Rome or the Emperors For though some of the later Writers have called all the Nations contained within the Precincts of the Roman Empire as Grotius alledgeth Romania Grotius l. 2. fo 21. Selden ib. and Gildas saith of Britanny non Britanuia sed Romania censebatur yet no such transmutation of names was ever decreed or indicted by the Senate of Rome or Edict of the Emperor Clapmar de arcan imperii For a acute Clapmar saith The Romans did little esteem talia inania simulachra such vain shadows and shews and were not sollicitous of proud names so that they might have the matter it self Of which there is an example in the Poet Virg. Aeneid 12. fo 394. when Juno had left nothing untried whereby she might impede the Trojans from invading Italy which finding her self unable to effect it at the last defired Jupiter that forasmuch as the Trojans should possess and enjoy Italy yet they should not change the name but the Latins should retain their ancient name Ne velis indigenas nomen mutare Latinos Neu Troas fieri jubeas Teucrosque vocari Which Jupiter smiling to himself casily condiscended to as a matter of no moment for so the Poet proceedeth Olli subridens hominum rerumque repertor Do quod vis me victusque volensque remitto To wind up all in a word By the premises it is perspicuous that not only the Britans but all other Nations which by conquest were forced to serve under the Roman yoke were by clemency and arms imposition of laws and transmutation of Language reduced into one moral and civil body and were as it were one countrey and one Commonwealth insomuch as by Modestinus it is called communit patria and by Claudian Gens una Hujus pacificis debemus moribus omues Quod cuncti gens una sumus But now to compare Rome with Britain if it be comely to compare great things with lesse which as the Prince of the Roman Poets Tantum inter alias caput extulit urbes Virg. Egl. 1 Quantum lenta solent inter viburna cupressi So as though for largeness and extent it being as hath been said Caput totius orbis it is incomparable yet in regard of the quality and condition of the abovesaid union it may admit some comparison for the conquerours in our Orbe Britanno did follow the tract and steps of the Roman conquerours whereby at the length upon their conquests they happily arrived at the like settlement of the union between the four discordant Kingdomes of England Wales Scotland and Ireland To begin with William the Conquerour who though he made an absolute and entire conquest of England and might have had all the Lands which he would have actually seized yet like a Roman clement conquerour he took â—â— mans estate from him Baker's History of England neither dispossessed them of any of their goods but from those whose demerit made them unworthy to hold them and would not adhere unto himâ— and the vacancy of Offices and filling up the places of those who were slain or fled was the present mean he made for preferring his followers and as William of Malmsbur saith in subjects leniter in rebeâ—â— turbide agens foeliciter omit Anglâ—â— potiebatur by intreating his subjects gently and the rebels rigorously he happily enjoyed all England For as in the body of a living creature mature doth convert food and nutriment into good blood and by degrees assimilates it to the body Sir Fran. Bacon So in union of countriâ—â— by conquest the conquerour ought to expel any part of the state conquered which he findeth so contrary as he cannot convert and assimilate it to the civil body of that state which was the current course of William the conquerour And though some Historians and Chroniclers of those times seem to vary from this assertion as Mathew of Westminster that after William the conquerour had subdued the Enlish terras Anglorum possessiones apsis expulsis successivis manu distribuit suis commilitonibus they being by degrees expelled he with his hand did distribute all the Lands and possessions of the English to his commilitions or fellow souldiers which Eodin and Ramatus Choppinus also though they had it at the second hand relate it for truth yet the contrary is manifested by his Act to one Warren a Norman of principle quality to whom he had granted the Castle of Sherborn in Norsolk But the heir of Sherborn the antient inheritour of that Castle shewing to William the conquerour that he was his subject and leigeman and did inherit the Castle by the same Law that the conquerour had allowed and established in England did therefore pray that he might hold the said Castle in peace Davys Report fo 41. the conquerour in this case did give judgment for Sherborn against Warren of which judgment Cambden maketh mention Davys ib. in the discription of Norfolk Justice Calthropp said that he had seen an antient copy of that judgment in the library of Sir Christopher Heydon at Barconsthorp in Norfolk and as Sir John Daâ—â— reporteth the contrary appeared by the book of Doomesday which in this point is of more credit then all the disconrses and chroniclers in the world wherein is contained an exact discription of all the Realm made in the time of the said King as Henry of Huntington setteth forth per Angliam ita totus regnabat quol ibi non una hida inerat de qua nu sciret cujus esset He so totally ruled over all England that there was not one hide of Land in it of which the knew not whose it was By which record it is declared that he did not take all the lands of the English into his hands and confer them on his fellows for in it is expresseâ— what Lands the conquerour haâ— in demesne to wit the Lands which were of St. Edward and are entituled Terrae Edwardi Regis and others which himself had seised upon the conquest and were entituled Terrae Regis without saying any more as is noted 49. Ed. 3.23 a And those Lands are now called the antient demesne Lands of the King or of the Crown of England and in this book the possessions of other Lands are put in certain as well as the possessions of the King and those Lands which are under other titles as Terrae Episcopi de Exeter c. And all other Lands which were in others hands and named in that book are frank free 40. Ed. 3.45 Fitz. N. B. 16. O. And also Roman like what he had purchased with his sword he possessed by his sword For as Sir Edward Coke Cok. pref l. 9. tâ—to ejus Regiminis tempore aut districtus nunquam interquievit gladius aut perpetuo manus institit capulo iterato evaginatura In all the time of his raign his drawn sword never rested or otherwise his hand was alwaies on his hilt ready to draw it again and at the first had
the Parliament of England to do this homage And escuage was first invented for them and the Scots as Ployden saith against whom War was made by the Kings of England as rebels not as enemies for that they were subject to England and were within the Sea And so those of Wales were subject to the King of England Vide Ploid fol. 129. B. though they were not parcel of the body of the Realm of England And hence was it that Henry the third upon the often revolts of the Welch endeavoured to assume the territory of Wales as forfeited to himself and conferred the same upon Edward the Longshank his Heir-apparent who took upon him the name of Prince of Wales yet could not obtain the possession or any profit thereby for the former Prince of Wales continued his government for which cause between him and the said Edward Wars did rage whereof the said Edward complaining to King Henry his Father An. 1257. fol. 914. who made him this answer as Mathew Paris reciteth it Quid ad me tuâ— terra ex dono meo est Exerce vires primitivas famam excita juvenilem de caetero timeant inimici c. What is your territory to me it is of my gift Advance your primitive forces stir up your juvenile renown and as for the residue let your enemies fear you c. which according to his Fathers Heroical incouragement he fortunately enterprised for as the Comaedian to that purpose Vt quisque filium suum vult esse Terent. ita est And not long after sundry Battails were fought between the said Edward both before and after he was King of England with Leolan the last Prince of the Welch blood and David his brother until both the said Prince and his said Brother were overcome by the said Edward after he was King of England who thereby first made a conquest of Wales and afterwards annexed it to the Crown of England The territory of Wales being thus united the said King Edward used means to obtain the peoples good will thereby to strengthen that which he had gotten by effusion of blood with the good will and affection of his subjects who promised their most harty and humble obedience if it would please the King to remain among them himself in person or else to appoint over them a governour that was of their own Nation and Countrey Whereupon the cunning King projecteth a pretty policy and sendeth his Queen being then great with child into Wales where she was delivered of a Son in the Castle of Carnarvon The King thereupon sent for all the Barons of Wales and remembred them of their submiss assurance tendred according to their former proffers if they should have a governour of their own countrey and who could not speak one word of English whose life and conversation no man was able to stain or blemish and required their offered obedience whereunto they yeilding the King presented unto them his said Son born at Carnarvon Castle whom thereupon the Barons unanimously embraced for their Prince and afterwards made their homage to him at Crester Anno. 29. Edw. 1. as Prince of Wales And though the Welch Nation do not willingly acknowledge the aforesaid conquest but refer it rather to this composition yet as Sir John Davis saith Edward the first made a conquest of the Dominion of Wales Davys vep fol. 41. B. as it is expressed in his charter or statute of Rutland where it is said Divina providentia terram Walliae cum incolis suis prius nobis jure feodali subjectam in proprietatis nostrae dominium convertit coronae Regis nostri annexit And thereupon according to the course and power of conquerours as the same Author saith he changed their Laws and customs as it is also expressed in the said charter or statute For as to the Laws and customs he saith Quasdam illarum de concilio procerum regni nostri delevimus Quasdam correximus etiam quasdam alias adjiciendas faciend as decrevimus c. Some of them by the council of the Peers of our Realm have we expunged some have we corrected and also some