quick into the Pit Absalom for Rebelling against his Patriarcha his Father and King as one that deserved no Favour either from God in Heaven or his Deputy on Earth was hung up between Heaven and Earth as unworthy of either and was Strangled by the Hair of his own Head the Flag of his Ambition was made the Instrument of his Execution So that God himself may be said to be vindex sui ordinis the avenger of his own Ordinance CHAP. VII Sheweth that vindictive Justice is also derived from God to the King as Supream and that all Subordinate Officers derive their Jurisdiction from the King and through his Mediation from God also and that herein the Law of England is also agreeing with the Law of God NAY it is said Vengeance is mine and I will repay it saith the Lord and it is the very Ground and Foundation of all Order and Government that it is so for otherwise as Men do Multiply and Increase natural Love doth decrease and the Mightiest as so many Bulls in the Herd would be most mischievous to the Weaker and would be always quarrelling about Limits and Rivers from whence came the words Lis and Rivales And therefore this vindictive Justice is derived also from God himself to his Vicegerent on Earth the King as St. Peter saith where before cited for the punishment of evil doers and for the praise of them that do well So that Magistrates are of two sorts Supream and Subordinate Subjection is due to both to the King as Supream and to the subordinate such as are Judges Justices such as are missi Commissioned Officers and sent by him that is the King for as he hath his Authority immediately from God so they have theirs from him and through his Mediation from God also As God hath confirmed the Kings Supremacy so hath he also ratified his Subordinate Officers deputation as may be seen Exodus 18.18 where we have Jethro the Father in Law counselling Moses his Son in Law about the Prerequisite qualifications who they should be and the business of Judges what they must do but neither of these without Gods approbation and therefore by Moses followed then and by all Kings observed ever since they were to be able Men such as feared God Men of truth hating Covetousness such as these were to be placed over the People to Judge them at all seasons Hence it is that Bracton cited by Stanford 54 55. saith Dominus Rex habâ—t Ordinariam jurisdictionem dignitatem potestatem super omnes qui in regno suo sunt habet enim omnia jura in manu suâ— c. Our Lord the King hath the Supream Jurisdiction Dignity and Power over all the People that are within his Realm he is said to have all the Laws in his hand which belong to the Crown he hath also the Material Sword which extends to the Government of the Realm in War he is also said to have Justice and Judgment which are of his Jurisdiction as within his Jurisdiction only as he is the Minister and Vicar of God and is to distribute to every one what is his He hath also in him quae sunt pacis the Powers which are of or belong to the preservation of Peace that the People with the Governance of whom God hath intrusted him may live quietly and safely in Peace that one may not Beat Wound or evil Intreat another that one may not by Force and Robbery Steal or bear away that is another Mans or one may not Maim or Kill another He hath also Punishment in his Power that he may Punish and Correct Offenders c. However for the King in Person to Arrest or Commit a Man or do any Offices of Justice is indignum rege is beneath the King Mercy and Honour flow immediately from the King Judgment and Justice are his too but these flow from his Ministers And therefore least there should be a failer of Justice and because the King himself in Person may not be Judge or sit in Judgment in Treason or Fellony because he is one of the Parties to the Judgment he may therefore commit his Authority to another who is to be Judge between him and the Offender And therefore Expedit rei publicae ut Magistratus constituatur and to this purpose Eligere debet Rex de regno suo viros sapientes timâ—ntes deum c. ex illis constituere justiciarios c. Therefore it was thought expedient for the general good of all that Magistracy should be Constituted and settled And in this work of Constituting Magistrates the King as it is said Exod. 18.22 in his own ease and that they might help to bear the burthen with him is to Elect and Choose out of the Kingdom wise Men Men fearing God regarding the Truth hating Covetousness and of such to make and create Judges Justices Sheriffs and other his Ministers and Bayliffs to whom are referred all matters of Controversie relating either to real oâ— personal Actions setting forth perspicuously and more fully all the prerequisite good properties he ought to have and to be indued with all to whom the King shall commit the Office of a Judge Justice c. Et sic concordat lex divina non aliquantulùm sed quamplurimùm cum humanâ And so the Law of God is not somewhat or a very little but very much agreeing with the Law of England especially in these matters relating to the Royal Priviledges and Rights of the Crown Now these Royal Rights and Jurisdictions may not be Transferred to Persons or Tenements or possessed by any private Person nisi hoc datam