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
oportet sed ad sinceram testimoniorum fidem testimonia quibus potius lux veritatis assistit It hath not lightly bene heard or sene that men of suche state and vocation in so great and weightie a cause would incurre first the displeasure of God then of their Prince and of some other of the best sorte if their depositions were vntrue and would purchase them selues dishonour slaunder and infamie yea disclose their owne shame to their owne no manner of way hoped cōmoditie nor to the commoditie of other their frendes or discommoditie and hurte of their enemies This sufficiently doth purge them I wil not say of their fact and fault from al sinister suspicion for this their deposition and testimonie their deposition proceding as it plainly seemeth from no affection corruption or partialitie but from a zeale to the trueth and to the honour of the Realme And though perchance if they had bene thereof iudicially conuicted and condemned and had not by dew penance themselues reformed some exceptiōs might haue bene layed against them by any partie iudicially cōuented for his better aduantage yet as the case standeth nowe there is no cause in the worlde to discredit their testimonie yea and by the way of accusation also such persons as be otherwise dishabled are in treason and other publike matters touching the state enhabled both to accuse and testifie As for the eleuen witnesses the beste of of them Sir Iohn Gates we know by what meanes he is departed out of this life One other the said William Clarke is so gone from them that he geueth good cause to misdeeme and mistrust the whole matter Howe many of the residue liue I know not To whom perchaunce some thing might be said if we once knowe what them selues say Which seeing it doth not by authentical recorde appeare bare names of dumme witnesses can in no wise hinder and deface so solemne a testimonie of the foresaid L. Paget and Sir Edwarde Mountague Neither is the difficultie so great as the Aduersaries pretend in prouing Negatiuam facti Which as we graunt it to be true when it standeth within the limites of a mere negatiue so being restrained and referred to time and place may be as wel proued as the affirmatiue It appeareth now then by the premisses that the Aduersaries argumentes whereby they would weaken and discredit the testimonie either of the witnesses or of the executours that haue or may come in against the said pretensed Wil are but of smal force and strength And especially their slender exaggeration by a superficial Rhetorike enforced Whereby they would abvse the ignorance of the people and make them beleue that there was no good and substantial prouffe brought foorth against the forgerie of this supposed Wil by cause the vntrueth of the same was not preached at Poules Crosse and declared in al open places and assembles through the Realme when they knowe wel inough that there was no necessitie so to doe And that it was notoriously knowen by reason it was disclosed by the saide Lorde Paget as wel to the Counsaile as to the higher and lower house of the Parlament And the foresaid forged Recorde in the Chancerie therevpon worthely defaced and abolished The disclosing whereof seing it came foorth by such and in such sort and order as we haue specified as it doth nothing deface or blemish the testimonie geuen against the said supposed Wil whether it were of any of the witnesses or executours so is ther no nede at al why any other witnesses bysides those that haue already impugned the same should be now farther producted I denie not but that if any such witnesse or Exeoutour had vpon his othe before a lawful Iudge deposed of his owne certaine notice and knoweledge that the said Wil was signed with the Kinges owne hande in case he should afterward contrarie and reuoke this his solemne deposition it ought not lightly to be discredited for any suche contradiction afterward happening But as I haue said suche authentical and ordinarie examinations and depositions we find not nor yet heare of any such so passed Now contrariwise if any of the said witnesses or executours haue or shal before a competēt Iudge especially not producted of any partie or against any partie for any priuate suite commenced but as I haue said moued of conscience only and of a zeale to truth and to the honour of God and the Realme freely and voluntarie discouer and detecte such forgerie although perchance it toucheth them selues for some thing done or said of them to the contrary or being called by the said cōpetent Iudge haue or shal declare and testifie any thing against the same this later testimonie may be wel credited by good reason and law Whereas they would nowe inferre that either this pretenfed Will was King Henries Wil or that he made none at al I doo not as I haue said entende nor neede not curiously to examine and discusse this thing as a mater not apperteining to our principal purpose And wel it may be that he made a Wil conteining the whole tenour of this pretensed Wil sauing for the limitation of the Croune and that these supposed witnesses were present either when he subscribed the same with his owne hand or when by his cōmaundment the Stampe of which and of his owne hand the common sort of men make no difference as in dede in diuers other cases there is no difference whiche these witnesses might take to be as it were his owne hand was set to the Wil. This I say might after some sort so be And yet this notwithstāding there might be as there was in deede an other Wil touching the pretēsed limitation of the Croune by the Kinges owne hande counterfeyted and suborned after his death falsly and coulorably bearing the coūtenance of his owne hand and of the pretensed witnesses names How so euer it be it is but to smal purpose to goe about any full and exquisite answere touching this point seeing that neither the original surmised Wil whereof these witnesses are supposed to be priuy is extant nor their depositions any where appeare nor yet that it appeareth that euer they were as we haue said iudicially examined Seeing nowe then that if it so falleth out that the principal Wil and that that was by the great Seale exemplified and in the Chācery recorded had not at least touching the clause of limitation and assignment of the Croune the Kings hand to it we neede not nor wil not tarie about certain scrolles and copies of the said Wil that the Aduersaries pretend to haue ben either writte or signed with his hand A kingdom is to heauy to be so easely caried away by suche scrolles and copies When al this faileth the Aduersaries haue yet one shift left for the last cast They vrge the equitie of the matter and the mind of the Parlament Which is they say accomplished and satisfied by making this assignation for
