a Family but only a Title which every one had belonging to him as he was King which as Manetho saith begun in Pharaoh Narecho and Josephus saith in Menis much ancienter than Abraham but Suidas is positive That it was derived from the first King or him that first had that called Ptolomies So the Parthian Princes from Arsaces their first great Monarch were called Arsaces according to whose Memory saith (h) Cujus memoriae hunc honorem Parthi tribuerunt ut omnes exinde Reges suos Arsacis nomine nuncupent Hist lib. 41. Justin the Parthians attributed that Honour that all their Kings from thence forward were called Arsaces So the Title of Augustus was given to Octavius next Successor to Julius by the Senate as if he had been something more than Human saith (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In vita Dio And as (k) Non tatum novo sed etiam ampliore cognomine quod 〈◊〉 quaeque Religiosa in quibus Augurato quid consecratur Augusta dicuntur Suetonius saith not only by a new but a more ample Sirname because that all Religious places in which any thing Augurly was consecrated were called Augnsta for which he cites Ennius Augusto Augurio postque inclyta condita Roma est This came from Augeo which besides the common sense of it is a proper word enough to sacrifice as augere Hostias and in Sextus Pompeius Augustus is interpreted Sanctus the Greeks interpret it by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Venerable or most honourable and it seems to be translated from the holy Use of the Word whence it was derived and as (l) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In vita Dio saith a Designation of the splendor or greatness of their Dignity the Emperors after were stiled Caesares Augusti neither of the words denoting any Power in them but are now and ever since the first Family ended honorary According to this kind of continuance of Names in Succession are those Patronymics of Achemenidae in the Persian Kings Alevadae in the Thessalian Cecropidae in the Athenian from Achemenes Alevas Cecrops So the Alban Kings in Italy had every of them the addition of Sylvius most of the Bithynian Kings were called Nicomedes In the latter times the Constantinopolitan Emperors much affected to give their Children and themselves the great Name of Constantine So were the Danish Kings anciently titled Shieldungs from their King Shield The French had their Merovings and the old Kentish Kingdom here its Oiscings from Merove and Oisca Concerning this successive assuming such honorary Names from the first Families the curious Reader may observe many more in the most disquisitive Mr. Selden The use I make of it is to show That Sovereign Princes The Reason of such Titles as some of them affected to derive their Power and Authority from the Deity so others from such as had been more Signal and Eminent in their several Reigns that they might with the Title seem to derive a Fame Glory and Authority from them and in those Attributes be judged their rightful Successors Of the first Kings from Adam Before I treat of some Attributes that are given to Sovereign Princes I shall take notice of some things I have either omitted or less fully explained in the Chapter of Monarchy especially considering it will give some light to the Authority and Sovereignty many learned Men have ascribed to Princes in general (m) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cedrenus Cedrenus makes Adam the first King and Governour when he saith he governed or commanded all mankind as long as he lived and Seth succeeded him in the Empire and if we may believe the Letter of Alexander the Great to Aristotle mentioned by (n) Lib. 2. c. 11. Joseph Ben Gorion a Jew and Rabbi Abraham Zacuthius and others Kenan the Son of Enoch Grandchild of Seth was Emperor over all the World In Berosus we find the Kings of Chaldaea that were before the Flood were Alorus Alasparns Amchon Amenon Metalarus Daorus Adorachus Amphis Ottartes and Xisuther which according to Cedrenus and others was Noah From him the Greek Authors derive the supreme Monarchy of the Earth to Sem. The first mention in Holy Writ of a Kingdom is that of Nimrod's The first Kingdom from Nimrod of whom Moses saith The beginning of his Kingdom was in Babel Erech Acad and Calna in the Land of Sinaar and he is by most Writers judged the Founder of the Assyrian Monarchy which he had begun about the Forty fifth Year of Abraham Cedrenus saith The Assyrians made Nimrod a God and placed him among the Stars of Heaven and called him Orion In his Age saith the Judicious (o) Tit. Hon. ◠1. p. 1◠Selden there was so general a Propagation of this Title of King over the Earth that there is scarce a Nation whereof there is Memory in those Ages without a King or Prince or Monarch assigned to it So besides the Division of the Earth among Noah's Posterity said in Scripture to be according to their Language and according to the Families in their Nations we find in Profane Histories Kings first Governours in all Countries that the Kingdom of the Sicyonians began in Aegialeus that of Tanaus in Scythia and of Vexoris in Aegypt and others are cast in in the Age of Nimrod In the Holy Text also are frequent Occurrences of Kings to be referred to that Age as that of Abraham's Wars with Kedorlaomer King of Elam and the Kings of divers other Nations are mentioned whence it is (p) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cedrenus saith that about Serug's days who was born about 170 Years after the Flood Men arrogating to themselves Power over each other made themselves Emperours and Kings and did first use Arms and made War on each other Afterwards the Course of the Holy Story shews us the same not only naming expresly the particular Kings which had been made either by Sword or by Choice but saith The Israelites desired Samuel to give them a King to judge them according as all other Nations had Although saith Mr. Selden divers of the chiefest States of the old Grecians and I think saith he only of the Grecians in the elder Ages were in their most flourishing Times Democracies or Optimacies yet the more ancient States there were in every place Monarchies as is expresly noted by (q) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In Boeoticis Pausanias That every where in Greece in the ancient Times their States were Monarchical and not Popular Having premised this I come now to the Epithets given to such Sovereign Princes as Kings Emperours Lords and the Attributes of Majesty c. in the Abstract or in the second or third Person and other high and lofty Titles given to them either justly The Title of Kings or by Flattery Concerning Kings The Title of Kings the Account that I have given of them in the Chapter of Monarchy may suffice I shall only add That
diversorum negotiorum causae in medium duci ex more coeperunt Id. p. 37. num 40. Ann. 1096. vel 1097. Therefore the Festival-days being passed the causes of divers affairs according to custom began to be transacted saith my Author among which that that of Anselm's was one But to draw to a Conclusion of this King's Reign my Author clears who were the Members of the Great Councils and that they were convened at the King's Pleasure in the relating that in the following (k) Mense Augusto cum de statu Regni acturus Rex Episcopos Abbates quosque Regni Proceres in unum praecepti sui sanctione egisset c. Id. p. 38. num 10. Month of August when the King being to transact things concerning the State of the Kingdom by his Summons had convened the Bishops Abbats and all the Noblemen of his Kingdom The affairs for which they were assembled being dispatched and every one prepared to return home Anselm moves again his Petition and in October when the Convention was dissolved he applied himself again to the King at Winchester Here we may observe that it was the King The King solely summons the Great Councils and dismisseth them who being to transact things about the State of the Kingdom by the Authority of his Precept or Summons called together the Members of the Great Council who are expresly mentioned to be the Bishops Abbats and all the Noblemen of the Kingdom Since therefore we find no other kinds of Great Councils in any Authors that write of this King we may conclude the Commons were no ways represented in any of them Most Authors mention this King with no good Character One old Writer saith Omnis jam legum silâ—it Justitia causisque sub justitio positis sola in Principibus imperabat pecunia Florent Wigorn. That all Justice of Laws was in his time hushed in silence and Causes being put in a Vacation without hearing Money alone bore sway among the great ones Polydore Virgil will have the right or duty of First-fruits called Annats which our Kings claimed for vacant Abbies and Bishopricks to have had their Original from King William Rufus However that be it is certainly true that at his Death the Bishopricks of Canterbury Winchester and Salisbury and twelve Monasteries besides being without Prelates and Abbats payed in their Revenues to the Exchequer We may judge likewise of his burthensome Exactions Matt. Paris fol. 74. Edit penult by what we find in his Brother King Henry the First 's Charter Wherein he saith because the Kingdom was oppressed with unjust Exactions he makes the Holy Church free and all evil Customs wherewith the Kingdom of England was unjustly oppressed he doth henceforth take away and they are all in a manner mitigations of the Severity of the feudal Tenor as any one may see in Matthew Paris Mr. Selden and Dr. Brady and is plain by the very first concerning the Laity That if any one of my Barons Counts or others that hold of me shall dye his Heirs shall not redeem his Lands as he was wont to do in the time of my Father c. And in another Praecipio ut homines mei similiter se contineant erga silios silias uxores hominum suorum That according to the relaxation he had made to his Homagers they should regulate themselves towards the Sons Daughters and Wives of their Homagers Of the Great Councils in King Henry the First 's time COncerning the Great Councils in King Henry the First 's time as also till Edward the First 's time I must refer the inquisitive Reader to Dr. Brady's answer to Mr. Petyt in the respective Kings Reigns and to his Appendix in which he hath amassed out of Eadmerus Simeon Dunelmensis Florentius Wigornensis Hoveden Gervasius Dorobernensis Matt. Paris Malmsbury and other Authentick Writers the Emphatical Expressions by which the constituent Parts of the Great Councils are fully proved to be only the Bishops Abbats and Priors for the Clergy or the great Nobility or prime Tenents in Capite such as the King pleased to summon under the names of Magnates Comites Proceres Principes Optimates Barones or Sapientiores Regni expresly used for Barones Where the Populus is used by way of Antithesis as contradistinct from the Clerus and where Regni Communitas or Ingenuitas is used the same Doctor Brady by pregnant Proof puts it beyond dispute that none of the Commons as now we understand them could be meant as Representatives So that though I had collected a considerable number of such Proofs e're I saw the Learned Doctor 's Book I shall now wave them all and only add in every King's Reign some few that he hath omitted or wherein something remarkable relating to the King's Soveraignty or the manner of constituting Laws is found by him noted or as I have met with them in my Reading In the third of Henry the First in the Feast of St. (a) Omnes Principâ—s Regni sui Ecclesiastici Secularis Ordinis Flor. Wigorn. Anno 1102. 3 H. 1. Michael saith the Monk of Worcester the King was at London and with him all the Princes of his Kingdom of the Ecclesiastick and Secular Order and of the same Council Malmsbury saith The King bidding (b) Ipso Rege annuente communi consensu Episcoporum Abbatum Principum totius Regni adunatum est Conciltum De Gest Pontif. Anno 1102. or willing with the common Consent of the Bishops and Abbats and Princes of the whole Kingdom the Council was united and this being mostly about Ecclesiastick affairs it is added that in this Council the Optimates Regni at the Petition of Anselm were present and gives the reason For that whatever might be decreed by Authority of the Council might be maintained firmly by the mutual care of both orders Whereby we may note the Obligation upon Subjects of both Orders to observe the Laws once enacted by the King and Council Anno 1107. 7 H. 1. Matth. Paris saith (c) Factus est conventus Episcoporum Abbatum pariter Magnatum ad Ann. c. there was a convention of the Bishops and Abbats as likewise of the Magnates i. e. Noblemen at London in the King's Palace Archbishop Anselm being President To which the King assented and speaking of what was established he saith Rex statuit To him Hoveden agrees only what the one calls Magnates the other calls Proceres The Manuscript of Croyland (d) Tum Episcoporum Abbatum totius Cleri Angliae by which must be understood the great dignified Clergy Sub Wifrido Abbate p. 104. saith The same Year the King giving manifold thanks to God for the Victory he had given him over his Brother Robert and other Adversaries appointed a famous Council at London as well of the Bishops and Abbats of the whole Clergy of England as of the Earls Barons Optimatum Procerum totius Regni In this Council
called 50 Regni By the Statute of Marleburgh 52 H. 3. it is evident All the Barons not summoned but the more discreet and so of the lesser Barons That even all the great Barons were not summoned but only the more Discreet and such as the King thought fit to call and the like is observed of the lesser Barons or Tenents in Capite For if it had been by General Summons that Restriction of the more Discreet had been useless so that it appears that what (z) Britannia fol. 122. Quibus ipâ—â— Rex dignaâ—us est brevia summonitionis dirigere venirent c. non alii Mr. Camden's ancient Author observes is true That after the horrid Confusions and Troubles of the Barons Wars those Earls and Barons whom the King thought worthy to summon by his Writ to meet came to his Parliaments and no other The Preamble to this Statute of (a) Stat. Edit 1576. p. 15. Marlebridge runs thus in Tottel Providente ipso Domino Rege ad Regni sui Angliae meliorationem exhibitionem Justitiae prout Regalis Officii poscit Vtilitas pleniorem convocatis discretioribus ejusdem Regni tam majoribus quam minoribus provisum est statutum ac concordatum ordinatum According to Pulton the (b) Fol. 14. Preamble is thus That whereas the Realm of England of late had been disquieted with manifold Troubles and Dissentions for Reformation whereof Statutes and Laws be right necessary The Use and Benefit of Laws whereby the Peace and Tranquillity of the People must be observed wherein the King intending to devise convenient Remedy hath made these Acts Ordinances and Statutes underwritten which he willeth to be observed for ever firmly and inviolably of all his Subjects as well high as low Thus we see in the whole Reign of H. 3. excepting in that Parliament of Montfort's Faction the Bishops and dignified Clergy Earls Barons and Tenents in Capite were only summoned as Members of the great Councils and there were no Representatives of the Commons and the Kings Authority in summoning dissolving and making Laws is most manifest Of Parliaments in King Edward the First 's Reign I Shall now glean out of Tottel and Pulton's Editions of the Statutes the most material Preambles which give light to the constituent Parts of Parliaments to the Legislative Power in the King with the Concurrence of the two Houses and how that in the Series of the Kings Reign hath been expressed and such other matters relating to the Parliament as may shew the gradual Progress of their Constitution to the usage of this present Age leaving the Reader to make his own remarques from the matters of Fact and the expressions used by my Authors and explaining some The Preface to the Statute of (a) Ceux sont les establishments le Roy Ed. fitz Roy Hen. fait a Westminst c. par son Councel par Passentments des Archevesques Evesques Abbes Priores Countes Barons tout le Commonalty de la terre illonques summons Tottel Stat. fol. 24. Pulton p. 19. Westminster begins thus These are the Establishments of King Edward Son to King Henry made at Westminster at his first General Parliament after his Coronation c. by his Council and by the Assent of the Archbishops Bishops Abbats Priors Earls Barons and the whole Commonalty of the Land thither summoned This Parliament was prorogued before it met and the Writ of Prorogation mentions only Quia generale Parliamentum nostrum quod cum Praelatis Magnatibus Regni nostri proposuimus habere c. Therefore having prorogued it mandamus c. Intersitis ad tractandum ordinandum una cum Praelatis Magnatibus Regni nostri (b) Brady against Petyâ— fol. 147. c. So that all the Members are included in the two general Terms of Praelati Magnates which great Men very frequently comprehended as well the Barones Majores as Minores the Earls Barons and greater Tenents in Capite and the less which then were called the Community of the Kingdom The rest of the Preamble of the Statutes made at (c) Pulton's Stat. An. 1275.3 E. 1. f. 19. Westminster runs thus Because our Lord the King hath great Zeal and desire to redress the State of the Realm c. the King hath ordained and established these Acts under written The Preface to the Statute de Bigamis 4 Oct. 4 Ed. 1. is thus (d) In prasentia venerabilium purum quâ—ruâ—dam Episcoporum Angliae aliorum de Concilio Râ—gis â—â—citatae sâ—â—erunt constitutiones â—ub â—riptae postmodâ—â—m coram Domino Rege Concilio sâ—o auditae publicatae Quia omnes de consiliâ—â—am â—usâ—â—â—â—arii quam alii concordaverunt c. Tottel p. 39. b. expressed In the Presence of certain Reverend Fathers Bishops of England and others of the Kings Council the constitutions under written were recited and after heard and published before the King and his Council for as much as all the King's Council as well Justices as others did agree that they should be put in writing for a perpetual memory and that they should be stedfastly observed In the First Chapter it is said Concordatum est per Justiciarios alios sapientes de Concilio Regni Domini Regis It was agreed by the Justices and other wise or sage Men of the Council of the Kingdom of the Lord the King Perhaps saith the judicious Doctor Brady the best understanding of the preamble and first Chapter may be that the Laws and Constitutions were prepared by the King and his (e) Answer to Pâ—tyt fol. 148. Council with the Assistance of the Justices and Lawyers that were of it or called to assist in it and declared afterwards in Parliament (f) Praeâ—iâ—â—ae autem constitutiones eâ—iâ—â— suerunt c. exâ—une lâ—â—um habeanâ— Tottel fol. 40. for it is said in the close of the Statute The aforesaid Constitutions were published at Westminster in the Parliament after the Feast of St. Michael the 4th of the Kings Reign and thence forward to take place The Preamble to the Statute of Gloucester Anno 1278. 6 E. 1. is thus (g) Pour amendment de son Roialm pur plus pleinir exhibition de droit si comâ—â—â—â— prâ—sit dâ— Office demanâ— appâ—lles le plues discretes de son Roialme auâ—â— bien des Granders comâ— des Meindres establie est concordantment ordine Tottel fol. 50. The King for the amendment of the Realm and for the more full Exhibition of Justice according as the benefit of his Office requires having called the most discreet of his Realm as well the greater as the smaller It is established and unanimously ordained as Pulton adds after by the King and his Justices certain Expositions were made The Statute of Mortmain is thus prefaced Nos pro (h) Tottel p. 48. Vtilitate Regni volentes providere Remedium de Concilio Praelatorum Comitum Baronum aliorum fidelium
