Laiety by Sequestrations Decimations and otherwise ensued whereof we of the Loyal Party were not only Witnesses and Spectators but therein we were fellow Sufferers Now the Writs of the King suffered Violence of which Mr. Fitzherbert in his Preface to his Natura Brevium saith that they be the Foundations whereupon the whole Law doth depend of the which Writs and Processes as be appointed in the Law it is said in St. Jermin in his Book Written by way of Dialogue called Doctor and Student Fol. 64. a. That the King as Sovereign and Fountain of the Law is bounden of Justice to Grant them to every Person that will Complain be his Surmise true or false Yet in stead of Carolus Secundus Dei Gratia c. Vicecomiti c. was used The Keepers of the Liberties of England by Authority of Parliament To the Sheriff of c. But those who had built this Babel by their Divisions and Jealousies one had of another were in time brought to strange Confusions The Writs were to run no longer in the Name of the Keepers c. But all Writs and Process were issued forth in the Name of Oliver their General The Independent though the Younger now prevailed against the Presbyterian the Elder Brother whath the Elder had hunted after the Younger now catched for himself And now also it may be observed that a House of Commons singly Assumed to themselves the Title of and were stiled the Parliament of England though his Sacred Majesty King Charles the First had before truely told them in his Speech to them 3. Car. that none of the Houses of Parliament joint or Separate had any Power either to Make or Declare a Law without his Consent CHAP. V. Sheweth about what time the Kings Writs were first framed for the induction of the Commons into the Parliaments of England FRom the Norman Conquest untill some time in the Reign of H. 3. Parliaments were holden by the King and his Barons Spiritual and Temporal in whose days it is thought the Kings Writ for Election of Kinghts c. was first framed and that the Commons were reduced to a House by the Advice of the Bishops to the King in the heat of the Barons Wars It was thought expedient then to frame a Writ for their Induction that they might allay and lessen the Pride and Power of the Peers who had waged War so many years against the Crown However least they should arrogate too much Authority to themselves they never could so much as exhibit an Oath nor impose a Fine or inflict Punishment upon any but their own Members until the time of the late Usurpers when they were grown to that height of Impudence that the King himself and Lords Spiritual and Temporal were Excluded by them of whom as well before the Norman Conquest as since the Ancient Parliaments of England consisted only without them For it is true the People were wrought under by the Sword of the first William and his followers to a Subjected Vassallage Division and Power had Mastered them none of their old Nobility and Heads were left either of Credit or Fortunes what he Detained not in Providence as the Demeans of the Crown or reserved in Piety as for the Maintenance of the Church he parted and divided amongst those Strangers that Sailed along with him in the same Bark of his Adventure leaving the Natives for the most part as may be seen by his Survey called Domesday Book now in the Exchequor in no better a condition than Villenage To supply his Occasions of Men Money or Provisions he Ordered that all those who injoyed any fruit of his Conquest should hold their Lands proportionably by so many Knights Fees of the Crown And permitted them to Enfeofle their followers with such parts as they pleased of their own Portions which to ease their charge they did in his and his Sons time This course provided him the Body of his War the Money and Provision was by Hidage Assessed on the Common People at and with the consent of their Lords who held in all their Seigniories such right of Royalty that to their vassals as Paris saith they were quot domini tot Tyranni and in time provided to the Kings so great a Curb and restraint of Power that nothing fell into the Care of Majesty after more than to retrench the force of Aristocracy that was like in time to strangle the Monarchy Though others foresaw the Mischief betimes yet none attempted the remedy until King John whose overhasty undertakings brought in the mentioned broiles of the Barrons Wars there needed not before this Care to Advise with the Commons in any Parliamentary or Publick Assemblies when every Man in England by Tenure held himself to his great Lords Will whose Presence was ever required in their Parliaments and in whose Assents his dependant Tennants consent was ever included from what is aforesaid the Commons of England or rather they whom the Commons shall Elect to future Parliaments and are properly said in Parliament Assembled to be the Representatives of all the Commons of England may take notice that Anciently was in use only one Writ of Summons to Parliament by which the King Summoned the Lords Spiritual and Temporal separately to come to his Parliament at a certain Day and Place appointed in the Kings Writ And of latter times with the reasons for the one and the other there hath been an Additional Writ framed which is sent to every Sheriff of England and Wales for Election of Kinghts c. for the Parliament in the Kings Name and when sent it is called the Kings Writ and is directed to his Subordinate Officer the Kings Sheriff For the truth is the King by his Writ giveth the very Essence and Form to the Parliament which is to be Summoned when he pleaseth to be Adjourned Prorogued and Dissolved when he pleaseth And in all good times of Government before and since the Conquest it was ever in the Kings power and was and is his Priviledge Royal Prerogative and Regality to Grant or Deny such Petitions as he pleaseth and all Acts of former times and some of latter time were and are in form of Petitions CHAP. VI. Sheweth the difference between Parliamentary Priviledges and the Priviledges of the King and sheweth how at first Kingly Government was constituted by God himself and that by Gods Law also the Legislative Power and the Power of the Militia was given to the King and that in these highest Points of the Kings Prerogative the Law of England is agreeing with the Law of God and that God is vindex sui Ordinis the avenger of his own Ordinance THE Speaker uf the House of Commons on the first day of every Parliament is usually Presented to the King and in the Name of the Commons of England he humbly Prays his Majesty would be Graciously Pleased to Grant them their Liberties and Priviledges which is a strong Argument that their Priviledge their
