_ 
 
 I
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES
 

 
 MORAL AND POLITICAL 
 DIALOGUES; 
 
 WITH 
 
 LETTERS ON 
 CHIVALRY AND ROMANCE: 
 
 B Y 
 
 THE REVEREND DOCTOR KURD. 
 THE FIFTH EDITION. 
 VOLUME THE SECOND. 
 
 LONDONt 
 PRINTED FOR T. CADELL IN THE STRAND. 
 
 M DCC LXXVI.
 
 . 
 
 .
 
 T'R 
 
 v. 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 DIALOGUE iv. 
 
 Qn the Age of ^ ELIZABETH. 
 
 MR. DIGBY. DR. ARBUTHNOT, MR. ADDISON. 
 
 DIALOGUES v, vi. 
 On theConftitution oftheEngliJb Government. 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD, MR. SOMERS, BP. BURNET. 
 
 DIA-

 
 DIALOGUE IV. 
 
 On the Age of Queen ELIZABETH. 
 
 MR. DIGBY, DR. ARBUTHNOT, MR. ADDISON. 
 
 UT do you confider, faid Mr. ADDI- 
 SON, as they defcended into the 
 valley, what an invidious tafk you are 
 going to impofe upon me ? One cannot 
 call in queftion a common opinion in 
 any indifferent matter, without the ap- 
 pearance of fome degree of perverfenefs. 
 But to do it in a cafe of this importance, 
 where the greateft authorities ftand in 
 the way, and the glory of one of our 
 princes is concerned, will, I doubt, be 
 liable to the imputation of fomething 
 worfe than fmgularity. For, befides that 
 you will be apt to upbraid me, in the 
 words of the poet, 
 
 VOL. II. B Nullum
 
 2 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 Nullum memorabile nomen 
 Foeminea in pcena eft, nee habet victoria 
 Jaudem, 
 
 fuch a liberty of cenfure is ufually taken 
 for an argument, not of difcourtefy or 
 prefumption only, but of ill-nature. At 
 belt, the attempt to arraign the virtues 
 and government of ELIZABETH, will ap- 
 pear but like the idlenefs of the old 
 fophifts, who, you know, were never fo 
 well pleafed as when they were con- 
 troverting fome acknowledged fact, or 
 afiauhing fome eftablifhed character. 
 
 THAT cenfure might be juft enough, 
 Dr. ARBUTHNOT faid, of the old fophifts, 
 who had nothing in view but the credit 
 of their own fkill in the arts of difputation. 
 But in this friendly debate, which means 
 nothing more than private amufement, I 
 fee no colour for fuch apprehenfions. 
 
 BUT what (hall we fay, interpofed Mr. 
 ADDISON, to another difficulty? The 
 
 fubjecl
 
 AND POLITICAL. 3 
 
 jfubjed is very large; and it feems no 
 eafy matter to reduce it into any diftinct 
 order. Befides, my bufinefs is not fo 
 much to advance any thing of my own, 
 as to objeft to what others have ad- 
 vanced concerning the fame and virtues 
 of ELIZA BETH. And to this end, I muft 
 defire to know the particulars on which 
 you are difpofed to lay the greateft ftrefs, 
 and indeed to have fome plan of the 
 fubjeft delivered in to me, which may 
 ferve, as it were, for the ground-work of 
 the whole converfation. 
 
 I MUST not prefume, faid Dr. AR- 
 EUTHNOT, to prefcribe the order in 
 which your attack on the great queen 
 mail be conducted. The fubjedt, indeed, 
 is large. But this common route of hiftory 
 is well known to all of us. To that, 
 then, you may well enough refer, with- 
 out being at the trouble, before you go 
 to work, of laying foundations. Or, if 
 you will needs have a bafis to build 
 B 2 upon,
 
 4 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 upon, what if I juft run over the feveral 
 circumftances which I conceive to make 
 mod for the credit of that reign? A 
 fketch of this fort, I fuppofe, will anfwer 
 all. the ends of the plan, you feem to re- 
 quire of me. 
 
 MR. ADD i SON agreed to this propo- 
 fal ; which he thought would be of ufe 
 to fhorten the debare, or at leaft to ren- 
 der the progrcfs of it more clear and in- 
 telligible. 
 
 IN few words then, refumed Dr. 
 A R BUT H NOT, the reafons, that have 
 principally determined me to an admira- 
 tion of the government and character of 
 queen ELIZABETH, are fuch as thefe : 
 " That fhe came to the crown with all 
 pofiible difad vantages; which yet, by the 
 prudence and vigour of her counfels, Ihe 
 entirely overcame: that fhe triumphed 
 over the greateft foreign and domeftic 
 dangers : that (he humbled the moil for- 
 midable
 
 AND POLITICAL. 5 
 
 midable power in Europe by her arms . 
 and compofed, or checked at leaft, by 
 the firmnefs of her adminiilration, TWO, 
 the mod implacable and firey factions at 
 home : that me kept down the rebelliou s 
 fpirit of Ireland, and eluded the conftant 
 intrigues of her reftlefs neighbours, the 
 Scots : that Ihe fixed our religious efta* 
 blimment on folid grounds, and coun- 
 tenanced, or rather conducted, the Pro- 
 teftant caufe abroad : that (he made her 
 civil authority refpected by her fubjefts ; 
 and raifed the military glory of the na- 
 tion, both by fea and land, to the greateft 
 height: that me employed the ableft 
 fervants, and enacted the wifelt laws : by 
 all which rrv-ans it came to pafs that (he 
 lived in a conftant good understanding 
 with her parliaments, \vas idolized by 
 her people, and admired and envied by 
 all the reft of the world." 
 
 ALAS, faid Mr. ADDISON, I ihall never 
 
 be able to follow you through all the 
 
 / 63 particulars
 
 6 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 particulars of this encomium: and, to 
 fay the truth, it would be to little pur- 
 pofe ; fmce the wifdom of her policy, in 
 all thefe inftances of her government* 
 can only be eftimated from a careful 
 perufal of the hiftories of that time - y too 
 numerous and contradictory to be com- 
 pared and adjufted in this converfation. 
 All I can do, continued he, after taking a 
 moment or two to recollect himfelf, is to 
 abate the force of this panegyric by 
 fome general obfervations of the CIR- 
 CUMSTANCES and GENIUS of that time; 
 and then to confider the perfonal QUALI- 
 TIES of the queen, which are thought 
 to reflect fo great a luftre on her go- 
 vernment. 
 
 As you pleafe, DR. ARBUTHNOT re- 
 plied. We lhall hardly lofe ourfelves 
 in this beaten field of hiftory. And, 
 befides, as your undertaking is fo adven- 
 turous, it is but reafonable you mould 
 have the choice of your own method. 
 
 You
 
 AND POLITICAL. 7 
 
 You are in the common opinion, I 
 perceive, refumed Mr. ADD i SON, that 
 ELIZABETH'S government was attended 
 with all poflible difadvantages. On the 
 contrary, it appears to me that the fecu- 
 rity and even fplendour of her reign is 
 chiefly to be accounted for from the for- 
 tunate CIRCUMSTANCES of her fituation. 
 
 OF thefe the FIRST, that demands our 
 notice, is the great affair of religion. 
 
 THE principles of PROTESTANTISM 
 had now for many years been working 
 among the people, They had grown 
 to that head in the fhort reign of 
 EDWARD VI, that the bloody feverities 
 of his fucceflbr ferved only to exafperate 
 the zeal, with which thefe principles 
 had been embraced and promoted. 
 ELIZABETH, coming to the crown at this 
 juncture, was determined, as well by in- 
 tereft as inclination, to take the fide of 
 B 4 the
 
 8 D I A L O G U E S M O R A L 
 
 the new religion. I fay by inter eft t _ as 
 well as inclination. And, I think, I have 
 reafon for the aflertion. For though 
 the perfons in power, and the clergy 
 throughout the kingdom, were generally 
 profefled papifts ; yet they were mod of 
 them fuch as had conformed in king 
 EDWARD'S days, and were not therefore 
 much to be feared for any tie, their pro- 
 fejjion could really have on their con- 
 fciences. Whereas, on the other hand, 
 it was eafy to fee, from many fymptoms> 
 that the general bent of the nation was 
 towards Proteftantifm ; and that, too, fol- 
 lowed with a fpirit, which muft in the 
 end prevail over all oppofition. Under 
 thefe circumftances, then, it was natural 
 for the queen, if (he had not been other- 
 wife led by her principles, and the in- 
 tereft of her title, to favour the Re- 
 formation. 
 
 THE truth is, fhe came into it herfelf 
 fo heartily, and provided fo effectually 
 
 for
 
 AND POLITICAL. 9 
 
 for its eftablimmenr, that we are not to 
 wonder fhe became the idol of the Re- 
 formed, at the fame time that the papal 
 power through all Europe was confe- 
 derated againft her. The enthufiafm of 
 her Proteftant fubjefh was prodigious. 
 It was raifed by other confiderations : 
 but confirmed in all orders of the ftate 
 by the eafe they felt in their deliverance 
 from the tyranny of the church ; and in 
 the great efpecially, by the fweets they 
 tafted in their enjoyment of the church- 
 revenues. It was, in Ihort, one of thofe 
 extraordinary conjunctures, in which the 
 public danger becomes the public fecu- 
 rity j when religion and policy, confcience 
 and intereft, unite their powers to fup- 
 port the authority of the prince, and to 
 give fidelity, vigour, and activity, to the 
 obedience of the fubje&. 
 
 AND thus it was, continued he, that 
 fo warm and unconquerable a zeal ap- 
 peared in defence of the queen againft 
 
 all
 
 io DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 all attempts of her enemies. Her peo- 
 ple were fo thoroughly Proteftant, as to 
 think no expence of her government too 
 great, provided they could but be fecured 
 from relapfing into Popery. And her 
 parliaments were difpofed to wave all 
 difputes about the ftretch of her pre- 
 rogative, from a fenfe of their own and 
 the common danger. 
 
 IN magnifying this advantage of the 
 zeal and union of ELIZABETH'S good fub- 
 jects, you forgot, faid Dr. ARBUTHNOT, 
 that two reftlefs and inveterate factions 
 were contending, all her life-time, within 
 her own kingdom. 
 
 I AM fo far from forgetting that cir- 
 cumftance, returned Mr. ADDISON, that 
 I efteem it ANOTHER of the great advan- 
 tages of her fituation. 
 
 THE contrary tendencies of thofe fac- 
 tions in fome refpects defeated each 
 
 other.
 
 AND POLITICAL. n 
 
 other. But the principal ufe of them 
 was, that, by means of their practices, 
 fome domeftic plot, or foreign alarm, was 
 always at hand, to quicken the zeal and 
 inflame the loyalty of her people. But 
 to be a little more particular about the 
 factions of her reign. 
 
 THE PAPIST was, in truth, the only 
 one me had reafon to be alarmed at. 
 The PURITAN had but juft begun to 
 mew himfelf, though indeed with that 
 ferocity of air and feature, which figni. 
 fied clearly enough v what fpirit he was 
 of, and what, in good time, he was likely 
 to come to. Yet even he was kept in 
 tolerable humour, by a certain commo- 
 dious policy of the queen j which was, fo 
 to divide her regards betwixt the Church 
 and the Puritans, as made it the intereft 
 of both to keep well with her. *Tis 
 true, thefe laft felt the weight of her re- 
 fentment fometimes, when they ventured 
 too fawcily to oppofe themfelves to the 
 eftablifhment,
 
 iz DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 eftablifhment. But this was rarely, and 
 by halves: and, when checked with the 
 moft rigour, they had the fatisfadtion to 
 fee their patrons continue in the higheft 
 places at court, and, what is more, in the 
 higheft degree of perfonal favour. 
 
 AND what doth all this fliew, inter- 
 rupted Dr. ARBUTHNOT, but that me 
 managed fo well as to difarm a furious 
 faction, or rather make it ferve againft 
 the bent of its nature, to the wife ends 
 of her government? 
 
 As to any wife ends of government, 
 I fee none, replied Mr. ADDISON, deferv- 
 ing to be fo called, that were anfwered 
 by her uncertain conduct towards the 
 Puritans. For me neither reftrained 
 them with that feverity, which might 
 perhaps have prevented their growth, at 
 firft 5 nor fhewed them that entire in- 
 dulgence, which might have difabled 
 their fury afterwards. It is true, this 
 
 temporizing
 
 AND POLITICAL. 13 
 
 temporizing conduct was well enough 
 adapted to prevent difturbances in her 
 own time. But large materials were laid 
 in for that terrible combuftion, which 
 was foon to break forth under one of her 
 fucceffors. 
 
 AND fo, inftead of imputing the difaf- 
 ters that followed, faid Dr. ARBUTHNOT, 
 to the ill-government of the STUARTS, 
 you are willing to lay the whole guilt of 
 them on this laft and greateft of the 
 TUBORS. This is a new way of defend- 
 ing that royal houfe; and, methinks, 
 they owe you no fmall acknowledgments 
 for it, I confefs, it never occurred to me 
 to make that apology for them. 
 
 THOUGH I would not undertake, faid 
 Mr. ADDJSOM, to make their apology 
 from this, or any other, circumflance; I 
 do indeed believe that part of the diffi- 
 culties the houfe of STUART had to en- 
 counter, were brought upon them by 
 
 this
 
 14 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 this wretched policy of their predeceffon 
 But, waving this confider,ation, I detire 
 you will take notice of wnat I chiefly in- 
 fift upon, " That the eafe and fecurity of 
 ELIZABETH'S adminiftration was even 
 favoured by the turbulent practices and 
 clafhing views of her domeftic factions. " 
 The PURITAN was an inftrument, in her 
 hands, of controuling the church, and of 
 balancing the power of her minifters : 
 befides that this fort of people were, of 
 all others, the moft inveterate againft the 
 common enemy. And for the PAPISTS 
 themfelves (not to infift that, of courfe, 
 they would be ftri&ly watched, and that 
 they were not, perhaps, fo confiderable 
 as to create any immediate danger [#])> 
 the general abhorrence both of their 
 
 [a] This will be admitted, if a calculation faid to 
 have been made by themfelves of their number at 
 that time may be relied on ** They make reafon- 
 ing (faith Sir EDWIN SANDYS in his Speculum Eu- 
 rofne, written in 1699) forty hundred fure catho- 
 lics in England, with four hundred Etiglijh Roman 
 priells to maintain that militia," p. i 57. 
 
 principles
 
 AND POLITICAL. i s 
 
 principles and defigns had the greateft 
 effect in uniting more clofely, and cement- 
 ing, as it were, the affeclions of the reft 
 of her fubjects. So that, whether within 
 or without, the common danger, as 1 ex- 
 preffed it, was the common fafety. 
 
 STILL, faid Dr. ARBUTHNOT, I muft 
 think this a very extraordinary conclu- 
 fion. I have no idea of the fecurity of 
 the great queen, furrounded, as me was, 
 by her domeftic and foreign enemies. 
 
 HER foreign enemies, returned Mn 
 ADDISON, were lefs formidable than 
 they appear at firft view. And I even 
 make the condition of the neighbouring 
 powers on the continent, in her time, a 
 THIRD inftance of the fignal advantages 
 of her fituation. 
 
 IT is true, if a perfect union had fub- 
 
 fifted between the Catholic princes, the 
 
 papal thunders would have carried terror 
 
 7 with
 
 iS DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 with them. But, as it was, they were 
 poweriefs and ineffectual. The civil wars 
 cf France, and its conftant jealoufy of 
 Spain, lefc the queen but little to appre- 
 hend from that quarter. The Spanijb 
 empire, indeed, was vaft, and under the 
 direction of a bigoted vindictive prince- 
 But the adminiftration was odious and 
 corrupt in every part. So that wife men 
 fafr there was more of bulk than of 
 force in that unwieldy monarchy. And 
 the fuccefsful ftruggles of a handful of 
 its fubjects, inflamed by the love of liber- 
 ty, and made furious by oppreflion, pro- 
 claimed its weaknefs to all the world. 
 
 IT may be true, interrupted Dr. 
 ARBUTHNOT, that the queen had lefs to 
 fear from the princes on the continent, 
 than is fometimes reprefented. But you 
 forget, in this furvey of the public dan- 
 gers, the diftra&ions of IRELAND, and 
 the reliefs intrigues of her near neigh- 
 bours, the SCOTS: both of them afliited 
 
 by
 
 AND POLITICAL. 17 
 
 by Spain ; and thefe laft under the 
 peculiar influence and direction of the 
 GUISES. 
 
 You fhali have my opinion, returned 
 Mr. ADDISON, in few words. 
 
 FOR the IRISH diffractions, it was not 
 the queen's intention, or certainly it was 
 not her fortune, to compofe them : I 
 mean, during the greateft part of her 
 jeign ; for we are now fpeaking of the 
 general tenor of her policy. Towards 
 the clofe of it, indeed, me made fome 
 vigorous attempts to break the fpirits of 
 thofe favages. And it was high time 
 me mould. For, through her faint pro- 
 ceedings againft them, they had grown 
 to that infolence, as to think of fetting 
 up for an independency on England. 
 Nay, the prefumption of that arch-rebel 
 TYRONE, countenanced and abetted by 
 Spain? feemed to threaten the queen with 
 ft ill further mifchiefs. The extreme dif- 
 
 VOL. II. C honour
 
 iS DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 honour and even peril of this fituadon 
 roufed her old age, at length, to the 
 refolution of taking fome effe&ual mea- 
 fures. The preparation was great, and 
 fuitable to the undertaking. It muft, 
 further, be owned, it fucceeded ; but fo 
 late, that fhe herfelf did not live to fee 
 the full effeft of it. However, this fuc- 
 cefs is reckoned among the glories of her 
 reign. In the mean time, it is not con- 
 fidered that nothing but her ill policy, in 
 fuffering the diforders of that country to 
 gather to a head, made way for this 
 glory. I call it her /// policy, for unlefs 
 it were rather owing to her exceffive 
 frugality [b~\ one can hardly help think- 
 ing 
 
 [Z>] Mr. CAMDEN owns that the Irijh rebellion, 
 uhich in the end became fo dangerous, had been 
 " encouraged by a fl'ghting of it, and a gripple- 
 handednefs of England." [Hi/I, of ELIZ. B. iv.] 
 To the fame purpofe another eminent writer of 
 that time " Before the tranfmitting of the lad 
 great army, the forces fent over by (^ELIZABETH 
 were NOT of fufficient power to break and fubdue 
 all the Irijbrj." At laft, however, " The extreme 
 
 peril
 
 AND POLITICAL. 19 
 
 ing me defigned to perpetuate the Irijh 
 diffractions. At leaft, it was agreeable 
 to a favourite maxim of hers, to check* 
 and not to fupprefs them. And I think 
 it clear, from the manner of profecuting 
 the war, that, till this laft alarm, me 
 never was in earneft about putting an end 
 to it. 
 
 SCOTLAND, indeed, demanded a more 
 ferious attention. Yet the weak diftra<3> 
 ed counfels of that court a minor king 
 --a captive queen and the unfettled 
 jftate of France itfelf, which defeated in a 
 good degree the malice of the GUISES 
 were favourable circumftances. 
 
 peril of lofing the kingdom ; the difhonour and dan- 
 ger that might thereby grow to the crown of Eng- 
 land ; together with a juft difdain conceived by that 
 great-minded queert, that fo wicked and ungrateful 
 a rebel fhould prevail againft her, who had ever been, 
 victorious againft all her enemies, did move and al- 
 moft ENFORCE her to fend over that mighty army." 
 [SirJ. DAVIES, Difcovcry of the State of Inlanl, 
 p. 97, Lond. 1613.] 
 
 C 2 BUT
 
 so DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 BUT to be fair with you (for I would 
 appear in the light of a reafonable ob- 
 jector, not a captious wrangler) j I allow 
 her policy in this inftance to have been 
 confiderable. She kept a watchful eye 
 on the fide of Scotland. And, though 
 many circumftances concurred to favour 
 her defigns, it muft be owned they were 
 not carried without much care and fome 
 wifdom. 
 
 I UNDERSTAND the value of this con- 
 ceffion, replied Dr. ARBUTHNOT. It muft 
 have been no common degree of both, 
 that extorted it from you. 
 
 I DECLINE entering further, faid Mr. 
 ADDISON, into the public tranfaclions of 
 that reign ; if it were only that, at this 
 diftance of time, it may be no eafy mat- 
 ter to determine any thing of the policy, 
 with which they were conducted. Only 
 give me leave to add, as a FOURTH in- 
 ftance
 
 AND PO L ITIC AL. 21 
 
 fiance of the favourable circumftances 
 of the time, " That the prerogative was 
 then in its height, and that a patient 
 people allowed the queen to ufe it on all 
 occafions." Hence the apparent vigour 
 and firmnefs of her adminiftration : and 
 hence the opportunity (which is fo rarely 
 found in our country) of "directing the 
 whole flrength of the nation to any end 
 of government, which the glory of the 
 prince or the public intereft required. 
 
 WHAT you impute to the high (train 
 of prerogative, returned Dr. ARBUTH- 
 NOT, might rather be accounted for from 
 the ability of her government, and the 
 wife means me took to fupport it. The 
 principal of thefe was, by employing the 
 GREATEST MEN in the feveral depart- 
 ments of her adminiftration. Every kind 
 of merit was encouraged by her fmile [r], 
 
 or 
 
 [f] Sir ROBERT NAUNTON tells us, " The 
 
 queen was never profufe in delivering out of her 
 
 treafure; but paid her fervants part in money, and 
 
 C 3 the
 
 22 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 or rewarded by her bounty. Virtue, (he 
 knew, would thrive beft on its native 
 ftock, a generous emulation. This (he 
 promoted by all means ; by her royal 
 countr nance, by a temperate and judi- 
 cious praife, by the wifeft diftribution of 
 her preferments. Hence would naturally 
 arife that confidence in the queen's coun- 
 fels 'and undertakings, which the fervile 
 awe of her prerogative could never have 
 occafioned. 
 
 THIS is the true account of the loyal- 
 ty, obedience, and fidelity, by which her 
 fervants were diftinguifhed. And thus, 
 in fact, it was that, throughout her king- 
 dom, there was every where that reve- 
 
 the reft with GRACE; which, as the cafe flood, was 
 then taken for good payment." [FRAGM. REG. 
 p. 89.] And NAT. BACON to the fame purpofe, 
 " A wife man, that was an eye-witnefs of HER. 
 aclions, and thofe that fucceeded to her, many times 
 hath faid, That a courtier might make a better meal 
 of one good LOOK from her, than of a gift from 
 fame other." [Disc. P. ii. p. 266. Land. 1651.] 
 
 rence
 
 AND POLITICAL. 23 
 
 rence of authority [d], that fenfe of 
 honour, that confcience of duty, in a 
 word, that gracious fimplicity of manners, 
 which renders the age of ELIZABETH 
 truly GOLDEN : as prefenting the faireft 
 picture of humanity, that is to be met 
 with in the accounts of any people. 
 
 IT is true, as you fay, interpofed Mr. 
 ADDISON, that this pifture is a fair one. 
 But of what is it a copy ? Of the GENIUS 
 of the time, or of the queen's virtues ? 
 You fhall judge for yourfelf, after I 
 
 [4] This reverence of authority, one of the cha- 
 rafteriftics of that time, and which Mr. ADDISON 
 prefently accounts for, a great writer celebrates in 
 thefe words " It was an ingenuous uninquifitive 
 time, when all the paffions and affections of the peo- 
 ple were lapped up in fuch an innocent and humble 
 obedience, that there was never the leaft conteftation 
 nor capitulation with the queen, nor (though ihe 
 very frequently confulted with her fubjedb) any fur~ 
 tber reafons urged of her a2ions t than HER OWN 
 WILL." See a traft intitled THE DISPARITY, in 
 Sir H.'WOTTON'S Remains, p. 46. fuppofed to 
 have been written by the earl of CLARENDON* 
 
 C 4 have
 
 24 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 have hid before you TWO remarkable 
 events of that age, which could not but 
 have the greateft effed: on the public 
 manners; I mean, TPE REFORMATION 
 OF RELIGION, and what was introductory 
 
 Qf it, THE RESTORATION OF LETTERS. 
 
 From thefe, as their proper fources, I 
 would derive the ability and fidelity of 
 ELIZABETH'S good fubjecls. 
 
 THE paflion for LETTERS was ex- 
 treme. The novelty of thefe ftudies, the. 
 artifices that had been ufed to keep men 
 from them, their apparent ufes, and, per- 
 haps, fome confufed notion of a certain 
 diviner virtue than really belongs to 
 them; thefe caufes concurred to excite 
 a curiofity in all, and determined thofe, 
 who had leifure, as well as curiofity, to 
 make themfelves acquainted with the 
 Greek and Roman learning. The eccle- 
 fiaftics, who, for obvious reafons, would 
 be the firft and moft earneft in their ap- 
 plication to letters, were not the only 
 
 perfons
 
 AND POLITICAL. 25 
 
 perfons tranfported with this zeal. The 
 gentry and nobility themfelves were 
 feized with it. A competent knowledge 
 of the old writers was looked upon as 
 cfTential to a gentleman's education. So 
 that Greek and Latin became as fafhion- 
 able at court in thofe days, as French is 
 in. ours. ELIZABETH herfelf, which I 
 wonder you did not put me in mind of, 
 was well (killed in both \e\ ; they fay, 
 
 employed 
 
 {>] PAULUS HENTZNERUS, a learned German, 
 who was in England in 1598, goes (till further in 
 Jus encomium on the queen's fkill in languages. 
 He tells us, that, " prsterquam quod Grace et 
 Latine eleganter elt dodla, tenet, ultra jam memorata 
 idiomata, etiam Hifpanicum, Scoticum, et Belgi- 
 cum." See his ITINERARIUM. 
 
 But this was the general character of the great in 
 that reign : at leaft, if we may credit Matter Wi LLIAM 
 HARRISON, who difcourfeth on the fubjeft before us 
 in the following manner: " This further is not to 
 be omitted, to the fmgular commendation of both 
 forts and fexes of our courtiers here in England, that 
 there are very few of them, which have not the ufe 
 and fldll of fundry fpeeches, befide an excellent vein 
 of writing, before-time not regarded. Truly it is a 
 rare thing with us now, to hear of a courtier which 
 
 hath
 
 *6 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 employed her leifure in making fome 
 fine tranflations out of either language. 
 It is eafy to fee what effect this general 
 attention to letters muft have on the 
 minds of the liberal and well-educated. 
 And it was a happinefs peculiar to that 
 age, that learning, though cultivated with 
 fuch zeal, had not as yet degenerated 
 into pedantry : I mean, that, in thofe 
 ftirring and active times, it was cultivated, 
 not fo much for fhow, as ufe; and was 
 not followed, as it foon came to be, to 
 the exclufion of other generous and manly 
 applications. 
 
 hath bat his own language. And to fay how 
 many gentlewomen and ladies there are, that, befids 
 found knowledge of the Greek and Latin tongues, 
 are thereto no lefa C.ilful in the &panijb, Italian, and 
 French, or in fome one of them, it reileih not in 
 me: fith I am peifuaded, that as the noblemen and 
 gentlemen do furmcun: in this behalf, fo thefe come 
 very little or nothing behind them for their parts; 
 which induJlry God continue, and accomplish that 
 which otherwife is \v-n::ng." DE.CR.IPT. of 
 ENGLAND, p. 196. 
 
 CONSIDER,
 
 AND POLITICAL. 27 
 
 CONSIDER, too, the effects, which the 
 alterations in RELIGION had produced. 
 As they had been lately made, as their 
 importance was great, and as the benefits 
 of the change had been earned at the 
 expence of much blood and labour ; all 
 thefe confiderations begot a zeal for re- 
 ligion, which hardly ever appears under 
 other circumftances. This zeal had an 
 immediate and very fenfible effect on the 
 morals of the Reformed. It improved 
 them in every inftance ; efpecially as it 
 produced a cheerful fubmiflion to the 
 government, which had refcued them 
 from their former flavery, and was ftill 
 their only fupport againft the returning 
 dangers of fuperftition. Thus religion, 
 acting with all its power, and that, too, 
 heightened by gratitude and even felf- 
 intereft, bound obedience on the minds 
 of men with the ftrongeil ties f/J. And 
 
 luckily 
 
 [/] One of thcfe ties was the prejudice of educa- 
 fian; and fome uncommon methods were ufed to 
 
 bind
 
 a8 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 luckily for the queen, this obedience was 
 further fecured to her by the high un- 
 controverted notions of royalty, which, 
 
 at 
 
 bind It faft on the minds of the people. A book, 
 called EIPHNAPXIA five ELIZABETH, was writ- 
 ten in Latin verie by one OCKLAND, containing 
 the highefl panegyrics on the queen's character and 
 government, and fetting forth the tranfcendent vir- 
 tues of her minifters. This book was enjoined by 
 authority to be taught, as a claffic author, in Gram - 
 mar-fchools, and was of courfe to be gotten by heart 
 by the young fcholars thioughout the kingdom. 
 
 This was a matchlefs contrivance to imprint a 
 fenfe of loyalty on the minds of the people. And, 
 though it flowed, as we are to fuppofe, from a ten- 
 der regard, in the advifers of it, for the interefts of 
 Proteftantifm in that reign ; yet its ufes are fo ap- 
 parent in any reign, and under any adminiftration, 
 that nothing but the moderation of her fuccefibrs, 
 and the reafonable affurance of their minifters that 
 their own acknowledged virtues were a fufHcient 
 fupport to them, could have hindered the expedient 
 from being followed. 
 
 But, though the flamp of public authority was 
 wanting, private men have attempted, in feveral 
 ways, to fupply this defeft. To inftance only in 
 one. The Proteftant queen was to pafs for a mirror 
 of good government : hence the El^va^ia,. Her fuc- 
 ceffor would needs be thought a mirror of eloquence : 
 and hence the noble enterprife I am about to cele- 
 brate.
 
 AND POLITICAL; 29 
 
 at that time, obtained amongft the 
 people. 
 
 LAY all this together; and then tell 
 me where is the wonder, that a people, 
 now emerging out of ignorance ; uncor- 
 rupted by wealth, and therefore unde- 
 bauched by luxury ; trained to obedience, 
 and nurtured in fimplicity ; but, above 
 all, caught with the love of learning and 
 religion, while neither of them was worn 
 for fafhion-fake, or, what is worfe, per- 
 verted to the ends of vanity or ambition ; 
 
 brate. " Mr. GEORGE HERBERT (I give it in the 
 grave hiftorian's own words) being praeledor in the 
 rhetorique fchool in Cambridge, in 1618, pafied by 
 thofe fluent orators, that domineered in the pulpits 
 of Athens and Rome, and inSfted to read upon an ora- 
 tion of K.JAMES, which he analyfed ; dewed the 
 concinnity of the parts ; the propriety of the phrafe ; 
 the height and power of it to move the aff dions ; 
 the ftyle, UTTERLY UNKNOWN TO THE ANCIENTS; 
 who could not conceive what kingly eloquence was, 
 in refpeft of which thofe noted demagog! were but 
 hirelings and triobolary rhetoricians." Bifliop 
 HACKBT'sLifeof Archbifhop WILLIAMS, p. 175, 
 
 5 where,
 
 36 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 where, I fay, is the wonder that fuch a 
 people fhould prefent fo bright a picture 
 of manners to their admiring panegyrift ? 
 
 To be fair with you ; it was one of 
 thofe conjunctures, in which the active 
 virtues are called forth, and rewarded. 
 The dangers of the time had roufed the 
 fpirit, and brought out all the force and 
 genius, of the nation. A fort of enthu- 
 fiafm had fired every man with the am- 
 bition of exerting the full ftrength of his 
 faculties, which way foever they pointed, 
 whether to the field, the clofet, or the 
 cabinet. Hence fuch a crop of foldiers* 
 fcholars, and ftatefmen had fprung up, as 
 have rarely been feen to flourifh toge- 
 ther in any country. And as all owed 
 their duty, it was the famion of the times 
 for all to bring their pretenfions, to the 
 court. So that, where the multitude of 
 candidates was fo great, it had been, 
 ftrange indeed, if an ordinary difcretion 
 had not furnilhed the queen with able 
 
 fervants
 
 AND POLITICAL. 3 i 
 
 fervants of all forts , and the rather, as 
 her occafions loudly called upon her to 
 employ the ableft. 
 
 I WAS waiting, faid Dr. ARBUTHNOT, 
 to fee to what con.clufion this career of 
 your eloquence would at length drive 
 you. And it hath happened in this cafe, 
 as in moft others where a favourite 
 point is to be carried, that a zeal for it 
 is indulged, though at the expence of 
 fome other of more importance. Rather 
 than admit the perfonal virtues of the 
 queen, you fill her court, nay, her king- 
 dom, with heroes and fages : and fo have 
 paid a higher compliment to her reign, 
 than I had intended. 
 
 To her reign* if you will, replied Mr. 
 ADDISON, fo far as regards the qualities 
 and difpofuions of her fubjefts: for I will 
 not leffen the merit of this conceffion 
 with you, by infifting, as I might, that 
 their manners^ refpe<5hble as they were, 
 ? were
 
 S 2 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 were debafed by the contrary, yet very 
 confident, vices of fervility and info- 
 lence [g-]; and their virtues of every 
 kind deformed by barbarifm. But, for 
 the queen's own merit in the choice of 
 her fervants, I muft take leave to de- 
 clare my fentiments to you very plainly. 
 It may be true, that me pofTefled a good 
 degree of fagacity in difcerning the na- 
 tures and talents of men. It was the 
 virtue by which, her admirers tell us, me 
 
 [g] A learned foreigner gives this character of 
 the Englijh at that time: " Angli, ut ADDICTS 
 SERVIUNT, itaevefti ad dignitates priorem humili- 
 tatem INSOLENTIA rependunt." H. GROTII ANN. 
 L. v. p. 95. Amft, 1657. Hence the propriety of 
 thofe complaints, in our great poet, of, 
 
 " The whips and fcorns of th* time, 
 Th' oppreflbr's wrong, the proud man's con- 
 tumely, 
 
 THE INSOLENCE OF OFFICE." 
 
 complaints fo frequent, and fo forcibly exprefled by 
 him, that we may believe he painted from his own 
 obfervation, and perhaps experience, of this infolenc 
 mifufe of authority. MEASURE FOR MEASURE, 
 Aft. II. Sc. vii. 
 
 was
 
 AND POLITICAL. '33 
 
 Was principally diftinguilhed. Yet, that 
 the high fame of this virtue hath been 
 owing to the felicity of the times, abound- 
 ing in all forts of merit, rather than to 
 her own judgment, I think clear from 
 this circumftance, " That fotne of the 
 mod deferving of thofe days, in their 
 feveral profeffions, had not the fortune 
 to attract the queen's grace, in the pro- 
 portion they might have expected.'* I 
 fay nothing of poor SPENSER. Who 
 has any concern for a poet [&]? But 
 
 [h~\ Yet it may feem probable, from this poet's 
 conduft in Ireland, and his View of the Jiate of that 
 (cuntry, that his talents for bufenefs (fuch as CECIL 
 himfelf muft have approved) were no left confider- 
 able than for poetry. But he had firved a dilgraced 
 man ; and had drawn upon himfelf the admiration 
 of the generous earl of Ejjex. So that, as the hif- 
 torian exprefieth it, " by a fate which ftill follow* 
 poets, he always wrdlled with poverty, though he 
 had been fecretary to the lord GRAY, lord deputy of 
 Ireland" All that remained for him was, " to be in- 
 terred at Wejlminfter, near to CHAUCER, at the charge 
 of the earl of Effex; his hearfe being attended by 
 poets, and mournful elegies and poems, with the 
 pens that wrote them, thrown into his grave." 
 CAMDEN, lib. iv. 
 
 VOL. II. D if
 
 54 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 if merit alone had determined her mav 
 jefty's choice, it will hardly at this day 
 admit a difpute, that the immortal 
 HOOKER and BACON [/'], at leaft, had 
 
 ranked 
 
 [/'] As to Sir FRANCIS BACON, the queen herfelf 
 gave a .very plaufible reafon, and doubtlefs much 
 approved by the grave lawyers and other judicious 
 perfons of that time, for her neglect of this gentle- 
 man. *' She did acknowledge (fays the earl of EJft* 
 in a letter to Mr. FRANCIS BACON) you had a 
 great wit, and an excellent gift of fpeech, and much 
 ether good learning. But in LAW, fhe rath f r 
 thought you could make {hew, to the utmoft of your 
 knowledge, than that you were deep." MEM. OF 
 Q^EHZABETH by Dr. BIRCH; to whom the public 
 is exceedingly indebted for abundance of curious in- 
 formation concerning the hiftory of thofe times. 
 
 If it be afked, how the queen came to form this 
 conclufion, the anfwer is plain. It was from Mr. 
 BACON'S having a GREAT WIT, an excellent GIFT 
 OF SPEECH, and much other GOOD LEARNING. 
 
 It is true, Sir FRANCIS BACON himfelf gives an- 
 other account of this matter. In a letter of advice 
 to Sir GEORCE VILHERS, he fays, "In this dedi- 
 cation of yourfelf to the public, I recommend unto 
 you principally that which I think was never done 
 fince I was born that you countenance and encou- 
 rage and advance ABLE HEN, in all kinds, degrees, 
 and profeffiofcs. For in the time of the CECIL?, fa- 
 ther
 
 AND POLITICAL, 3S 
 
 ranked in another clafs than that, in which 
 this great difcerner of fpirits thought fit 
 to leave them. 
 
 AND her character, continued he, in 
 every other refpedt is juft as equivocal. 
 For having touched one part of it, I now 
 turn from thefe general confideratipns 
 on the circumftances and genius of the 
 time, to our more immediate fubject, the 
 
 PERSONAL QUALITIES of ELIZABETH. 
 
 Hitherto we have flood aloof from the 
 queen's perfon. But there is no pro. 
 ceeding a flep further in this debate, 
 unlefs you allow me a little more liberty. 
 May I then be permitted to draw the 
 veil of ELIZABETH'S court, and, by the 
 lights which hiftory holds out to us, con- 
 template the myfteries, that were cele- 
 brated in that awful fanctuary ? 
 
 ther and (on, ABLE MEN WERE By DESIGN AND OF 
 
 PURPOSE SUPPRESSED. CABALA, p. 57. ed. 
 
 1691. But either way, indeed, the queen's cha- 
 raaej 1 is equally faved. 
 
 D 2 AFTER.
 
 36 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 AFTER fo reverend a preface, replied 
 Dr. ARBUTHNOT, I think you may be 
 indulged in this liberty. And the ra- 
 ther, as I am not apprehenfive that the 
 honour of the illuftrious queen is likely 
 to fuffer by it. The fecrets of her 
 cabinet-council, it may be, are not to be 
 fcanned by the profane. But it will be 
 no preemption to ftep into the drawing- 
 room. 
 
 YET I may be tempted, faid Mr. 
 ADDISQN, to ufe a freedom in this fur- 
 vey of her majefty, that would not have 
 been granted to her moft favoured cour- 
 tiers. As far as I can judge of her 
 character, as difplayed in that folemn 
 fcene of her court, me had fome appa- 
 rent VIRTUES, but more genuine VICES; 
 which yet, in the public eye, had equally 
 the fortune to reflecl: a luftre on her go- 
 vernment. 
 
 HER
 
 AND POLITICAL. 37 
 
 HER gracious affability, her love of 
 her people, her zeal for the national 
 glory ; were not thefe her more obvious 
 and fpecious qualities ? Yet I doubt they 
 were not fo much the proper effects of 
 her nature, as her policy ; a fet of fpu- 
 rious virtues, begotten by the very necef- 
 fity of her affairs. 
 
 FOR her AFFABILITY, me faw there 
 was no way of being fecure amidft the 
 dangers of all forts, with which me was 
 furrounded, but by ingratiating herfelf 
 with the body of the people. And, 
 though in her nature me was as little in- 
 clined to this condefcenfion as any of her 
 fucceffbrs, yet the expediency of this 
 meafure compelled her to fave appear- 
 ances. And it muft be owned, me did 
 it with grace, and even acted her part 
 with fpirit. Poffibly, the confideration 
 of her being a female actor, was no dif- 
 advantage to her. 
 
 D 3 BUT,
 
 38 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 BUT, when fhe had made this facrifice 
 to intereft, her proper temper mewed 
 itfelf clearly enough in the treatment of 
 her nobles, and of all that came within 
 the verge of the court. Her caprice, and 
 jealoufy, and haughtinefs, appeared in a 
 thoufand inftances. She took offence fo 
 eafily, and forgave fo difficultly, that even 
 her principal minifters could hardly keep 
 their ground, and were often obliged to 
 redeem her favour by the loweft fub- 
 millions. When nothing elfe would do, 
 they fickened, and were even at death's 
 door : from which peril, however, fhe 
 would fometimes relieve them ; but not 
 till' me had exacted from them, in the 
 way of penance, a courfe of the moft 
 mortifying humiliations. Nay, the very 
 kdies of her court had no way to 
 maintain their credit with her, but 
 by fubmitting patiently to the laft in- 
 dignities. 
 
 * IT
 
 AND POLITICAL, 39 
 
 IT is allowed, from the inftances you 
 have in view, returned Dr. ARBUTHNOT, 
 that her nature was fomething high and 
 imperious. But thefe fallies of paflion 
 might well enough confift with her gene- 
 ral character of affability. 
 