the personal Will and Power of the Sovereign himself standing in his highest Estate Royal. Therefore whoever reads the Authors that writ in defence of the Parliament must consider this Fallacy they frequently used that he do not apply the Authoritative Act of the King with the Consent of the two Houses to the Houses without the King From the Co-operation of the two Houses in preparing Laws (b) Freeholder's Grand Inquest p. 34. the late 〈◊〉 since King Charles the First 's time of the words The King is not one of the Three Estates Be it endâ—ed by the King the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons as if they were all Fellow-Commissioners and the unwariness of some of the Penners of the King's Answers to some of the Papers of the two Houses wherein they stiled the King the third Estate the Commonwealths-Men have taken the advantage to reckon the King but as a third Legislator Therefore I think it necessary to remove this Rub e're I proceed further Although the Author of the Imposture The Modus makes the Parliament to consist of six Parts called the modus tenendi Parliamentum makes six degrees of constituent Members of the Parliament viz. The King first then Secondly the Archbishops Bishops Abbats Priors and other Clerks who held Baronies Thirdly the Proctors of the Clergy Fourthly the Earls Barons and other great Men who held to the value of a County or Barony Fifthly the Knights of Shires Sixthly the Citizens and Burgesses to which he might have added the Barons of the Cinque-Ports yet he saith the King is the Head Beginning and End of the Parliament and so hath no (c) Ita non habet Parem in suo gradu Peer in his degree Yet it plainly appears that these we now call the two Houses were by reason of their distinct Orders most frequently divided into three For in (d) As queux Prelats ou la Clargie par eux mesmes les Countes Barons par eux mesmes Chevalers Gentz de Countez Gentz de la Commune par eux mesmes entreteront Prynne Animadv p. 10. 6 E. 3. at his Parliament at York the Record saith That on the Friday before the Feast of St. Michael the Prelates or the Clergy by themselves the Earls and Barons by themselves the Knights of the Counties and the Commons by themselves treated c. Othertimes we find the Prelates Earls Barons and great Men and the Knights Citizens and Burgesses to have separate Consultations by themselves and to give their several answers to Articles and business propounded to them in Parliament as Mr. Prynne out of the Abridgment of the Records of the Tower hath given us above twenty instances At the making of the Statute of Praemunire 16 R. 2. the Commons pray The Lords Spiritual Lords Temporal and Commons make the Three Estates That the Lords as well Spiritual as Temporal severally and all the Estates of Parliament might be examined how they thought of that matter and the Lords Spiritual answered by themselves and the Lords Temporal by themselves and the King was Petitioned to make this Examination So in 40 E. 3. the King asking the Houses Whether King John could have subjected the Realm as he did the Prelates by themselves and the Dukes Earls and Barons by themselves gave their Answer Besides we find as at large I have before instanced in the last Chapter the Writs of Summons of the Bishops and Clergy were only in side dilectione and the Barons generally (e) Stat. 18. â— 6. c. 1. in fide homagio or Ligeancia and the Clergy granted their Subsidies apart and distinct from the Nobles Besides that the Bishops are to be esteemed the Third Estate is clear by Act of Parliament for it being questioned (f) 8 Eliz. c. 1. whether the making Bishops had been duly and orderly done according to Law the Statute saith That the questioning of it is much tending to the slander of all the Clergy being 〈◊〉 of the greatest States of the Realm So Sir (g) P. 36. Thomas Smith as in the last Chapter I have noted distinguisheth the two Houses into three Estates and Sir Edward (h) 4. Instr p. 1. Coke saith expresly That the High Court of Parliament consisteth of the Kings Majesty sitting in his Royal Politick Capacity and the three States of the Realm viz. the Lords Spiritual Lords Temporal and Commons the like the learned (i) Interpreter tit Parliament Cowel affirms Sir Henry Spelman (k) Solenne collequium omnium Ordinum Regni Authoritate solius Regis ad consulendum statuendumque de negotiis Regni indictum Gloss p. 449. calls it a Colloquy of all the Orders of the Kingdom convened by the sole Authority of the King to consult and appoint in the Affairs of the Kingdom This was also known to Foreigners uninteressed Persons for the Lord Argenton speaking how Subsidies were granted in England saith * Lib. 5. p. 253. Convocatis primis Ordinibus Clericis Laicis assentiente Populo And Bodin ‖ De Repul lib. 6. whenever he speaks of the Constitution of our Parliament calls it the King and the three Estates of the Realm But to put all out of doubt in King Charles the Second's Reign it is determined in the Act for the Form of Prayers for the Fifth of November For the Preservation of the King and the Three Estates Now the reason why in King Charles the First 's answer Why in some of King Charles the First 's Writings the King was called the Third Estate we meet with the expressions of making the King the third Estate was because at that time the Bishops being voted out of the House of Lords and the two Houses setting themselves in all the points of Controversie in opposition to the King the notion of a Triumvirate was more intelligible as it may be thought to the People and those who were so bitter Enemies to the King and had such a Rebellious force would have still increased the Peoples aversion if the King had asserted his Royal Prerogative otherwise Whether this were the true reason or the oversight of the Penners of his Majesties Answers I will not undertake to determine but I am induced to believe the first because I find the King and those that writ in defence of his Cause using frequently this way of Argument In every State there are three Parts saith (l) Review of Observations one the King ordered to write for him capable of just or unjust Soveraignty viz. the Prince Nobles and People Now through the Piety of our Lawgiving Princes a just and regular course of Government being obtained the stability of which being found to be more concerned in the Power of making Laws than in any other Power belonging to the Soveraign for preventing of Innovations that might subvert that setled regularity the frame and state of Government was in such a sort established as that the
infallible and every Member an Angel But the Observer Objection That if the King have a Negative Voice there will be no need of Parliaments and his Pewfellows urge That if the Houses can do no Act for publick good without the King's consent and if the King may reject their Counsels and Advice it were needless to put the Country to the charge of choosing Members of Parliament And if the King may prefer other opinions before Parliamentary Motives then Parliaments are vain and useless helps Princes are unlimited and the People miserable These Objections are of such an odious nature Answer That no good Subject can take delight in them whose duty is to pray for the like consent among the several Orders of the Kingdom as is supposed to be among the several Orbs of Heaven The King undoubtedly the Primum movens the Great and Privy Council the lower Spheres The usual but not the only form of the Kings Answers to such Bills as they were not willing to pass Le Roy s'avisera proves (e) Answer to Observations p. 56. That after the advice of this his Great Council he is yet at liberty to advise further with persons or occasions as his own Wisdom shall think meet But these Authors will by no means take notice That the use of Council is to perswade not to compel as if a Man in business of great concernment might not very prudently consult with many Friends and yet at last follow the advice perhaps of one if it appear more proportionable to the end he aims at If it were because they are a more numerous body therefore their Counsel is upon that account to be yielded to then the liberty of dissenting may be denied to the House of Peers in comparison of the House of Commons and to that House too in comparison of the People and so both King Lords and Commons are voted out of Parliament Besides Natural Wisdom and Fidelity there is a thing called Experience of high concernment in the managery of Publick Affairs He that will steer one Kingdom aright must know the right Constitution of all others their Strength their Affections their Counsels and Resolutions that upon each different Face of the Skie he may alter his Rudder The best Governments have more Councils than one One for the Publick Interest of the Kingdom another for the Affairs of State a Council for War and a Council for Peace Let them be as wise and faithful Counsellors as the Observer pleaseth only let them be but Counsellors Necesse est us Lancea in libra ponderibus impositis deprimi sic animum perspicuis cedere Let their conlusions have as much credit as the premisses deserve and if they can necessitate the Prince by weight of Reason and convincing Evidence of experience let them do it on Gods name But it is not to be done upon the Authority of a bare Vote as I think all uninterested persons are satisfied in the Votes of the Houses in 1641. about the Militia Church-Government and the voted Nineteen Propositions or the late Votes about the Bill of Seclusion the Repealing of the branch of the Statute of Queen Elizabeth against Protestant Dissenters and the Loans upon the Kings Revenue There are other ends besides Counsel for which Parliaments are called as consenting to new Laws furnishing the Public with Moneys and maintaining the Interest of the Government and liberty of the Subject from the removing one social end to inferr that an Action is superfluous deserves no answer but silence and contempt This should teach the Electors Wisdom not to chuse such as have Factious Bents or are not truly qualified in their Allegiance to their Prince or Malecontents who render such Conventions useless to the Publick Ends of Government and the Peace Tranquillity and Prosperity of both Prince and People Because the Long Parliament Writers would have no Stone unturned nor any specious Argument uninforced Concerning the Coronation-Oaths of the King of England that might bring the King to their Lure to consent to what they proposed they endeavoured to make the World believe that the King was bound by his Coronation Oath to pass all such Bills as they presented or tendered to him grounding as Mr. Prynne and others alledged on a promise of the Kings at his Coronation to grant and keep the Laws and Customs which the Commonalty shall chuse Before I come to give the particular Answer I think it not unfit to take this opportunity to give a full account of the Coronation Oaths of our Kings and how the same from Age to Age were varied by which the Ingenious Reader will find what the respective Kings by their Oaths did promise That I may deduce as high as I have yet found the Original of Soveraign Princes taking Oaths at their Coronations it may be noted that the first Emperor that was Crowned and had any Coronation Oath prescribed was (f) Evagrius Hisâ— Eccles lib. 3. c. 32. Who first took a Coronation-Oath Anastasius the Greek Emperor who being elected by the Senate and Soldiers about Ann. 486. Euphemius Patriarch of Constantinople suspecting him to be addicted to the Heresy of Eutychius and the Manichees would not consent to his Coronation till he should deliver him a Writing under his Hand ratified with his Oath wherein he should plainly declare That if he were Crowned Emperour he would maintain the true Faith and Synod of Chalcedon during his Reign and bring in no Novelty to the Church of God This Writing ratified with his Oath Macedonius the Treasurer was to keep and after he was made Patriarch the Emperor demanded it and said It was a great discredit unto his Subjects that his Hand-writing should be kept to testifie against him or that he should be tied to Pen and Paper There is no mention of any Coronation Oath used from thence to the Year 804. that (g) Eutrop. lib. 24. p. 145 146. Zonar Annal. tom 3. fol. 142 143. Imperatorio Diademate est ornatus postulato prius scripto quo promitteret se nulla Ecclesiae statuta violaturum Stauratius Son to Nicephorus slain in his Wars against the Bulgarians being declared Emperor by some Michael Curopolata was adorned by the Patriarch with the Diadem a Writing before being desired in which he promised to violate none of the Statutes of the Church c. Which is the first Precedent of a Promise not an Oath demanded from or given by any Roman King for confirming the Laws of the Church c. The first Emperor Crowned at Rome by any Pope (h) Onuphr was Charles the Great Anno 800. but without an Oath and Henry the Fifth (i) Dicens Imperatorem nemini jurari debere cum juramentorum sacramenta ab omnibus sint sibi adhibenda Hermold Chron. Scl. l. 1. c. 40. Sim. Dunelm 232 237. refused to take any Corporal Oath saying That an Emperor ought to Swear to none for that Oath i. e. of Fealty
scarce one particular Branch of the Constitution of the Monarchy the black Parliament did not alter I have been obliged under all those Heads to examine their Principles detect their Frauds sinister designs and the mischievous Consequences of those alterations or subversions they made and have treated so much the largelier of those Pests of all Governments Faction Sedition and Rebellion as I conceived the quiet repose and tranquillity of the Government required it Yet I flatter my self that all concerned therein will take my advice reasoning and collections in good part Since I have no other design but to prevent their Personal Rain and the Calamities that have been so wastingly brought upon these Kingdoms by them and may be brought again if ever the like should be attempted For the effectual prevention of which I am in hopes that the right understanding the Constitution of the Government will be an useful Antidote and would wish all Male-contents to consider what the consulting of History and their own Experience may teach them that however the English Monarchy for a time by Faction Sedition or Rebellion may be weakned or Eclipsed yet the just Monarohy like the Sun ever dissipates all the Mists hazy Weather and Clouds and will at last though sometimes not without Thunder and Lightning clear the Air and shine with more Powerfullness and Splendor than before The rude shocks of popular Disturbance do but more securely establish the Throne It being the Prudence of every Governour to make more defensible that part of the Fortress which by any Assault hath been found most weak and untenable As I have endeavoured on the one hand to keep the Subjects in their Duty and by all Dehortments reclaim them from Sedition and Rebellion and have laid open the ancient State of the Government and the absoluteness of our Princes for some Ages after the Conquest nevertheless I would not be understood to intend the reducing the Subject to their Pristine Bondage This is far from my Thoughts What I have done in this kind is not only because the subject matter required the describing the ancient Model of the Government and that of late the Power of our Monarchs hath been endeavoured to be too much restrained but principally upon three Accounts First to discover the gradual Relaxations of the absoluteness of our Princes for the greater case of the Subjects Secondly to let all know that our Liberties Priviledges and Immunities have proceeded from the Grants Benevolences and Gracious Condescensions of our Kings Thirdly to induce the Subjects with due thankfullness to acknowledg the bountiful Favour of our Soveraigns and the Wisdom of our Ancestors in solliciting for and obtaining such Liberties as we enjoy beyond the degree of any Subjects either to Crowned Heads or Republicks There being such Barriers set in England betwixt the Soveraign and his Subjects as neither can remove without fatal Inconvenience For as the Princes greatest Ease Prosperity and Glory is when he Reigns not so much over the bodies as in the hearts of his Subjects and rules by the Laws So the Peoples Profit Plenty and Tranquillity is the most certain and established when they are content with the Enfranchisements the Laws allow and endeavour not to invade the Prerogatives of the Crown as the Houses of Parliament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 6. Hist p. 452. C. convened 1641. did by their dethroning Propositions and Bills which if they had been granted would not only have unsoveraigned the King but rendred the condition of the Subject more miserable and enslaved than it had been for many centuries of years by-past I have endeavoured in the whole work to discover how much the English Monarchy excells other ancient and modern Governments and even the Utopia and Fictitious Ideas of the Philosophers The judicious Polybius hath a memorable observation That every Monarchy is not to be called a Kingdom but that only which is yielded to by the willing that is which is freely submitted to to distinguish it from Tyranny and which is governed by Counsel rather than by fear or force Also that every Government of few is not to be called the Principality of the Optimacy but that wherein the just and Prudent by Election have the Power That he saith further is not to be called the Empire of the People where every multitude hath Power of doing what they will or purpose but where the Countries Customes flourish where the Gods are worshipped Parents honoured the Elder Persons reverenced and the Laws obeyed All which I hope I have made apparent are better provided for in our Hereditary Monarchy than in any other known Government especially as to the Peoples benefit in the rare Constitution of the Legislative and yet the Soveraign hath retained sufficient Power to secure the Peace of his Countries and be able to bear the Port of a great and just Monarch In this Treatise I meddle not with the Arcana Imperii they have too much of Majesty impressed upon them to be described by such Pencils as I can use and like the Kings Coin are incircled with a Decus Tutamen may neither be clipped nor adulterated Neither have I medled with the Religious part of the Government that not being my Province I write abstractedly of the Soveraign and the Constitution without regard to the Religion of the Prince as being well satisfied that whatever Qualifications the Subjects may wish for in their Prince yet Religion qua Religion should neither influence the Succession nor their Obedience In so great an undertaking I hope it will be considered that as in a great Building all the Rooms are not alike richly furnished There are some Vtensils fit for the Kitchin which are not for the Dining Room Some Pictures suit the Hall others the Stair-case Such as are for Chimney-pieces are not agreeable to the Great Chamber The choicest are fit for the withdrawing Room and the enriched Closets So in this work I am obliged to keep a decorum In some places I have reason to use a more close and contracted in others a more free and loose way of Arguing Sometimes I am forced to use the significant though obsolete Saxon or the crabbed Terms of Law and Arts and intermix the less refined Sentences of old Authors according as the subject matter required so that I could no waies use that politeness of phrase or roundness of Period◠the curious may expect I presume not that every one will be equally delighted with the researches I have made into the usages of remote Ages or with the Censures upon some mens later Actions But most I hope will find good use of either and when they consider I have endeavored to follow great Authors and have faithfully quoted them they will more readily acquit me Therefore I beg that the Ingenious Peruser will not pass his Censure upon parcels but after he hath perused the whole will be so charitable to believe that those Parts which are less acceptable to him
