Selected quad for the lemma: act_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
act_n	king_n	law_n	prerogative_n	3,673	5	10.4433	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26069	The royal apology, or, An answer to the rebels plea wherein the most noted anti-monarchial tenents, first, published by Doleman the Jesuite, to promote a bill of exclusion against King James, secondly, practised by Bradshaw and the regicides in the actual murder of King Charles the 1st, thirdly, republished by Sidney and the associators to depose and murder His present Majesty, are distinctly consider'd : with a parallel between Doleman, Bradshaw, Sidney and other of the true-Protestant party.	Assheton, William, 1641-1711.	1684 (1684)	Wing A4038; ESTC R648	26,293	69

King hath Power in many cases to Dispense with the Laws And that no (a) Jur. Coron p. 84. Act of Parliament can bind the King from any Prerogative that is solely and inseparably annext to his Sacred Person and Royal Power but that he may dispense with it by a non obstante The Reason of which Prerogative which to some unthinking Men may seem extravagant is plainly this All human Constitutions are liable to Defects And there was never any Law yet framed with such Policy and Skill which might not on some occasion or other be burthensome to the Subject For particular Cases and Contingencies are so infinitely various that it is impossible for human Wisdom to foresee or prevent them And therfore it is absolutely necessary That there should in all Governments be some Power Superior and Paramount to the written Laws By whose Authority the Subject might be reliev'd and pardon'd when the nice and strict Observance of the Law through some unexpected Event might be grievous to himself or destructive to the Publick And (b) Bish Sandersons Judg. of subm to Usurp p. 18. this Power of dispensing with particular Laws as the learned Bishop Sanderson informs us is such a Prerogative as without which no Commonwealth can be well govern'd but Justice would be turn'd into Gall and Wormwood Nor can the Supream Governor without Forfeiture of that Faithfulness which he oweth to the Publick-Weal divest himself thereof If some Men who are very unwilling to give the King his Due are still dissatisfied in the point the present posture of Affairs here in England may then fully convince them We all know that according to the Law High-Treason is punishable with Death And the Judgment of the Court on such occasions is to be Hang'd Drawn and Quarter'd This is Law Let me therefore ask these Men. Can the King by his Prerogative dispense with this Law so as to free the Criminal from the Punishment a Toto or a Tanto or can he not If they say not Ipsi viderint Let them look to that who are most deeply concern'd But if now at the last they are grown so considerate as to say that he can Give me leave then to expostulate with them concerning that late Instance of the unfortunate Lord Stafford When his Majesty out of Compassion to that Noblemans Person and respect to his Quality had changed the manner of his Death and given him the favour to be Beheaded What a noise was then raised That the Law must be observ'd What Fears and Apprehensions of Arbitrary Power What a Tumult did those scrupulous Sheriffs make on that occasion by Petitioning the Two Houses Whether the Kings Writ ought to be obey'd But what Answer they receiv'd both from Lords and Commons is sufficiently known I shall make no Reflections upon it tho indeed the Impertinence of that Action in which I doubt they were encourag'd by some greater than themselves might deserve a Remark From these Premises it is evident That there is Lex Coronae a Royal Prerogative granted by the Common Law to the Crown of England Superior to all written Laws By virtue of which prerogative-Prerogative-Law the King hath Authority on emergent occasions and when such Dispensation may promote the ends of Government to Dispense with most Statutes or Acts of Parliament Salus populi suprema Lex esto when rightly understood is a full proof of this Assertion As therefore on the one hand When Sedition is rampant and affronts the Government when the Mercy of a King shall be voted his weakness and his Royal compassion and unwillingness to Punish shall have this Gloss put upon it He dares not do it As in such a Case Reason of State which is Salus Populi doth require That some should be executed in terrorem to repress the insolence of others So on the other hand When Tumults are abated when Faction is broken and that Men begin to acknowledg their Mistakes and return to their Wits If under such inviting Circumstances as these the King out of his Grace and Mercy shall either Pardon a Traitor or abate the rigour of his Sentence who will pretend to say that such undeserved Favour is Illegal Or that the King whether he pardon or punish doth not govern in both Instances according to Law The Objectors go on If the King thus