suche is their skill that this statute touching Infantes de Roy was made for the great doubte more in them than in other persones touching their inheritance to their Auncestours For being then a Maxime saie they in the lawe that none could inherite to his Auncestours being not of father and mother vnder the obedience of the king seing the king him selfe could not be vnder obedience it plainely seemed that the kinges children were of farre worse condition than others quite excluded And therefore they saie that this statute was not to geue them any other priuilege but to make them equall with other And that therefore this statute touching the Kinges children standeth rather in the superficial parte of the woorde than in any effect Nowe among other thinges they saye as we haue shewed before that this word Infantes de Roy in this statute mentioned There vvas no doubt made of the Kinges children borne beyonde the seas must be taken for the children of the first degree whiche they seeme to proue by a note taken out of M. Rastal But to this we answer that these men swetely dreamed when they imagined this fonde and fantasticall expositiō And that they shewed them selues very infants in lawe and reason For this was no Maxime or at least not so certaine before the making of this statute whiche geueth no new right to the kinges children nor answereth any doubt touching them and their inheritance but this it saieth that the law of the Croune of England is and alwaies hath bene which lawe saith the king say the Lordes say the Commons we allowe affirme for euer that the kinges children shal be hable to inherite the landes of their Auncesters wheresoeuer they be borne All the doubt was for other persones as appeareth euidētly by the tenour of the statute whether by the cōmon law they being born out of the allegeance of the king were heritable to their Auncestours And it appeareth that the aduersaries are driuē to the hard wall when they are faine to catch holde vpō a selie poore marginal note of M. Rastal of the kinges children not of the kings childrens childrē VVhich yet nothing at al serueth their purpose touching this statute But they or the Printer or whosoeuer he be as they drawe out of the text many other notes of the matter therin cōprised so vpon these French wordes Les enfants de Roy they note in the Margent The Kinges Children but how farre that worde reacheth they saie neither more nor lesse Neither it is any thing preiudicial to the said Queenes right or Title whether the said wordes Infants ought to be taken strictly for the first degree or farther enlarged For if this statute toucheth only the succession of the Kings children to their Auncestours for other inheritance and not for the Croune as moste men take it and as it may be as we haue said very well taken and allowed then doeth this supposed Maxime of forain borne that seemeth to be gathered out of this statute nothing anoy or hinder the Queene of Scotlandes Title to the Croune as not therto apperteining On the other side if by the inheritance of the Kings children the Croune also is meant yet neither may we enforce the rule of foraine borne vpō the kings childrē which are by the expresse wordes of the statute excepted neither enforce the word Infants to the first degree onely for such reasons presidents and examples and other proouffes largely by vs before set forth to the contrarie seing that the right of the Croune falling vpon thē they may well be called the kings Children or at the lest the children of the Croune Ther is also one other cause why though this statute reach to the Croune This statute toucheth not the Q. of Scotlād as one not borne beyond the seas and may and ought to be expounded of the same the said Queene is out of the reach and compasse of the said statute For the said statute can not be vnderstanded of any persones borne in Scotlande or wales but onely of persones borne beyond the sea out of the allegeance of the king of England that is to witte France Flādres such like For England Scotland and wales be all within one Territorie and not diuided by any sea And all old Recordes of the law concerning seruice to be done in those two Countries haue these words Infra quatuor Maria within the fower seas which must nedes be vnderstād in Scotland wales aswel as in England bicause they be all within one continent compassed with fower seas And likewise be many auncient statutes of that Realme written in the Normane French whiche haue these wordes deins les quatre mers that is within the fower seas Nowe concerninge the statute the title of the same is of those that are born beyond the sea the doubt moued in the corps of the said statute is also of childrē borne beyond the sea out of the allegeance Vide statuta VValliae in magna Charta VVales vvas vnder the allegeance of England before it vvas vnited to the Croune with diuers other branches of the statute tending that way VVherby it seemeth that no part of the statute toucheth these that are born in VVales or Scotlād And albeit at this time and before in the reigne of Edward the first VVales was fully reduced annexed vnited to the proper Dominion of England yet was it before subiected to the Croune and King of England as to the Lorde and Seigniour VVherefore if this statute had bene made before the time of the said Edward the first it semeth that it could not haue bene stretched to VVales no more then it can now to Scotland I doe not therefore a litle meruaile that euer these men for pure shame could finde in their hartes so childishly to wrangle vpon this word Infants and so openly to detort depraue and corrupt the common law and the Actes of Parlament And thus may you see gentle Reader that nothing can be gathered either out of the saide supposed generall rule or Maxime or of any other rule or Principle of the lawe that by any good and reasonable construction can seeme to impugne the title of my said soueraign Lady Mary now Queene of Scotland of and to the Croune of the Realme of England as is aforesaid VVe are therefore now last of all to consider whether there be any statute or acte of Parlament that doth seeme either to take away or preiudice the title of the said Queene And bycause touching the foresaid mentioned statute of the 25. yere of King Edward the thirde being onely a declaration of the common lawe we haue already sufficiently answered we will passe it ouer and consider vpon the statute of 28 and 35. of King Henrye the eight being the onely shoteanker of all the Aduersaries whether there be any matter therein conteined or depending vpon the same that can by any meanes destroye or hurt the title of the said
against them by any partie iudiciallye conuented for his better aduantage yet as the case standeth nowe L. Famosi ff and l. Tul. maies l. muliere ff de accusat there is no cause in the worlde to discredit their testimonie yea and by the waye of accusatiō also suche persons as be otherwise dishabled are in treason and other publike matters touching the state enhabled both to accuse testifie As for the eleuen witnesses the best of them Sir Iohn Gates we know by what meanes he is departed out of this life One other the said VVilliam Clarke is so gone from them that he geueth good cause to misdeeme and mistrust the whole matter Howe many of the residue liue I know not To whom perchaunce some thing might be said if we once knowe what them selues say VVhich seeing it doth not by authenticall recorde appeare bare names of dumme witnesses can in no wise hinder deface so solemne a testimonie of the foresaid L. Paget and Sir Edwarde Mountague Neither is the difficultie so great as the Aduersaries pretend Hovv a negatiue may be proued in prouing Negatiuam facti VVhich as we graunt it to be true when it stādeth within the limites of a mere negatiue so being restraigned and referred to time and place may be as well proued as the affirmatiue It appeareth nowe then by the premisses Gloss Doct. c. bona de elect that the Aduersaries argumentes whereby they would weaken and discredit the testimonie either of the witnesses or of the executours that haue or may come in against the said pretensed will are but of smal force and strength And especially their slēder exaggeration by a superficial Rhetorike enforced VVhereby they would abuse the ignorance of the people and make them beleue that there was no good and substātial prooffe brought foorth against the forgerie of this supposed will bycause the vntrueth of the same was not preached at Poules Crosse and declared in al open places and assembles through the Realm when they knowe wel inough that there was no necessitie so to doe And that it was notoriously knowen by reason it was disclosed by the saide Lorde Paget as wel to the Counsaile as to the higher and lower house of the Parliament And the foresaid forged Recorde in the Chancerie therevpon worthely defaced and abolished The disclosing whereof seing it came foorth by such in such sort order as we haue specified as it doth nothing deface or blemish the testimonie geuen against the said supposed will whether it were of any of the witnesses