Laws yea to the sacred Laws of our Land And in another place he saith It was not so much the Charms of the Sibyls Leaves nor Numa's Shield or the Palladium that made the Roman Common weal so much to raise its lofty Head as the just and wholesome Sanction of the Laws obeyed and reverenced On the contrary Bodin (u) De Republica observes that the overthrow of Carthage was without difficulty and certainly prognosticated since neither Vertue nor Law had place there Hence the Orator observes That if the Laws be once abandoned or but negligently guarded not to say oppressed there is nothing any man can be sure to receive from his Ancestors or leave to his Posterity Which leads me to the second head of the Benefit by Government which is Propriety CHAP. V. Propriety secured by Government WE find that Plato (a) Arist Polit. lib. 2. Socrates and Lycurgus proposed a Community of all things in their Commonwealth not only in Goods Chattels and Lands but also in Wives and Children As to Community of Goods the Argument that Socrates used was That if every one might call every thing his own and not his own it would be a means whereby a City would be perfectly one On the contrary Aristotle argues That this would create endless disputes For he that took pains would never agree that he who took no pains should have an equal share and in a little time one would be coveting a larger dividend than another and this would destroy the great vertue of Temperance and would allow it no place for that consists in abstaining from what is anothers Neither would there be room for Liberality iâ— none had of his own to give Besides by possessing in common Sloth Idleness and Negligence would be encouraged (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Polit. lib. 1. c. 3. because whatever thing is common to many hath less care imployed about it or it is not with that sedulousness provided for because what is every bodies work is no bodies work according to our English Proverb The mean Pot never boils well So he concludes That possessing in common gives more occasions to differences than where every one knows his own Therefore it is more conducible to the well-being of a People to unite in one order of Discipline than in unity of Stock and Community of Goods There was some difference in the modus of this community For we read that Pericles and Cimo pulled down the Enclosures of their Gardens and Fields that the meaner sort might have free liberty to take the Fruits This kind of Community was received at Tarentum and the Agrarian Law at Rome allowed something of it But I believe this kind of Community was little practised but rather every one enjoyed his separate share and some Commons as we have in England were best un-enclosed according to that of (c) Sicut coelum Diis ita terras generi mortalium datas quaeque sunt vacuae eâ—s publicas esse Annal. l. 13. Boiocolus in Tacitus That as the Heavens were given to the Gods so the Earth was given to Men and those places that were empty or unpossessed in several were for the publick or common to all The Anabaptists in Germany were very earnest to have obtained such a Community where they were powerful enough to eject the right Owners out of their Estates pleading the Apostles usage And in our late Confusions among the many revivals of obsolete opinions and Heresies we had some that were very fond of a notion That the perfectest State of a Commonwealth was not only where there should be no distinction of Dignities and Degrees but Estates should be levelled and some that foresaw the People would not easily consent to this as an Essay begun to dig and cultivate Commons enticing the Poor to joyn with them of which as I remember one Everard was the chief As to Communities of Wives (d) Arist Polit. lib. 2. c. 3. Plato would have it so that because Against Community of Wives when every one might call every Mans Wife and Child his own there would be an amicable concord in the enjoying and providing for them But the Philosopher argues against this much what as he did against the Community of Goods especially by reason that the Children would be neglected by the Fathers none being certain whether such or such a Son were his or no and so all Paternal affection would be abolished and all Cognations wholly obliterated and there would be no way to distinguish ones own Issue but by the similitude as among the Garamants of the superior Africk and the Pharsalian Mare (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ib. which was called Just because the had always her Foals like the Horse that got them Besides that Parricide might be committed and injury done by Children to Parents which no civil Government ought to allow and yet the Father not be truly known But to leave this Subjects now very sollicitous to preserve their Properties because I do not read that any Common-wealth did ever or not long enjoy the benefit of any such institution we may note that as in other things so in this the custom of Men is much changed All being now so jealous of any breach made upon their Property that Princes are looked upon as Tyrannical and Arbitrary that shall for the necessary support of the Government lay any imposition upon the People without their consents which made in King Charles the First 's time that outcry against Ship-money though the Legality of it was owned by twelve Judges and very ancient Records were produced and much learning and reading shown in the arguments for it But this point is now adjusted to the satisfaction of the whole The English Subject enjoys many choice peculiar Privileges and advantages The Privileges of the English Subjects in their Property far transcending those of the Subjects of most Princes So that any rougher touch upon that tender part must needs gall and the lightest Yoak be uneasie to the neck unaccustomed to it By his Birth-right he hath something he can call his own he hath not only the protection of his Person but the inheritance of his Freehold his Liberty and Property secured to him by Law he cannot be violently assaulted in the one or forceably invaded in the other but the publick Justice of the Kingdom will be satisfied for it and call the Aggressors to a strict account We have such a grand Charter of all just and reasonable Priviledges and Immunities continued and confirmed to us by the Piety Munificence and Royal bounty of our Princes that we may dispute peaceable and happy living with all other Subjects of the World The Government we live under being setled and supported by known and excellent Laws such as for their policy and prudence justice and equity in their composition challenge all the constitutions of Europe in which part of the World are if any where to be
the Spaniards there were as many Obelisks or pointed Pillars set about their Graves as they had killed Enemies All which and infinite more Places in (c) The necessity of having a Standing Force is for preventing Rebellion and defending against Foreigners as appears in Aristotle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib. 7. c. 8. him and other Authors produceable sufficiently clear the necessity of a Prince's both having and encouraging Military Force and all are as so many Arguments That it is very necessary and conducible to the Prince's Glory and Safety as well as his Peoples that he be not only valiant and couragious in his own Person but that he understand the Office of a great General There are none more famous in the World than such Princes as have themselves led and headed their own Armies as is most eminently proved in Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar So in our King Richard the First and Edward the First Hence it is that (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Diâ— l. 13. Caesar was wont to say There are two things which obtain keep and encrease the Princedom viz. Soldiers and Money For as the great (e) Non ignavia magna imperia continâ—ri sed virorum armorumque faciendum certamen Historian observes By Sloth no great Empires are held together but it must be done by Force of Men and Arms It being (f) Sua retinere privatae domus de alienis certare regiâ—m 〈…〉 15. Annal. the part of a Private Family to retain its own but to carry Arms abroad is a Kingly Praise Such a Prince who hath when a Subject hazzarded his Life for his King and Country shown his great skill in ordering and providing for his Army in disciplining it How a Military Prince prevents Rebellious of his Subjects hath been fortunate and successful hath a Genius to military Employment a brisk and vigorous Soul not only when he comes to be Sovereign himself puts a fresh Spirit into his People by raising their Hopes and Confidence that he will encrease the Glory of his Nation but it makes him secure at home from Seditions and Rebellions For he is very fool-hardy or desperately Revengeful that will challenge a single Man who is experimented to have Valour and Skill at his Weapon much more is he who knowing his Prince such an one and who hath the Power of his Kingdom to assist and defend him will offer to molest his peaceable Reign unless he find some advantagious opportunity strangely favourable to his Design or take some Season before such a Prince be well setled in his Throne as despairing ever after to effect any thing and be in that desperate Condition that if he then cannot push forward his Designs he must for ever live inglorious and miserable Such was the Case of the rash ingrateful and aspiring Duke of Monmouth who to the eternal discredit of the name of Protestant so unpolitickly as well as maliciously raised the late Rebellion against his Lawful Soveraign pretending a Legitimacy which his Father that the best of all Men living knew the falshood of disowned and more than once made publick Declaration of it How he prospered in this attempt the World knows and if He and his Advisers had not been besotted they might have easily foreseen Besides this great and happy advantage to a valorous and Military Prince How a couragious Prince secures his Subjects from Foreign Enemies in the securing his own Country in Peace within themselves the Benefit is likewise great in the preventing of any affronts injuries or Indignities to him or his People from any of his Neighbours for none dare (g) Nâ—mâ— provocare au let aut facere in juriam ei Regno aut populo quem intelligit expeditum atque promptum ad vindicandum Vita Alex. provoke or do Injury to a King his Kingdom or People saith Lampridius that knows the Prince prepared forward and ready to vindicate his People This military Genius in a Prince being supperadded to his other Royal Vertues and Qualifications furbisheth all their Arms sets a fresh Gloss and Lustre upon them and such a Prince being generally successful in his Attempts for that commonly gives the first notice of his Courage and Conduct will have every one readily flock to his Standard to (h) Objicient se mucronibus insidiantium se suaque jactabunt quocun que desideraverit Imperantis salus Sen. 1. de Clem. expose themselves betwixt him and the points of Traitors Swords will have them throw themselves and their Fortunes whereever the safety of their King requires it So Cicero notes that Fabius Maximus Marcellus Scipio Marius and other great Generals had the Emperors Office and Armies committed to them not only for their Vertues but also by reason of their fortunateness to whom (i) Cic. pro Manilio Quibus etiam venti tempeslatesque obsecundant the Winds and Tempests have been favourable It greatly (k) Vehementer enim pertinet ad bella administranda quid hosâ—es quid socii de Imperatoribus existiment Idem conducing to the management of War what opinion the Enemies and Allies have of such Generals as the same Orator notes and the like may be said of Warlike Kings What immortal Glory is it to England that it hath had King Richard the First Of King Richard the First who carried his victorious Ensigns to the Holy Land What a Memorial of his Name and of the Prowess of his People hath King Edward the First left to all Posterity by the advancing his conquering Armes into the very High-Lands of Scotland Of King Edward the Third and the Black Prince What renown did King Edward the Third and the Black Prince his Son win in France when they not only won so great Victories but brought the King Prisoner and what no Nation else can boast of had at the same time the King of Scotland also Prisoner It may be easily conceived that these two valiant Princes and the Sons of that great King spirited the whole English Nation and in that Age the Renown of it equalled what now the French ascribe to their great King The Annals swell with the Atchievements of Henry the Fifth who in so few Years Of Henry the Fifth upon the matter subdued all France So that his Infant Son was Crowned King at Paris It is not to be expected that many Ages can produce such Examples but every Reader of History may observe That in every Age some one or two Crowned Heads carry the Trophies from all the rest fill their Countries with Triumphal Arches and raise pyramids of Glory to their own and their Countries high Renown A strange Factiousness in the Reigns of our three last Kings and the dreadful Rebellion Why our three last Kings could not appear so Formidable abroad have deprived them of the opportunity of showing the English Prowess on the publick Theater as it had been before Yet when they were employed they
porrigitur The Romans after they were a Commonwealth hated the Name of King Pliny As the Back of the Right-hand with a kind of Religiousness is desired so with an assurance of Faith it is stretched out This Name of King was among the Romans after they setled themselves under the Government of a Commonwealth reputed so contrary to their Liberty as implying in its Office too great an Absoluteness of Power that in solemn memory of its being cast out by Brutus they yearly celebrated on the Seventh of the Kalends of March our Twenty third of February their Feast Regifugium And lest the giddy Multitude might desire again to have a King they prohibited that no Concourse for Merchandise should ever happen upon the Nones of any Month King Servius Tullius his Birth-day they knew was in the Nones but not of what Month therefore they provided it fearing saith (i) Veriti ne quid nunâ—inis collecta universitas ob Regis dâ—siderium novaret Saturnal c. 13. Macrobius lest the Multitude gathered together at such Fairs should innovate any thing by the desire of a King And (k) Regem Romae posthac nec Dii nec homines esse patientur De Divinatione cap. 2. Cicero though he acknowledged that Caesar was revera Rex fully a King in Power yet upon hate that continued of that Title tells us That hereafter neither Gods nor Men would permit any to be King of Rome Therefore to palliate as Mr. (l) Tit. Hon. cap. 2. Augustus denies the Title of King Selden saith some part of his Ambitions Caesar himself being saluted King by the Multitude withal perceiving that it was very distasteful to the State by the Tribunes pulling of the white Fillet from his Laurel answered Caesarem se non Regem esse refusing it utterly and consecrating the Diadem which Anthony would have often put upon his Head to Jupiter Yet the whole People were sensible that his Authority differed only in Name from that of King as appeared by his Sentiment of it who subscribed Julius his Statue with Brutus quia Reges ejecit Consul primo factus est Hic quia Consules ejecit Rex postremo factus est Thus much may suffice to shew Because the Absoluteness of Kings was against their Liberty That the Romans judged a King to have such Absoluteness as in their Free-State was not to be endured when as in the Change to Emperours they underwent more by some of their Arbitrary Rulings than they did under Kings And though the Terms were milder yet the Yoke of them was heavier But such is the Nature of the Multitude that if their Governours keep but the old Name of the Magistracy they readilier yield Obedience to them such power hath Custom This Observation made Cromwel content himself with the Name of Protector under which by his Arts and Army he exercised more Arbitrariness than ever had been by any King of England I come now to the Title of Emperour This at the first only denoted a General or Leader of an Army Title of Emperour first as General So Julius Caesar having made himself Master of the Roman Free-State thought it safer to retain than innovate his Title of Supremacy Therefore having the perpetual Office of (m) Honores nimies recepit ut continuum consulatum perpetuam Dictaturam praefecturamque morum insuper praenomen Imperatoris Sueton. de Jul. Caesare Dictator and Consulship with the place of General or Imperator as the word had Relation to his Military Force he took that also being as willingly given as the rest for a perpetual Title this Title of Imperator being assumed both by Brutus and Cassius as appears in their Coins though they pretended to be the greatest asserters of the Roman Liberty and the like occurrs in the Coins of Antonius Lepidus and the thirty Tyrants and others This Title of Imperator is said to have been a (n) Vita Jul. Cas 〈◊〉 Praenomen by Suetonius but