have we determined to be made and added and as another saith divided some parts thereof into shires and appointed Laws for the government of that people Yet though the King had gained the property of that Kingdom and that the Inhabitants of it de Alto Basso as it is recited in the said charter had submitted themselves to his will yet it appears that he did admit all those who would be ruled and governed by the common Law of England which he had established among them by the said charter to have Frank Tenement and Inheritance in their Lands for there he prescribeth a form of the writ de Assize de novel disseisin de mort Dauncaster de dower to be brought of Lands in Wales according to the course of the common Law of England and when they wanted a writ of form to supply the present case they used the writ Quod ei deforceat 2. E. 4.12 A. Thus was the Dominion of Wales united to the crown of England by the valour and wisdome of Edward the first and the principality of it hath constantly since appertained to the Eldest Sons of the Kings of England Ployd Com. fol. 126. B. as Ployden saith from all time that there hath been a Prince of Wales or as Sir John Doderidge to the eldest Son or the next succeeding Heir For Henry the third first made Edward the first his eldest Son Prince of Wales and gave to him the Dominion and dignity of it and also Edward the second after he was King of England created Edward the third in his life time Prince of Wales and the Lady Mary eldest Danghter of King Henry the eight Doderidge principality of Wales fol. 39. and afterwards Queen of England did carry the title of Princess of Wales Et Sic de Similibus Yet notwithstanding this conquest by Edward the first and general submission of the Welch were there divers insurrections fomented by them against the former established Government and especially one which happened in his Raign raised by Rice up Meredick who rebelled against the King upon which all the lands of the said Meredick were confiscated as forfeited and seised by the said King Doderidge Prince of Wales fol. 8 and nominally given by his successour Edward the third to Edward the black Prince Prince of Wales for his better maintenance and honourable support and though after the death of the Father they assisted Edward the second his son in his Wars against the Scots Herbert Hen. 6. and got victories for Edward the third and stood firm during all the differences in this realm to his Grandchild Richard the second yet when the unfortunate and fatal Wars happened between the two Houses of York and Lancaster the Welchmen fell from their fidelity to the Crown hoping upon that disasterous
mutation to regain their pristine liberty For as Sir John Baker Hist of England fol. 139. It was always a custom with that Nation at every change of the Princes of England to try conclusions hoping at one time or another to have a day of it and to change their yoke of bondage into Liberty as upon the aforesaid opportunity they began to lift up their hands and heads and under the aspiring command of Owen Glendoer waged a terrible War with Henry the fourth who through the combination and confederacy of the Earl of March and the Lord Firrcy swallowed in his ambitious mind all Wales and the Lands beyond Severn Westwards which were assigned to him for his part but the King being a skilful souldâ—er having ordered and disposed his Army suddenly marched towards the Lords having aâ—â—especial care that they should by no means join with the Welch and so encountering the Lords singly obteined an universal victory and the Welch thereupon abandoned Owen Glendoer who hirking in the Woods was there famished And after the Fate of Henry the fourth Henry the fifth his son knowing the fashion of the Welch Bakers Hist f. 241 that in time of change they would commonly cake advantage to make Inroads upon the borders caused forts and bulwarks in fit places to be erected and placed Garrisons in them for the preventing or repelling any such Incursions yet so prompt and captious were they continually upon the least opportunity to such insurrections Vt nullo modo induci potuerunt as Cambden saith ut servitutis jugum subirent nec ulla ratione res componi Funestissimum inter gentes odium restingui potuit donec Henricus 7. ab illis oriundus salutarem manum jacentibus Britannis perrexerit Henr. 8. eos in parem juris libertatisque conditionem atque nos ipsi Angli sumus acceperit that by no means they could be induced to undergo the yoke of servitude neither by any reason could matten be compounded and the moâ— mortal hatred between those two Nations be extinguished until Henry the Seventh descended of them had extended his soveraign hand to the forlorn Britans and Henry the Eight had received them into the equal condition of right and liberty even as we Englishmen are And indeed Heâ—â—y the Seventh was descended of Owen Tuder who is said to be descended of Cadwallader a Prince of Walâ— wherein the Welch prophecy seemed to them now to be fulfilled that one of the Princes of Wales should be Crowned with the Diadem of Brute which Prince Leolin before vainly aferibed unto himself who therefore was chearfully assisted by the Welchmen to the title of the Crown Herbert H. 8. f. 369 they being desirous according to the former pâ—oposition made by them to Edward the first to have a Prince of their own Nation to rule over them Yet were not the Welchmen fully satisfied with this union but expected a more entire union by laws for notwithstanding the Laws which were established in that Country by Edward the 1. there were 141 Lordships of Marchers which were then neither any part of Wales though formerly conquered out of Wales neither any part of that Shire of England who by the license of the Kings then Reigning Davis cep f. 61. B. had Royall signiories in their severalter itories 9. H. 6.12 152. 11. H. 4.40 and a kind of Palatine jurisdiction and a power to administer Justice to their tenants in every of their territories revoking their own Laws and customs at their pleasure that the writs of ordinary justice out of the Kings court were not for the most part current among them and substituted Officers at their pleasure Herb. H. 8. fo 369. who practised strange and discrepant customs and committed such rapins that nothing was almost safe nor quiet in those parts for by reason of the flight of the offendors from one Lordship to another they had escaped due and condign punishment whereupon the noblest and eldest of that Nation supplicating Henry the eight Herb. ibid. did crave to be received and adopted into the same Laws and priviledges which his other subjects of England enjoyed which moved the King to make the statute of 27. H. 8. c. 26. by which is ordained and enacted that the Principality and Dominion of Wales shall be incorporated united and annexed to the Realm of England altering in many parts the former jurisdiction and Government thereof bringing the same to the like administration of justice as was and yet is usual in England appointing that the Laws of England should take place there and all Welch Laws sinister customs and tenures not agreeing to the laws of England should be thenceforth ever abrogated and abolished and therefore whereas before there had been eight several Shires in Wales besides the County of Monmouth and that some other territories in Wales were then no Shire grounds by reason whereof the laws of England could have no currant passage therein by the said Act there were erected in Wales four other namely the several Shires of Radnor Brecknock Mountgomery and Denbigh by which means the Laws of England there also might be put into execution And further the said Lord Marchers grounds by the same Act were annexed and united partly to the Shires of England and partly to the Shires of Wales next adjoyning as thought then by reason of the vicinity of the place and otherwise most convenient to prevent the perpretating of the aforesaid enormities and odious offences by just and lawful punishments And to make the Union the more honourable and that the noblest of the Welch Nation might participaâ—e of the highest priviledges and chiefest dignities of England according to the Roman precedent it was also ordained that out of the said Shires of Wales there should be one Knight and out of every of the Shire Towns in Wales named in the said Act there be one Burgesse elected after the English manner which Knights and Burgesses so elected and duely upon summons of every Parliament in England returned should have place and voice in the Parliament of England as other the Burgesses and Knights of England used to have And though the said statute doth not make mention of the penalty given upon the Sheriffs false return for such Knights and Burgesses as shall be lawfully elected in Wales and not returned but that those were given by the statute of 23. H. 6. c. 15. against the Sheriffs of England yet shall the Knights and Burgesses of Wales so elected and not returned have the benefit of it by the statute of 27. H. 8. because that statute grants that the Countrey of Wales shall have enjoy inherit all rights priviledges laws within it's Dominions as other subjects of the King born in this Realm for the general words of the statute make all the laws of England aswel Common laws as Statute laws to be of effect in Wales and shall take place there and that the Welchmen shall
