those houses of Parliament by generall consent concerning the publicke weale or generall good or euill it behooueth first that they soundly and maturely deliberate and consult vpon any thing important sifting out the circumstances which may tend to the most benefit or praeiudice and conscionably pondering each point in the ballance of reason may condiscend to that which will least preiudice the maine for when the billes of those houses are once exhibited past and inacted they cannot be repealed without another Parliament by generall consent of the Prince and of all persons In this high court all Iudgements issuing out of the Kings bench the Chauncerie Common plees the Exchequer the court of Wardes and that which proceedeth out of the court of Parliament it selfe may bee reuersed by writ of Error There are likewise other courts Ecclesiasticall and Ciuill Ecclesiasticall as the whole Conuocation of our Clergie assembled with our States of Parliament consisting of Deanes and Chapiters Archdeacons Procters of Cathedrall Churches and Deligates which are the generall with prouinciall Synods of Canterbury and Yorke vnto whom all the Byshopricks of England and Wales suffragate In speciall such generall courts as answere to this Synod are the Consistorie the Arches for appeales court of the Chancelor or Audience Commissaries court or the Prerogatiue for probate of Testaments with the court of Faculties for dispensations the courts held at Canterbury by the Chancellor for the Diocesse the court of peculiar Deaneries appertaining th'Archbishop and yet belonging vnto diuers Bishoprickes vnto which other Byshops are also subiect Euery priuate Bishop or Soueragaine haue courts also within their seuerall Diocesse to themselues peculiar their cours of Chancellers Archdeacons or Officials Ciuill courts hold plees either in cases of right dealing or in ciuill causes betwixt the prince and his tenants But of the Exchequer where those causes betwixt the Prince and his tenants are decyded I did speake somewhat in my first Booke The Dutchie of Lancaster by grant from King Edward the third to Iohn of Gaunt was exstinct by vnion of Possession with the crowne in person of King Henrie the fourth by whom it was seuered and so continued the whole times of King Henrie the fift and King Henry the sixth then vnited by Edward the fourth which being seperated againe by King Henrie the seuenth remaineth yet accordingly The Court of Chancerie wherein ought to bee the seate of equitie which mitigateth or morderateth the Law or as Aristotle calleth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 TanquaÌ„ sine fuco without guile or subtile hypocrysie should seeme to distribute and execute the Lawe of nature and conscience being corrected by reason but confirmed by Religion It is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the soule or that naturall facultie with perswadeth the good and diswadeth that which is euill and therefore as I sayd elsewhere Equitie should seeme to bee that Balme which modefieth and molefieth the rigorous Letter and rugged forehead of Law graciously smoothing the same with a blessed serenitie For when the Law by seuere interpretation is drawne to inconuenient kinds of facts and by colourable arguments mooued to frustrate the good meaning of the Statute then our recourse in England is made vnto the Chancerie being so notable and common that in other Courts through the corrupt levine and couetous malice of some Lawyers right is many times peruerted For diuers wylie Sophysters arguing with subtile insinuations and heaping vp authorities enforce the Letter of our Statutes that they may bee thereby accomodated to their owne corrupt purposes so that the violence done by such a Counsellor is much more then that which is offered by the wrong dealing plaintiffe or defendant against the innocent grieued Hence is this iniquitie thus enforced by the smoothe tongue of a subtile Lawyer which often times vrgeth and procureth a seuere or sinister sentence from whence appeale is made vnto this Court of equitie which is the Kings iust mercie seat from whence is dispensed that which is vulgarly called aequum bonum aequum iustum aequum iustum Intimating righteousnesse and goodnesse right and iustice and indifferent iustice for euen the lawes themselues require that they may be gouerned by trueth Et vt leni facili ac benig na interpretatione temperentur veréque dicitur nullus recedat a Cancellaria sine remedio To be qualified with a gentle milde and fauourable interpretation And it is a true saying Let no man depart from the Court of Chancerie without remedie The iudgements deliuered in this Court of honourable grace cannot be but by the Court Parliament reuersed the speciall proceedings in Chancerie are by petitions trauerses and shewing of right In this Court the Lord Chauncelloâ—… is iudge with the master of Rolles next vnder them the masters of the Chauncerie the sixe Clerkes and cursitors Adioyning these is the court of requests All those ciuill courts prementioned hold plee betwixt subiect and subiect either in triall of land causes as the kings Bench so farre at it dealeth in matters of debt assumption actions vpon the case properly belonging to the court of the Common plees or in the Common plees begun by king Henrie the 3. Likewise in the matters of Marshallsea within the virge limited to twelue miles neere to the kings house and no more where the steward and Marshall are iudges or in marine causes determinable in the Admiraltie which court was erected by king Edward the third all of them being generall courts Those which are speciall and peculier to some one prouince people or seignorie subiect to the state of this crowne doe follow The Constables court in Wales wherein the President and counsell with the Secretarie and examiner the Clarke of the counsell and keeper of the billes doe sit In the North part of England also where at Yorke a President and counsell is established both which counsels are fashioned according to the forme of Parliaments in France Likewise the Chauncellers court in the Exchequer which hath a Seale the writs vnder which are more antient then the Register or Prerogatiue There are also diuers base courts which as it should seeme were first of any that we can read begunne by Moses who did establish Iudges These ruled Tribes Hundreds Fifties tenths to whom he referred the decision of small causes reseruing to himselfe matters of most importance These courts were continued amongst vs in example by king Alfred the Saxon and a Christian king who deuided his realme First into lathes rapes ridings and them into wapentakes hundreds and those into leets court Barons tithings piepouders Secondly into Sherifes turnes and hundreds King Henry the second deuided this realme into sixe parts vnto each of which he did assigne three iustices called Itinerants by Bracton and iustices in eire by Britton whose circuits Roger Houeden describeth to be like our iuridicall circuits at this day and so much in generall touching the formes and nature of our Ecclesiasticall and
by peculiar demonstration call his own councell from which by the edict of Philip le beau no persons of that Realme can appeale because the king himselfe which acknowledgeth no superiour in his dominions vnder God is the chiefe thereof conuerseth in all publicke affaires of the Common-wealth respecting the king and gouernment which is aduised and directed thereby Albeit the king be iudge of this Counsell and of the Parliament yet is hee subiect to the lawes thereof Nam Parliamentis secundum deum rex solus Imperat qui absens aquè in Parliamenti ac in priuati Consilij decretis loquitur For as a God the king himselfe only ruleth in the Parliaments who though hee bee not present in the Sessions yet hath his voyce royall assenting or dissenting both in the Parliaments and priuate Counsels of state Albeit the Parliamentall iurisdiction surpasseth this Counsell Neither is it permitted that any President Marshall or other principall magistrate shall during the time of his authoritie retaine his place or giue a voice in that Office but is sequestred or suspended from entermedling in those secret consultations vpon very reasonable and needefull respects because certaine expostulations may be concerning some negligent indirect or corrupt dealings in their places otherwise In this Counsell king Charles the eight instituted that the Lord Chauncelor should bee present who being directed by the true rule of Iustice should take the rites and suffrages of those other Counsellors by iust number in any serious causes King Philip le Longe ordained of this Counsell twentie Noblemen whereof six were of the blood two Marischals the Archbishop of Rhoane the Bishop of S. Malo with the Chauncellor of Fraunce and nine others These had the determining of all great causes ordering as in their wisedomes was thought fit the families of the King of his Queene and of his children also to take account each moneth of the Treasurers and to reforme any thing which needed helpe in that Office In which as in our Counsell chamber of England there is a register or Diarie booke kept of all speciall causes there handled and debated which deserue monument And this Counsell is therefore fitly called the Common-wealths heart wherein the knowledge and vnderstanding is placed beeing properly tearmed Dux Imperator vitae mortalium The Captaine and Commaunder of mortall mens liues For those are the chiefe Morall faculties of the mind vnto which euen as the bodie by obedience is bound so semblably should the people dutifully subiect themselues to this Aristocraticall Senate And therfore that extreame straine of prudence is in extremities permitted to this Counsell onely because they can make best vse of it finding in their prudent foresight when and vpon what occasions for the Commonwealth to put the same in execution as Salust in one of his Orations Patres consilio valere debent populo superuacanea est calliditas The Fathers and Senatours should exceed and preuaile in their Counsell Calliditie becommeth not the Commonaltie Them therfore that serue in such Office it behoueth to be very well skilled in princely cunning being with diligence employed in affaires of state and politicke matters narrowly respecting gouernment This Counsell especially conuerseth in ciuile causes as in punishing of Rulers Deputies Iustices of peace Generals of armies Coronels priuat Captaines inferior Counsellors of the prince ciuile or martiall concerning their iust dealing