under
the great seal to call a great council of all the peers of England to
meet and attend his majesty at York, previous to the meeting of the
long parliament, the earl of Clarendon[e] mentions it as a new
invention, not before heard of; that is, as he explains himself, so
old, that it had not been practiced in some hundreds of years. But,
though there had not so long before been an instance, nor has there
been any since, of assembling them in so solemn a manner, yet, in
cases of emergency, our princes have at several times thought proper
to call for and consult as many of the nobility as could easily be got
together: as was particularly the case with king James the second,
after the landing of the prince of Orange; and with the prince of
Orange himself, before he called that convention parliament, which
afterwards called him to the throne.

[Footnote d: 1 Inst. 110.]

[Footnote e: Hist. b. 2.]

BESIDES this general meeting, it is usually looked upon to be the
right of each particular peer of the realm, to demand an audience of
the king, and to lay before him, with decency and respect, such
matters as he shall judge of importance to the public weal. And
therefore, in the reign of Edward II, it was made an article of
impeachment in parliament against the two Hugh Spencers, father and
son, for which they were banished the kingdom, "that they by their
evil covin would not suffer the great men of the realm, the king's
good counsellors, to speak with the king, or to come near him; but
only in the presence and hearing of the said Hugh the father and Hugh
the son, or one of them, and at their will, and according to such
things as pleased them[f]."

[Footnote f: 4 Inst. 53.]

3. A THIRD council belonging the king, are, according to sir Edward
Coke[g], his judges of the courts of law, for law matters. And this
appears frequently in our statutes, particularly 14 Ed. III. c. 5. and
in other books of law. So that when the king's council is mentioned
generally, it must be defined, particularized, and understood,
_secundum subjectam materiam_; and, if the subject be of a legal
nature, then by the king's council is understood his council for
matters of law; namely, his judges. Therefore when by statute 16 Ric.
II. c. 5. it was made a high offence to import into this kingdom any
papal bulles, or other processes from Rome; and it was enacted, that
the offenders should be attached by their bodies, and brought before
the king and