hauing and following of this law as we haue said vnlesse to omitte other thinges ye would bind our Kinges also to receaue the Deuteronomie at the haÌ„ds of the Leuitical Tribe as that ye say that God gaue here a lawe to the Iewes to make or choose a King and so consequently al your illations out of this place seeme to be of smal force For to say the trueth as God neither gaue them this or any other lawe for choosing of a King nor did bid or will them to choose a King so did the people most greeuously offend God in demanding a King. For though by the iudgement of Aristotle and other Philosophers Monarchie wel and orderly vsed is the best kinde of al other Regiments which God doth also wel like yet would he haue no such magistrate among the Iewes But as he chose them for his propre peculier and selecte people and ruled them as wel in the Desert as in Iudea by a seueral peculier and distinct order and Gouernement from other Nations and after suche wonderful and miraculous sort as the like was neuer harde of in any Regiment by sides so would he also reserue to him selfe only the said Supremacie and Monarchie Neither was he a litle angrie with the Iewes nor they committed any smal fault but as it were renounced and reiected Gods owne Monarchie in crauing a King as holy Scripture plainely and openly testifiet Nonâ—ie inquit reiecerunt sed me ne regnem super eos And the people afterwardes acknowledged their fault Addidimus vniuersis peccatis nostris malum vt peteremus nobu Regem God therefore did not bidde them or wil them to choose a King but forknowing long before by his eternall forsight what they would do though contrarie to his blessed wil and pleasure did in this as in other matters beare with their weakenes and condescended vnto the same and fortold them in the said 17. Chapter that in case they would needes haue a King of what kind and sort he should be And therefore immediatly before the wordes that ye recite thou shalt make him a King ouer them is this texte Cum ingressus fuer is terram quam Dominus Deus dabit tibi possederis illam habâ—â—auerisque in illa dixeris constituam super me Regem sicut habent omnes per circuitum Nationes â—um constitues c. And when thou shalt come into the laÌ„d which the Lord thy God geueth thee and shalt possesse yea and dwel therein if thou say I wil set a King ouer me like as all the Nations that are about me then thou shalt make him King ouer thee whome c. Whiche wordes making for the illustratioÌ„ of this place ye haue omitted Wherfore as this place serueth nothing for any absolute election of a King the second which you seeme especially to regard and ground your selfe vpon so doth it as we haue shewed as litle relieue you to prooue therby your conclusions especially against the ordinarie successioÌ„ either of a strauÌ„ger or of a woman that ye would gather and conclude out of the same Thus haue we sufficiently answered the place of Deuteronomie for this one purpose Th' other two autorities may be much more easely answered The people meant nothing els by their said wordes spoken to Dauid but that they were the seede of Abraham Isaac and Iacob as wel as he and intended with true and sincere hartes vnfainedly to agnise him as their chiefe Lord and Soueraigne For at that time the Tribe of Iuda only whereof King Dauid came by lineal descent did acknowledge him as king Now the residue which before helde with Saules sonne did also incorporate and vnite themselues to the said kingdome If this man looke wel vpon the matter he shal find I trowe that the Queene of Scotland may as wel cal her selfe the bones and fleshe of the Noble Princes of England as this people cal them selues the bones and sheshe of King Dauid But yet the great terrible battering Cannon Athalia is behind She being in possessession of the kingdome seuen yeares was iustly thrust out by cause she was an Alien We may then saith this man iustly denie the Queene of Scotland the right of that which if she had in possession she should not iustly enioy Yet Sir if the Queene of Scotland be no Alien as we haue said then is your Cannon shot more feareful then dangerous We deny not but that Athalia was lawfully deposed but we beseche you to tell vs your Authours name that doth assigne the cause to be suche as you alleage Surely for my part after diligent searche I finde no such Authour Trueth is it that Iosephus writeth as ye doe that she descended by the mothers side of the Tyrians and Sidonians yet neuerthelesse he assigneth no such cause as ye doe And as ye are in this your preatie poisoned pamflet the first I trow of al Christian men I wil not except either Latin or Greke vnlesse it be some fantastical fonde and new vpstart Doctour as M. Knoxe or some the like neither Iew Chaldee nor Arabian that hath thus straungely glosed and deformed this place of holie Scripture against the ordinarie succession of women Princes so are you the first also of all other Diuines or Lawiers throughout the world that hath set forth this new fonde foolishe lawe that the Kings childe must be counted an Alien whose father and mother are not of the same and one CouÌ„trie If the French or Spanish King chaunce to marâ—e an English woman or the King of England to marie a French a Spanish or any other Country woman their Children by this new Lycurgus are Aliens and so consequently in al other Nations al such are haue ben and shal be AlieÌ„s by this your new oracle For what other cause shew you that this Athalia was an Alien but by cause her mother was an Alien genus duceÌ„s say you à Tyrijs Sydoâ—iis coming by lineal descent by the mothers side from the Tyrians and Sydonians King Achas maried her mother doughter to Ithobal King of the said Tyrians and Sydonians This Athalia whom Iosephus cal leth Gotholio Achas daughter maried IoraÌ„ King of uda her brother called also Ioram being king of Israel after the decease of his father Achas So then ye see that this Athalia was nomore an Alien among the Iewes then â—â—ing Edbalde Baldus was the sonne of Bertha a FreÌ„ch womaÌ„ and of King Ethelbertus the first Christian King of th' English nation no more then was the noble King Edward the third borne of a French woma â—more then Queene Marie was no more â—en should haue bene the issue of the said Q. Marie in case she had had any by the king â—f Spaine I perceaue that your felowes that â—ould faine make King Stephen King HeÌ„â—e the second and Arthur Neuew to King â—ichard the first Aliens had but rude dul â—nd grosse heades in comparison of
be therin compendious and short The law of Nature coÌ„moÌ„ly is propre apperteining aswel to other liuing things as to maÌ„ as VlpiaÌ„ the notable lawier writeth Ther is an other law that is called Ius GeÌ„tiuÌ„ the law of al NatioÌ„s and it is called also the law of Nature bycause the discourse of natu ral reason forceth al NatioÌ„s to obey aÌ„d kepe this law as to honour God to obey our PareÌ„ts and Magistrats to kepe and mainteine our bargains and promises in buyng and selling and in other coÌ„tracts to defend ourselfe froÌ„ violeÌ„ce and iniurie with a nuÌ„ber of such other I suppose th' Aduersarie meaneth not of the first kind but of the second Whereof he must nedes meane if he meane to speake any thing to the purpose I say then that this is a false and an vnnatural assertion to make this surmised law euerlasting as nature it self is The law of Nature or Ius Gentium is and euer was after the time that there was any Nations of people and euer shal be This counterfeit law of Nature neither is nor euer was nor as farre as reason may reach to euer shal be It shal be inough for vs to ouerthrow and cast vnder foot this counterfeit lawe to shew and proue that womeÌ„ haue froÌ„ time to time borne Princely Regiment in the most notable parts in the world and in the best and most famous coÌ„mon wealthes that euer haue ben For the knowledge whereof I referre the Reader to auncient histories being the registers of Antiquitie which do plainly testifie the same to haue bene often practised in Asia Aphrica and Europa Concerning Asia I finde that Artemesia who builded the sepulchre of her husband Mausolus one of the notable spectacles and wonders of the world and her sister Ada with others reigned in Caria This Ada being thrust out was restored by Alexander the great The countrie also of Pandea in Iudaea was gouerned by women The gouernement of the Queene Semiramis and Nitrochris in th' Empire of Babylon of Queene Thomiris among the Mesagites is to her great praise and commendation in auncient monumentes recorded Iosephus maketh mention of Helena the Queene of the Adiabens Eusebius of Maumia the Queene of Saracens Atossa was gouernesse of the Persians a most excellent woman also for her learning It may also appeare by the storie that Iustine writeth of Astiages the King of the Medians that in in Media the women supplied the lacke of male children in Princely gouernement There is mention made also of Erato whom the Parthians chose to be their Queene We wil now make vp our conclusion for Asia with Claudians verse Medis leuibusque Gabeis Imperat hic sexê° ReginaruÌ„que sub armis Barbariae pars magna iacet Out of the which we haue purposely leaft Iudea reseruing it as a principal helpe for the vtter ouerthrowing of this mans fantasticall interpretation of the forsaid word Fratribus In the stories and monumentes touching Aphrike we reade of Quene Dido at Carthage Cleopatra in Aegypt and of diuers other Queenes there The first King of Aegypt was Ofiris who in his absence coÌ„mitted the whole Regiment to his wife Isis In AEthiopia where reigneth a mightie Prince a Christian maÌ„ and one that hath many Kings subiected to him not many yeares sithence in the nonage of King Dauid his grandmother the Queene did most politikely wisely and godly rule those Realmes And it appeareth in the olde stories that in Christes time and before that Country had no other Princes then women which were called al Candaces Such a one reigned there about the time of Christes Passion whose