of his Reign was the first Act of Parliament made for entailing the Crown with Remainders By vertue of which Entail his Son Henry the fifth became King and after him Henry the sixth in whose time Richard Duke of York claim'd the Crown and an Act of Parliament was made 39 Hen. 6. that Henry should enjoy the Crown for his Life and Richard and his Heirs after him After which King Henry raise's an Army kills Richard for which He the Queen and Prince were all Attainted 1 Edw. 4. because Richard was declared Heir apparent to the Crown after Henry by Act of Parliament but this Attainder was repeal'd in terms of Disgrace and Detestation 1 Hen. 7. Rot. Parl. 1 Hen. 7. Edward the fourth succeeded Henry 6. by vertue of an Act of Parliament made in the time of Hen. 6 for entailing the Crown as Son and Heir to the Duke of York Richard the third was confirmed King by Act of Parliament tho' he came to it by blood and murther Henry the seventh comes in by no Legal Title because Edw. the fourth's Daughter and his own Mother were both living In his time the Crown was entail'd on him and his Heirs by an Act of Parliament and he would never suffer any other Title to declare his Right Henry the eighth succeeded who as all his Laws speak deriv'd his Title to the Crown from his Father by vertue of the Act of Parliament above-nam'd and not by any Title from his Mother tho' by the Law of Succession his Right from Queen Elizabeth Daughter of Edw. 4. was indisputable In his Reign the Crown was thrice entail'd but the great one was that of 35. c. 1. by which Edward the sixth Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth succeeded in whose Reign was made an Act of Parliament making it high Treason to say it was not in the Power of Parliaments to limit the Succession of the Crown Upon the Marriage of Queen Mary to King Philip of Spain both the Crowns of England and Spain were entail'd and the Articles of Marriage confirm'd by Act of Parliament and by that Act of Parliament Philip was created King and exercis'd Sovereign Authority and particularly in making Laws together with the Queen the Style of the Royal Assent to Bills in Parliament being at that time Le Roy La Reigne les veulent by all which it appears that the Kings of England since the Crown was setl'd in a particular Family as well as before are Kings by the Laws of the 〈…〉 of human Constitution tho' their Power is from God Almighty Nor does this opinion aim at the changing our Hereditary Monarchy into an Elective Kingdom but shews that there is no such absolute necessity of keeping the Lineal Descent in respect of a single Person that it cannot be chang'd for the preservation of a Kingdom contrary to the Opinion of our Lawyers who affirm from History Records and Law-Books that our Monarchy is Hereditary as to a Family but Elective as to Persons However to obviate the prejudice that might arise from that preconceit I shall shew you 't is Hereditary and yet that that Hereditary Right came also by Law and therefore may be interrupted by our Legislators That England is an Hereditary Monarchy and that the common course of Succession is to be inviolably observ'd when it consists with the publick good and safety of the Kingdom none will deny for our own Laws have so determin'd it as a custom grounded upon sufficient Reasons Our Ancestors perceiving that the way of Electing Kings was subject to many Inconveniencies and often expos'd the Kingdom to Tempests Interregnum's and Revolutions as well as to the seditious commotions of under-hand dealers and the Pride and Ambition of Men too desirous to be uppermost And that Kings coming to the Crown by Election neglected the Demeans and squander'd away the Treasure of the Nation because they had no prospect of leaving the Crown to their Heirs 't was therefore thought advisable and beneficial to the Publick to fix the Royalty in a particular Family As for example In the eighth of Hen. the fourth there was an Act of Parliament which entail'd the Crown with Remainders And to name no other instances of the like kind it was made Treasonable by an Act of Parliament in the thirteenth of Queen Elizabeth for any Man to affirm that the common Laws of this Realm ought not to direct the Right of the Crown of England or that the Laws were not of sufficient force and validity to limit and bind the Crown of this Realm and the Descent Limitation Inheritance and Government thereof So that 't is plain an Hereditary Right is a Right by the Laws of England and not otherwise And what need is there of any other since a Right by Law makes a Rightful and Lawful King in despite of all the over-nice Distinctions of State-Criticks to the contrary And truly Of all Men living the late King James and his Defenders have least Reason to quarrel this Right by Law For How came it to pass that the Line of the Stewarts had a better Title to the Crown of Scotland than that of the Baliols but only that the Laws of Scotland that is the Consent of the Estates of that Kingdom made them so For otherwise if we search into the