had no other that would carry Water but as false that the former ever did for they as you have seen before founded their pretences upon the sound Bottom of Divine and Natural Law Besides Richard Duke of York challenged the Crown as his just Right before any Act pass'd in his favour nor was it the want of a Parliamentary Title which he stood in need of that kept him off but because he had not Power and Interest enough to assert the justness of his Title and therefore 't is no wonder he deferr'd the making of his Claim so long for to have done it sooner would but have riveted the Usurper more firmly in his Throne But Edward having regain'd his Kingdom as quickly as he lost it left it at his death to his unfortunate Son Edward the Fifth who was soon deprived both of that and his Life by his barbarous inhumane and ambitious Uncle Richard Duke of Gloucester who having persuaded some and forced others to believe or at least seem to believe that all his Brother Edwad's Children were Bastards did by a kind of pretended Election and at the instance of all the Great Men take or rather usurp the Crown But that the mystery of that subtle Transaction may be fully discovered I shall transcribe that Petition and Election as they call it out of the Parliament Roll as much as is necessary and opitomize the rest and then I will leave the Reader to judge how dis-ingenuously not to call it worse tho' according to his Custom this Gentleman would insinuate as if in the midst of their highest flatteries and courtship to him they tell him only of this great and sure Title by Act of Parliament An untruth if he had had the least grain of Modesty he could not have had the confidence to assert but by this time I suppose you know what a man I have to deal with But I hope the Roll will convince him and make him asham'd of his dis-ingenuity * Rot. Parl. tent apud Weâ—im die Ven. 23 die Jan. 1 R. 3. In this Petition and Election but that Election imports not what he would have it I hope will evidently appear from the sequel they set forth the many Grievances and Oppressions the Kingdom groan'd under through the dissolute Government of the late King Edward the Fourth they say farther That the King was never married to his pretended and reputed Queen or if he was that upon the account of a Precontract to another Lady that Marriage was unlawful and ipso facto void and so either way all his Children were illegitimate They say farther That George the late Duke of Clarence being attainted of High Treason and his Blood corrupted by reason thereof his issue are debarred or all Right and Claim to the Crown But the reasonableness and lawfulness of this Position I shall take the Liberty to examine hereafter Over this I give you the Words of the Record in English We consider that you be the undoubted Son and Heir of Richard late Duke of York very Inheritor of the said Crown and Dignity Royal and as in Right King of England by way of Inheritance how then can the Parliament challenge a power of Election in the modern sense of the words and that at this time the premises duly considered there is none other person living but You only that by Right may Claim the said Crown and Dignity Royal by way of Inheritance And then they go on in a most abject way of Flattery to recount his excellent Parts and extraordinary Qualifications for the Government Wherefore say they these premises by us diligently considered we desiring effectually the Peace Tranquillity and Weal-publick of this Land and the reduction of the same to the ancient honourable Estate and Presperity and having in your great Prudence Justice Princely Courage and excellent Vertue singular Confidence have chosen in all that in us is and by this our Writing choose you High and Mighty Prince our King and Sovereign Lord to whom we know of certain it appertaineth to be chosen From whence it appears that what they call Election amounts to no more than a Ceremony or formality of acknowledging their Prince Therefore they desire him as his true Inheritance which 't is impossible in an Elective Kingdom the Royalty can be to accept of the said Crown and Dignity according to this Election of the Three Estates Surely then the King vvas none They add soon after Albeit that the Right Title and Estate which our Sovereign Lord the King Richard the Third hath to and in the Crown and Royal Dignity of this Realm of England be just and lawful as grounded upon the Laws of God and of Nature mind that and also upon the ancient Laws and landable Customes and therefore not upon any Statute but common-Common-Lavv of this said Realm and so taken and reputed by all such persons as be Learned in the abovesaid Laws and Customes yet nevertheless Here once for all take notice of the true Reason of the Parliaments medling vvith the Succession for as much as it is considered that the most part of the people is not sufficiently Learned in the abovesaid Laws and Customes whereby the Truth and Right in this behalf of likelyhood may be hid and not clearly known to all the people and thereupon put in doubt and question And over this how that the Court of Parliament is of such Authority and the people of this Land of such a Nature and Disposition as experience teacheth that Manifestation and Declaration of any Truth or Right made by the Three Estates of this Realm Assembled in Parliament maketh before all other things most Faith and Certainty and quieting of Mens Minds removeth the occasion of all Doubts and Seditious Language And therefore at the Request and by the Assent of the three Estates of this Realm the King cannot be one that is to say the Lords Spiritual 't is they are one of the Estates and Temporal and Commons of this Land Assembled in this present Parliament and by Authority of the same be it pronounced decreed and declared That our said Sovereign Lord the King was and is the very undoubted King of this Realm of England c. as well by right of Consanguinity and Inheritance as by lawful Election Consecration and Coronation And since the two latter as all the World knows do give no new right but are only Ceremonies and bare Formalities of State I can see no reason why what they call Election which certainly must not be strain'd to Propriety should be reputed any other because it not only is joyned with the rest without any Distinction but likewise Election in the usual Sence is incompatible with an Hereditary Monarchy such as this is over and over proved to be To all which the King assented in these words Et idem Dominus Rex de assensis dictorum trium Statuum Regni Authoritate praedicta omnia singula Praemissa in Billa
praedicta contenta concedit ac ea pro vero indubio pronunciat decernit declarat So here we have as much as can be desired a Parliament that had assumed a very extravagant Power yet declaring that the Kings of England do derive their Titles from God and Nature only and that this was consonant to the known Custom and Ancient Practice of the Realm But the innocent Blood of this barbarous and cruel Tyrant's Nephews whom he had caus'd inhumanely to be murder'd crying to Heaven for Vengeance God raised up one to deprive him at once both of his Grown and Life I mean Henry Duke of Richmond of whom the judicious * 7 Book in fine Comines says Qu' il n' avoit Croix ne Pile ne nul Droit come Ico croy al a Corone d' Angleterre Come we now to the Consideration of the Methods he used to establish himself in his new-gotten Kingdom after the Death of †Bacon's Hist of H. 7. f. 4. Edit London 1622. Richard and we shall learn that from the best of our Historians in his Life of that wise Prince who tell us that the King after his Victory at Bosworth Field being come to London was very much distracted in his Choice of a Title to the Crown as whether he should claim it by Right of Conquest but that he judged a very dangerous and unsatisfactory way or in Right of the Lady Elizabeth Heiress to the House of York whom he had promised and intended to marry But as to this he considered that he should be a King only by Courtesie and Tho' he should obtain by Parliament says my Lord Bacon to be continued for otherwise he must upon his Queen's Death have resign'd yet he knew there was a very great difference between a King that holdeth his Crown by a Civil Act of the Estates and one mind that that holdeth it Originally by the Law of Nature and Descent of Blood So far he Therefore upon those Considerations he resolv'd to rest upon the Title and Right of the House of Lancaster as the Main as that which would prove his surest Card For tho' he could not be ignorant that upon several Accounts that Title could not stand the Test of a severe and legal Tryal yet he knew very well that it was not only very foolish to dispute such things with a man that had thirty Legions at his Beck but that there could be no occasion for it during the Life of his Queen who was true Heir to the Kingdom and after her Death he might hope the Sence of Filial Duty would deter her Children from any Attempt to disturb him yet however his opportune Death vvas look'd upon by many as his greatest Happiness vvhereby he vvas vvithdravvn from any future Blovv of Fortune which certainly in regard of the great hatred of his People and the Title of his Son being then come to Eighteen years of Age and being a bold Prince and liberal and that gain'd upon the People by his very Aspect and Presence had not been impossible to have come upon him as the Judicious Bacon * Hist of H. 7. f. 231. words it With this Resolution he was Crown'd and having call'd a Parliament you see he did think an Act of theirs necessary to make him King tho' he thought it convenient to confirm him where an Act was pass'd for settling the Crown upon him †Hist of H. 7. f. 11. which he did not press to have pen'd by way of Declaration or Recognition of Right as on the other side he avoid to have it by new Law or Ordinance but chose rather a kind of middle way by way of Establishment and that under covert and indifferent words That the Inheritance of the Crown should rest remain and abide in the King c. which words might equally be applied that the Crown should continue to him but whether as having former Right to it which was doubtful or having then in Fact or Possession which no man denied was left fair to Interpretation either way And this Statute he procured to be confirm'd by the Pope's Bull the year following which is a plain Proof he relied not so much upon the Power of a Parliament as this Gentleman would persuade us nor can there be drawn from this proceeding of King Henry's any thing that makes more for the Authority of a Parliament in these matters