That it was never done to any Prince before Henry the Fifth All which Points do demonstrate that it 's the Coronation and Admission that makes a true and perfect King let the Title by Succession be what it will and that the Consent of the Realm is of much greater consequence than nearness of Blood. This may be prov'd by many Examples in England where Admission has prevail'd against Right of Succession as in William Rufus who succeeded the Conquerour and King Henry the First his Brother in King Stephen King John and others who only by Admission of the Realm were Kings against the order of Succession To these we may add Henry and Edward both Sirnamed the Fourth whose Entrances to the Crown if we well consider we shall find that both of them founded the best and surest part of their Titles upon the Election and Consent of the People And both of them having Remorse of Conscience at their dying days being they put so many Men to death for maintenance of their Rights and Titles had no better way to appease their own Minds but by thinking they were plac'd on the Throne by the Voice of the Realm and consequently might lawfully defend the same and punish such as intended to deprive them Moreover if we look into the Actions of Princes in all Ages we shall find that such Kings as were most politick and had the least doubt or suspicion of Troubles about the Title after their Deaths have caused their Sons to be Crown'd in their own days as trusting more to that than to their Title by Succession thô they were never so lawfully and lineally descended And of this I could alledge many Examples out of divers Countreys but specially in France since the last Line of Capetus came to that Crown for Hugh Capetus himself procured Robert his eldest Son to be Crown'd in his own days and Robert did the same for his youngest Son Henry Henry also did entreat the States of France to Admit and Crown Philip the First his eldest Son in his own time and this Kings Son Lewis did the same to both his Sons first to Philip and after his death to Lewis the younger And for the same cause the Prince of Spain is Swore and admitted by the Realm during his Fachers Reign The same Consideration also moved King David to Crown his Son Solomon in his own days And finally our King Henry the Second of England considering the alteration the Realm had made in admitting King Stephen before him against the order of Lineal Succession and fearing the like might happen after him caused his eldest Son Henry to be Crowned in his life time But this Device had but ill success for King Henry the younger made War upon King Henry the elder and got both the Kings of France and Scotland and many Nobles both of England and Normandy to take his part for which cause 't is probable that this thing has never since that time been us'd in England But yet hereby its evident what the Opinion of the World was in those days of the force of Coronation and Admission of the Commonwealth and how little the propinquity of Blood prevailed without it I might bring insinite Examples from the Grecians and Romans to this purpose but that it may be ojbected that they are too old and far fetch'd Examples and ought not to be Presidents to us in these Ages Wherefore I shall only give some few Examples of the Jews being they were Gods Elect People and so fit Presidents for us to follow and then hasten to those of kiter Times First then Thô God made Saul a true and lawful King and consequently gave him all the Kingly Priviledges Benefits and Prerogatives belonging to that degree and state whereof one was That his Children should succeed after him in the Crown yet after his death God suffered not any of his Generation to succeed him tho' he left behind a numerous Issue and among others Ishbosheth a Prince of 40 yeras old whom Abner the General Captain of that Nation follow'd for a time as their lawful Lord and Master by Succession until God check'd them for it and induc'd them to reject him and to receive David newly elected King who was a Stranger by Birth and no Kin to the King deceased Now if any one shall say that it was for the Sin of Saul whom God had rejected I do confes it and yet it makes nothing against our purpose being we do not pretend that a Prince who is next in Blood can justly be put back unless for his own defects or those of his Ancestors And it 's to be noted That Jonathan who was a good Man and much praised in Holy Writ being slain in the Battle and leaving a Son named Mephibosheth who was also put back tho'b y nearess of Blood he had great interest in the Succession and much before David and that only for ought appears upon the account of Saul his Grandfather After David succeeded Solomon who was his younger and tenth Son and the fourth only by Bathsheba tho' Adonijah the Heir apparent seeing his Father old and ready to dye had call'd many of the great Men of that State both Spiritual and Temporal intending to have proclaimed himself Heir apparent to the Crown but Bathsheba and Nathan the Prophet coming to the old King as he lay on his Bed put him in mind of his Promise to Bathsheba made for preferring of her Son telling him which pleased him well Quod occuli totius Israel in eum respicerent ut indicaret eis quis sederet in solio suo post ipsum Which was as much as to say That the whole Commonewealth