entrusted to keep the Laws and preserve Religion should be guilty of a wicked Design to subvert our Laws and destroy our Religion by introducing an Arbitrary Tyrannical Government he must then understand that he is but an Officer of Trust All this is granted If the word Trust do only refer to Almighty God but not to the People The King doth chearfully acknowledg that he is Authoriz'd and Deputed by the most High to govern these Nations and that he must render an Account for so great a Trust committed to his charge And though the King hath many Enemies both Spiritual and Temporal yet his Support is this He who gave him his Commission is able to Protect him He hath hitherto very signally preserv'd him And it is the constant hearty Prayer of all Loyal Subjects That his God and the God of his Fathers will preserve him still His Majesty hath indeed many Enemies and good Princes did never want them but in the Mercy of the most High he shall not miscarry But if this Trust do refer to the People as if the Kings Power and Authority were derived to him from the People by way of Pact or Contract Let them then explain Who are this People with whom he did thus Contract When was this Bargain made What are the Conditions Before what Witnesses Who must Judge of the Delinquency VVhere are the Records of these Transactions to be perused If no Evidence to confirm any of these Instances the Case is then decided by that known Maxim Idem est non esse non apparere This Fundamental Contract of the Nation is only a hard Word to amuse the vulgar We know not what it is nor where to find it But it follows in the Objection The Parliament of England the Representatives of the People in whom all Power doth Originally reside they are to take Order for the Animadversion and Punishment of such an Offending Governour Parliaments were ordain'd to restrain the exorbitant Power of Kings and to redress the Grievances of the People The Sum of which charge is this There is a Coercive Power over the King Which Power Mr. SIDNEY tells us Originally in the People of England is delegated Sidney's Tryal p. 23. unto the Parliament To which I do thus Answer That though his Majesty hath a just esteem for Parliaments and thinks the Parliament of England the happiest Constitution that ever Nation did enjoy and hath gratiously assur'd us That no Irregularities of Parliaments shall make him out of Love with Parliaments but that he will have frequent Parliaments Yet such an extravagant Power of Parliaments as is here pretended is

World These are my present Thoughts of this difficult Passage And whether I have yet given it's proper Sence is humbly submitted to the Impartial Reader But whether I have or have not the Republican Objector is again desired to take notice That whatever else can be the meaning of these Words yet our Bracton doth not affirm this Curia to be superior to the King Such an Interpretation being inconsistent with Grammar as well as Loyalty We have this Rule in our Syntaxis that If the Relative be referr'd to two Clauses or more then the Relative shall be put in the Plural Number If therefore this Relative word Superior do refer not only to Deum but also to Legem and Curiam it should not be Superiorem in the Singular but Superiores in the Plural Bracton was not only very learned and judicious as to his Sence but also considering the Age he lived in and the Subject he discours'd on very polite and elegant as to his Style and consequently we must not suppose him guilty of so gross a Solaecism which the meanest School-Boy is able to correct If the Patrons of the Faction who are very hard to please shall think fit to Reply That it is a most unusual and Pedantick Method to interpret a Law-Maxim by a Rule in Grammar and thence are unalterably resolv'd to insist upon it That unless we can explain in what Sence this Curia is Superior to the King all that hitherto hath been said on this occasion is trifling and explosive If I say these Republicans will not otherwise be contented let them then take it thus Rex habet superiorem Curiam i. e. The King can do more with the Advice and Assistance of his Curia then without it Or more plainly thus The Kings of England have more Power and Capacity in Parliament then out of Parliament If this will not satisfie Cras respondebo For at present I think fit to add no more in this matter This passage of BRACTON which hath given us so large a Digression being thus dispatch'd we shall now return to our former Discourse 'T is undeniably evident from the Authentick Records of the Kingdom not to mention private Authorities That the King of England hath no Superior but God That His Majesty did not receive his Authority from any Earthly Power That he is not Foeudatory either to the Pope or any other Foreign Prince much less to his own People That he was not admitted to his Kingdoms with any Limitations or Conditions As the Kings of Poland and some others are And