than for the Popes which I am sure no Sober man but must allow to be none at all Besides this Prudent King was so conscious of the Weakness of his own Title notwithstanding this Act of Parliament that in the Troubles that happen'd very often in his Reign to prevent the Peoples prying and enquiry into the Justness of it he got an an Act to pass ‖ Lord Bacon's History of H. 7. f. 144. in the Eleventh year of his Reign that no man that assisted him in Wars should afterwards be deem'd or taken for a Traytor nor should be impeach'd therefore or attainted either by the Course of the Law or by Act of Parliament and truly it was agreable to good Conscience that whatsoever the Fortune of the War were the Subject should not suffer for his Obedience His Argument drawn from the Oath of Allegiance and other Publick Test and Securities after what I have said already will appear so ill considered a pretence that I should but lose time in standing to confute it I shall then proceed to Henry the 8th his Son and Successor and see if any thing can be gathered from thence that may make for our Pamphleteer's purpose And I doubt not but it will appear that whatever was done in that Great Prince's Reign was rather the Effect of his extravagant Capricious Lust or Revenge than founded upon the true Maxims of Justice Equity or Lawful Authority For Sir W. R. in his Preface to the History of the World can tell us that his violent Hatred to the Elder House of Scotland was the cause of most of those Acts using says he his sharpest Weapons to cut off and hew down those Branches which sprang from the same Root that himself did but yet that Blood which the same King affirm'd that the Cold Air of Scotland had frozen up in the North God hath diffus'd by the Sun-shine of his Grace from whence His Majesty now living and whom God grant long to live is descended And as for the rest they were consented to or rather to speak Truth forced from the Parliament by the King for he used to make them do what he had a mind to to satisfie some wild Humor of his though to the prejudice of his Prerogative For the legality and unlawfulness of his second Marriage depending upon the validity or weakness of the Popes Dispensation which by the generality of the World was then thought unexceptionable it is no wonder if Henry the Eighth contrary to the natural greatness of his Soul call'd to his Assistance his Parliament with
which his ipse dixi was a Law to cut that Gordian Knot asunder which he was not able to unty But it is time now to examine the palpable contradictions of those several mad and extravagant Acts that he made and first in the * Stat. 25. H. 8. c. 22. 25th year of his Reign after he was Divorced from Queen Katherine and had married Queen Anne The Parliament having in the Preamble to the following Act declared what great miseries and how many troubles had befallen this Realm by reason of the ambiguity of the several Titles to the Crown do think themselves bound in duty by a Declaration of the true Heir to avoid the causes of such Distractions for the future It is therefore Enacted and Ordained That the Kings Marriage with the late Queen Katherine is void as directly contrary to the Laws of God and therefore not dispensable with by the Pope or any Humane Power whatsoever They therefore bastardize Mary and declare the Marriage between his Majesty and Queen Anne to be just and lawful and that the Children of their two Bodies begotten shall be and are legitimate and then in default of Issue Male entail the Crown upon the Lady Elizabeth c. and every one by the Sanctimony of an Oath is bound to the observation and performance of this And the next Parliament does Enact a particular Oath for that purpose whereby every one is bound to bear Faith Truth and Obedience only to the King's Majesty and to his Heirs of his Body of his most Dear and entirely beloved lawful Wife Queen Anne begotten or to be begotten But mark what follows a few years after 't is Enacted St. 28. H. 8. c. 7. That the people shall forswear themselves the late Marriage is declared unlawful null and void the Lady Elizabeth is Bastardized as the Lady Mary was in the former Parliament and the King's Marriage with Queen Jane is acknowledged consonant to the Law of God the Crown entailed upon their Issue and for failure of them the King is impowred to dispose of the Crown to whom he please by his Letters Patents or his last Will and the whole Nation was obliged by the Sanctimony of an Oath to the observation of this Law So that you have at once not only Swearing backward and forward but the Crown made Elective if Act of Parliament can make it so which had always hitherto been Hereditary which so many unbiassed Parliaments had declared was due to the next Heir by Inherent Birth-right and by the Laws of God and Nature a Title sure unimpeachable by any Civil Power and all this in open defiance of all Equity Justice and Common Reason on purpose to dis-inherit the House of Scotland which as much as Humane Power could do it was by this Act done and to advance his Bastard Son Henry Fitz-Roy whom he most entirely loved to the Throne But not yet content to put a period to his extravagancy in the 35th year of his Reign he caus'd it to be Enacted That after his Death and the Death of Prince Edward without Issue the Crown should be to the Lady Mary and the Heirs of her Body but subject to such Conditions as the King should limit by his Letters Patents or by his last Will and if the Lady Mary performed not those Conditions that then the Crown should go to the Lady Elizabeth and if the Lady Elizabeth neglected to perform such Conditions then it should go to such other person as the King should appoint And he was again impowred by his Letters Patents or last Will to grant the Remainder or Reversion of the Crown to what person he should appoint and the whole Nation is again bound to the observation thereof By an Oath But surely no man will argue from these contradictory and wild Acts that the King and Parliament have any power to limit and alter the Succession since if we believe those Parliaments I have before mentioned 39 H. 6. 1 E. 4.1 R. 3. we shall find that to be removed beyond the reach of any mortal Arm and reserved to the only disposal of Him by whom Kings Reign and Princes Decree Justice And certainly we have as much reason to believe them as can be rationally expected since 't is very natural for those that assume so much power to themselves as they did to screw it up when their hands are in to the highest pin for 't is not likely that they if they could have found the least shadow of Evidence to the contrary would out of a Complement to God Almighty have thrown back that Power into his hands which he had once pleased to bestow upon and invest in them Nor need we at all wonder to find a Prince of King Henry's Spirit and Native greatness of mind fall so beneath his usual Majesty in such things since perhaps no Prince can be met withall in whom there concenter'd a greater number of odd and anomalous Circumstances which did incline him to crave in Aid of his Parliament for he being one that would sacrifice every thing to his Humour Lust or Revenge he was forced to take this course to remove all the Letts that stood in his way as far as Humane Power could carry them Therefore I am persuaded these Acts of Parliament ought no more to be urged as Precedents for us to guide our selves by than his Arbitrary and Illegal Methods of bringing those that had the misfortune to fall into his hatred to the Block without being once heard or suffer'd to make their defence And as these are not permitted to be drawn into practice tho' done by the Legislative Power as well as the other because of their manifest injustice and illegality I cannot for my Life see why the other should 't is a Riddle beyond my skill to unfold I shall pass by some of this Gentleman's Paragraphs as not worh insisting upon and come to his Proofs drawn from Queen Elizabeth's Reign and indeed 't is in an Act made the 13th of that Princess that the whole Party place their main strength but I hope I shall be able to make it appear if every Circumstance be duly considered that induced that Glorious Queen to do some things that tended highly to the manifest derogation of her Prerogative which at other times she was so tender of that nothing can be gather'd from thence which will really do any service to my Adversaries Opinion For if as all Casuists hold those Oaths and Promises which are extorted by fear or force are not Obligatory I cannot tell why those things which by meer necessity upon those very accounts she was compell'd to as well for the preservation of her Body Natural as Politick should be denied the priviledge of being dissolved upon that very score that other things of the same Nature are And that they were no other things than what I have before mentioned that caused this Great Queen to fall beneath her self and court her people
†In Baeoticis Pausanius tells us That Greece so Fruitful afterwards in Aristocracies and Democracies that teeming Africa never bred more Monsters was Antiently under Regal Government 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are his Words But Tully goes further and boldly asserts if for a certain Truth That all the Nations of Old were under Monarchial Regiment ‖ Cicero 3. de Leg. Certum est sayes he omnes antiquas Gentes regibus paruisse And when the Vniversal Deluge had put a Period to all Mankind except Noah and his Three Sons by whom the World was to be Re-peopled I think we may with Reason enough look upon Noah as the Universal Monarch notwithstanding the Learned Selden would have us believe that God by his Blessing recorded Gen. 9.2 made him Tenant in Common with his Children For besides that this Benediction seems most-likely to be rather an Enlargement of the Charter that was given to Adam than any thing else It appears something Unreasonable to suppose that God Almighty should Disinherit Noah whom for his Justness and Piety he had Chosen to be the Restaurator of Mankind Nor do the Words necessarily imply any such thing since the Promise of God would no doubt be fulfil'd if his Sons after his Death or in his Life time by his Consent enjoy'd and possess'd the World as their Property which 't is certain they did Gen. 10.9 By these sayes the Divine Historian were the Isles of the Gentiles divided in their Lands every one after his Tongue after their Families in their Nations Which is not to be understood as a * Mr. Med◠Learned Man in his Discourse upon this Place assures as if it were a Scattering and Consusion but a most distinct and orderly