the Common-wealth of England which by vertue of that conquest have therein Placed Garrisons and English Colonies according to the Roman Rule to contein them in subjection peace and union But to apply my Pen to the other rule which is the union by laws and though it is in the power of the Conqueror at his pleasure to alter and change the laws of the conquered Kingdom Cok. L. 7. Calvins case f. 17. and that without a Parliament as Edward the first did by his Charter of Rutland but until he doth make an alteration of laws the ancient laws of that Kingdom do still remain yet certainly it is the greater victory to alter and change the Laws of the conquered with their consent that there may be a more intimatc and intire union between them And therefore did the Parliament in December 1651. to the end that the people of Scotland should be united with the people of England into one Commonwealth and under one Government send Commissioners into Scotland to invite the people of that Nation unto such an happy union who proceeded so far therein that the Shires and Burroughes of Scotland by their deputies appearing at Dalkeith and again at Edenborough did accept of the said union and assent thereunto which was seconded by the late Protector of the Commonwealth of England who by the advice of his council ordained April 5. 1654. That all the Dominions of Scotland of the Isles and Territories thereunto belonging are and shall be and are hereby incorporated into constituted and confirmed one Commonwealth with England and in every Parliament held successively for the said Commonwealth thirty persons shall be called from and serve for Scotland which Ordinance was confirmed by the Parliament in the year 1657. So many Knights and Burgesses as before was expressed who were called and summoned according to the said Ordinance were admitted to sit in the said Parliament and did vote joâ—n with the English in the making and enacting of Laws which Laws so made or hereafter to be made by them in Parliament do bind and oblige the Commons of Scotland as well as the Commons of England because the Knights and Burgesses of both Countries being chosen by the Assent of the Commons of either Countrey do represent the estates of the several and distinct Commons of either Countrey And therefore as St. German saith every statute there made Doct. Slud li. 2. c. 46. is of as strong effect in law as if all he commons were then present personally at the making thereof There are many more particular clauses in the aforesaid Ordinance contained which concurr to the more full effecting of the said union all which I refer to the consideration of the supream council of this Nation And though the constitutions of the countreys of England and Scotland be such that there can hardly in all things be such an obsolute reconciling and uniting of their laws no more then there hath been between other country's subject to the obedience and allegiance of the Kings of England as Normandy and Aquitany had several lawes different to the lawes of England Garnesey and Jersey have yet their several lawes which for the most part were the antient lawes and customs of Normandy Kent and Cornwall have also their several Laws and customs and so hath the county of Palatine of Chester yet do not these several Laws make any differences in matter of subjection and obedience and are no markes of disunion or several allegiances Howsoever as Sir Francis Bacon saith Discourse of the union of England and Scotland it is to be wished that the Scottish Nation was governed by our Lawes which with some conducement are worthy to govern if it were the world or else that Scotland be in the like degree and conditions with Wales as hath been for many hundred years those Laws and customs onely being in force which are reasonable and agreable to the Laws and customs of England for it is a matter too curious to extirpate all particular customs which are consonant to reason and it sufficeth that there be a uniformity in the fundamental Laws For language it is not needful to infist upon it because both Kingdomes are of one language though of several dialects and the difference is so small between them as Sir Francis Bacon saith Ibid. that it promiseth rather an enriching of our language then a continuance of two so as it may seem convenient that as they Originally participate of one language they should likewise be under one Government as heretofore by antient Histories they are reported to have been which is now revived and like to continue the premised Roman rules being observed But now to waft Englands conquering forces over into Ireland which though it was first conquered is placed in the Arrear for that it is more remote and separated from it by the Sea yet is it by Ptolomy stiled Britaunia Minor as an adjacent Island and is another Brittain as Brittain is said to be another world it being not inferiour to any part of Britanny for affinity and fertility as Tacitus solum Coelumque ingenia haut multum a Britannia differunt Vita Agr. And indeed is endowed with many dowries of nature with the fruitfulness of the soyl and plenty of all provision with the ports the quarries the woods and other worthy materials But yet it is under question what King first subjugated that Island Sir Edward Coke maketh mention of an antient Charter of King Edgar Cokes pre l. 4. 4th Book of Reports in which he blesseth the altitonant and omnipotent God for all his victories and that he had subjected all the Kingdomes of the Island of the Sea unto Norway with their fiercest Kings and the greatest part of Ireland with its most noble City of Dublin to the Kingdome of England and Henry of Huntington saith there were five Kingdomes in Ireland of which the great or greatest part was conquered by King Edgar Gambd Britttan â— which Cambden also affirmeth Quod maximam Hiberniae partem devicit yet because Henry the second made a more absolute conquest of it the honor of that conquest is ascribed to him and was the first was intituled Rex Angliae Dominus Haberniae and as Henry of Huntington Historieth it at his Arrival with a potent Army into Ireland the King of Cork the King of Limmerick the King of Oxery and the King of Meth submitted themselves to his summons recognizing him to be totius Hiberniae dominum only the King of Conagh stood out which Pope Alexander confirmed to him and his Heirs and which afterwards by his power was possessed and detained by English Colonies Yet was there no alteration of their Lawes till the reign of King â—ohn who as Sir Edward Coke saith 〈◊〉 the twelfth year of his raign went â—â—to Ireland and there by advice 〈◊〉 grave and learned men in the â—â—aws whom he carried with him 〈◊〉 a Parliament de
by sentence confirmed and by arms and reasons approved Especially against Edward the third King of England who for that he drew his pedigree by a female though he was the nearer in blood Philip. le Bell the next Heir Male was by the law Salique preferred before him which excluding females was adjudged to exclude all the descendents by females and therefore was Philip received and crowned King of France and Edward the third because his Kingdome was not then setled and he but young did homage to King Philip for the Dutchy of Guyen and other territories in France though afterwards when he had arrived to the years of maturity and manhood upon more mature deliberation of the partial interpretation of that law and the instigation of the Earl of Artois a great Peer of France affirming that he had more right to that Crown then the other he by Armes attempted to recover and conjoyn that Kingdome to the Crown of England and by his invincible sword obtained many wondrous victories But he yielding to Fate before he had accomplished his intention his successors Henry the 5th and Henry the 6th renewed the said honourable War and by their victorious Armes so prevailed that Henry the 6th was Crowned in Paris King of France and had finish'd that glorious work whereby the Kingdome of France had been annexed and united to the Kingdome of England but that the civil Wars between the houses of York and Lancaster in England impeded the same as Philippus Comineus Secretary to Lewis the 11th King of France ingeniously acknowledgeth by which disaster the hopeful union of the Kingdome of France with the Kingdome of England by marriage unhappily was prevented and utterly frustrated And as for the inconstancy and deficiency of such unions I will onely instance in one which was thought most happy and durable in this Nation and that was the union of the two famous Kingdomes of England and Scotland transacted by James the 6. King of Scotland who was by marriage lineally descended of the Lady Margaret Eldest Daughter to Henry the 7th King of England and Eldest Sister of King Henry the 8th Father of Elizabeth Queen of England by whose decease she being the last of issue of Henry the 8th the Kingdome of England did lineally and rightfully descend to the said James King of Scetland by which natural conjunction those two discordant Kingdomes of England and Scotland were fortunately and peaceably united under one imperial Crown An union magnified and applauded of both Nations and yet not lasting above one descent The Scotch revolting first and then the English to the confusion of both Kingdomes and changing them both into one Commonwealth which verifies the Italian proverb Kings may wed but Kingdoms never The third union of Kingdomes is by conquest which is most general and more durable For as Sir Francis Bacon the most part of unious and plantations of Kingdomes and Commonwealths have been founded by conquest which is manifested as well by forraig◠Annals as by native occurrences as by the sequel will appear But not to entrench upon your patience by the tedious relations of the unions of Nations which were made by the conquests of the Assyrians Medes and Persians and Graecians I will insist only on those that were gained by the glorious sword of the Romans which for extent and durance surpassed all the rest The Roman Commonwealth and Empire for the extents and dignity of it is by the Civilians called Caput sedes imperii orbis and by Athaeneus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the head seat and Epitome of the Empire of the whole world according to the verse Orbem jam totum victor Romanus habebat And therefore did the Emperors sometimes stile themselves Domini mundi the Lords of the world Grotius de J. B. P. lib. 2. cap. 22. which speeches though Grotius saith are per excessum excellentiam dicta spoken by the excess and excellency Bodin de Repub. lib. 1. cap. 9. and Bodin that in Trajans time when it most flourished Vix trigessimam orbis terrarum partem complecti potuisset it scarce could contain the thirtieth part of the whole earth yet it is doubtfull to none but that it did contain the best and most flourishing parts of Europe Africa and Asia in Caesars time Patritius de Princip lib. 1. Cujus solum nomen Parthorum Indorum Reges somnum capere non siuebat whose fame only would not permit the Kings of the Parthians and Indians to sleep which were the remotest parts of Asia at which time the Roman Empire was in its youthful strength and robust maturity as Florus saith Hic jam ipsa juventa imperii quasi quaedam robusta maturitas But to demonstrate how by degrees it rowled up to such a vast greatness and first because commonly irreconcileable contests and contentions