Picardy ready to be transported into England But when it was certainly certified that King Richard was dead and that their enterprise of his deliverance was frustrate and void the Army scattered and departed asunder But when the certainty of King Richards death was declared to the Aquitaynes and Gascons the most part of the wisest men of the Country fell into a bodily fear and into a deadly dread for some lamenting the instability of the English people judged them to be spotted with perpetual infamy and brought to dishonour and loss of their antient fame and glory for committing so hainous a crime and detestable an offence against their King and Soveraign Lord. The memory whereof they thought would never be buried or extincted Others feared the loste of their goods and liberties because they imagined that by this civil dissension and intestine division the Realm of England should so be vexed and troubled that their Country if the Frenchmen should invade it should be destitute and left void of all aid and succour of the English Nation But the Citizens of Burdeaux took this matter very sore at stomach because King Richard was born and brought up in their City lamenting and crying out that since â—he beginning of the world there was never a more detestable or more villanous or hainous act committed which being sad with sorrow and inflamed with melancholy said that untrue unnatural and unmercifull people had betrayed and slain contrary to all Law and Justice and honesty a good man a just Prince and lawfull Governour beseeching God devoutly on their knees to be the revenger and punisher of that detestable offence and notorious crime 15ly The proceedings against King Richard the 2. in the Parliament of 1 H. 4. were in the Parliament of 1 E. 4. n. 9 10 11 12. condemned as illegal the Tyrannous usurpation of Henry the 4th with his hainous murdering of King Richard the 2. at large set forth his reign declared by Act of Parliament to be an intrusion and meer usurpation for which he and the heirs of his body are utterly dis inabled as unworthy to enjoy any inheritance estate or profits within the Realm of England or Dominions of the same for ever and that by this memorable Petition of the Commons wherein the pedigree of King Edward the 4th and his title to the Crown are likewise fully set forth a Record most worthy the publike view being never yet printed to my knowledge Ex Rotulo Parliamenti tenti apud Westm anno primo Edwardi Quarti n. 8. Memorandum quod quaedam Petitio exhibita fuit praefato Domino Regi in praesenti Parliamento per praefatos Communes sub eo qui sequitur tenore verborum For as much as it is notary openly and evidently known that the right noble and worthy Prince Henry King of England the third had issue Edward his furst gotten Son born at Westminster in the 15 kalende of Juyll in the vigille of Seint Marce and Marcellian the year of our Lord M. C.C.XLV the which Edw. after the death of the said King Henry his Fader entituled and called King Edward the furst had issue his furst gotten Son entituled and called after the decease of the same Edward the furst his Fader King Edward the second which had issue the right noble and honourable Prince King Edward the third true and undoubted King of Englond and of France and Lord of Irelond which Edward the third had issue Edward his furst gotten Son Prince of Wales William Hatfield secund gotten Son Leonel third gotten Son Duke of Clarence John of Gaunt fourth gotten son Duke of Lancaster Edmund Langley the fifth gotten son Duke of York Thomas Wodestoks the sixth gotten son Duke of Gloucester and William Wyndesore the seventh gotten Son And the said Edward Prince of Wales which died in the life of the said King Edward the thurd his Fader had issue Richard which after the death of the same King Edward the third as Cousin and heir to him that is to say Son to the said Edward Prince of Wales Son unto the said King Edward the third succeeded him in royal estate and dignity lawfully entituled and called King Richard the secund and died without issue William Hatfield the secund gotten Son of the said King Edward the third died without issue the said Leonel Duke of Clarence the third gotten Son of the same King Edward had issue Phelip his only daughter and died And the same Phelip wedded unto Edmund Mortimer Earl of Marche had issue by the same Edmund Roger Mortymer Earl of Marche her Son and heir which Edmund and Phelip died the same Roger Earl of March had issue Edmund Mortymer Earl of March Roger Mortymer Anne and Alianore and died And also the same Edmund and Roger sons of the foresaid Roger and the said Alianore died without Issue And the same Anne wedded unto Richard Earl of Cambridge the Son of the said Edmund Langley the fifth gotten son of the said king Edward the third as it is afore specified had issue that right noble and famous Prince of full worthy memory Richard Plantagenet Duke of York And the said Richard Earl of Cambridge and Anne his Wife died And the same Rich. Du. of York had issue the right high and mighty Prince Edward our Liege and Soveraign Lord and died to whom as Cousin and heir to the said King Richard the Crown of the Realm of England and the royal power estate dignity preheminence and governance of the same Realm and the Lordship of Ireland lawfully and of right appertaineth of the which Crown Royal power estate dignity preheminence governance and Lordship the said King Richard the second was lawfully rightfully and justly seised and possessed and the same joyed in rest and quiet without interruption or molestation unto the time that Henry late Earl of Derby son of the said Iohn of Gaunt the fourth gotten son of the said King Edward the third and younger Brother of the said Leonel temerously agenst rightwisnes and Iustice by force and Arms agenst his faith