distrest till it pleased God to raise up some such Person to Deliver them And we may justly believe it was for greater safety and strength that the World so soon left off the narrow small Governments of particular Families and by uniting several of them into one Body did set up larger and National Governments When the Governor has at his command the Strength the Wealth the Industry the Skill of a great multitude of People the Community is so much the stronger against any Enemy Their union and subjection to him is as the string which binds together a bundle of Arrows So long as that keeps them together no strength can break them but if that bond be taken away and the strict Union dissolv'd it will be easie to do it because they may be separated What every one is able to do being united in the Prince as in a common Center redounds to the Advantage of the Whole This matter has so much Truth in it that our own Nation has within the compass of a few Years seen even a Lawless Usurping Tyrant making himself and the Nation more Formidable abroad and giving it more Force and Impression upon its Neighbours than evâ—â— a Just and Lawful Prince can do Which is evidently come to pass by this means He violently made himself be Obeyed by the force of Arms Govern'd by his absolute Will and commanded the Assistance and Strength of the Nation to his own time and measure And so he united the Strength of it better than it will now be united by Consent He Commanded and Forced that Assistance which a Just and Good Prince will and does only Ask for and waits to have it given him and to come as it will according to the prescrib'd Method of our Law and Constitution Great and many are the Advantages of Government And this being so we are bound in Gratitude to honour that which is the Cause of so much good Even the Self-love in Mankind might reasonably induce them to this in Acknowledgment of the Benefits which every particular enjoys from that common Prosperity and Tranquility which is procur'd and maintain'd by a good Government To be sure a publick Spirit and one that is duly concern'd for the Welfare of his Country such an one must be well disposed to the Performance of this Duty The Prince that sets himself according to the Ends of Government to promote the Happiness of his People or as our Church speaks studies to preserve those committed to his Charge in Wealth Peace and Godliness deserves the Honour of the whole Community And when his Undertakings accordingly are for the publick Welfare it were the greatest Injustice to him and indeed a manifest Token of the Want of a true Love to our Country to deny him the utmost publick Assistance that can be afforded This brings me to the last Argument I shall urge to enforce this Precept 4. Let us all conspire to pay all due Honour to the King because without doing so the Benefits of Government can never be attained This is of absolute Necessity to the rendring it so useful and beneficial as it may be and is design'd by Almighty God to be I do not doubt the Truth of that Maxim in Politicks Salus Populi est suprema Lex It must be true because the Good and Welfare of the People is the very End of Government it is appointed of God for good But then it must be understood of the Community not of any private Person or particular Party of Men who have perversly so order'd their Interests that they are inconsistent with those of the rest of the Community And we must needs allow this to be true too That Salus Honor Principis necessaria est subditorum saluti A steady Reverence and Subjection of the People to the Prince and their ready Assistance is absolutely necessary to the Happiness of the People What can he do for us if we do not assist him He must help us by our own Wealth and Strength if it be done at all As the Governour must indeed be wise just and good and rule according to good Laws So the People must be patient of Government and must readily obey the Prince according to those Laws or else they can never be happy By maintaining and allowing his Interest we maintain our own and our Duty well paid to him will redound to our own Advantage If the Head be sick the Heart must be faint and the whole Body out of Order And if in the natural Body the finest Blood and Spirits be not sent up to the Head that cannot diffuse Life Sense and Vigour so as it should do to the other Members So if the Governour wants his due from the People they must needs want that Benefit and Assistance which otherwise they might have from him Whoever then robs the Governour robs the People by Consequence And they that are Enemies to him are Enemies to their Country For so far as they can lessen him and diminish his Authority so far they deprive the People of the Advantage which they might have by his Government The weaker he is the less Effect and Influence he must needs have towards the Ends and Advantages of Government And hence it is that the Enemies of their Country and those pretended Lovers of it who set themselves against the Interest of the King can for the most part very readily concur in the same Actions and pursue the same Projects and Designs They both tend whether thinkingly or unthinkingly to the same publick Mischief and like Lines from different Parts of the Circumference meet in the Center It is a false Notion and the most unhappy one that a Nation can possibly fall into to imagine that the Interest of the People is one thing and that of the Prince another To think that these two are like the two Ends of a Ballance and therefore as one rises the other must needs be depress'd We must know there is not two but only one Interest between the Prince and the People The Welfare of the Head is the Advantage of the whole Body And if there be any such Division among the Members as that any one would draw more to its self than is due or would withold from another what is due to that this cannot be without some Prejudice to the whole Among the Members indeed some are much more important than others and to with-hold from them threatens the Destruction of the Body such Parts are the Head and other Vitals Such is the Prince in the Body Politick he is a vital and important Part and not only necessary to the well-being but even to the being of the whole Body Who cannot therefore be hurt but the Dissolution of the Community is endanger'd nor can he be taken away but the Ruin of the whole is likely to ensue As therefore a just and good Prince will often say to his People our Interests are inseparable and does always think it So
