haue is of three sorts All the Lawe of Scotland for Tenures Wards and Liueries Seigniories and Lands are drawen out of the Chauncerie of England and for matters of equitie and in many things else differs from you but in certaine termes Iames the first bred here in England brought the Lawes thither in a written hand The second is Statute lawes which be their Acts of Parliament wherein they haue power as you to make and altar Lawes and those may be looked into by you for I hope you shall be no more strangers to that Nation And the principall worke of this Vnion will be to reconcile the Statute Lawes of both Kingdomes The third is the Ciuill Law Iames the fift brought it out of France by establishing the Session there according to the forme of the Court of Parliament of Fraunce which he had seene in the time of his being there who occupie there the place of Ciuill udges in all matters of Plee or controuersie yet not to gouerne absolutely by the Ciuill Law as in Fraunce For if a man plead that the Law of the Nation is otherwise it is a barre to the Ciuill and a good Chauncellor or President will oftentimes repell and put to silence an Argument that the Lawyers bring out of the Ciuill Law where they haue a cleare solution in their owne Law So as the Ciuil Law in Scotland is admitted in no other cases but to supply such cases wherein the Municipall Law is defectiue Then may you see it is not so hard a matter as is thought to reduce that Countrey to bee vnited with you vnder this Law which neither are subiect to the Ciuill Lawe nor yet haue any olde Common Law of their owne but such as in effect is borrowed from yours And for their Statute Lawes in Parliament you may alter and change them as oft as occasion shall require as you doe here It hath likewise beene obiected as an other impediment that in the Parliament of Scotland the King hath not anegatiue voice but must passe all the Lawes agreed on by the Lords and Commons Of this I can best resolue you for I am the eldest Parliament man in Scotland and haue sit in more Parliaments then any of my Predecessors I can assure you that the forme of Parliament there is nothing inclined to popularitie About a twentie dayes or such a time before the Parliament Proclamation is made throughout the Kingdome to deliuer in to the Kings Clearke of Register whom you heere call the Master of the Rolles all Bills to be exhibited that Session before a certaine day Then are they brought vnto the King and perused and considered by him and onely such as I allowe of are put into the Chancellors handes to bee propounded to the Parliament and none others And if any man in Parliament speake of any other matter then is in this forme first allowed by mee The Chancellor tells him there is no such Bill allowed by the King Besides when they haue passed them for lawes they are presented vnto me and I with my Scepter put into my hand by the Chancellor must say I ratifie and approue all things done in this present Parliament And if there bee any thing that I dislike they rase it out before If this may bee called a negatiue voyce then I haue one I am sure in that Parliament The last impediment is the French liberties which is thought so great as except the Scots farsake Fraunce England cannot bee vnited to them If the Scottish Nation would bee so vnwilling to leaue them as is said it would not lye in their hands For the League was neuer made betweene the people as is mistaken but betwixt the Princes onely and their Crownes The beginning was by a Message from a King of Fraunce Charlemaine I take it but I cannot certainely remember vnto a King of Scotland for a League defensiue and offensiue betweene vs and them against England Fraunce being at that time in Warres with England The like at that time was then desired by England against Fraunce who also sent their Ambassadours to Scotland At the first the Disputation was long maintained in fauour of England that they being our neerest Neighbours ioyned in one continent and a strong and powerfull Nation it was more fitte for the weale and securitie of the State of Scotland to be in League and Amitie with them then with a Countrey though neuer so strong yet diuided by Sea from vs especially Englandlying betwixt vs and them where we might be sure of a suddaine mischiefe but behooued to abide the hazard of wind and weather and other accidents that might hinder our reliefe But after when the contrary part of the Argument was maintained wherein allegation was made that England euer sought to conquer Scotland and therefore in regarde of their pretended interest in the Kingdoome would neuer keepe any sound Amitie with them longer then they saw their aduantage whereas France lying more remote and clayming no interest in the Kingdome would therefore bee found a more constant and faithfull friend It was vnhappily concluded in fauour of the last partie through which occasion Scotland gate many mischiefes after And it is by the very tenour thereof ordered to bee renewed and confirmed from King to King successiuely which accordingly was euer performed by the mediation of their Ambassadours and therefore meerely personall and so was it renewed in the Queene my mothers time onely betweene the two Kings and not by assent of Parliament or conuention of the three Estates which it could neuer haue wanted if it had beene a League betweene the people And in my time when it came to be ratified because it appeared to be in odium tertii it was by me left vnrenewed or confirmed as a thing incompatible to my Person in consideration of my Title to this Crowne Some Priuiledges indeede in the Merchants fauour for point of Commerce were renewed and confirmed in my time wherein for my part of it there was scarce three Counsellours more then my Secretarie to whose place it belonged that medled in that matter It is trew that it behooued to be enterteined as they call it in the Court of Parliament of Paris but that onely serues for publication and not to giue it Authoritie That Parliament as you know being but a Iudiciall Seate of Iudges and Lawyers and nothing agreeing with the definition or office of our Parliaments in this Isle And therefore that any fruites or Priuiledges possessed by the League with Fraunce is able now to remaine in Scotland is impossible For ye may be sure that the French King stayes onely vpon the sight of the ending of this Vnion to cut it off himselfe Otherwise when this great worke were at an end I would be forced for the generall care I owe to all my Subiects to craue of France like Priuiledges to them all as Scotland alreadie enioyes seeing the personall friendship remaines as great betweene vs as betweene our
many one to conspire and attempt the like against the late Queene and in my time to attempt the destruction of a whole Kingdome and State by a blast of Powder and hereby to play bankerupt with both the soules mentioned in the Scriptures Animus Anima But notwithstanding of this their great Lamentation they are commanded by a voyce from heauen to doe two things Verse 4. One to flee from Babylon lest they bee partakers of her sinnes and consequently of her punishment Which warning I pray God that yee all my Beloued Brethren and Cousins would take heed vnto in time humbly beseeching him to open your eyes for this purpose The other command is Verse 6. to reward her as shee hath rewarded you yea euen to the double For as she did flie but with your feathers borrowing as well her Titles of greatnesse and formes of honouring her from you as also enioying all her Temporall liuing by your liberalities so if euery man doe but take his owne againe she will stand vp * Cornicula Aesopica Verse 7. naked and the reason is giuen because of her pride For shee glorifieth her selfe liuing in pleasure and in her heart saith shee sitteth as a Queene outward prosperitie being one of their notes of a trew Church and is no Widow for her Spouse CHRIST is bound to her by an inuiolable knot for he hath sworne neuer to forsake her and she shall see no mourning for she cannot erre nor the gates of Hell shall not preuaile against her But though the earth and worldly men lament thus for the fall of Babylon in this eighteenth Chapter yet in the nineteenth Cap. xix Verse 1. Verse 2. Heauen and all the Angels and Saints therein doe sing a triumphall