death Jus Vitae Necis The Kings of this Isle the First Anointed Christian Kings 9. And as the Quatuor Vncti were before all other Kings so I take it that the Kings of this Isle ought to have the preference amongst them for that they were the first (g) Rhivallus ap Tooke in charism Sanct. Cap. 6. anointed Christian Kings as appears by the undeniable Testimony of the learned Gildas in his Book De excidio Britanniae written above a thousand years since which I take to be beyond any Remain of the like Extant in any Records of the Eastern or Western Empire (h) De Comitiis Imperat Cap. 2. Onuphrius would have that Ceremony to begin in the East with the Emperour Justin circ Ann. 525 but most of the learned Writers upon this Subject differ in opinion from him supposing he was more beholding for that honour to the gratitude of the Orthodox Clergy whom he always favour'd then to any real truth or Certainty in the thing The vulgar Historians will have it to begin in the West with the Merovignian line amongst the French but neither does Du Hailan Tilly nor those of the best Authority agree to it Regino and Sifridus go no higher then King Pepin who they say was the first anointed by Boniface Arch Bishop of Ments Ann. 750 which mistake may possibly be better understood by distinguishing betwixt the Ceremonies of the Regal and those of the Ecclesiastical Unction the last being no more but a sacred complement us'd in those times as a preparatory designation to an expected Regality whereof our own History is not without some Instances in which we find that Egbert Son to the great Mercian Offa was anointed in the life time of his Father Ann. 780 which was twenty years before Charlemaine who is suppos'd by most Writers to have been the very first King of the Francks anointed by Leo the Fourth Ann. 800. The like we read of Elfred the Son of Egbert anointed by the same Pope near about the same time in the presence of his Father but taking it to be as early in use with them as they themselves would have it thought to be yet falls it short of the times of our King Arthur affirm'd by J. of Monmouth to be a King anointed Cirea Ann. 505. and perhaps with sufficient Reputation if his be consider'd with the concurrent Testimonies of Bede and Malmesbury who prove the frequent use of it here not long after as likewise that of St. Oswald the most Christian King Ann. 635 that was two hundred years before Pepin As for the Kings of Jerusalem and Scicily however reckon'd in the Rank of the four yet were they not in being for near five hundred years after the honour they had therein being by composition with the Pope to whom they humbled themselves for this advancement so far as to declare themselves content to hold their Kingdoms of the Church whereas both Ours and those of France claim'd only by divine Right confirm'd if the Traditions of that age might be credited by manifestations from Heaven the Oil that consecrated those of France being brought down by a Dove in a Golden Viol and continu'd many hundred years after unwasted at Rheims that of ours being said to have been confirm'd to be coelestial by three distinct manifestations in three different Ages which certainly were as much abus'd themselves as they abus'd us if they conspired to transmit an untruth to us no more to their own advantage The first in the time of St. Oswald before mention'd when 't is said that there descended a great Quantity of holy Oil like Dew from Heaven and fell upon him by the sight and scent whereof for it perfum'd the place divers People were converted to the faith as (i) Bede Hist Aug. lib. 3. c. 3. Bede affirms The Second was at the time when the English Line were cut off by the Danes beyond any hope of Recovery the Danes being in quiet Possession of the Throne when St. Peter appearing to the holy Monk Brightwold assur'd him that England was God's Kingdom for whose Successors he would take due care and at the same time gave him a little Cruise of Oil telling him further that whomsoever he anointed therewith that man should be King and have power to heal the People by his Touch which was accordingly perform'd in the Person of Edward the Confessor on whom the Monk privately bestow'd the holy Unction with which he received likewise the gift of healing that disease call'd by Physitians (k) Now called the Kings Evil See Polidor Virgil. Hist 8. Scrofula continu'd to our Kings in a wonderful manner to this very day insomuch that 't is notoriously known how a Maid at Deptford born blind by reason of that distemper was cur'd by no other visible means but the Touch of a Cloath dipt in the blood of the late King Charles the Martyr The Third Manifestation was in the time of Henry the Second who having banisht St. Thomas Beckett the Virgin Mary appear'd to the holy Exile as the Clergy of that age stiled him and delivering into his hands another Golden Viol in form of an Eagle assur'd him that all the Kings who were anointed with the oil therein should be Patronizers of the Church and as long as they kept that Sacred Viol this Blessing should rest upon them that if any of their posterity should happen to be beaten out of their Kingdom they should be peaceably restor'd again Which Oil Walsingham an Author of unquestionable Credit affirms to have remain'd unwasted to the time of Henry the Fourth who saith he was anointed therewith but amongst other the dismal mischiefs attending the fatal War of the two houses of York and Lancaster this was not the least that it gave opportunity to some Sacrilegious hand unknown to convey this Viol away who stealing the Gold could not yet rob us of the Blessing which hath been miraculously made good to us in the happy Restauration of our present Soveraign Charles the Second of whom we may say with respect to this providence as the Poet in another case (l) Horace Hic posuisse gaudet In him likewise we find that other blessing confirm'd in the gift of healing that noisome disease afore mention'd which by long continuance of time having become Hereditary hath now got the known name of the Kings-Evil so call'd because it is hardly to be cur'd by any other human means but by the Kings touch only whereof we have every day so many and great Examples that I shall forbear to say what might perhaps be pertinent enough to this Subject The Kings of this Isle the First Christian Kings in the World 10. But besides that of their Chrism there hath been a further Circumstance of personal Excellence peculiar to the Kings of our Nation above most not to say all other Princes in respect to the Sanctity of their blood as deriving their (m) Bale
those of sufficient Credit that boldly (d) Nenius Faliesin Leland R. of Glocest Huntingdon Jeo of Monmouth affirm it and none can make any other but a conjectural disproof I conceive Antiquity may reasonably be excus'd in claiming a Prerogative to uphold at least for not rejecting so receiv'd an Opinion wherein though there may appear some defects yet like those of an aged Parent they ought to be conceal'd by the Sons of Wit least Novelty should take advantage to put a Scandal upon Time by calling Truth his Illegitimate Daughter What Nation is there whose Originals are so clear but that there remains matteâ— enough to dispute the Authority of their first Writers and Writings How unreconcilable are many passages in Herodotus Helanicus Josephus and almost all the best Historians of the first Age of the World How inextricable are the Intricacies in the Fasti Consulares the Catalogue of the Roman Consuls themselves notwithstanding the great care they took to render their Annals certain The like may be said of the Assyrian Persian Egyptian and Graecian Dynasty's neither need we much to marvel at it since we find that a great part not to say most of the Historical part even of Holy Writ it self is so hard to digest without a grain of Salt as we say that the quitting our Reason is made the merit as well as the Foundation of our Faith Much more tolerable is it then that the Actions Order and Successions of Brutes Posterity should be so dark and dubious in the Revolution of so many Ages since the destruction of (e) From whence 't is said he came Troy the Circumstances of which Action are so different both in respect of the time and the manner of it that the whole Story with its Dependencies stand vehemently suspected of being fabulous Yet I do not take the Antichronismes to be such as that we should thereupon blow off sixty Kings at one blast as Lewis the Reformer of the British History taxes Camden to have done the memory of some whereof hath been continued by diverse ancient Towns which bearing yet their Names gives us cause to believe they might be the first Founders as York suppos'd to be built by Eborac Caerlile by Leyle Leicester by Leire Ludlow by Lud. Others there are whose memory seems to be perpetuated by their (f) Cook 's Preface to his third Report Forteseuâ— Lib. Aug. p. 32. Laws and Constitutions as those of Malmude the famous Martia Belin the first and Ludbelin Some remain Superstites by the continuation of their Names to this day in sundry Families of Note deriv'd for ought we know from them as Morgan