or executours so is ther no nede at all why any other witnesses bysides those that haue already impugned the same should be now farther producted Hovv and vvhen the later testimonie is to be accepted before the former I denie not but that if any suche witnesse or executour had vpon his othe before a lawfull Iudge deposed of his owne certaine notice and knoweledge that the said will was signed with the Kinges own hande in case he should afterward cōtratrie and reuoke this his solemne deposition it ought not lightly to be discredited for any suche contradiction afterward happening But as I haue said such authenticall and ordinarie examinatiōs depositiōs we find not nor yet heare of any such so passed Now cōtrariwise if any of the said witnesses or executours haue or shall before a competent Iudge especially not producted of any partie or against any partie for any priuate suit commēced but as I haue said moued of conscience onely and of a zeale to truth and to the honour of God the Realme freely voluntarilie discouer and detecte suche forgerie although perchance it toucheth them selues for some thing done or said of them to the contrary or being called by the said cōpetent Iudge haue or shall declare and testifie any thing against the same this later testimonie may be well credited by good reason and law VVhereas they would nowe inferre that either this pretensed will was King Henries will or that he made none at all I doo not as I haue said entende nor neede not curiously to examine and discusse this thing as a matter not apperteining to our principal purpose And well it may be that he made a will conteining the whole tenour of this pretensed will sauing for the limitation of the Croune and that these supposed witnesses were present either when he subscribed the same with his own hand or when by his cōmaundement the Stampe of which and of his owne hand the cōmon sort of men make no difference as in dede in diuers other cases there is no difference whiche these witnesses might take to be as it were his owne hand was set to the wil. This I say might after some sort so be And yet this notwithstanding there might be as there was in deede an other will touching the pretensed limitation of the Croune by the Kinges owne hande counterfeyted and suborned after his death falsly and colourably bearing the countenance of his owne hand and of the pretensed wittnesses names How so euer it be it is but to smal purpose to goe about any full and exquisite answere touching this point seeing that neither the original surmised wil whereof these witnesses are supposed to be priuy is extant nor their depositions any where appeare nor yet that it appeareth that euer they were as we haue said iudicially examined Seeing nowe then that if it so falleth out that the principal will and that whiche was by the great Seale exemplified and in the Chancery recorded had not at least touching the clause of limitation assignement of the Croune the Kings hand to it we neede not nor wil not tarie about certain scrolles and copies of the said will that the Aduersaries pretēd to haue ben either writtē or signed with his hand A kingdom is to heauy to be so easely caried away by suche scrolles and copies VVhen all this faileth the Aduersaries haue yet one shift left for the last cast They vrge the equitie of the matter and the mind of the Parlament VVhich is they say accomplished and satisfied by making this assignatiō for the establishing of the succession prouiding that the Realme should not be left void of a Gouernour And therefore we must not subuert the statute in cauilling for the defect of the Kings hand forasmuch as the Parlament might haue had authorised his consent onely without any hand writing VVhiche as I doe not denie so in these great affaires and so ample a commission in suche absolute authoritie geuen to him it was prouidently and necessarily foresene to binde the Acte to the Kings owne hand for auoyding al sinister euill dealing the whiche the Aduersaries would haue vs in no case to misdoubt or mistrust in this will VVhereas the notoriousnes of the fact the lamentable euēt of things do openly declare the same and pitifully crieth out against it Neither wil we graunt to them that the minde and
purpose of the Parlament is satisfied for such causes as we haue and shall hereafter more largely declare And if it were otherwise true yet doth this only defect of the Kinges hand breake infringe the whole Acte VVhy the stampe can not counteruaile the Kinges hand in this case For this is a statute correctorie and derogatorie to the commō course of the lawe as cutting away the succession of the lawfull true inheritours It is also as appeareth by the tenour of the same a most greuouse penal lawe and therfore we may not shift or alter the wordes of the lawe Neither may we supply the manner and doing of the acte prescribed by any other act equiualent So that albeit in some other thing the Stampe or the Kinges certaine knowen consente may counterpaise his hande yet as the case standeth here it will not serue the turne by reason there is a precise order and forme prescribed appointed VVerfore if by a statue of a Citie Ioan Andr in adit specul tit derequisit consul ad finem there be certaine persones appointed to do a certaine acte and the whole people do the same acte in the presence of the said persones the acte by the iudgement of learned Ciuilians is vitious of no valewe yea though the reason of the lawe cease yet must the forme be obserued For it is a rule and a maxime that where the law appointeth prescribeth a certaine platforme L. Si fundus ff de rebus eorum c. de rebus Ecclesiae in 6. whereby the Acte must be bound and tyed in that case though the reason of the lawe ceasse yet is the acte voyd and naught And whereas the Aduersaries obiecte against this rule the Parlamentes made by Queene Marie An ansvvere to the aduersaries touchinge Actes of Parlament alleaged to proue that the Kinges ovvne hād vvas not necessarie to the supposed vvil without the vsual style called somoned this obiection may sone be answered For it may sone appeare to all them that reade and pervse the said statute of Anno 35. Henrici octaui conteining the said style that by any especial words therin mētioned it is not there limited appointed that the forme of the style therin sette foorth should be obserued in euery writ And therfore not to be compared vnto the said statutes of 28. and 35. Henrici octaui wherein by special wordes one expresse forme order for the limiting of the succession of the Croune by the King is declared and set forth Bysides that the said writtes being made both according to the auncient forme of the Regester and also by expresse commaundement of the Prince vtterly refusing the said style could neither be derogatorie to the said Queenes Maiestie and her Croune nor meaning of the said statute Cōcerning the said style and for a final and ful answere vnto this matter it is to be noted that the writtes being the Actes of the Court though they want the prescript forme set foorth either by the cōmon law or statute yet are not they nor the iudgements subsequent ther vpon abated or void but only abatable and voidable by exception of the partie by iudgemēte of the the Court. 18. E. 3. fo 30. 3. H. 4 fol. 3. 11. 11. H. 4. fol. 67. 9. H. 6. fol. 6. 19. H. 6 fo 7. 10 35. H. 6. fo 12. 10. H. 6. fol. 16. 3. H. 6 fo 8. 33. E. 3. fo 13. Vide Prisot 33. H. 6. fol. 35. For if the partie without any exceptiō doe admitte the forme of the said VVritte and pleade vnto the matter whervpon the Court doth procede then doth the VVritte the iudgement there vpon following remanine good and effectual in lawe And therefore admiting that the said statute of 35. H. 8. had by speciall wordes appointed the said style to be put in euery VVritte and that for that cause the said VVritts of Somons were vitious wanting their prescript forme yet when the parties vnto the said VVrittes had admitted them for good both by theyr election and also by their appearence vpon the same the lawe doth admit the said VVrittes al actes subsequent vpon the same to be good and effectuall And yet this maketh no prooffe that therfore the said supposed will wanting the prescript order fourme should likewise be good and effectual in lawe For as touching specialties estates and conueiances or any other externall acte to be done or made by any person whose forme and order is prescribed either by the common lawe or by statute 9. H. 6. fol. 35. 35. H. 6. fo 34. 40. E. 3. fol. 2. if they want any part of their prescript forme they are accompted in law to be of no validitie or effect As for example the lawe doth appoint euery Specialtie or Deede to be made either in the first persone or in the third persone Therefore if parte of a Deede be made in the first person and the residue in the third person that Deede is not effectual but void in the Law Bysides that the lawe hath appointed 40. E. 3. fol. 35. 