the couÌ„tenance and maintenance of a Kingdom is mere vaine and altogether nedelesse For why should you thus feare hauing such a noble Queene lineally descending froÌ„ the Roial race of the noble Kinges of ScotlaÌ„d and inheriting the Croune therof of right she hauing bisides God be thaÌ„ked therfore so goodly a noble Impe when the time and law calleth him therto to succede his mother vnlesse that you be M. Knoxes owne good scholers and such of his affinitie that haue set vp and erected a ioly new schole as we haue declared teaching that it is not lauful for a woman Prince to haue Ciuil Gouernment These and many the like thinges would this good and gratious Impe reasonably and like a good natural louing childe tel and reproue you of if he were of discretioÌ„ and intelligeÌ„ce to weigh and coÌ„sider your strange procedings and diuellish dealinges against his most deare and tender mother Yea he would tel you that his mothers inestimable and vnmeasurable benefits were wel and worthely employed and bestowed vppon suche a wicked and vngrate generation He would also say and tel you that you should purchase your selues smal renoune and litle reward of God or of the world for this your false fained patieÌ„ce in heariÌ„g your selues called and that ful worthely traitors and Rebelles No more surely then if ye had hard as now ye must for this dainty dish we haue reserued for you to the last course and so proued withal the deuisers and procurers of the shameful vile vilanous murther of the noble yonge Lorde the Lorde Darley your owne Mastresse and Queenes most dere husband Whose tender hart neuer any worldily thing so nigh and so depely pearced as did this mischieuous note Ye triumph and vaunt of your glorious victorie and of the vnmerciful slaughter that you haue made vpon the Queenes most louing loyal and faithful subiects Ye valew measure and rule thereby the goodnes and equitie of your quarel and cause But this rule doth not alwaies holde as neuer hauing exception and instance The Israelites quarel against the Tribe of Beniamin rising vppon a trueth and horrible facte perpetrated and commited by the Gabaonits whome the Beniamits did defende and not vpon false fayned doinges and outragious ambition as yours doth against your Souereigne was a thousand times better and more iust then is this your pretensed quarel and seditious vprore And yet the Beniamits gaue them a sore greeuous and pitiful ouerthrow And surely it were no il counsayle for â—ou to remember withal the olde saying â—spice finem take good hede what may fal â—â—t at the ende Ye do litle weigh and conâ—ider the greate prouidence of almighty God in this facte whereby he seemeth to â—une prouided suche an indifferent way â—nd so free from al sinister suspition for the â—rouf and iustification of the Queenes inâ—ocencie and integritie and for the mainteâ—â—nce and preseruation of her name and â—onour the which she estemeth and preferreth afore al earthly thinges and for your â—tter confusion and shame the like wherof could not by man be found What shal I then say to you How shal I beginne or wherein to accuse you Surely I may wel cry out O heaueÌ„ ô earth ô God ô man Hearken hearkeÌ„ to such a heighnous diuelish deuice and drift as doubtlesse neither Tragedy nor any record of Antiquitie can lightly report a more heinous HearkeÌ„ I say to this detestable and abhominable facte Hearken of subiectes that haue consented vnto and caused their owne Princes Husband to be slaine and not contented to enioye their owne impunitie of so horrible and greeuouse a crime haue sought and inueÌ„ted meanes and waies willingly and wâ—â— tingly to haue slandered therewithal theâ— most innocent Maistresse and Souereignâ— and haue most wrongfully and ful iniuriouâ—ly cast her in prison and spoiled her of aâ— her Princely estate being in a readines eueâ— ry howre to haue bereaued her of her liâ— and al and as they haue of them selues reâ— ported haue bene of nothing more repeâ— tant and sorie then that they haue not fullâ— executed their purposed mischiefe We say then no lesse boldly then truely First that the Queene for this facte is far frâ— al fault We say next that ye Murray anâ— your companions are the very deuisers and coÌ„triuers of the murther of this noble geÌ„tle man your selues But to disclose and opeâ— these matters at the ful it requireth a very large scope and discourse Yet wil we aâ— briefly as the cause wil suffer prosecute the same For the first part that may suffice that we haue already declared and shal here after declare for her innocencie Now before we procede to the seconde for the more euident and open condeÌ„nation of these men let vs imagine that to be done that neuer was thought of her parte to be â—one Let vs imagine and suppose that the Quene was therin guilty as these men most â—lsely and slanderously report yet are all â—hese their procedings of no validitie or â—orce and she remaineth stil their Queene â—nd in her fulauthoritie by good reason and â—awe The zeale to punnish greate crimes is â—oÌ„mendable so it be measured by order and â—â—we For as Aristotle saith It is not inough 〈◊〉 do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a good dede vnlesse it be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wel done also The one whereof respecteth â—he fact the other the forme manner and faâ—hion the qualitie meanes and order of the â—oing thereof Quia forma datesse rei This â—orme and fasshioÌ„ of wel doing hath not ben obserued in your procedings For it can not â—e wel done that is vnlawfully and disorâ—erly done If it had ben but a pore priuate mans cause for the lacke of dew and conueâ—ient forme in the treating and handling thereof the whole procedinges had ben of none effecte or purpose The lawes of wel ordered coÌ„mon wealthes especially the Ciâ—il lawe the Principal