and liegeaunce rered werre at Flynte in Wales agenst the said King Richard him took and enprisoned in the Tower of London of grete violence And the same King Richard so being in prison and living usurped and intruded upon the royal power estate dignity preheminence possessions and Lordships aforesaid taking upon him usurpously the Crown and name of K. and L. of the same Realm and Lordship And not therewith satisfied or content but more grievous thing attempting wickedly of unnatural unmanly and cruel tyranny the same King Richard King anointed crowned and consecrate and his Liege and most high Lord in the Earth agenst Gods Law Mans liegeance and Oth of fidelite with uttermost punicion attormenting murdred and destroyed with most vile hainous and lamentable death whereof the heavy exclamation in the doom of every Christian man soundeth into Gods hearing in Heaven not forgotten in the Earth specially in this
possessions and hereditaments with their appurtenances which come to the hands of the said King Richard by forfeiture by force of an Act made in a Parlement holden at Westminster the 21. year of his reign except the said Commons beseeching our said Liege Lord to have and take all only the issues and revenues of all the said Castles Manors Lordships Honors lands tenements rents services and of other the premises aforesaid with their appurtenances except afore except from the said fourth day of the said moneth of March and not afore Saving to every of the liegemen and subjects of our said Soveraign and liege Lord King Edward the fourth such lawfull title and right as he or any other to his use had in any of the premises the said third day of March other than he had either of the grant of the said Henry late Earl of Derby called King Henry the fourth the said Henry his son or the said Henry late called King Henry the sixth or by authority of any pretenced Parlement holden in any of their dayes And that it be ordained declared and stablished by the assent advice and authority aforesaid That all Statutes Acts and Ordinances heretofore made in and for the hurt destruction and avoyding of the said right and title of the said King Richard or of his heirs to ask claim or have the Crown Royal power estate dignity preheminence governance exercise possessions and Lordship abovesaid be voyd and be taken holden â—nd reputed voyd and for nought adnulled repealed revoked and of no force value or effect And furthermore consideration and respect had to the horrible detestable cruel and inhuman tyranny by the said Henry late Earl of Derby against his faith and ligeance done and committed to the said King Richard his rightwise true and natural Liege and Soveraign Lord the unright wise and unlawfull usurpation and intrusion of the same Henry upon the said Crown of Englond and Lordship of Irelond the great intollerable hurt prejudice and derogation that thereby followed to the said Edmund Mortymer Earl of March next heir of blood of the said King Richard time of his death and to the heirs of the said Edmund and the great and excessive damage that by the said usurpations and the continuance thereof hath grown to the said Realm of Englond and to the politique and peaceable governance thereof by inward wars moved and grounded by occasion of the said Vsurpation It be therefore Ordeined declared and stablished by the advice assent and authority aforesaid for the more stablishing of the assured and undoubted inward rest and tranquility of the said Realm of Englond And for the avoyding of the said usurpation and intrusion very cause and ground of the tribulation persecution and adversity thereof that the said Henry late Earl of Derby the heirs of his body coming be from henceforth unabled and taken and holden from henceforth unable and unworthy the premises considered to have joy occupy hold or inherit any estate dignity preheminence enheritaments or possessions within the Realm of Englond Wales or Irelond aforesaid or in Caleys or the Marches thereof And sith that the Crown Royal estate dignity and Lordship above rehearsed of right appertained to the said Noble Prince Richard Duke of York And that the said Usurper late called King Henry the sixth that understanding to the intent that in his opinion he might the more surely stand and continue in his usurpation and intrusion of and in the same Crown Royal estate dignities and Lordship evermore intended and laboured continually by subtile imaginations frauds deceipts and exorbitant means to the extreme and final destruction of the same noble Prince Richard and his issue And for the execution of this malicious and damnable purpose therein in a preâ—ence Parliament by him and his usurped authority holden at Coventree the 38 year of his usurped Reign without cause lawfull or reasonable declared and judged the same noble Prince Richard and the Noble Lords his Sons that is to wit Edward then Earl of March and now the King our Soveraign Lord abovesaid and Edmund Earl of Ruthland to be his Rebels and Enemies them and all their issue dis-inheriting of all name state title and preheminence tenements possessions and enheritaments for evermore cruelly wickedly and unjustly and agenst all humanity right and reason whereby the said noble Prince Richard and his sons above named were compelled by the dread of death to absent them for a time out of this Realm of Englond the natural land of their birth unto their intollerable hurt prejudice heavinesse and discomfort And where after these the said noble Prince Richard Duke of York using the benefice of the Law of Nature and sufficiently accompanied for his defence and recovery of his right to the said Crown of the said Realm came thereunto not then having any Lord therein above him but God And in the time of a Parliament holden by the said Henry late called King Henry the sixth