or iniquitie in execution of their Offices In whose doome it resteth whether they shall bee discharged or retained in their places which persons are to be thought seruiceable which not This Counsell likewise prouideth that there be no falshood in paying of wages and prouision for victuall vsed by the treasurers prouant masters in campe or garrison It hath in like sort a regard limited vnto the treasurers and officers of the prince his great receit to whom the collection and conseruation thereof remaineth but the dispensation and imployment only resteth in the command of this Counsell which likewise hath in trust the consideration of all weightie treaties of peace betwixt their people and other nations of leagues amities commerce entercourse of militarie complots confederacies and actions and of dispatching away well instructed embassadours with any complementarie tearmes of beneuolence towards forren princes or states really or verbally to be professed or coloured to deliberate and resolue by what meanes in how short time and whether in priuate or publikely such businesse should bee managed with some other intricacies of more importance of which here I may not take any notice neither if I could can it bee thought fit that I should open them being only reserued as mysteries peculiar to this which the prince calleth his owne Counsell Those secrets of a State which commonly fore beyond the vulgar apprehension beeing certaine rules or as it were cabals of glorious gouernment and successe both in peace and warre apprehensible to few secret Counsellors in some Commonweales which either languish or wax vnfortunate are locked vp in foure generall rules First in the congregation of wise magistrates including the prinat Counsell These vpon importune causes in matters of highest consequence that cannot otherwise bee remedied but by meanes most necessarie to bee concealed knit vp the prudence of their resolutions in sinuous knots and serpentine wreathes of mysticall and intricate meanes and instruments fetching in their curious machinations and denises with bait hooke and line for any graue purpose beyond ordinarie reason The second is in the maiestie of State which includeth euery prince his priuate power with the strength of his wisedome and fortitude in allies monies confederates inuasions and euasions in all glorious hazards and aduentures In seeking certainely to learne out those mysteries the vulgar are commonly deceiued for it is so shadowed as not all princes are well acquainted with their owne force and how faire their armes may by meanes sufficiently stretch onely some few very prudent and industrious Counsellors of grauest and most iudicious obseruation are throughly well acquainted withall The third consisteth in iudgements wherein vpon the decision and appendance of some weightie matters respecting the common quiet and securitie by certaine mysticall circumstances in handling strange Oracles not apprehensible by vulgar sence are oftentimes closed as by suffering a mischiefe rather than an inconuenience and by breaking off a leg or arme to saue the best ioynt from perishing The fourth concludeth in the warie leuying of warre in the skilfull exercising leading and encouraging of souldiors vpon seruices vnto them vnknowne and tending to the most renowne protection and augmentation of their countrey which entirely dependeth vpon stratagemes of warre deuised and executed by the Commaunder his noble and industrious sagacitie and secrecie and in them many times are the weales and safeties of puissant kings and kingdomes wholly contained In choice of this most honourable Senate it is very needfull that the prince shew great prudence and discretion as in that sufficiencie which must
ciuill courts in this realme which master William Camden our most learned Brittaine Antiquarie did very commendably set forth in the last edition of his booke Now somewhat concerning the lawes but in speciall touching our owne nation It is said that Brutus vpon his settling in this Iland did write a booke of lawes in the Greeke tongue collected out of the Troiane lawes 1103. yeres before Christs birth which Greeke lawes the Druides first administred in this land being solemnly by vowes inhibited to promulgate them to vulgar vnderstanding From these Druides according to Caesar being found out amongst vs a colonie was deducted into Galle for the instruction of that people The frequent and reciprocall commerce and trafique betwixt the Galles and Brittaines in those times like to be by couenant or deeds ratified according to those Greeke lawes by which both the nations were gouerned should seeme as Str◅bo thinketh to confirme so much Molmutius Donwallo instituted two bookes of lawes in this land called municipiall and iudiciarie importing the statute lawes and the common lawes After him Mercia Proba the wife of king Guinteline another booke called Merciaes lawes King Afred also gathered diuers which being into one volume compiled he named a breuiarie drawen from diuers lawes of the Troians Greeks Brittaines Saxons and Danes Also Sigibert king of the East Angles published a booke called the Institutes of Lawes Edward the Confessor next king before William the first amongst the diuinest and worthiest lawyers may be registred which out of those infinite volumes of Brittish Romaine Danish and English lawes made a choise Rapsodie which he did intitle the common law as by the wordes of diuers diligent and faithfull Antiquaries appeareth After these princes king William the first vpon his great victories and militarie trauels in subduing the rebellious violence of the borderers impaling this land instituted diuers excellent and commodious lawes abolished since then abrogating others which were not so necessarie for those times as Geruas of Tilbury writeth After whom his sonne H. the first surnamed Henry Beauclerke of whom Henrie of Huntington who liued in his dayes recordeth much being a very learned and politike prince abolished certaine of them restoring diuers of the former which hee thought were more behousefull for those times And Henrie the second a prince of much mildnesse and humanitie compiled another volume diuided into the laws of this Commonwealth the statutes royall intituled But in this point I referre my selfe with the reader to the large very learned Epistle of S. Edward Coke to those bookes of Lawcases by him lately compiled And so much briefly touching the precise care and studies of former princes in ordeining collecting the laws the necessity wherof being so vulgarly knowen needeth no confirmation by further example considering how fresh it springeth in our memories omitting the most sage prudent prouisiō of that Numa of England king Henry the seuenth for the Commonwealth by good and politike institution administration of lawes that our late sacred soueraigne Elizab. whose very name imprinteth a reuerend remembrance in my heart instituted many diuine laws by which the miraculous peace of this Cōmon-wealth vnder the mercifull prouidence of God was amplified conserued eternised And here may not I with modestie passe or post ouer his Maiesties royall prudence knowledge and high paines in compiling and publishing the lawes of Stotland imprinted in one volume not doubting but that God of his great and inestimable loue to this nation vnder his blessed scepter also shall so worke by iustice in his princely spirit that this realme may becomein shorttime of a garden wherein his highnesse found some weeds a diuine paradise of most ciuill humanitie This hath bene the great care which did formerly with such vehement force worke in the brains hearts of al prudent kings emperours to make their people blessed this which amongst many more excellent vertues and honors attributed and ascribed formerly to Augustus Caesar made him so great and eternall in the golden memorials of time so that for the correction and promulgation of lawes in his owne name and for his sumptuous and many buildings it was truely and triumphantly spoken of himselfe Vrbem latericiam reperi relinquo marmoream These were the bulwarkes which protected the peace and honour of his Empire and those by which the superabounding tranquilitie of this Nation hath beene so long cherished and conserued It was recorded in the Romane Annals and memorials as a notable happines in Antoninus Pius that through his iustice prudence and fortitude there arose not any warres amongst the Romanes for 23. yeeres together which happeneth generally by the due distribution and execution of iustice and equitie What then may be said in our Chronicles of that our late gracious and auspicious planet of Christendome Queene Elizabeth whose beams yet after the dissolution of her mortalitie so diuinely shine amongst vs in those Lawes established and taught vnto vs whilst she raigned ouer vs who sauing some fewe moneths doubled those yeeres of happinesse vpon her people in admirable honor peace and plentie It is sooth and well answereth to the lore of wisedome that all policies States or Common-weales are most corrupt wherein there be many lawes established forsomuch as it is presupposed that where multitudes of crimes and vices predominate of strange and diuers qualities diuers vnusuall and strange lawes are necessarily made to restraine them or if they be preordained to correct or prohibit vices which are not yet may happen then it is as dangerous in regard of that expressed in this poeticall sentence Gens humana ruit in vetitum nefas For Adams children naturally lust after the forbidden fruit Not many Bookes which confound mens memorie with heapes of words and matter but few substantiall and necessarie referring all pettie things not being nefarious to the censure of venerable magistrates which will not suffer a sparke to make a flame and not to the written Letter of Poenall Lawes considering how the meane ministers and executioners of them which search out inquire and informe of such offences doe commonly more preiudice then benefit and honestie to the Commonwealth For wee know that by Gods finger all the lawes both diuine and humane were within a paire of marble Tables comprised in a compendious Decalogue The reports and causes of our common-lawes and iudgements haue appeared in two points that the former Kings of this Realme as king Edward the third Henrie the fourth Henrie the fift Henrie the sixt Edward the fourth Richard the third Henry the seuenth with prudent inspection found that necessitie which required a luculent interpretation of the difficult points in our Common-lawes wherevpon they by the faithfull conference of foure most reuerend and learned Iudges in the Lawes following the sage example of that most wise and victorious Emperor Iustinianus before mentioned did each of them in their seuerall raignes cause the genuine and very sence
