to the known Laws of the Land for Omnis sub Rege ipse sub nullo nisi tantum sub Deo Every man is in subjection to the King and he to none but God and so the Oath of Supremacy declares him the onely Supreme Governor of this Realm of which more hereafter when I come to speak of the Statute-Law and therefore if the King refuse to do right seeing no Writ can issue against him there is a place for Petition and if that prevail not Satis ei erit ad poenam saith the same Bracton quod Dominum habeat ultorem And with this agreeth that of Horace Regum timendorum in proprios greges Reges in ipsos imperium est Jovis And in this respect a Prince is not loosed from the Law for as much as concerneth the directive Power of it but having not the Law becomes a Law to himself as well knowing Observantior aequi Fit Populus nec ferre negat cum viderit ipsum Auctorem parere sibi 2. As to the Power of Peace and War It is the right of the King saith Fitzherbert to defend his Kingdom as well against the Sea as against Enemies which implies that it is his right to defend it against Enemies and how can he do it without the right of his Sword when if he should be oblig'd to pray in Aid of others perhaps they may be of another mind or take up so much time in the Debate that the Kingdom may be lost ere they resolve what to do And this I take to be one of the effects of Con-si-de-ra-ti-on in those matters whose good or ill fortune solely depends on Expedition and Secresie for Dangers as the Lord Bacon saith are better met half way than by keeping too long a watch upon their approaches for if a man watch too long 't is odds he will fall asleep But to proceed Sir Edw. Cooke says no Subject can levy War within the Realm without Authority from the King unto whom it only belongeth and that it was High-Treason at the Common Law before the Statute De proditionibus And in Calvin's case he makes it clear That to make Leagues or denounce War only belongs to the King who without his Subjects may grant Letters of safe Conduct and Denization and that this high point of Prerogative Royal cannot be conferred upon any other it being a right of Majesty and among the badges of Supreme Power And now one would think this were enough and yet a late Statute of this Kingdom makes it yet clearer it being thereby declared That the sole Supreme Government Command and disposition of the Militia and all Forces by Sea and Land and of all Forces and places of Strength is and by the Law of England ever were the undoubted right of his Majesty and his Royal Predecessors Kings and Queens of England 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 War Offensive or Defensive against his Majesty his Heirs and lawful Successors c. all which is not introductive of a new Law but declaratory of the old as may be further seen by the penning thereof And now what can be added more but the Purse without which what 's the Sword but as the Greek Proverb has it A Bow without a Bow-man For in as much as Mony is the Sinews of War and Peace firmamentum belli ornamentum pacis they that hang the Sword on one side and the Purse on the other seem to me to hazard both for neither can any sudden danger of which the King was ever thought the Judg be stav'd off nor War carried on nor the Publick Peace be long preserv'd without it And therefore on such occasions have Parliaments advis'd and assisted the King in supplying his Wants without directing him it seeming hard that he should have Power to Proclaim War and not be able to maintain it and be bound to defend his Subjects but deny'd the means Qui dirimit medium destruit finem 3. As to the creation and appointing Magistrates and Officers especially such as are not under the command of others this also resides solely in the King for besides what I have said in the last Paragraph touching his sole Power in the ordering and disposing the Militia and all Forces by Sea and places of Strength by Land His is the appointing all the great Officers and Ministers of the Realm whether Spiritual or Temporal the highest immediately by himself the inferior mediately by Authority derived from him and as it were De lumine lumen So the King appoints the Lord Commissioner and all other the grand Ministers and Officers of Scotland and the Lord Lieutenant Lord Deputy Lords Justices and all other the grand Ministers and Officers of Ireland who also but in his Kings name appoint under him according to the extent of their respective Commissions so the Kings of England have and may at this day by Letters Patents make a Prorex Locum tenens or Guardian of the Realm before whom in their absence in remotis a Parliament may be held And such was Edward Duke of Cornwal 13 Edw. 3. Lionel Duke of Clarence 21 Edw. 3. John Duke of Bedford 5 Henry 5. And the Test of the Writ of Summons shall be in the Guardians name or by Commission under the great Seal to certain Lords of Parliament authorise them to hold a Parliament the King being then in the Realm but indisposed and such was that 3 Edw. 4. to William Lord Arch-Bishop of York and that other 28 Eliz. to John Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and others ad inchoandum c. ad Procedendum c. ad faciendum omnia singula c. nec non ad Parliamentum adjournandum Prorogandum c. And so are Parliaments held in Scotland and Ireland before the Lords Commissioners Lord Lieutenant Lord Deputy c. of the respective Kingdoms 4. The Power of the last Appeal i. e. from whose Sentence no Appeal lies The only person besides the Kings of England that ever pretended to it here was the Pope tho yet the first attempt ever made that way was by Anselme Arch-Bishop of Canterbury in the Reign of King William Rufus but it took no effect And the Arch-Bishop concerning himself too much touching the Jurisdiction of the Pope in England the King told him Ad Officium Imperatoris spectat c. That it belong'd to the Emperor to make whom he pleas'd Pope and that for the same reason no Arch-Bishop or Bishop within his Realm should yield any subjection to the Court or Pope of Rome and chiefly in this respect cum ipse omnes libertates haberet in regno suo quas Imperator vindicabat in Imperio That he had the same Prerogative in his Kingdom that the Emperor claim'd in the Empire And
