A FULL ANSWER To all the Popular Objections That have yet Appear'd For not Taking the Oath of ALLEGIANCE TO THEIR PRESENT MAJESTIES Particularly offer'd to the Consideration of all such of the DIVINES OF THE Church of ENGLAND And Others as are yet UNSATISFIED SHEWING Both from Scripture and the Laws of the Land the Reasonableness thereof and the Ruining Consequences both to the Nation and Themselves if not Complied with By a Divine of the Church of ENGLAND and Author of a late Treatise entituled A Resolution of certain Queries concerning Submission to the Present Government Licensed and Entred according to Order London Printed and are to be sold by R. Baldwin in the Old-Bailey 1689. A full ANSWER To all the Popular Objections That have yet Appear'd For not Taking the Oath of Allegiance TO THEIR Present MAJESTIES c. A REQUEST TO ALL Such as are yet Unresolved IN THE Case of Allegiance THere are few Men so ancient or wise who may not still improve their Judgments and be made sensible of their Errors and without shame do that which St. Augustin did to his great reputation make their Retractations The effects of the Prejudices and Prepossessions of the Mind are like those of the Disease of the Body called the Jaundice which represents things black or yellow according to its own distemper only that of the Mind is far more incurable than that of the Body It is with Men as with new Vessels whatever strong Liquors are first infused to them they still retain a smack and savour of them No Tyranny is with more difficulty cast off than the Prejudice and Prepossessions of such Principles by which we have been in our first Education captivated and dogmatized No less than a Miracle could divert St. Paul from that furious temper wherein he had been educated as a Pharisee To evidence the truth hereof I shall only instance in some learned and pious Men that have been educated in the Church of Rome who having been instructed from their youth that they ought to believe as the Church believes that their Church is guided by an Infallible Spirit that the Pope is Christ's Vicar and Plenipotentiary are prepared to receive and believe all the Dictates of that Church though contrary to the Scriptures to Reason and Sence with equal veneration as the written Word Hence it is that they swallow the Doctrines of the Popes Supremacy to depose one Prince and set up another as he shall see cause of his Infallibility in coining new Articles of Faith forbidding what Christ commanded and commanding what Christ forbid of Transubstantiation and Worshipping of Wafers and Images and offering more Prayers to the Virgin Mary than to God and their Saviour and some of them esteem her Milk of equal vertue with Christ's Blood and it is unaccountable how deaf they are to all those charming Arguments which from Scriture Reason and Sence have been irrefragably urged against them Now though the grandeur of that Church and the interest of some Men therein may thus captivate many yet I cannot nor can my Brethren impute this blind obedience and implicit belief of learned Men and such as are piously inclined to any thing more than to the prejudices of their Education And we cannot but think it their duty to search the Scriptures to consult their own Reason and the Arguments of such sober learned and pious Men as differ from them in such Doctrines Nor is it impossible but we who have been educated in the Church and Kingdom of England may have our Judgments captivated by some false Opinions and Principles concerning the Power of our Kings and the Allegiance of Subjects for the rectifying of which it is necessary to reflect on those times wherein we had our Education which I suppose was with many others as with my self about the Year 41 but with the most of my Brethren since that time whereof I shall give this brief account It is evident to all Men of sober principles that have had any true relation of the rise and progress of those unhappy Divisions and Wars that they were begun and continued by a factious and discontented Party under the vain pretences of the great danger that threatned our Religion and Liberties which War abating some groundless Fears and Jealousies occasioned by some unusual Acts of that best of Kings and the best are not free from all faults to which the iniquity of those times that reduced him to great exigence had necessitated him had no other cause but the ambition of some the discontent of others and the hopes of the Jesuits on one side and of other Sects on the other side to raise themselves by the ruine of the established Church to which that blessed Prince was so devoted as well as to the welfare of his Subjects both in respect to the Laws and Liberties that he sacrificed his Life for their preservation as by the event through the great mercy of God it proved to be for though that bloody War wrought great confusion and destruction both before and after the death of the Royal Martyr yet the dissention of his enemies occasioned the discovery of each others wicked designs and practices which are still in remembrance and abundantly justifie that gracious King as do also many gracious condescentions and overtures for peace against all their assaults and usurpations Wherefore when after divers confused revolutions it pleased God by a Miracle of Mercy to recal the Royal Family and to establish the King on his Throne the Church in its Rights and the People in their Liberties it is no wonder if some transports of Loyalty and Joy did carry the People to some degree of excess for the people had now before their eyes a lively Image of Charles the First in the meekness and mercifulness of Charles the Second And whereas the Parliaments under Charles the First had abridged him of a necessary Revenue that under Charles the Second granted him even above his desires and as event proved more then was consistent with the