Pedigrees of those two Families we shall find that Baliol according to the common receiv'd Rules of Descent was nearer in Blood to the last King David than Bruce and was so adjudg'd at a solemn Hearing * Bak. Chron. pag. 96. between both Parties by our King Edward the First in Parliament Besides the late King has left it upon Record from his own Mouth that the Laws of England were able to make a King as great and happy as he could desire to be and after that I cannot imagine what he could wish for next But His Intentions being fix'd to destroy those Laws that in observing them would have made him great and happy he stood in need of a Title Superior to them therefore his Flatterers contriv'd one of a Divine Original and yet it dy'd before him the Divinity of his Office was more Mortal than that of his Person and well it might having no Being unless in the Heads of its first Inventore The Scripture has declar'd the Falsity of this new Hypothesis †Rom. 13. St. Paul saying There is no Power but of God must be understood of Government in general For the Apostle does not say There is no Prince but is of God but There is no Power but of God St. Peter also makes Kings to be of Humane Constitution as well as our Laws which know no such thing as a Personal Authority in the King Antecedent and Superiour to all Laws nor no Divine Law or just Inference from it which does any where set aside Humane Constitutions agreeable to Christianity and beneficial to Civil Societies Therefore if a King by Lawful Succession shall act unlawfully and
in-Law could counter-balance so many Great and stupendious Interests or the Sacred and Inviolable Obligations that ingaged him to God and the publick good of so many Millions of Souls that depended on it Every Prince of the Royal Blood of England is in Right of that Blood oblig'd to regard England as his Own Country and to take care of the Inhabitants over whom he has a Right to Reign that the Demeans of the Crown be not Wasted nor the Subjects Injur'd and the nearer he approaches the Succession the greater is his Obligation to Defend them from Violence and his Country from Ruin to which Country next unto his God * Chari sunt parentes chaâ—â—i liberi propinqui familiares sed omnes omnium charitates Patriae una complexa est pro qua quis bonus dubitet mortem oppetere fi ea sit profituturus 〈…〉 and before all other Relations whatsoever he stands Particularly and Religiously concern'd for its Peace and Preservation His Highness the Prince of Orange could not neglect it now in common Prudence without manifest prejudice to his Right of Succession for the People of England by applying to his Highness had not only Recognized his Right to the Succession but also acqaainted him in their Memorial that if he refused them Succor under their present Ill Circumstances they would Assume their own Right and Free themselves and how far their Resentments of such a Slight might have Transported them is not easy to imagine Now altho the Reasons alledg'd are sufficient to shew the Justice of the Prince's Interposing between the late King and his Subjects yet I shall shew also that it is justified by many Presidents and where the Emergencies were not so considerable as ours nor their Titles to the Government so Incontestable as the Prince of Orange's was to the Crown of England who yet are Celebrated in History for their great Atchievements on such Occasions Constantine's quarrel with Maxentius * Eusebius Eccl. Hist p. 268. had no other ground and that was enough than that Maxentius Tyranniz'd over the Romans for which Constantine Invaded him Slew him and was receiv'd by the Romans as their Deliverer As remarkable was his Raising War against his Brother in Law Licinius because he persecuted the Christians for which when he had overcome the Tyrant the Christians plac'd him on the Throne in Licinius's Room and Historians have Celebrated his Name as a most Holy and Generous Champion in the Cause of Christ and their Country Constantine the Younger Son of Constantine the Great threatned his Brother Constantius with a War and made him desist from persecuting the Catholick Bishops and forc'd him to Restore Athanasius to his Bishoprick of Alexandria The like was done by King Pipin and Charles the Great against the Lomlards and by all the Christian Princes against the Turk in the Holy War To come nearer our own times Queen Elizabeth gave a Powerful Aid to the Hollanders * Vid. English Chron. and Hist of her Life against the Tyranny of the Spaniards King James the First * See his Manifesto 16. and K. C. Declaration on that Subject on the behalf of the Prince Palatine against the Emperour of Germany King Charles the First assisted the Rochellers with a Fleet and an Army against the French King in the cause of Religion and was incouraged to it by several of his Bishops and 't was always look'd upon as a great Blemish on the Reign of King Charles the Second and gave suspicion of his being in the Popish Interest that he suffered the F. K. to proceed so far in destroying his