bereaue vs of the present Gouernour the hartes and iudgementes of men being no better nor more firmely setled and fixed towards the expectation of a certaine succession then they seme now to be then wo and alas it yrketh my verie harte euen onse to thincke vpon the imminente and almost the ineuitable daunger of this our noble Realme beinge like to be ouerwhelmed with the raging and roring waues of mutual discorde and to be consumed with the terrible fier of ciuil discētion The feare whereof is the more by reason already in these later yeares some flames thereof haue sparkled and flusshed abrode and some parte of the rage of the sayd fluddes haue already beaten vpō the bankes I meane the hot contention that hath bene therein in so many places and among so many persons of bookes also that haue bene spread abrode and daily are spread being framed affectionately and sounding according to the sinister opinion of euery mans priuate appetite Seing therefore that there is iust cause of feare and of great danger likely to happen by this varietie of mens iudgementes so diuersely affected as wel of meane men as of greate personages I take it the parte of euery true Englishman to labour ad trauaile eche man for his possibilitie and for suche talente as God hath geuen him to helpe in conuenient tyme for the preuenting of the imminent daunger We knowe what wit what policie what paines what charges menne imploie to prouide that the Temmes or sea doo not ouerflowe such places as be moste subiecte to daunger We knowe what politike prouision is made in many good Cities and townes both to foresee that by negligence there ryse no dangerouse fiers and yf they chaunce with al diligence to represse the rage thereof Wherein among other his prudente dooinges Augustus the Emperour is commended for appointing at Rome seuen companies ordinarily to watche the Citie for the purpose aforesaide Wherevnto he was enduced by reason the Citie was in one daye in seuen seuerall places sette on fier And shal not we euery man for his his parte and vocation haue a vigilant care and respecte to the extinguishement of this fier already sprong out that may if the matter be not wisely foreseen destroie subuert and consume not one Citie onely but importe an vniuersall calamitie and destruction Which to represse one ready and good way seemeth vnto me if men may knowe and be throughly persuaded in what person the right of the succession of the Croune of this our Realme doth stande and remaine For now many men through ignorance of the said Right and Title and also the same being depraued by certaine sinister persuasions in some bookes wherevnto they haue to lightly geuen creditte be caried away from the right opinion and good hart that they otherwise would and should haue The whiche kind of men I doo hartely wishe from their said corrupte iudgemente to be reuoked and shal in this Treatise doo my beste indeuour to remoue not presuming vpon my self that I am any thing better able then others this to do for I knowe my owne infirmitie but being glad and willing to impart vnto others such motiues as vpon the reading of such bookes which of late haue ben set forth by the Aduersaries and after the diligent weying of diuers argumentes to the contrarie seeme vnto me sufficient to satisfie any honest and indifferent man that is not obstinately bent to his owne wilfull affections or to some other sinister meaning and dealing We say then and affirme that the right Heire and Successour apparent vnto the Croune of this Realme of England is at this time such a one as for the excellent giftes of God and nature in her most princely appearing is worthie to inherit either this noble Realm or any other be it of much more dignitie and worthines But nowe I claime nothing for the worthines of the person whiche God forbid should be any thing preiudiciall to the iuste title of others Yf most open and manifeste right iustice and title do not concurre with the worthines of the person then let the praise and worthines remaine where it is and the right where God and the lawe hath placed it But seing God Nature and the law doth call the person to this expectation whose interest and claime I do now prosequute I meane the right excellēt Ladie Ladie Marie Queene of Scotlande I hope that when her right and iuste title shal be throughly heard and cōsidered by the indifferent Reader if he be persuaded already for her right he shal be more firmely setled in his true and good opinion and that the other parties being of a contrarie minde shall finde good causes and groundes to remoue them from the fame and to geue ouer and yelde to the truthe Her Graces Title then as it is moste open and euidente so it is moste conformable to the lawe of God of Nature and of this Realme And cōsequently in a manner of all other Realmes in the worlde as growing by the nearest proximitie of the Roial blood She is a Kinges and a Queenes daughter her selfe a Queene daughter to the late King Iames of Scotlande sonne to Ladie Margarete the eldest Syster to our late Soueraigne Kyng Henrie the Eight Whose daughter also the Ladie Lenoux is but by a later husbande the Ladie Frauncis late wife to Henrie Marques Dorsette afterwarde Duke of Suffolke and the Ladie Elenour late wife to the Earle of Cumberlande and their Progenie proceedeth from the Ladie Marie Dowager of France yongest Sister of the said King Henrie late wife to Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolke I might here fetche foorth olde farne dayes I might reache backe to the noble and worthie Kinges long before the Conquest of whose Roial blood she is descended Whiche is no parte of our purpose neither doth enforce her Title more then to prooue her no stranger within this Realme But the Argumentes and prouffes which we meane to alleage and bring forth for the confirmation of her right and Title in Succession as Heire apparent to the Croune of England are gathered and groūded vpon the lawes of God and nature and not only receaued in the Ciuill policies of other nations but also in the olde lawes and Customes of our owne Countrey by reason approued and by vsage and long continuance of time obserued from the first constitution of this Realme in politicall order vnto this present day And yet for al that hath it bene and yet is by some men attempted artificially to obiecte and caste many mystie darke cloudes before mennes eyes to kepe from them if it may be the cleare light of the said iust title the which they would extinguish or at the least blemish with some obscure shadow of lawe but in deede against the lawe and with the shadowe of Parlamentes but in deede against the true meaning of the Parlamentes And albe it it were inough for vs our cause being so firmely and suerly establisshed vppon al