 HARDLV, as I conceive, anfwered Mr. 
 ADDISON, if you refteft that thefe fallies, 
 or rather habits of paflion, were the 
 daily terror and vexation of all about her. 
 Her very minions feemed raifed for no 
 other purpofe, than the exercife of her 
 ill-humour. They were encouraged, by 
 her fmile, to prefume on the royal Coun- 
 tenance, and then beaten down again 
 in punifhment of that prefumption. But, 
 to fay the truth, the flavifh temper of the 
 time was favourable to fuch exertions 
 of female caprice and tyranny. Hi? 
 imperious father, all whofe virtues flie 
 inherited, had taught her a Cure way to 
 ouell the fpirit of her nobles. They 
 D 4 had
 
 40 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 had been long ufed to fland in awe of 
 the royal frown. And the people were 
 pleafed to find their betters ruled with 
 fo high a hand, at a time when they 
 themfelves were addrefled with every ex- 
 prefiion of refpect, and even flattery. 
 
 SHE even carried this mockery fo far, 
 that, as HARRINGTON obierves well, 
 *' (he converted her reign, through the 
 perpetual love-tricks that pafled be- 
 tween her and her people, into a kind 
 of romance." And though that political 
 projector, in profecution of his favourite 
 notion, fuppofes the queen to have been 
 determined to thefe intrigues by obferv- 
 ing, that the weight of property was 
 fallen into the popular fcale; yet we 
 need look no further for an account 
 of this proceeding, than the inherent 
 haughtinefs of her temper. She grati- 
 fied the infolence of her nature, in neg- 
 lecting, or rather beating down, her no- 
 bility, whofe greatnefs might feem to 
 
 challenge
 
 AND POLITICAL; 41 
 
 challenge refpedt : while the court, (he 
 paid to the people, revolted her pride 
 lefs, as paffing only upon herfelf, as well 
 as others, for a voluntary ad of affability. 
 Juft as we every day fee very proud 
 men carry it with much loftinefs towards 
 their equals, or thofe who are raifed to 
 fome nearnefs of degree to themfelves ; at 
 the fame time that they affect a fort of 
 courtefy to fuch, as are confeffedly be- 
 neath them. 
 
 You fee, then, what her boafted affa- 
 bility comes to. She gave good words 
 to her people, whom it concerned her to 
 be well with, and whom her pride itfelf 
 allowed her to manage: flie infulted 
 her nobles, whom fhe had in her power, 
 and whofe abafement flattered the idea, 
 fhe doted upon, of her own fuperiority 
 and importance []. 
 
 LET 
 
 [k"\ The lord MOUNTJOY [then Sir CHARLES 
 BLOUNT], being of a military turn, had ftolen over 
 into France, without the queen's knowledge, in order 
 
 to
 
 4** DIALOG U E S M 6 K A L 
 
 '71 : '.-" "jllfr!-- 
 
 LET tfie queen's manner of treating 
 fier lubjects be What it Would, Dr. AR- 
 FUTHNOT faid, it appears to have given 
 no offence in thofe days, when the fin- 
 c^rity of her intentions was never quel- 
 tioned. Her whole life is a convincing 
 argument, that (he bore the moft entire 
 affection to her people. 
 
 HER LOVE OF HER PEOPLE, returned 
 Mr. ADDTSON haftily, is with me a very 
 queftionable virtue. For what account 
 fhall we give of the multitude of penal 
 ftatutes, palled in her reign ? Or, be- 
 to ferve in BretagHt, under one of her generals. 
 Upon his return, which was hallened too by her ex- 
 prefs cclumand, " Serve me lo again, faid the 
 cjueeh, once more, and I will lay you fall enough 
 for running. You will never leave, till you are 
 knocked o'me head, as that inconfiderate fclbw 
 SIDNEY was. You fhall go when I fend you. In 
 the mean time fee that you lodge in the court, where 
 yea may FOLLOW YOUR BOOK?, READ, AND DIS- 
 COURSE or THE WARS.'' Sir ROBERT NAUNTON'S 
 F*. Rtc. in L. BERLEIGH. 
 
 caufe
 
 A ND POLITIC AL. 43 
 
 caufe you will fay, there was fome colour 
 for thefe ; what excufe fhali we make 
 for her frequent grants of monopolies, 
 fo ruinous to the public wealth and hap- 
 pinefs, and fo perpetually complained of 
 by her parliaments ? You will fay, fhe 
 recalled them. She did fo. But not till ; 
 the general indignation had, in a manner, 
 forced her to recall them. If by her 
 people, be meant thofe of the poorer aiidf 
 bafer fort only, it may be allowed, .fhe 
 feemed on all occafions willing to fp'are 
 them. But for thofe of better rank and 
 fortune, me had no fuch consideration. 
 Oh the other hand, Ihe contrived in 
 many ways to pillage and diftrefs them. 
 It was the tarhenefs of th'aft time, to ftib- 
 mit to every impofitkm of the fovereign. 
 She had only to command her gentry on 
 any fervice me thought fir, and they 
 durft not decline it. How many of her 
 wealthieft and beft fubjects did Ihe ittr- 
 poverifh by thefe means (though 5 under 
 colour, you may be- fure, of her high fa^ 
 
 vogr)i
 
 44 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 vour) ; and fometimes by her very vifits ! 
 I will not be certain, added he, that her 
 vifit. to this pompous caftle of her own 
 LEICESTER, had any other intention. 
 
 BUT what, above all, are we to think 
 of her vow of celibacy, and her obftinate 
 refufal to fettle the fucceflion, though at 
 the conftant hazard of the public peace 
 and fafety ? 
 
 You are hard put to it, I perceive, in- 
 terrupted Dr. ARBUTHNOT, to impeach 
 the character of the queen in this in- 
 flance, when a few penal laws, neceffary 
 to the fupport of her crown in that time 
 of danger ; one wrong meafure of her 
 government, and that corrected ; the or- 
 dinary ufe of her prerogative 5 and even 
 her virginity, are made crimes of. But 
 I am curious to hear what you have to 
 object to her ZEAL FOR THE ENGLISH 
 GLORY, carried fo high in her reign ; and 
 the fingle point, as it feems to me, to 
 
 which
 
 AND POLITICAL. 45 
 
 which all her meafures and all her coun. 
 fels were directed. 
 
 THE Englijb glory, Mr. ADDISON faid, 
 may, perhaps, mean the flate and inde- 
 pendency of the crown. And then, in- 
 deed, I have little to object. But, in any 
 other fenfe of the word, I have fometimes 
 prefumed to queftion with myfelf, if it 
 had not been better confulted, by a more 
 effectual affiftance of the Reformed on 
 the continent; by a more vigorous pro- 
 fecution of the war againft Spain [I] ; 
 
 [/] So good a judge of military matters, as Sir 
 WALTER RALEIGH, was of this opinion with regard 
 to the conduft of the Spanijh war. " If the late 
 queen would have believed her men of war, as (he 
 did her fcribes, we had, in her time, beaten that 
 great empire in pieces, and made their kings, kings 
 of figs and oranges, as in old times. But her majejiy 
 Hid all by halves, and, by petty invafions, taught 
 the Spaniard how to defend himfelf, and to fee his 
 ownweaknefs; which, till our attempts taught him, 
 was hardly known to himfelf." See his Works, 
 vol. J. p. 273. RALEIGH, it may be faid, was of 
 the CECIL faction. But the men of war, of the 
 ESSEX faaion, talked exaflly in the fame drain ; 
 which mews that this might probably be the truth. 
 
 2 and,
 
 4/5 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 and, as I hinted before, by a more com- 
 plete reduction of Ireland. But .fay, we 
 are no judges of thofe high matters. 
 What glory accrued to the Englijh name, 
 by the infidious dealing with the queen 
 of Scots ; by the vindictive proceedings 
 againft the duke of Norfolk; by the 
 mercilefs perfections of the unhappy 
 earl of E/ex ? The fame fpirit, you fee, 
 continued from the beginning of this 
 reign to the end of it. And the obfer- 
 vation is the better worth attending to, 
 becaufe fome have excufed the queen's 
 treatment of ESSEX by faying, " That her 
 nature, in that decline of life, was fome- 
 what clouded by apprehenfions ; as the 
 horizon, they obferve, in the evening of 
 the brighteft day, is apt to be obfcured 
 .by vapours []." As if this fanciful 
 
 fimile, 
 
 [CT] See Sir HENRY WOTTON'S Parallel cf the 
 earlofEJfix and duke of Buckingham. The words 
 are thefe : " He [the earl of E/ex] was to wreftle 
 with a queen's declining, or rather with her very 
 fetting age, as we may term it ; Which, befides other 
 is commonly even of itfelf the more ura- 
 bratious
 
 AND PO LI TIC AL. 47 
 
 flmile, which illuftrates perhaps, could 
 excufe, the perverfenefs of the queen's 
 temper; or, as if that could defer ve to 
 pafs for an incident of age, which ope- 
 rated through life, and fo declares it- 
 felf to have been the proper refult of her 
 nature. 
 
 You promifed, interpofed Dr. AR- 
 BUT.HNOT, not to pry too clofely into the 
 fecrets of the cabinet. And fuch I mutt 
 needs efteem the points to be, which 
 you have mentioned. But enough of 
 thefe beaten topics. I would rather at- 
 tend you in the furvey you promifed to 
 take of her court, and of the princely- 
 qualities that adorned it. It is from 
 what pafTes in the infide of his palace, 
 rather than from fome queflionable pub- 
 lic afts, that the real character of a prinre 
 is bed determined. And there, me- 
 
 bratious and apprehenfive ; as for the moft part all 
 horizons are charged with certain vapours toward* 
 their evening, 1 ' REMAINS, p. 11. 
 
 thinks,
 
 48 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 thinks, you have a fcene opened to you, 
 that deferves your applaufe. Nothing 
 appears but what is truly royal. No- 
 body knew better, than ELIZABETH, 
 how to fupport the decorum of her 
 rank. She prefided in that high orb 
 with the dignity of a great queen. In 
 all emergencies of danger, fhe (hewed a 
 firmnefs, and on all occafions of cere- 
 mony, a magnificence, that commanded 
 refpect and admiration. Her very diver- 
 fions were tempered with a feverity be- 
 coming her fex and place, and which 
 made her court, even in its lighteil and 
 gayeft humours, a fchool of virtue. 
 
 THESE are the points, concluded he, 
 ,1 could wifli you to fpeak to. The reft 
 may be left to the judgment of the hifto- 
 rian, or rather to the curiofity of the 
 nice and critical politician. 
 
 You fhall be obeyed, Mr. ADDISONT 
 faid. I thought it not amifs to take off 
 
 the
 
 AND POLITICAL. 49 
 
 the glare of thofe applauded qualities, 
 which have dazzled the public at a 
 diftance, by fhewing that they were ei- 
 ther feigned or over-rated. But I come 
 now to unmafk the real character, of this 
 renowned prin-cefs. 1 fhall paint her 
 freely indeed, but truly as ihe appears to 
 me. And, to fpeak my mind at once, I 
 think it is not fo much to her virtues, 
 which at befl were equivocal, as to her 
 very VICES, that we are to impute the 
 popular admiration of her character and 
 government. 
 
 I BEFORE took notice of the high, in- 
 decent PASSION, me difcovered towards 
 her courtiers. This fiercenefs of tem- 
 per in the fofter fex was taken for he- 
 roifm; and, falling in with the flavifh 
 principles of the age, begot a degree ot 
 reverence in her fubjects, which a more 
 equal, that is, a more becoming, deport- 
 ment would not have produced. Hence, 
 me was better ferved than moft of our 
 
 VOL. II. E princes,
 
 50 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 princes, only becaufe fhe was more feared -, 
 in other words, becaufc (he lefs deferred 
 to be fo. But high as fhe would often 
 carry herfelf in this unprincdy, I had 
 alrrroft laid unwomanly, treatment of her 
 fervants; awing the men by her oaths, 
 and her women by blows ; it is ft ill to 
 be remembered, that Ihc had a great 
 deal of natural TIMIDITY in her confti- 
 tution. 
 
 WHAT ! interrupted Dr. ARBUTHNOT 
 haftily, the magnanimous ELIZABETH a 
 coward ? I fhould as foon have expected 
 that charge againft C^SAR himfelf, or 
 your own MARLBOROUGH. 
 
 I DISTINGUISH, Mr. ADDISON faid, 
 betwixt a parade of courage, put on to 
 ferve a turn, and keep her people in 
 fpirits, and that true greatnefs of mind, 
 which, in one word, we call magnanimity. 
 For this laft, I repeat it, fhe either had 
 it not, or not in the degree in which it 
 
 has
 
 AND POLITICAL. 51 
 
 has been afcribed to her. On the con- 
 trary, I fee a littlenefs, a pufillanimity, in 
 her conduct en a thoufand occafions. 
 Henre it was, that both to her people 
 and fuch of the neighbouring Hates as 
 fhe flood in awe of, fhe ufed an exceflive 
 hypocrify, which, in the language of the 
 court, you may be fure, was called policy. 
 To the Hollanders^ indeed, fhe could 
 talk big ; and it was not her humour to 
 manage thofe, over whom fhe had gain- 
 ed an afcendant. This has procured 
 her, with many, the commendation of a 
 princely magnanimity. But, on the other 
 hand, when difcontents were apprehend- 
 ed from her fubjects, or when France 
 was to be diverted from any defigns 
 againft her, no art was forgotten that 
 might cajole their fpirits with all the 
 profeffions of cordiality and affection. 
 Then fhe was wedded^ that was the ten- 
 der word, to her people : and then the 
 intereft of religion itlelf was facrificed 
 E 2 by
 
 5 2 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 by this Proteftant queen to her newly- 
 perverted brother on the continent. 
 
 HER foible, in this refpect, was no fe-< 
 cret to her ministers. But above all it 
 was pra&ifed upon moft fuccefsfully by 
 the Lord BURGHLEY; "for whom, as I 
 have feen it obferved, it was as neceflary 
 that there fhould be treafons, as for the 
 ftate that they mould be prevented []." 
 Hence it was, that he was perpetually 
 raifing her fears, by the difcovery of 
 fome plot, or, when that was wanting, 
 by the propofal of fome law for her 
 greater fecurity. In fhort, he was for 
 ever finding, or making, or fuggefting, 
 dangers. The queen, though fli-e would 
 look big (for indeed me Was an excellent 
 aftrefs), ftartled at the fhadows of thofe 
 dangers, the flighteft rumours. And to 
 this convenient timidity of his miftrefs, 
 fo conftantly alarmed, and relieved in 
 turn by this wily minifter, was owing, in 
 [] THE DISPARITY, p. 43. 
 
 a flood
 
 AND POLITICAL. 53 
 
 a good degree, that long and unrivalled 
 imereft, he held in her favour. 
 
 STILJ., further, to this conflitutional 
 fear (which might be forgiven to her fex, 
 if it had not been fo ftrangely mixed 
 with a more than mafculine ferocity in 
 other inftances) muft be afcribed thofc 
 favourite maxims of policy, which ran 
 through her whole government. Never 
 was prince more attached to the Machia- 
 velian doftrine, DIVIDE ET IMPERA, than 
 our ELIZABETH (YJ. It made the foul 
 
 of 
 
 [o] This account of her policy is confirmed by 
 what we read in the DISPARITY, before cited. 
 ' That trick of countenancing and protecting fac- 
 tions (as that queen, almoft her whole reign, did with 
 fingular and equal demonftration of grace look upon 
 feveral perfons of moft diflant wifhes one towards 
 another) was not the leaft ground of much of he r 
 quiet and fuccefs. And fhe never doubted but that 
 men, that were never fo oppofite in their good-will 
 each to other, or never fo difhoneft in their pro. 
 je&ments for each other's confufion, might yet be 
 reconciled in their allegiance towards her. Info- 
 much 'that, during her whole reign, (he never en. 
 deavoured to reconcile any pcrfonal differences in 
 E 3 th
 
 54 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 of her policies, domeftic and foreign. 
 She countenanced the two prevailing 
 factions of the time. The Churchmen 
 and Puritans divided her favour fo equal- 
 ly, that her favourites were fure to be 
 the chiefs of the contending parties. 
 Nay, her court was a conftant fcene of 
 cabals and perfonal animofities. She 
 gave a fecret, and fometimes an open, 
 countenance to thefe jealoufies. The 
 fame principle directed all her foreign [p] 
 negociations. 
 
 the court, though the unlawful emulations of per- 
 fons of nearefl truft about her, were ever like to over- 
 throw fome of her chiefeft defigns : A policy, fddom 
 entertained ly princes, efpecially if they have ij/iies to 
 Survive them." p. 46. Her own hiftorian, it is true, 
 feems a little ftiy of acknowledging this conduft of 
 the queen, with regard to her nobility and minifters. 
 But he owns, " She now and then took a pleafure 
 (and not unprofitably) in (he emulation and privy 
 grudges of her women." CAMDEN'S ELIZABETH, 
 p. 79. fol. Land. 1688. 
 
 f/J ^ e find an intimation to this purpofe, in a 
 writer of credit, at leaft with refpeft to the Dutch 
 and Ireland " Jam et divulfam Hiberniam, et in 
 Batavis An^li militis feditiones, veltit JUSSAS, erant 
 qei exprobrarent." GROTH ANNAL. 1. xii. p. 432. 
 
 AND
 
 A N D P O L I T I C A L. 55 
 
 AND are you not aware, interrupted 
 Dr. ARBUTHNOT, that this objected poli- 
 cy is the very topic that I, and every 
 other admirer of the queen, would em- 
 ploy in commendation of her great abi- 
 lity in the art of government? It has 
 been the fate of too many of our princes 
 (and perhaps fome late examples might 
 be given) to be governed, and even in- 
 fulted, by a prevailing party of their own 
 fubjects. ELIZABETH was fuperior to 
 luch attempts. She had no bye-ends to 
 purfue. She frankly threw herfelf on 
 her people. And, fecure in their affec- 
 tion, could defeat at pleafure, or even 
 divert herfelf with, the intrigues of this 
 or that afpiring faction. 
 
 WE underftand you, Mr. ADDISON 
 replied; but when two parties are con- 
 tending within a ftate, and one of them 
 only in its true intereft, the policy is a 
 little extraordinary that fhould incline 
 E 4 the
 
 56 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 the fovereign to difcourage this, from the 
 poor ambition of controuling thai, or, as 
 you put it ftill worfe, from the danger- 
 ous humour of playing with both parties, 
 I fay nothing of later times. I only afk, 
 if it was indifferent, whether the counfels 
 of the CECILS or of LEYCESTER were 
 predominant in that reign ? But I men- 
 tioned thefe things before, and I touch 
 them again now, only to fhew you, that 
 this conduct, however it may be varnifh- 
 ed over by the name of wifdom, had too 
 much the air of fearful womanifh in- 
 trigue, to confift with that heroical firm- 
 nefs and intrepidity, fo commonly afcribed 
 to queen ELIZABETH [q], 
 
 AND 
 
 [7] Something like this was obferved of her dif- 
 pofuion by Sir JAMES MELVIL. After having re- 
 tted to his miftrefs, the queen of Sects, the ilrong 
 profefiions of friendfnip which the queen of England 
 had made to him, " She [the queen of Scots] inquir- 
 ed, fays he, whether I thought that queen meant 
 truly towards her imvardiy in h<_r heart, as (he ap- 
 peared to do outwardly in her fpeech. I, anfwered 
 freely, that, in my judgment, there was neither plain 
 
 dealing*
 
 AND POLITICAL. 
 
 S7 
 
 AND what if, after all, I mould admit, 
 replied Dr. ARBUTHNOT, that, in the 
 competition of a woman's courage, at 
 leaft, there might be fome fcruples of dif- 
 cretion ? Is there any advantage, worth 
 contending for, you could draw from 
 fuch a conceffion ? Or, becaufe you would 
 be thought ferious, I will put the matter 
 more gravely. The arts of prudence, 
 you arraign fo feverely, could not be 
 taken for pufillanimity. They certainly 
 were not, in her own time -, for me was 
 not the lefs efteemed or revered by all 
 the nations of Europe on account of them. 
 The moft you can fairly conclude is, that 
 me knew how to unite addrefs with bra- 
 very, and that, on occafion, me could 
 dijjemble her high fpirit. The difficulties 
 
 dealing, nor upright meaning; but great diffimula- 
 tion, emulation, and FEAR, left her princely qualities 
 fhould over-foon chace her from her kingdom," &c 
 MEMOIRS, p. 53. 
 
 Of
 
 5 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 f her fituation obliged her to this 
 management. 
 
 RATHER fay at once, returned Mr, 
 ADDISON, that the conftant diffimula- 
 tion, for which me was fo famous, was 
 afiumed to fupply the want of a better 
 thing, which had rendered all thofe arts 
 as unneceflary as they were ignoble. 
 
 BUT baughtinefs and timidity., pur- 
 fued he, were not the only vices that 
 turned to good account in the queen's 
 hands. She was frugal beyond all 
 bounds of decorum in a prince, or rather 
 AVARICIOUS beyond all reafonable ex- 
 cuie from the public wants and the flate 
 of her revenue. Nothing is more cer- 
 tain than this fact, from the allowance 
 both of friends and enemies. It feems 
 as if, in this refpeft, her father's example 
 had not been fufficient; and that, to 
 complete her character, me had incor- 
 porated
 
 A N D P O L I T I C A L. 99 
 
 porated with many of his, the leading 
 vice of her grandfather. 
 
 HERE Dr. ARBUTHNOT could not 
 contain himfelf , and the caftle happen- 
 ing at that time, from the point where 
 they flood, to prefent the moft fuperb 
 profpect, " Look there, faid he, on the 
 ftriking, though fmall, remnants of that 
 grandeur you juft now magnified fo 
 much , and tell me if, in your confcience, 
 you can believe fuch grants are the figns, 
 or were the effects, of avarice. For you 
 are not to learn, that this palace before 
 us is not the only one in the kingdom, 
 which bears the memory of the queen's 
 bounty to her fervants. 
 
 MR. ADDISON feemed a little flruck 
 with the earneftnefs of 'this addrefs: " It 
 is true, faid he, the queen's fondnefs for 
 one or two of her favourites made her 
 fometimes lavifh of her grants ; efpecially 
 of what coft her nothing, and did not, it 
 
 feems,
 
 to DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 feems, offend the delicacy of her fcruples ; 
 I mean, of the church-lands. But at the 
 fame time her treafury was fhut againft 
 her ambaffadors and foreign minifters; 
 who complain of nothing more frequently 
 than the flendernefs of their appoint- 
 ments, and the fmall and flow remit- 
 tances that were made to them. This 
 frugality (for I muft not call it by a 
 worfe name) diftrefled the public fervice 
 on many occafions [r] ; and would have 
 done it on more, if the zeal of her trufty 
 
 [r] Secretary WALSINGHAM, in a letter to the 
 queen, Sept. 2, 1581, amongft other things to the 
 fame purpofe, has the following words " Remem- 
 ber, I humbly befeech your majefty, the refptS of 
 tbarges bath loft Scotland: and I would to God I 
 bad no caufe to think, that it might put y&ur bigbnefs 
 i peril of the loft of England" " And even the 
 Lord Treafurer himfelf (we are told) in a letter ftill 
 extant in the paper-office, written in the critical year 
 1588, while the Spanijh armada was expected againft 
 England, excufeshimftlf toSirEi>WARD STAFFORD, 
 then embaflador in France, for not writing to him 
 oftener, on account of her majefly'i univiHiitgnefs to beat 
 t&t txpenceof mejjengen." Sir T. EDMONDE'S State- 
 papers, by Dr. BIRCIJ, p. 21. 
 
 fervanu
 
 AND POLITICAL. 6i 
 
 fervants had not been content to carry it 
 on at the expence of their own fortunes. 
 How many inftances might be given of 
 this, if ONE were not more than fufficient, 
 and which all pofterity will remember 
 with indignation ! 
 
 You fpeak of WALSINGHAM, inter- 
 pofed Dr. ARBUTHNOT. But were it 
 not more candid to impute the poverty 
 of that minifter to his own generous con- 
 tempt of riches, which he had doubtlefs 
 many fair occafions of procuring to him- 
 felf, than to any defigned neglect of him 
 by his miftrefs ? 
 
 THE candour, returned Mr. ADDISON, 
 muft be very extraordinary, that can find 
 an excufe for the queen in a circum- 
 ftance that doubles her difgrace. But 
 be it as you pretend. The uncommon 
 moderation of the man mall be a cover 
 to the queen's parfimony. It was not, 
 we will fay, for this wife princefs to pro- 
 voke
 
 64 D I A L O G U E S' M O R A L 
 
 yoke an appetite for wealth in her fer- 
 vants : it was enough that fhe gratified it, 
 on proper occafions, where fhe found it 
 already railed. And in this proceeding, 
 no doubt, fhe was governed by a tender 
 regard for their honour, as well as her 
 own intereft. For how is her great 
 fecretary ennobled, by filling a place in 
 the fhort lift of thofe worthies, who, 
 having lived and died in the fervice of 
 their countries, have left not fo much as 
 a pittance behind them, to carry them 
 to their graves! All this is very well. 
 But when fhe had indulged this humour 
 in one or two of her favourites, and 
 fuffered them, for example's fake, to af- 
 cend to thefe heights of honour, it was 
 going, methinks, a little too far, to expeft 
 the lame delicacy of virtue in all her 
 courtiers. Yet it was not her fault, if 
 moft of them did not reap this fame of 
 illuftrious poverty, as well as WALSING- 
 HAM. She dealt by them, indeed, as if 
 
 fhe
 
 AND POLITICAL. 63 
 
 Ihe had ranked poverty, as well as celi- 
 bacy, among the cardinal virtues. 
 
 IN the mean time, I would not deny 
 that me had a princely fondnefs for mew 
 and appearance. She took a pride in 
 the brilliancy of her court. She de- 
 lighted in the large trains of her nobility. 
 She required to be royally entertained 
 by them. And me thought her honour 
 concerned in the figure they made in 
 foreign courts, and in the wars. But, if 
 me loved this pomp, me little cared to 
 furnim the expence of it. She confider- 
 ed in good earned (as fome have ob- 
 ferved, who would have the obfcrvation 
 pafs for a compliment [j]) the purfes of 
 
 her 
 
 \i\ One of thefe corr.plaifant obfervers was the 
 writer of the Defcription of England, who, fpeakingof 
 the variety of the queen's houfes, checks himfeif 
 with faying, " But what fhall I need to take upon 
 me to repeat all, and tell what houfes the queen's 
 majefty hath? Sith ALL is HIRS; and when it 
 pleafeth hir in the fummer feafon to recreate hirfelf 
 abroad, and view the ftatc of the countrie, and hear 
 6 the
 
 64 DIALOGUES MOfeAL 
 
 her ftibjefts as her own ; and feemed td 
 reckon on their being always open td 
 her on any occafion of fervice, or even 
 ceremony. She carried this matter fo 
 far, that the very expences of her wars' 
 were rather defrayed out of the private 
 purfes of her nobility, than the public 
 treafury. As if me had taken it for a 
 part of her prerogative to impoverim her 
 nobles at pleafure ; or rather, as if me 
 had a mind to have it thought that one 
 of their privileges was, to be allowed 
 to ruin themfelves from a zeal to her 
 feryice. 
 
 BUT the queen's avarice, proceeded 
 he, did not only appear from her ex- 
 cefllve parfimony in the management of 
 the public treafure, but from her rapa- 
 
 the complaints of hir unjuft officers or fubftitutes, 
 every nobleman's houfe is blr fa/ace, where (he con- 
 tinueth during pleafure, and till (he returne againe to 
 fome of hir owne ; in which fhe remaineth as long 
 aspleafeth hir." p. 196. 
 
 city
 
 AND POLITIC AL. 6 5 
 
 -city in getting what fhe could from par- 
 ticulars into her privy purfe. Hence it 
 was that all offices, and even perfonal 
 favours, were in a manner fet to fale. 
 For it was a rule with her majefty, to 
 grant no fuit but for a reafonable con- 
 fideration. So that whoever pretended 
 to any place of profit or honour, was 
 fure to fend a jewel, or other rich pre- 
 fent beforehand, to prepare her mind 
 for the entertainment of his petition. 
 And to what other purpofe was it that 
 fhe kept her offices fo long vacant, but 
 to give more perfons an opportunity of 
 winning a preference in her favour; 
 which for the moft part inclined to 
 thofe who had appeared, in this interval, 
 to deferve it bed? Nay, the flightefl 
 difguft, which fhe frequently took on 
 very frivolous occafions, could not begot 
 over but by the reconciling means of fome 
 valuable or well-fancied prefent. And, 
 what was moft grievous, fhe fometimes 
 VOL. II. F accepted
 
 6 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 accepted the present, without remitting 
 the offence. 
 
 I REMEMBER a ridiculous inftance of 
 this fort. When the Lady LEICESTER 
 wanted to obtain the pardon of her un- 
 fortunate fon, the Lord ESSEX, fhe pre- 
 fented the queen with an exceeding rich 
 gown, to the value of above an hundred 
 pounds. She was well pleafed with the 
 gift, but thought no more of the pardon. 
 We need not, after this, wonder at what 
 is faid of her majefty's leaving a pro- 
 digious quantity of jewels and plate be- 
 hind her, and even a crowded wardrobe. 
 For fo prevalent was this thrifty humour 
 in the queen's highnefs, that fhe could 
 not perfuade herlelf to part with fo 
 much as a caft-gown to any of her fer- 
 vants [/]. 
 
 You 
 
 [t] Perhaps they had ho need of fuch favours. 
 It fecms as if they had provided for themfelves an- 
 other way. One of her ladies, the Lady EDMONDES, 
 had been applied to for her intcreit with the queen
 
 AND POLITICAL; 6 7 
 
 Yotr allow yourfelf to be very gay, 
 replied Dr. ARBUTHNOT, on this foible 
 of the great queen. But one thing you 
 
 forget, 
 
 in a certain affair of no great moment, then depend- 
 ing in the Court of Chancery* The perfon, com- 
 miffioned to tranfaft this matter with her lady/hip, 
 had offered her loo/, which {he treated as too flnail 
 a/um. The relater of this faft adds" This ruf- 
 fianry of caufes I am daily more and more acquaint- 
 ed with, and fee the manner of dealing, which 
 cometh of the queen'sjlraitne/s to give thefe women, 
 whereby they prefume thus to grange and truck 
 caufes." See a letter in MEM. of Q. ELIZABETH, 
 by Dr. BIRCH, vol. i. p. 354. But this ioo/. as 
 the virtuous LadyEoMONBEs fays, was afmallfum. 
 It appears, that bifhop FLETCHER, on his tranfla- 
 tion to London, " beftowed in allowances and grati- 
 fications to divers attendants [indeed we are not 
 exprefsly told, they were female] about her majefly, 
 the fum of 3ioo/. which money was given by him, 
 for the moft part of it, ly her majeftfs direction and 
 fpecial appointment." Mem. vol. ii. p. 113. And 
 the curiofity is, to find this minute of epifcopal 
 gratifications in a petition prefented to the queen her- 
 felf, " To move her majefty in commiferation to- 
 wards the orphans of this bifhop." However, to 
 do the ladies juftice, the contagion of bribery was 
 fo general in that reign, that the greateft men in 
 the court were infe&ed by it. The lord- keeper 
 F 2 ^r. PUCKERING,
 
 | DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 forget* that it never biafied her judgment 
 fo far as to prevent a fit choice of her 
 fervants on all occafions [#]. And, as to 
 her wary management of the public reve- 
 nue, which you take a pleafure to exag- 
 gerate, this, methinks, is a venial fault in 
 a prince, who could not, in hercircum- 
 ftances, have provided for the expences 
 of government, but by the niceft and 
 moft attentive ceconomy. 
 
 PUCKERING, it feems, had a finger in the affair of 
 the 100 1. ; nay, himfelf fpeaks to the lady to get 
 him commanded by the queen to favour the fuir. 
 And we are told, that Sir W. RALEIGH had no left 
 than 1 0,000 /. for his intereft with the queen on a 
 certain occafion, afcer having been invited to this 
 fervice by the fineft letter that ever was written. 
 Indeed it is not faid how much of this fecret fervice 
 money went in allowances and gratification! to tbt 
 attendants about tht queen's majejly^ vol. ii. p. 497, 
 
 [] Lord BACON made the fame excufe for bis 
 bribery; as he had learnt, perhaps, the trade itfelf 
 from his royal miftrefs. It was a rule with this 
 great chancellor, " Not to fell injuftice, but never to 
 Jet juftice go fcot-free." 
 
 I UNDER-
 
 AND POLITICAL. 69 
 
 I UNDERSTAND, faid Mr. ADDISON, 
 the full force of that confideration ; and 
 believe it was that attention principally, 
 which occafioned the popularity of her 
 reign, and the high efteem, in which the 
 wifdom of her government is held to this 
 day. The bulk of her fubjefts were, 
 no doubt, highly pleafed to find them- 
 felves fpared on all occafions of expence. 
 And it ferved, at the fame time, to gra- 
 tify their natural envy of the great, to 
 find that their fortunes were firft and 
 principally facrificed to the public fer- 
 vice. Nay, I am not fure that the very 
 rapacity of her nature, in the fale of 
 her offices, was any objection with the 
 people at large, or even the lower gen- 
 try of the kingdom. For thefe, having 
 no pretenfions themfelves to thofe offices, 
 would be well enough pleafed to fee 
 them, not beftowed on their betters, but 
 dearly purchafed by them. And then 
 this traffic at court furnimed the inferior 
 F 3 gentry
 
 7^ DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 gentry with a pretence for making the 
 moft of their magifrracies. This pra&ice 
 a,t leaft muft have been very notorious 
 amongft them, when, a facetious member 
 of the lower houfe could define a juftice 
 of peace to be, " A living creature, that 
 for half a dozen of chickens, will dif- 
 penfe with a whole dozen of penal fta- 
 tutes [w]. M But, however this be, the 
 queen's ends, in every view, were abun- 
 dantly anfwered. She enriched herfelf: 
 fhe gained the affe&ions of the people, 
 and depreffed and weakened the nobility, 
 And by all thefe ways fhe effectually 
 provided for, what me had ever moft at 
 heart, her own fupreme and uncontrolled 
 authority. 
 
 [TO] See Hi/}. Colhaions, by H. TOWNS.HEND, 
 Efq; p. 268. Land. 1680. The lord-keeper too, in 
 a fpeech in the ftar-charaber, confirms this charge 
 or, the country juftices. " The thirft, fays he, after 
 this authority, proceedeth from nothing but an ambi- 
 tions humour of gaining of reputation amongft 
 their neighbours; that ftill, when they come home, 
 they may be jrefentedwith pte/Mt." Ibid. p. 355. 
 
 2 AND
 
 AND POLITICAL. 71 
 
 AND is that to be wondered at in * 
 great prince? returned Dr. ARBUTHNOT. 
 Or, to take the matter in the light ypu 
 place it, what if the queen had fo much 
 of her fexjY] and family in her difpo- 
 fition, as to like well enough to have her 
 own way, is this fuch a crime as you 
 would make of it? If me loved power, it 
 was not to make a wanton or oppreffive 
 ufe of it. And if all princes knew as 
 well to bound their own wills, as me did, 
 we fhould not much complain of their 
 
 [x] When the queen declared to Sir JAMES 
 MELVIL her refolution of virginity, " I know the 
 truth of that, madam ; (faid he) you need not tell it 
 me. Your majefty thinks, if you were married, you 
 would be but queen of England', and now you are 
 both king and queen. / know your fplrit cannot en- 
 dure a commander." MEM. p. 49. This was frank. 
 But Sir JAMES MELVIL was too well feen in courts 
 to have ufed this language, if he had not underftood 
 it would be welcome. Accordingly, the queen's 
 highnefs did not feem difpleafed with the im- 
 putation. 
 
 F 4 impatience
 
 7 ? DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 impatience to be under the control of 
 
 their fubjects. 
 
 I AM forry, faid Mr. ADD ISDN, that 
 the ac"ls of her reign will not allow me to 
 come into this opinion of her moderation. 
 On the other hand, her government ap- 
 pears to me, in many inftances, OPPRES- 
 SIVE, and highly prejudicial to the an- 
 tient rights and privileges of her people. 
 For what other conftru&ion can we make 
 of her frequent interpofition to reftrain 
 the counfels of their reprefentatives in 
 parliament: threatening forne, imprifon- 
 ing others, and filencing all with the 
 thunder of her prerogative? Or, when 
 fhe had fuffered their counfels to ripen 
 into bills, what (hall we fay of her high 
 and mighty rejection of them, and that 
 not in fingle and extraordinary cafes, but 
 in matters of ordinary courfe, and by 
 dozens ? I pafs by other inftances. But 
 was her moderation feen in dilapidating 
 the revenues of the cjiurch; of that 
 
 church
 
 AND POLITICAL. 73 
 
 church, which fhe took under the wing 
 of her lupremacy, and would be thought 
 to have flickered from all its enemies ~y] ? 
 The honeft archbimop PARKER, I have 
 
 [j] This was a common topic of complaint 
 againlt the queen, or at ieaft her minifters, and gave 
 occafion to that reproof of the poet SPENCER, which 
 the perfons concerned could hardly look upon as 
 very decent, 
 
 " Scarce can a biftioprick forepafs them bye 
 
 But that it muft be gelt in privity." 
 
 Mother BUBBARD'S Tale> 
 
 But a bifhop of that time carries the charge ftill 
 further. In one of his fermons at court before the 
 queen, " Parfonages and vicarages, fays he, feldorn 
 pafs now-a-days from the patron, but either for the 
 leafe, or the prefent money. Such merchants are 
 broken into the church of God, a great deal more in- 
 toleiable than were they, whom CHRIST whipped 
 out of the temple." This language is very harm, 
 and fure'y not deferved by the Proteftant patrons of 
 thofe days, who were only, as we may fuppofe, for 
 reducing the church of CHRIST to its pure and pri- 
 mitive ftate of indigence and fuffering. How edify- 
 ing is it to hear St. PAUL fpeak of his being In 
 hunger and tbirjl, in fajiings often, in cold and naked- 
 ne/sf And how perfeftly reformed would our 
 church be, if its minifters were but once more in this 
 bleficd apoftolical condition] 
 
 heard,
 
 74 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 heard, ventured to remonftrate againft 
 this abufe, the cognizance of which came 
 fo directly within his province. But to 
 what effed, may be gathered, not only 
 from the continuance of thefe depreda- 
 tions, but her fevere reprehenfion of an- 
 other of her bifhops, whom me threatened 
 with an oath to UNFROCK that was her 
 majefty*s own word if he did not im- 
 mediately give way to her princely ex- 
 tortions. 
 
 IT may be hardly worth while to take 
 notice of fmaller matters. But who does 
 not refent her capricious tyranny, in dif- 
 gracing fuch of her fervants as prefumed 
 to deviate, on any pretence, from her 
 good pleafure 5 nay, fuch as gave an im- 
 plicit obedience to her will, if it flood 
 with her intereft to difgrace them ? 
 Something, I know, may be faid to ex- 
 cufe the proceedings againft the queen 
 of Scots. But the fate of D AVI SON will 
 
 refleft
 
 AND POLITICAL. 75 
 
 reflect eternal dilhonour on the policy, 
 with which that meafure was conducted. 
 
 I RUN over thefe things haftily, conti- 
 nued Mr. ADDISON, and in no great 
 order: but you will fee what to conclude 
 from thefe hints; which taken together, 
 1 believe, may furnifli a proper anfwer 
 to the moft confiderable parts of your 
 apology. 
 
 To fum it up in few words. Thole 
 two great events of her time, THE 
 
 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REFORMA- 
 TION, and THE TRIUMPH OVER THE 
 
 POWER OF SPAIN, caft an uncommon 
 luftre on the reign of ELIZABETH. 
 Pofterity, dazzled with thefe obvious fuc* 
 ceiTes, went into an exceflive admiration 
 of her perfonal virtues. And what has 
 ferved to brighten them the more, is the 
 place in which we chance to find her, 
 between the bigot queen on the one 
 hand, and the pedant king on the other. 
 
 No
 
 76 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 No wonder then that, on the firft glance, 
 her government fhould appear able, and 
 even glorious, Yet, in looking into par- 
 ticulars, we find that much is to be attri- 
 buted to fortune, as well as fkill; and 
 that her glory is even leffened by con- 
 liderations, which, on .a carelefs view, 
 may feem to augment it. The diffi- 
 culties, (he had to encounter, were great. 
 Yet thefe very difficulties, of themfelves, 
 created the proper means to furmount 
 them. They {harpened the wits, in- 
 flamed the fpirits, and united the affec- 
 tions, of a whole people. The name of 
 her great enemy on the* continent, at 
 that time, carried terror with it. Yet 
 his power was, in reality, much lefs than 
 it appeared. The Spanijh empire was 
 corrupt and weak, and tottered under its 
 own weight. But this was a fecret even 
 to the Spaniard himfelf. In the mean 
 time, the confidence, which the opinion 
 of great ftrength infpires, was a favour- 
 able circumftance. It occafioned a remiff- 
 
 nefs
 
 AND POLITICAL. 77 
 
 nefs and neglect of counfel on one fide, 
 in proportion as it raifed the utmoft 
 vigilance and circumfpection on the other.' 
 But this was not all. The religious 
 feuds in the Low Countries the civil wars 
 in France the diffractions of Scotland 
 all concurred to advance the fortunes of 
 ELIZABETH. Yet all had, perhaps, 
 been too little in that grand crifis of her 
 fate, and, as it fell out, of her glory, if 
 the confpiring elements themfelves had 
 not fought for her. 
 
