Hume's Richard II: Note on the Commons

In an a note in the appendix, Hume discusses two acts of the House of Commons, which he uses to illustrate the growing authority and spirit of liberty in the commons.

First, in the fifth year of Richard's reign (1382), the commons lodge complaints against:

1. The government about the king's person
2. The king's court
3. The excessive number of the king's servants
4. The abuses in the Chancery, King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer
5. "Grievous oppressions in the country, by the great multitudes of maintainers of quarrels who behaved themselves like kings in the country, so as there was very little law or right"
6. Other things, which they said were the cause of the late commotions under Wat Tyler.

The fifth complaint makes it sound as if the English countryside in Richard's time was a little like the wild west.

Hume sums this up as a description of "irregular government." By this, I suppose he means a government that does not promote justice by punishing wrongdoers and making things safe for the rest; but also a government that itself does not do what is right, and itself is a source of harm and injustice to the people.

In any case, Hume identifies this irregular government as the cause of three harms:

1. The licentiousness of the great--that is, the barons were lawless and harmed one another and the people.
2. The turbulency of the people. This is a favorite word of Hume's and it seems to mean an unwillingness to submit to proper authority and so to act lawlessly and badly; and even a willingness to overthrow the existing authorities, the existing order of things. (At the beginning of this chapter, the barons are described as having a turbulent spirit in a weak reign.)
3. The tyranny of princes--by this word, I suppose Hume is referring to Edward's sons (and other princes in previous reigns, because the statement is general).

Hume's summary of all this: "If subjects would enjoy liberty, and kings security, the laws must be executed."

I think this means that the commons and lords will only enjoy the protection and security provided by good government and will not be harmed by government if the laws are executed; and if the laws are not executed, then the lords and commons will be unhappy and will start wishing to get rid of the king; and so the king's position will not be secure. This is precisely what happens in Richard's reign.

The second example has to do with the decision of commons to suspend for a time certain revenues that had been granted to the king, just to make sure that the king would not claim them as his due.

Hume describes this action as revealing "an accuracy and a jealousy of liberty, which we should little expect in those rude times." By liberty, Hume here seems to mean a condition in which the life, liberty, and property of the subjects are not harmed by government and in this case, the king.

He also describes the times of Richard as "rude" and Hume will return to this thought several times in his discussion of Richard's reign. By rude, he seems to mean especially a condition in which there is an absence or just a small amount of liberty.