and Estates and ought for to have And these two are so far from crossing one another that they mutually go together for the honourable and comfortable support of both For as it is the duty of Subjects to supply their King so it is the part of the Kingly Office to support his Subjects in the propriety and freedom of their Estates And truly all Magistrates are to guard this therefore it was the less wonder that that brave Roman Emperor should make his whole Army stand still to do right to a poor Widow But to this chiefly are the Kings of this Island so much obliged that it is the principle Article of the Coronation Oath which the King sweareth to maintain Sir Will you grant Arch-Bishop keep and by your Oath confirm to your people of England the Laws and Customs to them granted by the Kings of England your lawful and Religious Predecessors and namely the Laws Customs and Franchises granted to the Clergy by the glorious King St. Edward your Predecessor according to the Laws of God the true Profession of the Gospel established in this Kingdom agreeable to the Prerogative of the Kings thereof and the antient Customs of this Land King Ex Libro Regali I grant and promise to keep them To which he afterward sweareth Now the Rights and Franchises granted by St Edward first are contained chiefly in the Magna Charta and in the Charta de Foresta 9 Hen 3. made 9 Hen. 3. of which this is the History This poor Island torn to pieces by innumerable Factions for the support of the particular dominions of the Heptarchy was at last gotten into the hands of Canutus the Dane An. Christi 1018. yet so as by Conquest where all under his subjection were at his mercy for wherever a Kingdom is overrun and grasped by Conquest the Kings will is the only Law Quod principt placuerit legit habet vigorem The Kingdom in this condition descended to St. Edward An. 1043. called for his excellent Holiness the Confessor who considering the uncertain estate of a Governor who hath nothing but the point of his Sword to guard him considering that the surest fortress was the love of the people and withal that nothing could gain so much upon their affections as Liberty and Emancipation he took this course to caress them to infranchise them and remit the standing Revenue that had been formerly paid to the Crown in acknowledgment of their Vassalage called Daneguilt being 40000 pounds per annum And that their Persons or Estates might not be subject to the Will of any violent person but be protected by a Law he digested a body of Laws out of the Customs and Ordinances of four Countries An. 1044. which was the beginning of our Common Laws But when William Duke of Normandy came on this Kingdom An. 1066. and made a new Conquest his Sword cut all former Charters asunder Those that were then his Vassal must submit to his pleasure both for Lives and Estates He that had gotten a great Kingdom with great dangers and difficulties used the English with little Mercy The whole Nation was in such a condition that they knew not what to call their own Stows Chron. He deposed the greatest part of the English Nobility and distributed their Earldoms Baronies Bishopricks and Dignities to his Normans On the Commons he laid what Restraints Burdens and Bridles he pleased For thirty Miles together in Hampshire without Mercy or Conscience he depopulated and laid wast a great number of TOWNS VILLAGES and CHURCHES without any satisfaction to the Inhabitants to make a Chace for Wilde Beasts which is now called the New Forest He charged at his pleasure what Souldiers he pleased on the Bishops Earls Barons Shiriffs c. He caused the whole Kingdom to be Surveyed in a book to understand what Land every Baron did possess how many Knights-fees how many Plough-Lands how many Villains how many Beasts or Cattle every man possessed within this Kingdom Such strange doings continued all the time of Will. Rufus from the greatest to the least and as the Historian affirms the Land was full of mischiefs that came of this doing Hen. 1. his Son well weighing the sad inconveniences of this Tyranny took other courses He restored the state of the Clergy Ans Reg. 1. he asswaged the grievous payments restored again St. Edward's Laws and at length gave once more a manumission and compleat emancipation to the Kingdom Stows Chron. and made us a free people Afterwards confirmed and ratified by the Magna Charta and Charta de Foresta in the 9 year of the Reign of Hen. 3. Which particularly and in the first place doth enfranchise the Church 9 Hen. 3 c.1 We have granted to God and by this our present Charter have confirmed for us and for our Heirs for evermore that the Church of England shall be free and shall have all her holy Rights and Liberties inviolable And truly before the Promulgation of that Charter all the Kingdom were Slaves and at the