Law hold Quod solus Princeps qui est Monarcha Imperator in Regno suo ex plenitudine potestatis potest creare Comitem Palatinum according to which Rule the King of England may well Create a Countee Palatine for he is Monarcha Imperator in Regno suo as is apparent by many Records and Judgments in Parliament Here we may observe by the way that when once the King was Invested with Royal Authority that his workings in his Sphear were Honoured with the Name of Creation he was said to Create as we may say in our own Phrase Men that are Advanced by the King to some Title of Nobility or Office of State are commonly said by him to be Created and that the Stile of their Pattents is not only facimus but creamus that as in Scripture Kings are Named Gods I have said ye are Gods So they may in their Sphear do something resembling the Power of God And every Countee Palatine Created by the King of England is Lord of a whole County and hath in it Jura Regalia which are consisting in Two principal Points 1st In Royal Jurisdiction by reason whereof he hath all the High Courts and Officers of Justice the King hath And 2ly In Royal Seigniory by reason whereof he hath all the Royal Services and Escheats that the King hath And therefore this County is meerly disjoin'd and as it were Seperated from the Crown as is said in the Case of the Dutchy Plow 215. b. so that no Writ of the King runneth there unless it be Observe a Writ of Error which being the last Resort and Appeal is only excepted out of all their Charters 15. Eliz. Dyer 321. and 345. and 34. H. 6. 42. and as to Royal Escheates the Countee Palatine hath the Escheates of Treasons that the King by his Prerogative shall have of Lands holden of all other Lords but that is to be understood of Treasons which were so at the time when the Countee Palatine was first Erected and not of new Treasons by Act of Parliament afterwards 12. Eliz. Dyer 288. b. 289. a. and this comes Palatinus was so called à comitando vel sequendo principem and the Persons advanced to this Name or Title of Honour were summi proceres à Rege proximi he was to be a Chief Officer and Counsellor in the Pallace of the King and it is said he was not only to be a Companion of the Person of the King but he is to be comes curarum also he is par extans curis solo diademete dispar and is to Sink and Swim at all times and seasons with his Lord the King though it be in troubled Waters So that the King is and ever was the fountain of Honour for as it belongeth only to the King of England to Make or Coin Money and that no other person can do the same without special leave or Commandment of the King and if any presume of his own head to Coin Money it is Treason And as he only hath the Priviledge to Coin Money so he hath the same Prerogative to give a vallew to base Metal by his Impression or Character as he hath to give a higher Esteem to a mean Person by imparting the Character of Honour to him sic fiet viro quem Rex honorare desiderat Davyes rep 19. a. 25. a. yet the Countees Palatine are to take notice what is said also in Davyes rep 66. b. Comites Palatii regalem habent potestatem in omnibus salvo dominio Domino Regi sicut Principi Countees Palatine have Kingly Power in all things excepted always nevertheless Lordship Dominion and the Power to Rule over them and their Counties to the Lord the King as their Prince and Soveraign And they and all the Nobility either of the more Ancient or the latter impression are to know that no Lord can be Ancienter than the King for all was of him and came from him at the beginning Stanf. prer 10th a. and we have a saying in our Books that honor est in honorante non in honorato that Honour is in him that doth the Honour not in him that is Honoured and amongst many reasons might be given for the same I shall only presume to mention one which is that Persons of Honour should so behave themselves to all Men that they should not give the least occasion to any Man to think much less to speak Dishonourably of them In the 2d Book of Samuel 23d chap. we have a Catalogue of Davids Worthies of whom some were more mighty and had done more signal Services than others of them and therefore were more Honourable than the others so we may also see in the same Book of Samuel in the 17th and 19th chapters That Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim that when the Armies of Israel and Absalom were pitched in the Land of Gilead had relieved David and his People with him with all manner of Forrage Beds Basons Earthen Vessels Wheat Barley Flower parched Corn Beans Lentils parched Pulse Honey Butter Sheep and Cheese of Kine that David and the People with him might Eat and refresh themselves for there it is said the People were hungry and weary and thirsty in the Wilderness in the 18th chap. we have the Relation of the Defeat of Absaloms Army and his death in the 19th chap. we have King David saying unto Barzillai come thou over Jordan with me and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem Barzillai was to have been made Comes Palatinus was to be taken into the Kings own Family and to feed with the King at his own Table But the good old Man being very Aged excused the matter saying Thy Servant will go a little way over Jordan with the King and why should the King recompence it me with such a reward Let thy Servant I pray thee turn back again that c. But behold my Son thy Servant Chimham let him go over with my Lord the King and the King answered Chimham shall go over with me and I will do to him that shall seem good unto thee and whatsoever thou shalt require of me that will I do for thee and all the People went over Jordan And when the King was come over the King kissed Barzillai and Blessed him and he returned to his own place Hence may be inferred that the King hath not only paenam Punishment but also praemium Reward in his Power and so he is set over us not only for the punishment of them that do evil but also for the praise and reward of them that do well And as if for the Life only of King David to have created Chimham Comitem Pallacii sui or Pallainum had not been a reward suitable to the Merits of good old Barzillai in the First Book of Kings the 2d chap. and the 7th verse we may see That when the days of David drew nigh that he should die and that he gave several things in charge to Solomon his Son
that sueth by Petition he may afterwards enterplede with the King and if cause be for the same the Subject shall have right done him and shall have restitution of that he sueth for by Petition as readily as one Subject may recover against another Subject in any of the Kings Courts For the King of England hath all Subordinate Offices in him to grant but none in him to use himself and all his Subordinate Officers Ministers of State and such as do occupy Judicial places and others even from those of his Majesties Privy Counsel to the Petty Constable at their admittance to their Offices are Sworn by meet Forms of Religious Attestations or Oaths for their just and upright Execution of the same between the King and his Subjects meaning thereby not only to set God before their Eyes whom by such Oath they call to Witness of their promise and call upon for revenge of their falshood but also they are thereby threatned with temporal peins provided by the Policy of Christian Laws against corrupt dealings and thereby their minds are strengthened and they are Armed with Courage against the force of humane affections which otherwise might allure or draw them to partiallity and out of the way of right Judgment and Justice And the King as is said Plow 231. b. neither gives nor takes but by matter of Record and therefore Livery of Seizin being matter in Deed the King ought not to do it for he ought to have a Record for his Acts therefore the King shall neither make Livery nor take by Livery and a Subject may not give Lands to the King by Act Executed in his Life time if not that it be by Deed Enrolled or other matter of Record So that seeing the King must have a Record for his Acts and that the same are had and obtained by his Subordinate Officers if any thing be done in prejudice of the Subject his Officers are answerable for the same not the King And also C. 11. 