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
time after left the Crown to this Young Prince another of our unfortunate Kings †P. Virg. lib. 19. 20. and so far is it from being true that his Title to the Crown was questioned by John of Gaunt the great Duke of Lancaster that he was at the latter end of his Father's Reign intrusted with the Lieutenancy of the Realm and after his Death was Protector to the Young King during his Minority which certainly had never been if John of Gaunt jure propinquitatis had claim'd the Crown it being dangerous to put so great a Trust and Power into the hands of a Competitor Nor was ever the Succession confirm'd to him by Parliament any otherwise than I have mentioned Neither can Polydore's Regem dicunt if you leave out this Gentleman 's disingenuous Addition of by their Common Suffrages for there is no such thing in the Original signifie any more than that he was proclaimed King But it would be well for this unhappy Prince if he might but as quietly quit as he enter'd into the Throne but alas it fell out quite otherwise For King Richard being made Prisoner by his Cousin Henry of Lancaster a Parliament was Summoned by him in the King's Name in the one and twentieth year of his Reign to meet at Westminster An action certainly illegal in it self for if the Kings Summons were necessary as it appears it was I would gladly know how it can be pretended in this Case that this Parliament did convene by his Authority for tho' the Writs were issued out in his Name yet was he so far from consenting to it that if it had lay'n in his power he would have prevented it But this Assembly or Parliament call it what you will being got together I would fain be inform'd upon what Law or Authority I mean Legal they grounded their following Proceedings for if the Breath of the Kings Nostrils was necessary to give them their Being it is a little irrational to suppose they could thence derive a Lawful Power to destroy the Author of their Life besides how can it be supposed they could proceed justly to pass a Final Sentence upon Him whose concurrance was absolutely required to give birth to any Law which might concern his meanest Subjects tho' they thought it ne're so convenient and why should we believe it in the Power of the Estates of the Realm to impose any thing upon the King when he could bind them to observe nothing without their consent first obtained and yet our Pamphleteer is not ashamed to avouch this as a President of Parliamentary Power in the Point of Succession But if we do but examine the matter a little more narrowly we shall find it makes very little for his purpose unless it be his Design and a man must have a great deal of Charity to believe it is not to instruct the people how to proceed in case their King will not do as they would have him for we shall find that tho' they usurped the exorbitant Power of Deposing Richard yet did they not pretend to the power of Electing who they pleas'd but thought themselves in duty bound to submit to him to whom by Right of Blood the Crown did belong And this evidently appears from Henry Duke of Lancaster's manner of laying Claim to the Crown for no sooner was the Throne void by the pretended voluntary Resignation of King Richard but Henry first having fortified himself with the sign of the Cross stood up and made his demand of the Crown in his Mother-Tongue in this form of Word as I have extracted them out of the * Rot. Parl. 1 H. 4. memb 20. Parliament Roll In the Name of the Fader Sonne and Holy Gost I Henry of Lancastre challenge this Rewme of Ynglonde and the Corone with all the Membres and the Appurtenances al 's I that am descendit by ryght line of the blode comyng fro the gude Lord King Henry therde By this you may see vvhat it vvas he laid the stress of his Claim on and thorghe that Right that God of his Grace hath sent me He it seems acknovvledges God and not the people for the Author of his Right with the help of my Ryn and of my Friendes to recover it the which Rewme was in point to be ondone for defaut of Governance and undoyng of the gude Lawes After which Chalenge and Claim says the Record as well the Lords Spiritual as Temporal all and all the States there present being severally and all interrogated what they thought of the aforesaid Challenge and Claim The above-named States with all the Commonalty without any difficulty or delay unanimously agreed that the aforesaid Duke should reign over them And this being the Naked Truth of the matter I cannot imagine with what propriety of Speech this can be called an Election or what reason this Gentleman had for to say that the above-mentioned Title was the least of all insisted on when it appears from the Roll as I have faithfully translated it that no other was so much as mentioned And thus we have heard how the poor and unfortunate Prince Richard the Second from whose Actions if they be but examined with an impartial Eye we cannot conclude him to have been either very insufficient or evil if we soberly weigh the Imputations that were objected against him we shall find nothing of any truth or at least any moment was in a tempestuous Rage deprived of his Right and upon what Grounds Henry 4. mounted his Throne But how justly even in the Opinion of some at that time you will best be inform'd from Thomas Merks Bishop of Carlisle a wise and Learned man and of no less Courage who when it was moved in Parliament what should be done with King Richard He boldly stood up and spoke to this Effect as it is set down by * Bak. Chron. f. 158. Sir Richard Baker and since it is so much to the purpose I hope the reader will not be displeased with the length of it My Lords The matter now propounded is of marvellous Weight and Consequence wherein there are two points chiefly to be considered The First Whether King Richard be sufficiently put out of his Throne The Second whether the Duke of Lancaster be lawfully taken in For the First How can that be sufficiently done when there is no Power sufficient to do it The Parliament cannot for of the Parliament the King is the Head and can the Body put down the Head You will say the Head may how it self down and may the King resign It is true but what force is in that which is done by Force And who knows not that King Richard's Resignation was no other But suppose he be sufficiently out yet how comes the Duke of Lancaster to be lawfully in If you say by Conquest you speak Treason For what Conquest without Arms And can a Subject take up Arms and not be Treason If you say by Election of the State you
