have been so artificially debated and the Laws of God and Nature the Law of Reason and that of Nations so partially and slily as well as learnedly confounded that the true Idea of our own Government and Law was perplex'd and lost So that no wonder if Mistaken Principles sometimes misled King and People where they might mean well enough both and at other times either King or People might have a latitude of construing them perversely when they did not so Now though 't is confess'd we cannot arrive at any degree of Perfection in Government nor any thing else here in this troublesome uncertain World Yet Experience convinceth us That some Times have been better than others and that this Nation hath been happier under some Princes than Others i. e. happier under those whose Conduct and Government have agreed best with the Laws and Constitutions The only Design of these passing-Observations and Reflections is to point out the Errors and set a Mark on the Rocks that we may avoid them To shew Kings and People the Principles and Practises by which they Miscarried or Succeeded upon Rational Grounds and Natural Consequences so that Measures may be taken which may more probably secure the Peace and Welfare of this Nation for the future I go no farther back than the Conquest or Descent here by King William the First That being as I think enough for our Instruction enough to Inform without confounding our Memories and Judgments WILLIAM I. NOT to play the Grammarian on Words nor to repeat Old Stories though I can scarce pass by Mr. Spelman's Definition of him Conquestor dicitur qui Angliam conquisivit i. e. acquisivit purchas'd non quod subegit But to take William the Conqueror as they call him in the usual Acceptation there can be but little Observable during the Transactions of his Reign to ground Remarks of Civil Policy As he trimmed between Conquest and Title by Gift from Ed. the Confessor he was also Kin by his Mother's side so he divided his Government between Acts of Justice and Wrong not to mention the old Story of Warren the Norman and Sharnborn an Englishman It is plain the Kentishmen had their Laws Confirm'd to them by Treaty and were never Conquered He granted to the City of London their Charters as they had them in the Time of Saint Edward 'T is true he Alter'd the Laws and introduced the French Language but the Alteration seems to be for the better and he was generally Just to the Laws which were made He alter'd Pastimes also and 't was of course for Englishmen are ever fond of New things The worst thing he did was Depopulating so many Towns and overthrowing so many Churches for Thirty Miles round to make a Chase or New Forest in Hampshire and the Execution of severe Laws against Destroyers of Deer or Game by putting out their Eyes c. for which for ought I know his Two Sons and Nephew might come to untimely Ends in the same place But in the main he was modest enough for a Prince who came in with his Sword in his Hand And at last after all his Bustle he was forced as it were to come to a Parly with the English Nobility and before they laid down their Arms this mighty Conqueror engaged for Peace and after in the presence of Archbishop Lanfrank and others took a Solemn Oath upon the Evangelists and all the Relicks of the Church of St. Albans from thenceforth to Observe and Keep the Good and Ancient Laws of the Realm which the Noble Kings of England his Predecessors had before Made and Ordained but especially those of Saint Edward which as is said were suppos'd of all others to be the most Equal and Indifferent for the general Good of the People If the Churchmen can Forgive him for he Repented of it the taking them down somewhat in their Temporal Power and calling in the Jews they may forget his Ransacking the Monasteries if thep please also because he spared the Profits of Vacant Abbies and Bishopricks His Life ended in a Circle and as he pretended to take the Crown by Gift so he disposed of it and left it by Gift also WILLIAM II. DURING this King's Time the Government and Laws seem to be in a continued Ferment and State of War As he was attack'd on all Hands and put to great Charges so he spared neither Church nor State for Taxations but pillaged both in an unreasonable extravagant manner It is said he doubted of some Points of Religion but one would rather believe he doubted of it all by his Life and Expression to the Jews and the Management of Churchmen and their Benefices and Religious Houses He Died so suddenly that he had not time to tell his Opinion at his Death If he did not keep his Word so devoutly as he ought if he was trifling in things appertaining to Religion and profanely free with the Patrimony of the Church the Historians of that Age have assign'd him the Judgments of God in the End and I shall leave him to the Pope's Mercy for with-holding Peter Pence In this King's Reign we find the first Exercise of a Prerogative which seems reasonable and natural enough in forbidding his Subjects by Proclamation to go out of the Land without License if it had been grounded on a good Design but being introduced only first to make his Subjects uneasy at Home and after to get Money out of them for a License to go Abroad the Occasion disgraceth the Thing which otherwise had been justifiable on a true foundation viz. To require the Service of the Subject at Home for the Command of the Aid of the Persons of his People is as much an inherent Right in the Crown as any can be in his own Dominions though not so to Command them out of them on his Service Abroad He also kept his Money from going to Rome and I suppose we ought not to be Angry with any King for keeping his Men and his Money at Home HENRY I. THEY who Write this King's Life do so vary in his Character that it is somewhat difficult to Adjust it But we always ought to speak the best of Kings if the matter will any ways bear it Whether he came to the Crown with a just Title or not he came with a just degree of Understanding and Inclinations to do Justice He was Born of a King in England and Queen of Royal English Blood as Sir John Hayward says though I know not how he makes it out well and is said therefore to have raised the Depressed English Nation again unto Honour and Credit and took off their Badges of Slavery and seems truly Endowed with Kingly Principles though Cambden will have it That he was Just even to a Fault Pray God That were the only Fault of Kings Whatever hath been said to his Disadvantage he appears for the most part to have Governed by the Laws of the Land And as he gave a Measure to