referr'd it to his choice which of his Sons should Reign after him Upon these Reasons and Perswasions the old King was content they should take Solomon out of hand and put him on the Kings own Mule and carry him about the Streets of Jerusalem accompanied with his Guards and crying with found of Trumpets Long live King Solomon Hereby we may learn That these and the like determinations of the People about admitting or refusing of Princes to Reign or not to Reign over them when their Designs are to good Ends and for just Respects and Causes are allowed also by God and many times are his own special Drifts and Dispositions thô they seem to come from Man. Whereof there can be no more evident Proof than that which ensued afterwards to Prince Rehoboam the lawful Son and Heir to King Solomon who refusing to take away some hard and heavy Impositions laid on the People by Solomon his Father lost ten of the twelve Tribes who refused to admit him for their King but chose rather one Jeroboam that was a meer Stranger and God allowed thereof 1 King. 12.21 as the Scripture in express words testifies For when Rehoboam took himself to be openly injur'd would by Arms have pursu'd his Title and had gathered an Hundred and fourscore Thousand
VINDICATION OF THE Parliamentary Proceedings Against the Late KING JAMES II PROVING That the Right of Succession to Government by Nearness of Blood is not by the Law of God or Nature but by Politick Institution WITH Several Instances of Deposing Evil Princes Shewing That no Prince hath any Title Originally but by the Consent of the People Ad generum Cereris sine caede aut sanguine pauci Descendunt Reges sicca morte Tyranni Licensed July 20. 1689. J. Fraser LONDON Printed and Sold by Randall Taylor at Stationers-Hâ—â—â— 1689. THE PREFACE TO THE READER I Should not think it necessary to prefix a Preface before this small Treatise especially since it handles only Matters of Fact such as the Judicial Acts of Commonwealths did I not suspect that some Malicious Persons whose Inclinations and Opinions are hereby thwarted would brand it with the Name of Seditious and Antimonarchical therefore I shall here enter my Protestation against such malicieus Aspersions by declaring That nothing herein mentioned has the least design to lessen the Duty and Obedience of Subjects toward their Princes And I do sincerely abhor the Principles of those Men who make so little account of their Duty that upon the least private Disgust or Discontent do invent a thousand Calumnies to the discredit of their Prince without Conscience or Reason intending only the revenge of private Injuries and not the publick Good as they would plausibly insinuate These men I take to be such as the Apostles S. Peter and S. Jude spake of when they said God knoweth how to reserve the Wicked unto the day of Judgment to be there tormented but yet much more those which do contemn Domination or Government and are bold and liking of themselves Nay further I am of Opinion That whatsoever a Princes Title be if once he is setled in the Crown and admitted by the Commonwealth every man is bound to settle his Conscience to obey him in whatsoever he lawfully Commands without examination of his Title or Interest For God disposes of Kingdoms and brings many things to pass in the Affairs of Princes by great and extraordinary means so that if we should examine the Titles at this day of all the Princes in Christendom by the ordinary Rule of private Mens Rights Successions or Tenures we should find so many knots and dissiculties with which they are perplext that it would be impossible to reconcile them And this is my Opinion for true and quiet Obedience dand yet on the other side I am as far off from the abject and wicked Flatteries of such as affirm Princes to be subject to no Law or Limitation either in Authority Government or Succession as thô by Nature they had been created Kings from the beginning of the World or as thô the Commonwealth bad been made for them and not they for the Commonwealth or as thô they had begotten or purchased or given life to the Publick and not that the Publick had exalted them or given them their Authority Honours and Dignity These and such like are the absurd Paradoxes which some Men have writ in flattery of Princes who in my Opinion deserve no Commendation or Reward since such Assertions destroy all Law Reason Conscience and Commonwealths and do bring all to such an absolute Tyranny as no Realm ever did or could suffer no not under the Dominion of the Turk himself at this day where some proportion of Equity is held between the Prince and People both in Government and Succession thô nothing near so much as in Christian Kingdoms It is therefore the intent of the ensuing Treatise to evince that our Predecessors have not been such Slaves to their Kings as some men would perswade us and that the Deposition of King James granting it to be so and waving the advantage of the Abdication is no new and unheard of thing as we hope to make appear beyond all doubt or exception For if we can prove that most Christian Common-wealths have upon just and reasonable Causes and to prevent Tyranny and Oppression excluded Princes from Reigning when their Title by Succession was apparent and also Deposed Evil Princes when they had lawful possession of the Crown If common-wealths