and sinful Injustice and therefore cannot be from God. Dum contra officium facit Magistratus non est Magistratus quippe à quo non injuria sed jus nasci debet and consequently they who resist the tyrannous acts of Kings do not resist the Ordinance of God. What were it less than Blasphemously to charge God with prevaricating with his People if in Authorizing Kings to preserve them should give them liberty without all Politick restraint to destroy them Which is contrary to God's end in the Fifth Commandment that one Man a King should have absolute Power to destroy Millions of Souls and Bodies uncontrolably If the Kings of Israel and Judah were under censures and rebukes of the Prophets and sinned against God and the People in rejecting such rebukes and in persecuting the Prophets and were under and liable to all the Laws of God as all other People though their Subjects were then is their Power not above any Law nor absolute That these matters of Fact are true sit liber Judex Samuel rebuked Saul Nathan David Elias Achab. Jeremiah is sent to Prophecy against the Kings of Judah Jer. 1. 18. and the Prophets practised it Jer. 19. 3. Ahab could not take Naboths Vineyard against his will without the formality of Law and without the help of Men of Belial to boot for which violence offered to Law and Justice in the place where Dogs licked the Blood of Naboth shed by shamming of Laws by Innuendoes and false constructions of Laws the Dogs did lick the Blood of Ahab and did eat that cursed Woman Jezabel by the wall of Jezrael and her Carkass became as dung upon the face of the field A Document to all Kings and Princes for giving any countenance to Violence or Oppression or to shamming any Laws by any irresistable or prevalent Influences and the Inferior Judges ought not to accept the Persons of any in judgment whether small or great for the judgment is the Lords and their office as much of divine right as that of the Kings then certainly we may justly conclude That Kingly Power is neither above Law nor yet absolute for Kings who swear to Govern according to Law it is contrary to common sense nay impossible they should have an illimited or absolute Power either from God or the People for foedus conditionatum or promissio conditionalis mutua facit jus alteri in alterum it 's not to be thought that Kings can at one and the same time and in the same breath justly swear to Govern according to Law and at the same time interpretatively and secondarily swear to Govern absolutely and without Law. If the governed in Senates Parliaments and Dyets may call in question the Acts Previledges Charters and Commissions of Kings granted to any Persons and null and vacate them circumscribe and dock any of their Prerogatives may increase or diminish his Revenue and State may call into question any of his Friends Counsellors or Ministers of State and punish or remove them If the governed may appeal from Kings to Senates Dyets or Parliaments and may not appeal from them to Kings all which may and have been done as the publick Monuments of Laws do testifie who of sound judgment can deny the Power of the People in Dyets Senates and Parliaments to be above that of Kings If in an Interregnum Senates Dyets and Parliaments have Power and which is plain by Histories without regard had to right of Inheritance have created Kings whom they pleased and altered Successions In summ If Dyets Senates Parliaments are the Supreme Council of Nations constituted by the People indued with Power from them to this very thing that they may consult in common of the weighty matters of Kingdoms and common good and Kings therefore created that they should see executed what they did advise and agree upon quis nisi mentis inops can deny upon such plain evidence and demonstration that the People in Parliaments Dyets and Senates are not only co-ordinate and have a share in the Government but are also in some sense and some places superior to them for that they can do more than Kings Kings have their Prerogatives true and very fit they should have So have all other Governments be their Prerogatives what they will Power of the Militia making War and Peace calling of Councils Dyets Synods Senates Parliaments nominating Judges and other publick Officers of Kingdoms c. they are all derived from the People and transferred for their own good and so always expressed or implied If they make ill use of the Militia it 's a breach of trust and no obligation of Obedience and Submission is due if they make ill Leagues the People not bound to confirm or assist if they call Dyets and Parliaments it is not for their peculiar interests but for the good of the whole and nothing done therein can be of force unless the free assent of the convocated