put Men and Kings too often upon poor spirited Actions But letting this pass Another touch of his over-Wisdom viz. his Disposition to squeeze Money out of his Subjects Purses by Forfeitures on Penal Laws was an Excess of Policy scarce to be excused and as is said without all doubt proved the Blot of his Time and as Sir Robert Cotton observes There is no string will sooner jarr in the Commonwealth than this if it be generally touched This was that which passed for the Disgrace of his Reign though what may pass under the Name of Severe Justice And though he escaped the Violent Consequences of it himself yet the fatal Return overtook Empson and Dudley in the beginning of the next Reign who were both executed for Treason for extending this Summum Jus to Violence and Injury and turning Law and Justice into Rapin Though it will puzzle a Lawer to determine what Species of Treason this is unless it be against the Laws by traiterously betraying the Trust reposed in them But no Government King or Person is without some Failing and Wisdom it self may be overacted HENRY VIII I Am not to determine how it came about yet it may be observable That though this King came to the Crown by an Undoubted Right of Succession as Heir of the House of Lancaster by his Father and of the House of York by his Mother yet upon his Coronation the People were ask'd Whether they would receive him for their King But I know this will be thought a trivial Matter of Form not worth taking notice of It is said his first Years were a Reign by Book having come from the Instruction and Contemplation of Good to Action his Notions stuck by him some Years And not to pretend to single Sufficience at those Years at least That he might know how to perform his Coronation Oath he chose a Wise Councel to direct him in the Observation of the Laws and as they generally do in all New Reigns He redress'd the Grievances of the former by making Examples of the Oppressors in the last He did not enter into the War with France upon his own Head neither upon the Advice of his Privy Council but had it debated in Parliament where it was resolved That Himself with a Royal Army should invade France and then for that purpose an Extraordinary Subsidy was willingly granted towards the Charges thereof These were the beginnings of his Reign and he might have finish'd it with the same Honour and Wisdom if Woolsey had not piously told him He might lay aside the use of his Understanding and his own Consideration no doubt to rely on his That he should not need to trouble himself with frequenting the Council-Table but might take his Pleasure c. Admirable Councel for a Priest And he himself would give him Information c. Thus he ingrossed the King disobliged the King's Friends caus'd the Archbishop of Canterbury Bishop of Winchester Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk to withdraw from Court and Topp'd his Prerogative upon the King 's and led him away by the Misdirections of his own False Oracle persuades and puts the King upon Lending the Emperor Money who was poor and Insolvent because forsooth the French King had withheld the Revenue of the Bishop of Tourney that is his Own After he had tired the People with his Civil Justice before he sets up for an Arbitrary Spiritual Power in himself Obtains an Office from the Pope to dispence with Offences against Spiritual Laws and erects a Trade for Sin to make Virtue and Religion Venial and betrays the King into the Restoring or Surrendring Tourney for great Gifts and greater Promises after that he found it did not turn to Account and he could make nothing of it by way of Yearly Income And thus dishonour'd the King and Nation and like a very Godly Prelate dissolv'd the King and Court into all sort of Luxury and the Priesthood it self into Licentiousness and Disorder And so far the Artificial Malice and Villany of this Sawcy and Bloody Butcher's Son went who had neither Honour or Religion That he persuaded the King to sacrifice his Nobility to him and the Duke of Buckingham must be made an Example and Martyr to his Revenge for only pouring a little Water into his Shooes when he had the Impudence to dip his Hands in the Bason whilst the Duke held it to the King to wash He alone could create Misunderstandings between the King Lords and Commons by vertue of his Lies and Misrepresentations of Matters from one to the other altho' he had been caught in them more than once He dissolv'd Convocations by vertue of his Power Legantine which were convok'd by the Archbishop and calls Him and all the Clergy to another Place according to his own Imperious Fancy diverts the Laws of the Land and seeks to raise Money by Commission which the People opposed and the King was afterwards forced to Disclaim On the other hand abuses the King's Grace and takes it upon himself alters the State of the King's House Retrenches the Allowance of his Servants and in short arrogates the Power over Servants and Master also and assumes the Power and Honour of the King and Stiles and Directs Ego Rex meus in his Writings and Letters