consequently since the Terms Absolute and Conditional are opposite and contradistinct If the Kings Power and Authority with respect to its Original Efficient Cause be neither Conditional nor Dependent it is then Absolute as well as Independent And therefore we may safely conclude in this sence as now explained The King of England is an absolute Monarch But here I expect it will be reply'd and 't is a very Popular Objection That the Coronation Oath in which there is a plain Contract and Bargain between the King and his People doth sufficiently intimate That the Crown is Conditional i. e. was conferr'd upon his Majesty with certain Limitations and Conditions For the King having promised to keep and defend the Laws and rightful Customs of the Kingdom c. He is then publickly shew'd to the People and their consent to his Coronation being first demanded he is by that solemn Action accepted as their King Plainly insinuating that without such a Promise on his part he would not have been accepted on theirs And from hence Mr. SIDNEY a very Authentick Author with some men doth infer That there is a mutual Compact between the King and his Subjects and if the King doth not perform his Duty the Subjects are discharg'd from theirs His words are these That those Laws were to be observ'd and the Oaths taken by them having the Force of a Contract between Magistrate and People could not be violated without danger of dissolving the whole Fabrick Which in plain English is this If the King breaks his Oath and doth not govern according to Law he then forfeits his Crown and the People are absolved from their Obedience In Answer to which we are to take notice that this plausible Objection is raised upon a false Foundation viz. That the Coronation Oath makes the King which is a most gross as well as dangerous Mistake the King being as perfect and compleatly King before his Coronation as after 'T is a Maxim in our Law The King never dyes There being no such thing here in England as an Interregnum For the very same moment that the Predecessor deceaseth the Rights of Majesty descend and fall upon the Successor And herein I am instructed by those eminent Lawyers the Lord Chancellor Egerton and Sir Edw. Coke By the former thus The Soveraignty is in the Person of the King L. Chanc. Egerton Postnat p 73. the Crown is but an Ensign of Soveraignty The Investure and Coronation are but Ceremonies of Honour and Majesty The King is an absolute and perfect King before he be Crowned and without those Ceremonies By the latter in these Words If the Crown descend to the rightful Heir he is Rex Cooks Inst part 3. p. 7. before Coronation For by the Law of England there is no interregnum and Coronation is but an Ornament or Solemnity of Honour And so it was resolv'd by all the Judges Hil. 1. Jac. in the Case of Watson and Clark Seminary Priests For by the Law there is always a King in whose name the Laws are to he maintain'd and executed otherwise Justice should fail Thus he But that I may effectually convince our Associators of their mistake in this matter I thus argue ad hominem Was his present Majesty actually King i. e. King de facto as well as de jure before his Coronation or was he not If they acknowledg that he was the Cause is then decided But if they say he was not I must then remind them of another point of Law laid down by that Oracle of the Law in the preceding words a Pardon granted by a King de jure that is not also de facto is void Now when they have first consider'd That the Act of Oblivion was made before the King was Crown'd I shall then leave it to themselves to determine the Case Doubtless upon second Thoughts which are usually the best they will readily confess That his present Majesty was actually King before his Coronation and consequently That the Oath which he then took was not any Condition preparatory to his admittance to the Kingly Power Coronation then is but a Ceremony and no part of his Title I say it is but a Ceremony and yet that I may remove some impertinent Scruples against it it is no trifling insignificant Ceremony For First The solemn Splendor in which the King appears in that Action the generality of People being much affected

with outward Pomp doth naturally make Impressions of awe and reverence towards his Person Secondly The Oath which he then takes may expel all jealous Fears disposing his Subjects chearfully to submit to his future Government For when the King who is not responsible to them for any of his Actions shall condescend thus publickly to promise his People in the Presence of that God who gave him his Trust and to whom alone he must render an Account for the management of it That he will govern his Subjects according to Law That he will preserve Religion from Heresy and Schism defend their Persons from wrong and violence secure their Estates from Fraud and Rapine Such assurance as this must needs enlarge their Affections to their Prince make their