matter groweth to faction and from factiō bursteth out to plain and open hostilitie wherevpō foloweth passing great perilles and oftentimes detestable alterations and subuersions of the plublick state For the better auoyding of suche and lyke inconueniences albeit at the beginning Princes reigned not by descent of blood and succession VVhy all the vvorld almost embraceth succession of princes rather than election but by choyse and election of the worthiest the world was for the most part constreyned to reiect and abandon election and so oftentimes in stead of a better and woorthier to take for their Gouernour some certain issue ofspring of one family though otherwyse perhappes not so mete VVhich defecte is so supplied partly by the greate benefit of the good reast and quyetnesse that the people vniuersally enioye by this course of succession and partly by the industrie and trauail of graue and sage personages whose counseil Princes doe vse in their affaires that the whole world in a manner these many thousand yeres hath embrased successiō by blood rather than by election And all politike Princes wanting issue of their own bodies to succede them haue euer had a speciall care foresight for auoyding of ciuil dissention that the people allwayes myght knowe the true and certain heyr apparent of the Croune specially when there appeared any lykelyhode of varitie of opinions or factions to ensue about the true and laufull succession in gouernement The care of English kinges to haue the successour to be knovvn This care and foresight doeth manifestly appear to haue bene not only in manye Princes of forain Countreis but also in the kynges of England aswell before as after the Conquest namely in S. Edward kyng of England that holie Confessour by declaring and appoynting Edgar Atheling his nephews fonne Flores hist anno 1057 to be his heyre as also in kynge Richard the first who before he interprised his Iourney to Ierusalem Richard Chanon of the Trinitie ī Londō assembled his Nobilitie and Commons together and by their consentes declared Arthure sonne of his brother Duke of Britain to be his next heir and Successour of the Croune Of whiche Arthure flores hist anno 1190 Poli. l. 14. as also of the sayd Edgar Atheling we will speake more hereafter This care also had king Richard the second what time by authoritie of Parlament he declared for heir apparent of the Croune the Lord Edmond Mortymer that Maried Philip daughter and heyr of his vnkle Leonell Polid. l. 20. duke of Clarence And to descend to later times the late kyng Henry the eight shewed as it is knowen his prudence and zelous care in this behalfe before his last voyage in to Fraunce And nowe if almightie God should as we be all bothe prince and others subiecte to mortall chaunces once bereaue the Realme of England of their present Queene the hartes and mindes of men being no better nor more firmely setled and stayed towardes the expectation of a certain succession than they seme now to be then woe alas it woundeth my very hart euen once to thinke vpon the imminent and almost ineuitable perilles of that noble Realme being lyke to be ouerwhelmed with the raiging roaring waues stormes of mutuall discorde and to be consumed with the terrible fire of ciuil dissention The feare whereof is the more by reason that already in these later yeres some flames of this horrible fire haue sparkled and flushed abroad some part of the rage of those fluddes haue beaten vpon the Englishe shores I mean the hote contention that hath there bene sturred in so many places and among so many persones Of bookes also dispersed abroode so many wayes fashioned framed as either depraued affection peruersely lusted or zelous defense of truthe sincerely moued men Seing therfore that there is iust cause of fear and of great daunger lykely to happen by this varietie of mennes myndes and opinions so diuersely affected aswell of the meaner sort of menne as of greate personages I take it to be the parte of euery naturall Englishe man of suche as fauoure them to labour and trauaile eache man for his possibilitie and for suche talent as God hath gyuen hym that this so imminent a mischiefe may be in conuenient time preuented VVe see what witt policye paynes and charges men employe with dammes weares and all kynde of ingenious deuises to prouide that the sea or other riuers doe not ouerflowe or burst the bankes in suche places as are most subiecte to suche daunger VVe knowe also what politike prouision is made in many good Cities and townes that no daungerous fires do aryse through negligence and that the furie therof if any happen may speedilye be repressed with diligence VVherein Augustus the Emperour among other his famours actes is woorthely commended honored for appointing in Rome an ordinary wache of seuen companies in seuerall places to preuent suche mischiefes as come by fyre being hereunto induced by reason that the Citie was set on fire in seuen seuerall places in one daye And shall not then euery man for his part and vocation haue a vigilant care and respect to extinguishe and quenche fuche a fyre alreadye bursten owt as may if the matter be not wyselye looked vnto subuert distroy and consume not one Citie onlye but also a whole Realme Countrye VVhiche to suppresse one ready and commodiouse waye as I thinke is that the Countrey men people of that nation may throughly vnderstand and knowe from time to time in what persone the right of succession of the Croune of that Realme doeth stande and remayne For now many men partly through ignorance of the sayd right title partly through sinister persuasion of some lewd pamphlets whereunto they haue too lightly giuen credit are seduced and caried away quite from the right opinion and good meaning whiche once they had conceiued and from the reuerence and duetie that they other wyse woulde and shoulde haue VVhiche corruption of Iudgement and opinion I doe hartely wishe to be plucked out of the hartes and mindes of men and shall in this Treatise doe my best indeuoure with moste strong reasons and prooses to remoue the same not presuminge vpon my selfe that I am better able than all others this to doe but vpon duety and zeal to open a waye fot the knoulege of trueth whiche by so many indirect meanes is restreined obscured and persecutde after reading and vewing of suche bookes and the argumentes therof as haue bene set forth by the aduersaires to the contrarie whiles I was in England Ambassador for my most gratiouse Soueraigne ladye the Quene of Scotland I attempted this woork not vnrequested of some noble personages then of great accompte nor without the aduise counsail and Iudgement of some verie skillfull in the customes lawes and statutes of that Realme VVherein I verily hope to showe suche good matter for euident demōstration of the truth as semeth to me
the Lady Margaret Countesse of Sarisburie afterward maried to Pole The third brother Richard duke of Glocestre after the deceasse of his brother King Edward the fowerth caused the yong kyng Edward the fyft his said brothers sonne traiterously to be mordered lyke a Tyranne vsurped the Croune and called him selfe king Richard the third but as he iustly deserued he dyed dishonorably and was slain in the battail beside Bosseworth by king Hēry the seuēth so dyed without issue This seuenth king Henry descended of the house of Lancastre was then the principal persone of the other partie agaynst the house of York But to take away the matter of that contention he maried the said Elizabeth daughter to the sayd King Edward the fouerth The vnion of the houses of York and Lancastre then right heir of the house of York and so by vniting those two houses he dyd cut of all those long and perniciouse broyles Thus I haue brieflye set downe the original cause and the finall ende also of that so great and troublessome faction Yet to procede further touching the said king The yssue of Kinge Henry the seuenth Henry the seuenth he had by his said wyfe Quene Elizabeth a sonne called king Henry the eight for his other sonnes I omit because they died in the life tyme of their father and without issue And he had also two daughters Margaret wyfe of the fowerth kyng Iames of Scotland and Marie the wyfe of the twelueth king Lewes of Fraunce This king Henry the eight had for his first wyfe Catharin daughter to Ferdinando king of Spayn and by her he had a daughter the Ladye Marye afterward Queene of England But vnder a pretence that the sayd Catharin was the wyfe of his deceassed brother Arthur he putt her awaye and brought in Anne Bolleine daughter of Syr Thomas Bolleine knight and by her he had a daughter the most renowmed Lady Elizabeth now Queene of England And afterward he stroke of the head of the sayd Anne and Maryed the Ladye Iane Semer a knyghtes daughter by whom he had his sonne Edward whiche afterward was Kinge Edward the sixt and dyed without yssue Then were called to the crown by succession first the sayd Lady Marie and after her the sayd Ladye Elizabeth now Queene After whose deceasses without any laufull yssue of their bodyes the next place in succession ought of right to remayn to the sayd most noble Ladye Marye now Queene of Scotland But before I enter into the explication of this matter it shall not be farre from the purpose somewhat to speake of these other personnes that chalenge the right of fuccession as properly to them selues belonging King Henry therfore the seuenth by the sayd Queene Elizabeth daughter to king Edward the fowerth had as you haue heard his said sonne king Henry the eight and his sayd two daughters