and intent of the said law Now in case these two causes and cōsiderations wil not satisfie th Aduersarie we wil adioine therevnto a third which he shal neuer by any good and honest shift auoid And that is the vse and practise of the Realme as wel in the time foregoing the said statute as afterward We stand vpon the interpretation of the cōmon law recited and declared by the said statute And how shal we better vnderstand what the law is therein then by the vse and practise of the said lawe For the best interpretation of the lawe is custome But the Realme before the statute admitted to the Croune not only kings children and others of the first degre but also of a farther degre and such as were plainely borne out of the Kings allegeance The soresaid vse and practise appeareth as wel before as sithens the time of the Conquest Among other King Edward the Confessour being destitute of a lawful Heire within the Realme sent into Hūgary for Edward his Nephew surnamed Outlaw son to King Edmūd called Irōside after many yeres of his exile to returne into Englād to th' intent the said Outlaw should inherite this Realme whiche neuerthelesse came not to effect by reason the said outlaw died before the said king Edward his Vncle. After whose death the said king apointed Eadgar Etheling sonne of the said Outlaw being his next cosen and heire as he was of right to the Croune of Englād And for that the said Eadgar was but of yong and tender yeares and not able to take vpō him so great a gouernement the said king cōmitted the protection as wel of the yong Prince as also of the Realm to Harold Earle of Kent vntil suche time as the said Eadgar had obteined perfit age to be hable to weld the state of a King Which Harold neuerthelesse cōtrary to the trust supplanted the said yong Prince of the Kingdome and put the Croune vpon his own head By this it is apparent that foraine birth was not accōpted of before the time of the Cōquest a iust cause to repel and reiect any man being of the next proximitie in blood frō the Title of the Croune And though the said king Edward the Cōfessors wil and purpose toke no such force and effect as he desired and the law craued yet the like succession toke place effectuously in king Stephen and king Hēry the secōd as we haue already declared Neither wil th' Aduersaries shift of foramers borne of father and mother which be not of the kings alegeāce help him forasmuch as this clause of the said statut is not to be applied to the kings childrē but to others as appeareth in the same statute And these two kings Stephē and Henrie the 2. as they were borne in a forain place so their fathers and mothers wer not of the kings allegeāce but mere Aliens and strāgers And how notorious a vaine thing is it that th' Aduersarie would perswade vs that the said K. Henrie the secōd rather came in by force of a cōposition then by the proximitie and nearenes of blood I leaue it to euery man to cōsider that hath any maner of feling in the discours of the stories of this realm The cōpositiō did procure him quietnes and rest for the time with a good and sure hope of quiet and peaceable entrance also after the death of King Stephen and so it followed in deede but ther grew to him nomore right therby then was due to him before For he was the true heir to the Croune as appeareth by Stephen his Aduersaries owne confession Henry the firste maried his daughter Mathildis to Henry the Emperour by whome he had no childrē And no dout in case she had had any children by th'Emperour they should haue ben heires by succession to the Croune of England After whose death she retourned to her father yet did King Henry cause all the Nobilitie by an expresse othe to embrace her after his death as Queene and after her her children Not long after she was maried to Ieffrey Plantagenet a Frenchman borne Earle of Aniowe who begat of her this Henry the second being in France Whervpon the said King did reuiue and renue the like othe of allegeāce aswel to her as to her sonne after her With the like false persuasiō the Adueruersarie abuseth him selfe and his Reader touching Arthur Duke of Britanie Nephew to King Richard the first As though forsooth he were iustly excluded by Kinge Iohn his vncle by cause he was a forainer borne If he had said that he was excluded by reason the vncle ought to be preferred before the Nephewe though it should haue ben a false allegation and plaine against the rules of the lawes of this Realme as may wel appeare among other thinges by King Richard the second who succeded his grādfather king Edward the third which Richard had diuerse worthie and noble vncles who neither for lacke of knowledge coulde be ignorant of the right neither for lacke of frendes courage and power be enforced to