the sixth day of October the 39 year of his said usurped reign intended to use his right and to enter into the exercise of the royal powers dignitees and Lordships abovesaid as it was lawfull and according to Law reason and justice him so to doe and thereupon shewed opened declared and proved his right and title to the said Crown to fore the Lords Spiritual and temporal and Commons being in the same Parlitment by antient matters of sufficient and notable Record undefaisible whereunto it could not be answered or replyed by any matter that of right ought to have deferred him then from the possession thereof yet nevertheless for the tender zeal love and affection that the same Duke bare of Godly and blessed vertues and natural disposition to the restfull governance and pollicy of the same Realm and the Common wele thereof which he loved all his life desired and preferred afore all other things earthly though all the seid Lords spiritual and temporal after long and mature deliberation by them had by good advice upon the said right and title and the authorities and Records proving the same the answers thereunto gives and the replâ—cations to the same made knew the same right and title true by them and the seid Commons so declared accepted and admitted in the same Parliament Iâ— liked him at the grete instance desire and request of the seid Lords solemnply and many times unto him made to assent and grant unto a convention concord and agreement between the seid Henry late called King Henry the sixth on that opâ—party and him on that other upon the seid right and title by the same late called King by the advice and assent of the seid Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons being in the seid Parliament auctorized in the same comprehending among other that the seid Vsurper late called King Henry the sixt understanding certainly the seid title of the said Richard Duke of York just lawfull true and sufficient by the
la terre Countes et Barons without mentioning any Commons that at what time soever hereafter the Bishop or any of his successors should go against the points of the foundation or exemption of the said Abby that he who should bee Bishop for the time should pay to the King or his heirs thirty talents of gold The Bishop of Norwich in 21. E. 3. contrary to the Kings prohibition not to enter the franchises nor intrench upon the Priviledges of the said Abby against this ancient ordinance visited in the foresaid Abby and summoned them to shew the Charters of their foundation wrongfully and in despite of our Lord the King Whereupon the King sued forth a writ of contempt against the Bishop to which the Bishop appearing by his Attorney pleaded not guilty whereupon hee was found guilty by inquest upon which it was awarded that his temporalties should bee seised into the hands of the King by force whereof his temporalties were seised and a Scire facias issued against the Bishop to appear before the Chancellour to shew cause why hee should not likewise pay the thirty talents to the King according to this ordinance To which the Bishop pleaded that the Bishop at the time of this ordinance made might charge himself with these Talents but not his successours in perpetuity neither doth it appear that the Bishop himself was present in Parliament when this Ordinance was made and the other Bishops had no power to charge him or his successours without his consent But because it was done by ordinance made in Parliament and there of record it was adjudged it should binde him and his successours and that hee should pay the thirty talents of gold to the King and that the King himself shall set the price of them bee it more or less Odo Bishop of Bayon Earl of Kent brother to William the Conqueror by his great power and favour about the year 1071. Non modo terras sed libertates Ecclesiae Cantuariensis nullo ei resistente multipliciter invaserat oppresserat tenebat before Lanfranc his investiture in this See Lanfranc being made Arch-Bishop and informed of this rapine complained thereof to the King whereupon King William Anno 1074. Praecepit Rex quatenus adunatis PRIMORIBUS probis viris non solum de comitatu Cantiae sed de aliis Comitatibus Angliae querelae Lanfranci in medium ducerentur examinarentur determinarentur Disposito itaque apud Pinnedene Principum Conbentu Galfridus Episcopus Constantiensis Vir ea tempestate praedives in Anglia Vice Regis Lanfranco justitiam de suis querelis strenuissimè facere jussus fecit Lanfrancus enim valida ratione subnixus Ex Communi omnium Astipulatione et Iudicio ibi cuncta recuperavit quae ostensa sunt antiquitus ad jura Ecclesiae Christi Cantuariensis pertinuisse tam in terris quam in diversis consuetudinibus he there recovering no less than five and twenty Mannors besides smaller Farmes and parcels of Lands which Odo and others had seised upon in several Counties and restoring them to the Church in this Assembly Gervasius Doroberniensis writes thus of it In Congregatione illa Famosa Nobilium Angliae Seniorum quae ex praecepto Regis facta est apud Pinendene dirationavit Lanfrancus recuperavit terras ablatas libertates consuetudines revocavit Et sicut Rex tenet liberè consuetudines sibi debitas in terris suis ita Archiepiscopus Ecclesia Cantuariensis in omnibus locis tenent homines suas consuetudines terras jura libertates secundum cartas Regum The whole Plea and Proceedings in this Parliamentary Assembly at Pinendene are recorded in the Leiger-Book of the Church of Rochester and published by Mr. Selden ad Eadmerum Notae Spicilegium p. 197 198 199. It continued three whole daies The Names of the Bishops Nobles and BARONS present at it are there recorded and it concludes thus Hujus placiti multis testibus multisque rationibus determinatum finem post quam Rex audivit landavit laudans cum consensu omnium