 SUCH is the natural account of her 
 foreign triumphs. Her domeftic fuc- 
 cefTes admit as eafy a folution. Thofe 
 external dangers themfelves, the genius 
 of the time, the ftate of religious parties, 
 nay, the very factions of her court, all of 
 them directly, or by the flighteft applica- 
 tion of her policy, adminiftered to her 
 greatnefs. Such was the condition of 
 the times, that it forced her to affume 
 the refemblance, at lead, of fome popu- 
 7 lar
 
 7$ DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 !ar virtues: and fo fmgular her fortune^ 
 that her very vices became as refpect- 
 able, perhaps more ufefui to her repu- 
 tation, than her virtues. She was vigi- 
 lant in her counfels; careful in the 
 choice of her fervants; courteous arid 
 condefcending to her fubjefts. She ap- 
 peared to have an extreme tendernefs 
 for the interefts, and an extreme zeal for 
 the honour, of the nation. This was the 
 bright fide of her character , and it fhone 
 the brighter from the conftant and immi- 
 nent dangers, to which fhe was expofed. 
 On the other hand, fhe was choleric, and 
 imperious , jealous, timid, and avaricious : 
 oppreflive, as far as fhe durft; in many cafes 
 capricious, in fome tyrannical. Yet thefe 
 vices, fome of them fharpened and refined 
 her policy, and the reft, operating chiefly 
 towards her courtiers and dependents, 
 itrengthened her authority, and rooted 
 her more firmly in the hearts of the peo- 
 ple. The mingled fplendour of thefe 
 
 qualities,
 
 AND POLITICAL. 79 
 
 qualities, good and bad (for even her 
 worft had the luck, when feen but on 
 one lide, or in well-difpofed lights, to look 
 like good ones) fo far dazzled the eyes of 
 all, that they did not, or would not, fee 
 many outrageous acts of tyranny and 
 oppreffion. 
 
 AND thus it hath come to pafs that, 
 with fome ability, more cunning, and lit- 
 tle real virtue, the name of ELIZABETH 
 is, by the concurrence of many acciden- 
 tal caufes, become the moft revered of 
 any in the long roll of our princes. How 
 little me merited this honour, may ap- 
 pear from this flight fketch of her cha- 
 racter and government. Yet, when all 
 proper abatement is made in both, I will 
 not deny her to have been a great, that 
 is, a fortunate^ queen ; in this, perhaps, 
 the moft fortunate, that me has attained 
 to fo unrivalled a glory with fo few pre- 
 tenfions to deferve it. 
 
 AND
 
 So lilALOGUES MORAL 
 
 AND fo, replied Dr. ARBUTHNroT^ you 
 have concluded your invective in full 
 form, and rounded it, as the antient ora- 
 tors ufed to do, with all the advantage 
 of a peroration. But, fetting afide this 
 trick of eloquence, which is apt indeed to 
 confound a plain man, unufed to fuch 
 artifices, I lee not but you have left the 
 argument much as you took it up; and 
 that I may ftill have leave to retain my 
 former reverence for the good old times 
 of queen ELIZABETH. It is true, me 
 had fome foibles. You have fpared, I 
 believe, none of them. But, to make 
 amends for thefe defects, let but the 
 hi (lory of her reign fpeak for her, I 
 mean in its own artlefs language, neither 
 corrupted by flattery, nor tortured by 
 invidious gloffes ; and we muft ever con- 
 ceive of her, I will not fay as the moft 
 fauldefs, perhaps not the moft virtuous, 
 but furely the moft able, and, from the 
 
 fplendor
 
 AND POLITICAL. 8 t 
 
 Jplendor of fome leading qualities, the 
 rnoft glorious of our E^glijh monarchs. 
 
 To give you my notion of her in few 
 words. For the dilpuee, I find, mud 
 end, as mod others ufually do, in the 
 fimple reprefentation of our own no- 
 tions. She was diicreer, frugal, provi- 
 dent, and fagacious : intent on the pur- 
 iuit of her great ends, the eftablijhment of 
 religion, and the fecuriiy and honour of 
 her people: prudent in the choice of the 
 bell means to effect them, the employ- 
 ment of able fervants, and the manage- 
 ment of the public revenue : dexterous at 
 improving all advantages which her own 
 wifdom or the circumilances of the times 
 gave her: fearlefs and intrepid in the 
 execution of great deligns, yet careful to 
 unite the deeped forefight with her 
 magnanimity. If me feemed AVARICI- 
 OUS, let it be confidered that the nicefc 
 frugality was but necefTary in her fitua- 
 tion : if IMPERIOUS, that a female go- 
 VOL. II. G vernment
 
 8 2 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 vernment needed to be made refpeftable 
 by a (hew of authority : and if at any 
 time OPPRESSIVE, that the Englijh con- 
 ftitution, as it then flood, as well as her 
 own nature, had a good deal of that 
 bias. 
 
 IN a word, let it be remembered, that 
 fhe had the honour of ruling [z], per- 
 haps of forming, the wifeft, the braveft, 
 the moil virtuous people, that have 
 adorned any age or country j and that 
 fhe advanced the glory of the Englijh 
 name and that of her own dignity to a 
 height, which has no parallel in the an- 
 nals of our nation. 
 
 [] It was this'circumftance that feemed to weigh 
 moft with the Lord Chancellor BACON ; who, in his 
 fliort tral, Infelicem memoriatn ELIZABETHS, faith, 
 " Jllud cogitandum cenfeo, in quali populo impe- 
 rium tenuerit : fi enim in Palmyrenis, aut Afia im- 
 belli et molli regnum fortita effct, minus mirandum 
 fuiflet verum in ANGLIA, natione ferocijfimd et 
 lellicojijjima. omnia ex nutu foeminae moveri et cohi- 
 beri potuifle, SUMMAM MERITO ADMIRATIONEM 
 
 HABET." 
 
 6 MR.
 
 AND POLITICAL, 83 
 
 MR. DIGBY, who had been very at- 
 tentive to the courfe of this debate, 
 was a little difappointed with the con- 
 clufion of it. He thought to have fet- 
 tled his judgment of this reign by the 
 information, his two friends fliould afford 
 him. But he found himfelf rather per- 
 plexed by their altercations, than con- 
 vinced by them. He owned, however, 
 the pleafure they had given him ; and 
 faid, he had profited fo much at leaft by 
 the occafion, that, for the future, he 
 fliould conceive with fomething lefs reve^ 
 rence of the great queen, and mould 
 proceed with lefs prejudice to form his 
 opinion of her character and admini- 
 ftration. 
 
 MR. ADDISON did not appear quite 
 fatisfied with this fceptical conclufion ; 
 and was going to enforce fome things, 
 which he thought had been touched too 
 (lightly, when Dr. ARBUTHNOT took 
 G 2 notice
 
 84 DIALOGUES M O R A L, & f . 
 
 notice that their walk was now at an end - 9 
 the path, they had taken, having by this 
 time brought them round again to the 
 walls of the caftk. Befides, he faid, he 
 found himfelf much weaned with this 
 exercife ; though the warmth of debate, 
 and the opportunities he took of refting 
 himfelf at times, had kept him from com- 
 plaining of it. He propofed, therefore, 
 getting into the coach as ibon as pofiible , 
 where, though the converfation was in 
 fome fort refumed, there was nothing 
 material enough advanced on either fide 
 to make it neceffary for me to continue 
 this recital any further. 
 
 DIA-
 
 DIALOGUE V. 
 
 On the CONSTITUTION of the 
 ENGLISH Government. 
 
 SIR JOHN" MAYNARD, MR. SOMERS, 
 BISHOP BURNET []. 
 
 TO DR. TILLOTSON. 
 
 THOUGH the principles of nature 
 and common fenfe do fully autho- 
 rife refiftance to the civil magiftrate in 
 extreme cafes, and of courfe juftify the 
 
 [a] The fubjea of thefe Dialogues, on the Englifo 
 ConftitutioH, is the moft important in Englijh politic?. 
 -To cite all the paiTages from our beft antiquaries 
 and hiltorians, out of which this work was formed, 
 and which lay before the writer in compofing it, 
 would fwell this volume to an immoderate ilze. It 
 is enough to fay, that nothing material is advanced 
 in the courfe of the argument, but en the beft au- 
 thority. 
 
 G 3 late
 
 86' DIALOG.UBS MORAL 
 
 late Revolution to every candid and dif- 
 paflionate man ; yet I am fenfible, my 
 excellent friend, there are many preju- 
 dices which hinder the glorious proceed- 
 ings in that affair from being feen jn 
 their true light. The principal of them, 
 indeed, are founded on falfe fyftems of 
 policy, and thofe tied down on the con- 
 fciences of men by wrong notions of re- 
 IFgion. And fnch as thefe, no doubt, 
 through the experience of a better go- 
 vernment, and a jufter turn of thinking, 
 which may be expected to prevail in our 
 times, will gradually fall away of them- 
 felves. 
 
 BUT there is another fet of notions on 
 this fubjecT:, not fo eafy to be difcredited, 
 and which are likely to keep their hold 
 on the minds even of the more fober 
 and confiderate fort of men. For what- 
 ever advantage the caufe of liberty may 
 receive from general reafonings on the 
 origin and nature of civil government, 
 
 the
 
 AND POLITICAL. 87 
 
 the greater part of our countrymen will 
 confider, and perhaps rightly, the in- 
 quiry into the conftitution of their own 
 government, as a queftion of FACT ; that 
 muft be tried by authorities and prece- 
 dents only j and decided at laft by the 
 evidence of hiftorical teftimony, not by 
 the conclufions of philofophy or political 
 fpeculation. 
 
 Now, though we are agreed that this 
 way of managing the controverfy muft, 
 when fully and fairly purfued, be much 
 in favour of the new fettlement, yet nei- 
 ther, I think, is it for every man's han- 
 dling, nor is the evidence refulting from 
 it of a nature to compel our afient. 
 The argument is formed on a vaft variety 
 of particulars, to be collected only from 
 a large and intimate acquaintance with 
 the antiquities, laws, and ufages of the 
 kingdom. Our printed hiftories are not 
 only very fhort and imperfect ; but the 
 original records, which the curious have 
 G 4 in
 
 88 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 in their pofiefllon, are either fo obfcure 
 or fo fcanty, that a willing adverfary 
 hath always in readinefs fome objection, 
 or fome cavil at lead, to oppofe to the 
 evidence that may be drawn from them. 
 Befides, appearances, even in the plained 
 and moft unqueftioned parts of our hif- 
 tory, are fometimes fo contradictory , 
 arifmg either from the tyranny of the 
 prince, the neglect of the people, or 
 fome other circumftance of the times ; 
 and, to crown all, the queftion itfelf hath 
 been fo involved by the difputations of 
 prejudiced and defigning men; that the 
 more intelligent inquirer is almott at a 
 lofs to determine for himfelf, on which 
 fide the force of evidence lies. 
 
 O\* this account I have frequently 
 thought with myfelf, that a right good 
 CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY of England 
 would be the nobleft fcrvice that any 
 man, duly qualified for the execution of 
 fuch a work, could reader to his country. 
 
 For
 
 AND POLITICAL. 89 
 
 Fey though, as I faid, the fubject be ob- 
 fcure in itfelf, and perplexed by the fub- 
 tilties which contending parties have in- 
 vented for the fupport of their feveral 
 fchemes ; yet, from all I have been able 
 to obferve in the courfe of my own read- 
 ing, or converfation, there is little doubt 
 but that the form of the Englijh govern- 
 ment hath, at all times, been FREE. So 
 that, if fucli a hiftory were drawn up 
 with fufficient care out of our authentic 
 papers and public monuments, it would 
 not only be matter of entertainment to 
 the curious, but the greateft fecurky to 
 every Englijhman of his religious and 
 civil rights. For what can be conceived 
 more likely to preferve and perpetuate 
 thefe rights, than the ftanding evidence 
 which fuch a work would afford, of the 
 genuine fpirit and temper of the confti- 
 tution ? Of the principles of freedom [], 
 
 on 
 
 \b~\ That is, of the feudal laiv : which was one 
 of the fubje&s explained by the bifhop to his royal 
 pupil the duke of Gloucejler. " I acquainted him,
 
 90 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 on which it was formed, and on which 
 it hath been continually and uniformly 
 conducted? Our youth, who at prefent 
 amufe themfelves with little more than 
 ihe military part of our annals, would 
 then have an eafy opportunity of feeing to 
 the bottom of all our civil and domeftic 
 broils. They would know on what pre- 
 tences the PREROGATIVE of our kings 
 hath fometimes afpired to exalt itfelf 
 above control ; and would learn to re- 
 vere the magnanimity of their fore- 
 fathers, who as conftantly fucceeded in 
 their endeavours to reduce it within the 
 ancient limits and boundaries of the LAW. 
 In a word, they would no longer reft on 
 the furface and outfide, as it were, of the 
 Englijb affairs, but would penetrate the 
 interior parts of our constitution ; and 
 
 fays he, with all the great revolutions that had been 
 in the world, and gave him a copious account of the 
 Greek and Roman hiftories, and of PLUTARCH'S 
 lives : the laft thing I explained to him was the 
 Gothic conftitution, aud the BENEFICIARY AND 
 FEUDAL LAWS.*' [HisT. of his own Times, vol. iv, 
 p. 357. Edinl. 1753.} 
 
 lurnilh
 
 A N D P O L I T I C A L; 91 
 
 furnifh themfelves with a competent de- 
 gree of civil and political wifdom; the 
 moft folid fruit that can be gathered 
 from the knowledge and experience of 
 pad times. 
 
 AND I am ready to think that fuch a 
 provifion as this, for the inftruclion of 
 the Englijh youth, may be the more re- 
 quifite, on account of that limited indeed, 
 yet awful form of government, under 
 which we live. For, befides the name, 
 and other enfigns of majefty, in common 
 with thofe who wear the moft defpotic 
 crown, the whole execution of our laws, 
 and the active part of government, is in 
 the hands of the prince. And this pre- 
 eminence gives him fo refpeclable a figure 
 in the eyes of his fubjecls, and prefents 
 him fo conftantly, and with fuch luftre 
 of authority, to their minds, that it is no 
 wonder they are fornetimes difpofed to 
 Advance him from the rank of firft m,a- 
 
 giftrate
 
 92 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 giftrate of a free people, into that of fu- 
 preme and fole arbiter of the laws. 
 
 So that, unlefs thefe prejudices are 
 corrected by the knowledge of our con- 
 ftitutional hiftory, there is conftant rea- 
 fon to apprehend, not only that the 
 royal authority may ftretch itfelf beyond 
 due bounds ; but may grow, at length* 
 into that enormous tyranny, from]which 
 this nation hath been at other times fo 
 happily, and now of late fo wonderfully, 
 redeemed. 
 
 BUT I fuffer myfelf to be carried by 
 thefe reflexions much further than I de- 
 figned. I would only fay to you, that, 
 having fometimes refte&ed very ferioufly 
 on this fubject, it was with the highefb 
 pleafure I heard it difcourfed of the 
 other day by two of the moft accom- 
 pliflied lawyers of our age : the venera- 
 ble Sir JOHN MAYNARD, who, for a long 
 courfe of years, hath maintained the 
 
 full
 
 AND POLITICAL. 93 
 
 full credit and dignity of his profefllon ; 
 and Mr. SOMERS, who, though a young 
 man, is rifing apace, and with proportion- 
 able merits, into all the honours of it. 
 
 I WAS very attentive, as you may fup- 
 pofe, to the progrcfs of this remarkable 
 converfation ; and, as I had the honour 
 to bear a full mare in it mylelf, I may 
 the rather undertake to give you a par- 
 ticular account of it. 1 know the plea- 
 fure it will give you to fee a fubjecl, 
 you have much at heart, and which we 
 have frequently talked over in the late 
 times, thoroughly canvafied, and cleared 
 up, as I think it muft be, to your entire 
 fatisfaction. 
 
 It was within a day or two after that 
 great event, fo pleafing to all true Eng- 
 lijhmen^ THE CORONATION OF THEIR 
 MAJESTIES [V], that Mr. SOMERS and I 
 went, as we fometimes ufed, to pafs an 
 
 [c] On April u, 1689. 
 
 3 evening
 
 94 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 evening with our excellent friend, my 
 Lord Commiffioner [d\. I fhall not 
 heed to attempt his chara&er to you* 
 who know him fo well. It is enough to 
 fay, that his faculties and fpirits are, 
 even in this maturity of age, in great 
 vigour. And it feems as if this joyful 
 Revolution, fo agreeable to his hopes and 
 principles, had given a frefh fpring and 
 elasticity to both. 
 
 THE converfation of courfe turned on 
 the late auguft ceremony; the mention 
 of which awakened a fort of rapture in 
 the good old man, which made him over- 
 flow in his meditations upon it. Seeing 
 us in admiration of the zeal, which 
 tranfported him, " Bear with me, faid 
 he, my young friends. Age, you know, 
 hath its privilege. And it may be, I ufe 
 it fomewhat unreafonably. But I, who 
 have feen the prize of liberty contend- 
 
 [d] Of the great feal The other lawyers ia 
 comtniffion were K&CK and RAWMNSON. 
 
 ing
 
 AND POLITICAL. 95 
 
 ing for through half a century, to find 
 it obtained at laft by a method fo fure, 
 and yet fo unexpected, do you think it 
 poilible that I fhould contain myfelf on 
 fuch an occafion ? Oh, if he had lived 
 with me in thofe days when fuch mighty 
 ftruggles Were made for public freedom, 
 when fo many wife counfels mifcarried, 
 and fo many generous enterprifes con- 
 cluded but in the confirmation of law- 
 lefs tyranny ; if, I fay, ye had lived in 
 thofe days, and now at length were able 
 to contrail with me, to the tragedies that 
 were then afted, this fafe, this bloodlefs, 
 this complete deliverance : I am miftaken, 
 if the youngeft of you could reprove me 
 for this joy, which makes me think I can 
 never fay enough on fo delightful a fub- 
 
 jea. 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 REPROVE you, my lord? Alas! we 
 are neither of us fo unexperienced in 
 what hath pafled of late in thefe king- 
 doms, as not to rejoice with you to the 
 
 utmoft
 
 9 6 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 utmoft for this aftonifhing deliverance. 
 You know, I might boail of being among 
 the firft that wilhed for, I will not fay 
 projected, the meafures by which it 
 hath been accomplimed. And for Mr. 
 SOMERS, the church of England will 
 tell 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 . I CONFESS, my warmeft wiflics have 
 ever gone along with thofe who conduct- 
 ed this noble enterprife. And I pretend 
 to as fincere a pleafure as any man, in 
 the completion of it. Yet, if it were 
 not unreafonable at fuch a time, I might 
 be tempted to mention one circumftance, 
 which, I know not how, a little abates 
 the joy of thcfe triumphant gratulations. 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 Is not the fettkment then to your 
 mind ? Or hath any precaution been neg- 
 lected, which you think neceflary for the 
 more effectual fecurity of our liberties ? 
 
 MR.
 
 AND POLITICAL. 97 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 NOT that. I think the provifion for 
 the people's right as ample as needs be 
 defined. Or, if any further refractions 
 on the crown be thought proper, it will 
 now be eafy for the people, in a regular 
 parliamentary way, to effect it. What I 
 mean is a confederation of much more 
 importance. 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 THE pretended prince of WALES, yon 
 think, will be raifmg fome disturbance, 
 or alarm at leaft, to the new government. 
 I believe, I may take upon me to give 
 you perfect fatisfaction upon that fub- 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 STILL your conjectures fall fhort or 
 wide of my meaning. Our new MAGNA 
 
 (Y) This was a favourite fubjeft with our gooi 
 bifhop ; and how qualified he was to difcufs it, even 
 in its minuteft particularities, may be learnt from 
 his hiftory at large. 
 
 VOL. II. H CHARTA,
 
 9 3 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 CHARTA, as I love to call the Declara- 
 tion of rights, feems a fufficient barrier 
 againft any future encroachments of the 
 CROWN. And I think, the pretended 
 prince of WALES, whatever be determin- 
 ed of his birth, a mere phantom, that may 
 amufe, and perhaps difquiet, the weaker 
 fort for a while; but, if left to itfelf[/], 
 will foon vanifti out of the minds of the 
 PEOPLE. Not but I allow that even fo 
 thin a pretence as this may, fome time 
 or other, be conjured up to diilurb 
 the government. But it muft be, when 
 a certain fet of principles are called in 
 aid to iupport it. And, to fave you the 
 further trouble of gueffing, I mail freely 
 tell you, what thofe principles are. You 
 will fee, in them, the ground of my pre- 
 fent fears and apprehenfions. 
 
 [/] It was not thus left to itfelf, but was nurfecl 
 and foftered with great care by the preachers of di- 
 vine indeftafible hereditary right, in this and the fol- 
 lowing reign. 
 
 IT
 
 A N E> P O L I T I C A L. 9g 
 
 IT might be imagined that fo ne.ce.f- 
 fary a Revolution, as that which ha:h. 
 taken place, would fufficiently apprqv^ 
 itfelf to all reafonable men. And it ap- 
 pears, in fact, to have done fq, nQw that 
 the public injuries are frefb, and the 
 general refentment of them flrong and 
 lively. But it too often happens, tbac 
 when the evil is once removed, it is pre- 
 fently forgotten: and in matters of go- 
 vernment efpecially, where the people 
 rarely think till they are made to feel, 
 when the grievance is taken away, the 
 falfe fyftem eafily returns, and fornetimes 
 with redoubled force a which had given, 
 birth to it. 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 ONE can readily admit the principles, 
 But the conclufion, you propofe to draw 
 from them 
 
 g MR. SQMER$. 
 
 THIS very important one, " That, if 
 
 the late change of government wa$ 
 
 H 2 brought
 
 ioo DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 brought about, and can be defended only, 
 on the principles of liberty j the fettle- 
 ment, introduced by it, can be thought 
 fecure no longer than while thofe prin- 
 ciples are rightly underftood, and gene- 
 rally admitted." 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 BUT what reafon is there to appre- 
 hend that thefe principles, fo commonly 
 profefled and publickly avowed, will not 
 continue to be kept up in full vigour ? 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 BECAUSE, I doubt, they are fo com- 
 monly and publickly avowed, only to ferve 
 a prefent turn; and not becaufe they 
 come from the heart, or are entertained 
 on any juft ground of conviction. 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 VERY likely : and confidering the 
 pains that have been taken to pofTefs the 
 minds of men with other notions of go- 
 vernment,
 
 AND POLITICAL. 101 
 
 vernment, the wonder, is, how they came 
 to be entertained at all. Yet furely the 
 experience of better times may be ex- 
 pecled to do much. Men will of courfe 
 think more juflly on thefe fubjects in 
 proportion as they find themfelves more 
 happy. And thus the principles, which, 
 as you fay, were firft pretended to out of 
 necefiity, will be followed out of choice, 
 and bound upon them by the conclufions 
 of their own reafon. 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 I WISH your lordmip be not too fan- 
 guine in thefe expectations. It is not to 
 be conceived how infenfible the people 
 are to the bleffings they enjoy, and how 
 eafily they forget their paft miferies. So 
 that, if their principles have not taken 
 deep root, I would not anfwer for their 
 continuing much longer than it ferved 
 their purpofe to make a Ihew of them. 
 
 H 3 SIR.
 
 loa DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARC. 
 
 I MUST confefs, that all my experience 
 of mankind inclines me to this opinion. 
 I cotrld relate to you fome ftrange in- 
 ftances-of the fort, Mr. SOMERS hints at. 
 But after all, Sir, you do not indulge thefe 
 apprehenfions, en account of the general 
 ficklenefs of human nature. You have 
 Fome more particular reafons for con- 
 cluding that the fyftem of liberty, which 
 hath worked fuch wonders of late, is not 
 likely to maintain its ground amongft us. 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 I HAVE : and I was going to explain 
 thoie reafons, if my lord of SALISBURY 
 had not a litde diverted me from the 
 purTuitof them. 
 
 IT is very notorious from the common 
 difcourfe of men even on this great oc- 
 cafion (and I vvifh it had not appeared 
 too evidently in the debates of the houfes), 
 
 that
 
 AND POLITICAL. 103 
 
 that very many of us have but crude 
 notions of the form of government un- 
 der which we live, and which hath been 
 tranfmitted to us from our forefathers, 
 I have met with perfons of no mean 
 rank, and fuppofed to be well feen in 
 the hiflory of the kingdom, who fpeak 
 a very ftrange language. They allow* 
 indeed, that fomething was to be done 
 in the perilous circumftances into which 
 we had fallen. But, when they come to 
 explain themfelves, it is in a way that 
 leaves us no right to do any thing; at 
 lead, not what it was found expedient 
 for the nation to do at this juncture. 
 For they contend in fo many words, 
 " that the crown of England, is aljolute\ 
 that the form of government is an entire 
 and fimple monarchy, and that fo it hath 
 continued to be in every period of k 
 down to the Abdication : that the CON- 
 QUEST, at lead, to afcend no higher, in- 
 verted the FIRST WILLIAM in abfolute 
 dominion j that from him it devolved of 
 H 4 courfc
 
 164 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 courfe upon his fuccefibrs; and that all 
 the pretended rights of the people, the 
 GREAT CHARTERS of ancient and mo- 
 dern date, were mere uiurpations on the 
 prince, extorted from him by the ne- 
 ceffity of his affairs, and revocable at his 
 pleafure : nay, they infmuate that parlia- 
 ments themfelves were the creatures of 
 his will; that their privileges were all 
 derived from the fovereign's grant; and 
 that they made no part in the original 
 frame and texture of the Englijh go- 
 vernment, 
 
 IN fupport of this extraordinary 
 fyftem, they refer us to the conftant 
 tenor of our hiftory. They fpeak of 
 the Conqueror, as proprietary of the 
 whole kingdom : which accordingly, they 
 fay, he parcelled out, as he faw fit, in 
 grants to his -Norman and Englijh fub- 
 jects : that, through his partial confidera- 
 tion of the church, and an excefilve li- 
 berality to his favoured fervants, this 
 
 diftri-
 
 A ND POLITICAL. is* 
 
 diftribution was fo ill made, as to give 
 occafion to all the broils and contentions 
 that followed: that the church'-men be- 
 gan their unnatural claim of indepen- 
 dency on the crown; in which attempt 
 they were foon foHowed by the en- 
 croaching and too powerful barcns: thar, 
 in thefe ftrnggles, many flowers of the 
 crown were rudely torn from it, till a 
 fort of truce was made, and the rebel- 
 lious humour fomewhat compofcd, by the 
 extorted articles of RUNNING-MEDE : 
 that thefe confufions, however, were af- 
 terwards renewed, and even increafed, 
 by the contefts of the two houfes of 
 YORK and LANCASTER: but that, upon 
 the union of the rofes in the perfon of 
 HENRV VII, thefe commotions were fi- 
 nally appeafed, and the crown reftored 
 to its antient dignity and luftre : that, 
 indeed the ufage of parliaments, with 
 fome other forms of popular adminiftra-. 
 tion, which had been permitted in the 
 former irregular reigns, was continued-, 
 
 but
 
 ie>6 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 but of the mere grace of the prince, and 
 without any confequence to his prero- 
 gative: that fucceeding kings, and even 
 H : ;NRY himfelf, confidered themfelves as 
 poffeflcd of an imperial crown ; and that, 
 though they might fometimes condefcend 
 to take the advice, they were abfolutely 
 above the control, of the people: in 
 fhort, that the law itfelf was but the will 
 of the prince, declared in parliament ; or 
 rather folemnly received and attefted 
 there, for the better information aad 
 more entire obedience of the fubjecl:. 
 
 THIS they deliver as a juft and fair 
 account of the Englijh government; the 
 genius of which, they fay, is abfolute 
 and defpotic in the higheft degrees as 
 much fo, at leaft, as that of any other 
 monarch in Europe. They afk, with 
 an air of infult, what reftraint our 
 HENRY VIII, and our admired ELIZA- 
 BETH, would ever fuffer to be put on 
 their prerogative , and they mention 
 
 with
 
 A N D P O L I T I C A L. 107 
 
 xvith derifion the fancy of dating the 
 high pretenfions of the crown from the 
 acccffion of the STITART family. They 
 affirm, that JAMES I, and his fon, aimed 
 only to continue the government on the 
 footing on which they had received it; 
 that their notions of it were authorized 
 by conftant fact ; by the evidence of our 
 hiftories j by the language of parlia- 
 ments ; by the concurrent fenfe of every 
 order of men amongft us : and that what 
 followed in the middle of this century 
 was the mere effect of POPULAR, as many 
 former diforders had been of PATRICIAN, 
 violence. In a word, they conclude with 
 faying, that the old government revived 
 again at the RESTORATION, juft as, in 
 like circumftances, it had done before at 
 the UNION of the two houfes : that, in 
 truth, the voluntary defertion of the late 
 king had given a colour to the innova- 
 tion of the prefent year; but that, till 
 this new fettjement was made, the Enghjh 
 conftitution, as implying fomething dif- 
 ferent
 
 ic8 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 ferent from pure monarchy, was an un- 
 intelligible notion, or rather a mere 
 vvhimfy,. that had not the lead foundation 
 in truth orhiftory." 
 
 THIS is a fummary of the doclrines, 
 which I doubt, are too current amongft 
 us. I do not fpeak of the bigoted adhe- 
 rents to the late king; but of many 
 cooler and more difinterefted men, whole 
 religious principles, as 1 fuppofe (for it 
 appears it could not be their political)) 
 had engaged. them to concur in the new 
 fettlement. You will judge, then, if 
 there be not reafon to apprehend much 
 mifchief from the prevalence and propa- 
 gation of fuch afyftem : a fyftem, which, 
 as t>eing, in the language of the patrons 
 of it, founded upon faff, is the more 
 likely to impofe upon the people -, and, 
 as referring to the praclice of antient 
 times, is not for every man's confutation. 
 I repeat ir, therefore; if this notion of the 
 d.efpotic form of our government become 
 
 general,
 
 AND POLITICAL. 109 
 
 general, I tremble to think what effect 
 it may hereafter produce on the minds 
 cf men ; efpecially when joined to chat 
 falfe tendernefs, which tiie people of 
 England are fo apt to entertain for their 
 princes, even the word of them, under 
 misfortune. I might further obiervc, 
 that this prerogative-fyftem hath a dired: 
 tendency to produce, as well as heighten, 
 this companion to the fovereign. And I 
 make no fcruple to lay it before you 
 with all its circumftances, becaufe I know 
 to whom I fpeak, and that I could not 
 have wifhed for a better opportunity of 
 hearing it confuted. 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 I MUST own, though I was fomewhat 
 unwilling to give way to fuch melan- 
 choly apprehenfions at this time, I thinlc 
 with Mr. SOMERS, there is but too- much 
 reafon to entertain them. For my own 
 part, I am apt to look no further for the 
 
 rirbt
 
 no DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 right of the legiflature to fettle the go- 
 vernment in their own way, than their 
 own free votes and refolutions. For, 
 being ufed to confider all political power 
 as coming originally from the people, 
 it feems to me but fitting that they 
 fhould difpofe of that power for their 
 own life, in what hands, and under what 
 conditions, they pleafe. Yet, as much 
 regard is due to eftablifhed forms and 
 antient prefcriptton, 1 think the matter 
 of faff of great confequence; and, if the 
 people in general ihould once conceive 
 of it according to this reprefentation, I 
 fhould be very anxious for the ifiue of 
 fo dangerous an opinion. I muft needs, 
 therefore, join very entirely with Mr. 
 SOMERS, in wilhing to. hear the whole 
 fubject canvafled, or rather finally deter- 
 mined, as it muft be if Sir JOHN MAV- 
 NARD will do us the pleafure to acquaint 
 us what his fentiments are upon it. 
 
 SIR
 
 AN 7 D POLITICAL. n 
 
 SIR J. MAYNAUD. 
 
 TRULY, my good friends, you have 
 opened a very notable caufe, and in good 
 form. Only, methinks, a little lefs fo- 
 lemnky, if you had fo pleafed, might 
 have better fuited the occafion. Why, 
 I could almoft laugh, to hear you talk of 
 fears and dangers from a phantom of 
 your own raifing. I certainly believe 
 the common proverb belies us , and that 
 old age is not that daftardly thing it hath 
 been reprefented. For, inftead of being 
 terrified by this conceit of a prefcriptive 
 right in our fovereigns to tyrannize over 
 the fubject, I am ready to think the con- 
 trary fo evident from the conftant courfe 
 of our hiftory, that the limpleft of the 
 people are in no hazard of falling into 
 the delufion. I fhould rather have ap- 
 prehended mifchief from other quarters ; 
 from the influence of certain fpeculative 
 points, which have been too fuccefsfully 
 propagated of late; and chiefly from thofe 
 3 pernicious
 
 liz DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 pernicious glofles, which too many of my 
 order have made on the letter of the law, 
 and too many of yours, my lord of SALIS- 
 BURY, on that of the gofpel. Truft me, 
 if the matter once come to a queftion of 
 FACT, and the inquiry be only concerning 
 antient form and precedent, the decifion 
 will clearly be in our favour. An J for 
 yourfelves, I affure myfelf, this decifion 
 is already made. But fmce*you are wil- 
 ling to put me upon the talk, and we 
 have leifure enough for fuch an amufe- 
 ment, I fhall very readily undertake it- 
 And the rather, as I have more than once 
 in my life had occafion to go to the bot- 
 tom of this inquiry; and now very lately 
 have taken a pleafure to refleft on the 
 general evidence which hiftory affords of 
 our free conftitution, and to review the 
 fcattered hints and paflages I had formerly 
 fetdown for my private fatisfadion. 
 
 " I UNDERSTAND the queftion to be, 
 not under what form the government 
 
 hath
 
 AND POLITICAL. 113 
 
 hath appeared at fome particular con- 
 junctures, but what we may conclude it 
 to have been from the general current 
 and tenor of our hiftories. More parti- 
 cularly, I conceive, you would afk, not 
 whether the adminiftration hath not at 
 fome feafons been DESPOTIC, but whe- 
 ther the genius of the government hath 
 not at all times been FREE. Or, if you 
 do not think the terms, in which I pro- 
 pofe the queftion, ftrict enough, you will 
 do well to ftate it in your own way, that 
 hereafter we may have no difpute about 
 it. 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 I SUPPOSE, the queftion, as here put, 
 is determinate enough for our purpofc. 
 Or, have you, Mr. SOMERS, any ex- 
 ceptions to make to it ? 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 I BELIEVE we underftand each other 
 
 perfectly well ; the queftion being only 
 
 VOL. II. I this,
 
 IH DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 this, " Whether there be any ground in 
 hiftory, to conclude that the prince hath 
 a conftitutional claim to abfolute uncon- 
 trolable dominion , or, whether the liber- 
 ty of the fubjeft be not efiential to every 
 different form, under which the Englijh 
 government hath appeared ?'* 
 
 SIR j. MAYNARI>. 
 
 You expe<5t of me then to fhew, in 
 oppofition to the fcheme juft now deli- 
 vered by you, that neither from the 
 original conftitution of the government, 
 nor from the various forms (for they 
 have, indeed, been various) under which 
 it hath been adminiftered, is there any 
 reafon to infer, that the Englijh monarchy 
 is, or of right ought to be, defpotk and 
 unlimited. 
 
 Now this I take to be the eafieft of 
 all undertakings; fo very eafy, that I 
 could truft a plain man to determine the 
 matter for himfelf by the light that offers- 
 
 itfelf
 
 AND POLITICAL. n- 
 
 itfelf to him from the flighted of our 
 hiftories. 'Tis true, the deeper his re- 
 iearches go, his conviction will be the 
 clearer ; as any one may fee by dipping 
 into my friend NAT. BACON'S difcourfes 5 
 where our free con dilution is fet forth 
 with that evidence, as muft for ever have 
 filenced the patrons of the other fide, if 
 he had not allowed himfelf to drain 
 fome things beyond what the truth, or 
 indeed his caufe, required. But, faving 
 to myfelf the benefit of his elaborate 
 work, I think it fufficient to take notice, 
 that the fyftem of liberty is fupported 
 even by that fhort fketch of our hiftory, 
 which Mr. SOMERS hath laid before us; 
 and in fpite of the difgnifes, with which, 
 as he tells us, the enemies of liberty have 
 endeavoured to cloak it. 
 
 You do not, I am fure, expect from 
 
 me, that I Ihould go back to the elder 
 
 and more remote parts of our hiftory ; 
 
 I 2 that
 
 ii6 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 that I fhould take upon me to inveftigate 
 the fcheme of government, which hath 
 prevailed in this kingdom from the time 
 that the Roman power departed from us ; 
 or that I mould even lay myfelf out in 
 delineating, as many have done, the plan 
 of the Saxon conftitution : though fuch 
 an attempt might not be unpleafing, nor 
 altogether without its ufe, as the princi- 
 ples of the Saxon policy, and in fome 
 refpects the form of it, have been con- 
 ftantly kept up in every fucceeding 
 period pf the Englift monarchy. I con- 
 tent myfelf with obferving, that the 
 fpirit of liberty was predominant in 
 thofe times : and, for proof of it, appeal 
 at prefent only to one fingle circumftance, 
 which you will think remarkable. Our 
 Saxon anceftors conceived fo little of go- 
 vernment, by the will of the magiftrate, 
 without fixed laws, that LAGA, or LEAGA, 
 which in their language firft and pro- 
 perly fignified the fame as LAW with us, 
 
 was
 
 AND POLITICAL; 117 
 
 was transferred \g] very naturally (for 
 language always conforms itfelf to the 
 genius, temper, and manners of a nation) 
 to fignify a country, diftricl, or province; 
 thefe good people having no notion of any 
 inhabited country not governed by laws. 
 
 Thus D^ENA-LAGA J Mfik KENA-LAGA ; 
 
 \.&\ This cafual rerr.ark feems to determine a fa- 
 mous difpute among the Antiquarians on the fub- 
 }^dl before us. Bifliop NICHOLSON attended fo lit- 
 tle to this tralatitious ufe of words, in which all 
 languages abound, that finding LAG A in feveral 
 places fi^nified a ccuntry, he would needs have it 
 that CAMDEN, LAMBARD, SPELMAN, COWELL, 
 SELDEN, and all our bed Antiquaries, were miltaker, 
 when they fuppofed Laga ever fignified, in the com- 
 pofitions here mentioned, a law. However, his 
 adverfaries among the Antiquarians were even with 
 him ; and finding that Laga, HI thefe compofitions, 
 did fignify a law in feveral places of our ancient laws, 
 hiftori?.ns., and Jawyers, -deny that it ever fignifies a 
 country. Each indeed had a confiderable objeft in 
 view ; the one was bent on overthrowing a fyftem ; 
 the other on fupporting it; namely, that famous 
 threefold body of laws, the Danijh, Mercian, and 
 Weft-Saxon. It muft be owned, the bifhbp could 
 not overthrow the common fyftem, without running 
 into his extreme: it feems, his opponents might 
 have fupported it, without running into theirs. 
 
 I 3 and
 
 ii8 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 and WESTSEXENA-LAGA, were not only 
 ufed in their laws and hiftory to fignify 
 the laws of the Danes, Mercians, and 
 Weft-Saxons, but the countries likewife. 
 Of which ufage I could produce to you 
 many inftances, if I did not prefume that, 
 for fo fmall a matter as this, my mere 
 word might be taken. 
 
 You fee then how fully the fpirit of 
 liberty porTefied the very language of 
 our Saxon forefathers. And it might 
 well do fo : for it was of the efTence of 
 the German conftitutions , a juft notion 
 of which (fo uniform was the genius of 
 the brave people that planned them) 
 may be gathered, you know, from what 
 the Roman hiftorians, and, above all, from 
 what TACITUS hath recorded of them. 
 
 BUT I forbear fo common a topic: 
 and, befides, I think myfelf acquitted of 
 this tafk, by the prudent method, which 
 the defenders of the regal power have 
 
 themfelves
 
 AND POLITICAL. 119 
 
 themfeives taken in conducting this con- 
 troverfy. For, as confcious of the tefti- 
 mOny which ths Saxon times are ready 
 to bear again!! them, they are wife 
 enough to lay the foundation of thtir 
 fyftem in the CONGEST. They look 
 no higher than that event for the origin 
 of the conflitution^ and think they have a 
 notable advantage over us in deducing 
 their notion of the Engii/h government 
 from the form it took in the hands of the 
 Norman invader. But is it not pleafant 
 to hear thefe men calumniate the im- 
 provements that have been made front 
 time to time in the plan of our civil con- 
 ftitution with the name of ufurpaiiovs, 
 when they are not afhamed to eret the 
 ceqftiWion itfelf on what they muft 
 efteem, at leaftj a great and manifeft 
 Ufurpation ? 
 
 BP. feURNET. 
 
 CONQUEST, I fuppofe, in their opi- 
 nion, gives rigbt. And fmce an inquiry 
 into the origin of a conftitution requires 
 I 4 that
 
 120 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 that we fix fomrwbere, confidering the 
 vaft alterations introduced by the Con- 
 queft, and that we have never pretended 
 to reject, but only to improve and com- 
 plete, the duke of NORMANDY'S efta- 
 blifhment ; I believe it may be as proper 
 to fet out from that sera as from any 
 other. 
 
 SIR J. MAVNARD. 
 
