12. and in his due time will relieve the oppressed and afflicted If we make diligent and exact Scrutiny into other Relations of human and civil dependencies our Judgments may be assisted for the more clear apprehending of truths of Government wherein we shall find some obligations between them so strictly enjoyned that they cannot be violated without the brand of Impiety as between Parents and Children Husband and Wife Master and Servant Col. 3. 18 19. 20 21 22. Job 31. 13. between whom although by the Laws of God and Man there be many reciprocal Duties yet are they nothing if weighed in a just Ballance in comparison to what Kings themselves owe to God and the Governed who are also the Church of Christ for what ever injury is done to a Christian Commonwealth is at the same time done against the Church of God whereof Christ is Head and King and those whom we call Kings thereof are but his Substitutes and Vicegerents and ought to govern as he hath commanded and as he will do when he shall come again in Glory to reign on Earth Besides they are constituted and ordained by the Governed under Conditions Covenants and Agreement not that themselves may live at ease only and command and rule at Pleasure but as Gods Vicegerents and as Trustees and Administrators of the Governed to rule and govern according to his and their own Laws quas vulgus eligerit for what a madness should we esteem it in human Affairs if Deputies Viceroyes and Lieutenants of Earthly Kings should for their own private ends and interest prefer them before the Honour Glory and Service of their Kings They who so administer Affairs take not right measures of their Masters Glory and the Peoples good but comply with the flatteries of their own Lusts their particular Advantages sinful Ends and interests or hatred furiously transporting them to the publick ruin privati Commodi vel odii pertinacia in publicum exitium stimulante Tacit. lib. 1. hist Private Interest and concerns saith Livy always have and always will hinder publick good Councils privatae res semper officere officientque publicis consiliis Livy lib 22. The Heathen taught only by the light of Nature could discern the truth of these things and have left Monuments thereof on their Tombs and Coins They doubted not saith Valerius that Empires were made to serve holy Purposes and that all things even such where the Lustre of Supreme Majesty was to appear were to be placed after Religion Kings Princes and Governours being partakers of the same human Nature in common with their Subjects are equally obliged by the same Laws of God and Nature to keep Faith and Covenant the common Law of Nature with them and therefore the Obligation of keeping Faith and Covenant is equally obligatory both to Prince and People As by the Law of Nature so by the Law of God Covenants are inviolably to be kept and not broken by either Prince or People And as Covenants between God and the King and between God and the People so between Kings and the People which as they are most solemnly made so they are as sacredly to be kâ—pt and that under great Menaces Pains and Penalties God hath given his â—ord that â—e will never break his Covenant Jud. 2. 1. and Psal 89. 34. My Covenant I will not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of my Mouth and requires and expects the like punctual performance from his Vicegerents and bitterly curses those that do infringe and break plighted Faith and Agreements Cursed be the Man that obeyeth not the words of this Covenant Jâ—r 11. 31. and God for the breach of Covenant gave the Princes of Judah and the Princes of Jerusalem the Eunuchs and the Priests and all the People of the land into the hands of the Enemies and into the hands of them that sought their lives and their Bodies for meat unto the Fowls of Heaven and to the Beasts of the Earth Jer. 34. 19 20. Besides God is no respecter of Persons Kings and Peasants are all alike to him all the Works of his own Hands all made of the same Mould all redeemed with the same previous Blood all his own Images and Temples and shall stand in an equal distance before his Tribunal who will judge all breakers of Covenant whether Kings or Peasants according to his own Righteous Judgment Neither Kings nor People have any Priviledge or Prerogative to break Covenant and they that do be they Kings or be they People are justly esteemed Rebels to the Laws and Covenants and the injured Persons have just Cause to right and defend themselves if oppressed by such Violation Kings accounting themselves as Gods Ministers and Vicegerents and Fathers of their Countries ought so to govern in good earnest and they being placed on their Thrones as such by the People ought to keep Laws and Covenants punctually with them and which they cannot break or sham without being perjured and becoming guilty of Tyranny and Oppression No Kings nor Princes can be so indulgent nor so really fond and ambitious of their Peoples Love and Welfare as God is of the Love of Mankind like as a Father pittieth his Children so the Lord pittieth them that fear him Psal 103. 13. testified by his making them a little lower than the Angels and crowning them with Glory and Honour and giving them Dominion over the works of his Hands and by putting all things under their Feet all Sheep and Oxen c. Psal 8. And indeed the whole Creation for his own Glory and the good and Solace of Mankind Did he not command Moses to carry his people in his Bosom as a Nursing Father beareth his sucking Child Num. 11. 12. Can a Woman forget her sucking Child that â—he should not have compassion on the Son of her Womb yea they may forget yet will not I forget them Isa 49. 15. If God hear but Ephraim bemoaning himself how passionately doth he expostulate with himself Is Ephraim my dear Son is he a pleasant Child For since I spake against him I do earnestly remember him still therefore my Bowels are troubled for him I will surely have mercy upon him saith the Lord Jer. 31. 20. Doth God who is Lord alone of all the Kingdoms of the Earth make known his excessive fondness of his People by such Bowels of Compassion How then dare his Vicegerents requite evil for good contrary to Gods own Commands and Practice and not seek the Good and Welfare of their People without having Hearts harder than the nether Millstone Again How shall I give thee up O Ephraim How shall I deliver thee O Israel my Heart is turned within me my Repentings are kindled together Hos 11. 9. Tho you will neither turn nor repent yet how shall I give thee up So desirous is he of his Peoples Repentance that he beseecheth them till he is weary of repenting Jer. 15. 6. even passionately with Oaths doth he expostulate with
