successiue by the law of nations affirming further that alwayes it hath beene alwayes it shall bee that the first borne succeedeth in a kingdome wherein he is either followed or accompanied with open crie of al the choise interpreters of both lawes as namely the Glossographer Iohan. Andreas Hostiensis Collect. Pet. Anchoranus Antonius Imola Card. Florentinus Abb. Panormitanus Oldradus Albericus Angelus Felinus Paul Castrensis Alexander Barbatius Franc. Curtius Guido Pape Card. Alexander Philip Francus Iason Philippus Decius Carol Ruinis Anto. Corsetta Ripa Calderine Alciate and manie other of somewhat more ordinarie name Who all with full voice do agree that in kingdomes and other dignities which cannot bee either valued or diuided but they are dismembred the eldest son doth entirely succeed And this manie of them do call the law of all Nations deriued from the order of nature and from the institution of God and confirmed by the Canon ciuil and other positiue lawes For the succession of children is one of the primarie precepts of nature whereby his mortalitie is in some sort repaired his continuance perpetuated by his posteritie But among al the children nature seemeth to preferre the first borne by imprinting in the mind of parents the greatest loue and inclination towards them as diuers of the authors before alleaged do affirm as it may appeare by that of the prophet Zacharie And they shall lamēt ouer him as men vse to lament in the death of their first borne and likewise by that which is said of Dauid that he would not grieue his sonne Ammon for that he loued him because he was his first borne Hereupon Lyra and before him Saint Augustin and Saint Chrysostome do affirme that the last plague of the Egyptians which was the death of their first borne was the most sharpe and heauie vnto them For nothing saith Saint Augustin is more deare then the first borne Aristotle Plinie Aeltane and Tzetzes do write that the same affection is also found in certaine beasts And to this purpose is that which Herodotus reporteth that when the Lacedaemanians had receiued an oracle that they should take for kings the two sonnes of Aristodemus and Aegina but giue most honor vnto the eldest and they were ignorant which was eldest because the mother and the Nurse refused to declare it they obserued which of the children the mother did wash and feed first and thereby found out that Eristhenes was the eldest Lucian citeth the loue of the first borne as growne into a prouerbe Gregorie Nazianzene saith that all men haue a sense thereof Saint Ambrose writeth that in this respect God called the people of Israel his first borne for that they were not most ancient but best beloued Lastly S. Chrysostome affirmeth that the first borne were to be esteemed more honorable then the rest And this naturall precedence both in honour and in fauour seemeth to be expressely ratified by God first where he said vnto Cain of his brother Abel His desires shall be subiect vnto thee and thou shalt haue dominion ouer him according to which institution whē Iacob had bought his brothers right of birth Isaak blessed him in these words Bee Lord ouer thy brethren and let the sonnes of thy mother bow before thee Secondly where he forbiddeth the father to disinherit the first sonne of his double portion because by right of birth it is his due Thirdly where he maketh choise of the first borne to be sanctified to himselfe And whereas God hath often preferred the youngest as Abel Isaac Iacob Iuda Phares Ephraim Moses Dauid Salomon and others it was no other then that which Christ said that manie that were last should be first and that which Saint Paul hath deliuered that God hath chosen the weak and base and contemptible things of this world least any flesh should glorie in his sight So hath Herodotus written how Artabanus the Persian in complaining maner did confesse that God delighted to depresse those things that were high But if the first borne die before succession fall or if being possessed of the kingdom he die without issue his right of birth deuolueth vnto the next in bloud and if he dieth in like maner then vnto the third and so likewise to the rest in order This is affirmed by Albericus and may be confirmed by that which Baldus saith that succession hath reference to the time of death and respecteth the prioritie which is then extant And againe He is not said the first borne in lawe who dyeth before the fee openeth but he who at that time is eldest in life And this opinion is embraced by Alciate because as Celsus saith Primus is dicitur ante quē nemo sit He is first who hath none before him Iaco. A retinus Cinus Albericus and Baldus doe forme this case There is a custome that the first borne of the first mariage shoulde succeede in a baronnie a certaine baron had three wiues by the first he had no children by the other two manie the first sonne of the second mariage shall succeede because as the glossographer there saith the second mariage in regarde of the thirde is accompted first Baldus dooth extende it further that if hee hath a sonne by the first mariage and hee refuse the baronie the first sonne by the second mariage shall succeede in his right and so hee saith it was determined in the kingdome of Apulia when Lewes the kings eldest sonne was professed a friar And this decision is allowed by Alexander Oldradus and Antonius Corsetta and is prooued by plaine text of the canon law both where the second borne is called first borne whē the first borne hath giuen place and also where he is called the onlie sonne whose brother is dead But because it is a notorius custome that the neerest in bloud doth succeede although perhaps remoued in degree I wil labour no more to loade it with proofe for who wil proclaime that the sunne doth shine But if we should now graunt vnto you which is a greater curtesie then with modesty you can require that no particular forme of gouernement is naturall what will you conclude thereof what inference can you hereupon enforce That there is no doubt but the people haue power to choose and to chaunge the fashion of gouernment and to limitte the same vvith vvhat conditions they please What Sir can you finde no thirde but that either one forme of gouernment is naturall or that the people must alwaies retaine such libertie of power haue they no power to relinquish their power is there no possibilitie that they may loose it whether are you so ignorant to thinke as you speake or so deceitfull to
Orosius saith that the Lacedaemonians did chose to haue their K. halt rather theÌ„ their kingdom Herodotus also writeth that after the death of Codrus king of Athens Medon his eldest son Neleus the next did contend for the kingdom because Neleus would not giue place to Medon who was by reason of his lame legs if not vnable yet vnapt to gouerne The matter being almost brought to the sentence of the sword it was mediated between theÌ„ that the coÌ„trouersie should be decided by the Oracle of Apollo-Apollo was consulted by whose iudgement Medon was declared king Iosephus hath left recorded that Aristobulus Hircanus after a long cruel conteÌ„tion for the kingdom of Iury made Pompeie the iudge of that right which by arms they wer vnable to decide Hircanus alleaged that he was eldest brother Aristobulus excepted that Hircanus was insufficient to gouern a realme Hereupon Pompei gaue sentence that Aristobulus should giue ouer the kingdome which he did vsurp Hircanus be restored to his estate The like iudgement doth Liuy write that Annibal gaue for the kingdome of that country which is now called Sauoy restoring Brancus vnto his right from which he had beene by his younger brother expelled And although Pyrrus did appoint that sonne to succede whose sworde had the best edge yet was the eldest acknowledged who bare the least reputation for valour Lisander moued the Lacedaemonians to decree that the most sufficient not alwais the next in bloud of the ligne of Hercules should be admitted to the kingdome yet Plutarch saith that he found no man to second his aduise I will adde an example of later times Ladislaus a man more famous for the sanctitie of his life then for his kingdom of Hungary left by his brother Grisa two nepâ—ewes Colomannus the elder who was dwarfye lame crooke-backt crab-faced blunt and bleare-eyed a stammerer and which is more a Priest and Almus the younger a man free from iust exception Yet these respectes set aside a dispensation was obteined from the Pope and Colomannus notwithstanding his deformities and defectes was accepted by the people for king Girarde writeth that the custome of the French was to honour their kings whatsoeuer they were whether foolish or wise able or weake esteeming the name of king to be sacred by whomsoeuer it should be borne And therfore they supported in estate not onely Charles the simple but Charls the 6. also who raigned many years in open disteÌ„perature disturbance of minde So you see that the practise of many nations haue beene contrary to your conceipt and that the interpreters of the ciuill and canon lawe good arbitrators of naturall equitie either beare against you or stand for you onely when disabilitie is