Protestant Subjects without such a seasonable Interposition as might have prevented it or gain'd an Opportunity of making his Reign glorious and his Kingdom easy by a War which in all probality would have brought that Monarch into better Terms for the Advantage of Europe So that from the Reasons aforementioned and the Presidents now alledg'd his Highness's Expedition to Rescue an Injur'd People from the Tyranny of Arbitary Power was one of the most Generous and Pious Enterprizes that any Age has acquainted us with and that the Good of this Nation was the only motive that gave birth to this undertaking see it in the Words of his Highnesses own Declaration Since the English Nation has always testified a most particular Affection and Esteem both to our Dearest Consort the Princess and to our selves we cannot excuse our selves from Espousing their Interests in matters of such high Consequences and from contributing all that lies in us for maintaining both of the Protestant Religion and of the Laws and Liberties of those Kingdoms and for the securing to them the continual enjoyment of all their just Rights to the doing of which we are most earnestly solicited by a great many Lords both Spiritual and Temporal and by many Gentlemen and other Subjects of all Ranks Therefore it is that we have thought fit to go over into England and to carry over with us a Force able by the Blessing of God to defend us from the Violence of those Evil Counsellors and we being desirous that our Intentions in this may be rightly understood declare that this our expedition is intended for no other design but to have a free and lawful Parliament assembled as soon as is possible and that in order to this all the late Charters by which the Elections of Burguesses are limited contrary to the Antient custom shall be considered as Null and of no Force and likewise all Magistrates who have been unjustly turn'd out shall forthwith Resume their former Imployments as well as all the Boroughs of England shall return again to their ancient prescriptions and Charters and that the Writs for the Members of Parliament shall be addressed to their proper Officers according to Law and Custom That also none be suffer'd to choose or to be chosen Members of Parliament but such as are qualified by Law and that the Members of Parliament shall meet and sit in full freedom that so the two Houses may concur in preparing such Laws as they upon full and free debate shall judge Necessary and Convenient both for the confirming and executing the Law concerning the Test and such other Laws as are necessary and convenient for the security and maintenance of the Protestant Religion c. Thus his Highness was pleas'd to declare his intentions with which the Nation was so Intirely satisfied that they conquer'd all that Read or heard them insomuch that many Persons of Quality and others met his Highness at Exeter put themselves under his Conduct and many other Lords and Great Men who had rais'd Forces in all parts of the Kingdom to strengthen the Prince's Expedition were marching with all speed to joyn his Highness's Troops And now A War being ready to break forth in the Bowells of the Kingdom several Spiritual and Temporal Lords in an humble Petition to the late King advise him in order to Redress the Grievances
Ishbosheth had Right by Descent from Saul but David was made King And 't was for the sake of Religion that they were thus Plac'd and Displac'd In France Childeric was Depos'd and Egidius or Gillon a mere Stranger but in Reputation for Probity and Wisdom was Elected in his stead Pepin was Elected King and Thierry Depos'd Pepin Grandson to the former was by Parliament Crown'd King tho' there was of that Marovinian Race in Being Charlemain's and Hugh Capet's best if not only Title was the Choice of the People So that I wonder the French Writers should question the Legality of the late Revolution in England since if we look back into the Original of other Kings and how they came to their Crowns King William's Title to the Crown of England is as good as the best and much better than some now Reigning in Europe for if all the Monarchs and Governments in Europe that have succeeded such Depositions or Abdications have been Unlawful and Usurp'd there is not one Monarch or Government in all Europe nay scarce in the whole World that can say they have a Lawful Authority but must acknowledge according to the Doctrine of D' Orleance that they are all Usurpers Which I wonder he had the Confidence to Assert since he cannot be ignorant that the French Kings enjoy their Crowns in Consequence of the Abdications and Depositions of their Predecessors and the People's Elections which succeeded those Dethronements So that King William 's Title to the Crown of England is as good as King Lewis's to France if not better for their own Historians give great Suspicion of Unfair Dealings and Sly Practices in the Elections of some of the French Kings but neither Envy it self nor the most Inveterate of all our Enemies could ever object it against