welfare of the Nation neither was the Clergy backward in their expressions of Loyalty who with Mephiboseth 2 Sam. 19.30 were content not only to part with some of their just Possessions to those that had usurped them but ready to say Yea let them take all for as much as my Lord the King is come again in peace to his own house And now it was that the Parliament prudently considering what Miseries the Nation endured by the fall of the Crown made it their chief work to re-adorn and fix that by inlarging the Revenue making new Statutes to secure the King's person against traiterous Conspiracies and requiring the people to declare that it was not lawful on any pretence whatsoever c. And divers things and persons did tempt the King to think himself an absolute Prince Finch an ancient Lawyer did attribute to the King all the Divine Perfections viz 1. That of Soveraignty All Lands being held
sense of the Lords and Commons in the following Declaration viz. The Declaration of the Lords and Commons assembled at Westminister presented to their Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Orange at White-hall the 13th of February 1688 / 9. WHereas the late King James the Second by the Assistance of divers Evil Counsellors Judges and Ministers imployed by him did endeavour to Subvert and Extirpate the Protestant Religion and the Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom By Assuming and Exercising a Power of Dispensing with and Suspending Laws and the Execution of Laws without Consent of Parliament By Committing and Prosecuting divers worthy Prelates for humbly Petitioning to be excused from Concurring to the said Assumed Power By issuing and causing to be executed a Commission under the Great Seal for Erecting a Court called the Court of Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes By Levying Money for and to the use of the Crown by pretence of Prerogative for other time and in other manner than the same was Granted by Parliament By Raising and Keeping a Standing Army within this Kingdom in the time of Peace without Consent of Parliament and Quartering Souldiers contrary to Law. By causing several good Subjects being Protestants to be Disarmed at the same time when Papists were both Armed and Imployed contrary to Law. By Violating the Freedom of Election of Members to serve in Parliament By Prosecutions in the Court of King's Bench for Matters and Causes cognizable only in Parliament and by divers other Arbitrary and Illegal Courses And whereas of late Years partial corrupt and unqualified Persons have been returned and served on Juries in Tryals and particularly divers Jurors in Tryals of High Treason which were not Free-holders And excessive Bail hath been required of Persons committed in Criminal Cases to elude the benefit of the Laws made for the Liberty of the Subject And excessive Fines have been imposed and illegal and cruel Punishments inflicted And several Grants and Promises made of Fines and Forfeitures before any Conviction or Judgment against the persons upon whom the same was to be levied All which are utterly and directly contrary to the known Laws and Statutes and Freedom of this Realm And whereas the said late King James the Second having Abdicated the Government and the Throne being thereby Vacant His Highness the Prince of Orange whom it hath pleased Almighty God to make the Glorious Instrument of Delivering this Kingdom from Popery and Arbitrary Power did by the Advice of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and divers principal Persons of the Commons cause Letters to be written to the Lords Spiritul and Temporal being Protestants and other Letters to the several Counties Cities Universities Boroughs and Cinque ports for the choosing of such Persons to represent them as were of right to be sent to Parliament to Meet and Sit at Westminister upon the 22d day of January in this Year 1688 in order to such an Establishment as that their Religion Laws and Liberties might not again be in danger of being Subverted Upon which Letters Elections have been accordingly made And thereupon the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons pursuant to their respective Letters and Elections being now Assembled in a Full and Free Representative of this Nation taking into their most serious Considerations the best Means for attaining the ends aforesaid Do in the first place as their Ancestors in like Cases have usually done for the Vindicating and Asserting of their Ancient Rights and Liberties Declare That the pretended Power of Suspending of Laws or the Execution of Laws by Regal Authority without Consent of Parliament is Illegal That the pretended Power of Dispensing with Laws or the Execution of Laws by Regal Authority as it has been assumed and exercised of late is Illegal That the Commission for Erecting the late Court of Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes and all other Commissions and Courts of like nature are Illegal and Pernicious That Levying of Money for or to the use of the Crown by pretence of Prerogative without Grant of Parliament or for longer time or in other manner than the same is or shall be Granted is Illegal That it is the Right of the Subject to Petition the King and all Commitments and Prosecutions for such Petitioning are Illegal That the Raising or Keeping a Standing Army within the Kingdom in time of Peace unless it be with Consent of Parliament is against Law. That the Subjects which are Protestants may have Arms for their Defence suitable to their Condition and as allowed by Law. That Election of Members of Parliament ought to be free That the Freedom of Speech and Debates or Proceedings in Parliament ought not to be Impeached or Questioned in any Court or place out of Parliament That excessive Bail ought not to be required or excessive Fines imposed nor cruel and unusual Punishments