guerrae emergat c. Vid. Append. When any doubt or difficult case of War or Peace happens in the Kingdom or without let that Case be referr'd and brought in Writing into full Parliament and let it be treated of and debated among the Peers of Parliament and if need be let it be enjoyn'd by the King or in his Name to every degree of the Peers That every degree act by its self and let the Case be delivered to their Clerks in Writing and in the said place let them cause the said Case to be recited before them so that they may consider among themselves how it may in the best manner and most justly be proceeded upon as they would answer before God for the Person of the King and their own proper persons and also the proper persons of them whom they represent And let them report in Writing their Answers and Advice that all their Answers Counsels and Advices on all sides being heard it may be proceeded upon according to the better and more wholesom Counsel But if the Peace of the Kingdom or the Nation People or Commonwealth be weakned by reason of discord between the King and other Great Men so that it seems to the King and his Council What that Council was vid. 2d Part that the matter should be treated of and amended by the consideration of all the Peers of his Kingdom or if the King and Kingdom are disturbed by War or if a difficult Case arise before the Chancellor of England or a difficult Judgment is to be given before the Justices and the like And if it happen that in such deliberations all N 2 a Remedy where equally divided or at least the greater part cannot agree then the Earl Steward Earl Constable and Earl Marshal or Two of them shall chuse Twenty five persons from all parts of the Kingdom viz. Two Bishops and Three Proxies of the Clergy Two Earls and Three Barons Five Knights of Shires Five Citizens and Five Burgesses who make Five and Twenty Et condescendere in eos and they Five and Twenty may chuse Twelve out of themselves and be concluded by what they do The Twelve may chuse Six and be concluded by them The Six Three and be concluded by them But the Three cannot be reduced to fewer without leave of the King And if the King consent the Three may be brought to Two and the Two to One and so at last their Ordinance shall bind the whole Parliament and so by coming from Twenty five to One if the greater number cannot agree to an establishment at last one Person as is said shall Ordain for all because he cannot disagree from himself saving to the King and his Council That they may examin and amend such Ordinances after they are written if they can and will Provided they do this upon the place in full Parliament and with the consent of the Parliament and not out of Parliament According to which the High Steward Constable and Marshal being looked on as Hereditary Officers were entrusted with a means of composing the differences of the Nation when they should happen to be equally divided I find the Authority of the High Steward and Constable more express in a Translation of another Modus tenendi Parl. agreeing in substance with that which I have cited The MS. which I have used seems to be of the time of H. 7. MS. penes Authorem MS. penes Authorem thô Mr. Elsing says That which is in Sir Robert Cotton's Library was written temp E. 2. The Translation of the other was Printed with Royal Privilege in King James his time as I take it It was done in a very pedantick stile by one Anthony Bustard of Lyons-Inn He that wrote the Latine in his Preface speaks of it as the Order setled by W. 1. Pref. That Modus places the Power of chusing the Twenty five in the Steward and Constable It adds That if any of the Ministers act contrary to their Duty the King the Steward and others of the Parliament may remove them from their Office And says particularly That the Steward of England with the Constable and Nobles of the Realm shall send to evil Counsellors willing them to desist from giving Counsel and entreat the King not to listen to them and if they regard not such advertisement they were to send to the King to put such away from him And if King and Counsellors neglect such wholsom Advice then for the safety of the Commonwealth it hath been thought fit and lawful for the Steward and Constable and Nobles and others of the Commons of England with the King's Banner displayed the King's name omitted the said Counsellors to take and keep in Custody till the next Parliament and Seize their Goods Vid. Append. Lands and Hereditaments until they receive Judgment by consideration of the whole Parliament Sir Robert Cotton Of the High Steward c. There is no more in this than is warranted by Sir Robert Cotton's Letters in the Herald's Office part of which seem to be taken from a MS. joyn'd to the Modus in his Library under the name of Fleetwood The High-Steward's Office as I have before observed was annex'd to Land 4 Inst f. 127. Dyer f. 285. b. Kelway f. 170. and so was the Constable's of England as appears by our Law-Books in the Case of the Duke of Buckingham 6 H. 8. who pleaded That Humphrey de Bohun formerly Earl of Hereford was seiz'd in Fee of the Mannors of Harefield Newnam and Whitenhurst in the County of Glocester and held them by the service to be Constable of England which the Judges allowed of as a good Plea Dyer Indeed they held that thô the King might compel him who had the Land at his pleasure to execute the Office so he might at his pleasure resuse to have it Executed But as to that this being an honorary and profitable tenure by Grand Serjeanty it is to be considered 12 Car. 2. c. 4. that the Stat. 12 Car. 2. when it took away those Tenures of the Crown which were burthensom to the Subject provided that it shall not take away the Honorary Services of Grand Serjeanty But H. 8. Dyer thought it sufficient that he disclaimed the Service and the Reason of the disclaimer was because it was very high and dangerous and very chargeable to the King in Fees the last part of which shewed the Subject's property concerned in the question Upon the Duke of Buckingham's claim to this Office Kelway f. 171◠Nevil says it has been a common saying That the Constable of England by virtue of his Office in some case may Arrest the King himself and therefore held it necessary that the King should be appriz'd what Authorities belong to his Office Fineux Chief Justice says We know of no such Authority to belong to any Officer within the Realm by the Common Law of the Land Which he afterwards explains for
did grow afterward greate Contention and finally that Daughter never admittyd unto the Crowne but the Succession transferred unto the Lady Isabell Sister of the K. A Queene for her Valour and rare Vertues of great Fame and Renowne And yet notwithstanding accordinge to the Canonicall Lawe of force and strength in such Cases as most proper Judge although the Adultery of the Queen indeed wer more then manifest yet moght they have presumyd that the Child had ben rather of the Husband then of the Adulterer so favorable are those Lawes unto the Birth But those Noble Men as jelous of the Honour Fame and Reputacion of their Countrey did thinke that it importyd a great deal more to maynteyne and assure the Dignitie of the whole Realme refusinge a Person of doubtfull Birth then to have respecte unto the particuler Interest of that Child And thus tendrid these so much this Honour that they could not nor wold not tary the tyme to entreate of the Succession when it shuld happe but wold by and by put the mater out of doubt And you when it is so needfull and the tyme doth so require it to knowe one certeynly for your Prynce and just Governour heerafter Will you make no compt herof They I say for these respectes did refuse one that according to th' ordinary course of the Law they moght easely have presumed of to have ben legitimate And will yow submitte your selfes to a person that accordinge to the ordinary and Canon Rule and Order of the Lawe is so manifestly knowen taken and shewyd discendid playnely as illegitimate Oh take heede for yf ever this happe in your Heddes what other thinge will it turne or growe unto but vnto an open and universall