naturall adding further that if the excluded successor hath a sonne before or after succession doth fall free from any such defect the right of the kingdome descendeth vnto him This affirmeth Baldus Socinus Cardinall Alexander and before them Andreas Iserna Because the inhabilitie of parents doth not preiudice the children especially in regard of their naturall rightes neither is it any impediment wherefore they should not enioy either priuiledge or dignitie from the person of their grandfather Magis est saith Vlpian vt aui potius dignitas prosit quam obsit casus patris It is fitter that the son should receiue profit by the dignitie of his grandfather then preiudice by his fathers chaunce And this we may thinke is a reasonable respect wherefore other interpreters haue not allowed their principall opinion in repelling him who is disabled by birth For if another be once possessed of his place it will be hard for any of his children to attaine their right Wherevpon difunion factions warres may easily arise It is inconuenient I grant to be gouerned by a king who is defectiue in body or in minde but it is a greater inconuenience by making a breache in this high point of state to open an entrance for all disorders wherein ambition and insolencie may range at large For as mischiefe is of that nature that it cannot stand but by supportaunce of another euill and so multiplieth in it selfe till it come to the highest and then doth ruine with the proper weight so mindes once exceeding the boundes of obedieÌ„ce cease not to strengthen one bouldnesse by another vntil they haue inuolued the whole state in confusioÌ„ We find that Gabriel the yongest brother of the house of Saluse kept his eldest brother in close prisoÌ„ vsurped his estate and gaue forth for satisfaction to the people that hee was mad I could report many like examples but I shal haue occasion to speake more hereof in the further passage betwixt vs. After this you conclude three points 1 That inclination to liue in companie is of nature 2 That gouernement and iurisdiction of magistrates is also of nature 3 That no one particulare forme of gouernement is naturall for then it should be the same in all countries seeing God and nature is one to all But before I ioyne with you either in contradiction or consent it shall not be amisse to declare briefly what we vnderstand by the lawe of nature and by what meanes it may best be knowne God in the creation of man imprinted certaine rules within his soule to direct him in all the actions of his life which rules because we tooke them when wee tooke our beeing are commonly called the primarie lawe of Nature of which sort the canons accompt these precepts following To worship god to obey parents and gouernours therby to conserue common society lawful coniunction of man woman succession of children education of children acquisition of things which pertaine to no man equall libertie of all to communicate commodities to repell force to hurt no man and generally to do to another as he would be done vnto which is the sum and substance of the second table of the decalogue And this lawe Thom. Aquine affirmeth to be much depraued by the fall of man and afterwards more by errour euill custome pertinacie and other corrupters of the mind and yet doth it yeeld vs so large light that Saint Paule did esteeme it sufficient to condemne the gentiles who had no other law written Out of these precepts are formed certaine customes generally obserued in all parts of the world which because they were not from the beginning but brought in afterward some as a consequence or collection others as a practise or execution of the first naturall precepts are called the secondarie lawe of nature and by many also the law of nations Gaius saith that which naturall reason doth constitute among all men is obserued by all alike and termed the lawe of Nations and the same is called by Iustinian the lawe of nature Cicero likewise saith the consent of al nations is to be esteemed the lawe of nature But this is
to be takeÌ„ not as though al natioÌ„s haue at any time obserued one vsage alike it is not necessary faith Baldus that the word alâ— should cary so large a seÌ„ce neither hath it euer bin brought into knoledge what customes all nations haue held in vse And it is most certain that ther is not one point or precept of the law of nature but by reasoÌ„ partly of the weaknes partly of the corruption which the fal of Adam fasten in his posteritie some people haue at all times either neglected or els depraued some being so dull as they could not perceiue others so malicious as they would denie that which nature did lay before them Yea such is either the weakenesse or wilfulnesse of our iudgement that they who are not onely admitted but admired for wise men doe many times disagree in determining what is most agreeable to nature much lesse may we either expect or imagine that al natioÌ„s so differeÌ„t so distaÌ„t neuer so much as now and yet not now fully discouered should iuÌ„pe in one iudgemeÌ„t for vniform obseruatioÌ„ of any custome neither is that no natural right as Zenophon noteth which many dayly doe transgresse And therefore Donellus did vniustly reiect the discription which Gaius gaue of the law of nations by taking the word al in the amplest sence S. Ambrose and S. Hierome did in this sort declare it that we are to take that for a decree of natioÌ„s which successiuely and at times hath beene obserued by all But as for any one time as it is to be iudged the decree or custome of a whole citty which hath passed by consent of the most part although al haue not allowed and some perhaps haue opposed against it so is it to be esteemed the lawe of nations the common lawe of the whole world which most nations in the world are found to imbrace And because gouernment was not from the beginning but induced as a consequeÌ„ce of the primary precept of nature to maintaine humane societie therefore whensoeuer wee speake of naturall gouernment we are intended to meane the secondary lawe of nature which is the receiued custoÌ„e successiuely of al alwaies of most nations in the world Out of this we may gather that three rules doe chiefly lead vs to the knowledg of this law The first is that which Cicero in the like case giueth to appeale vnto seÌ„ce because there is no man but by the light of nature hath some sence of that which nature doth allowe S. Augustine saith I know not by what inward conscience we feele these things and likewise Tertullian Nature hath tainted all euill eyther with feare or with shame Wherto agreeth that which S. Ambrose saith although they deny it they cannot but shew some tokens of shame HerupoÌ„ the authors of the ciuill lawe do reiect that for vniust which is not demaunded without shew of shame For as Cassiodorus writeth God hath giueÌ„â—l men such a sence of iustice that they who know not the lawes cannot but acknowledge the reason of truth But because this light of nature in many men is exceeding dimme the next rule is to obserue what hath bin allowed by those who are of greatest both wisedome and integrity in whom nature doth shew her selfe most cleere For as Aristotle saith that is probable which prooued men do approue Among these the first place pertaineth vnto them who by inspiration of god haue compiled the books of holy scripture to whom as attendants we may adioyne the ancieÌ„t counsailes fathers of the church The next place is to be giueÌ„ to the authors of the ciuill lawe whose iudgement hath bin these many hundred yeers admired by many approoued by all and is at this daie accepted for lawe almost in all states of the christiaÌ„ common wealth To these also we may adioyne as attendants their interpreters of most approued note The third place is due to Philosophers historiographers orators and the like who haue not vnprofitably endeauoured to free nature of two cloudes wherewith shee is often ouercast grosse ignorance and subtill errour But because naturall reason as Alciate affirmeth doth sometimes varie according to the capacitie of particulare men euen as the sunne beeing in it selfe alwaies the same giueth neither heate nor light to all alike the third rule followeth to obserue the common vse of all nations which Cicero calleth the voice of nature because as Aristotle hath written it is not done by chance which euery where is done Plato saith this shall be the proofe hereof that no man doth otherwise speake and likewise Baldus I dare not disalow that which the world alloweth And in this coÌ„mon lawe or custome of the world three circumstancies are to be considered antiquitie continuance and generalitie Now then your first position is so cleerelie true that you doe but guild gould in labouring to prooue it for man is not onely sociable by nature but as Aristotle affirmeth more sociable then any other liuing creature These notorious pointes the more we prooue the more we obscure Your second is also true for as Tullie saith Without empire neither house nor citty nor nation nor mankinde can stand nor the nature of all things nor in a word the world it selfe Whereto agreeth that of Aristotle gouernment is both necessary and also profitable But