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england_n france_n king_n time_n 18,531 5 4.0048 3 true
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ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A29953 The white rose, or, A word for the House of York, vindicating the right of succession in a letter from Scotland to a peer of this realm. W. B.; Brydall, John, b. 1635? 1680 (1680) Wing B5268; ESTC R2802 9,595 12

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not done in Parliament by the King Lords and Commons and albeit it might though it appears it could not without Authority of Parliament to back it yet it is contra Legem Consuetudinem Parliamenti to do such an Act as by the Record appears by which it was declared in full Parliament upon demand made on the behalf of the King that they the Lords and Commons could not assent to any thing in Parliament that tended to the Disherison of the King and his Crown whereunto they were sworn Upon the same Principle the Attournment of Tenants seems to have its Basis and is Requisite where Lords dispose of their Mannors Ne Capitalibus Inimicis subjugentur that they may not be subjugated to their Capitall enemies Sr. Edward Cook tells us that the Dignity Royal is an Inherent inseparable to the Blood Royal of the King and cannot be transferred to another It is said that Edward the Confessor gave William the Conqueror a Colour to claim the Crown of England by a Donation made by Testament which Act was not of Power to prejudice the State or alter the Course of Right succession and the Reason rendred is this that the Crown of this Realm being held not as Patrimonial but in a Constant succession by Remotion which is a succeeding to another's Place it was not in the Power of King Edward to Collate the same by any Dispositive and Testamentary will the Right descending to the Next of blood only by the Custom and Law of the Kingdom We read in our English Histories that King Richard surnam'd Ceur-de-Lyon depos'd himself of this Kingdom and Deliver'd the same to the Emperor as his Supreme Lord and invested him therein by delivering of his Hat But 't was adjudg'd that this Investiture could not prejudice the State nor alter the course of Right succession though it might Keep the Kings-Head cold as the Statists of those times observ'd The Civil-Law Asserts Principem cum omnia possit Res tamen Imperii abalienare non posse and the municipal Constitution of France is that the French King cannot dispose of the Soveraignty of the Kingdom so that foreign Laws Concur with Our Own in this Point which have had the suffrage of the whole Kingdom for these many hundreds of Years being as Iudge Fortescue defines them an Artificial Perfection of Reason and the Productions of much Wisdom Time and Experience The Law is Sanctio Sancta jubens Honesta prohibensque Contraria to which Cicero is Parallel Recti praeceptio pravi est depulsio Having in its Prospect the same which Religion hath ut Cives bonos efficiat that it may make men good being Iuvenibus Regimen Senibus Solamen Pauperibus Divitiae et Divitibus Securitas Religion is to the wicked and faithless a Jurisdiction against which they readily Rebel because it rules severely yet paies no worldly recompence for Obedience Obedience being by every human Power invited with assurances of visible advantage The good need not the power of Religion to make them better for her power proceeds from threatnings which though mean weapons are fitly used since she encounters a base Enemy It may be Observ'd that all virtuous men are so taken up with the Rewards of Heaven that they seem to live as if out of the world and no Government can receive assistance from any man meerly as he is Religious but as that Religion makes him active in temporal things 't is acquaintance with the world and knowledge of men that makes abilities of Ruling for though a sufficient belief of Doctrine would beget Obedience which is the grand design of Government yet since diversity of Doctrine distracts all Auditors and makes them doubtfully dispose their Obedience therefore Religion hath little to do in Government and an active spirit is fittest for the menage of an Empire But however I think it cannot Rationally be presum'd that any Governour would purely for the sake of Religion subjugate himself and People to a foreign Power and make that which is design'd for the safety of our Souls the grand Instrument of our Destruction When the People consider a Ruler they would have him all Dove whereas Policy teacheth him to be most Serpent though they look upon this as more dangerous than the ills it would prevent and that outwitting the People is but giving Reputation to falshood and corruption and maintaining the Publick by Politique evils and the base prostitution of Religion I shall not upon Machiavel's word Recommend Dissimulation and Cruelty for Cardinal virtues and as the best supporters of Authority for a Prince ought to refuse a Kingdom and retire to Privacy rather than Reign to the Ruine of Mankind but when we consider the mutual sympathy as between the Head and Members so between a Prince and his Subjects and the complication of their Interests and that their happinesses and miseries proceed from each other mutually it cannot be presum'd that a Prince of approv'd wisdom should so mistake or divide the Interest as to precipitate them into Ruine only to undo himself by the Rebound But to Return to my Province it may be demanded whether there are not foreign Examples to be produc'd that Kingdoms have been transferred from one Prince to Another by a voluntary Gift I Answer Affirmatively and shall instance in two of the chiefest which occur to my Memory at this time The One is of Alphonzo King of Arragon and Sicily who having conquered the Kingdom of Naples from the Duke of Anjou Gave it to his Natural Son by his last Will and Testament The Other is of Alphonzo el Bravo King of Castile an● Leon who having conquer'd Portugal from the Moors Gave it in Marriage with his Bastard Daughter to Count Henry of Lorrain so that here are two Examples one by Testament the other per Donationem inter Vivos But here is to be noted that no Ancient or Hereditary Rights were dispos'd of but the Conquerors new Acquisitions for 't is Affirm'd by most Lawyers that no King in a Monarchy that is by the ancient custom and fundamental Laws of the Realm meerly successive either to the Heirs male or Heirs general can any wayes dispose of his Kingdom in prejudice of the next Heir in blood according to the Custom no not though the Parties interessed should Commit Treason or be excluded by any Act of the States or Parliament That Treason cannot avoid a Lawfull succession in blood We have an Example in Louis the 12th Who was in Armes against Charles the 8th both Kings of France and Our Own King Henry 7th stood attainted of high-Treason at the time of his coming into England and by the Judges in their Consultation in the Exchequer Chamber what should be done for the King concerning his Attainder it was with unanimous consent Resolved That the Crown takes away all defects and stops in blood and that from the time the King did Assume the Crown the fountain was