Liberi Therefore doo we supply it as wel as we may by this worde children The Spaniardes also vse this worde Infantes in this ample sorte when they call the nexte heire to the heire apparēt Infant of Spaine euen as the late deceased Lorde Charles of Austrich was called his father and grandfather then liuing Yf then the original word of the statute declaring the said rule may naturally and properly apperteine to al the Descendants why should we straine and binde it to the first degree only otherwise then the nature of the worde or reason wil beare For I suppose verely that it wil be very harde for the Aduersarie to geue any good and substantial reason why to make a diuersitie in the cases But touching the contrarie there are good and probable consideratiōs which shall serue vs for the seconde cause As for that the grādfathers cal their nephewes as by a more pleasant plausible name not only their children but their sonnes also and for that the sonne being deceased the grādfather suruiuing not only the grādfathers affection but also such right title and interest as the sonne hath by the lawe and by proximitie of blood growe and drawe al to the nephew who representeth and supplieth the fathers place the father and the sonne being compted in person and in flesh in maner but as one Why shal then the bare and naked consideration of the external and accidental place of the birth only seuer and sunder suche an entier inwarde and natural coniunction Adde therevnto the many and great absurdities that may hereof spring and ensue Diuerse of the Kinges of this Realme as wel before the time of King Edwarde the third in whose time this statute was made as after him gaue their daughters out to foraine and sometimes to meane Princes in mariage Which they would neuer so often times haue done if they had thought that whyle they wente about to set forth and aduance their issue their doinges should haue tended to the disheriting of them from so great large and noble a Realme as this is which might haue chanced if the daughter hauing a sonne or daughter had died her father liuing For there should this supposed Maxime haue ben a barre to the children to succede their grandfather This absurditie would haue bene more notable if it had chanced about the time of King Henry the secōd or this king Edward or king Henry the firste and sixte when the possessions of the Croune of this Realme were so amply enlarged in other Countries beyond the seas And yet neuer so notable as it might haue bene hereafter in our fresh memorie and remēbrance if any such thing had chanced as by possibilitie it might haue chanced by the late mariage of King Philippe and Queene Marie For admitting their daughter maried to a foraine Prince should haue dyed before them she leauing a sonne suruiuing his father and grandmother they hauing none other issue so nigh in degree then would this late framed Maxime haue excluded the same sonne lamētably and vnnaturally from the succession of the Croune of Englande and also the same Croune from the inheritance of the Realmes of Spain of both Sicilies with their appurtenāces of the Dukedō of Milan and other landes and Dominiōs in Lumbardy and Italie as also from the Dukedomes of Brabant Luxēburg Geldres Zutphan Burgundie Friseland from the Countreies of Flandres Artois Holland Zealād and Namurs and from the new found lands parcel of the said Kingdome of Spaine* Which are vnlesse I be deceued more ample by dubble or treble then al the Countreies now rehearsed Al the which Countreies by the foresaid Mariage should haue bene by al right deuolued to the said sonne if any such child had bene borne If either the same by the force of this iolye newe found Maxime had bene excluded from the Croune of England or the saide Croune from the inheritance of the foresaid Countreies were there any reason to be yelded for the maintenance of this supposed rule or Maxime in that case Or might there possibly rise any commodity to the Realme by obseruing therein this rigorous pretensed rule that should by one hundred part counteruaile this importable losse and spoile of the Croune and of the lawful inheritour of the same But perchance for the auoiding of this exception limited vnto the blood roial some wil say that the same was but a priuilege graunted to the Kinges children not in respect of the succession of the Croune but of other landes descending to them from their Auncestours Whiche although we might very wel admit and allow yet can it not be denied but that the same priuilege was graūted vnto the Kinges children and other descendantes of the Blood roial by reason of the dignity and worthines of the Croune which the King their father did enioy and the great reuerence which the law geueth of dewtie therevnto And therefore if ye would go about to restraine and withdraw from the Croune that priuilege whiche the lawe geueth to the Kinges children for the Crounes sake ye should doo therein contrarie to al reason and against the rules of the Arte of Reasoning which saith that Propter quod vnumquodque illud magis Byside that I would faine knowe by what reason might a man saye that they of the Kinges Bloodde borne out of the allegeaunce of Englande maye inherite landes within this Realme as heires vnto their Ancestours not being able to inherite the Croune Truly in mine opinion it were against al reason But on the contrarie side the very force of reason muste driue vs to graunt the like Yea more great and ample priuilege and benefit of the law in the succession of the Croune For the Roial blood where so euer it be found wil be taken as a pretious and singuler Iewel and wil carie with it his worthie estimation and honour with the people and where it is dew his right withal By the Ciuil law the right of the inheritance of priuate persons is hemmed and inched within the bandes of the tenth degre The Blood roial runneth a farther race and so farre as it may be found wherewith the great and mightie Conquerors are glad and faine to ioine withal euer fearing the weaknes of their blooddie sworde in respect of the greate force and strength of the same For this cause was Henrie the firste called for his learning and wisedome Beauclerke glad to consociate and couple him self with the auncient Roial blood of the Saxons which cōtinuing in the Princely Successiō from worthie king Alured was cutte of by the death of the good king Edward and by the mariyng of Mathildis being in the fourth degree in lineal descent to the said king Edward was reuiued and revnited From this Edward the Queene of Scotlād as we haue before shewed taketh her noble auncieht Petigrue These then and diuers other reasons and causes mo may be alleaged for the waying and setting foorth of the true meaning
