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A26169 The fundamental constitution of the English government proving King William and Queen Mary our lawful and rightful king and queen : in two parts : in the first is shewn the original contract with its legal consequences allowed of in former ages : in the second, all the pretences to a conquest of this nation by Will. I are fully examin'd and refuted : with a large account of the antiquity of the English laws, tenures, honours, and courts for legislature and justice : and an explanation of material entries in Dooms-day-book / by W.A. Atwood, William, d. 1705?; Atwood, William, d. 1705? Reflections on Bishop Overall's Convocation-book. 1690 (1690) Wing A4171; ESTC R27668 243,019 223

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the late Assembly would be conclusive to the Nation Neither Forty days Summons nor Writs nor yet Summons to a Parliament Essential And this confirmed not only by the President 12 Car. 2. but by two Presidents of the time of H. 1. The Subjects in the time of E. 1. said to have held a Parliament by themselves and of their own appointing The Objection of want of Form Answered out of the Civil-Law and its Reason applied to our Case Objections made by the Author of Elementa Politica considered The Conclusion THE Power having upon the Dissolution of the Contract between J. 2. and his former Subjects returned to the People of Legal Interests in the Government according to the Constitution there can be no doubt with unbiassed Men but this takes in them only who have Right of being in Person or by Representation in those Assemblies where is the highest Exercise of the Supream Power But there are two Extreams opposite to the late Election made by such an Assembly The First is of them who would have all things go on in the same Form as under a Monarch which was impossible and therefore the Supream-Law the Publick-Safety must needs supply the want of Form Nor can be justly controverted till the Lawfulness of the end is disprov'd For all Means necessary to such an End are allowable in Nature and by all Laws But if this should still be disputed all their Darling-Laws made by the Long-Parliament which met after that Convention Anno 1660. will fall to the ground according to the former application of the Statute above-mentioned 16 Car. 1. Vid. Sup. Nay the attempt of Repealing that Statute being in a Parliament which had been actually Dissolved before by that very Law which it went about to Repeal that Form which was usual before is in default of King and Officers supplied by another Provision for the Regular Meeting of Lords and Commons And what hinders but the people had as much Power to vary from the Common Form when there was no King and that Form could not be observ'd as when there was a King and a possibility of having that Form Here I may observe these two things 1. If as I have shewn at large the Right of Succession to the Crown was not fixed to the next in Blood neither before the reputed Conquest nor since if there have been several vacancies of the Throne and the People had right to chuse upon every such Vacancy then whatever they did in order to the choice must necessarily have been freed from the Forms which were required under a King 2. Even where the Kingdom has gone by descent there may have been a necessity for the people to take the Government upon them as if the present Possessor has turned Madman or he who stood next in the Succession were under age without any Guardian appointed in the Life-time of his Father or out of the land when his Father died which were the cases of R. 1. and of E. 1. the account of the last of which deserves particular notice The Annals of Waverly having mentioned the Death of H. 3. add Hoc anno scilicet post Festum S. Hillarii Annales Waverleiensis f. 227. factâ convocatione omnium Prel aliorum Magnatum Regni apud Westm postmortem illustris Regis H. convenerunt Arch. Ep. Com. Bar. Abbates Priores de quolibet Comitatu quatuor Milites de qualibet civitate quatuor qui omnes in presentiâ Dom. Will. scil Arch. Ebor. Rob. de mortuo Mari R. Burnet Cler. qui in loco Domini Regis Anglorum Edwardi praefuerunt Sacramentum eidem Domino Ed. tanquam terrae Principi susceperunt ubi Dominus W. de Mertone Cancellarius constitutus est ut moram trahat apud Westm tanquam in loco publico usque ad adventum Principis Et ibi provisum est quod nulli sint Justiciarii itinerantes usque ad adventum Principis sed in Banco Dominica prima Quadragesimae 4 Id. Martii consecratus fuit frater R. de Kilderlii in Arch. Cant. Item concessa est decima Ecclesiarum Religiosorum Domuum Domino Ed. ejus Germano ad supplicationem Domini Papae ut sit pro duobus Annis F. 228. In this year to wit after the Feast of St. Hillary all the Prelates and other great Men of the Kingdom being call'd together at Westminster after the Death of the Illustrious King Henry there met the Archbishops Bishops Earls and Barons Abbots and Priors and Four Knights from every County and Four from every City which all in the presence of William Archbishop