Disputes as it is now most necessary Tho God appointed David King yet he was to be chosen by the People 2 Sam. 5. 1. So Solomon 1 Chron. 29. 22. and tho the Crown of right did belong to David's Family yet the People did choose which of the Family best pleased them and that by a double Obligation as may appear by the History of Joas 2 King. 11. 4. and 17. For the King and the People by a Solemn Oath did promise to God that they would keep his Laws both Ecclesiastical and Civil Afterwards there was another Oath between King and People at which time there was a Right in the People i. e. Ordinibus Populi to call him to Account whom they had ordained King if he performed not his Duty Which is made out by Examples If it were lawful for David to defend himself from the Tyranny of Saul and for the City of Libnah the City of the Priests and inferiour Magistrates only to withdraw themselves from the Obedience of Joram the sixth Successor from David because he had forsaken the Lord God of his Fathers which City belonging to the Priests it is very apparent that their case was far different from that of the Idumaeans which hapned at the same time under the same King for it is not likely that the Edomites withdrew themselves from the Subjection of the Israelites that they might serve God whom they never served but hated him and the Israelites but desired to free themselves from thier Subjection But the Priests and Inhabitants of Libnah not being able to serve two Masters God and the Tyrant threw of his Yoak that they might the better serve God will it not naturally follow that the States of a Kingdom may lawfully defend and free themselves from Tyranny The Fact also of the Rulers over Hundreds with the Captains by the Advice of Joida against Athalia and of the Israelites against Amasia 2 King. 14. 19. whom they slew which was not seditiously but lawfully done for it is no where said that Amasius was slain by his Servants as it hapned to his Father Joas and to Ammon the Son of Manasses but by the common consent of Jerusalem and that not treacherously the end of most Tyrants but by publick force and publick Authority not tumultuously but after he had fled to the City Lachish from whence his Body was carried to the Sepulchers of his Fathers which is confirmed for that after his death we do not read of any Inquisition made how he came to be slain or that any Body was punished or called in question for it either by the People or his Children as there was for Ammon and Joas 2 King. 12. 10. 14. 5. 21. 24. but on the contrary in respect to Kingly Dignity and his Fathers Family they chose Azariah his Son King. Hence we may conclude that the chief States or Ordines of Jerusalem had a rightful Power to choose a King out of the Family of David whom they pleased and when elected him either to eject or punish according as he did or did not observe the Laws So the Danes dethroned and imprisoned Christiern their Tyrant King till he dyed and chose his Uncle in his room It is not unknown how Gustavus Erickson freed himself and his Subjects from their Subjection to the Danes and also how they kept their King Captive for Male-Government which they translated to his Brother To say nothing of England and Scotland Poland keeps its ancient Right of choosing their Kings on certain Terms and Conditions with this Salvo That it may be lawful to be quit of their Oath if the King keep not his as it may appear by their Election of Henry Brother to the King of France which agrees with Bishop Valentine Procurator for the King in that Election who in his Oration to the People publickly made and printed commended them for that they did limit and circumscribe the Power of the King by wise Laws So the Venetians whose General Council hath Authority of choosing their Duke reserving Power to themselves of deposing or punishing them if he endeavour or do any thing Tyrannically So the Venetians constitute their Duke not as an Idol but as a Prince and Monarch from whom without any danger of Tyranny all the Lawful Priviledges and Prerogatives of Kings do issue and flow Now as their General Council have all the Authority of choosing him observing their ancient Rites and Customs used therein so the same Council retain to themselves the Right of deposing or punishing him if he govern Tyrannically without which Power all the rest would signifie little So consider that Wise and Prudent Nation of Spain In the Fourth Council of Toledo cap. 74. held 1144. according to Sigibert's Computation and consisted both of Ecclesiasticks and of the States of that Kingdom it is thus recorded viz. Nullus apud nos sub presumptione regnum arripiat c. Let no Man presume to take upon him the Government of this Kingdom no Man move or stir up Sedition among the Citizens no Man design the Destruction of the King but when the King dies let the Princes and Peers of the Nation with the Priests constitute the Successor in Common Council that whilst Unity and Concord are preserved amongst us no Discord may arise But if this Admonition do not quiet our Minds and move our Hearts to endeavour the common Good then hear our Sentence Whoever of us or of all the People of this Nation shall by any Conjuration or Study violate the Sacrament of his Faith or Allegiance which for the State of his Country and of the Gothick Nation or for the Preservation of the Welfare of the King he had promised or plighted or shall compass the Kings death or divest him of his Power or by any Tyrannical Presumption shall attempt or usurp the Crown Let him be Anathema Accursed in the sight of God the Father and his Angels and from the Catholick Church which by Perjury he hath profaned and from all the Company of Christians with all his Associates in iniquity be for ever debarred because it must needs be that the same Punishment is due to all the Complices and Companions in the same Crimes which we again the second time repeat Quod iterum secundo replicamus dicentes quicunque à modo c. And therefore may it please all here present by your consent to confirm this Sentence the third time by the Universal Clergy or People it is pronounced that whoever shall presume against this our definitive Sentence Let him be Anathema Maranatha i. e. Accursed at the coming of the Lord and that he and his Fellows may have their Portion with Judas Iscariot Amen Wherefore we admonish the whole Church of God and the People that no Man presume to condemn this dreadful Sentence but that they keep their plighted Faith towards our glorious King Sisenand c. And we humbly require thee our present King and all future Princes that
