speak not Reason For what Power hath the State to elect while any that is living hath Right to succeed But such a Successor is not the Duke of Lancaster as descended from * So call'd from a Cross he used to wear upon his Back Edmund Crouchback the Elder Son of King Henry the Third tho' put by the Crown for Deformity of his Body For who knows not the Falseness of this Allegation Seeing it is a thing notorious that this Edmund was neither the Elder Brother nor yet Crook-back'd but of a goodly Personage and without any Deformity And your selves cannot forget a thing so lately done who it vvas that in the Fourth year of King Richard vvas declared by Parliament to be Heir to the Crovvn in case King Richard should die without Issue But why then is not that Claim made because Silent Leges inter Arma what disputing of Titles against the stream of Power But however it is extreme injustice that King Richard should be condemned without being heard or once allowed to make his Defence And now my Lords I have spoken thus at this time that you may consider of it before it be too late for as yet it is in your Power to undo that justly which you have unjustly done Thus spoke that Loyal and Good Prelate but to little purpose though there was neither Protestation nor Exception made against this Speech which certainly there would have been had there not been as much Truth as Boldness in vvhat he said And tho' Henry the Fourth did afterwards get the Inheritance of the Crown and Realm of England setled upon himself for Life and the Remainder entailed upon his four Sons by Name and the Issue of their Bodies yet that cannot at all make for my Adversaries purpose since it amounted to no more than a Confirmation of him in the Throne or if it did vve may vvell suppose that a Prince that vvas conscious to himself hovv unjustly he had gain'd his Crown would not be very unwilling to take such a way tho' in derogation to his Prerogative to secure himself if possible tho' not out of an Opinion that they could give him a better Right than they had but because 't is natural to suppose they would upon any occasion be ready to defend what they so solemnly had enacted Come we next to Henry the Fifth who this Gentleman says was Elected But how notoriously false that Assertion of his is will appear from hence that first there was no Parliament called till after his Coronation and in the next place that if the Act of Parliament made in the Seventh Year of Henry the Fourth had so great a Force and Vertue as he says it had it was needless nor can he prove any such thing from that careless and negligent Historian Polydore For Concilium Principum with him does not always signifie a Parliament as any one that has read him which I dare say he never did will perceive nor does his Phrase creare Regem import any more than the King's Coronation besides 't is most untrue which he affirms that Allegiance was never sworn before his Time till after a King was Crowned For the contrary appears from King John and Edward the First Nay 't is undeniably true that the Kings of England have exercised all manner of Royal Jurisdiction precedent to all Ceremony or any Formality whatsoever and that the Death of one King has in that very Moment given Livery and Seisin of the Royalty to the next Heir and by vertue of that Richard the First as a Mark of his Sovereignty immediately on his Father's Death restor'd the Earl of Leicester to his whole Estate Henry the Fifth being dead he was without any Opposition admitted to the Throne although but an Infant but in the Thirty Ninth Year of this King in open Parliament Richard Duke of York the true and rightful Heir to the Crown of England and France made his Challenge and Demand of it as being next Heir to Lionell Duke of Clarence Elder Brother to John of Gaunt from whom descended the House of Lancaster but to this Claim of his it was answered by the King's Friends That the same Crowns were by Act of Parliament Entailed upon Henry the Fourth and the Heirs of his Body from whom King Henry the Sixth did lineally descend * Rot. Parl. 39 H. 6. n. 10. c. The which Act say they as it is in the Record is of Authority to defeat any manner of Title made to any Person To which the Duke of York answerably replies That if King Henry the Fourth might have obtained and enjoyed the said Crowns of England and France by title of Inheritance Descent or Succession he neither needed nor would have desired or made them to be granted to him in such wise as they be by the said Act the which taketh no place nor is of any Force or Effect mind that against him that is Right Inheritor of the said Crowns as it accordeth with God's Laws and all Natural Laws And this Claim and Answer of the Duke of York is expresly acknowledged and recognized by this Parliament to be Good True Just Lawful and Sufficient and 't is agreed that Henry shall hold the Crown during his Life and the Duke of York in the mean time to be reputed and proclaimed Heir Apparent So that we have here as much as can be desired a Parliament not only declaring that a Title to the Crown ought to derive it self only from the Laws of God and Nature and not from any Civil Sanction and acknowledging in at the Bargain that it is beyond the Reach of any Humane Legislative Power to debar and exclude any one that justly claims by such a Right But to â— proceed upon Edward the Fourth's coming to the Crown a Parliament conven'd in the first year of his Reign does acknowledge and recognize his Title in these words as the * Rot. Parl. 1 Ed. 4. n. 8. c. Record has it Knowing also certainly without doubt and ambiguity that by Gods Law and Law of Nature He h. e. Edward the Fourth and none other is and ought to be true right-wise and natural Liege and Sovereign Lord. And that he was in Right from the Death of the said Noble and Famous Prince his Father very just King of the same Realm of England So here again we have another Parliament of the same mind with the last and I doubt not but we shall meet with more of 'em e're we have done When King Edward the Fourth was droven out of his Kingdom by Henry the Sixth 't is true the Crown was again entail'd if it may be properly so call'd upon him and his Heirs c. but still the proceeding was grounded upon the same Bottom with the former Here our Pamphleteer is pleased to make this drowsie Observation that both the Families of York and Lancaster claim'd a Title by Act of Parliament 't is true the latter did because they