be first had Which demonstrates it is the Office and Duty of Kings to call those great Councils as oft as the People see cause and desire it and to continue them till they have the benefit designed And though the Royal Assent be desired it is but for the Honour of the business for what concerns common good safety and liberty they ought to pass by virtue of their Oaths and Office. Non negabimus non differimus cuique jus aut justitiam Chartae Artic. c. 29. Will not Kings deny Justice and may they deny just Laws Not to private Persons and yet to the Representatives of Nations Not in the Inferior Courts and yet in the Supreme They are created and elected Kings that they should do Justice to all indifferently Bracton l. 3. c. 9. Ad hoc creatus electus est ut justitiam faciat universis per eas nimirum leges quas vulgus elegerit Hence in Archivis H. 4. Rot. Parl. N o. 59. Non est ulla Regis Prerogativa quae ex justitia aequitate quicquam derogat Kings have no Prerogative which derogate from Justice and Equity And when Kings have refused to make or confirm Magnas Chartas good Laws they have been compelled by force of Arms and such Laws accounted as good and valid by the best Lawyers the reason given is That they of right and of their own accord ought to have assented unto that which they were forced to do All Courts of Judicatory are Authorized and Confirmed by Parliament in which it is Lawful for the meanest of Subjects to implead Kings in which Courts Judgment is often given against Kings which though endeavoured to be contradicted or countermanded by Kings yet the Judges by the Laws of God and Man and by their Oaths are obliged to refuse their Mandamus's and to give right Judgment for the judgment is the Lords Kings can justly Imprison no Man nor punish any Man nor seize their Goods or Estate without Citation out of Courts where the Judges not Kings have all the Power So
that in the beginning all Power did flow from the People and still doth which Tully excellently demonstrates De lege Agraria Cum omnes potestates Imperia curationes ab úniverso Populo proficisci convenit tum eas profecto maxime quae constituuntur ad populi fructum aliquem commodum in quo universi delegant quem populo maxime consulturum unusquisque ' studio suffragio suo viam sibi ad beneficium impetrandum munire possit Seeing all Powers Commands Curations i. e. potestas seu munus administrandi bona do proceed and flow from the People then those more especially which are constituted and do respect the good and benefit of the People in which the universality do chuse them whom they judge will most especially study and procure their good and every one by their study and suffrage may have easie access to obtain Justice and Favours And all Lawyers do agree and hold That all Laws repugnant to the Laws of God of Nature or of Reason are not to be accounted as Laws And whereas the Power of judging was Originally in the People and the English by no Lex Regia have at any time transferred it out of themselves no King of England hath been wont or hath Power to judge any Man unless by the known and approved Laws Fleta lib. 1. c. 17. What Power Kings have are given to them by the People that they may know by the Authority to them committed that they may do nothing contrary to the Law and keep our Laws but not impose their own Laws on us and the Kings Power is really and truly in the Courts of Law wherein the People by their Juries have their share also And their chief Power is in their Senates and Parliaments who have a Right and Authority over all Courts and Powers in all which Courts Kings may both sue and be sued and the reciprocal Causes to be indifferently tried according to established Laws If at any time Kings act any thing contrary to Laws they act then as private Men or as Tyrants and not by any Authority transferred on them by God or Man so to do Hence Bract. l. 1. c. 8. Non est Rex ubi dominatur voluntas non Lex c. 1. 3. c. 9. Rex est dum bene regit tyrannus dum populum sibi creditum violenta opprimit dominatione c. ibid. Exercere debet Rex potestatem Juris ut vicarius minister Dei potestas autem injuriae Diaboli est non Dei. Cum declinat ad injuriam Rex Diaboli minister est As nothing contrary to the Laws of God and Reason can be accounted a Law so neither can a Tyrant be a King nor a Minister of the Devil be a Minister of God seeing therefore Law is but the product of right Reason and Obedience is due to Kings as the Ministers of God so by the same Reason and Law Tyrants and Ministers of the Devil may be censured and resisted Either the People to be governed have a Right and Power to chuse their own Governor or they have not If they have not then Kings chosen by them are not Kings but Usurpers and