The same Game playing over again Prognostications c. The ill consequence of such Impressions The examples of Cade Tyler and others Holy League in France Solemn League and Covenant at home c. New Trains to the old Fuel Our Saviours advice to his Disciples touching the leven of the Pharisees What that and they were made applicable unto our selves 210 Sect. X. A Close from the whole by way of Enquiry Whether an Exclusion of his Royal Highness the Duke of York may be of more advantage or disadvantage The advantage propos'd and whether an Act for security of Religion may not be as safe as a Bill of Exclusion The moral impossibility of introducing the Romish Religion tho the Prince were of that Persuasion The reason why the Kingdom follow'd the Reformation under Edw. VI. Qu. Mary Qu. Elizabeth That the case cannot be the same at this day The Crown of England an ancient Entail with the danger of Innovations Objection That such things have been done So has a King been murder'd More particularly answered in Edw. IV. Qu. Mary and Qu. Eliz. all three excluded by Parliament yet came to the Crown No man changes but in hopes of better The advantages of continuing as we are It is a bar to Pretenders The same as to Competitors Disorders avoided No new Family to be provivided for The indignity of a Repulse avoided Suppose Scotland and Ireland be of another Opinion the former of which has by Parliament asserted the Right of Succession of that Crown notwithstanding any Religion c. Lastly all occasions of Jealousie taken away Objection answer'd Disadvantages that have attended the laying by the Right Heir Examples from old Rome and Vsurpations at home The Revolt from Rehoboam our loss of France With a conclusion from the whole More particularly as it relates to his Royal Highness 236 A DISCOURSE OF MONARCHY c. SECTION I. That Monarchy or the Supreme Dominion of one person was primarily intended by God when he created the World That it is founded in nature As consonant to the Divine Government And of Divine Institution Acknowledg'd by Heathens as well as Christians GOvernment is of that absolute necessity if not to the being at least to the well-being of every thing that without it nec domus ulla nec civitas c. nor House nor City nor Nation nor Mankind nor Nature nor the world it self could consist inasmuch as the stronger would devour the weaker and the whole run back again to its first Chaos and therefore the eternal Wisdom when he had created the world and stockt it with living Creatures according to their kinds as if he had done nothing while there yet wanted something more excellent to govern it made man Sanctius his animal mentisque capacius altae Deerat adhuc qui dominari in caetera possit Natus homo est A creature not only capable of it and that he might the better go thro with it furnish'd out accordingly Cognati retinebat semina coeli but primarily design'd to it and however last in act yet first in projection for says the Text Let us make man c. And God created man after his own likeness c. and blessed them and said Increase and multiply c. and have dominion c. and over every thing that moveth upon the earth by which what other can there be rationally understood but the supreme Sovereignty or Dominion of one for if God Almighty had intended otherwise how easie had it been when he created our first Parents to have form'd a multitude and given them a joynt Commission to have govern'd one another or at least bade 'em gone together and agree among themselves but he foresaw it would not be and therefore to avoid confusion the inseparable companion of a multitude created but one and erected an exemplary Monarchy in him Neither will this less appear if we consider that the very laws of nature lead us to a Monarchy Natura commenta est regem saith Seneca de Clem. As among all irrational creatures who having least of reason are wholly govern'd by sense we find some one that has a preheminence above the rest of its kind And thus Birds have their Eagle Beasts their Lion and among them also every Flock its vir gregis the Fish of the Sea their Leviathan a King over the children of Pride for so Job calls him and the shout of a King may be found among Bees Rege incolumi mens omnibus una est Amisso rupere fidem Nor is it more founded in nature than consonant to the Divine government of God and a lively image and representation of him who as sole Monarch ruleth and guideth all things Look up to Heaven and we find an Hierarchy among Angels and one Star differ from another in glory yet every of them paying this homage to the Suns sovereignty that they veil their faces at his least appearance Take back again to Earth and this little world of man has but one Body and all the members of this body but one head whereon depends the will motion and sense and the greater world but one God He ruleth over the Angels than whom he made Man only inferior they over Men Men over Beasts the Soul over the Body Man again over Woman and Reason above Affection by which means every good commanding over what is less good by a certain combination of Powers all things are kept in their order whereas were there a duplex Principium of equal power as the Ancients fabled the commands must be contrary and consequently thereby either ruine one another or at least by their continual jarring disturb the harmony of the whole and therefore it is observable that albeit God who comprehended the whole system at once and unblotted nature thro all her Meanders and to every days work but that of the second said And behold it was good yet until he had put to his last finishing hand i. e. made man and giv'n him his Commission of having dominion It is not said And God saw all that he had made and they were very good and by that Divine Commission have Kings ever since reign'd there being no power but what is appointed of God who according to the similitude of his heavenly Kingdom hath given unto them the Scepters of their earthly Principalities Nor need we go far for examples we find it every where for such was Abraham taken and acknowledged by the Inhabitants when they call'd him Principem Dei and albeit Heaven be the Throne of God yet we meet with another of his on this Earth his Foot-stool for so we find it express'd Solomon sate on the Throne of the Lord as King And in like manner the Queen of Sheba God set thee on his Throne to be King for the Lord thy God As also David is called his King and his Anointed He giveth strength to his King c. and