Eliot Belin Llhuyd Ludlow Blackdon Price Syltilt c. To diverse others of whom there is no less doubt then of Brute many Authentick Foreign Authors give sufficient testimony thus we find Brennus mention'd by Livy Cassibelin by Caesar Cunobelin by Suetonius Arviragus by Juvenal Caractacus by Tacitus Coell by Utropius Lucius by Eusebius not to mention Belgus in Pausanius and Belguis in Justine both supposed by Selden to be mistaken for Belinus who as we know is elsewhere misnamed Branus neither know I how it came to pass that Jeoffery of Monmouth the first Discoverer of Brutes History lost so much reputation by it if either the Authority of the (g) Walt. Arch-Deacon of Oxford a grave and learned Author Person be consider'd from whom he had it a Prelate of great Gravity and Repute or the Wisdom and Credit of those that (h) Girald Cambr. White Verumnius Selden Lanbert followed him one whereof affirms that he saw the Original which was brought out of the Abby of Bee in Normandy or lastly his own Authority being Bishop of St. Asaphs under King Stephen and for his Eminence after made a (i) Alphons Gatto de Gest Pontific Cardinal of whose Book to speak freely we may say as Cicero did of Caesars Quantum Operibus suis detrahet (k) Taken from the Opinion of Varro who esteem'd all things as fabulous which were writ before the first Olympiad whereas we see Plutarch began his Lives with Theseus 2716. and Diodor. Siculus his Bibliotheca from the destruction of Troy 2783. the first at least 450 the last about 200 years before that time vetustas tantum addit laudibus The greatest if not the only Objections to it being the Incoherence of the Chronology which most men make the Touchstone of History whereas there is nothing more disceptious For we see Figures frequently mistaken by the most accurate and diligent Pen-men of our own Times who stick not to screw up or let fall a year or two nay sometimes ten as it serves to their purpose to adjust their Reckonings being the bolder with that Liberty upon experience that few men think it worth their while to examine their falshood in respect 't is a trouble that seldome makes the Reader wiser in the business who in actions of this distance scarcely look any further then to be informed not perswaded of the thing done And so far I presume Brutes Story will make it self good with the hazard of as few absurdities as any of the same date in which confidence I leave it to the free Censure of each Reader with this Remark onâ—y that If it be true that ev'ry little Star Vid. in Vet. Script Is bigger then the Globe we tread on far If distance can so much abuse the Sence Which chiefly doth inform th' Intelligence No marvel that such Antick Gests as those Of Brute and Trojans scarcely fit for Prose Gain little credit since there 's few allow Vertue to be the same thing then as now Some doubt of Troy others think Brute's a Fable Cause that Age did what this hath not been able Succeeding Times if they allow our Story Will yet as much Demurr upon Our Glory MALMUD date of accession 3522 HAving pretermitted the Particulars of the Story of Brute and the Seventeen Kings his Successors as things so remote and uncertain that no just measure can be taken either of the Persons they liv'd with or the Times they liv'd in The next that appears worthy of note is this Malmud sirnamed Dunwald or as the English Chronicle hath it Donebant who was to the Britains as Numa to the Romans the first Law giver and the Chief Priest from whose Reign they dated the Knowledge of all Civil but more especially all Sacred Rites which being kept in the Cabinet of the Druids Breasts tanquam in absconditis as Gold and Jewels are in a Mine were cast into no certain form or fashion till the use of Letters was impos'd upon them by the Romans as a Badge of Subjection Some thence concluding all to be fabulous that happened before that time without considering what violence they offer to the credit of those illegible Tables of Noah that comprehended the primitive Laws of Nature which however not understood were yet admitted by the Old World as Reliques of so
Conclusion from so bad a Beginning by making way for some Protestant Lady of that Country that might advance the Reformation begun by him there he vext the Question a long while and finding that the Pope over-aw'd by the Emperour durst not consent to a Divorce he to scandalize him the more set forth by many learned Arguments the unlawfulness of the Marriage and so nettled King Henry that the Pope doubting the effects of his Impatience propos'd by way of Expedient though but faintly to Gregory Cassalis the English Resident then at Rome that he would permit him ut aliam duceret Uxorem which in plain English was That if the King pleased he would allow him to have two Wives at once Now whether it were that the King doubted his power and thought he could not make good what he promised for that he could not make that Marriage out which he had already to be either lawful or unlawful so as to relieve him or dismiss it Or whether he had as is more probable a clear Sentiment of the Popes slight Opinion of him in making so unusual not to say unlawful a Proposal to him is not certain but certain it is he never forgave the Affront till by vertue of his own proper power he had divorced himself from his Authority which the Cardinal labouring to uphold by his Legatine power out of hope of being himself Pope nor only lost himself in the attempt but drew all he Clergy who took part with him into a Premunire Of whose Error his wise Servant Cromwel took the advantage making his Masters fall the occasion of his own rising by whom the thoroughly humbled Convocation weâ—e perswaded to petition the King for their pardon under the Title and Stile of Ecclesiae Cleri Anglicani Protector supremum Caput which rais'd a greater dispute upon the Supremacy not long after then was before upon the point of Divorce For the Bishop of Rochester who by reason of his great learning and sanctity of Life was a leading man refusing to subscribe the aforesaid Petition unless some words might be added by way of explanation of the Kings Supremacy Cromwel took the Defence thereof upon himself and by advice with Bishop Cranmer there were many Arguments brought to justifie the same both from the Authority of Kingship in general de Communi Jure by vertue of that Divine Law that has given the stile of a Royal Priesthood to all anointed Kings and to which by a parallel Case the Pope himself did not long after give more then a seeming allowance For Clement the Seventh at the interview of Marselles when he was urged by some that desired Reformation and prest for the liberty of receiving the Sacrament in both kinds by an Argument taken from the custome of the Kings of France who alwayes received both Elements he answered That it was a peculiar priviledge by which Kings were differenced from other men as being anointed with the Unction of Priesthood as likewise from the particular Prerogative of the Kings of this Isle de proprio Jure or by the Common Law of this Land which was of ancienter date then any Prescription made by the Pope having been ratified by the Sanction of several Acts of Parliament that had declar'd all Spiritual Jurisdiction to be inherent in the Crown This Doctrine of his wanted not its Use for the King had this immediate benefit of the Dispute to be restored to the Annates and First-fruits of the Bishopricks and now the Bond of his Holiness 's Authority being thus loosed one priviledge dropt out after another till at length they not only divested him of the profit but of the honour of his Fatherhood forbidding any to call him any more * Anciently written Pa. Pa. i. e. Pater Patriarcharum Papa or Pater for that there could be but one Lord and Father but only Bishop of Rome These Annates as they were some of the principal Flowers of the Triple Crown and could not well be pluck'd off without defacing the Sacred Tyara so the whole Conclave took such an alarm at the loss of them that apprehending no less then a total defection to follow they most peremptorily cited the King himself to appear at Rome under pain of Excommunication This was thought to be so unreasonable an Indignity offered to his Majesty in respect it was neither convenient for him to abandon his Kingdom by going so far in Person nor any way decent to trust the Secrets of his Conscience to a pragmatical Proctor that the Parliament who were conven'd to consider of the matter thought it but necessary to put a stop to all Appeals to be made out of the Realm under the penalty of Premunire and pray'd his Majesty without more ado to appoint a Court of Delegates here at home to determine the Cause Upon which the Marriage being not long after declared void Cromwell hastned on the Match with the Lady Anne Bulloigne but the Court of Rome judging the first Marriage good and the last void anathematiz'd all that were assistant in the Divorce and to shew how much they were incens'd by the precipitation of their Sentence they concluded it in one only which by the usual Form could not be finish'd in less then three Consistories This began that Fiery tryal which