said and Portugal of which there is not yet sufficient Trial. And lastly we see the effect in our own Nation which never rent assunder after it was once united so as we now scarce know whether the Heptarchy were a Story or a Fable And therefore Mr. Speaker when I revolve with my self these examples and others so lively expressing the necessity of a Naturalization to avoid a relapse into a separation and do hear so many arguments and scruples made on the other side It makes me think on the old Bishop which upon a publick Disputation of certain Divines Christians with some learned men of the Heathens did extremely press to be heard and they were loath to suffer him because they knew he was unlearned though otherwise an holy and well-meaning Man But at last with much ado he got to be heard and when he came to speak in stead of using Arguments he did only say over his Belief but did it with such assurance and constancy as did strike the minds of those that heard him more then any Argument had done And so Mr. Speaker against all these witty and subtile Arguments I say that I do believe and would be sorry to be found a Prophet in it That except we proceed with this Naturalization though not perhaps in his Majesties time who hath such Interest in both Nations yet in the time of his Descendants these Realms will be in continual danger to divide and break again Now if any man be of that careless mind Maneat nostras ca cura Nepotes Or of that hard mind to leave things to be tryed by the sharpest Sword sure I am he is not of St. Paul's opinion who affirmeth That whosoever useth not fore-sight and provision for his Family is worse then an unbeliever Much more if we shall not use fore-sight for these two Kingdoms that comprehend so many Families but leave things open to the peril of future divisions And thus have I expressed unto you the inconvenience which of all other sinketh deepest with me as the most weighty Neither do their want other inconveniences Mr. Speaker the effect and influence whereof I fear will not be adjourned to so long a day as this that I have spoken of For I leave it to your wisdom to consider whether you do not think in case by the denyal of this Naturalization any pike of alienation or unkindness I do not say where should be thought to be or noised to be between these two Nations whether it will not quicken and excite all the envious and malicious humours wheresoever which are now covered against us either forraign or at home and so open the way to practices and other engines and machinations to the disturbance of this State As for that other inconvenience of his Majesties engagement into this Action it is too binding and pressing to be spoken of and may do better a great deal in your minds then in my mouth or in the mouth of any man else because I say it doth press our Liberty too far And therefore Mr. Speaker I come now to the third general part of my division concerning the Benefits which we shall purchase by this knitting of the knot surer and streighter between these two Kingdoms by the communicating of Naturalization The Benefits may appear to be two the one Surety the other Greatness Touching Surety Mr. Speaker it was well said by Titus Quintius the Roman touching the State of Peloponnesus That the Tortois is safe within her shell Testudo intra tegumen tuta est but if there be any parts that lye open they endanger all the rest We know well that although the State at this time be in a happy Peace yet for the time past the more ancient enemy to this Kingdom hath been the French and the more late the Spaniard and both these had as it were their several postern Gates whereby they mought have approach and entrance to annoy us France had Scotland and Spain had Ireland For these were the two accesses which did comfort and encourage both these enemies to assail and trouble us We see that of Scotland is cut off by the Union of both these Kingdoms if that it shall now be made constant and permanent That of Ireland is likewise cut off by the convenient situation of the North of Scotland toward the North of Ireland where the sore was Which we see being suddainly closed hath continued closed by means of this Salve So as now there are no parts of this State exposed to danger to be a temptation to the ambition of Forraigners but the approaches and avenues are taken away For I do little doubt but those Forraigners which had so ill success when they had these advantages will have much less comfort now that they be taken from them And so much for Surety For Greatness Mr. Speaker I think a man may speak it soberly and without bravery That this Kingdom of England having Scotland united Ireland reduced the Sea Provinces of the Low-Countreys contracted and Shipping maintained is one of the greatest Monarchies in Forces truly esteemed that hath been in the world For certainly the Kingdoms here one Earth have a resemblance with the Kingdom of Heaven which our Saviour compareth not to any great Kernel or Nut but to a very small Grain yet such an one as is apt to grow and spread And such do I take to be the constitution of this Kingdom if indeed we shall refer our Counsels to Greatness and Power and not quench them too much with consideration of Utility and Wealth For Mr. Speaker was it not think you a true Answer that Solon of Greece made to the rich King Cresus of Lydia when he shewed unto him a great quantity of Gold that he had gathered together in ostentation of his Greatness and Might But Solon said unto him contrary to his expectation Why Sir if another come that hath better Iron then you he will be Lord of all your Gold Neither is the Authority of Machiavel to be despised who scorneth the Proverb of Estate taken first from a Speech of Mucianus That Moneys are the Sinews of War And saith There are no true Sinews of War but the very Sinews of the Arms of valiant men Nay more Mr. Speaker whosoever shall look into the seminaries and beginnings of the Monarchies of the world he shall find them founded in Poverty Persia a Countrey barren and poor in respect of the Medes whom they subdued Macedon a Kingdom ignoble and mercenary until the time of Philip the Son of Amyntas Rome had poor and pastoral beginnings The Turks a Band of Sarmatian Scythes that in a vagabond manner made impression upon that part of Asia which is yet called Turcomania Out of which after much variety of Fortune sprung the Ottoman Family now the terrour of the world So we know the Goths Vandals Alanes Huns Lombards Normans and the rest of the Northern people in one Age of the world made their descent
