From which Place all the Commentators with one Consent conclude That a Royal Power was due to the Eldest Son by Birth-Right and certainly there must have been something more than ordinary due to the First-Born or Esau could never have deserved the Title of Profane Heb. 12.16 which is bestowed upon him by the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews I know 't is generally agreed to be upon the Account of the Priesthood which together with the rest was due to the Eldest And since we have so clear Evidence for this Right due to the Eldest by Birth as appears from Numb 3. Vers 12. where God declares he had made Choice of the Levites instead of the First-Born to be Priests I cannot conceive why that Prerogative of a Superiority and Dominion over their Brethren should be denyed to belong to them by the Law of Nature too since we have such clear Intimation of it For when Jacob blessed his Sons and told 'em what would happen to 'em in the latter Dayes Gen. 49.3 he calls Reuben his First-Born The Excellency of Dignity and the Excellency of Power Whereby is signified the Right he had by Birth to the Priesthood and Kingdom and Double Portion to which Sence the Chaldee Paraphrase exactly agrees But because of his Sins and Transgressions God had deprived him of 'em the Priesthood was given to Levi the Kingdom to Judah and the Double Portion to Joseph Nor are we to look upon Jacob as taking upon him to dispose of these Things himself but only fore-telling what would in due time by God Almighty be brought to pass and of which they were patiently and cheerfully to expect the Event But when Moses by God's Command delivered the Law to the Jews this Precept of Nature Of giving a Double Portion to the First-Born is there again repeated and enjoyn'd and so made a Part of the Positive and Revealed Will of God who gives this Reason for it because He is the Beginning of his Father's Strength Deut. 21.17 and the Right of the First-Born is his Which way of Expression is never used but when something is commanded which by the Law of Nature they were obliged to the Observation of before And of this Opinion is the Great Selden who sayes 'T is injoyned in such a manner ‖ Selden de Successionibus c. cap. 5. Ac si recepto antea in gentem more subniteretur as if it had been the Constant Practice and Custom of the Nation to observe it before And in this Precept 't is not to be question'd Succession to the Royalty is included for in the †Titulo de Regibus Talmud 't is said Qui praecipuum jus habet in Haereditate is in possessione Regni ideo filius natu major praeferur minori i. e. Whoever has the greatest Right to Succeed in any Inheritance he ought to be Advanced to the Throne and therefore the Eldest Son is alwayes prefer'd before the Younger And accordingly we are told That Jehoram succeeded Jehosophat and the Reason given 2 Chron 21.3 Because he was the First-Born Which would not have been added if upon that account the Kingdom had not been his due And if we take the pains to look into History we shall find the Practice of the World agreeable in preferring the Eldest Son before his Younger Brethren ‖ In Polyphm Herodotus can tell us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That it was the Custom of all Nations for the First-Born to enjoy the Royalty And consonant to this Lib. 2. is what we are told out of Trogus by Justine Artabazanes Maximus natu aetatis privilegio regnum sibi vindicabat quod ordo Nascendi natura ipsa gentibus dedit Artabazanes the Eldest Son challenged by the Prerogative of Age the Kingdom to which by Priority of Birth and the Law of Nature common to all People he had an Undoubted Right I might here produce a great Multitude of Quotations from these as well as other Authors to shew how Universally this Custom prevailed in all Places how generally it was Received But I shall content my self to take notice of the Unanimous Agreement of the great Doctors of the Civil and Canon Laws in this Matter †Ex hoc jure D. de Justit Jure Baldus sayes positively Semper fuit semper erit ut primogenitus in Regno succedat It alwayes was and ever shall be that the First-Born and next of Blood Succeedeth in the Kingdom And herein he is followed with the full Cry of all the Best and Choice Interpreters of both Laws who with one Voice agree That in Kingdoms and other Dignities which are Indivisible without Dis-membring the Eldest Son doth entirely Succeed And this many of them do call the Law of all Nations derived from the Order of Nature and from the Institution of God and Confirmed by the Canon Civil and other Positive Laws Now what hath been said of Primogeniture in Point of Succession to the Crown doth so evidently by Consequence extend it self to Proximity of blood that I shall say no more of it but proceed to Answer an Objection drawn from the Holy writ For say some If this Birthright be so sacred a thing as I have asserted it to be How comes it to pass that so many have been deprived of it How came the tribe of Judah to get the Scepter from Reuben And Why was Solomon advanced to the Throne to the total disinherison of his elder Brethren I answer That those that make this objection never consider that this was all done by the express command of him who ruleth in the Kingdom of men Dan. 4.25 and giveth it to whomsoever he will t is well known that David of the Tribe of Judah was immediately chosen by God himself and appointed to be Ruler of his own People and it was by an express warrant from the same God 1 Chron. 