in proceeding by Bill is so transcendent and absolute as it cannot be confined either for Causes or Persons within any bounds to whose unlimited power the Judge applyes the Verse of Virgil. Hic ego nec metas rerumâ— nec tempora pono Intimating the same I must now to make my position good give you some Examples of their Extravagancies yet binding Acts Jan. 26. An. 14. Edw. 4. It was Enacted that Henry Duke of Buckingham should be to all Intents and purposes reputed and taken a person of full Age of 21 years It may Bastardize a Child that is by Law Legitimate as in Marys Winc. Case 5. 6. Ed. 6. It may Bastardize Secundum quid as to part to bar the Fathers Inheritance and not the Mothers as the late case of the Children of the Lady Anne Pierâ—…nt it can Legitimate Totally or Secundum quid as in the Case of the Children of the â—…ke of Lancaster who were Legitimated to all Capacities but the Crown it can allow â— man to marry another Wife his former being living as the Case of L. R. nay it â—…n dispense with a new intermarriage to both parties no peccancy in the Case as the â—…ng and the Lady Anne of Cleve 23 H. 8. C. 25. If these Examples now be not at least some of them contrary to Gods Law I 'me in the dark what is There being a positive Text in one Case as â—…om God hath joyned together let no man put asunder and the other so sigâ—…ly Anathematized as it may be said by Moses A Bastard shall not enter into the â—…ngregation of the Lord even to the Tenth Generation But of all the Examâ—…es of their Power there is none greater than that of T. Cromwell Earl of Essex whose â—…ory is commonly mistaken but it lyes thus the King Commanded the Earl to attend â—…e Chief Justices To know whether a man that was forthcoming might be Attainted Parliament of Treason and never called to his Answer The Judges made Answer â—…hat it was a dangerous question The High Court of Parliament ought to give Examples Inferiour Courts and none of them could do the like and they thought that the Parliament would never do it but being prest again by a second Message for a Positive Anâ—…wer They said If he be Attainted it could not come in question afterwards whether he â—…as called or no The Earl soon after was sent to Prison Attainted without being called â—…o Answer and Executed accordingly That this Statute was contrary to Gods Law none will Dispute that Considers that sayâ—…ng of Nichodemus Doth our Law Judge any man before it hear him and know what he â—…oth now as much contrarient to use E. F's new Word once more as this Law was and is â—…o Gods Law it s so far from being Voyd in respect of that that it Works to this day that Family Suffering under it yet as deprived by virtue of that harsh Attainder of the Earldom of Essex which no Prince or Parliament ever yet took notice of to the Advantage of that Injured Lord. I shall give you another Instance that Acts of Parliaments against the Law of God quoad forum humanum though not in foro Conscientiae to man-ward though not to God-ward are binding which is to be so understood by my position at the beginning of this Paragraph for though we must chuse rather to Obey God than Man yet to Oppose by force an Act so made viz. contrary to Gods Law is Treason by mans Law as it may be Circumstanced my Presidents are such as both Papists and Protestant E. F. and G. H. will agree to be such The Bloody Statute of the VI Articles which made Popery a Statute Religion as well as some say that Protestanism is made so since was against all the Rules and Methods of Christianity and consequently against the Laws of Gods as all Protestants hold yet it must be allowed to be binding as long as it lasted The Papists viz. E. F. and his Fellow Clubbers at the Compendium of the Plot that bundle of Lyes and Ill manners without doubt think and upon Occasion will say that our Sanguinary Laws against Priests are against the Laws of God yet even they will not deny but they are binding Quoad Forum Humanum to manward Now as Conclusive and in Answer concerning what he says That his Sacred Majesty that now is will not suffer in his time a Pearl of this Magnitude and Oriency to be Ravished by any hands out of the Imperial Diadem of this Realm I shall offer this That a Declarative Act of that Power in the Parliament is the greatest Security to any Prince Regnant in the Case of a contingent remainder as I will put a Case which may but I hope will never be our own admit the now Queen of Spain happen to be the next remainder or Presumptive Heir which God forbid and being Acted by her Husbands and other Popish Councils should without natural Affection which is always with them postpond to Religion attempt to remove the Obstruction by Vile Agents Quis tot referre faâ—inorum formas potest Regnum petentis per gradum omnium scelerum Who can express the Methods of Impieties in them that ambitiously seek after a Kingdom commit insolent overtacts as quartering the Arms of England as Mary of Scotland did when Queen of France which might be the occasion with the continuando of that Act of the 13 of Eliz. so much talked on nay admit her Husband the King of Spain should make open War by attempting an Invasion and Claim the present Possession of the Crown as devolved unto the Pope for Heresy and from him consigned unto that King who without doubt hath as