in use or effect And this is the first Answer that I give to this main inconvenience pretended of surcharge of People The second Answer which I give to this Objection is this I must have leave to doubt Mr. Speaker that this Realm of England is not yet peopled to the full For certain it is that the Territories of France Italy Flanders and some parts of Germany do in equal space of ground bear and contain a far greater quantity of People if they were mustered by the Poll. Neither can I see that this Kingdom is so much inferiour unto those forraign parts in fruitfulness as it is in population which makes me conceive we have not our full charge Besides I do see manifestly among us the badges and tokens rather of scarceness then of press of people as drowned Grounds Commons Wastes and the like Which is a plain demonstration that howsoever there may bean over swelling throng and press of people here about London which is most in our eye yet the body of the Kingdom is but thin sown with People And whosoever shall compare the ruines and decayes of ancient Towns in this Realm with the erections and augmentations of new cannot but judge that this Realm hath been far better peopled in former times It may be in the Heptarchy or otherwise For generally the Rule holdeth The Smaller State the greater Population proratd And whether this be true or no we need not seek further then to call to our remembrance how many of us serve here in this place for desolate and decayed Burroughs Again Mr. Speaker whosoever looketh into the Principles of Estate must hold it that it is the Mediterrane Countries and not the Maritime which need to fear surcharge of People For all Sea-Provinces especially Islands have another Element besides the Earth and Soil for their sustentation For what an infinite number of people are and may be sustained by Fishing Carriage by Sea and Merchandizing wherein I do again discover that we are not at all pinched by multitude of people For if we were it were not possible that we should relinquish and resign such an infinite benefit of Fishing to the Flemmings as it is well known we do And therefore I see that we have wastes by Sea as well as by Land which still is an infallible Argument that our Industry is not awaked to seek maintainance by any over great press or charge of People And lastly Mr. Speaker there was never any Kingdom in the Ages of the world had I think so fair and happy means to issue and discharge the multitude of their People if it were too great as this Kingdom hath in regard of that desolate and avasted Kingdom of Ireland which being a Countrey blessed with almost all the Dowries of Nature as Rivers Havens Woods Quarries good Soil and temperate Climate and now at last under his Majesty blessed also with obedience doth as it were continually call unto us for our Colonies and Plantations And so I conclude my second Answer to this pretended inconvenience of surcharge of People The third Answer Mr. Speaker which I give is this I demand what is the worst effect which can follow of surcharge of People Look into all Stories and you shall find it none other then some honourable War for the enlargement of their Borders which find themselves pent upon foreign parts Which inconvenience in a valourous and warlike Nation I know not whether I should term an inconvenience or no For the saying is most true though in another sense Omne solum forti Patria It was spoken indeed of the patience of an exil'd man but it is no less true of the valout of a warlike Nation And certainly Mr. Speaker I hope I may speak it without offence That if we did hold our selves worthy whensoever just cause should be given either to recover our ancient Rights or to revenge our late wrongs or to attain the Honour of our Ancestors or to enlarge the Patrimony of our Posterity We would never in this manner forget considerations of Amplitude and Greatness and fall at variance about Profit and Reckonings fitter a great deal for private Persons then for Parliaments and Kingdoms And thus Mr. Speaker I leave this first Objection to such satisfaction as you have heard The second Objection is that the Fundamental Laws of both these Kingdoms of England and Scotland are yet divers and several Nay more that it is declared by the Instrument that they shall so continue and that there is no intent in his Majesty to make innovation in them And therefore that it should not be seasonable to proceed to this Naturalization I hereby to endow them with our Rights and Priviledges except they should likewise receive and submit themselves to our Laws And this Objection likewise Mr. Speaker I allow to be a weighty Objection and worthy to be well answered and discussed The Answer which I shall offer is this It is true for mine own part Mr. Speaker that I wish the Scots Nation governed by our Laws for I hold our Laws with some reducement worthy to govern if it were the world But this is that which I say and I desire therein your attention That according to the true