whole Realme or with the minde purpose and intente of the said Parlament that the King should not onely frustrate and exclude suche whose right by the common lawe is moste euidente and notoriouse but call and substitute suche other as by the same lawe are plainely excluded In consideration whereof many notable Rules of the Ciuil lawe doo concurre First that who soeuer geueth any man a general authoritie to do any thing seemeth not to geue him authoritie to do that thing which he would not haue graunted if his minde therein had bene seuerally and specially asked and required Againe general wordes either of the Testatours or of suche as make any contract and especially of statutes touching any persons to doe or enioy any thing ought to be restrained and referred to hable mete and capable persons only It is further more a rule and a Principle that statutes must be ruled measured and interpreted according to the minde and direction of the general and common lawe Wherefore the King in limiting the succession of the Croune in this sorte as is pretended seemeth not to answere and satisfie the expectation of the Parlament putting the ease there were any such surmised impediment as also on the other side likewise if there were no such supposed impedimēt For here an other rule must be regarded whiche is that in Testaments Contractes and namely in statutes the generalitie of wordes must be gently and ciuilly moderated and measured by the common law and restrained when so euer any man should by that generalitie take any dāmage and hurte vndeseruedly Yea the Statute shal rather in that case ceasse and quaile and be taken as void As for example it appereth by the Ciuil law that if it be enacted by statute in some Cities that noman shal pleade against an Instrument no not the Executour yet this notwithstanding if th'Executour make a true and perfect Inuentarie of the goodes of the Testatour if he deale faithfully and truely rather then he should wrongfully and without cause paie the Testatours debt of his owne he may come and pleade against the Instrument Wherefore the Kinges doings seeme either muche defectiue in the said Ladie Francis and Ladie Elenour or much excessiue in their children And so though he had signed the said Wil with his hand yet the said doings seme not cōformable to the mind and purpose of the Parlamēt We wil now go forward and propound other great and graue cōsiderations seruing our said purpose and intent Whereof one is that in limiting the Croune vnto the heires of the bodie of the Ladie Francis the same Ladie then and so long after liuing the said King did not appoint the Succession of the Croune according to th' order and meaning of the honourable Parlament forasmuch as the said Acte of Parlament gaue to him authoritie to limite and appoint the Croune to such person or persons in reuersion or remainder as should please his Highnes Meaning thereby some person certaine of whom the people might haue certaine knowledge and vnderstanding after the death of King Henrie the eight Which persons certaine the heires of the Ladie Francis could not by any meanes be intended forasmuch as the said Ladie Francis was then liuing and therfore could then haue no heires at al. By reason wherof the people of this Realme could not haue certaine knowledge and perfit vnderstanding of the Succession according to the true meaning and intent of the said Acte of Parlament But to this matter some peraduenture would seeme to answere and say that although at the time of the said King Henries death the Heires of the bodie of the said Ladie Francis begotten were vncertaine yet at suche time as the said remainder should happen to fal the said heires might then certainly be knowen In deede I wil not deny but that peraduenture they might be then certainly knowen But what great mischieffes and inconueniences might haue ensewed and yet may if the Wil take place vpon that peraduenture and vncertaine limitation I would wishe all men well to note and consider It is not to be doubted but that it might haue fortuned at such time as the remainder shuld happē to fal to the said heires of the Ladie Frācis the same Lady Frācis should then be also liuing who I pray you then should haue had the Croune Paraduēture ye wold say the heires of the body of the Ladie Elenor to whō the next remainder was apointed Vndoubtedly that were cōtrarie to the meaning of the said supposed Wil forsamuch as the remainder is therby limited vnto the heires of the body of the Ladie Elenour only for default of issue of the Ladie Francis. Wherby it may be very plainly gathered vpō the said supposed Wil that the meanīg therof was not that the childrē of the Lady Elenour should enioye the Croune before the children of the Lady Francis. But what if the said Ladie Elenour had ben then also liuing which might haue happened forasmuch as both the said Ladie Frācis and Ladie Elenour by common course of nature might haue liued longer then vntil this day who then should haue had the Croune Truly the right Heyre whome this supposed Wil meante to exclude so long as there should remaine any issue either of the body of the said Ladie Francis or of the bodie of the said Ladie Elenour lawfully begotten And therefore quite contrarie to the meaning of the said supposed Wil. Wherfore I doe verely thinke that it would hardly sinke into any reasonable mans head that had any experience of the great wisdom and aduised doings of King Hēry the eight about other matters being of nothing like weight that he would so slenderly and so vnaduifedly dispose the successiō of the croune whervpon the whole estate of this Realme doth depend in suche wise that they to whom he meant to geue the same by his wil could not enioye it by the lawe Wherevpon ye may plainely see not only the great vnlikelihod that King Hēry the eight would make any such Wil with such slender aduise but also that by the limitation of the said Will the succession of the Croune is made more vncertaine and doubtful then it was before the making of the said Actes of Parlament Which is cōtrary to the meaning and intent of the said Actes and therfore without any sufficient warrant in law But peraduenture some here wil say that although these dangers and vncertainties might haue ensewed vpon the limitation of the said wil yet forasmuch as they haue not happened neither be like to happē they are therefore not to be spoken of Yeas verely it was not to be omitted For although these things haue not happened and therefore the more tolerable yet forasmuch as they might haue happened by the limitation of the said supposed Wil cōtrary to the meaning of the said Actes the Wil can not by any meanes be said to be made according to the meaning and intent of the makers of
