Saxon Laws that he found when he came to govern this Kingdom nor any setting up of new ones in their stead No so far was he from any such Designs of introducing new Laws which must needs be then the absolute Results of Arbitrary Will and Pleasure to shew the sad and calamitous Effects of an entire Conquest to the overthrow of those so firmly established already that you see he gives his Confirmation to King Edward's Laws which indeed generally speaking were but a Collection of those the Historian calls Bonas Leges ab antiquis Malmesb. de Gest Regn. Angl. lib. 2. fo 42. l. 21. regibus latas non quod ille statuerit sed quod observaverit not so much the Laws of his own making as those he caused to be strictly observed and put in execution From the Title of his Laws proceed we 2. To the Confirmation it self and here I shall acquaint you with the manner of it in all its necessary Particulars This William the First with his French and Normans putting many hardships upon the English which occasioned great Disorders and Convulsions in the State several of the Saxons chief Nobility betook themselves to Arms for the sake of their Avitae Consuetudines to which they bore an immutable and an immortal Love and which they feared some were endeavouring to take away and change them though on the other hand they were obstinately resolved never to part from them for they had à Majoribus Seld. Tit. of Hon. fol. 523. didicisse aut Libertatem aut Mortem and they would rather undergo the worst Calamities of a more cruel War than they would tamely quit and abandon those dear Laws and Customs to which they had so long been used and were so well acquainted with The King hereupon to keep the Ex lib. Monast de Litchfield Co. 8. Rep. in Pref. People in a greater observance of their Duty and withal not forgetting the Oath he had taken at his Coronation caused twelve of the most discreet and wise Men in every Shire throughout all England to take an Oath before himself to deal sincerely and uprightly without turning either ad dextram aut sinistram that is as my Lord Coke interprets it neither to flatter Prerogative or extend Priviledg and to declare and lay open the Constitutions of their Laws and Customs without concealing adding or in any sort varying from the Truth But finding William and his Norman Barons who were Norwegians by extraction were for introducing the Apud Lambard fol. 149. Norwegian Laws This the English thought a more killing blow than that of his Victory and therefore Vniversi Compatriotae qui Leges edixerant tristes affecti being all of them in a great Consternation they beseeched him that they might still retain Leges proprias their own Laws and enjoy Consuetudines Antiquâ—â— their Ancient Customs in which their Fathers lived ipsi in eis nati nutriti sunt quiâ— Id. Ibid. durum valde foret sibi suscipere Leges ignotas judicare de eis quas nesciebant and themselves were born and bred up in because it would be very hard to receive Laws unknown and to judg of those things they understood not And when William denied they warmly reinforced their Requests and then conjured him per Animam Regis Edwardi by the Soul of King Edward qui sibi post diem suum concesserat Coronam Regnum cujus erant Leges that he would not impose a Yoke upon them which they were not able to bear and which would only gall their Necks and make them the more fretting and unruly King William finding there was no Remedy tho' he was long resolute at last in a Common Council of his Kingdom yields and by his Magna Charta the ground-work of all those that after followed he confirmed to Apud Cl. Lambard fol. 158. them their Ancient Laws ad praeces Communitatis Anglorum Blessing it with the Seal of Security and Wish of Eternity closing it up with this Co. li. 8. in Pref. general And we further Command That all Men keep and observe duly the Laws of King Edward rearing up the Frontispiece of his Gracious Ex Libro MS. de legib antiq Work with his Glorious Stile Willielmus Dei Gratia Rex Anglorum Dux Normannorum Omnibus hominibus suis Francis Anglicis Salutem Statuinius imprimis super omnia unum Deum per totum Regnum nostrum venerari unam fidem Christi semper inviolatam custodiri pacem securitatem concordiam judicium justitiam inter Anglos Normannos Francos Britones Walliae Cornubiae Pictos Scotos Albaniae similiter inter Insulanos Provincias Patrias quae pertinent ad Coronam dignitatem defensionem observationem honorem Regni nostri inter omnes nobis Subjectos per Vniversam Monarchiam Regni Britanniae firmiter inviolabiliter observari Ingulphus Secretary to William in Normandy and afterwards made Abbot of Crowland by him is an unexceptionable