90. b. an Officer or Minister of the King may do nothing in disadvantage of the King nor of the Subject by reason Publick Officers are at their admittance to their Publick Offices and Imployments Sworn Well and Lawfully to serve the Lord the King and his People and that Lawfully they shall Counsel the King in his business and that they shall not Counsel nor Assent to any thing which shall turn him in dammage or disherison by any manner way or colour and that they shall do equal Law and Execution of right to all his Subjects Rich and Poor without having regard to any Person as may be seen in Mr. Pulton's Statutes at large 18th Edward the Third in the Oath of the Justices and the Oaths of the Clerks of the Chancery c. And Stanford 59. a. The King is said to be alwaies present in Court and if the Parties in pleading or any Jury in their Verdict disclose matter that entitleth the King and the Court shall adjudge for the King though that he is not any of the Parties to the Action CHAP. XIV Sheweth what inconveniencies happen in the Realm of France through Regal Government alone with the Commodities that proceed of the joynt Government Politick and Regal in the Realm of England And all the Community are herein disswaded by mutinous and Rebellious practises to Disinfranchise themselves IN Sir John Davyes rep Fol. 40. b. it is said that the Kings of England have always claimed and had within their Dominions a Monarchy Royal and not a Monarchy Seignioral or Tyranny and that under a Monarchy Royal the Subjects are Freemen and have property in their Goods and Freehold and Inheritance in their Lands but under a Monarchy Seignioral or Tyranny they are all as Villains or Slaves and are Proprietors of nothing but at the will of their Grand Seignior or Tyrant as in Turkey and Moscovy But Sir John Fortescue Fol. 25 c. saith That the King of England cannot alter or change the Laws of his Realm at his pleasure for that he Governeth his People not by power only Royal but also Politick and such King Ruling by Power Royal and Politick can neither change Laws without the consent of his Subjects nor yet charge them with strange impositions against their Wills so that to Rule the People by Government Politick is no Yoak not only to the Subject but to the King himself accordingly within the Realm of England no Man Sojourneth in another Mans House without the love and leave of the good Man of the same House saving in Common Inns where before his departure he shall satisfie and pay for all his charges there neither shall he escape unpunished whosoever he be that taketh another Mans Goods without the good will of the owner thereof nether is it unlawful for any Man to provide and store himself of Salt and other Merchandizes and Wares at his own will and pleasure or any Man that selleth the same neither doth the King take away any of his Subjects Goods without due satisfaction for the same neither doth the King by himself or his Servants and Officers leavy upon his Subjects Tallages Subsedies or any other burdens or alter their Laws without the express consent and agreement of the whole Realm in his Parliament So that every Inhabitant of the Realm useth and enjoyeth at his pleasure all the Fruits that his Land or Cattle beareth with all the Profits and Commodities which by his own Travel or by the Labour of others he gaineth by Land or by Water not hindered by the injury or wrong detainment of any Man but that he shall be allowed reasonable recompence So that the People of England are plentifully furnished with all things that are requisite to the accomplishment of a quiet and wealthy life according to their Estates and Degrees neither are they sued in the Law nor are Arrested or Impleaded for their Moveables or Possessions or Arraigned of any offence Criminal but only before ordinary Judges where by the Laws of the Land they are justly intreated And these are the Fruits which Government Politick and Regal conjoyned doth bear and bring forth But in the Realm of France where the People are Governed by Regal Power alone the Villages and Towns are pestered with the Kings Men at Arms and their Horses so that it is hard in any of the great Towns there to get any Lodging which Men at Arms though they continue in one Village a Month or Two do not nor will pay any thing at all for their own charges or for the charges of their Horses and when they have spent all the Victuals Fuel and Horse-meat in one Town then they go to another Town wasting the same in the like manner not paying one Penny for any necessaries and thus are all the Villages and Unwalled Towns of the Land used so that there is not the least Village there free from this miserable Calamity but that it is Once or Twice every year beggered by this
Secretaries of State or some Magistrate and to discover the whole matter in orderly manner that he ought not to stay Two days or nights in one place before he sees the King nor to be let or hindred by any business though never so urgent quia vix ei permittitur ut retrospiciat because the Law giveth him not so much time as to look back in some Cases as we must render an account for every idle word so must we likewise in this case for our idle silence for in such a Case as this where any knoweth of any Conspiracy against his King or Country he is bound by the Laws and Statutes of this Realm presently to discover it for as Fire in its beginning whilst it is but small is more easily quenched than it is afterwards when by some continuance it hath gathered strength so the beginning of Rebellious contrivances being known and discovered with more ease the sad events and evil consequences thereof are nipped in the Bud and are smothered hindred and prevented therefore as to this Evil or rather Devil of Rebellion all are to be advised by the Poet who saith Principiis obsta sero medicina paratur Cum mala per longas invaluere moras CHAP. XVII Sheweth that all Writs Process Executions and Commandments are and ought to be in the Kings Name only NOW I shall acquaint you further that all Writs Executions and Commandments are done in the Kings Name Nay we do say in England the Life and Member of the Kings Subject are the Kings only that is to say no Man hath hault or moyenne Justice but the King nor can hold plea thereof Hence it is that those Pleas which touch the Life or Mutilation of Man be called Pleas of the Crown nor can be done in the Name of any inferior Person than he or she that holdeth the Crown of England And all Enditements Presentments and Processes relating to the Sessions of the Peace begin with Juratores presentant pro Domino Rege quod I. S. de c. or Inquiratur pro Domino Rege si A. B. de c. And every warrant from a Justice of the Peace upon all occasions whatsoever directed to the Constable begin with these or such like words these are in his Majesties Name to Will and Require you forthwith c. If any Process Summons Invitation or Commandment come to you in Parliament time or out of Parliament time in any other Habit Dress or Name whatsoever Be you assured such Coin is counterfeit and not currant within his Majesties Realms and Domions but are deceitful and delusory and may not improperly be likened to the Melody of Syrens who Sing not to stir up Mirth but to allure