followed not long after wherein we may say his Holiness himself prov'd to be the very first Martyr dying immediately after the pronunciation of that great Curse as one blasted by the Lightning of his own Thunder whereby the Church Universal being without a Head The Reformists here took that opportunity to provide for their own by declaring the King Supream Head in Earth of the Church of England for the support of which Dignity they vested in the Crown the First-fruits of all Benefices as they had before of all Bishopricks Dignities and Offices whatever spiritual Setting forth in what manner Bishops Suffragans should be nominated and appointed and what their Priviledges and Authorities should be In defence of which their proceedings the King himself wrote an excellent Book or at least it pass'd for his De Potestate Christianorum Regum in suis Ecclesiis contra Pontificis Tyrannidem c. But there were many however and those of no small note who continued so obstinate in their Popish Principles that they could neither be moved by his Pen nor his Penalties to submit chusing rather to part with their Blood then their Blessing And whether they were real or mistaken Martyrs or not rather Sufferers then Martyrs I will not take upon me to say it being as hard for others to judge them as for themselves to judge the thing they died for Truth and Treason being in those dayes Qualities so like one another that they were scarcely to be discern'd as appears by the nice Cases of those two I think the most eminent persons of all that were so unhappy as to suffer for setting up the Papal above the Regal Authority the
the Fifth and the French King he was stopt before he Landed by the Duke of Gloucester and divers of the chief Nobility who coming into the very water with their Swords drawn in their hands stay'd his Boat and suffered him not to Land till he had declared Nil se contra Regis Superioritatem praetexere So likewise when (n) Sir Hen. Wotton State Observations 208. Baldwin the Greek Emperour came hither to pray aid of Henry the Third being beaten out of his Country the King sent him a Check instead of a Complement for Landing in his Territories before he had leave given him so to do being Jealous least it might be thought that he had pretended to something as an Emperour that might be Interpreted Superiority he himself being Monarcha in Regno suo as we find in the old Lawyer Baldus and descended from Ancestors that had the Imperial Stile of (o) See the Charter of the Abby of Malmesbury MCCCCLXXIV Rex Regum not only in respect of their having (p) Beauchampe King of the Isle of Wight The Kings of Man c. Kings to their Subjects but in regard to their enjoyment of all those fundamental rights which make up the whole Systeme of Supream power by the Feudists indifferently term'd Jura Regalia and Jura summi Imperii by the Civilians Sacra Sacrorum by our own Lawyers sometimes Prerotiva sometimes (q) As being so Inseparable that they cannot be dissolved by any humane power Inseparabilia which that they may be the better understood I shall consider them as I find them (r) Clapmarus lib. 1. de Arean Imper Cap 11. divided into ten parts reducing those ten like the Decalogue of old into two General Heads of Power i. e. Leges Ponere Legibus Solutum esse 20. For the First The Kings of this Isle have ever been the Lawgivers it is to be understood that however the Kings of this Isle have been pleas'd for the better and more equal Administration of Justice to Indulge the three Estates of the Kingdom who were heretofore call'd their Great Council but since the Parliament with the priviledg of making enlarging diminishing abrogating repealing and reviving all Laws and Ordinances relating to all Matters whether Ecclesiastick Capital Criminal Common Civil or Maritime yet it must be understood after all that neither houses of Parliament now both joyn'd together have in themselves no power as of themselves to do any thing without him much less (s) That is not only to be understood to his Dis nherison but the Diminution of his Prerogative Cook 4. Part. Institut fol. 25. against him no more than the body can make use of any of its members longer than it is actuated by the Soul For from him they have their life and motion Vt Caput principium finis as the Lawyers express it is he that gives them their Inchoation Continuation and Dissolution 'T is true that each Law receives its form Ex traduce Parliamenti that is as our vulgar Statutes express it by advice and consent of the Lords and Commons who sit with the resemblance of so many Kings but they find but the grosser substance or the material part 't is the Royal Assent that Quickens and puts the Soul Spirit and Power into it A Roy's avisero only much more A Roy ne veult makes all their Conceptions abortive when he pleases So that they can be but the Law-makers but the King only is the Law-giver and therefore Stiled in the old Books The Life of the Law and The Fountain of Justice The Kings of this Isle how far above Law 21. This prerogative I speak it out of a great States-mans observation consists in this not that Kings need not observe their Laws for that were a Brutal Tyranny insupportable in the most barbarous States but that they may change them And therefore St. Augustine made that a reason why the Emperours of old were not Subject to their own Laws because saith he they might make new when they pleas'd Now if the King of England should exceed the bounds of his own Laws which if it were lawful were no way convenient for him it being that becomes the wisdome of Princes saith Cicero to consider not how much they may do but what they ought to do in which sense (t) Senec. de cons lat cap. 6. Seneca is to be understood when he said that divers things were not lawful for the Emperour himself who might do all which he pleased It might be rather said in that Case as Grotius excellently distinguishes that he did not rightly then that he went beyond his right The Restraint by his Coronation Oath being like a Silken Coard that may be stretch'd without breaking upon any extraordinary force and violence offer'd as we see it happens upon the discovery and for the prevention of any publick mischief or Inconvenience Where our Kings have De proprio Jure suspended the Laws for a time that is until by advice with his Parliaments he might formally alter or totally repeal them Add to this that every Custom which is a Branch of the Common Law is void Si exultat se in Prerogativam Regis which I suppose is to be understood of the lesser Concerns of his Prerogative in points of Pre-eminence relating to civil Actions or Priviledges personal for as the Learned in the Laws tell us no Sale of his Goods alters his Propriety no Occupancy bars his Entry into his own Lands no Laches in point of time prejudices him as it does private men Again in doubtful cases say they Semper presumitur pro Rege No Estopel binds him nor Judgments final in Writs of Right These and many more such as these there are which we may call Minima Inseparabilia but in all cases where his Prerogative in point of Government is prejudic'd there our great Gownmen hold that he cannot be restrain'd no not by an Act of Parliament nor is he to be restrain'd as I take it in lesser cases unless named And to this it was questionless that the Sage Bracton and the Learned Plowden had respect when the one said the King was above Law to'ther that he was not bound by Law and if it were not so there would be no power left in him to grant any special Charter that in its proper nature is no other than a Dispensation with the positive Laws which can be understood to be binding to the King no otherwise than according to the natural Rule of Order as they are essential to the support of his Government In which Case Kings like good Husbands may be said to be Subjectis suis Subjectos mov'd by a Principle of Affection that voluntarily limits it self according to Rules of Prudence which upon all Emergencies of State on extraordinary occasions are wrested or broken as he himself only sees cause there being a necessity upon which the common safety depends that at such times Princes should be
