most UNPARALLELL'D TREASON c. and ALL PROCEEDINGS TENDING thereunto how far this last Expression will reach I leave Your Lordship to be Judge Again when King Charles II. is said to be exterminated into Foreign Parts by the most TRAYTEROUS CONSPIRACIES 12 C. 2. c. 14. c. of USURPING TYRANTS and EXECRABLE PERFIDIOUS TRAYTORS than all which nothing can be exprest more Monstrous Yet that whole Revolution was transacted by the two Houses of Parliament with this addition above our late Convention of a Legal Summons to justifie their Meeting and the Royal Assent to Sit in effect 16 C. 1. c. 7. as long as they pleas'd But if that Parliament be not a Parallell I am sure that that Convention which Elected Cromwel to be Protector is so in every respect For did the apparent Necessities of the publick to prevent an Anarchy during the King's Secess require this the same Necessities requir'd that Was this Summon'd by one who was desir'd to take upon himself the Government and had an Army at his Command to support him in it till the Meeting thereof so was that Were the Members of this duly Elected and the Houses full so were they Had these an entire freedom of Debates so had they In the Result of their Consultations indeed they differ Those being abundantly more modest than these For these without any Precedent in any Age in this Kingdom Elect and purely Create a King who had before no pretence of Title to the Crown Whereas they very modestly go no further then to Declare a Protector for which they have many Precedents tho' none throughly adapted to their Case But notwithstanding all these Extremities of the Publick the Summons of the Administrator of the Government the fair Elections the freedom of Debates and the Result of all this the Election of Oliver into the Protectorate yet the Healing Parliament of K. Charles 2. Declare and Enact 12 C. 2. c. 12. that the Names and Stiles which those pretended Powers Usurped and every of them are most REBELLIOUS WICKED TRAYTEROUS and ABOMINABLE USURPATIONS DETESTED by this present Parliament as OPPOSITE in the highest degree to his Sacred Majesty's most JUST and UNDOUBTED RIGHT 13 C. 2. c. 1 12 C. 2. c. 30. c. and upon that Account they Declare all their Pretended Orders and Ordinances to be Null and Void Attaint the Protector himself of High Treason and Brand him with the Titles of USURPER and TYRANT and to express an Indignation effectually 12 C. 2. c. 12. §. 13. after his Death his Body was Hang'd at Tyburn An Vnlucky Omen avertat Deus But as if all this had been foreseen in sufficient to declare no Power in such Mock Parliaments to transact such Matters as this of ours has undertaken That Parliament proceeds 12 C. 2. c. 30. to Declare it does not Enact it a Law for the future tho' even that were Obligatory but Declares it to have been always a Fundamental Law of this Kingdom that not only neither the PEERS of this Realm nor the COMMONS nor BOTH TOGETHER in Parliament or OUT of Parliament but it goes on to Declare that not even the whole People either COLLECTIVELY or REPRESENTATIVELY nor any other Persons whatsoever EVER HAD HAVE HATH or OUGHT to have any COERCIVE POWER OVER the Persons of the Kings of this Realm Here is an express Renunciation of all the Consequences of an ORIGINAL CONTRACT But if that which was Committed against K. James was not a Coercition when he was put under a Foreign Guard driven from his own Palace and appointed his Place of Retirement The Dutch Marcht to Whitehall and mounted the Guard about 12 at Night and not long after the M. of Hallifax the E. of Shrewsbury and my Lord Delamere 't is pity their Names should ever be forgotten rudely prest into the King's Bedchamber and surprisingly wak'd him with this Message That the Prince Design'd to be at St. James's the next day by Noon and that it was therefore His Highness's Pleasure that his Majesty should retire in the Morning to Ham. 'T is true he went another way to Rochester but not till he had sent after his Goalors and ask'd their leave or rather Confinement and lastly when Deposed by a Vote of the Convenvention and his Throne declar'd Vacant if all this I say be not Exercising a Coercive Power I know not what is But should you still deny all this to be applicable to the late Convention you will surely allow this to be a Natural and a just Deduction that since it is less injurious to the King to restrain his Person for a time then to Judge and Depose Him the whole People of England as is above Confest and Declar'd having no Coercive can have therefore no Judicial Power over their Kings Yet this Power our Convention has arrogated to themselves and Acted solely by the pretence hereof contrary to this Fundamental Law 13. C. 2. c. 1. I will add but this one Statue more It is Prohibited under the pain and Penalty of a Premunire to affirm That both Houses of Parliament or either House of Parliament have or hath a Legislative Power without the King If then a Parliament has no Right to this surely much less to that whereby they may Judge or Constitute the Legislature it self These Declarations and Statutes which I have cited are of so late Date and the occasions of them so well known that I profess I can no more bring my self to believe that I cannot read or do not understand them and thereby Sacrifice my Notions in a Fact so Notorious â—…ge 19. to the Decision of a Convention at Westminster then I can all my Senses in the controversy about Transubstantiation to the Decree of a pretended General Council at Trent for I look upon both equally a Contradiction to Common sense And â—…ge 19. § 11. And now My Lord we are come to your last Refuge the Right of Conquest But this is a Plea so disrespectful to the whole English Nation as none but Your Lordship or one inflam'd with a National Antipathy against it one born in Scotland and Naturaliz'd in Holland would have vented Had this Plea been urg'd by the Dutch themselves it had been Vngrateful and Impudent Vngrateful because they owe their Being to the English Protection and Impudent because they never yet could boast a Victory except the Bloody Massacre at Amboyna were one This Plea is equally disrespectful too to the Prince of Orange whom it is produc'd to Vindicate for it makes him at once both Treacherous and Vnnatural Treacherous to the States General and all the Forreign Princes in Amity with them to whom he protested he meant nothing less then an Attempt upon the Crown and Treacherous to the English even beyond thought to whom he so often Declar'd that he came as a Friend and not an Enemy as a Protector and not an Invader or a Conqueror It makes him also
a sufficient Answer to all that can be urg'd from the Examples you have brought for our present submission to a King without Right But least this should seem too general I will descend to particulars and show you wherein every single instance you produce is defective The Case of Athaliah comes near your purpose Her Reign was undoubtedly an Usurpation because not being of the seed of David Page 8. she broke into the Government contrary to the promise of God Director of the Succession to him 2 Sam. 7.16 that His House and His Kingdom should be Established for ever She took the proper method too to maintain her Usurpation for she made way to the Throne through blood and slew as was believ'd all of the seed Royall who could pretend any Right to the Crown 2 Kings 11.1 2 Chr. 22.10 So that the people through Ignorance might pay Obedience to Her But your Lordship may observe that this is a very Melancholly History for any Vsurper to reflect on For those who were privy to the conceal'd Infant King and knew to whom their Allegiance was due probably never gave it to any other For we find that Jehoiada the Priest does not as was usual in such extraordinary occasions receive and declare a particular Command from God in this affair but he insists only upon the forecited Promise of God to David This the whole Assembly judge Authority sufficient to own Joash King 2 Chr. 23.3 the only instance that I remember of like nature without an immediate Message from God even before he was Anointed or Athaliah put to death For it it is observable in this Relation that Jehoiada in