commandment to the right hand or to the left to the end that he may prolong his days in his Kingdom Deut. 17. 16 20. If they so Reign then by me Kings reign is well applied but if they walk contrary then they are no more God's Vice-gerents but the Devils For God never gave encouragement to Princes to work wickedness or to oppress or harrass Subjects but punished them for not Governing righteously The Premisses considered will certainly yield this undeniable conclusion That because God hath given the governed Power and Instruction whom to set Kings over them viz. this Man not that one from among their Brethren not a stranger which is not their Brother therefore the People have a Power to chuse this or that Man for their King. The Reasons are clear for that God's Law doth not impower an Ignis fatuus a non-ens nor can God's Law countenance or abet an unlawful Power or an unlawful Action but interdict it Besides there being now no immediate inspired Prophets as Samuel or Elisha to anoint David not Eliab Solomon not Adoniah nor any Man by Natures Law born with a Regal Diadem on his Head or Scepter in his Hand It must necessarily follow That Kings must have their Power from the suffrages and consent of the governed if they will Govern Lawfully and not be Usurpers And it was so from the first Institutions of publick Government For when the World began to multiply and reciprocal Injuries Injustices and Oppressions did increase among them the Light of Nature and common Sense did dictate unto them That there was no way to prevent and redress all evils of Oppression Injustice c. incident to the whole Race of Mankind but to come to an Agreement and Composition among themselves by Constituting some kind of publick Government and by submiting themselves thereunto And that unto whom they granted Power and Authority by them the Peace Tranquility and happy Estate of all might be procured Men always knew that when Force and Injury was done they might by the Law of Nature defend themselves They likewise knew by the Instinct of Nature that howsoever Men might seek their own profit and happiness yet if this were done with Injury unto others it was not to be suffered but by all Men and all good Means to be withstood They knew also by the same Light that no Man might in Reason take upon him to determine his own Right and therefore debates and troubles would be endless except they gave their common consent all to be ordered by some whom they should agree upon without which consent there were no Reason that one Man should take upon him to be Lord or Judge over another and therefore for manifestation of this their Right and peaceable Contentment on all sides the Assent of them who were to be governed became absolutely necessary So Judicious Hooker and all prudent Authors writing of Government CHAP. VII Whole Kingdoms to be preferred before Kings Deputators to be preferred before Deputies Kings are not immediately from God but from the People who may limit and bind Royal Power as they please The People give only their Politick Power to Kings reserving their Natural Power for self-preservation and happiness which they cannot resign nor deligate without sin Law acknowledgeth no Supremacy nor Sovereignty but according to Law. Covenants have been made with Kings both under the Law and since and are equally binding both to King and People The People cannot absolutely and unaccountably resign their whole Power to Kings without sin manifestly thereby breaking Covenant first made with God. SEeing Kings are constituted and appointed by the People and for the People to preside over them and manage their own Government and to defend them by going in and out before them to fight their Battels and to see that Judgment be impartially and indifferently administred it naturally and undeniably follows that whole Kingdoms are to be preferred before the Kings thereof as the good of the whole is to be preferred before the good of any part Mr. John Turner in his Sermon September 9. 1683. though he extends Passive Obedience and Prerogative far beyond their just limits yet ingeniously confesseth That the Interest of Nations is to be preferred before the Interest or Welfare of any one Man and grounds it on the Prophecy of Caiphas John 11. 45 50. That it is expedient that one man should die for the People and that the whole Nation perish not which he accounts a sure word of Prophecy that is the Testimony of God himself that a greater Interest of Mankind is to be preferred before a lesser p. 20 21. Such force there is in conferring Authorities that they who receive Authorities are necessarily to be esteemed inferior to those who give them Potiphar the Aegyptian set Joseph over all his Family Nebuchadnezar set Daniel over all the Province of Babylon Dan. 2. 48. Darius set One hundred and twenty Presidents over his Kingdom and yet did not devest themselves of the Dominion of their own Power and Authority So the People set Kings over them as chief Ministers of their Government without devesting themselves of the vertual Power and Dominion thereof Which title of Minister good Kings refuse not to acknowledge but imbrace and for some Ages among the Roman Emperors none unless manifest Tyrants such as Nero Domitian Caligula would be called Lords And therefore Holy Writ stiles them Shepherds to feed them Psalm 78. 79 71 72. Captains to defend them and go in and out before them Ministers of God for their good Rom. 13. 4. Nursing-fathers to carry them in their bosoms as a nursing-Nursing-father beareth the sucking Child Numb 11. 12. Isaiah 49. 23. A Kingdom or Commonwealth may be compared to a Ship where the Master chuseth the Pilot who is chosen to steer the Ship in its right course that it strike not on the Sands nor against the Rocks in which imployment as all the rest so the Master himself obeys and submits to the Pilot who notwithstanding is Servant to the Ship and to the Masters So Kings are in the place of Governing but the People in the place or right of Dominion Besides a Common-wealth when Christian is the inheritance and anointed of the Lord Psalm 105. 15. made of the same Mould redeemed with the same precious blood as Kings are Act. 20. 28. and whose deaths are precious in his sight and the destruction but of one of them is the violation of God's own Image Gen. 9. 6. And therefore the death and destruction of a Kingdom considered as a Church of an innumerable company of Men is of more concern with the Almighty than the death of a King. For Kings are not God's Inheritance nor his Chosen nor the Sheep of his Pasture nor the Redeemed of his Son because Kings but as they are the created Images of God in common with all other Men their Subjects And all those high and mighty Titles Prerogatives and Priviledges by which they
