ends ordained and appointed to them according to the ancient Ordinances Customes and Constitutions of our Fore-fathers the laws of this Nation Hence because men know not these things are the many and several thwartings contradictions gainsayings and oppositions amongst us former and late acts done and committed in Parliament thwarting contradicting nay destroying the Peoples nay even their own foundation and being Officers and Ministers of the Common-wealth not knowing where they be how or what they are nor what they do but each almost thwarting and contradicting other and they all almost as Lords and masters over the people thwart contradict and destroy the people in their liberties the people they also thwarting contradicting ready to rise up against them well knowing them to be but their servants their Officers and Ministers in by and under the law and so bound neither to do nor execute any of the orders or commands of any against or besides the same the ancient known laws of the Land which they as Officers are more especially and particularly bound by oath unto the exact and true observance and execution of those and chose only and those in all things in all times in reference unto all men they being their onely and alone rule and guide and so therein and thereby are they bound and obliged to keep preserve the peace of the Commonwealth from being violated by any or the common or commune peace or the peace of this Community inviolate which cannot be done but by keeping its laws the common or commune laws inviolate for every breach and violation of its laws is and needs must be a breach and violation of its peace and there is not neither can there be any violation or breach of its peace but in or by the breach and violation of its laws As it is in the naturall body so it is here also so long as there is no breach or violation made upon the laws of Nature in the body there is not not can there be any breach in the peace of the body but when once there is a breach and violation made upon the laws thereof there is then also and needs must be a violation and breach of the peace thereof for they are such or so an one or union as that the one inseparably is in with and by the other nay the one is the other and the one is not nor possibly can be without the other Yea all and every one of us are bound and tied not only to keep preserve secure and maintain the peace in our own persons in reference to our selves but also the joint common or commune peace of the whole in respect to all and every one against all and every one who shall evidently and clearly break or attempt to break the same for so doth each and every particuler member of the naturall body being tied and bound thereunto by the law of its Nature carefully and diligently to look to the preservation as of the whole so of each particular according to the ordinances thereof in reference to the whole the loss or detriment of any part being a loss and detriment to the whole and every part Yet still in a due way and course of law Wherefore all and every violent act and acts according to the extent measure and degree thereof by any done and executed contrary to against besides or without a true ground and warrant in law upon any particular person or persons is rightly and truely called and determined in our law to be a breach of the publick common or commune peace because it is a breach of the common or commune law that law which is in common to them all to keep them all and every one in perfect peace and security from and against the force and violence of all and every one Hence in case I meet a man that hath murdered my Father Friend or Brother yet may I not my self or any others lay violent hands on him should I and so wilfully take away his life I make my self a murtherer and must and ought to dy for it why not because the man ought not to have suffered death but because I had no power authority or right by law to do it my act therein being contrary to against and besides the Law I become a breaker of the Law and a murtherer in taking away his life without due course of law and so must and truly ought to suffer death by the law And so againe if any man strike me I may not strike him again for that is a breach of the peace because it is a breach of the Law which allows no man to avenge or revenge himself or to extort satisfaction from any in any violent forceable way and manner which all and every act acts are and so accounted and adjudged by our law which are not done and executed in the way and manner the Law hath ordained and appointed Yet bindeth it no man from defending himself yet there also for any act or acts committed therein by any in so defending himself he is not free until in a due course of law the law hath made him free Our Fore-fathers were very strict and exact as to the way in all things wherein appeared their admirable great and exceeding high and deep wisdome very much to be admired and most worthily to be esteemed and honour'd of us all wonderfully careful to set keep preserve and maintain every thing in its right place in its due order unto its proper use and end truely and justly balancing all things giving every thing its true weight and measure bounding and limiting the same the only way and means to preserve keep maintain and secure peace rest quietness and tranquillity As in the natural body when any thing is out of joynt out of its right and proper place and when and where there is exorbitances and excesses there is and needs must be restlesness disquiet pain and trouble in and unto the whole and each and every particular part thereof in its measure and if not timely restored and reduced will and of necessity must bring a total ruine and destruction to the whole and each and every particular part thereof and as it is in the natural so must and will it be in the civil for they answer each other as in a glass face answereth face What I formerly asserted in my late Treatise before spoken of that Parliaments might not change or alter the Ordinances Customs and Constitutions of our fore-fathers the ancient Fundamental Laws of this Nation nor do any thing tending thereunto Is now I hope plain and evident unto all and undeniable by any And although what I therein layd down to considerate men was enough yet being already as to this Discourse become so much a fool for the sake of others I shall make a little further progress and give you these following Arguments and by the way consider from the fifth Command and the case of the Rechabites by
the breach thereof ought to be attached secured tryed judged and punished according thereunto for so doing he having power therein or in such case and cases to raise the power force and strength of the County if need be each and every man in each and every County respectively being bound and obliged upon his command and require to aide and assist their respective Sheriffs therein also with the hazard of their lives against any to all who shall oppose the same without distinction of persons offices or places even against the King himself when the Nation had a King This was the onely very true ground and cause of our taking up Armes at first the General being but as high Sheriff of the nation to bring those who by force of arms kept themselves â—â—om the judgement and execution of the Law when they had broken and violated the same the peoples liberties and freedoms therein and so the common or Commonwealths peace which every one so far and so much doth as he violates and breaks the laws thereof And I do confess that it was upon this ground and this ground onely that I took commission and accordingly ingaged A little farther You have had proved unto you that all the Kings of England were before their admittance into that office or place sworn duely and truely to observe keep and maintaine the Ordinances Customs and constitutions of our forefathers the ancient fundamental Laws of this Nation inviolate or the laws customs and constitutions of our ancestors as the old records call them I chuse rather to call them by the name of our fathers that because we are commanded by God to honor and obey our fathers They were also sworn to confirm all such other JUST Laws as the Commons or the people should chuse it's all all one but they must be JUST else was not the King bound to confirme them nor none else to keep or observe them but to loath derest discard cast and throw away such laws though made by the best of Parliaments if they be found dissonant against or contrary unto the antient fundamental laws principles customs and constitutions of this Commonwealth in and by which the very real and true freedome and liberty and so the peace and quiet of all every one therein is fully perfectly and intirely kept preserved and maintained even as Nature doth in the natural body that which is against contrary and destructive to the fundamental laws and principles thereof it loaths detests casts up and throws out because it is destructive to its peace and rest to its being and so the cause of death For which cause that no such thing or things might be made or done to the annoyance and disturbance of the peoples peace and being did all the antient Judges in the law as we call them attend the Parliament to advise them therein keep and preserve them therefrom So that it appears there ever was is and of necessity must be a rule measure or standard by and according unto which must all occasional statutes or by-laws as they are called proces and proceedings in or by Parliaments be exactly and perfectly made and done as there is or should be in and unto all things else It becometh not wise men and men in councel to run hand over head as we use to speak to do things and make laws at hap-hazard if they intend their observation and execution it is a shame to see what Ordinances and Acts of Parliament as they are called have been lately published few or none whereof will be found to hold weight and measure To think that