The Laws under the Protection of the King govern in the ordinary Administration; the extraordinary Power is in Acts of Parliament, from whence there can be no Appeal but to the same Power at another time.
To say a Power is Supream, and not Arbitrary, is not Sense. It is acknowledg’d Supream, and therefore, &c.
If the Common Law is Supream, then those are so who judge what is the Common Law; and if none but the Parliament can judge so, there is an end of the Controversy; there is no Fundamental; for the Parliament may judge as they please, that is, they have the Authority, but they may judge against Right, their Power is good, though their Act is ill; no good Man will outwardly resist the one, or inwardly approve the other.
There is then no other Fundamental, but that every Supream Power must be Arbitrary.
Fundamental is a Word used by the Laity, as the Word Sacred is by the Clergy, to fix every thing to themselves they have a mind to keep; that nobody else may touch it.
Of Princes.
A Prince who will not undergo the Difficulty of Understanding, must undergo the Danger of Trusting.
A wise Prince may gain such an Influence, that his Countenance would be the last Appeal. Where it is not so in some degree, his Authority is precarious.
A Prince must keep up the Power of his Countenance, which is not the least of his Prerogatives.
The Conscience, as well as the Prerogative of a King, must be restrained or loosened as is best for his People.