of God almighty onely But yet for arguments sake I would faine knowe where you finde your differēce and what authoritie you can shew for the prouf thereof Ye haue made no marginal note of any authoritie and therefore vnlesse ye also saye that ye are Pythagoras I will not beleue your difference Wel I am assured that I can shew you good authoritie to the contrarie and that there is no difference in your cases Pervse I praie you 22. H. 6. And there may you see the opinion of Iustice Newton that there is no difference in your cases but that in both your cases the lande shall eschete vnto the Lorde And Prisote being then of Coūsayle with the party that claimed the lands by a descent wher the eldest sonne was borne beyond the seas durst not abide in law vpon the title This authoritie is against your difference and this authoritie I am wel assured is better then any that you haue shewed to proue your difference But if we shal admitte your difference to be according to the law yet your cases wherevnto you applie your difference are nothing like as I haue said before But to procede on in the proufe of our purpose as it doth appeare that neither the King nor his Croune is bound by these general rules which before I haue shewed so do I likewise say of al the residue of the general rules and Maximes of the lawe being in a manner infinite But to retourne againe vnto your onely supposed Maxime whiche you make so general concerning the dishabilitie of persons borne beyond the seas it is very plaine that it was neuer taken to extende vnto the Croune of this Realme of Englande as it may appeare by King Stephen and by King Henry the seconde who were both straungers and Frenchemen and borne out of the Kinges allegeance and neither were they Kinges children immediate nor their parentes of the allegeance and yet they haue bene alwaies accompted lawfull Kinges of England nor their title was by any man at any time defaced or comptrolled for any such consideration or exception of foraine birth And it is a worlde to see how you would shifte your handes from the said King Henry Ye say he came not to the Croune by order of the lawe but by capitulation for asmuch as his mother by whome he conueied his Title was then liuing Well admitte that he came to the Croune by capitulation during his mothers life yet this doth not proue that he was dishabled to receaue the Croune but rather proueth his abilitie And although I did also admit that he had not the Croune by order of the law during his mothers life yet after his mothers death no man hath hitherto doubted but that he was King by lawful succession and not against the lawes and Customes of this Realme For so might you put a doubt in al the Kinges of this Realme that euer gouerned sithens and driue vs to seake heires in Scotland or els where Whiche thing we suppose you are ouer wise to goe about Bysides this I haue hard some of the aduersaries for farther helpe of their intention in this matter saye that King Henry the second was à Queenes childe and so King by the rule of the commō law Truely I know he was an Emperesse childe but no Queene of Englandes childe For although Maude the Emperesse his mother had a right and a good title to the Croune and to be Queene of England yet was she neuer in possession but kepte from the possession by King Stephen And therefore King Henry the second can not iustly be saied to be a Queene of Englandes childe nor yet any Kinges childe vnlesse ye would intend the Kinges children by the wordes of Infantes de Roy c. to be children of farther degree and descended from the right line of the King so ye might say truely that he was the child of King Henry the first being in deede the sonne and heire of Maude the Emperesse daughter and heire of Kinge Henrie the first Whereby your saide rule is here fowly foiled And therefore ye would faine for the maintenance of your pretensed Maxime catche some holde vppon Arthur the sonne of Ieffrey one of the sonnes of the saide Henry the seconde Ye say then like a good and ioly Antyquarie that he was reiected from the Croune bycause he was borne out of the Realme That he was borne out of the Realme it is very true but that he was reiected frō the Croune for that cause it is very false Neither haue you any autoritie to proue your vaine opinion in this pointe For it is to be proued by the Cronicles of this Realme that King Richarde the first vncle vnto the sayd Arthur taking his iourney towarde Hierusalem declared the said Arthur as we haue declared before to be heire apparent vnto the Croune whiche would not haue ben if he had bene taken to be vnhable to receaue the Croune by reason of foraine birth And although King Iohn did vsurpe aswel vpon the saide King Richard the firste his eldest brother as also vpon the sayd Arthur thur his nephewe yet that is no prouf that he was reiected bycause he was borne out of the Realme Yf ye could proue that then had you shewed some reason and president to proue your intent whereas hytherto you haue shewed none at al nor I am wel assured shal neuer be able to shewe Thus may ye see gentle Reader that neither this pretensed Maxime of the lawe set forth by th' Aduersaries nor a great nomber more as general as this is whiche before I haue shewed can by any reasonable meanes be stretched to bind the Croune of Englād These reasons and authorities may for this time suffice to proue that the Croune of this Realme is not subiecte to the rules and the Principles of the common lawe neither can be ruled and tried by the same Whiche thing being true al the obiectiōs of the Aduersaries made against the title of Marie the Queene of Scotland to the succession of the Croune of this Realme are fully answered and thereby clearly wiped away Yet for farther arguments sake and to the ende we might haue al matters sifted to the vttermost and therby al things made plaine let vs for this tyme somewhat yeelde vnto the Aduersaries admitting that the Title of the Croune of this Realme were to be examined and tried by the rules and principles of the cōmon law and then let vs consider and examin farther whether ther be any rule of the cōmon law or els any statute that by good and iust construction can seeme to inpugne the said title of Marie the Queene of Scotland or no. For touching her lineal descente frō King Henry the seuēth and by his eldest daughter as we haue shewed there is no man so impudent to denie What is there then to be obiected among al the rules Maximes and iudgements of the cōmon law of this Realm Only
Liberi Therefore doo we supply it as wel as we may by this worde children The Spaniardes also vse this worde Infantes in this ample sorte when they call the nexte heire to the heire apparēt Infant of Spaine euen as the late deceased Lorde Charles of Austrich was called his father and grandfather then liuing Yf then the original word of the statute declaring the said rule may naturally and properly apperteine to al the Descendants why should we straine and binde it to the first degree only otherwise then the nature of the worde or reason wil beare For I suppose verely that it wil be very harde for the Aduersarie to geue any good and substantial reason why to make a diuersitie in the cases But touching the contrarie there are good and probable consideratiōs which shall serue vs for the seconde cause As for that the grādfathers cal their nephewes as by a more pleasant plausible name not only their children but their sonnes also and for that the sonne being deceased the grādfather suruiuing not only the grādfathers affection but also such right title and interest as the sonne hath by the lawe and by proximitie of blood growe and drawe al to the nephew who representeth and supplieth the fathers place the father and the sonne being compted in person and in flesh in maner but as one Why shal then the bare and naked consideration of the external and accidental place of the birth only seuer and sunder suche an entier inwarde and natural coniunction Adde therevnto the many and great absurdities that may hereof spring and ensue Diuerse of the Kinges of this Realme as wel before the time of King Edwarde the third in whose time this statute was made as after him gaue their daughters out