Cantique for ioy of her fall praising God for the fall of that great Whore Great indeed for our * Bellar. in Res ad Gerson confid 11. Cardinall confesseth that it is hard to describe what the Pope is such is his greatnesse Verse 19. Verse 20. And in the end of that Chapter is the obstinacie of that Whore described who euen fought to the vttermost against him that sate on the white Horse and his armie till the Beast or Antichrist was taken and the false Prophet or false Church with him who by Miracles and lying wonders deceiued them that receiued the marke of the Beast and both were cast quicke into the burning lake of fire and brimstone vnde nulla redemptio Like as in the ende of the former Chapter to describe the fulnesse of the Antichristes fall not like to that reparable wound that Ethnicke Rome gate it is first compared to a Milstone cast into the sea that can neuer rise and fleete againe Cap 18.21 Ibidem Vers 22 32. And next it is expressed by a number of ioyfull things that shall neuer bee heard there againe where nothing shall inhabite but desolation But that the patience and constancie of Saints on earth and God his Elected may the better bee strengthened and confirmed their persecution in the latter dayes is shortly prophesied and repeated againe Cap. 11. Verse 2. after that Satan hath beene bound or his furie restrained by the worlds enioying of peace for a thousand yeeres or a great indefinite time their persecuters being named Gog and Magog the secret and reuealed enemies of CHRIST Verse 8. Whether this be meant of the Pope and the Turke or not who both began to rise to their greatnesse about one time I leaue to bee guessed Verse 9. alwayes their vtter confusion is there assuredly promised and it is said that the Dragon the Beast and the false Prophet Verse 10. shall all three bee cast in that lake of fire and brimstone to be tormented for euer Verse 11 12 13. Matth. 24.22 And thereafter is the latter day described againe which must be hastened for the Elects sake and then for the further comfort of the Elect and that they may the more constantly and patiently endure these temporall and finite troubles limited but to a short space in the last two Chapters are the ioyes of the eternall Ierusalem largely described Cap. xxj xxij Thus hath the Cardinals shamelesse wresting of those two places of Scripture Pasce oues meas and Tibi dabo claues for proouing of the Popes supreame Temporall authoritie ouer Princes animated mee to prooue the Pope to bee THE ANTICHRIST out of this foresaid booke of Scripture so to pay him in his owne money againe And this opinion no Pope can euer make me to recant except they first renounce any further medling with Princes in any thing belonging to their Temporall Iurisdiction And my onely wish shall bee that if any man shall haue a fancie to refute this my coniecture of the Antichrist that hee answere mee orderly to euery point of my discourse not contenting him to disprooue my opinion except hee set downe some other Methode after his forme for interpretation of that Booke of the Apocalyps which may not contradict no part of the Text nor conteine no absurdities Otherwise it is an easie thing for Momus to picke quarrels in another mans tale and tell it worse himselfe it being a more easie practise to finde faults then amend them Hauing now made this digression anent the Antichrist which I am sure I can better fasten vpon the Pope then Bellarmine can doe his pretended Temporall Superioritie ouer Kings I will returne againe to speake of this Answerer who as I haue already told you so fitteth his matter with his manner of answering that as his Style is nothing but a Satyre and heape full of iniurious and reprochfull speaches as well against my Person as my Booke so is his matter as full of lyes and falsities indeed as hee vniustly layeth to my charge For three lies hee maketh against the Oath of Alleagiance conteined and maintained in my Booke besides that ordinary repeated lie against my Booke of his omitting to answere my lyes trattles iniurious speaches and blasphemies One grosse lye he maketh euen of the Popes first Breue One lye of the Puritanes whom he would gladly haue to be of his partie And one also of the Powder-Traitours anent the occasion that mooued them to vndertake that treasonable practise Three lies hee makes of that Acte of Parliament wherein this Oath of Alleagiance is conteined Hee also maketh one notable lie against his owne Catholike Writers And two of the causes for which two Iesuites haue beene put to death in England And he either falsifies denies or wrests fiue sundry Histories and a printed Pamphlet besides that impudent lye that hee maketh of my Person that I was a Puritane in Scotland which I haue already refuted And for the better filling vp of his booke with such good stuffe hee hath also fiue so strange and new principles of Diuinitie therein as they are either new or at least allowed by very few of his owne Religion All which lyes with
Law of the King whereto themselues are also subiect Hauing now perfourmed this ancient Prouerbe A Ioue principium which though it was spoken by a Pagan yet it is good and holy I am now to come to my particular Errand for which I am heere this day wherein I must handle two parts First the reason why I haue not these fourteene yeeres sithence my Coronation vntill now satisfied a great many of my louing subiects who I know haue had a great expectation and as it were a longing like them that are with child to heare mee speake in this place where my Predecessors haue often sitten and especially King Henry the seuenth from whom as diuers wayes before I am lineally descended and that doubly to this Crowne and as I am neerest descended of him so doe I desire to follow him in his best actions The next part is the reason Why I am now come The cause that made mee abstaine was this When I came into England although I was an old King past middle aage and practised in gouernment euer sithence I was twelue yeeres olde yet being heere a stranger in gouernement though not in blood because my breeding was in another Kingdome I resolued therefore with Pythagoras to keepe silence seuen yeeres and learne my selfe the Lawes of this Kingdome before I would take vpon mee to teach them vnto others When this Apprentiship was ended then another impediment came which was in the choice of that cause that should first bring me hither I expected some great cause to make my first entry vpon For I thought that hauing abstained so long it should be a worthy matter that should bring mee hither Now euery cause must be great or small In small causes I thought it disgracefull to come hauing beene so long absent In great causes they must be either betwixt the King and some of his Subiects or betwixt Subiect and Subiect In a cause where my selfe was concerned I was loath to come because men should not thinke I did come for my owne priuate either Prerogatiue or profit or for any other by-respect And in that case I will alwayes abide the triall of men and Angels neuer to haue had any particular end in that which is the Maine of all things Iustice In a great cause also betweene partie and partie great in respect either of the question or value of the thing my comming might seeme as it were obliquely to be in fauour of one partie and for that cause this Counsellour or that Courtier might be thought to mooue me to come hither And a meane cause was not worthy of mee especially for my first entrance So lacke of choice in both respects kept mee off till now And now hauing passed a double apprentiship of twice seuen yeeres I am come hither to speake vnto you And next as to the reasons of my comming at this time they are these I haue obserued in the time of my whole Reigne here and my double Apprentiship diuers things fallen out in the Iudicatures here at Westminster Hall that I thought required and vrged a reformation at my hands whereupon I resolued with my selfe that I could not more fitly begin a reformation then here to make an open declaration of my meaning I remember Christs saying My sheepe heare my voyce and so I assure my selfe my people will most willingly heare the voyce of me their owne Shepheard and King whereupon I tooke this occasion in mine owne person here in this Seate of Iudgement not iudicially but