hauing and following of this law as we haue said vnlesse to omitte other thinges ye would bind our Kinges also to receaue the Deuteronomie at the haÌ„ds of the Leuitical Tribe as that ye say that God gaue here a lawe to the Iewes to make or choose a King and so consequently al your illations out of this place seeme to be of smal force For to say the trueth as God neither gaue them this or any other lawe for choosing of a King nor did bid or will them to choose a King so did the people most greeuously offend God in demanding a King. For though by the iudgement of Aristotle and other Philosophers Monarchie wel and orderly vsed is the best kinde of al other Regiments which God doth also wel like yet would he haue no such magistrate among the Iewes But as he chose them for his propre peculier and selecte people and ruled them as wel in the Desert as in Iudea by a seueral peculier and distinct order and Gouernement from other Nations and after suche wonderful and miraculous sort as the like was neuer harde of in any Regiment by sides so would he also reserue to him selfe only the said Supremacie and Monarchie Neither was he a litle angrie with the Iewes nor they committed any smal fault but as it were renounced and reiected Gods owne Monarchie in crauing a King as holy Scripture plainely and openly testifiet Nonâ—ie inquit reiecerunt sed me ne regnem super eos And the people afterwardes acknowledged their fault Addidimus vniuersis peccatis nostris malum vt peteremus nobu Regem God therefore did not bidde them or wil them to choose a King but forknowing long before by his eternall forsight what they would do though contrarie to his blessed wil and pleasure did in this as in other matters beare with their weakenes and condescended vnto the same and fortold them in the said 17. Chapter that in case they would needes haue a King of what kind and sort he should be And therefore immediatly before the wordes that ye recite thou shalt make him a King ouer them is this texte Cum ingressus fuer is terram quam Dominus Deus dabit tibi possederis illam habâ—â—auerisque in illa dixeris constituam super me Regem sicut habent omnes per circuitum Nationes â—um constitues c. And when thou shalt come into the laÌ„d which the Lord thy God geueth thee and shalt possesse yea and dwel therein if thou say I wil set a King ouer me like as all the Nations that are about me then thou shalt make him King ouer thee whome c. Whiche wordes making for the illustratioÌ„ of this place ye haue omitted Wherfore as this place serueth nothing for any absolute election of a King the second which you seeme especially to regard and ground your selfe vpon so doth it as we haue shewed as litle relieue you to prooue therby your conclusions especially against the ordinarie successioÌ„ either of a strauÌ„ger or of a woman that ye would gather and conclude out of the same Thus haue we sufficiently answered the place of Deuteronomie for this one purpose Th' other two autorities may be much more easely answered The people meant nothing els by their said wordes spoken to Dauid but that they were the seede of Abraham Isaac and Iacob as wel as he and intended with true and sincere hartes vnfainedly to agnise him as their chiefe Lord and Soueraigne For at that time the Tribe of Iuda only whereof King Dauid came by lineal descent did acknowledge him as king Now the residue which before helde with Saules sonne did also incorporate and vnite themselues to the said kingdome If this man looke wel vpon the matter he shal find I trowe that the Queene of Scotland may as wel cal her selfe the bones and fleshe of the Noble Princes of England as this people cal them selues the bones and sheshe of King Dauid But yet the great terrible battering Cannon Athalia is behind She being in possessession of the kingdome seuen yeares was iustly thrust out by cause she was an Alien We may then saith this man iustly denie the Queene of Scotland the right of that which if she had in possession she should not iustly enioy Yet Sir if the Queene of Scotland be no Alien as we haue said then is your Cannon shot more feareful then dangerous We deny not but that Athalia was lawfully deposed but we beseche you to tell vs your Authours name that doth assigne the cause to be suche as you alleage Surely for my part after diligent searche I finde no such Authour Trueth is it that Iosephus writeth as ye doe that she descended by the mothers side of the Tyrians and Sidonians yet neuerthelesse he assigneth no such cause as ye doe And as ye are in this your preatie poisoned pamflet the first I trow of al Christian men I wil not except either Latin or Greke vnlesse it be some fantastical fonde and new vpstart Doctour as M. Knoxe or some the like neither Iew Chaldee nor Arabian that hath thus straungely glosed and deformed this place of holie Scripture against the ordinarie succession of women Princes so are you the first also of all other Diuines or Lawiers throughout the world that hath set forth this new fonde foolishe lawe that the Kings childe must be counted an Alien whose father and mother are not of the same and one CouÌ„trie If the French or Spanish King chaunce to marâ—e an English woman or the King of England to marie a French a Spanish or any other Country woman their Children by this new Lycurgus are Aliens and so consequently in al other Nations al such are haue ben and shal be AlieÌ„s by this your new oracle For what other cause shew you that this Athalia was an Alien but by cause her mother was an Alien genus duceÌ„s say you à Tyrijs Sydoâ—iis coming by lineal descent by the mothers side from the Tyrians and Sydonians King Achas maried her mother doughter to Ithobal King of the said Tyrians and Sydonians This Athalia whom Iosephus cal leth Gotholio Achas daughter maried IoraÌ„ King of uda her brother called also Ioram being king of Israel after the decease of his father Achas So then ye see that this Athalia was nomore an Alien among the Iewes then â—â—ing Edbalde Baldus was the sonne of Bertha a FreÌ„ch womaÌ„ and of King Ethelbertus the first Christian King of th' English nation no more then was the noble King Edward the third borne of a French woma â—more then Queene Marie was no more â—en should haue bene the issue of the said Q. Marie in case she had had any by the king â—f Spaine I perceaue that your felowes that â—ould faine make King Stephen King HeÌ„â—e the second and Arthur Neuew to King â—ichard the first Aliens had but rude dul â—nd grosse heades in comparison of
burge who therby inioyed the Countie Pâ—latine The like may be said of diuers othâ— partes of the Germanical Empire yea a wâ— maÌ„ hath ruled and gouerned the said who Empire as it is euident in Agnes the wiâ— of the Emperour Henry the third duriâ— the time of the minoritie of her sonne Hâ—rie the fourth And yet the same Empire ye wote wel passeth by choise and election and not by lineal succession of bloode yeâ— many hundereth yeares ere she was borne and in the florishing time of the olde Roâ—maine Empire Mesa Varia grandmother to the Emperour Heliogabalus and Alexander Seuerus sate with the Senate at Rome heard and examined the weighty causes oâ— the Empire and set her hand also to suche thiÌ„gs as passed touchiÌ„g the publike affaires I do now adioyne the kingdom of Sicile and Naples in Italie of the whiche Italie Noah whom the prophane Writers cal Ianus made Crana his daughter ruler and Quene wher also Lauinia reigned after the death of Aeneas And as for Naples this presideÌ„t of womanly Gouernment is not there only of later yeares in both the Queenes called Iohanne but euen from very auncient time which thing the stories do recorde in Amalasintha that gouerned after the death of her father King Theodoricus with her sonne Athalaricus The said Amalasintha was mother to Almaricus King of Spaine and after his death ruled her self the said Realme Let vs nowe adde farther the Dukedoms of Loraine and Mantua the kingdome of Swetia and Dania and of Noruegia whereof Margaret the daughter of Waldemarus was gouernesse and Quene the kingdom of Beame and of HuÌ„garie And to draw nere home the Realm also of ScotlaÌ„d which realm hath denomination of a woman as their stories report as hath likewise Flaunders The like some of our stories report of EnglaÌ„d wherin I wil make no fast footing Now touching the feminine Successâ— to the right of the Croune of England itâ— no new found Succession and much leâ— vnnatural We reade in our Chronicles Queene Cordel the thirde heire and daugâ—ter of King Leyre the teÌ„th King of Eritanâ— that restored her father to the kingdomâ— being deposed by her two other sisters Wâ— reade that about three hundered fifty anâ— fiue yeares before the Natiuitie of Christâ— Martia Proba during the nonage of heâ— sonne did gouerne this Realme ful politikâ—ly and wisely and established certaine laweâ— called Leges Martianae There be aswel of our owne as of exterternal historiographers that for a most certeinty affirme that Helena the noble Constantine his mother was a Britaine and the only daughter and heire