little pratling School-masters or Teachers From whence it may easily be conjectured how useful they were to and what Interest they had in the publick Good Gellius who was sent as Pro-Consul into Greece by calling them together at Athens would fain have endeavoured by his Authority and Perswasion to put an end to their vain Disputes but could effect nothing Such great Lovers were they of the publick Good that they did not think it worth their while to hearken to his wholsome Counselâ— And if we reflect seriously upon their Transactions it will easily be found thatâ— what our Author tells us of their love of Liberty and Country Fortitude Temperance and Justice has abundance more Pomp than real Truth in it That ancient Law of their drunken Meetings at Athens aut bibe aut abi does not shew so much Temperance and if the Lacedaemonians exceeded the Athenians in Sobriety Avarice was a general Vice among them Philip of Macedon's who understood the Greeks and their Policies very well Saying is famous That no Fort was strong enough to hold out against an Attack if there were but an Opportunity to let an Ass loaden with Gold enter the same Their continual Strifes are so well known that it would be superfluous to pretend to enumerate them and though they continually did exclaim against Tyranny yet their main endeavour was to tyrannize over one another and effectually did it by turns till at last Philip and afterterwards Alexander took away from them the means to devour one another and under pretenee of publick Liberty by their cursed Ostracism to ruin such of their Countrymen as had deserved best of them I have not related this to derogate any thing from the Merits of a great many among them eminent for their Doctrine and brave Atchievements Pythagoras Democritus and Plato are questionless among the Greecians highly to be recommended for their great Industry in searching for their Doctrineâ— among the Egyptians and other far distant Countries and their Doctrines having from thence been transferred into Italy and afterwards into these Parts of the World we ought to pay a due acknowledgment to those who have shewn us the way how to improve our Knowledge But my only aim is to demonstrate the Vanity of our Romantick Author who pretends to set them so fat above our Age both in their Doctrine and great Deeds that we must not as much as hope to imitate them and that if Pythagoras and Democritus were great Men yet the Arrogancy of the first and the latters blinding himself thereby to divert himself from all outward Objects and the better to speculate savour more of a Phantastical Conceit than Usefulness to the Publick And what has been said of their Philosophers may also be applied to all othersâ— who have been eminent among them If the Athenians had their Aristides Cimon Thrasibulus Conon and others famous for Justice Military Atchievements and love to their fatherly Country there were also to be found among them a Miltiades who affected to domineer over them a Themistocles who made a League with Artaxerxes against them an Alcibiades who was as excellent in Vices as celebrated in Vertues by whose Advice the Lacedemonians straitned the Athenians If the Lacedaemonians had their Agesilaus and Leonidas the Thebans their Epaminondas never sufficiently to be praised for their extraordinary Vertues had not the Lacedemonians also a Pausanias famous for his Pride Levity and Treachery Was not among them also a Lysander so justly accused of Crudelity and other enormous Crimes Callicratidas their General if he was celebrated for Military Vertue his Ambition was almost the undoing of the Lacedaemonians and the Ruin of one of the best Fleets they ever set out And since our Author has magnified their Philosophers so much above ours I cannot but put him in mind of the greatest of Philosophers who being come forth in our Age has in so much out-done all the Ancients both in Metaphysical and Natural Principles and is in no ways behind them in his Ethicks but especially in his incomparable Method of Reasoning that I am to believe if he had perused and duly considered his Philosophy he would perhaps have been cured of his vain Conceits of the old ones It is not my business here to determine whether he has taken some light as to his natural Principles out of Epicurus as some say he hasâ— as to his Metaphysicks out of St. Augustine and other Fathers this is most certain that since his publishing the same there has been a more solid Foundation laid towards the true understanding and advancing the most useful Sciences than all the Golden Ages of his so much admired Philosophers have been able to produce But let us not insist farther upon the Greeks since we must also take a short view of the Romans That the same have much exceeded the former in true greatness of Mind Constancy Love to their Country and before all in Martial Discipline Knowledge of the Laws nay even in Eloquence that most beloved Art of the Greeks have been equal to them is what scarce any body who has had a right insight into both their Histories will deny but that they should have committed the Education of their Youth generally speaking to the chief management of such Philosophers as were frequent in Greece I am to learn yet As the Foundation of the Roman Government was their Military Discipline and excellent Laws and Customs so the same were implanted into their Youth by the Instructions and Examples rather of their Parents than any publick Philosophers And though in Process of time Eloquence begun to bear a great Sway with the Romans yet was it a great while before they took the pains to go and hear the Greecian Orators but were contented with such as their Genius and Home-education furnish'd them withal And it is observeable that most of the Romans did excell in the same kind wherein their Fathers or Ancestors had been remarkable And such as had not the Advantage of such