which you may read at large in Bodin But I come to the second That the Kingdoms of England c. are a Supreme Imperial Monarchy which will the better appear when by examining those marks of Sovereignty we find no more in them than what the Laws of these Realms have ever acknowledg'd to be the undoubted right of our Kings and that whether we respect the Common Law Statute Law or their Power in Ecclesiasticks I 'll take my rise from the marks of Sovereignty 1. The Power of making Laws The Laws of most Kingdoms saith the Lord Bacon have been like Buildings of many pieces patcht up from time to time according to the occasion without form or model and as to our own that they are mixt as our Language of British Roman Saxon Danish Norman Customs Edgar the Saxon collected those of his time and gave them the force of a Fagot bound which formerly were dispersed The Danes impos'd upon us their Dane-Law And the third of that name before the Conquest Ex immensa Legum congerie quas Britanni Romani Angli Daci condiderunt optima quaeque selegit in unam coegit quod vocari voluit Legem communem Some of which bear his name to this day as Ordain'd by him After him William the Conqueror whom Polidor Virgil calls our Law-giver brought in somewhat of a new Law as may be seen in this That tho he made but little or no alteration in the Fundamentals but formulis juris he found here yet whether it were to honor his own Language or to shew some mark of Conquest he set forth his Publick Edicts in the Norman Tongue and caused our Laws to be written in the same And likewise his Justiciaries Lawyers and Ministerial Officers being at that time all Normans it may be none of the least reasons why all our Pleadings and Entries were in that Tongue until altered by Statute That because of the great mischiefs that had hapned to divers by means of the said Laws being written in the French Tongue which they understood not That therefore all Pleas for the future should be pleaded in the English Tongue and enrolled in the Latin and that we receiv'd our ancient Tenures from the Normans is obvious every where And King John planted the English Laws in Ireland But to come nearer home and examin how our present constitutions agree with it nor are they other than what has been the Practice of all former Parliaments wherein both Houses are so subordinate to the King in the making of Laws that neither of them singly nor both of them together can make any binding Law without the Kings concurrence they might in all times 't is true propose advise or consent or to borrow a Metaphor Spawn of themselves but in the Royal Consent only like the male touch lay the vis plastica which gave the Embrion life and quicken'd it into Laws and the reason of it is because the Legislative Power resideth solely in the King ut in subjecto proprio and the consent of the Lords and Commons is no sharing of that Power which is indivisible but a requisite condition to complete the Kings Power for otherwise all those Bills that have pass'd both Houses and for want of the Royal-Assent lie buried in oblivion might as occasion serv'd be rak'd from their forgotten Embers and set up for Laws Which also further appears in the several forms of our Kings giving their Royal Assent as Le Roy voit Le Roy est Assensus Le Roy Advisera c. and makes good this point That the Power of making Laws resides in the King and that he may as he sees cause either refuse or ratifie And this the Law of Scotland calls his Majesties best and most incommunicable Prerogative And as the Legislative Power resides in the King solely so also to him belongs it to interpret those Laws Si disputatio oriatur Justiciarii non possunt eam interpretari sed in dubiis obscuris Domini Regis erit expectanda interpretatio voluntas cum ejus sit interpretari cujus est condere saith the Lord Ellesmer from Bracton and Britton His is the interpretation of the Law whose is the Power of making the Law In his recurrendum ad Regem justitiae fontem whence he is said to carry all the Laws in scrinio pectoris sui in his Breast To give one instance for all When King Charles the First of happy memory had just given his Royal Assent to the Petition of Right he told the Houses That his meaning was to confirm all their Liberties as knowing that according to their own Protestations they neither meant nor could hurt his Prerogative c. And on the last day of the Session before his Royal Assent to the Bills saying he would tell them the cause why he came so suddenly to end that Session he adds Tho I must avow that I own an account of my actions to none but God And again charging both Houses with their Profession during the hammering that Petition that it was in no ways to trench upon his Prerogative saying they had neither intention nor power to hurt it he commands them all to take notice that what he had spoken was the true meaning of what he had granted But especially adds his Majesty you my Lords the Judges for to you only under me belongs the Interpretation of Laws for none of the Houses of Parliament joynt or separate what new Doctrin soever may be raised have any power either to make or declare a Law without my consent And as the King is the sole Lawgiver and Interpreter of that Law when given so also is he exempt and free from the Law for as much as concerneth the coactive force of the Law as being the Head of the Law and of the Common-wealth and consequently no man can give Sentence of condemnation against him if he do any thing against that Law for besides that every Sentence must be given by a Superior upon his Inferior there must be some Supreme whereunto all are subject but it self to none because otherwise the course of Justice would go infinitely in a Circle every Superior having his Superior without end which cannot be yet admitting it might the People cannot do it for they have no power themselves or if they had are his Subjects and a Parliament cannot do it for besides that they are his Subjects also and not his Peers who shall try him for he is Principium Caput finis Parliamenti and it can neither begin nor end without his Presence in Person or by Representation and hence it is that his Death Dissolves them Again if the People may call him to account the State is plainly Democratical if the Peers it is Aristocratical if either or both of them 't is no way Monarchical which is directly contrary