Oppressors If they have Power to chuse then they have Power to oblige him to what Conditions they please and to keep them and if they fail of performing then they are free of the Covenant as it was between Rahab and the Spies FINIS ERRATA PAge 6. line 18. dele it ibid. l. 50. for Iliad r. Myriad p. 9. l. 11. f. doth only r. not only ib. l. 38. f. the way r. the right way p. 11. l. 15. f. our r. your ib. f. Black-guard r. Peasants p. 13. l. 3. dele and. p. 14. l. 28. f. this r. those p. 17. l. 23. f. Zalencus r. Zaleucus p. 16. l. 43. r. St. Edward p. 22. l. 20. r elegerit alibi ib. l. 58. r. Martyrs p. 24. l. pen. f. the r. thy p. 25. l. pen. dele to p. 28. l. 25. dele in the Posterity of ibid. l. 31. f. did r. should p. 30. l. 22. f. taking r. taken ibid. l. 58. dele hundred p. 31. l. 17. f. Timens r Fabius ib. l. 32. r. Fabius p. 33. l. 24. f. or r. and. ib. l. 46. f. never r. ever p. 42. l. 12 r. Commonwealth p. 43. l. 38. dele Obj. p. 44. l. 46. f. necesset r recesset p. 46. l. 10. r. elegerit p. 47. l. 16. r. perfectiora p. 48. l. 35. r. differemus cui quam p. 51. l 43. dele we p. 56. l. 41. f. magis r. majes ib. l. 46. r. saies p. 57. l. 57. f him r. them ib. l. 33. r. proscribed p. 60. l. 38. dele the second no. p. 61. l. pen. f. beareth r. bear p. 62. l. 47. after yet r. God. p. 63. l. 19. r. prepossessed p. 69. l. 27. f. ye r. yea p. 75. l. 18. f. his r. their p. 76. l. 5. in the Contents f. returns r. return ib. 5. in the Chapter f. was r. were ibid. l. 33. f. lawful r. unlawful p. 78. l. 19. f. Proplancio r. pro Plancio p. 82. l. 7. r. is seated p. 87. l. 23. f. Florentio Dianysio and Coss r. Florentio Dianysio Coss ibid. l. 35. f. Valerius r. Valeria In 4â— printed 158â— Arlstotle Pindarus Tuâ—â—y Plato alias Lex Regia v. Dr. Sherrock c. 4. n. 9. p. 282 283. Lex P. Vallerii 2. Martii Fab. Maximi Scyllae C. Gracchi plebiscitum Lex Annaria c. Vid. A. A. A. lib. 4. cap. 6. p. 181.
and most properly it is only in his high Court of Parliament wherein and wherewith his Majesty hath absolutely the Supreme Power and consequently is absolutely Supreme Head and Governor from whence their is no Appeal And without doubt the Parliament may take an account of what is done by his Majesty in his Inferior Courts and therefore much more of what is done by him without the Authority of any Court. What more usual than for Parliaments to call to an account all other Courts of Justice and all Officers and Ministers under his Majesty even for such things as they shall do against the Law though by his Majesty's express command And what is this but to take an account of the discharge of his Majesty's Trust The Law exempts his Majesty from account in no other sense than it exempts him from fault because he is to do publick Affairs of the Kingdom by his Officers and Ministers of State and not by himself and they are to give an account of that which the Kings doth by them In which respect Sir William Thorp Chief Justice in Edward the Third's time was charged for breaking the Kings Oath as much as in him lay The King's Authority is above his Person and his Personal Commands ought not to controul those that proceed from his Authority which resideth in his Courts and his Laws and in his Person acting by the one and according to the other We are really such admirers and so fond of Kingship and so willing to excuse all his Peccadilloes that we retain it as a Maxime That the King can do no wrong i. e. he can do nothing but by Law which can do no wrong And if he do against the Law his personal Acts Commands or Writings oblige no more than if they were a Childs and the Books call him an Infant in Law though his publick capacity be not in non-age as the Parliament declared in Edward VI. which is not to exempt him from Errors or excuse his Crimes but to shew that he ought to be guided by his Council and that his own personal Grants or Commands cannot hurt any more than an Infant which may be reclaimed or recalled not to say corrected by the Courts of Justice or the Council of the Kingdom King James of happy memory in his Speech to the Parliament at White-Hall March 21. 1009. told them That a King Governing in a settled Kingdom leaves to be a King and degenerates into a Tyrant as soon as he leaves off to Rule according to his Laws In which case the King's Conscience may speak unto him as the poor Widow said to Philip of Macedon either Govern according to your Law Aut ne Rex â—is Therefore all Kings that arenâ—t Tyrants or Perjured will be glad to bound themselves within the limits of their Laws and they that perswade them the contrary are Vipers and Pests both against them and the Commonwealth Ibid. 531. I will ever prefer the Weal of the whole Commonwealth in making of good Laws and Constitutions to any particular or private ends of mine thinking ever the Wealth and Weal of the Commonwealth to be my greatest Weal and Worldly Felicity p. 493. The Arguments brought for Kings being appointed by God only and their Power derived from him only are grounded on some few wrested and misunderstood places of Scripture viz. By me Kings reign and Princes decree justice By me Princes rule and Nobles even all the Judges of the earth Prov. 8. 