of York Robert Mortimer and R. Burnet Clerk who presided in the stead of Edward their Lord and King of England took an Oath to the said Lord Edward as Governor of the Realm Where the Lord William of Merton is constituted Chancellor and that he should abide at Westminster as in a publick place till the Prince's coming And there it was provided that there should be no Justices itinerant before the Prince his coming but only in the Bench. The first week of the Quadragesima to wit on the Fourth of the Ides of March Father R. of Kilderly is consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury Matthew Westminster of the same time says Mat. West Rege igitur Supulto sicut mos est regibus sepeliri Gilbertus Johannes Comites Gloverniae Warenniae nec non Clerus Populus ad magnum Altare Ecclesiae Westm ' celeriter properarunt Ed. primogenito Regis fidelitatem jurantes qui si viveret penitus ignorarunt Agebat enim in partibus transmarinis contra Christi adversarios bellaturus Postmodum ad novum Templum Londini Nobiliores Regni pariter convenerunt Et facto sigillo novo constituerunt fideles ministros Custodes qui Thesaurum Regis Pacem Regni fideliter custodirent The King therefore being buried in that state in which Kings us'd to be buried Gilbert and John Earls of Gloster and Waren as also the Clergy and People as soon as might be hastned to the great Altar of Westminster-Church swearing Fealty to Edward the King 's eldest Son tho they were wholly ignorant whether he were alive or no for he was in Foreign Parts fighting against the Enemies of Christ After this the Nobility of the Kingdom likewise met and a new Seal being made they constituted faithful Ministers and Keepers who might faithfully keep the King's Treasure and the Peace of the Kingdom The Annals and Matthew Westminster differ in circumstances tho they agree in substance but it would seem as if the same Convention had been adjourn'd from Westminster to the Temple and therefore its Acts might have been said to have been at either of the places It at least appears from Matthew Westminster that prior to that Solemn Convention which the Annals mention there had been a great confluence of people headed by the Earls of Glocester and Waren at that meeting 't is
shew the Antiquity and Power of a Palatine in Germany and England Gunterus used to shew that Office in several Countries Loyseau concerning it in France The Distinction in the Author of Les Soupirs between Officers of the King's House and Officers of the Crown The Antiquity and Authority of the Offices of Constable of England of the High Steward and the Earl Marshal which with the Earl of Chester have been as so many Tribunes of the People TO proceed to E. 2. Son to E. 1. 't is certain that the sentence threatned H. 3. was executed upon his Grandson E. 2. who was formally Deposed in Parliament for his misgovernment Walsingham f. 107. Rex dignitate regali abdicatur filius substituitur His Case with his next Successor's but one R. 2. by what I have observed before appear to have been no Novelties in England Nor was it long before the like was again put in practice more than once Hollingshead f. 637. Ib. f. 639 640. H. 6. being a weak mis-led Prince gave occasion to Richard Duke of York whose Line was put by to cover his designs for restoring the elder Family with the pretence of redressing publick Grievances A Crown over a Branch of lights in the H. of Commons and another from the top of Dover-Castle falling about the same time ib. f. 659. The Crown he was so far from pretending to at first that himself swore Allegiance to H. 6. in a very particular manner But having afterwards an advantage given by the Divisions of them who had driven him out of the Land he in a fortunate hour with lucky Omens as was believed challeng'd the Crown as his Right upon which there was an agreement ratified in Parliament That H. 6. should enjoy it during his Life and Richard and his Heirs after him Tho Richard Duke of York and his Son Edward afterwards E. 4. had sworn that H. 6. should enjoy the Royal Dignity during life without trouble from them or either of them yet Richard having been treacherously slain by the Queen's Army immediately after the solemn Pacification Edward at the Petition of some of the Bishops and Temporal Lords Ib. f. 661. took upon him the charge of the Kingdom as forfeited to him by breach of the Covenant established in Parliament Yet this gave him no sure footing for the popularity of the Earl of Warwick drove him out of the Kingdom without striking a stroke for it Ib. f. 678. Upon which H. 6. was again restor'd to his Kingly Power and Edward was in Parliament declared a Traytor to the Country and an Vsurper of the Realm the Settlement upon Richard and his Heirs revok'd and the Crown entail'd upon H. 6. and his Heirs Males with remainders over to secure against Edward's coming to the Crown But the Death of the Earl of Warwick having in effect put an end to King Henry's Power he was soon taken Prisoner and put to death as his Son had been before and then Edward procures a Confirmation in Parliament