the Lady Margaret wyfe to king Iames of Scotland the fowerth the said Lady Mary wyfe to the sayd king Lewes of Fraunce the twelueth by whom she had no yssue The yssue of Queene Margaret of Scotlād And the sayd king Henry the eight had as I haue sayd by diuerse venters his sayd thre children king Edward Queene Marie and Queene Elizabeth Of the sayd Queene Margaret eldest daughter to the seuenth king Henry of England was by the sayd King Iames the fowerth her first busband begotten and borne the fift king Iames of Scotland father to the sayd most noble Ladye Marie now Queene of Scotland And after the decease of the sayd king Iames the fowerth the same Queene Margaret was maried to Archebald Erle of Anguish and by him had a daughter called the Ladie Margaret Duglasse sometyme the wyfe of Mathew Steward Erle of Leneux by whom she had two sonnes Henry and Charles of whom I will speake here after Mary the yonger daughter of king Henry the seuenth after the decease of her first husband the twelueth king Lewes of Fraunce The yssue of Marye the Frēche Queene by whom she had no yssue was maried to Charles Brandon Duke of Sulffolk by whom she had two daughters Frācise Eleonor For of her sōnes I omitt to speak because they died without issue The said Lady Francise was maried to Henry Gray Marquesse of Dorcestre afterward Duke of Suffolke This Henry Gray begat of her thre daughters to witt Iane Catharin Mary The same Lady Iane eldest of those thre was maried to Gilford Dudley the sonne of Iohn duke of Northumberland a mariage begunne in an vnfortunate houre for it brought with it destruction aswell to them bothe as to their parents and many others The sayd Ladye Catharin was espoused to Henry Harbert eldest sonne of VVilliam Erle of Pembroche And the Ladye Marye yongest of the said three was betrothed to Arthur Gray sonne of VVilliam Gray But bothe those contractes afterward by the procurement and special labour of the parentes rather than vpon good matter as I haue heard were in open court dissolued and pronounced to be of no validitie in law The like happened touching a priuie contract made betwene the same Lady Chatharin the Erle of Hartforde by whom she had two sonnes yet lyuing Of whome I will speak hereafter And thus farre touching the issue of the Lady Francise th one of the sayd two daughters of Charles Brandon by Mary the Frenche Queene Now let vs come to the sayd Lady Eleonor the other daughter of the sayd Mary This Eleonor was maried to George Clyfford Erle of Cumberland who had by her a daughter the Lady Margaret now wyfe to the Erle of Darby whiche two haue issue betwene them yet liuing And this is the true genealogie and pedegrue forsomuch as I could euer learn of all suche issue and ofspring descended of king Henry the seuenth and Queene Elizabeth his wyfe as at this day can claime any right title or interest in the Croune of England The remayn is to adde hereunto somewhat touching the progenie of the before named king Edward the fowerth The yssue of King Edvvard the fouerth This king Edward the fowerth the principall personne of the faction of the whyte Rose had two sonnes whom his brother Richard aspiring to the Croune a patern of the worst marke that euer was in the memory of man caused to be mordred And he had also fower daughters the eldest was Queene Elizabeth the before named wyfe of King Henry the seuenth the cheefe of the faction of the reade Rose as is before mentioned An other of the daughters was the Lady Catharin wyfe to VVilliā Courtney Erle of Deuonshire Of the other two daughters there is left no issue and therfore I omitt them This Lady Catharin had by the sayd Erle of deuonshire a sonne called Henrie Courtney whom his Cosin germain king Henry the eight caused to be beheaded vpon a pretense of treason This Henry Courtney left one onlye sonne called Edward Courtney whom in his tender yeres king Henry the
most open and euidente so it is moste conformable to the lawe of God of Nature and of that Realme And consequentlye in a manner of all other Realmes in the worlde as growing by the nearest proximitie of the Royal blood She is a Kinges and a Queenes daughter her selfe a Queene daughter as is before declared to the late King Iames of Scotlande sonne to Ladie Margarete the eldest Syster to the late King Henrie the eight VVhose daughter also the late Ladie Lenoux was by a later husbande But Ladie Frauncis late wife to Henrie Marques Dorsette afterwarde Duke of Suffolke and the Ladie Eleonour late wife to the Earle of Cumberlande and their Progenie proceede from the Lady Marie Dowager of Fraunce yongest Sister of the sayd King Henrye late wyfe to Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolke as is before declared I might here fetche foorth olde farne dayes I might reache backe to the noble worthie Kings long before the Conquest of whose Royal blood she is descended VVhiche I Intend not to treat vpon at this tyme. And though perhappes it might seme not much to enforce her title yet may it serue to proue her no stranger to England being of so long continuance and so many wayes descended of the kings and Royal blood of that Realme But the Argumentes and prouffes whiche we meane to alleage and bring forth for the confirmation of her right and title in Succession as Heire apparent to the Croune of England are gathered and grounded vpon the lawes of God and nature and not onely receaued in the Ciuile policies of other nations but also in the olde lawes and Customes of the Realme of England by reason approued by vsage and longe continuance of tyme obserued from the first constitution of that Realme in politicall order vnto this present day And yet for all that hath it bene and yet is by some men attempted artificiallye to obiecte and caste many mystie darke cloudes before mennes eyes to kepe from them if it may be the cleare light of the sayd iust title the whiche they would extinguish or at the least blemish with some obscure shadow of lawe but in deede against the lawe and with the shadowe of Parlamentes but in deede against the true meaning of the Parlamentes And though it were enough for vs our cause being so firmely and suerly established vpon all good reason and lawe to stande at defence and only to auoide as easely we may their obiections whiche principally and chiefly are grounded vpon the common lawes and Statutes of that Realme yet for the bettering and strengthening of the same we shall Lay forth sundrie great inuincible reasons conioyned with good and sufficient authoritie of the lawe so approued and confirmed that the Aduersaries shal neuer be able iustly to impugne them And so as we trust after the reading of this Treatise and the effectes of the same well digested no maner of scruple ought to remaine in any indifferent mans hart concerning her right and title VVhose expectation and conscience allthough we truste fully in this Discourse to satisfie doubt nothing of the righteousnes of our cause yet must we nedes confesse the manner forme to entreate therof to be full of difficulty perplexity For such causes of Princes as they be seldome and rare so is it more rare strange to finde them discoursed discussed and determined by any lawe or statute albeit nowe then some statutes tende that waye Inst de iust iure â— fin Neither do the lawes of England nor the Corps of the Romaine and Ciuil lawes medle so muche with the direction of the right L. princeps â— de leg l. dignuÌ„ vâ—x C. eodem and titles of kings as with priuate mens causes And yet this notwithstanding for the better iustification of our cause albeit it I denie not but that by the common lawe it must be knowen who ought to haue the Croune and that the common lawe muste discerne the right aswel of the Croune as of subiectes yet I saye that there is a great difference betwene the Kings right and the right of others The common lavve of England is rather grounded vpon a generall custome than vpon any lavve vvritten And that the title of the Croune of that Realme of England is not subiect to the rules and principles of the common lawe of that Realme as to be ruled and tryed after suche order and course as the inheritance of priuate persones is by the same For the proofe whereof let vs consider what the common lawe of that Realme is and how the rules thereof be grounded and do take place It is very manifeste and plaine In Prologo suo eiusdeÌ„ li. fo 1. 2. De dict Ranulpho Glanuilla vide Giraldum Cambren in topogra de VVallia that the common lawe of the Realme of England is no lawe written but is grounded onely vpon a common and generall custome throughout the whole Realme as appeareth by the Treatise of the auncient famous VVriter of the lawes of the Realme named Ranulphus de Glanuilla who wrote in the time of the noble King Henrie the second of the lawe and Custome of the Realme of England being then and also in the time of the raigne of King Richarde the firste the chiefe Counsailour and Iustice of the same king and also by the famouse Iustice Fortescue in his booke whiche he wrote being Chauncellour of England De laudibus Legum Angliae Fortescue de lau Leg. Angl. c. 17. 8. E. 4. 19. 33. H. 6. 51. Pinsons prime And by 33. H. 6. 51. and by E. 4. 19. VVhiche Custome by vsage and continuall practise heretofore had in the kinges Courts within that Realme is onely knowen and mainteined wherein the English nation seeme much agreable to the olde Lacedemonians who many hundred yeres past Inst de in re natura gent. ciuil §. ex non script most politikely and famously gouuerned their common VVealth with lawe vnwritten whereas among the Athenians the writen lawes bare all the sway This thing being so true as with any reason or good authoritie it can not be denied then we are further to consider whether the kinges title to the Croune can be examined tried and ordered by this common Custome or no. Yf it may then must yt be proued by some recorde that it hath bene so vsed otherwise the aduersaries only say it and nothing at all proue it For nothing can be sayde by lawe to be subiecte to any custome vnlesse the same hath bene vsed accordingly and by force of the same custome But I am well assured The Aduersaries haue shevved no rule of the common lavve that bindeth the Croune that the aduersaries are not able to proue the vsage and practise thereof by any record in any of the Kings courts Yea I will further say and also proue that they neither haue shewed nor can shew any one rule general or special of the