will always good Subjects think the same concerning their Prince If a Prince oppresses and destroys his People this is as if a Man should cut off his own Legs with his Hands or one Hand with the other If the People set themselves against the Prince and destroy the Government this is as if the Hand should cut the Throat or if that could be done should separate the Head from the Body As our Forms of Prosecuting Malefactors reckon a Fact to be committed against the Crown and Dignity of the Prince which was immediately done only against the Interest and Welfare of some particular Subject So will the Subject if he rightly understands himself account That what is attempted or done against the Prince is really in its Tendency and Consequences against the Interest of the People too While we duly Reverence and Honour the Prince and render to him what is due from Subjects he will have it in his Power the better to keep us at Peace among our selves to hinder the Subjects from injuring and persecuting one another and to force all in their several places to discharge their Duties diligently and faithfully and be the more useful and serviceable to the good of the Community And this must also render him the better able to Defend us against those Forreign Enemies that seek our Destruction 'T is certain that if the People by their ready and generous Assistance make him great and considerable in the World they make themselves so too If they inable him to do great Actions against their Enemies and thereby raise his Honour and Renown they raise their own Glory and Renown also All the World knows the Prince in his Person is but one and cannot do any great matters without a great Assistance from his People and so a large share of the glory of his Actions must redound to the People who assist him to do them Their Might their Riches their Wisdom and Valour and their laudable Affection and Esteem for their Prince will therein gloriously appear to their Immortal Honour Which may teach us what to think of those Subjects who care not how Little and Contemptible the Prince and Nation are Abroad so they may but hugg the humble Glory of setting themselves up above their Fellow-Subjects at Home If Subjects will set themselves against the Interest and Authority of the Prince and grow Disobedient and Ungovernable none but fatal and unhappy Consequences can attend this If any of his Subjects will have an Interest separate from and inconsistent with His they make it his Interest to suppress and destroy theirs If they will be jealous of him without ground they give him good ground to be jealous of them If they oppose his Interests he must defend them as well as he can Not only for his own sake but for the sake of the Common Welfare and Tranquility This is in him due not only to the grand Law of Self Preservation which he must be allowed to follow as well as others but also to the Publick Benefit and Peace which will necessarily go to wrack whenever the Government is weakned or thrown down To be sure he must in that Case be disabled from Serving and Securing it which is his Duty always to endeavour to do And a good Prince must needs desire earnestly to have it always in his Power to promote the Publick Welfare They that oppose the Authority of the Prince with a bare Face and a manifest Discovery of their Design and against apparent standing Law are commonly with ease Supprest when their Projects come to light because they can seldom if ever especially against a good Prince make their Party Considerable and Strong But then they bring upon themselves the displeasure of the Government and meet with Ruin from that which was Ordained for their Happiness and Protection But the more dangerous Opposition and that which carries the mischievous and ill Consequences further is when any seek to undermine his Authority and Government by secret and concealed Arts and colour their wicked Designs by specious and plausible pretences Perhaps they may find out ways to use even the Law it self against the Authority and Power of the Prince and may manage their Designs so well that he cannot Defend himself against them without straining the Law to the utmost Rigour or without some Encroachment upon it And what shall a good and a just Prince do in so unhappy a Case The Support of Government with the Advantages of it for the Common Good together with his own Preservation tempt him strongly to make some breach upon the Laws The Arbitrary and undutiful Carriage of these Subjects constrain him to some Arbitrary and Irregular Proceedings against them And tho in that Case they will not sail to Clamour loudly against him yet is the blame of what is done most justly due to them and they are the Causes of all the Evill that follows If he be guilty in this they are more guilty they are the Agressors and the first Spring of the Mischief If any Case will allow the resisting Evil with Evil it is this and I must needs say I think it hard if not impossible to prove that this Case does not justifie some Irregular Proceedings in the Prince That Rule may take place here That the Welfare of the People the Community is the Supream Law and may over-rule any other And the Support of the Government is absolutely necessary for the Welfare of the People But in this Case the Government cannot Support it self nor can it be for good to other Subjects unless it be evil to these It cannot prevail against them for the good of the Whole unless according to the Supream Law it makes some breach upon Inferiour and less Important Laws And it chuses the least of two Evils in doing so as the Destruction of a few Men of ill Principles and Designs must needs be a less Evil than the Dissolution and Overthrow of Government which must be attended with the Ruin of a great many and those the good as well as bad If the fair pretences of such Men make their Party very strong they may perhaps be able to make Head against the Prince and then the matter may break out into a Civil War which is always an unspeakable Misery and brings a world of Woes and Calamities to a Nation let which Side soever get the Victory War puts Law and Property and Religion all that is dear to us and which these troublesome Men pretend they would secure into the Hands of the Rude Soldier makes all things subject to the Law less Sword and does certainly expose them to the greatest danger of being Lost for the sake of an uncertain Security While the Conflict lasts the greatest Tyranny and the most irregular and arbitrary Proceeding which is that of the Soldier is every where exercised And they who would not afford the Prince the necessary Assistance to Support the Honour of the Nation or the