in the Case of the County-Palatine of Wexford reported by Sir John Davys at that time Attorney-General of Ireland As also the County-Palatine of Tipperary formerly enjoy'd by the Ancestors of his Grace James Duke of Ormond c. the present Lord Lieutenant of the same and granted restored and confirm'd to him by Letters-Patents at Westminster the 22. of April in the 14th of this King and not long afterward confirmed by Act of Parliament in Ireland and whence also he bears it as a part of his Titles Dominus Regalitatum Libertatum Comitatus Palatini Tipperarii Nor is this all The Kings of England have created Kings within their own Dominions and for such has the world received them So King Henry the Second in the 13th year after his coming into Ireland made his Son John King of Ireland And Henry the Third his Son Edward the First Lord of Ireland and well own'd the doing it albeit until the 33 Henry 8. they wrote but Lords themselves for their Dignity was merely Royal as having their Justices Custodes or Lord Lieutenants and all things belonging to the Royal Estate and Majesty of a King And Sir Edw. Cooke tells us he has seen a Charter made in 20. H. 6. to Henry Beuchamp Earl of Warwick whereby he was created King of the Isle of Wight and as saith Mr. Selden Crowned King of the same 6. The Power of Pardoning which is a Royal Act of Grace whereby the King either before Conviction Sentence or Attainder or after forgiveth any Crime Punishment Execution Right Title Debt or Duty Temporal or Ecclesiastical on which account he may restore a man that has lost Liberam Legem by being recreant As also all that is forfeited to him by Attainder c. he may restore by his Charter but if by the Attainder the Blood be corrupted that must be restored by Act of Parliament of which more at large in Sir Edw. Cooke Titles Pardons and Restitutions 7. To appoint the Value Weight and Stamp of his Coin and make Forein Coin currant by Proclamation As to the first we need go no farther than the smallest Piece and that will tell us whose Image and Superscription it is and therefore called the Kings Money and so King John brought the Irish Mony to the English Standard And as to the other the same Sir Edw. Coke tells us That the King by his absolute Prerogative may make any Forein Coin lawful Mony of England at his pleasure by his Proclamation And in another place putting both together he says That lawful Mony of England is of two sorts viz. The English Mony either of Gold or Silver Coined by the Kings Authority or Forein Coin by Proclamation made currant within this Realm 8. To receive Liege Homage of another inferior King or Homager and such was our Henry the Second to the old Kings of Ireland who are stiled Reges Reguli and may more particularly appear in a grant of his to Roderick King of Connaught that he should enjoy his Territory under a certain Tribute Et quam diu ei fideliter serviet ut sit Rex sub eo Paratus ad servitium suum sicut homo suus And that Oneale is sometime stiled Rex and sometime Regulus denotes the Subject-Kings of that Country And long before the Conquest Edgar had eight Reguli or inferior Kings Homagers to him who at one time row'd him on the River Dee himself guiding the Helm and afterwards glorying to his Nobility that then every one of his Successors might boast himself to be King of England when he receiv'd the like Honor from so many Kings his Attendants So Reignald Lord or King of Man Cui etiam fas erat Corona aurea Coronari and those of Ireland did Homage to our Henry the Third And John Baliol King of Scotland and David Prince of Wales to Edw. the First and James the First to Henry the Sixth for the Kingdom of Scotland So that Liege-Lord is he that acknowledgeth no Superior and a Liegeman is he that oweth Liegance to his Liege-Lord and so the word is frequently us'd in our Statutes viz. The Kings Liege-People And if such a one shall be in open War or Rebellion or joyn with a Forein Enemy against the King he shall not be ransom'd or proceeded with as an Enemy but as a Traytor because it is Contra Ligeantiam suam debitam and so the Indictment runs Such was the case of David Prince of Wales aforesaid who had judgment of Treason given against him for levying War against Edw. 1. for that his was within the Homage and Ligeance of the King 9. Lastly to bear those Titles only proper to Sovereign Princes apart from all others as being indivisible and incommunicable And here not to insist on the words Dei gratia which are familiarly seen in the Titles of the Kings of Europe and Princes of the Empire Spiritual Lords both abroad and at home have of elder times frequently us'd it in their Stiles and in a Summons to our Parliaments and Writs to Assemble or Prorogue the Convocation the King gives it to the Arch-Bishops as Rex c. Reverendissimo in Christo Patri Predilatoque fideli Consiliario nostro A. eadem Gratia Archiepiscopo Cant. c. But in Warrants and Commissions to them it is generally omitted and never us'd by themselves when they wrote to the Pope Emperor or a King but thus A. licet indignus c. Archiepiscopus or Episcopus B. c. whereby the present use of it among our selves is easily reconcil'd in that they receive the Attribute not give it The Kings of England are in the second and third person commonly stiled by that abstract of Majesty as your Majesty his Majesty which came into the Kingdoms of Christendom from the use of it in the Roman Empire the word in it self denoting all kind of special Dignity and if as we should say in English A Greatness And to peruse our Statutes from Magna Charta to our own time the most usual expressions are Our Lord the King The King our Sovereign Lord Most Excellent Highness Royal Majesty Noble Grace Most Excellent Majesty Most Royal Majesty Dread Sovereign Lord Most Gracious Sovereign and as we use it now Most Excellent Majesty and Sacred Majesty which are but the same Attribute in other words and in their own nature so unalienable from Sovereignty that they can by no process of time be Prescrib'd against or usurp'd upon neither can it at all be call'd an Usurpation as if it were proper only to God unless we as well deny Wisdom Power Clemency or any other quality to be attributed to men because those also as all else which is great or good are Primarily in him And so I have done with the marks of Sovereignty as they are generally receiv'd and now if there wanted any thing to