Division because the Original Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alwayes bears the latter Signification And that there was such a Partition and that made by Noah we are assured also from Eusebius and Cedrenus who tells us That Twenty Years before his Death ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cedren f. 9. according to an Oracle Received from Heaven he Divided the whole World amongst his Sons assigning to every one his several Share And this he Confirm'd by his Last Will and being about to Dye he gave it into the Hands of Sem and admonished them to Live peaceably and not to Invade one anothers Territories I might now proceed to those Texts of Scripture wherein Monarchy is declared to have been instituted by God But they have been so often insisted on by Others and those learned Persons that I shall pass them over only there is one which I cannot but take notice of wherein God by the Royal Prophet sayes of Kings Psalm 82.7 I have said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ye are Gods or more consonant to the Original and expresly according to the Chaldee Paraphrase Angels by which Phrase is not only signified the Office of Princes viz. That they are God's Vicegerents but the manner of their Mission that is by the immediate Commission and Constitution of God Almighty from whom alone and not from the People they derive their power Which origine of theirs I think is further evident from hence that the Supreme Governour is invested with such an Authority as does include in it a Power of Life and Death for which single Prerogative we must have recourse to the Fountain and Source of all Power for seeing we neither have nor ever had a power over our own Lives but on the contrary God has expresly told us That he that sheddeth Man's Blood of Man shall his Blood be shed it is impossible that Kings should derive their Power from the People for 't is an infallible Maxim Nemo plus Juris in alium transferre potest quam ipse habet So that it must necessarily follow from hence That Kings must have been instituted by God for 't is He and He only could bestow this great Priviledge upon them and since we find the Fathers of Families Exercising this Power we may assure our selves that originally Patriarchal and Regal Jurisdiction were all one as likewise appeares from this that Obedience and Submission to Magistrates is commanded us by the Fifth Commandment where it is only said Honour thy Father c. So that as Paternal Power was from the Begining so must Regal too Besides from hence I take it to be plain that even at that time that God gave his blessing to Noah Gen. 9.6 there was a Regiment established which could be no other than Monarchy for else that command of putting the murderer to death given at that very time could not have been put in Execution but must needs for a long time have continued ineffectual for had any private man assumed that Power he must necessarily have been guilty of the same crime so that either we must allow of Magistracy at that time or else make God command a thing and not appoint means for the execution of it And I cannot see why we should date the original of Government any later than the Creation for certainly we cannot perswade our selves that Nature that so carefully provides for the preservation and well-being of all Creatures should only be defective in her care for the noblest Animal in the universe since nothing can be more necessarily required for the happiness of any thing than Government for mankind Cicero 3. de Leg. for sine imperio nec domus ulla nec civitas nec gens nec hominum universum genus stare nec ipse denique mundus potest without Empire neither the whole nor any the least part of the world could be conserved in peace and order but all would immediately run into Ruin and Confusion And now if I had a mind to enter into so large a Common-Place it were very easie to cloy even the most greedy of such kind of Pedantry with sentences from the Fathers and other Primitive writers to show with what full Cry they all assert Monarchy to be sounded by God and Nature but waving a thing so obvious to every body I shall take notice that this opinion is so far from being a Stranger to our Laws that it is expresly resolved by all the Judges in England in Calvin's case that subjection is from no Humane Law Co. 7. Rep. 1. but from the Law of Nature and if so then of necessity must Regal Right be from the same Law because no man supposeth subjection where he does not presuppose power Besides you cannot but have observed above Rot. Parl. 39. H. 6. Rot. Parl. 2. E. 4. Rot. Parl. 1. R. 3. how many Parliaments of different Interests and Tempers have agreed in this that the Kings of England hold their Crowns by the Laws of God and Nature and therefore cannot be reputed of Humane Institution and hence it is that the King is stiled in our Statutes our Natural Liege Lord and his People likewise Natural Liege Subjects and the fidelity owing to the Crown
Nature and this Realm Cons Rot. Parl. 1. E. 4. Rot. Parl. 1. R. 3. 1 Jac. c. 1. if we may give Credit to the Declarations of so many Parliaments of different Humours and Tempers So that it will prove no very hard Matter to make good what I undertook in the Third place to wit That an Act to Exclude his R.H. would be utterly Unlawful and ipsofacto void because contrary to all Laws Divine Natural and Humane and so it ought to be adjudged when ever it comes to the Question before the Reverend Judges For the Laws of God Nature are the Rays and Emanations of the Divinity they are Undeniable Eternal and Immutable and therefore cannot be Altered or Impeached by any Humane Power or Authority but only by the God of Nature it self who did Originally ordain them and so many and plentiful are the Instances of Statutes expounded void because contrary to the Law of Nature that it would be loss of time to take notice of or enumerate any of them no doubt upon this ground it is that those two great and learned Dectors of the Law Jason and Angelus do positively aver that tho the Eldest Son of a King be either a Fool or a Madman either of which qualifications are as pernicious to the Government every whit as being a Papist yet can he not be excluded from Succession And I doubt not it may be made evidently appear that Succession of the Crown to the next Heir of the Blood Royal is so Fundamental and Primary a Constitution of this Realm so antient and received a Custome that against it There never hath been nor ought to be any dispute as †His Argument of the Case of the Postnati pag. 36. the Lord Chancellor Egerton will inform us and if we look into our Antient Records we shall find more than one Parliament declaring that Jura Sanguinis nullo Jure civili dirimi possunt And it is held by several great Lawyers that a Prerogative in Point of Government cannot be restrained or bound by Act of Parliament And surely then much less can such an Act he of any force in so high a case as this of Succession for certainly if this were once allowed the Government would cease to be Hereditary and degenerate into an Elective One And 't is not to be question'd but such a Power as enables the Parliament to break off one link may give them a sufficient Authority to shatter in pieces the whole sacred Chain and totally exclude the present Line and together with that Monarchy which I pray God may not be the bottom of too many Men's designs let them gild over their proceedings with never so specious and popular Pretences and no doubt out of a provident Foresight of the Calamity and dismal consequence of such designes it was that the Lords and Commons did declare That they could not assent in Parliament to any thing that tended to the Disinherison of the King Rot. Parl. 42. E. 3. Num. 7. and the Crown which this Bill of Exclusion evidently does whereunto they were sworn no tho the King himself should desire it But what comes more home to the point is the answer of Richard Duke of York to the Kings Friends who urged an Act of Parliament against him who told them That such an Act was to take no place Rot. Parl. 39. H. 6. Numb 10 c. nor was of any force or effect against Him the Right Inheritor of the Crown as it accorded with God's Laws and all Natural Laws And this Answer of the Duke's is by express Act of Parliament then assembled recognized and acknowledged to be Good True Just Lawful and Sufficient so that in effect we have an ingenuous and full Declaration as can be that the Right of Succession is absolutely unimpeachable by any Humane Power and that the Kings of England in possession their Heirs and Successors in reversion have an indefeasible right to the Crown which they cannot be deprived of by any Authority less than that which invested them therewith Besides 't is a Maxim of our Law That as the King never Dyes which is meant of that Political Capacity which in that very Moment one King Expires is Superadded to the Body Natural of the Next Heir whereby he immediately becomes King And this Political Capacity being of that Sublimity that it is no wayes subject to any Human Imbecilities of Infamy Crime or the like it draweth all Imperfections and Incapacities whatsoever from that Natural Body where with it is Consolidate as it were Consubstantiate so the Crown once gain'd takes away all Defects removes all manner of Bars and Lets laid in the way to the Succession For 't is impossible to hinder the Descent to the Next Heir because that being removed beyond the Reach of a Mortal Arm must go exactly in that Course prescribed by God and Nature and being joyn'd to and indivisible in one Royal Person thereby this later Capacity being added to the former purgeth eo instante all Obstructions of what Nature soever And tho his Natural Body before this Union was subject to the Lash of the Law yet upon the Conjunction of this Political and Immortal Capacity with it they grow inseparable And consequently by reason of those Divine Perfections inherently and indubitably annexed to that Coalition the Prince what ever Crimes he might have formerly been guilty of is now placed above Humane Justice and answerable solely to God Almighty to whom and none other he owes Subjection And thus it has been expresly resolved by all the Judges of England in the Case of Two Princes who were as much Disabled as an Act of Parliament could â—o it The First was when Henry the Sixth by the Assistance of the Great Earl of Warwick re-assumed the Crown for Edward the Fourth had pass'd an Act to disable him from all Regiment and attaint him of High Treason But notwithstanding all this the Judges were of Opinion That in the same Moment that Henry Re-assumed the Crown the said Parliamentary Incapacities were to all Intents discharged and avoided not because as our Pamphletier pag. 17. would have us believe Edward was not Lawful King For if either Right of Blood or an Act of Parliament could give him a Just Title there 's no doubt to be made but he had One But for this very Reason That the Crown once gain'd taketh away all Defects The next Instance is of Henry the Seventh who being once possessed of the Throne the Reversal of his Parliamentary Attainder was unanimously agreed by the Judges to be unnecessary for That the Crown takes away all Defects in Blood and Incapacities by Parliament And that from the Time the King did assume the Crown 1 H. 7.4 Fitz. Parl. pl. 2. Plowdens Com. 238. Co. 1. In. stit 16. a. the Fountain was cleared and all the said Attainders and Corruptions of Blood and other Impediments absolutely discharged And this being constantly received for
