good thing.

That it is a good thing is confirmed by how Hume concludes his discussion of the commons: "In the other parliaments called during the minority, the commons still discover a strong spirit of freedom and a sense of their own authority, which without breeding any disturbance, tended to secure their independence and that of the people."

This ability to correct abuses in government was a way of keeping the king's government from harming the people and also a way of gettting the king's government to protect the people.