inflicted That Jurors ought to be duly Impannelled and Returned and Jurors which pass upon Men in Tryals for High Treason ought to be Free-holders That all Grants and Promises of Fines and Forfeitures of particular persons before Convicton are Illegal and Void And that for Redress of all Grievances and for the amending strengthening and preserving of the Laws Parliaments ought to be held frequently And they do Claim Demand and Insist upon all and singular the Premises as their undoubted Right and Liberty And that no Declarations Judgments Doings or Proceedings to the prejudice of the People in any of the said Premises ought in any wise to be drawn hereafter into Consequence or Example To which Demand of their Rights they are particularly incouraged by the Declaration of his Highness the Prince of Orange as being the only means for obtaining a full Redress and Remedy therein Having therefore an intire Confidence that his said Highness the Prince of Orange will perfect the Deliverance so far advanced by him and will still preserve them from the Violation of their Rights which they have here Asserted and from all other Attempts upon their Religion Laws and Liberties The said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons Assembled at Westminster Do Resolve That William and Mary Prince and Princess of Orange be and be Declared King and Queen of England France and Ireland and the Dominions thereto belonging To hold the Crown and Royal Dignity of the said Kingdoms and Dominions to them the said Prince and Princess during their Lives and the Life of the Survivor of them And that the sole and full Exercise of the Regal Power be only in and exercised by him the said Prince of Orange in the names of the said Prince and Princess during their joynt Lives And after their Deceases the said Crown and Royal Dignity of the said Kingdoms and Dominions to be to the Heirs of the Body of the said Princess And for default of such Issue to the Princess Anne of Denmark and the Heirs of her Body And for default of such Issue to the Heirs of the Body of the said Prince of
the Parliament the King of France would assist him with his Power and Purse to have such a new one as would be for their purpose which was the subduing of a pestelent Heresie that had domineer'd over a great part of the Northern World a long time of which there were never such hopes of success since the death of Queen Mary God having given us a Prince who is become I may say to a Miracle zealous of being the Author and Instrument of so glorious a Work. See the Collection of Letters p. 118. So that by what was designed by the Duke and French King and hath since been jointly and vigorously acted we have full assurance of a League with France for our utter ruin and they are Fools or Mad-men that having such clear light and experience to guide them will suffer themselves to be blindfolded a second time and be led to destruction So that what Joab said to David is much more applicable in our Case Thou lovedst thine enemies and hatedst thy friends for thou hast declared this day that thou regardest neither the Prince nor his Servants for this day I perceive that if the King had prevailed and all they had died then it had pleased thee well So fond was David of his Absolom 2 Sam. 19.6 It is not necessary that abdication of an Office should alway be an act of the will. Lentulus is said to abdicate the Consulship because he could hold it no longer having been one of the Conspirators with Gatiline And Silla abdicated the dictatorship thinking to find a better opportunity be to revenged on his enemies And Dioclesian left the Empire because he could not effect his will against the Christians These were mixt actions partly through constraint and partly voluntary yet were accounted abdications And our King had involved us in so many miseries that nothing but his desertion of us or our opposing of him could deliver us God prevented the latter and the King granted the former Pufendorf de interregno p. 272. determines that if a King abdicates the peace of his Kingdom and be of an hostile mind or departs from the Rules of governing which he expresseth thus Modum habendi potestatem immutare that then the ground of the Subjects obedience is made void And in the Digests l. 49. Tital 15. de Capt. we have this Maxim Qui fuget ad eos cum quibus nulla est amicitia à fide suscepta transfugit and that the late King hath so done is an evident truth And it is as true that to desert a Government rather than to keep it on just and legal terms is to abdicate it for an abdication may be as expresly signified by real deeds as by any form of words whatsoever As to the League with France for making King James as Absolute as King Lewis and inable him notwithstanding his Oaths and Publick Declarations to the contrary to extirpate the Protestant Religion there wants not sufficient evidence of the endeavours of the Court of France for many years together by correspondence with the late K. while he was Duke of York and assum'd on him the chief administration of Publick Affairs Nor of a too fond if not a willing compliance of Charles the Second to that end Some wise men have thought that the great Revenues granted to the Crown the declaring the Militia to be wholly in the King the binding up not only the Subjects but the Parliament by Oaths and Declarations not to resist the King or those that were commissioned by him on any pretence or cause whatsoever by vertue whereof an hundred Irish or French might have come into the House of Parliament and out all their Throats and they not have dared to draw a Sword in their own defence all which things were against or as far besides the Laws of the Land as of Reason and Common Prudence for doubtless had it been proposed whether those Laws might have been so interpreted they would speedily have made an alteration in them