Acts of Parliament must therefore be observed and performed and executed because they are Acts of Parliament is most ridiculous for Parliaments may make Acts by which they may make sale give seisin and possession of the people of the land and the land it self unto themselves and some forraign State were this to be observed done or executed think we because it is an Act of Parliament The Parliament declared otherwise of King Johns Act to the Pope when he sold the Kingdome unto him No all such Acts as is before said are void and null in themselves be they made by Parliaments or any other whomsoever as every unjust Act and thing whatsoever is and may not be observed except to be shunned and avoided performed or executed by any whomsoever This was the end I say of those knowing and experienced men in the Laws and Constitutions of this Nation attending there that so there might not be any cause or occasion of disorder or breach of peace which such Laws and proceedings have often occasioned which Rule or Standard is and of necessity must be JUST the just and true freedoms and liberties of the people which is undeniable by any to be as perfectly free as God and Nature hath made them and how free that is I have shewed you before or as an English King said he desired to make them and leave them as free as their owne thoughts Or thus that no man or men whomsoever may bear rule have any power or dominion over them or theirs without their owne consent election and choice to which the laws of God of Nature and of this Land agree beare witness command ordaine or appoint Or thus that nothing be done offered or attempted to be done but as we would should be done unto us Would any of us that any man should without against or contrary to our owne consent put impose or force a Master over us and upon us or if a Master That any should put impose or force a Servant upon us as aforesaid would we that any man or men whomsoever should take us up in the streets and carry us away it may be from our Wives and Children and compel us to fight besides against nay contrary to our minde and will I tell you it is a very great wickedness and a wickedness which God will severely judge So would we that any man or men whomsoever should without our consent take away our estate by or under any pretence whatever without our consents Every man in England will certainly say No and nothing is more contrary to the laws of England then thus doing nor any thing accounted a greater breach of the Peoples liberties and in truth it puts them in a worse condition then were Villains in the times villanage But to require absolute obedience without limitation wereharder much and more unreasonable and unjust then that contract tendered by Nahash that they should be protected by him on condition they would put out their right eyes He was content to leave them one to see withall absolute obedience leaves us neither but strips us quite of all and makes us beasts not men which we may not yeeld unto any no for the sake of any man or men whomsoever Let us a little consider the case of Villanage as it was once in this Land My Author hath it thus in his 14
and things much differing from me all the enmities hatreds strifes contentions which are or possibly can be arising onely as I have already shewed from those excesses or exorbitancies from that intensness of the minde or violent impetuous eager operatings restless workings of the spirit in men or things for or after mastery or predominancie and that upon a great mistake which I may not speak to now of having or bearing the rule or sway which when Wisdom enters that ceases This is so plain and clear as I know nothing more and yet we see it not it is our haste We see it as I said before in those things we call Contraries as in Fire and Water the one hot and dry the other cold and moist the one feminine the other masculine or I had rather say the one more hot and dry and so more masculine the other more cold and moist and so more feminine for they are in and with each other confist and subsist by each other and cannot possibly be without each other yet I say we see these Contraries so colled readily joyn and unite embrance and kiss each other when and where this intenseness ceases Yet a little further where this intenseness or violent working of the spirit in any man or thing is though it be in the self-same things there appears the same if not much greater enmity then in those we cal contraries we see it thus un things of one the very self-same nature temper and constitution as in men and beasts and all things else when the spirit of them is excited stirred up and moved as before So that hence onely comes the enmity let it be considered It is enough I hope not too much Hence it is written Thou shalt not covet and that which hath enough within it self in reference to it self cares but little for any more In weight and measure in time and season is all things which who knows but he that is in them It is enough and it is for England's sake that I have written what I have written to me either this or that any thing or nothing it matters not for your sakes whose peace and happiness without respect of persons is heartily desired by Gentlemen Your upright faithful friend and servant in love to be commanded Robert Norwood Since my writing hereof I met with a Book intituled The first Addresses to his Excellencie the Lond General c. by John Spittlehouse c. BY which I perceive the Gentleman hath taken â—otice of a Book I lately published and called Englands Centre and Foundation of Peace and Rest and that he is at some things therein offended In his 18 page towards the later end he hath these words And â—â—â—â—â—fore according to Captain Norwood ' s rule though 〈◊〉 contrary to his opinion in that he claimeth the aforesaid Lâ—â—â—… of corrupt Reason as his Fathers patrimony and there setteth an invaluable esteem upon them in his late Book In his 19 page he tells them that they are 〈◊〉 duty and service to propagate the Laws he offers and to annihilate the other which Captain Norwood would so gladly have preserved bidding defiance even unto God himself to alter them in a most impious manner whereas there is not one text of Scripture that giveth liberty either to adde or diminish from the aforesaid Laws or any wise to alter them I will in this thing and onely in this thing and onely for this once shew the Gentleman the fruits of his rashness He tells you that What he proposes may not be altered none may adde ought to it or take ought from it and that because as he saith they were given by God We will not blot too much paper nor run after butterflyes that 's sport for boys and not work for men there is too much of it every day But in brief thus He saith God is his Father and I do believe him to be mine also And then he saith that every believer is of Abrahams seed Then must Abraham needs be every believers father wherefore until he do prove me an infidel and childe of the devil what I have written stands must stand to be confirmed by all who come after unalterable and unchangeable by any Kings or Parliaments yea or by God himself He may not then blame me for laying claim to and setting so high an esteem of their Laws but blame himself for thus confounding himself calling the Laws of God my Father the Laws of Corrupt Reason Consider by what you have seen and heard from whom or from whence I came or did proceed Understand you this same thing ponder on it a little it is written An evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit nor can a corrupt or pudled fountain send forth pure clean and uncorrupted streams This were enough for answer but I will give you a little more Is there the least similitude of such a thing therein as my laying claim to Corrupt Laws or the Laws of Corrupt Reason Can you possibly collect such a Premise from which you can tenter and strain such a Conclusion Say I not that very few of the Statute laws or By laws but are disagreeing and contrary to our fore-fathers Laws and are therefore null in themselves and not to be executed It was too hastie and inconsiderate a charge Or do I as you say Defie God You are apt to mistakes I call on him to justifie bear witness and give testimony to or of his own Commands as the Rechabites did he hath commanded us to honour and obey our fathers and he doth often prove his children whether they will be obedient and stand fast in their obedience as he did the Rechabites and others and such who have and shall stand fast and continue to the end shall certainly have the Crown bear and wear the Garland Can God change or deny himself No he cannot and if he should by Prophet by Dream Voice or Vision give a contrary Command I will still say I will not believe it nor do it for what in it self in its own nature essence and being is just right and true is ever and always so is as God himself is and remaineth so to all eternity It is too much but I have done it for your sake Yet a little further What if the Laws I call for prove to be the most just the most righteous the most equitable and the most merciful in the whole world who then think you will be found the Father of them I have and do assert and aver them so to be and that my assertion and averment must stand with you and all men until your self or some other prove them otherwise I give your friend also this counsel that he well consider what he doth and that he make not too much haste left he repent himself likewise for assuredly you know not either from what to what nor yet by what mean you go or move or at least would go and move which it becomes every wise man to know before he begin his motion Were not the Jews corrupt extreme corrupt above any people under heaven as the Scriptures restifie Were therefore the Laws of their fore-fathers so And if any had in those corrupt times called for their fore-fathers Laws would it have been said he called for corrupt laws or the laws of corrupt reason It is enough Do I call mine The centre and foundation of Englands peace and rest And is it not so Verily it is and must and will be found and made so if ever England come to be setled in peace and rest Therefore I say again unto all and every one Look well upon it and into it and what I have written I have written By the way know that the punishment of Theft by death with many other of the like nature are none of our forefathers Laws it was not so in the beginning as I could prove but introduced by another hand way as I could shew also no more to be esteemed ours then the Idolatry of the Israelites set up countenanced and maintained by a Law could be said to be the Law of Israel nor the oppressions and injustice done and committed amongst us be any more attributed to our forefathers Laws then the putting to death of Naboth other wickednesses and oppressions done and committed by their Kings and Rulers could be attributed to their Laws And so my good friend Farewel Capt. Robert Norwood FINIS