21. E. 4. fo 97 7. H. 7. fo 15. that in euery Deede mentioned should be made that the partie hath put to his Seale to the same If therfore any Deede doth want that special clause and mention although the partie in deede hath put his Seale vnto the same yet is that Dede or Specialtie void in law So lykewise the lawe geueth authoritie to the Lord to distraine vpon the land holden of him for his rentes seruices due for the same And farther doth appoint to carie or driue the same distresse vnto the pound there to remaine as a gage in lawe for his said rentes seruices 9. E. 4. fol. 2. 22. E. 4 fo 47. 29. H. 6. fo 6. 29. lib. Assis P. 64. If the Lord shal either distraine his Tenant out of his Fee or Seignory or if he shal labour and occupie the Chatles distrained the distresse so taken by him is iniurious wrōgful in law forasmuch as he hath not done according to the prescribed order of the lawe The statute made An. 32. H. 8. geueth authoritie vnto Tenant in taile and to others being seised of land in the right of their wiues or Churches to make leases of the same VVherin also a prescript order and forme for the same is set foorth If any of the said persons shal make any Lease wherin he doth not obserue the same prescribed order in all pointes the same lease is not warranted in any point by the said statute Likewise the statute made in Anno 27. 27. H. 8. 6. 10. Henrici octaui of Bargaines and sales of land appointeth a forme and order for the same that they must be by writing indented sealed and enrolled within six monethes next after the dates of the same writings If any bargaine and sale of land be made wherein any of the thinges appointed by the said
take the succession of the Croune it were any thing reasonable or euer was once meant of the ParlameÌ„t that the King without cause should disherite and exclude them from the title of the Croune On the other side if ther were any such impedimeÌ„t whereof this surmised will geueth out a great suspicion it is to be considered whether it standeth with reason and iustice with the honour of the king and the whole Realme or with the minde purpose and intente of the said Parlament that the King should not onely frustrate and exclude suche whose right by the common lawe is moste euidente and notoriouse but call and substitute suche other L. si pater ff Quae in frau credit L. fili fami ff de Dâ—rat L. 1. 6. quae res pign l. obligation ff de pigno c. in gener de Regum iuris in 6. L. quidaÌ„ ff de ver sig L. vt grad §. 1. de uumer hono L. permitteÌ„do cuÌ„ notatis ff de iure dotiuÌ„ In geuing generall authoritie that seemeth not to be comprised that the partie vvould not haue graunted being specially demaunded Generall vvordes must be referted to hable persons L. 2. c. de Nopall L. sin §. in computatione De iure deliber ibi notat Alciat in l. 1. de ver significat as by the same lawe are plainely excluded In consideration whereof many notable Rules of the Ciuil lawe doo concurre First that who soeuer geueth any man a generall authoritie to do any thing seemeth not to geue him authoritie to do that thing whiche he would not haue graunted if his minde therein had bene seuerally and specially asked and required Againe generall wordes either of the Testatours or of such as make any contract especially of statutes touching any persons to doe or enioy any thing ought to be restrained and referred to hable mete and capable persons onely It is furthermore a rule and a Principle that statutes must be ruled measured and interpreted according to the minde and direction of the generall and common lawe VVherefore the King in limiting the succession of the Croune in this sorte as is pretended seemeth not to answere and satisfie the expectation of the Parlament putting the case there were any suche surmised impediment as also on the other side likewise if there were no suche supposed impediment For here an other rule must be regarded which is that in Testaments Contractes and namely in statutes the generalitie of wordes must be gently and ciuily moderated and measured by the coÌ„mon lawe and restrained when so euer any man should by that generalitie take any dammage and hurte vndeseruedly Yea the Statute shall rather in that casse ceasse and quaile and be taken as void As for example it appe eth by the Ciuill lawe that if it be enacted by statute in some Cities that noman shall pleade against an Instrument no not the Executour yet this notwithstanding if the Executour make a true and perfect Inuentorie of the goodes of the Testatour if he deale faithfully and truely rather than he should wrongfully and without cause paie the Testatours debt of his owne he may come and pleade against the InstrumeÌ„t VVherefore the kings doings seeme either muche defectiue in the said Ladie Francis Ladie Elenour or much excessiue in their children And so though he had signed the said will with his hand yet the said doings seme not conformable to the mind and purpose of the Parlament VVe will now go forward and propound other great and graue coÌ„siderations seruing our said purpose and intent VVhereof one is that in limiting the Croune vnto the heires of the bodie of the Lady Francis the same Ladie then and so long after liuing the said King did not appoint the SuccessioÌ„ of the Croune according to the order meaning of he honorable Parlament forasmuch as the said Acte of Parlament gaue to him authoritie to limite and appoint the Croune to such persone or persones in reuersioÌ„ or remainder as should please his Highnes Meaning thereby some persone certaine of whome the people might haue certaine knowledg vnderstanding after the death of king Henrie the eight VVhich persones certaine the heires of the Ladie Francis could not by any meanes be intended 11. H. 4. fo 72. 9. H. 6 fo 24. 11. H. 6. fol. 15. forasmuch as the said Ladie Francis was then liuing and therfore could then haue no heires at al. By reason whereof the people of that Realme could not haue cettaine knowledge and perfit vnderstanding of the Succession according to the true meaning intent of the said Acte of parlameÌ„t But to this matter some peraduenture would seeme to answere and say that although at the time of the said King Henries death the Heires of the bodie of the said Ladie Francis begotten were vncertaine yet at suche time as the said remainder should happen to fal the said heires might then certainly be knowen In deede I will not deny but that peradueÌ„ture they might be then certainly knowen But what great mischieffes and incoÌ„uenieÌ„ces might haue ensued and yet may if the wil take place vpoÌ„ that peraduenture vncertaine limitation I would wishe all men well to note and consider It is not to be doubted but that it might haue fortuned at such time as the remainder should happen to fall to the said heires of the Ladie Francis the same Ladye Francis should then be also liuing who I pray you then should haue had the Croune Paraduenture ye wold say the heires of the body of the Ladie Eleonour to whome the next remainder was appointed Vndoubtedlye that were contrarie to the meanyng of the sayde supposed will forsomuch as the remainder is therby limited vnto the heires of the body of the Ladie Eleonour onely for default of issue of the Ladie Francis VVherby it may be very plainly gathered vpoÌ„ the said supposed wil that the meaning therof was not that the children of the Lady Eleonour should enioye the Croune before the children of the Lady FraÌ„cis But what if the said Lady Eleonour had bene then also liuing which might haue happened forasmuch as both the said Ladie Francis and Ladie Eleonour by common course of nature might haue liued longer then vntil this day who then should haue had the Croune Truly the right Heire whome this supposed will meante to exclude so long as there should remaine any issue either of the body of the said Ladie Francis or of the bodie of the said Ladie Eleonour lawfully begotten And therefore quite contrarie to the meaning of the said supposed will wherefore I doe verely thinke that it would hardly sinke into any reasonable mans head that had any experience of the great wisdome and aduised doings of King Henry the eight about other matters being of nothing like weight that he would so slenderly and so vnaduisedly dispose the successione of the Croune wherevpon the whole estate of that Realme doth depend in suche wise that they to whome