afterwards were that after Samuel from the mouth of God himself had solemnly protested unto them read their destiny shewed them what would betide them and that when it did happen though they should cry out in that day because of their King which they had chosen the Lord would not hear them ver 18. that yet notwithstanding all these forewarnings would yet reject God's Righteous and easy Government for a Heathenish they were but justly served and their usage afterwards was but a just recompence and reward of their rejection and folly for Saul had never been King if they had not chosen him and it was in wrath and displeasure that God gratified them therein as a punishment of their Folly and Rebellion which is no Justification but a Condemnation rather of that kind of Arbitrary Government and therefore the same Prophet told them also That if still ye shall do wickedly ye shall be consumed ye and your King and so it proved Those our Teachers are but false Prophets that teach that the Right of Kings is set down by Samuel chap. 8. and ought to be punished for neither did the People of Israel ever allow or the Kings avow any such power to be their just Right as appears by the Story of Ahab and Naboth Some indeed did exercise it but that is no more a proof of the right thereof than their practice of Adultery Idolatry or of any other sin was of the lawfulness of such sins When Cambyses designed to marry his Sister his Magi told him that no Law did allow it yet there was a Law which did allow the King of Persia to do what he would Just such Magi are our Priests that teach that there is no Law for Kings to Tyrannize or Oppress yet if he do he is unaccountable If this had been the right of the Kings of Israel that lex Regia commanded Deut. 17. and the strict injoyment of the perpetual reading perusing and observing the Book of the Law was in vain and to no purpose What if the Rebellious Stubborn and Stiff necked Jews a foolish People and unwise had a mind to be so governed what doth it concern Christians those that know better things have more wit and more grace and willing to enjoy the liberty and freedom that God hath given them in a Government where their Kings are solemnly obliged by Laws and Oaths as well as themselves whereby their duties become reciprocal and obedience due and expected accordingly Besides is it rational to believe any People except Jews that to day will have a King like other Nations and to morrow will not have this man rule over them and that with cursed Imprications Let his Blood be on us and our Children which is still executing even to this very day to be so sottish to give Kings such vast Revenues and such absolute unquestionable Powers as to whip them with Scorpions and tear their Flesh with Briars and Thorns impune and none to say unto them Why do you thus O but the Prophet tells you Ye shall be his servants 1 Sam. 8. 17. True and the Prophet tells you their Kings shall minister unto thee i. e. to the Church Isa 60. 10. And thus saith the Lord I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles i. e. The Church which shall be gathered by the Preaching of the Gospel which Church we are and they shall bring thy Sons in their Arms and thy Daughters shall be carried on their Shoulders And Kings shall be thy Nursing fathers to carry them in their Bosoms as Nursing-fathers beareth the sucking Child Numb 11. 12. and Queens shall be thy Nursing-mothers they shall bow down to thee with their Face towards the Earth and lick up the dust of thy Feet Isa 49. 22. 23. in which Church Christ her Head is always included and always to be understood As for the place in Samuel ye shall be his Servants it is but a foretelling and premonition that he would make them so be it right or wrong not that they had any just right to make them so but be it so what then even then also there is a reciprocal duty between Masters and Servants Servants are to obey their Masters in singleness of Heart as unto Christ with good will doing service as unto the Lord Eph. 6. 5 6 7 8. So the Masters are to do the like things unto them forbearing Threatning knowing also that your Master is in Heaven neither is there respect of Persons with him ver 9. Such Service all Subjects owe to their Princes and other Services no Prince ought to command Job who was the greatest man of the East solemnly protested to God his Integrity towards his very Servants If I did despise the cause of my Man-servant or of my Maid-servant when they contended with me what then shall I do when God ariseth up and when he visiteth what shall I answer him Did not he that made me in the Womb make him And did not one fashion us in the Womb ch 31. 13 14 15. By which it is apparent that there are reciprocal duties between King and Subject between Master and Servant So the Gibeonites who were sent from the Elders and all the Inhabitants of their Country became Servants unto Israel with whom all the Elders of the Congregation made a League with them and did swear unto them which though the Gibeonites got surreptitiously yet they solemnly kept it and would not smite them when they came before their Cities because the Princes of the Congregation had sworn unto them Josh 9. 11 12 13 14 15. As there were Laws for Children Strangers Men-servants and Maid-servants so there were Laws for Kings Parents and Masters by Gods own prescription and to be reciprocally observed If a Stranger sojourn with thee in your Land ye shall not vex nor oppress him but he shall be unto you as one born amongst you and thou shalt love him as thy self for ye were Strangers in the Land of Egypt I am the Lord your God Exod. 22. 21. 19. Lev. 34. Shall these have their remedy against their Lords and Parents And shall a free People whole Nations be left to merciless Tyrants without Remedy Laws for the King Deut. 17. 17 18 19 20. So Jerem. 22. 3 4. Call to mind the bondage and cruel usage of Gods own People the Jews in Egypt who because they were under no reciprocal Covenants nor had power to relieve themselves therefore God himself stood up in quarrel of his own Covenant and pleaded their cause and brought them out of that Iron Furnace with a high hand and stretched out Arm in despight of the Lawless Hectoring Pharaoh whom neither the Plague of Frogs nor Lice nor Flies nor Murrain of Cattel nor Boyls nor Blains nor Hail nor Locusts nor loss of Cattel of Fruits of Water and of the First-born of all the Land could prevail with him to let go his sin nor the Israelites but will once more rush into the midst of