and Governour of all things and that because it and it onely carries guides directs and governs all things with ease peace quiet and safety in their proper true just and right way unto their proper true just and right ends therefore as in the great world God the Creator of all things hath ordained and appointed set up and made visible a certain constant fixed light for the rule and governance thereof and all things therein so also hath he in every Microcosme of the same according to the nature use and end each thing is by him appointed to Were it not so and so much and so far as it is not so even so much and so far there is and of necessity must be confusion darkness and death in and unto each and every created thing as is evidently to be seen day by day as when the Sun is clouded eclipsed and goeth down as we call it Man he also so much so far as he is brought forth after or rises up in and with his Image the Image and likeness of God even so much and so far doth he make and create his things in the very self-same Image and likeness of which you shall finde more and more plainly in the forementioned Treatise It is absolutely necessary therefore that to the right easie safe quiet peaceable secure ordering ruling and governing of a Common or Commune weal for so it was in the beginning it is an old word and it is a good word that there be a common or commune Law ours is so and so called a law equally common unto all men or a law in which each and every one hath a like and the same common or commune right and propriety and from or by which all and every one are to have a like justice and equity done them without any the least respect to any kinde sort or degree of Persons whatsoever else it loseth both its use name and end it is the same for rule government guidance and direction the same for safety security and protection and alike the same unto all and every one and alike the same against all and every one who shall any wise by any means in any kinde violate infringe and break the same It is necessary therefore that this Law be fixed certain constant and unchangeably one and the same as it is in the great light which God hath set in the great world to direct guide and governe us in and unto all things otherwise so much and so far as it is not so so far and so much doth and of necessity must disorder darkness confusion and death overtake fall and seise upon each and every one of us and this hath been and is our case and condition in England at this day England or the Englishmens Law be it known unto all the Nations Kingdomes and Peoples in Heaven and in Earth is this as you shall finde it was in King Ethelrees Parliament enacted That each man should do as he would be done unto which it calleth the most right Law and that the higher and greater men the Delinquents therein and breakers thereof were by so much the more and heavier they should be punished Upon which Law of Lawes are our Lawes firmly founded both as they are in themselves and in their whole administration also which had I time I could prove and particularly manifest that is their only and alone Basis and Foundation upon which they stand and center in That in all things they carry along with them in their very essence and being yea in their very face and foreheads upon that as upon their true hinge they hang winde and turn in all things at all times in reference unto all men That Parliament hath it farther thus that Efferatur consilium quod populo habeatur utilissimum and again In rem totius patriae It would be too tedious to shew how often by whom at what time and upon what occasions they have been interrupted and both we and our laws invaded trespassed and trampled upon ever by such who have gone forth from or out of the union into exorbitancie and excess breaking the limit which nature the God of nature and our Laws had given and set unto them wherein as is plainly to be seen in our Histories they have constanly broken undone ruined and destroyed themselves and theirs and at what times by what men and means in part redeemed restored and recovered again and therewith how much of our fore Fathers blood it hath cost yet never did nor ever could any whomsoever by all their indeavours policies and force they could use work its extirpation in the least but the next generation of those who have invaded our Land have agreed and consented with us in them and stood with us to maintain them yea the very Invaders themselves as I shall shew anon onely they they thought them too straight and strict as unto themselves in reference to that state of Supremacy wherein through the ambitiousness irregularity and exorbitancy of their minde they desired to stand have therefore caused and procured the making of some Acts Statutes or by-Laws as they are called and those through the corruption of the Ministers thereof put in execution also and so a many undue unjust and irregular Proces and proceedings judgements and executions have been had made and done upon the same although nothing be better and more certainly known unto the Students Practitioners and Ministers of the Law then that all Acts of Parliament whatsoever having not their foundation plain and visible in our common Law are in themselves voyd and null and ought not upon the highest penalties be put in execution and how often it hath been so adjudged that Affirmative Statutes do not annul the common Law and that one may prescribe against a Statute negative in affirmation of the common Law for which the comments on Littletons Burgage Yet I say nevery did nor never could any whomsoever extirpate the same for the root thereof is too strong in nature to be rooted out vanquished or destroyed and strongly and deeply rooted even from Heaven it self in the hearts of Englishmen It that is the true English Law being the most just the most equitable the most righteous and the most merciful Law in the whole world and that in the whole process and administration thereof also The Laws of England or the Englishmens Laws even the Laws of our fore-fathers of whom Nennius confesseth that the British Annales had the descent of their Brute or Britto from Jâ—phet obtaining Europe with the British Isles for his portion of which Noahs will in Eusebius whose genealogy through 20 descents to Noah and Adam he saith he had from the traditions of those that lived here in the first times of the Brittons And why may it not be so our laws speak their original from the first and purest of times long before Nimrods erection of his Babel For Strabo speaking of the ancient Brittons saith that
for a long time divers of them abhorred the very name of a King and when they had a King the Crown passed by Election and that Ambiorix one of their Kings acknowledged that he had or should have no more power over his people then they had over him Certainly they had their original from their rise being and beginning with the purest laws of nature in the first and purest times such is their excellency splendor and purity they giving unto every free-borne Englishman as much as God and nature that I may speak with reverence may or can give the same liberty safety priviledge and protection do they give unto all and every one living in England Gentlemen you have seen how that God hath in all things given unto man in the very law of his nature essence and being the whole and sole power rule dominion and government of and over himself perfectly entirely in and unto himself so that he hath and is and of necessity must have and be according to the Law of his Creation King Priest and Prophet in and of himself in reference to himself which as is said before none may assume usurp or-exercise over him nor may he suffer it from nor give it up unto any other whomsoever upon the greatest heaviest and sorest punishments that can be inflicted Hence it is the Laws of our forefathers and now our Laws by and through them have so wonderfully carefully exactly and strongly provided and fortified us in this case that it seems and appears to be their utmost and onely end to keep protect secure and maintain each and every one herein from all and every one that should offer or attempt any breach or violation thereof by assuming usurping and exercising any power right and authority thereunto and so break and violate the Law of mans nature and therein become a most grievous and great transgressor both against God and Man Hence it makes every mans house his Castle which may not by any man be entered without his consent except in one case and that extraordinary and that also in a known open and legal way after entrance damanded and the parties refusal Yet deny they not in any case whatsoever any man or men whomsoever to take receive use and enjoy the help aid or assistance of any man or men whomsoever himself judgeth necessary fit and convenient thereunto provided that he injure molest or trouble not his neighbour but that he in all things do as he would be done unto according to the Law and that he do not that