Parentage commonly used to chuse some great Man or another from whom they took Directions and whom they strove to imitate From hence came that Custom of taking their Youths into the Senateâ— House that by continual Observations of the Gravity Constancy and Secrecy of that great Assembly they might be instructed not only in State-Affairs but also excited to imitate the Examples of their several Parents To these Methods and not the hearing of pratling Philosophers was chiefly owing that prodigious Off-spring of so many Valiant Wise and Eloquent Men who were educated by the Care of their Wise Parents and by timely applying themselves to Business under their Tuition became the Terrour of their Enemies And this was doubtless one Reason why by their Annal Laws no body was admitted to the highest degree of Honour till at a certain age that also as by steps they might ascend to the same sufficiently
seems to be the only excuse that can be made for these extravagancies and groundless Aspersions so little suitable to the rules of true History wherewith it is filled up from the beginning of the Preface to the very conclusion Certainly if this Author's Intention had been to give a warrantable Account of Denmark it would have been much more glorious and consonant to the practice of all civilized Nations to have imitated the frankness and integrity of the antient Romans whom he seems so much to admire and more particularly that of Tacitus in his Book which he writ concerning the Germans in his Time Those who see this Author quoted not only in the Title page but also in several places afterwards will scarce believe that any other but the above mentioned Reason could induce our Author to recede so far from the Method of an approved Historian and the so much applauded moderation of him whom he himself praises as the greatest of Politicians of his Time Neither will the difference which some pretend to have found out betwixt those Times and our Age be a sufficient excuse for this new-invented way of writing since if our Author had been more taken with an Ambition to imitate Modern than antient Writers in this kind there are not wanting Examples among them of undeniable Sincerity and Modesty The Memoirs of Villeroy and the Letters of Cardinal Dâ— Ossat have deserved such praises from the most unbyassed and eminent Politicians that he need not have been ashamed to tread in their footsteps Even the Northern parts where our Author falsly imagines all Learning to be extinguished can furnish him with a Pattern of this Kind in their imcomparable Monzam bano of the State of the German Empire according to which if he had regulated himself he would not have scattered such abundance of ill grounded Reflections against many Illustrious Persons and had better deserved the Name of a true Historian But if nothing of Foreign Vertue could be charming enough to our Author the living Examples either of Sir William Temple or of the so much celebrated Dr. Burnet now Bishop of Salisbury in his Observations especially made concerning his Travels and published some years ago ought to have excited him to deserve the same Character except our Author has an in born Aversion to any thing that has the least relation to the North. To conclude this Author seems to be a great Admirer and to have adapted the whole Work to the Doctrine of some political Doctors among us who having gathered their phantastical Notions of a Platonick Government without Faults out of such antient Philosophers as used to fight Battels in their Studies and with florid Speeches infuse their Conceits of Governing into their Auditors do very industriously labour to spread their vain Opinion to the great disadvantage of the State And I think the whole Work may serve as a convincing Instance to shew the World how difficult it is to shake off such Prejudices as are implanted in our tender Age and have in process of time taken root with us so that it is manifest that notwithstanding our Author's Opinion in his Preface Travelling too late proves sometimes as ineffectual as going abroad too young This being what in general may justly be said of this Treatise I have communicated to you with the same freedom as I thought was becoming our Friendship and the satisfaction I always take in contributing any thing to your Curiosity But the particular consideration of the whole much exceeding the compass of a Letter I have in the enclosed Papers set down such impartial animadversions as seemed to me necessary towards the explaining of the chief points in the whole Treatise wherein if I have added any thing to your satisfaction it fully answers the ends of him who Sir always will be Your affectionate Friend and Servant January 16. 1693 4. REMARKS UPON THE PREFACE BOOKS without their Author's Names being like Bastards who cannot claim the least Prerogative from their Parentage ought questionless to challenge no other Authority but what is derived from their own Deserts And tho' it is not to be denyed but that sometimes the Circumstances of time and place may be a good Plea to some Authors who have disguised themselves under fictitious Names or else set none at all to their judicious Pieces Yet it must also be owned That whenever they have transgressed the Rules of true Sincerity and Modesty and endeavoured rather to recommend themselves to the Reader by their pompous Words than approved Truth they have deservedly incurred the Censures of all Judicious and Unbyassed Persons If the Author of the Treatise called An Account of Denmark had made the least Reflection as he ought to have done upon this certainly he would not have been so much pre-possessed with the Vanity of his own Inventions as to believe That the same tho' never so gaudily dress'd up with fine Words and adorned with fair Suppositions could be received as a Truth among the more sensible part of Mankind But to come to the Matter it self