naturall zeale and duty they owe to their own native Country to put their hard to work for freeing their common-wealth from such a pest Whereunto I give two answers First it is a sure Axiom in Theologie that evill should not be done that good may come of it The wickednesse therefore of the King can never make them that are ordained to be judged by him to become his Judges And if it be not lawfull to a private man to revenge his private injury upon his private adversary since God hath only given the sword to the Magistrate how much lesse is it lawful to the people or any part of them who all are but private men the authority being alwayes with the Magistrate as I have already proved to take upon them the use of the sword whom to it belongs not against the publike Magistrate whom to only it belongeth Next in place of relieving the Common-wealth out of distresse which is their only excuse and colour they shall heape double distresse and desolation upon it and so their rebellion shall procure the contrary effects that they pretend it for For a King cannot be imagined to be so unruly and tyrannous but the common-wealth will be kept in better order notwithstanding thereof by him then it can be by his way-taking For first all sudden mutations are perilous in common-wealths hope being thereby given to all bare men to set up themselves and flie with other mens feathers the reines being loosed to all the insolencies that disordered people can commit by hope of impanity because of the loosenesse of all things And next it is certaine that a King can never be so monstrously vicious but hee will generally favour justice and maintaine some order except in the particulars wherein his inordinate lusts and passions carry him away where by the contrary no King being nothing is unlawfull to none And so the old opinion of the Philosophers proves true that better it is to live in a Common-wealth where nothing is lawfull then where all things are lawfull to all men the Common-wealth at that time resembling an un-daunted young horse that hath casten his ride For as the divine Poet Du Bartas saith Better it were to suffer some disorder in the estate and some spots in the Common wealth then in pretending to reforme utterly to over thâ—ow the Republike The second objection they ground upon the curse that hangs over the common wealth where a wicked King raigneth And say they there cannot be more acceptable deed in the sight of God nor more dutifull to their common-weale than to free the Country of such a curse and vindicate to them their liberty which is naturall to all creatures to crave Whereunto for answer I grant indeed that a wicked K. is sent by God for a curse to his people and a plague for their sins But that it is lawfull to them to shake off that curse at their owne hand which God hath laid on them that I deny and may so doe justly Will any deny that the King of Babel was a curse to the people of God as was plainely fore spoken and threatned unto them in the prophecy of their Captivity And what was Nero to the Christian Church in his time And yet Ieremy and Paul as ye have else heard commanded them not only to obey them but heartily to pray for their welfare It is certaine then as I have already by the Law of God sufficiently proved that pattence earnest prayers to God and amendment of their lives are the onely lawfull meanes to move God to relieve them of that heavie curse As for vindicating to themselves their owne â—iberty what lawfull power have they to revoke to themselves again those priviledges which by their own consent before were so fully put out of their hands For if a Prince cannot justly bring back again to himselfe the Priviledges once bestowed by him or his predecessors upon any state or ranck of his subjects how much lesse may the subjects reive out of the Princes hand that superiority which he and his Predecessors have so long brooked over them But the unhappy uniquity of the time which hath oftentimes given over good successe to their treasonable attempts furnisheth them the ground of their third objection For say they the fortunate successe that God hath so oft given to such enterprises prooveth plainly by the practice that God favoured the justnesse of their quarrell To the which I answer that it is true indeed that all the successe of battels as well as other worldly things lyeth only in Gods hand And therfore it is that in the Scripture he takes to himselfe the God of Hosts But upon that generall to conclude that he ever gives victory to the just quarrell would prove the Philistims and diverse other neighbour enemies of the people of GOD to have oftimes had the just quarrell against the people of GOD in respect of the many Victories they obtained against them And by that same argument they had just quarrell against the Aâ—â—ke of God For they wan it in the field and kept it long prisoner in the Country As likewise by all good writers as well Theologues as other the Dâ—â—lls and singular combates are disallowed which are only made upon pretence that God will kith thereby the justice of the quarrell For we must consider that the innocent party is not innocent before God And therefore God will make oft times them that have the wrong side revenge justly his quarrell and when he hath done cast his scourge on the fire as