fit ei de super unless it be given him from above that is to say from the King Now delegatus dicitur cui causa demittitur terminanda vel exequenda vices delegantis reprsentans in Jurisdictione nihil proprium habens he is said to be a delegate to whom Authority is committed to Handle and Determine Matters being the Representative of him that Delegates him and yet he hath no propriety in the Jurisdiction nor can properly call it his own So it is with Judges Justices the Judgments and the Courts they are called the Kings Judges the Kings Justices the Kings Judgments and the Courts of our Lord the King So that Jurisdictio delegata non delegari potest quin potestas Ordinaria remaneat cum ipso Rege this Jurisdiction delegated cannot be delegated but still the Supream Power must remain with the King himself CHAP. VIII Sheweth that the Subjects of England are bound by their bond of Allegiance to serve the King only in his Wars and that the King is the Fountain of Honour and by way of Induction to the same something is said of a Countee Palatine Davids worthies and good old Barzillai the Gileadite IN our Books we read of a Countee Palatine to have divers Royal Franchizes and Priviledges which were not Granted to other Earls and that the Doctors of the Imperial
amongst the rest he gave him a special charge to shew kindness not unto Chimham only but unto all the Sons of Barzillai the Gileadite charging him that he let them be of those that Eat at his Table rendring this for reason for so they came to me when I fled because of Absalom thy Brother Absit be it far from me I do not mention this matter as if I would thence infer that King David was obliged to have done this Honour to Barzillai and his Sons No! Cujus est dare ejus est disponere he that hath the power to give Honour or Reward hath also the disposing power to give to whom what and when he pleaseth and the very words of Barzillai and why should the King recompence it me with such a reward manifest that good old Barzillai thought it his bounden Duty to do what he had done And as appears by the preamble of the Statute of 11th H. 7th ca. 1. Every Subject of this Realm of England by Duty of Allegiance is bound to serve his Prince and Soveraign Lotd in his Wars for the defence of him and the Land against every Rebellion Power and Might reared against him and with him to enter and abide in service in Battel And Sir Edward Coke also in the 7th parr of his Reports Fol. 7. b. 8. a. saith that all Subjects are bound to go with the King in War infra extra regnum both within and without the Kingdom CHAP. IX Herein you have a Subject defined you have Ligeance defined and is shewed that the King hath two Capacities the one Natural and the other Politick that the body Politick cannot be separated from the Body Natural that Ligeance is due to the Natural Body of the King that the Kingdom of England admits of no interregnum and that the Disherison of the Right Heir of a Kingdom is wont to be the beginning of Civil Wars NOW whosoever is born under a natural Ligeance due by the Law of Nature is a Subject And it is neither caelum Heaven nor solum the Soil that makes the Subject but Ligeance which is of as large extent and Latitude as the Royal Power and Protection of the King is which Allegiance or Ligeance is a true and faithful Obedience of the Subject due to his Soveraign and is or ought to be an incident inseperable to every Subject because Ligeantia est vinculum fidei the bond of Faith est quasi Legis essentia est ligamentum quasi ligatio mentium quia sicut ligamentum est connexio articulorum juncturarum c. As the Ligatures or Strings do knit together all the Joints of all the parts of the Body so doth this Ligeance joyn together the Soveraign and all his Subjects quasi uno ligamine as in one knot or tye In some Acts of Parliament Subjects are called Leige Subjects or Leige People and again in some Acts of Parliament the King is called Leige Lord of his Subjects so that I may further say Ligeantia est quid quodamodo reciprocum a certain Reciprocal thing hence it is we say Protectio Regis tiahit subjectionem subditi subjectio subditi trahit protectionem Regis The Protection of the King doth draw or attract the Subjection of the Subject and the Subjection of the Subject doth draw or attract to it the Protection of the King So that this Ligeance is the mutual Bond and Obligation between the King and his Subjects whereby Subjects are called his Leige Subjects because they are bound to Obey and Serve him as well in times of War as in times of Peace and he is called their Leige Lord because he is to maintain them in their just Rights and Liberties by the power of the Sword times of War and by the Legislative power to defend them in times of Peace from Injuries and Oppressions Now the King is said to have Two Capacities one Natural the other Politick one framed of God the other by the Policy of Man one subject to Infirmities the other not And the Estate Royal or Politick doth not confound the capacity of his Body Natural but their Capacities remain distinctly as in other Persons that have double capacity as a Bishop or a Dean c. Plow 234. a. and the Body Politick of the King may not be disjoyned or separated