Witness to prove that the English Laws were then anew confirmed and he saith †Ex Ingulpho Abbate Crowlandense fol. 519. b. l. 37. Attâ—li eadem vice mecum de Londonijs in meum Monasterium Leges aequissimi Regis Edwardi quas Dominus meus inclitus Rex Willielmus authenticas esse perpetuas per totum Regnum Angliae inviolabiliter tenendas sub poenis graviffiâ—â—is toclamâret suis Justitiarils commendâret eodem idiomate quo editae sunt I brought this time with me from London where he had been about the business of his House to my Monastery the Laws of the most just King Edward which my Lord William the renowned King of England had proclaimed authentick and perpetual all England over to be kept under most grievous Penalties and commended to his Justice in the same Tongue they were set forth And this Proclamation was not all to allay the Storms which perhaps the violation of these Laws had raised For the good of Peace saith an ancient Monk he swears upon all the Reliques of the Church of Saint Albane touching the Holy Gospel Abbot Fredrick ministring the Oath * Mat. Paris in vit Fretherici Abbatis S. Albani fol. 48. l. 39. Bonas approbatas antiquas Regni Leges quas Sancti Pii Angliae Reges ejus Antecessores maximè Rex Edwardus statuit inviolabiliter observare the good and approved ancient Laws of the Realm which the Holy and Pious Kings of England his Ancestors and especially King Edward set forth inviolably to keep Thus we see the Mighty Conqueror is himself conquered and solemnly renouncing all Arbitrary Will and Power submits his Will to be regulated and governed by Justice and the ancient Rights of the English Men. Besides that the Laws that were continued and confirmed were the old Saxon Laws and the Additional Laws were made for the Benefit and Advantage of the English not Normans And those
and great cause they had for their doing so for Remarkable is it that in the beginning of his Reign he made a conscience to keep it and this the Historian plainly proves for so far was he from pretending to be a Conqueror or from exercising absolute Power and Soveraignty over the English that you see he denied to none right Judgment who required it of him he condemned none but those who deserved it by the condemnation of the Law he strictly commanded his great Men to whom he had given the Estates of those who had been hold in Arms against him under King Harold that they should behave themselves with all due moderation and temper and he invited them to Acts of Iustice by his Example He charged them always to have God before their Eyes by whose Arms they had so far overcome That they should nay ought not too much to oppress those they had got the better of who were Christians with them lest those whom they had justly subdued should by such their Oppressions be forced to rebel again he strictly forbad them all Violences that they should restrain themselves from all Cruelties and Rapines That as the People should be kept in Peace by his Arms so their Arms should submit to and be governed by the Laws Nor did he only give this admirable Advice but he prudently governed himself and set easy Boundaries to those Services Taxes Aids quod de jure Apud Lambar LL. Wil. prim fol. 170. c. 55. facere debent which were due to him by the Law he absolutely denied all Pardons and Grace to Robbers and all disturbers of the Publick Peace and wicked Persons He commanded all the Roads to be free and open for Travellers and that no Injuries should be done them so that the beginning of his Reign was as it were a Golden Age and his Clemency and other Acts of Goodness still shone brighter to the happiness of his Subjects which was confirmed towards the Loyal and Dutiful by his steady and commendable perseverance Where in all this is there any pretence to absolute Conquest and despotical Dominion And now to conclude I shall produce an Evidence that is omni exceptione major it is Gulielmus Pictavensis who as Ordericus Vitalis in fine litri tertii writes was Regis Gulielmi Capellanus and writ the Acts of William the First And he categorically says it That Nulli tamen Gallo datum est quod Anglo cuiquam injustè fuerit ablatum that is according to the Judgment given in Sharborn's case That those who had kept themselves unconcerned and had neither consilio vel auxilio assisted Harold against William had the full and free benefit of the Saxon Laws and had not their Estates unjustly taken from any of them and given to his French and Normans Gulielm Pictavens in Gesta Gulielm Ducis Norman Regis Anglorum fol. 208. But I will leave this Sir and now come to your fourth and last Question The Fourth Question IV. Whether it be not a Grand The