whereas you bring in proofe hereof that there was neuer people founde either in auncient time or of late discouerie which had not some magistrate to gouerne them neither is it necessarie and yet false It is not necessarie to haue so large a consent of nations as I haue declared before and it is false that in all times and nations there haue beene magistrates After the deluge magistrates were not knowne vntil kings did arise as hereafter it shall appeare The Iewes were often without either magistrates or gouernement Whereupon in certaine places of the booke of Iudges it is thus written In those dayes there was no king in Israell but what seemed right to euery man that did hee Sometimes Democraticall gouernement doth drawe to a pure anarchie and so doth the interregnum of electiue principalities Leo Aser reporteth that in Guzala a countrie of Africke the people haue neither king nor forme of gouernement but vpon dayes of mart they elect a captaine to secure their trafficke The same authour deliuereth that the inhabitantes of the mountaine Magnan vpon the frontiers of Fez haue noe forme of common wealth but doe stay trauailers vnpartiall iudges to decide their controuersies Leo himselfe was arrested to bee their iudge and when hee had spent many dayes in determining their debates hee was in the end presented with hennes ducks geese and other of their countrie commodities which serued onelie to discharge his host And if this your reason should bee of force then were not sociabilitie naturall because many men haue made choise
gouernment of a King is the most excelleÌ„t benefit that God hath giuen vnto men Callimachus saith that Kings proceede from god Homer affirmeth that they are cherished by god Your selfe doe shew out of Aristotle Seneca Plutarch S. Hierome S. Chrysostâ—me and S. Peter that monarchie is the most excellent and perfect gouernement most resembling the gouernement of god and most agreeable vnto nature But what doe you meane to acknowledge all this and yet to denie that monarchie is naturall doe you take it to be aboue nature or how els is it most excellent and perfect how is it most agreeable to nature and yet not naturall can any action be most agreeable to iustice and yet not iust I know not by what strategeme or cunning cranck of the schools you can be made agreeable to your selfe But now if we consider the generall custome of al people we shall find that all the ancient nations in whom the laws of nature were least corrupt had no other gouernment as the Assyrians Medes Persians Parthians Indians Scythians Sirians PhoeniciaÌ„s ArabiaÌ„s Aegyptians Africans NumidiaÌ„s MauritaniaÌ„s BritaÌ„s Celtes Gaules Latines Hetruscanes SiciliaÌ„s AtheniaÌ„s LacaedemoniaÌ„s CorinthiaÌ„s AchaeaÌ„s Sicyonians CandiaÌ„s in one word all Tullie saith it is certaine that al ancieÌ„t nations were vnder kings with which opinion Salust consenteth Iustine also where he saith the eÌ„pire of natioÌ„s at the first was in the hands of kings And wheÌ„ the people of Israel desired a king they alleged that al other nations were gouerned by kings The Athenians were the first as Plinie affirmeth who set vp the gouernment of many whose exaÌ„ple certaine other towns of Greece did follow rather blinded by aÌ„bitioÌ„ theÌ„ led by iudgemeÌ„t AmoÌ„g these if the highest authority were in the least part of the citisens it was called aristocracy if in the most or in all it was termed democracy wherin you confesse that neither they did nor could any long time continue but after many tumults seditions mutinies outrages iniusticies banding of factions and inundations of bloud they were in the end either dissolued or vanquished and reduced againe vnder gouernement of one The state of Rome began vnder kings it atteined the highest pitch both of glory and greatnes vnder emperors in the middle time wherin it neuer inioyed x. yeeres together free froÌ„ sedition Polybius saith that is was mixed the consulls represeÌ„ting a monarchie the senate an aristocracie the coÌ„mon people a democracy which opinion was likewise embraced by Dionysius Halicarnasseus Cicero Cantarine and others But many do hold that the state of Rome at that time was populare which seemeth to be confirmed by the famous lawier couÌ„sailer Vlpian where he saith that the people did graÌ„t al their power authority to the prince Whatsoeuer it was in shew in very deede it was alwayes gouerned by some one principall man Liuie wrighteth of Scipio that vnder his shadow the city was protected that his looks were in stead of lawes likewise of Papirius cursor that he sustained the Romane affaires So said Thucidides that Athens was in appearance populare but Aristides was the true monarch thereof Plutarch also affirmeth that Pelopidas and Epaminondas were no lesse then lords of the populare state of Thebes but after the death of these meÌ„ both the states of Athens and Thebes floated in tumults as the same authour obserueth like a ship in a tempest without a pilot So did Peter Sodarine Gonsalonier of Florence giue forth that the title of popularity was vsed as a maske to shadow the tyraÌ„ny of Laurence Medices but Florence did neuer so florish both in honor wealth and quiet as vnder that tyranny Also in actions of weight in great dangers and necessities the Romans had recourse to one absolute and supreme commaÌ„der which Liuie calleth the highest refuge whose authority as the Romans did most reuereÌ„tly respect so was it many times fearefull to their enemies Of the first Liuie saith the Dictators edict was alwayes obserued as an oracle of the second so soone as a dictator was created such a terror came vpon the enemies that they departed presently from the walles Likewise in cases of extremity the Lacedaemonians had their high gouernour whom they called Harmostes the Thessalonians had their Archos and the Mytilenians also their great Aezymnetes Lastly Tacitus reporteth that certaine wise men discoursing of the life of Augustus after his death affirmed rightly that ther was no other meane to appease the discordes of the state but by reducing it vnder the gouernement of one Let vs now take a view of our present age In al Asia from whence Tullie saith ciuility did first spread into other parts of the world no gouernment is in vse but by a monarch as appeareth by the Tartarians Turks Persians Indians Chinans Cataians no other gouernmeÌ„t is found to be fouÌ„ded in al the cuntries of Affrick in America also and all the west parts of the world no other is yet discouered in Europe only vpoÌ„ eyther declining or chaÌ„g of the empire a few towns in Germany Italy did reuiue againe the gouernment of many som are alredy returned to a monarchy and the residue in their time will do the like euen as all others haue done which haue bene before them What then shal we say of this so ancient so continuall so generall consent of all nations what can we say but coÌ„clude with Tertullian these testimonies the more true the more simple the more simple the more common the more common the more natuâ—all the more naturall the more deuine But because ambition is a most firy affection and carieth men blindfold into headlong hopes wherby many do aspire to beare rule neither they good nor with any good either means or end the custome or lawe of nations hath by two reines endeauored to keep in this raging desire by succession by election And yet againe because election is most often if not alwaies entangled with many inconueniences as first for that the outragies during the vacancy are many great euery one that is either grieued or in waÌ„t assuming free power both for reueÌ„ge spoile Secondly for that the bouldest winneth the garlaÌ„d more often then the best because the fauour of the people doth alwayes tast more of affection then of iudgement Thirdly for that they who do not leaue their state to their posterity wil dissipate the domain and worke out of it either profit or friends for so we see that the empire of Germanie is pluckt bare of her fairest feathers Fourthly for that occasions of war are hereby ministred that either wheÌ„ one taketh his repulse for indignity vpoÌ„ which ground Frauncis the first king of FrauÌ„ce could neuer be driueÌ„ out of practise against Charles the 5. emperor or els wheÌ„ by means of factioÌ„s many are elected as it happened in Almaine when Lewes of Bauier