vulgar The first and chiefe place in all ciuile gouernment vnder princes and Commonweales according to Dion Cassius Francis Patricius Barthol Cassanaeus Hyppolito Furio Ceriolano with others which haue by their bookes opened the formes of counsels concerning the state of any kingdome remaineth to the Treasurers which by the Romanes were called Quaestores à quaerendo because they did seeke how to magnifie corroborate and amplifie the Commonwealth by lawfull and honourable meanes for the speciall weale of those states and princes vnder whom they did administer and also did faithfully conserue those riches to their trust committed Hence is it that Dion tearmeth Quaesturam primum gradumin Senatâ—… howbeit Iustus Lipsius not wholly suffragating to that opinion sayth Quòd inter magistratus fuere quaestores ordine primi dignitate vltimi Which office being auntiently deriued from the Greekes was first erected amongst the Romanes in the first bud of that Empire after it was growne to some height when the societies of those people louingly knit and assembled had in the citie by their policies valour and industrie gathered and got a great masse of treasure together wherein euery free citisen had equall share at what time they did first institute two generall Quaestores or Treasurers which were famous amongst them for their Iustice valour moderation and prudence that had the tuition thereof keeping their office in Aede Saturni This institution of Treasurers Tacitus would haue amongst the Romans when the Consular estate was first established Anno 23. after their kings were abolished some thinke they were first ordained Anno Vrb. conditae 269 But it is not so doubtfull as needlesse precisely to stand vpon that point onely this the place of Treasurers being first amongst the ciuile magistrates as at this day in Fraunce where Les generalx des finances les presedents des accomptes haue a prioritie not onely before both the Counsels strict and at large but also before the foure Primiers Presidents in that realme as our Lord high Treasurer of England hath also whose place with vs is highest next vnto the Lord Chancelour in ciuile reputation giueth me some cause to digest the same into my first booke of Offices being as I may tearme it notvnfitly that liuer wherein the blood which possesseth the mouing life of euery commonwealth is contained For euen as moneyes are fitly called the sinews of war so may we likewise properly tearme them the blood of peace and therefore that state or kingdome whose treasure is exhausted though it be most ample populous and puissant in other things may be called bloodlesse and languishing according to the saying of that learned Lawman Nobilitas sine diuitijs pené mortua est tanquam corpus exangue Riches therefore may bee properly tearmed the blood of peace that entering the veines or conduits of the liuer which may semblably be likened to the Treasurers office and reflowing thence benignely disperseth it selfe into the members of the whole bodie resembling analogically the Commonwealth for the generall sustentation and nurriture thereof It is the bone of that strong arme by which the kingdome is in time of peace strengthened against all hostile attempts It is the marrow by which that bone is seasoned soupled and confirmed or rather that arme which is strongly nourished enabled and knit with those sinewes veines blood bones and pith wherein remaineth a proportionable strength guiding the sacred sword of iustice in hand The charge of Treasurers consisteth in the receiuing keeping and disbursing of the prince his money consisting in the reuenewes of his Empire amplified by the tributes of his subiects supplied by the subsides fines and forfeitures of cities societies and malefactors relieued with the tallages and customes of marchants and aduenturers magnified in the prizes and presents ordinarily resulting from forraine princes and people either friends or enemies and as Titus Liuius writeth Munera Quaestoris sunt pecuniae publicae acceptio expensio signorum militarium ex auro vel argentoin aerario asserâ—…atio praedae venditio subhastatio legatorum exceptio deductio hospitij assignatio All which were most honourable attributes peculiarly permitted to the Treasurers and as Lipsius noteth it such was that auncient honour of those Quaestores that amongst the Romanes of old it was permitted vnto them to make lawes and decrees to subscribe vnto suites motions and petitions being both keepers and presedents of the Lawes and of Iustice which power is with vs and in France deuolued vnto the Lords Chancellors howbeit in that realme principally where the Lord Chancellor is highest in the kings counsels of whom in all causes appertaining the weale of that state the king taketh aduice as of some oracle so that when any rescripts edicts or decrees contrarie to law bee by the king either vpon misinformation or negligence graunted the Chancellour hath ex officio power to cancell or annullate them whereupon was first deuised the name Cancellarius which office in Venice hath the most secret particulars of that state in managing and yet is not so powerfull in his authoritie Likewise the French Generalx des finances vpon the like considerations and respects may cut off or curtall at their pleasures the kings gifts and bounties issuing out of his Treasuries Lands or Reuenewes if in their wisedomes it seeme expedient and therfore as I should thinke they might by the like reason also be called Cancellarij because they Tanquam Tutores limit the kings mind intra rationis moderationis caucellos This counsell of Treasurers conuerseth in the exportation of such commodities as euery Common-weale out of her friendship or abundance exchangeth or ministreth hauing equall respect vnto the induction or reinuection of such other marchandize as their people need and couet most Likewise in all treasures vnder ground as in mines and minerals of gold and siluer copper tinne lead and yron the richest commonly belonging to the prince of that soyle where such treasures are opened and others either bygraunt or otherwise according to legall tenure of Frank Charter or of other immunities royall in tenure of such subiects as accordingly make payment to the custome or imposition of the prince or countrey Wherefore it behooueth that such as be chosen into that place and authoritie bee men not of learning and temperance onely but of good yeares and much experience also howbeit the Romanes did make choice of their Quaestores at twentie fiue yeares according to Tacitus Which greene age could not amongst vs haue had that maturitie of iudgement and foresight in these times that is required in a worthie Treasurer although amongst those Romanes in that golden age of nature we may by circumstances find that young noble men were in all the parts of their life generally temperate and frugall with a certaine specious apparance of liberalitie yet did not in theÌ„ appeare that precocitie which is in many of our young heads of this age
which are so free at the first that they bee soone poore and thredbare of vnderstanding before the bruit of their rare pregnancie be well dispersed and those young men were so well instructed from their infancie that they did contend how to bee thought most noble vertuous and fit for places of reputation in their countrey by suppressing many lusts motions commotions and vnperfect passions of the mind with a moderate domination of reason and constancie They were full of modestie full of dutie and full of such religion as then was professed amongst the prophane Gentiles obseruing in all words and deeds a temperat moderation without any deturpation or deformitie And these qualities in those young Romans worthily made them eligible and fit for such great dignities and offices The Lord high Treasurer of England his office is in the Exchequer erected by king William the first for safe custodie of his crown lands and of those records which may concerne them To which Queene Marie ioyned the Surueyors generall the court of Augmentations and reuenewes of the Crowne with the first fruits and tenths of Benefices being erected by that king of good memorie Henrie the eight This office is called Scaccarium of a certaine large square table which according to Geruas of Tilburie cited by M. William Camden hath a chequered cloth brought and spread vpon it in the tearme of Easter as a place or table of iust proportion account or iudgement in all causes respecting the royall treasure or reuenewes where all ciuile causes betwixt the prince and his tenants are indifferently decided Iudges in this court are the Lord high Treasurer of England the Chancelour of the Exchequer the Lord chiefe Baron of that court with other foure Barons assistants the Remembrancer Engrosser Controller Clearkes of the Pleas and of the Pipe-office Auditors with their clearkes Apposer Chamberlaine Clerke of the Streights Marshall Clearke of the Summons deputie Chamberlaines Secondaries to the Remembrancer to the Treasurer and to the Pipe-office Also in the office of receit M. Vice Treasurer Clerkes of the Tally and of the Parchments with diuerse other inferiour officers All which are ordained for the conseruation and amplification of those foresaid reuenewes and of diuers other pecuniarie duties ordinarie and extraordinarie by which the ciuile state of all principalities is necessarily sustained for it is manifest that without the competent force of mony no Commonwealth can hold together absolute in her members And to that purpose was it first deuised when people and nations were necessarily constrained to require supplies and succours out of remote countries by commutation of cōmodities through exportation and importation of them from and to forraine places howbeit the principall exchange is for gold and siluer coyned in little round plates and besantes of greater and lesse value being authorised by the edicts of those princes and Commonweales where they bee stamped and passe currant amongst the people Foure kinds of mettall haue auntiently beene coyned amongst the Romanes one of lead which when it first was deuised exceedeth all records of true memorie as Iust. Lipsius writeth another of brasse or copper which the