will of the Sword both for their Estates and Lives Nay even after this Charter many great Pregogatives were claimed and held by the succeeding Kings As the bestowing of the youngest Daughter of any deceased Baron in Marriage as he pleased with all her Fathers inheritance although the Eldest were Married in their Fathers life time and with his liking Si aliquis Baro dicti Domini Regis tenens de Rege obiisset non haberet haeredem nisi filias primogenitae filiae maritatae sunt in vita patris Dominus Rex daret postnatam filiam quae remanet in haereditate patris alicui militum suorum cum tota haereditate patris sui de qua obiisset seisitus ita quod aliae filiae nihil reciperent adversus postnatam filiam in vita sua Et omnes Reges habuerunt hanc dignitatem a conquestu And some Prerogatives continue to the Crown at this day of a like nature notwithstanding the Property of the Subject by the great Charter As in defailance of Heirs the King inherits so that the last Possessor cannot dispose or alienate it by Will In Treasure Trover in whose Land soever found it goes not to the Proprietor of the soil In the case of Mines discovered of perfect Metals they go to the King in whose Land soever they are found Now although this great Charter was so early granted yet some succeeding Kings invading the Property of the Subjects and Ruling according to their own Lusts was the occasion of those fearful Civil Cammotions called the Barons Wars Particularly the insolent and intolerable Violence and Tyranny of King John Stows Chron. in the Reign of K. John For there were many Noble mens Wives and Daughters whom he oppressed and defiled othersome with great Exactions he brought into great Poverty the Friends and Parents of some he banished and turned their Inheritances to his own use
Anno 12 13. An. 12 13. He disinherited some Noble men without judgment of their Peers He Robbed Baynards Castle in London Poysoned Maude the Fair because she would not consent to his Lust After he had spoiled Religious Persons when the foulness of those Practices were like to undo him he constrained them to give him writings wherein they acknowledged that they had willingly given him all that he had with Violence taken from them This was the cause that the Barons so determinately demanded the confirmation of the Magna Charta and Charta de Foresta of that Hen. 3. his Son and Successor without which they looked on the whole Land to be perfectly enslaved This he granted and it was with all possible Faith and Assurance publiquely ratified And this is the Fundamental Law of this Land concerning the Right and Property of every Subiect both Lay and Clergy And if this be broken there is no security of any Mans Possessions Nay even those that hold by Escuage Serjeancy or by any other services if they perform those services as they are due no Power without illegal and unconscionable Violence and Oppression can Invade or Disseise them without their consent this being a common Principle and Maxime in all Laws Quod nostrum est sine facto nostro transferii non potest That which is mine without my deed cannot be transferred to another Thus far it is visible and clear that by apparent Right and by the Fundamental Laws of the Land that the Clergy stand on the same Basis and ground in their Estates and Possessions with the Laity And least it should be doubted what Liberties are intended to be granted to them the Laws have in many things explained them As the right of Advowsons and Presentations that belong to the Church to be kept inviolable 25 Edw. 3.3.7 25 Edw. 3.3.7 The right of their Forests and Chaces and Parks to the Archbishops and Bishops Charta de Foresta Charta de Foresta c. 4. 9 Hen. 3. Mag. Chart. c 37. cap. 4. The Liberties of all their ether Rights and Possessions Magna Charta cap. 37. All that even before the Conquests of Danes or Normans had belonged unto them such as an exemption from Murage Pontage Cook Inst vol. 2. fol. 1 2. Fitz-Herb Nat. Brev. fol. 175. Cook Institut vol. 2. fol. 1 2. An exemption from Secular Offices Si home qui tient certeine terres ou tenements par reason de se terres dever estre elect Baillie ou Reve ou en auter tiel office pour se terres ore si tiel home soit fait Clerke ou deins sacres Orders donc il ne devan estre elect pour se terres en tiel office And if he be returned in such an Office by the Kings Writ he shall be discharged the words of which Writ are these Cum secundum leges consuetudines Regni nostri Angliae infra sacros ordines constituti ad officium Ballivi c. eligi non debent And again Acceperimus quod magistrum C. Officium Ballivi c. manerii de L. assumere compellere nitimini in ipsius grave damnum contra legem consuetudines supradictas Precipimus quod districtioni compulsioni c. omnino supersedeatis c. An exemption from distresses on Glebes of