Nay, even so low as Henry VI., from the beginning till the eighth of his reign, the assent of the commons is not once expressed in any enacting clause.

See preface to Ruffhead's edit, of the Statutes, p.7.If it should be asserted, that the commons had really given their assent to these statutes, though they are not expressly mentioned, this very omission, proceeding, if you will, from carelessness, is a proof how little they were respected.

The commons were so little accustomed to transact public business, that they had no speaker till after the parliament 6 Edward III.

See Prynne's preface to Cotton's Abridg.: not till the first of Richard II.

in the opinion of most antiquaries.