unto danger and mishaps CHAP. XVIII All Freeholders are advised as to what manner of Persons they are or ought to Choose for future Parliaments I Remember I made mention of the Secluded Members in the late times of Rebellion These were they with whom Treason had no place because with them Obedience to their Soveraign Lord the King and his Laws Ecclesiastical and Temporal bore sway and held Principallity some of whom when the confluence and Clamours of the Tumults in those times passed all boundaries of Laws and Reverence to Authority by the rude and unseemly deportments both in contemptuous words and actions of the vulgar and that no means prevailed for their suppression withdrew themselves with his Sacred Majesty King Charles the First for the security of their Persons from Violence others of when the Lords were Excluded and the House of Commons was purged by the Military power to a Rump Parliament for rotten Members as they then termed them were cast out and all of them that were afterwards living were again chosen for Parliament-men upon his late Majesties most miraculous and happy Restauration Many of them held their King and Country and the Government thereof so dear that in defence thereof they feared not to hazard their lives and Fortunes Such as these were Men Fearing God Honouring their King and abhorring to meddle or joyn with those that are given to change I advise every Freeholder who hath a voice in the Election of Knights Citizens and Burgesses should Chose and Elect to sit in Parliament for the future when his Majesty shall be pleased to Issue forth his Royal Writs for the same If you know of any that have offended grievously in former Parliaments Elect them not again upon an expected repentance All jealousies and fears laid aside Elect such as are Men of good Fortunes not such as have their fortunes to make such as are Wise and prudent Men in the management of their own private Affairs at home and in their several Countries make a right and good use of those benefits which God hath put into their hands for their succouring of others their poor Tennants and Neighbours whose vertue is yet altogether joyned with that Justice that is prudently guided with Moderation and reason for they that know well how to manage their own private Affairs when called thereto will in all probability as carefully contribute their prudent and hearty endeavours for the preservation of the Publick Peace and welfare of the whole Community Let not Elections be carryed on as heretofore with partiality and popular heat let the Gravity and discretion of the more sober and better educated Gentry allay and fix the Commons to a due temperament guiding some Mens well meaning Zeal by such Rules of Moderation as are best both to preserve and restore the health and welfare of all States and Kingdoms Every Freeholder ought to know and well to consider with what power he trusts those whom he chooseth in regard the Power of the House of Commons is derived from that trust and the Kings Writ directed to the Sheriff gives Authority to the Freeholders to make their Elections in which is expressed not only the Sheriffs Duty in point of Summoning but the Writ also contains the Duty and Power of such Knights and Burgesses as shall be Elected and such as shall be Elected are to know that as a Body Natural cannot do any perfect Act if it be dismembred viz. if the Head be in one place and the Body in another place and so of the rest of the Members of a Body Natural so it is in like wise of the Parliament which may be said by the Power of the King to be made corporate or the highest Court aggregate and consisting of the King or Queen of England the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in Parliament Assembled the Members whereof are or ought to know that they are Capitulariter or rather sub uno capite congregati Chapterwise or rather Assembled under one Head which is the King or Queen thereof who have the only Power Priviledge and Prerogative not only of Summoning but also of Adjourning Proroguing and Dissolving of the Parliament as alsh of Passing or not Passing any Bills whatsoever framed for Acts at
of the Kings foundation and the Kings of England are the Founders of them all and they sit in Parliament and have the Names of the Lords of the Parliament non ratione Nobilitatis sed ratione Officii not by reason of their Nobility but by reason of their Office and in respect of their Ancient Barronies annexed to their dignities C. Inst 1. part 97. a. And in C. 5. 1. part Cawdreyes Case it may be seen That King Kenulphus by Charter in Parliament in the year of our Lord 755. Exempted the Abbot of Abingdon from Episcopal Jurisdiction and gave it him That amongst the Laws of Edward the Confessor it was Ordained that he should Govern the Kingdom and his People and above all the Holy Church not the Pope That William the Conqueror Appropriated Churches with Cure That King Henry the First presented to Abbeys as well by his Ecclesiastical as his Kingly Power That Henry the Third granted Prohibitions and in Issue of Loyalty of Marriage and general Bastardy the King wrote to the Bishop as his immediate Officer That in the time of Edward the Third the Temporalties of the Archbishop of York were lost during his Life for refusal of a Clark of the King by reason of a Provision of the Pope That by 25. Edw. the Third a Man might kill those that procured Provisions from Rome and those that executed them Also by 25. Edw. 3d. It was Enacted that the Pope shall not give Archbishopricks Bishopricks c. but that the King them shall give c. That by 16. Rihard the Second chap. 5th It is Enacted that because the King holdeth his Crown immediately under God they who purchase or pursue in the Court of Rome Translations Processes Excommunications Bulls Instruments c. and their Fautors and Councillors shall be out of the Protection of the King and Praemunire facias shall be awarded against them That 2. H. 4. 9. It is resolved that Collectors of the Pope by their Bulls have not any Jurisdiction here and that the Archbishops and Bishops are called the Spiritual Judges of the King And 11. H. 4. 37. it is said Papa non potest mutare leges Angliae that the Pope cannot change or alter the Laws of England That 2. Henry the Fourth chap. 3d. he that obtaineth from the Bishop of Rome to be exempt from regular Obedience is within the Case of a Praemunire That 6. H. 4. chap. 1. Forfeiture was imposed upon those who payed great sums to the Chamber of Rome That by 2. H. 5. chap. 1. The King not the Pope gave power to the Ordinary to enquire of the Foundation and Government of Hospitals and to correct c. That in 9. H. 6. 16. The King only can give License for the Foundation of a Corporation Spiritual not the Pope That 12th Edw. 4th 16. A Legate of the Pope was compelled to Swear that he would not attempt any thing against the Crown c. That in 2. Rich. 3. It is said that Excommunication or Judgment at Rome is of no force here That in First Henry the 7th 10th It is said that in time of King Henry the Sixth Humphry Duke of Glocester burnt the Letters of the Pope that were in Derogation ot the King and his Crown And 1. H. 7. 