as other heires should VVhervpon it is to be gathered by dew iust cōstruction of the same statute and hath bene heretofore commonly taken that the common lawe alwayes was yet is that no persone born out of the allegeāce of the king of England whose father and mother were not of the same allegeance should be able to haue or demaund any heritage within the same algeance as heire to any person VVhiche rule I take to be the same supposed Maxime that the aduersaries do meane But to stretche it generally to all inheritāces as the aduersaries woulde seeme to do by any reasonable meanes can not be The statute of Edvv. 3. An. 25. touchetb inberitance not purchase 11. H. 4. fol. 25. For as I haue said before euery stranger and Alien borne may haue and take inheritance as a purchaser And if an Alien do Marie a woman inheritable the inheritance therby is both in the Alien also in his wife the Alien thereby a purchaser No man doubteth but that a Denizon maye purchase landes to his owne vse but to inherit landes as heire to any person within the allegeance of England he can not by any meanes So that it seemeth very plaine that the said rule bindeth also Denyzons doth onely extend to Descentes of inheritance and not to the hauing of any lande by purchse Now will we then consider whether this rule by any reasonable cōstruction can extend vnto the Lady Marie the Queene of Scotland for and concerning her title to the Croune of England It hath bene said by the Aduersaries that she was borne in Scotland whiche realm is out of the allegeance of England her father and mother not being of the same allegeāce therfore by the said rule she is not inheritable to the Croune of England Though I might at the beginning very wel and orderly deny the consequent of this argumente yet I wil first examin the Antecedent euen by the cōmon opinion and sentence of English men then will I consider vpon the consequent And this I intend of purpose only to discouer the improuidence of the aduersaries whiche in a matter where they couet most to looke vnto them selues there they least of all prouide for the warrantize of theyr cause by their owne pretensed lawes of the Realme of England But I mynde not hereupon so to ouer rule the matter as any preiudice may thereby be created against the Kynges of Scotland who haue alwayes kept and still doe kepe and enioye with a plain profession most iust clame in their owne right ouer their subiectes a supreme authoritie power not depending by any lawe right or custome vpon any other Prince or potentate in the world VVell then to come to the Antecedent so it is that the Queene of Scotland was borne in Scotland it must nedes be graunted but that Scotland is out of the allegeance of England though the sayde Queene and all her subiectes doe iustlye affirme the same yet there is a verie greate number of men in England both learned and others whiche are not of that opinion but earnestly auouche the contrary being led persuaded therunto as they say by diuerse Histories Registers Recordes and Instruments remayninge in the Treasurie of that Realme wherin is mentioned as they also saye that the Kynges of Scotland haue acknouleged the Kyng of England to be the superiour Lorde ouer the Realme of Scotland haue done homage and fealtie for the same VVhich being true though all Scotsmen denie it as Iustlie they may for the homage fealtie whiche those men speake of was not exhibited nor done in any such respect as they surmise but in consideration of the tenures of certein Segnories Lands tenements hereditaments lyeing in Northumberland Cumberland other Shyres of England whiche now the Kinges of Scotland want and then did enioye holde of the Kyng of England As cōmonlie it is sene in sondrie parts of Christindome Kyngs and Princes hauyng distinct and absolute regiments not depending of any other potentate to holde neuerthelesse one of an other diuerse landes townes and countries lyeing within the marches of the one or the others dominions But admit it to be true whiche these men doe so auouche then Scotlande must nedes be accompted within the allegeance of England euen by their owne lawes of the same Realme and by the common opinion of their owne nation And although sins the tyme of Kinge Henry the sixt none of the Kinges of Scotlande haue done the said seruice vnto the Kinges of England yet that is no reason in the lawe of England to saye that therefore the Realme of Scotland at the tyme of the birth of the sayd Ladie Marie Queene of Scotlande being in the thirtie and fourth yeare of the raigne of the late Kinge Henrie the eight was out of the allegeance of the Kinges of England For the lawe of that Realme is very plain that though the Tenant do not his seruice vnto the Lorde yet hath not the Lord thereby lost his Seignorie The Lorde loseth not his seignorie though the tenante doth not his seruice For the lande still remaineth within his Fee Seignorie that notwithstanding But peraduenture some will obiecte and saye that by this reason France should likewise be said to be within the allegeance of England forasmuch as the possessiō of the Croune of France hath bene within a litle more then the space of one hundred yeares nowe last past laufully vested in the Kinges of England whose right and title still remaineth To that obiection it may be answered that there is a great differēce betwene the right title which the kings of England clame to the Realm of Frāce the right title which they clame to the Realme of Scotlād For although it be true that the kings of Englād haue bene lawfully possessed of the Croune of France yet during such time as they by vsurpation of others are dispossessed of the said Realme of Fraunce the same Realme by no meanes can be said to be within their allegeance especially considering how that syns the time of vsurpation the people of France haue wholy forsaken their allegeance and subiectiō which they did owe vnto the kings of England haue geuen submitted them selues vnder the obediēce allegeāce of the frēsh But as for the Realme of Scotlande it is otherwise For the Title whiche the Kinges of England by the opinion of these men may clame to the Realme of Scotland is not in the possession of the lande and Croune of Scotlande but onely in the seruice of homage and fealtie for the same And though the Kinges of Scotland many yeres haue intermitted to doe the said homage fealtie vnto the Kinges of Englande yet for all that the Kinges of Scotland can not by any reason or lawe be called vsurpers and vniust possessors And thus all indifferente men not ledd by affections may well see by the recordes testimonies of
England that the Realme of Scotlande is within the allegeance of England And so is the AntecedeÌ„t or first proposition false And yet that maketh no proufe that the Realme of France likewise should nowe be sayde to be within the allegeance of the Kings of England by reason of the manifest and apparent difference before shewed But what if the antecedent were true as the aduersaries saye it is and all Scotsmen constantly affirme it to be Yet it is very plaine that the sayde consequent and conclusion can not by any meanes be true The causes vvhy the Croune cannot be comprised vvithin the pretended Maxime and that principallye for three causes whereof one is for that neyther the Kinge nor the Croune not being specially mentioned in the said rule or pretended Maxime can be intended to be within the meaning of the same Maxime as we haue before sufficently proued by a great number of other suche like generall rules and Maximes of the lawes An other cause is for that the Croune can not be taken to be within the woordes of the said supposed Maxime and that for twoo respectes one is bicause the rule doth onely dishable Aliens to demaunde any heritage within the allegeance of England VVhiche rule can not be stretched to the demaunde of the Croune of England which is not with in the allegeance of England but is the verie allegeance it selfe As for a like example it is true that all the landes within the Kinges dominion are holden of the Kinge either mediatly or immediatly and yet it is not true that the Croune by whiche onely the Kinge hath his Dominion can be said to be holden of the King VVithout the Croune there can neither be King nor allegeance For without the Croune there can be neither King nor allegeance And so long as the Croune resteth onelye in demaunde not being vested in any persone ther is no allegeance at all So that the Croune can not be saide by any meanes to be within the allegeance of England and therfore not within the wordes of the said rule or Maxime The title of the Croune is also out of the wordes and meaning of the same rule in an other respect and that is bicause that rule doth onely dishable an Alien to demaund landes by descent as heire For it doth not extend vnto landes purchased by an Alien as we haue before sufficiently proued And then can not that rule extende vnto the Croune being a thinge incorporate the right wherof doth not descend according to the common course of priuate inheritance but goeth by succession 40. E. 3. fol. 10. 