happen between vicine and bordering Nations as the Poet. Inter finitimes vetus atque antiqua simultas Juven Satyr 15. Immortale odium nunquam sanabile vulnus The Romans did first augment their state by the conquest and unions of their neighbouring Countries as Ninus did Justin l. 1. Qui primus bellum intulit finitimis who first made War with the borderers and so as Caesar saith Caesar l. 6. de Bello Gallico did the Germans who deemed it proprium virtutis an especial virtue to expel their neighbors from their fields and not suffer them to dare to consist near them For so saith he did they think themselves more safe repentinae incursionis timore sublato the fear of sudden incursions being taken away for which reason Danaeus propounds this for an Aphorisme Danaeus Aphorism fo 108. Vicini populi nimiam crescentis potentta mature est quacunque occasione deprimenda The power of a too-much-increasing neighbour is speedily upon any occasion to be suppressed Which therefore was the constant course the Romans steered in their first march to subdue their potent neighbours and by which work they made way for the Conquest of the other parts of the world For after they within the space of five hundred years with much difficulty had brought into subjection the Sabins Florns l. 2. c. 1. the Albanes the Latines and all other the adjoyning people of Italy and so became Caput Italiae within the two hundred years following with their victorious arms did they overcome Africa Europe Asia and all the world and were therefore worthily intituled Caput totius orbis terrarum And as the Romans by valour did subdue their enemies bodies so by their wisdome did they subjugate their minds which was the greatest victory and by degrees reduced them into a sociable union with them and of enemies made them their friends and Citizens As Claudius in Tacitus saith of Romulus Tacit. Aun l. 11. Conditor noster Romusus tanta sapientiâ valuit ut pleresque populos codem die hostes dein cives habuerit Our founder Romulus was of so great
have the benefic of the English laws for things done in Wales as the English shall have for things done in England and by a Quodei deforceat the Welch shall take advâ—ntage of all actions real aswel given by the common law as the statutes of this Realm Vide Com. Ployd Beckleys case Fo. 128. Fo. 129. and befides because the Welch use a speech nothing like or consonant to the Mother tongue used within this Realm that some rude and ignorant people did make a distinction and diversity between the subjects of this Realm and the subjects of the other whereby great division variance did grow between the said people as in the preamble of the said act is expressed therefore more naturally toconjoyn those dissonant Nations as well by Language as by Laws it was also by that statute enacted that none that use the Welch Language shall enjoy any office or fees within the Kings Dominions but shall forfeit them unles they use the English Language by which exception the Welchmen who before much gloried in the Antiquity and simplicity of their British Language were stirred on to bend their study and practice to the knowledge and pronunciation of the English Dialect To the propriety of which most of them within few years attained and at this day generally affect and use it with delight which hath been an instrumental means of a more amicable union between these two Nations And for the execution of the laws it was ordained that the County of Monmouth formerly being a shire of Wales should be governed from thenceforth in like manner by the same ludges as other shires of England were And for the other tâ— elue shires a speciall Iurisdiction and Officers were ordained yet in substance agreeable after the manner of the English laws And finally by that Statute Gavelkind and all other sinister customes of Wales were abolished but all customes which are reasonable and agreeable to any customes of England preserved For by the same Statute it is provided that a Commission shall issue to examine the Welch customs and that those that shall be found reasonable upon a Certificate of the said Commissioners shall be allowed Davis Rep. f. 40. And accordingly whereas there was a Custome in Denbigh that a Feme Covert with her husband might alien land by surrender and examination in Court Wray and Dyer were of opinion that it shall bind the feme and heirs of the feme as a fine though th feme after issue make such an alienation and die and the reason there given why the custome is not taken away is for that it is reasonable and agreeable to some customs in England for the assurance of purchasers for the title of the Act is for Laws and Justice to be ministred in like form as in this Realm Vide Dyer 363. pl. 26. In like manner was it holden 19. Eliz. Dyer f. 345. pl. 13. that whereas before the subjection of Wales to the Crown of England a man did hold lands of the Prince of Wales by service to go in his War it was no tenure of which the Common Law might take notice for the principality of Wales was not governed by the Common law but was a Dominion of it self and had their proper laws and customs and for that reason when that Countrey was reduced under the subjection of the Crown of England such tenure as was of the person of the Prince of Wales could not become a Capite â—enure of the King of England In this manner and by the means of the said Act of 27. H. 8. were the Welch Nation and the English more entirely united by lows then before of which union ensued a greater peace tranquility and civility and infinite good to the inhabitants of the Countrey of Wales and so continued during the Reign of Six succeeding Kings and Queens until the horrid and irreconcileable War broke out between the King and Parliament wherein the Welch upon changes being always Changelings in the beginning levied Forces in Defence of the Parliament against the KING in which War though a prosperous event succeeded the royal Brigades being totally vanquished and the King himself under the power of the Army yet assumed they unto themselves their ancient animosity and being possessed with a conceit that they were never conquered but by composition now adventured once more to make trial of their Brittish valour under the Commission of Prince Charles and under the command of Major General Rowland Laughorn Colonel Rice Powel and Colonel John Poyer who before had been Commanders for the Parliament and in a warlike and hostile manner possessed themselves of divers Garrisons and Towns against the Parliament and Laughorn being a General of great esteem in those parts raised an Army which in a small time increased to the number of 8000 Horse and Foot which by Colonel Horton who was sent by the Parliament to suppress that insurrection through the assistance of the Almighty was totally routed a great slaughter committed and three thousand prisoners taken with all their ammunition A happy Victory for the Parliament their Forces consisting meerly of three Thousand men and a disasterous commencement for the Welch who nevertheless persisted in their resolution For Laughorn and Powel escaping by flight got to Poyer into lembroke Castle who before kept that strong Hold for the Parliament and now having fortified it with a company of malignants with great courage maintained it against them so great was the danger and difficult the enterprise that Lieutenant General Cromwell himself was sent with some Regiments into Wales to impede the Welch as well from rallying collecting their fugitive and dispersed Forces as to dispossess them of the Towns Garrisons and Castles they had treacherously surprised who first resolved to besiage Chepstow Castle but hastning to Pembrook which was more considerable he left Colonel Eure there who within fifteen days took that Castle and slew Kemish to whom before it had been betrayed But Pembroke Castle was not so facile to be vanquished and by Poyer deemed impregnable who relying on the strength of the place refused all conditions â—he Cromwell not enduring the repulse with an assured confidence besieged it and through the accommodation of Sir Ceorge Ascue who furnished him with great Guns from the Seâ— and all things necessary for a siege forced Foyer and Laugâ—orn at the last being brought to extremist though it had been long stouth maintained by them to surrender and deliver up the Castle without conditions rendâ—ing themselves prisoners at mercy for which deliveries by order of Parliaments publick thanksgiving to God was Solemnized And why should I now expostulate the question with the Welch whether they ever were conquered by the English when as now the best and most knowing of them have ingeniously acknowledged that they were never conquered before Jamque habemus Confitentes victos But what may seem to be the cause why the insurrections of the Welch were so frequent but