forbeare to chalenge their title and interest yet should he haue had some countenance of reason and probabilitie bicause many arguments and the authoritie of many learned and notable Ciuilians doo concurre for the vncles right before the Nephewe But to make the place of the natiuitie of an inheritour to a kingdom a sufficiēt barre against the right of his blood it seemeth to haue but a weake and slender holde and grounde And in our case it is a most vnsure and false ground seeing it is moste true that King Richard the first as we haue said declared the said Arthur borne in Britanie and not son of a King but his brother Geffreys sonne Duke of Britanie heire apparent his vncle Iohn yet liuing And for such a one is he taken in al our stories And for such a one did all the worlde take him after the said King Richard his death neither was King Iohn taken for other then for an vsurper by excluding him and afterward for a murtherer for imprisoning him and priuily making him away For the which facte the French King seased vpon al the goodly Coūtries in France belonging to the King of England as forfeited to him being the chiefe Lorde By this outragious deede of King Iohn we lost Normandie withall and our possibilitie to the inheritance of all Britanie the right and Title to the said Britanie being dewe to the said Arthur and his heires by the right of his mother Constance And though the said king Iohn by the practise and ambition of Quene Elenour his mother and by the special procurement of Huberte then Archebishop of Caunterburie and of some other factious persons in Englād preuēted the said Arthur his nephew as it was easy for him to do hauing gotten into his handes al his brother Richardes treasure by sides many other rentes then in England and the said Arthur being an infante
those bookes And yet ye are not ashamed to note them as sufficient authorities for the maintenance of your euil purpose and intēt But as ye would seeme to vnderstand that your rule of dishabilitie is a general Maxime of the law so me thinketh ye should not be ignorant that it is also as general yea a more general rule and Maxime of the lawe that no Maxime or rule of the lawe can extende to binde the King or the Croune vnlesse the same be specially mentioned therein as may appeare by diuerse principles and rules of the lawe which be as general as is your sayd supposed Maxime and yet neither the King nor the Croune is by any of them bound As for example it is very plaine that the rule of the Tenante by the Curtesie is general without any exception at al. And yet the same bindeth not the Croune neither doth extende to geue any benefitte to him that shal marie the Queene of England As it was plainely agreed by all the lawiers of this Realme when King Philippe was married vnto Queene Marie although for the more suertie and plaine declaration of the intentes of King Philippe and Queene Marie and of al the states of this realme it was enacted that King Philip should not claime any Tytle to be Tenaunt by the Curtesie It is also a general rule that if a man dye seased of any landes in Fee simple without issue male hauing diuerse daughters the lande shall be equally diuided amonge the daughters Which rule the learned men in the lawes of this Realme agreed vpō in the lyfe of the late noble Prince Edwarde and also euery reasonable mā knoweth by vsage to take no place in the succession of the Croune For there the eldest enioyeth al as though she were issue male Likewise it is a general rule that the wife after the decease of her husband shal be endowed and haue the thirde parte of the best possessions of her husband And yet it is very clere that any Queene shal not haue the thirde parte of the landes belonging to the Croune as appeareth in 5. E. 3. Tit. praerogat 21. E. 3.9 28. H. 6. and diuers other bookes Bysides that the rule of Possessio fratris beinge generall neither hath bene or can be stretched to the inheritance of the Croune For the brother of the half blood shal succede and not the sister of the whole blood as may appeare by Iustice Moile as may be proued by King Etheldred brother and successor to King Edward the Martyr and by King Edwarde the Confessour brother to King Edmunde and diuers other who succeded in the Croune of England being but of the halfe blood As was also the late Queene Marie and is at this presente her sister who both in al recordes of our lawe wherein their seueral rightes and titles to the Croune are pleaded as by daily experience aswell in the Exchequer as also in all other Courtes is manifest doe make their conueiance as heires in blood th' one to the other which if they were cōmon or priuate persons they could not be allowed in lawe they as is wel knowen being of the halfe blood one