Romanes therefore called Pecunia quod esset nota pecudis signata of which coynes diuerse vnder the Romanes here in Brittaine as well of copper as yron likewise were stamped according to M. William Camden in his booke of Brittaine antiquities Siluer amongst the Romanes was first coyned Anno ab vrbe cond 484. F. Pictore Qu. Oculeio Coss. The coyne of gold 62 yeares after the siluer C. Claudio Nerone Marco Liuio Salinatore Coss. The beginning and end of coyning was for commerce as by pieces of some value for exchange of other commodities to people of other nations by whose diuers and seuerall stamp◅s the countries with whom they traffiqued were knowne And hence is it that those coynes of mettall are infinite which dependeth vpon two reasons also the first is vpon couetousnesse of people which would abundantly bee serued with things which their minds couet for some needfull vses the second vpon pleasures for which many men seeke for great heapes of money but the want of things desired amongst men is infinite and the choice of pleasures endlesse all which are attained by money The desire of treasure therefore can neuer bee fulfilled according to the saying of Cicero Expetuntur diuitiae cum ad vitae vsus necessarios tum ad perfruendas voluptates Dilectant enim magnifici apparatus vitaeque cultus cum elegantia copia quibus rebus effectum est vt infinita pecuniae cupiditas esset A Treasurers prudent care and whole studie therefore leuelleth at all such honourable meanes and iust occasions as may serue to bring in diuers summes and how to maintaine a continuall haruest of getting to sustaine those infinite burthens of necessarie disbursement how to leuie for the Common-wealth with good discretion and nothing without vrgent cause Vnto which contribution that it may be more liberall and cheerefull is required that the people be generally well affected both towards the prince and vnto that common necessitie which importuneth the same for the better effecting whereof some plausible and effectuall declaration published vnto them by their Soueraigne readily prepareth their hearts moouing in them a more benificent kind of alacritie and therefore it is in such cases most behoofefull Vt omnes intelligant si salui esse velint necessitati esse parendum For beeing persuaded that the generall safetie dependeth thereupon you shall find the couetous readiest to contribute Moreouer it addeth very much vnto the loue of people towards their princes and to their good opinion of his grace and meekenesse vnto them correspondently when he by suit seeketh that which his regall authoritie might exact The respects are great and those necessities important which should vrge a prince to violence in those cases yet a good Soueraigne can neuer haue cause of compulsion For when the king which hath authoritie to constraine vseth a facilitie to persuade it importeth some vehement necessitie Can any priuate Commonweale mount without tributarie wings Or could the firmament of peace be cleere if all clouds had not first beene dispersed with the thunder of warre Are armes exercised without wages Are ships prouided of men victuals and of artillerie without mony How shall officers which be continually busied in ceaselesse seruice for the common securitie haue reliefe without salaries May vertuous or needie persons bee rewarded or succoured without some generall supplies Few be those princes of Christendome so neere as I can iudge whose owne priuat reuenewes are able to supply the publicke charge onely so that the more puissant any prince is in dominion and territorie so much more the common charge doth aggrauate his necessities For this office therefore all honest and needfull meanes of getting are to bee carefully studied and prouided towards the true maintenance whereof it highly benefiteth to forbeare all superfluous damnable and
penurie succeede being a most pestilent feauer or consumption rather to the king and Common-wealth A curious eye with vigilant regard must bee bent vpon the Collectors Receiuers Auditors and other inferior ministers belonging to this office least in exactions or by fraudulent deuises they satisfie there priuate auarice with a kind of extortion or crueltie For auarice is an inordinate lust of hauing whose appetite is infinite whose acquisition immoderate whose possession vnlawfull whereby the prince vndoubtedly may bee brought into daunger It is like that Hydra which Poets talke of that though the stroke of Iustice execute vpon it continually yet will it miraculously reuiue againe it forceth not either the lightening thunder or thunderbolts of the law prouided against it Salust describeth it a beast rauenous cruell and intollerable where it haunteth huge Cities Fields Churches and Houses are laid wast Heauen and Earth prophanely mingled Armies and strong wals cannot restraine the violence thereof It spoileth all mortall people of good Report Modestie Children Nation Parents c. So doth this brightnesse of gold bleare mens outward sences so fuming in their heads and fastened in their hearts that they feare not any mischiefe which can accompanie Lucre. Such wicked vniust and rauenous officers eating the people as bread are to be squeezed like sponges full of water Great caution therefore must be vsed against the violence of officers in such extortion least the prince after some few yeares patience of the people vpon new grieuances become odious which king Henry the eight in the second yeare of his raigne did most politickely prouide in his proceedings against Sir Richard Emson and M. Dudley late inward and of counsell in such cases vnto his sage father king Henry the seuenth By good example of whose punishment others might vpon the like inconueniences suffer For if the people find not redresse vpon their complaints then will they rise as at that time it was feared in open hostilitie which if the blood of those extorting officers can expiate without some humane slaughter sacrificed to tenne hundred scpulchers then is it happie but such generall hurts haue commonly no compensation without a generall confusion The peoples payments ought so to be disposed therefore that all men according to their faculties by due discretion of good and honest sworne officers in euery shire or prouince may take such reasonable dayes and times of payment limited as they may without any grudging or disease contribute heartely Moreouer that such as are in speciall affaires of their prince and for the Commonwealth employed hauing by such occasions largely spent of their owne priuate for the common good as euery good man will in such cases bee for examples sake for the good encouragement of others precisely exempted from all kind of burthens and impositions Also such as haue formerly done much grace and honour to their countries and princes if they be not at that time so high in blood that they may well away with phlebotomie should bee graciously spared according to the French order for all courtiers and seruants attendant vpon the kings person in his house are by the ciuile lawes of Fraunce excepted in time of peace from all collections tallages gabels exactions customes and impositions whatsoeuer which others are tied vnto likewise in the times of warre from any burthen of receiuing quartering and billetting of souldiors Obseruation concerning these collectors and ministers before named dependeth vpon the chusing and displacing of Officers either iust or corrupt First the choice of such ministers is made out of men honest stayed and well approoued for such a purpose bad Officers which did extort or vnlawfully compasse being with losse of their places and possessions punished Dispensation of these tributes and subsidies must bee to the generall and not any particular vse for no man will sticke at a little charges employed to publicke behoofe if it once appeare that the prince doe not consume his treasure in vnnecessarie cost and riot but keepe a moderation with decencie which albeit the vulgar do not generally marke for they respect onely the princes proper faculties and reuenewes which ought to be by the treasurers concealed so much as may bee yet certaine captious and dangerous heads full of quarrels and aduantages such as are of fierie spirits coueting innouation which commonly lead the blind and abused vulgar into dangerous actions will narrowly sift and make a breach into the common peace vnder the pretext of taxes and impositions as hath beene found in certaine commotions in the dayes of king Richard the second and king Henry the sixt with other princes vpon the like occasions Such gettings therfore as proceed from the subiects beneuolence must bee sparingly spent and husbanded and so should the Treasurers beare themselues in that Office as stewards of other mens goods and not of their owne That most prudent and worthy Lord Treasurer William Cecill goodly well approued ouer all causes and in all businesse either publike or priuate during the late and most deare mirrour of good gouernment Queene Elizabeth of most renowmed and euerliuing memorie did leaue behind him a liuely patterne and precedent of his singular care and excellent wisedome to the great encrease of that stocke committed then to his charge as may serue euerlastingly to them which yet are or euer may be credited with that office to get and maintaine eternall reputation The generall good opinion and report of him after his death in the mouths of all good men may stirre vp his successours in that place truely to resemble his vertues and integritie The treasure therefore may not bee wilfully wasted or exhausted for satisfaction of any prince in his priuate prodigalitie Vera enim simplex via est magnitudinem animi in addendo non demendo reipublica ostendere For persons of lauish humours and exorbitate affections thinke not that there is any true fruition of treasure without profusion Diue deepe therefore into the bottomelesse danger thereof by manifold and most manifest example and obseruation as in Archigallo king of the Brittaines who was deposed by the people for his extortion after hee had raigned fiue yeares and then vpon his reformation restored And amongst diuers vnaduised princes consider that it was not the least cause of decay to Edward of Carnaruan king of England when hee by such meanes lost the loue of his commons by listening vnto flatterers and wilfully robbed himselfe of the fealtie of his nobles which opened his sepulchre for other matters more securely Men of such profuse qualitie which extort much as if they could not keepe any thing but that which is taken with a violent extortion are in themselues miserably poore From hence likewise brauncheth another speciall rule of moderation that no leuies surmount the princes occasions for if it tend not to the subiects great benefit being very necessarily dispensed it dishonoureth any Soueraigne to straine them in so small a matter And such