20. It is adjudged that the Pope may not grant Sanctuary And 25. Henry the 8. chap. 21. It is Enacted by the Statute forementioned of faculties that none shall make suit to Rome but that the Archbishop of Canterbury may grant to the King and his Subjects such Licenses Dispensations Grants Faculties Escripts Delegacies Instruments c. not repugnant to Holy Scripture as been used to be granted by the Pope yet it is to be noted that such Cannons Constitutions Ordinances Synods Provincials c. were provided to be in force which had been allowed by general Consent and Custom within the Realm not repugnant to Law or the Prerogative of the King and so by the same general Consent may be Corrected Enlarged Explained or Abrogated hence we may rest satisfied that for many Hundreds of years last past successively in the time of one King after another King when all our Ancestors were Papists and of that profession that yet the Government of the Church ever was inherent to the Imperial Crown of the Kings of England In the time of King Henry the Third the Usurped Jurisdiction of the Pope was elevated more high than ever before or since yet it may be observed that in the Ninth year of his Reign in the very first Chapter of the great Charter Entitled and Called The Confirmation of Liberties is mentioned First We have granted to God and by this our present Charter have confirmed for Us and Our Heirs for ever that the Church of England shall be free and shall have all her whole Rights and Liberties inviolable And by the Statute of 24. H. 8. chap. 12. by 24. Bishops and 29 Abbots it is recited that England is an Empire and that the King is the Head of the Body Politick consisting of the Temporalty and the Spiritualty impleet and furnished with full Power to render final Justice in all matters whatsoever as well Ecclesiastical as Temporal And that part of the said Body Politick called the Spiritualty hath been always thought sufficient and meet of it self without the intermeddling of any Forreign Pope or any exterior Person or Persons when any cause of the Law Divine happened to come in question or of Spiritual Learning to declare and determine all such doubts and to adminster all such Offices and Duties yet as the Spiritual Judges of and under the King as to their several Roomes Spiritual doth appertain And the Laws Temporal for Trial of Property of Lands and Goods and for the conservation of the Realm in Unity and Peace without Rapine or Spoil were and yet are Administred Adjudged and Executed by sundry Judges and Ministers of the other part of the Body Politick called the Temporalty And their Authorities and Jurisdictions do conjoyn together in the due Administration of Justice the one is a help to the other and both are a help to and in ease of the King the Head of this Body Politick here you have concisely and in few words discovered unto you the Ancient form of the Government of England both in Church and State and accordingly in Ancient times the Parliaments of England consisted only of the King the Lords Spiritual and the Lords Temporal who were Anciently the Representatives of the whole Kingdom in Parliament Assembled under the Kings or Queens thereof but for some Hundreds of years last past a Writ hath been framed for the Election of Knigts c. to sit in Parliament and these Knights c. are to be chosen by the Freeholders in their several Counties CHAP. XX. As to the Kings Supremacy is shewed the difference between the Primitive and more modern times herein the Author adviseth all to be at Vnity within themselves and
their omission of the word quibusdam in their said protestation the said Learned King James the First did actually take the said protestation out of the Journal Book propriâ suâ manu and on the sixth of January Dissolved the Parliament and some eminent Members of the Parliament were committed to the Tower and others to other Prisons and some sent into Ireland rather for Punishment than to Enquire as was pretended of sundry Matters concerning his Majesties Service There then appeared some Men of Antimonarchial Spirits and that insisted too highly upon Priviledges little regarding or rightly considering the measures chalked out to them by the Kings Writ by which they are summoned and impowered to sit in Parliament The Members before spoken of remembred not what the said King James the First in time before said the Parliament is a thing composed of a Head and a Body the Monarchy and the Three Estates it was first a Monarchy then after a Parliament that there were no Parliaments but in Monarchical Governments for in Venice the Netherlands and other free Governments there are none the Head is to call the Body together and for the Clergy the Bishops are the Chief for Shires their Knights for Towns and Cities their Burgesses and Citizens these are to treat of the certain difficult Matters and to Counsel their King with their best advice to make Laws for the Commonweale and the Lower House is also to Petition their King and acquaint him with their Grievances and not to meddle with their Kings Prerogative they are to offer supply for his necessity and he is to distribute in recompence thereof Justice and Mercy If this Head and Body Monarch and Three Estates be at unity within themselves they then make le treshault Court de Parliament the Supreme and in the superlative Degree the highest Court of Parliament Their Priviledges are so great that whilst that Court is at unity within it self I know not what it may not do and as directed by Mr. Plowden I shall not think much less speak any thing dishonourable of that Court but as in Arithmetick Three Cyphers with a Figure of One prefixed makes the compleat Number of one Thousand so take away the Number or rather the beginning of Number of One and the Three Cyphers that remain signifie nothing For when the Parliament is stiled the Supreme Court it must be understood properly of the King sitting in the House of Peers in Person and improperly of the Lords or Commons without him the Consultive Directive or Deliberative Power is in the House of Peers the Performing and Consenting Power is in the House of Commons but the Legislative Power lodgeth in the Person of the King yet altogether that is to say King Lords and Commons make Parliamentary binding Laws and Statutes 7. H. 7. 14. it is said that there are many Statutes indicted quod dominus Rex Statuit that our Lord the King hath ordained yet if they are in the Parliament Roul and have always been allowed as Statutes it shall be intended that they were made by Authority of Parliament But if a Statute be made thus the King with the Assent of the Lords or the King with the Assent of the Commons It hath been held from about the time of H. 3. to the time of the late Rebellion not to be good for all ought to Assent Coke 8.20 21. so that as Sir John Fortescue saith Fol. 40. a. b. Statutes are made in England not only by the Princes pleasure tho he saith not that in England they can be made without the Princes pleasure or Royal Assent but by and with the Assent of the whole Realm in Parliament assembled by their Representatives so that of necessity they must procure the Wealth of the People and in no wise tend to their hindrance which well they cannot do seeing they are ordained not by the device of one Man alone or of a Hundred wise Councelors only but of more than three Hundred chosen Men much agreeing with the number of the Ancient Senators of Rome and if it chance these Statutes being devised with such great Solemnity and Wit not to fall out so effectually as the