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
burge who therby inioyed the Countie Pâ—latine The like may be said of diuers othâ— partes of the Germanical Empire yea a wâ— maÌ„ hath ruled and gouerned the said who Empire as it is euident in Agnes the wiâ— of the Emperour Henry the third duriâ— the time of the minoritie of her sonne Hâ—rie the fourth And yet the same Empire ye wote wel passeth by choise and election and not by lineal succession of bloode yeâ— many hundereth yeares ere she was borne and in the florishing time of the olde Roâ—maine Empire Mesa Varia grandmother to the Emperour Heliogabalus and Alexander Seuerus sate with the Senate at Rome heard and examined the weighty causes oâ— the Empire and set her hand also to suche thiÌ„gs as passed touchiÌ„g the publike affaires I do now adioyne the kingdom of Sicile and Naples in Italie of the whiche Italie Noah whom the prophane Writers cal Ianus made Crana his daughter ruler and Quene wher also Lauinia reigned after the death of Aeneas And as for Naples this presideÌ„t of womanly Gouernment is not there only of later yeares in both the Queenes called Iohanne but euen from very auncient time which thing the stories do recorde in Amalasintha that gouerned after the death of her father King Theodoricus with her sonne Athalaricus The said Amalasintha was mother to Almaricus King of Spaine and after his death ruled her self the said Realme Let vs nowe adde farther the Dukedoms of Loraine and Mantua the kingdome of Swetia and Dania and of Noruegia whereof Margaret the daughter of Waldemarus was gouernesse and Quene the kingdom of Beame and of HuÌ„garie And to draw nere home the Realm also of ScotlaÌ„d which realm hath denomination of a woman as their stories report as hath likewise Flaunders The like some of our stories report of EnglaÌ„d wherin I wil make no fast footing Now touching the feminine Successâ— to the right of the Croune of England itâ— no new found Succession and much leâ— vnnatural We reade in our Chronicles Queene Cordel the thirde heire and daugâ—ter of King Leyre the teÌ„th King of Eritanâ— that restored her father to the kingdomâ— being deposed by her two other sisters Wâ— reade that about three hundered fifty anâ— fiue yeares before the Natiuitie of Christâ— Martia Proba during the nonage of heâ— sonne did gouerne this Realme ful politikâ—ly and wisely and established certaine laweâ— called Leges Martianae There be aswel of our owne as of exterternal historiographers that for a most certeinty affirme that Helena the noble Constantine his mother was a Britaine and the only daughter and heire of Coelus King of Britanie and that the said Constantine was borne in Britanie Surely that his father CoÌ„stantinus died in Britanie at Yorke and that the said Constantinus began his noble Victorious race of his most worthy Empire in Britany it is reported by auncient Writers and of great faith and credit And that likewise long before the said Helens time women bare the greatest sway both in warre â—nd peace and that the Britaine 's had womeÌ„ or their Capteines in warfare AmoÌ„g other Cornelius Tacitus writeth thus His atâ—e allis inuicem instructi Voadica generis regij â—mina Duce neque enim sexum in Impertis â—scernunt sumpsêre vniuersi bellum We haue now already shewed of Henry he seconde who obteined the Croune by â—he mothers right Which said King by the Title of his wife and after him his Succesâ—ours Kings of England did inioy the Dukeâ—omes of Aquitania and the Dukedome of Poiters as the said Kings Successour should â—aue done also as we haue shewed before the Dukedome of Britanie if Arthur King Richardes Neuew had not by the vsurping of King Iohn and his vnnatural crueltie died without issue And by what other right then by the womans inheritance dew to King Edward the third by his mother the Frenche Kings daughter doe the Kinges of this Realme beare the Armes and Title of the Kings of FraÌ„ce And though the FreÌ„ch men thinke their parte the better against vs it is not but vpoÌ„ an old politike law of their owne as they say and not vpon any suche fonde ground as ye pretende that women Regiment is vnnatural Which RegimeÌ„t ye stoutly affirme to bâ— farre a sunder from any natural RegimeÌ„t yeâ— truely as farre as was the boies head froÌ„ the shoulders the last Bartholmew Faire at LoÌ„don which many a poore foole did beleeue to be true For as the boies head remained stil vpon his necke and shoulders though iâ— seemed by a light liuely legerdemaine to be a great way from the bodie so would you now cast a mist before our eies and make vs beleue that womans gouernmeÌ„t and nature be so diuided and sundred that they may iâ— no wise be lincked and coupled together But surely the French nation was neuer so vnwise to thinke this kind of GouermeÌ„t repugnant to Nature or to Gods holy Word For then they would neuer haue suffered their Realme to haue ben so often gouerned and ruled by women in the time of the nonage or absence of their Kings As by Adela the mother of King Philip and by Blanche the mother of S. Lewis and by the wife of the late King Frauncis taken prisoner at Paura and by diuers others Neither should the said Adela and Blanche haue ben so coÌ„mended of their said noble and worthy rule and â—uernmeÌ„t The said FrenchmeÌ„ though by â—oliâ—ie they haue prouided to exclude foâ—iners from the inheritance of the Croune 〈◊〉 they themselues holde at this day by â—e womaÌ„s title and interest the Dukedom â—f Britanie with diuers other goodly posâ—ssions And we haue shewed before how â—ewis the Dolphin of France made a Title 〈◊〉 the Croune of this Realme in the right â—f his wife Thus I haue as I suppose sufficiently proued that this kinde of RegimeÌ„t 〈◊〉 not against Nature by the auncient and â—ontinual practise of Asia Aphrica and Euâ—â—pa For the perfecting of the whiche laste â—â—rte of Europa and of the whole three â—artes I ende with the notable Poet Virgils verses Filius huic fato Diuûm prolesque virilis Nulla fuit primaque oriens erepta iuuenta est Sola domum tantas seruabat filia sedes We knit vp therfore our conclusion against you after this sort That law and vsage caÌ„not be compted against the law of nature or ius GeÌ„tiuÌ„ which the most part of al couÌ„tries and one great or notable part of the whol world doth and hath vsed but this lawe or vsage is such Ergo it is not against the law of Nature The Maior nedeth no proufe and foâ— the proufe of the Minor we neede to imploy no farder labour then we haue already done Whervpon the consequeÌ„t must nedeâ— be inferred that this law or vsage doth weâ— agree and stand with the law of nature The reason thereof is that it
