the said Wil and others for the execution and performance of the same Finally the said Testament was recorded in the Chancerie Wherfore they affirme thaâ— there ought no manner of doubt moue any man to the coÌ„trarie and that either we must graunt this Wil to be signed with his hand or that he made no Wil at al both must be graunted or both denied If any wil deny it in case he be one of the witnesses he shal impugne his owne testimonie if he be one of the executours he shal ouerthrow the foundatioÌ„ of al his doinges in procuring the said Wil to be inrolled and set forth vnder the great Seale And so by their dubblenes they shal make them selues no mete witnesses Nowe a man can not lightly imagine how any other bysides these two kind of witnesses for some of them and of the executors were such as were coÌ„tinually wayting vpon the Kinges person may impugne this Wil and proue that the king did not signe the same But if any such impugne the Wil it would be coÌ„sidered how many they are and what they are and it wil be very harde to proue negatiuam facti But it is euidente say they that there was neuer any such lawful proufe against the said Wil producted For if it had ben it would haue ben published in the Starrechamber preached at Poules Crosse declared by Acte of Parlament proclaimed in euery quarter of the Realme Yea admitting say they that it were proued that the said pretensed Wil lacked the Kinges hande yet neuerthelesse say they the very copies we haue spoken of being written and signed or at least interlined with his owne hande may be saide a sufficient signing with his owne hande For seing the scope and final purpose of the statute was to haue the succession prouided for and ascerteined whiche is sufficiently done in the said Wil and seing his owne hande was required but onely for eschewing euil and sinister dealing whereof there is no suspicion in this Will to be gathered what matter in the worlde or what difference is there when the King fulfilled and accomplisihed this gratiouse Acte that was loked for at his handes whether he signed the Will with his owne hande or no If it be obiected that the King was obliged and bound to a certaine precise order and forme which he could in no wise shift but that the Acte without it muste perish and be of no valewe then say they wee vndoe whole Parlamentes aswel in Queene Maries time as in King Henry the eightes time In Queene Maries time bycause she omitted the Style appointed by Parlamente Anno 〈◊〉 octauiâ—rice simo quinto In King Henries tyme by reason there was a statute that the Kinges royal assent may be geuen to an Acte of Parlamente by his Letters Patentes signed with his hande though he be not there personally And yet did the saied King supplie full ofte his confente by the stampe only This yet notwithstanding the said Parlamentes for the omission of these formes so exactely and precisely appointed are not destroyed and disannulled After this sorte in effecte haue the Aduersaries replied for the defence of the said pretensed Will. To this we wil make our reioynder and saye Firste that our principall matter is not to ioyne an islewe whether the saide Kinge made and ordeyned any sufficient Will or no. We leaue that to an other time But whether he made any Testament in suche order and forme as the statute requireth Wherefore if it be defectiue in the said forme as we affirme it to be were it otherwise neuer so good and perfect though it were exemplified by the great Seale and recorded in Chancerie and taken commonly for his Wâ—ll and so accomplished it is nothing to the principal question It resteth then for vs to consider the weight of the Aduersaries presumptions whereby they would inforce a probabilitie that the Testament had the foresaide requisite forme Yet first it is to be coÌ„sidered what presumptions and of what force and number do occurre to auoide and frustrate the Aduersaries presumptions and all other like We say then there occurre many likelyhoddes many presumptions many great and weightie reasons to make vs to thinke that as the king neuer had good and iuste cause to minde and enterprise suche an Acte as is pretended so likewise he did enterprise no such Acte in deede I deny not but that theâ— was such authoritie geuen him neither I deâ—y but that he might also in some honorable sort haue practised the same to the honour and wealth of the Realme and to the good coÌ„tentation of the same Realm But that he had either cause or did exercise the said authoritie in suche strange and dishonorable sort as is pretended I plainely denie For being at the time of this pretensed Wil furnished and adorned with issue the late king Edward and the Ladies Marie and Elizabeth their state and succession being also lately by Acte of Parlament established what neede or likelyhod was there for the king then to practise such newe deuises as neuer did I suppose any king in this Realme before and fewe in any other byside And where they were practised commonly had infortunate and lamentable successe What likelyhode was there for him to practise such deuises especially in his later daies when wisdome the loue of God and his Realme should haue bene moste ripe in him that were likely to sturre vppe a greater fier of greeuouse contention and woful destruction in England then euer did the deadly factioÌ„ of the red Rose and the white lately by the incorporation and vnion of the house of Yorke and Lancaster in the person of his father through the mariage of Ladie Elizabeth eldest daughter of king Edwarde the fourth most happily extinguished and buried And though it might be thought or said that there would be no such eause of feare by reason the matter passed by Parlament yet could not he be ignorant that neither Parlamentes made for Henry the fourth or continuance of twoo Descentes whiche toke no place in geuing any Title touching the Croune in King Henry the sixt nor Parlamentes made for King Râ—chard the third nor Parlaments of attainder made against his father could either preiudice his fathers right or releaue other against such as pretended iust right and title And as he could not be ignoraÌ„t therof so it is not to be thought that he would abuse the great confidence put vppon him by the Parlament and disherite without any apparent cause the next royal blood and thinke all thinges sure by the colour of Parlament The litle force whereof against the right inheritour he had to his fathers and his owne so ample benefit so lately and so largely sene and felt And yet if he minded at any time to preiudice the said Lady Marie Queend of Scotland of al times he would not haue done it then when al his care was by al possible meanes to contriue and compasse a mariage
