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A36871 The history of the English and Scotch presbytery wherein is discovered their designs and practices for the subversion of government in church and state / written in French, by an eminent divine of the Reformed church, and now Englished.; Historie des nouveaux presbytériens anglois et escossois. English Basier, Isaac, 1607-1676.; Du Moulin, Peter, 1601-1684.; Bramhall, John, 1594-1663.; Playford, Matthew. 1660 (1660) Wing D2586; ESTC R17146 174,910 286

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is very true that ordinarily Lying arms its weaknesse with thorns like Lizards who save themselves by running into Bushes Above all in a point where the Question of Right is founded upon that of Fact as this Question now whether it be lawful for the English to take up Arms against their Prince here to go about to satisfie Reason and Conscience with political and metaphisical Contemplations is not to purpose they should besides Divine Authority which should ever march before enquire whether the Laws and Constitutions of the Country authorize this War The Question being not to dispute which is the best Form of Government but to preserve the Form to which God hath subjected us and to observe the Laws of the Kingdom and after many Moral and Political Discourses for our Adversaries pay us with no other those that have any Honesty or Understanding come always to this that they would shew us by what Law of England it is permitted the Subjects to take up Arms without the Kings permission and against him When did the people ever make this Election Where is it that they have reserved the liberty to resume the Supreme Authority when they shall please Is there any Statute made during the Ages that this Monarchy hath continued that prefers or equals the two Houses to the King or doth authorize them to ratifie any thing without him Where is the Articles of that Capitulation which in some certain cases dissolves the Subjects Oath of Allegiance Is there any Case in the Law in which it should be lawful for Subjects to take from their King or Supreme Magistrate his Forts Navies and Magazines and to take into their hands the sole Administration of Justice and the Militia to confer the great Offices of the Crown to receive Ambassadors to treat with Forreign Nations and to dispose of the Goods and Lives of the Kings Subjects To these so important Questions for the duty and happiness of all the members of an Estate and the eternal salvation of their Souls and Bodies to answer with Platonick considerations and in stead of producing the Laws of the Kingdom to Philosophy upon the Law of Nature and form an appeal from Authentical and known Laws to a Word not written made at pleasure This is to mock God and men this is to insult upon the Brutality of the people and to take a wicked advantage from the wine of Astonishment or Senselessness which God in his just wrath hath poured forth upon this miserable Nation for if they did beleeve there remained any common sense in this blind and mad people durst they so boldly return so ridiculous an Answer to those that demand where are those Fundamental Laws written that now make all other Laws bow to them namely that the Fundamental Laws are not written and that if they were they should be superstructive and not fundamental after this account the command to love God with all our heart and our Neighbour as our self is not fundamental because it is written it were to profane Reason to imploy it to refute a reasoning so unreasonable it must needs be that these people know they have to do with Persons of great credulity since they dare give them for a Fundamental Law a Fantasie which they never heard before spoken of and whereof no Writings nor Histories make mention and this is to fight against their King overthrow the State lose their goods hazard their Lives and Consciences But what should I say There is no reason but is perswasive when the Conclusions are taken and there is strength to maintain them Christendome which have now their eyes upon our Broils will take notice of the open confession of the Troubles of this State That for the War against the King and for the form of Government which they establish in the kingdome a Superiour power that abolisheth the Royal they have no Fundamental Law written Is not this then marvellously to abuse the Justice of God and the patience of reasonable creatures made after his Image and indued with knowledge to constrain them to prostitute their Consciences and Lives in a Quarrel for which they openly confess there is not any Law written and for which there is not the least footing of Approbation in all that hath been established or left authentically written since England hath been a Nation We have let you see before how they decline the Defences of Scripture against the resistance of Soveraigns behold now they confess there is no fundamental Law written for to justifie their Arms and the superiority of the people above the King which they would introduce with the sword and thus they acknowledge they have no authority neither divine nor humane for what they do as Cardinal Perron having maintained the power of the Pope over the Temporal of Kings before the Estates of France in conclusion affirmed that it was an Article which was not decided neither by the Scriptures nor the Ancient Church so that the Pope and our Mutineers agree together to usurp an authority upon Kings without any ground or warrant in the Word of God and contradicted by all humane Constitutions that is to say that hoth God and man are contrary unto them CHAP. VI. What Examples in the Histories of England the Covenanters make use of to authorize their Actions BUt do we not much wrong them to say that there is nothing makes for them in all the ancient Writings and Histories of this Kingdom Do they not alledg the two Parliaments that deposed Edward the second and Richard the second yea truly and to their great shame as the wisest of their party do acknowledg affirming that those Acts of Parliament against Richard the second were not properly the Acts of the two Houses but of Henry the fourth and his victorious Army in which they say true for the Duke of Lancaster who after caused himself to be called Henry the fourth having prevailed with the people to rise against their lawful King assembled a Parliament which he made to do whatsoever he would and having deposed and imprisoned this poor King soon after caused him to be put to death though this action were as just as it is execrable yet it would make nothing to the purpose where the Question is of that which the two Houses may do separate from the King for the deposing of King Richard was by another King sitting in Parliament for until these last States the two Houses never thought that they were able to conclude any thing without the Royal Consent and since the Parliaments held under the House of York declared Henry the fourth Usurper of the Crown and therefore condemned the Parliament which had confirmed his usurpation The other example is no better than this the deposing of Edward the second by the Conspiracy of his Wife and the Favourites of this Queen who served themselves of a Parliament to execute this wickedness and having deposed the King and crowned his Son who
