of Stephen to receive Duke Henry as their Natural and Lawful Sovereign And accordingly upon Stephen's Death Henry being both lov'd and fear'd by every one came very calmly to the Throne and he having sufficiently experienc'd what an alluring Temptation a Diadem is and that Men of Pride and Ambition make no Conscience of breaking through all Obligations and Ties that may obstruct their Advances to so glittering a Bait thought the only way to secure the Crown without Dispute to his Eldest Son Henry was to set it upon his Head before his Death but before that time came he had sufficient cause to repent his Choice of this unfortunate Course However this my Antagonist would have thought an Election of the Young Prince to succeed his Father without which he could not pretend to it but if he do but look upon that very Author †Gervas H. 2. f. 1412. Ipsâ die Henricum filium suum qui eadem septimanâ de Normanniâ militem fecit statimque stupentibus cunctis mirantibus in Regem ungui Praecepit coronari coronatus itaque novus rex ex praecepto patris sui succepit fidelitates he has quoted he will find if he have any remains of Modesty in him what Reason he has to blush at his Disingenuity for he will there find that the great men were afraid they were call'd to give an account and suffer the King's Censure for several unjustifiable Neglects they had been guilty of surely either this Council was very far different from what we call a Parliament now or the Times are strangely alter'd with 'em but when they found 't was only to assist at the Coronation of Young Henry they were right glad they all the time being filled with Wonder and Amazement they being so far from pretending to any power of Election that they only look'd on and then sware Fealty Besides ‖ M. Paris vit H. 2. Anno. 1170. M. Paris tells us that the King having call'd his Bishops commanded them to set the Crown upon young Henry's head without taking any notice of any others as if there had been none present but they which he certainly would never have done if so solemn a Ceremony as an Election had been necessary Henry was succeeded by Richard his Eldest Son living at his Death without any provision made in his Fathers life time in order thereto from the consent of the people unless he will call an Article of Peace between King Henry and the King of France one and certainly he must mean that if any thing when he sayes his Father was glad to get the Succession confirm'd to him but by this it was only * Provisum est etiam quod Comes Richardus acciperet Homagia hominum de omnibus terris Patris sui citra mare ultra M. Paris f. 151. Provided That Richard should receive Homage from all his Fathers Subjects but for all this he tells us That he was again Elected after his Fathers Death which to mee seems very strange for one would have thought one Election would have serv'd his turn but 't is like the rest of his incoherent Discourse besides I cannot believe King Richard would afterwards have taken upon himself to declare his Nephew †Flor. Hist Anno 1190. M. Paris vit R. 1. An. 1190. 〈◊〉 his Heir unless he had known that the Kingdom was Hereditary for in an Elective Monarchy there can be no such thing But notwithstanding King Richard being kill'd at Chalize he was most unnaturally put by his Right by his Uncle ‖ M. Paris An. 1199. in vit Johan John who immediately seized upon his Brothers Treasure and retaining all his Servants and Stipendiary Souldiers in their former Condition he comes into England after having very generously distributed his Money amongst those that he thought were capable of doing him any Service and having first sent several of his Principal Friends thither who made the people swear Allegiance to him tho' at first he met with some rubs in his way from some Loyal and Brave Persons who adhered to Arthur as their Natural Liege Lord as the ** M. Paris ubi supra Historian expresses it alledging that according to the received Custom Arthur the Son of the Elder Brother ought to succeed into that Hereditary Patrimony his Father Geofry should have enjoy'd had he outliv'd his Brother King Richard but having call'd a Council of all those ††M. Paris ubi supra Qui ejus Coronationi interesse debuerant Archbishop Hubert made such a Speech to 'em as he sayes truly would have startled the Convocation in 1640 but it sounded as strangely to those then present to hear him assert That no one could have any Title to the Crown Nisi ab universitate Regni unanimiter electus and to run on at so notoriously false and extravagant a Rate but he being a very Potent Man both the King and the rest were forced to hear him patiently but with no small concern that a man of his incomparable Wisdom and so considerable a Pillar of the Common-wealth should openly maintain so strange a Doctrine but none were so deeply touched as those good and honest men who being