and Mastresse of all other Ciuil policies and ordinances do reâ—uire in aliudgements to be geueÌ„ against the â—efendaÌ„t three seueral and distinct persons the Iudge the Accuser and the witnesseâ— The defendant hath the benefit of iust anâ— lawful exceptions aswel against the Iudgeâ— as against the Accusers and witnesses Echâ— of whom may be reiected for open enimâ—â— toward the Defendant and for diuers otheâ— causes Accusers may be repulsed some â—â— that they haue receaued a singuler benesâ— of the partie defendant as a bondeman mâ— numitted and made free in case he wil aâ— cuse his patrone and manumisser or if a maâ— wil accuse his educatour and bringer vppâ—â— Some for nearnes in blood and consanguâ— nitie as the brother Some for naughtâ— and infamous behauiour and some for otheâ— respectes Shal these vngrateful Traitours then thaâ— iustly neither can be Iudge nor accuser noâ— asmuche as witnesse against their Souâ— reigne and to them a most gratious Quene by any reason or lawe play them selues aâ— the three parts in the Tragedie
nature in himself who delights to make all his iourneis in such sullē solitary sort therfore belike an ill companion to liue withall in any felovvship Then yt shewes his extreeme want of abilitie to defray the expence of woeng in a bountiful shew sitting such a prince as cōmeth to obtein out Queen This his secrete comming departing discouers a mistrustfulnes in him towards our people and therefore no loue which must needs come frō his own ill consci ence of fearing french measure in England for on our part the Lord be thanked we haue not committed such villenies all men deeme him vnworthy to speed who comes in a net as though he were loath to auow his errand Some men may think he is ashamed to shevv his face but I think verely that he meanes not sincerely who loues not light wil not com abroade The last noble princely gentlemā that went out of Englād to vvin a Queen in france gaue trial shew of vvisdome manhod behauiour and personage by open cōuersatiō performing al maner of knightly excercises which makes vs in England to find very strange this vnmanlike vnprincelike secrete fearful suspitious disdainful needy french kind of woeng in Monsieur we can not chuse but by the same stil as by all the other former demonstratife remonstrāces conclude that thys french mariage is the streightest line that can be dravvne frō Rome to the vtter ruine of our church the very rightest perpendicular downfal that can be imagined frō the point france to our English state fetching in vvithin one circle of lamentable fall the royal estate of our noble Queen of hir person nobility and commons vvhose Christian honorable healthful ioyful peaceful and long souereigne raigne without all superior ouerruling commander especially french namely Monsieur the king of kings hold on to his glory and hyr assurance of true glory in that other kingdom of heauen Amen Amen Amen A TREATISE TOVCHING THE RIGHT TITLE AND INTEREST OF the mightie and noble Princesse Marie Queene of Scotland to the succession of the Croune of England Made by Morgan Philippes Bachelar of Diuinitie assisted vvith the aduise of Antonie Broune Knight one of the Iustices of the Common Place An. 1567. LEODII Apud Gualterum Morberium 1571. A TREATISE TOVCHING THE RIGHT TITLE AND INTEREST OF the mightie and noble Princesse Marie Queene of Scotland to the succession of the Croune of England The Second Booke THE great prouidence good Reader of the eternal God who of nothing created all thinges did not only create the same by his ineffable power but by the same power gaue a special gifte and grace also to euery liuing thing to continue to renewe and to preserue eche his owne kinde But in this consideration the condition of man among and aboue al earthly thinges hath his pearelesse prerogatiue of wit and reason wherewith he only is of God gratiously endewed and adorned by the which he doth prouide not only for his presente necessitie and sauegard as do also naturally after their sorte al beastes and al other liuing thinges voide of reason but also by the pregnancie of wit and reasonable discourse doth long afore forsee the dangerous perils that many yeres after may happen either to himself or to his Countrey and then by diligence and careful prouision doth inuent apte and mete remedies for the eschewing of suche mischieffes as might outragiously afterwarde occurre And the greater the feare is of greater mischief the greater the deper and the speedier care is wont to be taken to preuent and cut of the the same It is also most certaine by the confession of al the world that this care is principally dew by eche man that hath opportunitie to do good therin to his Prince his Countrey and to the common Weale and good quiet of the Countrey for the continuance and happie preseruation of the same To the preseruation whereof as there are many partes and branches belonging so one principal part is for Subiectes louingly and reuerently to honour dreade and obediently to serue their Souereigne that chaunceth presently to rule and gouerne The next to foreknow to whome they should beare their allegeance after the deceasse of their foresaid Prince and Gouernour Which being once certaine and assuredly knowen as it procureth when the time requireth readie and seruiceable obedience with the great comfort and vniuersal reast and quietnes of the Subiectes so where for the said Successour there is among them discord and diuersitie of iudgementes the matter groweth to faction and from faction to plaine hostilitie and from hostilitie to the daunger of many mens liues and many times to the vtter subuersion of the whole state For the better auoiding of suche and the like inconueniences albeit at the beginninge Princes reigned not by descente of blood and succession but by choyce and election of the worthieste