intent of the makers did wish they may quickly be Reformed in a Subsequent Parliament but not without the Assent of all the Powers by whose Authority they were first passed and devised CHAP. II. Sheweth how King Charles the First found things at his first coming to these Crowns and there is also said something as to the learning of the Customs the chief Maintenance of the Crown in his time I Further observe that at the first coming to the Crown of the said King Charles the First his first Parliament in the first Year of his Reign or the Major part of them met not without being armed with some prejudice to his said Sacred Majesty King Charles the First for therein the Act for Tonnage and Poundage passed not which in the first Parliaments from the time of H. 7. to this time as it were accustomably and of course had been granted and passed to all his Royal Ancestors Kings and Queens of this Realm The sudden Dissolution of that Parliament preventing the Act of Subsedies he was forced to draw from his People by borrowing of Persons able to lend such competent Sums of Money as might discharge his present Occasions and to that purpose directed Letters to the Lord Lieutenant of Counties to return the Names of Persons able to lend omitting the Names of Noble Men and Clergy-men and the Names returned the Comptroler of the Kings Household by the Councils order issued forth Letters in the Kings Name under the Privy Seal to the several Persons returned for Loane of Money Though this was not the first time that ever such Loanes under the Privy Seal were had upon certain emergent Occasions and in cases of urgent necessity by failer of Parliamentary Supplies Yet in the Parliament next after in tertio Caroli primi many of the Members took the occasion to strive as to their insisting upon their Priviledges to outdo one another Then the modesty of the House of Commons which was very great in former times was by them forgotten and they began to arrogate more Power than what the Kings Writ gave them heretofore they evaded matters of State as much as they could and when their Advice hath been desired they have humbly desired not to be put to consult of things of which they had no knowledge and at other times they have humbly desired that the King would be advised in matters of War or Peace by the Lords being of more Experience than themselves in such Affairs and have used modestly to excuse themselves as too weak to consult in so weighty Matters But then several Speeches and Resolves made by divers Champions of the House of Commons who were no friends to Prerogative put the Lords and Commons then Assembled in Parliament upon their Petition concerning divers Rights and Liberties of
quick into the Pit Absalom for Rebelling against his Patriarcha his Father and King as one that deserved no Favour either from God in Heaven or his Deputy on Earth was hung up between Heaven and Earth as unworthy of either and was Strangled by the Hair of his own Head the Flag of his Ambition was made the Instrument of his Execution So that God himself may be said to be vindex sui ordinis the avenger of his own Ordinance CHAP. VII Sheweth that vindictive Justice is also derived from God to the King as Supream and that all Subordinate Officers derive their Jurisdiction from the King and through his Mediation from God also and that herein the Law of England is also agreeing with the Law of God NAY it is said Vengeance is mine and I will repay it saith the Lord and it is the very Ground and Foundation of all Order and Government that it is so for otherwise as Men do Multiply and Increase natural Love doth decrease and the Mightiest as so many Bulls in the Herd would be most mischievous to the Weaker and would be always quarrelling about Limits and Rivers from whence came the words Lis and Rivales And therefore this vindictive Justice is derived also from God himself to his Vicegerent on Earth the King as St. Peter saith where before cited for the punishment of evil doers and for the praise of them that do well So that Magistrates are of two sorts Supream and Subordinate Subjection is due to both to the King as Supream and to the subordinate such as are Judges Justices such as are missi Commissioned Officers and sent by him that is the King for as he hath his Authority immediately from God so they have theirs from him and through his Mediation from God also As God hath confirmed the Kings Supremacy so hath he also ratified his Subordinate Officers deputation as may be seen Exodus 18.18 where we have Jethro the Father in Law counselling Moses his Son in Law about the Prerequisite qualifications who they should be and the business of Judges what they must do but neither of these without Gods approbation and therefore by Moses followed then and by all Kings observed ever since they were to be able Men such as feared God Men of truth hating Covetousness such as these were to be placed over the People to Judge them at all seasons Hence it is that Bracton cited by Stanford 54 55. saith Dominus Rex habâ—t Ordinariam jurisdictionem dignitatem potestatem super omnes qui in regno suo sunt habet enim omnia jura in manu suâ— c. Our Lord the King hath the Supream Jurisdiction Dignity and Power over all the People that are within his Realm he is said to have all the Laws in his hand which belong to the Crown he hath also the Material Sword which extends to the Government of the Realm in War he is also said to have Justice and Judgment which are of his Jurisdiction as within his Jurisdiction only as he is the Minister and Vicar of God and is to distribute to every one what is his He hath also in him quae sunt pacis the Powers which are of or belong to the preservation of Peace that the People with the Governance of whom God hath intrusted him may live quietly and safely in Peace that one may not Beat Wound or evil Intreat another that one may not by Force and Robbery Steal or bear away that is another Mans or one may not Maim or Kill another He hath also Punishment in his Power that he may Punish and Correct Offenders c. However for the King in Person to Arrest or Commit a Man or do any Offices of Justice is indignum rege is beneath the King Mercy and Honour flow immediately from the King Judgment and Justice are his too but these flow from his Ministers And therefore least there should be a failer of Justice and because the King himself in Person may not be Judge or sit in Judgment in Treason or Fellony because he is one of the Parties to the Judgment he may therefore commit his Authority to another who is to be Judge between him and the Offender And therefore Expedit rei publicae ut Magistratus constituatur and to this purpose Eligere debet Rex de regno suo viros sapientes timâ—ntes deum c. ex illis constituere justiciarios c. Therefore it was thought expedient for the general good of all that Magistracy should be Constituted and settled And in this work of Constituting Magistrates the King as it is said Exod. 18.22 in his own ease and that they might help to bear the burthen with him is to Elect and Choose out of the Kingdom wise Men Men fearing God regarding the Truth hating Covetousness and of such to make and create Judges Justices Sheriffs and other his Ministers and Bayliffs to whom are referred all matters of Controversie relating either to real oâ— personal Actions setting forth perspicuously and more