13. E. 3. Tiâ— Bref 264. 16. E. 3. iurans de sait 166. 17. E. 3. Tit. sâ—iâ—e sac 7. A Deane a Person a Priour being an Alien may demande lande in the right of his corporation An 3. R. 2. 6. C. 3. fo 21. tit droit 26. lib. Ass p. 34. 1â— li. Ass tit enfant 13. H. 8. fo 14. 7. E. 4. fol. 10. 16. E. 3. iurans de â—ait 9. H. 6. fol. 33. 35. H. 6. fol. 35. 5. E. 4 fol. 70. 49. li. Ass A. 88. 22. H. 6. fol. 31. 13. H. 8. fol. 14. as other corporations do No man doubteth but that a Prior Alien being no denizon might alwayes in time of peace demaund land in the right of his corporation And so likewise a Deane or a Person being Aliens no denizons might demaund lande in respecte of their corporations not withstanding the said supposed rule or Maxime as may appeare by diuerse booke cases as also by the statute made in the time of king Richard the secoÌ„d And although the Croune hath alwaies gone according to the common course of a Descent yeth doth it not properly descende but succede And that is the reason of the lawe that although the Kinge be more fauoured in all his doinges then any common person shal be yet can not the King by lawe auoide his grauntes Letters Patentes by reason of his Nonage as other infantes may doe but shall alwayes be said to be of full age in respect of his Croune euen as a Person Vicare or Deane or any other person incorporate shal be VVhiche can not by any meanes be said in lawe to be within age in respect of their corporations although the corporation be but one yere olde Bysides that the Kinge can not by the lawe auoide the Letters Patentes made by any vsurper of the Croune vnlesse it be by acte of Parlement no more then other persones incorporate shall auoide the grauntes made by one that was before wrongfullye in their places and romes whereas in Descentes of inheritance the lawe is otherwise For there the heire may auoide all estates made by the disseasour or abatour or any other persone whose estate is by lawe defeated VVhereby it doth plainely appeare that the King is incorporate vnto the Croune The King is alvvaies at full age in respecte of his Croune hath the same properly by succession and not by Descent onely And that is likewise an other reason to proue that the Kinge and the Croune can neither be sayde to be within the wordes nor yet with in the meaning of the sayde generall rule or Maxime The third and most principall cause of all is for that in the said statute wherupon the said supposed rule or Maxime is gathered The Kings childreÌ„ are expresly excepted from the surmised Maxime the children descendantes and descended of the blood royall by the wordes of Infantes de Roy are expresly excepted out of the sayd supposed rule or Maxime VVhiche wordes the aduersaries do muche abuse in restraining and construing them to extende but to the first degree onely whereas the same wordes may very well beare a more large ample interpretatioÌ„ And that for three causes coÌ„sideratioÌ„s Libe roruÌ„ ff de verborum signific First by the Ciuil lawe this word Liberi which the worde Infantes being the vsuall and originall worde of the statute written in the Frenche toÌ„gue counteruaileth doth comprehende by proper and peculiar signification not onely the children of the first degree L. Sed si de iÌ„ ius vocaÌ„ doinstit de haere ab intist but other descendants also in the lawe As for example where the lawe sayeth That he vvho is manumissed or made free shall not commence any Action against the children of the Patrone or manumissour vvithout licence L. Lucius ff de haere instit L. Iusta L. NatoruÌ„ L. LiberoruÌ„ de uerb signi L. 2. § si mater al S.C. Tertul there not onely the first degree but the other also are conteined The like is where the lawe of the twelue Tables saith The first place and roome of succession after the death of the parentes that die intestate is due to the children there the succession apperteineth as well to degrees remoued as to the first Yea in all causes fauourable as ours is this worde Filius a sonne conteinethe
of her this Henry the second being in FraÌ„ce VVhervpon the said king did reuiue and renue the like othe of allegeance aswell to her as to her sonne after her VVith the like false persuasion the Aduersaries abuse them selues and their Readers touchinge Arthur Duke of Britanie Nephewe to king Richard the first As though forsooth he were iustly excluded by kinge Iohn his vncle bycause he was a forainer borne If they 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 that Realme as may well appeare among other thinges by king Richard the second who succeded his grand father 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 chaleng their title interest then should they haue had some countenaÌ„ce of reason probabilitie bicause many arguments 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 kingdome a sufficieÌ„t 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 moste vnsure and false grounde seeing it is moste true that Kinge Richard the first as we haue said declared the said Arthur borne in Britanie and not sonne of a King but his brother Geffreys sonne Duke of Britanie to be heire apparent his vncle Iohn yet liuing And for such a one is he taken in all 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 than for an vsurper by excluding him and afterward for a murtherer for imprisoning him and priuily making him away The possessions of the Croune of England that vvere beyond the seas seased into the Frenche kings haÌ„ds for the murther of Arthur For the whiche facte the French king seased vpon all the goodly Countries in Fraunce belonging to the kinge of England as forfeited to him being the chiefe Lorde By this outragious deede of king Iohn the kings of EnglaÌ„d lost Normandie withal and their possibilitie to the inheritance of all Britanie for the right and Title to the saide Britanie was dewe to the said Arthur and his heires by the right of his mother ConstaÌ„ce And though the said king Iohn by the practise ambition of Queene Eleonour his mother and by the special procurement of Hubert then Archebishop of Caunterburie of some other factious persones in England preuented the said Arthur his nephew as it was easy for him to do hauing gotten into his handes all his brother Richardes treasures besides many other rentes then in England and the said Arthour being an infant remaining beyond the sea in the custody of the said Constance yet of this fact being against all Iustice aswell the said Archebishop as also many of the other did after most earnestly repent considering the cruell and the vniust putting to death of the said Arthur procured and after some Authours committed by the said Iohn himselfe Polid 15. Flor histo An. 1208 VVhich most foul and shameful act the said Iohn neded not to haue committed if by foraine birth the said Arthur had bene barred to inherit the Croune of England And much lesse to haue imprisoned that moste innocent Ladie Eleonour sister to the sayd Arthur in Bristow Castle wher she miserably ended her lyfe if that gay Maxime would haue serued to haue excluded these two children bicause they were strangers borne in the partes beyond the seas Yea it appeareth in other doinges also of the said time and by the storie of the sayd Iohn that the birth out of the allegeance of England by father mother forain was not taken for a sufficient repulse and reiection to the right and title of the Croune For the Barons of England being then at dissention with the said king Iohn and renouncing their allegeance to him receaued Lewis the eldest soÌ„ne of Philip the FreÌ„ch king to be their king in the right of Blanche his wife which was a stranger borne all be it the lawful Neece of the said Richard daughter to AlphoÌ„se king of Castil begotten on the bodie of Eleonour his wife Levvis the French Kings son claimed the Croune of that Realme in the title of his vvyf Pro hereditate vxoris meae scilicet neptis Regis Ioanusque ad mortem si necessitas exigere decertabo Flor histo Anno. 1216. Haroldus muneribus genere fretê° regni diadema inuasiit H. Hunte hist Angli lib. 6. Cui regnum iure hereditario debebatur Ealredus Rhiual in histo R. Angliae ad H. 2. Cui de iure debebatur regnuÌ„ anglorum Io. Lond. in Chro. Angliae EadeÌ„ verba sunt in Math. VVestmon in flor hist a. 1066. VVhat calamities fell to the Realme by the vsurping of King Harolde King Stephen and Iohn Rex Edwardus misit c. vt vel ipse Eduardus filius ieus sibi succedereÌ„t c. Rich. Cicest vid. VVil. Malmest de reg Angl. E. 2 c. 4â— lib. 3. c. 5. one of the daughters of king Henrie the second and sister to the said king Richard and king Iohn VVhich storie I alleage only to this purpose thereby to gather the opinion of the time that so raine birth was then thought no barre in the Title of the Croune For ortherwise how could Lewis of France pretend title to the Croune in the right of the said Blanche his wife borne in Spaine These examples are sufficient I suppose to satisfie and content any man that is not obstinatly wedded to his own fond fantasies and froward friuolus imaginations or otherwise worse depraued for a good sure and substantial interpretation of the common law And it were not altogether from the purpose here to consider and weigh with what how greuous plagues that Realme hath bene oft afflicted and scourged by reason of wrongfull vsurped titles I will not reuiue by odious rehearsal the greatenes and number of the same plagues as well otherwise as especially by the contention of the noble houses and families of York and Lancaster seeing it is so fortunately and almost within mans remembrance extinct and buried I will now put the gentle Reader in remeÌ„brance of those only with whose vsurping Titles we are nowe presently in hand And to begyn with the most auncient what became I pray you of Harold that by briberie and helpe of his kinred vsurped the Croune against the foresaid yong Eadgar who as I haue said and as the old monuments of Historiographers do plainly testifie was the true lawful Heire Could he think you enioy his ambitious and naughty vsurping on whole entier yere No surely