and Albert of Austria were elected Emperors wherupon eight yeers warre betweene them did ensue and as it often happened in the Empire of Rome when one Emperour was chosen by the Senate and another by the Soldiers and sometimes by euery legion one whereby such fiers were kindled as could not bee quenched without much bloude For these warres are most cruelly executed because the quarrell leaueth no middle state inter summum praecipitium betweene the highest honour and the deadliest downefall For these and diuers other respectes it hath bin obserued at most times in all nations and at all times in most that the roialtie hath passed by succession according to propinquitie of bloud We read that Ptolomie who after the death of Alexander the great seazed vpon Aegypt and part also of Arabia and of Africk left that state to his youngest sonne but Trogus saide and out of him Iustine that it was against the lawe of Nations and that vpon this occasion one of them did worke the death of the other And therefore when afterward Ptolomie surnamed Physcon at the importunitie of his wife Cleopatra would haue preferred his youngest son to the succession of his kingdom Iustine saith that the people opposed themselues against it but Pausanias more probably affirmeth that they reuersed his order after his death The same course was held in Italy by the Hetruscanes Latines and those Albanes from whome the Romanes tooke their originall Liuie writeth that Procas king of the Albanes appointed Numitor to succeede in his estate but Amulius his yonger brother did vsurpe it by force hereupon Dionysius Halicarnasseus saith that Amulius held the kingdome against right because it appertained to his elder brother Among the Graecians during the space of six hundred yeares wherein they were gouerned by kings we finde but Timondas and Pittacus who were elected the one of Corinth the other of Negropont the residue held their states by order of successioÌ„ as Thucidides affirmeth encouÌ„tring therein the opinion of Aristotle Liuy writeth that Perseus king of Macedon said that by the order of Nature the law of Nations and the ancient custome of Macedony the eldest sonne was to succeede in the kingdome Diodorus Siculus and Iustine doe report that by this custom Alexander succeeded his father Amyntas before his yonger brother Phillippe Herodotus declareth that the same order was obserued amoÌ„g the Troianes affirming that after the death of Priamus the kingdom was not to deuolue vnto AlexaÌ„der because Hector was before him in years The same also doth appeare by that which Virgil writeth Praeterea Sceptrum Ilione quod gesserat olim Maxima natarum Priami The Scepter vvhich Ilione vvhen she the state did stay The first daughter of Priamus vvith royall hand did svvay Out of which place Seruius Maurus doth collect that women also did vse to gouerne But more plainely this custome of the Troianes doth appeare by that which Messala Coruinus writeth that Troius had two sonnes Ilus and Assaracus and that Ilus by priuiledge of his age succeeded in the kingdome The Persians also who for a long time held the reines of all the nations neere vnto them had the same order of succession as Zenophon witnesseth which is also confirmed by two famous histories one between Artaxerxes Cyrus wherof Plutarch maketh mention the other between Artabazanes Xerxes reported by Herodotus Iustine wherin Artabazanes alleaged that it was a custome among all men that the eldest son should first succeed Agathocles out of him Athenaeus do write that the Persians had a golden water for so they terme it whereof it was capital for any man to drinke but only the king and his eldest son Whither this water were drawen out of the riuer Euleus which inuironeth the tower Susis the Temple of Diana wherof Pliny writeth that only the kings of Persia did drink or whether out of Choaspis whose waters Herodotus doth report to haue bin boiled caried after the king in siluer vessels or whether both these were one riuer I will neither determine nor discourse In Siria which is called Assiria as Herodotus writeth also Phoenicia Palestina Mesopotamia as appeareth by Pliny Eusebius diuers other the same custome is proued by that which Iustine L. Florus doe write that Demetrius hauing bin deliuered by his brother Antiochus king of Siria for an hostage to the Romanes hearing of the death of Antiochus declared to the senat in open asseÌ„bly that as by the law of nations he had giuen place to his elder brother so by the same law the right of succession was then cast vpon him The Parthians who being thrice attempted by the Romans in the time of their chiefest both discipline and strength were able to beare themselues victorious did alwaies acknowledge for their king the next of the bloud of their first king Arsaces Among the Germaines also who were of force to defeate fiue consulare armies of the Romanes Tacitus affirmeth that the eldest sonne did intirely succeede onely the horses did fall to the most valiant And that this was likewise the custome of the Iewes it is euideÌ„t by the whole history of their kings especially where it is said that Ioram succeeded Iosaphat the reason added because he was the eldest I should but burne day as the saying is in running further vpon particulars Herodotus doth aduow it to be a general custome among al men that the first in birth is next in succession Certaine ages after him S. Hierome said that a kingdom is due vnto the eldest In late ages our selues may see that the Tartars Turks Persians all the Asiaticks haue no other form of coÌ„stituting their kings No other is folowed in all the countries of Africk In the west Indies no other is yet discouered Insomuch as when Frances Pizaire in the conquest of Peru had slain Atibalippa the king therof the people brake into shew some of ioy all of contentmeÌ„t because he had made his way to the kingdom by murthering of his elder brother In Europe it is not long since all the Monarchies were successiue When the Empire of Almaine was made electiue it became in short time so either troblesom or base that diuers Princes refused to accept it of late it hath bin setled in one family but hath as yet litle increased either in dignity or in power The people of Denmarke Sweden Hungary and Bâ—eme doe chalenge to themselues a right of election but they accept their king by propinquitie of bloud So they did in Polonia vntill the line of Iagello was worne out and then they elected for king Henry duke of Aniou in France since which time they haue alwaies in the change of their kings exposed their state to faire danger of ruine Vpon this both generall and continuall custome Baldus saith that kingdomes are
vntil it was violently drawn froÌ„ Sardanapalus to the Medes From them also Cyrus by subuersion of Astyages did transport it to the Persians and from them againe the Grecians did wrest it by conquest After the death of Alexander his captaines without any consent of the people made partition of the empire among them whose successors were afterwards subdued by the armies and armes of Rome And this empire beeing the greatest that euer the earth did beare was in the end also violentlie distracted by diuers seueral either conquests or reuolts Leo After writeth that it is not a hundred yeares since the people of Gaoga in Africk had neither king nor Lord vntill one hauing obserued the greatnesse and maiestie of the king of Tombute did enterprise to attaine soueraigntie aboue them which by violence he effected and left the same to his posteritie And because I will not bee tedious in running through particulars giue you an instance of anie one people which hath not diuers times receiued both Prince and gouernment by absolute constraint Et Phillidasolus habeto and I will yeeld to all that you affirme But failing herein you shall bee enforced to confesse that in manie yea in most if not in all countries the people haue receiued libertie either from the graunt or permission of the victorious Prince and not the prince authoritie from the vanquished people What helpes nowe doe you imagine that the people haue assigned to their Prince The first you affirme to be the direction of lawes But it is euident that in the first heroicall ages the people were not gouerned by anie positiue lawe but their kings did both iudge and commaund by their word by their will by their absolute power and as Pomponius saith Omnia manu a regâ—bus gubernabantur Kings gouerned all things without either restraint or direction but onely of the lawe of nature The first lawe was promulged by Moses but this was so long before the lawes of other nations that Iosephus writeth It was more ancient then their gods affirming also that the word Law is not found in Homer or in Orpheus or in anie Writer of like antiquitie Of this law of nature Homer maketh mention in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And they who keepe the lawes which God hath prescribed And againe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnciuill and vniust is he and wanting priuate state Who holdeth not all ciuill war in horror and in hate And of the iustice of kings he writeth in this maner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In which verses Chrysostome affirmeth by the iudgment of Alexander that Homer hath delineated the perfect image of a King but that hee maketh mention of anie positiue lawes I doe rather doubt then assuredlie denie For Kings in auncient times did giue iudgment in person not out of any formalitie in lawe but onlie according to naturall equitie Virgil saith Hoc Priami gestamen erat cumiura vocatis More daret populis This was the robe which Priamus did alwaies vse to weare When he the people to him called their causes for to heare Which he doth also affirme of Aeneas Dido and of Alcestes The like doth Herodotus report of Midas king of Phrygia who consecrated his tribunall to Apollo and the like also dooth Plutarch of diuers kings of Macedonia Philarchus affirmeth in Athenaeus that the kings of Persia had palme