Selected quad for the lemma: land_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A44620
|
How the members of the Church of England ought to behave themselves under a Roman Catholic king with reference to the test and penal laws in a letter to a friend / by a member of the same church.
|
Member of the same church.
|
1687
(1687)
|
Wing H2961; ESTC R6451
|
60,453
|
228
|
the Church for the Common-weal and for the remedy disburthening and ease of them that be grieved yet this should not be prejudicial to him or to his Crown but that the Right which to him appertaineth should be saved Which Sir Edward Coke calls the Kings Right of his Crown and Prerogative It is declared by the Lords and Commons in full h Reâ—l Parliament 43 Ed. 3. No. 7. Parliament upon demand by the King That they would not assent to any thing in Parliament that tended to the disinhereson of the King and the Crown whereto they were sworn This makes the Chief i 4 Iuctiâ— 51. Justice censure as a great fault the omission in the printed Statute of 2 R. 2. in confirmation of Liberties these Words Saving to the King his Regality which are found in the Parliament k Roll. Parlam 2 R. 2. Stat. 2. cap. 4. Roll. A Lawyer l Davis Reports 86. of no small esteem saith The Commons of England have ever been exemplary for the tenderness of the Kings Honour and the maintenance of the Sovereignty But this was before they medled so much with Articles of Religion So in latter times 3º Car. 1. both Houses declared upon passing the Petition of Right that they have neither intention nor power to hurt the Kings Prerogatives Thus far as to the regard our Ancestors have had to the Royal Prerogative Now I shall in a few particulars shew the resolutions of the Judges in such Cases when Acts of Parliament have intrenched upon them In the 13th of m 4 Institu 42. How the Judges have resolved upon Acts of Parliament that Insringe the Preregative Richard the Second Stat. 2. cap. 1. it was enacted That no Charter of Pardon unless so and so qualified should be from thenceforth allowed by the Justices for Murther Treason or Rape and if it were otherwise the Charter to be disallowed Yet my Lord Coke saith This did not bind the King the granting of Pardon being the Kings Prerogative incident solely and inseperably to the Person of the King. The same Richard the Second bequeathed n Ibid. certain Treasuries to his Successor on condition to observe the Acts made the 21 Reg. This was held unjust and unlawful for that it restrained the Sovereign Liberty of the King his Successor And the same Reason saith a judicious o Majestas Intemorata Lawyer may serve to overthrow a Statute which shall unjustly and unlawfully restrain the same Sovereign Nor had saith he this bequest been of more strength had it been enacted by Parliament Injustice being Injustice and Vnlawfulness Vnlawfulness every where It was p Cokes Report 12. p. 14. enacted 23 H. 6. That no man should serve the King as Sheriff in any County above one year but the Grant should be void the person accepting it pay two hundred pound and it was expresly provided that the King by a non obstante should not dispence with it Yet it was agreed 2 H. 7. against the express provision of that Act That the King may by a special non obstante dispence with the Act because no Act could debar the King from the service of his Subjects which the Law of Nature did give unto him In the 37 H. 6. it was q Ibid. p. 18. enacted That none should be Justice of Assize c. in the County where he was born or did inhabit Yet saith the same judicious Lawyer the King with a special non obstante may dispence with it and gives the reason for that it belongs to the inseperable Prerogative of the King viz. his power to command to serve The same r Ibid. p. 18. Lord Chief Justice in the same report is more express and as full as if he had foreseen this present Case of ours where he affirms That no Act can bind the King from any Prerogative which is sole and inseperable to his person but that he may dispence with it by a non obstante and instanceth in the Sovereign Power to command any of his Subjects to serve him for the Public Weal For this saith he is solely and inseperably annexed to his Person and this Royal Power cannot be restrained continues he neither in Thesi nor Hypothesi but that the King by his Royal Prerogative may dispence with it For all which he gives this most unanswerable reason because upon the Commandment of the King and Obedience of the Subject doth the Government subsist I might add very many more Authorities as Edw. the Thirds repealing an Act of Parliament by Proclamation as consented to upon necessity But I shall leave that to those whose Province it is and close this Head with one Observation We are all commendably and justly tender of the preserving the Liberties and Enfranchisments we enjoy by the gracious Condescentions of our Princes and are vigorous maintainers of our Properties and ought we not to own that there is as good reason that the Kings of England should be as solicitous to preserve their Prerogatives which are their right For as a most judicious Å¿ Quicquid in Regalibus est Ita est Principibus privatum ut Subditis quod suum est Selden prefat Mare Clausum Antiquary and Lawyer expresseth Whatsoever belongs to the Kings Royalty he hath as much Propriety in it as the Subject hath in any thing that is his We must likewise consider that the King is as much sworn to preserve the Right of his Crown as the Liberties of the People Therefore we find that branch in t Majestatis Intemerata some Coronation Oaths that the King swears he shall keep all the Lands Honours and Dignities of the Crown righteous and free in all manner whole without any manner of minishment And the rights of the Crown hurt decay or lost to his power shall call again into the Ancient Estate Therefore my Lord u 12 Rep. 18 Coke praiseth King Henry the Second in that he was a great Defender and Maintainer of the Rights of the Crown Inferences from the premises Having dispatched these Heads I now come to the application of them to the Test which as the Case now is and ever will be so long as it stands unrepealed deprives the King of the Allegiance of such of his Subjects as either Conscientiously or Designedly refuse the taking of the Oaths and affirming the Declaration enjoyned The Inconveniency of which is double First In robbing the King of so necessary and fundamental a Right over his Subjects in commanding them to serve him in Offices Military and Civil without which he is but a very Impotent Sovereign and cannot exert that necessary Justice of Protecting Rewarding and Imploying his Subjects which surely is not only much to the dishonour of the Sovereign but an unsufferable restraint And if w 31 Eliz. c. 4. Imbezelling Purloyning and Conveying away the Arms Ordnance Munition Shot Powder Habiliments of War c. is declared Fellony what sort of Crime