submission more hearty their Obedience more chearful since under his Government if it is not their own Fault they may rationally expect to live a quiet and peaceable Life in all Godliness and Honesty It appears I hope from these Premises notwithstanding this or any other Objection to the contrary That the Kings Power in respect of it's Original is Absolute i. e. He received it from none but God Neither from the Pope nor any other Forraign Prince much less from his own People But now when we speak of the Kings Authority with respect to the Execution and Administration of it the Case is very different For the Kings of England out of their abundant Grace and Favour and to make their Government more easie and acceptable to their Subjects have suffer'd themselves to be so limited in the Exercise of their Power That they can neither make Laws nor raise Taxes but in Parliament much less can they pretend to take away the Life or dispose of the Estate of the meanest of their Subjects but by due course of Law And therefore in this second Consideration of his Authority viz. the Execution and Administration of it The King of England is not an Absolute but a limited Monarch And indeed if these Republicans were not much more forward to remind the King of his Duty than to discharge their own these things did not need to be repeated For the King hath very often most gratiously promised That he will govern by and according to the Laws of the Land and not otherwise And that he will use the Power Trust and Office committed to him for the good and benefit of the People and for the preservation of their Rights and Liberties All this is readily granted in the very words of the Objectors Only this Phrase That he will govern according to the Laws and not otherwise for the avoiding of mistakes must be a little explained There are some Men either through Ignorance or Malice who have fancied because the King is obliged to govern by Law that therefore he must always act according to the Letter of it So as that it shall not be in his Power for instance especially when it is their Interest to restrain him either to Pardon Capital Offenders to Change the manner of their Death or to mitigate the rigour of the Law on any other occasion And in fine these confident Reformers who trade in Post-scripts more than Bracton do talk of the Kings Prerogative at such a rate as if it were an Arbitrary Illegal Encroachment and are so extravagant as to fancy That by diminishing the Kings Prerogative they advance the Laws and that to oppose the King is to defend the Kingdom In charity therefore to these men and to rectify their mistakes I shall briefly lay down the nature of the Kings Prerogative What it is how it comes to be Establish'd And whether as is pretended it be destructive to the Liberty of the Subject The Word (a) Jurecons hac voce varie utuntur modo pro authoritate eminentia quadam modo pro jure quodam praecipuo speciali seu privilegio Gal. Lex Jurid verb Praerogat Prerogative to omit other Significations Foreign to our purpose doth properly denote some special peculiar Priviledg or Preheminence granted by Law Hence the Kings Prerogative is very fitly styled by Sir H. (b) Spelm. Gloss Praerog verb. SPELMAN Lex Regiae Dignitatis which in (c) 1 Instit cap. 5. sect 125. p. 90. Sir Edw. Cooks words may be thus Translated The Royal Prerogative legally extends to all Powers Preheminences and Priviledges which the Law giveth to the Crown And Littleton saith our Author speaketh of the Kings Prerogative but twice in all his Books viz. § 125 128. and in both places as part of the Laws of England From whence our new Politicians may please to observe That the Kings Prerogative is established by Law and his Majesty hath as good Law for his Royal Prerogatives viz. The descent of the Crown to the next in Blood The Power of Calling and Dissolving Parliaments The Negative Voice The Power of the Militia Pardoning Offenders c. I say His Majesty hath as good Law for these and all other his Prerogatives as any Subject hath for his Paternal Estate Whoever therefore shall presume to dispute these Priviledges of the Crown he must not think me uncharitable whilst I tell him He is an Enemy to the fundamental Laws of England and a Betrayer of the Rights of the Kingdom If the Case be thus may some say If these Royal Prerogatives are so sacred as not to be touch'd it would then be a very suitable undertaking to enlarge your c. and to acquaint us more distinctly what they are and where we may find them In answer to which Demand we are thus instructed by that Loyal Judge JENKINS (a) Jenk Rediv. p. 136. The Kings Prerogative and the Subjects Liberty are determined and bounded and admeasured by the written Law what they are We do not hold the King to have any more Power neither doth his Majesty claim any other but what the Law gives him The right method therefore to be inform'd in this matter is to search the written