Health and Liberty are without dispute the greatest natural Blessings Mankind is capable of enjoying says our Author at the very beginning of his Preface That Health and Liberty duly considered are Two precious Jewels scarce sufficiently to be valued has never been questioned in this part of the World But since Physicians themselves do not agree in the true nature of the First as admitting of several Degrees and being scarce ever to be found in its due Perfection and the Degrees of the Second being by all Judicious Politicians adapted to the several Constitutions of those Countries and Inhabitants where the same is to be exercised our Author would have done very prudently to have have given us a more clear and satisfactory Notion of the true Nature of both So do we see Phantastical Ladies tho' according to their natural Constitution in good Health affect sometimes to be leaner sometimes fatter sometimes to nauseate a small Pimple or even their natural Colour sometimes imagining tho' falsely I know not what Indisposition in their Body and by Vomits repelling Medicines and other destructive Methods bring upon themselves dangerous Diseases And how often the mistaken Rules of Liberty have proved not only troublesome but also fatal the Histories of all Ages do abundantly testifie It had therefore in my Judgment been more suitable to the nature of an Historical Treatise and the Circumstances also of our present Enjoyment of sufficient Liberty under the Conduct of a Wise and Just King to have given a true Scheme of moderate Liberty than to represent to us at this time a Romantick Notion of the same by fetching the Italian out of his own Country and transferring of him into Greenland for these are his Words But as an Italian that passes a Winter in Greenland will soon be convinced how much Misery he endures in comparison of those who dwell in his native Country so he that knows
these Princes think it their Interest that Subjects should obey without Reserve and all Priests who depend upon the Prince are for their own sakes obliged to promote what he esteems his own Interest 't is plain the Education of Youth on which is laid the very Foundation Stone of publick Liberty has been of late Years committed to the sole management of such as make it their business to undermine it and must needs do so unless they will be false to their Fortunes and make the Character of Priest give place to that of true Patriot c. Indeed they do not forget to recommend to them frequently what they call the Queen of all Vertues viz. Submission to Superiors and an entire blind Obedience to Authority without instructing them in the due measures of it rather teaching them that 't is without all Bounds And in the Conclusion of the Treatise he hath these Words which we will insert here because they are of the same Stamp It has been a great Mistake among us That the Popish Religion is the only one of all the Christian Sects proper to introduce and establish Slavery in a Nation in so much that Popery and Slavery have been thought inseparable Not to derogate from the Merit of the Roman Catholick Perswasion which has been the Darling of so many Monarchs upon that Account I shall make bold to say That other Religions and particularly the Lutheran has succeeded as effectually in this Design as ever Popery did 'T is confess'd indeed That Popery would certainly introduce Slavery but it is denyed That the last cannot come in without the assistance of the former c. In Denmark as well as other Protestant Countries in the North through the entire and sole dependance of the Clergy upon the Prince without the interfering of the Authority of any Spiritual Superiour such as that of the Pope among the Romanists through their Principles and Doctrines which are those of unlimited Obedience through the Authority they have with the common People Slavery seems to be more absolutely established than it is in France as in effect it is more practised for that King's Subjects are better treated And a little after But in the Countries I have spoken of all is swallowed up in the King Temporals and Spirituals Soul Body Estate and Conscience The Army and the Priests are Two sure Cards the Prince that has one of them at his side can hardly fail but he that has both depending on him need fear nothing from his own Subjects let him use them never so ill Here is a general Charge against the whole Body of the Clergy except the Calvinists and their Proselytes because the English have their Share by and by concerning the Miseries that have befallen Europe these Two hundred Years These he says by the abuse they make of Travelling corrupt the Youth of whom they have sole Management these by their entire dependance they have from their Princes and by their Doctrine and Principles sow the Seeds of Slavery among the People Thus runs the Stream of our Author's Eloquence But what if we should endeavour to stop the Current What if the Doctrine of the Roman Catholicks and especially the Principles of the Jesuites should prove rather dangerous than advantageous to absolute Monarchy If we should prove that the entire and sole dependance of the Lutheran Priests from their Princes is a Chimera of his own That they neither have in general the Education of their Youth neither that their Principles and Doctrine are for a blind unlimited Obedience That as it is against the Interest of the Ecclesiasticks in those Parts where that Religion flourishes to suppress the Liberties and undermine the Welfare of the People so it is absolutely false That Spirituals and Temporals are swallowed up by their Help or Connivence And if this Foundation falls will not his Doctrine seem to be built upon a very slippery or sandy Ground This Gentleman must surely have been very little acquainted with the History of the Reformation in those Parts and the Constitutions of the Empire as also how often the Protestant Religion