suche is their skill that this statute touching Infantes de Roy was made for the great doubte more in them than in other persones touching their inheritance to their Auncestours For being then a Maxime saie they in the lawe that none could inherite to his Auncestours being not of father and mother vnder the obedience of the king seing the king him selfe could not be vnder obedience it plainely seemed that the kinges children were of farre worse condition than others quite excluded And therefore they saie that this statute was not to geue them any other priuilege but to make them equall with other And that therefore this statute touching the Kinges children standeth rather in the superficial parte of the woorde than in any effect Nowe among other thinges they saye as we haue shewed before that this word Infantes de Roy in this statute mentioned There vvas no doubt made of the Kinges children borne beyonde the seas must be taken for the children of the first degree whiche they seeme to proue by a note taken out of M. Rastal But to this we answer that these men swetely dreamed when they imagined this fonde and fantasticall expositiō And that they shewed them selues very infants in lawe and reason For this was no Maxime or at least not so certaine before the making of this statute whiche geueth no new right to the kinges children nor answereth any doubt touching them and their inheritance but this it saieth that the law of the Croune of England is and alwaies hath bene which lawe saith the king say the Lordes say the Commons we allowe affirme for euer that the kinges children shal be hable to inherite the landes of their Auncesters wheresoeuer they be borne All the doubt was for other persones as appeareth euidētly by the tenour of the statute whether by the cōmon law they being born out of the allegeance of the king were heritable to their Auncestours And it appeareth that the aduersaries are driuē to the hard wall when they are faine to catch holde vpō a selie poore marginal note of M. Rastal of the kinges children not of the kings childrens childrē VVhich yet nothing at al serueth their purpose touching this statute But they or the Printer or whosoeuer he be as they drawe out of the text many other notes of the matter therin cōprised so vpon these French wordes Les enfants de Roy they note in the Margent The Kinges Children but how farre that worde reacheth they saie neither more nor lesse Neither it is any thing preiudicial to the said Queenes right or Title whether the said wordes Infants ought to be taken strictly for the first degree or farther enlarged For if this statute toucheth only the succession of the Kings children to their Auncestours for other inheritance and not for the Croune as moste men take it and as it may be as we haue said very well taken and allowed then doeth this supposed Maxime of forain borne that seemeth to be gathered out of this statute nothing anoy or hinder the Queene of Scotlandes Title to the Croune as not therto apperteining On the other side if by the inheritance of the Kings children the Croune also is meant yet neither may we enforce the rule of foraine borne vpō the kings childrē which are by the expresse wordes of the statute excepted neither enforce the word Infants to the first degree onely for such reasons presidents and examples and other proouffes largely by vs before set forth to the contrarie seing that the right of the Croune falling vpon thē they may well be called the kings Children or at the lest the children of the Croune Ther is also one other cause why though this statute reach to the Croune This statute toucheth not the Q. of Scotlād as one not borne beyond the seas and may and ought to be expounded of the same the said Queene is out of the reach and compasse of the said statute For the said statute can not be vnderstanded of any persones borne in Scotlande or wales but onely of persones borne beyond the sea out of the allegeance of the king of England that is to witte France Flādres such like For England Scotland and wales be all within one Territorie and not diuided by any sea And all old Recordes of the law concerning seruice to be done in those two Countries haue these words Infra quatuor Maria within the fower seas which must nedes be vnderstād in Scotland wales aswel as in England bicause they be all within one continent compassed with fower seas And likewise be many auncient statutes of that Realme written in the Normane French whiche haue these wordes deins les quatre mers that is within the fower seas Nowe concerninge the statute the title of the same is of those that are born beyond the sea the doubt moued in the corps of the said statute is also of childrē borne beyond the sea out of the allegeance Vide statuta VValliae in magna Charta VVales vvas vnder the allegeance of England before it vvas vnited to the Croune with diuers other branches of the statute tending that way VVherby it seemeth that no part of the statute toucheth these that are born in VVales or Scotlād And albeit at this time and before in the reigne of Edward the first VVales was fully reduced annexed vnited to the proper Dominion of England yet was it before subiected to the Croune and King of England as to the Lorde and Seigniour VVherefore if this statute had bene made before the time of the said Edward the first it semeth that it could not haue bene stretched to VVales no more then it can now to Scotland I doe not therefore a litle meruaile that euer these men for pure shame could finde in their hartes so childishly to wrangle vpon this word Infants and so openly to detort depraue and corrupt the common law and the Actes of Parlament And thus may you see gentle Reader that nothing can be gathered either out of the saide supposed generall rule or Maxime or of any other rule or Principle of the lawe that by any good and reasonable construction can seeme to impugne the title of my said soueraign Lady Mary now Queene of Scotland of and to the Croune of the Realme of England as is aforesaid VVe are therefore now last of all to consider whether there be any statute or acte of Parlament that doth seeme either to take away or preiudice the title of the said Queene And bycause touching the foresaid mentioned statute of the 25. yere of King Edward the thirde being onely a declaration of the common lawe we haue already sufficiently answered we will passe it ouer and consider vpon the statute of 28 and 35. of King Henrye the eight being the onely shoteanker of all the Aduersaries whether there be any matter therein conteined or depending vpon the same that can by any meanes destroye or hurt the title of the said
wise shift but that the Acte without it muste perish and be of no valewe then say they wee vndoe whole Parlamentes aswel in Queene Maries time as in kings Henry the eightes time In Queene Maries time bicause she omitted the Style appointed by Parlamente Anno Henrici octaui tricesimo quinto An. H. 8.35 An. H. 8.33 21. In kinge Henries tyme by reason there was a statute that the kinges royal assent may be geuen to an Acte of Parlamente by his Letters Patentes signed with his hāde though he be not there personally And yet did the saied king supplie full ofte his consente by the stampe only This yet notwithstanding the said Parlamentes for the omission of these formes so exactely and precisely appointed are not destroyed and disannulled An ansvver by the vvay of reioinder to the same After this sorte in effecte haue the Aduersaries replied for the defence of the said pretensed will To this we will make our reioynder saye Firste that our principal matter is not to ioyne an issewe whether the saide kinge made and ordeyned any sufficient will or no. VVe leaue that to an other time But whether he made any Testamēt in suche order and forme as the statute requireth VVherefore if it be defectiue in the said forme as wee affirme it to be were it otherwise neuer so good and perfect though it were exemplified by the great Seale and recorded in Chancerie and taken commonly for his VVil and so accomplished it is nothing to the principal question It resteth then for vs to cōsider the weight of the aduersaries presumptions whereby they would inforce a probabilitie that the Testamēt had the foresaid requisite forme Yet first it is to be considered what presumptions and of what force number do occurre to auoide and frustrate the Aduersaries presumptions and all other like Diuers presumptions reasons against this supposed vvill VVe say then there occurre many likelyhoddes many presumptions many great and weightie reasons to make vs to thinke that as the king neuer had good and iuste cause to minde