reason of Estate Naturalization is in order first and precedent to Union of Laws in degree a less matter then Union of Laws and in nature separable not inseparable from Union of Laws For Naturalization doth but take out the marks of a Forraigner but Union of Laws makes them entirely as our selves Naturalization taketh away separation but Union of Laws doth take away distinction Do we not see Mr. Speaker that in the administration of the world under the great Monarch God himself that His Laws are divers one Law in Spirits another in Bodies One Law in Regions Coelestial another Elementary And yet the Creatures are all one Mass and Lump without any vacuum or separation Do we not see likewise in the State of the Church that amongst people of all Languages and Linages there is one Communion of Saints and that we are all fellow Citizens and naturalized of the Heavenly Hierusalem And yet nevertheless divers and several Ecclesiastical Laws Policies and Hierarchies According to the Speech of that worthy Father In veste varietas sit scissura non sit And therefore certainly Mr. Speaker the Bond of Law is the more special and private Bond and the Bond of Naturalization the more common and general For the Laws are rather Figura Reip. then Forma and rather Bonds of Perfection then Bonds of Entireness And therefore we see in the experience of our own Government that in the Kingdom of Ireland all our Statute-Laws since Poyning-Laws are not in force and yet we deny them not the benefit of Naturalization In Gersey Guernsey and the Isle of Man our Common Laws are not in force and yet they have the benefit of Naturalization Neither need any man doubt but that our Laws and Customs must
puncto temporis be an enemy a Rebel he mought be but no Enemy And therefore in reason of Law is naturalized Nay contrary-wise he is bound Jure Nativitatis to defend this Kingdom of England against all Invaders or Rebels And therefore as he is oblieged to the protection of Arms and that perpetually and universally So he is to have the perpetual and universal benefit and protection of Law which is Naturalization For form of Pleading it is true that hath been said That if a man would plead another to be an Alien he must not only set forth negatively and privatively that he was born out of the obedience of our Soveraign Lord the King but affirmatively under the obedience of a forreign King or State in particular which never can be done in this case As for Authority I will not press it you know all what hath been published by the Kings Proclamations And for experience of Law we see it in the Subjects of Ireland in the Subjects of Gersey and Guernsey parcels of the Dutchy of Normandy in the Subjects of Calleis when it was English which was parcel of the Crown of France But as I said I am not willing to enter into an Argument of Law but to hold my self to point of Convenience So as for my part I hold all Post-nati naturalized ipso jure But yet I am far from opinion that it should be a thing superfluous to have it done by Parliament chiefly in respect of that true principle Principum Actiones praecipuè ad famam sunt componendae It will lift up a Sign to all the world of our love towards them and good agreement with them And these are Mr. Speaker the matterial Objections which have been made of the other side whereunto you have heard mine Answers Weigh them in your wisdoms And so I conclude that general part Now Mr. Speaker according as I promised I must fill the other ballance in expressing unto you the inconveniencies which we shall incur if we shall not proceed to this Naturalization Wherein that inconvenience which of all others and alone by it self if there were none other doth exceedingly move me and may move you is a Position of Estate collected out of the Records of time which is this That wheresoever several Kingdoms or Estates have been united in Soveraignty if that Union hath not been fortified and bound in with a further Union and namely that which is now in question of Naturalization this hath followed That at one time or other they have broken again being upon all occasions apt to revolt and relapse to the former separation Of this assertion the first example which I will set before you is of that memorable Union which was between the Romans and the Latines which continued from the Battail at the Lake of Regilla for many years untill the Consulships of T. Manlius and P. Decius At what time there began about this very point of Naturalization that War which was called Bellum Sociale being the most bloody and pernicious War that ever the Roman State endured wherein after numbers of Battails and infinite Sieges and Surprises of Towns the Romans in the end prevailed and mastered the Latines But assoon as ever they had the honour of the War looking back into what perdition and confusion they were near to have been brought they presently naturalized them all You speak of a Naturalization in blood there was a Naturalization indeed in blood Let me set before you again the example of Sparta and the rest of Peloponnesus their Associats The State of Sparta was a nice and jealous State in this point of imparting Naturalization to their Confederates But what was the issue of it After they had held them in a kind of Society and Amity for divers years upon the first occasion given which was no more then the surprize of the Castle of Thebes by certain desperate Conspirators in the habit of Masquers There ensued immediatly a general revolt and defection of their Associats which was the ruine of their State never afterwards to be recovered Of later time let me lead your consideration to behold the like events in the Kingdom of Arragon which Kingdom was united with Castille and the rest of Spain in the persons of Ferdinando and Isabella and so