unto another which he would not that another should do unto him which if he break and complaint thereof be made then or in such case onely doth or can the Law take cognizance the examination tryal and judgement in case he be found guilty being altogether by his Neighbours and those of his own chusing For every Officer and Minister of Justice whom or whatsoever by the Laws of this Nation are to be freely chosen by the Neighbourhood where they are to officiate and administer It tyeth no man to complain loth to finde any offender very pitiful and merciful to offenders as is to be seen in cases of life and death none may be judges therein who are exercised in any measure in the shedding of blood as Souldiers Chirurgeons Butchers and the like And if he have none such impanelled for his Jury yet may he if he see cause except against any other whom he may judge not his very true and real friends to the number of Five and thirty And indeed there will be found little or no use or need at all for any Laws but to keep preserve secure and protect Mankinde herein and from the violence and oppression thereof or of such men therefore were they in the beginning but few very few and those but short very short The care wisdom and providence of our forefathers lay as much that I say not more in securing the way and manner of attaching trying judging and executing those judgments from injury injustice violence and oppression in the several proces and proceedings they are to make therein as it did to secure the end and there is or should be in all things as much fear of losing and as much care of keeping the true right and just Way as of the End for the Way secures the End the keeping whereof attains the End the losing whereof loses or at least extremely endangers the End And the party accused if found an offender may suffer manifold much more in the way of his Attaching Trying Judging and Executing then in the Judgement and Execution it self and thereby is the Law extremely violated and much injustice done It is noted by Bede who observing how Religion was preached both to King and Counts omnibus Comitibus saith that there was a license granted for publike Preaching but when the King and divers great men were converted and baptized yet there was no force used to compel others to be of that Religion because saith he they were taught that Christs service must be voluntary and not forced And verily God himself who is the Creator Governour and Ruler of all things yet forceth he not nor compelleth he any thing no not unto the best good beyond its present light power and strength for so much and so far as any doth even so much and so far doth he very extremely wrong injure and oppress the same As suppose I finde a Lamb strayed from its pasture weak and almost starved for the want of it I pity it and would preserve it but should I now hurry and drive this Lamb beyond its strength I might destroy it before it come there Or suppose a dark-sighted man were to pass a deep water over or by mean of an extreme narrow bridge if I should now hurry and force him along and not give him time and leasure to finde the bridge or when he is upon it compel him faster then his sight and feet can finde the foundation I might endanger his drowning We may our selves and also cause others to make such haste as that we may endanger not onely the loss of our Way but our End also or if we do attain our End our haste may make us altogether unable to rest there Much less doth he force or compel any thing contrary unto above beyond or besides the law of its Nature nor requires he of any more then he hath given or in any other way or unto any other end then he hath appointed and hath made man himself judge thereof And verily had not God given and set up in and unto man a Law in and unto himself he could not charge accuse judge or condemn man for as the Scripture saith where there is no Law there is no Transgressdon and the Law written in Tables is no more nor no other then the Law of God in Nature by him set given and appointed in its Creation for God changeth not but is immutable in all
his ways and works but man he changeth degenerateth and falleth in himself from himself by going forth out of himself unto other Gods bowing falling down unto fearing serving and worshipping them whereas man as he was made so should he stand remain and continue perfectly upright in and unto himself Wherefore it is written that the Gentiles who have not the Law yet do by nature the things contained in the Law they having not the written Law in Tables of stone are a law unto themselves which shew the effects of the Law written in their hearts or that the Law hath its original ground in nature as the efficient cause thereof their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts accusing or excusing one another Religion or the true and real Service and Worship of God lies not in Forms but in Essentialities yet I say not that true Forms are to be despised or forsaken for nothing is without its true form Verily I was never so much afraid of any sort of men as those who come so much clothed with the name of God and Religion and I profess before heaven and earth they are generally the most dangerous and deceitful men in the whole world and were so from the beginning O these zealous men undo us all Look into the Old Testament there you shall finde still how these men of God as they are called have still caused the people to erre Aaron their first High-priest no sooner was Moses absent but he makes them a molten calf The Kings Priests and Prophets all along are the men chiefly complained of by the Lord who led and drew away the hearts of the people from the Lord. You shall finde the same in the New Testament and all along since to this day but these here in our days excel herein all that ever went before them you shall have nothing almost in their mouthes but God and all for God and the Godly Party when as the Lord lives they know little or nothing of him I tell you God is certainly a most stable fixed just righteous constant upright and faithful being yea and he is most merciful also all which you might easily see and that every day but that you do and will shut your eyes against the Sun which shines upon the good and upon the bad nor indeed can it very hardly I might say possibly and prove it too but that I hasten be otherwise whilst Kings and Priests claim a right power priviledge and prerogative from God thereunto distinct from and above other men as being better more excellent or more holy then they Wherefore it was not without good ground that the Kings of Judah even of Judah who of all that ever I heard or read of might claim to be immediately from God and so plead exemption from Man's either Judgement or Choice yet they even those of the house of David in special were to be judged as well as to judge which is clear as my Author cited a little after hath it in their Sanhedrin Melec and other parts of their Talmud and that not onely before they were crowned for the Crown was not so intayled on the next heir male or others of that family but that their great Sanhedrin was always to judge and determine whether any such Heir was fit for the Crown both in regard of his Knowledge and of his Vertue And after Coronation also the King of Judah of the house of David was by their Law to be judged and to submit to Corporal punishment by stripes or some other way I and that for such things as to some may seem but small defaults as for multiplying of wives horses or chariots and for using or abusing money beyond the mean and rule prescribed by Law The Jews High-priest a very sacred person and the Lords Anointed also but yet such as must still submit to the Sentence of the great Sanhedrin nay and that for his life also if they so adjudged him for which and for that said before of the Sanhedrin's power over the Jewish King in Criminals and in War I might cite divers clear passages from the Talmud and those that expound it long before Cochius on Sanhedrin or Schickard's Jus Regium Thus sayth my Author And perhaps that Commonwealth had continued longer and much better in more glory a more stable and setled condition had this their Discipline been fully and constantly maintained faithfully duely and truely executed for as is said before you shall always finde their Kings and Priests leading the people into errours and all prophaness and wickedness The ground of their desire to have a King being as the Scripture tells us that they might have one to go in and out before them to fight their battels a Captain-General plain and clear and no other whom they would have a constant certain fixed Officer whenas God would onely as just occasion should be given or offered then onely should be one chosen and appointed as it was here amongst the ancient Brittons in the beginning But say the people of Israel Let us have a King like all the nations about us and they were their Leaders and Conductors in their Wars But yet they are and must be thus bound and limited as you see and nothing better for them and for the Commonwealth then that it should so be for that nothing is more apt to exceed its bounds then is Mars and Martial men fire of which Martial men participate much is a very great Tyrant except very well tempered ordered allayed or qualified it ceases not until it have eaten up and devoured all that stands before it nor makes it neither can it make any difference yet in its due place to its right use and end is as all other things are excellent good We have it promised us by the Lord that there shall be no more need of teaching one another but that all shall be taught of him and the knowledge of him shall cover the earth as the waters do the sea And verily my soul earnestly prays bows and begs for this thing so shall rest and peace be unto the inhabitants of the earth and great will be the joy thereof O that man did but know and would but be himself he would not then give his glory his honor his dignity unto any King or Priest any man or men whomsoever England hath not yet done it hath not yet given its glory honor and dignity unto any whomsoever whatever some private and particular men may have done it hath not bowed down its head to cause it to serve other Gods as the Israelites did of whom God saith as it is written that they made him to serve continually unto their Idols the head of every man as it is written is God therefore hath God scattered them upon the face of the earth made them to be servants and to serve in and unto all Nations yet doth the time of their restitution draw near Which that England hath