to foraine and sometimes to meane Princes in mariage Which they would neuer so often times haue done if they had thought that whyle they wente about to set forth and aduance their issue their doinges should haue tended to the disheriting of them from so great large and noble a Realme as this is which might haue chanced if the daughter hauing a sonne or daughter had died her father liuing For there should this supposed Maxime haue ben a barre to the children to succede their grandfather This absurditie would haue bene more notable if it had chanced about the time of King Henry the secōd or this king Edward or king Henry the firste and sixte when the possessions of the Croune of this Realme were so amply enlarged in other Countries beyond the seas And yet neuer so notable as it might haue bene hereafter in our fresh memorie and remēbrance if any such thing had chanced as by possibilitie it might haue chanced by the late mariage of King Philippe and Queene Marie For admitting their daughter maried to a foraine Prince should haue dyed before them she leauing a sonne suruiuing his father and grandmother they hauing none other issue so nigh in degree then would this late framed Maxime haue excluded the same sonne lamētably and vnnaturally from the succession of the Croune of Englande and also the same Croune from the inheritance of the Realmes of Spain of both Sicilies with their appurtenāces of the Dukedō of Milan and other landes and Dominiōs in Lumbardy and Italie as also from the Dukedomes of Brabant Luxēburg Geldres Zutphan Burgundie Friseland from the Countreies of Flandres Artois Holland Zealād and Namurs and from the new found lands parcel of the said Kingdome of Spaine* Which are vnlesse I be deceued more ample by dubble or treble then al the Countreies now rehearsed Al the which Countreies by the foresaid Mariage should haue bene by al right deuolued to the said sonne if any such child had bene borne If either the same by the force of this iolye newe found Maxime had bene excluded from the Croune of England or the saide Croune from the inheritance of the foresaid Countreies were there any reason to be yelded for the maintenance of this supposed rule or Maxime in that case Or might there possibly rise any commodity to the Realme by obseruing therein this rigorous pretensed rule that should by one hundred part counteruaile this importable losse and spoile of the Croune and of the lawful inheritour of the same But perchance for the auoiding of this exception limited vnto the blood roial some wil say that the same was but a priuilege graunted to the Kinges children not in respect of the succession of the Croune but of other landes descending to them from their Auncestours Whiche although we might very wel admit and allow yet can it not be denied but that the same priuilege was graūted vnto the Kinges children and other descendantes of the Blood roial by reason of the dignity and worthines of the Croune which the King their father did enioy and the great reuerence which the law geueth of dewtie therevnto And therefore if ye would go about to restraine and withdraw from the Croune that priuilege whiche the lawe geueth to the Kinges children for the Crounes sake ye should doo therein contrarie to al reason and against the rules of the Arte of Reasoning which saith that Propter quod vnumquodque illud magis Byside that I would faine knowe by what reason might a man saye that they of the Kinges Bloodde borne out of the allegeaunce of Englande maye inherite landes within this Realme as heires vnto their Ancestours not being able to inherite the Croune Truly in mine opinion it were against al reason But on the contrarie side the very force of reason muste driue vs to graunt the like Yea more great and ample priuilege and benefit of the law in the succession of the Croune For the Roial blood where so euer it be found wil be taken as a pretious and singuler Iewel and wil carie with it his worthie estimation and honour with the people and where it is dew his right withal By the Ciuil law the right of the inheritance of priuate persons is hemmed and inched within the bandes of the tenth degre The Blood roial runneth a farther race and so farre as it may be found wherewith the great and mightie Conquerors are glad and faine to ioine withal euer fearing the weaknes of their blooddie sworde in respect of the greate force and strength of the same For this cause was Henrie the firste called for his learning and wisedome Beauclerke glad to consociate and couple him self with the auncient Roial blood of the Saxons which cōtinuing in the Princely Successiō from worthie king Alured was cutte of by the death of the good king Edward and by the mariyng of Mathildis being in the fourth degree in lineal descent to the said king Edward was reuiued and revnited From this Edward the Queene of Scotlād as we haue before shewed taketh her noble auncieht Petigrue These then and diuers other reasons and causes mo may be alleaged for the waying and setting foorth of the true meaning
only Of the like weight is his other coÌ„sideration imaginiÌ„g and surmising this statute to be made bicause the King had so many occasioÌ„s to be so oft ouer the sea with his spouse the Queene As though diuers Kings before him vsed not often to passe ouer the seas As though this were a personal statute made of special purpose and not to be takeÌ„ as a declaratioÌ„ of the coÌ„mon law Which to say is most directly repugnant and contrary to the letter of the said statute Or as though his children also did not very often repaire to outward Countries as Iohn of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster that maried Peters the King of Castiles eldest daughter by whose right he claimed the Croune of Castile as his brother EdmuÌ„d Erle of Cambridge that maried the yongest daughter as Lionell Duke of Claraunce that maried at Milaine ViolaÌ„t daughter and heir to Galeatius Duke of Milan But especially Prince Edwarde whiche moste victoriously toke in battaile Iohn the French King and brought him into England his prisoner to the great triumphe and reioysing of the Realme whose eldest sonne Edward that died in short time after was borne beyond the seas in Gascome and his other sonne Richard that succeded his grandfather was borne at Burdeaux as these noble King Edwardes sonnes maried with forainers so did they geue out their daughters in mariage to foraine Princes as the Duke of Lancaster his daughter Philippe to the king of Portingale and his daughter Catherin to the King of Spaine and his Neece Iohan daughter to his sonne Earle of Somerset was ioyned in mariage to the King of Scottes Iohan daughter to his brother Thomas of Wodstocke Duke of Gloucester was Queene of Spaine and his other daughter Marie Duchesse of Britannie Now by this mans interpretation none of the issue of al these noble Women could haue enioyed the Croune of England when it had fallen to them though they had bene of the neerest roial blood after the death of their Auncestours Which surely had bene against the auncient presidentes and examples that we haue declared and against the common Lawe the whiche muste not be thought by this Statute any thing taken away but only declared and against al good reason also For as we would haue thought this Realme greatly iniured if it had ben defrauded of Spaine or any of the foresaid couÌ„treies being deuolued to the same by the foresaid Mariages as we thincke our self at this day iniured for the withholding