THE Great Point OF SUCCESSION DISCUSSED With a Full and Particular ANSWER To a late PAMPHLET Intituled A Brief HISTORY OF Succession c. LONDON Printed for H. Rodes next door to the Bear Tavern near Bride-Lane in Fleetstreet 1681. THE Great Point OF SUCCESSION DISCUSSED In a full ANSWER to a late PAMPHLET Intituled A Brief History of the SUCCESSION c. AMONGST all the spurious Brood the Press of late has so numerously spawn'd and wherewith the Town has been so immoderately pester'd perhaps there is scarce a Pamphlet can pretend to have made a greater noyse or met with a more general Applause than THE HISTORY OF THE SUCCESSION c. Insomuch that having heard it so much and so often commended and that some people had so great a value for it that they had taken the pains to get it without Book I grew not a little desirous of reading what I thought would not have had so welcome a Reception if it had not been penn'd with a great deal of Faithfulness and Sincerity for tho' I must confess I have no great opinion of an Argument drawn from matter of Fact since if that were once allow'd a man of very indifferent Parts and as slender Reading would find it no very difficult Task to justifie the blackest Villanies yet I assured my self that if our Author did not industriously avoid being sincere and impartial he could not but conclude the Crown of England to have always gone in the Sacred Channel of Birth-right and proximity of Blood and that uninterrupted too unless put violently out of its Course either by some manifest Force from without or some prevailing Faction from within But alas I soon perceived how mightily I was mistaken in the man for I found him in every Page taking so much pains to catch at every thing that might but any way advance his Design or seem'd but to lean never so little towards his opinion and every where so deligedly wresting and mis-representing those Authors whose Indexes I doubt not but have furnished him with all the Reading he has show'n upon this Occasion for certainly if he had but taken a little more pains in reading the Authors themselves he would not have had the Confidence to have so grosly imposed upon the World as he has done When I say I had perceived with what intollerable dis-ingenuity he had all along managed his Design I could not but conclude with my self that if his very extraordinary Ignorance has not stood in the way of his Preferment he had Malice and In pudence enough to entitle him to the honour of a Pillory Nor can the man deserve less that goes about to make people believe that the Kingdom of England but a few Ages ago was Elective that His Majesty whom God long preserve holds His Crown upon no surer Title than an Act of Parliament and that 't is lawful for the Three Estates of the Realm to depose their King and call him to an Account of his Stewardship if he behave not himself to their content and satisfaction for either this must be the consequâ—â—ce of his Discourse or nothing for all his Arguments are drawn from matter of Fact for the most part falsely represented too and he tells us of two Kings that have been deposed so that if from thence we may conclude that because such things have been done they either were then or may now lawfully be done which either our Author must prove to be true or else acknowledge his whole Discourse an impertinent Scrible I have not falsly accused the Writer of this Discourse I amabout to examine And although this might be allowed to be a sufficient Answer to this whole Pamphlet since every one can tell him à facto ad jus non valere consequentiam yet because there may be a great many people in the World as willing to be deceived as he is to deceive for I can believe none to be so ignorant were they not violently bent upon it as to suffer themselves to be imposed upon by so irrational and illogical a Discourse I suppose it will not be an unwelcome performance to those that are Lovers of Truth or Honesty to see the Mask pull'd off from our Scribler and his many and unpardonable because designed mistakes in his pretended HISTORY OF THE SUCCESSION laid open But before I proceed to examine the particulars I cannot but take notice of one thing that may easily impose upon the unwary Reader in turning over our old Monkish Historians I mean their very frequent mention of the Election of our Kings which expression of theirs has given our Pamphleteer the most colourable pretence of any to assert the Monarchy of this Isle to be an Elective One but he that has taken the pains to look into the Body of their Writings more carefully than this Gentleman has done will I am sure conclude that no good Argument can be drawn from a loose Expression or careless Word let fall from the Pen of any of our Monks who must be confess'd by every one to be extreamly ignorant of Latinity and the true propriety of Words so that both false Grammar and gross Barbarisms are very frequent amongst them besides it will most evidently appear that what they call'd Electing of a King amounted to no more than an open acknowledgement or recognition of his Right and Title since as I shall make appear from the ensuing Discourse they upon several occasions tell us of the right precedent to all manner of Ceremony that Kings of England have to the Crown and both they and several Parliaments of different Complexlous and Interests have declared the Kingdom of England to be Hereditary as appears from several * Rot. Parl. 39 H. 6. n. 10 c. Rot. Parl. 1 E. 4. n. 8 c. Rot. Parl. tent ' apud Westm ' die Veneris 23 die Jan. An. Regni Regis Rich. 3. primo c. Records and that the Crown according to the Laws of God and Nature does descend according to Birth-right and proximity of Blood which how it can do and yet be Elective I cannot for my life understand so that whatever the present use and the propriety of the word Election may make it signifie yet I am assured the meaning of it in our Records and Historians must be what I have assign'd to wit A Recognition and Acknowledgement of the Person said to be elected to be the true Heir to the Crown to whom by Birth-right it is due But to come closer to the point I agree that nothing certain has come down to us of the nature of the Government of this Island before the Romans came hither who found them governed by several petty Princes but if we may give any credit to what is related of the old Britains and some Learned Men †Sheringham de Anglorum gentis Origine c. Hist Britan. Desensio per J. Priseum Eq. Aurat are persuaded we may we shall find the Crown