and the whole state froÌ„ danger to liue willingly in perpetual exile and bannishment God be thanked that after these seditious and trayterous subiectes haue bene so stout and storming in the rekoning vp and accumulating of faults and offenses of their innoceÌ„t Maistresse and Quene they are yet at the leÌ„gth forced to answere for theÌ„selues and for their excessiue outragious rebellious dooings Their glorious and glittering excuses may perhaps at the first shew seme to some of the Readers to haue a ioly face of much probabilitie great trueth and feruent zeale to the weale publike But may it please them aduisedly and depely to ponder and weigh aswel what we haue said as what we farther shal say in supplement of ful answere and then to iudge and deme of the mater none otherwise then reason equitie and law do craue they shalat length fynde out and throughly perceaue and know these mennes dealinges and doinges who as yet couer their foule filthy lying detestable practises and trayterouse enormities with suche a visarde of counterfeit fained holines and suche exceding greate shew of zeale to the Queenes honour in punishing malefactors and to the preseruation of the state of the Realme as though al the worlde would fal and go to ruine if it were not vpholden and vnderpropped by the strength of their shoulders They shal see how they wil appeare in their owne natural likenes so ougly that al good harts wil vtterly detest them and thinke them moste worthie for example sake to al the worlde hereafter of extreme punishment We affirme then first that as they haue produced nothing in the worlde touching the principal points as of the Lorde Darleyes death the acquital of the Earle Bothwel and the Queenes mariage with him iustly to charge her withal so are they them selues aswel for the said acquital and mariage as for their damnable and rebellious attempts against their Souereigne and for many other enormous crimes so farre and so depely charged so foule stained and so shamefully marked and noted that neuer shal they with al their hypocritical fine fetches be able to rubbe out the dirty blottes thereof from their skirts which thing wilbâ— easely perceaued of them that wil vouchesafe aduisedly to consider the friuolous and contradictorie excuses they make in their defence At the beginning their open surmised quarel whereby they went about to drawe the peoples hartes to them selues and to streÌ„gthen their owne faction stood in three points as appeareth by their excuses and by their pretensed Proclamations The first was to deliuer the Quene from the Earle Bothwel who violently deteined her and to preuent daungers imminent to her person The second to reuenge the Kings death vpon the said Bothwel whom they knew as they pretended to haue ben the principal doer in the execution of the said murther The thirde was to preserue the yonge Prince the Queenes sonne This is their ioly and holy pretense Nowe let vs see how conformable their worthy procedinges are to these their colourable cloked holy collusions The first gentle and humble admonition that these good louing subiectes gaue her to refourme these surmised enormities was in â—attail array at Bortwike Castle which they thought vpon the sodaine to haue possessed with the Queenes person Wherevpon they being disapointed therof gat into the Town and Fortresse of Edenboroug by the treason of Balfoure the Captaine thereof and of Cragmiler the Prouost of the Citie whereby they being the more animated to follow and prosecute their wicked enterprise begaÌ„ now to be strong in the field The Queene hauing also a good stroÌ„g army and thinking her self wel able therby to encounter with th' enemie and to represse their furious outrage yet notwithstaÌ„ding for the great loue and pitie she had to them though rebellious subiects willing as muche as in her lay to kepe and preserue their blood from sheding offred them faire of her owne free motion that if they would vse her as their Queene she would peaceably come to them and take due and conuenient order for the redresse of al suche thinges as might appeare by law and reason mete to be refourmed Wherevpon the Lorde Grange was sent by the Lordes to her who in al their names moste humbly vppon his knees assured her of al dewe obedience of securitie anâ— safetie of both her life and honour And 〈◊〉 the good Ladie her conscience bearing heâ— witnes of al her iust and vpright dealingeâ— and therfore nothing mistrusting dismissing her army yelded her self to the Lordes whâ— conueyed her to Edenborough and there set her at suche a meruelous libertie and 〈◊〉 suche securitie and safetie that al good meâ— to the worlds ende wil wonder at their exceding good loyaltie First they keping her owne Palaice seâ— and placed her in a merchants house and vsed her otherwise very homely She now considering and perceauing to what ende these matters tended most pitifully cried and called vpon them to remember their late promisse or at the least that she might be brought before the Counsaile offering to stande to the order and direction of the States of the realme But God knoweth al in vaine For now had they the pray whereon they inteÌ„ded to whet their bluddy teeth ere they did dismisse or forgoe her as the euent doth declare Wherefore in the night priuily she was conueyed and with haste in disguised apparel to the strong Forte of Lochleuen and after a few daies being stripâ—ed out and spoyled of al her princely atâ—rement was clothed with a course broune â—assoke After this these good loial subiects praâ—ising and encreasing more and more daily â—he performance of their saied promised â—bedience neuer ceassed vntil they had vsurped the ful authoritie and Regiment of the whole Into the which though they had intruded themselues yet seing as blinde as they were by disordinate vnseemely and vnmeasurable ambition that the Queene remained and was stil Queene and that there was no iust cause by the ordinarie course of the lawe or for any her demerits and deserts to bring her forth to her trial that she might be conuicted and deposed went like good honest plaine men and wel meaning subiects bluntly to worke and coÌ„sulted and determined to dispatche and rid her out of her life vnlesse she would yelde to them and subscribe suche writinges as they would send to her concerning the dimission of her Croune to her sonne and the Regiment of the Realme to the Earle of Murray Wherevpon th' Earle of Athele Secretâ—rie Ledington with other principals of theiâ— factious band sent Robert Miluen to Lochâ—leuen to wil her in any ease if she sought the safegard of her life to coÌ„descend to such demaundes and set her hand to al such writinges as should be proposed and broughâ— to her Whiche as they said to doe neuâ— could be preiudicial to her being by forâ—â— and violence extorted Sir Nicolas Throgmorton also being then Ambassadour theâ—â— from England gaue her the