likewise the statute made in Anno 32. H. 8. geueth auctoritie to dispose landes and Testamentes by last Wil and Testament in writing If a man do demise his lande by his last Wil and Testament nuncupatiue without writing this demise is insufcient in law and not warranted by the said statute We leaue of a number of like cases that we might multiplie in the prouffe of this matter wherein we haue taried the longer by cause th' Aduersaries make so great a coūtenance therevpon and bycause al vnder one it may serue for the answere also touching the Kinges royal assente to be geuen to Parlamentes by his Letters Patentes signed with his hande which is nothing else but a declaration and affirmāce of the common lawe and no newe authoritie geuen to him to do that he could not doo before or any forme prescribed to bind him vnto Bysides that in this case there is no feare in the worlde of forging and counterfeyting the Kinges hande whereas in the Testamentarie cause it is farre otherwise as the worlde knoweth and dayly experience teacheth And so withal do we conclude that by reason this surmised Wil was not signed with the Kinges hand it can not any way hurt or hinder the iuste right and claime of the Quene of Scotland to the succession of the Croune of England Now supposing that neither the L. Paget nor Sir Edward Montague and Williā Clarke had testified or published any thing to the infringing annd ouerthrowing of the Aduersaries assertiō touching the signing of the said Wil yet is not therby the Queene of Scotlandes title altogether hindred For she yet hath her iust and lawfull defence for the oppugning of the said assertion as well against the persons and saying of the witnesses if any shal come foorth as otherwise shee may iustly require the said Wil to be brought forth to light and especially the signing of the same with the Kings hand to be duely and consideratly pondered we yed and conferred She hath her iust defence and exceptions and must haue And it were against al lawes and the lawe of nature it selfe to spoile her of the same And all good reason geueth that the said original Wil standing vppon the triall of the Kinges hande be exhibited that it may be compared with his other certaine and wel knowen hand writing And that other things may be done requisite in this behalfe But yet all this notwithstanding let vs nowe imagine and suppose that the King him selfe whose harte and hande were doubtelesse farre from any suche doinges lette vs yet I say admitte that he had signed the said Will with his owne hande Yet for al that the Aduersaries perchance shal not finde no not in this case that the Queenes iuste Title right and interest doth any thing fayle or quayle Or rather lette vs without any perchance say the iustice and equitie of her cause and the inuincible force of trueth to be such that neither the Stampe nor the Kinges owne hande can beare and beate it downe Which thing we we speake not without good probable and weightie reasons Neither do we at this time minde to debate and discourse what power and autoritie and how farre the Parlament hath it in this and like cases Which perchance some other would here do We wil only intermedle with other thinges that reache not so farre nor so high and seeme in this our present question worthy and necessarie to be considered And first before we enter into other matters we aske this reasonable and necessarie questiō whether these general words wherby this large and ample autoritie is cōueied to king Henry must be as generally and as amply taken or be restrained by some māner of limitation and restrictiō agreable to such mind and purpose of the Parlament as must of very necessitie or great likelihod be construed to be the very mind and purpose of the said Parlamēt Ye wil say perchance that the power and autoritie of assignatiō must be taken generally and absolutely without exception sauing for the outward signing of the Will. Trueth it is there is nothing els expressed but yet was there some thing els principally intended and yet for al that needed not to be specified The outward maner was so specially and precisely appointed and specified to auoyde suspitious dealing to auoide corruption and forgery And yet was the Wil good and effectual without the Kinges hande Yea and the assignatiō to had ben good had not that restrainte of the Kinges hande bene added by the Parlament But for the qualification of the person to be limited and assigned and so for the necessarie restriction and limitation of the wordes were they neuer so large and ample there is though nothing were spoken thereof an ordinary helpe and remedie Otherwise if the Realme had ben set ouer to a furious or a madde man or to an idiote or to some foraine and Mahometical Prince and to such a one our stories testifie that King Iohn would haue submitted him selfe and his Realme or to any other notorious incapable or vnhable person the generalitie of the wordes seeme to beare it but the good minde and purpose of the Parlament and mans reason doe in no wise beare it If ye graunt that these wordes must nedes haue some good and honest constructiō and interpretation as reason doth force you to graunt it yet wil I aske farther whether as the King cutte of in this pretensed Wil the whole noble race of the eldest sister and the first issue of the yongest sister so if he had cutte of also al the ofspringes as wel of the said yongest sister as of the remnante of the royal blood and placed some being not of the said blood and perchance otherwise vnable this assignatiō had bene good and vailable in law as conformable to reason and to the mind and purpose of the Parlament It were surely to great an absurdity to graūt it There must be therefore in this matter some reasonable moderation and interpretatiō as wel touching the persons cōprehēded within this assignation and their qualities and for the persons also hauing right and yet excluded as for the manner of the doing of the Acte and signing the Wil. For the king as King could not dispose the Croune by his Wil and was in this behalfe but an Arbiter and Commissioner Wherefore his doinges must be directed and ruled by the lawe and according to the good minde and meaning of those that gaue the authoritie And what their minde was it wil appeare well inough euen in the statute it selfe It was for the auoiding of all ambiguities doubtes and diuisions touching the Succession They putte theyr whole truste vppon the King as one whom they thought most earnestly to minde the wealth of the Realme as one that woulde and could best and most prudently consider and weigh the matter of the Succession and prouide for the same accordingly If the doinges of the King do not plainely and