there together with the Government hath been asserted by Arms against the Emperor and all other Aggressors with the Approbation of the Lutherans both Priests and Lawyers If this had not been convincing enough to our Author he would have done well to have look'd a little into their and Writings before he undertook to put Books such Falsities upon the world But since this Gentleman has taken upon him the Authority of a Judge let us see by what Laws he hath condemned the poor Lutherans And since it is certain that he ought to condemn them by none but their own we must look a little back into their Monuments to see how they do agree with our Author's Assertion It is evident that at the beginning of the Reformation Luther and his Associates had all the Reason in the World to be cautious in the Doctrine of Obedience as well to avoid the Slanders and Reproaches of the Roman Catholicks but espeeially not to open a Gare to the Licentiousness of some who they foresaw would take an opportunity to abolish together with their Religion the very Constitution and Order of Government And the several Sects of Fanaticks but more especially that cruel Rebellion in Germany commonly called The Peasants War were evident Proofs that their fore-sight had not been ill grounded But let us but cast but one Eye upon some of their Writings and we may easily see that they savour not so much of blind and unlimited Obedience as our Author would make us believe And to begin with the Sentiments of those very Divines who lived partly at the same time partly succeeded in the same place where Luther had begun the Reformation and ever since have been very strictly adhering to his Doctrine The Councils of the Divines at Wirtemberg from the time of the Reformation till the Year 1664. when they were reprinted and dedicated to the present King of Denmark's Father after that Crown was become Hereditary and also to the then Electoral Prince of Saxony will doubtless be accepted of by all unbyass'd Persons as a Rule whereby to judge of the Limits the Lutherans have set to Obedience I have therefore thought convenient to translate some Passages relating to this Point out of the High German Tongue and to insert them as a Pattern of the Lutherans Doctrine of Obedience Upon a Question put Whether Magistrates are obliged to defend themselves and their Subjects against an unlawful Force against Princes of an equal Degree and against the Emperour especially in point of Religion Martin Luther Justus Jonas Martin Bucer and Philip Melancthon with joint Consent did answer That it was an unquestionable Truth which ought to be confess'd at the last Minute even till Death that it is not only permitted but also truly and strictly commanded that all in Authority owe to God Almighty this Service to
sufficient to show how far different the Principles and Doctrine of the Lutherans were from a blind and unlimited Obedience wherewith our Author so boldly charges them But that it may not be objected that our Age has perhaps altered the Opinion of the Lutheran Divines I will besides what may be seen in the above-mentioned Book give you the Opinion of one of the most famous Lutheran Divines of our Age Dr. John Gerhard in his own Words Distinguunt says he Politici Scriptores 1 inter Principes Majestatis integrae potestatis absolutae qui absolutum Imperium in subditos obtinent nec tenentur certis quibusdam pactis conventis vel legibus regni fundamentalibus expressa promissione obstricti inter Principes potestatis limitatae pactis conventis inter ipsos proceres regni initis circumscriptae cui distinctioni respondet ea quae statuitur inter subditos meros mixtos 2 inter offensionem defensionem Principibus quorum potestas est limitata ab illis qui non sunt mere subditi ab ordinibus scilicet regni resisti ac violentiam eorum armata manu repelli posse disputant id quod sequentibus confirmari posset argumentis 1. A Magistratus officio Magistratui incumbit subditos contra injustam oppressionem tueri ut superius fuit demonstratum Jam vero ordines regni in regno electivo ad quod non nisi certis conditionibus caput est evectum sunt loco Magistratus Non enim sunt mere subditi sed partem potestatis in electione summi capitis sibi reservarunt 2. A Juris naturalis praescripto Defensio sui omni jure Divino scilicet naturali civili est concessa Ergo licet ordinibus regni contra injustam oppressionem se subditos defendere 3. Ex mutuae obligationis modo Ex contractibus nascitur mutua reciproca obligatio Jam vero inter Principem potestatis restrictae Ordines regni electivi talis contractus fuit initus ut Princeps in leges regni fundamentales prius juraverit antequam Ordines regni nomine omnium subditorum fidem ipsi darent Quod si ergo Princeps ab hoc contractu discedit Ordines regni ab obedientiae promissione ipso jure absolvuntur 4. Ex axiomate Theologico quod Evangelium non aboleat politias Jam vero ad statuta jura politica hoc ipsum pertinet quod Ordines regni vi contractus initi Magistratui libere electo contra promissionem sidem datam agenti resistere possint Vid. Lutherum Tom. 7. Germanic Jenensi Fol. 389. 5. A paritatis judicio Sicut principes aberrantes ministri Ecclesiae verbo possunt arguere consiliarii sanis consiliis in viam eos revocare Sic ordines Regni quibus datus est à Deo gladius vi armata ipsius conatibus possunt resistere 6. Ex probatorum exemplorum testimonio 2 Reg. 11. Jojadas deponit Athaliam 1 Maccab. 