declaratorily and openly to giue those directions which at other times by piece-meale I haue deliuered to some of you in diuers lesse publike places but now will put it vp in all your audience where I hope it shall bee trewly caried and cannot be mistaken as it might haue bene when it was spoken more priuately I will for order sake take mee to the methode of the number of Three the number of perfection and vpon that number distribute all I haue to declare to you FIrst I am to giue a charge to my selfe for a King or Iudge vnder a King that first giues not a good charge to himselfe will neuer be able to giue a good charge to his inferiours for as I haue said Good riuers cannot flow but from good springs if the fountaine be impure so must the riuers be Secondly to the Iudges And thirdly to the Auditory and the rest of the inferiour ministers of Iustice First I protest to you all in all your audience heere sitting in the seate of Iustice belonging vnto GOD and now by right fallen vnto mee that I haue resolued as Confirmation in Maioritie followeth Baptisme in minoritie so now after many yeeres to renew my promise and Oath made at my Coronation concerning Iustice and the promise therein for maintenance of the Law of the Land And I protest in GODS presence my care hath euer beene to keepe my conscience cleare in all the points of my Oath taken at my Coronation so farre as humane frailtie may permit mee or my knowledge enforme mee I speake in point of Iustice and Law For Religion I hope I am reasonably well knowen already I meane therefore of Lawe and Iustice and for Law I meane the Common Law of the Land according to which the King gouernes and by which the people are gouerned For the Common Law you can all beare mee witnesse I neuer pressed alteration of it in Parliament but on the contrary when I endeauoured most an Vnion reall as was already in my person my desire was to conforme the Lawes of Scotland to the Law of England and not the Law of England to the Law of Scotland and so the prophecie to be trew of my wise Grandfather Henry the seuenth who foretold that the lesser Kingdome by marriage would follow the greater and not the greater the lesser And therefore married his eldest daughter Margaret to Iames the fourth my great Grandfather It was a foolish Querke of some Iudges who held that the Parliament of England could not vnite Scotland and England by the name of Great Britaine but that it would make an alteration of the Lawes though I am since come to that knowledge that an Acte of Parliament can doe greater wonders And that old wise man the Treasourer Burghley was wont to say Hee knew not what an Acte of Parliament could not doe in England For my intention was alwayes to effect vnion by vniting Scotland to England and not England to Scotland For I euer meant being euer resolued that this Law should continue in this Kingdome and two things mooued mee thereunto One is that in matter of Policie and State you shall neuer see any thing anciently and maturely established but by Innouation or alteration it is worse then it was I meane not by purging of it from corruptions and restoring it to the ancient integritie Another reason was I was sworne to maintaine the Law of the Land and therefore I had beene periured if I
had altered it And this I speake to root out the conceit and misapprehension if it be in any heart that I would change damnifie vilifie or suppresse the Law of this Land GOD is my Iudge I neuer meant it And this confirmation I make before you all To this I ioyne the point of Iustice which I call Vnicuique suum tribuere All my Councell and Iudges dead and aliue can and could beare mee witnesse how vnpartiall I haue beene in declaring of Law And where it hath concerned mee in my owne inheritance I haue as willingly submitted my interest to the Lawe as any my Subiects could doe and it becomes mee so to doe to giue example to others much lesse then will I be partiall to others where I am not to my selfe And so resolue your selues Iustice with mee may bee moderated in point of clemencie for no Iustice can be without mercie But in matters of Iustice to giue euery man his owne to be blinde without eyes of partialitie This is my full resolution I vsed to say when I was in Scotland if any man mooued mee to delay Iustice that it was against the Office of a King so to doe But when any made suite to hasten Iustice I told them I had rather grant fourtie of these suits then one of the other This was alwayes my custome and shall be euer with Gods leaue Now what I haue spoken of Law and Iustice I meane by the Lawe kept in her owne bounds For I vnderstand the inheritance of the King and Subiects in this land must bee determined by the Common Law and that is by the Law set downe in our forefathers time expounded by learned men diuers times after in the declaratory Comments called Responsa Prudentum Or else by Statute Law set downe by Acte of Parliament as occasion serues By this I doe not seclude all other Lawes of England but this is the Law of inheritance in this Kingdome There is another Law of all Lawes free and supreame which is GODS LAVV And by this all Common and municipall Lawes must be gouerned And except they haue dependance vpon this Law they are vniust and vnlawfull When I speake of that Law I onely giue this touch That that Law in this Kingdome hath beene too much neglected and Churchmen too much had in contempt I must speake trewth Great men Lords Iudges and people of all degrees from the highest to the lowest haue too much contemned them And God will not blesse vs in our owne Lawes if wee doe not reuerence and obey GODS LAVV which cannot bee except the interpreters of it be respected and reuerenced And it is a signe of the latter dayes drawing on euen the contempt of the Church and of the Gouernours and Teachers thereof now in the Church of ENGLAND which I say in my Conscience of any Church that euer I read or knew of present or past is most pure and neerest the Primitiue and Apostolicall Church in Doctrine and Discipline and is sureliest founded vpon the word of God of any Church in Christendome Next vnto this Law is the Law of Nations which God forbid should bee barred and that for two causes One because it is a Law to satisfie Strangers which will not so well hold themselues satisfied with other municipall Lawes Another to satisfie our owne Subiects in matters of Piracie Marriage Wills and things of like nature That Law I diuide into Ciuil and Canon And this Law hath bene so much encroched vpon sithence my comming to the Crowne and so had in contempt that young men are discouraged from studying and the rest wearie of their liues that doe professe it and would be glad to seeke any other craft So speaking of the Common Law I meane the Common Law kept within her owne limits and not derogating from these other Lawes which by longer custome haue beene rooted here first the Law of GOD and his Church and next the Law Ciuill and Canon which in many cases cannot be wanting To conclude this charge which I giue my selfe I professe to maintaine all the points of mine Oath especially in Lawes and of Lawes especially the Common Law And as to maintaine it so to purge it for else it cannot bee maintained and especially to purge it from two corruptions Incertaintie and Noueltie Incertaintie is found in the Law it selfe wherein I will bee painefull to cleare it to the people and this is properly to bee done in Parliament by aduice of the Iudges The other corruption is introduced by the Iudges themselues by Nicities that are vsed where it may be said Ab initio non fuit sic Nothing in the world is more likely to be permanent to our eyes then yron or steele yet the rust corrupts it if it bee not kept cleane which sheweth nothing is permanent here in this world if it be not purged So I cannot discharge my conscience in maintaining the Lawes if I keepe them not cleane from corruption And now that I may bee like the Pastor that first takes the Sacrament himselfe and then giues it to the people So I haue first taken my owne charge vpon me before I giue you your Charge lest it might be said Turpe est doctori cùm culpa redarguit ipsum NOw my Lords the Iudges for your parts the Charge I haue to giue you consists likewise in three parts First in generall that you doe Iustice vprightly as