and intent of the said law Now in case these two causes and cōsiderations wil not satisfie th Aduersarie we wil adioine therevnto a third which he shal neuer by any good and honest shift auoid And that is the vse and practise of the Realme as wel in the time foregoing the said statute as afterward We stand vpon the interpretation of the cōmon law recited and declared by the said statute And how shal we better vnderstand what the law is therein then by the vse and practise of the said lawe For the best interpretation of the lawe is custome But the Realme before the statute admitted to the Croune not only kings children and others of the first degre but also of a farther degre and such as were plainely borne out of the Kings allegeance The soresaid vse and practise appeareth as wel before as sithens the time of the Conquest Among other King Edward the Confessour being destitute of a lawful Heire within the Realme sent into Hūgary for Edward his Nephew surnamed Outlaw son to King Edmūd called Irōside after many yeres of his exile to returne into Englād to th' intent the said Outlaw should inherite this Realme whiche neuerthelesse came not to effect by reason the said outlaw died before the said king Edward his Vncle. After whose death the said king apointed Eadgar Etheling sonne of the said Outlaw being his next cosen and heire as he was of right to the Croune of Englād And for that the said Eadgar was but of yong and tender yeares and not able to take vpō him so great a gouernement the said king cōmitted the protection as wel of the yong Prince as also of the Realm to Harold Earle of Kent vntil suche time as the said Eadgar had obteined perfit age to be hable to weld the state of a King Which Harold neuerthelesse cōtrary to the trust supplanted the said yong Prince of the Kingdome and put the Croune vpon his own head By this it is apparent that foraine birth was not accōpted of before the time of the Cōquest a iust cause to repel and reiect any man being of the next proximitie in blood frō the Title of the Croune And though the said king Edward the Cōfessors wil and purpose toke no such force and effect as he desired and the law craued yet the like succession toke place effectuously in king Stephen and king Hēry the secōd as we haue already declared Neither wil th' Aduersaries shift of foramers borne of father and mother which be not of the kings alegeāce help him forasmuch as this clause of the said statut is not to be applied to the kings childrē but to others as appeareth in the same statute And these two kings Stephē and Henrie the 2. as they were borne in a forain place so their fathers and mothers wer not of the kings allegeāce but mere Aliens and strāgers And how notorious a vaine thing is it that th' Aduersarie would perswade vs that the said K. Henrie the secōd rather came in by force of a cōposition then by the proximitie and nearenes of blood I leaue it to euery man to cōsider that hath any maner of feling in the discours of the stories of this realm The cōpositiō did procure him quietnes and rest for the time with a good and sure hope of quiet and peaceable entrance also after the death of King Stephen and so it followed in deede but ther grew to him nomore right therby then was due to him before For he was the true heir to the Croune as appeareth by Stephen his Aduersaries owne confession Henry the firste maried his daughter Mathildis to Henry the Emperour by whome he had no childrē And no dout in case she had had any children by th'Emperour they should haue ben heires by succession to the Croune of England After whose death she retourned to her father yet did King Henry cause all the Nobilitie by an expresse othe to embrace her after his death as Queene and after her her children Not long after she was maried to Ieffrey Plantagenet a Frenchman borne Earle of Aniowe who begat of her this Henry the second being in France Whervpon the said King did reuiue and renue the like othe of allegeāce aswel to her as to her sonne after her With the like false persuasiō the Adueruersarie abuseth him selfe and his Reader touching Arthur Duke of Britanie Nephew to King Richard the first As though forsooth he were iustly excluded by Kinge Iohn his vncle by cause he was a forainer borne If he had said that he was excluded by reason the vncle ought to be preferred before the Nephewe though it should haue ben a false allegation and plaine against the rules of the lawes of this Realme as may wel appeare among other thinges by King Richard the second who succeded his grādfather king Edward the third which Richard had diuerse worthie and noble vncles who neither for lacke of knowledge coulde be ignorant of the right neither for lacke of frendes courage and power be enforced to forbeare to chalenge their title and interest yet should he haue had some countenance of reason and probabilitie bicause many arguments and the authoritie of many learned and notable Ciuilians doo concurre for the vncles right before the Nephewe But to make the place of the natiuitie of an inheritour to a kingdom a sufficiēt barre against the right of his blood it seemeth to haue but a weake and slender holde and grounde And in our case it is a most vnsure and false ground seeing it is moste true that King Richard the first as we haue said declared the said Arthur borne in Britanie and not son of a King but his brother Geffreys sonne Duke of Britanie heire apparent his vncle Iohn yet liuing And for such a one is he taken in al our stories And for such a one did all the worlde take him after the said King Richard his death neither was King Iohn taken for other then for an vsurper by excluding him and afterward for a murtherer for imprisoning him and priuily making him away For the which facte the French King seased vpon al the goodly Coūtries in France belonging to the King of England as forfeited to him being the chiefe Lorde By this outragious deede of King Iohn we lost Normandie withall and our possibilitie to the inheritance of all Britanie the right and Title to the said Britanie being dewe to the said Arthur and his heires by the right of his mother Constance And though the said king Iohn by the practise and ambition of Quene Elenour his mother and by the special procurement of Huberte then Archebishop of Caunterburie and of some other factious persons in Englād preuēted the said Arthur his nephew as it was easy for him to do hauing gotten into his handes al his brother Richardes treasure by sides many other rentes then in England and the said Arthur being an infante