Principum suorum confirmabit ut deinceps incorruptus perseveraret firmiter praecepit so that the King and Nobles were the Judges in this great Plea and controversie and both adjudged and perpetually ratified what was therein adjudged to the Church of Canterbury both in Lands Customes Liberties Eadmerus writes that at another time Odo by the Kings permission placitum instituit contra saepefatam Ecclesiam tutorem ejus patrem Lanfrancum illuc omnes quos peritiores legum usuum Anglici regni gnarus adduxit Cum igitur ad ventilationem causarum ventum esset omnes qui tuendis Ecclesiae causis quaque convenerant in primo congressu ita convicti sunt ut in quo eas tuerentur simul amitterent Lanfranc being then absent and not using to bee present at such Pleas nisi necessitas summa urgeret being at his study and informed of this evil successe was nothing dejected at it sed dicta adversariorum non rectè processisse asseruit ideo cuncta in chrastinum induciari praecepit Placitum mane ipsemet hilaris intrat suas itaque causas quodam exordio quasi à rebus quae tractatae fuerant vel tractandae penitus alieno cunctis stupentibus orsus ita processit ut quae super eum pridie dicta fuerunt sic devinceret inania esse monstraret ut donec Vitae presenti superfuit nullus exurgeret qui inde contra eum os aperiret In the year 1072. There falling out a difference at Rome between the two Arch-Bishops Lanfranc of Canterbury and Thomas of York about the subjection which Lanfranc demanded of this Thomas and his Church of York to the See of Canterbury and Pope Alexander the xj quia consuetudinibus privilegiis ac privatis Episcopatus institutis certius quam jure scripto definiri posse videbatur decretum est à Papa ut a Rege et Regni Proceribus Dijudicaretur Whereupon the King Bishops Abbots and Nobles assembling together in Windsor Castle determined this controversy between them against the Arch-Bishop of York and made a final DECREE therein at the Feast of Pentecost ratified with the subscriptions of the King Queen both the Arch-Bishops all the Bishops and sundry Abbots recorded at large in William of Malmesbury Antiquitates Ecclesiae Brittannicae where they who please may peruse it This controversy about Primacy subjection and canonical obedience being afterwards renewed and eagerly prosecuted between Anselme Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and Thurstan of York was again discussed and determined in a Parliamentary Council at Salisbury by King Henry the first the Bishops Abbots and Nobles of the whole Realme As I have formely evidenced p. 165 166 167. After this there arising the like difference and contest between Arch-Bishop Anselme and Gerard of York about his oath of subjection and obedience to the Arch-Bishop and Church of Canterbury Anno 1107. it
these 2. deposed Kings these 2. inferences have been made 1. That the Commons have a joynt interest with the Lords in the Judicature and Jugements in Parliament 2. That the Proceedings against our late condemned beheaded King are justifiable and warranted by them I answer that neiâ—her of these 2. Consequences are proved by them For 1. The Commons themselves in this Parliament of 1 H. 4. n. 79. immediately after King Râ—chards deposition confess That the Judicature and Judgements of Parliament belong only to the King and Lords not to the Commons 2ly The Commons neither in nor out of Parliament are may or ought to be the Judges of the meanest Lord or Peer of the Realm who are to be judged tried by their Peers alone as I have abundantly evidenced in the premises Much less then can they be lawful Judges of their Soveraign Lord and King who is a degree above all the Peers of highest dignity In the Parliament An 1260. Prince Edward as I have proved before would be tried only by 2. Kings because all the rest of the Earls and Barons were not his Peers neither could they be his Judges much less then can Peers or Commons be their Kings Judges Peers to ondemn or try him 3ly Our Law-books resolve That the King hath no Peers in his own Realm and Therefore he can neither be legally tried nor judged by the Peers themselves much less by the Commons in Parliament 4ly The Lawes of Hoel Dha King of Wales about the year 940. Lex 20. resolve Rex non poterit secundum legem in lite stare coram Judice suo agendo vel respondendo per dignitatem naturalem yea all the Lords and Commons of England in the Parliament of Lincoln Anno 29. E. 1. in their forecited Letter to the Pope p. 128. resolve That the Kings of England Ex praeeminentia status suae Regiae dignitatis ex consuetudine cunctis temporibus observata neque responderunt neque respondere debebant coram aliquo Iudice Ecclesiastico vel seculari supâ—r juribus suis in regno c. Much less then may or ought they to be put to answer criminally for their lives or Crowns before any Ecclesiastical or Temporal Judge Peers or Commons House or High Court of COMMONS 5ly The Statutes of 16 R. 2. c. 5. and of 25 H. 8. c. 19.21 thus declare resolve and the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Parliament of 16 R. 2. n. 20. protested against the Popes pretended Supremacy That the Crown of England hath been so free at all times that it hath been in subjection to no Realm or Person but immediatly subject to God and to none other in all things touching the Regality of the said Crown And the Statutes of 25 H. 8. c. 19 21 22. 26 H. 8 c. 1.3 27 H. 8. c. 15. 28 H. 8. c. 7.10 31 H. 8. c. 10.15 32 H. 8. c. 22.24 26. 33 H. 8. c. 29. 35 H. 8. c. 1.3.17 19. 37 H. 8. c. 17. 1 E. 6. c. 2. 1 Eliz. c. 1. 8 Eliz. c. 1. 