that Edward the first contrary to the Roman Garbe upon his first conquest did admit all of them to the possession and inheritance of their Lands and goods which would be ruled and governed by the common law of England and did forbear to settle a Militia or deduce Colonies among them thereby to restrain them from future Commotions which the Parliament of England prudently observing were induced to put in practise the old Roman rule Parcere subjeciis debellare superbos And ordained that all persons whatsoever that were in actual Rebellion in the said insurrections and all other persons that have willingly by council or force assisted the same or contributed any money's horse or armes amuâ—ition or other aid or assistance thereof are adjudged delinquents and that their estates be sequestred and that the Commissioners named and appointed in the said ordinance or such persons as they shall appoint do seize the estates real and personal of all and every the said persons delinquents aforesaid and also to make sale receive and dispose of all and every the Goods Chattels Debts Rents and personal estates of all and every the said Delinquents and let set and improve their Lands at the best rate they can according to the ordinance of sequestration c. And on some of their Ieaders did they inflict capical punishment therein also pursuing the justice of the antient Roman Empire Grot. de J. B. P. l. 9. c. 11. Qui de captis hostium civibus vindictam morte sumebant who did take revenge of the Captains of their enemies which were taken by death for which Constans the Son of Constantine is commended in the Panegyrick And further for the securing of the Parliament and mutual defence and safety of each other did they settle and constitute the Militia in those parts which had a resemblance of the Roman Colonies and at this present are there military Garrisons continued in the chiefest Cities of Wales by which means ever since that countrey hath been kept and maintained in peace and tranquility without the suspicion of any insurrection and a constant unity setled between these two Nations The conquest of Scotland in regard of it's vicinity with England is in the next place to be considered and especially for that deadly feud and perpetual wars have time out of mind raged between these two Nations Nam rara est inter eos pax dum illi propagari Hist Britâ— fol. 7. hi retinere imperium student for peace was rare between them while they endeavoured to propagate their Empire and these to retein it which though the English for many Ages with all their skill and force have contended to vanquish yet could they not until these latter times accomplish So difficult a task it was to conquer that valiant Nation and by force to bring it to an union for as the same Author saith Eadem utrisque in bellâ— ferocia And as an other Gens virorum fortium fuit quam frugum feracior It was a countrey more abounding in proper men then in goodly fruits A fierce Nation indeed which was never subjugated by the Romans as Tertullian who lived in the second Age according to the Christian computation intimateth Apolog. saying Evangelium diffusum est in omnes orbis partes etiam in Britanniam usque eamque Insulae partem quâ—m Romanae vires nunquam penetrarunt The Gospel was diffused through all the parts of the world also into Britany and even into that part of the Island which the Romans never pierced meaning that part of the Island which is now called Scotland But the Romans attempting it were continually rebutted and repulsed by them and in fine were foreed to frame walls trenches and bulwarks to defend their Province from their terrible incursions which were first built by Adrian as Aelius Spartianus then by Antoninus Pius as Julius Capitolinus and thirdly by Severus thereby to stop the furious invasions of the Scots of which Claudian doth mention Venit extremis legio praetentae Britannis Quae Scoto dat fraena truci But whereas Buchanan a partial Trumpeter of his countrey praises De jure regni apud Scot. saith Nos regnum exiguum quidem sed jam bis mille annos ab exterarâ—m gentium imperio liberum tenemus we hold our Kingdom a little one indeed but now for the space of two thousand years free from the Dominion of forreign Nations yet to the contrary saith Matthew of Westminster Quod Reges Angliae Jure Superioris directi Dominii ab antiquissimis temporibus regno Scotiae ipsius regibus praefuerunt ab ipsiâ— illorum prâ—ceribus regalia homagia receperunt fidelitatis debita juramenta that the Kings of England by the right of a more superior direct Dominion from the most ancient times had their preheminence over the Kingdom of Scotland and their Kings and have received legall homages from them and their Nobles and due Oaths of fidelity For after the Saxons had made a Conquest of the Britans and reduced their Heptarchy into a Monarchy changing it's name into England Scotland by the power of their victorious Armes Hollingshed Ed. 3. was compelled to do homage and fealty to England and to be tributary to their sueceeding Kings for Edward the son of Alured â—ad it under his Dominion Herb. Hen. 8. And Athelstane made one Constantine King thereof Eldreck took homage of Ericus and Edgar of Kinulph Kings of Scots Malcome did homage to Knuto and Edward the confessor gave the Kingdom to Malcome who did homage to William the Conquerour and to William Rufus and Edgar did homage to Henry the first and David did homage to Matilda the Empress which were without intermission transacted by the succeeding Kings of Scotland to the succeeding Kings of England Herb. ib. even to the reign of Henry the seventh which incited Henry the eighth to claim homage and fealty of James the fourth which was partly the cause of the quarrel and famous Battail between him and the King so as the aforesaid homages fealties made by the Kings of Scots were not only for the Earldom of Huntington as the Scots pretend For David King of Scots having married the Daughter and Heir of the Earl of Huntington and Northumberland and received the investiture thereof did not onely do homage and owe fealty for the Earldom of Huntington as also his son Malcome did but the said David did also homage and made fealty for the Kingdome of Scotland to Matilda the Empress as also all the succeeding Kings of Scotland did according to the former expression But of all the Kings of England none equalled Edward the first and none as Sir Francis Bacon saith is more celebrated with the commendations of War and Wisedome and especially for his purpose and enterprise for the conquest of Scotland bending his mind not to glorious conquests abroad but to the setlement by conquest of a solid union between those
two discordant Nations as before he had done between Wales and England For which his heroick Acts the Fame of his vertue so wrought on the minds of the Scots that great contention intervening between them concerning the succession to the crown Alexander the King of Scots leaving no Heir there being twelve competitors Hollingshed who by several titles laid claim unto the crown all of them referred the decision of that royal case without any constraint and of their own good will as in the Reference is expressed to the final sentence of Edward the first who after six years discussion adjudged the case on Baliols side who indeed had the best title but upon promise to subject the crown of Scotland to him and to swear fealty and homage to him as his sovereign Lord and thereupon is Baliol crowned King of Scotland which being done King Baliol comes to Newcastle upon Tyne where King Edward then lay and there with the chief of the Nobility did swear fealty and do homage to him as their sovereign Lord except Bruce who was the next Heir to the crown King Edward thus became the sovereign Umpire and supreme Judge of Scotland to whom the Nobles as the King himself before had done appealed for Justice against the King And because King Edward would not permit King Baliol a Procurator but caused him to defend his cause himself in the Ordinary place in a rage at his return he defyeth King Edward renounceth his allegiance as illegally made without the Consent of the States Hollingshed For which King Balioll being summoned to appeare at Newcastle and refusing to come King Edward triumphantly with a mighty army invaded Scotland Barwick is first taken and afterwards the Castles of Dunbar Roxborrough Edinborrough Sterling and St. Johns and John Warren Earle of Sussex and Surrey is made Warden of all Scotland Sir Hugh Cressingham Treasurer and Bransly Chief Justice to take in his name the homages and fealties of all such at held Lands of the Crown and to be General Guardian of the whole Kingdom And notwithstanding Balioll in Parliament with the consent of the States of Scotland did tender his submission and did homage and swear fealty unto King Edward as his soveraign Lord yet is he for his former infidelity secured and sent into England but not long after though the Scots were without an head their King being in England and all their great men in captivity and subjection yet they wanted not an heart to shake off servitude and animated by one William Wallis a poor private Gentleman though nobly descended made an audacious and dangerous attempt who with a forlorn and desperate rabble like himself fell suddenly on the English Officers and slew Sir Hugh Cressingham with six thousand English recovered many Castles and regained the Town of Barwick And seconded by success so increased by ranging and rowling up and down many of the nobler sort resorting to him that within a short space his forces amounted to a copious and Warlike Army and was in a propinque possibility to have freed his countrey from subjection if the speedy succour of King Edward had not anticipated him who removing his Court to York and making that City his imperial Seat as the Roman Emperours heretofore did that with the more convenience he might quell the insulting Scots there raised an exquisite and choice Army and with three thousand men of Armes on barded horses and four thousand others armed on horse without bards and with an Army of foot answerable he encountred the confident Army of the Scots who on the onset made such terrible shouts that King Edwards Horse frighted therewith cast him off and brake two of his ribs yet neverthelesse he gets up again goes on and gains the victory In which battel Sexaginta Scotorum millia occisa fuerunt threescore thousand Scots were slain as William of Westminster numbers them among which there were two hundred Knights whereupon a Parliament being called at St. Andrews most of the great men of that Kingdome except Wallis who had escaped by flight prostrated their homage and fealty to King Edward as their supream head and King of which William of Westminster giveth this character Arma parant Scotus regno dolet esse remotus And King Edward the better to keep some in subjection and deter others from insurrection did confer most of the estates of the Earls and Barons of scotland with their titles that stood out on the English as a reward of their valour and vertue Hollingshed Ed. 3. And now it would seem that Scotland was quite conquer'd and subjected to the Crown of England they having no King nor Heir in Scotland but the King of England But as Cambden saith est Natio servitutis Impatientissimae Cambd. Brit. It is a Nation impatient of servitude and a breeder of stubborn and refractory spirits wich to their power would not stoop to the English Yoke for though they were twice overthrown by King Edward and thrice swore fealty unto him yet did they as many times falsify their faith which in military affaires is principally to be maintained Postremum est primumque tâ—eri Inter bella fidem And now again go about to contrive new commotions rejectiâ—â— Balioll their natural King for thâ— he received the Crown upon condition to subject the Crown of Scotland to the Crown of England fâ—â— which they recalled their allegianâ—â— that they had given to him and received Robert Bruce come of thâ— second branch for their King because as one of their own writer saith he had basely condiscendeâ— to enslave that Nation to whom their liberty had alwaies been 〈◊〉 dear In the History of the reformation of the Church of Scotland that they have willingly and chearfully undergone all hazard of life and means which if they should have suffered they had nothing lefâ— whereby they might be called menâ— and consequently armed with this resolution under their new head and King forced all the Wardens of Scotland to retire to Barwick whereof as soon as the King heard he sends the Earl of Pembroke and the Lord Clifford with a strong power to relieve the Wardens of Scotland whilst he prepares a potent Army to sollow making a vow that either alive or dead he would pour vengeâ—ince on the perfidious Scots In which expedition that magnaninous King falling into a sickness at Carlile adjured his son and all the Nobles about him upon their fealty that if he died in this journey they should carry his corps with them about Scotland and not suffer it to be interred until they had finally conquered the Scots As Matthew of Malmesbury Jussit corpus suumâ—ibi temauere insepultum dum tota Scotia esset finaliter acquisita An heroick resolution worthy the spirit of a conqueror but he that never stooped to enemy was forced to submit to Fate and he that was alwaies victorious was overcome by death Quae sola ultricibus armis Elatâ—s