 YOUR lordfliip does not imagine that 
 I am about to excufe myfelf from clofing 
 with them, even on their own terms. I 
 intended that queftion only as a reproach 
 to the perfons we have to deal with; 
 who, when a fuccefsful event makes, or 
 but feems to make, for their idol of an 
 abfolute monarchy, call it a regular efta- 
 blifhment: whereas a revolution brought 
 about by the jufteft means, if the caufe 
 of liberty receive an advantage by it, 
 mall be reviled by the name of ufurpa- 
 tion. But let them employ what names 
 they pleafe, provided their facts be well 
 
 grounded.
 
 AND POLITICAL. 121 
 
 grounded. We will allow them to dig- 
 nify the Norman fettlement with the ti- 
 tle of CONSTITUTION. What follows ? 
 That defyotifm was of the efience of that 
 conflitution ? So they tell us indeed ; 
 but without: one word of proof, for the 
 afTertion. For what ! do they think the 
 name of conqueft, or even the thing, im- 
 plies an abfolate unlimited dominion ? 
 Have they forgotten that WILLIAM'S 
 claim to the crown was, not conqueft 
 (though it enabled him to fupport his 
 claim), but teftamentary fuccejjion : a title 
 very much in the tafte of that time [], 
 and extremely reverenced by our Saxon 
 anceftors ? That, even waving this fpeci- 
 ous claim, he condefcended to accept the 
 crown, as a free gift ; and by his coro- 
 nation-oath fubmitted himfelf to the 
 fame terms of adminiftration, as his pre- 
 deceffbrs ? And that, in one word, he con- 
 firmed the Saxon laws, at leaft before 
 
 [b~\ See Hiftorical La-iv-Traflt, vol. i. p. 294. 
 
 he
 
 122 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 he had been many years in pofiefiion of 
 his new dignity [/] ? 
 
 Is there any thing in all this that fa- 
 vours the notion of his erecting himfelf, 
 by the fole virtue of his victory at Haft- 
 ings, into an abfolute lord of the con- 
 quered country ? Is it not certain that he 
 bound himfelf, as far as oaths and de- 
 clarations could bind him, to govern ac- 
 cording to law, that he could neither 
 touch the honours nor eftates of his fub- 
 jefts but by legal trial ; and that even the 
 many forfeitures in his reign are an evi- 
 dence of his proceeding in that method ? 
 
 STILL we are told " of his parcelling 
 out the whole land, upon his own terms, 
 to his followers ;" and are infulted " with 
 
 [*] MILTON did not forget to obferve, in his 
 Tenure of kings and ir.agijiratej, That WILLIAM 
 the Norman, though a Conqueror, and not unfworn 
 at his Coronation, was cofnpelled a fecond time to 
 take oath at St. Allans, ere the people would be 
 brought to yield obedience." Vol. i. of bis Profe 
 4'*, 1753, p. 345- 
 
 his
 
 AND POLITICAL. 123 
 
 his famous inftitution of feudal tenures.'* 
 But what if the former of thefe afler- 
 tions be foreign to the purpofe at leaft, 
 if not falie ; and the latter fubverfive of 
 the very fyftem it is brought to efta- 
 blifti ? I think, I have reafon for putting 
 both thefe queflions. For, what if he 
 parcelled out moft, or all, of the lands 
 of England to his followers ? The fa<5b 
 has been much difputed. But be it, as 
 they pretend, that the property of all the 
 foil in the kingdom had changed hands : 
 What is that to us, who claim under our 
 Norman? as well as Saxon, anceflors ? 
 For the queflion, you fee, is about the 
 form of government fettled in this nation 
 at the time of the Conqueft. And they 
 argue with us, from a fuppofed aft of 
 tyranny in the Conqueror, in order to 
 come at that fettlement. The Saxons, 
 methinks, might be injured, opprefled, 
 enflaved ; and yet the conftitution, tranf- 
 mitted to us through his own Normans, 
 be perfedly free. 
 
 BUT
 
 \z4 DIA.LOGUES MORAL 
 
 BUT their other allegation is dill more 
 unfortunate. " He inftituted, they fay, 
 the feudal law." True. But the feudal 
 law, and abfolute dominion, are two 
 things ; and, what is more, perfectly in- 
 compatible. 
 
 I TAKE upon me to fay, that I mail 
 make out this point in the cleared man- 
 ner. In the mean time, it may help us 
 to underftand the nature of the feudal 
 eftablifhment, to confider the practice of 
 fucceeding times. What that was, our 
 adverfaries themfelves, if you pleafe, 
 fhall inform us. Mr. SOMERS hath told 
 their ftory very fairly ; which yet amounts 
 only to this, " That, throughout the 
 Norman and Plantagenet lines, there was 
 one perpetual conteft between the prince 
 and his feudataries for law and liberty :" 
 an evident proof of the light in which 
 our forefathers regarded the Norman 
 conftitution. In the competition of the 
 
 two
 
 AND POLITIC AL. i- 
 
 two ROSES, and perhaps before, they 
 loft fight indeed of this prize. But no 
 fooner was the public tranquillity re- 
 ffored, and the contending claims united 
 in HENRY VII, than the old fpirit revived. 
 A legal conftitution became the conftant 
 object of the people -, and, though not al- 
 ways avowed, was, in effect, as conftantly 
 fubmitted to by the fovereign. 
 
 IT may be true, perhaps, that the 
 ability of one prince [], the imperious 
 carriage of another [/J, and the generous 
 intrigues of a third [m] ; but above all, 
 the condition of the times, and a fenfe of 
 former miferies, kept down the fpirit of 
 liberty for Come reigns, or diminished, at 
 leaft, the force and vigour of its opera- 
 tions. But a paflive fubjection was never 
 acknowledged, certainly never demanded 
 as matter of right, till ELIZABETH now 
 and then, and King JAMES, by talking 
 
 [J] HENRY VII. [/] HENRY VIII. 
 
 [m] ELIZABETH, 
 
 continually
 
 126 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 continually in this frrain, awakened the 
 national jealoufy; which proved fo un- 
 eafy to himfelf, and, in the end, fo fatal 
 to his family. 
 
 I CANNOT allow rnyfelf to mention 
 thefe things more in detail to you, who 
 have fo perfect a knowledge of them. 
 One thing only I infift upon, that, with- 
 out connecting the fyftem of liberty with 
 that of prerogative in our notion of the 
 Englijh government, the tenor of our 
 hiftory is perfectly unintelligible ; and 
 that no confident account can be given of 
 it, but on the fuppofition of a LEGAL 
 
 LIMITED CONSTITUTION. 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 YET that conftitution, it will be 
 thought, was at leail ill defined, which 
 could give occafion to fo many fierce dif- 
 putes, and thofe carried on through fo 
 long a tract of time, between the crown 
 and the fubject. 
 
 5 SIR
 
 AND PO LITIC AL, 127 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 THE fault, if there was one, lay in the 
 priginal plan of the constitution itfelf ; 
 as you will clearly fee when I have open- 
 ed the nature of it, that is, when I have 
 explained the genius, views, and confe- 
 quences of the FEUDAL POLICY. It 
 muft, however, be affirmed, that this 
 policy was founded in the principles of 
 freedom, and was, in truth, excellently 
 adapted to an active, fierce, and military 
 people ; fuch as were all thofe to whom 
 thefe weftern parts of Europe have been 
 indebted for their civil conftitutions. 
 But betwixt the burdenfome lervices 
 impofed on the fubject by this tenure, 
 or which it gave at leaft the pretence 
 of exacting from him, and the too great 
 reftraint which an unequal and difpro- 
 portioned allotment of feuds to the 
 greater barons laid on the fovereign ; 
 but above all, by narrowing the plan of 
 liberty too much j and, while it itemed 
 
 to-
 
 1-8 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 to provide for the dependency of the 
 prince on one part of his fubjects, by 
 leaving both him and them in a condition 
 to exercife an arbitrary dominion over 
 all others : hence it came to pafs that 
 the feudal policy naturally produced the 
 ftruggles and convulfions, you fpoke of, 
 till it was feen in the end to be altoge- 
 ther unfuited to the circumftances of a 
 rich, civilized, and commercial people. 
 The event was, that the inconveniences, 
 perceived in this form of government, 
 gradually made way for the introduction 
 of a better ; which was not, however, fo 
 properly a new form, as the old one 
 amended and fet right ; cleared of its 
 mifchiefs and inconfiftencies, but con- 
 ducted on the fame principles as the for- 
 mer, and purfuing the fame end, though 
 by different methods. 
 
 IT is commonly faid, " That the feudal 
 tenures were introduced at the Conqueft." 
 But how are we to underftand this afler- 
 
 tion ?
 
 AND PO L ITIC AL. I29 
 
 tion ? Certainly, not as if the whole 
 fyftem of military fervices had been 
 created by the Conqueror-, for they 
 were eflential to all the Gothic or German 
 conftitutions. We may fuppofe then, 
 that they were only new modelled by 
 this great prince. And who can doubc 
 that the form, which was now given to 
 them, would be copied from that which 
 the Norman had ieen eftablifhed in his 
 own country? It would be copied then 
 from the proper FEUDAL FORM-, the 
 effence of which confuted in the perpe- 
 tuity of the feud \n\ ; whereas thefe 
 military tenures had been elfewhere 
 temporary only, or revocable at the will 
 of the lord. 
 
 BUT to enter fully into the idea of 
 the feudal conftitution ; to fee at what 
 time, and in what manner, it was intro- 
 duced : above all, to comprehend the rea- 
 
 [] PROPRIA FEUDI NATURA EST UT SIT PER- 
 
 PETUA. CujACiUS, LlTTLElON. 
 
 VOL. II. K fons
 
 r 3 o DIALOGUES MORAE 
 
 fons that occafioned this great change;-, 
 it will be convenient to look back to the 
 eftate of France, and efpecially of Nor- 
 mandy 9 where this conftitution had, for 
 fome years, taken place before it was 
 transferred to us at the Conqueil. 
 
 UNDER the firft princes of the Carlo- 
 vingian line, the lands of France were 
 of two kinds, ALLODIAL, and BENE- 
 FICIARY. The 'allodial, were eftates of 
 inheritance; the perfons pofleffing them, 
 were called HOMMES LIBRES. The 
 beneficiary, were held by grants from 
 the crown. The perfons holding imme- 
 diately under the emperor, were called 
 LEUDES ; the fub-tenants, VASSALS. 
 
 FURTHER, the allodial lands were 
 alienable, as well as hereditary. The 
 beneficiary were properly neither. They 
 were held for life, or a term of years, at 
 the will of the lord, and reverted to him 
 
 on
 
 AND POLITICAL. 131 
 
 on the expiration of the term for which 
 they were granted* 
 
 I DO not flay to explain thefe inftitu- 
 tions minutely. It is of more importance 
 to fee the alterations that were after- 
 wards made in them. And the FIRST 
 will be thought a ftrange one. 
 
 THE pofleflbrs of allodial lands, in 
 France^ were defirous to have them 
 changed into tenures. They who held 
 of the crown in capite were entitled to 
 fome diftinctions and privileges, which 
 the allodial lords wifhed to obtain; and 
 therefore many of them furrendered 
 their lands to the emperor, and received 
 them again of him, in the way of tenure. 
 This practice had taken place occafion- 
 ally from the earlieft times : but under 
 CHARLES the Bald, it became almoil 
 general; and free-men not only chofe to 
 hold of the emperor, but of other lords. 
 This laft was firfl allowed, in confequence 
 K 2 of
 
 r 3 2 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 of a treaty between the three brothers, 
 after the battle of Fontenay in 847. 
 
 BUT thefe free-men were not fo ill ad- 
 vifed as to make their eftates precarious, 
 or to accept a life-eftate inftead of 
 an inheritance. It was requifite they 
 fhould hold for a perpetuity. And this 
 I take to have been the true origin of 
 hereditary feuds. Moft probably, in 
 thofe dangerous times, little people could 
 not be fafe without a lord to protect 
 them: and the price of this protection 
 was the change of propriety into tenure. 
 
 THE fecond change was by a law 
 made under the fame emperor in the 
 year 877, the laft of his reign. It was 
 then enacted, that beneficiary eftates 
 held under the crown mould defcend to 
 the fons of the prefent pofTefibrs : yet 
 not, as I conceive, to the eldeft fon; but 
 to him whom the emperor mould chufe : 
 nor did this law affect the eftates only, 
 
 but
 
 A ND POLITIC AL. 133 
 
 but offices, which had hitherto been alfo 
 beneficiary ; and fo the fons of counts, 
 marquifes, &c. (which were all names 
 of offices, not titles of honour) were to 
 fucceed to the authority of their fathers, 
 and to the benefice annexed to it. The 
 new feuds, created in allodial lands, had, 
 I fuppofe, made the emperor's tenants 
 defirous of holding on the fame terms : 
 and the weaknefs of the reigning prince 
 enabled them to fucceed in this firft ftep, 
 which prepared the way for a revolution 
 of ftill more importance. For, 
 
 THE THIRD change, by which the in- 
 heritance of beneficiary lands and offices 
 was extended to perpetuity, and the pof- 
 feffion rendered almofl independent of 
 the crown, was not, we may be fure, 
 effected at once, but by degrees. The 
 family of CHARLEMAGNE loft the em- 
 pire: they refilled with great difficulty 
 the incurfions of the Normans-, and in 
 the year 911, Normandy was granted to 
 K 3 them
 
 i 3 4 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 them as an hereditary fee. The great 
 lords made their advantage of the pub- 
 lic calamities; they defended the king 
 on what terms they pleafed ; if not com- 
 plied with in tneir demands, they refufed 
 their afliftance in the mod critical con- 
 junctures: and before the accefiion of 
 HUGH CAPET, had entirely fhaken off 
 their dependence on the crown. For it 
 is, I think, a vulgar miftake to fay, that 
 this great revolution was the effect of 
 HUGH'S policy. On the contrary, the 
 independence of the nobles, already ac- 
 quired, was, as it feems to me, the caufe 
 of his fuccefs. The prince had no au- 
 thority left, but over his own demefnes ; 
 which were lefs confiderable than the 
 pofTeffions of fomeof his nobles. HUGH 
 had one of the largeft fiefs: and for this 
 reafon, his ufurpation added to the 
 power of the crown, inftead of leffening 
 it, as is commonly imagined. But to 
 bring back the feuds of the other no- 
 bles to their former precarious condition 
 
 was
 
 AND POLITICAL. 135 
 
 was a thing impoflible : ' his authority 
 was partly fupported by fuperior wif- 
 dom, and partly by fuperior ftrength, his 
 vafTals being more numerous than thofe 
 of any other lord. 
 
 I CANNOT tell if thefe foreigners, 
 when they adopted the feudal plan, were 
 immediately aware of all the confe- 
 quences of it. An hereditary tenure 
 was doubtlefs, a prodigious acquifition.; 
 yet the advantage was fomething coun- 
 ter-balanced by the great number of 
 impofitions which the nature of the 
 change brought with it. Thefe impofi- 
 tions are what, in refped of the lord, are 
 called his FRUITS of tenure; fuch as 
 WARDSHIP, MARRIAGE, RELIEF, and 
 other fervices : and were the neceffary 
 confequence of the king's parting with 
 his arbitrary difpofal of thefe tenures. 
 For now that the right of inheritance 
 was in the tenant, it feemed but reafon- 
 able, and, without this provifion, the 
 K 4 feudal
 
 136 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 feudal policy could not have obtained its 
 end, that the prince, in thefe ieveral 
 ways, fhould fecure to himftrlf the ho- 
 nour, fafety, and defence, which the very 
 nature of the conftitution implied and in- 
 tended. Hence hereditary feuds were 
 very reafonably clogged with the obliga- 
 tions I have mentioned ; which, though 
 trifling in companion with the difad- 
 vantages of a precarious tenure, were 
 yet at lead fome check on the indepen- 
 dency acquired. However, thefe fervice?, 
 which were due to the king under the 
 new model, were alfo due to the tenant in 
 chief from thofe who held of him by the 
 like tenure. And fo the barons, or 
 great proprietaries of land, confidering 
 more perhaps the fubjeclion of their 
 own vafTals, than that by which them- 
 felves were bound to their fovereign, 
 reckoned thefe burdens as nothing, with 
 refpecl: to what they had gained by an 
 hereditary fucceffion. 
 
 Tut
 
 A N D P O L I T I C A L. 137 
 
 THE example of thefe French feuda- 
 taries, we may fuppofe, would be catch- 
 ing. We accordingly find it followed, in 
 due time, in Germany ; where CON- 
 RAD II [o] granted the like privilege of 
 fuccejfive tenures, and at the prefiing 
 inftance of his tenants. 
 
 I THOUGHT it material to remind you 
 of thefe things; becaufe they prove the 
 feudal inftitution on the continent to 
 have been favourable to the caufe of 
 liberty ; and becaufe it will abate our 
 wonder to find it fo readily accepted and 
 fubmitted to here in Englar.d. 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 THE account you have given, and, I 
 dare fay, very truly, of the origin of 
 feuds in France and Germany^ is fuch as 
 fhews them to have been an extenfion 
 of the people's liberty. There is no 
 queilion that hereditary alienable eftates 
 
 [o] CRAIG'S "Jusfeudale, lib. i. p. 21. Land. 165 j. 
 
 have
 
 138 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 have vaftly the preference to beneficiary. 
 But the cafe, I fufpecl, was different 
 with us in England. The great offices 
 of ftate, indeed, in this country, as well 
 as in France , were beneficiary. But, if I 
 do not miftake, the lands of the Englijh y 
 except only the church-lands, were all 
 allodial. And I cannot think it could be 
 for the benefit of the Englijh to change 
 their old Saxon pofiefiions, fubjecl: only 
 to the famous triple obligation, for thefe 
 new and burdenfome tenures. 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 STRANGE as it may appear, we have 
 yet feen that the French did not fcruple 
 to make that exchange even of their allo- 
 dial eflates. But to be fair, there was 
 a great difference, as you well obferve, 
 in the circumftances of the two people. 
 All the lands in England were, I believe, 
 allodial, in the Saxon times : while a 
 very confiderable proportion of thofe in 
 France were beneficiary. 
 
 ANOTHER.
 
 AND POLITICAL. 139 
 
 ANOTHER difference, alfo, in the (late 
 of the two countries, is worth obferving. 
 In France, the allodial lands (though 
 confiderable in quantity) were divided 
 into fmall portions. In England, they 
 feem to have been in few hands ; the 
 greater part poflefled by the King and 
 his Thanes; fome fmaller parcels by the 
 leffer Thanes-, and a very little by the 
 Ceorles. The confcquence was, that, 
 though the allodial proprietors in France 
 were glad to renounce their property for 
 tenure, in order to fecure the protection 
 they much wanted ; yet with us, as you 
 fay, there could not be any fuch induce- 
 ment for the innovation. For, the lands 
 being poflefled in large portions by the 
 nobility and gentry, the allodial lords in 
 England were too great to ftand in need 
 of protection. Yet from this very cir- 
 cumftance, fairly attended to, we mail 
 fee that the introduction of the feudal 
 tenures was neither difficult nor unpopu- 
 lar.
 
 tio DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 lar. The great proprietors of land 
 were, indeed, too free and powerful, to 
 be bettered by this change. But their 
 tenants, that is, the bulk of the people, 
 would be gainers by it. For thefe 
 tenants were, I believe, to a man bene- 
 ficiaries. The large eftates of the Thanes 
 were granted out in fmall portions to 
 others, ekher for certain quantities of 
 corn or rent, referved to the lord, or on 
 condition of ftipulated fervices. And 
 thefe grants, of whichever fort they 
 were, were either at pleafure, or at mod 
 for a limited term. So that, though the 
 proprietors of land in England were fo 
 much fuperior to thofe in France-, yet 
 the tenants of each were much in the 
 fame ftate; that is, they poflefled bene- 
 ficiary lands on ftipulated conditions. 
 
 WHEN, therefore, by right of forfei- 
 ture, the greater part of the lands in 
 England fell, as they of courfe would do, 
 into the power of the king (for they 
 
 were
 
 AND POLITIC A L. 14, 
 
 were in few hands, and thofe few had 
 either fought at Haftlngs^ or afterwards 
 rebelled againft him) it is eafy to fee 
 that the people would not be difpleafed 
 to find themfelves, inftead of beneficiary 
 tenants [p} 9 feudatary proprietors. 
 
 I SA\ this on fuppofition that thefc 
 great forfeited eilates and figniories, ib 
 bountifully beftowed by the Conqueror 
 on his favourite Normans, were after- 
 wards, many of them at lead, granted 
 out in fmaller parcels to Englifo fu fa- 
 tenants. But if thefe fub-tenants were 
 alfo Normans (though the cafe of the 
 Englijb or old Saxon freeholders was 
 then very hard), the change of allodial 
 into feudatary eftates is the more eafily 
 accounted for. 
 
 /] This account of the Saxon benefices is much 
 confirmed by the famous charter of Bilhop OSWALD, 
 and the comment of Sir H. SPELMAN upon it. 
 See his difcourfe on FKUDS and TENURES. 
 
 THE
 
 142 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 THE main difficulty would be with 
 the churchmen ; who (though the great- 
 eft, and moft of them were, perhaps, 
 Normans too) were well acquainted with 
 the Saxon laws, and for ipecial reafons 
 were much devoted to them. They 
 were fenfible that their poflfefiions had 
 been held, in the Saxon times, in FRANC- 
 ALMOIGN : a fort of tenure, they were 
 not forward to give up for this of feuds. 
 'Tis true, the burdens of thefe tenures 
 would, many of them, not affect them. 
 But then neither could they reap the 
 principal fruit of them, the fruit of 
 inheritance. They, befides, confidered 
 every reflraint on their privileges as im- 
 pious ; and took the fubjeclion of the ec- 
 clefiaftic to the fecular power, which the 
 feudal eftablifhment was to introduce, 
 for the vilefl of all fervitudes. Hence 
 the churchmen were, of all others, the 
 moft averfe from this law [q]. And 
 
 their 
 
 [q\ MATTHEW PARIS gives us the following ac- 
 count of this matter" Epifcopatus. et Abbatias 
 
 omnes,
 
 AND POLITICAL. 143 
 
 their oppofition might have given the 
 conqueror (till more trouble, if the fup- 
 preflion of the great northern rebellion 
 had not furnimed him with the power, 
 and (as many of them had been deeply 
 engaged in it) with the pretence, to force 
 it upon them. And thus, in the end, it 
 prevailed univerfally, and without ex- 
 ception. 
 
 I WOULD not go further into the hif- 
 tory of thefe tenures. It may appear 
 from the little 1 have faid of them, that 
 the feudal fyftem was rather improved 
 and corrected by the duke of NORMANDY, 
 than originally planted by him in this 
 
 omnes, quze baronias tenebant, et eatenus ab omni 
 fervitute feculari libertatem habuerant, fub fervitute 
 ftatuic militarj, inrotulans fingulos epifcopatus et ab- 
 batias pro voluntate fua, quot milites fibi et fuccefTo- 
 ribus fuis, hoftilitatis ternpcre, voluit a fingulis ex- 
 hiberi. Et ROTULCS HUJUS ECCLESIASTIC. 
 SERVITUTIS ponens in thefauris, multos viros eccle- 
 
 fiafticOS HUIC CONSTITUTIONI PESSlM^E 
 
 tantes, a regno fugavit." 
 
 HlST. ANC. WlLLIELMUS CON 
 
 3 kingdoms
 
 ,44 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 kingdom : that the alteration made in it 
 was favourable to the public intercft -, 
 and that our Saxon liberties were not fo 
 properly reftrained, as extended by it. 
 It is of little moment to inquire whether 
 the nation was won, or forced, to a com- 
 pliance with this fyftem. It is enough 
 to fay, that, as it was accepted by the 
 nation, fo it was in itfelf no fervile efta- 
 blifliment, but eflentially founded in the 
 principles of liberty. The duties of 
 lord and feudatary were reciprocal and 
 acknowledged : fervices on the one part, 
 and protection on the other. The in- 
 ftitution was plainly calculated for the 
 joint- intereft [r] of both parties, and the 
 benefit of the community ; the proper 
 
 [r] The learned CRAIG, who has written fo largely 
 and accurately on the feudal law, was fo far from 
 feeing any thing fervile in it, that he fays, " The 
 foundations of this difcipline are hid in the moft 
 generous of all confiderations, thofe of GRATI- 
 TUDE. Hujus feudalis difciplinte fundament a. a gra- 
 titudine ft ingratitudine defcendunt" EPIST, NUN-- 
 CUP, to K. JAMES. 
 
 potion
 
 A N D P O L I T I C A L. 145 
 
 notion of the feudal fyftem being that 
 " of a confederacy between a number of 
 military perfons, agreeing on a certain 
 limited fubordination and dependence on 
 their chief, for the more effectual defence 
 of his and their lives, territories, and pof-' 
 fcffions." 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 I HAVE nothing to object to your ac- 
 count of the feudal conftitution. And I 
 think you do perfectly right, to lay the 
 main ftrefs on the general nature and 
 genius of it j as by this means you cut off 
 thofe fruitlefs altercations, which have 
 been raifed, concerning the perfonal cha- 
 racter of the Norman Conqueror. Our 
 concern is not with him, but with the 
 government he eftablifhed. And if that 
 be free, no matter whether the founder 
 of it were a tyrant. But, though I ap- 
 prove your method, I doubt there is 
 fome detect in your argument. Freedom 
 is a term of much latitude. The Nor- 
 man conftitution may be free in one 
 
 VoL.IL L fenfe,
 
 i+6 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 fcnfe, as it excludes the fole arbitrary 
 dominion of one man ; and yet fervile 
 enough in another, as it leaves the go- 
 vernment in few hands. For it follows, 
 from what I underftand of the feudal 
 plan, that though its genius be indeed 
 averfe from abfolute monarchy, yet it is 
 Indulgent enough to abfolute ariftocracy* 
 And the notion of each is equally re- 
 mote from what we conceive of true 
 Englijh liberty. 
 
 SIR J. MAYtfARD. 
 
 IT is true, the proper feudal form, 
 efpecially as eftablifhed in this kingdom, 
 was in a high degree oligarchical. It 
 would not otherwife, perhaps, have 
 fuited to the condition of thofe military 
 ages. Yet the principles it went upon, 
 Were thofe of public liberty, and gene- 
 rous enough to give room for the exten- 
 fion of the fyftem itfelf, when a change 
 of circumftances fhould require it. But 
 your Objection will beft be anfwered by 
 
 looking
 
 A N D P O L I T I C A L. 147 
 
 looking a little more diftinctly into the 
 nature of thefe tenures. 
 
 I TOOK notice that the feudal fyftem 
 fubje&ed the CHURCH more immediately 
 to the civil power: and laid the founda- 
 tion of many fervices and fruits of tenure 
 to which the LAY-FEUDATARIES in 
 the Saxon times had been altogether 
 flrangers. It is probable that all the 
 confequences of this alteration were not 
 forefeen. Yet the churchmen were 
 pretty quick-fighted. And the diflike, 
 they had conceived of the new eftablifh- 
 ment, was the occafion of thofe flruggles, 
 which continued fo long between the 
 mitre and crown, and which are fo famous 
 more efpecially in the early parts of our 
 hiftory. The caufe of thefe ecclefiaftics 
 was a bad one. For their aim was, as is 
 rightly obferved by the advocates for 
 the prerogative, to affcrt an indepen- 
 dency on the flate-, and for that pur- 
 pofe the pope was made a party in the 
 L 2 difpute ;
 
 i48 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 difpute ; by whofe intrigues it was kept 
 up in one fhape or other till the total re- 
 nunciation of the papal power. Thus 
 far, however, the feudal constitution can- 
 not be blamed. On the contrary, it 
 was highly ferviceable to the caufe of 
 liberty, as tending only to hold the eccle- 
 fiaftic, in a due fubordinasion to the civil, 
 authority. 
 
 :,-.!.- ,si. 2J .jos&ism 
 
 THE fame thing cannot be faid of the 
 other inftance, I mean the fruits of tenure + 
 to which the lay-fees were fubjected by 
 this fylkm. For however reafonable, or 
 rather necefTary, thofe fruits might be, 
 in a feudal fenfe, and for the end to 
 which the feudal eftablimment was di- 
 rected, yet, as the meafure of thefe fruits, 
 as well as the manner of exacting them, 
 was in a good degree arbitrary, and too 
 much left to the difcretion of the fove- 
 reign, the practice, in this refpect, was 
 loon found by the tenants in chief to be 
 an intolerable grievance. Hence that 
 
 other
 
 AND POLITIC AL. 149 
 
 other conteft, fo memorable in our hif- 
 toi-y, betwixt the king and his barons : 
 in which the former, under the colour of 
 Maintaining his feudal rights, laboured 
 to ufurp an abfoiute dominion over the 
 perlbns and properties of his vafials ; and 
 the latter, impatient of the feudal bur- 
 dens, or rather of the king's arbitrary 
 exactions under pretence of them, endea- 
 voured to redeem themfelves from fo ma- 
 n it eft an oppreflion. 
 
 IT is not to be denied, that, in the 
 heat of this conteft, the barons fometimes 
 carried their pretenfions ftill further,, 
 and laboured in their turn to ufurp on 
 the crown, in revenge for the opprefiions 
 they had felt from it. However, their 
 firft contentions were only for a mitiga- 
 tion of the feudal fyftem. It was not 
 the character of the Norman princes tp 
 come eafily into any project that was 
 likely to give the leaft check to their pre- 
 tenfions. Yet the grievances, complained
 
 1 5 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 of, were in part removed, in part mode- 
 rated, by HENRY the firft's and many 
 other fucceflive charters : though the laft 
 blow was not given to thefe feudal fer- 
 vitudes till after the Reftoration, when 
 fuch of them as remained, and were 
 found prejudicial to the liberty of the 
 fubject, were finally abolimed. 
 
 THUS we fee that one eflential defect 
 in the feudal policy, confidered not as a 
 military, but civil inftitution, was, the too 
 great power it gave the fovereign in 
 the arbitrary impositions, implied in this 
 tenure. ANOTHER was accidental. It 
 arofe from the difproportionate allotment 
 of thofe feuds, which gave the greater 
 barons an afcendant over the prince, 
 and was equally unfavourable to the 
 caufe of liberty. For the bounty of the 
 duke of NORMANDY, in his diftribution 
 of the forfeited eftates and figniories 
 to his principal officers, had been fo 
 
 immenfe,
 
 AND POLITIC AL. 151 
 
 immenfe [j], that their mare of influence 
 in the Hate was exceffive, and intrenched 
 too much on the independency of the 
 crown and the freedom of the people. 
 And this undue poize in the conftitution, 
 as well as the tyranny of our kings, oc 
 cafioned the long continuance of thofe 
 civil wars, which for many ages haraffed 
 and diftrefled the nation. The evil, how- 
 ever, in the end, brought on its own. 
 remedy. For thefe princely houfes be* 
 ing much weakened in the courfe of the 
 . quarrel, HENRY VII fucceeded, at length, 
 to the peaceable pofleflion of the crown. 
 And by the policy of this prince, and 
 that of his fucceflbr, the barons were 
 
 [/] This bounty in fa wife a prince as WILLIAM 
 will be thought ftrange. I believe ic may be, in 
 part, accounted for, from what is obferved above of 
 the Saxon allodial lords. Thefe had poffeffed im- 
 menfe eftates. And, as they fell in upon forfeiture, 
 the great Norman adventurers would of courfe ex- 
 peft to come into the entire fucceffion. Perhaps 
 too, in that confufion of affairs, the prince might 
 not always, himfelf, be apprized of the extent and 
 value of thefe poireffions. 
 
 L 4 brought
 
 1 S 2 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 brought fo low as to be quite difabled 
 from giving any difturbance to the crown 
 for the future. 
 
 IT appears then that TWO great de- 
 fects in the feudal plan of government, 
 as fettled amongft us, were, at length, 
 taken away. But a THIRD, and the 
 greateft defect of all, was the narrow- 
 nefs of the plan itfelf, I mean when con- 
 fidered as a fyftem of CIVIL polity ; for, 
 in its primary martial intention, it was 
 perfectly unexceptionable. 
 
 To explain this matter, which is of 
 the higheft importance, and will furnifh 
 a direct anfwer to Mr. SOMERS' objec- 
 tion, we are to remember that in the old 
 feudal policy the king's barons, that is, 
 fuch as held in capite of the crown by 
 barony or knight's fervice, were the 
 king's, or rather the kingdom's, great 
 council. No public concerns could be 
 regularly tranfacted, without their con- 
 
 fent;
 
 AND POLITICAL. 155 
 
 fent [/] ; though the leffcr baron?, or 
 tenants by knight's fervice, did not indeed 
 fo conftantly appear in the king's court, as 
 the greater barons j and though the pub- 
 lic bufmefs was fometimes even left to the 
 ordinary attendants on the king, mod of 
 them churchmen. It appears that, to- 
 wards the end of the Conqueror's reign, 
 the number of thcfe tenants in chief was 
 about 700 -, who, as the whole property 
 of the kingdom was, in effect, in their 
 power, may be thought a no unfit repre- 
 fentative (though tjiis be no proper feudal 
 idea) of the whole nation. It was fo, 
 perhaps, in thofe rude and warlike times, 
 when the flrength of the nation lay en- 
 tirely in the foldiery ; that is, in thofe who 
 held by military fervices, either immedi- 
 ately of the crown, or of the mefne lords. 
 For the remainder of the people, whom 
 
 [/] The law cf ELWARD the Confeffor is ex- 
 prefs to this porpbfe, and it was ratified by the Con- 
 queror'* Debet rex omnia lite facere in regno et 
 ppr judicium procerum regni" Sir H. ST^LMAN 
 of Parliaments, p. 58, 
 
 they
 
 r 5 4 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 they called tenants in focage, were of 
 fmall account ; being confidered only in 
 the light of fervants, and contributing no 
 oth'erwife to the national fupport than by 
 their cultivation of the foil, which left 
 their matters at leifure to attend with 
 lefs diffraction on their military fervices. 
 At leaft, it was perfectly in the genius of 
 the feudal, that is, 4 military conftitutions, 
 to have little regard for any but the men 
 cf arms; and, as every other occupation 
 would of courfe be accounted bafe and 
 ignoble, it is not to be wondered that 
 fuch a difference was made between the 
 condition of frxdial and military tenures. 
 
 HOWEVER, a policy, that excluded 
 fuch numbers from the rank and privi- 
 leges of citizens, was fo far a defective 
 one. And this defect would become 
 more fenfible every day, in proportion to 
 the growth of arts, the augmentation of 
 commerce, and the fecurity the nation 
 found itfclf in from foreign dangers. 
 
 The
 
 A ND POLITIC A L; 155 
 
 The ancient military <eftablimment would 
 now be thought unjuft, when the exclu- 
 five privileges of the fwordfmen were 
 no longer fupported by the necefllties 
 of the public, and when the wealth of 
 the nation made fo great a part of the 
 force of it. Hence arofe an important 
 change in the legiflature of the kingdom, 
 which was much enlarged beyond its for- 
 mer limits. But this was done gradually; 
 and was more properly an extenfion than 
 violation of the ancient fyftem. 
 
 FIRST, The number of tenants in 
 chief, or the king's freeholders, was 
 much increafed by various caufes, but 
 chiefly by the alienation which the 
 greater barons made of their fees. Such 
 alienation, though under fome reflraint, 
 feems to have been generally permitted in 
 the Norman feuds; I mean, till MAGNA 
 CHARTA and fome fubfequent ftatutes 
 laid it under particular limitations. But, 
 whether the practice were regular or 
 
 not,
 
 i$6 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 not, it certainly prevailed from the ear- 
 lieft times ; efpecially on fomc more ex- 
 traordinary occafions. Thus, when the 
 fafhionable madnefs of the CROISADES 
 had involved the greater barons in im- 
 menfe debts, in order to diicharge the 
 expences of thefe expeditions, they alie- 
 nated their fees, and even difmembered 
 them ; that is, they parted with their 
 right in them, and made them over in 
 fmall parcels to others, to hold of the 
 fuperior lord. And what thefe barons 
 did from neceffity, the crown itfelf did, 
 out of policy : for the Norman princes, 
 growing fenfible of the inconvenience of 
 ' making their vaflals too great, difpofed 
 of fuch eftates of their barons as fell into 
 them by forfeiture, and were not a few, 
 in the fame manner. The confequence 
 of all this was, that, in procefs of time, 
 the lefler military tenants in capite multi- 
 plied exceedingly. And, as many of 
 them were poor, and unequal to a per- 
 fonal attendance in the court of their 
 
 lord,
 
 AND POLI TIC AL, 157 
 
 lord, or in the common council of the 
 kingdom (where of right and duty they 
 were to pay their attendance) they were 
 willing, and it was found convenient to 
 give them leave, to appear in the way of 
 reprefentation. And this was the origin 
 of what we now call THE KNIGHTS OF 
 THE SHIRES; who, in thofe times, were 
 appointed to reprefent, not all the free- 
 holders of counties, but the lefler tenants 
 of the crown only. For thefe, not at- 
 tending in perfon, would otherwife have 
 had no place in the king's council. 
 
 THE rife of CITIZENS AND BUR- 
 CESSES, that is, reprefentatives of the 
 cities and trading towns, muft be account- 
 ed for fomewhat differently. Thefe had 
 originally been in the jurifdidtion, and 
 made part of the demefnes, of the king 
 and his great lords. The reafon of 
 which appears from what I obferved of 
 the genius of the feudal policy. For, 
 little account being had of any but mar- 
 tial
 
 I 5 3 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 tial men, and trade being not only dif- 
 honourable, but almoft unknown in thofe 
 ages ; the lower peopje, who lived toge- 
 ther in towns, moil of them frnall and 
 inconfiderable, were left in a ftate of fub- 
 jection to the crown, or fome other of the 
 barons, and expofed to their arbitrary 
 impofitions and talliages. 
 
 BUT this condition of burghers, as it 
 fprang from the military genius of the 
 nation, could only be iupported by 'it. 
 "When that declined therefore, and, in- 
 ftead of a people of foldiers, the commer- 
 cial fpirit prevailed, and filled our towns 
 with rich traders and merchants, it was 
 no longer reafonable, nor was it the in- 
 tereft of the crown, that thefe commu- 
 nities and bodies of men fhould be fo 
 little regarded. On the contrary, a large 
 lhare of the public burdens being laid 
 upon them, and the frequent necefiities 
 of the crown, especially in foreign wars, 
 or in the king's contentions with his 
 7 barons,
 
 AND POLITIC A L. 159 
 
 barons, requiring him to have recourfe to 
 their purfes, it was naturally brought 
 about that thole, as well as the tenants 
 in capite, fhould, in time, be admitted to 
 have a fhare in the public councils. 
 
 I DO not flay to trace the Heps of this 
 change. It is enough to fay, that it 
 arofe infenfibly and naturally out of the 
 growing wealth and confequence of the 
 trading towns ; the convenience the king 
 found in drawing confiderable Turns from 
 them, with greater eafe to himfelf, and 
 3efs offence to the people ; and, perhaps, 
 from the view of leflening by their 
 means, the exorbitant power and influ- 
 ence of the barons, 
 
 FROM thefe, or the like reafons, the 
 great towns and cities, that before were 
 royal demefnes, part of the king's private 
 patrimony, and tailiable by him at plea- 
 iure, were allowed to appear in his 
 council by their deputies, to treat with 
 
 him
 
 i6o DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 him of the proportion of taxes to be 
 raifed on them, and, in a word, to be 
 confidered in the fame light as the other 
 members of that great aflembly. 
 
 I DO not inquire when this great 
 alteration was firft made. I find it fub- 
 fifting at leaft under EDWARD III. And 
 from that time, there is no difpute but 
 that the legiilature, which was originally 
 compofed of the fovereign and his feudal 
 tenants, included alfo the reprefcntatives 
 of the counties, and of the royal towns 
 and -cities. To fpeak in our modern 
 llyle, the HOUSE OF COMMONS was, 
 now, formed. And by this addition, the 
 glorious edifice of Englijh liberty was 
 completed. 
 
 I AM fenfible, I muft have wearied 
 you with this deduction, which can be no 
 fecret to either of you. But it was of 
 importance to mew, that the conftitution 
 of England, as laid in the feudal tenures, 
 
 was
 
 AND POLITICAL. 161 
 
 was efientially free; and that the very 
 changes it hath undergone, were the na- 
 tural and almoft unavoidable effects of 
 thofe tenures. So that what the adver- 
 faries of liberty object to us, as ufurpa- 
 tions on the regal prerogative, are now 
 feen to be either the proper refult of the 
 feudal eftablifliment, or the moftjuftand 
 neceflary amendments of it. 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 I HAVE waited with much pleafure 
 for this conclufion, which entirely difcre* 
 dits the notion of an abfolute, defpotic 
 government. I will not take upon me to 
 anfwer for Mr. SOMERS, whofe great 
 knowledge in the laws and hiflory of the 
 kingdom enables him to fee further into 
 the fubject than I doj but to me no- 
 thing appears more natural or probable 
 than this account of the rife and progrefs 
 of the Englijh monarchy. One difficulty, 
 in particular, which feemed to embarrafs 
 this inquiry, you have entirely removed, 
 
 VOL. II. M by
 
 r6z DIALOGUES MORAL 
 by mewing how, from the ariftocratical 
 form which prevailed in the earlier times, 
 the more free and popular one of our 
 days hath gradually taken place, and 
 that without any violence to the antieRt 
 conftitution [] 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 AT leaft, my lord, with fo little, that 
 we may, perhaps, apply to the Englijk 
 government what the naturalifts obferve 
 of the HUMAN BODY [w] ; that, when 
 it arrives at its full growth,, it docs not 
 perhaps retain a fmgle particle of the 
 matter k originally fet out with 5 yet the 
 
 [] M. DE MOWTEEQUIHU obferves t>f the Gothic 
 government "II fut d'abord mele de I'ariftocra- 
 " tie, etde la monarchic. 11 avoit cet inconvenient^ 
 tf que le bas-peuple y etoit efclave: C' etoit unto* 
 " gouvernment, qui avoit tnfoi la capatite de dfutnir 
 " meilleur." [1. xi. c. 8.] the very idea, which is 
 here inculcated. 
 