and seke as many fine fetches as ye list ye neuer shall shift it of with honestie nor wel ridde your handes thereof Whereof I for my part do take my selfe ful assured and therefore do thinke it a nedelesse discourse for me to make any further descant vpon suche an vnpleasant iarring and vntuneable plaine song of your owne setting and making and am right wel contented that ye do make as gaye glosing comments and interpretations as ye list and as your cunning and skil wil serue you to these your owne shameful vntrue textes But now weigh and consider with your selues I hartily pray you and see whether that al your legerdemaine and close conueiances in your false play aswel touching and concerning your fit iugling boxe as al your other like trickes and cunning illusions be not fully espied and plainely and openly inough laied out to eche mans eye to behold and vew And as touching your said iugling boxe you haue ben very fouly and merueâ—lously ouersene in the close and cleane conueiaÌ„ce of your fingers for that a man more then halfe blinde may perfectly see and perceaue your foule play foras much as the very selfe said Doughleish whom amoÌ„g other ye executed and ridde out of the way hath said and sufficieÌ„tly declared for the Quenes innocencie Nay nay perhaps you wil say although our letters although our dead witnesses and although our other matters faile vs yet we hope that the litle faint mourning she made for his death the acquital of the Earle and her preteÌ„ded mariage with him wil help your cause and geue testimony against her And why so I pray you Was not his body enbalmed inseared and interred bysides the Queenes father the late King Iames accoÌ„panied with Iustice Clerke the Lorde of Traquarre and with diuers other GentlemeÌ„ The ceremonies in deede were the fewer bycause that the greatest parte of the Counsaile were Protestantes and had before enterred their owne parentes without accustomed solennities of ceremonies Neither is there any suche order or custome as ye pretende and make your reckning of for the reseruation of the corps forty dayes nor any such obseruation was kept and vsed about the corps of the very father of the Prince neither yet was there any such order taken or appointed by the Counsaile for the enterring of the said Lord Darleyes bodie in such sorte as ye notifie but euen directly to the coÌ„trary Yea ye are as litle able to proue that there hath ben any such customarie solemnitie obserued of so straight and strange a mourning as ye most seuerely would restraine and bind the Queene vnto as ye be able to proue the residue of the premisses But in case ye could wel iustifie some such vsual order yet shal ye neuer be able to shew that it doth extend and apperteine to suche kinde of Queenes as she is For they mourne their husbands who were Kings her Grace mourneth after an other sort she a Prince her husbande a priuate man and a subiect They as women most coÌ„monly do take their honour and chief dignitie of their husbandes Her husbandes encrease of aduancement came by his matching with her â–ª And further women by the Ciuil law are in diuers cases discharged and excused for their omitting thereof and forbearing their so doing And yet did this good gentle Lady bemone euen suche a one a notable time enioying and vsing none other then candle light as was knowen to al the Nobilitie of Scotland and also to one M. Henrie Killigraie who was sent thither from Englande to her comfort according to the vse and maâ—er of Princes Who had a longer time in this lameÌ„ting wise coÌ„tinued had she not ben moste earnestly dehorted by the vehement exhortatioÌ„s and persuasioÌ„s of her CouÌ„saile who were moued therto by her Physitians informatioÌ„s declaring to them the great and immineÌ„t daÌ„gers of her health and life if she did not in al spede breake vp and leaue that kind of close and solitarie life and repaire to some good opeÌ„ and holsome aire which she did being this aduised and earnestly thereto solicited by her said CouÌ„saile Al which yet not withstanding this her fact is with these most seuere and graue Censors takeÌ„ for and reputed as the very next sin of al to the most greuous sinne against the holy Ghoste But ô good pitiful men who for the very tender loue and singuler affection which you did euer beare to the L. Darley the which truly was so vehemeÌ„t that for your exceding hot and ferueÌ„t loue towards him ye euer sought his harts blood do now so pitifully bewaile him But if she had by reason of the closenes of the aire and somewhat loÌ„ger coÌ„tinuaÌ„ce in her mourning place and in her desolate and doleful estate accelerated her owne death withal then had she by the Earle Murrareâ— and his adherents gostly iudgements mourned like a good honest wife and to their best coÌ„tentation it being the right way and readiest meanes to haue conueied and brought the said Earle to that place where vnto he so long and so greedily aspired and the which now at the length he hath atchie ued and atteined As for the residue of their saynges 〈◊〉 there be any fault in the Queene it surely falleth dubble and treble vpon these A chitophelles And the good innoceÌ„t