I say have in all former Ages exerted this ample and transcendent Jurisdiction what Reason imaginable is there why they should not do so still and save themselves from Publick ruin and desolation by resisting and removing their evil Heads whensoever they are able so to do since God hath wonderfully concurred for the most part with such Judicial Acts of the Commonwealths against their Evil Kings not only in prospering the same but by giving them also some notable Successor in place of the Deposed thereby both to justifie the Fact and remedy the Fault of the Predecessor as is evident by the following Examples and also by this last of our own Country where in place of a King that endeavored nothing so much as the utter subversion of our ancient and fundamental Laws and Liberties the extirpation of our Religion and the subjecting us to the unsufferable Toke of the See of Rome our Old and Capital Enemies Instead of such a King I say it has pleased God to bless us with one as it were in token of his approbation of our late Proceedings who designs nothing but the universal Interest and Welfare of the Nation as is apparent since in six Months he has confirm'd and establish'd those Laws and Constitutions which his Predecessors have been 60 years undermining who instead of suspending Laws has only suspended his Negative Voice And we may send the same Message to the late King James which the States of France sent unto Charles of Lorain after their Election of Hugh Capet â—ard lib. 6. and his Exclusion which Gerard the French Historian records in these Words Every Man knows Lord James that the Crown and Realm of England and Scotland belong'd unto you according to the ordinary Law of Succession but yet the very same Laws which gave unto you this Right of Dominion have judg'd you also unworthy of the same being you have not endeavour'd to frame your Life and govern your People according to the prescript of those Laws nor according to the use and custom of your Country of England but rather have allyed your self with the French Nation our old and inveterate Enemies and acquainted your self with their vile and base Manners Wherefore seeing you have forsaken and abandon'd the ancient Interest of England we have also abandon'd and left you and have chosen the Prince of Orange for our King and this without any scruple or prejudice of our Consciences at all esteeming it far better and more just to live under WILLIAM the present possessour of the Crown with enjoyment of our ancient Laws customs Priviledges and Liberties than under you the Inheritour by Propinquity of Blood in Oppression strange Customs and Cruelty This is the Speech made by Command of the States to Charles of
rendred useless 't will be natural to conclude That the Means we have used were the only effectual ones for our Peace and Happiness and that one Restauration is enough in an Age. Now there are some superficial Objections made against the Deposition of the late King viz. That many Kings have been privately Assassinated but that we hear of none who have been publickly Deposed by the Jurisdiction of a National Council or Assembly without the Limits of our own Kingdom In Answer to which I shall endeavour to make it appear That it hath been the practice of all Nations and at all times to assert their Jurisdiction as we have done by the Deposition of Evil Princes whenever they had the means to effect it And we may safely bid any of our Neighbouring Kingdoms who have not been in our Circumstances to cast the first Stone at us Now as previous to our main design we shall lay down this Position and shew our Reasons for it That as Government and Authority in general is from God so the particular Forms and Magistrates are left to the Election of the People that is Whether they 'l have Democracy which is Popular Government by the People it self as Athens Thebes and many other Cities of Greece had in old times or as the Cantons or Switzers at this day have or else Aristocracy which is the Government of some certain Chosen number of the best as the Romans many years were govern'd by Consuls and Senators which the States of Holland imitate at this day Or else Monarchy which is the Regiment of one and this of an Emperour King Duke Earl or the like These particular Forms I say are not determin'd by God or Nature as Government in general is for then they should be all one in all Nations as the other is seeing God and Nature are one to all but it is left to every Nation and Country to chuse that Form of Government which they shall like best which Aristotle proveth throughout all the second and fourth Books of his Politicks very largely laying down divers kinds of Governments in his days as in Greece that of the Milesians Lacedemonians Candians and others and sheweth the Causes of their difference which he attributes to the diversity of Mens Natures Customs Educations and other such Causes that inclined them to make Choice of such or such Forms And this might be proved also by infinite other Examples both of Time past and present and in all Nations and Countries which have not had only different Forms of Government the one from the other but even among themselves at one time one Form and another at other times For the Romans first had Kings and after rejecting them for their Evil Government they