declaration unto all the World that yow betweene Honour and Dishonour Right or Wronge causes of Prosperyte or Ruyne do make no difference at all Which opinion once conceyvid of yow boast bragge or compare after the Nobilitie or Excellency of your Countrey or the Stoutenesse of your Selfes with other Nations ye may well ynuough but whoe wyll not rather mocke or scorne at your madnesse or folly then beleeue yow as of eny Reason or Judgment And this that is sayd as is before touchid hath auctoryte and is both accordinge to Divine Canon and Civill Lawe and besydes accordinge to the Lawe of Nature and Reason But though we shuld admitte that by the Canon Lawe theise descendentes of the French Q. were to be tolleratyd or allowid as legitimate yet doth it not follow for all that that in this Realme they ought to be taken or accompted for ligitimate or inheritable Bicause that for eny to be borne legitimate heritable or Bastard Heere is judged not accordinge to the Canon Law but accordinge to the Lawe of the Realme And this doth appeere manifestly by the Statute of Merton Cap. 9. Where the Bishops instanced the Lordes that they wold consent that all such as wer borne before Matrimony shuld be legitimate according to the Canon Lawe as well as they that wer borne within Matrimony Which could not be obteyned but determination made that they shuld stande unto the Lawes of the Realme and not unto the Canons And that one borne of a second Wyfe the first still lyvinge by occasion of ignorance that the second Wyfe may pretend that the Husband had no other Wyfe alyve shuld be taken or compted for ligitimate or inheritable is not auctorized by our Lawe But playnly the contrary as may appear by Bracton Glandvill Britton Parkins and the whole course of the Lawe Wherfore to alledge that it is not lawfull to compt such for Bastardes after their death though during their Lyfe they wer taken or compted for no other then as legitimate is a poore healpe a slender proof and to this purpose makith nothinge at all for Litleton Cap. of Discentes doth declare that this continuance to purge the Bastardy is not to be alleadgid in every sorte of Bastardie but in that onely that is born of the Woman that the Father doth after mary with other Circumstances as may appeer farre from this Mater But to object that heerin might further have fortunyd though peradventure there hapt never eny such mater because nothinge may be thought of now or ells remembrid heerafter that in this case to the uttermost that might have chaunsed may not presently be fully sayd unto and answeryd Let us admitte for the salvinge of the Bastardy of these Issues that the Pope's Bulle mought have been obteynid which though both agaynst eny godly and lawful Matrimony and agaynst the Law of the Lande perhappes mought easely have been compassed yet notwithstandinge shuld the same have made as little to the purpose as th' other proper Reasons before alledgid For such a Bulle though it had ben of valour in England as it is neither now nor yet ever was when the Pope was heere in greatist Authoryte shuld either haue pronounced and declared the same Children to haue ben legitimately borne or ells of Bastardes it shuld have made theim legitimate In as moche as it shuld have declarid theim to haue ben legitimately borne it had ben needefull that it shuld haue ben with pronuncinge the Matrimony with the said Queene and Duke legitimate notwithstandinge the other Wyfe had ben alyue and that could not have ben grauntyd the case being as it was but vpon some false or fayned surmise And therfore accordinge to their owne Lawes or Canons it shuld haue ben of no force or valour But let it haue ben accordinge to what Canon they had lysted the Common Law of this Realme of England shuld never haue ben bounden by any such Bulle and specially when the mater vpon eny Poynt of Illegitimacion is to be callid in question by reason of eny Issue joyned vpon Bastardie after the death of the Parties which ar to be impeached as Bastardes by reason of eny second or other Mariage during the Lyfe of the first Wyfe the same being never upon eny Sute at the Common Lawe brought in Question Vid. Bracton F. 216. upon the Statute of Merton he mentions a special return at that time required Of which more in the second Part. whilest the Parties in whome Bastardie is not allegid lyvid The greatest doubt that in such case mought haue hapt is that if the mater had ben callid in question at the Common Law duringe the Pope's Jurisdiction in the Lyues of eny of the Children of the said Duke and the Frenche Queene which be now all deceassed and an Issue had ben joined vpon general Bastardy or vpon some other generall Issue of Divorce the same shuld then haue ben tried by the Certificate of the Ordinary and therby perhaps by somme such sleightful Certificate the vnlawfull Doings of the Pope if eny such had ben in his tyme might so haue ben allowed covertly But allowing it were triable at this day by the Ordinary the Pope's Dispensation carryeth not in our Law the Jurisdiction of the
mention had ben made it is lykely that the Parliament wold never have consentyd or agreid thervnto as at the makinge of the same Statute yf eny had gone about to have pennyd it in this sorte that such shuld succeede and enjoye the Crowne as K. Henry either by his Letters Patentes or elles by his last Wyll signed with his most gracious Hand had namyd what Parsonnes soever they had ben although they were infamous madde impious or such other before rehearsed it is not lykely that in this maner or forme the Parliament wolde have allowed or passed such a Statute And that that is not lykely they wold have consentyd vnto by wordes in such sorte specially expressid It is not to be thought or understandid that such Persons shuld be capable and fit for that Callinge omni exceptione majores And it is playne and notoryous as is before-sayd that to be borne in Adultery or of eny other unlawfull sorte or matche is reputid and taken a Spotte and that a greate one not onely by the Lawes of Man but also by the Lawes of God (p) Sapien. 3 4. Deut. 2 3. and so unworthy and unfitte ar such to be thought capable of the Crowne that in all States where they use to gyve or graunte eny Seigniories Titles or Liberties in Fee as Baronyes Erleshippes Markeshippes and such other the Bastardes ar never thought worthy to be admittid unto the Succession although that they be made legitimate But they must specially be ablyd vnto the succession of the Fee by the Prince (q) Bartol Bald. in l. eam quam C. de fidei com And yf they cannot inherite or be capable of their Titles and Honours which ar not nor cannot be comparyd vnto a Royall Dignitie how shuld they be thought worthie or capable of a Crowne And that that is sayde of Bastardes is to be understandid also of those that pretendith the Succession as Heires of Bastardes And synce this Realme makith no lesse esteme of the Honour and Dignity of the same then eny other Nation doth of theires it is not lykely that specially they would graunt unto the Kinge Power or Authoryte to gyve or leve the Crowne to eny Person not legitimately borne or to their Children or to eny such Person upon whose Birth and Proceedinges there might growe such stryfe dispute or contention accordinge to the saying of Cesar and example of other a litle before remembryd And since it is not lykely that the Parliament wold haue condiscendid specially unto it it followith and we must conclude that such a Graunt cannot be comprehendid by general words But though he had Power or Authority to dispose of the Crowne to the Heires of the Lady Francys and the Lady Eleanor it is trewe yet notwithstandinge he could not do that but with the Condition and Forme that by Power of the Parliament was gyven him that is either by his Letters Patentes vnder the Greate Seale of England or ells by his last Will signed with his most Gratious Hande By Letters Patentes without doubt he hath not done it and so of the Will is the Controversy But beinge able to make a sufficient and perfect Will to all other intentes and purposes either in puttinge to his Hand or ells in not