Kings of Ireland but also over the Welsh Scottish and French Kings He acknowledgeth onely Precedence to the Emperour Eo quod Antiquitate Imperium omnia Regna superare creditur As the King is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the State so he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Church He acknowledgeth no Superiority to the Bishop of Rome whose long arrogated Authority in England was 1535 in a full Parliament of all the Lords Spiritual as well as Temporal declared null and the King of England declared to be by Antient Right in all Causes over all Persons as well Ecclesiastical as Civil Supreme Head and Governour The King is Summus totius Ecclesiae Anglicanae Ordinarius Supreme Ordinary in all the Dioceses of England 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and for his Superintendency over the whole Church hath the Tenths and First-Fruits of all Ecclesiastical Benefices The King hath the Supreme Right of Patronage over all England called Patronage Paramount over all the Ecclesiastical Benefices in England so that if the mean Patron as aforesaid present not in due time nor the Ordinary nor Metropolitan the Right of Presentation comes to the King beyond whom it cannot go The King is Lord Paramount Supreme Landlord of all the Lands of England and all landed men are mediately or immediately his Tenants by some Tenure or other for no man in England but the King hath Allodium Directum Dominum the sole and independent Property or Domain in any Land He that hath the Fee the Jus perpetuum and Utile Dominium is obliged to a duty to his Soveraign for it so it is not simply his own he must swear fealty to some Superiour The King is Summus totius Regni Anglicani Justitiarius Supreme Judge or Lord Chief Justice of all England He is the Fountain from whence all Justice is derived no Subject having here as in France Haute moyenne basse Justice He only hath the Soveraign power in the Administration of Justice and in the Execution of the Law and whatsoever power is by him committed to others the dernier resort is still remaining in himself so that he may sit in any Court and take Cognisance of any Cause as antiently Kings sate in the Court now called the Kings Bench Henry the Third in his Court of Exchequer and Hen. 7. and King James sometimes in the Star-Chamber except in Felonies Treasons c. wherein the King being Plaintiff and so Party he sits not personally in Judgement but doth performe it by Delegates From the King of England there lies no Appeal in Ecclesiastical Affairs to the Bishop of Rome as it doth in other principal Kingdoms of Europe nor in Civil Affairs to the Emperour as in some of the Spanish and other Dominions of Christendom nor in either to the People of England as some of late have dreamt who in themselves or by their Representatives in the House of Commons in Parliament were ever Subordinate and never Superiour nor so much as Co-ordinate to the King of England The King being the onely Soveraign and Supreme Head is furnisht with plenary Power Prerogative and Jurisdiction to render Justice to every Member within his Dominions whereas some Neighbour Kings do want a full power to do Justice in all Causes to all their Subjects or to punish all Crimes committed within their own Dominions especially in Causes Ecclesiastical In a word Rex Angliae neminem habet in suis Dominiis Superiorem nec Parem sed omnes sub illo ille sub nullo nisi tantùm sub Deo a quo secundus post quem primus ante omnes super omnes in suis ditionibus Deos Homines The Title of Dii or Gods plurally is often in Holy Writ by God himself attributed to Great Princes because as Gods Vicars or Vice-dei upon Earth they represent the Majesty and Power of the God of Heaven and Earth and to the end that the people might have so much the higher esteem and more reverend awfulness of them for if that fails all Order fails and thence all Impiety and Calamity follows The Substance of the Titles of God was also used by the Antient Christian Emperours as Divinitas nostra Aeternitas nostra c. as imperfectly and analogically in them though essentially and perfectly only in God and the good Christians of those times out of their excess of respect were wont to swear by the Majesty of the Emperour as Joseph once by the life of Pharaoh and Vegeâ—ius a learned Writer of that Age seems to justifie it Nam Imperatori saith he tanquam praesenti corpoarli Deo fidelis est praestanda Divotio pervigil impendendus famulatus Deâ— enim servimus cum fideliter diligimus cum qui Deoregnat Autore So the Laws of England looking upon the King as a God upon earth do attribute unto him divers excellencies that belong properly to God alone as Justice in the Abstract Rex Angliae non potest cuiquam injuriam facere So also Infallibility Rex Angliae non potest errare And as God is perfect so the Law will have no Imperfection found in the King No Negligence or Laches no Folly no Infamy no stain or corruption of blood for by taking of the Crown all former though just Attainders and that by