3 Jac. c. 3 4. declare and enact The King to be the only Supreme Head Governor upon Earth both of the Church Realm of Engl. both of which recognize no Super or under God but only the King To affirm then that the Lords or Commons in Parliament may lawfully judge depose the King and deprive him of his Crown Regalities Head Life is to contradict repeal all these Statutes since the inferior Members can no more legally judge the Supreme head of the body politick than the head of the body natural or the Courrs in Westminster hall or Hundred Courts judge the High Court of Parliament and condemn repeal their Acts or Judgements 6ly Though Articles were drawn up against these two Kings pro forma yet neither of them was ever required or judicially summoned to make answer to them or heard or brought to trial before the Lords or Commons Barr or any other Tribunal or Court of Justice Whence the Bishop of Carlisle protested against it as most illegal unjust and trayterous Therefore neither the Lords nor Commons could be properly said their Iudges in this case and their Judgement without hearing or trial of them must needs be most erronious as well as Mortimers and the Earl of Arundels forecited 7ly The Lords and Commons resignation of their Homage to these 2. Kings when deposed shew that even then they esteâ—med them their Superiors Lords Homage being the most honourable and humble service that a franktenant may do to his Lord the tenant being ungirt his head uncovered kneeling down on both his knees before his Lord sitting covered and holding up his hands joyntly together between his Lords and the Kings hands when he doth his homage saying I become your man from this day forward of limb and of earthly worship and unto you shall be true and faithfull and bear faith for the tenements I hold of you And when done to any other Lord it is with a Saving the faith I owe unto our Soveraign Lord the King and his Heirs 8ly The Sentences of Deposition against them were given only by the Legislative power not JUDICIAL by way of Bill consented unto in the Parliament house by the Lords and Commons then sent to these Kings to their prisons and there read unto them by Committees and Proxies representing all the Estates in Parliament Therefore the reading of them to these Kings in their prisons was not properly a judgement neither did it constitute them who read it to them their Judges much less create the Commons Judges of these Kings 9ly All the Lords Spiritual Temporal and Commons concurred joyntly in this Act of resigning their Homage to these Kings to whom they were all joyntly obliged and in whom they had all a common interest Et quod tangit omnes ab omnibus debet approbari Therefore it is no warrant for the proceedings against our late King without the consents and against the Express Votes of the whole House of Lords and of the Majority of the Commons house 10ly The Lords alone without the Commons gave Judgement for the close and perpetual imprisonment of King Richard the 2. therefore they were his sole and proper Judges by way of Sentence his deposition being by the Legislative not Judicial power 11ly These Kings especially the later of them had no sentence of deposition nor proceedings against them til they had through fear or pusillanimity first resigned their Crowns and kingship as unfit to reign or govern any longer which was made the principal ground of their subsequent declaratory depositions by the Lords and Commons when they had reduced themselves into the condition of private men by their resignations These presidents therefore cannot justifie the late proceedings against an actual lawful hereditary King by a small party of the Commons house alone without the House of Peers or the Majority of their fellow-Members who never resigned his
his life land or livelihood and many inward discords battels effusion of much Christian bloud and destruction of the Nobles bloud of this land ensued and were committed through all the Realm unto the great sorrow and heaviness of all true Englishmen And then he declared himself undoubted heir and inheritor of the Crown by descent grounded on the Laws of God and Nature and the antient Laws and laudable Customes of this Realm yet for further security superadded another Title of lawfull Election by the three Estates in Parliamen◠then he intayled the Crown upon the issue of his body begotten and declared his son Prince Edward to be his heir apparent to succeed him in the Crown and royal Dignity by Act of Parliament which he ratified with his own royal assent This done he reputed the Crown cock-sure to him and his heirs for all generations Yet notwithstanding all his Machiavilian Policies Power Vigilancy care industry to secure his usurped Royalty by the murther of two Kings and many others some of them most instrumental to advance him to the royal Throne before he had worn the Crown full 3. years Henry Earl of Derby laying Title it and landing in Wales only with 2000 soldiers King Richards own Souldiers Friends and others revolting from him and joyning with the Duke he was slain in Posworth field and lost both his life and Crown together if not his soul for all eternity and by the Statute of 1 H. 7. c. 6. he was declared an Usurper of the Realm So unable are Parliaments themselves to secure Crowns on Usurpers heads or to entayl them for any long continuance on their Posterities as these sad tragical domestick presidents of later times with sundry antienter demonstrate King Henry the seventh having gained actual possession of the Crown as right heir thereunto by the Lancastrian line and espoused the better title of York by marrying the heir female to secure himself and his adherents for the future if any wars should arise about these dubious litigious Titles by Perkin Warbecks or others claims confirmed by several Acts of Parliament and Successions of Kings of both Houses claiming both as next heirs of the antient royal Line not to secure any future Usurpers without just right or title though not of the old bloud Royal if once Kings de facto as Sir Edward Cooke seems to intimate