fortitude were scandalized and subuerted by women Howbeit I doe not here intend from all sorts of women and in anie weightie causes of consequence to make a question of foeminine insufficiencie because in other greater causes of right and gouernment according to the auntient lawes priuiledges and customes of diuers Realmes and Countries there is great reason why they should retaine their immunities as Plutarch writeth was sometimes in Fraunce Cum Celtarum mulieres Consilijs publicis interfuissent in quibus de pace bello tract abatur At what time the French women were alwaies present at their publique Counsels in all matters ciuill and militarie For hee saith in the said Treatise how such articles of confederacie were betwixt the Gaules and Hanniball that the Carthaginian Magistrates should order all wrongs done vnto them by the Celtes and that the Celtique women answerably such wrongs as was done vnto the Gaules by the Carthaginians Which auncient custome being odious to diuers princes of that Realme in posteritie might peraduenture haue giuen cause vnto king Pharomonde of his law But sure it is that many women haue worthely gouerned heretofore in diuers places And diuerse very learned and politicke women such as Aspasia whom Pericles loued and with whom Socrates did often consult Howbeit if Counsels of the state in these our dayes should be referred vnto them I thinke neither the time nor date of their continence and experience would permit the same againe in Fraunce But that I may conclude vpon this point of secrecie for by that peculiaritie Counsellors ought to be chosen and cherished It is written in Diodorus Siculus how the Egyptians did ordaine That hee which opened the secrets of that Commonwealth to his trust committed should haue his tongue rooted out Those sixtie learned Areopagites of Athens did carefully prouide against this crime also Moreouer it is instituted by the ciuile lawes that they which diuulge secret Counsels of the publicke state shall bee burnt at a stake or hanged vpon a gibbet It is required in persons of so worthy place and nobilitie that to this faithfulnesse they superadde fortitude and honest constancie towards the defence and maintenance of iustice and truth both in giuing receiuing and in concealing of Counsell as is warned by the example of Sardanapalus the thirtieth and last Monarch of the Assyrians who through his sensualitie pusillanimitie lacke of grace and of true fortitude was within his huge citie Niniuie besieged by Arbaces captaine of the Medians through whose power and in feare of the Oracle which was fulfilled in suddaine falling downe of a large peece of the cities wals that made passage for the Medians and strooke him with such a present terror he thus feebly consulted and resolued with himselfe vpon a flaming pyre destined to that end together with his concubines eunuchs and treasure to cast himselfe leauing all the spoyles and reliques with that Monarchie to the Medians In the Prince therfore principally fortitude is required and next in his secret Counsellors whose vertues should animate him There is one most excellent note of true fortitude remaining vnto such honourable Counsellors by the example of Scauola viuely manifesting a valiant heart fortified with a iust and vnstained conscience hee when Sylla with multitudes of men in armes had entred the Senate implacably thirsting after the destruction of Marius whom hee would haue had by the Senatours then present denounced a common enemie to the state onely Scaeuola refused to giue voice against him euen when Sylla with most truculencie threatened him to the contrarie saying Albeit thou darest mee with these heapes of souldiors with which thou distressest this honourable presence although thou breath forth death against me yet will not I condiscend in loue of my blood which is both aged and little to denounce Marius our enemy through whose valour and honestie my conscience attesteth how the citie Rome and all Italie was preserued In such cases therefore Counsellors truly valiant feare onely the wrath of God threatening iniquitie least as S. Augustine writeth Through feare or affection in concealing the veritie they seeme more to respect the creature than the creator Vnto this faith and fortitude there are opposites to which diuers in their deliberations and resolutions are vehemently subiect viz. feare being a certaine pensiue heauinesse for some mischiefe future or remote and affection which is a partiall respect of certaine persons beyond the lists of reason Such people therefore are not deemed wise and prudent which feare more than is fit considering that indissoluble accord which is betwixt Prudence and Fortitude according to that wise Prouerbe of king Salomon A wise man is valiant and a learned man strong Notwithstanding the weake opinions of diuers which haue argued in my hearing That wise men cannot be valorous for so much as they summe vp with the counters of reason in the audit of prudence all chaunces and perils which may come in by circumstances and deriuations of matters According to that of Salust concerning Iugurth Quod difficilimum imprimis est praelio strenuus erat bonus consilio quorum alterum ex prouidentia timorem alterum ex audacia temeritatem plerunquè afferre solent And that which was most difficult his stoutnesse in warre and his soothfastnesse in Counsell exceeded the last of which commonly by reason of that prouidence which forecasteth perils doth inflict feare the first through exceeding boldnesse breedeth temeritie A rare position as if there had scarcely beene any meane betwixt cowardise and temeritie Actions both glorious and profitable may not be let slip through feare of vncertaine perils yet if we stand betwixt two dangers let vs with firme valour aduenture vpon that which may best emblazon our honour bearing with it true tokens of our true heroicall vertues and spirits We know by good experience that a timerous Counsellor is by desperation being a fearefull and horrible deiection or consternation of a mind base and abiect conuerted into rash courses euen as rash men are by their temeritie Furthermore it is common in the nature of things chiefely to feare dangers most imminent being more appalled at present perils than is requisite but valuing mischiefes future and remote more carelesly than they should because hopes by times or chaunces may promise some redresse for them But this is both sure and notable Vbi bonum publicum usui est id dubitare aggredi socordiae atque ignauiae est It is the part of a slothfull coward when a man shall feare to attempt any thing which may benefit the Commonwealth A prudent Senatour therefore equally respecteth head and foot for after long consultation and leisure had in expence of time he cannot without great shame and difficultie recall matters which haue beene curiously sifted before as it was spoken of Bomilchar Quâ—… cupidus incepta patrandi timore socij anxius omisso veteri Consilio nouum quaerere noluit Who
out on high like the sweete Cedars in Salomons forrests which shortly by transportation or inoculation of their sprigs into other kingdomes may beare rule and preheminence in all the goodliest gardens of the world Neyther can any difference bee found in a well seasoned palate betwixt that taste which the fruits of these graffes yeeld sauing in a little rellish which I compare to the dialect of their languages not differing at all if you suite them with that old Brittaine tongue of Wales which notwithstanding hath continued faithfull so many yeeres vnder the Crowne of England Since therefore the wall that deuided these two princely chambers so neerely conioined before is now taken away and that one maiesticall lodging is made of them both where the bride and bridegroome doe louingly repose themselues together there is great cause why we should call vpon the daughters of Syon which are meant by the faithfull and well affected in Salomons Canticles saying with cheerefull hearts Behold King Salomon with the crowne where with his mother crowned him in the day of his mariage and in the day of the gladnesse of his heart For though the bride be blacke as her name importeth like king Salomons beloued yet is she amiable and full of comelinesse her riches is in concealed treasure and her beautie glistereth within which shortly to the comfort of them both through the great grace and goodnesse of God is like with glorie to be discouered into Christendome Besides what a rich dower was legacied to these happily coupled nations by God himselfe euen in that faire and bright cincture of strength and peace the true Cestus or loue-girdle which encloseth them both wherein by the omnipotent great workeman as the sacred Psalmist sayth innumerable thinges creeping are wrought both small and great in which are placed multitudes of shippes militant and merchant that like so many precious stones of speciall vertue decore and garnish the same some hauing the power attractiue to draw benefites and commodities vnto them from all forraine parts of the world others distributiue which impart with a reciprocall benignitie the fruits and blessings of this Island diuers defensatiue in the good cause of their friends and collegues which confeathered together as feathers all of one wing ioyne in one fleete against those rauenous vultures which would tyrannize ouer them many that haue a force repercussiue which flaming like rockes of carbuncles euen as in the violent eruptions of Vesuuius or Aetna foulder and evomite the cannon stones of their indignation and vengeance vpon those tyrannous aduersaries and assaylants of their liberties the dreadfull smoake whereof doth yet in some Castilian stomackes taste vnsauorly This girdle beautifully compasseth our royall bridegroome and his bride whose most beautifull vnited bodie giueth grace to this girdle left as a pledge of this vnion wherein all Christian princes are made happie so that the time may shortly come when vpon the coast of this blessed Island many potentates shall strike their toppe gallants beckening and bowing downe with their plumes of glorie like homagiers to the Brittaine scepter So that they which