force For then he could not have disinherited the House of Scotland and prefer'd the Younger House of Suffolk to the Remainder of the Crown which 't is notoriously known if he did not yet he intended and was sufficiently as far as Acts of Parliaments could reach impowered to do it and therefore the other must necessarily have been revoked and repealed A thing so clear that it were needless to spend more time or words to prove it So that King James's Title to the Crown or else he had none must owe its Original to the Laws of God and Nature and the Ancient and Laudable Customes of this Realm * Rot. Parl. 1 R. 3. ut sup as 't is elsewhere worded and then what madness is it to think that any Humane Power upon Earth can change those immutable Laws for such they are and with what color of Justice or good Conscience they can pretend to debar any one of his Right or give a better Title to another than the late Usurper had to the Sovereignty is beyond the Wit of Man to demonstrate unless we impiously deny there is a God in Heaven or any such thing as Right or Wrong upon Earth And thus I have gone through all the Historical part of this Gentleman's Discourse as far as it concerns England and I doubt not but every one must make this Conclusion upon the vvhole Matter that tho' he tells us he hath done it faithfully yet it vvill appear by the foregoing Examination vvherein I have rather endeavored to lay dovvn the Naked Truth vvithout the least Disguise than follovv him through all his impertinent Ramblings that never more unpardonable Mistakes and Falsities never more gross Prevarications and malicious Misrepresentations of the plain sence and Meaning of good Authors vvere amassed together under so solemn and pompous a pretence For my ovvn part I cannot but admire vvith vvhat Confidence any man could offer to obtrude such trash upon the World and vent such notorious Untruths Surely a Man must have bid a final Adieu to all Sincerity and Common Honesty tho' perhaps for I vvill be as charitable as I can his over much Credulity may have been his greatest Misfortune For though he vvould fain insinuate in several places as if every man must needs be a Papist that should go about to unmask him yet good man he has been beholden for the most part of his Discourse to one of the greatest Villains of that Society vvhich by their prodigiously vvicked both Tenets and Practices deserve to be the horror and detestation of all Mankind Nor has he had the Descernment to distinguish betvveen vvhat vvas false and vvhat vvas true but has extracted it at least as to the Substance just as he found it from a Conference concerning the Succession written by Parsons one of the most pernitious Books that perhaps ever savv Light and tho' he be so ungrateful as not to own his great Benefactor yet he blushes not to maintain and publish the same destructive Principles a clear Evidence that so many of those that would have us believe they abhor Popery yet are content not only to entertain but hug and cherish their most destructive Opinions disguised under other Names But you are not to think this Gentleman less acquainted with the History of other Nations than our own and that he is not able to give you many Instances from thence that the next of Blood has been frequently excluded from the Succession But really I cannot but pity his ill Judgment in pitching upon one so little for his purpose when his Author could have furnish'd him with such plenty of better Choice For since no man can deny but that it both is and ever was a Fundamental Law of the French Monarchy to be Hereditary I leave it to any man of Common Sence to judge whether those silly Reasons mention'd in the Letter to Charles of Lorrain were a sufficient ground to debar him of that Right which God and Nature had given him and to whom says De Serres I say the Fundamental Law did adjudge the Crown for want of Heirs Males Lawful Sons of Kings But the French being displeased with Charles upon some frivolous Accounts Hugh Capet embraces so fair an opportunity and foments their Discontents to that Degree and so politickly plays his own Game that having insinuated himself into the Affections of most People without very much difficulty he first screw'd himself into the Throne and then to consolidate and establish himself in his ill-acquired Greatness by a pretty kind of Pageantry he called the Estates to elect him into that Throne he already had the Possession of which being met they did accordingly And having thus forfeited their Allegiance and Duty to Charles 't is no wonder if they squeezed their Brains to find out a plausible though never so shallow a Pretence to avoid the Imputation of Disloyalty Not to take Notice that most Writers stick not to call this Hugh an * Sigeb Gemblac in Chron. ad An. 987. Usurper Besides 't is well known that Lewis the Godly never enjoyed the Crown with a quiet Conscience till it was proved that he was descended from the Right Heirs of Charles of Lorrain So mean an Opinion had that good Prince of the Power of the States in altering the Course of Succession And after all this I think it cannot reasonably be pretended by any one that any thing can be drawn from History which can at all countenance the Proceedings of those men who so industriously endeavor to cry up the Justice and Advantage of the Bill of Exclusion as the only Expedient say they that can secure us from Ruin and prevent our Destruction unless they will say that because such things as fill'd the Age they were done in with Shame and Horror were done that therefore they were justly done and so may as justly be acted over again An Opinion of such dismal Consequence that should it once prevail in the World all Mankind would be presently turned into one great Den of Thieves and Robbers that might plunder spoil murder and ravish with Impunity and without Controul and then we should every day see Hobs's Senceless Notion of a State of War proved to us with a Witness Nay what Wickedness is there not which at this rate we might not justifie from Scripture it self Which gave occasion to Saint Augustine excellently to say Haec quae in Scripturis sanctis legimus non ideo quia facta legimus etiam facienda credamus ne violemus praecepta dum passim sectamur Exempla The true State of the Question either is or at least ought to be not what has been done but what in Justice and Equity ought to be done in the Case of his R. H. which is not to be determined by Examples but Law and Raeason Non Exemplis sed Legibus judicandum is the Golden Rule of the Great †Lib. 13. C. de Sen. Justinian In order therefore to the
to be Hereditary But our Pamphleteer by a strange way of arguing would make us believe that during the Heptarchy because they were governed by divers Laws that therefore their Rule of Succession must be divers as if because France Spain Moscevia Denmark and Sweden are governed by different Laws that therefore they ought not to be Hereditary however it seems he is convinced that some of those Royalties in the Heptarchy were not Elective and if he would but please to read over the History of those times and not rely too much upon Indexes he would be convinced that the Crown in them all did constantly descend to the next Heir unless he were unjustly put by either by some potent Neighbour or powerful and popular Rebell At length seven Kingdoms were united under Egbert and his posterity who succeeded him successively by Hereditary Right and so far are the Historians from constantly mentioning as we are with a great deal of confidence told pag. 1. that we hear not one word of it in any Historian of Account till Edgar had put himself at the Head of his Brother King Edwy's Subjects and had forced him to divide the Kingdom with him and truly I cannot but admire the impudence or at least ignorance of our Author in telling us that Egbert came to the Kingdom of the West Saxons by Election and that he was no way related to Brithric the last King when I dare confidently affirm that there is not one * M. West f. 145. Rex Brithricus filiam Offae Regis Merciorum in conjugium accepit cujas affinitate fultus Egbertum solum regalis prosapiae superstitem quem regni sui utilitatibus futurum metuebat hostem in Franciam fugavit Idem f. 155. defuncto