Selected quad for the lemma: virtue_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
virtue_n	act_n	king_n	law_n	1,107	5	5.0480	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26069	The royal apology, or, An answer to the rebels plea wherein the most noted anti-monarchial tenents, first, published by Doleman the Jesuite, to promote a bill of exclusion against King James, secondly, practised by Bradshaw and the regicides in the actual murder of King Charles the 1st, thirdly, republished by Sidney and the associators to depose and murder His present Majesty, are distinctly consider'd : with a parallel between Doleman, Bradshaw, Sidney and other of the true-Protestant party.	Assheton, William, 1641-1711.	1684 (1684)	Wing A4038; ESTC R648	26,293	69

King hath Power in many cases to Dispense with the Laws And that no (a) Jur. Coron p. 84. Act of Parliament can bind the King from any Prerogative that is solely and inseparably annext to his Sacred Person and Royal Power but that he may dispense with it by a non obstante The Reason of which Prerogative which to some unthinking Men may seem extravagant is plainly this All human Constitutions are liable to Defects And there was never any Law yet framed with such Policy and Skill which might not on some occasion or other be burthensome to the Subject For particular Cases and Contingencies are so infinitely various that it is impossible for human Wisdom to foresee or prevent them And therfore it is absolutely necessary That there should in all Governments be some Power Superior and Paramount to the written Laws By whose Authority the Subject might be reliev'd and pardon'd when the nice and strict Observance of the Law through some unexpected Event might be grievous to himself or destructive to the Publick And (b) Bish Sandersons Judg. of subm to Usurp p. 18. this Power of dispensing with particular Laws as the learned Bishop Sanderson informs us is such a Prerogative as without which no Commonwealth can be well govern'd but Justice would be turn'd into Gall and Wormwood Nor can the Supream Governor without Forfeiture of that Faithfulness which he oweth to the Publick-Weal divest himself thereof If some Men who are very unwilling to give the King his Due are still dissatisfied in the point the present posture of Affairs here in England may then fully convince them We all know that according to the Law High-Treason is punishable with Death And the Judgment of the Court on such occasions is to be Hang'd Drawn and Quarter'd This is Law Let me therefore ask these Men. Can the King by his Prerogative dispense with this Law so as to free the Criminal from the Punishment a Toto or a Tanto or can he not If they say not Ipsi viderint Let them look to that who are most deeply concern'd But if now at the last they are grown so considerate as to say that he can Give me leave then to expostulate with them concerning that late Instance of the unfortunate Lord Stafford When his Majesty out of Compassion to that Noblemans Person and respect to his Quality had changed the manner of his Death and given him the favour to be Beheaded What a noise was then raised That the Law must be observ'd What Fears and Apprehensions of Arbitrary Power What a Tumult did those scrupulous Sheriffs make on that occasion by Petitioning the Two Houses Whether the Kings Writ ought to be obey'd But what Answer they receiv'd both from Lords and Commons is sufficiently known I shall make no Reflections upon it tho indeed the Impertinence of that Action in which I doubt they were encourag'd by some greater than themselves might deserve a Remark From these Premises it is evident That there is Lex Coronae a Royal Prerogative granted by the Common Law to the Crown of England Superior to all written Laws By virtue of which prerogative-Prerogative-Law the King hath Authority on emergent occasions and when such Dispensation may promote the ends of Government to Dispense with most Statutes or Acts of Parliament Salus populi suprema Lex esto when rightly understood is a full proof of this Assertion As therefore on the one hand When Sedition is rampant and affronts the Government when the Mercy of a King shall be voted his weakness and his Royal compassion and unwillingness to Punish shall have this Gloss put upon it He dares not do it As in such a Case Reason of State which is Salus Populi doth require That some should be executed in terrorem to repress the insolence of others So on the other hand When Tumults are abated when Faction is broken and that Men begin to acknowledg their Mistakes and return to their Wits If under such inviting Circumstances as these the King out of his Grace and Mercy shall either Pardon a Traitor or abate the rigour of his Sentence who will pretend to say that such undeserved Favour is Illegal Or that the King whether he pardon or punish doth not govern in both Instances according to Law The Objectors go on If the King thus entrusted to keep the Laws and preserve Religion should be guilty of a wicked Design to subvert our Laws and destroy our Religion by introducing an Arbitrary Tyrannical Government he must then understand that he is but an Officer of Trust All this is granted If the word Trust do only refer to Almighty God but not to the People The King doth chearfully acknowledg that he is Authoriz'd and Deputed by the most High to govern these Nations and that he must render an Account for so great a Trust committed to his charge And though the King hath many Enemies both Spiritual and Temporal yet his Support is this He who gave him his Commission is able to Protect him He hath hitherto very signally preserv'd him And it is the constant hearty Prayer of all Loyal Subjects That his God and the God of his Fathers will preserve him still His Majesty hath indeed many Enemies and good Princes did never want them but in the Mercy of the most High he shall not miscarry But if this Trust do refer to the People as if the Kings Power and Authority were derived to him from the People by way of Pact or Contract Let them then explain Who are this People with whom he did thus Contract When was this Bargain made What are the Conditions Before what Witnesses Who must Judge of the Delinquency VVhere are the Records of these Transactions to be perused If no Evidence to confirm any of these Instances the Case is then decided by that known Maxim Idem est non esse non apparere This Fundamental Contract of the Nation is only a hard Word to amuse the vulgar We know not what it is nor where to find it But it follows in the Objection The Parliament of England the Representatives of the People in whom all Power doth Originally reside they are to take Order for the Animadversion and Punishment of such an Offending Governour Parliaments were ordain'd to restrain the exorbitant Power of Kings and to redress the Grievances of the People The Sum of which charge is this There is a Coercive Power over the King Which Power Mr. SIDNEY tells us Originally in the People of England is delegated Sidney's Tryal p. 23. unto the Parliament To which I do thus Answer That though his Majesty hath a just esteem for Parliaments and thinks the Parliament of England the happiest Constitution that ever Nation did enjoy and hath gratiously assur'd us That no Irregularities of Parliaments shall make him out of Love with Parliaments but that he will have frequent Parliaments Yet such an extravagant Power of Parliaments as is here pretended is