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
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
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
Liberi Therefore doo we supply it as wel as we may by this worde children The Spaniardes also vse this worde Infantes in this ample sorte when they call the nexte heire to the heire apparēt Infant of Spaine euen as the late deceased Lorde Charles of Austrich was called his father and grandfather then liuing Yf then the original word of the statute declaring the said rule may naturally and properly apperteine to al the Descendants why should we straine and binde it to the first degree only otherwise then the nature of the worde or reason wil beare For I suppose verely that it wil be very harde for the Aduersarie to geue any good and substantial reason why to make a diuersitie in the cases But touching the contrarie there are good and probable consideratiōs which shall serue vs for the seconde cause As for that the grādfathers cal their nephewes as by a more pleasant plausible name not only their children but their sonnes also and for that the sonne being deceased the grādfather suruiuing not only the grādfathers affection but also such right title and interest as the sonne hath by the lawe and by proximitie of blood growe and drawe al to the nephew who representeth and supplieth the fathers place the father and the sonne being compted in person and in flesh in maner but as one Why shal then the bare and naked consideration of the external and accidental place of the birth only seuer and sunder suche an entier inwarde and natural coniunction Adde therevnto the many and great absurdities that may hereof spring and ensue Diuerse of the Kinges of this Realme as wel before the time of King Edwarde the third in whose time this statute was made as after him gaue their daughters out to foraine and sometimes to meane Princes in mariage Which they would neuer so often times haue done if they had thought that whyle they wente about to set forth and aduance their issue their doinges should haue tended to the disheriting of them from so great large and noble a Realme as this is which might haue chanced if the daughter hauing a sonne or daughter had died her father liuing For there should this supposed Maxime haue ben a barre to the children to succede their grandfather This absurditie would haue bene more notable if it had chanced about the time of King Henry the secōd or this king Edward or king Henry the firste and sixte when the possessions of the Croune of this Realme were so amply enlarged in other Countries beyond the seas And yet neuer so notable as it might haue bene hereafter in our fresh memorie and remēbrance if any such thing had chanced as by possibilitie it might haue chanced by the late mariage of King Philippe and Queene Marie For admitting their daughter maried to a foraine Prince should haue dyed before them she leauing a sonne suruiuing his father and grandmother they hauing none other issue so nigh in degree then would this late framed Maxime haue excluded the same sonne lamētably and vnnaturally from the succession of the Croune of Englande and also the same Croune from the inheritance of the Realmes of Spain of both Sicilies with their appurtenāces of the Dukedō of Milan and other landes and Dominiōs in Lumbardy and Italie as also from the Dukedomes of Brabant Luxēburg Geldres Zutphan Burgundie Friseland from the Countreies of Flandres Artois Holland Zealād and Namurs and from the new found lands parcel of the said Kingdome of Spaine* Which are vnlesse I be deceued more ample by dubble or treble then al the Countreies now rehearsed Al the which Countreies by the foresaid Mariage should haue bene by al right deuolued to the said sonne if any such child had bene borne If either the same by the force of this iolye newe found Maxime had bene excluded from the Croune of England or the saide Croune from the inheritance of the foresaid Countreies were there any reason to be yelded for the maintenance of this supposed rule or Maxime in that case Or might there possibly rise any commodity to the Realme by obseruing therein this rigorous pretensed rule that should by one hundred part counteruaile this importable losse and spoile of the Croune and of the lawful inheritour of the same But perchance for the auoiding of this exception limited vnto the blood roial some wil say that the same was but a priuilege graunted to the Kinges children not in respect of the succession of the Croune but of other landes descending to them from their Auncestours Whiche although we might very wel admit and allow yet can it not be denied but that the same priuilege was graūted vnto the Kinges children and other descendantes of the Blood roial by reason of the dignity and worthines of the Croune which the King their father did enioy and the great reuerence which the law geueth of dewtie therevnto And therefore if ye would go about to restraine and withdraw from the Croune that priuilege whiche the lawe geueth to the Kinges children for the Crounes sake ye should doo therein contrarie to al reason and against the rules of the Arte of Reasoning which saith that Propter quod vnumquodque illud magis Byside that I would faine knowe by what reason might a man saye that they of the Kinges Bloodde borne out of the allegeaunce