continued many years But yet so as it stood a Kingdom severed and divided from the rest of the Body of Spain in Priviledges and directly in this point of Naturalization or capacity of Inheritance What came of this Thus much That now of fresh memory not past twelve years since only upon the voice of a condemned man out of the Grate of a Prison towards the Street that cried Fueros which is as much as Liberties or Priviledges There was raised a dangerous Rebellion which was suppressed with difficulty with an Army Royal and their Priviledges disannulled and they incorporated with the rest of Spain Upon so small a spark notwithstanding so long continuance were they ready to break and severe again The like may be said of the States of Florence and Pisa which City of Pisa being united unto Florence but not endued with the benfite of Naturalization upon the first light of forraign Assistance by the expedition of Charles the eighth of France into Italy did revolt though it be since again re-united and incorporated The same effect we see in the most barbarous Government which shews it the rather to be an effect of Nature For it was thought a fit Policy by the Council of Constantinople to retain the three Provinces of Transilvania Valachia and Moldavia which were as the very Nurses of Constantinople in respect of their Provisions to the end they moght be the less wasted only under Vayvods as Vaslals and Homagers and not under Bassa's and Provinces of the Turkish Empire which Policy we see by late experience proved unfortunate as appeared by the revolt of the same three Provinces under the Arms and conduct of Sigismund Prince of Transilvania a Leader very famous for a time which Revolt is not yet fully recovered Whereas we seldom or never hear of revolts of Princes incorporate to the Turkish Empire On the other part Mr. Speaker because it is true which the Logicians say Opposita juxta se posita magis elucescunt let us take a view and we shall find That wheresoever Kingdoms and States have been united and that Union corroborate by the Bond of mutual Naturalization you shall never observe them afterwards upon any occasion of trouble or otherwise to break and severe again As we see most evidently before our eyes in divers Provinces of France that is to say Guien Provence Normandy Brittain which notwithstanding the infinite infesting troubles of that Kingdom never offered to break again We see the like effect in all the Kingdoms of Spain which are mutually naturalized As Leon Castile Valencia Andaluzia Granada and the rest except Arragon which held the contrary course and therefore had the contrary successe as we
or expedition upon the Roman Empire And came not as Rovers to carry away prey and be gone again but planted themselves in a number of fruitful and rich Provinces where not only their Generations but their Names remain till this day witness Lombardy Catalonia a name compounded of Goth and Alane Andaluzia a name corrupted from Vandelicia Hungary Normandy and others Nay the fortune of the Swizzes of late years which ate bred in a barren and mountainous Countrey is not to be forgotten who first ruined the Duke of Burgandy the same who had almost ruined the Kingdom of France what time after the Battail of Granson the Rich Jewel of Burgandy prized at many thousands was sold for a few pence by a common Souldier that knew no more what a Jewel meant then did Aesops Cock. And again the same Nation in revenge of a scorn was the ruine of the French Kings Affairs in Italy Lewis the 12 th For that King when he was pressed somewhat rudely by an Agent of the Swizzes to raise their Pensions brake into words of choller What said he will these Villains of the Mountains put a Tax upon me which words lost him his Dutchy of Millain and chased him out of Italy All which examples Mr. Speaker do well prove Solons opinion of the Authority and Mastery that Iron hath over Gold And therefore if I shall speak unto you mine own heart Methinks we should a little disdain that the Nation of Spain which howsoever of late it hath grown to Rule yet of ancient time served many Ages first under Carthage then under Rome after under Saracens Goths and others should of late years take unto themselves that Spirit as to dream of a Monarchy in the West according to that devise Video Solem Orientem in Occidente only because they have ravished from some wild and unarmed People Mines and store of Gold And on the other side that this Island of Brittany seated and manned as it is and that hath I make no question the best Iron in the world that is the best Souldiers of the world should think of nothing but reckonings and audits and Meum and Tuum and I cannot tell what Mr. Speaker I have I take it gone through the Parts which I propounded to my self Wherein if any man shall think that I have sung Placebo for mine own particular I would have him know that I am not so unseen in the world but that I discern it were much alike for my private Fortune to rest a Tacebo as to sing a Placebo in this Business But I have spoken out of the Fountain of my Heart Credidi propter quod locutus sum I believed therefore I spake So as my Duty is performed the Judgement is yours God direct it for the best A Speech used by Sir Francis Bacon in the Lower House of Parliament by occasion of a motion concerning the Union of Laws ANd it please you Mr. Speaker were it now a time to wish as it is to advise no man should be more forward or more earnest then my self in this wish That his Majesties Subjects of England and Scotland were governed by one Law And that for many Reasons First because it will be an infallible assurance that there will never be any relapse in succeeding Ages to a separation Secondly Dulcis tractus pari jugo If the Draught lye most upon us and the yoke