the further proof of this Sovereign Imperial Monarchy There are yet other Regalities and Prerogatives which the Common Laws of England have ever allowed and never doubted but to be inherent in their Kings And hence it is that the King cannot be said to be a Tenant because he hath no Superior but God Almighty And if the King and a common Person joyn in a Foundation the King shall be the Founder for the thing being entire the Kings Prerogative shall be preferr'd That he shall have the Escheat of all Lands whereof a person attaint of High Treason was seiz'd of whomsoever they were holden That there is no Occupant against the King nor shall any one gain his Land by priority of Entry for Nullum tempus occurrit Regi That half Blood is no impediment to the descent of the Lands of the Crown as was seen in the Case of Queen Mary who was but of half Blood to King Edward 6. and Queen Elizabeth to both for the quality of the Person alters the Descent That the accession of the Crown purges all Attainders as may be seen in the respective Cases of Henry 6. and Henry 7. whose Attainders were no other than a present disability which upon their assuming the Royal Dignity were ipso facto void That the word King imports his Politick Capacity which is never in minority and never dies but extends to all his Successors as well Kings as Queens That he is King before Coronation for besides that the Law suffers no interregnums he holds it by inherent Birth-Right the Coronation being but a Royal Ornament and outward Solemnization of the Descent and not unlike the publick Celebration of Matrimony between a Man and a Woman which adds nothing to the substance of the Contract but declares it to the world That the Ligeance of his Subjects is absolute and indefinite and due to the natural Person of the King by the Law of Nature which is immutable and part of the Law of the Land before any Municipal or Judicial Law and that an Act of Parliament cannot bar the King of the Service of his Subject which the indelible Law of Nature gave him it being a part of the Law of the Land by which subjection is due to him And therefore the Statute That no man notwithstanding any non obstante shall serve as Sheriff above one year bars not the King from dispensing with it And William Lord la Ware altho disabled by Act of Parliament was nevertheless called to Parliament was nevertheless called to Parliament by Queen Elizabeth by Writ of Summons for she could not be barr'd of the Service and Counsel of any of her Subjects Add to this That all Restrictions upon his Sovereign Liberty are void and therefore Publick Notaries made by the Emperor claiming to exercise their Offices in England were prohibited as being against the Dignity of a Supreme King And with this agrees the Statute-Law of Scotland made in the Parliament of the 5th of King James the Third cap. 3. In short when King John had subjected his Crowns of England and Ireland to Pope Innocent the Third and had become his Feodary under the annual Acknowledgment of one thousand Marks to the Pope and his Successors and when afterwards the Arrearages thereof were demanded the Parliament of that year answered That no King can put himself or his Realm in Subjection without their Assent And how far that Assent reach'd we have it in the 42 of Edward the Third where in full Parliament it was further declar'd That they could not Assent to any thing in Parliament that tended to the Disinherison of the King or his Crown whereunto they were Sworn which is no more than what the Statute that prescribes the Oath of the Kings Justices has in it viz. Ye shall not Counsel nor Assent to any thing that may turn him the King in Damage or Disinherison by any manner way or colour And to the same effect are the several Oaths of the Lord Chancellor and Lord Treasurer You shall not know nor suffer the Hurt or Disinheriting of the King or that the Rights of the Crown be decreased by any means as far as you may lett it In a word to omit many others All such things whereof no Subject can claim Property as Treasure-trove Wreck Estrays c. belong to the King by his Prerogative which extends to all Powers and Preheminences which the Law hath given the Crown and is a principal part of the Law of the Land and is called by Bracton Libertas Privilegium Regis both words signifying the same thing i. e. The Kings Prerogative And by Britton Droit le Roy The Kings Right And in the Register Jus Regium which is the same and Jus Regium Coronae The Royal Right of the Crown And since it has not been wound up so high as to endanger the strings what reason is there to wish it let down so low as to render it profanable by the People When the Philistines return'd the Ark of God which they had taken the men of Beth-Shemesh must be prying into it and he that has a mind to know the effect of their curiosity may read it in Samuel God slew one hundred and fifty thousand of them But enough of the Common-Law we 'l in the next place consider what the Statute-Law in further affirmance of the Common-Law saith to this matter And here it cannot be thought saith Sir Edw. Coke that a Statute made by the Authority of the whole Realm will recite a thing against the Truth I 'll begin with that of Richard 2. commonly call'd the Statute of Premunire in which it is declared That the Crown of England hath been ever so free that it is in no earthly subjection but immediately subject to God in all things touching the Regality of the same Crown and to none other In like manner the Statute of H. 8. against Appeals to Rome saith That by divers sundry old Authentick Histories and Chronicles it is manifestly declared and expressed that this Realm of England is an Empire and so hath been accepted in the world governed by one Supreme Head and King having the Dignity and Royal Estate of the Imperial Crown of the same unto whom a Body Politick compact of all sorts and degrees of people divided in terms by names of Spiritualty and Temporalty have bounden and owen to bear next to God a natural and humble Obedience And near the middle of the said Statute it is further called the Authority and Prerogative of the said Imperial Crown And in the 25 of the same it is called The Imperial Crown and Royal Authority recognising no Superior under God but only your Grace And in the following Chapter besides the frequent use of the word Imperial the Kings thereof are stiled Kings and Emperors of this Realm