not yet done I shall by the Laws Customs and Constitutions thereof briefly and but in part shew you by and by and give you some of those many demonstrations and testimonies thereof and of our constant firm and inviolate keeping maintaining upholding and defending our selves in our native liberties and freedomes in our pristine first primitive original honor glory and dignity for this the defence and maintenance of our selves and ours herein for these many years by-past have we contended and contested against Kings Priests and Parliaments and for this thing even at this day do we yet contest against all whomsoever and whatsoever shall infringe the same O Noble Renowned Glorified and much Dignified Englishmen whose perfect resurrection is at hand and whose glory and renown shall fill and overspread all Lands because of this thing even in England shall arise the glory and the desire of all Nations I have said it and it shall surely come to pass Look therefore unto your selves every man of you and stand fast in the Liberties wherewith God and Nature and the Laws of this Land have made you free nor stoop nor bow nor bend one jot unto any man or men whomsoever but as unto brethren but worship the Lord thy God only honour thy Father and thy Mother and love thy Neighbour as thy self Take heed of Dalilabs for though thou be a Samson yet if thou sufferest thy seven locks to be shaved off the philistines will take thee yea and put out both thine eyes also binde thee in fetters and cause thee to grinde in theprison-house The wise will know this saying and understand this Parable I make haste If we bow and stoop we will bow and stoop unto the weak and feeble the poor and needy we may not we must not we cannot we will not give our glory our honor our dignity and our strength unto any left we be bound in fetters and grinde in the prison-house and we love our eyes too well to lose them Verily we have our Fore-fathers with us and on our side in this matter we have Abraham Isaac and Jacob David Noah and Daniel even all who are not of Nimrods race and generation are now risen and arising up against Nimrod whose Kingdome hangs tottering and shaking being even ready to fall we have Israel against whom there is no divination or Inchantment and the God of Israel on our side who is the God of Gods Lord of Lords and King of Kings we therefore shall certainly overcome and prevail none shall or can stand before us God hath overurned and will yet overturn even seven times until none of Nimrods do appear You have seen that it is against the command and law of God against the command and law of Nature and against the law of the land even the law command of our Fore-fathers made given and continued by from and through them and their blood unto us their children as is at this day Look to it therefore again I say every man of you for he who breaks and violates the same is a traitor unto God unto nature unto himself unto his fore-Fathers and unto the laws of this Land and Nation and hath no right or interest no portion or inheritance in the same but ought according to the laws thereof to be wholly dis-franchised discommuned yea and excommunicated also Vortiger one of the Kings of this land whom Gildas calleth a proud Tyrant and Nennius saith of him that after he was first corrected perhaps as saith my Author of whom anon by the Jewish discipline which was here also untill the time of Henry 2. that in a great Moâ—t of Clergy and Laity he was so roughly handled that he rose up in a great rage fled at least sought how to fly but he was banned and afterward deposed by the Parliament And it is there farther said of him that the Earth opened for him and that his family was burnt from Heaven which was much ascribed to his curse or excommunication which as is there said was in use amongst the Britains and that also upon their Kings of which there are many examples as of King Tudur King Clotri and Brochvaile did hardly escape by a great fine it was then by much more heavier as saith the same Author then of late Caesar observeth it among the Druids and in him it is Paena gravissima adding also that such persons were abhorred by all and that they might have no honor or right of law In S. Patricks Canons they are excluded a communions mensa missa pace This as saith my Author seemeth akin to the Jewish Cherem nay to their Shammatha or Pauls Maranatha For proof of what I said and promised before that England had not given its honor its glory and dignity unto any nor ever did nor have we in the least submitted or subjected our selvs unto the rule power government or dominion of any man or men whomsoever in any thing or matter to any end or purpose whatsoever I shall begin with King William whom some though untruely call the Conquerer You shall finde it in Walsing ham Hoveden Matthew Paris and others shewing how free the Norman found our Ancestors which they note also in Caesar to have found the Britons but that I let pass who say that king William before he was crowned and accepted by the people did solemnly swear to observe and keep their old Laws Bonas approbatas antiquas leges quas sancti ac pij Angliae Regis ejus antecesseres maxime Edwardus statuit inviolabiliter obserâ—â—are In the same Kings edition of the confessors laws when he enclined so much to them of Norway all the compatriots of the kingdome came and be sought him not to change the old laws and customs of their Ancestors because they could not judge from laws they understood not In the Laws of St. Edward and king William you may find and read in the very Title and Preface thereof that all the Laws of king Edward came to us through the hands of king William which you will find related and recorded in the Title and Preface thereof That all those Laws were so presented to king William by a sworn Jury out of every County who did also assert that those which they did present as the Laws of St. Edward were the undoubted Laws and Customs of the kingdome that had also been collected into a body by king Edgar and continued though Sopitae through the troubles of succeeding kings till Edward had the leasure to renew or rather confirm what was the Law before And he the said king William although he had so attained his entrance into England and to the Crown by force of Arms at his owne charge onely with so great a hazard and loss also of so many of his owne Countrymen and had thereby obtained in a manner the full and whole possession thereof so that little or no opposition could be made against him yet would not our
Fore-fathers admit him one of their Community Common or Comune-wealth and so to be an Officer therein or thereunto until he had solemnly by Oath in the most religious and strictest manner bound and obliged himself to observe keep and maintain their Common or Commune Law the antient Laws customs and constitutions of their Ancestors and those inviolate according to the custome of the English Nation to which every other Officer and Englishman is sworn also and soby Oath bound to the strict observance intire upright and faithfull keeping thereof In the statutes of Marlebridg in the first place of all it was agreed and enacted that all men living of this kingdome as well high as low must and ought to submit to judgemens the same Marlbridg in one of his other Chapters saith That the great Charter is in all points to be duly kept as well in those things that concerned the king as any other and that writs should be granted freely against any that infringe the same Note And that this did reach the king before and not first granted by Henry the third and exacted from him and others by a conquering sword And the Myrror written for the most part before the conquest as it is called tells us from the Saxon Parliaments that the kings Courts should be open unto all plaints by which they had original writs without delay as well against the king or Queen as any other of the people Cap. 1. Sect. 3. In his next words tells us that in cases of life and death also the plaint might hold without writ Bracton he also although adoring Kings yet placeth them under the Law and in receiving justice and submitting to judgement he must saith he Be the least or as the least And Fleata saith the same he must be content to be compared to the least in receiving justice and that the Law is above him The Myrror in Cap. 4. Sect. 11. speaking how Lords are chalengeable by their Vassals and how Homage may be dissolved and adjudged by combat he concludeth of the King that if he also shall wrong his Vassals in see the same course may be taken Cap. 5. Sect. 1. He there complaining of seldome Parliaments which saith he should be twice a year so it was agreed by King Alfred as he speaketh in a section of his first book and by and by after calleth it the soveraign abuse of all that the King should be deemed above the Law whereas he should be subject unto it as in his Oath it is contained And in the first Cap. Sect. 2. he gives us the Kings Oath and the last clause is that he should and would be obedient to suffer as much as others of his People And in King Edwards Laws in the 17 cap. De officio Regis We finde it such a duty also that if he break it he should not retain so much as the name of a king for thus saith the Law Quod nici fecerit nec nomen Regis in eo constabit wherein is shewn what were the ancient