puttinge to his Hand yet yf the Kinge have made his Will without puttinge unto his Hand as ther be Wittnesses sufficient and some of those that subscribed the same Testament in that behalf can so truely and plainly testify that he hath as there is no such Cause left therfore either of such doubt or elles of such conferringe or comparinge the Prothocall with the Signe or Stampe as those that haue sette foorthe these Books wold seeme to make then it is playne and manifest that he hath not done it to this purpose accordinge to the forme and maner prescribed vnto him by the Statute And every Acte or Deede that is done without the Forme prescribed by Lawe is insufficient (r) L. 1. in pr. ff de stipula l. traditionibus C. de pac l. 1. C. de pred cur lib. 10. as well accordinge to th' Exposition and Rules of the Civill Lawe as ells by th' Exposition and Rules of the Common Lawe of this Realme for accordinge to the Civill Lawe it is playne and so taken though the Matters they entreate of be in favourable Causes yet the lacke of Forme is no wayes borne withall or excused (s) L. cum hi. §. si pretor ff de transa Bal. cons 324. volu 20. And much lesse heerin consideringe the Forme requyrid by the Statute is compiled with so meny greate goode important and probable Reasons For the Succession of the Crowne beinge a Cause of such greate weight and in which ther was so greate occasion to doubt so many hassardes of indirect or subtile dealinge they had goode cause to prescribe such a Maner and Forme to make the Will by as wherby they had least occasion to feare or suspect eny counterfetinge confuse or sinister behavour in the same And so accordinge to the Civill Lawe in that Testament that they call a Solempne Testament in the which there is required meny Circumstances yf eny of those do lacke the Testament or Will is of no force or valour (t) Justin de testa lege jube C. ibidem Besydes accordinge to the same Lawe all Statutes or Agreements made that takith away or correctith eny thinge of or from the Course or Body of the Lawe is reputed and taken as odious and ought to be taken strictly even accordinge to the Letter as the worde standith And this Statute wherof we now speake is such a One For wher the Succession of the Crowne shuld have gone whither the Common Lawe had apoynted or directid it as vnto the next by the Statute of 35 of Henry the Eighth K. Henry had Auctority to leve it to whome he lysted And therfore this Statute is to be interpretid strictly and precisely as the worde gyveth That is that Kinge Henry onely by his Letters Patentes vnder the Great Seale of England or elles by his last Wyll signed with his most gratious Hand might name whome he would to the Succession of the Crowne and not otherwyse And lykewise by the Common Lawe of this Realme the Statute is most plainly a direct abridgement of the same by reason it takith from the Common Lawe the naturall limitation of th' Inheritance of the Crowne and appointith it owte of the Rule of the Lawe to the Order and Limitation of Kinge Henry beinge in this respect authorized but as a private Person And it is in some degree a Penal Lawe for it takith the Title of a Kingedome from those that by the Common Lawe have a Right and makith in poynt of execution a Subject of a Prince and contrarywyse a Prince of a Subject which is not onely penall as hauinge respect to the losse of their Title to the Crowne yf it shuld
And as anciently as the year 789. an Act was made in a General Convention of all England in Conventu Pananglico that their Kings should be Elected by the Clergy senioribus populi and Elders of the people that is such as were Members of their Great Councils or Witena Gemots Assemblies of Sage and Wise Men. This tho it was long before the reputed Conquest yet was never repealed or cut off by the Sword nay seems received with the Confessor's Laws as included in them 2. It appears by the several instances given in the fourth Chapter and the testimonies there both of Malmsbury and the Publisher of the life of King Alfred That no lineal Succession was observed here before the supposed Conquest 3. The Confessor's Law received by W. 1. Vid. Sup. and continued downwards as the noblest Transcript of the Common Law shews that the Kings of England were to be elected and the end for which they are chosen by the people After the same manner do the ancient Historians and Lawyers as well since that time as before commonly express accessions to the Throne and seem industriously to mind Kings of it that according to the caution given the Jewish Kings Deut. 17.20 their hearts be not lifted up above their Brethren 4. According to the usage from before the reputed Conquest downwards the People are asked Whether they are content to have such a Man King 5. The most absolute of the English Monarchs never believed Cambd. Brit. s 104. de W. 1 Neminem Anglici regi constituo Haredem sed a terno conditori cujus sum in cujus manu sunt omnia illud commendo non enim taâ—tum decus hereditario jure possedi c that then Children had a right to the Crown except the people consented that they should succeed as appears by King Alfred's Will and the Death-bed Declaration of William 1. And therefore some of our Kings against whom there has been no pretence of better Title in any particular Person or Family when they stood upon good Terms with their People have often prevail'd with them in their Lives-time to secure the Succession to their eldest Son and H. 2. to prevent hazarding the Succession endanger'd himself by getting his eldest Son Crown'd himself living But as the going no farther than the eldest argues that they looked on that as a Favour the pressing for a Settlement on their Issue in any manner argues That it was not look'd upon as a clear Point of Right without it Of later Times Settlements have been made in Tail which though they were occasion'd by Pretences to Titles are Records against an Hereditary Monarchy according to the common notion which is one that by the original Constitution descends to the next in the Line male or Female V. Leges W. 1. de Fide c. Statuimus etiam ut omnes liberi homines foedere sacramento affirment quod intra extra regnum Angliae Willielmo Regi Domino suo fideles esse volunt c. Leges S. Edw. tit Greve Vid. Juramentum homagii facti Regi 6. The Oaths of Allegiance required of all the Subjects were never extended to Heirs but were barely Personal till Settlements of the Crown were obtain'd upon the Quarrels between the Families of York and Lancaster and though H. 4. obtain'd in Parliament an Oath to himself the Prince and his Issue and to every one of his Sons successively and in the time of H. 6. the Bishops and Temporal Lords swore to be true to the Heirs of R. Duke of York yet perhaps no Oath of Allegiance to the King and his Heirs can be shewn to have been requir'd of the Subjects in general till that 26 H. 8. according to the Limitations of the Statute 25. 7. Even where the People had setled the Crown they seem'd to intend no more than to give a preference before other Pretenders not but that as Ideocy Frenzy or the like might set such an one aside so upon other weighty Reasons they might alter the Settlement Pryn 's Signal Loyalty p. 274. Pol. Virgil. 1. 