 [<u;J See old FORTBSCUB, in his book De laudibut 
 hgum Anglies, where this fort of analogy is purfued 
 at length through a great part of the xi nth chapter. 
 
 alteration. 
 4
 
 AND POLITICAL. tfy 
 
 alteration hath been made fo gradually 
 and imperceptibly, that the fyftem is ac- 
 counted the fame under all changes. 
 Juft fo, I think, we feem to hare fhaken 
 off the conftituent parts of the FEUDAL 
 CONSTITUTION; but, liberty having 
 been always the informing principle, 
 time and experience have rather com- 
 pleted the old fyftem, than created a new 
 one: and we may account the prefent 
 and Norman eftablifliment all one, by 
 the fame rule as we fay that HERCULES, 
 when he became the deliverer of op^ 
 prefled nations, was ftill the fame with 
 him who had ftrangled ferpents in hia 
 cradle. 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD* 
 
 I KNOW not what fanciful fmiles your 
 younger wit may delight in. I content 
 myfelf with obferving, that the two great 
 points, which they, who deny the liberty 
 of the fubjecT:, love to inculcate, and on 
 which the plaufibility of all their reafon. 
 ings depends, are, THE SLAVISH NATURE 
 Ma OF
 
 164 DIALOGUES MORA L 
 
 OF THE FEUDAL CONSTITUTION', and 
 THE LATE RISE OF THE HoUSE OF 
 
 COMMONS. And I have taken up your 
 time to fmall purpofe, if it doth not now 
 appear, that the former of thefe notions 
 is falfe, and the latter impertinent.:. :;If 
 the learned inquirers into this fubjed: 
 had confidered that the queftion is con- 
 cerning the freedom itfelf of our confti- 
 tution, and not the moft convenient form. 
 under which it may be adminiftered, they 
 muft have feen that the feudal law, 
 though it narrowed the fy ft em of liberty, 
 wa> founded in it ; that the fpirit of 
 freedom is as vital in this form, and the 
 principles it goes upon as folid, as. in the 
 beft-tbrmed republic j and that villeinage 
 concludes no more againft the feudal 
 than Jlavery againft the Greek or Roman, 
 conftitutions. 
 
 MR. 
 
 THAT is, Sir JOHN'J you make liberty 
 
 to have been the effence of all THREE; 
 
 2 though,
 
 "A N D P O L I T I C A L. 165 
 
 though to the perfection of an equal 
 commonwealth, you fuppofe it fhould 
 have been further fpread out and dilated: 
 as they fay of frankihcenje (if you can 
 forgive another allufiorr), which, when 
 lying in the lump, is of no great ufe or 
 pleafure , but, when properly diffufed, is 
 the' fweet^ft of all odours. But you was 
 going on with the application of your 
 principles. 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 I WAS going to fay that, as many 
 have been mifled by- wrong notions of 
 the feudal tenures, others had erred as 
 widely in their reafonings on tie late 
 origin of the lower houfe of parliament. 
 How have we heard fome men triumph, 
 in dating it no higher than the reign of 
 EDWARD III ? Let the fa6t be admitted. 
 What follows ? That this houfe is an 
 ufurpation on the prerogative ? Nothing 
 kfs. It was gradually brought forth by- 
 time, and grew up under the favour and 
 M 3 good
 
 i66 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 good liking of our princes [#], The 
 conftitution itfelf fuppofed the men of 
 greateft confequence in the common- 
 wealth to have a feat in the national 
 councils. Trade and agriculture had ad* 
 vanced vaft numbers into confequence, 
 that before were of fmall account in the 
 kingdom. The public confideration was 
 increafed by their wealth, and the public 
 neceflities relieved by it. Were thefe 
 to remain for ever excluded from the 
 king's councils ? or was not that council* 
 which had liberty for its object, to widen 
 and expand itfelf in order to receive 
 them ? It did, in fa6t, receive them with 
 open arms; and, in fo doing, conducted it- 
 felf on the very principles of the old feu- 
 dal policy. 
 
 [*] Agreeably to what Sir H. SPELMAN aflerts, 
 in his Gloflary, of its parent, the feudal law itfeff ; 
 " Dfi LBGE FEUDAL i pronunciandum cenfeo, 
 TEMPORIS earn efTe filiam, fenfimque fuccrefcentem, 
 KDICTIS PRINCIPUM auftam indies et excultam,' 
 IB voce FEODUM*
 
 AND POLITICAL. 167 
 
 IN fhort, the feudal conftitution, dif- 
 ferent from all others that human policy 
 is acquainted with, was of fuch a make, 
 that it readily gave way, and fitted itfelf 
 to the varying fituations of fociety : nar- 
 row and contracted, when the public in- 
 tereft required a clofe connexion between 
 the governor and the governed; large 
 and capacious, when the fame intereft 
 required that connexion to be loofened. 
 Juft as the fkin (if you will needs have a 
 comparifon), the natural cinfture of the 
 body, confines the young limbs with fuf- 
 ficient tightnefs, and yet widens in pro- 
 portion to their growth, fo as to let the 
 different parts of the body play with 
 afe, and obtain their full fize and dimen- 
 fions. Whereas the other policies, that 
 have obtained in the world, may be com- 
 pared to thofe artificial coverings, which, 
 being calculated only for one age and 
 fize, grow troublefome and infupportable 
 in any other; and yet cannot, like thefe, 
 M 4 be
 
 i68 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 be thrown off and fupplied by fuch as 
 are more fuitable and convenient ; but are 
 worn for life, though with conftant, or 
 rather increafing, uneafinefs. 
 
 THIS then being the peculiar prero- 
 gative of the feudal policy, I think we 
 may fay with great truth, not that the 
 houfe of commons violated the conftitu- 
 tion, but, on the contrary, that the con- 
 ftitution itfelf demanded, or rather gene* 
 rated, the houfe of commons. 
 
 So that I cannot by any means com- 
 mend the zeal which fome have (hewn in 
 feeking the origin of this houfe in the 
 Britijh or even Saxon annals. Their 
 aim was, to ferve the caufe of liberty; 
 but, it muft be owned at the expence of 
 truth, and, as we now perceive, without 
 the leaft necefllty. 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 IT hath happened then in this, as in 
 fo many other inftances, that an excellent 
 
 caufe
 
 AND POLITICAL. 169 
 
 canfe hath differed by the ill judgment 
 of its defenders. But, when truth itfelf 
 had been difgraced by one fort of men 
 in being employed by them to the worft 
 purpofes, is it to be wondered <;iy.t 
 others fhould not acknowledge her in 
 fuch hands, but be willing to look out 
 for her in better company ? . 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 LE.T us fay, my lord, they fiiould have 
 acknowledged her in whatever company 
 fhe was found ; and the rather, as ill- 
 applied truths are feen to be full as fer- 
 viceable to a bad caufe, as downright 
 falfehoods. Befides, this conduft had not 
 only been fairvr, but more politic. For 
 when fo manifeft a truth was rejected., 
 it was but natural to fufpect foul play in 
 the reft, and that none but a bad caufc 
 could want to be fupported by fo difm- 
 genuous a management. 
 
 MR.
 
 170 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 I THINK lb, Sir JOHN; and there is 
 this further ufe of fuch candor, that it 
 cuts off at once the necefiity of long and 
 laboured refearches into the dark parts 
 of our hiftory ; and fo not only fhortens 
 the debate, but renders it much more 
 intelligible to the people. 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 I WAS aware of that advantage, and 
 am therefore not difpleafed that truth 
 allowed me to make ufe of it. But to 
 refume the main argument; for I have 
 not yet done with my evidence for the 
 freedom of our excellent conftitution: It 
 feemed of moment to mew, from the 
 nature and confequences of the Norman 
 fettlement, that the Englijh government 
 was effentially free. But, becaufe the 
 freefl form of government may be tame- 
 ly given up and furrendered into the 
 hands of a matter, I hold it of confe- 
 
 quence
 
 AND POLITICAL. 171 
 
 quence to prove, that the Englijb fpirit 
 hath always been anfwerable to the con- 
 ftitiuion, and that even the moft in- 
 fidious attempts on their liberties have 
 never failed to awaken the refentment of 
 our generous forefathers. In a word, I 
 would mew that the jealoufy, with which 
 the Engtijh have ever guarded the na- 
 tional freedom, is at once a convincing 
 teftimony of their right ^ and of their 
 Qf it. 
 
 AND though I might illuflrate this ar- 
 gument by many other inftances, I chufe 
 to infift only on ONE, THEIR PERPETUAL 
 
 OPPOSITION TO THE CIVIL AND CANON 
 
 LAWS ; which, at various times and for 
 their feveral ends, the crown and church 
 have been folicitous to obtrude on the 
 people. 
 
 To open the way to this illuftration, 
 let it be obferved that, from the time of 
 HONORIUS, that is, when the Roman au- 
 
 thority
 
 17* DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 therity ceafed amongfl: us, the Saxon 
 iflftitutions, incorporated with the old 
 Britifn cuftoms, were the only Handing 
 laws of the kingdom. Thefe had been 
 collected and formed into a fort of digcft 
 by EDWARD the Confeflbri and fo great 
 was the nation's attachment to them, that 
 WILLIAM himfelf was obliged to ratify 
 them, at the fame time that the feudal 
 law itfelf was enacted. And afterwards, 
 on any attempt to innovate on thofe 
 laws, we hear of a general outcry and 
 diffktisfaction among the people : which 
 jealoufy of theirs, was not without good 
 grounds ; as we may fee from an affair 
 that happened in the Conqueror's own 
 reign, and ferves to illuftrate the policy 
 of this monarch. 
 
 IT had been an old cuftom, continued 
 through the Saxon times, for the bilhops 
 and fheriffs to fit together in judicature 
 in the county courts. This had been 
 found a very convenient practice; for 
 
 the
 
 AND POLITICAL. 173 
 
 the prefence of the churchmen gave a 
 fanction to the determinations of the 
 temporal courts, and drew an extraor- 
 dinary reverence towards them from the 
 people. Yet we find it abolifhed by the 
 Conqueror; who, in a refcript to the 
 bifhop of Lincoln, ordained that, for the 
 future, the bifhops and aldermen of the 
 (hires mould have feparate courts and 
 feparate jurifdic~lions. The pretence for 
 this alteration was, the diflinct nature of 
 the two judicatures, and the defire of 
 maintaining a ftricl: conformity to the 
 canons of the church. The real defign 
 was much deeper. There is no queftion 
 but WILLIAM'S inclinations, at leaft, 
 were for arbitrary government; in which, 
 project his Norman lawyers, it was hoped, 
 might be of good ufe to him. But there 
 was a great obftacle in his way. The 
 church men of thofe times had incompara- 
 bly the belt knowledge of the Saxon laws. 
 It matters not, whether thofe church- 
 men were Normans^ or not. They were 
 
 equally
 
 1 7 4 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 equally devoted, as I obferved before, to 
 the Saxon laws, with the EngHJh; as 
 favouring that independency, they af- 
 fecled, on the civil power. Befides, in 
 the Confefibr's time, many and perhaps 
 the greatcft of the churchmen had been 
 Normans ; fo that the ftudy of the Saxon 
 laws, from the intereft they promifed 
 themfelves in them, was grown familiar 
 to the riling ecclefiaftics of that country. 
 Hence, as I faid, the churchmen, though 
 Normans, were well inftructed in the 
 fpirit and genius of the Saxon laws ; and 
 it was not eafy for the king's gloffers to 
 interpret them to their own mind, whilft 
 the bilhops were at hand to refute and 
 rectify their comments. 
 
 BESIDES, the truth is (and my lord 
 of SALISBURY will not be difpleafed with 
 me for telling it), the ecclefiaftics of that 
 time were much indevoted to the court. 
 They confidered the king as the wicked- 
 eft of all tyrants. He had brought them 
 
 into
 
 AND POLITICAL. 175 
 
 into fubje&ion by their baronies, and 
 had even fet the pope himfelf at de- 
 fiance. In this ftate of things, there was 
 no hope of engaging the clergy in his 
 plot. But, when a reparation of the two 
 tribunals was made, and the .civil courts 
 were folely adminiftered by his own crea- 
 tures, the laws, it was thought, would 
 fpeak what language he pleafed to re- 
 quire of them. 
 
 SUCH appears to have been the defign 
 of this prince in his famous diftinction of 
 the ecclefiaftic and temporal courts. It 
 was fo artfully laid and fo well coloured, 
 that the laity feem to have taken no um- 
 brage at it. But the clergy faw his 
 drift; and their zeal for the antient laws, 
 as well as their refentments, put them 
 upon contriving methods to counteract it. 
 They hit upon a very natural and effec- 
 tual one. In a word, they all turned 
 common lawyers 5 and fo found means of 
 introducing themfelves into the civil 
 
 courts.
 
 i;6 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 courts. This expedient fucceeded fo 
 well, and was fo generally relifhedy that 
 the clergy to a man almoft in the next 
 reign were become profeffbrs of the com- 
 mon law; NULLUS CLERICS NISI CAU- 
 SIDICUS, as WILLIAM of Malmejbury 
 takes care to inform us [y} 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 WHATEVER their motive might be* 
 the churchmen, I perceive, interpofed 
 very feafonably in the fuppdrt of our civil 
 liberties. It was a generous kind of re- 
 venge, methinks, to repay the king's ty- 
 ranny over the church by vindicating the 
 authority of the Englifo laws. 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 IT was fo; and for this good fervice, I 
 let them pafs without any harfher re- 
 flection. Though the true fecret is, per- 
 haps, no more than this : Their main 
 
 \j] Dlis. AD FLtr. 1091. and WILLIAM OP 
 MALMESBURY, lib. iv. f. bq.Lond. 1596. 
 
 objecl:
 
 AND POLITICAL. 177 
 
 object was the church, of whofe interefts, 
 as is fitting, we will allow them to be 
 the moft competent judges. And, as 
 thefe incHned them, they have been, at 
 different junctures, the defenders or op- 
 prefTors of civil liberty. 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 AT fome junctures, it may be, they 
 have. But, if you infift on fo general a 
 cenfure, I mud intreat Mr. SOMERS, once 
 more, to take upon him the defence of 
 our order. 
 
 SIR j. MAYNARD. 
 
 ALL I intended by this inftance, was, 
 to mew the fpirit of the Saxon laws, 
 which could excite the jealoufy of the 
 prince, and deferve, at fuch a feafon, the 
 patronage of the clergy. It feems, how- 
 ever, for once, as if they had a little 
 mifconceived their true interefts. For 
 the diftinction of the two judicatures, 
 which occafioned their rcfentment, was, 
 
 VOL. II. N in
 
 l;f DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 in the end, a great means of the hierar* 
 chical greatnefs and independency. 
 
 MATTERS continued on this footing 
 during the three firft of the Norman 
 reigns. The prince did his utmoft to 
 elude the authority of the Englijh laws ^ 
 and the nation, on the other hand, la- 
 boured hard to confirm it. But a new 
 fcene was opened under King STEPHEN^ 
 by means of the Juftinian- laws ; which 
 had lately been recovered in Italy, and 
 became at once the fafhionable ftudy 
 over all Europe. It is certain, that the 
 Pandects were firft brought amongft us 
 m that reign; and that the reading of 
 them was much favoured by Archbifhop 
 THEOBALD [z], under whofe encourage- 
 ment they were publicly read in Eng- 
 land by VACARIUS, within a ftiort time 
 after the famous IRNERIUS had opened 
 his fchool at Bologna. There is fome- 
 thing fingular in the readinefs with 
 
 [sj SELDEN'S Works, vol. ii, p. 1082. 
 
 which.
 
 AND POLITICAL. 179 
 
 Vhich this new fyflem of law was em- 
 braced in thefe weftern parts of Europe. 
 But my friend Mr. SELDEN ufed to give 
 a plaufible account of it. It was, he 
 faid [<z], in opposition to INNOCENT IL, 
 who was for obtruding on the Chriftian 
 Hates the decretals^ as laws , manifeflly 
 calculated for the deftruclion of the 
 civil magiftrate's power. And what 
 feems to authorize the opinion of my 
 learned friend, is, that the popes very 
 early took the alarm, and, by their de- 
 crees, forbad churchmen to teach the 
 civil law : as appears from the conftitu- 
 tion of ALEXANDER III, fo early as the 
 year 1163, in the council of TOURS; 
 and afterwards from the famous decretal 
 of SUPER-SPECULA by HONORIUS III, 
 
 in 1219, * n wn ' cn tne c ^ ep oy f a ^ ^ en - 
 minations, feculars as well as regulars, 
 were prohibited the itudy of it. And it 
 was, doubtlefs, to defeat the mifchief 
 which the popes apprehended to them- 
 
 0] Dis?. AD FLET. 1078. 
 
 N 2 felves,
 
 So DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 Delves, from the credit of the imperial 
 laws, that GRATIAN was encouraged, 
 about the fame time, to compofe and 
 publifh his DECREE ; which, it is even 
 faid [], had the exprefs approbation of 
 pope EUGENIUS. 
 
 LET us fee, now, what reception this 
 newly-recovered law, fo feverely dealt 
 with by the pope, and fo well entertain- 
 ed by the greateft part of Europe^ had in 
 England. 
 
 VACARIUS had continued to teach it 
 for fome time, in the archbifhop's palace 
 at Lambeth, to great numbers, whom 
 firft, the novelty of the ftudy, and then, 
 the fafhion of the age, had drawn about 
 him. The fame of the teacher was 
 high, and the new fcience had made a 
 great progrefs, when on a fudden it re- 
 ceived a fevere check, and from a quarter 
 
 [] DR. DUCK, De ufu et autboritAtejuris ei<vilii t 
 p. 103. Lugd. Batav. 1654. 
 
 whence
 
 AND POLITIC A L. 181 
 
 whence one ihould not naturally exped 
 it. In fhort, the king himfelf interdicted 
 the ftudy of it. Some have imagined, 
 that this inhibition was owing to the 
 fpite he bore to archbifhop THEOBALD. 
 But the truer reafon feems to be, that the 
 canon law was firft read by VACARIUS 
 at the fame time, and under colour of 
 the imperial. I think we may collect: 
 thus much very clearly from JOHN OF 
 SALISBURY, who acquaints us with this 
 edict. For he confiders it as an offence 
 againft the church, and exprefsly calls the 
 prohibition, an IMPIETY [c]. 
 
 IT is true, the decretals of GRATIAN 
 were not yet publiflied. But Ivo had 
 made a collection of them in the reign 
 of HENRY I ; and we may be fure that 
 fome code of this fort would privately 
 go about amongft the clergy, from what 
 was before obferved of the pains taken 
 
 [c] POLICRATIC. lib. viii. c. 22. p. 672. Lugd 
 Sat. 1639. 
 
 NS by
 
 i8z DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 by INNOCENT II, to propagate the de- 
 cretals. We may further obierve, that 
 THEOBALD had been in high favour 
 with INNOCENT ; and that his fchool, at 
 Lambctb, was opened immediately oa 
 his return from Rome^ whither he had 
 been to receive his pall from this pope, 
 on his appointment to the fee of Canter- 
 bury [d]. All which makes it proba- 
 ble, that STEPHEN'S difpleafurc was not 
 fo much at the civil, as canon law, which 
 he might well conclude had no friendly 
 afpeft on his fovereignty. 
 
 AND we have the greater reafort to 
 believe that this was the faft, from ob- 
 ferving what afterwards happened in the 
 reign of HENRY III, when a prohibition 
 of the fame nature was again ifTued out 
 againft the teachers of the Roman laws in 
 London [e]. The true caufe of the royal 
 mandate is well known. GREGORY IX 
 
 [</] Diss. AD FLET. 1082. [e] Ibid. 1097. 
 
 had
 
 AND POLITICAL, 183 
 
 had juft then publilhed a new code of 
 the decretals; which, like all former 
 collections of this fort, was calculated to 
 ferve the papal intereft, and deprefs the 
 rights of princes. 
 
 HOWEVER, thefe edicts, if we fuppofe 
 them levelled againft the civil law, had no 
 effect, any more than thofe of the popes 
 ALEXANDER and HONORIUS, before 
 mentioned. For the imperial law, being 
 generally well received by the princes 
 of Europe, prefently became a kind of 
 Jus gentiurh. And the clergy, who af- 
 pired to power and dignities, either 
 abroad or at home, fludied it with an in- 
 conceivable rage ; infomuch, that ROGER. 
 BACON tells us, that, in his time for forty 
 years together, the feculars, who were 
 the ecclefiaftics employed in bufmefs, 
 never publifiied a fingle treatife in di- 
 vinity [/j. 
 
 [/] Dr. DUCK, p. 364. 
 
 N 4 THE
 
 184 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 THE truth is, whatever fliew the 
 popes or our own princes might make, at 
 times, of difcountenancing the civil law, 
 it was not the defign of either abfolutely 
 and univerfally to fupprefs it. It was 
 properly, not the civil, but the canon 
 law, which was difcountenanced by our 
 kings. And the cafe of the popes was, 
 that, when they found the imperial law 
 oppofed to the common, they were ready 
 to favour it ; when it was oppofed 
 to the canon, and brought that into 
 negleft, they forbad ecclefiaftics the ftudy 
 of it. 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 IN the mean time the poor people, 
 methinks, were in a fine condition, be- 
 tween two laws, the one founded on civil, 
 and the other on ecclefiaftical, tyranny. 
 If either had prevailed, there had been 
 an end of their liberties. 
 
 Sift
 
 AND POLITICAL. 185 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 CERTAINLY their fituation was very 
 critical. Yet in the end it was precifely 
 this fituation that faved them. For be- 
 twixt thefe contentions of the crown and 
 mitre, each endeavouring to extend its 
 dominion over the other, the people, 
 who were of courfe to be gained by ei- 
 ther fide in its diftrefs, found means to 
 preferve themfelves from both. 
 
 To fee how this happened, we mult 
 remember, what appears indeed from 
 the two edicts of STEPHEN and HENRY, 
 that the king himfelf was a bulwark be- 
 twixt them and the papal power. And 
 when the king in his turn wanted to 
 exalt his prerogative over all, the church 
 very naturally took the alarm, as we faw 
 in the cafe of WILLIAM'S feparation .of 
 the two tribunals. And thus it happen- 
 ed, as NAT. BACON obferves [#], "That 
 
 [g] Disc. Parti, p. 78. Lond. 1739. 
 
 many
 
 186 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 many times the pope and the clergy be- 
 came protectors of the people's liberties, 
 and kept them fare from the rage of 
 kings. The greateft danger was, when 
 the two powers chanced to unite in one 
 common defign againft them ; as they 
 did in their general inclination for the 
 eftablimment of the civil law. But here 
 the petipk had the courage always to 
 defend themfelves ; and with that wifdom 
 too, as demon ftrates their attention to 
 the caufe of civil liberty, and the vigi- 
 lance with which they guarded even its 
 remoteft outworks. 
 
 OF their fteady and watchful conduct, 
 in this refpect, I lhall mention fome of 
 the many memorable examples, that oc- 
 cur in our hiilory* 
 
 I HAVE faid that from the time of 
 STEPHEN, notwithftanding his famous 
 edict, the imperial laws were the chief 
 and favourite ftudy of the clergy. They 
 
 had
 
 AND POLITIC A L. 187 
 
 had good reafon for applying themfelveS 
 fo clofely to this fcience, and ftill further 
 views than their own immediate advance- 
 ment. They wanted to bring thofe laws 
 into the civil courts, and to make them 
 the {landing rule of public adminiftra- 
 tion ; not merely from their good-will to 
 the papal authority, which would na- 
 turally gain an advantage by this change, 
 but for the fake of controlling the too 
 princely barons, and in hopes, no doubt, 
 that the imperial would in due time 
 draw the canon laws into vogue along 
 with them. Such, I think, were at leaft 
 the fecret defigns of the ruling clergy ; 
 and they did not wait long before they 
 endeavoured to put their project in exe- 
 cution. The plot was admirably laid, 
 and with that deep policy as hath kept it, 
 I believe, from being generally under- 
 (lood to this day. 
 
 THE great men of that time were, we 
 jnay be fure, too like the great men of 
 
 every
 
 iS8 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 every other, to be very fcrupulous about 
 the commifiion of thofe vices to which 
 they were moft inclined. The truth is, 
 their profligacy was in proportion to 
 their greatnefs and their ignorance. 
 They indulged themfelves in the moft 
 licentious amours, and even prided them- 
 felves in this licence. The good church- 
 men, no doubt, lamented this corruption 
 of manners ; but, as they could not re- 
 form, they refolved at leaft to draw fome 
 emolument to themfelves from it. The 
 caftles of the barons, they faw, were full 
 of baftards. Nay, the cqurtefy of that 
 time had fo far dignified their vices, that 
 the very name was had in honour. EGO 
 GULIELMUS BASTARDUS, is even the 
 preamble to one of WILLIAM the firft's 
 charters. 
 
 YET, as refpe&able as it was become, 
 there was one unlucky check on this 
 favourite indulgence : and this, with the 
 barons leave, the confiderate bifliops 
 
 would
 
 AND POLITICAL; 8 9 
 
 would prefently take off. Subfequent 
 marriage, by the imperial as well as 
 canon laws, legitimated baftards, as to 
 fuccefiion; whereas the common law 
 kept them eternally in their ftate of 
 baftardy. It is not to be doubted, but 
 the barons would be fenfible enough of 
 this reftraint. They earneftly wifhed to 
 get rid of it. And could any thing bid 
 fo fair to recommend the imperial law 
 to their good liking, as the tender of it 
 for fo defirable a purpofe ? At a parlia- 
 ment, therefore, under HENRY III [/&], 
 Rogaverunt omnes epifcopi, ut confentirent 
 quod nati ante matrimonium effent legitimi. 
 What think ye now of this general fup- 
 plication of the hierarchy ? What could 
 the barons do but comply with it, efpe- 
 cially as it was fo kindly intended for 
 their relief, and the propofal was even 
 made with a delicacy that might enable 
 them to come into it with a good grace, 
 and without the fhame of feeming to 
 [/&] At MERTON, in the year 1236. ' 
 
 defire
 
 IQ-S DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 defire it ? All this is very true. Yet the 
 anfwer of the virtuous barons is as fol- 
 lows : Omnes comites et barones una voce 
 refponderunt, QUOD NOLUMUS LEGES ANG; 
 
 LIM MUTARI. 
 
 WE fee then what ftuck with them^ 
 Thefe barons, as licentious as they were, 
 preferred their liberty to their pleafure. 
 The bifhops they knew, as partifans of 
 the pope, were for fubjecling the nation 
 to the imperial and papal laws. They 
 offered, indeed, to begin with a circum- 
 ftance very much to their tafle. But if 
 they accepted the benefit of them in one 
 inftance, with what decency could they 
 object to them in others ? They deter- 
 mined therefore to be confiftent. They 
 rejected a proportion, moft agreeable in 
 itlelf, left their acceptance of it mould 
 make way for the introduction of foreign. 
 laws 5 whofe very genius and efTence, 
 they well knew, was arbitrary, defpotic 
 power. Their anfwer fpeaks their fenfe 
 8 of
 
 AND POLITICAL. t 9 i 
 
 of this matter, NQLUMUS LEGES ANG- 
 LIC MUTARI. They had nothing to 
 object to the propofal itfelf. But they 
 were afraid for the conltitution. 
 
 MR* SOMERS. 
 
 I DOUBT, Sir JOHN, my lord of 
 SALISBURY will bring a frefh complaint 
 againft you, for this liberty with the bi- 
 ftiops. But I, who fhall not be thought 
 wanting in a due honour for that bench, 
 muft needs confefs myfelf much pleafed, 
 as well with the novelty, as juftice of 
 this comment. I have frequently con- 
 fidered this famous reply cf the old 
 barons. But I did not fee to the bottom 
 of the contrivance. Their averfion to 
 the imperial laws, as you fay, muft have 
 been very great, to have put them on 
 their guard againft fo inviting a propofal. 
 
 EP. EURN.ET. 
 
 ONE thing, however, is forgotten or 
 diflembled in this account, that the law of 
 
 JUSTINIAN,
 
 i 9 2 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 JUSTINIAN, which allows the privilege 
 of legitimation to fubfequent marriage, 
 is grounded on fome reafons that might, 
 perhaps, recommend it to the judgment, 
 as well as intereft of the old prelates. 
 Befides, they doubtlefs found themfelves 
 much diftreffed by the contrariety of the 
 two laws in this inftance. For the 
 ground of their motion, as I remember, 
 was, Quod ejjet fecundum commumm for- 
 mam ecclejite. But, to deal ingenuoufly 
 with you, Sir JOHN, you have drefled up 
 your hypothefis very plaufibly. And I, 
 who am no advocate for the civil or 
 ecclefiaftical laws, in this or any inftance 
 where they clam with thofe of my coun- 
 try, can allow your raillery on HENRY'S 
 good bifiiops, if it were only that I fee it 
 makes fo much for your general argu- 
 ment. 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 YOUR lordfhip may the rather excufe 
 
 this liberty with the churchy as I pro- 
 
 2 pofe,
 
 AND POLITICAL. 193 
 
 pofe, in due time, to deal as freely with 
 WESTMINSTER-HALL; a fimilar plot, 
 
 * 
 
 which I fliall have occafion to mention 
 preferitly, having been formed agaihlt 
 the itntient conftitution by the men of 
 our profeflion. 
 
 MR. SOWERS. 
 
 IN the mean time, Sir JOHN, you muft 
 give me leave, in quality of advocate for 
 the church, to obferve one thing, that 
 does the churchmen honour. It is, that, 
 in thefe attempts on the eonftitution, the 
 judges and great officers of the realm, 
 who in thofe times were of the clergy, 
 conflantly took the fide of the Englijb 
 lawsj as my Lord COKE himfelf, I re- 
 member, takes notice in his commentary 
 on this ftatute of MERTON. 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 "t 'BELIEVE the obfervation is very 
 
 jaft. But I mould incline to impute this 
 
 integrity, not to' the influence of church 
 
 VOL, II. O principles,
 
 i 9 4 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 principles, but thofe of the common law, 
 and fo turn your compliment to the ho- 
 nour of our profefiion inftead of theirs, 
 if it were not too clear in fad that every 
 profeffion, in its turn, hath been liable 
 to this charge of corruption. 
 
 BUT I was going on with my proofs 
 of the national averfion to the imperial 
 law. 
 
 THE next mall be taken from that 
 famous difpute concerning the fucceffion 
 to the crown of Scotland in the feign of 
 EDWARD 1. For a queftion arifing about 
 the kind of law by which the contro- 
 verfy mould be decided, and it being 
 efpecially debated, whether the Cxfarean 
 law, as a fort of jus gentium^ ought not, 
 in fuch a caufe, to have the preference to 
 the law of England , it was then un- 
 animoufly determined by the great coun- 
 cil of NORHAM, that the authority of 
 the Ctfarean law fhould by no means 
 
 be
 
 AND POLITICAL. 195 
 
 be admitted; NE INDE MAJESTATIS 
 ANGLICANS JUKI FIERET DETRIMEN- 
 
 TuMJTJ. 
 
 THIS determination was public, and 
 given on a very folemn occafion. And 
 in general we may obferve, that at the 
 junctures when the ftate hath been moft 
 jealous of its liberty and honour, it hath 
 declared the loudeft againft the imperial 
 laws: as in the WONDER-WORKING 
 parliament under RICHARD II, when the 
 duke of Gloucefter accufed the arch- 
 bifhop of Tcrk, the duke of Ireland, and 
 other creatures of the king, of high 
 treafon. The charge was fo fully 
 proved, that the court had no other 
 way of diverting the florm, than by pre- 
 tending an irregularity in the forms of 
 procedure. To this end the lawyers 
 were confulted with, or more properly 
 directed. I will difguife nothing. They 
 defccnded fo much from the dignity of 
 [/'] Di-.s. AD FLET. nog. 
 
 O 2 their
 
 196 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 their profeflion, as to act in perfect fub- 
 ferviency to the views of the court; 
 and therefore gave it as their opinion, 
 that the proceedings againft the lords 
 were of no validity, as being contrary to 
 the forms prefcribed by the civil law. 
 The barons took themfelves to be infult- 
 ed by thefe fhifts of the lawyers. They 
 infifted that the proceedings were agree- 
 able to their own cuftoms, and declared 
 roundly that they would never fuffer 
 England to be governed by the Roman 
 civil law []. 
 
 WHAT think ye now of thefe exam- 
 ples? Are they not a proof that the 
 fpirit of liberty ran high in thqfe times, 
 when neither the intrigues of church- 
 men nor the chicane of lawyers could 
 put a flop to it ? It feems as if no direct 
 attempts on the conftitution could have 
 
 [/] See FORTES CUE, De laudilus leg. Angl. 
 p. 74. Land. 1741; and SELDEN'S JANUS AN- 
 CLORUM, 1010, vol. ii. torn. ii. 
 
 been
 
 AND POLITICAL. 197 
 
 been made with the lead appearance of 
 fuccefs; and that therefore the abettors 
 of arbitrary power were obliged to work 
 their way obliquely, by contriving me- 
 thods for the introduction of a foreign 
 law. 
 
 IN this project they had many advan- 
 tages, which nothing but an unwearied 
 zeal in the caufe of liberty could have 
 poffibly counteracted. From the reign 
 of STEPHEN to that of EDWARD III, 
 that is, for the fpace of near 200 years, 
 the Roman law had been in great cre- 
 dit [/]. All the learning of the times 
 was in the clergy, and that learning was 
 little more than the imperial and canon 
 laws. The fact is fo certain, that fome 
 of the clergy themfelves, when in an ill 
 temper, or off their guard, complain of 
 it in the ftrongeft terms. And to fee 
 the height to which this humour was 
 carried, not the feculars only who intend- 
 
 [/] Diss. AD FLET. iioj.. 
 
 03 cd
 
 9S DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 ed to rife by them, but the very monks 
 in their cells (ludied nothing but thefe 
 laws[*]. To complete the danger, the 
 magistracies and great offices of the 
 kingdom were filled with churchmen []. 
 
 WHO would expect, now, with thofe 
 advantages, but that the Roman law 
 would have forced its way into our civil 
 courts ? It did indeed infmuate itfelf there 
 as it were by ftealth, but could never 
 appear with any face of authority. The 
 only fervice, that would be accepted 
 from it, was that of illuftration only in 
 the courfe of their pleadings, whilft the 
 lawyers quoted occafionally from the 
 INSTITUTES, juft as. they might have 
 done from any other ancient author [o\. 
 Yet, fo long as the churchmen prefided 
 in the courts of juftice, this intruder was 
 to be refpected ; and it is pleafant to ob- 
 ferve the wire-drawing of fome of our 
 
 [] Dr. DUCK, p. 365. 
 
 [a] Diss. AD FUET. 1010. [?] Ibid. 1106. 
 
 ableft
 
 A N D P O L I T 1 C A L. i 9 9 
 
 ableft lawyers, in their endeavours to 
 make the policy of England ipeak the 
 language of Rome. 
 
 MR. SELDEN'S difiertation on FLE- 
 TA [p], which lies open before me, 
 affords a curious inftance. The civil law 
 fays, " Populus ei [Casfari] et in eum 
 omne fuum imperium et poteftatem con- 
 ferat;" meaning by people, the Roman 
 people, and fo eftabiiftiing the defpotic 
 rule of the prince. But BRACTON took 
 advantage of the ambiguity, to eftablifh 
 that maxim of a free government, " That 
 all dominion arifes from the people/* 
 This you will fay, was good manage- 
 ment. But what follows is ftill better. 
 ** Nihil aliud, fayfc he, poteft rex in 
 terris, cum fit Dei minifter et vicarius, 
 nifi quod JURE poteft. NEC OBSTAT 
 quod dicitur, QUOD PRINCIPI PLACET 
 
 LEGIS HABET VIGOREM ; quia fequitUF 
 
 in fine legis, CUM LEGE REGIA QU^E DB 
 [/] P. 1046. 
 
 O 4 IMPERIO
 
 ioo DIALOGUES MORAL 
 IMPERIO EJUS LATA .ESTJ id eft, 
 
 quicquid de voluntate regis temere 
 fumptum eft, fed quod- confilio magiftra- 
 tuum fuorum, rege auctoritatem prse- 
 ftante, et habita fuper hoc deliberatione 
 et tractatu, rede fueritdefini turn." Thus 
 far old BRACTON; who is religioufly 
 followed in the fame glofs by THORN- 
 TON, and the author of FLETA. But 
 what ! you will fay, this is an exaft de- 
 fcription of the prefent conflitution. It 
 is fo, and therefore certainly not to be 
 found in the civil law. To confefs the 
 truth, thefe venerable fages are playing 
 tricks with us. The whole is a preme- 
 ditated falfification, or, to fay it fofter, a 
 iicentious commentary, for the fake of 
 EMglifo liberty. The'words in the PAN- 
 DECTS and INSTITUTIONS are thefe; 
 
 *?-QUOD PRINCJPI PLACUIT, LEGIS HA- 
 BETVIGOREM, UTPOTE CUM LEGE REOIA, 
 K& DE IMPERIO EJUS LATA EST, POPU- 
 LUS El ET IK EU-M OMNE SUUM IMPE- 
 RIUM ET POTESTATEM COVFERAT.'* 
 
 MY
 
 AND POLITICAL. 201 
 
 MY honeft friend, in mentioning this 
 extraordinary circumftance, fays, one can- 
 not confider it, fine ftupore. He obierves, 
 that thefe lawyers did not quote the 
 Pandefts by hear-fay, but had copies of 
 them ; and therefore adds (for I will read 
 on) " Unde magis mirandum quanam 
 ratione evenerit, ut non folum ipfe, adeo 
 judiciis forenfibus clarus, et (fi Biogra- 
 phis fcriptorum noftratium fides) pro- 
 feffor juris utriufque Oxonienfis, verum 
 etiam THORNTONIUS juris alias peritiffi- 
 mus, et FLET^ author, adeo diverfam 
 leclionem, fenfumque diverfum atque in- 
 terpretibus aliis univerfis adeo alienum in 
 illuftriffimo juris Casfarei loco explicando 
 tarn fidcnter admiferint." The difficulty, 
 you fee, increafes upon him. But we 
 ihall ealily remove it by obferving, that 
 the Casfarean laws, though they had no 
 proper authority with us, yet were much 
 complimented in thofe times* and were to 
 be treated on. all occafions with ceremony. 
 
 And
 
 oz DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 And therefore thofe lawyers that lived 
 under and wanted to fupport a free con- 
 ftitution, faw there was no way of ferving 
 their caufe fo effectually, as by pretend- 
 ing to find it in the Roman inftitutes. 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 THIS management of BR ACTON and 
 his followers makes fome amends for the 
 ill conduct of RICHARD the fecond's law- 
 yers. And as to their chicanery, the 
 ingenuity of the glofs, we will fuppofe, 
 was no more than neceffary to correct 
 the malignity of the text. 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 THEY had, no doubt, confulted their 
 honour much more, by infifting roundly, 
 as they might have done, that the text 
 had no concern at all in the difpute. 
 But I mention thefe things only to mew 
 the extreme reverence, that was then 
 paid to the civil law, by the Ihifts the 
 common lawyers were put to in order to 
 
 evade
 
 AND POLITICAL. 203 
 
 evade its influence. From which we 
 learn how rooted the love of liberty muft 
 have been in this nation, and how un- 
 Ihaken the firmnefs of the national coun- 
 cils in fupporting it, when, notwithdand- 
 ing the general repute it was of in thofe 
 days, the imperial law could never gain 
 authority enough to prefcribe to us in 
 any matters that concerned the rights of 
 the crown, or the property of the fubjecT:- 
 And this circumftance will be thought 
 the more extraordinary, if it be confider- 
 ed, that, to the general efteem in which 
 the Roman law was held by the clergy, 
 our kings have ufually added the whole 
 weight of their influence ; except indeed 
 at fome particular junctures, when their 
 jealoufy of the canon law prevailed over 
 their natural bias to the civil. 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 I SHOULD be unwilling to weaken any 
 argument you take to be of ufe in main- 
 taining the noble caufe you have under- 
 taken.
 
 2o 4 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 takeri. But, methinks, this charge on 
 our princes would require to be made 
 out by other evidence [q] than hath 
 been commonly produced for it. There 
 is no doubt but many of them hav e 
 aimed at fetting themfelves above the 
 laws of their country; but is it true (I 
 mean, though FORTES CUE himfelf [r] 
 has fuggefted the fame thing) that for 
 this purpofe they have ufually expreffed 
 a partiality to the Roman laws ? 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 I BELIEVE it certain that they have, 
 and on better reafons than the bare 
 word of any lawyer whatfoever. 
 