chief seruaunt was conuerted to Christes faith by S. Philip. By whose meanes the Queene also vpon his returne became with her subiects a ChristiaÌ„ woman And that is thought to be the first Countrie that publikely embraced the faith of Christ And thervpoÌ„ the saying of the Prophet Dauid seemeth to be verified saying Aethiopia praeueniet manus cius Deo. And yet that notwithstanding our worthy Britanie among al the Prouinces that were of the Romaine Empire hath thereof the noble prerogatiue Women were the chief Magistrates among the Tenesians and Sebrites In the time of King Salomon the notable woman that came from the vttermost part of the earth to heare the wisdom of the said Salomon whome the olde Testament calleth the Queene of Saba the new TestameÌ„t the Quene of the South was a Queene and as Iosephus writeth the Queene of Ethiopia and Egypt Countries of such greatnes aÌ„d largenes as no one Prince throughout al Europe hath so ample dominioÌ„ within the same PerchaÌ„ce her dominioÌ„ did streach to Cephalia whiche draweth wel towarde the fardest part of Aphrica Whâ— interpretatioÌ„ seemeth not far a square frâ— the wordes of the holy Scripture Frâ— thence as the Annales of the said Counâ— record Salomons ships euery third yeâ— brought merueilouse plentie of gold aâ— siluer Other suppose that the said Naâ— went to the late founde landes of west Iâ— dia especially to the Iland now called Spâ— gnola I finde in the said Aphrica one strang and fond kind of people called Buaci whâ— men gouerned men onely and women goâ—uerned women onely and yet were theâ— not so hard masters to women as ye are noâ— thought womens Regiment as ye do to beâ— against nature And to finishe this secondâ— parte it seemeth by Lucan that in these quarters of the worlde it was no newe oâ— straunge thing to see a woman a Prince as appeareth by these wordes of Quene Cleopatra Non vrbes prima tenebo Foemina Niliacas nullo discrimine sexus Reginam scit ferre Pharos As for Europe as it is better knowen to vs so therein haue we withal greater store 〈◊〉 examples of this kinde of Gouernement â—â—â—pire as it appeareth by Olympias daughâ—â—â— to Pyrrhus In Macedonia where a woâ—â—â— called also Olimpias succeded after the â—â—â—th of Alexander the great yea and in the â—â—â—at and famous Empire of ConstaÌ„tinople â—â—ere Irene Theodora Zoe an other Theâ—â—â—â—a and Eudocia were the chiefe and high â—â—gistrates The said second and last Theoâ—â—ra answered the Embassadour her selfe â—â—d iudicially in her owne person gaue senâ—â—â—ce as wel in publique as in priuate causes â—hose gouernement was also prosperous â—â—ppie and fortunate Moreouer it appeareth that the Illyrians and Slauons were ruled by Queene Teuca What shal I speake of Spaigne and Portingale and of the Dukedom of Burgundy and of the Earldom of Flanders and of other partes of low Germanie Conrade the Duke of Franconie and Landgraue of Hesse was made Countie Palatine of Rhene and Duke of Loraine by the inheritance of his wife Irmelgardis He had but one daughter who was maried to Conrade Duke of Sueuia wherby was made Countie Palatine of Rhene Tâ— Conrade had a daughter called Agnes â—â—ried to Henry Duke of Saxonie and Liâ—
ciuil gouermēt more or lesse be annexed and vnited to this inheritāce as it is not only in Empires and Kingdomes but in many Dukedōs Earldoms yea and Lordships also whether she shal be excluded from the said her inheritance If ye say yea then you say against Scripture If you say that the inheritance must remaine in her and the ciuil gouernment to others then say you against al reason against the vse manner and custom of the whole world it is but your own fond folish glosse Whervpō I do inferre that womanly gouernment is admitted not only by these exāples but euen by the very wordes rules and decrees of holy Scripture And so I trust you are or haue cause to be fully satisfied aswel touching your allegatiō that womāly Regimēt is against nature as also touchīg a brother to be chosen king And therfore I cōclude against you that neither the law of God nor of Nature nor yet reason vpon the which also you ground yourself doe reiect the said Queene Marie from the succession of the Croune of England You reason that where the people erect themself an Head of their owne kinde and Nation there nature assureth the people of natural gouernment and where a stranger carieth opinion of vnnatural tyranny it assureth the ruler of vnnatural subiection To a straunger is murmurre and rebellion threatned But now if this excellent Ladie and Princesse be no straunger and be of our owne kinred and of the auncient and late Roial bloud of this Realme as we haue declared then is your reason also withal auoided which may and doth oftētimes take place in more straungers cōming in by violent and forceable meanes But here as natural a man as you make your self ye seeme to goe altogether against reason and against nature also If Princes Children were to be counted strāgers and Aliens or to be suspected as enemies and Tyrantes succeding to their owne Progenitours inheritance it was an vnnatural parte and a great folie in the noble Kinges of this and of many other Realmes to geue out their daughters to foreine Princes in mariage And in steade of preferring and aduancing them by their mariage and procuring thereby frindship and amitie with other Princes to disable their said children from ther Auncestours inheritāces in those Coūtries from whence they originally proceded And as it seemeth by your kind of reasoning to purchase and procure byside to them thereby an opinion of enmitie and tyrannie This this I say is a frowarde and an vnnatural interpretation Nature moueth and driueth vs to think otherwise and that both a Prince wil fauour loue and cherishe the people from whence he fetcheth his roial blood and by whō he must now mainteine keepe and defende his roial estate and that the people likewise wil beare singuler loue and affection to such a one specially of such knowē Princely qualities as this noble Ladie is adorned withal Surely it is no more vnnatural to such a Prince descending from the anncient and late roial blood of the Kinges of England to beare rule in Englād and as it were to returne to the head and foūtaine from whence originally she sprāg then it is for al fluddes and riuers which as Homer saith flow out of the great Oceā sea 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to reuert returne and reflow againe to the said Ocean This coherence coniunction copulatiō inclinatiō and fauour running interchangeably betwixt such a Prīce and the people is no more strāge to nature then is the cōiunction of the tree and the rote thereof then of the fountaine and the Riuer issewing frō thence then of the sonne and of the sonne beames and finally then is the coniunction betwixt the old auncient liuing grandmother and her yong and tendre daughter Neither do I wel know how I may better cal noble England then a liuing grandmother to this good gētle Ladie whō we I doe not doubt if euer God cal her to the Roial state therof shal not only find a louing and gratious Maistresse but a most deare and tendre good doughter For these and other cōsideratiōs the lawes of the Realm do not nor euer did estrāge such Princes from the successiō of the Croun of this realm which by reason of the said mutual inclination and beneuolēce of th' one to the other standeth with the law of God and nature and with al good reason And therfore your cōclusion is against Gods law Nature and al good reason Wherby you ful vngodly vnnaturally and vnreasonably do cōclude an exclusion of the Q. of Scotlād pretending her to be a strāger to that right that God Nature and reason and the true harts of al good natural English men do cal her vnto The which her said iust right title and interest we trust we haue now fully proued and iustified and sufficiētly repulsed the sundry obiectiōs of the aduersaries And as this being the principal ought to breede no doubt or scruple in any mā so many other folish fond and fantastical obiections not worthy of any answere that busie quarelīg heads do cast forth to disable her right or to disgrace her and bleamish either her honour or this happie vniō of both Realmes if God shal so dispose of it ought much lesse to moue any mā An happy vniō I cal it bicause it shal not only take away the long mortal enmitie the deadly hatred the most cruel and sharp warres that haue so many hundred yeares ben continewed betwixt our neighbours the Scotsmen and vs but shal so intierly consociate conioine and so honorably set foorth and aduaūce vs both and the whole Iland of Britanie as neither tonge cā expresse the greatnes of our felicitie and happines nor hart wish any greater The old enmitie hath trodden downe and kept vs both vnder foot and hath giuen occasion to the common enemie as the Danes and other to spoile vs both It hath caused for these thousand yeares and more so infinite and so ougly slaughters as it wil greeue and pitie any mans hart to remembre and yet neither to the great augmentatiō of our possessions at this day nor to their much losse they hauing lost nothing of their olde aunciene inheritance sauing Barwike only If this cōiunctiō once happē and if we be once vnited and knit together in one kingdome and dominion in one entier brotherly loue and amitie as we are already knit by neighbourhoode by tongue and almost by all manners fashions and behauiours then will al vnnatural and butcherly slaughter so lōg hitherto practised ceasse then wil rest quiet wealth and prosperitie increase at home then wil al outward Princes our frindes reioice and be comforted our enemies dread vs Then wil the honour fame and Maiestie of the Ilande of Albion daily growe more and more and her power and strength so greatly encrease as to the frinde wil be a good shield and to the enemie an horrible terrour Then shal the vtwarde enemie litle indāmage vs