Lady whâ— hath bene so wretchedly and so vnworthely by them abused and circumuented is moâ— to be pitied then to be blamed The Earl Bothwel was acquited by his Peeres according to the common and ordinarie tradâ— and maner in suche cases vsually obserued These vnnatural and disloyal subiects thesâ— most shameful craftie colluders her Aduer saries and accusers I meane the Earle MortoÌ„ the Lord Simple the Lord Lindzay with their adherents and affinitie especially procured and with al diligence laboured hiâ— purgation and acquital which was afterward confirmed by the three Estates by Acte of Parlament These these I say whereof some are now the vehement and hotte fault finders and most earnest reprouers and blamers of the said preteÌ„ded Mariage were then the principal inuenters practisers persuaders and compassers of the same They procured a great part of the Nobilitie to solicite the Queene to couple her selfe in mariage with the said Earle as with a man most fitte apt and mete for her present estate and case First alleaging the dangerous worlde and oft inculcating into her minde and remembrance the present perilous time and dealinges of menne whiche the better to preuent and more surely to withstande by their counsel and persuadings induced her and by other their crafty doinges as it were enforced and constrained her to take a husband to be her comforter her assister her buckler and her shilde to defend her against al her whatsoeuer Aduersaries If she would be contented so to doe they promised him seruice and to the Queene loyal obedience Yea many of them bound them selues to the said Earle by their owne hande writing to assist mainteine
all worldes and turnes Against you the Earle Murton bysides the murther of the Queenes Secretarie and of the Lorde Darleye her husbande there are many iuste exceptions and chalenges to be layed and taken aswell of other misdooinges as of manyfolde and apparent treasons whiche ye seeme to haue sucked with your mothers milke ye haue ben a Traitour so often times to your Prince and Souereigne But the Earle Murray it is whom aboue all other we haue to charge and burden His base natiuitie his baser conditions the notable saying of the foresayd Cassius Cui bono the trade of all his former life will muche stayne and presse him if wee doo well weygh and marke the weyghtie presumptions that be euident and playne against him I will make my beginning with the greate and vnnaturall vnkindnesse and ingratitude by him shewed to his deare Sister and his louing and most bountiful Maistresse and Souereigne At what time she minded after the death of her first husband the French Kinge to repaire into her owne Realme of Scotland she sent forthwith for him into France and vsed his aduise and counsel in al her affairs euen as she did also after her returne into Scotlad so farre that she had but as it were the name and calling he bearing the very sway of the Regiment by her intituled to and honoured and adorned with the Earldome of Murray and at length by one meanes or other furnished with so greate and ample possessions that bysides other commodities and aduantages the yearely rent thereof passeth and surmounteth the summe of twenty and six thousand poundes after the rate of their money Behold now the thankfulnes of this good and grateful nature He laboured and endeuoured al that he possibly could to withholde the Queenes mind and stay her from al manner of mariage and to entaile the Groune of the Realm vnto himself though he were illegitimate and vncapable therof and to the name and the blood of the Stewards But when he saw and throughly perceaued and wel knew that the Queene was fully minded and earnestly bent and had now determined to ioyne her self in maâ—â—ge with the Lorde Darley he practised meanes by his afsistance and procurements to haue slayne him and his father and to haue imprisoned her at Lochleuen and to haue vsurped the gouernement himselfe as he now doth But now when he saw this his intent and purpose disclosed and preuented and that the solemnization of the mariage was already past he shewed himself with his adherents in open field and in armes against the Queene his Maistresse Whervpon he was drâ—â—en to flee into England At which his there abode he instantly solicited and besought for aide against his Souereigne which was worthely denied him Then beganne he to practise with the Earle Morton by his letters and messengers about the derestable slaughter of Dauid the Queenes Secretarie who by their mischienous sleights and craftie persuasions indueed the Lorde Darley promising him to remoue the Quene from the medling with al politike affaires and actually to put him iâ— possession of the Croune and of the rule and gouernement of the Realme to ioynâ— with them in this traiterous conspiracie against the Queene his moste deare and louing wife and moste dreade Soueregne Wherevpon the murther was in most horrible and traiterous wise committed in the Queenes owne chamber of Presence vpon him violently plucked from the Quene she also being cruelly manaced and sore threatned hauing also a charged pistolet set to her belly being then greate with childe and then remoued from her priuie chamber into an other where she was kepte as prisoner The yong vnexpert and rash Lord Darley who being blinded with outragious ambition could not forsee the diuelish drifte of these craftie merchants beganne now but almost to late to espie it and seeing him selfe as nigh the danger as was his wife the Queene repaired to her moste humbly asking her pardon of his heinous attempt and pitifully crieng out to her to prouide and finde out some present way to preserue them selues both Who by the Quenes politike industrie was priuily with her selfe conueied away out of the Rebelles danger and by him this wicked drift and the driuers and contriuers thereof