good a Title to the Crown of England as Julio II. had to Navarr yet the King of Spain holds upper Navarr that is all in a manner worth holding by Virtue of that Grant to this very day it s well enough known how other Crowns too have been disposed on by the See of Rome what shall we in such a Case sit and Sigh and feed our Fancies with a company of insignificant Wishes Hang up a Rogue or too when we can catch e'm and behave our selves like the foolish Jews who tamely let their Throats be Cut on the Sabbath day without resistance shall we with them say Let us die in our Innocency Heaven and Earth shall testify for us That you put us to Death Wrongfully Spain in the late Marriage with France provided against all Contingencies of that Nature by making the Daughter of Spain renounce all pretensions to the Crown in Case it should happen to be her Right and though it may be Objected it was not Injurious because of her Assent yet whoso Considers Her Young Years will not Argue much from thence If there was no Remedy in such a Case especially when there is a natural impossibility of defeating the Presumptive Heir by natural means as in the Case of the late great Queen what encouragement can any man have to do his Duty in Defending the present Possessour from the practises of the Impatient Heir when he is sure to be at last layd open to all Injuries imaginable The Holy League to prevent that Petitioned the Consistory at Rome That they might have leave to overthrow the Succession in a full Assembly of the States and to make the naming of a Successor Subject unto the said States yet none of that Party concerned themselves much with the unreasonableness of that Petition being satisfied I suppose with the expediency of the thing Therefore since that no Laws can be or has been made but such as shall at some time entrench upon some particulars It rests then naturally in the Supremacy to add what new ones it in reason shall think fit that being the only proper Judge of all Conveniences in that Case to think otherwise were to dismantle and disarm the Government by making it so defective as not to be able to provide either for its own Support or the Subjects Security a Parliament viz. the King and his Three Estates being then the only Remedy in such a Juncture I shall apply for a Conclusion to that uncontroulable and unaccountable Authority the 33. 34. Verses of Job 41. Vpon Earth there is none like him who is made without fear He beholdeth all High things He is a King over all the Children of Pride no more Worthy Sir but I am Your Humble Servant G. H. 13 Eliz. C. g. 2. Sp. Glos L. 1. C. 6. â— E. d 4. C. 1. * L. 1. C. 6. P. 9. 1. Edw. 3. 18. 42 Edw. â— 1 Jac. C. 1. 25 Ed. 1. C. 2. p. 15. Aquinas Inst 4. c. 1. Deut. 23. 2. I. 7. 51 De. 17. 10. 8. 19. 15. The Example of Spain disinheriting the Daughter Mac. L. 1. c. 3. V. 36. 37.
case besides how many times without regard to the Male Line it self hath that Line bin altered yet none disputes that Kings Title but to say the Truth the Pope who alone may dispose of Succession had a hand in advancing the Carolingian Line to the prejudice of the Merovinian which like Offa Cerbero a sop to Cerberus keeps the Cur from snarling How was that Law of Nature violated by the guiâ—t of the Dauphinale to the Crown of France by the Union of the Kingdom of Navarr and Dutchy of Britain to the said Crown By Virtue of which Union Britagne is enjoyed by the French King when the Right of Proxinity of Blood lyes in the House of Savoy to no purpose If Natures Law be Violable or hath bin violated in one place without Taxation of Injustice at the Discretion of the Supreme Power which in every Constitution of Government is lodged somwhere as by these Examples is made out then it may admit of Violations again under the like Circumstances that is of Safety and Security for those were the true ends of those Unions For that rule of Living Quod tibi fieri non vis alteri ne feceris what thou wouldst not have done to thy self do not to another improved by the Law of Grace to whatsoever you would that Men should do unto you that do unto them does not at all reach Communityes or Societyes of Men as may modestly be offered otherways Maiefactours might make use of that Plea against the security of the Laws in their concerns now a great Latitude must be allowed to the Legislative Power in making Laws upon emergent occasions to provide for the Publick safety otherwayes our Sanguinary Laws against Robbery and Polygamy being contrary to the Laws of God which directs otherways in the former and allowed the latter must fall under a severe censure I shall now hasten to Conclusion only subjoyn somwhat about Henry the Seventh Whose Laws E. F. says my Lord Bacon Comments because he says somthing in his Case very handsomly upon That King past two Notable Statutes as he says one that the Crown should rest and abide to himself and his Heirs c. The other that all persons should be indemnifyed that served the King for the time being in his Warrs This Law says my Lord Bacon had in it parts of prudent and deep foresight for it took away occasion for the People to busy themselves in prying into the Kings Title to the Crown for howsoever that fell out good or bad the peoples safety was provided for The same Author in the close of that Kings Life accounts