of Englande maye inherite landes within this Realme as heires vnto their Ancestours not being able to inherite the Croune Truly in mine opinion it were against al reason But on the contrarie side the very force of reason muste driue vs to graunt the like Yea more great and ample priuilege and benefit of the law in the succession of the Croune For the Roial blood where so euer it be found wil be taken as a pretious and singuler Iewel and wil carie with it his worthie estimation and honour with the people and where it is dew his right withal By the Ciuil law the right of the inheritance of priuate persons is hemmed and inched within the bandes of the tenth degre The Blood roial runneth a farther race and so farre as it may be found wherewith the great and mightie Conquerors are glad and faine to ioine withal euer fearing the weaknes of their blooddie sworde in respect of the greate force and strength of the same For this cause was Henrie the firste called for his learning and wisedome Beauclerke glad to consociate and couple him self with the auncient Roial blood of the Saxons which cōtinuing in the Princely Successiō from worthie king Alured was cutte of by the death of the good king Edward and by the mariyng of Mathildis being in the fourth degree in lineal descent to the said king Edward was reuiued and revnited From this Edward the Queene of Scotlād as we haue before shewed taketh her noble auncieht Petigrue These then and diuers other reasons and causes mo may be alleaged for the waying and setting foorth of the true meaning
euidently tende to this ende and scope if a zealous minde to the common Wealth if prudence and wisdome did not rule and measure al these doinges but contrariewise partial affection and displeasure if this arbitrement putteth not away al contentions and striffes if the mind and purpose of the honorable Parlament be not satisfied if there be dishonorable deuises and assignmentes of the Croune in this Wil and Testament if there be a new Succession vnnaturally deuised finally if this be not a Testament and last Wil such as Modestinus defineth Testamentum est tusta voluntatus nostra sententia de eo quod quis post mortem suam fieti velit then though the Kinges hand were put to it the matter goeth not altogether so wel and so smothe But that there is good and great cause farther to consider and debate vpon it whether it be so or no let the indifferent when they haue wel thought vpon it iudge accordingly The Aduersaries them selues can not altogether denie but that this Testament is not correspondent to such expectation as men worthely should haue of it Whiche thing they do plainly confesse For in vrging their presumptions whereof we haue spokē and minding to proue that this wil whiche they say is commonly called King Henries Wil was no new Wil deuised in his sicknes but euen the very same wherof as they say were diuers olde copies they inferre these wordes saying thus For if it be a newe Wil then deuised who could thinke that either him selfe would or any man durst haue moued him to put therin so many thinges contrary to his honour Much lesse durst they themselues deuise any new successiō or moue him to alter it otherwise then they foūd it when they saw that naturally it could not be otherwise disposed Wherein they say very truely For it is certaine that not only the common lawe of this Realme but nature it selfe telleth vs that the Queene of Scotlād after the said Kinges children is the next and rightful Heire of the Croune Wherefore the King if he had excluded her he had done an vnnatural acte Ye wil say he had some cause to doo this by reason she was a forainer and borne out of the Realm Yet this notwithstanding he did very vnnaturally yea vnaduisedly inconsideratly and wrongfully and to the great preiudice and danger of his owne Title to the Croune of France as we haue already declared And moreouer it is wel to be weighed that reason and equitie and Ius Gentium doth require and craue that as the Kings of this Realme would thinke them selues to be iniuriously handled and openly wronged if they mariyng with the heires of Spaine Scotland or any other Countrey where the succession of the Croune deuolueth to the woman were shutte out and barred from theyr said right dewe to them by the wiues as we haue said so likewise they ought to thinke of women of their royal blood that marie in Scotland that they may wel iudge and take them selues much iniured vnnaturally and wrongfully dealt withall to be thruste from the succession of this Croune being thereto called by the nexte proximitie of the royal blood And such deuolutiōs of other Kingdoms to the Croune of England by foraine mariage might by possibilitie often times haue chaunced and was euen nowe in this our time very like to haue chanced for Scotland if the intended mariage with the Queene of Scotland that now is and the late King Edward the sixt with his longer life and some issue had takē place But now that she is no suche forainer as is not capable of the Croune we haue at large already discussed Yea I wil now say farther that supposing the Parlament minded to exclude her and might rightfully so doe and that the King by vertue of this statute did exclude her in his supposed Wil yet is she not a plaine forainer and incapable of the Croune For if the lawfull heires of the said Ladie Francis