were discouered to the Queene But lo the next day after this slaughter the Earle Murray entred into Scotland and repaired to the Queene with as faire a couÌ„tenance as though he had ben cleare aswel for that fact as for alother treasons Wherof the gentle and merciful Queene pardoned him admitting him againe into her Graces loue and fauor Wherat the L. Darley much misliking and vehemently repining feared that he would be as he was in dede wheÌ„ he saw his time reuenged vpoÌ„ him by cause he was of him detected to the Quene for being one and the chiefe of the counsailers aiders and assisters in the conspiracie about the murther of the Secretarie now committed These and the like imaginations so depely sanke into and pearced the yong mans harte that he finally resolued with himself by one meanes or other to ridde the Earle Murray out of the way Whereabout he went so farre forth that he coÌ„municated his purpose to the Quene who did most highly mislike therewith and most vehemently deterre him from the said his inteÌ„t Yet did he breaâ— the matter farther as to certain other noblâ— nien by whome at the last it was reuealeâ— to the 〈◊〉 arle Murray Wherfore the Earâ— did continually after beare him a deadly enmitie and hatred Wherevpon at length al other attempts failing him this execrablâ— murther was by him the said Earle Murray and by the Earle Murton first deuised anâ— afterward in such strange and heynous fort as the worlde knoweth and detesteth most horribly practised and put in execution What peraduenture some man wil say of al the men in the worlde the Earle Murray is farthest of from al manner of spot and finister suspicion touching this matter For he was not at the Court when this murtheâ— was committed and when the Queene was appreheÌ„ded he was out of ScotlaÌ„d and who did driue out of ScotlaÌ„d the Earle Bothwel but the Earle Murray Who is he that hath taken so much paines and trauaile to boult and find out and execute such as were cuâ—pable therein but the Earle Murray In deede for his bodily presence at the deede doing I wil nothing affirme he must â—eld the price thereof to his companion the â—arle Bothwel He must be contented for â—s share with the preeminence and preroatâ—ue of his special deadly foade towarde the Lorde Darley and preposterous policie â—nd witte so closely and so smothly to conâ—ey and compasse it and beare out with so greate countenance so heinous a facte and â—o reward him self for his paines taken therâ—n with the extrusion of his Maistresse and Queene and intrusion of him self though absent to the regiment and gouernment of the whole Realme This this I say may
of God almighty onely But yet for arguments sake I would faine knowe where you finde your differēce and what authoritie you can shew for the prouf thereof Ye haue made no marginal note of any authoritie and therefore vnlesse ye also saye that ye are Pythagoras I will not beleue your difference Wel I am assured that I can shew you good authoritie to the contrarie and that there is no difference in your cases Pervse I praie you 22. H. 6. And there may you see the opinion of Iustice Newton that there is no difference in your cases but that in both your cases the lande shall eschete vnto the Lorde And Prisote being then of Coūsayle with the party that claimed the lands by a descent wher the eldest sonne was borne beyond the seas durst not abide in law vpon the title This authoritie is against your difference and this authoritie I am wel assured is better then any that you haue shewed to proue your difference But if we shal admitte your difference to be according to the law yet your cases wherevnto you applie your difference are nothing like as I haue said before But to procede on in the proufe of our purpose as it doth appeare that neither the King nor his Croune is bound by these general rules which before I haue shewed so do I likewise say of al the residue of the general rules and Maximes of the lawe being in a manner infinite But to retourne againe vnto your onely supposed Maxime whiche you make so general concerning the dishabilitie of persons borne beyond the seas it is very plaine that it was neuer taken to extende vnto the Croune of this Realme of Englande as it may appeare by King Stephen and by King Henry the seconde who were both straungers and Frenchemen and borne out of the Kinges allegeance and neither were they Kinges children immediate nor their parentes of the allegeance and yet they haue bene alwaies accompted lawfull Kinges of England nor their title was by any man at any time defaced or comptrolled for any such consideration or exception of foraine birth And it is a worlde to see how you would shifte your handes from the said King Henry Ye say he came not to the Croune by order of the lawe but by capitulation for asmuch as his mother by whome he conueied his Title was then liuing Well admitte that he came to the Croune by capitulation during his mothers life yet this doth not proue that he was dishabled to receaue the Croune but rather proueth his abilitie And although I did also admit that he had not the Croune by order of the law during his mothers life yet after his mothers death no man hath hitherto doubted but that he was King by lawful succession and not against the lawes and Customes of this Realme For so might you put a doubt in al the Kinges of this Realme that euer gouerned sithens and driue vs to seake heires in Scotland or els where Whiche thing we suppose you are ouer wise to goe about Bysides this I haue hard some of the aduersaries for farther helpe of their intention in this matter saye that King Henry the second was à Queenes childe and so King by the rule of the commō law Truely I know he was an Emperesse childe but no Queene of Englandes childe For although Maude the Emperesse his mother had a right and a good title to the