22. sub initio as appears by Polydore Virgil who was never thought to lie on the Peoples side whatever Evidences for them he may have conceal'd or destroy'd whose words of H. 5. to whom the Crown had been limited by Parliament may be thus rendred Nota Proceres may take in the Nobiles minores Prince Henry having buried his Father causes a Council of Nobles to be conven'd at Westminster in which while they according to the Custom of their Ancestors consulted about making a King behold on a sudden some of the Nobility of their own accord swear Allegiance to him which officious Good-will was never known to have been shewn to any before he was declared King William 2. was elected during the Life of his eldest Brother who was set aside by the English against whom he had discovered Ill-will in spite of the Normans So H. 1. Stephen was elected while Maud the Daughter of H. 1. was alive and H. 2. succeeded in her Life-time upon an Agreement made with Stephen by the Peoples Consent R. 1. as within King John crown'd in the Life-time of his eldest Brother's Son Prince Arthur So was his Son H. 3. in the Life-time of Eleanor Prince Arthur's Sister E. 1. as within E. 2. elected E. 3. set up by the People in his Father's Life-time which the Father took for a Favour R. 2. declared Successor by Parliament in the Life-time of his Grandfather H. 4. of the younger House came in by the Peoples Choice upon their deposing R. 2. H. 5 6. Son and Grandson to H. 4. came in upon a Settlement E. 4. of the elder House came in under an Agreement made in Parliament between his Father who liv'd not to have the benefit of it and H. 6. His Son E. 5. was never crown'd R. 3. who set him aside was of the younger House H. 7. who vanquish'd him could have no Right of Proximity for the Daughter of E. 4. and his own Mother were before him All that came in since enjoy'd the Crown either under the various Settlements of H. 8. or that of H. 7. which took place again in J. 1. or from H. 6. at the highest 8. As the Practice of the Kingdom is an Evidence of its Right numerous Instances might be produc'd of Choices since the supposed Conquest not only so called by Historians but appearing so in their own Natures wherein no regard has been had to Proximity but barely to Blood And I believe no Man can shew me any more than Two since the reputed Conquest of whom it can be affirm'd with any semblance of Truth that they came in otherwise than upon Election express'd by the Historians of the Time or imply'd as they had no other Title or else a late Settlement of the Crown either upon themselves immediately or in Remainder The Two upon which I will yield
so happe as God forbidd but also it is so penall that if such ill Chaunce shuld unfortunately befall it makith Traytors of those that will clayme their Inheritance although their intent were but to try their Titles And it is a Learninge by the Common Lawes of England that longe hath ben so receyvid that in every such case as eny of these happen no Exposition is to be allowed but the Lawe willith us to cleve to the Letter without eny further wrestinge therof then the Letter naturally and strictly will reache unto So that if it be not a stricte observation of the Letter according to his natural entent in any of these cases the Common Lawe allowith it not And the rather the Lawe is precise herin for that it is a newe Statute which seldome ar taken by equite in eny point because they ar all pennyd at large As for Example I will remember one or twoe which may suffice to such as be Learnyd to search for other of lyke effect wherof ther ar not a few In Anno 1. of Kinge Edward the 6 th ther was a Statute made That if eny were condemnid for the stealinge of Horses and Mares they should lose their Clergy and because the words Horses and Mares were the plurall nombre it was taken not to extende to one Horse or to one Mare And so for that cause a new Statute was made Anno 2. of the same K. that made lyke Lawe for stealinge one Horse or one Mare And the chief cause of this was because it is a Penall Statute in takinge from a Man that wherby his Lyfe might be savid In K. Richard the 3 ds Tyme there was a Statute made to Auctorize Cest a que use to enter vpon his Feoffees and make Feoffementes And it was in question in Anno 9. of H. the 7 th yf he made a Letter of Atturney whether this were good by the Statute and lefte therfore a doubtfull question by reason the Statute gyveth auctoryte onely which must in all poyntes be observed And ther is a greate deale more coulour to make that Feoffement goode being by Letter of Atturney then to make this Will to this purpose goode not signed with the Kinges owne Hande For if eny other put his Hande therunto and not the Kinge himself then it is signed with an other Hande and not the Kinges Hande And yf I gyve Auctorytie to my Executors to sell my Landes and say no further then yf they sell the same by Wrytinge or without Wrytinge it is sufficient but if I adde these wordes That they shall sell my Landes so that they do it by Wrytinge signed with their proper Handes yf now they sell the same and th' one cause the Residue in all their presence to wryte all their Names as thoughe every one had severally subscrybed I hold it no question but this Sale is not good for they must pursue their Auctorytie strictlye and otherwyse it is of no effect And consyderinge as is partly before remembryd how greate a mater it was to committe such a Trust it were a greate lacke and slander to the whole Parliament to thinke that they wold condiscend to the committinge of so high and weightie a Confidence as wherof the whole Estate and Weale of the Realme shuld depend but that they did forsee that their doinges therein shuld not be blynded by a Wrytinge signed with a Stampe The same thing was urg'd by Lethington the Secretary of Scotland in a Letter to Sir Will. Cecil Appendix to the 2d Vol. of the Hist of the Ref. F. 269. which might be put vnto either when the Kinge was voyde of Memory or els when he was deceassid as indeed it after happenyd as most manifestly appeeryd by open declaration made in Parliament by the late L. Paget and others that King Henry did not signe it with his owne Hande as it is playne and probable inough by the Pardon obteynid for one William Clerke for puttinge the Stampe vnto the sayde Will after the Kinge was departid and who doubtith but yf his meaninge had ben such so to haue disposed of the Crowne but that he wold have put this mater out of doubte by signifyenge the same with his owne proper Hande And touchinge the two chief Examples that ar brought foorth the one of the 21 and 33 of K. H. th' Eight wherby K. H. was aucthorized to gyve his Royall Assent to Actes of Parliament by his Letters Patentes and so foorth and th' other for that Queene Mary omittyd the style that was apoyntid by Parliament in 35 of H. th' Eight in her Parliament Writts howe little they make to the matter every Man may judge For the Statutes of 21 and 33 of H. 8. were only made in affirmance of the Common Lawe and such a Royal Assent wold suffice by Letters Patents without eny assurance thereof by the Signe And this Statute was but to put such matter out of question for if the Common Law had ben such before there is no doubt but that he must haue signed every Patent with his proper Hande and so these Cases are no way lyke And touchinge the seconde yf the Statute that conteynith the King's Style be well consyderid there wold be made thereof no such Collection For the same apoyntith a punishment to such Subjects as of purpose depryve the K. of the Realm of that Stile But there is no doubt but the Writts that wantyd the Stile were in Lawe sufficyent and the Parties that made the same punishable So that these Examples cannot be wrestid to serve eny whit for the purpose And where ther is made a great mater by reason the Will was inrollid in the Chancery and Constats thereof made under the Broade Seale and the Legacyes thereof in all poyntes performyd To that may be answerd That all that is therein affirmed may easily be confessed and yet it proovith nothinge to th' intent applied for it was his Will is ever he condescendid thervnto though he did never signe it with his Stampe nor with his Hande and a goode and a perfect Will to all Entents and Purposes whereof he had by Common Lawe Authoritye to make his Will of But it is not or cannot be the more a perfect Will to this respect or purpose vnlesse he did execute the auctoritie apoyntid by the Statute of 35 of H. 8. as is before remembryd Since then the Duke had a Wyfe lyvinge when he maryd the Frenche Queene and by the Statute ther is nothinge to be Claymid onles K. Henry had passed eny things either by his Letters Patentes under the Broade Seal of Englande or ells by his last Will signed with his most gracious Hande And that it is trewe that he had a Wyfe lyvinge when he maryd the Frenche Queene that so if it were requisite or hereafter may be there mought be avouchid more then one with much other matter touchinge that poynt of Illegitimacion and Inhabilitie as well in