itaque Rege Brithrico successit ei Egbertus in regnum 36 annis qui ex regali illius gentis prosapiâ originem ducens multa potenter regna suo adjecit imperio H. Huntingd. lib. 5. Flor. Wigorn. f. 563. An. 802. R. de Hoveden Annal. p. priore f. 413. Historian but sayes he was next Heir and only remaining Branch of that Royal Stem and that upon Brithric's death he succeeded him in his Kingdom without the least mention of any Election and I am sure a man can scarce look into any of the Monkish Writers but he shall find a †M. Westm f. 166. cum multis aliis Genealogy of this Egbert one of whose direct Ancestors was Brother to the great Ina King of the West Saxons who was descended in a direct Line from Cerdie the first King of that people in England but these kind of shifts whether ignorant or malicious I determine not are very frequent To Egbert succeeded his Eldest Son ** M. West f. 155. cui sc Egberto succedens Aethelulphus filius ejus 20 annis 5 mensibus imperavit Ethelwolf not by Election but Birth-right who out of a mistaken Devotion went to Rome and carrying his youngest Son †M. West f. 158. Alfred whom he loved above any of his Children with him and designing if possible to make him his Successor he prevailed with the Pope to Anoint and Crown him King which certainly was a very preposterous way of going about it if it had been in the peoples power to chuse their King for then the most natural way had been to make his Address to them that had the power in their hands ‖ Ibidem exorta est contra Regem praedictum magnatum quorundam conspiratio ita quod factâ conjuratione ab Aethelbaldo filio regis primogenito quod à Româ repatrians nunquam reciperetur in Regnum causa erat quod filium juniorem Aelfredum quasi aliis a sorte regni exclusis in Regem Romae secerat Coronari but however this Action of the Fathers so much alarm'd the Eldest Son Ethelbald that rather than he would so unjustly be deprived of his undoubted Right he resolved to deprive his Father of his Kingdom and upon this specious pretence raised so strong a Faction against him that the Father to bring him again to his Duty was forced to share his Kingdom with him and this Prince wisely considering that if he did not contribute toward the avoiding of it his death might be the occasion of a great deal of Bloodshed amongst his four Children by ††M. Westm f. 159. Aethelulphus de suo transitu ad vitam Universitatis cogitans nè filii ejus post obitum suum inter se disceptarent haereditariam scribere imperavit Epistolam in quâ regni inter filios Aethelbaldum Aethelbertum divisionem procuravit c. paulò postea Aethelberto filiorum secundo Regnum Cantiae cum Sussexiâ concessit filius ejus primogenitus Aethelbaldus in West-Saxiâ pro patre regnavit his Will in his life-time he ordained That his Lands should be distributed amongst his two younger Sons and Daughter but his ** H. Huntingd. Hist l. 5. f. 348. Aethelbaldo filio suo reliquit praedictus Rex nobilissimus sc Aethelusphus Regnum Haereditatium Westsexe Adelbricto filio suo alii reliquit Regnum Cantiae Estsexe Sudsexe Hereditary Kingdom of the West Saxons he bequeathed to his Eldest Son Ethelbald and the Kingdoms of Kent Essex and Sussex to his Second Son Ethelbert to be held in Fee of his Elder Brother and upon his death his Eldest Son Ethelbald succeeded him according to his Fathers Will he dying issueless Ethelbert as next in Blood sate upon the Throne and so his two younger Brethren Ethelred and Alfred by right of Inheritance and according to proximity of Blood successively came to the Crown Upon the whole matter it may be I think reasonably concluded not insisting upon the silence of History from these two particulars that the Kingdom was nothing less than Elective first because it is irrational to think that Ethelmolf would have pretended to have appointed and nominated a Successor if the Crown had not gone then by Birth-right And in the next place I cannot conceive why Alfred who was a kind of * Flor. Wigorn. fol. 587. Quo sc Aethelred supra memoratus Aelfredus qui usque ad id tempus venientibus fratribus suis fuerat secondarius totius regni gubernacula divino concedente nutu cum summâ omnium illius regni accolarum voluntate confestim suscepit Vicegerent to all his other Brethren should wait their Death before he took upon him the Government for if the Choice of the people had been sufficient to entitle him to the Crown he had never wanted that since he was their †Asser Menevens in vit Alfred f. 7. Quod sc Regnum etiam vivente fratre suo si dignaretur accipere facillimè cum omnium illius gentis accolarum potuerat invenire Darling all along especially if the Unction and Coronation by the Pope be considered for that though of no force or efficacy in it self yet might have been easily improved into
speak not Reason For what Power hath the State to elect while any that is living hath Right to succeed But such a Successor is not the Duke of Lancaster as descended from * So call'd from a Cross he used to wear upon his Back Edmund Crouchback the Elder Son of King Henry the Third tho' put by the Crown for Deformity of his Body For who knows not the Falseness of this Allegation Seeing it is a thing notorious that this Edmund was neither the Elder Brother nor yet Crook-back'd but of a goodly Personage and without any Deformity And your selves cannot forget a thing so lately done who it vvas that in the Fourth year of King Richard vvas declared by Parliament to be Heir to the Crovvn in case King Richard should die without Issue But why then is not that Claim made because Silent Leges inter Arma what disputing of Titles against the stream of Power But however it is extreme injustice that King Richard should be condemned without being heard or once allowed to make his Defence And now my Lords I have spoken thus at this time that you may consider of it before it be too late for as yet it is in your Power to undo that justly which you have unjustly done Thus spoke that Loyal and Good Prelate but to little purpose though there was neither Protestation nor Exception made against this Speech which certainly there would have been had there not been as much Truth as Boldness in vvhat he said And tho' Henry the Fourth did afterwards get the Inheritance of the Crown and Realm of England setled upon himself for Life and the Remainder entailed upon his four Sons by Name and the Issue of their Bodies yet that cannot at all make for my Adversaries purpose since it amounted to no more than a Confirmation of him in the Throne or if it did vve may vvell suppose that a Prince that vvas conscious to himself hovv unjustly he had gain'd his Crown would not be very unwilling to take such a way tho' in derogation to his Prerogative to secure himself if possible tho' not out of an Opinion that they could give him a better Right than they had but because 't is natural to suppose they would upon any occasion be ready to defend what they so solemnly had enacted Come we next to Henry the Fifth who this Gentleman says was Elected But how notoriously false that Assertion of his is will appear from hence that first there was no Parliament called till after his Coronation and in the next place that if the Act of Parliament made in the Seventh Year of Henry the Fourth had so great a Force and Vertue as he says it had it was needless nor can he prove any such thing from that careless and negligent Historian Polydore