the worlde was for the moste parte constrained to repudiate election and so often times for the better and the worthier to take a certain issue and ofspringe of some one onely persone though otherwise perchaunce not so mete Which defecte is so supplied partely by the great benefit of the vniuersal rest and quietnes that the people enioy thereby and partly by the graue and sage Counsaylours to Princes that the whole worlde in a manner these many thousand yeares hath embraced succession by blood rather then election And politike Princes whiche haue had no children of their owne to succede them haue had euer a special care and foresight thereof for auoiding of ciuil discention So that the people might alwaies knowe the true and certaine Heire apparent chiefly where there appeared any likelyhod of varietie of opinions or faction to ensewe about the true and lawful succession in gouernement This care and foresight doth manifestly appeare to haue bene not onely in many Princes of foraine Countreies but also of this Realme as wel before the tyme of the Conqueste as also after namely in Kinge Edwarde the Confessour in declaring and appointing Eadgare Atheling his nephewes sonne his heire as also in King Richard the first who before he interprised his Iourney to Hierusalem where for his chiualrie he atchiued high honour declared by consent of his Nobilitie and Cōmous Arthur sonne of his brother Duke of Britaine his next heire in succession of the Crowne Of the whiche Arthur as also of the said Eadgare Atheling we wil speake more hereafter This care also had King Richard the second what time by authoritie of Parlament he declared the Lorde Edmond Mortymer that maried Philippe dawghter and heire to his Vncle Leonel Duke of Clarence heire apparente And to descende to later times our late Noble Souereigne King Henry the eyght shewed as it is knowen his prudente and zealous care in this behalf before his last noble voiage into Fraunce And now if God should as we be al as wel Princes as others subiect to mortall chaunces once
and intent of the said law Now in case these two causes and cōsiderations wil not satisfie th Aduersarie we wil adioine therevnto a third which he shal neuer by any good and honest shift auoid And that is the vse and practise of the Realme as wel in the time foregoing the said statute as afterward We stand vpon the interpretation of the cōmon law recited and declared by the said statute And how shal we better vnderstand what the law is therein then by the vse and practise of the said lawe For the best interpretation of the lawe is custome But the Realme before the statute admitted to the Croune not only kings children and others of the first degre but also of a farther degre and such as were plainely borne out of the Kings allegeance The soresaid vse and practise appeareth as wel before as sithens the time of the Conquest Among other King Edward the Confessour being destitute of a lawful Heire within the Realme sent into Hūgary for Edward his Nephew surnamed Outlaw son to King Edmūd called Irōside after many yeres of his exile to returne into Englād to th' intent the said Outlaw should inherite this Realme whiche neuerthelesse came not to effect by reason the said outlaw died before the said king Edward his Vncle. After whose death the said king apointed Eadgar Etheling sonne of the said Outlaw being his next cosen and heire as he was of right to the Croune of Englād And for that the said Eadgar was but of yong and tender yeares and not able to take vpō him so great a gouernement the said king cōmitted the protection as wel of the yong Prince as also of the Realm to Harold Earle of Kent vntil suche time as the said Eadgar had obteined perfit age to be hable to weld the state of a King Which Harold neuerthelesse cōtrary to the trust supplanted the said yong Prince of the Kingdome and put the Croune vpon his own head By this it is apparent that foraine birth was not accōpted of before the time of the Cōquest a iust cause to repel and reiect any man being of the next proximitie in blood frō the Title of the Croune And though the said king Edward the Cōfessors wil and purpose toke no such force and effect as he desired and the law craued yet the like succession toke place effectuously in king Stephen and king Hēry the secōd as we haue already declared Neither wil th' Aduersaries shift of foramers borne of father and mother which be not of the kings alegeāce help him forasmuch as this clause of the said statut is not to be applied to the kings childrē but to others as appeareth in the same statute And these two kings Stephē and Henrie the 2. as they were borne in a forain place so their fathers and mothers wer not of the kings allegeāce but mere Aliens and strāgers And how notorious a vaine thing is it that th' Aduersarie would perswade vs that the said K. Henrie the secōd rather came in by force of a cōposition then by the proximitie and nearenes of blood I leaue it to euery man to cōsider that hath any maner of feling in the discours of the stories of this realm The cōpositiō did procure him quietnes and rest for the time with a good and sure hope of quiet and peaceable entrance also after the death of King Stephen and so it followed in deede but ther grew to him nomore right therby then was due to him before For he was the true heir to the Croune as appeareth by Stephen his Aduersaries owne confession Henry the firste maried his daughter Mathildis to Henry the Emperour by whome he had no childrē And no dout in case she had had any children by th'Emperour they should haue ben heires by succession to the Croune of England After whose death she retourned to her father yet did King Henry cause all the Nobilitie by an expresse othe to embrace her after his death as Queene and after her her children Not long after she was maried to