of Coelus King of Britanie and that the said Constantine was borne in Britanie Surely that his father CoÌ„stantinus died in Britanie at Yorke and that the said Constantinus began his noble Victorious race of his most worthy Empire in Britany it is reported by auncient Writers and of great faith and credit And that likewise long before the said Helens time women bare the greatest sway both in warre â—nd peace and that the Britaine 's had womeÌ„ or their Capteines in warfare AmoÌ„g other Cornelius Tacitus writeth thus His atâ—e allis inuicem instructi Voadica generis regij â—mina Duce neque enim sexum in Impertis â—scernunt sumpsêre vniuersi bellum We haue now already shewed of Henry he seconde who obteined the Croune by â—he mothers right Which said King by the Title of his wife and after him his Succesâ—ours Kings of England did inioy the Dukeâ—omes of Aquitania and the Dukedome of Poiters as the said Kings Successour should â—aue done also as we haue shewed before the Dukedome of Britanie if Arthur King Richardes Neuew had not by the vsurping of King Iohn and his vnnatural crueltie died without issue And by what other right then by the womans inheritance dew to King Edward the third by his mother the Frenche Kings daughter doe the Kinges of this Realme beare the Armes and Title of the Kings of FraÌ„ce And though the FreÌ„ch men thinke their parte the better against vs it is not but vpoÌ„ an old politike law of their owne as they say and not vpon any suche fonde ground as ye pretende that women Regiment is vnnatural Which RegimeÌ„t ye stoutly affirme to bâ— farre a sunder from any natural RegimeÌ„t yeâ— truely as farre as was the boies head froÌ„ the shoulders the last Bartholmew Faire at LoÌ„don which many a poore foole did beleeue to be true For as the boies head remained stil vpon his necke and shoulders though iâ— seemed by a light liuely legerdemaine to be a great way from the bodie so would you now cast a mist before our eies and make vs beleue that womans gouernmeÌ„t and nature be so diuided and sundred that they may iâ— no wise be lincked and coupled together But surely the French nation was neuer so vnwise to thinke this kind of GouermeÌ„t repugnant to Nature or to Gods holy Word For then they would neuer haue suffered their Realme to haue ben so often gouerned and ruled by women in the time of the nonage or absence of their Kings As by Adela the mother of King Philip and by Blanche the mother of S. Lewis and by the wife of the late King Frauncis taken prisoner at Paura and by diuers others Neither should the said Adela and Blanche haue ben so coÌ„mended of their said noble and worthy rule and â—uernmeÌ„t The said FrenchmeÌ„ though by â—oliâ—ie they haue prouided to exclude foâ—iners from the inheritance of the Croune 〈◊〉 they themselues holde at this day by â—e womaÌ„s title and interest the Dukedom â—f Britanie with diuers other goodly posâ—ssions And we haue shewed before how â—ewis the Dolphin of France made a Title 〈◊〉 the Croune of this Realme in the right â—f his wife Thus I haue as I suppose sufficiently proued that this kinde of RegimeÌ„t 〈◊〉 not against Nature by the auncient and â—ontinual practise of Asia Aphrica and Euâ—â—pa For the perfecting of the whiche laste â—â—rte of Europa and of the whole three â—artes I ende with the notable Poet Virgils verses Filius huic fato Diuûm prolesque virilis Nulla fuit primaque oriens erepta iuuenta est Sola domum tantas seruabat filia sedes We knit vp therfore our conclusion against you after this sort That law and vsage caÌ„not be compted against the law of nature or ius GeÌ„tiuÌ„ which the most part of al couÌ„tries and one great or notable part of the whol world doth and hath vsed but this lawe or vsage is such Ergo it is not against the law of Nature The Maior nedeth no proufe and foâ— the proufe of the Minor we neede to imploy no farder labour then we haue already done Whervpon the consequeÌ„t must nedeâ— be inferred that this law or vsage doth weâ— agree and stand with the law of nature The reason thereof is that it
good reason and lawe to stande at defence and onely to auoide as easely we may their obiections which principally and chiefly are grounded vpon the common lawes and Statutes of this Realme yet for the bettering and strengthening of the same we shal lay forth sundrie great and inuincible reasons coÌ„ioyned with good and sufficient authoritie of the law so approued and confirmed that the Aduersaries shal neuer be able iustly to impugne them And so that we trust after the reading of this Treatise and the effectes of the same wel digested no maner of scruple ought to remaine in any indifferent mans hart concerning her right and Title Whose expectation and conscience allthough we truste fully in this Discourse to satisfie and doubt nothing in the worlde of the righteousnes of our cause yet must we nedes confesse the manner and forme to entreate therof to be ful of difficultie and perplexity For such causes of Princes as they be seldome and rare so is it more rare and strange to finde them discoursed discussed and determined by any lawe or statute albe it nowe and then some statutes tende that waye Neither do our lawes nor the Corps of the Romaine and Ciuil law lightly meddle with the princelie gouernement but with priuate mens causes And yet this notwithstanding for the better iustification of our cause albe it I denie not but that by the coÌ„mon law it muste be knoweÌ„ 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 greate difference betwene the Kings right and the right of others And that the Title of the Croune of this Realme is not subiect to the rules and principles of the common lawe of this Realme as to be ruled and tryed after such order and course as the inheritance of priuate persons is by the same For the prous whereof let vs consider what the common lawe of this Realme is and how the rules thereof be grounded and do take place It is very manifeste and plaine that the common lawe of this Realme of England is no law writteÌ„ but grounded only vpon a common and generall custome throughout the whole realme as appeareth by the Treatise of the auncient and famous Writer of the lawes of the realme named Ranulphus de Glanuilla who wrote in the time of the noble King Henrie the second of the law 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 Angltae And by 33. H. 6.51 and by E. 4.19 Whiche Custome by vsage and continuall practise heretofore had in the Kinges Courts within this Realme is only knowen and mainteined wherein we seeme much agreable to the olde Lacedemonians who many hundred yeres past most politikely and famously gouerned their common Wealth with lawe vnwritten whereas among the Athenians the writen lawes bare al the sway This thing being so true that with any reason or good authoritie it can not be denied then we are farther to consider whether the Kinges Title to the Croune can be examined tried and ordered by this common Custome or no. Yf ye say it may then must ye proue by some recorde that it hath bene so vsed otherwise ye only say it and nothing at all proue it For nothing can be said by lawe to be subiecte to any custome vnlesse the same hath ben vsed accordingly and by force of the same custom I am wel assured that you are not able to proue the vsage and practise thereof by any record in any of the Kings courts Yea I wil farther say vnto you and also proue it that there is no one rule general or special of the common lawe of this Realme which ye â—â—ther haue shewed or can shewe that 〈◊〉 bene taken by any iuste construction to 〈◊〉 tende vnto or bind the King or his Crouâ—â—â— I wil not denie but that to declare and see forth the prerogatiue and IurisdictioÌ„ of the King ye may shewe many rules of the lawe but to binde him as I haue sayde ye can shewe none Ye say in your booke that it is a Maxime in our lawe most manifest that who so euer is borne out