For Concilium Principum with him does not always signifie a Parliament as any one that has read him which I dare say he never did will perceive nor does his Phrase creare Regem import any more than the King's Coronation besides 't is most untrue which he affirms that Allegiance was never sworn before his Time till after a King was Crowned For the contrary appears from King John and Edward the First Nay 't is undeniably true that the Kings of England have exercised all manner of Royal Jurisdiction precedent to all Ceremony or any Formality whatsoever and that the Death of one King has in that very Moment given Livery and Seisin of the Royalty to the next Heir and by vertue of that Richard the First as a Mark of his Sovereignty immediately on his Father's Death restor'd the Earl of Leicester to his whole Estate Henry the Fifth being dead he was without any Opposition admitted to the Throne although but an Infant but in the Thirty Ninth Year of this King in open Parliament Richard Duke of York the true and rightful Heir to the Crown of England and France made his Challenge and Demand of it as being next Heir to Lionell Duke of Clarence Elder Brother to John of Gaunt from whom descended the House of Lancaster but to this Claim of his it was answered by the King's Friends That the same Crowns were by Act of Parliament Entailed upon Henry the Fourth and the Heirs of his Body from whom King Henry the Sixth did lineally descend * Rot. Parl. 39 H. 6. n. 10. c. The which Act say they as it is in the Record is of Authority to defeat any manner of Title made to any Person To which the Duke of York answerably replies That if King Henry the Fourth might have obtained and enjoyed the said Crowns of England and France by title of Inheritance Descent or Succession he neither needed nor would have desired or made them to be granted to him in such wise as they be by the said Act the which taketh no place nor is of any Force or Effect mind that against him that is Right Inheritor of the said Crowns as it accordeth with God's Laws and all Natural Laws And this Claim and Answer of the Duke of York is expresly acknowledged and recognized by this Parliament to be Good True Just Lawful and Sufficient and 't is agreed that Henry shall hold the Crown during his Life and the Duke of York in the mean time to be reputed and proclaimed Heir Apparent So that we have here as much as can be desired a Parliament not only declaring that a Title to the Crown ought to derive it self only from the Laws of God and Nature and not from any Civil Sanction and acknowledging in at the Bargain that it is beyond the Reach of any Humane Legislative Power to debar and exclude any one that justly claims by such a Right But to â— proceed upon Edward the Fourth's coming to the Crown a Parliament conven'd in the first year of his Reign does acknowledge and recognize his Title in these words as the * Rot. Parl. 1 Ed. 4. n. 8. c. Record has it Knowing also certainly without doubt and ambiguity that by Gods Law and Law of Nature He h. e. Edward the Fourth and none other is and ought to be true right-wise and natural Liege and Sovereign Lord. And that he was in Right from the Death of the said Noble and Famous Prince his Father very just King of the same Realm of England So here again we have another Parliament of the same mind with the last and I doubt not but we shall meet with more of 'em e're we have done When King Edward the Fourth was droven out of his Kingdom by Henry the Sixth 't is true the Crown was again entail'd if it may be properly so call'd upon him and his Heirs c. but still the proceeding was grounded upon the same Bottom with the former Here our Pamphleteer is pleased to make this drowsie Observation that both the Families of York and Lancaster claim'd a Title by Act of Parliament 't is true the latter did because they
had no other that would carry Water but as false that the former ever did for they as you have seen before founded their pretences upon the sound Bottom of Divine and Natural Law Besides Richard Duke of York challenged the Crown as his just Right before any Act pass'd in his favour nor was it the want of a Parliamentary Title which he stood in need of that kept him off but because he had not Power and Interest enough to assert the justness of his Title and therefore 't is no wonder he deferr'd the making of his Claim so long for to have done it sooner would but have riveted the Usurper more firmly in his Throne But Edward having regain'd his Kingdom as quickly as he lost it left it at his death to his unfortunate Son Edward the Fifth who was soon deprived both of that and his Life by his barbarous inhumane and ambitious Uncle Richard Duke of Gloucester who having persuaded some and forced others to believe or at least seem to believe that all his Brother Edwad's Children were Bastards did by a kind of pretended Election and at the instance of all the Great Men take or rather usurp the Crown But that the mystery of that subtle Transaction may be fully discovered I shall transcribe that Petition and Election as they call it out of the Parliament Roll as much as is necessary and opitomize the rest and then I will leave the Reader to judge how dis-ingenuously not to call it worse tho' according to his Custom this Gentleman would insinuate as if in the midst of their highest flatteries and courtship to him they tell him only of this great and sure Title by Act of Parliament An untruth if he had had the least grain of Modesty he could not have had the confidence to assert but by this time I suppose you know what a man I have to deal with But I hope the Roll will convince him and make him asham'd of his dis-ingenuity * Rot. Parl. tent apud Weâ—im die Ven. 23 die Jan. 1 R. 3. In this Petition and Election but that Election imports not what he would have it I hope will evidently appear from the sequel they set forth the many Grievances and Oppressions the Kingdom groan'd under through the dissolute Government of the late King Edward the Fourth they say farther That the King was never married to his pretended and reputed Queen or if he was that upon the account of a Precontract to another Lady that Marriage was unlawful and ipso facto void and so either way all his Children were illegitimate They say farther That George the late Duke of Clarence being attainted of High Treason and his Blood corrupted by reason thereof his issue are debarred or all Right and Claim to the Crown But the reasonableness and lawfulness of this Position I shall take the Liberty to examine hereafter Over this I give you the Words of the Record in English We consider that you be the undoubted Son and Heir of Richard late Duke of York very Inheritor of the said Crown and Dignity Royal and as in Right King of England by way of Inheritance how then can the Parliament challenge a power of Election in the modern sense of the words and that at this time the premises duly considered there is none other person living but You only that by Right may Claim the said Crown and Dignity Royal by way of Inheritance And then they go on in a most abject way of Flattery to recount his excellent Parts and extraordinary Qualifications for the Government Wherefore say they these premises by us diligently considered we desiring effectually the Peace Tranquillity and Weal-publick of this Land and the reduction of the same to the ancient honourable Estate and