permanserint quo nunc sunt unde qui juravit reddere gladium non tenetur reddere furioso qui juravit ducere aliquam uxorem non tenetur ducere si deprehendat eam esse ex alio viro gravidam has istiusmodi conditiones in omni juramento subintelligi fas est etsi non exprimantur rigidus nimis esset juramenti Interpres qui istarum aliquam exclusum iret Prael 2. §. 10. and many of the School-men is one viz. That things continue and remain in the same state they were at the time of swearing whence he that swore to restore a Sword is not bound to do it to a mad-man and he that swore to marry such a Woman is not bound to do it if he finds her afterwards with Child by another these and such like conditions though they be not expressed are to be understood in all Oaths and he that should exclude any of them would too rigidly interpret his Oath Secondly Amesius adds In Juramento subintelligi debent conditiones illae quae ex more consuetudine receprâ concipi praesumuntur ab iis ad quos juramentum spectar De Cas Consc l. 4. c. 22. that in an Oath all those conditions are to be understood which by the received Customs and Manners of a Nation are presumed to be conceived as conditions belonging to it And that when the formal reason of an Oath is taken away the Oath ceaseth Quum aufertur ratio formalis juramenti juramentum cessat ratione eventûs qui casus est eorum qui jurà runt se obedituros domino aut principi alicui qui postea cessat esse talis Ibid. § 36. Nec tenebitur si cesset qualitas sub qua alicui juravit ut si Magistratus desinat esse Magistratus Crot. de Jure Bel Pac. l. 2. c. 13. §. 18. and that this is the Case of them who swear to a Prince or to a Master who after ceaseth so to be Thirdly The Casuists farther tells us that a promissory Oath made purely on such a Motive and Foundation supposeth the continuance of that Foundation as the condition of its Obligation and therefore ceaseth to oblige when he to whom and for whose sake it was made tollit fundamentum illud quo nitebatur removes the Motive and Foundation of it Saunders de juramento praelect 4. p. 99. Tombs lect 18. p. 23. For instance Chremes the Master swears he will give to Sosia ten Crowns per annum and Sosia the Servant swears to serve him eight years if Sosia will not serve him the third year Cremes is not obliged to pay him ten Crowns at the years end or if Cremes will not pay Sosia at the years end Sosia is not bound to serve him eight years because this payment was the Sole foundation of Sosia 's service this service the Sole motive of Chremes 's Oath Fourthly They add That without which it cannot in equity and reason be supposed that any reasonable man would or any honest man should take an Oath must be supposed as a tacit condition in the taking of it so that no person is to be supposed to swear to doe any thing but with this proviso as far as it is consistent with equity and justice Thus though Solomon promised to his Mother not to say nay to her request yet when she asked Abishag the Shunamite to be given to Wife to Adonijah because the Marriage would have been incestuous or would have given him a pretence for disturbing of the Kingdom Solomon breaks his promise and thereby shews that it was made with this proviso if I may safely and equitably do it Hence they inser that the Laws of Nature and Self-Preservation must give tacit limitations to our promissory Oaths where they are general and not expressive of Life and Death because we have an Obligation to them antecedent to all Oaths nor can it rationally be supposed that a man would promise to ruine and destroy himself where the publick good did not make it necessary so to doe If then the Kings of England be Kings by virtue of a Compact originally made betwixt them and the people if the Tenor of that Compact be on the King's part that he would govern them according to the Tenor of their Ancient Laws Liberties Charters and Customs or as the Coronation Oath now runs that he will confirm to the people of England the Laws and Customs to them granted by the Kings of England that he will grant to hold and keep the Laws and rightfull Customs which the Commonalty of his Kingdom have and to defend and uphold them as much as in him lieth that he will preserve and maintain to the Bishops and the Churches committed to their Charge all Canonical Privileges and due Law and Justice and will be their Protector and Defender to his Power and this Oath and Compact be on the part of the Subject the very ground for his entring into a Promise and Oath of Allegiance the very formal Reason of it the Motive and Foundation upon which it is built When any King of England afterward makes void his Oath by an entire virtual dissolution of those Laws he had by Oath engaged himself to keep and confirm and plainly sets himself to destroy that Church he swore to protect and defend and to deny them all due Law and Justice he seemeth by just consequence to have made void the Motive and Foundation of that Allegiance they swore to him Grotius informs us that the promise of a King to his Subjects gives them a right to the thing promised that being the Nature of all Promises and Contracts And this it doth more certainly when it is only a promise of what was originally their Right confirmed by his Oath Dicimus ergo ex promiso contractu Regis quem cum subditis iniit nasci veram propriam obligationem quae jus dat ipsis subditis ea enim est promissorum contractuum natura De jure Bel. pacis l. 2. c. 14. §. 