Laws with the learned Interpretations upon them For though these Statutes are not Constitutive of the Royal Prerogatives All (b) Jenk Rediv. p. 4. Kings had them the said Powers have no beginning i. e. They are so antient we cannot trace their Original yet they are Declaratory of them I say though these Priviledges of the Crown are most of them antecedent to our Acts of Parliament and the written determined Cases of our Laws and consequently are not primarily established by them yet they are so often either explained confirm'd or otherwise there mention'd that he who is conversant in those publick Writings must needs know what they are But since every one hath not the Leisure or the Ability for so laborious a Task those therefore who shall desire Compendio sapere they may please to peruse a little Treatise called Jura Coronae or His Majesties Royal Rights and Prerogatives Asserted And amongst several others there mentioned and explained they will find this Prerogative That the

Desolation part 1. cap. 4. pag. 77 78. BRADSHAW THE People of England as they are those that at the first as other Countries have done did chuse to themselves this Form of Government even for Justice sake that Justice might be administred that Peace might be preserved so Sir they gave Laws to their Governours according to which they should Govern and if those Laws should have prov'd inconvenient or prejudicial to the publick they had a Power in them and reserved to themselves to alter as they shall see cause Kings Trial p. 64. CHARLES STUART King of England The Commons of England Assembled in Parliament according to the fundamental Power that rests in themselves have resolved to bring you to Tryal and Iudgment p. 29. If so be the King will go contrary to the end of his Government Sir he must understand that he is but an Officer of Trust and he ought to discharge that Trust and they are to take Order for the Animadversion and Punishment of such an Offending Gover. p. 65. Sir Parliaments were ordained for that purpose to redress the Grievances of the People And then Sir the Scripture says They that know their Masters will and do it not what follows The Law is your Master the Acts of Parliament pag. 66 67. This we know to be Law Rex habet superiorem Deum Legem etiam Curiam and so says the same Author and truly Sir he makes bold to go a little further Debent ei ponere fraenum They ought to bridle him pag. 65. That the said Charles Stuart being admitted King of England and therein trusted with a limitted Power Vid Char. p. 30. The House of Commons the Supream Authority and Jurisdiction of the Kingdom pag. 48. Which Authority requires you in the name of the People of England of which you are Elected King to answer them pag. 36. Sir you may not Demur the Jurisdiction of the Court they sit here by the Authority of the Commons of England and all your Predecessors and you are responsible to them pag 44. For there is a Contract and Bargain between the King and his People and your Oath is taken and certainly Sir the Bond is reciprocal Sir if this Bond be once broken farewel Soveraignty pag. 72. Sir though you have it by Inheritance in the way that is spoken of yet it must not be denied that your Office was an Office of Trust Now Sir if it be an Office of Inheritance as you speak of your Title by Desient let all men know that great Offices are seizable and forfeitable as if you had it but for a year and for your Life p. 73. And Sir the People of England cannot be so far wanting to themselves which God having dealt so miraculously and gloriously for they having Power in their hands and their Great Enemy they must proceed to do Iustice to themselves and to You. p. 75. SIDNEY and other of The True-Protestant Party GOD hath left Nations unto the Liberty of setting up such Governments as best pleased themselves The Right and Power of Magistrates in every Country was that which the Laws of that Country made it to be Sidn Pap. p. 2. St. Peter 1 Pet. 2. 13 14. stiles Kings as well as the Governours under him the Ordinance of Man which cannot have any other Sence but that Men make them and give them their Powers Hunts postsc p. 37. By all which it is evident That the Succession to the Crown is the Peoples Right And though the Succession to the Crown is Hereditary because the People so appointed it would have it so or consented to have it so yet in a particular Case for the saving the Nation The whole Line and Monarchy it self may be altered by the unlimited Power of the Legislative Authority Hunts Postsc pag. 43. Some Men will talk as if they believed themselves That the Legislative Power is in the King when no King of England yet ever pretended to it A Legislative Authority is necessary to every Government and therefore we ought not to want it and therefore Parliaments in which our Government hath placed the making of Laws cannot be long discontinued Hunts Postsc p. 28. BRACTON saith that the