Chattles of the testatour not the heyre And yet is it other wise in the case of the Croune For there the successour shall haue them and not the executour as appeareth in 7. H. 4. by Gascoine It is likewise a general rule that a man attainted of felony or treason his heire through the corruption of blood without pardon and restitution of blood is vnable to take any landes by discente 6. VVhich rule although it be generall yet it extendeth not to the descente or succession of the Croune Nor that a traitour is vnable to take lādes by discēte and vvithout pardō although the same Attainder were by acte of Parlamente as may appeare by the Attainder of Ricarde Duke of Yorke and king Edward his son and also of king Henry the seuenth who were attainted by acte of Parlament and neuer restored and yet no dishabilitie thereby vnto any of them to receaue the Croune by lawfull succession But to this the aduersaries wold seeme to answere in their said booke sayeing that Henry the seuenth not with standing his attainder came to the Croune as caste vpon him by the order of the lawe for so much as when the Croune was caste vpon him that dishabilitie ceassed VVherein they confesse directly that the Attainder is no dishabilitie at all to the succession of the Croune For although no dishabilitie can be alleaged in him that hath the Croune in possession yet if there were any dishabilitie in him before to receue and take the same by lawful successiō then must they say that he was not lawful King but an vsurpet And therfore in confessing Henry the seuenth to be a lawful king and that the Croune was lawfully caste vpon him they confesse directly thereby that before he was kinge in possession there was no dishabilitie in him to take the Croune by lawful succession his said Attainder not withstanding whiche is as muche as I would wish them to graunt But in conclusion vnderstanding them selues that this their reason can not mainteine their intent An aunsvvere to the aduersary making a difference betvvene attainder the birth out of the allegeance they goe about an other way to helpe them selues making a difference in the lawe betwene the case of Attainder the case of foraine birth out of the kinges allegeance sayeinge that in the case of the Attainder necessitie doth enforce the succession of the Croune vpon the partie attaynted For otherwise they say the Croune shall not descēde to any But vpon the birth out of the kinges allegeāce they say it is otherwise And for proofe thereof they put a case of I. S. being seased of landes and hauing issue A. and B. A. is attainted in the life of I. S. his father and after I. S. dieth A. liuing vnrestored Nowe the lande shal not descende either to A. or B. but shal goe to the Lorde of the Fee by way of eschete Otherwise it had bene they say if A. had bene borne beyond the sea I. S. breaking his allegeance to the king and after I. S. cometh agayne into the Realme and hath issue B. and dieth for now they say B. shall inherite his fathers Landes Yf the Croune had bene holden of any person to whome it might haue escheted as in theyr case of I. S. the lande did then peraduenture there had bene some affinitie betwene theyr said case and the case of the Croune But there is no suche matter Bysides that they muste consider that the king cometh to the Croune not onely by descent but also chiefly by succession as vnto a corporation And therefore they might easely haue sene a difference in theyr cases betwene the kinges Maiestie and I. S. a subiecte And also betwene landes holden of a Lorde aboue the Croune holden of no earthly Lorde but of God almighty onely But yet for arguments sake I woulde faine knowe where they finde their difference and what authoritie they can shew for the proof thereof They haue made no marginal note of any authoritie therefore vnlesse they also saye that they are Pythagoras I will not beleue theyr difference VVel I am assured that I can shew good outhoritie to the contrarie and that there is no difference in theyr cases Yf they peruse 22. H. 6 22. H. 6. fol. 43. there may they see the opinion of Iustice Newton that there is no difference in theyr cases but that in both theyr cases the lande shall eschete vnto the Lorde And Prisote being then of Counsaile with the party that clamed lands by a descent wher the eldest sonne was borne beyond the seas durst not abide in lawe vpon the title This authoritie is against theyr differēce this authoritie I am well asseured is better then any that they haue shewed to proue their difference But if we shall admit their difference to be according to the lawe yet their cases where vnto they applie their difference are nothing like as I haue said before Now then to procede on in the proofe of our purpose as it doth appeare that neither the King nor his Croune is bound by these generall rules whiche before I haue shewed so do I likewise say of all the residue of the general rules Maximes of the lawe being in a manner infinite The supposed Maxime of the aduersaries toucheth not Kinges borne beyond the sea as appeareth by King Stephen and King H. 2. But to retourne againe vnto their onely supposed Maxime whiche they make so general concerning the dishabilitie of persones borne beyond the seas it is very plaine that it was neuer taken to extende vnto the Croune of the Realme of Englande as it may appeare by king Stephen and by king Henry the second who were both straungers and Frenchemen borne out of the kinges allegeance and neither were they kinges children immediate nor their parentes of the allegeance and yet they haue bene alwaies accompted lawfull kinges of England nor their title was by any man at any time defaced or comptrolled for any suche consideration or exception of foraine birth The aduersaris obiection touching King H. 2. auoided And it is a worlde to see how the aduersaries would shifte their handes from the said king Henry the second They say he came not to the Croune by order of the lawe but by capitulation for asmuche as his mother by whome he conueied his Title was then liuing VVell admitte that he came to the Croune by capitulation during his mothers life yet this doth not proue that he was dishabled to receaue the Croune but rather proueth his abylitie And although I did also admit that he had not the Croune by order of the lawe during his mothers life yet after his mothers death no man hath hitherto doubted but that he was king by lawfull succession and not against the lawes and Customes of that Realme For so might they put a doubt in all the Kinges of that Realme that euer gouerned sithens VVhiche thing
England that the Realme of Scotlande is within the allegeance of England And so is the AntecedeÌ„t or first proposition false And yet that maketh no proufe that the Realme of France likewise should nowe be sayde to be within the allegeance of the Kings of England by reason of the manifest and apparent difference before shewed But what if the antecedent were true as the aduersaries saye it is and all Scotsmen constantly affirme it to be Yet it is very plaine that the sayde consequent and conclusion can not by any meanes be true The causes vvhy the Croune cannot be comprised vvithin the pretended Maxime and that principallye for three causes whereof one is for that neyther the Kinge nor the Croune not being specially mentioned in the said rule or pretended Maxime can be intended to be within the meaning of the same Maxime as we haue before sufficently proued by a great number of other suche like generall rules and Maximes of the lawes An other cause is for that the Croune can not be taken to be within the woordes of the said supposed Maxime and that for twoo respectes one is bicause the rule doth onely dishable Aliens to demaunde any heritage within the allegeance of England VVhiche rule can not be stretched to the demaunde of the Croune of England which is not with in the allegeance of England but is the verie allegeance it selfe As for a like example it is true that all the landes within the Kinges dominion are holden of the Kinge either mediatly or immediatly and yet it is not true that the Croune by whiche onely the Kinge hath his Dominion can be said to be holden of the King VVithout the Croune there can neither be King nor allegeance For without the Croune there can be neither King nor allegeance And so long as the Croune resteth onelye in demaunde not being vested in any persone ther is no allegeance at all So that the Croune can not be saide by any meanes to be within the allegeance of England and therfore not within the wordes of the said rule or Maxime The title of the Croune is also out of the wordes and meaning of the same rule in an other respect and that is bicause that rule doth onely dishable an Alien to demaund landes by descent as heire For it doth not extend vnto landes purchased by an Alien as we haue before sufficiently proued And then can not that rule extende vnto the Croune being a thinge incorporate the right wherof doth not descend according to the common course of priuate inheritance but goeth by succession 40. E. 3. fol. 10. 13. E. 3. Tiâ— Bref 264. 16. E. 3. iurans de sait 166. 17. E. 3. Tit. sâ—iâ—e sac 7. A Deane a Person a Priour being an Alien may demande lande in the right of his corporation An 3. R. 2. 6. C. 3. fo 21. tit droit 26. lib. Ass p. 34. 1â— li. Ass tit enfant 13. H. 8. fo 14. 7. E. 4. fol. 10. 16. E. 3. iurans de â—ait 9. H. 6. fol. 33. 35. H. 6. fol. 35. 5. E. 4 fol. 70. 49. li. Ass A. 88. 22. H. 6. fol. 31. 