it was often used after it which when it was it denoted either only or chiefly some great performance by Arms in setling or encreasing the Empire but when a Sirname in those elder times it signified only the Emperor's Supremacy in the State so in the Coin of Augustus where the Inscription is IMP. CAES. AVG. IMP. IX TR. P.V. The Fore-name Imperator signifies his Supremacy and the latter signifies he had been General and as such it may be deserved a Triumph nine times The TR. P. V. For Tribunitiae potestatis quintum shews how often he had been Tribune of the People which was every Year renewed therefore in that the number of the Years of their Empire was expressed as (o) Cassius Hist 53. Dio observes So that what Tacitus relates of Tiberius was most true that eadem Magistratuum vocabula he retained the old Names of the Magistrates so that the first Emperors Authority and Soveraignty consisted in the Power of the Consuls Dictator Tribunes of the People and the Title of Prince Title of Prince The Title of Princeps Principatus and Principium were proper Names also for these Emperors and their greatness therefore (p) Augusius cuncta discordiis civilibusfessa nomine Principis sub Imperium accepit Tacitus saith that Augustus took the Empire under the name of Prince all being wearied with civil Discords though Suetonius saith of Caligula that Title was wanting but that he should suddenly take the Diadem and change the show of a Principality to the form of a Kingdom Now it is to be observed as the Title of Emperor was taken from the Military Employment of a General so this of Prince signified the Superiority of them in the Senate For the Title of Princeps Senatus was known familiarly in Rome and so might upon that Ground be used without Envy Concerning the Grecians using 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for Emperor the difference betwixt the Eastern and Western Empire about both their Titles and the more modern use of both I must referr the Inquisitive Reader to the often but never too much to be commended (q) Titles of Honour par 1. c. 2. Mr. Selden and shall only note out of him that divers Civilians especially of Italy and Germany which profess the old Laws of Rome tell us That the Emperor is at this day of Right Lord of the whole World or Earth as their Text also (r) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 F. ad Leg. Rhod. The Roman Emperours not Lords of all affirms besides divers other flattering Passages in good Authors of the ancient Empire as that of Corippus to the Emperor Justin Deus omnia Regna Sub pedibus debit esse suis And Julius Firmicus (s) Totius orbis terrarum spacium Imperatoris subjacet potestatibus etiam ipsum eorum Deorum numero constitutum esse quem ad sacienda conâ—ervanda omnia Divinitas statuit universalis Mathes lib. 2. c. 33. hath this courtly Expression That the Compass of the whole Globe of
apparent the Argument is Sophistical as being built on a Maxim in it self amphibolous which is not simply true but as it is restricted For it is true before the Effect produced not after So a Spark firing a City was once more Fire than the Houses but not so after the whole Town is become a Flame It is true also in those Agents in whom the Quality by which they operate is inherent not true in those who by ways of Donation divest themselves of Power or Wealth For a thing cannot retain its Fulness after it hath emptied it self If the Objector have an Estate which he would willingly improve let him bestow it on another and he shall make him rich and by his own Argument himself richer It is to be supposed rather than such an one will part with his Estate he will find an Answer to his Objection As to the minor Proposition I have before cleared I hope That the People are not the Original Cause of Government But the Observer saith They are the Final Cause and the End is far more valuable in Nature and Policy than that which is the Means therefore the Commons whose Good is the final End of all Government are more Honourable than the Sovereign But the Rule holds in such Means only as are valuable by that relation they bear to their Ends and have no proper Goodness of their own A King is not so to his People If we look back to his first Extraction when he was first taken from the People to be set over them we must needs behold him as a Man of some Worth Honour and Eminence which the superaddition of Royalty did not destroy but encrease and to be a means of his Peoples Preservation is very consistent with the Heighth of Honour Besides they that would captivate the unthinking Multitude by such Fallacies must consider that the Question is not Who is Preferable but Who is Superiour One good Christian is preferable to a thousand that are not so yet his Interest in the Commonwealth may not be preferable A Shepherd is ordained for his Flock yet a Flock of Brutes is not preferable to any Reasonable Creature Further the King's Interest and the Peoples are inseparable in the Construction of the Law which presumes what the King doth he does for the People Whether therefore the King's Power be derived from God or the People it is preferable If from God because his Ordinance If from the People because the People have elected him and consented it (x) Jus Regium p. 68. should be and have trusted him with the Publick Interest which is still preferable If this way of arguing were sound Angels being Ministring Spirits for the good of Men it would follow That Men should be more Honourable than Angels and the poor Client should be a better Man than his Learned Counsellor and the simple Patient than his Doctor As to Bracton's Authority Rex habet superiorem Deum legem item Curiam suam I must refer the scrupulous Reader to the Book called The Case of our Affairs p. 14. CHAP. XVIII That the Sovereign is unaccountable to any but God BEfore I come to treat of the several Branches of the Sovereignty of Kings in the Executive parts of them I shall from the general Idea of their Sovereignty deduce three Corollaries in this and the two following Chapters which seem to me to flow naturally from the Being of a Sovereign viz. That such are accountable to none but the Great Sovereign of the Universe And secondly may dispense in some Cases with the Laws And lastly must not be resisted or rebelled against The necessary Motive to treat of the Unaccountableness of Kings the Murther of King Charles the First If there were no other Motive to induce me to treat of this Head the barbarous Murther of the Blessed Martyr King Charles the First would have the same power as the sense that Croesus's dumb Son had to see his Father's Life in imminent danger which made such a violent emotion of the Spirits as unloosned the stiff Ligaments by which his Tongue was contracted or forced an Irruption of Powerful Spirits to invigorate the paralytick Muscles of it so that he cried out Spare my Father So certainly the Consideration of such an High Court of Justice that arraigned and sentenced their Sovereign should raise an Indignation in any one that hath sense of Allegiance Duty or Religion to defend that as a Fundamental Truth That Sovereigns are subject to no Tribunal but that of their Heavenly Sovereign In the handling this I shall pick out some of the Assertions of Learned and Judicious Authors Heathens and Christians and annex and intersperse such Reasons as may evince it and then show That this doth not leave Princes to a Tyrannical Liberty and lastly give some short Remarks upon the unparallell'd Sentence of the Regicides of King Charles the First of Immortal Memory (a) Vsher's Power of Princes part 4. pag. 196. Edit Cracovian Divine and Humane Authorities to prove it Rabba bar Nachman in his great Gloss upon Deuteronomy saith positively No Creature may judge the King but the Holy and Blessed God alone For the Original Hebrew of which and the place of Moses from whence he deduceth this Assertion I must refer the Reader to the Authors cited having chosen this not only for the fulness of the Expression but for the Antiquity though not of the Comment yet of the Text before any other All those Places also in Holy Scripture which style Princes and Judges of the Earth (b) Psal 8. 5. with Heb. 2.7 and Psal 97.7 with Heb. 1.6 Exod. 21.6 22.8 Gods and the Sons of God and Psal 82.6 I have said ye are Gods and all sons of the most High which in the Chaldee Paraphrase is thus rendred Behold ye are reputed as Angels and all of you as it were Angels of the most High (c) Job 1.6 2.1 38.7 are sufficient Proofs of this Truth As are likewise those Places that tell us It is the Will of God that we (d) 1 Pet. 2.13 15. submit our selves to these Higher Powers for his sake Therefore (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orat. 3. de Regno St. Chrysostom calls Regality such a Government as is not subject to the control of any Sophocles calls it (f) In Antiq. v. 11 27. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Free and Independent Regiment and (g) Xiphilin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Marcus Aurelius in Dio an Absolute Kingdom not subject to the Control of any To all which agrees that of Horace Lib. 3. Carm. Od. 1. Regum timendorum in proprios Greges Reges in ipsos Imperium est Jovis By which he fully expresseth That as Kings have Power over their Subjects so God hath the Power over Kings All the vast Collections that may be made of Emperours asserting or Subjects owning that their Authorities are from God that God gave them their Kingdoms
principal Magistrates sent into the Provinces bordering on the Enemy or Frontiers of the Empire were called Legati the Magistrates or Officers in Italy were Praetorian and Consular those abroad Propraetorian and Proconsular Whoever desires to see more of this or what was appointed under Constantine may have recourse to Pancirollus de Magistratibus Municipalibus Alciatus de Magistratibus and the Notitia Provinciarum where all the Officers are deseribed with the several Provinces and the Cities contained in them and the Ensigns or Symbols of the Officers Then Britain was divided into five parts viz. Britannia prima and secunda Flavia Caesariensis Maxima Caesariensis Valentia being all under the Vicar or Deputy of Britain under the Viceroy or Praetorian Prefect of Gaul we find in the Roman Coins exhibited by Camden a Colony at York Divana or Chester and others So that it cannot be thought that Britain was not as subject to the Roman Laws as other Conquered Countries Whence (s) Latias ab eo jurare Leges compulsam De Gestis Reg. l. 1. c. 1. Malmsbury saith That Julius Caesar compelled the Britans to swear Obedience to the Latin Laws And Gildas * Non Britannia sed Romania censebatur Excid Britanniae The Britans learn the Roman Arts and Language saith it was reckoned not Britannia but Romania And more particularly that Britain was subject to the Roman Law these Observations following will prove ‖ Linguam Romanam abnuere postea eloquentiam concupiscere inde etiam habilus neslri honor frequens toga paulatimque discessum ad delinimenta vitiorum Balnea Porticus conviviorum elegantiam idque apud imperitos humanitas vocabatur cum pars esset servitutis Vita Agric. c. 21. Tacitus tells us that in his time the Britans began to learn the Arts and to exceed the Gauls in Wit and Learning and though they did at first reject the Roman Speech yet at length they did covet their Eloquence from thence they had in Esteem the Roman Habit and their Gown was frequently worn and by little and little they descended to the fashionableness of their Vices in their Portico's Baths and Beauty or sumptuousness of their Banquets which among the ignorant was called Humanity or good Breeding whereas it was a part of their Servitude If we add to this the Consideration of what I have noted out of Ramus of the change of the Gallick Language and Laws we may conclude that the ancient (t) In Catalect vet Poet. lib. 1. tit 7. Poet spoke Truth who saith Cernitis ignotos Latia sub Lege Britannos All these things are to be understood of the natural Britans who no doubt were not backward in affecting the Roman Laws as well as the other things mentioned by Tacitus For which the Language and Rhetoric were most useful otherwise what need was there of having Lawyers from Gaul which the Poet calls (u) Juvenalis Sat. 7. Nutricula Causidicorum and who tells us that (x) Satyra 15. Gallia Causidicos docuit facunda Britannos De conducendo loquitur jam Rhetore Thule So we find That Severus left his Son (y) Herodian lib. 3. Juri dicendo rebusque civilibus ut praeesset Geta when he made his Northern Expedition to be as Lord President of the North and Papinian the famous Civilian sate in the Tribunal at York and from thence Severus and Antonius set forth the Imperial Edict (z) Cod. lib. 3. tit 32. That Laws were not like to be made by the Britans while under the Romans de rerum Venditione Hitherto we find no probability of any Laws amongst the Conquered Britans but such as the Romans imposed or allowed of After the Britans embraced Christianity we have some imperfect accounts of King Lucius sending to Pope Eleutherius to send him the Roman Laws and of Caesar But Sir Henry Spelman (a) Cum has domi a Romanâ— Praeside nec fugienâ—as quidem obtineret Concil Tom. 1. p. 35. and others do justly reject this as spurious because he could not want those nor avoid the obedience to them in his own Country for as he saith from the time of the Emperor Claudius who subdued most of Britain the Roman Laws were published in Britain and the Brigantes the Inhabitants of Yorkshire and the Countries beyond Humber according to Seneca (b) In ludo de morte Cl. Caes were subject to them who speaking of Claudius Caesar writes thus Ille Britannos ultra noti littora Ponti Et Coeruleos * Vel Scoto-Brigantas Senec. in Octav. scuta Brigantas dare Romuleis Colla catenis jussit ipsum nova Romanae Jura securis tremere Oceanum So in another place Cuique Britanni terga dedêre Ducibus nostris ante ignoti Jurisque sui There being nothing to be found of secular Laws of the Britans either before their expulsion by the Saxons into Wales Concerning the Laws of Hoel Dha and the Britans in Wales or after excepting some Ecclesiastical Constitutions in Synods till the Laws of Hoel Dha i. e. the Good I must refer the inquisitive Reader to Sir Henry Spelman's first Volume of Councils where he will find the first at Verulam or St. Albans Anno Christi 446. that by St. German against the Pelagian Heresy Anno 449. that in Wales near the Mountain Erir that under Dubritius and three at Landass before the year 560. and others at Landass after ann 887. Now as to the Laws of Hoel Dha the Preface to his Laws saith That he seeing his Welsh insolently to abuse the Laws he called out of every Kemut or Hundred of his Kingdom six (c) Laicos viros auctoritate scientia pollentes omnes Eâ—clesiasticos dignitate baculosos Spelm. Concil Tom. 1. fol. 408. Twy gwyn ar Tass the White House upon the River Tass Lay-men excelling in Authority and Wisdom and all the Ecclesiastics dignifyed with Pastoral Staves as Archbishops Bishops Abbats and Priors to a place called Guin sup Taff yn Deved which House he would have built with white Wands for an House to lodge in when he came to hunt in the parts of Demetie wherefore it was called Ty Gvyn there they stayed all Lent praying and fasting c. of those the King chose Twelve Lay-men most learned and one Clergy-man called Blangorid to instruct him in the Laws that they might come nearest to Truth and Justice and ordered them to be writ in three parts (d) Prima Lex Curiae 〈◊〉 quotidianae secunda Lex patria tertia usus utriusque One for his daily Court another to be the Law of the Country and a third to be of use for both The Laws printed are all Ecclesiastical only in (e) Cap. 25. one of them it is said that it is found in the Roman Laws That where the number of Witnesses are not determined there two are sufficient As to the other Laws I have not had the good Fortune to meet with any Transcript of them only in
Euridicus Euric or Theodoric for by those Names he is called Anno Dom. 466. made them be digested into writing These Levigild Aera 608 amended and they had their fullest Vigor from the Kings Chindaswind and Recaswind and these are used in Spain and that part of France called Gallia Narbonensis anciently Braccata containing Savoy Dauphin Province and Languedoc The next Laws for Antiquity are the Burgundian Gundebald or Gundebaud The Burgundian Laws who was made tributary to Clouis King of France Anno Dom. 501. having setled Burgundy under his Jurisdiction did appoint saith (u) Lib. 2. c 33. Gregory Turonensis milder Laws for the Burgundians lest he might oppress the Romans and Lindenbrogius notes That his Laws agree with the Responses of Papinian though (w) De Impietate Duellici examinis Agobard in his Book to Lewis the Emperor complains of the unjustness of one branch of them in admitting Duel when Proof might otherwise be had However here it appears they were made by his Authority The next are the Laws of the Alemans Baiuvarians and Francks * all which took their beginning from Theoderic the First (x) Spehaan 's Gloss Lex Baioriorum Lex Baiuvariorum Baioriorum Boiorum containing Franconia now Bavaria and Bohemia according to some Son of Clouis the First who founded the French Kingdom Anno 511. having triumphed over the Almains and being converted to Christianity he took the Name of Lewis when he was in Catalonia he called to him wise Men skilled in the Ancient Laws of his Kingdom and he himself indicting he commanded the Laws of those Nations according to every ones Customs to be written adding rescinding and changing them according as Christian Religion required and those which for the ancient Pagan Rites he could not alter himself Childebert the Second begun and Clotharius the Second perfected and Dagobert the great made them better and to every Nation concerned in them Lex Aalmannorum he gave them in writing As to that part which is called the Lex Alamannorum they were amended by Clotharius the Second Son of Chilperic and his Princes viz. Thirty three Bishops Thirty four Dukes Seventy two Earls and the rest of the People as appears by the Title so that this by an Act of the King and great Council and the former by the Kings themselves are recorded to be appointed or made Lex Francorum As to the Law of the Francs not the Salic Law which is of later date we find no more mention of them after they were digested by Theodoric the first till the time of Charles the Great who and his Son published Laws by the Name of Capitularies which Ann. 840. were writ by Ansegisus Abbas Lobiensis and Benedictus Levita so that here is no mention but of the Kings and Emperors sole establishing these Laws Lex Longobardorum The Longobards now Lombards in Italy were a Colony of the Saxons who were removed into Pannonia or Hungary and by Narses General to Justinian about the year 550 were called into Italy to assist the Emperor against Totila King of the Goths whom Narses totally routed in