8. and the very condition upon which they accepted of him or his Progenitors as their Kings for as he rationally adds if a People make a King by such Laws Plane si populus Regem fecerit non pleno jure sed additis legibus poterunt per eas leges contrarij actus irriti fieri aut omnino aut ex parte quia eatenus populus jus sibi servavit Ibid. §. 2. they make void what he doth contrary to Law because as to such things they have reserved the Right unto themselves or at the least they have limitted his Right but to what end is all this if by their Oath of Allegiance afterwards they virtually disannull that Right they had reserved to themselves take off all limitations of the King 's Right and put it in his power to break all his promises without controll by binding themselves to the same Allegiance to him when he doth so as when
he ruleth them by Law and observes his promises and contracts If therefore that must be supposed as a tacit condition of an Oath without which it cannot in equity and reason be supposed that any reasonable man would or any honest man should take an Oath if it cannot rationally be supposed that any rational body would promise or swear to ruine and destroy themselves their lives and fortunes it cannot be supposed that they would consent to such an Oath of Allegiance as doth entirely oblige them to suffer themselves and their Constitution to be ruined and to be assistant to it and therefore the tacit condition of that Oath must be provided that the Commands of their Superiour be according to Law and he doth govern them by Law Again if according to Fortescue our Kings Rule not by Absolute but by Political Power and therefore cannot change their Laws or invade the properties of the Subject but by their consent if he be advanced to the Throne for the safety of his Subjects in their goods and bodies if this be the difference betwixt an absolute and a political King or King of England that the Will of the first is his Law but the Law is the Rule of the Will of the Second the first can change the Laws of his Kingdom without the peoples consent the second cannot the first may easily be a Tyrant the second cannot govern his people Tyrannically and if from hence it follows that a King ruling Arbitrarily and Fundamentally overturning the Laws is no such King as our Constitution owns or ever did admit of and therefore that no Allegiance can be due to him by Law whom the Law knows not nor ever did suppose but rather always did exclude Then he who being a Political King makes himself absolute requiring in one of his Kingdoms to be obeyed without reserve in another setting up Governors and Viceroys disabled by Law to be so in a third part of his Dominions virtually dissolving all the Laws against Popery by admitting a Pope's Nuncio dispensing with the Laws forbidding them the exercise of their Religion and the taking upon them Offices Civil and Military and by just consequence all the Laws of the Kingdom by claiming an unlimitted Power of Dispensing with them He who was entred into a League with a Potent Monarch to set up Popery and Arbitrary Power in England he who was bound by the Principles of his Religion to destroy the Church of England and to give up Protestants to suffer the punishment decreed against Hereticks by the Romish Church and had begun to dissolve her Colleges and silence her Bishops by an Illegal Arbitrary Commission and was so wholly given up to the will of the Jesuits that nothing else could be expected from him he certainly must be none of the Kings to which we swore Allegiance and by refusing to be a political King the only King our Laws will own he must have absolved his Subjects from that Allegiance which is due only to such a King If Rebus sic stantibus be as the Reverend Bishop Sanderson saith a condition of all Oaths if the matter of the Oath must be then judged to cease when things so change that if the change could have been foreseen the Oath would not have been taken then much more must the Obligation of it cease when so great a change is made as from a political to an absolute King from a King ruling by Law and protecting the Church to a King ruling against Law and subverting the Church against both his Oath and Law The same learned Bishop saith That if a Soldier swears obedience to a General or Commander of an Army when he ceaseth to be General his Oath ceaseth to oblige Si quis ergo miles juret Obsequium belli Imperatori finito demum bello cum ipse desierit effe Imperator non ultra tenetur ex juramento Obsequium ei praestare si Pater aliquis juraret se Testamentum in quo filium instituisset Haeredem nunquam mutaturum comperto tamen postea filium Haeredem institutum Patri venenum miscuisse Pater non ultra tenetur juramento Prael 7. §. 