to Rome and Foreign Parts This could an humble Successor of the Apostles do And by the bye It may be worth observing how far Pride can inspire these Prelatical Sparks with Presumption who pretend to be but the Representatives of the Apostles to exalt themselves above and Lord it over Kings whom yet they themselves acknowledge to represent God I regard not their Distinctions neither before nor since their Compliment of the Supremacy which they would resume if they could without a Pope But it happen'd the Cardinal carried on the Scene and State of Pageantry too far even to his own Ruin and the King's Eyes were open'd at length after that the Cardinal had cut him out a way for the Ruin or Reformation rather of the Church as well as himself and by his Exorbitant Behaviour had open'd the Door to the Parliament to Redress the Grievances and provide for a Remedy against them by restraining and wholsome Laws I am the more particular upon this Prelate because he was the Hinge upon which every thing turn'd and would set a Mark upon him for Kings to know whom to avoid and for what Reasons And would upon all Occasions also remind them how wretched and inconsiderable a Creature a King is when he abdicates his own Reason to submit it to another's and waves the Publick for any private Whispers of Admonition I desire to be excused from medling with the long Story of the King's Quarrel with the Pope and the Occasion and shall pass over the Alterations in Religion in this King's time or what was more considerable the Change and Dissolution of Religious Houses I have nothing to do with his Shifting and Dissolving of Wives neither
bind him but what proceeds from his own Mouth nor that neither any longer than he pleases and by vertue of such a Traiterous Legerdemain a Prince is to be distinguish'd oft and absolv'd from a Coronation-Oath and our Allegiance to be transpos'd or inverted by a barbarous Contradiction of the Term into a subsequent Obligation And the Duty of Obedience must shift with the Wind because the Weathercock was placed upon Churches in pious memory of St. Peter who besides denying Christ preach'd as 't is said the Doctrine of Passive Obedience also I 'm sure if this be true morally speaking 't will be nonsense and to no purpose to pretend to establish any Laws in Church or State And our Ancestors had been ev'ry jot as well employ'd at Push-pin or with Socrates and his Boys playing at Cob-Nut or riding the Hobby-horse with as good a grace as contending for Magna Charta All Government in short without the immediate hand of Heaven which we are not taught by God or instructed by the Events of Story to rely on or expect will at this rate of Argument become utterly impracticable and must degenerate into Confusion So on the other side the misapplication of the Constitution of Government may be almost as fatal as the throwing it off As for instance in a Mixt or Limited Monarchy where the Ingredient Qualifications are not duly observed and fairly maintain'd Sometimes these Forms have prov'd but Snares on the Subjects Liberties and Properties Thus it is when one part of the State encroacheth upon the others and 't will be the same thing when they have all together or two of them too close and united a Correspondence and Intelligence and the Trinity in Unity or Vice versa if I may so speak are confounded and consolidated The one part of the Body represented may thus as well be betray'd out of its Rights as huffed out of them in the other Case Where-ever a Constitution is not preserved in its primitive force and dignity according to the true intent thereof some part may and must suffer A Legislative Power may be as pernicious as an Executive for 't is far from impossible that Injuries may be done under the Colour and Mask of Laws Sir William Temple quotes Heraclitus for saying The only skill or knowledge of any value in the Politicks was the Secret of governing all by all And he afterwards remarks That what Prince soever can hit of this Secret need know no more for his own Safety and Happiness or that of the People he governs For no State or Government can be much troubled or endanger'd by any private Factions which is grounded upon the general Consent and Satisfaction of the Subject Happy Kings if they would be contented to have kept within the Confines of such Measures But this is a Doctrine which will not go down with Kings Thus Germany flourish'd till Charles the Vth's time who introduced higher Reasons of State till the Jesuits taught the way of bringing the Sovereign Power from the States to the Empire What hath Spain got by the pretence of an Absolute Power i. e. Oppression It lost Portugal it lost the Low Countries c. And in truth the Kings of Spain have exerted their Power so far till they have lost it all and by Trick of Favourite-Ministers and other Politicks interchangeably transacted and shuffled between them and the French Kings they are now at last scarce in a Condition by virtue of such Arbitrary Extravagancies to defend themselves The Princes of Italy who are so Absolute only betray their own Weakness by it And though France at present may seem to flourish outwardly yet who knows not that She groans in her Bowels Indeed Sir Robert Cotton is unhappily mistaken in his Conclusion touching England That it cannot groan under a Democracy which it never yet felt or fear'd And the late Times under King Charles the First seem to be an Instance to the contrary and an Exception to that Rule But then the Reasons are given by him but just before viz. That such a Government suiting thus with Monarchy must strictly maintain its Form And I doubt 't was something like affecting at Arbitrary Power exclusive of his Parliament at least the House of Commons which brought that Unfortunate Monarch within the Exception to the Rule and