blanch the design and however the voice may be the voice of Jacob it seldom happens but that the hands are the hands of Esau. What mischiefs did the Army of God and the Church for so they stil'd themselves in King John's time The Holy League in the time of Henry 3. of France which albeit himself entred into for the Extirpation of the Hugonoâ—s yet it was not long ere it was turn'd upon him John of Leyden and Knipperdolin in Germany The Sword of the Lord and Gideon as it was then called under John Knox in Scotland And the Solemn League and Covenant in our own times the Brands of which are it seems not so altogether extinguish'd but that they more than once began to take fire again tho the flame were prevented And do we not find that in all these a demure down look and an uplifted eye went more than half way and a mistaken violence the undisputable Character of a zeal to the cause How much therefore have the people more need of a Pendulum than Fly somewhat to moderate not multiply the motion it being here as with Gossips Tongues much easier to raise the Devil than lay him Who ever put a Sword into a mad-mans hand to keep the Peace with or entrusted an Ape to range in a Glass-shop yet such or worse must it be where the People are the Reformer who never examin what they are doing but how to run farthest from what they were last And if so what mean these new Trains to the old Fuel Jealousies Murmurings Repinings Libels Licentious Discourses false News half Whispers Disputing Excusing or Cavilling upon Directions sometimes praising the Government yet but slightly at most and that too not without some pity of Defects and ill management Ay but and a shrug It were to be wish'd but who can help it we had and may have again however a good man 't is pity and what 's all this but the blowing one up to break him or lifting him from the ground to be the surer of throwing him or is it not what the Psalmist speaks of Sagitta volans in die c. The Arrow that flieth by day and the Pestilence that walketh in darkness for tho it be not level'd at any particular mark it cannot be but that it must hit some body as being shot among a crowd and so not improperly in S. Hieroms Translation further rendred by Daemonium meridianum And truly if the Conventicles at this day as the Preamble of the Act for the Preventing and Suppressing Seditious Conventicles and Sectaries says did not under pretence of Tender Conscience contrive Insurrections why might they not be contented with enjoying their private Opinions within their own Families and any other number of persons not exceeding four But alas alas Religion is not the matter but following and Parties Is it peace Jehu What hast thou to do with peace Get thee behind me They carry 't is true peace in their mouths but their hands are making ready to Battel I 'll close this point with the double advice of our Saviour to his Disciples Beware of the leven i. e. the Doctrin of the Pharisees for the better understanding of which it is requisite that we consider them as they were that is a sort of men of the strictest Sect of the Jewish Religion appearing outwardly more than ordinarily righteous unto men but within full of hypocrisie and iniquity for they did works but to be seen of men they shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against others but enter'd not themselves they made long Prayers but under that pretence devour'd Widows houses they tyth'd Mint Annise and Cummin but neglected the weightier matters of the Law c. and therefore our Saviour calls them eight times in the same Chapter Hypocrites and their Doctrin Hypocrisie Besides as Josephus says of them they were subtil proud scrupulous such as were able openly to practise against Kings and presumed to raise War against them and among them for whereas all the Jewish Nation had by Oaths oblig'd their fidelity to Augustus these men to the number of 6000. and upwards refus'd it And truly the very word Peruschim whence the name is derived speaks little less for it comes from the Hebrew Verb Parasch which in the Conjugation Piel signifies to divide or separate in which acceptation they are by the Greeks called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Separatists And by the well observing this we shall be the better enabled to follow that other Take heed that no man deceive you for many shall come in my name and shall deceive many for there shall arise false Christs and false Prophets c. Behold I have foretold you wherefore if they shall say unto you behold he is in the Desert Go not forth Behold he is in the secret chambers believe it not What our Saviour here said to his Disciples he said to all men in them and therefore to make it applicable to our selves when any such Prophet or dreamer of Dreams shall offer us peace in the Wilderness of a Multitude and Religion in the lurking holes or covert of a Conventicle that voice had need continually sound in our ears Go not out and believe it not be as often redoubled for much better it is that we leave the Ark to shake as it shall please God than follow any unworthy hands that may pretend even a Call to support it SECTION X. A further enquiry Whether any Exclusision of his Royal Highness the Duke of York may be of more advantage or disadvantage The advantage propos'd and whether an Act for security of Religion be not as safe as a Bill of Exclusion The moral impossibility of introducing the Romish Religion tho the Prince were of that Persuasion The reason why the Kingdom follow'd the Reformation under