his Consultation with the Rulers calls him KING 2 Kings 11.7,8,11 2 Chr. 23.7,10 As if no room had been left for Election since he was the Only person remaining of the Line and therefore alone qualify'd for their Choice Farther yet all the Congregation made a Covenant with the King which you take to be Equivalent with swearing Allegiance to him in the House of God whereas he was brought forth to be Crown'd and Anointed Compare 2 Chr. 23.3 with 10. and 2 Kings 11.4 with 12. However this is undeniable that as soon as their Lawful King was thus publiquely known neither Priest nor People held themselves oblidg'd by their Allegiance to Athaliah but instantly upon her first appearance they execute a just Revenge upon her and Sacrifice the Bloody Tyrant to this Infant Rightful King Upon the whole matter My Lord 2 Chr. 23.21 2 Kings 11. I can see but very little Temptation from hence for any to insist upon Possession against Right when the Priests thus inform us by this Example without any Imediate command from God which shows it to be agreeable to his ordinary positive Laws that we must when the Rightful Sovereign becomes a Competitor for his own Throne endeavour to pull down the unjust Possessor Then which nothing can conclude more strongly against your Assertion For certainly since there is such a natural Tye between Subjects and their Kings it must be contrary to all the Laws even of Common Honesty to promise Faith to one whom if this occasion require and they know not how soon it may happen they are pre-engaged to destroy Page â—0 § 6. The next Instance would be of considerable service to the Cause had you prov'd that the Righteous Heir was known and Claim'd his Right you must add that too and that the Debate which the Pharisees kept up was not only Negatively against a Forreign Authority but also positively for some Person publiquely known to be that Righteous Heir This indeed would conclude somthing and reach our Case Page 9. But the Task is too hard to be undertaken since that Positive Law which Excludes all Aliens Commands also to make Him their King whom God shall Choose Deut. 17.15 So that God's Designation of the Person and the Peoples Election are Precedent to any Right and must be made out before any Righteous Heir according to this Law can appear Besides our Saviour does not answer to a question of Allegiance but of Tribute only which is indeed a good Argument for our payment of those heavy Taxes that are Luke 20.22 and must be laid upon us but who has hitherto scrupled to do this But let our Saviour's answer to this Ensnaring Question be Extended to the utmost it will amount to no more then this That they should Acquiesce under the Roman Usurpations For the annexed Command Luke 20 25. To give to God the things that are God's may be reasonably thus Interpreted That since God vouchsafed to be their King they should reserve their Entire Obedience and Allegiance to him and to a King of his appointment which was the Debate the Pharisees kept up This Interpretation seems the more probable Luke 20.26 because both the Pharisees and Herodians Marvelled at his Answer wherein he had so equally divided and reconciled the matter in dispute between them that they were both satisfy'd and held their peace However this is Evident that God long before this Revolution had declar'd by the Prophets that at the coming of the Messiah the whole Constitution of the Jewish Government should be Dissolv'd And chang'd from a Temporal particular Kingdom to a Spiritual Universal Monarchy under Christ the King Who then should endeavour to maintain this Government fore-ordain'd by God to Dissolution and thereby resist his Will But I hope We are not yet determin'd for destruction at least I have not heard of any such Revelation notwithstanding the Face of publique Affairs looks so very gloomy before us The two next Paragraphs are grounded upon the Revolutions in the Roman Empire which was never yet call'd Haereditary Page 11. §. 7. and Page 13. §. 8. And therefore as they have no Relation to us so I will say no more to 'em then this that however the Election of the Emperours was extorted by force yet certain it is there was always an appearance of an Election and something like a Consent was always obtain'd from the Senate and People who had the only Right to confer this Honour upon them And they all Acquiesc'd in these unfair Elections This alone was sufficient reason and Obligation for all private Persons who had no such Right of Electing not to trouble themselves with Enquiries into Titles But farther the Empire being thus Elective Page 12. whenever an Emperour was Dethron'd all his Right fell with him and none could Claim by Descent from him So that all the Primitive Christians might safely swear the Military Oath to the Possessour of the Empire Page 13. after they had been Absolv'd from that to the former by his death Yet it does not appear and I believe them so good Soldiers in every respect that methinks your Lordship would much blast their Courage as well as Fidelity should you affirm that ever they Deserted their unfortunate
Master before his Death or swore the Military Oath to an Vsurper against Him Yet this is the Circumstance which alone concludes in favour of the Opinion here in question But the truth is my Lord St. Paul's Doctrine of Obedience to Caligula notwithstanding his black Vsurpations and Tyranny Page 1◠and his Attemtps upon all the remaining Freedoms of Rome as also the practice thereof by the Primitive Christians under many Emperours not only Tyrants and Vsurpers but even Apostates too are unanswerable Arguments for Non-Resistance to the Supream Magistrate And if so the Guilt of Treason and all those threats which God has denounc'd against it lye hard upon those who Rebell'd against their undoubted Rightful Soveraign and Advised and Procur'd this unparallell'd Revolution I shall only add for Conclusion to this whole Argument that if Rebellion be as the Sin of Witchcraft Rom. 13.2 and to Resist the Supream Magistrate without Repentance be to receive Damnation surely all such as have been Instrumentall in the unjust Exclusion of King James are bound in Conscience as they love themselves and their Eternal Happyness to return to their forsaken Allegiance and to make Restitution the one great part and instance of true Repentance in the Case of Injuries to the Injur'd King by Endeavouring to Restore him to the Possession of his own These returning Penitents if they would Unanimously Return joyn'd with those who were always ready to serve him as a KING tho not as a PAPIST would be of such force that a Forreign Army of Dutch and others should not be able to support the Usurpation against him alone without the further Assistance of French or Irish Page 14. § 9. The Succession to the High-Priesthood your Lordship owns to be Forreign to this matter but if not it Concludes very little for your Assertion For there was not an Absolute Necessity that the Eldest Son should Succeed his Father tho most usually he did since the Succession might be Interrupted by the King's Prerogative 1 Kings 2.27 Thus Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being Priest unto the Lord and although he had a Son 2 Sam. 15.36 1 Kings 2.35 yet the King put Zadok into his room * Atque ita Summum sacerdotium a familia Ithamaris ad familiam Eleazari rediit Usser An. ad an 2990. Page 16. §. 10 Since therefore the King had this Power to Depose the High-Priest and to change the Succession what could be objected against Caiaphas when call'd to the Priest-Hood by that Power which alone pretended to be the Supream 2. I have now My Lord gone through all the Arguments Your Lordship has produc'd for Possession only without Right And I think I have sufficiently Evinc'd that there is nothing therein Conclusive to us This Your Lordship seems to be sensible of when you advance the State of the Question a little further and throw it upon the Decision of a Convention which you say are the only proper Judges But here also I can find no Satisfaction for allowing your Difference to be good between all Speculative points of Opinion and all Questions that relate to matters of Fact Allowing also that in all Bodies who make Decisions the Minority is concluded by the Majority as if they had been Actually consenting to the Decision yet for all this there still remains insuperable difficulties in the present Case 1. You permit us to retain our former Opinions Page 18. Declaration to be Subscrib'd by all the Clergy 14 Car. 2. c. 4. to be sworn by all Mayors Aldermen c. St. 2. 