Anonimâ—â— Author against Mr. Petyt p. 37. Error to affirm That there were no English Men in the Common Council of the whole Kingdom OVr Government saith the Learned In his Argument for the Bishops Right in judging in Capital Causes in Parliament Postscript p. 2. and most judicious Mr. Hunt by a King and Estates of Parliament is as ancient as any thing can be remembred of the Nation The attempt of altering it in all Ages accounted Treason and the punishment thereof reserved to the Parliament by 25. Ed. 3. The conservancy of the Government being not safely to be ledged any where but with the Government it self Offences of this Kind not pardonable by the King because it is not in his Power to change it This is Our Government and thus it is established and for Ages and immemorial Time hath thus continued a long succession of Kings have recognized it to be such This too perhaps will be granted Sir in some sence that for a long Series and Tract of Time the Government hath been so but the main pinch and stress of your Question as I apprehend it is this Whether after William the Conqueror had setled himself as well as he could on the English Throne he did admit any of the English to fit in the Great Council of the Nation and to Advise and Consult de arduis Vrgentibus negotiis Regni And I hope this I shall make plain and evident to you That the Grand Court of Parliament was in substance the same that it was before the coming in of this Conqueror and that there were English Men Members of it in the Time of the Conqueror 'T is not to be denied but that the same Courts that were in the Saxon Time for administration of Justice continued after William the first was made King and the Footsteps of them remain yet to this day I shall mention a few and so come to the main Point in Argument 1. As it was their Wisdom to preserve 1. County Courts LL. Hen. 1. c. 6 apud Lambard fol. 180. the Ancient Land-marks so was it likewise both their Wisdom and their Care to continue their due Privileges and Interests Their County Courts were still kept up and every County had its Court and every Court its wonted Jurisdiction no complaint LL. Guil. â— 42 fol. 168. must be to the King's Court if Right might be done in the County no Distress must be taken but by Warrant from the County and that must be after complaint thrice made The LL. Guil. c. 64. County Court must be called as our Ancestors have appointed such as will not come as they ought shall be first summoned and in case of default distrained at the fourth default Reddatur de rebus hujus hominis quod calumpniatum est quod dicitur Ceargel insuper Regis forisfactura that is The Complainant shall be satisfied out of the Distresses so taken and the King also for his Fine These are the express Laws of the Conqueror's own establishment The last of which also was confirmed by another express Law saving that he would allow but of two Summons and two Distresses before Execution I shall give you a memorable case to prove the continuance of this Court. Odo the Conqueror's half Brother Selden ' s Titles of Honour 2d Part c. 5 f. 581 â— Eadmer His Nov. l. 1. p. 9 videsis notas ad eundem p. 197. de placito apud Pinendenem inter Lansrancum Archiepiscopum Odonem Bajocensâ—m Episcopum was by him made Earl of Kent and therewith had the Gift of a large Territory in Kent and taking advantage of the King's displeasure at Stigand the Arch-bishop of Canterbury possessed himself by Disseisin of divers Lands and Tenements belonging to that See. Lanfrank the succeeding Arch-bishop being informed hereof petitioned to the King that Iustice might be done him secundum Legem Terrae and the King sends forth a
Person of great Learning and Abilities in his Time collected out of a large Original Manuscript which I have seen of Sir Roger Owen a very great Antiquary that lived in the Time of King James and one who as appears by that Book was a Man not only of wonderful Knowledg and admirable Observation in the Records and Histories of his own Nation but also in those of Foreign Countries This was a Speech of the then Lord Whitlock in Novemb. 