to the other that is to wit begotten of one father but borne of sundrie mothers It is also a general rule in the lawe that the executour shal haue the good and Chattles of the testatour and not the heire And yet is it otherwise in the case of the Croune For there the successour shal haue them and not the executour as appeareth in 7. H. 4. by Gascoine It is likewise a general rule that a man attainted of felony or treason his heire through the corruption of blood without pardon and restitution of blood is vnable to take any landes by discente Whiche rule although it be general yet it extendeth not to the discente or succession of the Croune although the same Attainder were by acte of Parlamente as may appeare by the Attainder of Richarde Duke of Yorke and King Edward his son and also of King Henry the seuenth who were attainted by acte of Parlament and neuer restored and yet no dishabilitie thereby vnto Edwarde the fourth nor vnto Henry the seuenth to receaue the Croune by lawful succession But to this you would seeme to answere in your said booke saying that Hēry the seuenth notwithstanding his Attainder came to the Croune as caste vpon him by the order of the lawe forasmuch that when the Croune was caste vpon him that dishabilitie ceassed Wherein ye confesse directly that the Attainder is no dishabilitie at all to the succession of the Croune For although no dishabilitie can be alleaged in him that hath the Croune in possession yet if there were any dishabilitie in him before to receue and take the same by lawful succession then must ye say that he was not lawful King but an vsurper And therfore in confessing Henry the seuenth to be a lawful King and that the Croune was lawfully caste vppon him ye confesse directly thereby that before he was Kinge in possession there was no dishabilitie in him to take the Croune by lawful successiō his said Attainder notwithstanding which is as much as I would wish you to graunt But in conclusion vnderstanding your self that this your reason can not mainteine your intente you goe about an other way to helpe your self making a difference in the lawe betwene the case of Attainder and the case of foraine byrth out of the Kinges allogeāce saying that in the case of the Attainder neessitie doth enforce the succession of the Croune vpon the partie attaynted For otherwise ye say the Croune shall not descende to any But vpon the birth out of the Kinges allegance ye say it is otherwise And for proufe therof ye put a case of I.S. being seased of landes and hauing issue A. and B. A. is attainted in the life of I.S. his father and after I.S. dieth A. liuing vnrestored Nowe the lande shal not descende either to A. or B. but shal goe to the Lorde of the Fee by way of eschete Otherwise it had ben ye say if A. had ben borne beyond the sea I. S. breaking his allegeāce to the King and after I. S. cometh agayne into the Realme and hath issue B. and dieth for now ye say B. shal inherite his fathers Landes Yf the Croune had bene holden of any person to whome it might haue escheted as in your case of I.S. the lande did then peraduenture there had bene some affinitie betwene your said case and the case of the Croune But there is no such matter Bysides that ye muste consider that the King cometh to the Croune not onely by descente but also and chiefly by succession as vnto a corporation And therefore ye might easely haue sene a difference in your cases betwene the Kinges Maiestie and I.S. a subiecte And also betwene landes holden of a Lorde aboue and the Croune holden of no earthly Lorde but
only Of the like weight is his other coÌ„sideration imaginiÌ„g and surmising this statute to be made bicause the King had so many occasioÌ„s to be so oft ouer the sea with his spouse the Queene As though diuers Kings before him vsed not often to passe ouer the seas As though this were a personal statute made of special purpose and not to be takeÌ„ as a declaratioÌ„ of the coÌ„mon law Which to say is most directly repugnant and contrary to the letter of the said statute Or as though his children also did not very often repaire to outward Countries as Iohn of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster that maried Peters the King of Castiles eldest daughter by whose right he claimed the Croune of Castile as his brother EdmuÌ„d Erle of Cambridge that maried the yongest daughter as Lionell Duke of Claraunce that maried at Milaine ViolaÌ„t daughter and heir to Galeatius Duke of Milan But especially Prince Edwarde whiche moste victoriously toke in battaile Iohn the French King and brought him into England his prisoner to the great triumphe and reioysing of the Realme whose eldest sonne Edward that died in short time after was borne beyond the seas in Gascome and