was under age caused the Father to be most cruelly put to death in prison yet the authority of the young K. must be made use of to make the resolution of the Parliament pass into an Act for without the King the Parliament can no more act than a Body without a Head But when the young King came to age he caused the Authors and Complices of his Fathers death to be executed and caused all the Acts of this Parliament to be broken by another And less than these to the purpose is which they alledg concerning the accord the Barons extorted from King John by which this unhappy and imprudent King being reduced to a straight promised to put himself into the power of twenty five of his Barons and submitted himself to divers other dishonorable Conditions and this accord was not made in Parliament but in the field by force of Arms there being no Parliament then sitting and therefore was of no force nor was ever kept These Articles of the Barons were much like those the two Houses sent the King to Beverly Oxford and New-Castle the Covenanters imitate these Barons in their affectation of Piety for they called their General the Marshal of the Lords Army and of his holy Church and these perswaded their Chiefs that they led the Battels of the Lord of Hoasts but these transferred not the Crown to another Prince as the Barons did but have taken away both his Crown and Life having long before declared by writing to their King that they dealt very favourably with him if they did not depose him and that if they did they should not exceed the Limits of Modesty nor of their Duty This Judgment was pronounced in the House of Commons without contradiction that The King might fall from his Office that the happiness of the Kingdom did not depend upon him nor the Royal Branches of his House and that he did not deserve to be King of England The Authors of these Opinions are declared in a Declaration of his Majesties In one point the Barons and Covenanters are very different for the Lords that remained with the Covenanters were without power all places of Honour and Trust being taken out of their hands by their Inferiours and at last their House abolished by the Commons so that in stead of producing this War of the Barons the Covenanters should rather have alledged the Seditions and Commotions of Watt Tyler and Jack Straw poor Artisans and followed with people of the same rank for these persons and the Cause of the Covenanters are far more alike Behold here with what authorities the Margins of their Books are stuffed Behold the Examples which the polititians of the times present to the Gentlemen of the Parliament for to teach them what they ought to do those infamous actions which were abhorred by the ages following them are become the supporters of ours and despair which makes men snatch up any sorts of weapons forceth our enemies to justifie their actions by the examples of Rebels and Paricides 't is not for nothing then that these Histories are so often alledged though nothing to the purpose and it 's not without cause that they print them apart for not being able to justifie their actions they have declared their intentions and made the King to see what he sholud trust to if he fell into their hands Certainly if there had not been a design laid to come to that both to prepare the people and intimidate the King those incendiaries who by these horrible examples and their Maximes of State grounded thereupon teaching the deposing of Kings should have been hanged long since with their Books about their necks For so many men which are studied in the Laws of the Kingdom and are at the helm of affairs cannot be ignorant of that which King James of happy and glorious memory marks in his Book of the Right of Kings that in the time of Edward the Third there was an Act of Parliament made which declared all them Traytors who imagined it's the word of the Law or conspired the death of the King ●on which Act the Judges grounding themselves have alwaies judged them for Traytors who dared but to speak of deposing the King because they believed that they could not take away the Crown from off the Kings Head without taking away his Life It was heretofore a crime worthy of death to speak yea to think evil against the King and moreover the Word of God which is to be obeyed forbids us to speak evil of the King no not in our thought but now it 's the exercise of devout Souls to write Meditations upon the deposing of their King CHAP. VII Declaring wherein the Legislative Powers of Parliament consists HAving no better Authorities in all the Examples of the Ages past they establish a New one which by the unlimited largeness supplies what it wants of length of time for when we require to be governed by the Laws they answer us that the Parliament is the Oracle of the Laws that it is for that great Court to declare what is Law and what is not to interpret the Laws to dispense with them or to make new ones That themselves are the Parliament excluding all others and that since they have declared that this War is according to Law and that such Maximes as they give us are fundamental Laws of the Kingdom we must remit our selves to them and receive for Law what they ordain But because strangers may read who have no knowledge of the Government of England for to examine this Imperious reason we are obliged to declare here what we know touching the present affairs We have learned to acknowledg the Parliament 〈◊〉 England for the Supream Court of the Kingdom that can make and unmake Laws and from whose Judgment there is no appeal But of this Court the King is the principal part and it 's he that renders it soveraign the two Houses in all their Legislative Acts acknowledg him their true and sole Soveraign the House of Lords only can evert the Judgment of the Courts of Justice but not their own without the consent of the King and the House of Commons the House of Commons is not a Judicial Court having not power to administer an Oath inflict a Fine or imprison any but those of the●r own House and these two neither apart nor together cannot make a Law but when they would enact any thing they both together present a Writing to the King in form of a request if the King approves of them the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal answers for the King in these French words Le Roy le veult and then it is made an Act but if the King refuseth it he returns answer Le Roy S'avisera and the business passeth no further Before the consent of the King the proposition of the two Houses contained in the Writing is like unto that which the Romans called Rogatio but when the King grants it