2. seqq Judas reliqui Maccabaei resistunt Antiocho Constantinus oppugnavit Licinium collegam in imperic Christianosâ— persequentem B. Lutherus in Scripto ad pastorem Tom. 7. Germ. Jnenesi fol. 386. addit duo alia exempla quod populus restiterit Sauli Jonathanem interficere cupienti I Sam. 14. quodque Ahicam alii principes Israelitici restiterint Regi Jojakim Jeremiam ad internecionem quaerenti 7. Ex consequente absurdo Si ordinibus Regni denegaretur potestas contra injustam violentiam se ac suos desendendi consequens foret non esse discrimen inter Principes qui absolutam integram obtitinent potestatem inter eos quorum potestas est limitata circumscripta nec esse discrimen inter mere subditos eos qui sunt in partem potestatis recepti ac quibus cura boni publici ex parte adhuc incumbit promissionem illam quam Princeps ante evectionem ad Regnum Ordinibus praestet nullius esse momenti cum pro arbitrio ab ea discedere nec ad impletionem ejusdem cogi possit electionem boni principis intuitu boni publici susceptam in extremum Regni detrimentum vergere cum libidini ejus nemo possit resistere 8. Ex Theologorum Jurisconsultorum suffragio Lutherus Bugenhagius Justus Jonas Nicolaus Ambsdorfius Georgius Spalatinus Philippus Melancthon Casparus Cruciger Georgius Major Justus Menius Christophorus Hoffmannus â—alii Theologi Jurisconsulti Wittebergenses Anno 31. Basilius Monnerus alii ex Politicis defensionem sui ordinibus Regni licitam concessam esse censuerunt ut constat ex Scriptis à Dom. Hortledero collectis Tom. 2. lib. 2. de causis belli Germanici Sed gravissimae hujus quaestionis decisionem Theologorum Jurisconsultorem Collegiis commit tendam neque quidquam temere pronunciandum esse dicimus Thus far concerning a limited Power And though he seems afterwards not altogether to agree with the Opinion of such as allow Resistance in an absolute Government yet it is apparent enough that his Arguments are rather intended against the Jesuitical Principles and such as makes every body a fit Judge of the Limits of Obedience and Princely Office than against all manner of necessary self-defence which among others may be seen out of these Words Cum satius sit à subditis hic peccari in defectu quam excessu ac durissima quaevis ab illis tolerari quam praetextu defensionis principem de quo emendationis spes est de solio dejici ideo Theologus rectius fecerit si populum Christianum subjugo tyrannico laborantem ad poenitentiam ac patientiam hortetur quam si vim armatam contra vindicis Dei flagella adhibendam esse doceat Non existimo negandum scribit Brentius in comment in 1 Sam. 24. quin Davidi in regem divinitus electo Saulem tyrannidem exercentem tam opportune in spelunca oblatum interficere licuerit sed David maluit fequi quod aedificaret quam quod liceret impune c. Et postea Quod David perpercit Sauli magna laude dignum est docet multo honestius esse utilius ut ad evitanda offendicula de jure nostro aliquid remittamus quam summum jus prosequamur c. I could not avoid inserting those Passages here that thereby the Judicious Reader might the better be able to judge of the Doctrine of the Lutherans concerning Obedience and how much the same differs from what our Author has laid to their Charge That both their Principles and Doctrine are for a blind and unlimited Obedience without instructing their Auditors in the due Measures of it And that they send some of their hopefullest young Students abroad to learn fit Methods to please their Sovereigns at the Expence of the Peoples Liberty It may perhaps be objected That some of the Lutherans have tied the Subjects to a much stricter sort of Obedience towards their Sovereigns But to this may be answered That it is very unjust to charge a whole
for which reason they also had undergone the rigid Censures of the Wittenburgh Divines in the Country of Brandenburgh The Calixtines therefore and Calvinists with the Assistance of some of the States of Brandenburgh were very desirous to bring the former to a more pliable Temper and the Elector being willing to establish a better Understanding took an opportunity by his several Proclamations to order that both Parties should abstain from injurious Words Such as Zwinglians Sacramentarians Ubiquitists Marcionites and the like That they should not put any Consequences deduced out of their several Hypotheses upon one another which either Party did deny And thirdly that all Priests should be obliged to baptize the Children of such Parents as were averse to the Exorcism which the most Lutherans together with the Sign of the Cross use in the Baptism without the same And findding some of the Lutherans in no ways complying with his Mandates he ordered certain Formulars to be subscribed by them and commanded his confistorial Judges to see that every thing were duly performed according to his Mandates It would be too long to dispute here concerning the Merit of the Cause upon either Side it will be sufficient to shew how the Lutherans behav'd themselves in this Case which I think will fully clear them as to the Point of blind Obedience They were then so far from obeying the Electoral Proclamations and subscribing the Formulars that they on the contrary together with such of their Auditors as adhered to them did by several Petitions under the Name of the true and pure Lutheran Churches and their Confessors tell the Elector That he had quite surrendred himself like a Prisoner to his Privy Counsellors who pretended to a religious Peace by suppressing that of Osnabrugge and quite abolishing their native Constitutions and Agreements And whenever they objected to the Courtiers that their proceedings were against the Rights of Patronage and Contracts the common Answer was that these were out of date Because the Eighth Commandment was not to be found in the States Catechism but in lieu of the same was introduced that Principle of Machiavell Principi licet facere quidquid lubet That at the Peace made at Osnabrugge it was agreed that no body should be permitted to alter the free Exercise of Religion or the Laws and Constitutions that were established Neither that under pretext of Rights of Patronage Episcopal or Territorialor any other Pretence Ministers should be forced upon the Subjects of another Religion or any thing to be either directly or indirectly done which might prove prejudicial to another Religion They say further That these