hee oftentimes did to his owne people stirring up and strengthening their enemies while they were humbled in his sight and then delivered them in their hands So God as the great Iudge may iustly punish his deputy and for his rebellion against him stir up his rebels to meete him with the like And when it is done the part of the instrument is no better than the divels part is in tempting and torturing such as God committeth to him as his hangman to do Therefore as I said in the beginning it is oft times a very deceiveable argument to iudge of the cause by the event And the last objection is grounded upon the mutuall paction and adstipulation as they call it betwixt the King and his people at the time of his Coronation For there say they there is a mutuall paction and contract bound up and sworne betwixt the King and the people Whereupon it followeth that if the one part of the contract or the Indent be broken upon the Kings side the people are no longer bound to keepe their part of it but are thereby freed of their oath For say they a contract betwixt two parties of all law frees the one party if the other breake unto him As to this contract alledged made at the coronation of a King although I deny any such contract to be made then especially containing such a clause irritant as they alledge yet I
THE TRVE LAVV OF FREE MONARCHY OR THE RECIPROCALL and mutuall duty betvvixt a free KING and His natural Subjects By a well affected subject of the Kingdome of SCOTLAND LONDON Printed and are to be sold by T. P. in Queens-head-Alley in Pater noster-row 1642. An Advertisement to the Reader ACcept I pray you my deare Countrey-men as thankfully this Pamphlet that I offer unto you as lovingly it is written for your weale I would be loath both to be faschious and fectlesse And therefore if it be not sententious at least it is short It may be ye misse many thing that ye look for in it But for excuse thereof consider rightly that I only lay down herein the true grounds to teach you the right way without wasting time upon refuting the adversaries And yet I trust if ye will take narrow tent ye shall find most of their great guns payed home again either with contrary conclusions or tacite objections suppose in a dairned forme and indirectly For my intention is to instruct and not irritat if I may eschew it The profit I would wish you to make of it is as wel so to frame all your actions according to these grounds as may confirme you in the course of honest and obedient subjects to your King in all times comming as also when ye shall fall in purpose with any that shall praise or excuse the by-past rebellions that break forth either in this Countrey or in any other ye shall herewith be armed against their Siren songs laying their particular examples to the square of these grounds Whereby ye shall soundly keep the course of righteous Iudgement discerning wisely of every action only according to the quality thereof and not according to your prejudged conceits of the committers So shall ye by reaping profit to your selves turne my paine into pleasure But least the whole Pamphlet run out at the gaping mouth of this Preface if it were any more enlarged I end with committing you to God and me to your charitable censures C. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The true Law of free Monarchies Or the reciprocke and mutuall duty betwixt a free King and his naturall Subjects AS there is not a thing so necessary to be known by the people of any Land next the knowledge of their God as the right knowledge of their alleageance according to the forme of Government established among them especially in a Monarchy which forme of Government as resembling the Divinity approcheth nearest to perfection as all the learned and wise men from the beginning have agreed upon Vnity being the perfection of all things So hath the ignorance and which is worse the seduced opinion of the multitude blinded by them who think themselves able to teach and instruct the ignorants procured the wrack and and overthrow of sundry flourishing Common-wealths and heaped heavy calamities threatning utter destruction upon others And the smiling successe that unlawfull rebellions have oftentimes had against Princes in ages past such hath been the misery and iniquity of the time hath by way of practise strengthned many in their error albeit there cannot be a more deceivable argument then to judge by the justnesse of the cause by the event thereof as hereafter shall be proved more at length And among others no Common-wealth that ever hath been since the beginning hath had greater need of the true knowledge of this ground then this our so long disordered and distracted Common-wealth hath the misknowledge hereof being the only spring from whence have flowed so many endlesse calamities miseries and confusions as is better felt by many than the cause thereof well known and deeply considered The natural zeale therfore that I beare to this my native Country with the great pity I have to see the so-long disturbance therof for lack of the true knowledg of this ground as I have said before hath compelled me at last to break silence to discharge my conscience to you my deare Countrymen herein that knowing the ground from whence these your many endles troubles have proceeded as well as ye have