of France so the issue of the foresaide noble womeÌ„ might and would haue thought them hardly and iniuriously handled yf any such case had happened Neither suche friuolous interpretation and gloses as this man nowe frameth and maketh vppon the statute woulde then haue serued nor nowe wil serue But of all other his friuolous and folish ghessing vpon the clause of the statute for Infantes de Roy there is one most fond of al. For he would make vs beleue such is the mans skil that this statute touching Infantes de Roy was made for the great doubte more in them then in other personnes touching their inheritance to their Auncestours For being then a Maxime saieth he in the lawe that none could inherite to his Auncestours being not of father and mother vnder the obedience of the King seing the King him selfe could not be vnder obedience it plainely seemed that the Kinges children were of farre worse condition then others and quite excluded And therefore he saith that this statute was not to geue them any other priuilege but to make them equall with other And that therefore this statute touching the Kinges children is rather in the superficial parte of the worde then in effecte Nowe among other thinges he saieth as we haue shewed before that this word Infantes de Roy in this statute mentioned must be taken for the children of the first degree whiche he seemeth to proue by a note taken out of M. Rastal But to this we answer that this maÌ„ swetely dreamed when he imagined this fonde and fantasticall exposition And that he shewed him selfe a very infante in law and reason For this was no Maxime or at lest not so certaine before the making of this statute whiche geueth no new right to the Kinges children nor answereth any doubt touching them and their inheritance but saith that the law of the Croune of England is and alwaies hath bene which lawe saith the King say the Lordes say the Commons we allowe and affirme for euer that the Kinges children shal be hable to inherite the Landes of their Auncesters whereâ—oeuer they be borne Al the doubt was for other persons as appeareth euideÌ„tly by the tenour of the statute whether by the coÌ„mon law they being borne out of the allegeance were heritable to their Auncestours And it appeareth that th' Aduersary is driueÌ„ to the hard wal when he is faine to catch hold vpon a selie poore marginal note of M. Rastal of the Kinges childreÌ„ and not of the Kings childrens children Which yet nothing at al serueth his purpose touching this statute But he or the Printer or who so euer he be as he draweth out of the text many other notes of the matter therin coÌ„prised so vpoÌ„ these FreÌ„ch wordes Les enfants de Roy he noteth in the MargeÌ„t The Kings childreÌ„ but how far that word reacheth he saieth neither more nor lesse Neither it is any thing preiudicial to the said Queenes right or Title whether the said wordes Infants ought to be takeÌ„ strictly for the first degree or farther enlarged For if this statute toucheth only the succession of the Kings children to their Auncestours for other inheritaÌ„ce and not for the Cround as most men take it and as it may be as we haue said very wel takeÌ„ and allowed then doth this supposed Maxime of forain borne that seemeth to be gathered out of this statute nothing anoy or hinder the Queene of Scotlandes Title to the Croune as not therto apperteining On the other side if by the inheritance of the kings childreÌ„ the Croune also is meant yet neither may we enforce the rule of foraine borne vpoÌ„ the kings children which are by theâ—presse wordes of the statute excepted neither enforce the word Inâ—â—â—s to the first degree only for such reasons presidents and examples and other prouffes largely by vs before set forth to the coÌ„trarie seing that the right of the Croune falling vpoÌ„ them they may wel be called the kings ChildreÌ„ or at the lest the childreÌ„ of the Croune Ther is also one other cause why though this statute reach to the Croune and may and ought to be expouÌ„ded of the same the said Queene is out of the reach and coÌ„passe of the said statute For the said statute can not be vnderstanded of any persons borne in Scotlande or Wales but onely of persons borne beyond the sea out of the allegeance of the King of England that is to wrtte France Flandres and such like For England
hauing and following of this law as we haue said vnlesse to omitte other thinges ye would bind our Kinges also to receaue the Deuteronomie at the haÌ„ds of the Leuitical Tribe as that ye say that God gaue here a lawe to the Iewes to make or choose a King and so consequently al your illations out of this place seeme to be of smal force For to say the trueth as God neither gaue them this or any other lawe for choosing of a King nor did bid or will them to choose a King so did the people most greeuously offend God in demanding a King. For though by the iudgement of Aristotle and other Philosophers Monarchie wel and orderly vsed is the best kinde of al other Regiments which God doth also wel like yet would he haue no such magistrate among the Iewes But as he chose them for his propre peculier and selecte people and ruled them as wel in the Desert as in Iudea by a seueral peculier and distinct order and Gouernement from other Nations and after suche wonderful and miraculous sort as the like was neuer harde of in any Regiment by sides so would he also reserue to him selfe only the said Supremacie and Monarchie Neither was he a litle angrie with the Iewes nor they committed any smal fault but as it were renounced and reiected Gods owne Monarchie in crauing a King as holy Scripture plainely and openly testifiet Nonâ—ie inquit reiecerunt sed me ne regnem super eos And the people afterwardes acknowledged their fault Addidimus vniuersis peccatis nostris malum vt peteremus nobu Regem God therefore did not bidde them or wil them to choose a King but forknowing long before by his eternall forsight what they would do though contrarie to his blessed wil and pleasure did in this as in other matters beare with their weakenes and condescended vnto the same and fortold them in the said 17. Chapter that in case they would needes haue a King of what kind and sort he should be And therefore immediatly before the wordes that ye recite thou shalt make him a King ouer them is this texte Cum ingressus fuer is terram quam Dominus Deus dabit tibi possederis illam habâ—â—auerisque in illa dixeris constituam super me Regem sicut habent omnes per circuitum Nationes â—um constitues c. And when thou shalt come into the laÌ„d which the Lord thy God geueth thee and shalt possesse yea and dwel therein if thou say I wil set a King ouer me like as all the Nations that are about me then thou shalt make him King ouer thee whome c. Whiche wordes making for the illustratioÌ„ of this place ye haue omitted Wherfore as this place serueth nothing for any absolute election of a King the second which you seeme especially to regard and ground your selfe vpon so doth it as we haue shewed as litle relieue you to prooue therby your conclusions especially against the ordinarie successioÌ„ either of a strauÌ„ger or of a woman that ye would gather and conclude out of the same Thus haue we sufficiently answered the place of Deuteronomie for this one purpose Th' other two autorities may be much more easely answered The people meant nothing els by their said wordes spoken to Dauid but that they were the seede of Abraham Isaac and Iacob as wel as he and intended with true and