Peace when he judges it fitting notwithstanding Mens Oaths to defend all the Regal Priviledges they were not bound to defend this especially if the War were against Protestants in which case the Subject would take to himself the Judgment of the Justice or Expedience of the War as much as others do of the necessity of resisting Or suppose yet farther that the late King had discharged his Mercenaries and commanded the Militia by Law establish'd for the Defence of the Kingdom to march and fight against his present Majesty had not this been a legal Command The King 's legal Commands he agrees with me that we are bound to obey yet he with all agrees that it was unlawful to assist the late King against This before he was crown'd How then can the matter be adjusted without yeilding that the late King lost his Regal Power by assuming a Tyrannical one This may suffice to shew that they who resisted the late King did it not out of Principles either Anti-christian or Anti-monarchical and that they who are for the non-resisting Doctrine as it past for current in the last Reign and the foregoing and yet pretend a Zeal for the present Government do but daub with untempered Mortar and as they were not to contribute to the late Revolution so much as in their Prayers but on the contrary were to pray for the late King's Victory over all his Enemies and in effect that God would keep and strengthen him in his Kingdom as well as in that Worship which they could not but know not to be God's true Worship So if that misguided Prince should desert Ireland and return into their Arms for a Punishment of those Opinions which occasioned his Ruine their pretended Loyalty to this King if they prove true to their Principles must fall to the ground And the least puff of Wind adverse to us but prosperous to the Jacobites would blow up that Fire covered with deceitful Ashes to the extinguishing of which I shall readily devote my Service The Lay-Gentleman who has extorted my Reflections by his indecent Censure of the Subjects of this Monarchy who contributed towards the late Revolution thinks it clear that the Doctrine of Passive Obedience is no way concern'd in the Controversies now depending between the Friends and no Friends if not Enemies to their present Majesties having in his vain Imagination put it past question that the Williamites were neither good Subjects under the late Administration nor good Christians and true Members of the Church of England And that his good Christians and true Members are the only Persons whose Principles may be relied on now Yet since he will have the Sense of the Church to be known from the Cry of the Clergy and a Bishop supposed to be a Martyr for it may be presum'd to give the Sense of that Truth which he would be thought to attest to the last If this Gentleman will not hear me let him hear the Church for his Conviction in this matter The late Bishop of Chichester's Paper BEing called by a sick and I think a dying Bed and the good Hand of God upon me in it to take the last and best Viaticum the Sacrament of my dear Lord's Body and Blood I take my self obliged to make this short Recognition and Profession That whereas I was baptized into the Religion of the Church of England and sucked it in with my Milk I have constantly adhered to it through the whole course of my Life and now if so be the Will of God shall die in it and I had resolved through God's Grace assisting me to have dy'd so tho at a Stake And whereas that Religion of the Church of England taught me the Doctrine of Non-resistance and Passive-Obedience which I have accordingly inculcated upon others and which I took to be the distinguishing Character of the Church of England I adhere no less firmly and stedfastly to that and in consequence of it have incurred a Suspension from the Exercise of my Office and expected a Deprivation I find in so doing much inward Satisfaction and if the Oath had been tendred at the Peril of my Life I could only have obey'd by Suffering I desire you my worthy Friends and Brethren to bear Witness of this upon occasion and to believe it as the Words of a dying Man and who is now engaged in the most Sacred and Solemn Act of conversing with God in this World and may for ought he knows to the contrary appear with these very Words in his Mouth at the dreadful Tribunal Manu propriâ subscripsi Johannes Cicestrensis This Profession was read and subscribed by the Bishop in the Presence of Dr. Green the Parish Minister who administred Dr. Hicks Dean of Worcester Mr. Jenkin his Lordship's Chaplain Mr. Powell his Secretary Mr. Wilson his Amanuensis who all communicated with him Here 't is observable 1. That the Bishop as fallible as an inferior Clergy-man died in that Opinion which he had profess'd and inculcated in his Life-time so warmly and so often that himself believ'd it Tho it may be a Question Whether he would on his Death-bed have affirmed as he had done in his Pulpit where Mens Affirmations ought to be as solemn as at the last moments of Life Sermon at Tunbridg That they could not enter into Heaven without particular Repentance who in derision were called Ignoramus Jury-men because they would enquire into the Credibility of Witnesses and scorned to enslave themselves to the Directions of Judges or more powerful Influences from White-hall And tho it seems the Tower had not wean'd him from his fondness of Passive Obedience perhaps it did from that which he had express'd towards our then Court's firm League with France while he believ'd it design'd to curb none here but the Fanaticks Vid. the Defence of his Profession concerning Passive Obedience and the new Oaths Ed. Anno 1690. These severe Truths tho in proof beyond Contradiction I should gladly let lie buried with him were not his Ghost still kept walking to do Mischief And if the Authority of a Man's Person or Office shall without any other ground be set up to condemn the far greatest number of Persons of at least equal Credit and Station it is no more than requisite to shew that this Man is not more than others exempted from Errors and the common Incidents to Humanity 2. The Bishop shews that the Doctrine of Passive Obedience which he had inculcated as the Doctrine of the Church of England and which he found himself oblig'd to propagate at his Death is so far concern'd in the Controversies now depending that upon the account or in consequence of holding to it he had incurr'd Suspension and expected Deprivation for not taking the Oath of Allegiance to our present King and Queen wherein he abundantly confutes our Son of the Church And all the Authority which can be deriv'd from the Bishop's Dying-Declaration to prove the Doctrine of Passive Obedience
eum qui judiciorum particeps sit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and (d) Hermanni Conringii Exercitationes Acad. de Civibus Imperii p. 3. Ordines Imperii Incolae Conringius his Cives to be too restrain'd the first limiting it to them that have shares in the Judicature and Magistracy the other to the States and Orders of the Empire allowing no others to be more than Inhabitants or Strangers Whereas the Civitas must manifestly reach to that diffus'd Body who are either capable of being part of the Ordines or Great Council or of being represented in it for otherwise the common subject of Power must needs fail as often as there are Intermissions of the States or Great Council And 't is plain that Conringius his Reason why none but the Status vel Ordines Imperii are more than Inhabitants reaches farther Every Civis he says is a Companion of the Civil Society and it is the part of a Companion to give his Suffrage and Judgment of things belonging to the Society This certainly he does virtually who gives his Suffrage in the choice of them who conclude the rest and if this should not make a Citizen there could be no means of exerting any moral or lawful Power in any Society upon the determination of the Authority of those particular Persons who had constituted any dissolv'd Assembly of States unless the sole Power resided entirely and absolutely in the