Croune and to be Queene of England yet was she neuer in possession but kepte from the possession by King Stephen And therefore King Henry the second can not iustly be saied to be a Queene of Englandes childe nor yet any Kinges childe vnlesse ye would intend the Kinges children by the wordes of Infantes de Roy c. to be children of farther degree and descended from the right line of the King so ye might say truely that he was the child of King Henry the first being in deede the sonne and heire of Maude the Emperesse daughter and heire of Kinge Henrie the first Whereby your saide rule is here fowly foiled And therefore ye would faine for the maintenance of your pretensed Maxime catche some holde vppon Arthur the sonne of Ieffrey one of the sonnes of the saide Henry the seconde Ye say then like a good and ioly Antyquarie that he was reiected from the Croune bycause he was borne out of the Realme That he was borne out of the Realme it is very true but that he was reiected frō the Croune for that cause it is very false Neither haue you any autoritie to proue your vaine opinion in this pointe For it is to be proued by the Cronicles of this Realme that King Richarde the first vncle vnto the sayd Arthur taking his iourney towarde Hierusalem declared the said Arthur as we haue declared before to be heire apparent vnto the Croune whiche would not haue ben if he had bene taken to be vnhable to receaue the Croune by reason of foraine birth And although King Iohn did vsurpe aswel vpon the saide King Richard the firste his eldest brother as also vpon the sayd Arthur thur his nephewe yet that is no prouf that he was reiected bycause he was borne out of the Realme Yf ye could proue that then had you shewed some reason and president to proue your intent whereas hytherto you haue shewed none at al nor I am wel assured shal neuer be able to shewe Thus may ye see gentle Reader that neither this pretensed Maxime of the lawe set forth by th' Aduersaries nor a great nomber more as general as this is whiche before I haue shewed can by any reasonable meanes be stretched to bind the Croune of Englād These reasons and authorities may for this time suffice to proue that the Croune of this Realme is not subiecte to the rules and the Principles of the common lawe neither can be ruled and tried by the same Whiche thing being true al the obiectiōs of the Aduersaries made against the title of Marie the Queene of Scotland to the succession of the Croune of this Realme are fully answered and thereby clearly wiped away Yet for farther arguments sake and to the ende we might haue al matters sifted to the vttermost and therby al things made plaine let vs for this tyme somewhat yeelde vnto the Aduersaries admitting that the Title of the Croune of this Realme were to be examined and tried by the rules and principles of the cōmon law and then let vs consider and examin farther whether ther be any rule of the cōmon law or els any statute that by good and iust construction can seeme to inpugne the said title of Marie the Queene of Scotland or no. For touching her lineal descente frō King Henry the seuēth and by his eldest daughter as we haue shewed there is no man so impudent to denie What is there then to be obiected among al the rules Maximes and iudgements of the cōmon law of this Realm Only
Liberi Therefore doo we supply it as wel as we may by this worde children The Spaniardes also vse this worde Infantes in this ample sorte when they call the nexte heire to the heire apparēt Infant of Spaine euen as the late deceased Lorde Charles of Austrich was called his father and grandfather then liuing Yf then the original word of the statute declaring the said rule may naturally and properly apperteine to al the Descendants why should we straine and binde it to the first degree only otherwise then the nature of the worde or reason wil beare For I suppose verely that it wil be very harde for the Aduersarie to geue any good and substantial reason why to make a diuersitie in the cases But touching the contrarie there are good and probable consideratiōs which shall serue vs for the seconde cause As for that the grādfathers cal their nephewes as by a more pleasant plausible name not only their children but their sonnes also and for that the sonne being deceased the grādfather suruiuing not only the grādfathers affection but also such right title and interest as the sonne hath by the lawe and by proximitie of blood growe and drawe al to the nephew who representeth and supplieth the fathers place the father and the sonne being compted in person and in flesh in maner but as one Why shal then the bare and naked consideration of the external and accidental place of the birth only seuer and sunder suche an entier inwarde and natural coniunction Adde therevnto the many and great absurdities that may hereof spring and ensue Diuerse of the Kinges of this Realme as wel before the time of King Edwarde the third in whose time this statute was made as after him gaue their daughters out to foraine and sometimes to meane Princes in mariage Which they would neuer so often times haue done if they had thought that whyle they wente about to set forth and aduance their issue their doinges should haue tended to the disheriting of them from so great large and noble a Realme as this is which might haue chanced if the daughter hauing a sonne or daughter had died her father liuing For there should this supposed Maxime haue ben a barre to the children to succede their grandfather This absurditie would haue bene more notable if it had chanced about the time of King Henry the secōd or this king Edward or king Henry the firste and sixte when the possessions of the Croune of this Realme were so amply enlarged in other Countries beyond the seas And yet neuer so notable as it might haue bene hereafter in our fresh memorie and