whit as sound as the exterior parts Witness the free Cities and those large Countries the Patrimonies of the Psaltzgrave the Dukes of Saxony Brandenburg Wittenburg Lunenburg Brunswick Mecklen Pomerania Sweburgh Newburgh and Holst with those other under the Prince of Anhalt the Marquess of Baden the Landgrave of Hesse and in fine almost all the Princes of Germany I think we may except only the Dukes of Austria and Bavaria in whose Countries yet are many Protestant Families of note to all which joyning those out-lying Plantations in the furthest part of the less known World containing many a Sun-burnt Saint those of the Reformed Religion there being infinitely more extensive and Populous than those of the Popish Perswasion and all these with Universal consent acknowledging our King as Head of the League within the Protestant Pale as it will extend the Borders of our Church beyond what is commonly apprehended so it so far magnifies the Majesty of the King of England whether consider'd as Propagator fidei in the Protestant Phrase or Defensor Fidei in the Pope's stile that it may as truly be said of him as of Claudius when he was Lord of Britaine (f) Anâ—nimi Epigra vet Lib. 2. Oceanus medium venit in Imperium Now because the Supremacy in Ecclesiasticis is so nice a Point as the Popish Faction render it many of whom not comprehending the Legality much less the necessity of its being Intrusted with the King only have been more obstinate in the defence of their Allegations than their Allegiance it may be reasonable to examine the matter of Right by the matter of Fact as that by Common Usuage which our Common Lawyers Date (g) Bracton fol. 314. Cook sur Lit. l. 2. Sect. 170. Du temps il ny ad memoire de Contraire from the Authority of which Age we may conclude the practice whatever it has been to have gain'd the form and effect as well as the honour and repute of a Law according to that known Maxime (h) Cook sur Litt. lib. 3. Sect. 659. Quod Prius est Tempore potius est Jure Pass we then through those four noted Periods 1. From the time of Lucius the first Christian King of the Britains to that of Constantine the first Christian King or Emperour of the Romans reckon'd about a hundred and fifty years 2. From that Time till the Conversion of Ethelbert the first Christian King of the Saxons or English suppos'd to be three hundred and sixty years more 3. From thence to the time of the first King of the Norman here which was not so little as five hundred years more at what time the Pope first put in his Claim 4. From thence to the time he let go his hold again which being about the beginning of Queen Elizabeths Reign whose Ambassadour he refused to treat with makes up near five hundred years more and if in all that long series of Christianity it shall appear by consent of all Ecclesiastical Writers in all times that the King has ever been deem'd to be Papa Patriae Jure Proprietatis Vicarius Dei in Regno Jure Possessionis I hope then the Imputation of Heresie and Schism laid upon Henry the Eight by Paul the Third for taking upon him to be the Supream head of the Church within his own dominions will vanish as a Result of Passion and Our present Kings be Judged in Remitter to their antient Right or as the law-Law-books Express it Enson (i) 25. Assis pl. 4.35 Ass s pl. 11.23 Edw. 3.69.11 Hâ—n 4.50 Tit. Remitt 11. melior Droit Lucius and those claiming immediately from by and after him I take to be stated in a double right Ratione Fundationis ratione Donationis For as the Lawyers have it cujus est dare ejus est disponere Now that all the Bishopricks of this Isle were of his Foundation and Donative appears by all our books saith the (k) Sur Lit. Cap. Discontinuance Sec. 648. Lord Cooke The first Canons receiving Sanction Ex Divinitate Principis as the Canonists express it till such time as that Foundation laid by him was buried in the Rubbish of Dioclesian's Persecution After which we have no Constat of any Ecclesiastical Polity till the time of Constantine who having recover'd the Church out of its Ruines and laid a new Superstructure of his own upon the Old Found is upon that Account both by Eusebius and Socrates stil'd the Great and it is well they call'd him not the Vniversal Bishop His Power being no less extensive than his Dominions the (l) Euseb vit Constant Cap. 24. L. 4. first of them pointing at his power in General calls him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The (m) Socrat. Hist Eccles last referring to his more immediate power over the Clergy for to say truth he precided even in Rome it self stiles him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Pontifex Maximus From the time of this Constantine the Great till that of Pope Gregory the Great neither heard those here any thing of the Church of Rome nor they of Rome any thing of the Church here That Pope being so little known to or knowing any thing of the concerns of this Isle that when accidentally he saw some little (n) Some it seems of the Pagan Saxons then newly planted here Children who had been brought from hence he ask'd whether they were Christians or no and it being as Ignorantly answer'd him That all the Natives here were Pagans he out of his singular Zeal to Christian Piety sent over Austin the Monk to bring them under his Apostolical Obedience By which we may rather Understand a subjection to the Roman Faith than to the Roman Church for that Rome being at that time but a private Diocess had not Credit enough to give Laws to all the Churches of Italy much less to Impose upon those further off for every body knows how they of (o) Sygonius lib. 9. de â—eg Italiae dicit non debere Ambrosianam Ecclesiam Rom. â—egibus subjicere Millan not to mention any other contested with them for the Precedence many years after And for the Independency of the Churches in (p) Baronius An. 1059. Spain and France there needs no other Proof than what we have from that Magisterial Monk's own Relation before mention'd who as he pass'd through France in his way hither observing how different their Forms of Divine Service were from those at Rome and how repugnant their Discipline to any thing he had been before acquainted with was so surpriz'd with the Novelty that he could not forbear (q) Cum una sit fides cur sunt Ecclesiarum consuetudines alterum missarum consuetudo in Sanct. Rom. Eccles atque altera in Galliarum c. Expostulating the Reason with his Ghostly Master whose pious Answer yet to be seen at the end of his Printed Works is worthy Notice who after an excellent discourse upon that Subject concludes that as their Liberty
Leg. Canut l. 26. p. 106. Dei Praeco once and another time at Southampton under the stile of Divini Juris Interpres neither was Edward the Confessor behind any of them when he made his Ecclesiastical Laws by the Title of (o) Leg. Ed. Confes C. 17. p. 142. Vicarius Summi Regis These Titles I have the rather mention'd to shew what divine Office was esteem'd to be in the King properly who having a mixture of the Priest and Prophet with that of his Kingship was obliged to be solicitous tam de (p) Leg. Inae in prefat p. 1. apud Jorvalens Col. 761. 41. Salute animarum quam de Statu Regni as Jorvalensis expresses it and however our wise Law-makers heretofore not to say Law-masters who were very nice in wording all the antient Statutes relating to the Supremacy have not thought fit to stile the King a Spiritual Person although they knew him to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but Persona mixta cum Sacerdote And accordingly it is well Argued by a Modern (q) Vid. Lib. Intit Animadver upon the Book Intit Fanaticism Fanatically Imputed to the Catholick Church by Dr. S. Writer of no mean note That his Authority must be Equivalent with any of those Popes at least who were Laicks at the time they were chose â—o that Supream Dignity For whilst there is no Qualification in their Office of Papacy to render them so far Ecclesiastical as to consecrate any Bishop personally but that of Necessity they must do it as he notes by their Bull it must necessarily follow that that Bull being a deputation granted to some Bishop to do the Office for him differs very little if any thing from that of the Kings Commission in the like Case And if it had been otherwise Understood in former times it had been in the power of his Vnholiness to have extinguish'd the Function of Bishops in any Princes Dominions whatever The first Pope who found out a way to supplant the Kings Authority in Ecclesiasticis by seeming to support it was Nicholas the Second one of the most subtil of all the Roman Prelates Contemporary with Edward the Confessor one of the weakest of our Kings who created a Title to himself by Implication whilst he perswaded the King to accept of a Bull of Confirmation from him whereby granting him (r) Vide Twisden ut supra Plenam Advocationem Regni omnium totius Angliae Ecclesiarum he made that seem to be of grace only from him which before was of right in the King Of which Artifice his Successor Gregory the Seventh took no small advantage when he put in for a share of the Supremacy with William the Conquerour making that single President the Found to Claim 1. The Investiture of Bishops which I take to be that directum Dominium held by the King Jure Patronatus in acknowledgment whereof the Clergy pay him their first fruits 2. The benefit of the Annates which was a Chief Rent out of all the Spiritualities 3. The Power of Calling Synods by which he might Impose upon the Government 4. The Right of Receiving Appeales to Rome which overthrew all the Kings Courts 5. The sole power of disposing and translating Bishops which made them his Homagers and Feifes 6. The Power of altering and dispensing with Canons 7. The Priviledg of Sending a Legate to reside here as a Spiritual Spy to detect all the Secrets of State and be a kind of Check-mate to the King himself But William the Conquerour as he was a Prince that was apter to invade other mens Rights than to part with any of his own so finding his prerogative sufficiently guarded by the antient Laws of the Land then call'd the Laws of King Edward which was not the least