his other sonne Richard that succeded his grandfather was borne at Burdeaux as these noble King Edwardes sonnes maried with forainers so did they geue out their daughters in mariage to foraine Princes as the Duke of Lancaster his daughter Philippe to the king of Portingale and his daughter Catherin to the King of Spaine and his Neece Iohan daughter to his sonne Earle of Somerset was ioyned in mariage to the King of Scottes Iohan daughter to his brother Thomas of Wodstocke Duke of Gloucester was Queene of Spaine and his other daughter Marie Duchesse of Britannie Now by this mans interpretation none of the issue of al these noble Women could haue enioyed the Croune of England when it had fallen to them though they had bene of the neerest roial blood after the death of their Auncestours Which surely had bene against the auncient presidentes and examples that we haue declared and against the common Lawe the whiche muste not be thought by this Statute any thing taken away but only declared and against al good reason also For as we would haue thought this Realme greatly iniured if it had ben defrauded of Spaine or any of the foresaid couÌ„treies being deuolued to the same by the foresaid Mariages as we thincke our self at this day iniured for the withholding of France so the issue of the foresaide noble womeÌ„ might and would haue thought them hardly and iniuriously handled yf any such case had happened Neither suche friuolous interpretation and gloses as this man nowe frameth and maketh vppon the statute woulde then haue serued nor nowe wil serue But of all other his friuolous and folish ghessing vpon the clause of the statute for Infantes de Roy there is one most fond of al. For he would make vs beleue such is the mans skil that this statute touching Infantes de Roy was made for the great doubte more in them then in other personnes touching their inheritance to their Auncestours For being then a Maxime saieth he in the lawe that none could inherite to his Auncestours being not of father and mother vnder the obedience of the King seing the King him selfe could not be vnder obedience it plainely seemed that the Kinges children were of farre worse condition then others and quite excluded And therefore he saith that this statute was not to geue them any other priuilege but to make them equall with other And that therefore this statute touching the Kinges children is rather in the superficial parte of the worde then in effecte Nowe among other thinges he saieth as we haue shewed before that this word Infantes de Roy in this statute mentioned must be taken for the children of the first degree whiche he seemeth to proue by a note taken out of M. Rastal But to this we answer that this maÌ„ swetely dreamed when he imagined this fonde and fantasticall exposition And that he shewed him selfe a very infante in law and reason For this was no Maxime or at lest not so certaine before the making of this statute whiche geueth no new right to the Kinges children nor answereth any doubt touching them and their inheritance but saith that the law of the Croune of England is and alwaies hath bene which lawe saith the King say the Lordes say the Commons we allowe and affirme for euer that the Kinges children shal be hable to inherite the Landes of their Auncesters whereâ—oeuer they be borne Al the doubt was for other persons as appeareth euideÌ„tly by the tenour of the statute whether by the coÌ„mon law they being borne out of the allegeance were heritable to their Auncestours And it appeareth that th' Aduersary is driueÌ„ to the hard wal when he is faine to catch hold vpon a selie poore marginal note of M. Rastal of the Kinges childreÌ„ and not of the Kings childrens children Which yet nothing at al serueth his purpose touching this statute But he or the Printer or who so euer he be as he draweth out of the text many other notes of the matter therin coÌ„prised so vpoÌ„ these FreÌ„ch wordes Les enfants de Roy he noteth in the MargeÌ„t The Kings childreÌ„ but how far that word reacheth he saieth neither more nor lesse Neither it is any thing preiudicial to the said Queenes right or Title whether the said wordes Infants ought to be takeÌ„ strictly for the first degree or farther enlarged For if this statute toucheth only the succession of the Kings children to their Auncestours for other inheritaÌ„ce and not for the Cround as most men take it and as it may be as we haue said very wel takeÌ„ and allowed then doth this supposed Maxime of forain borne that seemeth to be gathered out of this statute nothing anoy or hinder the Queene of Scotlandes Title to the Croune as not therto apperteining On the other side if by the inheritance of the kings childreÌ„ the Croune also is meant yet neither may we enforce