repine at this association or combination may when malice is vanquished hereafter with glorie magnifie that which they contemptuously despised before so that as Salust writeth Quod difficilimum est inter mortales gloria inuidiam vincemus si concordes vnanimes fuerimus That which is not easily seene amongst mortall men our glorie shall triumph ouer enuie if wee concord and vnite together For neither strength in battailes nor huge heapes of treasure can verely support and maintaine the states of kingdomes but friends and faithfull countreymen whom neither armes can compell nor any gold conciliate faith alone shall retaine them in dutie conquering and possessing their hearts assuredly For who can or should bee more louing than one brother towards another Or shall wee presume that strangers will be faithfull towards vs when wee breake forth in hostile variance amongst our selues A firme state and euerlasting Monarchie was brought vnto vs by that iustice which our right royall liege Lord brought with him out of Scotland into this Realme if we can bee benigne meeke gracious and affectionate one towards another But if in contrarie what man is hee that can expresse our future desolation and calamitie For euen as king Mysipsa dying spake to Iugurth his vnnaturally fostered sonne on the behalfe of his owne naturall children Adherball and Hyempsall whose honours and inheritance he most ingratefull tyrannously did vsurpe Concordiaparuâ—…rescrescunt c. Small matters are encreased by concord But hereof we neede not vnder the protection of God make doubt for that which is a most comfortable assurance to the people of this Nation the knot which our Soueraigne hath alreadie knit is like to proue indissoluble For the spouse hath in the bodie of Queene Anne that comely turtledoue of Denmarke long since brought foorth vnto the blessed bride-groome diuerse right royall braunches of this vnited kingdome which serue as faithfull pledges and witnesses of their inuiolable loue and vnitie Nay shee hath sealed it vpon the lippes of her husband with a kisse which kisse can neuer be forgotten Shee hath kissed his lippes alreadie from thence hath she sucked honey and myâ—…rhe proclaiming that her beloued is hers and shee his Shee shall therefore like a new wedded spouse forget her fathers house and name and bee called after her husband who because he will haue a paritie correspondent in all meekenesse assâ—…eth to himselfe the name of Brutus from whom as from their great grandsire both Hengyst and Scota were delined This auncient name is the true name and the nobler title because it is more ample and yet a new name and of late for what is it in the course of Nature Which is and hath not beene or hath not beene and shall be As Salomon in that sence so sagely sentenced for one generation passeth and another commeth The righteousnesse hereof shall breake foorth as a light and the saluation which commeth thereof as a burning lampe And as the Prophet Esay diuining of our Sauiour said so may we not improperly applie the same to your Highnesse beeing not his steward onely but the constant and faithfull champion and defender of his Gospell The Gentiles shall see thy righteousnesse and all kings thy glorie and thou shalt be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name thee thou shalt also be a crowne of glorie in the hand of the Lord and a royall diademe in the hand of thy God And vnto Scota thus much for her comfort Shee shall be no more forsaken neither shall it be said any more to that land desolate but thou shalt bee called Hephzibah and thy lands Beulah for the Lord delighteth in thee and thy land shall haue a husband for as a young man marrieth a virgine so shall thy sonnes marrie with thee and as a bridegroome is glad of his bride so shall
no man hath power in himselfe to appeale from the Lawes of his owne natiue Countrey because it is presupposed that each Commonners vote vpon sound and deepe deliberation and consultation hath already passed in Parliament And this is the very reason which includeth euery good Prince also within the limits of his owne Lawes being Per necessitatis legem ligatus Bound by the Lawes of necessitie to make good his owne act least through his refusall hee giue the first scope and light vnto the vulgar to contemne Iustice and magistracie Hence was it that Xenophon produced Cambises speaking Nonne statuunt imperatorem ad omnia tollerantiorem legibus magis astrictum quā subditos is it not decreed that he which is Emperor should tollerate more difficulties and be more straigtly bound vnto the Lawes then his owne subiects For sure it is that he laboureth to make a Tyrant of him which would exempt any king from obedience vnto his owne Lawes The right of Nations differeth from the Ciuill in this that it is generall and obserued traditionally by naturall reason amongst all persons whereas the other is priuate and tyed vnto the necessitie of that Commonwealth which requireth the same Ciuill Right is either written or by prescription That which is written doth consist in Lawes in Folkemots in the Senators Institutions in the Prince his Plees in Edicts of Maiestrates and in sage sentences Law which is summae potestatis iussum The precept or commandement of the highest power Or rather as I deeme Summum ius Extreame right Because many things were more seuerely committed to the Lawes letter then by the Law-sages and reuerend Iudges did seeme needfull with extremitie to be executed and some prudent sentences also deliuered in such misticall Oracles as might be wrested mollified or hardened as should be thought most fit in the Iudge his discretion by conscience and equitie onely to terrifie men from hainous sinnes is called the Rule of Reason the Empire of the prince and dutie of the subiects For all the Lawes both diuine and humane haue reference vnto the true worship of God and to the sincere and perfect concord of people amongst themselues the vertue whereof appeareth in commanding prohibiting permitting and punishing of matters and persons Iamblicus calleth the Law Rectamrationē reginam omnium quaerecta iusta iubet vetatque contraria The true reason and Queene of all causes commanding persons to doe right and iustice and prohibiting the contrarie Which is in effect the same with Iustum being that Quod cuiquam secundum praeceptum pr◅scriptum domini fit Which is done to euery man according to the king or Prince his precept and prescription For it is to be presupposed that the prince dealeth merely with right and equitie towardes all men whereas if Iustice be the scope or precinct of the Lawes and if those Lawes vpon commandement of the prince be put in execution which prince representeth vnto the people the liuely figure of Almightie God in his royall person it must of necessitie follow that the prince his lawes should haue a taste and resemblance of Gods lawes also and hence is it which I deriue as a position sure infallible that they which feare to offend the lawes of God stand not in any feare of the punishment which is by the laws of man limited because they wil not offend either through impietie or through the want of natiue iustice and charitie Those also which in feare to loose their present liues or liberties those which in loue of this world and those which in vsing this world as though they should alwayes vse it withdraw themselues from open offences are for the most part Epicures Atheists Hypocrites or wicked persons not performing any good thing out of their owne francke wils and honest consciences but by constraint and feare Onely they that out of their owne toward natures and in meere loue to vertue feare the transgression of lawes and iustice are honorably to be respected and cherished according to that saying of the Poet. Oderunt peccare boni virtutis amore Oderunt peccare mali formidine poenae Good men stand in feare to commit offences through that loue which by diuine grace they beare to vertue wicked men are loath to doe wickedly because they stand in feare of that punishment which is limited by the lawes Moreouer mans only feare of the lawes cannot purge his conscience cleane from sinne but merely taketh away from him the licence by which he doth offend Leges enim possunt delicta punire conscientiam munire non possunt For the lawes may punish offences but haue no power to corroborate or munite the Conscience And so much in briefe concerning Lex generally which was instituted likewise euen as in those places aforesaid amongst the Romanes of ancient ages past at Rome vpon the request of a magistrate Senatoriall being as it were Proconsul for that time Plebiscitum which I call Folkemot because this word hath beene ancient in our lawes was that which the magistrate or mouth of the Commons vpon motion and suit as bearing office of their speaker and Tribune did get ratefied by the Romane Consuls and Senators on their behalfe Howbeit Folkemot as it might be taken by th'interpretation of that ancient Saxon word importeth some base assemblie or conuention of the meaner sort of people making and instituting lawes after their owne lustes for in my iudgement that might be called a Folkemot where the base commoners and inhabitants in any bad ordered Commonwealth as not acknowledging any lords or superiors should make lawes or choose magistrates vpon their owne improper opinions and indiscretions as I touched in the morals of my second booke intreating of the worst popular estate called Anarchie And such was it which in my iudgement might be called a Folkemot that happened in the dayes of King Henrie the third after the conquest when a multitude of the baser Commoners assembled at Oxford where those blockheads of that time exempted the king with his nobles and all others that had knowledge to reade and write from hauing any place or vote in their parliament sauing such as were to recorde their ridiculous and vnlawfull actions Such orders likewise as the baser sort in villages hamlets and poore townes doe make amongst them selues concerning their societies asin matters of their parishes of commons of pasture of moore or of any consultation concerning the common priuiledge of that towneship hundred rape or wapentake where they liue being now called Bierlawes and not retaining any force of written lawes but by customarie prescription within mans memorie retained as I thinke may be properly called Plebiscita and Folkemot Hereof being so well knowen to diuers professors and students of our commonlawes in this Realme I will not speake any more onely the difference whereupon I bring in that vnusiall terme Folkemot according to my translation is by the imperial institutions thus discerned This