Presperity and having in your great Prudence Justice Princely Courage and excellent Vertue singular Confidence have chosen in all that in us is and by this our Writing choose you High and Mighty Prince our King and Sovereign Lord to whom we know of certain it appertaineth to be chosen From whence it appears that what they call Election amounts to no more than a Ceremony or formality of acknowledging their Prince Therefore they desire him as his true Inheritance which 't is impossible in an Elective Kingdom the Royalty can be to accept of the said Crown and Dignity according to this Election of the Three Estates Surely then the King vvas none They add soon after Albeit that the Right Title and Estate which our Sovereign Lord the King Richard the Third hath to and in the Crown and Royal Dignity of this Realm of England be just and lawful as grounded upon the Laws of God and of Nature mind that and also upon the ancient Laws and landable Customes and therefore not upon any Statute but Common-Lavv of this said Realm and so taken and reputed by all such persons as be Learned in the abovesaid Laws and Customes yet nevertheless Here once for all take notice of the true Reason of the Parliaments medling vvith the Succession for as much as it is considered that the most part of the people is not sufficiently Learned in the abovesaid Laws and Customes whereby the Truth and Right in this behalf of likelyhood may be hid and not clearly known to all the people and thereupon put in doubt and question And over this how that the Court of Parliament is of such Authority and the people of this Land of such a Nature and Disposition as experience teacheth that Manifestation and Declaration of any Truth or Right made by the Three Estates of this Realm Assembled in Parliament maketh before all other things most Faith and Certainty and quieting of Mens Minds removeth the occasion of all Doubts and Seditious Language And therefore at the Request and by the Assent of the three Estates of this Realm the King cannot be one that is to say the Lords Spiritual 't is they are one of the Estates and Temporal and Commons of this Land Assembled in this present Parliament and by Authority of the same be it pronounced decreed and declared That our said Sovereign Lord the King was and is the very undoubted King of this Realm of England c. as well by right of Consanguinity and Inheritance as by lawful Election Consecration and Coronation And since the two latter as all the World knows do give no new right but are only Ceremonies and bare Formalities of State I can see no reason why what they call Election which certainly must not be strain'd to Propriety should be reputed any other because it not only is joyned with the rest without any Distinction but likewise Election in the usual Sence is incompatible with an Hereditary Monarchy such as this is over and over proved to be To all which the King assented in these words Et idem Dominus Rex de assensis dictorum trium Statuum Regni Authoritate praedicta omnia singula Praemissa in Billa
for her establishment will clearly appear to any one that considers the state of Affairs and the History of those Times the only true Touchstone to try matters of this Nature by For if we consider how questionable Her Birthright was then generally esteemed we cannot at all admire if for her own Interest and Security she attributed much more to an Act of Parliament than otherwise she would have done For tho' in the Act of Recognition 't is said that her Majesty is and in very deed and of most meer Right ought to be by the Laws of God Queen of this Realm yet the dubiousness of her Legitimacy and her being solemny Bastardiz'd by her own Father by Act of Parliament might very well necessitate her to call in the Aid and Assistance of her people for her defence and establishment since the greatest part of Europe did not only look upon the Title of Mary Queen of Scotland to be much the clearer and juster than Hers and therefore since Queen Elizabeth's Title depended so very much upon Statute Law the most part of the World allowing her no other and a great many too disputing the validity of that she was necessitated to make that as strong as possibly she could and therefore made it Treason for any one during her Life to affirm That Our Sovereign Lady the Queen's Majesty that now is with and by the Authority of the Parliament of England is not able to make Laws and Statutes of sufficient Force and Validity to limit and bind the Crown of this Realm and the Descent Limitation Inheritance and Government thereof which tho' as we shall afterwards endeavour to prove was not in their power to do yet she knew very well that her people would be very apt to defend what they had then so solemnly Enacted and so thereby she should gain her end viz. her Preservation which was the great thing she aimed at as appears by this that the punishment to be inflicted upon them that broke this Law was to abate very much of its rigor after her death for then it was but to be forfeiture of goods a certain Argument that it was only Temporary Enacted pro re nata for if the Reason of it did continue the same so ought surely the Punishment since they should alvvays stand and fall vvith one another tho' no doubt another tho' less considerable reason might be the Malaversions she inherited from her Father to the House of Scotland vvhich thereby she did certainly endeavor for ever to deprive of the Imperial Crown of England As evidently appears from this Clause in it viz. That every person or persons of what Degree and Nation soever they he shall during the Queens Life declare or publish that they have any Right to enjoy the Crown of England during the Queen's Life shall be dis-inabled to enjoy the Crown in Succession Inheritance or otherwise after the Queen's Death For this was most apparently contriv'd against Mary Queen of Scots and her Son K. James For since almost all Europe spoke openly of the greater Right that Mary had to the Crown than Elizabeth it might very probably be expected that not only as she thought so so she might upon an occasion offer'd not only speak but act up to her Persuasion and then by this Statute she was as much disabled as Statute could do it But besides all this I am inclin'd to believe there was something more in the bottom of it than this of the contrivance of that subtle and cunning Statesman the Earl of Leicester which I gather from this Clause That whoever shall affirm during the Queens Life either in Writing or in Print that any one is or ought to be the Queens Heir or Successor besides the NATURAL ISSUE OF HER BODY BEGOTTEN c. SHALL c. For in Law none are call'd the Natural Issue of any one but those that are Illegitimate Vit Eliz. Adeo ut sayes Camden tunc juvenis audiveram dictitantes verbum illud à Leicestrio in Legem ingestum eo consilio ut aliquem ipsius filium spurium pro reginae Sobole naturali Angles tandem aliquando obtruderet Insomuch that when I was a young man sayes he I have often heard it said that Leicester caused that expression to be foisted in that thereby he might have a pretence to impose one time or other upon the English one of his own Bastards for the Queens Natural Issue A Design truly not unlikely for him to have who always measured the Publick by his proper Interest and sacrificed every thing else to his own ends and then certainly it will never be denied but such an