Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	authority_n	king_n	subject_n	1,333	5	6.6132	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A40703	Agreement betwixt the present and the former government, or, A discourse of this monarchy, whether elective or hereditary? also of abdication, vacancy, interregnum, present possession of the crown, and the reputation of the Church of England ; with an answer to objections thence arising, against taking the new Oath of Allegiance, for the satisfaction of the scrupulous / by a divine of the Church of England, the author of a little tract entituled, Obedience due to the present King, nothwithstanding our oaths to the former.	Fullwood, Francis, d. 1693.	1689 (1689)	Wing F2495; ESTC R40983	47,690	74

Principle against Treason a faithful and loyal Mind keeping Treason out of its Seat which we know is not so much in our Actions as in the Mind and Imagination 2dly If Treason cannot be committed against the King that is out of Possession as he is not King according to Law so we cannot be thought to owe him our Allegiance that is Obedience according to Law for he is not King so as to rule or command us and then there is wanting the very Reason of Duty or of Fidelity to that Duty 5. It may not be unworthy our observation That if any one yet can be so weak or blind as to imagine that since the late King's Abdication the Crown is in Abatement and the Right lies somewhere else even in that case they say the Common Law favours the Abator and looks upon his Title to be good until the Right of the Heir be proved and the Matter of the Title be decided by Law and consequently all Duties in the mean time are to be paid by the Tenants to the Abator as if he had Right as well as Possession I need not apply it 6. However there is nothing in the Law of the Land or the Word of God that necessitates the Subject to trouble his Conscience with Scruples about the Titles of Princes or beyond the actual Possession and Administration of the Government 1. For the Word of God that supposeth Christians to be under the present Powers and strictly enjoins them peaceable and unscrupled Submission and Obedience to the Powers that are but this Argument hath been sufficiently enforc'd by others even to Demonstration 2. For the Law of the Land this justifies our Obedience to the present Power yea requires it and punisheth the contrary and will not endure any Scruples about the Right when the Possession of the Crown is once settled and terminates all Doubts of that kind in an Act of Parliament which is the publick Judgment and Sense of the Nation 'T was said by the Parliament of Richard the 3d after they had cleared his Title as grounded upon the ancient Laws and laudable Customs of the Realm according to the Judgment of all such Persons as were learned in those Laws and Customs they proceed and say Yet nevertheless forasmuch as it is considered that the most part of the People is not sufficiently learned in the aforesaid Laws and Customs whereby Truth and Right in this behalf of likelihood may be had and not clearly known to all People and thereupon put in doubt and question and over this how that the Court of Parliament is of such Authority that a Declaration made by the three Estates and by the Authority of the same maketh before all other things most faithful and certain quieting of Mens Minds and removeth the occasion of Doubts and seditious Language therefore they declare that he was the undoubted King. Whence 't is evident that the Reason of this Law supposeth that the Subjects in general are not capable of understanding the Laws and Customs upon which the Titles of our Kings depend and that the best Satisfaction that the Generality of the People can possibly have in those high Matters is the Sense and Judgment and Determination of the Kingdom by Act and Authority of Parliament wherein they should acquiesce for the preventing Sedition so much as in Language But to be short here the Law allows a King de facto the Name and Dignity and Authority and Defence of a King And doth it not require our Duty according to Law Was 't ever known the King being acknowledged to have the actual Government that the Subject was excused from Allegiance or an Oath of Fidelity as occasion required it Yea If Obedience according to Law be acknowledged due to the present Government as it now it seems is generally granted is not the Oath of Allegiance at this time required by Law as well as by the Relation of Subjects and so made a plain part of our Obedience according to Law Yet if the King in Possession be really our King do not our own Laws return upon us requiring Loyalty and Fealty forbidding Sedition and Scandalum Magnatum and all Endeavours to alter the Government that is at least by our peaceable and dutiful Carriage to acquiesce in the Work of Divine Providence in our late Revolution and the Acknowledgment of our Subjection due to William and Mary who as we have heard by the Laws of the Land heretofore made are our undoubted King and Queen because in possession of the Government their Right also is unquestionable by private Subjects