_Of the_ continued _Authority and Power of the_ Sacred
Council, _during the Reign of the_ Carlovingian _Family_.
We have, as we suppose, sufficiently explain'd what was the Form and
Constitution of our Commonwealth, and how great the Authority of the
_Publick Council_ was during the Reigns of the Kings of the
_Merovingian_ Family. We must now proceed to give an Account of it under
the _Carlovingian_ Race. And as well all our _own_ as the _German_
Historians, give us Reason to believe that the very same _Power_ and
_Authority_ of the _Orders_ or _States_ of the Kingdom, was kept entire.
So that the last Resort and Disposal of all Things, was not lodged in
_Pipin_, _Charles_, or _Lewis_, but in the _Regal Majesty_. The true and
proper Seat of which was (as is above demonstrated) in the _Annual
General Council_. Of this _Eguinarthus_ gives us an Account, in that
little Book we have already so much commended. Where, speaking of what
happen'd after the Death of _Pipin_, he tells us, "that the _Franks_
having solemnly assembled their general Convention, did therein
constitute both _Pipin_'s Sons their Kings, upon this Condition, That
they should equally divide the whole Body of the Kingdom between them;
and that _Charles_ should govern that Part of it which their Father
_Pipin_ had possess'd, and _Carlomannus_ the other Part which their
Uncle _Carlomannus_ had enjoy'd, &c." From whence 'tis easily inferr'd,
that the _States_ of the Kingdom still retain'd in themselves the same
Power, which they had always hitherto been in Possession of (during near
300 Years) in the Reigns of the _Merovingian_ Kings. So that altho' the
deceased King left Sons behind him, yet there _came not_ to the Crown so
much thro' any _Right of Succession_, as thro' the _Appointment_ and
_Election_ of the _States_ of the _Realm_. Now that all the other
weighty Affairs of the Nation used to be determined by the same _General
Council_, _Aimoinus_ is our Witness, _lib._ 4. _cap._ 71. where he
speaks of the War with the _Saxons_. "The King (says he) in the
Beginning of the Spring went to _Nimeguen_; and because he was to hold a
General Convention of his People at a Place called _Paderburn_, he
marched from thence with a great Army into _Saxony_." And again, _cap._
77.--"Winter being over, he held a Publick Convention of his People in a
Town called _Paderburn_, according to the _yearly Custom_." Also _cap._
79.--"And meeting with his Wife in the City of _Wormes_, he resolved to
hold there the _General Council_ of his People." In all which Places he
speaks of that _Charles_, who thro' his warlike Atchievements had
acquired the Dominion of almost all _Europe_, and by the universal
Consent of Nations had obtained the Sirname of the _Great_: Yet for all
that it was not in his Power to deprive the _Franks_ of their _ancient
Right and Liberty_. Nay, he never so much as endeavour'd to undertake
the least Matter of Moment without the _Advice_ and _Authority_ of his
_People_ and _Nobles_. And there is no doubt of it, after _Charles_'s
Death, _Lewis_ his Son administred the Kingdom upon the same Terms and
Conditions. For the _Appendix_ to _Aimoinus_, lib. 5. cap. 10. tells us,
that when _Charles_ was dead, _Lewis_ the Emperor, thro' a certain Kind
of Foreknowledge, summon'd the general Council of his People to meet at
_Doue_, near the _Loire_. And again, _cap._ 38. where he makes Mention
of the Articles of Peace, concluded between King _Lewis_ and his Cousin
_Lewis_, "--They summoned, says he, a PLACITUM, and in that PLACITUM, by
the Advice and Consent of their faithful Subjects, they agreed to
observe and keep the Articles which follow. In which _Placitum_ it was
also by common Consent found convenient, that both Kings should return
with a Guard [_redirent cum scarâ_] _&c._" Also _cap._ 41. where he
speaks of _Carloman_ the Son of _Lewis the Stammerer_,--"And so (says
he) he departed from the _Normans_, and returned to _Wormes_, where he
was on the Kalends of _November_ to _hold his Placitum_." Also in the
following Chapter, where he speaks of _Charles_ the Simple,--"Whose
Youth (says he) the great Men of _France_ thinking unfit for the
Administration of the Government, they held a _Council_ concerning the
State of the Nation."
But it would be an infinite Labour, and indeed a superfluous one, to
quote all the Instances which might be given of this Matter: From what
we have already produced, I think 'tis apparent to every man, that till
_Charles_ the _Simple_'s Reign, that is, for more than 550 Years, the
Judgment and Determination of all the weighty Affairs of the
Commonwealth, belonged to the _great Assembly_ of the _People_, or (as
we now call it) to the _Convention of the Estates_: And that this
Institution of our Ancestors was esteemed _sacred_ and _inviolable_
during so many Ages. So that I cannot forbear admiring the Confidence of
some Modern Authors, who have had the Face to publish in their Writings,
That King _Pipin_ was the first to whom the Institution of the _Publick
Council_ is owing. Since _Eguinarthus_, _Charles_ the _Great_'s own
_Chancellor_, has most clearly proved, that it was the constant Practice
of the whole _Merovingian Line_, to hold every Year the _Publick
Convention_ of the People on the _Kalends_ of _May_; and that the
_Kings_ were carried to that Assembly in a Chariot or Waggon drawn by
Oxen.