King hath three Superiors to wit Deum Legem Parliamentum that is the Power Originally in the People of England is Delegated unto the Parliament Sidn Tryal p. 23. All Government is founded in Trust and settled in such a Person or limited to such a Family for the safety and advantage of the People as well as of the Ruler It is remarkable that there was never a Conveyance of the Crown of England to any Person but upon the tacit Concurrence and with the Virtual or Implicite Consent of the People And therefore anciently before an King of England was actually Crown'd the People being first acquainted with the Day appointed for that Solemnity were three several times publickly asked whether they would have such a Person to rule over them Let. from Gentl. in the City concerning D. Y. pag. 13 14. Those Laws were to be observ'd and the Oaths taken by them having the force of a Contract between Magistrate and People could not be violated without danger of dissolving the whole Fabrick Sidn Pap. pag. 2. If he doth not like his condition he may Renounce the Crown but if he receive it upon that Condition as all Magistrates do the Power they receive and swear to perform it he must expect that the performance will be exacted or revenge taken by those he hath betrayed Sid. Try p. 23. I will hope there are very few in this Nation so ill instructed that do not think it in the Power of the People to depose a Prince who really undertakes to alienate his Kingdom or that really Acts the Destruction or the Vniversal Calamity of his People Great consid relating to D. Y. consider'd p. 6. To give every one his due is to administer Defence to the Innocent and by Authority of Law to subdue the Aggressors of Mankind how great and mighty soever they be Fiat justitia therefore Id. Pag. 16.

Mind is the surest and most authentick Interpretation Et etiam si omnino sit falsa propter rasuram vel quia forte signum appositum est adulterinum melius tutius est quod coram ipso Rege procedatur ad Judicium Moreover should there be suspicion that any Charter either by erasing or corrupt Interpolation hath been falsely transcribed 't is the best and safest course to determine the matter before the King himself Item nec factum Regis nec chartam potest quis judicare ita quod factum Domini Regis irritetur However as was said before let no man presume to censure the Kings Charters or any other of his Proceedings so as to make null and void the Act and Deed of our Lord the King Sed dicere poterit quis But here it may be Objected quod Rex justitiam fecerit bene If the King will do Justice 't is well si hoc eadem ratione quod male ita imponere ei quod injuriam emendet ne incidat Rex Justic in judicium viventis Dei propter injuriam and should he not do Justice it seems that must be well taken too since no body dares tell him that he doth amiss and accordingly there will be none to admonish him to correct his fault that so he may escape the Judgment of the living God To this Objection BRACTON returns an Answer though indeed not ushered in with the usual Formality of a Sic Respondeo And his Answer is this Rex autem habet Superiorem c. 'T is true indeed none can controle the Kings Person or censure his Actions his Majesty being Supream over all Persons and in all Causes autem but yet we have these encouraging Reasons that the King will do Justice and govern his People according to Right For 1. Rex habet Superiorem Deum sc As high and as great as the King is there is one higher and greater than he even Almighty God The King of Kings and Lord of Lords It is therefore much hoped that a due Sense of this dreadful Majesty before whose Tribunal the greatest Monarchs as well as the meanest of their Subjects must one day appear may over-awe and restrain the King from all unjust and injurious Proceedings 2. Item Legem per quam factus est Rex And moreover the better to enable the King to do Justice there is a Law to direct him in his Interpretations the which Law his Majesty is obliged even in gratitude to observe since it was the Law which made him King But how this must be understood is already explain'd 3. Item Curiam suam viz. Comites Barones but besides these Two preceding Considerations there is a Third Expedient to restrain the King from all unjust and exorbitant Proceedings For as there is a God in Heaven to overawe him and as there is a Law on Earth to direct him So likewise he hath his Curia to admonish and advise him viz. Comites Barones quia Comites dicuntur quasi Socii Regis His Nobility his Earls and his Barons who by reason of their constant attendance at Court are admitted into a nearer Familiarity with his Majesty and are as it were the Kings Companions Et qui habet Socium habet Magistrum and by such Intimacy as this they are in some sort the Supervisors and Censors of his Actions Et ideo si Rex fuerit sine fraeno i. e. sine Lege debent ei fraenum ponere If therefore the King shall omit to observe the