Act of Parliament iâ— ipso facto puâ—ged No Nonage or Minority for his Grant of Lands though held in his Natural not Politick Capacity cannot be avoided by Nonage Higher than this the Law attributeth a kind of immortality to the King Rex Angliae non moritur his Death is in Law termed the Demise of the King because thereby the Kingdom is demised to another He is said not subject to Death because he is a Corporation in himself that liveth for ever all Interregna being in England unknown the same moment that one King dies the next Heir is King fully and absolutely without any Coronation Ceremony or Act to be done ex post facto Moreover the Law seemeth to attribute to the King a certain Omnipresency that the King is in a manner every where in all his Courts of Justice and therefore cannot be non-suited as Lawyers speak in all his Palaces and therefore all Subjects stand bare in the Presence Chamber wheresoever the Chair of State is placed though the King be many miles distant from thence He hath a kind of universal influence over all his Dominions every soul within his Territories may be said to feel at all times his Power and his Goodness Omnium Domos Regis Vigilia defendit Omnium Otium illius Labor Omnium Delicias illius Industria Omnium vacationem illius Occupatio c. So a kind of Omnipotency that the King can as it were raise men from death to life by pardoning whom the Law hath condemned can create to the highest Dignity and annihilate the same at pleasure Divers other semblances of the Eternal Deity belong to the King He in his own Dominions as God saith
our Kings and some Necessities for the preservation of the Weal Publick too much alienated The Antient Dominions of the Kings of England were first England and all the Seas round about Great Britain and Ireland and all the Isles adjacent even too the Shores of all the Neighbour Nations and our Law saith the Sea is of the Ligeance of the King as well as the Land and as a mark thereof all ships of Foreigners have antiently demanded leave to fish and pass in these Seas and do at this day Lower their Top-sailes to all the Kings Ships of War To England Henry 1. annext Normandy and Henry 2. Ireland being stiled only Lord of Ireland till 33 H. 8. although they had all Kingly Jurisdiction before Henry 2. also annext the Dukedomes of Guien and Anjou the Counties of Poictou Turein and Mayn Edward the First all Wales and Edward the Third the Right though not the Possession of all France King James added Scotland and since that time there have been super-added sundry considerable Plantations in America The Dominions of the King of England are at this day in Possession besides his just Right and Title to the Kingdom of France all England Scotland and Ireland Three Kingdoms of large extent with all the Isles above 40 in number small and great whereof some very considerable and all the Seas adjacent Moreover the Islands of Jersey Garnsey and Alderny Parcel of the Dutchy of Normandy besides those profitable Plantations of New England Virginia Barbados Jamaica Florida Bermudos besides several other Isles and Places in those Quarters and some in the East Indies and upon the Coast of Africa also upon the main land of America by right of first discovery to Estoit land Terra Corterialis New found Land Novum Belgium Guiana the King of England hath a Legal Right though not Possession Rex Angliae est Persona mixta cum Sacerdote say our Lawyers He is a Priest as well as a King He is anointed with Oyle as the Priests were at first and afterward the Kings of Israel to intimate that his Person is Sacred and Spiritual and therefore at the Coronation hath put upon him a Sacerdotal Garment called the Dalmatica c. and before the Reformation of England when the Cup in the Lords Supper was denied to the Laity the King as a Spiritual Person received in both kinds He is capable of Spiritual Jurisdiction of holding of Tythes all Extra-Parochial Tythes some Proxies and other Spiritual Profits belong to the King of which Laymen both by Common and Canon Law are pronounced uncapable He is an External Bishop of the Church as Constantine the Emperour said of himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But I am constituted Bishop for external things of the Church Rex idem hominum Phaebique Sacerdos He is as the Roman Emperours Christian as well as Heathen stiled themselves Pontifex Max. He is the Supreme Pastor of England and hath not only Right of Ecclesiastical Government but also of Exercising some Ecclesiastical Function so far as Solomon did 1 Kings 8. when he blessed the People consecrated the Temple and pronounced that Prayer which is the Pattern now for Consecration of all Churches and Chappels but all the Ministerial Offices are left to the Bishops and Priests as the determinination of Causes are to the Kings Judges although the King may himself sit in Judgement if the Affairs of State did not alwayes require his Presence at the Helme and the Administration of Sacraments Preaching and other Church Offices and Duties to