Hollingshead f. 693. of the Settlement under which he enjoyed the Crown Thus the Parliament from time to time determined the Controversie according to the Inclination of the People or Reason of State And as the power of the People of England or of Great Men of interest with them turn'd the scales sometimes one way sometimes another so their consent fixt them at last during the Life of E. 4. I might following the light of History take in the most material Occurrences from the Reign of E. 4. to the last Revolution but tho the unanimity which appeared at the first casting off the former Yoke made me with chearfulness undertake the justification of those who have contributed to the Change yet I must needs say I am checkt in that freedom which otherwise I might have justly used in relation to late times and tho I labour against prejudice in what I bring from faithful Memorials of ancient days yet I hope the prejudice will be free from that heat and passion which mixes with mens own concerns or the concerns of them from whom they immediately descend in Blood or Parties Object Vid. 13 C. 2. Stat. 2. c. 1.13 14 C. 2. c. 3.14 C. 2. c. 3 4.15 C. 2. c. 5.12 C. 2. c. 30. It may be said That whatever the Law or Practice has been anciently neither can now be of any moment by reason of the Oath required by several Statutes declaring it not lawful upon any pretence whatsoever to take Arms against the King and abhorring the Traiterous Position of taking Arms by his Authority against his Person And 2. The Clause in the Statute 12 Car. 2. whereby it is declared That by the undoubted and fundamental Laws of this Kingdom neither the Peers of this Realm nor the Commons nor both together in Parliament or out of Parliament nor the People Collectively or Representatively nor any other Persons whatsoever had have or ought to have any Coercive Power over the Persons of the Kings of this Realm What has before been observed from and upon Mr. Falkner's Answer Vid. Chap. 2. Christian Loyalty might make it needless to take notice of the Objection from either of these Clauses were it not that many either cannot or will not observe what lies at the least distance I shall not here insist in answer to the first part of the Objection on the necessity of a Commission and a King continuing legal in the Exercise as well as Possession of Power nor the difference between the Traiterous Acts of single Persons and the Revolt of a Nation nor yet upon the Authority of the Common Law whereby a Constable or other Officer chosen by the people Vid. Justin Pandec l. 1. tit 3. Nulla juris ratio aut aequitatis benignitas patitur ut quae salubriter pro utilitate hominum introducuntur ea nos duriore interpretatione contra ipsorum commodum producamus ad severitatem may act without any Authority from the King And for rhe latter part of the Objection as Coertion is restrained to the Person of the King the declaring against that is not contrary to the Authorities for discharging Allegiance by a judicial Sentence or otherwise by virtue of equitable and implied Reservations provided a tender regard to the Person be still observ'd But if proceedings to free our selves from his Authority fall under this Coertion then I shall offer something which may remove both this and the other from being objections to what I have above shewn To keep to what may equally reach to both Authorities I shall not urge here Vid. Rot. Parl. 39 H. 6. n. 18. That these Statutes being barely declaratotory and Enacting no Law for the future introduce none so that if the Fundamental Laws shall appear to be otherwise the Declarations do not supplant them Nor yet to insist upon a Rule in the Civil-Law That the Commonwealth is always a Minor Vid. Cujac
some colour are R. 1. and E. 1. which singular Instances will be so far from turning the Stream of Precedents that unless the Form or Manner of Recognising their Rights as Hereditary be produc'd the Presumption is strong that the Declarations of the Conventions of those Days or the Peoples acquiescing upon the Question Whether they would consent to the King in nomination or both made even their Cases to be plain Elections And of these two Instances Walsingham f. 1. perhaps one may be struck off For tho Walsingham says of E. 1. They recogniz'd him for their Liege-Lord that does not necessarily imply a Recognition from a Title prior to their Declaration for which way soever a King comes in duly he becomes a Liege-Lord and is so to be recogniz'd or acknowledg'd and that the Title was not by this Author suppos'd prior to the Recognition appears in that he says Walsing ib. Paterni honoris successorem ordinaverunt They ordain'd or appointed him Successor of his Father's Honour And yet his Father Sir P. P. Obligation of Oaths f. 295. to secure the Succession to him had soon after his Birth issued out Writs to all the Sheriffs of England requiring all Persons above Twelve Years old to swear to be faithful to the Son with a Salvo for the Homage and Fealty due to himself Indeed of R. 1. the Historian says Walsingham Ypod Neustriae f. 45. He was to be promoted