Ieffrey Plantagenet a Frenchman borne Earle of Aniowe who begat of her this Henry the second being in France Whervpon the said King did reuiue and renue the like othe of allegeāce aswel to her as to her sonne after her With the like false persuasiō the Adueruersarie abuseth him selfe and his Reader touching Arthur Duke of Britanie Nephew to King Richard the first As though forsooth he were iustly excluded by Kinge Iohn his vncle by cause he was a forainer borne If he had said that he was excluded by reason the vncle ought to be preferred before the Nephewe though it should haue ben a false allegation and plaine against the rules of the lawes of this Realme as may wel appeare among other thinges by King Richard the second who succeded his grādfather king Edward the third which Richard had diuerse worthie and noble vncles who neither for lacke of knowledge coulde be ignorant of the right neither for lacke of frendes courage and power be enforced to forbeare to chalenge their title and interest yet should he haue had some countenance of reason and probabilitie bicause many arguments and the authoritie of many learned and notable Ciuilians doo concurre for the vncles right before the Nephewe But to make the place of the natiuitie of an inheritour to a kingdom a sufficiēt barre against the right of his blood it seemeth to haue but a weake and slender holde and grounde And in our case it is a most vnsure and false ground seeing it is moste true that King Richard the first as we haue said declared the said Arthur borne in Britanie and not son of a King but his brother Geffreys sonne Duke of Britanie heire apparent his vncle Iohn yet liuing And for such a one is he taken in al our stories And for such a one did all the worlde take him after the said King Richard his death neither was King Iohn taken for other then for an vsurper by excluding him and afterward for a murtherer for imprisoning him and priuily making him away For the which facte the French King seased vpon al the goodly Coūtries in France belonging to the King of England as forfeited to him being the chiefe Lorde By this outragious deede of King Iohn we lost Normandie withall and our possibilitie to the inheritance of all Britanie the right and Title to the said Britanie being dewe to the said Arthur and his heires by the right of his mother Constance And though the said king Iohn by the practise and ambition of Quene Elenour his mother and by the special procurement of Huberte then Archebishop of Caunterburie and of some other factious persons in Englād preuēted the said Arthur his nephew as it was easy for him to do hauing gotten into his handes al his brother Richardes treasure by sides many other rentes then in England and the said Arthur being an infante
oportet sed ad sinceram testimoniorum fidem testimonia quibus potius lux veritatis assistit It hath not lightly bene heard or sene that men of suche state and vocation in so great and weightie a cause would incurre first the displeasure of God then of their Prince and of some other of the best sorte if their depositions were vntrue and would purchase them selues dishonour slaunder and infamie yea disclose their owne shame to their owne no manner of way hoped cōmoditie nor to the commoditie of other their frendes or discommoditie and hurte of their enemies This sufficiently doth purge them I wil not say of their fact and fault from al sinister suspicion for this their deposition and testimonie their deposition proceding as it plainly seemeth from no affection corruption or partialitie but from a zeale to the trueth and to the honour of the Realme And though perchance if they had bene thereof iudicially conuicted and condemned and had not by dew penance themselues reformed some exceptiōs might haue bene layed against them by any partie iudicially cōuented for his better aduantage yet as the case standeth nowe there is no cause in the worlde to discredit their testimonie yea and by the way of accusation also such persons as be otherwise dishabled are in treason and other publike matters touching the state enhabled both to accuse and testifie As for the eleuen witnesses the beste of of them Sir Iohn Gates we know by what meanes he is departed out of this life One other the said William Clarke is so gone from them that he geueth good cause to misdeeme and mistrust the whole matter Howe many of the residue liue I know not To whom perchaunce some thing might be said if we once knowe what them selues say Which seeing it doth not by authentical recorde appeare bare names of dumme witnesses can in no wise hinder and deface so solemne a testimonie of the foresaid L. Paget and Sir Edwarde Mountague Neither is the difficultie so great as the Aduersaries pretend in prouing Negatiuam facti Which as we graunt it to be true when it standeth within the limites of a mere negatiue so being restrained and referred to time and place may be as wel proued as the affirmatiue It appeareth now then by the premisses that the Aduersaries argumentes whereby they would weaken and discredit the testimonie either of the witnesses or of the executours that haue or may come in against the said pretensed Wil are but of smal force and strength And especially their slender exaggeration by a superficial Rhetorike enforced Whereby they would abvse the ignorance of the people and make them beleue that there was no good and substantial prouffe brought foorth against the forgerie of this supposed Wil by cause the vntrueth of the same was not preached at Poules Crosse and declared in al open places and assembles through the Realme when they knowe wel inough that there was no necessitie so to doe And that it was notoriously knowen by reason it was disclosed by the saide Lorde Paget as wel to the Counsaile as to the higher and lower house of the Parlament And the foresaid