7. and if a Father swear never to change his Will in which he hath made such a Son his Heir he is absolved from that Oath if his Son afterward endeavour to poison him that an Oath to deliver a Sword binds not to deliver it to a mad man who may destroy himself or me with it And an Oath to marry a Woman binds not to do it if she prove with Child by another why therefore should an Oath of Allegiance made to a politick King ruling by Law bind us to pay that Allegiance to a King thus ruling Arbitrarily he ceasing as much to be that King we swore to as a General plainly going about to destroy his Army ceaseth to be their General and being as much different from his former self as a Woman pregnant from a Virgin and as like to be pernicious to the Government as a Son attempting to poison his Father would be to him or a Mad-man to them who should give him a Sword and all this seems plainly to be contained in those excellent words of King James Fourth Speech at Witehall A D. 1609. p. 530 531. that the King was lex loquens after a sort binding himself by a double Oath to the Observation of the Fundamental Laws of his Kingdom tacitly AS BY BEING A KING and so bound to protect as well the People as the Laws of his Kingdom and expresly by his Oath at his Coronation so as every just King in a setled Kingdom IS bound TO OBSERVE THAT PACTION MADE TO HIS PEOPLE BY HIS LAWS in framing his Government agreeably thereunto and therefore a King Governing in a setled Kingdom LEAVES TO BE KING AND DEGENERATES INTO A TYRANT as soon as he leaves off to rule according to his Laws Therefore all Kings that are not Tyrants or purjured will be glad to bound themselves within the Limits of their Laws and they that persuade them to the contrary are VIPERS and PESTS both against them and the Common-wealth Where it is granted 1. That there be Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom And 2ly That our Kings even by being Kings do tacitly bind themselves to protect the People and the Laws of their Kingdoms 3ly That the King makes a Paction with his People by his Laws which Paction he is bound to observe And 4ly That as soon as he leaves off to rule according to his Laws HE LAVES TO BE A KING and then certainly we must leave to be of right his Subjects or to owe him Allegience And though even in this case I cannot yet approve of Subjects taking up Offensive Arms against a King on this account because I know not what power of Avenging themselves they have or how the Sword is put into their hands to doe it nor who hath made them Judges in their own cause yet if Providence
is pleased to send a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 another Prince to free us from a King who hath thus violated his Compact and not only thus leaves to be King but doth it also by deserting us and so far abdicating the Government which is our present case then I am apt to think we may honestly accept of this deliverance as being formerly absolved de jure from our Allegiance to such a King And lastly let it be Observed that all our Kings if they were capable were Crowned soon after their coming to the Throne or the decease of their Predecessors the Ceremony till of late being only omitted in the case of Henry the Sixth a Child of nine months old that at their Coronation they generally took their Oaths to preserve their Peoples Rights and Liberties and govern them by their Old and good Laws and Customs and that they received Homage of their Subjects at the same time That the usual custom was and still is first That they take their Coronation Oath and then the Arch-Bishop ask the People whether they be willing to subject themselves and pay their due Allegiance to a King so sworn That if any of them at their Coronation refused to promise these things they endeavoured to hinder their Coronation till they had satisfaction in that point that sometimes the Bishops before their Coronation acquaint the People with the Constitution of the King and Kingdom how the King should behave himself to them and in what things they were to obey him on which the practice of the Bishops in the case of Magna Charta and Charta de Forestis gives us a sufficient Comment sometimes the Arch-Bishop at their Coronation adjures them by God not to take the Crown upon them unless they uprightly intended to Observe their Oaths Sometimes they promised Homage and Allegiance only conditionally provided that their Laws might be granted Of Hen. 1 M. Paris p. 38. Sub. rali igitur conventione supradisti Comites Barones juraverunt â—channi Duci Normanniae 〈◊〉 fideli servitium contra omnes homines Annal. Mon. Burton p. 257. M. Paris p. 1â—7 and that the King would be true to his engagements as in the case of Henry the first and of King John Sometimes upon the attempts of their King 's wholly to violate their Rights Liberties and Properties they give themback their Homage and resign it to them and declare themselves no longer obliged to it nor guilty if they do not pay it So that if there were no such evidence of a contract as we have given if the nature of a Political Government did not require and suppose it If * Liguntia est vinculum arctius inter subditum Regem utrosque invicem connectens hunc ad protectionem Justum Regimen illum adtribute Justum Subjectionem Glossar Sir H. Spelman had not so expresly said that the Oath of Allegiance is reciprocal betwixt King and Subject yet these things plainly seen to prove the Oath of Allegiance is or was at least by our Fore fathers thought to be reciprocal and if so then have the generallity of Casuists plainly