Italy and these Longobards (y) Warnefridus Hist Longobard lib. 4. c. 44. seated themselves there and established a Kingdom and Rotharis their King reduced the Laws which they held only by Use and Memory being mostly such as the Saxons had used into writing and caused the Book of them toâ—be called an Edict which was about 70 years after their setling in Italy the succeeding Princes Grimoald Luitprandus Rachis and Aistulphus and after Charles the Great Latharius and Pipin added and amended them Sir Henry Spelman (z) Glosser tit LL. Longobard saith that betwixt our Laws and those of the Longobards there is a great Agreement in the Laws Rites Words and other Particulars but saith our Ancestors brought out of Germany their Customs not written but according to the custom of the Lacedaemonians and the Ancient Nations of the North retained them in their memories only In the Laws of Henry the First Lex Ripuariorum we find the Ripuarian Laws which were made for those of Luxenburg Gelderland and Cleves not only approved but some of them are word for word in his Laws as Sir Henry Spelman notes As to the Salic Law the Francs a People of Germany The Salick Law passing the Rhine subdued a great part of Gaul and in the third year of Pharamond four of the Nobles of the Nation reviewed all the Originals of Causes according to the Salic Law There are two Prologues to these Laws the first names the four Noblemen that digested them the second saith names the Anno Dom. 798. The Lord Charles the Noble (a) Anno Dom. 798. Dom. Carolus Rex Francorum incliâ—â—s hunc libellum tractatâ—s Legis Salicae seribere ordinavit King of the Francs ordained the writing of that Book of the Salic Law In the Laws of King Henry the First Sir Henry Spelman notes That many things are taken out of the Salic Laws as he instanceth in the 87 and 89 Chapters where the Words are used and Punishments are appointed secundum Legem Salicam according to the Salic Law I shall now set down something in general of our Country Law (b) Glâ—sser Lex Anglorum The English Saxon Laws from Germany Sir Henry Spelman observes That the Laws of the English in Britain seem to take their Original from the German Manners or Customs but he knows not who first introduced them It is known that there came into England upon the Invitation of Vortigern the Jutes or Goths Angela is a Town near Flemshurg a City of Sleswick perhaps our Flamburgh in Yorkâ—â—ire had its Name from some that inhabited that City the Angli or English and the Saxons tho all here obtained the Names of Saxons The Jutes setled in Kent and the Isle of Wight The Saxons in Essex Middlesex and Sussex and so on the Sea Coast to Cornwall and were called the West Saxons The Angli possessed the East and North parts which were called Mercia Those of Kent had their Laws The tripartite Division of the Saxon Laws but after being swallowed up in the West-Saxon Kingdom they were subject to their Laws The Angli used the Mercian Laws till the Danes over-running the Provinces of East-England and of the North Humbers brought in their Customs not differing very much from the Laws they had before from hence sprung the threefold Division of Laws viz. the (c) West-Seaxna Laga Myrcna Laga Dene Laga West-Saxon Laws the Mercian Laws and the Danish Laws The first Laws we have an account of were made by Ethelbert King of Kent Anno 561. and the next by Ina King of the West Saxons who began to Reign Anno 712. and the next by Offa King of the Mercians of which Laws I have spoke before The Danish Laws were such as were not only used in Denmark but in Normandy Danish Laws
as well as Norway which was the reason why William the Conquerour understanding that the Danish Law was used in that part where the Danes had settled themselves he preferred them before other Laws because his Country of Normandy was sprung from the Danes and Norwegians and it was with much difficulty that he was perswaded against imposing them upon the whole Kingdom saying the Danes and Norwegians were as sworn Brothers with the Normans These Danes entred about the year 790. and were at last overcome by King Alfred and by agreement betwixt him and Guthrun King of the Danes who governed the Kingdom of the East Angles and Northumbrians Guthruns People enjoyed the Danish Laws which differed from the other in nothing so much as the proportion of the Mulcts King Edward the Elder Aethelstan Edmund and Edgar made Laws but from the time of Edgar to Edward the Confessour the Danes having the principal Command the Danish Laws mostly prevailed But Edward the Confessour of these three Laws composed one which saith the Monk of (d) Lib. 1. c. 50. Edward the Confessor 's Laws composed of all Chester are called the Common Laws and to his Days were called the Laws of King Edward By all I have hitherto noted concerning the Laws either made in Germany France Lombardy Burgundy Bavaria or other Countries after they came to have any established Government of their own or in England during the Heptarchy It is apparent whoever was Soveraign imposed the Laws which as to the Saxons in the next Chapter I shall make particularly appear When the Roman Imperial Law began to be disused That the Roman Laws begun to be disused as soon as their Empire declined and was broken is as manifest for these several Nations by the appointment of their Soveraigns had their unwritten Customs and Laws revised and according to the suitableness of them to the Government of their People had them writ into Books and enjoyned them to be observed by their Subjects To make it evident that the Imperial Roman Law was much disused after Justinian's time upon the account of other Soveraignties being established which acknowledged not that dependence upon the Empire as formerly I shall offer something from Mr. (e) Notes upon Fortescue p. 20. Selden who if any other is to be credited in this kind of reading after I have said something of Justinian The Emperour Justinian (f) Proaem de Consirmatione Institutionum Of Justinian 's Laws in the year of our Lord 565 by the help of Tribonian Master and Exquaestor of the Sacred Palace and Exconsul and of Theophilus and Dorotheus Illustrious Men of whose Skill and Knowledge in the Laws and their Fidelity in observing his Commands the Emperour had manifold experience of Although he had commanded them by his Authority and Perswasions to compose those Institutions that the Subjects might not learn the Law from (g) Non ab Antiquis Fabulis discere sed ab Imperiali splendore appetere Breviter expositum quod antea obtinebat quod postea desuetudine inumbratum Imperiali remedio illuminatum est Legimus recognovimus plenissimum nostrarum constitutionum robur eis accommodavimus Ancient Fables but from the Imperial Splendor as he calls it desire them and after fifty Books of Digests or Pandects and four Books of Institutions were made in which were expounded whatever before-time was used and what by disuse was obscured by the Imperial Remedy was Illuminated and he had accomodated to them his fullest Authority and had appointed them to be read and taught at Rome Berytus and Constantinople and no where else Yet the body of the Civil Law was so neglected that till Lothar the Second about the year 1125. took Amalsi and there found an old Copy of the Pandects or Digests it was in a manner wholly disused Under that Lothar the Civil Law began to be profest at Bologna and one Irner or Werner made the first Glosses upon it about the beginning of Frederick Barbarossas's time in Anno 1150. and Bologna was by Lothar constituted to be Legum Juris Schola una sola (h) Sigon de Regno Italiae lib. 11. 7. This Book Lothar gave to the Pisans by reason whereof saith Mr. Selden it is called Litera Pisana and from thence it is now removed to Florence where in the Dukes Palace it is never brought forth but with Torch-light and other Reverence By this account we may note That even before Justinian's time some Laws had been rather by old Traditions which he calls old Fables than by certain Authority received others were by long disuse forgot and after they were thus established by Imperial Authority yet the succeeding Barbarity of the Ages and the new Kingdoms erected caused other Laws to obtain Force the first of which we find very rude All the first Laws we read of in any Nation seem either so comparatively to the refinedness of the Laws in these Ages or else the Digesters and Authorizers of them complain how obscure rude or indigested those were out of which they extracted theirs The great Subversion the Saxons made by their Conquest The Saxons made so great and universal a Subversion in the State that scarce any City Dwelling River Hill or Mountain retained its former Roman or British name so that we have less reason to expect any satisfactory account either of British History Polity or Laws when we only know where they had Camps Stations or Cities Palaces or Fortifications or Temples by the Coyns Brick tessellated Pavements Glass Earthen or Jett Fragments of Cups and other Houshold-stuff or Urns and Sacrificing Dishes which by chance have been found in the Rubbish of many Towns that have been certainly fired and totally demolished which sufficiently disâ—â—ver the noble Structures and rich Furniture the Romens and Britans had before the Saxon Invasions Besides which we may consider not only the continual Wars and Depredations the Saxons made one upon another but that the Daves like a fatal Hurricane or Whirlwind tore up Root and Branch every where overturning ransacking burning and destroying all that they could not peaceably possess Having thus far treated of the State of the Britans and something of the Laws in general A short Glossary of the Names or Titles of the Constituent Parts of Great Councils as a Praeliminary to the better understanding who are meant by the Persons who we find do constitute the great Councils I shall out of Sir Henry Spelman Somner and Doctor Brady give a very short Glossary referring the curious Reader to the Books themselves The most common Words in the Saxon Laws that are used besides the Bishops The Witan or Wites Einhard divides the Germans into four sorts of Degrees the Noble Free-men those made free and Servants his words are Quatuor differentiis gens illa consistiâ— Nobilium sâ—iliâ—et Liberorum Libertorum atque Servorum Adam Brem Hâ—â—t Eccles c. 5. to express the Persons
by whose Council and Advice the Kings used in the making Laws are the Witan Wites From Wita which Womner renders Optimas Princeps Sapiens a Nobleman Prince or Wiseman from witan to know and understand So in the Laws of King Ina we read Gethungenes Witan a famous noble or renowned Wite from Gethungen So in the version of Bede by King Alfred Witum is rendred Counsellors so by Sapientes when we meet with it in any Authors that render Witan by it we are to understand not only Judges but sometimes Dukes Earls Prapositi Provosts Thegns the King's Officers or Ministers So in the Charter (i) Histor Privileg Eccl. Eliensis fol. 117. b. of King Edgar to the Church of Ely Anno 970. Alferre Egelwinc and Brithnoth are called Dukes and Hringulph Thurferth and Alfric are called Ministri The first of which in another Charter is called Alderman and the other by the name of Sapientes Upon perusal and collating several Transcripts of Deeds and Councils I am of opinion that where Wites or Sapientes are used for Princes Noblemen and great Personages those are to be understood that were called to the Kings Council had command over Countries as Lord Lieutenants or were Members of the great Councils So that they were of the most wise and knowing of the great Princes Dukes Earls and Barons and where it doth not seem to import such great Men of Birth then it signifies Judges Which as to the first seems to be clear by what is said in the Auctuary (k) Lamb. fol. 147. tit de Heretochiis Qui Heretoches â—pud Angloâ—voâ—abantur se Barones Nobiles insignes sapientes vocati ductores excercituum c. to the 35 Law of Edward the Confessor where it is said There were other Powers and Dignities appointed through the Provinces and all the Countries and several Shires which are called by the English Heretoches in King Ina's Laws Here Thegne i. e. Noble Ministers or Officers and when he reckons up those who were to be understood by this name Heretoges he calls them Barons Nobles and famous Wisemen called Generals or great Officers in the Army and as to the latter Signification Doctor Brady hath sufficiently cleared it in Adelnoth's Plea against the Monks of Malmsbury where it is said that in the Presence of the King subtili disceptatione a Sapientibus suis i. e. Regis audita where by Sapientes must be understood the King's Judges Alderman Alderman or Ealderman was both a general Name (l) Spelman 's Glossary given to Princes Dukes Governours of Provinces Presidents Senators and even to Vice-Roys as also to particular Officers hence Aldermannus totius Angliae like my Lord Chief-Justice Aldermannus Regis Comitatus Civitatis Burgi Castelli Hundredi c. of whose Offices it is not easy particularly to define This being so copiously discoursed of by Sir Henry Spelman I shall refer the Reader to him The word Thane or Thegen was used by the Saxons in their Books variously sometimes it signified a stout Man Thane Soldier or Knight other times Thanus (m) Cyninges Thegen Med mera Thegen Woruld Thegen Maesse Thegen Somner Dial. Regius signified the Kings great Officer a Nobleman or Peer of the Realm other times a Thane or Nobleman of lower degree sometimes we meet with secular or Lay Thanes other times Spiritual Thanes or Priests Some Thanes were as the King's Bailiffs Praefects Reeves of which Doctor Brady gives account in his Argum. Antinorm Page 283. In several of the Councils we find no particular orders denominated but only a division of the whole into the Clergy Clergy and Laity and Laity So in the Council that Sir H. Spelman (n) Spelm. 1. Tom. Concil tells us Ethelbert King of Kent held 685. with Bertha his Queen and Eadbald his Son and the Reverend Bishop Austine Communi concilio tam Cleri quam Populi and the rest of the Optimates Terrae at Christmass having called a Common-Council of the Clergy and People by which it is apparent that both the Clergy o and Laity there understood are comprehended under the name Optimates Terrae the Nobility of Land So in King Ina's Laws as I shall hereafter particularize the command is given to Godes Theowas Gods Servant and eales folces all People So King Edmund held a great Council at Easter in London of Gods (p) Egther ge godcundra hada ge woruld cundra Order and the Secular Order or Worlds Order which Brompton (q) Mandavit omnibus Majoribus Regnorum veniunt Wintoniam Clerus Populus renders Laici in another part of King Edward's Laws So the Majores Regnorum of King Edgar are commanded to come and then it is said There came to Winchester the Clergy and People those were the Majores Regnorum The like was frequently used after the Conquest so at the Coronation of Henry the First Matthew Paris speaks of the gathering of the Clergy and all the People and then saith Clero Angliae Populo universo The Clergy answering him and all the Magnates and in another place Clero Populo favente the Clergy and People favouring Further we find in a great Council held by the King Anno 1102. 2 H. 2. (r) Omnes Principes Regni sui Ecclesiastici secularis ordinis Flo. Wigor fol. 651. lin 21. all the chief Men of his Kingdom of the Ecclesiastic and secular Order So that Plebs Populus Vulgus Incola where by way of Antithesis or contra-Opposition they are used do signify the Clergy and Laity or Lay-Princes not the common People After the Conquest we meet with the Word Regnum sometimes and other times Regnum Sacerdotium As to the first the Sence is to be understood best in the Quadripartite History (s) Quadrilog lib. 1. c. 26. of the Life of Thomas Becket where it is said the King called to Clarendon Regnum universum all the Kingdom and then saith To whom came the dignified Clergy and the Nobles which Matt. Paris puts out of all doubt by the enumeration that he makes of all that appertained to the Kingdom to be the Arch-Bishops Bishops Abbats and Priors Installed and the Earls and Barons So the meaning is best understood of the words in the last Chapter of Magna Charta that the Arch-Bishops Bishops Abbats Priors Earls Barons Knights and free Tenents and all of the Kingdom gave a fifteenth part of their Moveables and in other places after the Barons it is said Omnes alii de Regno nostro qui de nobis tenent in Capite concerning which the most Learned Doctor Brady hath given plentiful Proofs Magnates Proceres By the words Magnates Proceres frequently found in the Councils after the Conquest are to be understood the Arch-Bishops Bishops Abbats and Priors for the Clergy and the Earls and Barons for the Laity only unless afterwards that Dukes were included However they were used always to contra-distinguish