1650. upon the House's long and smart Debate touching the Act for putting all the Books of Law and the Process and Proceedings in Courts of Justice into the English Tongue In which Debate some spake in derogation and dishonour of the Laws of England For some vindication whereof and for satisfying some Mistakes he delivered his Opinion in the House to this effect It is now newly printed in Mr. Whitlock's MEMORIALS OF THE ENGLISH AFFAIRS c. and is here truly transcribed Mr. Speaker THe Question upon which your present Debate ariseth is of no small moment nor is it easily or speedily to be determined for it comprehends no less than a total Alteration of the Frame and Course of Proceedings of our Law which have been established and continued for so many Years I should not have troubled you with any of my weak Discourse but that I apprehend some Mistakes and dishonour to the Law of England if passed by without any Answer may be of ill consequence and having attended to hear them answered by others who are not pleased to do it I held my self the more engaged in the duty of my Profession to offer to your Judgment to which I shall always submit what I have met with and do suppose not to be impertinent for the rectifying of some Mistakes which are amongst us A worthy Gentleman was pleased to affirm with much confidence as he brought it in upon this Debate That the Laws of England were introduced by William the Conqueror as among other Arguments he asserted might appear by their being written in the French Tongue In his first Assertion that our Laws were introduced by William the Conqueror out of France I shall acknowledg that he hath several both Forreign and Domestick Authors whom he may follow therein The Forreign Authors are Jovius Aemilius Bodine Hottoman Dynothus Volateran Berault Berkley Choppinus Vspargensis Malines and Polidore who affirm this erròneous piece of Doctrine but the less to be regarded from them because they were strangers to our Laws and took up upon trust what they published in this Point Of our own Country-men they have Paris Malmesbury Matthew Westminster Fox Cosins Twyne Heyward Milles Fulbeck Cowell Ridley Brown Speed Martyr and some others All of them affirm That the Laws of England were introduced by William the Conqueror But their Errors are refuted by Sir Roger Owen in his Manuscript who saith That Roger Wendover and Matthew Paris were the first Monks that hatched these addle Eggs. I shall endeavour to shew you That the Original of our Laws is not from the French that they were not introduced by William the Conqueror out of Normandy And I shall humbly offer to you my Answer to some of their Arguments who are of a contrary opinion Polydore Hist Angl. l. 9. affirmeth That William the Conqueror first appointed Sheriffs and Iustices of the Peace erected Tenures brought in Trials by twelve Men and several other Particulars of our Laws For Sheriffs their name Scire Reeve shews them to be of the Saxon Institution And our Histories mention the division of Shires by King Alphred but in truth it was much more ancient And it is apparent by our Books and Records some whereof are in the Hustings of London and in the Tower that the same things were in use here long before the Time of King Will. 1. Sir Roger Owen shews at large That Livery of Seisin Licenses or Fines for Alienation Daughters to inherit Trials by Iuries Abjurations Utlaries Coroners disposing of Lands by Will Eseheats Gaols Writs Wrecks Warranties Catalla Fellonum and many other parts of our Law and the Forms of our Parliaments themselves were here in being before the Time of Duke William Agreeing hereunto are many of our Historians and learned Antiquaries But it is objected That in the Grand Custumary of Normandy the Laws are almost all the same with ours of England and the form of their Parliaments the same with ours That the Writer of the Preface to that Book saith It contains only the Laws and Customs which were made by the Princes of Normandy by the Councel of their Prelats Earls Barons and other Wise Men which shews the forms of their Parliaments to be the same with ours and the Laws in that Book to be the proper Laws of Normandy and ours to be the same therefore they argue that our Laws were introduced from thence by William the Conqueror This will be fully answered if that Grand Custumary of Normandy was composed in our King Edw. 1. his Time as good Authors hold it was then it cannot be That our Laws or Parliaments could be derived from thence These Learned Men say That this Custumary was a meer Translation of our Law-Book Glanvill as the Book of Regia Majestas of the Laws of Scotland is and the like of the Laws of Burgundy They farther add That the first establishing of the Custumary of Normandy was in Hen. 1. his Time and afterwards again about the beginning of Edw. 2. his Time. If the Laws in the Custumary were introduced there from England it will then be granted that the Laws of England were not introduced here by William the Conqueror But I think it very clear that their Laws were brought to them out of England and then you will all agree to the conclusion Our King Hen. 1. conquered Normandy from his Brother Robert and was a Learned King as his Name Beauclerke