our common Laws that as we are one and the same common-wealth so we may be governed by one and the same Laws and they participate of the same honours and priviledges which is the surest means for the consolidation of such a union for the more entire the union is the less apt will they be upon any occasions to break and the imperfection of such a union being oftentimes the Origine and cause of Revolts a direful example of which is recorded in the Annals of the Roman Republick which as it was the best estate in the world so is it the best example which as in the frontispice we have followed so will we not forsake to the end Aneus Martius was the first that conquered the Latins who having by force taken many of their Towns received many thousands of them into the City of Rome as one body but because they were not equally intreated they joyned Armes with the Tarquinians against the people of Rome and though after a bloody battail they were reunited yet was not that union durable because not entire for that the people of Rome had not inserted them in their Tribes nor admitted them to participate of their immunities and honours for which reasons the Latins conceiving themselves to be undervalued and vilified were bold to demand the freedom of the city of Rome and that one of their consuls be of their countrey which being denyed they converted their demands into Armes Yet afterwards being again reconciled upon hopes to be enfranchised first by Fabius Flaccus one of the consuls who attempted the prorogation of the Law though impeded by the Senate and afterwards by Livius Brusus who was also opposed by the people at which exasperated seeing themselves deluded they made an association with the Hetrurians and the Sabius who because they were all by affinity of promiscuous marriages consanguineans and as Florus saith Florus l. 3. c. 18. unum corpus with the people of Rome and that they had augmented that city by their valour and yet were dispised they jointly made War against the City of Rome as well those who lived in the City as those who abided in Italy which was called Bellum sociale but indeed bellum civile Ibid acivil and destructive War both to the people of Rome and the Cities of Italy that as Florus saith Nec Annibalis nec Pyâ—rhi fuit tanta vastatio the devastation and depopulation of Hanniball and Pyrrhus was not soe great such were the fatall fruits of an imperfect union Whereupon the people of Rome instructed by fad experience did condiseend to a more intire union with them and permitted them to participate of the priviledges and honors of Rome being according to their worth preferred and placed in the Senate which Claudius in Tacitus urgeth in the like case for the bringing in of the chiefest of the French into the Senate in these words Neque enim ignoro Iulios Alba Tacit. l. 11. Caruncanios Camerio Portios Tusculo ne vetera scrutemur Etruria Lucaniaque omni Italia in Senatum accites Caeter a quis neseit And needs no application But in this case the sovereign use of the Law hath almost made me to omit the necessity of Arms and to demonstrate how through the insufficiency and debility of English Colonies and the Militia in Ireland a detestable and infernal design was hatched and contrived by the rebellious and bloody Papists whereby all the Forts and Magazins in that Kingdom were to be surprized in one day and all the English Protestants massacred and all Ireland in one day to be lost had it not through the providence of God the very night before been discovered by one only Irish man servant to one Sir John Clotworthy whom Macmahon had unadvisedly trusted with the Plot by which Dublin was saved and the seizure of the Castle the Kingdomes chief Magazine prevented to which purpose many rebels of great note came to the City the day before who upon the apprehension of Macmahon escaped with the Lord Macquire that night to do more mischief with the rest of the conspirators that were that day in all the country round about within two months space murthered 200000 protestanes many of them being by intollerable tortures brought to their end besides infinit numbers who were robbed and spoiled of all they had and daily driven naked and almost famished to Dublin for reliefe with whom the City was soc filled that they were enforced for the preservation of themselves and the lives of their wives children and families to fly for succour into the severall parts of the Dominions of England and Wales O nullo scelus credibile in avo Quodque posteritas negot Sen ' câ— Toyest It equalling if not exceeding in number and cruelty the execrable and perfidious Massacre of the Protestants in France and Paris For Ireland being destitute of a Deputy and military guards Hinc Hiberniae calamitas the Lord Justices Sir William Persons and Sir John Borlace were driven to take those Arms which they found in Dublin and to arm whom they could of a â—â—â—dain to defend themselves and the places near against the approach of the enemy In this dangerous streight and perillous condition did the estates of the English in Ireland stand who for want of a setled station of English Colonies were at the point to have lost themselves and that Countrey for the English were so involved in homebred civil Wars that the Parliament of England for a present aid could send them but twenty thousand pounds and though afterwards they transported some Regiments yet for the space of ten years were they unable to free that countrey from that malignant and pestilent enemy The Trojan Wars being incomparable to it for cruelty for through our daily discords and distractions their cursed cruel crue continually augmented almost to the overwhelming and destruction of the English But when all the malignants were quelled in England and the Royalists debelled in Scotland and that Dublin was besieged by the Irish with a formidable Army and in danger of a surrender General Cromwell was sent by the Parliament of England to relieve Dublin and suppress the Irish Rebels at whose approach Colonel Jones encouraged made an unexpected and suddain sally on the enemy and valiantly repelling them put them all to flight which the General pursuing within a short space bysnarp siedges regained those strong Towns and Garrisons which the Irish had surreptitiously surprized and by degrees cleared the countrey of such seditious Irish as seduced and corrupted the well affected of that Nation and having setled it in peace and safety at his return was honoured with the thanks of the Parliament And now the provident Parliament apprehending it more safe and advantagious to prevent commotions then to suppress them ordained and appointed English Colonies to be deduced into Ireland which they committed first to the charge of Lieutenant General Ireton and after his death to the Marshalling of Lieutenant General Charles Fleetwood who afterwards for his singular care and vigilancy was by the Lord Protector made Deputy of Ireland both of them being successively Commanders in chief of a competent Army and of all the Garrisons sufficiently fortifyed and to strike the more terror into Delinquents they censured the ringleaders of that Rebellion with Capital punnishment Vt poena ad paucos metus ad omnes perveniat Cok. Com. And confiscated all the lands and goods of some and sequestrated others to the use of the Commonwealth by which Roman Model Ireland ever since hath been ruled and preserved in peace and unity the English language also being through continual commerce the common speech among them To draw all to period By this I hope it is made perspicuous that unions of Kingdoms upon conquest upon which basis the most parts of such unions have been founded being purchased by valour are possessed and setled by the sweetness of clemency power of Armes severity of clemency power of Armes severity of Laws and communication of language which is fully demonstrated by that universal union of the Roman Orb as by the particular union of England Wales Scotland and Ireland which is by those means so compleatly perfected and by the prowess and prudence of the Parliament and it's Conquering Champions fetled that as it was worthily vowed by the late King James faciam cos In gentem unam which indeed he did endeavour to have effected so it may be truly averred of the Common-wealth of England Quod fecit cos in gentem unaâ— that it hath made those several Countries one Nation which the premised Roman course being observed may so remain and continue Dum coelum stellae eandem rationem obtinent whilst the Sun and Stars run the same course With this hypothetical caution if union be softred and cherished among our selves and ambitious and envious discord shnaned which as a swelling and eminent Rock â—â—sheth in pieces the firmest commonwealth approaching it which was the ruine of the Roman commonwealth it self as the Venusine Poet. Suis ipsa Roma viribus ruit Hor. e. 15. And therefore let us lay aside all occasions of diffidence and suspition which may breed discord and dissention and remember the animadversion of St. Paul that if you bite and devour one another take heed you be not consumed one of another for humana Consilia Castig antur ubi divinis praeferuntur Thus hath the Author rudely woven a difficult work which deserves a finer thread and a neater Artist yet proposing truth for his end he hopeth it may countenance the simplicity of the stile Cok. li. 10. ep for veritatis sermo simpleâ— and his labour whatsoever it is Tacit. Agr. for the profession of truth aut laudatus aut excusatus erit yet respecting himself he is so far from the imagination of praise that he shall conceive himself favourably dealt withal if he may find pardon for his presumption FINIS