a most excellent and fair pretence therefore I persuade my self it was only the consideration of his Elder Brothers Right according to the Laws of God and Nature that deterred this Excellent and Learned Prince from being allured by the inviting and almost irresistable temptations of a Crown in prejudice of those that had a greater Right than himself But if such a Rule of Succession as I am contending for were in use at that time how could Athelstan Grandchild to Alfred succeed his Father Edward the Elder to the dis-inherizon of his Brother Edmund if he as this Gentleman would have us believe were a Bastard but what if there be no such thing for I for my part cannot find that he was if our Historiographer have any Author besides Polydor by him that the World has not yet been blest with the sight of he would do well to produce him for the publick good but till then since I have got some ‖ Flo. Wigorn. f. 598. M. Westm f. 184 W. Malmesb l. 2. c. 6. f. 76. good Writers on my side I may without any disparagement to the Gentlemans remarksincerity and faithfulness hold Athelstan to be as legitimate as himself The next instance he gives us to shew that the Crown descended not according to proximity of Blood is ** Florent Wigornens f. 604. M. Westm f. 188. Defuncto itaque Edmundo Edredus frater ejus regni diadema suscepit reliquit quoque duos filios haeredes legitimos Edwinum Edgarum qui repugnante illegitimâ aetate patri succedere non valebant R. Hoveden par 1. f. 423. W. Malmesb l. 2. c. 7. f. 55. Edreds Succession to his Brother Edmond though the deceased Prince had left two Sons behind him but he forgets to tell us they were Minors and upon that account their Uncle the Office of Protector being not then in use was Crowned King tho' by this odd Custom it often happen'd that the lawfull Heirs were deprived of their Right for notwithstanding they were under an Obligation to resign as soon as their Kinsmen came to Age yet so strong were the Temptations and so sweet the Enjoyment of a Crown to an ambitious Soul that rather than they would submit to a just resignation of that which was but committed to them in Trust for another they would break through all Laws Humane and Divine to maintain that by Force which contrary to Reason and Justice they had usurped But however in this case it happen'd otherwise for Edred dying very opportunely was succeeded by his Nephew Edwy he after a short but troublesome Reign had his Brother Edgar for Successor who having governed his Subjects in peace and plenty and to his own Eternal Honour left the Crown to his Eldest Son * Brompton f. 872. M. Westm f. 193. Edward who on the account of his barbarous and cruel Death contrived by his inhumane Step-mother was afterwards called the Martyr But his Coronation was a little obstructed by a Faction of the Nobility who endeavour'd to advance Ethelred to the Throne being animated thereto by Alfdritha his Mother that she during his minority for he was but seven years of Age might satisfie her Ambition by domineering it over the Kingdom †M. Westm ubi supra Vt potius sub ejus nomine regnare videretur for they pretended that Edward was illegitimate and therefore ought not to be preferr'd before his Brother Ethelred who was the true Heir to his Father and to whom therefore the Crown was dire so that the dispute was not who should but who ought to be King nor was it carried by Interest in favour of Edward as our Pamphleteer would persuade us but by right for Dunstan Archbishop of Canterbury being fully satisfied of the justness of his Title without suffering a thing so clear any longer to be debated according as his Father had commanded * M. Westâ—â— ubi supra Fl. VVigorit f. 605. ut pater ejus moriens dictitaverat are the very words of the Historian consecrated Edward King which he surely durst never have done if he could have derived his Right from no other Original than the Choice of the People But tho' none of those Instances alledged by him yet are of force enough to prove what he produced them for yet we are not to suppose a man of his Infinite Reading cannot find out something that at a dead lift may serve his turn and truly I cannot but admire his excellence that way he has had the good luck to hit upon the most admirable passage and so pat for his purpose that 't is impossible to match it in any of those most incomparable and delectable Histories of Montelion Knight of the Oracle Amadis of Gaul Parismus and Parismenus there 's nothing in them either for pleasure or astonishment but comes a Mile behind what this Gentleman's Author the Canting Abbot of Rievalis can help us to and to the everlasting credit of his Wit and Invention be it spoken his Life of Edward the Confessor from one end to the other is as perfect Romance as any of 'em and truly amongst all his Romantick Tales and I assure you they amount to no sinall number this of Choosing of Edward by the Estates whil'st in his Mothers Womb is one of the most improbable For not to insist upon the universal silence of all our Historians in this matter which if any such thing had been it would have been a most unpardonable fault in them not to have mention'd not I say to insist upon this No man certainly in his right Wits can think so wise an Assembly as was composed of all the Noblemen of England could be guilty of so much folly and madness as to choose a Child and that unborn too for their King and reject several brave and worthy Princes since they could not be ignorant how many inconveniencies and Convulsions a People are subject to whose King is a Child and they could not rationally expect the Father would live till their future Monarch was past his Minority besides the Kingdom being actually invaded by the Danes stood then in need of a Prince that was Active Prudent and Valiant and as I think they could not be reasonably suppos'd guilty of so extreamly foolish an Action so neither in my mind ought we to be so uncharitable as to imagine them so prodigiously wicked as that contrary to all Equity and Justice they should afterwards as basely forsake and reject as they had rashly tho' solemnly chosen the poor Prince surely none can believe they can stand chargeable with two Crimes of so great a magnitude For my own part I cannot be persuaded that this Gentleman can be so senseless as to believe so evident a Forgery or that he would have had the confidence to have made use of it had lie not devoted himself to buoy up an Interest that is able to support it self upon no better grounds than a company of specious and plausible