the Rule may stand good still Generally speaking Trick and Fraud seldom make a Second Advantage and Matchiavel after all his Noise instances only in Alexander the Sixth who he says thriv'd by it yet mark the End he at last was poyson'd by a Fraud prepared by his Bastard Borgia for another The French have a Saying L' Addresse surmonte la Force But I suppose they are not so harden'd to extend this to all Frauds and Falsifications There are some Honest Politicks and Stratagems which a Man of Honour may lawfully use no doubt in War in Peace in Treaties Honest if only that Custom hath given them a sort of Sanction Though by the by of old these Methods were despised by the Braver Heroes even before Christianity which allows us to be Wise as Serpents but Innocent as Doves But all that I contend for in Modern Politicks is the Exercise of Justice and Honour which is or ought to be the Peculiar Character of Kings And that Sincerity is the likeliest Principle to establish a Nation And must hold with Padre Paolo That open Honesty and Plain-dealing at last will prevail against Trick and Artifice All Laws of Power are or are supposed to be founded on the Law of God and 't is said Righteousness supports Crowns For God's sake What is the Moral of Prerogative What is the End of this Absolute Power Whence do Kings derive this superlative Talent of controuling Mankind Is it that they have been stiled and courted as Gods or their Representatives Alas we find they represent Man in Understanding and Failings 'T is not therefore that they are inspired with any greater Degree of Perfection or Wisdom No we find by Experience they are in this like other Men subject to the same Passions and Infirmities As King James the First said They differ not in Stuff Their Natural Advantages do not afford them such Superiority and Pre-eminence in Power with any Justice of Human Reason This great Deference and Submission which they claim as due to their Character must be either That God once vouchsafed them his Supernatural Assistance or That now Kings are presumed to have the Assistance of a Better and Wiser Council If the first the Signs are vanished if the latter 't is confess'd due subject to the Rules and Forms of the General Law of Nations and the Municipal Laws of the Land on supposition that Kings act and labour by the joint Concurrence of Wise and Legal Councels for the Publick Good of the Common-wealth Hence it is that they are endow'd with greater Privilege Hence it is that they are intitled to what is call'd Prerogative to pass over the Definitions
himself whether Frighted or not is not material upon which the Prince together with his Consort the next Heir Indisputable to the Crown in a full and due Representation of the whole Community and Body of the Kingdom is and are Declared and Appointed King and Queen Now let us see what we have done upon the whole matter to deserve that harsh Language of the Convocation-Book produced by Dr Sherlock Whether we have done more or so much as all other Nations have done in a Case any thing like Ours Whether we have done more than becomes Good Christians or Men of Honour And what it is that stands in our way to hinder or bar such an Attempt and Action First Setting aside at present those Texts of St. Paul and St. Peter which are the only discouraging Impediments and which have been sufficiently as I think answered and avoided by several Pens Upon the Law of Nature no Man I believe can pretend to say here is any Natural Injustice or Moral Injury done Certainly Nature and Reason prompt us to Defend Injuries and to Repel Force Nature will preserve it self in its Being No Man will say a King of England hath power of Life and Death over his Subjects We say he hath no Power other than by the Law of the Land the Moral as well as Legal Consequence must be That we may Defend our Lives against all Assaults 't is the same of Liberty and Property for there is a Meum and Tuum in all Christian Commonwealths as Archbishop Abbot said before subject only to the Laws of the Place therefore I can't defend my self or House against the King Arm'd with Legal Power as upon a Cap. Vtlagatum or upon a Duty due to him c. but I may where I am out of the compass of a Legal Prosecution If the consequence of Self-defence and Preservation be denied it 's vain trifling to talk of Laws and to value our selves upon Living in a Country where the Measures of Right are ascertain'd and the Limits of Government and Subjection the Doctrine of Passive Obedience and the Bow String will be the same if Laws are only a simple Direction for Information and not an Obligation We must owe our Lives c. at this rate to Fortune not to Justice But since the Restoration it 's said we are under another Tie not to take up Arms by the Extravagant Compliment to King Charles the II d and the Declaration pursuant to that Act. Be it so though all Laws made in Extraordinary Heats are not a regular Obligation but let them take that State-Artificial Obligation into the Bargain the King Swears too and this was not designed to let loose the King's Hands and tie the Subjects for all Obligations whether Natural or Artificial are Reciprocal and Mutual and always so taken and understood in common Intendment There can be no other Notion of Justice Natural Moral or Political and whatever Preference and Advantage is allowed to One above the Other 't is an Authority upon Supposition of Care Protection and for Order and centers in the Good of the Community And I think the Lacedemonians had a Law to Punish Parents who did not their Duty towards their Children Let us therefore take in the highest Instance of Obedience and Duty from Children to Parents No Man I suppose will pretend now that a Father may Castrate Sell or Kill a Child the Inference must be That in any Case of such