the rule of foraine borne vpoÌ„ the kings children which are by theâ—presse wordes of the statute excepted neither enforce the word Inâ—â—â—s to the first degree only for such reasons presidents and examples and other prouffes largely by vs before set forth to the coÌ„trarie seing that the right of the Croune falling vpoÌ„ them they may wel be called the kings ChildreÌ„ or at the lest the childreÌ„ of the Croune Ther is also one other cause why though this statute reach to the Croune and may and ought to be expouÌ„ded of the same the said Queene is out of the reach and coÌ„passe of the said statute For the said statute can not be vnderstanded of any persons borne in Scotlande or Wales but onely of persons borne beyond the sea out of the allegeance of the King of England that is to wrtte France Flandres and such like For England
ciuil gouermēt more or lesse be annexed and vnited to this inheritāce as it is not only in Empires and Kingdomes but in many Dukedōs Earldoms yea and Lordships also whether she shal be excluded from the said her inheritance If ye say yea then you say against Scripture If you say that the inheritance must remaine in her and the ciuil gouernment to others then say you against al reason against the vse manner and custom of the whole world it is but your own fond folish glosse Whervpō I do inferre that womanly gouernment is admitted not only by these exāples but euen by the very wordes rules and decrees of holy Scripture And so I trust you are or haue cause to be fully satisfied aswel touching your allegatiō that womāly Regimēt is against nature as also touchīg a brother to be chosen king And therfore I cōclude against you that neither the law of God nor of Nature nor yet reason vpon the which also you ground yourself doe reiect the said Queene Marie from the succession of the Croune of England You reason that where the people erect themself an Head of their owne kinde and Nation there nature assureth the people of natural gouernment and where a stranger carieth opinion of vnnatural tyranny it assureth the ruler of vnnatural subiection To a straunger is murmurre and rebellion threatned But now if this excellent Ladie and Princesse be no straunger and be of our owne kinred and of the auncient and late Roial bloud of this Realme as we haue declared then is your reason also withal auoided which may and doth oftētimes take place in more straungers cōming in by violent and forceable meanes But here as natural a man as you make your self ye seeme to goe altogether against reason and against nature also If Princes Children were to be counted strāgers and Aliens or to be suspected as enemies and Tyrantes succeding to their owne Progenitours inheritance it was an vnnatural parte and a great folie in the noble Kinges of this and of many other Realmes to geue out their daughters to foreine Princes in mariage And in steade of preferring and aduancing them by their mariage and procuring thereby frindship and amitie with other Princes to disable their said children from ther Auncestours inheritāces in those Coūtries from whence they originally proceded And as it seemeth by your kind of reasoning to purchase and procure byside to them thereby an opinion of enmitie and tyrannie This this I say is a frowarde and an vnnatural interpretation Nature moueth and driueth vs to think otherwise and that both a Prince wil fauour loue and cherishe the people from whence he fetcheth his roial blood and by whō he must now mainteine keepe and defende his roial estate and that the people likewise wil beare singuler loue and affection to such a one specially of such knowē Princely qualities as this noble Ladie is adorned withal Surely it is no more vnnatural to such a Prince descending from the anncient and late roial blood of the Kinges of England to beare rule in Englād and as it were to returne to the head and foūtaine from whence originally she sprāg then it is for al fluddes and riuers which as Homer saith flow out of the great Oceā sea 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to reuert returne and reflow againe to the said Ocean This coherence coniunction copulatiō inclinatiō and fauour running interchangeably betwixt such a Prīce and the people is no more strāge to nature then is the cōiunction of the tree and the rote thereof then of the fountaine and the Riuer issewing frō thence then of the sonne and of the sonne beames and finally then is the coniunction betwixt the old auncient liuing grandmother and her yong and tendre daughter Neither do I wel know how I may better cal noble England then a liuing grandmother to this good gētle Ladie whō we I doe not doubt if euer God cal her to the Roial state therof shal not only find a louing and gratious Maistresse