All these I say have been observed by wise men to have been the designs of such as designed to introduce an Arbitrary Government and facilitate the bringing in of Popery though they that acted did not intend to serve the ends either of France or the Crown of England so far On this Errand was the Dutchess of Orleance some years since sent into England to assure Charles the Second of the Assistance of the King of France in reducing the Parliament to the King's pleasure to this end were Tolerations and Indulgences granted French Whores admitted with great power and pomp and all things so well prepared though more slowly and secretly in the Reign of Charles the Second that there wanted nothing but James the Second's ascending the Throne to give a Consummatum est to that design of bringing in both Popery and Slavery upon us And that being effected too soon alas for England then notwithstanding the Coronation-Oath the many Publick Protestations to maintain the Church of England and the Protestant Religion and of whose Loyalty he was well satisfied and that he never desired to be more great and happy than he might be by the established Laws yet all these were forgotten and trampled under foot Jesuits and Papists being admitted at Court and into the Privy-Council the King's Conscience submitted to their Conduct the Pope's Nuncio publickly entertained and feasted at the Guild-hall an Embassador sent to Rome Popish Bishops set up with power of Jurisdiction Protestant Bishops put into the Tower the Nobles closetted and such as would not comply to betray their Religion and Country were turn'd out of all the chief Offices by Sea and Land and others put into their room and in all places of Judicature Judges and Juries were adapted for the prosecution of that design there wanted only a complying Parliament and to that end Quo Warranto's were issued out against the Charters and alterations made in them fit for that design Addresses were procured for taking off the Test and Penal Laws i. e. for introducing of Popery by Law an Army of Irish Papists brought in and another prepared in France So that our destruction was much nearer than we believed Monsieur D'Avaux Embassador for the King of France in Holland in his Memorial told the Estates that the Friendship and Alliance between his Master and the King of England did oblige him to assist the King of England and to look on the first act of Hostility by Sea or Land as a Rupture of Peace Coleman's Letters spake to the same effect and the event hath demonstrated the truth of all that was thought to be but groundless fears and jealousies for on the approach of the Prince of Orange these dark mists vanish'd the Nation awaked out of their deep slumber and resum'd their ancient valour and resolution to defend their Religion Laws and Liberties against Popery and Arbitrary Government which seized on us as an armed man. And he that doth not now
the Election of Sheriffs and anciently the disposing of the Militia and many great Offices both by Sea and Land and the Judicial part was left to the King confined by certain Methods the King in Person not being able to decide the least Cause 3. I thus except against the Minor. The subjection required in the Text is due to the King's Person for the sake of the Power and therefore is not to be extended farther than the Power wherewith he is invested and with a Salvo to that part of the Power which is vested in another so that we owed no such subjection to King James as did derogate from anothers Right beyond the extent of his own Power which was not absolute but limited by Law. And let this be considered from the Objection Those actions which will produce mischeivous consequences should not be ingaged in without most clear evidence of being our duty But to refuse Submission to the present Government will produce c. therefore they are not to be ingaged in without most clear evidence which as things now stand cannot be accounted clear and undubetable in relation to King James Object 2. The King can do no wrong and therefore is not to be dealt with as a Malefactor Ans As to your Maxim The King can do no wrong if it be understood of the King 's private or personal capacity it may be thus retorted The King can do no wrong but he that oppresseth ravisheth or murders an innocent person doth wrong therefore he is not King i. e. in such actions he is not to be considered as a King. But this Maxim as many others is to be understood of the King 's political capacity in which respect the Law is his Will and the execution of the Laws are his Actions in which sence he can neither do wrong nor suffer wrong nor ever dyes The true sence of the Maxim is this as Sir Edw. Cooke Id potest quod jure potest and this he says is the King 's greatest priviledge which makes him like unto God who cannot act but agreeably to the eternal Rules of Justice but the King acting by his own Will against Law may do wrong and Judgment hath been given against him for unjust and illegal Actions And doubtless King John and Henry the Third that would have subjected the Kingdom to the Pope as King James also would cannot be exempted from doing wrong though as it was necessary he must use many Instruments therein Ahab did wrong Naboth in taking away his Vineyard as well as his Instruments that did act under colour of Law. Object 3. That King that is not accountable to his people for any wrong done is not by them Coercible into a private estate but the King of England is not accountable c. therefore he is not Coercible Ans The Argument is besides the Business for the People of England do not Coerce the King to a private Estate but if he attempt to alter the Government and Religion and enslave and destroy the People they may use the remedy which the Law of Nature allows Moderamen inculpatae tutelae The Law not having appointed a legal remedy against the