Book Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1866 edition. Excerpt: ...Rome, the 26th of November, 1601." For an extract from a curious Italian MS. on this subject in possession of Sir Thomas Phillipps. See Appendix n. 2. CHAPTER VI. THE ENGLISH SUCCESSION. HE Right Divine of Kings" is a phrase singularly inappropriate to be used in our country. From the days when the old Celtic Princes stained the forest leaves with blood in their struggles for the Right by Power, through ages that followed of Roman, Saxon, Danish, and Norman rulers, the proud English people have laughed at Royalty as in any way connected with Divinity. Even the laws of primogeniture have been constantly disregarded, and so lightly have they been held, that, in the early Norman days, the eldest son was as coolly set aside when he had committed no fault, as when his crimes demanded such a punishment. The right of the son to succeed his father in his grandfather's heritage was a matter of grave dispute, and frequently decided in favour of the father's brother, as a nearer relation to the grandfather than the grandson. By the time of Edward III., however, the crown of England had become so firmly settled on him, that all other pretenders sank in obscurity, and it was among his descendants alone that the future claimants arose. Of all subjects genealogies are, perhaps, the most wearisome, and much patience is required to leave the present actions of men, and wander into shadowy regions with no other purpose than to disentangle a mass of names. Yet this uninteresting task must be performed by all who would gain a clear idea of the history of England, and is especially necessary to the comprehension of the present volumes. From the sons of Edward III., and especially of John of Gaunt, came the conflicting claims that for centuries...