to the Kingdom by Right of Inheritance yet the very Word promoted shews something that he was to be rais'd to higher than that Right alone would carry him which he fully expresses in the Succession of E. 2. Walfing f. 68. which he says was not so much by Right of Inheritance as by the unanimous Assent of the Peers and Great Men. Which shews that ordinarily they respectively who stood next in Blood might look for the Crown before another till the People had by their Choice determin'd against them This appears very fully by the Commissions issued out for the taking the Oath of Allegiance to E. 1. both in England and Ireland after the People of England had agreed in his absence to receive him for their King The Commission or Dedimus for Ireland Claus 1. E. 1. m. 20. De conservatione pacis in Hibern runs thus Cum Angliae Gubernaculum terrae Hiberniae dominium successione hereditariâ nobis pertineant ob quod Praelati Comites Proceres ac Communitas regni nobis tanquam domino suo ligio regi fidelitatis juramenta omnia alia quae nobis ratione Coronae dignitatis regiae ab ipsis fieri aut praestari nobis in absentiâ nostrâ potuerunt plenariè sine omissione aliquâ prompto libenti animo praestiterunt ac vos tanquam Regi Domino vestro ligio consimile Sacramentum fidelitatis praestare teneamini c. Dat. 7. Decemb. Here the Lords and Commons by whose direction the Commission was sent to Ireland in the King's absence acted without staying for Powers from him they own indeed his coming to the Crown by Hereditary Succession and that by reason of that Inheritance or his standing next to his Father they had sworn Allegiance to him yet they say they had done it prompto libenti animo voluntarily which tho it does not necessarily imply a free choice leaves room for the admission of it And he that observes the Dedimus for England may see that this ordinary Right of Inheritance was not lookt on as enough to constitute him King without the consent of the Proceres Regni which in the Language of that time took in the Commons Vid. Jan. Ang. fa. Nov. Jus Anglorum ab Antiquo Vid. etiam 2 part inf as I have elsewhere shewn and appears not only by the enumeration in the record for Ireland of the Parties who received and swore to him as their King But even by the Dedimus for England which says the Magnates Fideles caus'd his Peace to be Proclaim'd So much of the Record as is material here follows Claus 1. E. 1. m. 11. Quia defuncto jam celebris memoriae Domino H. Patre nostro ad nos regni Gubernaculum Successione hereditaria ac procerum regni voluntate ffdelitate nobis praestita sit devolutum per quod nomine nostro qui in exhibitione justitiae pacis conservatione omnibus singulis de ipso regno sumus ex nunc debitores pacem nostram dicti Magnates Fideles fecerunt proclamari Here the said Proceres are brancht into Magnates Fideles Lords and Commons and their Consent and Swearing Allegiance is join'd with the Succession as the per quod or ground of the King 's becoming a Debtor for exhibiting Justice and preserving the Peace as King of England What I have here shewn of E. 1. with that under the Sixth Observation giving an account of the Peoples forwardness in swearing Allegiance to H. 5. abundantly confutes the Inference from the Allegiance sworn to those two Kings Elementa Politica p. 12. made by the Author of Elementa Politica in these words We may observe that the Kings of England are in full Possession of the Crown immediately upon the Death of their Predecessors and therefore King Edward 1. and H. 5. had Allegiance sworn to them before their Coronation whence says he it follows that as swearing does not make them Kings so neither can Perjury tho truly objected unmake them again He instances also in King John but surely cannot pretend that he had any Right before the Peoples immediate Choice to which the Arch-bishop told him that he ow'd his Crown And if the People swore first yet 't is certain it was not till he had been received as King of England which implies the terms exprest in the Oath Bromton f. 1155. So Hoveden f. 656. But to return to R. 1. 't is observable That he was not called King here but only Duke of Normandy till he was Crown'd which next to the People's Choice was in great measure owing to his Mother's Diligence For he being absent at the Death of his Father his Mother who had been releas'd out of Prison by his means to secure the Succession to him went about with her Court from City to City and from Castle to Castle and sent Clergy-men and others of Reputation with the People into the several Counties by whose Industry she obtain'd Oaths of Allegiance to her Son and her self from the People in the County Courts Bromton f. 1159. as it should seem notwithstanding which the Arch-bishop charg'd him at his Coronation not to assume the Royal Dignity unless he firmly resolv'd to perform what he had sworn To which he answered That by God's help he would faithfully observe his Oath Hoveden f. 656. And Hoveden says That he was Crown'd by the Counsel and Assent of the Archbishops Bishops Earls Barons and a great number of Milites