and some ignorant Lawyers assert against the intent and Prologue of the Act it self caused it to be enacted 11 H. 7. c. 1. That from henceforth no person or persons whatsoever that attend upon THE KING and Soveraign Lord of this Land for the time being in his person and do him true and faithfull Service of allegeance in the same or be in other places by his commandment in the warrs within the Land or without shall for the said deed and true duty of allegiance be in no wise convict or attaint of High Treason or other offences for that cause by Act of Parliament or otherwise by any process of Law whereby he or any of them shall lose or forfeit life lands goods chattels or any other things but to be for that deed and service utterly discharged of any vexation trouble or loss And if any Act or Acts or any other process of the Law hereafter thereupon for the same happen to be made contrary to this Ordinance that then that Act or Acts or other process of the Law whatsoever they shall be shall stand be utterly void The reason is rendred in the Prologue That it is not reasonable but against all Laws reason and good conscience that the said Subjects going with their Soveraign Lord in wars attending upon his person or being in other places by his commandment within this Land or without any thing should lose or forfeit for doing their true duty and service of Allegiance This Act which some conceive to be only personal and temporary for Henry the 7. alone could not secure the Heads Lives Liberties Lands Offices Goods or Chattels of those Lords Gentlemen and other English Subjects from Executions Imprisonments Banishments Forfeitures Sequestrations who accompanied assisted our late King in his warrs against the Parliament though King de facto and de jure too without any competitor Both Houses declaring them to BE TRAYTORS and sequestring proceeding against them as Traytor yea our Grandees since have executed them as such in their new erected High Courts How then it can totally indemnify any Perkin Warbecke Jack Cade or apparent Usurpers of the Crown without right or Title who shall per fas aut nefas get actual possession of the Royal throne and be Kings de facto or secure all those who faithfully adhere unto them though to dispossess the King de jure or his right heir of their just royalty and right against all Laws of God man all rules of justice and their very Oathes of Allegiance Supremacy Homage Fealty Protestations Leagues Covenants formerly made unto them from all sutes vexations losses forfeitures whatsoever and null all Act or Acts and legal Process made against them as many Grand Lawyers now conceive it doth transcends both my Law and reason too That opinion of Sir Edward Cooke 3. Instit f. 7. 9 E. 4. f. 1. b. whereon this erronious Gloss is grounded That a King regnant in possession of the Crown and kingdom though he be Rex de facto non de jure yet he is Seignior le Roy within the purview of the Statute of 25 E. 3. ch 2. of Treason and the other King that hath right and is out of possession IS NOT WITHIN THIS ACT. Nay if Treason be committed against a King de facto et non de jure and after the King de jure cometh to the Crown he shall punish the Treason done to the King de facto And a pardon granted by a King de jure that is not also de facto is voyd being no doubt a very dangerous and pernicious Error both in Law and policy perverting those Laws which were purposely made for the preservation of the Lives Crowns Rights Titles Persons of lawfull Kings against all attempts Treasons Rebellions against them and for the exemplary punishment of all Traytors Rebels Usurpers who should rebel wage warr or attempt any Treason Conspiracy against their royal Persons Crowns Dignities Titles into a meer Patronage of Traytors Rebels Usurpers and a Seminary of endless Treasons Assassinations Conspiracies against them by indemnifying exempting both them and their Confederates from all legal prosecutions penalties forfeitures whatsoever if they can but once gain actual possessiō of the Crown by any means upon the forcible expulsion deposition assassination or murder of the King de jure Which if once declared for Law I appeal to all Lawyers Polititians Statesmen whatsoever whether it would not presently involve our kingdoms in endless perpetual Rebellions Usurpations War Regicides as it did the Norwegians heretofore where by a kind of Law and Custom as our
rightfull Kings or their heirs or the Nobles and people of thâ—se Realm their possessions of the Crown being no expiation of their Treasons Regicides but an aggravation of them both in Law and Gospel account unable to secure their heads lives by their own Law and concession since the actual coronation unction and possession of the kings de Jure whom they murdered deposed against their Oaths allegeance duties could neither preserve their crowns persons nor lives from their violence and intrusion To omit he hanging up of Iohn of Leyden who crowned himself a king with his companions for Traytors at Munster An. 1535. with all antient domestick presidents of this kind among our British and Saxon kings it is very observable that in the Parliament of 1 E. 4. n. 17 18. Henry the 6. though king de facto together with his Queen Son Edward Prince of Wales the Duke of Somerset and sundry others were attainted of high Treason for killing Rich. Duke of York at Wakefield being only king de jure and declared heir and successor to the Crown after King Henry his death in the Pâ—rliament of 39 H. 6. n. 18. though never crowned and not to enjoy the possession of it during the reign of King Henry yet Henry the 6. his murder after his deposition was never inquired after though king de facto for sundry years and that by descent from 2. usurping ancestors nor yet reputed Treason After this king Richard the 3d. usurping