Act of Parliament was necessary to give colour of breaking so ancient and fundamental a Law of the Land as the advancing a Bastard must needs be How contrary to all the Obligations of Justice and Humanity the unfortunate Queen of Scots was treated by her Kinswoman Queen Elizabeth upon the pretended breach of a Statute made in the 27th of her Reign I shall not trouble my Reader or my Self with the recital of which rigorous proceeding as it was chiefly grounded upon her violent hatred to the House of Scotland so I could heartily wish for the Honour of that Great and Glorious Queen under whose Reign this Island so long and happily flourished were razed out the Annals of Time so that there might be nothing left to stain the Reputation of that otherwise unblemishable Princess But tho' the Mother had the misfortune to fall so ignominiously yet the Son King James had not the wisdom to strive fruitlesly against the Stream but prudently never gave an opportunity of finding a colour to resist him who never laid Claim to a Crown till Heaven call'd him to the Enjoyment of it But no sooner was he come into England but having call'd a Parliament his Title to the Crown is solemnly acknowledged and recognized in these words 1 Jac. c. 1. We being bound thereunto both by the Laws of God and man do with unspeakable Joy recognize and acknowledge That immediately upon the decease of Elizabeth late Queen of England the Imperial Crown of the Realm of England c. did by inherent Birth-right lawful and undoubted Succession descend and come to your Majesty as being lineally justly and lawfully next and sole Heir of the Blood Royal of this Realm And thereunto we most humbly and faithfully do submit and oblige our selves our Heirs and Posterities for ever And now if King James came to the Crown by inherent Birth-right and undoubted Succession I cannot see any thing that makes more against this Gentleman than this for 't is plain the old Entail made by Henry the Seventh cannot be pretended because that Act was tho' not expresly yet tacitly effectually repeal'd by 28. H. 8. c. 7. 35 H. 8. c. 1. for King Henry could not have a power to appoint who he vvould for his Successor if that Act of Henry the Seventh remain'd in
†In Baeoticis Pausanius tells us That Greece so Fruitful afterwards in Aristocracies and Democracies that teeming Africa never bred more Monsters was Antiently under Regal Government 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are his Words But Tully goes further and boldly asserts if for a certain Truth That all the Nations of Old were under Monarchial Regiment ‖ Cicero 3. de Leg. Certum est sayes he omnes antiquas Gentes regibus paruisse And when the Vniversal Deluge had put a Period to all Mankind except Noah and his Three Sons by whom the World was to be Re-peopled I think we may with Reason enough look upon Noah as the Universal Monarch notwithstanding the Learned Selden would have us believe that God by his Blessing recorded Gen. 9.2 made him Tenant in Common with his Children For besides that this Benediction seems most-likely to be rather an Enlargement of the Charter that was given to Adam than any thing else It appears something Unreasonable to suppose that God Almighty should Disinherit Noah whom for his Justness and Piety he had Chosen to be the Restaurator of Mankind Nor do the Words necessarily imply any such thing since the Promise of God would no doubt be fulfil'd if his Sons after his Death or in his Life time by his Consent enjoy'd and possess'd the World as their Property which 't is certain they did Gen. 10.9 By these sayes the Divine Historian were the Isles of the Gentiles divided in their Lands every one after his Tongue after their Families in their Nations Which is not to be understood as a * Mr. Med◠Learned Man in his Discourse upon this Place assures as if it were a Scattering and Consusion but a most distinct and orderly Division because the Original Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alwayes bears the latter Signification And that there was such a Partition and that made by Noah we are assured also from Eusebius and Cedrenus who tells us That Twenty Years before his Death ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cedren f. 9. according to an Oracle Received from Heaven he Divided the whole World amongst his Sons assigning to every one his several Share And this he Confirm'd by his Last Will and being about to Dye he gave it into the Hands of Sem and admonished them to Live peaceably and not to Invade one anothers Territories I might now proceed to those Texts of Scripture wherein Monarchy is declared to have been instituted by God But they have been so often insisted on by Others and those learned Persons that I shall pass them over only there is one which I cannot but take notice of wherein God by the Royal Prophet sayes of Kings Psalm 82.7 I have said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ye are Gods or more consonant to the Original and expresly according to the Chaldee Paraphrase Angels by which Phrase is not only signified the Office of Princes viz. That they are God's Vicegerents but the manner of their Mission that is by the immediate Commission and Constitution of God Almighty from whom alone and not from the People they derive their power Which origine of theirs I think is further evident from hence that the Supreme Governour is invested with such an Authority as does include in it a Power of Life and Death for which single Prerogative we must have recourse to the Fountain and Source of all Power for seeing we neither have nor ever had a power over our own Lives but on the contrary God has expresly told us That he that sheddeth Man's Blood of Man shall his Blood be shed it is impossible that Kings should derive their Power from the People for 't is an infallible Maxim Nemo plus Juris in alium transferre potest quam ipse habet So that it must necessarily follow from hence That Kings must have been instituted by God for 't is He and He only could bestow this great Priviledge upon them and since we find the Fathers of Families Exercising this Power we may assure our selves that originally Patriarchal and Regal Jurisdiction were all one as likewise appeares from this that Obedience and Submission to Magistrates is commanded us by the Fifth Commandment where it is only said Honour thy Father c. So that as Paternal Power was from the Begining so must Regal too Besides from hence I take it to be plain that even at that time that God gave his blessing to Noah Gen. 9.6 there was a Regiment established which could be no other than Monarchy for else that command of putting the murderer to death given at that very time could not have been put in Execution but must needs for a long time have continued ineffectual for had any private man assumed that Power he must necessarily have been guilty of the same crime so that either we must allow of Magistracy at that time or else make God command a thing and not appoint means for the execution of it And I cannot see why we should date the original of Government any later than the Creation for certainly we cannot perswade our selves that Nature that so carefully provides for the preservation and well-being of all Creatures should only be defective in her care for the noblest Animal in the universe since nothing can be more necessarily required for the happiness of any thing than