unjust oppressions of Princes doth not render it sinful to use the remedies allowed by the Law of Nature for the Laws grew up gradually and legal remedies were introduc'd occasionally before the institution of which remedies it was not sinful to use extraordinary remedies as to kill se defendendo to pull down Houses in case of Fire c. 2. The Law provides remedies for cases within its own compass but not for cases that may happen when the Law itself shall be subverted it is unreasonable to expect from written Laws any directions how Subjects must behave themselves when the authority of the Laws ceaseth If our Laws have not provided for the cases of the King's Lunacy Extinction of the Royal Line wilful Desertion doubtfulness of Title c. but leave us to the general Rules of Prudence and Discretion the same may be affirmed in the present case 3. What is not prohibited is lawful the cases of extraordinary nature are not included in general Prohibitions according to that Maxim Consensus in rebus magni prejudicii ex verbiis quantumvis generalibus non presumitur And Concessione generali nemo presumitur ea concessisse quae in specie vere similiter non esset concessurus And it cannot be presum'd that the Law would consent that the King might at his pleasure destroy their Lives as well as their Laws considering how tender the Laws have been to preserve the Lives and Liberties of the Subjects who have been always accounted a free People Object 4. If the whole Executive Power of the Law is in the King then all Laws to Coerce the King are in effect null because Execution is the life of the Law But the whole Executive Power c. therefore c. To the minor it is already shewn in what cases and respects the Executive Power of the Law is in the People and in other cases the King cannot suspend the Execution of the Laws by his personal Command the Officers being bound by their Oaths as well as Law to the due Execution of them So that if the King in person should make unlawful Entries hinder the Execution of Writs and Judgments break the Peace head a Riot c. Sheriffs and other Officers are bound to suppress and oppose such by their Oaths If it be objected that the case of the King's presence makes an exception I answer Neither the Oaths nor the Laws makes any such exception And ubi Lex non distinguit non est distinguendum Again the Defence made against the King's illegal Assaults is not an act of the Executive Power which is in the King but of Natural Right for in cases where the Law hath not provided a remedy and particularly and expresly prohibited Self-preservation there we may recur to natural and moral Remedies and every man is allowed to be his own Judge in case of imminent danger when there is no time allowed nor any Judge to be appealed to You say that if the King will pervert the great end for which he was appointed and pervert the Laws c. then as Bracton says Datur petitioni locus licet ei fraenum ponere i. e. as you expound it to curb him by Petitions with holding Taxes and questioning his Ministers there is no ense recidendum in our Law. Ans To curb by Petition is to bind with Ropes of Sand to question Ministers if the Executive Power be in the King is to no purpose and so to with-hold Taxes if the King in the head of an Army may compel them nor yet is there any need of deposing or cutting off for Henry 3. was not so dealt with If a King mix himself with Outlaws and Cut-throats against which we may and in some cases are bound to rise and expose himself to Casualties the people cannot
to their Power and beyond it have endeavoured to depose any Prince whom they judge Heretical the not owning of the Pope's Supremacy is thought a sufficient cause for excommunicating first and then deposing such a Prince and incouraging the People to withdraw their Allegiance and take Arms against them witness the Bull of Pope Pius against Queen Eliz. and the approbation of that hellish Powder Plot against King James for the contrivance whereof Garnet was numbred among their Saints at Rome and the deposing of Kings and Emperors of the Romish Communion hath been often practised by the Pope in Germany France and other Countries on frivolous pretences as the History of former and later times doth abundantly manifest And our own Chronicles shew what was practised by the English Nation when it was wholly at the devotion of the Pope in deposing one King and choosing another And God forbid that any Protestant Nation should be guilty of such Principles or Practices as have been received and allowed of by the Romanists Our case is vastly different as is evident by the Declaration of the Lords and Commons the many Grievances therein mentioned and the occasion of a just War given to the present King reduced the late King who had wholly destroyed the Foundation and Species of the Government to desert the Nation and to fly to France for refuge leaving his People in Confusion and made it necessary for them to do what they have done to prevent their utter destruction by those Flames which he having kindled fled from them for his own security Nor can any Protestant Nation be scandalized at our Transactions they having done the same thing on a like occasion Thus the Swedes excluded Sigismond the Third and his Heirs for altering the established Religion by introducing Popery and sending his Son to be educated a Papist for violating his Oath altering the Laws raising Souldiers and exacting Money contrary to Law causing a Nobleman to be assassinated for diswading him from his illegal Practices punishing such as would not receive the Romish Religion and deserting his Country without consent of his People for which causes he was adjudged to have Abdicated his Kingdom and the Nation chose Charles Duke of Sudermannia to succeed him Christiern the Second King of Denmark was so dealt with by his People and what the Hollanders did