sincere hartes vnfainedly to agnise him as their chiefe Lord and Soueraigne For at that time the Tribe of Iuda only whereof King Dauid came by lineal descent did acknowledge him as king Now the residue which before helde with Saules sonne did also incorporate and vnite themselues to the said kingdome If this man looke wel vpon the matter he shal find I trowe that the Queene of Scotland may as wel cal her selfe the bones and fleshe of the Noble Princes of England as this people cal them selues the bones and sheshe of King Dauid But yet the great terrible battering Cannon Athalia is behind She being in possessession of the kingdome seuen yeares was iustly thrust out by cause she was an Alien We may then saith this man iustly denie the Queene of Scotland the right of that which if she had in possession she should not iustly enioy Yet Sir if the Queene of Scotland be no Alien as we haue said then is your Cannon shot more feareful then dangerous We deny not but that Athalia was lawfully deposed but we beseche you to tell vs your Authours name that doth assigne the cause to be suche as you alleage Surely for my part after diligent searche I finde no such Authour Trueth is it that Iosephus writeth as ye doe that she descended by the mothers side of the Tyrians and Sidonians yet neuerthelesse he assigneth no such cause as ye doe And as ye are in this your preatie poisoned pamflet the first I trow of al Christian men I wil not except either Latin or Greke vnlesse it be some fantastical fonde and new vpstart Doctour as M. Knoxe or some the like neither Iew Chaldee nor Arabian that hath thus straungely glosed and deformed this place of holie Scripture against the ordinarie succession of women Princes so are you the first also of all other Diuines or Lawiers throughout the world that hath set forth this new fonde foolishe lawe that the Kings childe must be counted an Alien whose father and mother are not of the same and one CouÌ„trie If the French or Spanish King chaunce to marâ—e an English woman or the King of England to marie a French a Spanish or any other Country woman their Children by this new Lycurgus are Aliens and so consequently in al other Nations al such are haue ben and shal be AlieÌ„s by this your new oracle For what other cause shew you that this Athalia was an Alien but by cause her mother was an Alien genus duceÌ„s say you à Tyrijs Sydoâ—iis coming by lineal descent by the mothers side from the Tyrians and Sydonians King Achas maried her mother doughter to Ithobal King of the said Tyrians and Sydonians This Athalia whom Iosephus cal leth Gotholio Achas daughter maried IoraÌ„ King of uda her brother called also Ioram being king of Israel after the decease of his father Achas So then ye see that this Athalia was nomore an Alien among the Iewes then â—â—ing Edbalde Baldus was the sonne of Bertha a FreÌ„ch womaÌ„ and of King Ethelbertus the first Christian King of th' English nation no more then was the noble King Edward the third borne of a French woma â—more then Queene Marie was no more â—en should haue bene the issue of the said Q. Marie in case she had had any by the king â—f Spaine I perceaue that your felowes that â—ould faine make King Stephen King HeÌ„â—e the second and Arthur Neuew to King â—ichard the first Aliens had but rude dul â—nd grosse heades in comparison of
your â—â—e subtile and high fetches If I should now desire your patience notwithstanding the allegations of al your Diâ—initie to be content a while and touching this matter to harken to the most excellent Ciuilian VlpiaÌ„ though he were an Ethnike ye would perchance make litle accompt of him and be angrie with me for producing a profane Witnesse against you And yet truely in this I offre neither to you nor yet to Gods holy Worde any iniurie in the world For Christes high and Diuine Doctrine doth not subuert and impugne humaine and Ciuil policie being not repugnaÌ„t to his expresse Worde and wil. Let vs then heare whome the saied Vlpian maketh an Alien He is a Campane saith this Vlpian that is borne of father and mother being Campaines panes yea if his father be a Campane and his mother be a Puteolane yet is the childe a Citizen or Burgesse of Campanie And then he sheweth farther that in some CouÌ„tries as among the Ilians and Delphians and them of Pontus the Childe shal be counted to be originally of the mothers and not of the Fathers Countrie His wordes in Latin as he wrote them are these Qui ex duobus Campanis parentibus natus est Campanus est Sed si ex patre Campano matre Puteolana aeque municeps Campanus est nisi fortè priuilegio aliquo materna origo censeatur Tunc enim maternae originis erit municeps Vipotè I lien sibus concessum est vt qui matre Iliensi est sit éorúm municeps Etiam Delphis hoc idem tributum conseruatum est Celsus etiam refert Ponticis ex beneficio Pompeij Magni competere vt qui Pontica matre natus esset Ponticus esset Which his saying is direct against you for this your strange declaration of Alienigena an Alien Wel if neither the declaration of Vlpian nor yet the practise of the world most conformable also to reason nor any thing els wil satisfie you vnlesse it be deriued and taken out of the Holy Scripture we are content to ioyne issue with you and 〈◊〉 be tried by the same only Christe came Lineally of Booz whome Salomon begat of Raab as the most common opinion of Writers is that betraied Hiericho to Iosue and may we now falsly think that this Booz was a straÌ„ger an AlieÌ„ and no Iew and so withal infringe breake and peruert the Genealogie of Christ and the continual SuccessioÌ„ of the Iewes Christes progenitors Ye know that as Athalias mother was a TyriaÌ„ or a Sydonian so was Ruth a Moabite This Ruth maried the foresaid Booz I aske you now again whether Obed the son of the said Booz and Ruth were AlieÌ„s amoÌ„g the lewes If ye say he was not then must you nedes coÌ„fesse the same of Athalia If you say he was then the holy Scripture maketh euideÌ„tly against you For of this Obed Christ came lineally And if you step forward as you lustily begin a foot or two more ye wil or as wel you may make king Dauid also to whom Obed was graÌ„dfather yea and Christ himselfe not much better then AlieÌ„s And so hath Athalia at leÌ„gth spon a faire thred for you We deny then that this Athalia was an AlieÌ„ amoÌ„g the Israelits and therfore she could not be bard froÌ„ any inheritance due vnto the daughter among the Children of Israel Neither was she remoued from the kingdom as this sobre man being best awaked dreameth bycause she was a straunger But for that she moste cruelly and vnnaturally sleaing and murdering her Nevewes the sonnes of her sonne King Othozias lately killed by Iehu by shameful meanes vsurped her self the croune apperteining to her Nephew Ioas who by the prouidence of God was she being vsurper of it preserued from her boutcherie And after seuen yeares by the help of Ioada the High Priest was anointed King and she deposed and worthely put to death And this cause doth appeare euen in the very Chapter and place that this brauling braine doth alleage As for the cause he him selfe proponeth we wil not sticke with him to geue him a longer date to fetche out and shew vs his recordes and his authours at his good leasure Wel this string wil not serue his bowe we wil therefore listen againe to him and consider how wel he harpeth vpon the next string whiche surely doth geue as il fauored a iarring and as vntunable a noice as the first or rather more vntunable Wherein our good