you shall answere to GOD and mee For as I haue onely GOD to answere to and to expect punishment at his hands if I offend So you are to answere both to GOD and to mee and expect punishment at GODS hands and mine if you be found in fault Secondly to doe Iustice indifferently betweene Subiect and Subiect betweene King and Subiect without delay partialitie feare or bribery with stout and vpright hearts with cleane and vncorrupt hands When I bid you doe Iustice boldly yet I bid you doe it fearefully fearefully in this to vtter your owne conceites and not the trew meaning of the Law And remember you are no makers of Law but Interpretours of Law according to the trew sence thereof for your Office is Ius dicere and not Ius dare And that you are so farre from making Law that euen in the higher house of Parliament you haue no voyce in making of a Law but only to giue your aduice when you are required And though the Laws be in many places obscure and not so wel knowen to the multitude as to you and that there are many parts that come not into ordinary practise which are knowen to you because you can finde out the reason thereof by bookes and presidents yet know this that your interpretations must be alwayes subiect to common sense and reason For I will neuer trust any Interpretation that agreeth not with my common sense and reason and trew Logicke for Ratio est anima Legis in all humane Lawes without exception it must not be Sophistrie or straines of wit
to death with it and many haue done O then some other disease must beare the blame for that fault So doe old harlots thanke their harlotrie for their many yeeres that custome being healthfull say they ad purgandos Renes but neuer haue mind how many die of the Pockes in the flower of their youth And so doe olde drunkards thinke they prolong their dayes by their swinelike diet but neuer remember how many die drowned in drinke before they be halfe olde And what greater absurditie can therebe then to say that one cure shall serue for diuers nay cōtrarious sorts of diseases It is an vndoubted ground among all Physicians that there is almost no sort either of nourishment or medicine that hath not some thing in it disagreeable to some part of mans bodie because as I haue alreadie said the nature of the temperature of euery part is so different from another that according to the olde prouerbe That which is good for the head is euill for the necke and the shoulders For euen as a strong enemy that inuades a town or fortresse although in his siege thereof he do belay and compasse it round about yet he makes his breach and entry at some one or fewe speciall parts thereof which hee hath tried and found to be weakest and least able to resist so sickenes doth make her particular assault vpon such part or parts of our body as are weakest and easiest to be ouercome by that sort of disease which then doth assaile vs although all the rest of the body by Sympathie feele it selfe to be as it were belayed and besieged by the affliction of that speciall part the griefe and smart thereof being by the sense of feeling dispersed through all the rest of our members And therefore the skilfull Physician presses by such cures to purge and strengthen that part which is afflicted as are only fit for that sort of disease and doe best agree with the nature of that infirme part which being abused to a disease of another nature would proue as hurtfull for the one as helpfull for the other Yea not onely will a skilfull and wary Physician becarefull to vse no cure but that which is fit for that sort of disease but he will also consider all other circumstances make the remedies sutable therunto as the temperature of the clime where the Patient is the constitution of the Planets the time of the Moone the season of the yeere the aage and complexion of the Patient and the present state of his body in strength or weaknes For one cure must not euer be vsed for the selfesame disease but according to the varying of any of the foresaid circumstances that sort of remedy must be vsed which is fittest for the same Where by the contrary in this case such is the miraculous omnipotencie of our strong tasted Tobacco as it cures al sorts of diseases which neuer any drugge could do before in all persons and at all times It cures all maner of distillations either in the head or stomacke if you beleeue their Axiomes although in very deed it doe both corrupt the braine and by causing ouer quicke digestion fill the stomacke full of crudities It cures the gowt in the feet and which is miraculous in that very instant when the smoke thereof as light flies vp into the head the vertue therof as heauy runs down to the litle toe It helps all sorts of agues It makes a man sober that was drunk It refreshes a weary man and yet makes a man hungry Being taken when they goe to bed it makes one sleepe soundly and yet being taken when a man is sleepie and drowsie it will as they say awake his braine and quicken his vnderstanding As for curing of the Pockes it serues for that vse but among the pockie Indian slaues Here in England it is refined and will not deigne to cure here any other then cleanly and gentlemanly diseases O omnipotent power of Tobacco And if it could by the smoake thereof chase out deuils as the smoake of Tobias fish did which I am sure could smell no stronglier it would serue for a precious Relicke both for the superstitious Priests and the insolent Puritanes to cast out deuils withall Admitting then and not confessing that the vse thereof were healthful for some sorts of diseases should it be vsed for all sicknesses should it be vsed by all men should it be vsed at all times yea should it be vsed by able yong strong healthful men Medicine hath that vertue that it neuer leaues a man in that state wherein it finds him it makes a sicke man whole but a whole man sicke And as Medicine helps nature being taken at times of necessitie so being euer and continually vsed it doeth but weaken weary and weare nature What speake I of Medicine Nay let a man euery houre of the day or as oft as many in this countrey vse to take Tobacco let a man I say but take as oft the best sorts of nourishments in meate and drinke that can be deuised he shall with the continuall vse thereof weaken both his head and his stomacke all his members shall becomefeeble his spirits dull and in the end as a drowsie lazie belly-god he shall euanish in a Lethargie And from this weakenesse it proceeds that many in this kingdome haue had such a continuall vse of taking this vnsauorie smoake as now they are not able to forbeare the same no more then an old drunkard can abide to be long sober without falling into an incurable weaknesse and euill constitution for their continuall custome hath made to them habitum alteram naturam so to those that from their birth haue beene continually nourished vpon poison and things venemous wholsome meats are only poisonable Thus hauing as I trust sufficiently answered the most principall arguments that are vsed in defence of this vile custome it rests only to informe you what sinnes and vanities you commit in the filthy abuse thereof First are you not guiltie of sinnefull and shamefull lust for lust may be as well in any of the senses as in feeling that although you be troubled with no disease but in perfect health yet can you neither be merry at an Ordinary nor lasciuious in the Stewes if you lacke Tobacco to prouoke your appetite to any of those sorts of recreation lusting after it as the children of Israel did in the wildernesse after Quailes Secondly it is as you vse or rather abuse it a branch of the sinne of drunkennes which is the root of all sinnes for as the only delight that drunkards take in wine is in the strength of the taste and the force of the fume therof that mounts vp to the braine for no drunkards loue any weake or sweet drinke so are not those I meane the strong heate and the fume the onely qualities that make Tobacco so delectable to all the louers of it And as no man likes strong heady drinke the first