it amongst his Blessings that he dyed so soon viz. before the Prince comes to mans Estate who in likelyhood considering his great Spirit would not have sitten down under the Law of settlement but have seazed the present Possession of the Crown as his Right by common Law the Curtesy not reaching the case of the Crown as has bin sayd before This E. F. is mighty fond on as coming from so great a Man but to examine the matter over again I cannot see notwithstanding my Lord Bacons Authority how the Peoples safety was provided for by the Law of indemnity if the Kings was not by the Statute of settlement For if once Henry the Seventh had fallen under the Power of his Son as there has often hapned such Cases or any other Pretender of the House of York the Statute of safety for the People as well as that of settlement for the King had bin equally out of Doors by alledging that Henry the Seventh was no Legall King so no Legall Parliament like those of the three Henryes and therefore nothing of that King binding I wonder therefore so great a Man as my Lord Bacon should branch at so empty a Rate but more that so palpable a nothing should pass upon a man that has such Skill in that Knotty way of Argumentation as E. F. pretends to have Now that something has been said to prove that Parliaments have done and do daily encroach upon the Law of Nature without the least grumbling imaginable I shall give some Scripture Presidents when Proximity of Blood the thing insisted upon in the Case of Government hath not been much regarded yet no absolute proof of Gods immediate Command in the Case Cain was set aside for Seth Sem is not agreed to have bin the Elder Brother whether Abraham was or no is likewise a Question but to be sure neither Isaac nor Jacob were Reuben Simeon and Levi were set aside for their Vices and the Dominion of all given to Judah but these Examples may be Objected against because the times before the Flood were dark and the other may be said to be in relation to Spirituals because none of them had as appears many to exercise a Royal Authority over but a Royal Power some did Exercise as is Evident by Abrahams Offering to Sacrifice his Son and Judah's commanding his Daughter in Law to be burnt which none but an unaccountable person could do From the time of Moses unto David Proximity of Blood was not regarded Joshuah of another Tribe succeeded Moses in the Monarchy the Succession going at the same race amongst all the Judges except in the Case of Abimelech whose manners and Success are not very Argumentative for the Traverse now That those Judges were Kings or so esteemed is plain from the Text In those days there was no King in Israel but every man c. because at that time when that Villany was committed by the Benjamites then was an Inter regnum none to Judge the People as formerly The Asmonaean Family or Machabees began at the same Rate for Mattathias who got a party to oppose the Wicked proceedings of that ungodly Antiochus Epiphanes when he dyed bequeathed the Captainship of Israel which he had exercised amongst them successfully for a while unto Judas his Third Son as the most fit setting aside Simon his Eldest though a worthy person which he made appear when he came after the Death of Jonathan his Younger Brother to the Administration of Publick affairs no immediate hand of God in this as may be said in the other for then there was no Prophet in Israel to direct them the Theocracy being determined as may appear from Mach. 1. Cap. 4. Ver. 46. And they laid up the Stones in the Mountain of the Temple in a convenient place until there should come a Prophet to shew what should be done with them For a parting blow now in Answer to what is or can be said in the Case I shall lay down this Thesis That Statute Laws though contrarient to the Laws of God are binding this I shall make out by pertinent Examples an unanswerable Argument of the Power though perhaps not of the Justice of Parliaments concerning their Power I will give you my Lord Cookes Sense whose Authority my Author seems to value elsewhere The Power and Jurisdiction of Parliament for making of Laws
all Obstructions and Incapacities whatsoever Created by the same Act of Parliament but now if an Act of Parliament hinder that descent that Argument is Non-suit notwithstanding all his Examples according to his usual way to no purpose no Case alledged being any thing Parallel to that he pretends to One great Argument he hath is That the Law of the Crown differs from Subjects in point of descents as descending to an Alien no Coheirs in the Case no Tenancy by Courtesy Descent by half Bloud as all Honours do And therefore that may be Law in Case of the Crown which is not in Case of the Subject So not to be affected by Parliament as he would imply or else he says nothing by that Rule Copy-hold Tenure and Gavel kind are exempted too because their Descents are not like the Common Law a pretty Consequence I must now take Notice how this unworthy Son of the Church of England as he and I think truly terms himself Treats Queen Elizabeth though it be out of my Province to say any thing in justification of the usage of the Queen of Scots yet I must vindicate that great Queen from his Black Calumny after a kind Expression or two about the Scots Queen he tells you That Queen Elizabeth