fully all the prerequisite good properties he ought to have and to be indued with all to whom the King shall commit the Office of a Judge Justice c. Et sic concordat lex divina non aliquantulùm sed quamplurimùm cum humanâ And so the Law of God is not somewhat or a very little but very much agreeing with the Law of England especially in these matters relating to the Royal Priviledges and Rights of the Crown Now these Royal Rights and Jurisdictions may not be Transferred to Persons or Tenements or possessed by any private Person nisi hoc datam fit ei de super unless it be given him from above that is to say from the King Now delegatus dicitur cui causa demittitur terminanda vel exequenda vices delegantis reprsentans in Jurisdictione nihil proprium habens he is said to be a delegate to whom Authority is committed to Handle and Determine Matters being the Representative of him that Delegates him and yet he hath no propriety in the Jurisdiction nor can properly call it his own So it is with Judges Justices the Judgments and the Courts they are called the Kings Judges the Kings Justices the Kings Judgments and the Courts of our Lord the King So that Jurisdictio delegata non delegari potest quin potestas Ordinaria remaneat cum ipso Rege this Jurisdiction delegated cannot be delegated but still the Supream Power must remain with the King himself CHAP. VIII Sheweth that the Subjects of England are bound by their bond of Allegiance to serve the King only in his Wars and that the King is the Fountain of Honour and by way of Induction to the same something is said of a Countee Palatine Davids worthies and good old Barzillai the Gileadite IN our Books we read of a Countee Palatine to have divers Royal Franchizes and Priviledges which were not Granted to other Earls and that the Doctors of the Imperial
amongst the rest he gave him a special charge to shew kindness not unto Chimham only but unto all the Sons of Barzillai the Gileadite charging him that he let them be of those that Eat at his Table rendring this for reason for so they came to me when I fled because of Absalom thy Brother Absit be it far from me I do not mention this matter as if I would thence infer that King David was obliged to have done this Honour to Barzillai and his Sons No! Cujus est dare ejus est disponere he that hath the power to give Honour or Reward hath also the disposing power to give to whom what and when he pleaseth and the very words of Barzillai and why should the King recompence it me with such a reward manifest that good old Barzillai thought it his bounden Duty to do what he had done And as appears by the preamble of the Statute of 11th H. 7th ca. 1. Every Subject of this Realm of England by Duty of Allegiance is bound to serve his Prince and Soveraign Lotd in his Wars for the defence of him and the Land against every Rebellion Power and Might reared against him and with him to enter and abide in service in Battel And Sir Edward Coke also in the 7th parr of his Reports Fol. 7. b. 8. a. saith that all Subjects are bound to go with the King in War infra extra regnum both within and without the Kingdom CHAP. IX Herein you have a Subject defined you have Ligeance defined and is shewed that the King hath two Capacities the one Natural and the other Politick that the body Politick cannot be separated from the Body Natural that Ligeance is due to the Natural Body of the King that the Kingdom of England admits of no interregnum and that the Disherison of the Right Heir of a Kingdom is wont to be the beginning of Civil Wars NOW whosoever is born under a natural Ligeance due by the Law of Nature is a Subject And it is neither caelum Heaven nor solum the Soil that makes the Subject but Ligeance which is of as large extent and Latitude as the Royal Power and Protection of the King is which Allegiance or Ligeance is a true and faithful Obedience of the Subject due to his Soveraign and is or ought to be an incident inseperable to every Subject because Ligeantia est vinculum fidei the bond of Faith est quasi Legis essentia est ligamentum quasi ligatio mentium quia sicut ligamentum est connexio articulorum juncturarum c. As the Ligatures or Strings do knit together all the Joints of all the parts of the Body so doth this Ligeance joyn together the Soveraign and all his Subjects quasi uno ligamine as in one knot or tye In some Acts of Parliament Subjects are called Leige Subjects or Leige People and again in some Acts of Parliament the King is called Leige Lord of his Subjects so that I may further say Ligeantia est quid quodamodo reciprocum a certain Reciprocal thing hence it is we say Protectio Regis tiahit subjectionem subditi subjectio subditi trahit protectionem Regis The Protection of the King doth draw or attract the Subjection of the Subject and the Subjection of the Subject doth draw or attract to it the Protection of the King So that this Ligeance is the mutual Bond and Obligation between the King and his Subjects whereby Subjects are called his Leige Subjects because they are bound to Obey and Serve him as well in times of War as in times of Peace and he is called their Leige Lord because he is to maintain them in their just Rights and Liberties by the power of the Sword times of War and by the Legislative power to defend them in times of Peace from Injuries and Oppressions Now the King is said to have Two Capacities one Natural the other Politick one framed of God the other by the Policy of Man one subject to Infirmities the other not And the Estate Royal or Politick doth not confound the capacity of his Body Natural but their Capacities remain distinctly as in other Persons that have double capacity as a Bishop or a Dean c. Plow 234. a. and the Body Politick of the King may not be disjoyned or separated from his Body Natural Plow 230. a. 242. b. So that when the King is Sworn to his Subjects as he is at his Coronation he taketh Oath in his Natural Person for the Politick Body is immortal and invisible nay the Politick Body hath no Soul for as is aforesaid it is framed by the Policy of Man and therefore the King cannot be said to Swear in his Politick Capacity In likewise when at the Assizes by the Judge of the Goal delivery at the Sessions of the Peace by the Justices or the Commissioners of the Peace when at or in the Leet by the Steward there the Subject is or shall be Sworn to the King to bear Faith and true Allegiance to his Majesty his Heirs and Successors then the Subject is Sworn to bear Faith and true Allegiance to the Natural Body of the King And accordingly in all Indictments of Treason when any intend or compass mortem destructionem Domini Regis which must needs be intended and understood to be of his Natural Body for his Politick Body is Immortal and not subject to Death the Indictment always concludeth with contra Ligeantiae suae debitum contrary to the Duty of their Allegiance and therefore Ligeance is due to the Natural Body of the King And Sir Edward Coke says this Ligeance or Faith of the Subject is proprium quarto modo to the King a degree beyond the Grammarians Superlative omni soli semper to every King to the King alone and always to the King And it will be material and not contrary to Sir Edward Cokes meaning to add these words de jure to every of his omni soli semper And so Ligeance will be due as it is to every King that is so de jure of Right to him alone that is so and always to him that is King de jure of Right Thereby every King de facto and Usurper will be excluded and the greater safety will be secured to the King and to the Subject too for the Disherison of the Right Heir of a Kingdom is always wont to be the beginning of Civil Wars But however Sir Edward Coke omitted those words de jure yet his meaning was without question the same as if those words had been added because C. 7. 10. b. he saith that the King holdeth the Realm of England by Birthright upon which Succession is ever attendant and in the same place he saith that the King in individuo moritur but not in genere which is as much as to so say that the Natural Body of the King is subject to Death but the body Politick of the King dyeth not And therefore