Person or Persons with whom they had lodg'd a Trust for summoning them together that is giving publick notice of the Time and Place for meeting Indeed if none but the Ordines were part of the Civitas Grotius his Distinction between the common 〈◊〉 proper or particular Seat of Power would be very vain wherefore I take his Cives to be the same with Pufendorf's Quorum coitione consensu primò Civitas coaluit aut qui in illorum locum successerunt nempe Patres familiâs Sam. Pufendorf de officio Hominis Civis p. 265. By whose Conjunction and Consent the Civil Society first came together or they who succeeded into their rooms to wit the Masters of Families Indeed if we consider it will appear that never any Empire or other Civil Society was founded but there was an Original Contract or Agreement among the People for the founding of it How was the most absolute Authority of a single Person ever rais'd or maintain'd but by the undisciplin'd Rabble or disciplin'd one of an Army and what could keep them together but a Contract or Promise of Pay or Spoil to the Leaders or Officers who were to be undertakers to the common People or the Souldiers I remember Mr. Hobbs in his History of the Civil Wars of England Hobbs his History of the Civil Wars blames King Charles the First for engaging in a War against the Parliament while at the same time he pretended to justify what he did by Law and to leave all that that assisted him to answer to the Law when he should have encouraged them to have been hearty on his side by hopes of the Spoil of the Nation but whatever may be the Inducements to fight for an Authority lawfully establish'd before surely no People ever submitted to any without a prior Obligation but where they had hopes or expectations of Advantage or Ease the obtaining of which if not made a Condition was ever implied Suppose a Colony of some hundreds of Men among which one is chosen General Head or Leader without any particular or express Contract and his Son suffered to succeed after him Is the Power either of Father or Son antecedent or obligatory before the free Consent of the rest has past Or is it to be imagined that either the Father or his Successor have this People as an Inheritance given them from above to dispose of their Lives and Fortunes without any regard to the Good of All The most sensible of them who utterly deny that any Power can be derived from the People as fighting against their fancied Divine Right of Kingship own that the People have a Right to design the Person Vid. Sacrosanct Regum Majest Potestas designativa personae vel collativa Potestatis tho not to confer the Power only these Men will have it that the extent of the Power of a King is ascertained by God himself which I must needs say I could never yet find prov'd with any colour But to avoid a Dispute needless here since the Question is not so much of the Extent of Power as of the Choice of Persons or Derivation of it Whether any Choice is allowable for us must be determined by the fundamental or subsequent Contract either voluntary or impos'd by Conquest and 't is this which must resolve us whether the Government shall continue Elective or Hereditary to them that stand next in the course of Nature guided to a certain Channel by the common Law of Descents or limited only to the Blood with a Liberty in the People to prefer which they think most convenient all Circumstances considered And if our Constitution warrants the last then we may cut the Gordian Knot and never trouble our selves with Difficulties about a Demise or Cession from the Government or Abdication of it for which way soever the Throne is free from the last Possessor the People will be at Liberty to set up the most deserving of the Family or whom they judg so unless there be subsequent Limitations by a Contract yet in force between Prince and People which being dissolv'd no Agreements take place but such as are or have been made among themselves Vid. infra cap. In which Case whatever ordinary Rule they have set themselves they may alter it upon weighty Considerations And that the People of England have lawfully and rightfully renounc'd their Allegiance sworn to J. 2. and transferr'd it to the most deserving of the Blood notwithstanding any Oaths or Recognitions taken or made by them I shall evince not only from the Equity of the Law and Reservations necessarily implied in their Submission to a King but from the very Letter explain'd by the Practice of the Kingdom both before the reputed Conquest and since CHAP. II. Of Equity or implied Reservations Who judges of the Equity The Lord Clarendon's Judgment of such Cases Cocceius his A short Reference to three late Treatises of great use upon this Question Some Reservations which Bp Sanderson will have implied in all Oaths Grotius his Opinion and Quotations out of Barclay in relation to the withdrawing the Allegiance which had been due to Kings Even the Author of Jovian of some Service here Mr. Falkner's Christian Loyalty set in a true Light and shewn notwithstanding his being misled by the Canons of J. 1. and of 1640. to be wholly on our side in what relates to our present Enquiry and to joyn with Grotius Barclay Bp Bilson Lessius and Becanus So Bp Bedell tho a Cloud has been endeavoured to be drawn over his Opinion
Family was barely which of the Competitors all Circumstances being considered was most likely to advance the Publick Interest of which the People were to be Judges whereas according to his Limitation they were bound to take the Person who was next in the Line if he lay not under a natural or moral Incapacity directly contrary to what he shews out of Malmsbury of the West Saxon Kingdom in which after Ina no Lineal Succession was observed When Athelstan Page 15. of his own shewing was chosen King were his Brothers Edward and Edwin under any natural or moral Incapacity Or were the Sons of Edmond Iron-side either way uncapable when Edward the Confessor was elected For Confirmation of what himself produces upon this Head I take leave to add one Authority from the Writer of the Life of King Alfred Vita Aelfredi lib. 1. f. 19. Many Examples says he are found among the Saxon Kings of a Brother's succeeding to the Brother before his Son especially if the Son had any Impediment from the Infirmity of his Age or other Ineptitude for governing Nay OFTEN BY REASON OF LESS MERIT I must admit that for the deposing one actually invested with the Regal Authority the Author's Limitations were to be observ'd tho they were not strictly kept to and I cannot but think that this Author confounds himself for want of this Distinction Either the frequent Examples of setting Kings aside whom the Nation judg'd uncapable of the Government through some natural or moral Defect or Excess or rather the continual Engagements in war with Foreigners had such Effect that from the time of King Edwin Nephew to the English Monarch Edred who was driven out of the Kingdom Anno 957 to the time of W. 1. being 109 Years I find no like Instance but one Anno 1014 52 Years before the suppos'd Conquest which was the case of Etheldred who abdicated the Government and went into Normandy from whence the Nation agreed to receive him again upon Condition si vel rectiùs gubernaret Flor. Wigorn. An. 1014. vel mitiùs eos tractare vellet if he would either govern more according to Law or treat them more mildly Upon which he promiss'd omnia Rege Populo digna All things which become a King to his People For the most part during the Saxon Government a King was but a more splendid General nor could he hope to maintain his Dignity but by hardy Actions and tender Usage of his People Even Will. 1. notwithstanding the Pretence made in after-Ages of his having broken the English Spirit Vid. second Part. was not only oblig'd to keep within Bounds as the following Discourse will evince but to renew his Compact with the People more than once Their extraordinary Power had slept very few Years after the Death of this reputed Conqueror Ed. Lond. Mat. Par. f. 19. Rex Willielmus videns omnes pene regni proceres una rabie conspiratos Anglos fortitudine probitate insignes