ceased seeing I could doe you no other good to commend your labouring most painfully in the Lords Vineyard in my prayers to God And I doubt not but that I haue liued all this while in your memory and haue had some place in your prayers at the Lords Altar So therfore euen vnto this time we haue abidden as S. Iohn speaketh in the mutuall loue one of the other not by word or letter but in deed and trewth But alate message which was brought vnto vs within these few dayes of your bonds and imprisonment hath inforced mee to breake off this silence which message although it seemed heauie in regard of the losse which that Church hath receiued by their being thus depriued of the comfort of your pastorall function amongst them yet withall it seemed ioyous because you drew neere vnto the glory of Martyrdome then the which gift of God there is none more happy That you who haue fedde your flocke so many yeeres with the word and doctrine should now feed it more gloriously by the example of your patience But another heauie tidings did not a little disquiet and almost take away this ioy which immediatly followed of the aduersaries assault and peraduenture of the slip and fall of your constancie in refusing an vnlawfull Oath Neither trewly most deare brother could that Oath therefore bee lawfull because it was offered in sort tempered and modified for you know that those kinde of modifications are nothing else but sleights and subtilties of Satan that the Catholique faith touching the Primacie of the Sea Apostolike might either secretly or openly be shot at for the which faith so many worthy Martyrs euen in that very England it selfe haue resisted vnto blood For most certaine it is that in whatsoeuer words the Oath is conceiued by the aduersaries of the faith in that Kingdome it tends to this end that the Authoritie of the head of the Church in England may bee transferred from the successour of S. Peter to the successour of King Henry the eight For that which is pretended of the danger of the Kings life if the high Priest should haue the same power in England which hee hath in all other Christian Kingdomes it is altogether idle as all that haue any vnderstanding may easily perceiue For it was neuer heard of from the Churches infancie vntill this day that euer any Pope did command that any Prince though an Heretike though an Ethnike though a persecutour should be murdered or did approue of the fact when it was done by any other And why I pray you doeth onely the King of England seare that which none of all other the Princes in Christendome either doeth feare or euer did feare But as I said these vaine pretexts are but the traps and stratagemes of Satan Of which kinde I could produce not a fewe out of ancient Stories if I went about to write a Booke and not an Epistle One onely for example sake I will call to your memory S. Gregorius Nazianzenus in his first Oration against Iulian the Emperour reporteth That hee the more easily to beguile the simple Christians did insert the Images of the false gods into the pictures of the Emperour which the Romanes did vse to bow downe vnto with a ciuill kinde of reuerence so that no man could doe reuerence to the Emperours picture but withall hee must adore the Images of the false gods whereupon it came to passe that many were deceiued And if there were any that found out the Emperours craft and refused to worship his picture those were most grieuously punished as men that had contemned the Emperour in his Image Some such like thing me thinkes I see in the Oath that is offered to you which is so craftily composed that no man can detest Treason against the King and make profession of his Ciuill subiection but he must bee constramed perfidiously to denie the Primacie of the Apostolicke Sea But the seruants of Christ and especially the chiefe Priests of the Lord ought to bee so farre from taking an vnlawfull Oath where they may indamage the Faith that they ought to beware that they giue not the least suspicion of dissimulation that they haue taken it least they might seeme to haue left any example of preuarication to faithfull people Which thing that worthy Eleazar did most notably performe who would neither eate swines flesh nor so much as faine to haue eaten it although hee sawe the great torments that did hang ouer his head least as himselfe speaketh in the second Booke of the Machabees many young men might bee brought through that simulation to preuaricate with the Lawe Neither did Basil the Great by his example which is more fit for our purpose cary himselfe lesse worthily toward Valens the Emperour For as Theodoret writeth in his Historie when the Deputy of that hereticall Emperour did perswade Saint Basil that hee would not resist the Emperour for a little subtiltie of a few points of doctrine that most holy and prudent man made answere That it was not to be indured that the least syllable of Gods word should bee corrupted but rather all kind of torment was to be embraced for the maintenance of the Trewth thereof Now I suppose that there wants not amongst you who say that they are but subtilties of Opinions that are contained in the Oath that is offered to the Catholikes and that you are not to strius against the Kings Authoritie for such a little matter But there are not wanting also amongst you holy men like vnto Basil the Great which will openly auow that the very least syllable of Gods diuine Trewth is not to bee corrupted though many torments were to bee endured and death it selfe set before you Amongst whom it is meete that you should bee one or rather the Standard bearer and Generall to the rest And whatsoeuer hath beene the cause that your Constancie hath quailed whether it bee the suddainenesse of your apprehension or the bitternesse of your persecution or the imbecilitie of your old aage yet wee trust in the goodnesse of God and in your owne long continued vertue that it will come to passe that as you seeme in some part to haue imitated the fall of Peter and Marcellinus so you shall happily imitate their valour in recouering your strength and maintaining the Trewth For if you will diligently weigh the whole matter with your selfe trewly you shall see it is no small matter that is called in question by this Oath but one of the principall heads of our Faith and foundations of Catholique Religion For heare what your Apostle Saint Gregorie the Great hath written in his 24. Epistle of his 11. Booke Let not the reuerence due to the Apostolique Sea be troubled by any mans presumption for then the state of the members doeth remaine entire when the Head of the Faith is not bruised by any iniurie Therefore by Saint Gregories testimonie when they are busie about disturbing or diminishing or taking
thereof since those which immediatly follow are so much derogatorie to the diuine Maiestie And againe My 6 Epist 52. writings be strengthened by the authoritie and merit of my Lord most blessed S. Peter We 7 Epist 89. beseech you to keepe the things decreed by vs through the inspiration of God and the Apostle most blessed S. Peter If 8 In serm 2. in die anniuer assum suae any thing be well done or decreed by vs If any thing be obtained of Gods mercy by daily prayers it is to be ascribed to S. Peters workes and merits whose power doeth liue and authoritie excell in his owne Sea Hee 9 Serm. 3. in die anniuer assump suae was so plentifully watered of the very fountaine of all graces that whereas he receiued many things alone yet nothing passeth ouer to any other but hee was partaker of it And in a word hee was so desirous to extoll Saint Peter that a messenger from him was an 10 Epist 24. embassage from Saint Peter 11 Epist 4. any thing done in his presence was in S. Peters presence Neither did he vse all this Rhetoricke without purpose for at that time the Patriarch of Constantinople contended with him for Primacie And in the Councell of 12 Concil Chalceden Act. 16. Can. 28. Chalcedon the Bishops sixe hundred and more gaue equall authoritie to the Patriarch of that Sea and would not admit any Priuiledge to the Sea of Rome aboue him but went against him And yet he that gaue so much to Peter tooke nothing from Caesar but gaue him both his Titles and due giuing the power of calling a Councell to the Emperour as it may appeare by these one or two places following of many If it may please your 13 Epist 9. Theodosie godlinesse to vouchsafe at our supplication to condiscend that you will command a Councell of Bishops to be holden within Italy And writing vnto the Bishop of Constantinople Because the most clement 1 Epist 16. Flan. Emperour