fully persuaded of the justness of Arthur's Title were extreamly surprized to find a Clergy-man and Archbishop the principal *** Aut fraudandi Arthurum optimum Adolescentem avito regno aut contra jus fasque Johannem regem creandi authorem esse Pol. Virg. lib. 15. in princ Actor in depriving the poor Prince of that Hereditary Kingdom which by Birth-right was his due contrary to all Law and Justice setting the Crown on John's Head But the business being over the Achbishop was asked why he would in the face of the Sun offer to deliver such false Principles upon which the Good Man not well knowing how to give an handsome Reply ventures upon defending or at least excusing one Lye by another telling them †††Respondet se praesagâ mente conjecturare a quibusdam oraculis edoctum certificatum fuisse quod ipse Johannes Regnum Coronam aliquando foret corrupturus in magnam Confusionem praecipitaturus ne habeat liberas habenas hoc faciendi ipse Electione non Successione Haereditariâ eligi debere affirmabat That his mind did not only forebode it but he was inform'd in a Dream from God that one day this John would prove a very ill Prince and therefore he delivered that Doctrine tho' false that John remembring by what Tenure he held his Crown might have a Check upon him to prevent his running out too far in his Extravagancies so that he having acknowledged what he then delivered to be false the contrary must needs be true for there is no medium betwixt them and all this consider'd you may see how much Reason you have to admire the Gentleman's Candor and Sincerity in relating this Transaction But King John had not enjoy'd the Crown long but he
speak not Reason For what Power hath the State to elect while any that is living hath Right to succeed But such a Successor is not the Duke of Lancaster as descended from * So call'd from a Cross he used to wear upon his Back Edmund Crouchback the Elder Son of King Henry the Third tho' put by the Crown for Deformity of his Body For who knows not the Falseness of this Allegation Seeing it is a thing notorious that this Edmund was neither the Elder Brother nor yet Crook-back'd but of a goodly Personage and without any Deformity And your selves cannot forget a thing so lately done who it vvas that in the Fourth year of King Richard vvas declared by Parliament to be Heir to the Crovvn in case King Richard should die without Issue But why then is not that Claim made because Silent Leges inter Arma what disputing of Titles against the stream of Power But however it is extreme injustice that King Richard should be condemned without being heard or once allowed to make his Defence And now my Lords I have spoken thus at this time that you may consider of it before it be too late for as yet it is in your Power to undo that justly which you have unjustly done Thus spoke that Loyal and Good Prelate but to little purpose though there was neither Protestation nor Exception made against this Speech which certainly there would have been had there not been as much Truth as Boldness in vvhat he said And tho' Henry the Fourth did afterwards get the Inheritance of the Crown and Realm of England setled upon himself for Life and the Remainder entailed upon his four Sons by Name and the Issue of their Bodies yet that cannot at all make for my Adversaries purpose since it amounted to no more than a Confirmation of him in the Throne or if it did vve may vvell suppose that a Prince that vvas conscious to himself hovv unjustly he had gain'd his Crown would not be very unwilling to take such a way tho' in derogation to his Prerogative to secure himself if possible tho' not out of an Opinion that they could give him a better Right than they had but because 't is natural to suppose they would upon any occasion be ready to defend what they so solemnly had enacted Come we next to Henry the Fifth who this Gentleman says was Elected But how notoriously false that Assertion of his is will appear from hence that first there was no Parliament called till after his Coronation and in the next place that if the Act of Parliament made in the Seventh Year of Henry the Fourth had so great a Force and Vertue as he says it had it was needless nor can he prove any such thing from that careless and negligent Historian Polydore For Concilium Principum with him does not always signifie a Parliament as any one that has read him which I dare say he never did will perceive nor does his Phrase creare Regem import any more than the King's Coronation besides 't is most untrue which he affirms that Allegiance was never sworn before his Time till after a King was Crowned For the contrary appears from King John and Edward the First Nay 't is undeniably true that the Kings of England have exercised all manner of Royal Jurisdiction precedent to all Ceremony or any Formality whatsoever and that the Death of one King has in