Laws Customs and Constitutions of this Nation ordained and appointed by our Fore-fathers I shall next shew you from that worthy learned laborious and ingenious piece and from which I have onely collected here inserted with those you had before of that Gentleman 's so painful collections to whom verily we are not a little beholding for his great pains in clearing evincing and vindicating the English liberties founded in defended and maintained by the ancient Laws customs and constitutions of this Nation I may not name him because himself for reasons best known to himself hath denied it to us his book beareth Title thus Rights of our Kingdom or Customs of our Ancesters touching the Duty Power Election or Succession of our Kings Parliaments our true Liberty c. freely discussed through the British Saxon Norman Laws and Histories with an occasional discourse of great changes yet expected in the world London Printed by Richard Bishop 1649. You will finde throughout the same that Kings were elective and elected by the kingdome or people and the law or at least the custome for electing anointing judging and executing Kings among our British Ancestors and since all along how they were in all things subject to the law equally with the others of the people as is already shewed how when we had kings how straightly and strictly they were bound and limited for as I think I shewed before there was a time when we had no king In his 81. p. he there shews that the Lord Chief Justices the Lord Chancellor and Treasurer were chosen by the kingdome and not by the king Strabâ— speaking of the ancient Brittons as he hath it in another place saith that they chose their Generals and all great Officers Magistrates and that they abhorred for a long time the name of a king and Caesar that we had no kings or fixed common Governour in times of peace but for war they chose out Generals yea and that the Lords in Parliament were chosen by the Counties as appears by writs yet to be read from the Rolls of Edward 1. and how that by the common law and custome of this Nation all the Sheriffs do command the posse Regni in their severall Counties and that not only in execution of writs but they are also custos Legis Reipublica the keepers protectors and defenders of the Laws and the Reipublike or Common-wealth its all one as well as of the peace of which he is the principal conservator in his shire and County and that all the Sheriffs ought to be and so were chosen by the people and not by the king as is to be found in Hoveden in the Laws of the Confessor and in full Parliament of Edward 1. it was declared to be the law and custome of the kingdome and therefore so setled in the choice of the people And although in latter times some alteration be made herein by Parliament yet this affirmative Statute doth not annul the common law or disannul the peoples choice had they the wit or courage to elect their Sheriffs before they be pricked And that these so chosen by the people did come to Parliament Their Generals also when occasion was were chosen by the people as he hath it in another place the sole and whole choice of Constables Headboroughs greater men then themselves know themselves to be Coroners and others remain still in the people And Tacitus that our Ancestors did both elect and bound their kings and Generalls Rex ex Nobilitate Duces ex vertute sumunt and of their kings he saith their power was so bounded that he could not call it free and that it was in perswasion rather then command In the great Moot of Scotlands dependency upon England Edward 1. confessed and after him the Parliament both Lords and Commons that they were all obliged by oath to maintain the rights liberties laws and customes of the kingdom and they never would
he is made is so I may not I must not dishonour my Maker but in all things in all times unto all men so much and so far as I am able shew forth his being as he is in me and my being as I am in him Gentlemen you know from and by whom you are what you are you know what power and authority you have and by whom and what Commission it is and so whose you are and to whom accountable your hand may finde out so far as I know and I believe it may a work sutable to you and corresponding with you That which hath erected it self without Law may for ought I know be so taken away and thrown or cast down though perhaps it were much better if it could be otherwise for the sooner things return and run in their right chanel the sweeter easier safer more acceptable surer and quieter it will be but that which stands in by Law may no man take away change or alter If you keep your limit you may be safe if you break it you break your selves Break not I beseech you in any case the Ordinances Customs and Constitutions of our forefathers the ancient Laws of this Nation for if you do they will assuredly break you Intrench not upon them for wherein so much and so far as you do you do certainly intrench upon your neerest selves Excuse and pardon this long Parenthesis As all the Publike Ministers and Officers of the Commonwealth are accountable yet are they no otherwise accountable then as it is in and by the Law ordained and appointed to them For it were as great an evil mischief injustice and unrighteousness that they should be left to the Arbitrary will of the people as that any of the people should be left to their Arbitrary will So that every one before he enters upon his Trust sees what his Work and Trust is from whom he receives it how or after what manner in what way and by what means to execute to what end and for what use and uses and in what way and manner to be accountable and unto whom Otherwise the Publike Ministers and Officers of the Commonwealth were in a far worse condition then the worst of Slaves Accountable without dispute they are and must be and servants without dispute also for to him who appoints me my work and pays me my wages him who makes me all and whatever I am or possibly can be in reference to that Office Place or Employment Certainly his I am and no mans else I may must or ought to be no not mine own but his entire upright true and faithful servant as faithful unto him or them with whom I have thus contracted receive my work and wages as he can be to himself still in reference to my Contract for which see my fore-mentioned Treatise Yet in all this is there no dishonour unto any man but much honour unto him who is upright and faithful in his Trust in reference to those and for their singular good and profit who intrusted him The Father and he only is appointed by God unto his Children their ruler guide and governour their guardian their preserver and protector whilst Children therefore are the Children commanded by God to honor him All the rest of mankind are our brethren our neighbours and accordingly by the same command of God are we to love them as our selves all other degrees ranks qualities estates and conditions of men whatsoever call them as you please are onely by of and from men and so in reference unto men As in the creations of God all things are and only so are and so onely by us to be esteemed and accounted of according to what he by his Laws and Institutes in Nature hath put in them and upon them in reference to their several uses and ends whereunto he hath appointed them by the true and certain knowledge whereof we are taught and instructed to give each and every thing its due and true estimate neither under nor over valuing any thing for the one as the other is equally evil and the onely true and very cause of all the discords disagreements and dissentions in the whole Creation of God Even so in the Creations of men likewise all things are and so onely are and so onely by us to be esteemed and accounted of according to what in and by the Ordinances Customs and Constitutions of our Fore-fathers the Laws of this Nation are put in them and upon them in reference unto the several uses and ends whereunto they have appointed them by the true and certain knowledge whereof we are taught and instructed to give unto each and every particular person and thing their due and true worth and estimate so as neither to under nor over-value them or any of them both the one and the other being equally evil here also and the onely true and very cause of all the discords disagreements and dissentions amongst us Nor can it be otherwise neither can there possibly be a true concord perfect union setled and established peace and rest unto us or any of us whomsoever whose beings and well-beings have reference to the being and well-being of this Nation until each and every man whomsoever in particular and the Nation in general know what he is know how as by what means or upon what grounds and to what use and uses end and ends he is that which he is or taketh himself to be For Man is a seeing knowing understanding creature therefore cannot walk by uncertain unknown Rules and Laws he may not yeeld a blinde implicite obedience for he knows not whither it will lead and carry him nor is such an obedience acceptable with God or good men in children whilst children it is good and comely Paul whilst he was a childe as he saith of himself walked as a childe but when he came to be a man he put away childishness Andverily he who submits and subjects himself upon this account unto any one man will at least in probability submit and subject himself unto all every one and so having no stability in himself becomes a servant or a slave rather unto the wills lusts and pleasures of all or any man whomsoever then which nothing is more uncomely or unbeseeming Man O Man where art thou hidest thou thy self from canst thou not stand in the presence of the Lord thy Maker Hast thou eaten hath the Serpent through the woman beguiled thee Why arise again and come and stand forth in the might power and strength of the Lord God thy Maker and Redeemer It is a Parenthesis bear with it I say it cannot be until each and every member thereof know be set and placed in fast bound tied and limited to and that in a true right and proper way by a true right and proper means in their true right and proper place in the body or Common-wealth in reference unto the severall uses it hath of them and the severall