28.5 that Solomon was made his successor as appears from the mouth of David himself 1 Chron. 28.5 And of all my Sons saith he for the Lord hath given me many Sons 1 Chron. 29.1 he hath chosen Solomon my Son to sit upon the Throne of the Kingdom of the Lord over Israel So that these and the like Instances and none other can be produced signifie nothing to the purpose And if we do but impartially weigh the Recognitions of so many several Parliaments as I have taken notice of above we shall find this great Truth openly and fully acknowledged 't is unanimously agreed That the King 's of England come to the Crown not by any Human Right but by the Laws of God and Nature And thus I think I have effectually proved my Two First Propositions viz. That Monarchy Jure Divino Naturali is Founded in Paternity and in the next place That the Crown of England is and ought to be inseparably annexed to the Proximity of Blood by the Laws of God and
clearing of this great and so much agitated Point I shall endeavour to prove First That not only all Government but particularly Monarchy does owe its immediat Foundation and Constitution to God Almighty Secondly That by the Law of God Nature and Nations the Crown ought to descend according to Priority of Birth and Proximity of Blood Thirdly That if an Act of Parliament were obtained to exclude his R. H. would be unjust unlawful and ipso facto void as contrary both to the Law of God and Nature and the known Fundamental Laws of the Land And in the course of my Reasoning I shall not forget any thing this Gentleman has said against any of these things in the Argumentative part of his Discourse I am sensible it will make a great many Smile to see me undertake to prove so many in their own Opinion irrational Tenets And I doubt not but some too will be displeased to find me endeavouring to strike at the Root of their darling Notions they know very well should this be admitted they could find no pretence to adhere to their Republican Principles and not become the scandal and aversion of all Good and Honest Men but 't is not their frowns or their railing will trouble me for 't is not that I measure Truth by but Reason and by that I am content the Cause I have espoused should stand or fall I would not be misunderstood as if I had the Vanity to think it would receive any Advantage by my Management of it but I am so confident of the over-ballance of Reason and Truth I have on my side that I doubt not but it will even make it self appear notwithstanding my want of Parts which no man is more conscious of than my self and Ability to set it out to the best advantage In order then to the first Point it will not be amiss to examine what Reason can be shown to induce a man that has lay'd aside Prejudice and Partiality to embrace that so commonly received Opinion of a Natural Freedom and Equality for my own part I take it to be a Proposition not altogether so clear and self-evident but that it requires a little better Proof than I ever yet saw offer'd for it I am not at all concerned for those many Sentences the Assertors of this Doctrine are able to pelt me withall from Poets Orators Historians and God knows who for I answer with Lactantius they ought not to be so understood as if there were in those early dayes no Property Non ut existimemus nihil omnino tum suisse privati sed more Poetico figuratum ut intelligamus tam liberales suisse homines ut natas sibi fruges non includerent nè soli absconditis incubarent sed pauperes ad communionem proprii laboris admitterent Lactant. de Justit c. 5. nothing that Man could call his own but those expressions are to be look'd upon as Figuratively spoken after the manner of the Poets thereby to give us to understand that men were then so liberal that they did not covetously ingross all their store to themselves but were generously content to admit their poor Neighbours to a communication of their proper Labours and Income Besides 't is very observable that at the very same time we are told of this Community and Natural Freedom the whole World is supposed to be under the Government of Saturn who was succeeded by his Son Jupiter Postquam Saturno tenebrosa ad Tartara misso Sub Jove mundus erat Ovid. Metam l. 1. And tho' the Poets call 'em Gods yet we are surely to understand that Earthly Kings are thereby meant so that from hence nothing can be gathered to favour that Original of Government that those that urge these things are the great Patrons of If indeed a Set of full grown Men had dropt out of the Clouds or like Mushrooms sprung out of the Earth I should not be much averse no the notion of Natural freedom and equality and that those being in some great Wind furnished with a convenient number of Women had propagated their Species but I much fear whether there would not have been many bloody Noses before they could have come to any Agreement if it had not been altogether impossible for How long a time and how great experience would be requisite to put the thoughts of entring into a settled Society into their Heads Or having found out the Conveniency and Method of doing it How easily would such a hopeful project be dash'd in pieces by some surly ill-natur'd fellow or at least a party of such For since no such thing could be effected without the joynt Consent of all How difficult a thing