open Violence a Son may Resist a Father in his own necessary Defence and Self-preservation without offering Reproach Injury or Vindictive Force So in the Case of Lunacy in a Parent or any fatal Extravagance no doubt a Son may lay Hands on a Father by way of Restraint and must take a continued Commanding Care over him in case of Relapse c. This is agreed on all hands to be the severest Tie of Obedience and therefore Kings are endeavoured to be brought within the Fifth Commandment to make our Chains the faster not in the mean time considering that they make them looser by putting an inconsistent double Duty upon us Thus we are told Religion stands positively in our way and fetters us with an Absolute Obedience to Kings without Reserve c. It seems hard that Religion should weaken our Arm in Defence of it self and force our Obedience and Submission to Laws and Absolute Power in the same breath For where there is Absolute Power there is no Law and where there are Laws there is no Absolute Power But Scripture is to be our Guide I agree it But what Authority shall I rely on Where shall I apply my self for an Interpreter 'T is manifest our own Church cannot settle me that is divided against it self Some bring Instances from the Old Testament Others tell us That is nothing to the purpose those Kings being by God's Designation c. Some tell us these Texts of St. Peter and St. Paul oblige us to Passive Obedience on peril of Damnation And Others as boldly and magisterially inform us That the New Testament gives no Rules for Submission to Forms of Government but only Rules of Justice Order and Peace That those Texts are nothing to Our purpose for the Apostles spoke to those under Heathen Emperors where Paganism was Established by a Law and that those Texts are to be only Expounded against the Jews who still believed themselves under the Divine Authority and thought they could not become the Subjects of any other Power As to the Scripture-Examples we are Taught by a very great Divine and Bishop not to rely on them and he says Those who place the Obligatory Nature of these Examples from Scripture must either produce the Moral Nature of those Examples or else a Rule binding us to follow those Examples especially when these Examples are brought to found a New positive Law Obliging all Christians Some say in general the Bible is a Miscellaneous Book where Dishonest and Time-serving Men may ever in their loose way find a Text for their purpose Sir Robert Filmer upon the Dispute of the Form of Powers for these Texts are sometimes applied to the Form and sometimes to the Quality of Power takes Power only in the Singular Number Powers in the Plural is a damnable Sin and he will have all Governments but the Patriarchal to be Illegal and Abominable but this is so Extravagant that I think none of our Divines pretend to justify him in it and therefore Others on the contrary are of Opinion That Submit to all Powers infers That all Forms of Government are admitted to be good and do not allow that Power in the Singular is to be taken restrictive and so there is no Authority if not of God and the Authorities which are of God's Institution are ordered under God Sir Robert Filmer Dr Hicks c. will have the Legislative Power to be in the King alone And the First says all Legislative Powers are Arbitrary But where is the necessity for
so the State doth not in the Alterations of them So that he is not Absolute or Independent either in his Ecclesiastical or Civil Capacity of Policy And therefore the whole Constitution and Three Estates must necessarily be call'd in on all Occasions of Change in Discipline or Innovation of Rites as well as in the alteration and repealing of other Old Laws or introducing and declaring New ones This by way of Parenthesis But I was speaking of Sir Robert Filmer's Patriarchal Power and the Extravagancies he infers from thence grounded as he pretends from Scripture Therefore I would only ask him one Question more Was there no such proper Word in the Hebrew Greek or Latin for Tyrant or Slave Pray how then came the Words and Doctrine of Non-Resistance and Passive Obedience into the Greek It must be only taken up of late by some such Authors in disgrace of Monarchical Government according to Law and to put Obedience as Legal out of countenance To bring People to submit blindly to Arbitrary Power There is the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greek which signifies at least King or Prince But is there any one doubts that there has been such a thing as a Harsh Unreasonable and Unnatural Father or King It must follow then that the Obedience intended by the Apostles who wrote in Greek was only to the Laws and the Legal Exercise of them according to the Usage of their respective Places which made them Legal Or to Kings as not being a terror to the Good but only to the Evil But it would tire even Patience it self to follow these sort of Gentlemen in all their Confused By-ways Therefore to return more immediately to my Subject and to my Friend Seigneur de Montaigne whom I am not asham'd to own let the Grave and Wise say what they will for I must ever have a greater Respect for an Author who talks judiciously of Trifling Matters if they be so than for One who talks triflingly on Judicious Subjects He tells us These Great and Tedious Debates about the best Form of Society and the most Commodious Rules to bind us are Debates only proper for the Exercise of our Wits and all the Descriptions of Policies feign'd by Art are found to be ridiculous and unfit to be put in practice And in another place Not according to Opinion but in Truth and Reality The best and most Excellent Government for every Nation is that under which it is maintain'd This Montaigne says who express'd and practis'd as great Loyalty as ever any Man of Sense