us all with Admiration and Joy. It will I doubt not be readily owned that his Majesty is indowed with as large a portion of those Royal and Princely Virtues which signalize great Monarchs and render them conspicuous as any Prince that hath governed these Realms for many years And without flattery we cannot but admire his Courage Resolution and Promptness of Mind Activeness delight in Business thorough inspection into his Affairs with such a peculiar sweetness and benignity of temper as singly are of great value in Crowned Heads much more when to such a degree and lustre they are mingled with Justice Honour Fortitude Temperance and other Heroick Virtues in a Constellation so that even those who most passionately wish him the Delight and Darling as well as Glory of his People can superadd nothing to their wishes but that he were of their Religion But in the Judgment of Roman Catholics he finds not only an esteem due to the accumulation of his illustrious Virtues but is inriched with a Ray more by the profession of his Religion Those who are blessed Auditors of his familiar Discourses admire the serenity of his Humor few Mortals being less clouded or shaken with any storm of passion Those are witnesses how he imploys his dressing time in enquiries after what is remarkable in remotest Countries whether they relate to Government Peace or War Situation and Fortifications of places correspondencies one with another Customs and Usages Disposition of the people and their Commodities and of Traffick or the personal Virtues and Accomplishments of great Men The Inventers of useful Arts especially such as respect Military Discipline Navigation and Traffick mingling his own choice Observations which render all his Discourses pleasing yea sometimes surprising and always profitable and instructive Never was any Princes Court freer from debauchery and more orderly in the â—â—â—posal of all Officers in it from whence the Sovereign Master's solid Rules and exemplariness are notably discover'd The Diligent Virtuous Sober Ingenious and Loyal are received without censure of their Religion The Sloathful Turbulent Factious Debauched and Irreligious are as much discouraged as is most manifest by bis severe charges against Swearing and Drunkenness c. Pass we thence to his Chappel we cannot but observe with some astonishment how his public Devotions are performed with a serious Attention and a Fervour and Zeal equal to those that officiate at the Altar When we consider the management of his Revenues by his own peculiar Wisdom and Direction we cannot but be amazed at that vast Capacity which those bred to the Imployment cannot equal no more than they can that inspection into all the Officies of his great Empire the Uses and Abuses of which are as well known to him as any Nobleman knows his Surveys Rentals and Offices what a Fatigue would this give to the ablest of his Subjects to order some few particulars of these Matters much more to superintend the whole as he doth Did we survey the wonderful increase of stores he hath made for all sorts of Munitions both for Land and Sea we should think he imployed his Care and a great part of his Revenues in nothing else But when we attend him to his Camp and Navies we find a new Charge a new Care. His Majesties extraordinary Diligence and Skill in disciplining his Army and the perfection he hath brought it to in one year will be as incredible to after Ages as it is the wonder of this It is the observation of some that have seen other Princes Troops that considering their number they exceed all others not only in the richness of the Clothes of the Officers and the Guards the neatness of the Common Soldiers the goodness of their Arms the sightliness of the Men and Horses the order of the Camp but in the Skill in all their Exercises their readiness to observe Orders and the Civility and Morals of them being free from those Debaucheries which effeminate and unfit Soldiers for Valor and Vigilance And no Prince can take more effectual ways by due and constant pay and provision of all things necessary to oblige his Troops to Fidelity and Courage Skill and Resolution than his Majesty doth so that his Camp is not only accomplished in Military Matters but is a nursery of good Education It being his Majesties special Command that the Soldiers so behave themselves in the Country that they may not only be regarded as his Servants wearing his Livery but as their Guard and the security of their peace and quiet So that none can justly repine at their numbers but such as would be glad to see him destitute of any force that might hinder their Contrivances against his Government We have already seen his Majesties Troops and we now find with how great eare and diligence he is equipping his Fleet which we may be sure will be answerable to the service he intends them for and proportionable to that Method and Order of his Land Forces and then no doubt it will exceed what former Ages have known when they are fitted by so great and magnanimous a Prince that hath so long been Lord High Admiral himself These things have millions of Witnesses But who can divine the Royal Solicitude and Care and those wise Contrivances for the good of his people which are the effects of his retired hours in his Closet There where he revolves in his Great Mind how to order all the Instruments of his Power to set all the Wheels of this great Machin on work to consider who are fitted for every distinct undertaking how to allott the thinking grave and wise the contriving part And the bold and obedient the executive part of his Affairs There he ruminates of his Councellors Wisdom and Address and what is fit to be communicated to them Here he consults the safety preservation and wealth of his Subjects how to make all of Loyal Principles tho of different perswasions in Religion live at ease and freedom Here he studies to obviate the designs of the Factious and Seditious which give greatest disquiet to the otherwise flourishing Reigns of Princes To reward advance and honour those who do him the acceptablest Services Here he bears the Burthen of his Kingdoms alone revolves the fate of other Empires and resoves the Model of his own May the Divine Wisdom inspire his Royal Breast here and in all places to follow such Methods as may make his People truly Reverence Love and dutifully Obey him whereby not only his Reign may be prosperous and peaceable but our Posterity may find the good effects of his Government Were his Majesties Character as well known through all his Dominions as it is to those nearest to him however imperfectly I have described it I should not think it possible that any could entertain such Umbrages of fear of his Conduct since we may be assured so wise and extraordinarily qualified a Prince will attentively consider how his own ease and felicity is involved in