would it prove to bring such a Business about many out of Pride being unwilling to submit themselves to this or that Man they might perhaps have a particular pique against and as many resolved not to admit of any such thing unless they be advanced to that Supreme Magistracy which no doubt others as ambitiously Thirsted after as they and what could be the Issue of this but Blood and Rapine War and their former Confusion But granting that all those Arrived to Maturity should be grown so sensible of those many insupportable Miseries that they were every Minute exposed to should be content to submit to any thing rather than continue in their present Condition What must be done with their Children Must they be enslaved by their Fathers that have according to these Men no more Power over them than any of their Neighbours Surely by that time they should become sensible of that priviledge Nature had so bountifully given them they would be found unwilling to stand to that blind Bargain that had been made without their Knowledge and Consent And how that could ever be had I am altogether to seek unless in those Days they could have spoke as soon as come out of their Mothers Womb which I take to be every whit as likely as the other And no doubt from hence a justifiable pretence may be taken at any time to disturst any Government upon Earth when the inconstant and giddy-headed Multitude or any part of them should in their great Wisdom think fit Besides nothing seems more Derogatory to the Goodness Wisdom and Providence of God Almighty than to send Man into the World and expose him to so many inconveniencies for the want of that without which it is impossible for Mankind long to subsist or answer the Ends of their Creation to leave them Destitute of that which was so necessary to their well being for we cannot without impiety suppose but God foresaw the many Ills that would accompany such a Condition and if so how it can be reconciled to his Goodness and Wisdom I must profess my self Ignorant But to let this Opinion of the Origination of Mankind pass Calculated rather according to the Fancy of the Poets or Notion of some of the old Heathen Philosophers than Truth If we
such Title therefore their Thrones instead of being supported are hereby very much shaken for a Man need but a small stock of Judgment to discern his premises to be as true as his inference is false for where-ever the Lawful Heirs are supposed to be dead or unknown the actual Possessour has the greatest Right and can with as little Justice be dispossessed of what he enjoys as if he were the rightful owner for even as Robbers and Thieves while they are possessed of Stolen Goods have a Title in Law against all others but the true Proprietors insomuch that it is a Sin for any other to deprive them of such Goods So Usurpers have a Title in the Government against all Persons but the true Heirs who alone and those impowered by them can legally and justly go about to molest and disturb them And where the Usurpation has continued so long that the knowledge of the right Heir is lost by the People it is no longer to be look'd upon as such but every one is obliged to comply with the Government and Governours then established so that no Prince has any reason to be Alarm'd at this Doctrine unless this Gentleman can produce the Lawful and Lineal Heir to Adam which I am perswaded will be somewhat an hard matter to do Nor are either the Properties or Laws of any Countries endangered since they have all the Security that Oaths and Promises can give them for them and greater Security Subjects cannot have from their Prince unless they had a Power to call their Soveraign to an account for the Male-administration of his Trust a thing no Men in their right Wits can pretend to As for the rest of our Gentleman 's impertinent Cavils about this Matter I shall not give them the Honour of an Examination for he may as well undertake to prove Marriage to be no Institution of God because not observed by some Nations where the Men and Women without any Ceremony accompany one another promiscuously as from the Practice of the Venetians Netherlands Poland Germany and Aragon where by the By the Case is quite alter'd from what it once was by the Conquest of that Country by Philip the Second conclude Monarchy to be a humane Invention And thus I think I have sufficiently made out my First Proposition that Monarchy is a Divine Ordinance and undoubted Institution of Nature The Second thing I undertook to prove was that the Crown according to the Law of God Nature and Nations ought to Descend according to Primogeniture and Proximity of Blood which will I doubt not very Evidently appear from the foregoing Discourse for if Monarchy be of Divine Right as I think I have made more than probable and that Adam was during his Life Universal Monarch there is no question to be made but that Right was by his Death transfer'd to his Eldest Son and Successor Seth I call him Eldest tho Born after Cain because God who as He hath given can take away had disinherited the latter for the Murder of his Innocent Brother Abel so that being Excommunicated and made a Vagabond driven from his Parents and turn'd into the wide World as we say to seek his Fortune I reckon of him as if he were not in being Nor is this bare Conjecture for Cedrenus can tell us that as * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cedren f. 9. Adam