Ethelred and his Wites have enacted all his People to mulct for the breach of Peace These were enacted at Woodstock in Mercia after the English Laws Tho general Council of (o) Spâ—lman Concil vol. 1. fol. 510. The Council of Aenham under King Aethelred Aenham called Pananglicum is said to be Hortatu Aelfeagi Dorobernensis Wulstani Eboracensis Archipraesulum ab Aethelredo Rege edictum accersitisque Episcopis universis Anglorum Optimatibus in dic Pentecostes celebratum and the Saxon Title of it is Be witena geraednessa rendred Sapientum decreta In the conclusion of the Latin Copy of them this is added Haec itaque legalia statuta vel decreta in nostro Synodali Conventu a Rege (p) Idem fol. 529. magnopere edict a cuncti tunc temporis Optimates se observaturos fideliter spondebant Sir Henry Spelman gives several reasons why this may be called a General Council because it contains Secular Laws as well as Divine and here we have expresly said it was at Pentecost one of the set times for such Councils and it was by the King's Summons and the Clergy and Optimates consented In the Charter of the Priviledges granted by King (q) Spelman Concil vol. 1. fol. 507 508. Anno 1006. Ethelred to the Church of Canterbury after the Subscription of the King the Archbishops Bishops and Abbats these are subscribed Aelfric Elfhelm Leoffwin Leoffig Ealderman which in the Latin version are stiled Duces Aethelmer mines Alaffordes discthen translated Domini mei dapifer verbatim Dish Thegne or Thane Byrhtric Cynges Thegen Minister Regis Leofric Hraegel Thein rei vestiariae Minister Master of the Wardrobe Aet suman is added but neither Lambard nor Somner interpret it Syward Cynges Thegen aet Raede Minister Regis a Conciliis Secretary or Counsellor the rest only mentioned Gewitnys and in the Latin Charter of the same which we may imagine was the Original these Thegnes are called Ministri and so are these following Ordulf Eadric Ethelric Leofric Sigeraed VVulstan Senex Juvenis Lysing Leofâ—tan The Preface to the Laws of Canutus is conceived in the same Words as that of King Edgar's The Laws of Canutus fol. 97. Regn. coepit A. 1016 desiit 1035 only he is stiled Cnut Cyning ealles Englandes Cyninge Dena Cyning Northrigena Cyning King of all England King of Denmark and Norway they were Established at VVinchester on thaem Halgan Mid-winter Tide i. e. at Christmass The Preface to his Laws in Sir Henry (r) Concil Tom. 1.552 Spelman is conceived in these words This is thonne seo worldcunde geraedness the Ic will midminan VVitenan roede the man heald ofer eall Englaland These are the Worldly Constitutions that I will with my Wites Advice that Men hold all over England In most of the Chapters it is said we laeroth we teach we beodath we bid or command we forbeodath we forbid and in the Conclusion it is in the single Person of the King nu bidde Ic georne on Godes naman beode manna gehwylcne Now I command all and bid every Man in God's Name The Preface to the Latin version of them saith Haec (s) Idem fol. 562. sunt Instituta Cnudi Regis Anglorum Dacorum Norwegarum venerando sapientum Concilio ejus ad laudem gloriam Dei suam Regalitatem commune commodum habita in sancto natali Domini apud Wintoniam So we find that Anno 1024. When (t) Monast Aug. vol. 1. fol. 295. col 1. num 30. Canutus drove the Clerks living dishonestly from the Church of St. Edmund and placed Monks there it is said he did it cum consilio Archiepiscoporum Episcoporum Optimatum So in another Council it is thus Ego Cnut Rex totius Albionis cum Concilio Archiepiscoporum Episcoporum Abbatum Comitum omniumque fidelium elegi sanciendum By the word fidelium here is meant the Thegne or lesser Nobility as Doctor Brady fully proves in his Glossary and elsewhere Anno 1032. He grants Priviledges to Glastenbury (u) Spelman vol. 1. Concil fol. 537. which he doth consensu Optimatum meorum with the consent of his Nobles yet he useth the words concedo prohibeo in the single Person to denote from whose single Authority all concessions flowed Of this Canutus (w) Gest Regum lib. 2. c. 11. Malmsbury saith that he commanded to be observed for ever all the Laws of ancient Kings especially those made by King Ethelred his Predecessor under (x) Sub interminatione Regiae mulctae perpetuis temporibus observari praecepit the penalty of the Kings Fine to the observing of which he saith in his time it was sworn under the name of King Edwards Laws not that he had appointed them but had observed them It is of latter time (y) MS. Burgi Sancti Edmundi Spelman Conc. vol. 1. fol. 534. recorded that Canutus in the fifth Year of his Reign calling together all the Prelates of his Kingdom Proceresque ac Magnates Wulstan Adelwode the Archbishops and other Bishops seven Dukes and seven Earls and divers Abbats of Monasteries cum quamplurimis gregariis Militibus ac cum populi multitudine copiosa who were personally present Votis Regiis unanimiter consentientibus praeceptum decretum fuit Sir Henry Spelman saith That this Manuscript must be writ towards the latter end of Henry the Third's Reign if not after because it useth the word Parliament and discourseth of the Constitution of Parliament as in that Age not as the great Councils in Canutus time were which I note that it may be observed upon how slender Antiquities Sir Edward (z) Praefat. 4. Report King Edward the Confessor 's Laws Coke relied From what Malmsbury observes of these Laws of Canutus we may conclude that whereever the Laws of King Edward the Confessor are mentioned in after Ages these Laws of Canutus must be understood and that it is a fruitless Enquiry to search for any other than those which Hoveden and Ingulphus give us as confirmed by VVilliam the Conqueror therefore I shall referr the Inquisitive Reader to the Authors and Sir (a) Concil vol. 1.619 625. Henry Spelman and Mr. Selden I shall therefore only note who were the constituent Parts of the great Councils in his time That convention at Christmas the Twenty fifth of his Reign as Sir Henry Spelman (b) Iâ—em fol. 627. hath published it was Praesentibus Edwardo Rege Confâ—ssore Edgitha Regina Stigando Archiep. Cant. Eldredo Archiep. Ebor. caeterisque Angliae Aepiscopis Abbatibus Capellanis Regis Comitibus Ministris seu Thanis Regis Militibus qui in Chartarum sequentium subscriptionibus nominantur Then follows the second Charter to (c) Id. 631. St. Peters of Westminster where after the Bishops and Abbats we find the Subscriptions of Raynbaldus the Chancellor and Harold Edwin Leofdwyn and Guden are titled Dukes Ergar Kendus Wygodus Robertus Ednothus are called Ministri then I suppose
according to the Title the Knights Agelnodus Walfricus Sywardus Godricus To the third Charter (d) Id. 636. when he dedicated St. Peter's Church Anno 1066. there are these more added to the Lay-Nobility besides Osbern Peter and Robert the King's Chaplain who are placed next after the Chancellor As to King Edward's Laws and their Confirmation by the Conqueror and the Addâ—â—ions and Amendments see Dr. Brady fol. 254. Aâ—gum Aâ—tinorm 296 298 299. As to the â—arallel betwixt the Saxon and Norman Laws see his Preface to the Norman Story before the Dukes Gud Comes Marheâ—â—s Comes Radulphus Minister Agelnodus Minister and besides that Wulfric Syward and Godrich in the aforesaid Charter are called here Knights there are added Colo and Wulsward Knights and the Conclusion of all is Omnes consentientes subscripsimus So that here may be noted the use of the Subscriptions of the Noblemen to the King's Charters which then were only by the mark of a Cross and in after times by their Seals to those we call Acts of Parliament as hereafter will be shown Having thus treated of the General Councils and such like Conventions under the Saxon and Danish Kings I shall pass to the Norman Kings and so descending to the present Age show the constituent Parts of the great Councils and Parliaments and by what variety of Expressions in the gradual Progress of the respective Kings Reigns the Soveraigns enacting of Laws was exhibited only before I enter I cannot but take notice that Mr. Selden by what compliance I know not Ab his vix alios ante Saxones comperio Custodes sub eis varie partitos c. Explent numerum Rex Conâ—â—â—â—â—ularius Cancellarius Thesaurarius Angliae Aldermannus Aldermannus Provinâ—â—arum Gravii Janus Angl. p. 40. with the mode of his time calls those which we make constituent Parts of the great Councils of the Saxon times Custodes and saith he scarce meets with any of these Guardians of the Laws different from these Lawmakers Yet he brings no Representatives of the Commons for he makes them the King the Lord High-Constable the Chancellor the Treasurer the Alderman of England the Aldermen of Provinces and the Graves I cannot but wonder that he should not at least give some hint what difference there was betwixt the King and his Graeve in the point of Law-making Surely he knew the Constitution of the great Councils as well as any but being a Sitting Member in that long Parliament was in that Particular tainted per contagionem uvaque livorem deducet ab uva CHAP. XXV Of the great Councils of the Norman Kings 'till the end of the Reign of King John WHAT Changes William the Conqueror made in the Government how he brought in the Feudal Laws of Normandy and many other Alterations Doctor Brady hath proved at large in his Argumentum Anti-Normanicum and the Preface to his Complete History so that I shall touch very little upon that Subject The Conqueror saith the learned Sir (a) Praefâ—tio ad LL. Willielmi primi pag. 155. Edit Wheeloch Three things the Conqueror designed Roger Twysden having obtained the Kingdom by dint of Sword and knowing that no Empire is firmly established by Arms without Justice applied his mind to three things First That he might have a sufficient Military Force Secondly That he might gratifie his French and Norman Adventurers yet so as the English might not by over much severity be instigated to rebel And Thirdly That the Husbandmen might live as Servants and to perform the Drudgery but not to be wholly extirpated As to the First He disposed the Militia so as (b) Lib. 4. p. 523. About his Militia and Revenue Ordericus Vitalis tells us it was reported That he could expend 1600 l. and 30 s. three Half-pence Sterling Money every day besides the Presents Fines for remitting of Punishments upon Transgressions of the Laws and many other ways whereby his Treasury was encreased and he made the Kingdom be surveyed and all his Tributes or Revenues Piscos as in the time of King Edward he made be truly described His Lands he so distributed to his Soldiers Disposed the Lands in Military Service and disposed them so that in the Kingdom of England he had 60000 Horsemen which he could with great readiness call together therefore in the 58 Law ascribed to him and which is in the Red Book of the Exchequer it is thus expressed We (c) Statuimus etiam sirmiter praecipimus ut omnes liberi homines totius Regni nostri sint fratres cenjurati ad Monarchiâ—m nostram ad Regnum nostrum pro viribus suis facultatihus contra inimicos pro posse suo defendendum viriliter servandum Pacem Dignitatem Coronae nostrae integram observandâ—m judicium rectum justitiam constanter omnibus modis pro posse suo sine delatione â—aciendam Fol. 171. appoint and firmly command that all the Liberi Homines such as held in Military Service to whom he had distributed all the Lands of the English except what he kept in his own Possession as in all Authors that treat of such matters is most evident of his whole Kingdom should be sworn Brothers to defend and manfully preserve his Monarchy and the Kingdom according to their Power against all Enemies and keeping entire the Peace and Dignity of his Crown and for the executing of right Judgment and Justice constantly in all ways according to their Power without Deceit or Delay I have inserted this at large because it seems the Primary Law upon which his Government was established and it seemeth to me to be the Substance of the Oath of Fealty that all the Subjects which held in Capite were to take or that the same Oath was to the same ends and purpose This Law is said to be made in the City of London But without doubt it was much according to the (d) Monsieur Berault Custom Norman fol. 86. usage of Normandy established by Rollo and what had been practised by the Francks when they conquered the Gauls in the declining of the Roman Empire who distributed their Lands among their Soldiers to whom was reserved the Dignity of Gentlemen and the Management of Arms and the use of them taken from the Ancient Gauls who were called Roturiers and they were only permitted to manage the matters of Husbandry and Merchandice So the Conqueror gave to some of his Followers (e) Brady's Preface Norm History p. 159. whole Counties to some two or three or more Counties with a great Portion of Land to others Hundreds Mannors or Towns who parcelled them out to their Dependants and Friends 'till at last though the Saxons most frequently held their own Estates of those new Lords and by new Titles from them some Soldiers and ordinary Men had some proportionable Shares for their Services though upon hard Conditions possessing them for the most part as Feudatories Of the Feudal Law and
times appointed through England and by his writing and Seal confirmed to Bishops and Abbats Charters of Priviledges whose Charter runs thus Hen. c. Baronibus fidelibus suis Francis Anglis salutem Sciatis me ad Honorem Dei Sanctae Ecclesiae pro communi emendatione Regni mei concessisse reddidisse praesenti Charta mea confirmasse c. and so confirms the Charter of King Henry the First his Grand-father As to the Council of Clarendon about (b) Answer to Petyt fol. 31. ult Edit See Selden's Correction of Matt. Paris in his Epinomis Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury after he had once promised and his after refusing to set to his Seal in Confirmation of the Ancient Laws I must refer the Reader to what Doctor Brady hath collected and shall only touch upon that of (c) Matt. Paris fol. 84. num 20. ult Edit Clarendon Anno 1164. 10 Hen. 2. where those present by the King's Mandate were the Archbishops Bishops Abbats Priors Earls Barons and Noblemen of the Kingdom and there was a Recognition of parts of the Customs and Liberties of King Henry the King's Grandfather and of other Kings which were comprised in sixteen Chapters Concerning the Laws of this King see Selden's Epinomis These Matthew Paris calls wicked Customs and Liberties because they subjected the Clergy-men more to the Crown than he and others would have had them yet he saith the Archbishops Bishops Abbats Priors Clergy with the Earls Barons and Nobility swore to them all Proceres and promised firmly in the word of Truth to hold and observe them to the King and his Heirs in good Faith and without Evil and then adds decrevit etiam Rex by which it appears that the Members of the Great Council did not only assent but did bind themselves by Oath and solemn Promise obligatory to themselves and their Posterity to keep and observe them and upon the whole it is the King that decrees appoints and constitutes In all the great Councils of this King it is manifest that the Members were only such as in former Kings Reigns only in that of the 22 H. 2. (d) Ben. Abb. p. 77. Anno Dom. 1176. it is said Rex congregatis in urbe Londoniarum Archipraesulibus Episcopis Comitibus Sapientioribus Regni sui where Sapientiores are instead of Barones and for the Kings Summons it is always said Rex convocat congregavit praecepit convenire or mandavit as is most expresly said in that great Council Anno 1177. 23 H. 2. (e) Ben. Abbas p. 86. That the King sent Messengers through the whole Isle of England and commanded the Archbishops Bishops Earls and Barons of all England that they should be with him at London the next Sunday after the beginning of Lent Of the Great Councils in King Richard the First 's time THere are few great Councils met withal in his short Reign he being so great a part of it out of the Kingdom The first I find is in (a) Fol. 129. num 16 Matthew Paris Anno 1189. 1 Reg. That in the day following the Exaltation of the Holy Cross at Pipewel Archiepiscoporum Episcoporum aliorum Magnatum suorum fretus Concilio He supplied the Vacances of several Bishops Sees The Second I find is (b) Hoved. fol. 376. a. num 30. when he and the King of France agreed to go to the Holy Land where it is said that his Earls and Barons who took the Crusado in the General Council at London swore c. of which it is that (c) Fol. 155. num 50. Matthew Paris saith That the King of England convocatis Episcopis Regni Proceribus received the Oath from the Messengers of the King of France In the Fifth of King Richard (d) Hoved. fol 418. b. num 20. we have a full Example of the holding a Great Council by Commission for during the Imprisonment of King Richard Adam de Sancto Edmundo Clerk was sent from Earl John the Kings Brother to his Friends in England to defend his Castles against the King and dined with Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury boasting much of the French Kings assisting Earl John After Dinner the Mayor of London seized on him in his Lodgings and upon all his Breves and Mandates who delivered them to the Archbishop This occasioned the Archbishop being the Kings Commissioner to convene a great Council the next day A Great Council called on a Days warning but surely Summons had issued out before or else it is a great Instance that the great Councils might be called of such of the Clergy and Nobility as were nearest at Hand for my Author expresly saith (e) Qui iâ— crastino convocatis coram co Episcopis Comitibus Baronibus Regni ostendit eis literas Comitis Johannis earum tenuras statim per commune concilium Regni desinitum est quod Comes Johannes dissaisiretur Idem That the Archbishop the next day called before him the Bishops Earls and Barons of the Kingdom and showed to them the Letters of Earl John and the Tenor of them and adds that instantly by the Common Council of the Kingdom it was defined that Earl John should be disseised This Adam saith Hoveden came into England not long before King Richard's release from his Imprisonment The next great (f) Idem 419. â— 30. A Great Council of four Days Council I find was upon the Thirtieth of March summoned to meet the King at Nottingham and at this were present Alienor the Kings Mother Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury Geoffery Archbishop of York and seven Bishops more Earl David brother to the King of Scots Hamelin Earl Warren Ralph Earl of Chester William Earl Ferrers William Earl of Salisbury and Roger Bigot and names no more but saith the same day the King disseized (g) Rex dissaisivit Gerardum de Canvil de Comitatu Linc. Hug. Bardolf de Castro Comitat. Ebor. Gerard de Canvil and others It appears that this Council sat but four days on the second day the King required Judgment against Earl John his Brother on the third day the King (h) Rex constituit sibi dari c. deinde praecepit exigit Concerning the Form of Proceeding in the Pleas of the Crown the Assize of the Forest wherein the Laws made in this King's time are set down see Selden's Epinomis appointed to be given him 2 s. of every Carucate of Land through England and that every one should perform the third part of Military Service according to their respective Knights Fees to pass over Sea with him into Normandy and then exacted of the Cestertian Monks all their Wool of that year for which they compounded and the fourth and last day Complaints were heard against the Archbishop of York and further Prosecution of Gerard de Canvil Hoveden gives an account of the King's Progress till the 11th of the same Month to which time the