being a Point determined according to the ancient Laws and laudable Customs of this Realm and their Right as well as Possession openly declared by the highest Authority of the Kingdom in Acts of the present Parliament Object But some are apt to say This is to prove that the Sun shines who denies that the present King and Queen are such de facto or that we ought to obey them Sol. 1. This is so far well But do we obey them without reserve for the late King Do we acknowledg that the Laws of the Land oblige us to give them our Obedience Or do we mean only that they have the Name of Soveraigns and a Power in their Hands to defend themselves against and to punish Disturbers of their Possession If it be so we do not take right Measures of their Authority or of our own Duty according to Law. 2. For they are really King and Queen by being in Possession and invested by the Laws with Regal Authority as well as Power otherwise they could not be within the purview of the Statute of Treason 3. Consequently all their Actions that are politick and for the matter agreable to Law are as valid and of as good Authority as the Acts of the most rightful Kings They have Authority and do effectually execute and make Laws while they are in Possession as they do protect us so they administer Justice dispose of Offices coin Mony make Peace and War punish all kind of Offences as well against the Subjects as the Government 4. And such Acts of a King de facto only without Right as concern and have Influence upon the Kingdom have ever been allow'd and reputed good and valid though the Title to the Crown hath been question'd and denied in after-Ages as we noted before 5. That very Parliament that condemned the Usurpations of Hen. 4 5 6. and all Acts that had entailed the Crown contrary to the course of Inheritance yet add these remarkable Words Howbeit that all other Acts and Ordinances made in the said Parliament since been good and sufficient against all other Persons I would infer hence that Obedience is due to the present King c. in his Authority by Law acknowledged as well as Power and therefore not only for Wrath but for Conscience sake Conscience I say not of their Title but of their Authority and our own plain Duty

Populi the Preservation of three Kingdoms is concern'd and in danger and the more by the Colour of our pretended Allegiance I think there is much weight in the words of a late Author I can be sure saith he of nothing if I am out in this Notion That no Oath can bind any longer than the Obligation thereof is consistent and reconcileable with Salus Populi the Welfare the Spiritual and Temporal Welfare of the People which is the sole End of all Government And seeing the Safety and Preservation of the Community depends upon the Promise of Allegiance to the supream Governor for the time being and the Subjects are under a plain necessity either to hazard or ruine the Publick or to transfer their Allegiance they may certainly do it lawfully yea are bound to do it by the Law of Laws Salus Populi suprema Lex Secondly So much briefly for the Law of Nature Now do not the Holy Scriptures warrant the same Do we find any either in the old or new Testament that scrupled or were question'd for their Obedience to the Powers in being I think the present Reverend and Learned Dean of Sarum Dr. Pearse hath a Sermon in print to prove Submission to Governments a Fundamental of the Christian Religion I am sure our Saviour and more largely St. Paul require our Obedience to the Powers that are without any Consideration of their Title merely because of their Authority and Administrations in which the Apostle expresly founds the Duty of Subjection for Conscience sake The Arguments to this purpose lately urged from Romans 13. by several worthy Authors I despair of ever seeing tolerably answered to whom I refer my Reader only let us meditate those notable Counsels of God by the Prophet Seek the Peace of the City Babylon where the People were Captives to their Tyrannical Enemies and pray unto the Lord for it for in the Peace thereof ye shall have Peace Jer. 29. 7. Thirdly Lastly Is there not sufficient in our own Laws to justify our Allegiance to a King regnant without our being satisfied touching his Title Have we not the Authority of former Ages Is not our Statute-Book a clear Testimony of it In what time was it ever denied Who was ever censured or punished for granting it Are not all such Kings who reign'd without Right recorded as Kings of England and their Laws as authentick and obligatory Is it not evident then that Allegiance due to a King regnant with right or with none is agreable to the State and Principles of this Monarchy and founded in the Usage and Common Law of England But that which methinks should put the matter beyond Question is the known and often mentioned Stat. of 11 Hen. 7. 1. grounded as it speaks the sense of the Nation upon Reason Law and good Conscience And though the worthy Author of Considerations and others have with a great deal of strength argued hence to satisfy the Scruples of our Brethren and it cannot be expected that I should add any thing very considerable yet I shall very briefly observe a few things for our purpose from it 1. 