THE LORD KEEPER S SPEECH, IN THE EXCHEQUER, 



TO SIR JOHN DENHAM, 



WHEN HE WAS CALLED TO BE ONE OF THE 

 BARONS OF THE EXCHEQUER, IN 1617. 



SIR JOHN DENHAM, 



THE King, of his grace and favour, hath made choice 

 of you to he one of the barons of the exchequer, to 

 succeed to one of the gravest and most reverend 

 judges of this kingdom ; for so I hold Baron Altham 

 was. The King takes you not upon credit but proof, 

 and great proof of your former service : and that in 

 both those kinds wherein you are now to serve : for 

 as you have shewed yourself a good judge between 

 party and party, so you have shewed yourself a good 

 administer of the revenue, both when you were chief 

 baron, and since as counsellor of estate there in Ire 

 land, where the council, as you know, doth in great 

 part manage and messuage the revenue. 



And to both these parts I will apply some admo 

 nitions, but not vulgar or discursive, but apt for 

 the times, and in few words, for they are best re 

 membered. 



First therefore, above all you ought to maintain 

 the King s prerogative, and to set down with your 

 self, that the King s prerogative and the law are not 

 two things ; but the King s prerogative is law, and 