the Bishops and their Ordained Clergy Of this Sacred Person of the King of the life and safety thereof the Laws and Customs of England are of tender that they have made it High Treason onely to imagine or intend the death of the King And because by imagining or conspiring the death of the Kings Counsellors or Great Officers of his Houshold the destruction of the King hath thereby sometimes ensued and is usually aimed at saith Stat. 3 H. 7. that also was made felony to be punisht with death although in all other Cases Capital the Rule is Voluntas non reputabitur pro facto and an English Man may not in other Cases be punisht with death unless the Act follow the Intent The Law of England hath so high esteem of the Kings Person that to offend against those Persons and those things that represent his Sacred Person as to kill some of the Crown Officers or the Kings Judges executing their Office or to counterfeit the Kings Seals or his Moneys is made High Treason because by all these the Kings Person is represented and High Treason is in the Eye of the Law so horrid that besides loss of Life and Honour Real and Personal Estate to the Criminal his Heirs also are to lose the same for ever and to be ranked amongst the Peasantry and Ignoble till the King shall please to restore them Est enim tam grave crimen saith Bracton ut vix permittitur haeredibus quâ—d vivant High Treason is so grievous a Crime that the Law not content with the Life and Estate and Honour of the Criminal can hardly endure to see his heirs survive him And rather than Treason against the Kings Person shall go unpunisht the Innocent in some Cases shall be punished for if an Idiot or Lunatick who cannot be said to have any will and so cannot offend during his Idiocy or Lunacy shall kill or go about to kill the King he shall be punisht as a Traytor and yet being Non compos mentis the Law holds that he cannot commit Felony or Petit Treason not other sorts of High Treason Moreover for the precious regard of the Person of the King by an Antient Record it is declared that no Physick ought to be administred to him without good Warrant this Warrant to be made by the Advice of his Council no other Physick but what is mentioned in the Warrant ro be administred to him the Physitians to prepare all things with their own hands and not by the hands of any Apothecary and to use the assistance only of such Chyrurgeons as are prescribed in the Warrant And so precious is the Person and Life of the King that every Subject is obliged and bound by his Allegeance to defend his Person in his Natural aswell as Politick Capacity with his own Life and Limbs wherefore the Law saith that the life and member of every Subject is at the service of the Soveraign He is Pater Patriae Dulce erit pro Patre Patriae mori to lose life or limb in defending him from Conspiracies Rebellions or Invasions or in the Execution of his Laws should seem a pleasant thing to every loyal hearted Subject The Office of the King of England according to the Learned Fortescue is Pugnare bella populi sui eos rectissime judicare To fight the Battels of his People and to see Right and Justice done unto them Or according to
first Kings of England â—ad all the Lands of England 〈◊〉 Demesne The second sole Monarch amongst the Saxon Kings Ethelwolphus by the advice of his Nobles gave foâ— ever to God and the Church both the Tythe of all Good and the Tenth part of all the Lands of England free from all Secular Service Taxations or Impositions whatsoever the Charter of which Donation 〈◊〉 to be seen in Ingulphus and other Authors which Chartâ— thus ends Qui augere voluerâ— nostram donationem as many Pious Kings and Nobles sinâ— have done augeat Omnipotenâ— Deus dies ejus prosperos si quâ—â— vero mutare vel minuere praesumpâ— serit noscat se ad tribunal Christ rationem redditurum Beside the Tenth of Land and the Husbandmans profits Merchants also and Shop-keepers paid to their Spirituaâ— Pastors the Tenth of theiâ— Gain Servants in divers Plaâ—es the Tenth of their Wages 〈◊〉 as Soldiers in the Kings Armies do now a part of their Pay and in some places Aleâ—ellers the Tenth Flagon Alâ—o Handicrafts-men and Day-â—abourers paid the Tenth of â—heir Wages upon their Oaths 〈◊〉 required Per Assisas Forestae and other â—ecords it doth appear that â—ythes have been paid even â—f Venison in divers parts of England men making consciâ—nce in those dayes as amongst â—he antient Jews to pay Tythes â—f all they possâ—ssed Besides all those in some plaâ—es were paid to the Pastor Obâ—entions Oblations Pensions Mortuaries c. so that the Enâ—lish Clergy were the best provided for of any Clergy in the whole World except only the Nation of the Jews amongst whom the Tribe of Levi being not the 40th part of the 12 Tribes as appears in the Book of Numbers yet had as Mr. Selden confesseth and that by Gods own appointment three times the Annual Revenue of the greatest of the 12 Tribes insomuch that the poorest Priest in the 24 Courses might be reputed a wealthy person And as amongst