trees and vines of goulde vnder which they did sit to heare causes But because it grew both troublesome tedious for al the people to receiue their right from one man lawes were inuented as Cicero saith and officers also appointed to execute the same Another original of lawes was thus occasioned When anie people were subdued by armes lawes were laid like logs vpon their necks to keepe them in more sure subiection which both because it is not doubtful and to auoid prolixitie I will manifest onlie by our owne example When the Romans had reduced the best part of this Iland into the forme of a prouince as they permitted libertie of lawe to no other countrie vnder their obedience so here also they planted the practise of their lawes and for this purpose they sent ouer manie professors and among others Papinian the most famous both for knowledge and integritie of all the authors of the ciuill lawe Againe when the Saxons had forced this Realme and parted it into seauen kingdomes they erected so manie settes of law of which onelie two were of continuance the Mercian lawe and the West Saxon law After these the Danes became victorious and by these newe Lordes new lawes were also imposed which bare the name of Dane-lawe Out of these three lawes partlie moderated partlie supplied King Edward the confessor composed that bodie of lawe which afterwardes was called Saint Edwards lawes Lastly the Normans brought the land vnder their power by whom Saint Edwards lawes were abrogated and not onlie new lawes but newe language brought into vse in somuch as all pleas were formed in French and in the same tongue children were taught the principles of Grammar These causes wee find of the beginning of lawes but that they were assigned by the people for assistance and direction to their kinges you bring neither argument nor authoritie for proofe it is a part of the drosse of your owne deuise The second helpe which you affirme that common wealthes haue assigned to their kings is by parliaments and priuie councelles But Parliaments in al places haue bin erected by kings as the parliament of Paris and of Montpellier in Fraunce by Philip the Faire the parliament in England by Henrie the first who in the sixteenth yeare of his raigne called a councell of all the states of his realme at Salisburie which our Historiographers do take for the first Parliament in England affirming that the kings before that time did neuer call the common people to counsell After this the priuie councell at the instance of the Archbishop of Canterburie was also established and since that time the counsellors of state haue alwaies bin placed by election of the Prince And that it was so likewise in auncient times it appeareth by thaâ— which Homer writeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 First hee established a councell of honorable old men And likewise by Virgill gaudet regno Troianus Acestes Indicitque foru et patribus dat iura vocatis Acestes of the Troiane bloud in kingdome doth delight He sets a Court and councell cals giues ech man his right I will passe ouer your course foggio drowsie conceite that there are few or none simple monarchies in the world for it would tire any â—to toyle after your impertinent errours and wil now rip vp your packet of examples whereby you indeuour to shew that the power of kings hath bin brideled by their subiects But what do you infer hereby What can you inforce will you
speake otherwise then you thinke There is no authoritie which the people hath in matters of state but it may bee either bound or streightned by three meanes The first is by cession or graunt for so the Romans by the law of royaltie yeelded all their authoritie in gouernment to the Prince Of this lawe Vlpian maketh mention and Bodin reporteth that it is yet extant in Rome grauen in stone So the people of Cyrene of Pergame and of Bithynia did submit themselues to the Empire of the Romanes So the Tartarians commit absolute power both ouer their liues and their liuings to euerie one of their Emperours so haue our people manie times coÌ„mitted to their king the authoritie of the parliament either generallie or els for some particular case For it is held as a rule that any man may relinquish the authoritie which he hath to his owne benefit fauour Neither is he againe at pleasure to be admitted to that which once hee did thinke fit to renounce And as a priuate man may altogether abaÌ„don his free estate and subiect himselfe to seruile condition so may a multitude passe away both their authoritie and their libertie by publike consent The second is by prescription and custome which is of strength in all parts of the world least matters should alwaies float in vncertaintie and controuersies remaine immortall And that this authoritie of the people may be excluded by prescription it is euident by this one reason which may be as one in a third place of Arithmeticke in standing for a hundred Euerie thing may be prescribed wherein prescription is not prohibited but there is no lawe which prohibiteth prescription in this case and therefore it followeth that it is permitted And generallie custome doth not only interpret law but correcteth it and supplieth where there is no lawe in somuch as the common lawe of England as well in publick as priuate controuersies is no other a fewe maximes excepted but the common custome of the Realme Baldus saith that custome doth lead succession in principalities which Martinus aduiseth to fixe in memorie because of the often change of Princes and the particular custome of euerie nation is at this day the most vsuall and assured law betweene the Prince and the people And this doe thâ— Emperours Honorius and Arcadius in these wordes coÌ„mand punctuallie to be obserued Mos namque retinendus est fidelissimae vetustatis the custome of faithful antiquitie must be retained which place is to this sense ballanced by Pau. Gastrensis Frane Aretinus and Phil. Corneus who termeth it a morall text The like whereto is found also in the Canon lawe and noted by the Glossographer Archidiaeonus Romanus and Cepola Neither were the Fathers of the Nicene councel of other opinion who thus decreed Let auncient customes stand in strength Whereto also agreeth that old verse of Ennius Moribus antiquis res stat Romana virisque Customes and men of oldest sort The Romane state do best support which is cited by Saint Austin and esteemed by Cicero both for breuitie and truth as an oracle To the same sense Periander of Corinth said that old lawes and new meates were fittest for vse which saying Phauorinus in Gellius did in this manner a little vary Liue after the passed manner speake after the present Hereto also pertaineth that edict of the censors mentioned by Suetonius Aul. Gellius Those things which are beside the custome and fashion of our Elders are neither pleasing nor to be adiudged right Of this point I shall haue occasion more particularlie hereafter to write The third meanes whereby the people may loose their authoritie is by way of conquest For howsoeuer Saint Augustine and after him Alciate doe disallowe ambition of enlarging Empire and tearme warres vpon this cause great theeueries Whereupon Lucane and his vncle Seneca called Alexander the Great a great robber of the world Yet there is no doubte but the sentence of victorie especiallie if the war was vndertakeÌ„ vpon good cause as the conqueror being made his own arbitrator wil hardlie acknowledge the contrarie is a iust title of acquisition reducing the vanquished their priuileges liberties and whole estate vnder the discretion of him that is victorious Caesar sayth He geueth all that denieth right which sentence is approoued by Couaruuias affirming that the victor maketh all which his sword touâ—heth to be his owne So sayth Baldus that he doth his pleasure vpon the vanquished and againe Caesar in the speech of Ariouistus it is the law of armes that the victorious should commaÌ„d those whom they haue subdued euen as they please Clemens Alexandrinus saith the goods of enemies are taken away by right of warre Isocrates hath written that the Lacedaemonians did by title of victorie in this sort maintaine their right We hold this land giuen by the posteritie of Hercules confirmed by the Oracle of Delphos the inhabitantes thereof being ouercome by warre Which was not much vnlike that which Iephte captaine of Israell expostulated with the Ammonites Are not those things thine which Chamos thy God hath possessed but whatsoeuer the Lord our God hath conquered pertaineth vnto vs. Yea God doth expressely giue to the people of Israel the cities which they should subdue some into ful possession others into seruitude subiection by which title Iacob also had giuen to Ioseph his partage among his brethreÌ„ euen the land which he had taken froÌ„ the Amorites with his sword and with his bow It was vsuall to the Romans and as Appian saith iust to retaine principall or direct dominion in al thinges which they brought vnder the sway of their sworde Brissonius hath collected certaine examples of the forme of yeelding vnto the Romans whereby al prophane sacred al humane and diuine matters were submitted vnto them Seeing therefore that the people may so many wayes loose both their power and their right in affaires of state is not your ignorance aduenturous so generallie to affirme that if no one forme of gouerment bee naturall there is no doubt but the people haue power both to alter and limit the same as they please Can no lawe no custome no conquest restraine them Your pen doth range and your iudgement rage beyond al compasse and course of reason You should haue said that there is no doubt but if by al or any of these meanes the right both of succession and gouernment be setled in one familie according to propinquitie and prioritie of bloud the people may neither take away nor varie the same and if they doe they commit iniustice they violate the law of nations whereby they expose themselues not onlie to the infamie and hate of al men but to the reuenge of those who wil attempt vppon them