chose Consuls which were two Governours for every Year whose Authority they limited by a multitude of Senators which were of their Council and these mens Power was restrained also by adding Tribunes of the People and sometimes Dictators and finally they came to be governed last of all by Emperours The like may be said of Carthage in Africa and many Cities and Commonwealths of Greece which in divers Seasons and upon divers Causes have taken different Forms of Government to themselves The like we see in Europe at this Day Naples hath a King for its Sovereign Rome the Pope Venice and Genoua have Senators and Dukes but their Dukes have little Authority Florence Mantua Parma Vrbin and Savoy have their Dukes only without Senatours and their Power is Absolute Milan was once a Kingdom but now a Dukedom Burgundy and Lorain had once Kings and after Dukes and now Kings again Bohemia and Polonia were formerly Dukedoms and now are Kingdoms The like may be said of France after the expulsion of the Romans which was first a Monarchy under Pharamond their first King and so continued for many years under Clodion Merovis Childerik and Clodovaeus their first Christian Kings but after it was divided into four Kingdoms one of Paris another of Soissons the third of Orleance and the fourth of Metz and so it continued for many years but afterwards it was one Monarchy again England also was first a Monarchy under the Britains and then a Province under the Romans and after an Heptarchy under the Saxons and now a Monarchy again under the English And all this by Gods permission and approbation who in token thereof suffered his own Peculiar People of Israel to be under divers manners of Government in divers Times as first under Patriarchs Abraham Isaac and Jacob then under Captains as Moses Joshua and the like then under Judges as Othniel Ehud and Gideon then under High-Priests as Ely and Samuel then under Kings as Saul David and the rest and then under Captains and High-Priests again as Zorobabel Judas Machabeus and his Brethren until the Government was taken from them and they brought under the Power of the Romans Wherefore there can be no doubt but that the Commonwealth hath power to chuse their own Form of Government as also to change the same upon reasonable Causes as we shall make appear they have done in all Times and Countries and God no doubt approveth what the Realm determineth in this Point for otherwise nothing could be certain for on these Changes depend the Titles of all Princes and Potentates from the foundation of the World and if they should not be justifiable we must condemn as Illegal the Acts and Jurisdiction of almost all the Princes and Governours that ever have Reign'd which were great rashness and folly to do In like manner it is evident That as the Commonwealth hath Authority to chuse and change her Government so hath she also to limit the same with what Laws and Conditions she pleaseth from whence ensueth the diversity of Power which each of the former Governments had as the Dukes of Venice at this day are for their Lives except in certain Cases wherein they may be Deposed and those of Genoua only for two years and their Power is very small and much limited and their Heirs have no Claim or Pretence at all after them to that Dignity as the Children and next of Kin of other Dukes of Italy have thô in different sort also For that the Dukedoms of Vrbin and Parma are limited only to the Heirs Males and for defect thereof to return to the Pope or See of Rome Florence and Mantua are to return to the Empire for like defects and not to pass to the Heirs Female or next of Kin as Savoy and others do And now if we respect God and Nature as well might all these Governments follow one Law as so different for that neither God nor Nature prescribeth any of these particular Forms but concurreth with that the Commonwealth appointeth and so it is to be believ'd That God concur'd as well with Italy when it had but one Prince as now when it hath so many and the like also with Switzerland which once was one Commonwealth under Dukes
and a Prince Ruling by his Will is less than a Man or a man Brutified In another place the same Philosopher saith Aristot lib. 1. cap. 2. That a Prince who leaveth Law and Ruleth himself and others by his Appetite is of all Creatures the worst and of all Beasts the most furious and dangerous For that nothing is so outragious as Injustice Arm'd and no Armour is so strong as Wit and Authority the first he hath as Man the other as a Prince For this cause all Commonwealths have prescribed Laws unto their Princes whereby to govern as by a most excellent certain and immutable Rule to which sense Cicero said Leges sunt inventoe Lib. 2. Offic. ut omnibus semper una eadem vâ—ce loquerentur For which reason they have been called by Philosophers a Rule or Square inflexible But the Prophet David who was also a King seemeth to call them by the Name of Discipline for that as Discipline keeps all the parts of a Man or of a particular House in order so Law duly administred keeps all the Members of a Commonwealth in Peace and Plenty And to shew how severely God exacteth this at all Princes hands Psal 2. he uses these Words And not learn ye Kings and be instructed ye Princes of the Earth Serve God in fear and rejoyce in him with trembling Embrace