of England and of father and mother not being of the obedience of the King of England can not be capable to inherite any thing in England Whiche rule being general without any wordes of exception ye also say must nedes extende vnto the Croune What you meane by your law I knowe not But if you meane as I thinke you do the common lawe of England I answere there is no such Maxime in the common lawe of this Realme of Englande as hereafter I shal manifestly proue But if it were for argumentes sake admitted for this time that it be a Maxime or general rule of the coÌ„mon law of England yet to say that it is so general as that no exception can be taken against the same rule ye shewe your selfe either ignorant or els very carelesse of your creditte For it doth plainely appeare by the Statute of 25. E. 3. being a declaration of that rule of the Lawe whiche I suppose ye meane terming it a Maxime that that rule extendeth not vnto the Kinges children Whereby it moste euidently appeareth that it extendeth not generally to al. And if it extende not to binde the Kinges children in respect of any inheritance descended vnto them from any of their Auncestours it is an Argument à fortiori that it doth not extende to binde the King or his Croune And for a ful and short answere to your Authorities sette foorth in your marginall Notes as 5. Ed ward 3. tit Ayle 13. Ed war. 3. tit Bref 31. Edw. 3. tit Coson 42. Ed war. 3. fol. 2. 22. Henric. 6. fol. 42.11 Henric. 4. fol. 23. 24. Litleton ca. vilenage it may plainly appeare vnto all that will reade and pervse those Bookes that there is none of them al that doth so much as with a peece of a word or by any colour or shadow seeme to intende that the Title of the Croune is bounde by that your supposed general rule or Maxime For euerie one of the said Cases argued and noted in the said Booke are onely concerning the dishabilitie of an Alien borne and not Denizon to demaunde any landes by the lawes of the Realme by suite and action onely as a subiect vnder the King and nothing touching any dishabilitie to be laied to the King himselfe or to his subiectes Is there any controuersie about the Title of the Croune by reason of any such dishabilitie touched in any of these Bookes No verely not one worlde I dare boldely say As it may most manifestly appeare to them that wil reade and pervse
those bookes And yet ye are not ashamed to note them as sufficient authorities for the maintenance of your euil purpose and intēt But as ye would seeme to vnderstand that your rule of dishabilitie is a general Maxime of the law so me thinketh ye should not be ignorant that it is also as general yea a more general rule and Maxime of the lawe that no Maxime or rule of the lawe can extende to binde the King or the Croune vnlesse the same be specially mentioned therein as may appeare by diuerse principles and rules of the lawe which be as general as is your sayd supposed Maxime and yet neither the King nor the Croune is by any of them bound As for example it is very plaine that the rule of the Tenante by the Curtesie is general without any exception at al. And yet the same bindeth not the Croune neither doth extende to geue any benefitte to him that shal marie the Queene of England As it was plainely agreed by all the lawiers of this Realme when King Philippe was married vnto Queene Marie although for the more suertie and plaine declaration of the intentes of King Philippe and Queene Marie and of al the states of this realme it was enacted that King Philip should not claime any Tytle to be Tenaunt by the Curtesie It is also a general rule that if a man dye seased of any landes in Fee simple without issue male hauing diuerse daughters the lande shall be equally diuided amonge the daughters Which rule the learned men in the lawes of this Realme agreed vpō in the lyfe of the late noble Prince Edwarde and also euery reasonable mā knoweth by vsage to take no place in the succession of the Croune For there the eldest enioyeth al as though she were issue male Likewise it is a general rule that the wife after the decease of her husband shal be endowed and haue the thirde parte of the best possessions of her husband And yet it is very clere that any Queene shal not haue the thirde parte of the landes belonging to the Croune as appeareth in 5. E. 3. Tit. praerogat 21. E. 3.9 28. H. 6. and diuers other bookes Bysides that the rule of Possessio fratris beinge generall neither hath bene or can be stretched to the inheritance of the Croune For the brother of the half blood shal succede and not the sister of the whole blood as may appeare by Iustice Moile as may be proued by King Etheldred brother and successor to King Edward the Martyr and by King Edwarde the Confessour brother to King Edmunde and diuers other who succeded in the Croune of England being but of the halfe blood As was also the late Queene Marie and is at this presente her sister who both in al recordes of our lawe wherein their seueral rightes and titles to the Croune are pleaded as by daily experience aswell in the Exchequer as also in all other Courtes is manifest doe make their conueiance as heires in blood th' one to the other which if they were cōmon or priuate persons they could not be allowed in lawe they as is wel knowen being of the halfe blood one to the other that is to wit begotten of one father but borne of sundrie mothers It is also a general rule in the lawe that the executour shal haue the good and Chattles of the testatour and not the heire And yet is it otherwise in the case of the Croune For there the successour shal haue them and not the executour as appeareth in 7. H. 4. by Gascoine It is likewise a general rule that a man attainted of felony or treason his heire through the corruption of blood without pardon and restitution of blood is vnable to take any landes by discente Whiche rule although it be general yet it extendeth not to the discente or succession of the Croune although the same Attainder were by acte of Parlamente as may appeare by the Attainder of Richarde Duke of Yorke and King Edward his son and also of King Henry the seuenth who were attainted by acte of Parlament and neuer restored and yet no dishabilitie thereby vnto Edwarde the fourth nor vnto Henry the seuenth to receaue the Croune by lawful succession But to this you would seeme to answere in your said booke saying that Hēry the seuenth notwithstanding his Attainder came to the Croune as caste vpon him by the order of the lawe forasmuch that when the Croune was caste vpon him that dishabilitie ceassed Wherein ye confesse directly that the Attainder is no dishabilitie at all to the succession of the Croune For although no dishabilitie can be alleaged in him that hath the Croune in possession yet if there were any dishabilitie in him before to receue and take the same by lawful succession then must ye say that he was not lawful King but an vsurper And therfore in confessing Henry the seuenth to be a lawful King and that the Croune was lawfully caste vppon him ye confesse directly thereby that before he was Kinge in possession there was no dishabilitie in him to take the Croune by lawful successiō his said Attainder notwithstanding which is as much as I would wish you to graunt But in conclusion vnderstanding your self that this your reason can not mainteine your intente you goe about an other way to helpe your self making a difference in the lawe betwene the case of Attainder and the case of foraine byrth out of the Kinges allogeāce saying that in the case of the Attainder neessitie doth enforce the succession of the Croune vpon the partie attaynted For otherwise ye say the Croune shall not descende to any But vpon the birth out of the Kinges allegance ye say it is otherwise And for proufe therof ye put a case of I.S. being seased of landes and hauing issue A. and B. A. is attainted in the life of I.S. his father and after I.S. dieth A. liuing vnrestored Nowe the lande shal not descende either to A. or B. but shal goe to the Lorde of the Fee by way of eschete Otherwise it had ben ye say if A. had ben borne beyond the sea I. S. breaking his allegeāce to the King and after I. S. cometh agayne into the Realme and hath issue B. and dieth for now ye say B. shal inherite his fathers Landes Yf the Croune had bene holden of any person to whome it might haue escheted as in your case of I.S. the lande did then peraduenture there had bene some affinitie betwene your said case and the case of the Croune But there is no such matter Bysides that ye muste consider that the King cometh to the Croune not onely by descente but also and chiefly by succession as vnto a corporation And therefore ye might easely haue sene a difference in your cases betwene the Kinges Maiestie and I.S. a subiecte And also betwene landes holden of a Lorde aboue and the Croune holden of no earthly Lorde but