Liberi Therefore doo we supply it as wel as we may by this worde children The Spaniardes also vse this worde Infantes in this ample sorte when they call the nexte heire to the heire apparēt Infant of Spaine euen as the late deceased Lorde Charles of Austrich was called his father and grandfather then liuing Yf then the original word of the statute declaring the said rule may naturally and properly apperteine to al the Descendants why should we straine and binde it to the first degree only otherwise then the nature of the worde or reason wil beare For I suppose verely that it wil be very harde for the Aduersarie to geue any good and substantial reason why to make a diuersitie in the cases But touching the contrarie there are good and probable consideratiōs which shall serue vs for the seconde cause As for that the grādfathers cal their nephewes as by a more pleasant plausible name not only their children but their sonnes also and for that the sonne being deceased the grādfather suruiuing not only the grādfathers affection but also such right title and interest as the sonne hath by the lawe and by proximitie of blood growe and drawe al to the nephew who representeth and supplieth the fathers place the father and the sonne being compted in person and in flesh in maner but as one Why shal then the bare and naked consideration of the external and accidental place of the birth only seuer and sunder suche an entier inwarde and natural coniunction Adde therevnto the many and great absurdities that may hereof spring and ensue Diuerse of the Kinges of this Realme as wel before the time of King Edwarde the third in whose time this statute was made as after him gaue their daughters out to foraine and sometimes to meane Princes in mariage Which they would neuer so often times haue done if they had thought that whyle they wente about to set forth and aduance their issue their doinges should haue tended to the disheriting of them from so great large and noble a Realme as this is which might haue chanced if the daughter hauing a sonne or daughter had died her father liuing For there should this supposed Maxime haue ben a barre to the children to succede their grandfather This absurditie would haue bene more notable if it had chanced about the time of King Henry the secōd or this king Edward or king Henry the firste and sixte when the possessions of the Croune of this Realme were so amply enlarged in other Countries beyond the seas And yet neuer so notable as it might haue bene hereafter in our fresh memorie and remēbrance if any such thing had chanced as by possibilitie it might haue chanced by the late mariage of King Philippe and Queene Marie For admitting their daughter maried to a foraine Prince should haue dyed before them she leauing a sonne suruiuing his father and grandmother they hauing none other issue so nigh in degree then would this late framed Maxime haue excluded the same sonne lamētably and vnnaturally from the succession of the Croune of Englande and also the same Croune from the inheritance of the Realmes of Spain of both Sicilies with their appurtenāces of the Dukedō of Milan and other landes and Dominiōs in Lumbardy and Italie as also from the Dukedomes of Brabant Luxēburg Geldres Zutphan Burgundie Friseland from the Countreies of Flandres Artois Holland Zealād and Namurs and from the new found lands parcel of the said Kingdome of Spaine* Which are vnlesse I be deceued more ample by dubble or treble then al the Countreies now rehearsed Al the which Countreies by the foresaid Mariage should haue bene by al right deuolued to the said sonne if any such child had bene borne If either the same by the force of this iolye newe found Maxime had bene excluded from the Croune of England or the saide Croune from the inheritance of the foresaid Countreies were there any reason to be yelded for the maintenance of this supposed rule or Maxime in that case Or might there possibly rise any commodity to the Realme by obseruing therein this rigorous pretensed rule that should by one hundred part counteruaile this importable losse and spoile of the Croune and of the lawful inheritour of the same But perchance for the auoiding of this exception limited vnto the blood roial some wil say that the same was but a priuilege graunted to the Kinges children not in respect of the succession of the Croune but of other landes descending to them from their Auncestours Whiche although we might very wel admit and allow yet can it not be denied but that the same priuilege was graūted vnto the Kinges children and other descendantes of the Blood roial by reason of the dignity and worthines of the Croune which the King their father did enioy and the great reuerence which the law geueth of dewtie therevnto And therefore if ye would go about to restraine and withdraw from the Croune that priuilege whiche the lawe geueth to the Kinges children for the Crounes sake ye should doo therein contrarie to al reason and against the rules of the Arte of Reasoning which saith that Propter quod vnumquodque illud magis Byside that I would faine knowe by what reason might a man saye that they of the Kinges Bloodde borne out of the allegeaunce of Englande maye inherite landes within this Realme as heires vnto their Ancestours not being able to inherite the Croune Truly in mine opinion it were against al reason But on the contrarie side the very force of reason muste driue vs to graunt the like Yea more great and ample priuilege and benefit of the law in the succession of the Croune For the Roial blood where so euer it be found wil be taken as a pretious and singuler Iewel and wil carie with it his worthie estimation and honour with the people and where it is dew his right withal By the Ciuil law the right of the inheritance of priuate persons is hemmed and inched within the bandes of the tenth degre The Blood roial runneth a farther race and so farre as it may be found wherewith the great and mightie Conquerors are glad and faine to ioine withal euer fearing the weaknes of their blooddie sworde in respect of the greate force and strength of the same For this cause was Henrie the firste called for his learning and wisedome Beauclerke glad to consociate and couple him self with the auncient Roial blood of the Saxons which cōtinuing in the Princely Successiō from worthie king Alured was cutte of by the death of the good king Edward and by the mariyng of Mathildis being in the fourth degree in lineal descent to the said king Edward was reuiued and revnited From this Edward the Queene of Scotlād as we haue before shewed taketh her noble auncieht Petigrue These then and diuers other reasons and causes mo may be alleaged for the waying and setting foorth of the true meaning
and intent of the said law Now in case these two causes and cōsiderations wil not satisfie th Aduersarie we wil adioine therevnto a third which he shal neuer by any good and honest shift auoid And that is the vse and practise of the Realme as wel in the time foregoing the said statute as afterward We stand vpon the interpretation of the cōmon law recited and declared by the said statute And how shal we better vnderstand what the law is therein then by the vse and practise of the said lawe For the best interpretation of the lawe is custome But the Realme before the statute admitted to the Croune not only kings children and others of the first degre but also of a farther degre and such as were plainely borne out of the Kings allegeance The soresaid vse and practise appeareth as wel before as sithens the time of the Conquest Among other King Edward the Confessour being destitute of a lawful Heire within the Realme sent into Hūgary for Edward his Nephew surnamed Outlaw son to King Edmūd called Irōside after many yeres of his exile to returne into Englād to th' intent the said Outlaw should inherite this Realme whiche neuerthelesse came not to effect by reason the said outlaw died before the said king Edward his Vncle. After whose death the said king apointed Eadgar Etheling sonne of the said Outlaw being his next cosen and heire as he was of right to the Croune of Englād And for that the said Eadgar was but of yong and tender yeares and not able to take vpō him so great a gouernement the said king cōmitted the protection as wel of the yong Prince as also of the Realm to Harold Earle of Kent vntil suche time as the said Eadgar had obteined perfit age to be hable to weld the state of a King Which Harold neuerthelesse cōtrary to the trust supplanted the said yong Prince of the Kingdome and put the Croune vpon his own head By this it is apparent that foraine birth was not accōpted of before the time of the Cōquest a iust cause to repel and reiect any man being of the next proximitie in blood frō the Title of the Croune And though the said king Edward the Cōfessors wil and purpose toke no such force and effect as he desired and the law craued yet the like succession toke place effectuously in king Stephen and king Hēry the secōd as we haue already declared Neither wil th' Aduersaries shift of foramers borne of father and mother which be not of the kings alegeāce help him forasmuch as this clause of the said statut is not to be applied to the kings childrē but to others as appeareth in the same statute And these two kings Stephē and Henrie the 2. as they were borne in a forain place so their fathers and mothers wer not of the kings allegeāce but mere Aliens and strāgers And how notorious a vaine thing is it that th' Aduersarie would perswade vs that the said K. Henrie the secōd rather came in by force of a cōposition then by the proximitie and nearenes of blood I leaue it to euery man to cōsider that hath any maner of feling in the discours of the stories of this realm The cōpositiō did procure him quietnes and rest for the time with a good and sure hope of quiet and peaceable entrance also after the death of King Stephen and so it followed in deede but ther grew to him nomore right therby then was due to him before For he was the true heir to the Croune as appeareth by Stephen his Aduersaries owne confession Henry the firste