was Emperour of the World during his Life so was †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cedren ubi supra Seth after his Decease his Successor in the Dominion over all Mankind And that the rest of the Patriarchs Succeeded and Governed the World by the same Right I take to be beyond Dispute if this be admitted as I can see no Reason why it should not I am sure of Canaan the Son of Enoch and Grand-Child of Seth We have a very remarkable and express Testimony he was Emperour over all the World and lies Buried in an Island of the East-Indian Sea the Memory whereof remained there in Tables of Stone in Alexander's time as Alexander relates in his Letter to Aristotle Recorded by ‖ lib. 2. cap. 11. Josephus Ben-Gorion When after the Universal Deluge Noah remained Master of the whole Earth he by that Right which God and Nature had invested in him divided the World amongst his Children to every one he gave their share but over and above that a kind of Supremacy over the whole as Lord in chief after the old Patriarch's Death was transfer'd to his Eldest Son Sem of whom his younger Brethren held their Kingdoms in Fee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sayes the * Cedrenâ—â— sol 12. Historian speaking of Sem. Tho perhaps this Notion of an Universal Empire may seem strange to some yet 't is the Opinion of not a few Learned Men That Babel was designed for the Chief Seat of it And if Melchisedec be as I think the Learned Dr. Willet in his Commentary on Genesis has made more than probable no other than Sem I think the Scripture will afford us some very considerable Hints of it from the great Respect paid and offering of part of his Substance to him as an Acknowledgment of his Supremacy over the Universe But tho there be so good Evidence for this Opinion in History yet I cannot think that it stands in need of it for 't is so expresly and clearly laid down in several Places of Scripture that he must industriously shut his Eyes against Truth that cannot see it For Can any thing be more plain than this Text where God Almighty sayes to Cain of his Younger Brother Abel Gen. 4.7 Vnto thee shall be his Desire and thou shalt Rule over Him Unless by the Divine Law of Nature such a Right had been annexed to Primogeniture Would God have put him in mind of such a Prerogative We cannot suppose he did then bestow it upon him lest he should take Pet because his Offering was Rejected and his Brother 's Accepted Certainly there is more Reason to believe God would at that time have deprived him of that Preheminence which belong'd to him by Birth-Right and that no doubt he was afraid would be the Consequence from whence sprung the Hatred he bare to Abel But God was graciously pleas'd to remove that Distrust from him by telling him That tho he had offended yet should not that Prerogative be taken from him he should still continue to be Lord over his Brother †Vid. Calvin in loc S. Chryâ—â—st Homiâ— 18. To thee shall be his Desire and thou shalt Rule over him A clearer-Proof than this perhaps cannot be shewn for Honouring and Obeying Parents or any other Moral Duty except that of doing no Murder before the Promulgation of the Decalogue But if this be not sufficient it will further appear from the Blessing given to Jacob by Isaac his Father where he tells him He shall be Lord over his Brethren Gen. 27.29 and his Mother's Sons shall how down before him
which his ipse dixi was a Law to cut that Gordian Knot asunder which he was not able to unty But it is time now to examine the palpable contradictions of those several mad and extravagant Acts that he made and first in the * Stat. 25. H. 8. c. 22. 25th year of his Reign after he was Divorced from Queen Katherine and had married Queen Anne The Parliament having in the Preamble to the following Act declared what great miseries and how many troubles had befallen this Realm by reason of the ambiguity of the several Titles to the Crown do think themselves bound in duty by a Declaration of the true Heir to avoid the causes of such Distractions for the future It is therefore Enacted and Ordained That the Kings Marriage with the late Queen Katherine is void as directly contrary to the Laws of God and therefore not dispensable with by the Pope or any Humane Power whatsoever They therefore bastardize Mary and declare the Marriage between his Majesty and Queen Anne to be just and lawful and that the Children of their two Bodies begotten shall be and are legitimate and then in default of Issue Male entail the Crown upon the Lady Elizabeth c. and every one by the Sanctimony of an Oath is bound to the observation and performance of this And the next Parliament does Enact a particular Oath for that purpose whereby every one is bound to bear Faith Truth and Obedience only to the King's Majesty and to his Heirs of his Body of his most Dear and entirely beloved lawful Wife Queen Anne begotten or to be begotten But mark what follows a few years after 't is Enacted St. 28. H. 8. c. 7. That the people shall forswear themselves the late Marriage is declared unlawful null and void the Lady Elizabeth is Bastardized as the Lady Mary was in the former Parliament and the King's Marriage with Queen Jane is acknowledged consonant to the Law of God the Crown entailed upon their Issue and for failure of them the King is impowred to dispose of the Crown to whom he please by his Letters Patents or his last Will and