Ecclesiastical Livings A Writ being issuable Id. fol. 174. Quod distresse ne soit pris en le Glebes de Parsons ne Vicars ne auter Minister found sur le Statute de Articulis cleri cap. 6. the words of which Writ are these Rex Vicicomiti salutem c. 9 Edw. 2. Cum nuper ingressus fuisti in terris tenementis Rectoriae de C. Dominum S. graviter distrinxisti indies distringere non desistis in ipsius prejudicium libertatis Ecclesiasticae manifestam laesionem contra formam Articulorum de Clero c. Nos libertates Ecclesiasticas illaesas observari volentes precipimus c. An exemption of the Clergy from paying Subsidies among the Laity or by their taxing In which case a Writ also lyeth Id. fol. 176. Rex taxatoribus X. XV. per communitatem Regni nostri Angliae nobis ultimo concessarum c. Vobis mandamus quod S. Prebenda de B. in propriis bonis suis quae inter Spiritualia ad decimam taxantur de quibus dat nobis decimam ratione X. XV. nobis per Laicos concessarum non molestetis sive in aliquo gravetis c. To exempt them from * Nor did our Law allow more in this than the Pagan Prince Artaxerxes allowed to the Jewish Priests and Levites Ezra 7.24 who commanded that they should not impose Tolls and Customs on them Passage Castle-guard Murage Pontage c. A Writ also lyeth That no Prohibition shall lie against the Proceedings of Ecclesiastical Courts in case of Tythes Mortuaries Oblations or Commutation of Penance on the instance of an Offender Art Cleri 9 Edw. 6.2.1 2.3 That the Kings Prohibition shall not lie in Excommungement unless where the Kings Liberty is prejudiced Art Cleri cap. 12. 9 Ed. 2.12 And several other the like Liberties and Immunities Nor do the too frequent and impudent Rapines of violent and tyrannical Powers make the depilation of the Church or the plundering of the Clergy become ever the less Illegal or wicked A facto ad jus non valet consequentia any more than frequent Rapes and Adulteries or numerous Piracies and Robberies can change the nature of those facts and make them ever the less Villanies So that when on one side we shall read in our Chronicles Matthew Paris the Symony of William Rufus or on the other side Will. Malmesbury his encouragement of the Jews to fight against the Christians promising that if they overcame he would become a Jew We judge his Justice and Religion to be much of a sort in one and the other Stows Chron. For King John to spoil and plunder the Clergy or to disseise his Barons to condemn them without judgment of their Peers and convert their Estates to his own use are practices a like justifiable by the Fundamental Laws of this Land And who would not have taken it to have been a compleat character that that insatiable gulph of Lust and Avarice Hen. 8. gave of himself that he never spared Man in his Rage nor Woman in his Lust if he had added but this one thing more that he never pittied the helpless in his greediness But those practices against his own Servants and these against Gods Church have a like countenance by the Fundamental Laws of this Kingdom and more became a Robber than a Prince for Subditos spoliare opprimere non regnum est sed latrocinium To spoil and oppress Subjects was more like a Robber than a King Nay it is not to be questioned that this design of his for the spoil of the Church had went on
whether the Parliament had enacted it or no for in the year of our Lord 1532. Hen. 8.24 Anno Regni 24. He suppressed the Collegiate body of the Holy Trinity in London and gave their Plate and Lands to his new Favourite and Keeper Sir Thomas Audley and did not tarry for the Act of Parliament which came not forth till the year of our Lord 1535. 27 H n 8. Anno Regni 27. Nor durst the Parliament do less than humour him for fear of their heads he had so awed them in not sparing the bloud of their Predecessors And those who had the greatest integrity and courage he quickly cut off out of the way of his designs But do you judge now would it not have been thought a blessed and a just act of himself and the Commons had they thus cut off the Revenues of the Barons or if himself and the Lords had thus devested the Commons of their Estates or if himself and the Clergy in their Convocation had thus enacted the disseizing of the Laity But good God! What will not a powerful Leacher do when Revenge and Gain spur him on one side and he is sure to meet with nothing but helpless tears and words to oppose him It is certain there hath not been in the whole World so great a dishonour and so vile a scandal to the Protestant Religion as the impious practices of this dissolute Prince And yet after all this that he might gather together the fragments of this shipwrack't honour which he had so rashly prostituted in the sight of all Christendome he began at length to stick some little Feathers of the Geese that he had plucked and made some small shew of Love to the Church whom he had Ravished by raising towards his latter end here and there a little Bishoprick which by their indowments may be discerned to have proceeded from a very moderate zeal and by the slenderness of their Revenues in respect of the rest of the Kingdom as the Bishoprick of Oxon. 31.32.33 Hen. 8. valued in the Kings books at 354 l. 16 s. 4 d. ob founded Hen. 8.33 Peterborough valued per annum in the Kings books 414 l. 19 s. 11 d. founded Hen. 8.31 Glocester valued per annum 315 l. 17 s. 8 d. Hen. 8. 