King William that by any Acts of Force or Arts of Corruption he endeavour'd to work on the Members of either House to labour his own Advancement but that it was the Free Election of the Majority after long Debates and Consultations on other Expedients His Majesty did not like King Harold lay Violent Hands upon a Crown but only Accepted it when it was Offer'd And which shews his Goodness and Justice he receiv'd it too on the Conditions that were offer'd with it which gives us a lasting Assurance of the Regularity of his Government His Vertue and his Merit recommended him to England by their Free Election he was made King and that is the Right he Claims by and being the most Righteous and Lawful that can be without a Miracle it makes out Allegiance and Obedience to him become our Indispencible Duty But That which I but hinted before and now comes to Crown all the rest and put it quite out of Dispute for ever is It was God's Doing the Immediate Hand of Heaven was in it And truly nothing less could have accomplish'd such Miraculous Things We all know what the Nation Felt and Fear'd the Overturning of this Church and the Subverting this Government Now all this being stopp'd our Religion secur'd our Temporalities safe and a Check put to the Spirit of Persecution and all in so short a Time must be ascrib'd to an Almighty Power and Goodness That when the Design of our Deliverance was Form'd and Essaying there should be so extraordinary a Concurrence of all Favourable Accidents and disposing all Men's Minds the same Way That the Precipitation and Folly of our Persecutors in opening their Ill Designs so Early and the Unrelenting Cruelty put in practice in a Neighbouring Kingdom should send us over so many Thousand Witnesses to awaken us and shew us what we were to expect when that Bloody Religion became Triumphant amongst us and what all Oaths Promises and Laws should signifie as soon as they could break through them And that this should happen at the same time when the late King was Suspending Laws in favour of the Papists That our Enemies should go on so fast and Bare-fac'd That they should grasp so much at once and suffer the Hook to be so ill cover'd when the Bait was thrown out And that all their Designs should be blasted by themselves must be ascrib'd to the Eternal who brings to Light the hidden Things of Darkness and suffers the Wicked to be taken in the Snare they prepar'd for others Further That the great Supporter of Persecution should start a Quarrel with the Head of that Mystical Babylon and divert his Force to a New War an unjust one to be sure since he began it And so many great Princes should Unite to Stop his Carier and preserve Europe That so great an Army as the late King had Rais'd from whom our present King might expect a stout Opposition should voluntarily Desert grow Supine and comply with Reason and the Good of the Nation That such a Divided People should so Unanimously Concurr in in Electing the same Person to be their King and that this mighty Deliverance should be perfected without Shedding of Blood agreeable to the Proposals and Intentions of our Great Deliverer the Laws of the Land and the present and future Tranquility of the whole Nation must be the Lord 's Doing and ought to be Commemorated to his Eternal Glory and Accompany'd with a Grateful Retribution and Dutiful Obedience to our Gracious King who hath done such great Things for us Which is the last Particular 'T is doubtless one of the most palpable Signs of a Base Profligate Nature not to be oblig'd by Favours 'T would be an Injury to a Beast to call him Ingrateful That Epithet no Being can deserve but one that is degenerated into something more Vile than the worst of Animals that has broke through all that is Modest Ingenious and Tender and Apprehensive in Humane Nature And for the Noble Creature Man to be guilty of Ingratitude in Offending our Deliverer or Dishonouring our Sovereign by any Rash or Unadvis'd Words or Actions who sav'd us from Ruin who snatch'd us from the Brink of Destruction To return him Evil for Good to requite his Favours with Indignities to Diminish his Power by taking too much upon themselves to Mis-represent his Gratious Intention or Lessen or Detract from his Goodness is to sink below Comprehension and render himself unworthy of the Blackest Thought With what Emotion and Grief of Mind then can we think of those that are already grown so Insensible of their past Dangers and forgetting the Mercy of their Deliverance abuse Modest Ears with Invidious Reflections upon the Supream and Subordinate Authority they ought to obey How is Conversation Sour'd by those Animals that like Tame Ducks are always dabling in Nasty Gutturs that Espy and Publish all Men's Faults but their own and can no more rest from Reproaching their Superiours than a Crow from feeding on Carrion Jealousies like Bull-Rushes grow out of the Mud of their own Brains and their Suspicious and Ungrounded Glances discover more Rancour than direct Contumelies They boast of their Affection and mighty