maried his daughter Mathildis to Henry the Emperour by whome he had no childrē And no dout in case she had had any children by th'Emperour they should haue ben heires by succession to the Croune of England After whose death she retourned to her father yet did King Henry cause all the Nobilitie by an expresse othe to embrace her after his death as Queene and after her her children Not long after she was maried to Ieffrey Plantagenet a Frenchman borne Earle of Aniowe who begat of her this Henry the second being in France Whervpon the said King did reuiue and renue the like othe of allegeāce aswel to her as to her sonne after her With the like false persuasiō the Adueruersarie abuseth him selfe and his Reader touching Arthur Duke of Britanie Nephew to King Richard the first As though forsooth he were iustly excluded by Kinge Iohn his vncle by cause he was a forainer borne If he had said that he was excluded by reason the vncle ought to be preferred before the Nephewe though it should haue ben a false allegation and plaine against the rules of the lawes of this Realme as may wel appeare among other thinges by King Richard the second who succeded his grādfather king Edward the third which Richard had diuerse worthie and noble vncles who neither for lacke of knowledge coulde be ignorant of the right neither for lacke of frendes courage and power be enforced to forbeare to chalenge their title and interest yet should he haue had some countenance of reason and probabilitie bicause many arguments and the authoritie of many learned and notable Ciuilians doo concurre for the vncles right before the Nephewe But to make the place of the natiuitie of an inheritour to a kingdom a sufficiēt barre against the right of his blood it seemeth to haue but a weake and slender holde and grounde And in our case it is a most vnsure and false ground seeing it is moste true that King Richard the first as we haue said declared the said Arthur borne in Britanie and not son of a King but his brother Geffreys sonne Duke of Britanie heire apparent his vncle Iohn yet liuing And for such a one is he taken in al our stories And for such a one did all the worlde take him after the said King Richard his death neither was King Iohn taken for other then for an vsurper by excluding him and afterward for a murtherer for imprisoning him and priuily making him away For the which facte the French King seased vpon al the goodly Coūtries in France belonging to the King of England as forfeited to him being the chiefe Lorde By this outragious deede of King Iohn we lost Normandie withall and our possibilitie to the inheritance of all Britanie the right and Title to the said Britanie being dewe to the said Arthur and his heires by the right of his mother Constance And though the said king Iohn by the practise and ambition of Quene Elenour his mother and by the special procurement of Huberte then Archebishop of Caunterburie and of some other factious persons in Englād preuēted the said Arthur his nephew as it was easy for him to do hauing gotten into his handes al his brother Richardes treasure by sides many other rentes then in England and the said Arthur being an infante
Scotland and Wales be al within one Territorie and not diuided by any sea And al old Recordes of the law concerning seruice to be done in those two Countries haue these words Infra quatuor Maria within the fower seas which must nedes be vnderstaÌ„d in ScotlaÌ„d and Wales aswel as in EnglaÌ„d bâ—cause they be al within one continent coÌ„passed with fower seas And likewise be many auncient statutes of this Realm writreÌ„ in the NormaÌ„ FreÌ„ch which haue these wordes deins les quatre mers that is within the fower seas Now coÌ„cerning the statute the title of the same is of those that are born beyond the sea the doubt moued in the corps of the said statut is also of childreÌ„ born beyond the sea out of the allegeance with diuers other braÌ„ches of the statute teÌ„ding that way Wherby it seemeth that no part of the statute toucheth these that are born in Wales or Scot laÌ„d And albe it at this time and before in tho reigne of Edward the first Wales was fully reduced annexed and vnited to the propâ—â— Dothinion of England yet was it before subrected to the Croune and King of England as to the Lorde and Sâ—igniour aswel as Scotland Wherefore if this statute had 〈◊〉 made before the time of the said Edwarde the 〈◊〉 it seemeth that it could not haue bene stretched to Wales no more then it can now to Scotland I doe not therefore a litle meruaile that euer this man for pure shame could finde in his harte so childishly to wrangle vpon this word Infantes and so openly to detorte depraue and corrupt the common lawe and the Actes of Parlament And thus may you see gentle Reader that nothing can be gathered either out of the said supposed general rule or Maxime or of any other rule or Principle of the lawe that by any good and reasonable construction can seeme to impugne the title of the said Ladie Marie now Queene of Scotland of and to the Croune of this Realme of England as is aforesaid We are therefore now last of al to consider whether there be any statute or Acte of Parlament that doth seeme either to take away or preiudâ—ce the title of the said Lady Marie And bycause touching the foresaid mentioned statute of the 25. yeare of King Edward the thirde being only a declaration of the common law we haue already sufficiently answered we wil passe it ouer and consider vppon the statute of 28. and 36. of King Henry the eight being the only shoteanker of al the Aduersaries whether there be any matter therein conteined or depending vpon the same that can by any meanes destroie or hurt the title of the said Ladie Marie Queene of Scotland to the successioÌ„ of the Croune of England It doth appeare by the said statute of 28. of King Henry the eight that there was authoritie geuen him by the same to declare limite appoint and assigne the succession of the Croune by his Letters Patentes or by his last Wil signed with his owne hande It appeareth also by the foresaid statute made 35. of the said King that it was by the same enacted that the Croune of this Realme should go and be to the said King and to the heires of his body lawfully begotten that is to say vnto his Highnes first son of his body betwene him and the Ladie Iane then his wife begotten and for default of such issue then vnto the Lady Marie his daughter and to the heires of her body lawfully begotten and for default of such issue then vnto the Ladie Elizabeth his daughter and to the heires of her body laufully begotten and for default of such issue vnto suche person or persons in remainder or reuersion as should please the said King Henry the eight and according to such estate and after such maÌ„ner order and conditioÌ„ as should be expressed declared named and limited in his Letters Patentes or by his last Wil in writing signed with his owne hande By vertue of whiche said Acte of Parlament the Aduersaries doo alleage that the said late King Henry the eight afterward by his last Wil in writing signed with his owne hand did ordeine and appoint that if it happen the said Prince Edward Ladie Marie and Lady Elizabeth to dye without issue of their bodies lawfully begotten then the Croune of this Realme of Englande should goe and remaine vnto the heires of the bodie of the Ladie Francis his Neece and th' eldest daughter of the Fâ—eÌ„ch Quene And for the defaulte of suche issue to the heires of the body of the Ladie Elenour his Neece seconde daughter to the Frenche Queene lawfully begotten And if it happened the said Ladie Elenor to dye without issue of her body lawfully begotten to remaine and come to the nexte rightfull heires Wherevpon the Aduersaries do inferre that the successioÌ„ of the Croune ought to go to the childreÌ„ of the said Ladie FraÌ„cis and to their heyres according to the said supposed Wil of our late Souereigne Lorde King Henry the eight and not vnto the Ladie Marie Queene of Scotlande that nowe is To this it is on the befalf of the said Lady Marie Queene of Scotland among other things answered that King Henry the eight neuer signed the preteÌ„sed Wil with his own hand and that therfore the said Wil can not be any whit preiudicial to the said Queene Against which answere for the defence and vpholding of the saide Will it is replied by the Aduersaries first that there were diuers copies of his Wil found signed with his owne hande or at the leastwise enterlined and some for the most part writen with his owne hande out of the whiche it is likely that the original Wil commonly called King Henry the eightes Will was taken and fayer drawen out Then that there be great and vehement presumptions that for the fatherly loue that he bare to the coÌ„mon wealth and for the auoiding of the vncerteintie of the successioÌ„ he welliked vpoÌ„ and accepted the authoritie geuen him by Parlament and signed with his owne hande the said original Wil whiche had the said limitation and assignation of the Croune And these presumptions are the more enforced for that he had no cause why he should beare any affection either to the said Queene of Scotland or to the Lady Leneux and hauing withal no cause to be greaued or offended with his sisters the Frenche Queenes children but to put the matter quite out of al ambiguitie and doubte it appeareth they say that there were eleuen witnesses purposely called by the king who were presente at the signing of the said Wil and subscribed their names to the same Yea the chief Lordes of the CouÌ„saile were made and appointed executours of the said Wil and they and other had great Legacies geuen them in the said Wil which were paid and other thinges comprised in the Wil accomplished accordingly There passed also purchases and Letters Patentes betwene King Edwarde and the executors of
