need of theſe words at length at the end of every charter or petition of right, in caſe it be broken, which we find in the cloſe of Henry the third’s charter, Anno Regni 49. Liceat omnibus de Regno noſtro contra nos inſurgere, & ad gravamen noſtrum opem & operam dare, acſi nobis in nullo tenerentur[1]. “All the men in our realm may riſe up againſt us, and annoy us with might and main, as if they were under no obligations to us:” becauſe in the Poliſh coronation-oath, which is likewiſe in words at length, we have a plain hint why they had better be omitted and ſuppreſſed[2]. “And in caſe I break my oath, (which God forbid) the inhabitants of this realm ſhall not be bound to yield me any obedience.” Now this God forbid, and the harſh ſuppoſition of breaking an oath at the very making of it, is better omitted, when it is for every body’s eaſe rather to ſuppoſe that it will be faithfully kept; eſpecially ſeeing that in caſe it be unhappily broken, the very natural force and virtue of a contract does of itſelf ſupply that omiſſion. Neither is it practiſed in articles of agreement and covenants
Page:A History and Defence of Magna Charta.djvu/172
This page has been validated.
126
HISTORY OF
under