and of the Ladie Elenour should happē to faile which seeme now to faile at the least in the Ladie Katherin and her issue for whose title great sturre hath lately ben made by reason of a late sentence definitiue geuen against her pretensed mariage with the Earle of Herford then is there no stay or stoppe either by the Parlament or by the supposed Will but that she the said Queene of Scotlande and her Heires may haue and obteine their iust Title and claime For by the said pretensed Wil it is limited that for default of the lawfull Heyres of the said Ladre Francis and Elenour the Croune shall remaine and come to the next rightful Heires But if she shal be said to be a forainer for the time for the induction of farther argument then what saye the Aduersaries to my Ladie Leneux borne at Herbottel in England and from thirtene yeares of age brought vppe also in England and commonly taken and reputed as well of the King and Nobilitie as of other the lawefully Neece of the said King Yea to turne nowe to the other Sister of the King maried to Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolke and her children the Ladie Francis and the Ladie Elenour why are they also disherited Surely if there be no iust cause neither in the Lady Leneux nor in the other it seemeth the King hath made a plaine Donatiue of the Croune Whiche thinge whether he could doe or whether it be conformable to the expectation of the Parlament or for the Kinges honour or for the honour for the Realme I leaue it to the farther consideration of other Nowe what causes should moue the Kinge to shutte them out by his pretensed Will from the Title of the Croune I minde not nor neede not especially seeing I take no notice of any such Wil touching the limitation of the said Croune here to to prosecute or examine Yet am I not ignorant what impedimentes many doo talke of and some as well by printed as vnprinted Bookes doe write of Wherein I will not take vppon me any asseueration any resolution or iudgement Thus only will I propound as it were by the way of consideration duely and depely to be wayed and thought vpon that is for as muche as the benefitte of this surmised Wil tendeth to the extrusion of the Queene of Scotland and others altogether to the issue of the French Queene whether in case the King had no cause to be offended with his sisters the Frenche Queenes children as the Aduersaries them selues confesse he had not and that there was no lawful impediment in them to take the succession of the Croune it were any thing reasonable or euer was once meant of the Parlament that the King without cause should disherite and exclude them from the Title of the Croune On th' other side if ther were any such impediment whereof this surmised Wil geueth out a great suspicion it is to be considered whether it standeth with reason and iustice with the honour of the King and the
hauing and following of this law as we haue said vnlesse to omitte other thinges ye would bind our Kinges also to receaue the Deuteronomie at the haÌ„ds of the Leuitical Tribe as that ye say that God gaue here a lawe to the Iewes to make or choose a King and so consequently al your illations out of this place seeme to be of smal force For to say the trueth as God neither gaue them this or any other lawe for choosing of a King nor did bid or will them to choose a King so did the people most greeuously offend God in demanding a King. For though by the iudgement of Aristotle and other Philosophers Monarchie wel and orderly vsed is the best kinde of al other Regiments which God doth also wel like yet would he haue no such magistrate among the Iewes But as he chose them for his propre peculier and selecte people and ruled them as wel in the Desert as in Iudea by a seueral peculier and distinct order and Gouernement from other Nations and after suche wonderful and miraculous sort as the like was neuer harde of in any Regiment by sides so would he also reserue to him selfe only the said Supremacie and Monarchie Neither was he a litle angrie with the Iewes nor they committed any smal fault but as it were renounced and reiected Gods owne Monarchie in crauing a King as holy Scripture plainely and openly testifiet Nonâ—ie inquit reiecerunt sed me ne regnem super eos And the people afterwardes acknowledged their fault Addidimus vniuersis peccatis nostris malum vt peteremus nobu Regem God therefore did not bidde them or wil them to choose a King but forknowing long before by his eternall forsight what they would do though contrarie to his blessed wil and pleasure did in this as in other matters beare with their weakenes and condescended vnto the same and fortold them in the said 17. Chapter that in case they would needes haue a King of what kind and sort he should be And therefore immediatly before the wordes that ye recite thou shalt make him a King ouer them is this texte Cum ingressus fuer is terram quam Dominus Deus dabit tibi possederis illam habâ—â—auerisque in illa dixeris constituam super me Regem sicut habent omnes per circuitum Nationes â—um constitues c. And when thou shalt come into the laÌ„d which the Lord thy God geueth thee and shalt possesse yea and dwel therein if thou say I wil set a King ouer me like as all the Nations that are about me then thou shalt make him King ouer thee whome c. Whiche wordes making for the illustratioÌ„ of this place ye haue omitted Wherfore as this place serueth nothing for any absolute election of a King the second which you seeme especially to regard and ground your selfe vpon so doth it as we haue shewed as litle relieue you to prooue therby your conclusions especially against the ordinarie successioÌ„ either of a strauÌ„ger or of a woman that ye would gather and conclude out of the same Thus haue we sufficiently answered the place of Deuteronomie for this one purpose Th' other two autorities may be much more easely answered The people meant nothing els by their said wordes spoken to Dauid but that they were the seede of Abraham Isaac and Iacob as wel as he and intended with true and sincere hartes vnfainedly to agnise him as their chiefe Lord and Soueraigne For at that time the Tribe of Iuda only whereof King Dauid came by lineal descent did acknowledge him as king Now the residue which before helde with Saules sonne did also incorporate and vnite themselues to the said kingdome If this man looke wel vpon the matter he shal find I trowe that the Queene of Scotland may as wel cal her selfe the bones and fleshe of the Noble Princes of England as this people cal them selues the bones and sheshe of King Dauid But yet the great terrible battering Cannon Athalia is behind She being in possessession of the kingdome seuen yeares was iustly thrust out by cause she was an Alien We may then saith this man iustly denie the Queene of Scotland the right of that which if she had in possession she should not iustly enioy Yet Sir if the Queene of Scotland be no Alien as we haue said then is your Cannon shot more feareful then dangerous We deny not but that Athalia was lawfully deposed but we beseche you to tell vs your Authours name that doth assigne the cause to be suche as you alleage Surely for my part after diligent searche I finde no such Authour Trueth is it that Iosephus writeth as ye doe that she descended by the mothers side of the Tyrians and Sidonians yet neuerthelesse he assigneth no such cause as ye doe And as ye are in this your preatie poisoned pamflet the first I trow of al Christian men I wil not except either Latin or Greke vnlesse it be some fantastical fonde and new vpstart Doctour as M. Knoxe or some the like neither Iew Chaldee nor Arabian that hath thus straungely glosed and deformed this place of holie Scripture against the ordinarie succession of women Princes so are you the first also of all other Diuines or Lawiers throughout the world that hath set forth this new fonde foolishe lawe that the Kings childe must be counted an Alien whose father and mother are not of the same and one CouÌ„trie If the French or Spanish King chaunce to marâ—e an English woman or the King of England to marie a French a Spanish or any other Country woman their Children by this new Lycurgus are Aliens and so consequently in al other Nations al such are haue ben and shal be AlieÌ„s by this your new oracle For what other cause shew you that this Athalia was an Alien but by cause her mother was an Alien genus duceÌ„s say you à Tyrijs Sydoâ—iis coming by lineal descent by the mothers side from the Tyrians and Sydonians King Achas maried her mother doughter to Ithobal King of the said Tyrians and Sydonians This Athalia whom Iosephus cal leth Gotholio Achas daughter maried IoraÌ„ King of uda her brother called also Ioram being king of Israel after the decease of his father Achas So then ye see that this Athalia was nomore an Alien among the Iewes then â—â—ing Edbalde Baldus was the sonne of Bertha a FreÌ„ch womaÌ„ and of King Ethelbertus the first Christian King of th' English nation no more then was the noble King Edward the third borne of a French woma â—more then Queene Marie was no more â—en should haue bene the issue of the said Q. Marie in case she had had any by the king â—f Spaine I perceaue that your felowes that â—ould faine make King Stephen King HeÌ„â—e the second and Arthur Neuew to King â—ichard the first Aliens had but rude dul â—nd grosse heades in comparison of
burge who therby inioyed the Countie Pâ—latine The like may be said of diuers othâ— partes of the Germanical Empire yea a wâ— maÌ„ hath ruled and gouerned the said who Empire as it is euident in Agnes the wiâ— of the Emperour Henry the third duriâ— the time of the minoritie of her sonne Hâ—rie the fourth And yet the same Empire ye wote wel passeth by choise and election and not by lineal succession of bloode yeâ— many hundereth yeares ere she was borne and in the florishing time of the olde Roâ—maine Empire Mesa Varia grandmother to the Emperour Heliogabalus and Alexander Seuerus sate with the Senate at Rome heard and examined the weighty causes oâ— the Empire and set her hand also to suche thiÌ„gs as passed touchiÌ„g the publike affaires I do now adioyne the kingdom of Sicile and Naples in Italie of the whiche Italie Noah whom the prophane Writers cal Ianus made Crana his daughter ruler and Quene wher also Lauinia reigned after the death of Aeneas And as for Naples this presideÌ„t of womanly Gouernment is not there only of later yeares in both the Queenes called Iohanne but euen from very auncient time which thing the stories do recorde in Amalasintha that gouerned after the death of her father King Theodoricus with her sonne Athalaricus The said Amalasintha was mother to Almaricus King of Spaine