lightest upon them it is not equal Thirdly the Qualities and as I may term it the Elements of their Laws and ours are such as do promise an excellent temperature in the compounded Body For if the Prerogative here be too indefinite it may be the Liberty there is too unbounded If our Laws and proceedings be too prolix and formal it may be theirs are too informal and summary Fourthly I do discern to my understanding there will be no great difficulty in this work For their Laws by that I can learn compared with ours are like their Language compared with ours For as their Language hath the same roots that ours hath but hath a little more mixture of Latine and French So their Laws and Customs have the like grounds that our have with a little more mixture of the Civil Law and French Customs Lastly the mean to this work seemeth to me no less excellent then the work it self For if both Laws shall be united it is of necessity for preparation and inducement thereunto that our own Laws be reviewed and compiled Then the which I think there cannot be a work that his Majesty can undertake in these times of Peace more Politick more Honourable nor more Beneficial to his Subjects for all Ages Pace datâ Terris Animum ad Civilia vertit Fura suum Legesque tulit justissimus Auctor For this continual heaping up of Laws without digesting them maketh but a Chaos and confusion and turneth the Laws many times to become but snares for the People as is said in the Scripture Pluet super eos Laqueos Now Non sunt pejores Laquei quam Laquei Legum And therefore this work I esteem to be indeed a work rightly to term it Heroical So that for this good wish of Union of Laws I do consent to the full And I think you may perceive by that which I have said that I come not in this to the opinion of others but that I was long ago settled in it my self Nevertheless as this is moved out of zeal so I take it to be moved out of time as commonly zealous motions are while men are so fast carried on to the End as they give no attention to the Mean For if it be time to talk of this now it is either because the business now in hand cannot proceed without it or because in time and order this matter should be precedent or because we shall leese some advantage towards this effect so much desired if we should go on in the course we are about But none of these three in my judgement are true And therefore the motion as I said unseasonable For first that there may not be a Naturalization without an Union in Laws cannot be maintained Look into the example of the Church and the Union thereof you shall see several Churches that joyn in one Faith one Baptism which are the points of spiritual Naturalization do many times in Policy Constitutions and Customs differ And therefore one of the Fathers made an excellent observation upon the two Mysteries the one that in the Gospel where the Garment of Christ is said to have been without seam the other that in the Psalm where the Garment of the Queen is said to have been of divers colours And concludeth In veste variet as sit scissura non sit So in this case Mr. Speaker we are now in hand to make this Monarchy of one piece and not of one colour Look again into the examples of forraign Countries and take that next us of France and there you shall find that
they have this distribution Pais du droit Escript and Pais du droit Constumier For Gascoign Languedock Provence Daulphenie are Countries governed by the Letter or Text of the Civil Law But the Isle of France Tourrain Berry Anjou and the rest and most of all Britain and Normandy are governed by Customs which amount unto a Municipal Law and use the Civil Law but only for Grounds and to decide new and rare cases and yet nevertheless Naturalization passeth through all Secondly that this Union of Laws should precede the Naturalization or that it should go on pari passu hand in hand I suppose likewise can hardly be maintained but the contrary that Naturalization ought to precede Of which my opinion as I could yield many reasons so because all this is but a digression and therefore ought to be short I will hold my self now only to one which is briefly and plainly this That the Union of Laws will ask a great time to be perfected both for the compiling and for the passing dureing all which time if this mark of Strangers should be denyed to be taken away I fear it may induce such a habit of Strangeness as will rather be an impediment than a preparation to further proceeding For he was a wise man that said Opportuni magnis conatibus transitus Rerum And in those cases Non progredi est regredi And like as in a pair of Tables you must put out the former writing before you can put in new and again that which you write in you write Letter by Letter but that which you put out you put out at once So we have now to deal with the Tables of mens Hearts wherein it is in vain to think you can enter the willing acceptance of our Laws and Customs except you first put forth all Notes either of Hostility or forraign Condition And these are to be put out simul semel at once without gradations whereas the other points are to be imprinted and engraven distinctly and by degrees Thirdly whereas it is conceived by some that the communication of our Benefits and Priviledges is a good hold that we have over them to draw them to submit themselves to our Laws It is an Argument of some probability but yet to be answered many wayes For first the intent is mistaken which is not as I conceive it to draw them wholly to a subjection to our Laws but to draw both Nations to one uniformity of Law Again to think that there should be a kind of articulate and indented Contract that they should receive our Laws to obtain our Priviledges it is a matter in reason of Estate not to be expected being that which