their own Wills and Pleasures There is no Government more resembling Heaven or more durable on Earth or that hath any certain principles but Monarchy and such a Monarchy that hath an actual visible military strength to support it self not only to protect the Good and Loyal but also to awe the Bad and Rebellious People The King represents God the Houses of Parliament the People And as in some sort is expressed before the King by his Writ gives the very essence and form to his Parliament being the production of his breath therefore Priviledges which are the consequences of the Form must necessarily flow from him Now would you know how to Elect Men Fearing God Honouring the King and such as will not meddle with those that are given to change Know aâ—d take notice that true Religion is the well tempered Mortar that buildeth up all Estates that there can be no true Religion where the word of God is wanting or not duly observed I have proved from and made it plain to you that the word of God condemneth and prohibiteth all mutinous Rebellious Actions whatsoever against the Magistrate either Supream or Subordinate And because there can be no surer sign of the ruine of a Kingdom than the contempt of Religion My Advice is to all that they would Conform but as to such that will not Conform nor be Reformed nor advised to joyn with us in the way Established by Law for the Service and Worship of God because they are either stubborn obstinate or wise in their own conceits and will not be informed such as these that are Dissenters from us in the better half of the Government that is to say in the Government of the Church I pray that as they absent themselves from us in the Divine Service and Worship of God so they would be pleased to absent and separate themselves from the publick meetings in their several Counties for the Choosing and Electing of Members to sit in Parliament for the future for as the Vessel savoureth of the same Liquor wherewith it was first seasoned so it is to be feared the mind of these Dissenters still retaineth those very qualities in their Elder Age wherein it was trained up in Youth However by their absence their misguided Consciences will be clear and the more Loyal and conformable Subjects by their so doing will be less offended and disturbed in their choise and Election of such as themselves that may better Comply than heretofore they did with his late Sacred Majesty in making and constituting such wholesome Laws and Provisions as may make for the security and preservation of our Protestant Religion which is confirmed by Scripture and History of Ancient Fathers in the Primitive Church to be agreeing in Doctrine and Discipline with the truly Ancient Catholick and Apostolick Christian Religion and Profession as it is now Established by Law in the Church of England CHAP. XIX Sheweth that the King of England is and always hath been Supream Head of the Church not the Pope FOR we are to know and understand that the King of England is in all Causes as well Ecclesiastical as Temporal within these his Majesties Realms and Dominions Supream Head and Governour By the Ancient Law of the Realm the King hath power to visit reform and correct all Abuses and Enormities in the Church and by the Statutes made in the time of King Henry the Eighth the Crown was but remitted and restored to its Ancient jurisdiction which was Usurped by the Bishop of Rome Reges sacro oleo uncti spiritualis jurisdictionis sunt capaces Kings Anointed with Holy Oyl are capable of Spiritual Jurisdiction And 10. H. 7. 18. Rex est persona mixta cum sacerdote the King is said to be a Person mixt or participating with the Priest in the Priesthood Also the King shall have Tythes by the Common Law of which no Lay Person can be capable And the King by himself or by his Commissioners shall visit his free Chappels and Hospitals And by the Cannon Law Omnes Reges dicuntur Clerici and another Text thereof saith quod causa Spiritualis committi potest Principi laico All Kings are said to be Clarks and that however a Spiritual Cause may be determined by a Lay Prince as may be seen in Davyes rep 4. a. And although the proceedings in the Ecclesiastical Courts be in the Name of the Bishop yet they are the Courts and Law of the King as the Leet though it be holden in the Name of the Lord of the Manour yet it is the Court of the King C. 5. 1. part 39. b. The Canonists ascribe to the Pope Prerogative as to the Interpretation of Laws and granting of Dispensations but the jurisdiction that the Pope by Colour thereof claimed in England was a meer Usurpation to which the Kings of England as I shall presently shew you from time to time made opposition even to the time of King Henry the Eighth And the King of England not the Pope before the making the Statute of Faculties might de jure of right dispence with the Ecclesiastical Law for though that many of our Ecclesiastical were first devised in the Court of Rome yet being established and confirmed in this Realm by acceptance and usage they are now become English Laws and are no more to be reputed Romish Cannons and they are to be observed as the Laws of the Kingdom of England and not to be esteemed or reputed as Rules of the Pope Davyes rep 71 72. And the King is Supream Patron as King and not as in respect of the Supream Jurisdiction that the Realm by the Statute hath acknowledged in him Therefore a Resignation to the King of a Deanry is as good as if it had been made to the Bishop because that by the Common Law he is the Supream Head of the Church of England and the Deanry is void by it And the King shall be made privy and shall give his consent to every Appropriation where the Church is of the Patronage of another as well as where it is of his own Patronage Plowd 498 499. And it appeareth by Doctor and Student 124 125. That the Law hath appointed Six Months unto the Patron to present his Clark unto the Bishop but if the Patron do not present his Clark unto the Bishop within Six Months next after the Church shall become void then shall the Lapse incur to the Bishop and he shall present for the default of the Patron a Clark of his own choosing and his presentation is called Collation and if the Bishop or Ordinary surcease his time and shall not Collate within the Six Months then shall the Metropolitan the Archbishop of the Province Collate his Clark and if he do not Collate within other Six Months then shall the Kings Majesty not the Pope as Supream Ordinary of all the Benefices in England present his Clark to the Church And all the Archbishopricks and Bishopricks within the Realm of England are