kept up in time of Peace and Men who withdraw from that illegal service are hanged up as Criminals without any collour of Law which by consequence are so many Murders And if the Souldierie are connived at and encouraged in the most enormous Crimes that so theâ— may be thereby prepared to commit great ones And from singlâ— Rapes and Murders proceed to a rape upon all our Liberties and a Destruction of the Nation If I say all these things are true in Fact then it is plain that there is such a Dissolution of the Government made that there is not any one part of it left Sound and Entire And if all these things are done now it is easie to imagine what may be expected when Arbitrary Power that spares no Man And Popery that spares no Heretick are finally established then we may look for nothing but Gabelles Tailles Impositions Benevolences and all sorts of illegal Taxes As from the other we may expect Burnings Massacres and Inquisitions In what is doing in Scotland we may gather what is to be expected in England where if the King has over and over again declared That he is vested with an Absolute Power to which all are bound to Obey without Reserve And has upon that annulled almost all the Acts of Parliament that passed in K. Iames I. Minority tho they were ratified by himself when he came to be of Age And were confirmed by all the subsequent Kings not excepting the present We must then conclude from thence what is resolved on here in England and what will be put in Execution as soon as it is thought that the times can bear it When likewayes the whole setlement of Ireland is shaken and the Army that was raised and is maintained by Taxes that were given for an Army of English Protestants to secure them from a new Massacre by the Irish Papists is now all filled wìth Irish Papists as well as almost all the other Employments It is plain that not only all the British Protestants Inhabiting that Island are in dayly danger of being butchered a second time but that the Crown of England is in danger of loseing that Island it being now put wholly into the hands and power of the Native Irish who as they formerly offered themselves up sometimes to the Crown of Spain sometimes to the Pope and once to the Duke of Lorrain so are they perhaps at this present treating with another Court for the sale and surrender of the Island and for the Massacre of the English in it If thus all the several branches of our Constitution are dissolved it might be at least expected that one part should be left entire and that is the Regal Dignity and yet that is prostiâ—uâ—ed when we see a Young Child put in the reversion of it and pretended to be the Prince of Wales concerning whose being born of the Queen there appears to be not only no certain proofs but there are all the presumptiones that can possibly be imagined to the contrary No proofs were ever given either to the Princess of Dâ—nmark or to any other Protestant Ladies in whom we ought to repose any confidence that the Queen was ever with Child that whole matter being managed with so much mysteriousness that there were violent and publick suspitions of it before the Birth But the whole contrivance of the Birth the sending away the Princess of Denmark the sudden shortning of the Reckoning the Queens sudden going to St. Iames's her no less sudden delivery the hurrying the Child into another Room without shewing it to these present and without their hearing it crâ— And the Mysterious Conduct of all since that time No satisfaction being given to the Prinâ—ess of Denmark upon her return from the Bath nor to any other Protestant Ladies of the Queens having been really brought to Bed These are all such evident Indications of a base Imposture in this matter that as the Nation has the justest reason in the World to doubt of it so they have all possible reaâ—on to be at no quiet till they see a Legal and Free Parliament assembled which may Impartially and without either fear or corruption examine that whole matter If all these matters are true in Fact then I suppose no Man will doubt that the whole Foundations of this Government and all the most sacred parts of it are overturned And as to the truth os all these Suppositions that is left to every English-Mans Judgement and Sense FINIS
beyond which he has no Authority As for instance if he Levies Money of his People without a Law impowering him to it he goes beyond the limits of his Power and asks that to which he has no Right So that there lyes no obligation on the Subject to grant it And if any in his Name use Violence for the obtaining it they are to be looked on as so many Robbers that invade our Property and they being violent Aggressors the Principle of Self preservation seems here to take place and to warrant as violent a resistance 12 There is nothing more evident than that England is a free Nation that has its Liberties and Propertiâ—s reserved to it bâ— many positive and express Laws If then we have a right to our Property we must likewise be supposed to have a right to preserve it for these Rights are by the Law secured against the Invasions of the Prerogative and by consequence we must have a right to preserve them against those Invasions It is also evidently declared by our Law that all Orders and Warrants that are issued out in opposition to them are null of themselves And by consequence any that pretend to have commissions from the King for those ends are to be considered as if they had none at all Since these commissions being void of themselves are indeâ—d no commissions in the construction of the Law And theâ—efore those who act in vertue of them are still to be considered as private persons who come to Invade and disturb uâ— It is also to be observed that theâ—e are some points that are justly disputable and doubtful and others that are so manifest that it is plain that any