were their Servant yet no good Subject who duly reverences the King will account him so His Servants we are to whom we Obey If he then be a Servant to the People he is bound to obey them and then they are superiour to him not he to them But this is a Contradiction to Authority and Government To govern is the Office of a Superiour and the Exercise of Authority but a Servant as such is subject to Authority and does not bear it They who would have the Prince accounted the common Servant would themselves be esteem'd the uncontroulable Masters of the People when they are but in the Service of the Prince According to the true Character of Pride which is always disposed to deny and with-hold the Honour due to another and to assume also more than is due to it self And if the Honouring of the Governour requires that we do asscribe and yield to him all that Authority and Power which of Right belongs to him it manifestly forbids all Endeavour to make it less than it is As due Reverence and Love must give all that Authority which the Law and Constitution of the Government allows so it must be far from endeavouring that this should allow less than it does It is Irreverence to invade his Right against Law and also to invade the Law it self which establishes it There is in both these things an Opposition to his Authority and a manifest Contradiction to the Subjects Duty They both proceed from an irreverent undutiful and rebellious Disposition of Mind The one Sort of Wickedness is like that of a Thief or Robber who deprives a Man of the Possession of his own The other is that which the Holy Scripture curses under the Name of Removing a Neighbour's Land-mark And it is very evident that this Wickedness is the worst of the two and much the greater Wrong to a Neighbour The former invades the Possession this the Right the one takes away the present Use the other endeavours to deprive him of the Use of it for ever The one takes but the Crop or a Part of it but the other takes away the Land too Nor does it at all lessen the Guilt of this later Case that the Consent of the Prince is gain'd to the Diminution of his Authority There may be such a thing as a forced constrain'd Consent as when a Man invaded by two Evils one of which he must needs suffer therefore chuses the least A Prince may be brought into such Straits as to find it necessary to let go a Part that he may not lose the whole But it is a guilty thing to impose upon him in such a Necessity As it is an Injustice to impose upon the Necessity or Ignorance of an equal or inferiour Neighbour in our Dealings with him So 't is Injustice together with Irreverence to impose thus upon the Necessities of a Superiour But especially is it guilty to bring the Prince under such Necessity and then to make use of it against him which is the usual Method of those who seek to undermine and lessen his Authority Their Policy is to find out Ways to bring him to the Danger of losing his Crown perhaps to a foreign Enemy and then to with-hold the Assistance necessary to the Defence of it unless he will part with some of the Jewels of it to them which is certainly contrary to the Honouring of the King In due Reverence and Honour of the King we must ascribe and yield to him all that Power and Authority which is his Right and Due And we must be directed to determine what is so by the Law and Constitution of the Government we are under which is as it were the Land-mark or Boundary of Right between one and another through the whole Community And to know what the Law and Constitution allows we must learn this from those who are Professors of and Learned in the Laws And if they happen to differ in their Opinions of the matter so as to ascribe some of them more and some less Authority and Power to the Prince a reverent and dutiful Disposition of Mind which is desirous to give all that is due will follow those who ascribe the more But those who want a due Reverence for the Prince and are rather desirous to yield him as little Authority as they can will be sure to follow those that ascribe the less Which is certainly a Transgression of our Duty in this Matter and that which no tender Consciences will allow 2. To Honour the King or Governing Power includes and requires Obedience and Subjection to his Laws If we own his Authority in Word and Principle but do not obey his Laws we deny it in Practice This therefore must needs be included in the due Honour and Reverence of him As it is an Exercise of Authority to make Laws so 't is an Instance of acknowledging that Authority to obey and be subject to them We are bound to this by the Law of God which says Let every Soul be subject to the higher Powers Rom. 13. If his Laws are manifestly contrary to the Law of God and so they cannot be actually obey'd yet we must preserve a humble and submissive Disposition and quietly suffer the Penalties which are imposed upon us by Law This is that which the Apostle Peter commands 1 Pet. 4. 15. Let none of you suffer as an Evil Doer or as a Busie Body in other Mens Matters but if a Man suffer as a Christian let him not be asham'd The Apostle intimates there would be occasion for them to suffer as Christians or meerly for being such which could come to pass by no Law but a very contrary one to the Law of God And he exhorts them however to suffer meekly and patiently if this should be their Case according to the Example of our Master Jesus And if we must patiently and quietly bear the Penalty of evil Laws this forbids the doing any thing contrary to the Reverence and Honour of the Prince to get rid of those Laws It forbids the murmuring against him the reviling of the Magistrate the Endeavour to lessen his Reputation and Esteem among the People and the making Parties against him in order to byass and constrain him to alter those Laws This is the Spirit of Faction which is undutiful disobedient and rebellious If the Prince cannot be fairly and dutifully perswaded the Subject must not endeavour to force him to alter even an unjust and wicked Law Without doubt the Magistrate has Power to make Laws in matters left indifferent and which are not expresly and particularly determin'd in the Law of God All the best and most religious Governments of the World have understood so and practised accordingly and it is a new and false Opinion which holds the contrary If the Magistrate can command nothing but what is commanded in the Law of God he can make no Laws at all has no Legislative Power but all he has to do is