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.

¶Here the Chauncelour Fortifieth his assertion Cap. 3.

I perceaue ({quod} the Chaū∣cellour) by youre aun∣swere most worthy prince howe earnestly you haue considered & weighed the qualitie of my exhortaciō. So that heareby you doe much encourage me both more plainly, more large∣ly & also more deepelye to discourse y^e same. Where∣fore you shal vnderstande that not only gods lawes but also mans are holye, forsomuche as the lawe is diffined by these woordes. The lawe is a holy sanc∣tion

or decree, cōmaūding things that be honest, and forbiddinge y^e contraries. Now y^e thing must needs be holy which by diffiniciō is determined to be holye. Right also by description is called the arte of y^t whi∣che is good & streight so y^t in this cespect a man may wel cal vs Sacerdotes, that is to saye, geeuers or tea∣chers of holy things (for so by interpretacion doothe Sacerdos signifie). Forso∣muche then as the lawes are holye, it foloweth that the ministers and setters furth of thē may right wel be called Sacerdotes, that iz geuers & teachers of holy things. Further more all lawes published by men haue also theire auctori∣tie frome godde. For as the Apostell sayethe:

Al power is from the lord god. Wherefore the la∣wes that are made by mā which thereunto hath re∣ceaued power from the lorde, are also ordeined of god, as also appeareth by this saiyng of the auctour of al causes: Whatsoeuer the seconde cause doth, the sāe dothe y^e first cause by a higher and more excellent meane. Wherefore Iosa∣phat the king of Iuda sai∣ethe to his iudges: The iudgements whiche ye ex∣ecute are the iudgements of god in y^e ninetinth chap¦ter of the seconde booke of Chronicles. Wherby you are taughte that to learne laws though they be mās lawes, is toe learne ho¦ly lawes and the ordynā∣ces of goode: so that the

studie of them is not with out a pleasant sweetenes of holy cōsolaciō. And yet such sweete pleasure was not the cause as you sup∣pose, werefore Moyses cō¦maunded the kings of Is∣rael to reade the lawes of Deuteronomie. For thys cause moueth not kynges no more to the reading of y^e boke of Deuteronomie thenne of anye of the o∣ther bookes of Moyses in which aswel as ī y^e booke of Deuteronomie is plen∣tiful store of godly lessons & holy instrucciōs. Wher∣in to be deuoutly occupied is a holy thing. Wherfore that there was non other cause of this commaunde∣ment, thē for that y^e lawes whereby the king of Isra¦el is bound to rule his peo¦ple, are more precisely cō∣teined

in y^e booke of Deu∣tronomie, thē in y^e other bo¦kes of y^e old testamēt, y^e cir¦cūstances of the same cō∣maūdement do manifest∣ly infourme vs. For whi∣che cause you ought moste worthy prince no lesse thē the kings of Israell to bee mooued and prouoked to be a diligent trauailer in the studie of those lawes, wherebye hereafter yowe shal rule your people. For that which was spoken to the kinge of Israell muste be vnderstande to be figu¦ratiuely spoken to euerye kinge hauinge dominion ouer godly people. And ha¦ue I not then wel and hol¦somelye propounded vnto you the commaundemēt geeuen to the kynges of Israell concernynge the learnynge of theire lawe?

Forasmuche as not onely his example, but also hys like autoritie hath taught yowe and bounde you to the like dooinge in the la∣wes of the kyngedome, whiche god willinge you shall inherit.

AT Cācellari{us}. Scio (inquit) {per} hec q̄ iā dicis, prin∣ceps clarissim̄, quā∣ta adūtētia exhor∣tatiōis mee, tu pō∣deras qualitat’ quo me nō infime cōcī¦tas su{per} inceptis, ne¦dū clari{us}, sed et {pro}∣fūdi{us} quodamodo tecūdisceptare. Sci¦re igitur te volo, quod nō solū Deu¦tro. leges, sed et ō∣nes leges humāe sa¦cre sūt, quô lex sub his verbis diffini∣tur. Lex est sāctio

sancta iubēs hones¦ta, et prohibēs con¦traria sanctum ete¦nim esse oportet, qd’ esse sanctū dif∣finitum est. Ius eti∣am discribi perhi∣betur, quod illud est ars boni et equi cuius merito quis nos sacerdotes ap∣pellat. Sacerd’ enī quasi sacra dās, vel sacra docēs per e∣thimologiā dici∣tur, quia vt dicunt iura, leges sacrae sūt quô eas ministran∣tes et docentes sa∣cerdotes appellan∣tur. A deo etiam sunt omnes leges editae, quae ab homi¦ne {pro}mulgātur. Nā cū dicat Apostol{us},

quod omnis potes¦tas a domino deo est, leges ab homi∣ne conditae, qui ad hoc a domino reci¦pit potestatem, eti¦am a deo constitu∣untur, dicente auc¦tore causarū: quic quid facit causa se¦cunda, facit et cau¦sa prima, altiori et nobiliori modo. Quare Iosaphat rex Iuda, ait Iudici¦bus suis: iudicia q̄ vos profertis, iudi∣cia dei sunt, secun∣do Paralipo. xix. cap. Ex quibus eru¦diris quod leges licet humanas ad discere, ē addiscere leges sacras et edi∣tiōes dei, quo earū

studiū nō vacat a dulcedine cōsolati¦onis sc̄ae. Nec tamē vt tu coniicis, dul∣cedo hm̄odi causa fuit cur Moyses re¦ges Israel Deute∣ro. legere p̄ce{per}at. Nam causa hec, nō plus reges quā ple¦beos, ad eius lectu¦rā {pro}uocat, nec pl{us} Deuter. librū quā alios Pētateucō li∣bros legere, pulsat causa ista, cū non minus libri illi, quā Deutero. sacris a∣būdent carismati∣bus, in quibus me∣ditari {per}sanctū est. quare nō aliā fuis∣se causā mādati hu¦ius, quā quia ī Deu¦tronom̄ plus quā ī aliis libris veteris testamēti leg{is} īse∣runtur,

quibus rex Israel ppl’m rege∣re obnoxius est, e∣iusdē mandati cir∣cūstantiae manifes∣te nos informant. Quo et te prīceps eadē causa, nō mi∣nus quā reges Isra¦el exhortatur vt le¦gum, quibus popu¦lum in futurum re¦ges, tu sis solers in∣dagator. Nā quod Regi Israel dictū est, omni Regi po¦puli videntis de∣um, ticipè dictum fuisse intelligen∣dum est, an tunc non conuenien∣ter vtiliterque pro¦posui tibi manda∣tum Regibus Is∣rael latū de eorū lege addiscenda?

Dum nedum eius exemplū, sed et e∣ius auctoritas figu¦ralis te erudiuit et obligauit, ad consi¦militer faciendum de legibus regni, quod annuēte do∣mino, hereditatu∣rus es.