rake ouer al histories for examples of rebellion and then argue a facto ad ius that euerie thing is lawful which you finde to haue bin done Iustinian sayth Non exemplis sed legibus iudicandum We must iudge facts by lawe and not lawe by facts or by examples which Alciate and Deciane do terme a golden lawe because there is no action either so impious or absurd which may not bee paralleled by examples Will you prooue it lawful to vse fleshlie familiaritie with the sister with the mother in law with the natural mother You haue the example of Cambyses for the first Caracalla for the second Dionysius and Nero for the third The Iewes vppon whom God had setled his choise did at times beside many other enormities erect male stewes Of the two nations whose examples you vse the Romans and the Lacedaemonians the first did the like vnder diuers emperours as Lampridius writeth and in more auncient times allowed also parricide of children the other would sort themselues by fifteene and twentie families together and hold both wiues and goods in common I omit the vnnatural customes of diuers other nations and will now declare how in straining a fewe examples to countenance your conceit you are constrained to beare your selfe no lesse cunning in concealing truthes then bold in auouching things which are not only vncertaine but plainely false It is true which you write that the kings of Sparta by the institution of Lycurgus were obedient to the officers called Ephori but these were titular kings hauing no other power but a single voice among the Senators and because all affaires were caried by consent of the people the estate was then esteemed popular Afterwards Theopompus by pretence of an Oracle drew this authoritie from the people to a Senate of thirtie whereby the gouernment did change into an Aristocracie yet the naked name of kings was retained By this shuffling of rule the Lacedaemonians were continually tossed with tempests of sedition ceasing not to wade in their owne bloud as before you haue acknowledged vntill in the end they were brought into subiection first by the Macedonians afterward by the Achaeans and lastly by the Romans I will not say now what reason haue we but what a shame is it for vs to open our cares to these Vtopicall state-writers who being mellowed in idlenesse hauing neither knowledge nor interest in matters of gouernment make new models vpon disproportioned ioints borrowed from nations most different in rule You affirme by the testimonie of Liuie that for offence taken against Romulus because hee raigned at pleasure and not by law the Senators did cut him in peeces in which short assertion many base vntruths are included beneath the degree of anie vile word Liuie writeth that he sorted the people into order and gouerned them by lawes and that hee was also both aduised and valiant in the field euen such a one as Homer describeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Both a good king and couragious commander Concerning his end Liuie writeth that in taking muster of his armie a thicke tempest did arise after which he was neuer seene wherein he is seconded by Solinus Eutropius and the rest only Liuie addeth that there was a rumor but verie obscure without any certaine either authour or ground I will adde also without probabilitie that he was torne in peeces For howe probable is it that such a fact in the open view of his armie could bee verie obscure how probable is it also that the people would first teare him in peeces for his iniustice and then worship him for a God Further with what either confidence or conceit doe you alleage this report of Liuie for his opinioÌ„ I find your fetch you apprehend euerie thing which may if not confirm yet countenance that doctrine which lately you haue drawne out of Cerberus denne That it is lawfull to contriue the death of kings That the people were grieued against Seruius Tullius for raigning without election it is a meere fantasie a dreame a deuise Liuie faith that hee was declared king with such a consent as no man had bin before him That Tarquinius neglected the lawes of gouernment prescribed to him by the common wealth it is an ougly vntruth Liuie saith that he brake the auncient manner of kings before him but for lawes Pomponius affirmeth that at that time the Romans had no lawes but from their kings and that Sextus Papirius reduced them into one volume which was called the ciuill law of Papirius and that when the people expelled their kings they abrogated their lawes also and remained twentie yeares without any law Lastly you adde that the Romans did expell their kings and erect Consuls in their steed but you suppresse that which followed which I hold for a common consequence of the like disorder First that for this cause they were presently almost ouerwhelmed with warres secondly that in this state they neuer enjoyed long time free from sedition lastly that as Tacitus saith there was no meanes to appease these tumults but by returning to a monarchie againe All this I write rather to manifest the maner of your dealing then that I hold it much regardable what Romans did Your examples of our present age I will wrap vp in these few words All nations very few excepted do consent in this forme of gouernment first to bee vnder one Prince secondly to accept him by succession according to propinquitie of bloud in other circumstances either for in augurating their prince or for the maner of managing and executing his gouernment not two nations in the world in all points do agree And yet is not this diuersitie raised by any lawes which the people doe prescribe vnto their Prince as you doe most grossely yea peeuishly yea maliciously affirme but by the particular lawes and customes of euerie nation in which the consent of the Prince either secret or expresse sometimes onely is sufficient alwayes principally doth concur Vpon this diuersitie of customes you conclude that it sufficeth not to alleage bare propinquitie of bloud What not where that custom is established as I haue declared it to bee in most nations of the world doth difference of customes make all custom void doth diuersitie of custome in some circumstances take away the principall custome of succession by bloud This cleaueth together no surer then sand you loose both labour and credit in obtruding vnto vs these weake and loose arguments without either force of reason or forme of Art Your instance of the lawe Salicke in France doth offer occasion to enter into a large fielde wherein I could plainlie prooue that there was neuer anie such lawe made to bind the discent of the crowne of Fraunce and that it hath bin the custome in most parts of the world not to exclude women from succession in state in so much as Beda and before him Eusebius and Plinie doâ—
butcherie of Henry late king of Fraunce an heroicall act and a gift of the holy Ghost Whence did he write of the king who now there raigneth If without armes he cannot be deposed let men take armes against him if by warre it cannot be accomplished let him bee murthered Whence did Ambrose Verade rector of the colledge of the Iesuits in Paris animate Barriers as he confessed to sheath his knife in the kings breast assuring him by the liuing God that he could not execute anie act more meritorious Whence did the commenter vpon the epitome of Confessions otherwise the seuenth booke of decretals commend all the Iesuits in these termes They set vpon tyrants they pull the cockle out of the Lords field It is a rule in nature that one contrarie is manifested by the other Let vs compare then your boisterous doctrine with that of the Apostles and ancient Fathers of the Church and we shall find that the one is like the rough spirit which hurled the heard of swine headlong into the sea the other like the stil soft spirit which talked with Elias Neither was the diuel euer able vntil in late declining times to possesse the hearts of Christians with these cursed opinions which doe euermore beget a world of murthers rapes ruines desolations For tel me what if the prince whom you perswade the people they haue power to depose be able to make maintaine his partie as K. Iohn and king Henry the third did against their Barons What if other princes whom it doth concerne as wel in honor to see the law of Nations obserued