determined that it must cease on the one part when the very substance of it is plainly and perseveringly violated on the other For both * Cum aliquid promiâ—â—um est ob causam quae subesse putubatur non subest ut si juraveris te facturum aliquid eo quod beneficium aliquod te in petraturum sperabas quod tamen non impetras tunc ad implendum promisum non teneris quia conditio illa tacitè in Juramento fuit inclusa si beneficium impetravero conditione autem non impletâ promissio ipsa licet jurata obligaâ—e 〈◊〉 Bâ—ldwin de Cas Consc l. 2. c. 9. Cas 17. Rivet explic Decal p. 131 Mr. Tombs leâ—â— 18. p. 123 124. Bp. Sanderson de juram praelect 4. § 8. p. 99. Papists and Protestants unanimously agree in this that when an Oath is reciprocal or conditional if one part break the Covenant and violate the condition the other is free from the Obligation of the Oath For as a conditional Proposition say Logicians puts nothing in being but when the condition is put it becomes absolute so a conditional Obligation becomes then only absolute when and whilst the condition is put and therefore ceaseth when it is removed Besides the Engagement on the one side would not have been without the engagement on the other and therefore the performance of it must depend on the performance of the other And 3ly Otherwise these Oaths would serve only for a snare to honest men as v. g. Put the case the Governors of two Armies mutually swear not to fight in so many days if one party breaking his Oath and fighting the other be obliged by his Oath not to fight it would be all one as if he had sworn to deliver up himself and his Army to be butchered which is contrary to the law of Nature So in like manner if a King hath so far violated his Oath as to set himself directly to overthrow those Laws and to destroy that Church he bound himself by Oath to defend If he hath not only engaged himself in a Religion which binds him upon pain of damnation to overthrow all the Laws made to keep it out and to give up all his Subjects to suffer all the punishments decreed by the Roman Church against Hereticks that is the loss of Goods and Life If he hath entred into a League with another potent Monarch to set up Popery and Arbitary Government in England and yet his Subjects must be obliged to bear Allegiance to him by virtue of their Oaths then must they be ensnared so far by them as to deliver up their Laws and Church to be destroyed if not to assist their Prince in doing of it I am not ignorant that Bishop Sanderson puts the case thus Rex aliquis simpliciter citra respectum ad fidelitatem subditorum jurat se Regnum administraturum justè secundùm Leges subdui alio tempore simpliciter citra respectùm ad Principis Officium jurant se ei debitam fidelitatem obedientiam praestituros utrique obligantur quod sui est Officii fideliter facere etsi defecerit altera pars à suo Officio ita ut neque Rex solutus sit suo juramento si subditi debitum Obsequium non praestiterent nec subditi suo si Rex à justitiae tramite deflexerit De juramento prael 4. §. 8. p. 100. A King one time swears simply and without respect to the fidelity of his Subjects to govern the Kingdom justly and according to the Laws the Subjects at another time simply AND WITHOUT RESPECT TO THE PRINCE'S DVTY swear to yield him due Fidelity and Obedience they are both obliged faithfully to doe what is their duty though the other party fail of his so that neither is the King absolved from his Oath if the Subjects do not yield him their due obedience nor are the Subjects absolved from their duty though the King deviate from the way of Justice By this decision I was a long time diverted from ever thinking that the Oath of Allegiance was Reciprocal or made by the Subject with respect to the Duty or the Oath of the King or the nature of our Kingly Government though upon perusal of our Histories I find that all our Ancestors thought otherwise or at least acted as if they really believed the Oath was reciprocal and made with respect to the Obligation which was upon their Sovereign tacitly as by being a King and expresly by his Oath at his Coronation to protect as well as the People as the Laws of the Kingdom Nor is there any thing in these words besides the Authority of that great man to shew the contrary For 1. When the King swears to protect his People this sure doth not oblige him to protect an Out-Law or a Rebel 't is therefore plain that this part of the Oath respecteth the fidelity of his People 2. Whereas he saith the King simply and without respect to the fidelity of his Subjects swears to govern the Kingdom justly and according to the Laws 't is very reasonable he should do so because he is a King only by and according to the Laws and because the Laws have provided him a remedy against the undultifulness of any of his Subjects If any particular Subject offend against his Government he can punish him by Law if any number of them prove Rebels he can cut them off by Law if all of them prove so when he hath power sufficient he hath them all at his mercy by Law and they have forfeited both Lives and Fortunes to him and what could he desire more Whereas if the Subject be bound to yield Allegiance to the King though he deviate never so much from the way of Justice though he usurps as much