and Honour did and I agree with him That all Reverence and Submission is due to Kings except that of the Understanding This as a Gentleman and as a Christian he farther adds Christian Religion hath all the Marks of utmost Utility and Justice but none more manifest than the severe Injunction it lays indifferently upon all to yield absolute Obedience to the Civil Magistracy and to maintain and defend the Laws i. e. in English To submit according to Law And all Policy as well as Religion enforces Obedience to the Administrators of Right and Justice And if it be permitted to argue from Etymologies which is surer than from Examples the Grecians tell us the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Vbi homines versantur vel potius a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod sint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 certis legibus juncti And we may assure our selves That People would not build Houses c. till the Possession and Enjoyment of them was establish'd by certain Laws But we shall never have done never come to any settlement if the Forms of Government and Laws are not admitted but suffer'd to be disputed at this time of day We are therefore to take Laws as we find them and as they stand in use and practice by a continued Establishment It can't be material therefore to look back how the Figure of our Legislative Power stood a Thousand Years ago or from a much shorter date of Time How the Form of Writs issued to the Commons was heretofore though no doubt the best Authority is with them and it is confest they were always a Constituent part of the Legislative Power as 't is idle and impertinent to say The Supreme or Legislative Power must be ever Arbitrary this is an absurd Affirmation when all Parties in a Nation agree by their Representatives to the Enaction of Laws By the Laws of God and Man Our Constitution ought now to rest in Peace in an Inviolable Establishment Kings swear as our Saviour preach'd in the Mount to the Multitude A King's Coronation-Oath must be interpreted ad Captum Populi and to ordinary Intendment That so there may be some certain Rule of Governing and true Measures of Obeying whereby the whole Community may be preserv'd in Peace and Order which is the End of all Government We in England seem to value our selves more peculiarly on the Polity of our Constitution There hath been enough said in praise of our Laws No doubt they are very good if well observ'd so good at least That I never heard that any King of England ever pretended to except against them when he was ask't the Question at his Coronation Whether he would Observe the Laws and so Good That the Subject as far as I perceive desires only the Confirmation and Continuance of them And I will be bold to say for the Honour of the English Nation and People notwithstanding the ill Name some are pleas'd to give us at home and abroad at present That there was never any War in England from the Barons War to the late Civil War setting aside the Dispute between the H. of Y. and L. but what was occasion'd and begun on Colour of the King 's imposing an Arbitrary Power over the Rights and Privileges of the People and after Complaint and Application for Redress of Grievances and Restitution of their Rights and Privileges and all other Nations have done the same where they could I speak of the beginning of Wars I do not always justify the End of them And must aver That the People of England in general have notwithstanding the Proverb which is Exotick been always Good-natur'd Subjects Easy enough to be impos'd upon and cajoled out of their Money and their Lives for the Service of the Crown And as I think so Modest that they have never assum'd as Men to stand in competition with Majesty nor have ever pretended to be so much as Kings till Kings were persuaded to think themselves more than Men Hence as you will perceive in these short following Remarks have for the most part sprung those Jealousies which divided King and People and disjointed the United Common Interest of Both. Ambitious and Designing Men have rais'd Fantoms of Powers and Laws which had being only in the Clouds at least had none amongst us And Imaginary Constructions have been put upon those which were plain and obvious The Terms of Power and Subjection
Statute of Westminster which consists of Fifty one Chapters and is well worth perusing Sir Edward Coke says This and all other Statutes made in the Reign of this King may be stiled by the Name of Establishments because they are more Constant Standing and Durable Laws than have been made ever since and Sir William Herle then Chief Justice of the Common Pleas says Fuit le plus Sage Roy que Vnques fuit And though these Laws were said to be Pour le Commun profit de seint Eglise del Realm yet he thought it expedient to clip the Wings of his Clergy observing as is said their Power too predominant and afterwards by the Statute of Mortmain kept them from ingrossing Lands and increasing their Temporal Possessions and when his Prelates prest him to repeal this Statute he gave them for Answer That it was a Statute made by the whole Body of the Realm and therefore not in his Power who was but one Member of that Body not like some of his Successors who have pretended to dispense with all Acts of Parliaments He united Wales to the Crown of England partly by Force and partly by Policy As to his War in Scotland if it were managed with the same Policy it had not nevertheless the like success at least Scotland was so unfortunate to him that he died there His War with France was but a Trifle and soon ended in a Truce His last Misunderstanding with his Lords was the Effect of Unadvised Obstinacy on both hands for he ought not to have insisted on sending or their going to the Wars in Gascoin without his going himself in