13. H. 8. fol. 14. as other corporations do No man doubteth but that a Prior Alien being no denizon might alwayes in time of peace demaund land in the right of his corporation And so likewise a Deane or a Person being Aliens no denizons might demaund lande in respecte of their corporations not withstanding the said supposed rule or Maxime as may appeare by diuerse booke cases as also by the statute made in the time of king Richard the secoÌ„d And although the Croune hath alwaies gone according to the common course of a Descent yeth doth it not properly descende but succede And that is the reason of the lawe that although the Kinge be more fauoured in all his doinges then any common person shal be yet can not the King by lawe auoide his grauntes Letters Patentes by reason of his Nonage as other infantes may doe but shall alwayes be said to be of full age in respect of his Croune euen as a Person Vicare or Deane or any other person incorporate shal be VVhiche can not by any meanes be said in lawe to be within age in respect of their corporations although the corporation be but one yere olde Bysides that the Kinge can not by the lawe auoide the Letters Patentes made by any vsurper of the Croune vnlesse it be by acte of Parlement no more then other persones incorporate shall auoide the grauntes made by one that was before wrongfullye in their places and romes whereas in Descentes of inheritance the lawe is otherwise For there the heire may auoide all estates made by the disseasour or abatour or any other persone whose estate is by lawe defeated VVhereby it doth plainely appeare that the King is incorporate vnto the Croune The King is alvvaies at full age in respecte of his Croune hath the same properly by succession and not by Descent onely And that is likewise an other reason to proue that the Kinge and the Croune can neither be sayde to be within the wordes nor yet with in the meaning of the sayde generall rule or Maxime The third and most principall cause of all is for that in the said statute wherupon the said supposed rule or Maxime is gathered The Kings childreÌ„ are expresly excepted from the surmised Maxime the children descendantes and descended of the blood royall by the wordes of Infantes de Roy are expresly excepted out of the sayd supposed rule or Maxime VVhiche wordes the aduersaries do muche abuse in restraining and construing them to extende but to the first degree onely whereas the same wordes may very well beare a more large ample interpretatioÌ„ And that for three causes coÌ„sideratioÌ„s Libe roruÌ„ ff de verborum signific First by the Ciuil lawe this word Liberi which the worde Infantes being the vsuall and originall worde of the statute written in the Frenche toÌ„gue counteruaileth doth comprehende by proper and peculiar signification not onely the children of the first degree L. Sed si de iÌ„ ius vocaÌ„ doinstit de haere ab intist but other descendants also in the lawe As for example where the lawe sayeth That he vvho is manumissed or made free shall not commence any Action against the children of the Patrone or manumissour vvithout licence L. Lucius ff de haere instit L. Iusta L. NatoruÌ„ L. LiberoruÌ„ de uerb signi L. 2. § si mater al S.C. Tertul there not onely the first degree but the other also are conteined The like is where the lawe of the twelue Tables saith The first place and roome of succession after the death of the parentes that die intestate is due to the children there the succession apperteineth as well to degrees remoued as to the first Yea in all causes fauourable as ours is this worde Filius a sonne conteinethe
Queene of Scotland to the succession of the Croune of England The obiections of the aduersaries touching the pretensed vvill of King Henry the eight are clearlie auoided The statutes of King H. 8. touching the succession of the Croune IT doth appeare by the said statute of .28 of king Henry the eight that there was authoritie geuen him by the same to declare limite appoint assigne the succession of the Croune by his Letters Patentes or by his last VVill signed with his owne hande It appeareth also by the foresaid statute made .35 of the said King that it was by the same enacted that the Croune of that Realme of England should go and be to the said King and to the heires of his body lawfully begotten that is to say vnto his Highnes first sonne of his body betwene him and the Ladie Iane then his wife begotten for default of such issue then vnto the Lady Marie his daughter and to the heires of her body lawfully begotten for defaut of such issue then vnto the Ladie Elizabeth his daughter and to the heires of her body laufully begotten for defaut of such issue vnto suche person or persones in remainder or reuersion as should please the said king Henry the eight and according to such estate and after such manner order and condition as should be expressed declared named and limited in his Letters Patentes or by his last VVill in writing signed with his owne hande By vertue of which said Acte of Parlament the Aduersaries doo alleage that the said late King Henry the eight afterward by his last VVill in writing signed with his owne hand did ordeine and appoint that if it happen the said Prince Edward Ladie Marie and Ladie Elizabethe to dye without issue of their bodies lawfully begotten then the Croune of that Realme of England should goe and remaine vnto the heires of the bodie of the Ladie Francis his Neece and the eldest daughter of the French Queene And for the defaulte of suche issue to the heires of the body of the Ladie Eleonour his Neece second daughter to the French Queene lawfully begotten And if it happened the sayd Ladie Eleonour to dye without issue of her body lawfully begotten to remaine and come to the nexte rightfull heires VVherevpon the aduersaries do inferre that the succession of the Croune ought to go to the chyldren of the said Ladie Francis and to their heyres according to the sayd supposed will of the said king Henry the eight and not vnto Ladie Marie Queene of Scotlande that nowe is To this it is An ansvver to the foresaid statute on the behalf of my said soueraign Lady Marie Queene of Scotland among other things answered that King Henry the eight neuer signed the pretensed will with his own hand and that therfore the said will can not be any whit preiudicial to the said Queene The effect of the aduersaries arguments for the exclusion of the Queene of Scotlād by a pretēsed vvil of King H. 8. Against which answere for the defence and vpholding of the saide will it is replied by the Aduersaries first that there were diuers copies of his wil found signed with his own hande or at the least wise enterlined and some for the most part written with his owne hande out of the whiche it is likely that the original will commonly called King Henry the eightes will was taken fayer drawen out Then that there be great and vehement presumptions that for the fatherly loue that he bare to the common wealth and for the auoiding of the vncerteintie of the succession he well liked vpon and accepted the authoritie geuen him by Parlament and signed with his owne hande the said originall will whiche had the said limitation and assignation of the Croune And these presumptiōs are the more enforced for that he had no cause why he should beare any affectiō either to the said Queene of Scotlād or to the Lady Leneux and hauing withal no cause to be greeued or offended with his sisters the Frenche Queenes children but to put the matter quite out of all ambiguitie and doubte it appeareth they say that there were eleuen witnesses purposely called by the King who were present at the signing of the said VVill and subscribed their names to the same Yea that the chief Lordes of the Counsaile were made and appointed executours of the said VVill and that they and other had greate Legacies geuen them in the said VVill which were paid and other thinges comprised in the VVill accomplished accordingly There passed also purchases and Letters Patentes betwene King Edward and the executors of the said VVill and others for the execution and performāce of the same Finally the said Testament was recorded in the Chancerie VVherefore they affirme that there ought no manner of doubt moue any man to the contrarie and that either we must graunt this VVill to be signed with his hand or that he made no VVill at all bothe must be graunted or both denied If any will deny it in case he be one of the witnesses he shall impugne his own testimonie if he be one of the executours he shall ouerthrow the foundation of all his doinges in procuring the said will to be inrolled set forth vnder the great Seale And so by their dublenes they shall make them selues no mete witnesses Nowe a man can not lightly imagine how any other bysids these two kind of witnesses for some of them and of the executors were suche as were continually wayting vpon the kinges person may impugne this will and proue that the king did not signe the same But if any such impugne the will it would be considered how many they are and what they are it wil be very harde to proue negatiuam facti But it is euidēte say they that there was neuer any such lawful proofe against the said will producted For if it had ben it would haue bene published in the Starrechamber preached at Poules Crosse declared by Acte of Parlamēt proclamed in euerie quarter of the Realm Yea admitting say they that it were proued that the said pretensed will lacked the kinges hande yet neuerthelesse say they the very copies we haue spoken of being written signed or at least interlined with his owne hande may be saide a sufficient signing with his owne hande For seing the scope and final purpose of the statute was to haue the succession prouided for and asserteined whiche is sufficiently done in the said will and seing his owne hande was required but onely for eschewing euil sinister dealing whereof there is no suspicion in this will to be gathered what matter in the worlde or what difference is there when the king fulfilled and accomplished this gratiouse Acte that was loked for at his hādes whether he signed the wil with is owne hāde or no If it be obiected that the king was obliged and bound to a certaine precise order and forme which he could in no