the weight and importaÌ„ce of such a matter to reste vpon the validitie or mualiditie of a bare Testament only By this that we haue said we may probably gather that the King had no cause to aduenture so great an interprise by a bare Wil and seâ—tament Ye shal now heare also why we think he did neuer attempt or enterprise any such thing It is wel knowen the King was not wonte lightly to ouerslippe the occasion of any great commoditie presently offered And yet this notwithstanding hauing geuen to him by Acte of Parlament the ordering and disposition of al Chantries and Colleges he did neuer or very litle practise and execute this authoritie And shall we thinke vnlesse ful and sufficient prouse necessarily enforce creditte that the King to his no present coÌ„moditie and aduantage but yet to his great dishonour and to the great obloquie of his subiectes and other Countries to the notable disherison of so many the next royal blood did vse any such authoritie as is surmised Againe if he had made any such assignation who doubteth but that as he conditioned in the said pretensed Wil with his noble daughters to marie with his CouÌ„sels aduise either els not to enioy the benefitte of the succession he would haue tyed the said Ladie Francis and Ladie Elenours heirs to the same condition Farthermore I am driuen to thinke that ther passed no such limitatioÌ„ by the said king Henries wil by reason there is not nor was these many yeares any original copy therof nor any autheÌ„tical Record in the ChaÌ„cerie or els wher to be shewed in al EnglaÌ„d as the Aduersaries theÌ„selues confesse and in the copies that be spread abrode the witnesses preteÌ„ded to be present at the signing of the said Wil be such for the meanesse of their state on the one side and for the greatnesse and weight of the cause on th' other side as seme not the most sufficient for suche a case The importance of the cause being no lesse then the disherision of so many heires of the Croune as wel from the one sister as froÌ„ the other required and craued some one or other of the priuie CouÌ„saile or some one honorable and notable person to haue ben present at the said signing or that some notificatioÌ„ should haue ben made afterward to such persons by the King him selfe or at least before some Notarie and autheÌ„tical person for the better strengthening of the said Wil. Here is now farther to be coÌ„sidered that seing the interest to the Croune is become a plaine testamentarie matter and claime and dependeth vpon a last Wil when and before what Ordinarie this Wil was exhibited al lowed and prooued Where and of whome toke the Executours their othe for the true performaÌ„ce of the Wil Who coÌ„mitted to theÌ„ th'administratioÌ„ of the Kings goods and chattles When and to whome haue they brought in the InueÌ„tory of the same Who examined the witnesses vpon their othe for the tenour and trueth of the said TestameÌ„t Namely vpon the signement of the Kinges hand wherein only consisteth the weight of no lesse then of the Croune it self where or in what spiritual or temporal Courte may one find their depositions But it were a very hard thing to finde that that as farre as men can learne neuer was And yet if the matter were so plaine so good and so sound as these men beare vs in hand if the original TestameÌ„t had ben such as might haue biddeÌ„ the touchstone the trial the light and the sight of the worlde why did not they that enioyed most commoditie therby and for the sway and authorite they bare might and ought best to haue done it take coÌ„uenient and sure order that th' original might hane ben duely and safely preserued or at the least the ordinarie Probate which is in euery poore mans Testament diligeÌ„tly obserued might haue ben procured or sene one or other auteÌ„tical InstrumeÌ„t therof reserued The Aduersaries theÌ„selues see wel inough yea and are faine to coÌ„fesse these defectes But to helpe this mischief they wold fame haue the EnrolmeÌ„t in the Chancerie to be taken for a sufficient Probate by cause as they say both the spiritual and temporal authoritie did concurre in the Kings person Yet do they know wel inough that this plaister wil not cure the sore and that this is but a poore helpe and a shift For neither the Letters Patents nor th'EnrolmeÌ„t may in any wise be counted a sufficient Probate The ChaÌ„cerie is not the Court or ordinarie place for the probate of Willes nor the Rolles for recording the same Both must be done in the Spiritual Courts where th'Executours also must be impleaded and geue their accompt where the weakenes or strength of the Wil must be tried the witnesses examined finally the probate and al other thinges thereto requisite dispatched Or if it may be done by any other person yet must his authoritie be shewed The probate and al thinges must be done accordingly And among other things the vsual clause of Saluo iure cuiuscunque must not be omitted Which things I am assured the recording in the ChaÌ„cerie caÌ„not import But this caution and prouiso of Saluo iure cuiuscunque which is most coÌ„formable to al law and reason did litle serue some mens turne And therefore there was one other caution and prouiso that though the poorest mans TestameÌ„t in al England hath this prouiso at the probate of the same yet for this Testament the weightiest I trow that euer was made in England no suche probate or clause can be found either in the one or the other court Yet we nedes must al this notwithstanding be borne in hande and borne doune that there was a TestameÌ„t and Wil formably framed according to the purpose and effect of the statute yet must the right of th' imperial Croune of EnglaÌ„d be coÌ„ueied and caried away with the color and shadow only of a Wil. I say the shadow only by reason of another coniecture and presumptioÌ„ whiche I shal tel you of Whiche is so liuely and effectual that I verily suppose it wil be very harde for any man by any good and probable reason to answere and auoide the same And is so important and vehemeÌ„t that this only might seeme vtterly to destroie al the Aduersaries coniectural prouffes coÌ„cerning the maintenance of this supposed Wil. We say therfore and affirme that in case there had ben any good and sure helpe and handfast to take and hold the Croune for the heirs of Lady Francis by the said Wil that the faction that vniustly intruded the Lady Iane eldest daughter to the said Lady FraÌ„cis to the possession of the Croune would neuer haue omitted to take receaue and imbrace the occasioÌ„ and benefit therof to them presently offered They neither would nor could haue ben driuen to so harde and bare a shifte as to colour their vsurpation against the Late Queene Marie only and her Sister Elizabeth with the
euidently tende to this ende and scope if a zealous minde to the common Wealth if prudence and wisdome did not rule and measure al these doinges but contrariewise partial affection and displeasure if this arbitrement putteth not away al contentions and striffes if the mind and purpose of the honorable Parlament be not satisfied if there be dishonorable deuises and assignmentes of the Croune in this Wil and Testament if there be a new Succession vnnaturally deuised finally if this be not a Testament and last Wil such as Modestinus defineth Testamentum est tusta voluntatus nostra sententia de eo quod quis post mortem suam fieti velit then though the Kinges hand were put to it the matter goeth not altogether so wel and so smothe But that there is good and great cause farther to consider and debate vpon it whether it be so or no let the indifferent when they haue wel thought vpon it iudge accordingly The Aduersaries them selues can not altogether denie but that this Testament is not correspondent to such expectation as men worthely should haue of it Whiche thing they do plainly confesse For in vrging their presumptions whereof we haue spokē and minding to proue that this wil whiche they say is commonly called King Henries Wil was no new Wil deuised in his sicknes but euen the very same wherof as they say were diuers olde copies they inferre these wordes saying thus For if it be a newe Wil then deuised who could thinke that either him selfe would or any man durst haue moued him to put therin so many thinges contrary to his honour Much lesse durst they themselues deuise any new successiō or moue him to alter it otherwise then they foūd it when they saw that naturally it could not be otherwise disposed Wherein they say very truely For it is certaine that not only the common lawe of this Realme but nature it selfe telleth vs that the Queene of Scotlād after the said Kinges children is the next and rightful Heire of the Croune Wherefore the King if he had excluded her he had done an vnnatural acte Ye wil say he had some cause to doo this by reason she was a forainer and borne out of the Realm Yet this notwithstanding he did very vnnaturally yea vnaduisedly inconsideratly and wrongfully and to the great preiudice and danger of his owne Title to the Croune of France as we haue already declared And moreouer it is wel to be weighed that reason and equitie and Ius Gentium doth require and craue that as the Kings of this Realme would thinke them selues to be iniuriously handled and openly wronged if they mariyng with the heires of Spaine Scotland or any other Countrey where the succession of the Croune deuolueth to the woman were shutte out and barred from theyr said right dewe to them by the wiues as we haue said so likewise they ought to thinke of women of their royal blood that marie in Scotland that they may wel iudge and take them selues much iniured vnnaturally and wrongfully dealt withall to be thruste from the succession of this Croune being thereto called by the nexte proximitie of the royal blood And such deuolutiōs of other Kingdoms to the Croune of England by foraine mariage might by possibilitie often times haue chaunced and was euen nowe in this our time very like to haue chanced for Scotland if the intended mariage with the Queene of Scotland that now is and the late King Edward the sixt with his longer life and some issue had takē place But now that she is no suche forainer as is not capable of the Croune