as also in policie to breake those proceedings which may form precedents against themselues do adioin to the side what if whilest the prince and the people are as was the frog and the mouse in the heate of their encounter some other potentate play the kite with them both as the Turke did with the Hungarians Is it not then a fine peece of policie which you doe plotte or is it not a grosse errour to raise these daungers and to leaue the defence to possibilities doubtfull Goe too Sirs goe too there is no christian country which hath not by your deuises ben wrapped in warres You haue set the empire on swim with bloud your fires in France are not ye extinguished in Polonia all those large countries extending from the north to the east you haue caused of late more battels to be fought then had ben in 500 yeers before Your practises haue heeretofore preuailed against vs of late yeers you haue busied your selues in no one thing more then how to set other christian princes on our necks stirring vp such store of enemies against vs as like the grashoppers of Egipt might fill our houses and couer our whole land and make more doubt of roome then of resistance Our owne people also you haue prouoked to vnnaturall attempts you haue exposed our country as a pray to them that will either inuade or betray it supposing belike that you play Christs part well when you may say as Christ did thinke not that I came to send peace I came not to send peace but a sword But when by the power prouideÌ„ce of God all these attempts haue rather shewen what good hearts you beare towards vs then done vs any great harme when in all these practises you haue missed the mark now you do take another â—ime now hauing no hope by extremitie of armes you indeuour to execute your mallice by giuing dangerous aduise Now you goe about to entangle vs with titles which is the greatest miserie that can â—all vpon a state You pretend faire shewes of libertie of power Sed timeo Danaos donâ— ferentes Wee cannot but suspect the courtesies of our enemies the power which you giue vs will pull vs downe the libertie whereof you speake will fetter vs in bondage When Themistocles came to the Persian court Artabâ—nus captaine of the guard knowing that hee would vse no ceremonie to their king kept him out of presence and said vnto him you Grecians esteeme vs barbarous for honouring our kings but we Persians esteeme it the greatest honour to vs that can be The like answere will we frame vnto you you Iesuits account it a bondage to be obedient vnto kings but wee Christians account it the greatest meanes for our continuance both free and safe To the third Chapter which is intitledOf the great reuerence and respect due to kings and yet how diuers of them haue ben lawfully chastised by their common wealthes for their misgouernment of the good prosperous successe that God commonly hath giuen to the same and much more to the putting back of an vnworthie pretender THat princes may bee chastised by their subiects your proofes are two one is drawen from certaine examples the other from the good successe and successors which vsuallie haue followed Surely it cannot be but that you stand in a strong conceite either of the authoritie of your woord or simplicitie of our iudgement otherwise you could not bee perswaded by these slender threds to draw any man to your opinion Of the force of examples I haue spoken before there is no villanie so vile which vvanteth example And yet most of the examples which you doe bring are either false or else impertinent For there haue beene diuers states wherein one hath borne the name title of king without power of Maiestie As the Romanes in the time of their consulate estate had alwaies a priest whom they entitled king whose office consisted in certaine ceremonies sacrifices which in former times could not be performed but by their kings Likewise the Lacedaemonians after Licurgus had formed their gouernment retained two kings who had no greater stroke in matters of state then a single voice as other Senators Such were in Caesars time many pettie kings of Gaule who as Ambiorix king of Leige confessed were subiect to their Nobilitie iusticeable by them Such are now the Emperours of Almaine because the puissance Maiestie of the empire pertaineth to the states who are sworne to the empire it selfe and not to the person of the Emperour Such are also the Dukes of Venice the soueraignetie of vvhich state is setled in the gentlemen In these and such like gouernments the Prince is not soueraigne but subiect to that part of the common wealth which retaineth the royaltie and maiestie of state whether it be the Nobilitie or common people and therefore your examples drawen from them is nothing to our purpose Concerning successe it cannot bee strange vnto you that by the secret yet iust iudgement of God diuers euill actions are carried with apparance of good successe The Prophet Dauid said that his treadings had almost slipt by seeing the wicked to flourish in prosperitie the prophet Ieremiah seemed also to stagger vpon this point it hath alwaies ben a dangerous stone in the way of the godly whereat manie
representeth his person who gaue commission and not his owne Herevpon Alexander Panormitane Innocentius and Felinus doe affirme that they may cast their commissioners out of power when they please because as Paulus saith a man can iudge no longer when he forbiddeth who gaue authoritie Further all states take denomination from that part wherin the supreme power is setled as if it bee in one prince it is called a monarchie if in many of highest ranck then it is an aristocracie if in the people then a democracie Whervpon it followeth if the people are superiour to the prince if the prince hath no power but by commission from them that then all estates are populare for we are not so much to respect who doth execute this high power of state as from whō immediately it is deriued Hereto let vs ad that which you haue said in another place that in populare gouernments there is nothing but sedition trouble tumults outragies iniustices vpon euery light occasiō thē we shall perceiue first that you want the art of a wise deceiuer not to be entangled in your tale secondly that this is meere poison which the diuell hath dropt out of your pen to infect christian coūtries with disobedience disorder In a word to the contrary of this your impudent vntruth our laws do acknowledge supreme authority in the prince within the realme dominions of england neither can subiects beare thēselues either superior or equall to their soueraigne or attempt violence either against his persō or estate but as well the ciuill law as the particulare lawes customes of all countries do adiudge it high hainous treasō I will speake now without passion what reason haue we to accept your idle talk for a kind of authority against the iudgement lawes of most nations in the world You proceede that the power of a prince is giuen to him by the common wealth with such conditions exceptions as if the same be not kept the people stand free That the prince receiueth his power vnder plain conditiōs you go about to proue afterward now you hold on that in all mutual contracts if one side recede from promise the other remaineth not obliged this you proue by two rules of the law The first is he doth in vaine require promise to be kept of another man to whom he refuseth to performe that which he promised the other is a man is not bound to performe his oath if on the other part that be not performed in respect whereof he did sweare Poore fellow had you ben as conuersant in the light of law and cleere course of iustice as you are in the smoake dust of some corner of a colledge you wold neuer haue concluded so generally so confidētly vpō any of the rules of law which are subiect for the most part vnto many exceptions Alexander Felinus doe assigne fiue fallencies vnto these rules Socinus giueth the cootrarie rule to him that breaketh his faith or oath faith ought to bee kept thē restraineth it with seauē limitations But all affirme that in those offices which are mutuall between any persōs by the law of nature or of God as between the father the child the husband the wife the master the seruant the prince and the subiect although the same be further assured by promise or by oath the breach of duty in the one is no discharge vnto the other And therfore if the father performeth not his duty towards his children they are not thereby acquitted both of the obedience care which God nature exacteth of them howsoeuer Solon in his lawes discharged children from nourishing their parents if they did not traine them in some trade wherby they might acquire their liuing Much lesse are subiects exempted from obedience if the prince either erre or be defectiue in gouernment because the like respect is not due vnto parents as vnto Princes as I haue somewhat touched before insomuch as a sonne that beareth authoritie hath right both to commaūd and compell the father This was declared among the Romanes by that which Plutarch Liuie Valerius and Gellius doe report of Q. Fabius to whome being consull when Fabius Maximus his father who had bene consull