Inheriting her Fathers Malaversion to the House of Scotland sent her to a loathsom Prison 't is true She was a Prisoner at large under the Care of the Earl of Shrewsbury where nothing of Liberty was denyed her but Access to the Queen until she fell into the Correspondence with Babington c. He tells you farther That the generality of Mankind lookt upon Maryes Title to the Crown better than the other Elizabeth being Bastardized and rendred uncapable by Act of Parliament yet unrepealed at leastwise but a Stature Queen as he unmannerly Terms her when he Treats Queen Mary her Sister who was in his Sense but a Statute Queen at another rate for in the Dispute betwixt her and the Lady Jane Grey he brings in an Historian saying Tali constanti veneratione nos Angli legitimos Reges prosequimur ut ab eorum debito obsequio c. By him thus Englished Such and so constant a Veneration have we Englishmen for our Lawful Princes that we are not to be drawn from our due Obedience c. Here Queen Mary notwithstanding her being Bastardized by Parliament is allowed a lawful Queen but Religion covered her Nakedness which laid the others more open but our Protestant is now come to himself for Cat will be Cat still I must ask this Protestant now who they were that Judged Queen Maryes Title better than Queen Elizabeth it was not the Parliament for Queen Elizabeth was Proclaimed Queen by a Popish Parliament sitting at her Sisters Death she was so by Heath the Chancellor Arch-Bishop of York She was allowed to be so by the Pope and so Stiled till his Holiness published his Bull against her she was so Stiled by all Christian Princes except you will say Francis the Second of France his Quartering her Arms was an implication to the contrary though he never had the Courage to justify it Besides all these my Author may remember what he allowed to be Law once in Her Case and in the Case of Hen. the Seventh That the Crown takes away all Defects in Blood and incapacities by Parliament and from that time that the King viz. Henry the Seventh did Assume the Crown all Impediments were discharged I have now run over the most material Points of his Arguments about Succession to which I shall now oppose something of my own I shall lay down for my Position That the Parliament may make what Laws they please even against the Law of Nature which nevertheless shall be Binding But before I enter any further I premise this That my Design is only to set forth the Power of a King environed with his Three Estates more terible than an Army with Banners His Power is then like that King Solomon speaks of In the Word of a King there is Power who may say unto him What dost thou it is not at all to Direct or Advise to make use of it hoping there may never be occasion for it In order now to the making good my assertion its fit to Examine a little what the Law of Nature is or what is meant by it which he was never so kind to do though he make such a noyse about the Words yet he would never tell us what he meant by them which by his good Favour is a kind of if not absolute Jargon or Canting one of the Fathers defines it to be impressio divini luminis an impression in us and a participation of the Eternal Light in the rational Creature Another says It is an Act of Reason taken properly Man now being a Creature adopted to Society is allowed by Natures Law which according to which Definition you please is nothing but rectified reason to improve it as far as he pleases saving to every man the like Liberty either by way of commerce or otherways notwithstanding now this natural liberty nothing's more ordinary than to rescind it as in Case of Warrs betwixt Country and Country or upon other State accounts yet no complaining in our Streets by the Law of Nature every man is free to follow what Profession he pleases yet you see how there are restriction layd dayly in the Case upon men and such and such Trades confin'd to such and such Societyes of Men as the East-Indy Guiny Companys c. or else to persons qualified by the contemptible Statute Law as the Learned Author would intimate to follow them yet not a word of these Violations upon the sacred Law of Nature nay to come more Home and familiarly to the Case the great Law of Nature is violated in the Statute that declares who are and what shall be the punishment of Rogues yet the most strict Casuist never wrote nor much spoke against them If now upon an Indictment E. F. should be enterteyned upon the Traverâ—… who would make us believe he is a Lawyer to run down those Acts as Invalid because violences upon the Law of Nature as he doth endeavour to run down one though not yet in Embryo if it should pass into an Act upon the same Account he would pass for a Quaker or one Candidate for the new Palace in Morefields nay Polygamy is not against the Law of Nature yet the restrictions upon it I hope by E. F's leave are pardonable It will not be amiss now in order to our end to examine how those Laws of Nature for Succession according to Proximity of Blood are regarded in other Christian Countreys they are set aside in all Elective Kingdoms as the Empire the Kingdom of Poland the Titulado Dukedom of Venice nay the Kingdom of France which is E. F. s beloved president gives no regard to the Example of Zelophehads Daughters though he lay such stress upon it in another