enterprise suche an Acte as is pretended so likewise he did enterprise no such Acte in deede I deny not but that ther was such authoritie geuen him neither I deny but that he might also in some honorable sort haue practised the same to the honour and wealthe of the Realme and to the good contentation of the same Realme But that he had either cause or did exercise the said authoritie in suche strange dishonorable sort as is pretended I plainely denie For being at the time of this pretēsed will furnished and adorned with issue the late king Edward and the Ladies Marie and Elizabeth their state and succession being also lately by Acte of Parlament established what neede or likelyhod was there for the king then to practise such newe deuises as neuer did I suppose any King in that Realme before and fewe in any other byside And where they were practised commonly had infortunate and lamentable successe VVhat likelyhode was there for him to practise such deuises especially in his later daies when wisdome the loue of God and his Realm should haue bene moste ripe in him that were likely to sturre vppe a greater fier of greeuouse contention and wofull destruction in England then euer did the deadly faction of the read Rose the white lately by the incorporation and vnion of the house of Yorke and Lancastre in the person of his father through the mariage of Ladye Elizabeth eldest daughter of King Edwarde the fourth moste happily extinguished and buried And though it might be thought or said that there vould be no such cause of feare by reason the matter passed by Parlament yet could not he be ignorāt that neither Parlamēts made for Hēry the fourth or cōtinuance of twoo Descentes which toke no place in geuing any Title touching the Croune in King Henry the sixt nor Parlamentes made for King Richard the third nor Parlaments of attainder made against his father could either preiudice his fathers right or releaue other against such as pretended iust right and title And as he could not be ignorant therof so it is not to be thought that he would abuse the great confidence put vpon him by the Parlament and disherite without any apparent cause the next roial blood and thinke all thinges sure by the colour of Parlamēt The litle force whereof against the right inheritour he had to his fathers and his owne so ample benefit so lately and so largely sene and felt And yet if he minded at any time to preiudice the said Lady Marie Queene of Scotland of all times he would not haue done it then when all his care was by all possible meanes to contriue and compasse a mariage betwene his sonne Edward and the said Lady and Queene Surely he was to wise of him selfe and was furnished with to wise Counsailours to take such an homely way to procure and purchase the said mariage by And least of all can we say he attempted that dishonorable disherison for any speciall inclinatiō or fauour he bare to the French Queene his sisters children For there haue bene of his neere priuie Counsaile that haue reported that the King neuer had any great liking of the mariage of his sister with the Duke of Suffolke who maried her first priuily in France and afterward openly in England And as it is said had his pardon for the said priuy mariage in writing Howesoeuer this matter goeth certeine it is that if this pretensed will be true he transferred and transposed the reuersion of the Croune not only from the Queene of Scotland from the Ladie Leneux and their issue but euen from the Lady Francis the Ladie Eleonour also daughters to the Frēche Queene whiche is a thing in a manner incredible and therefore nothing likely I must now gentle Reader put thee in remembrance of two other most pregnant and notable cōiectures and presumptions For among all other inconueniences and absurdities that do and may accompanie this rash vnaduised acte by this pretensed wil inconsiderately mainteined it is principally to be noted The supposed vvill is preiudicial to the Croune of England for the clame of the Croune of France that this Acte geueth apparent iust occasion of perpetual disherison of the Style Title of France incorporated and vnited to the Croune of England For whereby do or haue the Frenchemen hitherto excluded the kinges of that Realme claming the Croune of France by the title of Edward the third fallen vpon him by the right of his mother other than by a politike and ciuil law of their owne that barreth the female frō the right of the Croune And what doeth this pretensed Act of king Henrie but iustifie and strengthen their quarel and ouerthrow the foundatiō bulworke wherby the kings of England maintene their foresaid title and clame For if they may by their municipial lawe of England
exclude the said Queene of Scotland being called to the Croune by the Title of generall heritage then is the municipial law of France likewise good and effectual consequeÌ„tly the kings of England haue made all this while an vniust wrongfull clame to the Croune of FraÌ„ce But now to go somewhat further in the matter or rather to come neerer home and to touche the quicke we say as there was some apparent good cause why the king should the twentie and eight yeare of his reigne thinke vpon some limitation appointement of the Croune king Edward as yet vnborne so after he was borne and that the Title and interest of the reuersion of the Croune after him was the thirtie and fifte yeare by Parlament confirmed to the late Queene Marie and her sister Queene Elizabeth it is not to be thought that he would afterward ieoparde so great a matter by a Testament and will whiche may easely be altered and counterfeyted and least of all make suche assignation of the Croune as is nowe pretended For being a Prince of such wisdome and experience he could not be ignorant that this was the next and rediest way to put the state at least of both his daughters to great peril and vtter disherison This supposed vvill geueth occasion of ambitious aspiring For the Kinges example and boldnes in interrupting and cutting away so many branches of the neerest side and line might soone breede in aspiring and ambitious hartes a bolde and wicked attempte the way being so farre brought in and prepared to their handes by the Kinge him selfe and their natures so readie and prone to follow euil presidents and to clime high by some colourable meanes or other to spoile and depriue the said daughters of their right of the Croune that should descend and fal vpon them and to conuey the same to the heires of the said Ladie Francis And did not I pray you this drift and deuise fall out euen so tending to the vtter exclusion of the late Queene Marie and her Sister Queene Elizabeth if God had not repressed and ouerthrowen the same These reasones then presumptions may seme wel able and sufficient to beare doune to breake doune and ouerthrow the weake and slender presumptions of the Aduersaries grounded vpon vncertaine and mere surmises ghesses and coÌ„iectures as among other that the king was offended with the Queene of Scotland and with the Ladie Leneux VVhich is not true And as for the Ladie Leneux it hath no maÌ„ner of probabilitie as it hath not in dede in the said Queene And if it had yet it is as probable and much more probable that the king would haue especially at that time for suche cause as we haue declared suppressed the same displeasure Graunting now that there were some such displeasure was it honorable either for the King or the Realme or was it thinke ye euer thought by the Parlament that the king should disherite them for euery light displeasure And if as the Aduersaries confesse the king had no cause to be offeÌ„ded with the Frenche Queenes children why did he disherite the Ladie Francis and the Ladie Eleonor also Their other presumption which they ground vpon the auoyding of the vncertenty of the succession by reason of his will is of smal force and rather turneth against them For it is so farre of that by this meanes the succession is made more certaine and sure as contrarywise it is subiecte to more vncerteintie and to lesse suertie than before Succession to the Croune more vncerten by the supposed vvill than before For whereas before the right and clame to the Croune hong vpon an ordinarie and certaine course of the common lawe vpon the certaine and assured right of the royall and vnspotted blood yea vpon the very lawe of nature whereby many inconueniences manie troubles daungers and seditions are in al Countries politikely auoyded so now depending vpon the statute onely it is as easie by an other statute to be infringed and ouerthrowen and depending vpon a Testament it is subiect to many corruptions sinister dealinges cauillations yea and iust ouerthrowes by the dishabilitie of the Testatours witnesses or the Legatorie himselfe or for lacke of dewe order to be obserued or by the death of the witnesses vnexamined for many other like coÌ„sideratioÌ„s The Monuments of all antiquitie Much forgerie and counterfeyting of TestameÌ„ts the memorie of al ages of our owne age dayly experience can tel and shewe vs many lamentable examples of many a good lawfull TestameÌ„t by vndue and craftie meanes by false suborned witnesses by the couetous bearing and maintenance of such as be in authoritie quite vndone and ouerthrowne VVherefore Valerius Maximus crieth out against M. Crassus Valerius Maximus dict et fa. lib. 9. 6. 