faciles Leges tributorum lenamen liberasque illis venationem promittendo sibi primo devinxit for the Sickness of his Son W. 2. giving the English Nobility an opportunity of consulting together they almost as one Man were for declaring against him which he timely prevented by fair Promises to them Nay tho his Brother H. 1. came in with the universal Applause of the Nation yet a great part of his Navy deserted him and declar'd for his Brother Robert not because he was the elder Brother but because Henry was unmindful of that Contract which gain'd him the Preference Quia Rex jam tyrannazaverit as the Historian has it because the King prov'd a Tyrant King Stephen his immediate Successor after Allegiance sworn to him had it a while withdrawn for Maud the Empress Daughter to H. 1. but the People soon return'd to it again rejecting her who was nighest in Blood because she deny'd them the benefit of St. Edward's Laws And Discourse p. 21. as the Author of the learned Discourse about the New Separation observes out of Manuscript written by Fortescue Chancellor to H. 6. Maud was set aside and the Reversion of the Crown entail'd on her Son altho she was living and this was done in Parliament Communi Consensu Procerum Communitatis Regni Angliae By the common Consent of the Peers and Commons of England for which Fortescue whose Skill and Integrity no Man can justly question appeals not only to the Cronicles but to the Proceedings of Parliament However this Author will have it that the Commons were not there but as represented by the Barons being misled by the general Expressions of the Historians whose Authority he opposes to the Rolls of Parliament Yet for the purpose here it is enough that this was done by a Parliament of that Time that the Agreement then made was confirm'd by the Oaths of the Great Men and that the Publick Good which was the Foundation of the Agreement was thought to be the measure of the Obligation of such Oaths Hen. 2. came to the Crown by virtue of an Agreement with King Stephen to which the Nation consented for ought appears he was a strict Observer of the Constitution of the Government but being render'd uneasy by the Refractoriness of the Clergy and desirous that his Son should enjoy that Kingdom which he found a desirable Possession to them who would keep the Laws he took his Son into a Partnership of the Care and Dignity this occasion'd a Competition for Power which the Admirers of the traiterous St. Becket improv'd into a War which divided the People Archbishop Parker's Antiquitates Britanicae f. 130. salvâ fide Regi patri quamdiu viveret ac regno praeesse vellet but this being between two Kings both in Possession I should not look on as any Precedent to our Point did I not find that the Allegiance sworn to the Son at the receiving him to the Succession was with a Salvo for that which was due to his Father as long as he should live or think fit to reign CHAP. V. The Barons Wars in the time of King John That he had abdicated the Government That he had lost all means of being trusted by his People How unwilling they were to engage in a War against him They invite over Lewis the Dauphin of France His Case a Parallel to the late Abdication The Vacancy of the Throne insisted on by the French King's Advocate and that thereupon the Barons had right to chuse another King of the Blood Royal of England as Lewis was Why the Barons fell off from Lewis What the Homilies say concerning their inviting Lewis swearing Allegiance to him and fighting under his Banner against King John considered THE Power lodg'd in the People for the publick Good to be sure was rous'd and justified by the Tyrannical Reign of King John who tho he had effectually abdicated or unking'd himself by his giving up his Crown as much as in him
the late Assembly would be conclusive to the Nation Neither Forty days Summons nor Writs nor yet Summons to a Parliament Essential And this confirmed not only by the President 12 Car. 2. but by two Presidents of the time of H. 1. The Subjects in the time of E. 1. said to have held a Parliament by themselves and of their own appointing The Objection of want of Form Answered out of the Civil-Law and its Reason applied to our Case Objections made by the Author of Elementa Politica considered The Conclusion THE Power having upon the Dissolution of the Contract between J. 2. and his former Subjects returned to the People of Legal Interests in the Government according to the Constitution there can be no doubt with unbiassed Men but this takes in them only who have Right of being in Person or by Representation in those Assemblies where is the highest Exercise of the Supream Power But there are two Extreams opposite to the late Election made by such an Assembly The First is of them who would have all things go on in the same Form as under a Monarch which was impossible and therefore the Supream-Law the Publick-Safety must needs supply the want of Form Nor can be justly controverted till the Lawfulness of the end is disprov'd For all Means necessary to such an End are allowable in Nature and by all Laws But if this should still be disputed all their Darling-Laws made by the Long-Parliament which met after that Convention Anno 1660. will fall to the ground according to the former application of the Statute above-mentioned 16 Car. 1. Vid. Sup. Nay the attempt of Repealing that Statute being in a Parliament which had been actually Dissolved before by that very Law which it went about to Repeal that Form which was usual before is in default of King and Officers supplied by another Provision for the Regular Meeting of Lords and Commons And what hinders but the people had as much Power to vary from the Common Form when there was no King and that Form could not be observ'd as when there was a King and a possibility of having that Form Here I may observe these two things 1. If as I have shewn at large the Right of Succession to the Crown was not fixed to the next in Blood neither before the reputed Conquest nor since if there have been several vacancies of the Throne and the People had right to chuse upon every such Vacancy then whatever they did in order to the choice must necessarily have been freed from the Forms which were required under a King 2. Even where the Kingdom has gone by descent there may have been a necessity for the people to take the Government upon them as if the present Possessor has turned Madman or he who stood next in the Succession were under age without any Guardian appointed in the Life-time of his Father or out of the land when his Father died which were the cases of R. 1. and of E. 1. the account of the last of which deserves particular notice The Annals of Waverly having mentioned the Death of H. 3. add Hoc anno scilicet post Festum S. Hillarii Annales Waverleiensis f. 227. factâ convocatione omnium Prel aliorum Magnatum Regni apud Westm postmortem illustris Regis H. convenerunt Arch. Ep. Com. Bar. Abbates Priores de quolibet Comitatu quatuor Milites de qualibet civitate quatuor qui omnes in presentiâ Dom. Will. scil Arch. Ebor. Rob. de mortuo Mari R. Burnet Cler. qui in loco Domini Regis Anglorum Edwardi praefuerunt Sacramentum eidem Domino Ed. tanquam terrae Principi susceperunt ubi Dominus W. de Mertone Cancellarius constitutus est ut moram trahat apud Westm tanquam in loco publico usque ad adventum Principis Et ibi provisum est quod nulli sint Justiciarii itinerantes usque ad adventum Principis sed in Banco Dominica prima Quadragesimae 4 Id. Martii consecratus fuit frater R. de Kilderlii in Arch. Cant. Item concessa est decima Ecclesiarum Religiosorum Domuum Domino Ed. ejus Germano ad supplicationem Domini Papae ut sit pro duobus Annis F. 228. In this year to wit after the Feast of St. Hillary all the Prelates and other great Men of the Kingdom being call'd together at Westminster after the Death of the Illustrious King Henry there met the Archbishops Bishops Earls and Barons Abbots and Priors and Four Knights from every County and Four from every City which all in the presence of William Archbishop of York Robert Mortimer and R. Burnet Clerk who presided in the stead