it Vortiger aspiring to the Croune of the Realme actually and really obteined the same by the murthering of King Constance whiche was not done without his craftie incensing and priuie consent yet he pretended outwardly great sorow weeping and lameÌ„ting the murther of him the which he neuerthelesse longed for and was the occasion of the same As for Scotland I reporte me to the Tragical historie of King Duffus slayne by a Nobleman named Dunwaldus who was in great estimation and autoritie with the said king When the King was a bedde in the Castle wherof this Dunwaldus had the keeping he banketed his Chamberlaines and so oppressed them with immoderate surfeting and drinking that when they were once gotten about high midnight to sleape in their beddes ye might haue rong a great beâ— ouer their heads long ere they wold wake who being in their dead and depe sleape the King was murthered and slaine by such as this Noble man had suborned His dead body was caried away and buried in a riuer The labourers that buried him were also slaine that they might tel no tales In the morning the King was missing his bed was fouÌ„d imbrued with blood Has drousy druÌ„cken Chamberlaines that least knew of the matter were had in greatest suspicion and without farther delay by the said Dunvaldus like a man zelouse to punish malefactours were slaine and put to death No man being farther a great while from suspicion then he vntil first his owne ouer busie searching for the murtherers and afterward other thinges bread vppon him such suspicion that he was there vpon apprehended and being found guilty worthely executed The like pranck plaied Duke Robert brother to the King of Scotland and Gouernour of the Realme of whome we spake before He procured the Prince his nephew to be made away and murthered and yet pretending himself as holy as Murray doth to be zealouse in the punisâ—hing of such an heinous facte caused certaine innocent persons to be executed therefore We say then that the Earle Murrayes dooinges proceede not from any great care he hath to the maintenance of law and Iustice who is moste culpable himselfe but only colourably to cloke and hide his owne mischieuous treacheries and to turne the blame of the fault from him selfe vppon his good Ladie and Queene from whose personne it is farthest Whereof they themselues gaue in manner plaine testimonie and witnesse For though they had openly in their pretensed and disordered Parlament detected her thereof yet before the Englishe Commissioners they alleaged other matters as her voluntarie resignation of the Croune c. The whiche allegations when they wel sawe would not serue their turne and that men did vnderstand how and after what sorte they had proceeded against her in Scotland they were as it were driuen and forced being excluded from all other apparent shiftes after seuen or eight weekes aduisement after their first inuectiue to obiecte the said facte against her Wherof the good innocent Queene hearing and astonied at their strange and contumelious canuasinges and impudencie in their dooinges and being sith her apprehension credibly enformed and by apparencie of matter and proufe therof lead and induced to beleeue and geue credit that this wicked enterprise was chiefly inuented and compassed by the Earles Murray and Murton made earnest sute by her Commissioners to arrest them that they should not shrinke away and depart vntil they had answered that matter for them selues whiche she fully intended most effectually to prosecute against them and others And so did accuse them in deede by her CoÌ„missioners and desired farther that she might comme in her owne personne before the Nobilitie and the Ambassadours of other Countries there resident and goe foreward with and prosecute her said accusation against them Whereof they hearing they fretted they fumed they stamped they stared and for a smal while made much hot sturre But when they had wel considered and digested the matter loking in their owne breastes they became vpon the sodaine so colde that they thought euery day an hundred vntil they were packing home and neuer ceassed alleaging many vaine and friuolouse excuses to vrge their dimission moste importunately vntil they had at the last obteined their sute O that Cassius were now liuiÌ„g that he might lay to the Earle Murrais charge his accustomed worthy saing Cui bono He would tel him that as the Queene by this facte had no manner of hoped commoditie and is of ouer good and vertuous disposition and nature in any respect of worldly commoditie so to dishonour her selfe and state and euen as th' Earle Murraies birth and natural inclinatioÌ„ were most apt and mete to worke such naughty practises so were there many occasions also for his parte such as he had best liking and contentation of to the putting of the same in practise Among other thinges it pincheth him and al his faction and greeueth them to the very hart to remember the reuocation the Quene had made the April before of al such thinges as apperteine to the Croune that had by her self or others in her minoritie ben alienated Which reuocation by an old law and order in Scotland the Princes ther may make before the accomplishment of twenty and fiue yere of age Now had the Earle Murray and his faction by one meanes or other gotten into their handes and possession two parts of the yearly reuenewes of the whole Croune See see I pray thee good Reader if this were not the very vndoubted cause that made him and them so pitiful and so tender harted towarde the L. Darley being dead whose death they had so long thirsted for and whose life they had by so many snares and mischieuous waies assaulted and laied wait for Yea there was a farther Cui bono then this They thought to driue by their ioly politike practises al the displeasure and hatred of the facte vpon the Queene and so for this pretensed mischieuous facte to driue her from the possession of her Croune and to intrude them selues by some pretie colourable conueiances into the sole intermedling with al the publike affaires and to the Gouernement of the Realme vnder the title of the good Infant the Queenes sonne and to assure their possessions to them selues at leaste the space of twenty and fiue yeares more But I pray God there be not a farther and a worse fetche then al this commeth to Wel then al these their foretolde purposes hath the Diuel brought to passe for them euen according to their harts desire sauing that he oweth them a shame and wil pay it them when they count them seluet most cocke sure And beginneth as it seemeth alredy ful properly to pay them home euery one day more then other For as close and as secrete as they hid and kept their doinges from the world especially fro their good Quene vntil they had quitted th' Earle Bothwel and coupled him most dishonourably with that vpright and wel meaning