the whole Nation was obliged by the Sanctimony of an Oath to the observation of this Law So that you have at once not only Swearing backward and forward but the Crown made Elective if Act of Parliament can make it so which had always hitherto been Hereditary which so many unbiassed Parliaments had declared was due to the next Heir by Inherent Birth-right and by the Laws of God and Nature a Title sure unimpeachable by any Civil Power and all this in open defiance of all Equity Justice and Common Reason on purpose to dis-inherit the House of Scotland which as much as Humane Power could do it was by this Act done and to advance his Bastard Son Henry Fitz-Roy whom he most entirely loved to the Throne But not yet content to put a period to his extravagancy in the 35th year of his Reign he caus'd it to be Enacted That after his Death and the Death of Prince Edward without Issue the Crown should be to the Lady Mary and the Heirs of her Body but subject to such Conditions as the King should limit by his Letters Patents or by his last Will and if the Lady Mary performed not those Conditions that then the Crown should go to the Lady Elizabeth and if the Lady Elizabeth neglected to perform such Conditions then it should go to such other person as the King should appoint And he was again impowred by his Letters Patents or last Will to grant the Remainder or Reversion of the Crown to what person he should appoint and the whole Nation is again bound to the observation thereof By an Oath But surely no man will argue from these contradictory and wild Acts that the King and Parliament have any power to limit and alter the Succession since if we believe those Parliaments I have before mentioned 39 H. 6. 1 E. 4.1 R. 3. we shall find that to be removed beyond the reach of any mortal Arm and reserved to the only disposal of Him by whom Kings Reign and Princes Decree Justice And certainly we have as much reason to believe them as can be rationally expected since 't is very natural for those that assume so much power to themselves as they did to screw it up when their hands are in to the highest pin for 't is not likely that they if they could have found the least shadow of Evidence to the contrary would out of a Complement to God Almighty have thrown back that Power into his hands which he had once pleased to bestow upon and invest in them Nor need we at all wonder to find a Prince of King Henry's Spirit and Native greatness of mind fall so beneath his usual Majesty in such things since perhaps no Prince can be met withall in whom there concenter'd a greater number of odd and anomalous Circumstances which did incline him to crave in Aid of his Parliament for he being one that would sacrifice every thing to his Humour Lust or Revenge he was forced to take this course to remove all the Letts that stood in his way as far as Humane Power could carry them Therefore I am persuaded these Acts of Parliament ought no more to be urged as Precedents for us to guide our selves by than his Arbitrary and Illegal Methods of bringing those that had the misfortune to fall into his hatred to the Block without being once heard or suffer'd to make their defence And as these are not permitted to be drawn into practice tho' done by the Legislative Power as well as the other because of their manifest injustice and illegality I cannot for my Life see why the other should 't is a Riddle beyond my skill to unfold I shall pass by some of this Gentleman's Paragraphs as not worh insisting upon and come to his Proofs drawn from Queen Elizabeth's Reign and indeed 't is in an Act made the 13th of that Princess that the whole Party place their main strength but I hope I shall be able to make it appear if every Circumstance be duly considered that induced that Glorious Queen to do some things that tended highly to the manifest derogation of her Prerogative which at other times she was so tender of that nothing can be gather'd from thence which will really do any service to my Adversaries Opinion For if as all Casuists hold those Oaths and Promises which are extorted by fear or force are not Obligatory I cannot tell why those things which by meer necessity upon those very accounts she was compell'd to as well for the preservation of her Body Natural as Politick should be denied the priviledge of being dissolved upon that very score that other things of the same Nature are And that they were no other things than what I have before mentioned that caused this Great Queen to fall beneath her self and court her people
They would have us believe they only aim at the preservation of His Majesty their Religion Lives and Liberties when in truth they are so resolutely bent upon the Destruction of Monarchy it self that in spight of all their art they are not able to disguise their Intent but let such things slip from their pens unawares that at once makes a perfect Discovery of their Hypocrisie and Villany But if this will not do he can tell us That there is a Supreme Vncontroulable Power lodged in the King and Parliament from whence he collects if he intends to prove any thing That they have a power to command and exact our Obedience to every thing they enjoyn An Opinion I assure you that were there neither Heaven nor Hell God nor Devil would very much conduce to the Peace and good Government of Mankind and you know Mr. Hobbs has done very fair for one towards the driving such Scare-Crows