Reason he continued so many of them as he did would by no means yield to him so long as he lived his Son William Rufus continuing yet more obstinate who after the death of the aforesaid Gregory surnam'd Hildebrand would admit of no Pope but what himself approved of So that for eleven years together there was no Pope acknowledged here in England which may be a good president for any that shall hereafter hold as some of their Catholick Doctors have as far as they durst affirm that there may be Auseribilitas (s) See Dr. Dun 43 Ser. preach'd on the 5 Nov. at Pauls crâ—ss Papae neither would he permit appeals or any Intercourse to Rome which when Anselme Arch-Bishop of Canterbury being a natural Italian attempted to bring about he first rifled him and then banish'd him neither was his brother Henry the First less tenacious of his Right as appears by those Instructions given to his Bishops when they went to meet Calixt the Second at the Council of Reimes whom he forbad in the first place to appeal to the Pope upon any grievance whatever for that himself he said would be sole Judge betwixt them 2. He commanded them to tell the Pope plainly if he expected his antient Rent here he would expect a Confirmation of his antient Priviledges 3. He directed them to salute the Pope and receive his Apostolick Precepts Sed superfluas Inventiones regno meo inferre nolite The Contest betwixt the Arch-Bishop Becket and Henry the Second shews what temper he was of for he opposed both the Pope and the Bishop so long that they had undoubtedly cast him out of the Church but that they fear'd he would not come in again only King John who therefore stands a singular example of Infamy designing to make himself higher than any of his Predecessors by stooping so much lower quit his being King to make himself a Tyrant in order whereunto he voluntarily laid down his Diadem at the feet of Innocent the Third's Legate becoming thereby guilty of such an unparalel'd vileness and abjection of spirit that nothing can excuse but the known distraction that was upon him when wrack't betwixt two Extreams of hate and fear his Enemies pressing hard upon him whilst his Friends forsook him he to avoid the being split upon either Rock cast himself upon the Quick-sand of the Popes protection submitting to an act of Pennance that shew'd the weakness of his Faith more than of his Right his renouncing the Supremacy at that time being no more to be wondred at than his renouncing Christianity it self at another time but his Son recover'd the ground his Father lost when he brought the whole Kingdom to resent the Indignity so far as to Join with him in demanding satisfaction of the same Pope and not content with a bare Disclaimer forc'd the insolent Legate to flie the Kingdom timens pelli sui as the Record hath it neither stopt they there but voting that submission of his Father a breach of his Coronation Oath entred so far into the Consideration of the whole matter of the Pope's Usurpation as to make that Statute of Proviso's which after brought in those other 27 and 38 Edw.
Ingraven on it which denoted that wherever that Stone shou d be placed there should the Scotch Dominion take place a Prediction verisied in our days in the Person of King James the Sixth the first of their Kings ever crowned here With this he took away likewise all their Books and Bookmen as if resolved to rob them of all sense of Liberty as well as of Liberty it self only the brave Wallis continued yet Lord of himself and being free kept up their Spirits by the Elixir of his Personal Courage mixt with an Invincible Constancy and Patience till being betray'd by one of his Companions a Villain sit to be canoniz'd in Hell he was forc'd to yield though he would never submit first to the King after to the Laws of England which judging him to dye as a Traytor eterniz'd the Memory of his Fidelity and Fortitude and made him what he could never have made himself the most glorious Martyr that Country ever had No sooner was he dead but Robert Bruce Son to that Robert Earl of Carric who was Competitor with Baliol appeared as a new Vindictor who escaping out of the English Court where he had long liv'd unsuspected headed the confused Body which wanted only a King to unite them in Counsel Power and Affection but unfortunately laying the Foundation of his Security in Blood murthering his Cosin Cumin who had been one of the Competitors upon pretence he held correspondence with King Edward the horror of which fact was aggravated by the manner and place for he took him whilst he was at his Prayers in the Church it cost him no less blood to wipe off that single stain then to defend his Title the Partakers with the Family of Cumin who were many mighty and eager of Revenge joyning thereupon with the English against him This drew King Edward the fourth time personally into Scotland who had he suffered his Revenge to have given place so far to his Justice as to have pursued Bruce as an Offender rather then as an Enemy he might possibly have done more in doing less then he did but he not only sacrific'd the two innocent Brothers of Bruce making them after they became his Prisoners answer with their lives the penalty of their Brother's Guilt but declar'd he would give no Quarter to any of his Party whereby he not only drove them closer together but arm'd them with Desperation which as it hath a keeper edge then hope so it wounded so deep and inraged them to that degree of Courage as not only to give the greatest Overthrow to the greatest Army that ever the English brought thither but to repay the measure of Blood in as full manner as it was given or intended and in the end broke the great Chain of his well laid Design which was to have inâ—arged his Power by reducing the whole Isle Wales being taken in a little before under one Scepter with no less respect to the quiet then the greatness of England but maugre all his Power or Policy they let in a Race of Kings there that found a way to conquer his Successors here without a stroke of which he seems to have had some Prophetick knowledge upon his Death-bed when he took so much care to make his Revenge out-live himself by commanding his Son Edward to carry his Bones round about that Country having just begun his fifth Expedition as he ended his life and not suffer them to be buried till he had vanquish'd it wholly Thus this great King who spent most of his time in shedding others Blood was taken off by the excessive shedding of his own for he dyed of a Dissentery and like Caesar who terrified his Enemies with his Ghost seem'd not willing to make an end with the World afâ—er he had done with it but which never came into any Kings thoughts before or since resolv'd to Reign after his Dominion was determined being confident that his very Name like a Loadstone which attracts Iron to it would draw all the English Swords to follow its fate till they had made good that Union which he with so much harshness and horror had accelerated but as Providence which more respects the unity of Affections then the Unity of Nations did by the * Burrough on the Sands in the Bishoprick of Durham Place where he dyed shew the frailty of that Foundation he laid whilst he liv'd all his Glory expiring with himself so Nature as in abhorrence to the violation of her Laws by the effusion of so much blood as he had shed the most that any Christian King of this Isle ever did turn'd the Blessing she gave him into a Curse whilst she took from him before his Eyes three of his four Sons and the only worthy to have surviv'd him and left him only to survive who only was worthy never to have been born And now whether it was his Fault or his Fate to dote thus upon Gaveston who being only a Minister to his Wantonness could not have gain'd that Power he had over him to make himself so great by lessening him without something like an Infatuation the matter of Fact must declare For before his Coronation he made him Earl of Cornwal and Lord of Man both Honours belonging to the Crown at his Coronation notwithstanding the Exceptions taken against him by all the Nobility he gave him the honour to carry King Edward's Crown before him which of right belonged to a Prince of the Blood to have done and after the Coronation he married him up to his own Niece the Daughter of his second Sister Jone de Acres by Gilbert Clare Earl of Gloucester having indeed rais'd him to this pitch of Greatness as tempted him to raise himself higher being not content with the Power without he might aâ—so share in the Glory of Soveraignty most vainly affecting the Title of KING and if he were not King of Man as he desired he was at least King in Man ruling both there and in Ireland like an absolute Prince not without hopes of a fair possibility of being if the Kings Issue had fail'd King of England after him which Hope made him Insolent and that Insolence Insupportable so that the Lords finding it bootless to expect Justice from the King against him resolv'd to do themselves right and without more ado let fly a whole volley of Accusations at him This first forced him to part from the King and being separated they found it easie to make him part from himself for it was not long before he fell into their hands being taken Prisoner by the Earl of Pembroke who chopt of his Head a deaâ—h however esteem'd to be the most honourable of any other was to him questionless the most grievous in that it made him stoop who never could endure to submit This violent proceeding of the Lords as it shew'd a roughness of the Times suitable to that of their own Natures so it was the first occasion of the second Civil War of England