by specious enucleation of all intricate or equiuocall points and cases to be cl◅red explained to the end that all other Iudges or Iustices which exceeded in administration of them might at the first sight with commendable perspicuitie deliuer the faithfull substance of all as occasion was offered for the peoples good hauing digested them into nine Volumes of the Lawes wherin the whole essence of all by those reuerend Law-fathers was most methodically couched For as the difference of all creatures by nature proceedeth from vnitie resembling many flowers sprouting from one roote euen so doe sundrie needfull and most beneuolent Lawes receiue life and nature from the precious wisedom of God the blessed and all-healing fountaine of whose knowledge he with ineffable grace and diuine beneficence openeth to them all that are studious of righteousnesse and in tender loue with respect vnto man being the choise operation of his handes doth retaine him by the due feare and loue of iustice and saluation in eternall tranquilitie The generall benefit calmely and plentifully redounding from those Bookes iudgements reports and Law-cases by the enucleation of those learned law-men as is before expressed includeth the second point Forsomuch as concerneth humane Lawes which are ordained by nature and published by the prince which by them gouerneth the Common-wealth to relieue and rectifie the same they must be iust and possible needfull and profitable plaine prescribed not to priuate but to publike vse and benefit consenting with time and place according to the nature and custome of the Countrey which should be moderated by them such as are our statute-lawes of England Vpon these thus ordained and prouided against faultes a knowledge shewing the difference of crimes and vices dependeth As whether the nature of thē consist in impietie by violation of the first table of Gods lawes through foolish prophanation or derrogation of or from his omnipotent power and maiestie or if it be flagitious and repugnant to the second importing impietie towards parents and magistrates the defamation or contumelies of neighbours the concupiscence and losse of liuelihoods and liues wherevpon parricides and horrible slaughters are bred Towards which legall office or ministerie three speciall things generally would be required in a Iudge the first of which is in his head to retaine a firme and venerable grauitie confirmed in his countenance with some serious kinde of awfull maiestie through his continuall meditation vpon the iust iudgements of God with the charge vpon him imposed which by the diuine gift of heauenly iustice must be fostered in his heart that all proceedings drawne from thence may be seasoned with the grauitie of his cogitations which in excellent discretion will point out to him the time person and place when to whom and where hee should shew iustice naked or inuested with mercie So that by the iustice of of his heart which ministreth wisedome and grauitie to his head and by the seuere and precise prudence of his head which inblazoned in a stedfast countenance a stout maiestie withall and by the comely grace of his countenance which admirably shadoweth all in a decent austeritie there may be due reuerence and feare drawne to the person of a Iudge on euery side about him infusing horror to the malicious and wicked with loue and reuerence to good and iust persons hauing his tong so sanctified and seared with zealous praier and with a liuely cole taken from the blessed Altar by the sacred Cherubine that it may become th' oracle of Gods iustice and the iust herauld of a sincere heart For if grauitie should not appeare in all his iudgements then shall he be suspected of a partiall foolish lentitude which opinion when it is once vulgarly conceiued will preiudice him either in his reputation or in administration of the Lawes This reputation or authoritie likewise is by the first three properties delineated to life the restraint whereof will disaduantage him in his honour which by such demeanor will be blemished with some misprizion or suspect of corruption There is likewise in euery wise Iudge expedient a mature experience in sutes and variances by defect whereof his ignorance deepely woundeth or rather maimeth him Lastly the mindes constancie corroborateth him in the perfection of all declaring that in the whole course of all his iudgements iustice alone without priuate affection preuaileth Neither is it meete but most vnfit that any man should sit on throne of iudgement or giue sentence when his owne cause is heard or discussed least affection vsurpe vpon and defile the tongue of magistracie least the reuerend custome of iudgement be violated least that maiestie whereof I spoke which is meete for the sage tribunall and court of equitie be diminished least a mischieuous example corrupting the people be drawne on with it and finally least a contempt of the Lawes and equitie do succced it Now somewhat concerning that abilitie which strengthneth Iudges and iuridicall magistrates in the administration of publike causes It is therefore principally to be considered that they which sit vpon this honourable throne of iudgement and take place to giue place vnto the due distribution of right and are firmely planted for the sure supplantation of those contageous vices which being but a little licenced would disperse and spread through all parts of the Common-weales most beautifull bodie defiling it with a foule and virulent leprosie stand deeply bound in a double recognisance of soule and bodie to be studious and industrious in the science and iudiciall practise of that wholesome physicke which must be frequently ministred to the diseased members of that State In which their iudgements being credited may be by the Prince allowed and iustified also for if they doe not yeeld euen law and execution of right to all subiects rich and poore without hauing regard to any person and without letting to doe right for any letters or commandement which may come to them from the prince or king or from any other by any other cause then are they by our Lawes thus censured worthily Their bodies lands and goods to rest at the kings pleasure who shall otherwise giue iudgement or sentence of and against them The King himself also which is head and iudge of the Lawes sheweth great goodnesse equitie through the world in shewing his royall assent and contentment that these iudges substituted vnder him shall giue sentence according to the Cannon and true meaning of iustice euen against himselfe directly if he through negligence be driuen vniustly to maintaine any sute with a priuate person which will not beare euen in the ballance of equitie in which that kingly sentence is verified that therein differt a rege Tyrannus for nothing more then this doth to life expresse a true kings glorie The kings of our nation to confirme this perfect honor of a iust prince in one act of Parliament ordained in the second yeere of king Edward the third are limited That although they commaund by their great
or priute seales to delay any cause in iudiciall dependance proceeding by course of law yet shall the iudges proceede with mature expedition according to iustice notwistanding any precept from them directed For what can be said more to the disgracing and disrobing of any king then that which Freigius in the latter end of his politicall questions citeth out of a certaine oration of Scattaius against tyrannie Tu iusticiam imperabis interim tamen iniuriam alijs facies tu officium commendabis ab officij religione deflectes As if he should say Why wouldest thou be king to command men to deale iustly giuing in proper person example of wrong done to others How canst thou commend men for doing of their dueties and offices when thou thy selfe transgressest thy functions and dueties Thus if princes or iudges should preuaricat but a little thē their laws which ought to be the iudges of euery iust prince will restraine and reforme them And if those lawes be dissonant to the spirit of charitie trueth and equitie thē the diuine power sapience of God which are the very iudges of all laws princes iudges on earth wil correct punish them with their ministers Let therefore no partiall respect of power neither priuate affection nor vnexcusable ignorance of those laws which any iudge stewardeth blemish his iudgments For if he be partiall let him consider with himselfe that it proceedeth from affection or corruption which both are incorporate that it cannot be hidden from many men amongst infinite which behold and heare him from so conspicuous a place where all mens eyes are fixed vpon his maiestie and therefore according to Salust aequos bonosque fauere debet vt eius benefacta reipub procedant he must fauour men which are iust and good that he may declare himselfe beneficent towards the Commonwealth And if he be led by affection let him consider how fallacious a passion it is oftentimes opposite to reason euen in the men of honestest natures and constitutions shewing a kind of charitie for the most part where it falsefieth the vertue pulling downe of a mountaine to raise a molehill and to satisfie his affected commonly to deiect and make ruinous such aduersaries which percase euen in a worse case descrue much more affection Lastly but specially let him haue a speciall care to be skilfull in those lawes which he deliuereth and administreth for otherwise his honor is onerous and insupportable For if he shall with all graue and profound prudence consider how chargeable and iust accompt will be required at his hands that hauing much committed to his trust his accompts will arise to great summes not of monies and pounds but of men and people the noblest worke of diuine nature the creature in whom so soone as he was created the creator himselfe exceedingly reioyced and tooke so great pleasure that when through his owne preuarication he was taken captiue to sinne hell and death he ransomed him in the tender and vnspeakeable loue of his holy spirit in the most precious blood of his deare sonne Christ Iesus the righteous sacrifice of his vnrighteousnesse If therefore he counterpoise in equall scales of diuine reason the sacred allegeance in which he liueth spiritually bound vnto God the faithfull obedience wherein he standeth bodily subiected to his prince the zealous duetie which doth by nature inuite him to studie the weale