Selected quad for the lemma: act_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
act_n	law_n	parliament_n	prerogative_n	2,334	5	9.9399	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

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

the Grievances of his Subjects but by the Reports of others To supply this Defect he calls whom he pleaseth such as he thinks able and faithful to assist and direct him to be of his Privy Councel whose advice he takes in the Execution of those Laws which are already Establish'd But since all human Laws are liable to Defects for it is the sole Prerogative of Gods Law as being the result of Infinite Wisdom and Goodness to be exceeding broad to be fitted to all times and to answer all occasions it is therefore sometimes necessary that new Laws should be made and the old ones either abrogated and null'd or else reinforc'd with greater Penalties In such Cases according to the happy Constitution of these Nations the King summons his Great Council the High and most Honourable Court of Parliament The Lords Spiritual the Lords Temporal and the Commons Representing the Three Estates of the Kingdom Who coming from all Parts of the Nation are best able to inform His Majesty of the Grievances of his Subjects and by what Ways and Methods they may most suitably be redress'd In order hereunto when any Proposal or as we phrase it any Bill hath pass'd the Approbation of the Two Houses it is then humbly presented to the King for his Royal Assent Which if His Majesty thinks fit to grant then Le Roy le veult makes it a Law But if the King shall dislike the Bill he then rejects it with a Le Roy ne veult the King will not pass it or else in that more obliging Form of Denyal Le Roy avisera the King will consider or advise about it This is the plain matter of Fact From whence 't is very easie to understand what this Form of words By the Authority of the same doth import viz. not of the same Lords and Commons as if either Lords or Commons had an Authority contradistinct from or coordinate with the King but by the Authority of the same Parliament The which Parliament as Sir Edw. Cooke (a) Instit part 4. Cap. 1. p. 1. informs us consisteth of The Kings Majesty sitting there as in his Royal Politick Capacity and of the Three Estates of the Realm viz. The Lords Spiritual the Lords Temporal and the Commons So that in Propriety of Speeeh neither Lords nor Commons though in a vulgar Sense and to some purposes they are sometimes so called I say neither Lords nor Commons strictly and properly are a Parliament without the King who summoning them by his Writs and presiding over them as their Head animates and informs them and makes them a Legal Parliament who otherwise without the Royal Summons would be no better than an unlawful and riotous Convention The Lords and Commons have indeed an Authority to meet and sit and debate as a Parliament But they have this Authority solely from the King and not from Themselves or from the People For the King Calls them when he pleaseth and so makes them a Parliament and he Dissolves them when he thinks fit and so makes them none Again The Lords and Commons have an Authority but not to Enact or make Laws for the Words Be it enacted refer only to the King but to advise and consent to such Laws as shall be made by the King And therefore this Phrase Be it enacted by the Kings most excellent Majesty the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in this present Parliament assembled c. hath an Ellipsis in it and is to be read thus Be it enacted by the Kings most Excellent Majesty by the Advice and with the Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in this Parliament assembled c. Advice and Consent though for Brevities sake they are not always express'd yet are still to be understood And for the Truth of this I appeal to the Form of our antient Statutes as also to some modern ones and that not only in the Title but also in the Preface and Sanction of them For till the time of Henry VIII the words Advice Assent or Consent were never omitted As appears from the Statutes themselves to which recourse to be had From these Premises it plainly appears That the Supreme Power is solely in the King and That the Two Houses of Parliament are not Partners in the Government but his most Dutiful and Loyal Subjects as in all their Petitions most truly they do stile themselves And that this Form in our Statutes By the Authority of the same when rightly understood doth neither give them Title to make Laws nor perform any other Act of Soveraignty which may countenance this Fancy of a Coordinate Power The next Pretence of these Republican Polititians which I find they often urge in vindication of the late Rebellion is this That the King is One of the Three Estates and from thence they infer He hath but One share in the Government and that the other Two are Co-partners with Him The which Suggestion being apparently False I shall need to say the less in it's Confutation especially being so happily prevented by a late Learned Hand viz. The Grand Question concerning the Bishops Right c. The judicious Author of which Treatise having first premised That the whole Parliament assembled are the best Judges which are the Three Estates in Parliament and that their Authority is more to be valued than that of any particular Persons whether Lawyers or others He then in many Instances informs us from the Parliament Rolls and publick Records of the Kingdom That the Three Estates are the Lords Spiritual the Lords Temporal and the Commons In these Records we read of Impeachments R. 2. made before the King and all the Estates of the Realm Of Commissions appointed by the Peers and Lords Spiritual R. 2. and Temporal and the Commons of the Kingdom representing all the States of the Kingdom Of such and such things 6 H. 6. n. 24. advised and appointed by the Authority of the King assenting the Three Estates of this Realm The Duke of Bedford appear'd in Parliament 11 H. 6. n. 10. before the King and the Three Estates of this Realm In the Parliament 1. H. 6. The Queen Dowager in her Petition mentions the Ratification made in Parliament 9 H. 5. and saith It was not only sworn by the King but by the Three Estates of the Kingdom of England i. e. by the Prelates Nobles and other Grandees and by the Commons of the Realm of England And to add one Instance for latter times in the Parl. 1 Eliz. cap. 3. The Lords Spiritual the Lords Temporal and the Commons declare That they do represent in Parliament the Three Estates of the Realm With several others which I shall not mention but refer all those who either want or desire satisfaction to the Book it self And as to my plain honest Reader who hath neither ability nor opportunity to consult these Publick Records I shall desire him to open his Common-Prayer-Book and to

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.

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