against the King of Spain and the Scot against Queen Mary is generally known and neither of these can be scandalized at us who have acted more innocently than the best of them Object From the Act of 13 of Q. Eliz. which makes it high Treason during her Reign and forfeiture of Goods ever after in any wise to hold or affirm that an Act of Parliament is not of sufficient Force and Validity to limit and bind the Crown of this Realm and the descent limitation and inheritance thereof It is objected that this Act concerns not the present case seeing what is to be done for the descent and limitation of the Crown is to be done by an Act of Parliament but a Convention is no Parliament and that Act was made only to serve the present Interest of the Queen against the Claims of the Queen of Scots Answ That in the circumstances wherein we were left there was this Remedy left us and no other the late King having immediately before his departure destroyed the Writs for calling a Parliament though he had prepared the Elections for such a one as might serve his purpose And an extraordinary Distemper requires unusual Applications yet this was the most usual and proper means for what could heal our Distractions but an unanimous agreement of the People in choosing a Convention when a Parliament could not be had And who were more able or likely to consult for the common welfare than the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Representatives of the People duly Elected with whom the King having left them in Person left his Authority with them and they became as August an Assembly as ever any Senate of the Ancient Romans when the Empire became void who had the Power to create an Emperor which also had been often practised by the Ancient Britains Nor was it fit that the Nation should continue without a King least every Man should have done what seemed good in his own Eyes as when there was no King in Israel And though a Convention have not the formality of a Parliament yet that being not to be had it hath a greater Power than a Parliament because they act not as Subjects but a free People who may choose their King and make such Laws for Government as shall not be in the Power of the King and Parliament to dissolve without the Dissolution of the Government itself as when the Foundations are destroyed the Fabrick must fall nor was there any one to invalidate the Acts of a free Convention as the King in Parliament might do by his Negative Voice 2. And whereas it is objected that the Act of 13 Eliz. respected only the Title of that Queen and was made to serve the present turn this is contrary to the express Letter of the Act which provides that ever after it should be punishable with forfeiture of Goods in any wise to hold or affirm that an Act of Parliament was not of sufficient force c. So that this Act still continues in force as the reason of it doth viz. to prevent the dangerous disputes concerning the Succession Object But the Convention ought to have set the Crown on the right Heir as the most likely means to prevent all Disputes Answ Quod fieri non debuit factum valet That which ought not to be done in more peaceable times may be warrantably done in case of imminent danger and Necessitas cogit defendit The Affairs of the Nation were involved in so many Intricacies by reason of a Confederacy of the Popish Princes against the Protestants throughout all Europe and the delivering up of Ireland into the Possession of the Papists who also had the Command of the strength of England by Sea and Land that the Courage and Conduct of a Woman though never so well qualified could not be thought competent to wrestle with so many and great difficulties and who more fit to unite so Noble but distorted a Member as the Kingdom of England to the Body of the Protestants than he who by mutual Consent of the Princes of that perswasion was chosen to be their Head who also being of the Bloud Royal and having married the right Heir was by her consent and by the consent of the Princess Anne as well as by the unanimous consent of the Nation chosen to stand as a Skreen between them and the Fury of the French King to defend their Title to the Crown which he had so successfully recovered from a lost condition Or who so fit to wear the Crown as he that won it for himself and the Right Heirs when otherwise they might have
Orange And they do pray the said Prince and Princess of Orange do accept the same accordingly And that the Oaths hereafter mentioned be taken by all Persons of whom the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy might be required by Law instead of them and that the said Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy may be Abrogated A. B. Do sincerely Promise and Swear that I will be Faithful and bear true Allegiance to their Majesties King William and Queen Mary So help me GOD c. I A. B. Do Swear That I do from my Heart Abhor Detest and Abjure as Impious and Heretical this Damnable Doctrine and Position That Princes Excommunicated or Deprived by the Pope or any Authority of the See of Rome may be Deposed or Murdered by the Subjects or any other whatsoever And I do Declare That no Foreign Prince Person Prelate State or Potentate hath or ought to have any Jurisdiction Power Superiority Preheminence or Authority Ecclesiastical or Spiritual within this Realm So help me GOD c. Now if in the Judgment of the Great Counsel after mature Deliberation these evident Matters of Fact did amount to a just Cause to pronounce the Crown Void I cannot perceive what in Justice they could do otherwise then to lodge it where it is the present Circumstances in which the Nation was requiring a speedy Settlement For which end it was provided after the Vacancy of the Roman Empire the Electors were to agree in the Choice of another within thirty Days or else to be allowed only Bread and Water until they