4. and Q Horiensius Lumina Curiae ornamenta Fori quod â—celus vindicare debebant inhonesti lucri captura inuitati authoritatibus suis texerunt This presuÌ„ption then of the Aduersaries rather maketh for vs and ministreth to vs good occasion to thinke that the king would not hasard the weight and importance of such a matter to reste vpon the validitie or inualiditie of a bare Testament only By this that we haue said we may probably gather that the King had no cause to aduenture so great an interprise by a bare will and Testament Ye shall nowe heare also why we thinke he did neuer attempt or enterprise any such thing It is well knowen the King was not wonte lightly to ouerslippe the occasion of any great commoditie presently offered And yet this notwithstanding hauing geuen to him by Acte of Parlament the ordering and disposition of all Chantries and Colleges he did neuer or very litle practise and execute this authoritie And shall we thinke vnlesse full and sufficient proofe necessarily enforce creditte that the King to his no present commoditie and aduantage but yet to his greate dishonour and to the greate obloquie of his subiectes and other Countries to the notable disherison of so may the next royall blood did vse any such authoritie as is surmised Againe if he had made any suche assignation who doubteth but that as he coÌ„ditioned in the said pretensed will with his noble daughters In this supposed vvill is no condition for the mariage of the heires of the L. Francis as is for the Kinges ovvne daughters to marie with his Counsels aduise either els not to enioy the benefitte of the succession he would haue tyed the said Ladie Francis and Ladie Eleonours heirs to the same condition Further more I am driuen to thinke that there passed no such limitation by the said king Henries will by reason there is not nor was these many yeares any original copy therof nor any authentical Record in the ChaÌ„cerie or els where to be shewed in all England as the Aduersaries them selues confesse And in the copies that be spread abrode the witnesses pretended to be preseÌ„t at the signing
and so impatient desire to rule and Raigne caried awaye the cruell mynde of an outragiouse Tyranne But I woote well that none of you at this day doe fauoure such aspirynge myndes ambitiouse desirers of Souereintye except those whiche seek their own priuate gayne by the generall discōmoditie of the whole Yle and preferre the doctrine of Machiauel before the institution of a Christian I hope therfore now that the olde reproche that was wont to be obiected against the English wil be quite forgotten It is a common prouerbe sayth Polidor that English menne by an olde custome haue least regarde of all other nations to the common wealthe of their own Countrie euer inclined to factions and by that meanes haue layed their countrie open to the spoyle and pray of their enemies And this to haue hapned to that nation experience teacheth vs. For in the begynnyng of that kyngdome as Polidor in his first booke reporteth when euery mightye manne sought to be a kyng great ciuil warres continued there so long till at the last the whole Soueraingntie came into the hādes of fyue Tyrannes Therfore throughe domesticall trouble and sedition it was then a barbarous cruell age For these inflamed with ambition to rule and incensed with mutuall hatred among them selues afflicted the inhabitantes of that countrey miserablye But at last when they had destroyed one an other the whole gouernement of the common wealthe was referred to one of the same countrey and by hym all thinges were reduced to vnitie and after long warres peace was established Cornelius Tacitus making mention of the factions of those rulers sayeth that the Britaine 's were so diuersely mynded and distracted in suche and so many parties as scarsely any two Cities wolde ioyne together against a common perill and thus whiles one dyd stryue against an other they went all to wrecke Besyde all this the lyke dissention fallynge amōg your Auncestours the Britaines of the South and the Britaine 's of the Northe nowe called Scottes brought the kyngdome of the one side vnto the Englyshe Saxones For these beyng called in by the Southern Britaines to ayd thē against the Scottish turned their weapōs against the Southern spoyled them of they re kyngdome Thus by experience the Britaines found these wordes to be true whiche Vigetius sayeth ciuill hatred maketh menne rashe to annoy their enemye and heedlesse to defende them selues But those Englishe Saxones when they had gotten the kyngdome were by discorde and factions very sone diuided in so muche as of one kyngdome there dyd seuen aryse and so many kinges withall by whose dissentions the publike weale was a long while dismembred till at last after many yeres the Soueraigntie of all came to Egbert alone He was the first that called the Southeparte of Britaine by the name of England Nowe then the Englishe Saxones recouered a force and waxed stronge Vherevpon the Scottyshe Britaines vnder the gouernement of king Achaius doubting that the Saxones wold seke to tyrannize ouer them as they had ouer the others entered in to a firme perpetuall league of allyance amitie with Charles the great called Charlemain King of Fraunce to the end that those two nations Frenshe and Scottishe should from tyme to tyme for euer ayde and succour one an other against their common enemye By occasion of a lyke dissention that fell among these Englyshe Saxones the Danes vnder conduct of kyng Swayn bereft the Saxones of the kyngdome of England And at last the Normannes vnder the leading of Duke VVilliam the Bastard cōquered the Realme of England And since that tyme hitherto the whole Yland hath remained vnder the gouernement only of two kynges VVhoe neuerthelesse being so fewe could not yet keepe peace and concorde amonge them selues But yf a man will seke to know a reason whye Britaine can not brooke the regiment of many Soueraignes as Germanie Italie and the famouse state of venice doe he shall fynde euen among them that there is but one vvhiche is the heade For thoughe the Princes of Germanie Lyue in great Libertie yet are they neuerthelesse all subiect to the authoritie of one Emperour a thing very commodious for preseruation of peace and concorde amonge them And for trueth in Italie there is no stayed forme of Gouernement sythe it is subiect to the rule and dominion not of one but of many in respecte whereof some writers are of opinion that it is lesse fortunate if not miserable As for the state of Venice Conteranus hath in effect witten thus For so muche saythe he as euery Citie by peace and vnion in mynde and consent is compact and buylt and that this vniformitie in consent and will can not be reteyned except some one persone haue a preeminence ouer all other aswell magistrates as Commons whiche may as it were of many seuerall dispersed members fashion and frame one entyre bodye It was therfore most wysely prouided and ordeyned by our predecessors that in our Citie there should be a certaine Royall power that one should be chosen which should be called Prince or Soueraign Hereupon I thynk it clear manifest that the Soueraigntie of one onlie persone is of all other most necessarye for a common wealthe And this playnly maybe perceyued not only in ciuil policie but in other matters also For by the prouidence of one God the whole worlde is ruled so is the bodye of man by one soule gouerned a shippe by one master is guyded and one howsehold or familye is directed by one father wherupon it foloweth that your Yle of Britaine can not commodiouslye be gouerned by manye Soueraignes This affection therfore to faction and cōtentiouse parttaking is to be of all men eschewed and abhorred specially of those whiche are brought vp in the house of God For it is theyr part dutye all partialitie priuate quarrells sett a syde to moue and exhort others as Sainct Augustin dyd to all thinges that among christians serue for the abolishing of stryfe and establyshing of concord whiche is nothing else but a quyetuesse and peace of minde fastened and fortifyed with the bond of loue and Charitie and suche a one as hateth all enmitie and priuye grudge and loueth all alyke For Charitie as Sainct Paul sayeth is patient 1 Cor. 13. benigne Charitie enuyeth not dealeth not peruersely is not puffed vpp is not ambitiouse thinketh not euell reioyseth not vpon iniquitie but reioyseth with truthe suffereth all thinges beleueth all thinges hopeth all thinges beareth all thinges Yf you embrace this sentence you will sone lay asyde all hatred disbourden your myndes of all disdeyn and arrogance and cast away your madde armure wherwith hitherto you haue vainly contended and without all fraud and guyle you will establyshe a perpetuall Christian profitable and assured peace vnder the quiet and stedfast gouernement of one Prince For so doeth bothe honestie and profitt admonishe vs to doe all our own aswell priuate as publique affayre requyre and exact the same