Edw. VI. Qu. Mary Qu. Elizabeth That the case cannot be the same at this day The Crown of England an ancient Entail with the danger of Innovations Objection That such things have been done So has a King been murder'd More particularly answered in Edw. IV. Qu. Mary and Qu. Eliz. all three excluded by Parliament yet came to the Crown No man changes but in hopes of better The advantages of continuing as we are It is a bar to Pretenders The same as to Competitors Disorders avoided No new Family to be provided for The indignity of a Repulse avoided Suppose Scotland and Ireland be of another Opinion the former of which has by Parliament asserted the Right of Succession of that Crown notwithstanding any Religion c. Lastly all occasions of Jealousie taken away Objection answer'd Disadvantages that have attended the laying by the Right Heir Examples from old Rome and Vsurpations at home The Revolt from Rehoboam our loss of France With a conclusion from the whole More particularly as it relates to his Royal Highness I Am fal'n upon an Argument of which
take away either our place or Nation and much more to raise any superstructure of their own Besides the Crown of England is an ancient old Entail the Reversion in Him by whom Kings Reign and is it not reasonable that he were first consulted before it be dockt or admitting it were to be done how are we sure that he that is to come after shall always continue of the same opinion or how are we secure he shall not be worse The Spaniards have an excellent Proverb Better is the evil we know than the good we do not know Sana Corpora difficile medicationes ferunt saith Hippocrates 't is better to make alterations in sick Bodies than sound Twigs and Saplings may be easily bow'd or remov'd but old grown Trees are not so safely ventur'd on 'T is the same in State Innovations and alterations even in little things are dangerous for it seems to acquaint the people with the sweetness of a change and that there may be somewhat yet still better which like our Philosophers of the Stone they had undoubtedly hit but that something in it unluckily miscarried But may some say have not such things been done before Was not Richard Duke of York in Henry 6. 's time declar'd by Parliament incapable of Succession Nay after he had been declared Heir apparent and was not Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth the same I grant it but 't is ill arguing à facto ad jus That because such things have been done that therefore they may be done again Examples must be judged by Laws and not Laws by Examples We have in our own times seen A King murder'd by his own Subjects and that too under the specious pretences of Religion and Law Monarchy abolish'd Allegiance made Rebellion and Iniquity establish'd by a Law And is this an Argument think ye that the same things may be yet practis'd To give it a more particular answer They were declar'd incapable of Succession 't is true but not upon any account of Religion but interest as the affairs of those times then stood but yet 't is as true that Edw. 4. Son of Richard Duke of York recover'd the Crown notwithstanding the said Declaration the only cause of the War between the Houses of York and Lancaster proceeding from the Right of one and the Possession of the other In like manner Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth were both declar'd by Parliament not inheritable and excluded from all Claim or Demand to the Crown and yet they both successively Reigned notwithstanding the said Temporary Disability which it seems the accession of the Crown purg'd as well as it has been said of an Attainder and yet their different Persuasions diametrically opposite to each other No man yet ever chang'd his condition but in hopes of bettering it Hath a Nation chang'd their gods which yet are no Gods saith Jeremiah upbraiding the ingratitude of the Jews And therefore a wise man begins from the end and first considers whether that be adequate to the hazard he runs Touching the security of Religion I have already spoken and next to the glory of God on High the chiefest end of Man is peace on earth The end of War is Triumph and the end of Triumph Peace The clashing of the Steel and Flint wears out one another and brings forth nothing but Fire whereas Peace is the Balm that heals the Wounds and the Cement that fills up the Breaches of War How careful then ought we be to avoid even the beginnings of strife which Solomon aptly calls the letting out of waters and will of themselves quickly wear the breach wider Upon which it properly follows that we weigh the advantages we have by continuing as we are and the disadvantages or inconveniencies that have follow'd such Exclusions As to the former 1. The continuance of a Succession in one descent and according to proximity of Blood is a bar to Pretenders and the ordinary occasions of Mutiny Competition and Invasion are thereby taken off And to this purpose Tacitus Minoris discriminis est Principem nasci quam sumi It is less hazard to have a Prince born to hand than to be forc'd to seek one because Subjects more naturally submit to an undoubted unquestionable Title and Enemies will not be so ready to be fishing in clear water A third never attempts the bone till two are quarreling 2. We secure our selves against those disorders which such a breach opens an infallible entrance into and gives Ambition and Insolence the reins at large which seldom stop but multiply themselves and the whole State into confusion when after all the best seldom carries the day but the violent takes it by force Of which we need no further for instance than the ancient Brahon Tanistry before Hen. 2. his Conquest of Ireland 3. It takes away the danger of having a new Family to provide for Time was the Empire could have spread her wings but now she has past so many hands and been so deplum'd upon every change that she has almost lost all her best Feathers and kept little to her self but the despair of getting them back again 4. It avoids the indignity of a repulse Was ever Prince yet content to see another sit on his Throne Or did ever men reckon the Sun the less that it had suffer'd an Eclipse No mankind naturally pities any thing in distress and passionately croud to the