unto the kings and
monarchs of England and France, but, Turk like, to tread under his feet
all their natural and fundamental laws, privileges, and ancient rights."
We meet with this passage in Sir John Davis's Question concerning
impositions, (p. 161:) "Thus we see, by this comparison, that the king
of England doth lay but his little finger upon his subjects, when other
princes and states do lay their heavy loins upon their people. What is
the reason of this difference? from whence cometh it? assuredly not from
a different power or prerogative; for the king of England is as
absolute a monarch as any emperor or king in the world, and hath as many
prerogatives incident to his crown." Coke, in Cawdry's case, says, "that
by the ancient laws of this realm, England is an absolute empire and
monarchy; and that the king is furnished with plenary and entire power,
prerogative, and jurisdiction, and is supreme governor over all persons
within this realm,'" Spencer, speaking of some grants of the English
kings to the Irish corporations, says, "all which, though at the time of
their first grant they were tolerable, and perhaps reasonable, yet now
are most unreasonable and inconvenient. But all these will easily be cut
off, with the superior power of her majesty's prerogative, against which
her own grants are not to be pleaded or enforced." State of Ireland p.
1637, edit. 1706. The same author, in p. 1660, proposes a plan for the
civilization of Ireland; that the queen should create a marshal in every
county, who might ride about with eight or ten followers in search of
stragglers and vagabonds: the first time he catches any, he may punish
them more lightly by the stocks; the second time, by whipping; but the
third time, he may hang them, without trial or process, on the first
bough: and he thinks that this authority may more safely be intrusted to
the provost marshal than to the sheriff; because the latter magistrate,
having a profit by the escheats of felons, may be tempted to hang
innocent persons. Here a real absolute, or rather despotic power is
pointed out; and we may infer from all these passages, either that the
word absolute bore a different sense from what it does at present, or
that men's ideas of the English, as well as Irish government, were then
different. This latter inference seems juster. The word, being derived
from the French, bore always the same sense as in that language. An
absolute monarchy, in Charles I,'s ans