Rules were taken out of the States Catechism to perswade Magistrates that as in Temporal so in Ecclesiastical Affairs they have alone absolute Power to determine and punish which is an unheard of Doctrine in both Religions That some Examples out of the Old Testament and Christian Emperors ill applied the Prerogative of Magistrates and Rights of Patronages were political Pretences from whence it might be evident that the former Proclamations were nothing else than the Tokens of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the political Antichrist since in setting Magistrates above all what belongs to God viz. his Word Sacraments Denominations Church-Ceremonies and Ministers the Design was to invade the Throne of Christ. And in another Petition they object to the Elector a Coin which was coined 1548 by George Duke of Anhalt which had on one Side this Inscription Plus odi Conciliatores istos quam apertos Religionis Hostes. And further say That the Elector's Proclamations were against the Peace of the Empire Constitutions of the Land and Contracts made Anno 1653 where it was concluded that no Proclamations should be issued forth repugnant to that Contract or contrary to both Religions I could have inserted more of this kind but I will only add so much that these Petitions having been delivered to the Elector after he had upon the Request of the Representatives of the Prelates Earls Nobility and Cities abrogated the Formular proposed to the Clergy before and explained himself very favourably as to the point of arguing in their Sermons may serve as lively Instances that the Lutheran Priests though they represent Obedience as the Queen of all Vertues endowed rather with Modesty than armed with Dagger and Poyson yet they have neither blinded neither tongue-tied her The Disturbances arisen some time ago continuing to this Day in a Northern Lutheran Commonwealth betwixt two Clergymen who have drawn not only the rest of the Clergy but also all the Inhabitants notwithstanding the Senates Authority and Endeavours to the contrary into two Parties are so notorious that those alone sufficiently contradict our Author's Assertion concerning their blind Obedience But it is time to leave the Lutherans and to see why the Roman Catholick Religion has been the darling of Princes upon the Account of blind Obedience according to this Gentleman's Opinion Truly those that will a little consider that pernicious Doctrine of the Roman Catholicks of deposing nay even murthering of Princes the many Instances of this kind which have verified their Principles in this point the Bulls of Bonifacius VIII Innocent III Clement V and other Popes who have asserted the same as a legal Power will I believe easily be convinced that an Arbitrary Prince who understands his own Interest has but little reason to make those his darlings who think it not only lawful but also meritorious to cut his Throat when not submitting himself to their Rules And how can any Prince who affects an Arbitrary Power suppose himself absolute Master of his Subjects as long as there are in his Dominions those and that in great Numbers who being potent both by their vast Possessions and the Influence they have over the rest acknowledge another Head besides himself and profess openly that both in Spirituals and Temporals they owe more Obedience to the Pope than the Prince It would be supervacuous to prove this it being besides the Bulls of Gregory IX Innocent IV Gregory VII and a great many others so abundantly certified by Histories and their practices in all Ages that no body who has any insight in History can be ignorant of it I know some will object to this that these have been the Practices in former Ages among the Roman Catholicks when Simplicity was more predominant but that since the Reformation the Jesuits have known so to mitigate this point as that nothing is to be fear'd from thence which seems to be also our Author's Opinion when he says that the firm Adherency to Tyranny is manifest in the Jesuits by their adhering now to the French interest as they did formerly to the House of Austria That the Jesuits who are the Supporters of the above-mentioned Doctrine so destructive to all Governments should have in the least receded from the same is as vain to imagine as that the same do now less adhere to the House of
prepared with the Knowledge not only but also the Practice and Management of State and Military Affairs From this Paternal Care and timely applying themselves to the Knowledge of their Affairs and Martial Discipline came these so renowned Men among them and these Philosophers whom our Author would fain make us believe to be the principal Men of their Education were only employed to teach them the Precepts of Oratory and such like and as by the most understanding Greeks they were not much valued so they proved very mischievous to the Romans as they had done to the Greeks before and will do so to all Governments where the Art of Rhetorick is preferred before true Sense The Roman Commonwealth thus instructed with excellent Laws and stock'd with Great and Wise Men yet was so over-run with all sorts of Vices and entangled at last in the Snares of its own Citizens that I cannot for my Life see why this Gentleman should so much prefer it before our times since it is evident enough that Viceswere as predominant there as they are among us and that if they have had Men famous for Military Atchievements Temperance Constancy and other Vertues our Age is not destitute of them Was not Avarice as enormous among the Romans as it is among us The Saying of Jugurtha who had tryed them in that kind sufficiently verifies it And he that doubts whether all sorts of Vices were as much in vogue at Rome formerly as they are in our Age let him besides what their Poets and other Historians have left us but cast one Eye upon that Catalogue which Cicero gives us of such as were