had agreed If it be objected That the Crown ought to be set only on the Queen it may be thus answered That there is as little Deviation made as possibly could be and that the present King might have claimed it by Conquest with as much reason as either William called the Conqueror or Henry the Seventh but he had also a better Title than either of those being nearer in Bloud then either of them and the Title of his Lady being undoubtedly the next in Succession but by a suspected Child was endeavoured to be excluded ought to be as happily it is vindicated by her Royal Consort whereupon the Administration of the Government being by general Consent conferred on him during Life it is no more than what he might have claimed nor less than what they could have granted And therefore there is no cause can be given why we should not transfer our Allegiance to him at least in conjunction with the Queen in the case of Henry the Seventh the Nation did so before his marrying the Queen in whom the right Title was and much rather may we when the Queen's Title is acknowledged and the Test of all publick Acts and Writs are in both their Names so that during the joynt Lives of the King and Queen supposing that King James hath forfeited the Crown our Allegiance is undoubtedly due as by the new Oath is required But if yet any man should scruple the taking this Oath as not being satisfied that the right of Title is in the present King I say that this is more than appears to be required either by the Letter of the Oath or the intention of the Authority that imposed it And first as to the intention of the Legislator let it be considered what other intent they could have in laying aside the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance wherein the right Title of the Prince in being was so punctually asserted to make room for this wherein the assertory part is wholly omitted but to prevent the objection of such as should pretend this too nice scruple of Conscience to which there being in the Nation so many Pretenders to a Liberty of Conscience which cannot be forced I do rationally believe that the present Authority had a respect in penning the Oath so cautiously for the Oath doth not say as without gross Nonsence it can be supposed I do promise that King William and Queen Mary are lawful King and Queen c. but only that I will bear Faith and true Allegiance to King William and Queen Mary which may be done supposing that King William is only King de Facto and Queen Mary de Jure as in the Case of Henry the Seventh before mentioned And as to the Letter of the Oath though the Comparison be odious yet the Resolution of Bishop Sanderson in the case of subscribing the Engagement may determine such scrupulous Consciences the words of the Engagement are I do promise to be True and Faithful to the Common-wealth of England as it is now Established without King or Lords The words of the present Oath are I do sincerely Promise and Swear that I will be Faithful and bear true Allegiance to their Majesties King William and Queen Mary Where first observe that the Swearing doth no more add an Obligation to the Matter sworn to in the Oath than the Promise and Subscription doth to the Matter of the Engagement Secondly The Ingagement was for altering of the Species of the Government from that which was most Noble to that which was most Ignoble and indeed to an individuum vagum there being then no Government established Thirdly The King then in being had in no case made a Desertion or Forfeiture of his Crown but endeavoured with the hazard of his Life to vindicate his just Title Fourthly The Invader then was a Subject and a notorious Usurper who by fraud and force had driven him from his right All which considerations made a great difference between the legality of taking this Oath and subscribing that Ingagement But here I must premise that I do not insist on this Instance as if I thought the present King and Queen were only so de facto for I am rationally and fully perswaded that they are rightfully King and Queen of England c. as ever any of their Predecessors were That learned Casuist gives a higher and stricter or a lower and laxer sence of the Engagement the lower and laxer sence he thus expresseth Whereas for the present the Supreme Power under which I am is actually possessed by the House of Commons without King or House of Lords I promise that as long as I live under their protection I will not contrive or attempt any act of Hostility against them but living quietly and peaceably will endeavour faithfully in my Place and Calling to do what every good Member of a Common-wealth ought to do for the safety of my Country and preservation of Civil Society therein And our Casuits says p. 106. There want not greater probabilities of reason to induce us to believe that this sense is to be accounted the immediate and declared intent of the imposers who though they might have a more secret reserved and ultimate intent the ingager is not concerned in it the Equivocation if any lieth on the Imposers score not on the Subscribers Because 1. Many both Divines and Lawyers took it which they would not have done in another sense 2.