scarcely a private man will acknowledge if it come to that whereof Seneca speaketh Beneficium accipere est Libertatem vendere No but courses of Estate do describe and delineat another way which is to win them either by Benefit or Custom For we see in all Creatures that men do feed them first and reclaim them after And so in the first institution of Kingdoms Kings did first win people by many Benfits and Protections before they prest any yoke And for Custom which the Poets call imponere Morem who doubts but that the Seat of the Kingdom and the example of the King resting here with us our manners will quickly be there to mak all things ready for our Laws And lastly the Naturalization which is now propounded is qualified with such restrictions as there will be enough kept back to be used at all times for an Adamant of drawing them further on to our desires And therefore to conclude I hold this motion of Union of Laws very worthy and arising from very good minds but not proper for this time To come therefore to that which is now in question It is no more but whether there should be a difference made in this priviledge of Naturalization between the Ante-nati and the Post-nati not in point of Law for that will otherwise be decided but only in point of Convenience as if a Law were now to be made de novo In which question I will at this time only answer two Objections and use two Arguments and so leave it to your judgement The first Objection hath been that if a difference should be it ought to be in favour of the Ante-nati because they are persons of merit service and proof whereas the Post-nati are infants that as the Scripture saith know not the right hand from the left This were good reason Mr. Speaker if the question were of Naturalizing some particular persons by a private Bill but it hath no proportion with the general For now we are not to look to respects that are proper to some but to those which are common to all Now then how can it be imagined but that those that took their first breath since this happy Union inherent in his Majesties person must be more assured and affectionat to this Kingdom then those generally can be presumed to be which were sometimes Strangers For Nemo subitò fingitur the conversions of Minds are not so swift as the conversions of times Nay in effects of Grace which exceed far the effects of Nature we see St. Paul makes a difference between those he calls Neophites that is newly grafted into Christianity and those that are brought up in the Faith And so we see by the Laws of the Church that the Children of Christians shall be baptized in regard of the Faith of their Parents But the Child of an Ethnick may not receive Baptism till he be able to make an understanding Profession of his Faith Another Ojection hath been made that we ought to be more provident and reserved to restrain the Post-nati then the Ante-nati because during his Majesties time being a Prince of so approved Wisdom and Judgement we need no better caution then the confidence we may repose in him But in the future Reigns of succeeding ages our caution must be in Re and not in Persona But Mr. Speaker to this I answer That as we cannot expect a Prince hereafter less like to erre in respect of his Judgement So again we cannot expect a Prince so like to exceed if I may so term it in this point of Benificence to that Nation in respect of the occasion For whereas all Princes and all men are won either by merit or conversation there is no appearance that any of his Majesties Descendents can have either of these causes of Bounty towards that Nation in so ample degree as his Majesty hath And these be the two Objections which seemed to me most material why the Post-nati should be left free and not be concluded in the same restrictions with the Ante-nati whereunto you have heard the Answers The two Reasons which I will use on the other side are briefly these The one being a Reason of Common Sense the other a Reason of Estate We see Mr. Speaker the time of the Nativity is in
ancient Separation or Divorce The lot of Spain was to have the several Kingdoms of that Continent Portugal only except to be united in an Age not long past and now in our Age that of Portugal also which was the last that held out to be incorporate with the rest The lot of France hath been much about the same time likewise to have re-annexed unto that Crown the several Dutchies and Portions which were in former times dismembred The lot of this Island is the last reserved for your Majesties happy times by the special Providence and Favour of God who hath brought your Majesty to this happy conjunction with great consent of Hearts and in the strength of your Years and in the maturity of your Experience It resteth but that as I promised I set before your Majesties Princely consideration the grounds of Nature touching the Union and Commixture of Bodies and the correspondence which they have with the grounds of Policy in the conjunction of States and Kingdoms First therefore that Position Vis unita fortior being one of the common notions of the Mind needeth not much to be induced or illustrate We see the Sun when he entereth and while he continueth under the Sign of Leo causeth more vehement heats then when he is in Cancer what time his Beams are nevertheless more perpendicular The reason whereof in great part hath been truly ascribed to the conjunction and corradiation in that place of Heaven of the Sun with the four Stars of the first magnitude Syrius Canicula Cor Leonis and Cauda Leonis So the Moon likewise by ancient tradition while she is in the same Sign of Leo is said to be at the Heart which is not for any affinity which that place of Heaven can have with that part of mans Body but only because the Moon is then by reason of the conjunction and