and after his death ruled her self the said Realme Let vs nowe adde farther the Dukedoms of Loraine and Mantua the kingdome of Swetia and Dania and of Noruegia whereof Margaret the daughter of Waldemarus was gouernesse and Quene the kingdom of Beame and of HuÌ„garie And to draw nere home the Realm also of ScotlaÌ„d which realm hath denomination of a woman as their stories report as hath likewise Flaunders The like some of our stories report of EnglaÌ„d wherin I wil make no fast footing Now touching the feminine Successâ— to the right of the Croune of England itâ— no new found Succession and much leâ— vnnatural We reade in our Chronicles Queene Cordel the thirde heire and daugâ—ter of King Leyre the teÌ„th King of Eritanâ— that restored her father to the kingdomâ— being deposed by her two other sisters Wâ— reade that about three hundered fifty anâ— fiue yeares before the Natiuitie of Christâ— Martia Proba during the nonage of heâ— sonne did gouerne this Realme ful politikâ—ly and wisely and established certaine laweâ— called Leges Martianae There be aswel of our owne as of exterternal historiographers that for a most certeinty affirme that Helena the noble Constantine his mother was a Britaine and the only daughter and heire of Coelus King of Britanie and that the said Constantine was borne in Britanie Surely that his father CoÌ„stantinus died in Britanie at Yorke and that the said Constantinus began his noble Victorious race of his most worthy Empire in Britany it is reported by auncient Writers and of great faith and credit And that likewise long before the said Helens time women bare the greatest sway both in warre â—nd peace and that the Britaine 's had womeÌ„ or their Capteines in warfare AmoÌ„g other Cornelius Tacitus writeth thus His atâ—e allis inuicem instructi Voadica generis regij â—mina Duce neque enim sexum in Impertis â—scernunt sumpsêre vniuersi bellum We haue now already shewed of Henry he seconde who obteined the Croune by â—he mothers right Which said King by the Title of his wife and after him his Succesâ—ours Kings of England did inioy the Dukeâ—omes of Aquitania and the Dukedome of Poiters as the said Kings Successour should â—aue done also as we haue shewed before the Dukedome of Britanie if Arthur King Richardes Neuew had not by the vsurping of King Iohn and his vnnatural crueltie died without issue And by what other right then by the womans inheritance dew to King Edward the third by his mother the Frenche Kings daughter doe the Kinges of this Realme beare the Armes and Title of the Kings of FraÌ„ce And though the FreÌ„ch men thinke their parte the better against vs it is not but vpoÌ„ an old politike law of their owne as they say and not vpon any suche fonde ground as ye pretende that women Regiment is vnnatural Which RegimeÌ„t ye stoutly affirme to bâ— farre a sunder from any natural RegimeÌ„t yeâ— truely as farre as was the boies head froÌ„ the shoulders the last Bartholmew Faire at LoÌ„don which many a poore foole did beleeue to be true For as the boies head remained stil vpon his necke and shoulders though iâ— seemed by a light liuely legerdemaine to be a great way from the bodie so would you now cast a mist before our eies and make vs beleue that womans gouernmeÌ„t and nature be so diuided and sundred that they may iâ— no wise be lincked and coupled together But surely the French nation was neuer so vnwise to thinke this kind of GouermeÌ„t repugnant to Nature or to Gods holy Word For then they would neuer haue suffered their Realme to haue ben so often gouerned and ruled by women in the time of the nonage or absence of their Kings As by Adela the mother of King Philip and by Blanche the mother of S. Lewis and by the wife of the late King Frauncis taken prisoner at Paura and by diuers others Neither should the said Adela and Blanche haue ben so coÌ„mended of their said noble and worthy rule and â—uernmeÌ„t The said FrenchmeÌ„ though by â—oliâ—ie they haue prouided to exclude foâ—iners from the inheritance of the Croune 〈◊〉 they themselues holde at this day by â—e womaÌ„s title and interest the Dukedom â—f Britanie with diuers other goodly posâ—ssions And we haue shewed before how â—ewis the Dolphin of France made a Title 〈◊〉 the Croune of this Realme in the right â—f his wife Thus I haue as I suppose sufficiently proued that this kinde of RegimeÌ„t 〈◊〉 not against Nature by the auncient and â—ontinual practise of Asia Aphrica and Euâ—â—pa For the perfecting of the whiche laste â—â—rte of Europa and of the whole three â—artes I ende with the notable Poet Virgils verses Filius huic fato Diuûm prolesque virilis Nulla fuit primaque oriens erepta iuuenta est Sola domum tantas seruabat filia sedes We knit vp therfore our conclusion against you after this sort That law and vsage caÌ„not be compted against the law of nature or ius GeÌ„tiuÌ„ which the most part of al couÌ„tries and one great or notable part of the whol world doth and hath vsed but this lawe or vsage is such Ergo it is not against the law of Nature The Maior nedeth no proufe and foâ— the proufe of the Minor we neede to imploy no farder labour then we haue already done Whervpon the consequeÌ„t must nedeâ— be inferred that this law or vsage doth weâ— agree and stand with the law of nature The reason thereof is that it
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