carefull of the peace of the Church will haue a Councell to be holden albeit it euidently appeare the matter to be handled doeth in no case stand in neede of a Councell And againe Albeit 2 Epist 17. Theodosie my occasions will not permit me to be present vpon the day of the Councell of Bishops which your godlinesse hath appointed So as by this it may well appeare that hee that gaue so much to Peter gaue also to Caesar his due and prerogatiue But yet he playeth not faire play in this that euen in all these his wrong applied arguments and examples hee produceth no other witnesses but the parties themselues bringing euer the Popes sentences for approbation of their owne authoritie Now indeed for one word of his in the middest of his examples I cannot but greatly commend him that is that Martyrs ought to endure all sorts of tortures and death before they suffer one syllable to be corrupted of the Law of God Which lesson if hee and all the rest of his owne profession would apply to themselues then would not the Sacrament be administred sub vnâ specie directly contrary to Christs institution the practise of the Apostles and of the whole Primitiue Church for many hundred yeeres then would not the priuate Masses be in place of the Lordes Supper then would not the words of the 3 Bellar. de sacra Encharist lib. 4. cap. 14. Canon of the Masse be opposed to the words of S. Paul and S. Luke as our Aduersarie himselfe confesseth and cannot reconcile them nor then would not so many hundreths other traditions of men be set vp in their Church not onely as equall but euen preferred to the word of God But sure in this point I feare I haue mistaken him for I thinke hee doeth not meane by his Diuina Dogmata the word of the God of heauen but onely the Canons and Lawes of his Dominus Deus Papa otherwise all his Primacie of the Apostolike Sea would not be so much sticken vpon hauing so slender ground in the word of God And for the great feare he hath that the suddennes of the apprehension the bitternesse of the persecution the weaknesse of his aage and other such infirmities might haue been the cause of the Arch-priests fall in this I haue already sufficiently answered him hauing declared as the trewth is and as the said Blackwell himselfe will yet testifie that he tooke this Oath freely of himselfe without any inducement thereunto either Precibus or Minis But amongst all his citations Some of Sanders his worthy sayings remembred hee must not forget holy Sanderus and his visibilis Monarchia whose person and actions I did alreadie a little touch And surely who will with vnpartiall eyes reade his bookes they may well thinke that hee hath deserued well of his English Romane-Church but they can neuer thinke but that hee deserued very ill of his English Soueraigne and State Witnesse his owne books whereout I haue made choice to set downe heere these fewe sentences following as flowers pickt out of so worthy a garland 4 Sand de visib Monar lib. 6. cap. 4. Elizabeth Queene of ENGLAND doeth exercise the Priestly acte of teaching and preaching the Gospel in ENGLAND with no lesse authority then Christ himselfe or Moses euer did The supremacie of a 5 Sand de clau Dauid li. 6. c. 1. woman in Church matters is from no other then from the Deuill And of all things in generall thus he speaketh The 1 Sand. de visib Monar lib. 2. cap. 4. King that will not inthrall himselfe to the Popes authoritie be ought not to be tolerated but his Subiects ought to giue all diligence that another may be chosen in his place assoone as may be A King that is an 2 Ibidem Heretike ought to be remooued from the Kingdome that hee holdeth ouer Christians and the Bishops ought to endeauour to set vp another assoone as possibly they can Wee doe constantly 3 Ibidem affirme that all Christian Kings are so farre vnder Bishops and Priests in all matters appertaining to faith that if they shall continue in a fault against Christian Religion after one or two admonitions obstinately for that cause they may and ought to be deposed by the Bishops from their temporall authoritie they holde ouer Christians 4 Ibidem Bishops are set ouer temporall kingdomes if those kingdomes doe submit themselues to the faith of Christ We doe iustly 5 Sand. de clan Dauid li. 5. c. 2. affirme that all Secular power whether Regall or any other is of men The 6 Ibidem anoynting which is powred vpon the head of the King by the Priest doeth declare that hee is inferiour to the Priest It is altogether against the will of 7 Sand. de clan Dauid li. 5. c. 4. Christ that Christian kings should haue supremacie in the Church And whereas for the crowne and
the spirituall Pastor of soules forsooth pulles the cloake of a poore sinner from his backe by violence or cuts his purse and thereby appropriates an other mans goods to his priuate vse It is to be obserued withall that when the Emperours were not of sufficient strength and Popes had power to beard and to braue Emperours then these Papall practises were first set on foot This Emperour notwithstanding turned head and peckt againe his Lieutenant entred Rome and Gregorie 3. successor to this Gregorie 2. was glad to honour the same Emperour with style and title of his Lord witnesse two seuerall Epistles of the said Gregorie 3. written to Boniface and subscribed in this forme Dat. 10. Cal. Decem Imperante Dom. pijssimo Augusto Leone à Deo coronato magno Imp. anno decimo Imperij eius Examp. 7. Dated the tenth alends of December In the raigne of our most pious and religious Lord Augustus Leo crowned of God the great Emperour in the tenth yeere of his raigne The L. Cardinall with no lesse abuse alleadgeth Pope Zacharie by whom the French as he affirmeth were absolued of the oath of all egiance wherein they stood bound to Childeric their King And for this instance he standeth vpon the testimonie of Paulus Aemilius and du Tillet a paire of late writers But by authors more neere that aage wherein Childeric raigned it is more trewly testified that it was a free and voluntarie act of the French onely asking the aduise of Pope Zacharie but requiring neither leaue nor absolution Ado Bishop of Vienna in his Chronicles hath it after this manner The French following the Counsell of Embassadors and of Pope Zachary elected Pepin their King and established him in the Kingdome Trithemius in his abridgement of Annals thus Childeric as one vnfit for gouernement was turned out of his Kingdome with common consent of the Estates and Peeres of the Realme so aduised by Zacharie Pope of Rome Godfridus of Viterbe in the 17. part of his Chronicle and Guauguin in the life of Pepin affirme the same And was it not an easie matter to worke Pepin by counsell to lay hold on the Kingdome when he could not be hindered from fastening on the Crowne and had already seizd it in effect howsoeuer he had not yet attained to the name of King Moreouer the rudenesse of that Nation then wanting knowledge and Schooles either of diuinitie or of Academicall sciences was a kind of spurre to make them runne for counsell ouer the mountaines which neuerthelesse in a cause of such nature they required not as necessary but onely as decent and for fashion sake The Popealso for his part was well appaied by this meanes to draw Pepin vnto his part as one that stood in some neede of his aide against the Lombards and the more because his Lord the Emperour of Constantinople was then brought so low that hee was not able to send him sufficient aide for the defence of his territories against his enemies But had Zacharie to deale plainely not stood vpon the respect of his owne commodity more then vpon the regard of Gods feare he would neuer haue giuen counsell vnto the seruant vnder the pretended colour of his Masters dull spirit so to turne rebell against his Master The Lawes prouide Gardians or ouerseers for such as are not well in their wits they neuer depriue and spoile them of their estate they punish crimes but not diseases and infirmities by nature Yea in France it is a very auncient custome when the King is troubled in his wits to establish a Regent who for the time of the Kings disability may beare the burden of the Kingdomes affaires So was the practise of that State in the case of Charles 6. when hee fell into a phrensie whom the Pope notwithstanding his most grieuous and