the manner of the Kingdom he wrote it in a Book which Book say the Hebrew Doctors the Kings either tore or burnt that they might more freely tyrannize Though the Pulpits do not march quatuor pedibus along with Leviathan in his Dogma's of Arbitrary Power in Kings and Princes of quod libet licet in the Twentieth Chapter of his Second Part and elsewhere sparsim yet they go hand in hand with him thus far That if Kings do act contrary to the Laws of God and Nature and of Man yet they are responsible and accountable to none but to God himself Whereas there is not one plain Text or Syllable in the whole Bible maugre all false glosses that concludes any thing for Kings being unaccountable unto human Judgments or that they have an absolute Power or Divine Prerogative So that in summ The Pulpits and Leviathan are so far agreed as to dogmatize Lyes and false Doctrines for to justifie that Kings maugre all mutual and reciprocal Laws Pacts and Covenants may act and govern how they please And to justifie and assert that they ought not so to Govern but to observe the Laws of God of Nature and of Men but yet if they do not they are notwithstanding responsible and accountable to none on Earth but to God only for their so doing which in truth differ in their consequences no more than Herring-men do from Fisher-men and both stink in the Nostrils both of God and of all good Men as destructive to the well being and good Government of all human Societies and have no sound Foundation in the Law of God of Nature or of Reason but are contrary to them all for sans doubt they that have Authority to give and apply Power to this or that Person have Authority also to consure his Actions against the Law of Nature 1. Self-preservation than which nothing is more dear and which Nature seeks by all means and endeavours to preserve as inviolable is common to a Man with all other Animals if you tread but upon a Worm it will turn and if it have a Sting or a Fangue or a Poison have at you 2. Then whatsoever may conduce to its other Happiness of its well-being it labours to obtain them and to avoid the contrary and to hate and revenge the Opposers so that vim vi repellere is as natural to Man as to all other Animals Other Laws of Natural consequence implanted and grafted in him in his first Creation for the better Reglement of Communities throughout the whole World as to do good to all to hurt no Innocents to keep Covenants Promises and Contracts faithfully to contribute their utmost to procure the Happiness of the whole of that Kingdom that Commonwealth or that Society or Community whereof they are Members All which are utterly confounded and destroyed by such Leviathan Pulpit Doctrines 3. It 's against the Law of Men and Nations for where ever there are Laws between Kings and People wherein Salus Populi is ever to be presumed to be the Supreme Law for that God made the whole Creation not only for the Necessities but for the Delights also of the whole Race of Mankind in general and equally without respect of Persons solemnly made and sworn unto by mutual consent there they do mutually reciprocally and solemnly bind each other And the Sword placed in the Magistrates hand is not as the material Sword in the hand of Alexander not to untie but to cut the Traces of that fatal Gordian Chariot but the establisht Laws are the true Sword to which both King and People must submit and be responsible if otherwise making of Laws were but Leonis Catulum alere vid. Eras Adag p. 1. 709. For as the Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God so the Sword of Magistrates are the Laws of God and of Man All which Rights and Priviledges of Mankind are utterly destroyed if this Doctrine be good Doctrine Oaths between King and People being of the same nature with that between Rahab and the Spies which if not performed by her they were to be quit of the Oath which She had made them to swear For Kings though in Title in the execution of Laws and in many Prerogatives they are singulis majores yet in the main they are universis minores the reason is irrefrigable for that the People make Kings and not Kings the People And the like reason Christ is the everlasting Head of the Church because Christ made and ordained the Church to be his peculiar People and not the Church Him the Head of them In Paternal Government which is indisputable there the Fathers beget the Children and not the Children the Father and they owe him Obedience though morose and bitter to them yet if he prove a Tyrant over them their Obligation to him is cancelled and if he Murder any of them he himself shall suffer Death Nature gives Fathers to the People but the People make Kings to themselves and therefore Kings are constituted for the People and not the People for Kings Some places of Scripture are urged though of very little force when brought to the Test and well examined As first let my Sentence come forth from thy presence let thine Eyes behold the things that are equal Psalm 17. 2. What hath this Text to do more particularly with the Government between Kings and their People than with all other troubles and afflictions that Mankind in general is subject unto c. being as applicable to every particular Person persecuted and in troubles as to King David here in confidence of his Integrity craveth defence of God against his Enemies and so may any Body else but it proves nothing that Kings if they oppress their Subjects shall be accountable to none but to God Almighty It doth prove that any oppressed King or not King may appeal unto God to plead their Cause and Protect and Defend them And if it be lawful so to Pray it is lawful to put to their own helping Hands to relieve themselves by any lawful means and endeavours and pray to God to bless their endeavours and so by their prayers and endeavours to co-operate together 't is an Appeal to God to judg between him and his Enemies And is it not lawful nay the duty of all States and Kingdoms to make the like Appeals and Supplications to God Almighty It 's probable that David wrote this Psalm when he was troubled and persecuted by Saul even after he was anointed of God and because he did then make Supplications and Appeal to Jonathan for his life if there be iniquity in me slay me thy self for why shouldst thou bring me to thy Father Will it follow therefore that court was to be made to Jonathan only I doubt not This is a great Example and Encouragement to those that are falsly accused to appeal to God by Prayers and Supplications for help and the reasons that follow are great viz. thine Eyes behold the things that are