15 16. which are applicable to all other Governments as well as Regal and make only for the institution of the Kingly Office and nothing at all for the designation or application of the Person to the Office or Gods immediate nomination or appointment of Kings but for approbation of Kingly Government among other Governments by Judges or others whereby it manifestly appears that Kingly Authority hath no more of Divine Right than any other form of Government And it is manifest to all the World That God did not of his own free choice primarily erect and establish Regal Government but that of the Judges as the best Form of Government but waved his own Prerogative and Wisdom and to gratifie the publick desire of a froward ungrateful and rebellious People who were used accordingly by such their choice and felt the smart thereof accordingly as Samuel foretold so indulgent was God himself to National desires which should be a Document to Kings to comply very readily with the desires of their People in Government of their Kingdom as God here did Besides I must repeat again That no Man can have Lawful Authority to be King over any Nation but he must have it either immediately from God Almighty unto which there can be no possibility of pretence or from the publick consent of the Nation therefore Kings must have their just Authority from the People Let Scripture it self be judge all Israel made Omri captain of the host King over Israel not Zimri and his Son Achab rather than Tibni the Son of Ginath 1 Kings 16. 16 21 22. And the People made Solomon King not Adoniah though he were the elder Brother 1 Kings 1. God by the Peoples free suffrages createth such a Man King because by the Authoratative choice of the People the person is made of a private Man and no King a publick Person and a crowned King 2 Sam. 16. 18. The men of Israel said to Gideon Rule thou over us both thou and thy Son and thy Sons Son also And all the men of Sechem made Abimelech King Judg. 9. 6. So the elders of Giliad made Jepthah head over them Judg. 11. 8 9 10 11. So all the people of Judah made Azariah King instead of his father Amaziah 2 Kings 14. So in the change of Government when Israel not pleased with their Government by Judges whom God himself had appointed over them but would have a King like other Nations Wherein God so far waved his Prerogative that he complied with their publick desire and gratified them therein though contrary to his own Infinite Wisdom And Samuel said unto all Israel Behold I have hearkned unto your voice and in all that yee said unto me and have made a King over you And all the Congregation made a Covenant with the King Behold the Kings Son shall reign 2 Chron 23. 3. God himself by Moses gave the People power to chuse themselves a King and withal directions and qualifications whom and how qualified they should chuse when thou shalt say I will set a King over me like all the Nations round about me thou shalt in any wise set him King over thee whom the Lord thy God shall chuse i. e. according to his Rules and Prescriptions and Dictates viz. one from among thy Brethren shalt thou set King over thee thou maist not set a stranger over thee which is not thy Brother Deut. 17. 15. Consider also those Kings whom God most immediately caused to be anointed Kings and it will
sit on Thrones are given unto them by Men as Men chosen from among themselves and if upon just occasion dethroned then they are but as one of themselves again Moreover If God gives Kings to be a ransom for his Church as Pharaoh King of Egypt Isaiah 43. 3. and slay famous Kings as Sihon King of the Amorites and Og King of Bashan Psalm 136. 18 19 20. If he puts a two-edged sword into the hands of his Saints to execute vengeance to bind their Kings in chains and their Nobles with fetters of iron to execute upon them the judgment written Deut. 7. 1 2. This honour have all his Saints Psalm 14. 7 8 9. If God plead with Princes and Kings for having the spoil of the poor of his people in their houses and for beating his people to pieces and grinding the faces of the poor Isaiah 3. 13 14. If God make Babylon and her King a threshing floor for the violence done to the inhabitants of Sion and plead the cause of Sion and take vengeance for her and make Babylon a heap a dwelling-place for Dragons an astonishment and hissing without an inhabitant and make them roar like Lions and yell like Lions whelps Jer. 51. 