of God almighty onely But yet for arguments sake I would faine knowe where you finde your differēce and what authoritie you can shew for the prouf thereof Ye haue made no marginal note of any authoritie and therefore vnlesse ye also saye that ye are Pythagoras I will not beleue your difference Wel I am assured that I can shew you good authoritie to the contrarie and that there is no difference in your cases Pervse I praie you 22. H. 6. And there may you see the opinion of Iustice Newton that there is no difference in your cases but that in both your cases the lande shall eschete vnto the Lorde And Prisote being then of Coūsayle with the party that claimed the lands by a descent wher the eldest sonne was borne beyond the seas durst not abide in law vpon the title This authoritie is against your difference and this authoritie I am wel assured is better then any that you haue shewed to proue your difference But if we shal admitte your difference to be according to the law yet your cases wherevnto you applie your difference are nothing like as I haue said before But to procede on in the proufe of our purpose as it doth appeare that neither the King nor his Croune is bound by these general rules which before I haue shewed so do I likewise say of al the residue of the general rules and Maximes of the lawe being in a manner infinite But to retourne againe vnto your onely supposed Maxime whiche you make so general concerning the dishabilitie of persons borne beyond the seas it is very plaine that it was neuer taken to extende vnto the Croune of this Realme of Englande as it may appeare by King Stephen and by King Henry the seconde who were both straungers and Frenchemen and borne out of the Kinges allegeance and neither were they Kinges children immediate nor their parentes of the allegeance and yet they haue bene alwaies accompted lawfull Kinges of England nor their title was by any man at any time defaced or comptrolled for any such consideration or exception of foraine birth And it is a worlde to see how you would shifte your handes from the said King Henry Ye say he came not to the Croune by order of the lawe but by capitulation for asmuch as his mother by whome he conueied his Title was then liuing Well admitte that he came to the Croune by capitulation during his mothers life yet this doth not proue that he was dishabled to receaue the Croune but rather proueth his abilitie And although I did also admit that he had not the Croune by order of the law during his mothers life yet after his mothers death no man hath hitherto doubted but that he was King by lawful succession and not against the lawes and Customes of this Realme For so might you put a doubt in al the Kinges of this Realme that euer gouerned sithens and driue vs to seake heires in Scotland or els where Whiche thing we suppose you are ouer wise to goe about Bysides this I haue hard some of the aduersaries for farther helpe of their intention in this matter saye that King Henry the second was à Queenes childe and so King by the rule of the commō law Truely I know he was an Emperesse childe but no Queene of Englandes childe For although Maude the Emperesse his mother had a right and a good title to the Croune and to be Queene of England yet was she neuer in possession but kepte from the possession by King Stephen And therefore King Henry the second can not iustly be saied to be a Queene of Englandes childe nor yet any Kinges childe vnlesse ye would intend the Kinges children by the wordes of Infantes de Roy c. to be children of farther degree and descended from the right line of the King so ye might say truely that he was the child of King Henry the first being in deede the sonne and heire of Maude the Emperesse daughter and heire of Kinge Henrie the first Whereby your saide rule is here fowly foiled And therefore ye would faine for the maintenance of your pretensed Maxime catche some holde vppon Arthur the sonne of Ieffrey one of the sonnes of the saide Henry the seconde Ye say then like a good and ioly Antyquarie that he was reiected from the Croune bycause he was borne out of the Realme That he was borne out of the Realme it is very true but that he was reiected frō the Croune for that cause it is very false Neither haue you any autoritie to proue your vaine opinion in this pointe For it is to be proued by the Cronicles of this Realme that King Richarde the first vncle vnto the sayd Arthur taking his iourney towarde Hierusalem declared the said Arthur as we haue declared before to be heire apparent vnto the Croune whiche would not haue ben if he had bene taken to be vnhable to receaue the Croune by reason of foraine birth And although King Iohn did vsurpe aswel vpon the saide King Richard the firste his eldest brother as also vpon the sayd Arthur thur his nephewe yet that is no prouf that he was reiected bycause he was borne out of the Realme Yf ye could proue that then had you shewed some reason and president to proue your intent whereas hytherto you haue shewed none at al nor I am wel assured shal neuer be able to shewe Thus may ye see gentle Reader that neither this pretensed Maxime of the lawe set forth by th' Aduersaries nor a great nomber more as general as this is whiche before I haue shewed can by any reasonable meanes be stretched to bind the Croune of Englād These reasons and authorities may for this time suffice to proue that the Croune of this Realme is not subiecte to the rules and the Principles of the common lawe neither can be ruled and tried by the same Whiche thing being true al the obiectiōs of the Aduersaries made against the title of Marie the Queene of Scotland to the succession of the Croune of this Realme are fully answered and thereby clearly wiped away Yet for farther arguments sake and to the ende we might haue al matters sifted to the vttermost and therby al things made plaine let vs for this tyme somewhat yeelde vnto the Aduersaries admitting that the Title of the Croune of this Realme were to be examined and tried by the rules and principles of the cōmon law and then let vs consider and examin farther whether ther be any rule of the cōmon law or els any statute that by good and iust construction can seeme to inpugne the said title of Marie the Queene of Scotland or no. For touching her lineal descente frō King Henry the seuēth and by his eldest daughter as we haue shewed there is no man so impudent to denie What is there then to be obiected among al the rules Maximes and iudgements of the cōmon law of this Realm Only