'T is thereby acknowledged that a King de facto hath the Name and Stile of a King of England 2. We are to recognize such a one as our Soveraign Lord. 3. That Allegiance is due to such a King from all his Subjects 4. That by reason of the same Allegiance they are bound to serve him even in his Wars 5. That they are never hereafter to be question'd tho the lawful King should recover his Right for so doing their true Duty and Service of Allegiance as the Words are 6. That War made against such a King by his Subjects is Rebellion All these things are plain in the Letter of that Law which hath continued unrepealed or unquestion'd for above two hundred Years and consequently so long hath been the approved sense of the whole Nation That Allegiance and true and faithful Service is due to our soveraign Lord for the time being whatever his Title be Hence it follows that in the sense of the Law a King de jure only is not King. The Statute saith the King for the time being and seeing we can have but one King he that hath only right to be King is no King in being or for the time being Hereupon I suppose the great Lawyers inform us that the King de jure only is not within the Purview of the Statute of Treason is not as they say Seignior le Roy. Consequently if Treason cannot be committed against a King de jure while he is out of Possession Allegiance cannot be due to him which is a Duty we owe to the King as our Soveragin Lord and none in the Eye of the Law is so but the King in Possession thus the formal reason of the Oath of Allegiance to the late King ceasing if he be no King in Law because out of Possession the Obligation of that Oath with respect to him ceaseth also besides much of the matter of our former Oath is gone too for we were sworn to bear true Allegiance to him in revealing and preventing Treasons against him and now he is not an Object capable of Treason But they also tell us Treason may be committed against a King regnant without Right and if so 't is thence evident that Allegiance is due to him against which Treason is directly contrary Treason is an Offence against our natural Allegiance which appears from the form of Endictments the words are Contra debitum Fidei Ligeantiae suae against the Duty of Faith and true Allegiance so near are they to the very Words in the Oath of Allegiance In a word to apply it Are not William and Mary now regnant and in full Possession of the Government To deny this is to impose upon our Senses Are they not our Soveraigns also to whom we owe Allegiance This to question is against all kind of Law May we be guilty of Treason against them Then supposed Allegiance to their Enemy seems to be a degree towards that Treason and to be a treasonable Principle if brought into Act it tends apparently to the Death of the King and Queen and how far the very Opinion is from Imagination and consequently from the Formality of Treason should be soberly considered at least to abate our consure of the Government that with some Severity requires our Allegiance and if it may be to perswade us to timely Conformity therein The Sum is I think we cannot justify our refusing to take the new Oath of Allegiance to King William and Queen Mary without destroying Acts of Parliament changing the Laws of England and razing the Principles and Laws of Nature The Words of II Hen. 7. cap. 1. bearing to our Purpose are these The King our Sovereign Lord calling to his remembrance the Duty of Allegiance of the Subjects of this his Realm and that they by reason of the same are bound to serve their Prince

it and that by a real as well as by a formal Abdication as before explain'd Government according to Law is essential to our Government otherwise our Lawyers are much out that generally tell us our Government is a Legal Regal or as Fortescue a Political Government in opposition to Despotical Absolute Arbitrary or Tyrannical Government Now though a King do not intend absolutely to abandon all kind of Government yet when he leaves the proper Government and assumes another kind of Government abhor'd by our Constitution he plainly ceaseth to be our Governour in any sense he refuseth to govern politically he would bring in another Species of Government that is destructive of our Constitution and begins in many odious Instances the Execution of Tyranny contrary not only to the Laws that make and limit our Government but contrary to the ends of all Government and instead of protecting destroys his People what can be plainer than that this is to abdicate the Government as King of England A King may kill himself and not intend it To this purpose we have several notable Collections made by others I shall note a few of them Among the Laws of K. Edward C. 17. de Regis Officio the Liberties of the People being mention'd it is said that the King is constituted for the Preservation of them which if he do not nec nomen Regis in eo constabit he doth not retain the Name of a King. Bracton says l. 2. c. 24. Est enim Corona Regis facere Justitiam Judicium pacem tenere sine quibus consistere potest nec tenere i. e. The Crown of the King is to do Justice and Judgment and to preserve Peace without which he cannot subsist But above all the Words of K. James to his Parliament March 21. 