the Jews the 24 Chief Priests for the better maintenance of their Authority and Dignity had means far exceeding those of the Inferiour Clergy and the High Priest had a Maintenance as far exceeding any of the said 24 Priests So in England the Bishops by the great Piety and Bounty of several English Kings had in Lands and Revenues Temporal and Spiritual a Maintenance far more â—mple than those of the Inferiour Clergy and the 2 Archbishops more ample than â—he Bishops William the Conquerour at his coming into England found â—he Bishopricks then in being 〈◊〉 richly endowed with Lands â—hat he erected them all into Baronies and every Barony â—hen consisted of 13 Knights Fees at the least Besides theâ—e belonged to Bishops several Perquisits and Duties for the Visitations of â—heir Diocesses for Ordinasions Institutions Census Cathedraticus subsidium Charitativum which upon reasonable Causes they might requireâ— of the Clergy under them also other Duties called Decimarum quarta Mortuariorum Oblationum pensitatio Juâ— Hospitii Processio Litania Viatici vel Commeatus collatio which upon a Journey to Româ— they might demand Tenthâ— and First Fruits was antiently paid as is believed to the several Diocesans and was continued to the Bishop of Norwich till Henry 8. deprived him thereof and deprived the Pope of all the rest Moreover all Cathedral Churches were by divers Kings and Nobles richly furnisht with Lands for thâ— plentiful maintenance of a Dean and a certain number of Prebends insomuch that together with the Lands given to Monasteries a third part of the Lands of England belonged to the Church and Church-men whereby did accrue much benefit to this Nation great Hospitality was kept many Hospitals Colledges Churches Bridges built and other Publick Pious and Charitable Works All Leases held of them by the Laity were not â—aly much more easie than other Tenures but so unquestionable that there was little work for the Lawyers so much peaceableness that 140 sworn Attourneys was thought sufficient to serve the whole Kingdome At present the Revenues of the English Clergy is generally very small and insufficient above a third part of the best Benefices of England being antiently by the Popes Grant appropriated to Monasteries towards their maintenance were upon the dissolution of Monasteries made Lay Fees besides what hath been taken by secret and indirect means thorow corrupt Compositions anâ— Compacts and Customs in many other Parishes also manâ— large Estates wholly exempâ—â— from paying Tythes as Land belonging to the Cistertiaâ— Monks to the Knights Templars and Hospitallers Thoâ— Benefices that are free from these things yet besides Fiâ—â— Fruits and Tenths to the King and Procurations to the Bishop are taxed towards the Chargâ— of their respective Parishes and towards the publique charges of the Nation above and beyond the proportion of the Laity The Bishopricks of England have been also since the later end of Hen. 8. to the coming in of King James most miserably robbed and spoiled of the greatest part of their Lands and Revenues so that at this day a mean Gentleman of 200 l. land yearly will not change his worldly estate and condition with divers Bishops an Attourney a Shop-Keeper a common Artisan will hardly change theirs with ordinary Pastors of the Church Some few Bishopricks do yet retain a competency amongst which the Bishoprick of Durham is accounted one of the Chief the yearly Revenues whereof before the late troubles was above 6000 l. of which by the late Act for abolishing Tenures in Capite was lost above 2000 l. yearly Out of it an yearly Pension of 880 l is paid to the Crown ever since the Raign of Queen Elizabeth who promised in lieu thereof so much in Impropriations which was never performed Above 340 l. yearly paid to several Officers of the County Palatine of Durham The Assises and Sessions duly kept in the Bishops House at the sole Charges of the Bishop The several expences for keeping in repair certain Banks of Rivers in that Bishoprick and of several Houses belonging to the Bishoprick Moreover the yearly Tenths the Publick Taxes the Charges of going to and waiting at Parliament being deducted there will remain communibus annis to the Bishop to keep Hospitality which must be great and to provide for those of his Family but about 1500 l. yearly The like might be said of some other Principal Bishopricks The great diminution of the Revenues of the Clergy and the little care of augmenting or defending the Patrimony of the Church is the great reproach and shame of the English Reformation and will one day prove the ruin of Church and State Judicious Mr. Hooker who in the Preface of his Works fore-told our late troubles 40 years before they came to pass observing in his time how the Church was every day robbed of her Dues and that it was then an opinion rife That to give to the Church smelt of Judaisme and Popery and to take from the Church what our Ancestors had given was Reformation declared that what Moses saith in the 90th Psalme was likely to