proof declaration let it come from whom or what or whence it will but if it be not so let it come from whom or what or whence it will it is none of Gods command minde or will therefore not to be obeyed by me For it is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God onely and him onely shalt thou serve Nor would I be mistaken here as if I meant or intended that any who will may assume the rule power government or authority upon that pretence of doing good or having really done so that is deceitful hath and may deceive and doubtless as great a mischief and inconvenience if not greater may arise on this hand as on that He or they or whomsoever shall do the nation real good and they shall judge it so to such I wish and hope the Nation will be thankful and take it also as from God yet pray I also do that no incroachment may be made upon the Peoples rights and laws for that 's not good therefore not from God Names and Titles have much undone us all What are Parliaments Kings or Priests ought or any thing man or men else but as they are just and right and good why nothing and to be esteemed as nothing What 's a Temple what 's a High-priest when God or good 's not there why a lye a nothing This is the true infallible everlasting Character of God That he is right just and good It is admirable to see how names and titles blow puff us up Parliaments what are Parliaments why the Councel of the people and what is that why the people meeting together chuse from all the parts of the land men from amongst themselves of their brethren or neighbours to meet together not to change or alter their laws not to violate or destroy them or any or more man or men of them in their lives liberties or estates not to commit do or execute or to command to be done or executed any unjust and oppressive act or acts upon or against any either besides against or contrary to the Nations laws and customes but to consult about their good or the common good And will or can any man think or imagine that their councels acts and doings are not to be or may not be tryed examined and judged Which is greater he that makes or he that is made they which chuse or he that is chosen the Trusted or the Trustor the Embassador or the King his master who ordained and made him such sent and appointed him to his work and service to his Embassie It 's true he doth in all things to all intents and purposes fully and wholly represent the King his master hath the same power and authority as his master hath can or would have if himself were present in reference to his commission and instruction but no farther to whom and for the management whereof he is againe accountable And it is not neither may must or can it be otherwise with Parliaments and those who chuse them I pray you let us be men and no longer children to be frighted with the name Bugbear with the name Parliament but know and esteem all things as in truth they are keep and preserve all things in their right places to their right uses and ends giving honour to whom honor and then we shall do well like men nay like Englishmen Be not they and all others as is said before that which they be only and alone by and from the people from and by their deputation power and commission and have they it not or is it not in trust onely and that in reference to the peoples good doubtless it is then are their acts and doings and that justly and rightly too triable and to be judged and determined by the people concerning the justness consonancy to and uprightness with the rule and standard Hence formerly were all Acts of Parliament fairely inrolled by the clerk thereof and so sent down to the several Courts of the peoples ordinary or common Judicatories I may truely and rightly call them so where as occasion is are they judged tryed and examined by the people and if not found just and right as before but either besides contrary unto or against the same they cease and must cease so as no man may or must or ought observe and execute the same Thus I say as I have it at large in my other Treatise doth and must all things run in a perfect round or circle as it is in the great world else would all things presently corrupt decay and come to nothing as must the great world it self and when where so much and so far as this orderly circular motion is not kept maintained and secured free and clear from all stops lets hinderances and incumbrances even then and there so much and so far will there be and of necessity must there be a decay corrupting disordering and confounding of the laws customs and constitutions persons officers and offices in appertaining and belonging to the Commonwealth and so of the Commonwealth it self as you see it is in the natural body of every created thing yea the whole Universe is onely kept preserved and maintained whole sound and intire firme stable and lasting in by and through the due and true orderly circular motion thereof which indeed is so the life being subsistence and preservation of the whole creation and every particular individual thing therein as should it but once cease all things would and must even cease to be also All perfect beings whatsoever of necessity must be thus and thus preserved continued and maintained in this due orderly circular motion As verily is the constitution frame rule and government of this Common-wealth by the great high and deep wisdom of our forefathers framed and molded as I could manifest unto all the world and that in such an exactness as is to admiration all things being examined tried judged corrected and amended the several officers and offices ordained and appointed thereunto in this circular quiet and still motion according to the Ordinances Laws customs and constitutions of our forefathers But I must no further Hence and for this end hath every Officer and Minister of the Commonwealth their certain fixed places and offices of trust to keep preserve and maintaine the peace of the Commonwealth inviolate by the keeping preserving and maintaining the laws and constitutions thereof inviolate which preserve and keep this circular motion from all stops and lets to which they are by oath more especially bound and obliged and so ought to perform the same accordingly and that faithfully perfectly and uprightly The Sheriffs who are by their place and office as is said before the keepers protectors and defenders of our laws and Commonwealth and so each and every man therein in peace according to or together with the laws which he who breaks not ought to be protected by it and all and every one who do or visibly and apparently attempt
page and for it he brings the Laws of Alfred Ethelstane Edgar and Canute with those of Henry the first This was the fealty sworn unto the Lords by their Vassals My Liege I am your man and bear you faith of life member and terrene honour saving the faith I owe to other Lords Or thus My Lord I will bear you true faith and do you true service as my duty to you is And if our dury or obedience unto Parliaments exclude us from the Law we are in worse estate then Villains yet a Villain who of all Vassals was fettered in greatest servitude and bondage most bound prohibited and restrained from troubling or molesting his Lord yet he even he might bring Actions of Trespass and Appeals from other Counties Cities or Franchises And he saith that Glanvil Bracton Britton Fleta with the Myrrour and others do all agree in this That there is in Law so great an obligation on the Lord and so great a charge that the Lord would often refuse to take his Tenants homage so that there was a Writ made commanding him to take it and by it to oblige himself to his tenant whom he was to defend and his Trespass on him had in Law had a very great aggravation because the Vassal was to be under the defence and protection of his Liege or Lord and that in divers cases Vassals might defend themselves against their Lord as for atturning and assigning his vassals service which the Law permitted them to do to his enemy or foe for that was against the Law wherein as in divers other cases the Lord might forfeit his Vassals homage and service for his right might be forfeit escheat or evict by Law and dominion over slaves was also lost by negligence violence per injustam resistantiam as Bracton expresseth it nay there may be such delict in the Lord as may not onely warrant but enforce the vassal to complain and accuse his Lord or cause him to be indited for his life in the Courts of Justice which the King himself can no more shut against the meanest subject then he can the doors of all the Churches They are Fleta's own words saith my Author and that he might go higher then a Church of clay His meaning therein is left to be considered by others and is so by me also He goes further and tells us that there be some cases in which a vassal may not onely indite his Lord for his life but may appeal him and fight against him in combat or wage battel with him In his 18 page he tells us that as the vassal might do nothing against his Lord to dis-inherit him vel ad aliam arrocem injuriam or do any other wickedness or injury unto him so must not the Lord against the vassal for if he do say they the homage is dissolved and all obligation So that as my Author saith in his 19 page we see this Oath of fealty to be so limited by Law that it bindeth no more then Law requireth and that the same Law doth set a Vassal nay a Villain free from and arm him against his own Lord in defence of himself and the Laws with the Publike good He goes on and tells us from his fore-cited Authors how that all Allegiance Oaths of Fealty and so all obedience observance duty and subjection unto all even the highest and greatest of all is in reference to