upon their Lives and Fortunes without their violation of the Law as if they were the worst of Rebels they are left in a very deplorable condition nor is it any advantage to them that they have fundamental Laws by which they ought to be governed or that the Government is Political and tyed to the observance of the Laws and not absolute or that the Governor is sworn to rule according to Law seeing upon his Sup osition they are as much enslaved by their Oath of Allegiance as they could be were their King absolute tied to no Oaths or Laws but free to deal with them at his pleasure Nor doth it alter the case at all that the King swears to govern by Law at one time and many of them swear Allegiance at another For besides what I have shewed that the custom antiently was and still is at the very time of his taking his Coronation Oath for the Subjects to declare their acceptation of him thereupon as their King and for some of all Orders to doe him immediate Homage in the name of the Rest which seem to be evident marks of Stipulation and Mutual Engagement I say besides this it seems not at all material to the business when the Oath is taken provided that the Ground Reason and Foundation or chief Motive of it whensoever it be taken is the aforesaid contract of the King to govern them by Law either already made or at his Coronation to be made FINIS
Books lately printed for Awnsham Churchil THe late Lord Russel's Case written by the Right Honourable Henry Lord de la Mere. fol. An Historical Account of making the Penal Laws by the Papists against the Protestants and by the Protestants against the Papists By Sa. Blackerby Esq Obedience due to the Present King notwithstanding our Oaths to the Former Written by a Divine of the Church of England 4 to A modest Enquiry Whether St. Peter was ever at Rome and Rishop of that Church 4o. The Spirit of France and the Politick Maxims of Lewis XIV laid open to the World 4o. Memorials of the Manner of Proceedings in Parliament in Passing Bills 8o. Dr. Burnet's Travels Several Tracts in two Volumes 12o. A Collection of Texts of Scripture with short Notes upon them And some other Observations against the Principal Popish Errors 12o Dr. Daniel Whithy's Treatise of Worship of Images Of Communion in one kind His Treatise of Tradition in two parts His Consideration for taking the Oaths to King William and Queen Mary Dr. Worthington of the Resurtection 8o. Mr. Masters of Submission to Divine Providence 8o. Foxes and Firebrands 8o. 1st 2d and 3d. Parts Mr. Bold's Sermon on occasion of the Brief for Irish Protestants An Answer to Bishop Lake's late of Chester Declaration of his dying in belief of the Doctrine of Passive Obedience c. Sir William Temple's Observations on Holland 8o Miscellania 8o Dr. Carswel's Assize-Sermon at Abingdon August 6. 1689. Mr. Selden's Table-Talk 4to A List of the present Parliament Lords and Commons Present Case stated about Allegiance to King William and Queen Mary Debates of the late Oxon and Westminster Parliaments 8o Monsieur Jurieu's Accomplishment of Scripture-Prophecies compleat 8o New System of the Revelations 12o Voyage to Siam 8o A Letter concerning Toleration humbly submitted 4o stitcht Agreement between the present and former Government 4o 153 Chymical Apborisms By a Country Hermite 12o Reflections in Vindication of one Archdeacon from the scurrilous and groundless Invectives against him A Letter to the Author of 200 Queries concerning the Revolution of human Souls Abridgment of all the Tryals in the two late Reigns 8o Two Treatises of Government In the former the false Principles of Sir R. Filmer and his party are detected and overthrown The latter is a Essay concerning the true Original Extract and End of Civil Government A Letter to a Member of Parliament occasioned by a Letter to a Member of the House of Commons concerning the Bishops lately in the Tower and now under Suspension An Historical ACCOUNT OF SOME THINGS Relating to the Nature of the English Government AND THE CONCEPTIONS Which our Fore-fathers had of it With some Inferences thence made for the satisfaction of those who scruple the Oath of Allegiance to KING WILLIAM and QUEEN MARY LICENS'D Decemb. 19. 1689. J. FRASER LONDON Printed for Awnsham Churchill at the Black Swan in Ave-Mary Lane MDCXC THE PREFACE I Would not have the Reader think that I approve of every thing related in this Historical Account That which I think my self concerned to make good is this 1. That what I do relate as History is Historically true or that it is delivered without fraud or wilful perversion of the Authors cited 2. That what I lay as the Foundation of my Inferences is sufficiently confirmed by what I have delivered in this History That may perhaps be useful for many other ends relating to our Late happy Change but they are obvious in themselves and were not chiefly designed by me and therefore are not mentioned here Farewell THE CONTETNS SECTION I. THAT from the Norman Conquest to this present time there was an Original Compact or Establishment of Laws by which the Kings of England were to Govern and the People to be governed Page 1 Sect. II. That they thought it absolutely necessary that whosoever would be their King should make this Compact with them and be as much obliged