speak not Reason For what Power hath the State to elect while any that is living hath Right to succeed But such a Successor is not the Duke of Lancaster as descended from * So call'd from a Cross he used to wear upon his Back Edmund Crouchback the Elder Son of King Henry the Third tho' put by the Crown for Deformity of his Body For who knows not the Falseness of this Allegation Seeing it is a thing notorious that this Edmund was neither the Elder Brother nor yet Crook-back'd but of a goodly Personage and without any Deformity And your selves cannot forget a thing so lately done who it vvas that in the Fourth year of King Richard vvas declared by Parliament to be Heir to the Crovvn in case King Richard should die without Issue But why then is not that Claim made because Silent Leges inter Arma what disputing of Titles against the stream of Power But however it is extreme injustice that King Richard should be condemned without being heard or once allowed to make his Defence And now my Lords I have spoken thus at this time that you may consider of it before it be too late for as yet it is in your Power to undo that justly which you have unjustly done Thus spoke that Loyal and Good Prelate but to little purpose though there was neither Protestation nor Exception made against this Speech which certainly there would have been had there not been as much Truth as Boldness in vvhat he said And tho' Henry the Fourth did afterwards get the Inheritance of the Crown and Realm of England setled upon himself for Life and the Remainder entailed upon his four Sons by Name and the Issue of their Bodies yet that cannot at all make for my Adversaries purpose since it amounted to no more than a Confirmation of him in the Throne or if it did vve may vvell suppose that a Prince that vvas conscious to himself hovv unjustly he had gain'd his Crown would not be very unwilling to take such a way tho' in derogation to his Prerogative to secure himself if possible tho' not out of an Opinion that they could give him a better Right than they had but because 't is natural to suppose they would upon any occasion be ready to defend what they so solemnly had enacted Come we next to Henry the Fifth who this Gentleman says was Elected But how notoriously false that Assertion of his is will appear from hence that first there was no Parliament called till after his Coronation and in the next place that if the Act of Parliament made in the Seventh Year of Henry the Fourth had so great a Force and Vertue as he says it had it was needless nor can he prove any such thing from that careless and negligent Historian Polydore For Concilium Principum with him does not always signifie a Parliament as any one that has read him which I dare say he never did will perceive nor does his Phrase creare Regem import any more than the King's Coronation besides 't is most untrue which he affirms that Allegiance was never sworn before his Time till after a King was Crowned For the contrary appears from King John and Edward the First Nay 't is undeniably true that the Kings of England have exercised all manner of Royal Jurisdiction precedent to all Ceremony or any Formality whatsoever and that the Death of one King has in that very Moment given Livery and Seisin of the Royalty to the next Heir and by vertue of that Richard the First as a Mark of his Sovereignty immediately on his Father's Death restor'd the Earl of Leicester to his whole Estate Henry the Fifth being dead he was without any Opposition admitted to the Throne although but an Infant but in the Thirty Ninth Year of this King in open Parliament Richard Duke of York the true and rightful Heir to the Crown of England and France made his Challenge and Demand of it as being next Heir to Lionell Duke of Clarence Elder Brother to John of Gaunt from whom descended the House of Lancaster but to this Claim of his it was answered by the King's Friends That the same Crowns were by Act of Parliament Entailed upon Henry the Fourth and the Heirs of his Body from whom King Henry the Sixth did lineally descend * Rot. Parl. 39 H. 6. n. 10. c. The which Act say they as it is in the Record is of Authority to defeat any manner of Title made to any Person To which the Duke of York answerably replies That if King Henry the Fourth might have obtained and enjoyed the said Crowns of England and France by title of Inheritance Descent or Succession he neither needed nor would have desired or made them to be granted to him in such wise as they be by the said Act the which taketh no place nor is of any Force or Effect mind that against him that is Right Inheritor of the said Crowns as it accordeth with God's Laws and all Natural Laws And this Claim and Answer of the Duke of York is expresly acknowledged and recognized by this Parliament to be Good True Just Lawful and Sufficient and 't is agreed that Henry shall hold the Crown during his Life and the Duke of York in the mean time to be reputed and proclaimed Heir Apparent So that we have here as much as can be desired a Parliament not only declaring that a Title to the Crown ought to derive it self only from the Laws of God and Nature and not from any Civil Sanction and acknowledging in at the Bargain that it is beyond the Reach of any Humane Legislative Power to debar and exclude any one that justly claims by such a Right But to â— proceed upon Edward the Fourth's coming to the Crown a Parliament conven'd in the first year of his Reign does acknowledge and recognize his Title in these words as the * Rot. Parl. 1 Ed. 4. n. 8. c. Record has it Knowing also certainly without doubt and ambiguity that by Gods Law and Law of Nature He h. e. Edward the Fourth and none other is and ought to be true right-wise and natural Liege and Sovereign Lord. And that he was in Right from the Death of the said Noble and Famous Prince his Father very just King of the same Realm of England So here again we have another Parliament of the same mind with the last and I doubt not but we shall meet with more of 'em e're we have done When King Edward the Fourth was droven out of his Kingdom by Henry the Sixth 't is true the Crown was again entail'd if it may be properly so call'd upon him and his Heirs c. but still the proceeding was grounded upon the same Bottom with the former Here our Pamphleteer is pleased to make this drowsie Observation that both the Families of York and Lancaster claim'd a Title by Act of Parliament 't is true the latter did because they
for her establishment will clearly appear to any one that considers the state of Affairs and the History of those Times the only true Touchstone to try matters of this Nature by For if we consider how questionable Her Birthright was then generally esteemed we cannot at all admire if for her own Interest and Security she attributed much more to an Act of Parliament than otherwise she would have done For tho' in the Act of Recognition 't is said that her Majesty is and in very deed and of most meer Right ought to be by the Laws of God Queen of this Realm yet the dubiousness of her Legitimacy and her being solemny Bastardiz'd by her own Father by Act of Parliament might very well necessitate her to call in the Aid and Assistance of her people for her defence and establishment since the greatest part of Europe did not only look upon the Title of Mary Queen of Scotland to be much the clearer and juster than Hers and therefore since Queen Elizabeth's Title depended so very much upon Statute Law the most part of the World allowing her no other and a great many too disputing the validity of that she was necessitated to make that as strong as possibly she could and therefore made it Treason for any one during her Life to affirm That Our Sovereign Lady the Queen's Majesty that now is with and by the Authority of the Parliament of England is not able to make Laws and Statutes of sufficient Force and Validity to limit and bind the Crown of this Realm and the Descent Limitation Inheritance and Government thereof which tho' as we shall afterwards endeavour to prove was not in their power to do yet she knew very well that her people would be very apt to defend what they had then so solemnly Enacted and so thereby she should gain her end viz. her Preservation which was the great thing she aimed at as appears by this that the punishment to be inflicted upon them that broke this Law was to abate very much of its rigor after her death for then it was but to be forfeiture of goods a certain Argument that it was only Temporary Enacted pro re nata for if the Reason of it did continue the same so ought surely the Punishment since they should alvvays stand and fall vvith one another tho' no doubt another tho' less considerable reason might be the Malaversions she inherited from her Father to the House of Scotland vvhich thereby she did certainly endeavor for ever to deprive of the Imperial Crown of England As evidently appears from this Clause in it viz. That every person or persons of what Degree and Nation soever they he shall during the Queens Life declare or publish that they have any Right to enjoy the Crown of England during the Queen's Life shall be dis-inabled to enjoy the Crown in Succession Inheritance or otherwise after the Queen's Death For this was most apparently contriv'd against Mary Queen of Scots and her Son K. James For since almost all Europe spoke openly of the greater Right that Mary had to the Crown than Elizabeth it might very probably be expected that not only as she thought so so she might upon an occasion offer'd not only speak but act up to her Persuasion and then by this Statute she was as much disabled as Statute could do it But besides all this I am inclin'd