nearness with the Stars aforenamed in the greatest strength of influence and so worketh upon that part in inferiour Bodies which is most Vital and Principal So we see Waters and Liquors in small quantity do easily putrifie and corrupt but in large quantity subsist long by reason of the strength they receive by union So in Earthquakes the more general do little hurt by reason of the united weight which they offer to subvert but narrow and particular Earthquakes have many times overturned whole Towns and Cities So then this point touching the force of Union is evident And therefore it is more fit to speak of the manner of Union wherein again it will not be pertinent to handle one kind of Union which is Union by Victory when one Body doth meerly subdue another and converteth the same into his own nature extinguishing and expulsing what part soever of it it cannot overcome As when the Fire converteth the Wood into Fire purging away the smoak and the ashes as unapt Matter to enflame Or when the Body of a Living Creature doth convert and assimilate Food and Nourishment purging and expelling whatsoever it cannot convert For these Representations do answer in matter of Policy to Union of Countries by conquest where the conquering State doth extinguish extirpate and expulse any part of the State conquered which it findeth so contrary as it cannot alter and convert it And therefore leaving violent Unions we will consider only of natural Unions The difference is excellent which the best Observers in Nature do take between Compositio and Mistio putting together and mingling the one being but a conjunction of Bodies in place the other in quality and consent the one the Mother of Sedition and Alteration the other of Peace and Continuance the one rather a Confusion then an Union the other properly an Union Therefore we see those Bodies which they call imperfectè mista last not but are speedily dissolved For take for example Snow or Froath which are compositions of Air and Water and in them you may behold how easily they severe and dissolve the Water closing together and excluding the Air. So those three Bodies which the Alchymists do so much celebrate as the three Principles of things that is to say Earth Water and Oyl which it pleaseth them to term Salt Mercury and Sulphur we see if they be united only by composition or putting together how weakly and rudely they do incorporate For Water and Earth maketh but an unperfect slime and if they be forced together by agitation yet by a little settling the Earth resideth in the bottom So Water and Oyl though by agitation it be brought into an Oyntment yet after a little settling the Oyl will float on the top So as such imperfect mistures continue no longer then they are forced and still in the end the worthiest getteth above But otherwise it is of perfect mistures For we see these three Bodies of Earth Water and Oyl when they are joined in a Vegetable or Mineral they are so united as without great subtilty of Art and force of Extraction they cannot be separated and reduced into the same simple Bodies again So as the difference between Compositio and Mistio clearly set down is this That Compositio is the joining or putting together of Bodies without a new Form and Mistio is the joining or putting together of Bodies under a new Form For the new form is commune Vinculum and without that the old Form will be at strife and discord Now to reflect this Light of Nature upon matter of Estate There hath been put in practice these two several kinds of Policy in uniting and conjoining of States and Kingdoms The one to retain the ancient Form still severed and only conjoined in Soveraignty The other to superinduce a new Form agreeable and convenient to the entire State The former of these hath been more usual and is more easie but the latter is more happy For if a man do attentively revolve Histories of all Nations and judge truly thereupon he will make this conclusion That there was never any States that were good commixtures but the Romans Which because it was the best State of the World and is the best Example of this Point we will chiefly insist thereupon In the Antiquities of Rome Virgil bringeth in Jupiter by way of Oracle or Prediction speaking of the mixture of the Trojans and the Italians Sermonem Ausonii Patrum moresque tenebant Utque est nomen erit Commixti Corpore tantum Subsident Teucri Morem Ritusque Sacrorum Adjiciam faciamque omnes uno ore Latinos Hinc genus Ausonio mistum quod sanguine surget Supra Homines supra ira Deos pietate videbis Wherein Jupiter maketh a kind of partition or distribution That Italy should give the Language and the Laws Troy should give a mixture of Men and some Religious Rites and both people should meet in one name of Latines Soon after the foundation of the City of Rome the people of the Romans and the Sabines mingled upon equal terms Wherein the interchange went so even that as Livy