we haue at large already discussed Yea I wil now say farther that supposing the Parlament minded to exclude her and might rightfully so doe and that the King by vertue of this statute did exclude her in his supposed Wil yet is she not a plaine forainer and incapable of the Croune For if the lawfull heires of the said Ladie Francis and of the Ladie Elenour should happē to faile which seeme now to faile at the least in the Ladie Katherin and her issue for whose title great sturre hath lately ben made by reason of a late sentence definitiue geuen against her pretensed mariage with the Earle of Herford then is there no stay or stoppe either by the Parlament or by the supposed Will but that she the said Queene of Scotlande and her Heires may haue and obteine their iust Title and claime For by the said pretensed Wil it is limited that for default of the lawfull Heyres of the said Ladre Francis and Elenour the Croune shall remaine and come to the next rightful Heires But if she shal be said to be a forainer for the time for the induction of farther argument then what saye the Aduersaries to my Ladie Leneux borne at Herbottel in England and from thirtene yeares of age brought vppe also in England and commonly taken and reputed as well of the King and Nobilitie as of other the lawefully Neece of the said King Yea to turne nowe to the other Sister of the King maried to Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolke and her children the Ladie Francis and the Ladie Elenour why are they also disherited Surely if there be no iust cause neither in the Lady Leneux nor in the other it seemeth the King hath made a plaine Donatiue of the Croune Whiche thinge whether he could doe or whether it be conformable to the expectation of the Parlament or for the Kinges honour or for the honour for the Realme I leaue it to the farther consideration of other Nowe what causes should moue the Kinge to shutte them out by his pretensed Will from the Title of the Croune I minde not nor neede not especially seeing I take no notice of any such Wil touching the limitation of the said Croune here to to prosecute or examine Yet am I not ignorant what impedimentes many doo talke of and some as well by printed as vnprinted Bookes doe write of Wherein I will not take vppon me any asseueration any resolution or iudgement Thus only will I propound as it were by the way of consideration duely and depely to be wayed and thought vpon that is for as muche as the benefitte of this surmised Wil tendeth to the extrusion of the Queene of Scotland and others altogether to the issue of the French Queene whether in case the King had no cause to be offended with his sisters the Frenche Queenes children as the Aduersaries them selues confesse he had not and that there was no lawful impediment in them to take the succession of the Croune it were any thing reasonable or euer was once meant of the Parlament that the King without cause should disherite and exclude them from the Title of the Croune On th' other side if ther were any such impediment whereof this surmised Wil geueth out a great suspicion it is to be considered whether it standeth with reason and iustice with the honour of the King and the
your â—â—e subtile and high fetches If I should now desire your patience notwithstanding the allegations of al your Diâ—initie to be content a while and touching this matter to harken to the most excellent Ciuilian VlpiaÌ„ though he were an Ethnike ye would perchance make litle accompt of him and be angrie with me for producing a profane Witnesse against you And yet truely in this I offre neither to you nor yet to Gods holy Worde any iniurie in the world For Christes high and Diuine Doctrine doth not subuert and impugne humaine and Ciuil policie being not repugnaÌ„t to his expresse Worde and wil. Let vs then heare whome the saied Vlpian maketh an Alien He is a Campane saith this Vlpian that is borne of father and mother being Campaines panes yea if his father be a Campane and his mother be a Puteolane yet is the childe a Citizen or Burgesse of Campanie And then he sheweth farther that in some CouÌ„tries as among the Ilians and Delphians and them of Pontus the Childe shal be counted to be originally of the mothers and not of the Fathers Countrie His wordes in Latin as he wrote them are these Qui ex duobus Campanis parentibus natus est Campanus est Sed si ex patre Campano matre Puteolana aeque municeps Campanus est nisi fortè priuilegio aliquo materna origo censeatur Tunc enim maternae originis erit municeps Vipotè I lien sibus concessum est vt qui matre Iliensi est sit éorúm municeps Etiam Delphis hoc idem tributum conseruatum est Celsus etiam refert Ponticis ex beneficio Pompeij Magni competere vt qui Pontica matre natus esset Ponticus esset Which his saying is direct against you for this your strange declaration of Alienigena an Alien Wel if neither the declaration of Vlpian nor yet the practise of the world most conformable also to reason nor any thing els wil satisfie you vnlesse it be deriued and taken out of the Holy Scripture we are content to ioyne issue with you and 〈◊〉 be tried by the same only Christe came Lineally of Booz whome Salomon begat of Raab as the most common opinion of Writers is that betraied Hiericho to Iosue and may we now falsly think that this Booz was a straÌ„ger an AlieÌ„ and no Iew and so withal infringe breake and peruert the Genealogie of Christ and the continual SuccessioÌ„ of the Iewes Christes progenitors Ye know that as Athalias mother was a TyriaÌ„ or a Sydonian so was Ruth a Moabite This Ruth maried the foresaid Booz I aske you now again whether Obed the son of the said Booz and Ruth were AlieÌ„s amoÌ„g the lewes If ye say he was not then must you nedes coÌ„fesse the same of Athalia If you say he was then the holy Scripture maketh euideÌ„tly against you For of this Obed Christ came lineally And if you step forward as you lustily begin a foot or two more ye wil or as wel you may make king Dauid also to whom Obed was graÌ„dfather yea and Christ himselfe not much better then AlieÌ„s And so hath Athalia at leÌ„gth spon a faire thred for you We deny then that this Athalia was an AlieÌ„ amoÌ„g the Israelits and therfore she could not be bard froÌ„ any inheritance due vnto the daughter among the Children of Israel Neither was she remoued from the kingdom as this sobre man being best awaked dreameth bycause she was a straunger But for that she moste cruelly and vnnaturally sleaing and murdering her Nevewes the sonnes of her sonne King Othozias lately killed by Iehu by shameful meanes vsurped her self the croune apperteining to her Nephew Ioas who by the prouidence of God was she being vsurper of it preserued from her boutcherie And after seuen yeares by the help of Ioada the High Priest was anointed King and she deposed and worthely put to death And this cause doth appeare euen in the very Chapter and place that this brauling braine doth alleage As for the cause he him selfe proponeth we wil not sticke with him to geue him a longer date to fetche out and shew vs his recordes and his authours at his good leasure Wel this string wil not serue his bowe we wil therefore listen againe to him and consider how wel he harpeth vpon the next string whiche surely doth geue as il fauored a iarring and as vntunable a noice as the first or rather more vntunable Wherein our good quiet brother doth so straine and wrest the worde ex fratribus among the bretherne that he wresteth away not only the right and interest that the Queene of Scotland pretendeth to the Succession of the Croune but doth wrest withal the Croune from al Princes neckes that haue ben are or shal be women And of al such as haue do or shal claime their inheritance by th' interest and title of their mothers whiche haue no better Title then their progenitours from whom they claime For amongest his new notable notes that he noteth out of this seuententh Chapter of Deuteronomie for the choosing of a King we may note saith he the sexe by the masculine gendre vsed in this worde ex fratribus for vnder the other sexe Ataxia most commonly creepeth into the stocke and Countrie He saith also afterward this politique law that God did geue the Iewes is grounded vpon the law of Nature and is also as euerlasting as Nature it selfe is and is of all natural men to be obserued It is saith he of Nature that the prescribed sexe should gouerne the other he meaneth women should be gouerned Then he knitteth vp the Conclusio of his new pestiferous policie which I coÌ„clude that Gods law Nature and good reason do reiecte the Queene of Scotland and denie her that kingdom which she wold faine possesse Who wold euer haue thought that such a quiet sobre braine out of this one word fratribus could haue found in his hart so vnbrotherly and so vnchristianly and so fondly withal to extort such an interpretatioÌ„ as is able if it were receaued to disturbe infriÌ„ge and breake the quiet and lauful possessioÌ„ and inheritance of a great part of the Princes of the world Yea and as fondly and vnnaturally to frame of hiÌ„self a new law of Nature also and so most wretchedly to corrupt depraue and maim both the law of God and Nature Yet bicause this maÌ„ geueth out his matters as it were coÌ„peÌ„dious oracles and least some might think that such a sobre maÌ„ hath some good and substaÌ„tial grouÌ„d in this his saying seing he is so bold with his owne gloses vpon the holy Scriptures I wil be as bold vpoÌ„ him alitle to sift and examine the weight and veritie of theÌ„ And first touchiÌ„g the law of nature which he maketh as a pikaxe to vndermine the state of so many Princes we might here inlarge many thiÌ„gs how and in what sort the law of Nature may be takeÌ„ But we wil