grapple with her and as his quarrel was chiefly Spiritual so his Machinations were for the most part invisible proceeding by secret under-hand Instigations of such Persons as having not credit enough for raising War had recourse only to such Clancular Contrivances and darker Treasons which she easily enervated by the Spell of that Politick Motto of hers VIDEO TACEO which she took up by the Example of her sage Grandfather Henry the Seventh who though he was very wise affected to seem wiser than he was by pretending to more intelligence then really he had whereby as he so she left that impression upon their Guilt who hated her that many of them durst not attempt the betraying her for fear of being betray'd themselves and perhaps by themselves as was that unfortunate Villain Squire one of the Grooms of her Stable who being tempted by an English Jesuite in Spain to poyson the Pommel of her Saddle was by the Tempter himself when he found it took not effect discover'd and accus'd and confessing the Fact executed for it casting up the Accompt betwixt her and the Spaniard it doth appear at the lowest rate set upon his Damages in contesting with her that she consum'd him no less then Five hundred Millions of Ducats besides what he suffer'd by the Revolt of the United Provinces which he had unquestionably reduc'd had not she interpos'd with her Power to protect them for which they paid her well at last The only Requital he made her was by upholding the Irish Rebellion which cost her not half the money she had of their Hogen-mogen-ships for however she was induc'd to send over a greater Army then ever Ireland had seen before when Oneil seiz'd the Fort of Blackwater and took his first and last Revenge upon the English there to wit Twenty thousand Foot and One thousand three hundred Horse to reinforce the Governours there after the Landing of the Spaniards under Don Aquila yet she had a suitable Return in opening several Passages till then altogether unknown to the English whereby she found out convenient Scituations for several Colonies that have since Cultivated many thousands of before unprofitable Acres and made Seats fit for men to dwell in which till then were the Receptacles of Beasts only or Men more Savage then they So that what her great Enemy took from her Peace he added to her Glory who in despight of the Love and Hate of all those great Princes that courted or contemn'd her dyed a Virgin and Unconquer'd having this happiness by coming to the Crown so close after the Reign of her busling Father to be serv'd by a race of choice Men that having given him sufficient proof of their Loyalty made themselves yet more valuable to her by their Experience having by the Gravity and Grandeur of some of them and by the Courage and Conduct of others so well setled the Foundations of Government that notwithstanding five several Changes in Religion and the Interposition of a Woman a Stranger and a Child they deliver'd up the Scepter to her in Peace and standing round the Throne with like Constancy defended her as she defended their Faith which as it was not without great difficulty so perhaps it had not been without an impossibility of Success had she not strengthen'd the Reputation of their Authority by the Authority of her own Example Quid Virtus quid Sapientia possit Utile preposuit nobis Exemplar THE SIXTH DYNASTY OF SCOTS OF SCOTS THE Scots would be thought a Branch of the antique Scythian Stock as well as all other cold Countries and they have this colour above many others that as their Ancestors are entituled to as ancient Barbarity as those of any other Nation whatever so like those rude Scythes they have alwayes been given to prey upon their Neighbours and live without themselves the very sound of their Name giving some semblable Testimony to the certainty of their Genealogy for the Scythians were heretofore commonly call'd a Herodet Melpoment Scolots which by contraction not to say corruption might easily be turn'd into Scots wherein possibly they do not more abuse themselves then they are abus'd by him who supposing them to have been anciently part of the Terra Incognita would have the word Scoti to be quasi b i. e. Obscuâ—i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I hope it was not Delus the Grecian that came next into Ireland after Menethus the Scythian that gave them that name 'T is true that few Authentick Authors if any make any mention of them at least by this Name before the Year of Christ 276 however Boyes Buchanan and some others of their own Writers would support the credit of the black Book of Pashley that derives their Kings from the Royal Line of Aegypt by the surerside It seems the High lands were never drown'd boasting of the Conquest of Ireland 800 Years before the Flood at what time they would be thought so famous a People that c This Story is by Athenaeus cited out of Meschion Ptolomey Philadelph wrote to King Reuthen to be inform'd of their State to whom Claud. Ptolomey was after beholding for that Information we find in his Geography Whilst their own Archers shoot thus wide that yet pretend themselves the true Descendants of the Scythians who took their d Gorepius denomination from their Excellency in Archery 't is no marvel that Strangers came no nearer the Mark Some thinking them a By-slip of the e Orosius Germans others of the f Verstegan Scandians some affirming them to be the Out-casts of some Mongrel g Nentus Spaniards that were not permitted to live in Ireland and others yet fetching their Descent from the h Girald Cambren Vandals who being by divers Authors call'd Scytes the broad-mouth'd Northern People call'd Scots And some there are that with no small probability take them to be a Miscellany of all these Nations driven by various Fortunes at several times into the Orcades and Hebrides as the exil'd Romans were heretofore into the desert Isles (i) Scyathus Serephium Gâ—â—re of the Aegean-Sea where life was held to be a ciueller Punishment then Death from whence as their number increas'd 't is thought they disburthen'd themselves into the upper part of Albania now call'd the High-lands where they lived obscurely unknown indeed to all the World but those of (k) Whence Ninnâ—us thinks they might originally come Ireland who call'd them in scorn Gayothels which was as much as to say The (l) Floâ—â—â—igus says they were compounded of divers Nations as Spain France Britain Ireland and Norway mix'd People and as the Irish to this day call the Scotch Tongue Gaidelack which signifies a Language gather'd out of all Tongues However the Scotch Antiquaries would have the Name of Gayothel to be with Relation rather to their Descent from one Gayothel a noble Gyant who married Scota King Pharaoh's Daughter not considering that this is to
understanding do it by themselves before the Bishop 2. They deem'd it most laudable as being warranted by the practice of the Primitive Church from the very Apostles time Lastly they judg'd it necessary that the Children should receive Benediction by the Imposition of Hands after the Example of †Matt. 19.13 Christ himself This Answer being so solid that it could not well admit of any Reply he very dexterously grafted a Desire upon it That every private Pastor might Confirm as well as the Bishop But Doctor Andrews challenging him to shew where ever it was done by any but Bishops he lost the Point for want of ready proof After this he objected in the second place against Absolution as savouring too much of Popery To which was answer'd That the Commission of Pardoning Sins was originally given by Christ himself and allowed of by the Church of England upon no other but Gospel Terms of sincere Repentance and amendment of Life which differenc'd it sufficiently from the Popes Pardons and Indulgences granted upon far other and easier respects and being agreeable to the practice of other Reformed Churches particularly that of Geneva the pattern which they themselves desired to follow it was thought not only immodest and inconvenient but scarcely justifiable before God or Man to condemn the practice of it Which Answer how it satisfied him at that present time I know not but I have been credibly inform'd that when he was upon the point of Death he earnestly desired the Absolution of a Reverend Divine that came to pray with him and taking his hands between his own kiss'd them with all imaginary shew of Devotion and Humility The third Objection was against the use of the Cross in Baptism but it appearing to have been used in Constantine's time and prov'd out of several of the Fathers to have been used in Immortali Lavacro by which either side understood Baptism the King judg'd it