Government for mankind Cicero 3. de Leg. for sine imperio nec domus ulla nec civitas nec gens nec hominum universum genus stare nec ipse denique mundus potest without Empire neither the whole nor any the least part of the world could be conserved in peace and order but all would immediately run into Ruin and Confusion And now if I had a mind to enter into so large a Common-Place it were very easie to cloy even the most greedy of such kind of Pedantry with sentences from the Fathers and other Primitive writers to show with what full Cry they all assert Monarchy to be sounded by God and Nature but waving a thing so obvious to every body I shall take notice that this opinion is so far from being a Stranger to our Laws that it is expresly resolved by all the Judges in England in Calvin's case that subjection is from no Humane Law Co. 7. Rep. 1. but from the Law of Nature and if so then of necessity must Regal Right be from the same Law because no man supposeth subjection where he does not presuppose power Besides you cannot but have observed above Rot. Parl. 39. H. 6. Rot. Parl. 2. E. 4. Rot. Parl. 1. R. 3. how many Parliaments of different Interests and Tempers have agreed in this that the Kings of England hold their Crowns by the Laws of God and Nature and therefore cannot be reputed of Humane Institution and hence it is that the King is stiled in our Statutes our Natural Liege Lord and his People likewise Natural Liege Subjects and the fidelity owing to the Crown
Natural Obedience which manifestly also appears from all Indictments of Treason that of all other things are pen'd with the greatest niceness wherein the persons indicted are charged whith Treason against their Supreme and Natural Lord contra Dominum Regem Supremum Naturalem Dominum suum Nor will any of their trifling evasions serve them to evade this for to an impartial Judge Herod lib. 1. it will no doubt appear that no other sence ought to be put upon it but what was meant and expressed by Commodus the Son or Marcus when he closed his Oration thus Jure principem colite non datum sed natum But if will some say Monarchy be Jure Divino why were not Gods own People governed according to that sacred Form and why are we told in the Scripture that when that Regiment was introduced first it came in by the Peoples Choice and Consent I answer first that God out of his extraordinary kindness to the Jewish Nation above any other was of his goodness pleased to reserve the immediate Government and peculiar Care of them to himself whereas he governed all the rest of the World by his Vice-Roys so that properly it was a Theocracy wherein God himself did immediately preside whilst other Countryes were made as it were Provinces of But when the Jews a people most inordinately bent upon change and novelty were grown weary of this excellent Administration of their affaires and desirous to be governed after the manner of the Neighbouring Nations they came to Samuel and said make us a King to Judg us c. 1 Sam. S. 5. which 't is not likely they would have done if the choyce had been in them And when God Commanded Samuel to yield to their Importunity he said 1 Sam. 8.22 hearken unto their voice and make them a King and accordingly he anointed Saul without so much as acquainting them And consonant to this Interpretation is the sence of their great Rabbies Vie Schickardi Juris Regi◠Hebraorum c. 1. for Aben-Ezra immediatly adds upon the mention of Whom the Lord shall Choose Scilicet per Os Prophetae vel indicio Vrim adeoque sensus est non quem tutemet elegeris ipse 1. e. either by the mouth of a Prophet or by the direction of the Vrim so that the meaning is not that the people should have the Choice of him And as for what followed it was nothing more than a Solemn and Ceremonious acknowledgment of Saul whom God had appointed over them But the strongest Objection is drawn from 1 Pet. 1 Pet. 2.13.14 Submit your selves to every Ordinance of Man for the Lords sake whether it be to the King as supreme Or unto Governours as unto them that are sent by Him c. 2.13 where Kings are called an Ordinance of Man for if so then are they far from being Jure Divino But if this be duly considered I am perswaded that it will appear of no force at all because in this Text there is a signal character which keeps it from concluding the Supreme Power to be Originally in the People not only by calling the King Supreme such as in St. Pauls Divinity Rom. 13.1 are affirmed to be Ordained of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 13.1 From whence the excellent Grotius what ever his opinion might have been in his younger dayes Concludes that all Kings do receive their Power from God and not the People as much as if they were immediately nominated and anointed by a Prophet and that the Power distinct from the Person of the King is not here meant is clear from hence that v. 3. it is added 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for he that must needs be the Person of the Magistrate is a Minister to thee for Good Nor can the Power abstracted from the Magistrate do what is here attributed to him to commend and incourage v. 3. Avenge or Punish v. 4. And the Matter is clear from v. 3. where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being afraid of the Power is all one with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Rulers are a Fear or Terror in the begining of the Verse and that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ought to be rendred Supreme and not higher it 's evident from comparing it with 1 Pet. 2.13 where the King is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as having his Commission from God whereas the rest are appointed by him Certum est sayes Grotius hac voce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 designari ab Apostolo summum Magistratum and so no Humane Ordinance but also by distinguishing the Governours v. 14. from the Supreme v. 13. by this that the Governours are sent by i.e. have Commission from the King which might and doubtless would be said of the King that he were commissionated or sent by the People if he were of their Creation but of this there is not to be found the least hint or intimation but this is evident beyond contradiction from the signification of the Phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be subject 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which according to all analogy ought to be rendred Humanae Creaturae Thereby meaning any part of Mankind not Ordinance of Man thereby signifying a thing of Man's Creating for then the Phrase to express it would be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because if we compare one place of the New Testament with another we shall find that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies generally †Pro humano omnigenere accipitur sive pro gentibus omnibus ut loquuntur Mattheus Lucas Theod. Beza in loc citat all Mankind as appears from this that the Creation and the World are all one and all the Creation or every Creature Mar. 16.15 are the same with the whole World in the beginning of the verse and all Nations in the parallel places of St. Matthew and St. Luke and thus Rom. 8.19 The expectation of the Creature or Creation is the hope which the Heathen World had that they i. e. the Gentiles as the manifestation of the gracious Priviledge of the Messias should also be freed from the slavery of Corruption unto the Liberty c. Now there is but one colourable Objection to be made to this Explication as if this precept were thereby so extended as to command obedience to every Man But to this I Answer That the word Be subject generally relating to the Magistrate will require our Obedience to none but such and St. Peter as if he had foreseen this difficulty has restrained the general signification of that Word by enumerating the particulars to whom Subjection is due viz. the King and his Ministers to whom only our Obedience is limited and enjoyned I can scarce think our Pamphleteer's Objection pag. 15. worth the considering where he sayes that since there can be according to the Opinion I have advanced but one rightful Monarch in the Universe viz. he who is the direct and lineal Heir of Adam because no Prince can make out any