recovering beams In short we picture Time drawing Truth out of a Pit and seldom find Majesty so sunk under water but some or other have been ever buoying it up again 5. There is a present Union and Amity between these Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland and who knows whether they may be of the same Opinion As to Ireland it has been determin'd where it shall be bound by an Act of Parliament made in England howbeit there is a Gulph between us But as to Scotland the Question was never yet put not that I speak as if the Kingdom of Scotland which never did should now begin to give England Law No nor will I believe it ever thought however were we at odds Fas est ab hoste doceri Which was the better Son he that said he would not go but went or he that said he would go but went not They have Recogniz'd and Declar'd That the Kings of that Realm deriving their Royal Power from God alone do succeed thereto according to the proximity of Blood And that no difference in Religion nor any Law nor Act of Parliament made or to be made can alter or divert the right of Succession and Lineal Descent of that Crown to the nearest and lawful Heir according to the degrees aforesaid And that by Writing Speaking or any other way to endeavour the Alteration Diversion Suspension or debarring the same by any Subjects of that Kingdom shall be High Treason So now if it
before the Commons came in to be a third Estate 1 Chron. 28.1 2 Chron. 5.2 Inst. 4.3 Answer to Mr. Petit. 19 20. Sir H. Spelm. Gloss. 450. Inst. 4 3. For so Mr. Selden takes the words Tit. Hon. 580. Ibid. 524. Answer to Petit. 44.46 Ibid. Answ. 52. Seld. Tit. Hen. 581. Ibid. Answer 56 57 58. Monast. Ang. Tit. Hon. 581. Pet. 61 62 63. Tit. Hon. 583. Sir H. Spelm. Tit. Baro. Pet. 80. ad 99. Sir H. Spelm. Gloss. 451. Ibidem The time when it is most probable they first came in 20 H. 3. Vide Stat. 52 H. 3. Gloss. 452. The Lords Temporal one great Estate The Lords Spiritual one other distinct Estate from the Lords Temporal Inst. 4.1 Seld. Tit. Hon. 594. Inst. 4.322 8 H. 6. c. 1. Stat. 1 E. 1. Stat. 13 E. 1 40 Edw. 3. An Act of Parliament in point 8 Eliz. c. 1. Express Authorities to prove the King none of the Three Estates Inst. 4.1 Cowel Interp. Tit. Parliam Tit. Scotland fol. 7 8. Stat. of Scotl. 3 Jac. 1. c. 48. Printed at Edenb 16. October 1669. All Printed at â—denbr 1681. English Stat. 1 Jac. c. 1. Inst. 4.351 A short Recapitulation of Affairs before his Majesties return Part of the Epitaph of Mary Queen of Scots Scobel's Collection of Acts 1648. That he wanted not opportunities of resenting them had he design'd it Virgil. Strada 1 Sam. 10.26 1 Chron. 10.5 2 Sam. 18.3 Eccles. 8.3 2 Sam. 3.36 Eccles. 10.20 Exod. 22.18 Psal. 105.25 Eccles. 8.2 〈◊〉 20.2 〈◊〉 1. Sci. 1. Job 36.18 Object 2. Sol. 2. Rom. 3.29 The like of other Nations to their Kings Herodot l. 8. De moribâ—s gentium l. 1. cap. 5. Ibid. l. 2. c. 10. Append. ad Pet. Ciacc de Triclinio 327. Object 3. Sol. 3. The precept of Obedience is without restriction Exod. 1.9 10. Ezra 6.10 Jer. 29.7 1 Sam. 15.26 35. Idolatry no ground to resist Matth. 22.21 1 Tim. 2.1 2. Bellarm de Poâ—t l. 3. c. 9. Buch. de jâ—re Reg. p. 61. In Apolog. Much less things indifferent Dyer 23.148 Vide Preface to the Liturgy and touching Ceremonies The example of our Saviour in his Instituting his last Supper Deut. 12.11 Rosin Rom. Antiq. l. 5. c. 27. Lipsii Saturn lib. 1. c. 6. Mat. 26.23 John 13.26 Mat. 10 4. Least of all injury John 18.11 Acts 25.5 Exod. 12.37 1 Sam. 22.2 1 Kings 19.18 1 Sam. 19.4 Jer. 38.9 Esther 7.3 If any ground were to be admitted that would never be wanting Semido in Hisâ— of China 2 Kings 8.13 It was to be done piece-meal The Kings necessities to be supply'd with complaints Rushworth's Coll. fol. 40.183.402.656 Plots discover'd Fears and Jealousies promoted Sir Will. Dugd. Short View c. from fol. 67. to fol. 124. Octob. 6.1642 Religion cants its part 2 Sam. 15.11 Leading men to make it Law and Gospel The examples of Corah c. Numb 16.3 1 Kings 1.19 The same Game playing over again 2 Kings 18 2â— Prognostications c. Hudibras The ill consequence of such impressions Matth. 13.25 Acts 17.21 Ovid. Met. Barkeley Argen l. 3. Psal. 65.7 The examples of Jack Cade and others 4 Rich. 2. Vide The History written by a noble Neapolitan Holy League in France Comb. Britt 509. Lord Bacon â— Essaya 78. Solemn League and Covenant at home New Trains to the old Fuel Psal. 90.6 22 Car. â— Our Saviours advice to his Disciples Mark 8.15 Acts 26.5 Luke 18.11 12. Mat. 23.27 What the Pharisees were Luke 12.1 Josephus Antiq l. 17. c. 3. Godw. Jewish Antiq. 40 41. Mat 25.5.23 24 25 26. Made applicable to our selves The end to be consider'd in all things The advantage propos'd in Excluding his Royal Highness Wherein is at Act for security of Religion less than a Bill of Exclusion Object â—ol The moral Impossibility of introducing the Romish Religion tho the Prince were a Romanist himself The reason why the Kingdom follow'd Edw. 6's Reformation Queen Maries going back Sâ—at 1.2 Ph. and Mary c. 8. Queen Eliz. return to it That the case cannot be the same at this day John 11.48 The Crown of England an old Entail Aphorism The danger of Innovations Object But such things have been done Sol. â—o has a King been murdered More particularly answered in E. 4. Qu. Mary and Qu. Eliz. all excluded by Parliament yet came to the Crown 28 H. 8. c. 7. No man changes but in hopes of better Jer. 2.11 Prov. 17.14 The advantages of continuing as we are Pretenders barr'd Annal. 1. Disorders avoided Vide Case of Tanistry in Sir J. Davis's Irish Reports f. 29. No new Family to be provided for The indignity of a repulse avoided Suppose Scotland and Ireland should be of another opinion Virgil. Act of Scotland for asserting the Succession of that Crown 1681. Ovid Met. All occasions of jealousie taken off Object Sol. Gen. 6.12 Disadvantages that have attended the laying by the right Heir Revolt of the 10 Tribes At home Our loss of France Lucan 25 H. 8.22 Matth. 7.12 Plutarch in vita Lycur John 12.6 Luke 10.7 Prov. 3.27 Lord Chancellors Speech to the Parliament at Oxon 10. Octob. 65. Oliver Jones Esq second Justice of his Majesties chief place in Ireland Gen. 16.9 Luke 10.37 1 Sam. 26. ◠〈◊〉 l. 3.