Objections that can be made to them are rather forâ—ed pretenâ—es than so much as plausible colours It is true if the case is doubtful the interest of the publick Peace and Order ought to caâ—ry it â—ut the case is quite different when the Invasions that are made upon Liberty and Property are plain and visible to all that coâ—sider them 13. The main and great difficulty here is that tho our Governmâ—nt does indeed asâ—ert the Liâ—erty of the Subject yet there are many express Laws made that lodge the Militia singly in the King that make it plainly unlawfull upon any pretence whatsoever to take Arms against the King or any câ—mmissioned by him And these Laws have been put in the form of an Oath which all that have born any Imployment either in Church or State â—ave sworn And therâ—fore â—hâ—se Laws â—or the assuâ—eing â—ur Liberties do indeed bind the Kings conscience and may afâ—â—ct his Ministers yâ—t since it is a Mâ—xâ—m of our Law tâ—at the King can do no wrong these cannot be carried so far as to justifie our taking Arms against him be the transâ—râ—ssions of Law eâ—er so many and so manifest And since this has beâ—n the constaâ—t Doctrine of the Church of England it will be a very hâ—avy Imputation on us if it appears that tho we held these opinions as long as the Court and the Crown have favoured us â—et as soon as the Court turns against us we change oâ—r Principles 14. Here is the true difficulty of this whole matter and therefor it ought to be exactly considered Fiâ—st all general words â—ow large soâ—ver are still supposed to have a tacite Exception and reserves in them if the matter seems to require it Children are commanded to Obeâ— their Parents in all things Wives are declared be the Scripture to be subject to their Husbands in aâ—l things as the Church is unto Christ And yet how comprehensive soâ—ver these words may seem to be there is still a reserve to be understood in them And tho by our Form of Marriage the Pâ—rties swear to one another till death them do part yet few doubt 〈◊〉 this bond is dissolved by Adultery tho it is not named for odious things ought not to be suspected and therefore not named upon such occasions But when they fall out they carrie still their own force with them 2. When there seems to be a Contradiction between two Articles in the constitution we ought to examine which of the two is the most evident and the most Important and so we ought to fix upon it and then we must give such an accomodating sense to that which seems to contradict it that so we may reconcile those together Here then are two seeming contradictions in our constitution The oneis the Publick Libertâ— of the Nation the other is the renouncing of all resiâ—tance in case that were Invaded It is plain that our Liberty is only a thing that we enjoy at the Kings discretion and during his pleasure if the other against all Resistance is to be understood according to the outmost Extent of the words Therefore since the chief Design of Our whole Law and all the several Rules of our Constitution is to secure and mantain Our Liberty we ought to lay that down for a conclusion that it is both the most plain and the most important of the two And therefore the other Article against Resistance ought to be so softned as that it doe not destroy this 3. Since it is by a Law that Resistance is condemned we ought to understand it in such a sense as that it does not destroy all other Laws And therefore the intent of this Law must only relate to the Executive Power which is in the King and not to the Legislative in which we cannot suppose that our Legislators who made that Law intended to give up that which we plainly see they resolved still to preserve intire according to the Ancient Constitution So then the not resiâ—ting the King can only be applyed to the Executive Power that so upon no pretence of ill Administrations in the Execution of the Law it should be lawful to resist him but this cannot with any râ—ason be extended to an Invasion of the Legislative Power or to a total subversion of the Government For it being plain that the Law did not Design to lodge that power in the King it is also plain that it did not intend to secure him in it in case he should â—et about it 4. The Law mentioning the King or those Commissionate by him shews plainly that it only Designed to secure tâ—e King in the Executive Power For the word Commission necessarly imports this since if it is not according to Law it is no Commission And by conâ—equence â—â—ose who Act in Vertue of it are not commissionate by the King in the sense of the Law. The King likewise imports a Prince clothed by Law with the Regal Prerogative but if he goes to Subvert the whole Foundation of the Governmenâ— he subverts that by which he himself has his power and by consequence he annulls his own power and then he ceases to be King having endeavoured to destroy that upon which his own Authority is founded It is acknowledged by the greatest asserters of Monarchical power that