†In Baeoticis Pausanius tells us That Greece so Fruitful afterwards in Aristocracies and Democracies that teeming Africa never bred more Monsters was Antiently under Regal Government 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are his Words But Tully goes further and boldly asserts if for a certain Truth That all the Nations of Old were under Monarchial Regiment ‖ Cicero 3. de Leg. Certum est sayes he omnes antiquas Gentes regibus paruisse And when the Vniversal Deluge had put a Period to all Mankind except Noah and his Three Sons by whom the World was to be Re-peopled I think we may with Reason enough look upon Noah as the Universal Monarch notwithstanding the Learned Selden would have us believe that God by his Blessing recorded Gen. 9.2 made him Tenant in Common with his Children For besides that this Benediction seems most-likely to be rather an Enlargement of the Charter that was given to Adam than any thing else It appears something Unreasonable to suppose that God Almighty should Disinherit Noah whom for his Justness and Piety he had Chosen to be the Restaurator of Mankind Nor do the Words necessarily imply any such thing since the Promise of God would no doubt be fulfil'd if his Sons after his Death or in his Life time by his Consent enjoy'd and possess'd the World as their Property which 't is certain they did Gen. 10.9 By these sayes the Divine Historian were the Isles of the Gentiles divided in their Lands every one after his Tongue after their Families in their Nations Which is not to be understood as a * Mr. Med◠Learned Man in his Discourse upon this Place assures as if it were a Scattering and Consusion but a most distinct and orderly Division because the Original Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alwayes bears the latter Signification And that there was such a Partition and that made by Noah we are assured also from Eusebius and Cedrenus who tells us That Twenty Years before his Death ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cedren f. 9. according to an Oracle Received from Heaven he Divided the whole World amongst his Sons assigning to every one his several Share And this he Confirm'd by his Last Will and being about to Dye he gave it into the Hands of Sem and admonished them to Live peaceably and not to Invade one anothers Territories I might now proceed to those Texts of Scripture wherein Monarchy is declared to have been instituted by God But they have been so often insisted on by Others and those learned Persons that I shall pass them over only there is one which I cannot but take notice of wherein God by the Royal Prophet sayes of Kings Psalm 82.7 I have said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ye are Gods or more consonant to the Original and expresly according to the Chaldee Paraphrase Angels by which Phrase is not only signified the Office of Princes viz. That they are God's Vicegerents but the manner of their Mission that is by the immediate Commission and Constitution of God Almighty from whom alone and not from the People they derive their power Which origine of theirs I think is further evident from hence that the Supreme Governour is invested with such an Authority as does include in it a Power of Life and Death for which single Prerogative we must have recourse to the Fountain and Source of all Power for seeing we neither have nor ever had a power over our own Lives but on the contrary God has expresly told us That he that sheddeth Man's Blood of Man shall his Blood be shed it is impossible that Kings should derive their Power from the People for 't is an infallible Maxim Nemo plus Juris in alium transferre potest quam ipse habet So that it must necessarily follow from hence That Kings must have been instituted by God for 't is He and He only could bestow this great Priviledge upon them and since we find the Fathers of Families Exercising this Power we may assure our selves that originally Patriarchal and Regal Jurisdiction were all one as likewise appeares from this that Obedience and Submission to Magistrates is commanded us by the Fifth Commandment where it is only said Honour thy Father c. So that as Paternal Power was from the Begining so must Regal too Besides from hence I take it to be plain that even at that time that God gave his blessing to Noah Gen. 9.6 there was a Regiment established which could be no other than Monarchy for else that command of putting the murderer to death given at that very time could not have been put in Execution but must needs for a long time have continued ineffectual for had any private man assumed that Power he must necessarily have been guilty of the same crime so that either we must allow of Magistracy at that time or else make God command a thing and not appoint means for the execution of it And I cannot see why we should date the original of Government any later than the Creation for certainly we cannot perswade our selves that Nature that so carefully provides for the preservation and well-being of all Creatures should only be defective in her care for the noblest Animal in the universe since nothing can be more necessarily required for the happiness of any thing than Government for mankind Cicero 3. de Leg. for sine imperio nec domus ulla nec civitas nec gens nec hominum universum genus stare nec ipse denique mundus potest without Empire neither the whole nor any the least part of the world could be conserved in peace and order but all would immediately run into Ruin and Confusion And now if I had a mind to enter into so large a Common-Place it were very easie to cloy even the most greedy of such kind of Pedantry with sentences from the Fathers and other Primitive writers to show with what full Cry they all assert Monarchy to be sounded by God and Nature but waving a thing so obvious to every body I shall take notice that this opinion is so far from being a Stranger to our Laws that it is expresly resolved by all the Judges in England in Calvin's case that subjection is from no Humane Law Co. 7. Rep. 1. but from the Law of Nature and if so then of necessity must Regal Right be from the same Law because no man supposeth subjection where he does not presuppose power Besides you cannot but have observed above Rot. Parl. 39. H. 6. Rot. Parl. 2. E. 4. Rot. Parl. 1. R. 3. how many Parliaments of different Interests and Tempers have agreed in this that the Kings of England hold their Crowns by the Laws of God and Nature and therefore cannot be reputed of Humane Institution and hence it is that the King is stiled in our Statutes our Natural Liege Lord and his People likewise Natural Liege Subjects and the fidelity owing to the Crown