wise shift but that the Acte without it muste perish and be of no valewe then say they wee vndoe whole Parlamentes aswel in Queene Maries time as in kings Henry the eightes time In Queene Maries time bicause she omitted the Style appointed by Parlamente Anno Henrici octaui tricesimo quinto An. H. 8.35 An. H. 8.33 21. In kinge Henries tyme by reason there was a statute that the kinges royal assent may be geuen to an Acte of Parlamente by his Letters Patentes signed with his hāde though he be not there personally And yet did the saied king supplie full ofte his consente by the stampe only This yet notwithstanding the said Parlamentes for the omission of these formes so exactely and precisely appointed are not destroyed and disannulled An ansvver by the vvay of reioinder to the same After this sorte in effecte haue the Aduersaries replied for the defence of the said pretensed will To this we will make our reioynder saye Firste that our principal matter is not to ioyne an issewe whether the saide kinge made and ordeyned any sufficient will or no. VVe leaue that to an other time But whether he made any Testamēt in suche order and forme as the statute requireth VVherefore if it be defectiue in the said forme as wee affirme it to be were it otherwise neuer so good and perfect though it were exemplified by the great Seale and recorded in Chancerie and taken commonly for his VVil and so accomplished it is nothing to the principal question It resteth then for vs to cōsider the weight of the aduersaries presumptions whereby they would inforce a probabilitie that the Testamēt had the foresaid requisite forme Yet first it is to be considered what presumptions and of what force number do occurre to auoide and frustrate the Aduersaries presumptions and all other like Diuers presumptions reasons against this supposed vvill VVe say then there occurre many likelyhoddes many presumptions many great and weightie reasons to make vs to thinke that as the king neuer had good and iuste cause to minde enterprise suche an Acte as is pretended so likewise he did enterprise no such Acte in deede I deny not but that ther was such authoritie geuen him neither I deny but that he might also in some honorable sort haue practised the same to the honour and wealthe of the Realme and to the good contentation of the same Realme But that he had either cause or did exercise the said authoritie in suche strange dishonorable sort as is pretended I plainely denie For being at the time of this pretēsed will furnished and adorned with issue the late king Edward and the Ladies Marie and Elizabeth their state and succession being also lately by Acte of Parlament established what neede or likelyhod was there for the king then to practise such newe deuises as neuer did I suppose any King in that Realme before and fewe in any other byside And where they were practised commonly had infortunate and lamentable successe VVhat likelyhode was there for him to practise such deuises especially in his later daies when wisdome the loue of God and his Realm should haue bene moste ripe in him that were likely to sturre vppe a greater fier of greeuouse contention and wofull destruction in England then euer did the deadly faction of the read Rose the white lately by the incorporation and vnion of the house of Yorke and Lancastre in the person of his father through the mariage of Ladye Elizabeth eldest daughter of King Edwarde the fourth moste happily extinguished and buried And though it might be thought or said that there vould be no such cause of feare by reason the matter passed by Parlament yet could not he be ignorāt that neither Parlamēts made for Hēry the fourth or cōtinuance of twoo Descentes which toke no place in geuing any Title touching the Croune in King Henry the sixt nor Parlamentes made for King Richard the third nor Parlaments of attainder made against his father could either preiudice his fathers right or releaue other against such as pretended iust right and title And as he could not be ignorant therof so it is not to be thought that he would abuse the great confidence put vpon him by the Parlament and disherite without any apparent cause the next roial blood and thinke all thinges sure by the colour of Parlamēt The litle force whereof against the right inheritour he had to his fathers and his owne so ample benefit so lately and so largely sene and felt And yet if he minded at any time to preiudice the said Lady Marie Queene of Scotland of all times he would not haue done it then when all his care was by all possible meanes to contriue and compasse a mariage betwene his sonne Edward and the said Lady and Queene Surely he was to wise of him selfe and was furnished with to wise Counsailours to take such an homely way to procure and purchase the said mariage by And least of all can we say he attempted that dishonorable disherison for any speciall inclinatiō or fauour he bare to the French Queene his sisters children For there haue bene of his neere priuie Counsaile that haue reported that the King neuer had any great liking of the mariage of his sister with the Duke of Suffolke who maried her first priuily in France and afterward openly in England And as it is said had his pardon for the said priuy mariage in writing Howesoeuer this matter goeth certeine it is that if this pretensed will be true he transferred and transposed the reuersion of the Croune not only from the Queene of Scotland from the Ladie Leneux and their issue but euen from the Lady Francis the Ladie Eleonour also daughters to the Frēche Queene whiche is a thing in a manner incredible and therefore nothing likely I must now gentle Reader put thee in remembrance of two other most pregnant and notable cōiectures and presumptions For among all other inconueniences and absurdities that do and may accompanie this rash vnaduised acte by this pretensed wil inconsiderately mainteined it is principally to be noted The supposed vvill is preiudicial to the Croune of England for the clame of the Croune of France that this Acte geueth apparent iust occasion of perpetual disherison of the Style Title of France incorporated and vnited to the Croune of England For whereby do or haue the Frenchemen hitherto excluded the kinges of that Realme claming the Croune of France by the title of Edward the third fallen vpon him by the right of his mother other than by a politike and ciuil law of their owne that barreth the female frō the right of the Croune And what doeth this pretensed Act of king Henrie but iustifie and strengthen their quarel and ouerthrow the foundatiō bulworke wherby the kings of England maintene their foresaid title and clame For if they may by their municipial lawe of England
exclude the said Queene of Scotland being called to the Croune by the Title of generall heritage then is the municipial law of France likewise good and effectual consequeÌ„tly the kings of England haue made all this while an vniust wrongfull clame to the Croune of FraÌ„ce But now to go somewhat further in the matter or rather to come neerer home and to touche the quicke we say as there was some apparent good cause why the king should the twentie and eight yeare of his reigne thinke vpon some limitation appointement of the Croune king Edward as yet vnborne so after he was borne and that the Title and interest of the reuersion of the Croune after him was the thirtie and fifte yeare by Parlament confirmed to the late Queene Marie and her sister Queene Elizabeth it is not to be thought that he would afterward ieoparde so great a matter by a Testament and will whiche may easely be altered and counterfeyted and least of all make suche assignation of the Croune as is nowe pretended For being a Prince of such wisdome and experience he could not be ignorant that this was the next and rediest way to put the state at least of both his daughters to great peril and vtter disherison This supposed vvill geueth occasion of ambitious aspiring For the Kinges example and boldnes in interrupting and cutting away so many branches of the neerest side and line might soone breede in aspiring and ambitious hartes a bolde and wicked attempte the way being so farre brought in and prepared to their handes by the Kinge him selfe and their natures so readie and prone to follow euil presidents and to clime high by some colourable meanes or other to spoile and depriue the said daughters of their right of the Croune that should descend and fal vpon them and to conuey