in some cases a King may fall from his power and in other cases that he may fall from the exercise of it His deserting his people his going about to enslave or sell them to any other or a furious going about to destroy them are in the opinion of the most Monarchical Lawyers such abuses that they naturally divest those that are guilty of them of their whole Authority Infamy or Phrenzie do also put them under the Guardian-ship of others All the crowned heads of Europe have at least secretly approv'd of the putting the late King of Portugal under a Guardian-ship the keeping him still Prisoner for a few Acts of Rage that had been fatal to a very few persons And even our Court gave the first countenance to it tho of all otâ—ers the late King hade the most reason to have done it at least last of all since it justified a Younger brother's supplanting the Elder yet the evidence of the thing carryed it even against Interest Therefore if a King goes about to subvert the Government and to overturn the whole Constitution he by this must be supposed either to fall from his power or at least from the exercise of it so far as that he ought to be put under Guardians and according to the case of Portugal the next Heir falls naturally to be the Guardian The next thing to be considered is to see in Fact whether the Foundations of this Government have been struck at and whether those Eâ—rors that have been perhaps committed are only such Malversations as ought to be Imputed only to humane Frailty and to the Ignorance Inadvertencies or passions to which all Princes may be Subject as well as other men but this will best appear if we consider what are the Fundamental points of our Government and the chief securities that we have for our Liberties The Authoritâ— of the Law is indeed all in one word so that if the King pretends to a power to Dispense with Laws there is nothing left upon which the Subject can depend And yet as if Dispensing power were not enough if Laws are wholly suspended for all time coming this is plainly a repealing of them when likewise the Men in whose hanâ—s the Administraâ—ion of Justice is put by Law suâ—h as Judges and Sheriffs are allowed to tread all Laws unâ—er foot even thâ—se that infer an incapacity on themselves if they violate them this is such a breaking of the whole Constitution that we can no mâ—re have the Administration of Justice so that it is really a dissolution of thâ— Government since all Tryals Sentences and the Executions of them are become so many unlawful Acts that are null and void of themselves The next thing in our Constitution which secures to us our Laws and Liberties is a Free and Lawful Parlâ—ament Now not to mention the breach of the Law of Triennial Parliaments it being above three years since we had a Session that enacted any Law Methods have been taken and are daily a taking that render this impossible Parliaments ought to be chosen with an inâ—ire Liberty and without either Force or Pre-engagements Whereas if all Men are required before hand to enter into Engagements how they will Vote if they were chosen themselves Or how they will give their Votes in the Electing of others This is plainâ—y such a preparation to a Parliament as would indeed make it no Parliament but a Cabal if one were chosen aâ—ter all that Corâ—uption of Persons who had pre-engaged themselves and after the Threatning and Turning out of all Persons out of Employmenâ—s who had Refused to do it And if there are such daily Regulations made in the Towns that it is plain those who manage them intend at last to put such a number of Men in the Corâ—orations as will certainly chuse the persons who are recommended to them But above all if there are such a number of Sheriffs and Majors made over England by whom the Elections must be conducted and returned who are now under an Incapacity by Law and so are no Legal Officers and by consequence these Elections that pass under their Authoritâ— are null and void If I say it is clear that things are brought to this then the Government is disâ—olved because it is impossible to have a Free and Legal Parliament in this State of things If then both the Authority of the Law and the constitution of the Parliament are struck at and disâ—olved here is a plain subversion of â—he whole Government Buâ— if we enter nâ—xt into the particular bâ—anches of the Government we will find the like disoâ—der among them all The Proteâ—tant Religion and the â—hurch of England make a great Article of our Government the Latter â—eing secured not only of old by Magna Charta but by many special Laws made of late And there are parâ—icular Laws made in K. Chaâ—lâ—s the First and the late King's time securing them frâ—m all Commissions that the King can raise for Judging or Cenâ—ureing them If then in oppofition to this a Court so condemned is Eâ—â—cted which proceeds to Judge and Câ—nsure the Clergy and even to dâ—sseiâ—e them of their Free holds without so much as the Form of a Tâ—yal tho this is the most indispensable Law of all these that secures the Property of Englaâ—d And if the King pretends that he can â—equire the Clergâ— to publish all his Arbitrary Declarations And in parâ—icular one that stricks at their whole Setlement and has Ordâ—red Pâ—ocess to be begun against all that disobeyed this illâ—gal Warrant and has treated so great a number of the Bishops as â—râ—minals only for representing to him the reasons of their not obeâ—ing him If likewise the Kiâ—g is not satisfied to proâ—ess his own Religiâ—n openly tho even that is contraâ—y to Law but has sent Ambassadors to Rome and received Nunciâ—'s from thence which is plainly Treason by Law if likewise many Popish Churches and Chapels have been publickly opened if several Colledgâ—s of Iesuits have â—eâ—n set up in â—ivers parts of the Nation and One of the Ordâ—r has been made a Privy Counsellour and a Principal Minister of State and if Papists and even those who tuâ—n to that Religion tho deâ—laâ—ed Traitors by Law are brought into all the chief Employmâ—nts boâ—h Miliâ—ary and Civil then it is plain that all the rights of the Church of England and the whole establishment of the Protestant Reliâ—ion are struck at and designed to be overturned since all these things as they are notoriously illegal so they evidently deâ—onstrate that the grâ—at design of them all is the rooting out this Pestilent Heresie in their stile I mean the Protestant Religion In the next place if in the whole course of Justice it is visible that there is a constant pâ—actisâ—ing upon the Iudges that theâ— are turned out upon their varying from the Intentions of the Court and if Men of no Reputation or Abilities are put in their places If an Army is