the Title whiche the Kinges of England haue claimed vnto the Realme of Scotland is not in the possession of the lande and Croune of Scotlande but onely vnto the seruice of homage and fealtie for the same And although the Kinges of Scotland sith the time of King Henry the eight haue intermitted to doe the said homage and fealtie vnto the Kinges of Englande yet for al that the Kinges of Scotland can not by any reason or lawe be called vsurpers And thus may ye see gentle Reader by the opinion of al indifferente men not lead by affection that the Realme of Scotlande hath bene and is yet within the allegeance and dominion of England And so is the Antecedent or first proposition false And yet that maketh no proufe that the Realme of France likewise should nowe be said to be within the allegeance of the Kings of England by reason of the manifest and apparent difference before shewed But what if your Antecedent were true and that we did agree both with the said Queene of Scotland and her subiectes and also with you that Scotland were out of the allegeance of England Yet it is very plaine that your consequent and conclusion can not by any meanes be true And that principally for three causes whereof one is for that neither the King not the Croune not being specially mētioned in the said rule or pretended Maxime can be intended to be within the meaning of the same Maxime as we haue before sufficiently proued by a great number of other suche like generall rules and Maximes of the lawes An other cause is for that the Croune can not be taken to be within the woordes of the said supposed Maxime and that for twoo respectes one is bycause the rule doth only dishable Aliens to demaunde any heritage within the allegeance of England Whiche rule can not be stretched to the demaunde of the Croune of Englād which is not with in the allegeance of England but is the very allegeance it selfe As for a like example it is true that al the landes within the Kinges dominion are holdē of the King either mediatly or immediately and yet it is not true that the Croune by whiche onely the King hath his Dominion can be said to be holdē of the King. For without the Croune there can be neither King nor allegeance And so long as the Croune resteth onely in demaund not being vested in any person ther is no allegeāce at al. So that the Croune can not be said by any meanes to be within the allegeance of England and therfore not within the wordes of the said rule or Maime The Title of the Croune is also out of the wordes and meaning of the same rule in an other respect and that is bycanse that rule doth only dishable an Alien to demaūd landes by descent as heire For it doth not extende vnto landes purchased by an Alien as we haue before sufficiently proued And then can not that rule extende vnto the Croune being a thing incorporate the right wherof doth not descend according to the common course of priuate inheritance but goeth by successiō as other corporatiōs do No man doubteth but that a Prior Alien being no denizon might alwaies in time of peace demaund land in the right of his corporatiō And so likewise a Deane or a Person being Aliens and no deniznos might demaund lande in respecte of their corporations not withstāding the said supposed rule or Maxime as may appeare by diuerse booke cases as also by the statute made in the time of King Richard the second And although the Croune hath alwaies gone according to the common course of a Descent yet doth it not properly descende but succede And that is the reason of the lawe that although the Kinge be more fauoured in all his doinges then any common person shal be yet can not the King by lawe auoide his grauntes and Letters Patentes by reason of his Nonage as other infantes may doe but shal alwaies be said to be of ful age in respect of his Croune euen as a Person Vicare or Deane or any other person incorporate shal be Whiche can not by any meanes be said in lawe to be within age in respect of their corporations although the corporation be but one yeare olde Bysides that the King can not by the law auoide the Letters Patentes made by any vsurper of the Croune vnlesse it be by act of Parlament no more then other persons incorporate shal auoide the grauntes made by one that was before wrongfully in their places and romes whereas in Descentes of inheritance the lawe is otherwise For there the heire may auoide al estates made by the disseafour or abatour or any other person whose estate is by lawe defeated Whereby it doth plainely appeare that the King is incorporate vnto the Croune and hath the same properly by succession and not by Descent onely And that is likewise an other reason to proue that the King and the Croune can neither be saide to be within the wordes nor yet with in the meaning of the said general rule or Maxime The third and most prncipall cause of all is for that in the said statute whervpon the said supposed rule or Maxime is gathered the children descendantes and descended of the blood royal by the wordes of Infantes de Roy are expresly excepted out of the said supposed rule or Maxime Whiche wordes the Aduersaries do much abuse in restrainīg and construing them to extende but to the first degree only whereas the same wordes may very wel beare a more large and ample interpretation And that for three causes and considerations First by the Ciuil lawe this word Liberi which the worde Infantes being the vsuall and original worde of the statute written in the Frenche tongue counteruaileth doth comprehende by proper and peculier signification not only the childrē of the first degree but other Descendants also in the law saying That he who is manumissed or made free shal not commence any Action against the children of the Patrone or manumissour without licence not onely the first degree but the other also is conteined The like is when the lawe of the twelue Tables saith The first place and roome of succession after the death of the parentes that die intestate is due to the children which successiō apperteineth as wel to degrees remoued as to the firste Yea in al causes fauourable as ours is this worde son Filius cōteineth the nephew though not by the propertie of the voice or speache yet by interpretation admittable in al such thinges as the law disposeth of As touching this worde Infantes in Frēch We say that it reacheth to other Descendāts as wel as the first degree Wherein I do referre me to suche as be expert in the said tongue We haue no one worde for the barenes of our English tōgue to coūterpaise the said French word Infantes or the Latin word