one rule as a general Maxime is obiected against her And yet the same rule is so vntruely set forth that I can not wel agree that it is any rule or Maxime of the cōmon law of this Realm of Englād Your pretēsed Maxime is whosoeuer is born out of the realm of Englād and of father and mother not being vnder the obediēce of the King of England cannot be capable to inherite any thing in England Which rule is nothing true but altogether false For euery stranger and Alien is hable to purchace the inheritance of landes within this Realme as it may appeare in 7. 9. of king Edward the fourth and also in 11. 14. of king Hērie the fourth And although the same purchace is of some men accounted to be to the vse of the King yet vntil such time as the king be intitled therevnto by matter of Record the inheritance remaineth in the Alien by the opinion of al men And so is a very Alien capable of inheritance within this Realme And then it must nedes fal out very plainly that your general Maxime where vpon you haue talked and bragged so muche is now become no rule of the common law of this Realme And if it be so then haue you vttered very many wordes to smal purpose But yet let vs see fartther whether there be any rule or Maxime in the cōmon Law that may seeme any thing like to that rule wherevppon any matter may be gathered against the Title of the said Marie Queene of Scotland There is one rule of the cōmon Lawe in wordes somewhat like vnto that whiche hath ben alleaged by the Aduersaries Which rule is set forth and declared by a statute made anno 25. of King Edward the third Which statute reciting the doubt that then was whether infants borne out of the allegeance of England should be hable to demaund any heritage within the same allegeance or no it was by the same statute ordeined that al infantes inheritours which after that time should be borne out of the allegeance of the King whose father and mother at the time of their birth were of the feaith and allegeāce of the King of England should haue and enioy the same benefittes and aduantages to haue and carie heritage within the said allegeance as other heires should Whervpon it is to be gathered by dew and iust construction of the statute and hath bene heretofore cōmonly taken that the cōmon law alwaies was and yet is that no person borne out of the allegeāce of the King of England whose father and mother were not of the same allegeāce should be able to haue or demaund any heritage within the same allegeance as heire to any person Which rule I take to be the same supposed Maxime which the Aduersaries do meane But to stretch it generally to al inheritances as the Aduersaries woulde seeme to do by any reasonable meanes can not be For as I haue said before euery strāger 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 and also in his wife and the Alien thereby a purchaser Noman doubteth but that a Denizon may purchase landes to his owne vse but to inherit landes as heire to any person within the allegeāce of England he can not by any meanes So that it seemeth very plaine that the said rule bindeth also Denyzōs and doth only extend to Descētes of inheritance and not to the hauing of any landes by purchase Now wil we then consider whether this rule by any reasonable construction can extende vnto the Lady Marie the Queene of Scotland for and cōcerning her Title to the Croune of England It hath bene said by the Aduersaries that she was borne in Scotland which realm is out of the allegeāce of England her father and mother not being of the same allegeance And therfore by the said rule she is not inheritable to the Croune of this Realm Although I might at the beginning very wel and orderly deny the consequent of your argumēt yet for this time we wil first examine the Antecedent whether it be true or no and then consider vpon the consequent That the Queene of Scotland was borne in Scotlād it must nedes be graūted but that Scotland is out of the allegeāce of Englād though the said Quene and al her subiects of Scotland wil stourly affirme the same yet ther is a great nūber of men in Eng and both lerned and others that be not of that opiniō being lead and persuaded therto by diuers histories Registers Recordes and Instruments of Homage remaining in the treasurie of this Realm wherin is metioned that the Kings of Scotland haue acknowledged the King of Englād to be the superiour Lord ouer the Realme of Scotland and haue done homage and fealtie for the same Which thing being true notwithstanding it be cōmonly denied by al Scotsmen then by the lawes of this realme Scotlād must nedes be accōpted to be within the allegeance of Englād And although sins the time of King 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 our lawe to say that therefore the Realme of Scotland at the time of the birth of the said Ladie Marie Queene of Scotlande being in the thirtie and fourth yeare of the raigne of our late Souereigne Lorde King Henrie the eight was out of the allegeance of the kinges of England For the law of this Realm is very plain that though the Tenant do not his seruice vnto the Lorde yet hath not the Lord thereby lost his Seignorie For the lande still remaineth within his Fee and Seignorie that notwithstanding But peraduenture some wil obiecte and say that by that reason France should likewise be said to be within the allegeance of England forasmuch as the possession of the Croune of France hath bene within a litle more then the space of one hundred yeares now last past laufully vested in the kinges of Englād whose right and title stil remaineth To that obiectiō it may be answered that there is a great difference betwene the right and title which the Kings of Englād claime to the Realme of Fraunce and the right and title which they claime to the Realme of Scotlande Although it be true that the Kinges of Englande haue bene lawfully possessed of the Croune of France yet during such time as they by vsurpation of others are dispossessed of the saide Realme of France 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 subiection which they did owe vnto the Kings of Englande and haue geuen and submitted them selues vnder the obedience and allegeance of the vsurpers But as for the Realme of Scotlande it is otherwise For