testifies whom Ivo calls an especial Establisher of Iustice Sequerius relates That this King established the English Laws in Normandy Herewith do agree Gulielmus Brito Armoricus Rutclurius and other French Writers who mention also That the Laws in the Custumary of Normandy are the same with the Laws collected by our English King Edward the Confessor who was before the Conqueror An additional Testimony hereof is out of William de Alenso Revile who in his Comment upon the Custumary saith That all the Laws of Normandy came from the English Laws and Nation In the Custumary there is a Chapter of Nampes or Distresses and decreed That one should not bring his Action upon any Seisure but from the Time of the Coronation of King Richard and this must be our King Richard the first because no King of France was in that Time of that Name and the words Nampes and Withernams were Saxon words taken out of the English Laws signifying a Pawn or Distress and in the same sence are used in the Custumary That which puts it further out of scruple is That
are in French and in the Common Pleas to our Time. But Sir our Law is Lex non Scripta I mean our Common Law and our Statutes Records and Books which are written in French are no Argument that therefore the Original of our Laws is from France but they were in being before any of the French Language was in our Laws Fortescue writes That the English kept their Accounts in French yet doubtless they had Accounts here and Revenues before the French Language was in use here My Lord Cook saith That the Conqueror taught the English the Norman Terms of Hawling Hunting and Gaming c. yet no doubt but that these Recreations were in use with us before his Time. And tho' Duke William or any other of our Kings before or after his Time did bring in the French Tongue amongst us yet that is no Argument that he or they did change or introduce our Laws which undoubtedly were here long before those Times and some of them when the French Tongue was so much in use here were translated written and pleaded and recorded in the French Tongue yet remained the same Law still And from the great use of the French Tongue here it was That the Reporters of our Law-Cases and Judgments which were in those Times did write their Reports in French which was the pure French in that Time tho' mixt with some words of Art. Those Terms of Art were taken many of them from the Saxon Tongue and may be seen by them yet used and the Reporters of later Times and our Students at this day use to take their Notes in French following the Old Reports which they had studied and the Old French which as in other Languages by time came to be varied I shall not deny but that some Monks in elder Times and some Clerks and Officers might have a Cunning for their private Honour and Profit to keep up a Mystery to have as much as they could of our Laws to be in a kind of Mystery to the Vulgar to be the less understood by them But the Councellors at Law and Iudges can have no advantage by it but perhaps it would be found that the Law being in English and generally more understood yet not sufficiently would occasion the more Suits And possibly there might be something of the like nature as to the Court Hand yet if the more Common Hands were used in our Law-writings they would be the more subject to change as the English and other Languages are but not the Latin. Surely the French Tongue used in our Reports and Law-Books deserves not to be so enviously decried as it is by Polydore Aliot Daniel Hottoman Cowell and other Censurers But Mr. Speaker if I have been tedious I humbly ask your pardon and have the more hopes to obtain it from so many worthy English Gentlemen when that which I have said was chiefly in vindication of their own Native Laws unto which I hold my self the more obliged by the Duty of my Profession and I account it an honour to me to be a Lawyer As to the Debate and Matter of the Act now before you I have delivered no Opinion against it nor do I think it reasonable that the generality of the People of England should by an Implicit Faith depend upon the knowledg of others in that which concerns them most of all It was the Romish Policy to keep them in Ignorance of Matters pertaining to their Souls Health let them not be in Ignorance of Matters pertaining to their Bodies Estates and all their worldly Comfort It is not unreasonable that the Law should be in the Language which may best be understood by those whose Lives and Fortunes are subject to it and are to be governed by it Moses read all the Laws openly before the People in their Mother Tongue God directed him to write it and to expound it to the People