from his Body Natural Plow 230. a. 242. b. So that when the King is Sworn to his Subjects as he is at his Coronation he taketh Oath in his Natural Person for the Politick Body is immortal and invisible nay the Politick Body hath no Soul for as is aforesaid it is framed by the Policy of Man and therefore the King cannot be said to Swear in his Politick Capacity In likewise when at the Assizes by the Judge of the Goal delivery at the Sessions of the Peace by the Justices or the Commissioners of the Peace when at or in the Leet by the Steward there the Subject is or shall be Sworn to the King to bear Faith and true Allegiance to his Majesty his Heirs and Successors then the Subject is Sworn to bear Faith and true Allegiance to the Natural Body of the King And accordingly in all Indictments of Treason when any intend or compass mortem destructionem Domini Regis which must needs be intended and understood to be of his Natural Body for his Politick Body is Immortal and not subject to Death the Indictment always concludeth with contra Ligeantiae suae debitum contrary to the Duty of their Allegiance and therefore Ligeance is due to the Natural Body of the King And Sir Edward Coke says this Ligeance or Faith of the Subject is proprium quarto modo to the King a degree beyond the Grammarians Superlative omni soli semper to every King to the King alone and always to the King And it will be material and not contrary to Sir Edward Cokes meaning to add these words de jure to every of his omni soli semper And so Ligeance will be due as it is to every King that is so de jure of Right to him alone that is so and always to him that is King de jure of Right Thereby every King de facto and Usurper will be excluded and the greater safety will be secured to the King and to the Subject too for the Disherison of the Right Heir of a Kingdom is always wont to be the beginning of Civil Wars But however Sir Edward Coke omitted those words de jure yet his meaning was without question the same as if those words had been added because C. 7. 10. b. he saith that the King holdeth the Realm of England by Birthright upon which Succession is ever attendant and in the same place he saith that the King in individuo moritur but not in genere which is as much as to so say that the Natural Body of the King is subject to Death but the body Politick of the King dyeth not And therefore
of the Kings foundation and the Kings of England are the Founders of them all and they sit in Parliament and have the Names of the Lords of the Parliament non ratione Nobilitatis sed ratione Officii not by reason of their Nobility but by reason of their Office and in respect of their Ancient Barronies annexed to their dignities C. Inst 1. part 97. a. And in C. 5. 1. part Cawdreyes Case it may be seen That King Kenulphus by Charter in Parliament in the year of our Lord 755. Exempted the Abbot of Abingdon from Episcopal Jurisdiction and gave it him That amongst the Laws of Edward the Confessor it was Ordained that he should Govern the Kingdom and his People and above all the Holy Church not the Pope That William the Conqueror Appropriated Churches with Cure That King Henry the First presented to Abbeys as well by his Ecclesiastical as his Kingly Power That Henry the Third granted Prohibitions and in Issue of Loyalty of Marriage and general Bastardy the King wrote to the Bishop as his immediate Officer That in the time of Edward the Third the Temporalties of the Archbishop of York were lost during his Life for refusal of a Clark of the King by reason of a Provision of the Pope That by 25. Edw. the Third a Man might kill those that procured Provisions from Rome and those that executed them Also by 25. Edw. 3d. It was Enacted that the Pope shall not give Archbishopricks Bishopricks c. but that the King them shall give c. That by 16. Rihard the Second chap. 5th It is Enacted that because the King holdeth his Crown immediately under God they who purchase or pursue in the Court of Rome Translations Processes Excommunications Bulls Instruments c. and their Fautors and Councillors shall be out of the Protection of the King and Praemunire facias shall be awarded against them That 2. H. 4. 9. It is resolved that Collectors of the Pope by their Bulls have not any Jurisdiction here and that the Archbishops and Bishops are called the Spiritual Judges of the King And 11. H. 4. 37. it is said Papa non potest mutare leges Angliae that the Pope cannot change or alter the Laws of England That 2. Henry the Fourth chap. 3d. he that obtaineth from the Bishop of Rome to be exempt from regular Obedience is within the Case of a Praemunire That 6. H. 4. chap. 1. Forfeiture was imposed upon those who payed great sums to the Chamber of Rome That by 2. H. 5. chap. 1. The King not the Pope gave power to the Ordinary to enquire of the Foundation and Government of Hospitals and to correct c. That in 9. H. 6. 16. The King only can give License for the Foundation of a Corporation Spiritual not the Pope That 12th Edw. 4th 16. A Legate of the Pope was compelled to Swear that he would not attempt any thing against the Crown c. That in 2. Rich. 3. It is said that Excommunication or Judgment at Rome is of no force here That in First Henry the 7th 10th It is said that in time of King Henry the Sixth Humphry Duke of Glocester burnt the Letters of the Pope that were in Derogation ot the King and his Crown And 1. H. 7. 