Nature and this Realm Cons Rot. Parl. 1. E. 4. Rot. Parl. 1. R. 3. 1 Jac. c. 1. if we may give Credit to the Declarations of so many Parliaments of different Humours and Tempers So that it will prove no very hard Matter to make good what I undertook in the Third place to wit That an Act to Exclude his R.H. would be utterly Unlawful and ipsofacto void because contrary to all Laws Divine Natural and Humane and so it ought to be adjudged when ever it comes to the Question before the Reverend Judges For the Laws of God Nature are the Rays and Emanations of the Divinity they are Undeniable Eternal and Immutable and therefore cannot be Altered or Impeached by any Humane Power or Authority but only by the God of Nature it self who did Originally ordain them and so many and plentiful are the Instances of Statutes expounded void because contrary to the Law of Nature that it would be loss of time to take notice of or enumerate any of them no doubt upon this ground it is that those two great and learned Dectors of the Law Jason and Angelus do positively aver that tho the Eldest Son of a King be either a Fool or a Madman either of which qualifications are as pernicious to the Government every whit as being a Papist yet can he not be excluded from Succession And I doubt not it may be made evidently appear that Succession of the Crown to the next Heir of the Blood Royal is so Fundamental and Primary a Constitution of this Realm so antient and received a Custome that against it There never hath been nor ought to be any dispute as †His Argument of the Case of the Postnati pag. 36. the Lord Chancellor Egerton will inform us and if we look into our Antient Records we shall find more than one Parliament declaring that Jura Sanguinis nullo Jure civili dirimi possunt And it is held by several great Lawyers that a Prerogative in Point of Government cannot be restrained or bound by Act of Parliament And surely then much less can such an Act he of any force in so high a case as this of Succession for certainly if this were once allowed the Government would cease to be Hereditary and degenerate into an Elective One And 't is not to be question'd but such a Power as enables the Parliament to break off one link may give them a sufficient Authority to shatter in pieces the whole sacred Chain and totally exclude the present Line and together with that Monarchy which I pray God may not be the bottom of too many Men's designs let them gild over their proceedings with never so specious and popular Pretences and no doubt out of a provident Foresight of the Calamity and dismal consequence of such designes it was that the Lords and Commons did declare That they could not assent in Parliament to any thing that tended to the Disinherison of the King Rot. Parl. 42. E. 3. Num. 7. and the Crown which this Bill of Exclusion evidently does whereunto they were sworn no tho the King himself should desire it But what comes more home to the point is the answer of Richard Duke of York to the Kings Friends who urged an Act of Parliament against him who told them That such an Act was to take no place Rot. Parl. 39. H. 6. Numb 10 c. nor was of any force or effect against Him the Right Inheritor of the Crown as it accorded with God's Laws and all Natural Laws And this Answer of the Duke's is by express Act of Parliament then assembled recognized and acknowledged to be Good True Just Lawful and Sufficient so that in effect we have an ingenuous and full Declaration as can be that the Right of Succession is absolutely unimpeachable by any Humane Power and that the Kings of England in possession their Heirs and Successors in reversion have an indefeasible right to the Crown which they cannot be deprived of by any Authority less than that which invested them therewith Besides 't is a Maxim of our Law That as the King never Dyes which is meant of that Political Capacity which in that very Moment one King Expires is Superadded to the Body Natural of the Next Heir whereby he immediately becomes King And this Political Capacity being of that Sublimity that it is no wayes subject to any Human Imbecilities of Infamy Crime or the like it draweth all Imperfections and Incapacities whatsoever from that Natural Body where with it is Consolidate as it were Consubstantiate so the Crown once gain'd takes away all Defects removes all manner of Bars and Lets laid in the way to the Succession For 't is impossible to hinder the Descent to the Next Heir because that being removed beyond the Reach of a Mortal Arm must go exactly in that Course prescribed by God and Nature and being joyn'd to and indivisible in one Royal Person thereby this later Capacity being added to the former purgeth eo instante all Obstructions of what Nature soever And tho his Natural Body before this Union was subject to the Lash of the Law yet upon the Conjunction of this Political and Immortal Capacity with it they grow inseparable And consequently by reason of those Divine Perfections inherently and indubitably annexed to that Coalition the Prince what ever Crimes he might have formerly been guilty of is now placed above Humane Justice and answerable solely to God Almighty to whom and none other he owes Subjection And thus it has been expresly resolved by all the Judges of England in the Case of Two Princes who were as much Disabled as an Act of Parliament could â—o it The First was when Henry the Sixth by the Assistance of the Great Earl of Warwick re-assumed the Crown for Edward the Fourth had pass'd an Act to disable him from all Regiment and attaint him of High Treason But notwithstanding all this the Judges were of Opinion That in the same Moment that Henry Re-assumed the Crown the said Parliamentary Incapacities were to all Intents discharged and avoided not because as our Pamphletier pag. 17. would have us believe Edward was not Lawful King For if either Right of Blood or an Act of Parliament could give him a Just Title there 's no doubt to be made but he had One But for this very Reason That the Crown once gain'd taketh away all Defects The next Instance is of Henry the Seventh who being once possessed of the Throne the Reversal of his Parliamentary Attainder was unanimously agreed by the Judges to be unnecessary for That the Crown takes away all Defects in Blood and Incapacities by Parliament And that from the Time the King did assume the Crown 1 H. 7.4 Fitz. Parl. pl. 2. Plowdens Com. 238. Co. 1. In. stit 16. a. the Fountain was cleared and all the said Attainders and Corruptions of Blood and other Impediments absolutely discharged And this being constantly received for