that very Moment given Livery and Seisin of the Royalty to the next Heir and by vertue of that Richard the First as a Mark of his Sovereignty immediately on his Father's Death restor'd the Earl of Leicester to his whole Estate Henry the Fifth being dead he was without any Opposition admitted to the Throne although but an Infant but in the Thirty Ninth Year of this King in open Parliament Richard Duke of York the true and rightful Heir to the Crown of England and France made his Challenge and Demand of it as being next Heir to Lionell Duke of Clarence Elder Brother to John of Gaunt from whom descended the House of Lancaster but to this Claim of his it was answered by the King's Friends That the same Crowns were by Act of Parliament Entailed upon Henry the Fourth and the Heirs of his Body from whom King Henry the Sixth did lineally descend * Rot. Parl. 39 H. 6. n. 10. c. The which Act say they as it is in the Record is of Authority to defeat any manner of Title made to any Person To which the Duke of York answerably replies That if King Henry the Fourth might have obtained and enjoyed the said Crowns of England and France by title of Inheritance Descent or Succession he neither needed nor would have desired or made them to be granted to him in such wise as they be by the said Act the which taketh no place nor is of any Force or Effect mind that against him that is Right Inheritor of the said Crowns as it accordeth with God's Laws and all Natural Laws And this Claim and Answer of the Duke of York is expresly acknowledged and recognized by this Parliament to be Good True Just Lawful and Sufficient and 't is agreed that Henry shall hold the Crown during his Life and the Duke of York in the mean time to be reputed and proclaimed Heir Apparent So that we have here as much as can be desired a Parliament not only declaring that a Title to the Crown ought to derive it self only from the Laws of God and Nature and not from any Civil Sanction and acknowledging in at the Bargain that it is beyond the Reach of any Humane Legislative Power to debar and exclude any one that justly claims by such a Right But to â— proceed upon Edward the Fourth's coming to the Crown a Parliament conven'd in the first year of his Reign does acknowledge and recognize his Title in these words as the * Rot. Parl. 1 Ed. 4. n. 8. c. Record has it Knowing also certainly without doubt and ambiguity that by Gods Law and Law of Nature He h. e. Edward the Fourth and none other is and ought to be true right-wise and natural Liege and Sovereign Lord. And that he was in Right from the Death of the said Noble and Famous Prince his Father very just King of the same Realm of England So here again we have another Parliament of the same mind with the last and I doubt not but we shall meet with more of 'em e're we have done When King Edward the Fourth was droven out of his Kingdom by Henry the Sixth 't is true the Crown was again entail'd if it may be properly so call'd upon him and his Heirs c. but still the proceeding was grounded upon the same Bottom with the former Here our Pamphleteer is pleased to make this drowsie Observation that both the Families of York and Lancaster claim'd a Title by Act of Parliament 't is true the latter did because they
but for the most part very shallow pretences Ethelred being dead †Fl. VVgorn f. 616. M. VVestm f 203. Canutus by the terrour of his Arms having the greatest part of the Island at his devotion forced them to acknowledge and receive him for their King which they being under an apparent Force could not choose but do which notwithstanding this Gentleman is pleas'd to call an Election but how ridiculously I leave to every man of sense to judge but however the City of †Soli Cives Londinenses pars Nobilium qui tunc temporis ibidem permanebant Edmundum filium Regis ferreum latus in Regem unanimiter exclamaverunt M. Westm ubi supra London and that part of the Nobility that was there stood firm to Edmond Ironside Eldest Son and Heir to the deceased King and received him for their Sovereign as they were in Duty bound but at length these two Princes being grown weary of the War after a Duel sought between them to avoid the effusion of more Blood they came to this ‖ M. Westm f. 205. Conclusion That the Kingdom should be divided betwixt them each peaceably to enjoy his share But upon the Death of Edmund the * M. VVestm ubi supra Fl. VVigorn f. 618. Verum illi restante Deo falsum perhibuerunt testimonium fraudulentes mentiti sunt existimantes illum sibi mitiorem esse propter mendacium eorum se ab eo praemium sumpturos magnum ex quibus falsis testibus quidam post non longum tempus ab eodem rege sunt interfecti Dane being resolved to admit of no Co-parter in the Government of this Island summons all the Great Men and very cunningly as if he had been ignorant of the matter demands of them whether or no by the