Kings and Princes but what is just and right and equal Righteousness and Judgment are the Basis and establishment of his own Throne and shall Kings pretend to govern otherwise When the Pharisees pretending kindness but designing mischief to Jesus advised him to depart out of their Coasts for that Herod sought to kill him Luke 13. 32 33. Christ did not depart nor yet return any low pittiful answer but boldly answered Go tell that Fox I do cast out Devils and do cures to day and to morrow c. thereby intimating that Kings have no lawful Power to wrong their Subjects or to hinder any from doing good to others or their duty towards God though by Fox-like advisoes they usurp dominion beyond all just right and that God himself esteems them no other or better than Bruits according to Psal 49. 20. Man that is in honour and understandeth not is like the Beasts that perish now what is here meant by understanding is declared by Job the greatest man of the East Job 28. 28. The fear of the Lord that is wisdom and to depart from evil that is understanding So David a King tells us the same Psal 111. 10. and so King Solomon the wisest of men Prov. 1. 7 8 9. ch 10. with promises of great Blessings He that feareth the Lord his soul shall dwell at ease and his seed shall inherit the Earth and the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him and he will shew them his Covenant Psal 25. 12 13 14. All other wordly wisdom that hath not respect to eternity is but foolishness and bruitish and the esteem that God himself hath of the greatest men on earth without this wisdom is but as that of Bruits So John Baptist esteemed the Pharisees and Sadducees but as a generation of Vipers Matth. 3. 7. So God by Jeremy to the voluptuous when he had fed them to the full they then committed Adultery and assemble themselves by Troops in Harlots Houses they were as fed Horses c. Jer. 5. 8. So David Dogs have compassed me the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me Psal 22. 16. So Isaiah calls ignorant and blind Watchmen Dogs ye greedy Dogs Isaiah 56. 10 11. And Christ forewarned them not to give that which is holy unto Dogs neither cast Pearl before Swine Matth. 7. 6. So was Paul's caution to the Philippians 3. 2. Beware of Dogs beware of evil workers whereby it is apparent that there is no mean between a Saint and a Bruit be they great or small rich or poor Heaven and Hell will divide the whole world without respect of Persons And therefore the advice of David a King is to be followed Be ye not like Horse and Mule which have no understanding Psal 32. 9. A Bruitish man knoweth not neither doth a Fool understand this Psal 92. 6. All the Machiavilians and Leviathans and time-serving Pulpiteers of the world and their Council without such understanding are but as Bruits and Bruitish void of true sense and understanding Christ suffered under a Tyrant true but how could be suffer but under a Tyrant that feared neither God nor Man Christ came into the world in the form of a Servant and to suffer what for not to bring us under but to free us from the yoke of Bondage both Spiritual and Temporal Consider well the answer which Christ gave to the Mother of Zebedee's Children desiring that her two Sons might sit the one on his right the other on his left hand in his Kingdom viz. Ye know that the Princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them and they that are great exercise Authority over them but it shall not be so among you but whoever will be great among you let him be your Servant even as the Son of Man came not to be ministred unto but to minister Zebedee's Sons dreaming of a Kingdom that Christ should suddenly have on Earth and affecting to be chief in that Kingdom and next unto him there arose among them a strife through Pride cometh Contention who should be greatest among them whence that proud demand that one might sit on his right hand and the other on his left But Christ gently rebuked their proud aspiring humour and in them all Christians shewing that the Princes of the Gentiles did domineer and play Rex among their Brethren a temper very ill beseeming Christians but it shall not be so among you in whom the spirit of the living God should dwell but whoever will be great among you let him be your Minister and whoever will be chief among you let him be your Servant and made himself the great exemplar of so great humility who came not to be ministred unto but to minister of which he gave real testimony through the whole course of his life first coming down from Heaven his Imperial Residence then refusing to be made a King here on Earth when 5000 designed to have taken him by force to have made him a King. Then by washing his Disciples feet breaking Bread unto them And to consummate all he became obedient to death even that shameful death the death of the Cross for us men and for our Salvation and indeed the whole course of his Life was but administration of all good to all Rich or Poor without respect of Persons which is the proper duty of all Kings But it shall not be so among you i. e. Proud and aspiring domination ought not to be among Christians though they bear the glorious Titles of Evargitae or Benefactors nay of Emperors Kings or Princes Kings Christians especially though Kings by name and title yet in truth are but Servants to the governed So Moses who certainly had as great and as unquestionable authority over the Israelites as ever mortal had to whom God himself did dictate Laws yet did he never proudly domineer over them tho' provoked to the uttermost so that he desired God to kill him that he might not see his wretchedness to their prejudice or detriment but did bear the burden of them all carried them in his bosom as a nursing Father beareth the nursing Child and pleaded importunately with God himself to save them from destruction when the Fire of the Lord was consuming them at Taberah and prevailed worthy the imitation of all those who stile themselves Gods Vicegerents then should the governed have no oppression no complaining in our Streets but should every man sit quietly under his own Vine and under his own Fig-tree So Plato called Magistrates not Lords but Ministers and Servants of the People and calleth the People not Servants but Benefactors as those that allow and give them in gratitude and recompence for their service wherewithal to keep a Kingly State and Grandeur and depute them also their Conservators and Executioners of their Laws So Aristotle calls them Ministers and Keepers of their Laws the Apostles call them Ministers both of the Laws of God and of the People and no doubt but they are so