of his countrey pondering these with his naked conscience hee will not only refuse those honors and dignities to sit in iudgement vpon Gods beloued people vnworthily or vnskilfully but rather will choose a death accompanied with the languishing sting of infinite tortures Albeit as Salust thinketh Plerosque non ijsdem artibus imperiū petere postquā adepti sunt gerere primo industrios supplices modicos esse dehinc per ignauiam superbiam at atem agere That many princes differ in their acquisition and gouernement of a kingdome because vpon the first they shew themselues industrious suppliant and temperate afterward in sloth idlenesse and pride passe their liues Euery king iudge and ruler of the people therefore ought to ponder with himselfe how great a part of the Commonweales hope dependeth vpon him which he should with his vertues and innocencie protect whereas all other meanes are forcelesse Yea verely the iudge representeth in himselfe the person of that Commonwealth where he ministreth wherefore he should sustaine the state and honor thereof by conseruation and administration of iustice bearing in carefull remembrance the trust of those things which are reposed in him A iudge is as it were an eye fixed in the kings scepter a priest of diuine iustice and equitie a moderator of the lawes the life of righteousnesse whose voyce is the pronouncer and preseruer of life and death a publike interpreter of the lawes vnto whom as to a common sanctuarie all persons oppressed with dammages iniuries repaire and refuge themselues to be relieued in equity And euen as iust iudgement is fitly defined to be the ballance of equitie the voyce of lawes and consummation of all strife and variance so is the iudge properly called th'interpreter of those lawes the steward of equitie and oracle of the Commonwealth They therefore that are fit and worthy to sit vpon the throne of equitie ought sincerely to be good men seuere incorrupt obdurate against flatterers impatient of smooth tales and secret detraction vnmercifull to them that are remedilesse inexorable in waightie causes of iudgement and such as will not transgresse the precincts of iustice in any case for according to the discretion of Aulus Gellius they must distribute to the king and begger equall measure without inclination or passion towards any mans estate or person as it was most diuinely shadowed in that misticall order of the Areopagites being a counsell in Athens consisting of sixtie citizens which successiuely through all offices and degrees of honor at length attained place vpon the seate of iustice to deale in affaires of state and in tempestuous times to prouide that the Cōmonwealth should endure no preiudice These in the darkest season of the night would decide causes in iudgement at such time as they might heare and not see the parties appealed Hence it is that Cicero saith Vir bonus ponit personā amici cum induit iudicis A good man layeth apart the person of a friend when he taketh upon him the place of a iudge And therefore iudges as saith that most reuerend Emperour Iustinianus must sacrifice pure and vncorrupt hands to God to the kind and to the law least that curse fall vpon them which our Sauiour Christ denounced against the Pharises Woe be to you interpreters of the L◅we for you haue taken away the key of knowledge you did not enter in your selues and them that would haue entred you forbad Amongst other politicke Lawes in Deutronomie deliuered from Gods mouth to the sacred prince his seruant Moses it was commanded
worthy Lawyer of our time Sir Edw. Cooke the Kings Atturney generall The reuerend Fathers and Iudges in the Lawes of our time were Wray Bacon Harper Bromley Manwood Anderson Egerton and Popham whose excellent gifts of knowledge and wisedome haue bene plentifully powred out to the generall benefit of this Nation Diuers excellent men of great prudence learning hope for our own laws residing and studious in our houses of court and otherwise dispersed through his Maiesties dominions adorne and beautifie this Realme whose names fit me not here to insinuate So that this Nation vnder Gods gouernment during good Queene Elizabeth her raigne was inriched and roabed with the gold and purpure of fortune and wisedome auspiciously combined together And since her time with his Maiesties high prudence alwayes studying and inclyning to the peace and happinesse of his people graciously begun and very like blessedly to continue to his Highnesse high comfort so long as it shall stand with Gods high pleasure his Maiesties honour and with the speciall weale of his Kingdomes The Lawes before King Edward the third his raigne as Glanvile and Bracton record and some which were established in the dayes of his father Edward of Carnarvan and of King Richard the second were written in Latine but in the first of King Edward the third his raigne who had as it is knowne generally good and lawfull right to the crowne of France and did retaine diuers of those Prouinces in possession were all of them written in French Howbeit soone after to the ende that the people might the better vnderstand what was spoken for against them the Lawyers which before lately pleaded in French vpon such inconuenience found were enioyned by one act of Parliament that all their pleadings in all courts place within the realme should be made in English but entred and enrolled in Latine And somuch in briefe concerning the Legall counsell or court of Iudges Finis libri tertij The fourth Booke of Offices IT is commonly seene in the depraued condition of humane nature that diuers persons doe vehemently desire to be reputed skilfull and excellently learned in some commendable arts which they neuer attained A vicious bindnesse proceeding as I deeme from pride innated and from a certaine dishonest kinde of sluggishnesse when any man shall thinke that he can buy the credit and falsed opinion of diuine treasures with meere idlenesse in whose loathsome and vnsauory kennell the ragged blind barbarous and misbeliâ—…uing idoll ignorance filthily wallowing holdeth a perpetuall slouens right and doth in very foolish arrogancy vpon meere earthly presumption euerlastingly blemish all other laudable perfections which can be quoated in the faire and true carde of mans diuine nature and industrie The scandall of which dishonest imputation that I might crush to death in the head me seemeth it in conscience expedient and a chiefe branch of my duetie to confesse a trueth how much it exceedeth the weake bounders of my naked iudgement to furnish fit in compleat armes of proofe with all sutable habiliments of honour this right noble counsell of warre which though it be last in place yet is it first in procession and not lowest in profession considering that it putteth the titles of all right and iust honour in execution It is the noble corrector of all prodigall states a skilfull bloodletter against all dangerous obstructions and plurasies of peace the most soueraigne purgation of all superfluous and spreading humours or leprosies which can breed in any generall politicke body Necessity which importuneth a fourth placein my booke doth vrge me to that which my dishabilities towards the seruice of so serious a subiect shuld otherwise inhibit my practise in warres hath bene very little my knowledge in bookes and histories slender in such respects and as it is the generall fault of youthfull temeritie when I first entred the martiall lists negligently did I restraine my selfe from those needfull obseruations which should haue beene the very scope proposed to my whole time of seruice in armes through the vaine weakenesse of my greene and vnstayed head therefore I most humbly craue pardon for such omissions as will be found in this treatise frequently recommending it vnto the best and honorable iudgements which cannot calumniate with a generall exception and protestation against the vulgar in their bitternesse without discretion from which kinde of spirits I desire earnestly that my trauels may be concealed The matter is of it selâ—…e most ample and many things may be required which I know cannot be without some irkesomenesse to the reader inserted points of more moment ouershooting the scope of my knowledge I referre to my masters in armes that haue by much valour and long experience attained the martiall girland of iust honour and can famously from the golden trumpet of farre sounding victorie clang out aloud with heroicall cheere and alacritie the true flourish and euerliuing bruit of bloodie sweats and battailes Warre being vpon honorable grounds and with due deliberation vndertaken is the constant and inestimable base of a blessed peace rectifying composing and perfecting all iniuries disorders and imperfections in euery state hence was it that sage Heraclitus did call warre the father king and soueraigne of all creatures reprouing Homer for his ignorance because he prayed against variance and debate amongst gods and men holding opinion that the blind Poet did by so praying curse the generation of all creatures which according to the grounds of our Philosophicall reason doth subsist of fighting and antipathie It is vulgar how the foundations of all Empires are framed out of good lawes and good armes But good lawes are of small force vnlesse they be maintained by needfull skill and practise of weapons Howbeit in all places of the ciuill and imperiall lawes where there is any mention made of wars and lawes together armes haue the first place Moreouer note it positiuely that where militarie science and exercise is frequent there good lawes are in most force and honour for it maintaineth and magnifieth euery Commonwealth and state without it none haue long flourished or continued and according to Thucydides he that will not in tranquilitie leuie necessarie warre standeth in the very doore of daunger and this of Tacitus Sapientes pacis causa bellum gerunt laborem spe otij â—…ustentant nisi illam firmam efficis vinci an vicisse quid retulit c. Wise men to purchase peace leuie warre they labour in hope of future ease vnlesse your peace be firme what auaileth it you to conquer or to be conquered Warre is therefore a multitude combined and assembled together in armes in one cause vnited with a noble and needefull resolution to resist and defeate all violence which is opposed or vrged against any king kingdome or their confederates Wherein first must be considered generally that which Salust writeth Omne bellum facilè sumi caeterum â—…gerrime desinere non in eiusdem potestate initium