by Oath to grant these Priviledges to them as they were to swear Allegiance to him p. 6 Sect. III. That when the ancient Laws of their Country were wholly violated they constantly complain'd of the Injustice of the Action required the observation of them and when they could not prevail by fair means they sought to recover their Right by Arms. Where an account is given of the Barons Wars for the preserving of the Magna Charta and the Charta de Forestis p. 14 Sect. IV. That we find throughout the History of our Kings that their Election or else their Compact with the People hath generally been conceived a thing proper to strenghen their Title to the Crown or at the least to satisfie their People p. 35 Sect. V. That we find mention in History of divers Acts of Parliament or of the Nobles of the Kingdom continuing the Name and Honour of a King to him who by their own confession had not the immediate Title to the Kingdom and only proclaiming him who had the Right by Proximity of Blood Heir Apparent to the Crown p. 40 Sect. VI. The Inferences from the Resolutions of the best Casuists to prove that the Oath of Allegiance and of the Coronation are reciprocal and consequently that the obligation of the Oath of Allegiance doth cease when the Original Compact is Fundamentally violated p. 43 AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT SECTION I. That from the Norman Conquest to this present time there was an Original Compact or Establishment of Laws by which the Kings of England were to Govern and the People to be governed I Am apt to think it may be want of due consideration of the History and Constitution of our Government which makes some worthy Persons of the Clergy so stiff in their refusal of the Oath of Allegiance to King William and Queen Mary Now the great mischief which this unhappy Division may bring upon the Protestant Religion both at home and abroad and the vile Imputations which are cast on that great Body of the Clergy which hath taken this Oath will justifie our Endeavours to set this matter before them in the clearest light and to let others know what hath been done by our Fore-fathers to secure their Laws and Liberties what Compacts they made with their Kings how uneasie they were under the Violation of them and what Conceptions they had touching the Nature and Constitution of the English Government and touching the Allegiance due to their Prince Now in order to these things let it be observed First Ubi Aldredus Archiepiscopus Wulfunus Wigorniensis Episcopus Clito Eadgerus Comites Eadwinus Morcarus de Lundoniâ quique Nobiliores cum multis aliis ad eum venerant datis obsidibus illi deditionem fecerunt fidelitatemque juraverunt cum quibus ipse foedus pepigit Dunelm p. 195. Flor. Wig p. 635. R. Hov. F. 258. That Florence of Worcester Simeon of Durham and R. Hoveden expresly say That William called the Conqueror made a League or Compact
atque Ecclesiae Sanctae in die Coronationis suae concesserat Matth. Paris p. 51. promiseth a Melioration of their Laws according to their minds Our Historians tell us That on the day of his Coronation he made a Compact with his Church and People which afterwards at Oxford he swore to observe And one of the terms of this Compact was That he would observe good Laws and ancient and just Customs in Hundreds and Pleas and other Causes Henry the Second follows him at the beginning of his Reign establishing Peace in his Kingdom and commanding the Laws of Henry the First Ipse pacem stabilivit in Regno leges Henr. Avi sui praecepit per totum Regnum suum inviolabiliter teneri Hoved. par 2. F. 281. B. his Grand-father to be inviolably observed throughout his Kingdom Richard the first succeeds him and promiseth upon Oath at his Coronation these three things viz. 1. That he would give Peace Honour Juravit quod ipse omnibus diebus vitae suae pacem honorem Reverentiam Deo Sanctae Ecclesiae ejus ordinatis portaret 2o. Quod rectam justitiam aequitatem exerceret in populo sibi commisso 3o. Quod malas leges consuetudines perversas si quae in Regno suo inductae sunt deleret bonas leges conderet sine fraude malo ingenio eas custodiret Hoveden F. 374. A. M. Paris p. 108. Rad. de Diceto Imag. Hist p. 647. Chron. Joh. Brompt p. 1157. and Reverence to God and the Church and her Clergy all the days of his life 2ly That he would exercise true Justice and Equity to the People committed to his Government 3ly That he would put away all evil Laws and perverse Customs which were introduced into his Kingdom and would make good Laws and maintain them without fraud and evil inclination Conjuratus est ab Archiepiscopo ex parte Dei prohibitus ne hunc honorem acciperet nisi in mente habeat Sacramenta tenere quae fecit ipse respondit se per auxilium Dei bona fide observaturum omnia supra dicta Ibid. Then the Archbishop of Canterbury conjures him by God not to take upon him this Honour unless he uprightly intended to perform what he had sworn and when he answered That by the help of God he intended so to do the Archbishop puts the Crown upon his Head King John at his entrance on the Government took the same Oaths for substance which his predecessor Richard had done swearing to preserve the Church and her Dignities from harm to abolish unjust Laws and to establish