out of the World But you see by this how strangely he is put to it to bouy up his sinking Cause but he does as well as he can Drowning Men catch hold of any thing But above all things I cannot sufficiently admire his Confident challenge of producing any one instance where ever any Nation not under the immediate force of a Conqueror did admit of a Prince of a Religion contrary to that established when Scriptures the History of the Byzantine Empire and the Annals of our own Country could have furnished him with so many examples for how many Idolatrous Kings do we read of its Holy-Writ that without any disturbance of opposition succeeded and governed in Israel tho' their inclinations were well known before their coming to the Crown but we hear not one word of Disinheriting or Deposing them unless by such as are there branâ—ed with the Name of Traytors and Villains except by the immediate and most visible Act and Finger of God himself who being the Creator of Nature can alone when it pleaseth him controul her Methods and Operations and certainly if any such Power there had been lodged any where in the Jewish Government we should have found it put in Execution I doubt not by that People whose Religion was much more inconsistent with the Iâ—olatry of the Heathens than ours with that of Rome and so they had the greater Obligaâ—iâ—ns to endeavour to prevent the Succession of an Idolatrous Prince and if we may taâ—e any measure from the Primitive Christians we shall not find any thing to countenance our present proceedings for after their Religion was become the established one of the Empire I cannot hear that they endeavoured to seclude Julian the Apostate 〈◊〉 the Imperial Diadem tho' they were no less acquainted with his Inclination to these Religion than his natural Temper Nor do I ever find the Orthodox party talking of impeaching the Right of Succession when an Arrian under whom they were somâ—times as severely persecuted as ever their Ancestors were in the time of the Heathens Was the Heir Apparent 't was a Doctrine unheard and unthought of amongst them They had recourse only to the true Christian Arms of Prayers and Tears for their Defeâ—ce For the Church in those dayes was not so literally Militant as it has been of late And in our own Country have we not seen a Mary and Elizabeth Princesses of a contrary Religion to that established Succeed to the Throne without any resistance or at least such as rather strengthen'd than shook their Throne Queen Elizabeth met with none and that against Queen Mary was rather an Offer than any thing else But here I cannot sufficiently wonder at the disingenuity of this Pamphleteer who has in more places than one endeavoured to insinuate that all those who either oppose or are perswaded of the Injustice and illegality of the Bill of Exclusion are Patists or at least Popishly Affected and therefore he cites the Opinion of two great Romanists hoping thereby to convince them of the Truth of his Assertion but he either forgets or rather maliciously conceals that the Doctrine of disinheriting and deposing Kings and of the Natural freedom of the People is rank Popery first broached and introduced by the Schoolmen and since zealously maintained by the Jesuits and other great Men of the Papal Faction and I much fear whether if he would ingenuously confess the Truth he must not acknowledge himself beholden to one of them for the greatest part of his Discourse So true is it that tho our Phanaticks amongst whom if I am not misinformed our Author is or at least once was a leading man and the Papists tho they look contrary wayes yet like Sampsons Foxes they are tied together at the tailes they are alike the firebrands and disturbers of all Countryes where they come So that I think I need not be concerned at the Sentiments of men so devoted to the Roman See as †Card. Fisher Sir Thomas More those he mentions But for Sr. W. Raleigh whose Testimony both as a Protestant and a Judicious Learned Man I very highly value I am not at all in pain for if a Man do but look into the Quoted place to which I refer my Reader he will find him of quite another opinion than this Gentleman who has strangely misrepresented him would have us believe from whence you may take the measure of this Man's Ingenuity his Candor and Integrity but by this time I think you are well enough acquainted with him And thus I have run through this whole Pamphlet and I hope given a clear answer to every thing of any moment by him advanced and as for some few little trifling passages not worth considering I have passed them over without taking any notice of them And from a due Consideration of the whole matter every man must infer that the Kingdom of England is an Hereditry Monarchy wherein the Succession of the Crown is inseparably by all Laws Divine Natural and Humane annexed to Proximity of Blood and that all the Humane Acts and Powers in the World cannot hinder the Descent of it to the next Heir And that whoever does but consult and examine impartially the History and Records of this Nation must conclude That nothing can be drawn from thence to savour the contrary opinion which was the thing I undertook to prove FINIS If the Reader will be pleased to take the Pains He is desired to Amend this and what other Errata's that have Occurr'd by Reason of the Author's absence from the Press Page 33. l. 44 between Paid and And Insert Him by Abraham