in their own Native Language that what concerned their Lives Liberties and Estates might be made known unto them in their most perspicuous way The Laws of the Eastern Nations were in their proper Tongue The Laws at Constantinople were in Greek at Rome in Latin in France Spain Germany Sweden Denmark and other Nations their Laws are published in their Native Idiom For your own Country there is no Man that can read the Saxon Character but may find the Laws of their Ancestors yet extant in the English Tongue Duke VVilliam himself commanded the Laws to be proclaimed in English that none might pretend ignorance of them It was the Judgment of the Parliament 36. Edw. 3. That Pleadings should be in English and in the Reigns of those Kings when our Statutes were enrolled in French and English yet then the Sheriffs in their several Counties were to proclaim them in English I shall conclude with a Complaint of what I have met with abroad from some Military Persons nothing but Scoffs and Invectives against our Law and Threats to take it away but the Law is above the reach of those Weapons which at one time or another will return upon those that use them Solid Arguments strong Reasons and Authorities are more fit for Confutation of any Error and Satisfaction of different Judgments When the Emperor took a Bishop in compleat Armour in a Battle he sent the Armour to the Pope with these words Haeccine sunt vestes Filii tui So may I say to those Gentlemen abroad as to their Railings Taunts and Threats against the Law Haeccine sunt Argumenta horum Antinomianorum They will be found of no force but recoiling Arms. Nor is it ingenious or prudent for ENGLISH-MEN to depravâ— their Birth-right the Laws of their own Country Thus Sir have I impartially given you my Sentiments of VVilliam the first his Conquest which hath been so terribly and frightfully represented and published to the VVorld by the Ignorance Interest and Artifice of some Modern VVriters Thus have I as an English Man endeavoured to do my Country Justice and to support the true Honour both of our worthy Saxon Ancestors and of our excellent and famous Laws against Conquest and Slavery as also to justify the Ancient Parliamentary Right as well of Lords as Commons But yet for your fuller and clearer satisfaction in this so weighty a Point I shall refer you if you please to the Learned and Judicious Discourses writ in some measure more particularly upon this Subject never yet sufficiently answered to my Conviction though I have industriously compared and considered all the pretended Answers and them together without the least of byass or prepossession and I heartily could wish others would do the like and that for TRUTH 's sake The Discourses are these viz. Mr. Selden's Jani Anglorum Facies Alterâ— Mr. Sytas Taylor 's History of Gavelkind Mr. Petyt's Rights of the Commons of England asserted And Mr. Attwood's Jani Anglorum Facies Nova And his Jus Anglorum ab Antiquo You would likewise I suppose be extreamly pleased in the
Arch-bishop delivered to our Lord the King at Kingston that very day of his Coronation and did then forbid the King that thenceforth he should make any other Oath than that which he had made at the Holy Altar or what the Bishop should dictate then unto him In the Name of the Holy Trinity I In Nomine S. Trinitatis Ego tria promitto Populo Christiano meisque subditis do promise three things to Christian People and my Subjects The Oath of the Saxon Kings at their Coronation The Oath which William the First took at his Coronation 1. That I will peaceably govern the Church of God and the People of my Kingdom 1. That he would 1. Dei Ecclesiam ac Universum mei Imperii Populum Christianum vera pace fruiturum defend the Churches of God and all their Pastors K. William's Oath Saxon Kings Oath 2. That he would govern all People that were his Subjects with Justice and with that prudent care which became a good King. 2. That I will 2. Me Rapinam omnemque iniquitatem omnibus ordinibus interdicturum utterly interdict Rapines and all Injustice to all Orders of Men. 3. That he would both enact and himself keep right Law and to the utmost of his Power would interdict all Rapines and false Judgments 3. That I do 3. Me promissurum mandaturum in omnibus Judiciis Justitiam Misericordiam ut nobis omnibus pro infinita sua miseratione propitius fit Clemens ac Misericors Deus qui vivit regnat c. promise and will command That in all Judgments Justice and Mercy shall be mingled together to the end that God who is the Omnipotent Judg of the World and ruleth over all may be pleased out of his infinite Compassion to be propitiously good and merciful to us all 4. And