13 C. 2. c. 1. 3,4 and by all Lords Lieutenants Deputy-Lieutenants c. 14 C. 2. c. 3. and therefore you give us leave to adhere to our Subscriptions that It is not Lawful to take up Arms against the King upon any pretence whatsoever even not upon the account of Religion and that the contrary Position is Trayterous How then can we who have Subscrib'd this Declaration and who are all of this Opinion or at least have profest our selves to be of it own those to be our Lawful Superiors who have been Instrumental contrary to this Declaration in Deposing the King till they are Absolv'd from their Treasonable Injustice against him by his most Gracious Pardon or have made him Restitution by endeavouring his Restauration much less as far as in us lies Aid and Support them in this which according to our declar'd Opinions is the highest Injury and Affront to Majesty yet these are the Chief and most considerable part of the Nation who are now set over us both in the Civil and Military State 2. But tho' the Business of Succession be allow'd a Matter of Fact as also the King 's Original Power Page 18. yet the late pretended Convention of Estates were not the Proper much less the Only competent Judges of it 1. Because most of the Members in both Houses were uncapable and unqualifi'd to sit there For 25 E. 3. c. 2. 1. It is Declar'd Treason to levy War against our Lord the King in his Realms or to be Adherent to the Kings Enemies giving to them Aid and Comfort in the Realm or Elsewhere It was also further Adjudg'd High Treason by the Lords in Parliament under K. Richard 2. To surrender from the King Homage and Allegiance and to PVRPOSE to Depose him Cott. Rec. p. 376 377 c. And as if to preclude that groundless Evasion hereof on the pretence of a Defensive War against the King a late Parliament has Declar'd 13. C. 2. c. 6. and 14 C. 2. c. 3. that The sole Supreme Government Command and Disposition of the Militia and of all Forces by Sea and Land and of All Forts and Places of Strength is and by the Laws of England Ever Was the Vndoubted Right of His Majesty c. and that both or either of the Houses of Parliament Cannot nor ought to Pretend to the same nor Can nor Lawfully may Raise or Levy any War Offensive or Defensive against His Majesty So that it is evident from hence that many of the Members in the late Convention were formally TRAYTORS Every Offendor shall lose and forfeit to the King c. all such Lands c. which any Offendor shall have c. at the TIME of any such Treason committed 5 6 Ed. 6. c. 11. 3 Eliz. c. 1. It may be urg'd indeed in their Defence that they were not legally Convict But since Treason ipso facto forfeits all Estates it is very reasonable to conclude that it also forfeits all other Rights and Priviledges of Free Subjects and since the matter of Fact was so Publick and Notorious it is a just Exception to the Legality of their whole Proceedings that such Members were suffer'd to Sit and Vote there For it is Ridiculous that those Men should Judge and Depose the King who had before forfeited their own Lives to him 2. They were incapacitated by express Acts of Parliament
and even by those the Dispensing wherewith was so warmly urg'd against the King For in the Fifth of Eliz. It is Enacted That every Person which hereafter shall be Elected or Appointed a Knight Citizen or Burgess or Baron for any of the five Ports for any Parliament or Parliaments hereafter to be holden shall from henceforth before he shall Enter into the Parliament House or have any Voice there openly receive and pronounce the said Oath of Supremacy before the Lord Steward c. and that he which shall Enter into the Parliament House without taking the said Oath shall be deemed no Knight Citizen or Burgess c. nor shall have any Voice but shall be to all Intents Constructions and Purposes as if he had never been Returned or Elected c. And shall suffer such Pains and Penalties as if he had presumed to sit in the same without any Election Return or Authority But this Oath appearing ineffectual to exclude the Presbyterians and other Dissenters The present Synod well knowing that there are other Sects which endeavour the Subversion both of the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England NO LEâ—S THEN PAPISTS DO although by another day Syn. Lond. 1640. can 5. the Seditious Sectaries c. do at their MEETINGS contrive INSURRECTIONS as late EXPERIENCE hath shewed 16 C. 2. c. 4. §. â— who by woful Experience have been since found equally dangerous to the Government both of Church and State * 25 C. 2. c. 2 it was of late further Enacted that All and every Person or Persons as well Peers as Commoners that shall bear any Office or Offices Civil or Military c. or shall have Command or Place of Trust c. shall take the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance c. and receive the Sacrament and that those who shall Refuse or Neglect the same shall be ipso facto adjuged uncapable and disabled in Law to enjoy the said Office c. And every such Office c. shall be void But if this will not be admitted to extend to all the Members of Parliament as such tho' I think the greatest Trusts of the Kingdom are reposed in them however by another Parliament it is more fully Enacted 30 Car. 2. that Every Peer and every Commoner shall take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy and shall make subscribe and audibly Repeat this Declaration against Transubstantiation c. Before he take his Place in the House c. And where any Member of the House of Commons shall c. by the Neglect hereof be Disabled to Sit c. the Place or Places for which they c. were Elected is hereby Declared Void c. as if such Members were Naturally Dead All which Laws being interpreted according to the Reasons and Occasions of them reach a Convention as well as a Parliament For undoubtedly where any great Care is necessary to preserve the Superstructure it is much more to secure the Foundation If therefore such caution be necessary to prevent Corruption in a part of the Legislative Body surely it is no less necessary to prevent it in that which takes upon it to Constitute the Legislature it self Yet for all this no Member of either House as such had any regard to these Statutes 2. There is neither Authority in Law nor approvâ—d Precedent in History for such an Assembly 1. That it has no Authority in Law is evident for that so strictly requires the Royal Summons to all such like Assemblies that the greatest Exigencies of Publick Affairs do not excuse the neglect thereof And your Lordship has formerly own'd that the want of the Kings Writ was such an Essential Nullity Reflections on Parliamentum Pacificum §. 1 that no subsequent Ratification could take it away Thus the Second Parliament of King Charles II. found it necessary to confirm all the useful Laws of the former for this very Reason because they wanted a due Summons tho' they had the Royal Assent to Legitimate their Meeting and further declare that the Manner of the said Assembling c. is not to be drawn into Example Nay sometimes they will not allow it even the Name of a Parliament but call it only a late Assembly 13 C. 2. c. 15. 2. It has no Approv'd Precedent in History For the Memory of that of Richard 3. which has a great resemblance to this in many Particulars is too black to be insisted on And all the Transactions of the several Parliaments or rather Conventions during the Vsurpations against the Royal Martyr and his Son were adjudg'd by all Lawyers as well as a Parliament to have been in themselves Null and Void Yet I think they had as good Foundation 13 C. 2. c. â—… §. 