betwene his sonne Edward and the said Lady and Quene Surely he was to wise of him selfe and was furnished with to wise CouÌ„sailours to take such an homely way to procure and purchase the said mariage by And least of all can we say he attempted that dishonorable disherision for any special inclination or fauour he bare to the French Queene his sisters children For there haue bene of his neere and priuie Counfaile that haue reported that the King neuer had any great liking of the mariage of his sister with the Duke of Suffolke who maried her first priuily in France and afterward openly in England And as it is said had his pardon for the said priuy mariage in writing Howe so euer this matter goeth certeine it is that if this pretensed Wil be true he transferreed and traÌ„sposed the reuersion of the Croune not only from the Queene of ScotlaÌ„d from my Ladie Leneux and their issue but euen from my Ladie Francis and my Ladie Elenour also daughters to the Frenche Queene whiche is a ching in a manner incredible and therefore nothing likely I must now gentle Reader put thee in remeÌ„brance of two other most pregnaÌ„t and notable coniectures and presumptions For among al other incoÌ„ueniences and absurdities that do and may accoÌ„panie this rash and vnaduised acte by this preteÌ„sed Wil inconsiderately mainteined it is principally to be noted that this Acte geueth appareÌ„t and iust occasion of perpetual disherison of the Style and Title of FraÌ„ce incorporated and vnited to the Croune of this Realme For whereby do or haue the Frenchmen hitherto excluded the Kings of this Realme claiming the Croune of France by the Title of Edward the third falling vpon him by the right of his mother other then by a politike and ciuil law of their owne that barreth the female from the right of the Croune And what doth this preteÌ„sed Act of king Henrie but iustifie and strengthen their quarel and ouerthoweth the foundatioÌ„ and bulworke wherby we mainteme our foresaid Title and claime If we may by our municipal law exclude the said Queene of Scotland being called to the Croune by the Title of general heritage then is their municipal law likewise good and effectual and coÌ„sequently we 〈◊〉 and haue made al this while an vniust and wrongful claime to the Croune of France But now to go somewhat farther in the matter or rather to come neerer home and to the quicke of the matter we say as there was some apparent and good cause why the king should the twentie and eight yeare of his reigne thinke vpon some limitation and appointement of the Croune king Edward as yet vnborne so after he was borne and that the Title and interest of the reuersion of the Croune after him was the thirtie and fifte yeare by Parlament confirmed to the late Queene Marie and her sister Elizabeth it is not to be thought that he would afterward ieoparde so great a matter by a Testament and Wil which may easely be altered and counterfeyted And least of al make such assignation of the Croune as is nowe pretended For being a Prince of such wisdome and experience he could not be ignorant that this was the next and rediest way to put the state at least of both his daughters to great peril and vtter disherison For the Kinges exaÌ„ple and boldnes in interrupting and cutting away so many branches of the neerest side and line might sone breede in aspiring and ambitious hartes a bolde and wicked attempte the way being so farre brought in and prepared to their handes by the King him selfe and their natures so readie and prone to follow euil presidents and to clime high by some colourable meanes or other to spoile and depriue the said daughters of their right of the Croune that should descend and fal vpon them and to conuey the same to the heires of the said Ladie Francis. And did not I pray you this drift and deuise fal out euen so tending to the vtter exclusioÌ„ of the late Queene Marie and her Sister Elizabeth if God had not of his mercy most gratiously and wonderfully repressed and ouerthroweÌ„ the same These reasons then and presumptions may seme wel able and sufficient to beare doune to breake doune and ouerthrow the weake and slender presumptions of th' Aduersaries grounded vpon vncertaine and mere surmises ghesses and coniectures as among other that the King was offended with the Quene of Scotland and with the Ladie Leneux Which is not true And as for the Ladie Leneux it hath no manner of probabilitie as it hath not in dede in the said Queene And if it had yet it is as probable and much more probable that the King would haue especially at that time for such cause as we haue declared suppressed the same displeasure Graunting now that there were some such displeasure was it honorable either for the King or the Realm or was it thinke ye euer thought by the Parlament that the King should disherite them for euery light displeasure And if as the Aduersaries confesse the king had no cause to be offended with the FreÌ„ch Quenes childreÌ„ why did he disherite the Ladie FraÌ„cis and the Ladie Elenor also Their other presumption whiche they ground vpoÌ„ the auoyding of the vncertenty of the succession by reason of his Wil is of smal force and rather turneth against them For it is so farre of that by this meanes the succession is made more certaine and sure that contrarywise it is subiecte to more vncerteintie and to lesse suertie then before For whereas before the right and claime to the Croune hong vppon an ordinarie and certaine course of the common lawe vpon the certaine and assured right of the royall and vnspotted blood yea vppon the very lawe of nature whereby many inconueniences manie troubles daungers and seditions are in al Countries politikely auoided so now depending vpon the statute onely it is as easie by an other statute to be intringed and ouerthrowen And depending vppon a Testament is subiect to many corruptions sinister dealinges cauillations yea and iust ouerthrowes by the dishabilitie of the Testatours witnesses or the Legatorie himselfe or for lacke of dewe order to be obserued or by the death of the Witnesses vnexamined and for many other like considerations The Monumentes of al antiquitie the memorie of al ages and of our owne age and dayly experience can tel and shewe vs many lamentable examples of many a good and lawful Testament by vndue and craftie meanes by false and suborned witnesses by the couetous bearing and main tenance of such as be in authoritie quite vndone and ouerthrowne Wherefore Valerius Maxtmus crieth out against M. Crassus and Q. Hortensiu Lumina â—uriae ornamenta Fori quod scelus vindicare debebant inhonesti lucri captura inuitati authoritatibus suis texerunt This presumption then of the Aduersaries rather maketh for vs and ministreth to vs good occasion to thinke that the King would not hasard