Justice to the common good and profit of the Land per honestum utile for publike peace and common justice Allegiance saith he was ad Legem to the Laws the Kingdom and the Kingdoms good and profit And verily no more or no otherwise may any require it from any And if Parliaments expect or require it otherwise it were much better for all the people that they were Slaves Vassals and Villains as those of old in which cases as saith my Author in his 24 page they debate who should be Judge And for this they all agree in that Fundamental Principle of Right Reason and Nature That Parties may never be Judges in their own Causes for which besides all others the Myrrour is large and clear among all exceptions to the Judges person if he have no Commission or refuse to shew it as he ought or be party c. of which also Britton in Appeals cap. 22. fol. 41. So that you see plain Parliaments may not be Judges in their own Cause of their own Acts and doings But who then Why the People first in by and amongst themselves and then in and by their several Courts Offices and Officers ordained and appointed thereunto God himself ever hath doth and ever will do submit his Commands his Ways his Acts Doings and Judgements in reference to the sons of men to be examined tryed and judged by the sons of men as you will finde it thorowout the Scriptures The God of England nay the God of all the world will be just and do nothing but what is just and that unto the least and commit the same unto the judgement of the least even those who are his creatures and shall any man or men in England refuse to submit their Commands their Acts and Deeds unto the judgement of those who are their Superiours who made created and entrusted them Sure it may not nor it must not be Why should we so forget our Maker For which cause and causes we may not we must not we ought not nay we dare not know any person or persons thing or things whomsoever or whatsoever that may or shall be otherwise ordained appointed instituted or commanded so as to yeeld any obedience thereunto nor may we nor must we nor ought we nor dare we to fall down and worship any man or men or any of the Idol-inventions of any man or men whomsoever we may onely know and do the Commands of our God and the Laws Statutes and Ordinances of our fore-fathers We will not go down into Egypt into the house of bondage from which the Lord our God hath set and kept us free We will not for we may not being all and every one of us Nazarites unto the Lord suffer our seven locks to be shaved off our heads by any Dalilah whatsoever lest we be taken by the Philistims and by them have both our eyes put out and so be led as then it is very easie to be done and bound in fetters to grind in the prison-house We have kept and preserved them hitherto we have defended and maintained our Liberties against Kings and Parliaments with the hazard of our lives the expence of our estates and blood also Those who have lost their locks let them grinde in the Prison-house if it must be so until they be grown again but we wish it may or might be otherwise and pray it may so be We for our parts neither may must can nor will the Lord our God helping and assisting of us give a false unjust untrue unwarrantable illegal value and estimate
nor could consent that the king should if he would act against them The Writs also in king Iohns time required all men of all conditions to oblige themselves by oath to maintaine the great Charter and to compell the king thereunto which laws of king William with those of the Confessor were afterwards confirmed by king Henry 1. as appears by his Charter not only in the Exchequer a copy of which was kept in every County and the same Charter was again confirmed by king Iohn and again by Henry 3. and so it came into the great Charter and confirmed in more then 30. Parliaments You now see it plaine and without dispute that no man or men whomsoever have any rule power or dominion over others no more then others have over him or them and that the greatest even Kings themselves have acknowledged confessed and granted so much that we are all equally alike subject to the ordinances customes and constitutions of our Fore-fathers the laws of this Nation and that they and they only are the only and alone Rulers and Governours over and unto all and every one of us And verily if any man or men whomsoever may in any true and proper sence be said to be subject to under the power dominion rule and government of another it is certainely those we call our Rulers and Governours they being chosen ordained appointed and intrusted by the people unto their work and service for to perform do and execute their commands orders and appointments still in and according unto Law And verily none else whomsoever may or ought without greatly transgressing the Laws of God the Law of mans nature and the Law of this Land as is fully proved already Hence they are rightly called Officers and Ministers of the Commonwealth Officers and Ministers of such and such a Place Office Court or People in reference to such and such a work business and imployment therein or thereunto belonging receiving a wages stipend or salary for the same are therefore severally most certainly accountable for their several trusts unto those from whom they severally receive the same First by their undertaking that Office Place or Ministration in which very act they have made created or begotten a contract and trust unto themselves for no man takes and executes an Office but it must be from and so in reference unto another according unto which contract they do therein and thereby firmly binde and oblige themselves unto a true real and faithful performance thereof of which you may see more in my forementioned Treatise Secondly In that also they receive a wages stipend or salary for the same as the most if not all of them do upon this ground and foundation it stands upon this account or for this cause and reason it is that all our Kings we accountable and did several of them account unto the people and suffered also for the breach of their trust for their irregular unlawful and unwarrantable execution of their place office trust thereby breaking and violating the same and their Oath also taken in their admittance thereinto which every publick Minister or Officer likewise taketh before his admittance into any office of trust whatsoever Every King of England had a Wages Stipend or Salary allowed him by the People some more and some less some more at some time then at another at the discretion of the People this was one ground also why the Captains of war or Generals were chosen by the people be cause they received their Wages Stipends or Salaries from the people and their trust and comission also for which also and according unto which they were accountable and did account likewise so also the knights of Shires chosen intrusted and deputed by the people and in their behalf as in their steads and for their service to sit in Parliament received Salaries from the severall Shires for which they served so that servants they are also unto those who chuse them And the matter is most plain and evident in kings who did ever first swear fealty to the Commonwealth and laws as their superiours or leige-Lord before the people swore faith to them Therefore would not our fore-Fathers as you see allow or give the choice of any publicke officer or Minister whatsoever into the hands or power of their king when they had a king nor suffer him to chuse any because they should not be as servants unto him himself being but a servant unto them lest by their chusing of one another they should become of servants to be their Lords and Masters as in truth it came to pass Hence was it as you have seen that the Lords in Parliament or Barons were chosen by the People and not chosen or summoned by the King for their creation or being was anciently and at the first from and by the people only and not by the king by Patent or Creation by choice or election from or by him but by the election and choice of the people onely but when once the people had suffered this incroachment by their kings through disobedience to revolting and backsliding from the laws ordinances customs and constitutions of their Fathers they quickly saw and felt the miseries inconveniencies and mischiefs which followed thereupon how those whom they had ordained and appointed their servants by their electing and chusing one another of servants became in very deed and truth their grievous oppressing and tyrannizing Lords and Masters and how much blood and treasure hath it cost us since to redeem our selves Take heed of a relapse And verily it is almost impossible it should be otherwise as I could plainly evidence but I must hasten Certainly he who chuses makes and creates cannot but have a very great influence upon the party chosen made and created and the person so made created and chosen cannot but look up unto have an eye upon and especial respect and regard of bend and bow unto him that made and created chose or elected him it is his duty they are in their very nature essence and being relatives and relatives must needs reciprocally answer each other in their ways and ends Hence the Commons onely chose all their publike Ministers and Officers from them onely did they receive their trust that so their eyes might be onely upon them and they onely serve the common good But those who lately were now are not but both they and theirs turned out of doors Our fore-fathers verily were very wise prudent and provident O that we would tread in their steps and so honour them cleave to their Laws and Ordinances I beg every man to take heed God is my witness I am enemy to no man or men whomsoever nor do I envie any but would from my soul the good the peace and welfare of all and every one and will lye at the feet of all or any one to do him real upright and faithful service it becometh man to be faithful for he after whose pattern and image