quiet brother doth so straine and wrest the worde ex fratribus among the bretherne that he wresteth away not only the right and interest that the Queene of Scotland pretendeth to the Succession of the Croune but doth wrest withal the Croune from al Princes neckes that haue ben are or shal be women And of al such as haue do or shal claime their inheritance by th' interest and title of their mothers whiche haue no better Title then their progenitours from whom they claime For amongest his new notable notes that he noteth out of this seuententh Chapter of Deuteronomie for the choosing of a King we may note saith he the sexe by the masculine gendre vsed in this worde ex fratribus for vnder the other sexe Ataxia most commonly creepeth into the stocke and Countrie He saith also afterward this politique law that God did geue the Iewes is grounded vpon the law of Nature and is also as euerlasting as Nature it selfe is and is of all natural men to be obserued It is saith he of Nature that the prescribed sexe should gouerne the other he meaneth women should be gouerned Then he knitteth vp the Conclusio of his new pestiferous policie which I coÌ„clude that Gods law Nature and good reason do reiecte the Queene of Scotland and denie her that kingdom which she wold faine possesse Who wold euer haue thought that such a quiet sobre braine out of this one word fratribus could haue found in his hart so vnbrotherly and so vnchristianly and so fondly withal to extort such an interpretatioÌ„ as is able if it were receaued to disturbe infriÌ„ge and breake the quiet and lauful possessioÌ„ and inheritance of a great part of the Princes of the world Yea and as fondly and vnnaturally to frame of hiÌ„self a new law of Nature also and so most wretchedly to corrupt depraue and maim both the law of God and Nature Yet bicause this maÌ„ geueth out his matters as it were coÌ„peÌ„dious oracles and least some might think that such a sobre maÌ„ hath some good and substaÌ„tial grouÌ„d in this his saying seing he is so bold with his owne gloses vpon the holy Scriptures I wil be as bold vpoÌ„ him alitle to sift and examine the weight and veritie of theÌ„ And first touchiÌ„g the law of nature which he maketh as a pikaxe to vndermine the state of so many Princes we might here inlarge many thiÌ„gs how and in what sort the law of Nature may be takeÌ„ But we wil
burge who therby inioyed the Countie Pâ—latine The like may be said of diuers othâ— partes of the Germanical Empire yea a wâ— maÌ„ hath ruled and gouerned the said who Empire as it is euident in Agnes the wiâ— of the Emperour Henry the third duriâ— the time of the minoritie of her sonne Hâ—rie the fourth And yet the same Empire ye wote wel passeth by choise and election and not by lineal succession of bloode yeâ— many hundereth yeares ere she was borne and in the florishing time of the olde Roâ—maine Empire Mesa Varia grandmother to the Emperour Heliogabalus and Alexander Seuerus sate with the Senate at Rome heard and examined the weighty causes oâ— the Empire and set her hand also to suche thiÌ„gs as passed touchiÌ„g the publike affaires I do now adioyne the kingdom of Sicile and Naples in Italie of the whiche Italie Noah whom the prophane Writers cal Ianus made Crana his daughter ruler and Quene wher also Lauinia reigned after the death of Aeneas And as for Naples this presideÌ„t of womanly Gouernment is not there only of later yeares in both the Queenes called Iohanne but euen from very auncient time which thing the stories do recorde in Amalasintha that gouerned after the death of her father King Theodoricus with her sonne Athalaricus The said Amalasintha was mother to Almaricus King of Spaine and after his death ruled her self the said Realme Let vs nowe adde farther the Dukedoms of Loraine and Mantua the kingdome of Swetia and Dania and of Noruegia whereof Margaret the daughter of Waldemarus was gouernesse and Quene the kingdom of Beame and of HuÌ„garie And to draw nere home the Realm also of ScotlaÌ„d which realm hath denomination of a woman as their stories report as hath likewise Flaunders The like some of our stories report of EnglaÌ„d wherin I wil make no fast footing Now touching the feminine Successâ— to the right of the Croune of England itâ— no new found Succession and much leâ— vnnatural We reade in our Chronicles Queene Cordel the thirde heire and daugâ—ter of King Leyre the teÌ„th King of Eritanâ— that restored her father to the kingdomâ— being deposed by her two other sisters Wâ— reade that about three hundered fifty anâ— fiue yeares before the Natiuitie of Christâ— Martia Proba during the nonage of heâ— sonne did gouerne this Realme ful politikâ—ly and wisely and established certaine laweâ— called Leges Martianae There be aswel of our owne as of exterternal historiographers that for a most certeinty affirme that Helena the noble Constantine his mother was a Britaine and the only daughter and heire of Coelus King of Britanie and that the said Constantine was borne in Britanie Surely that his father CoÌ„stantinus died in Britanie at Yorke and that the said Constantinus began his noble Victorious race of his most worthy Empire in Britany it is reported by auncient Writers and of great faith and credit And that likewise long before the said Helens time women bare the greatest sway both in warre â—nd peace and that the Britaine 's had womeÌ„ or their Capteines in warfare AmoÌ„g other Cornelius Tacitus writeth thus His atâ—e allis inuicem instructi Voadica generis regij â—mina Duce neque enim sexum in Impertis â—scernunt sumpsêre vniuersi bellum We haue now already shewed of Henry he seconde who obteined the Croune by â—he mothers right Which said King by the Title of his wife and after him his Succesâ—ours Kings of England did inioy the Dukeâ—omes of Aquitania and the Dukedome of Poiters as the said Kings Successour should â—aue done also as we haue shewed before the Dukedome of Britanie if Arthur King Richardes Neuew had not by the vsurping of King Iohn and his vnnatural crueltie died without issue And by what other right then by the womans inheritance dew to King Edward the third by his mother the Frenche Kings daughter doe the Kinges of this Realme beare the Armes and Title of the Kings of FraÌ„ce And though the FreÌ„ch men thinke their parte the better against vs it is not but vpoÌ„ an old politike law of their owne as they say and not vpon any suche fonde ground as ye pretende that women Regiment is vnnatural Which RegimeÌ„t ye stoutly affirme to bâ— farre a sunder from any natural RegimeÌ„t yeâ— truely as farre as was the boies head froÌ„ the shoulders the last Bartholmew Faire at LoÌ„don which many a poore foole did beleeue to be true For as the boies head remained stil vpon his necke and shoulders though iâ— seemed by a light liuely legerdemaine to be a great way from the bodie so would you now cast a mist before our eies and make vs beleue that womans gouernmeÌ„t and nature be so diuided and sundred that they may iâ— no wise be lincked and coupled together But surely the French nation was neuer so vnwise to thinke this kind of GouermeÌ„t repugnant to Nature or to Gods holy Word For then they would neuer haue suffered their Realme to haue ben so often gouerned and ruled by women in the time of the nonage or absence of their Kings As by Adela the mother of King Philip and by Blanche the mother of S. Lewis and by the wife of the late King Frauncis taken prisoner at Paura and by diuers others Neither should the said Adela and