Good and to exercise right Justice and he was also by the Archbishop conjured not to take upon him the Kingly Honour In coronatione suâ R. Johannes triplici involutus est Sacramento viz. quod Sanctam Ecclesiam ejus ordinatos diligeret quod perversis legibus destructis bonas constituerer rectam justitiam in Regno Angliae exerceret deinde adjuratus est ab Archiepiscopo ex parte Dei districtè prohibitus ne honorem hunc accipere praesumeret nisi in mente habuit opere quod juraverat adimplere Chron. Burton p. 256. R. Hoveden F. 450. M. Paris p. 138. Audistis quomodo ipse apud Wintoniam Regem absolvi ipsum jurare compulerim quod leges iniquas destrueret leges bonas viz. leges Edvardi revocaret in Regno faceret ab omnibus observari M. Paris p. 166 167. unless he really intended to perform his Oath When he was absolved from his Excommunication by the Archbishop at Winchester he was by him compelled to swear That he would destroy all unjust Laws and would restore good Laws viz. The Laws of King Edward and cause them to be observed of all throughout his Kingdom King Henry the Third was but nine years old when he succeeded King John Annales Mon. Burton p. 271 276. and in the ninth year of his Reign he granted to all his Clergy his Nobles and his People his Magna Charta and his Charter of the Liberties of the Forest and by these Charters he confirms to them libertates liberas consuetudines quas prius habuerant the Liberties and free Customs which they had before M. Paris saith Pag. 274. That he exacted the fifteenth part of the Moveables both of the Clergy and of the Laity and that they promised to grant them si illi diu petitas Libertates concedere voluisset Pag. 223. provided he would give them the Liberties they had so long desired And that accordingly he gave them these two Charters which were the same that had been granted by King John A. D. 1223. Speed p. 581. The Barons requiring a confirmation of these Liberties from the King William Briwere one of the King's Council answered That the Liberties which they demanded were not to be observed because they were violently extorted the King replied All of us have sworn to these Liberties and that which we have sworn all of us are bound to observe and the truth is at the conclusion of the Peace with Lewis the King Speed p. 578. the Legate and Earl Marshal sware that the King should restore to the Barons and others all their Rights and Inheritances with all the Liberties formerly demanded of his Father Speed p. 583 And in the year 1225. the King again drawn with the desire of Mony grants those his Charters under his Seal and Oaths were taken by Royal commandment to tye all Men to the observation of the said grants Edward the first was declared King and Successor of his Father when absent in Palestine and returning into England is Crowned in the Second year of his Reign and in the Third calls a Parliament at Westminster where he hears the complaints of the ill Government of the Realm and the Church and makes that wholsome Statute to relieve them which is called the first Statute of Westminster At the Coronation of Edward the Second the Earls and Barons of the Kingdom of England treated of the State of the Kingdom requesting the Banishment of Peter of Gaveston from the Kingdom and that Baronum suorum vellet consiliis tractare Regni negotia Hypadygm Neustr p. 500. he would transact the business of the Kingdom by the Councils of his Barons which the King denying to grant Rex noluit consentire idcirco proposuerunt comites Coronationem Regiam impedire quod Rex intelligens promisit bona fide se facturum illis in proximo Parliamento quicquid peterent tantum ne Coronatio differatur Walfingh Hist Angl. p. 96. the Nobles endeavoured to hinder his Coronation which the King understanding promised faithfully in the next Parliament to do that which they desired At the Coronation of Richard the Second one of the Bishops makes an Oration to the People concerning the Constitution of the King and Kingdom Tunc Episcopus Sermonem fecit de materiâ Regis Regni ad
next year the King by the counsels of some wicked men is wrought upon to infringe again this Charter hoping for a gift to obtain an absolution from his Oath In the next year a Parliament is called which yeilds nothing but grievous Complaints for breach of M. Charta Page 608. and Promises of supply provided it may be again confirmed and the electing the Justiciar the Chancellor and Treasurer put into their hands to which the King would not yield But though the King would not observe it M. Paris saith It was cryed in all Countries Diebus autem istis acclamatum est in comitatibus annunciatum est in Synodis in Ecclesiis ubicunque locorum homines convenerant ut M. Charta inviolabiliter teneretur quam R. Johannes concesserat iste Rex praesens multoties concessit lata est sententia solenniter in omnes ejusdem violatores Ibid. p. 609. and denounced in all Synods Churches and publick resort that M. Charta should be inviolably observed and the sentence of Excommunication is denounced against all the violaters of it In the Year 1256. Provision is again made sub paena horribilis Anathematis Page 619. under the penalty of an horrible Anathema that the M. Charta of King John should be observed In the Year 1257. The