is most natural the daughter to inherite her fathers patrimonieâ— wherevnto if there be a dignitie annexedâ— both are so vnited and knit together thaâ— they can in no wise be vnlinked Marie if you had driuen your argument of the duetie and obedience that the wife oweth to her husband and had argued It is the law of Nature that the wife should be ruled and gouerned by her husband Ergo it is against Nature that the wife should be head to her husband in respect that she is his wife then had you argued conformably to reason Scripture and Nature But if you wil thereof inferre Ergo she can in no wise be head to her husbande then play you the Sophister making a fallible and vitious argument and making a confuse mingling of those thinges that be of sundry and diuers Natures The child must obey his Scholemaister â—â—d Parentes and may iustly of them be â—hastised though he be a Prince yet this notwithstanding the said childe may vse â—is authoritie by his Magistrates against his â—cholemaister yea and if the cause so reâ—uire against his Parents to as did Edward â—â—e Confessour and King Edward the third against their mothers EueÌ„ so the case fareth with the husband and the wife The wife â—ay without any impairing or mayming of â—er duetie to God or to her wedlocke reâ—â—esse her husbandes misdemeanour if it be â—eedeful to the common Wealth And yet 〈◊〉 she not therby exempted from such dewâ—â—e as the matrimonial coniunction craueth of the wife towardes her husband You frame an other argument of inconâ—eniences as though vnder the womaÌ„s Regiment Ataxia that is to say disorder most commonly creepeth in I wil not deny but somtime it is so but that most commonly â—t is so that I deny Let both the Regiments be compared and matched together and weied by an indifferent ballance and I am deceaued but the inconueniences of the mans Regiment for the rate wil ouerpaise the other And it is ful vnmete vnseemely and a daÌ„gerous matter to rule Princes right and Titles by such blind ghesses Wel you wil yet say you haue Scripture on your side you say the Iues were coÌ„mauÌ„ded to take no King but exfratribus a brother Ergo we can haue no Sister to our Q. To this obiection also my two former answers may sufficiently serue First you must proue that al Christian Princes are obliged and subiected to this part of Moyses law and that shal you neuer be able to do Which thing you saw wel inough and therfore you were faine to vnderprop and vphold this your ruinous and weake building with the strong force of the law of Nature But this force as you haue hard is but the force of a bulrush Our secoÌ„d answer also wil sone infringe and breake this your conclusioÌ„ which respecteth only the free and voluntary election and choise of a king But we speake of birth and Succession wherein we haue none interest but God who is th' only iudge and vmpier and hath by his Diuine prouidence made to our handes his choise already which if we should vndo and reuerse we might seeme to be very-saucy and malapert with him But we wil remoue and relinâ—uish al these helpes and see what and how â—arre this authoritie forceth by the very wordes Frater is the masculine geÌ„dre you say and therefore women are to be remoued Then by this rule women also must be excluded from their saluatioÌ„ bycause Scripture saith He that shal beleue and be baptised shal be saued Holy Scripture abuÌ„deth of like places As Beatus vir qui non abijt in consilio imptoruÌ„ c. Beatus qui intelligit c. And by this rule women are excluded from the eight beatiâ—udes But we wil not shifte your owne worde brother We say therefore that this worde must not be taken so strictly and â—arrowly as you take it For first not only in Scripture but in olde auncient prophane Authours it compreheÌ„deth the brothers childe yea and somtime in Ciuil law coosin germans comming of two brethern Abraham called Loth his brothers sonne brother Medea also calleth her sister Chalciopes sonnes her brethern speaking to her sister in this sorte 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Againe as in the Ciuil law the masculinâ— gendre coÌ„prehendeth the feminine so doth it in your worde brother Modestinus writeth thus Tres fratres Titius Meuius 〈◊〉 Paulus also Titius fratres Sceuola saith the bequestes made by the testatour fratribus to his brethern shal be beneficial to his sisters also vnlesse it may be proued that the testatour meant otherwise Now when the holy Scripture saith thou shalt not hate they brother Thou shalt not lend vpon vsurie to thy brother let euery man vse his brother mercifully if thy brother trespace against thee forgeue him withdrawe your selfe from euery brother walking disorderly he that haâ—eth his brother is in darknes with a number of like sort shal we inferre therevpon that we may hate our sister that we may oppresse our sister with vsurie that we may vse our sister as vnmercifully as we wil without any remorse of conscience and are not bound to forgeue her nor to eschewe her companie being excommunicated or a notorious offendour Wherefore neither this worde brother excludeth a sister nor this worde King in Scripture excludeth a Quene In the Greke â—ongue one worde representeth both brother and sister sauing that there is a difference of gendre 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 After the same rate the wordes King and Queene are â—â—it vp both in one aswel in the Greke as in the Hebrue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in the FreÌ„ch Roy Royne and from this the Latin tonge Rex and Regina doth not farre disagre Seing then by interpretation this word brother conteineth the worde Sister also in Scripture and the word King by proprietie of one and the same voice and signification expresseth the Quene both in Scripture and in other tonges why should we not aswel communicate to women the dignitie apperteining to the name and resembled by the same as the name it selfe For euen in this our owne Country albe it the names of the King and of the Queene doo vtterly varie one from the other and also the auncient Statutes of the Realme do not onely attribute and referre al prerogatiue and preemineÌ„ce power and iurisdictioÌ„ vnto the name of a king but do giue also assigne and appoint the correction and punishment of al offenders against the Realm and dignitie of the Croune and the lawes of the Realme vnto the King yet al maÌ„ner of the for said iurisdiction and other prerogatiues are and ought to be fully and wholy and as absolutely in the Prince female as in the male And so was it euer deemed iudged and accepted before the Satute made for the farder declaration in this point The like we say of both the forsaid words brother and Rex vsed in this place
of Scripture whereof if there do yet remaine any scruple or doubt to any man for the auoiding and cleane extinguishing of the same we wil referre the Reader to the noble Ciuilian Paulus and to the rule before by vs touched Si de interpretationelegis quaeratur inprimis inspiciendum est quo iure Ciuitas retro in eiusmodi casibus vsa fuit Optima enim legum interpres consuetudo It is for vs then to consider whether in Iudea and Hierusalem women haue at any time ben the chief Rulers and gouernesses and whether the Iewes euer interpreted this place after the meaning and sense of this man Surely at such time as Christian men bare rule at Hierusalem we know wel there was no such interpretation For among other â—ulko the Countie of Aniow who leaft his said Countie to Geffrey his sonne Father 〈◊〉 Henry the secoÌ„d by th' Empresse Maude and went to HierusaleÌ„ to King Balduin the secoÌ„d and ther maried MelysaÌ„d his daughter â—nd heire was afterward by his wiues title King of Hierusalem Salome Herodes sister was made Gouernesse by Augustus Cesar of IamniaÌ„ Azorum Phasilides and Ascalonia Which thing is a good proufe that the Romaines thought it not vnnatural as ye think for a womaÌ„ to inioy ciuil gouernmeÌ„t I might hereto adde the wiues of IoaÌ„nes of Aristobulus and of AlexaÌ„der who gouerned and ruled the said Iewes after the death of their husbaÌ„ds with such other Whiche stories though they be not in Scripture yet are they Authentical and of good credit And yet are we not altogether vnfurnished of a scripturely exaÌ„ple but rather we are so furnished that God so long before forseeing that there should come such vnnatural cauilling quarellers against his creature and prouidence hath as it were al at once mett with them and answered to al such calume nious cauilling of yours and such others as you shal by and by vnderstand A woman pardy if we beleue you must not kepe the state and honour of a Prince and Quene And why I pray you Was not she created to the image of God as wel as man And doth not she represent the Maiestie of God Did not God blesse them both Did not God bid them rule ouer the fish of the sea and ouer the foule of heaueÌ„ and ouer euery beast that moueth vpoÌ„ the earth But what thing meane you by th' image of God Meane you as S. Paule seemeth to meane that man was created in righteousnes and true holines This is true also in the woman Some thinke that the Image of God representeth the blessed Trinitie which is as such an high thing may be somwhat resembled by memorie by wil and by vnderstanding which are in womeÌ„ as wel as in men What thing is ther that reason wit and vnderstanding may reach to that women haue not or may not atchieue and atteine For learning ther haue ben many women exactly learned in Musique A strononie Philosophie Oratorie Physique in Poetrie in Law and Diuinitie Atossa the Queene of the Persians of whom we haue spoken before was the first that inuented the manner of writing of epiâ—â—les Aspasia was Scholemaistresse to that â—oble Oratour and Captaine Pericles The â—oble Philosopher Socrates was not ashaned to be taught of Diotina Accursius his daughter professed the Ciuil law openly at Bononie The Sybilles be famous among Writers aswell Christians as other Paula and her daughter Eustochia were notably learned and diuers other women in S. Hieromes time as it appeareth in his workes bisides diuers other before his time of whom he maketh mention as also of the aforenamed Aspasia Sappho Cornelia and such like Hyptachia passed al the Philosophers of her time and succeded Plotinus in