Blanche haue ben so coÌ„mended of their said noble and worthy rule and â—uernmeÌ„t The said FrenchmeÌ„ though by â—oliâ—ie they haue prouided to exclude foâ—iners from the inheritance of the Croune 〈◊〉 they themselues holde at this day by â—e womaÌ„s title and interest the Dukedom â—f Britanie with diuers other goodly posâ—ssions And we haue shewed before how â—ewis the Dolphin of France made a Title 〈◊〉 the Croune of this Realme in the right â—f his wife Thus I haue as I suppose sufficiently proued that this kinde of RegimeÌ„t 〈◊〉 not against Nature by the auncient and â—ontinual practise of Asia Aphrica and Euâ—â—pa For the perfecting of the whiche laste â—â—rte of Europa and of the whole three â—artes I ende with the notable Poet Virgils verses Filius huic fato Diuûm prolesque virilis Nulla fuit primaque oriens erepta iuuenta est Sola domum tantas seruabat filia sedes We knit vp therfore our conclusion against you after this sort That law and vsage caÌ„not be compted against the law of nature or ius GeÌ„tiuÌ„ which the most part of al couÌ„tries and one great or notable part of the whol world doth and hath vsed but this lawe or vsage is such Ergo it is not against the law of Nature The Maior nedeth no proufe and foâ— the proufe of the Minor we neede to imploy no farder labour then we haue already done Whervpon the consequeÌ„t must nedeâ— be inferred that this law or vsage doth weâ— agree and stand with the law of nature The reason thereof is that it
is most natural the daughter to inherite her fathers patrimonieâ— wherevnto if there be a dignitie annexedâ— both are so vnited and knit together thaâ— they can in no wise be vnlinked Marie if you had driuen your argument of the duetie and obedience that the wife oweth to her husband and had argued It is the law of Nature that the wife should be ruled and gouerned by her husband Ergo it is against Nature that the wife should be head to her husband in respect that she is his wife then had you argued conformably to reason Scripture and Nature But if you wil thereof inferre Ergo she can in no wise be head to her husbande then play you the Sophister making a fallible and vitious argument and making a confuse mingling of those thinges that be of sundry and diuers Natures The child must obey his Scholemaister â—â—d Parentes and may iustly of them be â—hastised though he be a Prince yet this notwithstanding the said childe may vse â—is authoritie by his Magistrates against his â—cholemaister yea and if the cause so reâ—uire against his Parents to as did Edward â—â—e Confessour and King Edward the third against their mothers EueÌ„ so the case fareth with the husband and the wife The wife â—ay without any impairing or mayming of â—er duetie to God or to her wedlocke reâ—â—esse her husbandes misdemeanour if it be â—eedeful to the common Wealth And yet 〈◊〉 she not therby exempted from such dewâ—â—e as the matrimonial coniunction craueth of the wife towardes her husband You frame an other argument of inconâ—eniences as though vnder the womaÌ„s Regiment Ataxia that is to say disorder most commonly creepeth in I wil not deny but somtime it is so but that most commonly â—t is so that I deny Let both the Regiments be compared and matched together and weied by an indifferent ballance and I am deceaued but the inconueniences of the mans Regiment for the rate wil ouerpaise the other And it is ful vnmete vnseemely and a daÌ„gerous matter to rule Princes right and Titles by such blind ghesses Wel you wil yet say you haue Scripture on your side you say the Iues were coÌ„mauÌ„ded to take no King but exfratribus a brother Ergo we can haue no Sister to our Q. To this obiection also my two former answers may sufficiently serue First you must proue that al Christian Princes are obliged and subiected to this part of Moyses law and that shal you neuer be able to do Which thing you saw wel inough and therfore you were faine to vnderprop and vphold this your ruinous and weake building with the strong force of the law of Nature But this force as you haue hard is but the force of a bulrush Our secoÌ„d answer also wil sone infringe and breake this your conclusioÌ„ which respecteth only the free and voluntary election and choise of a king But we speake of birth and Succession wherein we haue none interest but God who is th' only iudge and vmpier and hath by his Diuine prouidence made to our handes his choise already which if we should vndo and reuerse we might seeme to be very-saucy and malapert with him But we wil remoue and relinâ—uish al these helpes and see what and how â—arre this authoritie forceth by the very wordes Frater is the masculine geÌ„dre you say and therefore women are to be remoued Then by this rule women also must be excluded from their saluatioÌ„ bycause Scripture saith He that shal beleue and be baptised shal be saued Holy Scripture abuÌ„deth of like places As Beatus vir qui non abijt in consilio imptoruÌ„ c. Beatus qui intelligit c. And by this rule women are excluded from the eight beatiâ—udes But we wil not shifte your owne worde brother We say therefore that this worde must not be taken so strictly and â—arrowly as you take it For first not only in Scripture but in olde auncient prophane Authours it compreheÌ„deth the brothers childe yea and somtime in Ciuil law coosin germans comming of two brethern Abraham called Loth his brothers sonne brother Medea also calleth her sister Chalciopes sonnes her brethern speaking to her sister in this sorte 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Againe as in the Ciuil law the masculinâ— gendre coÌ„prehendeth the feminine so doth it in your worde brother Modestinus writeth thus Tres fratres Titius Meuius 〈◊〉 Paulus also Titius fratres Sceuola saith the bequestes made by the testatour fratribus to his brethern shal be beneficial to his sisters also vnlesse it may be proued that the testatour meant otherwise Now when the holy Scripture saith thou shalt not hate they brother Thou shalt not lend vpon vsurie to thy brother let euery man vse his brother mercifully if thy brother trespace against thee forgeue him withdrawe your selfe from euery brother walking disorderly he that haâ—eth his brother is in darknes with a number of like sort shal we inferre therevpon that we may hate our sister that we may oppresse our sister with vsurie that we may vse our sister as vnmercifully as we wil without any remorse of conscience and are not bound to forgeue her nor to eschewe her companie being excommunicated or a notorious offendour Wherefore neither this worde brother excludeth a sister nor this worde King in Scripture excludeth a Quene In the Greke â—ongue one worde representeth both brother and sister sauing that there is a difference of gendre 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 After the same rate the wordes King and Queene are â—â—it vp both in one aswel in the Greke as in the Hebrue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in the FreÌ„ch Roy Royne and from this the Latin tonge Rex and Regina doth not farre disagre Seing then by interpretation this word brother conteineth the worde Sister also in Scripture and the word King by proprietie of one and the same voice and signification expresseth the Quene both in Scripture and in other tonges why should we not aswel communicate to women the dignitie apperteining to the name and resembled by the same as the name it selfe For euen in this our owne Country albe it the names of the King and of the Queene doo vtterly varie one from the other and also the auncient Statutes of the Realme do not onely attribute and referre al prerogatiue and preemineÌ„ce power and iurisdictioÌ„ vnto the name of a king but do giue also assigne and appoint the correction and punishment of al offenders against the Realm and dignitie of the Croune and the lawes of the Realme vnto the King yet al maÌ„ner of the for said iurisdiction and other prerogatiues are and ought to be fully and wholy and as absolutely in the Prince female as in the male And so was it euer deemed iudged and accepted before the Satute made for the farder declaration in this point The like we say of both the forsaid words brother and Rex vsed in this place