Law ever since I cannot but wonder this Gentleman should go about to call in question the Judgment of so Many and so Great Lawyers by his Impertinent Cavils for 't was upon this Precedent that the Lord Keeper Bacon did advise Q. Elizabeth not to Repeal that Statute wherein she was made Illegitimate Nor was it upon the Account of any Attainder that the House of York forbore so long time to pursue their Claim to the Crown but want of Interest And when he tells us The King of France was the more inclined to send over his Son Lewis because King John was Attainted of Treason and so uncapable of taking the Crown he must certainly have forgot himself or he would not have made use of an Instance granting it to be true so contrary to his Purpose For it seems the English when he came to the Crown had but a very slender Opinion of such a Bar or else they would never have admitted him But the King of France was glad of any Pretence tho never so Ridiculous So that we see the Judges were not without Precedent to direct their Proceedings by and such a one if the Story be true as had the Approbation of the whole or greatest part of the Kingdom But that Objection which has most shew of Force is drawn from the Recognition of Richard the Third's Title which he takes a great deal of Pains to set off to the best Advantage But I think he might have spared his Pains if he had but considered that those Men that to Advance an Usurper to the Throne had contrary to their Knowledge declared all the Late King's Children to be Bastards would scarce stick at Declaring contrary to all Right and Justice which they had already so notoriously violated an Attainder of Treason to be of sufficient Force to debar the Issue of the Duke of Clarence who were not in a Condition to assert their Title for the Crown without considering the Truth of it And it is considerable that all those Acts made in Contradiction of one another were never heeded or esteemed by either Party or ever deter'd either the Heads of 'em from pursuing their Claim or the People from assisting them in it the End of all such Statutes was to vanish into Smoak and come to nothing and for the most part never to have the Honour of a Repeal Besides a Thing done in Tempestuous and Turbulent Times is not to Guide and Direct our Actions now especially since we have the Sense of so many several and different Parliaments and therefore the more Remarkable to the contrary wherein it is declared That the Succession of the Crown of England is inseparably Annexed to Proximity of Blood and That a Title of this Sublimity and Grandeur is not at all Impeachable even by Act of Parliament And besides the Parliament of 39. H. 6. doth make their Declaration to the manifest Prejudice of the King in Possession who was Ordained also by the same Accord then made to Reign over them during his Life and whom for that Reason it must be presum'd they would have favoured if they had found but the least colour so to have done And if the Actual Possession of the Throne as has been so often Recognized by our Antient Parliaments which were neither over-aw'd by a prevailing Faction nor seduced by the plausible Pretences of designing Demagogues be by the Law of God and Nature invested with the Soveraignty it does most evidently follow that the Heir Apparent or Next of Blood is by the same Laws entituled to the Crown and consequently the People have no more Right to Dis-inherit the One than to Depose the Other and doubtless it is the same Sin As to cause the Abortion of an Embryo and to take away the Life of a Child already Born are both alike Murder for both have an equal Right to Life tho they differ in the Time of the Enjoyment of it And so have the Possessor and the Heir to the Throne only One is actually Master of it and the Other in due Time must and ought so to be But to affirm sayes this Gentleman that the King and Parliament have not a Power to Change the Direct Order of Succession is to deny the Government a Power to Defend it self To this I Answer 'T is much more likely that altering the Course of the Legal Descent of the Crown is the more probable way of bringing us into Anarchy and Confusion Besides acording to his Notion of Self-preservation a Prince that Governs not according to the pleasure and good liking of the People may be Deposed or else they would be deprived of a power of preserving themselves A very peaceable Notion I assure you and such as would render every Government where it was admitted most extreamly Happy But it ought to be proved That the admitting of a Popish King would be an Infallible Cause of the Ruin of us all or else I much fear this adored principle of Self-preservation will not Justify the Exclusion of his R.H. For nothing less than absolute Necessity will authorize a Man to kill his Enemy as when he endeavours by violence to Rob him of his Life and 't is then only he can lawfully Kill him se Defendendo But that he should be allow'd to destroy any that out of a Groundless Jealousie he apprehends may do him a Prejudice is the Highest Degree of Madness and Destructive of all Humane Society For if it were allowed for one to Kill all he is afraid of we could expect nothing but Murders and Massacres nothing but unavoydable Confusion and Ruin 'T is convenient I grant to bind such as we have just Ground to be apprehensive of to their good Behaviour and tye up their Hands according to the Laws of the Land And certainly one would think this would be sufficient Security in the Case of his R.H. if too many of those that so zealously stickle for the Bill had not a deeper Design than that they give out even to Lay the Axe to the Root of Monarchy it self 'T is that they aim at and have such a Thirst to destroy under this specious pretence and set up their adored Idol their beloved Common-Wealth And if they had not this colour for their Proceedings I am very much afraid they would be guilty of some what worse Nor am I in this at all Uncharitable since this Gentleman has pag. 19. given a very excellent Hint to Justify such a Design For he tells us That the Crown is not a bare Inheritance but an Inheritance accompanying an Office of Trust that if a Mans Defects render him incapable of the Trust he has also Forfeited the Inheritance Can any thing be more full and plain May not upon this account the King in Possession be Removed as well as an Heir secluded So true is that Observation That all the Pamphlets writ upon this Subject tho they begin with the Duke yet constantly End with the King
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