Person and they ought not to have refused going with him in Person though in or out of France or Scotland but yet he made up the Breach by his subsequent Prudence and soft Demeanour The worst Action of his Reign to me seems to be Bribing the Pope to absolve him from the Covenant made with his Subjects concerning their Charters which he had confirm'd with an Oath but the other good Laws which he made and observed shall with me excuse one Act of Frailty or Passion And if he be censured for his Taxes he is in part justified by his well bestowing them to his own Honour and Good of his Kingdom EDWARD II. WE are not to expect much good from a King who begins his Reign with the breach of his Father's Admonitions and the Obligations he lay under by him in matters of Duty Commands which his Father gave him in charge with his last Words on pain of a Curse for his Disobedience as Stow says And here it may be observed how wretched and contemptible a Creature pardon the Expression even a King as well as another Man is when he hath once broke loose from the Principles of Honour and Morality when the Natural Bonds of Modesty are unhinged and broken How he wavers and shuffles and is driven about by every Wind that he cannot be steady to himself or any one else When Men have once forsaken the Path of Vertue they walk in an endless Maze they can't rely on themselves and therefore are impos'd upon and misled by every one For when a Man cannot justify himself to himself he can never do it to another and Kings generally stand so much upon the Prerogative of being like Gods that they scorn to be thought to be in the wrong like Men. Here we may see how fatal 't is to prefer a private Person before the Publick and for a Prince to espouse the Interest of a Favourite so far as to put him in competition with all his other Subjects and to oppose his Welfare to theirs The whole Reign of this Poor King is but one Farce of Folly and Misfortune contemn'd by his Subjects and even by his own Wife who revenged upon him the violation of a double Tye of Obedience This was the immediate as well as natural Consequence of relying upon the Opinion and Advice of single Persons contrary to the Counsels and against the Advice of the Wisdom of the Nation After Troubles on the behalf of Gaveston Troubles in Scotland with a faint ill-managed War Troubles on account of the Spencers Troubles in his own Family for he was no wiser in his Oeconomicks than his Politicks with his Wife c. he was at last shamefully Deposed barbarously Used and villanously Murther'd A Person in his Natural Capacity certainly to be lamented as having some Virtues and Good Qualities Fit to make an Accomplish't Gentleman though not a Good King Kingly Government did not seem to be his Talent for he lived as if born for himself not for others and there is certainly a difference in the Quality of governing a Man's self and others between governing and being govern'd To this purpose I must bring in Montaign who seems to have a good Notion of the Thing Doubtless says he it can be no easy Task to Rule others when we find it so hard a matter to govern our selves And as to the Thing Dominion which seems so charming the Frailty of Human Wisdom and the Difficulty in Choice of Things that are New and Doubtful to us consider'd I 'm very much of Opinion That it is far more pleasant to follow than to lead and that it is a great Settlement and Satisfaction of Mind to have only one Path to walk in and to have none to answer for but a Man's self For without doubt says he there is a great and painful Duty incumbent upon a Good King How much doth it import Kings to have a Good Advice of Counsel For I doubt we shall find but few Kings whether of God Almighty's making or our own i. e. whether by Inheritance Solus Deus facit haeredes or Election of Cyrus's Qualifications who says That no Man is fit to Rule but he who in his own Worth is of greater value than all those he is to govern EDWARD III. THE Reign of Edward the Third was more a School of Arms than Civil Polity For having in the beginning patch'd up an Indifferent Peace with Scotland he is immediately embroil'd in a War with France with which and some few Matters in Scotland he was engaged all his Life-time It is true in his Parliament at Westminster Supply and Grievances were pretty warmly Debated And he has his weak Side in the Business of Alice Peirce his Concubine but I let this pass as a Failing And who is without some But when he was at leisure he made Good Laws and particularly in the Affair of Purveying He caus'd all Pleas to be in English that the Subjects might understand the Laws Ordain'd Sumptuary Laws c. and in the general was a Great and Good Prince as Walsingham Fuerat nempe Rex iste inter omnes Reges Orbis Principes Gloriosus Benignus Clemens Magnificus Belliger fuit insignis fortunatus qui de Cunctis Congressibus in Terra Mare semper triumphali gloriâ Victoriam Reportavit I
can only attribute this to the Character Stow gives of him viz. That he advanced Persons to Dignities for Merit only and who did excel others in Innocency of Life RICHARD II. SOME Princes have Erred upon a mistaken Consideration some through a wilful and rash Inconsideration some have taken Measures by Advice of Friends as they thought and have been deceived by Misrepresentations these may be pittied Others have Miscarried by hearkening only to Minions and Favourites are head-strong and resolvedly deaf and obstinate against Advice But the Actions and Conduct of this King are so Unaccountable that it would puzzle a Matchiavel to assign him a Character or to fix him in any Rule or Principle of Government Good or Bad. The Rebellion of John or Wat Tyler ought not to be laid at his Door it is called an Accident though it had some dismal Effects in it but the occasion which