THE HISTORY OF THE UNION Of the four famous Kingdoms Of ENGLAND WALES SCOTLAND and IRELAND Wherein is demonstrated that by the prowess and prudence of the English those four distinct and discordant Nations have upon several conquests been entirely united and devolved into one Commonwealth and that by the candor of clemency and deduction of Colonies alteration of Laws and communication of Language according to the Roman rule they have been maintained preserved in peace and union Ruis ille tam coufidens aut tautis cervicibus qui audeat histeriam usquequaque veram scribere Lips l. 5. c. 11. Qui non libere veritatem pronunciat proditor veritatis est Cok. l. 11. f. â—3 By a lover of truth and his Country London Printed for Thomas Brewster and are to be sold at the three Bibles at the West-end of Paul's 16â—9 To the Right Honourable William Lenthall Esq Speaker of the PARLIAMENT of the Commonwealth of England Right Honourable IT is ascribed to Sir William Paulet for Prudence that in four several Kings and Queens reigns which were obnoxious to perillous Innovations he demeaned himself so observantly and cautiously in those tempestuous and dangerous times that he constantly held his head above water and augmented his advancement when numerous Noble personages were plunged in their abyss And have not there happened almost as many pernicious mutations and factions within these four years in this State as were in the Roman Republique for the space of five hundred wherein your Honour hath so circumspectly and vigilantly steered your course that you have not only shunned shipwrack which many others did suffer but have also fixed your bottom in the harbour of felicity and at this present with the applause and approbation of all men do sit at the helm of this Commonwealth Istuc est sapere qui ubicunque opus sit animum possit flectere Terent. Hecyr. And the Author cordially wisheth that you may equal Sir Will. Paulet live within 3 years of one hundred if not exceed the years of that famous Councellor of State that as he did by your grave direction and sage advice to the great Council of this Commonwealth and by its provident resolves Tranquillity and peace may be setled in these Nations and a firm Union established and preserved in them To which purpose the Author hath been induced to present to your Honour this impolite History concerning the Union of these Nations as Marcus Terentius Varro did his Book de origine linguae Latinae to Marcus Tullius Cicero not by way of instruction to admonish you but by way of reference to be censured by you as an equal arbitrator whether it be worthy of the publique light and may tend to the publique good which is the butt burthen of his labours wherein he hath had an especial care according to his skill that as Polibius prescribeth soli 〈◊〉 bentati litaret he should sacrifice solely to truth and that neither for any â—mister conceit he should detract from any or for any favourable respect flatter any but to pouâ—trait every person according to his just proportion And if it be conceived that in some passages he hath accidentally slipped seeing he hath endeavoured to ascend the higher and slippery places he hopeth well that your Honour will be pleased to pardon his slips and over-sights they proceeding from imbecillity and not pertinacy and to cover them with his good intentioneâ— that you will be as equal towards him as he is towards the great God whom he knoweth not to have given all things to one man So beseeching the Almighty to lengthen your days to the great good of this Commonwealth he submissively taketh his leave Your Honours most devoted Servant M. H. To the READER MOst men are naturally prone to applaud the times behind them and to vilifie the present as the Poet Hoc hodie ingenium est multis Clapmar ut tempora prisca Anteferant nostris tantum laudentque quod absit And upon the dislike of every present Government are desirous of a change like the fish Sepia trouble all the waters wherein they live Rom. 13.1 whereas all Government is of Godâ— whether Monarchical Aristocratical or Democratical Dan. 2.21 who at his pleasure changeth the times and fensons and removeth and seâ—eth up Kings and therefore ought all Gods people to submit and vail to his irresistible will and to be obedient to the present God vernment introduced by hâ—â— providence whence may bâ—â— inferred that those are of a serpentine and divelish disposition who by seducing pamphlets and captious conceits imploy their turbulent spirits to scatter the seeds of sedition and to foment commotions in such novel states not with an intention of the publick good as they gloriously pretend but to make way for their peculiar interest and presumptuous preferment wherein doubtless Coelum irritant armis they vainly make War with Heaven and irritate the divine vengeance to their dismal confusion who delighting to fish in such Stygian and troubled waters Saepe piscatores capti sunt are commonly catched in their own net and like ambitious bees drowned in their own honey Examples of which we need not seek from forraign parts our Nation affording too many who through such desperate and dangerous insurrectious have wrought the ruine of their generations and themselves and not to speak of the last combustion which is like to produce the same effects and forfeitures the Author wisheth in General Quodicti piscatores sapiant that being struck with this Scorpion they may cautiously avoid the like danger and wisely shun such destructive practices for it is not his drift to trample on the afflicted nor to upbraid any one with the commemoration of their preterit exorbitancies but to draw every one within the circumference and list of peace amity and union For what an horrid and inhumane spectacle hath it been and still is to fee that the English Nation which hath alwaies been accompted fierce against their foes and faithful to their friends shall now become more fierce and faithless one against another and sheath their swords in their own bowels such an unsociable and unnatural War producing the extirpation of many noble families and tending to the destruction of the whole Nation Wherefore for our own and countryes safety be exhorted and perswaded that whereas by the unanimous valour and constant circumspection of the English those three valiant Nations of Wales Scotland and Ireland have been totally vanquished and entirely united into one Commonwealth with England and at this present made a firm quaternity and invincible phalanx against all forraign Forces to set aside all civil discords and discontents and to remove them as far from us Quantum Hyspanis Venâ—to dissidet Eridano As far as Scythia dissides from Italy or Spain from Britanny and to bend and unite our national Forces against our forraign and outlandish Enemies that thereby we may live in unity and safety among
our selves For as we are instructed by Philosophy that there are two principles of all things Concord and Discord the one dissolving and consuming all things so are we taught by it's Mistress Experience that petty states are by Concord and union augmented and grand ones by Discord and Disunion brought to confusion as the Poet pressly Discordia gaudet Permiscere fretuÌ„ coelo Sil. Ital. Vale atque his utere mecum Ode Triumphalis Ad laté Dominantem Angliam ANgusta laurus palmaque vilior Quaecunque priscis gratia honoribus Sordesoat ad famam potentis Angliae indomici Britanni Jam Roma pallet jam stupet ardua Incoepta nostrum Caesaris pudet Nunc irritos dolens labores Agricolain tacet Severum Quocunque vertis terribilem manum O Diis amata gens celeberrima Spissaeque dehiscunt Phalanges Et trepidae recidunt catervae Dii Terminales sedibus exulant Arisque cedunt quas sibi saecula Ignota rite consecrarunt Atque tuum fugiunt Triumphum Fatis negatam pergere gloria Honorque nostri Temporis invidam Transgressus en tandem Columnam Asseruit metuendus Vltra Neptunus alto stridet in aequore Tethysque late brachia porrigit Nymphas ut omnes consalutet Limite nec remoratur ullo Se prima victam plorat Hibernia Et mox Hiberno Cantaber additus Post rupta pacis bellique jura Fadifragus luit inde Scotus Laetatur Anglus jam numero pari Cui regna subsunt quatuor annuant His Fata quatuor ut per orbis Promoveat sua sceptra Partes Sic Vaticinatur J. H. Stu. Eccl. Chr. Oxon. Errata PAge 3 line 21. read abused p. 20. l. 1â— dele and. P. 35. l. 19. for praefecto r. projecte ibid. l. 22. for they r. that p 48. l. 2â— for fellows r. followers p. 51. l. 3. r. reprobâ—vit p. 53. l. 14. r. and is p. 80 l. 1. r. therethâ—â— p. 110 l. 19. r. and so P. 14. l. 2. for affinity 〈◊〉 serenity of air ibid. l. 18. r. Islands p. 117 l. 21. dele in the Parliament THE HISTORY OF The four famous Kingdoms ENGLAND WALES SCOTLAND and IRELAND VNion is the ornament and muniment of the Universe which is so orderly and closely conjoyned as no vacuity or breach is therein admittable which maks it so perpetual for which orderly union it is by the Septuagint called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by the Latins Mundus that is beautiful For order and union adorn all things for which reason that glorious and orderly Artifice is by the holy Ghost Ailed an Host or Army and as the vulgar translation truely terms it Exercitus Itaque perfectisunt coeli tarrae exercitus corum for no battles or phalanx can be more firmly rank'd and united or better governed as Delrius on that place paraphraseth then the creatures in Heaven and Earth are disposed knit together and ruled and nothing is so comely or constant nothing so ready and obedient to their Creator and King at whose word and wink they take Armes against the