to believe there was something more in the bottom of it than this of the contrivance of that subtle and cunning Statesman the Earl of Leicester which I gather from this Clause That whoever shall affirm during the Queens Life either in Writing or in Print that any one is or ought to be the Queens Heir or Successor besides the NATURAL ISSUE OF HER BODY BEGOTTEN c. SHALL c. For in Law none are call'd the Natural Issue of any one but those that are Illegitimate Vit Eliz. Adeo ut sayes Camden tunc juvenis audiveram dictitantes verbum illud à Leicestrio in Legem ingestum eo consilio ut aliquem ipsius filium spurium pro reginae Sobole naturali Angles tandem aliquando obtruderet Insomuch that when I was a young man sayes he I have often heard it said that Leicester caused that expression to be foisted in that thereby he might have a pretence to impose one time or other upon the English one of his own Bastards for the Queens Natural Issue A Design truly not unlikely for him to have who always measured the Publick by his proper Interest and sacrificed every thing else to his own ends and then certainly it will never be denied but such an Act of Parliament was necessary to give colour of breaking so ancient and fundamental a Law of the Land as the advancing a Bastard must needs be How contrary to all the Obligations of Justice and Humanity the unfortunate Queen of Scots was treated by her Kinswoman Queen Elizabeth upon the pretended breach of a Statute made in the 27th of her Reign I shall not trouble my Reader or my Self with the recital of which rigorous proceeding as it was chiefly grounded upon her violent hatred to the House of Scotland so I could heartily wish for the Honour of that Great and Glorious Queen under whose Reign this Island so long and happily flourished were razed out the Annals of Time so that there might be nothing left to stain the Reputation of that otherwise unblemishable Princess But tho' the Mother had the misfortune to fall so ignominiously yet the Son King James had not the wisdom to strive fruitlesly against the Stream but prudently never gave an opportunity of finding a colour to resist him who never laid Claim to a Crown till Heaven call'd him to the Enjoyment of it But no sooner was he come into England but having call'd a Parliament his Title to the Crown is solemnly acknowledged and recognized in these words 1 Jac. c. 1. We being bound thereunto both by the Laws of God and man do with unspeakable Joy recognize and acknowledge That immediately upon the decease of Elizabeth late Queen of England the Imperial Crown of the Realm of England c. did by inherent Birth-right lawful and undoubted Succession descend and come to your Majesty as being lineally justly and lawfully next and sole Heir of the Blood Royal of this Realm And thereunto we most humbly and faithfully do submit and oblige our selves our Heirs and Posterities for ever And now if King James came to the Crown by inherent Birth-right and undoubted Succession I cannot see any thing that makes more against this Gentleman than this for 't is plain the old Entail made by Henry the Seventh cannot be pretended because that Act was tho' not expresly yet tacitly effectually repeal'd by 28. H. 8. c. 7. 35 H. 8. c. 1. for King Henry could not have a power to appoint who he vvould for his Successor if that Act of Henry the Seventh remain'd in
force For then he could not have disinherited the House of Scotland and prefer'd the Younger House of Suffolk to the Remainder of the Crown which 't is notoriously known if he did not yet he intended and was sufficiently as far as Acts of Parliaments could reach impowered to do it and therefore the other must necessarily have been revoked and repealed A thing so clear that it were needless to spend more time or words to prove it So that King James's Title to the Crown or else he had none must owe its Original to the Laws of God and Nature and the Ancient and Laudable Customes of this Realm * Rot. Parl. 1 R. 3. ut sup as 't is elsewhere worded and then what madness is it to think that any Humane Power upon Earth can change those immutable Laws for such they are and with what color of Justice or good Conscience they can pretend to debar any one of his Right or give a better Title to another than the late Usurper had to the Sovereignty is beyond the Wit of Man to demonstrate unless we impiously deny there is a God in Heaven or any such thing as Right or Wrong upon Earth And thus I have gone through all the Historical part of this Gentleman's Discourse as far as it concerns England and I doubt not but every one must make this Conclusion upon the vvhole Matter that tho' he tells us he hath done it faithfully yet it vvill appear by the foregoing Examination vvherein I have rather endeavored to lay dovvn the Naked Truth vvithout the least Disguise than follovv him through all his impertinent Ramblings that never more unpardonable Mistakes and Falsities never more gross Prevarications and malicious Misrepresentations of the plain sence and Meaning of good Authors vvere amassed together under so solemn and pompous a pretence For my ovvn part I cannot but admire vvith vvhat Confidence any man could offer to obtrude such trash upon the World and vent such notorious Untruths Surely a Man must have bid a final Adieu to all Sincerity and Common Honesty tho' perhaps for I vvill be as charitable as I can his over much Credulity may have been his greatest Misfortune For though he vvould fain insinuate in several places as if every man must needs be a Papist that should go about to unmask him yet good man he has been beholden for the most part of his Discourse to one of the greatest Villains of that Society vvhich by their prodigiously vvicked both Tenets and Practices deserve to be the horror and detestation of all Mankind Nor has he had the Descernment to distinguish betvveen vvhat vvas false and vvhat vvas true but has extracted it at least as to the Substance just as he found it from a Conference concerning the Succession written by Parsons one of the most pernitious Books that perhaps ever savv Light and tho' he be so ungrateful as not to own his great Benefactor yet he blushes not to maintain and publish the same destructive Principles a clear Evidence that so many of those that would have us believe they abhor Popery yet are content not only to entertain but hug and cherish their most destructive Opinions disguised under other Names But you are not to think this Gentleman less acquainted with the History of other Nations than our own and that he is not able to give you many Instances from thence that the next of Blood has been frequently excluded from the Succession But really I cannot but pity his ill Judgment in pitching upon one so little for his purpose when his Author could have furnish'd him with such plenty of better Choice For since no man can deny but that it both is and ever was a Fundamental Law of the French Monarchy to be Hereditary I leave it to any man of Common Sence to judge whether those silly Reasons mention'd in the Letter to Charles of Lorrain were a sufficient ground to debar him of that Right which God and Nature had given him and to whom says De Serres I say the Fundamental Law did adjudge the Crown for want of Heirs Males Lawful Sons of Kings But the French being displeased with Charles upon some frivolous Accounts Hugh Capet embraces so fair an opportunity and foments their Discontents to that Degree and so politickly plays his own Game that having insinuated himself into the Affections of most People without very much difficulty he first screw'd himself into the Throne and then to consolidate and establish himself in his ill-acquired Greatness by a pretty kind of Pageantry he called the Estates to elect him into that Throne he already had the Possession of which being met they did accordingly And having thus forfeited their Allegiance and Duty to Charles 't is no wonder if they squeezed their Brains to find out a plausible though never so shallow a Pretence to avoid the Imputation of Disloyalty Not to take Notice that most Writers stick not to call this Hugh an * Sigeb Gemblac in Chron. ad An. 987. Usurper Besides 't is well known that Lewis the Godly never enjoyed the Crown with a quiet Conscience till it was proved that he was descended from the Right Heirs of Charles of Lorrain So mean an Opinion had that good Prince of the Power of the States in altering the Course of Succession And after all this I think it cannot reasonably be pretended by any one that any thing can be drawn from History which can at all countenance the Proceedings of those men who so industriously endeavor to cry up the Justice and Advantage of the Bill of Exclusion as the only Expedient say they that can secure us from Ruin and prevent our Destruction unless they will say that because such things as fill'd the Age they were done in with Shame and Horror were done that therefore they were justly done and so may as justly be acted over again An Opinion of such dismal Consequence that should it once prevail in the World all Mankind would be presently turned into one great Den of Thieves and Robbers that might plunder spoil murder and ravish with Impunity and without Controul and then we should every day see Hobs's Senceless Notion of a State of War proved to us with a Witness Nay what Wickedness is there not which at this rate we might not justifie from Scripture it self Which gave occasion to Saint Augustine excellently to say Haec quae in Scripturis sanctis legimus non ideo quia facta legimus etiam facienda credamus ne violemus praecepta dum passim sectamur Exempla The true State of the Question either is or at least ought to be not what has been done but what in Justice and Equity ought to be done in the Case of his R. H. which is not to be determined by Examples but Law and Raeason Non Exemplis sed Legibus judicandum is the Golden Rule of the Great †Lib. 13. C. de Sen. Justinian In order therefore to the