already too-long tasted the bitter fruits thereof ye may by knowledge and eschewing of the cause escape and divert the lamentable effects that ever necessarily follow thereupon I have chosen then only to set down in this short Treatise the true grounds of the mutuall duty and allegeance betwixt a free and absolute Monarche and his people not to trouble your patience with answering the contrary propositions which some hath not been ashamed to set down in writ to the poysoning of infinite number of simple soules and their own perpetuall and well deserved infamy For by answering them I could not have eschewed whiles to pick and bite well saltly their persons which would rather have bred contentiousnesse among the readers as they had liked or misliked then sound instruction of the truth Which I protest to him that is the searcher of all hearts is the only mark that I shoot at herein First then I will set down the true grounds whereupon I am to build out of the Scriptures since Monarchy is the true pattern of Divinity as I have already said next from the fundamentall Laws of our own Kingdome which nearest must concerne us thirdly from the Law of nature by divers similitudes drawn out of the same and will conclude sinne by answering the most waighty and appearing incommodities that can be objected The Princes duty to his subjects is so clearly set down in many places of the Scriptures and so openly confessed by all the good Princes according to their oath in their Coronation as not needing to belong therein I shall as shortly as I can run through it Kings are called Gods by the Propheticall King David Psal 82.6 because they sit upon God his throne in the earth and have the count of their administration to give unto him Their office is To minister justice and judgement to the people as the same David saith Psal 101. 2 King 18. 2 Chro 29. 2 Kin 22. 23.2.34 35. Psal 72 1 King 3. Rom. 13. 1 Sam. 8. Ier 29. To advance the good and punish the evill as he likewise saith To establish good laws to his people and procure obedience to the same as divers good Kings of Judah did To procure the peace of the people as the same David saith To decide all controversies that can arise among them as Salomon did To be the Minister of God for the weale of them that do well and as the Minister of God to take vengeance upon them that do evill as S. Paul saith And finally As a good Pastor to go out and in before his people as is said in the first of Samuel That through the Princes prosperity the peoples peace may be procured as Jeremy saith And therefore in the Coronation of our own Kings as well as of every Christian Monarch they give their oath first to maintain the Religion presently professed within their Countrey
confesse that a King at his coronation or at the entry to his Kingdome willingly promiseth to his people to discharge honorably and truely the office given him by God over them But presuming that thereafter hee breake his promise unto them never so inexcusable the question is who should be judge of the breake giving unto them this contract were made unto them never so sicker according to their alleageance I think no man that hath but the smallest entrance in the civill Law will doubt that of all law either civill or municipall of any nation a contract cannot be thought broken by the one party and so the other likewise to be freed therefro except that first a lawful tryall cognition be had by the ordinary Iudge of the breakers thereof Else every man may be both party and judge in his own cause which is absurd once to be thought Now in this contract I say betwixt the King and his people God is doubtlesse the only Iudge both because to him only the King must make count of his administration as is oft said before as likewise by the oath in the Coronation God is made judge and revenger of the breakers For in his presence as only judge of oaths all oaths ought to be made Then since God is the onely judge betwixt the two parties contractors the cognition and revenge must only appertaine to him It followes therefore of necessity that God must first give sentence upon the King that breaketh before the people can think themselves freed of their oath What justice then is it that the party shall be both judge and party usurping upon himselfe the office of God may by this argument easily appare And shall it lye in the hands of headlesse multitude when they please to weary off subjection to cast off the yoke of government that God hath said upon them to judge and punish him by whom they should be judged and punished and in that case wherein by their violence they kithe themselves to be most passionate parties to use the office of an ungracious Iudge or Arbiter Nay to speake truly of that case as it stands betwixt the King and his people none of them ought to judge of the others breake For considering rightly the two parties at the time of their mutuall promise the King is the one party and the whole people in one body are the other party And therefore since it is certaine that a King in case so it should fall out that his people in one body had rebelled against him the should not in that case as thinking himselfe free of his promise and oath become an utter enemy and practice the wreak of his whole people and native Country although he ought justly