Law ever since I cannot but wonder this Gentleman should go about to call in question the Judgment of so Many and so Great Lawyers by his Impertinent Cavils for 't was upon this Precedent that the Lord Keeper Bacon did advise Q. Elizabeth not to Repeal that Statute wherein she was made Illegitimate Nor was it upon the Account of any Attainder that the House of York forbore so long time to pursue their Claim to the Crown but want of Interest And when he tells us The King of France was the more inclined to send over his Son Lewis because King John was Attainted of Treason and so uncapable of taking the Crown he must certainly have forgot himself or he would not have made use of an Instance granting it to be true so contrary to his Purpose For it seems the English when he came to the Crown had but a very slender Opinion of such a Bar or else they would never have admitted him But the King of France was glad of any Pretence tho never so Ridiculous So that we see the Judges were not without Precedent to direct their Proceedings by and such a one if the Story be true as had the Approbation of the whole or greatest part of the Kingdom But that Objection which has most shew of Force is drawn from the Recognition of Richard the Third's Title which he takes a great deal of Pains to set off to the best Advantage But I think he might have spared his Pains if he had but considered that those Men that to Advance an Usurper to the Throne had contrary to their Knowledge declared all the Late King's Children to be Bastards would scarce stick at Declaring contrary to all Right and Justice which they had already so notoriously violated an Attainder of Treason to be of sufficient Force to debar the Issue of the Duke of Clarence who were not in a Condition to assert their Title for the Crown without considering the Truth of it And it is considerable that all those Acts made in Contradiction of one another were never heeded or esteemed by either Party or ever deter'd either the Heads of 'em from pursuing their Claim or the People from assisting them in it the End of all such Statutes was to vanish into Smoak and come to nothing and for the most part never to have the Honour of a Repeal Besides a Thing done in Tempestuous and Turbulent Times is not to Guide and Direct our Actions now especially since we have the Sense of so many several and different Parliaments and therefore the more Remarkable to the contrary wherein it is declared That the Succession of the Crown of England is inseparably Annexed to Proximity of Blood and That a Title of this Sublimity and Grandeur is not at all Impeachable even by Act of Parliament And besides the Parliament of 39. H. 6. doth make their Declaration to the manifest Prejudice of the King in Possession who was Ordained also by the same Accord then made to Reign over them during his Life and whom for that Reason it must be presum'd they would have favoured if they had found but the least colour so to have done And if the Actual Possession of the Throne as has been so often Recognized by our Antient Parliaments which were neither over-aw'd by a prevailing Faction nor seduced by the plausible Pretences of designing Demagogues be by the Law of God and Nature invested with the Soveraignty it does most evidently follow that the Heir Apparent or Next of Blood is by the same Laws entituled to the Crown and consequently the People have no more Right to Dis-inherit the One than to Depose the Other and doubtless it is the same Sin As to cause the Abortion of an Embryo and to take away the Life of a Child already Born are both alike Murder for both have an equal Right to Life tho they differ in the Time of the Enjoyment of it And so have the Possessor and the Heir to the Throne only One is actually Master of it and the Other in due Time must and ought so to be But to affirm sayes this Gentleman that the King and Parliament have not a Power to Change the Direct Order of Succession is to deny the Government a Power to Defend it self To this I Answer 'T is much more likely that altering the Course of the Legal Descent of the Crown is the more probable way of bringing us into Anarchy and Confusion Besides acording to his Notion of Self-preservation a Prince that Governs not according to the pleasure and good liking of the People may be Deposed or else they would be deprived of a power of preserving themselves A very peaceable Notion I assure you and such as would render every Government where it was admitted most extreamly Happy But it ought to be proved That the admitting of a Popish King would be an Infallible Cause of the Ruin of us all or else I much fear this adored principle of Self-preservation will not Justify the Exclusion of his R.H. For nothing less than absolute Necessity will authorize a Man to kill his Enemy as when he endeavours by violence to Rob him of his Life and 't is then only he can lawfully Kill him se Defendendo But that he should be allow'd to destroy any that out of a Groundless Jealousie he apprehends may do him a Prejudice is the Highest Degree of Madness and Destructive of all Humane Society For if it were allowed for one to Kill all he is afraid of we could expect nothing but Murders and Massacres nothing but unavoydable Confusion and Ruin 'T is convenient I grant to bind such as we have just Ground to be apprehensive of to their good Behaviour and tye up their Hands according to the Laws of the Land And certainly one would think this would be sufficient Security in the Case of his R.H. if too many of those that so zealously stickle for the Bill had not a deeper Design than that they give out even to Lay the Axe to the Root of Monarchy it self 'T is that they aim at and have such a Thirst to destroy under this specious pretence and set up their adored Idol their beloved Common-Wealth And if they had not this colour for their Proceedings I am very much afraid they would be guilty of some what worse Nor am I in this at all Uncharitable since this Gentleman has pag. 19. given a very excellent Hint to Justify such a Design For he tells us That the Crown is not a bare Inheritance but an Inheritance accompanying an Office of Trust that if a Mans Defects render him incapable of the Trust he has also Forfeited the Inheritance Can any thing be more full and plain May not upon this account the King in Possession be Removed as well as an Heir secluded So true is that Observation That all the Pamphlets writ upon this Subject tho they begin with the Duke yet constantly End with the King