euidently tende to this ende and scope if a zealous minde to the common Wealth if prudence and wisdome did not rule and measure al these doinges but contrariewise partial affection and displeasure if this arbitrement putteth not away al contentions and striffes if the mind and purpose of the honorable Parlament be not satisfied if there be dishonorable deuises and assignmentes of the Croune in this Wil and Testament if there be a new Succession vnnaturally deuised finally if this be not a Testament and last Wil such as Modestinus defineth Testamentum est tusta voluntatus nostra sententia de eo quod quis post mortem suam fieti velit then though the Kinges hand were put to it the matter goeth not altogether so wel and so smothe But that there is good and great cause farther to consider and debate vpon it whether it be so or no let the indifferent when they haue wel thought vpon it iudge accordingly The Aduersaries them selues can not altogether denie but that this Testament is not correspondent to such expectation as men worthely should haue of it Whiche thing they do plainly confesse For in vrging their presumptions whereof we haue spokē and minding to proue that this wil whiche they say is commonly called King Henries Wil was no new Wil deuised in his sicknes but euen the very same wherof as they say were diuers olde copies they inferre these wordes saying thus For if it be a newe Wil then deuised who could thinke that either him selfe would or any man durst haue moued him to put therin so many thinges contrary to his honour Much lesse durst they themselues deuise any new successiō or moue him to alter it otherwise then they foūd it when they saw that naturally it could not be otherwise disposed Wherein they say very truely For it is certaine that not only the common lawe of this Realme but nature it selfe telleth vs that the Queene of Scotlād after the said Kinges children is the next and rightful Heire of the Croune Wherefore the King if he had excluded her he had done an vnnatural acte Ye wil say he had some cause to doo this by reason she was a forainer and borne out of the Realm Yet this notwithstanding he did very vnnaturally yea vnaduisedly inconsideratly and wrongfully and to the great preiudice and danger of his owne Title to the Croune of France as we haue already declared And moreouer it is wel to be weighed that reason and equitie and Ius Gentium doth require and craue that as the Kings of this Realme would thinke them selues to be iniuriously handled and openly wronged if they mariyng with the heires of Spaine Scotland or any other Countrey where the succession of the Croune deuolueth to the woman were shutte out and barred from theyr said right dewe to them by the wiues as we haue said so likewise they ought to thinke of women of their royal blood that marie in Scotland that they may wel iudge and take them selues much iniured vnnaturally and wrongfully dealt withall to be thruste from the succession of this Croune being thereto called by the nexte proximitie of the royal blood And such deuolutiōs of other Kingdoms to the Croune of England by foraine mariage might by possibilitie often times haue chaunced and was euen nowe in this our time very like to haue chanced for Scotland if the intended mariage with the Queene of Scotland that now is and the late King Edward the sixt with his longer life and some issue had takē place But now that she is no suche forainer as is not capable of the Croune we haue at large already discussed Yea I wil now say farther that supposing the Parlament minded to exclude her and might rightfully so doe and that the King by vertue of this statute did exclude her in his supposed Wil yet is she not a plaine forainer and incapable of the Croune For if the lawfull heires of the said Ladie Francis and of the Ladie Elenour should happē to faile which seeme now to faile at the least in the Ladie Katherin and her issue for whose title great sturre hath lately ben made by reason of a late sentence definitiue geuen against her pretensed mariage with the Earle of Herford then is there no stay or stoppe either by the Parlament or by the supposed Will but that she the said Queene of Scotlande and her Heires may haue and obteine their iust Title and claime For by the said pretensed Wil it is limited that for default of the lawfull Heyres of the said Ladre Francis and Elenour the Croune shall remaine and come to the next rightful Heires But if she shal be said to be a forainer for the time for the induction of farther argument then what saye the Aduersaries to my Ladie Leneux borne at Herbottel in England and from thirtene yeares of age brought vppe also in England and commonly taken and reputed as well of the King and Nobilitie as of other the lawefully Neece of the said King Yea to turne nowe to the other Sister of the King maried to Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolke and her children the Ladie Francis and the Ladie Elenour why are they also disherited Surely if there be no iust cause neither in the Lady Leneux nor in the other it seemeth the King hath made a plaine Donatiue of the Croune Whiche thinge whether he could doe or whether it be conformable to the expectation of the Parlament or for the Kinges honour or for the honour for the Realme I leaue it to the farther consideration of other Nowe what causes should moue the Kinge to shutte them out by his pretensed Will from the Title of the Croune I minde not nor neede not especially seeing I take no notice of any such Wil touching the limitation of the said Croune here to to prosecute or examine Yet am I not ignorant what impedimentes many doo talke of and some as well by printed as vnprinted Bookes doe write of Wherein I will not take vppon me any asseueration any resolution or iudgement Thus only will I propound as it were by the way of consideration duely and depely to be wayed and thought vpon that is for as muche as the benefitte of this surmised Wil tendeth to the extrusion of the Queene of Scotland and others altogether to the issue of the French Queene whether in case the King had no cause to be offended with his sisters the Frenche Queenes children as the Aduersaries them selues confesse he had not and that there was no lawful impediment in them to take the succession of the Croune it were any thing reasonable or euer was once meant of the Parlament that the King without cause should disherite and exclude them from the Title of the Croune On th' other side if ther were any such impediment whereof this surmised Wil geueth out a great suspicion it is to be considered whether it standeth with reason and iustice with the honour of the King and the