31. The Bishoprick of Bristol valued per annum 338 l. 8 s. 4 l. Hen. 8.31 c. 9. And although he fingered the Revenue of the Bishoprick of Norwich yet he substituted other Lands and to excuse the exchange alledged that they were of more value than those he took as is expressed in the Statute Hen. 8.32.47 32 Hen. 8.47 This was a poor pittance in proportion to that he took and yet was engaged by his Promise and Princely Word to advance the glory of God without which the Commons notwithstanding that dastardly fear they were possessed with would never have past that Act for the Dissolution 27 Hen. 8. So that we have a here fair example how much such persons design the glory of God or any countenance to Religion Nor doth that argument which some have brought from any emergent Necessity of Affairs for any robbery or depilation of the Church signifie any more to justifie such a proceeding than the former brought from a number of impious facts For first Evil is not to be done that Good may come of it and such it must be confessed to be to take away mens Properties and to spoil the Innocent Nor is every thing that is called a necessity such indeed or if it were Justin Iastitut tit digest 162. Quae propter necessitatem recepta sunt non debent in argumentum trahi Nor is it equal for any sort of men to spoil and disseise another sort on the pretence of pure necessity when it is indeed to the security and ease of themselves for this were to make those that are Parties Judges which no Law ever allowed nor themselves would be content to suffer Or supposing that necessity should supersede all right supposing it should be lawful Caiaphas Maxime Joh. 11.50 to kill one Man to save a Nation or to undo one sort of men to save the rest and withal that such a necessity should fall on this Kingdom I would fain know by what Law of God or Man the Clergy only should be the devovoted people and that their maintenance should be sacrificed more than the Estates of others Josephs example in Egypt will hardly allow this who for the preservation of the Lives of the Egyptians when he took the Estates of other men to the Kings advantage Medled not with the Lands of the Priests Gen. 47.26 but left their Revenue as free as Pharaohs much less did he sell it to maintain or ease others If necessity must fall let it fall on all men alike Where all lift together the greatest load will become portable And truly Maxime of the Common Law In pari necessitate potior est conditio possidentis In like necessity the condition of the possessor is most advantageous The Law tells us Bracton Lib. 2. fol. 12. that the Church is in the condition of aminor Ecclesia fungitur vice minoris And it is a strange piece of degenerous inhumanity to spoil a minor Justin Iastitut tit digest 110. §. 2. Pupillus pati posse non intelligitur That Pupils should be exposed no Government ever allowed or indured 'T is true there are some causes for which Clergy-men as well as others may be disseised as in case of Treason and the like Mag. Char. cap. 29. But no man must be disseised before he is convict Nor when he is convict can he loose more then he had which in Ecclesiastical preferments is only for the life of the Clerk after his death they do cedere successori go to the successor And in the vacancy no wast is suffered by the Law 14 Edw. 3. pro Clero cap. 4 5. in Manors Parks Ponds or Warrens c. no fines are to be levied of Tenants nor any under woods to be felled nor any other thing done which may tend to the disherison of the Church 14 Edw. 3. c. 4. 5. pro clero Nor will any consent of the possessors if they should be so perfidious make an alienation ever the more legal for though they are usufructuaries their interests extend but to their own times Ulpian lib. 46. Nemo plus juris ad alium transferre potest quam ipse haberet No man can transfer to others a greater right than himself had And if such Estates should ever discontinue from that use and end whereunto by the grants and wills of the Donors they were orignally designed they ought both in Equity and Law to return to them again or to their Heirs This is certain that it is the most reasonable thing in the World that every man should do what he thinks fit with his own and this is as certain that to pervert or frustrate the