A learned commendation of the politique lawes of Englande vvherin by moste pitthy reasons & euident demonstrations they are plainelye proued farre to excell aswell the ciuile lawes of the Empiere, as also all other lawes of the world, with a large discourse of the difference betwene the. ii. gouernements of kingdomes: whereof the one is onely regall, and the other consisteth of regall and polityque administration conioyned. written in latine aboue an hundred yeares past, by the learned and right honorable maister Fortescue knight ... And newly translated into Englishe by Robert Mulcaster.

CAncellarius. Non admi∣reris princeps, si causam huius co∣naminis mēte so∣licita pertractares Audisti nam{que} su¦periu••, quomodo inter leges Ciui∣les precipua sen∣tentia est, maxi∣ma siue regula, il∣la q̄ sic cauit, qd principi placuit le¦gis habet vigo∣r••m, qualiter non

sanctiūt leges An¦gliae, dum nedum regaliter, sed et politice rex eius∣dem dominatur in populum suū, quó ipse in coro∣natione sua ad le¦gis suae obseruan∣ciam astringitur sacramento, quod reges quidam An¦gliae egrè ferentes putantes proinde se non libere do∣minari in subdi∣tos, vt faciunt re∣ges regaliter tan∣tum prīcipantes, q̄ lege ciuili, et po¦••issimè predicta le¦gis illius maxima, regulant plebem suam, quó ipsi ad eorum libitum iu¦ra mutant, noua condunt, penas in

fligunt, et onera imponunt subdi∣tis suis, {pro}priis quo¦que arbitriis con∣tēdēt ium cum ve¦lint dirimunt lites. Quare moliti sūt ipsi prog••nitores tui hoc iugum po¦liticum abiicer’ vt consimiliter et ip∣si in subiectum po¦pulum regaliter tantum dominari sed potius deba∣chari queant: nō attēdentes quod equalis est vtrius∣que regis poten∣cia, vt in predicto tractatu de natu∣ra legis naturoe docetur, et qd nō iugum sed libertas est politicê regere populum, securi∣tas quo{que} maxima

nedū plebi, sed et ipsi regi alleuia∣cio etiā non mini¦ma solicitudinis suae, quae vt tibi a∣pertius pateāt, v∣trius{que} regiminis experientiam per cunctare, & a re∣gimine tantū re∣gali qualiter rex Franciae principa∣tur in subditos su¦os exordium su∣merrito deīde a re¦galis ••t politicae re¦giminis effectu, qualit{er} rex Angliae dominatur in sibi subiectos popu∣los, experientiam quere.