and the whole state froÌ„ danger to liue willingly in perpetual exile and bannishment God be thanked that after these seditious and trayterous subiectes haue bene so stout and storming in the rekoning vp and accumulating of faults and offenses of their innoceÌ„t Maistresse and Quene they are yet at the leÌ„gth forced to answere for theÌ„selues and for their excessiue outragious rebellious dooings Their glorious and glittering excuses may perhaps at the first shew seme to some of the Readers to haue a ioly face of much probabilitie great trueth and feruent zeale to the weale publike But may it please them aduisedly and depely to ponder and weigh aswel what we haue said as what we farther shal say in supplement of ful answere and then to iudge and deme of the mater none otherwise then reason equitie and law do craue they shalat length fynde out and throughly perceaue and know these mennes dealinges and doinges who as yet couer their foule filthy lying detestable practises and trayterouse enormities with suche a visarde of counterfeit fained holines and suche exceding greate shew of zeale to the Queenes honour in punishing malefactors and to the preseruation of the state of the Realme as though al the worlde would fal and go to ruine if it were not vpholden and vnderpropped by the strength of their shoulders They shal see how they wil appeare in their owne natural likenes so ougly that al good harts wil vtterly detest them and thinke them moste worthie for example sake to al the worlde hereafter of extreme punishment We affirme then first that as they haue produced nothing in the worlde touching the principal points as of the Lorde Darleyes death the acquital of the Earle Bothwel and the Queenes mariage with him iustly to charge her withal so are they them selues aswel for the said acquital and mariage as for their damnable and rebellious attempts against their Souereigne and for many other enormous crimes so farre and so depely charged so foule stained and so shamefully marked and noted that neuer shal they with al their hypocritical fine fetches be able to rubbe out the dirty blottes thereof from their skirts which thing wilbâ— easely perceaued of them that wil vouchesafe aduisedly to consider the friuolous and contradictorie excuses they make in their defence At the beginning their open surmised quarel whereby they went about to drawe the peoples hartes to them selues and to streÌ„gthen their owne faction stood in three points as appeareth by their excuses and by their pretensed Proclamations The first was to deliuer the Quene from the Earle Bothwel who violently deteined her and to preuent daungers imminent to her person The second to reuenge the Kings death vpon the said Bothwel whom they knew as they pretended to haue ben the principal doer in the execution of the said murther The thirde was to preserue the yonge Prince the Queenes sonne This is their ioly and holy pretense Nowe let vs see how conformable their worthy procedinges are to these their colourable cloked holy collusions The first gentle and humble admonition that these good louing subiectes gaue her to refourme these surmised enormities was in â—attail array at Bortwike Castle which they thought vpon the sodaine to haue possessed with the Queenes person Wherevpon they being disapointed therof gat into the Town and Fortresse of Edenboroug by the treason of Balfoure the Captaine thereof and of Cragmiler the Prouost of the Citie whereby they being the more animated to follow and prosecute their wicked enterprise begaÌ„ now to be strong in the field The Queene hauing also a good stroÌ„g army and thinking her self wel able therby to encounter with th' enemie and to represse their furious outrage yet notwithstaÌ„ding for the great loue and pitie she had to them though rebellious subiects willing as muche as in her lay to kepe and preserue their blood from sheding offred them faire of her owne free motion that if they would vse her as their Queene she would peaceably come to them and take due and conuenient order for the redresse of al suche thinges as might appeare by law and reason mete to be refourmed Wherevpon the Lorde Grange was sent by the Lordes to her who in al their names moste humbly vppon his knees assured her of al dewe obedience of securitie anâ— safetie of both her life and honour And 〈◊〉 the good Ladie her conscience bearing heâ— witnes of al her iust and vpright dealingeâ— and therfore nothing mistrusting dismissing her army yelded her self to the Lordes whâ— conueyed her to Edenborough and there set her at suche a meruelous libertie and 〈◊〉 suche securitie and safetie that al good meâ— to the worlds ende wil wonder at their exceding good loyaltie First they keping her owne Palaice seâ— and placed her in a merchants house and vsed her otherwise very homely She now considering and perceauing to what ende these matters tended most pitifully cried and called vpon them to remember their late promisse or at the least that she might be brought before the Counsaile offering to stande to the order and direction of the States of the realme But God knoweth al in vaine For now had they the pray whereon they inteÌ„ded to whet their bluddy teeth ere they did dismisse or forgoe her as the euent doth declare Wherefore in the night priuily she was conueyed and with haste in disguised apparel to the strong Forte of Lochleuen and after a few daies being stripâ—ed out and spoyled of al her princely atâ—rement was clothed with a course broune â—assoke After this these good loial subiects praâ—ising and encreasing more and more daily â—he performance of their saied promised â—bedience neuer ceassed vntil they had vsurped the ful authoritie and Regiment of the whole Into the which though they had intruded themselues yet seing as blinde as they were by disordinate vnseemely and vnmeasurable ambition that the Queene remained and was stil Queene and that there was no iust cause by the ordinarie course of the lawe or for any her demerits and deserts to bring her forth to her trial that she might be conuicted and deposed went like good honest plaine men and wel meaning subiects bluntly to worke and coÌ„sulted and determined to dispatche and rid her out of her life vnlesse she would yelde to them and subscribe suche writinges as they would send to her concerning the dimission of her Croune to her sonne and the Regiment of the Realme to the Earle of Murray Wherevpon th' Earle of Athele Secretâ—rie Ledington with other principals of theiâ— factious band sent Robert Miluen to Lochâ—leuen to wil her in any ease if she sought the safegard of her life to coÌ„descend to such demaundes and set her hand to al such writinges as should be proposed and broughâ— to her Whiche as they said to doe neuâ— could be preiudicial to her being by forâ—â— and violence extorted Sir Nicolas Throgmorton also being then Ambassadour theâ—â— from England gaue her the