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
the said statutes And therefore in that respect the said Wil is insufficient in lawe And to aggrauate the matter farther ye shal vnderstand of great inconueniences and imminent dangers which as yet are likely to ensue if that supposed Wil should take place It is not vnknowen but that at the time of the making of the said Wil the said Ladie Francis had no issue male but onely three daughters betwene her and Henrie Duke of Suffolke Afterward in the time of our late soueraigne Ladie Queene Marie the said Duke of Suffolke was attainted and suffered accordingly After whose death the said Ladie Francis to her great dishonour and abasing of her selfe toke to husbande one Adrian Stokes who was before her seruant a man of very meane estate and vocation and had issue by him Which issue if it were a son and be also yet liuing by the wordes of the said supposed Wil is to inherite the Croune of this Realme before the daughters betwene her and the said late Duke of Suffolke begotteÌ„ which thing was neither intended nor meant by the makers of the said Actes Who can with any reason or common sense thinke that al the states of the Realme assembled together at the said Parlament did meane to geue authoritie to King Henry the eight by his Letters PateÌ„ts or last Wil to disherit the Queene of Scotland lineally descended of the blood roial of this Realme and to appoint the sonne of Adrian Stokes then a meane seruing man of the Duke of Suffolks to be King and Gouernour ouer this noble Realme of EnglaÌ„d The inconueniences whereof as also of the like that might haue followed of the preteÌ„sed Mariage of M. Keies the late Sergeante Porter I referre to the graue consideratioÌ„s and iudgementes of the honorable and worshipful of this Realme Some peraduenture wil say that King Henry the eight meant by his Wil to dispose the Croune vnto the Heires of the body of the said Ladie Francis by the said Duke lawfully begotten and not vnto the heires by any other person to be begotteÌ„ Which meaning although it might very hardly be gathered vpon the said supposed Wil yet can not the same be without as great inconueniences as the other For if the Croune should nowe remaine vnto the heires of the bodie of the said Ladie Francis by the said Duke begotten then should it remaine vnto two daughters ioyntly they both being termed and certainly accompted in law but one heire And by that meanes the state and gouernment of this Realme should be changed from the auncient Monarchie into the gouernement of many For the Title of the Ladie Francis being by way of remainder whiche is compted in law a ioynt purchase doth make all the issue female inheritable a like and cannot go according to the ancient law of a desceÌ„t to the Croune which is that the Croune by descent must go to the eldest daughter only as is aforesaid For great differeÌ„ces be in law where one cometh to any Title by descent and where as a purchaser And also if th' one of those issues female dye then were her heire in the Title as a seueral tenant in tayle And so there should follow that so many daughters so many general Gouernors and so might their issue being heirs females make the gouernmeÌ„t grow infinite Which thing was most farre from the meaning of the makers of that Acte of ParlameÌ„t What if the said King had by his last Wil disposed this realme into two or three parts diuiding the gouernement thereof to three persons to rule as seueral Kinges as for example Wales vnto one the Northe partes vnto an other the South partes vnto the third and by that meanes had miserably rent this Realme into partes Had this ben according to the entent and meaning of the said Acte of Parlament Or had it bene a good and sufficient limitation in law No verily I thinke no man of any reasonable vnderstanding wil so say And no more can he either say or thinke of the remainder limited vnto heires of the body of the said Lady Francis by the said supposed Wil. Now to coÌ„plete and finish this our Treatise touching the Queene of ScotlaÌ„ds Title to the fuccession of the Croune as we haue done so let vs freely and liberally graunt the Aduersaries that whiche is not true that is that the said supposed Wil was signed with the Kings owne hand Let the heires of the Lady Francis come forth in Gods name and lay forth to the world their demauÌ„d and supposed right against the said Q. of Scotlandes interest The Quene on th' other side to fortifie and streÌ„gthen her claime laieth forth to the open sight of al the worlde her â—ust title and interest signed and alwaies afore this time allowed not onely as with the Seales but with the othes also of al the Kings that euer wer in EnglaÌ„d takeÌ„ at the time of their Coronation for the coÌ„tinuance of the lawes of this noble Realme of England signed and allowed I say almost of al the world by sides yea signed with God and natures owne fingers Her right is as open and as clere as the bright Sonne Now to darken and shadow this glorious light what doe the heires of the said Ladie Francis or others bring forth to grouÌ„d their iust claime and demauÌ„d vpoÌ„ When al is done they are faine to ruÌ„ne and catche holde vpon King Henry the eightes written Wil signed with his owne hande Wel let them take as good handfast thereon as they can but yet lette them shewe the said Queene the said original Wil. It is wel knowen that they themselues haue said that that to doe they can not Yet let them at least lay forth some autheÌ„tical Record of the same It is also notorious that they can not If then the foundation of their claime being the Wil of such a Prince and of so late and fresh memorie made neither the original nor yet any good and worthy Recorde sufficiently authorised remaine of the same by what colour wil they exclude the saide Queene They must claime either by proximitie of blood or by Charter For the first nature hath excluded them Charter they haue none to shew They wil perchance crie out and complain of the losse and imbeaseling of the same and say that such a casualtie should not destroye and extinguish their right This were some thing perchance if it were in a priuate maÌ„s case It were somewhat if their demauÌ„d did not destroy the coÌ„mon law and the law of nature also It were somewhat if their supposed Charter were perished or by any frau duleÌ„t meanes intercepted by the said Quene Vpon whom in this point it is not possible to fasten any the very least sinister suspicioÌ„ It were somewhat if they did not aspire to take gaine and lucre or if the Queene sought not to auoide daÌ„mage For daÌ„mage it is when any person is spoiled of any right due to him by law and reason And there is