3. and as much Law for what they did as our late Convention can pretend to 3. They had no Power to Transact such Matters or make such Decisions as they have undertaken except it be made out that a larger Power was delegated to them then to a Parliament This more extensive Authority if any such they had they must of necessity derive either from those they represent or from him who Summon'd them But from neither of these could they derive it Not from the former because the Electors were the very same as to a Parliament and they always impower'd their Representatives with as large a Deputation as they could give to Consult about the great and weighty Concerns of the Publick and to give Assent accordingly in their Names nor from the later because if so the Prince of Orange had a greater Power devolv'd on him by those few Lords and Commons who desir'd him to take upon himself the Administration of Publick Affairs then he afterwards receiv'd from the Convention when they presented him the Crown and Regal Authority which is down-right Nonsence Besides my Lord there is no greater power imply'd by the word Convention For every Convention of the two Houses of Parliament is a true Convention of the three Estates This is fully declar'd to Q. Elizabeth thus We Your most Humble 1 Eliz. c. 3. Faithful and Obedient Subjects the Lords SPIRITUAL and TEMPORAL and COMMONS in Parliament Assembled c. Representing the THREE ESTATES of your Realm c. Humbly beseech c. So that I think we may from hence conclude that the late Convention had at most no more than an Equal Authority with the two Houses of Parliament without the King who is not to be included by the Three Estates It only remains then in the next place to show you that such a Parliament hath no such Power This is sufficiently declar'd by the Parliaments themselves When they call those that Proceeded against the Life of King Charles I. a TRAYTEROUS ASSEMBLY and the most Detestable Traytors that ever were they therefore Renounce 12 C. 2. c. 11. 14 C. 2. c. 29. 12 C. 2. c. 30. Abominate and Protest against that Impious Fact that Execrable Murther and
Sacramentum facerent inquiri quae fuerunt libertates in Angliae tempore Regis Henrici Avi sui Rot. Claus 7. H. 3 m. 9. but in use in the time of K. Henry his Grandfather And according to the Returns made upon these Writs Mag. Chart. 9. H. 3. c. 15. 16 35 37. the Great Charter in the Ninth Year of this King's Reign in a more Regular Form of Law then before was a fourth time Granted This is the Magna Charta in the front of the Statute Book which is look'd upon as the Measure and Foundation of all our Laws And 't is this not that of K. John which is again Ratify'd and Perpetuated by K. Edward 1. his Son and Successor These are strong Presumptions â—… E. 1. that the first Grants of these Liberties were very defective in something Essential to the Being of a Law For if not what can mean so many Confirmations in so little time 2. Another inducement to this Opinion is the Profuse Returns of the Parliaments to King Henry III. for his Confirmations For I find from the passage cited by the Collector of these Records out of the MS. above mentioned that the Parliament for his Donation and Concession of the Charters in the beginning of the second Year of this Reign Pro hac autem donatione Concessione Libertatum istarum Aliarum Contentarum in Charta Nostra de Libertatibus Arc. Episc Ep. Ab. Pri. Com. Bar. c. dederunt nobis Quindecimam Partem omnium bonorum suorum Mobilium c. Dat. 6. Nov. An. Reg. Nost 2. Ex Ant MS. Supradict gave him a fifteenth Part of all their Moveables A Tax so Considerable that it was thought a sufficient supply in the Ninth Year of his Reign to carry on the War with France and was then again given him for his Fourth Grant Rot. Stat. 25. E. 1. m. 38. Mag. Ch. 9. H. 3. c 37. as appears by the Inspeximus of King Edward I. But this was not all for in Consideration of the Third Grant before mentioned the Parliament gave him Two Shillings upon every Plough Land through England Fox ubi sup Concesserunt Nobis c. de qualibet Caruca duos solidos Rot. Claus 4 H. 3. m. 5. We must here consider which will heighten the Wonder that the intrinsick value of money in those times if laid out in exchange for the necessaries of Life was at least ten times the value of the same money now For if we may make the Estimate from the Price of Corn and that I think is the best Standard in England we may readily perceive by the Assise of Bread in this Reign St. 51. H. 3. Assisa Panis c that the common price of Wheat was then 3 s. and 3 s. 4 d. the Quarter as it is now 30 s. and 35 s. We must also remember that between these two last mentioned supplys a Poll was given for the King of Jerusalem whereby every Earl was Oblig'd to pay 3 Marks Rot. Claus. 6. H. 3. m. 1â— dor 7 H. 3. m. â—… dor a Baron 1 m. a Knight 12 d. and every Freeholder if not every Housholder 1 d. which still made the Subjects less able to support the others These things being duly considered the great Condescensions of those Parliaments is unaccountable when they lay such heavy Taxes upon themselves as would now almost be intolerable and Bribe the King at this vast Expence to be Graciously Pleased to Revive a Law if this Charter of King John was such which was made at furthest not above Ten years before and consequently impossible to have yet been Obsolete and which was Enacted as all Laws are by the Supream Authority and therefore could not receive any Additional Force But they are abundantly more Unconceiveable if that be true which your Lordship would so strongly from hence inferr that there was then no such Irresistable Authority in our Kings Page 28. but that they were Accountable to their Parliaments for the willful Breach of those Fundamental Laws 3. These Exceptions may be further made to the Validity of this Charter tho not altogether so Conclusive When King Henry III. Invites Hugh de Lacy and others to come in to him and Promimises Iâ— they do to RESTORE All their Rights and Liberties Entire to them SI ad nos venire volueritiâ— Jurâ— vestra Libertates vestras peâ— Concilium Dilectorum Fideliuâ— Nostrorum R. Com. Cestriae Wâ— Com. de Ferarijs aliorum Fidelium Nostrorum integre Vobâ—… RESTITUEMUS Rot. Pat. 1 H. 3. m. 16. He makes their Obedience the Condition of this Restitution This were a great Impropriety of Speech had the Charter of King John which was granted not full two years before Confirm'd then by the Force and Authority of a Law for a Law is the best Advised and most deliberate Act of the Supream Power and therefore if an Absolute Power was not lodg'd with Him which I suppose your Lordship will not allow He could neither Revoke it nor give any Additional Sanction to it How then could he speak Conditionally about it Or since he had Sworn at his Coronation to Observe All their Laws if they could not acquiesce on such a Solemn General Promise where was the Inducement to Regard his Letter Again when he concluded a Peace with the Dauphin he Swore to restore to the Barons all their Rights and Liberties so long desir'd But they being already granted by this Charter of King John if that had the real Force of a Law his Oath amounted to no more then this That he would Observe his Coronation Oath This would be a very Extraordinary Promise to any Forreign Prince as an Article of Peace 4. This whole Charter was Damn'd almost as soon as made For one Brewer a Councellor disputed the Legality even in those days Besides Mag. Chart. 9. H. 3. c. 15. 16 35. 37. we find in the Great Charter it self of King Henry III. four references to the Reign of King Henry his Grand-Father but not the least hint of any former Charters either by himself or King John his Father which tacitly implies the Nullity thereof And when King Edwaed I. would Revive and Confirm the Rights and Liberties of his Subjects to them he does it by the Confirmation of this not that of King John as appears by the Print But the Confirmation in the Record is more full for there the King Grants that the Grand Charter of Liberties and the Charter of the Forrest Les quelles feurent FAITES per COMUNE ASSENT de Tut le Royaume en TEMPS le Roy perhaps du Roy HENRY Nostre Pere c. Rot. Stat. 23. perhaps it should be 25 E. 1. m. 38. which were MADE by the COMMON ASSENT of the whole Realm in the TIME of K. HENRY his Father shall be Observed c. This seems Naturally to Imply that they were THEN FIRST MADE by the Common Assent of the