and intent of the said law Now in case these two causes and cōsiderations wil not satisfie th Aduersarie we wil adioine therevnto a third which he shal neuer by any good and honest shift auoid And that is the vse and practise of the Realme as wel in the time foregoing the said statute as afterward We stand vpon the interpretation of the cōmon law recited and declared by the said statute And how shal we better vnderstand what the law is therein then by the vse and practise of the said lawe For the best interpretation of the lawe is custome But the Realme before the statute admitted to the Croune not only kings children and others of the first degre but also of a farther degre and such as were plainely borne out of the Kings allegeance The soresaid vse and practise appeareth as wel before as sithens the time of the Conquest Among other King Edward the Confessour being destitute of a lawful Heire within the Realme sent into Hūgary for Edward his Nephew surnamed Outlaw son to King Edmūd called Irōside after many yeres of his exile to returne into Englād to th' intent the said Outlaw should inherite this Realme whiche neuerthelesse came not to effect by reason the said outlaw died before the said king Edward his Vncle. After whose death the said king apointed Eadgar Etheling sonne of the said Outlaw being his next cosen and heire as he was of right to the Croune of Englād And for that the said Eadgar was but of yong and tender yeares and not able to take vpō him so great a gouernement the said king cōmitted the protection as wel of the yong Prince as also of the Realm to Harold Earle of Kent vntil suche time as the said Eadgar had obteined perfit age to be hable to weld the state of a King Which Harold neuerthelesse cōtrary to the trust supplanted the said yong Prince of the Kingdome and put the Croune vpon his own head By this it is apparent that foraine birth was not accōpted of before the time of the Cōquest a iust cause to repel and reiect any man being of the next proximitie in blood frō the Title of the Croune And though the said king Edward the Cōfessors wil and purpose toke no such force and effect as he desired and the law craued yet the like succession toke place effectuously in king Stephen and king Hēry the secōd as we haue already declared Neither wil th' Aduersaries shift of foramers borne of father and mother which be not of the kings alegeāce help him forasmuch as this clause of the said statut is not to be applied to the kings childrē but to others as appeareth in the same statute And these two kings Stephē and Henrie the 2. as they were borne in a forain place so their fathers and mothers wer not of the kings allegeāce but mere Aliens and strāgers And how notorious a vaine thing is it that th' Aduersarie would perswade vs that the said K. Henrie the secōd rather came in by force of a cōposition then by the proximitie and nearenes of blood I leaue it to euery man to cōsider that hath any maner of feling in the discours of the stories of this realm The cōpositiō did procure him quietnes and rest for the time with a good and sure hope of quiet and peaceable entrance also after the death of King Stephen and so it followed in deede but ther grew to him nomore right therby then was due to him before For he was the true heir to the Croune as appeareth by Stephen his Aduersaries owne confession Henry the firste maried his daughter Mathildis to Henry the Emperour by whome he had no childrē And no dout in case she had had any children by th'Emperour they should haue ben heires by succession to the Croune of England After whose death she retourned to her father yet did King Henry cause all the Nobilitie by an expresse othe to embrace her after his death as Queene and after her her children Not long after she was maried to Ieffrey Plantagenet a Frenchman borne Earle of Aniowe who begat of her this Henry the second being in France Whervpon the said King did reuiue and renue the like othe of allegeāce aswel to her as to her sonne after her With the like false persuasiō the Adueruersarie abuseth him selfe and his Reader touching Arthur Duke of Britanie Nephew to King Richard the first As though forsooth he were iustly excluded by Kinge Iohn his vncle by cause he was a forainer borne If he had said that he was excluded by reason the vncle ought to be preferred before the Nephewe though it should haue ben a false allegation and plaine against the rules of the lawes of this Realme as may wel appeare among other thinges by King Richard the second who succeded his grādfather king Edward the third which Richard had diuerse worthie and noble vncles who neither for lacke of knowledge coulde be ignorant of the right neither for lacke of frendes courage and power be enforced to forbeare to chalenge their title and interest yet should he haue had some countenance of reason and probabilitie bicause many arguments and the authoritie of many learned and notable Ciuilians doo concurre for the vncles right before the Nephewe But to make the place of the natiuitie of an inheritour to a kingdom a sufficiēt barre against the right of his blood it seemeth to haue but a weake and slender holde and grounde And in our case it is a most vnsure and false ground seeing it is moste true that King Richard the first as we haue said declared the said Arthur borne in Britanie and not son of a King but his brother Geffreys sonne Duke of Britanie heire apparent his vncle Iohn yet liuing And for such a one is he taken in al our stories And for such a one did all the worlde take him after the said King Richard his death neither was King Iohn taken for other then for an vsurper by excluding him and afterward for a murtherer for imprisoning him and priuily making him away For the which facte the French King seased vpon al the goodly Coūtries in France belonging to the King of England as forfeited to him being the chiefe Lorde By this outragious deede of King Iohn we lost Normandie withall and our possibilitie to the inheritance of all Britanie the right and Title to the said Britanie being dewe to the said Arthur and his heires by the right of his mother Constance And though the said king Iohn by the practise and ambition of Quene Elenour his mother and by the special procurement of Huberte then Archebishop of Caunterburie and of some other factious persons in Englād preuēted the said Arthur his nephew as it was easy for him to do hauing gotten into his handes al his brother Richardes treasure by sides many other rentes then in England and the said Arthur being an infante
and remaining beyond the sea in the custody of the said Constance yet of this fact being against al Iustice aswel the said Archbishop as also many of th' other did after most earnestly repent considering the cruel and the vniust putting to death of the said Arthur procured and after some Authours committed by the said Iohn himself Which most foul aÌ„d shamful act the said Iohn neded not to haue committed if by foraine birth the said Arthur had beÌ„ barred to inherit the Croune of England And much lesse to haue imprisoned that most innocent Ladie Elenor sister to the said Arthur in Bristow Castle wher she miserably ended her life if that gay Maxime would haue serued to haue excluded these two childreÌ„ bicause thei wer straÌ„gers borne in the partes beyond the seas Yea it appeareth in other doings also of the said time and by the storie of the said Iohn that the birth out of the legeaÌ„ce of England by father aÌ„d mother foram was not takeÌ„ for a sufficieÌ„t repulse and reiectioÌ„ to the right and title of the Croune For the BaroÌ„s of EnglaÌ„d being then at dissension with the said King Iohn and renouÌ„cing their allegeance to him receaued Lewis the eldest sonne of Philip the FreÌ„ch king to be their King in the right of Blanch his wife whiche was a stranger borne albe it the lawful Neece of the said Richard and daughter to Alphonse king of Caâ—til begotten on the bodie of Elenour his wife one of the daughters of king Henrie the second and sister to the said king Richard and king Iohn Which storie I alleage only to this purpose thereby to gather the opinion of the time that foraine birth was then thought no barre in the Title of the Croune For otherwise how could Lewis of FraÌ„ce preteÌ„d title to the Croune in the right of the said Bblach 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 friuolous imaginatioÌ„s or otherwise worse depraued for a good sure and substantial interpretation of the coÌ„mon law And it were not altogether from the purpose here to consider and weigh with what and how greuous plagues