but a most deare and tendre good doughter For these and other cōsideratiōs the lawes of the Realm do not nor euer did estrāge such Princes from the successiō of the Croun of this realm which by reason of the said mutual inclination and beneuolēce of th' one to the other standeth with the law of God and nature and with al good reason And therfore your cōclusion is against Gods law Nature and al good reason Wherby you ful vngodly vnnaturally and vnreasonably do cōclude an exclusion of the Q. of Scotlād pretending her to be a strāger to that right that God Nature and reason and the true harts of al good natural English men do cal her vnto The which her said iust right title and interest we trust we haue now fully proued and iustified and sufficiētly repulsed the sundry obiectiōs of the aduersaries And as this being the principal ought to breede no doubt or scruple in any mā so many other folish fond and fantastical obiections not worthy of any answere that busie quarelīg heads do cast forth to disable her right or to disgrace her and bleamish either her honour or this happie vniō of both Realmes if God shal so dispose of it ought much lesse to moue any mā An happy vniō I cal it bicause it shal not only take away the long mortal enmitie the deadly hatred the most cruel and sharp warres that haue so many hundred yeares ben continewed betwixt our neighbours the Scotsmen and vs but shal so intierly consociate conioine and so honorably set foorth and aduaūce vs both and the whole Iland of Britanie as neither tonge cā expresse the greatnes of our felicitie and happines nor hart wish any greater The old enmitie hath trodden downe and kept vs both vnder foot and hath giuen occasion to the common enemie as the Danes and other to spoile vs both It hath caused for these thousand yeares and more so infinite and so ougly slaughters as it wil greeue and pitie any mans hart to remembre and yet neither to the great augmentatiō of our possessions at this day nor to their much losse they hauing lost nothing of their olde aunciene inheritance sauing Barwike only If this cōiunctiō once happē and if we be once vnited and knit together in one kingdome and dominion in one entier brotherly loue and amitie as we are already knit by neighbourhoode by tongue and almost by all manners fashions and behauiours then will al vnnatural and butcherly slaughter so lōg hitherto practised ceasse then wil rest quiet wealth and prosperitie increase at home then wil al outward Princes our frindes reioice and be comforted our enemies dread vs Then wil the honour fame and Maiestie of the Ilande of Albion daily growe more and more and her power and strength so greatly encrease as to the frinde wil be a good shield and to the enemie an horrible terrour Then shal the vtwarde enemie litle indāmage vs
and remaining beyond the sea in the custody of the said Constance yet of this fact being against al Iustice aswel the said Archbishop as also many of th' other did after most earnestly repent considering the cruel and the vniust putting to death of the said Arthur procured and after some Authours committed by the said Iohn himself Which most foul aÌ„d shamful act the said Iohn neded not to haue committed if by foraine birth the said Arthur had beÌ„ barred to inherit the Croune of England And much lesse to haue imprisoned that most innocent Ladie Elenor sister to the said Arthur in Bristow Castle wher she miserably ended her life if that gay Maxime would haue serued to haue excluded these two childreÌ„ bicause thei wer straÌ„gers borne in the partes beyond the seas Yea it appeareth in other doings also of the said time and by the storie of the said Iohn that the birth out of the legeaÌ„ce of England by father aÌ„d mother foram was not takeÌ„ for a sufficieÌ„t repulse and reiectioÌ„ to the right and title of the Croune For the BaroÌ„s of EnglaÌ„d being then at dissension with the said King Iohn and renouÌ„cing their allegeance to him receaued Lewis the eldest sonne of Philip the FreÌ„ch king to be their King in the right of Blanch his wife whiche was a stranger borne albe it the lawful Neece of the said Richard and daughter to Alphonse king of Caâ—til begotten on the bodie of Elenour his wife one of the daughters of king Henrie the second and sister to the said king Richard and king Iohn Which storie I alleage only to this purpose thereby to gather the opinion of the time that foraine birth was then thought no barre in the Title of the Croune For otherwise how could Lewis of FraÌ„ce preteÌ„d title to the Croune in the right of the said Bblach his wife borne in Spaine These examples are sufficient I suppose to satisfie and content any man that is not obstinatly wedded to his own fond fantasies and froward friuolous imaginatioÌ„s