Antiquity enough to justifie the continuance of it still Upon which waving any further Objection to the Antiquity he urged the scandal of it for that it had been Superstitiously abus'd as he said in the time of Popery to which the King himself gave Answer That it should be used no otherwise then as it was before the time of that abuse the Antiquity thereof being imply'd in their own Objection Hereupon one of the out-lying Objectors sallied forth impertinently enough and desired to know how far an Ordinance of the Church was binding without Impeachment of Christian Liberty Whom immediately the King took off with a sharp Reply telling him That as the Church taught him Faith he would teach him Obedience Many other Objections there were against the 4. use of the Surplice 5. The Ring in Marriage 6. The Ordination by Bishops 7. Baptizing by Women 8. Predestination 9. The Oath ex Officio 10. The High Commission Court c. to all which the King himself gave Answers so like a Prince in respect of Authority and yet so like a Priest in point of Divinity that not knowing whether they less understood him or themselves as men at once asham'd afraid and confounded they begg'd to be dismiss'd and promis'd to Conform for the Future now they knew it to be his Will to have it so However there were some Gainsayers that rose up afterwards taking upon them to speak evil of the things they understood not men of perverse spirits puffâ—d up with pride rather then prick'd in Conscience who found out an Engineeâ— fiâ— for their purpose a filthy Dreamer more impudent then can be imagined however he was by his Profession a Physitian of Bodies and not of Souls took upon him to preach in his sleep whose Story is not altogether unpleasant or impertinent having render'd himself so famous by his counterfeit Trances that the King himself curious to find out the chear had a desire to hear him His manner was after having pass'd through a Rapsâ—dy of Prayers to take some apt Text for his purpose to inveigh against Pope Prince and Prelate which he did so smartly and yet so methodically that the King clearly perceiv'd he was awake although being call'd stirr'd or pull'd he would make no shew of having any sense of hearing or feeling Whereupon he commanded every Body out of the Room saving two or three persons only to whom drawing near the Bed where the Fellow lay seemingly asleep he said I well perceive this Fellow is an irreconcileable Enemy to Church and State and I believe it is the Devil speaks in him whilst he sleeps now because I know not what effects his preaching may have amongst the ignorant Rabble I command you making secret Signs to them that he was not in earnest to strangle him with the pillows before he awake which said he cannot be perceiv'd to be other then a natural Death and I think my self the rather obliged to take away his life that I may not be forc'd to take away the lives of many innocent persons who will be seduced by his Doctrines Therefore as soon as I am withdrawn into the next Room be sure you stifle him immediately The Fellow surpriz'd with the apprehension of this unexpected Judgment so near execution imagining it might be too late to call for Mercy when the King was gone away rose up and pitching upon his knees confess'd his Imposture begging his Majesties pardon Whose Wisdom by this Discovery was magnified to that degree that all men look'd on him as another Solomon in point of King-craft and had his bodily abilities born any proportion to those of his mind doubtless the Women would have extoll'd him no less then the men Having now setled all things to his mind in the Church of England he proceeded in the next place to the Reformation of the Kirk of Scotland whither he sent divers grave and learned Divines upon an Apostolick Ambassy to prepare the way for the establishment of a like Hierarchy there as here Which Work prov'd so successful that without any great Dispute they admitted as many Bishops as there had been ancient Sees in that Church i. e. Thirteen of which number there were three that received their Consecration from the Arch-bishop of York who was it seems accounted and obeyed as Metropolitan of that Kingdom till the Year 1478. all the rest being Consecrated at home by their own Prelates whose Authority was not long after confirmed both by Synodical Acts and Acts of Parliament After which the Liturgy and certain Books of Canons extracted out of scatter'd Acts of their old Assemblies were likewise ratified and confirmed by Parliament And at the Assembly of Perth now call'd St. Johnstown there pass'd two years after though not without great difficulty those five notable Articles for 1. Episcopal Confirmation 2. Kneeling at the Communion 3. Private Baptisme 4. the Celebration of the four great Anniversary Feasts of the Birth Passion and Resurrection of our Saviour and the Pentecost and 5. for the setling the Church Habits All
3. and that brought on the Treaty betwixt that King and Gregory the Eleventh which after two years debate ended with this express Agreement (t) Walsingham Hist 1374. Page 184. Quod Papa de caetero reservationibus beneficiorum minime uteretur which Dignities Henry the Fourth made no scruple to collate to his own use notwithstanding his being anointed with that Oil which came from Heaven the vertue whereof was to encline all the Princes that were inaugurated therewith to be favourable to the Church His Son Henry the Fifth for his exemplary Piety stil'd the Prince of Priests thought fit to demand of Martin the Fifth several Ecclesiastical Priviledges which his Predecessors had got from the Kings of England at several times and his Ambassadors finding the Pope to stick at it and give them no ready answer told him plainly That the King their Master intended to use his own mind in the matter whether he consented or no (u) In vit Hen. Chichley Pag. 56 57. Edito Anno 1617. Vtpote quae non à necessitatis sed honoris causa petat Thus the Papal power as it was interrupted in all times so from this time it sensibly languish'd till it received its fatal blow from Henry the Eight who if I may so say did as it were beat out the Popes Brains with his own Keys and had he not afterward used violence to himself by referring the point of his Supremacy to the Parliament to be confirm'd by Statute Law that was sufficiently firm'd before by the Common Law that cannot change he had undoubtedly been more absolute Lord of himself than any Christian Prince whatever and acknowledg'd Head of the Church nullis Exceptionibus as Tacitus expresses it in another case but laying the burthen of that weighty Question of the Supremacy upon the Shoulders of Divines which had been better supported by those of the great Lawyers he was perplext with many Scruples and in the end forced to enter the List in Person and fight the (w) Antiqu. Brit. Eccles p. 384. 37. Pope at his own weapon the Pen wherein by great good fortune being a great master of defence that way he had the better of it and by the Authority of his Example drew many to Second him his Supremacy being afterward Justified by the whole Convocation of Divines in both the Universities and most of the Monastical and Collegiate Theologues of the whole Kingdom whilst only four adventur'd to assert the Pope's Right to be de Jure divino 29. And now to conclude this whole discourse The Government of this Isle alwayes Monarchial it may perhaps be thought a Point of glory not unworthy our Remarke to observe that the Government of this Isle was never cloath'd in any other form but what appeared Monarchial notwithstanding the many chances and changes I cannot say alterations which Time conspiring with Fate hath brought forth wantonly disposing the Scepter of these Isles not only to several Persons and Families but different People and Nations The Genius of the very first Natives the Aborigines as Caesar observes of their Ancestors the Gaules being always inclinable to be rul'd by one single Person affecting Monarchy as Naturally as the Greeks did Aristocracy the Romans Democracy or the Germans and indeed all the Northern Nations Oligarchy and however we read of no less than four Kings in Kent by which may be guest a proportionable number of the like kind in other Provinces which Cesar had no Knowledg of yet it appears by those who wrote after him with more certainty That all these Reguli were under one Chief Tacitus to whom it matters not what Title was given by themselves Speaking of Caraciacus since Tacitus calls him more Romano Imperator Britannorum After the Romans got the Government into their hands though there was a seeming Pentarchy yet the Emperour saith Herodian reserv'd to himself all Appeals from the Presidents and Lieutenants not excepting the Cesars themselves here During the Saxon Heptarchy when each of those Royteletts had a distinct Legislative power within his own Kingdom striving like Twins in the Womb of their Conquest which should be born first yet one saith Bede was saluted by common consent with the stile and Title of Rex Anglorum So during the still-born Tetarchy of the Danes Knute was not only Primus but Princeps Uniting the Trine Power of his