this Realme hath bene oft afflicted and scourged by reason of wrongful and vsurped titles I wil not reuiue by odious rehearsal the greatenes and number of the same plagues as wel 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 remeÌ„brance extinct and buried I wil now put the gentle Reader in remembrance of those only with whose vsurping Titles we are nowe presently in hand And to begyn with the most auncieÌ„t 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 monumeÌ„ts of our Historiographers do plainly testifie was the true and lawful Heire Could he thinke you enioy his ambitious and naughty vsurping one whole entier yere No surely ere the first yeare of his vsurped reigne turned about he was spoiled and turned out both of Croune and his life withal Yea his vsurpation occasioned the conquest of the whole realme by WilliaÌ„ Duke of NormaÌ„die bastard sonne to Robert the sixt Duke of the same And may we thinke al safe and sound now from like danger if we should tread the said wrong steppes with Harolde forsaking the right and high way of law and iustice What shal I now speake of the cruel ciuil warres betwene King Stephen and King Henry the second whiche warres rose by reason of the said Henry was vniustly kept froÌ„ the Croune dew to his mother Maude and to him afterwardes The pitiful reigne of the said Iohn who doth not lament with the lamentable losse of Normandie Aquitaine and the possibilitie of the Dukedome of Britanie and with the losse of our other goodly possessions in France whereof the Croune of England was robbed and spoiled by the vnlawful vsurping of him against his nephew Arthur Wel let vs leaue these greuouse and lothsome remembrances and let vs yet seeke if we may finde any later interpretation either of the said statute or rather of the coÌ„mon law for our purpose And lo the great goodnes and prouidence of God who hath if the foresaid exaÌ„ples would not serue prouided a later but so good so sure so apt and mete interpretatioÌ„ for our cause as any reasonable hart may desire The interpretatioÌ„ directly toucheth our case which I meane by the mariage of the Lady Margaret eldest daughter to King HeÌ„ry the vij vnto Iames the fourth KiÌ„g of ScotlaÌ„d and by the opinioÌ„ of the said most prudeÌ„t Prince in bestowing his said daughter into ScotlaÌ„d a ma ter sufficient inough to ouerthrow al those cauilling inueÌ„tioÌ„s of the aduersarie For what time King Iames the fourth sent his ambassadour to king HeÌ„ry the seueÌ„th to obteine his good wil to espouse the said Lady Margaret there were of his Counsaile not ignorant of the lawes and Customes of the Realme that did not wel like vpon the said Mariage saying it might so fal out that the right and Title of the Croune might be deuolued to the Lady Margaret and her childreÌ„ and the Realm therby might be subiect to ScotlaÌ„d To the whiche the prudent and wise King answered that in case any such deuolution should happen it would be nothing preiudicial to England For England as the chief and principal and worthiest part of the I le should drawe Scotland to it as it did Normandie from the time of the Conqueste Which answere was wonderfully wel liked of al the Counsaile And so consequâ—tly the mariage toke effect as appereth by Polydor the Historiographer of this Realm and such a one as wrote the Actes of the 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 we could not be subiect hauing him selfe no right by this mariage to the Title of the Croune of this Realme Wherevpon I may wel inferre that the said newe Maxime of these men whereby they would rule and ouer rule the succession 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 Quene Marie is assured So that now by this that we haue said it may easely be seen by what light and slender consideration the Aduersarie hath gone about to strayne the wordes Infantes or children to the first degree
the said Wil and others for the execution and performance of the same Finally the said Testament was recorded in the Chancerie Wherfore they affirme thaâ— there ought no manner of doubt moue any man to the coÌ„trarie and that either we must graunt this Wil to be signed with his hand or that he made no Wil at al both must be graunted or both denied If any wil deny it in case he be one of the witnesses he shal impugne his owne testimonie if he be one of the executours he shal ouerthrow the foundatioÌ„ of al his doinges in procuring the said Wil to be inrolled and set forth vnder the great Seale And so by their dubblenes they shal make them selues no mete witnesses Nowe a man can not lightly imagine how any other bysides these two kind of witnesses for some of them and of the executors were such as were coÌ„tinually wayting vpon the Kinges person may impugne this Wil and proue that the king did not signe the same But if any such impugne the Wil it would be coÌ„sidered how many they are and what they are and it wil be very harde to proue negatiuam facti But it is euidente say they that there was neuer any such lawful proufe against the said Wil producted For if it had ben it would haue ben published in the Starrechamber preached at Poules Crosse declared by Acte of Parlament proclaimed in euery quarter of the Realme Yea admitting say they that it were proued that the said pretensed Wil lacked the Kinges hande yet neuerthelesse say they the very copies we haue spoken of being written and signed or at least interlined with his owne hande may be saide a sufficient signing with his owne hande For seing the scope and final purpose of the statute was to haue the succession prouided for and ascerteined whiche is sufficiently done in the said Wil and seing his owne hande was required but onely for eschewing euil and sinister dealing whereof there is no suspicion in this Will to be gathered what matter in the worlde or what difference is there when the King fulfilled and accomplisihed this gratiouse Acte that was loked for at his handes whether he signed the Will with his owne hande or no If it be obiected that the King was obliged and bound to a certaine precise order and forme which he could in no 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 King Henry the eightes time In Queene Maries time bycause she omitted the Style appointed by Parlamente Anno 〈◊〉 octauiâ—rice simo quinto In King 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 hande though he be not there personally And yet did the saied King supplie full ofte his confente 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 After this sorte in effecte haue the Aduersaries replied for the defence of the said pretensed Will. To this we wil make our reioynder and saye Firste that our principall matter is not to ioyne an islewe whether the saide Kinge made and ordeyned any sufficient Will or no. We leaue that to an other time But whether he made any Testament in suche order and forme as the statute requireth Wherefore if it be defectiue in the said forme as we 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 Wâ—ll and so accomplished it is nothing to the principal question It resteth then for vs to consider the weight of the Aduersaries presumptions whereby they would inforce a probabilitie that the Testament had the foresaide requisite forme Yet first it is to be coÌ„sidered what presumptions and of what force and number do occurre to auoide and frustrate the Aduersaries presumptions and all other like We 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 and enterprise suche an Acte as is pretended so likewise he did enterprise no such Acte in deede I deny not but that theâ— was such authoritie geuen him neither I deâ—y but that he might also in some honorable sort haue practised the same to the honour and wealth of the Realme and to the good coÌ„tentation of the same Realm But that he had either cause or did exercise the said authoritie in suche strange and dishonorable sort as