[281] _Parl. Hist._ 807, 840. Burnet says (p. 42) that Sir John Trevor, a tory, first put the king on this method of corruption. Trevor himself was so venal that he received a present of 1000 guineas from the city of London, being then speaker of the Commons, for his service in carrying a bill through the house; and, upon its discovery, was obliged to put the vote, that he had been guilty of a high crime and misdemeanour. This resolution being carried, he absented himself from the house, and was expelled. _Parl. Hist._ 900; Commons' Journals, 12th March 1694-5. The Duke of Leeds, that veteran of secret iniquity, was discovered about the same time to have taken bribes from the East India Company, and was impeached in consequence; I say discovered, for there seems little or no doubt of his guilt. The impeachment, however, was not prosecuted for want of evidence. _Parl. Hist._ 881, 911, 933. Guy, secretary of the treasury, another of Charles II.'s court, was expelled the house on a similar imputation. _Id._ 886. Lord Falkland was sent to the Tower for begging £2000 of the king. _Id._ 841. A system of infamous peculation among the officers of government came to light through the inquisitive spirit of parliament in this reign; not that the nation was worse and more corrupt than under the Stuarts, but that a profligacy, which had been engendered and had flourished under their administration, was now dragged to light and punishment. Long sessions of parliament and a vigilant party-spirit exposed the evil, and have finally in a great measure removed it; though Burnet's remark is still not wholly obsolete. "The regard," says that honest bishop, "that is shown to the members of parliament among us, makes that few abuses can be inquired into or discovered." [282] _Parl. Hist._ 748, 829. The house resolved, "that whoever advised the king not to give the royal assent to the act touching free and impartial proceedings in parliament, which was to redress a grievance, and take off a scandal upon the proceedings of the Commons in parliament, is an enemy to their majesties and the kingdom." They laid a representation before the king, showing how few instances have been in former reigns of denying the royal assent to bills for redress of grievances, and the great grief of the Commons "for his not having given the royal assent to several public bills, and particularly the bill touching free and impartial proceedings in parliament, which tended so much to the clearing the reputation of this house, after their having so freely voted to supply the public occasions." The king gave a courteous but evasive answer, as indeed it was natural to expect; but so great a flame was raised in the Commons, that it was moved to address him for a further answer, which, however, there was still a sense of decorum sufficient to prevent.