Predecessours in his single Person Neither did the Genius of the Normans affect any other form notwithstanding the intestine Feuds betwixt divers of those Kings and their Nobles these striving to recover what they had lost those resolving to keep what by advantage of time and sufferance they had got ingaged them in desperate Resolutions for however the Populacy prevail'd against King John Henry the Third Edward the Second and Richard the Second taking the boldness to commit so many Insolencies as sullied the memory of those times and gave Strangers occasion to brand the whole Nation with one of the basest Characters that malice could invent Les mutins Anglois yet was not their ill disposition heightned to that degree of madness as to follow Providence in the pursuit of their Liberties beyond the bounds of Magna Charta for though they left succeeding Ages a President they never found in deposing the two last acts no less dishonourable to themselves than them yet they admitted the Son of the one and the Uncle of the other to succeed Nor was it want of power to do otherwise Vox Populi being at the same time Preached up by no meaner a man than the Primate of England to be Vox Dei and pass'd for as good Divinity as Policy The like may be observed in those disorderly times when the two fatal houses of York and Lancaster justled one another out of the Throne with such alternate success as gave advantage to the Plebiscitum to Elect which they pleas'd the Soveraignty being so weakned by the blood lost on either side that the people had it in their power not only to turn the Scale as they thought fit but to break the Beam of Majesty on which the weight of that destructive Quarrel hung and so by taking away the Cause have prevented the Occasions of ensuing mischiefs yet still we find they kept within the Circle of their Allegiance and though they directed it variously to several Lines yet all tended to supporting the main Nave of the Monarchy continuing the Government as it had ever been in a single Person which Devotion to Monarchy was as St. Hierome observes in one of his Epistles rewarded from Heaven with this great blessing upon the Incolae in general of this Isle That by their Obedience to one Prince they were the more easily brought to the belief of One God who blest their early Faith with the Honour of having the First Christian King and Emperour of the World amongst them 30. But This last Age of ours I confess hath brought forth an unnatural Race of
Men who inspired with the discipline of Daring beyond any of their Ancestors put out the Laws first as (*) The Author of the Book call'd the Modern Politician one observes the Lights use to be in such Case and after committed a Horrid Rape upon the Body Politick begetting such a Brood of Monsters as made all the World and themselves at last afraid whilst they spurn'd at all Authority with such resistless fury as rais'd the Dust of their Errors to such a portentous height that it not only endangered the putting out the Eys of Justice half blind before but darkning the very lights of Nature and Piety The two Houses of Parliament first dividing from the King after from one another So that the Commonwealth appear'd like the German Eagle with two heads pecking at the main Body Yet even during this fatal Confusion the Government under these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be said to be as that under the Ephori which Plutarch calls (†) Sufficiently Monarchical 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there being one * Cromwell who like the Beast mention'd in the Revelation having power above the rest play'd the State Jugler and reviv'd Monarchy as Chymists do plants out of the Salt of its own Ashes making himself more than a King by the same principles with wh ch he destroyed Kingship anointing himself with Blood instead of Oil the date of whose Rage I cannot call it Reign holding no longer than to shew the World the Vanity of his Usurpation the Curse of his Ambition descended upon his Son who distempered with the Fumes of his ill-gotten glory like the Drunken Tinker that by an Artificial Metempsychosis was made believe he was a Prince and dream'd of nothing but power and greatness till translated by the help of a second Napp into the Ditch out of which he was first taken his grandeur forsook him with his Sleep quickly fell out of his Throne and broak his Neck after which Catastrophe the abused populace like Water which heated contrary to its nature returns to its first Condition and becomes so much the colder submitted themselves to their lawful Soveraign with like Zeal as they fell off from him in the first place their affections returning like the Tyde of which there can be no reason given mov'd by the hidden force of an unwritten Law within their Nature which turning round like that Rota the Usurpers would have fixed shew'd that it was not agitated by the Power of Intelligences as some think but by the immediate hand of Providence from the Constancy of whose motion every good man expected that Revolution which blest be Heaven we have since seen long before although being opprest with the weight of those great Concerns that depended on it it moâ—'d a while but slowly Horace Ode 34. lib. 1. valet ima summis mutare insignem attenuat Deus Obscura Promeris THE FIRST DYNASTY OF BRITAINS OF BRITAINS TO endeavour to find out the Original of the Britains I take to be as hard a Task as that put upon the two Centurions who were commanded by * Sâ—n c. Naâ—ur Quest. Nero to find out the Head of Nyle Neither can it reasonably be supposed that I should further go into the Wild of this History then I find vetustatis veritatis vestigia the tract of some that have gone before me since we have no Land-Marks to guide us but what have been set up by Strangers whilst all the Natives have kept themselves out of sight and all the Treasures of Knowledge were lockt up in the Druids †i. e. in scrinâ—o pâ—ctoris An expression scophically used by my Lord Bacon in respect they used no Books Library from whom neither the awe of Caesars Majesty nor the dread of his Legions could extort any other discovery then what could be made out of the Observation of their Manners and Customs which being congenial with those of their next Neighbours the Gauls gave him and from him most other Writers cause to believe them a Branch of the same Stock who being scituate in the same Zone under the difference of little above two Câ—imes as they could not but have one Complexion so Utriusque sermo haud multum diversus saith Tacitus Neither were their Names less consonant then their Language the one called * Cymber derivâ—d Kimber vel Kimper i. e. miles Britannicâ— Cymbri the other †Cambri 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. nebulâ— Ã nebulosis sedibus Cambri both indifferently ‖ A Câ—lte Rege Galliae Lugduneus A. M. 2125. quo tempâ—re Joseph venditus in Aegyptâ— Celti which Bochartus derives from the Chaldee Chelta originally given by the Phenicians as he says that called this Isle Barat-Anae which by contraction he might have said corruption came to be afterward Britannae whence the Greeks in the Age following had their BPETANNIKH Lay we then aside those Vulgar Etyma's of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which some modern Philosophers have laboured to prove the Britains the only men of Mettal if I may so say from the very time of Strabo whose Authority they urge to prove this Isle most famous for the great quantities of Lead and Tynn that was exported hence Neither can we but reject those exploded denominations or as the learned Camden quaintly calls them Divinations or Dreams of * Hispanorum Regio Bretta †E fâ—rma candida stuyd Bridcaine or Prid-caine ‖ Libera Dania Gâ—wpus beccanuâ— Bridania * E Bruto Brito Brutaneia Britonia and I know not what more of the same stamp which have past for current but a little while Of all which I shall only say thus much That they were fancies which shew'd a wantonness of Wit that may perhaps be more reasonably excus'd then defended The vanity of Invention being an Epidemical Disease that hath infected most of the Sons of Mercury in all Ages and all Nations there being something in it that looks like Piety Nam mentiri clarorum imagines est aliquis virtutum amor saith Pliny which Error whilst some of our graver Authors have with no less affectation attempted to correct they themselves like great Physitians in the time of great Plagues have been overtaken with the general Infection as that renowned President of Antiquaries Mr. Camden before mentioned was who excusing his weaker Brethren with a Detur venia Antiquitati ut miscendo falsa veris c. did not suppose he had so prophetically apologiz'd for his own Brith-Tania which being delivered as an Origination of Celtick and Greek upon further inquiry proves to be no part of either Speech at least not in that sense he uses it For taking the h out of Brith to accommodate the word as he design'd to Brittannia it then becomes Brit which is no word of any signification in the Welch Tongue and consequently by the razing out that single Letter all the varnish of his