A LETTER TO THE Bishop of Sarum BEING AN ANSWER To his LORDSHIPS Pastoral Letter From a Minister in the Countrey Printed in the Year 1690. A LETTER TO THE Bishop of Sarum My LORD YOUR Lorship has given the World so great and so many Instances of your Ability and Proficiency in all kinds of Learning and of your strength of Reasoning upon every Subject That it is the greatest Disadvantage imaginable to any Cause you can Espouse to be so Weakly Argued by you that room is left for an Answer to your Arguments This added to the Scruples I formerly Entertain'd has rais'd in me a more then common Jealousie that the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy in our present Circumstances Defended in your Lordships late PASTORAL LETTER are unjust and that they are Repugnant to the Laws of this Kingdom as well as to the Doctrine of the English Church The first Report indeed that I met with concerning your Lordships Letter together with the Character which I knew was justly due to the Author begat a Confident Expectation in me of being throughly Convinc'd by it and more than half a blind Resolution of adhering to it and complying with that which I am unwilling to call the Iniquity of the Times But alas my Lord as soon as I had with Earnestness and Impatience of being your Convert procur'd and read it I found my self under the greatest Disappointment I ever met with even so great that I cannot forbear doing this Violence to my own Temper which affects nothing so much as Ease and Privacy to Examine and compare it with such Remarks as I had before made for my own satisfaction and give these publique Reasons of my dissent from it I do not entertain the Vanity to believe that any thing I can offer will have so much of weight in it as to Convince your Lordship you have been mistaken for I am very sensible of my own weakness tho my Opinion of the goodness of the Cause prompts me to this unequal Undertaking besides I have Charity enough to hope you have far better Reasons for the Part you have Acted in this Surprising Revolution then those you have here thought fit to Publish But my design is to apply my self to your Lordship as to a Spiritual Physician and to lay open the state of my Disease and the very foundation of my Scruples before you that by Arguing the matter I may attain to the Truth And I doubt not but you will show the Goodness of your Nature as a Man and your Charity as a Bishop whereby you are Oblig'd to lead the Blind and support the Weak so far as to give me and the World some more satisfactory Directions for our Behaviour under these Difficulties of Publique Affairs This being then the design of this Letter I cannot prosecute it in a better Method then to wait on your Lordship from Page to Page and from Paragraph to Paragraph and to point out to you where your Reasons are not Conclusive nor Satisfactory I agree with your Lordship that should the Clergy choose rather to desert their stations Page 2. then swear the Oaths the Minds of the People would be much distracted And I suppose it is for this Reason that the Act particularly points at them to fright them if possible into a Submission to such things as the Doctrine of the Pulpits gave occasion to Believe they would not fail to boggle at But we must not Ez◠13 16 c. to prevent these Distractions sow Pillows under the Arms of the People and Lull them into a false Security I can with a like readiness Agree to the vast Importance of this matter Page 2. §. 1. And that this Consideration ought to move us to a serious Reflection on the Foundation of our Dissent before we fix on a Resolution so prejudicial possibly to the publick Peace Page 3. But it must be also allow'd of as great Importance to consider the Legality of these Oaths before we swallow ' em For it will be an Eternal Scandal on the Church of England if all her Sons conspire for the sake of Interest or Prosperity to take a Solemn Oath inconsistent with their former Oaths with the Doctrine of this Church and of particular Ministers in the discharge of their Cures I am sure a Favourable Providence Page 3. with a hopeful prospect of all Temporal Blessings and the fairest beginnings of the most desirable things we can hope or wish for on Earth are no Arguments for the Legality of any Revolution For if they were who could oppose a Successful Rebellion Or Rev. 13.4.7 since none shall be like the BEAST in the Revelations or be able to make War with him why shall not even the Saints when they be overcome by him be obedient to him and Support his Government Nor does the seeming Security of the Protestant Religion Page 3. and our Civil Liberties weigh more in this particular It is a preposterous way to secure our Religion by overturning the very Foundations of it and undertaking to direct the Allwise Providence in the proper Methods of supporting his own Cause The Fate of Vzzah is a fearful Example of the Divine Wrath against the rashness of those who contrary to his Revealed Will dare put forth their hands to hold up the Ark tho' just at the point to be overturn'd 2 Sam. 6.6 God will be obey'd in all his Commands and have this Honour of his Omnipotency left entire to himself to be avenged of his Enemies his own way Besides my Lord whatever danger we are in from a Popish Tyranny an Irish Conquest and Massacre Page 4. and French Barbarity and Cruelty tho this is neither apparent in it self nor the attempt thereof prov'd upon the King we must remember that they are Dangers of our own making For had all the Members of the Church of England been firm to their Maxims had they persisted in opposing all the violent and ill-advised Designs of the King but at the same time had they been Faithful to his Person and Government and when he open'd his Arms tho late and made such large steps towards a Reconciliation had they then return'd into his Bosome for Protection these things could not possibly have happen'd to us Had the King staid the Laws were such that till they were Repeal'd we were safe And none but our own Brethren who would Communicate with us at the Holy Table could have an Opportunity to break down those Hedges Since therefore we are Cheated into this Distress by our own Negligence and the Cunning Malicious Insinuations of others which however excusable in us as a Humane Failing yet persisted in turns Sin we must be well assur'd that the ways wherein we pursue our Deliverance are just and lawful least God should go on to punish Sin with Sin Page 3. This would be a Curse from God indeed and the certain Fore-runner not only of our Temporal
agreeable to the Maxims of Machiavelli then to the Doctrine of the Church of England And if Your Lordship do not well Limit the Judge of this Necessity I may safely Affirm that all the Vnnatural and Rebellious Principles of the Jesuits and our Democratists join'd together cannot be more pernitious to any State then this one of Your Lordship's For Instance Can there be any Grievance so intolerable and so necessary to be redrest in any Government as that of Suppressing the True Religion Is it not also most undoubtedly true that every man firmly believes the Religion he Professes to be the True and the Best If then any Sect whether Christians Turks or Jews find their Circumstances such that to support their True Religion the dearest thing on Earth and the Exercise thereof the greatest Priviledge and most desirable Happiness that can be secur'd by any Establishment it is absolutely Necessary or at least in this Extremity the safest way not only to Murther the Reigning King but perhaps even his whole Race and to Massacre all those who any ways set themselves in opposition to 'em This Maxim Justifies all it was absolutely Necessary and therefore upon that very account Just and Good Again Should a Combination of Men Deliberate thus Nothing can barr an aspiring English man from Disturbing the Government by Treasonous Attempts and Usurpations but an apparent Impossibility of Success Nothing concludes such an Impossibility but a perpetual want of Pretence and Title by placing an Hereditary Right in another if therefore the Succession be once interrupted there can be no Peace nor Happiness