themselves As many Voices do make a Harmony which no one could do This Argument is like that of Socrates who would perswade Alcibiades to adventure himself in the Assembly of the People saying If thou dost contemn them singly thou need'st not to fear them altogether But seeing Empire doth consist in the Subjects Concessions of Non-resistance and of their Strength and Wealth at the dispose of the Emperour these are the Seeds of Majesty which lying hid and dispersed in single persons do by a combination and agreement exert themselves and produce a Majesty I cannot conceive how a wise Christian King can delight to hear what some Flatterers may suggest That God hath transferred on him that right of Government which by the Creation was only in himself and thence infer such things as rob God of his Authority to exalt the King and would make men doubt whether God had not abdicated all his Authority and left it to Kings and Kings conceive that they may do what they please impunely But suppose a company of Banditti grow so numerous as to set up an Emperour of their own and depose their lawful Prince doth God transfer the Majesty of this on that other And the most of Kings owe their rise to Conquests And it is not impossible but that the Father of a Family may have so numerous an Off-spring that they may constitute their common Father to be their King Doth this act transfer such a Majesty on him or if be appoint a Successour or the several Families set up another than such a one as was appointed by him perhaps a younger Brother or a Servant which is not against any Law of Nature doth God bestow such a Majesty on the Successour This is such a Metempsychosis of Majesty as no wise man will desire a farther disproof of seeing that whensoever a Kingdom doth become void it is left to the People to confer the Government by their consent and submission to his Successour So that this Author had no such notion of a Divine Majesty residing in the person of a King as imprinted an indelible Character on him which could not by any Vice or Miscariage of his own be obliterated Such Polititians as write of the Majesty of Governours do distinguish it into real and personal and affirm the real Majesty to be in the People who had the power to constitute what form of Government they pleased whether Monarchy or any other and in case the Governours in the Form constituted do fail of Heirs or Successours the restoring of the Government revolves on the Community What is held on Condition may be forfeited and on the Forfeiture returns to them that gave it Those Soveraigns that are limited by Law and have not the whole Legislative Power but are bound by Oaths to govern according to Law may forfeit Tyranni in Exertitio do decidere Jure suo Hereditario And if a King of England who hath Regnum Pactionatum makes himself an Absolute Prince he makes himself no King of England because he alters the Species of Government Puffendorph de Jure Naturae c. p. 1008. But this Sanctity none but such as are Absolute Kings do enjoy not such as are under the Power of the People nor such as desert the Government or abdicate the Kingdom against whom when they act things very injurious whatever is lawful against a private person is lawful against them As also if a King that is constituted by his People would alienate his Kingdom or alter the Form of Government it is evident that he not only cannot do it but if he continue to effect it by force the People may resist him by force Another difficult question is what is and what is not lawful in case of an unlawful Invasion Here observe that the Invasion by the Prince of Orange was not as to him unlawful and therefore much more may be due to him than to unlawful Invadors What obligation may the commands of such have being in possession of the Kingdom because force may compel a necessity of external Obedience but not of such an obligation of Conscience that if the Subject obey not he shall be guilty of Sin in this Case to avoid a greater evil a man may be by force constrained to do what else he would abhor which if we can by any means we ought to avoid But what if the Invador having by force and evil arts got the possession yet pretends he hath a right to it and behaves himself as a good Prince in this case it seems very probable that he who is thus in possession ought to be accounted a lawful Prince as long as there is no other that can challenge a better right for this is agreeable to reason Where the power of the Possessour doth prevail and he behaves himself as a good Prince every man should rather regard the publick Welfare rather than expose it to perpetual Troubles and Revolutions for the sake of an uncertain Governour therefore when the People give consent to such an Invader at least tacitly they are really bound to yeild them Obedience for thus it is known the first Caesars obtained the Empire yet St. Paul Rom. 13. attributes a lawful Authority 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to them and that we ought to obey them for Conscience sake And our Saviour commands us to give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar 's when none else could claim a better right And the Senate and People of Rome had deserted their ancient right for fear and want of strength than as allowing that Dominion To which purpose was that Statute of Henry the 7th which provided that none that obeyed the King de facto in being should be for that cause molested or troubled by any process of Law or Act of Parliament And that of Nicetas Coniates is to the same purpose That neither the Emperour that deserts is to be sought nor he which is present to be expelled even as in an Hereditary Kingdom where there are two or more Competitors while the Contest depends and is not determined by Treaty or Arms it is most safe to obey him that is in possession To this also agrees that Defence of Cassius that sided with Niger against Severus as Zephiline Epit. Dionis and Zonarus Tom. 2. relate it I neither knew you nor Niger but being found in those parts did not oppose you but Julian and seeing I endeavoured the same thing as you did I have not offended you no not in this that I did not afterward come over to you for neither would you have any of your Friends to go over to him But what is to be done when any one usurps the right of a lawful Prince that is expelled What shall a good Subject do as long as the lawful Prince is in being to whom he seems to owe Obedience In this case it is determinable that matters may be reduced to such a pass that it may not only be lawful but a duty to