sharpe fits neuer offered to degrade And to be short what reason what equity will beare the children to be punished for the fathers debilitie Yet such punishment was laid vpon Childerics whole race and house who by this practise were all disinherited of the Kingdome But shall wee now take some view of the L. Pag. 25. Cardinals excuse for this exemplarie fact The cause of Childerics deposing as the L. Cardinall saith did neerely concerne and touch Religion For Childerics imbecillity brought all France into danger to suffer a most wofull shipwracke of Christian religion vpon the barbarous and hostile inuasion of the Saracens Admit now this reason had beene of iust weight and value yet consideration should haue beene taken whether some one or other of that Royall stemme and of the Kings owne successors neerest of blood was not of better capacity to rule and mannage that mighty State The feare of vncertaine and accidentall mischiefe should not haue driuen them to flie vnto the certaine mischiefe of actuall and effectuall deposition They should rather haue set before their eies the example of Charles Martel this Pepins father who in a farre more eminent danger when the Saracens had already mastered and subdued a great part of France valiantly encountred and withall defeated the Saracens ruled the Kingdome vnder the title of Steward of the Kings house the principall Officer of the Crowne without affecting or aspiring to the Throne for all that great step of aduantage especially when the Saracens were quite broken and no longer dreadfull to the French Nation In our owne Scotland the sway of the Kingdome was in the hand of Walles during the time of Bruse his imprisonment in England who then was lawfull heire to the Crowne This Walles or Vallas had the whole power of the Kingdome at his becke and command His Edicts and ordinances to this day stand in full force By the deadly hatred of Bruse his mortall enemie it may be coniectured that he might haue bene prouoked and inflamed with desiré to trusse the Kingdome in his tallants And notwithstanding all these incitements he neuer assumed or vsurped other title to himselfe then of Gouernour or Administratour of the Kingdome The reason Hee had not beene brought vp in this new doctrine and late discipline whereby the Church is endowed with power to giue and to take away Crownes But now as the L. Cardinall would beare the world in hand the state of Kings is brought to a very dead lift The Pope forsooth must send his Physicians to know by way of inspection or some other course of Art whether the Kings braine be cract or sound and in case there be found any debilitie of wit and reason in the King then the Pope must remooue and translate the Crowne from the weaker braine to a stronger and for the acting of the stratageme the name of Religion must be pretended Ho these Heretikes begin to crawle in the Kingdome order must bee taken they bee not suffered by their multitudes and swarmes like locusts or caterpillers to pester and poison the whole Realme Or in a case of Matrimony thus Ho marriage is a Sacrament touch
inthralling of his Crowne and Kingdome Therefore the Popes right pretended to the Crowne of England which is nothing else but a ridiculous vsurpation hath long agoe vanished into smoake and required not so much as the drawing of one sword to snatch and pull it by violence out of his hands For the Popes power lying altogether in a certaine wilde and wandring conceit or opinion of men and being onely an imaginary castle in the ayre built by pride and vnderpropped by superstition is very speedily dispersed vpon the first rising and appearing of the trewth in her glorious brightnesse There is none so very a dolt or block-head to deny that in case this right of the Pope ouer England is grounded vpon Gods word then his Holinesse may challenge the like right ouer all other Kingdomes because all other Kingdomes Crownes and Scepters are subiect alike to Gods word For what priuiledge what charter what euidence can France fetch out of the Rolles or any other treasurie of her monuments or records to shew that she oweth lesse subiection to God then England Or was this yoke of bondage then brought vpon the English Nation was it a prerogatiue whereby they might more easily come to the libertie of the sonnes of God Or were the people of England perswaded that for all their substance wealth and life bestowed on the Pope his Holinesse by way of exchange returned them better weight and measure of spirituall graces It is ridiculous onely to conceiue these toyes in thought and yet with such ridiculous with such toyes in conceit his Lordship feeds and entertains his auditors From this point hee falleth to another bowt and fling at his heretikes with whom he played no faire play before Pag. 105. There is not one Synode of ministers as he saith which would willingly subscribe to this Article whereunto wee should bee bound to sweare But herein his Lordship shooteth farre from the marke This Article is approoued and preached by the Ministers of my Kingdome It is likewise preached by those of France and if need bee I asssure my selfe will bee signed by all the Ministers of the French Church The L. Cardinall proceedeth for hee meaneth not so soone to giue ouer these heretikes All their Consistortes beleeue it as their Creed that if Catholike Princes at any time shall offer force vnto their conscience then they are dispensed withall for their oath of alleagiance Hence are these modifications and restricitions tossed so much in their mouthes Prouided the King force vs not in our conscience Hence are these exceptions in the profession of their faith Prouided the Soueraigne power and authoritie of God bee not in any sort violated or infringed I am not able to conceiue what engine can bee framed of these materialls for the bearing of Kings out of their eminent seates by any lawfull authoritie or power in the Pope For say those of the Religion should be tainted with some like errour how can that be any shelter of excuse for those of the Romish Church to vndermine or to digge vp the Thrones of their Kings But in this allegation of the L. Cardinall there is nothing at all which doeth not iumpe iust and accord to a haire with the Article of the third Estate and with obedience due to the King For they doe not professe that in case the King shall commaund them to doe any act contrarie to their conscience they would flie at his throat would make any attempt against his life would refuse to pay their taxations or to defend him in the warres They make no profession of deposing the King or discharging the people from the oath of allegiance tendred to the King which is the very point or issue of the matter in controuersie and the maine mischeife against which the third Estate hath bin most worthily carefull to prouide a wholesome remedie by this Article There is a world of difference betweene the termes of disobedience and of deposition It is one thing to disobey the Kings commaund in matters prohibited by diuine lawes and yet in all other matters to performe full subiection vnto the King It is another thing of a farre higher degree or straine of disloyaltie to bare the King of his Royall robes throne and scepter and when he is thus farre disgraced to degrade him and to put him from his degree and place of a King If the holy Father should charge the L. Cardinal to doe some act repugnant in his owne knowledge to the Law of God I will religiously and according to the rule of charitie presume that his Lordship in this case would stand out against his Holinesse and notwithstanding would still acknowledge him to be Pope His Lordship yet prosecutes and followes his former purpose Hence are those armes which they haue oftentimes borne against Kings when Kings practised to take away the libertie of their conscience and Religion Hence are those turbulent Commotions and seditions by them raised as well in the Low-countryes against the King of Spaine as in Swethland against the Catholike King of Polonia Besides he casteth Iunius Brutus Buchananus Barclaius and Gerson in our teeth To what end all this I see not how it can bee auaileable to authorize the deposing of Kings especially the Popes power to depose And yet his Lordship here doth outface by his leaue and beare downe the trewth For