Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	king_n	people_n	power_n	4,914	5	5.4287	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A65418	Reasons why the Parliament of Scotland cannot comply with the late K. James's proclamation sent lately to that kingdom, and prosecuted by the late Viscount Dundee : containing an answer to every paragraph of the said proclamation, and vindicating the said Parliament their present proceedings against him : published by authority.	Welwood, James, 1652-1727.; Graham, John, Viscount Dundee, 1648-1689.	1689 (1689)	Wing W1309; ESTC R2126	15,716	35

and People and an obligation upon the King to govern according to Law. Here I shall not run up the length that our Histories have with any probability traced the Affairs of our Nation where we may upon the one Hand find our selves one of the most Ancient Kingdoms of the World under one Line of Kings So on the other we shall meet all along the clearest prints of a bounded and mixed Government Nor shall we be able in all the changes of our Monarchy to instance one of our Kings that pretended to such an Absolute Power over his Subjects as every one of them was to obey without reserve the new coining of these Words and the making use of the thing signified by them being reserved for the Reign of the late King Iames Nor will I presume to pass Censure upon some Acts of Parliament made of late that have stretch'd the Prerogative of the King and the Obedience of the Subject beyond their ordinary limits Acts of Parliament being in my Opinion only subject to the Censure of those that can unmake them I shall only to put this General Head beyond question take a short hint of the Nature of the Government of Scotland as it is agreed to by all Parties and then fix upon that particular Constitution by which the King is obliged to govern according to the Laws of the Kingdom That the Government of Scotland notwithstanding all the Acts of Parliament made in the last two Reigns in favour of the Prerogative was and is a mixed sort of Government is clear from this part of its constitution That the three Estates of Parliament and every one of them are equally as necessary and essential to the making of Laws as the King is It is the King and the three Estates of Parliament all together that make Laws and not the King alone nor the three Estates nor the King with any one or two of the three Estates Here there is one Negative Vote lodged in the King and another lodged in the Parliament for albeit the King or his Commissioner should bring in a Bill in Parliament stampt with the Royal Assent the Estates of Parliament by their Negative Vote may deny their Concurrence and thereupon it proves an Abortive so on the other hand what-ever Sanctions are enacted by the Estates of Parliament they amount no higher than so many dead Letters till once the King withdraw his Negative and imprint upon them his enlivening Assent This being the Native uncontroverted Constitution of our Government I would fain know what becomes of our new coin'd Absolute Power which all were to obey without reserve since a Power in the People to deny their Concurrence with the King in making of Laws is an uncontroverted essential part of the Original Constitution And to place this in as clear a light as possible let us suppose the King should cause be presented to the Parliament somewhat in form of an Act and should back it with a Command to the Estates to give their Concurrence in this case by the Absolute Power we are to obey without reserve the Parliament is directly obliged to concur and thereby that essential part of the Government which gives them a Negative Vote in making of Laws is totally unhinged Yea farther though the King should without consulting his Parliament lay his Commands upon his Subjects in matters that natively require a Parliamentary Sanction such as Taxes and the like this late assumed Absolute Power does as much inforce obedience thereto as if there were an Act of Parliament concurring because if it should be pretended that such a Sanction is illegal as not done in Parliament that very pretence it self is a reserve upon their Obedience and all reserves whatever King Iames was pleased to exclude In fine if a Man be obliged to obey without reserve then all Laws and Acts of Parliament cease ipso facto to become obligatory when once the King takes it upon him by Vertue of this Absolute Power to command the contrary As the Government of Scotland is in it self a mixed Government so likewise our Ancestors have been so careful to preserve it in an equal poize that they have thought fit ex superabundante to bind up the King from invading the fundamental Constitution or venturing on an unlimited Power by the most Sacred Tye among Men a Solemn Oath and Promise at his Coronation to govern according to the Laws of the Land that is these made by the King and Parliament And this Obligation upon the the King to govern according to Law I take to be the second fundamental Hinge of our Government That there was a Contract betwixt the King and People equivalent to a Coronation Oath at the very first founding of our Monarchy we have considerable Vestiges in our History And in Corbred's time he is said to have Sworn Se majorum consiliis aquieturum i. e. That he should be determined by the advice of the Elders which at that time must needs be something of the Nature of Parliaments And Gregory named the Great in our Antiquaries was Sworn to maintain the Liberties of the Christian Religion And Mackbeth another of our Kings is said to be Sworn to maintain the Commons of the Realm Yea the Kings of Scotland were so far from pretending to an unlimited Power over their Subjects That we find in Finnanus's Reign the Tenth of our Kings a formal Stipulation betwixt him and the People in these Words That the Kings in time coming should do nothing of any great Concernment without the Authority of their publick Counsel that he should manage no publick business which belonged to the Kingdom without the advice and conduct of the Elders nor should make Peace or War nor enter into Leagues or break them by himself without concurrence of these Elders and the Heads of the Tribes This continued a fundamental Law of the Kingdom for a great many Ages and the breach of it prov'd fatal to a great many succeeding Kings This I mention not because that I approve so narrow boundaries of the Royal Prerogative as to be divested of the Power of entring into Leagues and of making Peace and War but to evince that there was an express Contract betwixt the King and People and that the King did not pretend to hold his Imperial Crown of God alone as the Penner of King Iames his Declaration expresses it The Coronation Oath of Scotland during the time of Popery was express as to governing the People according to the Laws of the Land but because it also contained an obligation to maintain the Heirarchy and Errors of Rome it was altered at the Reformation and made to relate to the Reformed Religion as then established by Law and was enacted to be taken by all the succeeding Kings of Scotland at their Coronation By it they are to Promise and Swear as in the presence of the Eternal God That they shall during the whole course of their Life serve the same