Laws 't is then their Duty to admonish him of his neglect saying SIR This is the Law this should bridle you this should limit and direct your Actions And this doubtless they will do nisi ipsimet fuerint cum Rege sine fraeno unless they themselves have a mind to be lawless as well as the King But if matters should be brought to this pass what shall then the poor Subjects do how shall their Grievances be redress'd Shall it not then be lawful to take up Arms in the just Defence of King and Kingdom to remove these evil Councellors from the King No such matter tunc clamabunt subditi dicent Domine Iesu Christe in chamo fraeno maxillas eorum constringe Our honest Bracton allows the Subject no other Arms against his Soveraign but the old Primitive Artillery of Prayers and Tears Ad quos Dominus vocabo super eos gentem robustam longinquam ignotam c. And if the Subjects being under any Oppression shall thus dutyfully refer their cause to God he will then take Care to do them right and will not only restrain but also punish their Oppressors As our Author more fully explains to the end of this 16. Section which I shall not need to translate any further there being no difficulty in it If this Paraphrastical Translation which I thought would most naturally lead us to the true sence of the words doth not yet fully remove the Doubt I shall then for the Readers satisfaction give this further Interpretation BRACTON in this 2 d. Book Chap. 16. § 3. is discoursing as I have already observed de Chartis Regiis And he tells us that the Royal Charters when either doubtful or obscure are to be determined coram Rege i. e. in the Courts of Kings-Bench and Chancery For these being the Kings own immediate personal Courts in one of which the Kings of England have formerly sate in Person all Writs returnable there run in this Style coram nobis and all judicial Records there are stiled and the Pleas there holden entered Coram Rege And therefore this Phrase in BRACTON Coram Rege is I think warrantably render'd the Courts of Kings-Bench and Chancery Now if the Plantiff shall suspect that the Proceedings in these Courts are not just and equal he may then make his Appeal For the King hath not only Legem his ordinary Courts of Justice but also Curiam suam viz. Comites Barones His HOUSE OF LORDS The Cause may then be removed by Writ of Error or by Appeal into the House of Lords But if the Party shall still complain that he hath not Justice there is then no other Remedy but Prayers and Patience For this House of Lords being the Supreme and highest Court of Judicature no Earthly Appeal can be made any further Sistendum est in aliquo In all Judicial Proceedings Ecclesiastical and Civil there must be a non ultra For as the Law of Nature doth instruct us that Appeals must of necessity be allowed otherwise those Injuries which may be occasion'd through the Ignorance or Corruption of inferior Judges could never be redress'd so the same Law doth also teach us That Appeals must not be Infinite i. e. There must be some Supreme Power in whose final Determination be it right or be it wrong all Inferiors must acquiesce and submit Otherwise no Controversies could be decided nay there could be no Government nothing but Disorder and Confusion in the

such height of Treason as deserves a sharper Confutation than can be given it from this Treatise As to the point of Non-Resistance most seasonable to be enforc'd at this time I did once design very fully to have enlarg'd upon it To have shew'd its Obligation from all Laws Natural Positive Divine Human. As also to have Answer'd the most Popular Pleas for such Resistance But I am so happily prevented by the Learned Labours of others particularly my Lord Bishop of VVinchester Dr. Falkner and Dr. Sherlock who have indeed exhausted that Subject that I shall give no further trouble but conclude my short Discourse with this following Argument The Supream Power must not be resisted But the King of England hath Supreme Power Therefore His Majesty cannot lawfully be resisted The Proposition is the voice of Nature There can be no Order nor Government unless this Truth be admitted Reason tells us Par in parem non habet potestatem much less hath an Inferior a Coercive Power over his Superior To which let me observe That even the late Rebels themselves were convinc'd in this matter For to vindicate their former Treasons and to patronize their intended Murder of that Blessed Prince they voted Jan. 4. 