the same to the heires of the said Ladie Francis And did not I pray you this drift and deuise fall out euen so tending to the vtter exclusion of the late Queene Marie and her Sister Queene Elizabeth if God had not repressed and ouerthrowen the same These reasones then presumptions may seme wel able and sufficient to beare doune to breake doune and ouerthrow the weake and slender presumptions of the Aduersaries grounded vpon vncertaine and mere surmises ghesses and coÌ„iectures as among other that the king was offended with the Queene of Scotland and with the Ladie Leneux VVhich is not true And as for the Ladie Leneux it hath no maÌ„ner of probabilitie as it hath not in dede in the said Queene And if it had yet it is as probable and much more probable that the king would haue especially at that time for suche cause as we haue declared suppressed the same displeasure Graunting now that there were some such displeasure was it honorable either for the King or the Realme or was it thinke ye euer thought by the Parlament that the king should disherite them for euery light displeasure And if as the Aduersaries confesse the king had no cause to be offeÌ„ded with the Frenche Queenes children why did he disherite the Ladie Francis and the Ladie Eleonor also Their other presumption which they ground vpon the auoyding of the vncertenty of the succession by reason of his will is of smal force and rather turneth against them For it is so farre of that by this meanes the succession is made more certaine and sure as contrarywise it is subiecte to more vncerteintie and to lesse suertie than before Succession to the Croune more vncerten by the supposed vvill than before For whereas before the right and clame to the Croune hong vpon an ordinarie and certaine course of the common lawe vpon the certaine and assured right of the royall and vnspotted blood yea vpon the very lawe of nature whereby many inconueniences manie troubles daungers and seditions are in al Countries politikely auoyded so now depending vpon the statute onely it is as easie by an other statute to be infringed and ouerthrowen and depending vpon a Testament it is subiect to many corruptions sinister dealinges cauillations yea and iust ouerthrowes by the dishabilitie of the Testatours witnesses or the Legatorie himselfe or for lacke of dewe order to be obserued or by the death of the witnesses vnexamined for many other like coÌ„sideratioÌ„s The Monuments of all antiquitie Much forgerie and counterfeyting of TestameÌ„ts the memorie of al ages of our owne age dayly experience can tel and shewe vs many lamentable examples of many a good lawfull TestameÌ„t by vndue and craftie meanes by false suborned witnesses by the couetous bearing and maintenance of such as be in authoritie quite vndone and ouerthrowne VVherefore Valerius Maximus crieth out against M. Crassus Valerius Maximus dict et fa. lib. 9. 6. 4. and Q Horiensius Lumina Curiae ornamenta Fori quod â—celus vindicare debebant inhonesti lucri captura inuitati authoritatibus suis texerunt This presuÌ„ption then of the Aduersaries rather maketh for vs and ministreth to vs good occasion to thinke that the king would not hasard the weight and importance of such a matter to reste vpon the validitie or inualiditie of a bare Testament only By this that we haue said we may probably gather that the King had no cause to aduenture so great an interprise by a bare will and Testament Ye shall nowe heare also why we thinke he did neuer attempt or enterprise any such thing It is well knowen the King was not wonte lightly to ouerslippe the occasion of any great commoditie presently offered And yet this notwithstanding hauing geuen to him by Acte of Parlament the ordering and disposition of all Chantries and Colleges he did neuer or very litle practise and execute this authoritie And shall we thinke vnlesse full and sufficient proofe necessarily enforce creditte that the King to his no present commoditie and aduantage but yet to his greate dishonour and to the greate obloquie of his subiectes and other Countries to the notable disherison of so may the next royall blood did vse any such authoritie as is surmised Againe if he had made any suche assignation who doubteth but that as he coÌ„ditioned in the said pretensed will with his noble daughters In this supposed vvill is no condition for the mariage of the heires of the L. Francis as is for the Kinges ovvne daughters to marie with his Counsels aduise either els not to enioy the benefitte of the succession he would haue tyed the said Ladie Francis and Ladie Eleonours heirs to the same condition Further more I am driuen to thinke that there passed no such limitation by the said king Henries will by reason there is not nor was these many yeares any original copy therof nor any authentical Record in the ChaÌ„cerie or els where to be shewed in all England as the Aduersaries them selues confesse And in the copies that be spread abrode the witnesses pretended to be preseÌ„t at the signing
touching the Succession They putte their whole trust vpon the King as one whome they thought most earnestly to minde the wealth of the Realme as one that would and could best and most prudently consider and weigh the matter of the Succession and prouide for the same accordingly If the doinges of the King do not plainely and euidently tende to this ende and scope if a Zealous minde to the common wealth if prudence wisdome did not rule measure all these doinges but contrariewise partial affection and displeasure if this arbitrement putteth not away all contentions and striffes if the mind and purpose of the honorable Parlament be not satisfied if there be dishonorable deuises assignements of the Croune in this will and Testament L. 1. ff qui TestameÌ„ta facâ—re if there be a new Succession vnnaturally deuised finally if this be not a Testament and last will such as Modestinus defineth Testamentum est iusta voluntatis nostrae sententia de eo The definition of a Testament quod quis post mortem suaÌ„ fieri velit then though the Kinges hand were put to it the matter goeth not altogether so wel so smothe But that there is good and great cause further to consider and debate vpon it whether it be so or no let the indifferent when they haue wel thought vpon it iudge accordingly The Aduersaries them selues can not altogether denie but that this Testament is not correspondeÌ„t to such expectation as men worthely should haue of it VVhiche thing they do plainly confesse For in vrging their presumptions whereof we haue spoken and minding to proue that this wil whiche they say is commonly called King Henries VVill was no new VVil deuised in his sicknes but euen the very same wherof as they say were diuers olde copies they inferre these wordes saying thus For if it be a nevve vvill then deuised vvho could thinke that either h m selfe vvould or any man durst haue moued him to put therin so many thinges contrary to his honour Much lesse durst they them selues deuise any nevv succession or moue him to alter it othervvise then they found it vvhen they savv that naturally it could not be othervvise disposed VVherein they say very truely For it is certaine that not only the common lawe of that Realm but nature it selfe telleth vs that the Queene of Scotland after the said Kinges children is the next and rightful Heire of the Croune VVherefore the King if he had excluded her he had done an vnnatural act Ye will say he had some cause to doo this by reason she was a forainer and borne out of the Realme Yet this notwithstanding he did very vnnaturally yea vnaduisedly inconsideratly and wrongfully and to the great preiudice and danger of his owne Title to the Croune of France as we haue already declared And moreouer it is well to be weighed that reason and equitie and Ius Gentium doth require craue that as the kings of that Realm would thinke them selues to be iniuriously handled and openly wronged if they mariyng with the heires of Spaine Scotland or any other Countrey where the sucession of the Croune deuolueth to the woman were shutte out and barred from their said right due to them by the wiues as we haue said so likewise they ought to think of womeÌ„ of their royal blood that marie in Scotland that they may wel iudge and take them selues muche iniuried vnnaturally and wrongfully dealt withall to be thruste from the succession of that Croune being thereto called by the nexte proximitie of the royal blood And such deuolutions of other Kingdoms to the Croune of England by foraine mariage might by possibilitie often times haue chaunced and was euen nowe in this our time very like to haue chanced for Scotland if the intended mariage with the Queene of Scotland that nowe is and the late King Edward the sixt with his longer life some issue had taken place But now that she is no suche forainer as is not capable of the Croune we haue at large already discussed Yea I will now say farther that supposing the Parlament minded to exclude her and might rightfuly so doe and that the King by vertue of this statute did exclude her in his supposed will yet is she not a plaine forainer