36 37 38. Then Christian Commonwealth as his People are more precious in the sight of the Lord than Kings because they are Kings Besides Kings are but single Persons and Kingdoms and the Church consists of Millions and certes the Lives Welfare and Happiness of Millions are to be preferred before one though he should be worth Ten thousand of them in respect of outward splendor and pomp for there is no respect of Persons with God for all God's delight is in Saint-ship not in King-ship Besides Nature prompts unto a necessity of Government but not unto Kingly Government for that innumerable People may and do live without a King but there can be no King without a People And the very Essence of Government and Governors is preserved safe and intire in Aristocracy or Democracy in the People though there should be no Kings Besides the People were a People before there was any Government Paternal and Domestick excepted and there is a People where there is no King but there can be no King without a People Take away the People and Dionysius the Sicilian Tyrant will be but a pitiful Pedant Take away the Basis of a Collossus though that of the Sun at Rhodes and the whole Fabrick and Superstructure must necessarily fall to the Ground If the People do but withdraw and re-call their own Powers to its proper center Tarquin will quickly quit Rome Besides How came they to be Kings Were they created of any â—iner dust or were they redeemed by a more precious Blood than any of the rest of the Race of Mankind Dropt they out of the Skies Or sprung they out of the Earth like Mushromes in a night If not so nor so How came they by their Kingly Dignity Even by the choice and gift of the People who make choice of one from among themselves to sit like a Pilot to Steer the Government for the good of the governed and therefore they contribute all their Eyes Ears Hands Feet nay their whole Bodies and Purses to exalt enoble and enable him the better to go in and out before them to judge Uprightly to plead their Causes and to minister Justice indifferently Do Kings misbehave themselves then may also the People withdraw their Eyes Ears Hands Feet Strength Purses and then Kings will be like one of themselves again Seeing therefore Kings are made by the People and for the good of the People and cannot subsist without the People and the end is more to be preferred than the means Why should it seem strange to Christians rational Men that Kingdoms are to be preferred before and to be held Superior unto Kings Kings are given of God as gifts for the preservation comfort and good of his People his Chosen his Inheritance the work of his own Hands and the redeemed of his own Blood to be Nursing-fathers to them and therefore must be of less esteem in the sight of God than those to whom and for whose good and happiness they are given since the gift as the gift is in worth much less than Kingdoms for whose sake Kings were given Besides who by office were obliged to Fight the Kingdoms Battels by going in and out before them and to Jeopard their lives for the safety of the People must be inferior to the People Moreover The Royal Legislative Power is joint and co-ordinate with King and People and consequently the Power also and so no necessity to fetch a Royal Power from Heaven to be immediately infused in them seeing the People have such a Power in themselves The People in all well constituted Kingdoms can and do limit and bind Royal Power by Law and those who can limit and take away can give Power and it is ahsurd to conceive that the People can put restraint upon Powers immediately derived from God. Though Kings command in some sense the People by their executive Power of the Laws above them yet the People have the Original and Natural Power above them because they make Kings and in God's intention Kings are given wholly and intirely for their good and if Kings do not so execute they do as much as in them lieth make void and frustrate the whole design of their Government instituted and established by God and Man and forfeit their right of Governing The People give to Kings a Politick Power for their own safety and quiet living and they keep their Natural Power to themselves of which they cannot devest themselves and they do not break their Covenant nor their Laws when they execute Natural Power for their self preservation The People by their Original or Natural Power make Kings after Kings as when Saul died they made David at Hebron after him Solomon after him Rehoboam and so on And therefore there is more Fountain and Natural Power of Royalty in the People than in David Saul or