impious and in a heavenly posture unite themselves to fight his battles when as the Wiseman saith Wisdom s. 7. he is pleased to make his creatures his weapons for the revenge of his enemies And as the divine power is the general Architector of union in the frame of the universe so is he the particular Author of order and anion among men to whom above all Sublunary creatures he communicated his similitude and natural inclination to order society and unity For after the Lord God had framed man of the dust of the ground or of red earth as Josephus expoundeth it Joseph Antiq. lib. 1. c. 2. whence he was called Adam which signifies red and instilled and breathed into him his own image and then also made him the Monarch and Lord of all the world subjecting all things to his power order and dominion as the Psalmist saith Psalm 8. omniae subjecit pedibus ejus and afterwards conjoyned unto him as an Adjutor like unto himself the woman as his Associate From which equality did proceed a common power to the man and wife over their family Tholosanus Syntag lib. 11. cap. 2. which is called Domestica potestas or oeconomia according to the Offices of each Sex But because the woman abuse her common power and wrought misthief to the man she was for the suture made subject to the man and the man had Maritalis potestas over the woman And it is not to at doubted but that if Adam had â—ersiâ—ted in his integrity and being confirmed had multiplyed his generations but that God who is Pater ordinis would that in order one to the other there should have been an inferiour Paraeus in Gen. 1. 28. and a superiour And that Adam who was Pater omnium Viventium should have a paternal power over all mankind by the law of nature as over a great family and that there should have been a civil dominion and subjection but altogether voluntary and comfortable and a Politeia and government and a decent order and union among men without any servile constraint or coercion according to the law of nature in which those that ruled should freely advise and those who were subject should freely obey and no that one man should lord it oâ— domineer over another For such lording rule and servile subjection were introduced after the fall oâ— Adam when servitude began to be a just punishment for sin wheâ— force and fraud the venemoâ—â— seeds of sin bad spread themselve over the face of the earth when latrocinies and rapines murthers and homicides raigned in the hearts and hands of men and threatned destruction to all mankind the sword of each devouring other which caused a separation and disunion among the Sons of Men. Then necessity brought in coercive and controling dominion which by the sword and force might curb and restrain such malefactors from perpetrating such violent and inhumane injuries and either to punish them with death or reduce them to a civil life and union Chrysosostome Musculus Cornelius de lapide Paraeus Genes 10. To which purpose God raised Nimrod for all power is of God who excelling others in vigour of body and virtue of mind by his humanity and relief to such injured and abused persons procured to himself a potent Army with which he subdued all the lawless and mischievous routs and multitudes And therefore is he said to be a mighty hunter before the Lord not onely because he excelled in might but because that he nutu ductu Dei through the divine impulse and conduct did subject the rude and barbarous Nations to the sway of his Scepter and stoutly rul'd them by the power of his sword Petavius ration Tomp lib. 2. fol. 100. who of the heathen writers is called Belus as by ours Nimred and affirmed to be the same man that did build the Tower and took upon him a new Empire over rude
no other way to make his victory permanent but by his valour But after the Norman conqueror had brought under his yoke and subjection the utmost parts of this Island and by his continual victories tamed the minds of his formidable enemies he like a Roman victor with all diligence laboured by imposition of Laws to reduce the English and the Normans into a peaceable and sociable union and accordingly propounded to himself an exact survey of all the antient Laws as the old Laws of the Saxons which where compounded of the British customs and their own which mention the Danish Law Danellage the Mercian Law Mercemlage and the West Saxon Westsaxonlage All these being considered by William the conquerour comparing them with the Laws â— Norway Ibid. which he most affected as Mr. Selden supposeth because by them a Bastard of a Concubine â—â— himself was had equal inheritance with the most legitimate son as Gerâ—â—se of Tilburyâ— in this dialogue de Seaccario saith Quasdam reprobarit quasdam autem approbans illis transmarinas Neustriae leges quae ad regni pacem tuendam efficacissimae videbantur addidit some he rejected and some he approving to them he added the forraign Norway Laws which seemed most efficacious for the preserving of the peace of the kingdom And such laws as he in writing allowed though by Roger Hovendon and Iugulphus they were called Leges Edwardi regis yet by Mathew Paris are they properly called Bonae approbatae antiquae regui leges the good and approved antient Laws of the Kingdom by denomination from the greater part And sometimes the Laws and customs of King William For clearly diverse Norman customs were in practise first mixt with them and to these times continue as Mr. Selden asserteth as that of Coverfeu which was constituted to prevent conspiracies combinations and robberies which were then very frequent and commonly contrived and practised in the night And therefore it was ordained that in all townes and villages a bell should be rung at eight of the Clock in the evening and that in every house they should then put out their fire and lights which bell was therfore called Coverfeu and then to go to bed which among many other was one of the laws much conducing to the preservation of peace By which so great a peace was setled in the Kingdom as by Henry of Huntington he is stiled the Author of peace whose words are these Pacis author tantus quod puella auro onusta regnum Angliae transire possit impune He was so great an Author of peace that a Virgin laden with gold might without danger passe through the Kingdome of England And seeing his people to be part Normans Bacon uses of the law fol. 31. and part Saxons the Normans he brought with him the Saxons he found here he bent himself to conjoin them by marriages in amity and for that purpose ordains that if those of his Nobles Knights and Gentlemen should die leaving their Heir within age a Male within one and twenty and a Female within fourteen years and unmarried then the King should have the bestowing of such in such a Family and to such persons as he should think meet which was commonly to his Normans which interest of marriage went still imployed and doth continue at this day in every tenure is called Knights service Then he also commanded all his laws to be written in French and all causes and matters of law to be prosecuted pleaded and dispatched in the French language as the Romans did in Latin that the English thereby might be invited to addict their minds to the knowledge of that Language That whereas they were made by Laws as it were one people so by this constitution they might be brought to be of one Language In this manner through the prowess and prudence of the Norman Conquerour were the English and the Normans so entirely united that they seemed one Nation and one people without any difference or distinction of respect and honour as Dido promised the Trojans Tros Tyriusque mihi nullo discrimine agetur Which may more effectually be applied to him for he and his Progeny reigned over them so united for the space of five hundred years The next bordering Principality to England is Wales and therefore first in order by the English to be conquered according to the Roman Example as indeed it was A stout and hardy Nation Bellicosissima gens as Cambden and indeed the reliques of the auntient Britans who because they would not subject themselues to the Tyranny of the Saxous as the other English did were forced by their armes to retreat into the Western Region of that Island for refuge surrounded with the muniments of nature as mountaines and armes of the Sea which antiently was called Cambria as the people at this present Cambro-Britauni In so much as the Saxons were unable by their force to make way unto them and to overcome them And though by some of the Saxon Kings a ditch of a wonderfull work was framed which was called King Offa his ditch by which they divided that Country from England and called them Walshmen that is to say unto them strangers yet did they continually with fire and sword spoile and depopulate their fieldes and Cities And when the Heptarchy of the Saxons was devolved into a Monarchy could they onely by Athelstane that victorious King be made tributary nay William the Conqueror the terror of his time Cujus nomen as William of Westminster exterae remotae gentes timebant whose ruine and downfall the Welch also conspired And therfore as the said William saith though he raised a Copious army against the Welch with an intention to subject them to his sword as he had done the English yet did he meâ—â— with such martiall resistance that he was content to accept of their homage with faithfull hostages to pay him tribute though after upon their restless commotions he placed divers of his Norman Nobility upon the confines towards Wales and gave a power unto the persons thus placed to make such conquests on the Welch as they by their own strength could accomplish whereby divers of those parts were won by the Sword from the Welchmen which were planted with English Colonies and called Barons Marches Which though his Son William Rufus seconded yet was it a great glory for him only to conquer the Shire of Pembroke which was a very ancient Shire of Wales so as this parcel of this Island called Wales was no parcel of the Dominion of the Realm of England but was distinguished from the same and was as it were a Realm of it self not governed by the laws of England Ployd Com. 192. as the Books of the laws of this Realm do testifie yet nevertheless afterwards was the same Dominion of Wales holden in chief and in Fee of the Crown of England and the Prince thereof being then of their own Nation was compellable upon Summons to appeare in