and incapable of the Croune For if the lawfull heires of the said Ladie Francis and of the Ladie Eleonour should happen to faile whiche seeme now to faile at the least in the Ladie Katherin and her issue for whose title great sturre hath lately ben made by reason of a late senteÌ„ce definitiue geuen against her pretensed mariage with the Earle of Herford then is there no stay or stoppe either by the Parlament or by the supposed VVill but that she the said Quene of Scotlande and her Heires may haue and obteine their iust Title and clame For by the said pretensed will it is limited that for default of the lawfull Heyres of the said Ladie Francis Elenour the Croune shall remaine and come to the next rightful Heires But if she shall be said to be a forainer for the time for the induction of farther argument then what saye the Aduersaries to the Ladie Leneux borne at Herbottel in England and from thirtene yeares of age brought vppe also in England and commonly taken and reputed as well of the King and Nobilitie as of other the lawefull Neece of the said king Yea to turn now to the other sister of the King maried to Charles BraÌ„don Duke of Suffolke and her children the Ladie Francis and the Ladie Eleonour why are they also disherited Surely if there be no iust cause neither in the Lady Leneux nor in the other it seemeth the King hath made a plaine Donatiue of the Croune VVhiche thinge whether he could doe or whether it be conformable to the expectation of the Parlament or for the Kinges honour or for the honour of the Realme I leaue it to the further consideration of other Nowe what causes should moue the Kinge to shutte them out by his pretensed will from the Title of the Croune I minde not nor neede not especially seeing I take no notice of any suche will touching the limitation of the said Croune here to prosecute or examine Yet am I not ignorant what impedimentes many doo talke of and some as well by printed as vnprinted Bookes doe writte of VVherein I will not take vpon me any asseueration any resolution or iudgement This onely will I propound as it were by the way of consideratioÌ„ duely depely to be wayghed and thought vpon that is for as muche as the benefitte of this surmised will tendeth to the extrusion of the Queene of Scotland and others altogether and to the issue of the French Queene whether in case the King had no cause to be offended with his sisters the Frenche Queenes Children as the Aduersaries them selues confesse he had not and that there was no lawfull impediment in them to
he meant to geue the same by his wil could not enioye it by the lawe VVherevpon ye may plainely see not onely the great vnlikelihod that King Henry the eight would make any such wil with such slender aduise but also that by the limitation of the said will the succcession of the Croune is made more vncertaine and doubtfull then it was before the making of the said Actes of Parlament VVhich is contrary to the meaning and intent of the said Actes and therefore without any sufficient warrant in law But peraduenture some here will say that although these daungers vncertainties might haue ensewed vpō the limitation of the said wil yet forasmuch as they haue not happened neither be like to happen they are therefore not to be spoken of Ye as verely it was not to be omitted For although these things haue not happened and therefore the more tolerable yet for as much as they might haue happened by the limitation of the said supposed will contrary to the meaning of the said Actes the will can not by any meanes be said to be made according to the meaning and intent of the makers of the said statutes And therefore in that respect the said will is insufficient in lawe And to aggrauate the matter farther ye shall vnderstand of great inconueniences and imminent daungers which as yet are likely to ensue if that supposed will should take place It is not vnknowen but that at the time of the making of the said will the said Lady Frācis had no issue male but onely three daughters betwene her Henrie Duke of Suffolke Afterward in the time of the late soueraigne Lady Queene Marie the said Duke of Suffolke was attainted and suffered accordingly After whose death the said Ladie Francis to her great dishonour and abasing of her selfe toke to husbande one Adrian Stokes who was before her seruant a man of very meane estate and vocation and had issue by him VVhiche issue if it were a sonne be also yet liuing by the wordes of the said supposed will is to inherite the Croune of that Realme before the daughters betwene her and the said late Duke of Suffolke begotten whiche thing was neither intended nor meant by the makers of the said Actes VVho can with any reason or cōmō sense thinke that al the states of the Realme assembled together at the said Parlament did meane to geue authoritie to King Henry the eight by his letters Patents or last will to disherit the Queene of Scotland linially descended of the blood royal of that Realme and to appoint the sonne of Adrian Stokes then a meane seruing man of the Duke of Suffolks to be King Gouernour ouer that noble Realme of England The inconueniences whereof as also of the like that might haue followed of the pretensed Mariage of M. Keies the late Sergeante Porter I referre to the graue considerations and iudgementes of the honorable and worshipfull of that Realme Some peraduenture will say that King Henry the eight meant by his will to dispose the Croune vnto the Heires of the body of the said Ladie Francis by the said Duke lawfully begotten not vnto the heires by any other person to be begotten VVhich meaning although it might very hardly be gathered vpon the said supposed will yet can not the same be without as great inconueniences as the other For if the Croune should now remaine vnto the heires of the bodie of the said Ladie Francis by the said Duke begotten then should it remaine vnto two daughters ioyntly they both being termed and certainly accompted in law but one heire And by that meanes the state and gouernment of that Realme should be changed from the auncient Monarchie into the gouernement of many For the Title of the Ladie Francis being by way of remainder whiche is cōpted in law a ioynt purchase doth make all the issue female inheritable a like and can not go according to the aunciēt law of a descent to the Croune which is that the Croune by descent must go to the eldest daughter only as is aforesaid For great differences be in law where one cometh to any Title by descent and where as a purchassor And also if the one of those issues female dye then were her heire in the Title as a seueral tenant in tayle And so there should follow that so many daughters so many general Gouernors so might their issue being heirs femals make the gouernmēt grow infinite VVhich thing was most farre frō the meaning of the makers of that Acte of Parlament VVhat if the said King had by his last will disposed that realme into two or three parts diuiding the gouernement thereof to three persons to rule as seueral Kinges as for example wales vnto one the Northe partes vnto an other the South partes vnto the third and by that meanes had miserably rent that Realme into partes Had this bene according to the entent and meaning of the said Acte of Parlament Or had it bene a good and sufficient limitation in law No verily I thinke no man of any reasonable vnderstanding wil so say And no more can he either say or thinke of the remainder limited vnto the heires of the body of the said Lady Francis by the said supposed will Now to complete and finish this our Treatise touching the Queene of Scotlāds Title to the succession of the Croune as we haue done so let vs freely and liberally graunt the Aduersaries that whiche is not true that is that the said supposed wil was signed with the kings own hand Let the heires of the Lady Frācis come forth in Gods name lay forth to the world their demaund supposed right against the said Q. of Scotlāds interest The Queene on the other side to fortifie strēghten her clame layeth foorth to the open sight of all the worlde her iust title and interest signed and alwaies a fore this time allowed not onely as with the Seales but with the othes also of al the kings that euer were in England taken at the time of their Coronation for the continuance of the lawes of that noble Realme of England signed and allowed I say almost of all the world by sides yea signed with God and natures owne fingers Her right is as open and as clere as the bright Sonne Now to darken and shadow this glorious light what doe the heires of the said Ladie Frācis or others bringe foorth to ground their iust clame and demaund vpon VVhen all is done they are faine to runne and catche hold vpō king Henry the eightes written will signed with his owne hāde VVel let them take as good handfast thereon as they can but yet lette them shewe the said Queene the said original will It is well knowen that they themselues haue said that that to doe they can not Yet let them at least lay forth some authentical record of the same It is also notorious that they can not If then the foundation of