and therefore they ought to be as Faithful as was Moses in not deviating from Gods Commandments Christ in the Scriptures is not against Superiority Kingship Government or Governours but against the haughty and insolent deportment and tyrannical abuse of the power committed to their charge as the Heathen Princes did which he rebukes here intimating that so to govern is to rule over others to their own hurt and that to such a Wo is denounced Wo to them that decree unrighteous Decrees and that write grievousness which they have prescribed to turn aside the Needy from Judgment and to take away the right from the Poor that Widdows may be their Prey and that they may rob the Fatherless But be not ye like unto the Heathen who govern after such a rate but the greater you are in Honour and Power be ye more humble and as him that serveth and being as Gods Vicegerents in which appellation you all glory and boast be ye all Imitators of him and follow his example doing good to all executing judgment and Righteousness and delivering the spoiled out of the hand of the Oppressor and do no wrong no violence to the Stranger the Fatherless nor to the Widdows neither shed innocent blood least his fury go out like Fire and burn that none can quench it because of the evil of such doings The greater you are the more humble ye ought to be and then ye shall find favour with the Lord. In lowliness of mind let each esteem others better then themselves As were his Precepts so was his example who though he was chief Priest King and Lord yet was he in the midst of his Disciples as he that serveth It is not Regality but Piety that ennobles and makes Princes in good earnest Gods Vicegerents Carry them in thy bosom as a Nursing Father carryeth the sucking Child into the Land which thou swearest unto their Fathers a prescription and document for all Emperors Kings and Princes so God to Moses whom he made Prince and Lawgiver over the Jews his peculiar People i. e. lovingly tenderly carefully which sheweth the great love mildness gentleness that should be in Governours So Christ He shall feed his Flock like a Shepherd he shall gather his Lambs in his Arms and bear them in his bosom and he shall gently lead those that are young Isaiah 40. 11. So Paul We were gentle among you even as a Nurse cherisheth her children we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a Father doth his Children 1 Thes 2. 7. 11. Accordingly the Hebrews have this Rule for all Governors It is unlawful for a man to govern with Stateliness over the Congregation and with Haughtiness of Spirit but with Meekness and Fear And every Pastour that bringeth more terror upon the Congregation than is for the name of God he shall be punished and so it is not lawful for him to govern them with contemptuous carriage although they be the Common People of the Land neither may he tread upon the heads of the holy People although they be unlearned and base they be the sons of Abraham c. But he must bear the toyl of the Congregation and their burden as Moses our Master of whom it is said as a Nursing Father beareth his Child c. Maimon in Misn tom 4. in Sanhedrim ch 25. Sect. 1. 2. When the burden of the Government grew too heavy for Moses God commanded him saying Gather unto me Seventy men of the Elders of Israel whom thou knowest to be Elders of the People and Officers over them and bring them unto the Tabernacle of the Congregation that they may stand there with thee and I will come down and talk with them and I will take of the Spirit which is on thee and will put it upon them and they shall bear the burden of the People with thee that thou bear it not thy self alone Num 11. 16 17. By so doing Moses spirit was not at all diminished for as Sol Jarchi saith Moses in that hour was like unto the Lamp that was left burning in the Candlestick in the Sanctuary from which all the other Lamps were lighted yet the light thereof was not lessened but God shewed hereby that none without gifts of his Spirit are fit for Office and Government So Jethro to Moses Choose able Men such as fear God Men of Truth hating covetousness and place such over them Exod. 18. 21. Deut. 1. 13. Acts 6. 3. The Hebrews have this rule viz. Any Synedrion King or Governor that shall set up a Judge for Israel that is not fit and is not wise in the wisdom of the Law and meet to be a Judge although he be wholly amiable and have in him other good things yet he that setteth him up transgresseth c. Maim in Sanhedrim Chap. 3. Sect. 8. to Kings and Queens not Governing as they ought Jeremy is sent Chap. 13. 18. Say unto the King and to the Queen Humble your selves sit down for your Principalities shall come down even the Crown of your Glory Obj. Submit your selves to every ordinance of men for the Lord's sake whether it be to the King as a Supreme or unto Governors as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers and for the praise of them that do well for so is the Will of God thâ— with well doing yee may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men Peter writ his Epistle to private Persons strangers scattered through Pontus Galatia Gappadâ—â—ia Asia Bythinia to a People scattered through the lesser Asia being there as Sojourners and consequently not under any set Form of Government by their own consent nor indeed capable of it But what doth this concern whole Kingdoms of free-born People who are governed by their own Laws of their own making to which their Kings are as subject as themselves and that by their own consent and solemn Oaths Make ye no difference between a few dispersed People and Kingdoms of Nobles Senators Dyets Parliaments Peers of Kings that have a co-ordinate Power in the Legislative Authority and without which Kings cannot be for its the governed that make Kings not Kings the governed a King and no King. But be it that it was written to a Senate what are you the better when no Precept to which reason is adjoyned doth bind beyond or besides that reason Lex est ordo Be subject therefore for the Lord's sake What is that because Kingly Government hath a Divine stamp What to do To punish evil doers and to praise and reward them that do well for this is the Will of God. When Kings so govern there will be no complaining in our Streets no calling coram nobis Of our obligation to obey such Kings as are here described there 's no question so to obey others who govern contrarily here 's no mention no obligation the reason of this Precept appears Ver. 16. As free therefore not as slaves Turn the Tables What