to punish the principall authors and bellowes of that universall rebellion how much lesse then ought the people that are alwayes subject unto him and naked of al authority on their part presse to judge and overthrow him otherwise the people as the one party contracters shal no sooner challenge the King as breaker but he as soone shall judge them as breakers so as the victors making the tyners the traitours as our proverb is the party shall aye become both judge and party in his owne particular as I have already said And it is here likewise to bee noted that the duty and allegeance which the people sweareth to their Prince is not only bound to themselves but likewise to their lawfull heires and posterity the lineall succession of Crowns being begun among the people of God and happily continued in diverse Christian common wealths So as no objection either of heresie or whatsoever private statute or Law may free the people from their oath given to their King and his succession established by the old fundamentall Lawes of the kingdom For as he is their heritable Over-lord and so by birth not by any right in the coronation commeth to his Crowne it is a like unlawfull the crowne ever standing full to displace him that succeedeth thereto as to eject the former For at the very moment of the expiring of the King raigning the nearest and lawfull heire entreth in his place And so to refuse him or intrude another is not to hold out uncomming in but to expell and put out their righteous King And I trust at this time whole France acknowledgeth the superstitious rebellion of the liguers who upon pretence of heresie by force of armes held so long out to the great desolation of their whole Country their native and righteous King from possessing of his own crown and naturall kingdom Not that by all this former discourse of mine Apology for Kings I meane that whatsoever errours and intollerable abhominations a Soveraigne Prince commit he ought to escape all punishment as if thereby the world were only ordained for Kings and they without controlement to turne it upside down at their pleasure But by the contrary by remitting them to God who is their only ordinary Iudge I remit them to the forest and sharpest schoole Master that can be devised for them For the further a King is preferred by God above all other rankes and degrees of men and the higher that his feate is above theirs the greater is his obligation to his maker And therefore in case hee forget himselfe his unthankfulnesse being in the same measure of height the sadder and sharper will his correction be and according to the greatnesse of the height he is in the waight of his sale will recompence the same For the further that any person is obliged to God his offence becom and growes so much the greates then it would bee in any other Ioves thunder-claps light oftner and sorer upon the high stately Oakes then on the low and supple willow trees And the highest bench is sliddriest to sit upon Neither is it ever heard that any King forgets himselfe towards God or in his vocation but God with the greatnes of the plague revengeth the greatnesse of his ingratitude Neither think I by the force argument of this my discourse so to perswade the people that none will hereafter be raised up and rebell against wicked Princes But remitting to the justice and providence of God to stirre up such scourges as pleaseth him for unishment of wicked Kings who made the very vermine and filthy dust of the earth to bridle the insolency of proud Pharaoh my only purpose and it tention in this treatise is to perswade as far as lyeth in me by these sure and infallible grounds all such good Christian Readers as beare not only the naked name of a Christian but kith the fruits thereof in their daily forme of life to keepe their hearts and hands free from such monstrous and unnaturall rebellions whensoever the wickednes of a Prince shall procures the same at Gods hands that when it shall please God to cast such such scourges of Princes and instruments of his fury in the fire ye may stand up with cleane hands and unspotted consciences having proved your selves in all your actions true christians toward God and dutifull subjects towards your King having remitted the judgment and punishment of all his wrongs to him whom to only of right it appertaineth But craving at God and hoping that God shall continue his blessing with us in not sending such fearefull desolation I heartily wish our Kings behaviour so to be and continue among us as our God in earth and loving Father indued with such properties as I described a King in the first part of this Treatise And that ye my deare Country men and charitable readers may presse by all meanes to procure the prosperity and welfare of your King that as he must on the one part thinke a I his earthly felicity and happinesse grounded upon your weale caring more for himselfe for your sake then for his own thinking himselfe only ordained for your weale such holy and happy emulation may arise betwixt him and you as his care for your quietnesse and your care for his honour and preservation may in all your actions daily strive together that the Land may thinke themselves blessed with such a King and the King may thinke Himselfe most happie in ruling over so loving and obedient Sukjects FINIS