were they being at that time in Hungary and having few or no Friends to assert their Right by the Power and Interest of Earl Godwin whose Daughter Edward had married the †F. nigorn f. 624. M. VVestm f. 212. VV. Gemiticens de Ducibus Norman in vit Guliel Conq. c. 9. Confessor as the lawful and next Heir was advanced to the Crown but he good Prince knowing the Right his Nephew had to the Crown sends for him home that after his death he might succeed in that Kingdom which Jure Haereditario ei debebatur sayes one of our most considerable ‖ M. VVestm f. 221. Fl. Wigorn. f. 633. W. Malms c. ult lib. 2. f. 93. ut aut ille aut filii sui succedant regno Haereditario Angliae Historians was due to him by Hereditary Right and if so how could the Government be Elective Nor was there any danger like to accrue to Edward by this since not only the memory of so great an Obligation as this was would keep him from attempting any thing in his Uncles prejudice but if he had any such Design he being so great a Stranger would want a sufficient Interest to bear him out But he dying presently after his Arrival his Eldest Son Edgar was look'd upon by every one to be Heir Apparent to the Crown which all our ** M. VVest f. 221. M. Paris f. 2. c. Historians with open cry tell us was his due by Birth-right nay so commonly was the opinion received that he was vulgarly called Atheling which what it signifies we shall best be informed by an Old English Poet speaking of the endeavours of some Honest and Great Men to have had this Edgar crowned according to Law Justice and Equity in this manner The gode tryewomen of the londe wolde aabbe ymade King Rob of Gloucester The kind cir the young child Edgar Atheling Who so were next King by kinde me cluped him Atheling Therefore me cluped him so vor by kind he was King And since this Edgar had no Title to the Crown upon the Account of any Election but by Right or Blood and Inheritance which are things altogether incompatable with an Elective Government I cannot for my Life understand how any man can find any thing to favour my Adversarie's Opinion And tho' his Party not being strong enough to assert his Right he was put by by ††M. Paris f. 2. Fl. wigorn 633. Harald Earl Godwin's Son yet every Body must acknowledge it was most unjustly done since Harald could neither pretend right of Blood nor Election For it was so far from that that he contrary to the Rights of Holy Church without any Ceremony and without expecting either the Votes of the Nobility or the Assistance of the Prelates he set the Crown upon his own Head nor durst any body gain-say it ‖‖ W. Gemiticens ubi supra For he had a great part of the Land of England in his own Possession but were *** Extortâ fide a majoribus sibi regnum ut iujurias suas acumularet ampliores diadema sine ecclesiasticâ authoritate imponendo asseruit M. P. ubi supra forc'd and compell'd for fear to swear Allegiance to him But at length he met with a just Reward for his Disloyalty losing both his Crown and Life at once to Duke William who had as little Right as he And thus I hope I have made it clearly evident that my Antagonist has been wretchedly mistaken in all his Instances during the Saxons Government and tho' he pretend he pick'd but a few out of the many he could have produced yet without disparagement to his exquisite Discernment I think I may truly say he must have had a great deal better Eyes than my self to have found them and a great deal more Dexterity than I can perceive he is Master of to have by wresting and Wire-drawing the meaning of his Authors made more But tho' he may have had ill luck hitherto in his Undertaking yet perhaps he may succeed better in his Endeavours after the Normans had made themselves Masters of this Island but I am afraid when we come to examine How and in what manner and upon what Grounds the Natural course of the Descent hath been changed We shall find very little reason not still to seem astonished at the boldness of the men who would persuade us that a Link of the sacred Chain of Succession may be broke so often as a Parliament thinks fit For if we look but with an impartial Eye upon the History of those times we shall find that such a course of Succession as I am contending for has been constantly conserved unless diverted out of its duc Channel by some powerful and ambitious Prince who by Cunning Subtilty Artifice and Address and by the Assistance of some Popular Friend has jugled himself into the Throne and tho' we find some of them debasing their Prerogative truckling to and courting the People for their Approbation thereby hoping to strengthen a crack'd Title and make up in Power and their Favour what it wanted as to its Legality I presume no man of even Common Sence can take that for an Election since it ought to be a Solemn Free Sedate and deliberate Act which I am sure none of my Adversaries Instances can pretend to be Besides it seems very strange to me that the Kings of those Times should Intitle themselves to the Crown only from the Consent of the People and that we should no where find mention of * Vicar Generals they are stiled in the Empire Administrators of the Government betwixt the Death of the preceding King and the Election of his Successor since without such a Provision and such a one I am sure there never was the Kingdom must necessarily have run into Anarchy and Confufion especially if the Crown were engaged in a War at the Death of any King which has above once happen'd therefore I think my Lord Coke †In the Preface to his fourth Book of Reports had reason for saying This Kingdom is a Monarchy successive by inherent Birth-right of all others the most absolute and perfect Form of Government excluding Interregnums and with it infinite Inconveniencies But proceed we now to examine his Proofs and first he tells us King William himself being illegitimate yet succeeded his Father in the Dutchy of Normandy and therefore had no great reason to set any great value upon that sort of Title which is derived from Right of Blood But if he had pleas'd to have examin'd the matter a little more narrowly he would have found that ‖ M. Westm f. 208. W. Malmsb lib. 3. f. 95. Arlotte the Conqueror's Mother was afterwards lawful Wife to Duke Robert which subsequent Marriage was according to the then almost univerfally received Canon Law not only sufficient to render him Legitimate quoad Sacerdotium but quoad Successionem too tho' the latter was not allowed of in England