the Discipline lest he enter into wrath and so ye perish from the way of Righteousness Which Words being spoken by a Prophet and a King contain many Points worthy of Consideration As first That Kings are pound to learn Law and Discipline Secondly To observe the same with great humility and fear of Gods Wrath And Thirdly That if they do not they shall perish from the way of Righteousness As if the greatest Plague imaginable to a Prince were to lose the Way of Righteousness Law and Justice in his Government and to give himself over to Passion and his own Will whereby he is sure to come to Shipwreck From like Authority and for like Consideration have come the Limitation of all Kings and Kingly Power in all Times and in all Countries both touching themselves their Posterity and Successors Which is apparent in the two most Renowned States of the World that of the Romans and Grecians who both began with Kings but yet with far different Laws and Restraints about their Authorities For in Rome the Kings that succeeded Romulus had great Authority but yet their Children or next in Blood succeeded them not unless chosen by the Senate and People so as of the Three most excellent Kings that ensued immediately after Romulus viz. Numa Pompilius Tullius Hostilius and Tarquinus Priscus Tit. Liv. lib. 1. doe 1. none of them were of the Blood Royal nor of Kin to one another nor yet Romans born but chosen rather from amongst Strangers for their Vertue and Valour In Greece among the Lacedemonians which was the most eminent Kingdom at that time the Succession of Children was most certain but yet their Power was so restrain'd by the Ephori as they were not only checked and chastned by them if occasion served but also Deprived and sometimes put to Death For this Cause Aristotle did justly mislike this eminent Jurisdiction of the Ephori over their Kings but yet we see hereby what Authority the Commonwealth had in this case and what their meaning was in making Laws and restraining their Kings Power viz. thereby the more to bind them to do Justice We may repeat a multitude of such Examples in Heathen Kingdoms but being they may be rejected as being no President for us we shall haste to shew How Christian Kingdoms have limited their Princes Now if we consider the Roman Empire as it is at this day annexed to the German Electors thô it be the first in Dignity amongst Christian Princes yet we shall see it so restrained by particular Laws as the Emperour cannot do so much as other Kings for he can neither make War nor exact any Mony but by the free leave and consent of the German Dyer or Parliament and as for his Children or next of Kin they have no Interest or Pretence to succeed in their Fathers Dignity but only by free Election if they shall be thought worthy Nay one of the chiefest Points that the Emperour must Swear at his Entrance is Sleyden lib. 8. That he will never go about to make the Dignity of the Empire Peculiar or Hereditary to his Family but leave it to the Electors free in their power to chuse his Successor according to the Law made by Pope Gregory the Fifth and the Emperour Charles the Fourth The Kingdom of Polonia is much of the same manner with the Empire both for its restraint of Power Cromenias lib. 3. hist Polo and successions of its King for they have great Limitations being they can do nothing of great moment without the consent of certain Principal Officers called Palatines or Castellans neither may their Children succeed them unless they are Chosen as in the Empire in Spain France and England the Priviledges of Kings is much different from the former The Kings of Spain and France have greater Power than the Kings of England for that every Ordination of these two Kings is Law it self without the Approbation of the Commonwealth But in the Point of Succession it appeareth that the restraint is far greater in those two Countreys than in England for in Spain the next of Blood cannot succeed but by a new Approbation of the Nobility and Bishops of the Realm as it is expresly set down in the two Ancient Councils of Toledo the 4th and 5th In France the World knows that Women are not admitted to succeed in the Crown be they never so near in Blood neither any of their Issue thô it be Male. For which cause Edward the Third of England thô he were Son and Heir to the Daughter of France whose three Brothers were Kings and left her sole Heir to her Father Philip the Fourth yet was he put by the Crown and Philip de Valois a Brothers Son of Philip the 4th preferr'd to it by general Consent of the whole Parliament of Paris And thô the Salic Law is not very ancient as the French themselves do confess and much less made by Pharamond their first King or in those ancient Times as some without ground do affirm yet we see its sufficient to bind all Princes and Subjects of that Realm to observe the same and alter the course of Natural Descent and Nearness of Blood as we have seen but such things are not suffered in England for that our Laws are otherwise which were made by the Commonwealth By all which it is manifest that most Kingdoms have different Laws and Customs both as to their Authority and Succession and it is not enough for a man to alledge bare propinquity of Blood for that he may be excluded for several other Reasons which we shall hereafter discuss I