is pretended I plainely denie For being at the time of this pretensed Wil 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 this Realme before and fewe in any other byside And where they were practised commonly had infortunate and lamentable successe What likelyhode was there for him to practise such deuises especially in his later daies when wisdome the loue of God and his Realme should haue bene moste ripe in him that were likely to sturre vppe a greater fier of greeuouse contention and woful destruction in England then euer did the deadly factioÌ„ of the red Rose and the white lately by the incorporation and vnion of the house of Yorke and Lancaster in the person of his father through the mariage of Ladie Elizabeth eldest daughter of king Edwarde the fourth most happily extinguished and buried And though it might be thought or said that there would be no such eause of feare by reason the matter passed by Parlament yet could not he be ignorant that neither Parlamentes made for Henry the fourth or continuance of twoo Descentes whiche toke no place in geuing any Title touching the Croune in King Henry the sixt nor Parlamentes made for King Râ—chard 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 ignoraÌ„t therof so it is not to be thought that he would abuse the great confidence put vppon him by the Parlament and disherite without any apparent cause the next royal blood and thinke all thinges sure by the colour of Parlament 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 Queend of Scotland of al times he would not haue done it then when al his care was by al possible meanes to contriue and compasse a mariage
the death of the Lorde Darley before the Counsaile of EnglaÌ„d The causes vvhy the Earle Murray vvent about asvvel to make avvay the L. Darley as to depose the Queene The Earle Murray de clared the day before that the L Darley should be slaine Diuers assembles of the Earle Murray aÌ„d his adherents to consult vpon the slaughter of the L. Darley Indentures made and subscribed for the execution of the said purpose Diuers excuted in Scotland for the said murther vvhereof none could charge the Queene The Q. in a maÌ„ner miraculously deliuered out of Lochleuen prison The Commissioners appointed in EnglaÌ„d to heare the Quene of ScotlaÌ„d her maters vvel liked of her faid innocency and of her title to the succession of the Cioune An exhortation to the Earles Murray aÌ„d Murton aÌ„d others to reconcile theÌ„selues to the Q. The Q. of ScotlaÌ„d ful of mercy The ende of Rebels euer vnhappy Other Princes vvil not suffer the Quene of Scotland to be iniuried by her subiectes Man only hath the pierogatiue of vvit and reason among al earthlye creatures Men are most bouÌ„d to the preseruation of their CouÌ„trey A great coÌ„moditie to the coÌ„moÌ„ vvealth to knovv the heire appa rente Why all the vvorld almost doth enbrace succession of Princes rather then election Flores histor anno 1057. Richardus Canonicus sanctae Trinit Lond. Flor. histo anno 1190. Polid li. 14 Polid li. 20 The Quene of Scottes is right heire apparent to the Croune of Englande Inst de iust iure §. fin The common lavve of this Realme is rather grounded vpon a general custom then any lavve vvritten In Prologo suo eiusdem li. fo 1. et 2. De dict Ra nulpho GlaÌ„uilla uide Giraldum Cambren in topogra de Wallia Fortescue de lau Leg. Angl. c. 17. â— E. 4.19.33 H. 6.51 Pinsons printe Inst de iure natura geÌ„t ciuil §. ex non script 25. E. 3. The adueâ— sacies case pettineth to subiects only No Maxime of the lavve bindeth the Croune vnles the Croune specially be named Of the Tenante by the curtesy Nor that the landes shal be diuided among the daughters Not the vvife shall haue the third part 5. E. 3. Tit. praerog 21. E. 3.9 28. H. 6. Nor the rule oâ— Possessio fratris c. Nor that the executour shall haue the goods and Chattles of the resâ—atour 7. H. 4. sol 42. Nor that a traitour i vnable to take landes by discente and vvithout pardoÌ„ An ansvvere to the Aduersary making a difference be tvvene Attainder aÌ„d the birth out of the allegeaÌ„ce 22. H. 6. fol. 43. The suppo sed Maxime of the Aduersaries touching not Kinges borne beyond the sea as appeareth by King Stephen and King H. 2. The Aduersaries obiection touching King H. 2. auoided As touching Arthur King Richardes nephevve Vt autem pax ista summa dilectio taÌ„ multiplici quaÌ„ arctiori uin culo connectatur praedictis curiae uestrae Magnatibus id ex parte uâ— stra tractaÌ„tibus Domino disponente coÌ„diximus inter Arthurum egregiuÌ„ Dâ— cem BritaÌ„niae nepoteÌ„ nostrum haeredem si forte sine prole obirâ— nos contigâ— rit filiaÌ„ uestraÌ„ matrimonium contrahendum c. In tractatu paciâ— inter Richa 1. TancreduÌ„ Regem Si ciliae Vide Reg. Houeden RicharduÌ„ Canonicum S. Trinitatis Londin A false Maxime set forth by the Aduersarie 7. E. 4. fo 28.9 E. 4. fo 5.11 H. 4 fo 25.14 H. 4. fo 10. the statute of Edvv. 3. An. 25. to â— cheth inâ—e ritaÌ„ce not purchase â— H. 4. fo 25. Scotland is vvithin the allegeance of EnglaÌ„d The Lorde loseth not his seignorie though the tenaÌ„te doth not his seruice The causes vvhy the Croune caÌ„ not be coÌ„prised vvithin the pretended Maxime Without the croune there can neither be King nor allegeance 40. E. 3. fol. 10. 13. E. 3. Tit. Bref 264.16 E. 3. iurans desait 166.17 E. 3. tit scire fac 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. 54.12 li. Ass tit enfant 13. H â— fol. 14.7 E. 4. fol. 10.16 E. 3. iurans defait 9. H. 6. fol. 33.35 H. 6. so 35.5 E. 4 fol. 70.49 li. Ass A. 8â— 22. H. 6. fo 31.13 H. â— so 14. The King is alvvaies at ful age in respecte of his Croune The Kings children are expresly excepted from the surmised Maxime â— LiberoruÌ„ ff de uerbo ruÌ„ signific L. Sed si de in ius uo caÌ„do instit de haere ab intest L. Lucius ff de baered instit L. Iusta L. Nâ—toruÌ„ L. Liberorum de uerb signif L. 2. § sâ— mater ad S. C. Tertul L. Filius de S. C. Maced L. Senatus de ritu nugâ— L quod sâ— nepotes ff test cuÌ„ notatis ibid. Infantes in Frenche couÌ„teruaileth this vvorde liberi in lat The grand fathers cal their nephues sonnes L. Gallâ—◠§ InstitueÌ„s ff de liber Eâ— post l. ff C. de impub. Alâ—is substan c 1. q. 4 Father and son coÌ„pted in person aÌ„d flesh in maner one Great absurditie in excluding the true aÌ„d right successour for the place of his birth only An euasion auoided preteÌ„ding the priuilege of the KiÌ„gs children not to be in respect of the Croune but of other laÌ„des The royall blood beareth his honour vvith it vvhereso euer it be Vide Anto. Corsetum de potest et excell regi q. 106. CoÌ„querors glad to ioinevvith the ioyall blood Henry the first L. â— ff de legious Commonvse and pâ—â—ctise the best interpretation of the lavv Eodâ— anno Rex cuÌ„ in diebus suis processisset AeldredaÌ„ Vigornen sem Episco pum ad Regem Hunga riae trans mittens reuocauit inde filium fratris sui Edmundi Eduardum cuÌ„ tota fa milia sua ut uel ipse uel filij eius sibi succedereÌ„t in regnum Flor. histor 1057. Flor histo â—066 Aelredus Regioual lens de reg Anglorum ad Regem Henr. 2. King Stephen and King H. â— The aduer saries fond imagination that King H. 2. should come to the croune by composition not by proximitie of blood Rex Stepha nus omni haerede ui duatus prae ter solummo do Ducem Henricum recognouit in conuentu EpiscoporuÌ„ aliorum de regno Optimatum quod Dux HeÌ„r ius hae reditariuÌ„ in regnuÌ„ Angliae habebat Et Dux benigne concessit ut Rex Stepha nus tota uita sua suuÌ„ regnuÌ„ pacifice possideret Ita tamen confirmatum est pactuÌ„ quod ipse Rex ipsttuÌ„e praesentes cum caeteris regni optimatibus iurareÌ„t quod Dux Henr. post morteÌ„ Regu si illum superuiueret regnum sine aliqua contradictione obtincret Flor. histo An 1153. The like fond imagination touching King Richardes nephevv Diuersitie of opinioÌ„s touching the vncle aÌ„d nephue vvhether of them ought to be preferred in the royall gouernement