the Associates of Catiline and belonged to his Army and he will quickly be of the same Opinion with me Did not Cicero tell them publickly to their Faces That through the Licentiousness and Avarice of the Roman Generals more Cities were spoiled by their own Soldiers than by the Enemies Had not they among them as well their Tarquin Sulla Catiline Antony and others as their Scipio's Regulus Marcellus and such like Truly even Cicero himself who could give such good Doctrines to others who pretended to be behind-hand with no body for Love to his Country Greatness of Mind and other Vertues who was certainly as great a Philosopher as ever the Romans had and writ as pathetically as any body in his Philosophical Treatises was without Contradiction guilty of vain Ambition Flattery Dissimulation and other Extravagancies And though he exclaims most egregiously against the latter especially in his Philosophical Works yet those that will take the pains to compare his Orations pro Rege Dejotaro pro Marcello with his Philippicks will easily be convinced that he had studied that Art as well and made himself as great a Master of it as any body Now if we look upon the Religious Institutions of the Romans How ridiculous were they And though they served sometimes for a State 's Turn yet proved they often as mischievous since for all the outward Pomp the most judicious as well of the Romans as also others were sensible of the Vanity of them and would ridicule them also upon occasion How Cato the Elder represented the Vanity of the Augurs and Hannibal's witty Reply to Prusias who would not fight because the Entrails of the Beasts did not prove favourable is well known to those who are vers'd in Histories Their Constitutions Laws and Policy it 's true were extraordinary their Counsels grave and deeply laid their Constancy admirable from whence they seldom receded their Military Discipline and Order of their Legions without Comparison much above any thing that was to be found in those times Nevertheless the perpetual Contests betwixt the Patricians and Plebeians and afterwards betwixt the Senate and People caused a great many Convulsions in the State and was at last the cause of its Alteration After Valerius had once given an Inch to the Plebeians in allowing the Appeal to the People they would not be contented till by their shameful Tumultuous Assembly in the Mount Aventine they forced the Senate to allow them their Tribunes who so well knew how to play their Cards that in a little time the Plebeians were admitted to all Dignities and by continual Strifes against the Patricians were the occasion of the abolishing the Power of both For when Sylla had once tryed what the Romans could bear Pompey his Scholar was for following his Foot-steps but being prevented by Caesar left that Work to be perfected by him and his Successors Their Gravity also and Constancy was not a little shaken when they were forced to make that shameful Peace with Porscnna so little spoken of by the Roman Historians and to redeem themselves from the Gauls called the Senones with Money How also their Military Discipline did by degrees decay and at last degenerate into such a licentiousness that the Souldiers and Generals of their setting up became Masters of the Empire the Histories of these Times do abundantly testify It is then in vain for our Author to seek for his Golden Age among the Greeks and the Romans If he had perused the 97 Epistle of Seneca's who questionless had an extraordinary insight into those Times he would have lost his Appetite of railing against our Age since it is evident to all considering Men that if our Times be over-run with Vices nevertheless we are not destitute of Examples of Contempt of Death Love to their Country Constancy Valour and other most eminent Vertues Contempt of Death is so common to our Age that even our Miscreants shew it frequently in their Journey to Tiburn And if this Gentleman's Eyes had not been quite dazled with his Ancients vanity he might at Copenhagen when he was there have seen the Remnants of Valour Bravery and Constancy which the Citizens of that place when reduced to the utmost shewed under the Conduct of so brave a King in our Age. Hath our Author forgot what one single Person whose Name was Hasselaer did in our memory at Amsterdam who saved that City from falling into the hands of the French who were much stronger and nearer to that City than ever Hannibal was to Rome after the defeat of Cannas Can our Author have forgot that successive Off-spring of Heroes of that illustrious Family from whence his present Majesty is descended Has he forgot what his Ancestors not only but more particularly he in Person has done for the Deliverance of his Native Country first and again for us against a more potent Enemy than the Carthaginians were in comparison of Rome If I should but hint the particulars of these great actions certainly it would make him asham'd of his vain Conceits But since these great and unparallell'd Actions will never be forgot by all good Men and my Pen is in no ways able to find words proportionable to so extraordinary Merits I will only say that I will defie our Author to shew me out