any King in the World for it is not any where read that Saul or any other King made an other absolute King. Those Tribunals that make Kings must necessarily be above Kings and though there be no Tribunals formally above Kings yet there is naturally and virtually a Power in the People in those who have a joint co-ordinate Power in the Legislative Power and share in the executive part of the Laws as all Officers of Kingdoms have to erect a Tribunal over them It is false and absurd to conceive that any People have or can lawfully resign their whole Liberty into the Hands and Power of any Royal or other Government it being against the Law of God and Nature so to do Obj. Nemo dat quod non habet For the People have not an absolute Power to destroy themselves or to authorize Violence Oppression Injustice or other acts of Tyranny and therefore cannot resign it to
Pulpit it that if they do break their Covenants yet they are accountable to none but God What is this less than like false Prophets to create Subtilties and coin Evasions to rob Kingdoms of their Laws Liberties and Religion and to seduce and betray Kings to the pit of Hell even to Tophet it-self A very trick to tempt Kings to break Covenants and Perjure themselves CHAP. VIII Judges-not less essentially Judges and the immediate Vicars of God than Kings What Powers and Prerogatives Kings have they have them from the People The Peoples Prerogatives They are to be governed by Laws of their own making quas vulgus eligerit JUdges are not less essentially Judges and the immediate Vicars of God than Kings They who judge in the room of God and exercise the judgment of God are as essentially Judges and the Deputies of God as Kings Inferior Judges appointed by King Jehosaphat were commanded by him to take heed what they did for yee judg not for man but for the Lord 2 Chron. 19. 6. By which it appears that they were Deputies in the place of the Lord and not the Kings Deputies in the formal and official acts of Judging and so owned by the King himself If they were not then Kings might command his Judges as his Servants to give what Judgment they pleased but Kings ought not to guide or limit the Consciences of Inferior Judges because the Judgment is not the Kings but the Lords the reason is demonstrable for that Kings have no Authority to command any other to do that as King for the doing whereof he hath no Power from God himself Moses appointed Judges but not as his Deputies to judge and give Sentence as subordinate to Moses for the judgment saith he is the Lords not mine Deut. 1. 17. and their directions to guide them in judgment is from God himself by Moses viz. ye shall not respect persons in judgment c. Yet the Judges may quodam sensu be termed Deputies of the Kings because they have their external call from them If Kings are to be obeyed because they are Powers from God so are Inferior Magistrates also for they also are Powers ordained of God. By me Kings reign and Princes decree justice By me Princes rule and Nobles even all the Judges of the earth Prov. 8. 15 16. By which it is apparent that the Power of Judges Nobles Princes c. all Officers of the Kingdom not of the King is as really and truly from God as that of Kings and differs not in nature from that of Kings but secundum magis minus only both being Powers ordained of God and to resist either is to resist the Ordinance of God both being Minister of God for the good of the governed both obliged so to Govern that the governed for whose good they are equally intrusted may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty 1 Tim. 2. 2. and to judge righteously between every Man and his neighbour and not to respect persons in judgment but to hear the small as well as the great and not to be afraid of the face of men and the judgment administred by all is Gods 2 Chron. 19. 6. Deut. 17. 19 20. Isaiah 1. 17. and God owneth inferior Judges as a Congregation of Gods Psalm 82. A Senate of Kings not so stiled any where Yet all are equally called Gods John 10. 35. and that rightly for as Kings are God's Deputies by the mediation of the People so inferior Judges are God's Deputies also by the mediation of Kings and of the People and we find that Judges were some time chosen by the People So Jepthah was made Judge then Jepthah went with the Elders of Gilead and the People made him Head and Captain over them Judg. 11. 