King requests an Aid for his Son Edmund for the acquiring the Kingdom of Sicily and after many excuses upon condition that the King would observe M. Charta so often promised and bought they tender 52000. Marks with which the King was not satisfied Ee tamen conditione additâ ut M. Chartam toties promissam emptam redemptam ex tunc inviolabiliter observaret c. p. 637. In the Year 1258. was held the Parliament at Oxford where the Nobles enter into an unchangeable League to require that the King should faithfully observe the Charter of King John Parliamento incipiente solidabatur Magnatum propositum consilium immutabile exigendo constantissimè ut Dominus Rex Chartam Libertatum Angliae quam Johannes Rex Anglis concessit fideliter teneat conservet exigebant insuper sibi fieri Justiciarum c. Quod Rex recognoscens graviter juravit consiliis eorum obsecundare Edvardus filius ejus eodem est juramento adstrictus p. 653. Rex coactus est corporale praestare Sacramentum cum omnibus ferè post jurantibus illud idem Hyp. Neustr p. 467. which he had so often swore to perform they require also the chief Justiciar Chancellor and Treasurer to be ordained by publick choice and the twenty four Conservators of the Kingdom to be confirmed twelve by the Election of the Lords and twelve by the King who swears to the confirmation of these things and causes the Prince to take the same Oath Walsingham adds that all after him did swear almost the same thing But notwithstanding this the King gets an absolution from his Oath of the Pope Rogabant humiliter ut communiter praestitum juramentum inviolabiliter observare vellet Contin M. par p. 567. Of this the Barons hearing humbly beseech him to perform the Oath publickly sworn but the King answering them with threats the business is deferred till the coming of Prince Edward who coming sides with the Barons according to his Oath and a League is made betwixt them to apprehend the King 's Evil Counsellors Ibid. and their Abettors and to endeavour to remove them from the King In the Year 1263. The contest betwixt the King and the Barons is referred to the mediation of the French King who annuls the provisions of Oxford but with this exception That the Ancient Charter of King John Hoc excepto quod Antiquae Chartae R. Johannis Angliae Universitati concessae per illam sententiam in nullo intendebat penitùs derogare p. 668. granted to the Community should in nothing be thereby impaired Then began the Barons Wars under Simon of Monfort who succeeded so far in them as to take the King and his Son Prisoners But afterwards the Prince escaping out of Prison fights with Simon and overthrows him at Evesham where he was slain And here it is to be observed that none of the Historians of those times will permit this Simon to be called a Rebel or a Traitor but they still represent him as a most devout servant of God and the Church Sciendum quod nemo sani capitis debet censere neque appellare Simonem nomine Proditoris non enim fuit Proditor sed Dei Ecclesiae in Anglia devotissimus Cultor fidelissimus Protector Regni Anglorum Scutum Defensor Chron. de Mailr p. 228. and a most faithfull Protector Shield and Defender of the Kingdom of England and even a Martyr for the Liberties of Church and State After the end of these Wars in the Year 1269. M. Par. Cont. p. 677. the King calls a Parliament to be hèld at Marlborough where the Statutes called the Statutes of Marlborough were Enacted Magna Charta in singulis suis Articulis teneatur tam in his quae ad Regem pertinent quà m quae ad alios Similiter Charta de Foresta in the Fifth Chapter of which it is decreed That the Great Charter and the Charter de Foresta shall be observed in all their Articles both concerning the the King and his Subjects And here Inst l. 2. p. 102. saith the Lord Coke it is to be observed that after this Parliament neither M. Charta nor Charta de Foresta was ever attempted to be impugned or questioned whereupon Peace and Tranquillity have ever since ensued Edward the First in the twenty fifth year of his Reign confirms the said Charters of the Liberties of England and of the Forest and declares they are to he holden for Common Law Confirm Chart. c. 1. requires that they should be held in every point that they should be sent under the Great Seal to all his Justices as well of the Forest as others proclaimed by the Sheriff of the County and that all Justices Sheriffs Mayors and other Ministers which under the King had the Laws to guide them should allow the said Charters in all their points which in any Plea shall come before them in Judgment and that the said Charters should be sent to all the Cathedrals within the Realm and should be read twice a year before the People Chap. 3. and that the Arch Bishops and Bishops Chap. 4. should denounce the Sentence of Excommunication against all them who in Word or Deed did act against the said Charters and these Sentences shall be pronounced and published twice in the year by the said Prelates And because in the sixth Chapter of the said Act there was added this clause Saves les auncient aides prises dues accustomes which gave some colour for the King's Officers to make an Evasion the Lords of Parliament met in the twenty eighth year of his Reign do importune the King again to