to the Nation till it falls again into the Right Line This Opinion they are Confirm'd in by considering the long Warrs between the two Houses of York and Lancaster till they were United by K. Henry the Seventh and of late the continued Convulsions and Changes of the very Forms of the Government after the Murther of K. Charles the First till the Happy Restauration of His Heir and Rightful Successor These Observations they apply to the Present Settlement and find it not unlike that under K. Henry the Fourth and fear the Consequences will be the same For His Majesty having a Just and a Legall Title to the Crown will never desist from all possible Endeavours to be Restor'd to his Own and K. William having obtain'd the Possession seems resolv'd tho by the Power of a Forreign Army to keep it If the King have Success he must return with such as are no Friends to the English and the Intollerable Affronts which have been put upon him will probably prompt him to a just Revenge And will be a very strong Temptation to him to Execute those Designs which have been so unreasonably Charg'd upon him If he dyes in the Attempt he entails all his Forces his Friends and the Justness of his Warr to his Son and that Line that may possibly Spring from him But should these fail and K. William remain without this Competition Yet the Government is Unhing'd the Crown is become Elective whereby every man may plead a Right who can get Voices and Hands enough to reach it and the natural sullen Complaints of the People and their Pretences of Grievances will successively reach out Hopes and Occasions to some Proud Aspiring Patriots to Attempt it From these Melancholly Reflections they come to this Conclusion That in this Extremity and to prevent this Continuance of Miseries and at last inevitable Ruine the safest way and therefore the best is to Restore the Succession to the Right Line by Removing the two Contending Kings and the Disputed Prince and leaving Q. Mary the Second the Rightful Heiress alone in the Throne whereby the Government will be sixt again upon the only firm and lasting Basis This they resolve and this they Execute Can your Lordship Condemn them The Resolution is necessary to the Peace and Happiness of the Nation and upon that very account Just and Good because 't is Necessary But I believe this will pass with very few for sound Doctrine and therefore your Lordship may find your self Oblig'd either to Retract the Maxim or at least to explain it so that it will signifie very little in the place where it stands And now my Lord I have laid before your Lordship my Exceptions to your Reasons Page 23. And till I meet with better Arguments or better Confirm'd I cannot but Conclude that the Settlement now made is sounded upon no Good Grounds and that the Convention had no Authority to make such a Decision and therefore tho' I am ready to submit and pay SOME Obedience to the Possessour of the Throne yet I cannot pay ALL that Obedience and Duty which I naturally owe the Rightful Soveraign And therefore cannot swear it in such words and such terms as imply ALL and are intended by the Imposers to do so There further remains to be Consider'd your Lordships Answer to an Objection from those Oaths and Engagements whereby we were and are bound to K. James Page 23. and his Heirs which is this that Allegiance and Protection are Duties Reciprocal So that if one fails the other ceases What the word Allegiance means in our Oaths and what we are Oblig'd to by it I presume we were agreed above Vid. Sap. P. 6 7. Page 24 25. and therefore no need of engaging in a new Enquiry into the Original of the word But as to the Obligation it self I shall ask your Lordship this easie Question Are you sure that we owe no Allegiance to a Prince whilst he remains under an incapacity to Protect us I never met with any so black Mouth'd but the Recicides themselves or their profest Adherents that they durst deny Allegiance to be due to K. Charles the First under his Confinement yet he was so far from being able to Protect his People that he could not secure himself from the Rude Insolence of his Keepers and the Horrid Barbarities of his Murtherens But are you sure no Allegiance was due to K. Charles the Second in his Exile tho' he could not Protect yet the Parliament has Declar'd and it is undeniable that he was King of England all that time and truly I cannot comprehend the Notion of a King without Subjects nor of Subjects who owe no Allegiance to their King These are too sublime Thoughts for me to understand Page 25. As to the word Heir 't is true No Man can be bound to him till the Inheritance he his Who affirms it do but give us leave to pay our Allegiance to the King and we will never ask to transfer it during his Life to any other But the force of the Objection from the word Heir is this That had you made it appear that K. James has actually ceas'd to be King it had been at least a Death in Law and the Crown being Haereditary by the Constitution of the Government at the same moment had devolv'd to the next of the Line For it
as in me lies to support an Establishment whose Foundation is Rebellion I must either be Convinc'd that the Doctrine of these Homilies is not what I have subscrib'd GOOD and WHOLESOME or else I must have this DOCTRINE and these OATHS Reconcil'd 2. The Vniversity of Oxford in a full Convocation have given their Opinion that there cannot be any Power LAWFULLY Exercised within this Kingdom which is not SUBORDINATE to that of the King How then Profiteamur non neutiquam intelligere posse qui possit in hoc regno Potestas aliqua legitime exerceri quae non sit Regiae Potestati Subordinat Jud. Acad. Ox. 1. 1 Jun. 1647. §. viii I beseech your Lordship can the King be accountable to any For to be oblig'd to give an account is the greatest Instance of Subordination Imaginable But the same Vniversity has since given their Judgment more distinctly and definitively and Decreed Judg'd and Declar'd Jud. Acad. Ox. 21. Jul. 1683. all and every of these and some other there mentioned Propositions to be FALSE SEDITIOUS and IMPIOUS and most of them to be also HERETICAL and BLASPHEMOUS INFAMOUS to Christian Religion and Destructive of All Government in CHURCH and STATE viz. Prop. I. All Civil Authority is derived Originally from the People Prop. II. There is a mutual Compact Tacit or Express between a Prince and his Subjects and that if he perform not his Duty they are Discharg'd from theirs Prop. III. That if lawful Governors become Tyrants or govern otherwise then by the â—…aws of God and Man they ought to do they forfeit the Right they had unto their Government Prop. IV. The Soveraignty of England is in the three Estates viz. King Lords and Commons The King has but a co-ordinate Power and may be over ruled by the other two Prop. V. Birthright and Proximity of Blood give no Title to Rule or Government and it is lawful to preclude the next Heir from his Right of Succession is the Crown Prop. VI. It is lawful for Subjects without the consent and against the Command of the Supreme Magistrate to enter into Leagues Covenants and Associations for Defence of themselves and their Religion Prop. VIII The Doctrine of the Gospel concerning patient suffering of Injuries is not inconsistent with violent resisting of the higher Powers in case of Persecution for Religion Prop. IX There lies no Obligation upon Christians to Passive Obedience when the Prince commands any thing against the Laws of our Countrey and the Primitive Christians chose rather to die then resist because Christianity was not yet settled by the Laws of the Empire Prop. X. Possession and Strength give a right to Govern and Success in a Cause or Enterprize proclaims it to be lawful and just to pursue it is to comply with the will of God because it is to follow the conduct of his Providence Prop. XV. If a People that by Oath and Duty are oblig'd to a Soveraign shall sinfully dispossess him and contrary to their Covenants chuse and Covenant with another they may be obliged by their latter Covenant notwithstanding their former Prop. XVII An Oath obliges not in the sense of the Imposer but the Takers Prop. XVIII Dominion is founded in Grace Prop. XXVII K. Charles the First made War upon his Parliament and in such a case the King may not only be Resisted but he ceaseth to be King These and some other Democratical Propositions being thus Condemn'd by such Authority and in such Terms I do not envy your Lordship the Honour of maintaining them 3. Lastly The Doctrine of Non-Resistance against our Kings tho' Tyrants and of their Exemption from Account to any Power on Earth is Asserted by a far greater and more Convincing Authority the Injunctions of the King 1 Inj Ed. 6. 