propter consuetudinem regni quod se habet in contrarium so that at a Parliament holden ** Coke 1 Inst f. 245. a. Anno 20 H. 3. for that to certifie upon the King 's Writ that the Son born before Marriage is a Bastard was contra communem formam Ecclesiae Rogaverunt omnes Episcopi magnates ut consentirent quod nati ante Matrimonium essent legitimi sicut illi qui nati sunt post Matrimonium quantum ad Successionem haereditaniam quia Ecclesia tales habet pro legitimis omnes Comites Barones una voce responderunt Quod nolunt leges Angliae mutare quae hucusque usitatae sunt approbatae but how it can reasonably be extended to Normandy I cannot understand for then William had been excluded But to go on William having conquer'd this Island which he pretended to upon the account of the Confessor's donation upon his Death-bed bequeathed the Kingdom of England to his Second Son William his Eldest Son Robert being then in actual Rebellion against him but Rufus being too wise to rely upon his Fathers Will which was contrary to all Right and Justice ††M. Par. vit W. 2. in prin P. Virg. lib. 10. Posts away out of Normandy immediately into England seises upon his Fathers Treasure and very ** In pecuniâ dispergendâ neque segnis neque parcus omnem Thesaurum patris Wintoniae accumulatum in lucem proferens Monasteriis Aurum Ecclesiis Parochianis Argenti Solidos quinque unicuique provinciae libras centum egenis dividendas misericorditer assignavit M. P. ubi supra liberally bestowes it amongst the people giving Gold to the Monasteries five shillings to every Parish Church and a hundred pound to to every Province to be destributed amongst those that were needy and in want promises over and above an emendation of the hard Laws his Father had imposed upon his Subjects and a speedy redress of the Grievances which then the People groan'd under by which specious pretences and by the assiduous endeavours and great interest of * M. Par. vir G. 2. in prin P. Virg. l. 10. Lanfranck Archbishop of Canterbery for the Clergy in those days had no small influence upon Affairs he so far prevailed with the generality of people that according to his Fathers will which was very much urged in his favour he was received with the Shouts and Acclamations of the Croud where he was immediately proclaimed and soon after Crowned King but in spight of all their endeavours they were not able to corrupt the Loyalty of some stout and generous †M. Paris ubi supra M. Westm f. 231. Normans who as in duty they were bound resolved to stand firm to Robert to whom by the Laws of God and Nature supposing the Conqueror had lawfully enjoy'd the Crown the Royalty was due but their brave undertaking was rendered uneffectual by the policy of William who found means to take some of them off and by the assistance of the ‖ Sim. Dunelm anno 1088. fol. 214. English to reduce the rest And here this Gentleman takes occasion to observe that the Conqueror by his absolute Victory did not so wholly break the English that all the Old Laws and Customs were destroy'd because they wanted not hands to use those Weapons which were put into 'em for the defence of Rufus and thence I suppose infers that the Conqueror came not to the Crown so much by Arms as Consent of the People but how senseless and rediculous a pretence this is I leave to himself to judge since a sure and faithful ** Ut commilitonibus Normannis qui in bello Hastingensi patriam secum subjugaverant terras Anglorum possessiones ipsis expulsis manu distribuat affiuenti modicum illud quod eis remaneret subjugo poneret perpetuae servitutis M. Par. in vit W. 1. in prin Historian will inform him that William having left the English Hostages in safe Custody in Normandy return'd into England to destribute the Lands of the English amongst his Norman Souldiers that had assisted him to subjugate that Country which he did very liberally having expell'd the owners out of their possessions and that little he was pleas'd to leave to some of 'em he put under the slavish Tenure of perpetual Villenage which certainly he never could have done had he not both obtained and governed the Kingdom Jure gladii But to return from whence I have digressed Rufus and his Brother Robert came to this Agreement at the length that the latter ††Propter manifestum jus quod habuit ad Regnum possidendum Roberto singulis annis tria millia Marcarum Argenti daret ab Anglia quis corum diutius viveret Haeres eslet alterius si absque filio moreretur Hoc autem per duodecem magnates juratum suit utrinque M. Westm f. 236. because of the manifest right he had to enjoy the Crown should have a yearly Pension of three thousand Marks out of the Revenue of England and he that surviv'd the other if he died without Children should be Heir to the deceased Brother and so far were they from thinking this Agreement stood in need of the Ratification of a Great Council that there was but Twelve of their Principal friends on each side Sworn to see it duly observed But Robert being absent in the Holy Land at Rufus's death the great men of the Kingdom were mightily afraid of being long without a King it seems they were of opinion that Robert had a right to govern which Henry his Younger Brother wisely perceiving resolved to take time by the Fore-top and improve this Opportunity to the Supplanting of his Brother and Advancement of himself therefore to win the Affections of the Great Men he was very liberal in making them ‖‖ P. Virg. lib. 11. partim dando partim grandia pollicendo munera c. Presents and promising larger Rewards the usual and most prevailing Rhetorick of Competitors representing to 'em his Brother's Cruel Disposition and that he himself was their own Country-man and born after his Fathers coming to the Crown which gave a reasonable pretence to expect to be prefer'd before Robert and having bound himself by Oath to make a full Restitution of all their Ancient Laws and confirm them by his Charter and abrogate such severe ones as his Father had made they did * In ipsum consentirent in regem unanimiter consecrarent M. Par. vit H. 1. in princi pio unanimously consent to consecrate him King and I cannot see how this that was managed with so much Bribery and Corruption can properly be call'd an Election however I think we need not wonder to find this King publickly owning the consent of the people to be the foundation of his Advancement to the Throne for he must either acknowledge that or openly profess himself an unjust Usurper since he had no other way to entitle himself to it but