1648. Resolv'd That the People are under God the Original of all just Powers That the Commons of England Assembled in Parliament being chosen by and representing the People have the Supreme Power in the Nation That whatsoever is Enacted or declared for Law by the Commons in Parliament hath the Force of a Law and the People concluded thereby though consent of King and Peers be not had thereunto Plainly insinuating That whilst the Subjects of England according to their Duty did acknowledg the Supreme Power to be in the King they must needs apprehend That the War was Rebellion and his pretended Judges were Traitors And as to the Assumption viz. That the King of England hath Supreme Power this I hope hath been so fully prov'd in this little Treatise that I might suppose the Conclusion without any further Enlargement But because some late Seditious Pamphlets have very impertinently advanc'd the Power of Parliaments I shall ex abundanti thus undeniably convince them That the Parliament of England is Subject to the King Mr. SIDNEY Informs us That the Sidney's Paper p. 2. Right and Power of Magistrates in every Country is that which the Laws of that Country make it to be If therefore it do appear by the Laws and Statutes of the Kingdom That the Parliament of England is Subject to the King then the Controversy is at an End For Proof of this they are desired to Consult 12 Car. 2. c. 30. Where the Lords and Commons thus Petitioned to his Majesty We your Majesties said Dutiful and Loyal Subjects the Lords and Commons in Parliament Assembled do beseech your most Excellent Majesty that it may be Declared That by the undoubted and fundamental Laws of this Kingdom neither the Peers of this Realm nor the Commons nor both together in Parliament nor the People 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 Words so plain and undeniably evident that they are not capable of any further Explication Only it will be pertinent to observe Two Things First the Lords and Commons do not here petition that it may be Enacted but that it may be Declared intimating that the Kings Supremacy was not first establish'd in this Statute as if before the making of this Act the Parliament had been Superior to the King but is here only Declared to have been Establish'd by the undoubted Fundamental Laws of this Kingdom i. e. by such Laws as are the Foundation of the Government Whoever therefore shall Affirm That the Parliament hath a Coercive Power over the Person of the King he alters the Foundation and destroys the Government Secondly I do from this Statute observe That their famous Axiom major singulis minor universis will no longer support their Cause it being plain from this Act That the King is major universis as well as singulis When our Republican Clubs who talk so much of Law shall have answer'd this Statute they may then expect to hear further from me In th' interim I shall recommend a Text to be held forth in all their Conventicles the next time of their meeting Prov. 24. 21 22. My Son fear thou the Lord and the King and meddle not with them that are given to change For their Calamity shall rise suddainly and who knoweth the ruin of them both From whence may be raised these good Obversations viz. Honesty is the best Policy and Loyalty the best Religion FINIS THE PARALLEL DOLEMAN THERE can be no doubt but that the Common-Wealth hath Power to chuse their own fashion of Government as also to change the same upon reasonable Causes In like manner is it evident that as the Common-Wealth hath this Authority to chuse and change her Government so hath she also to limit the same with what Laws and Conditions she pleaseth Conference about Succession Part. 1. cap. 1. pag 12 13. All Law both Natural National and Positive doth teach us That Princes are subject to Law and Order and that the Common-Wealth which gave them their Authority for the Common good of all may also restrain or take the same away again if they abuse it to the Common-evil The whole Body though it be governed by the Prince as by the Head yet is it not Inferior but Superior to the Prince Neither so giveth the Common-wealth her Authority and Power up to any Prince that she depriveth her self utterly of the same when need shall require to use it for her defence for which she gave it Part. 1st cap. 4. p. 72. And finally the Power and Authority which the Prince hath from the Common-wealth is in very Truth not Absolute but Potestas vicaria delegata i. e. a Power Delegate or Power by Commission from the Common-Wealth which is given with such Restrictions Cautels and Conditions yea with such plain Exceptions Promises and Oaths of both Parties I mean between the King and Common-wealth at the day of his Admission or Coronation as if the same be not kept but wilfully broken on either Part then is the other not bound to observe his Promise neither though never so solemnly made or sworn Part 1st cap. 4. pag. 73. By this then you see the ground whereon dependeth the righteous and lawful Deposition and Chastisement of wicked Princes viz. Their failing in their Oath and Promises which they made at their first entrance Then is the Common-wealth not only free from all Oaths made by her of Obedience or Allegiance to such unworthy Princes but is bound moreover for saving the whole Body to resist chasten or remove such evil Heads if she be able for that otherwise all would come to Destruction Ruine and publick