the Crown and enjoying it as king de facto for 2. years 2. moneths and one day was yet slain in Bosworth field as an usurping bloudy Traytor stript naked to the skin without so much as a clout to cover his privy members all sprinkled over with mire and bloud then trussed like a Hogg or Calf behind a pursuivant and ignobly buried Sir William Catesby a Lawyer one of his Chief Counsellors with divers others were two dayes after beheaded at Leicester as Traytors notwithstanding he was king de facto and no doubt had not king Richard been slain in the field but taken alive he had been beheaded for a Traytor as well as his adherents being the principal Malefactor and they but his instruments So that his kingship and actual possession of the Crown by intrusion did neither secure himself nor his adherents from the guilt or punishment of High Treason nor yet the Act of Parliament which declared him true and lawfull King as well by inheritance and descent as election it being made by a packed Parliament of his own summoning and ratified only by his own royal assent which was so far from justifying that it did make his Treason more heinous in Gods and mens esteem it being a framing of mischief and acting Treason by a Law Psal 94.20 21. which God so much abhors that the Psalmist thence infers v. 23. And the Lord shall bring upon them their own iniquity and shall cut them off in their own wickedness yea the Lord our God shall cut them off as he did this Arch bloudy Traytor and his Complices though king de facto by a Law 9ly Since the Statute of 11 H. 7. c. 1. some clauses whereof making void any Act or Acts of future Parliaments and Legal process against it are meerly void unreasonable and nugatory as Sir Cook himself affirms of Statutes of the like nature there have been memorable Presidents Judgements in point against his and others false glosses on it in favour of Usurpers though King or Queen de facto and their Adherents against the lawfull Queen and heir to the Crown which I admire Sir Edward Cooke and other Grandees of the Law forgot or never took notice of though so late and memorable King Edward the 6. being sick and like to dye taking notice that his Sister Queen Mary was an obstinate Papist very likely to extirpate the Protestant Religion destroy that Reformation which he had established and usher in the Pope and Popery which he had totally abandoned by advice of his Council instituted and declared by his last will in writing and Charter under the Great Seal of England the Lady Jane of the bloud royal eldest Neice to King Henry the 8. a virtuous Lady and zealous Protestant without her privity or seeking to be his heir and Successor to the Crown immediately after his death for the better confirmation whereof all the Lords of his Privy Council most of the Bishops Great Officers Dukes Earls Nobles of the Realm all his Judges and Barons exept Hales the Serjeants and great Lawyers with the Mayor and Aldermen of London subscribed their Names and gave their full and free assents thereto wherupon immediately after King Edwards death July 9. 1553. Iane was publikely proclamed Qu. of this Realm with sound of trumpet by the Lords of the Council Bishops Judges Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London So as now she was a Queen de facto backed with a very colourable Title from King Edward himself his Council Nobles Judges and the other subscribers to it being likewise eldest Neece to King Henry the 8. of the bloud-royal For defence of her person and Title when proclamed Queen and to suppress Mary the right heir the Council speedily raised a great power of 8000 foot and 2000 horse of which the Duke of Suffolk was first made General being her Father but soon after the Duke of Northmberland by Commission from the whole Council in Queen Janes Name who marched with them to Cambridge and from thence to St. Edmunds Bury against the Lady Mary Queen only de jure not de facto But many of the Nobles and the generality of the people inclining to Queen Mary the right heir and resorting to her ayd to Fotheringham Castle thereupon the Council at London repenting their former doings to provide for their own safety on the 20. of June 1553. proclamed Mary Queen and the Duke of Northumberland hearing of it did the like in his Army who thereupon deserted him From which sodain alteration the Author of Rerum AnglicanaruÌ„ Annales printed Lond. 1616. l. 3. p. 106. hath this memorable observation Tali tamen constanti veneratione nos Angli legitimos Reges prosequimur ut ab eorum debito obsequio nullis fucis aut coloribus imo ne Religionis quidem obtentu nos divelli patiamur cujus rei Janae hic casus indicium poterit esse plane memorabile Quamvis enim Dominationis illius fundamenta validissima jacta fuissent cui et summa arte superstructum est quam primum tamen Regni vera et indubitata haeres se Civibus ostendit omnis haec accurata structura concidit illico quasi in ictu oculi dissipata est idque eorum praecipue opera quorum propter Religionis causam propensissimus favor Janae adfuturus sperabatur c. All the Martyrs Protestant Bishops and Ministers imprisoned and burnt by her humbly requiring and in the bowels of our Lord Jesus
