hose of to-day. His members of Parliament were
representatives rather than delegates. They were elected as fit and
proper persons to decide upon such questions as should be submitted to
them in the Parliament House, and not merely as fit and proper persons
to register decisions already reached by their constituents. Although
they were in the habit of rendering to their constituents an account
of their proceedings at the close of each session,[740] and although
the fact that they depended upon their constituencies for their wages
prevented their acting in opposition to their constituents' (p. 266)
wishes, they received no precise instructions. They went to Parliament
unfettered by definite pledges. They were thus more susceptible, not
only to pressure, but also to argument; and it is possible that in
those days votes were sometimes affected by speeches. The action of
members was determined, not by previous engagements or party discipline,
but by their view of the merits and necessities of the case before
them. Into that view extraneous circumstances, such as fear of the
King, might to a certain extent intrude; but such evidence as is
available points decisively to the conclusion that co-operation
between the King and Parliament was secured, partly by Parliament
doing what Henry wanted, and partly by Henry doing what Parliament
wanted. Parliament did not always do as the King desired, nor did the
King's actions always commend themselves to Parliament. Most of the
measures of the Reformation Parliament were matters of give and take.
It was due to Henry's skill, and to the circumstances of the time that
the King's taking was always to his own profit, and his giving at the
expense of the clergy. He secured the support of the Commons for his
own particular ends by promising the redress of their grievances
against the bishops and priests. It is said that he instituted the
famous petitions urged against the clergy in 1532, and it is hinted
that the abuses, of which those petitions complained, had no real
existence. No doubt Henry encouraged the Commons' complaints; he had
every reason to do so, but he did not invent the abuses. If the
Commons did not feel the grievances, the King's promise to redress
them would be no inducement to Parliament to comply with the royal
demands. The hostility of the laity to the clergy, arising out (p. 267)
of these grievances, was in fact the lever with which Henry overthrew
the papal au