of all his worm-eaten Antiquities whether Greeks or Romans a Family by a continual Succession of time so abounding with Champions for their Country as his Majesty's or any one of the Ancient Hero's surpassing his Majesty in Valour Prudence and Justice It is therefore to be admired why among so many Romans eminent for their Vertues he could not pick out any others to put as Examples besides Cato and Brutus Cato was always censured by all understanding Politicians for having more surliness in him than was useful to the State And Brutus committed the blackest Villany against his Friend and murthered him to whom he ow'd more than to his Parents Neither is the matter much mended by excusing his Villany with the pretence of publick Liberty for not to mention that he and Cassius took upon themselves the same Title of Imperator as Caesar had done it is evident enough to all sensible Men that they intended to play the same Game if not a worse since they were far behind him in every respect And if a pretence of Liberty is sufficient to warrant the blackest Crimes I see no reason why Ravaillac and others of that stamp should not claim the same Priviledge since questionless the pretence of their Principles of Religion are as specious as those of Liberty Methinks our Author shews in this point especially a little too much inclination to such as rail with great violence against the Jesuits yet have not laid aside their Doctrine of Sacrificing either King Friend Relations or Kindred when ever they are possessed with the Frensical humour that any thing is done in prejudice of their pretended Rights which they know how to deduce with as many florid Speeches as ever the whimsical Greeks and some of the Romans did when they intended to impose upon the People under the pretext of publick Liberty And here I should say something concerning our Author's new broach'd Rules of Policy as also the Digression he makes upon the most Antient Constitutions of Government in Europe but because these Remarks are grown almost as monstrous in bigness as the Preface it self and we shall be obliged to treat of these Points hereafter when he in the Treatise represents the form of Government in Denmark and other Countries we will supersede it here as also what he says according to his Romantick way That in Spain Italy and France Slavery is not so conspicuous but in the Northern parts it appears in its true shape since something of that will be said in the Conclusion of the Treatise where he speaks to the same purpose But what he says That it is now or never seasonable to assert both the Peoples Right and his Majesty's Title is like all the rest of his Vanity since God knows he has not said one word farther of it and it would have been but common Wisdom not to have inserted things of that high moment in a transitory way among his fantastical Conceits especially at a time when the People enjoy their legal Liberties under the Reign of a Wise Just and Brave King whose Title is so generally approved by the Practice of all and especially our Age and more particularly by the general approbation of all Europe and all good Men in these Kingdoms I conclude with the great Roman Politician and Philosopher Nihil est temeritate turpius nec quidquam tam indignum sapientis gravitate constantia quam aut falsum sentire aut quod non satis exploratè perceptum aut cognitum sit sine ulla dubitatione defendere ic lib. 1. de natur Deor. REMARKS UPON THE TREATISE CALLED An ACCOUNT OF DENMARK THE first Chapter of the Treatise it self having nothing material in it besides a general Geographical Description of the Territories belonging to the King of Denmark does not require any further Observations and if the Author in some other matters had as he has done in this rather follow'd the foot-steps of Authentick Writers than his Sensible and Grave Men as he calls them in this Chapter who have misled him for the most part into a Conceit of his own Knowledge and an ill-grounded Experience instead of Truth we might have superseded to extend these Remarks so far as we are obliged now to do We will therefore go on to the Second Chapter where he speaks thus concerning the Island of Zealand It is almost of a circular Figure and contains about 180 English Miles in circumference I cannot commend its Fertility there being no Bread Corn growing in any part of it except Rye which indeed is in good quantity and whereof most of their Bread is made c. It has no Rivers nor above half a score Brooks that are able to turn a Mill c. About one fourth part of it is Forrest lying open for the King 's Hunting and his Game such as Stags Wild Boars Roe Buck c. These are such Sacred things that no body dares touch them tho' they find them in whole Herds destroying their Corn to the infinite yearly damage of the poor Peasants c. For Sea-Ports that most excellent one belonging to Copenhagen must make amends for the want of them not only in this but many other of the Islands there being few others that I know of capable of harboring a Vessel of 200 Tuns c. Neither is this a sensible want because there are no Commodities in this Island for Exportation I have been told that forty years ago ten or twelve Dutch Fly-Boats found yearly their Lading at Kiog a pretty flourishing Town at that time within twenty English Miles of Copenhagen but of late they seem to be well satisfied if the Product of the Isle maintains in this sort of Grain the Inhabitants of it Not that the Numbers of these are increased but Husbandry is not so much encouraged now as when the Taxes of the poor Country People were less frequent and grievous c. The feeding of the Commonalty generally throughout all Denmark is very mean the Burgers or Citizens sustaining themselves with Rye Bread Sale Flesh Stock Fish Bacon and very bad Cheese insomuch that the Inspecters of our Markets in England who use to destory or send to the Prisons all such Victuals as are not judged wholesom would if they found them no better provided than at Copenhagen go near to empty the Markets and leave little so either Buyer or Seller the Peasants live on Roots white Meats and Rye Bread feldom tasting fresh Fish and scarce ever Flesh unless on some extraordinary Festivals as on St. Martin's Eve when each Family in Denmark without fail makes merry with a roasted Goose at Supper Here and in all Denmark are but two Seasons of the year Winter and Summer those two other more agreeable ones of Spring and Autumn not being commonly known the Spring never and the Autumn seldom c. The principal things of this Island and indeed of all Denmark are the City of Copenhagen and the Passage