forged Recorde in the Chancerie therevpon worthely defaced and abolished The disclosing whereof seing it came foorth by such and in such sort and order as we haue specified as it doth nothing deface or blemish the testimonie geuen against the said supposed Wil whether it were of any of the witnesses or executours so is ther no nede at al why any other witnesses bysides those that haue already impugned the same should be now farther producted I denie not but that if any such witnesse or Exeoutour had vpon his othe before a lawful Iudge deposed of his owne certaine notice and knoweledge that the said Wil was signed with the Kinges owne hande in case he should afterward contrarie and reuoke this his solemne deposition it ought not lightly to be discredited for any suche contradiction afterward happening But as I haue said suche authentical and ordinarie examinations and depositions we find not nor yet heare of any such so passed Now contrariwise if any of the said witnesses or executours haue or shal before a competēt Iudge especially not producted of any partie or against any partie for any priuate suite commenced but as I haue said moued of conscience only and of a zeale to truth and to the honour of God and the Realme freely and voluntarie discouer and detecte such forgerie although perchance it toucheth them selues for some thing done or said of them to the contrary or being called by the said cōpetent Iudge haue or shal declare and testifie any thing against the same this later testimonie may be wel credited by good reason and law Whereas they would nowe inferre that either this pretenfed Will was King Henries Wil or that he made none at al I doo not as I haue said entende nor neede not curiously to examine and discusse this thing as a mater not apperteining to our principal purpose And wel it may be that he made a Wil conteining the whole tenour of this pretensed Wil sauing for the limitation of the Croune and that these supposed witnesses were present either when he subscribed the same with his owne hand or when by his cōmaundment the Stampe of which and of his owne hand the common sort of men make no difference as in dede in diuers other cases there is no difference whiche these witnesses might take to be as it were his owne hand was set to the Wil. This I say might after some sort so be And yet this notwithstāding there might be as there was in deede an other Wil touching the pretēsed limitation of the Croune by the Kinges owne hande counterfeyted and suborned after his death falsly and coulorably bearing the coūtenance of his owne hand and of the pretensed witnesses names How so euer it be it is but to smal purpose to goe about any full and exquisite answere touching this point seeing that neither the original surmised Wil whereof these witnesses are supposed to be priuy is extant nor their depositions any where appeare nor yet that it appeareth that euer they were as we haue said iudicially examined Seeing nowe then that if it so falleth out that the principal Wil and that that was by the great Seale exemplified and in the Chācery recorded had not at least touching the clause of limitation and assignment of the Croune the Kings hand to it we neede not nor wil not tarie about certain scrolles and copies of the said Wil that the Aduersaries pretend to haue ben either writte or signed with his hand A kingdom is to heauy to be so easely caried away by suche scrolles and copies When al this faileth the Aduersaries haue yet one shift left for the last cast They vrge the equitie of the matter and the mind of the Parlament Which is they say accomplished and satisfied by making this assignation for
he maketh as it it were a plaine demurre with vs in law that we haue pleaded our matters al this while in a wrong Court. For lo this matter by this sobre mans iudgement seemeth not triable either in the Arches or Consistorie of Poules by the Ciuil or CannoÌ„law or in Westminster Hal by any law or Acte of ParlameÌ„t This plee must be only mainteined with the recordes of holy Scripture but of his owne sobre braines interpretatioÌ„ only and holdeÌ„ before himself and his new erected tribunal furnished and adorned with such quiet and sobre spirits as hiself is Th'infallible verity the high M ie of the sacred scriptures I do most hartly coÌ„fesse and most humbly reuerence But yet if ye wil intrude your selfe and others with the promulging from your new Tribunal seate such and so strange paradoxes and sentences to the vtter ouerthrowing of al humaine policies and lawes yea to the present and and iÌ„minent danger not only of this of Scotland but also of al other whatsoeuer Queenes we must be bold to see what warrant and commission you haue and to examine and well to vew the same we must buckle with you and trie whether the autoritie of holy Scripture whiche is your only refuge wil vpholde and beare out your strange and stout conclusion The place then wherevpon he grouÌ„deth him selfe is this Thow shalt make him King ouer thee whome thy Lorde thy God shal choose from amongst thy brethern him shalt thou make a King amongst them From this authoritie he fetcheth out al his high mystical and supernatural conclusions And first he excludeth the Queene of Scotland bycause she is an alien and not ex fratribus and therefore not chosen of god Wherevnto he addeth that the King must be suche as the people may say to him as the Israelites said to King Dauid Ecce â—s tuum caro tua nos sumus We are of one nation and blood Therevnto he adioyneth that it is assigned as one iuste cause why Athalia was turned out of her kingdome bycause she was alienigena an alien maternum genus ducens à Tyriis Sidoniâ—â— These now are all the proufes deducted by this man out of holy Scripture For other hath he none why the Queene of Scotland being a stranger ought to be disherited and