appears was the Abuse of a Collector who gathered the Poll-Money yet it may teach Kings that it is a ticklish and dangerous Experiment to let out a Revenue or Tax to Farm so that it may be scrued up into what may be called in the Country Oppression This King's first Misunderstanding in earnest or Misdemeanor if I may so speak after his coming to Age was imposed upon him by way of Surprise and Artificial Insinuation of Favourites it might be the result of a hot Indiscretion not of a premeditated Violence or Invasion of Ill-natur'd Policy And if the Duke of Ireland Michael de la Pool the Chancellor or the Archbishop of York were in fault on the one side neither was the Duke of Gloucester the Bishop of Ely c. to be altogether excused on the other and the Parliament imposing on the King Thirteen Lords to have oversight under the King as they called it was an unsufferable Encroachment on the Spirit of a Young Prince And he had reason to have recourse to the Judges for their Opinions and Directions touching what had passed in that Parliament as to their Participation of the Government with him whose Opinion though they had the misfortune to suffer for it was not so Illegal but Justifiable by the Laws saving only in Two or Three of the Questions to which they gave their Answers But Law is not always measured by its own Rule it stands or falls according to the Circumstance of Times A Man may at some time sooner and better Steal a Horse as they say than look on at others This first Affront so put upon the King gave him a prejudice to Parliaments ever after and consequently put him upon indirect Means and Practices to Debauch the Constitution and we may be sure Kings will never want Tools fit for their purpose Hence were conceived those prejudices also against the Duke of Glocester and the other Lords the King had Reason to be out of Tuition when he came to be of full Age 'T is true the Attempting of the Duke of Glocester's Life in that Treacherous manner was not to be excused neither was his Behaviour to be pardoned towards the King he reproached him too severely on all Occasions for though he was the King's Uncle he was not always to be his Governor they were both in Fault no doubt and both equally Unfortunate in their End 'T was an unhappy Reign divided between too haughty Subjects and Ill-designing Favourites too powerful for a Young Inconsiderate King to Manage with Prudence and equal Power Whether Chief Justice Tresilian did according to Law or not 't is certain his Death was not according to Law and as the Duke of Glocester had taken his Life so his own was soon after taken away without Trial also in an Arbitrary manner And the Earl of Arundel had the same Measure he meeted to Calvery one of the Queens Esquires The Banishing the Duke of Norfolk and Hereford and the Archbishop of Canterbury was rather a fault in the Politicks of those times for it seems it was the Custom then to Punish the Faults of Great Men only with Banishment but an ill-advised Custom than want of Consideration in the King Sir John Bushy the Speaker of Parliament was the most in fault in attributing Vain and almost Blasphemous Titles to the King Titles fitter as is observed for the Majesty of God and putting him upon a piece of Omnipotence in Recalling his Pardons which the Lords Spiritual and Temporal Adjudged in the Affirmative That the King might Revoke but the Lawyers and Judges having been burnt before designed to give Judgment t'other way and had no mind to Determine of Transactions in Parliament any more nor of the Kings Prerogative in such Ticklish Times Though at the next Parliament at Chester the Judges were drawn in to give another Extraordinary Judgment viz. That when Articles are propounded by the King to be handled in Parliament that if other Articles are handled before those are determined it is Treason in them that do it What was there Extravagant that was not done in this Parliament He brought it about as the History says That he obtained the whole Power of the Parliament to be Conferred upon certain few Persons who proceeded to Conclude upon many things which concerned generally the things of the whole Parliament to the great Prejudice of the State and dangerous Example in time to come What could we expect from a King who was Taught That the Laws of the Realm were in his Head and his Breast By reason of which fantastical Opinion he Destroyed Noblemen and Impoverished the Commons which was one of the Articles against him and which was much such a worthy fancy as Wat Tyler had who putting his Hand to his Lips said Before Four Days come to an End all the Laws of England should proceed from his Mouth But I am weary of the Medley of this King's Story In short if we survey him in his Taxations in his Laws and Ordinances after all and in the Station of a Christian and Man as well as King we shall with a little Charity or good Nature conclude him Blameable rather by Accident than natural Temper And as to his Conditions That they were more the Fault of his Education than Inclination and at the bottom those Failings that were in him retained the tincture of the light Inconstancy of his Mother He is another unfortunate Instance of the Instability and Misery of a King when he leaves the Track of Law and Justice for the Ways of Humour and Passion Sir Robert Cotton Observes That Bushy's Contrivance of Compounding with Delinquents wrought such Distaste in the Affections of the People that it grew the Death of the One and Deposition of the Other HENRY IV. IN the next Six Reigns during the Divisions of the Houses of York and Lancaster the Kingdom was scarce ever cool enough for Observations of Civil Polity and Administration The Thirteen Years of this King were divided between Conspiracies and Wars And as he came to the Crown without a Title with