clearing of this great and so much agitated Point I shall endeavour to prove First That not only all Government but particularly Monarchy does owe its immediat Foundation and Constitution to God Almighty Secondly That by the Law of God Nature and Nations the Crown ought to descend according to Priority of Birth and Proximity of Blood Thirdly That if an Act of Parliament were obtained to exclude his R. H. would be unjust unlawful and ipso facto void as contrary both to the Law of God and Nature and the known Fundamental Laws of the Land And in the course of my Reasoning I shall not forget any thing this Gentleman has said against any of these things in the Argumentative part of his Discourse I am sensible it will make a great many Smile to see me undertake to prove so many in their own Opinion irrational Tenets And I doubt not but some too will be displeased to find me endeavouring to strike at the Root of their darling Notions they know very well should this be admitted they could find no pretence to adhere to their Republican Principles and not become the scandal and aversion of all Good and Honest Men but 't is not their frowns or their railing will trouble me for 't is not that I measure Truth by but Reason and by that I am content the Cause I have espoused should stand or fall I would not be misunderstood as if I had the Vanity to think it would receive any Advantage by my Management of it but I am so confident of the over-ballance of Reason and Truth I have on my side that I doubt not but it will even make it self appear notwithstanding my want of Parts which no man is more conscious of than my self and Ability to set it out to the best advantage In order then to the first Point it will not be amiss to examine what Reason can be shown to induce a man that has lay'd aside Prejudice and Partiality to embrace that so commonly received Opinion of a Natural Freedom and Equality for my own part I take it to be a Proposition not altogether so clear and self-evident but that it requires a little better Proof than I ever yet saw offer'd for it I am not at all concerned for those many Sentences the Assertors of this Doctrine are able to pelt me withall from Poets Orators Historians and God knows who for I answer with Lactantius they ought not to be so understood as if there were in those early dayes no Property Non ut existimemus nihil omnino tum suisse privati sed more Poetico figuratum ut intelligamus tam liberales suisse homines ut natas sibi fruges non includerent nè soli absconditis incubarent sed pauperes ad communionem proprii laboris admitterent Lactant. de Justit c. 5. nothing that Man could call his own but those expressions are to be look'd upon as Figuratively spoken after the manner of the Poets thereby to give us to understand that men were then so liberal that they did not covetously ingross all their store to themselves but were generously content to admit their poor Neighbours to a communication of their proper Labours and Income Besides 't is very observable that at the very same time we are told of this Community and Natural Freedom the whole World is supposed to be under the Government of Saturn who was succeeded by his Son Jupiter Postquam Saturno tenebrosa ad Tartara misso Sub Jove mundus erat Ovid. Metam l. 1. And tho' the Poets call 'em Gods yet we are surely to understand that Earthly Kings are thereby meant so that from hence nothing can be gathered to favour that Original of Government that those that urge these things are the great Patrons of If indeed a Set of full grown Men had dropt out of the Clouds or like Mushrooms sprung out of the Earth I should not be much averse no the notion of Natural freedom and equality and that those being in some great Wind furnished with a convenient number of Women had propagated their Species but I much fear whether there would not have been many bloody Noses before they could have come to any Agreement if it had not been altogether impossible for How long a time and how great experience would be requisite to put the thoughts of entring into a settled Society into their Heads Or having found out the Conveniency and Method of doing it How easily would such a hopeful project be dash'd in pieces by some surly ill-natur'd fellow or at least a party of such For since no such thing could be effected without the joynt Consent of all How difficult a thing would it prove to bring such a Business about many out of Pride being unwilling to submit themselves to this or that Man they might perhaps have a particular pique against and as many resolved not to admit of any such thing unless they be advanced to that Supreme Magistracy which no doubt others as ambitiously Thirsted after as they and what could be the Issue of this but Blood and Rapine War and their former Confusion But granting that all those Arrived to Maturity should be grown so sensible of those many insupportable Miseries that they were every Minute exposed to should be content to submit to any thing rather than continue in their present Condition What must be done with their Children Must they be enslaved by their Fathers that have according to these Men no more Power over them than any of their Neighbours Surely by that time they should become sensible of that priviledge Nature had so bountifully given them they would be found unwilling to stand to that blind Bargain that had been made without their Knowledge and Consent And how that could ever be had I am altogether to seek unless in those Days they could have spoke as soon as come out of their Mothers Womb which I take to be every whit as likely as the other And no doubt from hence a justifiable pretence may be taken at any time to disturst any Government upon Earth when the inconstant and giddy-headed Multitude or any part of them should in their great Wisdom think fit Besides nothing seems more Derogatory to the Goodness Wisdom and Providence of God Almighty than to send Man into the World and expose him to so many inconveniencies for the want of that without which it is impossible for Mankind long to subsist or answer the Ends of their Creation to leave them Destitute of that which was so necessary to their well being for we cannot without impiety suppose but God foresaw the many Ills that would accompany such a Condition and if so how it can be reconciled to his Goodness and Wisdom I must profess my self Ignorant But to let this Opinion of the Origination of Mankind pass Calculated rather according to the Fancy of the Poets or Notion of some of the old Heathen Philosophers than Truth If we
Consult God's Sacred Oracles it will be found that He sufficiently provided for the Safety and Happiness of those upon whom He hath Stamped his own Image by instituting a particular form of Government immediately upon the Creation of the First Man the great Fore-Father of Us all I know I shall here be told that 't is granted me God did institute Government in General but as to the distinct Species thereof He left it to the choice of Men as they should think most Convenient for themselves but Did not God know better than they what was most fit and requisite for them And Is it not then very likely that they should be accordingly Provided for And not to insist that it is hardly conceivable how Government could be instituted by God and yet none of the particular Forms be at that time existent not to insist I say how any thing can be in Genere and not in Specie I think 't is clear from ‖ 1.28 Genesis that God gave Adam the Dominion and Empire over all the World when he so solemnly blessed him Be Fruitful and Multiply and Replenish the Earth and Subdue and have Dominion over the Fish of the Sea and over the Fowl of the Air and over ever living thing that moveth upon the Earth A Text so express and clear that even the great †Mar. Claus l. 1. c. 4. Selden is forced to acknowledge there could not before the Flood be any such thing as Community Gen. c. 4. v. 2. but that Adam is made hereby sole Proprietor of the World and by his Donation or Cession no doubt it was that we find Abel possessed of Cattle and Pastures and Cain Master of his Corn-Fields and certainly Cain cannot be supposed so very Foolish as to have Built a City and call'd it by the Name of his Son Enoch Gen 4.17 unless he could have lest it to his Posterity which he could not pretend to do if there had not been such a thing as Property But if Adam thus expresly had not been made Soveraign Lord of the Universe yet could not the Government of Mankind be denied him without offering force to Reason and bidding open defiance to Nature for all the World being sprung from his Loins the Tye of Filial duty would bind all to Obedience for no doubt as Father he might claim a Dominion and Regal Power over his Children and from hence we may very well derive the Original of Government and that particular form of it call'd Monarchy nor will it appear at all irrational upon that account to assert Monarchy to have been founded and instituted by God and Nature For no Man could be Born free since all Mankind must owe both their being and subjection to their Natural Parents by the Law of God and Nature So that upon this account Adam being invested with a Patriarchal and uncontrolable Power not only over his Children but those that were Descended from them during his Life which being transmitted to his Eldest Son after his Death and so on there could never be any time when there was no Government since there were any to be Governed Perhaps it may be Objected that though Adam might have a Power over his Children whilst they continued in his Family yet when that grew too Narrow for them and they were removed and had formed distinct Ones of their own he could not pretend to any Jurisdiction there But I would fain know of these Men whether the Obligation to be Obedient to Parents does not continue still in full force notwithstanding their removal and if it does as I am sure no Man in his right Wits can deny why the Father's Power of Commanding and Governing them as he shall see most convenient for the Interest of himself and the rest of his Children should be retrenched I cannot conceive nor can it reasonably be pretended that he should not have the same Jurisdiction over his Grand-Children c. that he had over their Fathers for it is very irrational to suppose them exempt from Obedience to the Commands of that Man their Parents were Naturally and Originally subject to And if we enquire but into the nature of this Paternal Power we shall find it to have been purely Monarchical We are told how Abraham made Peace and War and we shall see Jacob exercising the Power of Life and Death over his Daughter-in-Law Thamar or at least pretending to it without any question made of his Power and if these great Prerogatives were in their Hands 't is not to be doubted but they were Kings in their Families which we are not to suppose to be independent from one another but subject and subordinate to either the Father of them all or him whoever he be that is Successour to him and Lord of the eldest Family And that this is no new Opinion as some People would have us believe but at least Older than Aristotle appears from hence that he dates the Original of all Society from hence The First Society sayes he made up of many Houses for the sake of a lasting and durable Benefit is a Village 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aristot de Repub. l. 1. c. 2. which seems most agreeable to Nature as being a certain Colony of a House which some Men call Foster-Brethren or Children and Children's Children And therefore at first Cities were and now Nations are under Kings because such as came together were under Kingly Government for every House is under the Empire of him that is Eldest and so for Kindred sake it is in Colonies that is in more Families which Descended from the same House For which Reason Homer sayes Every Man gives Laws to his Wife and Children And this no doubt he had from his Master the Divine Plato in whose Judgment the True and Primary Reason of all Authority is That the Father ‖ A.H. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Mother and generally all those that Engender Beget do Command and Rule over their Off-spring And this I think is both sufficient to vindicate this Doctrine from the Imputation of Novelty and Recommend it too since those Great and Excellent Philosophers were Patrons of it And I am sure if that be true which the Roman Orator sayes Cicero 3. de Legib. In re consensio omnium gentium lex Naturae putanda est That the Consent and Agreement of all Nations is to be reputed the Law of Nature every one must allow Monarchy to have been Founded by vertue of that For without Vanity I dare confidently aver That there was no other Government seen unless perhaps at Sicyon for the First Three Thousand Years Nay the Learned Priest of Belus the true and genuine Berosus gives an Account of Ten Kings of Chaldea before the Flood of whom Xisuther in whose time they say the Deluge happen'd was the last And the Egyptian Records could surnish us with a Catalogue of Kings that would reach as high as the Creation
From which Place all the Commentators with one Consent conclude That a Royal Power was due to the Eldest Son by Birth-Right and certainly there must have been something more than ordinary due to the First-Born or Esau could never have deserved the Title of Profane Heb. 12.16 which is bestowed upon him by the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews I know 't is generally agreed to be upon the Account of the Priesthood which together with the rest was due to the Eldest And since we have so clear Evidence for this Right due to the Eldest by Birth as appears from Numb 3. Vers 12. where God declares he had made Choice of the Levites instead of the First-Born to be Priests I cannot conceive why that Prerogative of a Superiority and Dominion over their Brethren should be denyed to belong to them by the Law of Nature too since we have such clear Intimation of it For when Jacob blessed his Sons and told 'em what would happen to 'em in the latter Dayes Gen. 49.3 he calls Reuben his First-Born The Excellency of Dignity and the Excellency of Power Whereby is signified the Right he had by Birth to the Priesthood and Kingdom and Double Portion to which Sence the Chaldee Paraphrase exactly agrees But because of his Sins and Transgressions God had deprived him of 'em the Priesthood was given to Levi the Kingdom to Judah and the Double Portion to Joseph Nor are we to look upon Jacob as taking upon him to dispose of these Things himself but only fore-telling what would in due time by God Almighty be brought to pass and of which they were patiently and cheerfully to expect the Event But when Moses by God's Command delivered the Law to the Jews this Precept of Nature Of giving a Double Portion to the First-Born is there again repeated and enjoyn'd and so made a Part of the Positive and Revealed Will of God who gives this Reason for it because He is the Beginning of his Father's Strength Deut. 21.17 and the Right of the First-Born is his Which way of Expression is never used but when something is commanded which by the Law of Nature they were obliged to the Observation of before And of this Opinion is the Great Selden who sayes 'T is injoyned in such a manner ‖ Selden de Successionibus c. cap. 5. Ac si recepto antea in gentem more subniteretur as if it had been the Constant Practice and Custom of the Nation to observe it before And in this Precept 't is not to be question'd Succession to the Royalty is included for in the †Titulo de Regibus Talmud 't is said Qui praecipuum jus habet in Haereditate is in possessione Regni ideo filius natu major praeferur minori i. e. Whoever has the greatest Right to Succeed in any Inheritance he ought to be Advanced to the Throne and therefore the Eldest Son is alwayes prefer'd before the Younger And accordingly we are told That Jehoram succeeded Jehosophat and the Reason given 2 Chron 21.3 Because he was the First-Born Which would not have been added if upon that account the Kingdom had not been his due And if we take the pains to look into History we shall find the Practice of the World agreeable in preferring the Eldest Son before his Younger Brethren ‖ In Polyphm Herodotus can tell us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That it was the Custom of all Nations for the First-Born to enjoy the Royalty And consonant to this Lib. 2. is what we are told out of Trogus by Justine Artabazanes Maximus natu aetatis privilegio regnum sibi vindicabat quod ordo Nascendi natura ipsa gentibus dedit Artabazanes the Eldest Son challenged by the Prerogative of Age the Kingdom to which by Priority of Birth and the Law of Nature common to all People he had an Undoubted Right I might here produce a great Multitude of Quotations from these as well as other Authors to shew how Universally this Custom prevailed in all Places how generally it was Received But I shall content my self to take notice of the Unanimous Agreement of the great Doctors of the Civil and Canon Laws in this Matter †Ex hoc jure D. de Justit Jure Baldus sayes positively Semper fuit semper erit ut primogenitus in Regno succedat It alwayes was and ever shall be that the First-Born and next of Blood Succeedeth in the Kingdom And herein he is followed with the full Cry of all the Best and Choice Interpreters of both Laws who with one Voice agree That in Kingdoms and other Dignities which are Indivisible without Dis-membring the Eldest Son doth entirely Succeed And this many of them do call the Law of all Nations derived from the Order of Nature and from the Institution of God and Confirmed by the Canon Civil and other Positive Laws Now what hath been said of Primogeniture in Point of Succession to the Crown doth so evidently by Consequence extend it self to Proximity of blood that I shall say no more of it but proceed to Answer an Objection drawn from the Holy writ For say some If this Birthright be so sacred a thing as I have asserted it to be How comes it to pass that so many have been deprived of it How came the tribe of Judah to get the Scepter from Reuben And Why was Solomon advanced to the Throne to the total disinherison of his elder Brethren I answer That those that make this objection never consider that this was all done by the express command of him who ruleth in the Kingdom of men Dan. 4.25 and giveth it to whomsoever he will t is well known that David of the Tribe of Judah was immediately chosen by God himself and appointed to be Ruler of his own People and it was by an express warrant from the same God 1 Chron. 28.5 that Solomon was made his successor as appears from the mouth of David himself 1 Chron. 28.5 And of all my Sons saith he for the Lord hath given me many Sons 1 Chron. 29.1 he hath chosen Solomon my Son to sit upon the Throne of the Kingdom of the Lord over Israel So that these and the like Instances and none other can be produced signifie nothing to the purpose And if we do but impartially weigh the Recognitions of so many several Parliaments as I have taken notice of above we shall find this great Truth openly and fully acknowledged 't is unanimously agreed That the King 's of England come to the Crown not by any Human Right but by the Laws of God and Nature And thus I think I have effectually proved my Two First Propositions viz. That Monarchy Jure Divino Naturali is Founded in Paternity and in the next place That the Crown of England is and ought to be inseparably annexed to the Proximity of Blood by the Laws of God and
were they being at that time in Hungary and having few or no Friends to assert their Right by the Power and Interest of Earl Godwin whose Daughter Edward had married the †F. nigorn f. 624. M. VVestm f. 212. VV. Gemiticens de Ducibus Norman in vit Guliel Conq. c. 9. Confessor as the lawful and next Heir was advanced to the Crown but he good Prince knowing the Right his Nephew had to the Crown sends for him home that after his death he might succeed in that Kingdom which Jure Haereditario ei debebatur sayes one of our most considerable ‖ M. VVestm f. 221. Fl. Wigorn. f. 633. W. Malms c. ult lib. 2. f. 93. ut aut ille aut filii sui succedant regno Haereditario Angliae Historians was due to him by Hereditary Right and if so how could the Government be Elective Nor was there any danger like to accrue to Edward by this since not only the memory of so great an Obligation as this was would keep him from attempting any thing in his Uncles prejudice but if he had any such Design he being so great a Stranger would want a sufficient Interest to bear him out But he dying presently after his Arrival his Eldest Son Edgar was look'd upon by every one to be Heir Apparent to the Crown which all our ** M. VVest f. 221. M. Paris f. 2. c. Historians with open cry tell us was his due by Birth-right nay so commonly was the opinion received that he was vulgarly called Atheling which what it signifies we shall best be informed by an Old English Poet speaking of the endeavours of some Honest and Great Men to have had this Edgar crowned according to Law Justice and Equity in this manner The gode tryewomen of the londe wolde aabbe ymade King Rob of Gloucester The kind cir the young child Edgar Atheling Who so were next King by kinde me cluped him Atheling Therefore me cluped him so vor by kind he was King And since this Edgar had no Title to the Crown upon the Account of any Election but by Right or Blood and Inheritance which are things altogether incompatable with an Elective Government I cannot for my Life understand how any man can find any thing to favour my Adversarie's Opinion And tho' his Party not being strong enough to assert his Right he was put by by ††M. Paris f. 2. Fl. wigorn 633. Harald Earl Godwin's Son yet every Body must acknowledge it was most unjustly done since Harald could neither pretend right of Blood nor Election