1 Inj. Eliz. Bp. Sparrow's Col. P. 2 67. and the Canons and Constitutions of the Church ever since the Reformation In the Injunctions we find that all Ecclesiastics should Preach four times every Year that the King's Power c. is the HIGHEST POWER under God to whom ALL Men by GOD 's LAWS owe MOST Loyalty and Obedience afore and ABOVE ALL Other Powers and Potentates on Earth Cranm. Art ib. P. 23. Rid. Art ib. P. 36. The observance whereof is made an Article of Enquiry by A. B. Cranmer in his Visitations distinct from that about the Popes Supremacy And Bishop Ridley Enquires further whether any Preach that private Persons MAY make Insurrections But if your Lordship will not Acquiesce in the Authority and Decision of these Injunctions and Articles of Enquiry Syn. Lond. An. 1603. can 1. ib. p. 271. I hope you will have some Respect to a Provincial Synod Yet that in the First Year of K. James I. Constitutes and Ordains the same thing with these Injunctions and in the same words The Nine and Thirty Articles of Religion are of a yet greater Authority For they were agreed upon by the Clergy of both Provinces An. 1562 and were afterward Ratify'd and Confirm'd by a Provincial Synod An. 1571. Rat. 39. Art ib p. 107 222 These Articles all we of the Clergy are oblig'd to subscribe and to acknowledge that all and every single Article therein contained is agreeable to the Word of God Syn. Lond. An And so much Care is taken to discover any Change of our Opinion 1603. can 36. ib. p. 287. Ib. can 37. Syn. Lond. An. 1571. can de Ep. ib. p. 223. with Relation to any of them that as oft as we remove from one Diocess to another we are oblig'd to Repeat the same Subscriptions A preceeding Synod is yet stricter for it requires us not only to subscribe our Assent but to give our Solemn Promise that we will Maintain and Defend the Doctrine contained in them as most Agreeable to the Truth of the Divine Word But besides this Particular Obligation us of our Repeated Assent 13 Eliz. c. 12. 14 C. 2. c. 4. two Parliaments have also Confirm'd these Articles After which we are to look upon them as transfer'd from the Ecclesiastical to the Civil State and Incorporated with the Laws and Constitutions of this Government So that every Lawyer as well as Divine is oblig'd to submit to their Authority and to be concluded by them and therefore to own with them Art Rel. An. 1562. n. 37. Spar Col. p. 105. that the Queens Majesty hath the CHIEF POWER in this Realm of England c. unto whom the CHIEF GOVERNMENT of ALL Estates of this Realm whether they be Ecclesiastical or Civil in all Causes doth Appertain But to prevent all Exceptions and Evasions hereof and for ever to Silence those Democratical Principles that begun to be Industriously maintained and instill'd into the People about the year 1640 in order to hasten that Wonderful Rebellion which soon after broak out the Church took care to Decree Syn. Lond. An 1640. can 1. ib. p. 346. that the Most High and Sacred
Order of Kings is of DIVINE RIGHT being the ORDINANCE of GOD HIMSELF founded upon the PRIME LAWS of NATURE and clearly Established by EXPRESS Texts both of the Old and New Testaments A SUPREME POWER is given to this most Excellent Order by GOD HIMSELF in the Scriptures which is That Kings should Rule and Command in their several Dominions ALL Persons of what Rank or Estate soever whether Ecclesiastical or CIVIL That when Prelates used the Power of Calling and Dissolving Councils c. It was as in times of PERSECUTION with supposition in case it were required of submitting their very LIVES unto the very Laws and Commands even of those PAGAN Princes that they might not so much as SEEM to disturb their CIVIL Government which Christ came to Confirm but by No Means to Undermine For any Person or Persons to set up maintain or avow in any their said Realms c. under ANY PRETENCE whatsoever Any INDEPENDENT COACTIVE Power either Papal or POPULAR whether Directly or Indirectly is to UNDERMINE their great Royal Office and Cunningly to Overthrow that most Sacred ORDINANCE which GOD HIMSELF hath Established And so is TREASONABLE against GOD as well as against the King For Subjects to bear ARMS against their Kings Offensive or DEFENSIVE upon ANY PRETENCE whatsoever is at least to Resist the Powers which are ORDAINED of GOD And though they do not Invade but only RESIST St. Paul tells them plainly They shall receive to themselves DAMNATION Rom 13.2 This Extract from the Publique and Authentick Records of the Church of England will I hope Convince Your Lordship and the World that the Doctrine to which we have so often given our Assent is Evidently Repugnant to the Deposing our Kings by Any Povver on Earth And that therefore K. James II. according to our own Doctrine our Subscriptions have made it such is still our Lawful King notwithstanding his Failings in the Administration of the Government that we still owe him the Allegiance of Faithful Subjects and for that very Reason we cannot Swear the the New Oaths and thereby transfer it during his Life to any Other Whether it will prove Effectual to this end or no time will inform us But I think it cannot possibly fail of another which is this to Vindicate my self and my Brethren and Fellow-Sufferers from your Lordships severe and uncharitable Censure of Adhereing Obstinately to a preconceited groundless Opinion Page 28. since 't is Evident that we hold no more then is plainly Decree'd by so considerable a part of the Catholique Church and the only Support of the Reformation And we cannot but believe that should we Renounce this Truth to prevent a Persecution or to keep the Doors of our Churches shut against the Dissenters the Reproach and Scandal hereof would be indelible I cannot close this Letter Page 28. till I have given my Opinion of the Passage you cite out of the Magna Charta granted by K. John which you say is now with his Great Seal to it in your Lordship's hands An unfit Archive for Records of such Publique Concern Tho' I do not see that it Concludes very strongly in Favour of the Proceedings in this late Revolution An exact Judgement indeed cannot be given without a sight or a Copy of the rest of the Charter But by comparing and examining some Copies of Records relating to the Transactions of those Times which now happen to be in my hands I am induced to entertain this Opinion of it that that Charter has not the force of a perpetual Law in every Clause and Member of it But that it was only a Personal Treaty and Pacification between that King and his Rebellious Barons who overpower'd him And does no more Bind his Successors in this Part of it then his Surrender of the Crown into the hands of his Holiness and his receiving it again in Vassalage from him I am enclin'd to this Opinion by these following Considerations 1. That within the space of Nine Years this Charter was Ratifi'd at least four times For the doing whereof no tollerable Reason can be Assign'd if it had at first the Force and Continuance of a Law 1. The first Confirmation of it was granted in the First Year of the Reign of K. Henry 3. and probably at his Coronation for within four or five Months after the Death of his Father I find him granting to his Subjects of Ireland thus that You may enjoy the same Liberties Libertatibus Regno nostro Angliae a Patre Nostro NOBIS Concessis Dat. ap Glouc. 