or otherwise worse depraued for a good sure and substantial interpretation of the coÌ„mon law And it were not altogether from the purpose here to consider and weigh with what and how greuous plagues this Realme hath bene oft afflicted and scourged by reason of wrongful and vsurped titles I wil not reuiue by odious rehearsal the greatenes and number of the same plagues as wel otherwise as especially by the contention of the noble houses and families of York and Lancaster seeing it is so fortunately and almost within mans remeÌ„brance extinct and buried I wil now put the gentle Reader in remembrance of those only with whose vsurping Titles we are nowe presently in hand And to begyn with the most auncieÌ„t what became I pray you of Harold that by briberie and helpe of his kinred vsurped the Croune against the foresaid yong Eadgar who as I haue said and as the old monumeÌ„ts of our Historiographers do plainly testifie was the true and lawful Heire Could he thinke you enioy his ambitious and naughty vsurping one whole entier yere No surely ere the first yeare of his vsurped reigne turned about he was spoiled and turned out both of Croune and his life withal Yea his vsurpation occasioned the conquest of the whole realme by WilliaÌ„ Duke of NormaÌ„die bastard sonne to Robert the sixt Duke of the same And may we thinke al safe and sound now from like danger if we should tread the said wrong steppes with Harolde forsaking the right and high way of law and iustice What shal I now speake of the cruel ciuil warres betwene King Stephen and King Henry the second whiche warres rose by reason of the said Henry was vniustly kept froÌ„ the Croune dew to his mother Maude and to him afterwardes The pitiful reigne of the said Iohn who doth not lament with the lamentable losse of Normandie Aquitaine and the possibilitie of the Dukedome of Britanie and with the losse of our other goodly possessions in France whereof the Croune of England was robbed and spoiled by the vnlawful vsurping of him against his nephew Arthur Wel let vs leaue these greuouse and lothsome remembrances and let vs yet seeke if we may finde any later interpretation either of the said statute or rather of the coÌ„mon law for our purpose And lo the great goodnes and prouidence of God who hath if the foresaid exaÌ„ples would not serue prouided a later but so good so sure so apt and mete interpretatioÌ„ for our cause as any reasonable hart may desire The interpretatioÌ„ directly toucheth our case which I meane by the mariage of the Lady Margaret eldest daughter to King HeÌ„ry the vij vnto Iames the fourth KiÌ„g of ScotlaÌ„d and by the opinioÌ„ of the said most prudeÌ„t Prince in bestowing his said daughter into ScotlaÌ„d a ma ter sufficient inough to ouerthrow al those cauilling inueÌ„tioÌ„s of the aduersarie For what time King Iames the fourth sent his ambassadour to king HeÌ„ry the seueÌ„th to obteine his good wil to espouse the said Lady Margaret there were of his Counsaile not ignorant of the lawes and Customes of the Realme that did not wel like vpon the said Mariage saying it might so fal out that the right and Title of the Croune might be deuolued to the Lady Margaret and her childreÌ„ and the Realm therby might be subiect to ScotlaÌ„d To the whiche the prudent and wise King answered that in case any such deuolution should happen it would be nothing preiudicial to England For England as the chief and principal and worthiest part of the I le should drawe Scotland to it as it did Normandie from the time of the Conqueste Which answere was wonderfully wel liked of al the Counsaile And so consequâ—tly the mariage toke effect as appereth by Polydor the Historiographer of this Realm and such a one as wrote the Actes of the time by the instruction of the King him selfe I say then the worthy wise Salomon foreseeing that such deuolution might happen was an interpretour with his prudente and sage Counsaile for our cause For els they neaded not to reason of any such subiection to Scotlande if the children of the Ladie Margaret might not lawfully inherite the Croune of England For as to her husband we could not be subiect hauing him selfe no right by this mariage to the Title of the Croune of this Realme Wherevpon I may wel inferre that the said newe Maxime of these men whereby they would rule and ouer rule the succession of Princes was not knowen to the said wise King neither to any of his Counsaile Or if it were yet was it taken not to reache to his blood royall borne in Scotlande And so on euery side the Title of Quene Marie is assured So that now by this that we haue said it may easely be seen by what light and slender consideration the Aduersarie hath gone about to strayne the wordes Infantes or children to the first degree