But to come to a Matter of greater Consequence, wherein the Prudence and
Wisdom of our Ancestors does most clearly shew it self. Is it not
apparent how great and manifest a Distinction they made between the King
and the Kingdom? For thus the Case stands. The _King_ is one principal
Single _Person_; but the _Kingdom_ is the whole Body of the _Citizens_
and _Subjects_. "And _Ulpian_ defines him to be a Traytor, who is
stirred up with a Hostile Mind against the Commonwealth, or against the
Prince." And in the _Saxon_ Laws, _Tit._ 3. 'tis Written, "Whosoever
shall contrive any Thing against the Kingdom, or the King of the
_Franks_, shall lose his Head."--And again, "The King has the same
Relation to the Kingdom that a Father has to his Family; a Tutor to his
Pupil; a Guardian to his Ward; a Pilot to his Ship, or a General to his
Army."--As therefore a Pupil is not appointed for the Sake of his Tutor,
nor a Ship for the Sake of the Pilot, nor an Army for the Sake of a
General, but on the contrary, all these are made such for the Sake of
those they have in Charge: Even so the _People_ is not designed for the
Sake of the _King_; but the King is sought out and instituted for the
Peoples Sake. For a _People_ can subsist without a King, and be governed
by its Nobility, or by it Self: But 'tis even impossible to conceive a
Thought of a _King_ without a _People_. Let us consider more Differences
between them. A _King_ as well as any private Person is a Mortal Man. A
_Kingdom_ is perpetual, and consider'd as immortal; as Civilians use to
say, when they speak of Corporations, and aggregate Bodies. A _King_ may
be a Fool or Madman, like our _Charles_ VI who gave away his Kingdom to
the _English_: Neither is there any Sort of Men more easily cast down
from a Sound State of Mind, through the Blandishments of unlawful
Pleasures and Luxury. But a _Kingdom_ has within it self a perpetual and
sure Principle of Safety in the Wisdom of its Senators, and of Persons
well skill'd in Affairs. A _King_ in one Battel, in one Day may be
overcome, or taken Prisoner and carried away Captive by the Enemy; as it
happen'd to St. _Lewis_, to King _John_, and to _Francis_ the First. But
a _Kingdom_ though it has lost its _King_, remains entire; and
immediately upon such a Misfortune a Convention is call'd, and proper
Remedies are sought by the chief Men of the Nation against the present
Mischiefs; Which we know has been done upon like Accidents. A _King_,
either through Infirmities of Age, of Levity of Mind, may not only be
missed by some covetous, rapacious or lustful Counsellor; may not only
be seduced and depraved by debauch'd Youths of Quality, or of equal Age
with himself; may be infatuated by a silly Wench, so far as to deliver
and fling up the Reins of Government wholly into her Power. Few Persons,
I suppose, are ignorant how many sad Examples we have of these
Mischiefs: But a _Kingdom_ is continually supplied with the Wisdom and
Advice of the grave Persons that are in it. _Solomon_, the wisest of
Mankind, was in his old Age seduced by Harlots; _Rehoboam_, by young
Men; _Ninus_, by his own Mother _Semiramis_; _Ptolomæus_ sirnamed
_Auletes_, by _Harpers_ and _Pipers_. Our Ancestors left to their Kings
the Choice of their own Privy-Counsellors, who might advice them in the
Management of their private Affairs; but such Senators as were to
consult in common, and take care of the publick Administration, and
instruct the King in the Government of his Kingdom, they reserved to the
Designation of the _Publick Convention_.
In the Year 1356: after King _John_ had been taken Prisoner by the
_English_, and carried into _England_, a Publick Council of the Kingdom
was held at _Paris_. And when some of the King's Privy-Counsellors
appeared at that Convention, they were commanded to leave the Assembly;
and it was openly declared, that the Deputies of the Publick Council
wou'd meet no more, if those Privy-Counsellors shou'd hereafter presume
to approach that Sanctuary of the Kingdom. Which Instance is recorded in
the Great Chronicle writ in _French_, Vol. 2. _sub Rege Johanne_, fol.
169. Neither has there ever yet been any Age wherein this plain
Distinction between a _King_ and a _Kingdom_, has not been observed. The
_King_ of the _Lacedemonians_ (as _Xenophon_ assures us) and the
_Ephori_, renewed _every Month_ a mutual _Oath_ between each other; the
_King_ swore that he wou'd govern according to the written Laws; and the
_Ephori_ swore that they wou'd preserve the Royal Dignity, provided he
kept his Oath. _Cicero_, in one of his Epistles to _Brutus_, writes:
"Thou knowest that I was always of Opinion, that our Commonwealth ought
not only to be deliver'd from a _King_, but even from _Kingship_, Scis
mihi semper placuisse non _Rege_ folum, sed _Regno_ liberari
rempublicam."--Also in his Third Book _de Legibus_--"But because a Regal
State in our Commonwealth, once indeed approved of, was abolish'd, not
so much upon the Account of the Faults of a _Kingly_ Government, as of
the _Kings_ who governed; it may seem that only the Name of a _King_ was
then abolish'd, &c."
* * * * *