Dantzick or Hamborough in France Spain Denmark or Germany within the Ward of Cheape London a suggestion never made before his time in or by any Law-Book or Record only to rob the Admiralty of its antient unquestionable right and Jurisdiction 3ly That the words of the Statute of 13 R. 2. c. 5. whereon Sir Edward Cook and other Judges ground their Prohibitions to the Admiralty That the Admirals and their deputies shall not meddle from henceforth with any thing done within the Realm of England but only of things done upon the Sea c. are clearly strained and construed by them directly against the words meaning and intent of the Law-makers and Commons Petition whereon it was made For the later clause but ONLY of things done upon the Sea is put in opposition and contradistinction to the precedent words with any thing done within the Realm of England or within the bodies of the Counties as well by land as by water as the Stat. of 15 R. 2. c. 3. 5 Eâ—l c. 5.27 Eliz. c. 11.25 E. 3. c. 2. directly interpret and explain the sense thereof And they strain and apply them to contracts made by Merchants and Mariners not within the Realm of England or bodies of the Counties thereof by land or water but beyond the seas and quite out of the Realm being no part of the Realm or within the body of any County of England or Kings Dominions Than which a greater Solecism and contradiction cannot be imagined against the scope and letter of these Statutes For by this construction they may likewise strain the very Oath of Supremacy That no foreign Prince Person Prelate State or Potentate hath or ought to have any Jurisdiction power c. Ecclesiastical or Spiritual WITHIN THIS REALM With the Statute of 13 Eliz. ch 2. for the abolishing of the usurped Iurisdiction of the Bishop and See of Rome WITHIN THIS REALM and against raising sâ—dition bringing in Bulls Agnus Dei Crosses Pictures c. WITHIN THIS REALM and other the Dominions thereof to the punishment of all such as shall avetr that any forein Prince Person Prelate State Potentate or the Pope have or ought to have any Jurisdiction power or Authority OUT OF THIS REALM or the Dominions thereof or shall raise any sedition or vent Popes Bulls c. in any forein Kingdom or Country as France Spain Italy Poland Germany out of the Realm as if they had done it within this Realm of England 4ly That by the opinion resolution agreement of the Judges of the Kings Bench 1575. and of all the Judges of England whereof Hutton and Crook were 2. 4 Febr. 1632. Hiâ— 8. Caroli the original whereof I produced subscribed with all their hands If sute he commenced in the Court of Admiralty upon Contracts made and other things personal done beyond the Seas or upon the Sea no Prohibition is to be awarded contrary to Sir Edward Cooks opinion This being the Iudgment of all our Judges in former ages wherein no record or president could be produced of any such Prohibition from Richard the 1. till the later end of Queen Elizabeths or King James his reign The Lords upon my Argument were so fully satisfied in this point of Law that they all unanimously and immediately adjudged and ordered notwithstanding Iustice Bacons and Reeves opinions upon the late presidents to the contrary that the Rule for the Prohibition in the Kings Bench should be vacated and that the Delegates should proceed to Sentence in the cause which they did And so my Client got both Judgement and Execution soon after against these Sureties I might here very fitly inform our Levellers and their Confederates That the Lords in Parliament as they did antiently so since the Commons admission unto this Great Council have made not only some Acts for the Government of London without the Commons as in 17 R. 2. n. 25 26 27. Granted Ayds for themselves to the King and likewise for the Merchants by the Merchants consents confirmed Charters Patents in Parliament reversed attainders restored persons attainted and their heirs to Lands and bloud elected the Kings Great Officers Privy Counsellers and prescribed them Laws Rules Orders appointed a Protector during the Kings Minority limited his power and discharged him from his place without the Commons confirmed an imposition upon Cloth by the King against the Commons petition to take it off Ordered a Subsidy to be paid absolutely which the Commons granted but conditionally called receivers of Subsidies and Monies to account without the Commons and opposed the Commons encroachments upon their privileges as you may see in the Parliament Rolls of 13 E. 3. n. 5 6. Parl. 1. Parl. 2. n. 8.15 E. 3. n. 41.21 E. 3. n. 16. Par. 2 R. 2. n. 22. to 27.57 5 R. 2. n. 16. 5 H. 4. n. 51. to 58. 4 H. 6. n. 22. 6 H. 6. n. 22 23. 8 H. 6. n. 13.27 28.14 H. 6. n. 10. 31 H. 6. n. 34. In Claus 50 E. 3. m. 3. 4. De essendo in Parliamento there are writs directed to particular persons in this form Sis coram Nobis et cateris Proceribus et Magnatibus regni nostri Angliae in praesenti Parliamento without mentioning the Commons apud Westm convocato hac instante diâ— Sabbatâ— proxime post futur ad informandum Nosipsos Proceres et Magnates not the Commons super quibusdam de quibus per te volumus informari c. 4. Junii Per Concilium in Parliamento And for the Nobles of Ireland I find this Record Claus 2 E. 3. m. 17. Rex dilecto et fideli suo Johanni Darcy de Nevien Justiciario suo Hyberniae salutem Ex parte quorundam hominum de Hybernia Nobis exstitit supplicatum uâ— per statutum inde faciendum concedere volumus Quod omnes Hybernici qui voluerint legibus utantur Anglicanis ita quod necesse non habeant super hoc Cartas aliquas a Nobis imperrare Nos igitur certiorari volentes si sine aliquo praejudicio praemissis annuere valeamus vobis mandamus quod voluntatem Magnatum terrae illius not of the Commons in proximo Parliamento nostro ibidem tenendo super hoc cum diligentia praesentari facias de eo quod inde inveneritis una cum vestro consilio advisamento Nos distincte aperte cum celeritate qua potestis certificetis hoc Breve nostruÌ„ Nobis remittentes c. upon which Petition the use of the English Laws was afterwards granted as appears by Clause 5 E. 3. part 1. m. 25. But I shall close up this Plea and Supplement with a few Presidents more pertinent to demonstrate the Lords undoubted Right of Judicature Council and Advice in publike affairs both in and out of Parliament In the Parliaments of 5 E. 2. n. 31.4 E. 3. c. 14.36 E. 3. c. 10.50 E. 3. n. 181.1 R. 2. n. 35.2 R. 2. n. 5. It was enacted that a Parliament