of Scripture whereof if there do yet remaine any scruple or doubt to any man for the auoiding and cleane extinguishing of the same we wil referre the Reader to the noble Ciuilian Paulus and to the rule before by vs touched Si de interpretationelegis quaeratur inprimis inspiciendum est quo iure Ciuitas retro in eiusmodi casibus vsa fuit Optima enim legum interpres consuetudo It is for vs then to consider whether in Iudea and Hierusalem women haue at any time ben the chief Rulers and gouernesses and whether the Iewes euer interpreted this place after the meaning and sense of this man Surely at such time as Christian men bare rule at Hierusalem we know wel there was no such interpretation For among other â—ulko the Countie of Aniow who leaft his said Countie to Geffrey his sonne Father 〈◊〉 Henry the secoÌ„d by th' Empresse Maude and went to HierusaleÌ„ to King Balduin the secoÌ„d and ther maried MelysaÌ„d his daughter â—nd heire was afterward by his wiues title King of Hierusalem Salome Herodes sister was made Gouernesse by Augustus Cesar of IamniaÌ„ Azorum Phasilides and Ascalonia Which thing is a good proufe that the Romaines thought it not vnnatural as ye think for a womaÌ„ to inioy ciuil gouernmeÌ„t I might hereto adde the wiues of IoaÌ„nes of Aristobulus and of AlexaÌ„der who gouerned and ruled the said Iewes after the death of their husbaÌ„ds with such other Whiche stories though they be not in Scripture yet are they Authentical and of good credit And yet are we not altogether vnfurnished of a scripturely exaÌ„ple but rather we are so furnished that God so long before forseeing that there should come such vnnatural cauilling quarellers against his creature and prouidence hath as it were al at once mett with them and answered to al such calume nious cauilling of yours and such others as you shal by and by vnderstand A woman pardy if we beleue you must not kepe the state and honour of a Prince and Quene And why I pray you Was not she created to the image of God as wel as man And doth not she represent the Maiestie of God Did not God blesse them both Did not God bid them rule ouer the fish of the sea and ouer the foule of heaueÌ„ and ouer euery beast that moueth vpoÌ„ the earth But what thing meane you by th' image of God Meane you as S. Paule seemeth to meane that man was created in righteousnes and true holines This is true also in the woman Some thinke that the Image of God representeth the blessed Trinitie which is as such an high thing may be somwhat resembled by memorie by wil and by vnderstanding which are in womeÌ„ as wel as in men What thing is ther that reason wit and vnderstanding may reach to that women haue not or may not atchieue and atteine For learning ther haue ben many women exactly learned in Musique A strononie Philosophie Oratorie Physique in Poetrie in Law and Diuinitie Atossa the Queene of the Persians of whom we haue spoken before was the first that inuented the manner of writing of epiâ—â—les Aspasia was Scholemaistresse to that â—oble Oratour and Captaine Pericles The â—oble Philosopher Socrates was not ashaned to be taught of Diotina Accursius his daughter professed the Ciuil law openly at Bononie The Sybilles be famous among Writers aswell Christians as other Paula and her daughter Eustochia were notably learned and diuers other women in S. Hieromes time as it appeareth in his workes bisides diuers other before his time of whom he maketh mention as also of the aforenamed Aspasia Sappho Cornelia and such like Hyptachia passed al the Philosophers of her time and succeded Plotinus in Plato his Schole openly professing at Alexandria diuers liberal sciences And what were the nine Muses but virgines most excellent in the same Who is called the Goddesse of learning but Minerua Which also found out the Arte of planting and setting What should I now speake of the noble learned womaÌ„ of our Britanie of CaÌ„bra the daughter of King Belin who promulged the lawes which of her name as some of our CouÌ„trey men write haue their denomination and are called Sycambricae of Martia Proba of Helena and such other like We nede noâ— runne vp to so high and farre yeares wâ— haue hereof at home date and also presenâ— and worthie examples Perchance you wilâ— obiect that women are vnable and insurfâ—â—cient to consult of great and weightie affaires as being but of weake and feeble wit and counsaile If this reason hold you must exclude from al princely Honour and Regiment al. Kings that be vnder age or otherwise that lacke discretion as wel as womeÌ„ And yet as weake as they are Numa King of the Romains the great Monarche Iustinian bysides others did consult to the great coÌ„moditie of themselues and their coÌ„monwealthes with their wiues for the better ordering of the publike affaires The life of the great Monarche Cyrus was preserued by the counsaile of the wife of an heardman Theodosius also th' Emperor toke great benefit by the good coÌ„saile of his wife Theodolinda was th' occasion that her husbaÌ„d Agilolphus K. of the LoÌ„bardes and Bertha that our King Ethelbertus Clotildis that Clodoueus the King of France receaued the ChristiaÌ„ faith The LacedemoniaÌ„s the wifest people amoÌ„gest the Grecians and the Atheâ—eÌ„ses also vsed in the old time to haue women present at the debating of publike affaires Which thing was practised amoÌ„g the old Germanes Neither Socrates nor Plato â—o altogether remoue womeÌ„ being apt and mete therto from publike administratioÌ„ Aâ—stotle coÌ„fesseth that in the commoÌ„wealth of the Lacedemonians many thinges were done by women The said Aristotle though he preserre the rule and gouernmeÌ„t of men yet doth he not reiect the other as vnnatural but graunteth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That somtime women being great inheritours haue the priÌ„cipalitie Now that many coÌ„monwealths haue ben commendably and worthely gouerned by theÌ„ and that in their gouernmeÌ„t lacked neither witte policie dexterity prudeÌ„ce liberalitie iustice nor morcy neither any other thing mete for a PriÌ„ce I could easely declare but I do forbeare by reason of tediousnes and for that in the pervsing and discussing of the stories by me already rehersed it wil most easely most fully and most euidently fal out to al such as be desirours to trauaile therein In case al this wil not satisfie you and that you thinke it stil to be vnnatural and against Scripture for a woman that is ordeined to be subiected to her husbande to be Gouernesse and Head to a publike state and that you thinke also that for al other respectes a woman might be a Gouernesse yet considering that she must haue the managing of martial exploits which in deede may seeme in no wise agreable to a womaÌ„ and is surely the dificultest matter of all in our case and question and that you can not