of Edward their Lord and King of England took an Oath to the said Lord Edward as Governor of the Realm Where the Lord William of Merton is constituted Chancellor and that he should abide at Westminster as in a publick place till the Prince's coming And there it was provided that there should be no Justices itinerant before the Prince his coming but only in the Bench. The first week of the Quadragesima to wit on the Fourth of the Ides of March Father R. of Kilderly is consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury Matthew Westminster of the same time says Mat. West Rege igitur Supulto sicut mos est regibus sepeliri Gilbertus Johannes Comites Gloverniae Warenniae nec non Clerus Populus ad magnum Altare Ecclesiae Westm ' celeriter properarunt Ed. primogenito Regis fidelitatem jurantes qui si viveret penitus ignorarunt Agebat enim in partibus transmarinis contra Christi adversarios bellaturus Postmodum ad novum Templum Londini Nobiliores Regni pariter convenerunt Et facto sigillo novo constituerunt fideles ministros Custodes qui Thesaurum Regis Pacem Regni fideliter custodirent The King therefore being buried in that state in which Kings us'd to be buried Gilbert and John Earls of Gloster and Waren as also the Clergy and People as soon as might be hastned to the great Altar of Westminster-Church swearing Fealty to Edward the King 's eldest Son tho they were wholly ignorant whether he were alive or no for he was in Foreign Parts fighting against the Enemies of Christ After this the Nobility of the Kingdom likewise met and a new Seal being made they constituted faithful Ministers and Keepers who might faithfully keep the King's Treasure and the Peace of the Kingdom The Annals and Matthew Westminster differ in circumstances tho they agree in substance but it would seem as if the same Convention had been adjourn'd from Westminster to the Temple and therefore its Acts might have been said to have been at either of the places It at least appears from Matthew Westminster that prior to that Solemn Convention which the Annals mention there had been a great confluence of people headed by the Earls of Glocester and Waren at that meeting 't is
Cancellario Angliae emergat seu judicium difficile coram Justiciariis fuerit reddendum hujusmodi si forte in hujusmodi deliberationibus omnes vel saltem major pars concordare non valeant tunc Comes Senescallus Comes Constabularius Comes Marescallus vel duo illorum eligent viginti quinque personas de omnibus paribus Regni scilicet duos Episcopos tres Procuratores pro Clero duos Comites tres Barones quinque Milites Comitatuum quinque Cives quinque Burgenses qui faciunt viginti quinque Et illi viginti quinque possunt eligere ex seipsis duodecim condescendere in eis ipsi duodecim sex condescendere in eis ipsi sex ad tres condescendere in eis illi tres in paucioribus se condescendere non possunt nisi optentâ licentiâ à Domino Rege Et si Rex consenceat ipsis tres possunt in duos de illis duobus aliter poterit in alium descendere Et ita demum stabit sua ordinatio super totum Parliamentum ita condescendendo à viginti quinque personis usque unam solam personam nisi numerus major concordare valeat ordinare tandem una persona ut est dictum pro omnibus ordinabit quòd cum seipsâ discordare non potest Salvo Domino Regi ejus Consilio quod ipsi hujusmodi ordinationes postquam Scriptae fuerint examinare emendare valeant si hoc facere sciant velint Ita quod hoc faciant ibidem tunc in pleno Parliamento de consensu Parliamenti non retro Parliamentum N. VII Vid. CAP. 7. F. 70. SEneschallia Angliae pertinet ad Comitem Leicester pertinet ab Antiquo Et sciendum est Sir John Cotton 's Library Tit. Tiberius n. 8 De Officio Seneschalliae quod ejus officium est supervidere regulare sub Rege immediate post Regem totum Regnum Angliae omnes ministros legum infra idem Regnum temporibus pacis guerrae c. Item officium Seneschalliae est quod si Rex habeat malos Consiliarios circa eum qui sibi dant Consilia ad faciend talia quae sunt apta prona ad dedecus suum aut exhaeredationem suam ad publicum malum destructionem populi sui tunc Seneschallus Angliae assumpto secum Constabulario aliis Magnatibus aliis de Communitate Regni Angliae mittent ad hujusmodi Consiliarium Regis quod ipsum Regem ita ducere consulere desistat de hujusmodi malis consiliis prius Regi factis mentionem faciend Quod ab eo ejus presentiâ recedat moram cum eo quod dedecus suum damnum publicum ut predictum est non faciat Quod si vero faciat tum mittent ad Regem quod ipsum ab eo amoveri faciat ejus consilium non audiat pro eo quod à toto populo malus Consiliarius inter Regem suum Populum praesumitur Quod si Rex non fecerit aliâs pluries mittent tam Regi quam ei Quod si demum non Rex nec hujusmodi Consiliarius de hujusmodi missionibus supplicationibus advertat sed ea potius facere neglexerit tum pro bono publico licebit Seneschallo Constabulario Angliae Magnatibus aliis de Communitate Regni capere corpus ejus salvum custodire usque ad proximum Parliamentum seisire res redditus omnes possessiones suas donec judicium suum attenderit subierit per considerationem istius rni in Parliamento N. VIII Vid. CAP. 7. F. 72. JOhannes Dei gratiâ c. sciatis nos concessisse presenti cartâ nostrâ confirmasse dilecto fideli nostro Willielmo Marescallo Comiti Pembroke haeredibus suis Magistratum Marescalciae Curiae nostrae quem Magistratum Gilbertus Marescallus H. Rs. avi patris nostri Johannes filius ipsius Gilberti disrationaverunt coram praed Rege H. in Curiâ suâ contra Rob. de Venoiz contra Willielmum de Hastings qui ipsum Magistratum calumpniabantur Et hoc judicium quia defecerunt se de recto ad diem quem eis inde constituerat Quare volumus firmiter precipimus quod predictus Willielmus heredes sui post eum habeant teneant pred Magistratum cum omnibus ad illum pertinen bene in pace liberè quietè integrè honorificè de nobis heredibus Testibus W. Lond. E. Elyens H. Sarum Ep. Dat. per manus H. Cant. Arch. N. IX Vid. CAP. 9. F. 93. Rot. Parl. 1. H. 7. Presentatio Praelocutoris SUbsequenterque idem dominus Rex prefatis communibus ore suo proprio eloquens ostendendo suum adventum ad jus Coronam Angliae fore tam per justum titulum haereditanciae quam per verum Dei Judicium in tribuendo sibi victoriam de inimico suo in Campo declaravit quod omnes subditi sui cujuscunque statûs gradûs seu conditionis fuerint haberent tenerent sibi haeredibus suis omnia terras tenementa redditus haereditamenta sua eisdemque gauderent exceptis talibus personis quales suam Majestatem Regiam ostenderunt qui juxta eorum demerita in presentis Parliamenti Curiâ aliter essent plectendi Titulus Regis Item Quaedam Billa exhibita fuit praefato Domino Regi in praesenti Parliamento per Communitates Regni Angliae in eodem Parliamento existentes hanc seriem verborum continens To the Pleasure of Almighty God the Wealth Prosperity and Suertie of this Realm of England to the singular comforth of all the King's Subjects of the same and in avoiding of all Ambiguities and Questions Be it ordeigned Stablished and Enacted by Auctoritee of this present Parliament that the Inheritance of the Crounes of the Realmes of England and of France with all the preeminence and dignitie Roiall to the same pertaining and all other Signeries to the King belonging beyond the See with th' Appurtenaunces thereto in eny wise due or perteineing be rest remaine and abide in the moost Roiall Personn of oure nowe Soveraigne Lord King Henrie the vii th and in the Heires of his Body lawfully comeing perpetually with the Grace of God so to endure and in none other Quà quidem Billâ in Parliamento praedicto lectâ auditâ maturâ deliberatione intellectâ eidem Billae de assensu Dominorum Spiritualium Temporalium in dicto Parliamento existen ad requisitionem Communitatis praedictae necnon authoritate ejusdem Parliamenti respondebat eidem in formâ sequenti Nostre Seigneur le Roy del assent des Seigneurs Espirituelx Temporelex esteaniz en cest Parlement a la request des Commens avantditz le voet en toutz poyntz The King our Soveraigne Lord remembering Restitutio Henrici Sexti 1. H. 7. n. 16. how ayenst all Rightwisnes