the yeare before did approch sitting vpon his horse the sonne commanded him by a sergeant to allight the father not onely obeyed but highly commended both the courage and iudgement of his sonne in maintaining the maiestie which he did beare and in preferring a publicke both dutie and authoritie beefore priuate Vpon those examples Paulus the lawier did wright that publick discipline was in higher estimation among the Romane parents then the loue of children After an impertinēt discourse that vpon diuers cōsiderations an oath ought not to be performed you annex another cause wherefore subiects may withdraw their alleageāce that is when it should turne to the notable dammage of the common wealth and both these you affirme to be touched in the depriuation of Childeric king of France But I regard not what was touched in the depriuation of Childeric I haue answered to that in the chapter next before I require either arguments or authoritie of more tough temper Well then let vs turne back the leafe and there we shall finde a rule of the law because by rules onely you will beat down rule In euill promises it is not expedient to keepe faith Which is also confirmed by a sentence of Isidorus In euill promises break your word in a dishonest oath change your purpose Well fare your vvits good soule doe you accompt the promise of obedience euill not so I suppose you will say but it turneth to be euill vvhen it turneth to the notable detrimēt of the commō wealth It is one of your peculiar guifts the further you goe the more impious you declare your selfe For if you take the word euill in noe higher sence then for detriment and damage it would follow vpon your rule that a man vvere no further tyed to his promise then the performance thereof were aduantageable vnto him You vvould inforce also that if the father doth dissipate his patrimoniall estate and runne a course to ruine his familie the children and the wife may thervpon disauow their duties But if vvee take a true touch of this point we shall finde that the vices of any Prince are not sufficient of themselues to ouerthrow a state except therevpon rebellions be raised vvhich vvill draw all things into confusion For there is no Prince vvhich either hath liued or can almost be imagined to liue in so little sence of humanitie but generally he both fauoureth and maintaineth some order of iustice onely against particuler persons some of them haue violently bene carried by the tempest of their passion vvhereby notwithstanding the inordinate desires of one man can not possibly reach to
that line also failed in Sigismond Augustus the last male of that Familie the States elected Henry Duke of Anjowe for their King with this clause irritant That if hee did violate any point of his oath the people should owe him no alleageance But whereas you report this as the vsuall oath of the Kinges of Polonia you deserue to heare the plainest tearme of vntruth In the kingdome of Spaine you distinguish two times one before the conquest thereof by the Moores the other after it was recouered againe by the Christians I acknowledge a difference in these two times for that in the one the right of the kingdome was electiue in the other it hath alwaies remained successiue insomuch as Peter Belluga a diligent writer of the rights of Arragon doth affirme that the people haue no power in election of the king except in case the line should faile Concerning the matter in controuersie you affirme that the kings did sweare the same points in effect which before haue bene mentioned This wee must take vpon your forfeited faith for you alleadge no forme of oath onely you write that the fourth nationall Councell of Toledo with all humilitie conuenient did require that the present king and all other that should follow would be meeke and moderate towardes their subiects and gouerne them with iustice and not giue sentence in causes capitall without assistance declaring further that if any of them should exercise cruell and proude authoritie 〈◊〉 they were condemned by Christ with the sentence of Excommunication and separated to euerlasting iudgement But what pang hath possessed your dreaming braines to tearme this by a marginall note Conditions of raigning in Spaine being no other then a reuerent and graue admonition of the dutie of a king with a feareful declaration of the iudgment of God against wicked Princes And that which was afterward decreed in the sixt Councell of Toledo That the king should sweare not to suffer any man to breake the Catholike faith because it is a principall point of his dutie his estate was not thereby made conditionall The rest of this passage you fill vppe with froath of the antiquated lawe of Don Pelayo prescribing a forme of inaugurating the Kinges of Spaine whereof there is not one point either now in vse or pertaining to the purpose So miserable is your case that you can write nothing therein but that which is either impertinent or vntrue For Fraunce your first example is taken from the coronation of Philip the first wherein you note that king Henrie his father requested the people to sweare obedience to his sonne inferring thereby that a coronation requireth a new consent which includeth a certaine election of the subiects But this is so light that the least breath is sufficient to disperse it Philip was crowned king during the life of his father which action as it was not ordinarie so was it of such both difficultie and weight that it could not be effected without assemblie and consent of the States The oath which he made is in this forme extant in the Librarie of Rheimes I do promise before God and his Saints that I will conserue to euery one committed vnto me canonicall priuiledge due Law Iustice and wil defend thē by the helpe of God so much as shall lye in my power as a king by right ought to do within his Realme to euery Bishop and to the Church cōmitted to him and further to the people cōmitted to my charge I wil grant by my authority the dispensatiō of laws according to right Ad to this a more anciēt form of the oth of those kings which it seemeth you haue not seene I sweare in the name of God Almighty promise to gouerne well duly the subiects cōmitted to my charge to do with all my power iudgement iustice and mercy Ad also the oath which you alleage of Philip the 2. surnamed Augustus To maintaine all canonicall priuileges law Iustice due to euery mā to the vttermost of his power to defēd his subiects as a good king is bound to do to procure that they be kept in the vniō of the Church to defend thē frō al excesse rapine extortion iniquity to take order that Iustice be kept with equity mercy to endeuor to expell heretiks What doth all this rise vnto but a princely promise to discharge honorably and truly those points of duty which the laws of God did lay vpō thē What other cōditions or restraints are imposed what other cōtract is hereby made where are the protestations which in the end of the last chap. you promised to shew that if the Prince do faile in his promise the subiects are free frō their allegeāce what clause do you find sounding to that sense But you litle regard any thing that you say you easily remēber to forget your word Wel thē we must put these your vaine speeches into the reckning of mony accōpted but not receiued and seeing you cannot shew vs that the kings of France and of Spaine are tied to any condition whereto the law of God doth not bind thē I will not vary frō the iudgemēt of Ordradus in affirming thē to be absolute kings I haue pressed this point the rather in this place because you write that most neighbour nations haue takē the forme of annointing crowning their kings from the anciēt custome of France although the substāce be deduced from the first kings of the Hebrews as appeareth by the annointing of king Saule whereof Dauid you say made great accompt notwithstanding that Saule had bene reiected by God and that himselfe had lawfully borne armes against him Out Atheist you would be dawbed with dung haue the most vile filth of your stewes cast in your face Did Dauid beare armes against his annointed king did he euer lift vp his eye-lids against him did he euer so much as defend himselfe otherwise then by flight It is certaine that Shemei did not halfe so cruelly either curse or reuile this holy man who did so much both by speech and action detest this fact that he would rather haue endured ten thousand deaths then to haue defiled his soule with so damnable a thought What then shall we say vnto you who to set vp sedition and tumult abuse all diuine humane wrightings in whatsoeuer you beleeue will aduance your purpose who spend some speech of respect vnto kings for allurement onely to draw vs more deepe into your deceit Shall we giue any further eare to your doctrine both blasphemous and bloudy We will heare you to the end and I deceiue my selfe but your owne tale shall in any moderate iudgement condemne the authoritie of your opinions for euer Let vs come then to your last example which is neither the last nor the least whereat you leuell And that is of England which of all other kingdomes you say hath most particularly taken this ceremony of Sacring and