Agreement made betwixt him and the late King it was Provided That the Sons or Brethren of Edmond should succeed him during his Canutus's Life but he was answered by 'em That they were ignorant of any Provision made for his Brethren at any time but this they were sure of That Edmund on his Death-Bed had recommended the Care and Protection of his Children to him till they came to Age capable of the Government of his Kingdom but sayes Florence of Worcester God knows they bore false Testimony and ly'd falsely but they thought by this means to intitle themselves to some great reward or at least to a Room in his Favours and Affections but after by this means he had obtained the Crown they found themselves mistaken for he wisely considering that such Time-serving Polititians as had betray'd their true Master's Interest would no longer be true to his than it stood with their convenience therefore he soon found means to cut most of 'em off a true and just reward for their disloyalty Canutus being dead and having appointed his youngest Son Hardicanute for his Successor by his Will it seems Princes in those days took upon them the disposing of their Crowns without asking the consent of the people his Second †M. VVestm f. 209. VV. Malmesb l. 2. c. 12. f. 76. Flor. VVigorn 622. Son Harald as having the advantage by seniority of Birth laid claim to the Crown asserting that he being Elder Brother and Legitimate which by the by was false but however it serv'd his turn for the present it was not in his Fathers power to rob him of his Birth-right to determine therefore the justness of his Title a great Council was assembled where the business viz. who had the greater Right to the Crown was very warmly debated on both sides and was at length decided in favour of Harald he having the greatest part of the Nobility and the City of ‖ Qui jam penè in barbarorum mores propter frequentem convictum transiverant VV. Malmsb ubi supra London which was then by the long continuance of the Danes there degenerated into barbarism and tho' this Gentleman would make us believe this was an Election yet I am persuaded it was nothing less because the point in Controversie was who had the most Right and best Title to the Crown besides if we may give Credit to the ** Brompton f. 932. Historian who sayes Placitum magnum de regni Successione apud Oxonium factum est it was only a bare pleading and arguing the justness of Harald's pretences ††quafi justus haeres sc Haraldus regnare nec tamen ita potenter ut Canu'us quia justior haeres expectabatur Hardicanutus which how it could be and yet the Kingdom be Elective I cannot conceive F. VVigorn ubi supra who by the corruption and partiality of the Judges got the day notwithstanding all the endeavors of Q. Emma and Earl Godwin who objected Harald's illegitimacy and the Will of the deceased King so far were they from endeavouring to make any court to the people for the procuring of theirs that they only desired their assent to the justness of his Title which certainly in an Elective Monarchy no man can pretend to but Harald being sensible how unjustly he had obtained the Crown used a great deal of Address and Cunning to cut off all his Competitors and it was the hard Fortune of poor Alfred to fall into his cruel hands by the treachery of Earl Godwin and was presently after most barbarously murder'd and yet our Pamphleteer has the impudence to tell us That the Nobility after the expulsion of the Danes proceeded to Elect him which is as notoriously false as a great many more of his Forgeries But Harald Harefoot being dead to make some amends for their former undutiful carriage they send to * M. VVestm ' f. 110 Fl. Wigorn. 623. Hardicanute then at Bruges an offer of the Crown which he before had been unjustly deprived of which he accepts and comes immediately into England to be Crowned so that all this while we find not so much as one pretence of believing this Kingdom to be Elective After his death the English grown weary of the Danish slavery at last resolve to return to their Duty and restore the Saxon Line to the Crown it had so long been contrary to all Law and justice kept from the possession of in order to which they enter into a joint * Bromptâ—â— 934 Association and resolve to stand by one another as the modern phrase is with their Lives and Fortunes in depriving for ever the Danes of that Government they had no pretence or right to but what the Sword gave them Nor can this be any Argument for the Power of Parliaments in disposing of the Succession for what was done by the Great Council then was but their Duty since they were bound in Conscience upon the first opportunity to endeavour the ejection of an Usurper and the Restauration of the true Heir to the Throne of his Fathers In pursuance to this Resolution it not being well known what was become of Ironside's Children or if it