reiected from al such claime as she pretendeth to the Croune of England Now for answere and first to the 17. of Deuteronomie wherein as I wil not quarel with you for the shrewde meaning that perchaunce some man may probablie gather out of this Treatise and smal liking that ye haue to the Gouernment proceeding from succession onely so I plainly affirme first that we are not bound to the Ceremoniall or Iudicial or other preceptes of the Iewish law except the Decaloge farther then the Churche or Ciuil policie haue renued againe I say then farther that this authoritie of Deutronomie can not fitly serue your purpose for that it taketh place when the people chooseth a King and not when there is a lawful and ordinary Succession as was euen amongest the Iewes from King Dauides time Albe it he and King Saul before him came in by Gods and the peoples special election Wherefore I doe admit your Principle to be wel grouÌ„ded vpon Scripture That the choise and election of Princes must be directed and measured by Gods Holy Worde wil and pleasure What then I would fame know by what Logike by what reason a maÌ„ may thus conclude we ought to choose no straunger to our Prince ergo a straunger though he be the iust and next inheritour to the Croune must be displaced The one dâ—pendeth of our owne free wil and election which we may measure and rule as we see good cause the other hangeth only vpoÌ„ the disposition and prouidence of God. There we may pick out choice here we must take such as God sendeth There consent beareth the stroke here proximitie of blood beareth the sway There we offre no iniurie to any partie in accepting the one and leauing th' other here do we iniurie to god that doth send and to the partie that is by him sent And to say the trueth it is but a malaperte controlment of Gods owne direction and prouidence For in the former parte we be the choosers and must direct and gouerne our choise by reason and discretion by the merit and worthines of the person here al the choice al the voices are in Gods haÌ„d only As good right hath the infant in the swadling clothes as hath any man called at his perfect age and wisdom It is a true saying Christiani fimus we are made ChristiaÌ„ menâ— we are not borne ChristiaÌ„ men noÌ„ nascimur But in this case of successioÌ„ Reges nascuÌ„tur noÌ„ fium men are borne and not made kings Let this fellow therfore coÌ„clude as stroÌ„gly as he caÌ„ or wil against the chosing of strauÌ„gers yet if he bring forth no place out of Scripture against the SuccessioÌ„ of a stranger claiming by proximitie of the blood Roial as farre as the man shoteth he shoteth to short to hit the marke But Lord what an â—lfauored short shote wil it be accoÌ„pted if she be found no strauÌ„ger at al It is very probable that in this place the scripture meaneth of a mere foreiner and straunger such as were neither borne in Iewrie nor of the Iewishe blood For with suche Aliens they were forbidden also to couple in mariage by reason they were Idolatours and might thereby them selues be occasioned as they were oftentimes in deede to abandone and forsake their true and sincere Religion Such a stranger I am wel assured this Ladie is not to vs if she be any straunger at al. The Scottesmen and we be al Christians and of one Iland of one tonge and almost of one fashion and manners customes and lawes So that we can not in any wise accompt them amongest such kinde of straungers that this place of Moyses mentioneth namely the Ladie Marie the Quene of Scotland being not only in hart wel affectioned and minded to al Englishmen as hath by many experiments ben wel knoweÌ„ but also by descent and Roial blood all English whiche she taketh from the noble Kinges longe before the Conquest and after the Conquest from the worthie Princes Henry the first and Edward the third and of late daies from the excellent Prince King Henry the seuenth and his daughter Ladie Margaret her grandmother Al which causes with some other in such number concurrant ought rather to inforce vs to thinke and to take her as no straunger to vs rather then to estraunge her from vs by the only place of her Natiuitie which is yet neuerthelesse within the fower seas and very nigh to England by Osbred bounding at Starling bridge Last of al touching the forsaid Chapter of Deuteronomie we affirme that it is vntrue that ye say aswel that this lawe of Gouernment bindeth our Kinges to the
hauing and following of this law as we haue said vnlesse to omitte other thinges ye would bind our Kinges also to receaue the Deuteronomie at the haÌ„ds of the Leuitical Tribe as that ye say that God gaue here a lawe to the Iewes to make or choose a King and so consequently al your illations out of this place seeme to be of smal force For to say the trueth as God neither gaue them this or any other lawe for choosing of a King nor did bid or will them to choose a King so did the people most greeuously offend God in demanding a King. For though by the iudgement of Aristotle and other Philosophers Monarchie wel and orderly vsed is the best kinde of al other Regiments which God doth also wel like yet would he haue no such magistrate among the Iewes But as he chose them for his propre peculier and selecte people and ruled them as wel in the Desert as in Iudea by a seueral peculier and distinct order and Gouernement from other Nations and after suche wonderful and miraculous sort as the like was neuer harde of in any Regiment by sides so would he also reserue to him selfe only the said Supremacie and Monarchie Neither was he a litle angrie with the Iewes nor they committed any smal fault but as it were renounced and reiected Gods owne Monarchie in crauing a King as holy Scripture plainely and openly testifiet Nonâ—ie inquit reiecerunt sed me ne regnem super eos And the people afterwardes acknowledged their fault Addidimus