remēbrance if any such thing had chanced as by possibilitie it might haue chanced by the late mariage of King Philippe and Queene Marie For admitting their daughter maried to a foraine Prince should haue dyed before them she leauing a sonne suruiuing his father and grandmother they hauing none other issue so nigh in degree then would this late framed Maxime haue excluded the same sonne lamētably and vnnaturally from the succession of the Croune of Englande and also the same Croune from the inheritance of the Realmes of Spain of both Sicilies with their appurtenāces of the Dukedō of Milan and other landes and Dominiōs in Lumbardy and Italie as also from the Dukedomes of Brabant Luxēburg Geldres Zutphan Burgundie Friseland from the Countreies of Flandres Artois Holland Zealād and Namurs and from the new found lands parcel of the said Kingdome of Spaine* Which are vnlesse I be deceued more ample by dubble or treble then al the Countreies now rehearsed Al the which Countreies by the foresaid Mariage should haue bene by al right deuolued to the said sonne if any such child had bene borne If either the same by the force of this iolye newe found Maxime had bene excluded from the Croune of England or the saide Croune from the inheritance of the foresaid Countreies were there any reason to be yelded for the maintenance of this supposed rule or Maxime in that case Or might there possibly rise any commodity to the Realme by obseruing therein this rigorous pretensed rule that should by one hundred part counteruaile this importable losse and spoile of the Croune and of the lawful inheritour of the same But perchance for the auoiding of this exception limited vnto the blood roial some wil say that the same was but a priuilege graunted to the Kinges children not in respect of the succession of the Croune but of other landes descending to them from their Auncestours Whiche although we might very wel admit and allow yet can it not be denied but that the same priuilege was graūted vnto the Kinges children and other descendantes of the Blood roial by reason of the dignity and worthines of the Croune which the King their father did enioy and the great reuerence which the law geueth of dewtie therevnto And therefore if ye would go about to restraine and withdraw from the Croune that priuilege whiche the lawe geueth to the Kinges children for the Crounes sake ye should doo therein contrarie to al reason and against the rules of the Arte of Reasoning which saith that Propter quod vnumquodque illud magis Byside that I would faine knowe by what reason might a man saye that they of the Kinges Bloodde borne out of the allegeaunce of Englande maye inherite landes within this Realme as heires vnto their Ancestours not being able to inherite the Croune Truly in mine opinion it were against al reason But on the contrarie side the very force of reason muste driue vs to graunt the like Yea more great and ample priuilege and benefit of the law in the succession of the Croune For the Roial blood where so euer it be found wil be taken as a pretious and singuler Iewel and wil carie with it his worthie estimation and honour with the people and where it is dew his right withal By the Ciuil law the right of the inheritance of priuate persons is hemmed and inched within the bandes of the tenth degre The Blood roial runneth a farther race and so farre as it may be found wherewith the great and mightie Conquerors are glad and faine to ioine withal euer fearing the weaknes of their blooddie sworde in respect of the greate force and strength of the same For this cause was Henrie the firste called for his learning and wisedome Beauclerke glad to consociate and couple him self with the auncient Roial blood of the Saxons which cōtinuing in the Princely Successiō from worthie king Alured was cutte of by the death of the good king Edward and by the mariyng of Mathildis being in the fourth degree in lineal descent to the said king Edward was reuiued and revnited From this Edward the Queene of Scotlād as we haue before shewed taketh her noble auncieht Petigrue These then and diuers other reasons and causes mo may be alleaged for the waying and setting foorth of the true meaning
whole Realme or with the minde purpose and intente of the said Parlament that the King should not onely frustrate and exclude suche whose right by the common lawe is moste euidente and notoriouse but call and substitute suche other as by the same lawe are plainely excluded In consideration whereof many notable Rules of the Ciuil lawe doo concurre First that who soeuer geueth any man a general authoritie to do any thing seemeth not to geue him authoritie to do that thing which he would not haue graunted if his minde therein had bene seuerally and specially asked and required Againe general wordes either of the Testatours or of suche as make any contract and especially of statutes touching any persons to doe or enioy any thing ought to be restrained and referred to hable mete and capable persons only It is further more a rule and a Principle that statutes must be ruled measured and interpreted according to the minde and direction of the general and common lawe Wherefore the King in limiting the succession of the Croune in this sorte as is pretended seemeth not to answere and satisfie the expectation of the Parlament putting the ease there were any such surmised impediment as also on the other side likewise if there were no such supposed impedimēt For here an other rule must be regarded whiche is that in Testaments Contractes and namely in statutes the generalitie of wordes must be gently and ciuilly moderated and measured by the common law and restrained when so euer any man should by that generalitie take any dāmage and hurte vndeseruedly Yea the Statute shal rather in that case ceasse and quaile and be taken as void As for example