he added one Article more to the Oath than was in that of the Saxon Kings and it was extraordinarily necessary to be done rebus sic stantibus and that was Quod aequo jure Anglos Francos Tractaret That he would govern both the English and French by the same equality of Law without respect to either  This Oath too Christianus Rex qui haec observaverit sibi promerebitur honorem mundanum quinetiam illi Deus aeternus miserebitur tam in hac vita presenti quam in Aeterna illa quae nunquam deficit he took at the Altar of St. Peter before ever he was Consecrated and the Clergie and Laity were equally Parties and Witnesses After which he was Anointed and Crowned by Aldred Archbishop of York for Stigand the Arch-bishop of Canterbury was not admitted to that Office because of some defect in his Investiture That Christian King who shall observe these things shall deservedly acquire all earthly Honour moreover the everlasting Lord God shall take Compassion on him as well in this Life as that which is Eternal and Endless But if he shall do contrary Aâ—â—â— irritum fecerit quod Deo etat promissum tum deinceps egregiè verget in pejus moâ— quidem in populo suo omne demum quicquid fit convertetur in pessimum to what he promised God thenceforth he shall daily decline and his Subjects shall fail in their Allegiance and every thing will be turned from bad to stark nought unless in time he reforms the Errors of his Ways Meditate often with Hoc tecum saepe meditare quod debeas in Dei Judicio gregem proferré sistere in quem Pastor in hac vita constitutus es prospice quomodo conservasti quod Christus Sanguine suo olim redemit thy self that thou shalt one day bring thy whole Flock before the Tribunal of God whose Shepherd thou art here ordained and therefore often consider with thy self and look forward how thou hast kept those whom Christ with his own dear Blood hath formerly redeemed It is the Office of an Anointed Regis Consecrati jus est male judicare nemiâ—â—â—s Viduas Orphanos Perigrinos tueri conservare latroâ—inia prohibere scortatores corrigere incestuosos disjâ—ngere ac funditus extirpare â—eneficas incantatores delere Parricidas perjuros terris exterminare pauperes eleemosynis sublevare King to judg no Man unrighteously to protect Widdows Orphans and Strangers to interdict Robberies to punish Whoredoms to separate and utterly to extirpate all incestuous Persons to abolish and cut off Witches and Enchanters to banish Parricides and perjured Persons out of his Dominions to comfort the Poor with Almes To call Grave Sober Senes Prudentes Sobrios sibi in consillarios ascribere and wise Men to counsel and advise him To chuse just and good Justos sibi in Ministros constituere quia quicquid ipsi iniustum fecerint ejus Autoritate universi illius rationem tenetur ille reddere in die Judicii Men for his Ministers and Officers because whatsoever illegal Actions they shall commit under his Authority he must at the Day of Judgment give an account for And the reason of all this is evident both from the Laws of God and Man the King is Debitor Justitiae to all his People to rule and govern them Exact Collect. p. 28 29. by Law Which as his late Majesty said is the Inheritance of every Subject and the only security he can have for his Life and Estate Ad hoc autem creatus Tract lib. 3. fol. 107. a. b. est electus writes Bracton ut Justitiam faciat Vniversis and that dum facit justitiam Vicarius est Regis aeterni Minister autem Diaboli dum declinet ad injuriam Henry the Third upon a Charter granted by his Father King John and confirmed by himself declares Qui vero id quod dictus Pater Rot. Claus â— H. 3. pars prima m. 18. noster eis per Chartam suam concessit nos postmodum annuimus infringere nssquaquam volumus sicut nec de jure dehemus much less a Coronation Oath Edward the first tells the Pope upon a Message sent him That he could not answer without consulting his Parliament and gives this for his Reason Jurejurando in Coronatione nostra prestito Rot. Claus 3. E. 1. m. 9. â—â— Schedula sumus adstricti quod Jura Regni nostri servabimus illibata nec aliquid quod Diadema tangat Regni ejusdem absque ipsorum requisito consilio faciemus Observe lastly that Edward the Third that famous Conqueror of two Kings the Scottish and French hath left recorded to Posterity a definitive Sentence and Judgment in this Point as an indisputable rule of Right and Justice That he ought and was bound by Pulton Stat. 25. E. 3. f. 150. his Coronation Oath to keep the Law of the Realm This Law of the Realm or Land Cited in White ' s Sacred Laws p. 69. was looked upon in the judgment of these Parliaments as * 27. E. 1. the Law of Ancient Time â€