20. It is adjudged that the Pope may not grant Sanctuary And 25. Henry the 8. chap. 21. It is Enacted by the Statute forementioned of faculties that none shall make suit to Rome but that the Archbishop of Canterbury may grant to the King and his Subjects such Licenses Dispensations Grants Faculties Escripts Delegacies Instruments c. not repugnant to Holy Scripture as been used to be granted by the Pope yet it is to be noted that such Cannons Constitutions Ordinances Synods Provincials c. were provided to be in force which had been allowed by general Consent and Custom within the Realm not repugnant to Law or the Prerogative of the King and so by the same general Consent may be Corrected Enlarged Explained or Abrogated hence we may rest satisfied that for many Hundreds of years last past successively in the time of one King after another King when all our Ancestors were Papists and of that profession that yet the Government of the Church ever was inherent to the Imperial Crown of the Kings of England In the time of King Henry the Third the Usurped Jurisdiction of the Pope was elevated more high than ever before or since yet it may be observed that in the Ninth year of his Reign in the very first Chapter of the great Charter Entitled and Called The Confirmation of Liberties is mentioned First We have granted to God and by this our present Charter have confirmed for Us and Our Heirs for ever that the Church of England shall be free and shall have all her whole Rights and Liberties inviolable And by the Statute of 24. H. 8. chap. 12. by 24. Bishops and 29 Abbots it is recited that England is an Empire and that the King is the Head of the Body Politick consisting of the Temporalty and the Spiritualty impleet and furnished with full Power to render final Justice in all matters whatsoever as well Ecclesiastical as Temporal And that part of the said Body Politick called the Spiritualty hath been always thought sufficient and meet of it self without the intermeddling of any Forreign Pope or any exterior Person or Persons when any cause of the Law Divine happened to come in question or of Spiritual Learning to declare and determine all such doubts and to adminster all such Offices and Duties yet as the Spiritual Judges of and under the King as to their several Roomes Spiritual doth appertain And the Laws Temporal for Trial of Property of Lands and Goods and for the conservation of the Realm in Unity and Peace without Rapine or Spoil were and yet are Administred Adjudged and Executed by sundry Judges and Ministers of the other part of the Body Politick called the Temporalty And their Authorities and Jurisdictions do conjoyn together in the due Administration of Justice the one is a help to the other and both are a help to and in ease of the King the Head of this Body Politick here you have concisely and in few words discovered unto you the Ancient form of the Government of England both in Church and State and accordingly in Ancient times the Parliaments of England consisted only of the King the Lords Spiritual and the Lords Temporal who were Anciently the Representatives of the whole Kingdom in Parliament Assembled under the Kings or Queens thereof but for some Hundreds of years last past a Writ hath been framed for the Election of Knigts c. to sit in Parliament and these Knights c. are to be chosen by the Freeholders in their several Counties CHAP. XX. As to the Kings Supremacy is shewed the difference between the Primitive and more modern times herein the Author adviseth all to be at Vnity within themselves and
King And as in Bracton cited by Stanf. 99. b. Since nihil aliud potest Rex in terris cum sit Dei Minister Vicarius quam quod de jure potest ita quod potestas juris sua est non injuriae c because the King as he is Gods Minister and Vicegerent can do nothing upon the Earth but what he may do by Law so that the Power of Equity and Justice not of injury and Injustice is properly said to be his Power Therefore his late Sacred Majesty not being minded to Calm the Stormes of some discontented Spirits by stirring up a Tempest in his own Bosom was pleased at the opening of the late Parliament at Westminster to signifie to the Two Houses that he desired them to preserve the Succession of the Crown in the right Line and withall intimated to them that he would give his Royal Assent to any Laws they should devise or make for the Security of the Protestant Religion as it is now Established by Law in the Church of England or to that Effect but we are living in faece seculi in the very Dregs and the very last and worst of Days we are Jealous again of our own shadows nay we mistrust Gods Providence and Protection and the Kingdom again is like to be ruined by secret Plots and Machinations We have for many years by the wonderful Providence of God been delivered from the Slavery and Superstition of Popery And yet nothing is now more feared than the Introduction and Publick exercise of Popery again in these Kingdoms Although as King James the First the Royal Grandfather of