vniuersis peccatis nostris malum vt peteremus nobu Regem God therefore did not bidde them or wil them to choose a King but forknowing long before by his eternall forsight what they would do though contrarie to his blessed wil and pleasure did in this as in other matters beare with their weakenes and condescended vnto the same and fortold them in the said 17. Chapter that in case they would needes haue a King of what kind and sort he should be And therefore immediatly before the wordes that ye recite thou shalt make him a King ouer them is this texte Cum ingressus fuer is terram quam Dominus Deus dabit tibi possederis illam habâ—â—auerisque in illa dixeris constituam super me Regem sicut habent omnes per circuitum Nationes â—um constitues c. And when thou shalt come into the laÌ„d which the Lord thy God geueth thee and shalt possesse yea and dwel therein if thou say I wil set a King ouer me like as all the Nations that are about me then thou shalt make him King ouer thee whome c. Whiche wordes making for the illustratioÌ„ of this place ye haue omitted Wherfore as this place serueth nothing for any absolute election of a King the second which you seeme especially to regard and ground your selfe vpon so doth it as we haue shewed as litle relieue you to prooue therby your conclusions especially against the ordinarie successioÌ„ either of a strauÌ„ger or of a woman that ye would gather and conclude out of the same Thus haue we sufficiently answered the place of Deuteronomie for this one purpose Th' other two autorities may be much more easely answered The people meant nothing els by their said wordes spoken to Dauid but that they were the seede of Abraham Isaac and Iacob as wel as he and intended with true and sincere hartes vnfainedly to agnise him as their chiefe Lord and Soueraigne For at that time the Tribe of Iuda only whereof King Dauid came by lineal descent did acknowledge him as king Now the residue which before helde with Saules sonne did also incorporate and vnite themselues to the said kingdome If this man looke wel vpon the matter he shal find I trowe that the Queene of Scotland may as wel cal her selfe the bones and fleshe of the Noble Princes of England as this people cal them selues the bones and sheshe of King Dauid But yet the great terrible battering Cannon Athalia is behind She being in possessession of the kingdome seuen yeares was iustly thrust out by cause she was an Alien We may then saith this man iustly denie the Queene of Scotland the right of that which if she had in possession she should not iustly enioy Yet Sir if the Queene of Scotland be no Alien as we haue said then is your Cannon shot more feareful then dangerous We deny not but that Athalia was lawfully deposed but we beseche you to tell vs your Authours name that doth assigne the cause to be suche as you alleage Surely for my part after diligent searche I finde no such Authour Trueth is it that Iosephus writeth as ye doe that she descended by the mothers side of the Tyrians and Sidonians yet neuerthelesse he assigneth no such cause as ye doe And as ye are in this your preatie poisoned pamflet the first I trow of al Christian men I wil not except either Latin or Greke vnlesse it be some fantastical fonde and new vpstart Doctour as M. Knoxe or some the like neither Iew Chaldee nor Arabian that hath thus straungely glosed and deformed this place of holie Scripture against the ordinarie succession of women Princes so are you the first also of all other Diuines or Lawiers throughout the world that hath set forth this new fonde foolishe lawe that the Kings childe must be counted an Alien whose father and mother are not of the same and one CouÌ„trie If the French or Spanish King chaunce to marâ—e an English woman or the King of England to marie a French a Spanish or any other Country woman their Children by this new Lycurgus are Aliens and so consequently in al other Nations al such are haue ben and shal be AlieÌ„s by this your new oracle For what other cause shew you that this Athalia was an Alien but by cause her mother was an Alien genus duceÌ„s say you à Tyrijs Sydoâ—iis coming by lineal descent by the mothers side from the Tyrians and Sydonians King Achas maried her mother doughter to Ithobal King of the said Tyrians and Sydonians This Athalia whom Iosephus cal leth Gotholio Achas daughter maried IoraÌ„ King of uda her brother called also Ioram being king of Israel after the decease of his father Achas So then ye see that this Athalia was nomore an Alien among the Iewes then â—â—ing Edbalde Baldus was the sonne of Bertha a FreÌ„ch womaÌ„ and of King Ethelbertus the first Christian King of th' English nation no more then was the noble King Edward the third borne of a French woma â—more then Queene Marie was no more â—en should haue bene the issue of the said Q. Marie in case she had had any by the king â—f Spaine I perceaue that your felowes that â—ould faine make King Stephen King HeÌ„â—e the second and Arthur Neuew to King â—ichard the first Aliens had but rude dul â—nd grosse heades in comparison of