great Council was adjourned to meet at Northampton where the King of Scots made his demands of the Counties of Northumberland Cumberland Westmorland and Lancashire Id. Hoved. and my Author saith That the King having taken advice with the Bishops Earls and Barons no orders of Men more are mentioned he gave answer to the King of Scots but it seems he had no mind to part with those Frontier Counties but by Charter in the presence of his Mother Alienor the Archbishop and other Bishops and many others as well Clerks as Laics of either Kingdom he granted the King and his Heirs certain Allowances Safe-Conduct c. when he should come to the King's Court upon Summons The most remarkable things in these Councils to be considered Remarks upon these Great Councils are the quick dispatch of Business in them the small Numbers they consisted of and that there appears no Footstep of any Commoners by Representation and by the Words Rex praecepit constituit c. it shows that the King had solely the Authoritative Power of passing the Consultations into binding Laws even where Mony was to be levied of the Subject and disseisure was to be made which was then practised but by an happy ease to the Subject is since by King Edward the First abrogated for which as we ought all to be thankful so to make use of this great Liberty that we may not abuse it to the damage of the Crown that bestowed the Largess and not so much boast our selves that we are freemen as to remember gratefully whence our Freedom came Of the Great Councils in King John's time THE first great Council that I have met with in King John's time is that held at Oxford (a) Matt. Paris fol. 176. num 30. ult edit Anno Dom. 1204. 6 Regni the Morrow after the Circumcision where as Matthew Paris saith convenerunt ad colloquium Rex Magnates and there were granted to the King two Marks and an half out of every Knights Fee Yet though all the Members are included under the name of Magnates yet my Author (b) Nec etiam Episcopi et Abbates sive Ecclesiasticae personae sine promissione recesserunt Idem saith that neither the Bishops Abbats or Ecclesiastic Persons passed away without a promise of supply I suppose So that I conceive the Clergy undertook for their Order to contribute something apart as it hath been since in use for the Convocation to give a distinct Tax imposed by themselves on the Clergy some evident Footsteps of which usage we find in that Council of (c) Hoveden fol. 282. b. num 10. Praecepit Rex Archiepiscopis Episcopis ut Siâ—illa sua apponeâ—enâ— cum cateri proni essent ad id saeciendum Archiepise Cant. juravit quod nunquam scripto illi apponeret nec leges consirmaret Clarendon wherein Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury was required by the King that he and the Bishops should set to their Seals in Confirmation of the antient Laws the King enjoined to be observed which when the Bishops were willing to do the Archbishop swore he would never do The Members of the Great Council and the absoluteness of King John in imposing Taxes is fully discovered in what Matthew (d) Fol. 180. num 30. Paris writes that Anno 1207. 9 Regni the King kept his Christmass at Winchester the Magnates Regni being present and on the Purification of the Virgin Mary he took through England the Thirteenth of Moveables The King imposeth Taxes and other things both of the Laics and Ecclesiastics all murmuring (e) Cunctis murmurantibus sed contradicere non audentibus A Great Council held in the King's absence but none daring to contradict him Anno 1213. 15 Joh. the King intending an expedition into Normandy left Geofrey Fitz-Peter and the Bishop of Winchester Commissioners in his absence who at St. Albans held a Council with the Archbishop the Bishops and the Magnates Regni where on the part of the King it was firmly (f) Mat. Paris fol. 201. num 30. Ex parte Regis firmiter est praeceptum sicut vitam membra sua diligunt ne a quoquam aliquid violenter extorqueant vel aliâ—ui injuriam irrogare praesumant enjoyned that the Laws of King Henry his Grandfather should be kept by all in his Kingdom and all evil Laws should be totally disannulled and all Sheriffs Foresters and other Ministers of the King under the severest Penalties of Life and Limb should not violently extort any thing from any Person or presume to offer Injury to any In which we may observe the Conventions of great Councils in the Kings absence and that the Laws have force only by the King's Authority as appears by the expressions ex parte Regis firmiter est praeceptum In the same Year the Eighth of the Calends of September Stephen A Convention or Conspiracy against the King Archbishop of Canterbury with the Bishops Abbats Priors Deans and Barons of the Kingdom met at London at St. Pauls in a Conspiracy against King John and as (g) Fol. 201. num 50 60. Matthew Paris saith the Fame was that the Archbishop calling to himself a Club of the Nobles told them secretly that they had heard how he had absolved the King and compelled him to swear that he should destroy evil Laws and should recal the good Laws viz those of King Edward and make them to be observed in his Kingdom and that now there was found a Charter of King Henry the First by which if they would they might recal to the Pristine State their long-lost Liberties which Charter he produced and it was that made to Hugh de Bocland his Justiciary and so they made a Confederacy among themselves and broke up their Assembly We may note Observations on the foregoing Councils that this Convention at London was a Conspiracy yet it had the Face of a great Council as to the constituent Parts of it and no Representatives of the People and they grounded their Confederacy upon the regaining their lost Liberties and had recourse to King Edward's Laws and their Confirmation by King Henry the First So that even such Rebels owned Kings the Fountains Authors and Establishers of their Liberties as well knowing they were born Subjects and whatever was remitted of the absolute Power of Princes was by their own Grants though they might be induced to those Concessions from several causes but whenever threats force or other necessities for supplies or such like extorted these they were very ill kept Anno 1215. 17 Joh. the Barons pressing the King to confirm the Charter of Priviledges the Archbishop with his Associates read over each Chapter But the King understanding the Tenor of them with indignation and scorn said (h) Quare cum istis iniquis exactionibus Barones non postulant Regnum Nunquam tales illis concederet libertates unde ipse efficeretur servus Matt. Paris fol. 213. num
injuries which were brought upon the King beyond Sea by which not only the King but many of the Earls and Barons were disinherited therefore the King required Counsel and Aid of them of a Fifteenth Upon this the Archbishop and the whole number of Bishops Magna Charta granted Earls Barons Abbats and Priors having had deliberation answered the King That they would willingly yield to the Kings desire if he would grant them the long desired Liberties The King saith my Author being led by Covetousness or as he means being desirous of a supply yielded to what the Magnates desired so he granted that which is called Magna Charta so deservedly priz'd by all Englishmen ever since and the (f) Idem num 30. Charta de Foresta and presently Charters were got drawn and the King sealed them and they were sent into all Counties two one of the Liberties and the other of the Forests Matth. Paris saith expresly That they (g) Ita quod chartae utrorumque Requm in nullo invâ—niuntur dissimiles were the same that King John had granted and so refers the Reader to peruse them in what he had writ on his Reign It is to me very strange that since so many Original Grants of the Kings of England and other ancienter Deeds being every where to be found among the ancient Evidences of many Noble and Gentlemens Families yet no where that I can learn any of these Original Charters are to be found except one at Lambeth as Mr. Pryn hath observed That upon Record being only an Exemplification in King Edward the First 's time Anno 1232. on the Nones of March the King called a Great Council to (h) Idem fol. 314. num 20.17 H. 3. Westminster where there met Magnates Angliae tam Laici quam Praelati The King required an Aid for the payment of his Debts contracted by his Expeditions beyond Sea To which Ralph Earl of Chester on behalf of the Nobility answered That the Earls Barons and Knights that held of the King in Capite being with the King personally in that Expedition and having fruitlesly spent their Money were poor so that of (i) Vnde Regi de Jure auxilium non debebant Idem num 30. The Tenents in Capite having personally served according to the Tenure of their Service deny the King Aid right they ow'd not Aid to the King And so my Author saith the Laics having asked leave all departed and the Prelates answered That many Bishops and Abbats being absent they desired respite till some other meeting which was appointed fifteen days after Easter By this we may observe who they were that had the power of giving consent or granting aid for if there had been any other Members of the Lay Order besides Earls Barons and Knights that held in Capite the Earls of Chester's Argument had been of no validity In the Statute of Merton (k) Pulâ—on Stat. p. 1. In one part it is said Our Lord the King granted by the Consent of his Magnates 20 H. 3. it is thus expressed Before William Archbishop of Canterbury and other his Bishops and Suffragans and before the greater part of the Earls and Barons of England there being assembled for the Coronation of the said King and Helioner the Queen about which they were called thus it was provided and granted as well of the foresaid Archbishop Bishops Earls and Barons as of the King himself and others I shall only cull out some few of the Great Councils in this Kings Reign wherein most fully are expressed the true Members of them or such wherein something remarkable was transacted Anno 1237. 21 H. 3. The King keeping his Christmas at Winchester sent his (l) Matt. Paris fol. 367. num 30. Misu c. scripta Râ—galia pracipiens omnibus ad Regnum Angliae spectantibus c. ut omnes sine omissiâ—ne conveairent Regni negotia tractaturt totum Regnum contingentia Royal Writs through all England commanding all that appertained to the Kingdom of England that is all who were to be Members of the great Council which my Author explains particularly thus viz. Archbishops Bishops Abbats Priors installed Earls and Barons that without failure they should meet at London on the Octaves of the Epiphany to treat of the Affairs of the Kingdom concerning the whole Kingdom then he adds That on the day of St. Hilary there met at London an (m) Insinita Nobilium multitudo viz. Regni totalis universitas infinite Multitude of the Nobles viz. The whole University of the Kingdom which were the Persons of those Orders before particularized Anno 1246. 30 H. 3. By the Kings (n) Edicto Regio convocata convenit ad Parliamentum generali â—â—mum â—otius Regni Anglicani totalis Nobilitas Idem p. 609. num 10. Edict was called to the most general Parliament saith Matthew Paris all the Nobility of the whole Kingdom of England viz. of the Prelates as well Abbats and Priors as Bishops also Earls and Barons and a few Pages after concerning the same Parliament he saith All the Magnates of the Kingdom met and the King himself first spake to the Bishops apart then to the Earls and Barons and last to the Abbats and Priors In this The word Parliament now used that which frequently in Matthew Paris is called Colloquium now he gives the Title of Parliament to from the French word parler to confer or speak together and we find what is meant also by totalis Nobilitas Anno 1253. 37 H. 3. By the (o) Tota edicto Regio convocata Angliae Nobilitas convenit de arduis Regni Negotiis simul cum Râ—ge tractatura Idem fol. 745. num 40. Kings Edict the Nobility of England being summoned met at London to treat together with the King of the arduous Affairs of the Kingdom and there were present with most of the Earls and Barons the Archbishop Boniface and almost all the Bishops of England In this great Council were the Tenents in Capite according to King John's Charter The King in this Parliament or Colloquium requires Money for an Expedition into the Holy Land but for fifteen days there were great Contests about it till the King de novo confirmed King John's Charters and a solemn Excommunication was agreed upon to be pronounced against the Infringers of it and my Author saith Rex Magnates Communitas Populi protestantur in the Presence of the Venerable Fathers c. That they never consented or do consent that any thing be added or altered in the Charters but plainly contradict it so 3 May (p) Pat. 37 H. 3. m. 13. Anno 1253. in Westminster-Hall the Exemplification passed the Seal of the King and other great Men. But it is principally to be considered what is expressed in the Patent * Praefatus Dominus Rex in prolatione praefatae sententiae omnes libertates consuetudines Regni sui Angliae usitatas dignitates Jura Coronae
Preamble to the Writ of Summons 4 E. 3. is very (r) Cl. 4 E. 3. m. 13. dorso General Causes of Summons remarkable Rex c. Qualiter negotia nos statum Regni nostri contingentia postquam suscepimus gubernacula Regni nostri hucusque in nostri dampnum dedecus ac depauperationem populi nostri deducta erant vestram credimus prudentiam non latere propter quod non volentes hoc urgente conscientia ulterius sustinere ac desiderantes toto corde statum Regimen Regni nostri secundum juris ac rationis exigentiam ad honorem Dei tranquillitatem pacem Sanctae Ecclesiae ac totius populi ejusdem Regni reformari Ordinavimus c. Parliamentum c. The 22 of E. 3. hath a peculiar (s) Cl. 22 E. 3. part 2. m. 9. dorso Clause Quod dictum Parliamentum non ad Auxilia seu Tallagia a populo dicti Regni nostri petenda vel alia onera eidem populo imponenda sed duntaxat pro justitia ipsi populo nostro super dampnis gravaminibus sibi illatis facienda Another considerable (t) Cl. 31 E. 3. m. 21. dorso Clause is to be found 31 E. 3. Et quum praedicta negotia perquam ardua sine maxima deliberatione tam Praelatorum Cleri quam Magnatum Communitatis ejusdem Regni nullo modo expediri poterunt ad quorum expeditionem Auxilium Consilium tam a vobis c. habere necessario oportet The (u) Cl. 3 H. 6. m. 9. dorso Preamble 3 H. 6. is to enquire how Justice hath been done c. Quia nos jam dum in Annis degimus teneris an pax justitia ubilibet inter Ligeos nostros Regni nostri Angliae sine quarum observatione Regnum aliquod prospicere non potest debite conserventur exhibeantur necne c. Therefore he summons a Parliament The cause (w) Cl. 22 23 E. 4. m. 11. dorso of the Summons 22 E. 4. is thus expressed Quibusdam arduis urgentibus negotiis nos securitatem defensâ—onem Ecclesiae Anglicanae ac pacem tranquillitatem bonum publicum defensionem Regni nostri Subditorum nostrorum ejusdem concernentibus Therefore he summons them The special causes are mostwhat to have supply against the Kings Enemies Special Causes of Summons the French or Scotch Kings and it is to be noted that in the Summons of King E. 2. mostly the (x) Sâ—otis Inimiâ—is Rebellibus nosâ—ris Claus 2. E. 2. m. 20. dorso Scots are not only called the Kings Enemies but his Rebels which implies them Subjects by vertue of the Homage done to his Father and so 8 E. 2. M. 24. dorso it is called Terra nostra Scotiae though he was the most unfortunate of all our Kings in his Expeditions against that Kingdom The first (y) Cl. 14 E. 3. part 2. m. 28. dorso With the Advice of the King's Council Writ I have found wherein it is said the King called his Parliament with the Advice of his Council was 14 E. 3. quia de avisamento Concilii nostri ordinavimus and so in 46 E. 3. and afterwards sometimes used and often omitted but in later times generally used The last considerable thing in their Writs is what the Prelates c. summoned were to do at these Parliaments which most-what is comprehended in these Words That it is (z) Vestrum expedit habere consilium Cl. 6 Jo. m. 3. dorso What the Summoned were to do expedient to have their Counsel or nobiscum super dictis negotiis tractaturi vestrumque consilium impensuri 23 E. 1. m. 9. dorso or ad tractandum ordinandum faciendum nobiscum Cl. 24 E. 1. m. 4. dorso Ad ordinandum de quantitate modo subsidii Ibid. m. 7. dorso habere colloquium tractatum Claus 2 E. 2. m. 20. dorso ad tractandum consentiendum Cl. 6 E. 2. m. 2. dorso So in (a) Cl. 14 E. 3 par 1. m. 33. dorso another Ordinabimus quod juxta consilium vestrum aliorum Praelatorum Magnatum caeterorumque ibidem convocatorum viderimus opportunum In the (b) Cl. 20 E. 3. par 2. m. 22. dorso 20 of E. 3. it is thus expressed Ad consentiendum hiis quae tunc praedictos Praelatos Comites alios Proceres ordinari contigerit super negotiis antedictis and the like 46 E. 3. m. 11. dorso In the Writ 38 H. 6. m. 29. dorso it is Ad tractandum consentiendum praecludendum super praemissis aliis and 23 E. 4. Et concludendum and so in the 15th of K. Ch. the First Ad tractandum consentiendum concludendum SECT 3. Of the Summons of the Temporal Lords I Have been the longer upon these Writs of Summons to the Clergy Summons to the Lords Temporal like those to the Prelates excepting in some few Particulars because those to the Nobles differ'd not much and the material differences will be all I need note in their Writs and in these we may find the gradual alteration from giving Counsel and Advice only it came to Treaty Ordaining Consenting Doing and Concluding I shall refer the curious Reader for the remarks that may be made from all these Writs to Mr. Prynn's (c) Part 1. Briâ—f Register p. 1â—2 c. Collection of them and only note some few most to my purpose of the Earls Barons and the greater Tenents in Capite's Writs and then proceed to the Writs of the Knights Citizens and Burgesses The first Writ of Summons to a Parliament now left upon Record as (d) Ibid. p. 160. Mr. Prynn notes is that of 49. H. 3. those of the (e) Cl. 45 H. 3. m. 3. dorso 45th being only Summons to assist the King cum Equis Armis cum Posse vestro as that to W. de Bello Campo de Aumel and others shew being only to afford him aid against his Enemies and Rebels In most of the Writs to the Princes Dukes Earls Barons and Peers In Fide Homagio vel Ligeanâ—ia proper to Temporal Lords we find the Mandamus is Vobis in fide homagio quibus nobis tenemini But sometimes as to Edmund Earl of (f) Cl. 25 E. 1. m. 25. dorso Cornwal it is Mandamus in homagio fide dilectione and that to Thomas de (g) Cl. 36 E. 3. m. 42. dorso Furnival 36 E. 3. is fide ligeancia quibus nobis tenemini That to Edward Prince of Wales 49 E. 3. 6 m. dorso is directed Carissimo primogenito suo Ed. Principi Walliae and the Mandamus neither hath adjoined to it fide homagio or any other Word See Prynne's Brief Register part 1. p. 207. but only commands him to be present in propria persona though others have fide homagio or ligeancea It is to be noted that the clause in