our gracious Soveraign Lord King James the Second in his first Speech to his first Parliament next after his Advent to the Crowns of England and Ireland did declare that it was then our happiness that our Head meaning himself was of the same Religion that the Body was of and that as he was no stranger to us in Blood no more was he a stranger to us in Faith or in the matters concerning the House of God so likewise his Sacred Majesty whom God long preserve in his first Speech to his Privy Counsel next after his first Advent to the Crowns of Great Brittain and Ireland hath been Graciously Pleased to Declare that he will do his utmost endeavours to Preserve and Defend the Government in Church and State as it is now Established by Law in his several Realms and Dominions And besides divers other undeniable Arguments might demonstrate that his late Sacred Majesty or his dear Royal Brother now King James the Second never intended in their Imaginations the least thought to make any alteration of the Protestant Religion as it is Established by Law in the Church of England that further happy alliance of Marriage contracted and Consummated between the Eldest Daughter of his Royal Majesty and the most Illustrious Prince of Orange And a later Marriage contracted also and Consummated between his Younger Daughter and the most Illustrious Prince George of Denmark most clearly confirms the reality of their intentions herein by which Nuptial engagements it appears further that their joint endeavours have been not only to defend uphold and maintain a bare profession thereof in these his Majesties Dominions but also to enlarge and corroborate it abroad as much as lyeth in their Power Do we not know that when a Protestant Prince is to intermarry with a Forreign Princess of the Catholick Religion what great care and provision is made by the Parents or Friends on either side by Articles made and confirmed by some Ministers of State equally chosen and impowered for the purpose of her having a set number of Priests and other Ministers and Servants of her Judgment and Profession for the due Administration and Execution only of such Rites and Ceremonies as are proper for her having and enjoying that Freedom and Liberty that is agreeable to the Rule of her Conscience in that Religion wherein she hath been born and educated And I pray in the time of his late Sacred Majesty by whom the true Protestant Religion was professed that by Law is Established why might not some wholesome Law or Laws have been made by the great Council the Parliament for the prevention of the extirpation of the Protestant Religion and the setting aside those Idle and Aiery Jealousies of the Massacre of the true professors thereof after his Demise or Death But alas I fear I am mistaken in or do not put the question right there are divers Sects and not Religions such as are called Presbyterians Anabaptists Independents Quakers and I know not how many sorts of Novelists amongst us that had not only their Birth and Production but also their full growth in the late times of Usurpation and Rebellion who though they differ in judgment amongst themselves yet in this as formerly they are all still agreeing that if they had but the opportunity they would all shake hands and join together in being against the Kings Supremacy in Church and State as much if not more than the Papists For these several sorts of Sects do not so much differ from us in points of Religion as in their confused form of Policy and Parity being ever discontented with the present Government and are impatient to suffer any Superiority which maketh these Sects unable to be suffered in any well governed State or Kingdom But if we take into serious consideration that it is above Forty years since the late times of Rebellion and that every Individual person now living and that hath since attained to the Age of Fifty years or thereabouts were then Children and had not the discretion to discern or put a difference between good and evil if we consider the great changes and mighty revolutions the Metamorphosis and Transposition of all things in point of Government then and afterwards in time till his late sacred Majesties most happy Restauration then all these Sects or most of them I hope will be ready to conclude with me that they did not nor could know better because that in their Youth in stead of better and more wholsome nutriment they sucked in were nursed and educated in those bad times upon Venomous and Rebellious Principles Quo semel est imbuta recens fervabit odorem Horace Testa diu c. Accordingly what Children have been instructed or Grammard in in their Youth it is hard for them to leave in their Old or Elder years some of these several Sects do still retain their first drunken in Liquor upon a certain shamefacedness to be thought curious or changeable others of them that are more Willful and Obstinate will not be reformed because contrary to St. Pauls advice Rom. 12.16 they are wise in their own conceit and will not be informed CHAP. XI Sheweth that Ignorance of the Law will excuse none and that therefore all Dissenters to the Government in Church and State are advised to Conformity IT is horrible that St. Paul saith they that