Plato his Schole openly professing at Alexandria diuers liberal sciences And what were the nine Muses but virgines most excellent in the same Who is called the Goddesse of learning but Minerua Which also found out the Arte of planting and setting What should I now speake of the noble learned womaÌ„ of our Britanie of CaÌ„bra the daughter of King Belin who promulged the lawes which of her name as some of our CouÌ„trey men write haue their denomination and are called Sycambricae of Martia Proba of Helena and such other like We nede noâ— runne vp to so high and farre yeares wâ— haue hereof at home date and also presenâ— and worthie examples Perchance you wilâ— obiect that women are vnable and insurfâ—â—cient to consult of great and weightie affaires as being but of weake and feeble wit and counsaile If this reason hold you must exclude from al princely Honour and Regiment al. Kings that be vnder age or otherwise that lacke discretion as wel as womeÌ„ And yet as weake as they are Numa King of the Romains the great Monarche Iustinian bysides others did consult to the great coÌ„moditie of themselues and their coÌ„monwealthes with their wiues for the better ordering of the publike affaires The life of the great Monarche Cyrus was preserued by the counsaile of the wife of an heardman Theodosius also th' Emperor toke great benefit by the good coÌ„saile of his wife Theodolinda was th' occasion that her husbaÌ„d Agilolphus K. of the LoÌ„bardes and Bertha that our King Ethelbertus Clotildis that Clodoueus the King of France receaued the ChristiaÌ„ faith The LacedemoniaÌ„s the wifest people amoÌ„gest the Grecians and the Atheâ—eÌ„ses also vsed in the old time to haue women present at the debating of publike affaires Which thing was practised amoÌ„g the old Germanes Neither Socrates nor Plato â—o altogether remoue womeÌ„ being apt and mete therto from publike administratioÌ„ Aâ—stotle coÌ„fesseth that in the commoÌ„wealth of the Lacedemonians many thinges were done by women The said Aristotle though he preserre the rule and gouernmeÌ„t of men yet doth he not reiect the other as vnnatural but graunteth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That somtime women being great inheritours haue the priÌ„cipalitie Now that many coÌ„monwealths haue ben commendably and worthely gouerned by theÌ„ and that in their gouernmeÌ„t lacked neither witte policie dexterity prudeÌ„ce liberalitie iustice nor morcy neither any other thing mete for a PriÌ„ce I could easely declare but I do forbeare by reason of tediousnes and for that in the pervsing and discussing of the stories by me already rehersed it wil most easely most fully and most euidently fal out to al such as be desirours to trauaile therein In case al this wil not satisfie you and that you thinke it stil to be vnnatural and against Scripture for a woman that is ordeined to be subiected to her husbande to be Gouernesse and Head to a publike state and that you thinke also that for al other respectes a woman might be a Gouernesse yet considering that she must haue the managing of martial exploits which in deede may seeme in no wise agreable to a womaÌ„ and is surely the dificultest matter of all in our case and question and that you can not
only Of the like weight is his other coÌ„sideration imaginiÌ„g and surmising this statute to be made bicause the King had so many occasioÌ„s to be so oft ouer the sea with his spouse the Queene As though diuers Kings before him vsed not often to passe ouer the seas As though this were a personal statute made of special purpose and not to be takeÌ„ as a declaratioÌ„ of the coÌ„mon law Which to say is most directly repugnant and contrary to the letter of the said statute Or as though his children also did not very often repaire to outward Countries as Iohn of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster that maried Peters the King of Castiles eldest daughter by whose right he claimed the Croune of Castile as his brother EdmuÌ„d Erle of Cambridge that maried the yongest daughter as Lionell Duke of Claraunce that maried at Milaine ViolaÌ„t daughter and heir to Galeatius Duke of Milan But especially Prince Edwarde whiche moste victoriously toke in battaile Iohn the French King and brought him into England his prisoner to the great triumphe and reioysing of the Realme whose eldest sonne Edward that died in short time after was borne beyond the seas in Gascome and his other sonne Richard that succeded his grandfather was borne at Burdeaux as these noble King Edwardes sonnes maried with forainers so did they geue out their daughters in mariage to foraine Princes as the Duke of Lancaster his daughter Philippe to the king of Portingale and his daughter Catherin to the King of Spaine and his Neece Iohan daughter to his sonne Earle of Somerset was ioyned in mariage to the King of Scottes Iohan daughter to his brother Thomas of Wodstocke Duke of Gloucester was Queene of Spaine and his other daughter Marie Duchesse of Britannie Now by this mans interpretation none of the issue of al these noble Women could haue enioyed the Croune of England when it had fallen to them though they had bene of the neerest roial blood after the death of their Auncestours Which surely had bene against the auncient presidentes and examples that we haue declared and against the common Lawe the whiche muste not be thought by this Statute any thing taken away but only declared and against al good reason also For as we would haue thought this Realme greatly iniured if it had ben defrauded of Spaine or any of the foresaid couÌ„treies being deuolued to the same by the foresaid Mariages as we thincke our self at this day iniured for the withholding of France so the issue of the foresaide noble womeÌ„ might and would haue thought them hardly and iniuriously handled yf any such case had happened Neither suche friuolous interpretation and gloses as this man nowe frameth and maketh vppon the statute woulde then haue serued nor nowe wil serue But of all other his friuolous and folish ghessing vpon the clause of the statute for Infantes de Roy there is one most fond of al. For he would make vs beleue such is the mans skil that this statute touching Infantes de Roy was made for the great doubte more in them then in other personnes touching their inheritance to their Auncestours For being then a Maxime saieth he in the lawe that none could inherite to his Auncestours being not of father and mother vnder the obedience of the King seing the King him selfe could not be vnder obedience it plainely seemed that the Kinges children were of farre worse condition then others and quite excluded And therefore he saith that this statute was not to geue them any other priuilege but to make them equall with other And that therefore this statute touching the Kinges children is rather in the superficial parte of the worde then in effecte Nowe among other thinges he saieth as we haue shewed before that this word Infantes de Roy in this statute mentioned must be taken for the children of the first degree whiche he seemeth to proue by a note taken out of M. Rastal But to this we answer that this maÌ„ swetely dreamed when he imagined this fonde and fantasticall exposition And that he shewed him selfe a very infante in law and reason For this was no Maxime or at lest not so certaine before the making of this statute whiche geueth no new right to the Kinges children nor answereth any doubt touching them and their inheritance but saith that the law of the Croune of England is and alwaies hath bene which lawe saith the King say the Lordes say the Commons we allowe and affirme for euer that the Kinges children shal be hable to inherite the Landes of their Auncesters whereâ—oeuer they be borne Al the doubt was for other persons as appeareth euideÌ„tly by the tenour of the statute whether by the coÌ„mon law they being borne out of the allegeance were heritable to their Auncestours And it appeareth that th' Aduersary is driueÌ„ to the hard wal when he is faine to catch hold vpon a selie poore marginal note of M. Rastal of the Kinges childreÌ„ and not of the Kings childrens children Which yet nothing at al serueth his purpose touching this statute But he or the Printer or who so euer he be as he draweth out of the text many other notes of the matter therin coÌ„prised so vpoÌ„ these FreÌ„ch wordes Les enfants de Roy he noteth in the MargeÌ„t The Kings childreÌ„ but how far that word reacheth he saieth neither more nor lesse Neither it is any thing preiudicial to the said Queenes right or Title whether the said wordes Infants ought to be takeÌ„ strictly for the first degree or farther enlarged For if this statute toucheth only the succession of the Kings children to their Auncestours for other inheritaÌ„ce and not for the Cround as most men take it and as it may be as we haue said very wel takeÌ„ and allowed then doth this supposed Maxime of forain borne that seemeth to be gathered out of this statute nothing anoy or hinder the Queene of Scotlandes Title to the Croune as not therto apperteining On the other side if by the inheritance of the kings childreÌ„ the Croune also is meant yet neither may we enforce the rule of foraine borne vpoÌ„ the kings children which are by theâ—presse wordes of the statute excepted neither enforce the word Inâ—â—â—s to the first degree only for such reasons presidents and examples and other prouffes largely by vs before set forth to the coÌ„trarie seing that the right of the Croune falling vpoÌ„ them they may wel be called the kings ChildreÌ„ or at the lest the childreÌ„ of the Croune Ther is also one other cause why though this statute reach to the Croune and may and ought to be expouÌ„ded of the same the said Queene is out of the reach and coÌ„passe of the said statute For the said statute can not be vnderstanded of any persons borne in Scotlande or Wales but onely of persons borne beyond the sea out of the allegeance of the King of England that is to wrtte France Flandres and such like For England