Page:A History and Defence of Magna Charta.djvu/177

Rh a King that would not behave himſelf as he ought, nor be ruled by the laws of the realm: and they inſtance in this depoſing of II. but withal, as a late and modern thing, in reſpect of the antiquity of that ſtatute. Such an irrefragable teſtimony and declaration of a parliament ſo long ſince, concerning what was ordained in the eldeſt ages long before, plainly ſhews the Engliſh conſtitution, and is a full confutation of the late K. ’s memorial at Ryſwick. And this power ſeems to be well known to K. ’s barons, who, when there is occaſion, talk familiarly of creating a new King, and afterwards were forced to do it, though now they only ſought their charter, and did not attempt to take from him his kingdom, which the pope indeed ſays, but it was not true.

far have I cleared them from preſumption as vaſſals: now as knights. It is true, their tenure was to aſſiſt the King againſt the enemies of the realm; but how, if he turned ſo himſelf? Unjuſt oppreſſion, which is the pope’s own ,