 WHAT think you of RICHARD the 
 fecond's policy in the inftance before 
 mentioned; that RICHARD, who nfed to 
 declare, " That the laws were only in his 
 mouth and breaft, and that he himfelf 
 
 [?] Mr. SELDEN'S Diss. AD FLET. 1109. 
 [r] tit laud. leg. Ang % c. 33, 34. 
 
 could
 
 A N D P O L I T I C A L. 20? 
 
 could make and unmake them at hi s 
 pleafure ?" We may know for what rea- 
 ibn a. prince of this defpotic turn had 
 recourfe to the Roman law. 
 
 BUT even his great predecefTor is 
 known to have been very indulgent to- 
 wards it. And ftili earlier, EDWARD I. 
 took much pains to eftablifh the credit 
 of this law ; and to that end engaged the 
 younger ACCURSIUS, the mod renowned 
 doctor of the age, to come over into 
 England, and fet up a fchool of it at 
 Oxford. Or, to wave thefe inftances, let 
 me refer you to a certain and very re- 
 markable fact, which fpeaks the fenfe, 
 not of this or that king, but of the whole 
 fucceffion of our princes. 
 
 THE imperial law, to this day, obtains 
 altogether in the courts of admiralty, 
 in courts marefcall, and in the univer- 
 fitiesfyj. On the contrary, in what we 
 
 [/] Diss. AD FLBT. 1102. 
 
 call
 
 *o6 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 call the courts of law and equity, it never 
 hath, nor ever could prevail. What fhall 
 we fay to this remarkable difference ? or 
 to what caufe will you afcribe it, that 
 this law, which was conftantly excluded 
 with fuch care from the one fort of 
 courts, fhould have free currency and 
 be of fole authority in the other? I be- 
 lieve it will be difficult to affign any 
 other than this : that the fubjects of de- 
 cifion in the firft fpecies of courts are 
 matters in the refort of the king's pre- 
 rogative, fuch as peace and war, and the 
 diftribution of honours ; whilft the fub- 
 jects of decifion in the courts of common 
 law are out of his prerogative, fuch as 
 thofe of liberty and property. The 
 king had his choice by what law the 
 firft fort of fubjeds fliould be regulated ; 
 and therefore he adopted the imperial 
 law. He had not his choice in the latter 
 inrtance; and the people were never fatis- 
 fied with any other than the law of the 
 land. 
 
 MR.
 
 A N D P O L I T I C A L. 207 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 YET Mr. SELDEN, you know, gives 
 another reafon of this preference: it 
 was, he thinks, becaufe foreigners arc 
 often concerned with the natives in thofe 
 tribunals where the civil law is in ufe. 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 TRUE; but my learned friend, as I 
 conceive, did not attend to this matter 
 with his ufual exactnefs. For foreigners 
 are as frequently concerned in the courts 
 of law and equity, as in the other tribu- 
 nals. The cafe in point of reafon is 
 very clear. In all contefts that are car- 
 ried on between a native and a foreigner, 
 as the fubject of another ftate, the de. 
 cifion ought to be by the law of nations. 
 But when a foreigner puts himfeif with 
 a native under the protection of our ftate, 
 the determination is, of courfe, by our 
 law. The practice hath uniformly cor- 
 refponded to the right in the courts of 
 
 law
 
 208 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 law and equity. In the other tribunals 
 the right hath -given way to the will of 
 the prince, who had his reafons for pre- 
 ferring the authority of the imperial law. 
 
 UPON the whole, if we confider the 
 veneration, which the clergy ufually en- 
 tertained, and endeavoured to inculcate 
 into the people, for the civil law; the 
 indulgence fhewn it by the prince; its 
 prevalence in thofe courts which were 
 immediately under the prerogative ; and 
 even the countenance fhewn it at times 
 in the courfe of pleading at common 
 law; we cannot avoid coming to this 
 fhort conclufion, " That the genius of 
 the imperial laws was repugnant to our 
 conftitution ; and that nothing but the 
 extreme jealoufy of the barons, left they 
 might prove, in pleas of the crown, in- 
 jurious to civil liberty, hath kept them 
 from being received in England on the 
 fame footing that we every where find 
 
 they 
 6
 
 AND POL tTIC A L. 2 cg 
 
 they are in the other countries of Europe, 
 and as they are in Scotland to this day. 
 
 BUT, if you think I draw this conclu- 
 fion too haftily, and without grounding it 
 on fufficienc premifes, you may further 
 confider with me, if you pleafe, THE 
 
 FATE AND FORTUNES OF THE' CIVIL 
 LAW IN THIS KINGDOM DOWN TO THE 
 PRESENT TIME. 
 
 IN the reigns of HENRY VII [/] and 
 VIII, and the two firft kings of the houfe 
 
 of 
 
 [/] The fpeaker might have begun this account 
 of the fate and fortunes of the civil law ftill higher. 
 NAT. BACON, fpeaking of HENRY the fifth's reign, 
 obferves, " The times were now come about, 
 wherein light began to fpring forth, confcience to 
 beftir itfelf, and men to ftudy the fcriptures. This 
 was imputed to the idlenefs and careleflnefs of the 
 clergy, who fuffered the minds of young fcholars to 
 luxuriate into errors of divinity, for want of putting 
 them on to other learning ; and gave no encourage- 
 ment to ftudies of human literature, by preferring 
 thofe that were deferving. The convocation taking 
 this into confideration, do decree, that no perfon 
 Ihould exercife any jurifdidion in any office, as 
 
 VOL, If. P vi<ar-
 
 zio DIALOGUES MORAL 
 of STUART, that is, the moft defpotic of 
 our princes, the ftudy of the civil law 
 hath been more efpecially favoured ; as 
 we might conclude from the general 
 fpirit of thofe kings themfelves, but as 
 we certainly know from the countenance 
 they (hewed to its profeflbrs , from their 
 chufmg to employ them in their bufmefs, 
 and from the falaries and places they 
 
 vicar-general, commijfary, or official, or othetwife, un- 
 Jels he mall fuft in the univerfity have taken degrees 
 in the CIVIL or CANON LAWS. A fhrewd trick 
 this was, to ftop the growth of the ftudy of divinity, 
 and WICKUFP'S way; and to embellifh men's 
 minds with a kind of learning that may gain them 
 preferment, or at leaft an opinion of abilities beyond 
 the common ftrain, and dangerous to be meddled 
 with. Like fome gallants, that wear fwords as 
 badges of honour, and to bid men beware, becaufe 
 they pofllbly may flrike, though in their own per- 
 fons they may be very cowards. And no lefs mif- 
 chievoufly intended was this againft the rugged 
 COMMON LAW, a rule fo nigh allied to the gofpel- 
 way, as it favoureth liberty ; and fo far cftranged 
 from the way of the civil and canon law, as there is 
 no hope of accommodation till Chrill and Anti- 
 chrift have fought the field." Disc. Part U. p. 90. 
 Land. 1739. 
 
 4 provided
 
 AND POLITICAL. ait 
 
 provided for their encouragement. Yet 
 fee the iffue of all this indulgence to a 
 foreign law, and the treatment it met 
 with from bur parliaments and people ! 
 The opprefllons of EMPSON and DUDLEY 
 had been founded in a ftretch of power, 
 ufurped and juftified on the principles 
 of the civil law j by which thefe mif- 
 creants had been enabled to violate a 
 fundamental part of our conftitution, the 
 way of trial by JURIES. The effect on 
 the people was dreadful. Accordingly, 
 in the entrance of the next reign, 
 though the authority, by which they 
 had acted* had even been parliamentary, 
 thefe creatures of tyranny were indicted 
 of high treafon, were condemned and 
 executed for having been inftru mental 
 in fubverting LEOEM TERR^E , and the 
 extorted ftatute, under which they had 
 hoped to fhelter themfelves, was with a 
 juft indignation repealed, 
 
 P 2 YET
 
 2 i2 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 YET all this was confidered only as a 
 necefTary facrifice to the clamours of an 
 incenfed people. The younger HENRY, 
 we may be fure, had fo much of his 
 father in him, or rather fo far outdid 
 him in the worft parts of his tyranny, 
 that he could not but look with an eye of 
 favour on the very law he had been 
 conftrained to abolifh. His great eccle- 
 fiaftical minifter was, no doubt, in the 
 fecret of his mailer's inclinations, and 
 conducted himfelf accordingly. Yet the 
 vengeance of the nation purfued and 
 overtook him in good time. They re- 
 fen ted his difloyal contempt of the ori- 
 ginal conftitution ; and made it one of 
 the articles againfl this Roman cardinal, 
 *' That he endeavoured to fubvert anti- 
 quiffimas leges bujus regni, umverfumque 
 boc regnum LEGIBUS IMPERIALIBUS fub- 
 
 FROM 
 
 I
 
 AND POLITICAL. zi 3 
 
 FROM this time, the fludy of the civil 
 law was thought to languifh in England^ 
 till it revived with much fpirit in the 
 reigns of thofe .unhappy princes who 
 fucceeded to the houfe of TUDOR. Then 
 indeed, by inclination and by pedantry, 
 JAMES I, was led to patronize and en- 
 courage it. And the fame project was 
 refumed, and carried ftill further, by his 
 unfortunate fon. I fpeak now from my 
 own experience and obfervation. The 
 civil lawyers were molt welcome at court. 
 They were brought into the Chancery 
 and court of Requefts. The minifter, 
 another fort of man than WOLSEY, yet 
 a thorough ecclefiaftic, and bigoted, if 
 not to the religion, yet to the policy of 
 Rome, gaye a countenance to this pro- 
 feflion above that of the common law. 
 He had found the fpirit, and even the 
 forms of it, moft convenient for his pur- 
 pofe in the STAR-CHAMBER and HIGH- 
 COMMISSION court, thofe tribunals of 
 P 3 imperial
 
 ii4 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 imperial juftice, exalted fo far above the? 
 controul of the common law ; and by his 
 good will, therefore, he would have 
 brought the fame regimen into the other 
 branches of the adminiftration. Great 
 civilians were employed to write elabo- 
 rate defences of their fcience; to the 
 manifeft exaltation of the prerogative; 
 to the prejudice of the national rights 
 and privileges ; and to the difparagement 
 of the common law. The confequence 
 of thefe proceedings is well known. 
 The moft immediate was, that they pro- 
 voked the jealoufy of the common law- 
 yers; and, when the rupture afterwards 
 happened, occafioned many of the moft 
 eminent of them to throw themfelves 
 into the popular fcale [#]. 
 
 YET, to fee the uniformity of the 
 views of tyranny, ancj the direct oppo- 
 
 [] It ftiould however be obferved, in honour of 
 their patriotifm, that *' they afterwards took them- 
 felves out of it," when they faw the extremities to 
 which the popular party were driving.
 
 AND POLITICAL. 215 
 
 fitlon which it never fails to encounter 
 from the Englijh law, no fooner had a 
 fet of violent men ufurped the liberties 
 of their country, and with the fword in 
 their hands determined to rule defpoti- 
 cally and in defiance of the conftitution, 
 than the fame jealoufy of the common 
 Jaw, and the fame contempt of it revived. 
 Nay, to fuch an extreme was the new 
 tyranny carried, that the very game of 
 EMPSON and DUDLEY was played over 
 again. The trial of an Englijbman, by 
 his peers, was difgraced and rejected ; 
 and (I fpeak from what I felt) the per- 
 ibn imprifoned and perfecuted, who dared 
 appeal, though in his own cafe [w], to 
 
 the 
 
 [w] This alludes to the proceedings againft the 
 eleven members upon the charge of the army. Sir 
 JOHN MAVNARD was one of them. And when 
 articles of high treafon were preferred againft him, 
 and the trial was to come on before the lords, he 
 f-xcepted to the jurifdidtion of the court, and, by 
 a written paper prefented to them, required to be 
 tried by his peers according to Magna Charta, and 
 the law of the land. See WHITLOCKE'S Memorial! ; 
 P 4 and
 
 2i6 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 the ancient eflential forms of the confti- 
 tution. Under fuch a ftate of things, it 
 .is not to be wondered that much pains 
 was taken to depreciate a law which 
 thefe mighty men were determined not 
 to regard. Invectives againfl the pro- 
 fetors of the Engli/b laws were the 
 ufual and favoured topics of parliamen- 
 tary eloquence. Thefe were fometimes 
 fo indecent, and pumed to that provoking 
 length, that WHITLOCKE himfelf, who 
 paced it with them through all changes, 
 was forced in the end to hazard his 
 reputation with his matters, by Handing 
 on the neceflary defence of himfelf and 
 his profeflion [#]. 
 
 I NEED not, I fuppofe, defcend lower. 
 Ye have both feen with your own eye? 
 
 and a fhort pamphlet written on that occafion, called 
 THE ROYAL QUARREL, dated gth of Feb. 1647. 
 Sir JOHN was, at this time, a clofe prifoner in the 
 Tower. 
 
 [*] See ' his fpeech, inferted in his Memorials of 
 Englijh affairs, Noy> 1649. 
 
 the
 
 AND POLITIC AL. 21-7 
 
 the occurrences of the late reign. Ye 
 have heard the common language of the 
 time. The practice was but conformable 
 to fuch doctrines as were current at court, 
 where it was generally maintained, that 
 the king's power of difpenfing with law, 
 was LAW ; by which if thefe doctors did 
 not intend the imperial -or civil law, the 
 infult was almoft too grofs to deferve a 
 confutation. It muft be owned, and to 
 the eternal fhame of thofe who were 
 capable of fuch bafenefs, there were not 
 wanting fome even of the common law- 
 yers that joined in this infult. 
 
 I BUT touch thefe things (lightly -, for I 
 confider to whom I fpeak. But if, to thefe 
 examples of the nation's fondnefs for their 
 laws, you add, what appears in the tenor 
 of our hiftories, the conftant language of 
 the coronation-oaths, of the oaths of our 
 judges, and, above all, of the feveral great 
 charters j in all which exprefs mention 
 
 is
 
 2i8 DIALOG UES MORAL 
 
 is made of the LEX TERR/E, in oppofition 
 to every foreign, but efpecially the 
 Caefarean, law ; you will conclude with 
 me, " That, as certainly as the CESA- 
 REAN LAW is founded in the principles 
 of flavery, our ENGLISH LAW, and the 
 conftitution to which it refers, hath its 
 foundation in freedom, and, as fuch, de- 
 ferved the care with which it hath been 
 tranfmitted down to us from the earlieft 
 ages." 
 
 WHAT think ye now, my good friends ? 
 Is it any longer a doubt, that the con- 
 ftitution of the Englijh government, fuch 
 I mean as it appears to have been from 
 the mod unqueftioned annals of our 
 country, is a free conilitution ? Is there 
 any thing more in the way of this conclu- 
 fion ? or does it not force itfelf upon us, 
 and lie open to the mind of every plain 
 man that but turns his attention upon this 
 fubjeft ? 
 
 You
 
 AND POLITIC A L. 219 
 
 You began, Mr. SOMERS, with great 
 fears and apprehenfions ; or you thought 
 fit to counterfeit them, at leaft. You fuf- 
 pedled the matter was too myfterious for 
 common underftandings to penetrate, and 
 too much involved in the darknefs of 
 ancient times to be brought into open day- 
 light. Let me hear your free thoughts 
 on the evidence I have here produced to 
 you. And yet it is a fmall part only of 
 that which might be produced, of that I 
 am fure which yourfelf could eafily have 
 produced, and perhaps expected from 
 me. 
 
 BUT I content myfelf with thefe obvi- 
 ous truths, cc That the liberty of the fub- 
 ject appears, and of itfelf naturally arofe, 
 from the very nature of the FEUDAL, 
 which is properly (at leaft if we look no 
 further back than the Conqueft) the 
 Englijb conftitmion , that the current of 
 liberty has been gradually widening, as 
 
 well
 
 20 D I A L O G U E S M O R A L 
 
 well as purifying, in proportion as it 
 defcended from its fource ; that charters 
 and laws have removed every fcruple 
 that might arife about the reciprocal 
 rights and privileges of prince and peo- 
 ple ; that the fenfe of that liberty which 
 the nation enjoyed under their admirable 
 conftitution was fo quick, that every the 
 leaft attempt to deprive them of it, gave 
 an alarm ; and their attachment to it fo 
 ftrong and conftant, that .no artifice, no 
 intrigue, no perverfion of law and gofpel 
 could induce them to part with it : that, 
 in particular, they have guarded this 
 precious depofite of legal and conftitu- 
 tional liberty with fuch care, that, while 
 the heedlefs reception of a foreign law, 
 concurring with other circumftances, hath 
 riveted the yoke of flavery on the other 
 nations of Europe, this of England could 
 never be cajoled nor driven into any 
 terms of accommodation with it ; but, as 
 NAT. BACON [y] faid truly, 'That the 
 
 [y] Disc. Part I. p. 78. 
 
 trifle
 
 AND POLITICAL. zzi 
 
 triple crown could never well folder with 
 the Englijh^ fo neither could the imperial 
 and that, in a word, the ENGLISH LAW 
 hath always been preferred inviolate 
 from the impure mixtures of the canon 
 and Casfarean laws, as the fole defence 
 and bulwark of our civil liberties." 
 
 THESE are the plain truths, which I 
 have here delivered to you, and on which 
 I could be content to reft this great 
 caufe , I mean, if it had not already re- 
 ceived its formal, and, I would hope, final 
 determination, in another way. For no 
 pretences will furely prevail hereafter 
 with a happy people to renounce that 
 liberty, which fo rightfully belonged to 
 them at all times, and hath now fo 
 folemnly been confirmed to them by 
 the great tranfa&ions of thefe days. I 
 willingly omit therefore, as fuperfluous, 
 what in a worfe caufe might have 
 been thought of no fmall weight, the ex- 
 prefs testimony of our ableft lawyers to 
 
 the
 
 222 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 the freedom of our conftitution. I do not 
 mean only the COKES and SZLDENS of 
 our time (though in point of authority 
 what names can be greater than theirs?); 
 but thofe of older and therefore more 
 reverend eftimationj fuch as GLANVIL, 
 BRACTON, the author of FLETA, THORN- 
 TON, and FORTESCUE [z] : men the moft 
 efteemed and learned in their feveral 
 ages ; who conftantly and uniformlyfpeak 
 of the Englijb, as a mixed and limited 
 [K] The reader may not be difpleafed to fee the 
 words of old FORTESCUE on this fubjec\ of the 
 origin of the Englijh government, which are very 
 remarkable. In his famous book Di laudibus legum 
 Jlnglice, he diftinguifhes between the REGAL and 
 POLITICAL forms of government. In explaining 
 the latter, which he gives us as the proper form of 
 the Engiijh government, he exprefleth himfelf in 
 thefe words " Habes inftituti omnis POLITIC I 
 REGNI formani, ex qua metiri poteris poteftatem* 
 quam rex ejus in leges ipfius aut fubditos valeat 
 exercere : ad tutelam namque legis fubditorum, ac 
 corum corporum et bonorum rex hojufmodi ere&us 
 eft, et hanc poteftacem A POPULO EFFLUXAM ipfe 
 habet, quo ei non licet poteftate alia JIM ptpulo Jomi~ 
 nari.'' CAP. siii. 
 
 form
 
 AND POLITICAL 223 
 form of government, and even go fo far 
 as to feek its origin, where indeed the 
 origin of all governments muft be fought, 
 in the free will and confent of the 
 people. 
 
 ALL this I might have difplayed at 
 large ; and to others perhaps, efpecially 
 if the caufe had required fuch manage- 
 ment, all this I mould have difplayed. 
 But, independently of the judgments of 
 particular men, which prejudice might 
 take occafion to object to, I hold it fuffi- 
 cient to have proved from furer grounds, 
 from the very form and make of our 
 political fabric, and the moil unqueilion- 
 ed, becaufe the moil public, monuments 
 of former times, " THAT THE ENGLISH 
 
 CONSTITUTION IS ASSUREDLY AND IN- 
 DISPUTABLY FREE [}." 
 
 BP. 
 
 [*] It may be of little moment to us, at this day, 
 to inquire, how far the princes of the houfe of 
 STUART were blameable for their endeavours to 
 ufurp on the conftitution. But it muft ever be of 
 the higheft moment to maintain, that we had a con- 
 
 fluution
 
 2 24 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 You will read, Sir JOHN, in our atten- 
 tion to this difcourfe, the effect it has had 
 upon us. The zeal, with which you 1 
 have pleaded the caufe of liberty, makes 
 me almoft imagine I fee you again in 
 the warmth and fpirit of your younger 
 years, when you firft made head againft 
 the encroachments of civil tyranny. The 
 fame caufe has not only recalled to your 
 memory the old topics of defence, but 
 reftores your former vigour in the ma- 
 nagement of them. So that, for myfelf, 
 I muft freely own, your vindication of 
 our common liberties is, at leaft, the moil 
 plaufible and confiftent that I have ever 
 met with. 
 
 MR. SOWERS. 
 
 AND yet, if one was critically difpofed, 
 there are ftill, perhaps, fome things that 
 
 flitution . to affert againft them. Party-writers per- 
 petually confound thefe two things. It is the au- 
 thor's purpofe, in thefe two Dialogues, to contend 
 for the latter. 
 
 might
 
 AND POLITICAL. 225 
 
 might deferve a further explanation. 
 But enough has been faid by you, Sir 
 JOHN, to fhew us where the truth lies: 
 and, indeed, from fuch plain and con- 
 vincing topics, that, whatever fears my 
 love of liberty might fuggeft, they are 
 much abated at leaft, if not entirely re- 
 moved, by your arguments. 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 MR. SOMERS, I perceive, is not eafily 
 cured of his fcruples and apprehenfions. 
 But for my own part, Sir JOHN, I can 
 think but of one objection of weight that 
 can be oppofed to your conclufion. It 
 is, " That, notwithstanding the clear evi- 
 dence you have produced, both for the 
 free nature of the Englljh confthution, 
 and the general fenfe of the Englijh 
 nation concerning it, yet, in fact, the go- 
 vernment was very defpotic under the 
 TUDOR, and flill more perhaps under 
 the firft princes of the STUART, line. 
 How could this happen, may it be afked, 
 
 VOL. II. on
 
 226 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 on your plan, which fuppofes the popu- 
 lar intereft to have been kept up in con- 
 ftant vigour, or rather to have been al- 
 ways gaining, infenfibly indeed, but necef- 
 farily, on the power of the crown ? Will 
 not the argument then from hiftorical 
 evidence be turned againft you, whilft 
 it may be faid that your theory, how- 
 ever plaufible, is contradicted by fo re- 
 cent and fo well-attefted a part of our 
 hiftory ? And, in particular, will not the 
 partifans [] of the late king and his fa- 
 mily have to allege in their behalf, that 
 their notions of the prerogative were 
 but fuch as they fucceeded to with the 
 crown ; and, whatever may be pretended 
 from refearches into remoter times, that 
 they endeavoured only to maintain the 
 monarchy on the footing on which it 
 had ftood for many fuccefiions, and on 
 which it then ftood with the adminiftra- 
 
 [j See the late Hiftory of England by DAVID 
 HUME, Efq; who forms die apology of the houfe of 
 STUART on thefe principles. 
 
 tion
 
 AND POLITICAL. 227 
 tion fell into their hands ? If this point 
 were effectually cleared, I fee nothing 
 that could be further defired to a full 
 and complete vindication of Engtijh li- 
 berty. 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 YOUR lordfhip, I muft own, has touch- 
 ed a very curious and interefting part of 
 our fubject. But you muft not believe 
 it was fo much overlooked by me, as 
 purpofely left for your lordfhip's better 
 confideration. You, who have looked fo 
 minutely and carefully into the ftory of 
 thofe times, will, better than any other, 
 be able to unfold to us the myfteries of 
 that affair. The fact is certain, as you 
 fay, that the Englijh government wore a 
 more defpotic appearance from the time 
 of the TUDOR family's acceffion to the 
 throne, than in the reigns preceding that 
 period. But I am miftaken, if your 
 lordfhip will not open the reafon of it fo 
 clearly as to convince us, that that in- 
 creafe of prerogative was no proof of a 
 Q^ 2 change
 
 228 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 change in the conftitution, and was even 
 no fymptom of declining liberty. I do 
 not allow myfelf to fpeak my fentiments 
 more plainly at prefent. But I am fure, 
 if they are juft, they will receive a con- 
 firmation from what your lordlhip will 
 find occafion to obferve to us in dif- 
 courfmg on this fubject. 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 I WILL not difown that this was one 
 of the matters I had in view, when I 
 hinted fome remaining doubts about 
 your general conclufion. But I knew it 
 would not efcape my lord of SALISBURY-, 
 who, of all others, is certainly the molt 
 capable of removing it. 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 So that I have very unwarily, it feems, 
 been providing a fine tafk for myfelf. 
 And yet, as difficult as I forefee it will 
 be for me to fatisfy two fuch Inquirers, 
 I Ihould not decline that tafk, if I was in- 
 deed
 
 AND POLITICAL. 229 
 
 deed prepared for it, or if I could boaft 
 of fuch a memory as Sir J. MAYNARD 
 has fhewn in the courfe of this converfa- 
 tion, But the truth is, though I have 
 not wanted opportunities of laying in 
 materials for fuch a defign, and though 
 I have not neglefled to take fome flight 
 notes of them, yet I cannot pretend to 
 have them at once in that readinefs, as to 
 venture on fuch a difcourfe as I know 
 you expect from me. But if, againft 
 our next meeting, I mall be able to di- 
 geft fuch thoughts as have fometimes 
 occurred to me when I was engaged in 
 the Hiftory of the Reformation, I mail 
 take a pleafure to contribute all I can 
 to the further and more entire elucida- 
 tion of this fubject. 
 
 D I A-
 
 C 231 1 
 
 DIALOGUE VI. 
 
 On the CONSTITUTION of the 
 ENGLISH Government. 
 
 SIR JOHN MAYNARD, MR. SOMERS, 
 BISHOP BURNET. 
 
 TO DR. TILLOTSON. 
 
 OUR next meeting at Sir J. MAY- 
 WARD'S was on the evening of 
 that day, when the war was proclaimed 
 againft France [c~]. What the event of 
 it will be, is a fecret in the counfels of 
 Providence. But if the goodnefs of our 
 caufe, his majefty's known wifdom and 
 ability, and above all the apparent zeal 
 and firmnefs of all orders amongft us in 
 fupport of this great undertaking, may 
 
 [r] 7 May, 1689. 
 
 0.4
 
 252 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 give a profpect of fuccefs, we cannot, I 
 perfuade myfclf, but indulge in the mod 
 reafonable hopes and expectations. 
 
 PERHAPS, the time is approaching, 
 my dear friend, which the divine good- 
 nefs hath decreed for putting a flop to 
 that outrageous power, which hath been 
 permitted for fo long a courfe of years 
 to afflict the neighbouring nations. It 
 may be, the feafon is now at hand, when 
 God will vouchfafe to plead the caufe 
 of his fervants, and let this mighty perfe- 
 cutor of the faithful know that he may 
 not be fuffered any longer to trample on 
 the facred rights of confcience. He 
 may be taught to feel, that the ravages 
 he hath committed in the faireft pro- 
 vinces, and the cruelties he hath exer- 
 cifed on the beft fubjefts, of his own 
 kingdom, have at length awakened the 
 divine difpleafure againft him. And he 
 may live to find in our great prince 
 (raifed up, as I verily believe, to this 
 
 eminence
 
 AND POLITICAL, 235 
 
 eminence of place and power to be the 
 fcourge of tyrants, and the vindicator of 
 opprefled nations) an infurmountable bul- 
 wark againft that encroaching dominion, 
 which threatens to deform and lay wafte 
 the reft of Europe. 
 
 I HAVE already lived to fee thofe pro- 
 vidences, which may encourage a ferious 
 and good mind to believe that fome great 
 work is preparing in our days. I was 
 very early in my life a witnefs to the 
 high meafures which were taken and 
 carried on by an intolerant hierarchy* 
 acting in fubferviency to an arbitrary 
 court, in mine own country of Scotland. 
 And I have lamented the opprefllon in 
 which good men were held for conference 
 fake in all the three kingdoms. How 
 far this tyranny was carried, and how 
 near we were brought to the deftruclion 
 of all our civil and religious rights, need 
 not be told, and the occurrences of the 
 two laft reigns will not fuffer to be for- 
 gotten.
 
 2 3 4- DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 gotten. It is fufficient to obferve, that 
 when the danger was now brought to a 
 crifis, and the minds of all men were 
 filled with the moft alarming apprehen- 
 fions, it pleafed God to refcue us, in a 
 moment, and by the moft aftonilhing dif- 
 playof his goodnefs, from the impending 
 ruin. Our chains fell off at once, as by 
 a miracle of mercy. Our civil rights 
 have been reftored. And the legal 
 toleration [</], we have juft now obtain- 
 ed in confequence of the new fetdement, 
 hath put us into pofTefiion of that religi- 
 ous liberty, which, as men, as Chriftians, 
 and as Proteftants, we cannot but efteem 
 the firft of all public bleffings. 
 
 AND who knows but that, in the gra- 
 cious defigns of heaven, the fame hand 
 which hath redeemed thefe nations from 
 the yoke of Qavery and of Rome, may be 
 
 [/} The aft of toleration did not pafs till 24 May, 
 1689; which lets us fee at what time this preface 's 
 fujfofed to have been drawn up. 
 
 now
 
 AND POLITICAL. 235 
 
 now employed to (hake it off from the 
 necks of onr Proteftant brethren on the 
 continent^]? The world hath feen how 
 long and how feverely they have groan- 
 ed under that intolerant power, with 
 which we are now at war. When the 
 violences of the late reign had driven 
 me into a fort of voluntary exile, and in 
 the courfe of it I traverfed fome of thofe 
 unhappy provinces of France, which 
 were moft expofed to the rigours of 
 perfecution [/], how have thefe eyes 
 
 wept 
 
 [e] This was the talk of men at that time. It 
 was perhaps in the king's intention. Bat the dc- 
 fign, if it had ever been formed, mifcarried ; as the 
 Bifliop himfelf obferves in his Hiftory " The moft 
 " melancholy part of the treaty of Ryfouick was, that 
 " no advantages were got by it, in favour of the 
 " Proteflants in France.'' Vol. iv. p. 295. Edinb* 
 1753. Whether the blame of this lies in the king, 
 or his parliaments, or neither, the reader is left to 
 judge for himfelf, from confidering the Hate and 
 Iran factions of thofe times. 
 
 [f] Thefe rigours the bifliop gives a particular 
 account of in THE HISTORY OF HIS OWN TIMES, 
 vol. iii. EJinb. 1753. Speaking of the perfecution 
 
 of
 
 236 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 wept over the diftreffes of the poor fuf- 
 ferers, and how hath my heart bled for 
 the mercllefs cruelties which I every 
 where faw exercifed upon them! The 
 fury which appeared on that occafion, 
 was fo general and fo contagious, that 
 not only prieftsand court fycophants, but 
 men of virtuous minds and generous tem- 
 pers were tranfported, as it were, out of 
 their proper nature, and feemed to dived 
 
 of the French Proteftants, he {ays, " I went over a 
 " great part of France, while it was in its hotteft 
 " rage, from Marfeillei to Montpelier, and from 
 *' thence to Lyons, and fo on to Geneva. I faw and 
 " knew fo many inftances of their injuftice and vio- 
 ' lence, that it exceeded even what could have been 
 " well imagined ; for all men fet their thoughts 
 '* on work to invent new methods of cruelty. In 
 " all the towns through which I parted, I heard the 
 " moft difmal accounts of things poffible." p. 60. 
 Again " The fury that appeared on this occafion 
 " did fpread itfelf with a fort of contagion : for the 
 *' intendants and other officers, that had been mild 
 " and gentle in the former parts of their life, feemed 
 " now to have laid afide the companion of Chriftians 
 " the breeding of gentlemen, and the imprefTions of 
 " humanity." p, 61. 
 
 themfelves
 
 AND POLITICAL. 237 
 
 thcmfelves of the common notices and 
 principles of humanity. 
 
 IN this fiery trial it hath pleafed God 
 to exercife the faith and virtues, and, as 
 we may charitably hope, to correct the 
 failings and vices, of his poor fervants. 
 His mercy may now, in due time, be 
 opening a way for them to efcape. And 
 from the profperous beginning of this 
 great work, what comfortable prefages 
 may we not, in all humility, form to our- 
 felves of ftill further fuccefles ? 
 
 WE have a prince on the throne ex- 
 actly qualified for the execution of this 
 noble enterprife; of the cleareft courage 
 and magnanimity, and a wifdom tried and 
 perfected in that belt fchool, of Adver- 
 fity -, of difpofitions the mod enlarged to 
 the fervice of mankind -, and even quick- 
 ened by his own peribnal refentment of 
 former injuries to retaliate againft their 
 common oppreffor. 
 
 6 NOR
 
 2 3 3 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 NOR can we doubt of the concurrence 
 of his faithful fubjefts, who, with one 
 voice, have demanded the commence- 
 ment of this war; and whofe late de- 
 liverance, from like circumftances of dif- 
 trefs, may be expefted to animate their 
 zeal in the fupport of it. 
 
 AND oh ! that I might fee the day, 
 when our deliverer mall become, what a 
 bold ufurper nobly figured to himfelf in 
 the middle of this century \g]> the foul 
 and conductor of the Proteftant caufe 
 through all Europe! and, that, as Rome 
 hath hitherto been the centre of flavifh 
 impofitions and anti-chriftian politics, the 
 court of England may henceforth be the 
 conftant refuge and afylum of fainting 
 liberty and religion ! 
 
 \g\ Meaning CROMWELL, who, itfeem', had a 
 deii^n of fe'tng up "a council for the Protellant 
 " religion, in oppofition to the congregation de pro- 
 " paganda fide at Rome." See the Bifhop's own ac- 
 count in his Hift. vol. i> p, 109. 
 
 BUT
 
 A N D P O L I T I C A L. 339 
 
 BUT to turn from thefe flattering 
 views, my good friend, to the recital of 
 our late converfation j which I proceed to 
 lay before you with the fame exactnefs 
 and punctuality that I did the former. 
 You will fee the reafon why I cannot 
 promife you the fame entertainment from 
 it. 
 
 WE had no fooner come together, 
 than Sir J. MAYNARD began with his 
 ufual vivacity. " 1 have been thinking, 
 my lord, how dexterous a game 1 have 
 played with you, in this inquiry of ours 
 into the Englijh government. What 
 was obvious enough in itfelf, and had 
 indeed been undertaken by many per- 
 fons, I mean the vindication of our com- 
 mon liberties as founded in the ancient 
 feudal constitution, is the part I aiTumed 
 to myfelf in this debate; and have left it 
 to your lordfhip to reconcile the FACT 
 to the RIGHT : which is not only the 
 
 moft
 
 240 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 moft material point of inquiry, but the 
 moft difficult; and that which the pa- 
 trons of liberty have either lefs med- 
 dled with, or have lefs fucceeded in ex- 
 plaining. For, to own an unwelcome 
 truth, however fpecious our claim may 
 be to civil liberty, the adminiftration of 
 government from the time of HENRY 
 VIl's accefiion to the crown, that is, for 
 two entire centuries, has very little 
 agreed to this fyftem. The regal power, 
 throughout this period, has been uni- 
 formly exercifed in fo high and arbitrary 
 a manner, that we can hardly believe 
 there could be any certain foundation 
 for the people's claim to a limited mo- 
 narchy. Add to this, that the language 
 of parliaments, the decrees of lawyers, 
 and the doctrines of divines, have gene- 
 rally run in favour of the higheil exer- 
 tions of prerogative. So that 1 cannot 
 but be in fome pain for the luccefs of 
 your undertaking, and am at a lofs to 
 
 conjecture
 
 AND POLITIC AL. 241 
 
 conjecture in what way your lordfhip 
 will go about to extricate yourfelf from 
 thefe difficulties. 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 1 UNDERSTAND, Sir JOHN, that your 
 intention in fetting forth the difficulties 
 of this attempt is only, in your polite 
 way, to enhance the merit of it. I muft 
 not however aflfume too much to myfelf. 
 The way is clear and eafy before me. 
 You have conducted us very agreeably 
 through the rough and thorney part of 
 our journey. You have opened the 
 genius of our antient conftitution. You 
 have explained the principles on which 
 it was raifed. All that remains for me 
 is, only to folve doubts, and rectify ap- 
 pearances; a matter of no great diffi- 
 culty, when, inftead of groping in the 
 dark, we are now got into open day- 
 light, and are treading in the paths of 
 known and authentic hiftory, 
 
 VOL. II. R MR;
 
 2 4 3 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 MR. SOME US. 
 
 AND yet, my lord, I lhall very readily 
 acknowledge, with my lord commiffioner, 
 the importance of the fervice. For, un- 
 lefs appearances be ftrangely deceitful 
 indeed, there is but too great reafon to 
 conclude, from the recent parts of our 
 iiiftory, either that there never was a 
 rightful claim in the people to civil liber- 
 ty, or that they, as well as their princes, 
 had loft all fenfe of it, I doubt, the moft 
 your lordfhip can make appear, is, that 
 as our kings, from the coming of the 
 TUDOR line, had ufurped on the antient 
 privileges of the fubjecl j fo the fubject, 
 at length, in our days, has, in its turn, 
 ufurped on the undifputed and long-ac- 
 Jcnowledged prerogative of the fovereign. 
 In Ihort, I doubt there is no forming a 
 connected fyftem on thefe fubjects; but 
 that in our country, as well as in others, 
 liberty and prerogative have prevailed 
 and taken the afcendant at different times, 
 
 according
 
 AND POLITICAL. * 43 
 
 According as either was checked or fa- 
 voured by contingent circumftances. 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 STILL Mr. SOMERS, I fee, is on the 
 defponding fide: and with better reafon 
 than before; fmce, if the difficulty be 
 half fo great as is pretended, this change 
 of the fpeaker is little favourable to 
 the removal of it. However I do not 
 defpair, whether thefe furmifes of diffi- 
 culty be real or difiembled to clear up 
 the whole matter to both your fatif- 
 factions. The flrefs of it lies here: 
 That, whereas a mixed and limited go- 
 vernment is fuppofed to have been the 
 antient conftitution in this country, the 
 appearances, in fact, for a couple of cen. 
 turies, have been fo repugnant to this 
 notion, that either the fuppofition muft 
 be given up as too haflily formed, or 
 fufficient reafons muft be affigned for 
 thefe contradictory appearances. I em- 
 brace the latter part of this alternative 
 R 2 without
 
 244 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 without hefitation or referve; and pre- 
 tend to lay before you fuch unanfwerable 
 arguments for the caufe I have under- 
 taken, as, in better hands, might amount 
 to a perfect vindication of ENGLISH 
 LIBERTY. 
 
 I TAKE my rife from the period which 
 my lord commifiloner has prefcribed to 
 me; that is from the accefiion of the 
 TUDOR family. 
 
 WE have henceforth, indeed, a fuc- 
 ceflion of high defpotic princes, who 
 were politic and daring enough to im- 
 prove every advantage againft the peo- 
 ple's liberties. And their peculiar cha- 
 racters were well fnited to the places in 
 which we find them. Henry VII. was 
 wife and provident; jealous of his autho- 
 rity as well as title ; and fruitful in ex- 
 pedients to fee u re both. His fon and 
 fuccefibr, who had a fpirit of the largeft 
 
 fize,
 
 A N D P O L I T I C A L. 245 
 
 fize, and, as one fays [], feared nothing 
 hit the falling of the heavens^ was ad- 
 mirably formed to fuftain and eftablifh 
 that power, which the other had affumed. 
 And after two fhort reigns, which afford- 
 ed the people no opportunity of reco- 
 vering their loft ground, the crown fettled 
 on the head of a princefs, who, with the 
 united qualifications of her father and 
 grandfather, furpafled them both in the 
 arts of a winning and gracious popu- 
 larity. And thus, in the compafs of a 
 century, the prerogative was now wound 
 up to a height, that was very flattering 
 to the views and inclinations of the 
 STUART family. 
 
 IT may be further obferved, that the 
 condition of the times was fuch as won- 
 derfully confpired with the defigns and 
 difpofitions of thefe princes. 
 
 \b] NAT. BACON, in his Difc. part II. p. 125' 
 Land. 1739. 
 
 R 3 A LONG
 
 ? 4 6 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 A LONG and bloody war, that had well 
 nigh exhaufted the ftrength and vitals of 
 this country, was, at length, compofed by 
 the fortunate fuccefles of Bofworth-field. 
 All men were defirous to breathe a little 
 from the rage of civil wars. And the 
 enormous tyranny of the prince, whofe 
 death had made way for the exaltation 
 of the earl of RICHMOND, was a fort of 
 foil to the new government, and made 
 the rigours of it appear but moderate 
 when fet againft the cruelties of the 
 preceding reign. 
 
 THE great change that followed, in 
 the deliverance of the nation from papal 
 tyranny, and the fuppreffion of religious 
 houfes, was a new pretence for the ex^ 
 tenfion of the royal prerogative j and 
 the people fubmitted to it with pleafure, 
 as they faw no other way to fupport and 
 gccomplilh that important entcrprife. 
 
 AND
 
 AND POLITICAL. 247 
 
 AND, laftly, the regal power, which 
 had gained fo immensely by the rejection 
 of the papal dominion, was carried ilill 
 higher by the great work of reforma- 
 tion-, which being conducted by a wife 
 and able princefs, was eafily improved, 
 on every occafion, to the advantage of 
 the crown. 
 