burge who therby inioyed the Countie Pâ—latine The like may be said of diuers othâ— partes of the Germanical Empire yea a wâ— maÌ„ hath ruled and gouerned the said who Empire as it is euident in Agnes the wiâ— of the Emperour Henry the third duriâ— the time of the minoritie of her sonne Hâ—rie the fourth And yet the same Empire ye wote wel passeth by choise and election and not by lineal succession of bloode yeâ— many hundereth yeares ere she was borne and in the florishing time of the olde Roâ—maine Empire Mesa Varia grandmother to the Emperour Heliogabalus and Alexander Seuerus sate with the Senate at Rome heard and examined the weighty causes oâ— the Empire and set her hand also to suche thiÌ„gs as passed touchiÌ„g the publike affaires I do now adioyne the kingdom of Sicile and Naples in Italie of the whiche Italie Noah whom the prophane Writers cal Ianus made Crana his daughter ruler and Quene wher also Lauinia reigned after the death of Aeneas And as for Naples this presideÌ„t of womanly Gouernment is not there only of later yeares in both the Queenes called Iohanne but euen from very auncient time which thing the stories do recorde in Amalasintha that gouerned after the death of her father King Theodoricus with her sonne Athalaricus The said Amalasintha was mother to Almaricus King of Spaine and after his death ruled her self the said Realme Let vs nowe adde farther the Dukedoms of Loraine and Mantua the kingdome of Swetia and Dania and of Noruegia whereof Margaret the daughter of Waldemarus was gouernesse and Quene the kingdom of Beame and of HuÌ„garie And to draw nere home the Realm also of ScotlaÌ„d which realm hath denomination of a woman as their stories report as hath likewise Flaunders The like some of our stories report of EnglaÌ„d wherin I wil make no fast footing Now touching the feminine Successâ— to the right of the Croune of England itâ— no new found Succession and much leâ— vnnatural We reade in our Chronicles Queene Cordel the thirde heire and daugâ—ter of King Leyre the teÌ„th King of Eritanâ— that restored her father to the kingdomâ— being deposed by her two other sisters Wâ— reade that about three hundered fifty anâ— fiue yeares before the Natiuitie of Christâ— Martia Proba during the nonage of heâ— sonne did gouerne this Realme ful politikâ—ly and wisely and established certaine laweâ— called Leges Martianae There be aswel of our owne as of exterternal historiographers that for a most certeinty affirme that Helena the noble Constantine his mother was a Britaine and the only daughter and heire of Coelus King of Britanie and that the said Constantine was borne in Britanie Surely that his father CoÌ„stantinus died in Britanie at Yorke and that the said Constantinus began his noble Victorious race of his most worthy Empire in Britany it is reported by auncient Writers and of great faith and credit And that likewise long before the said Helens time women bare the greatest sway both in warre â—nd peace and that the Britaine 's had womeÌ„ or their Capteines in warfare AmoÌ„g other Cornelius Tacitus writeth thus His atâ—e allis inuicem instructi Voadica generis regij â—mina Duce neque enim sexum in Impertis â—scernunt sumpsêre vniuersi bellum We haue now already shewed of Henry he seconde who obteined the Croune by â—he mothers right Which said King by the Title of his wife and after him his Succesâ—ours Kings of England did inioy the Dukeâ—omes of Aquitania and the Dukedome of Poiters as the said Kings Successour should â—aue done also as we haue shewed before the Dukedome of Britanie if Arthur King Richardes Neuew had not by the vsurping of King Iohn and his vnnatural crueltie died without issue And by what other right then by the womans inheritance dew to King Edward the third by his mother the Frenche Kings daughter doe the Kinges of this Realme beare the Armes and Title of the Kings of FraÌ„ce And though the FreÌ„ch men thinke their parte the better against vs it is not but vpoÌ„ an old politike law of their owne as they say and not vpon any suche fonde ground as ye pretende that women Regiment is vnnatural Which RegimeÌ„t ye stoutly affirme to bâ— farre a sunder from any natural RegimeÌ„t yeâ— truely as farre as was the boies head froÌ„ the shoulders the last Bartholmew Faire at LoÌ„don which many a poore foole did beleeue to be true For as the boies head remained stil vpon his necke and shoulders though iâ— seemed by a light liuely legerdemaine to be a great way from the bodie so would you now cast a mist before our eies and make vs beleue that womans gouernmeÌ„t and nature be so diuided and sundred that they may iâ— no wise be lincked and coupled together But surely the French nation was neuer so vnwise to thinke this kind of GouermeÌ„t repugnant to Nature or to Gods holy Word For then they would neuer haue suffered their Realme to haue ben so often gouerned and ruled by women in the time of the nonage or absence of their Kings As by Adela the mother of King Philip and by Blanche the mother of S. Lewis and by the wife of the late King Frauncis taken prisoner at Paura and by diuers others Neither should the said Adela and Blanche haue ben so coÌ„mended of their said noble and worthy rule and â—uernmeÌ„t The said FrenchmeÌ„ though by â—oliâ—ie they haue prouided to exclude foâ—iners from the inheritance of the Croune 〈◊〉 they themselues holde at this day by â—e womaÌ„s title and interest the Dukedom â—f Britanie with diuers other goodly posâ—ssions And we haue shewed before how â—ewis the Dolphin of France made a Title 〈◊〉 the Croune of this Realme in the right â—f his wife Thus I haue as I suppose sufficiently proued that this kinde of RegimeÌ„t 〈◊〉 not against Nature by the auncient and â—ontinual practise of Asia Aphrica and Euâ—â—pa For the perfecting of the whiche laste â—â—rte of Europa and of the whole three â—artes I ende with the notable Poet Virgils verses Filius huic fato Diuûm prolesque virilis Nulla fuit primaque oriens erepta iuuenta est Sola domum tantas seruabat filia sedes We knit vp therfore our conclusion against you after this sort That law and vsage caÌ„not be compted against the law of nature or ius GeÌ„tiuÌ„ which the most part of al couÌ„tries and one great or notable part of the whol world doth and hath vsed but this lawe or vsage is such Ergo it is not against the law of Nature The Maior nedeth no proufe and foâ— the proufe of the Minor we neede to imploy no farder labour then we haue already done Whervpon the consequeÌ„t must nedeâ— be inferred that this law or vsage doth weâ— agree and stand with the law of nature The reason thereof is that it