6 Feb. Rot. Pat. 1 H. 3. m. 13. as have been granted to our Kingdom of England by our Father and by Vs Which he could not have said had not he himself either Granted or at least Confirm'd them 2. A second Confirmation I meet with in the beginning of the Second Year of the same King's Reign For when he sent down his Charters into the several Counties he sent with them a Mandate to the Sheriffs to see them Proclaim'd in their full County Courts Rex c. Salutem Mittimus tibi Chartas de Libertatibus c. Mandantes quatenus eas legi facias publice in Pleno Comitatu tuo c. dat 22 Feb. Rot. Claus 2 H. 3 The Date of the Mandate is 22 Feb. and therefore a strong presumption that these Charters themselves were distinct from those above-mentioned Because it is very improbable that the former Grant and Ratification which he made above a Year before should lie so long conceal'd and should then want to be disperst and publisht But the Collector of these Records says that in an Ancient MS. supposed to be Writ about the time of K. Edward 1. he finds the Date of these Charters to be 6 Nov. An. Reg. 2. which is a Demonstration of a second Grant 3. In the Year 1218 after Michaelmass and consequently either the latter end of the second Fox's Acts and Mon. ad an 12â—8 or beginning of the third Year of his Reign this King held a Parliament at Westminster wherein he Confirm'd and Ratify'd by his Charter all the Franchises which were made and given by King John his Father 4. In the Seventh Year of his Reign he was Adjudg'd of Age being sixteen Years Old to take the Government into his own Hands This he had no sooner done then the A. B. of Canterbury in open Parliament minds him of the Oath which was Sworn in his Name by the E. of Pembroke Rectore Regis Regni and others at the Pacification between Him and the Dauphin That he would restore and confirm those Liberties to his Subjects for which the War or rather Rebellion broke out between his Father and the Barons Upon this Admonition he owns the Obligation of the Oath and Issues out Writs into every County whereby Twelve Men were Chosen to make Enquiry upon Oath after such Liberties and Franchises as were not Granted by King John Per
whole Realm and therefore then first pass'd into a Law which necessarily Concludes that all the former Charters as well those of King Henry III as this of King John were deficient in some thing Essential to a Law 5. In all or most Treaties of Peace some Towns and Places of Strength are usually interchang'd for Caution 'till Commissioners or other Deputies on either side have adjusted the Differences mutually refer'd to 'em and 'till the Heat and Fury of War can be calm'd into a state of Peace For usually the Right of Things in Dispute require both Time and Peace to be duly examin'd And therefore some Temporary Articles become necessary which do only relate to them The same things are Observable in the Case before us That there was a PEACE at this time Concluded between this King and his Rebellion Barons will be deny'd by none who looks into the Histories of his Reign And he gives notice of it in these Terms Know Rex Stephano Heingod c. Sciates quod firma PAX facta est per dei Gratiam inter Nos Barones Nostros die Veneris proximo post Fest S Trin. c. T Meipso ap Runnimed 18 d. Jun. An. Reg. Nost 17 Rot. Pat. 17. Joh. m. 13. n. 3. that a Firm PEACE was made by the Grace of God between Vs and Our Barons on Friday next after the Feast of the Holy Trinity It can as little be doubted that this Charter contains the Articles of the Peace For the King sending his Precepts to the Sheriffs Foresters c. Writes thus Per CHARTAM Nostram quam INDE fieri fecimus Rot. Pat. 17 Joh. m. 23. dor Know that a firm Peace is made c. as you may have heard by our CHARTER which we have THEREUPON caused to be made c. Commissioners were also agreed on to adjust their Differences viz. 12 Knights and 25 Barons and for Caution * Haec est Conventio inter Dominum Johanem Regem ex una Parte Rob. F. WaltEri Mareschallum Dei sanctae Ecclesiae Ric. Com. de Clare c. alios Com. Bar. Libros Homines totius Regni ex altera parte viz. quod ipsi Comites c. tenebunt Civitatem London de Baliâ—a Dom. Regis c. usque ad Ascensionem B. Mariae Dom. Cantenebit similiter c. Turrim London c. si Haec facta nonfuerint c. in fra terminum praedict Barones tenebunt Civitatem predictam c. donec predict Omnia Compleantur interim Omnes ex Utraque Parte â—…perabunt Terras Castra Villas â—…uas habuerunt in Initio Guerrae c. Rot. Claus 17. Joh. m. 21. dor the City of London was to be deliver'd into the hands of the 25 Barons Fiat etiam c. Sacramentum c 25 Baronibus c. vel Attornati 25 Baronum sicut continetur in literis 12 Militum Eligendorum ad delendas malas consuetudines de Forrestis Alijs Rot. Claus 17. Joh. m. 21. dor and the Tower of London to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury till the Ascention of the B. Mary But if by that time Restitution was not made according to the Determination of the Barons then they were to continue longer in their Hands till all was satisfy'd and in the mean time that every one of either Party should Recover their LANDS CASTLES and Estates which they had at the beginning of the War To these Temporary Articles of Restoring Castles and Lands c. does the Clause your Lordship Inserts I presume properly belong And this I am the rather inclin'd to believe because the Ways of Distressing the King are here mentioned to be by the seizing on his Castles Lands and Possessions so that upon the comparing One Record with the Other this Clause in short seems to Imply no more then this that they should keep those they had and seize on the rest by way of Reprisal 'till he should Restore their Castles and Possessions c. to them But these being evidently Temporary Articles of a Personal Treaty cannot without Violence be extended to his Successors 6. But however this is an Uncontroverted Maxim that all latter Statutes supersede the former so far as they stand in Opposition to one another So that should we allow all that you can say or wish that this whole Charter was Enacted by the Legislative Power which declares a far larger Authority Inherent in our Kings then your Lordship I presume is willing to submit to and that every Part and Clause of it particularly This has the Force and Continuance of a Law yet being plainly Contradicted by later Statutes it is therefore so far Repeal'd by them For as I have more at large shew'd above It is High Treason to Levy War Vid. Sup. Pag. 15. 25. E. 3. c. 2. Cor. Rec. 1. E. 4. 4. E. 4. pag. 272. 277. 13 C. 2. c. 6. 14 C. 2. c. 4 3. St. 2. 13 C. 2. c. 1. or as it is Adjudg'd by a Parliament of King Edward IV. even to keep a Castle notwithstanding this Magna Charta against the King It is also of late declar'd That the Military Sword is solely in Him and it is more directly Contradicted by this Declaration that it is Vnlawful to take up Arms against him upon any Pretence whatsoever All which and many others standing in Diametrical Opposition to it loudly Proclaim the Nullity thereof 7. But lastly If this were a Law and even now in force it would not give any Countenance to the Vote of Abdication whereon the whole Frame of our present Government depends For it neither mentions nor concludes for Deprivation or A Vacancy of the Throne On the contrary it expresly provides for the Safety of the Persons of the King and Queen and of their Children Whereas our Convention has as much as in them lay turn'd them all out to Starve and Perish I have insisted upon this more then at first Sight it will perhaps seem to bear But the tediousness hereof will at least appear Pardonable if it be consider'd that your Lordship has call'd that whole Charter the Measure of our English Government Page 27. For the Unwary may hence infer that it is a part of our Constitution and thereby innocently but fatally mistake the King which is here meant only Personally King John indefinitely for the King Successively for the time being which would be of very Dangerous Consequence even to the present Government wherein it would be no difficult Task to expose the breach of several Articles contain'd in this Charter But I hope what I have said will in some measure be an Antidote against such Poyson and that the Infection will stop here What Authority your Lordship has for your next Affirmation that the Subjects are not only warranted Page 28. but requir'd to enter into Associations and Oaths for that Effect you have been pleas'd to conceal But having a Dependance upon this