For it was so far from that that he contrary to the Rights of Holy Church without any Ceremony and without expecting either the Votes of the Nobility or the Assistance of the Prelates he set the Crown upon his own Head nor durst any body gain-say it ‖‖ W. Gemiticens ubi supra For he had a great part of the Land of England in his own Possession but were *** Extortâ fide a majoribus sibi regnum ut iujurias suas acumularet ampliores diadema sine ecclesiasticâ authoritate imponendo asseruit M. P. ubi supra forc'd and compell'd for fear to swear Allegiance to him But at length he met with a just Reward for his Disloyalty losing both his Crown and Life at once to Duke William who had as little Right as he And thus I hope I have made it clearly evident that my Antagonist has been wretchedly mistaken in all his Instances during the Saxons Government and tho' he pretend he pick'd but a few out of the many he could have produced yet without disparagement to his exquisite Discernment I think I may truly say he must have had a great deal better Eyes than my self to have found them and a great deal more Dexterity than I can perceive he is Master of to have by wresting and Wire-drawing the meaning of his Authors made more But tho' he may have had ill luck hitherto in his Undertaking yet perhaps he may succeed better in his Endeavours after the Normans had made themselves Masters of this Island but I am afraid when we come to examine How and in what manner and upon what Grounds the Natural course of the Descent hath been changed We shall find very little reason not still to seem astonished at the boldness of the men who would persuade us that a Link of the sacred Chain of Succession may be broke so often as a Parliament thinks fit For if we look but with an impartial Eye upon the History of those times we shall find that such a course of Succession as I am contending for has been constantly conserved unless diverted out of its duc Channel by some powerful and ambitious Prince who by Cunning Subtilty Artifice and Address and by the Assistance of some Popular Friend has jugled himself into the Throne and tho' we find some of them debasing their Prerogative truckling to and courting the People for their Approbation thereby hoping to strengthen a crack'd Title and make up in Power and their Favour what it wanted as to its Legality I presume no man of even Common Sence can take that for an Election since it ought to be a Solemn Free Sedate and deliberate Act which I am sure none of my Adversaries Instances can pretend to be Besides it seems very strange to me that the Kings of those Times should Intitle themselves to the Crown only from the Consent of the People and that we should no where find mention of * Vicar Generals they are stiled in the Empire Administrators of the Government betwixt the Death of the preceding King and the Election of his Successor since without such a Provision and such a one I am sure there never was the Kingdom must necessarily have run into Anarchy and Confufion especially if the Crown were engaged in a War at the Death of any King which has above once happen'd therefore I think my Lord Coke †In the Preface to his fourth Book of Reports had reason for saying This Kingdom is a Monarchy successive by inherent Birth-right of all others the most absolute and perfect Form of Government excluding Interregnums and with it infinite Inconveniencies But proceed we now to examine his Proofs and first he tells us King William himself being illegitimate yet succeeded his Father in the Dutchy of Normandy and therefore had no great reason to set any great value upon that sort of Title which is derived from Right of Blood But if he had pleas'd to have examin'd the matter a little more narrowly he would have found that ‖ M. Westm f. 208. W. Malmsb lib. 3. f. 95. Arlotte the Conqueror's Mother was afterwards lawful Wife to Duke Robert which subsequent Marriage was according to the then almost univerfally received Canon Law not only sufficient to render him Legitimate quoad Sacerdotium but quoad Successionem too tho' the latter was not allowed of in England
propter consuetudinem regni quod se habet in contrarium so that at a Parliament holden ** Coke 1 Inst f. 245. a. Anno 20 H. 3. for that to certifie upon the King 's Writ that the Son born before Marriage is a Bastard was contra communem formam Ecclesiae Rogaverunt omnes Episcopi magnates ut consentirent quod nati ante Matrimonium essent legitimi sicut illi qui nati sunt post Matrimonium quantum ad Successionem haereditaniam quia Ecclesia tales habet pro legitimis omnes Comites Barones una voce responderunt Quod nolunt leges Angliae mutare quae hucusque usitatae sunt approbatae but how it can reasonably be extended to Normandy I cannot understand for then William had been excluded But to go on William having conquer'd this Island which he pretended to upon the account of the Confessor's donation upon his Death-bed bequeathed the Kingdom of England to his Second Son William his Eldest Son Robert being then in actual Rebellion against him but Rufus being too wise to rely upon his Fathers Will which was contrary to all Right and Justice ††M. Par. vit W. 2. in prin P. Virg. lib. 10. Posts away out of Normandy immediately into England seises upon his Fathers Treasure and very ** In pecuniâ dispergendâ neque segnis neque parcus omnem Thesaurum patris Wintoniae accumulatum in lucem proferens Monasteriis Aurum Ecclesiis Parochianis Argenti Solidos quinque unicuique provinciae libras centum egenis dividendas misericorditer assignavit M. P. ubi supra liberally bestowes it amongst the people giving Gold to the Monasteries five shillings to every Parish Church and a hundred pound to to every Province to be destributed amongst those that were needy and in want promises over and above an emendation of the hard Laws his Father had imposed upon his Subjects and a speedy redress of the Grievances which then the People groan'd under by which specious pretences and by the assiduous endeavours and great interest of * M. Par. vir G. 2. in prin P. Virg. l. 10. Lanfranck Archbishop of Canterbery for the Clergy in those days had no small influence upon Affairs he so far prevailed with the generality of people that according to his Fathers will which was very much urged in his favour he was received with the Shouts and Acclamations of the Croud where he was immediately proclaimed and soon after Crowned King but in spight of all their endeavours they were not able to corrupt the Loyalty of some stout and generous †M. Paris ubi supra M. Westm f. 231. Normans who as in duty they were bound resolved to stand firm to Robert to whom by the Laws of God and Nature supposing the Conqueror had lawfully enjoy'd the Crown the Royalty was due but their brave undertaking was rendered uneffectual by the policy of William who found means to take some of them off and by the assistance of the ‖ Sim. Dunelm anno 1088. fol. 214. English to reduce the rest And here this Gentleman takes occasion to observe that the Conqueror by his absolute Victory did not so wholly break the English that all the Old Laws and Customs were destroy'd because they wanted not hands to use those Weapons which were put into 'em for the defence of Rufus and thence I suppose infers that the Conqueror came not to the Crown so much by Arms as Consent of the People but how senseless and rediculous a pretence this is I leave to himself to judge since a sure and faithful ** Ut commilitonibus Normannis qui in bello Hastingensi patriam secum subjugaverant terras Anglorum possessiones ipsis expulsis manu distribuat affiuenti modicum illud quod eis remaneret subjugo poneret perpetuae servitutis M. Par. in vit W. 1. in prin Historian will inform him that William having left the English Hostages in safe Custody in Normandy return'd into England to destribute the Lands of the English amongst his Norman Souldiers that had assisted him to subjugate that Country which he did very liberally having expell'd the owners out of their possessions and that little he was pleas'd to leave to some of 'em he put under the slavish Tenure of perpetual Villenage which certainly he never could have done had he not both obtained and governed the Kingdom Jure gladii But to return from whence I have digressed Rufus and his Brother Robert came to this Agreement at the length that the latter ††Propter manifestum jus quod habuit ad Regnum possidendum Roberto singulis annis tria millia Marcarum Argenti daret ab Anglia quis corum diutius viveret Haeres eslet alterius si absque filio moreretur Hoc autem per duodecem magnates juratum suit utrinque M. Westm f. 236. because of the manifest right he had to enjoy the Crown should have a yearly Pension of three thousand Marks out of the Revenue of England and he that surviv'd the other if he died without Children should be Heir to the deceased Brother and so far were they from thinking this Agreement stood in need of the Ratification of a Great Council that there was but Twelve of their Principal friends on each side Sworn to see it duly observed But Robert being absent in the Holy Land at Rufus's death the great men of the Kingdom were mightily afraid of being long without a King it seems they were of opinion that Robert had a right to govern which Henry his Younger Brother wisely perceiving resolved to take time by the Fore-top and improve this Opportunity to the Supplanting of his Brother and Advancement of himself therefore to win the Affections of the Great Men he was very liberal in making them ‖‖ P. Virg. lib. 11. partim dando partim grandia pollicendo munera c. Presents and promising larger Rewards the usual and most prevailing Rhetorick of Competitors representing to 'em his Brother's Cruel Disposition and that he himself was their own Country-man and born after his Fathers coming to the Crown which gave a reasonable pretence to expect to be prefer'd before Robert and having bound himself by Oath to make a full Restitution of all their Ancient Laws and confirm them by his Charter and abrogate such severe ones as his Father had made they did * In ipsum consentirent in regem unanimiter consecrarent M. Par. vit H. 1. in princi pio unanimously consent to consecrate him King and I cannot see how this that was managed with so much Bribery and Corruption can properly be call'd an Election however I think we need not wonder to find this King publickly owning the consent of the people to be the foundation of his Advancement to the Throne for he must either acknowledge that or openly profess himself an unjust Usurper since he had no other way to entitle himself to it but