only as a Forraign Nation and not so much neither for there have been erected Staples in Towns in England for some Commodities with an exclusion and restriction of other parts of England But this is a matter of the least difficulty your Majesty shall have a Calendar made of the Laws and a Brief of the Effect and so you may judge of them And the like or reciproque is to be done by Scotland for such Laws as they have concerning England and the English Nation The second Question is what Laws Customs Commissions Officers Garrisons and the like are to be put down dis-continued or taken away upon the Borders of both Realms This point because I am not acquainted with the Orders of the Marches I can say the less Herein falleth that question Whether that the Tennants who hold their Tennant-Rights in a greater freedom and exemption in consideration of their service upon the Borders and that the Countreys themselves which are in the same respect discharged of Subsidies and Taxes should not now be brought to be in one degree with other Tennants and Countreys Nam cessante causâ tollitur effectus wherein in my opinion some time would be given Quia adhuc corum Messis in herbâ est But some present Ordinance would be made to take effect at a future time considering it is one of the greatest points and marks of the division of the Kingdoms And because Reason doth dictate that where the principal Solution of Continuity was there the healing and consolidating Plaister should be chiefly applyed There would be some further device for the utter and perpetual confounding of those imaginary Bounds as your Majesty termeth them And therefore it would be considered whether it were not convenient to plant and erect at Carleil or Barwick some Council or Court of Justice the Jurisdiction whereof might extend part into England and part into Scotland With a Commission not to proceed precisely or meerly according to the Laws and Customs either of England or Scotland but mixtly according to Instructions by your Majesty to be set down after the imitation and precedent of the Council of the Marches here in England erected upon the Union of Wales The third Question is that which many will make a great question of though perhaps your Majesty will make no question of it And that is Whether your Majesty should not make a stop or stand here and not to proceed to any further Union contenting your Self with the two former Articles or Points For it will be said That we are now well thanks be to God and your Majesty and the State of neither Kingdom is to be repented of And that it is true which Hippocrates saith That Sana Corpora difficilè medicationes ferunt It is better to make alterations in sick Bodies then in found The consideration of which point will rest upon these two Branches What inconveniencies will ensue with time if the Realms stand as they are divided which are yet not found nor sprung up For it may be the sweetness of your Majesties first entrance and the great Benefit that both Nations have felt thereby hath covered many inconveniencies Which nevertheless be your Majesties Government never so gracious and politick continuance of time and the accidents of time may breed and discover if the Kingdoms stand divided The second Branch is Allow no manifest or important peril or inconvenience should ensue of the continuing of the Kingdoms divided yet on the other side whether that upon the further uniting of them there be not like to follow that addition and encrease of Wealth and Reputation as is worthy your Majesties Vertues and Fortune to be the Author and Founder of for the advancement and exaltation of your Majesties Royal Posterity in time to come But admitting that your Majesty should proceed to this more perfect and entire Union wherein your Majesty may say Majus opus moveo To enter into the parts and degrees thereof I think fit first to set down as in a brief Table in what points the Nations stand now at this present time already united and in what points yet still severed and divided that your Majesty may the better see what is done and what is to be done and how that which is to be done is to be inferred upon that which is done The Points wherein the Nations stand already united are In Soveraignty In the Relative thereof which is Subjection In Religion In Continent In Language And now lastly by the Peace your Majesty concluded with Spain in Leagues and Confederacies For now both Nations have the same Friends and the same Enemies Yet notwithstanding there is none of the six Points wherein the Union is perfect and consummate But every of them hath some scruple or rather grain of separation enwrapped and included in them For the Soveraignty the Union is absolute in your Majesty and your Generation But if it should so be which God of his infinite mercy defend that your Issue should fail then the descent of both Realms doth resort to the several Lines of the several Blouds Royal. For Subjection I take the Law of England to be clear what the Law of Scotland is I know not That all Scots men from the very instant of your Majesties Reign begun are become Denizens And the Post-nati are naturalized Subjects of England for the time forwards For by our Laws none can be an Alien but he that is of another Allegiance then our Soveraign Lord the Kings For there be but two sorts of Aliens whereof we find mention in our Law an Alien Ami and an Alien Enemy whereof the former is a Subject of a State in amity with the King and the latter a Subject of a State in hostility But whether he be one or other it is an essential difference unto the definition of an Alien if he be not of the Kings Allegiance As we see it evidently in the precedent of Ireland who since they were Subjects to the Crown of England have ever been inheritable and capable as Natural Subjects And yet not by any Statute or Act of Parliament but meerly by the common Law and the Reason thereof So as there is no doubt that every Subject in Scotland was and is in like plight and degree since your Majesties coming in as if your Majesty had granted particularly your Letters of Denization or Naturalization to every of them and the Post-nati wholly Natural But then on the other side for the time backwards and for those that were Ante-nati the Blood is not by Law naturalized So as they cannot take it by descent from their Ancestors without Act of Parliament And therefore in this point there is a defect in the Union of Subjection For matter of Religion the Union is perfect in points of Doctrine but in matter of Discipline and Government it is imperfect For the Continent It is true there are no natural Boundaries of Mountains or