Chancellor of the Exchequer Judges of his Courts at Westminster Justices in Eyre Justices Assignes Barons of his Exchequer Clerks Secretaries of his Council and sometimes his Serjeants at Law with such other Officers and Persons whom our Kings thought meet to summon The first Writ that Mr. Prynne finds extant in our Records and which Sir William Dugdale mentions is entred in the Clause-Roll 23 E. 1. dorso 9. directed to Gilbert de Thornton and thirty eight more whose Names are in Sir William Dugdale whereof there are eleven by the name of Magistri three Deans and two Archdeacons only I find them differently ranked in Mr. Prynne to what they are in Sir William Dugdale The Writ runs thus Rex dilecto fideâ—i suo Gilberto de Thornton salutem Quia super quibusdam arduis negotiis nos Regnum nostrum ac vos caeterosque de Concilio nostro tangentibus quae sine vestra eorum praesentia nolumus expediri c. Vobis mandamus in fide dilectione c. as in the usual Summons to the Bishops Sometimes as 25 E. 1. there (u) Cl. 25 E. 1. m. 25. dorso was no Writ directed to them but we find under the Name of Milites with a Lines space betwixt them and the Barons thirteen named which by other Records are known to be the King's Justices The differences in their Writs are mostly these Sometimes The difference in their Writs as in 27 E. 1. it is Cum caeteris de Concilio nostro habere volumus colloquium tractatum or as in 28 E. 1. (w) Cl. 28 E. 1. m. 3. dorso showing the special Cause Quia super Jure Dominio quae nobis in Regno Scotiae competit c. cum Juris peritis cum caeteris de Concilio nostro speciale colloquium habere volumus tractatum vobis mandamus c. cum caeteris de Concilio nostro super praemissis tractaturis vestrumque consilium impensuris At the same time there are Writs to the Chancellor of the University of Oxford to send four or five Persons skilful in the Law summoned from the Universities de discretioribus in Jure scripto magis expertis and to the Chancellor of the University of Cambridge to send two or three in the like manner qualified and then follow Writs to several Abbats Priors Deans and Chapters and all these Writs mentioned the Business of the King's Claim to the Jurisdiction of Scotland and in the Writs of Summons to the Archbishops Bishops Abbats Priors Temporal Lords Justices and Sheriffs of Counties that Particular is not mentioned which shows that the King summoned these particular Persons as most fit to search and â— send their Chronicles to the Parliament The Occasion and Result whereof and of sending these Lawyers from the Universities you may read at large in (x) An. 13â—2 p. 419. to p. 438. Matth. Westminster and (y) Hist Ang. p. 32. to 58. Walsingham In some Writs as that of 9 E. 2. (z) Cl. 9 E. 2. m. 20. dorso the Justices are appointed to expedite their Assizes that they may not fail to be present at the Parliament or to leave two to attend the Business of the King's Bench And the 7 of E. 2. (a) Cl. 7 E. 2. m. 25â— dorso Justices to leave the Assâ—zes to attend the Parliament That whereas they had appointed the Assizes at Duresm and other Parts in the Northern Circuit at certain days after the time the Parliament was to convene at which he wondred he orders them to put off the Assizes and attend By which two Writs it appears their Summons by Writ to attend and counsel the King in Parliament was a Supersedeas to them to take Assizes during the Parliament and that the Assizes and Suits of private Persons ought to give place to the publick Affairs of the King and Kingdom in Parliament Whoever desires to know who were summoned in this manner and the further variety of Summons may consult Mr. Prynne and Sir William Dugdale's Summons From these Writs we may observe Observations from these Writs first That sometimes the Persons summoned were many in number sometimes very few and always (b) Brief Register part 1. a p. 366. ad p. 394. more or less at the King's Pleasure Secondly in latter times the Clergy-men were wholly omitted Thirdly That they were never licensed to appear by Proxies Mr. Prynne hath collected a great many Precedents to prove that these Persons thus summoned together with the King 's ordinary Council had a very great Hand Power and Authority not only in making Ordinances Proclamations deciding all weighty Controversies regulating most publick Abuses and punishing all exorbitant Offences out of Parliament in the Star-Chamber and elsewhere The Employment of these Assistants but likewise in receiving and answering all sorts of Petitions determining and adjudging all weighty doubtful Cases and Pleas yea in making or compiling Acts Ordinances Statutes and transacting all weighty Affairs concerning the King or Kingdom even in Parliaments themselves when summoned to them Yet these have no Vote but only are to speak to such Matters as their Opinions are required in and sit uncovered unless the Chancellor or Lord Keeper give leave to the Judges to be covered SECT 6. Concerning the House of Commons I Now come to consider the Honourable House of Commons and the Use The Summons of the Knights Citizens and Burgesses Constitution and Priviledges of it and shall first consider the Summons by which they have their Power to act as an House and third Estate in Parliament Mr. (c) Second Part of Brief Register a p. 1. ad 29. Prynn hath cleared that all the Writs of Summons directed to Sheriffs in King John and Henry the Third's time before 49 H. 3. to send Knights to the King at set times were either for Information of the Council what voluntary aid each particular County would grant the King in his great necessity or to assist with Men and Arms and were not elected as Representatives of the Commons till 49 H. 3. To whom I shall refer the curious for Satisfaction as also to Dr. Brady who hath by his own Inspection as well as the considerate application of what Mr. Prynn hath amassed in his Books since his late Majesties Restauration and after 1648 composed many most useful Observations for the understanding of the ancient customs usages and practices relating to Parliaments Therefore I shall endeavour to be as short as possibly I can and without obscurity contract what they and most others that treat of the House of Commons have at large filled Volumes with The form of the Writ 49 H. 3. to the Sheriffs is not (d) Cl. 49 H. 3. m. 11â— dorso expressed but after the recital of the Writ to the Bishop of Duresm and Norwich and the eodem modo to the Bishops Abbats Priors Deans Earls Lords and Barons there follows this entry
Representatives using all their industry to make the Subjects believe they were the only Patriots and Liberators They pass Votes conformable to the Petitioners desire animate them to search for more and especially to fix them upon Persons they were mindful to remove out of places of trust Then they begun to impeach several Ministers of State and the Judges that they might weaken the King in his Councils and terrifie others into compliance always taking care to charge the misdeeds upon the Kings evil Counsellors magnifying the Kings Natural Goodness and declaring That if he would consent to redress those Grievances and to punish the Authors they would make him a richer and more glorious King than any of his Predecessors Seditious (t) Address Pamphlets daily came out and the Printing-Press laboured Night and Day to abuse the King and his Ministers and bring the Government Ecclesiastical and Civil into obloquy Their Preachers in the mean time like so many Demagogues plied their business so effectually blowing the Trumpet as they phrased it for the Lord and Gideon that by them the Houses Interest prevailed every where especially in the Populous City which was in a manner wholly at the Houses devotion Having removed the Great and Noble Earl of Strafford by great Industry and Art and the Midwifery of Tumults and got themselves by as strange an Art as oversight perpetuated they set themselves to Remonstrate in which they odiously recount all the miscarriages as they called them in the Blessed Kings Reign charging him though covertly with them and all the very Misfortunes of his Reign They revive the Bill against the Bishops sitting in the House of Lords which had been rejected and in a Parliamentary way ought not again to be set on foot that Session the better to effect which they cause the Rabble and their Confederates to menace and assault them and other Loyal Members of the House they Post up several names of Lords and Commons who opposed their proceedings and having driven the King and his whole Family away by most outragious Tumults they declare their Ordinances to be binding during their sitting and assume the Power of interpreting and declaring what was Law and by all these Arts they brought the People not (u) Culpae vel gloriae socii Tacit. 3. Hist so much to joyn with as to conspire with them Then they pretend a necessity of putting the Kingdom into a posture of defence to secure it against Popery and Arbitrary Government and the Invasion of Foreigners which they pretend were to be brought in to assist these They single out the most confiding and daring in every County to be their Commissioners of the Militia so (w) Quanto quis audacia promptior tanto magis sidus rebusque motis potior babetur Idem 1. Histor much as every one was forwarder in boldness and more hardy by so much the more he was to be confided in and sitter to help forward the turbulent work they were about Having first got the Peoples affections to revere them as their Deliverers they the more easily obtained their Bodies Armour and Moneys and so prosecuted a Rebellious War openly yet with that shameful pretence that they were fighting for the King against his Evil-Counsellors and amongst hands court him with most Dethroning Propositions and success Crowning their arms they wholly destroyed that Monarchy they had all along pretended to establish upon surer foundations for the Honour of the Crown and benefit of the People than former Ages had known Instead of which they made themselves Masters of all their Fellow-Subjects seizing their Estates Imprisoning and Murthering their Persons altering the established Ecclesiastical Government and all the fundamental Laws enriching themselves and over-awing the Kingdom by a standing Army Thus I have drawn that in Miniture which was the Tragedy of many Years and the Subject of numerous Volumes and I shall tack to it something parallel in later Years to let all Posterity see what a Characteristick Mark it is of Turbulent and Factious Inclinations when Petitions against the Will of the Government are violently promoted The great mischief of tumultuous Petitions being considered by the Loyal Parliament The Act against Tumultuous Petitions upon the late Glorious King 's happy Restauration Provision was made that the number of deliverers of Petitions should not exceed ten that three of the Justices of Peace in the County or the major part of a Grand Jury at an Assize or General Sessions or in London the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Common-Council have the ordering and consent to such Petitions which shall be for alteration of things established by Law in Church or State by way of Petition Complaint Remonstrances Declaration or other Address to the King or either Houses of Parliament It cannot be forgot in the interval of a later Parliament how zealous and busy multitudes were to get Petitions with Hundreds and Thousands of Hands to the late King for the sitting of a Parliament before the King in his Wisdom thought sit This occasioned the King to issue forth a Proclamation against tumultuous Petitions and other Loyal Persons to express an abhorrence of such Petitions that would press the King to precipitate their Sitting Those that petitioned the King for convening of a Parliament could not but foresee the ungratefulness of such Petitions to the King yet the Designers gave it not over for they had other Ends. As first to engage Men by their Subscriptions to be more fast to them Secondly to try whether the People might be brought to Tumults Thirdly to incense the People more against the Government if their Petitions were denied Fourthly to shew in terroreon the number of their Adherents Fifthly That through every County the confiding and zealous might be known each to other and Lastly that whenever that Parliament should sit they might have their Thanks and by their Numbers the Parliament might be encouraged to proceed in such things as they desired knowing hereby the Strength of the Party When the House of Commons met nothing was so much clamoured against as the Proceedings upon the late Proclamation as if all the Liberties of the Subjects of England had consisted in this Therefore they vote that it ever hath been the undoubted Right of the Subjects of England See the Votes to Petition the King for the Calling and Sitting of Parliaments for redressing of Grievances and to traduce such Petitioning was a violation of Duty and to represent it to his Majesty as tumultuous and Seditious was to betray the Liberty of the Subject and contribute to the design of subverting the Legal ancient Constitution of the Kingdom and introducing Arbitrary Power and so a Committee called of Abhorrence was appointed to enquire of all such Persons as had offended against the Rights of the Subjects This was it that explained their Vote for all the Controversy was Whether a sew private Men might agree upon a Petition then send Emissaries abroad to
sought after as the Trumpets and Kettle-drums that call together the whole Array against the Government And if they cannot be dispossessed of that Evil Spirit by gentler means they are to undergo the severity of the Laws which are made against Incendiaries of a Kingdom which is of more dangerous consequence than the firing of a Private Man's Habitation The danger from these Libels are the greater because (g) In civitate discordi ob crebras Principum mutationes inter libertatem licentiam incerta parvae quoque res magnis motibus agebantur Tacit. 2. Hist in times of Faction and the often Changes of Government the People being unfixed fluctuating betwixt Liberty and Licentiousness small Matters are transacted with great Emotions As to Corporations they have all of them been endowed with their Privileges by the Grace and Bounty of the Sovereign from whence all Immunities and Honours do flow The first Institution of them was no doubt Concerning Corporations that Justice might be executed in them for the better governing their numerous Inhabitants that they might be the Places of Traffick where the adjacent Country might be supplied and their Neighbours might vend their Growth and Manufacture And thus being enriched by Commerce separated from their Country-Neighbours by Honours Offices and Liberties something a Gentiler Education might be expected there whereby they might be Patterns to their adjoyning Neighbours of good and vertuous Deportment being exempted from the Jurisdiction of the Justices of Peace and attendance upon Assizes whereby Legal Matters in order to the necessary Administration of Justice are executed in their Precincts by their own Members and many of them besides the Privileges to be found at large in the Statutes and Law-Books have power to chuse as many to represent them in Parliament as the whole County hath It would fill a large Volume to recount the particular Powers and Freedoms have been granted to them by the Royal Favour of the successive Kings of England whereby they are erected into little Commonwealths Therefore there is good reason as they may do much good or harm and they have all the enriching Streams and Conduits from the Sovereign Spring and Fountain so they should have a strict dependence upon the Sovereign that they may not employ those great Privileges against the Laws and Government nor the rich pragmatical Magistrates Citizens and Freemen animate Factions and Seditions against it or presume to obtrude their impertinent Advices upon their Sovereign or by their clamorous Petitions for Redress of pretended Grievances and Male-administration or by their Election of Factious Representatives dispose of the Fate of the Empire as they did in 1641. by their general Combinations with the then Parliament which they so effectually assisted in their Rebellion It is too manifest how little Justice the two last Kings could have in the great Metropolis the King 's Imperial Chamber or in other Corporations although they had all less or more received great Instances of their Royal Favours and Graces And tho' the great City by the late King of Immortal Memory 's Royal Munificence and Princely Care as much as in him lay by Act of Parliament and his own particular Bounty after it was so fatally reduced to Ashes was raised into one entire Palace so beautiful and splendid as all People must acknowledge it the Eighth Wonder yet the grateful Returns were unproportionable This great City enjoyed as ample and beneficial Privileges as any could wish for and though it be deprived of some of them yet by the Munificence of our late and present Sovereign it enjoys what is needful for its well governing in subordination to the Publick Since therefore the Corporations mostly were found to have made ill Returns to their Sovereigns for all their special Graces by a most wise Council it hath been judged fit to enquire by what Warrant they enjoyed those Privileges and to recall those Charters that new ones might be granted mostly with Additions of Privileges only that the Magistrates if they should abuse their Authority might be displaced at the King's Pleasure A most necessary Resumption of Power whereby they might not be in a capacity for the future to give any Disturbance to the Government Elsewhere I have given short Hints of the Practice of former Kings in vacating the Charters of the great City and shall only add what I find in the most Judicious Historian was done in a like Case by the Senate of Rome in Tiberius his Reign The Licence (h) Crebrescebat enim Graecas per urbes licentia atque impunitas asyla statuendi complebantur â—â—mpla pessimis servitiaâ—um eodem subsidio obaeraâ—i adversus creditores suspectique capitalium criminum receptabantur nec ullum satis validum Imperium erat coercendis seditionibus populi flagitia hominum ut Caeremonias Deum protâ—entes Igitur placitum ut mitterent civitates Jura atque Legauos c. Magnaque ejus diei species fuit quo Senatus majorum beneficia sociorum pâ—cta Regum etiam qui ante vim Romanam valuerant decreta Ipsorum numinum Religiones introspexit libero ut quondam quod firmaret mutareâ—ve Tacit. 3. Annal. and Impunities of ordaining Sanctuaries and Privileged Places encreased saith my Author throughout the Cities of Greece the Temples were filled with most lewd Bondslaves in the same were received Debtors against their Creditors and Men guilty of Capital Crimes were protected neither was there any powerful Authority able to bridle the Sedition of the People Villanies were protected no less than the Ceremonies of the Gods Therefore it was appointed That the Cities should send their Agents with their Laws Some by way of Resignation of their Charters freely remitted those things they had falsely usurped many did confide in the Antiquity of their Superstitions and their Deserts to the People of Rome The Pomp of that Day saith the Historian was great in shew In which the Senate for Tiberius had left the Senate a Shadow of their ancient Estate by sending the Requests of the Provinces to be examined by them considered of the Privileges granted by their Predecessors the Agreements with their Confederates the Decrees of the Kings before the Countries became subject to the Romans and the Religion of the Gods themselves to confirm or alter all By which it may appear to be no new thing for Sovereigns to enquire into the Privileges of Cities tho' claimed by Divine Original as many of those were from their Gods or by the Bounties of Princes As to Conventicles the Nurseries of Seditions since the Laws are obvious by which they may be suppressed and that in another Chapter I have treated of them I shall take no further notice of them here being as unwilling that truly consciencious mis led People that endanger not the Government should be severely punished as I heartily wish they would give no Disturbance to it CHAP. XLVI The Preservatives against Faction and Sedition THE general Amulets