11. But that God gave Power of Tyrannizing to Kings so as they cannot be resisted or called to an account which he gave not to Judges cannot be made out by any Scripture What Scripture doth warrant that the People might rise up in Arms to defend themselves against Moses Gideon Ely Samuel and other Judges should they have Oppressed or Tyrannized over the People Or that it is not lawful to resist the most Tyrannical Kings of Israel Judah and yet lawful to resist Oppressing and Tyrannical Judges But certainly God Almighty that made the whole Creation not only for his own Glory but also for the Good and Happiness of the whole Race of Mankind would never give any Power to Kingly or any other Form of Government to Oppress and Tyrannize over the governed uncontrolably and unaccountably whose Blood is always precious in his sight and in whom is all his delight It is monstrous so to conceive and derogatory to the very Mercy Justice and Purity of God that he should Create the whole World for the Comfort and Solace of Mankind in general without respect of Persons and yet at the same time subject them to Kings to be used as slaves or which is as bad not to be resisted or not to be accountable to any human Power if they at any time should Tyrannize Certainly such Opiniators and Preachers of such Doctrines do as much as in them lies to frustrate and defeat the whole design of the Creation which was designed for the benefit joy and delight of the whole Race of Mankind in general and by this Doctrine it shall be at the pleasure of every pettish haughty Prince to make every Principality every Kingdom an Aceldama a Golgetha an Iron Furnace an Egyptian Slavery what not Which God the Great and Wise Creator abhors and manifested his Wrath and Indignation against it by pouring his severe and manifold Judgments upon that very Nation which pleaded nay hectored for his Prerogative so long with God himself till he overwhelmed him and all his Hoast with his Prerogatives in the red Sea. Obj. Abstracta concretis sunt puriora perfectioria The Powers that Kings have they have it from the People who make them Kings and they having no absolute Power over themselves cannot contribute any such Power to Kings The Powers that the People have are only Natural and Legal and Political viz. to make and submit to such Laws as may preserve themselves in Peace and Godliness and from unjust Violence and Oppression by the Conduct and Management of good Rulers Now absolute Power above a Law is a Power to do ill and to destroy Nations which no People have it being against Nature that any should have a Power by the Law of Nature which is the Law of God to destroy themselves Therefore though the People should invest Kings with all the Power that they have yet if Kings Tyrannize over the People to their hurt and destruction they usurp a Power which the People never gave them it not being in their Power to give them the Power it self being against the Law of Nature and consequently against the Law of God for that all acts of Tyranny are Oppression
the yoak of such Bondage and Impery is likewise according to the Law of Nature virtus vocatur The People for certain were before there could be any King and consequently Kings must be made by the People and therefore are superior to them in some sense according to quicquid efficit tale est magis tale a rule as true in Politicks as in Naturals Produce who can any one Law of God and Nature or any one Rule of Natural Justice by which Usurpers Tyrants perverters of Law and Justice are to be free of punishment and yet the Inferior People to be subject to punishments for Crimes of the same nature The Reason and Law of Government be it Monarchical or Republick is equally natural Kings by Nature are no more Sacred than those seated in the Government of Republicks who nemine contradicente may and ought to be punished and why not Kings when transgressors their Power being given them by the same Persons and for the very self-same ends and purposes the good of the governed To assert the Oaths and Pacts of Kings with their People to be obliging and yet to be unaccountable and unreprovable for any breach of them is with the Cow to give good Milk and then kick it down at one and the same moment to make good Laws and yet to abolish and null them which ought to have dominion over both Kings and People Look into Ancient Histories which strut with examples of Governors Kings and others brought to Judgment and condemned by the People Lacedaemonians Grecians Romans c. formal Governments Victima haud ulla Amplior Potest magisque opima mactari Jovi Quam Rex Iniquus Senec. Frag. See the Edict of Theodosius and Valens Christian Emperors Codex 1. tit 14. De Authoritate Juris Imperatorum pendet Authoritas The Majesty therefore of Cesars must submit to the Laws on which they depend Whoever consults and considers the very severe Laws of the Romans Grecians Lacedaemonians Carthaginians Athenians against the Licentiousness Oppressions Tyranny Insolencies c. of their Emperors and other Magistrates they will find that they were made with all the Sincerity