farre hath Polidor Thees are woordes of great importance putte our matter clear out of doubt for here it appeareth that the case solemnlie in counceil by a wyse and prudent King with wise graue and learned Counseilours was debated and with great wisedome resolued concluded and to this some lawyers of that land gyue great authoritie credit Thus it is euidently declared who are the true heires of the Crounes of Englād Scotlād and that the sayd mariage of Iames the fowerth and the sayd Lady Margaret is to be accompted a most fortunate benefit to the whole Yland For if it be true as in dede it is that the mariage of the seuenth Kyng Henrie with the daughter and heir of King Edward the fowerth was to be estemed as a most happie cōmoditie to all England because it dyd cutt of and dissolue all those tumultes and seditions betwene the howses of Yorke and Lancaster which so many yeres had miserablie afflicted all that nation I pray you what reckening is to be made of the matrimonie betwene King Iames the fowerth of Scotlād the Ladye Margaret daughter to the King of England sithe nowe at last by the benefit of this mariage bothe England and Scotland may be quite reskewed and deliuered from those most mortall warres and intestine dissentions whiche for preheminence sake haue bene so long continewed and maintened A happie prince therfore to Englād was King Henry the seuenth for that by him allmightie God abolished all seditions and vnited the two howses of yorke and Lancastre But most fortunate most gratiouse shall the renowmed Quene Mary of Scotland be her most noble sonne king Iames also to the Englishe and Scottishe Nations yf by them two the same God shall bringe the said twoe seuerall kyngdomes to a perfect vnitie reduce the whole Yle of Britaine to his moste auncient estate of dignitie and deliuer it from all ciuill warres and Barbarous crueltie Embrace therfore ye Britaine 's of all mortall men most fortunat and take holde of this singular great benefit when the same by the grace of the euerliuing God shal be bestowed vpō yow and in the mean time euer yeeld ye to him most hūble most hartie thankes for that he of his infinite clemency and benignitie hath at last produced out of booth you bloodes a Prince by whose helpe your domesticall troubles and dissentions may be extinguished a place left for this diuine lawe of peace and amitie to be planted by the same law a soueraigne safetye and wellfare of all the people establyshed For the wellfare of the people consisteth 〈◊〉 in peace and concord But perpetuall peace and quyetnesse can not be among you except these two Realmes be combined and made all one For the force of vnitie is suche as the preseruation therof is the vtter moste ende that nature intendeth Herehence also groweth among men charitie loue frendshipp so farre that many mindes are become all as one first to remember that they must be truely menne in dede and then that they leade a good blessed lyfe whiche is the last ende and perfection of mankinde Sithe therfore the matter goeth so if you will folow God and the law of nature if you desire the safety and wellfare of your countrie yf you will liue well and fortunatlie in this world and at last enioie the perfect blesse of eternall felicitie you must enforce your selues with all labour industrie and diligence that this dispersed people may be called together vnder the regiment of one rightfull Prince and Catholique Religion of their auncestors This will please allmightie God and bring great tranquilitie peace quiet to your selues and to all the people of England Scotland and Yreland And that it maye so be lett vs all continuallie pray to almightie God the supreme gouernour ruler of the whole worlde Amen
ere the first yere of his vsurped reigne turned about he was spoiled and turned out of both Croune and his life withal Yea his vsurpatiō occasioned the cōquest of the whole realme by VVilliā Duke of Normandie bastard sonne to Robert the sixt Duke of the same And may you thinke al safe sound now from like dāger if you should tread the said wrong steppes with Harolde forsaking the right and high way of law and iustice VVhat shal I now speake of the cruel ciuil warres betwene king Stephen and king Henry the second whiche warres rose by reason that the said Henry was vniustly kept from the Croune dew to his mother Maude and to him afterwardes The pitiful reigne of the said Iohn who doth not lamēt with the lamentable losse of Normandie Aquitaine the possibilitie of the Dukedome of Britanie and with the losse of other goodly possessions in France whereof the Croune of England was robbed and spoiled by the vnlawfull vsurping of him against his nephew Arthur VVell let vs leaue these greuouse and lothsome remembrances let vs yet seeke if we may finde any later interpretatiō either of the said statute or rather of the common law for our purpose And lo the great goodnes and prouidence of God who hath if the foresaid exāples would not serue prouided a later but so good so sure apt mete interpretatiō for our cause as any reasonable hart may desire The interpretatiō directly toucheth our case I meane by the mariage of the Lady Margaret eldest daughter to King Hēry the vij vnto the fourth king Iames of Scotland and by the opinion of the same most prudent Prince in bestowing his said daughter into Scotlād a matter sufficient enough to ouerthrow all those cauilling inuētiōs of the aduersaries For what time King Iames the fourth sent his Ambassadour to King Henry the seuenth to obteine his good will to espouse the said Lady Margaret Polid. 26. there were of his Counsaile not ignorant of the lawes and Customes of the Realme that did not well like upon the said Mariage saying it might so fal out that the right title of the Croune might be deuolued to the Lady Margaret and her children and the Realme therby might be subiect to Scotland To the whiche the prudent and wise king answered King H. 7. vvith his Counsaile is a good interpretor of our present cause that in case any suche deuolution should happen it would be nothing preiudiciall to England For England as the chief and principal and worthiest parte of the I le should drawe Scotland to it as it did Normandie from the time of the Conquest VVhich answere was wonderfully well liked of all the Counsaile And so consequently the Mariage toke effect as appereth by Polydor the Historiographer of that Realme and suche a one as wrote the Actes of that time by the instruction of the king him selfe I say then the worthy wise Salomon foreseeing that such deuolution might happen was an interpretour with his prudente and sage Counsaile for our cause For els they neaded not to reason of any such subiection to Scotlande if the children of the Ladie Margaret might not lawfully inherite the Croune of England For as to her husband Englād could not be subiect hauing him selfe no right by this mariage to the Title of the Croune of that Realme VVherevpon I may well inferre that the said newe Maxime of these men whereby they would rule and ouer rule the successiō of Princes was not knowen to the said wise king neither to any of his Counsaile Or if it were yet was it taken not to reache to his blood royall borne in Scotlande And so on euery side the Title of my Soueraigne Lady Queene Marie is assured So that now by this that we haue said it may easely be seen by what light and slender cōsideration the aduersaries haue gone about to strayne the worde Infantes or children to the first degree only Of the like weight is their other consideration imagining and surmising this statute to be made bicause the king had so many occasions to be so oft ouer the sea with his spouse the Queene As though diuers kings before him vsed not oftē to passe ouer the seas As though this were a personal statute made of a special purpose and not to be taken as a declaration of the common law VVhiche to say is most directely repugnant and contrary to the letter of the said statute Or as though his children also did not very often repaire to outward Countries The mariages of King E. 3. sonnes as Iohn of Gaunt Duke of Lancastre that Maried Peters the king of Castiles eldest daughter by whose right he clamed the Croune of Castile as his brother Edmund Erle of Camhridge that maried the yongest daughter as Lionell Duke of Clarence that maried at Milaine Violant daughter and heir to Galeatius Duke of Milan But especialy Prince Edwarde whiche moste victoriously toke in battaile Iohn the French King and brought him into England his prisoner to the great triumphe and reioysing of the realme whose eldest sonne Edward that died in short time after was borne beyond the seas in Gascoine and his other sonne Richard that succeded his grandfather was borne at Burdeaux And as these noble King Edwardes sonnes maried with forainers so did they geue out their daughters in mariage to foraine Princes as the Duke of Lancaster his daughter Philip to the King of Portugall and his daughter Catherin to the king of Spaine his Neece Iohan daughter to his sonne Erle of Somerset was ioyned in mariage to the king of Scottes Iohan daughter to his brother Thomas of wodstocke Duke of Gloucester was Queene of Spaine and his other daughter Marie Duchesse of Britānie Now by these mennes interpretation none of the issue of all these noble women could haue enioyed the Croune of England when it had fallen to them though they had bene of the neerest roial blood after the death of their Aūcestours VVhich surely had bene against the auncient presidentes examples that we haue declared and against the common Lawe the whiche must not be thought by this Statute any thing taken away but only declared and against all good reason also For as the kings of England would haue thought that Realme greatly iniuried if it had bene defrauded of Spaine or any of the foresaid countreies being deuolued to the same by the foresaid Mariages so the issue of the foresaide noble women might and would haue thought them hardly and iniuriously handled yf any such case had happened Neither suche friuolous interpretations and gloses as these men nowe frame and make vpon the statute woulde then haue serued nor nowe will serue A fond imagination of the Aduersaries of the statute of 25. E. 3. But of all other their friuolous and folish ghessing vpō the clause of the statute for Infantes de Roy there is one most fond of all For they would make vs beleue