Power it self still virtually remaining in themselves of which they cannot so totally devest themselves but the Spring and Fountain thereof will still remain in them which is demonstrable for that in making Laws their consent is still required as absolutely necessary The nearer we approach and imitate Natures Laws the more demonstrable is the Power of the People above the Power of Kings their Power being only derived from the same People as a Stream from the Fountain It is as evident that the People if free do not simply but hypothetically transfer their Power unto Kings neither undeed can they by the Law of Nature but only conditionally and for the sake of Order of common Justice Peace and Liberty from which if Kings do deviate it is always to be understood that the People have transferred no such Power and indeed transferred nothing because they transferred it only for certain good ends and purposes Nature so guiding which ends if frustrated or perverted the very Pacts and Delegations themselves are ipso facto voidable nay void at the pleasure of the Senate or People and therefore the People must consequently be superior to Kings who though singulis Majores yet in true construction of Law and Equity are universis Minores In a popular State it is generally acknowledged that Magistrates placed by the People may be censured by the People and in an Aristocracy by the Optimacy and yet it 's held monstrous that Kings should be called to account in some Countries which if true concludes thus much certainly true That they are more than brutishly foolish ever to admit of any such Government which most certainly renders them slaves at the will of Kings How comes it to pass that Kings only of all other Governors must Reign unquestionable uncensured uncontrolable Do Men born under such a Regiment naturally become so desperately sottish and bruitish as to love slavery better than freedom Why do they then prescribe them Laws and conditions of Governing and Oaths for the more certain performance of them at their first admittance That they might with the better grace jeer and scorn and enslave them Or that they only of all the Sons and Daughters of Men might have liberty to break Laws and perjure themselves impuné Or be left only to the Judgment of the great day Where 's the great difference and distance between Kings and popular Magistrates Title only excepted Which Title the very People gave them for the better Grace Adornment and Majesty of their own Government The same Power and Authority is transferred unto Kings and unto popular Magistrates by the People both one and the other sworn alike to observance of the Laws and the obliged to obey not one nor the other any longer than quamdiu id bene gesserit Who makes the difference If any God hath already decided it on behalf of the popular Magistracy by his own example who of his own infinite Wisdom Authority and Goodness towards Mankind instituted Judges as the best Form of Government but appointed Kings in Wrath and Anger and Indignation and at the foolish instance of a froward and rebellious People and as a punishment on them who had rejected him and his Government and rebelled against him whereby it is manifest that Kingship was first ordained as a punishment not as the best Government To assert absolute Dominion to be in Kings from the example of Fathers and of Masters of Families hath no ground in Nature Scripture Reason Aristotle in the beginning of his Politicks condemns that Opinion of there being but little difference in the similitude between a Kingdom and a Family Regnum à familia non numero solum sed specie differt For Fathers beget their Children And the People beget or create their Kings and not Kings the People And Fathers provide for their Children but the People provide for Kings not only for their Necessaries but for Superfluities for their Magnificence and for their Grandeur And according to Diodorus 11 o. Kingdoms of old were wont to be given not necessarily to the Sons of Kings but to them in whom did appear most apparent signs and tokens of Love and Kindness towards the People and of common good So Justin Principio rerum gentium nationumque imperium penes reges erat quos ad fastigium hujus majestatis non ambitio Popularis sed spectata inter bonos moderatio provehebat Whereby it plainly appears that Paternal and Hereditary Impery subscribes and is subservient to Virtue and to the Right of Nations Which Original of Kingly Dominion both Reason and Cause are most especially natural for which very cause and reason Men did first assemble and agree on a Government not that one should insult and domineer over all the rest but whosoever did injure another there should be a Law and a Judg amongst them for the defence and recompencing the injured Primus Rex Agis ab Ephoris est morte mulctatus 192. Ob. Rex non est nisi unus sit unicus If so then many that were Kings of England were not To let pass many of the Saxons who had many Peers in their Government either Sons or Brothers It 's manifest that Hen. II. of the Norman Race reigned with his Son. Consentire vultis de habendo ipsum regem 193. Quod opus non foret si regnum jure esset haereditarium apud Reges usurpatio pro Jure saepissime obtinet In the Creation of our Kings the Archbishop asks the People four times Consentire vultis de habendo ipsum regem After the Roman Custom vultis jubetis hunc regnare Of which there was no need if the King had an absolute independent Right of Inheritance Therefore as William the Conqueror took an Oath of Allegiance from the People after the Battel of Hastings so the People took his Oath that he would keep Faith with them c. After which when he broke his Faith with the People they took Arms again then he most solemnly swore again That he would observe and keep the Ancient Laws of England if he tyrannized over them it was not jure belli but jure perjurii And when he died he declared Neminem Anglici regni eonstituo haeredem lib. Cadomens inde jus belli jus haereditarium cum ipso mortuo Gulielmo sepultum est Rex non potest facere injuriam quod scelerate interpretantur Non est injuria quod facit Rex quia in eo non punitur If it be demanded by what Authority Kings may be indicted and censured It 's answered by the same Authority by the same Men and the same Laws that delegated their Power to create them King and that by the self-same reason Kings have no Power but what they have received from the People and therefore they must have Power over Kings and by the Law of St. Edward Kings not governing righteously lose the very name of King and it denies him to be a King. It is never to be forgotten