But see I pray you the impudencie of these men and consider how much it is to be mused and merueled at who are not ashamed to publish by open Edictes and ProclamatioÌ„s that the Prince should be in more securitie and safegarde vnder the protection and keeping of the Regent and vsurping Rebelles then vnder the haÌ„des and bringing vppe of his owne most natural and deare mother with diuers other like vnnatural ridiculous and absurd propositions God blesse him and graunt him no worse to speede then this most tender and louing mother daily wisheth and coÌ„tinually praieth for Who good swete babe if he had age and discretion to vnderstand their dooings would geue the Earle Murray and his fellowes but colde thankes for the intruding of him against his good mother vnto the Croune and gouernment of the realme but would and might wel say that this was but a colour vnder his shadow to strengthen him the said Earle against his good mother and perchance against his owne selfe to His owne vnnatural Coronation also though these men much bragge it solemnly and orderly to haue proceded he would as much mislike Neither would he buye it so deare nor come foorth to be a King so vnnaturally as the Vipers enter into the world eating and gnawing out the mothers woÌ„be He would demauÌ„d and aske what a straÌ„ge newe found solennitie and fond manner of Coronation this was For the matter being of so great and weighty importance of one hundred Earles Bisshoppes and Lordes and moe that haue voice in Perlament wherof al or the more parte of them should haue an agreement liking and consent as to al other so to these publike doinges also there were no more present but fower Earles onely wherof the most honourable had not the souenth or eigth voice in the ParlameÌ„t among the Earles nor yet the first of twenty voiceâ— among al the States Ye had farther but six Lordes who also were such as had laied their violent handeâ— vpon their Quene afore and put her in prison And least al should be voide if they should seme to lacke their ful CongregatioÌ„ of the Spiritualitie and Temporaltie in leapeth me one Bisshop and two or three Abbats and Priors But yet were ther not soleÌ„ne Protestations I pray you then openly made and authentical Instrumentes thereof made also that whatsoeuer was that day done eâ—ther for the Coronation or inuesting of the King or for the establishing of a Regent or otherwise against the Queenes Royall estate and personne it should not be to her in any point hurtful or preiudicial as being then violently deteined and imprisoned Wel you wil alleage peraduenture that al these procedinges were ratified and confirmed by acte of Parlament Yet al this not withstanding this Noble Impe if he were at ripe yeares would no doubt acknowledge and allowe no suche disordered Parlament but would enquire of you what â—uthoritie you had to cal and sommon the said Parlament He would say that the ratifiyng of the said dimission of the Crouno by his mother is not allowable or to be approued First by cause she was then in prison and not at her owne libertie Next by cause it was done by violence and forced with feare of life and so whatsoeuer was builded vpon this foundation being of such weakenes and so vnstable could neuer be firmly and surely established and corroborated He would farther say that diuerse of the chiefe and most principal among the Nobilitie namely the Earles of Argile and Huntley with the Lorde Harris would not in any wise accorde or agree thereto otherwise then it should stand with the Queenes voluntarie wil voide and free from al manner threatninges force and violence Whereof they did ful earnestly and solemnly protest requiring their Protestations to be enacted and recorded He would moreouer say that he could in no wise wel like of that Parlament that should so dishonour his owne good mother and make her to be an infamous Princesse hauing none other ground and proufe to leade them to do so but only a few vncertaine ghesses and vnknoweÌ„ obscure letters He would no doubt for al these mennes vayne bosting and bragging of Iustice and quietnes most teÌ„derly lameÌ„t and wofully bewaile the miserable and pitiful case and dolorouse state of that sely poore ragged and rent Realme the wretched and infinite robberies and spoiles committed and done vpoÌ„ the true loial subiects thereof being daily most greeuousty oppressed and shamefully murthered and the whole Realme so meruelously maymed that the very outward enemie doth sore lament to see it or heare thereof and that wil be wondered at of all the posteritie so long as the world doth stand He would yet say that in case there had bene no iniurie offered either to his mother or to any other he would not such miserâ—e should through him or vnder his name be caused or occasioned though he might purchase thereby the greatest Empire in the world Thus may euery man see and perceaue how dishonourable and how disloyal your actes and doinges haue bene and also how disagreable to your sayings protestations and pretenses For ye pretended at your first seditious motion as we haue declared the Queenes libertie and honour and that ye would duely and faithfully serue her which your seruice what it was let your doings declare Ye make pretense that ye toke armes chiefly for the apprehension of the Earle Bothwel and yet ye dismissed and let him go being present and neuer but long after and coulorably sought him Ye pretended the quietnes and peaceable gouernement of the Realme But the Realme was neuer these many hundred yeares so disquieted and turmoyled with so sore stormes and blustering tempests Ye pretended at your first inueiyng and conference against your said Maistresse before the Commissioners of England that she finding her selfe vnable and vnmete to rule and gouerne her Realm and subiects voluntarily yelded vp and surreÌ„dred the Croune But the contrary is most appareÌ„tly knowen yea you your selues about two monethes after quite forgetting your first allegations say that the States of the Realme of ScotlaÌ„d depriued and deposed her At what time ye also made solemne hypocritical and cloked protestations how loth you were to publish and detect any matter to her dishonour Wherto might be replied against you aswel the rule of the law that Protestatio coÌ„traria facto non releuat as also the old prouerb Crotodili Lachryâ—â—a the false traiterous teares of the hypocritical Crocodile Fie therefore and out vpon these your Crocodile teares whereby you would perswade and make the world beleue that you wold redeme and saue her honor with your perpetual bannishment And as for the religion ye speake of it were much to be merueled and sore to be pitied if it could not be mainteined and borne out without suche soule dishonest and outragious meanes and shifts But al this your great feare least that ScotlaÌ„d otherwise shuld not be able to haue and beare