 AND thus, whether we confider the 
 characters of the perfons, or the circum- 
 ftances of the times, every thing concur- 
 red to exalt the princes of the houfe of 
 TUDOR to a height of power and prero- 
 gative, which had hitherto been unknown 
 in England^ and became, in the end, fo 
 dangerous to the conftitution itfelf. 
 
 BUT you expect me, I fuppofe, to point 
 to the very examples of ufurpation, I 
 have in view, and the means by which it 
 took effect in the hands of thefe and the 
 fucceeding princes. 
 
 R 4 SIR
 
 2 4 S DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 WE do indeed expect that from your 
 lordfhip. For otherwife it will be 
 thought that what you treat as an 
 ufurparion, was but the genuine exer- 
 cife of the regal authority; only fa- 
 voured by fortunate conjunctures, and, 
 as you fay, by great ability in the princes 
 themfelves. 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 PERHAPS, ftill more will be expefted. 
 For it may not be enough to tell us, 
 what ufurpations there were, or even by 
 what means they became fuccefsful. It 
 ftiould further appear, methinks, that 
 thefe ufurpations, though they fufpended 
 the exercife of the peoples liberties, did 
 not deftroy them ; did not, at leaft, anni- 
 hilate the CONSTITUTION from which 
 thofe liberties were derived. 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 ALL this will naturally come in our 
 way, as we go along. And, fince you 
 
 will
 
 AND POLITICAL. 249 
 
 will have me ufurp the chair on this oc- 
 cafion, and, like the princes I am fpeak- 
 ing of, take to myfelf an authority to 
 which I have no right, let me prefume a 
 little on my new dignity ; and, in what 
 follows, difcourfe to you, as our manner 
 is, without interruption or reply, 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 THIS, it muft be owned, is carrying 
 the prerogative of the chair to its ut- 
 moft height. But, if we fubmit to it in 
 other places, is it reafonable you fhould 
 require us to do fo here? Befides, your 
 lordftiip forgets that I am too old to be a 
 patient hearer. And Mr. SOMERS too 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 I CAN engage, in this inftance, forpaf- 
 five obedience. And my lord, perhaps, 
 does not infift on the full extent of his 
 prerogative. It is fit, however, we attend 
 with reverence, while fuch an advocate 
 is pleading in fuch acaufe. 
 
 BP.
 
 zp DIALOGUES MORAL 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 I WAS faying, that all your demands 
 would be fatisfied, as I went along in this 
 difcourfe. It is true, an attentive reader 
 of our hiftory, who confiders what is faid 
 of the mixed frame of our government, 
 and the ftruggles that were occafioned 
 by it, is furprifed to find that thefe con- 
 tentions at once fubfided on the acceflion 
 of the houfe of TUDOR ; and that the 
 tenour of the government thenceforth 
 for many fuccefiions is as calm, and the 
 popular influence as fmall, as in the molt 
 abfolute and deipotic forms. This ap- 
 pearance tempts him to conclude, that 
 the crown had at length redeemed itfelf 
 from a forced, unconftitutional fervitude; 
 and that, far from ufurping on the peo- 
 ple, it only returned to the cxercife of 
 its old and acknowledged rights. For 
 otherwife it will be faid, how could the 
 people at once become fo infenfible, and 
 their reprefentatives in parliament fo 
 
 tame,
 
 AND POLITICAL. 251 
 
 tame, as to bear with the moil imperious 
 of their princes without reluctance ; they, 
 who had refented much fmaller matters 
 from the gentleft and the beft ? 
 
 BUT thofe, who talk in this drain, 
 have not confidered, that there were 
 fome circumflances in the flate of things> 
 from the time we are fpeaking of, that 
 DISABLED the nation from infifting, and 
 many more that INDISPOSED them to 
 infift, on their antient and undoubted 
 rights. 
 
 I TOOK notice, that the ruinous con- 
 tentions of the two houfes of YORK and 
 LANCASTER, from which the nation was 
 at laft delivered by the acceflion of 
 HENRY VII, difpofed all men to fubmit 
 with fatisfaclion to the new government. 
 Such a conjuncture was favourable, of 
 itfelf, to the increafe of the regal power. 
 But the truth is, there was little danger 
 of any fuccefsful oppoGtion to the crown, 
 
 if
 
 252 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 if the nation had been ever fo ill inclined 
 towards it. The great lords or barons 
 were, in former days, both by the feudal 
 conflitution, and by the vaft property 
 they had in their hands, the proper and 
 only check on the fovereign. Thefe 
 Bad been either cut off, or fo far weak- 
 ened at leaft by the preceding civil wars, 
 that the danger feemed entirely over 
 from that quarter. The politic king 
 was aware of his advantage, and im- 
 proved it to admiration. One may even 
 affirm, that this was the fole objeft of 
 his government. 
 
 FOR the greater fecurity, and majefty 
 of his perfon, he began with the inftitu- 
 tion of his LIFEGUARD. And having 
 thus fet out with enlarging his own train, 
 his next care was to diminifh that of his 
 nobles, Hence the law, or rather laws 
 (for as Lord BACON obferves, there was 
 fcarcely a parliament through his whole 
 reign which pafled without an aft to that 
 
 purpofe)
 
 AND POLITICAL. z 5J 
 
 purpofe) againft RETAINERS. And with 
 how jealous a feverity he put thole laws 
 into execution, is fufficiently known from 
 his treatment of one of his principal 
 friends and fervants, the earl of OX- 
 FORD [/]. 
 
 IT was alfo with a view to this de- 
 prefllon of the nobility, that the court of 
 STAR-CHAMBER was confidered fo much, 
 and confirmed by act of parliament in his 
 reign : " That which was principally- 
 aimed at by it being, as his hiftorian 
 frankly owns, FORCE, and the two chief 
 fupports of Force, COMBINATION OF 
 MULTITUDES, and maintainance or HEAD- 
 
 SHIP OF GREAT PERSONS." 
 
 To put them ftill lower in the public 
 eftimation, he affected to fill the great 
 offices with churchmen only. And it 
 was perhaps, as much to awe the nation 
 
 [*] The ftory is told by Lord BACON in his hi&wjr 
 of this prince. 
 
 by
 
 4 $4 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 by the terror of his prerogative as to fill 
 his coffers, that he executed the penal 
 laws with fo mercilefs a rigour on the 
 very greateft of his lubjects, 
 
 STILL further, to prevent the pofii- 
 bility of a return, in any future period, 
 of the patrician power, this politic prince 
 provided with great care for the encou- 
 ragement of trade, and the diftribution 
 of property. Both which ends were ef- 
 fected at once by that famous act, which 
 was made to fecure and facilitate the 
 alienation of eftates by fine and procla- 
 mation. 
 
 ALL thefe meafures, we fee, were evi- 
 dently taken by the king to diminish the 
 credit and fupprefs the influence of his 
 nobles; and of confequence, as he 
 thought, to exalt the power of the crown 
 above control, if not in his own, yet in 
 fucceeding ages. And his policy had 
 this effect for fome time 5 though in the 
 
 end
 
 A N D P O L I T I C A L. 255 
 
 end it ferved, befide his expectation, to 
 advance another and more formidable 
 power, at that time little fufpected or 
 even thought of, the POWER OF THE 
 
 PEOPLE []. 
 
 THE truth is, HENRY'S policy was 
 every way much afiifted by the genius 
 of the time. Trade was getting up: and 
 Lollardifm had fecretly made its way into 
 the hearts of the people. And, though 
 liberty was in the end to reap the bene- 
 fit of each, prerogative was the immediate 
 gainer. Commerce, in proportion to its 
 growth, brought on the decline of the 
 feudal, that is, ariftocratic power of the 
 barons : and the authority of the church, 
 that other check on the fovereign, was 
 gradually weakened by the prevailing 
 fpiritof reformation, 
 
 [k] He did not confider that maxim of the Load 
 BACON, "Depreffion of the nobility may make a 
 king more abfoiute, but lefs fafe." Works, vol. iii. 
 p. 296. 
 
 UNDER
 
 *$6 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 UNDER thefe circum fiances, HENRY 
 found it no difficulty to deprels his great 
 lords; and he did it fo effectually, that 
 his fon had little elfe left him to do, but 
 to keep them down in that weak and dii- 
 abled ftate, to which his father had re- 
 duced them. 'Tis true, both he and his 
 fuccefibrs went further. They never 
 thought themfelves fecure enough from 
 the refiftance of their old enemies, the 
 barons [/j ; and fo continued, by every 
 method of artifice and rapine, to fink 
 them much lower than even the fafety of 
 their own ftate required. But the effects 
 of this management did not appear till 
 long afterwards. For the prefent, the 
 crown received a manifeft advantage by 
 this conduct. 
 
 ' [/] And yet Lord BACON tells us, that when 
 HEN. VIII. came to the crown, "There was no 
 fach thing as any great and mighty fubjeft, who 
 might any way eclipfe or over/hade the imperial 
 power." Works, vol. iii. p. 508. 
 
 THERE
 
 A N D P O L I T I C A L. 257 
 
 THERE was, befides, another circum- 
 ftance of great moment attending the go- 
 vernment of the younger HENRY. He 
 was the firft heir of the white and red 
 rofes : fo that there was now an end of 
 all difpute and difaffeclion in the peo- 
 ple. And they had fo long and fo vio- 
 lently contended about the title to the 
 crown, that, when that mighty point was 
 once fettled, they did not readily appre- 
 hend that any other confideration de- 
 ferved, or could juftify> refiftance to their 
 fovereign. 
 
 WITH thefe advantages of fituation, 
 HENRY VIII brought with him to the 
 throne a fpirit of that firm and fteady tem- 
 per as was exactly fitted to break the edge 
 of any rifing oppofition. Befides the con- 
 fidence of youth, he was of a nature fo 
 elate and imperious, fo refolved and fear- 
 lefs'[a], that no refiftance could fucceed, 
 
 hardly 
 
 [] "A man, as Mr. BACON charafterifes him, 
 VOL. II. S underneath
 
 258 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 hardly any thought of it could be enter- 
 tained againft him. The commons, who 
 had hitherto been unufed to treat with 
 their kings but by the mediation of the 
 great lords, being now pufhed into the 
 prefence, were half difcountenanced in 
 the eye of majefty ; and durft fcarcely 
 look up to the throne, much lefs difpute 
 the prerogatives with which fo awful a 
 prince was thought to be inverted. 
 
 AND when the glaring abufe of his 
 power, as in the exaltation of that great 
 inftrument of his tyranny, WOLSEY, 
 leemed afterwards to provoke the peo- 
 ple to fome more vigorous refolutions, a 
 fingular event happened, which not only 
 preferved his greatnefs, but brought a 
 further increafe to it. This was the fa- 
 mous rupture with the court of Rome: 
 in confequence of which, the yoke of 
 papal ufurpations, that yoke under which 
 
 underneath many paffions, but above fear." Disc. 
 Part II. p. 1 20. 
 
 our
 
 AND POLITICAL. 259 
 
 our kings had groaned for fo many ages, 
 was in a moment broken off, and the 
 crown reftored to its full and perfect in- 
 dependency. 
 
 NOR was this all. The throne did 
 not only ftand by itfelf, as having no 
 longer a dependence on the papal chair. 
 It rofe ftill higher, and was, in effect, 
 erected upon it. For the ecclefiaftical 
 juriidiction was not annihilated, buc 
 transferred ; and all the powers of the 
 Roman pontiff now centered in the king's 
 perfon. Henceforth then we are to re- 
 gard him in a more awful point of view; 
 as armed with both fwords at once ; and, 
 as NAT. BACON expreffes it in his way, 
 as a ftrange kind of monfter, A king 
 with a pope in his belly [J." 
 
 THE remainder of his reign fhews 
 that he was politic enough to make the 
 beft ufe of what his paffions had brought 
 
 [] Di5C, Part If. p. 125. 
 
 82 on,
 
 aoo DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 on, and thus far accomplimed. For 
 though the nation wimed, and, without 
 doubt, hoped to go much further, the 
 king's quarrel was rather with the court, 
 than the church of Rome. And the 
 high authority in fpirituals, which he 
 had gained, enabled him to hold all 
 men, who either feared or defired a fur- 
 ther reformation, in the moft entire de- 
 pendence. 
 
 IN the mean time, the nation rejoiced 
 with great reafon at its deliverance from 
 a foreign tyranny : and the lavim diftri- 
 bution of that wealth, which flowed into 
 the king's coffers from the fupprefled 
 monasteries, procured a ready fubmiffion, 
 from the great and powerful, to the king*s 
 domeftic tyranny. 
 
 IN a word, every thing contributed to 
 the advancement of the regal power; 
 and, in that, to the completion of the 
 great defigns of Providence. The amaz- 
 ing
 
 A N D P L I T I C A L. 2 6i 
 
 ing revolution, which had juft happen- 
 ed, was, at all events, to be fnpported : 
 and thus, partly by fear, and partly by 
 intereft, the parliament went along with 
 the king in all his projects ; and, beyond 
 the example of former times ; was con- 
 ilantly obfequious to him, even in the 
 molt capricious and inconfiftent meafures 
 pf his government. 
 
 AND thus matters, in a good degree, 
 continued till the acceffion of Queen 
 ELIZABETH. It is true, the weak admi- 
 niftration of a minor king, and a difputed 
 title at his death, occafioned fome difor- 
 ders. But the majefty of the crown it- 
 fclf was little impaired by thefe buftles ; 
 and it even acquired frem glory on the 
 head of our renowned Proteftant princefs. 
 
 FOR that aftonifliing work of reformar 
 
 tion, fo happily entered upon by HENRY, 
 
 and carried on by his fon, was after a 
 
 fhort interruption (which only ferved to 
 
 S 3 prove
 
 t6a DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 prove and animate the zeal of good men) 
 brought at length by her to its final 
 eftabliihment. The intolerable abufes 
 and lhamelefs corruptions of popery 
 were now fo notorious to all the world, 
 and the fpirit of reformation which had 
 been fecretly working fince the days of 
 WICKLIFF, had now fpread itfelf io ge- 
 nerally through the nation, that nothing 
 but an entire renunciation of the doc- 
 trine and difcipline of the church of 
 Rome could be expected. And, by the 
 happieft providence, the queen was as 
 much obliged by the intereft of her go- 
 vernment and the fecurity of her ti- 
 tle, as by her own unflhaken principles, 
 to concur with ihe diipofitions of her 
 fubjedls, 
 
 THUS, in the end, Proteflantifm pre- 
 vailed, and obtained a legal and fixed 
 fettlement. But to maintain it, when 
 made, againft the combined powers that 
 threatened its deftru&ion, the crown on 
 
 which
 
 AND POLITICAL. 263 
 
 which fo much depended, was to be held 
 tip in all its fplendor to the eyes of our 
 own and foreign nations. Hence the 
 height of prerogative in ELIZABETH'S 
 days, the fubmiffion of parliaments, and, 
 I may almoft lay, the proftration of the 
 people. 
 
 AND when this magnanimous princefs, 
 as well by her vaft fpirit and perfonal 
 virtues, as the conftant fucceffes of her 
 long reign, had derived the higheft dig- 
 nity and authority on the Englijh fceptre, 
 it panned into the hands of the elder 
 JAMES; who brought fomething more 
 with him than a good will, the accefiion 
 of a great kingdom, and the opinion of 
 deep wifdom, to enable him to wield it. 
 
 WHAT followed in his and the fuc- 
 ceeding reigns, I need not be at the 
 pains to recount to you. Thefe things 
 are too recent for me to dwell upon ; 
 and you, my lord commiffioner, do not 
 S 4 only
 
 264 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 only remember them perfectly, but have 
 yourfelf acted a great part in moft of 
 them. Allow me only to fay, that from 
 this brief hiftory of the regal authority* 
 and the means by which it arrived at fo 
 imufual a greatnefs, it is no wonder that 
 the STUART family were fomewhat daz- 
 zled by the height to which they were 
 raifed, and that more than half a century 
 was required to correct, if it ever did cor- 
 rect, the high but falfe notions they had 
 entertained of the imperial dignity. 
 
 SIR J. MAYNAREU 
 
 IF you permit me, at laft, to break in 
 at the opening which this conclufion of 
 your difcourfe feems to give me ; I would 
 fay, That, on your principles, the houfe 
 of STUART had great reafon for the 
 high notions you aicribe to them. For 
 what other conclufion could they make, 
 but that a power, which had domineered 
 for fo long a time, and that by the full 
 allowance of parliament and people, was, 
 
 both
 
 AND POLITICAL. 265 
 
 both in fact and right, abfolute and un 
 controlable ? 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 IT is certain, the STUART family did 
 draw that conclufion. But a great deal 
 too haftily ; as may appear from your 
 own obfervation, that the exercife of this 
 extraordinary power was committed, or 
 more properly indulged to them, by the 
 people. This is fo ftrictly true, that 
 from the firft to the laft of the TUDOR 
 line, imperious and defpotic as they were 
 of their own nature, no extraordinary 
 flretch of power was ventured upon by 
 any of them, but under the countenance 
 and protection of an act of parliament. 
 Hence it was, that the STAR-CHAMBER, 
 though the jurifdiction of this court had 
 the authority of the common law, was 
 confirmed by ftatute; that the proceed- 
 ings of EMPSON and DUDLEY had the 
 fanction of parliament; that HENRY the 
 VHIth's fupremacy, and all acts of power 
 dependent upon it, had the fame founda- 
 tion :
 
 z66 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 tion : in a word, that every thing, which 
 wore the face of an abfolute authority 
 in the king, was not in virtue of any 
 fuppofed inherent prerogative in the 
 crown, but the fpecial grant of the fub- 
 ject. No doubt, this compliance, and 
 particularly if we confider the lengths to 
 which it was carried, may be brought to 
 prove the obfequious and even abject 
 difpofitions of the times ; though we al- 
 low a great cjeal, as I think we fhould, 
 to prudence and good policy. But then 
 the parliaments, by taking care to make 
 every addition to the crown their OWN 
 PROPER ACT, left their kings no pretence 
 to confider themfelves as abfolute and in- 
 dependent. 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 I DOUBT, confidering the flavifh difpo* 
 fition of the times, that, if the people 
 ftill poflefTed a fliew of liberty, this ad- 
 vantage was owing to the pure conde- 
 fcenfion of the crown, and not to their 
 
 own
 
 A N D P O L I T I C A L. 267 
 
 own policy. A king that could obtain 
 of his parliament to have his proclama- 
 tions pals for laws [0], might have ven- 
 tured on this ftep without the concur- 
 rence of parliament. 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 I ACKNOWLEDGE the a6t you glance 
 at was of an extraordinary kind ; and 
 might feem, by implication at leaft, to 
 deliver up the entire legiflative authority 
 into the hands of the fovereign. But 
 there is a wide difference between the 
 crown's ufurping this ftrange power, and 
 the parliament's beftowing it. The cafe 
 was (and nothing could be more fortunate 
 for the nation) that at the time when the 
 people were leaft able to controul their 
 prince, their prince's affairs conftrained 
 him to court his people. For the rejec- 
 tion of the papal power and the refor- 
 mation of religion were things of that 
 
 [o] This terrible aft is 31 HEN* VIII. c. 8. It 
 was repealed in i EDW. VI. c, iz. 
 
 5
 
 i63 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 high nature, and fo full of hazard, that 
 no expedient was to be overlooked, 
 which tended to make the execution of 
 thefe projects fafe or eafy. Hence it 
 was, that no fteps were taken by the 
 crown but with the confent and appro- 
 bation of the two houfes. And if thefe 
 were compelled by the circumftances . of 
 their fituation to favour their prince's 
 interjeft or caprice by abfurd and incon- 
 filtent compliances, this benefit at leaft 
 they drew to themfelves, that their power 
 .by that means would appear the greater 
 : and more unqueflionable. For what in- 
 deed, could difplay the omnipotency of 
 parliaments more than their being called 
 in to make and unmake the mea.fures of 
 .government, and give a fanclion, as it 
 were, to contradictions ? Of which there 
 cannot be a ftronger inftance than the 
 changes they made from time to time, as 
 .HENRY VIIl's paffibns fwayed him, in 
 the rule of fucceflion. 
 
 THUS
 
 AND POLITICAL. _ 9 
 
 THUS we fee that, through the entire 
 reigns of the houfc of TUDOR, that is, 
 the mod defpotic and arbitrary of our 
 princes, the forms of liberty were dill 
 kept up, and the conftitution maintained, 
 even amidft the advantages of all forts 
 which offered for the deft ruction of both. 
 The parliament indeed was obfequious, 
 was fervile, was directed, if you will j but 
 every proceeding was authorifed and 
 confirmed by parliament. The king in 
 the mean time found himfelf at his eafe; 
 perhaps believed himfelf abfolute, and 
 confidered his application to parliaments 
 as an act of mere grace and popular 
 condefcenfion. At leaft, after ib long 
 experience of their fubmiffion, the elder 
 JAMES certainly thought himfelf at liber- 
 ty to entertain this belief of them. But 
 he was the firft of our princes that durft 
 avow this belief plainly and openly. He 
 was flimulated, no doubt, to this ufnr- 
 pation of power in England, by the 
 
 memory
 
 * 7 d DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 memory of his former fubjection, of 
 fervitude rather* to the imperious church 
 of Scotland. But this was not all. Suc- 
 ceeding to fo fair a patrimony as that of 
 a mighty kingdom, where little or no 
 oppofition had been made for fome 
 reigns to the will of the fovereign ; to a 
 kingdom too, fecurely fettled in the pof- 
 feflion of its favoured religion, which had 
 occafioned all the dangers, and produced 
 all the condefcenfion, of the preceding 
 princes ; bringing, befides, with him to 
 the fucceflion, an undifputed title and 
 the additional fplendor of another crown 
 all thefe advantages meeting in his per- 
 fon at that point of time, he ventured to 
 give way to his natural love of dominion* 
 and told the people to their face, that the 
 pretended rights of their parliaments 
 were but the free gifts and graces of 
 their kings : that every high point of 
 government, that is, every point which 
 he chofe to call by that name, was wrapt 
 up in the awful myftery of his prero* 
 
 gative :
 
 AND POLITICAL. 971 
 
 gative : and, in a word, that " it was fe- 
 dition for them to difpute what a king 
 may do in the height of his power [/>J." 
 
 Such, you know, was the language, 
 the public language to his parliaments, 
 of JAMES THE FIRST. But thefe pre- 
 tences, which might have been fuffered 
 perhaps, or could not have been oppofed, 
 under the TUDOR line, were unluckily 
 out of feafon, and would not pafs on a 
 people who knew their own rights, had 
 faved to themfelves the exercife of them, 
 and came now at length to feel and un- 
 derftand their importance. For, as I 
 before obferved, the principal caufe that 
 had lifted the crown fo high, was the 
 depreffion of the barons. The great 
 property which had made them fo for- 
 midable, was difperfed into other hands. 
 The nobility were therefore too low to 
 give any umbrage to the crown. But 
 
 [/] Speech to the lords and commons at White, 
 ball. An. 1609. 
 
 the
 
 272 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 the commons were rifing apace ; and in a 
 century had grown to that height, that 
 on the acceflion of the Scotch family, the 
 point of time when the new king dream- 
 ed of nothing but abfolute fovereign- 
 ty [q] 9 they were now in a condition td 
 affert the public liberty, and, as the 
 event fhewed but too foon, to fnatcli the 
 fceptre itfelf out of their king's hands. 
 
 HOWEVER, in that interval of the 
 dormant power of the commons it was, 
 that the prerogative made the largeft 
 fhoots, till in the end it threatened 
 to overlhadow law and liberty. And, 
 though the general reafon is to be fought 
 in the humiliation of the church, the low 
 eflate of the barons, and the unexerted, 
 becaufe as yet unfelt, greatncfs of the 
 commons, the folution will be defective if 
 
 [y] It was faid well of this king " That he 
 fpake peace abroad, and fung lullaby at home : yer, 
 like a dead calm in a hot fpring, treafured up in 
 ftore fad diftempers againft a back-winter." NAT. 
 BACON. 
 
 we
 
 A N D P O L I T I C A L. 273 
 
 we ftop here. For the regal authority, 
 fo limited by the antient conftitution, and 
 by the continued ufe of parliaments, 
 could never in this fhort fpace have ad- 
 vanced itfelf beyond all bounds, if other 
 reafons had not co-operated with the 
 ftate of the people ; if fome more power- 
 ful and fpecial caufes had not conlpired 
 to throw round the perfon of the fove- 
 reign thofe rays of facred opinion, which 
 are the real ftrength as well as gilding 
 of a crown. 
 
 OF thefe I have occafionally mentioned 
 feveral ; fuch as " the perfohal character 
 and virtues of the princes themfelves 
 the high adventurous defigns in which 
 they were engaged j the intereft, the 
 people found or promifed to themfelves 
 in fupporting their power; the conftant 
 fuccefTes of their adminiftration ; and the 
 unremitting fpirit and vigour with which 
 it was carried on and maintained." All 
 thefe confiderations could not but dif- 
 
 VOL. IJ. T pofc"
 
 274 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 pofe the people to look up with revc- 
 rence to a crown, which prefented no- 
 thing to their view but what was fitted 
 to take their admiration, or imprint 
 efteem. Yet all thefe had failed of pro- 
 curing to majefty that profound fub- 
 miffion which was paid to it, or of elevat- 
 ing the prince to that high conceit of 
 independency which fo thoroughly pof- 
 fefied the imagination of King JAMES, if 
 an event of a very fingular nature, and 
 big with important confequences, had 
 not given the proper occafion to both. 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 I UNDERSTAND you to mean the over- 
 throw of the papal dominion, which had 
 .fo long eclipfed the majefty of our kings ; 
 and held them in a ftate of vaflalage, 
 not only to the triple crown, but, which 
 was more difgraceful, to the mitre of 
 their own fubjects. 
 
 BP.
 
 AND POLITICAL. i; - 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 RATHER underftand me to mean, what 
 was Indeed the confequence of that event, 
 
 THE TRANSLATION OF THE POPfi's 
 SUPREMACY TO THE KING. This, as I 
 
 take it, was the circumftance of all others 
 which moft favoured the fudden growth 
 of the imperial power in this nation. 
 And, becaufe I do not remember to have 
 feen it enlarged upon as it deferves, 
 give me leave to open to you, fomewhat 
 copioufly, the nature of this newly-ac- 
 quired headlhip, and the numerous advan- 
 tages which the prerogative received 
 from it. 
 
 THE PAPAL SUPREMACY, as it had 
 been claimed and exercifed in this king- 
 dom, was a power of the higheft nature. 
 It controlled every rank and order in 
 the ftate, and, in effect, laid the prince 
 and people together at the mercy of the 
 Roman pontif. There is no need to re- 
 T 2 count
 
 276 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 count the feveral branches of this ufurp- 
 ed authority. It is enough to fay, that 
 it was tranfcendant in all refpeds that 
 could in any fenfe be taken to concern 
 religion. And who, that has looked into 
 the papal ftory, needs be told that, by a 
 latitude of interpretation, every thing 
 was conftrued to be a religious concern, 
 by which the pope's power or intereft 
 could be affected ? 
 
 UNDER the acknowledgment then of 
 this fuper-eminent dominion, no fteps 
 could poflibly be taken towards the re- 
 formation of religion, or even the afler- 
 tion of the juft rights and privileges of 
 the crown. But the people were grown 
 to have as great a zeal for the former of 
 thefe confiderations, as the king for the 
 latter. And in this juncture it was, that 
 HENRY, in a fudden heat, threw off the 
 fupremacy; which the parliament, to 
 prevent its return to the pope, very 
 readily inverted in the king. 
 
 THERE
 
 A N D P O L I T I C A L. 277 
 
 THERE was fomething fo daring, and, 
 according to the prejudices of that time, 
 fo prefumptuous and even prophane,'in 
 this attempt to transfer the fpiritual 
 headfhip to a fecular power, that the 
 pope himfelf little apprehended, and 
 nothing but the king's dauntlefs temper 
 could have affured, the fuccefs of it. 
 The repugnancy which the parliament 
 themfelves found in their own notions 
 betwixt the exercife of the fpiritual and 
 temporal power, was the reafon perhaps 
 for inferting in the act of fupremacy 
 thofe qualifying claufes, we find in it [r]. 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 IT is pofiible, as you fay, that the par- 
 liament might be at a lofs to adjuft in 
 their own minds the precife bounds of 
 
 [r] Meaning fuch claufes as thcfe as by any 
 fpiritual or eccle/tajtical poiuer or authority may LAW- 
 FULLY, be exercifed, and, provided that nothing be 
 done contrary to the LAWS of this realm. 
 
 T 3 the
 
 27 3 DIALOGUE S MOR A L 
 
 the fpiritual jurifdidion, as united to the 
 civil,, in the king's perfon. Yet, in virtue 
 of thefe. claufesj the.regal fupremacy was, 
 in; facV, reftrained and limited by a6t of 
 parliament: and the, import of them was 
 clearly, to afTert the, independency of the 
 crown on any foreign judicature, and not 
 ta confer it in the extent in which it was 
 claimed and exercifed by the fee .of Rome. 
 
 BP. BURNEX. 
 
 IT is true, that no more was exprefied, 
 or perhaps intended, in this act. But the 
 queftion is, how the matter was under- 
 flooid by the people at large, and in par- 
 ticular by the king himfelf and his flat- 
 terers. Now it feems to me that this 
 transfer of the. fupremacy would be 
 taken for a folemn acknowledgment, not 
 only of the antient encroachments and 
 ufurpations of the papacy, but of the 
 king's right to fucceed to all the powers 
 of it. And I conclude this from the na- 
 ture of the thing itfelf, from the current 
 
 notions
 
 A N D P O L I T I C A L. a 79 
 
 notions of the time, and from the fequel 
 of the king's government. 
 
 IF we attend to the nature of the com- 
 plaints which the kingdom was perpe- 
 tually making, in the days of popery, of 
 the Roman ufnrpations, we mall find that 
 they did not fo much refpect thefe ufur- 
 pations themfelves, as the perfon claim- 
 ing and enjoying them. The grievance 
 was, that appeals mould be made to Rome , 
 that provilions fhould come from thence; 
 in a word, that all caufes mould be car- 
 ried to a foreign tribunal, and that fuch 
 powers mould be exercifed over the fub- 
 jects of this realm by a foreign jurifdic- 
 tion. The complaint was, that the pope 
 exercifed thefe powers-, and not that the 
 powers themfelves were exercifed. So, 
 on the abolition of this fupremacy, the 
 aft that placed it in the perfon of the 
 king, would naturally be taken to tranf- 
 fer upon him all the privileges and pre- 
 cminencics, which had formerly belonged 
 T A. to
 
 zBo DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 to it. And thus, though the aft was fo 
 properly drawn as to make a difference 
 in the two cafes, yet the people at large, 
 and much more the king himfelf, would 
 infer from the conceflion, " that the pope 
 had ufurped his powers on the crown j" 
 that therefore the crown had now a 
 right to thofe powers. And the circum- 
 ftance of this tranflation's pafling by act 
 of parliament, does not alter the matter 
 much, with regard to the king's notion 
 of it, for in that time of danger, and 
 for the greater fecurity of his new power, 
 he would chufe to have that ratified and 
 confirmed by ftatute, which he firmly 
 believed inherent in his perfon and 
 dignity, 
 
 THEN, to fee how far the current 
 opinions of that time were favourable to 
 the extenfion of the regal authority, on 
 this alliance with the papal, we are to 
 reflect, that, however odious the admini- 
 itration of the pope's fupremacy was be- 
 come,
 
 AND POLITICAL. 281 
 
 come, moftmen had very high notions of 
 the plenitude of his power, and the fa- 
 crednefs of hisperfon. " CHRIST'S vicar 
 upon earth'* was an awful title, and had 
 funk deep into the aftonifhed minds of 
 the people. And though HENRY'S pre- 
 tenfions went no further than to aflame 
 that vicarial authority within his own 
 kingdom, yet this limitation would not 
 hinder them from conceiving of him, 
 much in the fame way as of the pope 
 himfelf. They perhaps, had feen no 
 difference, but for his want of the pope's 
 Jacerdotal capacity. Yet even this de- 
 fect was, in fome meafure [j 1 !, made up 
 to him by his regal. So that between 
 the majefty of the kingly character, and 
 the confecration of his perfon by this 
 myfterious endowment of the fpiritual, 
 
 [s] The bifliop does well to fay infotne meafure. 
 For, according to popifh prejudices, the facerdotal 
 character is vaftly above the regal. See POLE'S 
 addrefs to HEN. VIII. 1. i. where this high point is 
 difcufled at large. 
 
 it
 
 2Sz DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 it is eafy to fee how well prepared the 
 minds of men were, to allow him the' 
 exercife of any authority to which he 1 
 pretended. 
 
 AND to what degree this fpiritual cha- 
 racter of head of the church operated in 
 the minds of the people, we may under- 
 ftand from the language of men in ftill 
 later times, and even from the articles 
 of our church, where the prerogative of 
 the crown is faid to be that which GOD- 
 LY KINGS have always exercifed: inti- 
 mating that this plenitude of power was 
 inherent in the king, on account of that 
 fpiritual and religious character, with 
 which, as head of the church, he was 
 neceffarily inverted. The illufion, as 
 grofs as we may now think it, was but 
 the fame as that which blinded the eyes 
 of the greateft and wifeft people in the 
 old world. For was it not juft in the fame 
 manner, that by the policy of the Roman 
 emperors in afTuming the office of pan- 
 
 tifex
 
 AND POLITICAL. 283 
 
 tifex maximus, that is, incorporating the 
 religious with their civil character, not 
 only their authority became the more 
 awful, but their ftrfons facred ? 
 
 WE fee then, as I faid, how conve- 
 niently the minds of men were prepared 
 to acquiefce in HENRY'S ufurped prero- 
 gative. And it is well known that this 
 prince was not of a temper to balk their 
 expectations. The fequel of his reign 
 fhews that he took himfelf to be invefted 
 with the whole ecclefiaftical power, legif- 
 lative as well as executive; nay, that he 
 was willing to extend his acknowledged 
 right of fupremacy even to the antient 
 papal infallibility, as appears from his 
 fovereign decifions in all matters of faith 
 and doctrine. It is true the parliament 
 was ready enough to go before, or at 
 lead to follow, the head of the church in 
 all thefe decifions. But the reafon is 
 obvious. And I need not repeat to you 
 
 in
 
 284 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 in what light the king regarded their 
 compliance with him. 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 IT is very likely, for thefe reafons, 
 that the king would draw to himfelf much 
 authority and reverence, at leaft, from 
 his new title of fupremacy. But it does 
 not, I think, appear that the fupremacy 
 had all that effect on the people's rights 
 and the antient conftitution, which your 
 lordfliip*s argument requires you to afcribe 
 to it. 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 I BROUGHT thefe general confidera- 
 tions only to mew the reverend opinion 
 which of courfe would be entertained of 
 this mixt perfon, THE SUPREME HEAD 
 OF THE CHURCH, compounded of a king 
 and a pope; and how natural a founda- 
 tion it was for the fuperftructure of def- 
 potic power in all its branches. But I 
 now -liaften to the particulars which de- 
 
 monftrate
 
 AND POLITICAL. - 285 
 
 monftrate that this ufe was actually made 
 of that title. 
 
 AND, firft, let me obferve, that it gave 
 birth to that great and formidable 
 court of the HIGH-COMMISSION; which 
 brought fo mighty an acceffion of power 
 to the crown, that, as experience after- 
 wards mewed, no fecurity could be had 
 for the people's liberties, till it was to- 
 tally abolifhed. The neceffity of the 
 times was a good plea for the firft infti- 
 tution of fo dangerous a tribunal. The 
 reftlefs endeavours of papifts and puri- 
 tans againft the ecclefiaftical eftablifh- 
 ment gave a colour for the continuance 
 of it. But, as all matters that regarded 
 religion or confcience were fubjeded to 
 its fole cognizance and infpection, it was 
 prefently feen how wide an entrance it 
 gave to the moft tyrannical ufurpations. 
 
 IT was, further, natural that the king's 
 power in civil caufes mould keep pace 
 
 with
 
 2 86 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 with his authority in fpiritual. And, for- 
 tunately for the advancement of his pre- 
 rogative, there was already erected with- 
 in the kingdom another court of the 
 like dangerous nature, of antient date, 
 and venerable eilimation, under the 
 name of the court of STAR-CHAMBER ; 
 which brought every thing under the 
 direction of the crown that could not fo 
 properly be determined in the high-com- 
 rniflion. Thefe were the two arms of 
 abfolute dominion; which, at different 
 times, and under different pretences, were 
 ftretched forth to the opprefllon of every 
 man that prefumed to oppofe himfelf to 
 the royal will or pleafure. The ftar- 
 chamber had been kept, in former times, 
 ^within fome tolerable bounds; but the 
 high and arbitrary proceedings of the 
 other court, which were found convenient 
 for the further purpofe of reformation, 
 and were therefore conftantly exercifed, 
 and as conftantly connived at by the par- 
 liament, gave an eafy pretence for ad- 
 vancing
 
 AND POLITICAL. 287 
 
 vancing the ftar-chamber's jurifdiction 
 fo far, that in the end its tyranny was 
 equally intolerable as that of the high- 
 commiffion. 
 
 THUS the king's authority in all cafes, 
 fpiritual and temporal, was fully efta- 
 blifhed, and in the higheft fenfe of 
 which the words are capable. Our 
 kings themfelves fo underftood it; and 
 when afterwards their parliaments fhew- 
 cd a difpofition to interfere in any thing 
 relating either to church or flate, they 
 were prefently reprimanded; and fternly 
 required not to meddle with what con- 
 cerned their prerogative royal and their 
 high points of government. Inftances 
 of this fort were very frequent in ELIZA- 
 BETH'S reign, when the commons were 
 getting up, and the fpirit of liberty began 
 to exert itfelf in that afTembly. The 
 meaning of all this myfterious language 
 was, that the royal pleafure was fubjecl: 
 to no control, but was to be left to take 
 
 its 
 4
 
 2 88 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 its free courfe under the fandlion of thefe 
 two fupreme courts, to which the cogniz- 
 ance of all great matters was committed. 
 
 THIS, one would think, were fufficient 
 to fatisfy the ambition of our kings. But 
 they went further, and ftili under the 
 wing of their beloved fupremacy. 
 
 THE parliament were not fo tame, or 
 the king's grace did not require it off 
 them, to divert themfelves entirely, 
 though it was much checked and re- 
 ftrained by thefe courts, of their legifla- 
 tive capacity. But the crown found a 
 way to eafe itfelf of this curb, if at any 
 time it mould prove troublefome to it. 
 This was by means of the DISPENSING 
 POWER; which, in effect, vacated all laws 
 at once, further than it pleafed the king 
 to countenance and allow them. And 
 for fo enormous a ftretch of power 
 (which, being rarely exercifed, was the 
 lefs minded) there was a ready pretence 
 
 from
 
 AND POLITICAL. 289 
 
 from the papal privileges and pre- 
 eminencies to which the crown had fuo 
 ceeded. For this mod invidious of all 
 the claims of prerogative had been in- 
 difputable in the church; and it had 
 been nibbled at by fome of our kings, in 
 former times, from the contagious au- 
 thority of the pope's example, even with- 
 out the pretence which the fupremacy 
 in fpirituals now gave for it. 
 
 THE exercife of this power, in the 
 popes themfelves, was thought fo mon- 
 flrous, that MATTHEW PARIS honeftly 
 complains of it in his time, as extinguijh- 
 ing all juftice EXTINGUIT OMNBM 
 JUSTICIAM [/]. And on another oc- 
 cafion, I remember, he goes fo far, in a 
 fpirit of prophecy, almoft, as to tell us 
 the ill ufe that hereafter kings them- 
 felves might be tempted to make of it []. 
 His prediction was verified very foon: 
 
 [/] HIST. ANG. p. 694. 
 
 [] Something to this purprfe occurs in p. 706. 
 
 VOL, II. U for
 
 290 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 far HENRY III learned this leflbn of ty- 
 ranny, and put it in practice. On which 
 occaiion one of his upright judges could 
 not help exclaiming, CIVILIS CURIA 
 
 EXEMPLO ECCLESIASTICS CONQUINA- 
 
 TUR |V}, And afterwards, we know, 
 HENRY VII claimed and exercifed this 
 difpenfing power in the cafe of fheriffs, 
 contrary to ad of parliament [y]. It 
 was early indeed in his reign, and when 
 
 [#] The name of this reverend judge was ROGER 
 DE THURKEBY. A caufe was trying before him in 
 Wejlwinfter-ball) when one of the parties produced 
 the king's letters patent with a non-objiante in it. 
 '* Quod cum eomperiiTety fiys the hiftorian, ab alto 
 ducens fufpiria, de prsdifts adje&ionis appofitione, 
 dixit; Heu, heu, hos ut quid dies expeclavimus ? 
 ecce jam civilis curia exemplo ecclefiafticae conqui- 
 iiatur, et a fulphureo fonte rivulus intoxicatur." 
 p. 784. HEN. III. 
 
 [j] Many ftatutes, and efpecially 23 HEN. VI, 
 had forbidden the continuance of any perfon in the 
 office of iheriff for more than one year. HENRY 
 VII difpenfed with thefe ftatutes. And the twelve 
 judges refolved in 2 HEN. VII, that, by a non- 
 ebftante, a patent for a longer time fhould be good. 
 It feems, the good old race of the THURKEBYS 
 was now worn out. 
 
 5 the
 
 AND POLITICAL. 2gl 
 
 the flate of his affairs was thought to 
 give a colour to it. 
 