Care Caution and Wisdom that the Understandings and Wisdoms of those several Countries and Ages could afford and that the breach of them were very severely punished Valerius Publicola Collegue of Junius Brutus after their Kings were banished made a Law That when Tyrants by reason of their armed Soldiers could not be brought to Judgment it should be lawful for any Man to resist them by any means and afterwards to give an account of their so doing Such like Appeals and Examples are common amongst most Nations Ambiorix King of the Gauls confessed that the Multitude had no less Power over him than he had over them Tacitus writes of the Germans Nec Germanorum Regibus infinita aut libera potestas erat de minoribus rebus Principes consultant de majoribus omnes Rex aut Princeps auditur Authoritate suadendi magis quam jubendi potestate si displicuit sententia fremitu aspernatur That their Kings had no Infinite or Arbitrary Power c. It is not unworthy our consideration to recount with how great severity and strictest Discipline of Laws and Ordiances both of the Senate and Common Council the Romans did provide against the exorbitant and imperious licentious Government of their Kings beyond all bounds of reason After the expulsion of Tarquinius Superbus the last Roman King all the Citizens of Rome assembled and concluded that their Government under one whom they called King should for the future be settled on two whom at first they called Praetores afterwards Judices then Consules P. Valerius who was chosen Consul with L. Brutus made a Law That it should be lawful for any Man to Appeal from any Magistrate whomsoever to the People esteeming such Appeals as Bridles and Curbs to licentious Governors And some do contend that Appeals during the Reigns of their Kings from them to the People were in use before and that it was so provided by their Pontifical Books which Law was re-inforced again by Muraena the Consul quo tempore Sora Alba coliniae deductae sunt Afterward when the Decemvirate Impery was annulled the People of Rome the better to provide against Arbitrary Government besides the Tribunes of the People who had the Protectorship of the Liberties and Goods of the People made a new Law That if any should create a Magistrate without the intercession of the People or their Tribunes it should be lawful for to kill him Which Duellius the Consul soon after renewed by an other Constitution That whoever created a Magistrate without the benefit of Appeals his Back and Head should pay for it Notwithstanding all these severities yet the Nobles did oppress the Commons and therefore as the only remedy thereof M. Valerius before the first Punick War made a Law called Lex Valeria which among other things did provide That whosoever appealed from another Magistrate should not be punished either Head or Back But yet the Liberty and Goods of the People not being sufficiently secured but that the more mighty did oppress the less powerful the â—icher the poorer M. Valerius the Consul did a third time promulgate a Law with grievous punishments to those who should prohibit Appeals to the greater Tribunal in so much that those who were violently oppressed and condemned he gave the right of Appeal to the People And yet after a few years Caligula on pretence that Suits should not be spun out and wier-drawn too long did inhibite many Appeals Although Appeals the chief protection of the People from Injuries was ratified by so many Laws and yet proved insufficient thereunto therefore Martius Censor made a Law in behalf of the People That no Man should be preferred twice to those higher places And then Fab. Maximus in favour of the People ordained That no Man should in ten years be admitted to the same Place and Authority Then L. Sylla by a Law forbade any Man under great punishments to be a Praetor before he had been a Quaestor or Consul before he had been a Praetor and the same Man not to be advanced again into the same place within ten years deeming the frequent exaltations into Powers would make the Powers not to be endured which Law was afterwards extended unto twenty years There were many Acts also of the Common Council extant by which it was provided That no Man should bear two Magistracies especially that of the Curulis in one year neither the Plebaeian nor the Patritian And all Magistrates were before admittance to be sworn and not to stay therein above five Days except they were sworn and if they carried themselves proudly and insolently in their Government they were to be cast out the first of such was Tarquinius Superbus afterwards Kingship being banished Sergius and Virginius Tribune Consuls and Cn. Manlius and Servilius Cepio Pro-consuls the Senate for their Male-Government caused