Scotland and Wales be al within one Territorie and not diuided by any sea And al old Recordes of the law concerning seruice to be done in those two Countries haue these words Infra quatuor Maria within the fower seas which must nedes be vnderstaÌ„d in ScotlaÌ„d and Wales aswel as in EnglaÌ„d bâ—cause they be al within one continent coÌ„passed with fower seas And likewise be many auncient statutes of this Realm writreÌ„ in the NormaÌ„ FreÌ„ch which haue these wordes deins les quatre mers that is within the fower seas Now coÌ„cerning the statute the title of the same is of those that are born beyond the sea the doubt moued in the corps of the said statut is also of childreÌ„ born beyond the sea out of the allegeance with diuers other braÌ„ches of the statute teÌ„ding that way Wherby it seemeth that no part of the statute toucheth these that are born in Wales or Scot laÌ„d And albe it at this time and before in tho reigne of Edward the first Wales was fully reduced annexed and vnited to the propâ—â— Dothinion of England yet was it before subrected to the Croune and King of England as to the Lorde and Sâ—igniour aswel as Scotland Wherefore if this statute had 〈◊〉 made before the time of the said Edwarde the 〈◊〉 it seemeth that it could not haue bene stretched to Wales no more then it can now to Scotland I doe not therefore a litle meruaile that euer this man for pure shame could finde in his harte so childishly to wrangle vpon this word Infantes and so openly to detorte depraue and corrupt the common lawe and the Actes of Parlament And thus may you see gentle Reader that nothing can be gathered either out of the said supposed general rule or Maxime or of any other rule or Principle of the lawe that by any good and reasonable construction can seeme to impugne the title of the said Ladie Marie now Queene of Scotland of and to the Croune of this Realme of England as is aforesaid We are therefore now last of al to consider whether there be any statute or Acte of Parlament that doth seeme either to take away or preiudâ—ce the title of the said Lady Marie And bycause touching the foresaid mentioned statute of the 25. yeare of King Edward the thirde being only a declaration of the common law we haue already sufficiently answered we wil passe it ouer and consider vppon the statute of 28. and 36. of King Henry the eight being the only shoteanker of al the Aduersaries whether there be any matter therein conteined or depending vpon the same that can by any meanes destroie or hurt the title of the said Ladie Marie Queene of Scotland to the successioÌ„ of the Croune of England It doth appeare by the said statute of 28. of King Henry the eight that there was authoritie geuen him by the same to declare limite appoint and assigne the succession of the Croune by his Letters Patentes or by his last Wil signed with his owne hande It appeareth also by the foresaid statute made 35. of the said King that it was by the same enacted that the Croune of this Realme should go and be to the said King and to the heires of his body lawfully begotten that is to say vnto his Highnes first son of his body betwene him and the Ladie Iane then his wife begotten and for default of such issue then vnto the Lady Marie his daughter and to the heires of her body lawfully begotten and for default of such issue then vnto the Ladie Elizabeth his daughter and to the heires of her body laufully begotten and for default of such issue vnto suche person or persons in remainder or reuersion as should please the said King Henry the eight and according to such estate and after such maÌ„ner order and conditioÌ„ as should be expressed declared named and limited in his Letters Patentes or by his last Wil in writing signed with his owne hande By vertue of whiche said Acte of Parlament the Aduersaries doo alleage that the said late King Henry the eight afterward by his last Wil in writing signed with his owne hand did ordeine and appoint that if it happen the said Prince Edward Ladie Marie and Lady Elizabeth to dye without issue of their bodies lawfully begotten then the Croune of this Realme of Englande should goe and remaine vnto the heires of the bodie of the Ladie Francis his Neece and th' eldest daughter of the Fâ—eÌ„ch Quene And for the defaulte of suche issue to the heires of the body of the Ladie Elenour his Neece seconde daughter to the Frenche Queene lawfully begotten And if it happened the said Ladie Elenor to dye without issue of her body lawfully begotten to remaine and come to the nexte rightfull heires Wherevpon the Aduersaries do inferre that the successioÌ„ of the Croune ought to go to the childreÌ„ of the said Ladie FraÌ„cis and to their heyres according to the said supposed Wil of our late Souereigne Lorde King Henry the eight and not vnto the Ladie Marie Queene of Scotlande that nowe is To this it is on the befalf of the said Lady Marie Queene of Scotland among other things answered that King Henry the eight neuer signed the preteÌ„sed Wil with his own hand and that therfore the said Wil can not be any whit preiudicial to the said Queene Against which answere for the defence and vpholding of the saide Will it is replied by the Aduersaries first that there were diuers copies of his Wil found signed with his owne hande or at the leastwise enterlined and some for the most part writen with his owne hande out of the whiche it is likely that the original Wil commonly called King Henry the eightes Will was taken and fayer drawen out Then that there be great and vehement presumptions that for the fatherly loue that he bare to the coÌ„mon wealth and for the auoiding of the vncerteintie of the successioÌ„ he welliked vpoÌ„ and accepted the authoritie geuen him by Parlament and signed with his owne hande the said original Wil whiche had the said limitation and assignation of the Croune And these presumptions are the more enforced for that he had no cause why he should beare any affection either to the said Queene of Scotland or to the Lady Leneux and hauing withal no cause to be greaued or offended with his sisters the Frenche Queenes children but to put the matter quite out of al ambiguitie and doubte it appeareth they say that there were eleuen witnesses purposely called by the king who were presente at the signing of the said Wil and subscribed their names to the same Yea the chief Lordes of the CouÌ„saile were made and appointed executours of the said Wil and they and other had great Legacies geuen them in the said Wil which were paid and other thinges comprised in the Wil accomplished accordingly There passed also purchases and Letters Patentes betwene King Edwarde and the executors of