it appereth by the Ciuil law that if it be enacted by statute in some Cities that noman shal pleade against an Instrument no not the Executour yet this notwithstanding if th'Executour make a true and perfect Inuentarie of the goodes of the Testatour if he deale faithfully and truely rather then he should wrongfully and without cause paie the Testatours debt of his owne he may come and pleade against the Instrument Wherefore the Kinges doings seeme either muche defectiue in the said Ladie Francis and Ladie Elenour or much excessiue in their children And so though he had signed the said Wil with his hand yet the said doings seme not cōformable to the mind and purpose of the Parlamēt We wil now go forward and propound other great and graue cōsiderations seruing our said purpose and intent Whereof one is that in limiting the Croune vnto the heires of the bodie of the Ladie Francis the same Ladie then and so long after liuing the said King did not appoint the Succession of the Croune according to th' order and meaning of the honourable Parlament forasmuch as the said Acte of Parlament gaue to him authoritie to limite and appoint the Croune to such person or persons in reuersion or remainder as should please his Highnes Meaning thereby some person certaine of whom the people might haue certaine knowledge and vnderstanding after the death of King Henrie the eight Which persons certaine the heires of the Ladie Francis could not by any meanes be intended forasmuch as the said Ladie Francis was then liuing and therfore could then haue no heires at al. By reason wherof the people of this Realme could not haue certaine knowledge and perfit vnderstanding of the Succession according to the true meaning and intent of the said Acte of Parlament But to this matter some peraduenture would seeme to answere and say that although at the time of the said King Henries death the Heires of the bodie of the said Ladie Francis begotten were vncertaine yet at suche time as the said remainder should happen to fal the said heires might then certainly be knowen In deede I wil not deny but that peraduenture they might be then certainly knowen But what great mischieffes and inconueniences might haue ensewed and yet may if the Wil take place vpon that peraduenture and vncertaine limitation I would wishe all men well to note and consider It is not to be doubted but that it might haue fortuned at such time as the remainder shuld happē to fal to the said heires of the Ladie Frācis the same Lady Frācis should then be also liuing who I pray you then should haue had the Croune Paraduēture ye wold say the heires of the body of the Ladie Elenor to whō the next remainder was apointed Vndoubtedly that were cōtrarie to the meaning of the said supposed Wil forsamuch as the remainder is therby limited vnto the heires of the body of the Ladie Elenour only for default of issue of the Ladie Francis. Wherby it may be very plainly gathered vpō the said supposed Wil that the meanīg therof was not that the childrē of the Lady Elenour should enioye the Croune before the children of the Lady Francis. But what if the said Ladie Elenour had ben then also liuing which might haue happened forasmuch as both the said Ladie Frācis and Ladie Elenour by common course of nature might haue liued longer then vntil this day who then should haue had the Croune Truly the right Heyre whome this supposed Wil meante to exclude so long as there should remaine any issue either of the body of the said Ladie Francis or of the bodie of the said Ladie Elenour lawfully begotten And therefore quite contrarie to the meaning of the said supposed Wil. Wherfore I doe verely thinke that it would hardly sinke into any reasonable mans head that had any experience of the great wisdom and aduised doings of King Hēry the eight about other matters being of nothing like weight that he would so slenderly and so vnaduifedly dispose the successiō of the croune whervpon the whole estate of this Realme doth depend in suche wise that they to whom he meant to geue the same by his wil could not enioye it by the lawe Wherevpon ye may plainely see not only the great vnlikelihod that King Hēry the eight would make any such Wil with such slender aduise but also that by the limitation of the said Will the succession of the Croune is made more vncertaine and doubtful then it was before the making of the said Actes of Parlament Which is cōtrary to the meaning and intent of the said Actes and therfore without any sufficient warrant in law But peraduenture some here wil say that although these dangers and vncertainties might haue ensewed vpon the limitation of the said wil yet forasmuch as they haue not happened neither be like to happē they are therefore not to be spoken of Yeas verely it was not to be omitted For although these things haue not happened and therefore the more tolerable yet forasmuch as they might haue happened by the limitation of the said supposed Wil cōtrary to the meaning of the said Actes the Wil can not by any meanes be said to be made according to the meaning and intent of the makers of