I could neuer yet learne by any good and trew intelligence that in France those of the Religion tooke armes at any time against their King In the first ciuill warres they stood onely vpon their guard they stood onely to their lawfull wards and locks of defence they armed not nor tooke the field before they were pursued with fire and sword burnt vp and slaughtred Besides Religion was neither the root nor the rynde of those intestine troubles The trew ground of the quarrell was this During the minority of King Francis II. the Protestants of France were a refuge and succour to the Princes of the blood when they were kept from the Kings presence and by the ouer powring power of their enemies were no better then plaine driuen and chased from the Court I meane the Grand-father of the King now raigning and the Grand-father of the Prince of Conde when they had no place of safe retreate In regard of which worthy and honourable seruice it may seeme the French King hath reason to haue the Protestants in his gracious remembrance With other commotion or insurrection the Protestants are not iustly to be charged But on the contrary certaine it is that King Henry III. raysed and sent forth seuerall armies against the Protestants to ruine and roote them out of the Kingdome howbeit so soone as they perceiued the said King was brought into dangerous tearms they ranne with great speed and speciall fidelitie to the Kings rescue and succour in the present danger Certaine it is that by their good seruice the said King was deliuered from a most extreame and imminent perill
First by my descent lineally out of the loynes of Henry the seuenth is reunited and confirmed in mee the Vnion of the two Princely Roses of the two Houses of LANCASTER and YORKE whereof that King of happy memorie was the first Vniter as he was also the first ground-layer of the other Peace The lamentable and miserable euents by the Ciuill and bloody dissention betwixt these two Houses was so great and so late as it need not be renewed vnto your memories which as it was first setled and vnited in him so is it now reunited and confirmed in me being iustly and lineally descended not onely of that happie coniunction but of both the Branches thereof many times before But the Vnion of these two princely Houses is nothing comparable to the Vnion of two ancient and famous Kingdomes which is the other inward Peace annexed to my Person And here I must craue your patiences for a little space to giue me leaue to discourse more particularly of the benefits that doe arise of that Vnion which is made in my blood being a matter that most properly belongeth to me to speake of as the head wherein that great Body is vnited And first if we were to looke no higher then to naturall and Physicall reasons we may easily be perswaded of the great benefits that by that Vnion do redound to the whole Island for if twentie thousand men be a strong Armie is not the double thereof fourtie thousand a double the stronger Armie If a Baron enricheth himselfe with double as many lands as hee had before is he not double the greater Nature teacheth vs that Mountaines are made of Motes and that at the first Kingdomes being diuided and euery particular Towne or little Countie as Tyrants or Vsurpers could obtaine the possession a Segniorie apart many of these little Kingdomes are now in processe of time by the ordinance of God ioyned into great Monarchies whereby they are become powerfull within themselues to defend themselues from all outward inuasions and their head and gouernour thereby enabled to redeeme them from forreine assaults and punish priuate transgressions within Do we not yet remember that this Kingdome was diuided into seuen little Kingdomes besides Wales And is it not now the stronger by their vnion And hath not the vnion of Wales to England added a greater strength thereto Which though it was a great Principalitie was nothing comparable in greatnesse and power to the ancient and famous Kingdome of Scotland But what should we sticke vpon any naturall appearance when it is manifest that God by his Almightie prouidence hath preordained it so to be Hath not God first vnited these two Kingdomes both in Language Religion and similitude of maners Yea hath hee not made vs all in one Island compassed with one Sea and of it selfe by nature so indiuisible as almost those that were borderers themselues on the late Borders cannot distinguish nor know or discerne their owne limits These two Countries being separated neither by Sea nor great Riuer Mountaine nor other strength of nature but onely by little small brookes or demolished little walles so as rather they were diuided in apprehension then in effect And now in the end and fulnesse of time vnited the right and title of both in my Person alike lineally descended of both the Crownes whereby it is now become like a little World within it selfe being intrenched and fortified round about with a naturall and yet admirable strong pond or ditch whereby all the former feares of this Nation are now quite cut off The other part of the Island being euer before now not onely the place of landing to all strangers that was to make inuasion here but likewise moued by the enemies of this State by vntimely incursions to make inforced diuersion from their Conquests for defending themselues at home and keeping sure their backe-doore as then it was called which was the greatest hinderance and let that euer my Predecessors of this Nation gat in disturbing them from their many famous and glorious conquests abroad What God hath conioyned then let no man separate I am the Husband and all the whole Isle is my lawfull Wife I am the Head and it is my Body I am the Shepherd and it is my flocke I hope therefore no man will be so vnreasonable as to thinke that I that am a Christian King vnder the Gospel should be a Polygamist and husband to two wiues that I being the Head should haue a diuided and monstrous Body or that being the Shepheard to so faire a Flocke whose fold hath no wall to hedge it but the foure Seas should haue my Flocke parted in two But as I am assured that no honest Subiect of whatsoeuer degree within my whole dominions is lesse glad of this ioyfull Vnion then I am So may the friuolous obiection of any that would bee hinderers of this worke which God hath in my Person already established bee easily answered which can be none except such as are either blinded with Ignorance or els transported with Malice being vnable to liue in a well gouerned Commonwealth and onely delighting to fish in troubled waters For if they would stand vpon their reputation and priuiledges of any of the Kingdomes I pray you was not both the Kingdomes Monarchies from the beginning and consequently could euer the Body bee counted without the Head which was euer vnseparably ioyned thereunto So that as Honour and Priuiledges of any of the Kingdomes could not be diuided from their Soueraigne So are they now confounded ioyned in my Person who am equall and alike kindly Head to you both When this Kingdome of England was diuided into so many little Kingdoms as I told you before one of them behooued to eate vp another till they were all vnited in one And yet can Wiltshire or Deuonshire which were of the West Saxons although their Kingdome was of longest durance and did by Conquest ouercome diuers of the rest of the little Kingdomes make claime to Prioritie of Place or Honour before Sussex Essex or other Shires which were conquered by them And haue we not the like experience in the Kingdome of France being composed of diuers Dutchies and one after another conquered by the sword For euen as little brookes lose their names by their running and fall into great Riuers and the very name and memorie of the great Riuers swallowed vp in the Ocean so by the coniunction of diuers little Kingdomes in one are all these priuate differences and questions swallowed vp And since the successe was happie of the Saxons Kingdomes being conquered by the speare of Bellona Mars How much greater reason haue wee to expect a happie issue of this greater Vnion which is only fastened and bound vp by the wedding Ring of Astrea Loue and Peace And as God hath made Scotland the one halfe of this Isle to enioy my Birth and the first and most vnperfect halfe of my life and you heere to