1609. are remarkable The King is bound by a double Oath to preserve the Laws tacitly as being King and expresly by his Coronation-Oath So as every just King is bound to observe the Paction made with his People by his Laws framing the Government thereunto and a King leaves to be King and degenerates into a Tyrant as soon as he leaves off to govern by Law in which case the King's Conscience may speak to him as the poor Woman to Philip of Macedon Either govern according to Law or cease to be King. Answerable hereunto is the Civilians Maxim Tyranni in Exarcitie decidunt Jure sue Haereditario i. e. Tyrants by their Tyranny lose their Hereditary Right of Government for the Ill of Monarchy is Tyranny K. Charles's Answ to 19. Prop. From what hath been said it seems plain that a King by relinquishing the Legal and usurping an Arbitrary or Tyrannical Government does as effectually abdicate the Government as King as a Merchant that turns Pirate abdicates his Trade or a Husbandman that leaves off his Husbandry and resolves to cast the fortune of his Life upon robbing on the High-way abdicates his Plough Lastly 't is so evident in those that give us the sense of the word that there is a real Abdication as we have considered it in distinction to a formal that no body that will take the pains to examine can doubt it Not only Grotius de Jure Belli Pac. lib. 2. c. 4. s 4. Non tantum verbis sed re potest but Calvin in his Lexic Jurisd tells us Generum abdicat qui Sponsam repudiat he that divorces his Wife doth abdicate his Son. So Homo liber qui seipsum vendit abdicat se statu suo saith Brissonius de verb. sign that is he which sells himself abdicates himself from his former state And Budaeus Comment de Origine Juris Abdicare se Magistratu est idem quod abire penitus Magistratu 1. For the Application of the Word so explained And to all that had been said to prove the late King's Abdication compleat and undeniable it ought to be remembred that in the very times of Popery here a submitting to Papal Usurpations and Authority contrary to our Laws was deem'd a Disinherison of the Crown What shall we say of the late King 's voluntary studied and deliberate invading his own Authority and subjecting the whole Ecclesiastical State to a forreign Power to the utter Extirpation of our Reformed Constitution so firmly settled in the special Laws of the Land to that purpose Considering also how this in a little time must inevitably ruin the Civil State which is intimately inter woven with the Ecclesiastical in their just Liberties and true Religion their very Consciences and Lives not being safe from the Snares and Inquisitions and even Massacres of the most cruel tyrannical and barbarous Religion in the World. 2. This in conjunction with the late King's Proceedings in civil Matters needs no Aggravation The Crown of England is glorious in a threefold Excellency the Legislative Executive and Military Power Now sor one of our own Kings to do that industriously and by many designed deliberate Acts which is rank Treason against the King and Kingdom which at least hath a tendency to destroy the King with respect to his Crown and Dignity what is this but to destroy himself For a King to divest himself of the Legislative Power by the use of all Artifices of Fraud and Force to destroy the fundamental Priviledges of Election and consequently the very Being of a legal Parliament his executive Power by refusing to govern by Law and setting up an arbitrary tyrannical Government Lastly his legal standing military Power laying aside the Militia and resolving to stick to an illegal Army what is this but to relinquish the Government of England to throw away all Regal Authority to violate break in pieces and trample upon the Crown to declare to all the World he will be King no longer and to abandon the Authority which he had to govern by Law according to the Constitution of the Kingdom his Duty to his People as King and the special Bond upon his Soul in his solemn Coronation-Oath 3. But at last to crown all when the Noise of the Prince's Coming had brought him a little to himself and he begins to feel the danger that his late daring Pranks of Tyranny had brought him into he adviseth with his wise Council what to do Should he trust his People in Parliament No Should he trust his melting Army No Should he trust his dreadful Son in Law No. What then as the evil Spirit rent and tore the Body when he was forc'd to leave it so he did all the mischief he could by calling in his Writs for a Parliament dismissing his Judges carrying away the Broad Seal and putting an end to all kind of Government among us as before and then leaves us in absolute Anarchy and a way of Confusion upon a necessity apprehended of his own creating of dispossessing us he flies to his trusty and wel-beloved the French King thus at once delivering his Person and in consequence directly betraying his Kingdom into the Power of