burge who therby inioyed the Countie Pâ—latine The like may be said of diuers othâ— partes of the Germanical Empire yea a wâ— maÌ„ hath ruled and gouerned the said who Empire as it is euident in Agnes the wiâ— of the Emperour Henry the third duriâ— the time of the minoritie of her sonne Hâ—rie the fourth And yet the same Empire ye wote wel passeth by choise and election and not by lineal succession of bloode yeâ— many hundereth yeares ere she was borne and in the florishing time of the olde Roâ—maine Empire Mesa Varia grandmother to the Emperour Heliogabalus and Alexander Seuerus sate with the Senate at Rome heard and examined the weighty causes oâ— the Empire and set her hand also to suche thiÌ„gs as passed touchiÌ„g the publike affaires I do now adioyne the kingdom of Sicile and Naples in Italie of the whiche Italie Noah whom the prophane Writers cal Ianus made Crana his daughter ruler and Quene wher also Lauinia reigned after the death of Aeneas And as for Naples this presideÌ„t of womanly Gouernment is not there only of later yeares in both the Queenes called Iohanne but euen from very auncient time which thing the stories do recorde in Amalasintha that gouerned after the death of her father King Theodoricus with her sonne Athalaricus The said Amalasintha was mother to Almaricus King of Spaine and after his death ruled her self the said Realme Let vs nowe adde farther the Dukedoms of Loraine and Mantua the kingdome of Swetia and Dania and of Noruegia whereof Margaret the daughter of Waldemarus was gouernesse and Quene the kingdom of Beame and of HuÌ„garie And to draw nere home the Realm also of ScotlaÌ„d which realm hath denomination of a woman as their stories report as hath likewise Flaunders The like some of our stories report of EnglaÌ„d wherin I wil make no fast footing Now touching the feminine Successâ— to the right of the Croune of England itâ— no new found Succession and much leâ— vnnatural We reade in our Chronicles Queene Cordel the thirde heire and daugâ—ter of King Leyre the teÌ„th King of Eritanâ— that restored her father to the kingdomâ— being deposed by her two other sisters Wâ— reade that about three hundered fifty anâ— fiue yeares before the Natiuitie of Christâ— Martia Proba during the nonage of heâ— sonne did gouerne this Realme ful politikâ—ly and wisely and established certaine laweâ— called Leges Martianae There be aswel of our owne as of exterternal historiographers that for a most certeinty affirme that Helena the noble Constantine his mother was a Britaine and the only daughter and heire of Coelus King of Britanie and that the said Constantine was borne in Britanie Surely that his father CoÌ„stantinus died in Britanie at Yorke and that the said Constantinus began his noble Victorious race of his most worthy Empire in Britany it is reported by auncient Writers and of great faith and credit And that likewise long before the said Helens time women bare the greatest sway both in warre â—nd peace and that the Britaine 's had womeÌ„ or their Capteines in warfare AmoÌ„g other Cornelius Tacitus writeth thus His atâ—e allis inuicem instructi Voadica generis regij â—mina Duce neque enim sexum in Impertis â—scernunt sumpsêre vniuersi bellum We haue now already shewed of Henry he seconde who obteined the Croune by â—he mothers right Which said King by the Title of his wife and after him his Succesâ—ours Kings of England did inioy the Dukeâ—omes of Aquitania and the Dukedome of Poiters as the said Kings Successour should â—aue done also as we haue shewed before the Dukedome of Britanie if Arthur King Richardes Neuew had not by the vsurping of King Iohn and his vnnatural crueltie died without issue And by what other right then by the womans inheritance dew to King Edward the third by his mother the Frenche Kings daughter doe the Kinges of this Realme beare the Armes and Title of the Kings of FraÌ„ce And though the FreÌ„ch men thinke their parte the better against vs it is not but vpoÌ„ an old politike law of their owne as they say and not vpon any suche fonde ground as ye pretende that women Regiment is vnnatural Which RegimeÌ„t ye stoutly affirme to bâ— farre a sunder from any natural RegimeÌ„t yeâ— truely as farre as was the boies head froÌ„ the shoulders the last Bartholmew Faire at LoÌ„don which many a poore foole did beleeue to be true For as the boies head remained stil vpon his necke and shoulders though iâ— seemed by a light liuely legerdemaine to be a great way from the bodie so would you now cast a mist before our eies and make vs beleue that womans gouernmeÌ„t and nature be so diuided and sundred that they may iâ— no wise be lincked and coupled together But surely the French nation was neuer so vnwise to thinke this kind of GouermeÌ„t repugnant to Nature or to Gods holy Word For then they would neuer haue suffered their Realme to haue ben so often gouerned and ruled by women in the time of the nonage or absence of their Kings As by Adela the mother of King Philip and by Blanche the mother of S. Lewis and by the wife of the late King Frauncis taken prisoner at Paura and by diuers others Neither should the said Adela and Blanche haue ben so coÌ„mended of their said noble and worthy rule and â—uernmeÌ„t The said FrenchmeÌ„ though by â—oliâ—ie they haue prouided to exclude foâ—iners from the inheritance of the Croune 〈◊〉 they themselues holde at this day by â—e womaÌ„s title and interest the Dukedom â—f Britanie with diuers other goodly posâ—ssions And we haue shewed before how â—ewis the Dolphin of France made a Title 〈◊〉 the Croune of this Realme in the right â—f his wife Thus I haue as I suppose sufficiently proued that this kinde of RegimeÌ„t 〈◊〉 not against Nature by the auncient and â—ontinual practise of Asia Aphrica and Euâ—â—pa For the perfecting of the whiche laste â—â—rte of Europa and of the whole three â—artes I ende with the notable Poet Virgils verses Filius huic fato Diuûm prolesque virilis Nulla fuit primaque oriens erepta iuuenta est Sola domum tantas seruabat filia sedes We knit vp therfore our conclusion against you after this sort That law and vsage caÌ„not be compted against the law of nature or ius GeÌ„tiuÌ„ which the most part of al couÌ„tries and one great or notable part of the whol world doth and hath vsed but this lawe or vsage is such Ergo it is not against the law of Nature The Maior nedeth no proufe and foâ— the proufe of the Minor we neede to imploy no farder labour then we haue already done Whervpon the consequeÌ„t must nedeâ— be inferred that this law or vsage doth weâ— agree and stand with the law of nature The reason thereof is that it