is most natural the daughter to inherite her fathers patrimonieâ— wherevnto if there be a dignitie annexedâ— both are so vnited and knit together thaâ— they can in no wise be vnlinked Marie if you had driuen your argument of the duetie and obedience that the wife oweth to her husband and had argued It is the law of Nature that the wife should be ruled and gouerned by her husband Ergo it is against Nature that the wife should be head to her husband in respect that she is his wife then had you argued conformably to reason Scripture and Nature But if you wil thereof inferre Ergo she can in no wise be head to her husbande then play you the Sophister making a fallible and vitious argument and making a confuse mingling of those thinges that be of sundry and diuers Natures The child must obey his Scholemaister â—â—d Parentes and may iustly of them be â—hastised though he be a Prince yet this notwithstanding the said childe may vse â—is authoritie by his Magistrates against his â—cholemaister yea and if the cause so reâ—uire against his Parents to as did Edward â—â—e Confessour and King Edward the third against their mothers EueÌ„ so the case fareth with the husband and the wife The wife â—ay without any impairing or mayming of â—er duetie to God or to her wedlocke reâ—â—esse her husbandes misdemeanour if it be â—eedeful to the common Wealth And yet 〈◊〉 she not therby exempted from such dewâ—â—e as the matrimonial coniunction craueth of the wife towardes her husband You frame an other argument of inconâ—eniences as though vnder the womaÌ„s Regiment Ataxia that is to say disorder most commonly creepeth in I wil not deny but somtime it is so but that most commonly â—t is so that I deny Let both the Regiments be compared and matched together and weied by an indifferent ballance and I am deceaued but the inconueniences of the mans Regiment for the rate wil ouerpaise the other And it is ful vnmete vnseemely and a daÌ„gerous matter to rule Princes right and Titles by such blind ghesses Wel you wil yet say you haue Scripture on your side you say the Iues were coÌ„mauÌ„ded to take no King but exfratribus a brother Ergo we can haue no Sister to our Q. To this obiection also my two former answers may sufficiently serue First you must proue that al Christian Princes are obliged and subiected to this part of Moyses law and that shal you neuer be able to do Which thing you saw wel inough and therfore you were faine to vnderprop and vphold this your ruinous and weake building with the strong force of the law of Nature But this force as you haue hard is but the force of a bulrush Our secoÌ„d answer also wil sone infringe and breake this your conclusioÌ„ which respecteth only the free and voluntary election and choise of a king But we speake of birth and Succession wherein we haue none interest but God who is th' only iudge and vmpier and hath by his Diuine prouidence made to our handes his choise already which if we should vndo and reuerse we might seeme to be very-saucy and malapert with him But we wil remoue and relinâ—uish al these helpes and see what and how â—arre this authoritie forceth by the very wordes Frater is the masculine geÌ„dre you say and therefore women are to be remoued Then by this rule women also must be excluded from their saluatioÌ„ bycause Scripture saith He that shal beleue and be baptised shal be saued Holy Scripture abuÌ„deth of like places As Beatus vir qui non abijt in consilio imptoruÌ„ c. Beatus qui intelligit c. And by this rule women are excluded from the eight beatiâ—udes But we wil not shifte your owne worde brother We say therefore that this worde must not be taken so strictly and â—arrowly as you take it For first not only in Scripture but in olde auncient prophane Authours it compreheÌ„deth the brothers childe yea and somtime in Ciuil law coosin germans comming of two brethern Abraham called Loth his brothers sonne brother Medea also calleth her sister Chalciopes sonnes her brethern speaking to her sister in this sorte 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Againe as in the Ciuil law the masculinâ— gendre coÌ„prehendeth the feminine so doth it in your worde brother Modestinus writeth thus Tres fratres Titius Meuius 〈◊〉 Paulus also Titius fratres Sceuola saith the bequestes made by the testatour fratribus to his brethern shal be beneficial to his sisters also vnlesse it may be proued that the testatour meant otherwise Now when the holy Scripture saith thou shalt not hate they brother Thou shalt not lend vpon vsurie to thy brother let euery man vse his brother mercifully if thy brother trespace against thee forgeue him withdrawe your selfe from euery brother walking disorderly he that haâ—eth his brother is in darknes with a number of like sort shal we inferre therevpon that we may hate our sister that we may oppresse our sister with vsurie that we may vse our sister as vnmercifully as we wil without any remorse of conscience and are not bound to forgeue her nor to eschewe her companie being excommunicated or a notorious offendour Wherefore neither this worde brother excludeth a sister nor this worde King in Scripture excludeth a Quene In the Greke â—ongue one worde representeth both brother and sister sauing that there is a difference of gendre 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 After the same rate the wordes King and Queene are â—â—it vp both in one aswel in the Greke as in the Hebrue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in the FreÌ„ch Roy Royne and from this the Latin tonge Rex and Regina doth not farre disagre Seing then by interpretation this word brother conteineth the worde Sister also in Scripture and the word King by proprietie of one and the same voice and signification expresseth the Quene both in Scripture and in other tonges why should we not aswel communicate to women the dignitie apperteining to the name and resembled by the same as the name it selfe For euen in this our owne Country albe it the names of the King and of the Queene doo vtterly varie one from the other and also the auncient Statutes of the Realme do not onely attribute and referre al prerogatiue and preemineÌ„ce power and iurisdictioÌ„ vnto the name of a king but do giue also assigne and appoint the correction and punishment of al offenders against the Realm and dignitie of the Croune and the lawes of the Realme vnto the King yet al maÌ„ner of the for said iurisdiction and other prerogatiues are and ought to be fully and wholy and as absolutely in the Prince female as in the male And so was it euer deemed iudged and accepted before the Satute made for the farder declaration in this point The like we say of both the forsaid words brother and Rex vsed in this place