man hereditary rights had centered in this king, his ſon and heir king Charles the firſt ſhould be told by thoſe infamous judges, who pronounced his unparalleled ſentence, that he was an elective prince; elected by his people, and therefore accountable to them, in his own proper perſon, for his conduct. The confuſion, inſtability, and madneſs, which followed the fatal cataſtrophe of that pious and unfortunate prince, will be a ſtanding argument in favour of hereditary monarchy to all future ages; as they proved at laſt to the then deluded people: who, in order to recover that peace and happineſs which for twenty years together they had loſt, in a ſolemn parliamentary convention of the ſtates reſtored the right heir of the crown. And in the proclamation for that purpoſe, which was drawn up and attended by both houſes[1], they declared, “that, according to their duty and allegiance, they did heartily, joyfully, and unanimouſly acknowlege and proclaim, that immediately upon the deceaſe of our late ſovereign lord king Charles, the imperial crown of theſe realms did by inherent birthright and lawful and undoubted ſucceſſion deſcend and come to his moſt excellent majeſty Charles the ſecond, as being lineally, juſtly, and lawfully, next heir of the blood royal of this realm: and thereunto they moſt humbly and faithfully did ſubmit and oblige themſelves, their heirs, and poſterity for ever.”
Thus I think it clearly appears, from the higheſt authority this nation is acquainted with, that the crown of England hath been ever an hereditary crown; though ſubject to limitations by parliament. The remainder of this chapter will conſiſt principally of thoſe inſtances, wherein the parliament has aſſerted or exerciſed this right of altering and limiting the ſucceſſion; a right which, we have ſeen, was before exerciſed and aſſerted in the reigns of Henry IV, Henry VII, Henry VIII, queen Mary, and queen Elizabeth.
The firſt inſtance, in point of time, is the famous bill of excluſion, which raiſed ſuch a ferment in the latter end of the reign
- ↑ Com. Journ. 8 May 1660.