 I MENTION thefe things to fhew, that 
 fince the pope's example had been fo 
 infectious in former times, it would now 
 be followed very refolutely, when the 
 tranflation of the very fupremacy, from 
 which it had fprung, feemed to juftify it. 
 And we have a remarkable inftance in 
 ELIZABETH'S reign, by which it may ap- 
 pear that this prerogative was publickly 
 and folemnly avowed. For upon fome 
 fcandal taken by the popifh party upon 
 pretence that the book of confecration 
 of bilhops was not eitablifhed by law, 
 the queen made no fcruple to declare by 
 her letters -patent, that fhe had, by her 
 fupreme authority, difpenfed with all 
 caufes or doubts of any imperfection or 
 difability in the perfons of the bimops. 
 My learned friend, Dr. STILLINGFLEET, 
 in commenting this cafe, acknowledges 
 the very truth. " It was cuftomaryj fays 
 U 2 he,
 
 2gz DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 he, in the pope's bulls, to put in fuel* 
 kind of claufes j and therefore (he would 
 omit no power in that cafe to which the 
 pope had pretended [z]. 
 
 AND it is in this difpenfing fpirit that 
 JAMES I, having delivered it for a maxim 
 of ftate, " that the king is above law," 
 goes on to affirm, in one of his favourite 
 works, that general laws, made publickly 
 in parliament, may, upon known refpects 
 to the king, by his authority be mitigated 
 and SUSPENDED upon caufes only known 
 to him []. 
 
 WE perceive the ground of that claim, 
 which was carried fo high by the princes 
 of the houfe of STUART, and, as we 
 have juft feen, brought on the ruin of 
 the laft of them. And to how great a 
 degree this prerogative of the difpenfing 
 
 [] See his Works, vol. iii. p. 806. 
 [a] The (rue law of free vionarcbiet, in the King's 
 Works, p. 203. 
 
 power
 
 AND POLITIC A L, 293 
 
 power had at length pofiefied the minds 
 even of the common lawyers, (partly 
 from fome fcattered examples of it in 
 former times, and partly from reafons of 
 expediency in certain junctures, but prin- 
 cipally from the inveteracy of this notion 
 of the papal fupremacy) we had an 
 alarming proof in MALE'S cafe, when 
 eleven out of the twelve judges declared 
 fork. 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 YOUR lordfliip has indeed fhewn that 
 the poifon of the papal fupremacy began 
 to work very fatally. If this bleffed 
 revolution had not happened, what could 
 have been expected but that the next 
 ftep would be, to fet the crown above 
 all divine as well as human law? And* 
 methinks, after fuch a judgment in Wefl- 
 minfter-Hatti it could not be furprifing 
 if another fet of men had ferved the 
 king, in the office of the pope's janiflaries 
 and maintained his right of difpenfing 
 U 3 with
 
 294 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 with the gofpel itfelf [], as well as the 
 fiatute-book. 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 I MUST needs think, Sir JOHN, you are 
 a little fevere, not to fay unjuft, in this 
 infmuation; for which the churchmen 
 of our days have furely given you no 
 reafon. And as for the reverend judges, 
 methinks my lord of Salijbury might 
 be allowed to expofe their determination, 
 at the fame time that he fo candidly ac- 
 counts for it, 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 T PERCEIVE, my lord commiflioner, 
 with all his goodnefs and moderation, is 
 a little apt to furmife the word of our 
 order. But I will try to reconcile him 
 to it 5 and it mall be in the way he mod 
 likes, by making a frank confefiion of 
 our infirmities. 
 
 [] Alluding to the doftrine of the canonifts, who 
 fay, Papa difpenfan potejl de omnilus praceplis VETE- 
 
 RIS ET KOVI TESTAMENTI. See lijbop ] E WEL1/S 
 
 defence of bis apology of the church of England, againfl 
 HARDING, p, 315* 
 
 FOR
 
 AND POLITICAL. 
 
 295 
 
 FOR another fource of the regal don i- 
 nion in latter times, and ftill fpringing 
 from out of the rock of fupremacy 
 (which followed and fuccoured tiie court- 
 prerogative, wherever it went, juft as the 
 rock of MOSES, the Rabbins fay,' jour- 
 neyed with the Je&ijb camp, and re- 
 fremed it in all its ftations) was the opi- 
 nion taken up and propagated by church- 
 men, from the earlieft sera of the Refor- 
 mation, concerning the irrefidible power 
 of kings, and the PASSIVE OBEDIENCE 
 (hat is due to it, 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 AYE, there it is, I am afraid, that we 
 are principally to look for the origin of 
 the high pretences of our kings to abfo^ 
 lute government. 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 I SHALL dtffemble no part of the 
 
 clergy's blame on this occafionj and 
 
 U 4 there
 
 296 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 there is the lefs need, if I were ever fo 
 tender of their reputation, as their in- 
 ducements to preach up this doftrine were 
 neither flight in themfelves, nor unfriend- 
 ly to the public intereft. 
 
 IT cannot be doubted that the church- 
 men efpecially, both by intereft and 
 principle, would be clofely connected 
 with the new head of the church. Their 
 former fubjection in fpirituais to the 
 papal authority would of itfelf create a 
 prejudice in favour of it, as now refiding 
 in the king's perfon. And the difpofal 
 of bifhopricks and other great prefer- 
 ments being now entirely in the crown, 
 they would of courfe, you will fay, be 
 much addicted to his fervice. 
 
 BUT thefe were not the fole, or even 
 the principal, reafons that induced fo wife 
 and fo difmterefted perfons, as our firft 
 reformers, to exalt the royal prerogative. 
 They were led into this pernicious prac-
 
 AND POLITICAL. 297 
 
 tice by the moft excufable of all motives, 
 in their fituation, an immoderate zeal 
 againft popery. 
 
 IT is true, a very natural prejudice 
 mixed itfelf with their other reafonings. 
 " The crown had been declared fupreme. 
 and to have chief government of all 
 eftates of this realm, and in all caufes." 
 And, though this declaration was levelled 
 only againft the pretenfions of every 
 foreign, and particularly the papal power, 
 yet, the clergy were given to conceive 
 of it as a general propofition. The rea- 
 fon was, that the people, from whom the 
 juft right of fupremacy is derived, hav- 
 ing, at this juncture, not yet attained the 
 confideration, which the nobles had loft, 
 they fqrwardly concluded, that if the 
 royal eftate were independent of the 
 pope, it was unqueftionably fo of every 
 other power. They could not, on the 
 fudden, be brought to think fo reverend- 
 ly of the poor people, even in their re- 
 prefentatives,
 
 *98 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 prefentatives, as to allow that they had 
 any pretenfion to reftrain their fovereign. 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 I COULD fwear to the truth of this ac- 
 count. One of the popes, I forget which, 
 is faid to have called the deputies of the 
 third eilate in France, on a certain occafion, 
 NEBULONES EX TMCE PLEBIS (V]. And 
 though that might not be the language 
 of churchmen in England, at this time, it 
 was not far, perhaps, from expreffing 
 their fentiments. It is certain, they foon 
 taught their princes, who put them- 
 felves to fchool to the hierarchy [d], to 
 talk in this ftrain ; as appears from many 
 
 [f] See this particular taken notice of in K. 
 JAMES'S Works, p. 384. 
 
 [d] One of them, King JAMES, profited fo well 
 by this difcipline, that as we are told on very com- 
 petent authority, " He was the moft able prince that 
 ever this kingdom had, to JVDGE OF CHURCH- 
 WORK." Ded. of Bp. ANDREWS'S Jermons to 
 CHARLES I, by the bifoops LAUD and BUCKE- 
 
 R1DCE. 
 
 Of
 
 A N D P O L I T I C A L. ag$ 
 
 of ELIZABETH'S and JAMES'S fpeeches 
 to the commons. 
 
 BP, BURNET. 
 
 SOMETHING of this fort, I grant you, 
 but not in the degree you put it, might 
 have an influence on the political reafon- 
 ings of the clergy. But their zeal for 
 reformation was what prevailed with 
 them molt, and carried them furtheft 
 into thefe notions. It is fomething curi- 
 ous to fee how this happened. 
 
 HENRY'S ufurpation of the fupremacy, 
 as it was called at Rome, appeared fo 
 prodigious a crime to all good Catholics, 
 that no feverities were great enough to 
 inflict upon him for it. Their writers 
 proceeded to ftrange lengths. Even our 
 cardinal POLE fo far forgot the great- 
 nefs of his quality, and the natural mild- 
 nefs of his temper, as to exceed the 
 bounds of decency, in his invectives 
 p.gainft him. And when afterwards, in 
 
 right
 
 3o DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 right of this aflumed headfhip, the crown 
 went fo far as to reject the authority of 
 the church as well as court of Rome, all 
 the thunders of the Vatican were em- 
 ployed againft this invader of the 
 church's prerogative. The pope, in his 
 extreme indignation, threatened to de- 
 pofe EDWARD. He did put this threat 
 in execution againft ELIZABETH. Yet, 
 in fpite of religious prejudices, this was 
 efteemed fo monftrous a ftretch of power, 
 and fo odious to all Chriftian princes, 
 that the jefuits thought it expedient, by 
 all means, to foften the appearance of it. 
 One of their contrivances was, by fearch- 
 ing into the origin of civil power; which 
 they brought rightly, though for this 
 wicked purpofe, from the people. For 
 they concluded, that, if the regal power 
 could be fhewn to have no divine right, 
 but to be of human and even popular 
 inftitution, the liberty, which the pope 
 took in depofing kings, would be lefs in- 
 vidious. Thus the jefuits reafoned on 
 
 the
 
 AND POLITICAL. 3C! 
 
 the matter. The argument was pufhed 
 with great vigour by HARDING and his 
 brethren in ELIZABETH'S reign, but 
 afterwards with more learning and ad- 
 drefs by BELLARMINE, MARIANA, and 
 others [*]. 
 
 To combat this dangerous pofition, 
 fo prejudicial to the power of kings, and 
 which was meant to juftify all attempts 
 of violence on the lives of heretical 
 princes, the Proteftant divines went into 
 the other extreme; and, to fave the per- 
 fon of their fovcreign, preached up the 
 doctrine of DIVINE RIGHT. HOOKER, 
 fuperior to every prejudice, followed 
 the truth. But the reft of our reform- 
 ing and reformed divines ftuck to the 
 other opinion; which, as appears from 
 the HOMILIES, the INSTITUTION OF A 
 
 [e] This notion was ftarted even ib early as 
 HENRY'S reje&icn of the fupremacy. Cardinal 
 POLE infifts itrongly on this origin of kingfhip in 
 his book, Pro ecclefiafiic* unitatis defenftone, lib. i. 
 p. 74. 
 
 CHRISTIAN
 
 $02 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 CHRISTIAN MAN, and the general ftreatn 
 of writings in thofe days, became the 
 opinion of the church, and was indeed 
 the received Proteftant doctrine. 
 
 AND thus unhappily arofe in the 
 church of England, that pernicious fyftem 
 of divine indefeafible right of kings : 
 broached indeed by the clergy, but not 
 from thofe corrupt and temporizing views 
 to which it has been imputed. The au- 
 thority of thofe venerable men, from 
 whom it was derived, gave it a firm and 
 lading hold on the minds of the clergy: 
 And being thought to receive a counte- 
 nance from the general terms, in which 
 obedience to the civil magiftrate is or- 
 dained in fcripture, it has continued to 
 our days, and may, it is feared, flill con- 
 tinue, to perplex and miflead the judg- 
 ments of too many amongft us. 
 
 YET it could hardly have kept its 
 ground againft fo much light and evi- 
 dence
 
 AND POLITICAL. 303 
 
 dence as has been throv/n at different 
 times on this fubjeft [/], but for an un- 
 lucky circumftance attending the days 
 of reformation. This was, the growth 
 of puritanifm and the republican fpirit; 
 which, in order to juflify its attack on 
 the legal conftitutional rights of the 
 crown, adopted the very fame principles 
 with the jefuited party. And under thefe 
 circumftances it is not to be thought 
 ftrange that a principle, however true, 
 which was difgraced by coming through 
 fuch hands, ihould be generally con- 
 demned and execrated. The crown and 
 mitre had reafon to look upon both thefe 
 forts of men as their mortal enemies. 
 What wonder then they mould unite in 
 reprobating the political tenets, on which 
 their common enmity was juftified and 
 fupported ? 
 
 [f] In the writings, publiihed by political men 
 for twenty years together before the Reiteration ; in 
 which the great queftion of the origin of civil go- 
 vernment was thoroughly canvafled. 
 
 THIS
 
 3<H DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 THIS I take to be the true account o^ 
 what the friends of liberty fo often ob- 
 ject to us, " That the defpotifm cf our 
 " later princes has been owing to the 
 " flavifh doctrines of the clergy." The 
 charge, fo far as there is any colour for 
 it, is not denied : and yet I fhould hope 
 to fee it urged againft us with lefs acri- 
 mony, if it were once underftood on what 
 grounds thefe doctrines were taken up, 
 and for what purpofes they were main- 
 tained by the clergy. 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 BESIDES the candour of this acknow- 
 ledgment, the part, which our clergy 
 have lately acted, is, methinks, enough 
 to abate and correct thofe hard fenti- 
 ments, which, as you fay, have been en* 
 tertained againft them. 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 THIS apology fcems indeed the beft 
 that can be made for them. But when 
 
 one 
 6
 
 A N D P O L I T I C A L. j 05 
 
 one confiders the baleful tendency of 
 thofe doctrines, which were calculated to 
 enflave the very fouls and confciences of 
 men, and by advancing princes into the 
 rank of gods, to abet and juftify their 
 tyranny, one cannot help feeling a 
 ftrong refentment againft the teachers of 
 them, however they might themfelves be 
 impofed upon by feveral colourable pre- 
 tences. Your lordlhip knows, I might 
 proceed to further and ftill 'harder re- 
 flexions. But I have no pretence to in- 
 dulge in them at this time, when a bilhop 
 is pleading fo warmly in the caufe of 
 liberty. 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 THIS terjdernefs to your friends, Sir 
 JOHN, is very obliging* But I wouhj 
 willingly engage your candour, in behalf 
 qf our order. Let me prefume, for fuch 
 a purpofe, to fecond Mr. SOMERS'S ob- 
 fervation, " That the Englijb clergy have 
 " at length atoned, in fome meafure, for 
 ' former mifcarriages." 
 
 VOL. II. X sia
 
 3 o6 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD* 
 
 BY their behaviour in a late critical 
 conjuncture : and yet, to fpeak my mind 
 frankly, the merit of their fervices, even 
 on that occafion, is a little equivocal, 
 when one reflects how unwilling they 
 feemed to take the alarm, till they were 
 roufed, at length, by their own imme- 
 diate object, the church's danger? 
 
 BP. BURNETV. 
 
 AND can you wonder that what con- 
 cerned them moil, what they beft under- 
 ftood, and was their proper and peculiar 
 charge fhould engage their principal at- 
 tention ? Befides, they went on principle, 
 and with reafon too, in fuppofing that no 
 flight or partial breaches of law were 
 fufficient to authorize refiftance to the 
 magiftrate^]. But when a general at- 
 tack 
 
 [g] The bifhop declares his opinion to this pur- 
 pofe very fully in fevcral places of the Hiftory of his 
 Dvvn times. His and bis friend TO-LOTSON'S re-
 
 AND POLITICAL. 307 
 tack was made upon It, and the dif- 
 penfing power was fet up in defiance of 
 all law, and to the manifeft fubverfion of 
 the conftitution, the clergy were then as 
 forward as any others to fignalize them- 
 felves in the common caufe of liberty. 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 THEIR old favourite doflrine of non- 
 refiftance was, I doubt, at the bottom of 
 this cautious proceeding. But it was 
 high time for them to lay it afide, when, 
 they faw it employed as the ready way 
 for the introduction of that popery, which;, 
 as you fay it was its firft intention to 
 keep out. 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 IT certainly was. But, not to purfue 
 this argument any further, let me return 
 to the main point I had in view, which 
 was, " to account for the growth of the 
 " regal power from the influence of the 
 
 prefentations to the unhappy Lord RUSSELL, no 
 <bubt, turned upon this principle. 
 
 X 2 tranf-
 
 308 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 " transferred fupremacy." There is ftill 
 another inftance behind, which mews 
 how well our princes underftood the ad- 
 vantage they had gained, and how dex- 
 troufly they improved it. 
 
 IT feems prodigious, at firft fight, that 
 when the yoke of Rome was thrown off, 
 the new church, erected in oppofition to 
 it, fhould ftill continue to be governed by 
 the laws of the old. The pretence was, 
 that this was only by way of interim, 
 till a body of ecclefiaftical laws could be 
 formed ^ and, to cover this pretence the 
 better, fome fteps were, in fact, taken to- 
 wards the execution of fuch a defign. 
 But the meaning of the crown certainly 
 was, to uphold its darling fupremacy, 
 even on the old footing of the CANON 
 LAWS. 
 
 THIS conclufion feems probable, if one 
 confidcrs that thofe canons proceeded 
 From an abfolute fpiritual monarch, and 
 
 had
 
 AND POLITICAL. 309 
 
 had a perpetual reference to his dominion ; 
 that they were formed upon the very ge. 
 nius, and did acknowledge the authority 
 of the civil laws, the proper ifiue, as my 
 lord commiflioner has ihewn us, of civil 
 defpotifm. Whoever, I fay, confiders 
 all this, will be inclined to think that 
 the crown contrived this interim from 
 the ufe the canon law was of to the 
 extenfion of the prerogative. Accord- 
 ingly it is certain, that the fucceeding 
 monarchs, ELIZABETH, JAMES, and 
 CHARLES, would never fuffer us to 
 have a body of ecclefiaftical laws, from 
 a fenfe of this utility in the old ones ; 
 and a confcioufnefs, if ever they mould 
 fubmit a body of new laws to the le- 
 giQature, that the parliament would 
 form them altogether in the genius of a 
 free church and ftate [b] ; and perhaps 
 
 [k] The bifhop gives the fame account of this 
 matter in his Hiftory of the Reformation, Part I. 
 P- 33- 
 
 X 3 would
 
 3 io DIALO CUES MOR AL 
 
 would be for afTuming a (hare in their 
 darling fupremacy itfclf. 
 
 WITH thofe canon law?, and for the 
 fame purpofe, as was obierved to us, 
 thefe princes retained a great affection 
 for the interpreters of them, the canon 
 and civil lawyers; till the genius of li- 
 berty rifing and prevailing, in the end, 
 over all the attempts of civil defpotifm, 
 both the one and the other fell into 
 gradual defuctude and contempt : and as 
 the canonifts were little regarded, fo 
 then- law is now confidered no further 
 than as it is countenanced and fupported 
 by the law of England* 
 
 BUT to fee how convenient the doc- 
 trine of the canon law was for the main* 
 tenance of an abfolute fuprernacy, it 
 needs only be obferved to you, that one 
 of thefe canons is, " That it is not law- 
 cc ful for any man to difpute of the 
 2 pope's
 
 AND POLITICAL. I 3 n 
 
 < pope's power.'* And to fee how ex- 
 actly our kings were difpofed to act upon 
 it, one needs only recollect that immortal 
 apophthegm of the elder JAMES, already 
 taken notice of, " That it is fedition for 
 " the fubject to difpute what a king may 
 do in the height of his power." 
 
 AND as the canon laws are the pope's 
 laws, fo we are told, on the fame fupreme 
 authority, that the Englijh laws are the 
 king's. For thus on another occafion his 
 majefty exprefifes himfelf. u Although a 
 * juft prince" (I believe I repeat his very 
 words) < will not take the life of any 
 " of his fubjects without a clear law : yet 
 ** the fame laws, whereby he taketh 
 " them, are made by himfelf, or his pre- 
 " deceffors-, and fo the power flows al- 
 " ways from himfelf." And again, 
 " Although a good king will frame all 
 " his actions to be according to the law, 
 ** yet is he not bound thereto but of his 
 X 4 " good
 
 3iz DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 *' good will, and for good example giving 
 " to his fubjects [*]." 
 
 THUS decreed that great fchool-mafter 
 of the whole land (to give his majefly no 
 harder a title than he was pleafed to 
 give himfelf); and it is difficult to fay 
 whence his fupremacy extracted this 
 golden rule of free monarchies, if not 
 from the pope's own code of imperial 
 canons. 
 
 THUS it appears what mifconceptions 
 arofe, and what flrange conclufions were 
 drawn, from the king's fupremacy in 
 fpirituals. One might proceed further 
 
 [f] TRUE LAW OF FREE MONARCHIES, p. 203. 
 
 What is faid of the king's being the great fcbool- 
 mafter of the land is taken from the fame difcourfe, 
 p, 204. His words are thefe " The people of a 
 " borough cannot difplace their provoft yea, even 
 " the poor fchool-mafter cannot be difplaced by his 
 *' fcholars How much lefs it is lawful upon any 
 " pretext to control or difplace the great provoft 
 
 ' and GREAT SCHOOL-MASTER OF THE WHOLE 
 "LAND." 
 
 in
 
 AND POLITIC AL. 313 
 
 in contemplation of this fubjeft; but I 
 have wearied you too much already. 
 You will fee from thefe feveral parti- 
 culars how it came to pafs that the RE- 
 FORMATION, which was founded on the 
 principles of liberty and fupported by 
 them, was yet for fome time the caufe 
 of (lengthening the power of the 
 crown. For though the exercife of 
 private judgment, which was eflential 
 to Proteftantifm, could not but tend to 
 produce right notions of civil libery, as 
 well as of religious faith and difcipline, 
 and fo in the end was fated to bring 
 about a juft form of free government 
 (as after fome ftruggles and commo- 
 tions, we fee, it has happened), yet the 
 tranflation of fupremacy from the pope 
 to the civil magiftrate brought with it a 
 mighty accefllon of authority, which had 
 very fenfible effects for feveral reigns af- 
 terwards. The myfterious facrednefs 
 and almoft divinity which had lodged 
 in the pope's perfon, was now inflirined 
 
 in
 
 3H DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 in the king's; and it is not wonderful 
 that the people fhould find their ima- 
 ginations ftrongly affected by this no- 
 tion. And with this general preparation, 
 it followed very naturally, that, in the 
 feveral ways here recounted, the crown 
 fhould be difpofed and enabled to extend 
 its prerogative, till another change in 
 the government was required to limit 
 and circumfcribe it, almoft as great as 
 that of the Reformation. 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 I HAVE liftened with much pleafure 
 to this deduction which your lordlhip 
 has made from that important circum- 
 ftance of the crown's fupremacy in 
 fpiritnals. I think it throws great light 
 on the fubjeft under confideration, and 
 accounts in a clear manner for that ap- 
 pearance of defpotifm which the Englijh 
 government has worn from the times of 
 reformation. I have only one difficulty 
 remaining with me : but it is fiich an 
 
 one
 
 AND POLITICAL, 315 
 
 one as feems to bear hard on the great 
 hypothefis itfelf, fo learnedly maintained 
 by my lord commiffioner in our late 
 converfation, of the original free con- 
 ftitution of the Englijh government. 
 For, allowing all you fay to be true, 
 does not the very transition of the 
 pope's fupremacy to the king, confidered 
 in itfelf demonftrate that we had then, 
 at leaft, no free constitution at all, to be 
 invaded by the high claims of that prero- 
 gative ? If we admit the exiftence of any 
 fuch, the fupremacy of the church fhould, 
 naturally, 1 think, have devolved upon 
 the fupreme civil power ; which with us, 
 according to the prefent fuppofition, is 
 in the three eftates of the legiflature. 
 But this devolution, it feems, was on 
 the king alone-, a public acknowledg- 
 ment, as I take it, that the conftimtion 
 of the government was at that time con- 
 ceived to be, in the higheft fenfe of the 
 word, ablolutely MONARCHICAL. 
 
 BP.
 
 316 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 I WAS not, I confefs, aware of this ob- 
 je&ion to our theory, which is very fpe- 
 cious. Yet it may be fufficient, as I fup- 
 pofe, to reply to it, that the work of 
 reformation was carried on and efta- 
 blifhed by the whole legiflature 5 and that 
 the fupremacy, in particular, though it 
 of right belonged to the three eftates, 
 was by free confent furrendered and 
 given up into the hands of the king. It 
 is certain this power, though talked of as 
 the antient right of the crown, was 
 folemnly invefted in it by act of parlia- 
 ment. 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 THERE may be fomething in this. 
 Yet your lordfliip, I think, does not carry 
 the matter quite far enough j and, with 
 your leave, I will prefume to give an- 
 other, and perhaps the truer, anfwer to 
 Mr. SOMERS'S difficulty. The fubjecl: is 
 
 a little
 
 AND POLITICAL. 317 
 
 a little nice, but I have not thofe fcruples 
 which may reafonably be conceived to 
 reftrain your lordlhip from enlarging 
 upon it. 
 
 I REPLY then directly, and without 
 foftening matters, that this irregular 
 tranflation of the fupremacy is no proof 
 that there was not then a FREE CONSTI- 
 TUTION, with a legitimate power in it, 
 to which the fupremacy belonged. And 
 my reafon, without offence to my lord of 
 Salijbury t is this. When the papal au- 
 thority was abolimed, and the queftion. 
 came into parliament, " who now became 
 the head of the church ;" the fearch after 
 him was not carried, where it mould have 
 been, into the conftitution of the king- 
 dom; but, as it was a matter of religion, 
 they miftook that, which was only an 
 affair of church- difcipline, to be a doc- 
 trine of theology; and io fearched, for 
 a folution of the queftion, in the New 
 Teftament, and Ecclefiaftical Hiftory. 
 
 In
 
 31* DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 In the New Teftament, obedience Is 
 prefifed to the perfon of Csefar, becaufe 
 an abfolute monarchy was the only go- 
 vernment in being: and, for the fame 
 reafon, when afterwards the empire be- 
 came Chriftian, the fupremacy, as we 
 know from ecckfiajllcal ftory, was afiumed 
 by the emperor: juft as it would have 
 been by the conful and fenate, had the 
 republic exifted. Hence our Reformers, 
 going altogether by fpiritual and eccle- 
 fiaftical example, and hoping thereby to 
 preferve their credit againft the re- 
 proaches of Rome^ which, as your lord- 
 fhip knows, was perpetually charging 
 them with novelties and innovations in 
 both refpefts, recurred to early antiquity 
 for that rule. 
 
 THIS attention to ecclefiaftical exam* 
 pk was, I fuppofe, a confideration of 
 convenience with the wife fathers of our 
 church : the other appeal to the Gofpel, 
 mi^ht be a matter of confcience with 
 ; them.
 
 AND POLITIC AL. 319 
 
 them. And thus by force of one text, 
 ill-underftood, render unto CAESAR the 
 things which are CESAR'S, they put the 
 fpiritual fword into the king's hands j 
 juft as by another, be leareth not the 
 fword in vain (for I know of no better 
 authority) the temporal fword had alfo 
 been committed to his care. 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 THIS laft intimation, I am apprehen- 
 five, would bear a further debate [J. 
 But I acquiefce in your anfwer to my 
 particular queftion; I mean, unlefs the 
 bifliop of Salijbury warns me againft 
 fobmitting to fo heretical a doctor. 
 
 BP. BURNET. 
 
 MY lord commifTioner chufes to let flip 
 HO opportunity of expofing what he 
 
 (] M** SOMERS had reafon for faying this; for 
 the intimation was no lefs than that the power of the 
 militia was not in the lung. Sir J. MAYNARD was 
 of this opinion, when the matter was debated in par- 
 Irament m 164*1. See WHUXOCXE, p. 56. 
 
 takes
 
 3 2d DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 takes to be an error in ecclefiaftical 
 management. Either way, however, I 
 am not difpleafed to find that his main 
 thefis keeps its ground ; and that, even 
 according to his own account of the 
 matter, the nation, when it gave up the 
 fupremacy to the king, was in poffeiTion 
 of a free and legal conftitution. 
 
 ON the whole, you give me leave 
 then to prefume that the considerations, 
 now offered to you, afford a reafonable 
 account of that defpotic form under 
 which the Englijh government has ap- 
 peared, from the union of the two rofes 
 down to the fubverfion of the conftitu- 
 tion in CHARLES the Firil's time. 
 
 OTHER caufes concurred; but the Re- 
 formation was the chief prop and pillar 
 of the imperial dignity, while the con- 
 ftitution itfelf remained the fame, or ra- 
 ther was continually gaining ftrength 
 even by the neceffary operation of thofe 
 
 principles
 
 AND PO LIT 1C A L, 3 21 
 
 principles on which the Reformation was 
 founded. Religious liberty made way 
 for the entertainment of civil, in all its 
 branches. It could not be otherwife, 
 It difpofed the minds of men to throw 
 off that fluggifhnefs, in which they had 
 flumbered for many ages. A fpirit of 
 inquiry prevailed. Inveterate errors were 
 feen through 5 and prejudices of all forts 
 fell off, in proportion to the growth of 
 letters, and the progrefs of reafon. 
 
 THE increafing trade and wealth of 
 trie nation concurred with the temper of 
 the times. The circulation of property 
 brought on a natural relaxation of the 
 feudal fyftem. The plan of liberty was 
 extended and enlarged ; and the balance 
 of power foon fell into the hands of the 
 people. This appeared very plainly 
 from the influence of parliaments, and 
 the daring attacks of many particular 
 members on the higheft and moft favour- 
 ed claims of prerogative. Our kings 
 Voi. II. Y were
 
 322 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 were fenfible of the alteration : but, in- 
 ftead of prudently giving way to it, they 
 flew into the oppofite extreme, and pro- 
 yoked the fpirit of the times by the very 
 reluctance they mewed on all occafions to 
 comply with it. Every dormant privilege 
 of the crown, every phantom of preroga- 
 tive, which had kept the fimpler ages in 
 awe, was now very unfeafonably conjured 
 up, to terrify all that durft oppofe them- 
 felves to encroaching royalty. Lawyers 
 and church-men were employed in this 
 fervice. And in their fierce endeavour to 
 uphold a tottering throne by falfe fup- 
 ports, they entirely overthrew it. The 
 nation was out of all patience to hear the 
 one decree the empire of the kings of Eng- 
 land to be abfolute and uncontrolable by 
 human law : and the other gave more of- 
 fence, than they found credit, by pretend- 
 ing that the right of kings to fuch empire 
 was divine [I]. Every artifice indeed of 
 
 chicane 
 
 [/] The dolrines of divine right, as propagated 
 by the churchmen of that time in their books and 
 
 fermons,
 
 AND POLITICAL. 323 
 
 chicane and ibphiftry was called in to 
 the fupport of thefe maxims of law and 
 
 theology. 
 
 fermons, are well known. Thofe of the lawyers 
 were fuch as thefe I: had been alleged on the 
 part of Mr. HAMPDEN, in the great caufe of (hip- 
 money, " that by a fundamental policy in the crea- 
 tion of the frame of this kingdom, in cafe the mo- 
 narch of England (hould be inclined to exadl from 
 his fubjccls at his pleafure, he fhould be retrained, 
 for that he could have nothing from them, but upon 
 a common confent of parliament." Sir ROBERT 
 BERKELEY, one of the judges of the kingVbench, 
 affirmed " That the law knows no fuch king- 
 yoking policy:" Sir THOMAS TREVOR, one of 
 the barons of the exchequer, " That our king hath, 
 as much power and prerogative belonging to him 
 as any prince in Chriftendom :" The attorney 
 general, Sir JOHN BANKS, " That the king of Eng- 
 land hath an entire empire ; he is an abfolute mo- 
 narch : nothing can be given to an abfolute prince! 
 but is inherent in his perfon." State Triah, vol. i. 
 Such was the language of the guardians of the LAW, 
 that temple or fanduary, as it has been called, whi- 
 ther the fubjecl is to run for fhelter and protection. 
 Had not Mr. ST. JOHN then much reafon for fay- 
 Ing, as he did on that occanon, " We have the 
 fabric of the temple itill ; but the Gods, the Du 
 TUTELARES, are gone?" There is the more force 
 and propriety in this cenfure, as it comes from a 
 man who was himfelf of the profeffion. And an- 
 y 2 other
 
 324 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 theology. But the feafon for religious 
 and civil liberty to prevail over the im- 
 potent attempts of each, was at hand. 
 The near approach of the divine form 
 
 other of the fame order, the bell and wifeft perhaps 
 that frequented the temple of law in thofe days, pro- 
 ceeds with a juit indignation ftill further " Thefe 
 men (faid Mr. HIDE, in a fpeech to the lords) have, 
 upon vulgar fears, delivered up the precious fotts 
 they were trutted with, aimed without affault; and 
 in a tame eafy trance of flattery and fervitude, loft 
 and forfeited (fliamefully forfeited) that reputation* 
 awe, and reverence, which the wifdom, courage, and 
 gravity of their venerable predeceffors had contracted 
 and fattened to their places ; and have even ren- 
 dered that ftudy and profeffion, which in all ages 
 hath been, and I hope now ihall be, of honourable 
 estimation, fo contemptible and vile, that had rot 
 this blefied day come [the day of impeachment of 
 the x judges], all men would have had that quarrel 
 to the law itfelf, which MARCIUS had to the Greek 
 tongue, who thought it a mockery to learn that 
 language, the matters whereof lived in bondage un- 
 der others."' Thus thefe eloquent apologifts fo r 
 law and liberty. The conclufion is, that though in 
 the great bodies of churchmen and lawyers, fome 
 will always be found to difhonour themfelves, there 
 have never been wanting others to do juftice to the 
 public, and to afTert, maintain, and preferve, the 
 dignity of their refpeclive profeffions. 
 
 4 created
 
 AND POLITICAL. 325 
 
 created an enthufiafm, which nothing 
 could refift. It fruftrated the generous 
 views even of her firft and fincereft wor- 
 fhippers. In the career of thofe ecftatic 
 orgies, the unhappy king could not pre- 
 vent his minifters, firft, and afterwards 
 the conftitution itfelf, from falling a 
 victim to that fury, which, in the end, 
 forced off his own head. 
 
 SUCH was the ifTue of this defperate 
 conflict between prerogative and liberty. 
 The wonder was, that this fatal expe- 
 rience fhould not have rectified all mif- 
 takes, and have fettled the government 
 on a fure and lafting bafis at the Refto- 
 ration. The people were convinced, 
 that nothing more was requifite to their 
 happinefs, than the fecure poffefiion of 
 their ancient legal conftitution. The re- 
 called family were not fo wife. And in 
 their attempts to revive thofe old ex- 
 ploded claims, which had fucceeded fo 
 ill with their predeceflbrs, they once 
 Y 3 more
 
 326 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 more fell from the throne, and left it 
 to the pofieffion of that glorious prince 
 whom the greatly-injured nation has now 
 called to it. 
 
 THIS then will be confidered by 
 grateful posterity as the true sera of 
 Englljh liberty. It was interwoven in- 
 deed with the very principles of the 
 conftitution. It was inclofed in the an- 
 cient trunk of the feudal law, and was 
 propagated from it []. But its opera- 
 rion was weak and partial in that ftate 
 
 of 
 
 \m\ This appears even from Mr. HUME'S own 
 account of the feudal times ; incomparably the bed 
 part of his Hi/lory of England. And it is to be pre- 
 fumed that, if fo ingenuous a writer had begun his 
 work at the right end, he would have been led, by 
 the evidence of fo palpable a truth, to exprefs him- 
 felf more favourably, indeed more confiftently, of 
 the Englijh conftitution. But having, by fome odd 
 chance, written the hiitory of the STUARTS firft, 
 and afterwards of the TUDORS, (in both which he 
 found it for his purpofe to adopt the notion of a 
 defpotic independent fpirit in the Englijb monarchy) 
 lie chufes in the laft part of his work, which contains 
 the hiftory of England from JULIUS C^SAR to 
 
 HENRY
 
 AND POLITICAL. 327 
 
 of its infancy. It acquired frefh force 
 and vigour with age, and has now at 
 
 length 
 
 HENRY VII, to abide by his former fancy; on this 
 pretence, that, in the administration of the feudal go- 
 vernment, the liberty of the fubjefl was incomplete 
 and partial ; often precarious and uncertain : a way, 
 in which the learned hiftorian might prove, that no 
 nation under heaven ever was, or ever will be, pof- 
 fe/Tedofa FRUF. CONSTITUTION. 
 
 By the FREE CONSTITUTION of the Englijb mo- 
 narchy, every advocate of liberty, that underdands 
 himfelf, I fuppofe, means, that limited plan of po- 
 licy, by which the fupreme legiflative power (includ- 
 ing in this general term the power of levying money) 
 is lodged, not in the prince fmgly, but jointly in 
 the prince and people ; whether the popular part of 
 the ccnftitution be denominated the king's or king- 
 dom's great council, as it was in the proper feudal 
 times ; or ike parliament, as it came to be called af- 
 terwards ; or, laftly, the two koufes of parliament, as 
 the ftyle has now been for fevcral ages. 
 
 To tell us, that this conftitution has been different 
 at different times, becaufe the tegal or popular in- 
 fluence has at different times been more or lefs pre- 
 dominant, is only playing with a word, and con* 
 founding conjlitution with adminijiration. Accord- 
 ing to this way of fpeaking, we have not only had 
 three or four*, but poffibly three or fourfcore, different 
 conftitutions. So long as that great diflribution of 
 Mr, HVME'S Hift. vol. v, p. 472. ir.ed. 8vo, 1763. 
 
 the
 
 323 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 length extended its influence to every 
 part of the political fyltem. 
 
 HENCEFORWARD, may we not indulge 
 in the expectation that both prince and 
 people will be too wife to violate this 
 glorious conftitution : the only one in the 
 
 the fapreme authority took place (and it has con- 
 flantly and invariably taken place, whatever o:hcr 
 changes there rnighc be, from the Norman eftablifh- 
 ment down to our times) the nation was always en- 
 abled, at leafl authorized, to regulate all fubordira'.e, 
 or, if you will, fupereminent claims and preten- 
 fions. This it effectually did at the Revolution, 
 and, by fo doing, has not created a new plan of policy, 
 but perfected the old one. The great MA:>TER- 
 WHEEL of the Englijb coniUtation is flill the fame ; 
 only freed from thofe checks and reftraints, by 
 which, under the fpecious name v[ prerogatives, time 
 snd opportunity had taught our kings to obftruft and 
 embarrafs its free and regular movements. 
 
 On the whole, it is to be lamented that Mr. 
 HUME'S too zealous concern for the honour of the 
 houfe of STUART, operating uniformly through all 
 the volumes of his hiilory, has brought difgrace on 
 a vvOik, which, in the main, is agreeably written, 
 and is indeed the moft readible general account of 
 the Englifo affairs, that has yet been given to the 
 public. 
 
 records
 
 AND POLITICAL. 329 
 
 records of time, which hath ever attained 
 to the perfection of civil government ? 
 All the blefiings of freedom which can 
 confift with kingly rule, the people have: 
 all the prerogatives of royalty, which can 
 confift with civil freedom, are indulged 
 to the king. From this juft intermix- 
 ture of the popular and regal forms, 
 planted together in the earlieft days, but 
 grown up at length to full maturity, 
 there arifes a reafonable hope that the 
 Englijh conftitution will flourim to the 
 lateft ages ; and continue, through them 
 all, the boaft and glory of our country, 
 and the envy and admiration of the reft 
 of the world. 
 
 MR. SOMERS. 
 
 How generous in your lordfliip is this 
 patriot augury of immortality to the 
 Englijh conftitution ! Yet I dare not be 
 fo fanguine in my expectations [#]. 
 
 And 
 
 [] A great lawyer, however, and ore of the 
 ornaments of Mr. SOMERS'S own houfe, is not 
 afraid to indulge in thefe generous expectations. 
 
 Jn
 
 330 DIALOGUES MORAL 
 
 And Sir JOHN MAYNARD, I fufpect, who 
 has feen the madnefs of kings and peo- 
 ple, in their turns, will hardly expeft it 
 from me. It may be fufficient that we 
 put up our ardent vows to heaven, for 
 the long continuance of it. Lefs than 
 this cannot be difpenfed with in an 
 honeft man. Every blefiing of civil 
 policy is fecured to us by this new but 
 conftitutional fettlement. And may our 
 happy country enjoy it, at lead as long 
 as they have the fenfe to value, and the 
 virtue to deferve it. 
 
 SIR J. MAYNARD. 
 
 "When thefe fail, our wilhes, and even 
 prayers themfelves, will hardly preferve 
 
 In a late treatife, in which he explain", with ex- 
 quifite learning, the genius of the feudal policy, 
 Thefe principles, fays he, are the principles of 
 freedom, of juftice, and fafety. The Englijh confti- 
 tution is formed upon them. Their reafon will 
 fubfift, as long as the frame of it (hall ftand ; and 
 being maintained in purity and vigour, will preferve 
 it from the ufual mortality of government." Conji. 
 derations on the Law of For/titure, jd ed. Lond. 
 1748. 
 
 3 us -
 
 AND POLITICAL. 331 
 
 us. Vice and folly, as you fay, may do 
 much towards defeating the purpofes of 
 the beft government. What effect thefe 
 may have, in time, on the Englijb liberty, 
 I would not, for the omen's fake, under- 
 take to fay. You, my lord, and Mr. 
 SOMERS (who are fo much younger men) 
 may be able, hereafter, to conjecture 
 with more certainty of its duration. It 
 is enough for me that I have lived to fee 
 my country in pofiefilon of it. 
 
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